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I have worn many hats in my professional life as a trained social worker, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from UCLA and a Master’s Degree in Social Work from USC. I helped individuals, families, and communities address their problems in a comprehensive, holistic way: connected parents and their newborns via early screening, diagnosis, and treatment to prevent long-term effects of genetic disease; provided mental health counseling and support to clients in different stages of their lives from birth to death; empowered hospital patients to be active participants of their medical care plan with their healthcare team; and assisted isolated, homebound elderly clients access resources and services within their communities. I’ve had the privilege of working closely with public health researchers to bridge the gap between research and service providers in the community. Through collaboration and partnerships among schools, agencies, and practitioners, we developed evidence-based group interventions to reduce risk behaviors among youth.
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Josephti and I have known each other since we were in high school, and I watched her career in finance blossom over the years. When she started her own business, the WealthGarden, I became one of her clients. My husband and I needed the guidance of Josephti to help us look at our financial situation and develop a realistic plan to achieve our family goals. As Josephti’s client, I was impressed by her commitment to our family’s financial well-being.
My exposure to her work was an “a-ha moment” for me and was pivotal in sparking my interest to make this transition in my social work career. As a lifelong learner, I am taking courses in Personal Financial Planning at my alma matter, UCLA. I am following my curiosity and excited to see where this path will take me. I realize that Josephti and I share a common value and that is to help improve our clients’ lives. While Josephti’s focus is on the financial health of her clients, my focus as a social worker has been on the social, mental, and emotional well-being of my clients, which I’m excited to bring to the WealthGarden.
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There is a clear synergy in the work that I’ve done as a social worker and now in the work that I am embarking on in financial services. An individual’s financial health is as critical to one’s overall well-being as their physical and mental health. I am looking forward to helping the WealthGarden optimize their business operations, strengthen their community relationships, and enhance their services to their clients.
