What does it look like to go from feeling financially overwhelmed to fully owning your money story?
In this episode of Money Files, I sit down with my client Clara, a hairstylist in Washington, D.C., who transformed the way she managed her finances. Before working together, Clara earned good money but constantly wondered, “Where is it all going?” Like many 1099 earners, her income fluctuated, and without a system, that led to stress, uncertainty, and missed opportunities.
Together, we built a framework that gave her structure, clarity, and confidence. Clara learned how to separate her business and personal finances, plan for taxes, and create a simple system that helped her build savings and prepare for slower seasons. With her new mindset and money plan, she stopped stressing about her finances, bought her first home, and even planned an international trip, without panic or guilt.
This conversation is about more than numbers; it’s about what happens when you finally take ownership of your financial life.
Listen in to learn:
[02:15] How Clara realized she needed help managing her money
[05:00] Why accountability and structure are key to financial success
[08:25] How she stopped stressing over inconsistent income
[11:40] How she prepared for slow business seasons with confidence
[15:20] The mindset shift that helped her buy her first home
[18:40] How she learned to fit her lifestyle into her budget instead of restricting it
[21:45] Building confidence to earn more and plan for retirement
Tune into this episode of Money Files to hear how Clara went from overwhelmed to empowered and how financial coaching helped her build a system that supports her goals and her peace of mind.
Are you ready to start asking for help with your finances? Apply to work with me, and let’s start working towards your financial goals.
If you loved hearing about Clara’s journey to financial confidence, check out Episode 124: Paycheck Series: How to Manage Your Paycheck as a 1099 Contractor. These episodes together will show you how structure, awareness, and intentional planning can transform your financial life.
Transcript for “Financial Predictability: How Clara Created Financial Ease as a Hairstylist”
Intro: Hi, and welcome to Money Files. I’m Keina Newell from Wealth Over Now. I work everyday with professional women and solopreneurs to help them get out of financial overwhelm and shame so they can experience more flexibility and ease with their finances. Are you ready to gain confidence and learn to manage your finances intentionally? Tune in and grab financial tips that will help you master the way you think about and manage your finances.
Keina: Hello and welcome back to another episode of Money Files. Today I have another client interview and I enjoy these podcast episodes because I think I always want to share what the journey is like because I know people are in different places. And so I know for me, I enjoy transformation stories like when I’m watching somebody’s like workout or just any transformation story. So today I am joined by my client, Clara, do you want to go ahead and introduce yourself Clara?
Clara: Hi, I’m Clara Smith. I’m a hairstylist in DC and I had the pleasure of working with Keina for like the last, I want to say like eight months.
Keina: Yes, we had some abbreviated sessions in there.
Clara: Yes. And it was a great opportunity. I learned a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot.
Keina: Well, let’s start off, can you just tell us a little bit about where were you before you actually reached out to me? Like what made you actually say like, oh, I want a financial coach because I don’t think people day to day are thinking like, oh, I want a financial coach?
Clara: Okay. So I was never like terrible with money, but I definitely knew I could be a lot better. So what ended up happening was my sister and I ended up selling a home, a family home. So I came into a bit of money and I wanted to manage this money correctly. I didn’t want to wrong moves with it. And I just wanted to streamline my income, my savings, budgeting, and all these things. And I knew I needed help. So I was on Instagram one day and I came across Keina’s page and I was like, Hmm, there’s something about her. So I was like, yeah, okay, let me like click. I think I DMed you, right. Did I DM you?
Keina: I think you commented on one of my posts. I think I was talking about fake math and you commented on one of them, if I’m not mistaken.
Clara: Okay. So something like that. All I know is like I reached out and I was like, yeah, I need some help. And you’re like, okay, well book a call and so forth. I was like, okay. And so I’m a big energy person and it seems like a lot of people are funny about that, but if I feel like a person has good energy, I’m like more open and I’m more receptive to hearing what they have to say. So we had like an initial consultation call and I felt really, really, really good about what you were talking about. So I was like, okay, so you don’t have to convince me any further.
Keina: Was there anything in that consultation that made you, I know you’re talking about energy, but anything that made you feel reassured or just thinking about when you were thinking about wanting to manage the money from the sale of your family home, that was like, okay, this is the thing. Like, I’m sold on this particular piece of what Keina is talking about.
