INTRODUCING...

Olivia Mellan

"Money makes the world go round, the world go round, it's such a happy sound", sang the host in the award-winning musical "Cabaret."  He was right.  Money does make the world go 'round, but it's not always a happy sound.  The fact that there are conflicts surrounding the making, spending, saving, getting, and investing of money shouldn't come as a surprise.  Yet, people are rarely adept at talking about money.  Friendships end over money.  Families fight over money they expect  to inherit. Couples battle over spending, and sharing money.  When it comes to money, people, whether they're well off or in debt, get confused, they get riled.  Conflicts over  money are widespread and infect individuals, families, small businesses and corporations, the home and the workplace.

    The fact that money, as much as sex and power, are causes for conflict, is obvious. So obvious that hardly anybody  has bothered to look at money issues from its most basic component-its human side.  Sure, there are experts who can advise you or tell you how where to invest your money, or explain the intricacies of real estate, investment funds, benefits, social security and Medicare to employers and employees, and there are brokers for every asset.

    But what about the psychology of money?  Olivia Mellan understood that psychology was critical in money matters long before anybody else did. Since 1982, Mellan, an author, speaker, business consultant and  psychotherapist, has been a ground breaker and pioneer in the field of money psychology, couples communication and money conflict resolution.

    Money Magazine has called her "the matriarch of a fast-growing list of couples money therapists." She has written three critically acclaimed and critical books that are practically bible sin the field: Your Money Style (Money Harmony in paperback), Overcoming Overspending, Money Shy to Money Sure (a book for women), and Advisor's Guide to Money Psychology.

    It's obvious that money conflicts exist at the personal, one on one level of couples and families, wives and husbands, men and women. That's where Mellan comes in. She writes  a regular column,  holds seminars on the psychology of financial issues and the effect of money issues on families, goes on the road to speak nationally to groups and has her own firm, "Olivia Mellan and Associates" in Washington, DC.

    And when Olivia Mellan speaks, lots of people listen, and not just her clients. She's appeared regularly on Oprah, The Today Show, 20/20, and the PBS show In The Prime. She has a regular column called "The Psychology of Advice" for Dow Jones Investment Advisor and she's written numerous articles for national magazines and professional journals. In addition, Mellan has also produced a video, called "In The Prime: Couples and Money With Olivia Mellan" based on her appearances on PBS.

    Mellan, who's also described as a money coach, combines the skills of a psychotherapist, a financial adviser, and a personal advise columnist.  Money issues, for Mellan, are as much and more about men and women and about gender, as knowing interest rates or the value of a CD.  How men and how women deal with money and each other is critical to financial and personal success.  All over the country, Mellan talks to men and women, employers and employees and groups that range from the NFL to the Junior League, the National Endowment for Financial Education to the Washington Post on plainspoken topics. She’s talked on such topics as conflict resolution, couples and money, talking to your parents about money, debunking women's seven money myths, money harmony, money psychology for financial advisors, women, money and empowerment and kids and money. In interviews and articles, she's talking about the everything from budgeting for the holidays, kids living at home and how to deal with such issues as "When you have money and your friends don't."

    When Olivia Mellan talks about money, people listen, because Mellan makes money come alive.

Honorarium Range: $5,000 to $10,000