Keeping it Classy: Gelato & Autos
As a financial educator, I can’t help but interject myself into conversations revolving around money. Most recently, this happened at a super cute Italian market in San Diego.
While most of my business travels focus on financial centric topics, this time our Marketing Manager, Tina, convinced me to attend a marketing conference to get a taste of some new ideas to share our services. We happened to be staying at an Airbnb about a mile away from the venue, which has become typical when we go to conferences. Not only do we usually find it more economical, but it also gives us a chance to actually leave the venue and walk around a bit, experiencing local culture, shops, and food.
Since many of our conferences take place in San Diego, I am quite familiar with the area around the convention center. I have seen most of the shops, dined in many of the restaurants, and have visited many of the attractions. However, in my previous excursions, I missed a little hidden Italian gem called The Foodery. As we popped into the shop for the first time, I was transported back to Italy, and the many wonderful memories I have of my visit years ago. The shop was filled with pasta, sauces, and, most importantly, coffee and gelato.
After stopping in for a quick dessert the night before, we made a stop on our way to the venue to caffeinate. The barista was very kind, asked about our name badges and the conference, and even provided us with a few $1 off coupons to share. The coffee was amazing! We told her we would be returning to grab dinner to take back to the apartment later that day. Oh, and more of that gelato!
True to our promise, after the long day of sessions, we made our way back to the sweet heaven of cold and creamy deliciousness. As we looked over the gelato flavors and sampled a few to find the perfect combination, I overhead our morning barista, now sitting at a table in the deli, discussing her upcoming vehicle purchase with the other gelato guy behind the counter. He continued to scoop a nice helping of hazelnut for the customer in front of us, while suggesting to the barista that she call a credit union to get pre-approved for a loan. As the barista asked him more questions, I felt obligated to share some insight, particularly to answer some of the questions the gelato guy couldn’t answer.
As we discussed how the loan process works, I could see her confusion begin to melt away, leaving room for understanding.
As Tina made her choice of a dark chocolate and cherry gelato combination, we left the deli feeling satisfied. Tina was very proud of her dessert choice. And I was happy to add a bit of ‘extra whip’ of car loan clarification to my new favorite barista.
Michelle Kuehner, ChFC® is the president of Personal Money Planning, a Wichita Falls retirement planning and investment management firm.
