From being a JAG in the Navy to discussing finances and redefining wealth and freedom, this episode has it all!
Check out Brett's LinkedIn and The Taste of Mothiana Website, to learn more!
Want to engage with Courtney Nicole? Check out Courtney Nicole's LinkedIn, Sidecar Solutions, and Nonpareil Coaching for next steps.
From being a JAG in the Navy to discussing finances and redefining wealth and freedom, this episode has it all!
Check out Brett's LinkedIn and The Taste of Mothiana Website, to learn more!
Want to engage with Courtney Nicole? Check out Courtney Nicole's LinkedIn, Sidecar Solutions, and Nonpareil Coaching for next steps.
Hello and welcome to the podcast, What Our Parents Didn't Teach Us. This is a place where we will be creating space to discuss all the lessons that we've learned along the way that have led us to where we are today. We'll have conversations with entrepreneurs and freelancers and people from all over the world about what it means to be successful. And the things that we've learned that we hope to pass on to you. I'm your fearless host, Courtney Nicole. I'm a coach that currently resides in Denver, Colorado with my wife, two dogs and plus or minus 27 plants. And I can't wait to talk to you. I'm here today with my friend, Brett. We're going to be talking about finances. We're going to be talking about lessons we've learned. And ultimately the topic will center around success and things that we know now that we wish we would've known. And one of the things I like to mention is just because you had amazing parents or just, they did the best they could. It doesn't mean that they failed in not teaching you these things. It's really just about the fact that they couldn't teach us. So there are things that they didn't have as a reality that we now have and being equipped for those things of being able to handle them and navigate life today is about these conversations. It's about taking the knowledge we have from each other, and really putting it into a format that can be consumed quickly and learn and understand. So it's as we get onto the next thing, because the world is just moving really quickly. It's moving really fast and we don't have the opportunity to just study the history books, to learn what we need. Sometimes it just needs to come down to a conversation. So that's what we'll be doing today. Brett, tell us a little bit about what you do.
Brett C:Uh, Sure. First of all, I want to thank you so much for having me. Um, on the show, on the podcast. I'm glad you mentioned the caveat about our parents because I definitely don't want my parents to listen to this and think that I'm going to be talking about things that they didn't teach me. And I think they didn't need to do a good job of raising me, did a great raising me. Just to your point, there are just certain areas that you're taught what, you know, in your experience and as we grow and as we learn we grow and we learn more. So it's building upon that foundation. So now with that, I was born and raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. My father uh, is retired army officer. My mother was a nurse, she's now retired and I went to high school in Alabama and then I went to college at Florida State University. It's about six and a half hours from Tuscaloosa where I grew up. And that was my first kind of life exposure. In Alabama growing up you're kind of limited to the people you interact with and their backgrounds. So then moving to Florida State, it was very eye-opening. And then from there, I went to UCLA law school and once again just really opened up my aperture and whole and or people's background and what's made them successful. After that, I joined the military. I spent about 15 years on active duty in the Navy as a a JAG officer or a lawyer. Um, Then I did some time working for Uber. And now I am working for Wells Fargo as an enterprise compliance officer.
Courtney Nicole:Wow. That's amazing. Quite a journey. Sounds like you and I might have in common that we're both Swiss army human. We're just like, I just decided to do something. And then I learned how to do it. And these scissors won't cut glass, but they'll cut something in a pinch if you need it. So you just know how to do a lot of things, but none of them are you absolutely exceptional at. But with your experience, it does sound like you got exceptional at a few things. So maybe that's law or finance. What are some of the areas you believe you are exceptional in?
Brett C:Well, one thing I really enjoyed in the military was I was able to focus on being a general counsel. And so that meant I was international law, I went to Georgetown to get an LLM in international law. And I was supposed to do that and look that rules of engagement and in working cross-functionally with other other nations and other branches of the service. So that was something that I really enjoyed. I was able to hone my skills in that and that that area to also become a pretty proficient compliance and data privacy specialist. Because in the military that general counsel will also includes like a chief privacy role to make sure we're in compliance with the federal laws and with the laws of nations we're operating with. Um, So I did enjoy that. And it also allowed me to be get really comfortable doing investigations and interviews. Um, Part large part of being an attorney in the military is conducting investigations, establishing the facts, applying the law and providing guidance and counsel based on that. And that was that's what I did at Uber. I was a privacy compliance, but also an investigator for other regions too. So that, that was very beneficial.
