Today I’m excited to introduce you to my client Brent. His story is a powerful example of a complete financial transformation. Before Brent and I officially started working together he joined me for Mimosas + Money Matters even though he already applied to work). I share this because I like to think his money mindset started to shift on this call but the truth is Brent had been making financial progress before working with me.
Because of the pandemic Brent had an opportunity to pay down some debt and set some long term financial goals. The problem was he credited his success to not having the opportunity to spend and not needing to pay rent. His progress felt like luck because things were easy to pay off. Like many of my clients Brent was not able to own his financial results and he feared his progress would be undone when life returned to normal.
As a financial coach, I immediately knew Brent’s thoughts were all attached to his past money behaviors. Through working with me in my five month partnership Brent was able to see the results he created were just a starting point by working on his own beliefs about how we handled his finances.
Tune into this conversation to learn …
- How Brent took emotions out of financial setbacks
- How Brent has learned to use his credit card without shame or guilt
- How creating a dream budget helped Brent negotiate his salary at work
- How Brent financially prepared for a big move and got the apartment of his dreams
No matter where you are in your financial journey you’ll want to tune into Brent’s story. Through our five month partnership I was able to support Brent in seeing how his financial progress was not a fluke and that he could trust himself as new financial seasons arise. You might find yourself needing this same support. If you’re ready to change your relationship with your finances apply to work with me. I can promise you the journey will be worth it.
Listen to Brent’s Money Files Episode
The Transcript
Keina:
[00:00:00] Hello everyone. My name is Keina Newell. I’m a financial coach and I work with professional women and solopreneurs to create new possibilities with their money. If you are tuning in right now, you are joining me for money files. So welcome. Hello. And welcome back to another episode of money files. I’ve been away for a few short weeks.
[00:00:20] And so I’m excited today to let you in on this conversation with my client, Brent, Brent is a life coach and he also has a full-time job. So both of those are very important because our work impacted not only his full-time role, but also the business that he has on this. So you’ll hear him talk about how he learned to not just track his finances, how he’s been able to play in through multiple financial seasons seasons that started before he worked with me, but also different financial seasons that came up for him while we were working together.
[00:00:53] So be sure to tune in all the way to the end. Hi guys. Thanks so much for listening to another episode of money files. Today. I am joined by my client, Brett. I am so excited to chat with him and actually, Brent is. He was my test subject, if you will, for my new partnership, which is to work with clients for five months.
[00:01:14] So if you listen to past episodes, you may have heard me talk about a one month intensive. And so now you’re going to really be hearing me talk about a five month coaching partnership, which most of my clients were already working with me for that time. Now I just made it official. So Brent, you want to go ahead and introduce.
Brent:
[00:01:30] Yeah, super excited. See a name is Brinker nig. I didn’t know. I was the first one that I knew it was early in the experience, so that’s kind of fun to hear. I’m also a coach. So I’m a leadership in life coach. And I also work in higher education with the nonprofit work for my fraternity headquarters and oversee all of our chapter support and operations and have a great team.
[00:01:51] And. Yeah, so that’s
Keina:
[00:01:54] awesome. So I want you to just go ahead and dive in, tell us like how bad was it really when you said started working with me?
Brent:
[00:02:00] I should’ve pulled up what I put in. Cause I think I said something about being scared as shit and excited as hell in my like assessment questions. And I think that really encompassed my feelings.
[00:02:14] Um, also that transition, I think I shared this with you, but you know, I was like, okay, one month I can do one month, one month is good. You know, this, that and the other. And then you’re like, and it’s a five month thing. I was like, oh, okay, okay. This could be a little bit more time and more investment than I thought.
[00:02:30] And so like the fear, you know, jumped up of, should I do this, but I was really at that point where it’s. I have to do this. I want to do this. Yeah. I, I, there was a lot of overwhelm, I think, back to the first, probably two months. And I know I shared this with you, but there were times where I would do some of the work and I would have to put down my computer, walk away.
[00:02:55] Go for a walk, like take a mental break and then come back to it, like be really strategic and in touch about coming back to it because I was so overwhelmed with just doing stuff I had never done and, and figuring it out and like actually facing some of this.
