Divas That Care Network

Women, Wealth, And Worthiness

• Divas That Care Network • Season 15 • Episode 47

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Come and listen to our Host, Candace Gish, as she chats with today's guest, Nancy Griffin, for our "Season of Shift: Women on the Edge of Reinvention" Podcast Series.
This series spotlights women who used this reflective season (Oct–Dec) to make major life pivots—career changes, endings, spiritual awakenings, and brave beginnings.

Nancy is a connector and influencer. She attributes her success to personal courage, determination, and joy, when focusing on women’s health and wellness, hence creating Women, Worth & Wellness®. Nancy enjoys every opportunity to inspire and inform women about their personal health and wealth, net worth and self-worth, philanthropy and legacy—so that women feel fabulous, generous, joyful, confident, and on top of their game every day.
Nancy Griffin established Women, Worth & Wellness in 1994 as a Private Client
Wealth Advisor for her female clients and their families.

Nancy continues to promote and inspire Daring & Caring Leaders, encouraging them to step up and lead in the world, following in the footsteps from many other powerful Women Leaders in the past.
Nancy’s overall purpose is to connect and influence for positive impact every chance she gets.

“My Mom was a trailblazer as a women business owner and felt that women should have their own money and wealth – including their own ideas about what to invest in. She was my inspiration for focusing on health, along with wealth, as she would often say “if you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything.” This has always been my focus as I worked with my clients, especially women, as women often have a disproportionate responsibility to family’s health and wellness. An equal focus on health and wealth is inseparable.”

See more about Nancy’s Journey - https://womenworthwellness.com/7000-jars-of-jam/

nancy@womenworthwellness.com

We explore how women’s growing financial power intersects with health, integrity, and community, and why self-worth belongs at the center of every wealth plan. Nancy Griffin shares practical ways to build local circles, de-risk portfolios, and give with impact.

• health as the cornerstone of a resilient wealth plan
• women’s rise in earnings, inheritance, and decision making
• due diligence for philanthropy and legacy planning
• the YOLO storytelling model that fuels trust
• how to start a simple local women’s circle
• vulnerability as a catalyst for confidence and action
• integrity as a strategy, not a slogan
• Rotary leadership, polio eradication, and community impact
• owning your life to create surplus for service
• contact details for staying connected

For more Divas That Care Network Episodes visit www.divasthatcare.com

SPEAKER_00:

It's Divas That Care Radio. Stories, strategies, and ideas to inspire positive change. Welcome to Divas That Care, a network of women committed to making our world a better place for everyone. This is a global movement for women, by women engaged in a collaborative effort to create a better world for future generations. To find out more about the movement, visit divas that care.com after the show. Right now, though, stay tuned for another jolt of inspiration.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, hello everyone, and welcome back to the Divas That Care. My name is Candice Gish. If this is your very first time tuning in, a huge welcome. We are now in our 15th year. We've been we're listening to over 30 countries around the world, and it has just been a pleasure to be able to do this. We have a wide variety of hosts and guests that have graced our network here. And now we are doing a it's kind of like a different type of a podcasting series. So this series that we're working on right now is called The Season of Shift: Women on the Edge of Reinvention. So this series spotlights women who use this reflection season, which is between October and December, to make major life pivots, career changes, endings, spiritual awakenings, and brave beginnings. So we're really excited because today's guest is Nancy Griffin. And I'm very excited to be chatting with her. So welcome to the podcast, Nancy.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you so much, Candace. Delighted to be here.

SPEAKER_01:

So Nancy, let's start out with first. Why don't you introduce yourself to our listeners?

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, well, I'm Nancy Griffin. I formed Women Worth and Wellness in 1994 when I was a wealth advisor. And uh as a wealth advisor, I started to focus on bringing new clients on board. I focused on women, not exclusively, but during the 90s was a it was kind of like your October to December time frame. Women were in the process of uh really getting their careers in order. It's also a time when women started to play golf. Do you remember that? Women thought, you know what? I have to learn how to play golf if I want to be a professional in this uh business world.

