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[00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:05.920] Emochi Moment from Sadie, who writes, I'm not crying, you're crying.
[00:00:05.920 --> 00:00:13.120] This is what I said during my first appointment with my physician at Mochi, because I didn't have to convince him I needed a GLP-1.
[00:00:13.120 --> 00:00:16.320] He understood, and I felt supported, not judged.
[00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:19.120] I came for the weight loss and stayed for the empathy.
[00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:20.240] Thanks, Sadie.
[00:00:20.240 --> 00:00:22.960] I'm Myra Ameth, founder of Mochi Health.
[00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:26.960] To find your Mochi Moment, visit joinmochi.com.
[00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:30.240] Sadie is a mochi member compensated for her story.
[00:00:30.560 --> 00:00:34.640] Taking on a DIY job around the house is the ultimate summer project.
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[00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:58.640] Don't settle for safe-ish this summer.
[00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:00.880] DIY with ADT instead.
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[00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:20.640] Hi, I'm Sonera Madani, a mom of two, daughter of an immigrant, and an unlikely entrepreneur who built a billion-dollar business.
[00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:21.840] Yes, billion.
[00:01:22.160 --> 00:01:25.520] Now I'm doing it again and building my second unicorn, work.
[00:01:26.240 --> 00:01:33.040] Shockingly, less than 2% of female founders ever reach $1 million in revenue, and I'm on a mission to change that.
[00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:39.200] At CEO School, we mentor thousands of women to help them level up in business and in life.
[00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:45.360] We believe that you deserve to have it all because honestly, nothing bad happens when women make more money.
[00:01:46.160 --> 00:01:49.280] Grab a seat because class is officially in session.
[00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:51.680] Welcome to CEO School.
[00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:54.000] Hi, everyone.
[00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:55.920] Welcome back to the CEO School Podcast.
[00:01:55.920 --> 00:02:07.640] I'm your host, Sonera Madani, and today I have such an incredible money expert on the show with us, Tiffany Alicia of the Budget Nista.
[00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:21.160] She is not just a finance money expert, she's a best-selling author of Get Good With Money, all about money, finances, and how to really create wealth for ourselves.
[00:02:21.160 --> 00:02:23.320] Today, I'm so excited to have a conversation with her.
[00:02:23.320 --> 00:02:30.200] Tiffany and I met on her podcast, The Brown Ambition, and we've just been insta friends for quite a bit.
[00:02:30.200 --> 00:02:33.240] And I just love all of her framework and teachings around money.
[00:02:33.240 --> 00:02:40.360] And we know that at CEO School, we talk a lot about freedom of dollar, and especially nothing bad happens when women make more money.
[00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:46.200] And currently, right now, there is a lot happening from a macroeconomic standpoint.
[00:02:46.200 --> 00:02:50.840] I picked up the phone and I called Tiffany, and this is actually an episode that's not in person.
[00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:56.760] We're doing this virtual because we wanted to bring it to you relevant, live, and all the things that are happening.
[00:02:56.760 --> 00:02:58.760] So, I'm really excited for you to stay tuned.
[00:02:58.760 --> 00:03:11.480] I'm here to learn as well because there's so much happening in the world, and we've got to understand what to do with our money, what happens if there is a recession, how do we protect ourselves as a business owner, and then how do we grow that wealth?
[00:03:11.480 --> 00:03:15.160] So, without further ado, I'm so excited to welcome Tiffany on CEO School.
[00:03:15.160 --> 00:03:16.840] Tiffany, thank you so much for doing this.
[00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:17.800] Welcome to the show.
[00:03:17.800 --> 00:03:18.840] Thank you, Sonara.
[00:03:18.840 --> 00:03:20.200] I'm glad to be here.
[00:03:20.200 --> 00:03:22.840] Oh my God, so many questions that I have for you.
[00:03:22.840 --> 00:03:28.440] But before we kick off, I'd love for the audience just to get to know a little bit about you, your background.
[00:03:28.440 --> 00:03:32.520] I know you were a teacher, and then, like, your journey began from there.
[00:03:32.520 --> 00:03:35.880] So, and then you created laws around finance, I mean, all the things.
[00:03:35.880 --> 00:03:39.320] So, just give us a little history about your wonderful background.
[00:03:39.320 --> 00:03:44.240] So, yes, I started the Budget, Nista, about 17 years ago during the Great Recession.
[00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:56.880] When I was struggling with my own finances, prior to that, I was a school teacher, got my master's in education, got scammed, and left $35,000 in student loan in credit card debt.
[00:03:56.880 --> 00:04:00.080] And I had $52,000 in student loan debt.
[00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:03.840] I bought a condo in my 20s, which was like $220,000.
[00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:07.040] So at one point, I was $300,000 plus in debt.
[00:04:07.040 --> 00:04:09.040] The recession left me jobless.
[00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:10.240] Oh, my goodness.
[00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:12.240] I'm going to pause you for a second.
[00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:14.320] That's, there's so much fear there.
[00:04:14.320 --> 00:04:15.360] Oh, my goodness.
[00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:22.720] How did, I mean, this, you just said scam, and I've got to like press my podcast host button here of like, what happened?
[00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:30.000] So I was in my like mid-20s, and somebody who I thought was a friend, we've been friends for some years, and I always thought that he was rich.
[00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:33.440] We'll call him, I like to call him, what would I call him, Jeff?
[00:04:33.440 --> 00:04:34.240] Jeff the thief?
[00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:34.880] Jake the thief.
[00:04:34.880 --> 00:04:35.600] That's what I tell people.
[00:04:35.760 --> 00:04:36.640] That's not his real name.
[00:04:36.640 --> 00:04:38.080] His name is very unique.
[00:04:38.080 --> 00:04:45.280] But anyway, so Jake, you know, when you're in your early to mid-20s, I didn't know that you could look rich but not be rich.
[00:04:45.280 --> 00:04:48.240] I mean, is this like an invented ana style situation over here?
[00:04:49.520 --> 00:04:51.120] And so I thought Jake was rich.
[00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:52.640] So I knew him for some years.
[00:04:52.640 --> 00:04:59.120] And then once I had got my master's and I was like, okay, I wasn't making a ton of money as a teacher, but I really wanted to grow wealth.
[00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:00.720] So I said, Jake, can you show me?
[00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:02.160] He said, sure, you look stupid.
[00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:04.320] I mean, yeah, yeah, sure.
[00:05:04.960 --> 00:05:07.280] So I had one credit card at the time.
[00:05:07.280 --> 00:05:10.960] My limit was not very high, but I was paying it off every month in full.
[00:05:10.960 --> 00:05:15.600] My dad was an accountant and a CFO, so he taught me how to like manage my money.
[00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:20.240] And he said, you grew up around 100%.
[00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:24.640] Instead of like, because you know, when you're 20, you start to feel like, I'm an adult now.
[00:05:24.640 --> 00:05:26.320] I'm not going to ask my parents.
[00:05:26.320 --> 00:05:28.960] I'm going to ask my fake friend who's a thief.
[00:05:29.280 --> 00:05:30.120] But you didn't know yet.
[00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:30.920] I didn't know yet.
[00:05:29.840 --> 00:05:33.080] No, I'm grateful because it started the Budget Nista.
[00:05:33.400 --> 00:05:37.560] And so he told me, Hey, Tiffany, you know, how's your credit score?
[00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:38.920] And I was like, honestly, it was excellent.
[00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:40.760] I had like 800 something.
[00:05:40.760 --> 00:05:47.640] Because up until then, I just did what my dad told me to do when it came to my money, pay off my debt in full, keep my expenses low.
[00:05:47.960 --> 00:05:49.400] And so I did.
[00:05:49.400 --> 00:05:53.080] And he said, you know, you can open up multiple credit cards and pull money off.
[00:05:53.080 --> 00:05:55.320] And this is called a cash advance, which is the worst.
[00:05:55.320 --> 00:05:56.520] But I didn't know that.
[00:05:56.520 --> 00:05:57.960] And I said, oh, I didn't know you could do that.
[00:05:57.960 --> 00:05:58.440] He said, yeah.
[00:05:58.440 --> 00:06:00.040] So I opened up a credit card.
[00:06:00.040 --> 00:06:02.040] I think the limit was like, I don't know.
[00:06:02.040 --> 00:06:07.080] I was able to pull off like either between two cards, between $15,000 to $20,000.
[00:06:07.400 --> 00:06:11.720] And I pulled that money off, and he said he was going to invest it for me.
[00:06:11.720 --> 00:06:12.840] And so that's what he said.
[00:06:12.840 --> 00:06:16.920] And I was going to generate, which sounds so crazy now, that $20,000 investment.
[00:06:16.920 --> 00:06:19.320] I was supposed to generate $2,000.
[00:06:19.320 --> 00:06:21.400] He said, it's either a week or a month.
[00:06:21.400 --> 00:06:23.640] I think it was a week for two years.
[00:06:23.640 --> 00:06:27.960] Now, that just sounds crazy, but at the time, you know, you're 22, you're like, woohoo, I'm going to be rich.
[00:06:27.960 --> 00:06:31.320] And so I had these credit cards now that I still had limits on.
[00:06:31.320 --> 00:06:34.200] And I was like, you know, I've never used them before.
[00:06:34.440 --> 00:06:36.440] I just opened them up to work with Jake.
[00:06:36.440 --> 00:06:39.560] And I thought, hmm, you know, I'm going to be rich soon.
[00:06:39.560 --> 00:06:41.000] So maybe I'll just start to use it.
[00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:45.000] And so I purchased like an online, like one of these courses.
[00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:47.880] You know, people were doing courses back then for all this money.
[00:06:47.880 --> 00:06:50.280] And it left me $35,000 in debt in total.
[00:06:50.280 --> 00:06:58.760] Within one week, I went from zero debt, well, student loan debt, yeah, and like, you know, my mortgage, but zero credit card debt to $35,000 in debt.
[00:06:58.760 --> 00:07:01.960] And of course, Jake disappeared with my money.
[00:07:02.840 --> 00:07:05.720] And, you know, as luck would have it, it was the recession.
[00:07:06.040 --> 00:07:08.840] And so not long after that, I lost my job.
[00:07:08.840 --> 00:07:10.200] And so now I had a mortgage.
[00:07:10.200 --> 00:07:13.000] I had student loan debt, no way to pay it back.
[00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:14.520] And it was really rough times.
[00:07:14.520 --> 00:07:20.000] So I think everything that's kind of happening now is reminiscent of those times.
[00:07:14.840 --> 00:07:22.080] And I know what I did to survive those times.
[00:07:22.320 --> 00:07:29.520] So I'm excited to be here, Sonara, to kind of share what I had to do to make it through and to thrive.
[00:07:29.520 --> 00:07:30.960] You know, now, obviously, that's not me.
[00:07:30.960 --> 00:07:38.240] I have a multi-million dollar business that I run and like staff.
[00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:40.320] And, you know, I'm doing great now.
[00:07:40.320 --> 00:07:42.240] I have two properties that I don't have any mortgages on.
[00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:43.440] They're paid off.
[00:07:43.840 --> 00:07:47.360] And that's all within like the last, you know, 15, 16 years.
[00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:50.480] And so, yeah, I'm just here to kind of help and share.
[00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:57.360] So as a result of all of my shenanigans, if you will, I started my business so I can help other people, especially women.
[00:07:57.360 --> 00:07:58.480] Oh, my goodness.
[00:07:58.960 --> 00:08:02.560] I actually, Tiffany, did not know this about your story.
[00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:04.000] I did not know this.
[00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:07.360] That is, I'm so sorry that this happened to you.
[00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:12.000] You know, and when life gives you lemons, you literally turn this into lemonade.
[00:08:12.400 --> 00:08:13.680] Not lemonade business, if you want.
[00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:15.680] And you know what, though?
[00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:16.400] I'm not sorry.
[00:08:16.400 --> 00:08:18.400] At the time, of course, I felt terrible.
[00:08:18.400 --> 00:08:21.920] But it was the catalyst for starting my business.
[00:08:22.640 --> 00:08:26.640] And honestly, everyone, every, because Jake's name is very, very, very unique.
[00:08:26.640 --> 00:08:28.880] So I would Google his name every few years to see.
[00:08:28.880 --> 00:08:29.280] And finding out what he did.
[00:08:29.440 --> 00:08:30.560] Did you find him?
[00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:34.640] Yeah, well, no, because he ran away, but he tried to scam the government.
[00:08:34.640 --> 00:08:36.480] And they locked him up and he was in jail.
[00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:37.360] He still is, I believe.
[00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:41.760] And I was like, you know what, Karma, she might be late, but she comes around eventually.
[00:08:41.760 --> 00:08:43.040] And so, yes.
[00:08:43.040 --> 00:08:44.960] So I would say, hey, Jake from JL.
[00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:45.680] Hope you're doing great.
[00:08:45.680 --> 00:08:47.120] Actually, I don't, but.
[00:08:48.400 --> 00:08:49.600] Well, oh my goodness.
[00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:51.360] I had no idea that this was a huge part of it.
[00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:52.160] And you're totally right.
[00:08:52.160 --> 00:08:56.000] Sometimes when these things, you don't know it when you're in it, but I really do.
[00:08:56.480 --> 00:08:58.880] I really do believe that things happen for us.
[00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:08.040] And it's really hard if you're going through a hard thing and if you're listening and you're going through something hard and it's like the worst piece of advice when a friend gives you that.
[00:09:08.040 --> 00:09:19.560] But when you're on the other side and you can actually zoom out and reflect, I mean, there are, it does happen for us because these next steps would not have happened if those hard things didn't happen.
[00:09:19.560 --> 00:09:19.960] Exactly.
[00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:30.360] Now you get to use that experience and you turn that from you lost your job in the recession, all of this was happening, and you're like, how do I make sure this doesn't happen again for other women and for other people?
[00:09:30.360 --> 00:09:32.360] And then you created the Budget NISTA.
[00:09:32.440 --> 00:09:32.760] Yes.
[00:09:32.760 --> 00:09:34.920] Can you talk to me a little bit about what that is?
[00:09:34.920 --> 00:09:36.040] How did the book come about?
[00:09:36.040 --> 00:09:37.720] Like, you've literally been everywhere.
[00:09:37.720 --> 00:09:38.600] It's a best-selling book.
[00:09:38.600 --> 00:09:42.600] You've been on Today Show, CNN, the Oprah Network.
[00:09:42.600 --> 00:09:44.600] I mean, all of the places.
[00:09:45.240 --> 00:09:50.120] Tell me about the Budget NISTA and the book itself, Get Good With Money.
[00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:53.000] So I started off doing one-on-ones.
[00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:55.160] And I was a teacher, so I knew how to teach.
[00:09:55.160 --> 00:09:58.120] And I quickly realized this is not scalable.
[00:09:58.440 --> 00:10:11.160] And so I got my first contract with the United Way of Northern New Jersey saying, hey, I can write a curriculum for you and teach financial education to the masses basically here in Northern New Jersey.
[00:10:11.160 --> 00:10:12.200] And they paid me.
[00:10:12.200 --> 00:10:15.240] It was kind of the first time I realized, oh, I can monetize this.
[00:10:15.240 --> 00:10:20.680] They paid me, I think they started off $300 a class, and by the end, $500 a class.
[00:10:20.680 --> 00:10:23.640] And I had self-published a book then called The One Week Budget.
[00:10:23.800 --> 00:10:27.080] We were using that as the workbook for class, and it started to grow.
[00:10:27.080 --> 00:10:30.760] And this is around the time that social media started to become a thing.
[00:10:30.760 --> 00:10:39.800] Facebook was going from you were from college, you know, you had to be on college campuses or have a college email in order to use Facebook to it growing.
[00:10:39.800 --> 00:10:40.880] And so I changed my name.
[00:10:40.920 --> 00:10:46.480] I remember on Facebook because there was no Instagram, there's no Snapchat, there was no TikTok, none of it.
[00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:47.680] It was just really Facebook.
[00:10:44.600 --> 00:10:50.320] I changed my name to Tiffany the Budget Nista Alicia.
[00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:56.560] And I was the only one that I could see that was using their personal page as a business page because there was no such thing as business pages.
[00:10:56.560 --> 00:10:57.200] Wow.
[00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:07.520] So I would take pictures of me like speaking and I would like hit up all my friends who had sisters and brothers in college and say, Can you guys pay me to come speak?
[00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:11.440] And that was the first time I was paid like $1,500 to speak.
[00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:23.040] And I thought, okay, there's something here that if I could teach, the amount of people that I could teach financial education to directly correlates to like how much I can be paid.
[00:11:23.040 --> 00:11:31.600] So I went from like one to one, you know, then one to few inside the classroom, then one to many inside like, you know, like speaking to like college campuses.
[00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:34.160] Then I thought, what does one to infinite look like?
[00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:39.680] And I started my own online school that we now call the Get Good With Money Library.
[00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:46.880] And yeah, so we've already graduated nearly 300,000 students from that school.
[00:11:46.880 --> 00:11:54.880] It's all based upon my New York Times best-selling book, Get Good With Money, because it's sold over 300,000 copies since it's come out in 2021.
[00:11:55.520 --> 00:11:56.880] Eight weeks on the list.
[00:11:57.280 --> 00:11:57.920] Wow.
[00:11:57.920 --> 00:11:58.240] Yes.
[00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:00.960] And a round of applause to you there.
[00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:09.520] Like as a woman to do like just New York Times best-selling author eight weeks straight is no joke.
[00:12:09.520 --> 00:12:13.200] That means like the book is really actually really, really, really, really, really good.
[00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:14.960] I need a signed copy, by the way.
[00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:17.520] I have a copy, but I'm going to ping you afterwards.
[00:12:17.520 --> 00:12:21.320] I love when I get to talk to you guys and then get my own.
[00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:22.560] I'm gonna ping you on it.
[00:12:22.560 --> 00:12:23.520] Oh my goodness.
[00:12:23.520 --> 00:12:24.960] And so, what's the framework, right?
[00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:26.560] So, it's a good framework.
[00:12:26.560 --> 00:12:27.920] People are applying it.
[00:12:27.920 --> 00:12:30.600] What is the framework to get good with money?
[00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:33.080] How does one get good with money?
[00:12:33.400 --> 00:12:38.040] And then, how is one, I mean, I can tell you all the ways which we're bad with money, but how does one get good with money?
[00:12:38.040 --> 00:12:39.800] So, there are 10 components to something.
[00:12:39.800 --> 00:12:46.600] The framework that I created is this blueprint to achieving what I call financial wholeness.
[00:12:46.600 --> 00:12:53.320] This is when holistically your life is working together with your finances to create the life that you're wanting, right?
[00:12:53.320 --> 00:12:55.800] And so, there are 10 components to this framework.
[00:12:56.120 --> 00:13:01.960] It is the foundational five are budgeting, savings, debt, credit, learning to earn.
[00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:09.400] So, mastering those five, and then the next five that builds upon those are investing for both retirement and wealth.
[00:13:09.400 --> 00:13:16.680] It is insurance, it is your net worth, your financial team, and estate planning.
[00:13:16.680 --> 00:13:22.920] So, these 10 things, when you master those 10 things, then collectively you reach something called financial wholeness.
[00:13:22.920 --> 00:13:30.280] And what I love about financial wholeness is that you can reach it whether you're making $35,000 a year or $35,000 a month.
[00:13:30.280 --> 00:13:39.880] You know, it doesn't discriminate because budgeting at $35,000 a month will look different than a preschool teacher making $35,000 a year, but it can be achieved.
[00:13:39.880 --> 00:13:47.320] Estate planning, the 10th component of the framework, it looks different to me as a wealthy business owner.
[00:13:47.320 --> 00:13:54.200] I have a trust, but like as preschool teacher Tiffany, estate planning looked like my mom is my beneficiary on my bank accounts.
[00:13:54.200 --> 00:13:55.000] Do you see?
[00:13:55.240 --> 00:14:05.000] And so, that's the amazing part of this 10-component framework: no matter where you find yourself financially, you can get in where you fit in and achieve financial wholeness.
[00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:05.960] Oh, my goodness.
[00:14:05.960 --> 00:14:06.360] I love it.
[00:14:06.400 --> 00:14:09.240] And that's so wonderful because you're right.
[00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:09.720] Like, why?
[00:14:09.720 --> 00:14:15.000] It doesn't have to just be for, you know, I think that's one of the biggest mindset blockers about wealth.
[00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:24.000] And that was probably one of my mindset blockers: when I have or when this happens versus it could be achieved right now.
[00:14:24.560 --> 00:14:26.160] And that's what financial literacy is.
[00:14:26.400 --> 00:14:34.320] It's to have the information in front of you and to be able to make smart decisions today to invest for your future.
[00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:36.880] And I love that it's about all of those components.
[00:14:36.880 --> 00:14:38.160] I love that you said wholeness.
[00:14:38.160 --> 00:14:41.840] It kind of reminded me of like getting to like, I read a lot of spirit stuff.
[00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:44.720] So I've been in my spirit era for the last two years.
[00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:49.600] And it's like reaching like nirvana almost of like the whole spirit.
[00:14:49.760 --> 00:14:50.800] Self-actualization.
[00:14:50.800 --> 00:14:51.840] Self-actualization.
[00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:55.360] Like it kind of reminds me of that concept of your finances.
[00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:03.840] And there's so many components about like, I see a lot in the last few years about investing and women investing and women wealth.
[00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:18.000] But I really think that there's other parts of, and I've, you know, earning more and that, like, those framework components I feel like I hear talked about, but I don't hear enough about the insurance and the estate.
[00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:22.960] And like, and that I don't think people think about even at that $35,000 mark.
[00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:27.760] And so that's such a, I really love this wholeness concept.
[00:15:27.760 --> 00:15:31.200] It does, like, I mean, this is, it's perfection.
[00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:35.840] I cannot wait for all of us to read this and go get your copies.
[00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:37.520] I'm going to link everything into the show notes.
[00:15:37.520 --> 00:15:39.600] I usually do this at the end of the show, but I'm like so excited.
[00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:41.120] Go get your copies right now.
[00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:42.080] So I'm going to link everything.
[00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:44.560] So don't get off the, wherever you're doing.
[00:15:44.560 --> 00:15:45.840] I promise it'll be at the end.
[00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:48.720] I'll link it all for you because we all need to get good with money.
[00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:49.360] Yes.
[00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:52.720] What are some of the things that, you know, where do people get stuck?
[00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:57.920] So where are the things, you know, when people come to you, where are they usually stuck in this process?
