Hi, I'm Tom Bell!

I’m a writer, a journalist, a brand strategist, and a brand growth consultant who has spent more than 25 years helping people, nonprofits, and businesses tell their stories well…and no, I don’t live in a constant state of transcendent bliss. (Not yet.)

However, I do take the pursuit of joy very seriously (and playfully). I reject the cynical idea that work is something you just have to slog on through in order to pay the bills and fund a little fun on the weekends while hoping not to die before you can retire.

When my work becomes a burden or a barrier that gets in the way of my joyful life, I pay attention, rethink my priorities, and start making the necessary changes to get me back on the path to joy.

That has changed the trajectory of my work and my life, over and over again. It led me to arts journalism, to contemporary dance and performance art, to aerial acrobatics. It led me to co-found a national book festival and to start a consulting agency that helps founders figure out what they actually care about.

I’ve loved stories for as far back as I can remember, back to sitting on my grandfather’s lap at the dinner table while I read my first book aloud to the family. I don’t know when I wrote my first story, but I know that I published my first essay in the local newspaper when I was in second grade. Ever since, I’ve been reading stories, listening to people tell me their stories, crafting my own stories, helping people shape theirs, and guiding the publication and promotion of all those stories to the people who needed to hear them.

Stories bring me my most profound satisfactions.

I seek joy outside of work as well, of course, in friendships and family, in adventure and rest, and in wandering out into the wild places of this wondrous world.

As far as I know, we only get this one, precious life. I try to make mine a journey of great joy.

Hi, I'm Michelle Waymire!

If you asked me my job title, I’d tell you any combination of the following, depending on my mood: CEO, Chief Money Nerd, Founder of Young & Scrappy, Financial Advisor, Bookkeeper, Financial Planner, Financial Coach… it’s a long list.

But if you asked me about my WORK, I’d tell you that my job is to help people feel joyful about their money. I do this in lots of ways, hence the multitude of titles above. I’m grateful that this feels less like a job, or even a career–it’s a calling.

When I’m not helping people kick ass at their finances, you’ll likely find me traveling, drinking coffee, petting mine or others’ dogs, or doing a combination of these things at once. If I find myself holding an iced coffee and petting a dog in another country or state, that’s what I call a Joyful Hat Trick (that’s a hockey reference… IYKYK).

One of the things I’m proudest of, however, is leaning into saying NO to things that don’t spark joy for me. This list includes (in no particular order), wearing real pants, working from an office, networking, business social media, and money messes. As a result, my business looks pretty different from the traditional advisory firm, and I can’t wait to help your business break the mold, too.