We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rhonda Noordyk. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rhonda below.
Rhonda, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
Resilience is definitely something that is learned. I feel like the very difficult challenges have helped me improved my resilience. I had a colleague once tell me that challenges don’t get easier, you just get stronger. And, I have found that to be true!
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
As I sat in my executive office, I was thinking about what I wanted the next five years of my live to look like. I really had two of choices. 1) continue down the same path 2) change paths. The first path was safe but would leave me feeling like I wanted more… The second path was not yet built. It would be a path that would need to be developed. While I thought about my options, I decided to build a new path. I was nervous but determined to be a financial advocate for women!
I grabbed my well-thought-out business plan, a few small office supplies and the key to my new office. The goal was to use my experience in the financial industry and higher education to provide a safe place for women to build their financial knowledge and confidence – especially if they were considering divorce. It was the clarity I needed to leave the financial industry, take a giant leap of faith and open The Women’s Financial Wellness Center. That was almost nine years. Since that time, I have helped thousands of people from all across the world. I serve women who resonate with my message. The mission to help alleviate financial vulnerability, improve financial confidence and reduce the number of women whose lifestyle goes down 41% after divorce.
The strategy that I developed to help women go from crisis to closure is called the BRIDGE Method. This method walks women step-by-step through the financial aspects of the divorce process. This group experience is designed to deliver access to curated content, best practices and insider secrets to help women determine their next best move!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
There were a couple things that I did early on in my career that I would recommend to others.
1) Take the Gallop Poll Strength Finder 2.0 assessment to determine your top five strengths
2) Learn how to be assertive in your communication style (direct, kind and confident)
3) Look for opportunities to negotiate
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
The most impactful book that I have read was Necessary Ending by Dr. Henry Cloud.
It provided me with a better understanding of why I may avoid letting go of certain people or things in my life. The book helped me understand how to let things do – and the benefit of doing it early.
The visual used to illustrate this concept was a rose bush. If you only have so many nutrients to feed the bush, you want to make sure that it is going to the right ones branches. If you regularly prune the rose bush, it will help the health branches to flourish. Don’t waste valuable resources on the ones that are unhealthy.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wfwcdivorce.com
- Instagram: @rhondanoordyk
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rhondanoordyk
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhondanoordyk/
Image Credits
Katie Soyka, Katie Soyka Photography
