How to Pursue Your Dreams & Have Financial Success
Having Success in Business
Have you ever thought something was unattainable? Today we’re talking about taking steps towards the things you most want in life.
From house flipping ventures to business growth, Michelle Moses shares the beauty of chasing what ignites our souls. Listen in for real-life stories, challenges, and the magic of pursuing what truly matters.
Time Stamps
00:00 Welcome to the Me Financial Podcast!
00:28 The Journey to Business Success: Overcoming Roadblocks
01:28 Embracing Flexibility and Lifestyle in Finance
05:18 Taking the Leap: Real Estate Ventures and More
07:46 The Essence of Pursuing What Excites You
16:02 Navigating the Path to Your Dreams
24:27 Reflections and Encouragement: Keep Moving Forward
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Hey, hello everyone. Welcome to the me financial podcast. I am Michelle Moses, your host. I am a certified financial planner, a realtor, a former e commerce store owner, and I own my own, um, RIA, which is registered investment advisor. I'm a financial advisor. And I am, it's just going to be me today. I'm not going to have any, um, guests.
And today we're going to talk about really identifying what you're excited about and going towards it. And, um, it sounds so much more simple than what I'm going to talk about. Uh, cause I was just thinking a lot about where, how my business became what it is today. today and the things that I did to, um, get here and the things that I'm most proud of.
Um, because for some reason last week I started to write down all of these ways that, um, I was networking to get my business off the ground and I [00:01:00] was actually kind of impressed. I was like, Oh my God, I totally forgot about this and I totally forgot about that. And, um, and it got me to thinking about really overcoming some of these.
roadblocks that I had. So I think this episode is a lot for people that, um, may want to have their own business or they want to have their own nonprofit or, uh, maybe even an Airbnb in the backyard, but you're wanting to like create something. You're wanting to add something into your life.
Uh, and that's where I think that, you know, not only do I know about all the money stuff just from being, um, an advisor to people, but, um, There's so much more like I think of finance, um, as being like your lifestyle.
What I have basically kind of what's fell on my lap and I've kind of orchestrated, I guess, uh, is having the flexibility that I want with my time. And, you know, there's been some instances where I've made some decisions with my business. And I've turned around and I'm like, Oh, I just created a job for [00:02:00] myself, like working Monday through Friday.
This is not what I want. Uh, what I wanted to say when I set out was I wanted flexibility. I wanted to be able to make money. Right. Uh, but I wanted the flexibility to be with my kids and I didn't even have kids and I wasn't even married or dating anyone, but I knew I wanted to get married and have kids.
And so I knew that was, What I want with my life. Um, let's not forget, I just hate anybody telling me what to do with my time. Like, I hated school. I hated, uh, like being in meetings. Like if I have to sit through a PowerPoint, like I walk outside, I'm like, oh, oh my God, I'm done. You know? And it's like I just have to get in my car and be alone or something.
So anyway, I have a very high or low tolerance and a high need to have control over my time and my schedule and what I'm going to be doing. But, uh, it hasn't, you know, come easily. Like sometimes I've had to force myself to pick up the phone. I've had to force myself to, you know, get some financing when I, you know, was unsure about it.[00:03:00]
Uh, cause I'm very, very worried with what I do. I am so scared about making a wrong financial decision. Uh, it really like terrifies me, um, because I don't want to be like bankrupt and then go, Oh my God, you know, you can't come to me anymore. So I have a real high. Uh, fear of that. And so it's kind of kept me from doing some things.
Um, but I'm most proud of when I find ways to get through that. Right. And, um, and it didn't financially ruin me or emotionally ruin me or, you know, any of those things, whatever it is for you. Uh, so I wasn't sure what kind of title to put on this, but I really do think it's for the people that just want to create something else in their life.
And, and how do you identify what you're excited about? But then. It's not dismissing that, and that's what I think that we do is like, it's so easy, like, okay, you know, there's all these coaches, write down what you want, and then let's come up with a way to get there. Okay, if that worked, then we would all be [00:04:00] doing it.
It doesn't work because we don't know the how, and I think any intuitive, any kind of personal development, Or, uh, spiritual thing you go to or coaching program masters, you know, masterminds, they always are like, okay, what are the things that you want? And then what are the steps that you're going to take to get there?
