Unpacking Financial Psychology: Tips for an Unstoppable Future

Jaclyn Strominger welcomes listeners to another insightful episode of the Unstoppable Success podcast, featuring Jennifer Rogers Markwell, an Emmy-winning journalist turned wealth advisor, and the driving force behind Platinum Wealth Management. Jennifer shares her unique journey of transitioning from a successful career in television to the financial sector, driven by personal loss and a desire to help others navigate their financial futures with warmth and understanding. As she recounts her experience of dealing with financial advisors during her family's trying times, she emphasizes the importance of emotional intelligence in wealth management, especially for women. Listeners will gain valuable insights into how one's relationship with money is often influenced by past experiences, or 'money memories,' and how understanding these can lead to better financial decisions. The episode dives deep into the challenges of starting a new venture, the importance of communication in business, and how Jennifer's heart-centered approach has helped her firm thrive even during the pandemic. With a blend of personal anecdotes and expert advice, this episode encourages everyone to reflect on their financial journey and find empowerment through informed decision-making.

Takeaways:

1. The journey to becoming unstoppable often begins with a personal transformation, like Jennifer's shift from television to wealth advising.
2. Emotional intelligence plays a crucial role in financial empowerment, helping clients understand not just what they do with money, but why they do it.
3. Communication is key in any business; it builds trust and fosters relationships that are essential for success and support.
4. Navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship requires resilience and a willingness to adapt, especially in times of crisis like COVID-19.
5. Everyone has a money memory that shapes their financial behaviors; recognizing this can lead to transformative change in their relationship with money.
6. Finding joy and purpose in your work is vital; helping others succeed can create a fulfilling and impactful career.

Links referenced in this episode:

1. platinumwealth.net

Your network is more than contacts. It is your greatest catalyst for opportunity.

If you are ready to elevate your business, expand your relationships, and create real momentum, here is your next step:

Book a private strategy call:
Let’s map your next level of growth
Book a Strategy Call

Join the Unstoppable Success Community:
Surround yourself with high-performing leaders and real conversations
Skool Community: Unstoppable Success

 Get the Book:
Charting True North

Stay connected and visible:
Unstoppable Success Podcast
Connect with Jaclyn on LinkedIn

Transcript

Recording Started

Introducing Today's Guest: Jennifer Markwell

The Journey to Financial Empowerment

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Unstoppable Success Podcast, where we spotlight visionary leaders who have mastered the art of growth, purpose, and powerful connections. I'm your host, Jacqueline Strauminger, connector, high performance coach, and creator of the Leap to Your Success Framework in Two Steps to Yes. Each week we dive into bold insights, real conversations, and powerful strategies to fuel your growth, deepen your relationships, and ignite transformational momentum. And why? Because you were meant to be unstoppable. Now let's leap into the podcast. Well, hello everybody, and welcome to another amazing episode of the Unstoppable Success Podcast. I am your host, Jacqueline Strominger. And as you know on this podcast, we hear from amazing leaders about all of their insights, tips, and things that have helped make them absolutely unstoppable. They want to share those with you so you can be unstoppable as well. And today I have a great guest, Jennifer Markwell. And let me tell you, first of all, she's in, we're like in the same state, which is usually and actually in the same town, which usually doesn't happen. So super even more exciting, but Emmy Award-winning journalist, her and wealth advisor. She's the president and CEO of Platinum Wealth Management. She is totally respected in her groundbreaking work and financial empowerment and blending emotional intelligence with strategic wealth planning to help individuals understand not only what they do with money, but why they do it. So she has had an amazing career. She is totally unstoppable, and I cannot wait for you guys to meet her. So without further ado, welcome, Jennifer. Thank you so much for having me. I am so glad you are here. So, okay, obviously, number one question I'm sure you get asked all the time the pivot. What made you pivot?

