WEBVTT - Ep. 84: Ready to Quit Your Job to Launch a Business? 0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:20.079 Hey, hey, hey, guys, I know you were expecting a 0:00:20.079 --> 0:00:24.919 different Hey, hey, hey, our beloved Tiffany fell Ill today. 0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:28.480 I think she's doing better. But I want to let 0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:31.160 you guys know that the show is going on and 0:00:31.440 --> 0:00:35.040 I am here. I have a remarkable guest, someone that 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:37.800 I've admired for the past couple of years, The one, 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:42.600 the only, Miss Marcia Barnes, the founder of the Finance Bar, 0:00:42.760 --> 0:00:47.559 which is a fabulous mobile personal finance suite which we're 0:00:47.560 --> 0:00:50.120 going to get to in a minute, based in Charlotte, 0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:53.000 North Carolina. Marcia, thanks so much for coming on Brown Ambition. 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:54.800 Thank you for having me, Manny. 0:00:54.840 --> 0:00:57.279 I'm glad to be here you guys. So two years ago, 0:00:57.360 --> 0:00:59.400 let me just tell you the background, the origin story 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:02.880 of how I'm miss Marcia. So two years ago, I 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:06.280 was at FINNCN and Charlotte and all of us, you know, 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:12.640 the people, the Brown Personal finance folks. We have a 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:15.039 little secret we may or may not have a secret group, 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:18.120 and we kind of all gathered together at these financial conferences. 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:24.559 Come on Strengthen numbers got together and everyone's like, you guys, 0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:26.840 you know that finance the school bus is down there. 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:30.280 Marcia with her finance bar school bus is down there. 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:32.640 She's like going to show off the bus and giving tours, 0:01:32.720 --> 0:01:35.640 and I was like, say, what to who a school bus? 0:01:35.680 --> 0:01:38.240 And is this like for children? 0:01:38.360 --> 0:01:38.480 What? 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:41.280 And no, let me tell you it was the most amazing, 0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:45.399 beautiful school bus. I didn't even know school buses could 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:49.160 be that nice. That Marcia had outfitted and turned into 0:01:49.280 --> 0:01:52.520 the finance bar. Which, Marcia, you probably do a way 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:56.200 better job than I do telling people what exactly the 0:01:56.240 --> 0:01:59.120 finance bar is and why a school bus. 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:01.960 Yeah, so the finance bar is. 0:02:02.000 --> 0:02:07.120 I like to call it a mobile finance suite on whels. 0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:10.040 I use that word sweet because I feel like my 0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:12.640 bus is extremely savvy. I like to brag on it 0:02:12.680 --> 0:02:16.040 because I think that my designer did an amazing job 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:20.680 with it. But in short, the finance bar is really 0:02:20.720 --> 0:02:25.800 centered around meeting people where they are on their finance journey. 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:28.880 So I decided to take a bus and have it 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:35.000 outfitted to be a mobile finance bus machine on whells 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:38.960 to really meet people at different locations to talk about 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:43.080 their finances. So I would meet them on college campuses 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:46.840 where we know that a lot of personal finances never mentioned. 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:48.680 You know, we have kids that leave college and never 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:50.320 know anything about money when they leave. 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:52.360 I knew that over. 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:55.720 Seventy five percent of people at their jobs are stressed 0:02:55.720 --> 0:02:59.639 about money every single day, So I wanted to visit corporations. 0:03:00.240 --> 0:03:03.800 I knew that all these organizations that really need to 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:06.959 really touch people when it when it comes to economics 0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:09.720 and personal finances, I could meet them there. So I 0:03:09.800 --> 0:03:13.359 decided to outfit the bus to be like a mobile office. 0:03:13.560 --> 0:03:17.000 So the Finance Bar is really a personal finance suite 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:20.040 in mobile hub that really meets people where they are 0:03:20.080 --> 0:03:21.240 on their finance journey. 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:23.840 You guys have to I'm going to post some pictures 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:25.560 and a link to the Finance Bar on the Brand 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:29.520 Ambition podcast website. But when I suite is an excellent way, 0:03:29.560 --> 0:03:31.160 but I don't I feel like it really doesn't do 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:33.720 it justice. You've got to go see the pictures of 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:36.720 this bus. It's actually it's actually beautiful, which I didn't 0:03:36.720 --> 0:03:40.760 think I would ever say. And you're still based in Charlotte, 0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:44.960 North Carolina, but you offer your services to people online, right, 0:03:45.000 --> 0:03:47.400 you don't have to sort of be based. That's one 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:49.200 of the best things I think about the finance bars. 0:03:49.200 --> 0:03:51.840 You don't have to sort of be you know, there 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:54.800 in Charlotte to sort of get the same services. 