About TJ Stevenson, CFP^®, EA

My journey through the finance industry started during college as a summer job selling insurance so I could spend the summer in my hometown of Austin with my friends. That summer job ignited a passion for personal finance that has led to an incredibly rewarding career as a financial planner.  

After graduating from Baylor University with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, I moved back to Austin and began managing the trading desk at an investment advisory firm. The work I did there gave me a lot of experience handling portfolios and helped me get my basic securities licenses.  I felt especially lucky because my girlfriend and future wife, Caroline, also moved to Austin at that time and started working for a financial technology company.

That first job later opened the door for me with a large, fee-only financial planning company where I spent the next seven years advising high net-worth clients and managing a team of planners.  During that time I became a CFP^® (CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™) practitioner and was fortunate to cross paths with our very own Scott Ela who became a friend and mentor.  Similar to Scott, a few years after he opened Avant Financial Advisors, I felt a similar calling to use my talents in a different setting.  As fate would have it, my calling came at the same time Scott was looking to expand the firm, and here we are!

Caroline and I tied the knot in 2017, and since that time have been blessed with two children, Barrett and Abigail.  Parenting has become our favorite way to spend time outside of our careers, but mixing in golf, exercise, and various house projects helps absorb any free time we can find.