What I Learned Working Three Jobs In College

Episode 68: Pocket Change Podcast

Summary

If you're interested in becoming an employer partner with Leaders Credit Union, email Aleah at asidwell@leaderscu.com.

The Pocket Change Podcast is presented by Leaders Credit Union. To learn more about Leaders, visit leaderscu.com.

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Full Transcript

Shea:

Hey, this is Shea!

Carrie:

And this is Carrie.

Shea:

Welcome to the Pocket Change Podcast.

Carrie:

Where you'll find better ways to spend, save and invest and take control of your financial journey. So, did you have a job in college?

Shea:

Yes. I worked every year in college and through the summers and all on the breaks and everything.

Carrie:

I did too, in order for me to be able to actually afford to stay in my apartment. My mom said, you got to have a job. So I had to work. And our guest today knows all about that. She worked three jobs during college, so she's passionate about financial education, and she gets to do that with her job now.

Shea:

Yeah. So, we're going to see how that transitioned into her working life and her employment, and we’re excited talk to her.

Carrie:

We're excited to welcome our guest, one of our Financial Champions, Aleah Sidwell. Welcome to Pocket Change, Aleah!

Aleah Sidwell:

Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Carrie:

So, tell us how you found your way to Leaders.

Aleah Sidwell:

Yeah. So, I actually moved to Jackson in 2018. Came to Union. So that's kind of how I got into the area. I had literally never been to West Tennessee until I moved here, in 2018, which is crazy. And then I have been here ever since. I worked at Union a little bit in the admissions department. And when I was there, I was doing a lot with finances and getting people to Union, and helping them kind of figure out their financial journey through college. And my husband was working in Memphis, and so we were looking to kind of figure out what would the next move look like for us. And somebody sent me the job for Leaders. And I was like, I don't really know what a credit union is, but I'll apply because Leaders have such a good brand in Jackson, and I had had friends that had worked here before and they had talked so highly of it, so I applied. And then in my interview we talked a lot about financial education, which is something that I was already doing at Union, and I loved doing so much and kind of coming alongside people and pushing them towards their financial goals. And so, that looked like in college, obviously scholarship goals. But this is a different capacity. So, I just kind of fell in love with what we do here as Community Engagement Specialists. So, yeah.

Shea:

Yeah, so we talked about, you know, you have to have a lot of financial conversations with people and parents and students when they're getting ready for college. So, it's more personal to you. So why is that? Why do you feel that personal connection to financial education?

Aleah Sidwell:

Yeah. So, I kind of grew up in a household where we lived paycheck to paycheck. My parents were like some of the hardest workers I've ever met in my whole entire life. But it was still paycheck to paycheck because we had lots of kids in the house. And so, they were great at learning management skills, but sometimes not implementing them as well as we wanted to. And so I learned a lot from them watching them. But we weren't able to kind of implement those into our family. And so I think one of the things that my parents always tell me is, “If we had access to the things that you have access to or the things that you're teaching people, our life sort of look so much different.” And so, we were kind of been flying by the seat of our pants in a lot of areas. My parents did not grow up with a lot. And so when they did get money and they had a lot of kids, we were still kind of living, you know, paycheck to paycheck with that. And so, I went to Union, and I was also kind of figuring that out, figuring out my college journey on my own, financing that completely myself. I know my mom helped me, like, the first semester. She was like, “We're going to do this together!” And then reality hit, and she had kids at home, and we were like, “We're not going to do this together.” And it's a private Christian college, and so it is expensive. And so, that was something I had to kind of navigate myself and figure out how to pay for it, how to, you know, maybe get three jobs while I'm in school to do that. So I'm very passionate about people having the tools in their toolbox to really manage their resources well. One of the things my parents always taught me was whether you're making $25,000 a year or $150K a year, you have to have the management skills to really use those, and to push yourself towards that financial wellness.

Carrie:

So, it's very tricky. So, you mentioned you worked three jobs in college.

Aleah:

Yes.

Carrie:

So can you tell us a little bit about that time in your life?

