VYP is happy to feature another great member! Watch this month's video to see Advisory Council member Jammie Hsu interview Jason Wirth, partner with Maros Investment Group.

1. Where are you from originally and how long have you lived in Vegas?
    I was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago and spent the last 7 years in Los Angeles before coming to Vegas last August.

2. What college did you attend?
    I double majored in Philosophy and East Asian Languages and Cultures with a concentration Japanese. I received my BA from the University of Southern California. Fight On, Trojans!

3. What are your interests outside of work and VYP?
    Cooking and reading. If a man’s gotta eat, a man’s gotta cook. Cooking is important me because I like to eat but I also take great pleasure putting a smile on other people’s faces. Another interest is reading. Striving to be a life long learner, reading provides a challenge, mental stimulation, and a perfect way to learn new things. The material is mostly technical in nature, relating to either some aspect of investing or philosophy, but I do have a respectable cookbook collection.

4. Who (living or dead) would you most like to meet, and why?
    My grandparents, 20 years from now. Both of them are in their 80’s, but alas we are all mortal. Thus, I know a day will come when they are no longer around. My grandfather was a radio engineer on a B-29 flying over Japan and my grandmother was a nurse. Serving in World War II their lives are very different from mine. Being young it’s hard to fully appreciate their lives and experiences.

5. What is your favorite book?
    As I enjoy reading this is a tough question, so here’s two: How To Think About The Great Ideas by Mortimer J. Adler and Questions For The Soul by Keith Krasemann. The precision, clarity, and brevity Adler uses to present great ideas such as truth, justice, love, and beauty is unmatched. Dr. Krasemann was my first philosophy teacher. His book reminds us that philosophy and great ideas call forth our very lives and that when all thinking is done, there is still more thinking.

6. What is your favorite movie?
    12 Angry Men. A young boy stands trial for murder and will be sentenced to death if found guilty. 12 jurors enter deliberation and all but one juror vote guilty. The lone juror, played by Henry Fond, unsure of the boys guilt asks questions. As the remaining jurors reexamine the evidence, one by one they change their vote.

7. When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
    An engineer, it runs in my family’s blood. Growing up I enjoyed building things, taking things apart, and figuring out how stuff works. I started college destined to be an engineer only to change midway and study the liberal arts. Now, working in finance my background in science and mathematics has become an invaluable asset.

8. What is your greatest accomplishment?
    Graduating from college, which took me 7 years to complete. Changing majors and attending three different schools, I studied so many subjects that you could wallpaper your house with my transcripts. My family and friends thought I’d never finish.

9. Tell us something unique about yourself.
    I studied abroad for a year in Tokyo, Japan. As a student I lived with a Japanese host family, in a Japanese house, ate Japanese food (although I don’t eat much sushi), and rode the overcrowded Japanese trains.

10. What is your favorite VYP memory?
     The White Hot Mixer. I had not even lived in Vegas a week and found myself on the 53rd floor of the Palms, which has the best view in Vegas, overlooking the strip, everyone dressed in all white, meeting new people. That was just really cool; it couldn’t have been a better start to Vegas.

11. Do you have any advice for fellow VYP members or local young professionals?
     Take advantage of the opportunities. People join organizations because they want to be involved. VYP offers an extraordinary opportunity, not only to get involved but meet friends and build relationships with like-minded people. Membership has many benefits but I feel the most import is acting as an initial ice-breaker, a common interest, to talk to someone new. Moving to a new city without knowing anyone is a challenge for everyone but VYP has helped me succeed.