And I feel like. That has never worked for me like ever. Uh, I have always had to come up with what I'm excited about and then oftentimes I'm like, no, that's not possible. And then I have to come back around and say, no, you need to at least explore it to see if it is possible. And that is kind of what I want to talk about is what are those next little steps when you're so scared and you think that you're not qualified to do that?
To make these steps or to have these things in your life, um, because you could want an Airbnb and just be like, there is no way I could manage these people because you might want an Airbnb and it might turn into a long term rental in your backyard. That is way easier than what you thought. [00:05:00] You may think that you want to, uh, have a business, but then once you actually do it, you're like, wow, that's a lot.
No, I really like working in a company. What I want is flexibility of time. And I. Want to encourage people that you've really got to try things. You've got to pick up the phone. You got to just like try a few. So I'm going to, I'm just going to have some examples here of, um, things that I was excited about and, uh, thought that I could not attain.
And the first big one, honestly, um, that I didn't even think of, uh, was. And getting into real estate. Uh, I love real estate. I love redoing houses. Um, but for my whole life, I really was just like, no, that's for other people. No, that's not for me to do. I don't have the money to do that, you know, for a really long time.
And, uh, what. Made it happen for me is that I had a friend call, we moved to, uh, Kansas City for a few years, and he [00:06:00] called and was like, Hey, I really wanna flip a house there. I think it's the next Dawson, Texas, you know? And I was like, Ugh, I am all about this. I have wanted to do this forever. And it ended up that he wasn't able to do it, um, because he was gonna help and, you know.
It made it better to think that we were going to do it together, you know, financially. And, uh, again, I'm very scared about making a big financial decision where I'm going to totally lose my shirt. And that would be one of those, right? What, what would happen if I fell on my face and I looked like a fool and lost all of the money?
Um, That is a totally extreme, right? But we all have these thoughts. And I started to look for houses and lo and behold, he backs out and I get finding, I find financing. I found a house. I looked at three houses and found a house. So I just. I started looking. I just started saying what are the possibilities.
It is exactly like moving right now. I have no idea what the possibilities are, but I'm still looking at houses. Do I like this neighborhood? Maybe I [00:07:00] like this house. Maybe I don't, you know, and so what I'm telling you is not anything that's Uh, you know, earth changing or that you haven't heard anywhere else, but I really want to give some examples of how to do these things and they can apply, and I guess what I'm talking about today is more lifestyle rather than just, you know, finance and money itself.
But when I think about finance and when I think about money, I think about lifestyle. I'm not just thinking about your IRA and what it's invested in. Mostly what I'm thinking about is what kind of lifestyle do you want? That's what you're thinking about when you want to retire. That's what you think about when you're working and what kind of life do you want?
You can't always be working and being like, Oh, I'm just going to pay my bills. I'm going to pay my water bill. Like that is not exciting. You know, you are going to want something else in your life that you want to be So right now I'm excited to make money because I do want to invest in real estate. I do want to like maybe redo a house or redo [00:08:00] commercial property or something.
I want to be ready when the right opportunity comes along. And so it is helping me to not buy the new throw pillows, to not buy the new lamps. You know, all those little things that I kind freshen up in our house. Um, no, would I want more? is to do all of this infesting, and so I would rather save my money than do that.
Um, and so it's just these little, um, things that you say to yourself every day, right, that, uh, make a difference. And so me not buying the new throw pillows is not, you know, a 75 throw pillow is not going to add up to a, you know, a 500, 000 piece of real estate. But if you add all of that up, and I know that I want to do that, It will help, right?
But it does keep me motivated to generate more business and that's what I, you know, once I did everything, I was like, I just need to go earn some more money and I am in the position of, you know, having the [00:09:00] experience with my business so that I can then go out and say, yes, I'm going to go try to create some more opportunities to make more money.
Um, and what I was excited about was, you know, Getting my real estate license. So I just became a realtor, um, about a year ago. And you know, everybody, every single person, what are you gonna do with it? Whatcha gonna do with it? I'm like, I don't know. I, I have no idea. I'm just really interested in it. , I really want to get into it.
I'm gonna see where this goes. And I have that flexibility. Because I have a steady income. And so I do realize that. And so if you're listening to this and you're like, well, that's great, but I can't even, you know, pay my bills or that's, you know, you need to, you need to get this, uh, message wherever you're at.
