Financial advisor Tracey Curtis has spent 30 years unraveling why her clients approach their money situations differently, and her new event looks to examine the many reasons.
Stories We Tell Ourselves –happening October 22nd, 2023 -- is an event for women meant to show how attendees’ relationships with money, sex, body image and overall health have been affected by shared information over generations.
“I’ve been wanting to do an event like this for 20 years. It’s taken many shapes and formats, but I’m working with a co-author on a book about stories, and how our past and generational information shared by our parents, our partners and our bosses can affect our financial decisions, for better or worse,” she said.
“I wanted to do something face-to-face, and decided to expand to connecting sex, comfort with your own body and sexual being, and discussion around health and hormones into this too. It’s a larger discussion than just money. I realized these are all connected and have important dynamics, so I wanted to put this all into one conference.”
The day-long event on October 22nd, 2023, will feature meditation, panels, speakers, reflection, and a day to journey within and discover yourself. Part of the ticket proceeds will go to the Canadian Mental Health Association and Bracelet Of Hope.
“We are in the midst of a mental health crisis, and I am so passionate about the work being done at CMHA. Helen Fishburn, the CEO of the Waterloo Wellington chapter, has been doing so much for this area,” she said.
“Then with Bracelet Of Hope, I've been on the board for 13 years. The founder – Dr. Anne-Marie Zajdlik – is focused on global healthcare for people in Africa, and they've built six foster homes. We're just so excited to serve the community and help people. Then we can donate part of the proceeds back.”
Both of those women, Curtis herself, and many others are speakers at the Stories We Tell Ourselves event, and she feels like she's in incredible company.
“It was just so critical to bring great speakers and panelists in. We have the right voices at the table, and I'm so thankful for this team. We got together for six months prior, and discussed how to serve these women,” she said. “We all connected, and we made sure our messaging was clear and impactful.”
Curtis is steadfast that the way we live and the biases or ideals we have come “90 per cent” from things that have been passed on over generations.
“We all have influences, good or bad, and our decision-making comes from stories we tell ourselves, social media, and advertising. But not all of it is the truth. What's not serving us, we can simply release,” she said.
“But if we don't know where these ideas came from, they'll keep circulating and cropping up. This event will help attendees identify, discuss, journal and then have conversations. The conference is an open discussion, and we can unravel these things as a group sitting together.”
She's excited for this event, but Curtis is also planning similar ones for men at the same time.
“We don't want to isolate men, but having women and men do these types of conferences in separate spaces is crucial. We want people to share freely with no other influences,” she said.
“Also, men and women communicate differently. They have been given different messaging about budgets, finances, self-care and so much more. Making sure events are tailored to the proper demographic is so crucial. We want seats to be level and for knowledge to be delivered in the best way.”
The event is a success for her if she sees people starting to identify their own needs and their own thoughts and values, independent of what they were shown or taught.
“We would love to see people realizing what leads them to their decisions around self-care, finance, their sexual being and comfort level about their bodies, and their overall health. Then they can make any changes, and begin to lead their own story, not someone else's,” she said.
“But it doesn't stop here. I'd like this to open the door for more workshops like this for attendees, and we just don't want the conversation to stop when they leave. We will listen to the wants and needs, and meet people where they need us.”
The Stories We Carry: A Women's Conference is on October 22nd, 2023, from 9 a.m. To 4 p.m.
It will be held at the Delta Guelph Hotel at Lot #26, 50 Stone Road West in Guelph, Ont. Tickets and information can be found online here.
