Investor Mama

Connect with the Investor Mama Tribe

 Looking for ways to boost your income? Check out these resources to help you with your money journey

1. “I found MORE success after having kids” — motherhood as a business advantage, not a barrier

This is the single most viral-worthy hook in the episode. Ashley flips the narrative moms constantly hear (“kids will slow your career”). She says motherhood gave her structure, shifted her priorities, and motivated her to go harder. This directly targets the high-search-volume query “how to start a business as a mom” and the emotionally charged “can you build a business with kids?” — a headline that performs across Pinterest, Instagram Reels, and TikTok.

2. “What’s the worst that’s gonna happen? I can always go back to a job” — the anti-fear mindset moms need to hear

This quote is a shareable sound bite waiting to happen. It directly answers the #1 objection moms have before starting anything: what if I fail? Ashley reframes failure as temporary and reversible. This content angle ranks for searches like “fear of starting a business as a mom” and “mom entrepreneur mindset” — and it’s the type of quote that gets re-posted, screenshotted, and stitched on social.

3. “Don’t just ask for referrals — ask how you can serve their business first” — the networking cheat code for women who hate networking

Moms consistently search “how to network as a mom” and “how to get clients without being salesy.” Ashley’s approach — lead with service, be blunt about wanting to collaborate, and move on if it’s not a fit — is actionable, contrarian, and easy to turn into a carousel post or a “save this” Instagram graphic. The $10 million introduction she made without getting paid is the proof point that makes this sticky.

4. “It’s not all or nothing — start small, take tiny steps” — the permission slip that goes viral

The ladder analogy (small close-together steps vs. big gaps) is visual, memorable, and instantly turn-into-into-a-graphic content. Combined with Jen’s point about “it’s a season thing” — that you can scale back in summer, push hard later — this speaks to the exact audience searching “side hustle ideas for moms” and “how to start a small business with kids at home.” The message: you don’t have to go all in to get started.

5. “I restructured my business so my expertise spoke before anyone could judge me” — the pivot every woman in a male-dominated field needs to make

This is the takeaway most likely to get saved and shared in professional women’s circles. Ashley was mistaken for a high school intern, faced inappropriate meeting requests, and got dismissed — so she changed the model, not herself. She moved everything to phone-first so knowledge preceded appearance. This ranks for “women in real estate,” “female entrepreneur in male-dominated industry,” and “imposter syndrome as a woman in business” — high-intent, high-emotion searches that drive engagement and saves.

Connect with the Investor Mama Tribe

 Looking for ways to boost your income? Check out these resources to help you with your money journey

Jeannie Burlowski is an academic strategist helping parents of kids ages 12–26 set those kids up to graduate college debt-free. She is the author of the book LAUNCH: How to Get Your Kids Through College Debt-Free and Into Jobs They Love Afterward. Her writing provides parents a clear, step-by-step checklist so they can set their kids up to succeed brilliantly in college, graduate debt-free, and move directly into careers they excel at and love.

Jeannie’s expertise in this field comes from over 23 years of helping students apply to highly competitive law, medical, business, and graduate schools. During those years, she became a curator (think: a person who collects and catalogs valuable artifacts for a museum) of every possible good idea for succeeding brilliantly in college, graduating debt-free, and moving directly into satisfying and well-paying career after college. (And sailing straight into law, medical, business, or grad school, if that is a goal.)

Jeannie also leads the LAUNCH TRIBE Membership, which meets 11 times a year to assist parents in helping kids ages 12–26 graduate college debt-free without scholarships. She is also an Academic Strategist who works with older students applying to competitive law, medical, business, and grad schools.

What it is: A free service that automatically deposits a portion of your everyday purchases (Target, Walgreens, grocery stores, 1-800-PetMeds, and more) into a 529 college savings plan. Family members — even childless uncles — can participate and direct funds to your child.

Action step: Go to Upromise.com tonight after the kids are in bed. Sign up, and invite grandparents, aunts, and uncles to do the same. It requires no extra paperwork after setup — just shop as normal.

What it is: A tax-advantaged savings plan where small monthly contributions grow over time. The money can be used for college, technical school, or other qualified educational programs. As of 2024, unused 529 funds (up to $35,000) can be rolled into your child’s Roth IRA.

Action step: Call your family financial advisor and say, “I heard it’s easy to set up a 529. We can only do $10 a month right now.” Set one up for each child. Don’t worry if your child doesn’t end up going to college — the funds are flexible.

What it is: Kids of any age can open a Roth IRA as soon as they have earned income — even from raking yards or doing odd jobs. It sparks conversations about compound interest, investing, and frugal money habits. Best of all: money in retirement accounts is not counted on the FAFSA financial aid application.

Action step: The next time your child earns money for any job, help them open a Roth IRA in their own name. Show them the BankRate Roth IRA calculator online so they can see how their money grows over time. Let them know they can withdraw contributions (and up to $10,000 in earnings) for a future first-home down payment.

