About Us
THE GATES PASS TEAM
K. Esther Szabo, CFP®
Certified Financial Transitionist®
Founder and CEO
K. Esther Szabo, CFP®
Certified Financial Transitionist®
Founder and CEO
With over two decades of financial planning experience, Gates Pass founder K. Esther Szabo is a respected leader in her field.
A skilled advisor, Esther can help each individual navigate the many challenges involved in life and financial planning. She is passionate about the role comprehensive financial planning plays in helping a person craft and attain their goals.
Her background in counseling and teaching allows her to communicate in a highly personal way with her clients to clearly explain the technical aspects of planning and investment management and to build long-term trusting relationships. Esther is skilled at helping clients detach from headline anxiety and return their focus to the fundamentals of their own personal financial situation. In this way clients realize that their own financial path and strategy is clear.
Esther’s experiences have given her the ability to empathize with individual life transitions and provide knowledgeable support to her clients.
She is committed to creating, implementing and monitoring solutions that will contribute to a family’s financial stability and life satisfaction, and is passionate about serving professional women in particular.
A past president of the Financial Planning Association of Silicon Valley, Esther has been quoted in Investment Advisor, Financial Advisor Magazine, AARP online, and the San Jose Mercury News, and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal.
Erik Schei, CFP®, CFA
Certified Financial Transitionist®
Senior Advisor
Erik Schei, CFP®, CFA
Certified Financial Transitionist®
Senior Advisor
Many of the individuals and families I work with come to me seeking clarity and confidence. They’re high-earning professionals and couples navigating meaningful life transitions—purchasing a home, raising children, changing careers, accepting an international assignment, or beginning to plan for retirement. What they’re looking for is not just investment advice, but a trusted financial partner who can provide structure, insight, and thoughtful guidance.
I specialize in working with clients who have strong incomes and growing net worth, even if their investable assets outside of retirement accounts or concentrated stock are still developing. My role is to provide context and perspective, enabling clients to make informed decisions that align with their goals, whether that involves a major purchase, relocation, or envisioning retirement on their terms. I offer flat-fee planning based on complexity and investment management on an assets under management (AUM) basis for those who desire ongoing portfolio support. While many clients engage in long-term partnerships, I also offer one-time planning engagements tailored to specific needs.
I joined Gates Pass Advisors in 2019, following over a decade in the investment management field. I began my career in 2006 and earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. Over time, I came to see that real financial success requires more than a well-constructed portfolio—it requires a clear, values-based plan. My focus is on turning complex financial strategies and market insights into practical, personalized conversations—whether you prefer a detailed dive or a high-level view.
Outside of work, I live on Bainbridge Island with my wife and our two young sons, where we spend as much time outdoors as possible—usually in motion and often chasing after something.
Katy Stephens
Operations Manager
Katy Stephens
Operations Manager
As the Operations Manager at Gates Pass Advisors, I play a key role in keeping the firm running smoothly behind the scenes so our advisors can stay focused on what matters most, serving clients well. I oversee day-to-day operations, coordinate internal processes and systems, support the advisory team, and help ensure a seamless experience for clients from onboarding through ongoing service.
I originally joined the firm in January 2020 as a contracted Client Service Specialist, and after several years of hands-on involvement and deep familiarity with the firm’s operations, I became a full-time team member in June 2025.
Outside of work, my husband and I spent several years traveling around the U.S. in an RV with our two teenagers, now young adults, and our Golden Retriever, Tater. After a life full of miles, memories, and flexibility, we recently put down roots in the North Georgia Mountains, where I enjoy a slower pace, mountain views, and time with family (both human and furry).
YOUR GO-TO FINANCIAL SUPPORT TEAM
As your Personal Guide for all things financial, we constantly maintain a strong, collaborative relationship with a dynamic, broad-based team of specialists we can pull in to address any situation, no matter how complex. In fact, because of this uniquely adaptable Go-To Guide Approach, complexity is our specialty!
CREATING RELATIONSHIPS.
NOT GATHERING ASSETS.
Unlike most financial advisory firms, we don’t measure our size by “Assets Under Management”. At Gates Pass, it’s all about personal, trusted relationships.
That’s why we don’t start off by requiring you to move all your assets over and lock them in with us. To us, that feels like proposing marriage on the first date!
A FEW KEY
DIFFERENCES
ABOUT
GATES PASS
We help the whole You.
Which means helping you with both sides of money – the Personal and the Technical – and all parts of your financial life – the Financial Planning and the Investment Management.
We don’t lock you in.
We don’t require you to bring us all your assets right up front. It’s all about building a relationship.
No Sales People
We don’t do “sales”. The first person you get to know here at Gates Pass is likely the very person that will be your financial guide.
WHY WE’RE HERE
OUR MISSION
To guide our clients past uncertainty and complexity, through challenging transitions, and help them get to that good place where their money is doing exactly what they want for their life.
OUR CORE VALUES
Focus on the Individual
In order for us to help you get the most help out of the work we do together, we need to understand what you want your money to do for you.
OUR CORE VALUES
Broad-based Technical Expertise
Each client situation is unique and the financial world is constantly changing. Therefore, we must constantly go over and above to be technical experts across the financial landscape.
OUR CORE VALUES
Trustworthy Transparency
It’s important to us that all of our clients have a clear understanding of where their money goes, how we get paid, and how it all works.
OUR CORE VALUES
Open, Confidential Communication
We create a safe, comfy space that makes it easy to open up and have real conversations about money and life.
OUR CORE VALUES
Long-Term Partnership
Just like a great investment, the value of a great relationship increases over time. We’re there to guide our clients, now and for the long-term, through all life’s ups and downs.
GETTING THERE
How our unique approach to financial advising was born out of my own passage from fear to fulfillment.
I was in a successful long-term marriage when my 56-year old husband, unexpectedly, was diagnosed with a serious heart ailment. Over the next 3 years I witnessed both his resolve as well as his decline.
Concurrently I was in a long-term business partnership. An entrepreneur at heart, I had been encouraged many times to launch my own firm. But at the time I was scared to take on that financial, managerial and regulatory responsibility.
On a Russian river cruise, my husband suffered a significant and ultimately fatal health emergency. The med-evac brought us home, he passed, and I was left alone.
Over the next 15 months, I made my own passage from fear to fulfillment. I realized that if I could make it through that experience, I could make it through anything. Life really was too short to spend it worrying about all that could go wrong. It was time to focus on what could really go right. I learned you can master fear and enjoy a fulfilling, thriving and financially healthy life. And I was willing and ready to give my gifts, experience, skill — and heart — to my own new venture.
Let’s work together to co-create your own fulfillment, no matter what life has dropped in your lap!
READY TO GET THERE ?
We’d love to help you get on that peaceful path where your money is doing exactly what you want for your life.