Meet Natalie Pace

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Natalie Pace a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Natalie, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

Early in my career, I made a commitment to add a splash of green to Wall Street and transform lives on Main Street. 25 years later, I’m living the life of my dreams, immersed in these dual mandates, which go hand-in-hand.

Unveiling who we really are and what unique contribution we will make to humanity is a journey. Each footstep and choice leads us closer or further away. Aristotle would say that the journey can be shorter for individuals who are born into a spiritually enlightened home, while the journey to self-awareness and fulfillment will take longer for someone born into harsh circumstances (war, poverty, in jail, etc.).

Sometimes a mistake, a fall, an obstacle helps us to know more acutely what we don’t want, so we walk in the opposite direction toward what we do indeed desire. So, the path isn’t linear. The ultimate answer is that I found my purpose by walking forward, and picking myself up after each fall. However, below are some details to help elucidate what placing our purpose above our basic needs or comfort looks like in action — and how doing so provides rocket fuel for our dreams.

Risking it All to Do the Right Thing
Charity is the Best Networking (Follow Your Heart)

Here is more on each one of the above 2 topics.

Risking it All to Do the Right Thing
Early in my adult life, I worked for a health insurance company. The company had some very sketchy practices that involved breaching patient confidentiality. The corruption was widespread, a case of the C-Suite being complicit or turning a blind eye. When I reported the illegal activity to the person I reported to, I found myself, for the first time ever, in a meeting with HR, who wanted me to start looking and acting more professional at work… or else. I chose “or else,” and left. (In today’s world, you could report that to a whistle-blower org, like SEC.gov.) I had to sleep on a friend’s couch for a few weeks, and then found a great next job. That led me further up the road to founding the Women’s Investment Network, LLC and becoming a respected bestselling personal finance author, with repeat appearances on national news shows and global conferences and a groundswell of enlightened investor clients and volunteers, who have become part of our brain trust. There were a lot of choices in between then and today. However, that courageous choice to “do the right thing,” rather than rationalize that I needed to keep the job, tow the line, fall in step, ignore my conscience, and just pay my bills, built up my moral fortitude. I learned that following my heart and refusing what is wrong leads to finding what is right, and others who are going to be natural partners on a more purpose-driven journey.

A lot of times, our life’s purpose is buried under our desire for comfort. How much have we rationalized our time away because we had to pay bills? How many of us want to lead more sustainable lives, but continue doing things the old CO2 polluting way because it’s just easier to?

Charity is the Best Networking (Follow Your Heart)
Our purpose is no secret to our heart and soul. It just takes practice to learn how to follow our heart and listen to the whispers of our highest desires, when the world around us is so noisy and demanding. Each time we make a choice that is in alignment with our deepest soul desire, it becomes easier. When we really walk in accordance with our unique higher calling, all kinds of magic shows up to support us. I have many miraculous moments that I could share. However, perhaps the most palpable one is that when I launched the Women’s Investment Network it was clear that there was a lot of interest in sustainable investing, which created a ripe breeding ground for fraud and scams. I made the choice to feature only projects that we had experienced personally and knew were real and worked. That led me around the world, kicking the dirt on everything from regenerative, organic farming in England, to experiencing the stifling smog of New Delhi (and studying with H.H. The Dalai Lama in India), to discovering the European transit solutions that have many Europeans generating a CO2 footprint that is 1/3 of Americans, Canadians, Australians and people living in the Middle East.

Within a decade, I was featuring the sustainable work of H.M. King Charles III (then H.R.H. The Prince of Wales) on HuffingtonPost. When I co-created the Earth Gratitude project, H.M. King Charles III was one of the first contributors, alongside Deepak Chopra, Kathleen Rogers (the president of EARTHDAY.ORG), H.M. Queen Diambi, Ed Begley Jr., Alice Waters, the Edible Schoolyard Project, Edd Moore and many other sustainability visionaries. I have not been paid for the Earth Gratitude project. It is my passion project. However, the rapid expansion and the A-list contributors of the Earth Gratitude project are proof positive that charity is the best networking.

https://www.nataliepace.com/
https://earthgratitude.org/

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

I (Natalie Wynne Pace) have been adding a splash of green to Wall Street and transforming lives on Main Street since 1999. The time-proven strategies for budgeting and investing that I developed 25 years ago are easy and endorsed by Nobel Prize winning economist Gary S. Becker, along with many other VIPs and Main Street folks who are thrilled to earn gains in recessions and outperform the bull markets in between without taking on a second “stock trading” job. We are the boss of our money. However, sometimes we give that power to others, thinking our focus should be on earning income. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t have a career. However, rich people make their money through passive income and investing, and pay a lower tax rate than the people who work for them. The strategies of the wealthy are available to all of us, if we are willing to learn them. These money tips are not difficult. Learn the life math that we all should have received in high school and college, and watch how fast your life transforms!

