From the vibrantly colored Green Mountains of Vermont, comes our October Wild WE of the month. Just like New England foliage and crisp fall air, Christine Moriarty of MoneyPeace.com is a refreshing breath of financial fresh air helping to empower individuals with peace and prosperity around their money.

I love to be outside. It is a beautiful fall day here in Vermont, so you can see where my mind is. I am active and athletic and drawn to positive energy folks. I love to travel and explore new places. I appreciate connecting with family and friends. And I am to be the best I can be spiritually as well as emotionally and physically. I grew up outside of Boston in a blue collar neighborhood where we knew our neighbors and connected as friends. My dad was the immigrant who had his own business; from him I learned business and the fine art of entrepreneurship. Most of it was by example, though I did grow up working within the business. I was always good with numbers and children. I thought that a business education would give me more options. Teaching is in the blood. Several of my cousins are teachers. So naturally, I took what I was good at and found a way to help others.

Educating individuals and seeing them change and grow. Information is power! And once people understand their relationship to money better, they make more positive choices. I love to see folks consider additional options and ways of being, often growing beyond previous limitations.

The benefit of speaking is that I have the ability of putting financial technical terms into simple understandable language. I often see "lightbulbs" go off for people in the audience. This is how I know they have learned a new piece of information and will take it home and develop new financial practices that will last a life time. This time of interaction brings joy to me and keeps me speaking.

My free monthly newsletter elicits responses from around the globe. Money and our relationship to it is a universal thing and when we take the time to be open to learning, long- term occurs.

Many of my clients have been with me since the beginning of my practice in Boston in 1994. I have watched as businesses have grown in to million dollar companies, children have grown and attended college, and retirement plans have been enacted. These are the true benefits to the work I do. I see other peoples lives improve.

The news was an incredible confirmation to the life and work I had chosen. I love what I do. I love Vermont. Emotionally, the award confirmed my work and location. Receiving the award made me feel a significant part of Vermont, like I belonged here after moving five years earlier from Boston.

I received the letter in the mail in March. After picking it up at the post office, I was walking on cloud nine. As I crossed the street of my small town, I saw a friend driving by, and flagged him down. He was the first to learn of the award.

I had not worked for the award or toward the award. The recognition came because I was doing my life’s work in the world. I feel it is an honor and a treasure as most people do not get public acknowledgment of their personal calling.

A business plan is an essential document for any business owner, actually for the potential business owner. This working document is a template for working through ideas and seeing how they impact the business financially, marketing wise and operationally.

Lots of business programs offer courses on creating a business plan. I find that when women take the time to do the plan first, rather than dive into a business, they are much more realistic. Doing the foot work is not as interesting but it can mean thousands of dollars saved on potential flaws in starting a business.

I was lucky enough to write my plan while getting my MBA in Entrepreneurship. I knew what I wanted and had a team of three other people to help me. Putting my goals on paper helped clarify my choices and generated new ideas. I still work with that original plan, including updating it and referring to it each year to see how far I have come.

Financial peace of mind is not just about understanding your cash flow or investments. Peace of mind comes from being comfortable with yourself and your choices personally, financially, spiritually and emotionally. They all overlap. To truly maintain financial peace it is an on-going process. It involves knowing who you are and where you are going and making choices that move you to a more balanced, happy life however you define that for yourself.

Yes, I have found that clients who are willing to open their eyes and hearts and explore themselves and where they are going to make radical changes in improving their lives. Everyone moves at their own pace, and there is no forcing the issue. When someone is ready to change, there is no limit to how quickly it can happen.

I have many examples of peace of mind. A woman I worked with for years finally took the leap and bought a home on her own. Her history and mindset was drenched in messages that she could not do it as a single woman. She just lights up now when she talks of her home and the joy she has out of it.

Another woman I have worked with for a couple of years is married with two children. She worked full-time in a business with her MBA and management position. After she received an inheritance, I asked if she ever considered staying home. Her answer was a pretty adamant "no". She even added that her company would not even consider letting her go part- time. We worked to arrange financially with her finances. Last week, I received a call saying she starts part-time next month. In her words, "what a different person I am then when I first came to you." I want people to be more themselves.

I only planted a seed and she explored more about herself. I often tell clients that I am only a guide. Using the coaching model, I suggest they do the sorting through of what they want. Then, we make the money work for them.

When I speak at events, I see both men and women in the audience. When I speak at a business, the audience is evenly balanced. I do quite a few women focused events, and at those there is always a handful of men.

Everyone wants to know more about money. Money represents different things to different people. Some individuals tend to be highly motivated because they want so much more out their lives. What no one wants to admit is how little they know about money. Overall, money is a taboo subject in our society. So if there is individual knowledge out there it tends to be in one area, not a complete money picture.

I love the Wild WE. The opportunity for women entrepreneurs to connect is essential to growing as a business and a person. The events, website and newsletters are informative and engaging.

As a financial coach and entrepreneurship teacher, I know that business owners can get singularly focused and forget what else is out there. Here is an organization that comes to them and offers a wide range of forums for connecting: in-purpose, online and over the phone. Keep up the good work~!

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