Guys people on today show I have the pleasure of interviewing president and CEO of Greenpath financial wellness Kristen Hope she shares her story about how she went from being fired to CEO You don't want to miss as she shares her family background her education, but also how her company Greenpath financial can help you That's right. Y'all know we don't play games and promote weak stuff We only promote the show and this is what we gonna do you can call it to one eight hundred five zero one nine six one sit back Relax and enjoy My wife thinks I'm crazy. How do we get here? I can't believe y'all let me have the show Guys people see you let me admire you he gave you vision and purpose, but you struggle to dream because the seed It was so much listening to your genes, but within them was denim I guess we're in them as in them.
There's a different perspective that I'm trying to present them They ain't always peace when you see the piece. It'll make you a Levi cuz you right Levi's what's up people. I am your host J Will and I would like to welcome you to inspire guys people where we balance faith and business to guide you to your purpose I'm feeling man. I'm excited for today's show as usual.
You know I'm saying I'm excited for every show I need to find another word to say other than excited, but I don't know how to explain myself You know, I'm not the best small talker in the world I'm gonna just be real with you right, you know what I also don't know how to do how to end conversations like All right, I don't like to ignore people, you know, it's like a maybe a weird thing about me I don't like to ignore people so y'all know like people who email me and things like that You always get a response back even if it's a week or two later and also if you comment on my social media I typically respond back, but I will be honest, right? It becomes a little difficult when you when you are responding to like a Boat group of people but individually so let's say if I have like 20 people commenting on a post and like I'm really just trying to say Thank you, but I gotta say it 20 different times the 20 different people, but it's on the same post So it's like thank you, bro. Thanks. This appreciate you fam.
That's what's up Yeah, it's like it's only so many ways this time I put on there if you look on my page I'll say grassy is to some people that's the only Spanish I speak is grassy's but I will say grassy is just to switch it up Anyway, I know that was super random way to start the show But I'm really excited about today show man excited about the interview with Kristen and I actually believe it or not We conducted this interview maybe three weeks ago now And I really just wanted to wait until the right time to share it We had Thanksgiving kind of coming up, you know, usually that week is kind of a slower week because people with their families and stuff But the lad, you know really since Thanksgiving the last three weeks the show has been you know back to normal doing amazing So I appreciate everyone who listens to the show all around the world man We've been blessed to reach several countries every single week and I don't take any of you for granted I will say this before we jump into the interview You know for those of you who've been a part of the inspire guys people text family I appreciate you, but as you know, or you should know we have now switched to YouTube I'm really gonna try to focus on building a YouTube content So just search inspire guys people on YouTube or you will see the link in the description of today's show You'll also see links in descriptions for Greenpad financial the organization at Kristen is the CEO of anything you want to hear See about the show or not here, but you know if you want to click links and find my music as you know I'm an artist as well. You know, I've been doing, you know, I got over 75 songs out So if you search J will music on Spotify Apple music all that good stuff, then you will hear all my music Other than that, I think we are ready to jump into this interview. I will say You know, thank you for all the feedback from the last few shows We've been doing shows about the digital economy really the metaverse cryptocurrency I have other shows planned to go into that topic if I'm being honest You guys are responding way more than I thought your work I thought this was gonna be like super nerdy and you know, not necessarily interesting content for the audience But actually has been a complete opposite on these have been really I guess active listeners have been listening to these episodes because To be honest, we've been getting even more feedback. I can talk than usual So let me know what other topics y'all are interested in in the digital economy I think is really important to talk about these things Because this is the world we live in and we have to understand or be prayerful and seek the Lord about how to navigate the digital economy What do we want to do?
What don't we want to do? So feel free to hit me up and you know email me germane Wilson music at gmail.com Let me know if you want to hear more and what you want to learn about as it relates to the digital economy And I will you know continue to make content around that but today Man faith in business is such a lovely topic to me. I love the opportunity You know, this show presents for me to be able to talk to CEOs and business owners and entrepreneurs Just all types of individuals from all walks of life and you know, it's no different here, man I'm excited for this one So just in time for the holidays as people are spending a lot of money And we don't want you to go broke But we also want you to learn like what is the life of a CEO because look a lot of times we're aspiring entrepreneurs I always find value In here from people who are leading organizations and learning from how they lead and how they think this Infirmate wait information. I was trying to say interview.
I can talk this interview will be a wealth of knowledge So without further ado, let's give it to me in a few Part of this. All right, guys people I am so excited today to be on the line With a guest that I'll call her a special guest even though we just met because for those of you who listen to Lavel story about how we became debt-free Somehow some way Lavel actually got us an interview with the CEO and president of Greenpath financial wellness Kristen Holt How are you doing today Kristen? I'm doing fantastic. How are you?
