Earlier than he donned a swimsuit and tie as a wealth supervisor, Christopher Stroup wore a tough hat, snake boots, security glasses, fire-resistant clothes and a hydrogen sulfide monitor to work each day.
Working as a petroleum and gasoline engineer for Chevron on the oil fields of the San Joaquin Valley in California, Stroup’s gear protected him from the hazards that include engaged on wells and derricks all day.
“I used to be at all times oriented towards math and science. These had been my topics that I cherished probably the most,” Stroup stated. “And so moving into engineering was one thing the place I at all times thought that is the trail that I used to be going to go on.”
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Rising up within the small Appalachian city of Troy, Pennsylvania throughout the shale gasoline growth within the early 2000s, with the biggest pure gasoline basin in North America in his yard, Stroup felt that going into petroleum and gasoline engineering can be a pure profession path to comply with.
Stroup began working at Chevron proper out of school. The trade was thriving, with oil at $100 a barrel. However by the following yr, Stroup stated, it was right down to $20 a barrel.
“I used to be lucky to take care of my job, however there have been mates of mine who weren’t so fortunate,” Stroup stated. “By way of that have I used to be different jobs, different careers. How may I pivot into one thing else?”
Realizing that his specialty in petroleum engineering “pigeonholed” him when it comes to profession alternatives, Stroup began to contemplate alternate paths.
Revelations and a brand new trajectory
In the meantime, modifications in his private life additionally pushed him to rethink the trajectory he had been following.
Stroup had come out as homosexual a yr after he moved to California to change into an engineer. He quickly realized he didn’t really feel valued as an worker at Chevron or as a resident of the conservative city of Bakersfield.
“In a short time into that, I had realized that wasn’t going to work for me,” Stroup stated. “Once I got here out, I stated that my authenticity was now not negotiable. The Christopher outdoors of labor wanted to be the identical Christopher at work.”
So Stroup traveled again throughout the nation to Philadelphia to earn his MBA from Drexel College and discover these newfound revelations about his skilled and private identities.
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When Stroup began his MBA, he wasn’t certain what profession path he wished to pursue however knew he had an curiosity in finance. After studying a job posting for a non-public wealth advisor, Stroup noticed a possibility to mix his pursuits in finance, entrepreneurship and fixed studying.
“Once I checked out what pushed the happiness needle in my private life, it was the relationships that I had, and so I wished to have the ability to deliver that issue into my profession in order that I may have success,” Stroup stated. “Our position because the advisor could be very human-first, and being an advisor and shifting into wealth administration captured all these values that I wished to ensure that I had on this subsequent step of my profession as an advisor.”
Discovering success, serving a neighborhood
After finishing his MBA, Stroup began as an affiliate monetary advisor at Santa Monica, California-based RIA
“Finally, I used to be loving what I used to be doing as a result of I had the chance to work with shoppers that I loved and cherished — and at a agency that finally was permitting me to be Christopher,” he stated.
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Stroup’s colleague at Abacus, monetary advisor Kasey McManis, stated that Stroup’s engineering background helped him as an advisor.
“He is acquired that tremendous quantitative focus, nerdy spreadsheet-math-guy form of mindset,” McManis stated. “However he blends that with an important private method, nice bedside method and simply an overservice form of mentality towards his shoppers which I attempt to uphold as properly.”
At Abacus, Stroup suggested entrepreneurs and people from the LGBTQ+ neighborhood. He spearheaded Abacus’ Delight Month Professional Bono Monetary Providers, providing free monetary consultations for LGBTQ+ shoppers.
“Christopher particularly is filling a extremely cool area of interest in that he is a homosexual advisor and he is acquired a background, a historical past and a information of the queer neighborhood that, frankly, not that many advisors can deliver to the desk,” McManis stated. “So he is bringing to mild and servicing a bunch of parents that I’d say prior to now had been perhaps underrepresented on the advisory entrance and positively underserved on the shopper entrance.”
In 2024, Stroup put out his personal shingle in Santa Monica and opened
Stroup has partnered with
“Everybody deserves entry to high quality monetary recommendation,” Stroup stated. “And so I would like to have the ability to help and uplift the neighborhood that I am part of that actually is not essentially getting the help that they should assist make high quality monetary selections, and get rid of wealth gaps and issues like that.”
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As a proudly LGBTQ+ advisor, Stroup desires to be a job mannequin for many who don’t but really feel accepted throughout the trade.
“I feel a part of it’s simply attempting to be a beacon for that, in order that different advisors perhaps have a secure area for them, or they really feel snug taking that leap as a result of they see different advisors who’re open about their sexuality.”
McManis is optimistic about Stroup’s future, noting the spectacular momentum of his profession.
“He is made an incredible quantity of progress in a brief period of time,” he stated. “So it will be cool to see what he is doing along with his shoppers and his occupation in a number of years. I am fairly excited for him.”
In his personal imaginative and prescient of the longer term, Stroup desires to attract on his entrepreneurial spirit to proceed to help the LGBTQ+ neighborhood and entrepreneurs extra broadly.
“Once I take into consideration my future, that is the place I see it going: constructing extra of a enterprise or mannequin round supporting that neighborhood, as a result of that is the place success and pleasure lives for myself because the advisor working on this trade,” he stated.