 |
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
|
|
About Ellie Kay
Ellie meets her audiences—mainstream Americans who earn between $40,000 and $100,000 annually—right where they are financially. She teaches them sound money habits that are do-able and will stretch their dollars for the lifestyle of their dreams. Her latest title, Living Rich for Less (Waterbook/Random House, January 2009), sets forth her 10/10/80™ Rule?give away 10 percent of your income, save 10 percent, and spend the last 80 percent wisely?with hundreds of Cha-Ching Factor™ tips that show readers how to keep and put more than $30,000 in their pockets in just one year. Married for 22 years to Bob Kay—a former Stealth fighter pilot who is now a test pilot for a military contractor—and proud mom of a son at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Ellie especially understands the financial circumstances of military families. One of her bestselling paperback and audio books, Heroes at Home, has been distributed to military families around the world under a presidential initiative and was a Audiofile’s Book of the Year finalist. A columnist for Military Money and Military Spouse, Ellie also regularly contributes financial know-how to Operation Homefront’s website. In 1998 she received the Army’s highest civilian medal, the Dr. Mary E. Walker Award, for outstanding dedication to improving the quality of life for soldiers and their families. Frequently sought out by journalists, Ellie has appeared on or in hundreds of media outlets, including The New York Times, USA Today, CNBC, CNN, Fox, NPR, Redbook, Women's Day, Family Circle, Reader's Digest, and Parenting Magazine. Ellie is also the consumer finance educator for Wal-Mart, showing shoppers how to make the most of every dollar, as well as for two of America’s leading brands, Procter & Gamble’s Dawn dishwashing detergent and Bounty paper towels. Previous corporate clients include Washington Mutual, Visa Providian, Entertainment.com, GMAC, OnStar, MasterCard, and EhealthInsurance.com. Education and Awards
|
||||||||||
Author of a dozen books, popular speaker, corporate educator and spokesperson, and mother of seven, Ellie Kay has walked her own financial talk and knows what it’s like to be strapped for cash and struggling. Within two and a half years, she went from being a new wife and stepmom to two children with $40,000 in consumer debt to being completely debt free—all on one military income! Within 15 years and while adding five more children to the family, Ellie and her husband were able to pay cash for their cars, buy and furnish two five-bedroom homes (one after selling the other), take wonderful vacations, dress fashionably, build a nest egg for retirement, send the kids to college loan-free, and give away more than $100,000 to nonprofit organizations around the world. 
A popular and engaging speaker, Ellie has pinch-hit for two first ladies, one year replacing Barbara Bush at the Non Commissioned Officers Association’s annual “Military Spouse of the Year” gathering and another time substituting for Laura Bush at the National Guard Association’s Annual Convention. From the American Embassy in China to MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) International Convention, she has keynoted or led hundreds of events and financial seminars. On November 15, 2008 in San Diego, she will kick off a new nationwide seminar series entitled “The Smart Woman’s Lifestyle Conference” targeted at women ages 25 to 55.