Episode 24 - The Financial Planner

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Transcript

This transcription is automated, therefore it may not be 100% accurate. It is to be used as a guide only as the AI bots may have some things wrong.

0:00:00 - (Nicole): This episode of bring your kid to work is brought to you by Lioness Media.

0:00:04 - (Nicole): It's time to bring your kid to work.

0:00:07 - (Nicole): Hey everyone. It's time to bring your kid to work. It's the family podcast that explores the world of work through the eyes of parents and their kids. Each week we interview one parent and their child to chat about what they do for work, what they like, what they don't like, and how they got there in the first place. Let's find out who we're talking to today.

Our two super guests today are Sarah and her daughter Lulu. Sarah Donald is a passionate financial planner and the owner and managing director of Henry Financial Group. Sarah has almost two decades experience in the financial planning industry and she loves providing practical financial and business advice to her clients. She delights in the relationships she builds with her clients. She loves hearing about their kids, their goals and the wonderful trips they go on because they feel confident that they have the money they need in retirement.

0:01:00 - (Nicole): Sarah has had to study a lot to be qualified to give people advice about how to make their money work best for them. She has a Master of Financial Planning, graduate diploma in finance and a diploma of financial planning.

0:01:12 - (Nicole): She brings with her today her daughter Lulu, an incredible bundle of energy who keeps busy with three different sports and a potential future acting career. I had such fun chatting with these two in the bring your kid to work studio. I know you're going to love meeting and getting to know Sarah and Lulu too, so let's get on with the show.

Welcome to bring your kid to work. I'm very excited to welcome two very special guests. So this episode is called the Financial Planner and I'm really excited to welcome two guests who have travelled so far to come to bring your kid to work.

0:01:47 - (Nicole): It's been a very long journey. Lulu and Sarah. Lulu, firstly, tell me a little bit about you.

0:01:54 - (Lulu): Oh, gosh, I play a lot of sport. I like acting and that's pretty much it.

0:02:03 - (Nicole): Yeah. And how old are you and what.

0:02:04 - (Nicole): Grade are you in at the moment?

0:02:05 - (Lulu): Oh, yeah, I'm 13 and I'm in grade eight.

0:02:10 - (Nicole): Nice. Okay, we'll come back to all of those things in a minute. Sarah, you are a financial planner?

0:02:17 - (Sarah): I am a financial planner. A good financial planner. Not the bad ones.

0:02:21 - (Nicole): No.

0:02:22 - (Nicole): Lulu, what does that mean? What does mum do?

0:02:24 - (Lulu): She tells people what to do with their money. She is the boss of people's finances and she does a lot of work at home.

0:02:35 - (Nicole): How did Lulu go with that? Sarah, does that cover what a financial planner does?

0:02:39 - (Sarah): I'm not necessarily the boss, but the clients sometimes do think that I am the boss of their money because they ask me for their money when it's their money. But, yeah, I help clients manage their money so that they can have enough money in retirement or when they're in retirement, they have enough money to live their long, comfortable, happy lives.

0:02:56 - (Nicole): Right, yeah. Does that mean if I came to you, you could do my taxes because you know about money?

0:03:01 - (Sarah): Yes and no. So I can help you. But an accountant does the tax return. So we're not registered tax accountants, but we have to know the tax laws and how it is involved with your money so that we can give you the right advice. So then you go to your accountant then to do your tax return.

0:03:16 - (Nicole): Gotcha. So completely separate financial plan is to accountant. Absolutely, yep. It's good to make that distinction.

0:03:22 - (Sarah): Indeed.

0:03:22 - (Nicole): Lulu, all day long, what does mum do? Is she out and about? Is she in the office? Is she on the, like, what is she actually doing? All day long?

0:03:30 - (Lulu): All day long. When I see her, she's either with a client or she's on her computer and you can just hear her typing away, like she's like full and zoned in. If you speak to her, she's like, yeah, honey. And just keeps tapping away.

0:03:44 - (Nicole): Focused.

0:03:45 - (Lulu): Yeah, focused.

0:03:46 - (Nicole): I like that. Right. So computer work and with clients. What are you talking about when you have these client meetings?

0:03:52 - (Sarah): Well, it depends on the client. So some clients want to know lots about their money and what type of return they're getting and how long their money will last. But in the main, people trust us to look after their money, so really they just want to talk about the fun things that they're going to do with their money. So we talk lots of travel and all exciting things to do with spending money, which is way more fun than investing and talking about that.

