Talk Bravely: Real Women. Real Money. Real Life Stories

Ronetta Francis, candidate for Arkansas State Senate District 1, which is home to businesses such as Walmart as well as Yoga Story, owned by former guest Lynn Hancock, joins us on this episode.

A corporate ethics executive, attorney, mom, wife, and woman of faith, Ronetta has built her campaign focused on health and wellness, public education, economic development and inclusion.

Ronetta has been running an amazing campaign and it's clear her love for Arkansas runs deep. We'll talk with her about why she decided to run, the opportunities for impact she thinks is in the future for the Arkansas Senate, and why NOW was the right time for her to run.

1. Ronetta shares a bit about her background and how a transition from a big job to a big question about 'what's next?' led her to consider a run for office.

2. When Ronetta left her job as an ethics and employment attorney at Walmart, she turned her attention to writing a book called Bloom Where You Are Planted which serves as the foundation for her executive coaching business.

3. She shares her story about moving forward with her candidacy - and that it started when Representative Nicole Clowney encouraged her to consider. Three years later, she did just that. Finally in August of 2019, she realized tomorrow is not promised, and decided to run for Senate shortly after that.

4. Learning about how to run can be an on-the-job experience. There are a number of organizations such as Emerge Arkansas who can help.

5. Ronetta shares her favorite and most surprising aspects of campaigning during a pandemic.

6. Fundraising is an integral part of campaigning, but it used to make Ronetta break out in a cold sweat - she figured it out and grew as a candidate.

7. She shares her reasons why education and inclusion are important to her, her neighbors, and Arkansas.

8. Why Arkansas will need advocacy and outreach to encourage our policymakers to pass the proposed state Hate Crime Bill

9. How she's loving Tik Tok these days and why our neighbors should vote for her

www.ronettafrancis.org

Facebook.com/RonettaforArkansas

Instagram.com/RonettaFrancisforAR1

Twitter.com/RonettaforAR1

www.studentvote.org

On today's episode, I'm joined by Gayatri Agnew, a corporate philanthropy expert and lifelong advocate for women both in the civic and social sphere - who is also currently running for office for the second time. She is seeking to be elected to City Council Ward 1 Seat 2 in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Gayatri's story is absolutely one to inspire any and every woman to look at her community, and ask, "how can I help to make it better for all of our neighbors?" We'll talk about why City Council is an integral part of our democracy, how she decided to run, the expenses associated with it, and why she wants to make sure every woman has a voice in her community.

1. Call to Action: REGISTER TO VOTE and vote.

2. What is the City Council and what are they responsible for?

3. "My why is my children. I believe and was raised by a mom who taught me, you are a part of the community around you."

4. The two questions her husband asked her before she filed.

5. What she did to prepare to run for office.

6. How to get involved in local community - nonprofit boards, standing committees, elected office, government activities (poll workers or hotline call centers)

7. "There's not one way to serve. There's not one way to build community."

8. Gayatri achieved a major win in her 2018 run for state legislature where she petitioned the state of Arkansas to allow campaign funds to be used for childcare.

9. Less than 5% of members serving in Congress are moms. Gayatri serves on the board of VoteMama.org to help women with young children who want to run for office.

10. How much money needs to be raised to run for a city council seat in a micropolitan like ours.

11. Gayatri's philosophy on fundraising for campaigns.

12. The importance of census data and how cool it is that Gayatri nerds out on alllll the things we'd want a city council member to nerd out on.

13. "I care about Bentonville… and when you care about something - you take care of it."

14. DON'T FORGET TO REGISTER TO VOTE - AND TURN OUT TO THE POLLS!!! NOVEMBER 3RD IS ELECTION DAY

Twitter: @gayatriagnew

LinkedIn

Facebook

www.studentvote.org

On today's episode, I'm joined by Sithara Menon. Sithara is a student and political organizer working to register college voters in Florida. As a UCLA senior planning to graduate next spring with a degree in biology, Sithara is passionate about turning out the youth vote of her peers and making sure young people's voices are heard.

Today we'll talk with Sithara about growing up in the San Francisco Bay area, why she's so active as a political organizer, how at the age of 20 she's already had to advocate for her own pay increase, and why everyone should vote in November's election.

