Member Spotlight – Evan Bedel
Evan grew up here in Indy with his parents and one older brother. He had a very active childhood as his parents kept him and his brother incredibly busy. Between basketball, baseball, soccer, cross country, or track practice, there wasn’t much time for sitting around or being lazy! Weekends he had out of town tournaments which kept the whole family very active, too.
After graduating from Brebeuf, Evan was off to Wittenberg University where he was recruited to play basketball. He quickly learned that there are not many professional basketball opportunities for a slow, Division 3 basketball player so he stopped playing and joined a fraternity, Phi Kappa Psi. Evan graduated in 2005 with a Business Management degree. Upon graduation, he sought the answer to this question from his mother: “What’s the best financial planning school in the country?” Elaine quickly replied “Texas Tech” and he said “Where!???” Next thing he knew, he was off to Lubbock, Texas where he graduated with a Master’s degree in Personal Financial Planning in 2008. He feels he made some lifelong connections in Texas and enjoyed his time there very much.
His first Financial Planning position was with Clarus Financial, in Cincinnati, OH. The firm was owned by a single owner with Evan and a part time administrative assistant only. With the onset of the financial recession at the start of his career, he indicated that he was certainly “baptized by fire” as a new financial planner and it was great experience to kicking off his career. Today, he truly enjoys helping young families reach their financial goals at Bedel Financial Consulting. He can remember as a teen working at the firm, he and Elaine may have not always seen eye to eye, probably because he was a teenager. However, today he feels he and Elaine work incredibly well together. He sees her as a great mentor to him and she has certainly given him lots of advice, yet at the same time is very determined to allow him to fend for himself and provides him the opportunity to make his own path along the way.
His decision to join Rotary was based on wanting to join a world class organization outside of his profession which has the goal of helping community prosper. He has visited some groups within Rotary to get his feet wet, but believes that he is probably best suited for a budgeting role with Rotary and is planning to seek this type of role as soon as he can.
Personally, Evan is married to Abbe, a mental health counselor for St. Vincent New Hope. She is a home based therapist working with families that are in need or at risk. These are often families who have lost children due to neglect or other unfortunate circumstances. One exciting piece of news for Evan and Abbe is that they are expecting their first child in January 2012. The whole family is thrilled at the prospect of having this new little member of the family join them. Evan is very excited to be the best Dad that he can possibly be and to start his family.
As to the most exciting thing that ever happened to him… he and his teammates won an Indiana State Basketball Championship in 2000! (Not everyone can say that!) As to the most interesting place he has ever been… he traveled to China with his college basketball team for two weeks to play Shanghai and Beijing Universities. While there, he experienced some culture shock as to the level of poverty and lifestyle of many people living in China. It made him appreciate life in the US. As to his free time… Evan hangs out with his “virtual friends” through Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn (isn’t this how we communicate today when we have busy lives?) and loves to be with his wife, dogs, play a little basketball and exercise when he can.
As to his community involvement…he is involved as a Board Member, Financial Planning Association of Greater Indiana; Investment Committee, Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame; Member, Indianapolis Alumni Association of Phi Kappa Psi and Member, Young Professionals of Central Indiana.
As to favorite quotes and words to live by…
Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming. – John Wooden
From there to here, and here to there, funny things are everywhere. – Dr. Seuss
As to what is next for Evan… for the long term he is looking forward to raising a family, staying connected with the community and helping his clients. For the short term, he will be participating in a 10-12 mile obstacle course designed by British Special Forces in November, it’s called Tough Mudder. He has never done anything like this, so he feels it could be the worst idea ever!
(He claims that his true motivation for doing this is the “free beer” at the end of the event that he will enjoy!) Good luck Evan!
Written by Dene Dresch Nidiffer, IIDA, RID of Lohr Design, Inc.
