The Power of Financial Awareness and Personalized Planning with Chelsea Scomak

 

Announcer  00:31

Gloria Steinem once said, we will never solve the feminization of power until we solve the masculinity of wealth. Barbara Provost and Maggie Nielsen are the team at Purse Strings that will help you navigate the ins and outs of financial independence so that you can be financially fearless. This is Women and Money: The Shit We Don’t Talk About.

 

Maggie Nielsen  00:55

Chelsea, we are so excited for our conversation today, before we dive in, could you share a little bit with our audience of who you are and what you do.

 

Chelsea Scomak  01:04

Yes, sorry, my chairs go squeak. Made a big clunk, but yeah, no, I’m Chelsea Scomak. I’m a lifestyle financial planner and CEO of Via Brio, like we talked about, I am a Certified Financial Planner. On the floor behind me is my certificate framed.

 

Barbara Provost  01:23

Gotta hang that up.

 

Chelsea Scomak  01:25

I’m like, I don’t know if I want it right here, because it’s kind of big. And then there’s nothing else that I could put here. We just changed our desk arrangement. But, um, yeah, no, I I work with entrepreneurial, driven, entrepreneurial women, whether they’re still in their nine to five, and they’re ready to take the leap and do their own thing, or they have already taken the leap, started their business, and now they’re like, money. Money is a thing that happens in business, and how the heck do I like do the stuff that an employer would do for me? That’s where I I like to come in. Yeah, yeah, that’s

 

Barbara Provost  02:00

that’s big, and it’s a big adjustment for women when they’re leaving kind of this standard workforce where you get a regular paycheck and benefits and paid time off, and suddenly all that goes away, right? And you’re working what they say, you’re working 80 hours for yourself so that you don’t have to work 40 hours for somebody else, and it takes a lot of grit. We both know that. We all know that, right? We’re all entrepreneurs, so I’d love to learn more you know about how you help women through that transition, moving from the regular to the irregular, but in a way that’s more passionate. Do you want to speak to that a little bit,

 

Chelsea Scomak  02:40

yeah, yeah, no. And it’s funny, I’m actually in the process of finishing these up, but I have two quizzes we’re going to be relaunching. One of them is for the entrepreneur and dreaming about that dream paycheck, and what they can do with the dream paycheck, how much revenue is needed for that in the business? And then the other one is, how ready are you to take the leap and ditch your nine to five? So this is definitely like topics I definitely talk about with women and their families all the time. Another big thing is some of them really just love their corporate job, but they either want to, like, retire early or have something passive, so they’re not, like, they’re not trading hours for dollars as much at some point. Really, what we’re seeing is like this big shift. And I mentioned this the other day on a live that we did, but there’s a big shift in the economy, how people make money, how people spend money, how people invest money. And I mean, we’re seeing it even in, like the political landscape of things. There’s just a lot of stuff going on. So my process, and the way I go things with clients is we determine what exactly is it that we’re trying to accomplish, and then we get really aware on multiple different levels, including behavioral and that’s all a part of behavioral finance. That’s like, one of my biggest things I’m like, diving deep nerd stuff into, and a lot of it is figuring out if what you’re doing currently even matches what you’re trying to do. And that’s normally, like, a big disconnect. So for the people who are like, I want to quit my job and go full time in my business. Great. What’s the like bare minimum number that we need to have in your business to make that transition? And can you cut things out that don’t even match the vision like I’ve had one client in particular, late 20s, early 30s, she had the corporate job with some commission. She was working nine to five. She’s kind of miserable at it. She wanted to be have the flexibility to go and do anything that she wanted to do during the day, which she kind of had, but like, there was a cap, like, you know, she could only make some. Much. She was bringing in a lot of business, and so she decided that she was going to become an independent contractor and have full cap on commissions. And you know, she was really afraid to take the leap. A lot of it’s like risk not knowing what you’re going into. But we worked on the mindset around it, because she was ready. She just wouldn’t let herself be ready. So yeah, nine times out of 10 the LEAP stops at the financial questions. So How the hell am I gonna pay my mortgage? How am I gonna, you know, like, not starve, I have a dog to worry about. Like, all of those little questions have to get settled before you can say, like, Okay, I’m ready. And then you’re gonna, you know, nine times out of 10 you’re gonna make a leap and still not feel ready. So I was

 

Barbara Provost  05:49

gonna say, Are you ever really ready?  I mean, it’s whether Are you brave enough?