Courtney Nicole:So just kind of searching for the facts, searching for the crux of the issue. What's really going on down underneath all of this and all the mumbo-jumbo and all the legal-ese and the things we kind of at first glance, don't understand-what's the purpose? What's the real thing that matters in this moment. Now I think that skill would definitely serve you well in life in general.
Brett C:It does. Now that I'm in the corporate world, it There's so many things require that investigation investigator eye. What is the root issue? What's the root cause of this problem? Sometimes I take a step back. What's the issue? What are the what are the contributing factors? And at times it's, you need to have a separate team come in and do a investigation to identify what's causing the problems and make recommendations to provide solutions.
Courtney Nicole:Yeah. What do you think is the most important thing you've learned as you've matured through different stages of your career and through like law school. And I know that young lawyers are notorious for a being whippersnappers and get in there and throw a bunch of words at it and fix it. But if you could go back and just have a quick conversation with you, maybe 15 years ago, what do you think is something you're like, you don't know this yet, but this is going to be important.
Brett C:Oh wow, Courtney. There's not enough time to go into that.
Courtney Nicole:Oh, so you have an elevator ride with your past self and you're like, all right. I know we don't have much time here, but this is important. Just remember this.
Brett C:By a lot of tech stock. That's what I'd tell myself.
Courtney Nicole:Oh yeah. Well we'd all be in a different spot if we did that.
Brett C:I'll say this and, kind of focus on financial independence. That was something that wasn't discussed. I'm second generation in my family to go to college,, first generation first to be a lawyer, to go to a professional graduate degree program. And for my parents to be able to pay for my undergrad was is a major accomplishment. I didn't have to pay for that. They saved, and took out loans and worked multiple jobs to make sure I didn't have to pay for that. And that was an outstanding foundation and the one critical to my success. But that meant they did not pay for law school. So I was able to get some some scholarship money and some things paid, but it was very expensive. And when I graduated, I had over a hundred thousand dollars of debt just from law school. And I joined the military. And so I had a steady paycheck, making good money. But I never forget. It was my, one of the first things I did was I met with a financial advisor. And I was in San Diego, young, like 24, mid twenties, and my advisor looked at all my assets, looked at my debt. And my question to to them was where should I invest my money so 10, 15 years from now I don't have to worry about where I'm working. I can enjoy life and do what I want to do. And he looked at it me and he said, Brett, you've already made the investment. You invested in yourself. You don't have any money to, to, to invest in something else. That law school education was my investment in myself and he said, the best thing you can do is maximize your investment and be the best lawyer you can be. And try to take advantage of that. But that kind of, that that, that. And that, that set me back. I was I was looking forward to putting money away and investing stocks and different things. And when I found out I couldn't, yeah that I was discouraged. And then the next thing we don't, we only have the basic advice. Right. You got to have six months of of savings, right? So six months of savings for emergency purposes. Do you know how hard it is to save for six months when you're paying a hundred thousand dollars of school debt? And I am not a financial advisor. I'm not a financial professional. But when people say, Oh, the first thing you should do is have six months of savings, I laugh because where I came from, that's not possible. You can't pay the bills, cover everything, accumulate six months of savings and still have enough life left to invest it, you know, have 10, 13 years later to enjoy it. Life's too short. So. Going back, circling back to your original question. I would say that I need to align myself with people who are investing in items and financial vehicles that accumulate consistent long-term growth so that after 15 years of working, I have more options. If a tech company calls me and says, Brett, we have this great idea. We want you to come in and be the chief privacy officer, chief privacy counsel, we're going to take off, we're new. It's something I believe in, they're not going to pay a lot because they're new, I can afford to say, you know what I believe in this. I want to do some humanitarian work overseas, or I want to volunteer. I want to work on a farm or, I want to be able to do what I want to do in my life, my passion and worry about um, paying the bills.
