Becoming a Second Saturday Leader | Divorce Planning | Prepare for Divorce | Divorce Support Group | Divorce Financial Strategies | Divorce Options

1. The Second Saturday Divorce Workshop Story

Hi I'm Elizabeth Bryan-Jacobs. I'm an artist and author. I'm also very privileged to be the outreach coordinator for Second Saturday divorce workshops a nationally recognized program that helps women and some men navigate what could be the most challenging loneliest time in their entire lives.

I'm a firm believer in that there are no accidents and in 2011 my own post-divorce journey led me straight to the doorstep of Candace Bahr — advocate, wealth manager, and along with Ginita Wall, the co-founder of the Women's Institute for Financial Education, WIFE.org, the nation's longest-running nonprofit devoted to female financial literacy.

Candace and her co-founder Ginita had blown me away by the work they'd been doing for 30 years on behalf of helping women. I let them know in no small terms that they were never getting rid of me. As a volunteer for WIFE.org, I made it my personal mission to raise even more awareness for Candace and Ginita and began volunteering at Second Saturday workshops, sharing my story and reaping the benefits of knowing I was helping even one woman overcome her challenge.

I began to fully understand that reaching out instead of caving in was the fastest track to healing my own life. In 2013 Karen Edwards came into our lives. An incredible woman whose own challenging divorce story had propelled her into advocacy. Karen donated money to the Women's Institute to help us roll Second Saturday out nationally. We can't thank her enough.

2. What is Second Saturday?

Second Saturday is a critically acclaimed divorce workshop. It is tried, true and trusted. It was founded in 1989 by national advocates and wealth managers Candace Bahr and Ginita Wall. The workshop offers critical unbiased and compassionate legal, financial and emotional information to women and some men in any stage of untying the knot. Candace and Ginita also founded WIFE.org, the nation's longest-running nonprofit devoted to female financial literacy.

Since 1989 Second Saturday has raised over three hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the San Diego community and has helped over 10,000 women. For their advocacy, Candace and Ginita have been honored as national KPBS heroes and honored as part of National Women's History Month.

The most important thing Second Saturday attendees understand is that they are not alone and they're part of a big community of women and men who are all supporting one another in going through this huge life challenge. They're in front of fully vetted professionals who they might not even ever know or in some cases be able to afford to meet with professionally.

In one short morning, Second Saturday attendees go from heartache to hope. In 2013 we were fortunate enough to receive a donation from Karen Edwards, a woman who had gone through her own huge divorce challenge. Karen's passion and generosity allowed us to roll Second Saturday out nationally and create a turn-key marketing program that would help women and men across the country.

3. Deliverables

Second Saturday is tried true and trusted with a 30-year track record of success. When you become part of our community what you sign on for is something that has successfully helped attendees and professionals for over a quarter of a century.

Leaders are granted access to our Second Saturday portal which contains everything from template flyers to template press releases. sign-up sheets, evaluation forms and tip sheets. You also get access to our Best-Practices calls which cover everything from filling the seats in your workshop to leveraging the halo effect of WIFE.org. You have access to national logos from virtually every big women's publication, all for your use. Most importantly you're part of a community of like-minded high integrity professionals who are all committed to helping one another.

As leaders. you are in front of people who need your help right there in the trenches and potentially going forward. Last but not least, there is the halo effect. Your association with WIFE.org and Second Saturday changes the perception of who you are to the attendees, to the media, and to the community. Second Saturday is a national legacy that was started over a quarter-century ago.

As leaders, you have our commitment to your success for the legacy to continue. Second Saturday is a win-win for everyone.

4. Leader Eligibility

Our commitment to continuing the Second Saturday legacy ensures that only the highest integrity individuals can participate in our network. That includes confirming that leaders are in good standing in their personal and professional lives and that they are genuinely and authentically passionate about helping others.

Many of our leaders do incredible nonprofit work in all aspects of their community, have a focus on credentials in divorce, and are committed to helping and serving the women's market. Our community is a virtual brain trust of compassionate high-end individuals who are committed to making a difference and understand that when they do so, their lives unfold in really remarkable ways.

5. How Second Saturday Areas are Determined

Our five-hundred workshop goal ensures that there will be a Second Saturday within driving distance of every individual in this country who needs our help. Decades of experience in knowing what works helps us help you create the most successful Area possible. As our goal is to help as many individuals as possible, each Area is made up of low medium and high-income individuals.

Depending on the Area, the numbers can range anywhere from 350,000 to 600,000 male/female population. Our zip code program also allows us to see valuable demographic information which we will share with you. Areas must be contiguous, meaning no donut holes. In many cases, we can massage them — if the Area around you is available. In some circumstances, we have to share with you what's left in terms of availability.

In terms of advertising your only limitation in terms of your Area is that you can't place consumer-facing materials outside of your Area. You can have speakers from other Areas. You can do internet marketing in other Areas, and we know and embrace the fact that people are going to come from different Areas to your workshop.

We are a collaborative organization. To that end, we encourage all leaders — side by side or further apart — to work together to help gain national recognition for Second Saturday. We believe in the power of teamwork.

6. Compliance

We have Second Saturday leaders from some of the biggest investment broker-dealers across the nation, and we are so proud to say that we have not had one issue with any compliance departments. That's because the financial portion of our presentation is so innocuous — it is simply titled "The 12 financial pitfalls of divorce." It's basic, common sense information that has nothing to do with buying or selling. There is no mention of products. All of that is completely forbidden within the structure of our program. The pitfalls include topics like "mixing emotions with money," "overlooking assets," and "not fighting for what's yours."

Second Saturday attendees are in deep crisis. It's our job and our mission to provide them with the most compassionate unbiased information that they need to move forward and have hope for a better future.

We are more than happy to provide all Second Saturday leaders with a transcript and a copy of the 12 Financial Pitfalls of Divorce to present to their compliance departments. We can also make introductions to you to other leaders from investment broker-dealers who may be with the same wirehouse as you, or different ones. Our goal is to always help each other in helping the community.

For the sake of efficiency, many of our leaders opt to run second Saturday as an outside business. For any other questions feel free to contact us at SecondSaturday.com.

7. How Do I become involved and what are the fees involved?

To potentially become a second Saturday leader the first step is our understanding of who you are, ensuring that we are right for you and that you're right for us. Next, we work with you in determining an Area, a process based in our 30 years of experience in knowing what can work geographically.

With a goal of reaching everyone in the nation who needs help, we've kept the fees attached to Second Saturday as reasonable as possible to make Second Saturday accessible to you, self-sustaining for us, and most importantly accessible for the attendees who need our help. For more information visit SecondSaturday.com. Fill out a contact form and we'll be back to you as soon as possible. With all the information that you need.