Okay. So if you are just paying your bills or barely paying your bills and you, um, are getting this message, then you can do the essence of something. Yeah. You know, what if you're barely paying your bills, but you really wanted to get into something else and you could work for somebody else. [00:10:00] Cause that's what I did when I first started my business.
So when I started my business and I just wrote this down last week, I had totally forgotten about all this. I was waiting tables and I was like an assistant and another financial advisor's office. And I met him at a, at a, And we started to talk and he was pretty close to my house and I asked him if he needed an assistant so that I could learn how to do the paperwork.
I made 10 an hour and it was like three days a week at, you know, from like noon to four or something. And, uh, it, and it was perfect for him. Like he, that is exactly what he needed. And it was great for me because I was working in his office and then when I got clients, he would help me with the files to make sure that I wasn't, you know, making really a wrong decision or anything.
And it's kind of how I learned about the business. Um, and so I was just really putting myself out there to ask these questions and it was like a godsend for him. There have been other times where I've asked people to be on this show, and they'll say, Oh my gosh, just last week, I was telling my [00:11:00] husband that I wanted to be on a podcast.
And then here you are, because a lot of times by you stepping out and taking that chance, you're making somebody else's dream come true is what I've learned over all of these years. Um, even though I sometimes don't want to make the, The phone calls. Like I, yesterday I just made a phone call, um, to a client and then we started talking about real estate investing and it was an amazing conversation and I never kn knew that we would even be talking about that.
Uh, so anyway, the back to my house, flipping story of, uh, not. You know, I had just always lived in such denial that that was for somebody else to do and the fact that I could do it. And so, and, you know, doing this podcast is something that's very, uh, scary for me. I love it. I could sit here and talk to you all day.
Uh, but coming up with topics that I think that you're going to be interested in and that I am genuinely passionate about, it's, you know, it's kind of tough. Um, but I have to take, you know, uh, [00:12:00] stepping out and trying some things, right? Because you just don't know. It's like, I just need to put some stuff out there because last year I said, okay, I really want to invest in more real estate.
So I got my real estate license and I started this podcast. I have no idea how I'm going to make money from these things. Like no clue. And I just started them and I'm like, okay, if I just throw some stuff against the wall, I'm doing what I enjoy and what I'm interested in, it's going to turn out. And that is exactly how I started my business.
I'm good at math. I thought, oh, I can read all of these statements. It's very easy for me. I see how confused people get by all of this. Why don't I help them with it? Um, and so that's how I got started in, in my business and why I am doing what I'm doing. Uh, and so I think that if you want to have a side hustle, if you want to have just a bigger business, you do have to take those, um, chances.
Uh, and my one thing. And then I don't [00:13:00] often say to people, even when they are talking to me about starting stuff is don't go into debt over it. Uh, I have definitely learned that like you can start. So like when I had my online, my e commerce store, um, I would just test things with marketing and I would literally put in like 150 and I'd just be like, okay, let's see how this goes.
And you would know whether it was going to work or not with 150. You do not need to spend, like, I would be talking to people and they'd be like, Hey, this is a thousand dollars a month. Okay, this is, you know, and they'd want me to sign these contracts. And so I would just keep talking to people until I found like the person that was, you know, working on their own and they had, you know, two years of experience instead of 10 because that was more my level.
Right where I was for that E-commerce store. And so I think that's what's important is that we have these dreams of like, okay, I'm gonna have this business and we're gonna do this and it's gonna look exactly like this. Okay, so I need to call so and so, you know, because when I first started my business, it was, I'm gonna have an assistant and then I'm just gonna meet with three people a day, and then they're [00:14:00] gonna do the paperwork.
And that is like, not at all how it is like not at all. And they all teach you that. Like you just wanna be and have all these clients coming to you every day. And then you wanna have an assistant doing the paperwork. And you're just like talking to them and that is the best use of your time. Absolutely, as an advisor, that is the best use of my time, but that is just not realistic for how it works with all of the paperwork and with the way people make decisions, honestly.
I mean there are people that I've been working with for a year and we're just now making decisions, like it. Sometimes financial decisions just take a while, whatever it is for wherever, whatever you're working in, you know, like sometimes stuff just needs to percolate, uh, and, and it's just like this linear thinking that we have of, I'm going to start a business and this is the road that I need.
