A native of Oregon, Cole grew up in the small town of Molalla on a 4-acre farm where his family raised goats, cows, and horses. He stayed close to home for college and attended the University of Oregon, graduating with honors with a B.S. in Business Administration, specializing in marketing and minoring in Economics. Cole continued his education, and at just 23 years old, he obtained his MBA in Entrepreneurship and Strategy from U of O.  

While studying for his MBA, Cole worked at the Oregon Consulting Group, which is a student-led consulting firm that takes on a wide range of projects. As part of OCG, Cole developed KPI Dashboards for a cannabis retailer, as well as strategized the opening of a new center of excellence in additive metal manufacturing. Later, Cole spent two terms as a project manager at the UO Entrepreneurship Center, where he oversaw 19 client-facing consulting projects. 

Although his background is not explicitly in finance, Cole spent time building Excel models throughout his consulting work, as well as in an operations-focused internship. During his MBA program, Cole took a class on corporate valuation, and coupled with his work building Excel models, he began to develop a passion for finance. When he saw an opportunity to pivot into a role in the financial industry that combined his love for valuation and building out spreadsheets, Cole was ecstatic. Once Cole met his future colleagues at FP, his initial impression was only reinforced by the team's welcoming nature, and he knew the company was an instant culture fit. 

As a Valuation Analyst, Cole serves as a primary point of contact for our clients engaging in valuation services. He is principally focused on data collection, data analysis, and deliverable production, and assists our senior analysts in the latter of these processes. In this role, Cole mentioned that he is “hoping to learn more about valuation methods and how they apply to succession planning as well as M&A,” as well as expand his skills related to CRM systems like Salesforce. 

When he is not at the office, Cole is cooking up a storm in the kitchen—whether it be smash burgers, steaks, or his latest fried rice creation. He has also enjoyed immersing himself in diverse cultures, and trying different cuisines, on his many travels. When he was abroad with his MBA program, Cole had the opportunity to travel to Paris, France, London, England, Mykonos, Greece, and Milan, Italy. It is safe to say that Cole caught the travel bug after this amazing trip—and has become increasingly interested in exploring more of the world. Cole also maintains an active lifestyle, spending much of his time at the gym, running, or playing spikeball with his brothers.