Dave's Start in Financial Counseling

Dear Dave,

In the beginning, how did you go about establishing yourself as a financial counselor that people could trust? Did you initially offer free counseling to help build a reputation?

Anonymous

Dear Anonymous,

I never worried about whether or not people could trust me. I think knowledge helped offset reputation (or lack of one, back then), and I knew in my heart that I was an honest guy who had the ability to help people with their money.

I began doing financial counseling free of charge as a ministry at my church, but I have a degree in finance, and I had bought and sold more than 1,000 foreclosures at that point. That taught me a lot about the business and the bankruptcy side of things. And experiencing them for myself when I went broke gave me a unique perspective into what happens in those situations.

But it's probably safe to say that people trust me more now than when I first started. There definitely wasn't a line of people backed up around the block to see me in those days!

-Dave

* For more financial help, please visit daveramsey.com.

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Norine in Utah

A local small business gave each of their employees a copy of your book last February, and have since awarded a cash bonus to the winner of an essay contest on how it had helped them. I think that gift was more valuable than a bonus or raise, if they will just use it. What a great thing for that company to do! My grandson and his wife, who by the way won the essay prize, have totally eliminated credit card debt in the past 8 months, as well as establishing an emergency fund, and have a goal to be totally debt free, including their home mortgage. I'm very proud of them, and I know they've recommended your book and its ideas to many others!