Chatting with Christen

It’s been over three years since we chatted with Christen. Since she was last interviewed for our employee newsletter, her family moved from California- where her husband completed his microsurgery fellowship at Stanford- to Carmel, Indiana. Her oldest son, Parker, is now in third grade, and Eli, who is about to turn five, will begin kindergarten next year. Despite many changes over these past few years, Christen feels fortunate to have remained a part of the Columbia Asset Management team. Although she typically works from afar, she loves to visit Ann Arbor to work alongside her coworkers, whom she considers to be some of her dearest friends. Without further ado, let’s see what she’s been up to:

What is it like working from home and what do you do for Columbia?

I’m so thankful that technology has made it possible for people to work remotely and remain connected (thank you Facetime, Google chat, and Zoom). I do all the accounting (such as invoicing, taxes, paying bills, etc.) for CAM (I know, boring, but someone has to do it). I also analyze client portfolios and make trades for clients. I’m able to do pretty much everything from home that I did while working in the office, except co-host the daily talk show of “Christen and Brian” in-person.

What is something new you have tried recently?

We recently took our boys horseback riding in Kentucky. I had never ridden a horse like this before (pony style at the fair was my prior experience), and it was much more intense than I expected. My horse was named “Sleepy,” though he was anything but sleepy. We rode the horses through the woods, up and down big hills, trotted through some mud piles, and Sleepy ran me through a narrow path of trees, which almost knocked me off. My 8-year-old son, however, loved riding his horse, Pickles, so I may have more horseback riding in my future.

Tell us something people don’t know about you? 

I have a secret language with my family and close friends called OB Language. If you know it, give me a call and we’ll chat in OB to each other.

 

What’s the best trip you’ve been on?

My favorite trip was when my husband and I took a sailboat around the British Virgin Islands with a group of friends. It’s just so beautiful down there and it was so fun to stop at all the different islands, all while living on a sailboat. But my favorite yearly trip is to Elk Lake, where I stay with my family for the summer.

 

What do you miss most about living in Ann Arbor? 

I always miss people the most, so I obviously miss my coworkers and our fun daily interactions. Aside from that, I miss the awesome restaurants, sidecars with the group at Pacific Rim, going into town to get Starbucks or Sweetwaters, and fairy doors, of course.

 

Do you have any pets?

Yes, we got a labradoodle during Covid. Her name is Desi. She’s a girl but she’s named after Desmond Howard. What can I say, I live with boys and Parker is a HUGE UofM football fan. She’s the sweetest thing and we love her.

 

Thanks for sharing! 😊