The Ambitious Bookkeeper Podcast

172 ⎸ Defining your Values in Life & Business with Corree Roofener

• Serena Shoup, CPA • Episode 172

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In this interview episode I chat with Corree Roofener about how defining your personal and business values can transform your life. From nature walks & spiritual growth to aligning ethics to enhance your business, we're diving deep into what truly matters!

In this episode you’ll hear:

  • The overlap of business and personal values
  • Foundational pillars of wealth
  • Audit your values annually
  • Leaving a legacy that’s different from what society expects


Resources mentioned in this episode:


Meet Corree

As a Mother, Nana, Female Entrepreneur, Financial Coach and Passionate advocate for the Foster/Adopt community, Corree Roofener has devoted her life to empowering individuals to live authentically, boldly and intentionally.

Driven by a passion to help others break free from the shackles of fear and judgment and recognizing the interconnectedness of mind, body and spirit, Corree excels and guiding others to begin to gain clarity about their stories with money one of our five foundational pillars. Her approach encompasses mental, emotional and physical well-being. Through personalized coaching, transformative workshops and inspiring speaking engagements, she equips her clients with tools to align their actions with their aspirations.

“If you want something you've never had, You must be willing to do something you've never done.” ― Thomas Jefferson


Connect with Corree

📱 IG: @correeroofenercoach

🎙️ Courage Coalition Podcast


Thanks for listening. If this episode inspired you in some way, take a screenshot of you listening on your device and post it to your Instagram stories and tag me, @ambitiousbookkeeper

For more information about the Ambitious Bookkeeper Podcast or interest in our programs or mentoring visit our resources below:


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serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Welcome to the bookkeeper podcast today. I have a guest Corree Roofener on the podcast with me and we are going to dive into like money stories and I'm super excited for this. so hi Corree, how are you today? Go ahead and introduce yourself.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

Hi Serena, I am great. Thank you for having me. As you said, I'm Corree Roofener. I'm a mom of six, Nana of four, married to my high school sweetheart, and really, my money stories started early, right? And so that's kind of who I am and how I have evolved out or through those. And, how I have stepped into courage throughout life and that has progressed or, projected me to this point in life and how courage really needs to be kind of a step in all of our lives, no matter what we're talking about. And how we were just truly designed to be a courageous human and evolve and not get stuck in the comfort.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Yeah, that's. Easier said than done.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

Yeah, definitely.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Yeah. So how did you end up, as a financial coach? I love to hear people's backstory on how they end up in finance or any career path, honestly, but it's always interesting

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

so I was raised with, as in a home of a single mom. Five kids and money was always not there, right? It was just not there. And, early on, I learned right, wrong or indifferent that if you got in over your head, you filed bankruptcy. That's what my mom did. that's how she made it through. And, my husband and I got, we're high school sweethearts. Like I said, we got married super young. We were both 19. And, three years later, we had a catastrophe. My husband fell off of a roof and couldn't work. And so guess what happened? I went back to that story. I filed bankruptcy because how else do I make it? How else do I know? And what happened is I felt shame. And I didn't realize that would come with it. And I felt like I don't want this to ever happen again. So what can I do? I had taken a personal finance class in high school. They were still giving them at that point. but I really just didn't understand. My stepmom was an amazing couponer. But that felt so overwhelming, right? And so I just started reading and like, how can I control this? We were on a very, very limited budget. And over the course of the next two decades, I'm jumping a lot, but over the next two decades, I, or we created financial independence. We did that by baby steps, you know, saving 10. And everyone's like, what's the point? What's not the point? You know, that's 120 a year. That could have been that emergency, right? My goal was to build that emergency fund so that I would never be in that place of not being able to. Pay the bills if something happened. I knew from a young age that something could happen. And so we built this independence. I started doing bookkeeping as a side gig. I was a stay at home mom and I have always loved traveling. So I took on one attorney as a side gig. That money went into our vacation fund every single month. My next step into independence was creating these individual savings accounts. So I knew where money was and what it was for that created value to me. Right. And that's kind of what I coach on is, is if we don't have value, if we just have these generic accounts, what is the meaning? It's really easy to take from them. Right. It's really, really easy to say, Oh, I'm short 200 bucks this month. I'm going to go take from that. But what if it says, Disneyland for the whole family, 2025. All of a sudden it has this meaning to it, and you don't wanna take from it because you wanna go on that trip with those memories, with your chi, with your kids, right? And your family. So it was just really little baby steps. It wasn't some miraculous thing, but it was just creating clarity and then creating a plan. And that's the key. What was my clarity? It was to never be stuck in a position of. Not knowing how we were going to pay the bills or having to file bankruptcy again. And the, and then the dream, you know, the plan is, is that budget, where do I want my money to go? So telling your money, where to go versus saying, Oh, I wonder what happened this month. Right.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Mm hmm.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