Keina:
[00:03:11] I want to come back to that, but I also want to go back cause you came to mimosas and money matters.
[00:03:16] Sound may through another client that I was working with. And I remember at the time, because, you know, we’re, I think people have made a lot of financial progress through the pandemic. And you were one of those people who made some like intentional shifts. And I remember on the mimosas and money matters call, or maybe it was even in your questioning.
[00:03:35] Like when you applied to work with me, that you were like talking about not wanting to like lose the financial progress. Like that’s where I think the onset for me, looking on outside, looking in, it was like the onset of that fear. Can you talk a little bit more about.
Brent:
[00:03:50] Yeah. And I’ll touch on like how I did make some financial progress too, because that does tie into that like fear and re-entry, you know, this year into the quote unquote real world.
[00:04:00] So when the pandemic hit, so I live in Atlanta, I’m from Minnesota. I chose to move home and live with my. There was fear about losing my job or a severe salary reduction, but then also just like health and safety and wanting to be close to my family. So there are multiple reasons. And by doing that, I was also fortunate I did not have a lease.
[00:04:20] Right. So that was, that made that decision to leave Atlanta easy as well. So when I moved home, I then had. Money that I was no longer spending on groceries and rent and utilities and looked at my dad had reshuffled some stuff around, had paid off credit cards and was able to move stuff into lower interest, personal loans, and really made some progress and just felt great about where I had been, because I have, honestly, since college lived in this debt credit card overwhelm cycle and mindset.
[00:04:55] And my plan was to leave Minnesota and go live with friends for the first half of the year, and then get my own place, moved back to Atlanta mid-summer, which that’s not where I’m at. And so I knew I was going to have expenses again, and I also knew how I used to just spend. Spend it’s probably, you know, just spend away and swipe the card and not think about it and just accumulate this debt.
[00:05:21] And I did not want to go back to that. I didn’t want to go back to that burden and that weight. And I was so scared because I think the line I use is that I didn’t trust myself. I didn’t trust myself to go back to living with friends or being in Atlanta and like making the right choices and that I was just going to go back to all the bad ways.
[00:05:40] And go back to having all this debt. And that’s what really, for me, I’m like, I have to do something different. I have to do something for myself. And, you know, you mentioned how I found you is through, through a coach, through networking thing, like a friend of a friend of a friend kind of thing. And it just felt like perfect time.
[00:05:57] Perfect. This. Yeah. So that, that’s kind of how that started.
Keina:
[00:06:00] I love it. I have like so many notes staff. I have absolutely loved working with you, especially knowing where you started. Where I could sense, like all of the fear and hesitation you had. And I probably was just like this happy go lucky person.
[00:06:19] And like, oh, we got this, this is going, this is going to be so easy. It’s going to be great. Just trust me, Brent, which I think you did a great job of doing that. So we know where you’re coming from in terms of, and I think a lot of different people can relate to that. Like I just recently sent out an email to my audience and.
[00:06:38] Like just naming for people that there’s new financial seasons. And I don’t think that we think about things, right. Like everybody’s like outside is expensive right now. And I’m like, yep, it’s a new financial season. Right? Like there’s things picking up. What do you want to shift the pandemic? Put people in a new financial season.
[00:06:54] I know I paid more for toilet paper that I ever thought I would ever pay. I had groceries come into my door all the time. Right. And so being in. To recognize that sometimes there’s things in our favor. Sometimes it’s like, Hey, how am I going to account for? And you had a lot of moving pieces. How did our work, I guess, help ground you in the changes that we knew were going to be coming for you?
[00:07:20] You
Brent:
[00:07:20] know, I think back to when we first. Started. And I, I, you know, I said, look at my Trello board to see the order, but I remember doing like, just some, some like values work, identifying what’s important. What are my priorities? Like what are my financial priorities? Where do I want to put my money now and where what’s my long-term and how that’s tied to my values.
[00:07:40] And I think for me, that was really eye-opening and a shift in like, just being more intentional. How I spend money and how I make decisions. I mean, I like having just moved and, you know, wanting to buy new stuff and experience new city. That’s still, isn’t supportive how I make decisions and, and how I choose to swipe the card and pay things and, and experience life.