I'm doing great. Welcome to the show I'm really excited to have you on at me and Lavelle just so you know if I say best stuff about Lavelle I don't really mean it. He's really important part of this show But we do like to kind of give each other a tough time So he has made one great contribution to the show so far in three years and that is bringing you on Thank you so much. Yeah, we'll have a really dig into some of your background and some of the things that you've done leading up to Being the president and CEO of Greenpath financial wellness will obviously talk about that and maybe we'll even talk a little bit about Lavelle and kind of you know what he's doing I know he's doing some things with you guys kind of highlighting his story So I'm excited excited to see you hear more about that But let's kind of start off if it's okay with you Tell us a little bit about who the young Kristen was like what I'm really always interested in when I'm talking to people in this show Is like how did you end up on the path that you're on now?
It kind of like what the younger you look like versus the you know mature version of you now? Okay, sure. Yeah, you know I definitely attribute the path that I'm on to God's hand in my life and I really feel like you know You can't ever tell where he's taking you but as long as you trust you know, you're gonna end up in the right place And I really feel like I have So yeah, so going back to like childhood You know, I was raised and taught about Jesus and taught to be a believer and certainly that was a big influence in my life I was also raised by my parents who are so grateful are still in my life today all the time But it was really raised by them to understand financial responsibility in a way that was fairly real for you know for a kid So my first job I started working when I was like 10 years old I had these little index cards and I wrote on them that I was happy to dogs it or water people's plants And I went and put them in all the little neighborhood mailboxes So some people hired me to do that job and my parents taught me right from that moment to save 50% of what I earned and so I had to put half away and I could put half towards you know Whatever it is I wanted to buy or something like that And so they really instilled that importance of paying yourself first and saving first and only spending was left after you saved money from a very very early age and You know, so I was really blessed to learn that and I was also blessed to be able to live in that way So I went to college I decided to be an accountant I was in a CPA background and I just kind of fell in love with accounting not always like numbers always had this passion for personal finance Got my first job in public accounting after after graduating from college passes EPA clam And I think it was through that that I started to realize the importance for me and doing work that mattered So I was really good at being an accountant and I worked on big firm and got moved up the ranks fairly quickly I was only there a couple years But after a couple of years I remember this very distinctly I was on an audit and we found this, you know major problem I wasn't really probably that major but in my eyes. It was like, oh, there's major problem And so I you know did all this work to discover this problem brought to the attention of the audit partner and Through that process and I know it's pretty naive at the time But you know basically filed a process of how the conversations would happen with management and with the auditing firm And it was determined that oh this actually wasn't that big of a deal and there was a way to fix it And you know in hindsight now I understand like those things happen and oftentimes, you know there are explanations and stuff But I just remember feeling like wow, why do we even audit and so I really I kind of left that experience and like we did all this work We found this, you know major problem and it didn't matter and I thought I don't want to work that doesn't matter Like I'm working too hard for it to not matter And so I left public accounting shortly thereafter had a great opportunity to become a controller in a company that was nonprofit Not not your traditional type nonprofit But it was not worked that was making an impact in the world and I liked it I like to do work that I knew was like helping people and was making an impact and I actually that job But I remember this controller I still remember distinctly you know in my 20s thinking it's one day I could be a controller I will admit it that will be like that's it That's where I want to be and then I got that job at 23 and I was like oh okay I guess we're something like both here And so you know it was it was a unique opportunity And I really think you know again God's hand was in play that I ended up You know I was actually a company that I had audited got to meet people there They took a chance on me and a job that I really was not qualified for because they had the experience of working with me And awesome CEO who hired me at the time Who was still a great friend to this day and you know people took a chance on me and kind of chucked with me Sh uppered me through my career And so I was there for a number of years and got some amazing experiences in a lot of um international business and doing acquisitions And moved up I was CFO for a while and then I moved into running a large division of the business So we really got some vast experience Yeah, you got a lot of you got a lot of senior titles in your jobs I did and a lot of that was um, you know being in the right place and working with people who trusted me into the chance on me and gave me opportunities probably Before I was ready, but they believed in me and so I really I thought I was in a tire for that job I wanted to be CEO if I had it all mapped out and then I got to a place over a few years It took a few years where I started becoming more and more unhappy and I remember like my family worrying about me and like gosh, you're so happy I'm my friend's you know, I remember saying like I hate my job and I just got to try to survive till I retire I just wasn't passionate about it anymore and I was having lots of different problems You know different stuff happening and I just got to where I was really unhappy and I was too Yeah, I was too scared to make a change and so got stuck in and I got fired I was unexpected Dear lord, what is this?
Totally unexpected. Um, maybe not completely actually I think I had predicted maybe a few weeks before where I was like Did I did? You deserved it or was it like No, of course not of course I didn't deserve it But in hindsight, you know now that I'm removed from it and I can also see like okay, I had a plan got always had the plan and even when you can't see it There's a plan um in hindsight, you can't perform now when you're not happy and kind of doesn't want us to be doing work that we're miserable Then either, you know, it was affecting so many so many aspects of my life That I just needed to make a change and I just couldn't do it on my own So so he put a hand in it, but if I just got a little piece that I think is really important to me in my journey So this happened I was like go in April of 2012 And I prior to that so say like 2011 and even before then had really been searching to find my church home and was struggling with just signing somewhere that I Really felt like I belonged. Yeah, and I was raised Catholic and I still Catholic but I had straight away from the Catholic Church And I missed it and so a friend of mine was like, why don't you just go back to Catholic Church?