SPEAKER_01:

Why did you decide really to do this women with wellness networking out of Ontario?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I was based in Toronto. Now I live out of the city. But um, as I started into building my practice focusing on women, I started to partner with not-for-profit health-related organizations that were focusing on women. So in Toronto, you probably remember Women's College Hospital, which is over 100 years old. It's an amazing place where really the focus is simply on women's health. And as you know, Candace, in every family, mom is supposed to be the nurse practitioner. So, how knowledgeable is she about all the health-related issues that can happen in a family? And so that's when I decided to partner with these organizations and do different events to bring women to to increase their awareness about health. And of course, in building a wealth plan, if we don't have our health, we're not going anywhere anytime soon. So health is the cornerstone of that overall fabulous wealth plan.

SPEAKER_01:

I love that. And you established in 1994, have you seen a big change in the demographics?

SPEAKER_02:

Huge. Huge. Because in 1994, um, as I mentioned, this was just when women were really getting started of putting down roots and building up their own career and understanding what's involved and completing a full scenario. You know, in the past, with our moms and grandmoms, they were homemakers. And Mr., more often than not, looked after all the financial aspects of their uh well-being. Now, uh, 31 years later, women have incredible power with their wealth. They're earning a whole lot more, but more importantly, they're inheriting wealth with a whole lot more to come. And that's when I really, really emphasize you need to be working with a trusted advisor who can help you have your best wealth plan. And in that wealth plan, you need to have anticipated health-related challenges so that if you end up with a critical illness or uh disability, you're not drawing down your uh investment portfolio to look after your monthlies. So here we are 31 years later, with women having this incredible power with their wealth and thinking about being philanthropists, legacy planning, but a trusted advisor is someone who will help you with those organizations to whom you're thinking of donating. Because the last thing that we want to do is be surprised, having directed dollars to that organization, not having done our due diligence and finding out that something terrible is has gone wrong in that organization, so that our dollars are not having the impact that we had intended them to have.

SPEAKER_01:

This organization grown by word of mouth mostly?

SPEAKER_02:

No, we do events all the time. Uh, we did a lot of events, as you can imagine, uh, virtually during COVID. And that was terrific because then you can bring in speakers from all over the world. And then since then, we've done several in person, uh, and as I mentioned with uh women learning how to golf in the 90s, we've done several golf tournaments. So various and sundry in person over time, focusing on uh different topics.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, and you had mentioned through COVID, has your business model changed a bit? Do you do more things with people outside of that local area?

SPEAKER_02:

We do, well, during COVID, that's when the whole virtual came to the fore for everybody. And uh it's a blessing because there's so much that you can do online, like we're doing now. But in-person really is unique as well. In-person really can make a huge difference. For example, one in-person event that I did with um this one person from uh RBC who was sponsoring my events, we did a YOLO event with women in um for starters in a business owned by a woman. And YOLO is you only live once. So we had four women teed up to be guest speakers, and we actually asked each of them to be prepared to take 10 minutes to share their story. Well, it was so incredible that in our audience we had women putting their hands up saying, if you're doing this again, I would like to be a guest speaker. So we ended up doing five of those events, each one hosted by a woman who had her own business. So really amazing. And and the key to that success was that nobody interviewed that person. That person took 10 minutes to tell their own story and brought forward all sorts of challenges and vulnerabilities that they had experienced. And I said, what woman wouldn't wouldn't love to have an audience who's prepared to listen to her for 10 minutes?

SPEAKER_01:

Sounds like so much fun. It was. And I I like that you you've really grown a community of amazing individuals that are working together to benefit one another. And I just love that you're able to do that. I know that you are specifically in that area, and I wanted to ask you what what kind of advice can you give maybe some of our listeners right now, if if they're thinking, oh my gosh, this is a great idea. How can I do something like that in my area?

