What My Father Taught Me

My father had been investing my summer job earnings in mutual funds since I was a teenager. Not because we were wealthy — because he believed in something simple: pay yourself first, ten percent off every paycheck, then put it to work and let the capitalist system do what it does.

He also had a saying he delivered with the particular affection of a father who saw through his son completely:

He wasn’t being cruel. He was installing something. A reflex against self-deception that has proven more valuable than any credential I’ve earned in 45 years. He taught me that the market would punish anyone who believed their own bullshit — and that the only protection against that was doing the work to earn your conviction before you acted on it.

He’s been gone for 25 years. His voice has never been louder.

What I’ve Learned From The Inside

Over four decades I’ve watched financial advice get delivered from almost every angle — municipal bonds, national brokerage, the RIA channel, and for nearly two decades, as a FINRA arbitrator sitting in the room when financial relationships break down badly enough that someone hires a lawyer.

One case has never left me.

A veteran broker — white hair, decades at a major firm, a long client relationship — had no notes from any of it. Back then we were taught never to write anything down. When his client passed away and the daughter sued, she arrived with a notebook her aging father had kept by his phone simply to remember what was said. At nearly every point where the broker said “I don’t recall,” she had a date and a detail. Four lawyers from the brokerage firm. They lost anyway.

That broker wasn’t a bad man. But he was destroyed by a dying client’s notebook — kept out of nothing more than the ordinary human need to hold onto things before they slip away.

My rule from that day forward: write everything down. Every conversation, every detail, every decision. What began as legal discipline became something better — we know our clients more deeply because of it.

What I Believe About Financial Advice

Most of it is theater.

The industry moved away from performance and toward process. Pie chart portfolios. Financial plans that are obsolete the moment you walk out the door. Common sense dressed up in sophisticated language to justify a fee. And when clients ask about returns, the industry’s quiet answer is: don’t expect to beat the market — nobody does.

I believe that’s surrender, not prudence.

I believe it is absolutely possible to beat the market substantially, year after year — but only if you do the unglamorous work of pressure-testing your conviction before you act, and stay ruthlessly honest about whether you were actually right. We do our own research: company fundamentals, technical analysis, economic and geopolitical context. We invest our own money in the same models our clients are in. And we actively look for the things that will prove us wrong.

We’ve significantly outperformed benchmark indices over the last decade-plus. I don’t say that to brag. I say it because I think you deserve an advisor who owns that responsibility rather than hiding behind a diversification chart when things get hard.

When I’m wrong — and sometimes I am — what costs me isn’t the sting of being wrong. It’s the recognition that I acted without sufficient conviction, that I didn’t do enough work to be sure. Because when a decision falls short of that standard, it costs my clients real money.

That’s not a market failure. That’s a personal one. And I treat it that way.

Why Worthington Wealth Management

In 2021, after nearly four decades in the industry, I made the decision to launch Worthington Wealth Management — not because I needed a new chapter, but because I wanted to build something that operated entirely on my terms.

No firm mantra telling me what to sell. No institutional pressure to choose process over performance. No conflict of interest between what’s good for the company and what’s right for the client.

The name isn’t accidental. I’ve lived in Worthington for nearly 40 years. My clients are my neighbors, my community, my friends’ families. Their wealth is not an abstraction to me.

Our tagline is We Put You At Ease. That’s not marketing. It’s a conviction that wealth means something different to every person who walks through our door — and that our job is to meet you exactly where you are, tell you the truth about your situation, and then get to work.

A family member came to me a few years ago. They were in their sixties, had made plenty of financial mistakes over the years, and had less than $100,000 to their name. They knew they’d probably have to work for the rest of their life. I didn’t judge them. They were paying themselves first, saving what they could, and they were ready to get serious.

That’s true in this office. Whoever you are and wherever you’re starting — you’re not behind, you’re not broken, and you’re not alone. My job is to shoot straight with you and then get to work.

The Person Behind The Advisor

I’ve been married to Kristen for many years and have three children. I’ve lived in Worthington for nearly four decades — long enough to have watched my clients’ children grow up and become clients themselves.

Outside the office I’m an avid vegetable gardener, a percussionist, a devoted home-repair tinkerer, and — whenever the opportunity arises — an enthusiastic Italian tourist.

I earned my CFP® designation and have served as a FINRA arbitrator for nearly two decades. But as most people who’ve built something real will tell you, the experience of doing is among the best teachers there is.

Along the way, my path shifted. I started my career as a paralegal at a firm that specialized in startups, which turned out to be a front-row seat to how businesses are actually built. Some were brilliant, some were doomed, and all of them were fascinating. Watching founders take real risks with their futures gave me an appreciation for what money actually represents: not numbers, but people’s dreams and security. That experience pulled me toward business instead of law.