So I went and met with this priest of the church that I belonged to still and I had been divorced in my 20s And so that was why I thought like I was like, yeah I don't know the Catholics really like that divorce thing and I think I'm kind of banned and so I was going to other churches and I met with the pastor of this church and he was like weren't a band you should come back and like he really explained everything to me and He was just like, I think you know, what would Jesus do and I just you know, try to treat people the way he did with the people You know brought me back to the church and this was the December 23rd of 2011 and finding that church home When basically three and a half months later. I got fired if I had not had that church home It was like I just knew when I was like God was like sending me on this I have to say like you have to have somewhere that you feel home that you can feel connected to me and stuff all that Because you're gonna go through some rough times. Yeah. Yeah, and just the timing was just incredible that it was like, yeah Like I totally see that and like God is good.
Yeah, no, I love that. I love that. Um, okay. I'm sorry.
Were you gonna say something? No, I'm not No, that's fine. No, this is like this is really good insight, especially like kind of You know, just looking at you know, your career path, right? Like from where you started being 23 years old and kind of feeling like the controller job was the dream job and having to kind of Reset your goals and that's something I want to dig in but before that, um, I'm curious about your appearance Like you said they instilled in you like the importance of saving and from 10 years old kind of having that first job and saving 50% Which is something um, it's funny ironically.
I mentioned that Probably like I don't know maybe two or three weeks ago in the show like I was kind of you know talking about finances a little bit I was saying anytime I get a lump sum of money and I wasn't telling people they had to do this But this is just something that I've been doing for a while now anytime I get a lump sum of money then I like to save half of it like from the very start like I I don't even consider the other half mine. Um, and I remember like one of the first times I did that me and my wife had sold a house and It was like, you know, at the time it was like, you know, the most money we ever had and I'm like, okay If I got the most money I ever had then I need to figure out a way to keep the most money I ever had, you know So that was kind of like my plan in there But what I'm curious of is like, you know, what Major parents that way like what it you know, was it their jobs? Was it how they were raised? I'm just curious like you got it from them, but where did they get that mindset and that mentality from?
You know, that is a great question. My parents Got married really young and had no money And I still remember my dad telling me that he like figured out whatever job he had You know, at a young age, it was probably 18 or something like that whatever job he had to go up for lunch with people And he figured out that the cheapest thing he could eat was eggs And he could get like the most like the most food in his stomach for the least amount of money And so he would eat eggs and bake and then close like the breakfast special kind of cream for lunch every single day because it was the cheapest thing he could eat And they just so I don't know exactly where it came from But they both had this mindset when they got married at 18, 19 years old and my mom was 19 And they just celebrated the 51st wedding anniversary this past summer You know madly in love and but they had that from day one where they just they didn't have much money And they knew they had to save in order to you know, do better And so they did this where they put you know, they would say first and then you had to figure out how to live on what was left And I just remember my dad always telling me about that But I don't think it really came from their parents that I'm aware of Um, so I don't know exactly how it came to be but maybe I mean I think they both grew up poor My dad especially grew up poor And I think maybe it was just that what he came up with to try to change that Yeah, that I mean speaking from experience that can do it. It's funny like I'm intrigued by so many aspects of life like that's one of them like, you know, I grew up poor Me and my wife both, you know, and you know poor is like so vague I know but you know for american standards, I guess right I grew up in the inner city not a lot of money whole lot of love Um, but at the end of the day, it's funny how some people I'm always intrigued by the fact that like some people like me My wife like we went through that and we got married fairly young and didn't have money And it was like at some point like yeah, I don't like this like I don't like not having money And I don't like living check to check and you're driven to like change that and in some people Accept it for whatever reason. Um, and I'm really like intrigued by the psychology of that But what I love about kind of your story is like I'm fascinated with this idea of like people who are able to successfully instill this in their kids because for me like growing up poor me and my wife don't have kids yet and you know, not like Again, just kind of like vaguely speaking because I don't talk like about money and finances in terms of a lot We're a little because that's so like, you know subjective But you know for us our kids will never they will start much further than we were we were It was like ideally I wish we could have had kids early and they would have been a part of like they would have saw some of the struggle like this is what it looks like And now I'm like in my mind like okay, whenever we have kids I have to find a way Like to not let them be shaped by having you know more than I did at least like how do I give them that without you know Making them back go back and be poor So I just like what your parents did as far as like setting you up, you know at 10 years old and you were saving money and stuff like that So that's pretty cool.
Now, you know again You talked about your career from being a CPA like I said, you had a lot of senior senior vice president global food senior vice president chief financial All of those things so after you were fired, um, you know, can you tell me like what led you? You know into you know where you are today, right? Like I think you were a COO at one place before you landed where you are now Yeah, can you talk about that a little bit like how do you go from being fired? So like picking yourself back up, you know, you talk about your church What was next after that?
