Money Tales

Money Tales

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Money Tales episodes

  • Be in Life, with Dr. Ido Cohen
    In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Dr. Ido Cohen. Money was confusing for Ido when he was growing up. His mom and dad had very different cultural orientations and mindsets about money. As a result, there weren’t many money discussions happening in the household. It wasn’t until Ido traveled to India as a young adult that he started to refine his own views about money. India was different. It’s a country full of opposites where extreme poverty walks next to vast wealth. Ido learned to be in life and enjoy it without letting money feel all consuming.
    Dr. Ido Cohen, Psy.D serves individuals, couples, and groups in San Francisco. As part of his practice, Ido works with a diverse range of challenges –- childhood trauma, inner critic, relational issues, anxiety, a lack of fulfillment and more. Ido believes that in the intersection of our psychological, emotional, somatic and spiritual dimensions, we can develop our relationship with our inner world, and create the changes we want to see in our life. Ido is passionate in supporting individuals to create long term, sustainable change leading to vibrant, authentic, expressive and love filled lives.
    55 min
  • Everything is Negotiable, with Ned Montenecourt
    In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Ned Montenecourt. At the age of 30, Ned and his siblings went through a life-altering event. Their dad died suddenly. In the wake of that disaster, they learned that the vacation cottage that their family owned for more than 100 years might have to be sold to cover the resulting estate tax. Worse than that, their sister was disinherited. Decades later, they have yet to fully recover their relationship with her.
    Ned Montenecourt, CRCP, is Senior Vice President and Chief Risk and Compliance Officer at Phoenix American. He is responsible for managing all aspects of the firm’s risk and compliance framework as well as helping to hone the firm’s business strategy. He has vast experience designing, building, and implementing risk control programs at financial services entities ranging from start-ups to large public institutions. His expertise centers on systems integration, supervisory controls, process automation, regulatory training, regulatory and audit exam management and operational risk. Ned also serves as an advisor to Legacy Foundry, a software platform where families and their advisors can plan for longevity and end-of-life.
    Previously, Ned was the Chief Compliance Officer for BlackRock’s Distribution and Execution entities. Prior to his time at BlackRock Ned held executive compliance and risk roles at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank in NY. He has a BS and BA, Finance and Architecture, from Lehigh University and is a graduate of the CRCP Executive Education Program in conjunction with FINRA from University of Pennsylvania – The Wharton School Executive Program.
    39 min
  • Own Your Own Money Story, with Kraig Kann
    In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Kraig Kann. As a child, Kraig dreamt of becoming a professional sportscaster. That’s all he wanted to do, and sure enough, that’s what he did. Kraig became a huge success. He enjoyed a 25-year television career, including 17 years at Golf Channel/NBC. Kraig was one of the first to interview Tiger Woods as Tiger turned professional, he was hanging with Arnold Palmer, and he was living his dream. But life is hard, and things outside of our control happen all the time. The real estate market imploded just as Kraig’s contract came up for renewal, forcing him to draw on his creativity and entrepreneurial spirit to make some purposeful shifts.
    Kraig founded Kann Advisory Group in 2016 and serves as Managing Director of the organization providing strategic media, marketing and communications consulting plus media training, branding and presentation skills coaching. His vast experience on all sides of the media including years as both a network television personality and C-Suite sports executive make him an industry influencer, respected spokesperson and requested speaker.