Join me online at our NataliePace.com New Year, New Me Financial Freedom Retreat Jan. 10-12, 2025. Email [email protected] for information, pricing and to register. Get more information at the link below.
https://www.nataliepace.com/retreat202501.html#/

Also, we plan on making four of my Amazon Exclusive ebooks free for 5 days during the holiday season. Email [email protected] to join our mailing list, so that you are sure to know when you can download your free copies. We also offer free videocoaching and other complimentary ways to start on the journey of financial wisdom.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Successful entrepreneurs are good at problem-solving. However, the three qualities listed below were essential to find innovative solutions to life’s money challenges and opportunities. As I young, single mother who was struggling to pay all of her bills and in danger of losing her condo, I had to find innovative solutions to my money challenges. Cutting out cafe lattes wasn’t going to do the trick then, and it won’t solve the unaffordable housing crisis of today. Just as I needed these qualities back then, so many professionals and entrepreneurs would benefit personally and professionally from embracing the solution-based qualities of:

Courage
Complex Pattern Recognition
Observation

And here is more color on each point.

Why courage? The hardest thing about doing the right thing is that it oftentimes isn’t the most convenient or comfortable choice, particularly if we are traveling off the beaten path. It isn’t what our friends and neighbors are telling us to do. (How many friends would have told me to quit my health insurance company job and be homeless for a month?) So, when we see incongruities in the status quo, and know that the conventional wisdom just isn’t working for us, it takes courage to seek out solutions under rocks. The opportunities lie in thinking differently. We must then step up and have the courage to walk past the criticism, naysayers and other headwinds that will try to slow us down. Of course, which direction we walk is key, which is why we need to embrace wisdom and knowledge, or find true leaders who can shine a light down the path less taken.

How did complex pattern recognition help?
In today’s world, life doesn’t add up. Many people under the age of 40 are spending 40% or more of their income on housing. We get eager to get on with our lives, to start our families, to own our own home, and sometimes lack the patience to understand that real estate and stocks don’t always just go up — that buying high can be a trap, rather than an opportunity to build equity and get rich. When asset prices are at an all-time high, as real estate, stocks, gold and even Bitcoin are (as of Nov. 15. 2024), we have to look beyond the sales-speak offered by commission-based broker-salesmen (the “experts” of these industries who sell us the assets) and understand the cycles of business, of investments, of bull AND bear markets.

The situation can change dramatically, as it has multiple times in the 21st Century. After solving the challenges for myself during the Dot Com Recession, I began offering innovative solutions that helped many avoid the Great Recession, when most people lost half or more of their wealth, and over 20 million people lost a home. (Those, like Nilo and Bill Bolden, who followed our warnings and strategies earned gains in the Great Recession and have outperformed the bull market in between.) Planting the seeds for a more prosperous tomorrow requires seeing more than we are told, in looking at the fine print, at the historical trends and even asking ourselves the 10 Questions that are outlined in The ABCs of Money, 6th edition, before determining which real estate opportunity is right for us. That book also has innovative strategies for debt reduction, budgeting, stocks, bonds, and other important personal finance practices.

What conditions that come together create opportunity and success? Why are so many people not in a position to capitalize when opportunity shows up? Most of us don’t buy investments at an affordable price because we CAN’T. If we lose too much in a recession, we might be struggling to save our home. Our FICO score plunges. Over the past 25 years, I have made it my mission to make a complicated world easier to understand, and to make The Thrive Budget and Easy-as-a-Pie-Chart Investing accessible for all through free web apps, ongoing online courses and private coaching.

