Melissa Meagher on money coaching for blended families

Melissa Meagher (00:00): If you’ve been in a situation where things haven’t gone well around finances in a formal relationship, it’s really important to talk through that.

Laura Jenkins (00:09): In The Blend is a podcast series that helps parents navigate life within a blended family. Join me as I speak with experts and guests to get practical advice on how to have a harmonious blended family life. This series dives deep into the unique dynamics, logistics and challenges of raising a blended family. From new partners to juggling mixed finances, we will help guide you through it.

(00:38): Hello and welcome to In The Blend. It’s no secret that blended families often face a unique set of challenges when it comes to managing your money. While most of us have likely visited a financial planner at some point, I know that I have, have you ever considered turning to a money coach to help navigate some of these complexities? Our guest today is Melissa Meagher, who has over 20 years experience in the financial services industry and now has her own money coaching business, as well as personal experience in a blended family. She will share her valuable insights on what you need to know about managing money in blended families and how working with a money coach can be a useful way to help you achieve financial stability and success. I’m looking forward to this one. Stay tuned to learn more.

(01:28): Well, welcome, Melissa.

Melissa Meagher (01:31): Thank you.

Laura Jenkins (01:32): Thank you so much for joining me today. I was just saying I was fortunate enough to have financial planner Helen Baker on the show a little while back and we touched on the subject of money coaching during our chat and it’s something I hadn’t heard about before and I was very keen to explore it further and realise we probably need a whole separate episode altogether on this one, so here we are.

Melissa Meagher (01:57):Nice. Good for me.

Laura Jenkins (02:00): Good for you. Good for you. So Melissa, I have got a ton of questions for you.

Melissa Meagher (02:04): Great.

Laura Jenkins (02:05): But to start us off, can you tell me a little bit about your background and what inspired you to become a money coach?

Melissa Meagher (02:12): Yeah, thanks. Thanks, Laura. Thanks so much for having me today and hi everyone that’s listening. Money coaching is a really interesting thing. I got into this eight or nine years ago now when it was, I like to call myself a bit of a trailblazer and ahead of my time because it’s becoming a lot more relevant, I guess, profession these days. There’s people in this, it’s probably more popular overseas still, there’s quite a lot of more people becoming money coaches in Australia. So my background was, I’d been in finance for 20 something years and I stopped counting after about 20 years, predominantly as a financial planner. I’d been a stockbroker for four years. I’d worked for a superannuation fund for seven years and worked with the bank, worked with the big corporations and also worked with the small boutique financial planning firms where, it’s funny, I started with one and then I actually finished my paid in Korea with one.

(03:15): So I guess what led me to… I guess, it was a combination of personal and professional reasons. I, funnily enough being on this blended, actually, my marriage had ended so I had two very, very small children, so I really wanted that flexibility around being available for my kids and all that sort of stuff. A fairly strong realization that I’ve probably been unemployable most of my life. I always say, I think knowing staff trying to be shoved in a box and on me being a starfish formation, so that didn’t go so well sometimes. And on a professional note, I’d always had these conversations with amazing people whether they were employed or self-employed or whatever, wherever I was working and whatever I was doing and that sort of thing.

(04:06): But there was always this expectation that because you were good at what you did, you were automatically good with your money and your finances and there is absolutely no correlation whatsoever. But because there was this expectation, and this included a lot of people in finance as well, I’ll have to add, including myself funnily enough. But I just kept having these conversations and there was a lot of embarrassment and shame around people thinking or feeling they should be all over it and they weren’t, because we have not been taught this stuff. We have not learnt this stuff, but there’s a lot of societal expectations and all that sort of stuff. And so because they didn’t have this information and they wanted to make it all keep looking shiny and bright and lovely on the outside and they’re all together and it’s all humming on beautifully, they were making decisions that really were not serving them and probably putting them under more financial pressure and because they just didn’t have the knowledge and the education and the understanding of what to do.

(05:12): So I kept seeing this, I kept having these conversations with people and so when I decided to leave my career, I was very fortunate to have a sort of a bit of a bench myself for a little while and focused on my kids and had a look at what I really thought about what I wanted to do. And I don’t know about you, Laura, but when you step back and create that space to really think about what you wanting to do and whatever that is, it was a whole big lot of breadcrumbs leading me to that point. And then I basically decided to start my own money coaching business. And the whole ethos of my business when I started it and still is today, is to create a safe space to have a real conversation around money. So not making it right or wrong or good or bad, there’s no judgment.