    After a 25-year television career that included 17 at Golf Channel/NBC where he was an original on-air member and ultimately the lead studio host, Kraig made a career pivot and elevated the Ladies Professional Golf Association as its Chief Communications Officer from 2011-2016. His time in front of the camera and comfort interviewing athletes, politicians and corporate executives positioned him as a unique voice on the LPGA’s board and helped him strategically lead the organization’s branding and marketing efforts across all media platforms during five years of unprecedented growth that included recognition in 2015 as finalist for “Sports League of the Year” by Sports Business Journal.
    During his tenure, Kraig led media and marketing communication partnerships between the LPGA and its list of global corporate sponsors that included KPMG, KIA, Manulife Financial, UL, All Nippon Airways, LOTTE, Rolex and CME Group, building strategic outreach and activation plans while delivering new levels of international media attention. He involved media in major news events, coached players to build their own brands and positioned social media as a vital organizational marketing resource resulting in a combined growth of more than 900% over four years.
    Kraig has been featured twice by SBJ as an industry communications leader and his platform of contributions includes design and delivery of a collaborative “grow the game” message as a member of Golf 20/20 and also a lead spot on the International Golf Federation Communications Committee for the 2016 Rio Olympics where he raised awareness for golf’s return to the Olympic Games and hosted golf’s press conferences on a worldwide stage.
    Kann’s platform has widened significantly with roles as the weekly show host of Connected with Kraig Kann on SiriusXM, his growing podcast Tracks To Success, and the January 2021 release of his book Can You Get Our Attention? which quickly reached Top 20 status on the Amazon Best Seller List and was recognized as a finalist at the 2021 International Book Awards while winning top honors at the 2021 San Francisco Book Festival and New York Book Festival and earning the silver medal from Reader’s’ Favorite as “Best New Book 2021 – Marketing”
    A sought-after motivational speaker, his keynotes and popular “Elevate Workshop” have drawn rave reviews from the likes of Accenture, Transamerica, Titleist, SAP, KPMG, Zurich, Gallagher, Diamond Resorts, PGA of America, CoSIDA and others. His thought leadership led to a feature story in Soar to Success magazine and also grabbed the attention of PR News, Sports PR Summit, and Forbes, who have identified him as an influential speaker, featured industry panelist, council member and content contributor in the areas of media and public relations, public speaking and strategic communications. In addition, his company’s Kann Collegiate brand has offered media coaching and brand building for teams and athletic organizations including Florida, Oklahoma State, Arizona and the University of Missouri, which happens to be his alma mater.
    Kraig lives in Orlando and has three children: Hailey, Trent and Kendall.
    52 min
  • Money Stunts, with Orion Griffiths
    In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Orion Griffiths. You know the street performers who catch your attention when you’re hanging-out in touristy areas? They entertain and delight you. At the end, you find yourself compelled to drop money in their jar. Street performing is one of Orion’s paid artistic endeavors, where he can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. He’s that good!
    Orion Griffiths is a professional acrobat and an inspiring actor. He grew up traveling in a Mercedes 508 truck with seven siblings, which was nothing short of amazing.
    After immigrating to the United States, the traveling life did not stop, the only difference was a much larger RV. He and his family toured throughout the U.S. for several years performing for the Shriners Hospitals. Eventually landing in San Francisco, Orion and his family decided to settle down, but Orion’s childhood dream of acting didn’t stop. He then carried on to New York and performed on the Broadway musical Pippin, produced, and directed one of his own shows in San Francisco, Into the Mouth of the Wolf and then eventually ended up in Los Angeles to pursue acting.
    The life of a street performer, there you have it.
    43 min
  • Defining Your Success, with Alex Batdorf

