How did I get here from there?
“Don’t be careful, don’t be clever, when you see your dream, pursue. It’s a dangerous endeavor, but the only thing to do.” - Stephen Sondheim, Into The Woods
Over the past 20 years, I’ve had the pleasure of advising and coaching over 1000 people to achieve their dreams through holistic financial planning. I’ve held many roles in my life; camp counselor, massage therapist, stage manager, office manager, general manager, sales trainer, coach, mentor, producer, daughter, sister, aunt, mental health peer specialist, board member, dog mommers…and they have each informed my view of the world and how I choose to contribute to it. Nothing brings me joy like watching someone achieve their goal. Whether it’s my niece learning to walk or a client having an “aha!” moment with a financial concept or seeing college planning pay off.
When I was a camp counselor I came up with my personal rules for conduct.
We accomplish what we set out to do.
We do it safely and respectfully through effective communication.
We enjoy the process and revel in the final product.
I’ve found that this checklist holds true for practically every aspect of life. That is the list I’ve been working with for most of my life, save for one phrase, “through effective communication.” Having worked in a few industries and having to learn the slang and jargon for each made me acutely aware of the communication gap that can exist in almost any relationship. I am a person who loves to create order and process, and closing the communication gap has become a passion. During my time in finance, I dropped the jargon that created barriers to entry. I introduced the idea that personal finance can be freeing and not restrictive. This point of view helped me to become well-known in the Broadway community as the not-scary financial advisor who still got the job done well and with joy.
As Marie Curie said, “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”
