Elite Event: Oh, Grow Up! Workshop @ Society of Grownups

I LOVED this event with Society of Grownups. It was a different kind of elite event than the others I’ve been to, in the best way possible. There was great food, an open bar — great stuff, no surprises there, hey you’re at a Unilocal event — but the content was really spectacular. Trust me, if Society of Grownups looks a little pretentious on the outside, it’s not. It is worth your time
I’ll say this: I have my financial house in order, more or less. And yet, I came away from this event with some great, actionable ideas about how to improve my credit, what to do with my savings, and what my values are. The instructor was incredibly relatable, and the whole event was interactive. This is a great idea for an event because so many of the Unilocal community are young and unsure of this kind of financial planning, or what IRA or 401K even mean. And for those of us who are older, it never hurts to have a refresher.
My favorite takeaway from the event was the deck of values cards. Each attendee was given a set of 50 or so cards that each had a different value on them — autonomy, creativity, power, security, you get the idea. You sort the deck, and somehow or other, you pick 5 that matter to you most. It took me two or three minutes, but other people spent much longer. It may sound hokey, but the values I chose really helped me take an outsider perspective on myself and my life — suddenly a lot of things about why I dislike my job, why I clash with certain people, just clicked into place.
I took the cards away and did the exercise with some friends as well, which was telling and educational. The differences between values like «autonomy» and «independence» may sound superficial and nitpicky, but to the people who value them they are real and huge. Talking these things through really helped me understand my friends and coworkers better.
It is my understanding that Society of Grownups offers 20-​minute intake sessions for free. I may return in the future — but either way, I’d love to see another Unilocal event here!

A different, but interesting Elite Event.
Society of Grownups tries to make discussions about personal finances and retirement planning less painful and a bit more enjoyable. We were invited for a free short sessions with lots of useful Q&A time, free beer and wine, and some snacks. I got there a few minutes late and most of the good was already gone, but I had a good amount of salad and plenty of beer.
The staff was very friendly and welcoming, and our financial planner Steve seemed very down to earth and well-​informed.
If this sounds like something you should do, I would definitely recommend trying out a session. I was surprised to find out that they also have lots of free open events throughout the week if you just want to ask a few questions.
Society of Grownups is an interesting venture. Thanks to Damien, Unilocal Boston, and Society for Grownups for a fun and unusually informative Event.

This was a quite the interesting Unilocal Elite event. It was a new spin on taking charge of your finances, but in a fun, informative way.
Steve was very helpful, personable, and he enjoyed engaging us with his talk on how important finances are. He went over how you can save without worrying too much about it, how you can budget, what tools are out there to help with budgeting, and asking useful questions to us all. We also did a fun exercise that helped us choose what values were more important to us… and kept narrowing down from 25 to 10, and then finally to 5.
My husband could not make it, but I’m sure he’d have found it interesting and educational as I did. The both of us are in the area where we are paying off student loans, saving up for property and wanting to travel some more. Events like these come in handy for us working professionals.
I think that I may be interested in some of the classes that are offered at SoG. Finances are a daunting task/​topic, but SoG changed that outlook for me. It also changed the way I look at finances now, and helped me possibly think of some necessary drastic measures I’d like to take with my professional outlook.
Thanks, Unilocal and SoG!

I’ve already made changes to my finances! Almost… retirement meeting today and I’ll get mint this weekend. I’m glad he had tips for aps or sites that are free, shows they do want what’s best for you, not to just make money on your money.
Fantastic and funny staff, who cover a lot of topics and have a lit if options for events (listed on their site and/​or in flyer form).
Great food and drinks, and service for the wine…
Love the whole look and feel of the place as well. Just something about it that is kid like, maybe the colors, but also adult in the set up and layout. That sounds crazy…

