Episode Summary – HOW DO YOU FIND THE BEST VERSION OF YOURSELF? In Episode 102 of the Shining Brightly Podcast show (links in the comments), titled “LIVE LIFE ON PURPOSE”, I am joined by a dynamic couple - Catherine Collins and Andrew Dewar. Life partners and business partners that share a path to happiness and fulfillment in their books, coaching programs and life. Your journey to becoming the ultimate version of yourself begins here. We believe that personal growth is not an overnight transformation, but rather a continuous process that occurs day by day. A 5-YEAR VIEW TO KNOW AND SHOW WHO YOU REALLY ARE. Please come listen, download, share and review this uplifting show.

Mentioned Resources –

• Website: https://fiveyearyou.com/
• Podcast: https://fiveyearyou.com/podcast/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fiveyearyou/
• Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fiveyearyou
• Andrew’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsandrewdewar/
• Catherine’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itscatcollins/

About the guests – 

Catherine Collins is a nationally recognized entrepreneur and author of the book Mom's Got Money: A millennial mom's guide to managing money like a boss. Over the past decade, her writing and expertise have been featured in dozens of media outlets, including Good Morning America, Yahoo Finance, Forbes, U.S. News and World Report, Real Simple, The Huffington Post, Kiplinger, Investopedia, Business Insider, and many more. She recently co-founded a personal development company called Five Year You and launched a podcast by the same name. The ultimate goal of Five Year You is to help one million people become their best selves in five years. Cat can speak on topics including personal development, self-improvement, motherhood, personal finance, growing a small business, and more. She is known for her openness and vulnerability on some of life’s most difficult topics. Cat is also an engaging podcast guest and has been featured on dozens of shows, including So Money, Stacking Benjamins, Marriage, Kids, and Money, and many more.

Andrew Dewar, co-founder of Five Year You, is a former Certified Professional Accountant, turned Certified Advanced Energy Healer who coaches people on living their life on purpose instead of by accident. Known for his commitment to financial freedom—exemplified by paying off his mortgage in just six years—Andrew’s true passion lies in helping others navigate profound life transformations. As someone who has confronted and overcome personal traumas, Andrew knows the power of purposeful living. He understands that for many, there comes a pivotal moment in midlife when they realize the life they’re living is not the life that fulfills them. It’s in this moment that Andrew steps in, guiding individuals to shift from living life by accident to living a life of purpose. Through his own journey of self-discovery, growth, and resilience, Andrew has amassed a wealth of insights and tools designed to support those ready to redefine their lives. With unwavering kindness and vulnerability, he shares his story as a testament to the transformative power of intentional living.

About the Host:

Howard Brown is a best-selling author, award-winning international speaker, Silicon Valley entrepreneur, interfaith peacemaker, and a two-time stage IV cancer survivor. He is also a sought-after speaker and consultant for corporate businesses, nonprofits, congregations, and community groups. Howard has co-founded two social networks that were the first to connect religious communities around the world. He is a nationally known patient advocate and “cancer whisperer” to many families. Howard, his wife Lisa, and daughter Emily currently reside in Michigan, and his happy place is on the basketball court.

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Http://www.shiningbrightly.com

Social Media

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/howard.brown.36

LinkedIn - https://wwwlinkedin.com/in/howardsbrown

Instagram - @howard.brown.36

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Hello. It's Howard Brown. It's the Shining Brightly

Show. Oh my goodness, I am so excited. I actually get two

people today, thrilled to have you, Andrew and Catherine,

welcome. How are you today?

I'm doing good.

Well, we've got, we've got Michigan, Chicago and

Canada represented here today. So we're International. We're

thrilled. So I'm going to do something a little bit different

today, because you know each other so well. I'm going to play

a game called He Said, She Said, I would love for you guys to

kind of, instead of reading a bio, to talk about each other.

So who wants to go first? I can go first. That's all right with

you. Kat,

okay, so Katherine Collins is the author of the

book, Mom's got money. She's also the co founder of five year

you It's a company that helps people become the best version

of themselves over five years. She's an awesome person all

around, great friend, great business partner, and I cannot

say enough nice things about her.