    In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Alex Batdorf. Alex was a co-founder and CMO of a multi-million dollar backed e-commerce company. Five years into that business, Alex found herself “in the company” instead of being “on top of it”. She realized that her purpose and pursuit of profit were imbalanced because she forgot what she was pursuing the profit for. Ultimately, listening to her body and soul, Alex resigned to pursue a new adventure.

    Alex is a 3X entrepreneur and the Founder & CEO of Get Sh!t Done, the Collaborative supporting womxn entrepreneurs in scaling generational impact. Their motto is F*ck 4% — a declaration that womxn founded companies will no longer settle for 4% of total business revenues. Get Sh!t Done supports womxn founders in giving 4% the middle finger through a highly curated community and platform activating access to the right resources, connections, and collaboration at each stage of their scaling journey.

    Prior to founding Get Sh!t Done, she was co-founder & CMO of ZipFit Denim, a multi-million dollar venture-backed eCommerce company that was acquired in 2019. She’s been featured in Forbes, Business Insider, and has spoken around the nation at Harvard, Turner Broadcasting, and other locations.

    See all episodes >

    55 min
  • Investing in Relationships, with Juan Thomas
    In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Juan Thomas. Juan grew up in suburban Chicago and as an African American, he saw a different level of privilege when hanging-out with white kids and felt out of place in both worlds. When he attended Morehouse college, he did a deep dive on African American theological giants, inspiring him to become a servant leader. Juan also wanted to be the first black president. Although that’s been taken, he’s still committed to political aspirations and is focused on bridging the money differences he sees between black and white communities.
    Juan is Of Counsel to Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer, P.A., and is the founder and principal of The Thomas Law Group. Mr. Thomas' practice includes the following specialties: real estate/estate planning, labor and employment, and family law. In addition, Mr. Thomas provides counseling and training to firm clients in areas involving personnel, collective bargaining, and business development matters.
    The National Black Lawyers: Top 100 includes Mr. Thomas on its list of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers, an honor given to only a select group of lawyers for their superior skills and qualifications in the field. Membership in this exclusive organization is by invitation only and is limited to the top 100 attorneys in each state or region who have demonstrated excellence and have achieved outstanding results in their careers. Mr. Thomas’ selection was based upon his performance as an exceptional lawyer in the practice area of matrimonial and family law in the state of Illinois.
    Because of Mr. Thomas’ dedication to developing lawyers for bar leadership and community service, he was selected to serve on the Executive Council of the National Conference of Bar Presidents, a national association of lawyers-leaders whose mission is to provide high-quality programming and leadership development training for members of the legal community. Mr. Thomas also serves as the Chair-Elect of the American Bar Association’s Civil Rights & Social Justice Section, and the General Counsel for the Morehouse College National Alumni Association.
    This past December, Mr. Thomas was elected by the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) to be an At-Large Delegate in the ABA House of Delegates becoming only the second African-American to represent the ISBA in its 144 history in the ABA House of Delegates. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Illinois Bar Foundation and Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Constitution Society (Chicago Chapter).
    Mr. Thomas served as the 75th President of the National Bar Association (NBA) from 2017-18. During his term as President, the NBA co-founded the National Commission for Voter Justice to address voter suppression across the country while advancing electoral reform and civic engagement. Under his Law & Technology Initiative, Mr. Thomas was the first NBA President to lead the Association to Silicon Valley to promote more diversity and inclusion in the technology industry. Also, under Mr. Thomas’ leadership the NBA established its first LGBTQ Lawyers Division to further advance an inclusive environment for all members of the Association regardless of their sexual orientation or identity.
    From 2013-19, Mr. Thomas served on the Board of Directors of Mutual Ground Inc., an organization committed to providing services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and their families. He is the Past Chair of the State Conference of Illinois NAACP Legal Redress Committee and the past General Counsel for 100 Black Men of Chicago, Inc. Currently, he is on the Board of Directors of the Leadership Greater Chicago Fellows Association, 100 Black Men of Chicago, Inc., and the A + Foundation for the West Aurora School District # 129.
