Campbell, Chellie

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Campbell, Chellie

PERSONAL:

Education: University of California—Santa Barbara, B.A.

ADDRESSES:

CAREER:

During early career, worked eight years as a professional actress; Cameren Diversified Management, Inc. (bookkeeping service company), Pacific Palisades, CA, staff member, 1984-88, owner and manager, 1988-95; entrepreneur and public speaker, 1995—; Entrepreneurial Institute, University of Alaska at Sitka, cofounder, 1994—; creator and presenter of Financial Stress Reduction Workshops; has also worked as an actress.

MEMBER:

National Association of Women Business Owners (past president of Los Angeles chapter).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Los Angeles District SBA Women in Business Advocate Award, 1994; Rotarian of the Year citation, Pacific Palisades Rotary Club; Member of the Year citation, Women's Referral Service.

WRITINGS:

The Wealthy Spirit: Daily Affirmations for Financial Stress Reduction, Sourcebooks (Naperville, IL), 2002.

Zero to Zillionaire: 8 Foolproof Steps to Financial Peace of Mind, Sourcebooks (Naperville, IL), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

In The Wealthy Spirit: Daily Affirmations for Financial Stress Reduction and Zero to Zillionaire: 8 Foolproof Steps to Financial Peace of Mind, motivational speaker and business entrepreneur Chellie Campbell explains how individuals can change their lives by changing their attitudes about money. As the creator and presenter of the Financial Stress Reduction Workshops which provides programs throughout the country, the former musical comedy actress and public speaker demonstrates that wealth and happiness are not antithetical and that people can and should pursue a balance between the two in their lives.

In The Wealthy Spirit, Campbell suggests that true wealth is not found through either seeking to acquire huge amounts of money or through rejecting money altogether. Instead, people should seek spirituality and materialism and try to find peace of mind through a Buddha-like "middle path." Campbell's basic premise in both books is that the way we express ourselves affects what happens to us. In other words, a bad attitude leads to bad results, while a good attitude brings good results. Poverty is not just expressed in a lack of money; instead, poverty is a lack of a sense of richness in life.

But attitude is only one part of the battle. Campbell emphasizes that active participation in the money world (keeping track of one's funds, saving money for a rainy day, spending purposefully and joyfully when necessary) is also part of achieving a wealthy life. In addition, the type of person one chooses to associate with—friendly and upbeat versus predatory and depressed—has an effect on one's ability to live a wealthy, healthy life. One must also recognize that upsets, both financial and emotional, are inevitable but will eventually pass, and they help one achieve a perspective that makes the border between material and spiritual success clear. Finally, seeking happiness for its own sake, rather than through the accumulation of material goods, is an important factor in living a wealthy life.

Zero to Zillionaire asserts that spiritual and material riches await those who are willing to look for them. Campbell states that seeking spiritual and economic balance is not only healthy, it is also morally imperative. According to Barbara Jacobs, who reviewed Zero to Zillionaire for Booklist, the author promotes an old saying drawn from the Jewish Talmud: "A person will be called upon to account, on Judgment Day, for all permitted pleasures he might have enjoyed but did not." By changing one's attitude toward money, an individual can begin to recognize new opportunities in time to take advantage of them, and can—in many ways—turn his or her life around.