Worth Listening | Meaningful Money Memoirs Of Millennials And Professional Athletes

Today’s guest is Ruth Riley. Ruth has a long list of accomplishments including NCAA and WNBA Champion, Olympic Gold Medalist, former General Manager of San Antonio Stars, and is currently working as the NBA Academy Global Technical Director for Women’s Programs. Today Ruth will share with us more about her journey from playing college basketball to reaching the WNBA. She talks about how the pay and culture of the WNBA differ from the NBA and the impact that it has on the players. She also shares how she used her time in the WNBA planning for life after playing the game professionally. The lessons that she has learned along the way are ones that we can all apply to our lives and finances. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: How planning out your giving for the year can help you say “no” without feeling guilty. The importance of educating yourself on finances in your downtime. For Ruth, this was while playing overseas, but we all have downtime that we can use to gain knowledge to help us in our finances. The im

Today’s guest is Brian Street. He is an entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and currently pursuing his Ph.D. in social services. Brian is passionate about the importance of pursuing what you love instead of chasing a dollar. Today Brian will share with us more about how he overcame his financial struggles and discovered his true passion. In This Episode We Discuss: Why you need to establish a plan to achieve your personal and financial dreams. Why it’s important to build a network as you work towards your goals. The importance of focusing on what you are passionate about and using your skills in what you do.

Today’s guest is high school student and entrepreneur Miracle Olatunji. Miracle is currently an ambassador for The Diamond Challenge, founder of two companies, and well on her way to a future of financial freedom and success. In her money memoir, she shares her passion for finances, which started at the age of 7 years old. Today Miracle shares with us how participation in the Diamond Challenge has impacted her life and what it’s like to balance school and business at such a young age. She shares with us the importance of educating yourself in the financial world, as well as the lessons she has been learning in investing. She is wise beyond her years and has great advice to share.

Today’s guest is Rocky Garza. Rocky is an entrepreneur, speaker, challenger, and people expert. He also has a service called Personal Identity Mapping that helps people discover how and why they do the things they do. Today Rocky is coming on the show to give us a little insight into how and why he does the things he does. We discuss the things that Rocky’s grandparents did to help him reach the point that he is at right now. How he transitioned to being a homeowner at the age of 24 and his use of roommates to offset the cost of his mortgage. We also discuss the challenges of entrepreneurship and how he and his wife decided to take the leap. Rocky also gives us insight into how he and his wife handle their finances together and why budgeting became important to them for their present and future.

Like many people, Amobi Okugo wanted to be a professional soccer player from a young age. In high school, he realized that his dream might become reality. He was the 6th draft pick in the MLS after his freshmen year in college. He has had a successful athletic career while obtaining his college degree and is getting ready to enter his 9th season. Today he shares with us how he handled the influx of money when we became a professional athlete and why it’s so important for team members and peers to be open about their finances. Amobi believes in accumulating financial knowledge in order to make wise decisions for your financial future.

Haley Chura attended the University of Georgia as a swimmer before transitioning to the life of an accountant at a successful firm. After taking a break from sports she received a challenge from her boss that set her on the path that led to becoming a professional triathlete. It’s a step that she might not have taken if she hadn’t been preparing financially for years. Today we discuss Haley’s journey to become the Ironman Champion last year, after one of the roughest times in her life. She shares the ups and downs of the sport and the impact it has on her finances as well as the importance of always being prepared.

Jason Miller dreamt of becoming a professional football player when in school. His college athletic dreams were put on hold due to injury and financial difficulties. Instead of allowing this to hold him back in life he has continued to adapt his plan to find success. While a career in the NFL wasn’t in the plans, Jason is now a former Marine and entrepreneur that has discovered how to put his money to work for him and enjoys mentoring the high school athletes on the football team that he coaches for. Today we discuss what motivated Jason to join the military and the financial lessons that he learned along the way. We also find out how a dramatic setback in life actually motivated Jason to take the steps necessary to become a successful entrepreneur. For more information, visit the show notes at http://www.worth-listening.com  

Marcus Ginyard played college basketball at UNC Chapel Hill before being selected to travel the world playing basketball.   Marcus shares with us the lesson learned when his emergency fund was spent on something other than an emergency. Finally we talk about managing your income when it is fluctuating and the importance of having money discussions. Other things You’ll Learn in This Episode: What a Roth IRA is Why is important to file and pay your taxes The importance of planning ahead when you have fluctuating income For more money memoirs like this, visit http://www.worth-winning.com/win/podcast/108-ep005

Professional rock climber, Sasha DiGiulian, has been competing since she was 12 years old. Sasha turned professional before she even entered college! Today Sasha will share with us more about her life as a professional rock climber and how she balanced doing both throughout college. She will also share how she managed her own contracts on her own from a young age and what she learned about building the right team of professionals around her, like a financial advisor and manager. In This Episode We Discuss: What to look for when building a team, including a financial planner What the life and schedule of a professional rock climber looks like The importance of learning your worth and not settling for what you don’t agree with. For more information, visit the show notes at http://www.worth-listening.com

Brandon Okpalobi is Founder and CEO of DIBIA Athletic Development and DIBIA Dream, Inc, Today we discuss how Brandon made $2 allowance in high school, then how he walked on the basketball at a Division 1 college school and earned a scholarship. Finally we talk about how you don’t have to be playing sports to be involved in sports. Brandon is still involved with basketball by running both a non profit organization and a for profit business.

2016 Olympian Meghan O’leary played all sort of sports growing up and even played volleyball and softball in college. Yet, she didn’t find rowing until after college. Yes, she started rowing AFTER college, became an Olympian and recently made history by earning silver medalist in the 2017 world championships.   Today we discuss her parent’s impact on her money habits, and being intentional about beefing up your resume so you can go after your dream job. We also discuss how money works in rowing and why it is necessary to have a job while training and competing. At the height of her sports career she is still working but now to build her equity in a startup. For more information, visit the show notes at http://worth-listening.com

We kick the show off with one of the best NFL running backs to ever play the game, Clinton Portis. You have probably heard his name in the news frequently for being great football player or for fun personalities that kept the sport fans entertained while playing for the Washington Redskins. More recently the news has been surrounding the trouble he has had with money. Reporters tell the story from their point of view but I believe no one is more qualified to tell your story than than you. The purpose of this show is to encourage the world to start having the the right conversations about money. The kind that allow others to learn from our mistakes. The kind that is open, honest and inspires education thru conversation. In this episode Clinton Speaks candidly, about the circumstances that lead to some of the mistakes he made. He shares with us words of caution and words of wisdom. One of the shows motto’s is “You don't have to get it all right, to be allright.” You will see despite his mistakes Clinton is doi

Welcome to the Worth Listening Podcast. I started my company, Worth Winning, because young professionals and athletes need something different from what the financial industry has offered in the past. We want to make good money decisions we just need someone we can relate to who knows finances. I want to fill that gap. We are in the middle of making huge life decisions: pursuing advanced degrees, buying homes, getting married, having kids, and switching jobs. This is when we need financial planning the most! A secure future starts with a healthy foundation. As athletes, we put everything we’ve got into our sport but what happens when competing is no longer an option? As we transition to life after sport we create new goals and dreams. I want to help you prepare a plan to find and fund the dreams that are truly worth winning. — Lauryn Williams, MBA Find more about what Worth Winning is all about at http://www.worth-listening.com