Christine Ostendorf on Career Changes, Purpose, and Starting Over

Why do some people thrive in a career they never planned to pursue, while others struggle to find work that truly fits them?

In this episode of On The Surface, Seth Stevens sits down with Christine Ostendorf, Market Developer at Thrivent Financial and former Catholic school teacher and principal, to discuss career transitions, discovering your strengths, and finding work that gives you energy instead of draining it.

Christine shares her journey from teaching theology and leading a Catholic grade school to building a career in financial services. Along the way, she reflects on transferable skills, leadership lessons, personal growth, and the importance of understanding what motivates and fulfills you.

They explore:

• How to identify the work that energizes you versus the work that drains you
• Why career changes can be uncomfortable, but often lead to growth
• The importance of self-awareness when making professional decisions
• How transferable skills can create opportunities in unexpected industries
• Why your identity should be bigger than your job title
• Practical ways to evaluate whether you're in the right role
• Financial tips for seasonal and irregular-income workers
• The value of creating a plan for your money and your future

From leadership and personal development to financial habits and career planning, this conversation highlights a simple truth: meaningful work happens when your strengths, values, and purpose align.

If you're considering a career change, trying to discover your strengths, or looking for practical financial advice, this episode offers insights you can apply right away.

Thanks for listening!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:04

Welcome back to On the Surface. I'm your host, Seth Stevens, and this week I'm joined by Christine Ostendorf. Christine is a market developer with Thrivent Financial and former Catholic school teacher and principal. In this episode, we cover career changes, discovering your passion, and some financial tips for seasonal workers. But first, if you haven't already, show some love to the show and go follow, rate, and review our show on whatever listening app you're using and talk about it with your friends and on social media to help get the word out. All right, let's get into it. So start with your background, because I was going through this and I know you semi-well. Yeah. But and I know kind of what you did in the past, but honestly, I don't even know like what you called your roles and all that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_04 1:00

I was gonna say, yeah. I um so I graduated from CEMO with a degree in communications.

SPEAKER_03 1:07

Okay. Didn't know that.

SPEAKER_04 1:08

Yep. And went to get a master's in theology because I was like, uh, I want to go, you know, spread the gospel. That was the role. So I went and got a master's in theology from the Augustine Institute. And then I came back and I taught high school theology for three years.

SPEAKER_03 1:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 1:30

And nothing like teaching morality to a 17-year-old.

SPEAKER_05 1:37

Oh man.

SPEAKER_04 1:38

God bless you. Yeah. Then I was a principal for five years at a Catholic school here in Cave at St. Mary's. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:48

And uh so that would be a grade school.

SPEAKER_04 1:51

Yes. So pre-K through eight.

SPEAKER_03 1:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 1:53

It was like 200 on average each year.

SPEAKER_03 1:57

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 1:58

And while I was principal, I got my master's in educational leadership from SLU in town, St. Louis University. And then COVID hit. And in the middle of that, I was like, I want to be home more. Like I mean, there were days as principal where I would literally get to work at seven, I'd attempt to leave at four o'clock, have somebody stop me or a phone call, I'd come home and I'd eat, and then I'd go back for another meeting at like 6 30 or 7. And I'd be there till like nine o'clock.

SPEAKER_03 2:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 2:36

And it was just all day, every day. You'd wake up with text messages, you go to bed with text messages like, oh, I'm sick today. I need a sub. Like, okay. So when you're when you're a principal of grade school, I mean, especially a small school like that, like I was the disciplinarian, the athletic director, the curriculum, like all the things.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

You're all the people.

SPEAKER_04 3:02

Yes. Development. Um, school nurse when the secretary goes to do lunch duty, or I did lunch duty for quite a while. You'd eat lunch while do walking around the cafeteria. That was a fun little, fun little move there. You learn to eat on the fly. Um but so then I was like, I don't know what I want to do. Do I want to do ministry? I just need a different schedule. And so one of my school board members was like, come work for me at Thrive It.

SPEAKER_00 3:33

I was like, what?

SPEAKER_04 3:36

Uh I don't know about that. And so then it like turned into something that I never would have dreamt of and realized there was like an enormous amount of transferable skills. And so I came over and became a financial advisor and did that for two years. And now I am in a leadership role at ThriveInt. So my title is market developer. But basically what that means is I help launch new financial advisors. So from the time they're given an offer uh till the time they hit year four, I help them with meetings, with meeting prep, with language, with prospecting ideas and everything in between.

SPEAKER_03 4:32

Sounds familiar to your previous career.

SPEAKER_04 4:37

Teaching. Yeah. So I was gonna say it now and now I teach people who want to listen. Yeah and um and I can tell them advice, but it's up to them to implement it. So it uh it's really, I mean, I meet people every day, typically virtually, but every day that I'm like, oh, you were so fun.

SPEAKER_03 4:59

Like, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 5:01

I never would have dreamt I could meet the people I get to meet. That's cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:05

Uh what was was grade school easier than high school? I mean, it's you were in a different role.

SPEAKER_04 5:12

Different role. So like this sounds silly, but you have recess in grade school. So there's like little bits of breaks.

SPEAKER_03 5:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 5:20

When you're in high school, you like I taught the same thing six times in one day.

SPEAKER_03 5:24

Ooh.

SPEAKER_04 5:25

So it was like I taught it and I taught it, I taught it, and you know, and then I'd go the next day and I'd teach it at, you know, like yeah. So it was easy because I was teaching the same material, but the kids are also just different. And in grade school, they like want hugs, and you know, so but then you have the dynamic of parenting in the midst of all of that, of like the high schoolers, like a lot of parents didn't even know like what where to find their kids' grades, like yeah. Whereas in grade school, you've you've got a whole different approach there.

SPEAKER_03 6:00

There's a lot of involvement, yeah. You have 200 kids plus uh 300 parents.

SPEAKER_05 6:07

Yes, yes, yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:10

So, and each family's different and how they discipline is different, and everything in between. Like it's how do you run your family? You know, like for us, like we're a 5:30, six o'clock, like that's the latest we're gonna eat dinner. But then there are some families out there who are like, go do all the things, and it's like 7:30, 8 o'clock. And I'm like, I couldn't make it that long. There's no way. So I know. I mean, and that's just like a simple thing, but it's everybody just lives different lives. You get really good at just like hearing people, listening. And I don't know if I was always good at listening, but uh I would say I'm probably better now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:55

So I learned a lot, that's for sure. Well, I could see that being better at listening now, going through all the I mean, everybody should be as they progress through their career and just age, honestly. But then you're also working, like you said, in an environment now where you're teaching adults and people that want to learn and do better and all this kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_04 7:20

So yeah, my entire job is to help new advisors be successful. So they want to hear my advice, they want to hear what I would do in this scenario kind of thing. Whereas when you're teaching morality to 17-year-olds, they don't they don't always want to listen to you. So I've had some graduates who I've seen like around town, and it's like one of two things. So like awkwardly, like, I don't want to talk to you because like I've grown up and you taught me how to act a certain way. And then there's other people who are like, Thank you so much for teaching me that because I needed it.