Courtney Nicole:I think that idea of wealth and freedom really comes down to being able to say yes or no. And I don't think people put enough stock in both of those answers. So being able to say yes to a job that won't pay you what you think you're worth or something, like not about worth, but more just about what you could get paid in another area of doing the same thing, and being able to say no to a job that might pay you a lot, but isn't aligned with who you are as a person. I think being able to say yes and no because of factors other than money is true freedom for a lot of people. And I think that's where you want to get to with wealth. I liked what you mentioned about not being able to live the life you wanted. And I have had that conversation with many people who taut the popular, if you just skipped your Starbucks and saved that$5 and invested it in stocks and did all this other stuff, you talk about people that, you know, guys that live on nothing and they get to 45 and they've lived on ramen for their entire life and they have$40 million living, like making 30,000 a year. And you're just like, wow, that's mind blowing. But the point is once you've amassed that kind of wealth living a certain lifestyle for 40 years, it's going to be very difficult for you to do anything with it. Like why have$40 million, if you're not going to spend it, you really can't take it with you regardless of what we know or we'll debate about the afterlife so far, we can basically decide the money will do you no good there. So at this point, like amassing$40 million, doesn't do you much good unless it empowers you to do something else. So why amass money? Why look for wealth? Why make six figures? Why make seven, 10, something like that. It has to come back to this point of like, why do you want to do that? Like you said, I wanted to be able to work for whoever I wanted to work for, whether or not the money was good. For me, it's whether or not I want to be able to work. My wife is a teacher and some days, you know, snow days or other things, I just want to be able to be like, nah, I'm not going to work today. I just want to be able to be with her, go get a coffee. So being able to say yes to the things I want to say yes to and no to the things I want to say no to has been wealth for me. I think you have to define it before you chase it. Because if you're just chasing it to have a number in the bank, or you're just chasing it because some guru said have six months of savings, what is the point? Cause then you'll get there and then you'll be stuck again. And you'll be reliant on the next guru. And I guarantee all those gurus are going to change and they're going to have different opinions, but why do you want six months? Why do you want the 50, 30, 20? Why do you want all these other financial pieces? You have to have a bigger purpose, otherwise it's just money, it'll just go away, it'll just get spent.
Brett C:Right. You had to have a plan, an idea of what you want. But there's something else, it's also access to knowledge about finances, but it's access to capital. There is a podcast called How I Built This. And it's very interesting. And I like to listen to it just because it talks to entrepreneurs and they start about where they came from. And most of them had access to money that growing up, I had no idea, there's no way, and it would say it so casually. I had an idea. I wanted to make these brownies, and I knew I needed a hundred thousand dollars. So my parents gave me 50 and my uncle gave me 50, and then I was able to take... I couldn't ask my family for$50,000. We don't have that. I don't have an uncle. I don't have any, I don't know anyone I could ask for
Courtney Nicole:that. Even if you asked for$50, it'd be like, you really need that?
Brett C:Another way to look at it. Is it Jeff Bezos? This is for the Amazon. I think he don't quote me on this, but you know, from what I heard, when he started Amazon long time ago, he called his parents and they gave him$200,000 to start. I couldn't, I don't know. Just that concept that you can just call someone and get that money. So it's access, it's being in those circles and that's what's important. That's the way we need to align ourselves as young professionals as up and coming professionals, putting ourselves in a position to have access. There's new venture capitalist companies coming out and they're trying to change the model to give us access Being able to put something aside so that your family in the future can, as you say, have the power to say yes. And the power to say no. When I went to UCLA and Florida State, that's when I realized, Hey, there's people out here who aren't having to scrounge and pay for college. It's paid, it's been paid generationally and they're here because they enjoy it. they can say yes and no to that next job, because it's what they want to do. And the concept is, was foreign to me. But that's something that I'm interested in helping build some type of platform so that people of color and minorities are exposed to it at a younger age.
