Brad Speaking on May 23rd

Brad will be speaking at the "Sharing Perspectives: Addressing the Needs of Kauai's Children and Families" on Friday, May 23rd at the Aloha Beach Hotel in Kauai.

FPA Retreat 2008

Ted will be speaking at the FPA Retreat 2008 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on Sunday June 1, 2008.   His session is entitled "When Clients Don't Follow Through: What Works and What Doesn't".

US Journal Conference

Ted will be speaking at the US Journal's 21st Annual Northwest Conference on Behavioral Health and Addictive Disorders May 29-30, 2008 in Seattle, Washington.

FPA's NorCal Conference

Ted will be a speaker at the FPA's 36th Annual NorCal Conference on May 27-28, 2008 in San Francisco.  His session is designed to give participants the rationale for and share some practical ideas about how, with a greater degree of intentionality and skill, they might more effectively enhance their client’s decision making process.

Listening 101

From Ted

I recently had the privilege of speaking at the 2007 National Financial Planners Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. I invited the 200 + participants in my workshop to participate in an exercise that illustrates the worst listening skills, followed by an exercise that allowed them to experience what it feels like to truly be heard by someone else.

During my speech, I had noticed a young woman in the front row, speaking into a microphone, and assumed she was recording my session. At the end of the talk, I was approached by this woman who introduced me to a dozen business people who traveled from South Korea to attend the conference. Actually, it turns out she had been interpreting my talk to the group because they did not speak or understand English very well. Speaking through their interpreter, they mentioned that the problem of not listening well to others figures very prominently in their culture as well. We spent a long time talking about the importance of hearing and being heard.

To listen, really listen is actually such a simple thing. However, in our daily lives, it is rare that we actually feel listened to, and seldom do we truly listen to others.

Tip for the day: The next time someone tells you something, pause and say something like: “I want to make sure I understand what you just said, tell me if I have this right.” Then, summarize for them, in your own words, what you think you heard them say.

THAT is listening. Try it and notice the difference.

Birthday in Guatemala

From Ted

I just returned from a trip to Guatemala where I had the opportunity to work with 30 wonderful Central American participants in a workshop that we sponsored there. We travel there several times a year and I always learn so much.

My connection to Guatemala began over a decade ago. As I was giving a presentation, a man raised his hand and asked if I would be willing to travel to Guatemala to conduct a program similar to the one he was attending in the United States. I said sure, knowing from experience that 99% of the time those types of requests never really materialize.

Little did I know that that request would result in a decades worth of regular yearly visits to this wonderful country. Over the years, hundreds of Guatemalans and other Central American participants have taken part in the “Learning to Love Yourself” workshops we have offered. We have trained a number of Guatemalans who this time, for the first time, brilliantly led the small groups that are the most important aspect of the workshop experience. It was a gratifying experience to watch these native people work so well with their own people. This trip completed a vision that I had the first time I worked in Guatemala, that the native Guatemalan’s would someday produce and run their own program, without people like me having to be a part of it.

When we travel to Guatemala, we are always treated incredibly well. It just so happened that the last day of this program was also my birthday. Somehow my hosts had found out, and as I was about to close the workshop, the doors burst open and in came a Mariachi Band. Suddenly everyone was on their feet and dancing, pulling me to the middle of the floor where we twirled, spun, line-danced, snake danced, and limbo-ed Latin American style. Forty minutes of joyous sweat and laughter later, the music ended. I’ve had a number of birthday celebrations in my live and this one was one I will never forget.

I keep learning that no matter where we come from or the conditions in which we live, we are all loving creatures. If given half a chance, we can and do share, willingly and openly, our love with others.

Rapid City, South Dakota

From Ted

Two years ago I learned that as a result of all of the blood products I had received throughout my lifetime due to my hemophilia, my liver was on its last leg. Shortly after receiving that news, a Lakota friend of mine, a wonderful lady by the name of Toonie, asked if during my annual trip to South Dakota, where I lead men’s spiritual retreats as well as financial workshops for professionals, I would be interested in participating in a healing ceremony that her culture performs for people like me. This ceremony would involve preparing for and participating in a sweat lodge experience. I eagerly agreed and was moved by the love and acceptance present during that ceremony.

A year has passed. On a recent visit to my doctor, who had been talking about a need to consider preparing for a possible transplant, he said “I am not sure what you are doing, but keep it up”. Surprisingly, your liver condition seems to have stabilized.” I have been eating differently, taking acupuncture treatments, and doing everything else I know of to take care of myself. I also have a strong sense that this healing ceremony was an important part of the process. Yesterday, being back in South Dakota again, it was time for me to attend a follow-up thanksgiving Ceremony, similar to the sweat lodge experience of a year ago. Once again, the experience was very profound. That people from a different culture would be so warm, welcoming, accepting, and loving to a relative stranger never ceases to move me.

