Breadwinning, Six Figure, Millionaire Moms – Doc G’s Mom

Today I have another amazing Breadwinning, Six Figure, Millionaire Mom story for you – but this one is a bit different than the others. Rather than being an interview with an awesome mom, this is by a son about his mom. Doc G started his blog DiverseFi to take a deep dive into the emotional as well as financial aspects of Personal Finance.  He is a practicing physician, small business owner, and landlord.  He is the son of a six figure, millionaire mom as well as the doting spouse of one.

So instead of an interview, I’m happy to bring you the awesome and inspiring story of Doc G’s mom. She overcame an unexpected tragedy and serves as an example not only to her family, but to all women. Read on and lets get to know her.

Connections

There are times when you read a blog post and it touches you deeply, yet on the surface, you don’t know why.  The words rattle and role throughout your mind and stimulate new thoughts and ideas.  And then suddenly, it all clicks.

This is exactly what happened when I first read Chief Mom Officer’s Six Figure Moms posts.  I found myself connecting with the interviews and the stories of these hardworking, successful women.  There was something gratifyingly familiar about their descriptions, struggles, and triumphs.

And then it hit me.  They were telling the narrative of my childhood.  Through a sudden tragic event, my mother became the single parent of three young boys.  The story of her emotional and financial triumph is intimately intertwined into the successful lives and families of her now adult children.

I am the proud product of a six-figure millionaire mom.

Unexpected Tragedy

My mother describes a searing pain shooting down her arm causing her to fall to her knees.  Wiping her brow as the pain receded, she received a life changing phone call.  One of the nurses at the hospital was on the line, and urged her to rush to the emergency room.

My father, a physician, collapsed while rounding on patients in the hospital.  An aneurysm, previously unknown, had burst in his brain.  Hours later, his  colleague the neurosurgeon, sat with my mother and spoke quietly regarding my father’s condition.  His body was alive, but his brain was gone.  Upon removing the ventilator, she held his hand and watched his life escape his body.

Her beloved was gone, her kids were confused and anxious, and she had never even written a check in her life.  My father always took care of the finances.

She was thirty-eight years old.

Digging Out

My mom was a biochemist by training.  She had illegally followed my father during the Viet Nam War to Thailand to be near where he was stationed at a military hospital.  She taught High school at The International School of Thailand.

After being forced by the American government to return to the states, she made a living by editing medical and scientific journals as my father finished his residency and fellowship training.

She then spent the next decade at home raising three rambunctious boys.  A few years before my dad died, she applied for and got accepted to business school.  She always loved numbers, and us children were advancing in school and didn’t need as much attention.

She immersed herself in business school, and often scored above the younger students who had matriculated straight from college.  She had dreams of becoming a Certified Public Accountant like her own father.

My dad’s death proceeded her graduation by a few short months.  She was interning at a Big 6 Accounting firm at the time.  She was graciously hired on the spot.  While this was quite fortuitous, it didn’t give her much time to mourn.  She had three growing boys to feed, and a mortgage to pay.

Back in the eighties, it was unheard to be a middle-aged mother in such a competitive industry.  There were no concessions made for child rearing or parental duties.  There were no milk pumping stations on every floor,  like there are today.  She was not allowed to skip the day because her child was home sick.  She was expected to work as hard and aggressively as her much younger, single, male colleagues.  CMO Note – This reminds me a bit of the story of Janet, the awesome woman who worked and supported her family while her husband stayed home with the kids – in the 80’s. She had similar expectations thrust upon her.

She passed every section of the CPA exam on her first try, without studying, while working fifty hours a week for her company.  Not to mention that she was the sole caregiver for her three children.  This was months after my father died.

The Six-Figure Mom Legacy

By the time she remarried five years later, she was a six-figure mom and millionaire by today’s standards.  After receiving several promotions, she formed a partnership with a fellow accountant.

This partnership lasted until her retirement a few years ago.

My mom is still my accountant today.  She helps me run my medical practice, she gives me input on my investments, and she does my tax return every year.

Everything I know about money and business started by watching her navigate her circuitous maze of finances and parenthood.

But there was so much more.  My emotional sense of well-being, my mental and physical toughness, and my ability to hunker down when the going gets rough, all came from her.

I am the proud offspring of a six-figure, millionaire mom.

I owe her everything.

CMO Here Again

Wow – thanks so much to Doc G. for stopping by to share his moms story. I love it when men stop by to share the story of the women in their lives who have been an inspiration to them. One of the reasons I started this series was to help show the world that despite media depictions of women, there really are a lot of us out there that are breadwinners, high income earners, and high net worth. Stories like this show that it isn’t even just today – although it’s easier today than its ever been before, there were plenty of amazing women ahead of us helping to blaze the trail for those of us that came later.

Be sure to leave Doc G. a comment below, and check out his site Diverse FI.

Want to connect with other money smart women? Join in my Breadwinning Women or Women on FIRE Facebook Groups and find other money smart women like yourself.

If you haven’t already, be sure to swing by my one-stop shop page for Breadwinning moms, featuring all my prior articles and interviews (plus some updates on prior interviewees!). Know someone that would be perfect for this series, or is that you? Hop over to my “Be Featured!” page to access the request form.

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