 

Maggie Nielsen  05:53

ready, you know, yeah,

 

Chelsea Scomak  05:56

that. And that’s very true. Because, I mean, if you wait until you’re absolutely miserable, and you have an emotionally led decision. It never, it never ends well, like something has blown up now you’re, like, on a non compete issue, and like, you could have these conversations and, like, talk with your employer and try to transition out in the most peace loving way. Thank god, that’s the way it did go out for her. I worked with her to, you know, work with an attorney to look at her new contract as an independent contractor. It was a great fit, because it gave her what she needed. But it wasn’t like 100% ownership of everything. So like the guy that she partnered with, he had the brand, he had all the tech and, like, all these things he paid for the office. So it got to the point for her it was like even another step. She was like, You know what? I kind of still only want to do this type of gig anymore. Like, I really want to be a VA Wow. She like because she had already taken leave. She knows she was capable of doing it. And then we talked about lightning her load on the independent contractor side, because she had the option to do so. And then also positioning that book for sale because you went out on your own, you own this book now you have an asset you can get rid of and get more. So I worked out all this stuff with her back and forth. And like, what would that check look like? What did she need to make as a VA to support the bare minimum? And then, like, you know, making sure that that number matched what was also coming in with the book sale, so that way she could either invest more money into the business and cover her stuff, or, like, it would be icing on the cake at some point, so that she could turn around and just invest that money. There were a bunch of different like, things that came into that, but she she blossomed the minute. Like every decision that she made, as soon as she was like, I’m done. I don’t want to do this anymore. We every calculated move in the book. We got her to that first place. Same thing with the second place, even though it was like a really is stressful trying to sell your book. Yeah, yeah. Make sure everyone’s taken care of. But, I mean, she did it and now she’s freaking killing it as a VA now she realizing she could actually specialize in working with people in the industry that she was in and doing work that she actually liked doing, just not as a like an agent anymore. And I mean, she’s thriving, like every time I talk to her, like, Oh, I got a new client,

 

Barbara Provost  08:40

yeah, but it sounds like she did the right things, right? She really thought it through. She met with you, right, her financial professional. She talked about the money you talked about what the income is that she needed. It wasn’t like she just made this blind leap. She made an educated, well thought out strategic move, if you will, to do that. So that’s great. I love, I love those stories that makes so much sense.

 

Maggie Nielsen  09:04

What you need, like, literally, a strategic partner. It’s not just like, oh, they manage my finances. It’s a strategic partner to move and as an independent business owner, that could be a lot just to decide, you know, so it’s nice to have that person to bounce ideas and collaborate with and all those different things. And so I think,

 

Chelsea Scomak  09:22

yeah, and that’s what I like, I like to say is, like, the difference between a financial planner and a financial advisor. Um, like, I’m a financial planner and a financial advisor. I can do both sides, where I can position people to have investments, and I can also help with insurance and but, like the majority of what we’re focusing on, before we even get to any of this stuff, is the plan. Because if I don’t know what the plan is, and you don’t know what the plan is, then you’re just going to take action that’s sporadic and most likely impulsive, because I do work with a lot of neurodivergent individuals, so we’re constantly. Looking for the dopamine hit. It’s like a few things that are out of alignment and or you just kind of get excited, like, I’ve had clients too before that they just get excited about, like, maybe a car that they could purchase, not that we had for one, but they’re like, Does this make sense? And when they have me in their corner, then, like, I’m like, half negotiating with them at the dealership, which is kind of fun. I’ve gotten to like, three car transactions.

 

Barbara Provost  10:28

Wow.

 

Chelsea Scomak  10:31

Granted, it was, like, it was a really special favor, but I walked through other clients with, like, they better come with this number and this number, or you’re walking away and don’t let your time, because a lot of dealerships like, oh yeah,

 

Barbara Provost  10:45

if I ever have to buy a car, I’m gonna call you. I hate that.

