Business Blasphemy
Sarah Khan, Chief Ease Officer, is calling B.S. on the hustle-focused status quo of online entrepreneurship and getting real about what it takes to grow a business that doesn't become a statistic. In each episode, Sarah helps navigate the rampant B.S. that permeates business strategy, marketing, operations, and mindset that has business owners hustling and pivoting themselves into burnout. She cuts through the noise and gives you guidance on how to view the status quo with a more discerning eye. If you're ready for success without the B.S., buckle up for hard truths, fun rants, terrible puns and (more than) the occasional curse word.
Business Blasphemy
EP65: Bank on Yourself: Kimberly Graham’s No-Nonsense Guide to Financial Freedom
Build a business debt-free?
Yes, please.
On this week's episode, I sit down with Kimberly Graham, a powerhouse who built a six-figure business without diving into debt. Together, we move past the usual savings advice and dig deep into the heart of financial literacy and empowerment. Why do so many of us feel lost when it comes to finances? Kimberly, a master of money management, gives us the essential tools we often miss out on due to gaps in our education and financial systems.
Kimberly doesn’t just crunch numbers; she completely transforms how we think about success and personal values. Our conversation sheds light on the subjective nature of success, encouraging listeners to reshape financial goals based on their own dreams, not societal expectations. We uncover the danger of linking wealth to wisdom and talk about how emotional intelligence is key to financial stability. Sharing stories of overcoming debt and the freedom that comes from being in control of your money, you'll be inspired to redefine what financial success looks like for you.
We explore the emotional and strategic aspects of money and entrepreneurship, especially for women balancing business and family. From the necessity of an emergency fund to the myth that high income equals financial savvy, and the breakthroughs clients achieve when they connect their finances with their emotions, we shed light on the multifaceted relationship we all have with money.
If you're ready to take charge of your financial future and make choices that align with your deepest values, this episode is for you.
Guest Bio:
Kim is a dynamic speaker and experienced educator holding a Masters in Education Curriculum and Instruction. She built her six-figure business debt free and has put over 1/2 million dollars back into her client’s pockets. With a passion for empowering individuals to take control of their financial destinies, she shares her wealth-building strategies with audiences worldwide. Kim's engaging talks seamlessly blend real-world experiences, practical insights, and actionable steps, resonating with anyone striving to achieve financial independence.
Connect with Kim:
Instagram: @kgmillionairecoach
Facebook: Kimberly Graham
Check out her podcast HERE
Kim's FREE Money Archetype quiz- Learn how you communicate with your money!
https://the-affluent-marriage.involve.me/whats-your-money-language
Connect with Sarah:
- Tired of being the "best kept secret"? Download the FREE Thought Leader's Playbook for 5 essential steps to to ignite your influence and get noticed! Get Your Playbook HERE
- Follow Sarah on Instagram (instagram.com/corporate.rehab)
- Learn how to work with her HERE (getcorporaterehab.com/services)
The Business Blasphemy Podcast is sponsored by Corporate Rehab® Strategic Consulting.
Welcome to the Business Blasphemy Podcast, where we question the sacred truths of the online business space and the reverence with which they're held. I'm your host, sarah Khan speaker, strategic consultant and BS busting badass. Join me each week as we challenge the norms, trends and overall bullshit status quo of entrepreneurship to uncover what it really takes to build the business that you want to build in a way that honors you, your life and your vision for what's possible, and maybe piss off a few gurus along the way. So if you're ready to commit business blasphemy, let's do it. Hello, hello blasphemers, welcome back.
