What started as a conversation over a cup of coffee has blossomed into yet another success story for Timothy Christian High School’s annual Renew program.

Chad McQuade, who manages Northwestern Mutual’s Oak Brook office and has three children who attend Timothy Christian Schools, was chatting with Superintendent Matt Davidson about Renew, a program where Timothy students can travel, take a class not normally offered, or participate in an internship.

“We were having coffee and I asked if any of the students were ever interested in financial planning,” he recalled. “I said if they were, I would be happy to host, and create a curriculum and program for it.”

Two years ago, Timothy graduate Jason Westra, now at the University of Dayton, participated in McQuade’s program. Two years later (keeping in mind the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted things a bit last year), the program has tripled in size. Senior Ryan DeBoer, and juniors Carter Day and Ethan Munk recently spent a week at the Northwestern Mutual office, learning the ins-and-outs and nuances of financial planning.

“We were happy to host these three students,” McQuade said. “Helping out the school is priority No. 1. In my opinion, having high school students get the experience to test drive a career before they go to college is invaluable. My first career was as a lawyer. If I had spent time actually in the profession beforehand, things might be different. I like the practicality of this.”

Having high school students get the experience to test drive a career before they go to college is invaluable.

McQuade explained the week-long track pulled no punches, with the students arriving at 7:30am on a Monday.

By 8am, the three students were embedded in what McQuade calls the Monday Morning Life Builder. “It’s a meeting for our advisors with under three years in the business where they share with their peers how they performed in the previous week, not only professionally, but we have them set a personal goal and a spiritual relationship goal,” he said.

“With how we are set up with our advisors being independent contractors, we can have these types of conversations that are different than one might be able to have in the corporate world,” McQuade said. “It was neat for the kids to see how our advisors were doing in their professional career, and they saw the encouragement given to them about things they wanted to accomplish in their personal life, their faith, their health, other friendships and relationships with family members. This was all in their first meeting.”

DeBoer said doing this Renew internship was a no-brainer, given his desire to go into the finance world in the future. He plans on studying finance at DePaul University in Chicago in the fall.

“I have heard a lot of great things about the company and what they stand for, and was excited by the opportunity to participate in a week-long internship,” he said.

McQuade pointed out that there are five training classes per year out of the Oak Brook office and the first day of one of the training classes occurred while the students were there.

“They were able to participate and see what it’s like to be involved in the first day of training with our organization’s newly licensed advisors,” he said. “That was fortuitous.”

The Timothy students were able to interview financial advisors to ask about their career paths. McQuade noted the students could not sit in on client sessions due to confidentiality regulations.

“Only half our advisors join us out of college, the other half are career changers,” he said. “We have former consultants, bankers, and teachers. These are individuals coming into our business looking for something entrepreneurial where they can make an impact on individuals’ lives, help them make smart decisions with money and help them steward that money. The students were able to meet with a mix of advisors — some who came right from college and some who were in other careers. They also were able to see a lot of the support roles behind the financial advisor, such as more analytical roles, certified financial planners and recruiters. They sat down with the managers and learned about the different roles.”

The Timothy students also were able to meet with Carrie DeVeney, the office’s director of development. “Chad loves to give back to the community and make sure we are doing our part,” she said. “He thinks very highly of everyone at Timothy and wanted to help.

“They are all super-impressive kids. They were awesome and so great to have around. We encouraged them to get LinkedIn with the people they met and use them as resources when the time comes to start looking for a job.”

McQuade also made sure faith was at the forefront of the weeklong program. The students met with banker James Van Hekken, who has three daughters at Timothy, and David Gonzalez, a Goldman Sachs fund wholesaler, who attends Christ Church of Oak Brook.

“I wanted them to meet two of my friends who are strong Christian men,” McQuade said. “I wanted to expose them to some individuals outside our organization that were related to the financial world.”

McQuade added the students also met with Northwestern Mutual advisor John Roland, who also has two kids in the Timothy system.

“At least half their interactions were with advisors who have a Christian background,” McQuade added. “They met with a graduate of Moody Bible Institute and another gentleman who decided not to be a pastor and came to work in our field instead. We had the opportunity to shine the Lord’s light in the business world. It was great sharing that with them.”

DeBoer said the importance of company culture was a common theme when speaking to Northwestern advisors.

“When we would ask the people we met for advice for us going into the future, there always was a big emphasis on not only enjoying what you do, but also enjoying who you work with,” DeBoer said. “As you can imagine, what really stuck out to me about this internship was the people.

“Everyone we met with and worked with was extremely helpful and always open to any questions. The community at Northwestern Mutual is different than any I have seen or been a part of at any other workplace. Everyone felt like they were a family, and they were almost all excited to be at work. They all really seemed to enjoy what they do as a profession. A good connection among colleagues can make or break a business. When I am older and looking for a job, this aspect of the workplace will really be important to me. My favorite thing about this internship was probably getting to know so many different people, starting relationships and sharing in their excitement for their work.”

The fun wasn’t limited to Oak Brook, however. McQuade coordinated a downtown day where the students were able to ride the train to the city and visit the Northwestern Mutual office in the Chicago Loop and meet with advisors in that office, as well as managing partner Corey McQuade, Chad’s twin brother.

DeBoer said Chad McQuade’s mentorship throughout the week was a difference-maker. “Mr. McQuade was super helpful,” he said. “Right away, he welcomed us and made it feel like his space was ours. He introduced us to a lot of great people and helped us establish new relationships. He reached out to a number of different people within finance to come meet with us, and he helped us get a better understanding of different sides of finance, not just wealth management.

“He made sure to let us know he is always available to talk if we have any more questions, or introduce us to someone else to answer anything we might ask. I think it’s Mr. McQuade’s nature to help people. At the core of it, his whole job is to help people. After getting to know him better, it became clear the ability to help people is what drew him to what he does today.”

McQuade is eager to see this part of the Renew program advance even further in years to come.

“It’s action-packed for the kids,” McQuade said. “We learned a lot from the first program with Jason to this crew. We will continue to offer this going forward and will look to enhance it even more.”