If you took a minute to think about what the hardest part of your life is, what would it be?
For me, The hardest part has been deciding what it is that I want in life. I have accomplished a lot thus far, but even in moments of success I still feel empty. It's funny because I have tons of support and so many people who believe in me; however, I realize that none of that matters if I don't believe in myself. As cliche as it sounds, it's the truth and most importantly it is MY truth.
I’ll give you a bit of a back story
For years, I moved in what I believed was the "right" direction because I wanted to make my family proud. My mom in particular has always been someone I admired. Her drive, strength, persistence, dedication and the fact that she excelled at just about everything she focused on, attracted me to follow in her academic and career footsteps. At one point, she was a pre-med student, so guess who decided they wanted to be a doctor too? You guessed it, Me. However, life had other plans and she later obtained a business degree in Accounting instead and guess who decided to get a degree in Accounting? Yup, me. My mom then started working for one of the top 4 Accounting firms and guess what my "dream job" was? However, after landing that job and accomplishing all that I thought I wanted I was far from happy and most of all BROKE!
Oh, I forget to mention that despite excelling at her accounting career, my mom loved to shop and wasn't the best at managing her money. Since she had such an influence on me I found myself inheriting those same poor money management habits. As I received promotions, increases, changed jobs, etc. my expenses would always find a way to keep up with or out do my income. I finally decided to create a budget and commit to it in an attempt to save myself from being evicted and having to constantly borrow money from family to get by each month. By this time I was a financial analyst at a large company and with the responsibility to review/create budgets for the business. To be completely honest, I cannot say that I loved my job at all, but it paid the bills and I was able to learn enough to not only help myself get on track financially, but to also help my friends and family as well.
Unfortunately & fortunately, at the end of 2018 my team was informed that due to a company restructure we would no longer be a team. On March 31, 2019 I was left with a tough decision to make. I had the option of searching for a new position internally or accepting a severance package and moving on. My last few months working there were the absolute worst, I went from feeling confident that I was going to stay with the company to completely confused and heartbroken. As my final days drew closer, I still wasn’t sure of what I wanted to do. After countless prayer and breakdown sessions, I made the decision to move on and not stay with the company.
During this time, I needed to figure out my next move and think strategically rather than making an emotional decision (for once in my life). And for the first time, I felt in control. I was in control of myself, my life and I had no desire to follow anyone else’s life journey. I wanted to understand my purpose and what would make me happy. After some careful self evaluation and knowing what it is I’m great at, I was able to gain clarity of my purpose. I am here to help! I discovered I am here to help people, like myself, overcome their financial situations by learning how to effectively use the financial resources available.
I didn't have a lot when I was growing up and as an adult, the more I earned, the more I spent. In the process of discovering my purpose,I realized I am not the only one with this mind frame and bad habit. The majority of the people in my community were and still are in that same boat and riding the unstable waves of financial responsibility. Y’all know the saying “rob Peter to pay Paul"; that’s us. A sad truth and the ultimate reason I decided to create my brand and business, Monetary Monarch, LLC. Welcome!
My goal is to educate, empower and motivate people to shift their mindset towards understanding what hinders them from achieving financial freedom and how to overcome those road blocks by providing educational resources to help them begin and/or reset their financial journey. I have no idea where this journey may take me, but I know that it will be impactful and fulfilling and most importantly, I will continue living life on my terms while inspiring others to do the same one financial mindset at a time.
Reign Over Your Financial State of Mind!
- Shanae Carrington
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