SPEAKER_05 8:03

Like, yeah, you did. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:05

Yeah, you're right. You're right. Yeah, 17 to 25 is a tough age. Well, there's just a lot of development that's happening, and you know, frankly, we're just stupid during that time period. For sure. Yes. I mean, I can remember when I was in that age range and it was me too.

SPEAKER_04 8:31

Yeah. No, it's it's crazy when you are at that point because like you want to take the risk, you want to do the things, but you don't want to accept all the things that come from making those directions. And so then it's like, okay, so how do we help people think through how to make a decision? And that was really like what led me from high school to grade school is I wanted to get younger to help them form better logic, better reason, better understanding. Like, let's not get you to a point where we're just doing this to do this. Like, let's help you actually learn how to think.

SPEAKER_03 9:15

That's interesting.

SPEAKER_04 9:16

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:17

Uh how would you uh implement that or how'd you do that?

SPEAKER_04 9:21

Um depended on the day. Um there's a lot of things like even with my kids now, where I'm like, So tell me why did you do that? And they oftentimes can't give you an honest response. And then I can just be like, Well, I know you did it because she got what you wanted, and so you were gonna act out. And they're like, Yeah. Oh my goodness. So nailed it. Let's let's like admit to the reality here and like think through like, okay, how are we going to not make this decision the next time? Yeah, you know. So I think my daughter probably is tired, and my oldest Zealie is probably annoyed as I'll get out with my question of do you think that was a great choice? Anytime she does something, do you think that was a great choice?

SPEAKER_03 10:15

So you're just playing over and over in her head at this point. She's nine.

SPEAKER_04 10:21

Eleven. Eleven. Oh god. She just turned eleven.

SPEAKER_03 10:24

I'm sorry. I was trying to undershoot it for you because we don't ever want to realize that our kids are growing up.

SPEAKER_04 10:31

But yeah. She's such a big kid. Oh my gosh. She went to week-long summer camp without me and no big deal. I was like, why?

SPEAKER_05 10:41

Like, please get excited to see me. Yeah. She was like crying when I picked her up because she didn't want to leave all of her new friends. And I'm like, what about your mom? That's brutal. I was like, so brutal. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 10:57

She's like, let's go get Sonic, because then what our friends are gonna be there.

SPEAKER_05 11:00

I'm like, uh, maybe.

SPEAKER_03 11:02

Yeah, haven't you had enough of them? You've been with them for a week.

SPEAKER_05 11:05

Without mom in any way, shape, or form. Like, come on. So it's she's a mess.

SPEAKER_04 11:12

But no, she's 11 and then Dominic is seven.

SPEAKER_03 11:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 11:17

And he has more energy than anyone I know. Just so much. And then uh Lucia is five, and Catherine is the most stubborn little three-year-old I've ever met. So I wonder where that comes from.

SPEAKER_05 11:36

Oh, I have no idea. Parenting is so interesting because you end up like meeting all of your bad qualities in another person. Yeah, oh, no wonder I was so bad. Yeah, that's true. I don't know how many times I've called my mom and I'm like, I'm really sorry that I was that way to you.

SPEAKER_01 11:57

You're like, oh, that yeah, that's not cool.

SPEAKER_03 12:01

You get so mad, you blow a top, and then five minutes later you're like, man, why did that make me so mad? And then you're like, oh that was me.

unknown 12:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 12:10

Because it was my exact same person Yeah, I just met myself. Let's look in the mirror here today.

SPEAKER_05 12:19

But 20 years ago, with all the lack of all the things that I've learned in the last 20 years. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:26

Gosh. So I know you said that you felt like it was more of a natural progression, I guess, than you expected it to be. But at any point, did you feel like you had to start over with Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 12:40

When I switched to ThriveInt, I had to take all the exams. So like as a financial advisor, we live in like super regulated world, everything um, this conversation we had to make sure we got approval of. That way I like have the right things. But uh so having to learn all of that information felt like starting over because it was like I've had two master's degrees and yet I'm having to take this test.

SPEAKER_03 13:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 13:15

That is about something I've never really studied before. I I don't use every bit of it every day. Like, but if I want to be in this role, this is what I have to do. And so it was extremely humbling. Um, because it was like you're in a room full of a whole bunch of people taking a test for a few hours about all kinds of things. And you're like, you press a button, you're like, please God, please God, please God. So, and then when I didn't pass it the first time, it was like that's when I really felt like I was starting over.

SPEAKER_03 13:59

It's brutal.

SPEAKER_04 13:59

Yeah. Cause it was like, okay, now what do I do? Like, can I keep doing this? Yeah. And I was pregnant with Catherine at the time.

SPEAKER_05 14:07

So then I really was like, oh, what am I doing?

SPEAKER_04 14:12

Starting over while pregnant. And you know, so it was a massive challenge. But then, like, once I got into the role tests were over, I realized what I was gonna be doing every day. I was like, yeah, this is actually so similar to what I was doing.

SPEAKER_03 14:31

Just getting over the certification part. Yeah. Which you you those tests you find out if you pass or fail immediately, right?

SPEAKER_04 14:38

Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:40

So it was like you have to take the life and health insurance and then the SIE, then the series seven, then the 66.

SPEAKER_03 14:48

Yeah. They're all four different products, yes, and services that you're yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:56

So just the things you're like, I didn't realize this was gonna be a part of my life. Like, but no joke. There it is. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:05

Like you said, very heavily regulated. Do you just want to knock all this out right now?

SPEAKER_04 15:10

Yeah, the regulation.

SPEAKER_03 15:11

What thriving is.