[00:15:57.920 --> 00:17:32.640] Tell me a little bit about the blockers, especially women well I'll say number one blockers it's all mindset typically like so every blocker I mean certainly there are blockers where triple poverty you know or you just don't have but for many people it's mindset even even the not having sometimes starts with mindset you know that people don't believe that they can so they don't you know they really get in their own way and they don't realize it I mean I myself struggled I still struggle you know sometimes with I call it post-traumatic broke syndrome where I was broke for so long that even now that I have money sometimes I'm scared to spend it you know because I'm like I don't want to go back what if I overdo it it's like why because you bought like something from Whole Foods you know what I mean you know and so mindset and so for women in particular I find that it is a confidence issue not a capability issue that women be highly capable so many studies have been done that show that women are actually more effective investors than men but we have been told our whole lives oh you're not good at science you're not good at math you're not good at money that's not true you know and so women hold themselves back and oftentimes too another blocker is that there people come with a lot of shame because they've made mistakes in the past yeah I didn't realize what was keeping me from kind of like to going to the next level of wealth at one point was because I had a lot of shame because I fell victim to Jake the thief and I thought to myself if I can fall victim again I'll fall you know if I can fall victim one time, I could be victim two times.
[00:17:32.600 --> 00:17:36.880] I had not forgiven young Tiffany for like what she didn't know.
[00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:40.720] And so I like I carried around so much financial shame.
[00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:45.920] And the issue scenario with shame is that shame shields solutions.
[00:17:45.920 --> 00:17:49.600] You cannot move forward if you're carrying around the darkness of shame.
[00:17:49.600 --> 00:17:52.880] And the only way to release that shame was to give voice to it.
[00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:55.120] You have to tell someone you know, like, and trust.
[00:17:55.120 --> 00:18:00.480] They don't have to be a financial expert, but so that way you can release some of that shame so you can move toward your solutions.
[00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:09.840] And so it's one of the reasons why I started the Budget Nista to create a safe space for people to release the shame and to have the solutions to achieve financial wholeness.
[00:18:09.840 --> 00:18:10.960] Oh, I love that.
[00:18:10.960 --> 00:18:13.200] You know, it makes complete sense.
[00:18:13.360 --> 00:18:23.920] Even I didn't have Jake the thief, but I think even I have so much, like, I don't, and even saying the word shame around money, I have shame on having money.
[00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:27.200] There's like all kinds of shame in different levels.
[00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:31.200] Like, I feel like I've experienced through my journey.
[00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:35.440] And I mean, there's so much that's popping up for me right now when you said that.
[00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:37.520] Why is it so difficult to talk about?
[00:18:37.520 --> 00:18:39.600] These spaces are so important for us.
[00:18:39.600 --> 00:18:59.200] And I do think that that's something that I love so much about the community that we've built for CO School and for Millionaire Founders Club is that we can have these conversations, not just about growing our wealth, but about budgets, about what we're spending, about just talking about money to just normalize being able to talk about it in a safe space.
[00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:00.800] Why is it so hard?
[00:19:00.800 --> 00:19:04.000] And the word money and shame is just always together.
[00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:06.720] Can you just unpack that for me a bit?
[00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:07.280] Certainly.
[00:19:07.280 --> 00:19:12.080] So one of my friends is a, they actually have a financial therapist now.
[00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:24.320] And so one of the, her name is Asia, and one of the things she shared is that so much of that comes from the way your caregiver, your mom, your dad, whoever took care of you, showed up when it came to money.
[00:19:24.320 --> 00:19:28.000] Was it from a place of like a deficit we don't have.
[00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:29.320] Why would you ask?
[00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:32.920] You know, was it that you didn't have like you know the clothes you wanted for school?
[00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:37.720] So now you you're going to school and you don't feel good about the way you present yourself.
[00:19:37.720 --> 00:19:43.560] And oftentimes a lot of our stuff is coming from our childhood that's been unresolved.
[00:19:43.560 --> 00:19:53.400] You know, a therapist will tell you that trauma is a result of something happened that should not have, or something that should have happened and did not.
[00:19:53.400 --> 00:19:58.360] So maybe what should have happened was there should have been enough money for food and clothes and things and it wasn't.
[00:19:58.360 --> 00:20:00.440] So now you carry around this shame of fear.
[00:20:00.440 --> 00:20:04.760] You know, like, oh my gosh, I don't ever want to put myself or my children or whoever in that position.
[00:20:04.760 --> 00:20:07.640] Or maybe something did happen and it should not have.
[00:20:07.640 --> 00:20:14.920] And so maybe, you know, what did happen was that like money was used as a, if you don't behave yourself, you're not going to get this or you're not going to get that.
[00:20:14.920 --> 00:20:21.320] Or there was money or maybe you had money and then a parent passed away or left and left you without.
[00:20:21.320 --> 00:20:31.080] So, you know, so much of like what we navigate as an adult, you know, it has a root in childhood or at least early, early, early or early adulthood.
[00:20:31.080 --> 00:20:38.280] And so understanding, I say this with like in with everyone, that it's not the money.
[00:20:38.920 --> 00:20:40.840] It's you, it's the mindset.
[00:20:40.840 --> 00:20:45.480] Because there are people, Sonara, who have less than you who are doing more.
[00:20:45.480 --> 00:20:48.600] And there are people who have more than us who are doing less.
[00:20:48.600 --> 00:20:49.480] You know what I mean?
[00:20:49.480 --> 00:20:50.920] It's not the money itself.
[00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:54.680] It's something, it's a story that we've told ourselves.
[00:20:54.680 --> 00:20:57.240] And we have to ask ourselves, my therapist always asks me, Dr.
[00:20:57.240 --> 00:20:59.080] Green, I actually have therapy tomorrow.
[00:20:59.080 --> 00:21:01.240] Whenever I get into a story, I'm like, well, this is the reason why.
[00:21:01.240 --> 00:21:03.560] She's like, is that true?
[00:21:03.560 --> 00:21:10.360] Like, is it true that, you know, if you spend money, I remember I was vacillating on whether or not to get a Peloton bike.
[00:21:10.600 --> 00:21:11.720] Meanwhile, I'm a millionaire.
[00:21:11.720 --> 00:21:12.360] You know what I mean?
[00:21:12.360 --> 00:21:17.040] Like, in the 15 years of business, we probably grossed about 50 to 55 million dollars.
[00:21:17.360 --> 00:21:24.080] Like, I can afford a Peloton bike, but I was terrified to spend $2,500 on a bike or whatever it cost at the time.
[00:21:24.080 --> 00:21:26.240] And so I said, but a bike is so expensive.
[00:21:26.240 --> 00:21:27.920] She said, is that true?
[00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:31.120] And I was like, yes, $2,500 is a lot of money.
[00:21:31.120 --> 00:21:34.640] And then she said, is that the only truth available?
[00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:37.120] Because the story I tell myself is it's expensive.
[00:21:37.120 --> 00:21:39.520] It is, but there's additional truth.
[00:21:39.520 --> 00:21:42.640] It's expensive, but you can more than afford it.
[00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:45.520] That's the additional truth available.
[00:21:45.520 --> 00:21:53.520] You know, like it's expensive, but you purchasing it is not going to mean you can't pay, you know, your, you know, whatever light bill.
[00:21:53.520 --> 00:21:59.280] It's expensive, but it doesn't mean that it's going to prevent you from travel or looking after your parents or whatever.
[00:21:59.280 --> 00:22:01.360] There's additional truths available.
[00:22:01.360 --> 00:22:06.960] And so that is one of the things that giving voice to that shame, giving voice to those stories.
[00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:08.160] Like, is it true?
[00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:10.000] Is it the only truth available?
[00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:11.520] Because we carry those stories with us.
[00:22:11.520 --> 00:22:16.800] And it's like we have to break the pattern if we're going to like do better with our money.
[00:22:17.120 --> 00:22:19.760] I think that this is, this is, I know this is solid.
[00:22:19.760 --> 00:22:21.520] So many women can relate to this.
[00:22:21.520 --> 00:22:28.240] And I feel like there's another thought because I don't think about that's $2,500 that's expensive.
[00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:29.280] I'm on the opposite.
[00:22:29.280 --> 00:22:31.360] I'm like, that's only $2,500.
[00:22:33.360 --> 00:22:40.240] And even as like, as the paycheck grows, I do feel like just lifestyle grows too, right?
[00:22:40.240 --> 00:23:02.600] And so talk to me about the budgeting side of it too, because I can tell you, I see so many panels, and I'm talking to whether we're business owners or, you know, on personal finance or in business finance, I feel like the better the business does, the higher your burn rate goes up to, the better that you do, your lifestyle grows as well.
[00:23:03.160 --> 00:23:06.600] Can you talk a little bit about the budgeting aspect as well?
[00:23:06.600 --> 00:23:13.720] So there's a Nigerian proverb that my dad used to say, I'm Nigerian, that he would say, you cut your coat according to your size.
[00:23:14.200 --> 00:23:14.600] Right?
[00:23:14.600 --> 00:23:19.560] So it's like, you know, imagine, you know, you're a size two and you're like, oh, no, no, I have to have this coat.
[00:23:19.560 --> 00:23:21.800] It has to fit my size two frame.
[00:23:21.800 --> 00:23:26.280] And then, you know, somehow, you know, you get to a four and you're like, no, no, I got to get this coat to fit.
[00:23:26.280 --> 00:23:28.440] So what happens is you start to inflate yourself.
[00:23:28.440 --> 00:23:31.080] Not always, but many people start to inflate themselves.
[00:23:31.080 --> 00:23:35.160] Like, no, we have to do this in order to maintain.
[00:23:35.160 --> 00:23:41.160] And it's like, well, just a minute ago, when you were making 50,000, 60,000, you had rent, you had a car.
[00:23:41.720 --> 00:23:42.360] I can't even imagine.
[00:23:42.520 --> 00:23:49.640] If I'm being honest, like, I can't even imagine how, you know, I guess I was in my 20s, how I was living off of $39,000 a year.
[00:23:49.640 --> 00:23:52.360] I'm like, Tiffany, how are you doing that?
[00:23:52.680 --> 00:24:02.760] Because now that, you know, I make more than that, then now my coat, it's so much more voluminous, you know, because I've cut my coat according to my size.
[00:24:03.640 --> 00:24:07.080] Now, the thing is, you are supposed to expand somewhat.
[00:24:07.080 --> 00:24:11.080] Because what is the point of like making more money and not expanding lifestyle?
[00:24:11.080 --> 00:24:17.000] The key is that it should not keep the pace with your, your lifestyle should not keep the pace with your money.
[00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:21.000] So it should have some distinct, like, you know, like you should have some space in between.
[00:24:21.240 --> 00:24:29.240] And here's why, whether in business or personally, because so 2020, I want to say our peak year, it was during COVID.
[00:24:29.240 --> 00:24:31.240] Like, it was like one year we made $10 million.
[00:24:31.240 --> 00:24:32.280] The next year we're like eight.
[00:24:32.280 --> 00:24:34.600] So we had like a good run, right?
[00:24:34.920 --> 00:24:42.120] But I was mindful because I knew, I said, it feels, this jump seems a little artificial because we went from like $6 million to $10 million.
[00:24:42.120 --> 00:24:44.520] And I'm like, we didn't do anything too different.
[00:24:44.520 --> 00:24:47.920] I think that this is an external trigger, not something internally.
[00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:58.080] So let me not increase my size of coat because I feel like when COVID settles down, everything else, we might go back to like five, six million, you know?
[00:24:58.080 --> 00:25:00.480] And sure enough, that's what happened.
[00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:01.040] But imagine.
[00:25:02.240 --> 00:25:17.120] Yes, but imagine, like, well, I mean, I had a business partner at the time who I remember I was afraid because the year we made 10, we did increase and it made me so nervous because I was fighting with him to say, we are spending too much.
[00:25:17.120 --> 00:25:20.960] So that one year we made 10, but we spent eight and I was freaked out.
[00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:22.720] I said, this is too much.
[00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:27.600] Just last year, you know, we were spending four, you know, to make like six or seven.
[00:25:27.600 --> 00:25:29.680] So what are we, not even, you know?
[00:25:30.080 --> 00:25:33.840] And so the next year we cut back significantly and significantly.
[00:25:33.840 --> 00:25:39.440] And I'm so glad that we did because 2023 was one of my hardest years in business.
[00:25:39.440 --> 00:25:41.680] You know, we barely cleared $4 million or something.
[00:25:41.760 --> 00:25:44.240] I know, like in business, I know forever, like, what?
[00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:44.880] That sounds great.
[00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:45.440] No.
[00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:49.280] Relative to just two years prior, we're making 10, that's a significant drop.
[00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:52.640] Now, imagine if $4 million was overhead.
[00:25:52.640 --> 00:25:53.360] What would we have?
[00:25:53.360 --> 00:25:58.880] 2000, I mean, it took a lot to keep our head above water.
[00:25:58.880 --> 00:26:05.200] You know, and so it was such a great lesson in that I'm always managing expenses.
[00:26:05.520 --> 00:26:13.280] I actually put like a task force on my team, my operations person, my COO, and someone, oh, my financial person on the team.
[00:26:13.280 --> 00:26:18.320] I was like, every year we do a deep dive to say what tools, what systems are we're not using.
[00:26:18.320 --> 00:26:22.240] We just found an additional $50,000 a year in tools.
[00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:28.480] Because you use this webinar platform and this thing and this text platform, and they use a different one before you know it, you're still being charged.
[00:26:28.480 --> 00:26:33.480] And so $50,000 additionally annually, you know, that's someone to hire.
[00:26:29.680 --> 00:26:36.600] You know, you might hire somebody that might be your graphic design person.
[00:26:37.320 --> 00:26:44.440] So whether you're a $4 million business that's listening or you are a $100,000 a year business, is this still applicable?
[00:26:44.440 --> 00:26:49.720] Because cleaning up your finances is something that you always have to be on top of.
[00:26:49.720 --> 00:26:52.920] You have to lean in, like, but even me as Tiffany, I will look through.
[00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:56.200] So I was looking at the bank that I use.
[00:26:56.520 --> 00:27:01.800] I didn't realize, but, and a lot of banks do this, you can go in and look at like your spending and they'll tell you by percentage.
[00:27:01.800 --> 00:27:09.400] Like, oh, percent, you know, 30% of your money is going to retire, not retirement, but to entertainment, housing, and stuff.
[00:27:09.400 --> 00:27:12.360] So you can kind of gauge where your money is going.
[00:27:12.360 --> 00:27:17.960] And now banks have this component, some of them, where it shows where some of your reoccurring expenses.
[00:27:17.960 --> 00:27:19.480] So I happened to look.
[00:27:19.480 --> 00:27:21.560] I was like, wait a minute.
[00:27:22.760 --> 00:27:26.040] I'm still paying for something that I canceled.
[00:27:26.040 --> 00:27:30.520] It was like three or four things, the equivalent of like $150 a month.
[00:27:30.520 --> 00:27:35.800] You know, that's over $1,200 a year that I was still paying for.
[00:27:35.800 --> 00:27:41.480] So even me, every new year, I say, let me look at all my expenses, especially the recurring ones.
[00:27:41.480 --> 00:27:44.520] How do I clean up the balance sheet, if you will?
[00:27:44.520 --> 00:27:46.040] Same thing with my phone.
[00:27:46.040 --> 00:27:48.520] So I realized, I'm like, how much am I paying for my phone?
[00:27:48.520 --> 00:27:49.240] This seems high.
[00:27:49.240 --> 00:27:49.720] I called them.
[00:27:49.720 --> 00:27:51.320] They're like, oh, yes, you're on the old plan.
[00:27:51.320 --> 00:27:53.000] I'm like, well, put me on the new one.
[00:27:53.000 --> 00:27:53.880] Internet.
[00:27:53.880 --> 00:27:57.480] I realized that my sister had just moved in down the block for me.
[00:27:57.480 --> 00:27:59.400] And I said, oh, you know, what do they charge you?
[00:27:59.400 --> 00:28:00.920] Because they charge me $80 a month.
[00:28:00.920 --> 00:28:02.520] And she said, no, I paid like $70.
[00:28:02.840 --> 00:28:03.840] I'm like, $70,000.
[00:28:03.880 --> 00:28:05.320] She's like, oh, I think because I'm a new client.
[00:28:05.320 --> 00:28:06.120] I'm like, what?
[00:28:06.120 --> 00:28:06.600] I called them.
[00:28:06.680 --> 00:28:09.720] I said, how come she's paying $70 for the same thing I'm paying $80 for?
[00:28:09.720 --> 00:28:10.520] They're like, oh, she's new.
[00:28:10.520 --> 00:28:13.880] I'm like, well, then cancel me and sign me back up again and make me new.
[00:28:13.920 --> 00:28:15.200] You know, and they did.
[00:28:14.840 --> 00:28:20.560] So you could do that with your personal life: $10, $20, all those things add up monthly.
[00:28:21.280 --> 00:28:30.480] Sometimes the very best way to give yourself a raise is by cutting back, whether it's in business or whether it's your life personally.
[00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:37.040] So yeah, you want to cut your coat, you know, according to your size, but you want to give yourself just enough leeway in case something happens.
[00:28:37.040 --> 00:28:41.600] Like we're living in very volatile economic times right now.
[00:28:41.600 --> 00:28:46.880] And so if you're making $10,000 and you're spending $10,000, you're going to find yourself in a really bad way.
[00:28:46.880 --> 00:28:56.800] Not because you did anything wrong, but because if things are increasing in value, or the cost, maybe not the value, but the cost is increasing 10, 20, 100%.
[00:28:56.800 --> 00:28:58.320] Where is that money going to come from?
[00:28:58.320 --> 00:29:01.040] You have to start to create space now in your budget.
[00:29:01.040 --> 00:29:03.600] Yeah, I think this is so this is practical.
[00:29:03.600 --> 00:29:09.680] This is something that, and I think women, we generally, when we hear this, like, we're like, oh, yeah, like, we get excited about it.
[00:29:09.680 --> 00:29:14.000] Like, I don't, you know, I can, I feel like this is a practice that we should be doing.
[00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:19.760] My husband and I have a finance date on the first of every single month, like every single month.
[00:29:19.760 --> 00:29:25.440] It is the worst date to go on with your, with your partner, but it's the best thing for us and our family.
[00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:27.120] And it does, it holds us accountable.
[00:29:27.120 --> 00:29:32.080] And you look back and you're like, man, and you, it's, you just, it's not a one and done thing.
[00:29:32.080 --> 00:29:33.600] This is an ongoing thing.
[00:29:33.760 --> 00:29:38.720] You have to do it for, and we have this date for each of our entities.
[00:29:38.720 --> 00:29:40.880] And so we have our personal one to kick off.
[00:29:40.880 --> 00:29:44.880] And then we have our accountants and bookkeepers across each of our different PLs.
[00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:48.880] We've got multiple lines of businesses, and you and the coats get bigger.
[00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:56.560] It gets like, and there are things that are now fluid across organizations, across things, and it is so important to keep it in check.
[00:29:56.560 --> 00:30:04.360] And so, just setting on your calendar to say, okay, here is my, I'm gonna go back and recap and take a look.
[00:30:04.360 --> 00:30:08.280] And even just hold yourself accountable to that budget is so, so important.
[00:30:08.280 --> 00:30:13.800] There's so many great tools that now, like, now from a money standpoint, there's so many great tools.
[00:30:13.800 --> 00:30:18.520] Um, we personally use like Rocket Money, I've used Mint, and so many others.
[00:30:18.520 --> 00:30:20.360] And I'm building one right now for worth right now.
[00:30:20.360 --> 00:30:27.320] So, from a business standpoint, that's what I'm building right now is a credit worth platform so that we do have this for our business in and of itself.
[00:30:27.320 --> 00:30:30.360] So, I'll also link the waitlist for the worth score.
[00:30:30.920 --> 00:30:37.720] And also, too, I think something you said that you have help.
[00:30:37.720 --> 00:30:40.680] We have to learn to ask for help, right?
[00:30:41.000 --> 00:30:49.640] And so, whether it's like a financial advisor, your bestie, you know, your hubby, someone to like, you have to be in community with other people to get help.
[00:30:49.640 --> 00:30:51.000] Like, I'll give you an example.
[00:30:51.000 --> 00:31:01.240] I got a tax letter from the federal government that said I owe $258,000 from like my 200, my 2023 taxes.
[00:31:01.240 --> 00:31:02.680] And I was like, that can't be right.
[00:31:03.160 --> 00:31:04.280] I never not pay my taxes.
[00:31:04.280 --> 00:31:09.400] I have an accountant, I have a CFO, I have a CPA, I have all the things.
[00:31:09.400 --> 00:31:10.760] And I'm like, this can't be right.
[00:31:10.760 --> 00:31:15.240] And then the state of New Jersey sent me one, say, oh, you owe $50,000 or $60,000.
[00:31:15.240 --> 00:31:17.000] I said, that's not true.
[00:31:17.000 --> 00:31:29.320] So, one thing about me, when I pay, screenshot, and I have, you know, because I'm always, whenever I pay, because I pay, I am an S-Corp, so the taxes filter down to my personal taxes.
[00:31:29.320 --> 00:31:30.680] So I screenshotted.
[00:31:30.680 --> 00:31:34.840] Every time I make the payment, my CFO will say, Okay, Tiffany, this is, we're sending you the money.
[00:31:34.840 --> 00:31:35.880] This is what you have to pay.
[00:31:35.880 --> 00:31:36.600] I screenshot it.
[00:31:36.600 --> 00:31:37.080] I keep it.
[00:31:37.080 --> 00:31:39.560] I send her a copy, just so we're all on the same page.
[00:31:39.560 --> 00:31:41.960] So we look back and it says, Okay, Tiffany, you did pay.
[00:31:41.960 --> 00:31:43.240] What's happening here?
[00:31:43.240 --> 00:31:48.560] And so I had reached out to the accountant that I had at the time, and there's a reason why I let him go.
[00:31:44.840 --> 00:31:51.280] But like, he was like non-responsive.
[00:31:51.600 --> 00:31:54.800] And what happens is, is you don't pay every month.
[00:31:54.800 --> 00:32:00.880] You're paying interest on top of, so it went from like, you know, $2.30 to $2.40 to $2.50.
[00:32:01.360 --> 00:32:03.520] I mean, I was getting so freaked out.
[00:32:03.520 --> 00:32:06.080] So we have a new accountant, wonderful woman.
[00:32:06.080 --> 00:32:06.800] Her name is Diane.
[00:32:06.800 --> 00:32:12.400] I was like, how much would it cost for you to like look into this because it's just getting more and more expensive?
[00:32:12.400 --> 00:32:16.400] And I'm getting scared because although I know I'm paying, they're not listening to me.
[00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:18.800] And the last letter I got said, we're going to seize property.
[00:32:18.800 --> 00:32:20.720] And I was like, oh my gosh.
[00:32:20.720 --> 00:32:21.840] So she looked into it.
[00:32:21.840 --> 00:32:27.200] I had to sign, what was it, power of attorney, so she could look into it on my behalf.
[00:32:27.200 --> 00:32:36.640] And so what happened was the old accountant said, Tiffany, I think it's time for you to go from C Corp to, from S Corp to C Corp as an LLC, right?
[00:32:36.640 --> 00:32:46.400] So when you are self-employed, like a single proprietor or partnership or LLC, then you basically are an entrepreneur, right?
[00:32:46.400 --> 00:32:52.960] But when you become a corporation, a C Corp or S Corp, you like, I am an employee of the Budget Nista, right?
[00:32:52.960 --> 00:32:59.440] And so as an S Corp LLC, I am an employee of the Budget Nista, but I still own the Budget NISTA.
[00:32:59.440 --> 00:33:02.800] And it just means that the taxes that are due, everything filters to me.
[00:33:02.800 --> 00:33:04.320] Tiffany pays the taxes.
[00:33:04.320 --> 00:33:21.040] As a C Corp, which is what you see these big businesses typically are, like, you know, like Amazon and other businesses, which I had gotten into the range of earning of, not Amazon, obviously, but it meant that then the business would be in charge of paying those taxes, and I would just be paying taxes almost just as an individual.
[00:33:21.040 --> 00:33:27.600] So we were making the transition, and my accountant at the time had me start paying taxes as if I was a C Corp.
[00:33:27.600 --> 00:33:33.480] He did not tell me that his application for me to be a C Corp, for whatever reason, something wasn't signed properly, was rejected.
[00:33:29.920 --> 00:33:36.840] So I'm paying as this entity, but I'm really this entity.
[00:33:37.160 --> 00:33:39.320] So they're like, Tiffany, where's my money?
[00:33:39.320 --> 00:33:49.560] And so thankfully, the business did pay the taxes, but they didn't know that business and business Tiffany and personal Tiffany, like, they were like, we don't see it.
[00:33:49.560 --> 00:33:51.320] And so thankfully, the new accountant found it.
[00:33:51.320 --> 00:33:55.640] They were able to push that money over and say, oh, the business did pay.
[00:33:55.640 --> 00:34:00.120] Now we're just making it that like we're putting it under Tiffany's name, those payments.
[00:34:00.120 --> 00:34:02.520] And so I ended up not owing anything because I had paid.
[00:34:02.520 --> 00:34:06.760] So I just share all that to say that there is no way I could have managed that by myself.
[00:34:06.760 --> 00:34:07.800] I didn't know what I was doing.
[00:34:07.800 --> 00:34:11.320] I didn't, I'm not a CPA, I'm not a CFO, I'm not an accountant.
[00:34:11.320 --> 00:34:16.280] I didn't, even like the state of New Jersey, their debt collector called me on a Saturday.
[00:34:16.280 --> 00:34:18.600] It was basically like, girl, do you want to lose your property?
[00:34:18.600 --> 00:34:19.640] I'm like, I don't.
[00:34:19.640 --> 00:34:21.880] And I couldn't understand what was happening.
[00:34:22.440 --> 00:34:28.280] And yeah, I just, I say all that to say that it's critical to ask for help and to have help.
[00:34:28.280 --> 00:34:36.520] You know, I think what you, you know, the story that you're sharing, if you didn't have a network to then reach out, right?
