Are you ready to take control of your financial future? In this episode, Nicole Cesa shares the behind-the-scenes strategy for becoming financially independent—whether you’re in corporate or running your own business.
We cover must-know investment strategies to help you grow wealth, minimize taxes, and shift your money mindset to attract abundance.
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0:30: Enjoy this new episode.
0:34: Welcome back to the Fully expressed podcast.
0:37: Today we are going to be talking all about money with Nicole Cesa.
0:42: She is the founder of She Investor LLC, a financial coaching business dedicated to empowering women to take control of their finances and unlock the freedom to live beyond their circumstances.
0:53: Through a unique blend of financial literacy, mindset work, and money.
0:59: Nicole helps women build sustainable wealth by addressing both the practical and emotional aspects of money.
1:06: Welcome.
1:07: Thank you.
1:08: I’m so excited to be here.
1:09: Thank you so much for being here.
1:11: So where do we start with money?
1:13: I think what’s what I love about this episode is like, I think everyone’s in that like, I need to be better about money, I want money to work for me, like they’re thinking about money.
1:22: I think there’s like a season.
1:22: Especially like post like 30s or like later in life, like there’s that time where like, maybe I get a little bit more serious about money.
1:29: Maybe I should start paying attention to what all this stuff means, which I am so excited to talk to you about because we don’t, I think there’s so many different ways we can talk about this, but starting from like the very basics, what does that look like for someone to just start creating a better relationship with money?
1:46: Yeah.
1:47: Yeah, definitely educating yourself about money.
1:50: So there’s kind of like that initial getting the money foundations in place.
1:56: So making sure that you have like a sustainable income stream through a job or a business or whatnot.
2:03: It’s about starting to save and just building up like a security fund that people talk about as kind of like that little starting point.
2:10: to feel like you have money and start to see it grow.
2:14: And then there’s also what’s really important before starting to invest is making sure that you’re really on top of managing your personal finances.
2:23: So you have your income come in every month and then you’re getting hit with expenses and spending, but really getting in control of that and finding a process that works for you.
2:34: to stay on top of that and look at that as a way to where like you are in control of your money, right?
2:40: You get to be intentional with it, and it’s either, you know, you could spend money and not really know where you’re spending it, or you can be very intentional and, you know, choose where you want to go with your money, how you want to use it, how it’s going to support you and provide for you.
2:57: And how did you get into, before we get into your company and all these things, like, how did you even get into this, or I mean, was it from a place of not being good with your money, and so then you wanted to learn about it, or were you always good with money and I was not always good with money.
3:12: I feel like every time I got to a good place in a certain area with money, I realized there was another area that wasn’t so good.
3:21: So, I’ll just kind of backtrack and Share a little bit of my story and kind of how I got to where I am right now.
3:28: And it all started like growing up in a very scarce environment.
3:32: So we didn’t have a ton growing up.
3:34: My dad was, he worked full time and then my mom was a full-time stay at home mom with myself and my 4 siblings.
3:41: And all of our conversations often involved money.
3:46: Like, can we afford that?
3:47: How are we going to do that?
3:49: You know, why are you even thinking of that?
3:51: And deep down, there was part of me that just felt like, do things really have to be this way?
3:57: Like, I always felt like things don’t have to be that way, and they actually shouldn’t be that way.
4:03: And so right from there as a little girl, I already knew like I wanted a little bit better of a quality life.
4:10: I didn’t know what that looked like, but I I knew like I wanted to have money because money allows you to do things.
4:15: You can travel, you can, you know, buy some nicer clothes, like, you know, do all the things.
4:20: And so what I knew then, once I got a little older was, if you want money, you need to go to school, get the degree, get the good job.
4:29: And so I did exactly that and somehow I man.
4:33: a pretty high paying job right out of college, out of my undergrad, and I thought I made it.
4:40: I was like, yes, now I’m making money, things, things are great, it’s going to be easy.
4:46: But I quickly realized after I started work and it was an inside sales job, so it’s a very difficult taxing role that I didn’t make it.
4:55: I was actually very unfulfilled, and that was like a really big eye opener for me to where I realized like, OK, well, money is great and I like this, but is it worth it at the expense of my fulfillment?
5:09: So that led me down the rabbit hole of figuring out, well, OK, there are wealthy people out there who are enjoying life, doing things with their family.
5:17: Don’t seem like they have to be working that hard.
5:20: So what Is it that they do, and that’s really what led me to discover wealth building and investing.
5:26: So anyone out there that has large amounts of wealth has invested in most often it’s either the stock market in real estate.
5:34: So that got me really excited to see the potential of investing over time, how it can grow, how it can provide for you, how it can be literally a passive income stream that supports you to then You know, go and do whatever, which is awesome.
5:49: And so I just self taught and learned as much as I could around money.
5:55: And my goal was to invest as much as I could.
5:59: I took advantage of the times that I was employed and through employer investment accounts and other investment accounts that I learned about.
6:08: I looked at my employer as like my investor, so I may not be completely fulfilled here.
6:14: No, you did the same.
6:15: Oh yeah, I mean, when I was, I’m still in corporate, but I’ve always thought about like, oh, they’re just investing my future.
6:20: Yes, they’re the investor, they’re the they’re the thing that’s backing my my business.
6:24: Yes, I love that shift in your mindset there and just thinking about how any experience that you have is really cultivating your skills and your knowledge to that then can be applied to so many things.
6:39: You don’t know where it’s going to be applied to your life later on.
6:42: And there’s so many skills I’ve learned in past careers and jobs that I’m using now, and I’m like, I can’t believe I didn’t capitalize on this more when I was there because I didn’t really think of it at the time.
6:54: But yeah, so going back to investing, so I looked at my employer as my investor, and in order for me to maximize my investments, I had to address my own personal finances, specifically my spending.
7:08: And so I started tracking my income, tracking what I was spending on, realized that I was spending on a lot of things I either didn’t realize or were doing just for short term fulfillment.
7:20: So I was able to cut back on my expenses quite a bit, and really just focused on investing and then specifically in like the stock market and financial securities too, just to clarify that.
7:33: So, after about 56 years, I got myself to a place where I had invested enough to support me long term and reach financial independence.
7:44: So I, even if I never invest again.
7:46: And just what that means, financial independence is having enough invested to where those investments provide enough to cover your income.
7:55: It’s like they’re your new income, sustainable income stream that’s going to support you.
8:00: You know, until you pass, or, you know, you can pass it down to your children and whatnot.
8:04: And I structured it in a way to where it’s all like tax free.
8:09: So whenever I do use that money, it’s tax free, it just makes it easier and there’ll be a lot more.
8:14: So, how do you, how do you do that?
8:17: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I guess the question is like you, so let’s backtrack, you know, you have things to invest in like an IRA, the 401k, you have the stock market, you have these Financial securities that you were talking about.
8:29: So do you invest in those things and then do you take money out as far as how do they pay for your living?
8:35: How do they pay for living?
8:36: Yes, there’s a lot of people, I, no, because I think a lot of people think about like, oh, I’m putting money and buying Tesla stocks, I’m buying this thing, and they just let it sit there, you know, until they get to a place where they’re like, oh, I can take out $100,000 because I’ve gotten $100,000 right?
8:51: Yeah.
8:52: It sounds Like the way that you made it sound, and correct me if I’m wrong, that you’re living off these expenses, these investments on their own.
9:00: So it seems like you’re taking things out more monthly, more weekly.
9:03: What does that look like?
9:04: And that balance of also keeping it in.
9:07: Sure, there’s a lot there.
9:09: So just for, I was thinking you mean how do you structure it to be tax-free, which, which is a whole another topic.
9:14: I know a little bit about that, but I want to know this here.
9:17: So right now, I am not financially independent.
9:20: So right now, my investments, I have enough invested to where when they, they’ll grow and at a certain point, they will then, there’ll be enough there that as long as they grow a certain percentage every single year, that percentage is going to be enough to replace my income and be an amount to live off of.
9:40: How do you take into account inflation?
9:42: Yeah.
9:43: So that’s a good question.
9:45: You really want to invest.
9:47: So what I do with clients and how I look at it is, you want to figure out what, what amount of money is going to support you.
9:55: Kind of like what your lifestyle is going to look like whenever you don’t want to work anymore, OK?
10:01: And there’s different levels to it too, because with money, it’s kind of like a game.
10:05: You got to figure out like a plan that can work for you based on what you have going on right now.
10:10: So it’s kind of fun and in that sense.
10:12: And so you want to figure out like what I always work I do is I work backwards, OK, we want to reach this goal, and based on this type of investment, you can expect to reach it, you know, during this time frame, or you can figure out how much you want to invest per month for that.
10:29: I always then suggest tacking on an extra, like to like account for inflation in the rate that you’re calculating your investment growth.
10:40: So if you’re projecting something at like, I’m gonna get a 10% return per year, let’s go down to 8%.
10:47: So that way you’re able to invest more and have a little bit bigger of a nest in case, just in case, yeah, I just don’t think people are talking about it, which is why I asked a good question because as much as you put investments and you put money in for like 10 years from now, right?
11:03: You’re like, great, it’s gonna grow, but like 10 eggs.
11:06: I’m so.
11:07: Excited.
11:07: But the reality of the dollar, the value of the dollar is significantly going down, the more that we continue to print money.
11:13: And so I think people were like, I’m gonna have so much money by like, XYZ, let’s just say you make $1000.
11:18: That 100K is eventually only going to be worth $80 or $600 depending on where the market is in regards to value.
11:24: So I just love that you’re also thinking about that and inquiring your clients to be like, you also have to take into consideration about what else is going on in the money market.
11:33: You can’t just like Throw money in your investments without a strategy.
11:36: Yes, yes.
11:38: Yeah, and yeah, and that’s such a great point, especially right now because inflation has been, seems like through the roof the last year or two, and we’re all feeling it.
11:48: Could it be the $4 trillion is that what do we have now like in it was like $1 trillion in interest every year now.
11:55: So, yeah, that, that’s a whole other thing.
11:58: That’s, yeah, that’s gonna be interesting.
11:59: So, hopefully.
12:01: Figure something out there.
12:02: Yeah, but even when you reach like retirement or financial independence, your life and your expenses could look completely different than they are now.
12:13: Like if you own a house, your mortgage could be paid off, right?
12:16: You may not have a car payment, kids may be out of the house.
12:19: So it’s kind of planning for the best case scenario, and there’s always ways to make it work too.
12:25: I don’t think that anybody should worry.
12:28: If they have invested in, they’ve saved consistently over time, and they feel like maybe I’m a little bit short.
12:34: You always have the option of picking up some extra work, cutting back expenses, working an extra year.
12:41: There’s always a way to like mix and match and have that flexibility.