Speaker 1:Today we are diverging a little bit, talking about something that is actually really triggering for a lot of people. So I'm going to put a trigger warning here, but a little bit of a tongue-in-cheek trigger warning, because y'all need to hear this and if this triggers you, good. So I have the delightful Kimberly Graham on to talk to you today about money, money, money. So let me introduce Kim before we get right into it. Kim is a dynamic speaker and experienced educator, holding a master's in education curriculum and instruction. She built her six-figure business listen to this debt-free. Okay, I'm going to say that again. She built her six-figure business debt-free and has put over half a million dollars back into her clients' pockets. With a passion for empowering individuals to take control of their financial destinies, she shares her wealth-building strategies with audiences worldwide. Kim's engaging talks seamlessly blend real-world experiences, practical insights and what we love here at the Blasphemy actionable steps resonating with anyone striving to achieve financial independence. Kim, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for having me. I'm so happy to be here and to talk money because, yes, this is a triggering topic, but it's honestly it's my favorite thing to talk about. And when I tell you, like, when we talk a little bit later I'll tell you a little bit more about, like, how I got here because I hated money, I was super triggering for me too.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean the sheer number of programs and you know coaches and who deal with money trauma and money issues and you know, getting over your money blocks it's it's very apparent that a lot of us have some serious issues when it comes to money. Now Kim and I met in a networking collaboration group and, like the first time I met her, I'm like she. I mean we're going to be best friends. And we also apparently just learned before I hit record that we share a love for modern family. So she's 100% my people. Before we get really into like the juicy, juiciness of the juice, tell me a little bit about how you serve your clients, because you know you're a financial coach. But like what are you helping your clients specifically do?
Speaker 2:Yes, okay.
Speaker 2:So typically people love to use financial coach I'm like shifting to the word like money mastery, because that's really more of what I do, because financial coach people think financial advisor, they think retirement, they think investments, and I don't touch that right, but I'm a great liaison for those people because, contrary to what a lot of people think, your financial advisor is not going to help you with your day-to-day management of your funds.
Speaker 2:They're not going to build your budget for you. They're not going to help you with your mindset because they're not allowed to. There are actually a lot of red tape that they're not allowed to give you that type of financial education. They can give you broad things, but they can't help you specifically with where you currently are and how to manage your day-to-day funds, whereas I that is the thing that I love to do, which is why I'm not licensed in those practices, because I want the flexibility to be able to help my couples and entrepreneurs be able to help them understand how to organize, manage their finances, have a good mindset, align their goals, because what's the point of making all this money if you don't know how to manage it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you hit the nail on the head. I love what you're saying here and what comes up for me is people will hire financial advisors and investors and they'll go to their bank and talk to advisors and whatnot. But I mean and I'm speaking from personal experience very rarely has anyone sat me down and said do you understand what is actually happening here? Like, do you understand?
Speaker 2:how this works.
Speaker 1:You just rely on the experience and education of the person you are trusting with your hard-earned money, and I think that I love this because it's that education piece where the gap is for the vast majority of people.
Speaker 2:And I always have to like. Sometimes I go into a deep, like I'm not, whatever, I'm going to go for it. There are some times where I think about like, why do you think that is? Why do you think that a person would go into finance, why do you think a person would go into getting all this licensing and then be told you can tell people broad understanding of like, how, like, yeah, this is what you should do, this is what you should do. But when it comes to the specific mindset, management, the day-to-day stuff, I'm not allowed to. Why do you think that is?
Speaker 2:We don't want to give people that day-to-day understanding because that's really the small decisions that we make with our money, the small decisions, the small conversations we're having with our spouse. When we can conquer that, we can. Literally we're a force to be reckoned with. Right, like, I'm a living proof, living, breathing proof of like what that looks like. When you actually can harness that and go, we can do anything we want to do together. All of a sudden, any of the other financial things that might happen in the world don't hurt as bad because you're like, I've already created my own little fort. That's quite strong. I don't need government support. Right, right. But why would we give that to other people? Why would we let them have more understanding of financial literacy? Because then they become stronger. It's it's when you really really think like more, why is that? That's the reason why we can say we have all these advisors like, oh, just go to the advisor. But they're not really like bridging the gap for you, they're not really helping you understand it for you.
Speaker 1:And you know I am not by any stretch of conspiracy nut, like I do not own any tinfoil hats or anything like that, but I think this is like a subset of a much bigger issue just across the board. With respect to education period, like I've been, I was an educator for 14 years. Um, I was, you know, I, I trained, I got my, my degrees, like all of that. So I've seen the evolution of education as a whole too, and I just feel like there has been so much taken out of education that allows us to develop that ability to discern, to question, to contextualize. Yep, um, I see it in my own kids.
Speaker 1:Like simple things, like not being able to go to the store and figure out how much money they need to, you know, buy a burger and fries. Like, okay, well, I have a $20 bill, but what, what does this actually get me? Like they can't make those really simple. And at first I thought it was okay and I'm I'm outing them and I know they'll forgive me because they love me. But, like, at first I was like, is this a you thing? Like, do you just not? Like do you have dyscalculia? Or like is there something? Do we need to get you tested, like what's happening.