0:04:13 - (Nicole): So you help people figure out where to put their money?

0:04:16 - (Lulu): Yes.

0:04:17 - (Nicole): So whether it's in a bank or in a share portfolio where they buy lots of little pieces of companies or.

0:04:24 - (Sarah): That kind of stuff.

0:04:24 - (Nicole): Yeah.

0:04:25 - (Sarah): Superannuation, cash flow. So any basis of any sort of financial advice comes back to cash flow. So how do you look after your money? What do you do with your income that you earn? Do you put it in a savings account for now? Do you put it in another bucket for later on or in the superannuation bucket for way down the track when you are going to retire and need it?

0:04:43 - (Nicole): Got you. So lots of advice you give people?

0:04:46 - (Nicole): Yes.

0:04:46 - (Sarah): Even things on mortgages. And even we talk about estate planning. So even though we're not lawyers, we help people consider the things they want to put in their wills and their enduring powers of. So, yeah, it's very, very broad.

0:04:58 - (Nicole): It does sound very broad. It sounds like you give great advice, Lulu, is that true?

0:05:03 - (Nicole): Does your mum give you great advice?

0:05:05 - (Lulu): Oh, yes. Sometimes it's annoying advice, but it's always right.

0:05:09 - (Sarah): Oh, good answer. Good answer.

0:05:10 - (Nicole): That's what makes it most annoying, doesn't it? When you're right. Parents. Oh, so annoying. You see mum doing this all the time.

0:05:18 - (Lulu): Yeah.

0:05:19 - (Nicole): Clackety clacking away on the computer, talking to clients, all that sort of stuff. Is that something you're interested in doing?

0:05:24 - (Lulu): Originally I was because I thought it was just about sorting files and stuff, because I just go in and I'd sort out all the paper that they don't need or their files. But then I found out it's a lot of typing and I'm probably not the best because I'm not focused. Stay on my computer for a long time. At one time.

0:05:44 - (Nicole): Financial planner is out for you.

0:05:46 - (Lulu): Yeah.

0:05:47 - (Nicole): What is in your future, do you think?

0:05:49 - (Lulu): I really love acting, and I like doing voiceovers and, like, podcasts like this, so maybe acting and. Yeah, that's basically all I've been thinking right now. Maybe, like, obviously this is only going to be for when I'm younger, working at Kohli's and stuff.

0:06:09 - (Nicole): Like a first job.

0:06:10 - (Lulu): Yeah. But then I do really like acting.

0:06:14 - (Nicole): Fantastic. So do you want to be the kind of actor who is in tv shows or movies or the kind of actor who's on the stage? What kind of acting do you love?

0:06:23 - (Lulu): I love. Well, I do, like, in front of the audience acting, but when it's monologues. But then I'd also like, if it was like a season, if you stayed as a character for a long time or. I also like doing voiceovers. I did one for natural disasters, and I did a voiceover for that, for animation. Yeah, it was really fun. Yes. I like those, too.

0:06:45 - (Nicole): Cool. Voiceovers sound really fun because then you don't even have to put all the makeup on that. You go to them.

0:06:51 - (Lulu): Yeah, they're really fun. It's nervous for the first time when they're like, okay, I need to do this. But then once you do, like, the first three sentences, then you're like, oh, okay, I understand what's happening. And then it's really easy and a nice flow.

0:07:03 - (Nicole): Oh, that does sound fun.

0:07:05 - (Nicole): Yeah.

0:07:06 - (Nicole): And you said your first job you think might be Coles or something like that.

0:07:11 - (Lulu): Baskin Robbins.

0:07:12 - (Nicole): Yeah.

0:07:12 - (Nicole): Oh, no. I would be terrible at Baskin Robbins. I would just eat all of the ice cream.

0:07:16 - (Lulu): That's exactly why I want to be.

0:07:20 - (Sarah): Back for days.

0:07:22 - (Nicole): Oh, my gosh. Yeah, that would be great. Discounts at Baskin Robbins. Do you know what mum's first job was, though?

0:07:29 - (Lulu): Maccas. She'd lock people in the freezer and eat their ice cream sandwiches.

0:07:34 - (Sarah): I do need to. Part of the party was taking the kids. The birthday party was taking them into the freezer. And that was a bit of fun. And you got to close the door. But I probably hand that story up a little bit for my kids and said, I locked them in there, but it was still a bit of fun. We went into the freezer.

