SPEAKER_01 0:00

Is that and only women will say this to me. I often get women who say I'm I'm ashamed to tell you uh what I have in my account or what credit card to have, you know, follow the bouncing ball. And I immediately tell them we are not going to have that word in our conversations. We are you are not using that word because because frankly, most guys aren't going to, they don't put emotion around mining.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

That was a snippet from our podcast today. Hey there, Mori Channer here, founder of the MindSight Academy, neuro coach to executives, leaders, entrepreneurs, and a neuroleadership trainer using insights from neuroscience to help you deliver results by learning to work smarter, be in control of your brain, manage yours and others' emotions, change behaviors, flourish, and exceed expectations. Welcome back to another episode of Lead2 Excel Podcast. I am so thrilled to be with you today because we are discussing a very important but usually avoided topic. But before we get into that, remember to subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen to it, because it will help other people find it and give them the opportunity to understand how they can rewire their own brain to enable them to achieve their goals. So without wasting any more time, grab your cup of coffee or your drink or whatever that might be, put your feet up and listen in. I am absolutely excited today because I have a lady who has actually become a dear friend of mine, Shelly Nadell, with us today. Now, Shelley is a native Houstonian. Is that how you pronounce it, Shelly?

SPEAKER_01 1:51

That's how you pronounce it, Hustonian.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

Awesome. So Shelley is a native Houstonian, passionate about empowering women. After 45 years, actually, after over 45 years working and volunteering with nonprofits, she spent the past 14 years helping women control their financial destiny. An entrepreneur and business owner, Shelley commits her free time to community leadership, including serving as co-president of Elevate Networks Houston chapter. Her newest educational effort, Food and Finance with Shelley, which we're really going to go into because I'm so excited about this, actually promotes financial literacy by breaking down money concepts into bite-sized digestible educational nuggets. So from that introduction, I guess you might know now what Shelly actually does. Now, Shelly's a financial planner. So welcome, Shelly, to Lead2XL podcast. It's so good to have you with us this afternoon.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

Oh, I'm excited. And I to be able to sit and talk with a dear friend is uh is really about such a subject that's so important to us. I is really exciting. I'm very grateful for it.

SPEAKER_00 3:13

This topic we're actually going to be discussing about, like you said, is absolutely important. So I'm just going to start by asking you. I know I've kind of introduced you, but what is it you actually do?

SPEAKER_01 3:28

Great. Thanks. That's a great question. So when people think of financial planning, financial advisor, there's a lot of terms in our industry that are thrown around. So in essence, what I what I do is I help people take the pieces of their financial world. And those pieces may be in different previous jobs, they may be with different spouses. They're our financial elements of our financial uh financial world are scattered around. And so what I do is I put those pieces together in the same way that you do a jigsaw puzzle. And when those pieces aren't connected, you don't really know what they show. But when you put them together, they give you a clear picture of where you're going. So in essence, I help people take their financial world, make sense of it, and integrate and leverage those assets so that they are most empowered to be financially successful, whatever that means to them. And that's something different for every person, what financial success means. And we really try hard to get to that essence of what each person wants.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Okay, thank you. We're gonna come back to a bit more detail about how you do this, but how did you get into financial planning?

SPEAKER_01 4:41

That is such a great question, Maureen. So I'm not your typical financial person who studied finance in college and worked for a bank or anything. I started off with a 20-year career working for nonprofits and for the uh US federal government. So uh I worked in uh healthcare, I worked with AIDS, uh, AIDS communities, I worked in uh transportation, I worked in corrosion control, I mean, and then I worked in a park, all kind of all over it. The the continuity, the thread was I was a fundraiser, I was a grant writer, I uh did uh media relations, marketing, government relations. So it just was all kind of just a mishmash of stuff, uh, but all in the nonprofit world, a nonprofit social service world. Then uh 14 years ago, I kind of reached what, you know, we all have our epiphany moments during our lifetime, and it was just a confluence, just a gathering together of different events that happened where I decided I really needed to make a career change. And I was looking for uh corporate communications jobs, and my resume came across the desk of an insurance man, a manager in an insurance company. And a month later, I came home from a meeting with him and I and I uh didn't really wasn't interested. I mean, I'm a what we call liberal arts grad. I majored in religion. I mean, I'm I'm not a was not a money person, but um, he mentioned long-term care planning, which was a passion of mine personally. I had worked on uh in in DC in Washington, DC about that on that issue, and my father was in long-term care. And next thing I knew, I came home and told my husband, guess what I'm gonna do for a living? And so um that was 14 years ago, and a lot's happened since then. Uh, but my uh focus has always been on helping people be in control of their money, especially women. So that's uh I started my own company five years ago, by the way. So I've I've been an entrepreneur for five years.

