My Story
Joseph P. White, CFA, CFP®
Portfolio Manager
Wealth Management Services, Columbus
Joe White does not have an inflated opinion of himself, which from the start draws you to him. He credits others and takes no credit himself. Aside from his competitive nature and passion for helping others, his driving force seems to be gratitude, especially toward his parents.
Joe grew up in the leafy Dayton suburb of Bellbrook, Ohio. His mother, Christina, is a registered nurse. His father, John, is an accountant at Wright State University. The way Joe explains it, their lives were not about their careers. Their top priorities, by far, were their faith and Joe and his two younger sisters.
“We never had the things other kids had,” he says. “Money was tight, but that wasn’t what mattered to Mom and Dad. They wanted us to have a faith-based education. I went to St. Charles for grade school and Archbishop Alter for high school. My parents made it to every game, every event. I don’t have a memory of either not being there.
“Seeing how hard they worked to put us first, knowing the long hours they worked, all of that motivated me to work as hard as I could so that, one day, I could provide stability for a family of my own. My parents gave me the best example of a marriage I could hope for.”
Joe recalls being surrounded by friends in junior high and high school who were what he calls overachievers. This was at Archbishop Alter High, a school with a tradition of athletic and academic excellence.
“Many of them were all-star athletes, star students, stars of one kind of another. Which I was not. My goal was to support my friends, seeing the formulas that worked for them as they climbed their various ladders. I saw how hard work and high expectations translate to results, which changed my life.”
Joe learned about humility during those years. He fit in as the team manager, not exactly a position for covering oneself in glory. Then he decided to change his destiny. He applied lessons gleaned from his friends. He dedicated himself to working hard and getting in better shape. He grew five inches his sophomore year. And he made the basketball team, this time as a player.
“One thing I learned is the importance of doing little things to help the team succeed, even if it’s from the bench -- talking to the guys on the floor, keeping the energy up, bringing attention to detail and trying to make my teammates better. I took that lesson to college and thought, what are all the things the other students aren’t doing that I could to help me be successful, other than just working hard? Like sitting in the front of the class, taking office hours with professors, showing them gratitude, going the extra mile. The same concepts apply professionally, too. What little things can I do to help my clients and coworkers?”
Joe met Maria through a dating app. On their first date, they were having such a good time just talking that they drove 10 minutes past the restaurant where he’d made reservations. He was impressed that she was in medical school, about to become a pediatrician. It impressed him, too, that she was her high school valedictorian, class president and an all-state soccer player on the state championship team.
“She is strikingly beautiful, very sweet and very smiley. Most importantly, our values are totally aligned. Finding each other was everything we had always prayed for.” They were married in May 2023. He’s very much looking forward to being a dad, whenever that time comes.
Joe targeted Johnson Investment Counsel coming out of undergraduate school and heading into graduate school at Wright State. “What I’ve found here are people who believe in the values Tim Johnson started the firm with, people who genuinely care about our clients and are vested in seeing them succeed. It’s all about helping our clients live life on their terms with the wealth they’ve created. Everyone shares that same passion. It feels right to me.”
Joe grew up in the leafy Dayton suburb of Bellbrook, Ohio. His mother, Christina, is a registered nurse. His father, John, is an accountant at Wright State University. The way Joe explains it, their lives were not about their careers. Their top priorities, by far, were their faith and Joe and his two younger sisters.
“We never had the things other kids had,” he says. “Money was tight, but that wasn’t what mattered to Mom and Dad. They wanted us to have a faith-based education. I went to St. Charles for grade school and Archbishop Alter for high school. My parents made it to every game, every event. I don’t have a memory of either not being there.
“Seeing how hard they worked to put us first, knowing the long hours they worked, all of that motivated me to work as hard as I could so that, one day, I could provide stability for a family of my own. My parents gave me the best example of a marriage I could hope for.”
Joe recalls being surrounded by friends in junior high and high school who were what he calls overachievers. This was at Archbishop Alter High, a school with a tradition of athletic and academic excellence.
“Many of them were all-star athletes, star students, stars of one kind of another. Which I was not. My goal was to support my friends, seeing the formulas that worked for them as they climbed their various ladders. I saw how hard work and high expectations translate to results, which changed my life.”
Joe learned about humility during those years. He fit in as the team manager, not exactly a position for covering oneself in glory. Then he decided to change his destiny. He applied lessons gleaned from his friends. He dedicated himself to working hard and getting in better shape. He grew five inches his sophomore year. And he made the basketball team, this time as a player.
“One thing I learned is the importance of doing little things to help the team succeed, even if it’s from the bench -- talking to the guys on the floor, keeping the energy up, bringing attention to detail and trying to make my teammates better. I took that lesson to college and thought, what are all the things the other students aren’t doing that I could to help me be successful, other than just working hard? Like sitting in the front of the class, taking office hours with professors, showing them gratitude, going the extra mile. The same concepts apply professionally, too. What little things can I do to help my clients and coworkers?”
Joe met Maria through a dating app. On their first date, they were having such a good time just talking that they drove 10 minutes past the restaurant where he’d made reservations. He was impressed that she was in medical school, about to become a pediatrician. It impressed him, too, that she was her high school valedictorian, class president and an all-state soccer player on the state championship team.
“She is strikingly beautiful, very sweet and very smiley. Most importantly, our values are totally aligned. Finding each other was everything we had always prayed for.” They were married in May 2023. He’s very much looking forward to being a dad, whenever that time comes.
Joe targeted Johnson Investment Counsel coming out of undergraduate school and heading into graduate school at Wright State. “What I’ve found here are people who believe in the values Tim Johnson started the firm with, people who genuinely care about our clients and are vested in seeing them succeed. It’s all about helping our clients live life on their terms with the wealth they’ve created. Everyone shares that same passion. It feels right to me.”