12:46: You know, and then if you are married and you settle down together, you know, hopefully you’ll both put yourself in a place or work together to where you’re both, you know, supporting each other too.
12:55: So Yeah, there’s there’s always flexibility and hope in any situation.
13:01: So tell us a little bit about the tax free, the tax free, yeah.
13:05: OK, so there are, let me just, let’s see, so when you start to invest, if you want to invest in something like a financial security, which is really just a a digital type of asset that you can trade online.
13:23: like a stock.
13:24: Yes.
13:24: So a stock is an example.
13:26: bonds are examples.
13:28: Then there are things like mutual funds, which probably familiar with in 401ks and index funds and even like some commodity type funds.
13:37: So those are all in the category of financial securities.
13:41: If you want to invest in something like that, you need to go to a brokerage firm and then an online brokerage firm.
13:49: And then open up a certain investment account.
13:51: So kind of like if you’re going to invest in real estate, you need to find an agent, they’ll help you find a property.
13:56: When it comes to financial securities, an online broker, I’ll just name drop a big one, Fidelity.
14:01: I really like them for really any level of investor, whether you’re brand new or advanced, they’re great.
14:07: And then you can open up different investment accounts.
14:10: So, when it comes to retirement account or tax advantage types accounts, there are things like individual retirement accounts, and then there is your employer 401k.
14:24: Now, there are different ways they’re taxed.
14:27: So some are pre-tax, where you actually get to take a tax deduction.
14:34: That year to what you contribute to the account, and then later on, you then pay taxes on anything that you take out of the account.
14:43: The opposite is post-tax, and that is where you’re paying taxes now, and then you’re essentially contributing to that account.
14:51: So, the post-tax is considered a Roth version.
14:54: There’s a Roth version of an IRA.
14:56: There’s also a Roth version of the 401k.
14:59: So that’s a little bit newer, but it’s out there and so what I did was I maxed out my wrath every single year that I could.
15:07: There were a couple years that I made a little bit more than the limit.
15:12: So with, with tax advantage accounts, there’s some parameters and limits to them.
15:17: So there’s usually like an income limit.
15:20: There can be a, an age that you’re not allowed to touch the account to remove your funds until, you know, you reach that age, usually like 59.5, and then otherwise you’re going to get penalized.
15:30: and maybe pay extra taxes, depending on the account.
15:33: And then there’s also contribution limits to how much you can put in the accounts as well.
15:38: So, that’s how the retirement accounts are set up.
15:41: And so what I did was took advantage of the Roth when I can.
15:45: If my income was too high, you can actually do this like backdoor strategy where you contribute to a traditional IRA and then immediately move it to a Roth and then invest that way.
15:57: Yeah, so that’s a really cool little, I won’t even say it’s a hack because it’s like a legal process, but it’s not something that many people know about.
16:05: They go to an actual financial advisor.
16:08: Yeah, we went to, I went to like a conference or something, and he was talking about there’s two ways to play the game of money.
16:14: There’s money that people talk about, there’s also the money that you don’t, but like another way to play the game of money.
16:19: I think it just highlights what you’re talking about, which is like, it’s not that these things are illegal.
16:23: You just don’t know that it’s there.
16:24: Yeah.
16:25: And I feel like the finance space has not really positioned itself in a way to really support the average person.
16:33: It doesn’t empower the people at the bottom, really.
16:36: It doesn’t.
16:36: It doesn’t.
16:36: And even like, I don’t want to hit on any type of financial advisor or anything like that.
16:41: I think they’re really good ones, and then I think there are some that maybe aren’t really, I don’t know how they, it’s even a thing, but Yeah, there’s there’s ways to really take advantage of people in the space.
16:53: And that’s why it’s really important to educate yourself.
16:55: And, I mean, I grew my portfolio without ever talking to a financial advisor, like doing it all on my own and spending what it felt like years learning all this stuff.
17:05: Anybody can do that.
17:06: So it’s difficult because so many people want it done for them.
17:10: Yes.
17:11: Yes.
17:11: You know, like there’s so much of like, oh, you’re asking me.
17:14: To learn all these details on top of, like, my life, my kids, my job, like, yeah.
17:21: So it also, it, this is one of the things I’m like, you should teach it while it’s in high school or in college when kids are literally going to school to learn something.
17:29: Like this is one of the subjects that does take time to learn.
17:32: But it’s difficult because people want to be like, you’re my financial advisor, I can just take off this weight, I trust you, which isn’t always necessarily the best thing either.
17:42: Yeah.
17:43: Also for so long, I feel like money is a man’s was a man’s world, you know, and it’s like men worked at the bank, and men worked as financial advisors, and men worked in, you know, the stock market and all these things and it was such a male led space.
17:57: So I feel like as women, which I’m so excited to talk about, she investor, because as women, I feel like we are not educated financially, and I feel lucky like I have a Capricornian mother, so she’s like very good at at investing and like she’s taught me a lot.
18:11: But I also think she had to learn herself.
18:13: Yeah.
18:14: And like, for example, when her and my dad were young, they invested in an IRA but it was like, it was the one, you know this better than me, but the one where You pay the taxes later, which did them a disservice because they ended up making way more money than they ever thought they were going to make.
18:30: And so then the taxes they have to pay on this money now is like way higher than if they had done it, you know, paid at first when they were young.
18:36: So it’s like an example of my mom didn’t know, like nobody taught her like, hey, if you go into a corporate job, which she did as an attorney, like you’re probably gonna make triple this at the time you retire, you know, but you just don’t, we’re not taught those things.
18:51: We’re not telling you the options and like, what are the consequences of your background.
18:55: Like, that’s why I always ask questions like, so what does that mean?
18:59: If I choose option A, yeah, what does that mean?
19:01: What does that look like?
19:03: What is the result from now?
19:04: What is that going to look like 20 years from now?
19:06: Or option B, again, what does that actually mean?
19:09: They just tell you option A and option B.
19:11: You’re supposed to be like, I’m gonna choose option B because it sounds like the better option.
19:15: And then I love, but I love educators and I love people that take the time to be like, if you choose option B, XYZ could happen.
19:23: I don’t think a lot of people take the time to tell you the extra context.
19:28: It makes me think of when you set up your 401k and it’s like, have your funds managed for you, or select them yourself.
19:35: And when you choose to have them managed for you, usually there’s higher costs involved, which can significantly cut down your investment performance long term.
19:44: And it’s just a simple thing like that, you know, but again, like to your point, no one tells you what the outcome can be.
19:52: And it’s because, yeah, so to clarify that real quick, you’re saying, so like let’s say someone has their 401 infidelity.
19:59: Can they manage where those funds go into?
20:02: Yes.
20:03: Yeah, so listen, cause a lot of people in corporate are like, oh, is my money sitting in Fidelity, it’s fine, and they’re just spreading it wherever they want.
20:11: Yeah, so this is a big one, and this is just a small thing that you can do that can save you thousands or really hundreds of thousands of dollars over time depending like how much you’re investing and whatnot, but typically when you have a 401k, you have maybe, let’s just say 10 funds to choose from.
20:29: And so you don’t have a big selection to choose from, but there are two different types.
20:35: There’s either actively managed, or there’s passively managed index funds.
20:41: And just to keep this as simple as possible, actively managed usually have fees involved with them and actively managed just means there’s like a fund manager picking and choosing.
20:52: which stocks and investments to go in it.
20:55: And because of that, there’s an added cost for them to do that job, like their fee essentially, yes, and that fee is called the expense ratio, it’s usually around like 1%, but that 1% adds up over time, it does, and you pay that regardless of the fund as well or does not in the year.
21:13: An index fund is passively managed, really all an index fund is, it just tracks a grouping of stocks, a certain industry, certain number of companies, certain size, and it’s just tracks how they perform and so you can really find funds that are almost nothing.
21:33: And you’re gonna have, just by doing that, you’re gonna have a lot more money over time and full full disclaimer here, not a financial advisor, so I just want to be clear here and everything we’re sharing really is just to educate you and You know, help you learn and and think for yourself and whatnot.
21:49: So, yeah, just which does bring us to see and to your company that you started.
21:54: Tell us a little about it and what your drive is behind it, why you created it.
22:00: I mean, I think we can get a feeling for why you created it already, but share a little about it.
22:04: Yeah, so, she investor, after I built my investment portfolio, that was really, you know, Hit like 6 figures in investments, kind of throw out a number.
22:15: It was a really, I don’t know, it was an interesting thing.
22:18: It was very empowering to know that like you did something like this and like, looking back myself, I was like, you go girl, like, great job.
22:26: Like I’m stoked for you.
22:27: And it was just, it made me fall in love with learning more about finance and investing in all things money.
22:33: And so I actually then went back to school when I got my master’s in finance from Georgetown University.
22:38: And so, Yeah, and it was, it was amazing.
22:41: It was very intense, especially going back to school after like a 5 year break, it’s no joke.
22:47: , you’re like, I forgot about this.
22:50: I know, I was like, straight A’s and I’m like, yeah, let’s just get through this, but I probably feel the exact same way.
22:59: Yeah, yeah.
23:00: little Taipei in there, but anyways, so it was great, and then when I was going through like an internship and I was exploring the job market and finance, and that’s when I realized how male dominant the space was, and learned all the things happening in the industry that, you know, made it challenging for the average person, and in particular women to learn about finance and and You know, an unintimidating way.
23:29: And that just kind of inspired me.
23:31: I felt like I had a calling to help women and educate in a way that made it easy and simplified it, and that’s where she Investor really grew from.
23:44: And, you know, I think the name is, you know, explains itself.
23:47: It’s to help women learn how to invest and So, through launching She Investor and just kind of what it is.
23:54: So right now I provide like one on one coaching, and like there’s kind of like two parts to it.
23:59: There’s the money management side of things, so your foundation, and then there’s building an investment portfolio, taking advantage of different accounts to really set you up long term.
24:08: But through learning all of that and kind of like the challenges of being a new business.
24:14: Business owner, I learned how money is totally different when you’re in business than when you work for an employer and you’re used to having that city salary.
24:24: And that kind of threw me for one and then I had to dive down the new rabbit hole of like mindset and money energetics to really understand what money is and it’s more than something that just comes from A job or employer, it really is something that flows through you and you create it, and it’s, you know, it’s an energetic exchange.
24:46: It’s this for that.
24:47: And so I, and now more recently, I’m incorporating that stuff into my work too, because I think that’s just, it’s so powerful.
24:55: It’s like you can do, you can be someone who does all the logical things, right, the strategies, the tools, but still things just aren’t.
25:02: Working for you.
25:03: And if it’s not, then it’s usually something to do with the emotional, energetic, spiritual side?