 

Chelsea Scomak  10:49

Like, I have an extra secret pocket of like info, because my boyfriend is a buyer from, okay, he’s got his pulse on the car market at all times, like he goes to auction, he can tell you if the car markets going up or down. And that has been super helpful too, because then I’m like, yeah, exactly where people should go to get certain things. And, like, he’s just right there. So

 

Barbara Provost  11:13

I’m like, Hey, good insight. Yeah. Like, is

 

Chelsea Scomak  11:15

that some resale value? And

 

Maggie Nielsen  11:18

I love teamwork,

 

Chelsea Scomak  11:21

yes, although he hates it. So he’ll be like, I’ll tell people, and then they just won’t listen. And I was like, Yeah, welcome to my world.

 

Barbara Provost  11:30

Well, I mean, I think that’s what we’re going to talk

 

Maggie Nielsen  11:33

about, taking action. And we see this so often, of we know what to do. We’re told what to do. We paid you for the plan to tell us what to do, yet we don’t take the action. And so, you know, why do you think that is? And like, how do you kind of help your clients through that? Yeah, give us some tips and tricks.

 

Chelsea Scomak  11:51

Let’s go down the deep end. So this is exactly why I created my signature financial planning process, because what I noticed is that before, like, we’d have a ton of meetings, and we talk about it, and I lay out the plan, and I’d be like, Okay, this is, like, your first steps, is what you’re gonna do, and then we’re eventually gonna get to this, and then we’re eventually gonna get to this. And then I would be like, I’ll see you in a month, we’ll talk about progress. And then a month would come up and it’d be like this, like, like, some most likely valid excuses, like the water, water heater blue, or the air conditioning went like, down here. That’s a big problem. Air Conditioning goes like, I don’t you can get into debt to that because it’s hot and Fort Myers right now, it’s like it was like 101 degrees yesterday of the town next door. So, yeah, I know, like we’re it’s hot, so, um, so those things will come up, or it’ll be like, Oh, we were planning a trip or whatever. And it’s really like there’s a level of not completely bought in, or there’s a level of fear or a bias, or something underlying, like actually, like causing the non action. So when I go through the process with my clients, like I said, we get, like, really aware. So I have three stages of awareness. We go through financial awareness, obviously, because we’re connecting everything to our portal, we’re getting clear on what, like the interest rates are, and like all that fun stuff. And then we have behavioral awareness, which is where I bring in a another third party FinTech company, and they are amazing. They’ve created some of the greatest behavioral finance tools ever. They’re Atlas point. I’m like, they’re like, really good buddies of mine, so I was like, shouting them out. But they have this one quiz. It’s called financial virtues, and it tells you what color bull you are. So you’re either a blue bull, yellow bull, purple bull, or an orange bowl. And from that and the way you answer the quizzes, it’s going to show you how you show up on a grid, for how you behave with money, how you act under stress, what your motivators are, what your demotivators are. And then my favorite part, especially when I’m working with couples like you, see the overlap and how they’re different. Like, for us, for John and I, like, we are completely opposites. Wow, which makes sense. But I would get so frustrated because I would say something, and he would just be, like, how so? Like, you know, the best entrepreneurial thing is, like, this is gonna work. I know it. It’s gonna work. I’ve done the strategy I’ve done, like, all the surveying, like, this, is it, this is gonna work? And he’s just like, how does that equal a paycheck? Like, break it out and tell me, like, when are you gonna actually make a paycheck? And I’d be like, just, it’s fine. It’s fine. Like, go over there. Like he needs to know all the details. He will research something to death. But. He buys it. We just got a PLA a black stone. I thought we were getting a grill, like, a week ago. Apparently we got a Blackstone. Now, Blackstone he will drill in. Oh, yeah. Like, I’m really excited about it, because I was like, Ooh, we can make bacon and pancakes on. That’s great. But yeah, so we have this now. And, like, when he spends money. It’s super calculated. And then he just wants to, like, hang on to as much as he can. He’s that kind of guy, but, yeah, I’m like, I’m like, big vision. I know where we’re going. I know who to put into place to help me get there, so I invest in support. And like, he’s just like, what? Like, this makes no sense to me, so it helps me communicate with him better. I would like to say vice versa, but he’s also a guy that doesn’t really care. So it’s not like he’s taking mine and looking at it and being like, How can I talk to her better? No, he’s just saying so I have a deeper understanding of him, which does help in a relationship, because it’s not him just putting up barriers and saying, No, I don’t want to do this. It’s the way that it has to be communicated. So yes, especially in Yeah, when you’re a couple and like, one is really good with action and one’s really slow at making decisions like that, will stand in the way of a financial plan 100% of 100% of the time, right? Getting them really clear too on, like, the underlying biases that are associated, like, you have a loss aversion familiarity, I’m blanking on all the other ones, but like, loss aversion, it’s the biggest risk measure that we have in, like, those risk tolerance questionnaires. So if your advisor has ever handed you, like, a paper and there’s like, 10 questions, and they ask you questions that don’t seem like they’re in English, but apparently they are, and they’re supposed to ask on like, how you would feel if the market went up, or if you, like, got a nickel and someone like, took it from you, Would you like, be irately angry about it. Like those types of questions really only measure loss aversion. So like, how likely are you going to react if the market goes down? How likely are you going to sell in a losing position? But that’s only looking at one part of all the things that someone could have bias that are blocking decisions, you know, focusing more on, like, confirmation bias and like, they’re looking for research that matches their, you know, belief, right? Like a good one. It’s really, it’s terrible, but it’s good. The Fox News, Republican thing. I only watch Fox News, and I only get the Republican point of view, or, like, I only search on Reddit and I only hear what people on Reddit say, and I’ll get my news from anywhere else. So it’s when you only go to the sources for the thing that’s going to back up the way you believe, and then, like, familiarity, like you’re only investing in companies that you know, even if they’re terrible companies, but you buy Lululemon, and like you love them, they might not be like the best company to invest in. So it’s there’s a lot of different things that can be involved in the why people do things they do and then, so then, aside from behavioral finance, I go a little bit deeper, and I get into a little bit of woo human design, and I also get into the Enneagram. And then I like my clients. It’s kind of optional for this, but I like my clients to do the Colby, because if they go through and see how they best work, and then they can see where they’re short sighted, then they know what support they need to fill in the blank. And especially with business owners, I see so many, so many business owners, especially advisors, who hire people who are great people, but they are not great for what they need in the practice or the business. And it is when that happens. Oh my god, it hurts so bad. Yeah, it’s the worst thing ever. And so if you know what you need out of people around you to get your goals, it takes it a little bit further. Yeah, so