Wow, you did you hear twins together too? So you

do your major things together. So I appreciate that as well

being a twin. So Catherine, what do you say about Andrew?

Andrew is a former CPA turned advanced theta

healer, and he's my co founder for five year U and he is a

serial entrepreneur. He's built many businesses, and he's an

amazing person, an amazing dad, and he's the smartest guy I

know. So I'm glad to have him on the call with us today. I love

having the smartest guy in the room, so that's always it is

nice. Every day I benefit from it. Yeah,

I've never been the smartest one in the room, so

it's one of you.

All right, so there's the there's the humble,

there's the humble that's going here. So I appreciate that. All

right, so how do you shine brightly? You know, each day,

who wants to take that first?

I do it in like, a real sense. I love

wearing bright colors. I constantly have people saying,

like, Oh my gosh. I love your sunglasses. I love your dress, I

love your shoes. Like I wear bright, fun, happy things. And

it always sparks conversation when I'm out and about, and it

helps me be my authentic self as well.

Wow, that's

a good answer. Andrew, I shine brightly by

showing up in the world as my authentic self. I smile at

everyone. I love to just kind of shine my light wherever I go. I

when I speak with people, I give them my full attention. I listen

without waiting for my turn to talk. I just actively listen to

people, and I try to get to core level with people when I talk

with them, so that they know that they're really been heard.

I love that I will tell you that I shine brightly

being a two time stage four cancer survivor. I look in the

mirror every day, and I actually say I am blessed, I am grateful,

and I am lucky, and I try to choose to lift myself up and

lift up others. And as we get into our conversation, you'll

see how aligned we actually are and what we do and what we try

to bring to the world, and we'll get into it deeply there. So my

first question is, five year you? Why five years? Why does it

matter?

Well, the reason why we went with five year you

is because there's a lot of pressure on us these days to

perform, to be our best selves and to be our ideal version. And

when you come to five year, you when you work with us, you

discover, first of all, who you truly are and what you're meant

to be. And that process doesn't usually happen overnight. It's a

it's a gradual process. And so while we can have 90 day goals,

one year goals, whatever, five year you is about becoming the

best version of yourself, not a goal marker, not something else.

And that takes time. It also relieves the the anxiety and the

pressure that can come from having to be a certain way by a

certain time when you grow into something over five years. It

just gives you permission to relax and enjoy the process. So

much more

anything to add. Catherine,

yeah, I agree. And we come at this

approach from personal experience, and we know that

anything, whether you're on a health journey, whether you're

trying to become financially independent, whether you are,

you know, completely restarting your life. We like to give our

clients permission to take the time that they need to make

lasting change, not just overnight, like quick hacks and

tips.

Yeah. No, it's No, anyone who wants to lose 100

pounds doesn't lose 100 pounds in a week. No, it sometimes it

takes more than months, and particularly years and then

keeping the weight off. So I use that analogy of the extended

timeline in order to meet that goal and sustain that goal, and

measure that goal and appreciate that goal. So I'm with you on

that now, being an author myself, and I did it so

differently. Okay? I recorded on Zoom 158 of the most

influential, important people in my life, and then zoom

transcripts became drafts. Drafts became chapters. Chapters

became editable. Thank God for my editor and my publisher, my

wife, because I'm not a writer, right? I'm a speaker and so but

three years later, or three and a half years later, I actually

have a memoir out, and I've written collaborative books and

chapters, and I'm working on book number two, and as well,

tell me the experience of writing this book.

Well, it was a long time coming for me. My

book, Mom's got money, came out in April 2021, and it actually

took me four years to get a book deal. I was really committed to

writing a book that focused on mothers, and I had opportunities

along the the years to get published, but only if I changed

the topic to all women, or only if I changed the topic to be

more general. And I really like stuck to my truth and the people

I wanted to help. And yeah, so I got a book deal with Wiley. I

wrote it over seven months during covid, and it was

definitely a career peak. It was, it was a journey. And yeah,

I'm looking forward to writing more in the future. Andrew's

actually, and the process of shopping a book proposal around

to publishers right now. So he's like, in the thick of the

journey, and he'll tell you, like, it's it's a trying

process, but the end result is worth it. It is super trying.