1. Call to Action: REGISTER TO VOTE and vote.
2. How Sithara became so active in politics early in her life. As the daughter of immigrants, the expectation of being a doctor/lawyer/tech professional ran deep in her community and family. However when she came to college, she became a community organizer.
3. Young people are increasingly active on social issues - Covid, protests, environment. They are putting in the effort to educate themselves and get engaged. The breakdown comes when it turns to voting as only about 30% of young people do.
4. There are a lot of barriers to voting for the first time - the physical barrier of registering, turning out to their polling place, and understanding how to vote from college.
5. Sithara thinks EVERYONE should be on tik tok. It's fun!
6. She finds that taking control of her own finances also includes spending her money with organizations whose values match her own.
7. 24:00 - I decided to take a quarter off of school.
8. Sithara found herself in a unique situation for a 20 year old of having to ask for accommodations for her job due to covid - while also asking for a pay raise. After doing so, she found that it was so much easier than expected.
9. 28:18 - "As young women, and young women of color, we're not given much space to ask for what we want, much less what we need. I think that taking that step for myself was personally really empowering, but also helped me see it wasn't that hard."
10. Sithara considers herself as a bit of a spender - she'll pay more to support local farmers, donate to a movement she wants to support. But while she is very willing to give, she also considers herself a minimalist in that she doesn't buy new clothes, and saving money is important to her.
11. DON'T FORGET TO REGISTER TO VOTE - AND TURN OUT TO THE POLLS!!! NOVEMBER 3RD IS ELECTION DAY

1. Twitter @ssmenon2 @studentpirgs @flopirgstudents
2. www.studentvote.org

On this episode, I chat with movement building expert, and single mom by choice -- Amber England. Amber has nearly two decades of experience navigating politics as a progressive in deep red Oklahoma.

Amber is a proud fifth generation Oklahoman and she says her career is driven by the simple idea that the power to change the world for good rests in the hands of ordinary people. Most recently she led the team that passed a ballot initiative that updated Oklahoma's constitution and delivered healthcare to more than 200,000 Oklahomans!

Today we'll talk with Amber about why working in politics is both a blessing and a curse, how a failed campaign in 2016 brought transformative change into her own life, what a campaign manager actually DOES, how listeners like you can participate in building our democracy every day, and why she says her 23-month old spit fire daughter Josie Pearl is her biggest challenge - even bigger than passing progressive ideas in to law in Oklahoma! 

1. Amber spent her early career working at a state capitol, and has done pretty much every behind the scenes job in politics in Oklahoma there is.

2. In politics, everyone is an organizer. Organizing is simply asking, "How can you ignite a fire in someone else so that they get to the place where they say I want to vote for that person or I care enough about that issue to support it."

3. Advice she gives to candidates - You have to get elected first. Often, that's about whether or not a voter connects with you. Can you be trusted. Candidates want to talk about policy, but they need the vote first.

4. For those considering politics as a career field, it's important to note that elections are very demanding of your time. It's similar to starting up, running, and closing a business all within about 3 months time. And your performance review is a one day election. A special person is drawn to that type of work.

5. In 2016, Amber poured her heart and soul into a campaign to get teachers across the state a pay raise. She lost. And lost her way.

6. Asked myself, What do I want to see in my career, and what is missing in my own life? Having kids was something I put off, and Amber decided that she wanted to put her effort and energy into something beyond just an election night. She started a fertility journey and her daughter was born in September of 2018.

7. Politics and policy work and campaigns are incredibly hard work. Amber shifted her career from working for nonprofits on issues (like education) and launched her own campaign strategy company called Strategies 77.

8. As a consultant, Amber is able to work on campaigns, make a living, while also striving for a bit more balance at home with her daughter. She's also learned a lot about compensation and tells her story about negotiating salaries and compensation for her work has helped her identify her market value.

9. Amber's call to action for encouraging listeners to get involved in politics

   1. Figure out a topic. Education, roads, health, a candidate. 

   2. Reach out to that campaign - facebook, twitter, their website. Email them more than once - it may take a while for them to get back to you.

   3. A good campaign manager will show you the next steps. They'll educate you and get you to a place where you can contribute within the time you want to spend volunteering.

