women

The Foundations and Beginnings of Kidding Around Greenville

June 29, 2023 by Hans Blake, CFA, CPA

Reading Time: 3 minutes

In this episode of Intelligent Money Minute, we dive into the foundations and beginnings of Kidding Around Greenville with the owner and editor-in-chief, Bethany Winston. From financial challenges and reinvesting profits to the importance of building a team, we’ll explore the key aspects of starting and growing a successful business in this podcast.

Financial Hurdles

Bethany Winston shares her financial journey when starting Kidding Around Greenville. With limited funds available, she had to bootstrap the business from scratch. She began by utilizing free resources and investing her own time and effort into the venture. As the business grew and started generating profits, Bethany made the strategic decision to reinvest most of the earnings back into the business. This allowed her to hire people and expand the infrastructure of the site, laying the foundation for future growth.

Bethany didn’t have to wait too long before making her first hires and starting to outsource tasks. Even in the initial stages, when the website wasn’t generating income, Bethany reinvested the money earned from a few small jobs into hiring contractors. This early outsourcing helped her avoid burnout from handling all the tasks herself. By building a team, Bethany could focus on the business’s strategic aspects while delegating operational responsibilities to others.

Supporting an Entreprenuer

Amanda Blake, the wife of Hans Blake, joins the conversation to discuss the challenges she faced in supporting her spouse’s entrepreneurial endeavors. She highlights the importance of balancing time and stepping in wherever help is needed. Living below their means was a fundamental principle for Hans and Amanda, allowing them to save and provide financial stability during the business’s early stages. Their frugality and prudent financial habits provided them with more freedom and reduced stress, emphasizing the often-underestimated value of living below your means when starting a business.

What’s Next for Kidding Around Greenville

Bethany shares her plans for expanding Kidding Around Greenville beyond its current scope. While already covering the southeast, she aims to actively expand into Columbia. Bethany emphasizes the significance of having a strong team, as it plays a crucial role in finding and adding events to the website’s calendar. Her experience highlights the benefits of collaboration and delegating tasks, enabling entrepreneurs to focus on their business’s growth and development.

Starting a business involves financial challenges, strategic decision-making, and a commitment to reinvesting profits wisely. Bethany Winston’s journey with Kidding Around Greenville showcases the importance of bootstrapping, early hiring, and building a strong team. In conjunction with a sound foundation, the value of living below your means and supporting entrepreneurial endeavors as a spouse can’t be understated. If you’re looking for intelligent financial advice and want to learn more about how we can help you navigate your financial journey, feel free to reach out for a complimentary consultation.

Schedule a short discovery call or meeting

We’ll be interviewing Bethany on several podcasts regarding markets, passive investing, and diversification, so be sure to subscribe to our Intelligent Money Minute podcasts.

Bethany Winston Bio

Bethany Winston is the owner and editor-in-chief of Kidding Around Greenville & Kidding Around Spartanburg. She enjoys exploring parks, discovering local events, and meeting the people who make Greenville an amazing place to live.

Kidding Around Greenville is known for tapping into the heart of Greenville and bringing readers firsthand reviews of the best things to do and see in the Upstate and Southeast region. Readers use Kidding Around® to find things to do, places to visit, and businesses and resources they need, helping them to make wonderful memories with their families.

Credits: This blog was written in part by ChatGPT, an AI language model developed by OpenAI. The content of this blog reflects the knowledge and opinions of ChatGPT, may or may not reflect the knowledge and opinions of Intelligent Investing, and is protected by copyright laws. Please do not reproduce or distribute without giving proper credit to ChatGPT and OpenAI.

Bethany Winston’s Kidding Around Greenville Journey

June 8, 2023 by Hans Blake, CFA, CPA

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

In this episode of Intelligent Money Minute, we had the pleasure of interviewing Bethany Winston, owner and editor-in-chief of Kidding Around Greenville. Bethany shared her inspiring journey of starting her business and the challenges she faced along the way. As a fellow entrepreneur, it was exciting to connect with someone who understood the highs and lows of building a business.

Recognizing the Opportunity

Bethany’s entrepreneurial journey began when she was a stay-at-home mom, longing to find work that fulfilled her passion. With the advent of internet access at home, she saw an opportunity to create an online business. Initially starting as a blogger, she explored the possibilities of monetizing online content. It was during a local event in Greenville when she realized the city’s rapid growth and the lack of awareness about its offerings. This realization sparked the idea for Kidding Around Greenville, a platform to inform and connect the community.