 

Barbara Provost  19:12

I love that you are approaching these discussions with these tools that are have really nothing to do with the numbers in the finance. They really have to do with insights, behaviors, actions, reactions, which typically, most financial professionals would never think of engaging with. I mean, I think behavioral finance is becoming more and more into the mainstream, yeah, but this is what it looks like, right? Using these tools and really, not only you understanding your consumer, but letting them understand their own decisions around why they make certain money decisions,

 

Chelsea Scomak  19:58

right? And it goes back to like the. Customizable approach. And I know we, like, chatted about, what does that exactly mean? And like, when we like, in my all of my stuff, I like non traditional, customized, no judgment zone, like stuff like that, because, yeah, like, if everybody at 18 years old popped out of high school, all made the same amount of money, had the same amount of debt situation, and they invested $500 from 18 to like 65 they would have this magical number. And a lot of the traditional finance still applies that to people that it doesn’t apply to. So that’s when you see people who are like, I have life insurance and his whole life. And like, I have no idea why I have this or I have an annuity, but I was told it was supposed to be, like, an investment account, or all these different things, because, unfortunately, our industry was based on sales, and then it still is, yeah, right. Right. But then they were like, we probably should, like, do planning or something to justify these sales and things. And, I mean, like, every regulation that has come out has been someone did something stupid, and now we’re all paying for it, and they’re important. But also, like knowing why it is the way it is is because, like, financial planning as, like, a whole, has only really been around for like, 50 years, like, it’s hasn’t been a practice that people actually looked at, putting people through. And there’s 1000 different business models that support that. My business model is probably one of the only ones that is like this, where I do have an intensive six month like program where we’re building a financial plan and coaching around the financial plan. Because, like I said, If I send my client off into the to the world with their little financial plan, and they’re supposed to go and do the thing, and they don’t, then they just wasted money with me, and I do have the option of them hanging out and still receiving financial planning advice so we can continue to be successful and navigate but like, everybody’s situation is different. Everybody has a different thing going on in their life. Some of them are caregivers. Some of them are moms. Some of them are cat moms, dog moms, some of them are entrepreneurs running multi million dollar companies. Some of them are small businesses that are super successful and they have employees. Some of them are just like solopreneurs, and they just want to be able to pay their taxes, invest money, and still have retirement and contribute to their household, and that’s it like. So not everybody’s situation is the same. So we can’t say everybody’s financial situations the same, and you definitely can’t say that everybody’s financial recommendations can be the same. That’s a definite. Exactly. Yeah, amen.

