A Thrivent client is investing in her family, business and community.
Terri Noah lives her life with intention—in her business, in raising her 17-year-old son Spencer, in her faith and in lending a hand in her community.
Noah, of White House, Tennessee, spent more than 20 years working in healthcare, including radiology, urgent care and occupational medicine. Then she was laid off.
While figuring out the next steps, Noah took a job at a recruiting company. This eventually led her to launch a recruiting and staffing agency driven to meet the needs of employers while pairing people with purpose.
Noah recalls the first lean years of getting started. It was about four years in that she realized the company was making enough for her to start thinking about retirement planning.
She reached out to Bobby Blackburn, a Thrivent financial advisor, for guidance. Their sons played football together, and their families were friends. Blackburn and Noah worked together on a retirement strategy for her and the business, and she purchased life insurance for Spencer.
“This helped me to start investing in myself and not just my company,” Noah says. “And working with Thrivent has helped us also be intentional about investing in our community, those who live and work here.”
Read on for more of Noah’s thoughts about financial clarity and living a life of meaning and gratitude.
What’s your first memory of money?
Not having any. My father had a good job but was a poor money manager. My mother stayed home and is an exceptional money manager.
What impact did your early money memory make?
I started working at 14 and always had a job. I would save a little, but I always bought clothes. I struggled as a young adult, but I soon realized I had to shift my mindset. I didn’t get good financial guidance; I had to learn on my own. We have to teach kids how to save, how to shop, how to manage money. Those years of struggling made me appreciate where I am now.
What does it mean to thrive with purpose?
It’s being intentional in my daily walk—spiritually, financially, physically, mentally, and in relationships. It’s being intentional about establishing the time to nurture each of those areas.
How do you live a life of meaning?
Through worshipping the Lord and recognizing that everything that comes to us and everything we go through is filtered through his hands. We’re never forgotten, never abandoned, especially in the valleys. It’s recognizing that he wants us to be stewards of what he gives us.
What are your guiding principles around money decisions?
When I get paid each week, I give, I save and then I spend. And when I spend, it’s always bills first before pleasures. But the give and save always come before the spend. I haven’t always done it that way, but I’ve learned it works so much better when I do.
What’s your favorite volunteer activity?
I love charity golf tournaments, and especially one for Hope Ministries, an organization that helps people dealing with substance abuse. During the tournament, we get to interact with and hear testimonies from people who have beaten addiction and how it’s impacted their families. If we can help even just one person recover, the impact is huge for the family.
What’s one of your favorite Thrivent Action Teams?
I wanted an event Spencer would feel compelled to be a part of, so we collected new athletic shoes for Samaritan’s Feet. Our goal was 76 pairs—Spencer’s high school football jersey number. The community came alongside us, donating more than half of our goal. The shoes were for adults and kids, and in all sizes, but Spencer intentionally purchased larger sizes. He is 6’4” and he wanted to make sure we were getting sizes 12, 13 and 14 so someone his size would get shoes.
How do you demonstrate gratitude?
My path has been hard in a lot of ways, but I’ve also been blessed in so many ways. I’ve been entrusted with so much and am so thankful that I want to give to others, to give a hand up. What I pay forward to you, I hope you will want to pay forward to someone else when you can.
