Michelle Onaka

Paraplanner
I’m originally from Ohio, where I got my Bachelor of Arts in Economics. After a few years of traveling, seasonal tourism jobs, and being an AmeriCorps volunteer, I came to Oregon in 2013 to get my master’s degree in Higher Education.
While working as an academic counselor for TRIO Student Support Services at Oregon State University, I continued developing my natural interest in financial education and the power of financial planning. I started talking more with my students about money, hosted workshops, crafted financial literacy-based emails for the program, and spent two terms teaching a course that I created, “Planning Your Financial Future.” I loved talking to people about money so much that in 2021 I opened my own financial education and coaching business in my spare time. And finally in 2023, I left my OSU position to join Clarity Wealth Development and focus even more on helping people be intentional with their financial planning.

I love learning difficult concepts and then breaking them down so others can understand them in a fraction of the time that it took me. But that’s not it, because my next favorite thing is translating that knowledge to show how it applies to someone’s situation and how they can use it to reach their goals. I have also always really enjoyed dealing with data and creating systems to be able to use that data effectively. Which is why I’m super excited to join the team at Clarity Wealth Development, where I get the opportunity to continue learning and building my skills around financial literacy and financial planning, while also working behind the scenes to create systems and practices that both serve our clients and streamline our work.

After moving around often and living in all 6 of the US time zones (at least the ones that have states in them), I feel lucky to call Corvallis home for the past 10 years. Though I really loved Alaska, Hawaii, and Colorado, Corvallis seems to have the right mix of outdoors, weather, affordability, and community that is perfect for my family. I have an endless list of things I’d like to explore with my partner and two young daughters, and I really look forward to getting out and doing more hiking, camping, and adventuring as they get older. I also love baking, snowboarding, traveling, listening to audiobooks and podcasts, and sleeping in (is that a favorite pastime of all parents or is that just me?).