Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Lockett.
Lauren, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Choosing to live a rich live has more to do with how we spend our time, what impact we leave, how we promote and protect the rights of others, our daily habits/mindset/faith, and physical and mental health than what money can do alone. No matter our profession or background – from teacher to creative, money plays a great role in each of the above – your fullest rich life. To me, a rich live is earning while we sleep, saving where it matters – all while making a difference. That’s why I blog & vlog about financial wellness over at the Saving Daylights. My financial wellness journey started while growing up. My mama would let my sister and I see her bills and pay them every summer. My parents encouraged us to read and explore entrepreneurship – while growing up wasn’t always easy, I took these into adulthood and at 18, made my first investment into my life events small business I still have today. Over the past several years, I had several life events that made me dig deeper into learning about financial and legal literacy. It started with not being able to continue paying for college – a big frustration I learned I should have planned better for and learned that this is a national shared experience with student loans being a whole situation.
It led to moving to a new state, another big step in being uprooted from my support, family, and community to championing a new network, cultivating connections, and building a wealth team as a newlywed. Shortly after, my husband and I bought a home, but learned so much in the process like the importance of leveraging credit, something we always averted instead of learning more about. We suffered a loss when we had our stillborn daughter a year later and it really made me think of how I really wanted to spend my time, a precious commodity we don’t get more of. And 6 months later, I was laid off from my human resources & payroll role at a local mortgage firm pushing me to fully access what’s next. Now, I’m starting The Saving Daylights as a financial wellness & personal finance space to talk about life events and how having true family financial freedom allows us to choose the life we want to live and the impact we want to leave.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Every journey has struggles along the way. One of my favorite scriptures comes to mind that trials bring perseverance, character, and hope – things every creator and entrepreneur need. If anything, I’ve learned to embrace struggles because there’s no mistakes, just lessons. Every struggle builds endurance, character, and hope. One of the biggest struggles I learned to counter balance was asking for help. While most share the struggles of juggling everything as an entrepreneur and creator, I’d encourage anyone on this journey to reach us for help. Instead of me trying to mama my four and two year old boys, meal prep, handle client calls, learn social media, etc. – why not connect with a social media coach or someone who can help me learn faster or implement time saving measures. There are gifted individuals in law, taxes, marketing, you name it. We don’t have to do it all, or do it alone. While we should certainly be resourceful and conduct due diligence, it’s also important that we ask how this serves us, is this how we want to spend our time – all key components in financial wellness. As a small business owner in the legal and cybersecurity services space, it’s something I work on with my small business owner clients along with the families and HR directors I serve – in having a mindset shift on outsourcing, coaching, masterminds, and investing in ourselves.
As you know, we’re big fans of The Saving Daylights. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Want to get your money and life right with a collective of other families wanting to do the same? The Saving Daylights is right for you. It’s a financial wellness blog & vlog compelled to promote earning while sleep, saving where it matters, all while making a difference. I’m most active on Instagram sharing gems and reflections I learn in my personal life, business, and interactions with our community. My community is known for having control of the day to day in terms of being a WHOLE person. Our pillars are health, habits/mindset, rights/access, time/productivity, money/wealth, and lifestyle. Each of these serve a better financially well family and business. I learned that it’s not enough to make money, it’s about having a vision of where you want to spend your time, what charity you want to donate to, surprising your kids with lunch – that’s what makes this wealth building journey worth it. We’re also known for giving back and being a sharing community – where we all win in money and in life. I specialize in life events legal plans for families and small businesses. From things going right like starting a business, having kids, buying a home, getting married, updating your will & estate plan, having contracts & documents reviewed – to things going wrong like moving traffic violations, unemployment identity theft, 24/7 emergency access for covered situations, copyright & trademark violations, being audited and more.
I’m excited to provide a community where we all share the investment to attorney firms advocating for us. I’m most proud of having a blog & vlog that educates & shares and having a complementary, supporting business that provides small businesses and families the financial tools and decision making attorneys and programs to support your financial wellness goals for you, your family and your small business. I enjoy speaking on financial wellness in the workplace through our life events legal plans employee benefits and blogging allows me to share even more. We’d love to welcome you to the Saving Daylights community to share more of your story, lessons we can learn from, and join our collective as having a permanent law firm part of your wealth building team, along with your coach, CPA, advisors, and insurance agents, for your family and business.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
The pandemic was the one of the most enlightening years This year truly shed light on why financial wellness is so vital in our families and small businesses’ lifelines. I’ve seen local businesses close, families faced with tough decisions, and our community on the brink of mental breakdowns. I remember being laid off six years ago. My husband and I started living on just his income about a year prior so my income could be used to invest and save. We had a plan, but most weren’t prepared for the pandemic that changed everything. One interesting lesson I’ve learned from the pandemic is to be the CFO of your home. Just as sure as the pandemic happened this last year, you can count on things going wrong. You can count on legislation not being in your favor, cars breaking down, unexpected losses, any number of things. The number of will & estate planning requests has doubled and unlimited advice and consultation member calls have increased because having access to advisors helps in situations like these. It gives a sense of calm. Being the CFO of my home helps me prepare a budget, have money conversations with my kids, and be empowered and protected when I need to be. I’m committed to controlling what I can and letting the rest flow.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesavingdaylights/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesavingdaylights
Image Credits
Kemoja Snapz James Lockett
