Summary: From going broke after a failed real estate deal to knocking on doors in the snow just to find clients—J.D. White’s path to building White Hawk Wealth Management is anything but ordinary. Discover the failures, turning points, and hard-earned lessons that shaped his calling to serve clients at the highest level.
My Story: Building White Hawk Wealth Management
Hi, my name is J.D. White. I’m the founder and president of White Hawk Wealth Management here in Broomfield, Colorado, where I also serve as one of the wealth managers. This is the story of how I got here.
Early Influences
I was raised by a single mom who taught school for 30 years before retiring. My parents split up when I was very young, so it was just me and my mom. Life was good—we had fun, and I played all the sports.
On my dad’s side, both grandparents were lawyers in Ohio, and they always preached the importance of investing and saving for retirement. When I was about 11 or 12, I scraped together savings and, with my grandma matching, bought my first stock—Marvel. Unfortunately, Marvel went bankrupt, and we lost everything. That was my first real lesson in investing.
The Road to College
We didn’t have much money set aside for college, so I knew I needed to earn a scholarship. I believed in hard work over talent and pushed myself until I earned a full-ride swimming scholarship to Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas.
At SMU, I was surrounded by classmates who came from wealthy families. Seeing firsthand what it looked like to grow up with money sparked my fascination with wealth, finance, and the markets. I graduated in 2006 with a degree in real estate finance.
The First Career and Early Failures
My first career was in real estate. My mom and I started a real estate company and worked through the Great Recession, helping families avoid foreclosure through short sales.
In 2010, I branched off on my own, and that’s when I experienced my first big failure in business. A deal fell through, and I didn’t have enough money to cover my mortgage. I had to dip into my 401(k) just to keep afloat.
That setback ultimately led me to my next career. In early 2011, I started knocking on doors to build a financial advisory practice from scratch. If you’re a client reading this, there’s a good chance we met at your doorstep.
By the end of 2011, I hit another rough patch—earning just $600 in commissions one December. To make ends meet, I worked nights doing drywall with my stepdad so I could buy Christmas gifts for my family. That same winter, while out knocking on doors in the cold, I got a call about an office opening. It was a competitive opportunity, but it gave me a chance to serve more clients and start truly growing a practice.
Finding My Calling
Through all of this, I never had a plan B. Wealth management has always been my calling. I’ve been willing to do whatever it takes to serve clients and build a business focused on people—not just profits.
In early 2017, I transitioned from working under a large corporation to going independent. That decision was rooted in a belief that quality should come before quantity. Instead of chasing numbers, I wanted to work with a smaller group of people and serve them really well.
White Hawk Wealth Management Today
White Hawk Wealth Management was born out of that philosophy. Today, our mission is simple: serve clients at the highest level so they can live their lives with confidence while we work behind the scenes to support their financial goals.
I’m proud of what we’ve built and even more excited about the impact we continue to have on the lives of the families we serve.
