MEMBER SPOTLIGHT | Patrick Denman

PATRICK DENMAN

"Enjoy the Suffering"

Golf. Tennis. Swimming. These are examples of sports one can participate in throughout an entire lifetime. Wrestling? Not exactly the best sport one can pursue if they are interested in doing it well into their later years, but that doesn't mean the lessons you learn from the sport don't stay with you throughout a lifetime and help guide you in whatever path you choose. Patrick Denman (Independent Wealth Management Advisor) is a former wrestler who has applied the lessons wrestling has engrained in him and has been applying those lessons in everything he has done. We are thrilled to feature Patrick, the Treasurer of our Lehigh Valley Chapter, in this month's "Member Spotlight."

Patrick spent his initial years in New Jersey. His family relocated to the Lehigh Valley when he was very young, and aside from his college years, he has remained in the same area. His introduction to wrestling began when he was a young kid, but it wasn't until he got to high school and, through the influence of his homeroom teacher did Patrick get back into the sport. What appealed to Patrick was how fast-paced the sport was and how his strength and speed were ideally suited for the sport. While Patrick might not have a trophy room full of awards and ribbons, he was committed. Over his high school career, he thrived in the adverse conditions that all wrestlers know and learned to "enjoy the suffering ."The lessons of working through adversity, recovering from disappointment, and recognizing that hard work translated to success have stuck with Patrick over the years. They now serve as the foundation of his approach to his professional career.

After high school, Patrick headed to Bloomsburg to major in Marketing and Finance. He participated in a semester abroad in the Netherlands during his sophomore year. While this was a fantastic experience, it created a schedule conflict when he returned that would have delayed his graduation by a year. Not wanting to get off track, he elected to transfer and attended West Virginia University. This decision was great for him, and he thoroughly enjoyed his time at WVU. He was impressed with the faculty and their commitment to the individual student. While there, he changed his major(s) and graduated with a double major in Accounting and Economics. Everything was going great for Patrick as he neared graduation. With still a semester left before graduating, he already had two job offers and was on top of the world. But then life got in the way.

Shortly after graduation, Patrick experienced a personal setback that prevented him from taking advantage of his opportunities. He needed to re-group and re-think his future, so he took a job at a golf course, and as luck would have it, he came across an advertisement looking for tax preparation help. He took that job and began learning all the various nuances of tax law and returns that would come to help him later down the road.

Patrick would meet his long-time girlfriend (Samantha), and through a stroke of good luck, her family owned a family business whose accountant was looking for someone with Patrick's exact qualifications. He would start working for the accountant as a tax professional. While Patrick was genuinely interested in what he was currently doing, he was also very much interested in pursuing a future as a wealth management advisor. His new employer was very familiar with becoming an advisor and helped guide Patrick through the process. After seven years as a tax professional, Patrick became licensed as a wealth management advisor.

He would stay with the accounting firm doing wealth management and tax preparation. At some point, though, Patrick knew that his future was focusing solely on wealth management, leading him to eventually leave the firm and begin working as an Independent Wealth Management Advisor. Because of the subtle differences between the two positions (tax preparation and wealth management), he realized that wealth management was his passion. In tax preparation, he didn't feel he was helping people with their future. Instead, he was exclusively focused on helping to mitigate loss. As a wealth manager, he enjoys helping people become smarter with their money and helping them plan for their financial well-being. He believes that he is filling a need and that people are willing and want to be financially savvy, but they might not have the background or experience to know exactly how to do that. Filling that need is what gives him so much satisfaction. That said, his background in tax preparation has been instrumental to his success as a financial manager because it has allowed him to think long-term about the potential tax implications of today's investment strategies.

Life isn't all about dollars and cents to Patrick. Like all wrestlers who eventually have to stop competing, Patrick found other things in which to challenge himself. He's active outside his profession and finds time to play golf and ski. He's an avid golfer (not scratch but getting there) and really enjoys skiing. This year, he was able to take trips to Telluride, Snowbasin, and Powder Mountain. In addition, he works out every day and maintains the same levels of discipline that he likely learned through wrestling. Overall, what Patrick took from wrestling was that wrestling teaches you to push past hard times and helps you realize that the effort and energy justify the hard work you invested.

Patrick is a great leader, ambassador, and WIBN member; we are lucky to have him. When the WIBN Lehigh Valley chapter was forming, his friend (Joe Guido) invited Patrick to come along and hear more about it. Given his background, Patrick was recruited to serve as the Treasurer, and fortunately for us, he accepted. We are lucky to have him!

If you're interested in connecting with Patrick, please email him at: denmanp@arborvest.com.