[00:08:09] So I feel that was definitely a shift for me to actually. Be more intentional and tying it to how I want to show up in the world.
Keina:
[00:08:21] How was this time around in terms of managing your finances? Cause I know you talked about like kind of being in the cycle of like, I swipe my card, but you also had, what’s a system that you use.
Brent:
[00:08:32] True. You know, I love my Quicken.
Keina:
[00:08:37] easiest Quicken. I don’t really understand it, but I feel like I’ve seen it on stuff like Microsoft. Package. But I remember in the beginning you were like, I’m tracking my expenses and it would be telling me all about Quicken, which I tried to make sure I was holding space for your love of Quicken. How has, like, how you think about money shifted with how we like laid things out in the beginning when we were talking about values and really getting to this, like, here’s how much money you have coming in and like, how do we create a spending plan that’s aligned with what you’re currently doing, but also where we know you want.
Brent:
[00:09:13] So, yes, I’ve used Quicken and I probably used it for 10, 15 years. I don’t know how much sister I got in there. Right. But that’s all I was doing was tracking distracting, you know, how I was spending and, but it, and do anything with that information. It was just there. And I would use it to project like, okay, I’m getting paid on the first.
[00:09:33] And these are the things that come in through. I only got $200 left, but that $200. And we’ll probably dive into this too. But that $200, they had a lot of jobs. They were some busy $200. And so there was no plan. There really wasn’t a plan. It was just purely tracking. And then part of that tracking, there was a lot of judgment and shame and embarrassing.
[00:09:56] But no change in behavior. Anytime I had tried a budgeting thing before Kim knows this, I’m a perfectionist, it’s a good thing, but it’s a fault as well. So anytime a budget didn’t work out, I overspent in clothing or food. Well, the whole budget has to go like, this is why budget doesn’t work proof of that back to the old way of stuff.
[00:10:14] And I think starting with the values, what’s important in my life and then looking at the spending plan and identifying some of that. So like what comes to mind with the Sony plan is. Going into 2021. I want to be really intentional about where I was giving money and the organizations I wanted to support.
[00:10:31] And that, that was something that stayed. I didn’t want to cut that to then like, be able to go out to eat more or something. Like I said, that was important. I wanted to stick to that. And so putting that on the spending plan and having that there and making sure the dollar only has one job. And so looking at how much was coming in and then dividing that out in that spending plan.
[00:10:54] But also having that previous conversation around the importance, the values, everything else like that just made some of those decisions.
Keina:
[00:11:00] Yes. I talked about overworked dollars. Like, and for anyone who’s never heard me say it. It’s like you have this money and you’re thinking about, oh yeah, I’m going to get paid.
[00:11:10] I get an extra, a hundred dollars and this next check, but you like, oh yeah, that’s going to pay for this. A hundred dollars from when I went up to brunch this weekend, and then it’s going to do this and it’s going to do that. And now you spend like $400, not a hundred dollars. Um, which I think is very important for everyone, I think is guilty of it.
[00:11:29] I am even, and have to pause to really think about extra money that may be coming in. But yeah, like now how would you see an extra $200 or what’s like, tell us how you, your, your spending plan is like living and breathing. I always tell people there’s a difference in between writing down a list of your bills and say like, I get paid on the 15th.
[00:11:52] I paid all my bills, the extra money as mine. And so like now, What’s different.
Brent:
[00:11:57] So that spending plan, I mean, that was like, that was one of the things that really pushed up against me at the beginning was like one figuring it out, like on truly understanding it like this number. I don’t get this, it doesn’t make sense.
[00:12:09] And that would be the, like, I just need to shut down my computer, walk away. I’ll come back to this later, wanting to tell Keina girl, this doesn’t work, this like system, but Nope, I’m going to come back and do this. And I did. And then once it clicked, it was like, oh, So you mean my money to pay, like, to give to that organization and to pay my apple one subscription and to have money for gas it’s already there.