Speaker 1:And then I started to talk to some of the other moms in the space and they were like no girl, my kids can't tell time on an analog clock, like they can't do this, they can't. And I'm starting to realize that the school systems have failed us and you're sent out into the workforce. You make all this money or you make whatever money you make, Cause not all of us make a lot of money and, yeah, there's just this like complete lack of understanding of how to invest, how your taxes work, and then you become an entrepreneur because we're sold this dream of like, oh, you can make 10 figures in 10 days and six figures in six months. Really, then why is everybody running around broke asking people to do shit for free?
Speaker 2:Exactly, exactly. Why is that the case and why are we trying to chase around 10K months? Because that's typically what we hear. You could get to 10K months in this much time, but you don't even. I was literally just talking to a client about this the other day, cause she was so like hell bent about this. She was like, oh my gosh, like I, but I, but I'm trying to get to like my, my 5k, 10k months. And I was like, but why? Like, when we looked really deep into her finances about what she actually needed, she really just needed two clients at a thousand dollars. And I'm like, doesn't that like take the pressure off you a little bit that you're already a success when you get those two clients in. That's it. That's all you need.
Speaker 2:So stop pressuring yourself by some society standard that arbitrarily exists. It's not real. It's not real. You have to be on your own journey, understand your own values. What makes sense to me and by my standards, you're a success If you're like all of my bills are paid, I ain't got no debt? Listen, I'm a success. I don't need to have the elusive six figures to be the same success as you are, because I can tell you right now the people who are six figures. They're up to their eyeballs in debt. That's what got me into this, because I was like, no, that's weird, you're joking right.
Speaker 1:Two things, oh my God. First of all, I feel so validated and vindicated. I ran a workshop last year which I should probably run again because it was really fun where we talk about exactly that. There were so many women who were in this group and they were like I need to get to 10K a month or 50K, and I'm like why, if you're paying your bills and you're breaking?
Speaker 2:even you're good.
Speaker 1:And now we just like, how do we say what we got left? Good, right. And now we just like, how do we say what we got left and I feel so good because you're validating that. So when you see people in the space and you're working with your clients, like, what, what is something about the way people view finances, particularly with respect to, like debt, investment, investment not like investment investments, but like, oh, I need to sign up for this program, I need to invest my money here, like from a business perspective. What is something about the way people view that in the online space that just annoys the crap out of you.
Speaker 2:You know what's really. You know what annoys the crap out of me. Let me tell you what annoys the crap out of me, and this could probably sound like a venting session, but I'm just going to be like it is what it is.
Speaker 1:It is what we're here for.
Speaker 2:Do it. So I work in the financial fields, right, and I'm literally telling you, I'm going to help you understand how to manage your finances so that you can be aligned, be, you know, in one with your goals and actually feel like, oh my gosh, I'm empowered by my money instead of scared by my money. As many times those people will gladly go, take their credit card to a business coach who's going to tell them I'm going to 10X your sales and I'm going to do this, will gladly flip over the credit card and say I will invest $5,000 into myself, $10,000 into myself. But when they come to me all of a sudden, they're money conscious. All of a sudden they're like wait, I need to save up my dollars so that I can prove to you that I actually know how to do it. Honey, you're coming to me because we need to work through this.
Speaker 2:So that is one thing that irks the mess out of me that I kind of have to coach people before they work with me. This is what we're doing together. I'm not saying I want you to go into debt and be like, all right, well, you're just helping. No, no, no, no. My job is to help you get out of that habit. But please don't treat me any different than you would. Don't come to me with a different type of attitude that you would with a business coach who's going to 10X your business. Come to me with that same attitude. Like I believe in myself, I know that I'm going to get an ROI and we can work through some stuff. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:It's this weird sort of like do you want sexy or do you want success? Right, right. And there are so many people who want the sexy, because I've had the same problem. Like, one of my primary services is around operations. Like, let's build the actual infrastructure of your business so that it supports everything you're trying to do. And again, people are pinching their pennies. Do people even know what pennies are anymore? People are holding onto their dollars, like you said, and they are really not wary. But exactly what you said. But yeah, a manifestation coach pops along and they're going to, you know, get you to six figures in six months. They're happy to drop 10, 15, $25,000.