 

Barbara Provost  22:57

I love it because, you know, and I think that’s what scared so many women away is because they didn’t fit into this. You know, it was like a round hole and a square peg and and nobody really asked them what they wanted or what they needed, right? And no, and nobody ever asked them their money story, for sure. Oh,

 

Chelsea Scomak  23:15

yeah, no. And I will share, like, my money story, so, like, there’s even an understanding. Like, everything that I’m talking about, I have a version of it myself. So, like, I’ve gone through like, sometimes it’s hard for me to save, that’s my cat walks back. Sometimes it’s hard for me to save because you want to give little things to your pets and things love their best lives. But the big thing with like, advisors not knowing how to talk to women, this has been like kind of looking at my existence, because now there are things and efforts that I don’t necessarily agree with in our industry, but normally it was like the man makes a decision, and the problem I have with that and advisors only talking to Men is because we all know that women do hold the purse strings 1000 percent.

 

Barbara Provost  24:05

You got it.

 

Chelsea Scomak  24:06

Also, women live longer than men statistically. So, I mean, I’m working with someone now, widow, 58, years old, totally out of the blue. Husband had terminal cancer, just oh my gosh. Like it was super quick, super fast. She went from having him and be the like point person for everything financial to it all being on her. So it’s taken a couple of years for us to get her to, like, really start taking action. She made small actions, but now I’m meeting with her even more often, because we have to do, like, a baby step a time, but she had to make the decision that this was going to be the time for her to, like, actually do stuff for her, which I didn’t even realize in the beginning, she looked at handling her finances and all this other stuff as something for her, and she was so focused on other people. Mm. That she was leaving herself on the table, and there’s, you know, obviously, there’s a way to do both, but she wasn’t even like that concerned with herself. And I was like, Okay, now this makes sense. We can plan for this. Purse

 

Announcer  25:14

strings offers an available for hire network of vetted professionals who specialize in serving women. When you have a life event that has suddenly made money a priority, you can now move forward with a whole new confidence that you’re getting advice and services from Savvy professionals who are uniquely equipped to serve your needs. Go to purse strings.co, and use our directory of handpicked financial professionals, when you’re ready to plan for retirement, navigate divorce, buy your next home, fire up your new business and more, go to purse strings.co, or check the link in the show notes. Now you can be financially fearless.

 

Barbara Provost  25:57

So I’d love to comment on that, because this is such an important message that women often put themselves last, especially in the financial decision making process. And the concern we have here at purse strings is that the biggest regret women have, and I hope all women listen to this, is that they didn’t get started, or they didn’t get started sooner. And as time ticks by, they’re losing out every day that they’re not making some financially conscious decisions, or they have a plan in place that they’re aware of and working with a financial advisor, and they’ve lost so much time, so much compounding interest, so much investment time. The other thing is, and I saw this on a Facebook post, it was like, you found $500 What do you do with it? And do you know most women on there said, I’d give it to the poor. I’d give it to my son. I’d give it to somebody. They I would say 70% said they would give it to somebody. And that’s the other problem. Is that too many times, women are giving away money they cannot afford to pay away. Yeah, should take that money that

 

Maggie Nielsen  27:07

I wanted to keep it, you know, because, like, I was

 

Barbara Provost  27:11

like, oh, towards your retirement, you know, yeah. So I that’s just, I’m heeding this call. It’s okay to keep the money for yourself, A and B, get started today, yeah,

 

Chelsea Scomak  27:21

and I mean money, it’s freaking time. And I just like, I want to use money my one client. I love her. Go ahead. So I just want to piggyback.