SPEAKER_04 15:12

Yeah, I was gonna say, so Thriven's is we're a Fortune 500 company, uh, which is awesome. Uh financial services company. And basically we put generosity at the heart of investing and saving. And so unique compared to a lot of other financial services companies from that perspective. And so just allows us to really meet our clients in a pretty unique spot because it's we can talk about generosity at very much the heart of everything that we're doing. So, like we're not just investing dollars to invest dollars. So um it just gives you a very different view of the overall holistic plan. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:02

For sure. And you, I feel like that is I mean, you alluded to it earlier, but it's a very natural transition for you because it's it plays into all of your background and you know what you value and and things like that. And my wife works for Thrivent also, so it's she's way better at her job than I am personally. Well, completely different roles.

SPEAKER_04 16:28

Yes, yes. No, I mean, because it's all relationships. Like there's so much of what we do is relationships. So just as I as a teacher would talk to a student or a principal would talk to a family or a student, like now I'm just talking with clients. And all of it is really like intimate personal conversation, you know? Yeah. So you get to a place where you're just like it's an honor to be able to walk with people in those places, but to also just be able to be there for them and help them make the right decisions and kind of see, see what makes the most sense for them.

SPEAKER_03 17:13

So for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it's all, I mean, like you said, you can get into some pretty deep conversations because I mean it's all confidential. Like part of the regulation is you can't talk about it just like medical field people rules and all that kind of stuff. So and to properly like holistically plan for your future and your finances, it's a lot of I mean, you got to get in it. You gotta get in the weeds and understand what's going on.

SPEAKER_04 17:39

And then you have to start learning taxes, and you're like, oh my gosh, this that was not something I ever dreamt would be a part of my life.

SPEAKER_05 17:47

Like, let's let's take a look at your 1040.

SPEAKER_03 17:50

Uh yeah. I'd really like to take a look at your tax return right now. Shoot me.

SPEAKER_04 17:58

It's so like, I mean, I say that sentence probably more than anything else. Didn't think this was gonna be on my bingo card today.

SPEAKER_03 18:06

So imagine your testing center tests and one of them all being completely about taxes because I did that. It's fun. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:15

I have colleagues doing that, but not good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:20

What's something you think what's something you discovered about yourself during all the transitions? You may have had multiple because you changed a couple times.

SPEAKER_04 18:35

Um probably something it's it's kind of funny. I was filling out this exercise for my boss that was like, what's your unique gift? And I'm like, I don't know. Like I have gifts, yes, but like what's my unique gift? I don't sure. Um, so I asked AI. And it came back and it was spot on. Oh, really? It was it was a little scary for me. I was like, I don't know how I feel about this, but um I realized I love to develop a plan and help people like find the plan and create it and get all the things going. Like, okay, let me just see it all. Let me tell you what I think could help this. But the one thing I realize I'm not good at is implementing it out.

SPEAKER_01 19:30

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_04 19:31

Because I'm just like, I already told you what to do. Just go and do it. Like, I don't want to have to do it. So it is like, I realized I am a really good, like high-level thinker. Like, have you ever read any of Patrick Lancioni's books? Okay. So he has a book called The Six Working Geniuses, I think is what it's called. And there's like a whole training, and you can like identify your geniuses and whatnot. Super fascinating. Um and the one of them is that like you're the you're the dreamer, you're the thinker. And I never thought that would be me, but I realized like that's what I like to do is to think through how we could fix this, give direction, but I I maybe don't want to actually implement it. And like I think about my principal days, and it's like, oh, that's why that was so hard. Because then I was having to implement it, and it was something like I didn't want to implement all those things.

SPEAKER_03 20:37

Like it was it was draining you.

SPEAKER_04 20:40

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 20:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:42

And so that's like the six working geniuses talks about what's your genius, what's your skill set, but I forget the word, but it's not your favorite thing to do, but then what's the thing that drains you?

SPEAKER_03 20:55

Yeah. And it's like it's all about like what gives you what energizes you and what drains you. Yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:01

Yeah. And like my job now, like I work a lot. But I'm so happy in my job every day that like That's good. I like come home and I'm like, Nick, do you want to hear about all the things that happened today? He's like, and we should go to bed.

SPEAKER_03 21:24

Nick's like, uh, I've been caring for these four kids all afternoon.

SPEAKER_04 21:29

Yeah, bless him. He's uh the real MVP up there, Nick Ostendorf. Uh gosh, what would I do? Him and his parents. Oh, gosh.

SPEAKER_03 21:38

Yeah. He is an MVP whenever I see him out in the wild.

SPEAKER_04 21:44

He's going with someone, doing something else, of like just waiting for the day when he's like, Okay, your turn.

SPEAKER_03 21:51

Yeah. I put in my time and I'm retiring.

SPEAKER_05 21:58

Yeah. So fun.

SPEAKER_03 22:00

What uh you know, a lot of people struggle with you may have been there at some point too. I mean, I think I don't know if I'll ever figure this out, but struggle with figuring out what they're called to do, or kind of through this Six Geniuses book, like what energizes them versus drains them, and you know, where you should really be in a career and how you can best help people. So, how do you think that people can differentiate between a job? I mean, maybe even a job that you're is just you know paying you, and you're just clocking nine to fives, eight to fives, whatever, versus a job that you're good at but don't necessarily enjoy, and then a calling that you're actually passionate about. And you started to get into this because you said now you love your work. Well, you I think when you love your work, you never really feel like you're working.

SPEAKER_01 22:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:58

Compared to your old stu, your old jobs like as principal, where you had to you're really trying to implement and integrate a lot of things, and that drains your energy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:07

So at one point in my theology coursework, we talked about you know what type of tree it is based off of what type of fruit grows from it. And so for me, like what fruit comes from my work? And if it's a fruit of like frustration, like it's probably not the right thing for me to be doing, you know? Um, but if it's joy and excitement and I'm getting to help people, like clearly the fruit is good. And so I think when you talk about like you go to work though, and it's you're good at it, but maybe you don't enjoy doing it, maybe that's like the sour fruit. Do you know what I mean? That like and sometimes you have to have some sour fruit. Like and I think about that, a lot of like sometimes you have to do the work you don't want to do, the sour fruit, to work harder to get to the place where you can then do sure the really good, you know. Like I had a peach the other day and I was like, it's so juicy and good and delicious. And like that's what the goal is. But sometimes you gotta do some other things to get there that and so it's how does the step today help me get to the next place? Like and sometimes it's hour by hour, and sometimes it's day by day. And I think we live in such like a instant gratification world that we just like expect, like, oh, I'm gonna get this new job, it's gonna be great, I'm gonna love it.

SPEAKER_03 24:53

That's fair.

