Tim VerSchure, Senior Vice President at Lakeside Wealth Management, moved to the region in 2008. In that time, he’s become an industry expert and partner at the firm, as well as an active volunteer and member of the Porter County community which he continuously works to help make a great place to live, work, and raise a family.
VerSchure was born in Hawaii and grew up in Natick, Massachusetts. He made his way to Indiana to attend Purdue University where he graduated with a business management degree. While a member of the Purdue University Water Ski Team, VerSchure met his wife Gretchen, a native of Porter County.
After graduating, VerSchure and Gretchen moved to Chicago where he began working for a mortgage company. As time went on, however, they decided it was time to relocate from the big city to be closer to family right here in Northwest Indiana.
“I met a Valpo girl when I was at Purdue,” he said. “We lived in Chicago for a while, in the western suburbs, and as our family started to grow we moved to this area. We haven’t looked back.”
“At the time we decided to move, a lot of our college friends had already moved away from the city,” VerSchure described. “It was ironic, my brother-in-law had actually introduced me to Mark Chamberlain, who is the founder of Lakeside. It’s funny if you hear Mark tell the story because it was, sort of, the same story of, ‘I’ve got a client who says, “You’ve got to meet my brother-in-law.”’ And you never know what to expect with that.”
“You think, ‘Oh this isn’t going to work out,’ but it ended up being really great for both parties.”
His experience with larger firms in Chicago was drastically different than what he experienced the first time he met with Lakeside’s leadership team.
“It’s a much different culture here at Lakeside,” said VerSchure. “At the big firms, the interview was all about, ‘Tell me about your business plan and what you can do for the company?’ At Lakeside, it was the complete opposite. It was, ‘We’ve got a growing business and we need people to be part of our team.’”
For VerSchure, the choice came down to being on his own with a big company and away from friends and family or joining a smaller organization operating as a large team, closer to friends and family. As he put it, “It was a no-brainer.”
Part of what makes Lakeside unique is the collaborative structure in which the company is built upon. They truly are a team, taking advantage of each other’s strengths and leaning on one another to help solve problems.
“We can collaborate with each other rather than compete with one another,” said VerSchure. “That enables us to take on bigger, more complicated projects. I’ve got a great team behind me. We all sink or swim together and that helps to create a culture of collaboration but also a culture that shares the same values. We often joke on Fridays saying, ‘Hey, only two days until Monday!’”
“It’s funny, when I grew up my dad didn’t do any volunteer work and my mom did a ton of volunteer work,” he said. “It was something that she did for her personal fulfillment. Observing the leadership here, and how my colleagues connected with the community, all of the sudden it just clicked.”
“I had that personal experience and it made me think, ‘Now I understand what my mom was doing all of those years.’ Mark and Tim (Rice) challenged me at one time and said, ‘We don’t care what you do, but find a way to get involved.’”
Not long after, VerSchure attended a local nonprofit expo and was introduced to the Valparaiso Parks Foundation. This ultimately led to him joining the organization’s board, on which he now serves as treasurer.
“Someone had recommended me to the board and I had a couple conversations with their leadership team,” said VerSchure. “It really made sense as my kids are at an age where we’re going to the parks a couple times a week, and they’re involved in baseball and soccer so if there was a way to give back it really seemed like a win-win.”
“It’s a great organization. They make it very easy to get engaged and give back. It’s a tremendous group to be affiliated with and there are a lot of great leaders to learn from.”
VerSchure has always been a boater and water skier, and he tries to get his family out on the lake as much as possible. With three kids, VerSchure stays busy taking them from one activity to the next. Along with being a professional dad and youth sports taxi driver, he’s also a do-it-yourself home improvement master.
“I’ve always been one of those guys that says, ‘I can do that!’” VerSchure said of his penchant for doing-it-himself. “I’ve always been into home improvement and tearing the kitchen apart but halfway through scratching my head saying, ‘What was I thinking?’ Thus far, I’ve been able to find some resolution to every project and doing a project is usually a good excuse to go buy a new power tool!”
VerSchure, who has acquired several certifications, accreditations, and professional accolades in his career thus far, also serves as adjunct lecturer for The Plan Sponsor University where he guides companies, CFOs, business owners, and HR representatives through the ins and outs, challenges, and current best practices of retirement planning for employees.
“It creates an environment where business leaders can network to solve problems,” VerSchure described. “It does, on occasion, lead to professional relationships but it’s truly not a sales program. It’s a great way to give back to our community, hone our skills, and work with plan sponsors to make their retirement plans better.”
Lakeside Wealth Management Executive Assistant, Anisha Curless, serves as VerSchure’s assistant and she spoke about his dedication to family, friends, clients and the community, “Tim is on the go 24/7. If you can’t find him at work you will most likely find him at one of his kid’s sporting events. Being his assistant, I can be the first one to tell you that I don’t know how he does it all. He will never say no when it comes to helping someone whether it be at the office or out of the office in the community.”
Whether it’s overseeing the management of Lakeside’s qualified plans, educating business leaders on the topic of retirement, or working to grow and improve Valparaiso for his children and generations to come, Tim VerSchure has made Porter County home and he’s working hard to make it an amazing place to live.