SPEAKER_00 6:33

Yeah. Oh wow, that's amazing. So, how has the journey been and how have you found it? Because what you actually deal with is can be sensitive. It's something sometimes people don't even want to talk about when it comes to financial planning. So, how have you found helping people or actually getting people to want to be helped?

SPEAKER_01 6:56

That's a great question, uh, Maria. So I um when I was a nonprofit, I was helping big groups of people and I felt really good about that. I have been uh volunteering and nonprofit work has been in my DNA since uh we we call it in Judaism L'Orva D'Or from generation to generation. My mother was an active volunteer, she instilled that community commitment in me. And so I felt like the way for me to help the help the public was to be in these large organizations. When I switched to being a financial planner, financial advisor, and then financial planner, I'm I'm still helping people. I'm just doing it on a one-on-one basis. And it can, it's actually in a lot of ways more rewarding because I get to see the results. So um you're right. It's it's it's I mean, you know, we all grow and learn in our careers. And when I started off, I I was of the mentality, you know, we'll just do this. It makes perfect sense. Of course, you need to do this. And I learned and matured as an as an advisor and a planner that you really have to listen to what people say. And when it comes to money, money involves everything we do. It's I think of it as a bicycle wheel, and money is in the hub of it, and then the spokes go out to everything. And um, I kind of tease clients that I say, I know more about them than their rabbi, their priest, their pastor, their imon, their psychiatrist, their doctor. That's probably true. Because money touches everything. Yeah. And we spend a lot of time sort of uh piecing that out, parceling that out, and making sure that people understand how money affects different parts of their lives. So it's uh it has definitely been a learning curve. I have grown a lot over my 14 years in this business.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

So what's been your biggest challenge?

SPEAKER_01 8:40

Number one challenge is you know, any professional like I know the plan we put together for a client is going to help them. I mean, we don't, because that's our job, right? And then we think, well, this is a course first priority, right? I mean, this is your money, this is your future. And we end up being number 36 on their list of priorities. So while we're sitting in our office thinking, why aren't they calling us? You know, what's going on? Oh my gosh, they're taking care of kids, moving a mother into an assisted living. I mean, the story taking care of little, you know, little children. I mean, they're doing their living their lives and not focusing on what we're doing. And so it's been very hard for us as professionals, or myself and my team, to remember that and not uh we have to operate on their schedule. It's not our schedule. You know, it's not just because we have you know what we consider the best advice doesn't mean right now is when they're supposed to do it. And so it's very hard sometimes to remember it's their money, it's their schedule, they get to pick and choose when we do something. So it's it's it's challenging, it's really hard.

SPEAKER_00 9:49

I can imagine, I can imagine. So who do you work with? What age group kind of who comes to you more? And also, how do you find your clients? Is it that do they come searching for you, or do you have to go kind of telling them the importance of looking after their money?

