Wendy Helmkamp

Client Service Administrator

Tell us about something special from your youth.

I am an only child and grew up in small town Indiana (Kendallville). I am very close to my extended family and consider several of my cousins to be more like siblings. I love to laugh with my cousins!

Share an interesting story about your family.

My family has a goal to visit every Major League Baseball park together. There are 30 parks. I’ve been to 20 of them and we plan to attend games at 3 more during the summer of 2021.

Where have you worked? What is the best thing that has ever happened while you were working?

I worked at Canterbury School in Fort Wayne for 21 years. The best part about working at a small independent school was being a part of a community of families and coworkers who supported each other and the school.

When did you first realize you were interested in finance?

I have thought about getting into finance for the last several years as I felt a draw to do something other than teaching. I’ve always enjoyed math and helping people, both of which I get to enjoy doing when working in finance.

What is the most important thing you have learned about helping other people?

During my years as a teacher, I have learned that people (students or adults) want to feel like they are being listened to and that you care. When I’m trying to help people, my goal is always for them to feel that I’m hearing their concerns or worries and that I truly care about trying to help them work out whatever problem they’ve come to me with.

What are you known for among your friends?

I don’t know if this is something to be proud of, but I’m guessing my friends would say I’m one of the neatest and most organized people they know! I actually like to clean!

What is your favorite part of what you do at Vestia?

I think my favorite part of Vestia is the people. I knew several people who worked for the company before starting, and have enjoyed getting to know more people, along with the clients!

How do you spend your time outside of work?

We are a sports family. Our kids were both very involved in sports growing up and my daughter will be continuing her basketball career into college. So, we watch a lot of sports! We also love all IU sports, along with Chicago Cubs baseball and Chicago Bears football.

What book do you always tell people they should read? Why?

I read a ton during quarantine and my favorite book was “A Fall of Marigolds” by Susan Meissner. I’ve been telling everyone to read it in the past year.

One of Vestia’s values is to model “wealth that matters.” What does this mean to you?

To me “wealth that matters” means that you’re balancing planning for the future with living life to the fullest now. It means putting thought into what you spend money on and making sure that when you look back, you feel good about what you’ve done with your money.