As a female entrepreneur to another: Let’s get real about money.
We all want to make more of it. We all want to make a difference with the money we make. But we don’t all have the same financial footing or education. Women in general statistically feel less confident and less qualified to handle their money — even though the statistics also show that women are better with money than men. What’s the deal with that, and how can we as female entrepreneurs break this cycle?
Keina Newell and I recently chatted about this, and some of her insights just rocked my socks.
What led Keina to make money her mission
Keina is the beautiful brain behind Wealth Over Now, a brand she created to help hardworking passionate single women and female solopreneurs create possibilities with their money. The thing I love most about Keina is that she didn’t come to this work easily. When she got out of college, she had over $70,000 in debt. Her family wasn’t wealthy and she didn’t make the best financial decision when she entered the workforce.
But she started taking control of her finances with money dates. She would sit down, look at her numbers and really evaluate what was happening with her money. This led her to feel more confident, see what she needed to do, and to find possibilities that she didn’t see before.
That’s what led her to create Wealth Over Now, to teach other women how to choose wealth over short-term purchases or missed opportunities. Her expertise and resources are designed to help women get to know their finances. Because, when we don’t know our personal finances, we don’t have the control in our businesses either.
The cycle of women and money
Keina and I also talk about generational wealth and what that means in the context of her work with Wealth Over Now. Generational wealth can mean a lot of things, but to Keina it means showing women how to take control over their money, change their money stories, and create “new norms.”
There is a ripple effect when women feel confident with their money, because women help other women. They also ask big questions.
Questions like:
How am I building wealth that will impact those who come after me?
How can I make money to support my community and my family?
How can I serve people with my services or products?
Whether it’s family, other people in your space, charity, your community, etc., women give back in big ways when they are financially stable, secure, and savvy. This sort of empowerment also helps break the financial barriers in our family or communities. We stop living paycheck to paycheck, we start to buy homes or build businesses. We write the money stories we were raised with or born into, and create a new norm. That’s real generational wealth to Keina.
The connection between money and freedom
Why do we harp on knowing your numbers so much? Because, when you don’t know your numbers, you never truly feel “safe” spending your money. Everything is a close-your-eyes-and-swipe-your-card-and-hope-it-clears kind of experience when you don’t know your numbers.
As women, as business owners, we deserve to have the freedom that comes with knowing our numbers. To swipe that card with confidence. To have a flexible schedule. To feel like you can invest in your biz. To know that you can afford to grow your team. To see when you can give yourself a raise.
Freedom is in the numbers. They give you a clear path to where you want to go and what you can do. Of course, because most of our work blends into our lives, we as female entrepreneurs and business owners live “in tandem” with our personal finances and business finances. We have to see very clearly how the two are connected. That involves having a plan and changing the way we talk to ourselves about money and how we handle it.
Breaking the shame cycle
The language we use about our money is innately “shameful.” We feel we should be doing this, shouldn’t be doing that. We should all over ourselves… and that keeps us stuck in a cycle of not addressing our money challenges, goals, or situations.
Where could you be in 30 days if you evaluated where you were at with money right now and where you wanted to be? It doesn’t mean you can pay off all your debt or make millions of dollars, but you can get started. Tomorrow is a new day, and you have the opportunity to tell yourself a different story. So… what story are you going to start telling yourself?
If you’re interested in the discussion about generational wealth, paying yourself what you’re worth, and feeling confident with your finances, you can listen to the full episode here. If you want to learn how you can work with Keina, head on over to wealthovernow.com
Connect with Keina
For more insights on how to feel more rooted in yourself, your business, and your brand, make sure you’re subscribing to the Brave New You podcast!
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