“My customers are my friends,” he says.

Smalley’s first college degree was in illustrative photography. He even taught evening classes at Olympic College for 18 years. But he was always attracted to the business side. When a friend and owner of construction company, Jemco Insulation, asked him to work for him after college, Smalley thought he’d give it a try for a while — and stayed 13 years. Even so, he only left after being asked twice to join Sherson Lehman Brothers, a company through which he managed Jemco’s financials.

Smalley said no the first time, but after a second offer decided the timing was right. The company later was acquired by Solomon Smith Barney, but Smalley has continued on. He currently is a vice president and works in the Gig Harbor and Silverdale offices.

Smalley was born and grew up in Bremerton in a family that owned two drug stores. “I learned early on that service and people are critical,” he says. As a native of Bremerton and a history buff, he feels a special responsibility for managing the Bremer Trust. Tim Arnold manages the properties, while Smalley manages the financial side. “This is a very important trust to me,” he says.

Smalley takes his job as a financial planner very seriously. He tells his clients not to worry about their money — let him do it instead. “I put a lot of pressure on myself,” he says. “I take it home with me.”

One of the most difficult times in his career was in 2000-2001, when a lot of people saw their money evaporate after the tech bubble burst. “There is nothing harder than telling someone they don’t have enough funds to retire… or enough money to see their dreams come true,” he says. Fortunately, that doesn’t happen too often.

Clients often use Smalley as a sounding board, so his job entails a lot more than just managing a financial portfolio. He has a lot of clients and keeps a busy schedule, and says his biggest challenge is not having enough hours in the day. He comes in to work at 6:30 in the morning, and doesn’t take advantage as much as he can of the flexibility the job offers.

“I really, really enjoy my job,” he says. “I’m one of those brokers that finds it hard to leave office… I’m happy behind my desk.”

As much as he likes being behind the desk, Smalley spends a good amount of time on civic activities, as well as his big hobby, classic cars.

Civic activities are his passion, which was instilled in him as a child growing up in a small town. His father was an active community volunteer, and a founding member of Northwest Lions Eye Bank, now the leading eye bank in the world. Following in his father’s footsteps, Smalley was recently appointed to the organization’s board. “It was a huge honor for me,” he says.

Smalley, who was born at Harrison Hospital, is also the chair-elect of the Harrison board, a member of Kitsap County Arts Council, as well as vice president of Northwood Builders. “My parents taught me early on the importance of giving back to the community,” he says.

In between work and civic activities, Smalley finds time to follow his hobby of restoring classic cars. Starting with the first car at age 15, he has owned about 60 and currently has close to a dozen. The most famous one is maybe a 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible — a highly recognizable car that was used in the filming of the movie “Rain Man” starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. The car, which he purchased after it had been filmed, won the best in show at the Forest Grove Concours d’Elegance in Oregon.

In August, Smalley returned from the invitation-only Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance — the Kentucky Derby of car shows — with another winner: His 1932 Lincoln V-12 convertible coupe won in its class. Smalley has been restoring the car for about five years. “It is the point of collecting cars to be invited to Pebble Beach,” he says. But the higher point for him was to share the honor with his daughter, Jaime.

Smalley sees more and more of his clients selling their businesses and retiring, but for his part he doesn’t see himself retiring. “I just like working with my clients,” he says.