[00:34:36.520 --> 00:34:37.640] Because I'm like, great.
[00:34:37.640 --> 00:34:43.240] Like, because sometimes what I find, and so there's two pieces of the conversation I still want to have.
[00:34:43.240 --> 00:34:50.040] Because what I, what, you know, we last conversation we talked about is savings and budget and making sure that we're on the finance track.
[00:34:50.040 --> 00:34:53.320] But no amount of savings is going to, like, you can out-earn all of that.
[00:34:53.320 --> 00:34:57.480] So I do want to talk about the earning and investing portion of it because that's a huge part of the conversation.
[00:34:57.480 --> 00:35:00.360] And sometimes as women, we get stuck in one or the other.
[00:35:00.360 --> 00:35:04.920] And I do think that the earning portion conversation we want to have, so I want to make sure we get to that.
[00:35:04.920 --> 00:35:09.400] Then, on this story that you're sharing here, I'm like, girl, that's scary AF.
[00:35:09.880 --> 00:35:15.120] You had the network to pick up the phone and call and say, I need help here.
[00:35:14.760 --> 00:35:17.680] And that is something that I find so often.
[00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:23.840] I am, so I surround myself with so many entrepreneurs, female entrepreneurs, with CEO school, our community.
[00:35:23.840 --> 00:35:32.400] And the biggest thing that I see, not only on the stuff internally that we're doing, is that we're literally sitting here behind a screen in our own world, in our own business world.
[00:35:32.400 --> 00:35:36.240] We're the single entity and we don't have a network.
[00:35:36.560 --> 00:35:39.040] And we blindly trust everything.
[00:35:39.040 --> 00:35:40.160] You say, oh, yeah, I have an accountant.
[00:35:40.160 --> 00:35:42.320] Oh, yeah, I have a CPA and I have whatever.
[00:35:42.640 --> 00:35:45.840] And because I don't want to, I'm like, oh, it's being handled.
[00:35:45.840 --> 00:35:47.040] I'm not good at math.
[00:35:47.040 --> 00:35:48.000] I'm not good at this.
[00:35:48.000 --> 00:35:51.600] And it's not just like the stories that we were told, it's the stories we're telling ourselves.
[00:35:52.080 --> 00:35:55.360] And we have to be armed enough to be dangerous.
[00:35:55.360 --> 00:35:57.200] Like, we have to be able to ask the questions.
[00:35:57.200 --> 00:36:05.600] Every finance meeting, like, even if it's with my CFO, even with the accountant, I'm coming prepared to ask the questions.
[00:36:05.600 --> 00:36:07.840] And that ownership is on you, girl.
[00:36:08.080 --> 00:36:10.080] That ownership, that's CEO behavior.
[00:36:10.080 --> 00:36:10.400] Yeah.
[00:36:10.800 --> 00:36:16.000] What's not CEO behavior is showing up, not being prepared, and being told what's happening.
[00:36:16.640 --> 00:36:21.200] That does not naturally come, I find, and we make excuses for it.
[00:36:21.200 --> 00:36:30.320] And that's a reality check that I want to wake up all our entrepreneurs with because it really does like it does frustrate me because it's like, well, someone's handling it.
[00:36:30.320 --> 00:36:31.760] And then we find out later.
[00:36:31.760 --> 00:36:40.240] And if you weren't on top of it, one thing, if you weren't asking the right questions, you would not have been able to solve for it.
[00:36:40.240 --> 00:36:42.560] And then, two, you had a network.
[00:36:42.560 --> 00:36:46.720] And the only way that you had a network is because you cultivated that network.
[00:36:47.040 --> 00:36:49.120] And that is something it's not going to happen.
[00:36:49.120 --> 00:36:51.520] People aren't going to drop their network into you.
[00:36:51.520 --> 00:36:55.280] It is important for you to get out of the screen, get into rooms.
[00:36:55.280 --> 00:37:05.880] And there are so many ways to build a community by joining different programs or just even being part of other entrepreneurial communities or whatever your industry is.
[00:37:06.680 --> 00:37:09.800] There are so many ways, but we have to do those two things.
[00:37:09.800 --> 00:37:14.600] We've got to be able to be, we've got to hold ourselves accountable to lead those meetings, ask the questions.
[00:37:14.600 --> 00:37:20.040] And two, we've got to have a network because without those two things, Tiffany, you could have been out of the way.
[00:37:20.280 --> 00:37:24.200] I mean, when I tell you, I think also too, because it wasn't just them.
[00:37:24.200 --> 00:37:26.360] I think about like my former CFO.
[00:37:26.360 --> 00:37:27.880] She went on to start her own company.
[00:37:27.880 --> 00:37:32.040] I called her and I was like, Santa, you know, I'm getting this letter, but I know I paid.
[00:37:32.520 --> 00:37:35.800] So you have to be proactive in your own saving.
[00:37:35.800 --> 00:37:37.160] Because I'm like, look, I didn't go.
[00:37:37.160 --> 00:37:41.400] I'm not a CFO, but I'm trying to understand, like, you know, like, I keep my own screenshot.
[00:37:41.400 --> 00:37:42.440] I'm like, I have my records.
[00:37:42.440 --> 00:37:43.080] I have my this.
[00:37:43.080 --> 00:37:43.720] I have my that.
[00:37:43.720 --> 00:37:44.360] I did this.
[00:37:44.520 --> 00:37:54.440] So I'm like, okay, but I knew, that's why I knew I had let go of that accountant because we were with a really great accountant.
[00:37:54.440 --> 00:37:56.040] He was part of a, they were part of a firm.
[00:37:56.040 --> 00:37:59.640] She moved on to a bigger, better opportunity, and they gave me him.
[00:37:59.640 --> 00:38:01.880] But instantly, I said, something's not right here.
[00:38:01.880 --> 00:38:03.160] He's not responsive.
[00:38:03.160 --> 00:38:04.920] I feel like he doesn't know what he's talking about.
[00:38:04.920 --> 00:38:06.680] You know, you work with enough people.
[00:38:06.680 --> 00:38:10.040] And so instantly, like that year, we wrapped up taxes with him.
[00:38:10.040 --> 00:38:11.640] And I was like, we're moving someplace else.
[00:38:11.640 --> 00:38:15.000] And look, that's exactly the, that's exactly what happened.
[00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:18.600] You know, that like, because meanwhile, I've been asking him, asking, and asking.
[00:38:18.600 --> 00:38:25.240] And my new Diana from this new firm that we're using now, you know, it took her literally maybe two or three weeks.
[00:38:25.240 --> 00:38:30.920] I had been asking him for months while my, while my, while the, because I'm like, it's his responsibility, you know?
[00:38:30.920 --> 00:38:32.680] But like, I was like, okay, well, what did you do?
[00:38:32.680 --> 00:38:33.880] Well, what's happening?
[00:38:33.880 --> 00:38:34.840] Crickets.
[00:38:34.840 --> 00:38:36.360] And so now I'm just so grateful.
[00:38:36.360 --> 00:38:44.200] And it cost me $1,500 that I shouldn't have had to pay because if he was going to fix it, because at first she said, well, honestly, Tiffany, he should be fixing it.
[00:38:44.200 --> 00:38:45.600] It shouldn't be an additional cost.
[00:38:45.600 --> 00:38:46.720] I'm like, I hear you.
[00:38:46.720 --> 00:38:50.000] But if they seize my property, I don't know when he's going to.
[00:38:50.080 --> 00:38:50.880] It's worth every penny.
[00:38:51.440 --> 00:38:52.080] It was worth every penny.
[00:38:52.160 --> 00:38:52.960] It was worth every penny.
[00:38:53.440 --> 00:38:54.800] And that is also important.
[00:38:54.800 --> 00:38:55.760] You also.
[00:38:56.080 --> 00:38:57.440] You pay for what you get.
[00:38:58.480 --> 00:38:59.440] You really do.
[00:38:59.440 --> 00:39:01.920] Cheaper is not the better option, right?
[00:39:01.920 --> 00:39:08.640] And as you're growing, and this advice I give to what got you from zero to one million or zero to 100 is not what's going to get you from a million.
[00:39:08.800 --> 00:39:10.320] It's not going to get you from one to ten.
[00:39:10.800 --> 00:39:14.240] You have to up-level your team around you to support you.
[00:39:14.240 --> 00:39:17.120] Like that is clear as day and every journey.
[00:39:17.120 --> 00:39:25.440] And every time these like things happen for scale or things break or whatever, and it's like we haven't up-leveled the systems, the tools, the processes, the people.
[00:39:25.440 --> 00:39:26.800] So we could talk about this all day.
[00:39:27.360 --> 00:39:29.840] I mean, yeah, such a good reminder.
[00:39:29.840 --> 00:39:33.920] Now, I do want to shift gear because we're getting into budget.
[00:39:33.920 --> 00:39:35.120] We're getting our money tight.
[00:39:35.120 --> 00:39:36.080] We're paying attention.
[00:39:36.080 --> 00:39:37.760] We're getting the people around us.
[00:39:37.760 --> 00:39:45.200] Let's talk about the growth side of it because you can't out budget.
[00:39:45.200 --> 00:39:46.400] Yeah, you can't budget your way to wealth.
[00:39:46.400 --> 00:39:46.720] I would say that.
[00:39:46.800 --> 00:39:47.920] You can't budget your way to wealth.
[00:39:48.080 --> 00:39:48.720] That's it.
[00:39:48.720 --> 00:39:53.680] So tell me about the growth, the wealth, the investing, because I do think that that's also an area.
[00:39:53.680 --> 00:39:56.480] Women, we just don't take risks to do that for ourselves.
[00:39:56.480 --> 00:39:57.440] Talk to me about that.
[00:39:57.440 --> 00:39:58.240] What's holding us back?
[00:39:58.240 --> 00:40:01.360] And what do we have to do to create the wealth?
[00:40:01.360 --> 00:40:04.240] I think it's the confidence and the not knowing.
[00:40:04.240 --> 00:40:07.280] But I would say, like, you know, I talk to women, I'm like, you've got two kids, right?
[00:40:07.280 --> 00:40:10.720] I'm like, I promise you, investing is way, way, way easier.
[00:40:10.720 --> 00:40:12.480] You're raising two human beings.
[00:40:12.720 --> 00:40:16.800] You know, like, you know, you spent your whole teenage years figuring out your eyebrow shape.
[00:40:16.800 --> 00:40:18.560] I promise you, investing is easier.
[00:40:19.360 --> 00:40:24.800] Because there's so many things that, as women, that we're like, oh my gosh, I know exactly like A-line dresses look perfect on me.
[00:40:24.800 --> 00:40:27.120] You know, the two-inch heels are just my type.
[00:40:27.120 --> 00:40:28.240] Curly hair is best.
[00:40:28.240 --> 00:40:34.200] We do all of that research, you know, market research on ourselves to present as well as we do.
[00:40:34.520 --> 00:40:40.840] And I'm like, imagine if we spend half that time putting toward the effort to learn to invest.
[00:40:40.840 --> 00:40:43.880] You know, so you can't invest without the basics.
[00:40:43.880 --> 00:40:46.280] If you don't have a budget, you probably are not savings.
[00:40:46.360 --> 00:40:50.280] And if you can't save, then you don't have any excess money to invest.
[00:40:50.280 --> 00:40:53.640] So you have to, and if you're not earning, then you can't budget.
[00:40:53.640 --> 00:40:56.920] You know, so it's like earn, budget, save, then invest.
[00:40:56.920 --> 00:41:01.800] So investing, if you don't know how to do anything else, you could literally, I mean, the market right now is crazy.
[00:41:01.800 --> 00:41:05.080] But typically, well, and that's not true.
[00:41:05.080 --> 00:41:07.560] Like the market always has crazy times.
[00:41:07.560 --> 00:41:08.840] The market is cyclical.
[00:41:08.840 --> 00:41:15.480] So certainly right now is a bit abnormal because it's based upon one person and kind of like their whim.
[00:41:16.120 --> 00:41:19.400] But the market has cycles.
[00:41:19.400 --> 00:41:20.600] I talked about the recession.
[00:41:20.600 --> 00:41:22.600] We've had depressions before.
[00:41:22.920 --> 00:41:32.360] And knowing that the market has whims, but if you look at the market over the last hundred years, that you know that it's always on its way up, even when it dips down.
[00:41:32.360 --> 00:41:37.080] You have to think about the market, the stock market, like a roller coaster, right?
[00:41:37.080 --> 00:41:40.280] So it goes up, dips down, but goes a little higher up, dips down.
[00:41:40.280 --> 00:41:45.240] But as it's, if you were to look at a trajectory, you would say, oh, it's actually pointing upward.
[00:41:45.240 --> 00:41:50.200] So even if, you know, like you're in a down market, which honestly, this is where wealth is made.
[00:41:50.200 --> 00:41:51.640] I mean, you'll hear people say that.
[00:41:52.280 --> 00:41:54.840] Because we all thought it was all over during the recession.
[00:41:54.840 --> 00:41:58.360] So many people were giving up their homes and now their homes are worth so much more.
[00:41:58.360 --> 00:42:02.920] So many people were like cashing out, you know, their 401ks and things, and thinking they were going to lose.
[00:42:02.920 --> 00:42:06.760] And now that money, had they left it in there, you know, is worth so much more.
[00:42:06.760 --> 00:42:14.360] I remember when, I don't know what year it was, but I was pretty broke, but I had scrounged together like $2,500 to get one Bitcoin.
[00:42:14.360 --> 00:42:15.840] $2,500.
[00:42:14.760 --> 00:42:20.720] And I put it in Coinbase or whatever site I used it, and then it dipped to like $1,900.
[00:42:21.600 --> 00:42:25.360] And I was so scared, I took it out because I didn't really understand.
[00:42:25.360 --> 00:42:31.040] I took it out, and for some reason, there was like some pennies left over, 50 cents, something left over.
[00:42:31.040 --> 00:42:32.720] The other day, I got a ping from Coinbase.
[00:42:32.720 --> 00:42:34.320] I have not logged in in years.
[00:42:34.320 --> 00:42:36.800] And something about my balance, I'm like, I don't have a balance.
[00:42:36.800 --> 00:42:38.160] I took out my money.
[00:42:38.160 --> 00:42:42.240] And so I guess at the time, you had to take it out like in dollar increments.
[00:42:42.240 --> 00:42:46.800] So do you know the pennies I left behind are worth $1,500?
[00:42:47.120 --> 00:42:50.960] Imagine if I would have left my $2,500.
[00:42:51.280 --> 00:42:51.760] Yeah.
[00:42:53.360 --> 00:42:56.800] I mean, that's a car, you know, or whatever I could have, you know.
[00:42:56.800 --> 00:43:08.720] But I was just thinking to myself, oh my gosh, if two, three dollars that I left behind is worth $1,500 now, that $2,500 might have been worth, I don't know, $50,000 or something like that.
[00:43:08.720 --> 00:43:12.400] And so investing requires you not to be as nervous.
[00:43:12.880 --> 00:43:15.920] If I'm being honest, I looked at my account yesterday, my friend said, don't look, don't look.
[00:43:15.920 --> 00:43:16.640] I'm like, no, I'm going to look.
[00:43:17.200 --> 00:43:17.920] I have not looked.
[00:43:17.920 --> 00:43:20.560] So I've met Faisal and I have been talking about it every single night right now.
[00:43:20.560 --> 00:43:21.280] And he's like, just.
[00:43:21.600 --> 00:43:22.240] And it's true.
[00:43:22.240 --> 00:43:26.560] And I know what the experts is to just let it be.
[00:43:26.560 --> 00:43:28.400] Yeah, I looked at it and it didn't freak me out.
[00:43:28.560 --> 00:43:29.680] I'll just, I'll be honest.
[00:43:29.680 --> 00:43:37.280] So for the year, because I've definitely had some ups and downs for the year, I'm down $95,000.
[00:43:37.280 --> 00:43:44.000] But for the month, but if I was just looking at this one month, down almost just under $300,000.
[00:43:44.000 --> 00:43:44.640] That's crazy.
[00:43:44.640 --> 00:43:46.640] I could have bought a purchase of property, you know?
[00:43:46.640 --> 00:43:55.920] But honestly, when I saw it, I actually hit up my financial advisor and said, said Anjali, you know, like, you know, should I put more money in?
[00:43:55.920 --> 00:43:59.400] Because I know it's down, but it will not stay down.
[00:43:59.040 --> 00:44:03.560] And there, like, and I'm not talking about money into necessarily individual stocks, you can do that.
[00:44:03.880 --> 00:44:06.600] But should I put more money into the general market?
[00:44:06.600 --> 00:44:11.480] And she was like, Well, I still have some money left over from the last time you, you know, you sent me money.
[00:44:11.480 --> 00:44:27.560] So we've got like, so I'm doing dollar cost averaging, which is when you put money in regularly into the market, typically monthly, whether the market is up or down, if you do so, your average will average up on the upside because you're going to catch the market on its way down.
[00:44:27.560 --> 00:44:29.880] Sometimes you're going to catch the market on its way up.
[00:44:29.880 --> 00:44:32.760] But in general, you will see that your money grows over time.
[00:44:32.760 --> 00:44:39.880] Now, the only folks that I'm truly, truly, not the only, but people who I am worried about, honestly, is folks who are retiring within a year or so.
[00:44:39.880 --> 00:44:42.840] Because it might take time for the market to rebound itself.
[00:44:42.840 --> 00:44:48.600] I'm 45, so I don't plan on using that money for another 10, maybe 15, maybe even 20 years.
[00:44:48.600 --> 00:44:50.040] Maybe, you know, I don't know.
[00:44:50.360 --> 00:44:54.840] So I have plenty of time for whatever losses I have to be regained.
[00:44:54.840 --> 00:44:59.800] So I want folks to one, unless you need the money, next year I would not be touching it.
[00:44:59.800 --> 00:45:04.040] Because there are paper losses, meaning like what I just saw, you lost $300,000.
[00:45:04.040 --> 00:45:07.240] I actually didn't lose $300,000 until I pulled that money out.
[00:45:07.240 --> 00:45:08.520] Then it's locked in.
[00:45:09.000 --> 00:45:09.800] So I'm looking at it.
[00:45:09.800 --> 00:45:14.840] I'm like, well, I've been down before, and two, three, five years, it might tell, oh, Tiffany, you're up $500,000.
[00:45:14.840 --> 00:45:15.480] Okay.
[00:45:15.800 --> 00:45:16.360] You know?
[00:45:16.360 --> 00:45:21.000] And so, like, I don't want it to be a realized loss by pulling my money out.
[00:45:21.000 --> 00:45:22.680] So that's just something to consider.
[00:45:22.680 --> 00:45:25.560] That, like, I have my stepdaughter is 18.
[00:45:25.560 --> 00:45:31.480] And she was saying, like, oh my gosh, because she has like all this money in an account that we put in for her.
[00:45:31.480 --> 00:45:32.760] And she's like, I just want to pull it out.
[00:45:32.760 --> 00:45:33.640] I was like, you're 18.
[00:45:33.640 --> 00:45:38.360] You literally have like 50 years before, girl.
[00:45:39.640 --> 00:45:41.960] The jeans you want to buy are secure or whatever.
[00:45:41.960 --> 00:45:44.120] You know, like, so she has plenty of time.
[00:45:44.120 --> 00:45:55.840] And so, those are things to consider: is that one, if you feel really nervous about investing, you might want to invest in having a financial advisor, specifically a certified financial planner.
[00:45:55.840 --> 00:45:58.480] That's the gold standard of financial advisors.
[00:45:58.480 --> 00:46:09.920] And not everyone needs one, but I got one not for the investment component because a financial advisor doesn't just help you to make the best decisions when it comes to investing.
[00:46:09.920 --> 00:46:13.680] There's a holistic approach, like I was underinsured.
[00:46:13.680 --> 00:46:14.720] So, she's looking at that.
[00:46:14.720 --> 00:46:18.160] She also, because I have businesses, she's also a CPA, which I love.
[00:46:18.160 --> 00:46:20.000] So, she looks at my taxes too.
[00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:21.360] She looks at my business finance.
[00:46:21.360 --> 00:46:23.040] She's another set of eyes.
[00:46:23.040 --> 00:46:26.160] You know, I've got like three or four sets of eyes looking at my finances.
[00:46:26.560 --> 00:46:32.640] But also, too, like when my husband suddenly passed away in 2021, she was like, she looked through.
[00:46:32.640 --> 00:46:33.840] He had a pension.
[00:46:34.080 --> 00:46:37.280] We had like money that he had left behind.
[00:46:37.280 --> 00:46:43.520] We had life insurance and things like that that I couldn't have possibly gone through when I was deep, deep, deep in grief.
[00:46:43.520 --> 00:46:46.000] And so, she helped significantly with that.
[00:46:46.000 --> 00:46:56.640] And so, to me, especially as you start to grow wealth or want to grow wealth, having a guide, having access to someone who's going to look at your life holistically can really be helpful.
[00:46:56.640 --> 00:47:10.480] But if you don't know anything else, you know, you invest in an ETF, you know, and certainly this is not financial advice, but if it was me, I'm investing in an ETF or mutual fund, but their fees are kind of high that mirrors the market.
[00:47:10.480 --> 00:47:18.160] Meaning, like, I'm like the SP 500, the top 500 companies trading on the stock and stock, like trading.
[00:47:18.160 --> 00:47:27.120] Like, like I'm looking at that and saying, okay, this ETF, this exchange-traded fund, mirrors what that, what the market is doing.
[00:47:27.120 --> 00:47:31.240] And I know it's down right now, but I know that it's on its way up eventually.
[00:47:29.840 --> 00:47:35.240] And so I'm just going to put my money into this ETF or mutual fund that mirrors what it does.
[00:47:35.400 --> 00:47:41.640] Because I know that in the last 30 years, we're looking at a return typically of like seven to ten percent.
[00:47:41.640 --> 00:47:43.880] And so that's better than putting it in the bank, you know?
[00:47:44.600 --> 00:47:46.440] So yeah, just getting started.
[00:47:46.440 --> 00:47:53.560] And if you're really, really, really scared, like if you really want to learn to trade, say there's simulation accounts that you can practice with, you know?
[00:47:53.560 --> 00:47:55.560] And so when I first started trading, that's what I used to do.
[00:47:55.560 --> 00:47:57.800] For like six months, I would just use these accounts.
[00:47:57.800 --> 00:48:02.440] They give you like the fake money and you put it in and you chart, you know, you take your classes.
[00:48:03.000 --> 00:48:11.960] And then you feel more confident knowing like, okay, these stocks are currently down, but they're down because of what's happening externally, not the company itself.
[00:48:11.960 --> 00:48:13.720] I love buying a company on a discount.
[00:48:13.720 --> 00:48:16.760] But for women, it's to just get started.
[00:48:16.760 --> 00:48:18.840] Create your own investment clubs together.
[00:48:18.840 --> 00:48:21.160] I meet with my club every Saturday.
[00:48:21.160 --> 00:48:24.360] We meet for like one to two hours and we practice charting.
[00:48:24.920 --> 00:48:29.960] One of my friends made like, oh my gosh, I mean, I've seen her make trades where she put $300,000.
[00:48:29.960 --> 00:48:33.480] I think it was like Amazon or Denzy, Disney, and she made a million dollars in one trade.
[00:48:33.480 --> 00:48:34.920] She's done that several times.
[00:48:34.920 --> 00:48:35.480] And so I was.
[00:48:35.640 --> 00:48:36.920] That to me is like gambling.
[00:48:37.800 --> 00:48:41.080] I feel like there's so much like, you have to learn it, you have to do it.
[00:48:41.080 --> 00:48:45.560] But trading and trading stocks feels like, it's definitely not my area.
[00:48:45.640 --> 00:48:46.920] I'm a finance major.
[00:48:47.720 --> 00:48:54.280] I've literally ran a fintech $40 billion under like our payment ecosystem, doing it again.
[00:48:54.360 --> 00:48:58.680] So I do feel like I'm very strong in my financial acumen.
[00:48:58.680 --> 00:49:03.480] But for me, I'm definitely not that risk taker in that way.
[00:49:03.480 --> 00:49:04.240] I'm like, here's it.
[00:49:04.200 --> 00:49:05.320] It doesn't have to be.
[00:49:05.320 --> 00:49:10.760] So this is one thing I've learned from Terry, like, which is so amazing, is that like, because at first I was like, Terry, I don't want to do it.
[00:49:10.760 --> 00:49:11.800] She's like, no.
[00:49:11.800 --> 00:49:16.000] So what I love, she is a, she does technical analysis.
[00:49:16.320 --> 00:49:27.840] So she's got the seven point system where she teaches like, okay, we're going to look, you know, like there was like five or six companies that I follow, and we are looking to see when are big banks about to jump in.
[00:49:27.840 --> 00:49:32.560] You can actually see on the chart based upon shapes that the chart makes, right?
[00:49:32.560 --> 00:49:46.160] Like, okay, like there has been a significant drop, not because anything happened to the company, but because, I don't know, like, you know, maybe their earnings came out and like it came out the same time as somebody else's or whatever.
[00:49:46.160 --> 00:49:50.640] So she shows the buying area and the selling area.
[00:49:50.640 --> 00:49:57.600] And before you make a trade, you have to do the risk analysis and say, how much are you willing to lose in this trade?
[00:49:57.600 --> 00:50:00.160] And I might say, I'm not willing to lose more than $1,000.
[00:50:00.160 --> 00:50:09.600] So then she's going to, she shows you how to do the math that says, okay, then you can buy four shares of this stock at this amount of money.
[00:50:09.600 --> 00:50:13.280] And if it doesn't go your way, you won't lose more than that thousand dollars.
[00:50:13.280 --> 00:50:19.040] And so that's what I love is that like you can actively manage your risk and it's not guessing.
[00:50:19.040 --> 00:50:20.880] It's not like, oh, I heard in the news.
[00:50:20.880 --> 00:50:24.160] No, you're literally just reading the chart.
[00:50:24.160 --> 00:50:26.560] And the chart tells you, and also too, Terry does.
[00:50:26.720 --> 00:50:27.680] Just get educated, right?
[00:50:28.080 --> 00:50:28.320] Yes.
[00:50:29.280 --> 00:50:29.600] That's the key.
[00:50:30.400 --> 00:50:31.600] It's to get comfort, right?
[00:50:31.600 --> 00:50:36.800] Anything that we feel risk about or has like hesitant about, we've got to educate ourselves.
[00:50:37.280 --> 00:50:46.240] And so I do want, you know, and I will say that that's the advice that, and I really wanted to call you to bring you on right now because of, you know, there's a lot happening.
[00:50:46.240 --> 00:51:00.280] And what I don't want women to do, I sold my company in 2020 to private equity, and we invested when everybody told us to pull back to go acquire, to, you know, put in customer acquisition, start becoming more profitable.
[00:50:59.680 --> 00:51:05.640] And I was like, Look, every dollar that I put out, I'm getting three dollars back in my customer cap return.
[00:51:05.960 --> 00:51:06.760] Why would I do this?
[00:51:06.760 --> 00:51:08.520] And I know the markets are kind of crazy.
[00:51:08.520 --> 00:51:15.560] This was COVID happening, and we ended up using that as such an opportunity to gain momentum because our competitors were pulling back.
[00:51:15.720 --> 00:51:22.840] If I hadn't done that, our revenue grew that year from like 10 to 20 million and like we doubled.
[00:51:22.840 --> 00:51:26.280] And it was such a phenomenal time.
[00:51:26.280 --> 00:51:28.280] And I think it was actually 20 to 40, I believe.
[00:51:28.280 --> 00:51:28.840] Sorry.
[00:51:29.160 --> 00:51:37.160] And but my point in that is that it's not about taking, it's about being calculated in your making, right?
[00:51:37.160 --> 00:51:40.840] And just because others are pulling back, like say the course.
[00:51:40.840 --> 00:51:43.480] Like, I really do think that that's been like the overarching advice.
[00:51:43.480 --> 00:51:47.160] I've talked to many finance experts this week just over what's happening.
[00:51:47.480 --> 00:51:53.160] Everyone's got their theories of like this could just be a couple of days, this could be weeks, some say it could be years, right?
[00:51:53.160 --> 00:51:54.200] It could be back into the thing.
[00:51:54.200 --> 00:51:55.560] So we just don't know.
[00:51:55.560 --> 00:52:00.040] However, everyone's like, just say the course, don't freak out over it.
[00:52:00.040 --> 00:52:07.400] And I don't want 

