Neil Phillips: Money as a Means to an Incredible Journey

Neil Phillips PROMO

This week I am very pleased to bring you an exciting interview with a climber and young professional that you don’t know: Neil Phillips.

As a matter of fact, I’m 100% positive that you don’t know Neil Phillips, because that’s not his real name. And I get that too, because I also don’t use my name. Money and jobs and the internet are like oil and vinegar. They don’t mix. As a matter of fact, we’ll discuss a bit about the taboo of money, and why Neil and I think it’s so damn hard to discuss personal finance.

Neil is a young professional, rock climber, and has many interesting stories and suggestions for anyone trying to get the upper hand with their money.

In this interview we discuss Neil’s desire for financial strength, his story of eliminating debt, pursuing financial independence, and preparing for a year-long road trip. And of course, we even have some good-ole-fashioned climbing talk.

Let’s go!

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Keeping Remote Work in a Post-Pandemic World

Remote Work

The global coronavirus pandemic flipped the world on its head: spreading tentacles of infection led to a stock market collapse and unprecedented unemployment for those not fortunate to have remote work. A thick, dry underbrush of discontent and polarization grew unchecked for months, sparked by a series of lightning strikes, resulting in a raging inferno. People amassed on the streets in search of change, driving each side someplace closer to their dreaded corners of hate.

With a new decade came so much promise, yet the rate of change experienced in the first seven months of 2020 feels like that new decade has already come to pass. So much to consider in seven months.

But with all this negativity can come so much promise. While there can be an element of guilt to consider silver linings, we must. We must always look for promise and hope in times of darkness, for every night eventually turns to day.

One such ray of sunshine is the movement towards a more permanent remote work culture. The fortunate white-collar world has been working business on top, party on the bottom (nice shirt for the screen, underwear in the seat) since March.

So…what’s it going to take to keep that cushy remote job in a post-pandemic world?

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Nate Drolet: So You Want to be a Coach?

Nate Drolet Interview

Alright folks, we’re finally getting back on the interview wagon, and I’m pleased this week to bring you Nate Drolet. Nate, at 31 years young, is a coach, trainer, and podcast co-host for Power Company Climbing, a well-rounded climber (he has climbed multiple 5.14a routes and V12 boulders), and a master of movement. Nate also takes an admirably pragmatic approach to learning and self-improvement.

In many cases, it might be as simple as mind over matter…

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What It’s Really Like to Not Have to Work on Monday

We started working intently towards financial independence in 2015. Less than five years later, we crossed the finish line. I pinned the merit badge on my flair vest and decided to call it quits on the corporate world, just as COVID-19 was quietly putting the world in a strangle hold. A few weeks later, the stock market crashed, and along with it, our net worth. Is waking up each Monday without needing a job as great as it seems? Am I just running from something?

Well…maybe.

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Lauren Abernathy: Finding the Balance

Alrighty folks, we’re back on the interview bandwagon! This week I am pleased to bring you an interview with the industrious and energetic Lauren Abernathy. Lauren is a 25-year old professional, fully-obsessed climber, writer, and lover of adventure. And she’s a boss of her money.

At an age when Lauren began optimizing her professional life and learning to save for her freedom, I was trying to free myself from four to three nightly PBR’s.

Grab a cup of coffee, PBR, or whatever and let’s settle into some incredibly important life lessons for those at any point along their journey.

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The Astonishing Cost of Unused Vacation

Hey you guys, it’s 2020, a new year! One of my favorite (past) pastimes is to begin each year with a plan for using all of my vacation. Studies, however, reveal that Americans are rarely capitalizing on the full gift of paid time to not work, and it’s costing us all big-time. The rippling effects go far beyond our own well-being and can affect society at large.

How much are we truly leaving on the table?

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