Starting a business is never easy, especially when finances are tight. Bethany and her husband navigated budget constraints and embraced the challenge. Richard, her husband, supported her wholeheartedly, recognizing the value of her endeavor. Despite working long hours with minimal income in the early stages, their family created cherished memories, exploring the city together for research purposes. Bethany’s story serves as a reminder that humble beginnings and dedication can lead to meaningful success.

Advice for Entrepreneurs

As a fellow entrepreneur, I understand the difficulties of building a business from scratch. It is crucial to partner with the right professionals to guide you along the way. Having a reliable attorney, CPA, and financial advisor can provide invaluable support and mentorship. If you are an entrepreneur seeking financial advice and encouragement, I invite you to reach out. I am passionate about helping fellow business owners and would be delighted to share my insights and experiences over a cup of coffee.

Bethany Winston’s journey with Kidding Around Greenville is a testament to the power of recognizing opportunities and embracing the challenges of entrepreneurship. Her story highlights the importance of having a supportive partner, making lasting memories along the way, and partnering with professionals who can provide guidance. If you are embarking on your own entrepreneurial journey, remember that persistence and a strong support network are key to achieving your dreams.

Schedule a short discovery call or meeting

We’ll be interviewing Bethany on several podcasts regarding markets, passive investing, and diversification, so be sure to subscribe to our Intelligent Money Minute podcasts.

Bethany Winston Bio

Don’t Be a Purse for Your Suitors

December 16, 2021 by Hans Blake, CFA, CPA

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

On today’s Intelligent Money Minute, we’ll interview Kathleen Rehl on not being a financial purse for suitors. In an attempt to find new love, widows can fall prey to greedy suitors. Suitors who are more interested in a widow’s purse than them as a person. During this episode, Kathleen provides insight and tips on how to avoid being a purse to potential suitors.

At Intelligent Investing, we believe communication is important, and we strive to be a liaison between family members such as spouses, or parents and children. Kathleen mentioned how you don’t want to be financially scammed in a new relationship.

Some of our most popular blogs are the financial scam series we posted on our website. We talk about how to emotionally heal after being financially scammed, how to help others who have been financially scammed, and 11 ways to protect yourself from being financially scammed. You can find all of those on our blog page.

Please be sure to subscribe to our podcasts as we will be interviewing Kathleen on an upcoming podcast where she explains how to simply write a legacy letter to your family and friends. You will not want to miss it. You can purchase Kathleen’s book here.

Kathleen Rehl Bio

Kathleen M. Rehl, Ph.D., CFP®, CeFT® wrote the multi-award-winning book, Moving Forward on Your Own: A Financial Guidebook for Widows. Experiencing widowhood herself, Dr. Rehl empowers widows financially™ and inspires their advisors. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, AARP Bulletin, CNBC, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Journal of Financial Service Professionals, Journal of Financial Planning, and other publications. Rehl owned a financial planning firm for 17 years before retiring to her “encore” career. She walks an hour daily, practices yoga, enjoys art and music festivals, writes poetry and makes art, loves her grandsons . . . and continues to evolve on her journey.

Tips for Dealing with Tragedy, Sadness, & Poor Health Over the Holidays.

December 9, 2021 by Hans Blake, CFA, CPA

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

Despite Christmas being a cheerful time of year, many people find the holidays very depressing. Shelly experienced tragedy on Mother’s Day when her son Jonathan passed away. During this episode, Shelly Hamilton gives tips on how to deal with tragedy, sadness, and trials during the holidays. She highlights the value of speaking the truth to yourself to stay grounded and encouraged.

As Shelly mentioned, practicing self-talk and redirecting your negative thoughts to others and the blessings in your life can help as you deal with grief and the loss of loved ones. One of our core values at Intelligent Investing is Compassion, and as we work with other widows, I want to share some of our resources. You can visit investedwithyou.com, search our blogs by topic and find another blog titled “10 Tips for Caring for a Spouse or Parent who has become a child.” If you’d like to learn more about Intelligent Investing or would like to become a client, click here.

Shelly Hamilton recently published a book titled, “Always Only Good.” This book details Shelly’s journey of faith through her son Jonathan’s mental illness shortly after his death in 2013. You can purchase the book here.

If you haven’t subscribed to our podcasts, you can go to our podcast page and choose whichever method you want to download them. While you are there, you can go to our blog page and subscribe so you can get our latest Intelligent Insights directly in your inbox.