It's fun in most of the time, and, you know, gut

wrenching at other times. But I You learn to enjoy the journey

just like you do with anything in life, right? You have to have

the ups and the downs to enjoy it.

I agree. I used a hybrid publisher, not a full

publisher like O'Reilly, and I didn't Self Publish. And all of

a sudden, this hybrid publisher told me, he said, There's 901

steps to actually get a book done and press the 901st step is

pressing the Go button on Amazon. And so I pressed the go

on Amazon, okay, a little less than two years ago, in October

of 2022 and then all of a sudden I was like, Oh, my God. Now

what? Right? Yeah, don't sell themselves. They collect. You

need to go out there and you need to speak about your book.

So authors now need to be able to speak and And so speaking on

stages and on podcasts and in masterminds and things like

that, to be able to actually tell the stories. And because

mine's a memoir, so many stories that I can talk about there as

well, and that's really important storytelling and

things like that. So tell me you know some of the without giving

away the book, because I want people to buy your book, some

key components of the book that that you want to share, that

take away, take home value.

Well, like I just said, the book is really

focused on moms, and a large portion of it is focusing on

empowering moms to take a seat at their own proverbial kitchen

table. Moms make over 80% of the purchasing decisions in their

households, but they have a surprising lack of confidence

when it comes to long term wealth building, investing and

things like that. And so the book at its heart is like a call

to action, and it's a very empowering book that helps moms

to know that managing your money isn't as challenging as the

world makes it out to be, and that if they're a mom, they can

do absolutely anything. And so my hope is that when that it's

the first of many personal finance books that someone

reads, the goal of my book isn't to be, you know, a tell all, but

they'll see, you know, funny stories of me trying to work

with little kids, and, you know, I talk about emergencies, I talk

about things from my childhood. So there's a lot of personal

stories mixed in with money lessons. And so I think it's

digestible and it's not bland, like a lot of money books are

I appreciate that, because I will tell you, in my

household, growing up, the moms, the grandmas, the aunties, they

never sat at the table. They were busy serving and cleaning,

and they didn't sit and make time for themselves. So I can

appreciate that, Andrew, would you speak a little bit more of

some of the take home value and takeaways from the five year U

book?

The five year you book is going to be about our

journey, where we explore how we were kind of empty at at the

beginning, and how we go to a fulfilled life. So my it's a

more of a narrative, but my story was that we won the game

of life, so to speak. We did all the things that we thought we

needed to do, and then we recognized that there was an

emptiness inside. I recognized that there was an emptiness

inside, and in doing that, things had to change, and it's

getting that courage to take those first few steps. Because

when you take steps towards your true self, when you haven't been

that person before it becomes a challenge to kind of like you

said, press go on Amazon or take that first step out the door. Go

for your first walk, first run, whatever it is you're trying to

accomplish in life, those acknowledging it is one thing.

It's a big step, and then taking that first step, being brave

enough to take that first step and take on the adventure of

life that is your your true self calling you home.

Yeah, no, it's true. And so one of the

takeaways and doing a little research on you guys, was that

being intentional and being authentic is kind of vital to

your process. I'd love for you to share more details about

that, because I agree, but I want you to hear it, how you

guys portray that

for sure. So when we talk about finding our being

authentic, finding our authentic self, it really comes down to

our soul and our soul's purpose. And we believe that you have

come here for a reason, that you have something to contribute,

and if you're finding that you have an emptiness inside you,

usually that is the thing that's lacking inside of you at that

point, is you, and you owe it to yourself to discover who that

truly is. So with some of our processes and coaching, what we

do is we discover who you truly are, and what lights you up,

what makes you shine, and how you can show up in this world as

your authentic self. And once you know who that is, and you

can stay true to that person, then you move forward with a

purpose, and you stop living life by accident, which is what

so many of us do? We all follow the go to school, get good

grades, go to university, graduate, get married, have

kids, retire, die, and somewhere along there, we forget to create

a life for ourselves of purpose. So being authentic truly is

discovering your purpose and being true to it as you live

your day to day life.