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:57.000 Right, No, you don't have to be in show to 0:03:57.040 --> 0:04:00.360 get the same services because so in addition to the bus, Mandy, 0:04:00.400 --> 0:04:03.520 I also have a coaching suite in Charlotte that I 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:05.880 had that I'm able to coach people whether they are 0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:09.000 in person or also do it virtual. And we even 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:12.000 had my office to look very similar to the bus. 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:15.640 So you're getting somewhat of the same experience. But in 0:04:15.680 --> 0:04:19.160 addition to the coaching suite, for people that don't feel 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:21.760 they need that direct coaching or maybe them feel like 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:23.800 they can't afford coaching at this time, I have a 0:04:23.880 --> 0:04:27.280 virtual members club as well, where people are able to 0:04:27.520 --> 0:04:31.359 log in and learn tons, tons of things about personal 0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:34.080 finance from your money mindset, I feel like you're struggling 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:37.760 there to budgeting, managing your debt, creating a plan, B 0:04:38.240 --> 0:04:42.040 investing all that good stuff. So there are several different 0:04:42.040 --> 0:04:44.920 options of how you can work with the Finance bar So. 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:47.320 Let's back up just a bit, just a minute, because 0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:50.680 people are probably wondering how, why a school bus, what 0:04:51.800 --> 0:04:53.800 where did this all come from? So before you launch 0:04:53.839 --> 0:04:56.320 the Finance barre, you actually were working full time for 0:04:56.480 --> 0:04:57.520 a big bank, right. 0:04:57.400 --> 0:04:59.960 Well, that's right, yep, I was working for a big bank. 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:03.520 I had both Wells Fargo for like right at twelve years, 0:05:03.560 --> 0:05:06.600 and before that I was still also in banking, So 0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:10.000 I spent a lot of time in the banking industry. 0:05:10.080 --> 0:05:12.920 But I think I really became to have a love 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:15.720 for personal finance when I knew what money could really 0:05:15.760 --> 0:05:18.840 do for people, or really could do for families when 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:22.000 you really prepare. I think when we first met Mandy, 0:05:22.080 --> 0:05:23.920 I told you the story of both of my parents 0:05:23.960 --> 0:05:27.040 being laid off. They've never been like these really big 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:31.240 spenders and took these elaborate, elaborate trips and just really 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:34.880 kind of blew money. So they were always really money savvy, 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:36.880 and for as long as I can remember, I think 0:05:36.920 --> 0:05:41.359 that I may have earned more money before I left 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:45.599 the bank than that my mom ever earned at any 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:48.400 job that she had, and she was laid off, and 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:51.960 they still did really well financially when they both were 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:55.120 laid off. So for me, when I left the bank, 0:05:55.160 --> 0:05:58.279 that love for personal finance did not come from me 0:05:58.400 --> 0:05:59.840 working at the bank at all. 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:02.920 I mean maybe it did, I never think that it did. 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:05.520 I worked a lot with people that were in foreclosure 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:07.920 or that had been through bankruptcy. 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:09.640 So that was that part of it. 0:06:09.680 --> 0:06:12.240 And sometimes I would crane to say, like, maybe a people, 0:06:12.680 --> 0:06:15.440 if we talked about this more, maybe we could avoid it. 0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:19.320 If we talk more about layoffs that are taking place 0:06:19.320 --> 0:06:21.839 around our country and how to prepare for a layoff, 0:06:22.200 --> 0:06:25.159 maybe some of these things wouldn't happen. So, you know, 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:27.520 at one point, that's just when I decided to leave 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:29.520 the bank to really branch out on my own, to 0:06:29.520 --> 0:06:31.360 say that I wanted to do the finance bar full 0:06:31.440 --> 0:06:32.919 time Summertia. 0:06:33.040 --> 0:06:35.240 Okay, let's get let's get to the numbers real quick, 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:37.320 because this is one of my favorite things to sort 0:06:37.320 --> 0:06:41.000 of ask entrepreneurs about early on, is that first year. 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:45.600 I mean, what were the startup costs involved with creating 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:50.359 a mobile financial hub on a school bus? Nonetheless? 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:54.200 Okay, so my bus, Mandy was what was my busy? 0:06:54.279 --> 0:06:57.400 My bus wasn't really that expensive, maybe three thousand and 0:06:57.480 --> 0:07:01.240 thirty five hundred because when I realized, I felt like, 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:04.480 well that's pretty cheap until I got it and then 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:07.080 I realized that it needed a lot of repairs done 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:09.560 to us. Let's just say that the bus was about thirty. 