Aleah Sidwell:

Yeah. So that was it feels like a blur. I worked three jobs. So I worked at my church, as a part time girls minister, girls director doing, like, middle school ministry alongside the full time girls director, as well as I was at Buff City Soap making soap, making laundry detergent, that was probably the most fun. And then I was a nanny as well. So I always say nannying never felt like a real, like, job to me because I always had wanted to be a mom. And so that was just a fun thing I got to do. But yeah, it was definitely hard going from like I’d be in class 9 to 10, and then I'd go to work from 10 to 3, pick up kids at 3, like I was living that full time, lifestyle and I wasn't even an adult yet. And so, I wasn't hanging out with my friends until usually around 7 p.m., 8 p.m..

Carrie:

And somewhere you had to study.

Aleah Sidwell:

Exactly. And that's usually when we hung out, in the library. I was making a ruckus, I'm sure.

Shea:

So, do you ever feel different from your classmates for, you know, having to do that and work those three jobs?

Aleah Sidwell:

I would say some I found comfort in some of the other people at Union that were also doing that, but a lot of people at Union didn't have to work or, like, they got to work for fun. Like, for instance, my husband, he got to work for fun because his parents had made financially wise decisions and they had really prepared him well for that stage of life. And so, on the opposite side, he had two siblings or only had two kids in the house. I had, you know, 5 to 7. And so like, that's a lot different, with having to manage. And so, yes, definitely, I feel like my management skills had to come in very heavy early on. I had to learn how to really time block. I loved a planner, to sit down and just go through my agenda and be like, okay, 9 to 10, you do school. 10 to 11, you work on whatever assignment I'm doing. 11 to 12, whatever. So, time blocking was a big thing for me. Also, I was given a, you know, emergency credit card. This is just a funny story. I was given an emergency credit card for college, which most kids are given those, I think that's like a common thing now, from their parents. Like, in case of an emergency.

Shea:

In case you’re stranded on the side of the road.

Aleah Sidwell:

Yeah, yeah. So, Aleah interpreted that very differently. Emergency to me was, “I don't want to eat in the dining hall. I want to go to Chick-fil-A. So I'm hungry. You know, if you're starving, if you're on the side of the road, starving was one of them. You know, I was hungry. So I started to go to Chick-fil-A a little bit, you know, using my mom's credit card. That and then Starbucks was also a necessity, working very, you know, like, come on, emergencies. And so she called me into, like, you know, most people I feel like probably don't use their credit card for those kind of things. And she's like, “What are these charges?” And I was like, “Well, it was an emergency. Like, I was hungry and I was tired.” And she was like, “No, that's not an emergency.” So, I quickly got that revoked. That was no longer a thing anymore. She meant, you know, on the side of the road, stranded. No gas. You need somebody to put gas in your car. Which also happens in college, but more frequently was my Chick-Fil-A addiction. So though, like, also, all my friends are using their parent's credit card, so I just thought it was okay, but clearly it was not.

Shea:

It's a little different.

Aleah Sidwell:

Yeah, yeah. My mother did not think it was okay, and I had to pay those back. But yeah.

Carrie:

So, I would think that being intentional with your time and planning out your time is kind of similar to planning your finances and being intentional with where your money is going as well, right?

Aleah Sidwell:

Yes, for sure, for sure.

Carrie:

So, parents usually want their kids to do better than they did themselves. So, what does that look like financially?

Aleah Sidwell:

So, I think starting early, like I said earlier, my parents may have not been able to implement that in their savings goals in that time because we were so stretched thin in certain areas. I mean, granted, I had a very full childhood, like I got to do dance and all the fun things, but it was still definitely stretched thin. And so, one thing that they did do though is we had the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace Jr. So, I got to do that, which was really fun. So even though I wasn't getting an allowance or I was maybe just getting maybe like, you know, some birthday money or Christmas money, I was like a hyper saver as a kid. I threw everything in my piggy bank. I had this little pink china-like looking piggy bank, like hand painted piggy bank that my grandma had given me. And I stuffed every dollar I ever made in there. But the Financial Peace Jr. really helped you break it down to what are you saving for? Like, you're just throwing money, hiding money, it's not really helpful for you. But really, how do you make your money work for you? And so I think that is a huge tool, starting early and getting those habits early. Because whether it's birthday money when they're five or it's actually having a job and saving and, teaching them management skills is really helpful. Yeah.