Catherine,

yeah, we really believe that authenticity

is the path to true, genuine happiness. In a world where

everyone is searching for how to be happy, there's 1000s of books

on happiness. We teach people through a method we call the

layers of life, which helps you to focus on yourself and to move

outward, rather than basing your life decisions on the outside

world and allowing that to control how you feel on the

inside. So we take people through a variety of steps from

you know what their favorite like kind of pizza is that they

actually want to order that they put to the side, because their

kids like something else to you know, what they enjoy doing as a

kid, and we stand by them on the journey. Sometimes the journey

to authenticity can be challenging, because there's all

kinds of people around you who are used to you being the way

that you are now, following the quote, unquote checklist and the

rules, and so we like to build a community of people who are

focused on being themselves, and we like to provide support while

they go on that journey.

It's so important, I have to tell you that when

people look in the mirror, many people don't like, like, like

what they see. They don't like those they see, right? And

sometimes it's physical, but I'm too heavy, I'm too skinny, I'm

too fat, you know? You know, I don't like the way I look, but

and then there's emotional, I don't like the way I feel, and

things like that. And so a lot of people, they need to actually

understand and get back down to their core. So I love that

technique, and it's it's the layers are really important,

because it's not so simple. There's stuff on the surface and

there's stuff from potentially early childhood that is deep,

deep, deeply rooted as part of what your growing up process

was, what your environment was, okay? You know, did you get

unconditional love and things like that? So I really that's,

it's really brilliant. Actually, I love the layers of life, and

also I love the five years, because it takes time. You know,

it's not like you're opening up a bag of chips and then you're

done, right? You know, you have to go through a process of real,

true evaluation and and the goal, right? Is, you said you're

calling it the best version of yourself, that's right? And it's

a process, right?

It is. It's definitely a journey. It's one

worth taking in my mind, and then so I.

Uh, discovery and discovering of this purpose

driven life. So take me through because that's been one of the

one of the layers there, right, as far as you know, how you

discover that and find your purpose?

Yeah, so discovering your purpose, your

soul's reason for being here, your is really pulling back the

layers that you've created over life, to discover what made you

shine, what made you happy. And for most of us, it goes back to

when we were a kid. There were things that we used to do and

love, and we could do them all day. And when we start to just

forget about the outside world, forget about money and prestige

and acknowledgements and family and responsibilities and all

these other things. And we can look at ourselves and go, What

do I actually like to do? And you you can see that as you

release the layers around you from everyone else that you've

put on for a bunch of reasons, the hats, the mask, whatever

term you want to use, you're able to go, you know what? I

like writing, I like helping people, and I like long

conversations, and maybe being an accountant doesn't solve

those things. So you start to just honor that. You show up and

you go, okay, so I like doing this, but I'm doing this other

thing. Nobody's saying, Go, quit your job and, you know, just

start talking to people about their problems. What we're

saying is, lean into it. Take that first step. Maybe you take

a class. Maybe you just start writing for the fun of it

without purpose. Maybe you just acknowledge today that you got

to do this other thing right now, while you're building who

you truly want to be, and the shifts are going to happen more

purposefully when you know what you want and how you move

towards it.

Brilliant. I love it. So I'm going to ask you guys

two questions. And so first is that, do you have a happy place?

And what is it? And I call that my stress rezone. I will share

with you. Mine is the basketball court. So there, everyone has a

happy place, and they sometimes forget to go there a lot. I go

there three times a week, for sure. So Kat, do you have a

happy place?

We're both smiling pretty big, because

Andrew is my happy place. In fact, I call him a little the

little crook of his arm, I shorten it to HP sometimes, you

know, I'm like, hey, I need some HP time. So we're both smiling,

because I use that phrase all the time, but you can say

something,

that's why the smile is there. It's, it's, it's

accurate, it's, it's everything, and yeah, and we get into our

happy place as much as we possibly can, because it's It's

life's better when you're happy.

I just love that. I didn't expect that answer, but

I absolutely love it. All right, each of you separately, who's a

role model and why go ahead? You defer each defer.

