Hey there, I’m Scott, a recovering CPA who found a path out of accounting and into a career I’m immensely passionate about. I’ve been a financial planner since 2006 and joined the SchlegelDunn team in 2009. My brother started our firm in 2005 and he’s not just my brother. We are also identical twins. That means I’m tied for the best-looking guy in the office.
I’m a native Texan (though I somehow dodged the normal Texan prerequisites of hunting and driving an incredibly large truck). After finishing college at Abilene Christian University, I moved back to Dallas and spent the first five years of my career in the accounting world. And while I did enjoy my job and the good people I worked with, I just knew I wasn’t really an accountant. I wanted my career to have more of an impact on people’s lives (at least in a way that I could directly see). That desire led me to leave accounting and begin my career as a financial planner. I spent four years with a great firm in Dallas where I also earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® certification, and then, in 2009, I left to join my brother’s firm. We added our third partner, Brent Dunn, and were off and running. Brent is a great advisor and friend, and one of the hardest working people I’ve ever met.
My favorite part of my job is the time I spend with my clients, and the satisfaction I feel in helping them build a plan to achieve their family’s dreams and goals. There’s nothing quite like it, and I love having a job that I feel God made me to do. Financial planning is so unique in that there are so many hats a good planner must wear. We are analysts and creators, but also counselors and coaches. It takes intelligence and empathy to do this job well, and there’s nothing I’d rather be doing.
When I’m not building financial plans, I love to run. I always say it is my healthy escape. And oddly (though conveniently in Texas), my favorite time to run is in the hot Texas summer. I’m still not sure where that came from, but I’ve embraced it. I’ve been able to run two marathons and three half-marathons. As a side note, if you too are a runner, I highly recommend the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon, which is in April each spring. It is an amazing run and memorializes the tragic bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in 1995. You just need to be okay running a few miles with teary eyes.
I also love the opportunity to be able to serve and give back. I’m thankful to be able to serve with the Prison Entrepreneurship Program at a prison southwest of Dallas. This in-prison program allows volunteers from the business community to walk alongside men who are nearing release to help them successfully transition back to life on the outside, and truly claim a new life. And like most areas of service, I think I get much more out of it than I give. If you want to see a glimpse of the power and possibility of a second chance, their website is www.pep.org.
Thank you for checking out our website and reading my bio. I hope you now feel like you’ve gotten to know me better. I’d love to get to know you as well. As you explore our website and learn more about our firm and process, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you think that we might be a good partner for you.