Many people go through their life wondering, "what if?" Michael Chamness has chosen to live his life wondering, "why not?"
Many people go through their life wondering, "what if?" Michael Chamness has chosen to live his life wondering, "why not?"
It was this very mantra that motivated Chamness to revisit his Eastern Oregon roots. In 1991, at the age of 41, he started riding broncs. He enjoyed the sport so much that he continued it for seven years, three and a half of which were spent riding in the professional circuit. When he entered in his last rodeo, in October of 1998, it was with a sense of accomplishment, fulfillment, and pride.
"Returning to rodeo was one of those things where I didn't want to be 85 years old, with my great-granddaughter on my knee, and wondering to myself, ‘why didn't I do that again?'" recalls Chamness. "I didn't do it for the money. I did it because I have never been afraid to take risks."
Chamness has built a financial empire out of taking risks. As an entrepreneur, he created The Strategic Alliance, Inc., and First Financial Resources, both Portland-based privately-owned firms that specialize in financial planning and insurance work for high net worth individuals and established companies. Originally formed in 1987, First Financial now does more insurance business than all but 8 publicly traded insurance companies.
"Together with my partners, we work with businesses in executive benefit programs, we manage a substantial amount of money for 401K plans, and we establish solid relationships with our clients," says Chamness. "I think our success is centered around our partners. We all have well-rounded educations - one of my partners also possesses a liberal arts education and chose to do accounting work post-graduation - and we genuinely like people."
Chamness' prior experience in financial services - it was under his leadership that mass mutual operations for Oregon, Southwest Washington and Alaska ranked tenth out of 133 offices nationwide - combined with his charismatic presence have made him a respected, highly-sought after name in the industry. He remains fiercely dedicated to the importance of education - a value which grew out of an intense childhood requirement.
"I was one of three boys growing up on a ranch in Central Oregon. The importance of a college education was ingrained in my brothers and me from the time we were kids," recalls Chamness. "My mom and dad barely got out of high school, so it wasn't even a discussion. We knew we were going to college. I started out at Oregon State as a business technology major and ended up switching to humanities during my senior year. My father is a very well-read man and so I had an interest early on in history and literature. The coursework that I took in the College of Liberal Arts gave me a better understand of how the world works. That knowledge of other civilizations and other times really helps you understand people, helps you with communication, and makes you a whole lot more of an interesting person."