Shift Your Money Mindset

Welcome to The Power Lounge, your go-to place for engaging conversations in the digital world. In this episode, our host Amy Vaughn was joined by our special guest Sarah Grace Mohr, COO and minority owner at The Prosperity People, championing women's empowerment and financial literacy. Sarah recounts her journey from financial struggle to empowerment, emphasizing how limiting beliefs affect money management. Gain practical tips on goal-setting, financial clarity, and aligning personal and business goals. Uncover the transformative potential of discovering your "prosperity place" and Sarah's guidance on financial literacy and curiosity for personal and financial success.

Join us for actionable advice and transformative insights on The Power Lounge.

Featured in the Episode

Sarah Grace Mohr

COO of MACKEY and minority owner at The Prosperity People

Sarah’s LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahgracemohr/

Amy Vaughan,

Owner & Chief Empowerment Officer

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amypvaughan/

Takeaways

• Financial Struggles & Overcoming Shame
• Financial Goals & Building Confidence
• Transforming Businesses for Prosperity
• Economic Empowerment & Development
• Money Management & Financial Literacy
• Balancing Joy, Work, and Financial Management

Quotes

"Transform your financial health by delving beyond surface fixes and embracing the deep roots of your money mindset." - Sarah Grace Mohr

"Empower yourself through financial literacy, making money work for you, and aligning with what truly resonates in your life." - Sarah Grace Mohr

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction

04:38 - Impact of Privilege and Tragedy

10:02 - Battling Shame and Fear Post-Bankruptcy

15:11 - Mindset Shifts: Financial Health Unveiled

18:13 - Balancing Time, Money, and Joy

19:56 - Transient Satisfaction vs. Anticipated Bliss

23:57 - Embracing Slow Progress and Reflection

30:41 - Redirecting and Managing Anger

37:04 - Recognizing Privilege and Tools

47:44 - Intuition in Action: Trusting Your Gut

51:56 - Seeking Financial Peace for Fulfillment

54:51 - Outro

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Chapters

• 0:10 Money Mindset Journey
• 8:00 Transforming Financial Health Through Belief Systems
• 15:18 Shifting Mindset for Financial Health
• 22:19 Steps to Change Money Mindset
• 31:26 Empowering Women Through Financial Literacy
• 43:40 Financial Integration and Comfort Range
• 50:43 Financial Goals and Abundance Mission

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:10

All right. Hello everyone, and welcome to our weekly Power Lounge. This is your place to hear authentic conversations from those who have power to share. My name is Amy Vaughn and I am the owner and chief empowerment officer of Together Digital, a diverse and collaborative community of women who have power to share and choose to share their knowledge, power and connections. You can join the movement at togetherindigitalcom.

Speaker 1: 0:36

This week, we are talking about money. My friends, how does that make you feel? Is it complicated? Well, you're not alone. Does that make you feel? Is it complicated? Well, you're not alone.

Speaker 1: 0:49

According to the 2023 Fidelity Investment Survey, women's number one word for their financial feelings was stress. Have no fear, though. We have got someone truly exceptional with us today, and she's the one and only Sarah Grace Moore, lovingly known as SG. This powerhouse wears many hats, as the chief operating officer and minority owner of the Prosperity People and MACI, overseeing strategic directions and operations, and much more. Sg's passion for empowering women, promoting financial literacy and fueling small business success runs deep. She was raised by a trailblazer. Oh goodness, passion for empowering women, promoting financial literacy and feeling small business success runs deep. She was raised by a trailblazing entrepreneur, from serving as president of Impact 100 to currently serving on the Garing Center Board. Her contributions are felt far and wide when she's not leading the business. In the business world, you can find this lifelong Northern Kentuckian embracing the Bellevue life with her wife and kids playing at the park, strolling the avenue and connecting in Polka Dot Alley. Sg has garnered so much wisdom from her incredible career and life experiences. I know that the insights that she's going to share with us today are going to be invaluable. So, everyone, please let's give a warm and long-awaited welcome to the inspiring Sarah Grace Moore. Thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you, that feels like such big shoes. Like is that me? Absolutely, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 2:27

I had the privilege of seeing SG on stage at the Queen City Game Changers event, maybe a month or two ago, and I was just so moved by your passion and your background and your story. I held back and didn't accost you right away as you came off of stage, but definitely reached out right away. We had a great phone conversation and we made this happen and I'm just really excited because I think you know, money is a difficult thing for women, especially to sort of talk about and, as you often say, it's a very emotional thing, and I'm excited because I think you know our listeners are just going to get a lot out of your experience, your story, and they're going to get some very actionable things as well. I hope so. That's the plan. That's what we talk about today, but let's start a little bit with your journey.

Speaker 1: 3:20

We always love to hear folks' background and experience. A little bit about your upbringing, this female finance entrepreneur upbringing, and what started to sort of shape your personal money beliefs. Oh, how much time do you have, right? So I like to be. Whenever we're talking about money mindset and finance, I like to be super vulnerable, because what I like to say is you all would rather share intimate details of your sex lives with your friends than talk about how finance shows up in your life, right? I mean, there's a whole sex in the city series, but there's no money in the city series, right? So I'm really happy you started with this.

