12 Years In Money Coaching: My Reflections
SF Money Coach started with humble beginnings. When I officially became certified as a financial coach back in 2010, all of my appointments were house calls. I would meet with people in their living rooms and at their kitchen tables. Driving around house to house, dealing with parking in the city and normal household disruptions became too much. Looking back, I can see that while I did the best I could with what I had at the time, I was deeply entrenched in a long-standing habit of people pleasing and codependency (placing others’ needs ahead of my own). Something had to give.
I was afraid to shake things up. I did not want to rock the boat. I dreaded saying, “For our next appointment, I need you to come to me.” I worried my clients would vanish and my brand new practice would crumble. And I needed to find an appropriate office space! There was no other option but to put boundaries in place. I may have lost a client or two during the transition, but I gained self-esteem and enough of my clients plus all of my new ones followed suit. As I practiced self-care, my life expanded and my business expanded.
In 12 years of private practice, I have learned how to tolerate rejection. I’ve grown to accept that I am not for everyone and everyone is not for me, but year and year, more and more of my ideal clients keep showing up at my door, from five different continents. I used to work evenings and weekends, but after starting a family, that didn’t work for me any longer. Today I hold firmly to my schedule and I designate different days to work on my business and in my business.
I think the biggest lesson of this second career has been realizing that I need to continue growing, learning and challenging myself. As a 7 on the Enneagram, I am quick to feel complacent, but the journey of SF Money Coach has been far from boring. I have met the most incredible people from professional athletes to actors on broadway, artists, teachers, contractors, stay at home moms, writers, interior designers, lawyers, students, founders of nonprofits, heiresses, stylists, entrepreneurs, CEO’s, therapists and lots of people in tech. I love every one of them and their families. I am honored that I’ve been involved in clinical research and invited to speak at universities. I have taken classes, attended seminars and communed with colleagues and my professional network as often as possible. The plight of self-employment and financial wellness is not easy, but worth it.
For more than a decade, I’ve been inviting clients to practice mindfulness, feel emotions and self-reflect in their relationship with money, mostly because that’s what I value in my own life. I know on a very deep and personal level how a few simple practices can change everything.