SPEAKER_01 10:12

Now, um the one of the okay, so typically people in my career, they they make phone calls, they go to networking events, and I certainly did a lot of that. But what I found, and I was interested, I heard a previous uh previous interview you did, it was someone who found that when they volunteer in organizations, that's where they make their connections. So, as I said, volunteering has always been a part of who I am. And so I went into when I started in this career, I got involved in a couple of women's organizations at Houston, uh, particularly one in the energy space, because I I live in Houston, one of the oil capitals of the world, energy capitals, and I'm an oil and gas spouse as well. My husband works for an oil and gas company. So I uh and I started volunteering. Literally, the first luncheon I went to, I was picking up evaluation sheets, you know, and organizing them. So I ended up, you know, getting on the board and leading, leading initiatives. And that's how I ended up meeting my first group of women professionals in the energy space, primarily because they got to know me as a person. I wasn't trying to impress them. I wasn't trying to make a seem how smart I was or anything. I just, they just got to know me and they felt comfortable with me. And when it particularly comes to women and money, they have to feel comfortable with you.

SPEAKER_00 11:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

And that is, I think, different for us than maybe most men, is that for us, the financial professional relationship is about trust and candor and feeling like you can you can you can relax around someone and they're not gonna judge you. And so that's how I started my practice. And now I'm lucky enough I get referrals. I do uh uh pivoted to online educational financial literacy for organizations, and I've been getting quite a bit of traction on that. And then you mentioned food and finance, we're gonna hopefully get some traction on that. So now I'm lucky enough to be able to use those opportunities rather than going to you know five networking events a week, which is helpful during COVID because there haven't been five networking events a week. So that's how I I'm I'm very blessed.

SPEAKER_00 12:10

I'm very blessed about that. No, awesome. So you work with women predominantly. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 12:16

I uh I work with women and the men who love them, is what I say. So I um I primarily meet women because that's where I put myself out there. Yeah, and so often they'll drag the men with them, you know, and uh, but I primarily target all my marketing, all of my, you know, stuff I do in the community is all about focusing on empowering women. I I'm mother of two daughters, raised by a very strong woman who was raised by a very strong woman and keeps going back. And uh and yeah, it it is truly my passion and my purpose is to empower women, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

Now, Shirley, why would or why would a woman need a financial planner?

SPEAKER_01 13:39

Well, um, every case is different, but there are some threads. So the first thread is as women primarily, we focus on everything else in our world. We prioritize everything else except us. So I work with women who manage major budgets and major corporations, they're senior VPs. I mean, these are not, you know, low-level people. They'll do everything for everybody else. And then when it comes to their own money, they have no idea. I've I've talked to executives all the time who have no idea what's in their retirement plans, not a clue. Don't even know what a mutual fund is. And so that um that's why they need someone because they are because they're not paying attention and being a little bit of ostrich in the sand, head in the sand, you know, we part of us doesn't want to know, you know, because what if the answer is bad? Exactly. Part of what we do is help say, well, even if the answer is bad, we've got time to change things. Absolutely. So um, so that's a reason we basically give them permission to focus on themselves and focus on their needs. And then at the same time, it's a little bit of a relief. They get to say, okay, someone else is watching over this. I, as the person, don't have to be everything and don't have to always understand because women also we like to understand everything before we do something. You know, we as a rule, women don't tend to jump into things, we tend to study and analyze and make sure we have everything lined up. And um, I give them permission to not have to understand every single thing because they trust me to know. And I I had a very wonderful comment yesterday. Someone said to me that one of your greatest strengths is that you say when someone asks you a question, Shall I, and you don't know the answer, you say, I don't know, but I'll get the answer.

SPEAKER_00 15:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

They said that is the single biggest factor in working with you, is that you are honest and don't try to fool someone.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

And I think that's really important for women. It's really finding someone who they believe is authentic, someone who is real, instead of kind of bluffing about things, because women are very perceptive and they will lose interest. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

We all have our strengths and weaknesses. I am definitely my own person. I am not like I don't know many advisors that are like me. So I I, you know, it's it's nice to be different.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

Absolutely. You said you don't refer to yourself as wealth, you know, wealth, financial wealth. Why? Why don't you use the word wealth?

