Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Houston, Texas. It’s time for Houston Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Trisha Stetzel: Hello, Houston. Trisha Stetzel here bringing you another episode of Houston Business Radio. It is my pleasure to introduce you to my next guest. Yes, you guessed it. We do have something in common, and we’re going to talk about that later. Sarah, who is a financial advisor, Bossbabe and CEO of the Legacy Wealth Network, is on the show with me today, and I’m going to give her a proper introduction before I let her tell more about herself. So she’s originally from San Antonio and is a proud graduate of Texas A&M. Um, whose professional journey began in elementary education before she found her calling in financial services. Driven by a deep belief that knowledge is power. Sarah is passionate about equipping successful women with the financial education and confidence they’ve often been denied. Sarah, welcome to the show.

Sarah Ziese: Thank you so much, Trisha. It’s so, so fun to be here. So I really appreciate you having me on.

Trisha Stetzel: Absolutely. And I do have some A&M fans and people in my family. I’m just saying we are a divided family. So for those of you who are listening.

Sarah Ziese: Well and in most recent months, it hasn’t been very easy to be an Aggie fan. A little bit of heartbreak, but that’s all right, I’ll still believe. Yeah.

Trisha Stetzel: They always come back. They do. It’s going to be okay, right? We just got to believe. Okay, so, Sarah, let’s start at the beginning. Tell us a little bit more about you, and then I’d love to, um, spend a little time talking about how you juggle everything that you’re juggling. And then we might have to talk about this.

Sarah Ziese: Yes, absolutely.

Trisha Stetzel: Yes.

Sarah Ziese: All right. Um, yeah. Where to start? So, yes, I’m originally from San Antonio, went to A&M, wanted to get out of my comfort zone and landed a job here in Houston, right out of college. Um, I’ve lived here since then. I am mom to two very beautiful kids. They are my absolute pride and joy. And so if I am not working or hanging out with my my six figure Chix sisters, um, I am chasing, uh, chasing the little guy, or we are following Presley around on the softball field. So that’s that’s what keeps me going for sure.

Trisha Stetzel: Fantastic. Okay, so you do a lot of things, Sarah. Uh, I think you own, um, more than one business, and you’re doing it all. So talk to me about the business life part of Sarah and what you’ve what you’ve got your hands in, in the businesses that you’re running today.

Sarah Ziese: Yeah. So kind of like my passion is financial advising. Um, especially women legacy Wealth Network, uh, is a vision that is coming to fruition. A community of entrepreneurial women who can find some resources. Um, because that is my passion, trying to get the professionals needed collectively together. Um, and so that there’s a comfortable place for those entrepreneurial women to go. Um, so that is its own Sarah brainchild that is, is on the map now. Um, I also own and operate a local cleaning company. That was an opportunity that fell in my lap. And I have a full time assistant who works, runs that business full time. And that way I can spend my time with my clients who are really my passion and the favorite part of the day for sure.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that the Legacy Wealth Network, so we will have to talk about that in a few minutes as well. Tell me about balancing all of this, balancing life and business and even writing a book right now. Sarah.

Sarah Ziese: Um, I actually, Trisha I don’t think there’s there’s ever a moment in my life where I’ve had true balance because something has always gained the attention. You know, something has pulled one direction or another. Um, but it’s about recognizing. And it’s taken some time. This has been a journey. This was not an overnight realization, but I made the transition into financial services when my daughter was very young. She’s nine now. And so, um, when you are starting in a new career and in a new business, you are having to pour Time, effort, energy into getting it up off the ground. And with her being very young, that was a strain in a lot of areas. Um, and then trying to pull back from that when I started to realize, hey, there’s more to life than just working 7 to 7. Um, and so the, the I am definitely a perfectionist. I’m definitely an overachiever. I want to do things very, very well and to the max. And it’s taken a lot of growth and learning and recognizing that the business is not going to lose the wheels if I cut it short today, or if that phone call has to be a 24 hour return time frame, like we’re not. No, nobody is losing anything. Like it is totally okay. And so it has been a learning process to be able to juggle both. But I do believe that now, um, there is a little bit more, um, I’m going to call it flexibility in my life because of it. And so I think that flexibility, having the ability to be mom and to be advisor, owner, CEO, friend, daughter, all of those things, um, and recognizing when it’s important to step up and do do each part is really kind of the growth journey that I feel like I’ve been on.

Trisha Stetzel: So you’re not alone, girl. You’re not alone, and I, I agree with you. I don’t think there is such a thing as balance. You could call it integration, you could call it a wish. But when we own businesses, it becomes part of our life. Right. So how do you take care of Sarah?

Sarah Ziese: Um, I run.

Trisha Stetzel: Actually.

Sarah Ziese: Yeah. Yeah.

Trisha Stetzel: Nice.