Prompt 2: Key Takeaways

Now please extract the key takeaways from the transcript content I provided.

Extract the most important key takeaways from this part of the conversation. Use a single sentence statement (the key takeaway) rather than milquetoast descriptions like "the hosts discuss...". 

Limit the key takeaways to a maximum of 3. The key takeaways should be insightful and knowledge-additive. 

IMPORTANT: Return ONLY valid JSON, no explanations or markdown. Ensure:
- All strings are properly quoted and escaped
- No trailing commas
- All braces and brackets are balanced
Format: {"key_takeaways": ["takeaway 1", "takeaway 2"]}

Prompt 3: Segments

Now identify 2-4 distinct topical segments from this part of the conversation.

For each segment, identify:
- Descriptive title (3-6 words)  
- START timestamp when this topic begins (HH:MM:SS format)
- Double check that the timestamp is accurate - a timestamp will NEVER be greater than the total length of the audio
- Most important Key takeaway from that segment. Key takeaway must be specific and knowledge-additive.
- Brief summary of the discussion

IMPORTANT: The timestamp should mark when the topic/segment STARTS, not a range. Look for topic transitions and conversation shifts.

Return ONLY valid JSON. Ensure all strings are properly quoted, no trailing commas:
{
  "segments": [
    {
      "segment_title": "Topic Discussion", 
      "timestamp": "01:15:30",
      "key_takeaway": "main point from this segment",
      "segment_summary": "brief description of what was discussed"
    }
  ]
}

Timestamp format: HH:MM:SS (e.g., 00:05:30, 01:22:45) marking the START of each segment.

Prompt 4: Media Mentions

Now scan the transcript content I provided for ACTUAL mentions of specific media titles:

Find explicit mentions of:
- Books (with specific titles)
- Movies (with specific titles)  
- TV Shows (with specific titles)
- Music/Songs (with specific titles)

DO NOT include:
- Websites, URLs, or web services
- Other podcasts or podcast names

IMPORTANT: 
- Only include items explicitly mentioned by name. Do not invent titles.
- Valid categories are: "Book", "Movie", "TV Show", "Music"
- Include the exact phrase where each item was mentioned
- Find the nearest proximate timestamp where it appears in the conversation
- THE TIMESTAMP OF THE MEDIA MENTION IS IMPORTANT - DO NOT INVENT TIMESTAMPS AND DO NOT MISATTRIBUTE TIMESTAMPS
- Double check that the timestamp is accurate - a timestamp will NEVER be greater than the total length of the audio
- Timestamps are given as ranges, e.g. 01:13:42.520 --> 01:13:46.720. Use the EARLIER of the 2 timestamps in the range.

Return ONLY valid JSON. Ensure all strings are properly quoted and escaped, no trailing commas:
{
  "media_mentions": [
    {
      "title": "Exact Title as Mentioned",
      "category": "Book",
      "author_artist": "N/A",
      "context": "Brief context of why it was mentioned",
      "context_phrase": "The exact sentence or phrase where it was mentioned",
      "timestamp": "estimated time like 01:15:30"
    }
  ]
}

If no media is mentioned, return: {"media_mentions": []}

Prompt 5: Context Setup

You are an expert data extractor tasked with analyzing a podcast transcript. 
I will provide you with part 2 of 2 from a podcast transcript. 
I will then ask you to extract different types of information from this content in subsequent messages. Please confirm you have received and understood the transcript content.

Transcript section:
ice that, and I really wanted to call you to bring you on right now because of, you know, there's a lot happening.
[00:50:46.240 --> 00:51:00.280] And what I don't want women to do, I sold my company in 2020 to private equity, and we invested when everybody told us to pull back to go acquire, to, you know, put in customer acquisition, start becoming more profitable.
[00:50:59.680 --> 00:51:05.640] And I was like, Look, every dollar that I put out, I'm getting three dollars back in my customer cap return.
[00:51:05.960 --> 00:51:06.760] Why would I do this?
[00:51:06.760 --> 00:51:08.520] And I know the markets are kind of crazy.
[00:51:08.520 --> 00:51:15.560] This was COVID happening, and we ended up using that as such an opportunity to gain momentum because our competitors were pulling back.
[00:51:15.720 --> 00:51:22.840] If I hadn't done that, our revenue grew that year from like 10 to 20 million and like we doubled.
[00:51:22.840 --> 00:51:26.280] And it was such a phenomenal time.
[00:51:26.280 --> 00:51:28.280] And I think it was actually 20 to 40, I believe.
[00:51:28.280 --> 00:51:28.840] Sorry.
[00:51:29.160 --> 00:51:37.160] And but my point in that is that it's not about taking, it's about being calculated in your making, right?
[00:51:37.160 --> 00:51:40.840] And just because others are pulling back, like say the course.
[00:51:40.840 --> 00:51:43.480] Like, I really do think that that's been like the overarching advice.
[00:51:43.480 --> 00:51:47.160] I've talked to many finance experts this week just over what's happening.
[00:51:47.480 --> 00:51:53.160] Everyone's got their theories of like this could just be a couple of days, this could be weeks, some say it could be years, right?
[00:51:53.160 --> 00:51:54.200] It could be back into the thing.
[00:51:54.200 --> 00:51:55.560] So we just don't know.
[00:51:55.560 --> 00:52:00.040] However, everyone's like, just say the course, don't freak out over it.
[00:52:00.040 --> 00:52:07.400] And I don't want women to be, you know, now is the time to, you know, don't make scared decisions either.
[00:52:07.400 --> 00:52:10.920] So be, you know, be smart and be conservative, but you don't need to make scared decisions.
[00:52:10.920 --> 00:52:15.800] And it could also be an opportunity to see what your competitors are not doing, right?
[00:52:15.800 --> 00:52:23.320] So if you're a business owner, you know, how does this affect you as a business owner and where can you find those market opportunities, even through your product and things like that?
[00:52:23.320 --> 00:52:27.960] Because I do think the best place that a woman can invest is in her business.
[00:52:28.440 --> 00:52:28.680] Yes.
[00:52:29.320 --> 00:52:34.760] Honestly, like now, for me, people always used to laugh, like, hee, hee, ha, Tiffany, because I keep my prices fairly low.
[00:52:34.760 --> 00:52:36.600] We have this get girl with money club.
[00:52:36.600 --> 00:52:37.480] It comes along with a plan.
[00:52:37.480 --> 00:52:39.880] It's 35 bucks a month, for example.
[00:52:39.880 --> 00:52:45.840] And I remember when I first started my online academy called the Liverpool Academy, it was $10 a month.
[00:52:44.680 --> 00:52:48.400] Everyone told us we were so dumb, it's too low.
[00:52:48.720 --> 00:52:52.960] But we were, you know, like 30% profit, we're making a million dollars a year.
[00:52:52.960 --> 00:52:59.760] And even the club, I mean, we graduated, like I said, over 300,000 students, and our profit margin is 40%.
[00:53:00.080 --> 00:53:03.600] I mean, contrary to popular belief, you don't want a 90% profit margin.
[00:53:03.600 --> 00:53:04.400] You're doing something wrong.
[00:53:04.400 --> 00:53:07.440] You're either underpaying, you're paying way too many taxes.
[00:53:07.440 --> 00:53:11.440] And so 40% is solid where we'd like to kind of like land for ourselves.
[00:53:11.440 --> 00:53:19.040] And so I just share all that to say that, like, I know during times like this, for me, people are not wanting to pay.
[00:53:19.040 --> 00:53:23.680] Like, during COVID, everyone had a $25,000 product or $10,000 or $2,000.
[00:53:24.000 --> 00:53:30.080] I'm like, this is where I get to shine because folks are like, oh my gosh, I want day-to-day financial help.
[00:53:30.080 --> 00:53:32.240] I don't have $200, $300 a month to do so.
[00:53:32.240 --> 00:53:33.600] I'm like, don't worry, we got you.
[00:53:34.400 --> 00:53:37.600] There's already 10,000 students right now currently going through it.
[00:53:38.000 --> 00:53:39.520] It's 35 bucks a month.
[00:53:39.520 --> 00:53:41.440] And folks are like, yes, thank you so much, Tiffy.
[00:53:41.440 --> 00:53:44.720] So we are actually growing despite the financial fear.
[00:53:44.720 --> 00:53:57.920] And so to your point, Sonara, that like, you know, like figuring out like what are your competitors not doing, how to get in, even with DEI going out the window, people are like, Tiffany, are you finding that brands are reaching out to you less?
[00:53:57.920 --> 00:54:00.800] Surprisingly, no, I'm finding them reaching out to me more.
[00:54:00.800 --> 00:54:18.000] I don't, I don't, you know, and it's, you know, and I think it's because certainly my core audience is black and brown women, but I made a concerted effort some years ago to make sure that like I honor my core audience while also making sure that I'm on platforms that adhere to a wider audience.
[00:54:18.000 --> 00:54:21.360] When I'm on Good Morning America, I'm not just speaking to black and brown women.
[00:54:21.360 --> 00:54:23.600] Today's show, I have a Netflix special.
[00:54:23.600 --> 00:54:25.200] I just did a PBS special.
[00:54:25.200 --> 00:54:29.280] And so I learned to seesaw.
[00:54:29.280 --> 00:54:40.520] And so as a result, even though DEI money has slowed down, that's okay because we have this other side of our business that is like general population kind of access to our business.
[00:54:40.520 --> 00:54:53.080] So just, and to me, this is when true business people are made or broken, you know, because if anybody can win when everything goes right, you know, anybody can win when everything goes right.
[00:54:53.080 --> 00:55:05.720] You know, do you have the determination and the grit to stick to it, to do what it takes, to cut your coat a little smaller, you know, to maybe hunker down or lean in or take the risk?
[00:55:05.720 --> 00:55:08.200] You know, maybe now's the time to learn to start trading.
[00:55:08.200 --> 00:55:11.080] I'm not saying trading with real money, but trading with pro-trade.
[00:55:11.080 --> 00:55:14.840] So that way, when this opportunity comes around again, you can jump in.
[00:55:14.840 --> 00:55:19.320] You know, like so investing doesn't just have to mean investing in stocks and the market.
[00:55:19.320 --> 00:55:21.960] Investing, honestly, can be just investing in yourself.
[00:55:21.960 --> 00:55:24.040] Now is the time to invest in yourself.
[00:55:24.040 --> 00:55:24.680] I love that.
[00:55:24.680 --> 00:55:27.240] And I think that's a perfect way to end this awesome episode.
[00:55:27.240 --> 00:55:28.840] I could literally talk to you for hours.
[00:55:28.840 --> 00:55:29.880] This was so helpful.
[00:55:30.200 --> 00:55:32.760] Tiffany, congratulations on everything.
[00:55:32.760 --> 00:55:34.440] We're super rooting for you.
[00:55:34.440 --> 00:55:37.240] We definitely need to get our copy of Get Go With Money.
[00:55:37.240 --> 00:55:39.960] We definitely need to get access to your club.
[00:55:39.960 --> 00:55:41.480] How do we find you online?
[00:55:41.480 --> 00:55:42.360] How do we follow you?
[00:55:42.360 --> 00:55:46.280] And then I'll link every single thing for all of our women at CEO School.
[00:55:46.280 --> 00:55:51.320] So if you, I am the budget niece on all the platforms.
[00:55:51.720 --> 00:55:54.920] Get go with money, it's available wherever books are sold.
[00:55:55.240 --> 00:55:58.440] You know, Amazon, Marginoble, small bookstores as well.
[00:55:58.440 --> 00:56:07.800] And if you want to join the club and it comes along, like I said, with this plan, it's join GGWM for getger with moneyplan.com.
[00:56:07.800 --> 00:56:09.960] Join ggwmplan.com.
[00:56:09.960 --> 00:56:17.520] And yeah, like I said, for 35 bucks a month, if you use the code 35, now remember to use the code 35.
[00:56:17.520 --> 00:56:18.560] Yes, I was just remembering that.
[00:56:18.560 --> 00:56:19.120] Yes.
[00:56:19.120 --> 00:56:20.400] Okay, we'll link it for you.
[00:56:14.760 --> 00:56:21.520] So you just go to the show notes.
[00:56:21.520 --> 00:56:22.800] It'll be easy and linked.
[00:56:22.800 --> 00:56:24.640] Tiff, this was such a pleasure.
[00:56:24.640 --> 00:56:27.200] Thank you so much for being on the show today.
[00:56:27.200 --> 00:56:30.960] We are going to invest in ourselves and do all the right things.
[00:56:30.960 --> 00:56:31.840] I'm so excited.
[00:56:31.840 --> 00:56:33.680] I think this is such a great opportunity.
[00:56:33.680 --> 00:56:35.120] And so this was such a good reminder.
[00:56:35.120 --> 00:56:37.680] I think everybody needed to hear this episode today.
[00:56:37.680 --> 00:56:40.800] And I know I'm going to go back and go make my finance meetings.
[00:56:40.800 --> 00:56:42.880] I'm going to go take a look at my portfolio again.
[00:56:42.880 --> 00:56:44.240] And I might even learn some day trading.
[00:56:44.240 --> 00:56:45.200] So I'm going to ping you on that.
[00:56:46.960 --> 00:56:53.040] Maybe you can, maybe I can report back to the crew on whether it's for me or not.
[00:56:53.040 --> 00:56:54.720] But super excited to have you on.
[00:56:54.720 --> 00:57:00.400] And if you guys enjoyed today's episode, please do screenshot this episode, tag us online, share it with your friends.
[00:57:00.400 --> 00:57:02.000] This is the most important knowledge.
[00:57:02.000 --> 00:57:07.280] Women need to be supporting each other with conversations like these, and they need to be had.
[00:57:07.280 --> 00:57:11.520] So share this conversation, tag Tiffany, tag myself, tag CEO School.
[00:57:11.520 --> 00:57:14.480] And we can't wait to see you in our DMs and leave a review.
[00:57:14.480 --> 00:57:17.760] And we'll see you on next episode of The CEO School.
[00:57:17.760 --> 00:57:18.400] Bye, everyone.
[00:57:18.640 --> 00:57:19.840] Bye, Tiffany.
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Prompt 6: Key Takeaways

Now please extract the key takeaways from the transcript content I provided.