SPEAKER_00 1:57

Yeah, so it was nothing that I planned for myself by any means. And I feel like life sometimes takes you on that journey by all means. Um, I worked 20 years in television, was Emmy nominated, thought I'd always work in television, had just signed a very big, um, large international contract, and my grandpa got sick. My grandparents raised me, they were mom and dad, um, and he passed away. So I went home and we're trying to pick up the pieces emotionally, obviously, of losing him. He was like the complete backbone of my family. And we found ourselves not only trying to pick up those pieces, but also the pieces financially. So we found ourselves going in front of different advisors at different institutions, and they didn't have a lot, but what they had was spread around. And we never had the warm, fuzzy feeling that anyone cared or wanted to do what was in my grandma's best interest. And she said, if we're going through this, imagine how many other women are as well. And in that moment, I think of it as like my river analogy, right? You can stand in the river, you can have the water keep hitting your back, you can fight it, you can try to go upstream, also not comfortable, or you can kind of go with the flow of the river and see where it takes you. And I feel like that in that moment, I said, okay, I'll learn everything I can. And here I am year, you know, 16 years later almost as a financial advisor, and then I founded my own firm, Platinum Wealth Management.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

So, right, so let me just ask back up for a second. So when you made that change and you you thought about that, because I think a lot of people like, did you have the fear?

SPEAKER_00 3:23

I know I needed to do it, right? I needed to help her and her journey and make sense of investing. And of course, that journey wasn't comfortable. Of course, right? That was a whole new land that I didn't know, a foreign language I didn't know coming from television. I was great in that land, so I figured, okay, let's see where this goes. And I was doing it in a heart-centric place, and so I just went with it.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

Right. So I think that's so important, and I and I know this has got us in not to be cliche or anything, but you know, listeners, this is actually a really key thing. It was it's heart-centered. You knew that it was something that had to get done, and it wasn't not that not that there was fear, you just knew you had to do it and you had the passion for it. So it wasn't, you weren't letting something get get in your way.

SPEAKER_00 4:07

I didn't think a second thought about it. I just navigated through. And and again, it's a big difference, right? Going from television into finance. That's a big, big leap. And it's a foreign language, it truly is. So I wanted to make sense of it for my grandma, and then on that journey, it was for others and other women.

SPEAKER_01 4:24

Right. You know, and and I love that you're doing, you know, that it's it's helping that journey for other women. Are all of your clients women?

SPEAKER_00 4:32

No, no. It's funny that you say that. So we do have obviously a lot of women that are clients, but we also have a lot of predominant men that will come and sit down and say, I am not gonna outlive my wife. We would love to have somebody that can communicate with her comfortably because women do business differently. Women communicate differently. So we have, I would say, almost half half.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

That's actually really quite cool. So, you know, so you, you know, thinking about those beliefs and experiences, you know, and how money shapes our decisions, you know, how do you feel like mastering that emotional relationship with money becomes that foundation for that for both what you're doing and unstoppable success?

SPEAKER_00 5:12

Yeah. So I also have a podcast as well, and that's what we talk about. And how that basically became born was clients coming to me saying, Hey Jennifer, can I buy a couch? And I was like, Yes, yes, you can buy a couch. You have a multi, multi, multi-million dollar portfolio and you're wildly successful. You can buy a couch. Well, the interesting thing was this person in particular went back to a money memory of being a kid in his family blue collar, Midwestern family, trying to get food on the table. So it didn't matter how wildly successful or how many millions he had invested. He went back to that memory. And everyone has a money memory. Everyone, every walk of life, no matter where you're from, what your background is, what your socioeconomic status is, it's a money memory. So it's the psychology behind why you do what you do.

SPEAKER_01 5:58

Yeah. I my money memory is that my interest money grows on trees. No, I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER_00 6:03

That's that's a familiar one for a lot of folks. I mean, it can be negative, it can be positive. I mean, it's it's ultimately whatever your journey is. And then does it make sense for you to still carry that, or does it make sense for you to change the narrative and make it more supportive for your journey?

SPEAKER_01 6:16

Yeah. So I want to talk about, you know, I mean, you've obviously you've had great success. And, you know, with great success, it did not happen overnight. I and if it did, well, maybe kudos to you. Not most people don't have the straight linear up. There's usually some ups and downs. So I'm curious as you were building your firm and as you're getting into this, what were some of these challenging moments that you had and um what leadership principles help you stay focused?