SPEAKER_01 16:13

So it's funny, the name of my company is Financial Success Strategies. And when I named my company, I gathered my family around and my kids, and I said, okay, guys, it needs to have some kind of money relationship in it. It needs to uh be about success, and it cannot have the word wealth. And I told them the reason why is because that word wealth is used both as kind of a cudgel, it's kind of beat people over the head that you don't deserve what I offer unless you have wealth, unless you have lots of money. And the second really fundamental point is that wealth means something different to every single person. And I've had clients that had a couple hundred thousand dollars in Social Security and they were blissfully happy. They had everything they needed in life. And I've had clients that have had millions that didn't know what they were gonna do in retirement. So that word is really used, and I think it also prevents people, particularly women, from seeking help because they're afraid. I pay, I get it all the time. Well, I don't know if I have enough money for you to talk to me. I don't have any idea either. That's why we're gonna talk. I mean, to me, and so that word is is overused. It's uh and it's I don't know, it's a little arrogant, I think, sometimes. And I don't um so I have clients, you asked actually about the ages of clients too. I I have clients, they started with me in their 20s, and I've got clients in their 80s. So there is no I mean it really depends on their situation and whether I'm a fit, because I'm not a fit for every client, and not every client's a fit for me and my team.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

So no, but that's really good though, in terms of you know, that word wealth immediately rings a different tone in different people's brain. And um, and it actually links in with what you said previously. A lot of women are very successful at work, manage massive budgets, but don't identify themselves as wealthy, don't identify themselves as being worthy or or ready to even look at their finances. So I love how you describe that because it's so true. And the fact that every we all need to know our finances, because even women who run their own businesses, I find so many times they don't know their their, they don't know their numbers, they don't even know how their business is going, um, which is yeah, interesting. So I love what you do, and I love how you kind of focus first on the woman, and then that way you can look at the family finances, but starting with the woman. And I think it's just letting women know that you matter, you know, you really matter, and your finances matter, and we need to take that responsibility to really look after our finances. So I truly admire what you do. So let's go into how you do what you do, and I know you've got different ways of doing it. One of the um, if I okay, you tell us how do you actually work with your clients?

SPEAKER_01 19:23

So the initial, and again, I'm I'm what's called a certified financial planner. I'm very proud of having achieved that that level of expertise. And from that perspective, I when I started this business, I didn't refer to myself as a planner, and then I realized we all have our strengths, and one of mine is what we call a visionary, and I'm able to see the big picture of someone, and so that's what planning is about. It's about taking seeing the person, looking at what where they are currently and taking all their different assets and and visual visualizing how they all can work together and how you can leverage those assets. So what we the first thing we do is we have a conversation, and it is a wide-ranging conversation. And I make a point of not having a preconceived notion of where that conversation is going to go because every person is gonna be different. Every single plan, every single strategy is going to be different. And so we ask a lot of questions that people are like, well, what does that have to do with investing my retirement account? Right. So we'll ask about their retirement home. You know, where are they gonna live? Do they have one child that they focus on for managing their assets? Have they, how do they feel about money? What is their perception of money? Okay, and risk. You know, Maureen, you and I have talked about this about risk. And one of the things that um I try, I I have a philosophy, I treat my clients like adults, they're in control, we give the best advice. But one of the things I do is that, and only women will say this to me. I often get women who say, I'm ashamed to tell you uh what I have in my account or what credit card to have, but you know, follow the bouncing ball. And I immediately tell them, we are not going to have that word in our conversations. We are you are not using that word because because frankly, most guys aren't going to, they don't put emotion around money. Suck me. Money is a thing, it is a tool to get us to something else. It is not a character assessment. And um, it's if I mean, there are a lot of things that I like how women handle a lot of things in this world. I'm I'm very feminist, but in this one area, women need to be more like men and treat money as a vehicle to get somewhere and not it's it's not make it about their own personal situation. And so we will sit down and I will we'll drill down into that. If someone says, I've got credit card debt, I haven't done this, I'm like, okay, let's talk about that. And so we have it's at least an hour or more. We have them fill out a profile with their financial information, so we have a basic concept of where we're going. And I mean, it usually is one or two conversations like that. Um, but and then we'll come back, we'll we'll put their information into a software program or financial planning software, we'll review that with them, make sure the data's all correct, because sometimes you know we miss dates or whatever. And then we'll say, okay, based on this, here's some strategies that we think would be useful. And one person may just need to have a better investment in their retirement account. Another person really needs insurance or tax planning. And I'm not a tax advisor, I'm not a CPA, but as a CFP, I'm able to help with tax strategies around. Money and investments and insurance, things like that. So it is a step-by-step process. We never throw the whole plan at someone because they're going to be like, ah, you know, it's going to overwhelm them. And so it's a it is a relationship. I tell people, if we're going to work together, this is a long-term partnership. This is not a one-off. And if someone's looking for that, you know, just make some trades for me or buy some stock. I'm like, that's great. I'm not the right, we're not the right team for you.