Strategy 77 website:  https://www.strategy77.com

Twitter: @arengland

Blog: www.josiepearlengland.com

On today's episode, I'm joined by Lynn Hancock, owner of Yoga Story in Bentonville, Arkansas.  Lynn has been a fitness professional for over a decade focusing on yoga, nutrition, and strength training. But she's also a business superstar who shares how difficult Covid hit the wellness sector and what she had to do to pivot and stay afloat.

I talk with Lynn about why she decided to go into the fitness business, how she learned everything she needed to know about running a traditional brick and mortar store, getting sober, and how she was able to flip her business to virtual by learning an entirely different skill set in order to stay afloat during a pandemic.

1. Lynn left her VERY successful corporate career with Walmart to buy Yoga Story. Her time working with executives there taught her many of the hard and soft skills she uses daily as a business owner. 

2. She credits a strong partnership with her husband that their family's focus on being debt free and pursuing financial stability years ago that allowed her to be positioned to buy Yoga Story.

3. "Work is still different than self-care. Even if you love what you do, it's not self-care. We always say find a job that you love and you'll never work in your life. That's a lie." 

4. A mentor in Lynn's life, and CEO of Target, taught Lynn that being healthy is integral to being successful.

5. "Your job isn't going to create space for you. And your boss isn't going to set boundaries for you. That's all up to you." And if we don't practice this, it won't materialize.

6. We should all strive for small movements every half hour and big movements every two hours. It's important for cognition and productivity.

7. Lynn shares her 5 thoughts on being a storefront business owner in the Heartland.

   • It's harder than it looks. Invest in mentors

   • Seek to serve your customers, but put in place strong policies

   • Stay connected with your purpose and why

   • Surround yourself with good people

   • Don't be afraid of trying new things

8. Lynn has managed to stay in business during Covid. She reminds me that it's still a hard time for business owners and figuring this out will take a lot more time for small businesses.

9. Lynn and I talk about getting sober during Covid. We both spent March and April, like many women, turning to food or alcohol or other ways to cope with the issues we were facing. She turned to the Alcohol Experiment to help her take alcohol out of her daily routine.

10. Yoga Story now has a virtual platform serving yoga to their community near and far from their homes.

1. Yoga Story NWA - for their virtual platform

2. Lynn on Instagram

3. Yoga Story on Instagram

1. Human Performance Institute

2. Honest Soul Yoga and Practice Everywhere - mentors of Lynn's

3. The Four Agreements - a book on personal freedom

4. Annie Grace and The Alcohol Experiment

Vacationing during Covid-19 is very different. So many vacations were canceled early; some because of safety concerns, but still others because of lost income. During this time, many across the country have turned to camping and RV'ing as a safe and affordable alternative - and tons of friends and colleagues have reached out to me to ask for advice. 

So tuck yourselves in for a podcast all about vacationing by RV. I'm affectionately calling this episode - TAKE YOUR DAMN VACATION. On today's episode, I'll share our family history of RVing, my 3 key messages about traveling the states in a camper, answer some of the most frequently asked questions about travel by RV.

But above all, I totally want to encourage you to take your vacation. Only 44 percent of American women use all of their annually allotted vacation time, compared with 48 percent of men according to Project Time Off. Whatever you decide to do for vacation, DO IT SAFELY. For real. Mask up. Wash your hands. And take every precaution possible to stay healthy. 

1. According to RV Industry Association, RV sales in some areas during spring of 2020 have sped up 170 percent over the same time period last year. There's a huge interest in turning to the road and national parks

2. Our family has been to 47 of the 48 lower states, Canada, and 26 national parks (and tons more other monuments, forests, etc.) in our RV. We probably have close to 250 nights in it.

3. The RV adventure started for our family in 2015 by renting a Class C Rv. By 2017 we purchased a Winnebego Class A for our family and committed to spending our vacations RVing for the next few years.

4. My key messages about rving as a way of vacationing.

   #1 - Really reflect on if you imagine yourself as an RVer. 

   #2 - Start small. 

   #3 - Plan in advance. Definitely do your research or reach out to someone to help you plan like my friend Mindy Weber. Mindy specializes in planning road trips with her company Nature Driven Adventures. Totally give her a follow on Instagram.