(06:00): It’s coming, and having that conversation of what is going on for you right now. It doesn’t matter about the past, doesn’t matter about the future, what’s going on for you right now and where do we need to have a look at areas that you might not have the knowledge or the information about and then go from there. So that was sort of the ethos of starting my business because I had a financial planning background. It was very tangible, cash flow, working out, knowing your numbers and understanding your money pot and all that sort of thing, which is still a very big part of my business. But my personal journey started as well as understanding all about money mindset and my money stories, beliefs and conditioning and programming, which I think is very, very relevant, why I bring it up. Bringing that aspect up is very, very relevant to what we’re going to be talking about today because a lot of that will be happening when people come together and there’s a lot of stuff going on around because of past experiences. There’s a lot of stuff to unpack sometimes.

Laura Jenkins (07:07): Absolutely. And I’m curious to dig into this further. I know, and I love the idea of thinking about money stories and mindset and getting to those sort of deep seated behaviours around money as well. What are some of the common challenges that blended families face in particular when it comes to managing their finances together, especially if they’re coming from previous backgrounds or relationships and how can a money coach help in that situation where they’ve coming from two completely different financial backgrounds?

Melissa Meagher (07:47): I think it’s, well, what we were just talking about before, briefly, when any couple comes together into a relationship, effectively you’re bringing in two lived lives, experienced lives, you’re bringing your own money stories and your relationship with money. I can tell you they’ll never be the same because no two people are the same. Even people that are raised in the same household and told the same stuff and when they’re growing up and stuff like that all do have totally different money stories and relationships with money. So that’s even just a couple coming together. But obviously when blended families are coming together, it’s a lot more tricky and complicated. There’s a lot more things to consider. And obviously, as I said, there’s those past experiences and which some might not be fantastic. A lot of them might be still going on with settlements and property settlements.

(08:46): And effectively it could be still a lot of trauma going on for one or both couples and there’s just a lot more people. It’s not just two people coming together and thinking about each other. There’s two people coming together. There is potentially children from both relationships coming together and then obviously they might, sometimes they will have children together so there’s blended, there’s stepchildren, and then there could be half, they could have their children together. So it can be very complicated. I don’t think it has to be complicated, but it can be. I guess, there’s a lot of things to consider when you are effectively bringing two households together and what on a tangible day-to-day running of all those things when you bring that together, but also what you’re bringing exactly with your mindset and your stories and your conditioning and your programming and your past experiences and all that sort of stuff of what you’re bringing in together there.

(09:49): And, I guess, how a money coach can support couples of that, is having an external person that’s not involved, not emotionally involved, not in there. And as we were talking about before, I’ve actually, from a professional perspective, I’ve had a lot of experiences and supported families in this situation, but I’ve also had two experiences personally of myself. When I originally got married, my ex-husband now had been married before, so he had a child. So that was navigating those things. And then I had another relationship with another person. So I had my two children and he had six children, so we actually had eight children between us, so that was an interesting… Yeah. There’s just so many more dynamics and things to consider, things to talk about. Sometimes some difficult conversations to have when our emotions might already be heightened around money and what’s happened and if things haven’t gone so well in the other relationship and as I said, there might be still financial settlements going on, all those sorts of things that you need to bring that into the mix as well.

(11:03): So, I guess, as a money coach I can come in as a third party, external person that’s not emotionally care, I care, but not emotionally in the thick of it, and just help them navigate those things that need to be considered. First of all, have you talked about this? Have you talked about that? Just bring it all into the mix of what needs to be discussed, what needs to be looked at and considered to make sure those foundations are built with regards to building a new life together. And dare I say, not falling into the old habits or things that happened or didn’t, things that didn’t go well from past relationships, because a lot of times we need to really clear those and not bring them into a new relationship. So I think that’s a really important aspect as well. So it would be a combination of the tangible. Okay, well, what does this look like? How are we going to do this to actually, all right, and what are we bringing into this with regards to our past experiences?

Laura Jenkins (12:11): I think there’s an element there of trust as well.

Melissa Meagher (12:16): Oh hundred percent.

Laura Jenkins (12:18): Especially if it’s a new relationship and making sure that people are being completely transparent about commitments that they’ve got, whether it’s school fees or it’s payments that are going to an ex-partner, or it might be debt that they’ve got themselves into. And laying that all on the table as you say, so that there’s first of all no secrets and then really helping them navigate through a lot of those emotional complexities that come with blending finances. How do you go about managing any differences in financial values or priorities and helping couples to overcome those differences as well?