 

Maggie Nielsen  27:31

As I saw this woman ask a question just the other day of, how do I pay for my son’s college without pulling it out of my retirement? And I just wanted to be like, please, please, please, do not, do not touch your retirement account like and that’s where you have to put yourself first is, you know, you maybe wanted your dream to, you know, pay for their schooling, but schooling is so expensive these days, and they got to have some skin game and all these different things. I was like, please, whatever you do, do not pull out your retirement to fund. You know, an 18 year old who doesn’t know what they want to do, you know, you’ve got to put yourself first in this situation.

 

Chelsea Scomak  28:01

You could be like my dad and just say that, like, my daughter is gonna go to college and then she’s just gonna become super successful, and then I’ll retire off of her. There no and I mean, I had the same version. I mean, we had some circumstances that didn’t like. We didn’t have finances to really fund college, but I did it in a strategic way, and part of it was like, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, and it was like, I don’t really feel like leaving home to figure out what I want to do. So I went to community college and got all my gen eds knocked out. So did I? So did I? Yeah. And then we all did to a university, still not knowing really what I wanted to do, but it was kind of close to home, the only mistake I’ve ever made ever and it’s like the one I regret the most, because it’s the one that hurt every time the payment came out, was I lived on campus for a year, and it was the most stressful girl drama crap, and my Sallie Mae loan basically paid for that experience. So terrible experience, and then I had to pay it back. And that was just terrible. So, um, but yeah, like, I’m lucky enough that I made decisions based on, like, what is it that I want to do? How much do I really want to spend that my my student loans were like a joke compared to what most Americans are dealing with, and that problem unfortunately gets solved with education at the forefront. Before anyone takes out any loans. I think you might a lot of it from

 

Maggie Nielsen  29:35

figuring that out yourself, diving into it, understanding what do I want to do, how much do I want to end up with at the end? Because we all think we’re gonna come out making half a mil at least, you know, and we’ll just pay that back, and no problem. Which, that

 

Chelsea Scomak  29:49

was definitely the promise that I was given that I did not get, which, like, goes back to the story of, like, how I got started in the career. So I won’t get to. Into that. But yeah, like the what I imagined when I left school is not what I got. And that’s like, I’m actually very passionate about working with students that have gone through the CFP program at College, and, like, helping them and guiding them, because there was stuff missing for me, and I ended up just getting thrown to, like the sharks, like, multiple times until I was able to get here and have my own practice. But I will say that also fueled me to be like, I’m gonna have my own practice before I’m 30. So that’s all

 

Barbara Provost  30:32

learning. Yeah, it’s all learning.

 

Chelsea Scomak  30:33

Exactly

 

Barbara Provost  30:34

Well, I guess I would just say, you know, I love how you dive into all of the behavioral and then how do you keep your clients engaged on a regular and consistent basis and celebrate some wins that they get along the way? That’s

 