You don't know the how.
Like I can, I can tell you right now, none of you know the how, uh, there was a guy that I met at the gym a couple of weeks ago and he, I found out that, uh, he owns a couple of restaurants here in town that [00:15:00] are hugely popular, like very popular, a lot of thousands of Yelp reviews, all of that.
And I was like, wow, you are impressive. Like, congratulations. You started all that. That is just. You know, and I'm going on and on about like how people come in for conferences. And that is like the restaurant that they go to, uh, your food is great. And he's like, wow, well, thank you. I, I really don't know how it turned out this way.
He's like, I just, you know, I just put some stuff together and then here I am. And I. I was so refreshed to hear that answer, you guys, so refreshed because like, that's how I feel 90 percent of the time, like people look at me, I have people call me and they're like, you've made it. You're not. I'm like, really?
I like, cause there's so many days I wake up and I'm like, I have no idea what I'm doing. I, where am I going? And it's more about where are you going? That, that is the hard part for me is I don't know where I'm going. And, um, you just got to keep, you know, Put in one foot in front of the [00:16:00] other. And when I don't know where I'm going, that's what I come back to.
What am I excited about? What am I excited about? Same thing that I teach people about like their money and their portfolio. What are you excited about? You excited about hotels? You excited about real estate? You excited about the stock market? Are you excited about this annuity? What are you excited about?
Are you excited about to not worry about your money? Those are the kinds of things that you, that I go back to for helping to make decisions, whatever you are excited about. with the caveat that you're not going to go into debt about that thing that you're excited about, um, and cause yourself, you know, some huge harm down the way, because you might think that you know what you're excited about.
Okay. And like, I want to be, uh, you know, a social media influencer. So I need to do this, this, and this, you don't always know what the road is going to look like. Um, so I'm going to give some examples of things that have happened, um, in my business about doing this exact same thing. Uh, and It just see if it resonates.
And, and so that's [00:17:00] all I want from this. And so I know this is kind of a, um, I was really hesitant to do this episode, uh, just because it's so like etheric and, you know, just personal development ish, because, um, you really do, like, if you're going to work for yourself, I mean, your business is an extension of who you are and you really do have to sit down and journal and meditate and.
You know, I mean, because there's sometimes like just yesterday, I was really tired in the afternoon and I was like, okay, I'm going to do this one phone call. I'm like, no, go lay down and then do the phone call, figure out what you really want to do today, because if I am in, if I'm not in the right space of mind to have these phone Um, then nothing's going to come of it.
You know, people can tell I'm tired. I'm not saying I don't make any phone calls tired. It's just that I try to be engaged. I try to be, you know, taking notes, all of that, if I'm making these phone calls. And that is the one that I had where I was talking to somebody about doing real estate investing. [00:18:00] Uh, and it turned out to be an amazing phone call, but I think it was only amazing because I laid down.
If I was tired, I would have just said, okay, this is what I'm calling you about. Okay. Talk to you later. And we wouldn't have expanded to see, you know, where other things are going. Um, but this is me. I have gotten most of my business from referrals. Uh, that is where all my best clients come from is referrals.
It isn't from doing the TV and the radio, uh, you know, or any marketing. Um, and so I know that that's my way. I like to talk to people, calling people, you know, getting out and about. That is my way. Something that I'm super excited. I was super excited about. Never thought in a million years I could get into.
I just thought it just was out of the realm of possibility. And I think a lot of us do that. Like, Oh, that's just for people with money. Oh, that's just for people, you know, that have experience with, you know, whatever engineering or science or something like that. And I am telling you that you can figure it out.
You can always figure it out. You can always partner with somebody. Um, there's always people wanting to help when you call for help. [00:19:00] Um, so there are a few other instances. Um, when I started my business, for instance, I mean, I moved from Ohio. My boss told me, Oh, you'll be back. Um, and I was like, yeah, no, I'm, I'm moving to Arizona.
Uh, I, there's other instances when I was starting my own RIA. So an RIA is your own financial planning firm. Okay. And so basically I don't have somebody like, uh, I don't, I don't, I don't even know a company, one of the big financial planning companies like a UBS or something. Like if I worked for them, they would be telling me exactly the things that I could sell, um, the products that I could, would be available to my clients.