Melissa Meagher (13:08): Yeah, I think, and look, when I was thinking about this, of us having our conversation together, what just kept coming to me is just having those really open and honest and transparent conversations and having to be very vulnerable about your financial situation, what’s going on, because with money and finances, knowledge is power. And, I guess, you need to just to bring that really, really being open and honest and raw at a time that you might not be really feeling being open and honest and raw. Of who’s who in the zoo really, what is the situation? Sharing what your debts and financial obligations are, what child support, what are the financial agreements, what child support there’s been agreed on, what does the financial settlements look like, from both perspectives, from both partners, even if it’s just one person. Which should be happening when anyone starts relationships. But obviously as I said, there’s a lot more to bring into the mix when all this is stuff is going on.

(14:06): But I think it’s really important to be open and honest and share that information. And really, I think, have a conversation too about what worked in the past, what didn’t work in the past, how was man money managed in a past relationship and stuff like that. Because as you said, that could be, you’ll bringing those, and I’ll keep with calling it trauma because sometimes it can be trauma. Because I also work with a lot of women and support them through separations and that sort of thing, so money can be used sometimes as a controlling aspect or it could have been a big aspect of a breakdown of a relationship. So as I said before, the emotions around our money and our finances and everything can be quite heightened, which, I think, it’s really important to try and have those conversations and it’s easy to say in theory but to actually leave the emotion out of it. It’s not about being right or wrong or blame or what worked or what was good and right or wrong or good or bad and that sort of thing.

(15:12): It’s just actually really laying it all on the table to actually be able to do that. And, I guess, as I said before, for me, I love being able to facilitate people to be able to build that and put that bases and those foundations in to grow it. And to answer your question with couples coming together, I love this, I’ll share a funny story with you. I used to say, look, because everyone’s different and I always sort of say jokingly to couples, I want you to use your differences for good instead of evil. Because we can compliment each other by being different and not blaming each other for being different. And then that sort of thing and say, I often use the analogy sometimes when I see couples they might be in different trains, on different train tracks, heading in different directions and I want them to be at least in the same train, on the same train tracks heading the right direction. And I was talking to a couple once about this and they said, “Yeah, that’s okay. Is it okay if we’re in separate carriages?”

(16:12): And I’m like, “Yeah, I guess so, but not quite of what I’m trying to get to here.” So I think it’s really important to really understand your differences. And the way that I do that with couples is I get them to work through their money story, which is really very much talking about their relationship with money, how they feel about money, how money was spoken about when they were growing up, what were their parents’ relationship with money, all those sorts of things. Because our beliefs are formed when we are children and then obviously our experiences and our lives reinforce and further ingrain those beliefs and stuff like that. And particularly if you’ve been in a situation where things haven’t gone well around finances in a former relationship, it’s really important to talk through that.

(17:08): And so usually with couples I’ll get them both to complete their individual money stories and then we’ll come together and discuss it. I might have a session with each partner about what’s going on for them so they’ve got a chance to talk to me about that and we can come together and share their money stories. And I find it’s a really beautiful thing to do because it does take the emotion out of it, because they’re just stories. A lot of times they’re not even true and they are just stories, but a lot of times they’re actually driving the show as well. So I think it’s really important to unpack that, particularly if you are in that situation. And as I said before, is to really look at that and navigate that and unpack that before you actually come together and form a new relationship, so you’re not bringing the baggage or the past or the trauma into a new relationship. I think that’s really important.

Laura Jenkins (17:59): And if you’ve got one partner who loves to spend for example, and that’s coming through strongly in their money story and then you’ve got another one who might be quite the opposite, is your role to try and help them find a happy ground where they’re both able to express themselves?

Melissa Meagher (18:21): Absolutely. Because it’s not right or wrong or good or bad. There’s both, there’s benefits. I was talking to a couple the other day and theirs just saying that one was very careful and very conservative and she kept the ship afloat basically. And then the other partner was the sort of the funster and wanted doing adventures and stuff like that. And they really complimented each other because they respected their differences and also what they brought into it. So the fellow partner brought her out of a comfort zone and did stuff. And he also respected her, the fact that she did keep the ship going and allowed them to have the fun because everything else with the bills and everything were paid and there was money available to have fun and to do those big picture things and that sort of thing.

