Meet Christine
MY STORY
Before I ask you to share your money story with me, I’d like to share mine. Actually, there are 2 stories: my personal money journey and my career in the money world.
Personally, I started tracking my money in high school when I received a weekly “allowance”, but I had to pay for many of my own discretionary expenses. Since I was always good with numbers, this was a fun challenge and I learned some great financial lessons.
During my college years, I took out a few small student loans, and paid them off way ahead of the 10 year term. I was a homeowner at age 24, and good at saving. All good stuff…..until I reluctantly agreed to get involved in a family member’s business venture. This quickly proved to be a very bad financial decision, so much so that most people would have filed bankruptcy. Instead of going that route, I decided to figure it out and work my way out of that debt, It took patience and perseverence, but I reached that goal.
Now for the career story. My first full-time job was as a Teller at a Rochester, NY (my home town) credit union that I landed randomly through an employment agency. Random as it was, I owe the rest of my career to that opportunity. After 6 years at that credit union, I worked my way up to an Accounting management position. I also completed my Bachelor’s degree during that time, and moved on to public accounting to get my CPA license. Over the next few years, I missed the credit union world and all that it stood for as an industry with the motto “people helping people”. In another totally random way, I answered a newspaper ad (remember those?) and landed the position of Controller at another local credit union. And 18 years later, it was 2015, and I had spent the last 10 years serving as the President/CEO of Family First of NY FCU.
The irony that my own money struggles happened at the same time I was at the top of my career in a money industry is not lost on me. It turns out that money issues do not discriminate. So many people in various stages of life and income levels are just one bad decision away from a money crisis that could impact their life significantly.
Also in 2015, I decided to reprioritize my life to achieve more balance and lean into my faith journey, which culminated in leaving my job and relocating to Florida to be closer to family. This was my chance for an “encore career”, one where I could focus directly on helping people take their money journey from where they are now to where they want to be. Cornerstone Financial Coaching was founded to provide coaching and consulting to people who want to do more with their money. I help them become empowered to be wise with their money in a way that also works for their lifestyle AND achieves their goals. It is my great pleasure to work with clients who are able to save more money for their future, and are capable of being generous within their communities. In doing so, I create more giving back to the community that I could ever accomplish on my own.