Carrie:

That’s great.

Shea:

Yeah, my son has his blue Leaders piggy bank that he puts his dollar bills or spare change I give him into it. He'll even save like, I've noticed, he’s started saving candy. Like, “I'm going to save this for later.” He puts it aside. So much for getting the savings started early. Yeah, money and…

Carrie:

Food.

Aleah Sidwell:

Yeah I love that we get those out there. They’re great.

Shea:

So what do you say to people who, you know, maybe didn't have the same situation or financial education or they feel maybe left behind? What would you say to them?

Aleah Sidwell:

Yeah, I would say that no question is a dumb question. That's one of the things that I love about my job is that I get to go into the space and kind of be a liaison for people and say like, no, that's not a stupid question. Like it is a valid question.

Shea:

Well, I mean, we meet people at all different stages.

Aleah Sidwell:

Yeah, we're meeting people every like, whether they're middle schoolers or they're about to retire, like we're meeting them in all different areas of life. And no question’s a dumb question, because you may be at retirement and not know, “What do I do with my 401 K now? Like, what am I supposed to do with an IRA or with my retirement money? How do I get to that point?” That's not a dumb question. That's a good question, actually. But you can also be a middle schooler, like, “How do I even make money, you know, what do I do to get a job?”

Shea:

“What is money?”

Aleah Sidwell:

Yeah, what is money? What is money that mom and dad didn't give me, for, you know, some kind of hang out, but, yeah. So, I think, no question is too dumb and asking questions. And I think that's one of the beautiful things that Leaders does well, is we provide a space outside of the four walls of the credit union, like the community engagement team, to go in and, you know, allow those people to ask those questions and be a liaison for them.

Carrie:

It seems like your background has set you up in a position for empathy. Tell us about your role.

Aleah Sidwell:

Yeah. So I, have kind of, I feel like I've every job I've had, I've kind of taken a different tool and put it in my toolbox, to come here. So it's funny how I was working at Union doing scholarships and really processing different, really hard life seasons for people. As I step into college and figuring out, how do you pay for a private Christian education that is so valuable but also can be expensive? And then I'm in this job now and I'm like, how do you teach a parent who just had a kid to save for their kids future college? And so, it's kind of crazy how it's a, you know, taking the tools into the new toolbox. But I think my role now is kind of doing that, taking the credit union outside of the four walls of the financial institution and really providing a liaison for people that they can come to and ask questions. We do that with, like Lunch and Learns, a lot. So, we come in and provide a topic that's helpful for employees. And you know, provide lunch as well, which is always important. Food is important, to have those conversations, but then also just providing like different, you know, Lunch and Learns that are like, how do you become an everyday millionaire? How do you buy a home? How do you, you know, buy a car, how do you build credit? Those kind of things. So, it's not having them ask a question to me. I can go ahead and, you know, answer that question before it's asked. As well as providing like onsite banking with them, for them to like being able to provide a space where they're not leaving, their manufacturing job to come to a bank when they're working crazy hours. But we're able to open that account for them right there and educate them, in that moment. So it looks like lots of different things. But it's a lot of us working with HR to provide what their employees are needing to fill that gap for financial wellness.

Shea:

So that's great. And you serve our Greater Memphis market. So what's unique about the Greater Memphis area?