(19:12): So I think, once again, it’s just really having that conversation and taking the emotion out of it and not being, if there are differences, and there always will be there, a hundred percent will be, that it’s not around blame and what you did right and what you did wrong or what you did right what you do wrong. It’s actually, all right, so these are your strengths, these are your strengths. These are your, perhaps not as great in this area. I’m better in this area. So it’s just bringing it together and actually going, right, well this is amazing. But you’ve got these different skills, because if we’re all the same, apart from being super boring, you wouldn’t be able to bring those different skills and things into it. So often in their conversations that I have with people and oversee with blended families, there’s the whole thing of, okay, well, parenting children, how do you talk to… I’ve presented on talking to your children about money and stuff like that.

(20:15): What are your parenting styles for a start? How do you engage with your children about money? How do you give money to your children? What’s the situation? So, I guess, they’re more conversations. So the conversations with the couples together about their spending habits and whether they’re going to have joint accounts or the debts and the assets and all that sort of stuff. But then it’s actually having those conversations about what goes on for you with your kids and what goes on with my kids. Because a lot of times they could be very, very different as well. So, I guess, that’s an another area, and coming together, how are you going to make that work or how are you going to navigate that?

Laura Jenkins (20:58): That’s interesting. I think the stepchildren piece is a big one, especially if parents do have a different style and then those children are coming together and there needs to be some sort of feeling of that equitable treatment across the number of children that exist in that family unit. So I imagine something that comes up a lot in your work is parents trying to ensure that all of the children are supported and treated equitably.

Melissa Meagher (21:31): Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. So as a couple, but then also with how you navigate that family and obviously if you’re just a couple coming together and you can have those conversations because you’ll build your family together. But if you’re bringing those families already built, together, and then also if you have your own family together, there’s stepchildren and then you might have another child together. So it’s a very important thing to make sure that the children are all treated, irrespective of where they fit in. It’s really, really important running as a home and running a household, but also with regards to estate planning. And I’m sure you had a long conversation with Helen about this, about what each partner’s bringing into the relationship. So it’s about looking at maybe binding financial agreements, which is sort of talking about what you’re bringing into the mix and listing out individual assets and also debts and then you can go into the next step with those agreements of actually how you’re going to handle household expenses, children’s expenses, all those sorts of things.

(22:47): So that’s obviously while you’re in the situation. But then obviously it’s really important with estate planning to make sure, I mean, it’s important to review your wills and your life insurances and all that sort of stuff anytime when there’s a change in your circumstances and change in your life events. And obviously this is a pretty massive, leaving one relationship, ending a relationship and then starting a new relationship. So obviously when I divorced I actually reviewed my will and changed it because it was no longer really relevant. And then obviously if you go into another relationship, it’s important to once again have those conversations about, well, what do we want this to look like to be fair and equitable with our different children, with our estate, with our assets once we actually pass away. So it’s important to navigate it whilst you’re in the mix. And then obviously really important once you’re gone to make sure that your wishes for your children are as reflected as they possibly can be. Which can be complicated when there are blended families.

Laura Jenkins (23:56): So in some cases people are working with a money coach to help them get to the root of some of their spending patterns or their behaviors and perhaps set some goals and then could also work with a financial planner at the same time to help make sure they’ve got the right wills in place and income protection and what have you.

Melissa Meagher (24:22): Yeah, that’s a great question, Laura, because I don’t compete at all with financial planners. Actually, Helen’s one of my greatest supporters in my business. Because I’m not licensed to give advice, so obviously if I wanted to do that I’d still be a financial planner. But I very much operate in the space as a education, coaching, support mindset, those sorts of things. So I’m actually not qualified to give any financial recommendations or advice around that side of things. So I work very, very well and compliment financial planners. And I always joke because I can say this because I was a financial planner, I do a lot of the stuff that they actually don’t want to do or don’t have time to do. It’s very much a separate thing.

(25:10): And, I guess, a lot of financial planners are looking at incorporating or having a relationship or collaboration with a money coach just because of those areas. And there’s a lot of areas that I look at and support people on, that financial planners don’t necessarily do because it’s just not in their scope of what they do of their advice. So yeah, it’s a great relationship and Helen and I have worked a number of times and with similar couples, she does her stuff and I do my stuff and then we don’t cross over really at all.

Laura Jenkins (25:46): Got it, got it. Okay. I love it. I think I need to get myself a money coach as well.

