It is time to get solar powered. This is the solar powered podcast. My name is Ryan Hall from loyal hearts coaching, royal hearts coaching dot com, life and relationship coaching for kings. And again, on this episode, we continue with our author interview series from The Great Paws, blessings and wisdom from COVID 19. This is a book that's coming out from Green Heart Living Press here in just a matter of weeks. It's coming out in August.
I'll soon to be offering, I will soon to be offering a a presale on my website, royal hearts coaching.com, so do not miss that. I'm still kind of working out the details on that, figuring out a way to make that happen. But, over the past, the past few dozen episodes, we've had a lot of been we've had a lot of conversations and a lot of, connection with some of my fellow authors, in this incredible new book.
And I've been reading, I've been reading a draft of the ebook, and y'all, this is so special. This is gonna be a big, big deal. And I am so blessed to be able to have at least my voice as part of this incredible new book. And speaking of voices, I've got another one on the line right now. Her name is Jackie Baldwin. By day, she is a financial adviser, but by night, she's got a passion for writing and for storytelling.
And she's a mom, and just it's an honor to be able to connect with my new friend, Jackie Baldwin. Welcome to the solar powered podcast. Thank you, Brian. It's such an honor and pleasure to be here with you, and I am so excited to have been part of this collaborative work along with you and all of our other follow-up partners. And I I agree with you.
This is going to be big, not just for today, but I believe this is gonna be one of those books that in 20 years from now, people when they're trying to find out who didn't live through this pandemic are going to wanna know what was it really like. And I believe that this book is gonna be one of those ones that they pick up and they start reading to try to really delve into what was it actually like to live through this. So I'm really excited about that aspect too. No. Totally. Totally.
It's like when you turn on the news and you're hearing, you know, x number of new cases and x number of new fatalities, it just kinda gets overwhelming. But to like we were speaking about before we, rolled the recording, just being able to put a human face and a human story behind some of these numbers is going to be a huge blessing, I believe. Absolutely. I mean, this book personalizes it in a very deep and raw way.
What I also am finding, and I was sharing with you before, is I'm enjoying and treasuring this book so much that I'm trying to pace myself and not read it all in one sitting because I find it just delicious. And wanting to read every story and wanting to really resonate with each author and what how they were experiencing it and finding how that piece of it, either is eye opening to me on something I didn't see or yeah. That's me in a nutshell.
I totally get where you're at, and it feels so good to know there's somebody else feeling the same way. So I love it. Yeah. Totally. Totally. Well, before we get much further, I just have a little tradition on this podcast. First time guest, who is Jackie Baldwin? Well, thank you. So so I am, as you mentioned, a mom of 2 adult boys. I'm a financial I call myself a financial architect because we really I like to say that I'm building, a strong financial house with my clients.
They can weather any storm. So that's been really, through this whole COVID, that's been wonderful to see that the clients I've been working with, you know, are secured through this storm. Like of a storm. And, I am an avid volunteer. I'm very active within my community, helping, you know, the underserved and so forth. So that's what really feeds my passion. I'm an outdoor person, so I love to kayak and hike. That's where I refill my cup so that I can continue to pour out to others.
So and I have, 2 dogs, and 2 cats. So that kinda sums me up. I love it. I love it. Yeah. So you have cohost. I have a cohost. I think we all have, you know, we yeah. Although I've got the external I've got the I'm sorry? The stories that they could tell are probably crazy. Oh, from your lipstick. God dearest, Jackie. Yeesh.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, well, one of the I I do wanna talk a little a little about the financial adviser portion of, you know, portion of your life because a lot of people right now unemployment is sky high right now. A lot of people are scared. A lot of people have a lot of a lot of uncertainty.
I have some uncertainty in my life, but, you know, I guess, what would be some ways that you know, what would be some things that you can say to people to kind of massage those fears as a lot of people are starting to go back to work, a lot of people are starting to get back out into the world? Right. So, you know, the big thing with financial planning, and having a secure plan to weather any storm, is to have, like, a financial coach, which I also consider myself. I know you're a coach.
