Sabrina Moore is a financial advisor today, but she was once a high school dropout searching for a way to get to college. That’s where McLennan Community College (MCC) came in — dual credits she had earned at Waco High School through MCC got her back on track when she found that she was already almost halfway to earning her bachelor’s degree in mathematics.
But her inspiring story doesn’t stop there. Both Moore’s mother and daughter have their own success stories with MCC, making three generations of women in her family who have benefited from local community college education. When Moore was asked to serve on the Board of Directors of the MCC Foundation last year, it brought her full circle to her passion: Promoting accessible and practical education for all, now in a position to help make that happen for others who think that college is an impossible dream.
“MCC drastically changed the trajectory of my family,” she said. “Now we have three generations of women in this family who have furthered their education through MCC and I’m so proud of that.”
Wacoan writer Susan Bean Aycock sat down with Moore recently to talk about the empassioned mission of bettering lives through education that runs through her career, family and volunteer community service.
So, your day job: You work for a financial advising firm in Waco. What’s your position there and what do you do?
I’ve been with Disciplined Investors, LLC [Waco-based financial advisors] for 10 years, and am a senior advisor who manages the retirement plan division of our firm. We have over 60 company retirement plans, both for-profit and nonprofit companies. Most of them are around Waco, but we have them all over the state and even have a few out-of-state. I advise at the corporate level, help improve plans and help educate employees about their options in planning for financial success. We act as a fiduciary in all aspects, which is a huge distinction in our profession; we serve as trusted council and advisors. Because of the principals of our firm, we have had strong growth and currently manage over $700 million in client assets. I also am a wealth manager and have individual clients that I manage assets for.
You’re also a new addition to the Board of Directors of the McLennan Community College [MCC] Foundation. What do you do in that role?
I was asked to be on the MCC Foundation Board of Directors last year. Everyone on the Foundation Board is also on a committee, which is where a lot of decisions are made. I’m on the Finance Committee, which manages the dollars of the Foundation.
We make decisions about which investment advisors are going to handle funds, which investments we want, how risky or conservative to be and make choices on private assets, all of the things that go into managing the Foundation’s money. A lot of those dollars are given by donors and we want to make sure that we’re being good stewards of those donations. A primary function of the Foundation is to give scholarships, which is really at the heart of what we do. Last year we gave out almost 500 scholarships totaling $800,000. [The MCC Foundation raises support for student scholarships, professional development and capital improvements and since its inception in 1990 has awarded more than 8,200 student scholarships totaling over $8.45 million.]
When I was asked to be on the Foundation Board, it was such a full-circle moment to come back and serve an institution I’m so passionate about, telling my story to whoever will listen. I want to share the impact that community college can have on individuals and their lives, like mine.
Sabrina Moore (second from the right) is part of three generations of women who have found academic success through community college. Left to right, Moore’s daughter Julia Moore, sister Sheridan Fillip and mother Liana Gilbert have also attended McLennan Community College.
So let’s talk about your story and three generations of women in your family furthering their educations through MCC. That’s pretty amazing!
When I was in middle school, my mom, Liana Gilbert, was raising three kids as a single parent. She worked so hard attending night classes at MCC to get her RN nursing license — MCC has a highly respected nursing program. I think her salary doubled in a year with that nursing license, and while we weren’t wealthy by any means, it made such an impact on our lives to have that extra financial security. My mom also completed her bachelor’s degree, a BS in nursing, from Western Governors University at the age of 61.
At Waco High School, I took dual credit classes — where my class credits counted for both high school and MCC. Although I now have a BS degree in mathematics, I had dropped out of high school halfway through my senior year. I did get my GED right away but when I wanted to go to college, I had no SAT or ACT scores — and no money! Because I had taken those dual credit classes at MCC, I was able to continue attending college right away. By the time I transferred to Tarleton [State University], I already had about half of my course credits towards a bachelor’s degree because I was going in with college credits from MCC. My sister, Sheridan Fillip, also attended MCC credit classes to start her journey towards a degree.
Now my daughter Julia has taken dual credit from Midway High School and MCC to [Texas] A&M, where she’s a freshman in the physics program.
You’ve also taken MCC Continuing Education classes in personal interest areas, right?
Besides my mom, myself, my sister and my daughter taking credit classes at MCC, I’ve taken several continuing education classes for personal interests: sewing, country dancing, cinnamon roll making and a computer class in Excel. I also took cake decorating in Spanish. The instructor speaks in Spanish and it’s geared towards women working in bakeries and culinary roles, helping them refine skills and improve income opportunities. How amazing is that? I took that class as a way to work on my Spanish, which is a life goal to be able to speak fluently. I love learning and MCC has opportunities for everyone.
So you’ve taken advantage of both credit and non-credit classes at MCC, as well as dual credit for college in high school. How do others find out what resources are available to them?
I think one of the biggest challenges with students starting out at community college is knowing that resources are there. That goes for getting information to current MCC students about scholarships, and letting high school students know that they have the opportunity to earn college credits that apply to a certificate or college degree — from associate’s degree to bachelor’s. So many kids feel that higher education is just out of reach for them, particularly when they’re the first in their families to attend college.
MCC does a fantastic job of reaching students through social media, newsletters and their website resources. They also reach out to area high school counselors. The Foundation awards scholarships to students with academic success, and also to those with financial need. Those need-based scholarships are determined by the Foundation’s Scholarship Committee.
Both being on the receiving and giving ends of accessible education have been a big part of your life. Tell me more about how education plays into your day job.