Melissa Meagher (25:52): It’s so funny, every time when I tell people what I do they go, “Oh wow, I could definitely use you.” So yes, if I had a dollar for everyone who said, “Oh, this is amazing. I want a money coach.” So yes, it’s really a fantastic space to be in because you just get the opportunity to, and look, I don’t have to give investment advice, I don’t have to do any of that. I mean, obviously, whilst that’s very important, a lot of people particularly at this juncture in their lives with what’s going on, there are some things that need to obviously be looked up with insurance, life insurances and wills and estate planning and stuff like that. And in the child bonding financial agreements and stuff like that. So that’s obviously a financial planning, estate planning lawyers thing. And I sometimes call myself, I’m like a project manager because I’ve had all the experience that I know, I can see all the things that need to be looked at and done. And so I sort of project manage the things.

(26:56): So with a lot of my clients, I’ll actually come with them to meetings or I’ll introduce them to the people that they need to speak to. So whether it’s a financial planner or a estate planning person or a mortgage broker that needs and I’ll project manage them and support them through those relationships and that sort of thing. So for different levels, some particularly women that are on their own and might’ve just ended a relationship, I go along with them to the meeting so they’ve got an extra set of ears to support and understand what’s going on and that sort of thing. Yeah, I do see myself as I do my stuff, I support people in my space but I can also project man because I’ve had 20 something years experience of doing this. So I know also and understand the things to look for, I guess, and support people on as well.

Laura Jenkins (27:47): Let’s talk a little bit about some success stories and I’d love to get a bit of a sense of how you might measure success in terms of a new client coming to see you and what are some examples of positive outcomes that you’ve seen in your work as a money coach?

Melissa Meagher (28:09): Yeah, so I guess, I could probably give you like a sort of more of a tangible, well… But it all comes back to mindset actually. So I’ll just give you a couple of examples. So one couple I worked or one lady, I do predominantly, I work with women and couples, but I’ve got a fairly big slant to supporting women in this space because once again with women, there’s a whole other level of stuff that’s going on with them with their money and their relationships with money and money mindset. So a client, she had an amazing business in the finance industry actually, if I asked her what was going on with her money and her finances in her business, she would’ve been able to tell me to the cent what was going on. And then we started talking about her personal finances and she did not even know where her mortgage was, where mortgage repayments were and stuff like that because her husband looked after, she’d absolved all responsibility around the finances.

(29:10): And a strong happy marriage, and there was some stuff that we had to work through around her mindset and why that was the case and stuff like that. And they got to the point where they actually, she felt comfortable about combining their finances because their finances were separate. They’ve been married for 20 years. And I’m not saying that you need to combine your finances, it’s not a one size fits all, this is just in this particular scenario. But the thing is that it gave them absolute clarity of what was going on. And they’ve had two children and basically, the husband, actually, I never met the husband because they were interstate, but I’m saying he must be high-fiving me every day because what happened is he was taking on all the responsibilities of the finances, which he didn’t want to do. So it was about bringing her up, so to bring him down so they can meet in the middle and sort of work together as a team and support each other.

(30:02): And what that led to is their daughter was having some issues at her school, all that sort of stuff. And because they had that total awareness and clarity and understanding of exactly what was going on with their finances from what we worked through, they were in the position to make a big decision to move her to a private school, and for her to start at private school. And my client said to me, we would’ve never been able to do that if she hadn’t worked with me and worked through her stuff to enable them to combine their finances and really understand, because there was no understanding of the finances through that. So that was a really beautiful situation. Another client I worked with, she was a absolute rockstar and interestingly worked, earned more money but just wanted to be able to have more empowering conversations with her husband and their financial planner and their accountant and their sister and stuff like that.

(31:09): And we worked through together and that sort of stuff, which was really, really, really lovely. And she sent me a photo a couple of years later of, they were actually in Sydney funnily enough, and that they’d bought, they knew where they wanted to live in Sydney, and because of the work that we’d done together, they were in a situation of to be able to buy their dream property. So there was a picture of them with their two little, their baby and their two children, because she had a baby when we were working together in front of a sold sign. So they’d been able to buy their property of their dreams that they’d never thought they would’ve been able to do be. But because once again they had this full understanding. She did have, I had to support coach her to have the conversation with her husband about why she’d been working with me.

(31:58): It’s not to be underestimated and I think people have a lot of fear about understanding what’s going on with their money and they don’t want to know what’s going on and they want to put their head in the sand and then all that sort of stuff. But I think it’s the fear of the unknown is usually much more than what is actually happening. And it’s what’s keeping us disempowered around money from really stepping up and fully stepping into our power and really experience financial freedom and independence and all those sorts of things. So it’s really not to be underestimated, of really understanding what’s going on and really, I sort of say pulling the curtain back and really shining a lot on your finances is a really massive thing. It can have huge benefits.

