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Jake grew up in Kearney, Missouri and developed a passion for sports early in life. He stayed busy playing basketball, baseball and soccer through his youth. Jake ended up accepting a basketball scholarship to Baker University and absolutely loved his time there and graduated with his Bachelor of Business Finance degree in 2022. He has now retired to “over-the-hill” basketball, softball and volleyball leagues and plays a round of golf or a few frames of bowling with friends at every opportunity.
Jake owns a home in Liberty, Missouri. He currently lives with his version of man’s best friend, his dog Kobe, who rules the house and is on high alert for delivery persons, squirrels and anyone who has the nerve to walk by the house.
Jake has been a volunteer for Hillcrest Hope and The Big Event as well as being a member of the Children’s Mercy Planned Giving Council. Jake is always working to get better and is in the process of obtaining his Certified IRA Services Professional designation.
Sam and wife, Rachel, own a home not far from the Kansas City airport…perfect for getting away to the beach. The house is guarded to perfection by their four-legged security team, Ollie and Mia. Sam spent most of youth growing up in Kearney running from one athletic event to another, playing baseball, basketball and soccer.
He went on to play college baseball at Robert Morris University, where he earned his Bachelor of Business Administration graduating Cum Laude and was named to the Academic All-American team twice., Just as important, made some life-long friends and met his future wife. Sam has officially traded in his baseball gear in for a set of golf clubs and plays as often as he can.
Sam had to let the clubs gather a little dust for his first couple of years after Robert Morris as he pursued both his Master of Science in Finance degree at the University of Missouri- Kansas City followed by studying, and passing, the CFP exam. On his way to getting his CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER designation, he also graduated from the College of Financial Planning in Denver, Colorado. If that sounds exhausting, it was.
Sam is a member of the Children’s Mercy Planned Giving Council, a volunteer budget counselor at Hillcrest Hope, and has been active with Ronald McDonald House Charities and Mercy Communities.
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AJ grew up in Kearney, Missouri, living the small-town Bulldog life — most of it spent on a baseball diamond, soccer field, or basketball court. Baseball won out, and a scholarship took him to Robert Morris University-Illinois, where he picked up a Bachelor of Business Administration, graduated Cum Laude, and earned Academic All-American honors as a senior. Balancing athletics and academics turned out to be pretty good training for the career ahead.
Not long after graduation, AJ, his brother Sam, and father Joel started White Sand Wealth. While building the firm, he also earned a Master of Science in Finance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and traded in his cleats for golf shoes — a decision his weekends have never recovered from.
AJ and his wife Fran live in Kansas City with their faithful hound Beau, who despite living with a financial planner has shown no interest in building long-term wealth. They’re suspiciously close to T-Shots golf complex, always chasing live music, testing out new restaurants, and staying loyal to the Chiefs, Royals, and Jayhawks. He’s currently working toward his Certified IRA Services Professional designation in his “spare time.”
AJ is a member of the Children’s Mercy Planned Giving Council, a volunteer budget counselor at Hillcrest Hope, and has been active with Ronald McDonald House Charities and Mercy Communities.
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Kelly was proudly raised military — 19 moves, 6 states, and 2 countries by the age of 19. The final move landed her family at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, after her dad retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army. All that moving instilled the importance of family and the value of meaningful connections, and helped shape a pretty distinct set of traits — strong observation skills, social agility, adaptability, and open-mindedness. Kelly now calls Liberty home after attending college at William Jewell College and living in the area for over 20 years.
As an adult, Kelly has no need to move, but vacations are a must and she taught her kids to explore outside state lines. Turns out they listened — oldest son Cooper is in North Carolina serving his country in the Air Force with his wife, Darrian. Chase is at UMKC and Addison is in college at Ole Miss. Kelly is engaged to her forever, Billy, and gained two bonus sons, Jax and Noah, who pretty much live on the baseball field.
While raising kids and supporting them in whatever sport came next — basketball, baseball, wrestling, softball, gymnastics, dance, volleyball, and golf — Kelly earned her CFP, completed a half Ironman, several triathlons, 3 marathons, numerous half marathons, 10ks, 5ks, mud runs, and a Tough Mudder. These days she’s surrounded by great girlfriends who are always up for an adventure, whether hiking, running, skiing, or wine tasting. Billy tells her the next quest is golf.
Kelly graduated from William Jewell College in 2000 with her Bachelor of Arts degree. She is also a graduate of the College for Financial Planning in Denver, Colorado and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. Kelly recently earned her Registered Social Security Analyst designation and is a member of the Financial Planning Association of Kansas City.
Kelly has over twenty years in the financial industry. Prior to joining White Sand Wealth, Kelly was an Investment Manager for BOK Financial and held a similar position with The Commerce Trust Company, a division of Commerce Bank. Kelly was involved in several committees including Equity Strategy, Fixed Income, Alternative Investment Strategy, and Investment Policy.
