Money Talks is expanding

Announcing a Sunday column with Advance Ohio, parent company of cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.

Don’t worry. I’m not going to do what everyone thinks I’m going to do. | Photo by Steve DiMatteo on Unsplash

When the contract arrived, I couldn’t wait to share the news with Parker.

“What’s a contract?” she asked.

A document I clearly hadn’t thought to discuss previously in our money talks.

But after picking her up from school on a sunny final Thursday in April, I promptly and proudly sat with Parker on the living room couch to explain.

We have entered into an agreement with Advance Ohio to run “Money Talks” as a weekly, Sunday column in The Plain Dealer and online at cleveland.com.

A contract, I explained to Parker, outlined the rules of the agreement. It was important, I told her, that we make sure we agree with the language within the contract so we don’t sign over our company.

“They’re not taking all of it, right?,” she asked. “Just a little, like a share?”

My little girl is a quick study.

Our first “Money Talks” column is scheduled to appear in next Sunday’s print editions of The Plain Dealer and online at cleveland.com during the week.

To give Parker a better sense of the scope of our new audience, I Googled the top 100 newspapers by circulation. The list had The Plain Dealer ranked 19th. Parker immediately pointed to the top spot: USA Today.

“We should call them,” she said.

The kid is full of bright ideas.

But we are ecstatic for the opportunity to expand our territory and bring “Money Talks” to a wider community of readers throughout Northeast Ohio. Our hope from the start has been that others will relate to our story and feel inspired to improve their family’s financial picture as well. This partnership goes a long way toward helping us tap into more hearts and minds.

Parker was surprised to learn my first job out of college was in Akron, Ohio. I started as an intern and only spent a year there as a full-time employee. But my time there helped raise me, as a man and a journalist. I’m eager to reconnect with the region 20 years later.

Roughly a dozen other media groups fall under the Advance Local umbrella, with publications spread across the country, from New York to Oregon, Alabama to Massachusetts and beyond. Our series will at times be used in those sister publications, further expanding our reach.

This would not have been possible without longtime friend and mentor Justice B. Hill, a sensational scribe, gleeful globetrotter, history and baseball buff and all-around good guy. I met Justice in my formative years in Akron, in the Cleveland Guardians’ press box. He’s been instrumental in every step of my career since. In a wonderfully written column he penned about “Money Talks” at cleveland.com, Justice put our project on the radar. He believed in us so much he stuck his neck out to pitch our series. Thank you, Justice.

I want Parker to use this as a lesson she never forgets. We went public with “Money Talks” on the final day of January. By mid-March, we had entered into negotiations to monetize our work. That wasn’t my goal. But by thinking creatively, following my heart and tapping into skills I’ve developed all my professional life, we multiplied our income.

Sike! …… CLEVELAND!!! THIS IS FOR YOU!!! | Photo by Parker Mayberry

The contract did contain a few clauses that needed revision before signing. I used them as an early lesson to prepare Parker for the business world. My hope is this was the first of many contracts Parker will need to pore over. To make our reading of the revised version more fun, I broke out peanuts. We had fun cracking them open and scarfing them down between all the legalese.

With this opportunity comes significant personal benefits, both for me and Parker, which I will detail next week. In short, it’s a game-changer, a major pipeline toward Parker’s financial independence.

Parker still might not completely understand the magnitude of this milestone we’ve achieved. Allow me to make it clear now what else she should learn from this moment.

Always believe in yourself, and always listen to your creative voice. Follow your passion, and start companies that you feel strongly about and that add as much value to people as possible.

And always, always, make sure the contract you sign gives up only a slice of what you’ve built, never the whole pie.