So that's really what it came from. It came from the depths of, not having enough growing up and then having to do that shameful, what I considered shameful. I don't want anyone to feel that way. I did what had to be done at the time. But it created shame and I didn't want to feel that way again. Yeah,

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Yeah. Awesome. It's always really interesting to hear, people's money stories for sure.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

absolutely. Absolutely.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

and then sometimes it like illuminates things that you never even considered from your own childhood. Like, Oh, I didn't realize that that happened to me too, or whatever. And like, that could be part of my thing too. And you never, maybe never have recognized that before. So hopefully that resonates.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

You know, we forget that our amygdala, the part of our brain that creates memories or creates values is actually started forming at the age of six and seven. And. That's really young. We think about that, right? And that kind of gives us our beliefs and some of our values around specific things. And, money is, you know, it's such a critical thing in our lives. It can be a crutch. It can be, kryptonite. It can be so many things, or it can be very valuable and very freeing and our beliefs about it really Are the trajectory of what it is in your life. And so you really have to start unwrapping what it means to you and why it means that to you. Because for the longest time, I felt like money wasn't for me. If I wanted money, that was greedy. You have enough, you know, like once we had enough and we had a home and we could pay our bills, you will, you have enough, why do you want more? That seems so selfish. Right. But why do we feel that way? Like we were born to be in abundance and if I have more money, I think about what I could do to help and empower other communities, other causes, other values in my life,

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

yeah, absolutely. Okay, so I love that you had, did bookkeeping on the side to fund your vacation fund. I also love that you basically are like, it's very a simple, simple action that anyone can do like today is just rename your bank accounts.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

right? Or create the savings account, right? Like don't have one, have separate ones that really, fall into, you know, one of the things that I love to say is, you know, we, we earn from our strengths and we spend from our values, but most people don't even understand their values.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

yeah.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

If you're not spending from your values, you're not going to kind of come into that, that level of joy with your money, right? Because we have to love how we get to live life in order to keep earning money. What am I doing this for? I hate my job. I hate never having any money to do anything. You have to get that clarity again. And that values is such a critical step in that because like I said, not only do those values change, but we don't typically know them. Most people are like, what do you mean your values? And those are those things that are just like right at your core. For me, it's, you know, family is, is critical. So if I'm spending money on family, I am happy. my faith, if I'm spending money in my faith, so service and that kind of stuff, I am so happy. Adventure. Oh my gosh. Travel feeds my soul. So like if I'm spending money there or if I'm saving money there, right? It is so joyful. So we have to really think about that because we have to feed our soul.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Yeah. So how do you normally walk people through how to identify their values in that realm?

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

so many. Opportunities to do that. And I think for everybody, it's a little bit different. There's a, you know, think to perform. com forward slash values is a really easy flip chart. You can just kind of flip through it and it just keeps flipping you through these different words. Does this mean something to you? Does this not mean something to you? And you click yes or no. And at the end, it gives you the top five. And it's easy. You can screenshot it, right? You can always have it. That's the easiest, but there's people like, they want to feel it and touch it. So, you know, there's online paper tests you can print out and just really kind of be able to go through and really look at the lists, but unfortunately I think people overthink it when they have it in front of them like that. When it's a flip, it's more instinctual and instinctual is exactly what you want. So, that is always my number one, recommendation for clients, or if I'm speaking on other coaching groups, that's what I recommend them to do.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Okay. Yeah. And have you found, just because I'm thinking like as a business owner, I've done the values exercise to get the, basically the core values of my business and to be able to hire the right people. Do you find a lot of those personal financial values Or maybe those aren't necessarily specifically financial values. It's just like your core values. Do you feel, do you see that overlapping with business owners, like their company values?

