Member Spotlight: Andy Keeler
Q: What do you consider the best part of your career and would you have guessed when you were a teenager that you would be in this career today?
My father was a doctor, my mom was a nurse, and I always knew that I also wanted to help people on a personal level.The best part of what I do is the opportunity to help people with unique problems and challenges. Financial planning allows me to create successful outcomes for clients on a very personal level and because every client’s situation is unique, I am never bored. When I was in high school there really wasn't a "financial planning" career. I studied architecture and finance in college but then realized I wasn't cut out to sit in a cubicle creating spreadsheets. My advisor told me to consider "financial planning" and here I am!
Q: Describe your perfect day - where you would be, what you would be doing, who, if anyone would you want to share it with?
I spend the majority of my time away from the office doing one of two things - restoring our historic fam at the corner of Brand and Coffman or exercising at LifeTime. I don't enjoy sitting still but do enjoy seeing the benefits of hard work. A perfect day would be one where I work outside with my wife and son transforming a once-abandoned property from an eyesore to a gem. But every day starts with at least an hour of intense exercise which I find I need for the energy and mental focus to be effective.
Q: Tell us about one of your favorite hobbies and how you became interested in it.
My father was a woodworker and shared that hobby with me as a boy. I learned to build things for the historic home I grew up in on Broadway in Granville. I prefer working with cherry, walnut and mahogany and my style has generally been more traditional. I hand-dovetail joints and cornice moldings - cutting and shaping by hand using the old methods. I made a cherry pencil post bed for my wife's birthday and a period reproduction corner cupboard a year later.
Q: When your inner creative spirit gets restless do you engage in an activity that allows you to express yourself?
Woodworking and home restoration are obvious outlets. Fitness is the other. I like to get creative with my exercise routines. I do get looks when I do a barbell flat bench press with a plate on only one side of the bar... Next time you are at the gym, try it! You really have to enlist your core to keep the bar parallel with the ground. (editor's note - we are not responsible for any harm incurred by readers who attempt this maneuver)