What it is: The FAFSA looks at your finances during the “base year” — January 1st of your child’s 10th grade year through December 31st of 11th grade. Money sitting in regular brokerage or savings accounts counts against you. Money in official retirement accounts (401k, Roth IRA, traditional IRA) is protected and invisible to financial aid.

Action step: By May of your child’s 9th grade year, sit down with a qualified financial advisor. Move any exposed cash you can spare into official retirement accounts before January 1st of 10th grade. Selling assets after that date counts as income and makes you look richer than you are on the FAFSA.

What it is: Jeannie Burlowski’s book Launch: How to Get Your Kids Through College Debt-Free and Into Jobs They Love Afterward gives parents a short reading assignment every 3 months as kids grow up — from birth through high school. Families who start early get the best results with the least stress.

Action step: Get the book (free at your local library) and start with the chapter “Prior to Seventh Grade.” Follow the 3-month reading schedule so you’re never overwhelmed. If your child is already in high school, you can still benefit — but the earlier you start, the more strategies are available to you.

Bottom line for moms: You don’t need to be wealthy or wait until high school to start. The biggest advantage comes from small, consistent actions started early — even before your child is born. Every $100 you save in a 529 only reduces financial aid by $5.64, but every $100 in student loans costs far more with interest and stress. Start where you are, use the free tools available, and let time do the heavy lifting.

Connect with the Investor Mama Tribe

 Looking for ways to boost your income? Check out these resources to help you with your money journey

Ali is the Managing Director of Waldron’s Wealth Planning Department, where she develops and implements comprehensive, goal-based wealth planning strategies for our clients.

For more than 12 years, Ali has been helping entrepreneurs and their families simplify their financial lives. After earning a Marketing and a Management Information Systems degree from Marietta College, she earned a Master of Business Administration from Florida Atlantic University.

Episode #116: Legacy Blueprint – Estate Planning 101 with Ali Swart, CFP

Episode #117: Estate Planning 202 Understanding Trusts and Other More Complex Estate Strategies with Ali Swart, CFP

Connect with the Investor Mama Tribe

Before starting her own business, Michelle spent a decade in sales working for 3 Fortune 500’s (yep! nearly 25,000 sales conversations and 2,100 sales presentations!). She went on to open and run a Toastmasters Club that helped high-achieving professionals master their messaging to easily gain new clients. Michelle said goodbye to the stability of the 9-5 to jump feet first into the wild ride of entrepreneurship.

Now as a business owner and the creator Revenue Rascals,  Michelle has taught 1,000+ of online brands and startups to create and sell premium products by mastering sales skills and then building sales teams from the ground up.

Her signature FREEDOM Framework helps coaches, consultants, speakers, agencies, brick and mortar service providers, and professional service providers create, implement and scale a stress-free rinse-and-repeat sales system while freeing up more and more time to do the things they love.

Michelle host’s Revenue Rascals podcast, and advocate for smart ways to grow that create LTV, recurring revenue, and a hybrid sales approach to scaling.

Key Takeaways:

Looking for ways to boost your income? Check out these resources to help you with your money journey.

Mindy is the Community Manager at BiggerPockets.com. She is a Personal Finance Lover, Real Estate Nerd and DIY Gal.

1. What is one fun fact about you that not that many people know?

So a hundred thousand years ago, in 1999, I hopped on my bicycle with a hundred other people. We rode from Seattle, Washington to Washington DC in 48 days.  It was a super fun time. It was a fundraiser for the American Lung Association because when you can’t breathe, nothing else matters.

2. Who inspires you the most and why?

My oldest daughter is incredibly inspiring because she is so smart and she’s so driven. She’s 15. She has the normal amount of 15 year old,  the self-consciousness, but there are other parts of her where she’s like, I know that this is right, and I am not going to be deterred in any way. I don’t care what other people think about me.

3. What books are you reading now or have read and loved that you’d recommend?

The Psychology of Money by Morgan Hausel

Tipped: The life changing guide to financial freedom for waitresses, bartenders, strippers, and all other service industry professionals by Barbara Sloan

4. What is one actionable tip or piece of advice that you can tell our moms out there to help them on their financial independence journey?

Know what you want and write down what your goals. It doesn’t necessarily have to be you plural. It can be you singular. I think that being on the same page with your partner is so valid. Know what you want as a mom, know what you want as a for your financial situation and then work backwards.

Investor Mama: Make some money 

Bigger Pockets Money Podcast

First-Time Home Buyer: The Complete Playbook to Avoiding Rookie Mistakes by Mindy Jensen and Scott Trench 

How to Sell Your Home: The Essential Guide to a Fast, Stress-Free, and Profitable Sale by Mindy Jensen

Connect with Mindy

Twitter

Facebook

Email: [email protected]

Instagram

Bigger Pockets

Looking for ways to boost your income? Check out these resources to help you with your money journey.

Dee is a CPA, finance instructor at UCLA and a mom of two. After doing some research, she found that there was no one single resource that shared tips on how to talk about money in simple and exciting ways with kids. One that also provides empirical data on the benefits of early childhood financial literacy. So, she created it!