Why is observation so important?
My best investment tips and crisis solutions have come from observation — and by having people in desperate situations reach out for assistance and solutions. I found solutions for everyday money problems, by watching and talking with billionaires and old-money families, many of whom have kept wealth for centuries. That informed the development of Money Tips of the Wealthy that all of us can tap into. (It’s better to have a good plan in place before the crisis occurs. However, it is human nature to wait until things break to fix them.) During the Great Recession, we were able to offer solutions for many desperate homeowners who had purchased real estate at an all-time high, only to watch the value sink to 60% or less of what they owed. (Our real estate warning was loud in April of 2005, which was early enough for anyone to have avoided the debacle, but not louder than the nonstop ads touting how rich everyone had become buying real estate, or the easy liar’s loans that offered no-down and interest-only financing.) By observing the housing and home buying trends over the last two and half decades, I have developed solutions for unaffordable housing, where we can stop making the landlord rich, keep the money in the family and build intergenerational wealth. (These strategies are taught in my retreats and master classes. Email [email protected] for more information.)

Before being ranked the #1 stock picker (in 2005), I developed my system for stock picking, which includes an organized approach of the data and competition, alongside important observations that can be made by almost anyone. As an example, In 2003, we watched while police departments across the U.S. were ordering tasers for each police officer in their force. The orders always show up before the earnings reports explode. The onslaught of demand, and the ability for Taser International to keep up their supply under such explosive growth, prompted me to name Taser International our 2003 Company of the Year. When we featured the company it was worth under one billion. It is now worth $47 billion, under its new name Axon Enterprise, Inc. In addition to tasers, Axon supplies wearable police cameras and manages the video content for police departments.

Observation was also key to me calling Google at the IPO, at a time when most pundits were still smarting from the Dot Com Recession (when the NASDAQ Composite Index dropped -78%). The big banks and their analysts were pooh-poohing the IPO, which was a special event (a Dutch auction) that allowed Main Street investors to participate alongside high net-worth institutions. People were told that they would do better to put their money under their mattress. Google (now Alphabet Inc.) is now worth $2.2 trillion. How did I come to the conclusion in April of 2004 that Google would be one of the best IPOs of all time? I outline that strategy in my first book, Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is (get the 2nd edition). The financials looked better than anlysts were admitting. However, by observing just how many people were using Google (over all of the competition) for search, alongside other factors that were auspicious for future growth, I was able to make the right call.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

Our business is very grass-roots, while also being global. There are many ways that we are always looking to collaborate.

1. Do you belong to a club or group, or do you lead an initiative at work? I (Natalie Wynne Pace) am a sought-after speaker. We can develop the topic to best suit your audience. Whether it is 5 Common Money Mistakes Made by Employees and Entrepreneurs, or 7 Ways Sustainability can Save Us Thousands of Dollars Annually, or a Parent’s Guide to College Planning, Starting at Birth, or Easy-as-a-Pie-Chart Investment and Retirement, these firesides and enrichment opportunities will be embraced by your team. Check out the various groups and speaking engagements in Natalie Pace’s bio.
https://www.nataliepace.com/nataliepacebio.html#/

2. Are you a marketing or travel professional? Email [email protected] to discover how you can earn a marketing commission with referrals to our Financial Freedom Retreats or Brain Trust Adventures. Our next one is our bienniel Royal Manorhouse Retreat in Cornwall, England, scheduled for March 2025. Yes, you and your family/friends deserve a 5-star adventure (for an affordable price) that will positively impact every step you take going forward!
https://www.nataliepace.com/restormel2025.html#/

3. Are you an influencer? Let’s co-host in an Instagram or YouTube Live discussion. Email [email protected].
https://instagram.com/nataliewynnepace

4, Are you an individual who is ready to be the boss of your money? Do you know someone in a financial bind? Email [email protected] with your financial goals or challenges. We have resources that can help, from our free blogs and videoconferences, to our affordable books, to our complimentary videocoaching programs, and our life-transformational financial freedom retreats and adventures. Learn more at https://www.nataliepace.com.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.nataliepace.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nataliewynnepace
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheABCsofMoney/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliepace/
• Twitter: https://x.com/NataliePace
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/nataliepace
• Other: https://earthgratitude.org/

Image Credits

Photo Credit: Marie Commiskey and Brian McLernon