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

Absolutely. And I think, you know, I mean, I'm, you know, we're all different bookkeepers for me. It's I love like early on female entrepreneurs. And the reason I love it is, is because there's so much coaching involved, right? Like being able to get rid of some of those beliefs about how they think about money. But one of the things that I find over and over again is, is the way you feel in your personal money. Is the way your business is going to be run too, right? Because we're human. We don't just change. We don't just turn a key and change as we walk into the office or walk into the computer screen, whatever it is, those values are a part of who we are. So they're going to go back and forth between business and personal. So if you don't like the way your personal finances are run, you're probably don't like the way your. Business finances are run. unless you have a huge team, right? A team of people that bookkeepers and financial advisors telling you what you need to do. but yeah, I think they do. And I mean, I think if we think about it, like for me, family, my business finances, like when I'm talking about how my business is being run, there's multiple ways family comes into that, not only my family, my clients families, and if I want to hire somebody, their philosophy with family, right? Um, because that's just who I am. I just have this passion to feed and, the people that want to stay at home, right? I told you that my. My side gig was a bookkeeping position and that fueled us, that gave us freedom. And I would love to continue to do that for other moms, dads who are staying at home to be able to have that side gig or that full time income, depending on what they're looking for. So that is that rollover between values.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Yeah. Yeah. That's a huge one for me too. That's how I started out. I mean, it was a side hustle to motherhood, but

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

Yes. Right. Right. And then we,

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

It still kind of is.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

Yeah. And we evolve, right? We evolve and we're like, Oh, there's actually something bigger there in our hearts that we want more of. Or we, we want to change this up or we want it to look different. for me growing the business. Actually came from, leaving everything we knew we were, I, my husband and I were born and raised in Oregon and we spent, up to 46 years there raising our kids and, life happened and we decided that, you know what, this isn't the life that we want to live. And, we sold everything. I gave up my husband's career and moved to a piece of property in Montana that we owned as a possible retirement property. And, built our home and built our business. And I think about that like, right? Like we think about that, like that side gig that most of us don't give much credit for literally is. Possibly freedom because most of our psyche is something we're either really good at, or we really love, right? And those have opportunities to provide you so much freedom in life. I hate the word financial freedom because it means so many things for different people. what I love is the word financial independence. And it just gives you the opportunity to live an independent life of what you desire and dream. And that's what we had at that point with those little baby steps because we had the little to no debt. Our home was our debt and we sold it and we made great money on it, which allowed us to build debt free in Montana. we. Didn't have other debt. We had savings accounts. And so we had this, this cush to get us to the point of building and that's independence in my mind, right? Like I don't have to count on somebody else. I can do what I want to do. It doesn't mean we're rich. It doesn't mean we're like, you know, everything is wonderful and great. It's been a huge journey, but it gave us the independence to say, we can choose this.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Yeah. That's incredible. one of the things that you do with clients is walking them through the five foundational pillars. Can you talk to that a little bit?

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

I believe that, you know, there's, there's pillars , in life, but they, always gonna roll over into whatever you're doing. So business, so we have your physical, your mental, your spiritual, your relational, and your financial. And they, Are just that I always describe it as like, you know, there's your cinder blocks of your basement, right? Or your cinder blocks of the foundation of your home. They have to be strong. And if they're not strong, or if one's a little bit weak, things get wobbly. But when we focus on those five foundations and we build them up and we really spend the time we need to, especially with business owners, we tend to dump everything we have, especially in the beginning into our business. But you can't show up as a business owner, as a leader, if you don't have that foundation built for yourself. And so, we talk a lot about like, what are you doing to create physical wellness? And that's not just exercise. That's not just eating well. It's like, Physical wellness. You feel like you have kids, your kids start take off running and you feel like you can go run after them, right? Not out of an emergency, out of fun, right? Like you just, you want to go for the walk at lunch hour instead of sitting, right? It's, it's a foundation of what is important to you. It's going to be different for all of us. Again, there's no perfect formula. It's like truly what feels good. When do you feel good? If you don't feel good, if you can't get out of a chair, We have a problem, right? Because you're not going to be able to sustain the business because honestly, something's going to happen, right? Mental health. Our mental health is critical in business ownership in life. If we don't have a place to get quiet, we don't have a place to write. If we don't have a place to grow mentally, then we die. I mean, I know that seems very cut and dry, but it's true. If you're not growing, you're dying. There's just, there's really no other way. And so I encourage people to journal or maybe they need a counselor and they want to, or they already have a counselor. Go do that. Right? Like surround yourself in a community of people that are growing and, or have already surpassed you. Because that creates a mental vision. spiritual. I think that we all have a different belief in what is and what is not. And it does not matter. But when you don't believe in anything bigger than you, don't have anything to hope for. And hope is critical in life. We need to hope for something bigger. So it doesn't matter if it's universe, God, Buddha, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Just as long as you believe and you practice. Growing that belief on a regular basis, because just to believe is one thing. But you need to, you need to fill that pot. Like, how do I grow this, my spiritual belief? How do I, is it reading the Bible? Is it, going on nature walks and seeing the world and what mother nature has created that gives us hope again of something bigger, of something more, what I always talk about, like some of the biggest downloads I've ever gotten in business, in life. Are on nature walks, We'll get quiet. You're in this vast, amazing creation and things just come, you know, I don't listen to anything. It's really, truly quiet. And that's a spiritual growth.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Yeah. Mine is with water. Like, so anytime I'm in the shower, I paddleboard. So I go out on the lake or just like hang out by the lake. It's something with the water.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