Extract the most important key takeaways from this part of the conversation. Use a single sentence statement (the key takeaway) rather than milquetoast descriptions like "the hosts discuss...". 

Limit the key takeaways to a maximum of 3. The key takeaways should be insightful and knowledge-additive. 

IMPORTANT: Return ONLY valid JSON, no explanations or markdown. Ensure:
- All strings are properly quoted and escaped
- No trailing commas
- All braces and brackets are balanced
Format: {"key_takeaways": ["takeaway 1", "takeaway 2"]}

Prompt 7: Segments

Now identify 2-4 distinct topical segments from this part of the conversation.

For each segment, identify:
- Descriptive title (3-6 words)  
- START timestamp when this topic begins (HH:MM:SS format)
- Double check that the timestamp is accurate - a timestamp will NEVER be greater than the total length of the audio
- Most important Key takeaway from that segment. Key takeaway must be specific and knowledge-additive.
- Brief summary of the discussion

IMPORTANT: The timestamp should mark when the topic/segment STARTS, not a range. Look for topic transitions and conversation shifts.

Return ONLY valid JSON. Ensure all strings are properly quoted, no trailing commas:
{
  "segments": [
    {
      "segment_title": "Topic Discussion", 
      "timestamp": "01:15:30",
      "key_takeaway": "main point from this segment",
      "segment_summary": "brief description of what was discussed"
    }
  ]
}

Timestamp format: HH:MM:SS (e.g., 00:05:30, 01:22:45) marking the START of each segment.

Prompt 8: Media Mentions

Now scan the transcript content I provided for ACTUAL mentions of specific media titles:

Find explicit mentions of:
- Books (with specific titles)
- Movies (with specific titles)  
- TV Shows (with specific titles)
- Music/Songs (with specific titles)

DO NOT include:
- Websites, URLs, or web services
- Other podcasts or podcast names

IMPORTANT: 
- Only include items explicitly mentioned by name. Do not invent titles.
- Valid categories are: "Book", "Movie", "TV Show", "Music"
- Include the exact phrase where each item was mentioned
- Find the nearest proximate timestamp where it appears in the conversation
- THE TIMESTAMP OF THE MEDIA MENTION IS IMPORTANT - DO NOT INVENT TIMESTAMPS AND DO NOT MISATTRIBUTE TIMESTAMPS
- Double check that the timestamp is accurate - a timestamp will NEVER be greater than the total length of the audio
- Timestamps are given as ranges, e.g. 01:13:42.520 --> 01:13:46.720. Use the EARLIER of the 2 timestamps in the range.

Return ONLY valid JSON. Ensure all strings are properly quoted and escaped, no trailing commas:
{
  "media_mentions": [
    {
      "title": "Exact Title as Mentioned",
      "category": "Book",
      "author_artist": "N/A",
      "context": "Brief context of why it was mentioned",
      "context_phrase": "The exact sentence or phrase where it was mentioned",
      "timestamp": "estimated time like 01:15:30"
    }
  ]
}

