What I’ve Been Building: Held, Financial Services, and New Connections

By Carlin Soorenian · September 2026

Between developing my own iPhone app, growing in financial services, and a recent trip to Monterey, I’ve had a lot happening behind the scenes. I wanted to share what I’ve been working on and how these different parts of my life are starting to connect.

Earlier this month, I attended the Exertus Leadership Summit in Monterey, where I spent time with people from the Exertus and Vantage Financial Alliance community. Meeting leaders, connecting with colleagues, and sharing conversations in person made the experience memorable. I also had the chance to introduce myself and share the business cards I’ve been putting so much thought into. It felt good to bring something personal and creative into a professional setting.

The trip was part of a bigger period of growth for me. Through my involvement with Exertus Financial Partners and Vantage Financial Alliance, I’ve been continuing to develop my work in insurance and financial services. My focus includes life insurance, annuities, and helping people better understand their options for protecting their families and preparing for the future.

I’ve also been working on presentations and educational content, practicing how to explain complicated subjects in a way that feels approachable. I want people to feel comfortable asking questions and understanding what they are considering. That starts with listening, continuing my own education, and learning from the people around me.

Graduating from the University of La Verne in 2025 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Departmental Honors gave me a foundation I’m continuing to build on. My experience in customer service and my family’s diesel repair business has shaped me, too. Understanding a problem, paying attention to details, and following through are habits that matter across all of these areas.

That interest in solving problems is also behind one of the projects I’m most excited about: Held.

Held is an iPhone collectibles app I began developing in August 2026. The idea grew out of my own interest in collecting and a question that comes up often: what exactly am I holding, and how can I learn more about it? The tagline captures that idea: “Know what you hold.”

My current focus is on Pokémon and sports cards, with broader ideas for coins and other collectibles as the project develops. The experience I’m working toward follows a simple sequence: Scan → Verify → Value → Collect. I want to make it easier to identify an item, check the match, explore available pricing information, and keep track of a collection.

A lot of the recent work has involved refining the scanner, improving card recognition, and making the interface clearer. Testing with different cards has shown me how much the details matter. A useful result should make it easy to check the specific card and version, and understand where the pricing information comes from.

Held is an active iPhone prototype. As its creator and product director, I’m continuing to shape the experience, test it, and work through improvements. Bringing an idea into a working app has meant making decisions about everything from navigation and visual design to how results are presented. It has given me a much deeper appreciation for the work behind the apps we use every day.

I’ve also been working on Held’s public presentation, including its screenshots and GitHub showcase. You can take a closer look at the project here: Explore Held.

Alongside these projects, I’ve been refreshing my business cards, updating my LinkedIn presence, and thinking about how this website can better reflect who I am. Technology, collecting, cars, and business have all been recurring interests for me. This is a place where I can share the projects and experiences that come out of that curiosity.

Over the coming months, I want to keep improving Held, growing my knowledge in financial services, and sharing more of the process here. There is still plenty to learn and build, and I’m looking forward to showing you how these projects develop.

Thanks for following along. If we met in Monterey, connected through work, or share an interest in technology and collecting, I’d be glad to stay in touch. You can connect with me on LinkedIn.