Shelly Hamilton Bio

Shelly Hamilton, the daughter of Frank Garlock, married Ron Hamilton aka “Patch the Pirate” in 1975. They have managed Majesty Music and written sacred music for children and adults since they joined the ministry in 1978. Shelly currently ministers at Majesty Music as pianist, composer, arranger, and recording producer. In 2013, their son killed himself after years of struggle with mental health issues. The family’s public struggle and acknowledgement of mental health issues has reached people around the world. Most recently her family faces a new challenge: Ron Hamilton’s early onset of dementia. Her insight and music will encourage anyone facing the challenges of life.

In January 2018 Majesty Music announced their third generation of leadership. After years of waiting for God’s timing, Ron and Shelly transitioned the ministry over to their son-in-law Representative Adam Morgan and his wife, Ron and Shelly’s daughter, Megan.

What Widows Should Look For In a Trusted Financial Advisor

November 18, 2021 by Hans Blake, CFA, CPA

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Reading Time: 2 minutes

On today’s Intelligent Money Minute, we’ll interview Kathleen Rehl on what widows should look for in a trusted financial advisor. Unfortunately, many financial wolves in sheeps clothing prey upon new widows. During a time of loss, widows may seek advice, counsel, and refuge in the wrong places bring about financial catastrophe. On the flip side, a widow may have a financial advisor who’s sincere, but doesn’t seek to connect on an emotional level. During this episode, Kathleen gives key factors of what to look for in a trusted financial advisor.

We would love to help you organize your financial junk drawers and help you organize your widowhood timeline and help you sort through the decisions that need to be made immediately, in the short-term and in the long-term. Keep in mind that at Intelligent Investing, we do not sell any products such as annuities or insurance products. As fiduciaries we want to do what is in our clients’ best interests at all times. We’d love to let you learn more about our firm to see if we’d be a good fit to work together. To schedule a complimentary call or coffee click here.

Kathleen Rehl Bio

Widows Are Still Hot! Trends in Widowhood

November 4, 2021 by Hans Blake, CFA, CPA

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Reading Time: < 1 minute

On today’s Intelligent Money Minute, we’ll interview Kathleen Rehl on trends in widowhood. The yearly census shows that, on average, one million women become widowed. During this episode, Kathleen defines her proprietary word Wid-Ex and how it impacts widowhood life. Wid-Ex will affect millions of women in the upcoming years and can have long lasting implications.

As Kathleen mentioned, there are more widows as a result of COVID-19, and widowhood is being talked about more as widows are being featured more and more in our entertainment. Kathleen also introduced us to a concept she terms, “Wid-Ex” where a widow can find herself grieving when an ex-husband passes away.

Kathleen Rehl Bio

5 Steps to Leaving a Legacy Letter

October 28, 2021 by Hans Blake, CFA, CPA

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Reading Time: < 1 minute

On today’s Intelligent Money Minute, we’ll interview Kathleen Rehl on 5 steps to leaving a legacy letter. Kathleen says, “you can give loved ones a far more precious treasure that’s a legacy of who you are.” The task of leaving a lasting written memoir may seem daunting. During this episode, Kathleen breaks down each step of writing a legacy letter so anyone can do it.

As Kathleen mentioned, the five steps to writing a legacy letter are

Who (who are you writing it for)
Gratitude or thank you statement
Life Lessons (Three things life has taught you)
Values (What matters most to you) and
A closing statement/quote/poem

To get a link where you can see this legacy letter template and see it in action, click here.

Kathleen Rehl Bio

Why Should I Leave a Legacy Letter?

October 14, 2021 by Hans Blake, CFA, CPA

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Reading Time: 2 minutes

On today’s Intelligent Money Minute, we’ll interview Kathleen Rehl on why you should leave a legacy letter. It’s wise to have your final will and testament in order, but your possessions aren’t the most valuable gift for family and friends. Kathleen says, “you can give loved ones a far more precious treasure that’s a legacy of who you are.” During this episode, Kathleen talks about the priceless value of leaving your family and friends a legacy letter.

Your family will likely read and re-read a legacy letter should something happen to you. As Kathleen said, your family will likely pull out and look at a legacy letter that you have written more often then they will pull out your final will and testament. We also talked about our core values which spell out the word, CLIENT. If you’d like to know more about Intelligent Investing’s core values, please visit here.