20 under 40: Shining star as a lawyer and volunteer

Jan. 10--Seventeenth in a series of stories looking at this year's 20 Under 40 winners.

CEDAR FALLS -- Brooke Trent announced the daily opening ceremony at the Magic Kingdom in Orlando during a college internship at Disney.

"A family was selected each morning to assist. There was a countdown and a ribbon cutting to open the park each morning," said Trent, who 13 years later still remembers part of her spiel.

More recently, she presided over the grand opening of her law firm on Orchard Drive in Cedar Falls.

"It was a big decision and an exciting decision. I had been at Nelson (Law Firm in Waterloo) for almost 10 years, and an opportunity arose for me to lease office space with some attorneys who were looking toward succession planning and retirement," said Trent, 33, a Janesville native.

Trent Law Firm, which opened last year, specializes in real estate, business and estate planning and has garnered a 10 out of 10 rating by reviewers on the Avvo website.

"I really enjoy working with a variety of different types of clients, being able to meet people from different walks of life and assist them through what can be an exciting process, like buying a new home, or what can be an incredibly stressful process, assisting with a parent's probate," Trent said.

In her off time, Trent shares her business knowledge through volunteer work. She is on the facility and finance committee at her church, Prairie Lakes, chairwoman and volunteer of the year for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Iowa and member of the Waterloo Community Development Board.

One area she makes a difference in is teaching financial literacy to at-risk youth.

As a mentor with The Job Foundation -- pronounced like the Biblical figure -- Trent has been working with two young girls since 2011.

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"It's been great to be there with them through their middle school and late elementary years and get to know them and get to know their families. And I think no matter who you are or what stage of life you're coming from, having that foundation of some of those financial literacy skills is just huge in shaping credit scores and financial aid and buying a first car and making decisions with credit cards," Trent said.

The foundation pays for good grades, and mentors sit down with the students and decide how much to save and how much to spend, going over needs and wants.

Trent graduated from Janesville High School and earned her undergraduate degree at Wartburg College in Waverly in 2003. She received her law degree with highest honors from the University of Iowa's College of Law in Iowa City in 2007. She also teaches at Upper Iowa University, Hawkeye Community College and National Business Institute and is a guest professor at the University of Northern Iowa.

In her off time, Trent likes to travel. Starting at age 10 she set a goal of visiting every state before she turned 30 and doing something touristy in each. She achieved this in 2011 when she finally crossed Hawaii off her list. She also has been to the Panama Canal and St. Petersburg, Russia.

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