Speaker 1: 4:00

So I didn't realize how different my upbringing was when I was younger. My mom founded our company about a year before I was born, so she had always been an entrepreneur. This was 1982 when she founded the business. Yes, I am 41. I was born in 1983.

Speaker 1: 4:17

And so I just I think my journey started with immense privilege that I had no idea I was aware of, right, I mean, there was privilege of having a female, like having a mom who was a boss everywhere. Like she was a boss everywhere and I didn't see that as anything different. There was no ceiling for me to shatter, there were no limits in my mind of who I could be as a woman. So I think that was huge. But the second privilege is the knowledge I got from her right. So she was an accountant, she is an accountant, she's a CPA, and when you're in a family business I'm sure there are a lot of you out there shop talk around the dinner table is just the thing that happens. When my parents were still married, my dad was in the business as well. So they'd talk about clients, they'd talk about team members, they'd talk about like what's happening, you know, in terms of legislation, and like that was just the water I was swimming in the air, I was breathing, right. So I grew up and I didn't realize until probably a decade ago that like whoa, the amount of privilege I have from having a female founder as a mother, and also this like financial knowledge that so many people don't have, and so that was amazing.

Speaker 1: 5:39

But the thing that, really, when I finally did the work that we'll get into talking about what really defined my money beliefs, was that when I was 11, my father died by suicide, and it was traumatic for a number of reasons, but, as it relates to my money beliefs, one of the things that all of these well-intentioned adults in my life told me to like console me, was you know, your dad had worked really hard, but he had been unemployed for a long time and he couldn't find a job and so he was running out of money. Yeah, and it gives me like, like chills thinking about it now and I just looking back, you know, looking back, I'm like, wow, that was it. Like that was the moment when everything I started to believe and then act upon for money was created, and for me, what that created was two beliefs. So one in any child of divorce knows what I'm talking about here. Money buys love, right? So like, if I have, if my dad had money, or if I had money to give him, maybe he'd still be alive, right? That's like the thinking from an 11 year old, absolutely, um, so that was a huge one. Money buys love. And then the second one was money is literally life Like if money like it was, like I hadn't realized until that point how powerful money is in our lives, that somebody could end their own because they didn't have enough Right. And so it became this incredibly polarizing thing in my life and, yeah, that is where my money's mindset for the majority of my life so far has been rooted in those two beliefs. That's huge and that's a lot to overcome because it's such a young age, but then it's like at that age where you are aware enough to be truly and deeply impacted. So what was the turning point in overcoming those now deep-seated money beliefs and how did that impact your life, both personally and professionally, from there on out?

Speaker 1: 8:00

Yeah, so the way these two beliefs showed up in my life the best way I can describe it is it was like I was financially binging and purging, and I think there's so many ways that we show up for our bodies is how we show up for our money life. So I think there's so many correlations there, but for me it was financial binging and purging, so like I would binge in the sense that I would like buy friends gifts, take them to events when I had roommates, I would pay their rent or I would buy their groceries, right, um, and on some level too, I was binging of, like gaining stuff to make myself feel better too. So there's like huge binge. And then it was like like, and all of a sudden it would be like, oh my god, this is too scary, it's too much, I don't have, like I don't have enough, and so I would restrict and restrict and restrict and you know, I'd eat ramen noodles for weeks and I'd like make sure that every light was off in the house and, um, you know, I so I was living in this just like wildly vacillating, out of control thing and, um, what happened to really have me shift how I was behaving in my money life was was the great recession.

Speaker 1: 9:16

So I found myself, you know, early twenties, with maxed out credit. No really earning potential at that point other than what I had, and my only choice was to declare bankruptcy. Like I had gotten myself that financially unhealthy, um, and as a, as a daughter of a badass finance entrepreneur, whoa like to have to do that to like, and I thought it was just before I had done any of the work. I thought I was just inherently deeply broken right, like why can't I just do what I know I'm supposed to do? Because, like I said at the beginning, I knew all of the things and it was the impact, I think, of that having to declare bankruptcy.

Speaker 1: 10:18

Really, if I can sum it up in one word, is shame. Like the amount of shame I carried, not just about my financial life, but like if we feel unhealthy in our financial life, similar to like we're trying to do anything with our body or any other part of our body, like our, our world, like if we can't do what we think we should do, it becomes the shame thing and like shame freezes us and it and it just packs us down deep. And you know, I think for a really long time after that I just took, took what I could get, you know, took what I could get, you know, lived a little bit in fear and yeah, it was. It took a long time to like get out of the shame and even when I was like finally aware of it, after doing my belief, work, like it was yeah, it was. It was a long road.

Speaker 1: 11:24

I can imagine it was such a cycle, right, such it sounds like such a cycle like when you talk about like the binge and the purge, and again when you're looking to find a sense of love and belonging, and it's about like that shame cycle, I, yeah, I could only just imagine, um, and then when you get to that point of like the lowest of the low, and then you have something like a mother that has that's like, that's your, that's your benchmark. Yeah, that's really hard. Well, I think the shame I felt is her daughter. Right, I'm like, oh my God, nobody can know this. They'll say, like what will they think of her? And like how does this? And I, oh my God, I think my mother's the most amazing person on the planet. So it was like one of these things of like not just have I like really irreparably harmed myself. At least in that moment, that's what I thought. But I was like how is this going to impact her? And like is this going to be a stain for her? And like how is she going to, if this gets out, how is she ever going to talk about it with people and have to explain her like reckless daughter away?