And then I would give them like part of a percentage of what I make. Uh, when I started my company 18 years ago, one, I was a woman. Uh, and two, uh, this was doing this RAA thing was kind of like new and it's like a cowboy land and I was like, no, this is what I want. I don't want to give. I want to keep, you know, all of the fees that I make and I want to [00:20:00] make, obviously I wanted to be in control of my, uh, schedule, uh, because that's also my number one thing.
I don't want anybody telling me that I have to be somewhere for a certain amount of time or whatever. Um, yeah. So, uh, I started this RAA and I started it just by making some phone calls of people that I knew. And I said, do you know a lawyer that could, you know, because there's these big, huge law firms and you can pay 10, 000 and get all this paperwork.
Well, of course I found the one guy that has, you know, like a paralegal and then just him. And, uh, he was able to do it for like, it was
And so, I at least got the legal structure. I had somebody that I could call about my compliance. I had somebody that I could call with questions to get me to other people. And it's the exact same thing when I wanted to put alternative investments into my, um, into my business. People said I was crazy. Um, it's too much risk.
And so these alternative investments are basically money that you would take inside your IRA and you would invest it in real [00:21:00] estate. So like hotels, um, apartments and self storage facilities. Okay. And these are investments. Um, but you're basically giving your money to somebody and you're trusting them that they're going to run their business the way that they say that they are.
Uh, and then they're going to give you the interest and the dividends and then your money back. Um, Uh, well, you know, a lot of times you'll give 50, 000 to these and then you hear them from the SEC, you know, like they ran off with the money, uh, because this stuff does happen. And so it is a huge risk for these big companies to sell these alternative investments because of that, you know, you're taking 50, 000 and you're putting it in one investment versus, you know, You know, maybe you know, you could take more, but the minimum is usually 50, uh, and you're taking 50, 000, you're putting them in these investments and, you know, it's different than taking 50 and splitting it up between, you know, 10 different exchange traded funds or stocks, uh, you aren't as well diversified.
And so, [00:22:00] uh, because of that risk, the larger firms didn't want to have a part of it. But I was like, no, I feel like this is it. Like my intuition was going crazy with this like 10 years ago. I was like, no, no, no, no. This is, this is the way I don't want to just be in the stock market. Um, and so I literally had the plan for the day I got on LinkedIn and I just started calling people like, Hey, do you know anybody that does alternative investments?
And so then I, by the end of the day, I had. Uh, two conferences that I could go to. So I booked those conferences and I started going to them. I started to get the word out to people, um, that I knew. And so then you have people knocking on your door, obviously, because they want to sell me these investments.
Um, and then I went to a due diligence conference, um, basically, um, that teaches these big companies, they're called broker dealers. They teach them how to go over these investments. So I just signed up and I went, I wasn't a customer. I mean, I guess I'm with a compliance officer for my business. I was at the time and, [00:23:00] uh, or I guess I am now too, but, uh, I was the one doing all the due diligence on this.
And then once I went to that conference, I was like, this is it. I'm like, this is not, you know, like, I think a lot of times people make it out to be like such this huge deal. But then once you start to get into it and understand it, um, it's not as big of a deal. And this wasn't like, these people were not lawyers.
They were not, you know, they had just been in the industry like me. And so that gave me a lot more confidence. And it has been the best thing ever for my business. Like I get so many clients from this because other people don't do it. Other people are not willing, um, they're not willing or, uh, they're not allowed to give advice on these types of investments.
And I'll give them advice, you know, on everything. And, um, You know, I've just stuck to my guns and that's how I've gotten clients. Um, there have been other things like, um, I think getting my real estate license, you know, I wasn't sure how to do that. I mean, that's pretty easy. You can look up, but the point of it [00:24:00] is, is, Um, to not deny those things that you're excited about.
And I've talked about this in other episodes about like having an essence of what you want. Um, and so it's kind of like if I want the essence of getting into real estate, then looking at houses, going to look at houses. I'm going to a class tomorrow about mortgages or loan financing options for renovations.
Like I'm just trying to learn. Um, Uh, and so I just want to encourage you, I guess it's just like go after your dreams, right?
And that it can, it can be figured out. Um, and you know, it's not, everything is the same in life. Like the way you do one thing is the way you do everything, right? And so we could apply this to starting a business, but I can also do it with money and just like, You know, what are you excited about?