25:08: Yeah, tell us more.
25:11: So when I think of energetics, I really think of like the non-physical component to money.
25:18: So it’s like when you’re going, when you’re pursuing a career and you get the job, it’s like, OK, you got the job and you did the thing.
25:25: But there was a lag between that happening where things that you couldn’t see were lining up for that to happen.
25:31: And so it’s kind of like with money, it’s when when it comes to attracting wealth to you, it’s like, what are all the things that you’re doing that’s going to attract it to you.
25:41: It’s like, I love what you guys talk about a lot with like nervous system regulation.
25:45: It’s building the capacity for that to come.
25:48: And, and it’s also understanding why you’re doing certain actions with your money and what is the energetic reason behind that.
25:57: So one thing to give an example, when you want to save, it’s not just to save to have money.
26:06: It’s because when you save and make it a priority to pay yourself first no matter what, You’re putting out there that you value yourself, that you’re a good steward of money, that you know how to handle it right, and then in return, people are gonna look at you that way.
26:21: People are gonna value you.
26:23: They’re gonna take you seriously.
26:24: You’re gonna accumulate wealth, wealth, having more wealth, people feel that, you know, you’re gonna show up more as yourself.
26:30: It’s everything’s just gonna kind of like align.
26:33: And I think wealth is really like this powerful.
26:36: and a total like abundant resource that is really everywhere.
26:40: You just got to see it that way and start to change your mind to seeing it that way.
26:44: And everyone should have wealth, right?
26:49: I think the reason we don’t is just how society has taught us.
26:53: And I think there’s a big shift happening right now.
26:55: I agree.
26:56: I think there’s a big we talk about that.
26:58: It’s like, you know, just knowing that Astrology and Pluto’s moved into Aquarius.
27:02: It’s a very circular economy.
27:03: It’s not the top down pyramid that we’ve had.
27:05: So it’s such a huge opportunity for wealth, and we’ve been talking about crypto and all these other things that were in crypto, that are coming around, you know, that are giving the average person the ability to obtain wealth.
27:19: Even entrepreneurship has exploded and product-based businesses and And here we are back on theme with the whole, that was the theme, this is the theme, but also just like storytelling and cre and realizing like exactly what you said that it’s really about your energy, and it’s so interesting cause you’re a great example of, I think so many people start in the corporate world cause it’s easy, and it’s what we are taught.
27:41: It’s like you go to school, you get your degree, you get a job, you have your investments, like you, I mean,, you have that stability.
27:49: But you never go beyond that necessarily, and I think so many of us were raised either one with families that grew up with not a lot of money, or they were like middle class, and they were just, they did that exact ratio, and they put their money in their 401k, and they never thought beyond that.
28:05: And then when you go out and you become an entrepreneur, you’re pursuing something that’s so outside your comfort zone, it’s not surprising that all of a sudden it’s like, oh, where did all these Money blocks come from where these beliefs come from.
28:17: So can you speak a little more to that about how you personally worked through some of those for yourself, like as they came up as an entrepreneur?
28:24: Yeah, it was really, really tough.
28:26: I’m asking selfishly for myself too.
28:29: Yeah.
28:29: So what happened was, while I was doing my master’s, I did have, I was moved from sales into recruiting and I got hit with the big tech layoffs.
28:39: Early 2023.
28:41: And so I was kind of excited.
28:42: I was like, this is awesome.
28:44: Like, now I get to pursue my business.
28:46: I can, or it’s an opportunity to really go in and I had a big amount of savings saved up.
28:51: And so I just, I started really focusing on strategy and reaching out and trying to get clients and trying and trying and just doing all the things that I thought I needed to do.
29:04: And I found myself just kind of like going through my savings without like a whole lot to show for it initially, and that started to get me into this place of fear and like scarcity around money.
29:17: And it was just kind of like, OK, well, I, I chose this to help women and I’m helping women, but it’s not like this big business I expected it to be.
29:27: And so I got hit with all these different, like you said, mindset blocks around money, and that just, it honestly made me think again, kind of like it’s like, is pursuing a business worth it.
29:40: I thought this is going to be a straightforward path to doing something that I love and it’s helpful to basically a full on personal development journey where I felt like I was getting like punched in the face every every other week.
29:54: So, Yeah, so it really exposed my underlying limiting money beliefs that I didn’t even really know I had.
30:03: So, yeah,, I’ll just put you on the spot, but I think it’s gonna be very helpful.
30:09: Yeah, so, you know, it was, it was self worth.
30:14: What I did was I found my I value in these external achievements.
30:19: And this is actually very on brand with being on the Fully expressed podcast.
30:23: So I found myself very tied up into these external achievements and looked at them to justify my value and felt like I needed to have everything perfect.
30:37: Like if I can’t get clients, if I can’t do this and how can I even be teaching finance?
30:43: It was just, it was a trip and I got stuck in perfectionism and thinking I needed to know more and more and more before I could really like put other things out there.
30:52: So it was really fascinating.
30:54: And this is actually going to be the answer to the question you’re going to ask me at the end.
30:59: Maybe I shouldn’t drop this right out, but, your flow.
31:03: Yes, I realized that I needed to start looking internally at my value because speaking of finance, like, no matter what your net worth is, it has nothing to do with your self-worth.
31:18: Like nothing external.
31:19: We are internal beings living in this external.
31:23: Internal environment, you know, have all of this pressure put on us to show up a certain way, to justify the things we want to do, to, you know, have certain things in place before we can just do.
31:35: And that made me realize how that was so backwards and that I really need to look internally.
31:40: And so through some new mentors, I found That were in the spiritual space, I was able to really connect with my own internal value and how unique I was, aside from any external thing that I’ve done, and use that to drive me and connect that with service too.
31:59: And also something that is really, really helpful to me.
32:05: And with understanding how the brain works and the subconscious, like our brain wants proof of things, right?
32:11: It’s, it’s wants proof to be able to show up, to feel safe.
32:15: And so I started to look at proofs of already being successful, of already having wealth, seeing my wealth grow and just little things day to day.
32:25: It’s like I saw a penny on the ground.
32:26: Wow, my wealth just increased.
32:28: Like, that’s awesome.
32:30: Things like that.
32:30: And it’s got, yeah, so because it, it shifts you from a fear-based mindset into one of like, wow, there’s abundance all around me.
32:37: I mean, I even looked at where I lived and like I rent a condo and I was like, it’s a, you know, in California, so it’s like around a million dollars condo.
32:47: And I was like, this is so cool.
32:49: Like, maybe I can’t afford this right now, but I get to live in this space.
32:53: Like there was this abundance every.
32:55: I look, and I really had to change my mindset from one of scarcity and fear to one of abundant to be successful as a business owner and a coach.
33:07: And I think I, I, in fact, I know I went through that because I know I’m meant to incorporate this and teach it.
33:14: So it’s just interesting how life throws all these different twists and turns at you for your benefit.
33:20: So, all the tough things are actually the best things, but one thing I’ve heard before that I love is like, you should treat your your money like your romantic partner.
33:29: Yes.
33:30: Are you checking in on it?
33:31: Are you loving it?
33:32: Are you taking care of it?
33:34: Does it feel safe with you?
33:35: And a lot of things that you’re talking about, right?
33:38: Like when you’re in a romantic partnership, it also comes up down to your worth.
33:41: Like, do you feel worthy of this partnership, the kind of partnership that you’re really craving?
33:45: And I think we forget about that with money, because it’s money again, it’s energetics.
33:49: It’s the beliefs, does it feel safe to be with you, but if you’re constantly like, in a scarcity mindset, reaching for it, and you’re like, I need to hold on to you, because if I have you, then I feel better, and it’s in the unattachment, but there’s that same thing, like, we do that in dating, when you feel like your partner is pulling away and he’s like an anxious attachment or avoidant.
34:10: What do you do?
34:11: Reach, hold on, you know, and like, and you’re all being like, well, if you’re leaving me then I’m questioning my work, like, you don’t love me, like, come back here.
34:19: And I really think it’s the same thing with money, like, the more that you trust money, that you believe that money is working for you, that you’re surrendering yourself that it’s available everywhere and people get into this with dating.
34:30: Oh, guys suck, they’re not.
34:31: There’s dating is so hard.
34:34: I’m never gonna find my Part.
34:37: You think you’re in this city, your partner is going to feel safe to be with you.
34:41: Do you think your partner is going to want to be in a relationship with you and you think your person is going to find you?
34:46: No, because you already think so negatively about it.
34:48: And when you’re in a scarcity mindset, with money, it’s the same thing.
34:52: It’s like, do you really think money is going to want to be with you if you are constantly in the space of like, I got to hold on to it.
35:00: Which is something that we’ve talked about too, like, we have friends that are, you know, doing really well or whatever and, you know, you can still have a lot of money, like you said, your net worth is not your worth and you can still feel unsafe.
35:12: Yes, which is a whole another part of this conversation.
35:15: And I think there’s a lot of people out there that like, you see that there’s like millionaires and billionaires, and they’re like, I still don’t have enough.
35:22: Yeah, because to your point, they’re looking to like void the void.
35:27: And the truth is, just with money, you also have to find the sense of safety and trust within yourself.
35:35: And be like,, my value doesn’t change no matter what my bank account looks like.
35:40: Yeah.
35:40: I love that.
35:41: I got goosebumps, so I got the shows.
35:44: Yes, I think that’s such a powerful point.
35:47: Yeah, I’ve come across quite a few people who are very well off, but they’re so afraid of losing it and I think that just shows that there are a lot of things backwards and there’s a lot of things to learn about money that we still need to uncover and grow.
36:02: And I think, I mean, I think learning about money, developing that relationship, especially of trust, I think it really comes down, like, it’s tied to trusting yourself.
36:11: It’s self trust.
36:12: Yeah, 100%.
36:14: And I think that’s one of the best things that you can do for yourself is find that self trust, even if it feels like it temporarily, you know, breaks you down, but It’s, it’s so powerful, so powerful.
36:25: I think back to like the beginning of this conversation where we were talking about so much about investments, we even talked a little bit about crypto, like, our generation, like my partner put this together so beautifully, and I don’t know if you agree with this, he’s like, older generations had a way to make money, right?
36:40: If you owned a home, you were wealthy, you were already building generational wealth, and then the next generation was like, if you invest in stocks, like you’re building generational wealth, we’re also in a different generation.
36:50: And so I think we’re getting even more challenged because a lot of the systems that we currently have in place aren’t necessarily set up.
36:57: They’re not educating us and so we are getting faced with the mirror, like any relationship, to see within ourselves of like, oh, where is my lack of trust within myself with money?
37:07: Where am I second questioning myself?
