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HOCKEY MAMA MONEY CLUB
Episode 4: "You Are Not Starting From Zero"
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Welcome back to Hockey Mama Money Club. I'm Tamsen.
If you're coming in from Episode 3, you heard me paint a picture
of what's possible — the Saturday where the money side is handled
and you are just there, fully watching your kid do what they love,
what brings them joy. And maybe you listened to that and thought,
okay, I'd like that, but I don't even know where to begin.
That's exactly where I want to start today.
Because here's the thing I see happen over and over again with
hockey moms who decide they want to change their financial picture.
They approach it like they're starting from scratch. Like they
have nothing yet. Like they need to go build something from the
ground up before any of this gets better.
And that belief — that starting-from-ground-zero belief — is the
first thing we need to dismantle.
Because it is not true. Not even a little bit.
You are not starting from zero.
You have never been starting from zero.
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WHAT YOU ACTUALLY HAVE
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Let me tell you what you actually have.
You have been running a complex operation — probably for years.
The logistics of a competitive travel hockey family, or any hockey
family, would make most people's heads spin. The scheduling. The
bookings. The equipment management. The budget juggling. The
communication with coaches and team managers and other families.
You do this on top of everything else in your life. On top of a
job, a home, other kids — potentially pets, potentially yourself —
who we already established is last on the list, but that's for
a different episode.
You do all of this. And you've gotten good at it. Probably very
good at it.
That is not nothing. That is a substantial body of skill, expertise,
and hard-won knowledge. Hard-earned knowledge. And most of it, you
have been giving away for free.
Now, I'm not just talking about the logistical skills — the booking
and the scheduling and the tracking. I'm talking about everything
you know. Everything you've figured out. Every problem, across all
the areas of your life, that you've solved that other hockey
families are still struggling with.
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THE "I FIGURED THIS OUT" TEST
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Here's the test I want you to apply. I call it the "I Figured
This Out" test. And it's simple.
What have you figured out — about hockey, about life, about your
job, your career, your home, your kids — that other hockey
families around you haven't?
Think about that. Just sit with it for a moment. Because I promise
you there is something. Maybe more than one something.
Maybe you figured out how to track hockey expenses in a way that
actually works. So at the end of the season you know exactly what
it cost — down to the Chipotle stop on the way home from the
tournament.
Maybe you figured out the gear cycle. When to buy. When to wait.
When the resale market is worth it and when it isn't. This is
actually something my husband Chris has completely figured out,
and you will hear from him in an episode — I promise — because
the man is the king of flipping things on Facebook Marketplace.
He loves it. It brings him genuine joy. He has figured out tricks
that I will never know.
Because here is the thing — and I will go out on a limb on this —
you could never pay me enough money to flip things on Facebook
Marketplace. You couldn't do it. It would have to be in the
millions. And even then it would come with the condition that I
don't actually have to make money from it, because I would fail,
I would be miserable, and it would not be a good experience for
anyone involved.
And that's the point. Chris's genius on Facebook Marketplace is
not my genius. And that's perfectly fine. Know your lane.
Maybe you've gotten really good at booking travel for tournaments.
Finding the hotel blocks. Knowing which apps to use, how to stack
points, how to make sure you're not stuck in a hotel 45 minutes
from the rink.
Maybe you're the mom who knows how to read the team budget. Or
run a team fundraiser that people actually participate in. Or
communicate with 15 different families without losing your mind.
Maybe you know how to keep your kid mentally in the game when the
season gets hard. Or how to talk to a coach when something isn't
playing out the way it should. Or how to help your player manage
the pressure of tryout season without it becoming a household
crisis.
Maybe you know how to keep younger siblings occupied at the rink
in a way that is fun and manageable for everyone.
Whatever it is — and I'm guessing it's more than one thing —
that knowledge has value. Real, transferable, somebody-would-pay-
for-that value.
The gap is not that you have nothing.
The gap is that nobody has helped you see what you have.
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THE MOM FRAMEWORK
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I want to introduce you to a framework I use — I call it the MOM
framework. Master Organizing Manager.
We are going to come back to this many times throughout this
podcast, because it applies to practically everything we're going
to talk about. Especially as hockey moms.
Here's what I want you to hear about MOM right now, before we go
anywhere else.