   5. And my Top 5 Frequently Asked Questions about RVing:

   Is it cheaper than a hotel or airbnb? 

   Is it hard to drive? 

   How do I find places to stay?

   What do you do all day - and do you get tired of being in a small space? 

   And finally, how do you plan for meals and things like that, particularly during Covid? 

On this episode of Talk Bravely, I chat with lawyer turned real estate investor Diya Liu. Diya started out as a Big Law attorney but  turned to real estate investing and went from $0 to $100k net rental income with vacation rentals in 13 months.

We talk about how she approached the decision to leave the 9-9 world of patent litigation law, why she decided to pursue location independence through investing in short term rentals, how she teaches others her process, and what she thinks Covid-19 will do to the real estate market.

So if you're a young entrepreneur, aspiring location independent dreamer, or just fascinated by real estate and making big career jumps, this episode is totally for you.

What we're talking about:

• Real estate during Covid-19. Diya still thinks the market will feel the economic downturn within 12-18 months. Comps are still supporting an elevated level. Luxury markets are still pretty hot and purchasers are still shopping at the same price point.
• If you're a future real estate investor, Diya encourages you to look at the last recession, locales that were hardest hit, and consider trends that may stay true for this next potential real estate downturn.
• Diya's childhood was shaped by her experience of moving to the US from China at age 8, growing up without a lot of money compared to her peers, and her parents' focus on her educational success.
• Graduating from law school and securing a job with an international law firm in NYC opened up a completely different world of finances and spending than she had ever experienced.
• After a few years, Diya realized the 9-9 (and longer!) lifestyle of big city law may not be her passion. It was at that point that she discovered the FIRE lifestyle and philosophy (financial independence / retire early).
• Financial Independence teachings mainly revolve around building wealth through real estate or stock market investments to get to a point where the passive income earned from these two platforms equates to enough money annually to sustain a person/family instead of a salary from a job.
• Diya made a plan to move from NYC back to Austin where she did her undergrad, secured a job quickly, decided to start investing in real estate, and made it all happen within a few short months.
• 23:30 We talk a bit about the FIRE Movement. Diya is captivated by the FI part of FIRE. Her premise is that if she enjoys what she's doing, because it's interwoven into her lifestyle and beliefs, she won't mind working some each day. But Financial Independence allows her the flexibility to pursue the projects she's passionate about. And that passion has always been travel for Diya.
• Diya's real estate journey wasn't smooth. She learned a lot along the way about how to analyze a property for cash flow, buying at the right price point, estimating remodeling costs appropriately, and managing properties. She got into short term rentals (vacation rentals) because she travels a lot and stayed at them so much, she realized she could do short term rentals well using her own design sense.
• Part of being successful in short term rentals is also being savvy about the algorithms the variety of rental platforms use. Knowing all sides of the real estate market and equation is critical for success.
• We talk a bit about the side of the FIRE movement that teaches Earn More, Spend Less.
• The future for Diya includes both more real estate investments for herself as well as helping aspiring investors learn from her mistakes. She's already closed on two new properties since Covid erupted in March and has her eye on a few more.

Connect with Diya:

Instagram @diyaesq

Website for short term rental seminars and mentorship programs - str.tips

On this episode of Talk Bravely, we talk with our favorite anxiety therapist Michelle Massi. You'll remember Michelle from one of our first episodes about how she started her own private practice focused on anxiety disorders in the LA area.

Today we're talking about all things related to Covid-19 and the office. If you're just starting out in your career world and faced with anxiety around physically going back to an in-person work environment this summer, coming to the realization that you may NEVER work in a physical space again with co-workers and have anxiety over remote work, OR are an essential worker who is still looking for ways to keep anxiety about in-person working at bay, you're in the right spot. 

Here are her top tips for keeping anxiety away:

1. Acknowledge how you feel.
2. Have self-compassion for those feelings.
3. Make a plan for yourself and base decisions on mental health and CDC guidelines. Be okay with the fact that plans may change.
4. Create a routine for being at home or going in to the office. Share your plans with your partner, roommates, family. Help them understand your decisions.
5. Limit reading about coronavirus to one trusted resource. The CDC is a good resource.
6. Look for the silver linings.