Yes, absolutely. Right. And the water is a lot for a lot of people. You know, the rushing of a brings power. It brings cleansing, right? swimming, soaking in salt water, right? Soaking in salt water. It's just like a natural Epsom bath and it can release so much. So there's so many things and there's not a right or wrong reason. It's just about being curious enough to find it. And that's, you know, I talk a lot about that. You have to have the courage to get curious and the curiosity to be courageous. There's no other way. because curiosity is what fills our growth. And so relational, if your relationships aren't, Stellar. And I mean, they're never going to be perfect. That's why I don't use the word, but stellar. Like, you know, where you stand in your relationship with your spouse. if you have a spouse with your children, with your business partners or your employees, that's that openness, that vulnerability to say, you know what, I'm struggling. let's talk that communication. If that's not there, everything's going to start breaking away. Our relationships are critical in life, but definitely in business, because when you show up to the office and you've just had a horrible day with your spouse at home, it rolls over and vice versa. If you have an employee that you don't feel like you can talk to and be open with, You bring that home, your kids feel it, your husband feels it, your wife feels it. And that relational health is, is just so important. And then financial, right? I mean, we have to have finances to, to build the business, to live the dream, to live in those values, right? Our values cost money. One of my values is physical health, right? That costs money. Even if I work out at home, it still costs money. I have supplements. I, you know, I need to have weights, whatever it is. It costs time and it costs money. And so we have to financially be able to stand in those values because those core values are where our North star, they're going to direct us wherever we need to go, whatever we dream of, as long as we sit in those core values, we are going the right direction.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Yeah. I think what sometimes People, at least for myself, I guess I can't speak for other people, but for myself, , it's a constant, like, you have to keep reminding yourself of your values, because sometimes you get led astray by other people's values or society, right? So it's like, just because you've established your values, it's not like, okay, now I'm good. Like you have to revisit them, like write them down, put them in your journal, revisit them every couple of days and maybe reflect on like, how did I live out this value today? One at a time. And I do the same thing in my business too. It's like decisions in business. It's like you get shiny object syndrome and it's like, oh, there's this new thing. Like, but is this, One of our values to go this direction. And is this going to support the end goal? Like every decision in life and business should be guided by value.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

If you're not doing an audit of your values on a yearly basis, then you're losing the point of them because they do evolve. As you evolve, as your business evolves, they're going to change. And that's the beauty of it, right? Because they get to change, but you still need to know them. You know, I have mine written down, like right above my desk. I have them in my phone. And some people are like, well, that seems a little excessive that you look at them before you make a purchase. But does it? Because if we're just, our culture is, I want it, get it.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Yeah.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

it's just so fast and furious and never having anything to think about. And so if I look at my values, when you're, you've got 27 things in your shopping cart, right? It makes it very clear. Like, Oh, wait a second. There's that trip. I want to go on. How is this? Do I need this? No, I don't need this. So then put it away.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Yeah.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

Right. For me, that is how I live in it. It's not going to be the same for everybody. But it's also things like, like you said, I'm at a conference and they're showing all these shiny new things, these new programs. And you're like, Oh, that sounds wonderful. But if you go back and look at the values and go, does it fit my business model? Because this is your business model. This isn't somebody else's business model. And so they're not going to be the same and it's not going to work the same. This is your family. Your family's model isn't going to be the same as your neighbor's.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Yeah.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

so you have to ask yourself in all of those things, does this work in my values and my family's values? And I really highly encourage people to have their children do them. You know, I have teenage, I have adult children. So my, my kids range from five to 31. So there is a big gap. and so the older kids have done the values and their wives have done the values and I really have coached them and talked to them about this is how you guys come back to those disagreements. Right. But I've had my teenagers do them because they, you know, you think about going to school and you get, you know, maybe it's the peer pressure, you're at a party and let's drink. I want them to think about those values. Right. And that's what I, you know, that's what I talked to him about. Is it's like your values are what's going to direct you. If, your values is education and a future and this and this, you have to ask yourself, does that come into it? And every one of them has family, right? So does this represent your family? Is this what you want your family to be reminded of? And believe it or not, it happens and it works in a way that they, you know, they'll come to me and they say, you know, I looked at my values today and I knew that that wasn't the choice I wanted to make. It's really pretty important., and it's pretty amazing, honestly, to be able to let them have that freedom. I don't tell them what it is. This is your values. This is what's important to you. So does it fall into that category? And that helps us in a family value system, right? Because it's not just us as individuals or a business as an individual. Sure. You might be the owner, but if you have employees, the values of everybody are involved in those daily decisions. it's a really powerful experiment to do with employees. Right. And see if there's any crossover.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Yeah. I know for myself, like once I really honed in on my company values and started hiring around that, like, team that I have is just incredible.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