I hope I don’t say this too often, but this is the best Unilocal event I’ve ever been to. It was a smart, fun event that we all benefitted from. I feel honored that I was able to attend!
The past two years have been one big spending event for us: a condo, a puppy, vacations, our own wedding, and 3 friend’s weddings. And we only see more spending in the future. We both have serious student loans, and it’s hard to navigate our present and future, money wise.
Steve gave us just a taste of what we can expect from classes at Society of Grownups. We learned a lot about retirement, how to order our finances, and what values we should be aware of. We found out that our values do not align (we’re opposites, so this was no surprise), and confirmed that we should be discussing our values and finances together, often!
The snacks were delicious but certainly not the main event, and I thought that was appropriate for the class. We were able to eat but also focus on the task at hand.
My Hubby +1 wasn’t super excited for the event, but when it ended, he was ready to sign us up for more classes (Student Loans 101, we’re comin’ for ya!). He also was able to ask Steve questions afterwards. Since he’s an accountant, this was astounding to me, hah!
Would love to see more of these type of events in the future.

This was really important to go to, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but glad I went. There are so many different aspects of things finance that Steve (who works there) went through this in way that was understandable. It was good to get a taste of all the different things they offer & how so many of them are free to attend which is a bonus.
Hopefully other Unilocalers & non-​Yelpers will get in on the action. Money is nothing to fear, it’s the not knowing that really scares people since it is such a huge part of your life.
Don’t procrastinate any more. Just go & get some wonderful insight to what you should know.

This was an interesting event! They make the subject of financial planning seem super approachable to generation X/​Y. I’ve always been iffy on financial planners since I never really wanted to dish out money to learn how to save money, but Steve was an honest and knowledgeable CFP. He broke down typically convoluted subjects like insurance, retirement, and investing and gave really direct answers to any questions.
I wish this event was like 3 months ago, before I had to dig around on the internet to learn all this stuff. It was a broad but good overview, especially for peeps who aren’t sure how to budget and save for the future. They seem to have classes that cover all of these topics and the supper sessions seem like something interesting to check out in the future.
The Values cards were a nice touch. It’s easy to lose sight of things that are important to you when it comes to dollah dollah bills but this was a nice reminder.

This was such a great intro to financial planning!
Thank you for opening it up to spouses as well. My husband and I got a lot out of the class and may come back for future classes at Society of Grownups.
The financial planner that lead this workshop, Steve, was great! He was relatable and I was a skilled educator, keeping us engaged throughout the class.
The difference with Society of Grownups, (besides their lower costs) is they are NOT selling products. This leads to genuine advice that is best for your particular situation.
We were all «adults» in the class, but at different life levels. Some wanted to buy a house, some were just out of college and buried under student loans, some are thinking of retirement plans and had questions on that, some are thinking of having kids and scared on how to afford that, some already have kids.
Steve was great in answering all our questions!
The values exercise was a great one, and I was happy when my husband & I had 2 of our 5 value cards match. (Trying to get all 5 to match is a stretch, but we’re happy.)
We had a long conversation about the class over dinner post class. We found it very helpful!
Oh and a hilarious aside, I’m pretty sure the goal of the Society of Grownups class titled «Stop eating cereal for dinner» wasn’t to make you think «that’s an option I can have for dinner?!» Upping my cooking game is also on the self improvement list.
Thank you Unilocal and Society of Grownups for a wonderful, educational, night out!

I saw this event and I thought, too bad my husband isn’t elite because this would be fun to do together… and then BAM! the day before we get the option to invite our significant others, yay!
While the class was more of an overview of topics than about any one specific thing, I liked the exercises looking at values and my husband (the lesser grown-​up in this matter) said he learned a lot and he’s actually interested in coming back and taking a class. Steve was approachable and honest, admitting even that he is not perfect and has made blunders in the past. I think he also made the room feel at ease even though finances can sometimes be a sensitive subject. After the event, he even answered two more specific questions I had and didn’t feel comfortable asking to the group.
One suggestion would be use slides or some kind of whiteboard during presentations just because it can help break up a longer talk and also help with all the acronyms. The do have a projector set up so it’s possible they just didn’t use it for our session.
The space itself is very cool, open, minimalist. The food was great as was the white sangria and beer.
With the $ 5 discount coupon we were given, we are definitely going to look into coming back!

