Money is Power, Women Need More of Both

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Good night.

Money is power. You may be asking, well, uh, do I have the right podcast? Isn't this health and fitness and all things menopause, fitness, and hormones? Yes, yes it is. And if I give you the blueprint for longevity and a healthspan to match it, money is going to come up. Did you plan on living as long as you could, wanting to have as many adventures as possible? Or maybe for you help your family as much as you do. Are you ready for that? Or are you feeling constricted about finances and what happens when you're not earning anything? That is such a great question right there. How do you feel when you think about your quote unquote retirement? I prefer the word, by the way, rewirement. But do you feel constricted? Limited or do you feel expansion possibilities? It's a great question to ask. And either way, you're gonna wanna tune into this. This episode brings in the reality that is in synchronicity with Flipping 50's message, women are the most powerful health influencers in the world. Because here's the deal, we have more power if we have more money. Our money, the way we spend it, the way we use it, is our vote. And others around us in 3 generations— for some of you, that may be more— are watching. They're watching where do we spend our money, and how we have spent it or spend it from now into the future determines what will be popular, what will be available for those coming behind us— our sons, our daughters, our daughter-in-laws, our our nieces, our nephews, our colleagues, those, those younger people that we mentor and care about what happens long after we're gone. I'm Debra Atkinson. You're listening to Flipping 50, where I address your top struggles and concerns. But most of all, let's be a little bit more optimistic. We hope we give you the what to expect, the what to demand to raise the glass ceiling on the way you've thought maybe aging had to be. I share what to eat, how to move, and how to change your mindset. And there's a lot about that in this episode. So you can have the energy and the vitality that you want, need, and deserve. And today we may take that one step further. So with that energy and vitality that you want, need, and deserve, not just today, but so that your 85-year-old self has it, not putting a ceiling on that, by the way, if you want to insert 95 or 105, you feel free. Okay. But you're going to need money, right? And let's hope we're not using it in the same way previous generations have. I mean, I know listening to— as the youngest in a family with older parents, I, I listened very often to my parents' discussions on reality, whether it was for their parents, you know, and supporting them in living in an apartment or in a retirement community and the nursing home. And will the money run out, or where will they be? That was a chief concern. Let's hope that you and I have different concerns. We'll be be able to take both trips or need to just choose one? Okay, all those, much better. My guest today is Nancy Rossetto. She's a founding partner and principal of Capstrat and founder of the Capstrat Women's Forum. Her primary focus is to cultivate awareness and business opportunities for the firm's institutional investment advisory, private wealth advisory, and asset management services, and to co-lead the Capstrat Women's Forum. The forum's mission is to support the personal, professional, and financial success and fulfillment of women. Thank you, God. Amen. Nancy fiercely believes that money is power and women need more of both. Her passion is to financially empower others, especially women, to attain the freedom to live the life of their dreams and create a meaningful legacy. Her purpose is to serve. She's a speaker, a mentor and an active philanthropic leader in her community. And I think you will love her. She's also one of us, very recently turned 60, and the conversation will turn to that if you hang around till the end. And I don't think you'll be able to put this one down. Let's dive in. Nancy, thank you so much for being here.

My pleasure, Debra.

All right, well, before we dive into this, everyone knows this is a health and a fitness podcast, so we talk a little bit more about the physical self, but I'm obviously in dimensions of wellness, if we take a bigger step of total overview, this is hugely, enormously important. And for all of us, it's becoming a little bit more urgent. So we're actually— we're feeling the crunch and where, where maybe we want to stop the earning but not necessarily the spending. I don't know if that's anybody else, but that's certainly me.

That's so true.

How did you get started? So let's dive into that and you. How did you get started doing this? How long have you been doing it? And why this? You could be a lawyer, you could be an actor, doctor. Why this?