0:07:51 - (Nicole): Some kids might need to be locked in the freezer for a bit to cool down.

0:07:54 - (Sarah): Yeah.

0:07:54 - (Nicole): Parties are a very exciting thing. So Mac is Sarah. Yeah, that's.

0:07:58 - (Sarah): I was the drive through queen and the birthday queen. Loved hanging out with.

0:08:03 - (Nicole): Yeah, yeah.

0:08:04 - (Sarah): I would even give them, you know, the ice cream cakes.

0:08:06 - (Nicole): Oh, yeah.

0:08:06 - (Sarah): So that would know the crescendo of the birthday party. And I would cut it so small so that I could have pieces afterwards. So it was great. It was great.

0:08:15 - (Nicole): Always hard to make sure there was enough. That's it. There's such a little cake.

0:08:18 - (Sarah): I know. Very teeny tiny.

0:08:20 - (Nicole): Wow. It's great fun. Yeah, it is good fun.

0:08:23 - (Sarah): Yeah.

0:08:23 - (Nicole): And so how do you get from Maccas to being a financial planner? Was that always in your plan, being a financial planner?

0:08:30 - (Sarah): No, not at all. I started doing a Bachelor of Science at UQ to be a physiotherapist. And one day I went on a yacht with my friend and her sister and her boyfriend. So random. And we had such a great time. So I said to him, oh, how come you've got this boat? And he's like, yeah, I've got it because I'm a financial planner.

0:08:51 - (Nicole): I was like, oh, that sounds like.

0:08:53 - (Sarah): A great job, that you've got this lovely boat. And so I said, can I come and work with you for a week for free? And I did. And he worked at the National Australia bank, and that's how I got my first job. So ever since then, never used a cv. Always gifted the gab, talking to people and getting my different roles.

0:09:09 - (Nicole): Yeah.

0:09:09 - (Nicole): Wow. There you go. So that's. Speaking of you being great at giving advice. Was that something that you'd advise people to do when they left school, if there was an industry that they were interested in?

0:09:19 - (Sarah): Absolutely, yeah. I think if you can volunteer your time, it shows that you've got an interest and a dedication and you're doing it for not. Well, obviously, financial means later on, but that you're interested in it. And. Yeah, sometimes it's hard to find people that are interested, particularly in our role.

0:09:35 - (Nicole): Yeah.

0:09:36 - (Sarah): So any advice to anyone? Dip your toe, go out, go and talk to people and see if you can get some experience. And if you're not paid for it, that's fine, because you're getting the experience to work out whether or not you like that role.

0:09:48 - (Nicole): Yeah.

0:09:48 - (Nicole): Wow.

0:09:49 - (Nicole): So that's quite a turn of events that you just happened to be on this yacht, you just happened to ask this person and it all flowed from there.

0:09:56 - (Sarah): Yeah. Total. Yeah. Nothing to do with science at all.

0:10:01 - (Nicole): So you have to go to uni to be a financial planner. You do now?

0:10:04 - (Sarah): Yeah. Not back then, but definitely now. You have to do a bachelor of financial planning or you do a related, like a commerce or business degree, and then you have to do your master's of financial planning. And now you even have to do your professional year. So it's called your py. So you do your degree, your master's, and then you do one year, kind of like an article clerk or your articles for law. You do that for a year and then you've got your ticket, so to speak, to give advice. Yeah.

0:10:29 - (Sarah): It's a longer road from an education point of view, but it's great because it's raising the standard, I think, of financial planners and moving it from an industry to a profession.

0:10:37 - (Nicole): Yeah, for sure. Because I know you said about earlier at the podcast, I'm one of the good ones and not one of the.

0:10:45 - (Sarah): Bad ones, because there's been a royal commission. Yes.

0:10:48 - (Nicole): There was a bit of a problem with a couple of people who are giving people a bad name.

0:10:53 - (Sarah): Best not to take commissions, though. That's illegal now. We never took them.

0:10:56 - (Nicole): So that was good. That is good.

0:10:58 - (Sarah): Yeah.

0:10:59 - (Nicole): But your mum, Lulu, isn't just a financial planner at someone else's company.

0:11:04 - (Lulu): No, she owns her business.

0:11:07 - (Nicole): Wow.

