by
Badgley Phelps
| Nov 15, 2018
This month, meet Associate Wealth Manager and Financial Planner Jan Yamamoto, an animal lover and longtime Badgley Phelps team member who’s recently taken up horseback riding.
Q: Briefly describe your job.
A: I support the financial planning needs of our firm’s clients. This involves assisting our clients in working through their planning issues, ranging from providing practical solutions or offering a different perspective to making the complexities of their financial life more accessible and understandable.
Q: What’s your favorite thing about working at Badgley Phelps?
A: I enjoy working with our clients. It may be helping to solve an individual problem or developing a financial plan. I just appreciate being able to help when needed.
Q: What do you like to do when you’re not at the office?
A: I enjoy volunteering as a dog walker at a local rescue. Most of what I do at work involves thinking ahead. The dogs joyously pull me back into the moment and I find I am a better person in their presence.
Q: What accomplishments are you most proud of?
A: This may seem silly, but it’s learning to ride a horse. A year ago, I was blissfully ignorant: I knew nothing about horses or horseback riding except that it looked fun. In a year, I’ve come a long way. Today I consider myself consciously inept. Beside the physical challenge of riding an animal much bigger and stronger than me, it’s working with a living creature who has a mind of his own. There are days when my lesson horse is in a bad mood; I can be doing everything right but he’s just not having it. I’ve had to learn that there’s nothing you can do but smile and accept it. Tomorrow is another day.
Q: What motivates you?
A: A good challenge that engages me intellectually and creatively. I am process driven: I get a great deal of satisfaction from starting from nothing, working to figure things out for myself and connecting the dots. Goals may be necessary to know where you’re going, but to me the integrity of the process—the journey—is more important.
Q: Do you have a pet?
A: I have two cats adopted from shelters: Isabeau and Sam. Both are large cats (Siamese mix) and very spoiled.
Q: What’s been your best moment so far this year?
A: Being able to fulfill one of my lifetime goals: to visit Iran.
Q: What’s your favorite time of day?
A: Surprisingly, because I’m not a morning lark, it’s early mornings. When traveling, I love getting out and walking during the early morning hours. The streets are empty and everything is quiet; the only people out are the early delivery workers and street cleaners. It’s in the early morning light that everything is most beautiful. At home, there is nothing better than Sunday mornings, a cup of coffee and enjoying the sun come up.