Dee founded Kids Money Academy to fill a huge need that empowers parents from all backgrounds to talk to their kids about money in a positive way.

Her mission is to reach as many parents and kids as possible to instill healthy financial habits that create an abundant money mindset and legacy for wealth. As parents, the greatest gift that we can give our children that has unlimited return is a money mindset that creates an abundant and happy life.

Sign up for Dee’s Friday Freebies

The ABC’s of Investing for Kids

Kids Money Academy

Greenlight Debit Card for Kids

Famzoo Debit Card for Kids

Connect with Dee

Instagram

Facebook

LinkedIn

Episode #92: How to Respond to Your Children’s Money Questions with Dee from Kids Money Academy

Connect with the Investor Mama Tribe

Looking for ways to boost your income? Check out these resources to help you with your money journey.

A catalyst, healthy disruptor and unshakeable optimist, Heidi’s passion lies in challenging the status quo, driving change and delivering experiences. Known as a translator between sectors whose background transcends education, health, nonprofits, university, business, philanthropy, design and podcasting. While stacking talents and lived experiences is her superpower, she continually embraces each role with a lens of empathy, trust and curiosity as critical threads embedded in the fabric of designing an authentic and memorable life.

Today she and her husband live in Wisconsin with 3 children and spend a considerable amount of time outdoors, remodeling their third generation farm house, mastering un-tourism, and creating connections with people around the world.  Her podcast Ordinary Sherpa inspires families to connect through simple adventures.

1. What is one fun fact about you that not that many people know?

I have distant family relatives that are tied to Vincent van Gogh.

2. Who inspires you the most and why?

90% of the time I’d have to say my kids because I really get a lot of my energy from them.

I like to think of myself when I was four, and one of the people that was really inspirational to me was my grandfather. He was a retired pastor, but he was a natural outdoorsman that was always making something out of nothing.

3. What books are you reading now or have read and loved that you’d recommend?

Outdoor Kids in an Inside World: Getting Your Family Out of the House and Radically Engaged with Nature by Steven Rinella

4. What is one actionable tip or piece of advice that you can tell our moms out there to help them on their financial independence journey?

Keep it simple. When you start to think about what are the things that bring you joy, they’re usually things that are tangible, that are accessible, that you just have to look around and maybe look at with a new lens. It’s amazing how one little thread, you can pull on it, and it sparks so many other opportunities. So try to keep it simple.

Ordinary Sherpa 

Heidi’s new book: Beyond Normal: A field guide to embrace adventure, explore the wilderness, and design an extraordinary life with kids 

Ordinary Sherpa Podcast

50 Free Adventure Ideas

Facebook

Instagram

Connect with the Investor Mama Tribe

Deb Kierstead is a mom of four and an educator with over 29 years of experience who got tired of waiting for schools to teach kids what they actually need to know about money. So she built a financial literacy program that’s practical, playful, and shockingly fun. Her son bought his first house at 24 – proof that teaching money skills young actually works.

Key Takeaways:

1. Start the money conversation NOW — and keep it positive Money habits begin forming as early as age 7. Talk about money openly and often at home, but always frame it in a neutral or positive way. Swap “we can’t afford that” for “we’re choosing not to buy that right now.”

2. Give your kids real cash and let them feel the pinch Hand your child a set amount at the grocery store and let them manage it — including figuring it out if they go over. The embarrassment or problem-solving in that moment teaches more than any lecture ever could.

3. Build a saving strategy, not just a savings lecture Instead of just saying “save your money,” use one of Deb’s three systems:

4. Teach the 3-step Spending Test before any purchase Before your kid buys something, ask:

If it passes all three — no guilt, they buy it. This removes the battles and builds lifelong decision-making skills.

5. Stop fixing it — let them own it Whether it’s a budgeting mistake at the register or an impulse buy they regret, resist the urge to bail them out. Kids who earn and manage their own money develop a sense of ownership and pride that money handed to them simply can’t buy.

Connect with the Investor Mama Tribe

Jessie Lang started investing in real estate by “house-hacking” over 10 years ago, and has since grown a substantial rental portfolio that she manages with the help of a small, remote team.

In the last 36 months, she’s grown from 11 doors (bought the wrong way with 20% down), to 70 doors and counting.

She’s laser focused on the BRRRR method, which allows her to put her money to work over and over to create generational wealth.

She partners with private lenders to buy real estate with none of her own money, all while providing them double digit returns on their investment!

Jessie has created a free mini-course—how to buy 1-3 rentals per month on autopilot (even if you don’t own a property yet, don’t have 20% down, and think rates are too high).

When she isn’t managing rentals or coaching, she is traveling with her wife Laura, spoiling her 5 (yes 5!) pets, and getting her hands dirty in DIY house projects and gardening.

Key Takeaways:

Rentals Made Easy: Unlock the Proven Step-by-Step System to Build Wealth Through Rental Properties by Jessie Lang