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:10.240 Five hundred dollars. 0:07:10.280 --> 0:07:14.240 Mandy like mechanics and things that I had to get 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:16.280 done to it upfront just to be able to have 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:20.040 it safe and on the road was around like four 0:07:20.120 --> 0:07:25.560 thousand dollars. And then like the cosmetics, getting the bus wrapped, designed, 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:31.360 getting the different stickers on it, and all that good stuff, website, 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:35.800 all of that I was at at least twenty thousand dollars. 0:07:35.840 --> 0:07:39.560 And that's like getting insurance the bus, getting the bus repairs, 0:07:40.240 --> 0:07:44.880 the website, the inside, designed, the air conditioning, forward, everything 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:49.680 at least twenty thousand dollars. But since then, but since startup, 0:07:49.840 --> 0:07:52.360 it's been much more. Since then because of course I 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:56.800 have monthly insurance and up like the mechanics. 0:07:56.200 --> 0:07:58.280 Done each year to the bus to make sure that. 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:00.280 It's safe for the road and all that good stuff. 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:02.320 So it's much more than that now. But in the beginning, 0:08:02.320 --> 0:08:03.840 about twenty thousand dollars total. 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:07.280 And what was that conversation Like when you have a 0:08:07.280 --> 0:08:10.600 great job, you're at Wells Fargo, you have your savings, 0:08:10.640 --> 0:08:12.600 you're a but your son's about to go to college 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:15.840 and you sit down with your husband and you say, hey, babe, 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:19.360 I would really love to spend to spend my savings 0:08:19.440 --> 0:08:23.040 on creating this this finance bar and getting a school 0:08:23.040 --> 0:08:25.240 bus and turning it into a personal finance hub. 0:08:25.840 --> 0:08:29.000 Well, you know, Mandy, it wasn't It wasn't an immediate 0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:34.120 conversation like that, because when I first got the bus, 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:38.559 like that was a big expense, But then the biggest 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:41.040 expense after that I would have to say, like was 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:43.319 the mechanics, and I would have to My husband was 0:08:43.360 --> 0:08:46.720 pretty upset about that because it was just like we're 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:50.679 paying more to get the bus repaired than the bus 0:08:50.679 --> 0:08:54.920 actually cost. But now after that, Mandy, you know, it 0:08:55.040 --> 0:08:58.160 was like this small stuff to get the bus painted inside, 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:02.240 to pay for the contract, to get like furniture from Ikia. 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:05.240 So it was like little small pieces of money in 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:07.320 all these different spaces. So it's not like I had 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:08.720 to sit down with them and say, you know what, 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:10.880 I think this is going to cost about twenty thousand dollars. 0:09:11.160 --> 0:09:14.080 So it wasn't an abrupt conversation to like really freak 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:18.920 him out. It was just money across different areas during 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:22.320 that period of time of my startup. But as I 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:26.360 mentioned before, I was also still employed, so some of 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:29.400 the money that I was earning from the bank, I 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:33.400 was also using to put into the finance bar instead 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:35.680 of having to take all of it and use it 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:38.160 for my savings. It was kind of like, dip into 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:41.480 my savings for this amount, go hear from my paycheck 0:09:41.520 --> 0:09:43.880 for this now to try to balance it out as 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:44.560 much as I could. 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:46.319 So that's just pretty much how I had to make 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:46.760 it work. 0:09:48.200 --> 0:09:50.360 And when you're dipping into your savings, are those just 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:53.160 regular savings or are you in your four one k? 0:09:54.000 --> 0:09:58.760 No, it's just regular savings. Yeah, savings, Yeah, just regular savings. 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:02.040 Were you guys able to I mean as a family, 0:10:02.040 --> 0:10:05.000 I know you've probably had, you know, savings goals. Were 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:07.400 you guys able to continue sort of saving for your 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:11.199 future retirement long term stuff while you were starting the business? 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:11.960 Yeah? 0:10:11.960 --> 0:10:14.120 I was because at the bank we still had I 0:10:14.120 --> 0:10:16.440 still had my forra one k, so I was still 0:10:16.559 --> 0:10:18.520 like investing into my for all one k. 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:22.319 None of that changed. And you know what, Manny, that. 