My Path to Black Barn: Why I Started My Own Firm

I founded Black Barn in 2014 to help individuals and families navigate the financial markets and make better investment decisions.I started my career back in 2001 as a legal assistant in a family law firm. Nearly all of my clients were in the process of divorce, and whether they were raising children or looking for jobs after years spent out of the workforce, clients without a basic financial education were at a marked disadvantage moving forward. Empowering individuals to learn about money and take control of their finances became my passion, so I went to business school and immersed myself in the world of finance. I received an MBA with a concentration in corporate finance from St. Edward’s University in 2006.Since 2011, I’ve led the Austin Women’s Investing Group (AWIG), whose mission is bringing women together to talk about investing and finance. I also teach investing and personal finance courses like “Investing for Beginners,” “Investing for Women” and “Intro to the Stock Market” through the University of Texas Extended Campus, as well as “Introduction to the U.S. Capital Markets” through the University of Texas’s U.S. Academic & Culture Immersion Program for Visiting Students from China.Before starting Black Barn, I was an investment advisor with Texas Private Asset Management, where I led the investor education and outreach program. I also served as president of a major financial education website, InvestingAnswers.com, from 2010 to 2012. From 2006 to 2009, I was vice president of Elm Tree Partners, a boutique hedge fund in Austin that helped clients raise more than $300 million in financing.I graduated in 2001 from Washington University in St. Louis, where I played basketball on four national championship teams. Currently, I sit on the Advisory Board of the non-profit Initiative to Educate Afghan Women. I live in Austin with my husband, Christian, and our daughters, Sasha and Judy.