A 39-year-old father of twins, Terry Condon stepped into our lives recently as if in answer to our prayers.
A friend mentioned she had worked with a money coach from The Cashflow Co.
I didn’t even know a money coach was a thing but I loved the sound of it.
When it comes to finances, my preferred method has mostly been the ‘head in the sand’ approach which, surprisingly, hasn’t been serving me.
Since I’ve shacked up with my soon-to-be husband, Will, I noted that he, too, loves that same approach…hence my light bulb moment of ‘Holy heck! We NEED a money coach!’.
Long story short, Terry and business partner Ryan Monaghan made the terrifying prospect of looking at our finances actually seem fun and way easier than we imagined.
It’s been a total game-changer.
Getting to know Terry over this time, I could see he has an absolute calling and burning desire to help people grow and change, and not just financially.
I discovered this desire came from seeing his own mother change overnight…though not for the better.
His past career had him working as the youngest performance coach in the AFL and with Australian Rugby and the Wallabies.
He also hosts a successful podcast called Wealth, Time, Freedom (WTF) that gives you a real sense of the boy’s authenticity and depth of knowledge.
When it comes to home life, I love the sound of how he applies his coaching skills to his parenting as well.
Married to an equally intriguing, clever, holistic therapist Elise, the two make some pretty dynamic parents.
Can you give a snapshot of your life before kids – childhood, school life, ambitions?
Before kids I had a career in sports.
I spent 10 years working with elite teams, learning about people and how goals and habits are built.
I moved around a lot – Melbourne, Sydney, and eventually Geelong.
I grew up on a farm in the Riverina, New South Wales, which taught me discipline through long hours of monotonous work.
I went to boarding school and had a mixed childhood of beach and farm life.
Initially, I wanted to join the army, but soon realised I didn’t like others’ rules.
My ambition was always to work in sports, which I achieved, but deep down I aspired to run my own business, inspired by my self-employed farmer dad.
How did you meet your wonderful wife Elise, and what makes your relationship special?
I met Elise when she was a Pilates teacher and I worked in sports.
I was exploring alternative rehabilitation methods for athletes, and Pilates was unique at the time. We met at her Pilates studio in St Kilda and our relationship grew from there.
She was transitioning into counseling and healing and I was drawn to her worldview.
We built a friendship that eventually turned into a relationship.
Our connection was special because it was built on mutual respect and curiosity about each other’s perspectives.
Were you present at the birth of your babies, and how was that experience?
One hundred percent, I was!
While it was such a powerful experience, it was also terrifying.
Elise faced complications, and there was a time when we actually feared for her life.
Fortunately, she pulled through.
Bringing the babies home was one of the most precious moments – driving home from the hospital was the slowest I’ve ever driven, knowing I was carrying such precious cargo.
What did your career look like before starting The Cashflow Co?
I started in sports, volunteering and interning for three or four years to learn the craft.
By age 23, I was a full-time performance coach for the Richmond Footy Club, likely the youngest at that level in Australia.
I learned that trust and belief from others mattered more than knowledge.
I studied successful coaches, like John Wooden, to understand what made them different.
After Richmond, I worked with Australian rugby, the Wallabies, and also the Olympic sevens teams, which was a valuable experience.
As I progressed, I pursued business education, knowing I’d eventually leave sports.
I worked for the Geelong Cats, where a restructure demoted me despite my experience.
This sparked my interest in personal finance, as I realised I didn’t want to be financially dependent on decisions out of my control.
I got obsessed with learning about finance and investing.
That’s how I met Ryan, and we co-founded The Cashflow Co.
Our mission is to help young people and couples take control of their finances, build meaningful lives, and maximise their return on time and life.
Our philosophy is that time is the scarce asset, and money is the tool to maximise it.
Our business educates people to build skills and habits for financial freedom and success.
How would you describe your parenting style?
Clown! Elise would say I get to do all the fun stuff and she has to do all the serious stuff.
My parenting style is not laissez-faire, but I do let my kids work things out for themselves.
And I try to help them make smart decisions, not to force my decisions on them.
So, you can make this choice, but let’s have a think about what happens after that.
I guess I’m sort of consultative coaching, in that sense, when it comes to parenting.