Clara: So one of the biggest things that I liked about that consultation call is the accountability factor. I thrive in structure. So if somebody gives me like a plan and holds me accountable, I know that I can definitely succeed. So just walking through your coaching program, telling me like the different things that we would work on and holding me accountable on those things and just checking in, making sure that I did my action items and stuff like that. Those are things, those were like key takeaways for me. So I was like, okay, yeah, she’s going to really be on me and I need that.
Keina: I’m curious, what did Keina being on you feel like? Because I think some people can get a negative reaction to that. Like, I don’t want somebody on top of me.
Clara: No, no, no.
Keina: Especially when you think about money, because it’s such a sensitive topic for folks.
Clara: So for me, like, okay, you weren’t on me. Like, oh my gosh, like I’m so scared to talk to Keina. I enjoyed all our coaching calls, but when I say on me, I mean, you didn’t make me feel guilty about a slipup I may have had or whatever. You’re more so like solutions oriented person. So it’s like trying to train me like on how to come back from like a minor setback, look at it as a growing pain, for lack of better words, you know what I mean? So I like that your style is to like educate and problem solve versus just be like, well, why did you do that or chastise me? That’s not your angle at all. So I appreciate that.
Keina: Thank you. Yes, I try not to, because I always am really appreciative that someone would even reach out and raise their hand and say like, I want help. And not acknowledging the feelings and emotions that someone has when they’re like, I’m getting ready to talk to a stranger that I found through a Google search, that I found on Instagram. And I’m getting ready to tell them my fears that I have around money or that I don’t have any money in my account or whatever their challenges are. So I try to make it a comfortable spot so people feel safe.
Clara: Yes. And you definitely did.
Keina: Thank you. I realized we didn’t talk about what you do.
Clara: Oh, I’m a hairstylist at a luxury salon and wellness spot in DC.
Keina: Next to my coffee shop.
Clara: Yes. Our favorite coffee shop.
Keina: I’ve seen Clara many times in real life because she works next to the coffee shop down the street from the house, which I think is just rather coincidental. I’m like, oh, that’s random. But I say, I wanted to talk about what you do because as a hairstylist, your income actually fluctuates. And I remember when we first started working together, I was like, so how do you decide how much to pay yourself? What do you do? How do you think about money? So can you just talk a little bit about maybe how you thought about your income prior to us working together, how you’re thinking about it now?
Clara: Sure. So prior to us working together, I realized that I was making decent money, but I was like wondering like, where did it all go? So I didn’t have, like, the way I had set up paying my bills, I paid my bills out of one account and then I just had a checking account that I just used for everything else. And then like a small savings account. So I wasn’t able to really track or I guess streamline the income that I was bringing in. And that was like, it was frustrating because I was like, dang, I’m making enough, but where is all the money going? And so that’s like one of the major reasons why I was like, I need help. I need help.
Keina: How have you been able to like, our work together, how has that allowed you to like streamline your income or even just change how you think about your income?
Clara: So I’m a 10 99 employee, so it’s a little different, in terms of just like how I get paid, taxes that are taken out of my check or whatever. I don’t have all that. So you helped me understand like there are different things that I need to be saving for. So you helped me set up like a bank account, a business bank account that has like different buckets where I’m able to save for one thing. For example, like tax savings or business savings. So doing that helped me see where my money was going and it was continually growing. So I was like, oh yeah, this is awesome, because I’m able to pay my bills. I’m able to pay myself and have spending money and I can budget with like my spending money while everything else is growing and just streamlined and just every week it’s just getting bigger and bigger.
Keina: Just for people that are listening, her income, her 10 99 income goes into relay. And so we set up like allocations. So she has money that goes into like savings and compensation, but being able to create some predictability. But I’m curious, Clara, from your point of view, knowing the cycle of hair if you will, like, you have seasons where people may not be coming in as much and then you have seasons where everybody’s getting their hair done, everybody wants a color, everybody wants a cut. How has that, having a simple system for your business finances like shifted how you experience high seasons, if you will, and low seasons?
Clara: I will say this, the low season for the industry is typically the summertime. And honestly, this is like the first summer where I haven’t panicked and been like, oh my goodness, like I have no money. Because we put these things in place prior to the summer and I was able to feel safe because I had a business savings. There was somewhat of a nest egg there. So even though I was making less, I was still able to cover my major bills and save without feeling like I’m like drowning or anything. And in the past I have felt like I was drowning. I mean, we’re all human. I may have put like a bill off or two and then caught up the next month. There was no catching up this month. I mean this summer.
