I’m on a Mission!
I have been an Insurance and Financial advisor for over 25 years. I joined this industry after experiencing the financial hardships of not having life insurance. My ex-husband died of cancer at 43 – my boys were 12 and 14 – he had no insurance at all. It was devastating financially for his new wife, and me, a single mother relying on the child support. Making a difference to families and single parents to prepare for the unexpected became my mission… one person at a time. It inspired the logo of the starfish in my branding. (see poem below)
Over the years I have helped hundreds of women, men and couples with risk and wealth management, even my own life was dramatically changed through education and support from women in my industry and self-help support groups. What became apparent after a few years though, was that the traditional ‘Financial Planning’ model that I was taught was not working, especially for women.
I am a ‘Money Relationship Specialist’
In my experience the number one reason why we are not successful with money is that we do not have a relationship with our money. Well we do – but it is a totally dysfunctional one.
When do I get the phone calls?
When you are forced to deal with it – due to divorce, death, birth of children or change in employment.
In other words we don’t pay attention to it until we are in extreme, life changing circumstances and we have no choice.
Until this time, we will keep supporting this dysfunctional relationship because we are afraid of it and fear failing and we are fearful that it will reveal all our weaknesses – which can lead us to shame, embarrassment or guilt.
It becomes far easier to ignore the issues all together. But the longer we ignore it – the worse it gets and then we fear that it is too late to even try.
We can raise the bar through setting goals, identifying our values, priorities, skills and talents. Most of us have been taught to depend on someone else and we have not had the financial education – but it’s not rocket science – it does take some time and it does take some effort – and most of all a commitment to ourselves to change.
It’s just common sense, right?
I have sat down with hundreds of people who told me that they wanted a different financial life than the one they had. Some wanted more money. Others were looking for peace of mind, more possessions, the ability to communicate better with their family about money, or they just wanted the tools to manage their money. They understood the ‘common sense’ principles, but they kept unknowingly, sabotaging their plans. Why? Because I discovered that our issues with money are not usually about the money. It is our self-image and our self-talk.
My mission is to educate, empower and inspire men and women to develop a healthy honest relationship to their money. We have to see this relationship as a reflection of our relationship with ourselves. The trick to prosperity is to not die waiting for it to come. We need to want and feel good about not only about making money but that we are worth it.
Money gives us choices. The key is to realize and actualize what our purpose is and declare our intention – then be open to the possibilities.
How does one become a butterfly? You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.
Why a book on setting goals from a financial advisor? What I’ve come to realize after sitting down with hundreds of people is, “It’s not about the money!” What it’s really about is discovering your passion, and setting goals based on your own personal dreams. Then, the success comes easily. Though, we have to be prepared to discipline ourselves, to focus on what we want, and then take consistent action to get there. That’s when the magic happens, and life gets so much easier.
