FinCon, Award Nominations, Merch & More!

Hi everyone! It’s hard to believe the summer is almost over. It feels like just yesterday the boys were done with school, and now in just over a week they head on back to start a new year.

In just two weeks, I’m headed to DC for FinCon, where I’m hoping to meet internet friends in the real world, check out various sessions to help me make better content and reach more people, and I’m even up for a few more Plutus awards this year!

Not a financial content creator, but just want to hang around people in the real world who like to talk about money? There’s opportunities for you too!

Let me tell you more about the conference, the award, and more happenings here at CMO Central.

FinCon Fun

For those of you who don’t know, FinCon is a financial conference where financial content creators/influencers meet up with each other, meet with brands, and attend sessions to learn all about creating better content to reach more people. This is going to be my third year attending. The first year was in Dallas TX, and last year in Orlando FL.

That first year in Dallas – and heck, even last year – I felt a keen sense of the dreaded *impostor syndrome*. Who was I, little old me, to go to a conference featuring all the amazing financial content creators I’ve read and seen online all these years?

As a financial nerd for over a decade, I read financial blogs before they were cool (wait – are they cool now? I can’t tell). So attending the conference was like a dream come true. I mean, I not only get to meet all these cool money people, but I also get to talk about money and personal finance in real life for days? Sign me up!

If you’re reading this and coming to FinCon, I’ve got a couple of great articles for you to read. First, I have some musings on impostor syndrome in case you’re going through a case of it just like I did. Also, if you’re an introvert, you might be worried about feeling shy or uncomfortable during the conference. I talk about that too, and believe it or not, most of the people attending are introverts.

Wheels Up! Musings on FinCon, Impostor Syndrome, and Introversion

Then I’ve got a post that links to over fifty recaps of last years conference. Check it out and read through all the experiences so you know what to expect when you attend!

Chief Mom Officer Goes to FinCon 2018, Wins An Award, And Rounds Up 50+ Recaps

If you’re not a financial content creator, and have no interest in learning to make better content, but you’re still a money nerd and want to talk about it in real life, there are two great opportunities for you.

Community Pass & Women Financial Meetup

First up, the community pass.

Let’s say you’re where I was five years ago. You’re a passionate reader of personal finance books, blogs, consumer of podcasts, but not a creator. You read about FinCon every year and wish you could go. Not to learn how to make better content – but to hang around with money nerds in real life.

PLUS – you would love to attend the keynote speeches. How often do you get to see Ramit Sethi from I Will Teach You To Be Rich in real life? And how often do almost all your favorite bloggers and podcasters get together in one place?

FinCon created a community pass specifically for people like you. You can check out the application here. If you would like to spend a few days hanging out with a bunch of money nerds, be sure to check it out.

Can’t spare a few days, or don’t want to spring for a community pass, but you’re in the Washington DC area and want to meet up? My friend Angela from Tread Lightly Retire Early and the Women’s Personal Finance Facebook group is holding a joint meetup with my friends Amy and Vicki from Women Who Money at the Hilton where the conference is held. Be sure to check out the event and stop by if you’re in the area!

I’m Up For TWO Awards!

I put this up on social media, but realized I hadn’t written about it here, so I wanted to make sure you all knew I am so excited my site is up for two Plutus Awards this year.

I’ve been nominated for Best Family Finance, which I won last year, and also Best Series for my interviews with, and work on, breadwinning/six figure/millionaire women. I highly recommend checking the full list of finalists, where you’ll find the best bloggers, podcasters, and YouTubers around the internet. Maybe you’ll find a new favorite!

If you’re interested in learning more about some of the finalists, you can hear them discussed on this episode of the Stacking Benjamins podcast.

I’m so happy to know that what I create here on my little corner of the internet is enjoyed and appreciated by so many. As you can imagine, this all takes a lot of time, energy, and effort – the award nominations and kind words by others helps make it all worth it.

Merch! I Have Merch!

So a while back, after seeing a great article on Amazon Merch by my friend Robin from Side Jam Biz, I signed up for an account. Per my e-mail this was back in March, and when I was approved, I promptly put it in the back of my to-do list and forgot about it.

With FinCon approaching, I decided I should get off my proverbial butt and actually try my hand at creating something. And what do you know – I think they turned out pretty good!

I’ve ordered one of each design and they should be arriving later today (it’s the 21st of August right now, in case you’re reading this from the future). Stay tuned to my social media (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook) to check out how they look in real life.

Full disclosure – these are affiliate links, and I also get a small amount for each shirt purchased. Remember, one of my goals is to fund a college scholarship from this site, so every bit helps!

First up I created a Chief Mom Officer t-shirt and hoodie. Because it’s not just me who’s a Chief Mom Officer – it’s you too! Well, you are if you’re a mom who’s reading this. If not, keep scrolling, I have stuff for you. too!

Next up I have some Woman on FIRE t-shirts, inspired by my interview series with various women pursuing financial independence.

And last (but certainly not least) I have “This Family Is On FIRE” t-shirts. If you’re pursuing financial independence as a family, these are fun – and they come in sizes for men, women and kids!

I hope you like these – if you have suggestions for other styles of these, or other shirts, let me know in the comments!

The More-CMO Around Town!

I wanted to make sure to update all of you on a few sightings of CMO Around Town.

First, I was honored to be named one of the nine FIRE blogs you should read by Forbes. Funny enough, this appearance triggered a rare mention by a co-worker congratulating me on appearing in Forbes. I have permission from my company to run this site (plus it doesn’t relate in any way to my day job, so it’s allowed), but I never talk about it at work.

Why not? Well, first, talking about myself makes me feel uncomfortable – I really am shy. Plus it’s not exactly a natural conversation.

Co-Worker: “Hey, what did you do this weekend?”

Me: “Oh, I recorded a fake newscast YouTube video on the inverted yield curve and appeared in Forbes. What did you do?”

See? How do you work that into conversation? Awkward!

Also my friend Erin Lowery from Broke Millennial spoke to me about preparing for rough times. As long-time readers know, preparing for, dealing with, and recovering from financial emergencies is a topic I’m passionate about. You can find her article here.

In addition, if you’re looking for some great books on money basics, I highly recommend checking out her two books. Stop Scraping By And Get Your Financial Life Together is a great basic financial book, and Broke Millennial Takes On Investing is a good introduction to investing.

Those are also affiliate links, so if you pick them up, thanks for helping to make my college scholarship gifting dream come true.

I Want To Hear From You!

Are you going to FinCon – if so let me know in the comments! And if not, I’d love to know more about what you’ve been up to this summer. Am I the only one who feels like it’s flying by? I hope not!

I would love to stay in touch!

Be sure to follow my blog for more great posts via e-mail or WordPress, or connect with me on Facebook or Twitter and say hello! You can also check out what I’m buying or baking on Instagram,  what I’m pinning on Pinterest, or the subscribe to the latest videos I’m putting up on YouTube.