[00:12:36] Like, it’s it, it’s there. And I know that I have $50 for gas and when I swipe it and then like put it on the spending plan, it like, it just worked like it. Once it worked for me, it just worked. And now. You know, with the move and adding in electric and natural gas. And I wanted to get CareMount plus, cause there’s just no way I want to watch this summer instead of just adding that and figuring like, oh, I’ll just pay it when it comes.
[00:13:04] It’s like, Nope, I’m out of line the 9 95 for Pyrmont plus like that’s $5. Every paycheck, the money is there when it gets charged, then I moved the money. It is just, I tell all my friends and y’all, I brag about kina too. Everyone share her social media, talked to my friends. Yeah. It’s just been a life changer for me.
[00:13:26] But the biggest change with the spending plan is there’s so much less emotion and so much lots of drama. Like it just is what it is. I do my money dates. I try to do it Tuesdays and Fridays because that’s where we started and it worked for me. And sometimes I don’t do it twice a week, but I always make sure I do it at least one, one time a week.
[00:13:45] I reconcile things and move the money around, pay the stuff off. When I overspend on eating out, I’m like, cool, where am I going to find that money? I didn’t go clothes shopping. That’s I’m going to pull it out of, out of there this time. And it’s just made life so much easier and less dramatic for me. Yeah.
Keina:
[00:14:01] I think people like don’t really understand the beauty. Like my goal is to make people have enjoyable. In managing their finances, like be excited about money, right. From a place of like, where you potentially feared it, because it’s so attached to some like emotional thing and like worthiness. And like you mentioned earlier trust.
[00:14:24] And so just wanting to show people that there’s like a different side of that, because once you can clear it a different side. Yeah. And you clear that fog and it’s like, what else are you capable of doing. Like what has having a spending plan? What else has it created in your life that you maybe didn’t see that that was going to be like a fringe
[00:14:44] benefit?
Brent:
[00:14:45] Like I said, it just takes up so much less drama and time that shame and guilt has gone away. I remember thinking early on, I think, you know, one of the first exercises we did was track your expenses for a week or two. And, and how’d that make you feel? I was like, oh, she’s going to see that I did this.
[00:15:02] She’s going to, I’m going to get scolded. I’m, you know, I’m going to get, and for the record I is when I talked about going to McDonald’s not from finances, but because it’s like, you know, that’s not, how’s that working with the health and fitness thing we talked about, um, Mike, sometimes you just got to let me live, but I think the spending plan for me is.
[00:15:26] It’s a good reminder. It really is of like where I’m, where I’m spending an Emma acting in alignment with how I say, I want to show up. It also really has allowed me to pick and choose some things and test some stuff out. So, Hey, I’m going to do an HBO max and, you know, enjoy that for a little bit, but then it’s like, well, if I’m not using it, I’m going to get rid of it.
[00:15:44] Like, do that, audit, clear some stuff out, shuffle things around. It’s just, it’s so easy. You know, I think sometimes. For me, when I used to think about a budget, it, it felt very limiting. And I know I’ve heard you talk about this too, but you know that I won’t be able to do X and Y and that I’ll have to cut all this stuff to make things work.
[00:16:04] And the approach with the spending plan has been more about what’s important to me and, and how to, how do I want to spend my money? And it almost just felt like more has been possible with this spending plan that. What I haven’t been able to do. I
Keina:
[00:16:22] love that. And I think that, I do think that having a spending plan creates more freedom because you can ground in what it is that like, you actually have parameters to talk about what you desire to be true, versus just like these like hypotheticals, or you can only live in a moment, which I think you created like a.
[00:16:42] We had a lot of shifts. I feel like in your spending plan from the place of like, I’m in Minnesota now I’m in Florida. Okay. This is going to be true. I’m looking at apartments and we want to make sure that like we had a down payment, like your first month’s rent, like we wanted to be really, really intentional.
[00:17:01] And so we, I think that the plan really supported you in being able to like make decisions, but also like I would commend you for making decisions. Outside of like our coaching calls as well, which for me is like, I want the plan to be something that like, isn’t this. You’re kinda goes telling me to do this thing, but it can be something that like you have ownership of.
[00:17:27] Because one of the things that I talk about all the time is one you’re going to fail at budgeting. And so let’s just like, get that on the table. Right. And when I say fail, I mean like, oh my goodness, I spent an extra $20 on groceries. Right. So not to get hung up in that, but I want you to have a framework.