Well, I'll be honest, my acting skills are probably not great. But, you know, it's interesting, Debra, a lot of people do ask me, how did you choose your career? And, and the truth is, I I did, to some degree, choose my career. Just about, you know, decades ago, I was working with a benefit and compensation consulting firm. Or actually, let me step back in before that. I was in commercial real estate when I started my career in Manhattan in, God, in 19— I can't remember, but 37 years ago. Let's just say that. And And I had met this gentleman that I knew would change the trajectory of my life. And he was an entrepreneur from Seattle. And he was just one of those people that I knew instantly that I needed to, you know, kind of take a journey with him. And I ended up, you know, meeting him one day on a Friday for 3 hours. I called him on Monday and I said, look, you know, if you're going to open up an office in New York City, you need to know somebody who knows New York City. My ask was, you hire me, I will build you a company, an office in New York. He had about 11 other offices throughout the country. My ask was reply. He replied with a yes. And, and so that firm, I actually, I eventually became a principal of, and that firm was sold to a national broker-dealer. And so my eye I took the bold and courageous action to ask this man to hire me. And when I think about it, in, through my journey, through my career, I have not worked for companies; I've worked for leaders. And he was really the first leader that I wanted to work with. So that company was eventually sold, and that's where I met my current partners today, one of whom I know that you know., and, um, and we started, um, what today is Capstrat 20 years ago. Um, last month in March— May of 2023, we started our firm, and our firm is Capstrat. We are an independent registered investment advisory firm, and we're a private company, and it's been— and, and I think that what inspired us to start our company was that we came out of a business model that did not speak to our values, our beliefs, or our principles. And one of my other partners and I were held to a retention agreement at that broker-dealer. The day our retention agreements expired, we stepped away. We resigned. We took someone with us, our third partner, and we started our firm, which was back then Capital Strategies Investment Group. We've rebranded and now we're Capstrat. And it really started because we all felt a calling to— and I know this is overused— to really be a part of something bigger than ourselves, to deliver exceptional service to, to clients and to help clients achieve financial peace of mind. And that has always been a cornerstone of our business and doing it in a— our firm was built on two principles to do that, trust and transparency. And as you can imagine, the financial services industry isn't known for transparency. And we wanted to create a firm that allowed us to serve the clients that we wanted to serve and individuals and companies that really embrace the same values that we do as independents, as fiduciaries, and based on trust and transparent relationships. So for me personally, it really began with an ask to somebody I knew for 3 hours. And that one ask. And then when I met my current, one of my current business partners, it was the same sense of feeling. I knew that I needed to start on this journey with him and then with our third partner to create a firm where we answer to one constituency, to our clients. And we had just amazing vision. We were relentless. We— it was blood, sweat, and tears, you know, for 20 years. And today we have a sustainable, thriving company.

Wow, that's a mouthful. That is really, I mean, digging deep into what it means to you, and I love that. And I'm gonna echo— so listeners, bear with me— but we talked about this in the intro, and that is one of the things that as we first talked talked, thanks to the introduction from the partner that you work with that I, I know and met briefly, that what we have in common is kind of this mutual belief that women are the most powerful health influencers in the world. And then to take it a step further, I mean, money gives us that power. We can exercise that right— see what I did there? Exercise that right to power by having the wealth. Yeah. So good. Okay, so in that business and this— the longevity of your career, what is it that you're most proud of?