0:11:09 - (Lulu): Yeah.

0:11:10 - (Sarah): The bank owns a little bit of it, too.

0:11:13 - (Lulu): So she's the boss of everybody. She can fire people when she wants.

0:11:18 - (Nicole): But as a boss, you probably want to hire good people that you don't want to fight.

0:11:23 - (Lulu): Yeah.

0:11:23 - (Nicole): What do you think mum is like as a boss?

0:11:26 - (Lulu): She's a pushover. Yeah. She's really nice to people. She gets people coffee and then if someone asks, she's.

0:11:37 - (Nicole): Yeah, yeah.

0:11:37 - (Lulu): And like, just really nice and. Yeah, really nice.

0:11:42 - (Nicole): Nice is good. It's underrated, in fact, nice is very.

0:11:45 - (Nicole): Good for you, Lulu.

0:11:47 - (Nicole): School at the moment is a means to then get into acting. Are you doing drama and things like that at school and outside of school?

0:11:55 - (Lulu): Yeah. So I do drama classes at school and then outside of school I also do youth acting academy. Australian acting Academy? Yeah. I do that once a week. Yeah, full on.

0:12:12 - (Nicole): And that's also on top of the sport that you were telling me about.

0:12:16 - (Lulu): Oh, yeah. Also on top of, like, three trainings of water polo and games and then touch and netball. Yeah.

0:12:23 - (Nicole): Okay. Sarah, when does she sleep?

0:12:26 - (Sarah): Late.

0:12:30 - (Nicole): How do you fit everything in, Lulu?

0:12:32 - (Lulu): Sometimes it's really stressful, but it's worked out pretty well, being trains are on different days, but then sometimes when it clashes, it's just really frustrating. But for trainings throughout the week, they don't really clash, which is really good, thank goodness.

0:12:47 - (Nicole): Otherwise you can't do water polo and act at the same time.

0:12:52 - (Sarah): Very full diary, isn't it? The juggle is real.

0:12:58 - (Nicole): Will you go to university or are you going to go straight into trying to find work as an actor, do you think, Lulu?

0:13:05 - (Lulu): I think I want to go to university, but not for so long that it gets really boring. You know what I mean? But, yeah, I don't really know right now. I'm still like, I'll just get through high school first.

0:13:18 - (Nicole): That sounds fair. You've got a little bit of high.

0:13:20 - (Nicole): School to Sarah, you said that you.

0:13:25 - (Nicole): Sourced this financial planner on the yacht and you went, this is what I want to do. Science. Before that, was that something that your parents were doing? What do your parents do for work that you were seeing when you were little?

0:13:37 - (Sarah): Well, my mum was a Tupperware sales lady, so that was definitely not science. And my dad was in the navy and I saw him go through university as a sort of latent lifer. So he went into the navy when he was 16 and then started his degree when he was 36 and he did a bachelor of computing science and industrial mathematics. So, yeah, he's a bit of in the STEM area, if you like. Yeah. And I think for me, science and going down that track, it was very black and white.

0:14:09 - (Sarah): Not so good at the writing part with english shelter.

0:14:12 - (Lulu): Me too. I hate it so much. Like, when you had to do free writing at school, I'd just be like, I'd rather read. I'm imaginative, but not in that way. I just can't think of anything to write.

0:14:26 - (Sarah): Maybe you're creative where CXL spreadsheets for me are like my sexy creative outlet.

0:14:33 - (Nicole): Wow.

0:14:35 - (Sarah): I know it's sad but true. It's embarrassing.

0:14:39 - (Nicole): No, it's not, because this is the.

0:14:40 - (Sarah): Whole point, my superpower, this is the.

0:14:42 - (Nicole): Whole point of the podcast, is that everyone has amazing skills and experiences that lead them down their path. And they're not the same.

0:14:51 - (Sarah): No.

0:14:51 - (Nicole): And if they were the same, it would be boring and we wouldn't get everything done that we needed to get done. Because not all of us find Excel spreadsheets as exciting as you.

0:15:00 - (Lulu): Yeah, well, sometimes I'm like, oh yes, let's make one. Like I get a foot chore to make a chore chart or spreadsheet. Yes, I enjoy making those.

0:15:08 - (Sarah): Yeah, we have a joint lover spreadsheet.

0:15:12 - (Nicole): You've got to bond over the.