SPEAKER_02:

Very simple. Very, very simple. It's and your point is right about a community. Um, you know, start off with a dozen people, like a dozen, and just do it in a coffee shop. It doesn't have to be a really big deal. Or do it as a fundraiser, raise some money for an organization and just say, okay, let's have two or three who volunteers and we really want to know about you. And even if you think you know that person well, guess what? When they tell you their own story over 10 minutes, they'll probably tell you things that they had not shared with people previously. And I'm sure, Candace, through all of your experiences, once people share their vulnerabilities, then they've got a whole new connectedness with others.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, and I like that they're able to then inspire others. It's that ripple effect, right? If your can help one other person, you can work with one other person, they build that confidence, and then they can now work with others.

SPEAKER_02:

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01:

You've inspired a lot of people, I can imagine, over these years.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, it's been my pleasure. You know, I talk about net worth and self-worth, and self-worth is really when you're giving or you're sharing. It's lovely to be in that position, but more often than not, the person who is sharing is often the recipient of the gift because it all comes back to you. You know, the one yeah, the one thing you see is these people really enjoying themselves and really feeling better about themselves. Well, that's kind of what you set out to do to begin with, and now it's happening. So that's my point. It comes back to you because you were the catalyst to tee it up and make it happen to begin with.

SPEAKER_01:

Who inspired you to be who you are today?

SPEAKER_02:

Uh, well, it's kind of a it's kind of a group of people all the way along the line. Um, I just thought about my mother recently. She died a long time ago. And um, I think about her and think about how, you know, even though when you're a kid and sometimes your mother is really annoying, I never saw her being really mean. She just always off um operated with kindness and generosity, lots of humor. Like she would get the biggest kick out of things that nobody else thought was funny. But just a really good person. And so when I think about her, I think, you know what? She was a really good person. With my women worth and wellness, we're just in the process over the next couple of months of launching a whole new focus. And it's women's age of integrity. And so when I think of people who I've thought as being operating with lots of integrity, I think about her. And integrity is just being honest, like just bringing the best out of yourself, but more importantly, finding a way to bring the best out of others.

SPEAKER_01:

It's something that I really focus on too, you know, being surrounded with people that are authentic.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Um because it it brings out the best in you. Um I think when people have a tendency to almost put on a front, they they're scared to put to almost share their vulnerabilities because they're afraid what people are going to think. And I I always I want to give those people a big hug because I I want them to know it's going to be okay. You know, we we all go through that, we all have our own unique journeys, and it's that vulnerability that really helps others.

SPEAKER_02:

Precisely. And it's interesting that you mentioned that, Candace, because one of the areas that I've spent a lot of time on that I had not anticipated I would be is with the worth word, is it's worthy. You are worthy. You are always worthy. You've got a right to be here, you've got a right to be your best, and never apologize. Really, you are the number one asset. So really treat that asset as a special as it truly is.

SPEAKER_01:

So, Nancy, tell me something else. Something else that you are doing besides the women worth wellness.

SPEAKER_02:

