“I was tired of going through that [fishing economy] cycle. I wanted to be able to hold on to my money and make it work for me.”
Stephanie Merritt
Like many folks across Southeast Alaska, Stephanie Merritt’s income has often changed with the seasons. Brought up in a family fishing business, her relationship with money has been shaped by ebbs and flows of income throughout the year. “We go through that cycle of having a bunch of money in the summer. And then by the time April rolls around, you’re like, where’d that go?” she shares.
After a particularly good fishing season, Steph was inspired to reach out to her friend, Spruce Root’s Financial Wellness Program Manager Haley Armstrong, to think more about matching her finances to her lifestyle and planning for longer-term goals like retirement. “I was tired of going through that [fishing economy] cycle,” she shares. “I wanted to be able to hold on to my money and make it work for me.”
Haley invited Steph to join a financial wellness workshop held at the Craig Public Library – where Steph now works as a librarian – about a year ago. Since then, she’s participated in multiple other workshops and has received coaching from Spruce Root. She shares that Haley’s personalized approach has been especially beneficial for finding money decision habits that work for her. “I think Haley’s very good about making sure that you find something that works for you, as opposed to a really prescribed thing,” she says. For Steph, this looks like using apps to track her spending habits and build credit, something she can do on the go and while tending to other responsibilities in her life.
Working with Haley has also encouraged Steph to adopt an abundance mindset when it comes to decisions with money. “Keeping that mantra of I have everything I need has been useful when I’m tracking my spending,” she says. Receiving support through coaching has also helped her feel like she’s able to harness her consumer spending power to flow directly into her local economy, something she was reminded of recently amidst calls to boycott large corporations this holiday season. “There was a day where folks were asking people to only spend money at small businesses. And I was like, Oh, look at that. I already do that.”
Interested in taking steps to align your financial decisions with your values? Spruce Root offers financial wellness programming and personalized coaching for folks at any stage of their financial wellness journey. Find more details about upcoming workshops and sign up for 1:1 coaching here.