Latest / Marci talks money (and life) / Season 2 Recap: Guest Highlights, Money Mindset & Life Lessons with Caryn Martinez

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Season 2 Recap: Guest Highlights, Money Mindset & Life Lessons with Caryn Martinez · Marci talks money (and life)

• Marci Grossman (00:15) Hello, I am MoneyMarci. Welcome to my wrap up of season two. I have here my special guest, my good friend Caryn Martinez of Peppy Paws Play Yard in Mesa, Arizona. She's here so that you don't have to listen to me talk to myself. Caryn (00:16) you I should have practiced jokes so I could be comic relief, but you're better at jokes than I am. Marci Grossman (00:36) Well, I don't know about that. I guess anybody who would like to comment with who's funnier this episode, we'd love to hear it. So let me reiterate, the purpose of this podcast is education and information. It's important that listeners do their own research and work with real financial professionals who know their specific situation so they can give them advice. I'm giving you information, my guests are giving you information and trying to be resources of learning. Caryn, what'd you think of my second Caryn (01:05) I liked your second season. You had some very interesting people on the second season. I also knew I was doing this wrap up, so of course I was making sure to take notes. And I'm going to quote you when we started the second season. You said, that's the kind of friend I am. I give you homework. Marci Grossman (01:25) You did volunteer to do this. You're not being coerced. Caryn (01:27) Yes. Marci Grossman (01:28) I just want to put that out there that there is no blackmail involved. And you Caryn (01:32) I'm being endlessly amused by the cat tail going in front of her. Marci Grossman (01:36) I'm just happy she's showing her tail and not her behind. So you guys are missing the opportunity because this is an audio podcast of seeing my cat Morgana really try and take over the show. I started off season two with a bang to show that it wasn't just money, that we're also exploring the life because life is so impactful to your money situation, to the opportunities you have, to the lessons you've learned. I started with Maddie Andrews, we talked about mental health. She is someone who has gone through significant mental health issues and is now pivoted and is working in social work. Obviously some of her issues are lifetime issues she will continue to deal with and we also got to talk about how that might impact your education opportunities, your job opportunities. really liked having that conversation. It made me think that people with mental health issues maybe they aren't going to interview as well. Maybe they're like that eighth round draft pick that all of a sudden becomes your superstar because they are giving, I'm going to say 100 % because as a numbers person, I hate this, they gave 110%. You can't give more than everything. You can leave it all out on the field, but you can't give more than you have. Sometimes you'll have people that recognize their situation might make them less desirable initially as an employee. And so they will give you levels of loyalty, levels of emotional involvement that you may not get from an employee who feels, I can just walk off and do whatever and everyone's going to flock to me because I'm your first round draft pick. Caryn (03:21) Yeah, because somebody that has had time off for taking care of mental illness has gaps in the resume that they may not feel comfortable explaining or they can honestly explain it and it might coount against them. So to go to what you're saying, it makes it more difficult when they're looking for a job. Marci Grossman (03:42) Right, and sometimes they just need flexibility on a job. Maybe they can long days because they can't work five days a week. They need a break after two days or they need whatever they need. And in exchange, you can get valuable loyalty because the cost of replacing employees is... so huge. It frustrates me when I hear that an employee left because the company wouldn't match their wage and then they hire someone brand new who doesn't know the company and they're paying them more. It's like you could have given them a raise it would have been cheaper and more beneficial in the long run but that's a whole HR and other thing. Caryn (04:21) Well, and another thing somebody like Maddie who counsels people who are trying to navigate getting jobs or the health care system or anything else that she's helping them with, somebody like her can explain to somebody with those mental health gaps in the resume or what actually even more what you were saying about needing to work certain hours or four days a week. Hey, that's not just you Like people that have no problem ever with a mental health issue might be saying, to take this job, I really can only work four days or I really have to work these hours for any number of reasons, most likely parenting. So sometimes people that have mental health issues feel like, no, I'm the only person that's going to ask for accommodations. No, you are not. And counselors like Maddie are the ones that lay that out for them and explain it. Marci Grossman (05:17) We think about all the changes that have happened in the job world because of COVID and the positive things that are out there because all of a sudden we had to work from home and then we found out that you can get people to work from home and be as productive and in some cases more productive. Companies are transitioning back and requiring their employees to be in the office more and more. And I understand some of it. There are obviously always going to be people who take advantage of a situation and not necessarily doing what they should be during their work hours, but a lot of people are being more productive at home. And companies aren't necessarily taking a look at, okay, you're being productive at home, you can stay at home, you're not being productive at home, you need to come in the office, or maybe you're not the employee we want. And they're painting everybody with broad strokes. And we can't do that. People are individuals, whether it is mental health or Caryn (06:13) Mm-hmm. Marci Grossman (06:19) family obligations, whether it is their children or their parents or their spouse or whatever. I love having mental health professionals come on and talk about things like that as well as having people who have gone through it. I've got young man in a few more episodes that will talk some more about things like that. I guess we can move on to my second guest, Marci Grossman (06:42) Stephanie