Yeah, so one to your listening like it happens to everyone and that's why I do talk about it really freely and openly because I know when it happened to me I thought the world was ended and I was never gonna get another job again And how I get that on this trajectory and so I don't want people to believe that because it does happen to all of us And a lot of times it's just you know, it's just not the right fit I just wasn't in the right place anymore. Yeah, and uh I could get three to be so I was like, okay, here's where we'll get three to get Um, and it did get three to me. Yeah, so um, so I know how to start a job search from scratch Um, I had to network and one thing I learned that I didn't know Is that I actually had a really strong network because of my community involvement that I had been super active in my job Um, and so I was able to tap into that network pretty quickly Um, and people were willing to take meetings with me and so I started doing that and I met through a couple of levels down Like it's never a direct connection. It's always somebody who can introduce you until I met with somebody right now When introducing somebody else who then, um, was connected to the united way into trade And I had met with her and then about two or three months later She called me up and said hey, I actually think you might be a fit for This newly created role at united way into trade that wasn't published wasn't posted They were just kind of thinking about trying to find somebody and they wanted somebody who had operational and financial experience Which I have both been BFO and then running the company And so I um through that connection met as the eo of united way my friend and he like completely changed my life And just the most amazing person and he really taught me about One knowing myself and understanding my strengths and understanding what gives me energy Because he knows and taught me that when you're working in a place where you're working on your strengths You're amazing and you can produce you can just do so many great things But I never understood that about myself and nobody had ever taught that to me and that's kind of where like now I can connect the dots and say oh, I actually need to do work that matters I didn't know that at the time when I look back at my life, I didn't see it But he taught me to understand that about myself through um did this exercise called um gallops side strength or strength finders Which is pretty common thing out there in the world that I never heard of it Um and discovered my strengths and by understanding my strengths one of my strengths is called significance Which sounds like kind of icky but um Better it's like what it means that I like to Work on really hard problems that make a real impact in the world and I basically I want to leave a legacy And I was like, oh that's interesting like I did know that about myself, but it's always that's not like it's that out and I'm like, yeah, I guess that is true Sometimes I knew that I was gonna really dive like okay, well, what is my life gonna be what kind of impact do I want to have?
And um, you know the way we have an amazing experience work with a great team And michael also taught me um one of my skill sets now is human center design Which is a unique way to drive innovation By really focusing on the person you're trying to serve or your user and understanding what their needs are and then designing around That need instead of designing around like what does a company need was? You know like a lot of times things are designed based on company to company Yeah, and this really takes it down to like who's the person and what do they need and he taught that to me And I was able to then take that learning into green path and that's really defined A lot of what green path is if an organization and how we try to make an impact by truly understanding the needs of people who are calling us So it sounds like the united way Opportunity is where you really developed who you were as a leader if i'm here right? Exactly, you know, it's funny like you said a couple things like um I kind of have this saying know thyself. I did a whole episode on it Maybe a month ago.
Um just about understanding your strengths and weaknesses because I think i'm at least surprised at like how many people Don't know themselves and I was once that way as well But the pro in a problem with trying to like grow and purpose and business if you don't know yourself It's kind of like being a wheel or a tire on a car and you don't know where a tire goes So like you're like you're you know, you're in the hood you're like sitting in the front seat It's like oh no, I'm a tire and then when you get put in the proper place Then you can help the car move so like I love the fact that you talked about Kind of knowing yourself and that's kind of dope to me like a whole significance thing like, you know, you know Like you like to work really hard or like to start working really hard problems And you want to leave a legacy and just knowing that about yourself? I'm sure like unlike the did it maybe instead of me assuming like I'll ask Didn't know what that about yourself kind of unlike any new, you know dreams or thoughts within yourself Like did you it sounds like you probably already knew you wanted to be a ceo at some point But like did did that understand in that knowledge unlock a new part of you that you didn't know existed? Totally totally. I think I think the difference was I wanted to be a ceo before then because it was just like the next So I was more like climbing a ladder And like okay, what's next what's next what's next and they said and I thought it was just gonna say that company that I had been Yeah, you know, I learned a lot but I think everything I learned was more in that technical like technical skills That was important um, but it was more about like what's next instead of why purpose?
I love it that like christen. I know it's so amazing This is why I love god like and like we always get the right guest on his show Where it's like you you know, you haven't listened to show We probably didn't know about it before last week when we talked but the amazing thing about it Is like the stuff that you're talking about are things that over the last three years that we've been building on and developing and to hear a story Like yours is so amazing because it it brings things together in a way where people can kind of see it in action I don't know if you've read lism wise mr. Book multipliers, but no it's an amazing book First but a lot of the things that you're talking about and kind of what you learned at united way Different terminology, but the way she frames it up is that um, you know a leader should be Um, you know kind of finding the genius in in those they're leading so she talks a lot about a multiplier is someone who? Finds the genius in their employees and then multiplies right they multiply and the diminisher does the opposite where you know, you're kind of Um, maybe bossing people around but you don't know what their strengths are you haven't really catered things to them, right?
So you talked a lot about that that stuff indirectly. That's why I was just curious but no, um, that's a good book I'm just by the way to check out. Um, I just wrote it down. Thank you.
Um, yeah, you have to let me know Shoot me an email that whenever you get to it. I mean, if it's a year from now, let me know what you think of it I'm always talking about that book. Um, just because it's like a really cool book for leaders Um, and I would imagine you know at your level. Maybe that's another question.