unknown 23:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

And so that does that help and sort of give a better picture of what we do? Yeah. It's a process. It's a process.

SPEAKER_00 23:10

So you do a lot of training as well. You give educational trade, you do educational training. No, how do you who do you do that to? And how does that work?

SPEAKER_01 23:22

In like the financial literacy, like teaching people about it.

SPEAKER_00 23:25

Yes, that's the one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:27

Well, I mean, in essence, it's just like educational programming, but I but I always, as your your listeners can probably figure out, I always like to add my own flair to it. So so um, well, for just an example, right after the pandemic started, I did a uh there's an oil and gas services company, has a women's group, and it's actually across the world, but most in the United States. And so I started doing virtual financial literacy, and the first thing we did was May of 2020, how to thrive and not just survive in a financial crisis. And so, um, and that was really well received. It was just practical ideas because remember, the whole world had turned upside down and we didn't know what was happening.

SPEAKER_00 24:05

So give us some example of the kind of things you would do in a workshop like that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:11

So yeah, so I mean that that workshop was full with really practical tips like talking to your creditors, okay? Because a lot of people, particularly in Houston, the energy space, lost their jobs during that time. And so, how do you, you know, talk to your creditors, negotiate payments, talk to your landlord, don't just not pay your mortgage. Um, look ahead when you're not in a crisis, trying to plan for you know what happened. And and the key about is what a you know, crises happen all the time. It doesn't mean it has to be a pandemic, thank goodness. It can be your mother-in-law has to move in, you know, because of her health, or your adult aged child who finished college has to come and live at home again. I had that for a little bit, you know. So, I mean, those are all, you know, you you get sick, or you decide you can't stand your job, whatever. There's all kinds of crises. We we have financial threats in our world all the time. And the more you plan and adapt for them, and so that's that's we're giving them really practical things. And that's what I try to do during, like we've been doing a series this year on we did financial planning, we did what is investing, you know, what is a stock, what is a bum, what's a mutual fund? Yeah, people have no idea, yet they have hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars invested in these accounts, and they don't understand how they work. And so it's really very um I'm I'm very focused on not using jargon, not using technical terms. I mean, I'm I'm smart, I know my job, you're smart, you know your job. I don't, you know, I mean, we're on we're you know, I work with people as peers, and so we're really about very practical strategies and very basic information to to give people power. I mean, it really gives particularly the women, it gives them power, knowledge is power. And so that's really the strategy we use.

SPEAKER_00 25:52

Yeah, I love that. Giving women power, and you know, because a lot of times it's the jargon that actually makes people hold back and not really be open. So I love the way you do it, really bringing it to people's level and making them understand. And I like how you talked about that's why I asked you the question about what kind of what do you discuss? And just those tips you mentioned, things that people don't even think about, you know, talking to your landlord. Basically, it's just not burying your head in the sand when there are issues, it's actually confronting them and doing something about it. I love it. No way.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

I mean, just because you don't think about it doesn't make the problem beside it.

SPEAKER_00 26:39

Yeah, exactly. That is so that is so true. That is so true. Right. Okay, I want us to talk about something you do that I just find so fascinating. The food and finance with Shelley. Tell us about this.