Chelsea Scomak  30:49

I love that. So I like to, I’ve been kind of bad at it, but I like to start conversations with like, what’s new, like, update me. But then I also, like, my, one of my coaches does this, and I really loved it, and I try to implement in my practice. But then, like, you know, you get into conversations and you kind of forget, but like, what’s a small celebration that we can have, like, something good that happened? Because I want them to be focused on the positivity of things. And it’s like, yes, finances are stressful enough. We don’t need to make it more stressful. So either that or like being like, show up however you want to show up, like, I don’t care, like, if they’re wearing like, sweatpants, nine times out of 10, I’m also wearing sweatpants. So it’s not like, I want this to be a comfortable environment like you come as you are. I do think that does help, because then I think we can get more honest and open in our conversations, where it’s not like you’re hiding something because you’re embarrassed about it, like, I truly don’t care how often someone goes to Starbucks, but the tools that I have do show me how much someone goes to Starbucks. So we like to laugh a lot and have those you know, the light heartedness in the process, I think really does help with then following through on, on action, because they know it’s like, this is a trusting space. We may have to do some trial and error, but it’s safe. Like, I’m not going to let you, like, blow up your finances like that is not the goal. Our goal is to look and help the situation in front of us. So with that so my, like I said, my six month process for financial planning in the beginning is pretty intensive, so they are seeing me every other week. Well, at least once a month. If schedules are just terrible, I also have office hours if we need to work on something that’s more outside of, like our regular scheduled coach coaching calls in my portal that I have them go into, which is right capital, which is also so nice because it has an app. And that’s just it. Like having an app in the finance industry is like mind boggling for us. So it was like it has an app done getting it, so I just switched to this at the beginning of the year. But it has been so great I had when I didn’t have right capital that had a really good task management system. I used to use another one called nudge, and it would literally nudge someone. And so I put in the task. They get an email saying, like, Hey, you have a task due within the week. And then I’ll be like, hey, it’s due today. And then a week later I’d be like, Hey, you didn’t do the task that you were assigned. So all of map is money, alignment, partnership is the name of the program, map for short, because, ha, map path, you know, whole thing, and map has modules. So with going in between the weeks that I’m meeting with them, they have a module homework assignment. So it’s nothing like huge it’s either like getting the quiz done or putting everything in the portal, or it’ll be like, talk, think about your goals, and then we have a lot of stuff around habits. And like, getting an idea what your habits are, what your triggers are, and like, how we can position you for better things, instead of, you know, making the situation worse. So there’s all that is plugged into their portal as well. So all the homework is set due date. They know that they need to meet with me in between those weeks. If we have scheduling issues, we fix it. But they like, they talk to me a lot like, I’m not, like, ghosting you for like, three months and being like, I have your plan now, like it is, I will see you and ask questions and we’ll get clarity. I’ve helped clients that

 

Maggie Nielsen  34:43

really hold you accountable and gets you part of the process. And because instead of just dipping a little toe in, you’re jumping two feet first, you’re getting started, and you’re building habit, which is really great.

 

Chelsea Scomak  34:53

Yeah,

 

Barbara Provost  34:54

Yeah. I mean, this is not your traditional financial planning. You’re financially planning. You’re a CFP, you’re a. Advising, and you’re coaching them along the way, and at the beginning, when it’s hardest to get kind of off the mark, is when you’re really giving a lot of support information, data activities. I love this whole support network that you’re doing to get people launched. There’s no There’s no way you can fail.

 

Chelsea Scomak  35:19

No. I mean, people find the way.  Well, if you don’t do what you’re supposed to do, but if you’re really dedicated towards really making some moves and creating a healthy financial future, you have a system in place that supports them in many, many ways. I think it’s fabulous. I think these

 

Maggie Nielsen  35:37

quizzes and stuff too, as well, like the personality traits. I mean, those help you in, yeah, they help you in every area of life. I mean, every time I figure out like a new one for me, I’m always like, Oh, wow. I see where that plays in business, but where that plays in friendships, or how I spend or, you know, these different things as well. So it’s not only you know your area expertise is finance, but it only doesn’t lend yourself to finance, you know. And so, yeah, I think you just learned Human

 

Chelsea Scomak  36:01

Design. Human Design is like a mix between like astrology and like other, like, I don’t some other woo, woo thing, but it actually, like makes a ton of sense. And actually doing human design for another coach, when I was in her program, I realized that I was trying to run a business like the traditional financial advisor, but I’m not one, and I wasn’t, like, designed to be like that. And I am actually, for those who are listening and know human design at all, I’m actually a projector, so literally, like, my life’s purpose is to guide, yeah, okay, so, yeah, you know, so, but my, like, energy levels up and down, up and down, up and down. So I was like, I can’t, I can’t go to an office at 8am and then stay until nine. Like, no, that’s not happening. Yeah. I moved to a virtual more setup in my practice. Well, obviously, like, the bed is right there. So I take breaks. I do things to fill up my cup. I will. I have no problem rescheduling people, because I know that if I don’t show up as how I need to to do the best for them, then it’s not even worth meeting. And these are all things that I then teach clients so like, and that’s why, like, I mentioned that, like, I dip into even how their businesses are structured, because half of them are like, they’re hustling and hustling and hustling, and it’s like, well, one, you’re not charging enough, and two, you can make this way easier on yourself. And if we just and, like, basic business should be like, basic math. So like, this is how much you’re charging for something. This is how many people you’re gonna have in it. And then this is the big number, and that’s the number that we’re gonna base everything else off of. So yeah, like, it’s we make things so complicated when it doesn’t need to be, is like, part of it. But then also, like, and I, I go super deep. And actually, one of my clients yesterday, we were talking about, like, we have the portal that has the information, and then I extract, like, all the budgeting pieces, and then I go through and pull what’s actually being spent on a credit card. What’s actual cash flow? How does the cash flow match? Or not? Well, most likely does not match what the profit number, your accountant is sending you every month, bookkeeping and cash flow, two different things, and showing them like they’re overspending in these areas. And then we’re gonna, like, drill down into certain ones and say, like, what can we cut? And that is something that a lot of advisors hate doing, and they don’t do it. It’s not like, I super like, I’ll get into it, and then I’ll really get into it. But it’s not something I’m like, yay. This is on my calendar today to do that.