37:09: Where am I coming from a scarcity mindset, which just kind of I think really involves your whole vision for your business because it’s both, right?
37:17: We do need like what’s working, how are people investing?
37:20: How are people managing their money, how people done it for a while.
37:23: But then also there is a spiritual element to this whole process that is also being almost like forced upon us to figure out.
37:32: It’s like millennial got to look within yourself.
37:35: If you want this, you really got to look within yourself.
37:37: And yes, you can do all the research, but even if you do, if you don’t feel valuable, it won’t come.
37:45: As hard as it is to swallow, it’s such a huge pill to swallow, you know, I think it’s hard to, like, I think the millennial generation, like has it the hardest too, because all of our parents, majority of our parents own a home.
37:57: They were able to buy a home, live a comfortable lifestyle on like $100,000 200,000 dollars, maybe less.
38:03: Some in some states, $50,000 40,000 dollars, $20,000.
38:06: And now we’ve we’ve seen that, we’ve witnessed that, and especially here in California, but I think all Over now, you’re seeing this generation of people who the old way isn’t possible for us anymore.
38:18: The younger generation has like come in and they’re just like, we’re doing our own thing.
38:22: Half of them don’t even care about owning a house.
38:24: If they do, they’re just like, you know, they’re like making millions on TikTok, like they’ve figured it out and we’re like, where do we fit in here?
38:30: Like what?
38:31: I feel like we are kind of the generation healing that gap and that wound for the other generations to come.
38:37: And you know, that made me think of too.
38:39: It’s like, for For those that may feel like they can’t get in the game, which anybody can, and or like have access to certain investment accounts or whatnot, like investing obviously is great too, but the best investment really is in yourself.
38:53: And like think about if you’re able, if you have such a good relationship with yourself, your value and money, and you’re able to call it in whenever you want, you have financial security that way, right?
39:05: You have this.
39:08: You have abundance at your fingertips, and to me that’s much more rewarding than You know, a big investment account, being able to just have that trust, and it makes life really fun too.
39:21: Like, I feel like it, like, this has been an energetic exchange, like meeting both of you and being on here and be able to have a genuine conversation where we’re connecting, like this is value.
39:33: Yeah.
39:34: And I love that because I think people find safety and generational wealth, because that’s what they hear, you know.
39:39: You’re just saying like, if you find safety in myself, you’ve got it.
39:42: You are living you can be OK with nothing.
39:45: Like when you’re good with nothing and you And as someone who’s like, had a lot of money and no money, I’ve found to just be OK in all those spaces, and then it it is like it is kind of fun cause it’s like a trust in the universe, like, where’s my money gonna come from today?
39:59: I don’t know, we’re gonna see, you know, but it does always provide when you let go.
40:05: It does.
40:06: And I’d still like, even though we’re talking about this, I don’t want to take away the importance of money management and understanding and understanding money, right?
40:13: Like we are saying like, work on your self-worth and things like that, but you also have to create a structure or a container for money to feel safe to come into.
40:21: You even use the word of like creating capacity to hold that much money.
40:25: Like, I know that people have come into a lot of wealth before, then they’ve lost it all.
40:29: Like, what happens to people when they win the lot?
40:30: Yeah, I was gonna say the lottery winners are a perfect example of what’s going on.
40:36: They have no money management skills.
40:37: They don’t have the capacity in the nervous system to hold millions of dollars.
40:40: They’re like, oops, spending it, and then most of them are bankrupt by the end of it.
40:46: And so the invitation here too is like, get really good about knowing where your stuff is.
40:51: You know, how you’re spending it, what the structure is, how does it feel good?
40:55: It’s like the map.
40:55: So when we talk about like Masculine feminine dynamics and relationships, it’s the same thing.
41:00: You being masculine, holding the container, understanding your money, how you’re using it, how you’re spending it, keeping track of it, all the things being intentional with it is the masculine.
41:10: But then the ability for it to abundantly flow in is the feminine and receive.
41:16: So yeah, so beautiful.
41:18: At this point, I want to ask you a very special question, which is you kind of talked about it.
41:22: , but with this entire conversation, which has been all about money, you can totally answer this from a place of money, or you can just talk about this as you because we also just want to get to know you as a human.
41:31: , where in your life do you feel called to be fully expressed?
41:37: Yes.
41:37: Definitely in my business and just showing up online fully as who I am.
41:46: One thing I noticed throughout working in corporate was, you know, when you go into this new workplace, there’s a culture.
41:53: There’s kind of like a level of professionalism, which is great, right?
41:56: I do this all the time.
41:58: Yes, yeah, you do want some of that.
42:00: But I almost felt like over time my personality almost kind of like suppressed or dulled down a little bit stalled down and there was kind of like this fear of being seen or showing up authentically as myself.
42:13: And then I think that kind of trickled over when I started my business, like, I am a business owner now.
42:20: I am a coach, like, I need to have my financial shit together, like, I need to make sure that everything is perfect and I’m have this perfect facade, and it is taxing.
42:30: Like, that is not serving anybody, right?
42:33: And so, I think it’s really, really realizing that like, like I mentioned.
42:38: Earlier is connecting to my internal traits and who I am and really being OK with any imperfection, because if there was perfection, then there’s no growth in that.
42:51: And, you know, what fun is that?
42:54: How has that journey been for you?
42:57: It’s been good.
42:58: It’s been learning to take off the perfectionism and just be you.
43:02: Yeah, it’s Then very freeing, number one, very freeing.
43:06: I just like, I just stopped caring so much.
43:09: And, you know, I think that’s allowed me to connect with people better too.
43:13: It’s also been extremely scary.
43:16: So it’s just, it’s kind of like showing up more, you know, doing more speaking, doing lives and thinking like, I need to have the perfect script.
43:25: I need to know exactly what I’m going.
43:27: To say how I’m going to say.
43:28: I can’t, you know, I don’t know, use certain words, but really people just want connection.
43:34: You know, people just want to get to know you and I’ve never not been interested in getting to know somebody because of something, someone being perfect, you know?
43:44: So I think, yeah, it’s been a really beautiful journey of like peeling back the onion and really connecting back to who I am and Yeah, it’s, it’s been worth it.
43:54: I love that worth it, so beautiful.
43:56: Yeah, I have one more question.
43:58: Yeah, OK,, do you, yeah, we’ll be done here soon, but my last question is, like, do you have you found people or spaces where you feel that way, where you can be just you?
44:07: I think it comes to, it comes down to you being that first.
44:15: Like when I came to your podcast relaunch, one thing, the reason I came.
44:20: I was invited by another girl that you had on earlier, but I saw you guys and you just had this energy to that seemed so welcoming and accepting.
44:29: And I was kind of at this place where I was stepping into, like, let’s just get rid of, you know, anything that’s not me, and just be myself again and stop caring how people like what they think or anything like that.
44:42: And that is what drew me to you guys.
44:45: So I do think it’s also, yeah, so thank you.
44:49: So sweet for doing what you guys are doing.
44:52: That was an awesome experience and event and met so many wonderful other women.
44:58: , I think it’s about you have to first branch out, right?
45:02: You can’t, like you said, with the relationships, you can’t go in a room expecting to meet people and not say hello to anyone, you know?
45:10: So I think it’s just like, I want you to come say, it’s it’s so funny.
45:14: Like, it’s when this happens to so many like, people pleasers, perfectionists in general.
45:17: They’re like, I just want to be seen, and it’s like, well, are you even putting yourself out there?
45:22: Like, can they even see you?
45:23: So it really starts with you.
45:25: Yeah, it also made me think like, I’m always like, I wish, like, my friends and I would do more things, and then as soon as I get asked to hang out, I’m like, yeah, I’m good, like, let’s just stay in and watch the movie.
45:36: Sorry, busy.
45:38: Yeah, so, see, it starts with us, starts with us.
45:41: Well, thank you so much for coming on.
45:43: Of course, really having me.
45:45: This is nice.
45:45: I feel like.
45:46: Definitely that the interview got really warm, like when you started to like show yourself.
45:50: It was really beautiful.
45:51: I really liked it.
45:52: It was so good.
45:53: I learned a lot already.
45:55: Good.
45:55: And then tell everyone where they can find you.
45:58: Yeah.
45:58: So I am primarily on Instagram as at Sheinvestor.
46:03: And then I also, you can find me on my website at sheinvestor.com.
46:06: So there’s information there about my programs working with me.
46:10: And then I also do a weekly live webinar series to kind of cover different finance topics.
46:15: do a Q&A.
46:16: So all the resources are on there.
46:18: It’s so good.
46:19: Yeah.
46:20: Well, go reach out to her if you have any information, but this will all be in the show notes and it’s truly, thank you so much for coming and just sharing a little bit of wisdom.
46:27: I think we definitely talked about so many good nuggets, like, that people in corporate can act on right now to like, if you’re really being channeled or challenged with money, there’s some shit you got to look with it yourself.
46:38: Yeah, and also, it’s OK if you don’t have a lot of money right now.
46:40: Like it doesn’t have to stay that way.
46:42: It doesn’t.
46:43: And I’ll just add.
46:44: Real quickly.
46:45: The power of starting small and building a habit of just like saying yes to your money today, saving a little bit when the paycheck comes in, or taking some time to address your expenses, like those habits build over time.
46:59: Everyone wants to try to have it all right this second, but it’s such a journey and it’s one that’s very much worth it.
47:05: It’s one that I’m still on in different ways.
47:08: So I, yeah, I think starting, there’s so much power in starting small.
47:12: Agreed.
47:12: Yeah.
47:13: And on that now, thank you.
47:14: Thanks so much.
47:15: I feel so good.
47:16: Thank you so much for tuning in.
47:18: We really appreciate you being here.
47:20: If you enjoyed this episode, we’d be grateful if you could leave us a review and share it with a friend.
47:25: Also, we would love to hear from you.
47:28: Reach out to us on Instagram and let us know where you feel inspired to express yourself as you embrace this next era.
47:35: We are here to support you and encourage you.
47:37: See you on the next one.
0:03: We are your hosts, Samantha and Karenna.
0:06: This is a show where we invite you into your fullest expressed self and life, relationships, and business.
0:11: We believe that if you crave more, you are meant for more.
0:14: There is room for all of us to be fully expressed.
0:17: Along with the show, we’ve created a virtual community to connect you with fellow listeners.
0:22: Make sure to check out the fully expressed community membership.
0:25: You’ll find the link to join in the show notes and on our website.
0:28: So excited to see you there.
0:30: Enjoy this new episode.
0:34: Welcome back to the Fully expressed podcast.
0:37: Today we are going to be talking all about money with Nicole Cesa.
0:42: She is the founder of She Investor LLC, a financial coaching business dedicated to empowering women to take control of their finances and unlock the freedom to live beyond their circumstances.