Yeah.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

You know what I mean? It's, it's like the work that people don't realize is the most important part. It seems so fluffy, right? It's like, no, I just need somebody to do this particular task or job in the company, but it's like, it doesn't matter how well that person performs that task. If you're not aligned in values, there's going to be a lot of friction some point, you know?

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

Absolutely. I couldn't agree more. It's running. You said that you nailed that because it's, there's just, there's, there's no other way and you can see it everywhere. You look the biggest companies in the world, the smallest companies in the world, if people aren't aligned in their ethics, their values, it doesn't work. There's friction, there's tension, there's turnover. The turnover is huge, right? Because if, when you're aligned with somebody in your business, they have a commitment to you. They're loyal to you, right? Because you feel the same, you believe the same. And even if it's not exactly the same, you have this line of connection and that connection is what creates the loyalty.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Yeah, absolutely. even when I was in corporate, it was a little more difficult, but I remember doing Like once I started managing the accounting department, I started building it out. I don't remember what I re I must've read something somewhere. Cause at that point I had no leadership coaching. I coaching was like a whole thing. I didn't know existed. I would have loved to have a leadership coach in corporate. Cause I just, I worked my way up from the bottom. So it was like, I got into these roles and I was like, I don't know what the heck I'm doing. I'm the youngest person. How am I going to get people to, uh, Buy into what needs to be done and a lot of it came intuitively, which is probably why I was in those positions, but at the same time, one of the things that I tried to do at one point was. kind of establish like values of our team. I couldn't control the whole corporate environment, but I could at least establish like a team culture and values within the team. But I wish I had gone deeper than I did. I was very surface level with it. I was like, okay, let's try this. but yeah, if I could do it all over again, I would run that team as if it was my own business and like really establish the values higher from the values, but I kind of did it after the fact of like having already hired people and all that kind of stuff. So it

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

Yeah, absolutely. And I love how you've, you've like, you know, reflected on that because, in these big corporate places, our team is our business. I mean, if you think about it, like, right. The, the performance of your team is whether or not you have a job. So it's your business. And if we could run more of our teams in that way, I mean, obviously we would love to run huge corporations in this way, but like you said, it, that adds a different level of logistics that really takes time and energy and a whole. A whole corporation on board. But if you just took your department or your team, whatever that is, and created this systematic value system of how you guys are going to meet those requirements and those marketing or sales or whatever it is, That would be such a beautiful thing because it's like, you know, again, it together, it's not, I'm doing this, I'm doing this, I'm doing this, but it's just this team environment that would really create a whole different philosophy in that corporate world.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Yeah. the thing about the corporate environment is like big corporations tend to have like , their values. And they like, maybe if you're in a company where, like for instance, one of the companies I was in, we did like a team retreat and we did like a ropes course and the team building and all the things that was like very effective while it was going on. And then as soon as we got back to the office, everyone just reverts back to, the regular day to day attitudes and it's like,

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

It takes that, you know, it's funny that you say that I'm actually traveling right now and I'm in Oregon because going to a conference this weekend. And that's the exact philosophy of the leader of this conference is, is that it's some weird. Statistic, like 3 percent of everybody that goes to a conference or a leadership retreat or something like that comes home and actually implements it. They just put it in the drawer, right? Like I'll get to it later. I got to catch up on my work and it never gets done. And so she's created this philosophy where she's brought in coaches ahead of time during the events. You'll sit with a coach and then after calls. And what a beautiful thing to write, to be able to have some of that accountability, but not only the accountability, but to, Bring it into whatever it is that you were there for. Is that your life? Is that your business? Is that your team? And kind of give you ideas and thought processes to think about and just keep it in the forefront of your mind. and she does a lot of corporate coaching and I think that's new, right? That's not always been that way. But what a, an amazing thing to bring in these coaches that could do what you just said, right? Like you just went to this amazing retreat or this amazing leadership. Now let's implement them into the business because what's the point if they just sit in a packet or in a drawer?

