We were lucky to catch up with Yolanda Petty recently and have shared our conversation below.

Yolanda, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I was introduced to the financial world in college in Intro to Finance. It captured my attention then. I knew it was a way to make a difference in the lives of every day people. Fast forward to 2018 I had ended my almost 17 year marriage in my mid- forties and I had been laid-off a year prior from a declining industry. I found myself a divorcée, with two children, and one of them was in college. I was where many middle age women were finding themselves; juggling all the things and wondering how they are going to make it now and prepare for their future. I had been in the financial space early in my career as a financial advisor. This time I went back into the industry in credit repair. While working with clients in the credit repair space I realized that many had credit issues because of their relationship with money. They were stressed about all the things they were juggling and many wondered how they were going to accomplish financial goals they had.
At that point I realized that even though good credit, investing, saving and protection is important if one doesn’t have a solid relationship with money they would continuously experience financial challenges. My desire now was to help women that were financially overwhelmed to feel secure in their finances . My mission became to help women lay a solid financial foundation they could build upon through financial coaching and education.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a Financial Wellness Coach. I started my journey over twenty years ago as a financial advisor with American Express Financial Advisors. Even though my time with them was brief I never lost her desire to help others change their life through their finances. In 2018 I begin to work with women in credit restoration, building and education eventually leading me to become a certified credit consultant in 2020 and launching the company Financially Fit Solutions. I penned a financial literacy column in the publication The Real Sound and held numerous financial literacy workshops. Since then, I have transitioned into focusing on total financial wellness and helping women to feel secure and stable concerning their finances while showing them how to create a life that they dream about.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Early in my career I worked in financial services as a financial advisor. I was in the industry for a brief period of time; however, my desire to return never left me. In 2018 the opportunity presented itself but in a different capacity. In 2020 I established, Financially Fit Solutions. Initially credit repair was the main focus of the business. However, the more I met with clients and heard their stories I became more aware not only did they not understand how credit worked, but, it was also their relationship with money and lack of financial literacy. It was at this time I knew I needed to pivot in the focus and mission of my business. I moved away from credit repair and began to focus on money coaching and financial education.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In 2016 my ex-husband and I separated; in 2017 I was laid off from an industry that was in major decline; in 2018 my divorce was finalized and I was working at a job that paid only a few dollars above minimum wage with one child in college. Talk about hitting rock bottom. I thought finally leaving my toxic marriage meant new beginnings. Imagine the rug that was pulled out from under me when I was laid off from what I thought was a job that was going to help me get my new life as a single mother stabilized. I didn’t know I could get any lower. However, it was during this time I knew I had no other option but to go up. I began to put in work to recover from my toxic marriage. I made the decision that I would be better and not bitter. I learned that mindset is everything. What you focus on is what you see. Even though I was not making a lot of money at that time and no longer qualified for student loans because I met the credit hour threshold I was determined to complete my masters with three classes and ten months left before I started losing credits to complete it. In 2018 I was able to go back into the financial space. In 2019 I managed to get the resources to complete my Masters degree and in 2020 I started Financially Fit Solutions. The journey of recovering from the deep impact of my toxic marriage hasn’t been easy or quick but my tenacity and determination to be better is what has helped me make it to where I am today.

Contact Info:

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