[00:17:45] That allows you to get back on track. And so, you know, like, okay, that happened, let me acknowledge it. It is what it is. And now let me move back to the path that I know to be true, because I think that’s the thing that helps you most. And what I talked about earlier, which is like those financial seasons, I want people to know, like when I’m talking, if you follow me on social media, like, I love the budgeting aspect and it’s a very technical piece, but also like money is very emotional.
[00:18:14] And when we’re looking at our finances, we have a couple of options here. We can say like, Hey, you can’t spend money on this or we can increase your income. And one of the things that Britain I talked about, because he’s like in the education sector, which I used to be an education, and there’s a lot of limiting beliefs that I think.
[00:18:36] People hold that are within education, which is like, but I’m doing God’s work. I’m doing service work. And so you just don’t expect to make a lot of money for lack of a better word. I want to say, like you settle Britain. And I, we talked about like creating like a dream budget and we talked about putting things in.
[00:18:57] That like, he really wanted that. It was like in that first it related back to the first conversation, right? Like what are your values? What are your goals? Okay. What does that actually mean for like how much money you want to make and what you like? Yes. Here’s where you are now, but like where do you desire to be?
[00:19:14] So you want to like, tell us a little bit about that.
Brent:
[00:19:18] Yeah. I think, you know, the word that comes to me, it’s like sacrifice. I have to sacrifice things because I’m doing this good work I’m impacting lives. Et cetera, money is bad. Like money is evil. When people make a lot, then they’re selfish and you know, all those kinds of like limiting beliefs and see that was some breakthrough that we worked on in terms of it’s not bad to make more money.
[00:19:41] In fact, when you make more money, you can do more things for yourself, for others, for your family and for your community. I’m gonna talk to you, talk to you about the book. I was reading a solid money and a lot of that was like how money moves through you and how you want to impact those around you. And I tried reading that book a couple of years ago, and I just couldn’t receive the message because I wasn’t in a place to believe it or think that was possible.
[00:20:09] You know, after working with you or while working with you, it just had so much more meaning. I remember doing that, uh, like quote unquote, dream budget. And, you know, I think going into that, you’re like, oh, this is gonna end up being like, I need a $3 million job. And I think you’re like run that’s something like a hundred and twenty-five thousand dollar job or something like just tipping over six figures.
[00:20:31] Right. I’m like, oh, okay. Wow. That’s, that’s not as like ridiculous as I thought it was going to be. And then again, going back to like, what’s important, where do you want to start building and being okay with wanting more like that was really the first big step that I think I kind of made with you is like truly being okay with wanting more and then working towards that.
Keina:
[00:20:56] And then you got
Brent:
[00:20:57] more, I sure did
Keina:
[00:21:01] walk us through that process because Britain.
Brent:
[00:21:07] Yeah, I, you know, Keina and for me the, the money. Yes. That, that, that is nice. But I, I know I shared this with you and it’s swarming and emotional. The biggest thing for me was this breakthrough and like self-worth and value that has always been really hard for.
[00:21:30] To like, say I’m worth something or to ask for more, especially your own money or you can just, I don’t know. And I, um, I say it’s a Midwestern thing that you’re humble and you know, this, that and the other, but for me, it just was a true breakthrough around declaring my worth and my value and kind of standing up for myself in a way.
[00:21:51] So yeah, I, I swung dig I’m at work and I asked for. A significant increase. Um, based on getting clear on the value that I bring to my team to organization, um, the quality of work I do and it came through and I also did it in my coaching business. I increased my prices by like 30 some percent, you know, and the first client I went back to and said, Hey, um, you know, I know we have a contract in that it’s a 60 day notice about changes.
[00:22:23] Here’s where I’m going. And my client was like, it’s about damn time. And you know, those were two huge just things I was so afraid of doing or just, I think I’ve always lived in this just being grateful for whatever somebody offered me. Okay. That’s the salary. That’s, that’s the value you’re placing on me.
[00:22:45] Thank you so much. And feeling like that was the limit at the time. And now I just understand and believe like so much more as possible. It’s not about the money. It really is about that. Like worth and value of myself.