If no media is mentioned, return: {"media_mentions": []}

Full Transcript

[00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:05.920] Emochi Moment from Sadie, who writes, I'm not crying, you're crying.
[00:00:05.920 --> 00:00:13.120] This is what I said during my first appointment with my physician at Mochi, because I didn't have to convince him I needed a GLP-1.
[00:00:13.120 --> 00:00:16.320] He understood, and I felt supported, not judged.
[00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:19.120] I came for the weight loss and stayed for the empathy.
[00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:20.240] Thanks, Sadie.
[00:00:20.240 --> 00:00:22.960] I'm Myra Ameth, founder of Mochi Health.
[00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:26.960] To find your Mochi Moment, visit joinmochi.com.
[00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:30.240] Sadie is a mochi member compensated for her story.
[00:00:30.560 --> 00:00:34.640] Taking on a DIY job around the house is the ultimate summer project.
[00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:42.400] But if your DIY home security system is a beware of dog sign, when your real pet is Princess the Cat, that's safe-ish.
[00:00:42.400 --> 00:00:47.200] To be actually safe, help protect your home with a DIY system from ADT.
[00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:52.080] It's easy to install and gives you virtual assistance from ADT's technical support team.
[00:00:52.080 --> 00:00:55.840] Best of all, you can tell everyone in the neighborhood you set it up yourself.
[00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:58.640] Don't settle for safe-ish this summer.
[00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:00.880] DIY with ADT instead.
[00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:04.320] Visit ADT.com to learn more.
[00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:20.640] Hi, I'm Sonera Madani, a mom of two, daughter of an immigrant, and an unlikely entrepreneur who built a billion-dollar business.
[00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:21.840] Yes, billion.
[00:01:22.160 --> 00:01:25.520] Now I'm doing it again and building my second unicorn, work.
[00:01:26.240 --> 00:01:33.040] Shockingly, less than 2% of female founders ever reach $1 million in revenue, and I'm on a mission to change that.
[00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:39.200] At CEO School, we mentor thousands of women to help them level up in business and in life.
[00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:45.360] We believe that you deserve to have it all because honestly, nothing bad happens when women make more money.
[00:01:46.160 --> 00:01:49.280] Grab a seat because class is officially in session.
[00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:51.680] Welcome to CEO School.
[00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:54.000] Hi, everyone.
[00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:55.920] Welcome back to the CEO School Podcast.
[00:01:55.920 --> 00:02:07.640] I'm your host, Sonera Madani, and today I have such an incredible money expert on the show with us, Tiffany Alicia of the Budget Nista.
[00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:21.160] She is not just a finance money expert, she's a best-selling author of Get Good With Money, all about money, finances, and how to really create wealth for ourselves.
[00:02:21.160 --> 00:02:23.320] Today, I'm so excited to have a conversation with her.
[00:02:23.320 --> 00:02:30.200] Tiffany and I met on her podcast, The Brown Ambition, and we've just been insta friends for quite a bit.
[00:02:30.200 --> 00:02:33.240] And I just love all of her framework and teachings around money.
[00:02:33.240 --> 00:02:40.360] And we know that at CEO School, we talk a lot about freedom of dollar, and especially nothing bad happens when women make more money.
[00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:46.200] And currently, right now, there is a lot happening from a macroeconomic standpoint.
[00:02:46.200 --> 00:02:50.840] I picked up the phone and I called Tiffany, and this is actually an episode that's not in person.
[00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:56.760] We're doing this virtual because we wanted to bring it to you relevant, live, and all the things that are happening.
[00:02:56.760 --> 00:02:58.760] So, I'm really excited for you to stay tuned.
[00:02:58.760 --> 00:03:11.480] I'm here to learn as well because there's so much happening in the world, and we've got to understand what to do with our money, what happens if there is a recession, how do we protect ourselves as a business owner, and then how do we grow that wealth?
[00:03:11.480 --> 00:03:15.160] So, without further ado, I'm so excited to welcome Tiffany on CEO School.
[00:03:15.160 --> 00:03:16.840] Tiffany, thank you so much for doing this.
[00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:17.800] Welcome to the show.
[00:03:17.800 --> 00:03:18.840] Thank you, Sonara.
[00:03:18.840 --> 00:03:20.200] I'm glad to be here.
[00:03:20.200 --> 00:03:22.840] Oh my God, so many questions that I have for you.
[00:03:22.840 --> 00:03:28.440] But before we kick off, I'd love for the audience just to get to know a little bit about you, your background.
[00:03:28.440 --> 00:03:32.520] I know you were a teacher, and then, like, your journey began from there.
[00:03:32.520 --> 00:03:35.880] So, and then you created laws around finance, I mean, all the things.
[00:03:35.880 --> 00:03:39.320] So, just give us a little history about your wonderful background.
[00:03:39.320 --> 00:03:44.240] So, yes, I started the Budget, Nista, about 17 years ago during the Great Recession.
[00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:56.880] When I was struggling with my own finances, prior to that, I was a school teacher, got my master's in education, got scammed, and left $35,000 in student loan in credit card debt.
[00:03:56.880 --> 00:04:00.080] And I had $52,000 in student loan debt.
[00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:03.840] I bought a condo in my 20s, which was like $220,000.
[00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:07.040] So at one point, I was $300,000 plus in debt.
[00:04:07.040 --> 00:04:09.040] The recession left me jobless.
[00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:10.240] Oh, my goodness.
[00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:12.240] I'm going to pause you for a second.
[00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:14.320] That's, there's so much fear there.
[00:04:14.320 --> 00:04:15.360] Oh, my goodness.
[00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:22.720] How did, I mean, this, you just said scam, and I've got to like press my podcast host button here of like, what happened?
[00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:30.000] So I was in my like mid-20s, and somebody who I thought was a friend, we've been friends for some years, and I always thought that he was rich.
[00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:33.440] We'll call him, I like to call him, what would I call him, Jeff?
[00:04:33.440 --> 00:04:34.240] Jeff the thief?
[00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:34.880] Jake the thief.
[00:04:34.880 --> 00:04:35.600] That's what I tell people.
[00:04:35.760 --> 00:04:36.640] That's not his real name.
[00:04:36.640 --> 00:04:38.080] His name is very unique.
[00:04:38.080 --> 00:04:45.280] But anyway, so Jake, you know, when you're in your early to mid-20s, I didn't know that you could look rich but not be rich.
[00:04:45.280 --> 00:04:48.240] I mean, is this like an invented ana style situation over here?
[00:04:49.520 --> 00:04:51.120] And so I thought Jake was rich.
[00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:52.640] So I knew him for some years.
[00:04:52.640 --> 00:04:59.120] And then once I had got my master's and I was like, okay, I wasn't making a ton of money as a teacher, but I really wanted to grow wealth.
[00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:00.720] So I said, Jake, can you show me?
[00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:02.160] He said, sure, you look stupid.
[00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:04.320] I mean, yeah, yeah, sure.
[00:05:04.960 --> 00:05:07.280] So I had one credit card at the time.
[00:05:07.280 --> 00:05:10.960] My limit was not very high, but I was paying it off every month in full.
[00:05:10.960 --> 00:05:15.600] My dad was an accountant and a CFO, so he taught me how to like manage my money.
[00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:20.240] And he said, you grew up around 100%.
[00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:24.640] Instead of like, because you know, when you're 20, you start to feel like, I'm an adult now.
[00:05:24.640 --> 00:05:26.320] I'm not going to ask my parents.
[00:05:26.320 --> 00:05:28.960] I'm going to ask my fake friend who's a thief.
[00:05:29.280 --> 00:05:30.120] But you didn't know yet.
[00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:30.920] I didn't know yet.
[00:05:29.840 --> 00:05:33.080] No, I'm grateful because it started the Budget Nista.
[00:05:33.400 --> 00:05:37.560] And so he told me, Hey, Tiffany, you know, how's your credit score?
[00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:38.920] And I was like, honestly, it was excellent.
[00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:40.760] I had like 800 something.
[00:05:40.760 --> 00:05:47.640] Because up until then, I just did what my dad told me to do when it came to my money, pay off my debt in full, keep my expenses low.
[00:05:47.960 --> 00:05:49.400] And so I did.
[00:05:49.400 --> 00:05:53.080] And he said, you know, you can open up multiple credit cards and pull money off.
[00:05:53.080 --> 00:05:55.320] And this is called a cash advance, which is the worst.
[00:05:55.320 --> 00:05:56.520] But I didn't know that.
[00:05:56.520 --> 00:05:57.960] And I said, oh, I didn't know you could do that.
[00:05:57.960 --> 00:05:58.440] He said, yeah.
[00:05:58.440 --> 00:06:00.040] So I opened up a credit card.
[00:06:00.040 --> 00:06:02.040] I think the limit was like, I don't know.
[00:06:02.040 --> 00:06:07.080] I was able to pull off like either between two cards, between $15,000 to $20,000.
[00:06:07.400 --> 00:06:11.720] And I pulled that money off, and he said he was going to invest it for me.
[00:06:11.720 --> 00:06:12.840] And so that's what he said.
[00:06:12.840 --> 00:06:16.920] And I was going to generate, which sounds so crazy now, that $20,000 investment.
[00:06:16.920 --> 00:06:19.320] I was supposed to generate $2,000.
[00:06:19.320 --> 00:06:21.400] He said, it's either a week or a month.
[00:06:21.400 --> 00:06:23.640] I think it was a week for two years.
[00:06:23.640 --> 00:06:27.960] Now, that just sounds crazy, but at the time, you know, you're 22, you're like, woohoo, I'm going to be rich.
[00:06:27.960 --> 00:06:31.320] And so I had these credit cards now that I still had limits on.
[00:06:31.320 --> 00:06:34.200] And I was like, you know, I've never used them before.
[00:06:34.440 --> 00:06:36.440] I just opened them up to work with Jake.
[00:06:36.440 --> 00:06:39.560] And I thought, hmm, you know, I'm going to be rich soon.
[00:06:39.560 --> 00:06:41.000] So maybe I'll just start to use it.
[00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:45.000] And so I purchased like an online, like one of these courses.
[00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:47.880] You know, people were doing courses back then for all this money.
[00:06:47.880 --> 00:06:50.280] And it left me $35,000 in debt in total.
[00:06:50.280 --> 00:06:58.760] Within one week, I went from zero debt, well, student loan debt, yeah, and like, you know, my mortgage, but zero credit card debt to $35,000 in debt.
[00:06:58.760 --> 00:07:01.960] And of course, Jake disappeared with my money.
[00:07:02.840 --> 00:07:05.720] And, you know, as luck would have it, it was the recession.
[00:07:06.040 --> 00:07:08.840] And so not long after that, I lost my job.
[00:07:08.840 --> 00:07:10.200] And so now I had a mortgage.
[00:07:10.200 --> 00:07:13.000] I had student loan debt, no way to pay it back.
[00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:14.520] And it was really rough times.
[00:07:14.520 --> 00:07:20.000] So I think everything that's kind of happening now is reminiscent of those times.
[00:07:14.840 --> 00:07:22.080] And I know what I did to survive those times.
[00:07:22.320 --> 00:07:29.520] So I'm excited to be here, Sonara, to kind of share what I had to do to make it through and to thrive.
[00:07:29.520 --> 00:07:30.960] You know, now, obviously, that's not me.
[00:07:30.960 --> 00:07:38.240] I have a multi-million dollar business that I run and like staff.
[00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:40.320] And, you know, I'm doing great now.
[00:07:40.320 --> 00:07:42.240] I have two properties that I don't have any mortgages on.
[00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:43.440] They're paid off.
[00:07:43.840 --> 00:07:47.360] And that's all within like the last, you know, 15, 16 years.
[00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:50.480] And so, yeah, I'm just here to kind of help and share.
[00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:57.360] So as a result of all of my shenanigans, if you will, I started my business so I can help other people, especially women.
[00:07:57.360 --> 00:07:58.480] Oh, my goodness.
[00:07:58.960 --> 00:08:02.560] I actually, Tiffany, did not know this about your story.
[00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:04.000] I did not know this.
[00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:07.360] That is, I'm so sorry that this happened to you.
[00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:12.000] You know, and when life gives you lemons, you literally turn this into lemonade.
[00:08:12.400 --> 00:08:13.680] Not lemonade business, if you want.
[00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:15.680] And you know what, though?
[00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:16.400] I'm not sorry.
[00:08:16.400 --> 00:08:18.400] At the time, of course, I felt terrible.
[00:08:18.400 --> 00:08:21.920] But it was the catalyst for starting my business.
[00:08:22.640 --> 00:08:26.640] And honestly, everyone, every, because Jake's name is very, very, very unique.
[00:08:26.640 --> 00:08:28.880] So I would Google his name every few years to see.
[00:08:28.880 --> 00:08:29.280] And finding out what he did.
[00:08:29.440 --> 00:08:30.560] Did you find him?
[00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:34.640] Yeah, well, no, because he ran away, but he tried to scam the government.
[00:08:34.640 --> 00:08:36.480] And they locked him up and he was in jail.
[00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:37.360] He still is, I believe.
[00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:41.760] And I was like, you know what, Karma, she might be late, but she comes around eventually.
[00:08:41.760 --> 00:08:43.040] And so, yes.
[00:08:43.040 --> 00:08:44.960] So I would say, hey, Jake from JL.
[00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:45.680] Hope you're doing great.
[00:08:45.680 --> 00:08:47.120] Actually, I don't, but.
[00:08:48.400 --> 00:08:49.600] Well, oh my goodness.
[00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:51.360] I had no idea that this was a huge part of it.
[00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:52.160] And you're totally right.
[00:08:52.160 --> 00:08:56.000] Sometimes when these things, you don't know it when you're in it, but I really do.
[00:08:56.480 --> 00:08:58.880] I really do believe that things happen for us.
[00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:08.040] And it's really hard if you're going through a hard thing and if you're listening and you're going through something hard and it's like the worst piece of advice when a friend gives you that.
[00:09:08.040 --> 00:09:19.560] But when you're on the other side and you can actually zoom out and reflect, I mean, there are, it does happen for us because these next steps would not have happened if those hard things didn't happen.
[00:09:19.560 --> 00:09:19.960] Exactly.
[00:09:20.120 --> 00:09:30.360] Now you get to use that experience and you turn that from you lost your job in the recession, all of this was happening, and you're like, how do I make sure this doesn't happen again for other women and for other people?
[00:09:30.360 --> 00:09:32.360] And then you created the Budget NISTA.
[00:09:32.440 --> 00:09:32.760] Yes.
[00:09:32.760 --> 00:09:34.920] Can you talk to me a little bit about what that is?
[00:09:34.920 --> 00:09:36.040] How did the book come about?
[00:09:36.040 --> 00:09:37.720] Like, you've literally been everywhere.
[00:09:37.720 --> 00:09:38.600] It's a best-selling book.
[00:09:38.600 --> 00:09:42.600] You've been on Today Show, CNN, the Oprah Network.
[00:09:42.600 --> 00:09:44.600] I mean, all of the places.
[00:09:45.240 --> 00:09:50.120] Tell me about the Budget NISTA and the book itself, Get Good With Money.
[00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:53.000] So I started off doing one-on-ones.
[00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:55.160] And I was a teacher, so I knew how to teach.
[00:09:55.160 --> 00:09:58.120] And I quickly realized this is not scalable.
[00:09:58.440 --> 00:10:11.160] And so I got my first contract with the United Way of Northern New Jersey saying, hey, I can write a curriculum for you and teach financial education to the masses basically here in Northern New Jersey.
[00:10:11.160 --> 00:10:12.200] And they paid me.
[00:10:12.200 --> 00:10:15.240] It was kind of the first time I realized, oh, I can monetize this.
[00:10:15.240 --> 00:10:20.680] They paid me, I think they started off $300 a class, and by the end, $500 a class.
[00:10:20.680 --> 00:10:23.640] And I had self-published a book then called The One Week Budget.
[00:10:23.800 --> 00:10:27.080] We were using that as the workbook for class, and it started to grow.
[00:10:27.080 --> 00:10:30.760] And this is around the time that social media started to become a thing.
[00:10:30.760 --> 00:10:39.800] Facebook was going from you were from college, you know, you had to be on college campuses or have a college email in order to use Facebook to it growing.
[00:10:39.800 --> 00:10:40.880] And so I changed my name.
[00:10:40.920 --> 00:10:46.480] I remember on Facebook because there was no Instagram, there's no Snapchat, there was no TikTok, none of it.
[00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:47.680] It was just really Facebook.
[00:10:44.600 --> 00:10:50.320] I changed my name to Tiffany the Budget Nista Alicia.
[00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:56.560] And I was the only one that I could see that was using their personal page as a business page because there was no such thing as business pages.
[00:10:56.560 --> 00:10:57.200] Wow.
[00:10:57.600 --> 00:11:07.520] So I would take pictures of me like speaking and I would like hit up all my friends who had sisters and brothers in college and say, Can you guys pay me to come speak?
[00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:11.440] And that was the first time I was paid like $1,500 to speak.
[00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:23.040] And I thought, okay, there's something here that if I could teach, the amount of people that I could teach financial education to directly correlates to like how much I can be paid.
[00:11:23.040 --> 00:11:31.600] So I went from like one to one, you know, then one to few inside the classroom, then one to many inside like, you know, like speaking to like college campuses.
[00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:34.160] Then I thought, what does one to infinite look like?
[00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:39.680] And I started my own online school that we now call the Get Good With Money Library.
[00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:46.880] And yeah, so we've already graduated nearly 300,000 students from that school.
[00:11:46.880 --> 00:11:54.880] It's all based upon my New York Times best-selling book, Get Good With Money, because it's sold over 300,000 copies since it's come out in 2021.
[00:11:55.520 --> 00:11:56.880] Eight weeks on the list.
[00:11:57.280 --> 00:11:57.920] Wow.
[00:11:57.920 --> 00:11:58.240] Yes.
[00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:00.960] And a round of applause to you there.
[00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:09.520] Like as a woman to do like just New York Times best-selling author eight weeks straight is no joke.
[00:12:09.520 --> 00:12:13.200] That means like the book is really actually really, really, really, really, really good.
[00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:14.960] I need a signed copy, by the way.
[00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:17.520] I have a copy, but I'm going to ping you afterwards.
[00:12:17.520 --> 00:12:21.320] I love when I get to talk to you guys and then get my own.
[00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:22.560] I'm gonna ping you on it.
[00:12:22.560 --> 00:12:23.520] Oh my goodness.
[00:12:23.520 --> 00:12:24.960] And so, what's the framework, right?
[00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:26.560] So, it's a good framework.
[00:12:26.560 --> 00:12:27.920] People are applying it.
[00:12:27.920 --> 00:12:30.600] What is the framework to get good with money?
[00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:33.080] How does one get good with money?
[00:12:33.400 --> 00:12:38.040] And then, how is one, I mean, I can tell you all the ways which we're bad with money, but how does one get good with money?
[00:12:38.040 --> 00:12:39.800] So, there are 10 components to something.
[00:12:39.800 --> 00:12:46.600] The framework that I created is this blueprint to achieving what I call financial wholeness.
[00:12:46.600 --> 00:12:53.320] This is when holistically your life is working together with your finances to create the life that you're wanting, right?
[00:12:53.320 --> 00:12:55.800] And so, there are 10 components to this framework.
[00:12:56.120 --> 00:13:01.960] It is the foundational five are budgeting, savings, debt, credit, learning to earn.
[00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:09.400] So, mastering those five, and then the next five that builds upon those are investing for both retirement and wealth.
[00:13:09.400 --> 00:13:16.680] It is insurance, it is your net worth, your financial team, and estate planning.
[00:13:16.680 --> 00:13:22.920] So, these 10 things, when you master those 10 things, then collectively you reach something called financial wholeness.
[00:13:22.920 --> 00:13:30.280] And what I love about financial wholeness is that you can reach it whether you're making $35,000 a year or $35,000 a month.
[00:13:30.280 --> 00:13:39.880] You know, it doesn't discriminate because budgeting at $35,000 a month will look different than a preschool teacher making $35,000 a year, but it can be achieved.
[00:13:39.880 --> 00:13:47.320] Estate planning, the 10th component of the framework, it looks different to me as a wealthy business owner.
[00:13:47.320 --> 00:13:54.200] I have a trust, but like as preschool teacher Tiffany, estate planning looked like my mom is my beneficiary on my bank accounts.
[00:13:54.200 --> 00:13:55.000] Do you see?
[00:13:55.240 --> 00:14:05.000] And so, that's the amazing part of this 10-component framework: no matter where you find yourself financially, you can get in where you fit in and achieve financial wholeness.
[00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:05.960] Oh, my goodness.
[00:14:05.960 --> 00:14:06.360] I love it.
[00:14:06.400 --> 00:14:09.240] And that's so wonderful because you're right.
[00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:09.720] Like, why?
[00:14:09.720 --> 00:14:15.000] It doesn't have to just be for, you know, I think that's one of the biggest mindset blockers about wealth.
[00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:24.000] And that was probably one of my mindset blockers: when I have or when this happens versus it could be achieved right now.
[00:14:24.560 --> 00:14:26.160] And that's what financial literacy is.
[00:14:26.400 --> 00:14:34.320] It's to have the information in front of you and to be able to make smart decisions today to invest for your future.
[00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:36.880] And I love that it's about all of those components.
[00:14:36.880 --> 00:14:38.160] I love that you said wholeness.
[00:14:38.160 --> 00:14:41.840] It kind of reminded me of like getting to like, I read a lot of spirit stuff.
[00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:44.720] So I've been in my spirit era for the last two years.
[00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:49.600] And it's like reaching like nirvana almost of like the whole spirit.
[00:14:49.760 --> 00:14:50.800] Self-actualization.
[00:14:50.800 --> 00:14:51.840] Self-actualization.
[00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:55.360] Like it kind of reminds me of that concept of your finances.
[00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:03.840] And there's so many components about like, I see a lot in the last few years about investing and women investing and women wealth.
[00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:18.000] But I really think that there's other parts of, and I've, you know, earning more and that, like, those framework components I feel like I hear talked about, but I don't hear enough about the insurance and the estate.
[00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:22.960] And like, and that I don't think people think about even at that $35,000 mark.
[00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:27.760] And so that's such a, I really love this wholeness concept.
[00:15:27.760 --> 00:15:31.200] It does, like, I mean, this is, it's perfection.
[00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:35.840] I cannot wait for all of us to read this and go get your copies.
[00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:37.520] I'm going to link everything into the show notes.
[00:15:37.520 --> 00:15:39.600] I usually do this at the end of the show, but I'm like so excited.
[00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:41.120] Go get your copies right now.
[00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:42.080] So I'm going to link everything.
[00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:44.560] So don't get off the, wherever you're doing.
[00:15:44.560 --> 00:15:45.840] I promise it'll be at the end.
[00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:48.720] I'll link it all for you because we all need to get good with money.
[00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:49.360] Yes.
[00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:52.720] What are some of the things that, you know, where do people get stuck?
[00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:57.920] So where are the things, you know, when people come to you, where are they usually stuck in this process?
[00:15:57.920 --> 00:17:32.640] Tell me a little bit about the blockers, especially women well I'll say number one blockers it's all mindset typically like so every blocker I mean certainly there are blockers where triple poverty you know or you just don't have but for many people it's mindset even even the not having sometimes starts with mindset you know that people don't believe that they can so they don't you know they really get in their own way and they don't realize it I mean I myself struggled I still struggle you know sometimes with I call it post-traumatic broke syndrome where I was broke for so long that even now that I have money sometimes I'm scared to spend it you know because I'm like I don't want to go back what if I overdo it it's like why because you bought like something from Whole Foods you know what I mean you know and so mindset and so for women in particular I find that it is a confidence issue not a capability issue that women be highly capable so many studies have been done that show that women are actually more effective investors than men but we have been told our whole lives oh you're not good at science you're not good at math you're not good at money that's not true you know and so women hold themselves back and oftentimes too another blocker is that there people come with a lot of shame because they've made mistakes in the past yeah I didn't realize what was keeping me from kind of like to going to the next level of wealth at one point was because I had a lot of shame because I fell victim to Jake the thief and I thought to myself if I can fall victim again I'll fall you know if I can fall victim one time, I could be victim two times.
[00:17:32.600 --> 00:17:36.880] I had not forgiven young Tiffany for like what she didn't know.
[00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:40.720] And so I like I carried around so much financial shame.
[00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:45.920] And the issue scenario with shame is that shame shields solutions.
[00:17:45.920 --> 00:17:49.600] You cannot move forward if you're carrying around the darkness of shame.
[00:17:49.600 --> 00:17:52.880] And the only way to release that shame was to give voice to it.
[00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:55.120] You have to tell someone you know, like, and trust.
[00:17:55.120 --> 00:18:00.480] They don't have to be a financial expert, but so that way you can release some of that shame so you can move toward your solutions.
[00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:09.840] And so it's one of the reasons why I started the Budget Nista to create a safe space for people to release the shame and to have the solutions to achieve financial wholeness.
[00:18:09.840 --> 00:18:10.960] Oh, I love that.
[00:18:10.960 --> 00:18:13.200] You know, it makes complete sense.
[00:18:13.360 --> 00:18:23.920] Even I didn't have Jake the thief, but I think even I have so much, like, I don't, and even saying the word shame around money, I have shame on having money.
[00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:27.200] There's like all kinds of shame in different levels.
