Real Talk with Life After Grief Chris
Real Talk with Life After Grief Chris
Legacy of Mentorship: Paying It Forward
Gratitude radiates throughout this season finale as we reflect on the unexpected journey that took a local grief and finances podcast to global impact. What began as a challenging undertaking has evolved into a meaningful platform connecting grieving individuals with resources and community they never knew existed.
The transformative power of mentorship takes center stage as I share the story of my own mentor Joe, who provided crucial guidance as a Black male in the financial industry. His wisdom continues through everyone he touched, including my work with clients in grief. This personal reflection connects beautifully with past guest Mike Jackson's mentorship philosophy, creating ripples that inspired others to become mentors themselves—a perfect example of how doing good returns multifold rewards.
We revisit the remarkable Coach Cindy, whose influence extends far beyond basketball courts. With every senior securing college scholarships and her team maintaining a 4.0 GPA average, Cindy demonstrates how dedicated mentorship shapes futures. Our spotlight helped fund a team trip to Washington DC, combining athletic competition with life-changing experiences.
The partnership with Modern Widows Club founder Carolyn Moore has transformed how I serve both widows and widowers, creating pathways for grief support before financial planning begins. Through one recent example, a military widow found the community guidance she desperately needed during acute grief.
From listeners who discovered they weren't alone to advisors enhancing their grief support skills, the podcast has created connections I never imagined possible. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting this journey.
Please note that this is a brief from a prior season and this is not the last podcast of the season.
Pass this episode on to friends, family, or colleagues who might benefit, and please support the show so we can continue making a difference. What mentor has shaped your journey, and how are you paying it forward?
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Welcome to Real Talk with Life After Grief Chris, where we talk about relevant issues as it relates to individuals in grief as they navigate finances and the advisors who help them. We help clients in grief navigate financial matters. We also teach advisors how to emotionally and financially work with clients in grief through an unparalleled process. This week's podcast is sponsored by Life After Grief Financial Planning and Life After Grief Consulting.
Speaker 2:Hello and welcome back to another episode of Real Talk with Life After Grief, chris. This is going to be the final episode of the season and we will come back in air during the summer. This episode is titled Gratitude. It's all good in the neighborhood, so I want to talk about things that have happened through these four seasons and some good that we have bestowed and when I say we, I mean myself and listeners and any guests. So I want you to take a journey with me.
Speaker 2:During this episode, through the experience of my own, coupled with others, I've been able to touch a lot of folks, not only here in the US but across the globe. That is mind-blowing to me. I never would have thought, you know, my podcast would have reached really outside of the confines of the Orlando area, but it's a testament to do good for others, and rewards come back to you. Also. I'm going to highlight a few distinct past episodes where listeners really made some serious connections and were able to help themselves as well as others. I don't remember. If you recall, there was a podcast titled Mentoring with Mike Jackson. Mike had mentioned how he mentors folks and how he has made a huge difference in the lives of others and how he got to where he is by mentorship, and Mike does a tremendous amount of good for other people and he's brought a lot of other people along with him through no obligation or anything other than you know. He's a really good dude and I'm going to take that a step further. I'm going to share my own experience with mentorship and how it's brought me to this point.
Speaker 2:I had a gentleman his name was Joe and we met back right before I graduated from college. I was actually introduced to a series of black folks at it was called Nations Bank at the time and Joe was someone I stuck with and we just gelled and he became a lifelong mentor of mine and up really until I went on my own and one of the things that he really did for me he was a brilliant gentleman and he was great in everything that he did. He specifically helped me in the dynamics of being a black male in this industry and it was very hard for me to see, touch and feel someone else that looked like me and that I could aspire to be like. And you know, go to ask questions. Joe was that for me and I was very fortunate that I met him before I started my career and I was very fortunate that I met him before I started my career. He was arguably the best mentor I had ever known, next to my father, and in the last year and a half I experienced the loss of Joe, and he was, you know, at the tender age of 50 and he passed away. That was a tremendous blow to myself. He gave me a lot of tools and he gave me a lot of tools that I have since passed on to a lot of other people, and for that I'm very, very thankful for Joe and that's the power of mentorship.
