Thank You For 100 Episodes!

Thank you for joining me on this journey of 100 episodes! This is an incredible milestone for Money and Files, and I attribute so much of the podcast’s success to my amazing clients and listeners. Even though I do not know each of you personally, as a business owner and financial coach, I always think about you as I talk about money and how I can help add to your ‘money file.’

Today is a special tribute in honor of episode 100. I take you all the way back to the beginning and what inspired me to start a podcast. Then, I share how budgeting and wealth-building have impacted my life and why it is so important for me to carry on teaching about money. Finally, you’ll hear messages from listeners and learn how Money Files has impacted their lives.

Having you all tune in every week is a privilege and an honor. I am excited for the future and to continue to be a source of information and inspiration as you take control of your finances. 

Stay tuned to hear insights on these key topics during this episode:

[01:10] The evolution of my career and the Money Files podcast

[05:15] What budgeting has afforded me

[06:45] Wealth-building is about more than just money

[11:32] Holding a vision for my clients

[12:40] A ‘thank you’ to my listeners

[16:15] Voice messages from podcast subscribers

[25:19] A ‘thank you’ to my clients

[26:30] Thoughts to future clients

Tune into this episode of Money Files to learn what inspired me to start the Money Files podcast and how my money coaching business has evolved thanks to clients and listeners like you!

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 THIS CONVERSATION ON THANK YOU FOR 100 EPISODES!, CHECK OUT MY EPISODE ON HOW ASKING FOR HELP ALLOWS YOU TO BECOME THE BEST VERSION OF YOURSELF!

Transcript for “Thank You For 100 Episodes!”

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 to the 100th episode of Money Files. So I’m going to just do a little reflecting with you today. And if you are listening to the sound of my voice right now, I want to first and foremost say thank you. But I remember when I started my business in 2018, one of my goals at that time, that summer when I started, I said, “oh, I want to start a podcast.” And I remember telling my first business coach that I wanted to start a podcast and then I got into the thick of like what it actually meant to start a business. And I was like a podcast, I can’t do that. And then from there I kind of dipped my feet in and I started interviewing clients to have some audio about the work that I was doing inside of my coaching partnerships. 

My coaching partnerships have evolved overtime. If you’ve listened to some of my earlier episodes of the podcast, I used to do like intensives and now I sell a five month coaching partnership but that’s evolved. And most importantly, I’ve evolved and I chose to start Money Files because I really wanted you to think about and I wanted you as a listener, I wanted you to have a file, like literally I’m expanding my hands as I’m saying this. I wanted you to have a file, like do you remember the old accordion files? I wanted you to have a toolbox to shift your relationship with money and the work that I do and why I got into financial coaching, it is so near and dear to my heart and I hope that you have heard that through the podcast episodes that I’ve shared with you, the clients that you’ve heard on my podcast who have shared their experience working with me with because one of the reasons, I actually had to answer this for a certification I’m applying for and one of the questions she’s like “can you just elaborate a little bit more like how did you get into financial coaching after being in education for the number of years that you were in education?” 

And simply when I started in education, I first was able to transition from college to being a teacher because of budgeting. I left college or graduated college I should say, with a management and a finance degree. And I had full intentions of being rich y’all. I was going to graduate and either go get my MBA or take a nice corporate job and be wealthy and rich in terms of what you see on the paycheck from month to month. And I at the time had also interviewed for Teach for America and I had accepted a job offer for, I think at the time I was making $55,000 or it was going to be $55,000 I was going to be making in the oil and gas industry and Teach For America kept calling me being like “hey, do you want to come be a middle school math teacher?” And I said, “no, I don’t want to be a middle school math teacher.” I told you I wanted to be an elementary school teacher and you didn’t want me to be an elementary school teacher. 