 

Barbara Provost  38:46

No one likes that.

 

Chelsea Scomak  38:46

It’s just a lot. It’s a lot. But then I know full heartedly, inside and out this client, and I know exactly what they’re gonna do when I tell them what they’re gonna do, so either they’re gonna hesitate because of this, this or this, or they’re going to go ahead and do it, and now we can get further into, like, the actual goals and planning, and then it gets interesting. Like, have the clients, like, they start in a situation that’s not ideal, and then we get them out of that situation, and then we start going for accumulation. And then I’m like, we can get really, really really fun with this. Like, we can invest in real estate. We can talk about you hitting an Airbnb. We can talk about, like, even, like, super high net worth things. Like, we just get, like, more involved into the fun stuff that everybody’s reading about and the Tony Robbins books like, and I have my opinion, on those too, because I think it’s traumatic to go through a Dave Ramsey program. But yeah, the the point is, like, all these things that people are reading online about, like, what they should be doing with their finances, half of them shouldn’t even be anywhere near that, because they’re not even in the position to do it. And if they do it, they’re going to. Their situation worse. So that’s where I’m like, okay, like, this is an evolving journey. So that’s why we do continuation into Maps. Well, money alignment, partnership, support for the financial planning on a like, you know, keep going year after year after year, because things change. Things get exciting. New challenges come up, new business opportunities, new kids.

 

Barbara Provost  40:24

Yeah.

 

Chelsea Scomak  40:25

All that,

 

Barbara Provost  40:26

it all happens.

 

Maggie Nielsen  40:28

Wow.I think this episode has been packed with great information. Yeah. I mean, we could talk for hours, I feel like, on 1000 different topics.

 

Chelsea Scomak  40:35

But I know this is supposed to be like 30 minutes, yeah, yeah.

 

Barbara Provost  40:39

I gotta wrap it up here.

 

Maggie Nielsen  40:41

But before we sign off, we like to ask, like, what’s one piece of advice that you would give or tip that you would give to our community? Just, you know, if they were to take one thing away,

 

Chelsea Scomak  40:52

awareness, like you might think you’re aware, but you’re not. I’m telling you you’re not unless you know exactly what’s coming in and what’s going out every month, and you know how you work, and you know how what you need you you just got to get more aware. And the easiest way to start is with like the Enneagram and human design. And if anyone here wants that full quiz, I’m more than happy to share it, and then I’ll have more quizzes too that’ll pretty much hit on all that and more. So also,

 

Maggie Nielsen  41:27

we’ll try to get some of those quizzes in the show notes, or get your, you know, get your social media and stuff in there as well, so people can just reach out and take those quizzes with you. But thank you, Chelsea, for coming on and sharing your expertise. This was just so much great information. So don’t be afraid to reach out to Chelsea. She’s on Instagram. Your purse strings are proof professional. I know you have your website as well, so all those great links will be in the show notes. And remember from purse strings, our tip is always just to take some action. Just every little step makes a big difference. So take a little step forward and share this with your listener or with your friends and leave a five star review if you feel so inclined. So. Thank you, everyone, and we’ll talk to you soon.

 

42:07

Information is for illustrative purposes only and does not constitute tax investment or legal advice. Always consult with a qualified investment legal or tax professional before taking any action. You