Raising Financially Empowered Kids

Hey, guys. I cannot wait for you to hear from GoBundance Women member, brilliant mind, incredible human, doctor Julia Myers. Julia is an international speaker and the national expert on talking to kids about money. As founder of Generational Wisdom and mom of five, how she gets it all done, I'll never know, she empowers wealthy families to raise financially mature children without entitlement. What's better than that? Here's Julia.

Hello, and welcome to the Power Up Your Life podcast powered by Go Finance Women. I'm Mandy McAllister. And I'm Kelly Resendez. And today, we have a woman that I admire deeply and have the the pleasure to spend time in, GoFundMe's Women with Julia Myers. Hi, Julia. How are you?

Hello, Mandy, Kelly. Thank you so much. I am so looking forward to this conversation, and, whoo, it's gonna be a doozy.

A doozy. I love it. And I love the work that you do and what you stand for. But before we really dig into all of the things that you're up to, tell us a little about you in your own words.

So I am the box checking pharmacist, 6 figure earner, division one athlete turned, entrepreneur, mom, and speaker. So, basically, I am all about the next level, all about figuring out what's next, and realizing it's not always about boxes. And so that led to saying, it's not all about money.

It's It's not all about the commas, and the kids are who we're doing it for, and they are watching. So I am just so excited to be able to share a little bit about not just raising kids with generational wealth in mind, but the wisdom to manage it.

I that is such a, a big topic at GoBundance Women. Yes. We're here to be more successful in our businesses and scale without sacrifice. But how do we, you know, do these big things and raise good kids in the process?

You know, I grew up on a farm, so shoveling poop builds a work ethic. But how do I give a work ethic to the kid that, you know, can fly first class now?

So, you know, tell me a little bit about what generational wisdom is and and the project that you you started.

Got it. And and, Mandy, I think no matter the age of our kids, whether they are too small to tell us what they really think about life or they are so big that they don't hold back and never filter, I think this conversation is important because when you start talking about money, we all have these stories we grew up with or what we thought money was. And then now we are in this unique power play position, power up your life, y'all, to say, what do we want that message to be to the next generation? And growing up, very comfortably middle class, that's what I heard is you work hard, you get a job, and you retire. And then you pass on the money so that your kids have a better start than you did. And, no, I wasn't shoveling poop, but, yes, I was working at 13. And the data now says the average age for the first job for a Gen Z er is 24. So when you said work ethic, I think we have to be prepared as moms, as parents to say, they may not get a earning job in a traditional sense the way we think about work, but they do need to learn those skills, and how are we positioned to give them those skills. So I am on a mission to put the term generational wisdom in the dictionary because if you've seen the news, you've seen the lottery winners say, winning the lottery, you know, ruined my life. And that's not what we want as parents for our kids. Even if we have the best of intentions, the impact is if they are given money before maturity, it's gone. It's squandered. The data is scary. 70% is gone in one generation. 90% is gone in two. So generational wisdom is that skill, the discernment, that maturity that we want our kids to have so that when they do receive money, no matter how big or how small, they're stewarding it with, like, that wisdom rather than just culturally what the world says is important in the moment. That's so great. Well, I'm gonna I'm gonna hit you with a hard one right now just because I know this is this is definitely something that's been on my mind. And when I talk to other parents, like, I don't wanna raise narcissistic enabled little suckers that will take the life out of me while they're growing up. Right? If you were to give our listeners just a couple things they they wanna avoid doing while they're raising their kids, what would the what would those be? I love it. Because in sometimes a new year, we're full of, I wanna do this and this and this, and that means more things. And I'm gonna give you, the listener, permission to say a full sentence, n o. No. It's okay to say no. However, I'm gonna give you the script that says, no because it's not aligned with, insert whatever you're wanting to teach them. No because we value, insert what you value more than whatever they're asking for. We don't want them just to be yes people and no people. And we know the research says that Gen z, Gen alpha, Gen beta that was just born in 2025, they're not gonna take because I said so in the way maybe we did when our parents or our grandparents said so. Right? And so when we say no, we say no because it's not aligned, no because we value this more, or no because let them answer the question. Sometimes as parents, we do a lot of talking. We do a lot of spewing, but what you really can find as a parent is these kids are listening. So know, why do you think I'm gonna say no to this? Let them insert the blank. Let them practice the muscles of why or why not. And then I'll give you a bonus one. You said three. How about, I'm not gonna buy that, but you can. I'm not gonna spend that, but you can. Or how long do you save to be able to do this? Because mom's money spends very differently than their money. Mhmm.