So I remember having a very clear conversation with like who I guess would’ve been a recruiter for Teach for America. And I was like “hey, I can’t afford to be a teacher and I’m going to go take this job where I’m making $55,000 a year and that’s it, I’m done.” And one of the conversations I remember having was around how much money I was going to be making as a teacher. And so I mean at that time it was like $30,000, $33,000, something in that range. And I remember sitting down with the salary and making a budget. And the reason I wanted to make a budget was because I could not, for the life of me I couldn’t get rid of the fact that I really wanted to go teach because teaching was something that felt incredibly impactful.

One of the things I always wanted to do when I thought about what I wanted to be when I grew up is I wanted to have an impact and that has been the sole nature and focus of my work always. And I was tossing and turning and it came to this point where I was like oh my goodness, what if I don’t say yes to Teach for America, like will I regret this? And I got the numbers to work, I figured out how I could live off of $33,000 a year, how I could move to St. Louis and I said yes to Teach for America and the job that I accepted, I called them back and told them that I was no longer going to work for them. And so one of the things you’ve probably heard me talk about on the podcast is that budgeting isn’t a consequence. And in that moment in my life, budgeting wasn’t a consequence. Budgeting as never been a consequence for me. 

Budgeting has been about being able to lean in where I desire to lean in and being able to lean into my values, being able to lean into how I desire to show up. And I share that with you because I want you to experience what it means to manage your money well and in a way that allows you to say yes where you desire to say yes. And that’s not always going to look hey, I’m going to take a pay cut. That’s not what it’s about, but it’s for you to be able to show up in the ways that you desire to show up. My coach and I actually have been talking about that. It’s like not, I don’t help people budget. I help people create wealth. And when I am thinking about what it means to create wealth and wealth building, there’s part of that that is money. But then it’s also thinking about how do you build wealth with how you spend your time? How do you build wealth with the relationships in your life? How do you build wealth in terms of experiences? 

I was just actually at home for Thanksgiving and one of the things that is not lost upon me because I have been able to go into entrepreneurship is that I’m able to work from different locations. And so as a teacher, one of the things that always, I shouldn’t say it bothered me, but one of the challenges was that I definitely, like I didn’t take days off work. I worked in what would be like a high stress environment and I showed up all the time and I’ve shown up sick, I’ve shown up to work with a migraine and I don’t say those things as a pat on the back, but it’s just in my twenties. That’s how I had been taught to show up in the world in my profession at the time. I don’t necessarily regret any of those things, but one of the things that I wanted when I decided to work for myself is that I wanted to be able to visit my family whenever I wanted and I wanted to be able to visit my family because I wanted to be able to create memories and I wanted to be able to have experiences with them. 

And so I just got back, like I said, from Thanksgiving and I think I spent like 10 days at home, maybe 12 days at home. But I was thinking about when I was teaching that was never true. Like I couldn’t just take 12 days in the middle of November or even in September to just go spend time with my family, especially spending time with my family outside of just holidays because now when I go home, my grandmother, she’s older, she’s 87, if you follow me on Instagram you may have seen she came to one of my photo shoots which was like another beautiful memory that has been created because of budgeting. Because of this idea of being focused on building wealth for myself, which starts with a budget. But anyways, going back to my time at home, I saw my grandmother, I saw her multiple days and just being able to sit with her and talk to her, she’s 87, she’s one of the last matriarchs in our family in terms of her age and my grandmother and I. 

I’ve been trying to encourage her whenever I talk to her, I’m like “granny, you need to go on a walk, you should get outside and go on a walk.” And she always tells me she is but she doesn’t always go on a walk. But one of the things that I did with my granny is I was like granny, do you want to go on a walk? I’ll come over and we can go on a walk. So she told me yes and I was at her house. She put on her coat that day was particularly cold, but I got to hold my grandmother’s hand and go on a walk with her. We probably went like half a mile, but I think about as she is 87, I don’t know how many more years she’ll be around, but that is wealth building for me, to be able to have that moment with her that I would give any amount of money I know at some point in my life to be able to have that moment with her. And I realized that moment was created because I decided to budget. 