Speaker 2:It's an investment in myself and in my future self. But I'm like okay, so let's just say you bring it in there. What habits are you doing right now with your money that you're actually going to sustain that I will tell you, right now you don't have the habits.
Speaker 1:I think that's part of it right, like, if you are making money and managing it in an effective way, you're not going to have as many ups and downs and ebbs and flows in the financial income expense push and pull as so many people do. I mean, you can see, you can almost see when somebody is posting about something or selling something because they're desperate to make cash. They've had a low cash month and now suddenly they're going whole hog with sales versus somebody who you can tell is just consistently making good money and they're not. You can't, you don't get that desperation breath off of them. Who said that? I was listening to someone on a summit this week and they said desperation breath and I was like, yeah, that's a good one, I like that.
Speaker 1:And I and I, just I. I I think that, like you said, this education piece is missing.
Speaker 2:Oh, you know what Cause? We both are in education. That was something that I thought about too, right? So you're absolutely right that the we talk about the pendulum of education shifting and all that stuff, right. And you're 100% correct that we are putting more emphasis on the idea of do you know these concepts so that we can move you through, as opposed to do you actually know how to be a good human, a stable human? Because that's actually to me and I did this in my classroom that was more important to me that you know how to say please and thank you and I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:And it was more important I taught second graders, so that was more important to me that you understood how to you know do certain things, like, do you know how to go and like order for yourself when you go to a restaurant? Do you know how to do that effectively, like? These are some of the basic social like norms that we need to teach, but we're so, so, like, trying to put a lot of emphasis in like, but we got to, we got to fit those standards and got to fit those standards and I'm like yeah, but they're human beings, they need to know how to be good, well-rounded human beings. So if you go all the way up to the middle high, whatever, we're not teaching those things either. We're just trying to prepare you to get out to the workforce, but not actually preparing you for how to manage yourself in the workforce.
Speaker 1:You're going to be a cog right Like. I taught adult education, so I did college, university, and I saw you know the result of what was happening in primary, elementary and secondary school and they would come to my classroom and some of them did not have basic context skills. They didn't have the ability to ask questions or think outside the box or anything like that.
Speaker 2:Advocation for themselves even, oh my gosh right.
Speaker 1:Can you please advocate for yourself the number of students I had to pull aside and say, look, if you need support with this, ask. And they just they didn't know. Like I, that's all I ever got. And this is a bit of a tangent because we're not talking specifically about education.
Speaker 1:But there was a thing on the radio here locally the other day where someone was talking about accommodations for kids who have like anxiety and testing anxiety and whatnot. So they went on a rampage about how back in my day we didn't have accommodations, we just had to blah, blah, blah and I'm like, okay, anxiety aside, yes, anxiety is like really really big right now. A lot of people have it. We're noticing it more. I'm not talking about that, but there are so many people focused on the wrong things, like kids shouldn't be getting accommodations, kids shouldn't have to wear when COVID was happening, shouldn't have to wear masks, kids shouldn't have to this or that. Why is nobody talking about the curriculum? Why is nobody talking about the fact that we're putting people out into the workforce who have absolutely no idea how to adult?
Speaker 2:How to adult, how to function, how to be a human being, and that and that is that's what's really doing us a disservice. We're so curriculum and just so heavy, and so bringing it back to the financial part. Now, all of a sudden, they're 30, 40 years old and they're like what's an investment? I think I have a 403B. I'm an educator.
Speaker 1:I think I have a 401K.
Speaker 2:I don't know how much is in it. I don't know how much I'm putting into it. I don't even know where to start. So I guess I need a financial advisor and I'm like no, no, you like yes, you need to understand that. But you don't even know how to manage what's in front of you. You don't even know, like, what you should, should, not have, like, and. And so it is definitely a worthy investment to actually have someone sit in the weeds with you that actually enjoys it, cause I do. I love it. I love sitting in the weeds with people and helping them discern, like is this a need, is this a want? It goes back to second grade. But also like what are your values, what do you want from your life? And let's make sure we're building a roadmap that gets you from where you are now to that elusive goal that you desire, and I can tell you here are the people you need to have along the way to help you reach that goal. Yeah, your advisor is not going to do that for you.
Speaker 1:No, and I you know, and it's, yeah, it's basic stuff that people don't really understand. Now I have to ask you a question because I love the fact that you are talking about, like values based financial management.
