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Jaiden Schmitz, Financial Advisor with Edward Jones
If I say yes, I’m all in.
I grew up in Lebanon. From the time I was little, I was taught to bleed black and gold. In high school, I played softball, basketball, tennis, track, and soccer. I was in Student Council and Interact. If I could make it work in my schedule, I did it. Some things I joined because I loved them, others just because it meant I got to be part of something.
I was always surrounded by people who were active and engaged. My mom ran a Relay for Life team when my cousin had cancer and helped organize blood drives, so I saw early on what it meant to step in when people needed you. I learned you do not have to be in charge to make a difference, you just have to be willing to say yes and give your whole self to whatever you are doing.
College was no different. I played basketball my freshman year in Kansas, then transferred to Mizzou. At the Christian Campus House, I led recreational sports and helped connect more than a hundred students to activities that made them feel at home. I was a student ambassador there and for the Trulaske College of Business. I loved bringing people together and creating spaces where they felt welcome.
Today, I am a financial advisor with Edward Jones, something I always hoped I would be. My dad has been an advisor since 2008, and I did my internship with Jones while I was still in college. After graduation, I was told they were not hiring straight out of school anymore, so I took a job with Veterans United in data analytics. Then one Sunday, Jim Keuney called and asked if I could interview the next day to help take over his book of business when he retired. I knew it was the opportunity I had been waiting for, and I knew I wanted to serve my hometown.
I stay as involved as I can. I serve on the Friends of the Fort board, helping veterans sign up for Honor Flights. I am on the Rotary Board and currently chair the Satellite Club. I serve on the Downtown Lebanon Board and the Mercy Health Foundation Board. My assistant and I run the Alzheimer’s Association work in town. I teach kindergarten and first grade at church on Wednesday nights and have also led senior girls. I love working out at CrossFit 610. If I can be somewhere helping, encouraging, or connecting people, that is where I want to be.
I married my high school sweetheart, Cade. We met at the Sadie Hawkins dance, both of us there without dates, and mutual friends pushed us into a slow dance at the end of the night. We dated for almost six years before getting married. Cade is a forester and habitat consultant. I tell people I manage your money, and he manages your land and trees.
Both of our careers could have taken us anywhere, but we chose Lebanon. I love the Friday night lights, the packed Boswell auditorium during basketball season, and the way this town rallies around its people. I love seeing downtown alive again, full of families, preschoolers walking to the ice cream shop, and visitors discovering our parades and events. My office window looks straight out at the arches, and every day I see them, I feel grateful. They remind me of where we are now, how far we have come, and the pride we can all take in this place.
I am not someone who needs recognition. Seeing results is the reward. My motto has always been to empower others to make a difference. That is why every year I bake hundreds of sugar cookies, sometimes close to a thousand, and give them away at events. A free cookie can light up a child’s face, make someone feel valued, or turn a simple moment into a memory. Those things matter to me.
Lebanon is full of good people doing good things. If we each do our part, we can make this a place people want to return to, raise their families, and invest their lives in. That is the kind of difference I want to be part of every single day.
