Albert Miller was born and raised in Northwest Indiana in the small town of Chesterton. He grew up with three sisters which he says, “Was always an interesting dynamic...”
His family is known as one of the Duneland swimming families. Miller started swimming as a young kid on the Duneland Age Group team.
“My older sister swam, so I ended up being at all the swim meets. I figured if I was going to be there, I might as well swim too.
He then went on to swim at Chesterton High School, and at Purdue University. At Chesterton he was an Indiana State swimmer and varsity captain, and continued to cheer his younger two sisters as they swam for CHS when he went off to the Boilermakers.
As he continued to swim through college, Purdue recognized his achievements in the pool and the classroom, and by the time he was a senior, he had become the captain of the swim team and a varsity record holder.
Through the rigors of fitness training and competitive swimming, he received his undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering.
“It always seemed to be what I thought was expected of me because I was good at math, science, and problem-solving. I don’t know that I was ever in love with it as a career.”
In his senior year, he became involved with a research lab on campus that dealt with concrete research.
“It’s kind of hard to believe that there is a lot of research and development in concrete, but there is.”
While working in the research lab, he was asked to stay on to pursue his master’s degree, which of course he accepted. The lab even paid for his graduate degree. As he was finishing his master’s degree, he realized that his heart was not in it.
“In Civil Engineering, you don’t build a whole bridge. You might build a piece of the puzzle, but you rarely get to build the whole puzzle,” he explained. “Also, I really wanted some more human interaction.”
Growing up in a family with all sisters, Miller’s father was a great influence in his life. His father was in the financial planning industry.
“He and I always talked about how he and I might someday work together, and how I might come into the business.”
After Miller graduated with his master’s degree, he came on board with his father at Raymond James & Associates.
“It was very natural progression for us. A lot of our clients like it too just because there is a continuation there, and there is a lot of trust that gets built up. Being more of a family business now it’s a little easier for that trust to transfer.”
At Raymond James & Associates, Miller’s favorite part is helping and being with the people. He helps reach goals whatever they may be. The group also work with many of the local businesses.
Miller is passionate about bettering his community and helping people in need. Outside of his work at Raymond James, he is also on the Board of the Duneland Chamber of Commerce. While on the Board, he and the other board members started the Full Circle Young Professional Group as an effort to get the younger generation involved in the community.
“Often chamber events can be pretty daunting to a new person coming there. The good thing about this group is that we are all young professionals who are there for the same reason, to get involved in the community.”
“We try to do a lot of volunteer events. Last year we participated in the United Way Day of Caring, and that ended up being really beneficial,” he said. “The great thing about doing things like that is that we get to network there, and work as a group to achieve building something. It’s a great way to learn team building while at the same time helping the community out.”
Miller is also a member of the Board at Hilltop Neighborhood House. Hilltop Neighborhood House started as an early childhood education program and daycare and they now also have a food pantry to help with feeding the area, and an afterschool program where kids get a meal and help with homework.
He and his fiancée, Kristyn Nallenweg, plan to lay down roots and stay in Valparaiso. The reason he likes living here is that to him Northwest Indiana is home.
“There’s no place like home. I love the close-knit community here, there are good people here. It’s a good place to live, and raise a family,” he said.