Leandre. Marci Grossman (06:44) She is a coach, she is a notary, she ended up... I don't know that this is necessarily where she expected to end up, but she is this great resource for her community. Caryn (06:56) Yeah, you know, one of the things that I would have liked to have known more about, and maybe eventually I'll catch her on another podcast or if she ever comes back to yours, she talked about specifically coaching the Haitian community. And I thought, I want to know what's special. I was just curious, like what is different about coaching the Haitian community than the general public, you know? And so that'd be interesting to know. Marci Grossman (07:25) Yeah, think anytime we talk about a community that has more recently come here and is still I don't want to say they're not integrated because they are integrated and they are part of the greater community, but you still, you always want to be around people that know where you came from mentally, emotionally, that you have these similar values, this community that Caryn (07:30) Mm-hmm. Marci Grossman (07:50) expect certain things at certain times, whatever, that they are going to be a little bit different just from talking to clients when I talk to clients from different backgrounds, whether they came from money or they came from a background of poverty, whether they came from an extended family or they came from really being solo with their small family unit, whether they came from being educated or not educated or whatever else, they all have differences. So I imagine that that's the same for any, when you come from any country, you come from any background, whether it's by your religious leaders or your family leaders or your language education, because a lot of cultures, when they come here, they want to continue to learn the language from back home so you can continue to speak with your relatives who stayed behind. Caryn (08:46) What I liked that Stephanie talked about is she talked about the things that you don't take into consideration when buying your first home or things that you should and people don't take in consideration or if you're doing a second home in a different state. And I really liked that she was laying that out because that's really important. She also described the difference between a financial planner and a financial coach. And that's really important for people to know. And I liked that she talked about that. Marci Grossman (09:17) Yeah, she was a really interesting and then Azan from the podcast Light of Wisdom, what a fascinating young man. just decided to podcast and his friend said, sure, that sounds great and they're editing and what they've done is they've created. community where they are now learning skills They can they can put on resumes because now they've been editing, they've been doing all of these things so they're learning about networking and the way he shares education on his podcast because he's finding people like me because I guested on his podcast. We've shared a few guests So he's spreading knowledge and networking opportunities He talks about his family support, that his parents are supportive of it. Caryn (10:02) That was really nice. He said that they had never told him, you know, you can't do this. You must go out and find a full time job. They just said, ⁓ what a great project. Give it a go. That was very nice. Marci Grossman (10:13) Yeah, he's doing this networking within the people he knows, his parents, his friends that are helping, he's making new friends that are helping him to edit and grow and then just creating this community and networking as he's going. I went on to Mark Astor, which is guardianship for mental health and substance abuse. I had never considered that that was even a thing. it made sense when I was talking to him. Of course there needs to be, but you think of guardianship for people that Marci Grossman (10:48) Have special needs. Marci Grossman (10:49) or as they get older if they have issues that might not allow for them to be able to take care of their financial wherewithal. But his was mental health and substance abuse. So he's looking at these short-term guardianships for people who are in treatment or something that needs them to have time away and someone else to handle their stuff. Caryn (11:14) I was the opposite. I was shocked that this wasn't considered normal. When he said, most people don't think about guardianship for mental health and substance abuse, I'm like, what? I don't understand why this isn't considered normal. So I was surprised to find that it isn't used more often for them. Marci Grossman (11:33) I I'm aware of the big celebrity cases. Britney Spears and who's the talk show? Wendy Williams. Caryn (11:40) Yeah, but that's different. was somebody stealing, That was like literally stealing their money. I'm talking about in ordinary times when somebody, has mental illness, which means that they can't regularly take care of maybe their finances or understand their medical care and that sort of thing. I guess there are, other avenues besides guardianship, but Marci Grossman (11:46) Right. Caryn (12:03) It's the guardianship just makes sense as it is for somebody that is elderly and has dementia or something like that and so I guess they wanted to say that I was surprised that it was so little used that people were shocked Marci Grossman (12:09) Right. his are those short term for when someone is in treatment, not for that longer term when, yeah, we're not talking about when someone has dementia and they're not gonna get better. You are taking care of them for whatever the rest of whatever. We're talking about just they're going into treatment. Maybe it's a couple of months, maybe it's a little bit longer, but he was saying. Caryn (12:22) Yeah, but this one needs short term. Not for long term, I short term. But for short... That's what I saying. It makes perfect sense to me that they have that short term. I'm going to have this for a year. go through that. Yeah. Marci Grossman (12:47) Yeah. Yeah, it makes sense, but I had never really thought about it because as ⁓ I'm not alone. ⁓ Caryn (12:54) And you are not alone. nobody thought of it. I am the only person who has thought of it apparently. He gave a section of advice about how Marci Grossman (13:03) It was... Caryn (13:07) substance abuse in teens. So if you had a teen, this is probably something that all high schools tell parents, but I didn't hear it. So I thought it was interesting. Marci Grossman (13:18) Yeah, and he's got a great website with a lot of information on this He posts videos and is very accessible. So