Speaker 1: 12:34

What I love about you sharing this story is that I think it opens those that are listening. I hope up to trust that anybody that's listening, wherever you might be in your money journey or experience, like you've been there, you know. I think sometimes we get people that come in that are the gurus and the experts and you sometimes wonder, like we all have a different level of experience that we've been through and privilege that we've come from. But I think it's so important to peel back the layers and show our not just reveal the privilege that we've been through, but the vulnerabilities and the experiences and sometimes the shame that we've experienced, to show others that we too are vulnerable. We too have been in those places, so that others know that we have done the work. Yeah, absolutely. You know to say that, yeah, I have done the work. I've been at the bottom and worked my way up and that's how I know that what I'm about to share works. Yes, exactly yeah, that is how I know it works. I live in proof and it's still a journey Exactly An ongoing journey, for sure. Yeah, that is how I know it works. I live in Peru and it's still a journey Exactly An ongoing journey, for sure.

Speaker 1: 13:50

Let's dig a little bit more into about how we in general think about money as people and how, shifting from one mindset to another can begin to help us transform our financial health Absolutely. So we have experiences in life and then we make beliefs out of those, and some beliefs are helpful, some are harmful, just like most things in life, but really what happens is, over time, we build this window with which we see the world, and so with money it's no different. We've built beliefs. Credit cards are bad, leasing a car is a waste of money, like. We have all of these little things and they build up and build up into this frame and it doesn't become a belief anymore. It becomes what we know, right, we get real righteous and, like, I know this. But this limits, right, this limits our ability to make choices, it limits our ability to see different outcomes, and so that's where belief systems can get in our way, and because we have this belief system, every choice we make is from this window and we have our outcomes based on our beliefs.

Speaker 1: 15:18

So I think, like, especially when people out here, out there me, are trying to work on their money life, from the tangible, from input of paycheck to output of expenses, you know we're already at the aftermath, right, like we're already at, just like, the result. We have to go further and further back up that line to really uncover, like well, what is it that makes me make these choices? What are the beliefs? Do they serve? And some of them are great, just like they serve you well. But like which ones do I want to hold on to? Which ones do I want to change? Where did they come from? So I think that's the biggest reason, shifting your mindset can transform your financial health, because you're no longer looking at the surface bits, you're looking at the groundwater of what is happening and what has created your money life. Yeah, that's great, I think.

Speaker 1: 16:14

All commonly called limiting beliefs, right, limiting, in other words, we're limiting ourselves and not looking at the bigger picture to say where are the opportunities? In other words, you're missing the chance for abundance, you're missing the chance for growth by just basically kind of keeping yourself locked in a room and saying these are the four walls of a room. That basically doesn't exist, the limit doesn't exist. Being reference, right. But yeah, I mean we have. We are in our own self-created boxes. Yeah, absolutely, yeah, oh, I feel that. Well, that happens in every part of our life. Absolutely, it's not. I mean, it happens in every part of our life, our own identity, our work like our work, gifts, everything we put ourself in this box, but we've put up, we've put ourselves there, yeah, and the first step is really starting to acknowledge them right?

Speaker 1: 17:10

So I grew up in a family that wasn't particularly wealthy and so scarcity mindset it just kind of runs deep within me. I can't stand food waste. I hoard my money. I will sit and I will save. I will never spend. I will sit and I will save. I will never spend. I'm not a person who is very I don't love debt. It really sits hard with me when I see credit card debt mount up and it becomes like a tension point right for me and my partner or for me for my business and things like that. And I have to become more aware of these things as it being a narrative, that sometimes doesn't really serve me well. You know, I understand that there's a time and a place in which it does make sense and it's not a bad thing, but it's not always the end of the world. You know to have that. You know I'm not, I'm not a trailer park kid anymore. I can, I can grow beyond that Right, and I think that any you know, I think, the importance of it, like at any level of earnings and at any level of like, money, health.

Speaker 1: 18:10

We need to find those ways to enjoy, like, enjoy, enjoy what we have, because like and money is energy. Like you are exchanging your precious time for these dollars and like, yes, we have. Like, yes, we have to pay our rent or our mortgage and we have to have transportation and like. But we, we need to find the small, even the small ways. Like for people who are because I think people typically live in either overspending bucket or hoarding bucket, like that's kind of like. We never live in balance. We're always on either, always on either side of the spectrum. And for those who are in this scarcity mentality, like I need to hoard, where's the joy? But for those who are overspending, where's the joy? Because when I was in my overspending, when I was binging, it felt like for a split second after I ran my credit card I was like that's great, this is great, and then I was like oh my God, you know it's so there's.

Speaker 1: 19:09

It's about finding, it's about aligning who we are with our spending and like, energy, like and both energetically and physically, like our dollars. I don't know where I was going off my train of thought, but that's okay. Yeah, no, I don't know where I was going off my train of thought, but that's okay self-sabotage themselves and end up losing a lot of what they win. And it has to do with hedonic adaptation in the sense of and those who are typically wealthy. It's that idea that once you gain something that you want, that desire, that longing, the longing and the anticipation is actually more gratifying than once you have received it.