SPEAKER_00 6:44

Yeah, I think I mean, anybody going into business, it's a whole different beast, right? Like, I mean, if you're an employee, you're getting a paycheck every week. When you're not, then you are not always. Um, for me, I think the pivotal moment was thinking through that was I had to buy pens and paper. Because normally, like when you work for someone, there's a supply closet. You get pens and paper, like you don't have to buy them. And I'm like, I I gotta buy pens. I mean, that sounds so trivial, but for me, that was a big pivotal moment. And granted, I was very grateful. And when I launched Platinum Wealth, it was before COVID. So we really got our feet in the mix. We started doing things virtual before most other firms were, just because I had clients throughout the US. So my momentum picked up really fast. Very grateful for that. And then when COVID happened, we were very responsive. So if people called us, we would call them back. We were there. We weren't, you know, putting our head in the sand, being scared and not communicating. Like I again, communication is so important, I feel like, in any aspect of any career path, but for us especially, and we wanted to make sure we were talking to people and you know, supporting and handholding where needed. And so for us, we grew ridiculously during COVID because we were communicating. So we did have kind of an upward trajectory that I wouldn't have planned for myself by any means, but very grateful that people entrusted us managing their money.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

That is great. Now, I love what you said. I mean, obviously about communications, because that's like a big thing, you know, in our in the leap method that we that I talk about, the L is actually it's leverage and it's leveraging your strengths and communication because of how you speak. And we all have this thing that I'm holding up, which is my phone, right? And so many of us will actually, instead of using it for the phone, we'll hide behind it. So it's you know, kudos for you for actually using it and communicating with people and talking to people.

SPEAKER_00 8:29

Yeah, I mean, people want the communication. Communication is so important, and I feel like that is a shining golden like golden star these days, quite frankly, right? You look at so many businesses and you get an email or you hope someone emails you back. Communication is lacking, I feel like, in so many different areas. So that customer service level is just different and it's evolving. But I wanted to make sure when we, you know, when I launched Platinum Wealth Management that we were giving the best level of service based on communication. Granted, like if somebody needs us, you're not getting thrown in a phone bank in a far-off land. Like you're talking to a member of my team. We're supporting you, we're here to help you, we know you.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

Yeah, yeah. So what made you decide to, yeah, I'm you know, sort of go out on your own versus, I guess, like and starting your own umbrella versus, you know, joining something like um a Morgan Stanley or a I don't know, whatever. Um the you know, American American Express or AmeriPrize, whatever. They used to be AmeriPris used to be American Express.

SPEAKER_00 9:25

Yeah, I did work for big firms and I had hundreds of clients and managed very sizable books of business. And I mean, back to the original point, the thing that I saw, I mean, you see good nuggets and bad nuggets along the way, right? So for me, I was seeing the customer service side and the relationship being pended to phone banks, and clients didn't like that. And clients are like, we just want to talk with you. We don't want to go to a phone bank. So there's a frustration there, and I saw that along the way. And I thought, I could do this differently and make it very more heart-centric, but the communication stronger and the relationship stronger and know that we want to know about you, why you do what you do. And when you call us, we know you, we know your kids, we know your grandkids, we know the whole family, we want to be able to support there. And I felt like that was getting lost a little bit in the big scheme of the world.

The Importance of Community and Leadership

SPEAKER_01 10:11

Yeah, you know, so I'm curious, how do you feel that your your TV role or you know, your TV experience has also helped you in your current role?

SPEAKER_00 10:23

Huge. It's been huge. I mean, obviously, it's made me comfortable to talk in front of a camera. So podcasting has been fun and a journey. Um, I think that's been great. I mean, I do a lot of national media and I do a lot of national speaking, so it goes hand in hand. Unfortunately, there's not enough people talking about the psychology of money. So I feel like that's an interesting um topic that a lot of people resonate with. So I travel quite a bit, you know, sharing this message.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

Yeah. And so, you know, thinking about um, you know, legacy and leadership, you know, obviously you're obviously, as you shared, you you're traveling and you're sharing across the stage, but also you're very active in the community. So, you know, what do you think, you know, influ, you know, what does influential leadership look like to you today? And how how can high achievers build success while lifting others along the way? What's your thought?