My nine year old is a big car guy, and he always talks about his first car. I'm like, well, what are you gonna do to earn money to to buy that?

That that's great, baby. I I love this idea of engaging the family and making them come up with the the idea. The children come up with the idea or the answer.

I I've got to imagine there's some more additional family engagement exercises that when you're working with families on this, that you see as the the biggest catalyst to growth. Can you maybe give me a couple of ideas for things that I could do with my family to to grow towards this generational wisdom?

I love it, and I'm gonna give you a pass on anything with numbers and math. Because how many of us shut down, whether we're in elementary, middle school, high school, when we start talking the b word, budget? Not that other b word. That's boundaries. We don't talk about that on this podcast either. Right? No. It's how do we really get clear on what money is? What is it for? And what do we want to do with it? There's lots of we's in there. That is a great opener for family conversation. What do we wanna be known for? What do we wanna do with our money? How do we wanna spend it? And when we get really visionary, I think the kids can think that, wow, this is what I want. I then think you need to balance it with, do you know what it takes to get there? And not making it that they're so sheltered or so insulated or so protected. Because growing up, I was able to spend money on not just things I wanted, but things I needed. And growing up now, our kids very rarely are faced with buying something they need. Like, actually need, not the latest Air Jordans because they need them for their coolness factor. Mhmm. I think that that's really important to say the we, but then also who is saying that this is important? Who is saying, is it the world? Is it society? Is it the influencers on Instagram? Before growing up, I had the neighbors next door. We called them the Joneses. Right? Now the Joneses are literally everywhere on all the time with more filters and more airbrushing than we could ever have dreamed for when I was reading 17 magazine. So I think with the kids, it's really important to talk about not money as a status, not money as better or worse, rich or poor, but to say money is that tool that we use, and it is one of the few resources that we can make more of and that we can spend. And it goes in and it goes out. And if your kids are device kids at any age, right, I like to compare it to charging. You've gotta charge your device with one cord. And how often are we fighting over that one last cord? Right? Let's make it super practical for kids. I haven't said any numbers. Right? But they all know what screen time is, and they all know what low battery 10% is. Figuring out for your family what is low battery, what is low level of time, energy, attention, and money compared to what is a fully charged presence look like. So I jumped a little bit there, but what stood out to you, Kelly, when it comes to, like, your kids and charging devices? Like, what are what are you thinking? What a perfect analogy because when you really think about it, like, they don't they don't really see the energy of money, you know, in the way that it's like, hey. If it is low, like, you're gonna have to do something about it. And that's really what we want is to empower our kids to recognize. Like, I've told my kids, live any lifestyle you want, but I wanna educate you on the things that you can do in the world that are gonna get you this lifestyle versus that one. And and then just, you know, I've left it up to them. So thank you so much for that. You know, what what is one, like, super unconventional thing about really just raising kids or or money that you kinda bring to the table in the work that you do? I love starting with generosity. I love starting at any age. I say, how soon did you learn you had to share toys? Two? Two and a half? Everything that we get in this world, especially in the world that we live in, it's not all for us. It's not all for our consumption. And very quickly, if we can make sure that we're not saying someday I'll give, someday when I do this, then I will, if you're saying with any amount that comes in, any blessings that you're given, you're then being generous with that. So our kids, even if it's birthday money, they know if it's a $10 amount or more, a tenth of that is given away. And, no, they are not a charity to each other because we have crossed that bridge as well. I will say that when we are being generous, how kids think about money and what they value is an important skill to develop. Going back to the because I said so or because you're supposed to doesn't fly. Same with, well, I give in this way, so you should therefore give 10% to this. No. Let them pick their charity. Let them be engaged in the bell ringer at Christmas that they wanna give it to or this particular fund. It's not about being right or wrong. It's about building that spirit of giving Mhmm. And then educating around it. So I think that's a unique way that I like to approach it instead of saying waiting for this magical someday when you get your first paycheck. You know? They all know. A dollar of every 10 goes away.