Speaker 1: 20:04

And if it's something that's more um, material versus it's like the chemical response to, I think is it's more of a like a dopamine rate hit than a serotonin, which is like a longer standing release of hormone. So if it's a dopamine hit, I just bought this cute little handbag. I spent $300 on it. I have it now. But now I want that thousand dollar bag. You know cause, like now I have it, it doesn't mean as much. The anticipation of getting the bag was more than actually getting the bag. Well, they've been studies on vacations too, that that people actually, when they're studied, find more enjoyment planning and anticipating the vacation and going on a vacation. And I have to say, if they were with children, like these children, that is accurate, like right, no-transcript, so, but yeah, I mean, that's it's. It, is it we? It's almost like the longing and the anticipation is what it's. It's the journey. It is a hundred percent.

Speaker 1: 21:13

My solution that I'll share with everyone, that I have learned over the last few years is because of that insight. What I have done is I take more frequent short break vacation type of things versus any one long, like two week vacation now. So we do like more quarterly long weekends and maybe one week long vacation versus any two week long vacation, because then I have more things to look forward to throughout the year. I do the same thing. Yeah, it's just helpful. Yeah, it's a good insight.

Speaker 1: 21:44

All right, let's talk about some methodologies and some tools for our listeners. You, you know, and some of the things that you've, you've that you've written and talked about in the past. You've mentioned that change requires patience, reflection and self-love. Could you elaborate on how these practices in particular affect our relationship with money? Yeah, so there are four steps to change and growth. Again, this is universal, not just about money.

Speaker 1: 22:19

The first step is unconscious incompetence. So that's ignorance is bliss. I'm walking around life, I'm living it. I might have hurdles or boundaries or whatever, and I just think that the world is cool sometimes, right, and sometimes I'm not saying it's not. Sometimes it is so that first step to get out of unconscious incompetence requires reflection. Right, you can't. If you don't know something exists, you can't work on it, change it, love it harder if it serves you all of those good things. So the second step is conscious incompetence. So this is where, oh, I know I'm the problem. I have no idea how to help myself not be the problem, and so that's where we have to love ourselves. Anyway. That's the self love, right, like that is okay, that is great job for realizing it, great job for digging deep. That is like, just like you know, you've got this, um, and then the next step is conscious competence.

Speaker 1: 23:32

So this is where we are walking through life in slow-mo and hypervigilant at the same time. So this is like being intentional and and reflective and in the moment, every time we're doing something and whatever we're trying to change. And that's where it takes patience, because you don't have patience with yourself. You're, you know, and I'm horrible at patience, but it's not a virtue I have. So, like I get it, I just want, like I want it to be done, but, um, that that step requires patience. It requires you just be like yep, we're making tiny little baby steps. It's the same as like if you wanted to start a running habit. Instead of going for a five mile run the first day, you put your gym shoes by the door the first day, right, and then you put your gym shoes on, and then you, and that is how you actually build up to that change, not in one sweeping movement. And so then the fourth step is unconscious competence, where we finally integrated our new habit, belief, whatever, into our ourselves. But I think at every stage it requires reflection, self-love and patience. Those are the three things that have to happen for us to change anything in our life. Yeah, I love it. Those are great steps. Hopefully, y'all are taking notes and wrote those down, and I love that you got to be patient with your impatience.

Speaker 1: 24:54

I tell people I'm a sprinter, like I'm great in a crisis. You know like I can go hard. I can work 12 hour days for three weeks straight and you know whatever you want me to marathon? Yeah, like, no, that is. You know that is for me. I'm not a marathoner. I don't think many people are, especially when it comes to themselves. Sure, sure. I think that all that self-awareness, though, is so important because you know that about yourself, so you allow yourself to sprint, and then I think you probably just take a lot of time and rest hard in between, right, yeah, that's what I like to do. Yeah, I'm very similar, I feel you, I feel you, I feel you, I feel you.

Speaker 1: 25:31

Let's talk about some more tools, because we love these things. What practical tools and exercises do you recommend for someone who is looking to change their money mindset? Yeah, so I wrote down I had to take notes for myself, guys, because I didn't want to lose anything. My first two are a little ethereal, but we're going to share them anyway. The first is how do you take guilt, shame and judgment and turn it to curiosity? Because if we are judgmental, we are not going to shift because we're in judgment. But if we shift that judgment from like oh, I'm just really bad with money, even just a slight change of I wonder why I'm bad with money, right, so like, even changing the language you're using in your own head from judgment to curiosity, that itself can be transformational in how you approach your money life.

Speaker 1: 26:27

The second thing to do is to build in a pause. So if there's something specific you want to change, this is the example I use all the time because I am guilty of it. I spend too much at the target dollar spot, right, like who doesn't. So I don't allow, like I allow myself to look through and then I don't pick anything up because there's a million of everything Like I don't. Then I don't pick anything up because there's a million of everything Like I don't, so I don't pick anything up. And then I go do whatever else I need to do. And if I still, at the end of my shopping trip, want that one well, nothing's $1 in there, anymore three or $5 thing I will get it because I've spent enough time, I've paused and done the necessary shopping. So, building in that pause wherever you need it, I love it.