I think they help people, right? Um, because now I want to kind of talk about, you know, you now like we know kind of who you were and how you got to where you are now But as we you know, talk about the president and ceo of green path, you know and stepping into a big role, right? Um, for you, what are kind of the things that you know, drive you as a ceo or drive you as a leader, right? Because I would imagine at this point and you've been a senior leader, but at this point being a ceo and stepping into that role Now you're leading an entire organization.
So, you know, you talked about how you kind of developed as a leader at the united way But how did you start putting those things into action when you came to green path? You know, and i'm sure to maybe to begin in it or you could tell it's like, is it awkward walking into a ceo role? Like, you know, what is that like at that point? You know, because i've been a man i've taken over a management job and felt weird before so i can imagine what it's like to be a ceo Yeah, it is a little bit weird, especially because I was an at organization.
I joined as cdgo So I didn't really know anyone or you know, just kind of walked in the door and I didn't know much about You know the company other than what I learned when I was researching and you know, I learned through the interview process. Um, So yeah, I'm trying to uh It was weird. I think I really I was super committed to the mission so always started with the mission and our mission is to empower people to lead financially healthy lives And I saw an opportunity which is what I presented in my interview. Um, and in fact I still refer to what I presented in the interview because what so the final presentation or final process in the interview was that I had to show up and give a presentation to the board for what I wanted to do as ceo And I showed up with my entire presentation drawn out on flip charts instead of like in powerpoint So I am certain they were expecting me to show up with powerpoint.
Yeah, that's a boat And instead I showed up with these drawings and I and I thought exactly what you said I was like, they're either gonna love this or they're gonna hate it, but if they hate it, they don't want to hire me And they ended up loving it and it was it was again like it was math in this like there was still in this place of like I'm putting my hands. This is how I'm feeling. I should do it This is this is who I am authentically as a leader and I'm gonna show up as me And if I don't get the job, it's because that was not the plan Um, I had actually applied for the United Way to get the job and I did not get the job prior to this job Um, because they're gonna see your change and that one too. I very much was like I'm putting this in God's hands And when I didn't get the job, I was like, okay, that was not the plan I almost didn't even apply for the job for United Way and then I remember this I thought thinking well, I can't really put it in God's hands if I don't apply I need to apply and then he can tell me what the answer is That is powerful like I don't I don't want people to miss that there's a lot just being said today That I'm hoping that people are kind of catching the the jewels that you're dropping because I think it's easy for us to sit back and like pray and ask God to do something But you know faith what our works is dead and it's like you can't man You can't really put it in his hands if you won't apply and move and go forward So I love that you said that's powerful.
Um, yeah As it relates to that bold move, I think that was a bold decision like to go with the flip charts But you said something super important as well Like you know and and one of the more like one of the impactful things that you said today in my opinion is that like this idea of like Becoming your authentic self and going after purpose versus just climbing the career ladder And I think for some people it's almost like unimaginable because work is looked at as something that they have to do Like can you just talk a little bit about how do you become your authentic self at work Where you found your the purpose in what you're doing and you no longer have to kind of like put on an act Right because you kind of went from hating your job at the other place getting fired and going to unite away Um and kind of discovering that purpose and what you were doing Yes, so I do think it starts with knowing yourself every set and like understanding what gives you energy Because you're gonna you're gonna like do amazing things If you're doing those things that give you energy and that you're excited about and I think that aligns with your purpose So if you're excited about it, whatever it is, it doesn't have to be working in a nonprofit Uh, you know, it doesn't have to be something that like I'm lucky you're very blessed that I can so directly connect the dots But Look at my purpose and so many things and I think it's just Um, you know finding that within your work and then if you're not finding it You know trying to get more clear. I'm like, okay. What is it that gives me energy? What would make me feel like I have purpose?
Um, and then you know seeking that out over time. Obviously, you know, we do have to work you have to have a job Um, and so you know, I'm not saying like clean your dad today Yeah, I know other thing but you know start start looking for it and talking about it too I think you know in many companies, you know I know at our company our goal is for our team members to be able to be their whole selves that work and to be living their purpose and living their passion And being able to show up is who they authentically are and I think more and more companies are going that way that I think they would be open for that conversation Yeah, um, you know, I don't think it's the same world that it was 20 years ago Yeah, that's a good point and part of that it kind of goes to what you said about putting it in guys hand But you have to move forward. It's like and you said it like talk about it read about it learn about it Um, I would encourage anyone out there who feels like man I don't know how to be more authentic self or you know, I don't know what my purpose is Which is you know, this show is about that process and you say like sometimes it takes years like I can tell you I've been working in corporate America for 15 years now And um, as I've kind of worked my way through a fortune 50 organization. It's been Um, I've gone through like different phases like from entry level the version of myself was completely different Um, then who I am today as a senior manager.
So I think The process is something that people have to be committed to because if you're looking for the answers overnight You will literally never find them like there's no way you could have all the years of experience that you have Like to be a CEO. It took every single one of those years. I'm sure like you couldn't have a shortcut So, um, let's talk a little bit about green path. Um, but maybe before you get into like what Green path is and what you guys do or you can answer this however you feel free Um, the the last question I guess personal to you in relation to being a CEO what i'm curious of is like What is a day in a life of a CEO?