SPEAKER_04 24:54

Yeah, and it's like, well, no, actually, it's gonna take work to get to that place. Like, if you had asked me a year ago if I love my current role, I don't know if I would have answered as happy and joyful as I am today, because it was so much to figure out.

SPEAKER_03 25:10

Oh, fair, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:11

And so, like today I can tell you, like, I love it. I I sit in and like 10 client meetings a week. I I just get to be there and be present and help and listen. And I wouldn't have ever met those people if I weren't doing this job, you know? And so it's like, oh, this is can you tell them an extrovert? Like, give me like let's meet all the people, you know. Um, but I think so often we confuse our job with who we are.

SPEAKER_03 25:47

And like, cause you asked, like you try to draw your identity off of your job, yeah. And it starts to just mesh together. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:55

Yes. How many times did I say, I'm a principal? I'm a principal. Or even now in my current job, well, I'm like, I don't know if it's the principal in me or not. And I'm like, that's not who I am. That's not that's not my identity.

SPEAKER_03 26:07

It's the job you did.

SPEAKER_04 26:08

Yes, exactly. And so, like, what am I doing for my vocation? Like, I'm working to do what's best for our family, to give back, to provide joy, to like make what I touched better the next day, you know. But ultimately, like thankfully, every job I've had, I've been able to bring the Lord into it. And so I can just be like whatever the Lord wills today, make me a better person. And like, okay, let's go. Like, this is gonna make me the better Christine. And so it might stink today, but that suffering probably will end up teaching me something a year from now, you know? So like I even just met one of my I saw one of my teachers that I was principal of. And we weren't always on the same page. Um, but I just like went up to her and I was like, I did not realize how like it wasn't a, hey, what do you think about doing this?

SPEAKER_01 27:22

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 27:22

It was a go do this. And I didn't get any buy-in. And so was I the best leader in that role? Probably not at that time, you know, like, but I learned from it. And so like now I'm in things today where I'm like, I could suggest, but I can't tell them what to do. And so when I was talking to her about it, she's like, You learned something, didn't you? I was like, Yeah, yeah, I did. I learned about myself and all these things. And it was like, it was just such like a great, like healing conversation because sometimes when you work with people and it doesn't go well, man. Yeah. So you're just, I don't know. So it was fun the other day to just like sit there and realize, like, okay, yep, I need to get better at suggesting, leading people to that. But again, I go back to that. Like, I like the big picture, I like the plan. And it's like, well, I can see the plan, so we should do this.

SPEAKER_03 28:17

Sure. But I well, it's like probably growth and self-awareness, plus, you know, you shouldn't excuse it all away. But looking back now, I mean, you were in a job that was draining to you. You probably your plate was probably so full. And then at times you people, it's almost like a self-defense survival mechanism. You're just putting out fires as fast as you can.

SPEAKER_04 28:42

Yeah. So, like, my identity is not in any of those things, though. Like my identity, like I'm I'm a Christian, I'm a daughter of God, and that's that is everything I'm doing relating back to that.

SPEAKER_03 28:57

So, yeah. Um what's it been like navigating that similar type of, you know, find your calling and it may not be this with the financial advisors that you're coaching and mentoring now? Yeah. Because it's not a hundred percent of the people that come in don't stay in it or they don't make it.

SPEAKER_04 29:17

It's crazy. So I'd I'd have to go back and look, but I want to say the stats are like 12% of people who get into the financial industry stay. That's insane. At Thrive In it's like 40 some percent. Oh. So plug. Yeah. But it's part of the reason that like I think it's because we set up things like my role in itself. Like, hey, let me help you launch.

SPEAKER_03 29:44

Um, so but I think it's also a very, I'm sorry, real quick. It's also a very uh thorough like interview process.

SPEAKER_04 29:56

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_03 29:57

So it's I mean, you're making sure that everybody that you're aligning on all fronts before even starting. Sorry, go ahead.

SPEAKER_04 30:03

No, I and my colleagues who do hiring and the selection process, like their goal is like eight to ten people a year.

SPEAKER_03 30:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:12

Whereas like a lot of places, like you're looking at 50 hires in a year, you know, kind of thing. So really intentional about that. But I think that makes it easier when you're having the conversation of like somebody maybe isn't doing well, or is like, what am I doing like in this role? And being able to really help them, like, is this making you a better you? And if it's not, then we need to like figure out something else. And I think it's interesting because like corporate America world, like you can be direct about that. And I feel like in education, you just like skirt around that conversation so often. That's probably it's so it's like really refreshing to be able to have a conversation, be like, I want you to succeed, but is this the right role? And there's a lot of times when we're doing interviews with people, we'll ask, like, is this the right role? Is this the right time? And is this the right company? And so the process is trying to identify like yes on all of those for both the candidate as well as the team. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:26

So um well, I think to your points earlier about being a big picture thinker, then too, is like if it's not the right time, you I would assume that you get joy out of helping them think through what may be a good option for them.

SPEAKER_05 31:43

So much so.

SPEAKER_04 31:45

I can just see you like somebody doesn't want to fit in this role. Okay, let me find the better role and direct you.

SPEAKER_05 31:56

What gives you fruit? What gives you good life? You know, all these things. I'm like, oh man.

SPEAKER_04 32:01

So yeah, uh, that's definitely I don't know how many times people will be like, Christine, what do you think I should do for work or this, that, or the other? I'm like, I don't know, let's think about this. And I'm like, and then I'm like, oh, you know, I just talked to Seth the other day and he said, So like, I can connect people. Uh that's something I've learned about myself a lot.

SPEAKER_03 32:19

Yeah, so the role you're in is very fitting.

SPEAKER_04 32:23

Yeah. Cause even like yesterday I had somebody and I was like, well, what if we had them work with this person? And they're like, oh, I hadn't even thought about that. I was like, oh, it was just a random thought for today, but pew.

SPEAKER_03 32:38

Uh what's like what's like an example where somebody has felt like approached you about that and felt stuck or didn't know what to do, uh, but knows they want to do something different. So so I guess maybe just dive deeper into how you would walk through that process with somebody.

SPEAKER_04 32:59

Yeah. Um so I'm I'm gonna use an example of one particular person who's just like had some struggles I can think of particularly. And I just start with what do you like about your job? What do you enjoy? What do you what are those, you know, like I think of that it's like four quadrant thing of like, what do you like and what are you good at? What do you like um but you're not good at? What are you not good at and you like doing or I've got to, you know, I think you guys talked about it in a different episode. Um and really helping identify, like, okay, so if this is what you actually enjoy and this is what you're good at, is that the definition of this role? Or are there all these other things that we need to look at too? So, like the person I'm thinking about, like there were so many other things a part of that job that it was like, why in the other three boxes?

