A conversation with Robin Wald, an ICF Certified Coach. Through her business, Robin Wald Cosmic Wisdom. Robin supports people's growth, learning, transformation and well being.
Robin Wald, founder of Robin Wald Cosmic Wisdom, is an ICF Certified Coach who supports people's growth, learning, transformation and well being.
In this week's Making Change with your Money podcast, Robin shares her inspiring journey with money. She talks about her transition from working at a construction company to supporting her husband’s business, discovering her passion for teaching teenagers and finally becoming a Life Coach.
She went through a massive transition in her life at the age of 45 when she divorced her husband after 28 years of marriage. After this, she went on a journey of self-exploration and decided to pursue life coaching.
"One of the greatest things I took away from that whole time of figuring out where am I going to live and how am I going to earn money, and what is my life going to look like now that it's completely different was a sense of patience, of not needing to have the answers." Robin Wald
Key Takeaways:
- Figure out what you love to do. Robin figured out that she loves teaching, not surprisingly since her parents were both teachers, and has been teaching nutrition, yoga, Judaic studies, astrology, coaching to various populations ever since!
- Get skills and training when shifting professions. Robin recognized that she innately had the skills of deep listening, presence and awareness that could help her in her chosen role as a life coach. And she also became an ICF-Certified life coach, which she found to be invaluable training.
- When facing a big life transition such as divorce, the support of family and friends is crucial. Robin noted that she benefited tremendously from her support system as she explored who she was becoming when her marriage ended. These relationships helped her implement the necessary changes in her life.
- Align your financial life with what you value. For Robin, she values being in nature, traveling and spending time with family. Having a home that enables her to live below her means has been key to reducing stress and feeling grateful.
About the guest:
Robin Wald is an ICF-certified life coach, a professional consulting astrologer, a certified yoga and meditation teacher, and Jewish teen and family educator. Through her business, Cosmic Wisdom Coaching, Robin supports people's growth. learning, transformation, well-being and success.
Linkedin:- https://www.linkedin.com/in/robin-wald/
Website:- https://robinwald.com/
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Disclaimer: Please remember that the information shared on this podcast does not constitute accounting, legal, tax, investment or financial advice. It’s for informational purposes only. You should seek appropriate professional advice for your specific information.
Robin Wald:[00:00:00] I think that was one of the greatest learning things I took away from that whole time of figuring out where am I gonna live and how am I gonna earn money, and what is my life gonna look like now that it's completely different was a sense of patience. Of not needing to have the answers.
Welcome to Making Change With Your Money, a podcast that highlights the stories and strategies of women who experienced a big life transition and overcame challenges as they redefined financial success for themselves. Now, here's your host, certified financial planner, Laura Rotter.
Laura Rotter: My guest today is Robin Wald.
Robin is the founder of Robin Wald Cosmic Wisdom. She's an I C F certified life coach. A yoga teacher, a Jewish educator, an astrologer and [00:01:00] tarot card reader. And Robin, you've been my teacher and guide for more years than I can remember. So thank you so much for agreeing to be my guest on this podcast.
Robin Wald: You're so welcome, Laura. I'm thrilled to be.
Laura Rotter: I like to start with a question that might help frame our conversation as you talk about your journey. And the question is, what was money like in your family growing up?
Robin Wald: Such an interesting question. So money in my family growing up was always tight and uh, it.
One of the only things my parents ever sometimes argued about that I was aware of as a kid, so both of my parents were New York City school teachers and they had five children, and each time my mom had a kid, she was on maternity leave. So there was the loss of that income when she was doing that. You know, we [00:02:00] were very lower middle class.
Um, you know, we lived in a wonderful house in a wonderful neighborhood, but they got triple tax. New York State, you know, federal New York City tax actually quadrupled tax because Seagate, this little community we lived in, had an additional tax. And then the school district that we zoned for was really not to the caliber.
Of the kind of schools, my parents, both being educators that they wanted us to grow up and have opportunity in, and they were very committed to our Jewish life and learning. So they had us in Hebrew school, which was an out of pocket private school, and I know that they got tuition assistance, but still five kids in a private school education.
And so they were always in. To make sure that we had what we needed. There were no big vacations, there were no fancy cars, there were not, you know, we got clothes at the beginning of the school year, new clothes and new shoes. And for Hanukkah we would get a new sweater or some kind of, you know, big [00:03:00] outing was we would all go to the movies, save up on the milk carton to get the free tickets to go see the Mets play At Shea Stadium, there was not a lot of financial excess at.