Courtney Nicole:Yeah. Well, and we have so many cultures and so many societies and levels that are minorities. It's really important to represent them and to give them, like you said, the access to really build their relationship. One of the reasons I started this podcast was to build relationships. I had an interview with someone from South Korea and another person who was in Turkey and another person who was in Luxembourg. And you're just like, wow. How are we doing this? We're just trying to create this network of relationships, because that's access. It's access to knowledge, which is power it's access to money, which is power. And it's really just creating our own grid of power and of influence and of wealth and opportunity outside of the typical channels. You know, You can't just rely on your parents for all the knowledge you need and you can't just rely on your rich uncle for all the money you'll need. You really need to establish your own network and do it intentionally because you're going places and doing things. You don't go on in your house and turn on all of the lights cause that relies on an energy network. You don't turn them on to turn them on. You turn them on to see. And I think with anything, that is energy and that's money, knowledge, relationship, time, all of these things are just energy, which means we are conduits of them. And if you're going to be a conduit for energy, understand how you're using it and do that intentionally, and you'll definitely see the benefits and reap the rewards of doing it with a purpose. So don't just go out there and be like, Oh, I'm just going to get to know rich people. No, get to know rich people, because lets you help poor people. Create something that you're doing beyond just that initial goal. Zoom out. Get up to 30,000 feet and say, I know why I'm going here. I don't check my flaps and make sure that everyone knows how to use the life jackets at the beginning of a flight because I, you know, intend to fall. I know that I intend to get there, but I also know the risks along the way.
Brett C:Absolutely. Absolutely. It's difficult though, to, to know what you want to do. When I went to law school, I didn't know what I wanted to do when I grew up. When I joined the military, I didn't know what I want to be. I still don't know what I want to do when I grew up, it's hard to say that type of planning, not everyone has. But that's where that, that, that independence is important. If you don't try it, you don't know. When I joined the Navy with the idea of, I, I was going to do three years, be stationed in San Diego, maybe Hawaii, maybe Italy, get some trial experience, and then after that, I'm going to go to the big law firm, make some money. 15 years later, I'm still loving it, and that's, you just don't know what the future's going to hold, what you wanna do. And then, to, to that point, I recently transitioned and it's, it is a different transition from the military when you are a senior or a mid-level professional. It is not the same because you are not at the same level as your peers as a lawyer cause of experience. So if you're not working for the government and you want to work for tech industry or a bank, you're competing with other lawyers who graduated at your same year group who've already worked at tech companies. They've already worked at banks. They've already been doing it. So you've got to come in and you have to convince someone that your work experience is relevant. It's very difficult and that's something that I would like to help others, particularly lawyers, who are transitioning and thinking about what they're doing next, prepare for the next level, because if you're not working for the government and you've, you really need to align yourself with the types of roles that you want to do when you get out. So you can have that independence.
Courtney Nicole:Yeah. And I think that you hit the nail on the head there with the need for others. And sometimes you can develop friends that have this experience or friends that can help you along the way. But I want to just remind people that investing in yourself doesn't start or end with school, with paying for college. Like that may be an important step in your career path, but investing in yourself is the first thing you should invest in. Pay yourself first, invest in yourself first. And sometimes investing in yourself means getting help, literally paying a coach or paying someone with expertise. Spend that money, but don't spend it because you just want to have this thing in return, or you're looking for a service. Spend it as an investment and look at that mindset in the invest and reward and ROI and bring that kind of language into everything you do. Invest time, invest energy, invest knowledge, and invest actual money. And work with people like me. Work with people like Brett. Like just work with the people that have the knowledge and can show you the pathway, because there's definitely power in numbers. And this whole building of a network may require some investment. People are not just going to sit down with you because you're cool or have fun hair. You need to have something going for you. And that starts again with this what do you want to do? That's one of the questions I have to answer most for all my clients is like, who are you? Like, Oh, I'm a lawyer. I'm like, no. Who are you? Oh, I'm, a digital content creator. I'm like, I do, I get so flustered and frustrated. I'm like, no. Who are you? Why are you here? One of my favorite questions to kind of illuminate and bring that out is if you are successful, whatever you're doing, don't care, if you are successful, how will the world be different? And I think that really illuminates the spark inside a person that says, Oh, I see what I'm doing here. I see my fingerprint. I see my impression on this world in this time on these relationships, in these people that I'm working with, living with, whatever it is. How will the world be different? So that's the question I wanted to pose to you, Brett, if you are successful, how, whatever you ended up doing, we don't know where your career path, like you said, I'm still not grown up. Still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. But if you, who you were meant to be is successful, how will the world be different or hopefully better?