0:53: Through a unique blend of financial literacy, mindset work, and money.
0:59: Nicole helps women build sustainable wealth by addressing both the practical and emotional aspects of money.
1:06: Welcome.
1:07: Thank you.
1:08: I’m so excited to be here.
1:09: Thank you so much for being here.
1:11: So where do we start with money?
1:13: I think what’s what I love about this episode is like, I think everyone’s in that like, I need to be better about money, I want money to work for me, like they’re thinking about money.
1:22: I think there’s like a season.
1:22: Especially like post like 30s or like later in life, like there’s that time where like, maybe I get a little bit more serious about money.
1:29: Maybe I should start paying attention to what all this stuff means, which I am so excited to talk to you about because we don’t, I think there’s so many different ways we can talk about this, but starting from like the very basics, what does that look like for someone to just start creating a better relationship with money?
1:46: Yeah.
1:47: Yeah, definitely educating yourself about money.
1:50: So there’s kind of like that initial getting the money foundations in place.
1:56: So making sure that you have like a sustainable income stream through a job or a business or whatnot.
2:03: It’s about starting to save and just building up like a security fund that people talk about as kind of like that little starting point.
2:10: to feel like you have money and start to see it grow.
2:14: And then there’s also what’s really important before starting to invest is making sure that you’re really on top of managing your personal finances.
2:23: So you have your income come in every month and then you’re getting hit with expenses and spending, but really getting in control of that and finding a process that works for you.
2:34: to stay on top of that and look at that as a way to where like you are in control of your money, right?
2:40: You get to be intentional with it, and it’s either, you know, you could spend money and not really know where you’re spending it, or you can be very intentional and, you know, choose where you want to go with your money, how you want to use it, how it’s going to support you and provide for you.
2:57: And how did you get into, before we get into your company and all these things, like, how did you even get into this, or I mean, was it from a place of not being good with your money, and so then you wanted to learn about it, or were you always good with money and I was not always good with money.
3:12: I feel like every time I got to a good place in a certain area with money, I realized there was another area that wasn’t so good.
3:21: So, I’ll just kind of backtrack and Share a little bit of my story and kind of how I got to where I am right now.
3:28: And it all started like growing up in a very scarce environment.
3:32: So we didn’t have a ton growing up.
3:34: My dad was, he worked full time and then my mom was a full-time stay at home mom with myself and my 4 siblings.
3:41: And all of our conversations often involved money.
3:46: Like, can we afford that?
3:47: How are we going to do that?
3:49: You know, why are you even thinking of that?
3:51: And deep down, there was part of me that just felt like, do things really have to be this way?
3:57: Like, I always felt like things don’t have to be that way, and they actually shouldn’t be that way.
4:03: And so right from there as a little girl, I already knew like I wanted a little bit better of a quality life.
4:10: I didn’t know what that looked like, but I I knew like I wanted to have money because money allows you to do things.
4:15: You can travel, you can, you know, buy some nicer clothes, like, you know, do all the things.
4:20: And so what I knew then, once I got a little older was, if you want money, you need to go to school, get the degree, get the good job.
4:29: And so I did exactly that and somehow I man.
4:33: a pretty high paying job right out of college, out of my undergrad, and I thought I made it.
4:40: I was like, yes, now I’m making money, things, things are great, it’s going to be easy.
4:46: But I quickly realized after I started work and it was an inside sales job, so it’s a very difficult taxing role that I didn’t make it.
4:55: I was actually very unfulfilled, and that was like a really big eye opener for me to where I realized like, OK, well, money is great and I like this, but is it worth it at the expense of my fulfillment?
5:09: So that led me down the rabbit hole of figuring out, well, OK, there are wealthy people out there who are enjoying life, doing things with their family.
5:17: Don’t seem like they have to be working that hard.
5:20: So what Is it that they do, and that’s really what led me to discover wealth building and investing.
5:26: So anyone out there that has large amounts of wealth has invested in most often it’s either the stock market in real estate.
5:34: So that got me really excited to see the potential of investing over time, how it can grow, how it can provide for you, how it can be literally a passive income stream that supports you to then You know, go and do whatever, which is awesome.
5:49: And so I just self taught and learned as much as I could around money.
5:55: And my goal was to invest as much as I could.
5:59: I took advantage of the times that I was employed and through employer investment accounts and other investment accounts that I learned about.
6:08: I looked at my employer as like my investor, so I may not be completely fulfilled here.
6:14: No, you did the same.
6:15: Oh yeah, I mean, when I was, I’m still in corporate, but I’ve always thought about like, oh, they’re just investing my future.
6:20: Yes, they’re the investor, they’re the they’re the thing that’s backing my my business.
6:24: Yes, I love that shift in your mindset there and just thinking about how any experience that you have is really cultivating your skills and your knowledge to that then can be applied to so many things.
6:39: You don’t know where it’s going to be applied to your life later on.
6:42: And there’s so many skills I’ve learned in past careers and jobs that I’m using now, and I’m like, I can’t believe I didn’t capitalize on this more when I was there because I didn’t really think of it at the time.
6:54: But yeah, so going back to investing, so I looked at my employer as my investor, and in order for me to maximize my investments, I had to address my own personal finances, specifically my spending.
7:08: And so I started tracking my income, tracking what I was spending on, realized that I was spending on a lot of things I either didn’t realize or were doing just for short term fulfillment.
7:20: So I was able to cut back on my expenses quite a bit, and really just focused on investing and then specifically in like the stock market and financial securities too, just to clarify that.
7:33: So, after about 56 years, I got myself to a place where I had invested enough to support me long term and reach financial independence.
7:44: So I, even if I never invest again.
7:46: And just what that means, financial independence is having enough invested to where those investments provide enough to cover your income.
7:55: It’s like they’re your new income, sustainable income stream that’s going to support you.
8:00: You know, until you pass, or, you know, you can pass it down to your children and whatnot.
8:04: And I structured it in a way to where it’s all like tax free.
8:09: So whenever I do use that money, it’s tax free, it just makes it easier and there’ll be a lot more.
8:14: So, how do you, how do you do that?
8:17: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I guess the question is like you, so let’s backtrack, you know, you have things to invest in like an IRA, the 401k, you have the stock market, you have these Financial securities that you were talking about.
8:29: So do you invest in those things and then do you take money out as far as how do they pay for your living?
8:35: How do they pay for living?
8:36: Yes, there’s a lot of people, I, no, because I think a lot of people think about like, oh, I’m putting money and buying Tesla stocks, I’m buying this thing, and they just let it sit there, you know, until they get to a place where they’re like, oh, I can take out $100,000 because I’ve gotten $100,000 right?
8:51: Yeah.
8:52: It sounds Like the way that you made it sound, and correct me if I’m wrong, that you’re living off these expenses, these investments on their own.
9:00: So it seems like you’re taking things out more monthly, more weekly.
9:03: What does that look like?
9:04: And that balance of also keeping it in.
9:07: Sure, there’s a lot there.
9:09: So just for, I was thinking you mean how do you structure it to be tax-free, which, which is a whole another topic.
9:14: I know a little bit about that, but I want to know this here.
9:17: So right now, I am not financially independent.
9:20: So right now, my investments, I have enough invested to where when they, they’ll grow and at a certain point, they will then, there’ll be enough there that as long as they grow a certain percentage every single year, that percentage is going to be enough to replace my income and be an amount to live off of.
9:40: How do you take into account inflation?
9:42: Yeah.
9:43: So that’s a good question.
9:45: You really want to invest.
9:47: So what I do with clients and how I look at it is, you want to figure out what, what amount of money is going to support you.
9:55: Kind of like what your lifestyle is going to look like whenever you don’t want to work anymore, OK?
10:01: And there’s different levels to it too, because with money, it’s kind of like a game.
10:05: You got to figure out like a plan that can work for you based on what you have going on right now.
10:10: So it’s kind of fun and in that sense.
10:12: And so you want to figure out like what I always work I do is I work backwards, OK, we want to reach this goal, and based on this type of investment, you can expect to reach it, you know, during this time frame, or you can figure out how much you want to invest per month for that.
10:29: I always then suggest tacking on an extra, like to like account for inflation in the rate that you’re calculating your investment growth.
10:40: So if you’re projecting something at like, I’m gonna get a 10% return per year, let’s go down to 8%.
10:47: So that way you’re able to invest more and have a little bit bigger of a nest in case, just in case, yeah, I just don’t think people are talking about it, which is why I asked a good question because as much as you put investments and you put money in for like 10 years from now, right?
11:03: You’re like, great, it’s gonna grow, but like 10 eggs.
11:06: I’m so.
11:07: Excited.
11:07: But the reality of the dollar, the value of the dollar is significantly going down, the more that we continue to print money.
11:13: And so I think people were like, I’m gonna have so much money by like, XYZ, let’s just say you make $1000.
11:18: That 100K is eventually only going to be worth $80 or $600 depending on where the market is in regards to value.
11:24: So I just love that you’re also thinking about that and inquiring your clients to be like, you also have to take into consideration about what else is going on in the money market.
11:33: You can’t just like Throw money in your investments without a strategy.
11:36: Yes, yes.
11:38: Yeah, and yeah, and that’s such a great point, especially right now because inflation has been, seems like through the roof the last year or two, and we’re all feeling it.
11:48: Could it be the $4 trillion is that what do we have now like in it was like $1 trillion in interest every year now.
11:55: So, yeah, that, that’s a whole other thing.
11:58: That’s, yeah, that’s gonna be interesting.
11:59: So, hopefully.
12:01: Figure something out there.
12:02: Yeah, but even when you reach like retirement or financial independence, your life and your expenses could look completely different than they are now.
12:13: Like if you own a house, your mortgage could be paid off, right?
12:16: You may not have a car payment, kids may be out of the house.
12:19: So it’s kind of planning for the best case scenario, and there’s always ways to make it work too.
12:25: I don’t think that anybody should worry.
12:28: If they have invested in, they’ve saved consistently over time, and they feel like maybe I’m a little bit short.
12:34: You always have the option of picking up some extra work, cutting back expenses, working an extra year.
12:41: There’s always a way to like mix and match and have that flexibility.
12:46: You know, and then if you are married and you settle down together, you know, hopefully you’ll both put yourself in a place or work together to where you’re both, you know, supporting each other too.
12:55: So Yeah, there’s there’s always flexibility and hope in any situation.
13:01: So tell us a little bit about the tax free, the tax free, yeah.
13:05: OK, so there are, let me just, let’s see, so when you start to invest, if you want to invest in something like a financial security, which is really just a a digital type of asset that you can trade online.
13:23: like a stock.
13:24: Yes.
13:24: So a stock is an example.
