Michael Bechthold:
CLASS OF 1984
Westlake High SchoolClass of 1984
Westlake village, CA
Los angeles, CA
Ambassador CollegeClass of 1988
Pasadena, CA
Ambassador CollegeClass of 1986
Big sandy, TX
Michael's Story
Life
My college sweetheart, Lee Ann (Boyd), and I have been married for over 13 years now--the time has really flown by. Our two boys are Jacob (b. 06/26/99) and Zachary (b. 09/05/02)--what a handful they are! We're lucky enough to have Lee Ann stay home, and she works much harder than I do, I assure you.
Before kids we loved to travel, and we were able to see Tahiti, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Greece, the Bahamas, France, Italy and France. That's in addition to visitng friends around the U.S. and Canada. Since Jake's birth in 1999, our biggest trips have been 5-day jaunts to San Diego (family) and St. Louis (friends), but we have no regrets!
My work life has not been nearly so centered, and Lee Ann has been very patient with me during my struggles to "find myself". Five years after finishing my MBA at USC I have finally figured out what I want to do--for now. But you can read about that in the "Work Bio".
Now the life focus is having a fun and sustainable lifestyle and putting the boys through priva...Expand for more
te school and into college. In other words, LOTS of financial planning, saving and sacrifice--but again, no regrets.
Workplace
After 15 years and about 8 different jobs (or "careers",) in 4 completely different industries, I have finally settled down at a job--at least for now. I'm currently a Product Manager for Farmers Insurance at the Home Office here in L.A. I'm responsible for the overall profitability of our homeowner/landlord policies--rates, discounts, marketing, contract wording, etc.--in the states of Oregon, Idaho, and Utah. (No hate mail if you live there, please!)
I have figured out that I thrive on constantly using many different skills for overcoming different challenges, and my current job is perfect for that. I am truly a generalist ("Jack-of-all-trades, master of none",) and I get to put on the various hats of sales, marketing, finance, statistical analysis, contracts/legal, and I.T. systems at any given time of any day. Consistency bores me, but I'm certainly not unique in that. How about you?
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