Speaker 1: 27:15

And then the third thing is to journal. So when you move from judgment to curiosity and you start getting insights, don't just let those go in your head, because you're going to lose them. Write them down, make sure you're highlighting or underlining or post-it, noting things that hit. And it's also because you will need to track your growth, because your growth will be slow. We're talking marathon, not sprint, and so we need to journal and write it down so we capture what we've learned, because we will lose it again and and then we have to relearn it. That's how humans are, but also for progress.

Speaker 1: 28:00

And then the other I have this. I want to share this, and this is an exercise that I that has been inspired from my bartending days, so I don't think I really understood money for myself until I had to work. It was like, okay, I served 25 tables tonight and walked away with $300. Oh my God, that means that like doing that math in your head, right? So my suggestion in terms of trying to understand some of what's happening in your life and where you have urges, or maybe urges you're not meeting, is to take one day's worth of post-tax earnings in cash and only spend things in your life with that, because I think that gives you. When cash is physically with you, it is very different to give it away. It is. It is when it's just on a card and the numbers like there's no number there telling you your balance, no, you know. And so I think there's like this exercise of taking a day's worth of your life force and then spending it in your life will show you what is important and what's not. I think that would be really powerful for a lot of people. Yeah, I love that exercise. I love that exercise.

Speaker 1: 29:24

We've talked about that too as a family of, like, this is all that I earn in a day and I want to spend money on something. If I was to break that down, and how many days it took me to work for that thing, is it worth that? Like, we've been doing that with our kids too and it's been really kind of powerful and interesting to see, you know, breaking it down into like their paper route or babysitting hours or things like that, to help them truly understand the value of something. Because a lot of times we don't think about that. And I love the cash idea.

Speaker 1: 29:52

We've been talking about that as well as budgeting for a family, like doing like little, like cash envelopes, just to kind of, because, again, you just swipe and you swipe and you swipe and you don't think about that as money coming out and pro tip, because I know we all support small businesses. Yes, if you use cash in a small business, a dollar equals a dollar. Yes, if you use a credit card at a small business, a dollar equals 87 cents. Great point, and so it. And so the dollar devalues. If we use digital, if we use cash, the dollar equals a dollar and it continues to be more than the dollar. Yeah, because of those fees. So just a bonus, yeah, bonus, good thing. That's a great point.

Speaker 1: 30:31

And I love you talking about the slowing down and getting curious instead of judgmenting or judgment, because I'm always saying don't get furious, get curious. I need to put on a t-shirt. I wear that t-shirt all the time. I'll get some made. I will be the first one to order. Don't get curious, get curious. Iagram 9,.

Speaker 1: 30:50

So I like to find ways to kind of redirect my anger, because I'm not great at handling my anger. So it's like I don't like that, I don't like the anger, I'm like I want to find a new place to put it and it's get curious. And I loved what you said too, about journaling. It is a great exercise and I 100% agree, because I don't often go back to what I've journaled, but it does crack me up when I'm, when I am in a point where I feel like I'm I'm struggling with something that feels new, and I'll go back and start reading it. I'm like duh, amy, we've been here before A lot of times I have done that.

Speaker 1: 31:26

It has been ridiculous. I'm like an app, like I don't necessarily journal journal. I have like my daily planner and there's a lot of notes that go in that and oftentimes they're they're journaling like if I'm struggling with something. But the amount of times I've gone back, even like a quarter, I'm like, oh man, and they're done that. How did I forget that? We've been here before and we solved it. Yeah, we forgot how we went about this and I was really wise about that and I figured it out. So let's just lean on that knowing and take that route. Yeah, yeah, all right, let's talk about financial literacy and how it can empower women. What are some steps that we can take to improve our understanding and control over our finances and control over our finances?

Speaker 1: 32:14

So I think the problem with oh God, there are a lot of problems with financial literacy this is where I might get a little preachy, so three apologies. So, like, our country sucks at financial literacy, right, I mean, I remember when I was in high school, the most you got to learn about financial literacy was how to balance a checkbook. Yeah, which is actually pretty decent considering most schools. I don't even think they do that, right? Yeah, true, okay, fair enough, fair enough, true, but it's like you know, to send that 18-year-old out into the world, especially when I don't know if they're I don't think they're allowed to do this at colleges anymore but especially when they go to college and every credit card booth is there wanting to give them these ridiculous credit cards when they're taking massive amounts of debt.

Speaker 1: 32:59

Like it is completely unconscionable that we're doing this to our youth and we've done it to ourselves, right, because and the the argument has always been oh, it's for the parents, like it's for the family to teach, and it's like we haven't equipped the parents. So how are the parents supposed to teach? And so financial literacy is not taught anywhere in a really great manner. But there are some very cool ladies out there right now doing stuff. So there's a podcast called the Financial Feminist Nice, check her out. There's Dow jeans, which is an educational platform for women. And then, um, the other piece is like I'm an I I love coaches, having support, having somebody help you. So there are like amazing financial coaches out there as well. Um, I'm going to do one financial bliss coach on Instagram. Do one financial bliss coach on Instagram. She's amazing.