I consider myself a financial coach, And so I work with everybody and the big thing is to not get panic stricken. There are, things out there that can help. There's, you know, services that are out there, but also if I know a lot of people, it's not it's not the best, but if you do need to tap into some of your retirement today, you know, then then there are ways to do that but do it carefully. Don't exhaust it. Try to put off payments that you can work.
The big thing is if you're behind on something, don't put your head in the sand about it. Pick up the phone and make phone calls. That really helps. Because most places like credit card companies and utilities are willing to work with people right now. And so you're only going to make your own situation worse if you don't at least make the phone calls. So I know things are rough in that regard.
And as far as getting back to work, the biggest thing I can always tell people is really watch your budget. Most of us tend to overspend easily. So if we can try to have a few months of savings that you can start building up toward, then if you have another situation where there's a crunch, you have some some backup. And as far as, you know, this this country has seen many, many financial crises.
So I always get people worried about the stock market and, you know, are we is it are we gonna totally crash? Their businesses are out there that some are going to not be able to survive, but a vast majority are. So it's not as if we're going through a tough time, but I'm not one of these doom and gloom people. I do believe that we're going to come back around. We just need to to hold tight and work together and support one another. Yeah. Yeah. I I I totally get that.
One of the things that I heard from what you were sharing there is just be smart about your money. Be, you know, be prudent, be smart, and be, you know, be responsible. You know, one of the things you, you know, you said is when you start falling behind with stuff, one of the, you know, one of the ways that I've gotten in trouble myself is, just kind of, you know, going full ostrich and just kinda hiding my, you know, hiding my head in the sand.
But picking up the phone, making those phone calls Mhmm. You know, really does help. Like, I just, like, I was completely, like, paralyzed with fear, because I had not been able to pay anything on my cell phone bill since February. But I always spoke to them. I always, you know, I always spoke to them and, you know, they were, you know, they they were very, they were very open and, you know, set help helping me set up a payment plan.
And because, you know, when you were out of work for a little while like I was Yes. You want that phone to ring. You need that phone to ring. Absolutely. That is critical. Yes. Yep. And the other thing is I, when I'm working with my clients, I take I guess I have a lot of terms for myself. I'm a financial architect or a financial coach, and I take a very holistic approach. So I want my clients to have there's 3 dimensions to health.
There's many more nuances, but in general to me there are 3 dimensions to health and that is physical. Right? We have to be physically healthy. Spiritually healthy, whatever that means for each person individually. And financially healthy. If any one of those is left neglected, it doesn't mean that we're not working. It doesn't mean that you're totally healthy in any one in all those areas. But you need to be intentional about working toward establishing health in those three areas.
If you totally neglect any one of those, when you think about it, they all affect one another. If you're not physically healthy, you become financially unhealthy very quickly Either due to not working or large bills or both, medical bills. Spiritually, if you're not centered and able to focus, you cannot work effectively. You can't you you tend to I know I do. If I'm upset, I go and get ice cream. Right? So I overspend to try to, cover up my emotional wound.
So really, all these areas need to be attended to and works toward being healthy. And so I make sure that I also coach my clients on that and I make sure I partner with other so one of our other authors is doctor for example. I make sure I send my clients to doctor for that reason too. So there's all that that you know, there's a lot into things and we all need to really pay attention to that. And because also if you're not sleeping, which I Hey, I'm I'm all for that.
When I when I'm emotionally or, upset because I'm concerned about my finances or my health, I don't sleep. And then that makes everything worse because you're overtired and you're emotionally frazzled, and now you can't think straight and everything looks a 1000 times worse than it would if you could just get some sleep. So all those things, it's just it's important. Yeah. It no. It totally is. It totally is.
And one of the analogies that I like to use with my clients when that well-being is out of whack is like, it's like a 3 legged stool. If that mind, body, or spirit is it it it is out of whack, you're gonna be sitting on a wobbly stool and that ain't gonna work. It's the exact same analogy. Yep. Yeah. Brilliant minds think alike, I guess. That's right. Not in all true. It's so true. Yeah. Yeah. It really is. And I wanna apologize for my cohost. They're just giving me a complete heart attack.
Yes. Speaking of physical health. But yeah. Yeah. No. It's, you know, I I think that's a really I think that's a really, you know, beautiful beautiful way to say this because it's not so much, hey, how much money you've got in the bank, but it's like how, like, it's like how healthy you are financially. It's a it's a complete it it's a real health.