Brett C:That is quite a question Courtney, and is something that, it goes beyond what you want to do for a salary or for work, goes to what would you like doing? And I like collaborations. I like working with people. I like building teams, managing teams. It's one of the reasons why I stayed in the military as long as I did. I enjoy doing it now as a data privacy officer. And I think that if I am successful, I will continue to be able to inspire others, to be better at what they do. But I'll also be able to build programs, build products that allow people to have access to the financial tools so they can have that yes, no power, that independence. To have a global impact, a social impact. Whether you're pulling out your phone and it says, according to this market research, this is where you should put your money. And according to your spending and your debt to income, this is what you should do. And if you do that, projected at some years, this is what you'll be, perhaps that, or, something as simple as, Hey, we need to have better communication, as far as collecting data and organizing data, managing data. People can log in and use a platform and feel safe. Only the the minimum amount of data's going to be collected as necessary to reach a specific purpose that you consent to. And that's, that is a tremendous issue now with COVID-19. We're exploring returning to the office. That's when the question, can we ask people about their the health screening questions? Can we? But I haven't been vaccinated, you know. How are we going to collect and synthesize and it uses data. So if I'm successful, circling back, I will be able to work with the team that answers these questions and provide solutions.
Courtney Nicole:Yeah. So when I think of giving people power, one of the analogies, word pictures I like to use, is a soundboard, right. And when I first started to learn into use soundboards, I just knew gain and level. That was it, and basically the sound master would get it set for whatever like event I was trying to help with. And then they set the levels with everything and then they'd leave. And they were basically like, you're here in case something goes wacky, you can hit the mute or bring the level down, but I couldn't master or mix anything. So if I'm hearing you correctly, one of the things you will do when you're successful, assuming you die, your spirit moves on to the next stage, whatever that means. Did you go up to the sky and somebody or some being is like, where were you? Show me the trail through your life, through your success, through your timeline. Show me the light that is you moving through the world. I see you going and installing additional levels and additional meters for people to be able to adjust. And it's like going into their control panel of their life and giving them something that not only is there for a purpose, but is there to bring them better clarity of sound and more education in the area of what they are mixing in their lives, like in the category of finance. So. There are people that are doing it for spirituality, and people that are doing it for physical health. And in the area of finances, just another section of the knobs. Because if you ever looked at a mixing board, it is monster. There are 50,000 knobs on a decent mixing board. And you're just like, I don't know which one to do. But you can tell a true master and you can really appreciate the art of the music more if somebody knows, Oh, okay, if I just take this knob and turn it half a turn up, because that person is making this noise and inputting this, the beauty that can come out of the power of knowledge of understanding how to run the board is really gorgeous. And so I see you not only installing these knobs in people's lives and saying, turn this up and turn this down and attack this way and not this way. And don't worry about the six month thing, but do this in everyday life and do this in everyday life. Tipping 20% will actually make you money, and here's how I can prove it type of a thing. If you're just like, here are the systems and then here's how you use them. If you're like, you've decided you want to buy a house, you go dude, you can buy a house. Don't ask about why, just know that this knob will get you this result. Installing and educating people on how to use that, I think will make the symphony of humanity more amazing and more glorious to listen to when we understand, more specifically, how to run these boards in our own lives.
Brett C:Yes. Absolutely. That's an excellent analogy. They're all interconnected. Whether you're working, as you said, spirituality or where you working Um, a service or whether you work with technology, or whether you're working with financial institutions, they're interconnected. You have to have the financial freedom to, pursue other things. You have to have the spiritual peace so you can be happy with yourself. And you have to be able to be healthy, so you can continue to pursue your life dream. So it's. No one can do everything. But you know, to your point, it helps to have that, that life coach and someone to help you and guide you and be connected in the right circles. And I should've said this earlier, but of course I'm speaking only in my personal capacity and not on behalf of Wells Fargo or the Department of Defense.