SPEAKER_00 11:13

I think that is, I mean, so important to what we do, right? One of the things that we say is everyone deserves a seat at the table when it comes to their financial journey. And again, that's not just for clients, that's for my team. That's for my team and lifting one another. That's in every aspect that we do, right? We want to make this better, uh, the world a better place ultimately in everything, but especially in finance, where it's been such a foreign language for so long. So I think by volunteering, by being in the community, by sharing messages, by supporting others and making others feel worthy, I think is a huge part of what we do on a day-to-day basis.

SPEAKER_01 11:47

Yeah. No, I it it it's, you know, I think being part of the community community is so important. I actually was on a podcast uh this morning, and that a gentleman was talking about um and I didn't realize this, there was a couple of um websites that really just focus on uh giving back in your industry. I was like, blown away. Like I did not, you know, we need to share some of those. So I think that's so important to actually be able to do that. So you know, thinking about, you know, obviously starting your business, this leadership journey, you know, if you're if somebody, you know, what is the biggest tip you can say to somebody who is, you know, maybe on that precipice? Do I go out on my own or do I stay where I am? What would you tell them?

SPEAKER_00 12:33

I think that depends on the individual, right? That's a hard question to give a hard answer to per se. I think it depends on the individual. And are you willing to, you know, buy pens, buy paper, you know, make paychecks, like pay other people on your team. I mean, as you grow, there's more mouths to feed that you have to worry about to make sure that they're supported and that they're emotionally supported. So then they're trickling down and doing the absolutely the right thing for whoever your clients are. Um, I'm so grateful that I did. I think my timing was impeccable. Um, I feel like that was a lot of it outside of me, by all means. Um, but I'm so glad that I did. And I and I think that a lot of people that end up going on their own entrepreneurial journeys think, why didn't I do this sooner? Right. You're definitely taking a risk and it's very scary. But at the end of the day, like you're able to make such a big difference if that's what you choose to do.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Yep. So now how do you bring that entrepreneurial journey into your workplace? Because obviously you're now the employer, right? So how do you keep that thrive going? So then maybe somebody who may have that thought, like, do I go out on my own, you know, but they want to stay? Like, how do you keep that going so that you're that great employer that they don't want to leave?

SPEAKER_00 13:43

Yeah, so I mean, I'm a little biased, but my team say they're all lifers, right? All lifers, because we have the flexibility and we listen to one another and we grow from one another. There's not a strange hierarchy where anybody feels, to my knowledge, uncomfortable about what we do. People are open to bring ideas to the table and how we navigate things, and everybody's very heart-centric. And I think that is that's really the spillover for us. And I think the overlap is everyone wants to do the right thing always. It's not a question of that. Um, my team came together, not in a way where I had a help-wanted sign out at all. It was very organic, where people ended up just in front of me or introduced to me and just all came together. And it's been a beautiful journey. I mean, I'm very grateful for the team that we have. But again, we all lean in together and we all support each other. We have a meeting every single day where we talk. And granted, some of my team is remote. So we're on Zoom every day for half an hour of seeing each other talking through things. But what we talk through is what's your win, personal or professional? What are you working on and what do you need help on? And it's so lovely to see if someone else has something personal going on in their life that they share that. And the team rallies and says, How can I take that off your plate? How can I support you? And it's everyone. I've never worked in an environment where I've seen anything like that, but I'm so grateful to be growing one and to be a part of one and have that my own.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

Right. That's, you know, it's interesting, you know, you when you're talking about meeting every day, even if it's for 30 minutes, so many people are like, oh my God, too many meetings. So how do you, you know, get people excited? I mean, obviously the wins, but you know, people might be listening to this thinking, oh my God, a meeting every day.

SPEAKER_00 15:21

Well, I mean, if you're not working in the same building as somebody, you have to have a meeting every day, like to know what's happening with your team. Um, and my team ranges in age from, you know, 19 years old up into their 70s. So we've got quite a demographic of folks, but I truly think like it wouldn't necessarily be a fit for my team if you weren't rallying and wanting to see how other people were doing what was going on. I think that's a characteristic that magically has again organically happened in my group. But it's not a meeting to have a meeting, it's a meeting to find out what's going on, how we can support our clients and how we can support each other.