Keina: I should also mention for folks listening, like you didn’t have any, I don’t think you had any debt, right?
Clara: No, I didn’t have any debt.
Keina: She didn’t have any debt, she had savings. And I think sometimes when people may think about the people that I work with, they’re like, oh, they’re in debt. And I think that you were in, like you said, I was never terrible with money. And I know that means different things for different people, but in your case, like being a 10 99 employee, being able to know that I can consistently take care of what I need to take care of in terms of bills and also be able to spend the way that I want, like that’s what I want for 10 99 employees, contractors. Because I say this all the time, but it’s not about how much you make, it’s really about how you manage it and how you think about how you manage it. Otherwise the paycheck to paycheck cycle is always going to find you if you don’t actually shift your mindset.
Clara: Correct. And that’s definitely something that needed to happen. So now it’s just like, it’s so seamless Keina, it’s like so seamless. I’m even shocked some days when I look at my accounts, I’m just like, this is like so awesome. And then I do pat myself on the back too because I stay within my budget and this has been really great. And I was able to buy a house too?
Keina: I was going to go into that next. You bought a house. Yeah. Go into the experience of buying a home.
Clara: Okay. So one of the things that you asked me also during our initial coaching call was like, what are your goals for like the next month? And then, like the next six months and so forth. So I told you like somewhere in there it was like, okay, hey, at this point in time I would really love to buy a house. And you’re like, okay. So we had conversations around that, like what are you doing around that? You definitely talked to me about interest rates, different loan types and so forth. Like what I’m setting aside because this is my first house and you definitely told me like, you’re going to need money for repairs, things are going to pop up. And so just having that sound advice and like knowing where okay, certain funds need to be allocated was like a tremendous help. I just feel like without your support, I mean it probably would’ve been like really, really, really hard.
Keina: I mean you would’ve got there, you probably just, I’d have been like, ooh. I’m a woman of noises. So that’s probably what I would’ve said is mm. We walked through a lot and it took you, I know you looked at a couple of homes, but we went through also just like mocking up a new budget. Like this is you while you’re renting and how can you actually make sure that you go from being a renter to a homeowner and that it feels seamless, like I don’t want you to have gaps. Oh, you know what I’m also thinking about, you were in a month to month lease. I only first started working together and I was like, I’m sorry. I mean I know you want to buy a house, but can we get a little lease action so we can recoup some of your money? Just because I can’t remember, what were you paying, like $2,800 a month?
Clara: Yes, I was.
Keina: Those good old DC prices and you were actually able to go to your leasing office and negotiate. What did you negotiate, like a six month lease or something retroactive?
Clara: Yes. So they ended up giving me money back because I had already paid. Yeah. I had paid a lot of months already. So that helped too.
Keina: And I’m mentioning that because when you have another set of eyes on your finances, you don’t know what you might be missing, opportunities you might be missing. And with you, I was like, if we can get your rent decreased, yes, I know what you want to move, but are there conversations that we can have with your leasing office? Because you already got a no. So let’s just see if we can get a yes somewhere. It allowed you to be in a position to save more money, which ultimately was going to help you be able to also, like when you’re moving, you need to physically pay for movers or you want to be able to furnish your home. And so for clients that are looking for home ownership, I want to make sure that they have a nice moving fund so that feels seamless. And being able to adjust their budget is really, really helpful.
Clara: Yes. It’s so helpful.
Keina: That was one of the things I thought about. You also, you went to go visit your sister in Africa while we were working together as well?
Clara: Yes. So I was gone for like two weeks.
Keina: Which means she doesn’t get paid for those of you who are listening because she can’t do hair while she’s in Africa.
Clara: Exactly. So we had to plan for that too.
Keina: But how did that travel? I’m curious like if you had have gone on that same trip prior to working with me, what that would’ve felt like, what was your decision making? Like money, decision making skills. What’s the before and after?