0:15:14 - (Sarah): I think that's good in your job.

0:15:16 - (Nicole): Sarah, what is the best thing about being a financial planner?

0:15:21 - (Sarah): It's the human interaction is my most favorite part. So I think lots of things can be done by AI and computers and whatnot. But you can't. Well, I don't believe anyway, build rapport or trust with another person via a computer. I think it's in real life. So it's the in real life interactions that I love the most. And yeah, I get the biggest kick, not out of getting a good return or anything. The biggest kick is a client coming in and saying, these are the five goals I want to achieve, and then I help them get to that and then they're happy little vegemites after that. And that's the big buz that I love.

0:15:56 - (Nicole): Yeah, it's the people.

0:15:57 - (Sarah): Yeah, it really is just the chat, really. It's not really the finance at all.

0:16:04 - (Nicole): There's something quite amazing that people will come to you and tell you their stories and trust you with those stories.

0:16:10 - (Sarah): Yeah, absolutely.

0:16:11 - (Nicole): And not just the stories that have.

0:16:12 - (Nicole): Happened to them so far, but the story that they have for themselves in the future.

0:16:16 - (Sarah): Absolutely. It's kind of like, I think about it, if you go to a hairdresser, you tend to tell your hairdresser lots of stories. I think it's the same with financial planning. If you can establish a relationship and that level of trust, then you find out so many more things than just their bank balance, their kids and their aspirations and what's going on in their lives and yeah, I think being that special person in their lives, it's really good.

0:16:39 - (Nicole): Yeah. It's a privileged position to be in 100%.

0:16:44 - (Sarah): Yeah. And I don't take it for granted and I think that's why I want to stay in the profession, so that there are people or there are planners out there that do care more than just the numbers or the, you know, far more than.

0:16:58 - (Nicole): Yeah. Lulu, you love sport, you love acting. What are the other things at school or in life that just really fill your kids? Yeah.

0:17:10 - (Lulu): Yeah, babies. Like my. I just saw my cousin before this. She's the cutest kid ever and it's like. It's so cute. Yeah. And I like babies. And I was also thinking about maybe I could be a kindergarten teacher. I forgot about that bit. Yeah, because then it'd be easy. You wouldn't have to teach them. X plus y equals blah, blah, blah. You just have to play with them.

0:17:33 - (Nicole): That's really fun.

0:17:35 - (Nicole): Yeah. But the play leads to them learning how to be in the world. Yeah, that sounds fun. Do you like sand?

0:17:41 - (Lulu): I love sand.

0:17:42 - (Nicole): Okay.

0:17:42 - (Sarah): So weird.

0:17:43 - (Lulu): Not wet sand, though. No, I like dry sand. The feeling.

0:17:46 - (Nicole): Yeah.

0:17:47 - (Lulu): I used to eat it all the time.

0:17:48 - (Sarah): She did.

0:17:49 - (Nicole): That is true. We do when we're little kids. Oh, my goodness. One of my kids went to Kindle and the Kindie teacher hated sand. And I thought that was really quite an od thing because kids are always in the sand. Okay, good. I was just checking. That sounds like a nice path, too. And the great thing about any of these jobs is that you can do.

0:18:10 - (Sarah): Them and then do the next one.

0:18:12 - (Nicole): Or do a bit of this and a bit of that.

0:18:15 - (Lulu): Yeah.

0:18:15 - (Nicole): Because there's not one path that you have to follow.

0:18:18 - (Nicole): Yeah.

0:18:19 - (Lulu): Like my other mum, she did multiple jobs. It's just like, oh, yeah, I did that.

0:18:24 - (Nicole): Oh, you know, I did that, too. Look at that.

0:18:26 - (Sarah): She's got 7000 careers, hasn't she?

0:18:29 - (Nicole): Yeah. See, you don't just have to pick one. No, I love that. Sarah, when you retire yourself, if you've heard all of these stories of people's plans, what do you think you might like to do in your retirement? Retirement is for after you've finished working, when you've decided. I've stopped working. I've done all the work that I need to do now and I'm just going to live my life.

0:18:50 - (Nicole): Yes.

0:18:52 - (Sarah): I still don't know, because I don't know what I want to be when I grow up either, still. So I think retirement for me would be retirement from financial planning and then being in a position to be able to give back because I quite like volunteering and I would really, really love to sink my teeth into that. But right now I need to earn money so that I can keep the kids in the life that they're accustomed to.