Keina:
[00:22:59] Yeah. As you, I wrote down, like you took care of yourself because I know when we were talking even about your role and you were like, these are the things that I tell people that I like manage.
[00:23:12] Right. Or like people of my team. And I was like, yeah, when are you going to like, do this for yourself? And so even when I hear you talk about. Increasing your prices and your business, having that hard conversation that was like, Hey bro, we’re going to put a date on the calendar when you to write about like, here’s where you desire to be.
[00:23:32] And I talk about the money because we had, and that dream budget conversation, because it was all tied in and the money had like purpose. To the, to the story in our heads. And I, and I say our heads because I’ve had the money as evil. I have to watch that storyline for myself. Is that like, I’m not asking for this money because I’m doing something bad or like, it doesn’t mean anything about me.
[00:23:59] I’ve connected it to purpose and to what I desire to create in the world in that does have a dollar amount to it. Just like for you wanting to support you in seeing. Like your value and your worth that you bring, like, I think into probably any room that you enter into. And so also what that meant for you and like moving and what other opportunities you were going to have.
[00:24:23] So I was very excited for you and even walking. One of the vivid conversation is like walking through your fear that they were going to tell you no, and you’re going to lose your job. And I was like, yeah, Yeah. If you lose your job, we’ll file for unemployment, charged some things on her credit card. We’ll figure that out.
[00:24:39] We’ll find you a new job. So about that conversation, Brent, when you’re going for it.
Brent:
[00:24:45] Yeah, I remember. Yeah. That’s exactly what I needed. You know, I, I, I did a lot of work with you. I did a lot of work with my other coach looking back. It was just, that was huge for me.
Keina:
[00:24:57] So I would just like, if anyone’s listening and you’re thinking like the work is about managing a spreadsheet, I think that there are.
[00:25:05] The, when I think about like the additional areas of your life, that this work touches and it, and for a lot of my clients, it does touch on the like trust with self and self-worth, and it shows up, it does show up in our, in our bank accounts and it shows up on the bottom line, whether it’s looking at, if you’re a business owner and looking at pricing or thinking about what roles you’ve accepted, Or haven’t accepted because of the beliefs that you have about your relationship with money, kind of speaking of the like views, what new beliefs do you have about yourself and, and money that have allowed you to create the results you’ve created
Brent:
[00:25:42] possibilities of where that comes to mind.
[00:25:45] I think there’s so much more possible. It’s like, okay, I’ve reached this. What’s what’s next. What’s possible. You know, that breakthrough in, in self worth and value, I, I feel much more competent, especially in my coaching business, like to be able to talk to people and, you know, talk about the work I’ve done and what my clients have achieved.
[00:26:02] Candice favorite line with me was like, you’ve found a client damn husband and I’m like, why not? But I found it. But the work we did allowed her to see what was possible. Yes. Find a relationship and get married, but just, you know, like owning that in, like stepping into the, stepping in the spotlight, acknowledging the power that comes with that.
[00:26:22] And yeah, it’s, it really is the possibility. Like I think because I have so much less stress and weight around finances in my life that that has just really allowed me to open up and enjoy other aspects. And, you know, this moves a great example. So yup. Had money put aside, had saved a lot, you know, some of the last stimulus for certain things and definitely more expensive than I thought it was going to be, you know, finding some furniture and doing stuff my TV broke in, in shipment.
[00:26:58] So that was a, an expense I hadn’t planned and looking at spending differently and having a plan to pay that off. But just so much less drama and so much just, Hey here, here’s what it is. Here’s what I’m going to do. And I still get to enjoy my life. Like I don’t have that shame and embarrassment and guilt attached to everything.
[00:27:21] When I get that credit card statement, like that’s where it’s like a. Let’s do all the judgment, all of the shame, beat myself up for a full weekend. It doesn’t happen. I think I’m just saying this to you right now. It’s clicking for me that not having all that emotional energy spent in my financial part of life is allowing me to enjoy my life.
Keina:
[00:27:43] I love it. Is there anything we didn’t talk about that we should’ve talked about?
