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Previously, in Part IV of A Money Love Story (aka: my financial mess turned dream life)… 

After realizing my relationship with money was toxic, I took the advice I give to couple’s therapy clients and started dating my money. Making quality time for my money and scheduling fun, flirty money dates helped me start feeling differently about my money and I finally got in control of my finances. I made big changes to my business by trimming down expenses and staff and focusing on delivering quality services- which led to multiplying my income x 5 in eight months and paying off $87,000 of debt in two years! Looking back on my financial journey and how I transformed my toxic money relationship into a steamy love affair got me thinking about how I could help other female entrepreneurs fix their finances…but I was afraid my husband would put a stop to the idea I had for how I could help.

If you’ve been following along – thank you! I hope hearing the story of my financial journey helped you feel less alone in your own.

If you missed Parts I-IV of my story, you can read them HERE (Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV).

Here is Part Five (the final chapter)…

My husband is awesome. He’s honest, reliable, brilliant, and fun. But there’s one thing he’s not…

…an entrepreneur.

He loves going to the same job everyday…doing the same work over and over…and collecting a steady paycheck. He loves predictability and avoids risk and change.

I’m the exact opposite. Life is way too boring if I don’t have a good challenge to conquer…and I thrive on change and taking calculated risks that have the possibility of making all my wildest dreams come true. (Some say I’m a dreamer.)

So, while Tom and I see eye-to-eye on most things…we rarely agree when it comes to my business…and after all the disappointments, obstacles, and money lost trying to build the wellness center…all Tom wanted was for me to just see my therapy clients, bring home a fat paycheck, and be happy already.

While I was happy working with therapy clients and grateful the wellness center was finally doing well, I wanted more. I wanted more location freedom and flexibility. I wanted to be able to serve more people in less time…

…and after everything I’d learned about money and growing a business…

…I wanted to teach other entrepreneurs how to love their money, build a profitable business, feel confident about their ability to take an active role in their financial lives, and create the life of their dreams.

But I was terrified to tell my husband about my desire to start another business to do that important work.

I felt like Tom didn’t believe in me anymore…because of all the mistakes I’d made with money. I knew he wouldn’t want me to invest any more of our money in a business- he was so over that. And I was honestly afraid I’d disappoint him again…and make a million more mistakes building an online financial therapy business.

So, I kept the dream and the plans to myself. I read every book about online businesses and marketing that I could get my hands on…took online courses…listened to podcasts…built my own shitty little website…and created my first online course.

All the while, I had grand visions of having a six-figure launch like all the other successful online entrepreneurs I was following on Facebook (after all, I did everything exactly like they told me to, so it was gonna happen) and surprising Tom with my incredible success by showing him a bank account full of money.

That’s how I planned to reveal my new business to him…showing him the money from my “overnight success”.

 Listening to that description now makes my face turn red with embarrassment. What was I thinking?!

I worked quietly in my online business side-hustle for over three years…learning and trying to figure it all out on my own, using free content I found on the internet…because I didn’t want Tom to know what I was doing or be upset with me for investing money into a new business.

And then…I finally launched my online course.

I anxiously waited for all the seats to fill and money to start pouring into my PayPal account overnight. I woke up the next day expecting to see a sold out course…

…but there were only five people signed up.

What? Where was my six-figure launch? What did I do wrong?

I honestly had no idea. I knew I needed help figuring out what to do differently, but that would cost money…and spending money meant I’d have to tell Tom about my new online business. And right about that time, I found the perfect business strategist to work with…but she cost several thousands of dollars. Oh boy, this was NOT going to go over well!

*Nail biting*

I waited until Tom was in a really good mood and then I brought up wanting to hire Melissa Cassera to be my business strategist so I could create a successful online financial therapy business.

That went over like a ton of bricks.

It was a real battle between us. He didn’t understand why I couldn’t just be happy with the business I had…and I couldn’t understand why he didn’t support my dreams to do more. But I’m not the kind of woman who let’s people tell me what I can and can’t do…

…so after MANY heated conversations…we stopped fighting about it…and Tom reluctantly gave me the green light to go for it.

BEST DECISION I EVER MADE!!!

Hiring a business strategist changed everything. Instead of fumbling around alone and wasting time trying to figure it all out by myself, I had the help I needed…and learned that my launch flopped because I wasn’t clear on who I wanted to serve (my ICA)…how I could help…and my writing was dull and boring (not the kind of copy that made clients become raving fans).

But the biggest takeaway from working with Melissa Cassera was that no successful business happens overnight…and all those wealthy entrepreneurs I was obsessed with had been in the game for years before generating the money they bragged about.

And I realized that wanting to do financial therapy wasn’t about the money at all.

At that point, I had plenty of money for everything I needed any way. It was about wanting to save other women from the pain I experienced…and give them more financial power…so they could live their best lives…and use their financial resources as an unstoppable force of good in the world.

Much like what I did with the wellness center, I stopped focusing on profits and started focusing on REACH. How many people can I connect with? Who can I reach out to today and help? What ways can I be of service?

That’s when I landed my first high-paying financial therapy client and discovered that my strategies and techniques TOTALLY work for other women…and ALL my best ideas for my business popped up!

And all the good writing flowed through me and onto the pages…and all my passion for empowering women to become rich, business badasses oozed out of me…

…and that’s how my new online program, MONEY THERAPY, was born.

MONEY THERAPY is a year-long online program filled with everything I know about money, relationships, business, and psychology…it’s the single most important work of my life…and the thing I’m most proud of. It makes it possible for me to help and serve more people, which is what’s most important to me.

And even though you’ve reached the end of Part V of my Money Love Story…the story isn’t over yet.

Enrollment for MONEY THERAPY opens in September 2020…and I don’t know how many students will enroll…or whether the program will be profitable or not.

But truthfully, I don’t care about that anymore. If the program can help one woman fall madly in love with her money and transform her financial life and her business, it will be worth it. And that’s my attitude as I keep working in my online financial therapy business…

…because at the end of the day, it’s really all about the people I’ve helped and the lives I’ve touched…

…and the money I make from doing that is just the cherry on top of the sundae…

…not the sundae itself.

I’ve learned a lot over the past eight years as an entrepreneur…like the importance of spending way less than you earn…and always prioritizing saving…and the value of living efficiently and not trying to keep up with the Joneses.

And I’ve become a firm believer that whatever you can dream, you can achieve. You can count on it being hard work…and taking longer than you expect…but in the end…it’s all worth it.

I’ll never stop dreaming…never stop reaching for the stars…and never, ever stop loving my money…

…because money is the most important tool to have when it comes to creating the life you want.

So, that’s my story so far! I hope you’ll keep sticking around to find out what happens next!