Picture this: you’re in a crowded grocery store, a cart full of groceries on the conveyor belt, and you go to pay with your debit card. Declined. You laugh it off and swipe a credit card. Declined. Another credit card—declined. With no cash in your wallet and no working cards, you realize you can’t pay your bill. You apologize to the cashier and leave the store empty-handed.
That exact scenario happened to Chris “Peach” Petrie and his wife Andrea back in 2011. Living paycheck to paycheck, they found themselves deep in debt and feeling overwhelmed. They knew they never wanted to feel that way again, and they immediately made a plan. By cutting extraneous expenses, building a budget and even working side jobs to pay the bills, they paid off $52,000 in just seven months.
Now, Chris Peach is sharing that experience with Arizonans who have found themselves in a similar situation. “A lot of friends and family saw what we had done and asked us how,” says Peach. “Within a year we were hosting in-person classes on financial topics. In March 2015, Money Peach was created.”
Growing Money Peach certainly wasn’t easy. “I like to call it an overnight success three years in the making,” says Peach of the years of late nights, early mornings, busy weekends and nonstop effort he put in to grow his brand. “My biggest piece of advice is, don’t be afraid to create your own path.”
What started off as a personal blog is now a comprehensive online resource for people looking for guidance on paying off debt, building a budget that works for their lifestyle, and saving and spending wisely. Money Peach offers high-quality content, including blog posts, podcast episodes, online self-paced courses and live coaching. Despite that growth, Money Peach is true to its initial goal: “Show people how they can reach financial freedom through budgeting, saving and paying off debt.”
In 2020, Money Peach partnered with OneAZ to provide free webinars to members across the state. The partnership was a natural fit, as Chris and Andrea became OneAZ members at the start of their own path to financial freedom. “If you think about my journey with OneAZ, it started because I was building a financial foundation for our family and I didn’t want to do it alongside a big national bank,” says Peach, who loves that OneAZ emphasizes supporting the local community. “Now fast forward to 2020, it’s amazing how fortunate I am to become a OneAZ partner, where together we get to help educate our members on financial stability.”
To learn more about OneAZ’s partnership with Money Peach, click here.
Interested in working with OneAZ to support your own business? Our team of business banking experts is standing by to help you reach your financial goals!
