Melissa Ryan’s turning points have taken her along a winding path so far. Like many of us, they have all been tiny steps leading her to where she is today.
Growing up in Manhattan, Kansas, Melissa wanted to be a teacher. Her high school business vocational class required students to get a job in a business setting. Out of sheer luck, Melissa chose a financial planner’s office, setting the course for her entire career.
Melissa joined the team at KHC Wealth Management after graduating from Kansas State University and loved the work. But the urge to teach still nagged at her. She decided to work part-time as she pursued her certification to be a teacher. Given her background, while teaching Business courses at Douglass High School, Melissa proposed to the school board to make a Personal Finance course a graduation requirement. The school agreed and while making such a career transition would mean a lower income, she ended up teaching for four years.
In 2013, Melissa’s husband Craig learned his job was moving him from Douglass to Maize – the opposite end of the city. Melissa began preparing to hit the job search as well and as she began calling her references, she reconnected with Matt Starkey, President at KHC. She found that perhaps her calling in the financial planning world was taking her in a new direction and was happy when the firm was open to her working remotely from Wichita.
Melissa is now a Financial Planning Associate at KHC and recently welcomed a son, Nelson, to her family in late 2014. Each of her major life experiences have been heavy on the human capital side, but required careful planning to make sure they were and are in line with her financial goals as well.