I am sure there are those who wonder why I ever got into this business. What is it that motivates me to continue?
That’s fair.
So let me explain why I do this.
Many years ago, my Mom and Dad, my two siblings and various dogs and cats lived in my grandparents’ home. It was a lovely Victorian house with many nooks and crannies and all kinds of wonderful hiding places for kids to get lost in. In addition to the three floors, there was a very spooky attic which both lured us in and scared us to death.
As was the case, my childhood was very ordinary, the Ozzie and Harriet type. Mom was a stay-at-home (we called them “full-time”) mother, like all her friends. It was considered an insult for a wife to work outside the home, more a reflection of the husband’s inability to provide what was necessary for his family to live. We walked to the neighborhood elementary school, went to Brownies and Girl Scouts in the basement of the local church, played outside until the sun set, and in general, thrived.
But then…
Dad was the heir apparent in the family retail heating oil business. My grandfather started it in the early 50s and it was expected that my father would take over the business when my grandfather decided it was time to do that. Except, my grandfather had seven, yes, seven, heart attacks and was weakened greatly after each one. My father, lacking the skills to run a business, was left with the decision to sell the business to a competitor and he never felt like himself after that. He was defeated, angry and aimless.
Before that decision to sell, he found out my grandfather had pledged our house as collateral for a business loan. One day, the bankers came to the house and my mother rushed us upstairs to wait out the results of this very important meeting. I was sixteen at the time and was vaguely aware of the importance of this event, but did not understand why my mother was not invited to attend this meeting.
I made some very important decisions because of that, and I never considered the power these conclusions had until a few years ago. I understood that day that women are not invited to participate in financial conversations, they are incapable of understanding these conversations, and men manage money, not women.
And now here I am, a financial planner, with all the certifications to attest to that, and I now realize how important it is to me to educate women in all areas of finance, to be able to manage money themselves, to have the confidence that they can handle their own finances. It’s become my raison d’être (my battle cry). I am committed to having women feel they can have a happy, healthy relationship with money.
To read more about this, go to amazon.com and buy the book, Power of the Purse. It will leave you with a renewed belief in your ability to do this as a woman and give a better understanding of this insanity to the men who love them.