So that's a great question, and I'll share with you that I think that, um, what I'm most proud of— I think you will understand, um, because I think you went through a very similar experience. So what I am most proud of is the leap of faith that I took in 2003 to start this company, to become an entrepreneur, to leave a, you know, a very lucrative job, but to take that leap of faith and walk away from the corporate job, as I think you did as well, at the age of 40 and build something from nothing. And, you know, I know that it is a frightening thing. And I'll be honest with you. I'll share with your community and your audience that not only was I going through this professional transformation and taking a leap of faith to start a company, to become an entrepreneur, I had also just gone through a divorce. I came from a family of all boys. I'm one of 5 children. I have 4 brothers. And, you know, my parents were from the Greatest Generation. And I think my father was like, you know, what do you mean you're getting a divorce? I was the first one in my family. And so I had to, you know, give away half my savings at that point to my ex-husband. And so, it was a leap of faith. But to start this business, it was a leap of faith personally as well as professionally and financially. But you had mentioned a word a moment ago, the word belief. My belief, and I've shared this with others so many times, my belief Debra, was so strong in both my two partners and in the vision of what we wanted to create that we always said that giving up was never going to be an option. And, you know, at that time— oh gosh— at that time, it was just a really big change. And that fear that, you know, you have when you leave, you know, your, your place of comfort, you leave a consistent paycheck and you take this leap of faith. But I knew with every cell of my being that we would succeed. And I have a favorite saying that I lean into my faith, not religious faith, but belief and faith in what we're creating, faith in people that we would succeed. But I am most proud of the fact that I took that leap, that we have a sustainable, thriving business with 28 employees right now. Wow. And the other thing, to your point, um, that I'll share is that I'm so proud that we created a women's community back before they were kind of— now there are so many of them, which is great because women do hold so much power. But we started the Capstrat Women's Forum in May of 2015 in Chicago with the mission to support the personal, the professional, and the financial success of women. And today, we reach over 7,000, 6,000, 7,000 professional women across the country. And this year, our theme is manifesting your wealth, your wisdom, and your well-being. So, we talk about things like well-being, like exercise and nutrition and mindset, some of the things that I know you talk about as well on Flipping 50. So those are the things— those two things are the things I'm most proud of.

I love that. Those are great answers. So a couple of things come to my mind. In fact, it just feels like, you know, the universe kind of taps you on the shoulder sometimes and just like, here's this, here's this too. Yeah. But somebody recently said this to me and, you know, pointed out like starting over. Like you did, like I did, you know, and pivoting, it's like, it's a hard thing to do for listeners. Even on the scale of you're used to exercising a certain way, to thinking about your fitness in a certain way, being in a routine, and even if it's not working, the human brain still loves the routine it's in and it will still pull you back down there. Yeah, but starting over is you have to ask yourself, am I willing to leave something that I'm really good at and start from scratch? Because when you leave that reputation and, you know, the earning potential that you had, tomorrow if you start over, you don't have it. It's just gone. I mean, you can look at, yes, I had that history, but now you've got this new business. It has no history. You can't say we've done XYZ because you haven't yet. It is a scary place to be.

Oh yeah, it was, I mean, it was frightening. Like, in just as much as my fear was something that I could like hold physically, or my belief was something that I could hold, my fear was so tangible as well. But, you know, it's so true that I think women are so resilient and we lean on each other. We have, whether it's our tribe or our network or community or circle. And I think that we are so much stronger than we realize. And I would totally agree with you that we thrive on routine, we thrive on ritual. And not only are we, when we step into a new chapter or start a new company or we step into our post-professional life and no longer have a regular income or paycheck coming in, it is frightening. And one of the things that I encourage a lot of— and that's also a shift in our identity. It's also just thinking about how am I going to maintain my routines, my health routine, my nutritional routine? How am I going to remain relevant? And continue to use my impact. And so it is a shift on so many different levels. And I always go back to the importance of your mindset and, you know, nurturing and cultivating a positive mindset to help you stay resilient, to help you stay optimistic, to help you manage the thoughts and the narratives in your head. Because I firmly believe that with the right support, by asking for help, by leaning into resources and programs that you offer, that we offer, that women can stand on their and will stand on their own two feet. And there is such power and such strength in asking for help. So, you know, I think about, about those things when, when it's over, when you're overcoming fears, leaning into, you know, your resources and your networks and your support system.

I love that last statement, and I would have to say that, you know, 10, 11 years ago, that was the hardest thing for me. Oh, right. Asking for help brought tears to my eyes. I just— that was incredibly hard.

Well, we're all, you know, we're all supposed to be superwomen.

We're all right.