1. 1:30 - 2:20  Anxiety experts agree that the hardest part for everyone is the uncertainty of coronavirus. We want certainty to make a plan for the future and right now there's not a lot of certainty.
2. 3:40 Young adults are sharing their anxiousness around changing work expectations. The isolation, particularly for single women, is starting to really impact our lives. There's a lot of anxiety around wondering if this is forever. People are fighting this question of "I want to have a little less isolation, but what is that going to cost me?"
3. 7:40 Acknowledging the root of the anxiety is a good first step. And self-compassion is also important. Don't beat yourself up for feeling the way you do. We've got a mental health vs. safety issue. Some people are making choices to go out for their mental health while others see it as a safety issue. Only you know what's best for your health.
4. 13:00 For those who are heading back to in-person work and have anxiety, find one trusted resource that is medically-backed, and use that to help inform the questions in your mind that are causing anxiety. Where possible, talk with your manager.
5. 16:30 Some companies have announced that they are moving to work-from-home permanently. There is anxiety around this cabin fever and a general sense of just wanting to be out and free. Look at your calendar and find ways to interact. We can do both: get out of our houses safely as well as work from home.
6. Set barriers around social media. It can be a source of anxiousness and self-doubt. Take a social media break, snooze some people, allow yourself to scroll during only certain times.
7. We know that covid is disproportionately impacting women, whether because we have a higher representation in the medical, education, and hospitality industries, or because caretaking and household responsibilities have escalated during this time. Keep speaking up in your world about what you need to be successful and have positive mental health.

Connect with Michelle:

Michelle's Anxiety Practice:  www.anxietytherapyla.com 

Instagram:  @anxietytherapyla

Anxiety Links and Tips:

• CDC Information about Covid-19
• Check your insurance coverage for therapy sessions first and understand your budget for getting support.  Most therapists will list their price range.
• Psychology Today
• Therapy Den
• ADAA - Anxiety Depression Association of America
• IOCDF - International OCD Foundation
• NEDA - National Eating Disorders Association

And don't forget to follow us on instagram @talkbravely

Luisa has done the hard work of really digging in to what it means to be financially independent - starting and closing a storefront business, digging out of debt, gaining financial literacy, and finally applying her lessons learned to help others on their journey to take control of their finances.

On this episode, I chat with Luisa - a personal finance coach, recovering small business owner, nature lover, and investment junkie.  Her entrepreneurial pursuits have involved some very tough lessons.  Together we get into real talk on what it actually takes to face your finances, the emotions that come from our past financial mistakes, how we were able to get past that to make a living doing the work we love, all while helping others.

So if you're a young entrepreneur, aspiring business owner, or just now starting to look at your finances to get smarter about them, this episode is for you.

• Luisa's background was in food and beverage in San Francisco. And in 2008, around the great recession, the movement around food in SF felt different; more homesteading and jam making. So she opened up a juice bar with a partner.

• The road to understanding that a 50-50 business investment partnership isn't 50-50 100% of the time was a life lesson she'll take with her always. 

• Learning to be a business owner is incredibly hard and important. Luisa was very action-oriented and owned the processes, human capital, and overall operations. Her passion for personal finance actually stemmed from opening her business because that was where she needed the most help - with the numbers.

• Eventually she understood that her knowledge of business finances could be directly applied to her personal finances.

• Dave Ramsey was Luisa's point of entry into personal finance and getting a hold of her debt. I share what mine was as well.  Luisa listened daily to Dave Ramsey and hearing stories of people with personal finance challenges and how Dave Ramsey helped them inspired her to pursue becoming a personal finance coach herself.

• Once Luisa became a success story with her own personal finance journey, she started High Five SF, where she helps young entrepreneurs with business and personal finance needs.

• Luisa has 5 steps to get started with personal finance

  • #1 - Get organized. Understand what you own and what you owe.

  • #2 - Understand your net worth. This is your assets minus your liabilities. What you own minus what you owe.

  • #3 - Our emotions and our feelings have control over what we do with our money. We need to get our emotions to a place where they are serving us.

  • #4 - Understand the power of choice. Encourage people to start by paying attention to what is in our control. Focus on what is in our control for living expenses, purchasing power, and discretionary spending. These choices aren't easy, but they are choices.