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:24.640 Like, now that we talk, I want to go back 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:26.520 and say this because I think that it's important for 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:30.040 people to hear. Is that as an entrepreneur or just 0:10:30.120 --> 0:10:32.880 someone that's trying to do better with their finances when 0:10:32.880 --> 0:10:36.480 it comes to saving, I can truly say that I 0:10:36.520 --> 0:10:39.040 don't know what I was saving for Mandy. Like you 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:42.040 know how you think about saving, It's like, okay, for emergencies, Okay, 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:45.199 I get that, but this savings wasn't like an emergency savings. 0:10:45.240 --> 0:10:47.480 It was just kind of like money to have and 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:49.959 at that moment, and I even share this with clients now, 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:52.080 is that one day a moment will come and you'll 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:54.880 say that, maybe I don't understand why I'm saving now, 0:10:55.200 --> 0:10:57.320 which is why a lot of people don't save, because 0:10:57.320 --> 0:10:58.960 they're like, you know, for what, I can't take my 0:10:59.000 --> 0:11:00.680 money with me when I leave here, so why do 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:04.640 I save? I feel like my moment for me was 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:07.240 one day I woke up and I said, I want 0:11:07.320 --> 0:11:09.720 to leave my job to do something that I really 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:11.920 love to wake up to do, wake up and do. 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:14.920 That is why I was saving money all along. I 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:17.559 just didn't realize it because it wasn't for all one 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:20.720 K money. It wasn't from an emergency fund. It was 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:24.320 other money. So my story now now that I think back, 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:27.040 is that that's what I was saving for. I was 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:30.080 saving for my moment to save. Like I always tell people, 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:34.400 saving money is not always about when a problem comes 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:37.800 up or for an emergency, and it may not even 0:11:37.840 --> 0:11:39.840 be for a vacation. What if you just wake up 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:41.920 one day and there's something different that you want to 0:11:41.920 --> 0:11:42.680 do in life. 0:11:42.480 --> 0:11:44.920 Like, how do you pivot? I had to pivot. 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:47.680 So in order to pivot, I had to have savings 0:11:47.720 --> 0:11:50.920 to create this business. And that's just what I did, 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:53.960 and I made it work. So I didn't stop, you know, 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:56.560 putting money into my for a one K that's still saved, 0:11:56.600 --> 0:11:59.800 that that still happened. We didn't stop putting money into 0:11:59.800 --> 0:12:01.959 it twenty emergency savings, and then we had to send 0:12:02.000 --> 0:12:05.760 our son off. So now I'm thankful that everything just 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:08.360 kind of fell into place. And then once it did 0:12:08.520 --> 0:12:11.160 and I had that business going, it was just really 0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:15.480 working aggressively to make it work, because that was to go, 0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:18.040 just make it work. You can recoup the money, but 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:19.959 just really work hard to make it work. 0:12:20.720 --> 0:12:23.520 I think that's such an important statement you made, and 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:26.559 it's so true, you know. I remember in my early 0:12:26.600 --> 0:12:29.160 twenties after I lost my very first job in New 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:30.760 York and I was laid off, and I was like, 0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:33.400 oh God, I have nothing in the bank. And I 0:12:33.920 --> 0:12:37.120 after that, I've after that. I mean I was twenty two. 0:12:37.200 --> 0:12:39.200 I didn't know what I was needed money for. I 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:42.040 just knew that I never wanted to be like feel 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:44.120 trapped and like never having to take a job I 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:47.200 didn't want. That's why I love when people call savings 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:50.400 accounts your freedom fund or your yeah, your FU fund 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:53.720 for then the PG thirteen version the FU fund, cause 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:56.200 it's like, yeah, you may not have a name for 0:12:56.240 --> 0:12:58.200 it now, but it's it's power. 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:01.360 It's power, yeah, I said, it's. 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:04.520 The ability to do what you want when you want 0:13:04.559 --> 0:13:07.240 to and sort of make that decision. 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:08.120 Yeah. 0:13:08.160 --> 0:13:10.560 Because looking back, Mandy, I honestly I never would have 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:13.000 thought I would have left the bank like now, even 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:16.439 thinking about it, I never thought it because when I left, 0:13:16.480 --> 0:13:18.720 you know, what was trending, what was a big deal 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:21.600 was like millennials working for the working for themselves. 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:23.880 I'm not a millennial. I'm not a millennial. 