And that is what my work is about is being able to help people realize that they can create these moments and these experiences in their life because they know how to manage their money well. And budgeting isn’t about a consequence. Budgeting is about you being able to see how you were able to give to an organization that you loved or being able to host your friends at your house and get the meal catered and not feel bad about the expenses or budgeting is about, for me with my nieces and nephews like okay, how do I start to help them already invest and create something that I didn’t have? And that’s being able to have access to money at a young age because there was somebody else that was thinking about you financially.

And so I started Wealth Over Now and I started financial coaching really to be able to have an impact and to help you see what maybe you can’t see for yourself. When I’m working with clients at One-to-one, I always tell them “hey, I am holding a vision for you that is so much bigger than you can see for yourself right now.” And sometimes I keep that vision under wraps because they may feel a little anxious or they feel a little scared and the things that they’re talking about they’ve never been able to accomplish. And so they’re not sure that what I’m talking about with them is true. And because I’m able to hold that vision for them, they’re able to accomplish things that allow them to experience wealth right now in their life. And what I hope that you gain from my podcast is a shift in your own belief about what you’re able to accomplish with money.

And I don’t want you to be tied or wed to this idea of debt is bad or even thinking about scarcity when it comes to money. I want you to experience liberation when it comes to your finances and I want you to manage your money because I know that managing your money is going to create these opportunities in your life that you never thought you could have. I’m sharing the moment with you about my grandmother because it was literally one of the things that I am just so appreciative of and I’ve done other things financially. I could tell you like oh my goodness, I’ve been able to contribute to my retirement as an entrepreneur. I was able to work full-time for myself as an entrepreneur. I run a multiple six-figure business. But for me when I think about my values, it’s so much, like I am a heart-centered individual. And so one of my love languages is quality time. It’s like my top love language, number one. 

So when I am thinking about measuring wealth in my life, it’s being able to look at how am I able to spend my time and where am I able to spend my time. And so I just want to thank you for taking the time to join me in this journey of a hundred episodes. I sit in my office every week, sometimes I batch episodes, sometimes I don’t. Sometimes there are moments that I’m like “oh my goodness, I have no idea what I’m about to talk about.” But one of the things that one of my podcast managers told me early on is she’s like just imagine that you were sitting in a room of 10 people, 20 people, 30 people that are waiting to listen to you. What would you say to those people? How would you feel about those people? And so every week when I sit at my desk and I record an episode, I may not know you individually. Some of you I think I do know you individually, whether you’re clients or former clients or people that follow me on Instagram or literally people that just found my podcast this week. 

Just know that I am thinking about you as I talk to you about money. I am as a business owner and a financial coach always thinking about how do I help this person add something to their money file? How do I make you feel comfortable to also reach out for help? There are clients that come to me and they’re like Keina I’ve listened, to all your podcast episodes and I just feel like I have you in my back pocket and they’ve been so influential and just helping me feel less shame and you feel so approachable and you feel relatable and your clients feel real. They feel like we share similar struggles, we share similar challenges. And so just thank you so much for showing up for me every single week and listening to my podcast because the reason that I am here and that I record my podcast every week is because I think about what does just one person need to hear in order to shift their relationship with money? 

And it’s important for me to share things with you that create impact because like I told you in the beginning, I started teaching because I wanted to have an impact and I found financial coaching because I wanted to continue to have an impact and do something that I love. And so now I’m in a space where I still get to teach and I still get to have an impact. And it is just the best place in my life that I’ve ever been. So much of what I do brings me joy and to my clients that are listening. I thank you so much for just believing in the work that I do and the work that we did together. I mean, some of my clients literally have just found me on Google. Some of my clients have been referrals, some have found me on Instagram, some have found me by way of like maybe they were a part of like a webinar or something that I’ve done, someplace that I’ve shown up, but you felt comfortable enough with me to reach out and say yes, and let me get all in your business when it comes to your numbers and just sharing a very vulnerable space in your life. And you’ve probably heard me say this on coaching calls, but I just thank you so much because I really truly enjoy the work that I do. And each of my clients, like you guys hold a special place in my heart and I’m always thinking about you and I’m always celebrating you, whether we’re formally working together or not.