A truly cool one. Not gonna lie, I was a bit skeptical to spend a Friday night on what is typically snooze-​worthy topics but this was not only fun (I know, adulting has never equaled fun times) but it helped me figure out how to start tackling some pretty intense and complex topics. Let’s start with the space first. The ambiance is rad and makes you feel like you’re in a calming café/​wine bar and the cocktails set the tone for a stellar night to grow up a bit. A lot of detail has gone into the aesthetics with soothing colors, rustic, and slightly chic furnishings and a mellow vibe. Steve, the certified financial planner, did a great job of presenting the offerings at a high level that related to everyone and like the reviews I had scoured before the event indicated, ZERO selling, which (total reverse psychology) enticed me to sign up for classes and a 90-​minute meeting with a planner to become better at being a big-​kid semiiii grownup. The format was excellent in that Steve addressed everyone’s questions and set clear expectations around what topics varied depending on personal situations and fostered a safe and welcoming environment that helped people feel comfortable sharing and asking questions. It was also fantastic that he shared his personal situations, growth, mistakes and creative solutions with the group which quickly connected everyone around subjects that can be quite stressful and overwhelming. I’m eager and excited (what?! I know, I’m shocked too) to learn more about the themes discussed.

One thing that has always intimidated me a bit about going to a financial planner is not just the cost of one, but is the idea that whatever information I will be receiving will be in promotion of some background product, and not what is actually the best advice for my situation. I liked the time we spent on our values, I liked and trusted Steve, our instructor, and I thought he gave really useful general information considering how many of us are at different points in our financial lives. I was thrilled to be part of this session and grateful that it was opened up to spouses, too, so that my partner and I could both be operating on the same level of info. Looking forward to investigating some of the SoG courses and promoting it to my pals who are in similar boats!

+Loved the space! Very modern and hip. (And steps away from the green line – yay!)
+Tasty catered eats (anyone know where it was from???)
+SoG staff were warm & friendly
+Learned many new tidbits of financial info that I will definitely share with friends
+Certified financial planner Steve guiding us through a custom intro to being a grownup class – he was totally relatable and great at addressing as many questions as possible!
+SoG swag (that «poppin» pen writes like a dream)
–The class felt slightly scattered/​rushed because of the many specific questions that popped up throughout Steve’s overview presentation
–Tip for SoG: I thought a whiteboard might have been helpful for addressing some questions (not to rely on for the whole class, but for things like illustrating the difference between retirement plans. I got a bit lost with just the verbal explanations)
I will definitely be back to check out one of the number of free events (and possibly another more in-​depth class!)

At my college days @ Northeastern I choose Finance for one of my majors but I ended up going into the non-​profit sector. I will be the first to admit that I am not the best at saving money but I am real good at spending it. So this event really piqued my interest.
We were greated by our ever charming CM, Damien greated us with his bright smile & then after filling out our nametags we were treated to a gorgeous open space set up like a classroom. My eyes darted all over the place while trying to take in all the elements of the room. After getting sorted out at the kids table & putting our bags down we were treated to some pre-​class edibles & adult beverages. The white wine sangria was quiet yummy & the bartender, Darryl, was quite friendly.
Our presenter, Steve, was incredibly informantive & broke down every question we had for him without missing a beat. He used examples from his own life to put things into context & make them feel real. I enjoyed the conversation we had with him before the session even start & he made us feel like he was genuine plus wasn’t there to sell us something.
After buying a condo & planning for a wedding, financial planning is a must for us. The folks at S-​G seem to put the scary world of finance in a way everyone can understand. We are planning to return for one of their supper nights which are catered by The Fireplace & hopfully gain more confindence in our financial future.
Great event all around & this is an aspect of Unilocal!which was fun & informative. Love it, love it love it!!!

Awesome event! Society of Grownups approaches «yawn» issues like financial planning in a way that is digestible – okay, even fun! – for younger generations.
Our Financial Planner Steve was awesome, leading us through the basics of things young adults should be thinking about – credit scores, retirement savings, and emergency funds – in a way that was relatable and informative. The class was a mixture of presentation and audience participation, and kept a good pace with plenty of room for questions.
Society for Grownups provided a lovely spread, and learning about financial matters sure is a lot less scary when you’re sipping on a generous glass of wine.
Will definitely be checking out more events here – this was more of a big picture overview, but they have a comprehensive schedule of classes focused on specific topics and life changes.