WHO IS CANDICE?
I am a poet, author, and financial planner – a crazy quilt of passions and profession that’s still evolving. As a child, I learned early the raw power of money and the havoc it could wreak on a family, but I also saw money as a route to independence. When I was 10, I began working for my father, who owned a butcher shop and saw how my gifts for math and business could be helpful in life. After graduating from Michigan State University, I began a career at a large regional financial services company.
I chose my career because I wanted to change the patterns revolving around finances l'd witnessed as a child. I learned how to manage money to build security for my family and help others do the same. For two decades, financial advising has been my passion and I cherish working with my clients, helping them accomplish their life goals, personal and financial.
Then came Covid, which disrupted work and turned my home life upside down. I began to write poetry, every day. Writing these poems became a way of connecting with colleagues and friends and opened new perspectives for me. I’ve always been a searcher, but the time of the pandemic unleashed a wave of emotions and ideas that created new ways of seeing the world.
I love inventing and telling stories to my two young daughters and playing poker in tournaments. l am most at peace when l am in nature or listening to all kinds of music. My husband, daughters and I live in a Detroit suburb.
My Inspiration
“How we see will determine who we will be.”
In the spring of 2020, my life – and yours, too, no doubt – came to a strange halt. A pandemic had seized hold, creating fear, new patterns, and time for reflection. My life was still busy, crowded with career and family, but it was also very different from anything I had experienced: there were abrupt pauses, a background of stillness. I began to write, first about close friends and family, then about deeper contradictions and questions. Poetry became a way to connect with people I could see only on video screens or photographs.
Writing verse has become a way for me to share my inner thoughts, reflections, and perspective on some of life’s curves and sharp twists. Because I am a problem-solver by nature and profession, I’ve learned how changing the lens can, instantly, create a new field of vision. A different perspective can lead to a very different understanding or even a decision. It’s a powerful tool, the handle that pushes open a window.
I am inspired when I see people sharing their unique gifts, expressing vulnerability, and reaching for new heights. When I sense that authenticity, I respond by trying to dig more deeply on my own. There is a kind of magic in the process. We are each the artist of our own life, possessing the ability to choose what we create. My hope is that this small volume in someway inspires you.
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FUN FACTS
ABOUT ME
- I write in the middle of the night.
- I giggle after I read a poem, I love just having a creative way to express a concept.
- I like to make up improv songs and stories with my two girls.
- I love art and how there are so many ways that people can express themselves.
- I love to dance. (not very good but love it)
