Wednesday 5 August 2015

The Dawn of a Bright Future



My goodness how quickly things can change.  Maybe Maurice and Pat had a word to the big fella upstairs last week on my behalf, who knows?  All I know is that things couldn't be more different than they were last time I wrote.  Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing the right thing by sharing so much about my situation but my theory is that you never know, someone somewhere out there might be reading it and have the answer.  A different perspective, a flash of inspiration, a solution that has never occurred to you or that has always been there but you were never able to see.  And after my last post, that's exactly what happened.  Melissa had the answer.  Sue had the answer. Kenia had the answer.  Wendy had the answer.  They all contacted me with regard to different things but their message was the same.  1) Stop resigning yourself to a job you'll hate and use the skills you have to enable you to do something you like.  2) Get your name out there, tell everyone you have these skills and charge for them.  3) If you can't find a job, then flipping well create one!

So with their help and input that's just what I did.  You might be thinking 'Oh come on woman, it's not rocket science, have you never thought to do that?' Actually, no!  Sure there were things I wanted to do, even dreamed of doing but either the timing wasn't right or I just didn't need to be doing them right then.  And then I just sort of forgot really.  All those years of experience, all those skills were just meaningless words on my CV.  They looked flash but they weren't being brought to life. When you think about it though, who DOES really talk about things like that?  It's certainly not a taboo subject or anything, it just never seems to come up.  You may know what a friend's job title is but you rarely know exactly what that job entails.  I realised that after my job hunting post when people were contacting me asking what skills I had and whether I had ever done such and such. In most cases I had been doing them on a professional basis for 15 years!  But whilst in 10 years of blogging I had shared everything with readers from what I was cooking for dinner to the penguins on my pyjamas, I never once talked about what I could do.

Fortunately over the space of a couple of days, the people who I mentioned above helped me to see and no sooner had I put my name out there, or someone else had done so on my behalf than the work began rolling in.  It was pretty much immediate, amazing!  A whole world of work and untapped resources I never knew existed!  And then as if that wasn't enough, something else happened.  Wendy Gower and I are not related and have never met but we have a lot in common.  Wendy first came to people's attention just over a year ago when a national current affairs program filmed a segment on her thrifty lifestyle entitled 'Is this Australia's stingiest family?'  I've never liked the word stingy but even though the title may have sounded less than complimentary, the nation embraced Wendy and her family and since then she has never looked back, helping thousands of people improve their lives and their bank balances through passing on her knowledge.  

Wendy's experience reminded me of my own several years before.  Back in 2007 Campbell Live filmed a segment all about our family and the $21 Challenge and the same thing happened.  While there were plenty of sceptics (after all you can only convey so much information about how to survive on $21 in a seven minute segment!) there were many, many more people who wanted to know more and wanted help.  Ultimately this led to the writing of the $21 Challenge book but from then on I began receiving invitations to come and talk to groups of all kinds, often fitting hundreds of people into city libraries.  One visit to a group of struggling WINZ clients was so successful, the co-ordinator went on to introduce a six-week program in her own and other branches, based around the principles of the $21 Challenge. I even taught a three-week program at the local high school, which was heaps of fun but more importantly highlighted a huge need and a gap in the education system.  Many times I thought how amazing it would be to design a money saving program which would be made available to every high school and educational institution in NZ.  Moreover, I wanted to be the one to teach it.  But it wasn't possible.  Simple Savings was a small team and we were constantly flat tack, there was already far too much to do!  So my little dream stayed just that; a dream.  Maybe once or twice a year it would pop up in my head and I would think wistfully 'Yeah, I wish I could have done that', only for it to quickly disappear back to where it came from because it was always too impossible to consider.

I can't remember if Wendy added me as a friend on Facebook or vice versa but for a while she was just one of those 'Facebook friends who you don't actually know in person but are nice to have anyway'.  Until I wrote that post and out of the blue she contacted me to say 'You still have so much knowledge.  Why don't you go and talk to people and help and inspire them to save money the way you used to?  I know firsthand there is a demand for this in NZ but I can't be everywhere.  You could do it though!'  What, you mean go and do the absolutely most rewarding, most enjoyable thing I had ever done?  The thing I had totally forgotten all about for like - ever?  The thing which I never had the time to do before but I did now?  Maybe I could! 

The next day I took the plunge and placed my first tentative post on our local Buy and Sell Facebook community page.  Immediately there was interest and as I watched it climb my inbox started to go crazy with messages.  My post hadn't been on the page ten minutes before there was a request from the careers officer at the local school to come and do a workshop.  And then another school.  And then I started to talk about the things I used to do, the groups I used to talk to and realised that whilst there may have been seven years between me being on Campbell Live and Wendy being on A Current Affair, nothing had changed.  Saving money hadn't gone out of date.  People still needed help and didn't know how to help themselves.  And most shockingly of all, there was still next to no money saving or management education in schools.  This was apparent from all the twenty-somethings who posted on the page 'Yes, this is so much needed in schools!'  'I wish I'd had something like this when I was at school' and on it went.  And bingo.  Up popped my dream.  My dream of being able to visit every school in NZ and teach school leavers how to save money.  Or just as importantly, how not to waste it.  How not to make the same stupid mistakes so many of us adults did because we didn't have anybody to teach us and WHY.  I realised there was no longer anything stopping me from doing it.  I also realised that although the timing may not have been right before, I was so much better equipped now to undertake this job through the events of the past few years.  Before when I used to talk to people about saving money, I could talk the talk and I could walk the walk but I did it out of lifestyle choice, not necessity.  I hadn't been to the desperate places many of the people I was talking to had been.  But now I have.  I can actually convey through my experience what debt feels like.  And I know that I'm going to be one hell of a teacher because of it.