0:19:18 - (Sarah): Yeah. No, it's not a cheap sport. We don't have any sponsors. If anyone wants to sponsor, contact me. It's my number.

0:19:27 - (Nicole): Yeah.

0:19:27 - (Sarah): So I think I would like to go out to the big corporates and get lots of money. Go out there or what is it? Robin Hood, maybe that's where I'd like to do a bit more work in that space, I think. Yeah, volunteer and charity work, that's what I would do. And I think I would keep doing that because I think I'd get a bit bored just sitting. Not saying that retirees just sit at home. Not at all. They do lots of fun things. I would take up bridge, actually. That is one thing, bridge.

0:19:53 - (Sarah): Well, I like 500, the card game 500. But bridge seems to be far more intense and good for the brain. So there's my numbers thing and then I'll go and do volunteering.

0:20:06 - (Nicole): Yeah. And in your daily working life. So you've said the things that make a good day and what you really love about the job. If you've had a really bad day, what would that look like? What constitutes a bad day? When it's hard.

0:20:25 - (Sarah): It's hard. Well, there's two aspects to that. It's hard when you have sad human interactions. So it's just the nature of the beast where we look after older clients and they pass away or become unwell, or perhaps they need to transition into aged care. So that can be taxing emotionally and time wise as well, obviously. But in terms of admin, dealing with Centerlink is the most painful experience. And 20 hours of the day you won't get back. But I'm happy that we do it on behalf of our clients because they would be sad if they had to. So that's quite frustrating. But yeah, just administration and dealing with financial institutions with their own rules and red tape and things like that. So that's a bad day, but yeah, otherwise it's not too bad.

0:21:11 - (Nicole): Yeah.

0:21:12 - (Nicole): And I think for jobs you want to make sure that the good outweighs the hard stuff or the uncomfortable or the sad stuff, at least more good ones than get.

0:21:24 - (Sarah): Like I said, I get so much joy out of the human interaction and I see clients every day of the week. So you can have a bad admin minute, let's say, with Centrelink or 7 hours, but then you can walk into a client meeting and they tell you about the most fabulous holiday that they went on and you know that you are a part of it. So that's great.

0:21:42 - (Nicole): That does sound good. Lulu, it sounds like to me that your mum likes her job, but I don't live with your mum. So you tell me, does your mum like her job?

0:21:51 - (Lulu): Yeah, most of the time, yeah, I think she does sometimes. It's annoying for the whole family because when she has to just sit on the couch and work instead of watching a movie with us and we're like, oh, we want you to watch it with us. But, yeah, she likes it.

0:22:07 - (Nicole): I think because she's got her own business, though, that means a little bit extra because she.

0:22:14 - (Lulu): So then she can have time off and then we go on holidays and stuff and that's really fun because I love going to Noosa and then going to new places that you don't know. So she still gets time off from work because she is the boss.

0:22:30 - (Nicole): She can do what she wants, not only holidays. Do you go on, though? But you go lots of places for your sports too?

0:22:38 - (Nicole): Yeah.

0:22:38 - (Lulu): Oh my God, it's so many places. Especially just mainly for water polo and then. Actually, no, for every sport. Touch, netball touch, we had to drive down 2 hours. Same for netball. And then we had to fly to Melbourne or whatever, Townsville. And then Water polo. We had to go to Perth, Melbourne, New Zealand, Hobart.

0:22:56 - (Sarah): And that's why mummy works on the couch.

0:23:00 - (Nicole): If you're going to all of those places for games, that must mean you're pretty good at those sports.

0:23:06 - (Lulu): Stop. Yeah, I think so, yeah. Normally it's for like, for rep teams. When you get into, what's it called? The state team, regional team for rep teams. Yeah.

0:23:23 - (Nicole): Wow. So we are in the midst of quite the brilliant athlete here. There are other athletes that have transitioned from their sport into acting, so there are people who have done that kind of thing. So you can definitely go for it, use it to build the profile and then I think that will work very well. If you weren't a financial planner, Sarah, and not retired, but if you weren't a financial planner, it magically couldn't happen for you.

0:23:53 - (Nicole): What else do you think you might like to try? Or did you think you might have wanted to try?