Clara: Oh my goodness. I’m laughing because like, I’m an impulse vacationer. Meaning if the money is there and I’m like, oh yes sure I can take this trip. Let me just go on ahead and pay for it. But now I have to be real intentional about planning my vacations. It’s not like a, Hey Clara, do you want to go to like Mexico next month? And I’m just like, sure. No, I can’t do that. So there’s a lot more thought in vacation planning because one of the things that you taught me to do is not like, basically not to adjust my lifestyle but fit my lifestyle into my budget. So things that I like to do, you’re not telling me, Hey, don’t do those things. You’re just telling me like we have to work this into your budgeting. We have a place for it, which is definitely helpful. That’s very helpful because sometimes we’re a little delusional about what we like to do. And what we like to spend. I’m definitely guilty of it. But you have to have like a come to terms conversation with yourself. Like, this is what I like to do, so this is how I need to plan for it. And you definitely help me plan for those things.
Keina: And I mean, at the end of the day, I want people to feel proud about where that money is going. I mean, you and I don’t spend the money in the same way, you guys can’t see Clara, but Clara likes to get her nails done and I would poke myself somewhere in the gym. I’m like, no, no, thank you. So just from like that perspective. But that’s something she enjoys. I know that it’s not functional in my own life because I go to the gym and I couldn’t deadlift and clasp my hand around the bar. And it doesn’t make it good or bad, but it’s being able to think about what are those things that you enjoy. And like you said, being able to, your budget should be a reflection of how you desire to live.
Clara: Right.
Keina: As I was just talking about your nails, I remember when we were talking together, I was like, Clara, your hair is done. Tell me about these expenses. And you’re like, no, I don’t plan to get my hair done. And I was like, that don’t sound right because I work with a lot of women and they don’t factor their hair in. You’re like, no Keina, let me tell you.
Clara: You saw it firsthand. Like, okay.
Keina: I did, I did, but I definitely was looking at you like, mm, okay, I’m going to let her tell me she don’t pay for her hair and then I’m going to get her in like 60 days. She’s going to be like, see I need to buy a bundle Keina. And you were honest about that. You knew that number for sure.
Clara: Yes.
Keina: I’m curious for you, if you have like, in our work together, was there a pivotal point where you were like, oh, everything it really feels different now?
Clara: Yeah, I would say like earlier this year, actually before my house ,when I felt like things were just getting organized, especially when you set me up in relay. Because the way that I was doing things before, I just had like, I had accounts, but I had one for paying bills, like I said, and then one where I was just spending my money and then savings. And I feel like how you set me up and I was able to see where everything was going and what it was being used for, it just made me not want to like spend frivolously or dip into those accounts. And so, I don’t know, it made me feel like an adult, for lack of better words. Like, okay, yes, I’m being responsible. This is what I was trying to get to. This is where I need to be to like continue to elevate into like the next level because I definitely am a firm believer. For me, I’m a believer. So God gives you things he knows that you can handle them. So I felt like once I got those things under control, then war would come my way. And that has been the case. So discipline. Discipline is very important.
Keina: I feel like it’s like discipline and also just like intentionality.
Clara: Yes.
Keina: And to your point of like getting more and looking at social media and just like with our generation, there’s so much about like earning more and even some of the like acquiring more from like a materialism kind of standpoint. But we can have more, but if we’re not managing it, we’re never going to feel the impact of that.
Clara: Correct.
Keina: And I know we had several conversations where I was talking to you about what does it look like for you to earn more, but to have those conversations and they not be abstract, but also to see like, Clara, if you can produce, $15,000 months or $20,000 months in your business, like this is what it actually means for you and in relation to the goals that you have. Like, here’s how it’s setting up your retirement, here’s how it’s allowing you to travel more. I personally find that to be a lot more motivating than just chasing a number for the sake of chasing a number.
Clara: Yes, I agree. And it’s like, I mean, let’s see, when we stopped working, I want to say July. Was it July?
Keina: I think it was July.
Clara: Yeah. And just like really good things had been happening at the salon, like work-wise, networking with like different people. I took like a couple of classes, so now I’m making a little bit more money and there’s still more to come. But it’s the momentum, like once you get in it, you just have to keep going. And I know that we spoke about, hey, you broke it down for me. You said this is what it’ll look like if you made this much annually. You broke it down to like the week.
Keina: I did yes. Yes. I needed to be able to make sense for how many butts do you need in your chair and at what rate.