Speaker 1:I know when people talk about, you know, budgeting and things like that, because I mean I taught a little bit of finance as just part of a business course when I was teaching. But one of the common sort of, I guess, complaints or fears that people had was well, if I have to budget, they're going to tell me to stop buying my latte, or they're going to tell me I can't have my avocados. Like, how much of that is fear mongering and how much of that is legitimate 100%.
Speaker 2:It's fear mongering, for sure, but it has to do with like again, like. I feel like it goes all the way back to like. Even when you're talking to your child, when you say no candy, are you really meaning no candy? No, you're telling them you probably should have candy in moderation, right, right, you probably shouldn't have candy every single day for every, you know, every single meal, because you don't need it. It's not necessary for you to grow what is vegetables? Right? Like that's just a primary trait, like we need to have those things to help our bodies grow and be healthy and strong. And you know, I tell my daughter that all the time, like it's a treat, right, yeah?
Speaker 2:So when we're talking about values-based budgeting, I ask people what is the most important thing to you? What do you want from your life? How do you want your days to look? And then, when we are able to kind of like figure out what that looks like, for some people, it is that they love their Starbucks every single day. I had someone the other day she's like no, no, I have to reload my Starbucks card because I go to Starbucks every single day and I'm like honey. If that's a goal for you. If that's a value for you, that's fine. But understand, with every pro there's a con. With every give there's a take. With every no there's a yes, like there's always going to be a con to that.
Speaker 2:So, like, I'm fine with you going to Starbucks, but based on the list of the things that you desire, if that's top of your list, let's make sure that everything else that's also top of your list, even for your future, is also represented there too. So I'm not saying that those things are going to ruin your money Absolutely not. But, like, if it takes you from, it's like a priority list, if it takes you from having $1,000 left over at the end of the month to $500 left over at the end of the month because you choose to go out to these specific restaurants and because you do, if you're fine with that and you're still able to get to your goals, rock on, rock on, like, go do what you got to do. Goals, rock on, rock on, like, go do what you got to do. But if that does not make you happy and you're like I want to get there faster, you know what you got to do.
Speaker 2:What's the first thing off the totem pole then and that's a personal conversation that you have to have with yourself. I'm not making that for you. I'm just helping you understand, based on your values. This is what's going to happen. It just gives people more power back in their money.
Speaker 1:I love that there's no shame around that either, because a lot of the financial gurus that you will see will shame you about stuff like that. And it's this idea of joy versus and this. I think when you get the pushback right, it's like, well, you're taking away all of my joy and what you're saying is you get to prioritize what's important, and if that's part of it, then we'll make it work. Just be realistic about your timelines, just thank you.
Speaker 2:Don't expect to go get a Prada bag every single month and also achieve your million dollar, multi-million dollar, retirement goal. Yeah, that's, if you're okay with that. That is a personal choice. Whether I would make that choice is not what you're paying for. You're not paying for my opinion on that You're paying for. Is that a value that's important to you? I love that, you don't. You don't hear that very often.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a different approach. So and that's, I think, what we need like we need to shake this entire space up. Tell me a little bit, because I am. I'm itching to know you talk about. You built a six-figure business debt-free. As somebody who is in bed with debt, we're very intimate.
Speaker 2:I love that you said it that way, we are in bed with debt.
Speaker 1:I mean we, yeah. I mean and I think most people are right Some are more comfortable with it than others. Some have obviously way bigger debt than others and some have. But debt is debt, it's a part of life. I say that and now I'm kind of wondering if it needs to be, because you obviously built a figure or a six figure business without it. Tell me about what I lovingly call your villain origin story.
Speaker 2:Yes, my origin story. So I hated talking about money. Money scared the living crap out of me. I hated talking about savings. My dad would, so my dad's military. He retired military and went into he's a pastor now. My mom was an educator, so I grew up around just we were always around people and we were always teaching and all that stuff.
Speaker 2:But when it came to money, it's not like I had a bad experience with money, bad mindset around money, it's just that it was never taught to me. It was just you need to have a savings, Kim. And I was like, okay, all right, how much should I put in my savings? Oh, just put like a hundred dollars. A hundred dollars, Like I'm like 19 years old, what do you mean? A hundred dollars? And my dad gave me a credit card before I went to college and said use this for gas and emergencies. And I was like, oh my God, but what if I get the bill? And this was before online banking was a thing. So it was like what if I don't get the bill? And then I don't get to pay it and then I had to pay extra. And what if I don't have the money? Like it was just a fear spiral, so I just never used it. I never used it and I always had money in the bank but I always was like scared of it.