SPEAKER_03 34:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 34:08

And so I was like, okay, well, we need to look at a different role in a different space where you are maybe doing something to help the team in a different way. Cause like, let's build on your gifts, which is actually like how uh uh my school board member like asked me to come on board. I thought I was literally gonna be doing like event planning and marketing when I came on board. No, you're gonna be a financial advisor. Yeah, what? Um and so I thought I was doing like community engagement and stuff because I love talking to people. And but we realized like it's a it's a bowf hand. And so I think when people are like, is this the right thing? Is this the right time? Like, also ask people. Like ask people around you. Like we were joking about a friend who gives you some good uh feedback on all things, and like ask the people who aren't gonna like sugarcoat it. Because I've had friends say to me before, like, you just don't seem happy in that space. And I'm like, okay, I really have to listen to that.

SPEAKER_03 35:22

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_04 35:23

Um so that, and then I the other thing I really recommend people doing is going to they're like boss, superior, whatever you want to call it, like and just being like, what do you see are my gifts?

SPEAKER_01 35:40

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_04 35:42

Where do you see my role on this team? And helping them articulate some of that. So am I in the right role? If that's how you see me and my strengths and my, you know, like am I in the right spot? Right. Um, but then ultimately, probably the other thing is just you gotta go and pray about it. Yeah, so yeah. Yeah, yeah. And and silence in that prayer. Cause like we do not have any silence in our world.

SPEAKER_03 36:14

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 36:15

It's oh my gosh. No one is silence, yeah. And so like really sitting with yourself to like let your brain actually process all the things that in there rather than just like turning it off. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 36:28

Yeah. Uh I've found myself in times recently where I have so much going on, I feel like I'm running from one thing to the next, and then I just start showing up in worse attitudes outwardly.

SPEAKER_00 36:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 36:43

And people will be like, well, specifically Taylor, she's like, Are you okay? I'm like, uh, I don't really know. I think I just need to be alone for like 30 minutes. Like and be silent. Like we joke about this with other people on the podcast. It's like, you know, you used to think that your parents or whatever, when you're driving in a car and they don't have they're just driving in silence. You think that they're like some kind of psychopath. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_04 37:13

Well, I'm a psychopath.

SPEAKER_03 37:15

Please turn the radio on. And now I, you know, when the kids are in the car, they're like, I want to listen to this and that and turn it up and turn the and I'm just like, I just want to drive in silence, right?

SPEAKER_04 37:26

Yes, yes. I can't tell you the amount of road trips since I've taken this role that have been so good for me. Like, I think even Nick said at one point I had gone like six weeks without a trip, and he's like, You need to drive somewhere. And I was like, why? He's like, you need some quiet time. I was like, Oh, okay, well, there's that. So there you go.

SPEAKER_03 37:48

There's that external input you needed.

SPEAKER_04 37:51

Yeah, yes, yes. But no, I think we get to this place where like we feel expectations, we've got to do this, we can't stop, like all these things. It's like sometimes I just have to sit.

SPEAKER_01 38:04

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_04 38:06

And the more we do that, the better it will be. But that's right. Sometimes your head is it's hard to sit with yourself, too.

SPEAKER_03 38:15

True. Can you imagine like back in decades ago, though, whenever technology wasn't where it is now, and you didn't have these stupid little six-inch devices blasting in your face and stuff? And you know, like if you wanted to read, you'd read a book and like you maybe had a home phone and uh you made it you like way long ago you didn't have a TV, so you just like sat and you talked and it was probably like better.

SPEAKER_04 38:47

Yeah. It was probably more enjoyable.

SPEAKER_03 38:50

Yeah. I think a lot of people I mean, I at least I'm this way, but I think a lot of people end up yearning for that again. Like there's a lot of nostalgic things that people enjoy.

SPEAKER_04 39:03

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 39:03

Like for some reason I'm really drawn to a wood stove fireplace.

SPEAKER_05 39:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 39:10

And just sitting in a room with fire going. Let's go. And maybe like read a read a book sitting there. Oh, no. Whatever, right?

SPEAKER_04 39:17

I dream about the days where I can go to a coffee shop and just sit and read a book and have no one ask me any questions. Like that sounds like the dream. Get you. Yeah. Maybe put a wood-burning fireplace there and then we'd oh, that's true.

SPEAKER_03 39:34

Yeah. We can just sit next to each other and we won't even acknowledge that the other person's there.

SPEAKER_04 39:38

I like it.

SPEAKER_03 39:42

Just based on the conversation so far, I would easily guess that your current role is the most fulfilling role that you've been in.

SPEAKER_04 39:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:52

Because all of your um gifts and priorities and things like that are aligning with what you're doing.

SPEAKER_04 40:02

100%. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:04

So what do you think is there anything that enhances that for you into the future?

SPEAKER_04 40:10

I ask this question a lot.

SPEAKER_03 40:12

Yeah, you're a big picture thinker, so there's no way you don't think about the future.

SPEAKER_04 40:17

All the time. Um, so one of my colleagues, bless him. I think anytime I get into this of like, where am I gonna go? What should I do? Like, what's next role? He's always like, Christine, just like, what are you good at right now? Like, what are you doing well? And I'm like, so I think I just probably told you everything he's told me. Um but I think probably the thing that I've noticed is more of like a teaming perspective of a lot of what we're doing in our just in general in the culture and the world is we're getting so hyper focused on one particular topic. We're becoming experts on this.

SPEAKER_02 41:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:03

And so we have an expert on X and Y and Z, but none of them know how to talk to each other.

SPEAKER_02 41:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:09

And so I really like the idea of like, okay, how can I help that team work most efficiently to keep going forward? Yeah, so who knows what that will look like, but there is like a whole teaming world within Thrivant, and you know, so um, but like right now, I'm there's supposed to be three of us in my role, and now it's just me right now.

SPEAKER_05 41:37

So I'm not going anywhere for a while.

SPEAKER_03 41:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 41:42

I just kind of get my get this under control for a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 41:45

Yeah. So I guess in that future thinking, you're thinking about what's best for clients and stuff. You know, you're if you put yourself in their shoes, it's like, well, okay, you talk to this one person about one topic, and then you they say, well, like you could have issues with taxes or whatever. And and the clients, like, okay, well, what do I do about that? And then the answer is, I don't know. I don't specialize in that. And they may or may not even have recommendations for it. So it's kind of creating going all the way back, the holistic experience would be creating this environment where you can answer all of these questions.