I’m always thinking about you and believing in you, and I want to encourage you wherever you might be. 

TESTIMONIALS 

• Money Files has become a staple in my weekly routine, offering invaluable guidance and wisdom from KeIna on managing my finances. Particularly transformative was episode 62, which I enthusiastically recommend to my friends and colleagues whenever we discuss the challenges of Underearning. This episode isn’t just informative, it’s an empowering call to action for women to recognize their worth and assertively pursue the salaries they deserve, aligning with their financial ambitions. Thanks Keina, and congratulations on episode 100.

• My favorite podcast is going to be the podcast I did with Keina. We did it shortly after I started with her and it spoke mostly about my trauma around money and my bankruptcy at 61. And then a few years later we did a follow up podcast and I enjoyed listening to that, especially when I’m having some tough money issues, I kind of go back to both of them and listen to all the great advice that she gave me and it works like a charm.

• Hey Keina, it’s your favorite client, Brent. I don’t have a favorite particular episode, but what I love about Money Files and you know I listen every Tuesday morning, it’s on my regular rotation is just the common theme of people who realized they were making good money and had access to things. But it was really just getting down to the foundation about what’s important to you, what your values are, making decisions about spending through that lens and then shifting money around and not about taking things away or losing the ability to do things in life, but really just making intentional choices about how to spend money, when to spend it and where to spend it and how that opens up so much possibility in life. So that’s been a shift for me. And every Tuesday morning when I listen to your podcast, it’s a reminder of why I keep doing my money dates and why I keep looking at my spending plan and why I keep reevaluating how and when I spend my money. So thank you so much.

• Hi Keina, this is Lisa Crook. Since listening to Money Files, I’ve learned to be comfortable talking about money and intentionally talking to other women about money. Something that when I first began working with you, I was not comfortable doing at all and I have to be honest, I scrolled back through all a hundred episodes to try and figure out which one was my favorite and I’d have to say that 84, how to make a career pivot with Kim Tran and episode 50, which is how to dream or how to prepare a transition to work full-time for yourself. I’m not in a position to do either one of those things. I’m not looking for a career pivot and I’m not looking to work for myself currently, but it is in my future. So listening to both of those episodes gave me and gives me tools and language to use for myself as I think through those transitions. And I also know those episodes are there for me to refer back to when I am ready to make that transition. I also really liked episode 15 and listening to Martha’s story about managing money with ADHD and then also my own episode 3, where I am able to listen to the journey that I’ve been on and the impact that you’ve made in my life. Thanks.

• Hi Keina. So my favorite episode of Money Files is episode 96, which is the episode that I’m on where we went over and it was after my five month coaching partnership commenced and we got to talk about it. I love this episode because it’s all the work we kind of did together and like a quick podcast where I can kind of go back to and it’s going to be there forever. So it’s going to be really cool for me to be able to re-listen to that as time goes on, to remember the hard work that I did at a really hard time in my life. In general, I do love listening to your podcasts. I listen to them every Tuesday morning, usually when I’m getting ready for work and I look forward to them coming out. It’s like a nice little refresher for me to help me remember to keep moving forward with my finances. I still have a lot of things I want to learn and grow at when it comes to money, but I feel like I have such a solid foundation now because of my work with you and your episodes really give me little tidbits of stuff to kind of keep thinking about or to push myself to grow in even more. I don’t think about money from a scarcity place anymore. I look at my budget as freeing and it’s not restrictive and that’s super exciting. So thank you. I love you and I look forward to your episodes.

