My path to financial planning started with an eye-opening experience: arriving as a freshman on campus at Notre Dame. I, the youngest of six kids and the first in my family to leave home for college, witnessed firsthand how different my financial experience was vs. most of my peers. 

It wasn’t hard to recognize other first-generation students – we were the ones with on-campus jobs, we knew everyone in the financial aid office, and we knew the FAFSA inside and out (we had to fill it out ourselves). No one prepared us, and success was dependent on our ability to figure it out.

Graduating from college didn’t change my financial circumstances. I graduated with $60k in student loans and no clear idea how to eliminate my debt and start building wealth. It frustrated me. I turned to the internet and discovered the world of personal finance. For the past decade, I’ve consumed all of the personal finance blogs, books, and podcasts. In 2020, I officially made the career pivot and became a financial planner.

I worked with high-net-worth individuals, and one thing stood out to me – I didn’t see myself in any of them. They didn’t have to figure it out in the same way I did. I wanted to help people like me.

That’s why I founded Canela Wealth – to provide support and guidance to people who don’t have a financial safety net. To give people figuring it out access to knowledge, best practices, and strategies to help them feel secure and always keep their goals within reach.