Karen is our client relationship manager and always ready to answer your questions when you call into the office. She has a Master’s Degree from Saginaw Valley State University in Education. She and her husband Scott have 3 wonderful children and a favorite family activity is having a holiday party for homeless children living at Samaritas Family Center in Westland. She enjoys reading, hiking, and bike rides with her family.

What can skipping third grade teach you about managing your wealth? Perhaps the most important thing of all… Perspective. Hi friends! I’m Catherine Gateman, Founding Partner of Sea Glass Wealth Advisors—an independent practice of Thrivent Financial. For 15 years I’ve been teaching, guiding, and counseling folks like you how to secure what matters most in your life, create a deep and meaningful impact on the people and causes you care about, and…enjoy genuine confidence in your future. In other words, how to make smarter decisions with your money. And believe it or not, you can learn an awful lot about what that means from skipping third grade. See, in second grade, my teachers pulled me out of class and sent me to the third grade class for reading and math more suited to my academic level. Overachiever? You’re talking to someone who’s been working full-time since 19, and put herself through Wayne State. So yes, I was an overachiever. But I was also humiliated. Think about it! Singling out an eight year old like that is the definition of embarrassing. The solution? Skip third grade. That put me at the academic level I needed, and eliminated the embarrassment of being singled out. Many years later, though, that helped me learn a much more important lesson. I learned that when you’re in the right place—with the right people—you can’t help but thrive. For me, that meant recognizing I was called to lead a genuinely collaborative team of my own. And to take charge of my own vision for the kind of impact I want to have on my clients. These days I educate people preparing for retirement. I help them better understand their benefits...avoid common mistakes...take advantage of opportunities they didn’t even realize they had. Definitely the right place for me. The right place to serve the people I care about. That starts with three amazing, inspiring children. But also the dynamic team my business partner Darren VanHevel and I get to lead at Sea Glass Wealth Advisors. And you. Now, whether I’m working with an executive mapping out sophisticated strategies, maximizing complex compensation packages, stewarding multi-generational wealth for a family, or educating professionals on retirement planning, my approach is the same… Personal attention comes first. Because your dream is my dream. If you’ve been working hard for decades, saving and investing, paying down debt...and you’re looking forward to spending more time with loved ones, growing more as a person, and making an impact on your community… That’s the kind of future that deserves a dedicated, passionate guide to partner with. Let’s visit soon.

Sally earned her Bachelors from Michigan Technological University and a MA in Management and Supervision from Central Michigan University. Sally is a member at Emmanuel Lutheran Church and involved at the Wayne County Family Shelter. She enjoys crafting of all kinds, especially with wood and enjoys being outdoors, camping and the snow!

Imagine this… It’s your first day on the job—a job you’ve been dreaming about and training for longer than you can remember. You get your first important assignment. This is what you’ve been waiting for! So what do you do? You blow it, of course. Worse—you blow it in front of thousands of people! Yup. That was me. Hi friends! I’m Darren VanHevel, Founding Partner and Wealth Advisor of Sea Glass Wealth Advisors—an independent practice of Thrivent Financial. I educate, guide, and counsel folks like you on how to make better decisions with your money...so you can enjoy confidence in your future, secure what matters most in your life, and make a lasting impact on the people you care about. And that job? I still have it. Still love it, in fact. I’m a college football referee. The reason I love it—despite the embarrassment of blowing my very first call in my very first game (in the UP Dome, no less)—is because to me...officiating is not a job. It’s a passion. Unfortunately, for the longest time I couldn’t say the same thing about my professional life. Which was weird, because with a Commercial Recreation degree from Central Michigan, you’d think a guy like me would love managing sports facilities. But the problem wasn’t with the sports part. The problem was with the managing part. It’s kind of like in football. The best referees—the ones I’ve learned the most from—aren’t there to manage. They’re there to serve. To serve the players. The fans. The game. A great ref brings out the best in others. And that makes the game better. Lucky for me one of my younger brothers already had a successful career with Thrivent. He saw what I couldn’t. Just because financial services isn’t related to sports didn’t mean I couldn’t find my passion there. Good call, Brian. These days I educate people preparing for retirement. I help them better understand their benefits...avoid common mistakes...take advantage of opportunities they didn’t even realize they had. The amazing thing? I haven’t had a single day yet where this felt like a job. And… Serving others—instead of trying to manage them—generates the passion that was missing from my professional life. It sure helps when who I serve starts with a beautiful, loving family—my wife Jodi, my kids Addison and Gavin. But also the dynamic team my business partner Catherine Gateman and I get to lead at Sea Glass Wealth Advisors. And you. Now, whether I’m working with an executive mapping out sophisticated strategies, maximizing complex compensation packages, stewarding multi-generational wealth for a family, or educating professionals on retirement planning, my approach is the same… Personal attention comes first. Because your dream is my dream. If you’ve been working hard for decades, saving and investing, paying down debt...and you’re looking forward to spending more time with loved ones, growing more as a person, and making an impact on your community… That’s the kind of future that deserves a dedicated, passionate guide to partner with. Let’s visit soon.