Who Is FI Venturers, Part I: The Early Years

Our Story

Have you been wondering, “Who is FI Venturers?” We’re a husband-wife dynamic duo. We thought now is a great time to introduce ourselves and share our story. To understand how we got to where we are today, it’s important to journey back to the beginning.

The Early Years

We currently live in the mid-west, which is also where we grew up. People who live in our area get to know one another by asking, “Where did you go to high school?” Yup, it’s that type of place.

We had similar upbringings. Our parents both worked hard to pay the bills, but sometimes worried about making ends meet. While we never went without a meal, we knew money was a source of stress for our families. We both graduated high school and went on to college, as expected. He worked all through college to pay his tuition, while I had a buffer with scholarships and covered my other expenses through my school’s work-study program.

After graduating college, our paths collided.

In true mid-west fashion we met via a (persistent) mutual acquaintance in 2007. Our first date was ice-cream at Baskin Robbins (not even Graeters! IYKYK). It was my one night free from graduate school classes, but right after a dental procedure that left his mouth numb. Ah, we still laugh about that! The date was more to appease our matchmaker. But, I guess she knew what she was doing because five years later we married in 2012.

When we met in 2007, he had just started fresh out of college in a IT consultant role. I was in my first position in Human Resources while pursuing my Masters degree in the evenings. We were in the very early stage of building our careers, and we hit the ground running. Our families had taught us to work hard, and that is what we did. We were ambitious, and not ones to settle for anything.

Over the years we climbed career ladders, changed positions, enjoyed promotions, participated in leadership programs, attained certifications, won local awards for our work and contributions, and networked as though our lives depended on it.

We learned hard lessons through our work experiences. Mostly the old clichés-money isn’t everything and the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, in addition to moving up doesn’t guarantee happiness or job satisfaction, and just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t mean you should.

During our career-building years, we also learned some important things about ourselves.

To begin, we are both pretty introverted. While we love connecting with others, you can find him tinkering in the garage, working on cars, or building spreadsheets to optimize and track… anything. Meanwhile, you can find me reading, journaling, trip planning, or endlessly editing photos.

We also discovered we aren’t afraid of hard work, career or otherwise. We are drawn to the DIY philosophy, particularly related to home renovations and travel. We bought a house in 2011 and spent the next 6 years completely flipping it. He did the heavy lifting with amazing results, while saving us a boatload of money (and, of course the personal satisfaction every time he walks into our home).

When it came to travel we started off with resorts and cruises, but quickly discovered DIY travel was more our style. Note: And, the slight fact I’m a control freak for planning and researching every aspect of our travel experience…

We rented houses (or shacks) in tropical locations, such as St. John, Eleuthera and Guana Cay, where sometimes the only mode of transportation was a golf cart (!!). We planned extensive road trips to see US national parks, and began incorporating amazing hikes, scenic drives, and the beauty of nature. Our interest in the RV lifestyle was growing, and we dipped our toes in by renting RVs in 2019 (Class C) and 2020 (travel trailer).

While not outrageous spenders, during this time we definitely had a “we’ve earned it” mentality when it came to our money. We appreciated everything our families had done for us and their struggles, and we were determined to build a comfortable life, free from the financial worry our families experienced.

Discovering FI: The Pivotal Moment

Despite all the “success,” in 2018 I experienced a bit of a quarter life crisis while in my role as an HR Director for a large non-profit. I realized I had no desire to climb any further, which was unsettling.

As we navigated the feelings and options, my husband found the Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) movement and went down the rabbit hole. The premise of the FIRE movement is to save and invest your money aggressively to build wealth. When you can cover all your expenses through the wealth you have built (FI), you can then retire early (RE).

After all, there is no hard and fast rule you have to wait until 65 to retire!

This was a pivotal moment in our lives. We did a deep dive into our financial situation, and started looking at where our money was going. Surprisingly we discovered financial independence (having enough money to cover expenses for the rest of our lives without having additional income) was attainable for us within approximately 8-10 years if we made smarter decisions with our money now.

Drawn to the freedom financial independence would allow us, we were all in! We also realized living a more intentional lifestyle and building a life we didn’t want to escape aligned with our personal values.

Have you ever found yourself living for the weekends, or your next vacation? We’ve been there too. With FI(RE) we saw an alternate, attainable path just unfolding for us!

What has our journey to Financial Independence taught us? We reflect on five-years of pursuing FI here.

Check out Part II of our story as we share more about who we are, and the actions we took after discovering the FIRE movement that ultimately led to the creation of FI Venturers. We’ll also share more about what you can expect on our site!

Thanks for being here!

And, to those who celebrate, happy holidays!