that's great. If you're in one of these situations, some family member, friend, whatever, to be aware that there are more resources out there than you know of because it's like anything else. It affects whatever percentage of the population it affects. but when it does, it's everything and that's devastating and then you're having to come from nowhere to getting up to speed and getting that information you need. You want to get it done yesterday. I'm more slow and meticulous on doing things and sometimes that's not your best way to do things. He was a great guest with a lot of great information. And then from him, we go to Cheryl LaCasse about insurance. Caryn (14:06) so interesting. people were like, the insurance one was so interesting? It was so interesting. Marci Grossman (14:11) Boy, it's all this stuff, especially because insurance is something we all use. We all use it regularly. You own a car or you rent property or you have a house that you own or some of the toys, whatever it is, we are all at some point in time dealing with some form of this insurance. I don't know that much. I know enough to, well, what should my deductible be? It used to be the rule of thumb was, after your car was about 10 years old, you get rid of because the car is not worth it. Well, now with this computer stuff and the chips in all of them, cars get totaled more regularly and they're worth a lot more when they get totaled. And it's like, wow, I hadn't thought of that. Caryn (14:53) Yeah, she said that more cars are being totaled than ever before only because of the computer chips getting damaged. That's just amazing. They could fix the body and the engine and everything but it's not economically smart to replace those. computer chips I mean to repair them. You've got to just replace, the whole car is gone Marci Grossman (15:15) I hate that. I hate when things are wasted, but I also don't want to be driving a car that isn't safe. I mean, who does? Caryn (15:21) Mm-hmm. She also this is just an aside that she did, but I thought it was such a cool idea, water sensors underneath your sinks and with your pipes because they can now connect via Wi-Fi to your phone and alert you. Your pipe is leaking and having had to redo an entire kitchen because of a leak that happened while we were out of town, I think that would have been a good idea. Thanks. Marci Grossman (15:47) You know, when I bought my condo, lo those many years ago, I think I had only been there maybe a month when something broke in the toilet and I had a water feature in my kitchen. Now, because of the location of it and everything else, it really only was drywall repair, which I was able to do by myself and I didn't have to call anyone for it, but... Caryn (16:01) No, boy. Marci Grossman (16:12) water damage from busted pipes, whether they're internal or external, this was something in the toilet. It wasn't like there was extreme weather. The flapper or the thing that goes up to make it stop running, it kept running and I was out. These things happen to everybody. They happen all the time. You can't help it. and knowing about the drivers and the drivers in your household and who drives what car and how that can negate all the insurance. It's like all of these things we don't think about. We use insurance all the time. We pay our bills monthly or quarterly or annually and figure it's going to be there for us. And if we're not aware, we could be negating the whole policy. Caryn (16:40) I knew that. I also want to give praise to independent insurance agents like she is. Of course, being an independent agent, she talked about the benefits, but I also can say from personal experience, having an independent insurance agent for our home and auto has been really great because each year when it's supposed to renew, she goes out and looks, ooh. Could there be a different agency that is better? You know, what is different this year? Because it always changes. And I really like that they're looking into that personalized for me. And then I also have an independent agent for my business. I know it's like, why aren't they all the same? But they're not. Some companies specialize like ours for animal businesses. But again, this is a person that I could call at any time and get him on the phone. And he's 100 % with animal business and that sort of thing to answer questions. Marci Grossman (17:47) as always, someone who knows your business, because I imagine a dog business is a lot different than an accounting business. Caryn (17:50) yeah. yeah, definitely. Yeah. And for we have a horse insurance through literally that's all they do is insure horses. Like that's where we get our horse insurance Marci Grossman (18:04) Let's pause for a quick break. Marci Grossman (18:07) let's go on. Todd Polke, was a personal trainer and he has now become a financial guru. He deals in real estate and investments and we sidetracked onto Judo and that was just fun. Caryn (18:20) Yeah. he didn't realize you did judo or you didn't realize he did judo. Marci Grossman (18:24) Well, why would Judo have come up on either of ours and he just mentioned something about Judo. But anytime you meet someone, you never know what they're going to be interested in or how they got to where they got. I always find that fascinating to see that path. there he was a personal trainer and then he met someone Caryn (18:30) Yeah. Marci Grossman (18:47) said, oh yeah, this looks interesting and this looks productive. And now he's training other people about finances and how to work their finances and of course he had a lovely accent. Caryn (18:57) I don't really have a lot of comments about that one. Except it was fun to listen to you guys talk about judo. Marci Grossman (19:04) and it's interesting when people get into specific areas of financial and of the planning and people who are brokers versus they are speakers and educators and the information that they have, how well that translates and how important it is to find the people to work with that ring true for you. Caryn (19:26) He did create his own training program, didn't he? Financial program, because he wasn't happy with the ways that he had learned about financial things or a lot of things. And so he eventually created his own. Marci Grossman (19:29) Yes. Right, and he worked in real estate to learn more about real estate investing, but he was finding that the people that were training him how to buy and sell real estate really for other people weren't the same as the people who were investing in real estate. So you never know. There is a huge difference and it's important to find the right mentors for what you want to do. Caryn (19:56) yeah, is. is a difference there. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Marci Grossman (20:06) I love the conversations that show about pivoting, that show it's okay to say, okay, well, this was right and now it's not so right, or this, I thought it was gonna be right and it's not right. And it's okay to move and make those changes and you can find better results, better productivity by finding the places, the people that are right for you and the things for you to do. Then next was Sam Mitchell who is an autism activist, a podcaster and this kind of ties to Maddie Andrews at the front in that different people need different things and they bring different skill sets, different attitude, different whatever to what you're doing I love the message which was even if you are autistic and limited in the jobs you can do, you still need to get out. You can't just stay in your parents' basement. You can't just do nothing. Find something that you're capable of doing, of contributing to the world, your community, whether it's working for your parents or working at fast food or whatever it is that you can do, you should be doing something. Caryn (21:09) Yeah, that was my favorite thing that he said as well. And I like that he emphasized that it doesn't have to be employment that you get up and do because your own family may need help in a way that you can help them. And you could, at the very least, take care of yourself and your own house. I mean, some people have a lot of limits and employment may not be for them, but that doesn't mean that they can't help other people out or volunteer or at least be a contributor to their own family. So I really liked that, that he emphasized that. Marci Grossman (21:41) He's got the community that he created that goes out and raises money and does other things to support the community. So it'll be interesting to see where he goes with all this. I think he's got a bright and interesting future in front of him. Caryn (21:50) and Marci Grossman (21:56) Then we go to Albert Bramante, who is a psychologist, an agent, a hypnotherapist, an author. He was in psychology and ended up supporting therapy on a talk show, one of those interview shows on Sally Jessy Raphael, right? And seeing that, what happens behind the scenes is not Caryn (22:12) Oh Sally Jesse Rafael. Yeah. Marci Grossman (22:21) the reality that people watching it think they're seeing. Caryn (22:24) Even seeing it you can know what he was talking about. He said that the people were not getting any true support. He had been excited that they would help people but they don't. People appear on the show and then that's the end of it. There's nothing about that experience that was helping the people that were on that show. ⁓ Marci Grossman (22:46) Well, they got a trip to New York out of it, but it sounded like they were ready to leave very fast. But I love that he's turned that into other things that he's interested in. He has the hypnotherapy recordings. He's an agent. Caryn (22:48) Wait. Marci Grossman (23:00) just pivoted. He's added things. He's like, I like doing this, but I also want to do that, and I also want to do that. Caryn (23:07) Well, actually, he's still, now if I remember correctly, he's still working as an agent, correct? That's what I thought. Okay, so as a former entertainment agent myself, I really liked that he is helping the people that he's working with as an agent with financial things. And not like he's being their accountant or anything, what he's doing. And he said, Marci Grossman (23:14) He is still working as an agent and he... Caryn (23:34) is that he notices that a lot of them have myths and negative views about money, first of all, and they also don't really have practical ways of handling the way people earn money in the entertainment industry because it comes in fits and starts. So at least anybody who has him as an agent has somebody that's like one way or another, you really have to plan, like anybody who works contract work for how to keep the money for you and, plan it, invest it, spend it, anything that is good for you because it's really different. And that's true. I know it from an agent point of view. Marci Grossman (24:13) Yeah, yeah, and he had interesting stories. I think it's fascinating that he then took his, I think it was his doctoral research paper and rewrote it into Marci Grossman (24:26) Regular English rather than technical terms so people could understand it, Marci Grossman (24:30) and published it as a book Rise Above The Script, about self-doubt, because these things are so important as an entrepreneur, learning to do that. As an can't even imagine you get way more nos than you get yeses. so I love that he is approaching that as someone from his agent, and he said he had done some acting, as well as... from that knowledge base of a psychologist to be able to speak to that. Brenda Mann is someone I have known since my guys were in elementary we ended up at the same school for a period of time. And I only knew her as an involved mother. Marci Grossman (25:09) Her work is fascinating and valuable. Marci Grossman (25:12) It's important to bring that foundational knowledge to our kids to give them support they need early, so that they can learn the skills they need to support themselves later. Marci Grossman (25:22) If your child has challenges such as from autism or ADHD, Marci Grossman (25:27) kids who need a little extra something in the classroom. Caryn (25:30) Yeah, and one thing that she pointed out that was interesting is that ADHD runs in families. So if you have an undiagnosed or unsupported parent, that parent is going to have extra trouble supporting the child that also has ADHD. She helps adults as well as children. I didn't realize how much it runs in families. And, the real importance it is of diagnosing adults so that the whole family can get help. Marci Grossman (26:02) Yeah, and I love that when she got a client who was diagnosed, she would look back and say, okay, what is the school doing? And she would work with the schools. it wasn't a matter of, well, your school should do X, Y, It was a matter of, okay, let's talk to them. Let's find out what they're doing, what they can do, what you need to do. That advocacy piece. Caryn (26:11) Okay. Marci Grossman (26:19) Because when your child is struggling, you want things to be right. You don't know necessarily how to work with the school. As much as the labels might be one, yeah, we've had X number of kids with ADHD or X number of kids with autism or X number of kids with