13:26: bonds are examples.
13:28: Then there are things like mutual funds, which probably familiar with in 401ks and index funds and even like some commodity type funds.
13:37: So those are all in the category of financial securities.
13:41: If you want to invest in something like that, you need to go to a brokerage firm and then an online brokerage firm.
13:49: And then open up a certain investment account.
13:51: So kind of like if you’re going to invest in real estate, you need to find an agent, they’ll help you find a property.
13:56: When it comes to financial securities, an online broker, I’ll just name drop a big one, Fidelity.
14:01: I really like them for really any level of investor, whether you’re brand new or advanced, they’re great.
14:07: And then you can open up different investment accounts.
14:10: So, when it comes to retirement account or tax advantage types accounts, there are things like individual retirement accounts, and then there is your employer 401k.
14:24: Now, there are different ways they’re taxed.
14:27: So some are pre-tax, where you actually get to take a tax deduction.
14:34: That year to what you contribute to the account, and then later on, you then pay taxes on anything that you take out of the account.
14:43: The opposite is post-tax, and that is where you’re paying taxes now, and then you’re essentially contributing to that account.
14:51: So, the post-tax is considered a Roth version.
14:54: There’s a Roth version of an IRA.
14:56: There’s also a Roth version of the 401k.
14:59: So that’s a little bit newer, but it’s out there and so what I did was I maxed out my wrath every single year that I could.
15:07: There were a couple years that I made a little bit more than the limit.
15:12: So with, with tax advantage accounts, there’s some parameters and limits to them.
15:17: So there’s usually like an income limit.
15:20: There can be a, an age that you’re not allowed to touch the account to remove your funds until, you know, you reach that age, usually like 59.5, and then otherwise you’re going to get penalized.
15:30: and maybe pay extra taxes, depending on the account.
15:33: And then there’s also contribution limits to how much you can put in the accounts as well.
15:38: So, that’s how the retirement accounts are set up.
15:41: And so what I did was took advantage of the Roth when I can.
15:45: If my income was too high, you can actually do this like backdoor strategy where you contribute to a traditional IRA and then immediately move it to a Roth and then invest that way.
15:57: Yeah, so that’s a really cool little, I won’t even say it’s a hack because it’s like a legal process, but it’s not something that many people know about.
16:05: They go to an actual financial advisor.
16:08: Yeah, we went to, I went to like a conference or something, and he was talking about there’s two ways to play the game of money.
16:14: There’s money that people talk about, there’s also the money that you don’t, but like another way to play the game of money.
16:19: I think it just highlights what you’re talking about, which is like, it’s not that these things are illegal.
16:23: You just don’t know that it’s there.
16:24: Yeah.
16:25: And I feel like the finance space has not really positioned itself in a way to really support the average person.
16:33: It doesn’t empower the people at the bottom, really.
16:36: It doesn’t.
16:36: It doesn’t.
16:36: And even like, I don’t want to hit on any type of financial advisor or anything like that.
16:41: I think they’re really good ones, and then I think there are some that maybe aren’t really, I don’t know how they, it’s even a thing, but Yeah, there’s there’s ways to really take advantage of people in the space.
16:53: And that’s why it’s really important to educate yourself.
16:55: And, I mean, I grew my portfolio without ever talking to a financial advisor, like doing it all on my own and spending what it felt like years learning all this stuff.
17:05: Anybody can do that.
17:06: So it’s difficult because so many people want it done for them.
17:10: Yes.
17:11: Yes.
17:11: You know, like there’s so much of like, oh, you’re asking me.
17:14: To learn all these details on top of, like, my life, my kids, my job, like, yeah.
17:21: So it also, it, this is one of the things I’m like, you should teach it while it’s in high school or in college when kids are literally going to school to learn something.
17:29: Like this is one of the subjects that does take time to learn.
17:32: But it’s difficult because people want to be like, you’re my financial advisor, I can just take off this weight, I trust you, which isn’t always necessarily the best thing either.
17:42: Yeah.
17:43: Also for so long, I feel like money is a man’s was a man’s world, you know, and it’s like men worked at the bank, and men worked as financial advisors, and men worked in, you know, the stock market and all these things and it was such a male led space.
17:57: So I feel like as women, which I’m so excited to talk about, she investor, because as women, I feel like we are not educated financially, and I feel lucky like I have a Capricornian mother, so she’s like very good at at investing and like she’s taught me a lot.
18:11: But I also think she had to learn herself.
18:13: Yeah.
18:14: And like, for example, when her and my dad were young, they invested in an IRA but it was like, it was the one, you know this better than me, but the one where You pay the taxes later, which did them a disservice because they ended up making way more money than they ever thought they were going to make.
18:30: And so then the taxes they have to pay on this money now is like way higher than if they had done it, you know, paid at first when they were young.
18:36: So it’s like an example of my mom didn’t know, like nobody taught her like, hey, if you go into a corporate job, which she did as an attorney, like you’re probably gonna make triple this at the time you retire, you know, but you just don’t, we’re not taught those things.
18:51: We’re not telling you the options and like, what are the consequences of your background.
18:55: Like, that’s why I always ask questions like, so what does that mean?
18:59: If I choose option A, yeah, what does that mean?
19:01: What does that look like?
19:03: What is the result from now?
19:04: What is that going to look like 20 years from now?
19:06: Or option B, again, what does that actually mean?
19:09: They just tell you option A and option B.
19:11: You’re supposed to be like, I’m gonna choose option B because it sounds like the better option.
19:15: And then I love, but I love educators and I love people that take the time to be like, if you choose option B, XYZ could happen.
19:23: I don’t think a lot of people take the time to tell you the extra context.
19:28: It makes me think of when you set up your 401k and it’s like, have your funds managed for you, or select them yourself.
19:35: And when you choose to have them managed for you, usually there’s higher costs involved, which can significantly cut down your investment performance long term.
19:44: And it’s just a simple thing like that, you know, but again, like to your point, no one tells you what the outcome can be.
19:52: And it’s because, yeah, so to clarify that real quick, you’re saying, so like let’s say someone has their 401 infidelity.
19:59: Can they manage where those funds go into?
20:02: Yes.
20:03: Yeah, so listen, cause a lot of people in corporate are like, oh, is my money sitting in Fidelity, it’s fine, and they’re just spreading it wherever they want.
20:11: Yeah, so this is a big one, and this is just a small thing that you can do that can save you thousands or really hundreds of thousands of dollars over time depending like how much you’re investing and whatnot, but typically when you have a 401k, you have maybe, let’s just say 10 funds to choose from.
20:29: And so you don’t have a big selection to choose from, but there are two different types.
20:35: There’s either actively managed, or there’s passively managed index funds.
20:41: And just to keep this as simple as possible, actively managed usually have fees involved with them and actively managed just means there’s like a fund manager picking and choosing.
20:52: which stocks and investments to go in it.
20:55: And because of that, there’s an added cost for them to do that job, like their fee essentially, yes, and that fee is called the expense ratio, it’s usually around like 1%, but that 1% adds up over time, it does, and you pay that regardless of the fund as well or does not in the year.
21:13: An index fund is passively managed, really all an index fund is, it just tracks a grouping of stocks, a certain industry, certain number of companies, certain size, and it’s just tracks how they perform and so you can really find funds that are almost nothing.
21:33: And you’re gonna have, just by doing that, you’re gonna have a lot more money over time and full full disclaimer here, not a financial advisor, so I just want to be clear here and everything we’re sharing really is just to educate you and You know, help you learn and and think for yourself and whatnot.
21:49: So, yeah, just which does bring us to see and to your company that you started.
21:54: Tell us a little about it and what your drive is behind it, why you created it.
22:00: I mean, I think we can get a feeling for why you created it already, but share a little about it.
22:04: Yeah, so, she investor, after I built my investment portfolio, that was really, you know, Hit like 6 figures in investments, kind of throw out a number.
22:15: It was a really, I don’t know, it was an interesting thing.
22:18: It was very empowering to know that like you did something like this and like, looking back myself, I was like, you go girl, like, great job.
22:26: Like I’m stoked for you.
22:27: And it was just, it made me fall in love with learning more about finance and investing in all things money.
22:33: And so I actually then went back to school when I got my master’s in finance from Georgetown University.
22:38: And so, Yeah, and it was, it was amazing.
22:41: It was very intense, especially going back to school after like a 5 year break, it’s no joke.
22:47: , you’re like, I forgot about this.
22:50: I know, I was like, straight A’s and I’m like, yeah, let’s just get through this, but I probably feel the exact same way.
22:59: Yeah, yeah.
23:00: little Taipei in there, but anyways, so it was great, and then when I was going through like an internship and I was exploring the job market and finance, and that’s when I realized how male dominant the space was, and learned all the things happening in the industry that, you know, made it challenging for the average person, and in particular women to learn about finance and and You know, an unintimidating way.
23:29: And that just kind of inspired me.
23:31: I felt like I had a calling to help women and educate in a way that made it easy and simplified it, and that’s where she Investor really grew from.
23:44: And, you know, I think the name is, you know, explains itself.
23:47: It’s to help women learn how to invest and So, through launching She Investor and just kind of what it is.
23:54: So right now I provide like one on one coaching, and like there’s kind of like two parts to it.
23:59: There’s the money management side of things, so your foundation, and then there’s building an investment portfolio, taking advantage of different accounts to really set you up long term.
24:08: But through learning all of that and kind of like the challenges of being a new business.
24:14: Business owner, I learned how money is totally different when you’re in business than when you work for an employer and you’re used to having that city salary.
24:24: And that kind of threw me for one and then I had to dive down the new rabbit hole of like mindset and money energetics to really understand what money is and it’s more than something that just comes from A job or employer, it really is something that flows through you and you create it, and it’s, you know, it’s an energetic exchange.
24:46: It’s this for that.
24:47: And so I, and now more recently, I’m incorporating that stuff into my work too, because I think that’s just, it’s so powerful.
24:55: It’s like you can do, you can be someone who does all the logical things, right, the strategies, the tools, but still things just aren’t.
25:02: Working for you.
25:03: And if it’s not, then it’s usually something to do with the emotional, energetic, spiritual side?
25:08: Yeah, tell us more.
25:11: So when I think of energetics, I really think of like the non-physical component to money.
25:18: So it’s like when you’re going, when you’re pursuing a career and you get the job, it’s like, OK, you got the job and you did the thing.
25:25: But there was a lag between that happening where things that you couldn’t see were lining up for that to happen.
25:31: And so it’s kind of like with money, it’s when when it comes to attracting wealth to you, it’s like, what are all the things that you’re doing that’s going to attract it to you.
25:41: It’s like, I love what you guys talk about a lot with like nervous system regulation.