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:26.079 I'm not someone that's in their twenties that's fresh out 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:28.400 of college either. So for me it was a huge 0:13:28.440 --> 0:13:30.920 deal because I was I was raised to know that, 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:33.440 you know, you go to school, you go get a 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:35.680 good job, and you stay at that job to retirement. 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:39.880 So for me being an entrepreneur in itself was a 0:13:40.120 --> 0:13:43.959 huge deal. I don't come from a long line of entrepreneurs. 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:47.120 I have a few uncles that they are. But I 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:51.400 still pinch myself because I never ever, ever thought that 0:13:51.480 --> 0:13:54.720 I would leave the bank ever now, not one time ever. 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:57.520 I always did everything to elevate myself to the next 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:00.719 level at the bank, and when I left bank, it was. 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:02.320 From a job that I loved. 0:14:02.720 --> 0:14:04.680 So when I loved I was still in tears because 0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:06.679 I couldn't even believe I was going to walk away 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:08.920 from it, and then I just decided to do it. 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:11.800 So I think it's important that people know that a 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:14.920 savings is not just for bad things in life. One 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:17.960 day you wake up and I think that everyone, at 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:21.080 some point or I think everyone has a gift, and 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:24.800 to truly walk in that gift, you have to prepare 0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:28.800 yourself for that moment when you say that I can't 0:14:28.840 --> 0:14:31.600 let this dream or this vision that I have go 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:34.640 for my life. And the only way to do that 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:38.200 is to somehow prepare for that moment and to be 0:14:38.280 --> 0:14:40.600 willing to work through the kings and everything that it 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:41.520 takes to get there. 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:43.640 And that's just what I've decided to do. 0:14:45.480 --> 0:14:48.120 I love it, and I feel like it's so important 0:14:48.120 --> 0:14:50.040 for people. And I was going to bring that up. 0:14:50.040 --> 0:14:52.080 Thank you for I know it's not polite to ask 0:14:52.120 --> 0:14:55.840 a woman's age, but I think it's important that people 0:14:55.960 --> 0:14:58.040 know that you don't have to be twenty one. You 0:14:58.080 --> 0:15:00.160 don't have to be you know, everyone tries to like 0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:05.560 glamorized sort of like entrepreneurs is like college kids and stuff. 0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:07.200 But you can do it when you're at a later 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:09.400 stage in life and when you're established in your career. 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:11.160 I mean, in my in my mind, I feel like 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:14.120 that takes even more balls. I'm sorry our guts to 0:15:14.120 --> 0:15:17.800 to leave something so established behind. And one of the 0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:20.000 things I hope people heard when you were talking to 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:22.480 is that you didn't really It's like a lot of 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:25.920 people who create businesses or in Silicon Valley or something, 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:28.920 they probably went to school with people who were starting 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:32.480 businesses or knew, like, came from a long line of entrepreneurs, 0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:35.680 had a game for money, or you know, had examples 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:38.920 or saw examples of what it takes and sort of 0:15:39.800 --> 0:15:42.800 and that's really valuable and to take that risk and 0:15:42.840 --> 0:15:45.640 do it without, like you said, sort of having anyone 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:48.200 you can look at and say, oh great, I'll just 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:50.840 sort of ask Uncle Joe what it was like when 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:54.240 he started a school busy multile science. 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:59.760 Like, or I'll just ask the food truck people, like 0:15:59.760 --> 0:16:00.440 how you did it? 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:03.360 Yeah, when you don't have a blueprint, Mandy, when you 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:04.360 don't have a blueprint? 0:16:04.520 --> 0:16:05.760 Is I joke about it now? 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:07.960 I wasn't laughing a few years ago, though, because I'm like, 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:08.560 how am I going. 0:16:08.560 --> 0:16:09.400 To make this thing work? 0:16:09.760 --> 0:16:12.080 When you don't have a blueprint and you don't have 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:17.320 like investors, It's like you're starting from zero, like ground, 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:21.840 like under ground zero, at the bottom of nothing to 0:16:21.880 --> 0:16:23.920 try to figure everything out. 0:16:24.040 --> 0:16:26.120 So it was it was a scary moment, but I 0:16:26.160 --> 0:16:26.920 was determined. 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:30.440 I was determined, and I still am, like, just to 0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:34.360 make it happen, and things have been working out just fine. 