whatever, every kid is different. She's the one who can take the time to know your kid and find out what they need so that they can appropriately give the right support. It may not be that your kid needs something that costs more or takes more time, but it's just a little bit different to really give them that level of skill building so they can go on to their rest of their life and be more successful. Having the diagnoses and the support, having the early intervention and that support gives them a better structure for building their future on. Caryn (27:00) Yeah. Marci Grossman (27:06) Dillon, divorce mediation. I've heard about mediation before. I've had seminars from the accounting perspective where they talk about mediation by attorneys or groups that did mediation. Here's the finances, it costs less to do mediation. With Joe, We were able to really kind of talk about that more. I'd like to have him and his wife back to talk about the support she gives from her side, which is the more kind of the therapeutic and how that can make the difference. Cause I expect you, like I have had friends that have had ugly divorces and the only ones that walk away with money are the lawyers. And Caryn (27:26) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Marci Grossman (27:43) that's not a dig against the lawyers. That's what the participants wanted. Someone wanted something so much they were willing to sabotage themselves just to get back at the other person. But it sounds like mediation can give people a better way to both walk forward from it. Especially if you've got kids, you're going to be in each other's lives for a long time. And then maybe there's grandkids you're going to have this continuing relationship. If you can find a way to build new bridge into whatever that relationship is going to be, everyone can win. Caryn (28:17) He also said, and this was interesting because, normally people don't talk about whether they have a prenuptial agreement. Anyway, people neglect to update them and they really have to update them. It's something I hadn't thought about not having, one myself, but yeah, you have to update that. And then to call it a post-nup. Marci Grossman (28:38) Yeah, I don't really understand fully how that works, but it is interesting to consider that you would be updating a prenup and the things that could help you. Caryn (28:51) Yeah, I was going to say it would be interesting to have the both of them back, but I did understand the point of it because your financial situation changes as well as your family situation once you have kids. And so if you're thinking ahead, what would happen if we were to split up? That's going to change over the years. Maybe after you've been married for a certain amount of years, Now we don't really don't think that we'll split up. But then again, you never know. So if you were started the marriage thinking you needed one, you probably need to update it along the way. When you update other things, people update their wills and their powers of attorney and their trust and everything like that. Marci Grossman (29:28) Trust. Yeah, to me it's just the concept. Well, the prenup is to segregate what we had in case we get divorced. That would be a weird conversation to have. I like you and we're doing great, but in case we split, I want to make sure I get my fine china. Caryn (29:42) You have to do this. Yeah, yeah, Hey, it makes mediation much easier. Yeah. Marci Grossman (29:47) mean, right, but I mean, doing the post nup, It would be a weird conversation to have, but it makes sense. George Azar, I love talking to CPAs. He is focused on small business and he's putting out that financial literacy piece on his website so it's not just, well, if you're my client and you're already paying me, let me talk to you about money. He's kind of putting it out there to the greater community. So that was just a fun conversation. Caryn (30:16) Well, he specializes in people who are self-employed. I looked at his website and everything. His company does presentations for employees that explain benefits, the company's benefits. How do you take advantage of the company's benefits? And they do those presentations. Super important because those can be so confusing. My husband worked for some really big companies and they had really confusing things so that's a really nice offering. Marci Grossman (30:46) Yeah, it is. I think companies don't realize how powerful it is to educate your employees about what the benefits are that they have. Caryn (30:55) You might keep them working for you. Marci Grossman (30:56) Exactly. Caryn (30:57) it'll keep them at your company if they realize how good those benefits are. Marci Grossman (31:02) if they realize and they take advantage and they feel appreciated, you're taking the time to make sure that they understand what the benefits are, what the resources, what you are giving them. I worked at a company we'd bring in the insurance agent every year to explain the plans rather than me having to try and explain the health insurance. But... Really other than me periodically nagging people, you know, you really should sign up for the retirement plan and make the contributions and you can't drag people kicking and screaming. But if you make them have a presentation And say, okay you got to show up at the presentation I love what he does that was great to see that out there. Neil Twa, the e-commerce guru and coach. That's really interesting to me is, you hire me and I help you, coach you up to building your business and to being all that it can be in e-commerce. And if you decide afterwards you've created something so big you don't want it anymore come talk to me and maybe I'll even buy it from you. Because a lot of people, they do build something and they spend however many years and then they're ready to step out of it. But then finding someone who understands it and knows the value and is willing to buy it, it's really a full circle kind of thing. Caryn (32:08) Mm-hmm. I think he picks people that are like, they're going to build a business that he's going to want to buy. ⁓ Marci Grossman (32:21) Well, and he coaches them into it. He helps encourage them to be successful so that he can buy a successful business. Everybody wins. if I could coach you into building something successful that I wanted to get, so you're doing the legwork on the ground, but I'm coaching you to make sure you do it right. You're pulling out a good salary from it. You've now done the groundwork with support and everything else to build something. It's an interesting way to do it, to put it out there, Yes, you're