AGE: 37
POSITION: Financial adviser, wealth advisory specialist, Smith Barney/Citigroup; major, U.S. Air Force Reserve.
RESIDENCE: Portsmouth
LIFELONG AMBITION: To know what it means to live “the good life.”
FAVORITE BOOK: “Atlas Shrugged,” by Ayn Rand.
GUILTY PLEASURE: Homemade ice cream.
Christopher P. Yalanis has two careers, and he has excelled at both.
For the last five years, he has worked as a financial adviser and wealth advisory specialist at Smith Barney/Citigroup, where he recently earned the Blue Chip Council Award for Excellence in Client Services, a distinction received by only a fraction of Smith Barney financial advisers nationwide, and a proud achievement for Yalanis.
In his other life, Yalanis is a major in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, based in Hanscom, Mass. In that capacity, he was honored earlier this year as Hanscom’s Reserve Officer of the Year, recognized specifically for putting his financial expertise to work for the base.
Yalanis has been the division chief’s “right-hand man” for implementing key business processes and cost-saving initiatives as well as improving financial analysis usage. He also devised a standardized financial management response to a monthly reporting process, using tools that aren’t commonly used in government to improve quality and save time.
In his Air Force award nomination, he was described as “simply the best,” and as “a dynamic leader with unmatched drive, fervor, efficiency and appetite to follow through until completion.”
“He is a stellar leader, mentor and diplomat,” the nomination continued. “A polished performer with infectious optimism and a ‘let’s make it happen’ attitude.”
But Yalanis’ life isn’t limited to his two jobs. He’s also a family man – he’s been married to his wife, Mohini, for 12 years, and they have a son, Nicholas, and two daughters, Anna and Katie.
Plus he’s active in the community, on many fronts: He is a board member of the Rhode Island Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and director of adult religious education at Channing Memorial Church and a staff member of the 2007 Tall Ships Rhode Island, among other things.
He is also a member of U.S. Mensa, and he was recently asked to join the board of governors and the bioethics committee at Newport Hospital.
And even that’s not all. In his free time, he coaches Little League baseball and he runs. He’s a former marathoner, with five races under his belt in addition to the 13-mile, 8,000-vertical-foot Pikes Peak Ascent climb.