And I know that there were times money was hard. I know that my parents took out loans against the house and against the mortgage to put us through college. At one point. They had three of us in college at the same time, and we all took the maximum loans and financial aid we could get, and my parents had to take on more debt.
I mean, I think at one point my parents had two separate lines of credit and mortgages on their houses that they took them years to pay back and get out of.
Laura Rotter: It's interesting that you were aware. Um, when you give me these details, is this something you learned afterwards or it was something that your parents shared with all of you when you were old enough to understand?
Robin Wald: I think when I was younger it was more of, I remember at family dinners, You know, my mom went and spent this amount of money on something that we needed and my dad would, but we don't have the [00:04:00] money. What do you do? And I remember there that that was the source of stress and strain. That, where's the money gonna come from?
My dad worked summer school. He worked, you know, my mom worked nights. They took on whatever they had to do.
Laura Rotter: Flip side, as you said, Robin is then you, you really grew up with an understanding that education is very important, that a good education is very important and worth maybe some hardship in order to give and contribute to your kids.
Robin Wald: Absolutely. I, I think we also, all of my siblings and I grew up with the value, You needed to work and get a job. and I had jobs as early as 13. I worked all through high school. I always had a job. I worked at the Gap. I lifeguarded, I babysat, I tutored. I always had summer jobs all through college. I, uh, I had a lot of friends in college who.
Money was not an issue for them. They were not on financial aid, they were not on work study. They had a bank account that their parents [00:05:00] were funding, and I was not that person. So I was working 15, 17 hours a week. You know, it was learning very early on that you needed to be responsible fiscally for your money.
You needed to be responsible about earning it. You need to be responsible about saving it, about what you chose to spend it on. So I think that. Actually, it was really a positive thing.
Laura Rotter: Thank you so much for sharing that. It gives me a little bit more insight into who you are, Robin, than I knew before. And I also just wanna say, given what you just commented, how we're never taught about money, we're never taught about credit cards, right?
Other than, ooh, you start getting these offers in the mail. So, . It's hard to blame people unless they grow up like you did too, for not understanding
Robin Wald: how to budget and how to, yeah, yeah. Definitely not a blame thing. You know, if anything, I mean, we could blame the whole culture, which is constantly trying to sell us things and think we're not good enough.
Unless we're always wanting more, wanting [00:06:00] more. I mean, that's a whole other spiritual level conversation , right? The values that inform our culture around not enoughness versus this sense of abundance. And where does true abundance come from? You know, it comes from a lot about what we hold within and what our perceptions are, right?
Our culture, definitely. And I work with young people, right? I'm a teen educator and a teen mentor. It's a big part of my life, what I do is working with teenagers and learning to have responsibility in a job, in work and around money is something really important that not all parents are as skillful or conscious of teaching their children.
Laura Rotter: So Robin, what was your first job out of college and was there sort of an evolution?
Robin Wald: My first job out of college, I studied civil engineering. So my first job out of college was in a construction management company and I was on a sewer in a water main replacement job in downtown Brooklyn. And from that I went to [00:07:00] another school construction job in White Plains.
Actually I was a project manager on the elementary school reconstruction. I worked in the construction management field for four years and I really, and then I switched actually for three years. Then I went to another company where I was doing hazardous waste, um, engineering. So I was doing environmental and waste engineering for a year.
But I didn't love working for a company and working on that kind of time, I, just didn't love it. And my husband at the time needed help in his office for management and I was like, I'm a good manager. I'm great with money and people, let me just take over managing the office and figure out what I wanna do next.
So then I went back to grad school and got a degree in nutrition and I worked as a nutritionist. With women and specifically mostly with women and with girls, teenagers. And then I found that I really loved to teach and I started teaching nutrition and diet stuff for older people, younger people. I was in schools, I was in elder programs.
So then I went back and got my [00:08:00] yoga certificate and started teaching yoga. And then at my kids' synagogue where we belonged at the Hebrew school, the director said, I know you teach yoga and I have a feeling and a sense that you're a teacher. You know, I could teach other things. Do you wanna come to teach at our school?
So I started teaching teenagers and I absolutely fell in love with teaching. It's in the blood and in genetics. I guess both my parents are teachers. My sister's a teacher, my brother's a teacher. . Oh really? Yeah. Yeah. So I love teaching and then I see most of everything else I do. The coaching, the astrology, you know, the yoga, the mindfulness, the Jewish education, all of that really comes from this.
Really, what do I have that's of value that someone else might want to learn? You know, whether it be skills and resources or about the cosmos and, you know, personal psychology or, you know, so, so yeah. So I became a teacher.