paying me for coaching to make you successful, but also to have that built-in exit strategy. Because, how many times if you watch Shark Tank, do the sharks say, yeah, we'll just buy this from you And someone's like, yeah, you know what? Now I can move on to something else. I've built this and now I can walk away with... with a bunch of money in my pocket and build something else. Some people like the building part of it. Some people want the security of that paycheck. whichever works. Caryn (33:11) Yeah. Marci Grossman (33:16) Gini Trask. I met her on Speakers Playhouse, which is a group she is one of the creators of it. And when we were just kind of connecting after that, I was like, wow, I want to have you on my podcast because you have so many interesting stories. And as an entrepreneur, as a coach, as a speakers coach, all the things she's putting out there because I know so many people right now that are looking at becoming speakers, at sharing their information. It's important to have these places where you can have that community to practice, grow, to build your skills and your resume and whatever else. So that part was fascinating. Caryn (33:54) It goes back to the idea that you visited a couple of times is how great theater kids are for your business because she said that acting helps her step into her customer's shoes, improv helps her think on her feet. So those skills helped her build her business. Marci Grossman (34:00) Right! Right, and I love she came from this family of entrepreneurs. Well, am I going to end up in the family business? And she decided she liked travel Caryn (34:22) not only that, she learned from what her family didn't do so well, because she said that her father put all of his money back into the business all the time without building up savings. And that was a precarious way to be. So she puts always only a third into her own salary and then a third into savings and a third back into the business. So only a third goes back, so that she always has like the savings and the salary. That's what she said her formula was. Marci Grossman (34:54) Right, and I like that conversation about she had an office and it wasn't necessarily expensive, but she realized she held onto it too long after COVID. I don't really need office space. Caryn (35:08) She said, don't be sentimental about business expenses. And that was really good advice because sometimes I'm like that. I'm like, but I like this service. it's like, well, but you like this service, but really for business, you don't need it anymore. Marci Grossman (35:26) Right, and that reminds me, I want to find someone who does decluttering to talk to because just that whole concept of recognizing things to let go of, whether it is work contracts like, I'm paying rent on a space I'm not really using or stuff we have at home that we're not using, whether we can sell it or just get rid of it to make space for things that we value. I always find it interesting what speakers and topics lend me to, ⁓ wow, you know what, that reminds me I want to get a so and so on my show. Caryn (35:58) Yeah, there's some really good decluttering people that would be great on your show. if this goes on much longer, I am going to be your expert. I just am. Marci Grossman (36:06) Well, you know, I'll have you on any time. I already have you on regularly for wrap-up. Marci Grossman (36:10) Let's pause for a quick break. Marci Grossman (36:12) And then I had Anirban Andy Bhattacharya who does supply chain and he's been an entrepreneur and an educator. He is teaching. He talks about what is success, what is failure, what opportunities look like. He has had a very bumpy journey. Caryn (36:30) He's somebody who objectively has had good success and yet he will admit, he says, I don't feel like I'm successful enough. I never feel like I can take pride in the things that I do. And he was very honest about that, which was good. A lot of people wouldn't say, I realize that this doesn't make sense, but that's still how I feel. He says, I struggle with perfectionism. He really revealed a lot about himself in the interview. Marci Grossman (37:04) Yeah, and I think that's common for a lot of people, not the revealing part, but that going through and they don't feel successful because we don't know how to judge what success is. Is it the number in the bank? Is it the life you lead at home? Is it the life other people think you have? We all have different measures of success. And if we don't figure out that's gonna be a challenge. He was like, well, yeah, my refrigerator was empty. And so you're like, my God, this guy, he's got nothing. And then he was like, yeah. And so I took money out of the investments. And that's really honest because we put things away and we're like, well, I am not going to touch that. And then there comes a point in time where it's like, no, we have to touch that. We have to change things. We have to change our mindset. We have to adjust our expectations. Caryn (37:50) Yeah. Marci Grossman (37:55) It does sound like though that he is finding that peace. He's like, yeah, at 40 I know what I want to do. I've got this balance of my spiritual and all these other things. And that's so important. There are people that work themselves to death because they're just never finding that happiness, never finding that... emotional success that they need because it's not just the dollars in the bank. You have to be comfortable with the life that you're living. I didn't understand a lot of the stuff with supply chain and some of the things he says. I didn't understand the specifics. I do understand that, yes, there is a market for this in this country, but in this country, you can't sell that. it's the educational component of learning where you are and what you do and what is the best way to market to the right people. Okay, Andrew Quebbeman he just kept learning stuff and the next thing you knew he was in investing. Caryn (38:57) You know, I actually wrote down, this is so funny, I wrote down, legitimate financial advisor. And part of his advice was, here's what you should really look for. Here are the red flags for people who may not be giving you the best advice. And I just loved that, that he actually just said to do that. But I have to say, I also like, and you touched on it earlier with somebody else, but it's what, You also said during that interview, he was talking about creating opportunities to pivot from one thing to another. And you said, yeah, you don't have to finish what you start if it's not the right thing for you. And I think people who feel like they have to finish what