I mean, I have so many role models, and

you know, the easy answer is Andrew. I look up to him,

especially a lot of his like business and financial acumen.

He's helped me so much in a lot of different ways. But the

people that inspire me on the daily basis, I think, are my

kids. I love seeing little humans who haven't really been

impacted by the world and how they're supposed to be. I love

like, the interesting combination of clothes they come

up with and the ideas that they have. One of the things we do at

dinner a lot is we come up with business ideas or inventions.

And I love the things that kids come up with because they again,

they're not burdened by society's expectations. Or

someone saying, oh, that's stupid. Or, why would you invent

that? And we get some hilarious answers. So yeah, the I get the

most inspiration from from the people around me.

Thank you. Andrew,

well, Catherine, of course, she's the one who, in

some of the harder moments, is always able to pick me up and

get me back on track or help me with so many things. And her

attitude every day is so delightful that it makes showing

up such a such a better process. And, okay, keep going. And yeah,

the kids, you know, I you go through life and you think you

had a hard life, but when you see what your kids are going

through, and you see how they rise up because they have to,

and there's no other option. It's just so inspiring. We

forget how much kids learn all the time and how much they're

taking in, and how many things that we would see as easy today

because we've gone through it, but seeing it through their eyes

and like right, this small thing to me, is a big thing to you,

because you haven't done. It, and that inspires me to look at

the hard things that I'm doing as just something I haven't done

yet. That helps move me along. So they serve as a great, great

inspiration.

I love your answers because it shows in, you

know, in the what you're doing in five year you is that you're

bringing different perspectives, but your appreciation and

admiration for each other is very admirable. I'm feeling it

through the screen here. So thank you for that. But we've

come to the show, I'm going to ask you to put on sunglasses,

because it's called the shining brightly spotlight, and I want

to shine this smiley on you. And by wearing glasses, we are

reflecting this authenticity, this kindness all throughout the

airwaves, to my audience all around the world, as well as to

yours. And so Andrew, would you tell us how best to get in touch

with you? And that would be and maybe a little bit about you

know, your course in the book and things like that. Yeah, for

sure, the best way to reach us is @fiveyearyou.com you can send

us an email at hello@fiveyearyou.com and that's

all f, i, v, e, y, E, A, r, y, o, u, and that's the best way to

get started to see if what we're doing resonates with you.

Chances are, if you listen to the end of this podcast and

you're hearing it, there's something that's clicking in

you, and you owe it to yourself to check it out and see if it's

time to become the best version of yourself.

Thank you. I appreciate that. And Catherine, so we always

leave the show with some inspiration. So share some

inspiration, and then I'll hand it back to me, and we'll close

off the show

Sure. Well, we just want to let your

listeners know that they're hearing this for a reason, and

we hope that coming together today, and the fact that they

turned on to your show and downloaded this particular

episode, that it serves as the first step for them and the

spark. And if they want help and they want to move forward and

they want a cheerleader in their corner. We usually offer, you

know, three to the first three people that email us, we're

happy to do like an introductory session. You know, no strings

attached. We absolutely love talking to people and helping

them. And so anyone out there who needs a boost, we're here

for you, and it's our life's purpose to help people like your

listeners,

thank you for that. So this has been really

incredible. I'm so really feeling grateful to meet you,

and this has been the shining brightly show. And you can reach

me@shiningbrightly.com and find out about the book and find out

about speaking if you need me to come and host an event or speak

on a stage or a fundraiser or a workshop, but to consider that

for you also, this podcast is there and streamed on 24

channels. But the most important thing when you learn about you

know me is my advocacy in the cancer world, in

entrepreneurship and mentorship and interfaith relations. So

that's my true human and my purpose here. So I'm so glad to

be able to host this forum and be able to bring on super cool

people that are just wanting to make the world a better place.

So if you choose to shine brightly just a little bit each

day for yourself and for others in your community, in your

neighborhoods, we become a force multiplier for good and positive

change by sharing and magnifying that light the world does become

a better place. Andrew Catherine, just a pleasure.

Thank you for being on the shining brightly show today.

Thank you so much for having us. Applause.