The challenge for me is to be able to pass that spirit on.

Howell Native Rides Wave with Book on Personal Finance

From Brad

Every summer I return to home to Michigan to spend time with family and friends. Our recent professional activities enabled me to correspond my visit home with some exciting professional activities this year. First, Ted & I had the privilege of traveling to Lewiston Michigan at the invitation of the Counsel of Michigan Foundations. There we presented a 2-day workshop (June 16-18) on "Becoming a Master Change Agent" at the 8th Annual Family Foundation's Retreat.

On June 22, I had the honor of presenting on the topic of Money Disorders and The Financial Wisdom of Ebenezer Scrooge to the American Business Woman's Association Achates Charter Chapter 5172, District V of Livingston County, of which my mother is the current President. The ABWA members were great hosts and my mother gave an introduction of me to the group that sounded like an introduction written by my mother!

My professional activities concluded with a book signing at Aria Booksellers in Howell, Michigan. We had a great turnout and I was able to connect with many people I hadn't seen for years. While home I also spoke to a local reported who interviewed me for the following article printed in the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus on June 23, 2006:

Howell native rides wave with book on personal finance
By Jim Totten
DAILY PRESS & ARGUS

Howell native Brad Klontz appears to have caught quite the tasty wave in life.

The 35-year-old man has lived in Hawaii for eight years, runs a successful counseling service for children on the islands and helped write a popular book about understanding one's relationship with money. The book and it's message are favorites of well-known country singer Naomi Judd.

Klontz's life adventure carried him from Howell, sped him to various graduate schools across the United States, and eventually plopped him down in Hawaii. He grew up in Howell, attended Howell Public Schools and graduated from Howell High School in 1989.

He recently returned to Howell for a book signing scheduled for 2-4 p.m. Saturday at Aria Book Sellers.

"I only come in the summer," Klontz said about returning to Howell.

His mom and step-father, Wanda and Jim Turner, still reside in the Howell area.

Howell might be where his family is, but it's not luring Klontz back from Hawaii anytime soon.

"It's paradise," he said. "I absolutely love it. Every day is perfect."

Klontz, who is a licensed clinical psychologist, said he spends most of his time running a corporation that provides psychological services to children and families through the state of Hawaii.

His real passion, however, is research and writing. He jumped into writing about money habits after living through his own financial crisis.

"My message comes from my own mess," Klontz said.

After spending 10 years in graduate school, Klontz said he decided to take what money he had and invest it in the stock market. It was the late 1990s, and he saw others making a lot of money investing in hi-tech companies.

His motivation was simple and emotional.

"I didn't want to end up poor like my family, so I decided I'm going to invest," he said. He had very little knowledge of the market.

Klontz said he sold his truck and other possessions, bought a $300 car and invested $9,000 in the stock market. The tech bubble burst, and he lost half of his investments.

"I started to examine my thinking," he said. "If we're not careful with our emotions, our emotions will totally control our financial behaviors."

He began researching money problems and learned some startling statistics. One he repeated was based on a recent American Psychological Association survey which showed that the No. 1 stress for 73 percent of Americans was unresolved money issues.

Through his research, he developed a treatment process for people engaged in chronic self-defeating behaviors involving money. He and his father, Ted Klontz, a therapist, launched a five-day treatment program in 2002 in Nashville, Tennessee. Only eight people attended the workshop, but Brad Klontz said it attracted the attention of a Wall Street Journal reporter who wrote a story that created this "whole snowball effect."

They wrote a book, called "The Financial Wisdom of Ebenezer Scrooge," and he said his father continues with the workshops. He said Ted Klontz used to teach at Howell High School, coached baseball and basketball and became the substance-abuse counselor in the high school before he left the district in 1992.

Brad Klontz said he recognizes that many people can't take a week off to attend a workshop, so he's hoping the book can reach more people.

He said the book is meant to help people uncover their unconsciously-held beliefs about money, which he calls "money scripts." Just as Ebenezer Scrooge had an unhealthy belief system about money and gradually changed his ways, the book provides tips on how to recognize one's beliefs and change them.

When he's not working or researching, Klontz said he enjoys spending time with his fiancé, Joni Wada, and playing tennis.

Now that he's back in town, Klontz said he's met up with old friends and he's just "the same old Brad."

"I'm a kid from Howell and I don't think that will ever change," he said.