Laura Rotter: It's interesting though, I'm hearing this through story. As you, as you describe [00:09:00] the evolution, that not only do you love to teach, but you love to learn.
You look over the last couple of years, what would you say was your, Transition that you'd like to talk to
our
Robin Wald: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the biggest transition was at age 45. My husband and I, after 24 years of marriage and 28 years of being together, decided that it was time for us to go our separate ways and to dissolve the marriage.
So we got divorced. That was a huge transition as anybody who's gone through divorce knows. So, you know, that was the. Thing for me was that, you know, when you're married and you think your life is gonna look like a certain kind of thing for the rest of forever, when there's a ch a shift and a change in that you have to reinvent and re-envision your entire life.
Where are you gonna live? How are you gonna support yourself? What does it look like? The big revisioning for me was very much related to. Who do I [00:10:00] want and get to be next? . It was kind of exciting actually, you know, for a large part of my marriage I was supporting his business and his vision and his, you know, financial goals and playing sort of a support role.
In all of his businesses managing and doing stuff for that. And I did my teaching and stuff as a side gig, you know, that earns a little bit of money. It was never about the money, but now I was gonna be on my own. And it was like, oh, I need to support myself financially and how would I like to do that?
And so that was also like a. A really eye-opening time where I kind of got to do some real self-exploration, like what makes me happy? What do I enjoy? What are my skills? What am I good at? But ultimately, what I decided is that I could really enjoy and earn money being a life coach and coaching. Is really profound work where you're in a very trusting, safe, [00:11:00] you know, relationship with another person one-on-one.
And it involves the skills of deep listening and presence and awareness and the ability to reflect back and to have compassion, but to also be strategic and management oriented and figure out how do you get to action steps? How do you help someone vision, but then how do you help someone? Understand what's kind of stopping them, holding them back.
What would help them to overcome those obstacles, transform their thinking, shift their action and behavior so that something new can show up for themselves in their life. And I love doing that work for myself personally, and I love being that kind of person who could support someone else. So, and coaching is, you know, it's a viable, real profession.
Like I have actual skills and training and it's a, you know, and there's a value to that. So it's work I love. And it's work. I can, you know, I have created a business around and can earn money and support myself with, so, so it was a big evolution. I would say that, [00:12:00] that from the divorce through getting the right skills and figuring out all of the things, you know, and putting it into a business that is successful and rewarding, it was a journey.
You know, I'm seven years out now and I'm definitely thriving and happier than I've ever been. .
Laura Rotter: I can hear the excitement in your voice, and as one of your coaching clients, I can certainly, uh, confirm that it's something you're very skilled at. I'm wondering, Robin, did you, while you were going through this search and this thought process, you've described a lot of it internal, but was there anything external you turned to, to help you think about the transition as it took place?
Robin Wald: Yeah. I mean, obviously family and friends were completely. Crucial to that whole journey and process. Very supportive. I had a therapist I went to for support around the emotional untangling of a 28 year relationship and figuring out, you know, how to learn from that [00:13:00] and grow from that. A lot of times I actually went to my own teaching and my students to get inspiration because there's something amazing about working with youth, which is this kind of openness.
To new experiencesand not knowing really what the future holds, but having the daring to dream and have like these wants and needs and hopes for yourself. So actually it was really inspiring. You know, you, you teach so you can learn and when you, you know, and you learn every time you teach. So I think that was a big resource for me as well, you know, and then finding the right professional training.
You know, and going to that, you know, the cohort of people I trained with became my friends and my partners in learning how to become a skillful coach. So that was amazing cuz as part of the process, We would barter and swap coaching. So I would practice coaching other people, um, to hone my own skills, but I was getting coached.
So that [00:14:00] coaching that I got was so powerful for me as a coaching client to. Process for myself and explore what were my visions? How did I see getting there, you know, what would change in my life if, you know, and all of those kinds of questions that helped me to sort out and move into action to really, you know, implement the changes I wanted.
Laura Rotter: So what I'm hearing from you is that community and relationships have been very important probably throughout your life, but certainly during these last seven years Yeah. That you described. Um, and really has helped you explore who you are and then you're, you're giving it back by helping others explore who they are.
You mentioned your skills as you thought about this, but. What, um, skills from your previous experiences are you now taking forward into your role as coach?
Robin Wald: I mean, I think all of the things that I've [00:15:00] built on, you know, throughout my life. It's funny. A client recently said to me, whenever I need a resource for anything I ask you, because you seem to know.