Sarah Ziese: So I, I am a runner. And that is. I read this book. I’m gonna have to remember it before we’re done today. But, um, and it talked about we, in our current day and age, never have the opportunity to just kind of sit in blank space. We constantly have our phone. Our mind is going 100 miles a minute. All of the noise is coming in and out. And the author or podcast, I cannot remember. It’s been some years, but this is stuck with me. Was talking about if we could just sit and stare at a white wall, no noise, just let our thoughts kind of do their thing, that that would be really beneficial and open us up to a lot of creativity and a lot of processing. Well, I don’t stare at blank walls. I just go run for miles and miles and miles and that’s my blank space. That’s how that I think that’s the best way to decompress. But also really, you know, I mean, I enjoy I enjoy spending time with my friends. Um, I’m super lucky that I have a great group of girlfriends. I’m super lucky that my kid has a great group of girlfriends who I also happen to love that group as well, you know? And so getting to to do those things is really fulfilling for the soul, um, and helps to recharge when I can. And I also I also like to read books, you know. So yeah.

Trisha Stetzel: Read books and write books.

Sarah Ziese: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker4: Read books and write books. The writing books is a new phenomenon, but absolutely.

Sarah Ziese: I’m here for it 100%.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that, and I love that you found a way, an outlet, right. Or that blank space for you to go and run and and you’re right. We don’t leave that space open. We just we’re going 900 miles an hour or a minute. I heard you say, uh, which I’m going to adopt. And we don’t take time to just sit with ourselves and see what happens next, right? This need to be we feel we feel like we just need to be busy all the time. Okay.

Sarah Ziese: Yes, absolutely.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. For sure. So I want to circle back around to the Legacy Wealth Network and your passion for helping women. So I think there’s lots of stories in there and things that we can talk about. Um, let’s start with what does legacy mean to you?

Sarah Ziese: So legacy to me is what am I going to be remembered by or how will I be remembered? And then obviously, as an advisor, I would need to also address, I want to make sure I’m leaving monetary, something monetary for my children, assets for my children, so that they have something to carry forward as well. Um, but I think a lot of women really are passionate about what their mark will be on this earth, and especially what their mark will be on their kids. And I want to help them leave that mark.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that. So tell me about your passion for working with women.

Sarah Ziese: So the.

Speaker4: The.

Sarah Ziese: Passion for working with women comes from a number of places. When I first started out in the industry, I was I still am, but my very first experience in the industry, there were 89 to 95% men. And when women were looking for advice, they’re having to go to a male counterpart who doesn’t relate to them in the same fashion. I have heard from lots of women that they are afraid to ask the questions because they don’t want to appear, that they don’t know, or that they’re not knowledgeable. And so there’s a real need. And we as women are just such a collective force. And our voices oftentimes were either too afraid to to put ourselves out there or were too afraid to ask the question. And quite frankly, we need to band together, give each other the power, stand behind one another. And I heard this this morning or yesterday, and I sent it to a group of girlfriends. But be the vision when our own vision is blurry, you know. And that way we can can support each other and then really connect and understand where we’re trying to go. And as an advisor, specifically wanting to really serve these women, I want to be able to relate to them. And there’s a real need for it.

Trisha Stetzel: So yeah.

Speaker4: Yeah.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay. So if, um, listeners are already interested in connecting with you, what is the best way for them to find you? Sarah.

Sarah Ziese: They can find me on social media at the Legacy Wealth Network. And I also website launching soon Legacy wealth Chnetwork.org. Um, so yes, please connect. I’d love it.

Trisha Stetzel: Awesome. And Sarah is spelled s a r a h, and z is z I e s e. Yes, it’s like z z top, but it’s not spelled that way. That is correct.

Sarah Ziese: Looks like XYZ or XYZ or something crazy. But yeah, ZZ top without the top.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that. Um, okay, so let’s dive back into and maybe, um, just let’s give some information here. What’s one financial myth you wish more women would just stop believing.

Sarah Ziese: That they are not capable? That they’re not capable of? I’ll elaborate on that. That they are not capable of managing their funds, that they are not capable of making good financial decisions, that there is doubt in the way. Um, I think some of it is stereotypical. I think some of it is just how society kind of views women in partnerships or women in relationships. But I wish women would stop believing that because we do know math. We do have the ability to make good financial decisions, and a lot of times, because we are so emotionally connected to things, it makes it that much more powerful.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, not only do we know math, we’re good at it and.

Sarah Ziese: Really good at it.

Trisha Stetzel: Better than men.

Sarah Ziese: We are really good at it.