Kelly currently serves as a budget counselor volunteer for Hillcrest Hope Transitional Housing.
Samantha graduated from the University of Kansas with her BA in 1992. In addition to her Certified Financial Planner designation, Samantha is also an enrolled agent with the Internal Revenue Service. She is a past president of the Financial Planning Association of Kansas City.
Samantha is a TTPros Senior Tax Expert with Intuit. She was also the former Director of Financial Planning with BOK Financial. Prior to her time at BOK, Samantha spent several years with the Legacy Trust Company.
Karen grew up in St Joseph MO and admits that she didn’t get any of her father’s mechanical talents, but she blames her workaholic tendencies on her mom. Karen met her late husband Jerry in the 80’s when she used to decorate cakes for fun and did one for his aunt who wouldn’t stop until she managed to get them set up on a date.
Karen graduated from Missouri Western State University (1982) with her Bachelor of Science. She spent 21 years at Commerce Bank until Joel talked her into “taking a leap of faith” and come to work with him at Blue Ridge Bank and Trust and then BOK Financial and finally White Sand Wealth. She is a graduate of the Cannon Trust School at Boston University which allowed her to achieve her Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor (CTFA) and Certified IRA Professional (CISP) designations.
She and her husband were blessed with two kids, Corbin and Kaylee. Corbin is a fireman like his father and Kaylee is a cost accountant with workaholic tendencies like her mom. She is crazy about her grandkids. The oldest is Sawyer, son of Corbin and Christian. They live in Springfield and he makes her feel like she is watching her son grow up all over again. Kaylee and David have three daughters, twins, Karoline and Emeline and newest addition, Elizabeth who all live just six minutes from their “Mee Maw” and she gets to spend a lot of time spoiling them.
When she’s not spoiling the grans, she loves taking care of her clients and working to help them meet their financial goals and has found that White Sand Wealth is an awesome place to do just that.
Karen is a member of the Children’s Mercy Hospital Planned Giving Council and a former member of the Park University Planned Giving Council. She is also the former Chairman of the Missouri Bankers Association Trust Services committee.
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Joel loved growing up in Hays, Kansas, a true slice of americana. His parents were both WWII veterans and Joel grew up dreaming of pitching for the Royals, but his mid-80s fastball paid for some college but didn’t impress the scouts. He still loves watching the Royals, along with the Chiefs and Jayhawks every chance he gets.
Joel graduated from Fort Hays State University (1986) with his BBA and moved to Topeka, Kansas for a few years before finally landing in Kansas City. The largest building in Hays was four stories, so working in downtown KC was a bit of a culture shock. While working in the Trust Department at Commerce bank, Joel went to night school and obtained his MBA from the University of Missouri- Kansas City (1992).
In his early years at Commerce Joel found his passion to help people achieve their financial dreams so he set out to pursue the education needed. He ended up a graduate of the Cannon Trust School at Pepperdine University and the College for Financial Planning, Denver, Colorado. All that evening studying led him to gain his CFP®, Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor (CTFA) and Certified IRA Professional (CISP) designations.
In between work and studying, Joel found time to get out and spend time with good friends. He was lucky enough to bump into his now wife of thirty years, Tina, on a random evening at Plaza while out with his buddies. That random night at the Plaza led to three fantastic sons and building a home on several acres in between Liberty and Kearney. Joel is a yard freak and enjoys working outside and then hanging out around the pool.
While chasing the boys around the country watching their baseball, basketball and soccer games, Joel left his last position at Commerce Trust Company after sixteen years as the Director of Sales. Over the next decade or so Joel also held positions as the Division Manager for the Wealth Management Group at Blue Ridge Bank and Trust Market Manager for BOK Financial.
With all the boys off at college, Joel became convinced the large institutions drive for profit didn’t always match up with his desire to see his clients achieve their financial goals. With his oldest sons, AJ and Sam graduating, the three of them took a crazy chance and started White Sand Wealth in May of 2019. With some initial success, we decided we needed an office and took another chance by putting a group together to purchase an abandoned building built in 1889 just off the Liberty Square known as Corbin Mill. We made the purchase right in the middle of the covid global pandemic but couldn’t be happier that we did.
Son Jake joined the team after his graduation as did three of the most talented and dedicated people Joel had met in Karen, Kelly and Samantha. The rest is history and our whole team loves working together and taking care of the best clients we could ever hope for.
Joel is a member of the Children’s Mercy Hospital Planned Giving Council. He is also the former Chairman of the Missouri Bankers Association Trust Services Committee, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Kansas City Corporate Club, and Vice Chairman of Hillcrest Transitional Housing of Clay County. Joel is a current member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) and former member of the Financial Planning Association (FPA).
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