Published:
03/17/2011 10:09am
Have A Unique Voice
As a personal finance expert it’s challenging to stand out in large crowd of financial gurus and have a unique message. But lately, I’ve realized that my talents and experiences have given me a unique voice. No one is exactly like me.
The key to standing out is to take what you know and combine it with where you’ve been and who you are now. Everyone can relate to a personal story about overcoming an obstacle; we all have hurdles to jump over and challenges to face.
I worked on Wall Street for twenty years then became a credit counselor for a nonprofit counseling agency. As a counselor I spoke to hundreds and hundreds of clients, most of whom were women suffering from divorce or death of a spouse and clueless about their financial situation. To help these women a co-counselor and I wrote a simple guide that would provide a basic financial education. It explains budgeting, balance sheets, credit reports, debt management, and available resources. Now I write articles and give workshops to promote the financial empowerment of adults in general and women in particular.
Over the last fifteen years I’ve had many obstacles to overcome - operations on my back, knees, broken arm, neck and most recently heart valve surgery that went wrong. In addition, my twenty-year marriage fell apart. On the plus side, I have raised three wonderful girls, helped many women become financially educated and empowered, and have earned black belts in both Karate and Tae Kwon Do. It has been the study of martial arts that has given me the strength of mind, body and spirit to persevere through the tough times and fully appreciate the successes.
All of these elements and past events have come together to fuel my passion, which is to financially empower women, particularly women going through a divorce. You could say I’m an expert on personal and financial self-defense. I doubt there is anyone else in the marketplace with similar expertise, experience and martial arts background. My message is unique. When I speak to people, particularly women, they take notice and hopefully take action.
