“Our goal is to help individuals understand their personal finances and to have the education and level of understanding to make good decisions on which products are appropriate for them.”

This is Taylor Sparks of the Raleigh-Durham MO.com, where we feature small business owners and entrepreneurs to bring you, hints, tips, insights, and perspectives on what it takes to be successful. Joining us today is Shay Prosser who in 2007 co-founded Get It Together Workshops with Hallie Hawkins. Shay and Hallie also co-authored Get it together, The Real World Money Guide for Graduates and How to Get Your Credit Together Today Workbook. Shay, thank you for taking the time to speak with MO.com.

MO:
You and Hallie became partners in 2007, what prompted you to start a business together?

Shay:
Well Hallie and I first started talking about the business in 2007 when we saw the financial world start to go through turmoil. Now that it is 2011 it’s kind of scary how long this has gone on. We really started working on the business in 2009.  That’s when I left the brokerage house that I was with and started pursuing this in earnest. The conversation started with the fact that with the world in turmoil and the financial market having so many problems, that the average American was not really educated on their financial world.  There is a lot of difference reasons for that, both systematic and individuals not taking an interest until maybe it’s too late or they have a problem.  There are certain people that just have an interest in it.  We think that taking an active role in your financial and legal life is a really great way to become a responsible person as well as have really good choices in your life.  As the turmoil continued we saw a really good business opportunity.

MO:
What exactly does Get it Together do for an individual or company?