  • #5 - Begin the journey towards Financial Literacy. We are in a place where there are systemic injustices that are in play for keeping populations, particularly Black, Indiginous, Women of Color, from accumulating wealth. And our systems are not built to teach financial literacy. To combat these systemic inequalities, we need to take ownership of our finances for ourselves and our communities.

• Going through these five steps to get started is emotionally driven. People need space to process through our feelings about money.

• Luisa used to be a total spender and now considers herself an aggressive saver - except when she's out with friends. She has serious FOMO but shares her ways to stick with her budget.

• But because she's now an aggressive saver, she is now able to save 42% of her income and in doing so is able to have a solid emergency fund while also building an investment portfolio.

• I provide an overview of the FIRE movement (Financial Independence Retire Early).

• Luisa is most excited about helping others achieve their own personal finance goals. She's able to help her clients improve their quality of life exponentially.

You can follow Luisa on IG for tips and inspiration for getting a grip on your money at @highfivesf and visit my site at www.highfivesf.com

Dave Ramsey

Jean Chatzkey - Her Money

SavvyGirl Money

Women's Personal Finance (Women on FIRE) - Facebook Group

Stock Sisters - Facebook Group

Choose FI - Google this for MANY links to Financial Independence websites, blogs, facebook groups, reddits, etc.

Don't forget to subscribe and follow us on Instagram @talkbravely

On this episode of Talk Bravely, I chat with professional mountain biker and Liv Racing team member Crystal Anthony. Crystal has an AMAZING story of growing up the oldest of 7 siblings in Massachusetts, heading to college for an undergraduate degree in kinesiology and a Masters in Education in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard, and then pursuing mountain bike and cyclocross racing and running her own coaching business.

Crystal currently lives in Northwest Arkansas rides for Liv Racing. She has raced in 12 countries and represented the US 3x at the World Championships

What we're talking about:

• The honor she had "wearing the colors of the US and representing our country" in the Cyclocross World Championships
• She didn't start organized athletics until joining the cross country team in COLLEGE and found her passion running long distances.
• How missing the Olympic Trials marathon qualification time by 16 seconds was a moment to reflect and consider training for something else.
• Crystal shares that she was never motivated by becoming a pro racer or making money racing bikes; she was driven to get better and to win!
• What does it really mean to be a pro racer. Make a complete living through racing; gets paid something to race; your only job, regardless of making money, is racing. For Crystal, she gets compensated for racing, but also makes a living through coaching others to their best performance.
• How Crystal made the decision to leave her full time job to pursue racing and coaching full time.
• • It was motivating to have 2 passions of teaching middle school and racing on the weekends
  • Identity was tied up in both
  • Security of a steady job kept her in the job as well as the impact she knew she was having on her students
  • Eventually the logistics of managing both became too difficult and it was hard to leave teaching.
• Before leaving her position to pursue biking full time, Crystal made sure she had enough in savings to sustain her for a year and also reached out to mentors. Her community supported her and lifted her up and gave her the courage and knowledge to be self sufficient.
• Liv Racing and how awesome it is to race for them. They support getting more women on bikes and also provide a ton of resources for free on their website.
• How Crystal actually learned to be part of the racing community, developed herself as a racer and nutrition expert, developed her coaching skills, and learned to run a business and market herself to potential sponsors. (Hint: she built a community around her willing to support her)
• She's a total saver and still has training clothes from 17 years ago.
• How Covid-19 has impacted the racing industry, and how it impacted her recent move to Northwest Arkansas.
• She introduced me to 'Everesting' - the idea that you choose a hill and ride your bike up and down over and over again until you reach the elevation gain of Everest at about 29,000 feet. And having completed that athletic feat has put in perspective the "longer" races she had on her schedule for the first time.

Connect with Crystal:

Crystal Anthony Coaching offers everything from 1 on 1 skill lessons to coaching plans to clinics. She loves to work with anyone who wants to get better on the mountain bike! Coaching options are up on her site.

Crystal also posts her recipes on her website: www.crystaljanthony.com 

Instagram: @crystaljanthony @crystalanthonycoaching

Links and Tips:

1. Liv Racing
2. Hook It
3. Everesting