Leaders, Are You Financially Well? Take Care of YOU!

16 Sept 2026 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

1:50

In this motivational monologue recorded in a Bellagio hotel room before speaking at the Avance Conference, Louis Barajas addresses nonprofit, community, and financial‑education leaders. He asks them to reflect on their own personal financial health—retirement savings, emergency funds, estate planning, and investing—rather than focusing solely on the finances of the organizations they serve. Barajas describes a common cycle where leaders’ titles and pride prevent them from seeking help, leading to procrastination and years of financial neglect. He emphasizes that leaders do not need to have perfect finances to help others, but they deserve the same economic opportunity they champion. The speaker urges listeners to obtain a financial coach or advisor, build an estate plan, and start investing, framing self‑care as a sign of strength, not hypocrisy. He concludes with a call‑to‑action, directing viewers to his website (louisbarajas.com) for financial coaching and education services.

Chapters

I'm in my room at the Bellagio getting ready to speak in a few hours at the Avance Conference in Las Vegas. And I was thinking about who helps the people who help everybody else, because I see so many leaders here, and I wanted to talk to the nonprofit leaders, the community leaders, the financial educators, and actually people who spend their lives helping others build better lives. And I'm going to say this with a lot of love. How are you doing financially? Not your organization, not the people you serve. But you, are you saving for retirement? Do you have an emergency fund? Do you have an estate plan? Are you investing as well? Or are you just teaching everybody else about financial wellness while you're quietly living paycheck to paycheck? And if that's you, I'm not judging you, but I do want to challenge you because sometimes when you become the CEO, the executive director, or the person everybody looks up for answers, your title starts getting in the way of asking for help. And you think, shit, I'm supposed to know this already. So you hide it. And then embarrassment becomes pride, and then pride becomes procrastination. And then another 10 years go by. I've watched that happen to several leaders. Now listen, you don't have to have your financial life completely together to help somebody else. But if you're going to spend your life fighting for economic opportunity or for other people, you deserve some of that opportunity as well. Get a financial coach. Get an advisor. Build the estate plan. Start investing. Just get your shit together. Not because you're a hypocrite if you don't, because you matter too, and there's no shame in asking for help. In fact, maybe the strongest thing a leader can say is, I spend my life helping everybody else. Now it's finally time that I take care of myself as well. Now, if this hit a little too close to home, maybe that's a good thing. Click the link in my bio or visit louisbarajas.com, L-O-U-I-S-B-A-R-A-J-A-S.com, to learn how financial coaching and financial education can change your life.