SPEAKER_01 26:56

Uh, we are um, I've seen the videos, the mock-up video, working on the website language. I mean, I'm really excited. So this whole started in the pandemic. Uh, so we're kind of winding, well, not winding down. We thought we were winding down. And um, I did an a uh video cooking lesson uh for my uh synagogue, for my women's group in my synagogue. And uh it was a kosher chicken pot pie, one of my favorites, my family's favorites. And so I did it with about 20 people on a Zoom call, nothing formal. And it was his, it was so fun. I had a blast doing it. Everyone liked it, they loved the recipes, you know, wanted to try it themselves. And I talked about it. And and from that, because obviously, I mean, I'm a businesswoman. I mean, I have employees, you know, I have to keep it, I have to make revenue. And so from that, we said, wow, food and finance with Shelley. And then I thought, oh, someone must be doing that. I can't find it anywhere. I mean, I, you know, I hope I haven't overlooked it somewhere. But and so what we've done is um I had a marketing crew come down and film me, um, come down to Texas, and we did six videos, uh, six cooking lessons, I should say, um, things like stir-fry, homemade pasta with homemade sauce. My focus, it's in my kitchen, and the my focus is on using good ingredients, keeping the recipe simple, and being flexible. One of the biggest parts of being successful financially is being flexible and able to respond to the situation. So when I was cooking my adult macaroni and cheese, which there's no alcohol in it, but it is absolutely someone asked me that. I'm like, no, there's no alcohol in it, but it is decadent beyond description. And I forgot to get half and half. I forgot. So I had cream and I had milk. Boom, half and half. That's what you do. It's that, and so, and then I would relate that to being flexible in your financial world. So if you know, you have you invested in something and it didn't go well, okay, learn from it, move on. If you change jobs, you know, what do you do? Or maybe you need different insurance products, or your kids are older, you have different strategies. So it's all about integrating food lessons and financial lessons because, and like you said in the beginning, it makes it digestible. It's easy for someone to remember to cut the peppers evenly in different sizes. I mean, excuse me, it's easy for them to when they're when I've taught them how to cut peppers evenly, it's easy for them to remember, oh yeah, I need to invest on a regular basis. And like it's the brain makes that connection. Yes. And so um, I am just jazzed about it. It is so fun, and we're gonna launch next month in October. So I'll definitely let you know when that launches, and you can pass that on. And uh we'll be doing different videos throughout the year, and it's really just about giving people, empowering them to, I mean, learning how to cook. I'm not a professional chef, not anywhere close. I just love to cook. And um, and empowering them financially with like, oh, I understand that. Oh, okay, yeah, that makes sense. Like that. So it's it's really fun. I mean, I love out of the box, and it is uh, it was a little scary to see myself on video, but it was really fun. I mean, it's fun, yeah. This is my personality, and it comes across like exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 30:07

I think it's a fantastic idea. Yeah, I think it's a fantastic idea because when you mentioned it originally, I went, wow, that makes so much sense. And it's that link between the cooking or what you're doing, the chopping or whatever, and linking it to finance. It it's a connection in the brain that will make people remember that. And it's that visual, being able to see you doing it. And because that's that's really how we form memories. You know, it's making those connections, linking it with something you see to something that is quite abstract, which finances can be, will then make people remember. And the fact, even, you know, I always use things like that when I'm doing talks or when I'm preparing to do a talk, it's really using a kind of, you know, say, okay, I'm gonna use speak about this, and then I'll link it to something that I really like. Could be food, it could be um a pudding or something, and it just makes me remember. So I really am looking forward to seeing these videos when they come out because I can imagine it would be amazing.

SPEAKER_01 31:14

It's it's fun. And one of the things, one of the key things is I'm trying, again, in my job, I try to make finance not to make it not intimidating. So the example is one of our recipes is homemade pasta. I'm like, I could never make homemade pasta. Oh my God, you know what? 45 minutes, you got a delicious pasta dish. And so I I get rid of some of the intimidation of cooking and of cooking fancier dishes, and at the same way, get rid of the intimidation of some of the financial concepts. So yeah, someone watches the video and says, Oh, I could do that. Like, yeah, all right, I understand that.