Clara: Exactly. And you even encouraged me to like teach it, like, to teach. And I’m just like Keina, I do not teach. And you’re liike no, I think if you really did. So I tried my hand at like training the assistants and now I actually do train the assistants and they’re having me like record little modules and stuff for our onboarding. And so, just things that I didn’t think I could do that I’m doing now. And I’m just like, okay, I just needed to shift my mindset on different ways to like make money and yeah.
Keina: And it’s not from a hustle perspective. Like I think that’s the biggest piece. And if you’ve never experienced feeling really organized with your finances, then I think it can be hard to maybe conceptualized what Clara and I are talking about. But I feel like you can go after these opportunities just with a different energy. And it’s not to say that you could have still been in this spot at this exact spot teaching, but if you didn’t know your numbers, I don’t think it would have the same impact for you.
Clara: Right. Agreed.
Keina: And I am all about yes, like let’s find some impact. Also, just thinking about being within the hair industry is like, I need you to eventually have a way to retire yourself because the industry I think is also hard on your body.
Clara: Very hard on your body.
Keina: I mean, I’m not a hair hairstylist industry expert, but just thinking about if you haven’t thought about a way out of a job and not just like, I would say like any job, we need to have an exit plan. And so thinking about what does my exit plan look like? And a component of that is also knowing that I do know my numbers. I am putting money aside for retirement or savings, whatever that looks like. So that you don’t always have to trade your time for money.
Clara: Yeah. Passive income and just looking into different avenues, investments, all those things because I surely don’t want to work forever. 10 more years and I would love to retire and I remember talking to you about this, but it’s a matter of putting things in place to allow me to do that. So whether it’s setting up a solo 401k or investing more, whatever it is. Like that is something that’s definitely on the forefront of my mind because I am aware that I can’t do this profession forever.
Keina: Oh yeah. Like I said, me being the expert that’s not the expert, I’m like, it’s hard on your body. Is there advice that you would give to someone who’s like maybe in a similar situation as you, like they’re not terrible with money. Could be better. Maybe they’re sitting on some savings that they’re scared to like, do anything with because they don’t want to mess it up.
Clara: I would say, don’t be afraid to ask for help, and don’t be embarrassed about what your money management style looked like before because you’re taking that step to make it better. You’re taking ownership of your finances and when you have somebody that help you and knows what they’re doing and kind of teaches you how to fish yourself, that’s invaluable. So don’t be scared.
Keina: I love that. I’m curious, had you invested in yourself before, like asking for help from someone in some other area of your life?
Clara: No. But what I have learned, I’ve always been the type of person who’s like, no, I got it. I got it, I got it. I can do it, I can do it, I can do it. But I’m learning that you need people. You need people, you need resources. And don’t be afraid to ask questions because if you don’t ask questions, you’re not going to get answers. And one of the biggest things about education is like, you have so many takeaways. This is something that’s going to enrich your life. So it’s not a bad thing. It can only make you better. So don’t be scared.
Keina: I love that. I was just thinking about that because I know for some of my clients that I work with, they’ve never invested in themselves. And some people have like worked with a life coach or maybe they’ve had some, I’d even say like spending money to go to a therapist or a personal trainer. They’ve had a previous experience. And I think it makes it a little bit more like, oh, okay. Like I’ve asked for help from someone in the past and then for other people I’m definitely their very first experience.
Clara: Yeah. Well I have asked for a personal trainer, but you know my relationship with the gym.
Keina: Oh yeah. You don’t want to lift anything too heavy. Clara you can go to the gym with me. It’ll be great.
Clara: Keina, you would kill me.
Keina: No I wouldn’t. I helped a girl at the gym this morning. She needed to know how to use the hip thrust machine and I gladly helped her.
Clara: Yeah. I feel like, when I go and I start off with like baby weights, you’re just going to be looking at me like.
Keina: We all start somewhere just like with our finances.
Clara: Well maybe I’ll take you up on that offer, but until then I’ll watch you on your IG and be like, yes girl. You go ahead and lift. What’s that? 250 pounds.
Keina: You’re funny. Well thank you so much for hopping on and doing this interview with me. And if you’re listening, you’re like, oh, like I am slightly intrigued, I would definitely encourage you to apply to work with me.
Clara: Yes and no problem. Thank you for having me. It’s fun.
Keina: Of Course. Anytime.
Outro: Thank you so much for listening to Money Files. If you’re ready to take the next step to reach your financial goals, head to www.wealthovernow.com/appointment and let’s get started.