And, because if you're not healthy financially, which I haven't done for a long time, but if you're not healthy financially, that's gonna affect you spiritually. That's gonna affect you mentally and physically, and it's, you know, it can be a real, you know, a a a real, snowball thing. Right. To me, it doesn't as I mentioned, it just means that you need to be working toward it.
So if somebody is struggling financially, just as we mentioned, picking up a phone call is working toward, I mean picking up the phone to make that phone call to the person is already working toward making you healthier financially. It doesn't mean that if you're not 100% there today that it's a mess. That's not it at all. It just means find either if you don't have the resources or the knowledge, to work through them yourself, then find someone who can help you and guide you through that.
There's a lot of young people today who, you know, in school, they don't teach budgeting, which is key. Oh, if wishing made it so. Right. And they don't they don't teach a lot of things anymore in high school. And so, having 2 adult sons, working with them toward budgeting, making sure that no matter what you put a little bit in savings because you won't miss it and treat it as if it's gone. Not as if, oh, yeah, I see my savings building up. I can spend that. That's your emergency fund.
So put the money in there intentionally. Don't and then you're not getting stopping at Starbucks to get the coffee or, you know, whatever that case may be. But teaching young people these, very healthy habits just like teaching them to exercise, eat right, and take care of themselves spiritually, we need to be working on teaching people good financial health as well, right from the get go. As soon as they get that first job, they need to understand how to budget that. It's really important.
And then it just becomes a life habit and it's a lot easier to manage than when you have to totally flip everything. So not trying to preach, just blueprint's on. Well, how does that pulpit look, Jackie? But and, you know, just kidding. It's a but, you know, I I'm I'm I'm really grateful for you to say that because there's just there's just a lot of people who, you know and it's yes. It's not just right after you get your first job.
It's, you know, when you get into adulthood and start getting into your career, a lot of people just really have never been taught, have never been shown proper ways to budget, proper ways to take care of their money, what investing, you know, what investing means, what those little ticker what those little ticker symbols mean on the Jim Cramer show. I mean, stuff like that. Yes. Yes. Yes. And that, there's a difference. You can't just say I wanna be in the market.
Well, what market are we talking about? And how does that fit in an overall plan? It's not you're either in cash or you're in the market. We have to have a nice blend. You have to have I won't get into all of that, but there's a lot that goes into it. And if once people get that picture, then they're like, oh, that makes sense. But I have so many people come to me and say, well, what's what's a hot tip? What's this? What's that? You know, where should I be in the market? And I said, wait.
We gotta back way up here. And just like when you go to the doctor, if you go to the doctor and you say, I got this pain in my knee. They don't sit there and diagnose the problem with your knee. They ask you about your overall health. What's your health history? How what are you doing? Are you hurting anywhere else? What are these other symptoms?
Because in order to properly diagnose what's wrong with your knee, they need to know what's going on with your total body because there may be something else going on that is affecting the pain in the knee elsewhere in the body. And so that's exactly what a financial advisor does is they ask all these other probing questions because we need to know your full financial health in order even if I'm only gonna help you on one piece, I still need to know the whole thing.
Or else I could end up hurting the rest of your body. That makes it no. No. That makes complete sense. That that makes complete sense. It's like if you're, you know, like like the people that come to you, hey. What's a hot tip? What's a hot tip? And, you know, if you give them that hot tip and they invest their life savings into that hot tip and that hot tip just completely craters, then Correct. Somebody's gonna be mad at you. Absolutely.
And you might be and there might be some, you know, there might be some legal ramifications and something like that too. So Right. Right. But I'm also just not serving my clients well to do that at all ever. And so, I think sometimes people walk away frustrated, but that's okay. They can find someone else that might give them that hot chip. That's I can't sleep at night, and I need to know to sleep at night. So As we established earlier in the conversation. Yeah. Exactly.
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we, you know, we could completely go down this rabbit hole for the rest of the conversation, but I have it that you did not write about financial planning for the great pause. I didn't. The only thing I really included in there, which I had, June, was the, you know, the emotional feelings that when when the market took such a dramatic turn south, in March in such a contracted period of time that, you know, even for someone like myself, I've been in this for since 1986.