[00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:31.200] Like, I feel like I've experienced through my journey.
[00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:35.440] And I mean, there's so much that's popping up for me right now when you said that.
[00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:37.520] Why is it so difficult to talk about?
[00:18:37.520 --> 00:18:39.600] These spaces are so important for us.
[00:18:39.600 --> 00:18:59.200] And I do think that that's something that I love so much about the community that we've built for CO School and for Millionaire Founders Club is that we can have these conversations, not just about growing our wealth, but about budgets, about what we're spending, about just talking about money to just normalize being able to talk about it in a safe space.
[00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:00.800] Why is it so hard?
[00:19:00.800 --> 00:19:04.000] And the word money and shame is just always together.
[00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:06.720] Can you just unpack that for me a bit?
[00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:07.280] Certainly.
[00:19:07.280 --> 00:19:12.080] So one of my friends is a, they actually have a financial therapist now.
[00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:24.320] And so one of the, her name is Asia, and one of the things she shared is that so much of that comes from the way your caregiver, your mom, your dad, whoever took care of you, showed up when it came to money.
[00:19:24.320 --> 00:19:28.000] Was it from a place of like a deficit we don't have.
[00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:29.320] Why would you ask?
[00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:32.920] You know, was it that you didn't have like you know the clothes you wanted for school?
[00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:37.720] So now you you're going to school and you don't feel good about the way you present yourself.
[00:19:37.720 --> 00:19:43.560] And oftentimes a lot of our stuff is coming from our childhood that's been unresolved.
[00:19:43.560 --> 00:19:53.400] You know, a therapist will tell you that trauma is a result of something happened that should not have, or something that should have happened and did not.
[00:19:53.400 --> 00:19:58.360] So maybe what should have happened was there should have been enough money for food and clothes and things and it wasn't.
[00:19:58.360 --> 00:20:00.440] So now you carry around this shame of fear.
[00:20:00.440 --> 00:20:04.760] You know, like, oh my gosh, I don't ever want to put myself or my children or whoever in that position.
[00:20:04.760 --> 00:20:07.640] Or maybe something did happen and it should not have.
[00:20:07.640 --> 00:20:14.920] And so maybe, you know, what did happen was that like money was used as a, if you don't behave yourself, you're not going to get this or you're not going to get that.
[00:20:14.920 --> 00:20:21.320] Or there was money or maybe you had money and then a parent passed away or left and left you without.
[00:20:21.320 --> 00:20:31.080] So, you know, so much of like what we navigate as an adult, you know, it has a root in childhood or at least early, early, early or early adulthood.
[00:20:31.080 --> 00:20:38.280] And so understanding, I say this with like in with everyone, that it's not the money.
[00:20:38.920 --> 00:20:40.840] It's you, it's the mindset.
[00:20:40.840 --> 00:20:45.480] Because there are people, Sonara, who have less than you who are doing more.
[00:20:45.480 --> 00:20:48.600] And there are people who have more than us who are doing less.
[00:20:48.600 --> 00:20:49.480] You know what I mean?
[00:20:49.480 --> 00:20:50.920] It's not the money itself.
[00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:54.680] It's something, it's a story that we've told ourselves.
[00:20:54.680 --> 00:20:57.240] And we have to ask ourselves, my therapist always asks me, Dr.
[00:20:57.240 --> 00:20:59.080] Green, I actually have therapy tomorrow.
[00:20:59.080 --> 00:21:01.240] Whenever I get into a story, I'm like, well, this is the reason why.
[00:21:01.240 --> 00:21:03.560] She's like, is that true?
[00:21:03.560 --> 00:21:10.360] Like, is it true that, you know, if you spend money, I remember I was vacillating on whether or not to get a Peloton bike.
[00:21:10.600 --> 00:21:11.720] Meanwhile, I'm a millionaire.
[00:21:11.720 --> 00:21:12.360] You know what I mean?
[00:21:12.360 --> 00:21:17.040] Like, in the 15 years of business, we probably grossed about 50 to 55 million dollars.
[00:21:17.360 --> 00:21:24.080] Like, I can afford a Peloton bike, but I was terrified to spend $2,500 on a bike or whatever it cost at the time.
[00:21:24.080 --> 00:21:26.240] And so I said, but a bike is so expensive.
[00:21:26.240 --> 00:21:27.920] She said, is that true?
[00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:31.120] And I was like, yes, $2,500 is a lot of money.
[00:21:31.120 --> 00:21:34.640] And then she said, is that the only truth available?
[00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:37.120] Because the story I tell myself is it's expensive.
[00:21:37.120 --> 00:21:39.520] It is, but there's additional truth.
[00:21:39.520 --> 00:21:42.640] It's expensive, but you can more than afford it.
[00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:45.520] That's the additional truth available.
[00:21:45.520 --> 00:21:53.520] You know, like it's expensive, but you purchasing it is not going to mean you can't pay, you know, your, you know, whatever light bill.
[00:21:53.520 --> 00:21:59.280] It's expensive, but it doesn't mean that it's going to prevent you from travel or looking after your parents or whatever.
[00:21:59.280 --> 00:22:01.360] There's additional truths available.
[00:22:01.360 --> 00:22:06.960] And so that is one of the things that giving voice to that shame, giving voice to those stories.
[00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:08.160] Like, is it true?
[00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:10.000] Is it the only truth available?
[00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:11.520] Because we carry those stories with us.
[00:22:11.520 --> 00:22:16.800] And it's like we have to break the pattern if we're going to like do better with our money.
[00:22:17.120 --> 00:22:19.760] I think that this is, this is, I know this is solid.
[00:22:19.760 --> 00:22:21.520] So many women can relate to this.
[00:22:21.520 --> 00:22:28.240] And I feel like there's another thought because I don't think about that's $2,500 that's expensive.
[00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:29.280] I'm on the opposite.
[00:22:29.280 --> 00:22:31.360] I'm like, that's only $2,500.
[00:22:33.360 --> 00:22:40.240] And even as like, as the paycheck grows, I do feel like just lifestyle grows too, right?
[00:22:40.240 --> 00:23:02.600] And so talk to me about the budgeting side of it too, because I can tell you, I see so many panels, and I'm talking to whether we're business owners or, you know, on personal finance or in business finance, I feel like the better the business does, the higher your burn rate goes up to, the better that you do, your lifestyle grows as well.
[00:23:03.160 --> 00:23:06.600] Can you talk a little bit about the budgeting aspect as well?
[00:23:06.600 --> 00:23:13.720] So there's a Nigerian proverb that my dad used to say, I'm Nigerian, that he would say, you cut your coat according to your size.
[00:23:14.200 --> 00:23:14.600] Right?
[00:23:14.600 --> 00:23:19.560] So it's like, you know, imagine, you know, you're a size two and you're like, oh, no, no, I have to have this coat.
[00:23:19.560 --> 00:23:21.800] It has to fit my size two frame.
[00:23:21.800 --> 00:23:26.280] And then, you know, somehow, you know, you get to a four and you're like, no, no, I got to get this coat to fit.
[00:23:26.280 --> 00:23:28.440] So what happens is you start to inflate yourself.
[00:23:28.440 --> 00:23:31.080] Not always, but many people start to inflate themselves.
[00:23:31.080 --> 00:23:35.160] Like, no, we have to do this in order to maintain.
[00:23:35.160 --> 00:23:41.160] And it's like, well, just a minute ago, when you were making 50,000, 60,000, you had rent, you had a car.
[00:23:41.720 --> 00:23:42.360] I can't even imagine.
[00:23:42.520 --> 00:23:49.640] If I'm being honest, like, I can't even imagine how, you know, I guess I was in my 20s, how I was living off of $39,000 a year.
[00:23:49.640 --> 00:23:52.360] I'm like, Tiffany, how are you doing that?
[00:23:52.680 --> 00:24:02.760] Because now that, you know, I make more than that, then now my coat, it's so much more voluminous, you know, because I've cut my coat according to my size.
[00:24:03.640 --> 00:24:07.080] Now, the thing is, you are supposed to expand somewhat.
[00:24:07.080 --> 00:24:11.080] Because what is the point of like making more money and not expanding lifestyle?
[00:24:11.080 --> 00:24:17.000] The key is that it should not keep the pace with your, your lifestyle should not keep the pace with your money.
[00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:21.000] So it should have some distinct, like, you know, like you should have some space in between.
[00:24:21.240 --> 00:24:29.240] And here's why, whether in business or personally, because so 2020, I want to say our peak year, it was during COVID.
[00:24:29.240 --> 00:24:31.240] Like, it was like one year we made $10 million.
[00:24:31.240 --> 00:24:32.280] The next year we're like eight.
[00:24:32.280 --> 00:24:34.600] So we had like a good run, right?
[00:24:34.920 --> 00:24:42.120] But I was mindful because I knew, I said, it feels, this jump seems a little artificial because we went from like $6 million to $10 million.
[00:24:42.120 --> 00:24:44.520] And I'm like, we didn't do anything too different.
[00:24:44.520 --> 00:24:47.920] I think that this is an external trigger, not something internally.
[00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:58.080] So let me not increase my size of coat because I feel like when COVID settles down, everything else, we might go back to like five, six million, you know?
[00:24:58.080 --> 00:25:00.480] And sure enough, that's what happened.
[00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:01.040] But imagine.
[00:25:02.240 --> 00:25:17.120] Yes, but imagine, like, well, I mean, I had a business partner at the time who I remember I was afraid because the year we made 10, we did increase and it made me so nervous because I was fighting with him to say, we are spending too much.
[00:25:17.120 --> 00:25:20.960] So that one year we made 10, but we spent eight and I was freaked out.
[00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:22.720] I said, this is too much.
[00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:27.600] Just last year, you know, we were spending four, you know, to make like six or seven.
[00:25:27.600 --> 00:25:29.680] So what are we, not even, you know?
[00:25:30.080 --> 00:25:33.840] And so the next year we cut back significantly and significantly.
[00:25:33.840 --> 00:25:39.440] And I'm so glad that we did because 2023 was one of my hardest years in business.
[00:25:39.440 --> 00:25:41.680] You know, we barely cleared $4 million or something.
[00:25:41.760 --> 00:25:44.240] I know, like in business, I know forever, like, what?
[00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:44.880] That sounds great.
[00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:45.440] No.
[00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:49.280] Relative to just two years prior, we're making 10, that's a significant drop.
[00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:52.640] Now, imagine if $4 million was overhead.
[00:25:52.640 --> 00:25:53.360] What would we have?
[00:25:53.360 --> 00:25:58.880] 2000, I mean, it took a lot to keep our head above water.
[00:25:58.880 --> 00:26:05.200] You know, and so it was such a great lesson in that I'm always managing expenses.
[00:26:05.520 --> 00:26:13.280] I actually put like a task force on my team, my operations person, my COO, and someone, oh, my financial person on the team.
[00:26:13.280 --> 00:26:18.320] I was like, every year we do a deep dive to say what tools, what systems are we're not using.
[00:26:18.320 --> 00:26:22.240] We just found an additional $50,000 a year in tools.
[00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:28.480] Because you use this webinar platform and this thing and this text platform, and they use a different one before you know it, you're still being charged.
[00:26:28.480 --> 00:26:33.480] And so $50,000 additionally annually, you know, that's someone to hire.
[00:26:29.680 --> 00:26:36.600] You know, you might hire somebody that might be your graphic design person.
[00:26:37.320 --> 00:26:44.440] So whether you're a $4 million business that's listening or you are a $100,000 a year business, is this still applicable?
[00:26:44.440 --> 00:26:49.720] Because cleaning up your finances is something that you always have to be on top of.
[00:26:49.720 --> 00:26:52.920] You have to lean in, like, but even me as Tiffany, I will look through.
[00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:56.200] So I was looking at the bank that I use.
[00:26:56.520 --> 00:27:01.800] I didn't realize, but, and a lot of banks do this, you can go in and look at like your spending and they'll tell you by percentage.
[00:27:01.800 --> 00:27:09.400] Like, oh, percent, you know, 30% of your money is going to retire, not retirement, but to entertainment, housing, and stuff.
[00:27:09.400 --> 00:27:12.360] So you can kind of gauge where your money is going.
[00:27:12.360 --> 00:27:17.960] And now banks have this component, some of them, where it shows where some of your reoccurring expenses.
[00:27:17.960 --> 00:27:19.480] So I happened to look.
[00:27:19.480 --> 00:27:21.560] I was like, wait a minute.
[00:27:22.760 --> 00:27:26.040] I'm still paying for something that I canceled.
[00:27:26.040 --> 00:27:30.520] It was like three or four things, the equivalent of like $150 a month.
[00:27:30.520 --> 00:27:35.800] You know, that's over $1,200 a year that I was still paying for.
[00:27:35.800 --> 00:27:41.480] So even me, every new year, I say, let me look at all my expenses, especially the recurring ones.
[00:27:41.480 --> 00:27:44.520] How do I clean up the balance sheet, if you will?
[00:27:44.520 --> 00:27:46.040] Same thing with my phone.
[00:27:46.040 --> 00:27:48.520] So I realized, I'm like, how much am I paying for my phone?
[00:27:48.520 --> 00:27:49.240] This seems high.
[00:27:49.240 --> 00:27:49.720] I called them.
[00:27:49.720 --> 00:27:51.320] They're like, oh, yes, you're on the old plan.
[00:27:51.320 --> 00:27:53.000] I'm like, well, put me on the new one.
[00:27:53.000 --> 00:27:53.880] Internet.
[00:27:53.880 --> 00:27:57.480] I realized that my sister had just moved in down the block for me.
[00:27:57.480 --> 00:27:59.400] And I said, oh, you know, what do they charge you?
[00:27:59.400 --> 00:28:00.920] Because they charge me $80 a month.
[00:28:00.920 --> 00:28:02.520] And she said, no, I paid like $70.
[00:28:02.840 --> 00:28:03.840] I'm like, $70,000.
[00:28:03.880 --> 00:28:05.320] She's like, oh, I think because I'm a new client.
[00:28:05.320 --> 00:28:06.120] I'm like, what?
[00:28:06.120 --> 00:28:06.600] I called them.
[00:28:06.680 --> 00:28:09.720] I said, how come she's paying $70 for the same thing I'm paying $80 for?
[00:28:09.720 --> 00:28:10.520] They're like, oh, she's new.
[00:28:10.520 --> 00:28:13.880] I'm like, well, then cancel me and sign me back up again and make me new.
[00:28:13.920 --> 00:28:15.200] You know, and they did.
[00:28:14.840 --> 00:28:20.560] So you could do that with your personal life: $10, $20, all those things add up monthly.
[00:28:21.280 --> 00:28:30.480] Sometimes the very best way to give yourself a raise is by cutting back, whether it's in business or whether it's your life personally.
[00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:37.040] So yeah, you want to cut your coat, you know, according to your size, but you want to give yourself just enough leeway in case something happens.
[00:28:37.040 --> 00:28:41.600] Like we're living in very volatile economic times right now.
[00:28:41.600 --> 00:28:46.880] And so if you're making $10,000 and you're spending $10,000, you're going to find yourself in a really bad way.
[00:28:46.880 --> 00:28:56.800] Not because you did anything wrong, but because if things are increasing in value, or the cost, maybe not the value, but the cost is increasing 10, 20, 100%.
[00:28:56.800 --> 00:28:58.320] Where is that money going to come from?
[00:28:58.320 --> 00:29:01.040] You have to start to create space now in your budget.
[00:29:01.040 --> 00:29:03.600] Yeah, I think this is so this is practical.
[00:29:03.600 --> 00:29:09.680] This is something that, and I think women, we generally, when we hear this, like, we're like, oh, yeah, like, we get excited about it.
[00:29:09.680 --> 00:29:14.000] Like, I don't, you know, I can, I feel like this is a practice that we should be doing.
[00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:19.760] My husband and I have a finance date on the first of every single month, like every single month.
[00:29:19.760 --> 00:29:25.440] It is the worst date to go on with your, with your partner, but it's the best thing for us and our family.
[00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:27.120] And it does, it holds us accountable.
[00:29:27.120 --> 00:29:32.080] And you look back and you're like, man, and you, it's, you just, it's not a one and done thing.
[00:29:32.080 --> 00:29:33.600] This is an ongoing thing.
[00:29:33.760 --> 00:29:38.720] You have to do it for, and we have this date for each of our entities.
[00:29:38.720 --> 00:29:40.880] And so we have our personal one to kick off.
[00:29:40.880 --> 00:29:44.880] And then we have our accountants and bookkeepers across each of our different PLs.
[00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:48.880] We've got multiple lines of businesses, and you and the coats get bigger.
[00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:56.560] It gets like, and there are things that are now fluid across organizations, across things, and it is so important to keep it in check.
[00:29:56.560 --> 00:30:04.360] And so, just setting on your calendar to say, okay, here is my, I'm gonna go back and recap and take a look.
[00:30:04.360 --> 00:30:08.280] And even just hold yourself accountable to that budget is so, so important.
[00:30:08.280 --> 00:30:13.800] There's so many great tools that now, like, now from a money standpoint, there's so many great tools.
[00:30:13.800 --> 00:30:18.520] Um, we personally use like Rocket Money, I've used Mint, and so many others.
[00:30:18.520 --> 00:30:20.360] And I'm building one right now for worth right now.
[00:30:20.360 --> 00:30:27.320] So, from a business standpoint, that's what I'm building right now is a credit worth platform so that we do have this for our business in and of itself.
[00:30:27.320 --> 00:30:30.360] So, I'll also link the waitlist for the worth score.
[00:30:30.920 --> 00:30:37.720] And also, too, I think something you said that you have help.
[00:30:37.720 --> 00:30:40.680] We have to learn to ask for help, right?
[00:30:41.000 --> 00:30:49.640] And so, whether it's like a financial advisor, your bestie, you know, your hubby, someone to like, you have to be in community with other people to get help.
[00:30:49.640 --> 00:30:51.000] Like, I'll give you an example.
[00:30:51.000 --> 00:31:01.240] I got a tax letter from the federal government that said I owe $258,000 from like my 200, my 2023 taxes.
[00:31:01.240 --> 00:31:02.680] And I was like, that can't be right.
[00:31:03.160 --> 00:31:04.280] I never not pay my taxes.
[00:31:04.280 --> 00:31:09.400] I have an accountant, I have a CFO, I have a CPA, I have all the things.
[00:31:09.400 --> 00:31:10.760] And I'm like, this can't be right.
[00:31:10.760 --> 00:31:15.240] And then the state of New Jersey sent me one, say, oh, you owe $50,000 or $60,000.
[00:31:15.240 --> 00:31:17.000] I said, that's not true.
[00:31:17.000 --> 00:31:29.320] So, one thing about me, when I pay, screenshot, and I have, you know, because I'm always, whenever I pay, because I pay, I am an S-Corp, so the taxes filter down to my personal taxes.
[00:31:29.320 --> 00:31:30.680] So I screenshotted.
[00:31:30.680 --> 00:31:34.840] Every time I make the payment, my CFO will say, Okay, Tiffany, this is, we're sending you the money.
[00:31:34.840 --> 00:31:35.880] This is what you have to pay.
[00:31:35.880 --> 00:31:36.600] I screenshot it.
[00:31:36.600 --> 00:31:37.080] I keep it.
[00:31:37.080 --> 00:31:39.560] I send her a copy, just so we're all on the same page.
[00:31:39.560 --> 00:31:41.960] So we look back and it says, Okay, Tiffany, you did pay.
[00:31:41.960 --> 00:31:43.240] What's happening here?
[00:31:43.240 --> 00:31:48.560] And so I had reached out to the accountant that I had at the time, and there's a reason why I let him go.
[00:31:44.840 --> 00:31:51.280] But like, he was like non-responsive.
[00:31:51.600 --> 00:31:54.800] And what happens is, is you don't pay every month.
[00:31:54.800 --> 00:32:00.880] You're paying interest on top of, so it went from like, you know, $2.30 to $2.40 to $2.50.
[00:32:01.360 --> 00:32:03.520] I mean, I was getting so freaked out.
[00:32:03.520 --> 00:32:06.080] So we have a new accountant, wonderful woman.
[00:32:06.080 --> 00:32:06.800] Her name is Diane.
[00:32:06.800 --> 00:32:12.400] I was like, how much would it cost for you to like look into this because it's just getting more and more expensive?
[00:32:12.400 --> 00:32:16.400] And I'm getting scared because although I know I'm paying, they're not listening to me.
[00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:18.800] And the last letter I got said, we're going to seize property.
[00:32:18.800 --> 00:32:20.720] And I was like, oh my gosh.
[00:32:20.720 --> 00:32:21.840] So she looked into it.
[00:32:21.840 --> 00:32:27.200] I had to sign, what was it, power of attorney, so she could look into it on my behalf.
[00:32:27.200 --> 00:32:36.640] And so what happened was the old accountant said, Tiffany, I think it's time for you to go from C Corp to, from S Corp to C Corp as an LLC, right?
[00:32:36.640 --> 00:32:46.400] So when you are self-employed, like a single proprietor or partnership or LLC, then you basically are an entrepreneur, right?
[00:32:46.400 --> 00:32:52.960] But when you become a corporation, a C Corp or S Corp, you like, I am an employee of the Budget Nista, right?
[00:32:52.960 --> 00:32:59.440] And so as an S Corp LLC, I am an employee of the Budget Nista, but I still own the Budget NISTA.
[00:32:59.440 --> 00:33:02.800] And it just means that the taxes that are due, everything filters to me.
[00:33:02.800 --> 00:33:04.320] Tiffany pays the taxes.
[00:33:04.320 --> 00:33:21.040] As a C Corp, which is what you see these big businesses typically are, like, you know, like Amazon and other businesses, which I had gotten into the range of earning of, not Amazon, obviously, but it meant that then the business would be in charge of paying those taxes, and I would just be paying taxes almost just as an individual.
[00:33:21.040 --> 00:33:27.600] So we were making the transition, and my accountant at the time had me start paying taxes as if I was a C Corp.
[00:33:27.600 --> 00:33:33.480] He did not tell me that his application for me to be a C Corp, for whatever reason, something wasn't signed properly, was rejected.
[00:33:29.920 --> 00:33:36.840] So I'm paying as this entity, but I'm really this entity.
[00:33:37.160 --> 00:33:39.320] So they're like, Tiffany, where's my money?
[00:33:39.320 --> 00:33:49.560] And so thankfully, the business did pay the taxes, but they didn't know that business and business Tiffany and personal Tiffany, like, they were like, we don't see it.
[00:33:49.560 --> 00:33:51.320] And so thankfully, the new accountant found it.
[00:33:51.320 --> 00:33:55.640] They were able to push that money over and say, oh, the business did pay.
[00:33:55.640 --> 00:34:00.120] Now we're just making it that like we're putting it under Tiffany's name, those payments.
[00:34:00.120 --> 00:34:02.520] And so I ended up not owing anything because I had paid.
[00:34:02.520 --> 00:34:06.760] So I just share all that to say that there is no way I could have managed that by myself.
[00:34:06.760 --> 00:34:07.800] I didn't know what I was doing.
[00:34:07.800 --> 00:34:11.320] I didn't, I'm not a CPA, I'm not a CFO, I'm not an accountant.
[00:34:11.320 --> 00:34:16.280] I didn't, even like the state of New Jersey, their debt collector called me on a Saturday.
[00:34:16.280 --> 00:34:18.600] It was basically like, girl, do you want to lose your property?
[00:34:18.600 --> 00:34:19.640] I'm like, I don't.
[00:34:19.640 --> 00:34:21.880] And I couldn't understand what was happening.
[00:34:22.440 --> 00:34:28.280] And yeah, I just, I say all that to say that it's critical to ask for help and to have help.
[00:34:28.280 --> 00:34:36.520] You know, I think what you, you know, the story that you're sharing, if you didn't have a network to then reach out, right?
[00:34:36.520 --> 00:34:37.640] Because I'm like, great.
[00:34:37.640 --> 00:34:43.240] Like, because sometimes what I find, and so there's two pieces of the conversation I still want to have.
[00:34:43.240 --> 00:34:50.040] Because what I, what, you know, we last conversation we talked about is savings and budget and making sure that we're on the finance track.
[00:34:50.040 --> 00:34:53.320] But no amount of savings is going to, like, you can out-earn all of that.
[00:34:53.320 --> 00:34:57.480] So I do want to talk about the earning and investing portion of it because that's a huge part of the conversation.
[00:34:57.480 --> 00:35:00.360] And sometimes as women, we get stuck in one or the other.
[00:35:00.360 --> 00:35:04.920] And I do think that the earning portion conversation we want to have, so I want to make sure we get to that.
[00:35:04.920 --> 00:35:09.400] Then, on this story that you're sharing here, I'm like, girl, that's scary AF.
[00:35:09.880 --> 00:35:15.120] You had the network to pick up the phone and call and say, I need help here.
[00:35:14.760 --> 00:35:17.680] And that is something that I find so often.
[00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:23.840] I am, so I surround myself with so many entrepreneurs, female entrepreneurs, with CEO school, our community.
[00:35:23.840 --> 00:35:32.400] And the biggest thing that I see, not only on the stuff internally that we're doing, is that we're literally sitting here behind a screen in our own world, in our own business world.
[00:35:32.400 --> 00:35:36.240] We're the single entity and we don't have a network.
[00:35:36.560 --> 00:35:39.040] And we blindly trust everything.
[00:35:39.040 --> 00:35:40.160] You say, oh, yeah, I have an accountant.
[00:35:40.160 --> 00:35:42.320] Oh, yeah, I have a CPA and I have whatever.
[00:35:42.640 --> 00:35:45.840] And because I don't want to, I'm like, oh, it's being handled.
[00:35:45.840 --> 00:35:47.040] I'm not good at math.
[00:35:47.040 --> 00:35:48.000] I'm not good at this.
[00:35:48.000 --> 00:35:51.600] And it's not just like the stories that we were told, it's the stories we're telling ourselves.
[00:35:52.080 --> 00:35:55.360] And we have to be armed enough to be dangerous.
[00:35:55.360 --> 00:35:57.200] Like, we have to be able to ask the questions.
[00:35:57.200 --> 00:36:05.600] Every finance meeting, like, even if it's with my CFO, even with the accountant, I'm coming prepared to ask the questions.
[00:36:05.600 --> 00:36:07.840] And that ownership is on you, girl.
[00:36:08.080 --> 00:36:10.080] That ownership, that's CEO behavior.
[00:36:10.080 --> 00:36:10.400] Yeah.
[00:36:10.800 --> 00:36:16.000] What's not CEO behavior is showing up, not being prepared, and being told what's happening.
[00:36:16.640 --> 00:36:21.200] That does not naturally come, I find, and we make excuses for it.
[00:36:21.200 --> 00:36:30.320] And that's a reality check that I want to wake up all our entrepreneurs with because it really does like it does frustrate me because it's like, well, someone's handling it.
[00:36:30.320 --> 00:36:31.760] And then we find out later.
[00:36:31.760 --> 00:36:40.240] And if you weren't on top of it, one thing, if you weren't asking the right questions, you would not have been able to solve for it.
[00:36:40.240 --> 00:36:42.560] And then, two, you had a network.
[00:36:42.560 --> 00:36:46.720] And the only way that you had a network is because you cultivated that network.
[00:36:47.040 --> 00:36:49.120] And that is something it's not going to happen.
[00:36:49.120 --> 00:36:51.520] People aren't going to drop their network into you.
[00:36:51.520 --> 00:36:55.280] It is important for you to get out of the screen, get into rooms.
[00:36:55.280 --> 00:37:05.880] And there are so many ways to build a community by joining different programs or just even being part of other entrepreneurial communities or whatever your industry is.
[00:37:06.680 --> 00:37:09.800] There are so many ways, but we have to do those two things.
[00:37:09.800 --> 00:37:14.600] We've got to be able to be, we've got to hold ourselves accountable to lead those meetings, ask the questions.
[00:37:14.600 --> 00:37:20.040] And two, we've got to have a network because without those two things, Tiffany, you could have been out of the way.
[00:37:20.280 --> 00:37:24.200] I mean, when I tell you, I think also too, because it wasn't just them.
[00:37:24.200 --> 00:37:26.360] I think about like my former CFO.
[00:37:26.360 --> 00:37:27.880] She went on to start her own company.
[00:37:27.880 --> 00:37:32.040] I called her and I was like, Santa, you know, I'm getting this letter, but I know I paid.
[00:37:32.520 --> 00:37:35.800] So you have to be proactive in your own saving.
[00:37:35.800 --> 00:37:37.160] Because I'm like, look, I didn't go.
[00:37:37.160 --> 00:37:41.400] I'm not a CFO, but I'm trying to understand, like, you know, like, I keep my own screenshot.
[00:37:41.400 --> 00:37:42.440] I'm like, I have my records.
[00:37:42.440 --> 00:37:43.080] I have my this.
[00:37:43.080 --> 00:37:43.720] I have my that.
[00:37:43.720 --> 00:37:44.360] I did this.
[00:37:44.520 --> 00:37:54.440] So I'm like, okay, but I knew, that's why I knew I had let go of that accountant because we were with a really great accountant.
[00:37:54.440 --> 00:37:56.040] He was part of a, they were part of a firm.