0:23:57 - (Sarah): Oh, I would have absolutely have been a doctor if I did my time again, that's what I would do. I do medicine for sure. I just wasn't really, when I was finishing high school into trying hard at study. So I think with the benefit of hindsight and a little bit of application, I might have had a different pathway. But I've got a view that I could do more good if I had done medicine and I can travel the world and help that way.

0:24:23 - (Sarah): Versus if you're a financial planner, I can't really go to Africa and go. Can I help you with your budget? I've got an excel spreadsheet here. It just doesn't translate. If you know what.

0:24:33 - (Nicole): I'd like you to cure my malaria.

0:24:35 - (Sarah): Yeah, that's be. But otherwise, no regrets. Really? I think you're on a journey and I've had lots of jobs within the financial planning industry and worked in it within financial planning and worked at big corporates and small business. So I've had a pretty wild ride. And now being a small business owner, while it is difficult, it does provide flexibility and that works for our family. I think if I was in medicine, I'd be getting called out or you know what mean.

0:25:04 - (Nicole): So it's hard to go to a water polo tournament in Perth when you're scheduled to surgery exactly the next day.

0:25:10 - (Lulu): You have much less time to hang out.

0:25:14 - (Nicole): Yeah. And these are the choices that we make as we grow along our way. We make choices, do this thing and then maybe we choose something else different. You could always go back to medical school. You could, yes. I once went to a GP who was in his late forty s and he had started after he was 40 to become a GP because he was a special education teacher and he went, no, no, I actually wanted to do medicine.

0:25:38 - (Sarah): Yeah, I know a few late, late in life doctors, so to speak. It's a slog and you have to be dedicated and that's amazing. But I just think in my world, my time, I think maybe not. That's okay. I'm okay with that.

0:25:54 - (Nicole): That's another athlete that did a different pathway. Yana Pittman became a doctor after she was a runner.

0:25:59 - (Sarah): Oh, she's amazing.

0:26:00 - (Nicole): Yeah. Incredible.

0:26:01 - (Sarah): Yeah.

0:26:01 - (Nicole): So many pathways, Lulu. So many things to choose.

0:26:04 - (Lulu): Yeah.

0:26:05 - (Sarah): You can mix it up.

0:26:08 - (Nicole): Grade twelve and after. Is there anything that you're worried about going into grown up life, having to.

0:26:16 - (Lulu): Study on your own and then being stressed about all the work and stuff. Yeah. I'm nervous for how stressful it will be.

0:26:25 - (Nicole): Yeah, it can be stressful.

0:26:28 - (Lulu): Yeah.

0:26:28 - (Nicole): But there's also, that's another thing with pathways that you can do things part time or do one less subject and just take a bit longer because everyone's path and journey is their own.

0:26:38 - (Lulu): Yeah.

0:26:38 - (Nicole): It took me eight years to get my bachelor of arts, my very first degree. Yeah. Because I started it and then I had two babies and I was at home and trying to raise two kids and do mine. So everybody has their own thing. And the best thing is that you are perfectly Lulu. You don't have to be anyone else. You are perfectly Lulu.

0:27:01 - (Lulu): Thanks.

0:27:02 - (Nicole): You're welcome. It's a great name for an actor. Can. It's really. It's going to work.

0:27:09 - (Lulu): I can feel when you hear, oh, now I can't think of a name. What's the name of Bronwyn Knox. That sounds just Bronwyn Knox. It sounds really good. And then like, my friend's name is Raffy and it just sounds really good. If you hear on a speaker, it'd be like when it has a good.

0:27:27 - (Nicole): Beat, you know what is Lulu? And everyone's like, you've got a good punchy name. Punchy name.

0:27:33 - (Lulu): You can't be like.

0:27:36 - (Nicole): Everyone forgets that. Yeah. Not just Jack, just Lilith. Guys, thank you so much for coming today on bring your kid to work. Is there anything that I should have asked you about work or jobs or life or anything like that that I haven't asked you?

0:27:51 - (Lulu): I don't think so. What about you?

0:27:53 - (Sarah): No, I think you did a very good job.

0:27:56 - (Lulu): Yeah, good job.

0:27:57 - (Nicole): That's your advice? Good job. Good job.

0:28:00 - (Sarah): Did you enjoy yourself?

0:28:01 - (Nicole): I did. Always.

0:28:02 - (Sarah): There we go.

0:28:02 - (Nicole): And gold stars are appreciated. I really like those. I'm one of those people who likes a gold star. Yeah. I'll hook you up. So thank you both very much for coming to bring your kid to work. Thank you, Lily.

