CEO / Founder / Executive Director

Parker’s journey began with significant challenges. He grew up in a household with limited guidance and a strained relationship with his father—whom he never met and only spoke with once on the phone at age four. Moving between Las Vegas, Albuquerque, and finally Lompoc, California, he experienced a childhood he describes as dysfunctional. While his mother, Sandra White, and stepfather, Kenneth White, instilled a strong work ethic, Parker lacked the life skills and accurate support needed to manage finances, communicate effectively, build healthy relationships, and prioritize his mental well-being.

Without these tools, life was a constant struggle. Parker worked hard but struggled to make meaningful progress. Many of his childhood friends fell into cycles of trouble that often led to incarceration, reinforcing a sense of limitation in his environment. Although he had the athletic talent to earn a football scholarship, an unexpected pregnancy with his girlfriend changed his path. Lacking knowledge of how communication, financial responsibility, and healthy relationships impact family stability, Parker faced challenges with his children’s mothers, making the upbringing of his son and daughter more difficult than it could have been.

A pivotal moment came during Parker’s 33rd birthday. While sitting at a table, he was suddenly overcome with emotion and began to cry. When his girlfriend asked why, he couldn’t immediately explain his feelings. Moments later, he realized the pain came from never having his father in his life. Recognizing and acknowledging this truth allowed him to process the hurt, accept his past, and commit to personal growth. From that day forward, Parker resolved to become the best man and father he could be, guided by faith, inspired by God’s qualities and the fruit of the Spirit, and mentored by Mr. Charles Oxton, who taught him the importance of having support in life.

Throughout his career, Parker gained valuable experience in a variety of roles, including GTE Wireless, Albertsons, Lucky’s, Kmart, the Union Sugar Company, and the U.S. Post Office, eventually opening his own cell phone store in Goleta. Yet past associations caught up with him, and he lost everything he had built. It was during these challenging times that Parker realized how essential life skills, communication, financial literacy, relationship-building, and mental awareness are to navigating life’s obstacles.

Now a father of two, Tiana R. Parker and Masyn D. Parker, Parker has also dedicated 15 years to part-time work at Trader Joe’s while pursuing entrepreneurial ventures. Motivated by his own experiences, he created the online program Molding Choices (moldingchoices.com) to provide youth, young adults, and adults with the guidance he never had. By putting these life skills—communication, financial understanding, confidence, healthy relationships, accurate support, and mental awareness—into practice, Parker now owns two businesses and founded Engaging In Molding Choices.

Parker’s mission is to empower others to develop essential life skills, strengthen communication, improve financial understanding, build healthy relationships, and enhance mental awareness—while also supporting others along the way. A resilient and positive individual, he is committed to helping people navigate life with confidence, clarity, and purpose, proving that with guidance, support, and determination, anyone can rise above their circumstances.

Associate Director

Fysal graduated from Binghamton University in New York with a degree in Political Anthropology and directly started working for EF International, the world’s largest International Education and Language Instruction organization. As a leader in both of EF’s non-profit divisions he took on the role of School Director for EF’s English language school in Santa Barbara. He then went on to work for Santa Barbara Business College as their Director of International Operations. Fysal has since been active in consulting with developing businesses as well as volunteering with various community organizations.

Site Coordinator

Iliana is first generation raised in Santa Barbara. She was born in Mexico City and at the age of 6 came into the US, landing in beautiful SB with her Mother and father and 2 younger sisters. She graduated from San Marcos High School 6 months early to pursue her interest in dance. She worked as a waitress and found her passions for Non-Profits when she began working for the Friendship Center in Montecito. She knew there was a great cause when she assisted in the grant writing process and experience what serving the elderly meant. She went to City College for 2 years, however, realized that her goal of becoming an accountant is not what she wanted to do, so she focused on other areas.

She transitioned into the banking field after having her first son at 21 years of age and after having her second son at 25, she wanted more for her family. She worked for many different industries, not quite finding her purpose and after working as a Government Contractor for 8 years working projects with companies like Pt. Hueneme Naval Airbase, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, and China Lake Naval Airbase; however, she decided to seek out other opportunities.

That is when her organization called People Helping People found her. She had known of this company since 2011 but could not see herself doing something outside the Government industry.

Iliana did not have any experience in any of these fields, however, she realized she needed to be open in 2013 when the Government shut down. It affected her and her family financially tremendously and she did not feel secure.