And I definitely parent my kids differently because they’re different people.
Smith needs a different version of me than India needs.
I try to adapt my style to the child and what they’re wanting and needing at the time.
But I also just like having fun with these guys.
They bring me back to my own childhood and I like reveling in those moments.
Was there anything you learned from your parents that you use in your parenting?
From my dad I learned how to give kids responsibility and trust them with things to help them develop a sense of self-confidence and agency.
He also taught me how to support people through challenging times.
My mum showed me how important it is to think for yourself and accept life’s challenges.
She also showed me how to have conviction in what you’re doing.
These are things I try to instill in my kids every day.
What do you find to be the hardest thing about parenting?
I love personal development and I just don’t think there’s anything as close to the kind of growth that you get as a parent.
Primarily, it’s because you’re dealing with a lot of different challenges and in contexts that you probably aren’t always prepared for.
You have to be watching yourself a lot, and you can see yourself at your worst, and you can see yourself at your best, and you can see yourself in your kids…it’s just a big mirror.
I really do love what I do in the sense of coaching and helping people improve and I think the hardest thing is that you can get really addicted to the short-term changes you can make in business and career and improving yourself and getting better in that space.
You can actually get very addicted to that because the feedback loop can be pretty short.
But the return on time invested in my kids, I probably won’t really see that come to fruition until they’re about 20. That’s when I’ll see whether I invested enough time with them then.
So the hardest thing for me about parenting is to make that balance and make sure that I am doing the right kind of investing with them, i.e. emotionally, financially, and just spending enough time with them to have those strong relationships as we go.
I don’t think I always get it right. It’s the question that’s always on my mind. Am I getting it right?
If you could give people one crucial finance tip, what would that be?
You’re never going to feel comfortable taking control of and responsibility for your financial decisions until you define what your money is for.
It needs to be an expression of your values because wealth is essentially having more of what you value. And money is just the way we measure and move value.
They’re not the same thing – you need to be able to separate those two things apart.
Define wealth for yourself so that you can make financial decisions that move you closer to that state, that experience, that expression of who you are and the way you want to live.
So my one tip would be, before you dive into the spreadsheet, actually craft a vision for yourself and for your life, because you only get one life, and the job of money is to help you maximise that life!
***BREAKOUT
Fast facts
Name: Terry Condon
Age: 39
Occupation: Self-employed, director and founder of The Cashflow Co
Wife: Elise. Holistic healer extraordinaire, trauma therapist. Very holistic and spiritual.
Children: Six-year-old twins, Smith and India.
Three words to describe your family members: Smith is a happy, smiley, blur. India is a thoughtful, helpful, friend. Elise is beautiful, intelligent, and thoughtful.
Most annoying habit: (Laughs) I’ve got a lot of quirky or annoying habits. I think Elise would say forgetting to put the bins out.
Go-to karaoke song: Your Love by The Outfield, an ’80s rock song the kids and I love singing while we’re whiteboarding.
Favorite movie: The Terminal starring Tom Hanks.
Most embarrassing moment: As a kid, I rolled backward down a fishing ramp after trying to take off my wet pants. My dad still laughs about it.
Mantra: ‘Think for yourself.’ Don’t let others dictate your thoughts; you know yourself best.
Favorite quote: Lyrics from Chris Stapleton’s Starting Over – “Nobody wins afraid of losing. The hard roads are the ones worth choosing.”
Superpower you’d like to have: The ability to bestow superpowers on others.
What scares you: Regret; not living a life true to myself and squandering the greatest gift I have.
Life-changing moment: When I was seven, my mum changed drastically, prompting my lifelong question, “How and why do people change, and how can we ensure it’s for the better?”
Three people for Sunday roast (living or passed): John Wooden – The winningest coach in NCAA history; he understood how to get the best out of people. Lao Tzu – Author of Tao Te Ching; I would love to learn from his wisdom. Paul Graham – Founder of Y Combinator and writer of the essay ‘How to Do Great Work’, which I frequently revisit.
Your parenting wisdom: You have to be watching yourself a lot, and you can see yourself at your worst, and you can see yourself at your best, and you can see yourself in your kids…it’s just a big mirror.
