Our Story

Flashback to 1988. Setting: University of St. Andrews, Scotland. Scene: Third day of college for two overseas students from the U.S. Your motivation: “Ooo! Who is that over there?” And the rest is history.

We have a track record as a couple – no doubt about it - from living and traveling overseas, to leaving school, figuring out that there’s not a lot of work to be had without an education, to going back to school, having pets, to getting married, deciding we hadn’t had enough of school, having kids, having more pets, as well as starting various careers and businesses. All of which means that we have had plenty of experience with having an awful lot of fun together, but also with having to sit down together and muddle through difficult decisions, experiences, and conversations. We know what it is like – been there, done that, and will likely do it several hundred times over again.

While our paths seemingly diverged through school and our early careers, they have pleasantly converged again with such synergy it is as if we meant to do it that way all along; we bring backgrounds in education, business, finance, law, and psychology to bear on the work that we do now – and really, isn’t that exactly the base that you need to deal with any financial discussion these days?

Kate grew up in Virginia and headed to the University of St. Andrews to study Art History and Psychology. After a couple of years there, she and Paul moved back to the States and to Boston where she took up her studies in Psychology at Boston University, with some courses here and there at Harvard University. She worked day-and-night (making up for all the fun in St. Andrews) and graduated Summa Cum Laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. From there, she attended the University of Virginia where she received her Masters of Education in Clinical and School Psychology as well as her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (also by working day-and-night, I might add. Wouldn’t trade the experience for the world, but also not high on my list of recommendations). She completed her clinical internship at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Hampton, Virginia and held a post-doctoral position within the Virginia Department of Corrections where her focus was on the treatment of severe and chronic PTSD.

Following her practice as a therapist, she started a business consulting practice focused on the meaningful and sustainable development of leaders and organizations (much less trauma there). No matter where she has worked or what she has been doing, her focus has been on helping people derive greater satisfaction from their work and personal lives. Kate is a huge fan of Appreciative Inquiry, which in part suggests that by gaining a clear understanding of the strengths with which you are working, you can then harness those strengths to the benefit of you and those with whom you work and live.

Paul took a path from Connecticut to Boston, where he studied music and art, before boarding the plane and jetting off to St. Andrews where he studied management and economics (yes, Scottish economics. Don’t ask). After their return to the States, he completed his schooling at Harvard University, with some courses here and there at Boston University, and graduated Cum Laude with his Bachelors in History and Math.

Looking for some direction following graduation, Paul heeded the advice of an old friend and decided to enroll at the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond to facilitate a career in business. Frustrated by the retroactive perspective of much of his studies, he focused on coursework that was proactive in nature such as taxation, wills & estates and finance. Following graduation, Paul accepted a position as a financial advisor with a regional firm in Richmond and since that time has worked in just about every possible scenario in the financial services world; from large national corporations to small independent firms, from training hundreds of financial advisers nationally and managing a multi-state region to working with individual investors helping them realize their financial goals.

Paul, Kate and their two children (as well as an ever-growing collection of animals) call Richmond, Virginia home.