I was born, as these stories traditionally begin, and much like David Copperfield, soon found myself thrust into the circumstances that would shape the rest of my life. In my case, those circumstances involved being introduced to the working world by my mother, Sherryle Cantu, at The Advisors Group.

Some of my earliest memories are from the office. My first nursery, if one can call it that, was the back room, conveniently located beside the tax returns. Long before I understood what a tax return was, I was already spending my childhood in an office surrounded by them. Quite a bit has changed since those days.

Eventually, I left Lubbock and moved to DFW where I spent the next six years working in Audio-Visual productions. I loved the work and built a life around it, but unfortunately, COVID brought the industry to a standstill and ultimately forced me to reconsider where I was headed.

When I moved back home, my mother posed a deceptively simple question: “What do you think about doing what I do?”

That question ultimately changed the direction of my life. I decided to put myself through college and pursue a new path, building on the experiences I had accumulated along the way, and obtaining my Associate’s degree in 2024.

Today, I’m continuing that journey by studying for the Enrolled Agent examination. What began with childhood memories in the back room of a tax office has, somewhat unexpectedly, come full circle. I started out surrounded by tax returns without understanding what they meant; now I help prepare tax returns under the supervision of our Enrolled Agent.