So many things from so many different fields, whether it's a health and fitness or nutrition question, or it's something about Buddhism or something about yoga, or something about Judaism or something about, you know, psychology or neuroscience or analytical or project like, I just, I've worn so many hats and in career, you know, in my life.
Because I do love to learn. I am curious. So I do have a lot of different resources and I've met so many fascinating, interesting people. I know people all over the country, all over the world who are in different fields. I know chefs, I know business owners, I know people in tech. I know people in finance.
I know people in, you know, the way out, the woo woo stuff you can think of. I know people who are in law enforcement and you know, the military community. Like [00:16:00] I just have had. Really vast array of experience and interaction with people that I think. , you know, that's, it's, it's really cool for me, but it's also, you know, gives me some ability to relate and actually provide resources, you know, with, uh, when I'm in the coaching environment.
We didn't really talk about astrology. That's another skillset, something I played with because I was personally interested for 30 years. Just something I studied and studied and studied as a personal thing. And then I would give readings for people, mostly for friends, or somebody would send someone, oh, could you do their chart?
And I realized, oh, this is also something really that has deep, profound value to help people understand themselves and to kind of adapt and try on new perspectives and a new way of understanding their own life experience. And, and I was like, that's, that's powerful stuff. I like doing this work with [00:17:00] people and I get to learn so much more when I do it.
So that's become also part of the skill that I often bring in with clients is, you know, a little bit more of a cosmic bigger picture perspective that can take them outside of their limiting kind of narrow way of thinking about things. It's like, how do we continue to expand and see things from a different direction that we haven't considered?
And if that narrative. Really feels empowering or could help us make a shift, then why not play with that and try that on?
Laura Rotter: And I love that you brought that in. First of all, I love the way that you do work with astrology Robin in that it's not predictive. You're not telling someone not to get out of bed tomorrow morning.
You actually. Really stress the archetypes and how they play out in people's lives or can perhaps resonate with the people you work with. I also love the idea of the spiritual. Um, it's so easy for you and [00:18:00] I to describe, to look back and describe our lives journeys by, you know, by the strength of our hands and the strength of our communities.
I'm wondering if there's a way that you can look back and see. You know, perhaps, I don't know how to describe it, but a power greater.
Robin Wald: I, I love that you are pointing to this and asking this question because Yeah, the big transition that I went through, faith was a huge part, right? Faith that I'm gonna be okay, you know, that I can trust.
Wherever this journey is leading me, it's there's some value and purpose in that. There's some growth, there's some opportunity in that. That's a kind of faith, that's a kind of, you know, surrendering and trusting that, you know, I'm exactly where I'm meant to be and this kind of giving over of my own need to be in control because in a major life transition like that, It really is, [00:19:00] you're face to face with, I don't know what my future looks like, and maybe I'm not fully in control of what that looks like, and maybe it's okay to not know.
And I think that was one of the greatest learning things I took away from that whole time of figuring out where am I gonna live and how am I gonna earn money, and what is my life gonna look like now that it's completely different was a sense of patience. Of not needing to have the answers, and there's a humility that comes with that.
And there's a sense of being much more present and in the moment and less future oriented all the time. You know, like most people are very uncomfortable and anxious around. Not knowing what the future holds. We have a lot of insecurity around that, and I really let go of so much of that. Like, you know, the markets go up and down, up and down.
I don't, I don't pay attention. I don't worry. I don't look at it, [00:20:00] you know, I just really, it's this sense of trust and faith that. I'm doing the right things that I know I should be doing to save money and to add to those funds on a consistent basis. And I know that I have an advisor who I trust and who's watching it for me, and then I just let go and I don't have to stress the future because that's not what's happening here in life now.
So I, there's a very spiritual perspective I bring to that. And of course I have all my spiritual practices. I. Practice yoga, and I meditate and I walk out in nature and beauty every day, and I breathe and I come back into presence. And I have a lot of spiritual learning that keeps me grounded. But absolutely the spiritual piece and perspective is, I mean, for me, I think it's lifesaving.
It's just, it's integral to everything.
Laura Rotter: Thank you so much for sharing that, and I love that you did bring in both, this was a beautiful spiritual manifesto, if you will, and at the same time said, [00:21:00] and you work with a financial professional and so you're not just saying, oh, I trust that everything's okay and I'm not looking, and you know, God will take care of me, or Spirit will take care of me.
That there is, it's based in. Reality and based in faith and yeah, that you hold both.