In 2015, she was given the opportunity to be a part of this great company. She is now an entrepreneur, certified by the State of California to help many underserved and overlooked families with suffering from Financial cancer. Her and her team of licensed agents insure that their clients have the best solutions to their financial issues; from debt relief to retirement and Long-Term Care. Her goal is to help every generation from new born babies to great-grand parents insure their families change their financial legacy’s forever.

In her personal time, she is a certified Zumba instructor and give classes if time allows. She dedicates time to her 2 boys, 20 and 16 who are both still in school; loves her Christina Church and hangs out with friends.

Advisor

Mr. Tullis is a retired Air Force Veteran after serving 21 years on active duty from Jan. 1980 to Feb 2001. He was an F-4E/G Radar Technician before cross-training into Operations Resource Management for the 37 TFW, AWACS and JSTARS. In May of 2000 he completed a Bachelor of Science Degree in Human Services with a Minor in Psychology from Mercer University in Macon, GA. He became an Ordained Minister in June of 2007.

Rev Tullis grew up in Oxnard, CA where he graduated from Channel Islands High School in 1976. He Graduated from Ventura College in 1978 and as previously stated, entered the USAF in 1980. He comes from a service- oriented family. He has 4 children, 2 who are serving on active duty and 1 married to an active duty member (all USAF). His father, who was the Pastor at Grace Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Lompoc for 22 years, retired from the USAF after serving 20 years. Tullis’ father met his mother while he was serving at Scott AFB, Ill. in 1949. He has a niece and a nephew who were both medically retired from the Army, a nephew who served as a med tech in the Air Force and a great niece who graduated from West Point in May of 2016.

Rev. Tullis served for nearly 4 years as a Parks and Recreation Commissioner for the City of Lompoc from Nov 2006, Aug 2009 representing, then Mayor, the Honorable Dick DeWeese. He served as a Delegate at the California Democratic State Convention for 2 years, representing the Central Coast, from 2006 – 2008. In Oct of 2007, he was chosen by the Honorable Congresswoman Lois Capps to attend The Central Coast Faith Leaders Day in Washington DC, where he had the honor to meet and speak to several members of congress. He is a member of the NAACP and VFW Troop 570.

He is a counselor and he has a deep affection for what he believes is God greatest creation—all of mankind.

Advisor

Raised in the city of Denver Colorado, Jared Overton grew up as an underprivileged child. East Denver was not without its challenges and bad influences. Narrowly escaping the clutches of the judicial system, at age 18 Jared saw very quickly the ill effects that result from poor decision making. Inspired to make a difference, he relocated to LA where he began to use music as an outlet to incite his peers to positivity. In time Jared joined forces with his brothers and after signing a record deal with Universal Music Group, he used his platform to reach out to troubled youth. Currently volunteering 840 hours a year to a world-wide Bible education program, Jared is also a professional in the insurance industry. Endeavoring to pass on his experiences and advice on life and social skills to adolescence in the Santa Barbara community, Jared became involved with EMC alongside friend and partner Shawn Parker.

Advisor

“Mr. Castelo joined Union Bank (then Santa Barbara Bank & Trust) in 2008 and has held various positions throughout his career. Mr. Castelo oversees all managerial duties of his offices and customizes financial solutions for clients, specializing in small business and residential lending. His responsibilities include recruiting and interviewing employees for hire, and the ongoing development of branch personnel through evaluations and performance reviews. He provides leadership towards the achievement of branch performance and efficiency, in line with company vision and values. Helping local residents of various backgrounds reach their financial goals is his main priority. The oldest of three boys and a Central Coast native from Hollister, CA, Mr. Castelo was the first of his family to attend and graduate from a 4-year university. He received his B.A. in Mathematics from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2007, and is fluent in both English and Spanish. He was an active member of Hermanos Unidos, a non-profit organization founded in 1999, that promotes leadership development at the center of the Chicano/Latino community at UCSB. Mr. Castelo is actively involved in our community. He partners regularly with local schools and non-profit organizations to provide financial literacy workshops that focus on banking, budgeting, credit, and mortgage education. He enjoys spending his free time with his wife, his daughter, and his dog Coco. He is also an avid weightlifter.

Vice President, Branch Manager, Santa Barbara Mesa & San Roque

President

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Vice President

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Secretary

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