Meet Laura Sanders | Financial Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Laura Sanders and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Laura, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I had the privilege of hearing about financial literacy while growing up. Even though I didn’t pay as much attention to it as I should have. In speaking to several people over the years I came to realize that my experience was not the norm. While doing some research I came to find that the Black American community spends the most on retail items of all demographics in the US on an annual basis. However, we have the lowest family wealth. This is a huge problem. I further read that the Black American family is projected to potentially have a median wealth of ZERO by 2053 if things don’t change. These things combined with a directive from God to start educating the BIPOC communities on financial literacy are what inspired me to start financial coaching and my business, Journey To Generational Wealth.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Through Journey To Generational Wealth, I empower professional women of color to achieve their financial goals, stability, and security and begin their journey to generational wealth through financial coaching and personalized financial strategies. I will be the first to tell you that I did my share of financial foolery when I was younger. I formerly got married with no financial protection and ended up leaving the marriage with marital debt when I had little to none when I got married. I racked up debt on shoes, perfume (those used to be my vices), and vacations. I also overextended myself financially in romantic relationships and friendships. I was reckless with my money. Don’t get me wrong I made some good financial decisions during those years but I also made a ton of bad financial decisions. By the grace of God, I got my act together and paid off over $65k in credit card and personal loan debt in a manner of 5 years. While simultaneously saving almost 6 months of expenses in my emergency fund, plus additional savings in sinking funds and investing for retirement. I also set up my daughter to be a millionaire when she grows up by beginning to invest in her financial future in her first year of life.

What sets me apart from my competition is the fact that I’ve been in my client’s shoes. I’ve made some of the mistakes they’ve made. But I made it through to the other side and I can help them do the same. What we do with money and why we do it has to do with our money mindset. Which we develop throughout our childhood. While I received more financial literacy than most while growing up I also saw my fair share of financial foolery. For whatever reason I gravitated to that versus the things I was being told. When coaching we start by discussing their money mindset. I work with my clients to pinpoint their toxic money biases and financial fears. We discuss their first memories of money and what their relationship with money was as a child and now as an adult. I’m often able to help my clients realize their relationship with money is the way that it is because of past experiences they’ve had. Then we work to shift to an abundance mindset.

In addition to working with you on your finances, I also offer a 6-week Financial Foundation For Youth program where I teach your children ages 12 -18 financial foundations including money mindset, financial goal setting, budgeting & taxes, saving & giving, investing & spending, and credit & debt. The students leaving this program have an informed knowledge of each of these topics and are empowered to make better financial decisions as they acquire and begin to earn money. I also offer a Financial Success Starter: College Edition workshop for college students. I realize that if we teach our children financial foundations as well as model them correctly in the home we give our children a better chance of making wise financial decisions.

One of the exercises my clients enjoy the most is the Dream Big exercise. I have my clients imagine a world where they have unlimited access to money. What would your financial life look like? Would you travel the world, retire early, send your kids or grandkids to college debt-free, or buy your dream home? From here I have my clients create a financial vision statement. This statement will be a reflection point for every action they take moving forward regarding their finances. Far too often in life, our dreams are stifled. We are told to look no further than the accomplishments of people we know personally. Why!?!? Whoever said this was the thing to do? I get rid of that limiting thought process. The very things my clients write down in the Dream Big exercise are the basis for the financial goals I have them work on. I empower my clients to create a strategy that will get them to the dream and financial vision they set for themselves. The number one consistent comment my clients have provided is that after their financial strategy session with me, their financial stress has reduced or been relieved. That alone sets me apart from my competitors as that is just one session, we still have 3-6 months’ worth of sessions to go after that.

One of the other things that sets me apart from my competitors is that I’m a Christian and I speak about finances from a biblical perspective. By no means am I beating anyone over the head with religion or my views. But if my clients are open to it then I am able to provide this as well as pray with and for them regarding their finances.

This has not at all been an easy process, but it has been a rewarding process. Just as the name of my business is Journey To Generational Wealth, the process of building a successful business is also a journey.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Places to go:
Space Center Houston – not every city has one and I think this is a gem for Houston
Botanical Garden – Beautiful relaxing atmosphere
Houston Legendary Graffiti Building – Selfie Time
Waterwall Park – Selfie Time
Color Factory – Selfie Time
Buffalo Soldiers National Museum – Cultural Education

Places to eat:
The Turkey Leg Hut – Delicious
The Pit Room – BBQ
Taste of Texas – Steak
The Original Ninfa’s on Navigation – Tex-Mex
Zalat Pizza – Only available in Texas – They only have Beef Pepperoni, The Masterclass is Delicious!!!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
As a child my great, great grandmother whom we affectionately called Mother taught my father that every person should be able to bury themselves and be sure to get a solid education. Mother was just one generation removed from slavery and was in my life until her passing when I was 10. She was the first person in my life to express the importance of planning for your future financially. She also told me that each generation should surpass the last and said that I had to do better than my parents, just as they had to do better than their parents. Because of Mother’s words regarding being able to bury one’s self, I got my first life insurance policy in my mid-20s which I still hold to this day so that I will be able to do just as she said.

My mother told me that my maternal grandmother instilled in her the importance of leaving a financial legacy for the next generation. My grandmother did this in the form of a home that was fully paid for. My mother, God rest her soul, did this in the form of life insurance.

As a child, I remember my mother playing games with my sister and me in the car. She would tell us we had a certain salary and that our bills were a certain amount and then we had to figure out how to pay our bills and what we would have left. At the time I thought she was just making sure we knew math. But now I realize she was teaching us how to budget our money. At the age of 13, my mother allowed me to get my first paying job. She also gave me a household bill to pay. This taught me that the money I made wasn’t just so I could do fun things but that I would have financial responsibilities to take care of as well. Growing up in church my mother also taught me the importance of tithing and giving to charitable organizations. I recall that we would participate in the March of Dimes walk on an annual basis and later in life we began supporting the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. To this day I support March of Dimes and Susan G. Komen. I have 2 grief journals I created that each contribute 10% of all profits from their sales to those organizations.

As a child, my father took me to open my first bank account. We walked into the bank and I felt like a grown-up because I had a bank account and money to put in it. As I became a young adult my father told me to contribute to my 401k and to begin investing as soon as I could. My father has continued to play a huge role in my continued interest and self-led education in financial literacy. He passed down to me the things Mother taught him while he was growing up and continues to pass down financial wisdom.

I always seek to give credit to Mother (the daughter of former slaves) for having financial wisdom far beyond her years and for passing it down to multiple generations. Also to my grandmother and parents for all the financial literacy they poured into me throughout my life. If it weren’t for them I likely wouldn’t be the woman or financial coach that I am. They proved that each generation can truly impact the next in many ways.

Website: https://www.journeytogenerationalwealth.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/journey2generationwealth/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/journey-to-generational-wealth

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/journeytogenerationalwealth/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JourneyToGenerationalWealth