So I've seen the 87, the dotcom, the you know, I've seen them all. And even with that, you it it still can't help but, like, give you that awful pit in your stomach feeling of like, oh my gosh. But, you know, then you get back to, okay, no, we're good. You know, that's when you start delving into the fundamentals and whatnot. But so you talked about that.
But I thought also what was so incredible and you kinda touched on this in your chapter as well was the hoarding and the panic and going and buying, like, shelves of stuff to, you know, and I thought that was incredible. And some people did it because they were legitimately scared, but then there were those, I guess, entrepreneurs who thought, no joke, they could sell a bowl of toilet paper for $15. That's incredible.
I mean, I just found that I here we are trying to help one another and then you have these people. And then there are people out there that would pay $15. Don't go pick leaves off the tree first. Sorry. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. I mean, like, I will never like like, if my if you know, once you read my chapter, you'll understand this a little bit more. But, and I I've spoken about this a lot. But my, and but I don't think I included this in this chap in my chapter.
But my former landlord, the one that kicked me out right before the pandemic hit, right before everything really hit hard and heavy. I'll, like, I'll never forget walking down with my dog, and the garage door was open which it never was. I, like, I never went up to the, you could get up to the house through the garage, but I never went through there maybe once or twice in the almost year that I lived there. But, but my landlord wasn't there, and there was so much stuff.
Like like, almost an entire I mean, I'm exaggerating here, but it was like an entire delivery truck, worth of Costco stuff. I mean, who needs an entire case of of chocolate covered peanuts? Right. Who, like, who needs all this stuff? I mean, that that that just completely took me out. But, you know, like, I I could have, like, started to, like, I guess, really get paranoid about that stuff. But, yeah, it's, you know, it's, you know, it it gets in a lot of people's heads.
And the fact that and that brings us to, you know, the lack of control. Right? We didn't have this this pandemic came through like a freight train so quickly. Things were changing highly at times, not even just daily. We were getting new news and more places were shutting down and more sports teams were closing and all this stuff was happening. Like, if you watch the TV, no wonder everybody was starting to totally panic.
I had to find myself I just turned it off because it I was finding myself to feed into that of, Oh, my gosh. I missed the boat. I didn't get my 50 rolls of toilet paper, you know. So, I mean, I see because it's a lack of control. So then you decide you're gonna you're gonna take control in whatever way you can. And if that means that you're gonna have a year's worth of toilet paper and paper towels and chocolate covered peanuts, then if that made you feel better, I guess.
But I chose to take control by looking outward not inward. And reaching out to others saying, how are you doing? Because then I didn't I was taking control of my little world by saying, I refuse to be hold up and held captive by this pandemic. I'm gonna get out there and I'm gonna maybe not physically go out, but I'm gonna make calls. I'm gonna do Zoom meetings. I wanna check on people, see how they're doing. As you had said, like, have face to face even if it's just through a computer.
We're humans. We need that. We thrive on that. And so that's how I chose to kind of take back, the control instead of giving it up to this pandemic. I was like, no, I'm not I'm not going there. And, and that's how I ended up getting back into, the groove and living again. Because I we all could have just curled up in our bed in the fetal position and stayed there for 3 months, you know. And many and many people have. And they have.
And I and I and I feel badly, and I and that's why I wanna make sure I kept calling people to make sure that they were still engaged. Because if they weren't, let's talk. You know, it's it is. And and especially for people who are living by themselves or, you know, whatever. It's it's very easy. We if you're not leaving the house and you're not seeing people, you gotta get out there and see them one way or the other. So Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Like, I have, I have, a a group of, like, 4, friends.
We have a weekly Zoom call every Tuesday night. You know, we're all writers. We all talk about writing and complain about agents and stuff like that, but this is something that we all look forward to every Tuesday night. And, you know, the, like, the creativity that you can get from just, you know, platforms like Zoom, like like we're on right now. Like like, few months ago, I played poker with some friends over Zoom.
I mean, it, you know, it just really, you know, you you really don't know what you've got until you actually try it. Exactly. And there's certain you having that weekly meeting on Tuesdays, it adds some normalcy to a very abnormal life that we're all lead leading right now. And that's really key to having that emotional stability is to have something to look forward to, something that's normal that you're doing every week with a group of people that you trust and feed your soul.