We're all supposed to multitask, which isn't, you know, doesn't happen. Women are human, and women are, as I said, I think, more resilient. I coach and talk to so many women all the time who just need to realize that if they tap into the bold, courageous, innate strength that they have, um, they'll surprise themselves.

What advice do you have for women right now who are looking at their next chapter, whether that's maybe they're leaving a relationship or want to, maybe feel powerless to do that? Or, or a career or a job. And, you know, they're looking at flipping the second 50 and hopefully not just settling for, you know, well, retirement comes at this age and then this and then that. But what's your advice for women who are looking for what is next for me or just being willing maybe to be uncomfortable asking that question, not knowing the answer yet?

Yeah, being uncomfortable is so important because it's really where we learn and grow. So I will, I think I would offer a few things. The first is to realize that, again, there's going to be a messy middle, you know, from one door closing to the other door opening type of thing. And being, and I've been there, Debra, I was there 2 months ago, I was laying awake in bed completely uncomfortable because I am in that demographic where I'm looking out to my what's next, which will be in about 4 years or 3 or 4 years, something like that. And I'm like, well, who am I then without a title, without going to the office, which I go to periodically, without my professional network and so on? And so, one of the things that I really encourage women to do regardless of what type of change it is, is to— now, if it's a change that you can control or a change that you have some opportunity to plan for, start doing that now. For example, women really aren't retiring. They are recalibrating. They are stepping into a new chapter or their what's next with, with true intention, whether that's they're serving on boards, they're becoming entrepreneurs, starting, you know, fitness companies or, or whatever type of business they're starting, becoming entrepreneurs or serving on boards, they're publishing, they're writing books, they're starting coaching business, their businesses, they're going on mission trips or taking longer sabbaticals, or they're just enjoying life. But they are using their impact and their influence in different ways. So that's the first thing I would offer. What advice do I have is to start now. Whether you're stepping into, for example, your post-professional life, or you're thinking of starting a business, stepping back from corporate and starting that thing that you've always wanted to do, start taking small actions today. Whether that's coming up with a mission statement or coming up with calling an attorney to bounce something off of or calling your support network and going through a kind of, what do you think about this idea and getting feedback, start taking baby steps today. The other thing that I would encourage, and I think I have the sense, the very strong sense that you do this as well, be sure you invest in some type of routine, preferably in the morning to start your day right, to get your mindset in the right place. One of the things that I did during COVID— now, I am not married, I don't have children, I work by myself, I live by myself, I eat by myself, I have a little dog here. But, so I am very mindful that I am by myself a lot. One of the things I did during the pandemic was I created a morning ritual for myself where I get up in the morning, I make myself, I stretch a little bit, make myself a cup of coffee. I sit in silence, dead silence, on the lanai for one cup of coffee. And then I will pray, I will meditate, I'll do my gratitudes, and I will do my affirmations, my I AMs. And I do them out loud to the universe. And then I listen to a couple other things. And that anchors me for the day. And so whether that's you sit and have a cup of coffee with your partner or spouse, or you write 3 gratitudes in a gratitude journal, or you read a fiction, you know, nonfiction book for a half hour, do something that fills your cup first. Because as I'm sure you know, we Caring for ourselves is a service. When women care for themselves, that is a service to others. That is a service to our families. That is a service to our kids, our partners, our colleagues. Because as the saying says, we cannot pour from an empty cup. So creating a ritual in the morning— if you're not a morning person, do it at night. You know, because that is something that will anchor you. And then, you know, on the financial side, exercise, of course, get out. One of the things that I've done for the month of June, and I've got a calendar in front of me and I X off every day, is I exercise for 20 minutes. I don't eat past 7 PM. And I look at my manifestation board and verbally manifest all my— everything I'm trying to manifest. So being sure, and movement is huge. And I've taken so much from you that it's not about pounding on the treadmill anymore, or, you know, what, so much cardio, that it's 20 minutes of meaningful and solid movement. Then I was just going to go back to the financial aspect. If you're stepping into your post-professional life or you're starting a business and no longer going to have that consistent income, be sure you have a financial plan that's comprehensive, that's holistic. A financial plan is not a partner, it's not a spouse, it's not an Excel spreadsheet, it's not a piece of real estate. It is a plan that identifies how you are going to save, invest, grow, and protect your wealth, and it identifies goals and objectives and will take you down a roadmap to achieve everything you want to. So really, really important, and just continue to take those baby steps.