One of those clients was a financial firm, and when the chance came to join them, I took it. I ended up overseeing operations there, and that’s where I really learned the industry from the inside. Not from a textbook, but from seeing how decisions get made and how clients are (or aren’t) taken care of. Along the way I went back and earned my MBA, because once I found the work I loved, I wanted to be great at it.

The real turning point came when I was on maternity leave. Becoming a parent has a way of clarifying things fast. I realized that where I spent my working hours mattered, and that I wanted to give my time to a firm whose values I’d be proud to explain to my children someday. When I found WWM, it was obvious. This is a place that genuinely puts clients and family first.

What’s a moment that shaped how you do your job?

The moment that shaped me most was not one moment but a slow realization: the quality of the work always reflects the quality of the relationships behind it.

Somewhere along the way, I noticed that the best outcomes I had ever been part of happened on teams where people felt genuinely valued. Not managed, not pushed, but seen. Have real conversations. Ask how someone is doing and mean it. Treat colleagues and clients as people first.

What do you actually do at WWM, in your own words?

I help make sure clients have a smooth, easy experience, especially when they are just getting started with us. That means helping with onboarding, funding accounts, setting up transfers, and handling billing, along with all the little details along the way that can make a big difference for a client.

I also enjoy looking for ways to make our internal processes more efficient. When things run smoothly on our end, it usually means a better, easier experience for our clients too. My week is a nice mix of working directly with clients and finding small improvements behind the scenes. I like that my role touches both sides of the business.

What matters to you about this work?

People come to a financial firm with the things that matter most to them: their savings, their plans, their family’s future. That is not something I take lightly, and it is exactly why I love this industry. Done right, this work changes lives quietly, in the background, year after year.

That is what keeps me here. WWM treats clients like family, and I believe that is exactly how this kind of work should be done. Not as a transaction, but as a relationship built on trust.

Who are you outside the office?

Outside of work, my world revolves around my family. My husband, Jacob and I have three little girls: Reagan (6), Kennedy (3), and Lincoln (1). Yes, we have a presidential theme going, and no, we did not plan our family around it, but at this point we are committed. Plus, all their middle names are floral themed.

I was born in Westerville and now live in Grove City, close to where Jacob grew up and near most of our family. You can often find us at the Little Grand in Grandview with our close friends, who also have all girls, so our daughters never run out of playmates.

I am also an unapologetic fall person. Give me sweater weather, pumpkins, and Thanksgiving with family, and I am at my happiest. As for a dream trip: Germany. My mom was born there, and I have a whole side of the family I have never met. Someday we will make it happen, and Jacob, a devoted Bayern Munich fan, has generously volunteered to come along, provided the itinerary includes a match.

What’s a moment that shaped how you do your job?

The defining moment for how I approached my work ethic was at the early age of 14. My father a deceased Vietnam war veteran of only 39 years was exposed to the Dow chemical /Agent Orange.

In 1973 he passed away within a year of the diagnosis. Prior to his death he had a discussion with me:

He proceeded to give me ideas on how to financially help the family during my remaining high school years.

My mother was on a fixed income as a widow for years. I remember a period when money was very short for a couple of months. During my high school days, I was mowing the lawn one day and looked up into a tall bush that was in the center of the yard. In the center of the tall bush was an envelope. Lo and behold it was one of my mother’s government treasury checks! It had been lodged in the bush for three months. She had dropped it on the way back to the house from the mailbox.

The wind swirled the check around the yard into the bush. Amazing. So, at young age the value of money was always ingrained in my character.

What do you actually do at WWM, in your own words?

Well, my current compliance position is like the gatekeeper or a sentry posted on a castle tower looking out for any trouble before it approaches our firm.

My typical week involves tracking and monitoring client activity, reviewing multiple tasks per the SEC regulations, preparation and review of various regulatory filings associated with our RIA firm and implementing new policies or procedures for any new RIA regulations that are passed by the SEC.

The role ensures that all employees are following the rules and code of ethics of the firm per RIA fiduciary standards.

What matters to you about this work?

My role at Worthington Wealth Management encompasses all the years of experience I have gained from administration and operations to compliance. This position allows me to contribute to the strategic direction of the firm by limiting risks in the future.

Who are you outside the office?

I am from the south shore of Massachusetts, a small ocean town called Duxbury, Ma. The town was settled by the original passengers of the Mayflower. Duxbury is a town situated right next to Plymouth Rock. The town of Duxbury was named after a forest in England where Myles Standish resided in England. I love boating, deep-sea fishing and windsurfing during the summer. I am also an avid WW2 history buff.