I already felt I was on the right track but just to make sure I sought advice from the wonderful Glenn Larsen.  He was the miracle worker who believed in me and fought the banks to enable me to buy Nawtypoo Cottage and has been a much valued friend ever since.  I knew he would tell me straight up what he thought and awaited his visit with fear and trepidation.  I totally expected him to say 'What the hell are you thinking you mad woman?  Sell your house right now and get yourself out of this mess!'  But he didn't.  Instead he helped me devise a plan which will hopefully help to keep a roof over my head while I'm getting this new venture off the ground.  My first school workshop is August 28th and a community one for the rest of the town will be shortly after to co-incide with Money Week from August 31st - September 6th.  After that, who knows?  Support has already been incredible and I have meetings coming out of my ears.  It's a big risk but what the heck, I'm used to taking those!  And if I'm really lucky, it might just pay off.

I'm going to call my workshops the Bright Future Program.  It just kind of jumped out at me but I rather liked it because for me it has two meanings.  Hopefully I can make a difference in people's lives and help them achieve a brighter future through my teachings.  But throughout this whole crappy few years, you my readers have helped to keep me afloat by always writing to me and telling me how positive I am in my posts.  It always blows me away to hear that because I feel like I'm just whinging!  But indeed I have always prided myself on being an optimist and to hear it from others makes me stronger every time.  So Bright Future it is!

16 comments:

  1. Good on you Jackie! What an awesome thing to do, help our children, help yourself and the community using your passion and incredible knowledge and exerience. You deserve a Bright Future for sure and I look forward to seeing it happen! And while doing so providing many others with the opportunity for a bright future too. Hip hip hooray! Congratulations for having the courage to help so many people xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much Sharon, really means a lot! Fingers crossed the rest of the community are as supportive as you are! :) xx

      Delete
  2. Well done Jackie :) Will be cheering you on.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well done Jackie, we'll be seeing your name everywhere soon. You can do it and you will. I'm not going to say "good luck" because you don't need it. I am going to say "Congratulations" in a positive way.
    Diane L (SS)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Excellent work. I hope it grows in leaps and bounds!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Way to go Jackie!......This needs to be brought into the schools for sure!....I would like to bring in how to cook economical meals for 1 or 2 people and families while on the benefit, how to stretch those meals out and how to cook back to basic meals, some people don't know how to cook from scratch only from jars and packets!

    ReplyDelete
  6. great idea Jackie, you are making the future bright for many young people. This is a lesson that when learned early enough can help people achieve their dreams even if they don't realise it at the time.

    ReplyDelete
  7. That is fantastic Jackie, such a wonderful turnaround. While I was reading some of your past posts I saw the post you did on the book you wrote for your son when he left home, and I thought - what brilliant idea! I don't think I am the only parent who would love to see that as an e-book for kids leaving home..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jo, that's great to know, thank you! When I first started collecting information for the book there was SO much valuable information that people wished they had known when they left home that I got a bit overwhelmed and didn't know where to start. I wanted to include everything but I would have ended up with a volume the size of War and Peace! But yes, I'm still getting so many requests for the book that I will definitely still do it and it will be even better now going hand in hand with these classes. I'm sure as I go around the schools I will learn a lot more first hand about what school leavers need to know too! Will be a while away yet before I get to the book but I will get there :)

      Delete
  8. I was so pleased to read your blog today. I and all you faithful followers know you can do this and you will do it well. You inspire so many people in your written words but face to face you will have them falling in the aisles. I live in WA but if you ever get here I will be in the front row.
    Another thought, how about setting up a frugal website of your own, one where people pay to read all your hints and tips and feel part of a family, like other similar websites lots of us subscribe to. You are a natural writer and you inspire so many people, good luck with your new project.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your lovely words Marilyn! You never know, I would love to go to WA one day! As for setting up a website, I think the likes of Simple Savings and Cheapskates already do a wonderful job of sharing tips and I would never dream of taking anything away from them :) I probably will make a website in the not too far off future but I have no idea what will be on it! I like your idea of feeling part of a family though, I'll keep it in mind. Thanks!

      Delete
  9. Fantastic news! You can't go wrong!

    ReplyDelete
  10. If your blog becomes popular enough, a company may advertise on your site (at their cost). Good wishes.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm so excited for what your future holds Jackie. Inspiring people to live well on less is a wonderful job. Really, It's a dream job. Cath and I just got back from our Adelaide workshop. It was so much fun and we are on a high.

    God's blessings to you and your boys.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank you for sharing such great information. can you help me in finding out more detail on upcoming schools in gurgaon

    ReplyDelete
  13. Doing great. Thanks for sharing the experience with us. Keep posting, also visit Educational Loan For Mba

    ReplyDelete