SPEAKER_05 42:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:26

But you know, before that, even and kind of what you came back to, I think, is there are times where you should just sit in what's good right now. Yeah. Like relax. Yeah. It's going well, you enjoy it. Yep. Um, really bask in that for a while.

SPEAKER_04 42:48

Yeah. It uh, sorry, I'm in a theological nerd out here for a minute.

SPEAKER_03 42:53

Um well, you didn't pay for that education for nothing.

SPEAKER_04 42:55

Yeah, you're right, you're right. St. Ignatius of Loyola, who's like the founder of the Jesuits. So like all the Jesuit schools, Marquette, Gonzaga, St. Louis University, those are all Jesuit-run schools.

SPEAKER_03 43:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 43:09

So his like one of the things that he kind of like coined is the discernment of spirits. And so, like, are you in consolation or are you in desolation? And so he has like the rules for discerning. Um, and one of the rules about consolation is just to bask in it. Build it up, store it up. So then that way when a con desolation does come around, you have something to kind of continue to keep your cup full, you know, that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_03 43:46

So look at that. That's what I was referring to the whole time.

SPEAKER_04 43:49

I figured, I figured you knew exactly what I was talking about. Ignation spirituality. Yeah. Yeah. But then it also is like, don't make any major Life changes in desolation.

SPEAKER_03 44:03

Oh, interesting.

SPEAKER_04 44:04

And so like to get back to a place of consolation before you make any big changes.

SPEAKER_03 44:10

Oh. Yeah. And a lot of times what we see now is people trying to make changes to get out of it.

SPEAKER_04 44:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:18

But it can really be introspective first.

SPEAKER_04 44:22

Yeah, well, because like maybe maybe you need to that maybe that's the thing at the time that the Lord wants you to work on.

SPEAKER_03 44:29

Oh, true.

SPEAKER_04 44:30

And so like work on that until you get to the place where you're like, okay, now I clearly realize my faults and I need to better myself. And you know, and now I can make a decision to do something better. Yeah. So like that's the other piece of like my future planning is I'm really good where I'm at. So I'm just gonna like store this all up and hope that like the right thing comes at the right time, which is what's always happened before. So you know, it's none of where I've been is if I'm in like small details, it's all you know.

SPEAKER_03 45:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 45:15

So it's all the Lord working through it all. So but it's great. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:21

Um I thought maybe it's a good time to switch to a little bit of financial type stuff. So you're kind of uh a double-edged sword here because we can uh talk about some all kinds of tree financial tips maybe for uh blue-collar type workers. So the majority of our workforce is all working with their hands, physical labor, right? And so for a good portion of them, we're also seasonal, so that can pose another issue of being you know, you you're laid off four four months of the year or whatever. And so there's a lot of different things that you could do. Uh, you know, we found in our industry that that guys that um love it, love seasonal work because they like the time off. Maybe they do other odds and ends jobs, or maybe they've made really great financial decisions and they understand how to operate through the layoff period and then they hunt and everything in the off-season and all that kind of stuff. Um so what and this I realize that we talked about this before. Some of these answers may have to be a little more regulated.

SPEAKER_05 46:41

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 46:42

Because Christine is not giving advice to everybody. You don't you don't know everybody's personal situation.

SPEAKER_04 46:50

So um but my first piece of financial advice, start. Yeah. Like I know that sounds so crazy, but like start something.

SPEAKER_03 47:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 47:01

Because I think do anything. Yes, because somebody, like, if you're not doing anything, then like you're actually doing something. You're actually probably hurting yourself.

SPEAKER_03 47:11

You're actively not doing something.

SPEAKER_04 47:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 47:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 47:14

So start. Um, and that start could be start paying attention to where you're spending your money. Like pen to paper, write it down, figure it out, or get an app that you feel like like helps you track it all. Like there's a lot out there. Um but I know for myself when I started as an advisor, we had a whole bunch of these coupons in the office for free coffee, no matter the size. And it became a real bad habit. Um, I have a great love for coffee. Um, and then the coupons ran out. And I was still going as much as I was when I had the coupons. And it was like the second or third month after this that Nick, who does not really do a whole lot, he's like every month, like, how are things going? Good, bad, ugly, like, and lets me just kind of handle it. And he was like, How much money are you spending on coffee a month? And I was like, I mean, not that oh things. So, like, put pen to paper of like, where are you spending your money? What how are, you know, like are you going out to eat a lot? Are you buying a ton of groceries? Like, whatever it is. Pay attention to what you're doing.

SPEAKER_03 48:38

Yeah. Understand where your money's going. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 48:40

And make sure that your money has a purpose.

SPEAKER_03 48:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 48:43

Like, if you're working this hard for your money, like, I mean, especially like, thank you to all of your employees. Like, I'm so glad there are people in the world who want to work with their hands and like do the hard work. Like, I know the work is not easy. And thankfully, there are people in the world like all of them who can do that work because I can't. Like, I'd be a hot mess. Literally. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 49:12

All these guys and gals are champs for sure.

SPEAKER_04 49:15

Yeah. Yeah. So thank you for your hard work, uh, Delta Company employees.

SPEAKER_01 49:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 49:21

Um, but I would also say if you're at a place where you're like, okay, I know where I'm spending my money, I have some idea, like, ask for help. So I don't like the word budget. I like spending plan because that's a little bit more because you're a high-level thinker.

unknown 49:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 49:40

I don't, I don't want to be restrictive. Like, don't put me on a budget. Um, so find like a good spending plan if it's a spreadsheet or something. But um Thriven actually also has a free resource called Money Canvas.

SPEAKER_01 49:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 49:58

Um, I don't know if Taylor's told you all about it or not. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It is so good. Um, so it's like a free money coach.

SPEAKER_02 50:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 50:09

Online sessions. So such a great help. And what I love is like even the engineers like it because it's like gets into the nitty-gritty. And then I had like one couple, it was an engineer and an artist. And the artist even liked it because it has like fun like pictures and colors to kind of like help you understand it all.

SPEAKER_03 50:27

That's cool.

SPEAKER_04 50:28

Um, but like have some kind of resource, reach out to somebody, but just like ask the questions.

SPEAKER_01 50:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 50:37

Like start putting money into your 401k. Like, okay, does that mean Roth are traditional? Well, I don't know what the difference is, or I don't really know what I should do. That's when you need to find somebody. You need to ask those questions.