    Mr. Thomas’ passion is community and public service. While in law school, he successfully ran for the West Aurora School Board, commuting 120 miles each way every weekend during the campaign. At the age of twenty-five (25), Mr. Thomas became the youngest person ever elected to the West Aurora School Board and became the first African American ever re-elected to the Board in 1999. While on the school board, Mr. Thomas served as Chairman of the Board’s Personnel Committee. In 2005, he was elected Aurora Township Clerk becoming the first African American to win a township-wide office in Aurora, IL, the second largest city in the state. In 2009, he was re-elected Aurora Township Clerk with 57% of the vote receiving more votes than any other candidate seeking an Aurora Township office that year. Mr. Thomas was the first Democrat ever to serve as Aurora Township Clerk.
    Mr. Thomas is a past 1st Vice President of the DuPage County Branch of the NAACP and has previously served on the Boards of the Illinois State Bar Association, the Cook County Bar Association, the Community Renewal Society, the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, the University of Illinois College of Education Board of Visitors and the University of Illinois College of Law Alumni Association.
    In 2018, Mr. Thomas was awarded the Katie Holmes Educational Foundation Public Service Award for Leadership and Service in the Legal Community. In 2011 and again in 2015, Mr. Thomas was given the honor of being named, Citizen of the Year by his fraternity, Omega Psi Phi, Mu Xi Chapter for his service and dedication to the community. He has received the NAACP, DuPage County Branch’s President’s Award both in 2013 and 2014, as well as, a 2014 recipient of the NAACP, DuPage County Branch’s Claude Audley Award of Leadership Excellence, for his leadership and service to the community. Mr. Thomas has received five Presidential Service Awards from the National Bar Association in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013, and in 2016 for his contributions to the field of law. In 2011, he was invited to become a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation because of his outstanding achievements in the legal profession. Mr. Thomas is a 2004 Fellow of the Harvard Divinity School Summer Leadership Institute, and a 2002 Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow.
    A graduate of Morehouse College, Mr. Thomas received his Juris Doctor and master’s in educational policy degree from the University of Illinois in Campaign-Urbana. An ordained Baptist minister, Mr. Thomas also holds a Master of Arts in Religious Studies from the University of Chicago School of Divinity. Mr. Thomas is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Ministry Degree at the Chicago Theological Seminary. In addition to his professional and civic involvement, Mr. Thomas and his wife, Angela, are proud members of St. John AME Church in Aurora where he serves as the Minister for Social Justice.
    56 min
  • Power Priming Money, with Finka Jerkovic
    In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Finka Jerkovic. We all know it's hard to change our money habits and bad money behaviors. Finka has figured out some key techniques that have reliably allowed her to change course and to value money as a resource for fueling her and her family’s values and dreams. Finka shares these techniques with us so we all have an opportunity to learn and apply them to our own lives.
    Finka is an author, international speaker, workshop leader and coach. As President of FINKA Communications Inc., she consults with clients in areas of personal branding, leadership, sales, client experience and employee engagement. She brings over two decades of experience in corporate Canada in the financial services industry, with an expertise in sales, leadership, communication, and coaching.
    Her book “Sell From Love: Love Yourself, Love your Client, Love your Offer” released November 2020, hit Amazon’s #1 Best Seller List and was listed as a Hot New Release.
    Finka helps her clients discover their “Brilliant Difference”, so that they get 100% clear on their unique talents, skills, and expertise so that they can use their personal strengths to grow their business.
    Finka is the Program Director and Master Coach for How to Fascinate® and the creator of the Certified Fascinate® Advisor program. She has personally trained and coached nearly 10,000 people using the Fascination system and tools.
    She lives in Canada with her husband and daughter on their 85-acre nature oasis, where you’ll find them living a farm-to-table lifestyle, brewing up essential oil blends from their lavender field, riding horses and beekeeping.
    Finka believes when you bring authentic leadership and a mission-based mindset to business, you can achieve inner fulfillment, outer success and leave a transformational impact.
    53 min
  • Is Money Funny?, with Dave Goetsch