Speaker 2:And, you know, taking this back to Mike, through our collective experience Mike Jackson, who is my guest on the podcast Mike and I were able to influence a few like-minded brothers to take on mentorship of their own and ultimately extend great work, you know, spurred on by the wisdom of others, and so that's not something that I did individually, that was something, you know, brought on, you know, mike, and you know we are like minded and that was bestowed on both of us, so you know we feel an obligation to pay it forward. I'm going to move on to another conversation that I had about how great of an influence Cindy is on young ladies, specifically high school age ladies, and you know we shined a light on Coach Cindy and the great work that she does. And by shining this great work that she does, we were able to help Coach Cindy raise some funds to send her girls on a trip to Washington DC, where they ultimately look to play basketball. But they gained some life experience. And I also mentioned that Cindy is very modest. However, she managed to get every one of her seniors a college scholarship this year and, taking that a step further, she has gotten offers to three of her juniors. That's tremendous and that goes way beyond the confines of just being a coach, not to mention that her team's grade point average averaged a 4.0 for the season. Cindy is a tremendous resource and she's a great lady. So I like to highlight really good people Go coach Cindy. I'm also proud to call her my friend as well.
Speaker 2:Moving to another episode, I had the pleasure and pleasure is an understatement of being introduced to the Modern Widows Club I'm going to say Modern Widows Club, modern Widows Club, modern Widows Club. And I was fortunate to meet Carolyn Moore, who is the founder of the Modern Widows Club and the outstanding work she does Out of all the work she does and the exposure I've received from her organization, I have personally been able to transform the lives of several other widows. And to take it a step further, I picked up several resources to help men, aka widowers in their journey after the death of a spouse, and I want to say thank you, carolyn. I'm also going to give you another example of how that really kind of came to light. Recently I had a widow that reached out to me and she was in tremendous grief and really wasn't able and wasn't ready for any financial process. I had a conversation with her and I assessed what she was going through and I quickly introduced her to the Modern Widows Club and I said this is probably your best resource right now. And her husband, who passed away, was involved in the military and there are some things that this widow may or may not have access to on her own, but through the mentorship of other like-minded widows through the Modern Widows Club, I was sure that she was going to get the guidance that she needed. Club, I was sure that she was going to get the guidance that she needed.
Speaker 2:So thank you again, carolyn, for allowing me to be exposed to the great work that you do and, as I was strongly, strongly encouraged to start this podcast and it was a huge undertaking Now it's, you know, pretty seamless.
Speaker 2:I love doing it and I could never imagine, you know from the start, the serious impact it would have on the lives of so many, and for that I'm eternally thankful.
Speaker 2:I have folks reaching out to me all the time, you know, saying that I've touched them or they had no idea that someone you know else was in their shoes, or someone had a similar experience, or you know there were other resources out there available, you know, for them and again, for that I'm eternally thankful, because I learn a tremendous amount from other people and being involved with other people, and for you, the listeners who support me and my podcast, I'm eternally thankful. So thank you from the bottom of my heart. I love what I do and will continue to operate the podcast as God sees fit. Be well and best wishes. See you in season five, which should air sometime in the summer of 2023. Please feel free to pass this episode on to any friends, family members or colleagues. Please also remember to support the show so we can continue to impact the lives of so many. Be well and best wishes. See you in season five Cheers.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to our podcast. If you are a client and are looking to work directly with Chris and or our firm, head on over to Life After Grief FP. That is Life After Grief FP. The FP is for financial planning. If you are an advisor looking to emotionally and financially work with your client in grief, or if you are a client looking to get your advisor's head in the game, head on over to lifeaftergriefconsultingcom. That is lifeaftergriefconsultingcom. Any related information referenced in this week's podcast will be located here in the podcast section.