[00:37:56.040 --> 00:37:59.640] She moved on to a bigger, better opportunity, and they gave me him.
[00:37:59.640 --> 00:38:01.880] But instantly, I said, something's not right here.
[00:38:01.880 --> 00:38:03.160] He's not responsive.
[00:38:03.160 --> 00:38:04.920] I feel like he doesn't know what he's talking about.
[00:38:04.920 --> 00:38:06.680] You know, you work with enough people.
[00:38:06.680 --> 00:38:10.040] And so instantly, like that year, we wrapped up taxes with him.
[00:38:10.040 --> 00:38:11.640] And I was like, we're moving someplace else.
[00:38:11.640 --> 00:38:15.000] And look, that's exactly the, that's exactly what happened.
[00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:18.600] You know, that like, because meanwhile, I've been asking him, asking, and asking.
[00:38:18.600 --> 00:38:25.240] And my new Diana from this new firm that we're using now, you know, it took her literally maybe two or three weeks.
[00:38:25.240 --> 00:38:30.920] I had been asking him for months while my, while my, while the, because I'm like, it's his responsibility, you know?
[00:38:30.920 --> 00:38:32.680] But like, I was like, okay, well, what did you do?
[00:38:32.680 --> 00:38:33.880] Well, what's happening?
[00:38:33.880 --> 00:38:34.840] Crickets.
[00:38:34.840 --> 00:38:36.360] And so now I'm just so grateful.
[00:38:36.360 --> 00:38:44.200] And it cost me $1,500 that I shouldn't have had to pay because if he was going to fix it, because at first she said, well, honestly, Tiffany, he should be fixing it.
[00:38:44.200 --> 00:38:45.600] It shouldn't be an additional cost.
[00:38:45.600 --> 00:38:46.720] I'm like, I hear you.
[00:38:46.720 --> 00:38:50.000] But if they seize my property, I don't know when he's going to.
[00:38:50.080 --> 00:38:50.880] It's worth every penny.
[00:38:51.440 --> 00:38:52.080] It was worth every penny.
[00:38:52.160 --> 00:38:52.960] It was worth every penny.
[00:38:53.440 --> 00:38:54.800] And that is also important.
[00:38:54.800 --> 00:38:55.760] You also.
[00:38:56.080 --> 00:38:57.440] You pay for what you get.
[00:38:58.480 --> 00:38:59.440] You really do.
[00:38:59.440 --> 00:39:01.920] Cheaper is not the better option, right?
[00:39:01.920 --> 00:39:08.640] And as you're growing, and this advice I give to what got you from zero to one million or zero to 100 is not what's going to get you from a million.
[00:39:08.800 --> 00:39:10.320] It's not going to get you from one to ten.
[00:39:10.800 --> 00:39:14.240] You have to up-level your team around you to support you.
[00:39:14.240 --> 00:39:17.120] Like that is clear as day and every journey.
[00:39:17.120 --> 00:39:25.440] And every time these like things happen for scale or things break or whatever, and it's like we haven't up-leveled the systems, the tools, the processes, the people.
[00:39:25.440 --> 00:39:26.800] So we could talk about this all day.
[00:39:27.360 --> 00:39:29.840] I mean, yeah, such a good reminder.
[00:39:29.840 --> 00:39:33.920] Now, I do want to shift gear because we're getting into budget.
[00:39:33.920 --> 00:39:35.120] We're getting our money tight.
[00:39:35.120 --> 00:39:36.080] We're paying attention.
[00:39:36.080 --> 00:39:37.760] We're getting the people around us.
[00:39:37.760 --> 00:39:45.200] Let's talk about the growth side of it because you can't out budget.
[00:39:45.200 --> 00:39:46.400] Yeah, you can't budget your way to wealth.
[00:39:46.400 --> 00:39:46.720] I would say that.
[00:39:46.800 --> 00:39:47.920] You can't budget your way to wealth.
[00:39:48.080 --> 00:39:48.720] That's it.
[00:39:48.720 --> 00:39:53.680] So tell me about the growth, the wealth, the investing, because I do think that that's also an area.
[00:39:53.680 --> 00:39:56.480] Women, we just don't take risks to do that for ourselves.
[00:39:56.480 --> 00:39:57.440] Talk to me about that.
[00:39:57.440 --> 00:39:58.240] What's holding us back?
[00:39:58.240 --> 00:40:01.360] And what do we have to do to create the wealth?
[00:40:01.360 --> 00:40:04.240] I think it's the confidence and the not knowing.
[00:40:04.240 --> 00:40:07.280] But I would say, like, you know, I talk to women, I'm like, you've got two kids, right?
[00:40:07.280 --> 00:40:10.720] I'm like, I promise you, investing is way, way, way easier.
[00:40:10.720 --> 00:40:12.480] You're raising two human beings.
[00:40:12.720 --> 00:40:16.800] You know, like, you know, you spent your whole teenage years figuring out your eyebrow shape.
[00:40:16.800 --> 00:40:18.560] I promise you, investing is easier.
[00:40:19.360 --> 00:40:24.800] Because there's so many things that, as women, that we're like, oh my gosh, I know exactly like A-line dresses look perfect on me.
[00:40:24.800 --> 00:40:27.120] You know, the two-inch heels are just my type.
[00:40:27.120 --> 00:40:28.240] Curly hair is best.
[00:40:28.240 --> 00:40:34.200] We do all of that research, you know, market research on ourselves to present as well as we do.
[00:40:34.520 --> 00:40:40.840] And I'm like, imagine if we spend half that time putting toward the effort to learn to invest.
[00:40:40.840 --> 00:40:43.880] You know, so you can't invest without the basics.
[00:40:43.880 --> 00:40:46.280] If you don't have a budget, you probably are not savings.
[00:40:46.360 --> 00:40:50.280] And if you can't save, then you don't have any excess money to invest.
[00:40:50.280 --> 00:40:53.640] So you have to, and if you're not earning, then you can't budget.
[00:40:53.640 --> 00:40:56.920] You know, so it's like earn, budget, save, then invest.
[00:40:56.920 --> 00:41:01.800] So investing, if you don't know how to do anything else, you could literally, I mean, the market right now is crazy.
[00:41:01.800 --> 00:41:05.080] But typically, well, and that's not true.
[00:41:05.080 --> 00:41:07.560] Like the market always has crazy times.
[00:41:07.560 --> 00:41:08.840] The market is cyclical.
[00:41:08.840 --> 00:41:15.480] So certainly right now is a bit abnormal because it's based upon one person and kind of like their whim.
[00:41:16.120 --> 00:41:19.400] But the market has cycles.
[00:41:19.400 --> 00:41:20.600] I talked about the recession.
[00:41:20.600 --> 00:41:22.600] We've had depressions before.
[00:41:22.920 --> 00:41:32.360] And knowing that the market has whims, but if you look at the market over the last hundred years, that you know that it's always on its way up, even when it dips down.
[00:41:32.360 --> 00:41:37.080] You have to think about the market, the stock market, like a roller coaster, right?
[00:41:37.080 --> 00:41:40.280] So it goes up, dips down, but goes a little higher up, dips down.
[00:41:40.280 --> 00:41:45.240] But as it's, if you were to look at a trajectory, you would say, oh, it's actually pointing upward.
[00:41:45.240 --> 00:41:50.200] So even if, you know, like you're in a down market, which honestly, this is where wealth is made.
[00:41:50.200 --> 00:41:51.640] I mean, you'll hear people say that.
[00:41:52.280 --> 00:41:54.840] Because we all thought it was all over during the recession.
[00:41:54.840 --> 00:41:58.360] So many people were giving up their homes and now their homes are worth so much more.
[00:41:58.360 --> 00:42:02.920] So many people were like cashing out, you know, their 401ks and things, and thinking they were going to lose.
[00:42:02.920 --> 00:42:06.760] And now that money, had they left it in there, you know, is worth so much more.
[00:42:06.760 --> 00:42:14.360] I remember when, I don't know what year it was, but I was pretty broke, but I had scrounged together like $2,500 to get one Bitcoin.
[00:42:14.360 --> 00:42:15.840] $2,500.
[00:42:14.760 --> 00:42:20.720] And I put it in Coinbase or whatever site I used it, and then it dipped to like $1,900.
[00:42:21.600 --> 00:42:25.360] And I was so scared, I took it out because I didn't really understand.
[00:42:25.360 --> 00:42:31.040] I took it out, and for some reason, there was like some pennies left over, 50 cents, something left over.
[00:42:31.040 --> 00:42:32.720] The other day, I got a ping from Coinbase.
[00:42:32.720 --> 00:42:34.320] I have not logged in in years.
[00:42:34.320 --> 00:42:36.800] And something about my balance, I'm like, I don't have a balance.
[00:42:36.800 --> 00:42:38.160] I took out my money.
[00:42:38.160 --> 00:42:42.240] And so I guess at the time, you had to take it out like in dollar increments.
[00:42:42.240 --> 00:42:46.800] So do you know the pennies I left behind are worth $1,500?
[00:42:47.120 --> 00:42:50.960] Imagine if I would have left my $2,500.
[00:42:51.280 --> 00:42:51.760] Yeah.
[00:42:53.360 --> 00:42:56.800] I mean, that's a car, you know, or whatever I could have, you know.
[00:42:56.800 --> 00:43:08.720] But I was just thinking to myself, oh my gosh, if two, three dollars that I left behind is worth $1,500 now, that $2,500 might have been worth, I don't know, $50,000 or something like that.
[00:43:08.720 --> 00:43:12.400] And so investing requires you not to be as nervous.
[00:43:12.880 --> 00:43:15.920] If I'm being honest, I looked at my account yesterday, my friend said, don't look, don't look.
[00:43:15.920 --> 00:43:16.640] I'm like, no, I'm going to look.
[00:43:17.200 --> 00:43:17.920] I have not looked.
[00:43:17.920 --> 00:43:20.560] So I've met Faisal and I have been talking about it every single night right now.
[00:43:20.560 --> 00:43:21.280] And he's like, just.
[00:43:21.600 --> 00:43:22.240] And it's true.
[00:43:22.240 --> 00:43:26.560] And I know what the experts is to just let it be.
[00:43:26.560 --> 00:43:28.400] Yeah, I looked at it and it didn't freak me out.
[00:43:28.560 --> 00:43:29.680] I'll just, I'll be honest.
[00:43:29.680 --> 00:43:37.280] So for the year, because I've definitely had some ups and downs for the year, I'm down $95,000.
[00:43:37.280 --> 00:43:44.000] But for the month, but if I was just looking at this one month, down almost just under $300,000.
[00:43:44.000 --> 00:43:44.640] That's crazy.
[00:43:44.640 --> 00:43:46.640] I could have bought a purchase of property, you know?
[00:43:46.640 --> 00:43:55.920] But honestly, when I saw it, I actually hit up my financial advisor and said, said Anjali, you know, like, you know, should I put more money in?
[00:43:55.920 --> 00:43:59.400] Because I know it's down, but it will not stay down.
[00:43:59.040 --> 00:44:03.560] And there, like, and I'm not talking about money into necessarily individual stocks, you can do that.
[00:44:03.880 --> 00:44:06.600] But should I put more money into the general market?
[00:44:06.600 --> 00:44:11.480] And she was like, Well, I still have some money left over from the last time you, you know, you sent me money.
[00:44:11.480 --> 00:44:27.560] So we've got like, so I'm doing dollar cost averaging, which is when you put money in regularly into the market, typically monthly, whether the market is up or down, if you do so, your average will average up on the upside because you're going to catch the market on its way down.
[00:44:27.560 --> 00:44:29.880] Sometimes you're going to catch the market on its way up.
[00:44:29.880 --> 00:44:32.760] But in general, you will see that your money grows over time.
[00:44:32.760 --> 00:44:39.880] Now, the only folks that I'm truly, truly, not the only, but people who I am worried about, honestly, is folks who are retiring within a year or so.
[00:44:39.880 --> 00:44:42.840] Because it might take time for the market to rebound itself.
[00:44:42.840 --> 00:44:48.600] I'm 45, so I don't plan on using that money for another 10, maybe 15, maybe even 20 years.
[00:44:48.600 --> 00:44:50.040] Maybe, you know, I don't know.
[00:44:50.360 --> 00:44:54.840] So I have plenty of time for whatever losses I have to be regained.
[00:44:54.840 --> 00:44:59.800] So I want folks to one, unless you need the money, next year I would not be touching it.
[00:44:59.800 --> 00:45:04.040] Because there are paper losses, meaning like what I just saw, you lost $300,000.
[00:45:04.040 --> 00:45:07.240] I actually didn't lose $300,000 until I pulled that money out.
[00:45:07.240 --> 00:45:08.520] Then it's locked in.
[00:45:09.000 --> 00:45:09.800] So I'm looking at it.
[00:45:09.800 --> 00:45:14.840] I'm like, well, I've been down before, and two, three, five years, it might tell, oh, Tiffany, you're up $500,000.
[00:45:14.840 --> 00:45:15.480] Okay.
[00:45:15.800 --> 00:45:16.360] You know?
[00:45:16.360 --> 00:45:21.000] And so, like, I don't want it to be a realized loss by pulling my money out.
[00:45:21.000 --> 00:45:22.680] So that's just something to consider.
[00:45:22.680 --> 00:45:25.560] That, like, I have my stepdaughter is 18.
[00:45:25.560 --> 00:45:31.480] And she was saying, like, oh my gosh, because she has like all this money in an account that we put in for her.
[00:45:31.480 --> 00:45:32.760] And she's like, I just want to pull it out.
[00:45:32.760 --> 00:45:33.640] I was like, you're 18.
[00:45:33.640 --> 00:45:38.360] You literally have like 50 years before, girl.
[00:45:39.640 --> 00:45:41.960] The jeans you want to buy are secure or whatever.
[00:45:41.960 --> 00:45:44.120] You know, like, so she has plenty of time.
[00:45:44.120 --> 00:45:55.840] And so, those are things to consider: is that one, if you feel really nervous about investing, you might want to invest in having a financial advisor, specifically a certified financial planner.
[00:45:55.840 --> 00:45:58.480] That's the gold standard of financial advisors.
[00:45:58.480 --> 00:46:09.920] And not everyone needs one, but I got one not for the investment component because a financial advisor doesn't just help you to make the best decisions when it comes to investing.
[00:46:09.920 --> 00:46:13.680] There's a holistic approach, like I was underinsured.
[00:46:13.680 --> 00:46:14.720] So, she's looking at that.
[00:46:14.720 --> 00:46:18.160] She also, because I have businesses, she's also a CPA, which I love.
[00:46:18.160 --> 00:46:20.000] So, she looks at my taxes too.
[00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:21.360] She looks at my business finance.
[00:46:21.360 --> 00:46:23.040] She's another set of eyes.
[00:46:23.040 --> 00:46:26.160] You know, I've got like three or four sets of eyes looking at my finances.
[00:46:26.560 --> 00:46:32.640] But also, too, like when my husband suddenly passed away in 2021, she was like, she looked through.
[00:46:32.640 --> 00:46:33.840] He had a pension.
[00:46:34.080 --> 00:46:37.280] We had like money that he had left behind.
[00:46:37.280 --> 00:46:43.520] We had life insurance and things like that that I couldn't have possibly gone through when I was deep, deep, deep in grief.
[00:46:43.520 --> 00:46:46.000] And so, she helped significantly with that.
[00:46:46.000 --> 00:46:56.640] And so, to me, especially as you start to grow wealth or want to grow wealth, having a guide, having access to someone who's going to look at your life holistically can really be helpful.
[00:46:56.640 --> 00:47:10.480] But if you don't know anything else, you know, you invest in an ETF, you know, and certainly this is not financial advice, but if it was me, I'm investing in an ETF or mutual fund, but their fees are kind of high that mirrors the market.
[00:47:10.480 --> 00:47:18.160] Meaning, like, I'm like the SP 500, the top 500 companies trading on the stock and stock, like trading.
[00:47:18.160 --> 00:47:27.120] Like, like I'm looking at that and saying, okay, this ETF, this exchange-traded fund, mirrors what that, what the market is doing.
[00:47:27.120 --> 00:47:31.240] And I know it's down right now, but I know that it's on its way up eventually.
[00:47:29.840 --> 00:47:35.240] And so I'm just going to put my money into this ETF or mutual fund that mirrors what it does.
[00:47:35.400 --> 00:47:41.640] Because I know that in the last 30 years, we're looking at a return typically of like seven to ten percent.
[00:47:41.640 --> 00:47:43.880] And so that's better than putting it in the bank, you know?
[00:47:44.600 --> 00:47:46.440] So yeah, just getting started.
[00:47:46.440 --> 00:47:53.560] And if you're really, really, really scared, like if you really want to learn to trade, say there's simulation accounts that you can practice with, you know?
[00:47:53.560 --> 00:47:55.560] And so when I first started trading, that's what I used to do.
[00:47:55.560 --> 00:47:57.800] For like six months, I would just use these accounts.
[00:47:57.800 --> 00:48:02.440] They give you like the fake money and you put it in and you chart, you know, you take your classes.
[00:48:03.000 --> 00:48:11.960] And then you feel more confident knowing like, okay, these stocks are currently down, but they're down because of what's happening externally, not the company itself.
[00:48:11.960 --> 00:48:13.720] I love buying a company on a discount.
[00:48:13.720 --> 00:48:16.760] But for women, it's to just get started.
[00:48:16.760 --> 00:48:18.840] Create your own investment clubs together.
[00:48:18.840 --> 00:48:21.160] I meet with my club every Saturday.
[00:48:21.160 --> 00:48:24.360] We meet for like one to two hours and we practice charting.
[00:48:24.920 --> 00:48:29.960] One of my friends made like, oh my gosh, I mean, I've seen her make trades where she put $300,000.
[00:48:29.960 --> 00:48:33.480] I think it was like Amazon or Denzy, Disney, and she made a million dollars in one trade.
[00:48:33.480 --> 00:48:34.920] She's done that several times.
[00:48:34.920 --> 00:48:35.480] And so I was.
[00:48:35.640 --> 00:48:36.920] That to me is like gambling.
[00:48:37.800 --> 00:48:41.080] I feel like there's so much like, you have to learn it, you have to do it.
[00:48:41.080 --> 00:48:45.560] But trading and trading stocks feels like, it's definitely not my area.
[00:48:45.640 --> 00:48:46.920] I'm a finance major.
[00:48:47.720 --> 00:48:54.280] I've literally ran a fintech $40 billion under like our payment ecosystem, doing it again.
[00:48:54.360 --> 00:48:58.680] So I do feel like I'm very strong in my financial acumen.
[00:48:58.680 --> 00:49:03.480] But for me, I'm definitely not that risk taker in that way.
[00:49:03.480 --> 00:49:04.240] I'm like, here's it.
[00:49:04.200 --> 00:49:05.320] It doesn't have to be.
[00:49:05.320 --> 00:49:10.760] So this is one thing I've learned from Terry, like, which is so amazing, is that like, because at first I was like, Terry, I don't want to do it.
[00:49:10.760 --> 00:49:11.800] She's like, no.
[00:49:11.800 --> 00:49:16.000] So what I love, she is a, she does technical analysis.
[00:49:16.320 --> 00:49:27.840] So she's got the seven point system where she teaches like, okay, we're going to look, you know, like there was like five or six companies that I follow, and we are looking to see when are big banks about to jump in.
[00:49:27.840 --> 00:49:32.560] You can actually see on the chart based upon shapes that the chart makes, right?
[00:49:32.560 --> 00:49:46.160] Like, okay, like there has been a significant drop, not because anything happened to the company, but because, I don't know, like, you know, maybe their earnings came out and like it came out the same time as somebody else's or whatever.
[00:49:46.160 --> 00:49:50.640] So she shows the buying area and the selling area.
[00:49:50.640 --> 00:49:57.600] And before you make a trade, you have to do the risk analysis and say, how much are you willing to lose in this trade?
[00:49:57.600 --> 00:50:00.160] And I might say, I'm not willing to lose more than $1,000.
[00:50:00.160 --> 00:50:09.600] So then she's going to, she shows you how to do the math that says, okay, then you can buy four shares of this stock at this amount of money.
[00:50:09.600 --> 00:50:13.280] And if it doesn't go your way, you won't lose more than that thousand dollars.
[00:50:13.280 --> 00:50:19.040] And so that's what I love is that like you can actively manage your risk and it's not guessing.
[00:50:19.040 --> 00:50:20.880] It's not like, oh, I heard in the news.
[00:50:20.880 --> 00:50:24.160] No, you're literally just reading the chart.
[00:50:24.160 --> 00:50:26.560] And the chart tells you, and also too, Terry does.
[00:50:26.720 --> 00:50:27.680] Just get educated, right?
[00:50:28.080 --> 00:50:28.320] Yes.
[00:50:29.280 --> 00:50:29.600] That's the key.
[00:50:30.400 --> 00:50:31.600] It's to get comfort, right?
[00:50:31.600 --> 00:50:36.800] Anything that we feel risk about or has like hesitant about, we've got to educate ourselves.
[00:50:37.280 --> 00:50:46.240] And so I do want, you know, and I will say that that's the advice that, and I really wanted to call you to bring you on right now because of, you know, there's a lot happening.
[00:50:46.240 --> 00:51:00.280] And what I don't want women to do, I sold my company in 2020 to private equity, and we invested when everybody told us to pull back to go acquire, to, you know, put in customer acquisition, start becoming more profitable.
[00:50:59.680 --> 00:51:05.640] And I was like, Look, every dollar that I put out, I'm getting three dollars back in my customer cap return.
[00:51:05.960 --> 00:51:06.760] Why would I do this?
[00:51:06.760 --> 00:51:08.520] And I know the markets are kind of crazy.
[00:51:08.520 --> 00:51:15.560] This was COVID happening, and we ended up using that as such an opportunity to gain momentum because our competitors were pulling back.
[00:51:15.720 --> 00:51:22.840] If I hadn't done that, our revenue grew that year from like 10 to 20 million and like we doubled.
[00:51:22.840 --> 00:51:26.280] And it was such a phenomenal time.
[00:51:26.280 --> 00:51:28.280] And I think it was actually 20 to 40, I believe.
[00:51:28.280 --> 00:51:28.840] Sorry.
[00:51:29.160 --> 00:51:37.160] And but my point in that is that it's not about taking, it's about being calculated in your making, right?
[00:51:37.160 --> 00:51:40.840] And just because others are pulling back, like say the course.
[00:51:40.840 --> 00:51:43.480] Like, I really do think that that's been like the overarching advice.
[00:51:43.480 --> 00:51:47.160] I've talked to many finance experts this week just over what's happening.
[00:51:47.480 --> 00:51:53.160] Everyone's got their theories of like this could just be a couple of days, this could be weeks, some say it could be years, right?
[00:51:53.160 --> 00:51:54.200] It could be back into the thing.
[00:51:54.200 --> 00:51:55.560] So we just don't know.
[00:51:55.560 --> 00:52:00.040] However, everyone's like, just say the course, don't freak out over it.
[00:52:00.040 --> 00:52:07.400] And I don't want women to be, you know, now is the time to, you know, don't make scared decisions either.
[00:52:07.400 --> 00:52:10.920] So be, you know, be smart and be conservative, but you don't need to make scared decisions.
[00:52:10.920 --> 00:52:15.800] And it could also be an opportunity to see what your competitors are not doing, right?
[00:52:15.800 --> 00:52:23.320] So if you're a business owner, you know, how does this affect you as a business owner and where can you find those market opportunities, even through your product and things like that?
[00:52:23.320 --> 00:52:27.960] Because I do think the best place that a woman can invest is in her business.
[00:52:28.440 --> 00:52:28.680] Yes.
[00:52:29.320 --> 00:52:34.760] Honestly, like now, for me, people always used to laugh, like, hee, hee, ha, Tiffany, because I keep my prices fairly low.
[00:52:34.760 --> 00:52:36.600] We have this get girl with money club.
[00:52:36.600 --> 00:52:37.480] It comes along with a plan.
[00:52:37.480 --> 00:52:39.880] It's 35 bucks a month, for example.
[00:52:39.880 --> 00:52:45.840] And I remember when I first started my online academy called the Liverpool Academy, it was $10 a month.
[00:52:44.680 --> 00:52:48.400] Everyone told us we were so dumb, it's too low.
[00:52:48.720 --> 00:52:52.960] But we were, you know, like 30% profit, we're making a million dollars a year.
[00:52:52.960 --> 00:52:59.760] And even the club, I mean, we graduated, like I said, over 300,000 students, and our profit margin is 40%.
[00:53:00.080 --> 00:53:03.600] I mean, contrary to popular belief, you don't want a 90% profit margin.
[00:53:03.600 --> 00:53:04.400] You're doing something wrong.
[00:53:04.400 --> 00:53:07.440] You're either underpaying, you're paying way too many taxes.
[00:53:07.440 --> 00:53:11.440] And so 40% is solid where we'd like to kind of like land for ourselves.
[00:53:11.440 --> 00:53:19.040] And so I just share all that to say that, like, I know during times like this, for me, people are not wanting to pay.
[00:53:19.040 --> 00:53:23.680] Like, during COVID, everyone had a $25,000 product or $10,000 or $2,000.
[00:53:24.000 --> 00:53:30.080] I'm like, this is where I get to shine because folks are like, oh my gosh, I want day-to-day financial help.
[00:53:30.080 --> 00:53:32.240] I don't have $200, $300 a month to do so.
[00:53:32.240 --> 00:53:33.600] I'm like, don't worry, we got you.
[00:53:34.400 --> 00:53:37.600] There's already 10,000 students right now currently going through it.
[00:53:38.000 --> 00:53:39.520] It's 35 bucks a month.
[00:53:39.520 --> 00:53:41.440] And folks are like, yes, thank you so much, Tiffy.
[00:53:41.440 --> 00:53:44.720] So we are actually growing despite the financial fear.
[00:53:44.720 --> 00:53:57.920] And so to your point, Sonara, that like, you know, like figuring out like what are your competitors not doing, how to get in, even with DEI going out the window, people are like, Tiffany, are you finding that brands are reaching out to you less?
[00:53:57.920 --> 00:54:00.800] Surprisingly, no, I'm finding them reaching out to me more.
[00:54:00.800 --> 00:54:18.000] I don't, I don't, you know, and it's, you know, and I think it's because certainly my core audience is black and brown women, but I made a concerted effort some years ago to make sure that like I honor my core audience while also making sure that I'm on platforms that adhere to a wider audience.
[00:54:18.000 --> 00:54:21.360] When I'm on Good Morning America, I'm not just speaking to black and brown women.
[00:54:21.360 --> 00:54:23.600] Today's show, I have a Netflix special.
[00:54:23.600 --> 00:54:25.200] I just did a PBS special.
[00:54:25.200 --> 00:54:29.280] And so I learned to seesaw.
[00:54:29.280 --> 00:54:40.520] And so as a result, even though DEI money has slowed down, that's okay because we have this other side of our business that is like general population kind of access to our business.
[00:54:40.520 --> 00:54:53.080] So just, and to me, this is when true business people are made or broken, you know, because if anybody can win when everything goes right, you know, anybody can win when everything goes right.
[00:54:53.080 --> 00:55:05.720] You know, do you have the determination and the grit to stick to it, to do what it takes, to cut your coat a little smaller, you know, to maybe hunker down or lean in or take the risk?
[00:55:05.720 --> 00:55:08.200] You know, maybe now's the time to learn to start trading.
[00:55:08.200 --> 00:55:11.080] I'm not saying trading with real money, but trading with pro-trade.
[00:55:11.080 --> 00:55:14.840] So that way, when this opportunity comes around again, you can jump in.
[00:55:14.840 --> 00:55:19.320] You know, like so investing doesn't just have to mean investing in stocks and the market.
[00:55:19.320 --> 00:55:21.960] Investing, honestly, can be just investing in yourself.
[00:55:21.960 --> 00:55:24.040] Now is the time to invest in yourself.
[00:55:24.040 --> 00:55:24.680] I love that.
[00:55:24.680 --> 00:55:27.240] And I think that's a perfect way to end this awesome episode.
[00:55:27.240 --> 00:55:28.840] I could literally talk to you for hours.
[00:55:28.840 --> 00:55:29.880] This was so helpful.
[00:55:30.200 --> 00:55:32.760] Tiffany, congratulations on everything.
[00:55:32.760 --> 00:55:34.440] We're super rooting for you.
[00:55:34.440 --> 00:55:37.240] We definitely need to get our copy of Get Go With Money.
[00:55:37.240 --> 00:55:39.960] We definitely need to get access to your club.
[00:55:39.960 --> 00:55:41.480] How do we find you online?
[00:55:41.480 --> 00:55:42.360] How do we follow you?
[00:55:42.360 --> 00:55:46.280] And then I'll link every single thing for all of our women at CEO School.
[00:55:46.280 --> 00:55:51.320] So if you, I am the budget niece on all the platforms.
[00:55:51.720 --> 00:55:54.920] Get go with money, it's available wherever books are sold.
[00:55:55.240 --> 00:55:58.440] You know, Amazon, Marginoble, small bookstores as well.
[00:55:58.440 --> 00:56:07.800] And if you want to join the club and it comes along, like I said, with this plan, it's join GGWM for getger with moneyplan.com.
[00:56:07.800 --> 00:56:09.960] Join ggwmplan.com.
[00:56:09.960 --> 00:56:17.520] And yeah, like I said, for 35 bucks a month, if you use the code 35, now remember to use the code 35.
[00:56:17.520 --> 00:56:18.560] Yes, I was just remembering that.
[00:56:18.560 --> 00:56:19.120] Yes.
[00:56:19.120 --> 00:56:20.400] Okay, we'll link it for you.
[00:56:14.760 --> 00:56:21.520] So you just go to the show notes.
[00:56:21.520 --> 00:56:22.800] It'll be easy and linked.
[00:56:22.800 --> 00:56:24.640] Tiff, this was such a pleasure.
[00:56:24.640 --> 00:56:27.200] Thank you so much for being on the show today.
[00:56:27.200 --> 00:56:30.960] We are going to invest in ourselves and do all the right things.
[00:56:30.960 --> 00:56:31.840] I'm so excited.
[00:56:31.840 --> 00:56:33.680] I think this is such a great opportunity.
[00:56:33.680 --> 00:56:35.120] And so this was such a good reminder.
[00:56:35.120 --> 00:56:37.680] I think everybody needed to hear this episode today.
[00:56:37.680 --> 00:56:40.800] And I know I'm going to go back and go make my finance meetings.
[00:56:40.800 --> 00:56:42.880] I'm going to go take a look at my portfolio again.
[00:56:42.880 --> 00:56:44.240] And I might even learn some day trading.
[00:56:44.240 --> 00:56:45.200] So I'm going to ping you on that.
[00:56:46.960 --> 00:56:53.040] Maybe you can, maybe I can report back to the crew on whether it's for me or not.
[00:56:53.040 --> 00:56:54.720] But super excited to have you on.
[00:56:54.720 --> 00:57:00.400] And if you guys enjoyed today's episode, please do screenshot this episode, tag us online, share it with your friends.
[00:57:00.400 --> 00:57:02.000] This is the most important knowledge.
[00:57:02.000 --> 00:57:07.280] Women need to be supporting each other with conversations like these, and they need to be had.
[00:57:07.280 --> 00:57:11.520] So share this conversation, tag Tiffany, tag myself, tag CEO School.
[00:57:11.520 --> 00:57:14.480] And we can't wait to see you in our DMs and leave a review.
[00:57:14.480 --> 00:57:17.760] And we'll see you on next episode of The CEO School.
[00:57:17.760 --> 00:57:18.400] Bye, everyone.
[00:57:18.640 --> 00:57:19.840] Bye, Tiffany.
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