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:37.680 I'm still shocked by it, but I know there's still 0:16:37.720 --> 0:16:39.720 a long journey ahead of me, and I'm really excited 0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:40.120 about that. 0:16:40.760 --> 0:16:44.800 Well, let's go back to December of twenty sixteen. So 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:46.960 at that point, you've been working on the finance bar 0:16:47.080 --> 0:16:48.520 for about a year, right, a little over a. 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:49.840 Year, yeah, a little over year. 0:16:50.000 --> 0:16:52.440 Uh huh, And that was the moment you've been working 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:54.520 on it for a year. The first year was tough. 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:57.680 When did you decide, I think it's time for me 0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:00.960 to leave my job, my full time job, and really 0:17:01.520 --> 0:17:05.320 dedicate myself one hundred percent to this new mission. 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:08.840 I think what it was for me, Mandy, is I 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:14.520 started to get like speaking engagements to speak for different 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:19.360 companies that were somewhat competition for the bank. And I 0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:21.920 just had this yep, and I just had this good 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:24.200 feeling that this won't go well like I have to 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:26.399 I just won't go well, like I'm gonna have to 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:28.359 try to juggle this. It's not going to happen. Like 0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:31.440 the finance Bar has started being in the media. It 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:34.520 was his whole it was his whole ordeal, and I 0:17:34.560 --> 0:17:40.000 know it no longer felt safe for me, Mandy. It 0:17:40.040 --> 0:17:44.160 didn't feel like I was doing the bank any justice 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:47.800 by trying to like float between two different things. And 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:51.280 I said, what is most important to me? And the 0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:54.200 finance Bar was most important to me, And I said, 0:17:54.240 --> 0:17:56.280 what's the worst that could happen? The worst that could 0:17:56.280 --> 0:17:59.720 happen is that I won't earn any money from this, 0:18:00.000 --> 0:18:02.480 and I won't have any money coming into my household. 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:05.640 So how do I earn money, and once I knew 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:07.919 that I could do that, that was my decision. It 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:10.880 was like either Wells it was Wells Fargo or the 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:11.520 finance bar. 0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:12.680 Which one are you willing to do? 0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:14.600 And I felt like I had been at Wells Fargo 0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:17.480 for several years. So I did that, and I really 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:20.320 left on a good note. There was no ill will. 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:23.320 I did not like my job. I loved my job. 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:25.679 I loved the person that I worked for. It was 0:18:25.760 --> 0:18:28.119 just time. It was time for the next journey in 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:30.640 my life. And that's just when I made the decision. 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:34.160 I was actually supposed to leave in November and chickened 0:18:34.200 --> 0:18:36.479 out and said, yeah, no, I don't think I'm ready. 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:39.240 I should just stay one more month. And then when 0:18:39.280 --> 0:18:40.960 December came out, I was like, well, maybe I should 0:18:40.960 --> 0:18:44.399 just stay until the beginning of next year. And I said, no, Marsha, 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:46.040 don't do it. And I just left in December. 0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:51.840 At that time, South went and let go, and what universe, 0:18:51.880 --> 0:18:54.960 I guess, God, that's right, whatever you believe, yeah, let go. 0:18:56.320 --> 0:18:59.199 At that time, were you bringing in money enough to 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:01.440 replace your well Spargo salary? 0:19:01.560 --> 0:19:02.160 Yeah? Yeah. 0:19:02.200 --> 0:19:04.240 So at that time, Mandy, I had made my way 0:19:04.280 --> 0:19:06.440 with the members club with the virtual member with the 0:19:06.520 --> 0:19:09.399 virtual membership to almost to a place where I was 0:19:09.440 --> 0:19:14.080 bringing in almost what I've made at Wills Fargo. So 0:19:14.119 --> 0:19:16.520 if you if you think about it, Mandy, I wasn't 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:18.840 you know, I was. In my mind, I thought I 0:19:18.920 --> 0:19:21.159 was giving the Finance Bar one hundred percent, but I 0:19:21.200 --> 0:19:23.879 couldn't because I was working a full time, eight to 0:19:24.000 --> 0:19:25.480 five job every single day. 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:27.120 So I knew that if I was. 0:19:27.119 --> 0:19:29.960 Able to accomplish that in the hours that I was 0:19:30.040 --> 0:19:34.840 able to give to the Finance Bar, what would my 0:19:35.080 --> 0:19:37.480 potential be if I did it full time. 0:19:37.960 --> 0:19:39.840 So that's just what I said to myself. 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:41.840 If I let it go, and I'm almost at that 0:19:41.960 --> 0:19:45.280 number that I need need to be at to replace 0:19:45.359 --> 0:19:48.439 that income or replace that salary, if. 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:50.480 I do this full time, I can easily do it. 0:19:50.880 --> 0:19:52.440 And I've been able to do it since then. 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:55.520