I don’t really want to throw shade, but let’s get an uncomfortable truth out of the way: The financial services industry is overwhelmingly pale, male, and stale.
And because of that, it can be uncomfortable for many people who don’t fit into those three boring boxes to want to work with a financial planner.
I’m here for the people who get overlooked by most of the financial industry.
I want everyone, no matter where they come from, to feel joyful and confident about money. That’s my passion.
My Money Story
I didn’t get a great financial education from my parents, and I definitely didn’t learn about budgeting in school. Instead, I made it to adulthood before I had my “WTF moment” with money and realized I didn’t know all that much.
I had to teach myself how to positively think about my finances and make the right choices.
From that point, I decided I wanted to give back. My professional journey began in Minnesota (traditional territory of the Anishinaabe and Dakota Peoples), where I grew up and worked in personal finance for 10 years.
I saw that many people in the Twin Cities, including the LGBTQIA+ community, were lacking personable financial information so I decided to step in and launched Chillax Finance.
At first, my business was just me and another person sitting in a coffee shop, chatting about how to fix up their finances.
After that beginning, I found my way to the West Coast and now I’ve set up shop in San Diego, CA (unceded Kumeyaay territory). Don’t worry if you’re not in California, though; I serve clients, whenever, wherever.
What Makes Me, Me
Instead of those three financial industry boxes of pale, male, and stale, I have three words of my own that describe me.
Every April, I join a community of joyful riders in #30DaysofBiking
Oh, and maybe most important of all…
I absolutely love Shakira.
So to describe my approach to financial coaching and what I want you to experience when you work with me, I think I’d use my fave Shakira lyric to do it.
In her song Te Dejo Madrid, Shak sings: “Los gatos como yo caen de pie.”
When I think about what that means for you and your finances, it goes something like this . . .
Cats Like Me Fall on Their Feet . . . and So Can You!