25:45: It’s building the capacity for that to come.
25:48: And, and it’s also understanding why you’re doing certain actions with your money and what is the energetic reason behind that.
25:57: So one thing to give an example, when you want to save, it’s not just to save to have money.
26:06: It’s because when you save and make it a priority to pay yourself first no matter what, You’re putting out there that you value yourself, that you’re a good steward of money, that you know how to handle it right, and then in return, people are gonna look at you that way.
26:21: People are gonna value you.
26:23: They’re gonna take you seriously.
26:24: You’re gonna accumulate wealth, wealth, having more wealth, people feel that, you know, you’re gonna show up more as yourself.
26:30: It’s everything’s just gonna kind of like align.
26:33: And I think wealth is really like this powerful.
26:36: and a total like abundant resource that is really everywhere.
26:40: You just got to see it that way and start to change your mind to seeing it that way.
26:44: And everyone should have wealth, right?
26:49: I think the reason we don’t is just how society has taught us.
26:53: And I think there’s a big shift happening right now.
26:55: I agree.
26:56: I think there’s a big we talk about that.
26:58: It’s like, you know, just knowing that Astrology and Pluto’s moved into Aquarius.
27:02: It’s a very circular economy.
27:03: It’s not the top down pyramid that we’ve had.
27:05: So it’s such a huge opportunity for wealth, and we’ve been talking about crypto and all these other things that were in crypto, that are coming around, you know, that are giving the average person the ability to obtain wealth.
27:19: Even entrepreneurship has exploded and product-based businesses and And here we are back on theme with the whole, that was the theme, this is the theme, but also just like storytelling and cre and realizing like exactly what you said that it’s really about your energy, and it’s so interesting cause you’re a great example of, I think so many people start in the corporate world cause it’s easy, and it’s what we are taught.
27:41: It’s like you go to school, you get your degree, you get a job, you have your investments, like you, I mean,, you have that stability.
27:49: But you never go beyond that necessarily, and I think so many of us were raised either one with families that grew up with not a lot of money, or they were like middle class, and they were just, they did that exact ratio, and they put their money in their 401k, and they never thought beyond that.
28:05: And then when you go out and you become an entrepreneur, you’re pursuing something that’s so outside your comfort zone, it’s not surprising that all of a sudden it’s like, oh, where did all these Money blocks come from where these beliefs come from.
28:17: So can you speak a little more to that about how you personally worked through some of those for yourself, like as they came up as an entrepreneur?
28:24: Yeah, it was really, really tough.
28:26: I’m asking selfishly for myself too.
28:29: Yeah.
28:29: So what happened was, while I was doing my master’s, I did have, I was moved from sales into recruiting and I got hit with the big tech layoffs.
28:39: Early 2023.
28:41: And so I was kind of excited.
28:42: I was like, this is awesome.
28:44: Like, now I get to pursue my business.
28:46: I can, or it’s an opportunity to really go in and I had a big amount of savings saved up.
28:51: And so I just, I started really focusing on strategy and reaching out and trying to get clients and trying and trying and just doing all the things that I thought I needed to do.
29:04: And I found myself just kind of like going through my savings without like a whole lot to show for it initially, and that started to get me into this place of fear and like scarcity around money.
29:17: And it was just kind of like, OK, well, I, I chose this to help women and I’m helping women, but it’s not like this big business I expected it to be.
29:27: And so I got hit with all these different, like you said, mindset blocks around money, and that just, it honestly made me think again, kind of like it’s like, is pursuing a business worth it.
29:40: I thought this is going to be a straightforward path to doing something that I love and it’s helpful to basically a full on personal development journey where I felt like I was getting like punched in the face every every other week.
29:54: So, Yeah, so it really exposed my underlying limiting money beliefs that I didn’t even really know I had.
30:03: So, yeah,, I’ll just put you on the spot, but I think it’s gonna be very helpful.
30:09: Yeah, so, you know, it was, it was self worth.
30:14: What I did was I found my I value in these external achievements.
30:19: And this is actually very on brand with being on the Fully expressed podcast.
30:23: So I found myself very tied up into these external achievements and looked at them to justify my value and felt like I needed to have everything perfect.
30:37: Like if I can’t get clients, if I can’t do this and how can I even be teaching finance?
30:43: It was just, it was a trip and I got stuck in perfectionism and thinking I needed to know more and more and more before I could really like put other things out there.
30:52: So it was really fascinating.
30:54: And this is actually going to be the answer to the question you’re going to ask me at the end.
30:59: Maybe I shouldn’t drop this right out, but, your flow.
31:03: Yes, I realized that I needed to start looking internally at my value because speaking of finance, like, no matter what your net worth is, it has nothing to do with your self-worth.
31:18: Like nothing external.
31:19: We are internal beings living in this external.
31:23: Internal environment, you know, have all of this pressure put on us to show up a certain way, to justify the things we want to do, to, you know, have certain things in place before we can just do.
31:35: And that made me realize how that was so backwards and that I really need to look internally.
31:40: And so through some new mentors, I found That were in the spiritual space, I was able to really connect with my own internal value and how unique I was, aside from any external thing that I’ve done, and use that to drive me and connect that with service too.
31:59: And also something that is really, really helpful to me.
32:05: And with understanding how the brain works and the subconscious, like our brain wants proof of things, right?
32:11: It’s, it’s wants proof to be able to show up, to feel safe.
32:15: And so I started to look at proofs of already being successful, of already having wealth, seeing my wealth grow and just little things day to day.
32:25: It’s like I saw a penny on the ground.
32:26: Wow, my wealth just increased.
32:28: Like, that’s awesome.
32:30: Things like that.
32:30: And it’s got, yeah, so because it, it shifts you from a fear-based mindset into one of like, wow, there’s abundance all around me.
32:37: I mean, I even looked at where I lived and like I rent a condo and I was like, it’s a, you know, in California, so it’s like around a million dollars condo.
32:47: And I was like, this is so cool.
32:49: Like, maybe I can’t afford this right now, but I get to live in this space.
32:53: Like there was this abundance every.
32:55: I look, and I really had to change my mindset from one of scarcity and fear to one of abundant to be successful as a business owner and a coach.
33:07: And I think I, I, in fact, I know I went through that because I know I’m meant to incorporate this and teach it.
33:14: So it’s just interesting how life throws all these different twists and turns at you for your benefit.
33:20: So, all the tough things are actually the best things, but one thing I’ve heard before that I love is like, you should treat your your money like your romantic partner.
33:29: Yes.
33:30: Are you checking in on it?
33:31: Are you loving it?
33:32: Are you taking care of it?
33:34: Does it feel safe with you?
33:35: And a lot of things that you’re talking about, right?
33:38: Like when you’re in a romantic partnership, it also comes up down to your worth.
33:41: Like, do you feel worthy of this partnership, the kind of partnership that you’re really craving?
33:45: And I think we forget about that with money, because it’s money again, it’s energetics.
33:49: It’s the beliefs, does it feel safe to be with you, but if you’re constantly like, in a scarcity mindset, reaching for it, and you’re like, I need to hold on to you, because if I have you, then I feel better, and it’s in the unattachment, but there’s that same thing, like, we do that in dating, when you feel like your partner is pulling away and he’s like an anxious attachment or avoidant.
34:10: What do you do?
34:11: Reach, hold on, you know, and like, and you’re all being like, well, if you’re leaving me then I’m questioning my work, like, you don’t love me, like, come back here.
34:19: And I really think it’s the same thing with money, like, the more that you trust money, that you believe that money is working for you, that you’re surrendering yourself that it’s available everywhere and people get into this with dating.
34:30: Oh, guys suck, they’re not.
34:31: There’s dating is so hard.
34:34: I’m never gonna find my Part.
34:37: You think you’re in this city, your partner is going to feel safe to be with you.
34:41: Do you think your partner is going to want to be in a relationship with you and you think your person is going to find you?
34:46: No, because you already think so negatively about it.
34:48: And when you’re in a scarcity mindset, with money, it’s the same thing.
34:52: It’s like, do you really think money is going to want to be with you if you are constantly in the space of like, I got to hold on to it.
35:00: Which is something that we’ve talked about too, like, we have friends that are, you know, doing really well or whatever and, you know, you can still have a lot of money, like you said, your net worth is not your worth and you can still feel unsafe.
35:12: Yes, which is a whole another part of this conversation.
35:15: And I think there’s a lot of people out there that like, you see that there’s like millionaires and billionaires, and they’re like, I still don’t have enough.
35:22: Yeah, because to your point, they’re looking to like void the void.
35:27: And the truth is, just with money, you also have to find the sense of safety and trust within yourself.
35:35: And be like,, my value doesn’t change no matter what my bank account looks like.
35:40: Yeah.
35:40: I love that.
35:41: I got goosebumps, so I got the shows.
35:44: Yes, I think that’s such a powerful point.
35:47: Yeah, I’ve come across quite a few people who are very well off, but they’re so afraid of losing it and I think that just shows that there are a lot of things backwards and there’s a lot of things to learn about money that we still need to uncover and grow.
36:02: And I think, I mean, I think learning about money, developing that relationship, especially of trust, I think it really comes down, like, it’s tied to trusting yourself.
36:11: It’s self trust.
36:12: Yeah, 100%.
36:14: And I think that’s one of the best things that you can do for yourself is find that self trust, even if it feels like it temporarily, you know, breaks you down, but It’s, it’s so powerful, so powerful.
36:25: I think back to like the beginning of this conversation where we were talking about so much about investments, we even talked a little bit about crypto, like, our generation, like my partner put this together so beautifully, and I don’t know if you agree with this, he’s like, older generations had a way to make money, right?
36:40: If you owned a home, you were wealthy, you were already building generational wealth, and then the next generation was like, if you invest in stocks, like you’re building generational wealth, we’re also in a different generation.
36:50: And so I think we’re getting even more challenged because a lot of the systems that we currently have in place aren’t necessarily set up.
36:57: They’re not educating us and so we are getting faced with the mirror, like any relationship, to see within ourselves of like, oh, where is my lack of trust within myself with money?
37:07: Where am I second questioning myself?
37:09: Where am I coming from a scarcity mindset, which just kind of I think really involves your whole vision for your business because it’s both, right?
37:17: We do need like what’s working, how are people investing?
37:20: How are people managing their money, how people done it for a while.
37:23: But then also there is a spiritual element to this whole process that is also being almost like forced upon us to figure out.
37:32: It’s like millennial got to look within yourself.
37:35: If you want this, you really got to look within yourself.
37:37: And yes, you can do all the research, but even if you do, if you don’t feel valuable, it won’t come.
37:45: As hard as it is to swallow, it’s such a huge pill to swallow, you know, I think it’s hard to, like, I think the millennial generation, like has it the hardest too, because all of our parents, majority of our parents own a home.
