DAKOTA Brizendine
Company: Commonwealth Financial Group
Title: Financial Advisor
Age: 27
Favorite Part of Job? Providing a sense of ease, comfort and confidence to a client after completing a holistic planning process.
Most Inspiring Mentor: Eric Spindt, for pushing me to recognize that my potential is only limited by what I believe possible.
Tell us something fun about yourself that few people know: Both of my kids were born at home.
Favorite Vermont Escape: Summer days at Warren Falls or on the lake in North Hero.
Favorite Downtime Activity: Good food, good company.
Person you would like to share a Vermont beverage with: Elon Musk.
What is the best career advice you have received? It's an income problem not an expense problem.
What motivated you to live and work in Vermont? I was raised in VT, and moved back to have kids. It is a beautiful state with a lot going on for being so small. There is a great sense of community which I love.
Career Highlights: Achieving Rising Leaders within the firm my first year in business.
Community Involvement: I have always felt that food has a way of bringing people together in a way that no other experience can. It's where I find my deepest sense of community. Every year I host a block party in Winooski. It seems in this day and age people don't know their neighbors like they used to. The block party is a way to bring people together to share food and create those relationships. I volunteer for Circles for Peace which promotes peace by connecting people with the rhythms and cycles of nature. I also help fundraise for the Community Health Center because I believe everyone deserves access to health care. Community involvement on a local level is the most effective way to impact change.