And I think that's beautiful. And I'm so grateful you have that. That's wonderful. Really important. Yeah. No. It's incredibly important. What what was your for, you know, for readers who will soon be reading this, the the great pause, What is maybe one big takeaway that readers could take from your chapter? Like like the biggest nugget? Oh, there's a few, but I think if we wanted to just start looking forward in the blessings, right, because that's what we really were focusing on.
The blessings I think that we need to be looking at are what are these new normals for us? And what opportunities opened up that just like you're saying, I never would have thought about zoom as being anything but a way to conduct business with people who are far away. That's it. I never used it for something like this to have a conversation. I pick up the phone. I am one of those strange people that don't have an iPhone. I have a cheaper Android.
So I never really sat there and did, you know, what FaceTime, I guess they call it, and all that. So for me, this is a totally different thing. But it allowed me to reconnect with family. I'm the only I and my brother are the only ones that live here in Connecticut. The rest of my family is strewn across from Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Virginia, all over the world.
And this has allowed me to really get reconnected with family that which seems so silly to me now, but I didn't I didn't know this was a possibility. Like you're saying, we played games just like we would if we were together. So I feel like I've actually gotten closer to people. I feel like it's allowed, I think those types of things when we look at the blessings, let's hold on to those as we move out of this.
You know, at some point we'll be able to emerge from our homes again and perhaps even be maskless at some point. But let's not lose the blessings that we received from this. Let's hold on to these. I don't wanna lose touch with those family members again or my friends that have moved away. This is such a great way to stay connected in a very different way. And looking at all the people, now I'm a big hiker and I've always been a big hiker. And I belong to a couple of Facebook hiking pages.
And some of the people are lamenting the fact that there's so many more people out on the trails. Yes. Personally, selfishly, I like having the trails to myself, but I'm so grateful that there's families that have never experienced being out in nature that are now getting out there and doing this. And I hope that they stay with that, that they don't resort back to playing their video games and being apart from one another. Let's let's stay engaged with one another.
Let's have those family dinners like they were having. Let's walk the neighborhood and wave at people, you know. I think some of that old time stuff that maybe we laugh about like I'm leaving the beaver and some of those older shows. I saw some of that coming back and I wanna hold on to that. The sense of community. I had so many people that said to me, I never even knew my neighbors before this. How sad, right?
Like I find that they're getting to know each other on a deeper level and we need each other and we need to love each other. And I hope that that's the biggest nugget that comes out of when people read what I wrote. Just being open to that and staying focused and intentional even when things start getting hectic again. Let's not slip. Let's hold on to that. So beautifully put. So beautifully put.
If you if you think about it like this, this big ball that we all live on, there's 7a half 1000000000 people. We can either be 7a half 1000000000 individuals or we could be 1 human race. Yes. And to me, that has been the biggest over over all of these conversations that I've had with authors from this book.
That has been my biggest takeaway is it really my biggest one of my biggest takeaways from my whole experience is that it has helped so many people get reconnected with just what's important, family, loved ones, friends, you know, people who live across the country, getting closer with people who live far away. I've got I've grown incredibly close with my sister, and she lives out in Alabama.
So there's just a there's just so much that can be so like, so many blessings so many blessings of just pressing pause. I mean, this is it's a beautiful title for it, but just pressing pause and remembering just what is important to you. Yes. Yep. We strip away all of these outer layers of garments, right? And we get down to, you know, your underwear kind of thing if you want to say it that way. And we're like, okay, now we we've gotten rid of all of this other stuff that's distracting.
And now we're down to our essential selves. Let's embrace that and have build these deep relationships because at the end of the day, those relationships, the all the money in the world, fame, accolades, none of that means anything if you don't have these deep relationships to then share all of these experiences with. And I think in a certain circumstance, I myself found found myself comparing myself to other people.
Oh, I don't have as much as they have or or I, you know, why don't they have this or, you know, any number of things. And I found this broke it all down and, like, oh, let's just love each other. Just love each other. It's simple. Simple yet so hard. Right? Why do we find that so hard? I know. Oh, boy. Oh, boy. We could go for another hour about that one. But, you know, one of the thing, like, was a meme that I saw that just seems really appropriate right now.