Brent:
[00:27:49] No. I know, I know you mentioned it. And I think, you know, when I came into this, my whole, my thought was like, if I can just come out of this with a budget that actually works for me, like that that’s going to be worth it. And yeah, you’ll come out with that, like that.
[00:28:02] But that’s like, I mean, I was feeling good about budget and spending plan early on. And then I was like, well, what are we going to do the rest of the time? Like, what’s, what’s the, you know, how are we gonna spend our next sessions? And it just. There was so much more and, you know, really was that mindset shift and how I show up in life in the continuation of like, you know, checking in on the spending plan and looking at it, getting creative with how to create more income or move stuff around.
[00:28:35] And I came with confidence to like, just that I can do this. You know, that, that was just the awesome part. So I, I know so many. Because I’ve talked with other people too, that are like, oh, when I, when I get this in line, then I’ll, then I’ll work with finance coach or let me pay off this credit card first.
[00:28:52] And then, then I can do it. And I, I was there. I told myself that all the time, when, when X happens, then, then I can do this. Right. And I don’t know the one thing I tell people I’m like, but can you afford to wait like this? Yeah. It’s an investment. Your time, your energy, your emotions, your money. But what I came out of after five months, one I would do all over again.
[00:29:19] It was worth so much to me. Like I can’t even begin to describe how much my life is different and how the value of the experience for me.
Keina:
[00:29:32] And you’re so kind, and I also know that I’m gunning for your business finances as well. It’s really just your business. Brent is trying to like. He tries to put like a little blocker up, like Keno.
[00:29:44] I’m taking time right now to do other things when I’m like, that’s fine. You can take time. We’re also going to get your business really up and running because I see additional possibility there. So I’m going to give you. Your time, so you can enjoy your life right now, but just know I’m willing to you.
[00:30:06] What would you say is next for you when you think about your finances? Like where do you want to be six months from now? What are you most excited about? Or maybe there’s just like new possibilities that you, you couldn’t even see when we started, because there was too much space in your brain taken up.
Brent:
[00:30:24] I mean, I thought I was going to just have that forever. You know, I re I joked that I’m like, I’m gonna be that retiree in Florida, directing cars in the parking lot of Walt Disney world to make money to survive. Right. And now it’s like, oh no, I actually see, like, I, I see how creating more and where I want to put that and that I’ve already, you know, made so much progress.
[00:30:47] So for me, and, and I think just being able to talk about finances too, has been so huge for me. I don’t remember sharing this with you, but when my team also got some, you know, more, uh, money into their paychecks, you know, annual this, that, and the other, I was like, okay, this is the time to increase your 401k.
[00:31:05] Are you maxed out? Are you this, that and the other? And you know, that, that ripple effect that you’ve had, you know, like you didn’t just coach me. I’ve like pushed that out. And like other people have impacted how they spend and do stuff. So I think that’s huge, but that comes from me being confident. Like I can talk to my team about.
[00:31:21] Knowing that I’m not perfect with mine, but that there’s, uh, an experience there. Like I talked about financial goals with my supervisor the other day, you know, wanting to buy something, condo, a town home here in Atlanta, hopefully within two years, like let’s let this market deflate a little bit and then find something cute, but also looking at retirement.
[00:31:43] And what does that look like in my investments and thinking about travel again, and with that. I know I’m going to want to create more income and being okay with it. Like that, that really is a big thing too. It’s like, it’s okay to want more, be grateful for what I have and know that I’m tossed that like more know that I’m capable of, of generating more that then I get to do more with and impact more people.
Keina:
[00:32:12] I love it. If you’ve learned that, then my work here is done. I’m also like, you know, you can buy that condo when we get that coaching business, running that both and approach that I love so much. Exactly. Well, what would you say to someone who’s on the fence about financial coaching?
Brent:
[00:32:32] So I just use this phrase with my, my other coach this morning.
[00:32:37] Do the damn thing, like just do it. There’s no need to wait. There’s never going to be that perfect time where you have everything in line or that if you’re waiting to quote unquote, save the money, invest it because. It was such a transformational experience for me in so many ways. There’s no need to wait and Keina’s busy.
