As meticulous as we are with our financial advice, we tend to be even more deliberate when adding new members to our Hill Investment Group team. Fortunately, welcoming Nell Swanson as our Chief Operating Officer (COO) was one of our easiest hiring decisions ever.

You might not immediately conclude a natural fit, given her intriguing credentials as a petroleum engineer and, most recently, an operations specialist for an oil & gas private equity firm. But here’s where it gets interesting.

Nell found us after determining that something was missing from her otherwise stellar career. She was content enough and successful enough, but she wasn’t personally connected to it or inspired by it.

So, as any good evidence-based advocate would do, she took a good, hard look around. A voracious reader with a passion for behavioral finance, it was only a matter of time before she ran across Matt Hall’s Odds On. She devoured it at once, and knew she’d found the inspiration she’d been looking for. Reaching out to Matt for career advice, the conversation quickly turned into a job interview. The rest is happy history.

“Nell blew each of us away as we met her,” says Matt. “She has so much energy and initiative, and such a rare combination of technical ability and interpersonal understanding. We soon knew we’d found the right person to be our first COO.”

You’ll find Nell based in our Houston office, where she already is making her mark by exploring new business, operational, human capital, compliance, financial and overall organizational opportunities for us. Most of all, Nell will be instrumental in helping us sustain close personal relationships with our clients even as we grow. This is mission-critical and at least as important as any numbers involved.

In her spare time, Nell is planning a fall wedding to her fiancé and pre-school classmate Walter. She enjoys working out with Walter, putting together puzzles, reading, traveling with friends and family, volunteering in her community, and drinking copious cups of coffee … cold-pressed, lightly creamed.

When she told her family about her career change, she admitted she was nervous. “They’ve always been so supportive of my past plans, I was afraid I might disappoint them by shifting gears so dramatically.” Quite the opposite, her parents felt as she did (and we do) that she should pursue wherever her passions take her. We’re so glad they’ve led her to our HIG family. Welcome, Nell!

Is there such a thing as too much knowledge? There can be! It’s called “the curse of knowledge” when we forget that nobody will have a clue what we’re talking about if we leap right into the deep end of investment theory.

That’s why our first responsibility is to recreate those same, “ah-ha!” moments that we’ve already enjoyed. Today’s video with journalist Robin Powell does just that, for those of you who are wondering what this “evidence-based investing stuff” is all about, as well as for anyone who could use a handy, two-minute reminder. Enjoy!

Robin Powell and Matt Hall on Evidence-Based Investing from Hill Investment Group on Vimeo.

We’re big on celebrating milestones here at Hill Investment Group. Along those lines, what better excuse for cake and bubbly than the one-year anniversary of the “Odds On” book launch?

That’s what my HIG colleagues thought when they threw me an April 12th surprise party to celebrate. Our team is truly inspired by the way “Odds On” has allowed us to share a message of evidence-based hope to investment advisors and investors alike.

As I expressed in the first sentence on the first page of the book’s intro: “I want this book to change your life.”

I can’t tell you how exciting it’s been to see it do just that for so many who have been kind enough to let me know what the book has meant to them. I have collected some of my favorites and now have more than 21 pages of feedback and more than 100 reviews on Amazon. Here’s what one reader shared with me recently:

“Matt: I started reading your book this morning and now find myself emailing you after just finishing the entire thing. As a young financial advisor, very new to the business and working for a wire house firm, I too noticed everything you described in the opening chapters. … Until I picked up your book, I was losing hope for our profession. Work was dreaded. The days long. My outlook bleak. But after reading your book, I realize there is hope. There are people out there who understand and care. Your book gave me a much needed breath of fresh air. Now, more than ever, I am excited to help others and build a business centered around evidence based investing.”

To have the opportunity to impact other financial professionals who want to do right by their clients? I don’t know if I could ask for much more out of life.

Beyond leveraging “Odds On” to reach out to readers, we were also delighted to begin donating the profits from all of the sales to charity. We’ve already made our first donation and look forward to making many more as book sales continue.

So, happy first birthday to “Odds On,” and many more!