It's like, let's take, you know, let's take 2 let's take 2 people. 1 person was, you know, homeless, barely had a penny to his name, you know, didn't have any friends, family, whatnot. And you take another guy who drives a, you know, who drives a Lamborghini, has a, you know, a hedge fund manager, lives in a big house, you know, that kind of thing. Mhmm. But when they both die, they're gonna be both buried in this in very similar boxes. Yep. And you can't take it with you.
And you can't take it with you when you go. So what did you what did you do while you were here? To bring blessings to others. Meaningful blessings to others. Yeah. Because that's for me, when I can give to somebody else, whether it be as we were talking earlier, a smile, a kind word that brightens their day. I've suffered severe depression myself and so I know what it feels like to walk and be, invisible to others at the moment when you need to be visible.
You need people to see you and to just let you know that you should you're valued and you need to be here on this earth. And so I try to because of my experiences, I make sure that when I come across people that I smile and I say hello and wish them a good day and ask a question because you don't know what they're going through. And I might have just saved that person's life that day because I let them know that they were valued, That they need they should be here.
It's so important to do that each and every day. Don't let people be invisible. Preach it. Preach it. Amen to that. Amen to that. It, you know, it's all about there's always like, every gravestone always has one thing in common. There's a day that they're born and the day that you die, how do you fill that dash between those two numbers?
Yep. Absolutely. And I intend to fill every day with making sure that I have reached one person or if I'm not reaching out to somebody that I am filling my cup so that tomorrow I can reach out to 3 people. Because I don't wanna get too tired to keep pouring out to others and I have learned that too the hard way. I used to pour out, pour out, pour out and forget that I had to kinda regroup sometimes. And that can be very dangerous as well for somebody.
But don't forget to then start pouring back out again, you know. Otherwise, you're just gonna overflow and it's not going anywhere. It's okay. Yep. Yep. Absolutely. Make every drop worth it. Make make every drop worth it. I think we just got the title for this episode. That's right. Yes. I love it. One more question before we run here.
Is there as as like we said, as we're starting to emerge from the cocoon of the of the quarantine as we're starting to head back out into the world, Is there one little nugget that you like to leave with our listeners of just how to how to move forward and how to move forward with with purpose? So I know that as I felt this myself, so I'm not trying to project but I imagine a number of people felt that way.
It's almost as if when you open the door for the first time and you start walking out, panic sets in because you're like, oh, it's out there. This pandemic, it's a monster. It's out there and it's gonna come attach itself to me, you know, or or one of my loved ones. And I guess it's just don't live in fear. Just don't live in fear. Go out there, embrace life, feed your soul, help others. Don't allow this fear. You know, I I am a very spiritual person and fear does not come from god.
It comes from someone else. And so we need to make sure we're focused on what god is calling us to do because he never instills fear. That fear doesn't come from that. So we need to go out in the world and share the love that we're supposed to love, share and not live in this deep dark fear. That's that's the biggest thing I can say. Be mindful, but not fearful. There we go. There we go. Jackie Baldwin has been a real privilege. How can people find you on the interwebs?
So, they can find me on, my website, which is www.blbinarc.com. That's lf incarc.com. I'm also on Facebook. I have a business page, Jacklyn Clark Baldwin, excuse me, CLTC. And, yeah, just I'm out there. I can't be involved. Alright. And we'll include all the information in the show notes below. Jackie Baldwin, thank you so much for joining us. It's been a real privilege. Oh my gosh. You just made my whole day. I'm ready to go out and light the world on fire today.
Thank you so much for, just enriching me. I appreciate it. My privilege, and go do that. And we thank you so much for joining us here on the solar powered podcast, the presentation of Royal Hearts Coaching. For more information, you can find me on royal hearts coaching.com, or you can follow me on social media at Ryan Hall Writes on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, or you can just shoot me a good old fashioned email at Ryan at Royal Hearts Coaching dot com.
Thank you so much for listening to the solar powered podcast. Until we meet again, this is Ryan Hall saying thank you so much for listening. So long for now. I love you all, and go get solar powered right after you wash your hands and put on a mask.