Aleah Sidwell:

I love Memphis, I think Memphis is the biggest small town I've ever been in in my whole life. Trust is a huge thing. So, one of the things with Leaders is we are based in Jackson. Everybody knows Leaders here. And that has been something that I found out is really hard for people in Memphis. Memphis is oversaturated with financial institutions and providing a credit union is not that hard. People know what a credit union is. The idea of a credit union is not hard to sell, but the idea of how we're different and how we are a financial wellness benefit for people. And so, like how we are coming alongside them, wanting to champion them to their financial freedom. And so, and whatever stage that looks like in whatever area that looks like, whether that's you need a financial counselor to sit down with Jonathan Jones and talk to him, or you need to talk to a mortgage loan officer about, “Hey, I want to buy a house in two years.” Or, “I've already bought my house. How do I get from this house to the next house?” Those kind of things. And so, bringing awareness for what our membership looks like is something that I feel like has been a little different in the Memphis market is like we're not just a credit union, but we are like wanting to come alongside you and champion you to the next step. I know I always encounter it at like a different, a random fair or something where people are like, I know leaders. And I'm like, yes, yes, I love that in Memphis, especially because it is such a big small town. People trust each other. They know each other really well over there. And I just think one of the things that recently happened was someone came up to me and was like, “I'm a member at Leaders!” And I'm like, “Yes, exciting! Yes. We're like, awesome! Thank you for choosing Leaders!” And then we keep talking, and she's like, “No, like, I want to tell you about like what Leaders has done for me.” And I'm like, “Oh, awesome. I would love to hear that.” And she told me that her and her husband had recently gone through a financial crisis. And, they had called Leaders, one of our Financial Champions, and talked to them about their financial crisis and how they weren't going to be able to make a payment on a loan or something. And there was so much grace in our conversation with her and our outreach towards her. And she was just blown away by the fact that we would have a member experience like that, and care for our members that way. And so I'm literally at this table, I'm supposed to be selling it, but she's telling like six people around me about how great Leaders is. And she's like, “Look, I'm selling this for you!” I'm like, “You should come work for us!” And I was like, this is awesome. But those are the kind of stories that are really going to champion us in the Memphis market. And those are the things that really excite me about the Memphis market, because once that starts to spread like wildfire, it's going to be game over, you know?

Shea:

Game on.

Aleah:

Yeah. Game on.

Carrie:

So for those who don't know, can you tell us a little bit about the difference between a credit union and a bank?

Aleah Sidwell:

Yeah, so a credit union is a member owned, not-for-profit financial institution, which means that our members are getting back what they kind of put into the credit union, right? So, they're getting better rates and high yield savings accounts. They're getting better rates on loans, better rates on mortgage. I'm currently buying a house. So, I can say for myself, I've had a great experience with Leaders, doing my mortgage. My first time mortgage, which is kind of crazy. But yeah, so it's a little different and it's a lot more member centric. And so, what that looks like is we're really caring for our members. We, like I said before, we want to come alongside you. It's an eagerness with our brand to come alongside you and care for you in that way, with a high yield savings account that you can earn interest on your money, with lower rates on your loans and those kind of things.

Shea:

So I think it's natural as a credit union, since we are member owned for us to have that, come-alongside-you mentality because the members own us. We're, you know, it's their institution. So yeah, we're here to serve them. So, I think it for me, it makes it easy to do that because it's part of our, our DNA, really.

Aleah Sidwell:

Yeah. For sure. And I think that's one thing that stands out to me is the fact that we have a community engagement, like department like that shows that we care, to go into spaces and provide different services for people, outside of the four walls of the credit union in the branch, you know.

Shea:

That's right. So, what's your favorite part of teaching financial education now?

Aleah Sidwell:

I think the moment for people like the light bulb goes off. I was with in a class a few weeks ago with Jonathan Jones, our financial counselor on staff, and he was talking about credit, and he was telling a story about how one of the things, or one of the tools he uses is setting up subscriptions for, like, you're maybe already going to pay Netflix, or you're already paying Hulu or Spotify and putting those on a credit card, and then they automatically the payment comes out of your bank account. And I mean everyone in the room, which it sounds so simple, but it is a technique. It is a tool that a lot of people don't think about. And everyone in the room was like, “No way!” Like, they were just, you could see the light bulbs are going off and they were so excited. They came up to him after and were like, “I'm doing that!” And so it was cool to see, because those are the kind of things that I think you don't think about. But those are tools that can help you get good payment history. And build your credit within the you know, kind of let the system work for you in that way. And so, those are my probably my favorite moments. And same with, I was in a home buying class a few weeks ago, and, Kelly was talking about, one of our mortgage loan officers was talking about, like, what does it look like to have a bridge loan? And, you know, when you're moving from somewhere and you're moving to a new house, how do you, you know, move before you sell your house or whatever? And people were just like, “What?” Like, I don't know, it was a lot of young people. So, they had no clue. And it was just cool to see their aha moment. And then coming up after like, “Tell me more about this.” So, it was really cool. Those are my probably my favorite moments.