37:57: They were able to buy a home, live a comfortable lifestyle on like $100,000 200,000 dollars, maybe less.
38:03: Some in some states, $50,000 40,000 dollars, $20,000.
38:06: And now we’ve we’ve seen that, we’ve witnessed that, and especially here in California, but I think all Over now, you’re seeing this generation of people who the old way isn’t possible for us anymore.
38:18: The younger generation has like come in and they’re just like, we’re doing our own thing.
38:22: Half of them don’t even care about owning a house.
38:24: If they do, they’re just like, you know, they’re like making millions on TikTok, like they’ve figured it out and we’re like, where do we fit in here?
38:30: Like what?
38:31: I feel like we are kind of the generation healing that gap and that wound for the other generations to come.
38:37: And you know, that made me think of too.
38:39: It’s like, for For those that may feel like they can’t get in the game, which anybody can, and or like have access to certain investment accounts or whatnot, like investing obviously is great too, but the best investment really is in yourself.
38:53: And like think about if you’re able, if you have such a good relationship with yourself, your value and money, and you’re able to call it in whenever you want, you have financial security that way, right?
39:05: You have this.
39:08: You have abundance at your fingertips, and to me that’s much more rewarding than You know, a big investment account, being able to just have that trust, and it makes life really fun too.
39:21: Like, I feel like it, like, this has been an energetic exchange, like meeting both of you and being on here and be able to have a genuine conversation where we’re connecting, like this is value.
39:33: Yeah.
39:34: And I love that because I think people find safety and generational wealth, because that’s what they hear, you know.
39:39: You’re just saying like, if you find safety in myself, you’ve got it.
39:42: You are living you can be OK with nothing.
39:45: Like when you’re good with nothing and you And as someone who’s like, had a lot of money and no money, I’ve found to just be OK in all those spaces, and then it it is like it is kind of fun cause it’s like a trust in the universe, like, where’s my money gonna come from today?
39:59: I don’t know, we’re gonna see, you know, but it does always provide when you let go.
40:05: It does.
40:06: And I’d still like, even though we’re talking about this, I don’t want to take away the importance of money management and understanding and understanding money, right?
40:13: Like we are saying like, work on your self-worth and things like that, but you also have to create a structure or a container for money to feel safe to come into.
40:21: You even use the word of like creating capacity to hold that much money.
40:25: Like, I know that people have come into a lot of wealth before, then they’ve lost it all.
40:29: Like, what happens to people when they win the lot?
40:30: Yeah, I was gonna say the lottery winners are a perfect example of what’s going on.
40:36: They have no money management skills.
40:37: They don’t have the capacity in the nervous system to hold millions of dollars.
40:40: They’re like, oops, spending it, and then most of them are bankrupt by the end of it.
40:46: And so the invitation here too is like, get really good about knowing where your stuff is.
40:51: You know, how you’re spending it, what the structure is, how does it feel good?
40:55: It’s like the map.
40:55: So when we talk about like Masculine feminine dynamics and relationships, it’s the same thing.
41:00: You being masculine, holding the container, understanding your money, how you’re using it, how you’re spending it, keeping track of it, all the things being intentional with it is the masculine.
41:10: But then the ability for it to abundantly flow in is the feminine and receive.
41:16: So yeah, so beautiful.
41:18: At this point, I want to ask you a very special question, which is you kind of talked about it.
41:22: , but with this entire conversation, which has been all about money, you can totally answer this from a place of money, or you can just talk about this as you because we also just want to get to know you as a human.
41:31: , where in your life do you feel called to be fully expressed?
41:37: Yes.
41:37: Definitely in my business and just showing up online fully as who I am.
41:46: One thing I noticed throughout working in corporate was, you know, when you go into this new workplace, there’s a culture.
41:53: There’s kind of like a level of professionalism, which is great, right?
41:56: I do this all the time.
41:58: Yes, yeah, you do want some of that.
42:00: But I almost felt like over time my personality almost kind of like suppressed or dulled down a little bit stalled down and there was kind of like this fear of being seen or showing up authentically as myself.
42:13: And then I think that kind of trickled over when I started my business, like, I am a business owner now.
42:20: I am a coach, like, I need to have my financial shit together, like, I need to make sure that everything is perfect and I’m have this perfect facade, and it is taxing.
42:30: Like, that is not serving anybody, right?
42:33: And so, I think it’s really, really realizing that like, like I mentioned.
42:38: Earlier is connecting to my internal traits and who I am and really being OK with any imperfection, because if there was perfection, then there’s no growth in that.
42:51: And, you know, what fun is that?
42:54: How has that journey been for you?
42:57: It’s been good.
42:58: It’s been learning to take off the perfectionism and just be you.
43:02: Yeah, it’s Then very freeing, number one, very freeing.
43:06: I just like, I just stopped caring so much.
43:09: And, you know, I think that’s allowed me to connect with people better too.
43:13: It’s also been extremely scary.
43:16: So it’s just, it’s kind of like showing up more, you know, doing more speaking, doing lives and thinking like, I need to have the perfect script.
43:25: I need to know exactly what I’m going.
43:27: To say how I’m going to say.
43:28: I can’t, you know, I don’t know, use certain words, but really people just want connection.
43:34: You know, people just want to get to know you and I’ve never not been interested in getting to know somebody because of something, someone being perfect, you know?
43:44: So I think, yeah, it’s been a really beautiful journey of like peeling back the onion and really connecting back to who I am and Yeah, it’s, it’s been worth it.
43:54: I love that worth it, so beautiful.
43:56: Yeah, I have one more question.
43:58: Yeah, OK,, do you, yeah, we’ll be done here soon, but my last question is, like, do you have you found people or spaces where you feel that way, where you can be just you?
44:07: I think it comes to, it comes down to you being that first.
44:15: Like when I came to your podcast relaunch, one thing, the reason I came.
44:20: I was invited by another girl that you had on earlier, but I saw you guys and you just had this energy to that seemed so welcoming and accepting.
44:29: And I was kind of at this place where I was stepping into, like, let’s just get rid of, you know, anything that’s not me, and just be myself again and stop caring how people like what they think or anything like that.
44:42: And that is what drew me to you guys.
44:45: So I do think it’s also, yeah, so thank you.
44:49: So sweet for doing what you guys are doing.
44:52: That was an awesome experience and event and met so many wonderful other women.
44:58: , I think it’s about you have to first branch out, right?
45:02: You can’t, like you said, with the relationships, you can’t go in a room expecting to meet people and not say hello to anyone, you know?
45:10: So I think it’s just like, I want you to come say, it’s it’s so funny.
45:14: Like, it’s when this happens to so many like, people pleasers, perfectionists in general.
45:17: They’re like, I just want to be seen, and it’s like, well, are you even putting yourself out there?
45:22: Like, can they even see you?
45:23: So it really starts with you.
45:25: Yeah, it also made me think like, I’m always like, I wish, like, my friends and I would do more things, and then as soon as I get asked to hang out, I’m like, yeah, I’m good, like, let’s just stay in and watch the movie.
45:36: Sorry, busy.
45:38: Yeah, so, see, it starts with us, starts with us.
45:41: Well, thank you so much for coming on.
45:43: Of course, really having me.
45:45: This is nice.
45:45: I feel like.
45:46: Definitely that the interview got really warm, like when you started to like show yourself.
45:50: It was really beautiful.
45:51: I really liked it.
45:52: It was so good.
45:53: I learned a lot already.
45:55: Good.
45:55: And then tell everyone where they can find you.
45:58: Yeah.
45:58: So I am primarily on Instagram as at Sheinvestor.
46:03: And then I also, you can find me on my website at sheinvestor.com.
46:06: So there’s information there about my programs working with me.
46:10: And then I also do a weekly live webinar series to kind of cover different finance topics.
46:15: do a Q&A.
46:16: So all the resources are on there.
46:18: It’s so good.
46:19: Yeah.
46:20: Well, go reach out to her if you have any information, but this will all be in the show notes and it’s truly, thank you so much for coming and just sharing a little bit of wisdom.
46:27: I think we definitely talked about so many good nuggets, like, that people in corporate can act on right now to like, if you’re really being channeled or challenged with money, there’s some shit you got to look with it yourself.
46:38: Yeah, and also, it’s OK if you don’t have a lot of money right now.
46:40: Like it doesn’t have to stay that way.
46:42: It doesn’t.
46:43: And I’ll just add.
46:44: Real quickly.
46:45: The power of starting small and building a habit of just like saying yes to your money today, saving a little bit when the paycheck comes in, or taking some time to address your expenses, like those habits build over time.
46:59: Everyone wants to try to have it all right this second, but it’s such a journey and it’s one that’s very much worth it.
47:05: It’s one that I’m still on in different ways.
47:08: So I, yeah, I think starting, there’s so much power in starting small.
47:12: Agreed.
47:12: Yeah.
47:13: And on that now, thank you.
47:14: Thanks so much.
47:15: I feel so good.
47:16: Thank you so much for tuning in.
47:18: We really appreciate you being here.
47:20: If you enjoyed this episode, we’d be grateful if you could leave us a review and share it with a friend.
47:25: Also, we would love to hear from you.
47:28: Reach out to us on Instagram and let us know where you feel inspired to express yourself as you embrace this next era.
47:35: We are here to support you and encourage you.
47:37: See you on the next one.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
- How to make your investments tax-free (strategies to legally reduce your tax burden)
- The different types of financial investments (stocks, real estate, retirement accounts & more)
- How inflation is impacting your savings & investments (and how to protect your money)
- Why financial planning isn’t just about worst-case scenarios (how to set up for best-case success)
- What to do when you’re following the “right” financial steps, but it’s not working
- The energetics of money (how your mindset & energy impact your financial growth)
- How to attract more wealth by improving your relationship with money
- Redefining what it means to “save” (and how your perception of saving affects you energetically)
Links & Resources:
Website: https://www.sheinvestor.com/
The Money Management Masterclass: https://www.sheinvestor.com/money-management-masterclass
Connect with Nicole:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sheinvestor/
About Nicole:
Nicole Cesa is a Money Coach, Financial Educator, and Founder of She Investor, a coaching and education platform that combines financial literacy, mindset, and money energetics. Her mission is to empower women to take control of their finances, confidently build wealth, and understand how money actually works so that they can experience a more abundant life for themselves and their families.
If you’ve ever wondered how to make your money work for you, this episode is for you!
Join The Fully Expressed Community, where you can be surrounded by other women who are also on the same path of personal growth, healing, and uncovering their authentic expression. Being in a community surrounded by others can truly be one of the most supporting and healing containers to support your personal invitation.
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