Like some of us have no idea and so i'm just curious like, you know, what does that take? Is it was it more than you expected? Um, do you feel like maybe how long did it take you to feel capable? Um, it seems intimidating from the outside looking in so that's where the place i'm asking a question from is like for For those of us who don't know what that's like kind of give us a peek behind a curtain of like a day in a life of a CEO Sure, um, you know every day is different And I still try to bring it back to my strengths and like I can look back on a day and think to myself Okay, that was a day that gave me energy because I was doing things that are aligned with my strengths And like then there's other days where it's like, oh, I was kind of boring and I hate being bored So, you know, you have you have a little bit of everything um, but for me, I think The opportunities I love are getting to know our team and getting to know our clients.
Um, so like getting to meet a bell Was just awesome. Um, because it just reminds me like why we do the work every day And then our team like one thing I have the privilege to do is I meet with every single new higher class that joins screen path And I do an exercise with them. Um, I have this drawing thing that we do so our big hairy audacious goal Which is like a good to great Jim Collins. There's the book for you to spin around forever But like that's what we're trying to get green path is to fulfill this big hairy audacious goal Which is to remix the american dream so it works for everyone And so with that I meet with all of our new hires going draw out Have each person draw out what their version of their american dream is and it might be spending time with family It has all these like it's like six different boxes they can draw pictures in Um, because our dreams are not just one thing they're multi-faceted right?
So it's like it's our family and it's freedom and it's you know, whatever it is to each individual person Um, it is one of my favorite things to do is to connect with these new team members And help them connect with our be had in our mission Um, because our team can't help our clients actually their dreams if they're not clear on what their own dreams are and don't feel like they're proceeding to their own dreams And I do that somewhat I think probably from you know, my lesson learned from getting fired or two Like I only got it over taking the time to really think about what important to me and what are my dreams And so I want all of our team members to take that time to do that and if they you know, just green path not in their dreams Then they probably don't want to be working their dream path for the long run But maybe we can help them get to whatever that next step is but these are their dreams So that's one of the coolest things I get to do but there's a lot to write and interact with our board of directors External partners we do a lot to partnerships like green path we work with credit unions and big credit card companies and then we're always trying to discover new partnerships So meeting with you know, in tech companies and just in other companies out in the world Last week I got to um travel to Washington v. fee and speak with our chief marketing officer She and I spoke together um to a group of collection agencies and we were sharing about our inclusion diversity equity and access work Which we just published a white paper and the work that we've done in that space Um, so it's like everything's different every day is different and some of them are awesome Like that was just a super cool experience and uh sometimes it's boring Right and that's reality right like you know for any of us like regardless of what we're doing and what we're going after I love that because it's like, you know, there's no there won't be perfect days the rest of our lives And that doesn't mean that something is not the right place or thing for you It's just like hey, it was a rough day. I have them all the time. Um, okay So this kind of like reminds me of a quote that I read that you you had I think in your bio maybe But it's like financial wellness is a cornerstone for pursuing our dreams Can you talk about what that really means to green path and like, you know, you talk about live ill And maybe talk about what you guys do and why is it important?
You know to kind of you know get our finances in order to become debt free in order to pursue our dream, sorry Yeah, so so much in that but um You know finances can be a source of extreme stress for people when they're not in good shape And they can be in the source of exchange. Even when they are in good shape They can create those massive stress Yeah, and so oftentimes people are coming to green path when that stress is there and that stress creates a huge barrier To all aspects of your life. So not just your dreams, but even just being able to sleep at night. And so You know, it's really important to get things in order and green path is there to help people get in order So I think sometimes people feel like they have to do it on their own.
I think what about that way if you shared it at least We were talking with them Um, they're like, oh, I got it. I can handle this or I should be able to handle this or like I shouldn't have gotten to this place And it's my mask. I gotta clean it up and um, you know, we're there to be that partner In cleaning up the mess Obviously you the person if you've gotten into a mess and oftentimes the mess is our no fault of your own That's one of the mantras we have where we talk to all of our clients that we tell them it's not your fault You're not alone and you're gonna be okay And people sometimes struggle with it. It's not my fault But it's like there's so many things out there in the world that are working against people can make it hard to make good financial decisions Right down to even our brains so we study the brain science and behavioral economics But how are brains are literally conspiring against us to make the right financial decisions in the long run?
And there's there's like a whole study at Duke University has a whole like thing on it and you read these things and you're like, oh, yeah, I do that But it's like you know, our human brains inability to um, like think in the long term and to make sacrifices in the short term Like literally our brains don't want to do that. I gotta read this thing. I gotta check it out. I love that.