Speaker 1:But yeah, times where I would be like shop, shop, shop and I would be like, oh no.
Speaker 2:but I don't want to go back below my. It was just a lot of like over anxiety around money for no reason. I remember telling my story. Yeah, one particular story is really funny. I was a senior in college and my roommates wanted to get a Christmas tree and we each had to pitch, pitch in $15. And I pitched a little fit for that $15. And I was working like two jobs and I was like $15. And they were like I had just had a lot of anxiety around money. And then I got married.
Speaker 2:My husband is a saver. He doesn't really do a lot with his money, but he also didn't know how to talk about it, what to do with it. He just was like I don't know, I just don't really need a lot for it, I just play games. So when we got married he you know, six months later he just graduated college had $76,000 of unconsolidatable which is not a word, but I just use it all the time debt. So we could not consolidate this debt. They were all private loans that his parents took out and they amounted to $76,000. So slowly but surely we got all these envelopes coming in and it amount amounts to that much. And his eyes were like oh my gosh, I just ruined my wife's life Like here. She is already anxious about money and now I'm just putting in this huge whopping bill that we're going to have to pay every single month over a debt that I brought to the table.
Speaker 2:Yes, it was from my education, but that's going to be pretty detrimental. We're both educators. We don't make a lot of money, we live in Maryland, so that's kind of like the origin story where we both had to have this conversation, where I he could have had done so many things. He could have said I'm just not going to tell her, I'll do it myself. We could have gone our separate ways and I could have been like I'm handling my money, you handle your money, this is your debt, not mine. But the way I saw it, we were a team and I was like, okay, well, we're going to have to figure this out, cause I don't even know how to talk about this and I don't know where to start and I want to get like I'm going to help you.
Speaker 2:So enter Dave Ramsey, which people have lots of feelings about it, and I get it. 110 million percent, I get it. But it was the only thing available at the time. Okay, so we went more. There was no like Susie Orman was not something that was a part of my vocabulary Like I didn't have her first 100K. So we took a Dave Ramsey course. We were the youngest ones in that class and all of the people in there who were in their 50s 60s looked at us and they were like, if you don't take advantage of what you're learning right now, you're going to regret it for the rest of your life. And that was all I needed to be.
Speaker 2:It was like it made sense, it clicked, so we started talking about money. After we started talking, I'm going to wrap this up. I got really excited about that first part. It was so colorful, anyway. So long story short, we really got serious about talking about money. 28 months later we paid it off. So we paid off $76,000 in 28 months and that was like our origin story of like, oh my gosh, we just did this together as teachers, working a little bit of extra jobs, and we didn't die. All of a sudden we feel good about our money, we're talking about it, our savings account is full. This feels really empowering. We can do whatever we want. So then we went to Disney world. We did all sorts of traveling. We started investing and saving and all that stuff. And then, long story I quit my job teaching when I had my first daughter, I went into education or I went into business and saw so many entrepreneurs who were talking about their six figure months and when I asked them for their questions they were like, yeah, I'm making all this money every single month, but I'm still in my day to day nine to five, because I don't know how to pay myself and I'm in debt and I have to pay back the debt for the business.
Speaker 2:And I was like, do not sign me up for that, that doesn't make sense. That doesn't make sense. So then I started asking more people and they were like, how do you do what you do? How do you, how do you manage your money, your business? And I was like, well, this is what I do, I do. And then people started asking me questions and then they were like, can you help me with my home finances? And like it just started barreling from there. So from my own distaste about money, I had to learn. So I'm actually thankful for that debt. I've been thinking about that lately, that it forced me to kind of face the fears that I had about money and recognize that I could take control of it and be empowered by it.
Speaker 1:I love that I'm oh, we had more time. I would love to know, like the details of how, how you can pay it off like that much debt in just a few months, cause that's, that's one hell of an accomplishment, thank you. How has entrepreneurship impacted your life?