SPEAKER_01 15:53

Right. And so when you're thinking about like somebody who's like young, right, and starting out, you know, and they're on their journey, like what would you, what would be the biggest tip you could say to somebody, whether it's a financial journey or any journey, like what are the top like, you know, five things that you could say to somebody to do as they're, you know, they're they're stepping out.

SPEAKER_00 16:18

I mean, I I could give you dozens. I mean, I think the top one would be get an internship. If you're in school and you haven't had an internship, get one now. It doesn't matter what you want to do, figure it out. That's how you figure it out to see if there's passion there and that's what you want to kind of explore as a career path. I had five internships when I was in college. Mine were all in TV. I've had several interns on my team who have were interns for three, three and a half years who are now advisors. I wanted them to cut their teeth and see if this was a passion for them. And if it wasn't and they wanted to go in a different arena, then I was gonna do my best to be able to lift them and put them in front of the people that they needed to be in front of. So I think being in a healthy, you know, relationship with whoever your internship is, learn as much as you can. LinkedIn is such a resource, and it's exciting to me to see so many younger people who are in high school or college getting their LinkedIn like messaging out there. I love that because you're networking. So I would say the two big things are really networking, well, three networking, LinkedIn, and um interning. And I think that really puts yourself five steps ahead of everyone else because then you have an idea is this the career path that at least I want to start out on now.

SPEAKER_01 17:22

Yeah. You know, what you just something that you said I think is actually really important. Um, and that is that, you know, if somebody's interning with you and maybe it's not the right fit, but you obviously have connected with them, you know, to go out of your way to go and help them find something else. That's very, I mean, not a lot of people think that way. So how did you come to that philosophy?

SPEAKER_00 17:48

That's who I am, right? Like, I'm not gonna be everybody's cup of tea, and that's totally okay. But if I can find help them navigate to their cup of tea, that's great. What a blessing that is, because they're gonna be joyous in whatever they do. I mean, we should have joy in our workplaces, in our lives, wherever we can. It's not always perfect, but if we can help each other and again back to lifting one another, that makes the world a better place.

SPEAKER_01 18:10

You know, it truly does. I mean, it's funny because you know, there's so many um so many people uh that I've talked to it's it's that mentality, that quintessential mentality that, you know, they said, I worked here, but I knew I was ready to move. And my person who I was working for said, Oh, let me pick up the phone and call and help, because you're, you know, so it's not a it's it it doesn't happen often. So it it's really lovely that that's something that you do because it it really can tri change the trajectory of somebody else's life.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

And it helps them create whatever joy that they need or they're finding. Like be happy, be happy in what you're doing, right? I think that in any career path. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:58

So I want to go back to that the you know idea of you know, talking also about um you know, the the whole money psychology um because something that you said, you know, you know, whether somebody has a a pre um something in their past where they've just you know they come to save, like they don't want to spend the money. There's a person who is buying the couch, right? Or can I can I buy the couch? How do you actually help them? You know, because that psychology with money is so deep-rooted and it must come back often.

Understanding Money Psychology and Its Impact

SPEAKER_00 19:31

You know, it does. It's in conversations we see every day. And that's again why I initially kind of went down this path. I'm um just finishing up my master's degree in the psychology of money and then going into a PhD program to become a financial psychologist. Again, not to change career paths because it's my firm, but to add value to clients that are navigating this. Um, it affects everyone. It's not just a one-person thing by any means, but I think having people have the understanding to have that moment where you give yourself that two seconds where you really think about it, sit with it, and have that light bulb moment. I had a speaking engagement yesterday, and that was part of my exercise was having people take 10 minutes and really talk through like what's your money memory? And I looked around the room, and this was the most interactive, and I've done stages of 10,000 people and done this with big groups and little groups. This group was about 70 people. And it was interesting because it was so, you know, tight-knit. I was able to really like walk around from table to table and interact as well. There was that glaze that came over a couple people's faces. And I said, you know, you don't have to have that right now. You're gonna have this when you're driving home, when you're picking up your kids, when you're in the shower, you're gonna have that light bulb moment. But the mere fact that you're giving yourself space to think about that now and then really see, does it make sense? I realize why I'm doing what I'm doing with money because of X. Does it still serve me to hold that so tight, or does it make sense for me to change my narrative? It's very powerful. But I think it comes down to the individual of giving themselves that time, that moment to really think through what is my money memory money memory? And then did that really affect my relationship with money now as an adult?

