If you don’t yet know Winnie Sun, you should. She’s well-known for her ability to make finance approachable and helping her clients (and community) find financial success. In addition to her incredible business and financial know-how, Winnie is also an amazing person. She brings positivity and kindness to everyone and everything she does. I’m sharing more about Winnie Sun as the featured Mompowerment mama this month to also have a nod to National Finance Awareness Day. We’ll be shining light on the many layers of this financial powerhouse. And while I appreciate her financial knowledge, I am inspired every day by her approach and advice to each person to be the best version of yourself.
What I’ve learned from Winnie
I “met” Winnie through her WinnieSun Twitter chat (Use #winniesun on Wednesdays at 1pm CT to join), where I’ve been a consistent participant for years. Her knowledge, ability to amplify others’ messages, positive attitude, and general approach to life make her unique and a pleasure to interact with. While we’ve never met, I feel like she’s an old friend. She is an excellent reminder for us all that you can be kind and kick butt in your career and life.
Full disclosure, Winnie is one of the blurbs on the back of my second Mompowerment book. I was thrilled when Winnie agreed to be one of the working moms who read The Mompowerment Guide to Work-life Balance early on to share her thoughts. Having financial wellness absolutely supports work-life balance so I was thrilled to include her thoughts on the back of the book.
Winnie’s message is consistent. She reminds us all to live within our means and be financially smart. She believes in selectively splurging. That requires being financially savvy in many areas and knowing what you really care about so that becomes what you splurge on. For Winnie and I both that is family travel. And, yes, I am always appreciative of Winnie’s ability to gently you to be the best version of yourself. And this applies to our personal and professional lives.
Professional path
So, how did Winnie become the financial guru she is today? Unlike many in the financial services industry, Winnie didn’t set out to be a financial advisor at first. Even before finishing up her studies in political science at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), she started her own production company at the ripe age of 19. Yes, you read that right. She was an entrepreneur right out of undergrad. She worked with major programs such as Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, and America’s Funniest Videos.
Winnie’s plans changed over time, though. “My current career stemmed from a series of unexpected occurrences,” she shares. “My hardworking, diligent saving immigrant parents experienced financial hardship in the form of declaring bankruptcy just months before I was to leave for college,” Winnie explains. To support her parents financially, she worked many different jobs. This experience led her to learn more about how to properly plan for financial health and wellness and fueled her interest in making money more relatable for others.
Early on in her financial career, Winnie worked at financial powerhouse Salomon Smith Barney, which then became Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, for 12 years. Although she was successful in her corporate financial advising roles, earning high honors throughout her tenure, Winnie was drawn to creating her version of a financial services company.
More than 10 years ago, she founded Sun Group Wealth Partners to provide financial planning services to small business owners, senior executives, celebrities, and established families on the West Coast. She’s a top speaker at major industry and corporate events. (Check out her website for courses and tools.) And she’s a contributor on major media platforms such as CNBC, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Entrepreneur magazine, CBS News, and Good Day LA. You can see her daily program where she covers all sorts of topics. Tune in via LinkedIn 4:30 pm CT / 2:30 pm PT
Work time
Winnie admits that she works a lot. She loves what she does and the people she works with, both clients and her own team.
How she works is a bit different. Winnie prioritizes her kids, husband, and family over everything else. “I often work when most people are resting, watching TV, etc. I’ll work while my family is asleep or before they wake up, and I always make it home for dinner if I’m not traveling. And I don’t work away from them on the weekends. With the pandemic upon us, my schedule has shifted significantly. Previously I’d be jumping from Los Angeles to New York to another airport. It’s a silver lining, having more quality time with my kids, my parents, and more. I’m grateful for that. I thought my husband, kids, and family were really close, and I never thought we’d be even more connected, even closer, it’s amazing.”
Winnie’s version of work-life balance
“You need to have a good reason to be away from your family. When the kids are at school, and I’m at the office, I want to be proud of what we’re doing and proud of my productivity,” Winnie explains.
