Meet Brett Roos

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Brett Roos. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Brett, thank you so much for making time for us today. We can’t wait to dive into your story and the lessons you’ve learned along the way, but maybe we can start with something foundational to your success. How have you gone about developing your ability to communicate effectively?

I’ve always been a talker. Growing up, I was often told in school that I was either too loud or that I talked too much. I’d say this came from growing up in a household where I felt like I was always expected to perform at a certain level. This, of course, led to a form of perfectionism that usually resulted in overthinking things—thus, over-explaining things.

It actually came in handy when I started working in sales in my late teens, learning how to explain things in a way that helped people better understand what I was saying. However, it wasn’t until my 30s that I learned the skill of listening—not just hearing, but actually listening with a desire to understand—where I truly began to learn how to communicate.

Now, when I communicate with people—either on a personal or professional level—I always try to pay attention not just to what is being said, but how it’s being said as well. Seeking to understand as a form of communication has not only helped me in my career as a Transformational Money Coach, but in my personal relationships and in my hobbies as a musician and dancer as well.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’ve been told that I have a very eclectic resume. I would just say that I have a somewhat addictive personality. I tend to find something I get excited about, and I just become addicted to learning more about it and how I can continually increase my skills at it. When I tell someone of the things I do, it sounds like a life of extremely diverse interests. I can say that I like it that way. It keeps things interesting!

Professionally, as a Personal Finance & Transformational Money Coach, I help people create a healthy relationship to money and master the skills necessary to achieve financial stability and success. It’s not something I ever thought that I’d be doing. In fact, if you had told me a dozen years ago that I’d be doing this, I would have told you that you got the wrong guy. I was terrible in my 20’s with money and I think I’ve made every mistake that could be made. I often tell my clients that there is no mistake that someone could tell me that they’ve made with money that I haven’t made myself in the past.

It’s funny because this kind of work was never a dream of mine, although I extremely love what I do and couldn’t see myself doing anything else at the present time. My dream as a kid was to play guitar in a metal band. I would listen to Metallica tapes when I was a kid and air guitar in my room to them. After growing up, learning how to play guitar and starting my first band, I realized as an adult that it wasn’t a financially practical route to take unless I could make it big, which oddly enough is a lot harder to do than you would think! So, I did the next best thing I could in my area, I got into sales. Cell phones, cars, RVs and other numerous ventures.

I did pretty well in sales but due to my terrible money skills I ended up in my 30s in debt and broke, fearing that I’d never have the opportunity to live my dream as a touring metal musician. This is really the reason I got into what it is that I do now. Because I was too scared to quit my job to pursue my passion while I was in debt and had no savings. I worked my butt off for the next 18 months to pay off all of that debt and save up enough, so I felt comfortable taking the time off to start touring with my band. I’ve since traveled the US multiple times, playing music to rooms small to large. It never really felt like what I wanted my career to be though, and throughout this entire process I was helping people with their finances so they could do similar things. Hence how my business, Rapidwise Financial Coaching, came to be a thing.

Now I get to live a life where I help people better their financial situation while still enjoying the things that I do in life, like touring with my bands Steaksauce Mustache & CultBurner. It’s really a rad life that I never expected but I enjoy all the ups, downs, twists and turns of it.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Looking back, I would say that there are 3 major things that I’ve learned in life that has really been impactful on me in this journey. First, would be that I get to define what success means for me. No one else gets to tell me what success looks like for me. Some may define success in their material belongings, how big their account, how high they are up in a career is or how famous they are. Yes, those things are cool, but I don’t view them as success for me. I define success for me a few ways. Am I able to show up as my authentic self on a daily basis? Do my daily interactions with others bring value to theirs and my life? Do I get to do what I enjoy professionally without overwhelming financial stress? If the answer to all of these are yes, then I am successful.

Second, would be that no one really thinks about me as much as I think they do. My coach, Julien, explained it in this way. “We all like to think that we are the main character in everyone else’s movie, when in fact we are an extra at best.” This is so true. People really don’t care what I have or what I’m doing as long as it isn’t negatively affecting them. In fact, they really don’t even think about me much at all. It goes this way for everyone. Learning and accepting this has helped me push past the perfectionism, the anxiety of what others think and the worry that I won’t “fit in”. It’s allowed me to be my authentic self and to not care what others think of me.

Lastly, would be that we can’t expect that we’ll be around tomorrow, but we should definitely plan for it. A lot of people live a life of extremes in this category. Especially when it comes to their money. They either live that YOLO life where they only think about what’s going on in the here and now. This usually leads to absolute financial chaos and impending disaster down the road. The flip side is that they only think about the future, how can they optimize and strategize their finances and life for the future. They never spend any time enjoying the present. These people usually deal with some form of anxiety because they never feel like they have enough and they’re always seeking more, more, more! I feel like managing your life and money is a lot like driving a car while using the maps on your phone. You spend the majority of the time watching the road ahead of you while taking the time to glance at the map to make sure you are on course to reach your destination.

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

I think it’s important to consider what your priorities are. There is this phrase “a jack of all trades is a master of none”. I can see what this phrase is intending, however, it doesn’t take into account that life isn’t an all or nothing kind of thing. Someone who is well rounded in their skills may not be considered the “the best” at something, however they have a great skill of becoming well versed in anything that they put the effort into. I do think it’s important to lean into your strengths as they will help you get the farthest in life. I also think it’s important to find areas that you want (emphasis on the word want) to improve and to spend time on those.

I enjoy doing many things in my life. Coaching my clients, writing and playing music, dancing, paddleboarding, puzzles and many other things. I often joke that I don’t try anything else new because I’m afraid I’ll like it too much and I can’t find the time for another hobby. Now am I a “Master” of any of these? I don’t know, maybe in some respects, but not all of them. I like to think that I’ve mastered the art of doing the things that I enjoy in life, and that usually means accepting what I’m good at and what I’m not good at, I’ll invest some effort into the things I really want to improve and let the others just be what they are. It’s ok not to be good at everything.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Carlos Garcia – Carlos G ATX Photo
Annie C. Evans – Cam The Photographer

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