Carrie:

So you mentioned employer partners. Can you tell us how someone can bring Leaders into the workplace?

Aleah Sidwell:

Yeah. And if you’re in Memphis, email me. Yeah. Please. So, we usually work with HR, like I said before, for us to come in and provide some extra services to the employees. So, kind of bridge a gap. So, I think one thing is everyone's bringing in that financial stress. Like, you know, it's a very sensitive topic that not a lot of people talk about. And I think that's something I learned at Union was like, that's something that you close the door and you have that hard conversation with somebody. And that's very, it's a very emotional topic. And so, that gives them a liaison because with HR, I mean, sometimes you can't talk about those things. You can't tell them where usually where to put their money, and what to do with it. You just kind of do the payroll. Right. And so we're able to provide that service for them and, you know, a liaison for them to ask questions that feel stupid and they don't want to ask, you know, which are not stupid. But it provides them a space to have that as well, as well as us getting to come in and educate, on the back end, and even providing different financial reality fairs is something we do with a lot of our employer partners as well, that I love. Because it, you have that moment from kids being like, “Okay, I have a month's salary. I am in the negative. How do I get to the positive?” And you have those teaching moments, for financial wellness and kind of starting early like we talked about earlier too.

Shea:

And I do want to make mention, like you said, they can email you, contact you at asidwell@leaderscu.com.

Aleah Sidwell:

Yes. Please do

Shea:

Or call us and they can direct the call to you. So, of course, we'd love to partner with any interested employers in the Greater Memphis area and throughout West Tennessee to benefit their employees. Right. So, this is a financial podcast. So, with that being said, we always like to ask, what's the best financial advice you've ever been given?

Aleah Sidwell:

I think the best financial advice I've ever been given is to steward what you have. And like little to really build those habits up to, you know, later in life. I mean, I'm thinking about when I, my first job out of college was maybe making like $30,000 and stewarding what I did with that was important for when I actually, you know, maybe make $200K a year one day or something, you know, like when I'm, when I'm making a bunch of money later, or even just now being married and, both having a dual income, like being able to take those habits that I had earlier and carry them into different seasons with me. I feel like my parents really taught me that. I am big on a composition notebook. For a budget, I get out my composition notebook. I know I have apps, and I know I have my Leaders app with Money Management, but I need it to be written down and to write it out. And my dad used to do that, like, every week he would sit down and just write out all of our, you know, bills and everything and explain it all. And so, those kind of habits carry you throughout your life, though. And so that was a big those are big things for me.

Carrie:

There's something about the intention behind writing it down. Makes it feel more official, that it's actually there. Write it down and say it only can be, you know, this much money for this, then it feels like it sinks in a little.

Aleah Sidwell:

Yes, it does.

Carrie:

I work that way. Yeah.

Aleah Sidwell:

Maybe it's my brain I need to, like, really memorize it.

Carrie:

Yes. So finally, if you were to find some extra change in your pocket, what would you spend it on?

Aleah Sidwell:

So, right now, I'm currently in the process of buying a house. I told you guys that already. So, every penny we are saving to purchase a house. Moving is expensive. That is what I've learned. Which is not fun. And so if I had extra change because I'm saving so much, I'd probably spend it on some coffee at The Hub in Memphis, or, Byway Coffee. It's a really good coffee shop in Memphis as well. So.

Carrie:

To treat yourself.

Aleah Sidwell:

Yes.

Shea:

Coffee before you unload that moving truck.

Aleah Sidwell:

Yes, exactly, exactly.

Carrie:

Well, thank you, Aleah, for joining us today and giving us all the tips about, what it's like to be in your role.

Aleah Sidwell:

Yeah. Thank you.