Growing up in the Chicago suburb of Elk Grove Village, Illinois, Todd Trexler, ’11, MAS ’12, was a very social and talkative kid who got great grades and followed the rules, but also played the class clown from time to time.
While he had a gift of interacting with people, he loved the rush of sports and craved organization, asking for a closet organizer when he turned 9 years old. Little did he know that all his passions would converge, allowing him to find his true passion for wealth management and accounting.
In high school, Trexler worked as a caddie at his local country club, forging close bonds with members who were eager to help him find success. During his senior year, he was awarded the Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship at NIU and was able to attend college on campus nearly for free.
“Being part of the Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship and that brotherhood is something I can’t even begin to articulate,” Trexler said. “There are only 12,000 people who are alumni of the program, and it’s a very closeknit and special group. Being part of that group was amazing while I was at NIU.”
Drawing on his love of sports, at first Trexler continued toward a childhood dream of being a sports statistician.
“I always wanted to be a statistician for a Major League Baseball team as a kid,” Trexler said. “When I first joined NIU, my major was statistics.” However, early in his college career, he realized his love for sports stats was at odds with his lack of enthusiasm for some math courses.
When Trexler switched to accounting, everything began to fall into place.
“I had a great undergraduate experience at NIU,” he said. “I know NIU’s accountancy program is one of the top programs in the country, and I wanted to be a part of that.”
After earning his bachelor’s in accountancy in 2011, Trexler enrolled in the master’s program, completing his degree in 2012.
“By then, I was familiar with the school and had a position as a graduate resident advisor for former director of Employee Services and Human Resource Development, Aquanette Simpson, so my tuition was paid. I received two accounting degrees for about $10,000 total!”
Reflecting on his time at NIU, Trexler noted, “NIU is special. I feel like it is a school of gritty students who are either overlooked by other schools and shouldn’t have been or are just looking for that more tightknit community potentially closer to home. Still, you feel like you’re getting a four-year college experience at an elite place.
“If you’re going to study business, accounting or a couple other professions, I think NIU is at the top of the list for those. I had a great experience there and more of an intimate college experience with a big school vibe.”
Today, Trexler works as a growth development director and a financial advisor at Northwestern Mutual in Oak Brook, Illinois.
“I wear two hats: I’m in charge of talent acquisition as well as serving clients to make their financial plans more optimized,” he said. “It’s really rewarding to grow relationships with clients and see the work play out. Being able to really be at the center of someone’s life and grow an intimate relationship with them while also handling their money is absolutely a major responsibility and something that I do take seriously. Again, it’s also a calling, and we make it fun along the way.”
Trexler added that the biggest challenge is dealing with human beings, who are beautifully flawed people by design.
“Even though they have the best intentions, often we’ll do things out of emotion versus logic and that makes it very challenging when we let emotion get in the way,” he said.
Trexler contends that what he does for a living is one of the most challenging and one of the most rewarding jobs around.
“I get to impact families directly and help multiple generations. I help kids who can’t advocate for themselves but need somebody like me to speak up and ensure their parents and their family are aligned and protected in the event that life throws them the worst curveball possible,” he said. “If life does not throw them that curveball, then I get to help them with wealth accumulation, and watching that story play out from beginning to end is extremely rewarding.”