SPEAKER_00 31:45

And uh so each step you do, you're kind of linking it to something to do with the finance.

SPEAKER_01 31:51

Once I kind of got started on my first little hard. I I mean, ideas just keep coming out. I mean, we're constantly coming up with uh food and finance connections. So yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:01

So where will that be? If people want to watch these videos when they come out, where would they find them?

SPEAKER_01 32:07

It'll be at um food initially, it'll be at my I have a new website. I mean, we're launching it, we're almost done with the verbiage, we're finalizing it this week. It's called foodandfinance with Shelley.com. Very simple. Don't make it complicated. Yeah, and then we'll also probably put it on a YouTube channel at some point.

SPEAKER_00 32:23

So okay, cool. And I'll put the link in the description as well for anyone that wants to watch that, but honestly, do because it's I think it's just a great idea. I'm gonna ask you one more thing before we kind of wrap this up. And it's a word that we talked about when I spoke with you previously, and I hope I pronounced this properly, but you know, I'm happy to embarrass myself because that's fine. Right, fiduciary. What does it mean? Talk to us about it.

SPEAKER_01 32:55

Yeah, thank you. I'm so excited to talk about this topic. So, fiduciary in my world means to act in my client's best interest. And um, without getting into the weeds, uh, previous requirements were that any any investment or any financial tool that I recommended had to be in be suitable for the client. Now the standard is best interest. So what it means in essence is I have to think if you're a client, I have to act in your best interest before I think about me and my personal interest, my financial interest making money. Now, I've always operated that way. That's I mean, as I tell people, if I didn't do that, my mother from beyond the grave would haunt me forever. Okay. I mean, you know, it's just about being a good person.

SPEAKER_00 33:38

Yeah. Your mom sounds like my mom.

SPEAKER_01 33:40

Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, I would never sleep again. Yeah, it would be ugly. So, um, but now officially, and particularly as a CFP, I already had to sign the fiduciary commitment. And now the industry is moving to what's called a best interest standard. So being a f what it means is I have to take care of you without thinking of how it benefits me. One of the things I'm I'm taking that word fiduciary, which in the United States is pretty prevalent or was a couple years ago, you also have to be your own fiduciary. So, Maureen, not only do I have to act in your best interest, but you have to act in your best interest. And if I can help women take ownership of that, you know, if you're not acting in your best interest, it doesn't help anybody else. And so, and part of that is not putting your head in the sand, part of that is being an adult and facing your situation, whatever it is, yeah, and then talking, getting expert advice and making sure you know what to do going forward. And so I'm I really am exploring this concept of being your own personal fiduciary because I think it's it's great for me to do my job, but we have as individuals have to do our job as well. And so um it's a very uh, and you did a great job pronouncing it, by the way. So it's uh it's a little bit of a time question. I know, I know.

SPEAKER_00 34:53

It really is. But no, that's really great because I I love that concept that we have to be, yeah, we have to be our own fiduciaries. It's so important. We need to take that, it's taking that responsibility, isn't it, or ourselves, of our own finances, and not kind of expecting the government or somebody else to do it for us, but really taking that responsibility to say, you know what? I've got I I've I've got to be my number one cheerlead chairperson and look after myself. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:30

That applies whether you're married, whether you're a brand because you know, we don't know from day to day, moment to moment, who's gonna be around. And even if you I mean I've been married for almost 30 years, okay? That doesn't mean that I don't have to look after my own.

SPEAKER_00 35:43

Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. I like that because you see, there if there are people who are stay-home moms or you know, but they it you also need to be responsible for your own self, for your own finances within what you have or what you can do. Just, you know, we really do need to look after ourselves. There's something else that I've written down, and I don't know why, but I really want to talk about this bowling alley analogy.