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Yeah. It really also depends on the upper management or like the C level executives. Like they have to also model and typically they don't.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

Agreed.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

okay, all you managers, you go do the thing so that we could have highly effective teams, but we're not going to participate

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

we're not going to support you and participate. Absolutely. It is, it is absolutely a foundational thing. If it's not part of the foundation of that whole business, that whole corporation, it is never going to be completely encompassed in that business.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Yeah. And then the other thing too, is like, I consider. depending on how large my business grows, typically what ends up happening is the larger the business grows, the more people are involved in hiring. And so some people aren't good at carrying out hiring from the values. So then you get people in seats that, and then it becomes really difficult to maintain that culture. And it's like, that's like my biggest fear of growing too big and having that happen.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

Right. But I, you know, it's amazing that you think about it because I think as we're building businesses, we always say. Oh, I just, you know, want to grow it and I want to make this much money, or I want to get it to this many employees or whatever your growth and your goal is, but we forget to step back and say, but is it as important as this value? Because if it's not, Oh, maybe I don't want to grow that big, or, you know, maybe I want to stay at this level because we think of that as giving up or like failing, but it's not, if it's what fuels you. To be that best business owner. Right. And so, because it's not all about the bottom line and I hate to say that, but it's not, I mean, our wealth is not about money. Wealth is about those five foundations. I just talked to you about, you know, it's like we have to be whole as a human. It would have been really easy for my husband to stay in his executive position. it would have been easy. We would have retired there. We made good money. We were able to save everything we wanted to save, live below our means, but he wasn't wealthy.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Yeah.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

Right. And that at our point in our lives, we're both on the brink of being 50, like I said, that was three years ago, 47. And, at our point in our lives, it's like, but we want something more. It's not just about the bottom line, the money. And when we're young, we tend to think, oh, it's all about the money. But what if we kind of change that trajectory and let people realize that your life as a whole is just as important, if not more important than how much you put in the bank.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Yeah. I feel like that is. Becoming like, I feel like so many people have had that awakening, especially since COVID, it just like shifted our paradigm.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

Yes.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

And it's really incredible to watch, but also I'm like, am I just in an echo chamber because I'm in business?

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

No, I think it is. I think, our younger generations are saying success isn't have to look like a master's degree or a bachelor's degree. It has to look like, what is it that I really feel passionate about right now? And I'm not, I'm not making excuses for lazy kids. That's not what I'm doing, but right. But like, there's so many opportunities and I think we finally get to see some of those opportunities and COVID gave us opportunities to make money in ways we've never been able to, that is that glass half full and, , it really. Gives us this dynamic of seeing somethings from different colored glasses, right? They're not all rose colored now, they're different. Or maybe they're coming off completely and saying, you know what, this isn't it. Or people that were in a career, maybe they invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in their education and they're realizing, I am a, you know, I'll use a doctor. I am a doctor. I do want to care for people, but I don't want to do it this way anymore. I don't want to miss 80 hours of my family every week. I don't want to live and breathe. People that are already sick. I want to help people not get sick. Right? I've heard and seen that so much since COVID and what a beautiful thing, right? You have this person who is so educated and so ability, but he just wants to, or she just wants to change the way we dream things. And that's that wealth versus money.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

One of the things that comes to mind with that doctor example is it's really frustrating for the community that I live in, but, , it's, I'm in a smaller like mountain community in Arizona and it's, it's like a place where people come to retire, but a lot of. Younger families have moved here as well because the, it's just a slower pace of life, but because like the community's growing, but like our medical system here has not caught up. And so it's really funny, like when, if you have to see a specialist or something, like none of the doctors work full-time here because they all are here for quality of life as well. So it's like, eh, it's gonna be like a month to get in to see 'em. So you have to literally drive two hours to the city. To get seen by a specialist if there's some sort of thing going on and it's like, on the one hand, I'm like, go doctors for like, living your best life, but also like, what about your community?

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

Agreed. I am in exactly the same boat. I can't even tell you like, We live in a rural Montana community. It's small. The closest hospital is 50 minutes away. And it seems like things just keep getting cut from that hospital. Not because people are moving away, but I really don't think people are working as much as they do. So we have to travel to our biggest city, which like you said, is two hours away for specialists. My, my newest grandbaby was delivered in the city because. What if they didn't have the team on staff? You know, like she's like, I'm not taking that chance. I'm just going to Missoula. So, you know, one of those pros and cons. I was talking to somebody recently, like, how do you change the way you live? When you moved there, we were always like within 30 minutes of anything major. The, our children's hospital here in Oregon was 45 minutes away. it's that, what that weight, you know, we, we take the scale in life and everything that we do, every chapter is a little bit different in how we look at that scale, but you weigh those pros and cons. What in your life right now, Is most important to you. And it's like you said, it's maybe it was the slower way of life. And then you have to work harder for the convenience of things like specialists or stores or arts, you know, experiencing the arts plays and all that kind of stuff, or. And our kids travel further for their sports teams, but they have these small schools and these small classrooms. it's just that weight. You have to really, again, go back to your values. I mean, we could say it a million times and at this chapter in your life, in your life, what is those pros and cons look like? And, and weighing them and being honest with yourself. And when I say being honest with yourself, are you willing to do the work? Because when you make any big change in life, it's going to be hard.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