It’s what we do. We want our clients to be educated, from those starting out to those with investment experience, and meet with clients as often as needed. We also have a quarterly process where we write individual letters to each client explaining the performance of their portfolio, their best and worst investments, market data and if the portfolio is meeting their objectives.
My passion — and the real joy I get from my work — is sitting down with people one-on-one and helping them understand how to prepare for retirement. Understanding investments and saving enough for retirement can be daunting for most people, but I help with steps along the way on how much money they’ll need, diversifying their portfolio if necessary and determining how much to save. It can make such a difference to someone’s peace of mind to have those conversations with someone they trust.
Sometimes I’m helping clients with highly complex situations, investing in private investments; other times I’m helping them reduce tax liability or managing their qualified charitable distributions. One of my favorite conversations to have is to sit with a 20-something-year-old who has no idea what a 401(k) is, when I can convince them to save 30 bucks a paycheck for retirement — which seems so far in the future. They may not remember me personally, but someday they’re going to be looking at that 401(k) when they have a substantial balance for retirement. They might remember, ‘Man, somebody told me to save money when I started my career, and now I have it,’ and it will make a huge difference in their lives. I’ve never met anyone who regretted saving more money over their lifetime.
By your own admission, you pour yourself heart and soul into your job, the MCC Foundation Board, community service and your family. With no half-measures, how does that all work?
Because my company cares about civic and community mindedness, I’m able to find time to serve where I’m passionate and where my strengths can make a difference. Todd [Stoner] and Russell [Livesay], my firm’s owners, encourage us to serve where we can use our individual talents. Businesses have to support their employees for them to have the time and ability to be involved in the community.
I’m a thinker by nature, not necessarily a doer. There’s a quote I like: ‘Motivation doesn’t create doing; doing creates motivation.’ I think that holds true in so many aspects of life, from exercise to doing laundry to volunteering. I have to remind myself to take the first step, and then the next. Do the next thing. And before you know it, you find the time you need.
What qualities do you aspire to model in your job? In your personal life?
In my work, I really don’t have a success metric related to data. We aren’t sales-oriented — we don’t sell insurance or products, and so we’re able to focus on giving the best advice we can for each client and each circumstance. I really just want to do the best job that I can for my clients, with integrity and good character. If I think about it, I guess it’s pretty similar in my personal life. I really believe that so much of the small stuff doesn’t matter, but the essential foundation of life is your relationships. And so in my personal life, I really try to focus on building and strengthening friendships in my circle, and focusing on my family. For me, relationships are what really matter.
Judging from your resume, it’s obvious that volunteering and community service are important to you. Tell me about that.
Both of my sons and I are members of the Young Men’s Service League [a four-year volunteer service program for moms and their high school sons]. They do a fantastic job getting young men involved and volunteering in the community with their moms as a shared experience; the boys come in as eighth- or ninth-graders and serve through high school. There are several nonprofits we partner with: working the food loading line at Shepherd’s Pantry; cleaning rooms and play equipment for Talitha Koum [a faith-based organization addressing mental health needs of young children]; delivering food for Meals on Wheels; organizing supplies for Compassion Ministries [a transitional housing program for families experiencing homelessness]. We’re also involved with other organizations, like the Salvation Army community kitchen. It takes an hour-and-a-half of your day to serve dinner to [those experiencing homelessness] and it will change you.
Volunteering gives these young men perspective that they can’t get unless they’re involved in the community, and it reminds me of realities that we just don’t think of on a daily basis, the blessing we overlook every day. That’s why community service is so vital to me and for my family. You have the chance to put others first, to be reminded of what really matters. It’s impossible to serve others and not be filled with gratitude and perspective.
You also belong to two other civic organizations — Women of Waco and Rotary Club. Tell me about those.
Women of Waco is a business networking group that meets once a month, with speakers and a whole array of presentations. The members are business women from all across our community. It’s a great way to meet other women in business, network and hear their personal stories and challenges. I’m speaking at our meeting February 14 on ‘A Man is Not a Financial Plan,’ presenting financial principles like investments, personal finance and challenges faced by women.
I’m also a member of Rotary Club of Waco, which is one of the largest Rotary Clubs in the district. Every Rotary Club has a focus, and ours is youth services. I’m the chairman for one of our programs, the Trivia Challenge Competition, which we’ve held annually for area high schools for 57 years. Any area high school can compete at no cost to them. It’s a single-elimination competition, where they compete on general knowledge trivia. KXXV, one of our local news stations, records, edits and airs the episodes and the students get to watch themselves competing on TV. It’s amazing to see how intelligent these students are and how much trivia they know.
What do you do for fun?
I love to run Waco’s many wonderful trails; that’s my main hobby and way to stay active. I’m at Cameron Park and Woodway Park a lot. I also love going to whatever [tennis] courts are open to play pickleball with my kids. When we find time, we run down to Galveston for a quick beach trip, or up to Six Flags for the day. My kids also play a lot of soccer, so we’re busy heading to games many weekends. I hang out with my friends and visit family. I also have a women’s Bible study at my house. I stay busy!
What’s your message of empowerment on the accessability of education beyond high school?
I’m proud of my own story, with three generations of women in my family using community college as a launching point for a better life, but there are 1,000 more stories like that at MCC every year, as there are at most community colleges. Education is obtainable, whether it’s for a degree or technical training, and it makes such a difference in your life and career. Community colleges are doing good work, making high-quality education accessible without a huge burden of debt, for everyone wanting to further their education.