I'm a Rotarian, and so that's a great spot to be because you can go local or you can go global, and you can do all sorts of different things. Like you can be a you can take on big leadership roles or you can take on little leadership roles. And I like that freedom and flexibility to do exactly that. Uh, last year I was the president of the club and ended up with a leadership award, which was a surprise. But I was truly honored, and during the year, it was my pleasure to be the leader of that club with all the challenges that occurred. Well, the challenges and the and the successes. Um I'll share one example quickly. You know, when you're new as the president and now you've got this board and you want to go forward with all the things that you have set out to do, um, those board members are picked very, very carefully. I had this one board member who was in charge of the foundation, and he said, Nancy, I really don't want to do this. He wanted to do uh the youth portfolio. Well, the person that was in that portfolio had one more year to go, and he's not moving. Like that's it. So I said, okay, let's see who is on that committee, because maybe there's someone who can help you. So we kind of took a look at that. Well, then of course, about a week later he came back and wanted to meet with me in person, and again said, Nancy, I really don't want to do this. So I said, and of course, I'm trying to deal with all the different things that are going on. I said, okay, leave it with me. Anyway, today, as a matter of fact, is World Polio Day, and Rotary's number one goal globally is to eradicate polio. We're almost there. We're not 100% of the way there. Anyway, last October in our club, we put out a plea for donations from our members because of the Gaza situation. There were children there that hadn't been vaccinated. So this is a group of retirees that have means. So they came forward, made big, made big donations. Well, about a month later, he sees that these donations are just a little bit short of$1,000 per person. So with a thousand dollar donation, you can then have a Paul Harris award, which means you can take that thousand and give it to some worthy leader in the community who is doing exceptional things. So this fellow took it upon himself to call them all up, each of them, and said, you know, if you put in another$121, or if you put in another six, whatever. We ended up just blowing our goals right out of the wall. The end of the year, this guy was the number one hero. And um gosh, that's wonderful. It was wonderful, really wonderful.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, and I love that. I was gonna, I do apologize. I was interrupting you there for a second because I wanted you to explain what the Rotary Club was to some of our younger um individuals or people that might not be from Canada.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, well, Rotary is the largest service organization in the world. It's everywhere. So wherever your listeners are, I would I would suspect there is a rotary club in that country and Maine, maybe not too far from where you are. Um, one of my new best friends is in Beirut, really lovely lady. And the international conference is in Dubai, was in Calgary this year in Canada, which was terrific. And um, two years from now it's in Dubai. So she and I hope to meet up then. But just a great organization and and involved with all sorts of different things. So it isn't just one, it isn't just, for example, one focus only. It's a whole plethora, a whole buffet of opportunities where you are supporting um raising money to support these different in-need organizations.

SPEAKER_01:

I I I love the explanation of what that is. I've always been a big volunteer and of different organizations, and I love hearing about other ones because people are like, okay, what's out there? What can I do? And if they have an idea, if somebody explains it to them, then they're more likely to get involved. So thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02:

You're welcome. Thank you for asking.

SPEAKER_01:

So is there any other things that you'd love to share with us today, Nancy?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, I think uh just in summary, is no, is to own your life. I mean, obviously, we're running our lives so fast that we forget to just simply own it. I mean, the fact that we're still alive when we see what in the world's going on is a triple A1 privilege. And so don't feel that you're being too selfish when you make yourself the priority to be the best that you possibly can be. Because when you're at your best, then you're able to share and give back to others, and not just financially, but also in terms of your time and your support to make that other person feel on top of their game.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, I love that. Thank you so much. I've actually really enjoyed this. Uh, do you have do you want to share your website with our listeners today?

SPEAKER_02:

What um what I encourage people to do is send me an email, which means it goes into our database. And as we come up with new things, you'll be the first to know. And uh, you can always unsubscribe. We're on all the social media, and so when you send through your podcast recording, we'll push it out on our social media. But my email is nancy at womenworthwellness.com. Nancy at womenworthwellness.com.

SPEAKER_01:

Perfect. Thank you so much, Nancy. It has been such a pleasure chatting with you today. Likewise. Likewise. Have a great day. Thanks, Candace. You also, and to all of our amazing listeners, thank you so much for listening to Nancy and myself. We had a great time chatting, but I also want you to go check out the other women on this podcast series, Season of Shift. There is so many extraordinary women doing so many things out there. And the Diva Set Care is all about support, encouragement, and just being authentic and helping one another. So if one of these women really reaches out to you and they pull at your heartstrings, please reach out with to them because I think it's really important to make those connections. Also, make sure that you're out there doing something kind today. All right. Take care, everyone. Have a wonderful day.

SPEAKER_00:

Thanks for listening. This show was brought to you by Divas That Care. Connect with us on Facebook, on Instagram, and of course on divasThatcare.com, where you can subscribe to our newsletter so you don't miss a thing.