Speaker 1: 33:55

But I think it's really deciding that you want to understand this and taking control of it. But it's finding the right resources, because there are a million resources out there. And I think the other piece of this is and it cannot be understated is understanding what you want versus what you've been told you should want, right? So, like we see this a lot with people being like intentionally childless, right, they have decided this is what I've been told I should want, but I have decided it doesn't fit into who I am. This is this, this could be. I don't want to own a car, I just want, but I've decided it doesn't fit into who I am. This could be. I don't want to own a car, I just want to lease. I don't want to own a home, renting suits me just fine.

Speaker 1: 34:39

Like there are lots of decisions that we just assume we should make and so not just do. We want to get financially literate and understand how money works and how you make money work for you, because investing, know investing, saving all of that good stuff we need to be doing that so that we're not just always working. But yeah, really understanding, like what feels good to me, what does life look like for me and in our business, in the prosperity people. We do this with people in terms of we talk about what is ideal and what is acceptable. So like ideal is I've hit the effing lottery. Every dream's coming true. But like we want to know those things right, we want to know what you're like. Because we don't acknowledge those intense needs, we're going to keep trying to find them in like little ways that may not be super good, and then we want to find acceptable, which is like I can live with this, this feels good. And so if we start looking at big buckets of our life where we spend money homes, cars, vacations, material goods like we can start thinking and if we use these two ways of ideal and acceptable and understanding what's the most important, we can start helping ourselves create a framework around well, my car I don't care, I could drive a beater, but I want the Prada bag, yeah Right. So like that might be an ideal goal in material goods and an acceptable goal for cars. So it's finding ways to find what aligns for you. That's the biggest thing. And then finding those places for education that help you use the systems that are in place to get those wants and needs met. That's fantastic. I love it, love it. Thank you for those resources too. We love a good list of some good resources and folks to follow.

Speaker 1: 36:33

How has money mindset influenced your career growth and your approach to business leadership? That is such like I saw this question. I was like, oh, I don't know how to answer this. Um, I think post my bankruptcy, uh, it all became about like survival for a while and so, like it was always like you get a side hustle, like it wasn't like go negotiate your salary, it was like get a side hustle Cause it was like I think I was dealing with, like like I said, the shame of like you're just broken. And so I was like, oh, somebody wants to hire me, cool, and I'm not going to. But it was like go find other ways to make money. Um, and so I think for my career growth, it really stunted it in a lot of ways because I felt I felt so unworthy in so many ways from it. Um, but what was lovely is because my mother, as crazy as she is, invited me back into her business to work in it with her. Um, that was the turning point where I was like, oh, this is where I figured out.

Speaker 1: 37:45

My privilege was like, oh, I just know these things where other people don't. Oh, I know, like maybe I have, I have created a personal, I've created a personal mess, but I understand how business works. I understand, you know, I understand things. I understand what a P&L is and a balance sheet. You know, like I understand these things in a really intrinsic way, right? So I think it was. It was really it took getting back into the business and my mother allowing me into the business and like being able to see it at the level she saw it, to really change my dynamic and be like, oh no, I, I have these tools and I, oh my gosh, I know how to use them for somebody other than me. I know how to use them for a business. And then I think, what, in terms of my business leadership, what it's really changed for me is like I am highly intentional about who we are as a business, what we stand for, where we put our dollars, how much we do or how much of our dollars we put out there. I'm just extremely, extremely intentional.

Speaker 1: 39:03

I think the other piece that this whole journey has done for me is I look at the truth In my business. That is data. So, like, no longer am I looking at what I'm making up? Right, I'm not looking at making up? Oh, this isn't performing, I think because of X, y, like, no, no, no, no, I'm not doing that anymore. I'm not living in my head anymore. I'm going to look at the data and I'm going to, like, see what it tells me and then I can start digging and find the solution. But I'm no longer going to live in my head and live in the assumptions.

Speaker 1: 39:39

I love it, which is super powerful as a business owner and as a business leader. Yes, like being like this is my truth. Yeah, not, whatever is going on. Yeah, not those limiting beliefs, not those narratives. Yeah, what's on the paper? What do the numbers tell you? I love it, I love it, I love it, and then you can go explore Exactly, exactly.

Speaker 1: 40:01

Another thing I would love to mention, too, is the fact that I don't know if both businesses are, but I know Mackie is a B Corp. Yes, also, which I love and is amazing, and that's no easy feat. It takes a lot to get that certification. Oh my God. It takes a lot to get recertified, which I know you guys you're about to go through, right, or you're going through. We've actually been going through it since 2021. Oh, wow, I mean, the pandemic shook it all up and so it has been a wild rollercoaster even to get recertified, especially because I think a small business you're like, but we know we do all these things. But it's all the documentation it is. And I have to give another shout out to Brandon, my operations manager. He's taken it from me and he's a godsend. Oh, that's so great, because I am a sprinter, not a marathoner, and this is a marathon it is. So, yeah, it makes us really proud to be a B Corp.

Speaker 1: 40:51

Yes, I think it's such a fantastic endeavor and, for anyone who's interested, we'll drop some links into the show notes and everything. And it's really a focus on, you know, people, profit and planet. It's that triple bottom line which I just, I truly do admire, as you know, it's just it's, it's, it's, it's, it's this kind of balance of, again, it's. It's not a nonprofit, right, it's not, it's, it's not an overemphasis on for-profit. It's such a cool balance. Well, and I think in a capitalist society, business is our biggest force, right, so like, agreed, we live in a capitalist society. The biggest shifts that can happen and come from business and so, like I think that's why B Corp is so important is because it is something that can have any business. Focusing on this triple bottom line is going to radically change not just our country but the world. I love being part of it. Sg, I'm so with you. Yeah, we live in a very super capitalist society right now.