Robin Wald: Absolutely. . So
Laura Rotter:As we end our time together, I'm wondering, um, , if you could think about and share, Robin, how your definition of financial success might have shifted from when you graduated from college, you know, till today.
Um, if you could look back at the journey and, and does anything.
Robin Wald: Yeah. I think when I first graduated from college it was more. Living within my means. I mean, I wasn't earning a big salary as an engineer earning less than my male peers at the same time. That's a whole other discussion we could have for [00:22:00] another time.
But there was so much gender discrimination in the engineering world and I was being very undervalued for my talent and, you know, abilities. But I think the big focus was on saving. And you know, I had a fiance at the time who became my husband, and we both had this goal of earning and saving money so we could buy a house, so we could someday have a family.
That kind of thing. We were never huge spenders. It was more about, you know, wanting to be responsible about money. and I think, you know, raising a family has all of those challenges. Financially, it's very expensive. Who knew it was so expensive to raise children, you know? So it was always about. Putting money aside for their college educations, you know, putting money into our retirement.
Very much again about saving and not being extravagant, being smart, you know, paying the bills on time, you know, that kind of thing. I think, [00:23:00] you know, for me now, the biggest and most important financial definition of success has to do with really, is a very big core value for me, like simplifying and needing less, like needing less, wanting less, so that whatever you earn is more than enough.
And specifically I was looking to downsize, very intentionally downsize to something that would be completely below my means. , something where I could buy. And I would be putting a lot of money away in the bank. That was for my future in retirement. Not only that, but that my monthly nut would be so low in terms of taxes and maintenance, that it was just like a non, it wasn't even a second thought.
Like I would never, ever have to struggle or worry that, am I gonna make enough money this week, this month to pay all my bills? It's like, so I'm living so beneath my means, and [00:24:00] I love. Like, to me, that's complete financial success. I don't feel deprived in any way. I feel so grateful every single day. I feel so grateful.
There's an ease. There's a, huh? Like I can just breathe. If I wanna cancel my clients for a whole week so I can go hiking up in New Hampshire and enjoy beauty and be at, I can do that. And I'm not worried. My clients will schedule next week when I get back. It's okay if I don't earn that money this week.
There's a real beauty in aligning your financial life with what you value, and I know that that's what you focus on with your clients. I value. Being in nature and spending time with family and traveling and exploring beauty and learning. And I've designed my life and my finances in a way that I can do that very easily without any stress.
So,
Laura Rotter:So beautiful. Robin really resonates with me as you know. I sold my home, and I raised my children in [00:25:00] similar to you. It was beautiful, You know, I could say on some level, my dream house, 6,000 square feet, acre of land, and such a relief to not have to keep that house up and a gift to myself, just as you described, to be able to live a life that feels true to me.
To have time to do podcast interviews and meet different people and, um, build a business at the pace that, uh, the universe would like me to build my business at. So I think it's. So wonderful as we get older when we're able to recognize that there are values way beyond just what car you are driving and you know how big your house is.
Robin Wald: This was such a fun conversation. Thank you for having me on your podcast, Laura. My
Laura Rotter: pleasure, Robin.[00:26:00]
I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Robin Wald of Robin Wald, cosmic Wisdom Coaching. Here are some takeaways that I got from our conversation. First of all, Figure out what you love to do if you're considering a career change. Robin figured out that she loves teaching, not surprisingly, since her parents and some of her siblings were both teachers and she has been teaching nutrition yoga.
Judaic studies, astrology, and now coaching to various populations ever since. Another takeaway, get skills and training when shifting professions. Robin recognized that she innately had the skills of deep listening, presence and awareness that could help her in her chosen role as a life coach, [00:27:00] but she also became an ICF certified life coach.
Which she found to be invaluable training when facing a big life transition such as divorce. A takeaway is that the support of family and friends is crucial. In our conversation, Robin noted that she benefited tremendously from her support system as she explored who she was becoming when her marriage ended, and these relate.
Helped her implement the necessary changes in her life and finally align your financial life with what you value for Robin. She values being in nature, traveling and spending time with family. So having a home that enables her to live below her means has been key to reducing stress and [00:28:00] feeling grateful about her life.
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Thanks for listening to Making Change with Your Money Certified Financial Planner, Laura Rotter specializes in helping people just like you organized, clarify, and invest their money in order to support a life of purpose and. Go to www.trueabundanceadvisors.com/workbook for a free resource to help you on your journey.
Disclaimer, please remember that the information shared by this podcast does not constitute accounting, legal, tax, investment, or financial advice. [00:29:00] It's for information purposes only. You should seek appropriate professional advice for your specific information.