I was pleased to chat with Ryan on a recent flight. We had a great talk about library programming and learning opportunities. Check his stuff out!
Saratoga Springs Public Library kicked off its Financial Literacy Program with comedian and motivational speaker Colin Ryan Wednesday night.
Ryan’s show, called “A Comedian’s Guide to Money,” blends stand-up comedy, storytelling, and lots of pop culture to breathe life into the oftentimes boring subject of personal finance.
The speaker, who grew up in Ballston Spa and now lives in Vermont, has performed all over the United States and internationally with this show that explores the relationship between money and options in life for people of all ages.
Ryan advises in a manner that is inspiring, hilarious, powerful and completely practical. Wednesday’s talk didn’t include overwhelming statistics or intricate budget calculations. Rather, it focused on the human behavior of spending money, and how to change it to better build a happy life. “I help people change their relationship with money,” he said.
“Money makes a living,” Ryan began his show, “but money can go deeper than that. Money can make a life.”
“I’m most interested in money in how it relates to your happiness,” Ryan said, telling the crowd: “Your ability to manage your money directly affects your ability the have the life you want.”
Ryan spoke from personal experience, sharing that his first paid stand up comedy gig made him $10. He even showed the check.
How he’s able to still be a traveling standup comedian? “Ever since I was a kid I’ve been saving my money,” Ryan said. The lesson: “saving money is buying yourself time… time to make that dream a reality.”
After talking about dreams, budgeting was part of the presentation, yet Ryan kept it simple. “You control your spending or it controls you,” he said. He told how he was appalled at his monthly ice cream spending, and how it was an eyeopener for him.
Find Colin here: https://twitter.com/colinryanspeaks and here: http://www.colinryanspeaks.com