By George Grombacher
President of Financial Consulting Professionals, the Founder and Chief Community Officer of Money Alignment Academy, and the host of the popular Money Savage podcast
Original article: Money Alignment Academy
What do you stand for? What do you stand against? What code do you live by?
Often, it takes an event to help us make a change. The event can give evidence or remind us of what’s important. Maybe a health scare or someone close to us passing away prompts us to buy life insurance or create a will. Maybe seeing someone struggle financially motivates us to start saving more deliberately. I’m hopeful the story about renaming my podcast can serve as encouragement for you to take positive action in your life.
Frequently, I talk about the importance of things we should do, like budgeting, setting goals, and thinking about our values. While I’m not perfect – not by a million miles – I’ve followed my own advice and outlined my values: friendship, justice, and learning. Knowing and living by them helped me navigate a situation that inspired me to rename my podcast.
For those unfamiliar, I started the Money Savage podcast in 2018 with the goal of discussing as many good ideas as I could. It went from one show a week, to three, then four, and now 10. It’s consistently grown in every metric. It’s been an absolute joy, as well as a lot of work. To set the stage, my financial wellness company, Money Alignment Academy, was implemented at a new client by a business partner. I conducted an introductory meeting for the new company and the employees were so excited. They immediately went to the website to learn more. That’s when one employee came across the Money Savage podcast page. The client’s leadership shared their concern: the word “savage” is derogatory to Native Americans and associating “money” with it exacerbates the concern.
Through conversations with my mentors, my business partner, the leadership of the new company, and the employee, my thinking changed. I was able to gain perspective and look at the situation through the lens of my core values.
Justice: I realized I needed to be just to the company, and the aggrieved employee.
Learning: Maya Angelou beautifully sums up this situation: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
When I started the show in 2017, I needed a name. I wanted it to be catchy, fun, and unique. That desire, combined with my irreverent and sometimes aggressive personality, led me to “savage.” Since it was a financial podcast, I added “money.” Never did the slur towards Native Americans enter into my thinking. Now, knowing what I do now, it seems ridiculous to do anything other than change the name.
It’s my honest and sincere hope to have a positive interaction with everyone I connect with and when there’s an opportunity, develop a relationship that potentially blossoms into a friendship.
Looking to the future, I endeavor to go into each episode with an idea from Susan Scott:
“Our work, our relationships, and our lives succeed or fail one conversation at a time. While no single conversation is guaranteed to transform a company, a relationship, or a life, any single conversation can. Speak and listen as if this is the most important conversation you will ever have with this person.”
I’m hopeful that I’ll succeed in doing that with every episode. And I hope this inspires you to make a needed change or take positive action in your life.
The definition of lifeblood is “the indispensable factor or influence that gives something its strength and vitality.” This is true in love, family, money, community, health, and many other aspects of life that make our human condition and experience rich, worthwhile and rewarding. The intention of LifeBlood is to help others to get better at the most important things in their lives, so they can live how they want to live.
Welcome to LifeBlood. I hope you like it.
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