Meet Kory
I grew up in Wheaton, IL and went to Wheaton North High School. During my high school years, I worked part time after school at Blackberry Market, a local café, as a busser - washing dishes and cleaning the dining area. After high school, I went to Taylor University where I studied finance and minored in math. I graduated in May of 2018 and I really loved my four years at Taylor and made so many lifelong friendships and tons of fun memories. I even got to spend a month in China for a business elective class. I am currently living in Wheaton with some other guys who went to Taylor. I keep busy with my involvement at Highpoint Church as well. I help out with the junior high youth group there and lead a small group of 7th grade boys. Those boys are full of energy to say the least, but I really enjoy it!
I love being outside. I like to run and I will be running the Chicago marathon next weekend! This is my first ever marathon, so I am excited and nervous for the race to finally be here. I also really enjoy skiing and hiking whenever I am able to. Unfortunately, the Chicago area is not particularly conducive of these activities which means I have to travel to do them. My favorite place to visit is Park City, Utah where my Aunt and Uncle host our whole extended family to go skiing! This past summer I made a trek out west with a few college friends to go on a four-day backpacking trip through the Wyoming backcountry. We had an amazing time and we even saw a bear (from a safe distance!). This was my fifth backpacking trip I have been on. I have also been on hiking trips in Canada, Colorado, Minnesota, and New Hampshire. Who knows where my next adventure will take me!
In 2000, Ruth hired Eric who had just graduated from Taylor University. Little did she realize, that hire would begin a pattern at Guillaume & Freckman for years to come. Taylor is where Ruth went to school, and Eric, and also Mike. So I joke with Eric that I’m not sure if graduating from Taylor was just an added bonus as much as it was a requirement when he hired me!
Right after graduating from Taylor, I began working at Guillaume & Freckman as a Financial Planning Analyst and have really enjoyed it so far. In my role, I help with a lot of the pre-meeting preparation – gathering information and then building and compiling reports for client reviews. I also assist in the meeting follow up process which could include a variety of tasks depending on the discussion during the meetings. I also help with day to day operations pertaining to portfolio reviews and cash transactions.
In college, when I was considering the types of careers I might pursue, I landed on financial planning because it seemed like a great combination of what I was looking for. I love working with people and I liked that this career is a highly interpersonal one. I also am analytically minded and enjoy working with numbers. Naturally, financial planning seemed to make a lot of sense. Along with all of that, as a Financial Planning Analyst, I liked that I would have an opportunity to come alongside clients and help them in an area of their lives that can feel intimidating. There is no doubt, money is important to everyone, and the kind of help a financial planning focused firm provides can be very freeing for clients as they face difficult questions with their money.
Recently, I read a personal finance book that is geared toward young individuals like myself. It’s titled “I Will Teach You to be Rich” by Ramit Sethi. There were many helpful financial topics for young people discussed throughout the book, including credit cards, spending and your “Rich Life” as defined in the book. I plan to turn some of these topics into blog posts in the future, for now there is one post written called Credit Cards: What to Know Before You Swipe. Let me know what you think!