About Us
In the 1970s, a twenty-something Florida boy found himself on a Coast Guard ship, then painted in silver on a mountain in North Carolina, and finally back in Florida - delivering magic to tourists. His journeys - then and through the decades since - taught him something he'd spend a lifetime codifying: the way something is told is critical to whether anyone remembers it.
Professor Money Bear is the culmination of a decades-long journey - a family-owned and operated company built on educating through stories. From personal finance to student success, our own memoirs to historical life lessons, we're on a mission to help you understand how to take control of your life - and live beyond the bear necessities.
Dr. Ron A. Rhoades, JD, CFP®
Ron is one of the most trusted – and most energizing – voices in personal finance today. With nearly four decades of experience guiding people through the financial decisions that shape their lives, he has built a reputation for turning what feels intimidating into something understandable, useful, and even empowering.
Ron holds a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Florida and is a Certified Financial Planner® professional. He is the founder of Scholar Financial, LLC, a firm built on a simple promise: that every client deserves advice grounded in research, delivered with the unwavering fiduciary principles, and shaped around their real life – not someone else’s sales goals. He is also a nationally recognized authority on fiduciary law and investor protection, having fought on Capitol Hill to ensure financial advisors are legally required to put their clients first. His leadership has earned him a place among the Top 25 Most Influential figures in the investment advisory profession, the prestigious Frankel Fiduciary Prize, and seats on numerous industry committees.
But his credentials are only half the story. Ron has served in the U.S. Coast Guard, performed as beloved Land of Oz and Disney characters, built and run his own businesses, supported extended family through every kind of season, practiced law, and taught the next generation of financial planners at two universities. He has lived the full spectrum of life – the sacrifices, the surprises, the milestones, and the ordinary days in between. That rare combination – professional mastery paired with genuine human experience – is what makes his books unlike any other. Ron doesn’t just know the rules of personal finance, student success, and talking about life lessons – he has played the game, coached it, and helped rewrite it so the learning sticks.
Ron lives in Bowling Green, Kentucky, with his family. When he isn’t writing or teaching, you’ll likely find him on a hiking trail with his dogs, enjoying a movie with his wife, or sitting across from someone, helping them think through a big decision.
WKU Excellence in Teaching Award 2024
Honored to be selected among over 700 full-time faculty at WKU
The Tamar Frankel Fiduciary Prize
The Frankel Fiduciary Prize was established to acknowledge individuals who have made significant contributions to the preservation and advancement of fiduciary principles in public life.
One of the "30 Most Influential" in NAPFA's 30-year history
Issued by National Association of Personal Financial Advisors · March 2013
Faculty Award for Teaching
2020 and 2024 by the Gordon Ford College of Business at Western Kentucky University
Tiffany Isselhardt
Tiffany brings experiences shaped by a lifetime of curiosity, resilience, and studying history. Her career has spanned financial services compliance, museum curation, nonprofit leadership, and teaching history – and through it all, she has carried a passion for making complex subjects genuinely understandable to everyday people. Her many works include Exploring American Girlhood in 50 Historic Treasures (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021), A Girl Can Do: Recognizing and Representing Girlhood (Vernon Press, 2022), and contributing to multiple digital, film, and exhibition projects including What Happened to Jonesville? – an exhibition that became an Emmy Award-winning documentary.
Those skills didn’t come only from academia – they came from life. Navigating complex realities that so many people face but rarely talk about – student loans, domestic abuse, rebuilding after divorce, and making career decisions that balance passion with survival – Tiffany has made the early-career mistakes, asked the hard questions, and found her footing – while learning how to tell stories that help others find their passions and learn to thrive.
She lives in Bowling Green, Kentucky, with her family and enjoys historical writing, video gaming, painting, traveling, and teasing her dad, Ron, about his affliction for run-on sentences.
Cathy Rhoades
Cathy is the administrative backbone of Professor Money Bear. Since their days working at Disney together, she has kept Ron’s many ventures running smoothly – handling everything from bookkeeping and payroll to IT support, implementing systems, and ensuring the chilidogs are just right. Equal parts office manager and in-house tech whiz, she’s the person who quietly makes sure nothing falls through the cracks.
Beyond the office, Cathy is a proud dog mom, an avid fan of science fiction and British humor, and she treasures time spent with family.
