It was 2003. Aaron Coleman was in a slump at his job at a financial services company. He was feeling frustrated and impatient. “That served me well in some capacities,” he said, “but it was very harmful in others.”
Coleman was being recruited by another company at the time, and he accepted the offer.
“I decided to jump ship on a whim, and it ended up probably being one of the worst decisions that I’ve ever done,” he said. “I didn’t really understand the company I went to, I didn’t know who the people were, I didn’t understand [their] management structure and had really no idea what was involved in making that move. There was very little talent and very poor resources.”
“To make matters worse, the hiring manager who brought me and ended up leaving the organization three weeks later,” Coleman said. “I just felt completely lost.”
Coleman’s previous manager from the bank reached out to him to ask how things were going. Coleman said he needed to be open and honest with him, and told him it was a horrible decision.
The manager brought Coleman back into the organization, but things didn’t get better right away.
Coleman said he lost the pipeline that he had worked hard to build. “I lost the respect of some of my peers,” he said, “which was very humbling, and ended up finishing that year terribly.”
Feeling down, Coleman found himself on a walk at the Capitol on a cold, snowy December day. His phone rang, and he answered to hear the voice of a friend that he worked with, asking how he was doing.
“I’m not sure what I’m going to do next year,” Coleman replied. His friend asked, “What changes are you going to make next year?”
“It really hit me in the face,” Coleman said, “and I spent the next couple days really thinking through that challenge.” He said what it came down to was convincing himself to swallow his pride and work harder.
The following year, Coleman finished number two in the organization, and the year after that, he was number one.
Coleman said his failure helped propel his success. “I’m not sure it would have happened without that failure,” he said. “It really came down to the fact that I needed to work harder, and I never wanted to have that experience of failure in my life. And that’s not to say I haven’t had failures since, but that was a major turning point for me.”
Several years later, in 2009, Coleman faced another turning point in his life. Coleman said he and his wife were struggling financially, so he built a budgeting tool. Their friends and family asked about the system and for advice.
Coleman said he started out helping people with budgeting money as a hobby. “As I continued to do it more and more, people said, ‘Hey, you should write a book.’”
He toyed with the idea, and in 2009, he found himself sitting next to a publisher on an airplane. Coleman told him he was thinking about writing a book, and the publisher asked to hear more about it.
After explaining his idea, the publisher handed him a business card and said to tighten the outline and send it to him.
Colman did just that, and it started the process of publishing his book, Winning with Money.
Coleman said starting the publishing process was more than just having an idea. “It was somebody coming into my life and really giving me the confidence to move forward with that,” he said.
The book was finished while working for another employer, and Coleman took a year off to build a platform. He did this by building a website, an online course and offered one-on-one consultations.
“It was a fantastic year,” he said.
Coleman said he was able to take off work that year because he applied the principles he teaches and writes about in the book. Coleman and his wife saved money and lived below their means in order for him to take this opportunity.
One of the things Coleman said he loves about consulting for Winning With Money is helping people with their finances, giving them hope. He said he tries to keep it positive, telling them all that matters is what they do going forward.
“You’ve got some messes to fix, and that’s OK,” he said. He tells groups they’re going to lay out a plan, and he explains how that happens.
Coleman’s success came in part because of his networking efforts. Even talking with the publisher on the airplane, the conversation that helped him start the publishing process, was networking.
“I think the worst networking mistake a person can make is to simply stay on the sidelines,” Coleman said, “and what I mean by that is not getting involved.”
Coleman encourages people to get involved in any organization, whether it is in your community, industry or church. “For me,” Coleman said, “youth sports was critical to helping me build my community network.”
Coleman said that in order to succeed at networking in business, don’t just show up. “Don’t just attend a conference; go be a part of the conference,” he said. “Figure out how you can speak. Figure out how you can serve others. Figure out how you can lead at these events.”
Coleman advises others to take every opportunity to network. “Don’t take the down time to just go and sit in the room or to go play golf by yourself, he said. “Go seek out other people, and spend time with those people. Get to know what they do. Even if you don’t think they are going to help, you’d be surprised. They certainly might.”
You can purchase Winning With Money on amazon.com, or read a sample chapter online at www.winningwithmoney.com.
Connect with Aaron Coleman:
Email: info@winningwithmoney.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WinningWithMoney/
Twitter: @WWMoney
Website: www.winningwithmoney.com