When Jake Stokes arrived in the United States in 2017 from India on a culinary visa to work as a casino chef, he never imagined he’d one day lead a university investment club. Now, the NKU finance student is preparing for graduation next spring as he fulfills his dream career in finance.
In late 2023, Stokes joined the NKU Investment Club. Only five people attended the weekly meetings, he remembered. By the end of the semester, three members graduated, leaving Stokes and another student, Alec Parnitzke, as the only active participants.
He faced a difficult decision.
“Do we let the club go down, or do we give it one final try and revive this thing?” Stokes said.
He chose to try again, but to do it right.
“It was the summer of 2024 when we decided we were going to write up a budget,” Stokes said.
From there, things took off quickly. Passionate about the club, Stokes began promoting it across campus. With new funding, he organized events and activities. Alumni support also became crucial.
“Guest speakers at these amazing companies around Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky were in full support of us, and they wanted to come and talk to our students,” he said.
Stokes pauses to look at flyers from past events scattered across the Student Investment Club’s small office on the second floor of the Haile College of Business. To him, the collection represents trophies from his presidency.
Along the way, he built a professional network of alumni, bankers and students—something he says he’s most proud of.
“It’s something I’m going to treasure forever,” he said.
The Club’s Big Moment
Spring graduation is approaching fast, but before that, Stokes hopes to finish his biggest project yet: the club’s first Stock Pitch Competition.
The event gives students the chance to analyze a company’s stock and present whether to buy, sell or hold. In February 2026, teams will pitch their recommendations to a panel of industry judges. The winning group will take home $2,500.
“There hasn’t been an event like this before at NKU,” Stokes said. “If we can pull this off the way we planned, it’s going to be a major success. It’ll stay here after I graduate, and that’s something I’ll be very grateful and proud of.”
Through his connections, Stokes brought several local banks on board.
“We have Fifth Third Bank, Trust Bank, Republic Bank and First Financial all sponsoring this,” he said.
Brandon McDaniel, the club’s current active president and Stokes’ close friend, said Stokes carried most of the workload.
With both leaders graduating soon, the club again faces an uncertain future.
“We’re really trying to find younger members who want to take over the roles,” McDaniel said. “We’re making the transition as smooth and transparent as possible, and I’m optimistic we can find people that are suitable.”
Finding His Path
Finance wasn’t always Stokes’ dream.
“I actually wanted to be either a chef or a musician,” he said. “I figured out that finance and business were my thing much later in life, after I moved here.”
Stokes grew up in Siliguri, India.
“In 2017, I decided to come to the United States, and that changed my life forever,” he said.
His culinary school offered him a visa to work as a chef in an Indiana casino for six months. When his contract ended, he took on a series of jobs, trying to find his path.Â
“I was still trying to figure things out. So, I switched jobs. I worked at many different things. I worked at a car dealership, at Amazon, and many sales jobs,” he remembered.Â
During that time, he became a father. He fell in love and married. But the marriage lasted only two and a half years before ending in divorce.
“My son was born right before COVID, and that changed my perspective,” Stokes said. “I realized I had to make more money than I was.”
He used that realization as motivation.
“It was an unplanned thing, but it pushed me toward a much better direction in life,” he said.
In 2020, at the start of the pandemic, Stokes found time to reflect.
“My best friend introduced me to finance, the stock market and investing,” he said. “I started studying on my own, and I finally got into trading.”
That interest, combined with the need to provide for his family, led him to pursue a finance degree. After researching schools, Stokes earned a scholarship from NKU.
“The opportunities I’ve gotten here are something I never imagined,” he said. “I’m very, very grateful.”
Building a Career
At NKU, Stokes excelled academically, consistently earning top grades.
“I love doing this,” he said. “If money were no object, I’d still be doing this. I’m genuinely excited every day to study and make the best of my career.”
His finance professor, Dr. Jang-Chul Kim, said Stokes` curiosity set him apart.
“He always asked questions if he didn’t understand some of the market conditions,” Kim said.
Scene: The Meeting
It’s 5:25 p.m. on a Tuesday at the Haile College of Business. Students shuffle into the Investment Club room as Stokes greets each one.
“Hey, Jan,” he says. “How are you doing? Do you have any stocks you’re watching right now?”
After a few minutes, he begins the meeting. Everything is prepared as he goes over recent market trends.
“What’s happening right now that could impact the stock market?” he asks the 15 students seated before him.
He opens a trading software program to analyze a student’s stock pick – immediately diving into the discussion.
Looking Ahead
Unlike many students, Stokes already has a full-time position lined up at Merrill Lynch, following a successful internship there in 2024.
“I was searching tirelessly for internships through Handshake,” Stokes said.
His first internship, he recalled, wasn’t glamorous but was invaluable.
“It was a very small, two-person operation, but that’s where I started learning about the wealth management business,” he said. “Whatever I learned there, I used in future interviews, including the one with Bank of America Merrill.”
Because of strict regulations in the wealth management industry, Stokes said he looks forward to doing more once he earns his licenses.
“There were a lot of things I wasn’t allowed to do,” he said. “When I get hired full-time, I’ll finally be able to.”
Juggling school, work and family hasn’t been easy.
“It’s definitely a very hard thing to balance all of these things together,” he said. “I’m better at managing my time now than I was back in the day. I plan my days the night before so I can make them more productive.”
Persistence, he said, is his defining trait.
“Even when I don’t feel like it, I still get up and do the work,” Stokes said. “Discipline and consistency beat everything.”
McDaniel agreed.
“Jake’s really good at getting things done and communicating with people,” he said. “If you ask him to do something, he does it—he doesn’t kick the can down the road.”