I am most inspired when I express uninhibited positivity while empowering others to create wealth for today and generations wealth for tomorrow, so that we all might thrive in life’s abundance now, and pass that opportunity on to those we hold dear.

My name is James Sias and I’m a queer and polyamorous CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®. I am a US Navy veteran, having spent nearly 8 years in service. I joined in January 2006, and after an honorable discharge in September 2013 I used what I learned in service to write the standard operating procedures for the insurance agency I joined after getting my license in November 2013. I further honed my entrepreneurial craft by earning my Bachelor’s in Business Administration with a dual focus in Finance and Project management from National University in 2016, then found my true calling and earned my CFP® mark in April 2025.

I wrote the text in italics above, my “why” statement, back in 2019. At the time I was building an insurance agency with my brother and other partners. I had visions of grandeur, big plans and dreams of building a billion-dollar empire. I was sold on the story that being extraordinary was my calling, and that I had to hustle, hustle, hustle to get there. Fast forward to 2024, five short years later and the world had changed. My world had changed. While the pandemic slowed us all down, I broke my back (literally and figuratively) hustling too hard. While recovering from my injury over the course of 6 months I realized that I had, in a small way, won the capitalism game! I semi-retired at age 38 and spent the next 2 years discovering (or perhaps rediscovering) my true calling: financial planning.

I come from a modest upbringing. While my family never dealt with food scarcity or housing insecurity, my parents drove embarrassingly old and ugly beater vehicles, shopped at K-Mart and Family Bargain Center for our school clothes, and cut coupons like no one’s business to make ends meet. Somehow they still managed to buy cleats for their 3 boys during each little league season and kept the fridge stocked with milk and soda, but (in my mama’s words), it was only by the grace of God.

My parents (my mom, especially) are the most selfless people I know. Despite being a half-step above poverty, my mom unfailingly paid her 10% tithe to her church. Our home was open to seemingly anyone who needed a place to crash. In high school, there were between 13-17 people crammed into our 3-bedroom home. My mom fed the neighborhood kids, our baseball teams, and our friends whenever they came over. Later in life, my mom grew her local food bank from serving 150 families per month to more than 700 each week. She has a heart of pure gold, and I endeavor to be as much like my mom as I can.

This is where I come from, who I am, and why it is in my heart to help the most vulnerable among us. My bootcamp bestie gave me the nickname “Beans,” and the idea of counting beans resonated with me for several reasons, not the least of them being memories of sorting beans with my mom when she made arroz y frijoles con tortillas for my dad, my brothers, and me.

I play guitar and drums (neither particularly well), I have a 2-year old Rosarito rescue mutt name General Leia Organa, and when we aren’t walking our (required) six daily miles, we love taking advantage of San Diego’s beautiful beaches, spending time with friends, family, and community, and finding ways to be of service to others.