Meet the Team: Rustin McManis

Rustin McManis has joined the Yeske Buie team as an Associate Financial Planner in our San Francisco, CA office, and his presence and skills have already had a significant, positive impact on our team. Rustin joins us after completing his studies at Liberty University’s School of Business while engaging in their CFP Board registered financial planning program. He also brings professional experience from Edward Jones where he worked with dozens of financial advisors where he supported their needs and focused on enhancing the Client experience at numerous offices throughout the Bay Area.

In this edition of Meet the Team, we learn more about Rustin’s journey into financial planning, who and what are most important in his life, and how he hopes to serve our Clients. We can’t wait for you to learn more about this bright and talented young man.

Yeske Buie: Welcome to the team, Rustin! Let’s start with the question that we ask our Clients to begin their Discovery Meetings: Tell us about yourself…

Rustin McManis: That sounds like a great way to start! I’ve lived in the Bay Area my whole life, and I started my college career at Cal Lutheran as a business major where I also played college basketball. I’ve had a general interest in finance since I was a little kid, so I knew I wanted to pursue something in finance, but I wasn’t exactly sure what that would be.

COVID hit at the end of my freshman year and sent everyone home, and I decided that I wouldn’t return the following year. I instead took classes at my local community college and continued to reevaluate what I wanted to do and decide which direction I wanted to go. A friend of mine went to Liberty University in Virginia and spoke glowingly of it, and, in addition to the education, I wanted to check out a new part of the country.

I met the financial planning professor there and he turned out to be a great mentor to me. I was trying to decide if I wanted to focus on finance or financial planning. He broke it down for me and everything he said about financial planning seemed very in line with my desires and skill sets. His care and mentorship also helped me get my foot in the door at Edward Jones, where I worked as an intern, and guided me to Yeske Buie. I’m very grateful for my relationship with him.

Yeske Buie: What a great story. It feels like such a great example of the saying, “everything happens for a reason.” Let’s continue diving into your journey to finding Yeske Buie – what else can you tell us about how that unfolded and what attracted you here?

Rustin McManis: Sure. So, like I said, I found Yeske Buie through my financial planning professor, who is a man I respect very much and would meet with on a consistent basis during my time at Liberty. I kept him up-to-date on my job search, and asked him to keep me in mind for any open positions he knew of in the Bay Area. The opportunity with Yeske Buie came up and he forwarded it to me. I researched the company and it didn’t take long for me to realize that this was the ideal opportunity for someone like me starting in this profession. It was clear that this is a firm focused on providing Clients with excellent service, mentoring and supporting young professionals, and building authentic relationships, all of which is very important to me. I applied for the job immediately!

Yeske Buie: Beautifully said and we’re so grateful for your professor. I’m curious to learn more about your interest in serving Clients and building authentic relationships. Can you share a bit more on that?

Rustin McManis: Of course – relationship building is probably my favorite aspect of financial planning. I’m still very new to the profession, but it’s what has interested me most thus far. I believe that in order to serve a Client to the best of your abilities, you have to genuinely get to know them; the more you know about them, the better you can serve them. I find it very fulfilling to be able to serve Clients and build deep relationships with them.

Yeske Buie: We couldn’t agree more. It’s certainly one of the backbones of our philosophy and approach to financial planning. In a similar vein, as you know, another backbone of our firm is our set of core values. Which of these core values resonates most with you and why?

Rustin McManis: It’s got to be Learn Big at this time in my life. It’s a big adjustment graduating from college and entering the workforce for the first time, and what really resonates with me is the idea of continuous better and improvement and having a beginner’s mindset. I feel pretty confident in my abilities and talents for my age, and yet I’m really aware that I have a long way to go. There’s a lot of room for development and improvement and that’s my primary focus as I begin my career – having a beginner’s mindset, being open to feedback, and doing my best to learn from everyone else at Yeske Buie. I feel that everyone here also embraces and lives by the beliefs within Learn Big, and that stands out to me as a young man in the workforce and reassures me that this is a place where I can grow and hopefully become the best financial planner I can be.

Yeske Buie: Well said! Let’s shift gears a bit and talk about what makes you, YOU. Who or what inspires and motivates you?

Rustin McManis: I’d say that my family inspires me and motivates me to be the best version of myself. My parents and all my siblings are very hard workers, and I’m motivated to be like them. Eventually, I want to have a family of my own and be able to provide for them. In order to do that, I know I need to work hard and be diligent, and the precedent that my parents have set and the role models they’ve been for me have been inspiring and motivating.

Yeske Buie: Wow, that kind of love and mentorship is truly inspiring. Alright, one more fun one: what might someone be surprised to know about you?

Rustin McManis: That’s a fun question. I love to travel! I’ve been to a lot of different countries, especially in Europe – Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, England, Scotland, Wales, Guatemala, Iceland. One of my Live Big goals is to travel to Japan. I try to do one trip every year with family or friends. In addition to the experiences you get from traveling, I also love planning the trips and building the itineraries. I pride myself on my ability to travel on a budget – even a broke college student can travel the world!

I’ll also add that I love movies, my dog is basically my best friend, and I played college basketball. I’m still a huge basketball fan, so another Live Big goal of mine is to watch a game at every NBA team’s stadium.

Yeske Buie: Wonderful! We so appreciate you sharing all of this with us. It’s been a pleasure getting to learn more about you. We look forward to being a part of your journey as your career unfolds and continuing to learn from you and about you.