Speaker 1: 41:53

That could be another hour conversation. Oh, my podcast, don't have me on that one. I have way too many. I would rant. I'd probably like get all sweaty. I'd be standing up and screaming oh man, oh man. All right, I am going to just remind our lovely live listening audience that we are here for your questions as well. We got a little bit of a late start, so obviously the time has gone fast, as I knew it already would, even if we would have started bang on time. So I'm going to ask this question for our listening audience. But, folks, if you have a question, please drop it into the chat. I've got it up and I'll be keeping an eye on it.

Speaker 1: 42:33

Sg, what advice would you give to our listeners who are struggling with financial confidence or managing their money effectively? Yeah, so the first thing I want to say, speaking of a super capitalist society is. Look at the system you're living in. Yeah, I'm not saying take all the blame off yourself, but I'm also saying, with this phone, I could deplete every resource I have in under five minutes. Yeah, just by double clicking the side. That's so true. I have influencers all over social media that is really hard to opt out of. Telling me all the things that are missing in my life. Yeah, because they're being paid by super capitalist companies. Telling me that you know, wanting me to buy their things. So, like, I think the first thing in terms of confidence is any system you're involved in is perfectly designed for the results it gets. So our systems are perfectly designed for having very in-depth people. Yeah, so I think that is the first thing you have to let yourself off the hook.

Speaker 1: 43:40

We are living in a time where it is beyond easy to spend unconsciously and wildly yeah, right, um, the. So that's the first thing. The second thing, in terms of this ideal and acceptable find your comfort range. Like and this is what I advise my business clients and we advise our personal clients Like you're never going to hit anything right on. Like you're not looking like the whole what's? I don't remember what. What um broker did the what's your number commercial back back in the like 10 years ago. But it's like, no, it's like what, what's your range? Like there are give yourself grace and say this is where I need to live, not not here, not this little place, right? So I think that's part of it. It's like giving yourself range and like and say this is where I need to live, not here, not this little itty bitty place. So I think that's part of it. It's like giving yourself range and like knowing that, again, this is step by step. You can't decide that you're going to go from being overly saving all the way to joyously spending, right, if that's what your intention is. There are all these steps in between. So reassessing your comfort zone, not point zone, every so often is really important.

Speaker 1: 45:00

The other thing is, I think if you're struggling with confidence or struggling with overspending, managing your finances start with something small. So I remember the first thing I ever saved for was a CD player. Yeah, and I went and I bought it and it was service merchandise, do you guys remember? And I remember like it coming down and I was just like. I remember I found it on sale, so I had enough left over to buy the bodyguard soundtrack and I went home and I played that CD on that CD player for like days and I was so proud.

Speaker 1: 45:39

Start with something small. Maybe it's like I want AirPods. Okay, we'll save for those AirPods, maybe you could put them on credit. Or maybe you could go out and spend, like spend it now, but like, prove to yourself you can do that with something you know you can do. Yeah, so start small with any of the goals.

Speaker 1: 45:57

Start small, um, and I think again, know the truth, like stopping, stop listening to what's in your head and, if you really want to build your confidence, curiously, look at your truth. So that could be through simple like. That could be through any number of apps. That can be by just downloading your you know your accounts onto Excel and looking at them. But like, but you have to know the truth before you can move. Yeah, yeah, you can't just keep making up what's happening Exactly and maybe what the truth will confirm or deny what you think A hundred percent. But you know, cause if you don't know where you are, you can't get where you're going Exactly. Um, and I think the again just to reiterate, and I think again just to reiterate know what you want, not what you're supposed to want. Huge, huge. Yeah, I love it.

Speaker 1: 46:55

That is such great advice as somebody who, like in the past, I always allowed my partner to be the one responsible for managing the bills, for managing the bills and there came a time where I was just letting a story play out that this was the situation with our finances, and so I realized I was starting to pick fights about things that weren't to do with the finances, but I knew it was because I felt like there were things going on with the finances and I finally just was like okay, I know, this is why I'm picking the fights. I need to just ask, to see the things. So, as you were speaking there, I'm like, oh yeah, this is bringing up some memories. I need to just look at the things and know the realities so I can get the stories out of my head, and then, if these are the realities and there are some truths, and if I'm uncomfortable, then I need to help come up with a plan to do the things, to fix the things.

Speaker 1: 47:50

If this is what I'm uncomfortable with, absolutely and I think there's not to get too woo-woo, but I think like when we're in our head. Your head doesn't create action, your gut creates action. So, like I find, when you're in your head, once you look at the truth of what your data is, it hits your gut and you're like, you're just like okay, I like there's this like thing in your body that all of a sudden, I think your body is like okay, let's go. Like I, I now feel this I'm not still trying to figure it out Like I it is, I feel like knowing is in your gut and so, like, if you know the truth, that is where you start from and you have that like fire and intensity.