they start and feel like it's wrong to pivot are the people that really get into trouble in their own lives, you know? So I liked what both of you said in that interview. Marci Grossman (39:50) We're always taught, growing up you want to clean plate or if you sign up for a club or a sport or whatever else, well, you've got to finish the season. Those are small things. Granted, I don't think you should clean your plate if you had too much to eat or you're done, you're done. And I do understand certainly, finishing something you start where other people are relying on you, but that's not the same as saying, you know what, I'm in the wrong line of work. I need to go be doing something else. I'm probably going to be more successful. ⁓ Caryn (40:21) or I'm studying the wrong thing at school, know, that sort of thing. Those are things, I mean, other people aren't relying on you for those things. Those are your opportunity to pivot, Marci Grossman (40:23) Right? Right, you have to figure out what works for you and if you're on the wrong path, you don't owe it to someone else to become a profession if it's the wrong profession for you. You have to figure it out and I know in some families that could be an issue because everyone is a, went to this school or became this major or became this profession. But sometimes that's not the right thing for you. I'm a second generation accountant. There is not a third generation accountant in my family. Neither of my guys, it's a good fit for, and that's okay. They have to do what is right for them. But I understand if I had an office and a dynasty I would want them to come into that business, but you have to do what's right for you. You're gonna be doing this a long time. You're going to be working at your profession unless you pivot and change. Caryn (41:00) Yeah. Marci Grossman (41:19) You could be working at it for 40 years, maybe 50 years. It better be something that makes you happy and that you do reasonably well. Caryn (41:27) He also talked about, and I don't know why I didn't know about this, but he talked about financial professionals such as financial investment bankers, investment advisors that specialize in people with special needs. I didn't know that because you just figured that, the general knowledge, but. they specialize in that. So I thought that was really interesting to know. Marci Grossman (41:53) Yeah, I would love to get those as, hold on a second. Caryn (41:57) I see you making a note. Get one of those. Marci Grossman (41:59) Yeah, well, no, would love to get ⁓ as a guest attorneys that handle elder care, special needs, special needs trusts. Caryn (42:08) I was going to say attorneys that do that. Marci Grossman (42:10) I would love to because these are things that people don't know about. And there are also times in your life where you need that specialist. Caryn (42:17) Yeah. Marci Grossman (42:17) So yeah, all of those things. Andrew was a great conversation and great to see all the various professionals that he dealt with because that tells you he's really so that he can give his clients the best advice. He's saying, here's this guy who I've worked with who does this very specific thing. Kate Moir, Momma's Making Commas. She is another one who pivots, who makes the change. She was working as a city planner, and realized that these goals that had been on her list since she was much younger, she'd achieved them, everything was great, but they weren't what she wanted anymore. And so she was looking for ways to pivot. She found some e-commerce that worked for her for a while. And as she did it, she was like, yeah, this isn't quite what I'm looking for. So she made a slightly more educated decision and found something else that worked better. But then she was like, yeah, this isn't everything I want yet. So she pivoted again. And she is teaching people how to do what she did. She's supporting them. She had a podcast. I believe she's evaluating whether she's gonna continue with the podcast or not. But I love the pivoting. I love the, no, these are what's important to me now. Caryn (43:25) What But she also described how she carefully planned leaving the full-time job when she was working for somebody else. She decided she wanted to do that originally because she actually couldn't find acceptable daycare in her own small town. So she planned it all out, how she was going to leave that job and start working for her self, and it was like a step, it was an interesting story, step by step building that and planning it out so that she was ready to go. Marci Grossman (44:02) I am not a great planner, but I respect the heck out of people who plan things and do things. I kind of fall off cliffs all the time just randomly. you know what? Let's write a book. Let's start a podcast. And then I learn as I go. Hopefully, I'm getting better. Caryn (44:17) Well, but that wasn't I was going to say you weren't going to put your whole livelihood on the line though writing that book, you know, Marci Grossman (44:25) No, no, I was not. Caryn (44:26) She had to leave the steady paycheck know, so. Marci Grossman (44:29) She was gonna lose the income she had been earning, but she and her husband discussed it. I love that on her birthday, what do you want for your birthday? I wanna go talk to the accountant and figure out if I can do that. I wanna be somebody's birthday present. Caryn (44:38) that's right! I won. Maybe if you also offer donuts. Marci Grossman (44:42) mean... ⁓ I'll bring the donuts. She got a lunch out of it, but he's also a family friend, so I don't know. But I mean, that's really taking planning seriously. Not just, I'm gonna look over my stuff. I want to sit down with the accountant and I want to talk about what I want to do and what I have done and how do we get there. So impressive. Caryn (44:51) Yeah. Yeah. Marci Grossman (45:07) And then my final guest of the season, excluding this, was Lindsey Korrel, the COO who now helps businesses. Well, it's not just delegating, because when you think of delegating, a lot of times it's delegating the work. She is talking about how to delegate and spread around the decision-making. So many small businesses, I still make all the decisions. I've got these guys doing my stuff. Caryn (45:12) with Delegate, delegate, delegate. Right. Marci Grossman (45:34) but I'm still making the decisions, which means the business basically shuts down when I go on vacation. They can't make a decision or else I go on vacation and I'm getting phone calls and emails all the time to make those decisions. And I understand that in a small business, there may be a limit to