Okay, there's a woman out there who is probably where I was, afraid to ask for help, doesn't want to ask for help. And I think always part of our reluctance in doing that is, is yes, the conditioning we've had from those parents that, you know, absolutely, just, you know, you're the one people rely on, you're the accountable one, we can count on you to get it done. And we've always been that. But part of why we don't ask is because, well, we don't want to ask a dumb question, and I'm embarrassed to have somebody like, look at what I'm doing, feeling that you would judge, even though you and I both know whether we're coming from finances or we're coming from the fitness or health habits, it's not about judging. It's just we need to know where you are now in order to help you take the first step and not take 10 steps or suggest 10 to you at once. But to that woman who is reluctant to ask and feels like I'm so far behind. Is it ever too late when it comes to finances?

No, never, ever. I don't think it's ever too late when it comes to finances. I don't think it's ever too late when it comes to physical fitness, well-being, exercise. And I have to, you know, just credit you for like for your organization, you know, Flipping 50, the community that you've created. That is a safe space for women to come and ask for help. Like, as you know, the Women's— the CapStart Women's Forum is— that is a safe space for women to come and ask for help without shame, which we all carry, without judgment, without fear, regret, or embarrassment. And that is the power of communities like you've created and other women's women's communities is that we have to be able to create space where women can come and authentically ask for help and not be judged and, and then receive that help. Um, and that is so important, but it is never too late to focus on your health and your exercise routine. It is never too late to focus on and ask for help around your finances.

Great answer, great answer. How does, how does a woman get started joining the forum? Do they already need to be a customer? Is this something that's open to anyone?

Yeah, thanks for asking. So it's really, it is open to anyone. Um, you know, our demographic is women who are 45, 50 north. Um, professional women in all professions from all parts of the country, the world, to be honest. And it's just, you know, we host programs that speak to women in, you know, in all parts of their life, personal. We're doing one in July about processing grief and processing a loss. We did one recently about managing midlife, to your point, that messy middle of one door opening and the other door closing, or one door closing, the other opening, and how do you navigate that hallway. So they can just go on to the Capstrat Women's Forum website and sign up and look at our programs, both current and past. And I will say we're really excited to have you as a speaker in 2024.

I'm excited to come. And yeah, the alignment is just so crucial. Yeah. And I think, you know, we've got to look at not just what you do— listeners who are, you know, walking or working out or commuting— but it's not just about the exercise you do. But I think we also know very well, if you've been here for a minute, the level of cortisol and stress that you carry with you can interfere with all the good things that you're doing and maybe act as something that compounds it instead. So not carrying with you guilt, you know, feeling like you've got this maybe burden lifted off your shoulders of not knowing where am I, what, what is possible for me. I love that. Okay, so I asked you that question and you are so glad I asked because it was an easy one. This one may not be.

Okay.

Bring it on right now, right? All right, well, you just celebrated your 60th birthday, so thank you for going ahead of me to let me know what's coming because it's right around the corner. But what's the most important thing to you, or was, about this milestone? It wasn't a big deal, but was it a freakout moment or not?

No, it really, it really wasn't, and maybe because I've been you know, aware of it for so long. I can— I've been playing—

59 years or something.