SPEAKER_03 50:51

And but to your earlier point, it doesn't really matter. Just start. Like, especially many companies now have 401ks or 403Bs where they match. And if you're not contributing at all to even take advantage of the free money that your employer is giving you, you need to do that at a bare minimum. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 51:11

So I would say that. And then the other thing that especially your seasonal employees that I think about, and this could be seasonal employees, that it could be a commission-based pay individuals, which is what most financial advisors are in the same spot. Um, I actually like for people to think about it as you have a paycheck that goes into a bank account, but that is not your paycheck. That is your revenue coming into your account, and you need to give yourself a paycheck from that account.

SPEAKER_03 51:44

For people that you would call it irregular income, basically.

SPEAKER_04 51:49

So, like identify what's that amount, what does it cost for me to live? You know, what are my general living expenses?

SPEAKER_02 51:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 51:57

And set up like a every two-week withdrawal or whatever from that bank account to your typical checking account or whatever it is. But like use it as like a don't let your paycheck actually come into the thing that you're spending out of every day.

SPEAKER_03 52:12

Okay. Yeah. That's good advice.

SPEAKER_04 52:14

Because then maybe you have a really good paycheck one time. Well, you only need that certain amount, you know? Um, so it's partly how we help a lot of advisors like get into that perspective. And so same thing with a seasonal person, like if you're not getting paid every for four months, like build up that account so that way you can continue to be out.

SPEAKER_03 52:38

All their regular income is yeah, the same. Commission, you might have a big check. Uh seasonal employees, if you're like for us, you're working in the summer, you might work 70 hours. So you get a bunch of overtime, you get a massive check. Well, if you just treat that like I have all this available to spend right now, you're there's a time five months from now where you're not gonna have any money coming in. So you need to think about that.

SPEAKER_05 53:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 53:04

So um I guess plugging a couple resources. One, yeah, money canvas, which I think you can just go.

SPEAKER_04 53:10

Yeah, if you I think if you just search like money canvas thrive.

SPEAKER_03 53:14

Private money canvas, you can use it. It's a free resource. Uh I think I actually so at one point I kind of taught like an internal financial introductory financial thing and used Money Canvas as a resource.

SPEAKER_01 53:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 53:28

I may or may not have had a connection uh for a pamphlet, but I'll get you some more.

SPEAKER_04 53:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 53:37

Uh I've plugged a lot, like Dave Ramsey, Ramsey Solutions has a lot of good, like printable PDF resources that are all free. Like they do have a great irregular income worksheet type of thing, so you can kind of plan that type of stuff. They have good uh worksheets for spending plans. They have, you know, whatever. You like you said, you could make your own in a notebook. You could use an Excel file if you're nerdy and want to do that. You can use free websites, there's free uh phone apps, there's paid for phone apps. Like I use one called Copilot, that's like just an annual fee, but it's really probably the best uh iPhone app tool that I've ever used. So if anybody's interested, I'll send you a referral code. Shameless plug. There's that. But uh yeah, there's tons of stuff like that. And then it's you have to make sure that you create discipline to follow up on it. You can't just create it one time.

SPEAKER_04 54:42

But and I would say that probably is the other big piece of advice I would have is like we all live on our phones.

SPEAKER_02 54:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 54:50

Set a monthly task calendar, something that says, go look at my bank account. No doubt. Like something. Um, I don't know how many times it's like the first of the month. I just know I have to pull it up, I have to pay attention to it, I gotta figure out where we're at.

SPEAKER_03 55:09

Well, to your point, like on our phone, on Taylor and I's phone, we have a monthly reminder set up on the first of every month that basically just says pay bills and review.

SPEAKER_04 55:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 55:19

I still use the word budget, but that's because it's corporate America and I use that word, but spending plan.

SPEAKER_04 55:25

Spending plan, yes.

SPEAKER_03 55:27

Um, would you say that that's the most common mistake people make is just doing nothing.

SPEAKER_04 55:32

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 55:32

Yeah. Yeah. Okay, I assume so.

SPEAKER_04 55:34

Yeah, I was gonna say, and the other probably biggest piece that I would say to people is is like, okay, if you don't want to learn it, then find somebody who's gonna walk alongside you.

SPEAKER_02 55:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 55:47

Because there's a lot of things I don't want to learn in the course of my day. Like, like I don't know how to French braid hair. You would think that I would have with two sisters, I would have learned like no idea. But I don't really want to learn to do it. So I just let other people French braid my kids' hair. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 56:07

Um I got you. Send them over.

SPEAKER_04 56:09

Okay. You you got this?

SPEAKER_03 56:10

Oh, yeah. I've watched a lot of YouTube videos. I'm so proud of you.

SPEAKER_04 56:14

I'm so proud. Um, but like, so then find the person in your life who can do it or walk alongside you. Yeah. You know? So um there's a lot of people who don't want to think about money in retirement and all those things. But like no doubt.

SPEAKER_03 56:32

It's do you think um it kind of leads into another thing I wanted to ask about is finances and money typically have a very emotional response. Oh my gosh. And that's probably why a lot of people avoid it because it's uh just like other emotional things and development, I'm sure it ties back to your childhood experience and things like that. How you were raised, and maybe money wasn't ever talked about, maybe it was overtalked about, maybe they had complications with it, maybe you had too much of it and just mishandled it, who knows? Yeah. So, how what are like ways that people can work on being more logical about it and taking that holistic approach and developing purpose with their money, allowing their money to work for them as is a popular saying?

SPEAKER_04 57:26

Yeah, yeah. Um, so I actually I can't believe I did another test actually after I became a financial advisor, but I took one.

SPEAKER_03 57:35

Um You're just addicted to education.

SPEAKER_04 57:37

I guess uh on a behavioral financial advisor. So I took my BFA, um, and it's talking all about the emotions and how they impact money. And at the root of most of what we learned is like the value. So, like the there's like a values card exercise. And so, like, what are your top five values? And so I think a lot of times we make decisions on a whim. Um, and we have to go back to like, what is my value? Like, what what is most important to me? And is this decision gonna positively impact that or is it gonna negatively impact those values? So, like my my five values are faith, family, friends, honesty. And then I my other one like depends on the month, I feel like sometimes. But um, you know, I honestly I put honestly in there because I think there was so much of like probably growing up, we just didn't talk about it.

SPEAKER_03 58:42

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 58:43

And so for me, it's like really important to like let's talk about this.

