Stephen

I grew up in Ketchikan, spending a lot of time travelling around Southeast Alaska.  Life after college took my wife and I to Anchorage for a while.  We enjoyed it, but when we started having kids, we wanted to return to Southeast so they could grow up around family. When we made the decision to move to Juneau, it was important to us to give back to the community and be involved.  My childhood was spent playing sports in Southeast, and my experiences were not possible without all the people and businesses that donated time, money, and other resources so I could participate. I wanted to do the same for the next generation.

Sports have always been important to me. I love the hard work, competition, and community. Most importantly, the tenants of sports, and being part of a team, have and continue to give me a foundation for how I approach my life. Baseball is my favorite – I love playing, coaching, watching and analyzing it.  When the opportunity came up to get involved with coaching Little League baseball, I jumped right in, and haven’t looked back.

I started as a Tee Ball coach, and have worked up through the Divisions over the years.  I also help coach the Midnight Suns baseball program during the winter.   My involvement as a coach shed light on the need for more volunteers (especially during COVID). I decided to join the Gastineau Channel Little League Board in the role of Vice President of Baseball. We all knew that even though so many changes were necessary during COVID, we still wanted to have a season for the players. It was a huge task – along with weather delays due to snow on the fields, we needed to keep activities safe and within the mitigation guidelines. We put in a lot of time and effort, but it was absolutely worth it. Over 400 area kids were able to play Little League softball and baseball in Juneau last year, and we even stepped in and hosted 3 All-Star Tournaments when other communities were unable.

Sports has always made sense to me, and the lessons learned apply to so many other things in life. I believe the financial journey is the same. You need to understand what your goals are, and develop next steps to get there. The goals need to be something you really want and attainable, because, you know, we’re not all going to be professional ball players (or billionaires), and we aren’t going to work at something we don’t truly care about.  At the same time, you want to push yourself and not put a ceiling on what you can achieve. It takes hard work, discipline, and sacrifice to get there. You need to be resilient, adaptable, able to bounce back from setbacks, and be patient with the process. Have fun, and remember to acknowledge the progress along the way.  Most importantly, always remember: your team helps you accomplish your goals.

So, on my financial journey, I set attainable goals, such as saving for travel or other large expenses, planning for my kids’ futures, and keeping in mind I want to retire someday. My wife and I work as a team to create our goals, and we both make sacrifices to accomplish them.  We forego some things we want in order to prioritize the goals we’ve set. For example, I drive a 13-year-old truck, and a new one sounds REALLY nice, but doesn’t fit within our spending priorities right now.

I have many teams in the different facets of my life – my wife, family, fellow coaches, community, and the True Crew here at True North – are a crucial part of my next steps!

My Next Step? Supporting my family and community, with time for a lot of baseball!