Financial Planning

Bucket List

~ gretchenbetts ~ Leave a comment

Two weeks ago I returned from my Route 66 adventure!

It was everything I expected and more.

It’s also opened up the conversation at Magenta about bucket lists and fulfilling your life. We are keen to advocate work life balance and living the life you love!

This trip was something I’ve always wanted to do. So, this year, without any study on the horizon and Magenta now set up and running well, it seemed like the right time!

Since I’ve been back everyone has asked me what was my favourite thing. It’s taken me a while to reflect on it all and I can’t possibly narrow this down to 1 thing, so here are my top 5!

  1. Chicago – the city is amazing and I only scratched the surface. I love all city trips… the art, culture, food and hustle and bustle and this was no exception!
  2. Springfield – Illinois. This is a lovely town with great character – the home place of Abraham Lincoln. We had a lovely boutique hotel, fabulous Italian food and a crazy taxi man.
  3. Albuquerque, New Mexico. Wow! The old town is beautiful and such a different feel! New Mexico was ruled by the Spanish for a time, then Mexico & now falls under the USA. So it’s architecture and style is Spanish / Mexican and I loved all the little shops and it was so lovely and warm!
  4. Grand Canyon – as you imagine it will be, but vaster, quieter, calmer and more beautiful.
  5. Spending two weeks with my parents. Even though we fell out over directions, moody when we were tired and snappy when hungry. The laughs at taking selfies, picnics in the car, having our fortunes from the crazy machine, drinking cocktails in Vegas and talking about our memories and beloved family. How amazing to share this trip with them. Its cheesy – but true.

You can read more about Magenta’s bucket lists on our Blog at http://www.magentafp.com

Magenta is a go-go

~ gretchenbetts ~ Leave a comment

ice-cream-2

Last week, Magenta Financial Planning launched and I moved from Broadway Financial Planning to Magenta. We received cakes, flowers and cards, from friends and clients which was lovely.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Keri Carter, Managing Director at Broadway, for employing me and giving me a great opportunity to work with her team and learn from her over the last year or so. We have exchanged many best practice ideas and plan to stay in close contact.

The new Magenta website is live and I am so excited to eventually have a corporate blog, to share technical guidance, case studies and team news. You can view this here: www.magentafp.com

We have had a great first week and the whole team are all very excited about the business going forward.

In the lead up to the launch we had new photos taken, some formal and corporate for press and others showing our fun side! This is my favourite of them.

 

 

My future is Magenta

~ gretchenbetts ~ Leave a comment

Love your life

Some people say the situations life presents dictate what kind of life you will have. Others maintain it’s the way you react to life’s challenges and opportunities that determines your satisfaction in life. I certainly believe that the latter is true.

Next week, Magenta Financial Planning will start to trade. This is a big deal for me and very exciting!

It’s been a while in the making, a lot of hard work and a significant learning curve – but now it’s all becoming a reality and that really is very satisfying.

When Julie Lord (my business partner) approached me with this opportunity, I was nervous and wasn’t sure if I was ready for it. I have never had major aspirations to run my own business and was worried about taking on the responsibility and risk. But as I thought about it more, and discussed it with my friends and family, I knew that this was a challenge worth accepting – that this opportunity had the power to significantly change my life – making me happier, both in the short and long term.

I’ve worked closely with Julie for some years and we have our ups and downs, like you do in any relationship (friends / family / colleagues). However, as we have been discussing our plans for Magenta over the past few months – it’s been great to know we are both on the same page for our plans for the business and our futures.

The last year has taught me that it’s really important to be happy at work. This has an impact on all your life – your health, wellbeing and relationships. You have more energy for friends, family and yourself, if you are satisfied at work.

I’ve always given my all in every job I have had, both for my clients and for the team, but this has historically been associated with long hours, stress, regular tears and backstabbing from other colleagues.

I’m still tired at the end of the week, I’m still juggling lots of different roles and I still get frustrated by some things…. But generally I can say that I enjoy most of my days at work now. That’s pretty amazing.

I am determined our business will nurture a team that cares about our clients and their dreams, and how we can help them to achieve these.

I believe that our team can be truly successful and happy – if we try to consistently be positive about work, health and life in general and treat others how we would want to be treated.

Be in love with your life, every aspect, every minute of it!

More news next week and some pictures!