Speaker 1: 48:22

And I think what you mentioned too, in terms of like with your partner, I think a lot of people live their financial life either as an ostrich or an architect or not an architect, archaeologist. So we're ostrich, head in the sand, it doesn't exist, it's fine. And then, like, we get so freaked out, we pop our head up and we go into archaeologist mode where we're like literally sifting through every grain of sand and neither are healthy, right. So when I'm saying know the truth, I'm not saying go through the last three years of your transaction data, I'm saying like, look at who you're spending. Like, use some filters in Excel and see who you're spending the most with Like. Try to group them into like some major buckets, right. Like, find that nice balance between completely ignoring and getting so far on the leaves you can't see. You know the forest 100%. I love it. Love it All right. Listeners, if you've got a question, don't be shy. We love the questions. Drop them in. All right, I've got two more for you and we'll wrap it up.

Speaker 1: 49:20

As a business leader and a mom, how do you balance your personal and professional financial goals? I literally wrote ha Right, I said the word, I said the B word, I said balance, but I did what I said. I don't think it's so much balance as integration, because you're you're a business owner Like the, my personal financial life and my business financial life do not exist in vacuums Like they coexist, and so I think it's all about knowing my limits. Like I'm a post bankruptcy, I'm an incredibly debt averse person. Yes, so, like I don't carry debt in my personal life, I try not to carry debt in my business. If we do, I make sure multiple other people like review what we're going to do Like. So it's about knowing my limits of like. Okay, these are the things that will trigger me or make me potentially make poor decisions or reactive decisions, things like that. And knowing my comfort level and, I think, understanding like, okay, this may be what the business needs, so what personally can shift to allow the business to get what it needs and vice versa, right, okay, personally, this is what I need. What can I do in the business to potentially shift? So I think it's all about that integration of the two and knowing what the priority is at the moment. Yeah, yeah, I think that's a great answer, even the ha, especially the ha.

Speaker 1: 50:43

Yeah, all right, last one, looking ahead, what are your financial goals and aspirations for yourself, in the business and the communities that you support? I want to change the world, like, I think, both my mother and I do. Like when I came back to her business, I was like God, an accounting firm, but she had shifted it so much into this like transformational space. I was like, oh no, you firm, but she had shifted it so much into this like transformational space. I was like, oh no, you're literally trying to change the world and you know, when we help businesses or people find their prosperity place, it creates more peace in their life and in their bodies, which means they show it differently for their family, their employees and their communities. Right, because if we think of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, safety and security is like the last one.

Speaker 1: 51:35

I and my mother and I go back and forth on this. She doesn't agree. I think there's now money is actually the basic, because you can't get any of those basic needs without money. And so, like we have a lot of fearful, anxious, scared people going around the world and so the more people we can help find their prosperity place and can create that peace, it's just a ripple effect. And so, like that is what we're on a mission to do is like help businesses and people find the peace in their money life, which drastically changes everything else. So that's that's what I want to do with my businesses and with my.

Speaker 1: 52:12

You know my one life. I love my business and I love who we do work with, like we work with and my personal goals, my personal financial goals. You know, one of the things we have our clients do is create a prosperity intention statement and for the longest time mine has been, I easily find enough and I honor my hunger for more. So like really juxt, like the juxtaposition is like yep, you can find what you need in this moment, but we do always have to acknowledge that we might want something different and bigger or whatever. But I'm shifting mine.

Speaker 1: 52:44

I have decided that I am shifting to. I am epically abundant. I love it Cause I think I'm like, I think I've. It was good for me to to be in the enoughness space, but now I want to be in the abundance space and, like I, I want to um, do all of this amazing work and reap the financial benefit for myself and my family and all of that good stuff. So I haven't put the numbers down yet. I put extra, you know, like, but with my business, I'm always like doing the model and the numbers and whatever. I get really geeked out about that, but I haven't done it personally yet. So, yeah, that's personally shifting my intention statement, but yeah, I really just want to.

Speaker 1: 53:30

And lastly, I want more business owners. Yes, I want more small businesses because the more people who have a bigger piece of the pie, the more generational wealth we have going through more families. And, like I said, in a capitalist society, business is the biggest force for change we have. And small business owners want to change for good, I agree. So that's more prosperous business owners, not struggling business owners, 100%, oh, sg. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Speaker 1: 54:01

This has been such a good conversation For so many reasons. The wealth divide it is growing and I agree, like economic empowerment, development, small businesses, all of these things. You're just, you're speaking my language. You're doing the kind of work that you know we need to be seeing more people do in the world. And, yeah, we just had Mackie McNeely and speak to our Cincinnati chapter for Together Digital the other week and everybody was just like wrapped and listening and laughing and you know, we are just already such fans of Mackie Group and the Prosperity People and the work that you all are doing.

Speaker 1: 54:37

So, thank you so much, thank you, thank you. And you know, imagine being her daughter. Yeah, I get it. I get it now. I get it, I totally get it. Big, big, big big. Oh, my gosh, you're doing a fantastic job and you're just standing on your own too, again, like you. Seriously, you really are so fantastic job, absolutely. Thank you so much. All right, everyone. Thank you for tuning in this week. We appreciate all of you for taking the time, for showing up, for listening, for taking notes. Until then, we hope to see you all next week. Keep asking, keep giving and keep growing. We hope to see you next week. Take care everyone. Bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye. Produced by Heartcast Media.