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh. Amazingly, I think, even in education, I knew that I was not going to be that teacher that gets the award for 25 years in the classroom no thanks. I knew that I was gonna use education as a springboard to do something else. I loved being in the classroom. I love talking to kids, but I love teaching. I was like I'm either gonna teach teachers the person that comes in and like does like the big meetings and like connects with people and then pieces out Like that was going to be me. I was like I'm either going to do that or I'm going to do something where I'm like in business with something. Like I knew I was going to do something business related, and so this impacts me greatly because I'm living out a dream of owning something that's mine and being on my own terms, like it was always.
Speaker 2:My goals, I think, have always led to I want more choice. I just want choices. It's not that I want to be multimillionaire, have a McMansion, that's not really it. I just wanted choices. So when my daughter came along, I just wanted the choice Do I want to stay home and work or do I want to go back to teach? I don't know, but I wanted the choice to figure it out and I knew that my money was a very good platform for me to figure that out, because if it gave me the time to figure it out and that's what it did it's not like I make a ton of money in my business when I first started, but it allowed me the choice to figure out if this is a passion or if this is something that I didn't really want to do. So I'm very, very thankful, like entrepreneurship has really allowed me to to dig into my passions.
Speaker 1:So, from an entrepreneur perspective, what advice from like? From a business perspective, what advice do you have for women who are maybe in like the earlier years of their business or they're thinking about starting one? What advice would you have for them?
Speaker 2:Oh, my goodness, Going back to that thing of choice, I would always think it's a good idea to have a reserve available to yourself before you jump from that nine to five. Please don't jump from that nine to five until you are sure you have a very solid emergency fund so that you can give yourself the space, because nobody, like we just said, nobody wants someone who has desperation breath. Sure you have a very solid emergency fund so that you can give yourself the space, cause nobody, like we just said, nobody wants someone who has desperation breath. I love that.
Speaker 2:It's coming back full circle. Nobody wants that, right. And so when you have, like a fully funded emergency fund sitting there and you know what your day-to-day expenses are, it's so much easier to say, okay, I'm going to do this task and I'm going to do it well, today and when it's done, it's done. You know, and I don't have to feel that pressure that, like I have to get a sale, I have to get a sale because the bills are coming. Nobody wants that bringing, bringing down their neck, you know. It really allows you to dig into your passions and take your time.
Speaker 1:And I think that, like when you're, when you're acting from that space of desperation and worry and fear, that's when you start to make bad decisions, like the number of clients I've worked with in an operations capacity who you know they're worried about where their next barrel of money is going to come from, because they have team to pay and they have overheads to pay, and that's when they start making really silly decisions.
Speaker 2:Yep, and when you think about that right, I know we're talking about entrepreneurship, but like, phase that over into your home. Talking about entrepreneurship, but like, phase that over into your home Think about the amount of silly decisions we make with our spouse, the amount of intense conversations that happen as a result of, like, just not knowing, just feeling that pressure of being close to the. Oh my gosh, bills are coming, bills are coming and I can feel it and all of a sudden the tensions are rising and we're like having a really hard time having a conversation. And then it turns into why haven't you made a sale in your business? And you need to work harder? And there's this tension that starts to rise and it really, really affects your mindset, your marriage, the way you talk to your kids. Money touches everything, everything.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, I hear a lot of this from just you know, peers and colleagues. But this feeling of, like you said, you're not working hard enough, you have to make more money, so we like raise our prices or we we get extra jobs, we take clients we don't want to have to work with. If we had the choice like you're talking about choice and it is probably the number one cause of discomfort in a marriage, nevermind anything else, not understanding how to talk about money and not understanding what to do with it. When you have it Like lottery winners like how many lottery winners win that ginormous amount of money and then are broke within a year? They don't understand what to do with it. And when you have all of this money come in like be honest with yourself, how often do you think well, if I just made six figures everything would be great, okay, and then?
Speaker 2:what, and then what. You got to sustain it, yeah, and you got to know what to do with it. The most surprising thing that I noticed from my clients when they meet with me is that many of them think that it's just going to be like here's your budget, all you got to do is follow this and everything will be perfect, right? They find it hilarious when they are crying because they had a breakthrough, you know, and like, oh, this is why I feel this way about my money. Oh my gosh, you just, you just allowed me to have a huge like weight lifted, that I don't have to worry about this anymore. Like, oh my gosh, and it it is far more emotional than it is about money, because if it really was, just follow this, follow this plan, and then you're going to be good, you're going to be golden.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we would have multimillionaires all around us. It would be so common. But it's not because it's tied to society standards. It's tied to emotions. It's tied to what's my friends going to think, what are my? What's my spouse going to think? But what about my kids? And they have? There's so much tied to it that we have to break through a lot of that emotional mindset, junk before you can actually understand what to do with your money. So it's like it's way more emotional. I find that it is about just the money, which is why lottery winners I just got all this money, everything's going to be perfect, and then they're right back to square. Zero, yeah, zero, but zero is a circle. Anyway, we're right back to zero because we didn't really work through anything. We just got a Band-Aid.