• My favorite episode is one from November of 2022 and it’s on open enrollment. Last year at that time I was a few months pregnant and just trying to forecast all of the expenses that we’d had in 2023, including a birth, which I’d heard was super expensive. And so just wanted to look at all of our options. It’s the first time in my whole life that I decided to really pay close attention to what my benefits were offering and be intentional about the choices I made. So because of that episode, I was able to select some plans for us, our dental plan, our medical plan, our eye care plan, select plans for us that would allow us to maximize our savings. I incorporated using our FSA card, which had helped significantly for paying for things like glasses and other medical expenses, including paying for the birth of our child. So that episode was truly the kick in the butt that I needed to stop letting open enrollment season and insurance things happen to me and like to be intentional about the choices I made about our medical and health plans. So that is my favorite episode. I go back to it or at least I did this year before open enrollment because it was so helpful. And sometimes you just need a little refresher, so listen to it if you get a chance.

• Hi Keina I have loved all your work. I think you are very approachable and funny and also awesome. My favorite episode would be episode 47, how to prioritize your finances so you can say yes more. This was a big mindset shift for me, mostly because I didn’t see how I wasn’t prioritizing to say yes more. And saying yes more means saying yes to more the things you want in life. Yes, but it also means seeing where you want to grow. I don’t have the spending capability right now to give to my friends and their children as much as I would, but that’s the place where I would like to grow. And so I can see myself asking for more money or really aligning my worth and speaking about my worth in ways that I might not have been confident to do in the past because I know where that money’s going to go and who it’s going to benefit. It might not necessarily benefit me directly, but allow me to be more generous with the people that I love. And I really appreciate your work around that.

• Hey Keina, congratulations on 100 episodes. That is so exciting and I’m so thrilled that I get to celebrate with you in this way. I really love the podcast. For me, it’s like a friend speaking life over me. It showed me that no matter how clients come to you, you meet each of them where they are with so much compassion and understanding. And for me, listening to the testimonial episodes have been my favorite. They gave me the courage to book a consult with you. And in that consult I just felt like I finally met someone who didn’t judge me for my past failings or my list of bills. You just met me where I was, you showed me a new way and I am eternally grateful for that. So thank you so much. I really appreciate you. I love the podcast and I am again excited for you reaching 100 episodes. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next 100 episodes. I love listening and will continue to listen. Thank you again. I appreciate you. Take care.

Keina:If you’re listening to my podcast and you’re not a client, I would just share that as 2023 wraps up and we look into 2024, I feel like at the end of the year is where we start to reflect, like what did we do? What did we not do? And we can be hard on ourselves and I don’t want you to take that approach, but I do want you just to think about where can you be in a month from now if you just chose in this moment to apply to work with me and to say I’ve been talking about this and I want to get some support, I want to get help. And just thinking about for yourself, like what does showing up look like? And showing up doesn’t mean that you have to have all the answers. And quite frankly, showing up doesn’t mean that maybe you are a hundred percent ready, but if you just think about what moments of wealth do you want in your own life? 

And I want to support you with that. Like I think about my client, Sarah, who came to me and her goal was to show up as a mother, to show up as a mom who is there for her son and the avenue in which she did that was getting her finances in order. And so if you listen to her episode, she’ll tell you all about that journey. But your goal may not be to save a thousand dollars and it doesn’t have to be, but just thinking about ways in which you know that you want to show up for yourself as we close out 2023 and we start 2024. If money is anywhere in one of those buckets, I am encouraging you to go ahead and book the call. I’ve had clients that have been exactly where you are. And on that 60 minute consult, you are going to have the best money conversation of your life. And you are also going to be able to be in a safe place to talk about the things that you want, what are your hopes? What are your dreams? What are your wishes, what are your challenges? And I will create a plan for you so that we can spend five months working together, one-to-one and take our relationship from this podcast into real life. 

So thank you so much and if you want to apply to work with me in my five month coaching partnership, as always you can go to the link in my bio or you can go to my website at www.wealthovernow.com and you’ll see a link that says book a call and you can apply to work with me. So thank you again for 100 episodes and I look forward to continue sharing meaningful content with you as we wrap up 2023 and go into the New Year. Thank you.
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.