Speaker: Rudy Upshaw, CEO/Founder
What do you enjoy most about being part of the Cross Shield team?
Rudy Upshaw: What a fantastic question. What do you enjoy most about being part of the Cross Shield team? So for me as CEO and Founder, the thing I enjoy most about is our Coaches and our Admin Team! We have an incredible amazing team here at Cross Shield. Our coaches are world-class. Our Admin Team truly understands our mission, enabling us to deliver a powerful coaching experience to our clients. We do not rush when considering new team members to be part of the Cross Shield family. Our team genuinely cares about the success of our clients and we all support and hold each other accountable to our own goals individually, but also as a team. The other thing that we strive to do with all of our team members across the entire platform is serving each other powerfully, whether you are a client in that coaching relationship or whether you are part of our administrative team that serving each other powerfully is just part of our DNA. Our team's exceptional support and collaboration allows us to help our clients achieve their goals and transform their financial and business lives. Our team and our coaching, create miracles in the lives of our clients. This is what I enjoy most about being part of the Cross Shield Team.
How has working at Cross Shield helped you grow professionally and personally?
Rudy Upshaw: For me, the opportunity to work, learn from and be coached by our own team members at Cross Shield is amazing and we are unlike other companies in this way. Our environment is one where everyone actively supports each other's growth. I've grown significantly as a leader here, striving to exhibit a servant heart for our team. Our business is all about helping our clients create transformation and miracles in their lives. And this is what has happened in my life because of the powerful work we all do at Cross Shield. We're a purpose driven company based on biblical principles and that drives our commitment to serving others. We make a real impact on the lives and futures of our clients. Seeing the incredible success stories our clients experience is nothing short of miraculous and we get to be a part of that journey with them. As a business owner, I've come to understand that the value of the business is only as great as the belief and value of each team member. I have the honor of helping our team members see their own value and the impact of their coaching which empowers them to help their clients achieve even more than they thought possible. There is no limit to success and I feel it's my duty, obligation and responsibility to be successful in all areas of my life and to help my team achieve the greatness they were created for at Cross Shield. We help each other grow and experience amazing amounts of personal and professional development. We have a saying here, there is no failure, only growth or success.
Can you share a specific success story where you made a significant impact on a client or the team's growth journey?
Rudy Upshaw: Being able to help our clients achieve the goals and dreams put on their heart is such an honor and humbling experience. I've been working with an amazing client for the past three years. She's a professional woman who is widowed and in her mid thirties. When she reached out to me, she didn't know what financial coaching was. All she knew was that she was alone and scared about her financial future. She had $188,000 in student loan debt, plus other consumer debt. She didn't have an emergency fund or a healthy budget process. She believed she would be in significant debt for the rest of her life and would never achieve financial freedom. She was scared and didn't know what to do or, if she could do anything, She had lost the ability to dream and chose not to believe in the power God created her with. Over the course of 18 months, I helped her reignite the dreams that God had given her for her future and helped her see his power in her. She began working toward her goals and dreams, which is part of every client's first coaching session they have with us. She quickly developed a healthy budget process using our proven methods within those 18 months. Through our debt snowball strategy, she was able to reduce her 30 year timeline on her student loan debt to seven years. With additional coaching and financial decisions she made over the following six months, she will now be completely debt free in another nine months. She's the perfect example of what we are capable of as God's Children when we decide and do the things that will help us achieve our goals.