I was brought up in a Navy family. My father is a deceased Navy Vietnam veteran who received the Bronze Star with Combat V. In 1961 my father worked for the Navy/NSA in Fort Meade Maryland as a Russian linguist. During the 1961 “Bay of Pigs incident” in Cuba my father received a thank you letter from President JFK for his intelligence reports on the operation. Later, in 1968 he was the commanding officer of the Naval Security Group based in Kamiseya, Japan monitoring and communicating with the USS Pueblo, a naval intelligence vessel prior to its capture by the North Koreans.

His two grandsons currently serve as officers in the US Army. One is an Army Ranger who served with the 101st Airborne division and the other grandson is with the Ohio National Guard.

Anything else?

“Duty, Honor, Country”

What’s a moment that shaped how you do your job?

I had a referral client come in because they were frustrated with how they were treated at another firm. They came in for a meeting that only lasted half an hour, and they were convinced. They’ve been clients since then and have repeatedly thanked me for helping them make sense of their money and making investing understandable to them.

What do you actually do at WWM, in your own words?

I’m responsible for what clients actually own. I put together the various baskets of investments that are then combined to best fit their needs. I do the research, analysis, and composition of clients’ portfolios -- the meat and potatoes of their investments.

What matters to you about this work?

Wealth management is a people business first -- it’s all about relationships. Being the son of someone who has spent forty years building meaningful relationships puts me in a wonderful position to carry the baton for both those clients and their children. Honest, upfront conversations that lead to measurable success in the future -- that’s what it’s all about.

Who are you outside the office?

Whenever I can, you’ll find me on a clay target shooting field -- that’s a true passion of mine. Otherwise, that week’s DIY project, working on a new recipe, a good book, and weekend excursions with my fiancé occupy my time.

What’s a moment that shaped how you do your job?

There are so many moments that have shaped how I tackle my day-to-day, namely because I don’t have a typical day-to-day routine; every day is different. For the past 25 years I’ve been a sponge, learning from those around me, reading books on management or people or service, learning to stop talking and always start with the why. Some of these things are very heavily influenced by my corporate America background, some of them are good, old-fashioned life lessons, and some are just things I’ve seen others do over the years and adopted as my own habits. But if I had to pick one singular moment that had an outsize impact on me, it’s this: Many years ago I was on a project team made up of people from various departments and ranks within the company. There were, obviously, a lot of emails. One of the Execs on the team — someone I hadn’t ever interacted with before this project — had the following as her email signature’s tagline:

That hit me hard on many levels. I made a letter-sized printout of it in big, block letters and hung it in my cubicle. That little poster has moved with me countless times — even to the home office during the pandemic — as a constant reminder to do something every good Italian-American struggles with: Stop talking and listen.

What do you actually do at WWM, in your own words?

At Worthington Wealth Management, I focus on the business side of the Wealth Management business. While most everyone else has a client-facing role either as an advisor or client administration, I focus on what “keeps the lights on.” Marketing takes up the majority of my time in any given month, but I also have ownership of operations and technology, human resources and employee benefits, supplies, morale, and various other responsibilities as needed. I’m the five-tool guy on the team, the jack of all trades. You could call me the duct tape, because I hold it all together.

What matters to you about this work?

What matters most to me is making sure Worthington Wealth Management is around for untold generations of our current and future clients. That means caring about the quiet things: ensuring that every client is completely satisfied with every moment of their journey with us, keeping the staff happy and healthy, and making sure the lights are on and the wi-fi works. It means being passionate about communication, relationship building, and process. I focus on those things so that the advisory team focus entirely on their clients. Dan is passionate about the investment business — that’s obvious to anyone who spends five minutes with him. My passions are different, but they align with the vision of the company.

Who are you outside the office?

Outside of Worthington Wealth, I’m a voracious reader — novels, nonfiction of all sorts, long-form magazine writing, the news in general. I collect first edition books, and used bookstores are a favorite haunt of mine. Some might call me a cinephile, but I don’t take movies that seriously; they’re an escape from reality, not an extension of it. I’m a homebody by nature, but when I do go out I love to visit new and, of course, favorite restaurants. I’m engaged in my community, both as an enthusiast for all it has to offer and an advocate for its health and growth. I used to be deeply involved in the supporters culture of the Columbus Crew — my main sporting interest — but these days you’re most likely to find me casually enjoying the beautiful game. My mantra for life could very easily be summed up as: be curious, say yes more than no, and don’t be precious about things.

For more than 20 years Henry continued to hone his analysis techniques while traveling with his firm’s research team professionals. In 1997, Henry refocused his business by bringing to his retail clients the institutional analysis techniques he’d practiced and further specialized himself in the arenas of financial and consumer companies, and businesses run by families that own a significant portion of the outstanding stock.

In 2016, Henry retired but quickly discovered how much he missed his clients and working in general. Seeking a change from the Wall Street wire-house world, he joined a smaller regional brokerage that would help him refocus his business into a fee-only advisory. In 2021, Henry was a founding advisor at Worthington Wealth Management.