Courtney Nicole:Yes we appreciate that. No one should sue him from a legal perspective. It's just Brett we're talking to here, not any big companies. And I think that's why it's beautiful. I also don't speak for any of the big companies that I ever mention on here. I know a lot about them and I understand how they work from my perspective, but that's all that it is. It's just our take on humanity, our take on the world. So. Speaking of your take now that we've covered the legality, this isn't Wells Fargo or anything else, what is your most controversial piece of advice that you're just sure it's right. Maybe not in a year, maybe not in five years, but today you're just like, I'm going to tell you this and you're going to think I'm wrong. Something as simple as don't have six months of savings, but like most controversial piece of advice.
Brett C:This is being recorded. So when I'm wrong or right. The advice I'd like to give, but I'm not quite sure if I could say it's controversial, but I will say that the importance of having an ally can't be overstated. And an ally, as opposed to a mentor, an ally is someone who knows your work professionally and is going to be able to speak for you and step up for you to help you grow and achieve. It doesn't matter what you're doing. And it doesn't necessarily have to be in, in your industry. It could be someone who has connections to another industry and say, Hey, you know what? Courtney did a great job at this project. I think she'd be great at this. You know what I want to give like a personal endorsement for Courtney to work in this area, do this project, or take on this podcast or, lead something. That is something that is critical to your professional development and personal development. And as far as controversial advice, I guess my advice would be find your allies, and then once you find them, go through 10, 15 years, look back, and see how they have shaped and how they've affected your growth.
Courtney Nicole:Well, maybe the controversial bit is find your allies before you invest your dollars. That's like kind of the order of events. Some people would be like, just start investing and learn it and then kind of figure it out and then find friends. And you're just like no.
Brett C:With that. Yeah, don't blindly invest. Obviously you need to, the money is so difficult to come by. You can't throw it away, but yeah, I agree. Before you start investing in different platforms and avenues, align yourself with the right people.
Courtney Nicole:Yeah, I think it's that network again. The grid, the power sources and all these other things. I'd say my piece of controversial advice is view money just as a single asset. And just like you would diversify anything, diversify your investments and really start to view every resource you have as an investment. Some people are like, Oh, you can't invest. And I'm like, Hey, even if you don't put a dime in it, if you invest time trying to learn the stock market, that in itself needs to return some investment. And understanding that when you invest a lot of time until you also invest money, nothing will happen, like as far as money getting back and you can't get the time back in that way. So in the future, you may be able to save time when you invest your money because of the time you invested learning it. But none of this should be viewed as just oh, I'm just going to do this, and then I'll invest my money. Quit rating money as more important or more scarce or more valuable or more impactful than everything else in your life. And start viewing everything you have as an investment and view it as something that should return. You know, I'm spending this half hour chatting with you and I'm doing lots of other podcast interviews and other things that I spend my time on. Each one of those is investment. Whether it's walking the dog and picking up his shit or having a conversation with a homeless person or talking to the founder or the CEO of X company, it doesn't matter. Everything I do is an investment. And until I can measure that and realize that it's returning something to me, then I will feel like I'm at a disadvantage. I'll feel like I'm running this rat race. I'll feel like money is scarce. When you realize how much you have, then you can invest with more abundance and hopefully better results.
Brett C:Yeah, absolutely. Money is not the, it's not the end. It's just a vehicle. It's just an Avenue. And to your point what do you want to have to ask her? You wouldn't want to do, what do you want to be? How do you want for your member and then use that vehicle to help them get there. That's the premise of financial independence. Being able to have enough of that vehicle that it can take you where you want to go.
Courtney Nicole:Yeah, I think the, a beautiful word picture. And that one is the chef shows where they're given a bunch of ingredients. And they don't start cooking. Like you can throw butter in a pan if you're from the South and start cooking there, but you cannot just start cooking the meat. You can't start cutting the vegetables. You can't start doing something until you have a formal picture in your mind. And that picture doesn't have to be like, and this is where it will be served in five years. And then a big chef's going to pick it up and take this on. And then this and this, and you don't have to go that far, but you do need to know for this meal, with these ingredients, and this time, this is what I'm going to make. You need to have a vision in your head. You need to get really clear on it. You need to find accountability and people that are going to eat it and be expecting it to be delivered in such a manner. You can throw some spices in there and take on a little different flavor, but ultimately you need to know what you're creating. Put that out there, have accountability and then make it.
