From day one when she joined TCI in April 2019, long time financial adviser Karen Eley was “very clear” her niche was around financial coaching.
“So that’s purely what I focus on,” she says. “Women’s relationship with money. I help people understand why they should be doing what they should be doing.”
Karen’s goal is to scale up her coaching business Women Talking Finance and help more people: “Many of us have grown up to believe we leave the finances to the men and I really just want to push back on that and encourage women to manage their money better and have a great relationship with it."
“The feedback I’m getting from clients now is a real heartfelt thanks. I put a torch in there and shine a light on all these things they’ve never seen before and they are eternally grateful. And I’m grateful to TCI for what you’ve shown me."
After 22 years in the financial services industry, the Adelaide mum-of-two—sons Max, 10, and Angus, 8—knows finances inside out. What she was less familiar with when she joined TCI was … herself.
“There’s no better word than transformational,” she says of coaching.
“It is life changing, and once you have that awareness about what’s going on you can make long lasting changes. It was about doing the work myself then being able to share it with clients.”
While she “loved” being a financial adviser Karen questioned what her purpose was: “Now knowing that and being on the right track, it lights me up, it’s fun. I go to the office and I play.”
How did you find TCI?
I reckon it was on a Facebook ad. I was in a career change and thought perhaps coaching might be something that would be useful in my new career.
Where are you at with your TCI journey?
Pro Coach. I joined in April 2019 and I upgraded to Pro Coach at FOCS.
What has TCI given you?
Lots of things, both professional and personal point. Understanding myself better, being able to relate to myself, being able to identify the patterns and strategies that I run automatically. I feel I’m in control of my life, having that conscious awareness around what I’m doing. Before I just went with the flow. You can live by design or default, and I was living by default.
What have you struggled with?
You can have all the theory and awareness but rewiring the patterns and changing those, it’s hard work. I don’t think I’ll ever be, ‘I’m fully on top of this, I’ve got it all together’ but I’m getting okay at it.
Where are you at with your business?
I’ve niched in just helping women between the ages of 30 and 55, that’s when we kind of have this alarm bell go off: ‘I earned all this money and I have nothing to show for it’. I look at internal solutions to external problems. I work with about ten clients at a time. I get into the office at 9.15 after I drop the kids at school. I leave at 3 to pick them up. I do some of my admin stuff when they go to bed and I work on a Saturday morning with client sessions. It’s very flexible.
“What I have learned through TCI has just been life changing in terms of how how I manage myself as a parent, setting those boundaries and communicating with my sons in a different way to honour them as human beings rather than just, 'Do as you are told,'
In what ways has TCI lived up to or exceeded your expectations?
In the way that I just doesn’t feel like a business or a transaction. There’s so much support which was totally unexpected. At FOCS I was very judgemental and cynical, but it all comes from a place of genuine love and care and excitement. I paid the same amount for my accounting degree and … I value my course at TCI more than I do my degree in terms of the value I’ve added to my life.
Biggest milestones?
That lightbulb moment when things change for clients. They come in with their shoulders slumped, carrying the weight of the world, and after a couple of sessions it’s like they’re a different person. Also going back and talking to over 500 of my financial adviser peers. I had only just finished a ‘How To Run a Successful Workshop’ with Matt and he’d given me great tools and strategies, and the feedback I got was amazing.
Your most successful marketing strategy?
Running Facebook ads has been helpful, and landing pages and lead magnets have been really successful. I highly recommend all students do that and just follow the process the Dream Team does.
What do you know about yourself that you didn’t before TCI?
Everything. I have learned to trust myself. I’ll never forget what Matt told us at the free weekend workshop before I signed up. I practice it daily, it was transformational. He said, ‘You have to keep your promises to yourself’.
Advice for other fabulous coaches?
Be kind to yourself. Treat yourself like you would your best friend if they had this massive mountain to climb.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
I’m fully booked out in my financial coaching practice, I have a franchise so I’ve fully trained other financial coaches in all states of Australia. I am regularly asked to speak as an expert on money mindset in Australia and overseas, and I’ve created a great work, spending time with family and also contributing to worthwhile causes.
A qualified accountant and financial planner, Karen has worked in the financial services industry for 22 years. She is a former shoe addict who understands the temptation of want vs saving, and is committed to showing women what’s possible with money, from a practical and psychological perspective. Karen is rejuvenated by being at the beach and is someone who draws you in with her energy and enthusiasm and makes you feel good about yourself.
Ten Minutes With … TCI’s Wow Queen of Love Paula Bernardić