I love that. I I I think it's so important to to teach about others, you know, that you you get two arms for a reason, wanna pull yourself up, but wanna pull other people up along with you. That's and that's a spirit that, is easily identified through the the energy of money.

So I I kinda wanna pivot now and talk about the amazing human that is Julia, if you don't mind. You know, in GoBundance women and a lot of our listeners, you know, they're they're female entrepreneurs or or wanna be entrepreneurs that came from the I did all the right things and I, you know, as a high performing girl, you know, raised my hand and now I got all straight a's and now I'm, in your case, a pharmacist and before you were a division one athlete and all of the things you did right.

And then your soul craved something more, something different. And you had to, you know, do right by yourself and make this huge change. As part of that, there's an identity shift. You know? I I wanna know from you. You know, in making that change, how did you deal with that big change into entrepreneurship from being that box checker, like, that you talked about? How did you grow yourself?

Great question, and I wanna honor everybody that is thinking through this journey that is the nudge, the knock, the rhino. For me, it was a rhino. It was not me saying something's gotta give. It wasn't COVID and running all the things during health care during the pandemic. It was my very own literal identity forcing kind of a medical retirement. And I found that that transformation started, to be very honest, with a lot of grieving. Mhmm. And I wonder if I would have ever jumped to entrepreneurship if I was not literally forced with not being able to see straight and not being able to do the job that I was professionally trained to do, that I had done that I'd always wanted to do. And so I think it's important to call out there's a little bit of a grief of losing, what was, what could have been. And then there's a, you're now not just the character in this story that the world has written of success. You're now the author. And how do you wanna write this next chapter? And for me, that transformation was really concrete because my kids were watching. My kids were all five or a blended family. We're all living at home at this time, and they were watching. And you know what? When I was home more during recovery after a retinal detachment and surgery, they didn't say, whenever you're going back to work, they said, you seem so much happier. We like having you around more. And then you know what they said? The youngest, sweet little bless her heart, are we rich? You're not working as much anymore. Are we rich? And that was the genesis of this pivot for me and this transformation and this moment of grief and loss of what I thought mattered, what I thought the world wanted from me. Cares what the world thinks. What does my family want from me? And they are telling me with their eyes, with their energy and their body, they like having me around. They like having me less stressed, and they think that means we're rich. And then the oldest one across the table said, uh-uh. That's not rich. That's wealthy. And, thankfully, we are both. And in that moment, at that dinner table conversation, that's when this idea was born of that's my next chapter. Taking these unconventional stories. Who talks about money around the dinner table? We were. Yeah. And how many parents get that opportunity to leave out of choice, or how many of us don't often get that choice? Corporate has this way of kinda sneaking up on us, and we think that we're invincible, but, really, we're all replaceable. Yeah. And when we sit with that, we say, who really matters? And for me, it was the kids. Yeah. Wow. Beautiful. I thank you for sharing that story. It's not the first time I've heard it, and every time I hear it, you know, I think part of our work that we're all aligned on is we wanna help people before they have the rhino episode in their life. Right? Because we get one precious life. So one of the things that I've admired most about you is just this abundance energy that you have around you. You know, you're just one of those people that you're just you're just magnetized, and that's not the way that most people show up. There has to be a few things that you've done, you know, over the course of of your your journey that you can, like, pinpoint as being disciplined or being things that you do to ensure that you protect that energy of abundance that you just exude in the world. Oh, well, thank you. I think it sounds a little corny if you take it at the surface level, but whose opinion matters? Everyone has an opinion, but the more sure footed I get or the more straight I sit, strong, I mean, my backbone I was a diver, so this, like, analogy of going in the water perfectly straight is coming to me. It's easy to get knocked off your course if you let everything come and go at you. However, if you're so clear and confident in you and in your purpose, it's super easy to say, that doesn't matter. But then on this flip side, it's also just as easy to say, I need to be surrounded by people that do wanna pour into me, that do wanna see me be successful, that do wanna lift me up. Two arms. Right, Mandy? Like, I need those arms too. Maybe it's those eyes, you know, that somebody can see something that I can't. So in those literal blind spots of moments, you have to be able to be open to input of people whose opinions you choose that they matter. So that's maybe one, and the other one is a word of the year. I feel that I've always done this even in since high school, before it was cool or before there were hashtags. I hate to even date myself. It would be too long to, like, text whatever my word of the year was. And I've kept them in my notebook, my paper planner that I still use. And every year, I have them written down all the way down of what it was. And then I'm able to reflect on where I've been to where I'm going. And I think it's important in an abundant world to realize it's like a waterfall that more will always come. More will always be behind you, but also more is always ahead of you. And when you look at the things you have now that you maybe wished for five years ago, ten years ago, you have those probably now or in some version of them, but yet you're still wanting more. I think it's okay to say that out of a place of abundance. And so word of the year and whose opinions matter are really, really two just foundational things that I think we all can apply whatever the context, whatever the situation. However many commas in the bank account or titles or letters behind your name, that's big in health care. Credentials, where are you trained, who are you trained with? Whose opinion really matters?

