Beyond the Portfolio

We are in a relationship business. Part of the founding vision for Greenleaf Trust was to create a holistic wealth management firm where teammates could have more than just transactional relationships with clients. They could have meaningful long-term relationships with clients built on trust and support. They could elevate the client experience by really getting to know them, their family and their needs.

Thirty-five years ago, I got into the financial services business because I had a passion for investing and helping clients with their financial lives. What I found when I started working at Greenleaf Trust is that it can become so much more. You develop trusted friendships with clients that inspire you to do more for them.

One of those clients was Frank Taylor. Frank became a Greenleaf Trust client in 2000, and I was lucky enough to serve as his wealth management advisor, although, I think my real title at the time was junior research analyst. Frank became one of my first clients. His main long-term goal was a retirement filled with travel.

Our meetings together quickly evolved from me wanting to be all business and review the intricacies of his portfolio to the two of us just talking about life. Frank was a magnificent conversationalist; asking thoughtful questions and then listening intently. Through our conversations, he taught me about the importance of mindfulness and how to be a better listener. I’m still aspiring to become one.

Frank retired from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in 2007, married his husband, Barry, and together they moved down to Naples, Florida in 2008. That’s when his long-term goal came to fruition. Some of his travel adventures included communing with blue-footed boobies in the Galapagos Islands, hanging out with polar bears on the shore of the Hudson Bay, camping on Ellesmere Island near the North Pole, swimming in the Amazon River, walking on safari in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, working in Alaska as a garbage collector and riding his Harley. The same one he arrived on for our first meeting.

Over the years, whenever the Odars would visit Naples, we always spent time with Frank, Barry, and Frank’s son, Damian and his family. We would have dinner, go to the beach, take a boat ride or simply have a glass of wine. As meaningful as my friendship with Frank was, my friendship with his son Damian and his family is maybe even more so.

Sadly, Frank Taylor passed away on March 17, 2026.

Frank would not have liked that I wrote this article about him. Sorry, Frank. But I wanted to highlight what I believe is at the heart of our work at Greenleaf Trust. We help clients pursue their financial goals, but over time, we often become part of each other’s lives. Those relationships are built on trust, strengthened through shared experiences and remembered long after the portfolio reviews are over. Thank you, Frank, for your friendship, your wisdom and the example you set. You made me a better advisor-and a better person.