Laura called me a few years ago. She was under 65, disabled and on Medicare but had no idea of what her coverage was, what she needed or what other options she was able to receive. After going through a needs analysis, I determined that she may be eligible for a low income subsidy. I helped her apply. She ended up qualifying as a SLMB, Specified Low Income Medicare Beneficiary. She had no idea she was eligible and was grateful for the connection. This provided her $0 cost for Part B premium and Part D extra help to lower prescription drug cost. Also because of the SLMB designation, I was able to put her on a plan meant only for these types of individuals that provided lower costs and more benefits. 

Six years later she is still a client. Every year we go through the plans during the annual enrollment period and find her the best plan for her needs. 

Tracking makes such a difference -

• Track coffee - and what we talked about, and your SBT about their business was -  (share it with the Team) - put a picture and your SBT in News.
• Track referrals - are you giving referrals to every Member?  Focus on that. You'll get more.
• Track We Did Business slips - know what you're making, know if it's worth it.  Recognize whether you're getting referrals, or just selling to Members.

When he tracked coffee - one a week: 17 Members in the Team means 3 coffees with each of them each year - Robert Browning's referrals bounced up from every Member
When he tracked referrals - his goal was one per Member per year - Phil Pennartz attracted $10,000,000 under management
When he tracked income vs. expenses - Michael Wilkes saw that his return on investmen (he included everything) was 1,500%.

They are better off because they track, so they know.

I have been working with my client Shelly.  She didn't feel she could retire anytime soon because of her debt.  She was also carrying a lot of guilt about the bad decisions around that debt. Add to this, she came into some money from a longevity bonus at work and a settlement from a case that finally closed.  She was paralyzed on what to do with this money because she had made too many bad choices previously.

Fast forward to now... she has renewed confidence in making better financial choices.  She has paid off several of her debts and has a plan for the remainder, so she will be able to retire within two years debt-free.

My father-in-law Bob had always been an incredibly social, successful salesman. But after some health problems, he became isolated at home, stopped seeing people, and we watched his confidence and sense of purpose disappear.

We eventually helped him move into senior living. And the result wasn’t simply that he was safer or that our family had less to worry about.

One day, Bob sat down at the community piano and started playing. People gathered around him and applauded.

After that, he started dressing up again. He came downstairs every day. He played the piano. He made friends.

Bob became Bob again.

That’s the result I want for the families I work with. Not simply finding care — but finding the right environment where someone can rebuild their dignity, confidence, and sense of purpose.

I have a couple that I am working with that wants to retire early and like most people, they are not sure if they can or cannot because they have never talked, walked and written down the plan for what they are doing right along with things they could do or should do.

That is where I came in to assist. After we conducted our complimentary consultation, we all now know what sources of guaranteed income that they will have in retirement, how those income sources are laddered as they hit age milestones, what accounts they have from an investment standpoint to continue growing, which investment accounts need to be used first or converted based on being taxable, non-taxable and tax-free.

These clients felt very confident about their early retirement futures after our complimentary consultation and we will be working together for many years to come as they enjoy their lives and I manage their assets to continue their confidence through their golden years.

Last year my client paid for two weddings. Both daughters, same year. He was glad to do it.

Then he started budgeting.

This is a man who spent three decades at one company and has a seven figure 401(k) to show for it. And he was sitting there deciding what to cut. Eat out less. Put off the truck.

He didn't have a spending problem. He had an order-of-operations problem. He had been deferring every decision about those retirement accounts, planning to deal with it when he had to, and waiting was quietly expensive.

So I showed him a different order to take the money out.

He stopped tightening his belt. His nest egg is protected, he is doing the things he actually wants to do, and he will keep tens of thousands more of his own money over his lifetime.

He earned it. Now he gets to spend it.

The result for my assisted living client was certainty. They initially had a resident’s room with carpet contaminated by a toilet overflow, plus they were looking for the most cost-effective way to handle it. After I explained why cleaning wasn’t the right option, they were able to move forward with replacing the carpet knowing the contaminated material would be completely removed. They didn’t have to wonder whether the room was truly ready for that resident again. What started as a question about cleaning became confidence that they were making the safer decision for their resident, their facility, plus their own liability.

Hannah needed swag, but the problem wasn’t that she couldn’t find promotional products. The problem was that she already had enough on her plate, and researching products, comparing prices, figuring out quantities, and placing multiple orders was becoming overwhelming.

So she handed the swag piece to me.

I gathered options for everything she needed, priced it all out, organized it for her, and gave her simple choices to make.

The result?

Hannah didn’t have to think about swag anymore.

Instead of spending hours searching websites, comparing products and worrying about what still needed to be ordered, she could focus on the work that actually needed her.

I don’t just sell the swag. I get the swag off their mind.

in 2024 I had a client that had not filed her taxes for several years. She was  scared how much she and her husband owed. Her previous tax preparer disappeared on them, my client did not even have the tax return for the last year they filed. 

I got transcripts, filed her back returns, made her compliant and now she calls me several times a year to ask me what she should do to ensure she does not owe any taxes. She sounds more confident. 

When someone buys wood pellets from me, they get back some of their time and can leverage that gain into being more present with family. My sister is the person I use as my example. She's busy working and raising her family. She buys a bulk of pellets and I bring them to her. Over time, she gains extra time and then blankets everyone with just a little more love. And she delivers more smoky snacks!

The result for my client isn't nicer photos. It's that she doesn't have to hold her breath every time someone new joins the leadership team.

Before, a promotion or a new hire meant a delay: find time for a session, hope the background and lighting came close enough to the last round, cross fingers before it went on the website. If it didn't match, that mismatch sat there, publicly, until someone got around to fixing it.

Now it's built into the process. The standard already exists on paper. When she needs a photo, she books it, and it matches, every time, without her checking. She can announce a new VP the same week she hires one, image included, and never worry it will look like an afterthought.

A client hired me to edit interviews he filmed at an audio convention for Audioholics, a website for audiophiles. Audioholics needed each interview turned into content within twenty-four hours, but he still had a full convention schedule of filming, meeting people, and attending dinners after the event. He did not have time to sort through footage or edit every interview at night, and he worried he would lose the work if Audioholics did not get content fast enough.

Before I started, I asked what Audioholics needed from each interview: a short clip, a longer video, or both. I had him label the footage before sending it, kept him updated, and returned captioned videos in under four hours.

The result was security. Because of my quick turnaround, he was able to keep a good standing relationship with Audioholics. This meant he would get hired to film more interviews at future conventions and he'd get paid for the work he did. Reputation is everything, especially in the tight knit community he was in.