0:28:14 - (Lulu): Thank you.

0:28:15 - (Nicole): Thank you, Sarah.

0:28:16 - (Sarah): Thank you.

0:28:17 - (Nicole): And we will talk to you again next week. Bye, everybody.

0:28:19 - (Sarah): Ciao for bye.

0:28:24 - (Nicole): Oh, that was such a lovely conversation. You don't think about the fact that there are people who do all different kinds of jobs that help people in their lives and that have a part of their lives. You think about your friends knowing about your holidays and your kids, and you don't think about the fact that a financial planner is going to need to know those things so that they can help you manage your money better.

0:28:50 - (Nicole): I found that really fascinating to know that those were the kind of conversations that Sarah gets to have all the time. I love that she loves spreadsheets as much as she does. You guys didn't get to see this, but her face lit up when she was talking about Microsoft Excel and Lulu. Oh, my goodness. Such a bundle of energy. Such a joy to watch someone talk so excitedly about what her future is.

0:29:15 - (Nicole): Going to be and the things that.

0:29:16 - (Nicole): She'S a little bit worried about, because we all have worries, but it's nice to put them out in the world and just let them be and move on with our lives. So she's going to work it out in a brilliant way and I can't wait. We got to meet her first on the podcast before she became rich and famous as an actor. Little tip for us there. Remember the name Lulu Loughren because it's going to come up. I can guarantee it. All righty. Thanks everyone for joining me today for another brilliant conversation. Can't wait to talk to you next week.

0:29:46 - (Nicole): And yeah, talk to you then.

0:29:50 - (Nicole): Bring your kid to work was recorded.

0:29:52 - (Nicole): In meant on the lands of the Jaggera and Turable, people who've been sharing their stories for more than 60,000 years.

0:29:59 - (Nicole): Thanks for listening to another episode of bring your kid to work. If you haven't already, make sure you give us a review on your podcast player of choice. It helps other people find the show and follow bring your kid to work and subscribe wherever you're listening now and send your favorite episode to a friend. These stories are too good to keep to ourselves. And don't forget to follow us on Instagram and TikTok at bring your kid to work and on Facebook at bring your kid to work the podcast and did you know you can join the conversation join bring your kid to work career conversations community on Facebook for great career tips and conversations about the journey of work, workplace culture, and parenting while working.

0:30:41 - (Nicole): We're always looking for inspiring guests to be a part of our show. If you have a fab idea for a guest, drop us a line at admin@bringyourkidowork.com au or dm us through the socials. We would love to hear from you. Thanks again for listening. Bring your Kid to Work is a Lioness media production this episode was produced and edited by me, Nicole Lesio. Our music is composed by Rikuo with graphics and design by Anastasia McCuka.

0:31:10 - (Nicole): Follow bring your kid to work on your podcast player and all the socials and visit.com to see our blog transcripts from our episodes and to sign up to our newsletter for the latest updates. Talk to you soon. Close.

0:35:59 - (Nicole): Bring your kid to work was recorded in mean on the lands of the Jaggera and Turrbal, people who've been sharing their stories for more than 60,000 years. Thanks for listening to another episode of bring your kid to work. If you haven't already, make sure you give us a review on your podcast player of choice. It helps other people find the show and follow bring your kid to work and subscribe wherever you're listening now and send your favourite episode to a friend.

0:36:28 - (Nicole): These stories are too good to keep to ourselves. And don't forget to follow us on Instagram and TikTok at bring your kid to work and on Facebook at bring your kid to work the podcast and did you know? You can join the conversation join bring your kid to work career conversations community on Facebook for great career tips and conversations about the journey of work, workplace culture, and parenting while working.

0:36:51 - (Nicole): We're always looking for inspiring guests to be a part of our show. If you have a fab idea for a guest, drop us a line at admin@bringyourkidowork.com.Au or dm us through the socials. We would love to hear from you. Thanks again for listening. Bring your kid to work is a lioness media production. This episode was produced and edited by me, Nicole Lessio. Our music is composed by Rukkuo with graphics and design by Anastasia Makkuhka.

0:37:20 - (Nicole): Follow bring your kid to work on your podcast player and all the socials, and visit bringyourkidowork.com to see our blog transcripts from our episodes, and to sign up to our newsletter off for the latest updates. Talk to you soon.