WHAT YOU APPRECIATE, APPRECIATES
Over the years, dts lifeStyles founder When you make a difference with what you have, it expands by Jim Timlick
Debbie Styles has helped numerous women direct energy and attention to their financial future. While her advice has inspired many of those women, Styles says the relationships forged have more so inspired her. “Oh, absolutely,” says Styles, who began her financial advice business in 2000. “To me, my business is people. It’s about meeting people where they are and helping them get to where they want to be. “It’s so great to see women who are willing to forge their own path and make a difference with what they have. They want to make smart decisions, stand on their own and continually invest in their future.” One of the women who has inspired Styles is Athena, 26, a criminal justice major attending university. As a survivor of sexual assault, Athena sought accountability and successfully sued the institutions that failed to protect her as a youth and came to Styles for help in investing the
For Debbie Styles, her three best investments are her daughters Signey, Lane and Gretta.
a legal battle with his employer after he was left unable to work. And finally, there is Reena, who Styles originally met as an instructor at her daughter Lane’s acting class. She was so impressed by Reena’s teaching style she encouraged her to start up her own children’s acting studio. The two struck up a friendship and later decided to start up a business club for female entrepreneurs, resulting in many successfully run businesses. “They fuelled my creativity,” Styles says of her fellow club members. “They were amazing with technology, they had Instagram accounts, they had followers, and they were building their businesses in ways I didn’t even know existed.” ◗
compensation she received. “I asked her why she came to me for advice and she said: ‘Financial security is new to me, and I trust that with your guidance, I will grow this new safety net. I am facing my hard history to write a different ending.’” Another inspiration for Styles has been Darbie, whose father passed away while she was just a child. Darbie received a sizeable life insurance payment from her father’s employer, which was held in trust until she turned 18. Styles has been working with Darbie for the past 14 years and has provided her with advice on everything from acquiring several real estate properties to helping her common-law partner fight
CELEBRATING INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 17
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