Yeah. So great. I I think, you know, both of those things help you kind of get clear on what matters. Right? And I I think in the entrepreneurial world and and, you know, you're kind of stabbing into the darkness many times, you know, trying to figure out what's next, trying to figure out, you know, am I scared of that thing, or is it actually something that my unclear, can you give me a couple more examples of how you, you know, kind of actionably move forward? What helps you find clarity?

Unclear is such a foreign feeling for those of us with very conditioned training and very corporate paths. Mhmm. Normally, it's graduate high school, go to college, you get married, you buy a house, you have 2.5 children and a dog, and it's very linear. And so I think it's important to answer directionally, is this getting in the way of which way I wanna go, or is this blocking me? And when there's not a very clear next step or a road map, especially in entrepreneurship I I mean, this is life. Everybody gets dealt different chapters, different hurdles to jump through. And I think it's important to call out that uncertainty isn't a bug in your plan. It isn't a bug in the matrix. It's a feature. And when you're identifying that as a feature of life, it now becomes less scary. Yes. It's dark because you don't know which way to go. Yeah. But you also know that action brings clarity. And so sometimes that means it's a lipstick color. You can try that pretty easily. Sometimes it's a haircut, and you're like, okay. Bangs. I did this bangs thing when Taylor and Travis were first starting to date because my kids did a dare for us, and they said, hey. If dad grows a mustache, will you cut your bangs? I'm like, sure. This is a medium term commitment here because we're a few years into this relationship. And then there's, like, the permanent decisions of, like, life altering, closing the door Mhmm. that need more thought and more intention. They all need action. You've gotta spend equal amounts of time on the best outcome and the worst outcome. I was having a conversation with somebody this weekend about, you know, we don't know what's next. We don't know what's in that chapter. And he said, okay. Now flip it. For as much time as you spent in the I don't know, say, I don't know how amazing this could be. I don't know how possible the doors would be if they opened. You gotta hold both. And I see that very specifically, especially in my condition where I'm able to see you out of my left eye, but my right eye is cloudy. So I wanna remind you to not just fixate on that one thing, if only this thing works. But as we get older and we get those cheater reader glasses, we start to kinda zoom in and out just a little bit. That's not losing focus. That's just kinda shifting your perspective. And so when it's unclear, try looking at it from another angle. Try looking at it from the impact that it's going to have, and try looking at it as have we crossed this mountain before? Because often those same mountains keep coming up. And what did I do last time, and was it just fine? Mhmm. Yeah. Go do that again. And if it wasn't fine, change it. Kelly's laughing because she's like, yep. Oh my gosh. I love it. I love it. Well, Julia, you have literally dropped so many wisdom bombs on us today, and I just you know, number one, I just wanna acknowledge the delivery of your message. Like, just I mean, just that alone like, the intentionality. Like, you really embody what you teach, and I think that's such an important thing just to to know and reflect back to you. But I think the, you know, the biggest takeaway for me is that, you know, avoidance of talking about money is gonna delay this wisdom. Right? It is going to affect future generations. And just the sooner that we start educating and I love, you know, like you, I have an abundance formula where it is 10%, you know, contribution, but it's also 10% fun and play because I believe that we should also do that. And too many people are in scarcity, and they don't have that in there. So, Mandy, what about you?

