Meet Christina
Growing up, I was taught that success is getting an education and securing a stable job with a large company. My parents encouraged my pursuit of a college degree. Heck, I was the first in my family to get one – bought and paid for with student loans! After graduation I quickly put those student loans into deferment and began seeking a position with a Fortune 500 company. If I could get my foot in the door, I believed I would wow them with my optimism and work ethic.
This is exactly what I did, and before long I was relocating from Montana to Minneapolis as part of a leadership development program. Determined to make my way in the world, I put on my Banana Republic pant suit and said yes to opportunity after opportunity.
Climbing the corporate ladder to a six figure salary took nine years.
By year 10 I had created big momentum and loved being a company girl. That same year I finished an MBA (with a lot more student loans – becoming one of my biggest money regrets), accepted a significant promotion, got married, and found out I was pregnant. My husband also accepted a job with a substantial pay raise in Denver. I was certain that this was the American dream and we had it made. Then we got our personal finance wake up call. You see, even though we were making nearly $200,000 a year combined, we couldn’t afford the cost of daycare. Between our house payment, student loans, and credit cards, we were short $500 each month. I was stunned.
We were high income earners struggling to make ends meet.
It was terrifying. There was no path forward that didn’t include both of us working, and yet we couldn’t afford daycare. As I worried about how we would make all our payments, life took a turn for the worse. Just one month before my due date, my mom passed away.
On maternity leave, grieving with a newborn, my mom gave me one last gift. She had a life insurance policy and the benefit was enough to pay off all of my student loans. Now with breathing room in our budget, I had a way to go back to work. (Check out my thoughts on being a working mom.)
I went back with the best of intentions. I still wanted to be the company girl, but the thrill of corporate accomplishment lost its luster. It took another three years before I was certain I would never be the company girl again. But by now we had a bigger house, newer cars, and a lot more stuff. Again, I felt like I wanted my life to be different, but I couldn’t afford to make the change. Then it hit me, what if our money situation was different?
I was 35 years old when I found Dave Ramsey and the Baby Steps.
I had never heard of being debt fee. The idea was a paradigm shift. The fact that there were people who didn’t use credit cards for emergencies and had several months of savings outside of their retirement accounts was a shock. Before finding Dave, I thought good money management was synonymous with good debt management. I devoured personal finance book after personal finance book – some of which are listed in my recommended reading.
I learned so much and couldn’t stop talking about it. I chatted with everyone about money management – friends, neighbors, colleagues, the checkout lady at Target.
We became consumer debt free within one year. Six months later we had a fully funded emergency savings account. We cash flowed a vacation to Europe and came home ready to tackle the mortgage.
Becoming mortgage free was our Mt. Everest.
We went after it with every bonus, extra paycheck, and windfall. This was our path to unlocking the golden handcuffs. Once that was done, I gave notice and left an 18 year career with Wells Fargo. I was 40 years old when I started the adventure of business ownership.
Today I’m a financial coach, business advisor, and bookkeeping professional.
I care about your financial wellbeing. I don’t think there is a single right way to manage money, but I do believe that financial security is important and financial independence should be the new American dream.
It’s time to do away with the stress and anxiety of winging it with your finances. Don’t let shame or embarrassment hold you back from finding the answers you need. The idea that talking about money is taboo is nothing more than a story.
My clients are actively changing their story. I help them without judgement and guarantee that they will be equipped to make wise financial decisions. During our time together, we:
- Set clear personal finance and business finance goals
- Create values based spending plans (aka budget)
- Craft a debt repayment strategy that considers balances, interest rates, and the size of your minimum monthly payments
- Understand cash flow and how to consistently pay yourself
- Celebrate progress as you hit financial milestones
129
Lives Impacted
74
Budgets Created
251,000
Debt Reduced
22
Coffees / Week
TESTIMONIALS