yeah, absolutely. for me, like moving here and having like that slower pace of life also gave us the time and more financial flexibility to be able to take that extra time to do more preventative like healthcare, right? Where it's like, I'm on this like physical healing journey, you know what I mean? Like I'm like, Doing all sorts of different things to like better my health. And I wouldn't have been able to do that in the city with as much time I was spending working. Now I'm like, I can spend time researching these things and seeking out resources and taking the supplements and doing the exercise and doing these various modality therapies.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

And you just beautifully defined true wealth, right? Because that is the key. I mean, millions of people every day are giving up health or joy or time with family for the almighty dollar. And if that's what they want to do, then that's perfectly fine. But most of them don't. Most of them want more that I don't, I'm not going to use the word balance because I don't like the word balance. It's most of them want to start choosing something different and they're not sure how to, because it is a choice. Everything is a choice and, you just define that perfectly. You had, you know, a bustling, I'm sure money building career in the city. And you had to choose, do I, do I want the money, that comfort, right? Cause it's a comfort and it's all about comfort for us as humans, as our culture, or do I want a better life? And I always talk about legacy and we think of the word legacy and you think about them, the amount of money you leave in your will, right? This is your legacy. But what if it's about the ability to make hard choices? What if it's about the ability to live? Bravely, courageously, and, and live outside of what society says is our norm. This is what you're supposed to do. Graduate from high school, go to college, get a job, work nine to five or nine to nine in today's world, and go home and get a couple hours with your kids on the weekends. What if we just say, that's not my joy, right? That's the legacy I want to live. I want to live the, when I take my final breath, whenever that is. I want my kids to say, I am going to be a courageous son of a gun the rest of my life because I'm going to make mom's memory live and not live in vain. Right. You know? So that is more important to me than anything else. If I can give that to my six children, my grandchildren. Then I have become the most successful person in the world.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Absolutely. Amen. I feel the same too. And like, when it comes to legacy, there's so much, around that, like leaving a legacy of like emotionally intelligent children. And like, for me, I'm like, I, part of what I want to leave behind in my legacy is like, , Music album of music I've recorded, you know what I mean? Like

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

love that.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

like that. It seems little, it's a very big project, but like little things that are, I mean, that, that lives on forever. Not, not like the dollar, right? I could leave money to my kids and hopefully I will too. But. Hopefully they have something like that. I have that from my mom. Like I have cassette tapes with her recordings on there and it's like,

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

precious.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

nowadays it's a lot easier to record things and keep them. But like those are very cherished, you know?

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

And you know, we think about that and when you say that, because. One of the things that I have a dream of is I make a hundred lists. So I have a hundred lists and it has to do with travel and, and community and giving back. And what do I want to create in my lifetime? And one of the things is creating a family foundation because I want my family to understand the importance of giving back. And that foundation really come is based in the foster system. So. Our youngest four, we did foster care for 13 years and our youngest four are adopted out of the foster care system. And my, my passion, I love numbers. I love bookkeeping and helping women entrepreneurs. But my passion, like the thing that just lights my fire is the foster care system and the need for an overhaul like no other. And. There's so many places it can go, but one of the things that hits me the hardest is how the kids age out when they turn 18, what happens to them. And so I have this passion to like build this foundation and. What a legacy, right? Like it, no matter if I see the fruitation or not, if I begin it, if I start, if I walk into it with courage and not worry about where it goes or how it's going to look, I have built that legacy for my family because they believe about, you know, they understand foster care in so many different ways. One. They have the trauma from coming from it. And I don't say that foster and adoption is the most beautiful traumatic thing that can possibly happen because somebody is losing their parents. This is the heartbeat they heard. This is the hands that they felt. And even if they need to be somewhere else because of safety. They're still losing something and those parents are losing something and everyone can say, Oh, it's their fault. And I'm not going to go into that soapbox. But, and there's the beauty of somebody else coming in and loving that children and embracing and growing, but it's still traumatic for, all people involved. And so they've all felt that too. And I think about that legacy, that long going legacy. We, we tend to say, well, I want to see it be this thing by the time I die, but it doesn't have to, because the seed is still growing. And when the seed keeps growing, your legacy keeps coming back to that. And so, like you say about your tapes and your CDs and, What a beautiful thing to be able to hear your voice. And we have to really stop and ask ourselves, what is the legacy we want to live? What is the legacy we want to leave? What is the legacy of my life? And it's so different and most people don't even dream about it. I mean, to be really quite frank, did you always dream about this different legacy, Serena?