Brett C:That's true. And it's also good to diversify. You don't have to be one thing. People call like a side hustle or, something you do for fun. For example, my, my wife and I, and my wife is Greek she's from the Island of Crete. And her family's been making olive oil for hundreds of years. And when we had the wedding in Greece, no big fat Greek wedding comments, please. My family was there and it was the most phenomenal thing they ever did. What is this? We've never had it. It was olive oil. But that's how it is there. So we started importing it and distributing it here in the States and no, we're not trying to get rich, and no we don't plan to retire doing it, but we enjoy it. That's just fun to go to food tastings and work with chefs and distribute something for culture. And it's something that we enjoy. So you don't have to be just one dimensional. You can do different things. Yeah. That's that's part of growing and learning about what you want to do and who you want to be.
Courtney Nicole:Yeah. Beautiful. Love it. All right. Well that is about the time we have today, but is there anything else you'd like to leave, any final notes and then if you have one place that people should connect with you for like Brett dropped some real truth today, and I really want to know more about him or talk to him about this. How can they get in touch?
Brett C:A great way to get in touch with me is on LinkedIn. Brett Cook, BRETT COOK. If you want the olive oil it's www.tastofmothiana.com. That's MOTHIANA. Mothiana, that's the village, the region where the oil is from. Feel free to reach out, contact us. As far as dropping the knowledge it's well, we're a product of of where we come from, of our family and upbringing. And I was fortunate that my parents put such an emphasis on education. My mother joined a sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority incorporated. And my father's Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity incorporated. And I joined the same fraternity. And those professional social organizations helped us grow and to learn and continue to be exposed to different people and have different opportunities. And that's something where I was fortunate. If you are not, that goes back to the allyship. Find someone. Invest the time. And if you are in a position to be an ally for someone else, find someone to, to support, invest that time. It's not about money. You'll get the money, don't worry about the money, but invest that time in them to support them. And when it comes to financial dollars, you're right. It's it's just a vehicle. So invest your time to, to look at what's important, what you want to do, and then find the right way to get there.
Courtney Nicole:And like Brett said, it is a vehicle. And so just like when you're going to buy a vehicle, the salesman is going to say, what do you want it to do? What does it need to hold 17 children and your dog? Or does it need to go really fast? Or does it need to do well in the snow, like in Colorado, but you need to know what you want it to do. So decide what you want to do with this money. And then it will work itself out. I have manifested unbelievable wealth in my life. Not because I have billions and a yacht, please don't show up at my house. I own no castles at this moment in time. However, the wealth that I needed was like I said, the ability to say yes and say, no. Just the power that brings and what has happened in my life has all come because of allies, relationships, time invested, all these other things that have culminated. But it all has happened and become a reality because I decided what I wanted that vehicle to do. I decided where I was going and I decided that I was going to get there no matter what. So just decide, start there, decide, Hey, I'm not going to go bankrupt like my parents, I'm not going to have to scrounge, I'm not going to be homeless. Instead of decide the alternative. Right. It's I'm going to be abundant. I'm going to have friends who build me up. I'm going to have allies. I'm going to be able to run the credit card and not worry about where it's going and pay it off every month. And like all these other things, just decide. Start with deciding and see where you go from there. Thanks so much for joining us for the podcast today, and I hope you learned some valuable lessons that will help you on your journey to success. If you're interested in coaching with me, you can check out Nonpareilcoaching.com. That's NONPAREILcoaching.com. Courtney Nicole can be found on most social medias. You can also slide into my DMS on Instagram@courtandwhiskey. If you're interested in being a guest on this podcast, you can check out our website it's just the acronym for what our parents didn't teach us.com. www.WOPDTU.com to be a guest on the podcast. You can find us wherever you find your podcasts. Don't forget: the universe is conspiring with you.