Trisha Stetzel: Girl power. Yeah, as you were saying that, I was thinking about, you know, what’s what’s the word? And I, I feel like one word to describe that as being judged. We don’t want to be judged for asking the wrong question. And when you talked earlier about the women need to band together and support each other. Yes, and we need to provide that grace as well. It’s okay to not know everything. It’s okay to ask questions because you know what? You’re not the only one in the room that has that question, right? That’s just the bottom line. Uh, yeah. Okay, I love that. I love that we’re talking about these powerful women because we all think we all act like superwomen like we can do everything on the planet at one time, right? We do all of this multitasking and picking up the kids and supporting the kids and our parents and doing everything. But when it comes to this finances and the financial responsibility, we second guess ourselves, right? Why is that so banding together, being here to support each other and providing each other with grace and just ask the darn question, would you.

Sarah Ziese: Please ask the question.

Trisha Stetzel: Please? Please ask.

Sarah Ziese: The question. Ready to answer it or at least get you, you know, pointed down a direction?

Trisha Stetzel: Absolutely. All right, so what’s one decision, Sarah, that you’ve made in business or in business life balance that felt like a risk at the time, but turned out to be actually pivotal in your life.

Sarah Ziese: Um. That there’s probably multiple of those, but I will say and this will allude a little bit to the book, um, my story in the book, because the whole reason that I’m sitting here today doing what I’m doing is truly based on it wasn’t necessarily a decision. It was just a moment that changed me. Um, my dad passed away in 2018, And that, I think, just altered my chemical makeup. And I made the decision at that point. I need to be doing something different with my life. Um, which led me down this path. And that was such a risk. Remember, I came from elementary education. You show up, you do your job, you teach your cute little kids, you go home, you get a steady paycheck. And I jumped in with two feet into an industry that does not function that way. So I would say that that is definitely, um, a decision that altered the absolute trajectory of my life.

Trisha Stetzel: What would you say to women who are on the edge of taking a risk or making a decision, or listening to that inner voice and doing something that seems wild and crazy, but deep down they know it’s the right thing to do. What what what would you tell them?

Sarah Ziese: Bet on your damn self, man. I mean, we you brought it up earlier. We just second guess so many things. And the reality is, we should be trusting our gut more. And if you know, deep down, it’s the place you’re supposed to be, do it. Like, what’s the. What are you gonna. You’re worried about what could happen if it fails. But, like, what could happen if you get to the other side and it’s more than what you imagined? You know, um, I think I think that’s what I would tell. Not I think I know that’s what I would tell them. Bet on your damn self.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that. Yeah. What are the possibilities if you just said yes.

Speaker5: You know.

Trisha Stetzel: Right. Unless you say yes. All right.

Sarah Ziese: You’re going to need to give me that advice later. Because I’m sure at some point in our friendship. Trisha, you’re going to have to go. Uh, remember when you said bet on your damn self? If you could just do that right now, that’d be great. Yeah.

Trisha Stetzel: Just get out of your own way right now. Get out of your own way. Right. It’s. It’s okay. Yes. It probably needs to be a calculated risk, but you got to get out of your own way, right? And especially those that are, I’ll call them recovering perfectionists because we want to do everything perfectly. Sometimes we have to say 80% is good enough. Now just get on with it. Because if we don’t get feedback from the people we’re going to put it in front of, we’ll never know. We’ll never know. And that’s how we get better is getting out there right, and getting in front of people. Which brings me to getting out there and telling your story. So you guys. Yes. When I said I’ve got one of my sisters on, she is one of the collaborators and the six figure chicks. Houston volume one, which is very exciting. Our book launch date is on June 4th, which is when we’re going to ask everybody to go out and buy By the darn book. It’s going to be really reasonable. So, Sarah, tell me why you felt compelled to join the group and tell your story in six figure checks. Houston.

Sarah Ziese: Oh, gosh, that is an incredibly loaded question. Um, because I think I have a good friend and fellow six figure chick that is that was already on board. She already had made the decision to jump in, tell the story. She had told me about it. And finally she said, Sarah, I think you need to do this. And then, um, it took a minute for me to go. Do I actually have a story to tell? And this is this is the moment where you need the friends that say, can see the vision when your vision is blurry. Uh, because she was definitely in my corner going. Yes, absolutely you do. You should dive in. And I think the fact that I, uh, dove in kind of last minute, um, really helped my cause because I didn’t have time to overthink it. The recovering perfectionist in me was like, okay, you just gotta put it out there and go. And done might not be perfect, but it is done and it is out there. And, you know, I am so excited, but also very nervous about it going out there. But that is the, the, the lessons that I’ve learned and the stories that I’ve just heard from all of the other chicks is we all have a story to tell, and we’ve all learned something. And if we can share that with other people, we’re going to make an impact on someone. We might not make an impact on every person, but we will make an impact on someone. And my message, I hope, is, uh, something that somebody needs to hear in the moment that they pick up the book. So that’s what.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. And that’s why it’s out there, because you will impact somebody. And here we are second guessing ourselves. Do I really have a story to tell? I don’t know, do I really have? Yes, everyone has a story to tell, and I love what Mel C’s doing with the collaboration of Women. It’s not just writing a book in a chapter. It’s about building this sisterhood and these friendships that are going to be lifelong. For each of us who have contributed a chapter to the book, which I think is amazing.

