November 26, 2019

Listening is a Superpower | MK Williams

43 minutes

In today’s episode, you’ll hear from MK Williams who authors Financial Independence Fiction.

She started out chasing a career for money but found herself unsatisfied.

MK studied the art of writing and self-publishing.

Now she is authoring books and helping other authors as well.

Listen and learn all about side hustles and let us know what you think.

Episode Summary

MK saw her mom put herself through law school and struggle

From there she always wanted to hoard money vs spending it

She decided to major in economics

This decision was largely to earn a higher income

She had a passion for writing but didn’t feel like she had the skills

MK graduated in the middle of the recession so no job was lucrative

Her first job would come through a fluke all at USAA

She had moved down to Florida to live with her parents

Her starting salary was $38k but she didn’t love her job

While in Tampa she would meet her now-husband Jason

Jason actually owned his house and was renting rooms out to people

It’s very obvious that Jason and MK are completely on the same frugal page

We then discuss how they keep finances straight as a couple

They actually just use whatever credit card they need for rewards

Writing as a business

MK had this dream that she would just write a book and a publisher would show up

That didn’t happen

She said it took her three to four years of learning to be ready

In the end, she settled on self-publishing

MK wasn’t driven to write for money at first

She then discusses how she grew her brand organically

Mk wasn’t open to the idea of just paying for tons of ads to grow

Then we talk about MK’s inspiration for her fictional novels

She shares a story of her husband who started selling her families stuff at 12

FI Journey

MK got out of debt in 2012

Then they discovered Mr. Money Mustache in 2013

The topic didn’t stick at first but then they read Early Retirement Extreme and it stuck this time

They had always been good with money but there was no real purpose behind it.

Then we swap gears into how she’s helping Fiology and ChooseFI with their books

MK is now a full-time author and independent publisher by helping others learn how to self-publish

She’s also taking all these lessons and sharing them via her YouTube Channel

MK also shares how authors can still provide physical books without huge upfront costs

Key Takeaways

Partner in crime: It’s so important to get on the same page with your partner, if your not today, just keep working

Keep Learning: MK shows how she’s continuously learning such as re-reading Harry Potter to understand how a series builds

Cheap is harmful: We discuss how being cheap is destructive to relationships and the environment

Call to Action

Practice your listening skills, We learn from listening not from speaking.

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Learn more about MK

Via her website 1MKWilliams.com

Read her FI-fiction book

Learn about self-publishing via her YouTube Channel

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By Cody Berman and Justin Taylor

4.8

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