how many decisions or what type of decisions, whether it's a dollar amount or certain things, that there may be a limit, understanding that Caryn (45:34) huh. Marci Grossman (45:59) if you don't delegate, you're trapped. You created your own cage. Caryn (46:03) Yeah, because people can't make any decisions by themselves. Then you really, instead of just being available for a true emergency, you've got to always be available, Marci Grossman (46:13) Right, right. And that becomes a problem. And she had a health scare that kind of really revamped how she was doing and gave her a story she could tell that could really explain it better to them. And I love the trips that she takes and how she encourages those financial literacy lessons for her nieces. You know, I've got to respect anyone who loves spreadsheets because I'm all about the spreadsheets. Caryn (46:40) You will love Alex, he loves spreadsheets. ⁓ You know, she did, when she was growing up, her father motivated her to make, savings and plans for the future by saying, whatever you want, I will match 50 % of what you earned for that goal. She's like, I want a horse. And you're like. Marci Grossman (46:44) I love Alex anyway. Caryn (47:05) That's nice, dear. Sure enough. Okay, dad, I got the down payment. Where's my other farm? It did live on a ranch. Marci Grossman (47:10) Well, it does help that they live on a ranch so that they didn't have to do some of the other parts, the boarding and whatever other expenses for a horse. Caryn (47:17) Yeah. But she did that. And so now when she takes her nieces on trips, they have to do the whole budget for the trip that the kids stick to, They could create their own budgeting of their money so that it'll last throughout the trip. Marci Grossman (47:28) Right. Now, you can say, but what do when you run out of money, if something happened and you ran out of money, and we're not talking about running out of money and now they're stuck at a place and they don't have two nickels to rub together, but this was the budget for the trip. When you're traveling to these places, there are a lot of things you can do for free, whether it's walk around parks or just going on tours without necessarily a guide. So it's not like, okay, now we're gonna sit in England and do nothing for two days until our flight leaves. Caryn (48:02) Yeah. Marci Grossman (48:04) What a great way to help kids really understand that. I love she said, yeah, my brother was thinking Colorado and I was thinking Paris. Caryn (48:16) surprise! Marci Grossman (48:17) That makes it so special and for them to have that memory and experience of going to a different country, and with a seasoned traveler, because it sounds like travel is her love language. What a great gift. Ignoring the financial value of it just to have that experience is an amazing gift. So that was our season. I loved the variety of guests I was able to have on this time. I mean, as much as I love having financial professionals, it's money and life. Caryn (48:43) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Marci Grossman (48:48) It's life is part of it because we all go through things and having these guests that would share their stories, some of them deeply and deeply personal, I was honored by the people that would be my guest. And I do have all these people that I want to have on like I was talking about the senior care. attorney or special needs attorney and the various things that have to happen and be covered by these things, the discussions you need to have talking about prenups. I'd love to have bankers on because people don't necessarily know all the services that their banks might offer. To be aware that there are these financial services and financial literacy opportunities from your bank that you're already using. I'd love to bring someone from a mutual fund house on to explain what mutual funds are more in depth than what I can do and talk about health insurance and the various health insurance policies that are out there. I want to get a Medicare and Social Security expert to come on, talk about what those offer and... Caryn (49:52) It's really useful for people because that's so confusing. Marci Grossman (49:57) Right, and an insurance claims adjuster. What is it like going through when you have to make a claim? What do they want to know from you? What are the questions you can and should ask that maybe you're not aware of? So many things. I'd love to talk to every career out there. I would love to talk how did you become whatever it is that you became? And of course, financial journeys because everyone has a financial journey. Even people from similar backgrounds, even people who grew up next to each other, were in the same grade, had the same teachers, and their parents were friends and all that, learned different lessons about money because of things they saw. So everybody has a financial story. I just have to get them to come on and share it. Caryn (50:40) I think they'd be really good. Well, we talked about getting the people that would talk about the financial advantage and disadvantage of clutter, not clutter, organized, not organized. So that's something. You were like running down my list of things that I thought was going to be and wondering what was missing from that list. Marci Grossman (51:00) Probably a mortgage loan person. I'd love to have someone about the process if you have never bought a home before, understanding the mortgage loan process and why they keep coming back to you for more pieces of paper. Caryn (51:11) Yes, why is that? Marci Grossman (51:13) They're not doing it to be mean, usually. There are so many people I would love to have on here. So if you're listening and you know someone, or you have someone that says, well, they didn't mention it, but I bet they have an interesting story. I would love to hear from them. Did you feel better prepared for the wrap up this time? Caryn (51:32) yes, much better prepared. Marci Grossman (51:34) Hopefully it keeps getting better I keep getting a wider net of interesting people willing to share their stories. To my listeners, I am so glad that you have joined us for this wrap-up episode of season two. If you haven't heard some of my guests before, please look wherever you listen to podcasts and look for the episode and listen to them. They were fabulous people and they were very generous in the information they shared. Don't forget to subscribe, leave us a review and stay tuned. I'll see you next time. Bye Caryn. Caryn (52:06) I'm goodbyes, Marci Grossman (52:09) has been MoneyMarci on Marci Talks Money (and Life). You got this.