Pickle’s People: A Father, A Daughter, and the Gift of Time
3/18/2026 - Wealth Insights and Stories | SouthState Wealth
Zach Volousky learned what time really means in a children’s hospital. On January 7th, 2020, under fluorescent lights and surrounded by IV poles and stuffed animals, Zach got the news no parent ever wants to hear: “your child has cancer.”
In an instant, life became a series of hospital rooms, treatment schedules and long nights. His three-year-old daughter, Eliza Cate, began an 800-day journey through chemotherapy – a season that would test every part of Zach’s world at once: his role as a father, a husband, and a wealth advisor responsible for guiding others through some of their own most important moments.
Two months later, the world shut down.
COVID turned an already fragile reality into a season that was even more isolating. Zach was caring for a critically ill toddler, a newborn at home and a growing book of clients, all while trying to hold his family together in a season that offered no instruction manual.
In an instant, life became a series of hospital rooms, treatment schedules and long nights. His three-year-old daughter, Eliza Cate, began an 800-day journey through chemotherapy – a season that would test every part of Zach’s world at once: his role as a father, a husband, and a wealth advisor responsible for guiding others through some of their own most important moments.
Two months later, the world shut down.
COVID turned an already fragile reality into a season that was even more isolating. Zach was caring for a critically ill toddler, a newborn at home and a growing book of clients, all while trying to hold his family together in a season that offered no instruction manual.
In a time where everything felt uncertain, one thing didn’t: SouthState Investment Services became the place where Zach didn’t have to choose between being a father and being a professional.
Over coffee with his leaders, Tim Sease and Lisa DeHaven, Zach was given direction he still clearly remembers to this day: “Focus on your kids and your family. Work will be here when you’re ready, and until then, we’ve got you.” They meant it, too – Zach’s colleagues covered three offices for him and cared for his clients without missing a beat. Meals were being dropped off at his door, toys and gifts filled his daughter’s hospital room, and support came from both coworkers he knew well and those he had never even met.
For the first time in his career, Zach wasn’t thinking about client meetings or investment portfolios; instead, he was thinking about how to make his daughter smile on her fourth birthday that she celebrated from a hospital.
Eliza Cate’s nickname has always been “Pickle.” Like a true Lowcountry native, she loved pickles and pickled okra, which she’d happily eat an impressive amount of straight from the jar. During those long days at MUSC, people kept asking how they could help. Zach and his wife didn’t have a grand plan at the time, but they knew they could use the generosity of others and their own grit for the greater good.
That became Pickle’s People.
Over coffee with his leaders, Tim Sease and Lisa DeHaven, Zach was given direction he still clearly remembers to this day: “Focus on your kids and your family. Work will be here when you’re ready, and until then, we’ve got you.” They meant it, too – Zach’s colleagues covered three offices for him and cared for his clients without missing a beat. Meals were being dropped off at his door, toys and gifts filled his daughter’s hospital room, and support came from both coworkers he knew well and those he had never even met.
For the first time in his career, Zach wasn’t thinking about client meetings or investment portfolios; instead, he was thinking about how to make his daughter smile on her fourth birthday that she celebrated from a hospital.
Eliza Cate’s nickname has always been “Pickle.” Like a true Lowcountry native, she loved pickles and pickled okra, which she’d happily eat an impressive amount of straight from the jar. During those long days at MUSC, people kept asking how they could help. Zach and his wife didn’t have a grand plan at the time, but they knew they could use the generosity of others and their own grit for the greater good.
That became Pickle’s People.
What started as a simple way to channel kindness has grown into a nonprofit that’s raised more than $100,000 for childhood cancer research, delivers dozens of care packages to families each year, and connects parents – especially fathers – who need a place to talk, grieve and breathe.
Once a year, Zach and his family take those stories to Washington, D.C., advocating for families who don’t always have the strength or resources to speak for themselves.
Through it all, Zach’s understanding of wealth has changed. “The most important thing any of us has is time,” he says. “Cancer makes you intimately aware of how finite that really is. Birthdays you don’t celebrate the way you imagined, milestones you watch from hospital rooms, etc. It gives you a new appreciation for what truly matters.”
Today, Eliza Cate is doing well. She’s smiling, growing, and living the childhood that Zach and his family fought so hard to protect. When clients sit across from him to talk about their finances now, Zach listens differently. He shares his story, not to be the focus of the conversation, but to welcome honesty and trust. When people feel safe enough to share what they’re carrying, the conversation becomes about more than money. It becomes about preparing for life - the joyful seasons and the hard ones, too.
This industry is notorious for constant internal movement; however, Zach Volousky has only ever worked for one institution, and after everything his family has been through, he knows why. “I know where my support is,” he says. “I know where I belong.”
Uncertain seasons have a way of changing you. For Zach, this one brought many challenges, but it also shaped his perspective and strengthened the way he shows up each day as a father, a partner, an advisor and a human.
Once a year, Zach and his family take those stories to Washington, D.C., advocating for families who don’t always have the strength or resources to speak for themselves.
Through it all, Zach’s understanding of wealth has changed. “The most important thing any of us has is time,” he says. “Cancer makes you intimately aware of how finite that really is. Birthdays you don’t celebrate the way you imagined, milestones you watch from hospital rooms, etc. It gives you a new appreciation for what truly matters.”
Today, Eliza Cate is doing well. She’s smiling, growing, and living the childhood that Zach and his family fought so hard to protect. When clients sit across from him to talk about their finances now, Zach listens differently. He shares his story, not to be the focus of the conversation, but to welcome honesty and trust. When people feel safe enough to share what they’re carrying, the conversation becomes about more than money. It becomes about preparing for life - the joyful seasons and the hard ones, too.
This industry is notorious for constant internal movement; however, Zach Volousky has only ever worked for one institution, and after everything his family has been through, he knows why. “I know where my support is,” he says. “I know where I belong.”
Uncertain seasons have a way of changing you. For Zach, this one brought many challenges, but it also shaped his perspective and strengthened the way he shows up each day as a father, a partner, an advisor and a human.