SPEAKER_01 21:10

Okay. And so when you're able to work with people, I mean, I'm assuming, you know, I could assume, but never assume, right? You know, it must, you know, when you can help them flip the switch, what have you seen it do?

SPEAKER_00 21:22

Well, I mean, I can tell people all day, hey, these are the five things you need to do to make money in the market. And here's how we should do it, and here's how we financial plan. But at the end of the day, I mean, I can tell you that, but are you gonna do it? Are you gonna have, you know, pushback? Is there gonna be an issue there? But that goes back to your money memory. So I think if you can really have that moment, have that conversation, open lines of communication and realize what it is, and then talk through is that serving you? Have that talk with your advisor. I have it with my clients all the time. Does that serve you? You're going back to that money memory. And everyone has one. I have them too. Um, but I think that really engages you of how you look at your financial future to make sure you're doing. right things.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Yeah. No, I I totally see that. And I was just thinking though, like when they've when they get over that hump and they start doing those things, it's it must be amazing to see the blossom.

SPEAKER_00 22:13

It is. But I mean that seed is always planted. So you always have to kind of go back to it and think through that too because it doesn't just go away. I mean even if you're like changing the narrative you're always like oh that's why okay you've got to be thoughtful for with yourself and make sure that you're having that realization constantly. But yes it's amazing. It's amazing when people are doing the right things and they see it and they're on a good momentum for themselves. But this is where the ongoing communication and overcommunication comes in.

SPEAKER_01 22:38

Yeah no it's uh we you know it's kind of like your financial gremlin right like how can you knock it down it's always going to be there where it's like are you know the two um the angel and the um devil right you know sitting on your shoulders you know who's talking to you the loudest and how do you quiet one versus the other right you can't necessarily quiet one it's always going to be there.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

You just have to make space for it and realize that's what that is and does it serve you or do you do you need to change your narrative it's always going to be there.

Connecting with Financial Wisdom

SPEAKER_01 23:04

Yeah yeah but if you can make it a little bit softer maybe right not as loud maybe it helps right um so Jennifer how can people connect with you and learn more about what you're doing and so that you can help them have an impact you know with their money and this how they think of it.

SPEAKER_00 23:24

Yeah there's a lot of ways to connect with us the Platinum Talks Wealth podcast is our podcast on Spotify iTunes um we're celebrating our third year which is crazy it's gone by so fast. Also platinumwealth.net is our website we have a ton of information there. We also have online communities so in Facebook we have Platinum Talks Wealth community and it's where we deep dive in a social media realm of kind of talking through what these definitions are when it comes to the psychology of money how that works different things like that. And we're on all social media platforms too. So we're we're a lot of places but yeah if anyone has questions we'd love to connect.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

Awesome. All right so listeners do me a favor connect with Jennifer go to her socials connect with her go to platinum wealth management really seriously you know um what she's doing and helping people is it's just truly truly remarkable um everybody does have that um crazy relationship with money or that gremlin and you know um really uh doing things different um with money so do me a favor connect with her and then do me a favor hit subscribe and share this podcast because I am guaranteed to guarantee you that there is somebody that you know that needs to hear this message. So um thank you listeners for listening thank you jennifer for being a great guest and um I'm Jacqueline Stomager the host of Unstoppable Success so thank you. Thank you so much for joining me on the Unstoppable Success podcast where we don't just talk about growth we leap toward it. If something today lit a fire within you sparked a new idea or gave you the extra push forward please don't keep it to yourself. Share this episode and podcast with a friend, colleague or fellow high achiever be sure to subscribe rate and review and most importantly connect with me Jacqueline Schuminger at leaptoyoursuccess.com for coaching, community and your next bold move keep leading with intention keep building your network with purpose and most of all keep leaping because you were meant to be unstoppable