SPEAKER_01 36:14

Oh, yeah. Yeah. So again, you asked how I when I teach people how I train, and one of the images I give is um is so okay, so bowling, I'm a lousy bowler, okay? I mean, I stink at it. And you know, I bowl with my kids or whatever. So in order for me to enjoy the game and not roll every ball into the gutter, I have the bumpers up like the little kids do, right? I just keep that. Then I have fun. So, in the same way, your financial strategy, you don't have to hit an exact target. If I have $2 million, I'll be okay for life. I mean, life is a money is not a it's it's a destination. And so so as long when you when you have and and if you're going, we're living longer, longevity is a big issue in our lives now. So we our money has to last longer and longer. So you can't just stick it in the proverbial mattress and get about it. So if you're being more aggressive, if you're if you're really, you know, investing in where being more aggressive in your investing, whether it's the stock market or real estate, whatever, you need to have protection on either side. And so those bumpers of the bowling valley provide that protection. And that may be an insurance strategy, it could be different. I mean, it it depends on the person, but that's what the bumpers mean, is that it protects you. And then if you have that protection, it doesn't matter if it kind of goes like this. Exactly. You're in your lane.

SPEAKER_00 37:30

You've got, yeah, you're in your lane. Oh, I love that. I love that. Actually, that's a good one to end on. Actually, I do love that. Oh, yeah, I'm here clapping for you. I like that. Yeah, don't clap on my bowling, it's all horrible.

SPEAKER_01 37:43

Or even with the bumpers, it's not very good.

SPEAKER_00 37:46

No, that's so cool. So, Shelley, thank you so much. And now that we've kind of come to the end, can you just give our listeners one final word of advice um or word of wisdom, whatever you want to call it, that we will take away something to hold on to.

SPEAKER_01 38:06

The word risk is such a diverse word. We all have such different interpretations of it. I what I want your listeners to know is that you cannot live life without taking risks. But the risks you take need to be informed ones. And something you may think is risky, like whether it's changing careers or looking at your money when you haven't looked at it before because you're scared of it. That's not necessarily a risk. What's risky is not doing anything about it. Thank you. Yes. So really think hard about what you define, what's risky in your in your own, and and be true to that. And if you're frightened, if you don't, you know, if you're scared to take the first step, find someone in your area, find someone you try, I mean, anyone in my profession, find someone, and really make sure that you they they're honest with you and that you you explain your fears and what you find risky, and that they come up with a good solution for you. So if your stomach, if your gut tells you this relationship is not working or you don't feel good about it, just like in the kitchen, if something bothers your stomach, don't eat it again, right? Exactly. If something bothers you when you're talking to your financial person, walk out and find someone else.

SPEAKER_00 39:17

Exactly. Yeah, and that's that fiduciary. It's taking that responsibility. I've got this one going.

SPEAKER_01 39:27

See, I thought, see, I that's how I teach that. I use that. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 39:31

Oh no, that's awesome. Thank you so much, Shelley. You've really, really been amazing, and you've given us a you really challenged us actually to really take that responsibility and look at our finances and do something. So I really value you and value your friendship, and such a great honor to have met you. Thanks so much. So I am going to wrap this up and say thank you again for coming onto this podcast. Thank you for everything you've given us. And I'm going to leave everything in the description, your links, and then hopefully, if your YouTube is channel is out. If not, I'll put the link to your website because people can link to it from um from there too. But I would say keep looking at YouTube, keep an eye on her website and look out for these videos and any information. Anyone that needs advice, just get in touch, speak to her. You've got the opportunity to just open up and talk. And like Shelly said, if it doesn't work out, then you know you can go somewhere else, but do something. I think that's the message. Do something. Don't just let's stop burying our head in the sand and you know, get up and be our own fiduciaries. Thank you so much, Shelly.

SPEAKER_01 40:52

Thank you, sweetie. Take care.

SPEAKER_00 40:54

Okay, three things before we finish today. Have you subscribed to this podcast? If you haven't, make sure you click that subscribe button wherever you listen to this podcast. Because once you subscribe, you will not miss an episode. And as usual, if you have a topic you would love me to speak about or bring a guest on, do let me know by leaving a review. Finally, do have a fantastic week. And remember that you are limitless. So I look forward to seeing you in our next episode. Bye for now.