[00:33:01] Y’all she’s booking out. So get on. Like, that was the thing that drove me to, to like, oh, she’s, she’s filling up. And I’m, I know when I’m going to move, like, I want to get this done before I move, you know, don’t wait like. I literally cannot say enough about how much my life has changed and how I show up and just how grateful and thankful I am for kina.
[00:33:23] Just fun. Like I’m going to pitch it right out to you. Like she’s fun. We have laughed and we have Kiki and you know, she doesn’t only show up in your sessions. Like I love how connected and engaging she is on social media. And I think one of the cutest things that ever came up with. I was telling my mom about you, you know, like she celebrates our wins.
[00:33:47] It’s not just a business transaction for her. Like she genuinely cares and like shares our stories and, and wants to see us and just like has authentic joy when we have these wins. And I think that’s, what’s so meaningful about the experience too.
Keina:
[00:34:02] You’re so, so kind. I love it. I mean, I do, I love. I don’t think I loved working with you.
[00:34:11] Uh, and I love working with all my clients because I just like, know how much this impacts your entire life. Um, like if you’re listening right now, like, I don’t know you necessarily, but I know the impact that’s available and how this would. In fact, you being able to show up like any bread. I think about like your family, you have nieces and nephews.
[00:34:34] We have that in common. Our parents are watching family feud as well,
[00:34:41] but like just how you get to show up in the world. And I know for myself, one of my goals has always been that I wanted to, the reason I was in education is because I wanted to be in a career that allowed me to give up. And so that has been something that’s been consistent and you’re right. I will tell my mom about you because I’m like, mom, guess what?
[00:35:00] I did guess I’m Brendan mom. She doesn’t know who Brent is. And I’m like, no, he got a raise. And then this means this and this and this. Like, I am, I’m definitely cheering for you because it’s just like, it’s opening doors. It’s leaving past stories behind and it’s allowing you to have generational impact, whether it’s like you were talking about the people that you work with or.
[00:35:25] You know, you have a partnership, you have kids. And once again, like I think about my nieces and nephews and what I’m going to be able to teach them, but also show them with how I manage my finances, but also how I exist in the world. So thank you, Brent, for spending some time with me chatting about. And I would also say this mark so much of your journey too, because would you have ever had a conversation about money that other people could listen to?
Brent:
[00:35:50] Oh my gosh, no, no. I even think, you know, that first money to the mimosas. I think there were two of us, maybe three of us. And I was like, I’m just going to sit here and listen. I don’t want anyone to know anything. And they’re like, Brett, how about why coach you? And I’m like, can I, here we go. Yeah, no, I would not have ever thought about sharing stuff, but I also think there’s power in that too, because I know so many other people there’s shame and guilt and judgment, and there’s, there is the other side to all of this.
[00:36:26] That there definitely is. You just, you got to put it in the work, the blood, sweat, and tears, and, and do it
Keina:
[00:36:33] also. Um, if you guys need a life coach, you need to hire. I’ll get your finances together, but we’ll get your life together. And as he was marketing earlier, he couldn’t find your partner, his rates are going up as of this conversation.
[00:36:47] So where can people find you or like, yeah. Where can people find you if they want to work with you? Brit
Brent:
[00:36:52] the best place? Uh, social media. So Brian beer and T Allen, a L L a N. Grunig his last name? G R U N G. So that’s going to be Instagram or just rent Grunig at Gmail. If you want to shoot me an email.
Keina:
[00:37:10] Great. I’ll put it whenever I write up the show notes. I’ll put it there too. So thank you guys so much for listening. And if you are looking to work with me and you’re ready to apply for my five month coaching partnership, go to wealth over now.com and click at work with me. Thanks guys. I just love it, that you made it to the end of this episode of money files.
[00:37:32] I hope some part of today’s story resonated with you and showed you the power of coaching today. I’m inviting you to take the first step and book a one-to-one call with me. We’ll discuss what you’re hoping to achieve with your money, where you need support and how I can help you reach your financial goals faster than you ever could alone.
[00:37:52] Go to www.wealthovernow.com and book. Once again, my name is Keina and thank you again for joining me. Also stay tuned for the next episode.