Speaker5: Me too.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay, so can we talk a little bit about the mentorship around six figure chicks? Because I think that is a really big part and a draw for the reason why we want people to be engaged and involved and buy the book and read the stories is because there’s mentorship involved. So what does that mentorship mean to you?

Sarah Ziese: You know, I’m so glad you brought that up, actually, because when I was on that first call with Mel and she shared it with me that the and she put it in such fantastic words. She said, think about where you’d be today. Had you had somebody that you could see that looked like you, that was a female in your industry and kind of helped guide the path. And I 100% feel that my life would look different had I had female versions of that, you know, that were entrepreneurial or were, you know, doing all those things. I had lots and lots of role models in my life, lots of very strong women in my life. But it’s different when they have that close relationship and they’re family or very, very close friends or something. When it’s somebody outside that you look up to and respect and kind of want to emulate in some capacity, I think that just is so powerful. It’s like a coach in a sport. You want to please them, you want to do what they’re asking you to do, and there’s just another level or an extra layer of trust there. And I think that’s just phenomenal.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. And one of the things I’d like to highlight is Mel actually gets all of us together to have a mentor day, where we invite young women into a space with all of us that collaborated as, um, writing a chapter. And we get to talk to these young ladies, uh, for the day, and they get to ask us questions and have us sign books. And how cool is that? Like I would as a young person, I would have loved to gone to a room filled with these amazing women who contributed their story to this book.

Sarah Ziese: Yeah, I think it’s it’s I think it’s just incredible. Like, it is not just about the book. The book is just a piece of the puzzle. It’s getting us out of our comfort zone and forcing us to do something that we probably wouldn’t have done otherwise. But it’s really helpful to have this, like, collective sisterhood together. But then we get to continue to do phenomenal work for the next generation of female entrepreneurs. And then we get to continue to build relationships with one another that it. I mean, we have been doing something very impactful together. That bond doesn’t get broken very easily. So, um, yeah, I it’s just phenomenal. I feel like I keep saying that it’s phenomenal, but it is. Yeah.

Trisha Stetzel: I’m going to put that all in the show notes. Sarah said it’s phenomenal.

Sarah Ziese: Phenomenal. Yeah.

Trisha Stetzel: And I the connections that we’re making were made possible by this book collab. Right. Uh, some of us may have never met like Sarah. You and I may have never crossed paths. We may have, but we may not have, uh, because we don’t run in the same circles. And now we do. Right. And we’re going to bring those circles even closer and bring more women to make more impact. Okay, I have one last question for you before we close up today. What inspires you?

Sarah Ziese: Um, so many things inspire me. But my kids, I mean, like watching them process and see the world through their eyes. When I stop and go, okay, this is the reason that I do what I do because I want them to just thrive, you know, so that that inspires me for sure.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. The big why. Right? The big why? Why I do what I do. It’s so important for us to know that. And most of the time, it’s so personal that we don’t tell other people. But when we do, it’s impactful. It’s impactful to know why you’re in the business that you’re in, or why you do the thing that you do.

Sarah Ziese: Um.

Trisha Stetzel: It connects you with human beings so much better, right? Absolutely. You have kids, you love your kids. You love to see your kids thrive and that is what attracts people to you, right? As an entrepreneur or as a business leader? Oh my goodness, this was so much fun. I can’t believe the time has flown by so fast. I told you before we started, I was like, oh, we’re gonna get to the 25 minute mark and we’re going to be like, no, we have to talk. This was so much fun. I appreciate your time today. Um, you guys who are listening, if you want to connect with Sarah, you can find her website at Legacy Wealth. You can also find her on social media. Sarah s a r a z I s s like z z I e s e. Sarah. Thank you. If you could leave the audience who’s listening right now with one thing, what would it be?

Sarah Ziese: Believe in yourself and chase your dreams.

Speaker6: Chase your dreams.

Sarah Ziese: Yeah.

Speaker6: Yeah.

Trisha Stetzel: And bring somebody with you. Or surround yourself with people who are going to support you.

Sarah Ziese: Absolutely.

Trisha Stetzel: It’s beautiful. Thank you so much for being with me today, Sarah.

Sarah Ziese: Thank you so much, Trisha. I really appreciate it.

Trisha Stetzel: It was fun. All right. That’s all the time we have for today. If you found value in this conversation that I had with Sarah today, share it with a fellow entrepreneur, a veteran or a Houston leader ready to grow. Be sure to rate and review the show, of course, because it helps us reach more bold business minds like yours. Your business, your leadership, and your legacy wink wink are built one intentional step at a time. So stay inspired, stay focused, and keep building the business and the life you deserve.