You are already a Master Organizing Manager. You have been one
for as long as you've been a hockey mom. It has been hiding in
plain sight. It is built in, baked in, travels with the label
of hockey mom.
You are managing people, logistics, finances, communication,
scheduling, and crisis response — simultaneously — sometimes
on very few hours of sleep, with a lukewarm beverage in hand.
And speaking of lukewarm beverages — we're going to say beverages,
not coffee, because I don't drink coffee anymore. This happened
after I went to Italy by myself in November 2025. I joined my
aunt and uncle in Florence — they are in every definition of
the word more parents to me than my biological parents — and the
coffee there was so extraordinary that when I came home I couldn't
drink American coffee anymore. I was done. I have had exactly two
cappuccinos since I returned, both from non-chain shops with legit
espresso, both the perfect six ounces, both whole milk. Because
that is how cappuccino is done.
What I drink now is chocolate salt water with creatine and collagen.
If you see me at a rink with a beverage container, there is a 99%
chance it is that. So: lukewarm beverages. We're drawing a line
on the ice. As a figure skater, I can tell you that my heel blade
could scratch up that ice very efficiently.
Okay. Back to you being a Master Organizing Manager.
The C-suite of most companies would be genuinely lucky to have
you. I mean that. If you pulled up a notes app right now and just
talked through your average week — everything you manage, every
decision you make, every problem you solve — and then asked an
AI tool to turn it into a LinkedIn profile, you would be stunned
at what it says about you.
In fact, try this. Open ChatGPT — it can be free — or Claude AI,
which I use a lot in my business. Just tell it what you did this
week. If you can't remember, have it interview you. Ask it
questions. And then say: could you please turn this into a
LinkedIn profile?
Now, fair warning — ChatGPT can be a bit of a yes-man. I have
had to put a lot of rules in place for when I'm doing real work
and I need honest feedback. But there are times when you want
someone to tell you that you're a genius. This is one of those
times. Let it tell you. Because what you do is extraordinary.
You've just been doing it so long, and doing it so well, that
to you it feels like Tuesday.
When we talk about building income — and we're going to talk
about it from a lot of different angles — I do not want you
to approach it like a beginner. Yes, you may be learning
something new. And you have decades of experience underneath
you to support that learning.
Approach it like what you are: a highly capable, deeply
experienced operator who is now turning some of that capacity
toward something that pays her. And pays her well.
What you do is of high service and worthy of real compensation.
That is not ground zero. That is not even close to zero.
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THE EXPERTISE INVENTORY
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Now let me make this practical. Because I don't want this to be
abstract. I want you to actually do this.
Before the next episode, I want you to take some time — in the
car, on a walk, on the treadmill, dictating into your phone,
wherever you function best — and answer three questions. Check
the show notes because I'll include a link with additional
prompts and resources to make this even easier.
But here are the three questions.
Question one: What do you know how to do that took you time
and experience to learn? Don't filter for whether it seems
impressive. Just list it. Everything — from hockey, from your
career, from raising your family, from just being alive and
figuring things out.
Question two: What problems — what friction — have you solved
that other families around you are still struggling with? This
is your "I figured this out" list. What do people ask you for
help with? What do you find yourself explaining to someone
who's a few steps behind you? What do you know that you wish
someone had told you earlier?
Question three: What do you do — for your hockey family, your
team, your club, your association — that you have never once
been paid for, but that clearly has value?
That's your starting inventory. That's what we're working with.
And I promise you, when you sit down and actually do this —
whether you write it, walk it out, talk it into an AI tool —
you will surprise yourself. Because you are sitting on top of
a lot. We have things to work with.
Check the show notes. There will be resources there.
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WHAT'S NEXT
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Next episode, we're going to talk about something I believe at
the core of who I am is one of the most important foundational
pieces for everything we're building here. And it might surprise
you, because it's not about making more money.
It's about getting really clear on what gets a yes and what
doesn't. Because if you don't have that clarity, you'll build
something new and then give all of your energy away to things
that don't serve you or your family — and end up with no
capacity left for the thing you actually want to build.
Episode 5 is one of my personal favorites. I have some very
funny stories to share when we get there.
It's called "Everything Is a No Until It Earns a Yes."
And it might be the most important episode I record all season.
I'll see you there.
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Fund the game. Do it together. Enjoy all of it.
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