Winnie is realistic about how she manages all the things. “It’s not perfect. Sometimes I have to miss my son’s violin concert or volunteering in the classroom, but they know that it’s important to sacrifice for the greater good of the family. We all make it work, and we celebrate with our love of family travel.”
Benefits of entrepreneurship
Winnie believes that there are good and bad sides to entrepreneurship. “It’s not better than working for someone else; it’s a different way of working and bringing in income.”
Winnie talks about entrepreneurship as one path to greater work-life balance. “When you work for yourself, if you can build a long-term, sustainable business, there are a lot of pluses on the work-life balance side. You don’t have to worry about getting in early or late, or taking lunch or vacation days, etc.” Keep in mind that this is coming from someone who starts her day before her colleagues and is willing to work when we’re all sleeping. Even before the pandemic, she would work at home early or late.
What Winnie loves about entrepreneurship is “the ability to try the things I want to try.” She can lead the team to work on initiatives she thinks are meaningful with the idea that she can use her time to impact and change people’s lives, both her clients’ and her colleagues.
And during the pandemic, she looked at how she wanted her team to work and collaborate and take actions that made sense. She’s looking at how doing business will evolve for her and her team post-pandemic now that they have embraced a more flexible work style.
Challenges of entrepreneurship
Winnie and I are so on the same page when it comes to the idea that entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone. “When you’re an entrepreneur, everything falls on you – the good and the bad. And when you work for yourself, you need to be the CEO, the rainmaker, the accountant, the human resources team, and everything in between,” explains Winnie. Winnie makes it seem easy but wearing all the different hats and taking risks aren’t for everyone.
Finding fulfillment in life
It’s about making a difference and being proud of your work, day-in and day-out. It’s the idea that “you can be the best version of yourself whenever possible.” And that likely means you’re consistently finding ways to be better (and that goes for her kids in the classroom and at home too!).
For Winnie, entrepreneurship isn’t the only track to being happy and fulfilled in what you do. She emphasizes we each need to find our way. She talks about finding satisfaction as an employee: “I think too many people glamorize entrepreneurship. If you find an employer that values you and gives you the flexibility to come and go, that’s a pretty wonderful option too. Don’t discount working for someone else, there’s so much value there too. The truth is that if you are providing for yourself and your loved ones, and you’re serving your clients and associations ethically, does it matter whether your name is on the door or not? I don’t think so.”
You want to ensure you find a job in a healthy environment, based on your needs. Winnie reminds us all, “Don’t ever discount the value of bringing in a consistent flow of income.” This resonates with me. You want to ensure you’re being compensated your worth, whatever work looks like for you as a working mom.
Advice from this financial guru
- Know what fills your soul. Do some soul searching to figure out who you are and what you enjoy doing. Then, figure out where you can go to find personal and financial satisfaction. And be OK with potentially monetizing your passion. It’s a great thing to make money doing something you enjoy.
- Be financially savvy. If you’re an entrepreneur, don’t forget to pay yourself along the way. That’s one of the things most entrepreneurs forget – to save for a rainy day. This is a must in business and life.
- Understand your value. You must recognize your value and quantify it before others will. And then you must articulate that to others. That goes for employees and entrepreneurs alike.
- Make your effort count. Find what works for you and give it your absolute all. Never stop learning and growing. Research, pivot, and always try to get better. It makes you a great role model for your colleagues and your children.
- Make yourself indispensable. If you can get to the point of being indispensable, that’s really when the magic happens. That’s when you find yourself choosing the types of things you work on and the clients you work with.
- Be smart with how you work. Maximize your time and effort. Maybe that means working when others are resting, which is great advice for how to start a business when you’re a mom and still have a 9-5. It’s the hours in between the other things you do that can help you build something new
- Start early. Get your kids more comfortable with financial ideas and topics. It becomes a lot easier to manage your financials if you’ve been given the tools, and the earlier, the better.” Check out Winnie’s LinkedIn courses to get started.
Interested in being the best version of yourself? Learn tips, tricks, and advice from amazing professional working moms in The Mompowerment Guide to Work-life Balance. Grab your copy on Amazon. (As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)