SPEAKER_03 58:47

Yeah. Um, so in some senses it's transparency for you and yep, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 58:53

And so I I want to know like, how am I helping you? Am I being beneficial? Like, I don't want you to just like be like, yeah, come spend time with me and actually hate every minute of it. Like, no thanks. Um so going back to the values is probably one thing. Um then the other is we have to know at what level of risk we're really willing to take.

SPEAKER_01 59:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 59:23

And so knowing where our background is, knowing what our risk tolerance is, all of that's gonna play into it. But we oftentimes I'll talk with clients all the time about like what was one of your first memories of money?

SPEAKER_03 59:36

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 59:37

Do you do you remember your first memory of money?

SPEAKER_03 59:40

Um probably I'm trying to think if there were any pre-first paycheck. But I do know that I do remember like my mom always telling me like we all had savings accounts and to put money in it and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:01

I was gonna say, I can vividly remember like my birthday, I'd get a card, you know, with some cash in it.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:08

And my one set of grandparents typically gave more money than the other one. And it was like, I can remember being like, why is that?

SPEAKER_01 1:00:16

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:16

And like really trying to wrestle with myself. And I was like, they've lived two very different lives, you know, they also have significantly different number of grandkids. And, you know. Um, but it's like for me, when we think back to money, it impacts everything going forward, you know?

SPEAKER_03 1:00:35

Yeah, that's true. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:36

So when you think about the emotions of it all, like what emotion is positively or negatively impacting you to make that decision? So, like Nick always jokes with me that he never spent any money till we started dating, which is actually probably true. And then I spent all his money. No. Um, and so whereas for me, I can remember I had a job in high school and I would work so I could get something. And so then there was a lot of like that was the norm. Um, it was a digital camera, by the way, that I always wanted like big fancy digital camera. Um, now like our phones. Yeah, no, they're so good. It's so crazy. Um, but so I think we have to just like go back to what's impacting that and does it have to impact it?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:27

Right.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:28

You know, like like I said, there was a lot of we didn't talk about money or wages or a whole lot of that growing up. I don't really feel like we did, but now I my kids know, like, okay, you do chores, this is what's gonna happen because this is your part in the family. You're helping the family by doing this, you know. So I'm also the nerdy parent who like gamifies everything. Oh, yeah. But I I even get to the point though, so they get like X amount of, they get a quarter per star. I wish I had a Skylight reference, but I love the Skylight calendar. It's like my absolute Well, we just go. Oh, good, good, good. So I like they have their chores, they know they have to do, they get a star for doing them. And then every so often, like, okay, how many stars do you guys is how many quarters you get? But before I actually give it to them, they have to give me 10% for tithe. Yeah, 10% for taxes, yeah, which they're like, what's that going towards? I'm like, to mom and dad to help pay for all the things. Um and then we actually have them put 30% back for savings.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:42

So yeah, so you know, like yesterday we were doing it, and my son was like, What? You just gave me $10, I have to give you five back. And I was like, welcome to the real world.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:55

Yeah, I love this concept. And I've heard of people, you know, um uh building off of that, like when you when they do chores, if there's tools involved, like paying rent to all the tools that mom and dad own, like it's basically a ton of business and personal finance. Like this is how real world works.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:18

Yes, yeah. Well, and it was funny because like when we first started it, um, my kids had cash and they got to go to the store and they bought something. And um then the next time they went in between there, they had like a dress down day at school. And it was like, Well, mom, do you do you have the dollar for me to dress down at school today? And I was like, No, you have a dryer of money that you can use. He's like, But if I use it for the dress down, I can't buy the Star Wars such and such Lego thing. And I was like, Well, then you have to make the decision on what you want to do. It was so fun because then he's like, Well, I don't dilemma. Yeah, or I could do four more chores to get the dollar, and he's like going through all these things. I'm like, okay, kiddo, but yeah, that's funny. Or my daughter this weekend was her birthday, and she wanted all these things. And I was like, fine, but you're going in debt. And she was like, It's fine, Mom, I'll pay you back. And I was like, Okay, so we started a IOU card in her jar, and so she's gotta do chores to work off her.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:22

Oh man. So that's great.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:24

It was hilarious.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:25

Yes, all the financial advisors do kind of nerd out about it. It's a something you said earlier uh made me think of this. And Taylor's probably so tired of hearing me say this, but she will get into a spot where she like we she wants to buy something big or spend money or whatever, and she brings it to me. And I'm kind of I'm typically like adverse to spending a bunch of money unless it's like something that I've been saving up, so I get blamed for that a lot. Yes, you do. But I'll just be like, Well, yeah, I just have to ask my financial advisor, you know, which is her full disclosure. But I always think it's a funny joke. She doesn't think it's that funny.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:06

I was gonna say, it's similar to my husband. He always says, like, well, what are you gonna do with your money? He's like, You give it to Christine, she'll probably put it to life insurance. I'm like, that is not true.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:16

Yeah.

unknown 1:05:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:19

That is not the right thing to do. You should put like uh I'm instantly like, regulations, Christine, don't give it to you. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:26

Yeah. Okay, so um, last question.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:32

You we get as the podcast goes, uh, the uh previous guest leaves a question for the next guest.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:40

Oh, I forgot. Yes, I remember listening to this now.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:43

So the question left for you is what is your best business or leadership book recommendation and why?

unknown 1:05:50

Oh man.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:52

That is such a hard question. Um especially because I've been reading a whole lot of them in the last few years. So um I don't know if I could like pick a particular one of his books, but I mentioned Patrick Lancioni. Um, he's with the table group, so he's got a whole bunch of different ones. You've probably heard of like the five dysfunctions of a team or the advantage or things like that. Those are all his. Um so I'd probably go back to his six working geniuses. I it just I listened to it and I literally went around work and was like, you gotta read this book. Because it's just so true that there's jobs that we don't like to do, but we're good at them. And so how do we make sure that we're doing the right thing at the right time? But I also the reason I love his books is he's a storyteller. So he always writes like a fable at the beginning of like, hey, here's a company and what's happening. And then he draws leadership principles from it.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:08

That's great.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:08

And so I think naturally innate in us, we love a good story. And so it's just easier to understand the material that way.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:18

I agree.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:19

Good answer.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:20

Thanks. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:21

Thanks, Christine.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:22

You're welcome. This is fun.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:27

If y'all enjoyed the episode, please rate our show and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, and check out Delta on all social media platforms at Delta Companies, and our website at Delta C O S looks like Deltacos.com. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week.