I love stuff like Yeah, it's a Duke and in sense lab and I think it's like the ents comments on slab But there's a whole bunch of stuff on the website and they have these um you can download these carbs that are behavioral economic cards that describe all these If there's 52 different people It's kind of fun, but it's kind of scary too. It's like literally my brain doesn't want me to be actually healthy That's the thing like when we realized that type of stuff though Like we can't understand the importance of like why we have to be so proactive and like that's why I'm like Yes, like you're fighting yourself almost is like I gotta deny myself because if I get this lump sum I have to put up 50 because if I don't I literally don't trust me like I always want something christen It is right never a time that I don't want something so, you know, I love that and it's not you it's our brain Yeah, so I don't have to feel bad or feel shame Like there's so much shame when it comes to finances and that's why people don't call us Because I think they're they're just afraid or they they're in this place of shame and there is no shame in reaching out to bring back And we will help you and you will feel better like the minute you hang up the phone. I promise I can tell you you're better from him. Yeah, I can tell in lavelle like he came when he he told his entire like lavelle he holds nothing back So they have heard like all of the ins and outs of his story I can tell y'all really care a lot about people but you personally I'm just from hearing like your core values and some of the things that come out of your conversation But also, you know the organization because I'm a really close personal friend of the veils And I was there like wow in real time while he was like going through that debt You know, I've been here the whole time as his friend and like there was a time where it was like I mean 40 50,000 I was like man like I don't know even when he first told me about you know the fact that he had gone through You guys a green path.
I'm like I don't really sound like you sure but you guys have an emphasis on people So what I want to ask about that is like for people out there listening and you know, I don't know Like is it kind of us based? I just want to know like who should be calling you guys like can you give us a if a person is out there listening and they're going through a Financial situation and maybe it's credit card debt. Um, does it matter where they live? Like who should be calling green path or logging on and finding you guys online which Everything is in the description of the show, but I'll share some of those details before we get off Like who should that who are those people that should be contacting you guys?
So anyone who lives in the United States the work we do is in the United States that we don't do Canada or companies who do like what we do in Canada Um, but if you live in the United States and you have a question about your finances or if your finances are causing you any amount of stress at all Or you're even just like, yeah, I'm not sure about this financial decision. I'm about to make I want to talk to somebody about it. Paulus. So we're especially especially good at helping people pay off their credit card debt You know, what like just like a ball story So if you are not paying your credit card bills off in full every month Paulus and we can work through a plan with you to get to a place where all of that debt is paid off Repay by you.
You know, you're repaying all the principles It's not those funny shenny companies other out there that tell you the credit card companies don't want you to know You know your bill is blah blah blah. Um, you will repay your principal But as well share we can get the interest rates down to a place that you can actually make progress and repay those amount of debt But you don't have to be $50,000 and that but if you are that's fine If you're back off the dollar and that we can help you with that too If you're just not quite making it every month and paying it all off in full We can talk to you about that and help you, you know balance the budget better to be able to do that on your own Um, so I would say yeah Anybody who wants to improve their financial situation, but in particular if you have credit card debt Or if you have any struggle with your mortgage your rent payments anything or you know you're looking to buy your first home And you want to figure out how to have strategies to say for the down payment putting that 50 percent aside When you get a lump sum of money a great strategy Touch it Yeah, so those are all tricks. Yeah, I do some crazy because I like that money out of the ATM And now I've been saying like yeah, I'm checking accounts negative and he's like I just Don't play out of the ATM. It's not really negative.
I just hide it right we think it's negative So don't spend the money because it's not there you gotta do it's so funny like you gotta do that I tell people at a time and it's like it's tough sometimes because you know one of the things about financial growth and you know Depending on where you come from like you know, I grew up around people who are not necessarily thinking about finances right and it's like You know a lot of times you're in survival mode and that's something that I'm always trying to get people to graduate from I think that is admirable and is necessary at times in our lives where we just got to survive But you know a lot of times we're in a position where you know what I realize I actually am making some money I you know, I shouldn't be struggling at this point and we got to kind of graduate Um to that to that next level and you do I tell people like look I don't have access to all my money Like I can't because I can't get too fast Like I make sure I cannot get to everything fast and I think at least my philosophy is we have to condition ourselves To be able to live off of you know enough and not everything I think the natural position for most people is just hey if I make you know $40,000 a year Like I spent 40 and it's like no you got to try to find a way to live off 20 if you make 40 and so on and so forth So you got to live off what's left and you got to start by paying yourself first Like that's the I think one of the greatest opportunities is whenever somebody starts a new job or has an income change But like if you run unemployment and now you're starting a new job You've got to set it up right up front to you know Do as much as you can in that 401k or whatever retirement is available or if they don't ever retirement Do it to yourself that yourself up to an IRA and take it right off the top Yeah for any budget on what's left not off the top member So you got the taxes and the savings and the goals and all of those things and like okay This is what's left. I'm gonna figure out how to live on what's left after that and yeah, sometimes that doesn't work um, but it's You know if you've been paying off of less income and then you get a new job or you get additional income That's the time to not change how you're living because you were living off less And so I know that incremental make that be the savings that can grow over time And I'm sure I'm gonna find this when I look in this Duke study that you mentioned But I'm always curious like I know for me and my wife I'll just use like just a starting number like literally back and it's funny when I look at the dates Like I kind of like parallel stuff sometimes and it's funny like back in around 2012 was when I kind of had my aha moment because we had got um the night for a home loan back then And I was like what set me off and I'm been nine years straight up just like set that set me off right um both Green path. I know right in that moment. I was like whoa if I would have known about green path I definitely needed it back then but what's always funny is like once we started paying off dead and kind of like getting our stuff together The next step and I'm saying is because I'm curious what you think about it And if this is maybe I'm left field and maybe not but like a lot of times I think people talk about like getting out of debt and things like that But then we don't teach people how to have money and what I mean by that is like for us It was like already we did all this stuff to start paying off debt Then we started saving money and when we had our first thousand dollars saved and I know that doesn't sound like a lot But at the time we had nothing if we never had savings when we had our first thousand dollars We had to learn how to have money meaning You're now looking at a thousand and I'm like telling my wife I'm like, so if like no, we can't like she didn't understand why I was saying We couldn't go somewhere.