Speaker 1:But what I love about your approach is that you're working through those money issues, those money blocks, which is what a lot of financial coaches do, but that's where it usually stops. You're taking it a step further and say, okay, now that we understand where all this shit's coming from, what can we do about it? Let's get some steps in place to help you actually now move to the next level, which, again, is like where things are missing. So what would you say if you want to give somebody like small, impactful things that they can do, like right now to get started on feeling better about their money? What would you suggest?
Speaker 2:Oh, this is a good one. So I would suggest really taking a deep dive into your values. So one of the things that I tell my my clients typically, like my couples, especially when they're trying to align each other's like goals, is to separately just kind of go and think what do you want a day to day? Like, feel what, how do you want it to feel? What's happening? Walk me through it. What are the? What are the most important values for you? Is it waking up and waking up and having a slow morning and not starting work until 10 am? Ok, great, tell me more about that. What does that look like? What are you drinking? What are you wearing? Like I want you to take me through a day. What are some things you're looking forward to? Are you going on two, three, four vacations a year? Why? Where are you going? Tell me all of these things. I really want you to like.
Speaker 2:Do the exercise of like writing out exactly what your dream life and values lie, not what society says it should be, because it's not, might not be your thing. What is your, what are the values that you deeply care about? And then I want you to take certain parts of that and quantify it. This is the part that people don't tell you to do. They just talk to you about like the fluffy dreams and like manifesting and visualize like that works Right. But then I want you to do the extra step and quantify it. You want to go on three different Disney trips in a year.
Speaker 2:Quantify that baby. Go onto disneycom yeah, what. What are your tickets going to be? What's it going to look like? What? What hotel are you staying at? Quantify it out. When you're able to quantify it. Now, there's like a number attached to it and for many people they recognize oh my gosh, my dream life is not as far as I thought it was going to be. And if I could understand my day-to-day management of my funds, I could get to that dream life so much faster. I need to understand how to meet those two together and for some people you might be saying, oh, maybe not right now, but in five years that's totally possible. What am I doing today to ensure that I'm getting closer to that dream life that I want? So you know that realistic approach coupled with some actionable steps, that's the magic that makes it work.
Speaker 1:It's not just I'm going to manifest a million dollars and I feel good and I've gotten over my money blocks, everything's fine. So if you all have not yet gone on and searched her up and like signed up for a call, do it now, cause I think everybody needs to talk to Kim about this.
Speaker 2:Guys, I will not bite. My goal is not to to bite or to be like. I'm really a personable person that just wants to talk about your dreams and goals. That's like my favorite thing to do.
Speaker 1:I love it so much. Okay, so dreams and goals, tell us where we can connect with you and find you online.
Speaker 2:You can find me on Instagram at KG millionaire coach and you can also. If you go there and you just DM me quiz, I will send you a money archetype quiz where you can find out how you communicate with your money specifically, and that might really help you feel better about it, because many people think if they're a spender, that they're automatically bad with money, and that's actually so opposite. I'm a spender and I'm amazing with money, and money loves me, and it's a good thing. We're a good mix, so we really need to change the narrative around that. So DM me quiz. I'm KG Millionaire Coach if you would like access to that.
Speaker 1:Fantastic. I'll put both those links in the show notes. As always, we're going to have to have you back on, because this was a fantastic conversation and one that I am not done with yet. But thank you so much for taking the time to be here today.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me and I look forward to the next time. Anytime you want to talk money, I'm your girl.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And this is just one more example, my friends, of how you can have success without the BS. Talk to you soon. That's it for this week. Thanks for listening to the Business Blasphemy Podcast. We'll be back next week with a new episode, but in the meantime, help a sister out by subscribing and if you're feeling extra sassy rating this podcast, and don't forget to share the podcast with others. Head over to businessblasphemypodcastcom to connect with us and learn more. Thanks for listening and remember you can have success without the BS.