Laura Jenkins (32:43): For sure. Very empowering, I imagine.

Melissa Meagher (32:45): Yes. Yes.

Laura Jenkins (32:47): So we’re almost at time here. I’d love to ask what advice you might have for couples who are just beginning to explore the idea of using a money coach perhaps to help them with their blended family finances?

Melissa Meagher (33:02): Yeah, I think it’s what we’ve talked about through our conversation, it’s just having someone to support them. I’ll always be very open and honest and say, look, I’m not going to come in and tell you what you should and shouldn’t do. I’ll come in and talk to you, understand what’s going on, and really support you to really navigate if there’s stuff that needs to still be being sorted out and then coming together and actually really going through, referring them to people if they need to be referred, but sort of making sure that they’re set up. And I sort of keep saying, putting in these foundations or this baseline of their relationship and so there’s no surprises. So there’s no left field things coming out. And sometimes it’s just easier to have a third person there to support and navigate those conversations.

(33:59): And obviously I can go and have individual conversations with each couple as well to understand where they’re coming from and what’s been going on for them. But I think it’s just really important to have those open and honest and vulnerable conversations because there is a lot to bring in. I don’t like necessarily using the word baggage, but there is a lot coming into those relationships and to be able to work with someone to support them, to clear them, clear whatever’s going on for each person so they don’t bring that into their new relationship, because sometimes people do get involved fairly quickly in new relationships. So it could be other stuff still going on or other stuff that they don’t should bring into the relationships. So I guess, and from my perspective, I can see if that’s the situation and support them to look at that.

(34:54): So it’s about having conversations of how they want their new situation because that’s the thing, never assume that it’s going to be the same of what it was. Good, bad or ugly, but it’s building a whole new household or a whole new situation. And I think that’s really important. So you do need to get rid of the other stuff to be able to come in and actually start a fresh and start a new, without bringing the old baggage in together at the same time. And I very much can support people around that.

Laura Jenkins (35:32): I can imagine it’s quite overwhelming as well when new couples are coming together and there’s a lot to think about and navigate. So I really do see the value in what you’ve described. Where can people go, Melissa, to get in touch with you and find out more about the world of money coaching?

Melissa Meagher (35:53): Well, my business is called Talking Money, funnily enough. So I’ve got my website, which obviously hopefully you’ll be up to, I’d love you to share the details. So I’ve got my website, which is Talking Money. I’m on obviously all the social media platforms. Look, I’m very happy for people just to reach out and send me an email or give me a call. I do offer a complimentary discovery call, so I can definitely share with you my link to book that in. So it’s a link that you can just book it in straight into my calendar. It can be done obviously in person or over Zoom. It’s complimentary, there’s no cost. It’s just an investment of your time to come together and have a conversation. I usually ask a few questions for them to complete beforehand, so I’ve got a bit of an idea of what’s going on for you and then we’ll come together and just have a conversation about what’s going on for you or if I can, I’ll share how I can support them and we go from there.

(36:55): So it’s a lovely space just to have that conversation. And I’ll be very upfront of whether I feel that there’s a benefit of me supporting them or where I can support them and that sort of thing of what’s going on. But I think it’s just being proactive instead of reactive, I guess. Than if you smash everything together, hope it all goes well, and then other things, other stuff can come up and not be so great. So I think it’s just really being proactive and having someone that can support you both, because I’m sort of Switzerland, support you both of what’s coming together and all that and what you’re bringing into that, what you need, what you need to leave behind and not bring into the new relationship. It can be a massive, massive benefit to do this first as opposed to having to do it later and chasing your tail. Yeah.

Laura Jenkins (37:57): Very good. Well, thank you so much for your time today, Melissa. That’s been an extremely interesting conversation and I wish I’d known about you a long time ago.

Melissa Meagher (38:08): That’s what a lo of people say.

Laura Jenkins (38:11): Yeah, well it’s never too late. Never too late.

Melissa Meagher (38:14): Absolutely not.

Laura Jenkins (38:16): Very good. All right, Melissa, well, thank you again.

Melissa Meagher (38:19): That’s all right, pleasure. Thank you for having me.

Laura Jenkins (38:21): Thanks for listening to the In The Blend podcast. The show notes for this episode are available at intheblend.com.au. And if you like what you heard, be sure to subscribe and please rate and review in your podcasting app. You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.