She's like, well, like we have a thousand dollars I'm like no like now we have to learn how to have money and discipline ourselves to be able to look at a thousand So we can have five thousand and ten and so on and so forth So I don't know if that's something that you guys deal with at all or something that you've come across But a lot of times I think that's a huge issue of like just being able to have money without having an itch to spend it off Yes, it is especially if you haven't been seeing that money and now it's there and you've been depriving yourself and not going on vacation And not spending money not doing all these things it is tempting and so that is why I think you have to hide it So I you know I said savings goals for different things and you know you want to have an amount for emergency savings So a thousand dollars would be a great emergency savings for him to start and so then you have to call it like no That's not about dollars in my bank account. That's my emergency savings And so then what so we want to go on vacation. Okay, let's figure out how much of the cases can it cost And let's say it's going to be a thousand dollars Well, okay How much can we save to build up that next thousand dollars that we can use for vacation and you set that up as a new savings Well, and it helps to probably have a few different savings goals going at once That you're putting a little bit towards each of them and having longer term ones like retirement So emergency savings fund is one thing retirement would be the next thing and of course you want to do your You know, whatever you can through your employer that's always usually the best way to go It's just a figure employer, but if you're able to max that out then you look at saving in addition for that Because we're never gonna have enough money to retire Um, yeah, so setting up all those different goals So it's okay to have a bold at shorter term like a vacation But you don't want it to be your entire bank account And you know, that's one thing we do with pre-purchase counseling with the housing So we find oftentimes people set that goal to save for the down payment And then they put it all into the house because that's what they thought the goal that way Like I need five thousand dollars for the down payment for this house And then they have no one in money saved and so that's one thing that really help people with that counseling like okay So let's talk about emergency savings Let's talk about having a budget for the tears to this house that you're excited to own Um, and setting up new goals for that And so yeah, I think it helps to like You're marching and calling things and then it doesn't feel as like just money sitting in the bank I love that. It's like you're diversifying, you know, you're a budgeting because and then you got to have a discipline, right?
Not to spend the emergency fund on a vacation or you know what not That's part of the emergency And that's what we're struggling with because like there are times that is like, you know If somebody calls me and asks me for money or something like that and I'm like, well I don't have it and sometimes people don't understand it because they're like, I know you got some money But it's like, well I don't live in one bucket of money and just like freely go at it It's like, nope, you know, me and my wife just took a vacation last week like okay That's the vacation money that doesn't mean that I can like go and spend other money on that And it's it's something that you grow into but I love the fact that you said start small like it I don't want people to be intimidated like you said it can be a thousand dollar goal for two different accounts and you're putting $10 a week $20 a week you got a smart somewhere Exactly and it will build up it like $10 a week will make a difference because $10 more than you were saving before That's a lot of money. It's funny like It's funny how much money is actually a lot of money as it compounds like yeah $10 every single week like that's that's a lot of money saving up So um, Kristen, I know we were just about that time a couple things where we get out of here I just want people to know they can find green path at green path calm Again, you can look in the description of the show and the notes and you'll see all these links also on instagram green path financial And for anyone out there who wants is like I don't I don't have time to wait and go online I just want to call them the number is 800-550-61-81 again 800-550-61 Um, we don't even do a lot of promoting on this show and people know that but LaVille is like A long time partner of this show and he is a real-life example So I really trust green path and after talking to you today, Kristen, I have even more confidence than you guys I have no problem telling my listeners that they should check you guys out I'm gonna give you the last word anything you want to say before we get you out of here Oh, well, I'm just grateful to be here and I hope you know something I've said will resonate with someone out there and I prayed before I got on the show I said god just you know, whatever it is he want me to accomplish with this time You know, it's yours. So I hope that we'll just come true This was amazing and I know for a fact that some people are gonna get something out of it If y'all call green path let Kristen and the team know that you came by way of inspire guys people Kristen This was amazing Thank you so much for your time and hope and pray that you have an amazing rest of your day and rest of your career and just nothing but success moving forward Don't hesitate to ever reach out to me if you need me, okay You too. Thank you so much.
It was so great to talk to you These days cuz everything you say that feeling some kind of way I'm like with the way that heaven they like some kind of way I'm like day Monday. This is some kind of day. So to work. I go