Are you excited about stocks? Do you like ETFs? Do you just not want anybody to do anything? You know, I, I, some people, they [00:25:00] come to me and they want me to just do everything. And then I kind of throw it back on them like this. This is, and I don't, it's not, I shouldn't say throw it back on them, but I, I get them engaged in their own finances by, they're just like fed up and they're just like, whatever.
I just don't want to deal with this anymore. And that isn't the way to make more money. You've got to be engaged with your money. But, um, and, but it's getting them excited about whatever they're excited about. you know, are you excited about maybe paying for your kid to go to college? You know, like there's always something that you're excited about, about having the freedom that you want to do.
And, um, and so sitting down and really meditating on it, but then also not living in denial about the stuff that you're excited about. Um, yeah, I think it's like the best way to live life. So, uh, I hope all of this made sense. I felt like this was, again, like a very etheric, uh, kind of podcast, especially for an advisor.
But I, I just think that, um, you know, there's, uh, financial advisors are a dime a dozen, but the lifestyle that I [00:26:00] have isn't a dime a dozen. Um, I'm really proud of the lifestyle that I have. Um, the time that I have with my kids, you know, I'm able to take weeks off work and not, you know, work for a few hours.
I, Oh, that's another thing I did. I had a mastermind for a four hour work week, uh, because I really wanted to implement the four hour work week. This is a good one. I'm going to not wrap up the show. Is that I wanted the four hour work week so bad. And at the time I had my financial advising firm, but then I also had the e commerce store because you know, I wasn't making any money when I started my business.
And so I had my mom, uh, gave me this e commerce store. Uh, I grew it. and lived basically off this store for a while. And when I read the four hour work week, you know, it's all about living off the internet and having people ship stuff. And so I was a hundred percent into this e commerce store. I was like, this is it.
This is where I'm going. You know, this, this, from this book, this is what it says. But then as I got into it and you know, Amazon was just getting [00:27:00] big then I was like, man, I'm going to have to put like a lot of money into this to make this last, which I'm glad I didn't. It never would have with Amazon. But, uh, I thought I would be going in that direction versus, you know, the financial advising was where it was at and thank God I didn't leave it because it also gives me, you know, I charge a fee on managing assets, um, I might make, um, residuals on, um, on insurance sales, like health insurance and life insurance and stuff like that.
And so it does give me that residual income. I didn't want to be renewing, you know, making the sale. My husband's a recruiter, um, you know, and he would have to recruit and then he started all over recruit and starting over. And that's not what I wanted. I'm not good at that. I wanted like a steady stream where, uh, you know, I could take weeks off of work and it wouldn't affect my income.
Uh, so I have. I don't know. I mean, I could say I created it and I worked really hard for it, [00:28:00] but honestly, I feel like it fell in my lap. I feel like I set the intention and then I was walking blind all over tarnation and it like fell in my lap. And to me, that is, That is how things happen. Like now, the more that I work out and take care of myself and like cook, the more clients I get.
I don't understand it. It's just, it, it, it truly is because I feel so guilty. Like I can't go work out at 830 in the morning. Like I have to be working. But the more that I do, the more people I meet, I guess the happier I am, the more I want to work and it works out, right? And so the path just isn't, I just laugh.
I don't know, like if you have a path, has anybody had a path that has just like turned out? I would love to know in the comments or, you know, in a review or something. Because to me, I say what I want. And then it's like I do, I have to do the opposite of what I think I need to do in [00:29:00] order to get to where I want to go.
And that's just the thing is we don't know the how, but it's just taking those steps of making the phone call and taking the classes and doing the research just to see if it's a, a possibility. Um, and then it might, you know, dead end or, or something.
But, um, anyway, uh, that's it. That's all I got for you.
Uh, I hope this was informative in some way, shape, or form. I love talking to all of you guys, so please, um, tell your friends, leave a review, uh, subscribe. Um, I would love to hear from you if you've got any questions about, uh, different financial topics. Uh, I would love to help you out with them with details and we don't have to use your name.
So, uh, just let me know. Thank you so much for listening. I appreciate it, guys.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as professional financial advice. Always consult with a qualified financial advisor or professional before making any financial decisions. The hosts and guests of this podcast are not responsible for any actions taken based on the information presented.