    In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Dave Goetsch. Dave is a Hollywood comedy writer with a passion for helping people engage with their personal finances. You’ve likely enjoyed his work if you’ve watched “United States of Al” and “The Big Bang Theory.” Dave knows it’s empathy that connects people to the characters he brings to life on the screen. Understanding that money conversations can be hard, Dave shares that we need to employ that same empathy when talking about money so we can build connection and understanding.

    Dave is the co-creator and executive producer of “United States of Al” which is on CBS Thursdays at 8:30. He was a writer on all 12 seasons of The Big Bang Theory where he received 4 Emmy nominations. He began his career at 3rd Rock from the Sun. He teaches “Linked Narrative Storytelling for the Web” at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, holds US Patent number 6998984, and once tried to start a pharmaceutical chocolate company.

    See all episodes >

    50 min
  • Led by Grace, with Bhaj Townsend
    In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Bhaj Townsend, a woman who has grace by her side and as her compass. Bhaj has done it all! She nearly became a professional tennis player. She next became a successful restaurant entrepreneur. During a break, she became a longshorewoman. Bhaj then got into commercial real estate and was next offered the opportunity to tour the world as a jazz guitarist. She later moved into financial planning and helping families with money. This might all sound exciting and perfect, but as you’ll hear Bhaj faced many challenges — some were quite dark. She attributes grace leading her through all aspects of her journey, the good times and the bad.
    With families and their businesses, there can be great conflict, conflict that when unresolved, can lead to bitter breakups and permanent loss of trust. This does not have to be although, without proper tools, it is difficult to know what to do.
    With her 20 years helping families shift from tension to cohesion, Bhaj has brought her wealth of experience and abilities to families across the U.S., resolving conflicts and building new platforms of family systems to keep these families strong across generations.
    Bhaj studied with the renowned family wealth transition consultant Roy Williams. She received the elite Fellowship Certification from the Heritage Institute. She has authored two books, Build a Lasting Legacy, and Transferring Wisdom with Wealth. She is a presenter on 5 compelling topics from family dynamics to financial behavior insights to family stories and games and more, all focused on successful family cohesion. She is a certified mediator, using a facilitative approach to mediation. She is President of the Northwest Family Business Advisors a non-profit organization dedicated to serving family businesses with the challenges and issues they face. She is President of Focus and Sustain, a company which consults with family businesses throughout the country. These attributes and concentrations, along with her mindfulness and respect for her clients’ well-being, provide a rare perspective to families looking for guidance as they transition leadership from one generation to another. She likes to say that she “… helps prepare family members for the receipt of wealth so it unites families rather than divides them.”
    Bhaj is a member of a family who experienced the effects of a third-generation breakdown to the family business. Due to the tensions and consequences that resulted from the turmoil of the tense differences of opinions, Bhaj dedicated her professional life to understanding and guiding families how to stay connected when money, a family business and family, are at risk of being torn apart.
    Bhaj lives in Kirkland, Washington and has a passion for playing acoustic guitar and tennis.
    57 min
  • No Ordinary Janet, with Janet Gregory
    In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Janet Gregory. Janet is a successful Silicon Valley tech maven and the breadwinner of her family. She was an early employee at a start-up in the late 90s and wasn’t sure if the business plan would take off. Much to her delight—it did—the company IPO’d and the stock price went through the roof … and then the dot-com bubble burst followed. As the stock went from its highest highs to its lowest lows, Janet and her husband watched their funds dwindle. Their nest egg was now, jokingly, only enough to buy a latte at Starbucks. This expensive lesson made Janet and her husband realize that they needed a trusted financial advisor to help them make better decisions and get out of the “buy and ignore” mindset they were in.
    Today, Janet is mostly out of the paid work world, but still does some select workshop facilitation, speaking engagements and consulting. She ran the sales practice for KickStart Alliance for more than 15 years, providing strategy in business development and sales planning for clients expanding existing markets or entering new ones.
    Janet has over 25 years of corporate experience in Silicon Valley, including two successful start-ups.
    • ShoreTel (now Mitel) where Janet was part of a turnaround executive team that helped the company achieve profitability, rise from anonymity to top 10 market share. As Vice President of Sales, Janet positioned ShoreTel for a successful IPO (Initial Public Offering) and rise to #3 in the US market.
    • Latitude Communication (now Cisco Systems), Janet was part of the founding executive team. As Vice President of Sales, Janet took Latitude Communications from zero revenue to profitability and a successful IPO.
    • Octel Communications (now Alcatel / Lucent), Janet held multiple management roles in business development, sales, marketing and customer service.
    • ROLM/IBM (now Siemens), Janet held multiple positions in sales and product marketing, rising from individual contributor to manager, and attending IBM management training.
    Janet is co-founder and principal of Kickstart Alliance (https://www.kickstartall.com/), a consulting firm dedicated to connecting clients with customers.
    Author: “Built for Global: Navigating International Business and Entering New Markets” (2017), “Hanna’s Story: Perseverance and Love Escaping Nazi Germany and Homesteading Wyoming” (2018), “Eat Happily” (2018), and “Age of Freedom: Women at the Crossroads of Career and Change” (2021).
    56 min

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In American society, money is a taboo topic. By not talking with loved ones and friends about money, we miss opportunities to sort through the noise and learn the vocabulary and skills we need to…