If you are a Pledgette or have been following along for any amount of time, you’ve surely heard about the importance of building your Financial A-Team. We even did a post on The Five Types of People You Need on Your Financial A-Team this past spring.

So now let’s meet a financial professional who may belong on Your Financial A-Team!

This was a tough year for me, it did not spark joy. So I’m ready to thank 2022 and release it.

Making confident financial decisions looks completely different to different people. We talk a lot about that at The Pledgettes.

It’s why we host events that explore a variety of topics instead of picking a one-size-fits-all ideology as a group.

A few months ago I bought the Monopoly game app for my phone and have been playing quite a bit. It’s interesting playing the game as an adult, a real estate investor, and the founder of a Financial Community. Here’s what I’ve learned.

One of the longest relationships in your life is your relationship with money. While you can ignore your money (which nobody recommends), you can’t break-up with your money. You’re going to be in this relationship for the rest of your life. It’s time to take a more active role and confidently make more values-aligned money moves in your business and life.

Here are some considerations for your business and personal finances.

Ann’s presentation was all about developing systems, processes and habits around creating that feeling of abundance – no matter how much money you make. Because, when you can feel abundance in your life – you attract more of it.

For those of us living paycheck to paycheck, it can be east to get stuck in the mindset of “we have no money for ourselves.” And then that becomes our mindset and thus our reality.

Money conversations can and should be fun and productive.  Here are some best practices The Pledgettes have learned from each other, our awesome guest speakers, and increasing our financial literacy. 

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision to reverse Roe vs. Wade via the Dobbs vs. Jackson Case, it was hard for me to find light in that darkness. And though the recent election has helped quell some worries – others remain heavy.

In September, we hosted our Denver Startup Week session at Capital One Cafe. They captured their favorite clips of the week, including an interview with Jenn Uhen and highlights from our session. I love seeing smiling faces having 1:1 healthy, wealthy money talks and finding Financial Friends. Check out the video here.

Recently Amanda Kruger, LPC, EMDR, presented to The Pledgettes about Financial Trauma. It mades sense to me that it would exist but it wasn’t until Amanda deeply described it that I had a better understanding of what it could do to people on their personal financial journey. I asked Amanda if she would write a guest blog for us so you could learn more about Financial Trauma, identify if you have experienced it, and work through it with some tips from Amanda. If you have experience Financial Trauma, working with a professional, like a Financial Therapist, may benefit you and your financial journey. Without further ado, let’s dig into it.

Last week, the news is abuzz with the potential merger of Kroger and Albertsons.

I was pretty surprised by this since King Soopers/City Market (Kroger) and Safeway (Albertsons) are the two main grocery stores I see in Colorado and it seemed like they would have a monopoly. As I read on, they are merging to try to compete with Walmart, who is always trying to compete with Amazon.

Join Karen Bartlett of the Now & Center podcast, as she talks to Jenn Uhen, Founder of The Pledgettes, about building wealth without being extractive, avoiding an either/or lens around money, and what is enough. They discuss toxic messages for women in business, nonprofit or for-profit status, and communities as a business model.

They have a coaching conversation centered around prioritizing time with all the shoulds in business, being with not knowing, and how to foster creativity and innovation. Jenn calls out the fallacy of the “self-made man,” and calls in that she is a “community-made woman.”

Think about one of your greatest accomplishments in life. How did you celebrate? Who was there with you? What were the milestones you achieved along the way? Who supported you in the process and how?

Big things don’t happen in a silo. Great things don’t happen alone. We need to shed the illusion of self-made and celebrate being community-made. People help us achieve big things and people make the process great.

Guest Blog Written by Chrysta Barre

Last week I attended the Women’s Equality Day event in Denver hosted by the Pledgettes. The She Goes High booth was located in a corner of the front part of the space at TARRA, and when Jenn introduced me I decided not to stay tucked away in the corner, and to come up to what was, more or less, the “front” of the room.

There is nothing more powerful than a room full of incredible women committed to doing big things. I am still beaming from last week’s Denver event at TARRA with our amazing community partners.

Over the past two and a half years, The Pledgettes has adjusted to the changing times and morphed into a thriving online community. Our twice monthly speaker webinars are informative and fun, our social Financial Friends virtual and Denver chats brighten the month and our platform delivers daily discussion.

Recently, Jenn was on The Somatic Money podcast with Dana working through money issues with her in real time on the pod! It’s a fantastic episode where you can witness the work in real time, in real life.

Your personal financial journey does not need to be a solo one! At The Pledgettes, we are not self-made men; we are community-made women. We celebrate all of those who have helped get to where we are today and are helping us reach our Big Financial Goals of the future.

We believe that there are 5 types of people that belong on your Financial A-Team, including specialists, connectors, mentors and mentees, financial friends, and diverse thinkers. By collaborating together, we are closer to achieving those Big Financial Goals that each one of us has.

Pamela Maass Garrett is a “Law Mother,” with her own law firm, who helps families protect their children and assets, while building their legacy and creating wealth. She answered a few questions about her Financial A-Team and what it’s like to be an Estate Planning Attorney.