Right, for 59 years. But, you know, it's interesting because, you know, the last decade was fabulous. This decade is going to be sensational. And I think for me, it really stems from the awareness every day of being so grateful. And gratitude is not something that I do or express. Gratitude is just my way of being. I am so grateful and so well aware of the blessings that I have and, you know, just of the gifts that I've been given and the abundance And for me, I have this mindset. My mindset, managing my mindset, Debra, is so important to me. I talk to myself all the time and my internal narratives are very positive and strong. But the way that I look at it is the best is yet to come. I thought the first 60 were great. I can't wait to see what the next— and I plan to live to be, I think it's 95 and a half or 99 and a half. My father lived to 97, my mother lived to 85.

I was going to ask, how did you pick that number again?

Yeah. And so, I average them or something and I'm blessed with really good genes because other than a little bit of memory loss that my mother had, neither one of them, they were disease-free. So, you know, I've got some killer genes to take care of. And I just, it is, I truly believe that the best is yet to come. Not going to be challenges. I mean, not going to, you know, there'll be challenges. There'll be like freak out moments. I'll be in the messy middle. I'll be uncomfortable. But I just as much as I believed, you know, 20 years ago when we started this business, I believe today that the best is yet to come.

Amazing. Love that. Okay. And I'm going to come back and pull us back into mindset. Yeah, you've really shared a couple of tangible ways that you do this. But I also— it struck me as you were talking, not that you're doing it here. I think you've done a great job, but I think overall, just collectively, Everybody's, you know, we talk about mindset is so important, mindset, mindset, mindset. But I think this is like going to the doctor's office and having them suggest you should start an exercise program, and then they don't give you any instructions about what that looks like. But I think a lot of people wonder, like, what does that mean? What is mindset? How do I tangibly do that? So let me dive into your brain a little bit. Do you ever, do you ever catch yourself with awareness of, wow, that was something negative? Like, I just caught myself saying something negative. How is that gonna help me? Have you been there at one point in your life? Did you tend to go there more during a situation? Or what's that like for you when you first began to realize, I can take control over this?

That's just such a great question. So self-awareness is one of the hardest things to cultivate, I think. Yeah. I have gotten a lot better at it over the years, and it doesn't periodically happen to me. It happens every day, Debra, for me. And I am like, I'll be in the middle of a meditation or watching something or listening or doing my affirmations or something, and my mindset, a different thought will come in and I will notice it and I'll be like, where did that come from? I had like, where did that come from? And then, so I'm aware of it. I recognize it, and then I make a proactive choice to choose a different thought, to go back to what I was doing, to go back to my affirmations or my meditation, or to choose to go back and start the meditation, or whatever it is. Being self-aware is one of the hardest muscles for us to, you know, exercise. But I'm— I've gotten better at it over the last 2, 2 and a half years. And it— once you are aware of it, whether it's a negative tape or someone pushes your wrong button, it is then pausing, hitting that pause button for just a couple seconds or whatever you need to choose a different thought, a different response. I think the only thing that we can control in our lives is our R. So we have an equation in our firm that we focus on a lot called E R O. You have an event or a thought, for example, plus a response equals the outcome. You can't control the thought, where the thought comes from, you can't control the event, you can't control what somebody says to you, and you can't control the outcome. The only thing you can choose is how you respond to that. And being aware of that choice that you have to respond is self-awareness, and it takes time.

Love that. Absolutely love it. This has been so good, so rich. Love what you're doing. Where is the best place for listeners to learn more about the forum or join it and get a hold of you?

Oh, thanks so much for asking. Um, so my email address— I'm not sure if you're going to share it in call notes, um, or, um, or not, but I'll go ahead and— my email address is nr I-Z-Z-U-T-O at capstratig.com, or they can find me on, on LinkedIn. It's a great place to connect with me, or through the CapStrat Women's Forum website.

Fantastic. Yeah, love it. Okay, so listeners, now it's up to you. If there was a question that you wish I would have asked Nancy, I think we covered a lot, honestly. So in my own defense, I just think we did a good job. But you all can find the show notes at flipping50.com/moneyispower. And what are you waiting for?

Let's start Flipping 50 today.