Stuck with Taryn Arnold
One of my best friends, Taryn Arnold, recently invited me on her podcast, Stuck with Taryn. The podcast is aimed at helping folks get “unstuck” in various aspects of their lives (career, relationships, money, etc). In our episode, which you can listen to here, we discuss the basics of saving, investing, and being smart with your money.
While I hope our episode is a helpful introduction to personal finance, I know that for many of my readers it might be an introduction to Taryn Arnold. If that’s the case, you’re in for a treat. It’s difficult to find words to describe Taryn given how special she is, but I will try my best below. I speak from experience on this topic of Taryn. I spent most of my 20s living, working, eating, weekending, and vacationing with Taryn. There was exponentially more time together than apart.
Ok, let me take a shot at this:
-When she walks into a room, the energy doesn’t just change, it completely shifts. If you need comfort and support, time slows down. If you need to pick things up, the party starts instantly upon arrival. It’s sacrilege to try to start a party before Taryn gets there.
-She’s ludicrously relatable. I think this comes from how centered and in touch with herself that she is. And it makes sense because Taryn does the work of journaling, walking, considering, and questioning. That brings a deserved confidence, which makes it more effortless for her to be vulnerable and her full self around friends and strangers.
-Taryn has an unusual talent for leading conversations, groups, and events. When on the mic (which is most of the time if you’re Taryn- she once bought a portable microphone headset that she would wear on randomly in the office or while out on the town), not a single thing about her personality changes. She’s just as funny, energetic, composed, and observant. And she doesn’t have to “turn it on” for these moments because it was never off in the first place.
-After your first five minutes with Taryn, you instantly feel like a best friend.
-One of her core principles in life is showing up for people. She makes that a priority and it really does stand out. She won’t miss a birthday or celebration. This pandemic must be hard on her because I know it’s challenging this goal.
-She’s the definition of influential. Everyone wants to be more like her. As a result, Taryn already has a large community of folks who follow what she writes, reads, and shares. And yet, I truly believe Taryn’s impact is about to 100x over the next decade. She’s going to play a key role as a host for much of our lives. I don’t know if it will be on social media, TV, a podcast, or another medium, but it will be somewhere. If I could buy stock in people, Taryn is where I would place my bet.
With all of the time we’ve spent together, you can imagine Taryn has influenced me in many ways. And yet, there is one lesson she taught me that stood out above the rest. I remember the moment with complete clarity. We were in her white, four-door jeep driving on the North side of Golden Gate Park in SF. She said to me, “Every person on earth wants to feel special. We have to remember that we all crave the feeling of being important. And if you dig deep enough, everyone really does have something important and special about them. So in our conversations with people, it’s up to us to find that thing and shine a light on it.” One of my favorite authors Dale Carnegie describes this principle as “To be more interesting, be more interested.”
So while you may discover one or two practical tips about saving money in the episode, what you’ll really see is Taryn’s rare gift on display — Making me feel special and important, shining a light on the topic I love to talk about.
That lesson has stayed with me, and I might just be trying to live it out in this post— trying to be a bit more like Taryn. If you have the time, enjoy the episode here, and follow Taryn earlier than most will. After a few of her posts, you will start to feel like her best friend.
I feel so lucky to be stuck with Taryn Arnold.
Tyler