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Yeah.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

we're not taught to, right? We're not taught to dream about this bigger picture. I am, like I said, I will be 50 next year. I can say that I have only been dreaming the last five years. Everything else was just like, oh, well, this is good. Oh, oh, you're doing such a great service. Oh, this, but I never dreamed outside of my capabilities. And until we start dreaming outside of what we can do, this is that spiritual foundation, you guys. If you're dreaming and things that you know you can do, then you're not dreaming big enough. That's not what's meant for you. You have to dream to a level where you're like, not sure how that's possible, right? Like not knowing how to do that. And then you're talking about legacy.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

And then that's also when like courage really comes

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

Oh, so big.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

like, I don't know how I'm going to make it happen, but I'm going to do it.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

Here I go.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Trust the process, trust God, universe, whatever.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

Trust every opportunity that steps through your path, whether you can step over it and around it, or you can say, okay, I see you here. I am, and don't put any meaning with it. It's an opportunity and it was there for you. It's not there for somebody else. It didn't come in somebody else's path. And so people are like, why do you say yes to all these things? I said, because it's an opportunity. And opportunities is how I'm supposed to get where I'm supposed to get, even though I don't even know where that's at.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Yeah. A lot of times people discount the opportunities that are being placed in front of them and they feel like they have to seek out the path to get there. But like, With your example, opportunities coming in your way. Like you might not even realize the connection to that dream that you have until you've said yes and gone through with the opportunity.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

And maybe even waited a while.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

yeah.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

And then all of a sudden it's like, Oh my gosh, now I know why I was supposed to be there. Right?

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

It boosted, you know, your confidence. It might've been a super scary thing, but it gave you the confidence to do the next thing that you need to do to get closer to that.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

Yes. Yes, absolutely. I love it. I love how much, I love how much we can see that same path. It's beautiful.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Well, if someone wants to learn more about, , what you do, I think you, put in your intake form that you have something in a link. Let me

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

I do. I do have like a financial webinar that's coming up. It's a free webinar that just, you know, really starts to take apart that, those beliefs and the steps to kind of moving forward, getting through some of those that's coming up. So at the end of the month, I gave you the link to put that in this show notes so they can do that. crfinancialfoundations. com. That's my website and pretty much everything is there. and I'm on social. You know, whether we love it or not, we're on it.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Which is what's your favorite or your preference on social media where people can connect with you? They want to

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

I think I, you know, I, didn't think I would ever say this, but I think it's Instagram right now. I really do. So at Corree Riffner coach, I, I love that, but I do like LinkedIn. I like the connections I'm making on LinkedIn. I love the, the true community, you know, conversations that are happening versus, you know, Instagram or Facebook's just more here, here, here. I feel like LinkedIn is really kind of more authentic and I, that's who I am. So it, there's a, there's a place for all of it.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Awesome. Well, thank you so much. I will link all of those resources in the show notes. And I have one more question for you. When I remember to ask guests on my podcast, especially guests who are Business owners as well. this one might be interesting from you because you have a bookkeeping background as well, but as a business owner from the business owner hat, what is one of the most impactful things that a bookkeeper could do for their clients? Like if you had a bookkeeper, you probably do your own bookkeeping, but

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

Yeah, I do. Honestly, I think it's connection. I think that in, especially in the financial world, there is so much shame. don't want, don't want to ask because I don't want to feel stupid. there's so many clients that have come to me and said, you know, my CPA totally just said. Why don't you just leave it to me? And I'm like, yeah, no. So just connection, like these are humans. They can learn. They're brilliant people. They're business owners. They have done amazing things. Let them learn just enough to ask the questions they need to ask. They don't want to learn your job. That's not what, otherwise they would have never hired you, but they teach them how to be empowered by their numbers because they're going to be your favorite client then.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Yeah. I love that. I hope people took notes.

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

I hope so too.

serena_1_09-19-2024_093333:

Awesome. Thank you so much for your time today. It was such a pleasure to chat with you

squadcaster-c4aa_1_09-19-2024_093343:

You too, Serena. Thank you.

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