Well, one thing you said, I every single day, that action extinguishes fear. I I absolutely love that. And I love that you are not the character in the story anymore, that you are now the author. What a what a powerful way of looking at things. I I really love you gave me goosebumps when I heard that one.

Well, one thing that we love to do at GoBundance and in the podcast is to make sure that we're serving each other. You have served us and our audience today. So we wanna know, you know, what is something that we can do for you? Is there a resource? Is there a connection? Is there something that will change the ballgame for the things that you're working on?

Well, I will say that I have learned through GoBundance. It's not okay just to give. It's okay to ask, and so I receive this as an ask because just like you can't only spend sides in scarcity or abundance, you've you've gotta, like, show up. So I'm gonna throw in with two asks. Number one, nine minutes of your life, watch my TED Talk. Watch the story of really how it unfolds as it relates to the power of choosing your focus. And we talked a little bit about it today, but you get the whole thing in those nine minutes.

And then the other one is I would love to understand what's going on in your family as it relates to your money mindset. And so if that is speaking to you and you're a family that's got a will or a trust, all these plans for someday after you're gone, I wanna be invited to the table in the conversation of what are we gonna do this year that helps us feel wealthy and wise today, not just someday when the money changes hands.

So I would love to be invited to those conversations and really sit and understand what are the value drivers for your family, and then how do we create that unique plan, I like to call it the family constitution, for today. How do you make decisions, and what does every parent ask for? I wish there was a playbook for how to tell me how to do this. There is one, and I would love to be part of that in your family legacy story.

Ugh. What is the best way for people to get ahold of you, Julia?

Julia myers dot com, and that's the East Coast spelling. That's myers.com. Because here in the Midwest, we have that cleaning company that likes to put some e's in there. So juliamyers.com, that's the best place to get plugged in to get what I like to call a dose of wisdom every week. If you are interested in joining my free newsletter or going a little bit deeper in what I call the family vision experience. I love it.

Julia, this was just I knew it was gonna be tremendous, and you have absolutely delivered. Thank you so much for joining us today. We'll make sure that all of that is in the show notes.

If you are someone who wants to live a better life, in terms of how you're teaching your kids about wealth or you know someone who needs this type of message, make sure you're sharing the episode, like and subscribe. It really helps us find other listeners and make more impact in the world.

If you are looking to power up your business, go to Power Up Your Life Now, and you'll find all of the resources that we use to help us grow our businesses. For now, this is Kelly Resendez and Mandy McAllister signing off. We will see you next week. Thank you all for joining us. Thanks, Julia.

Thank you.