More Money Podcast - 082 Why I Quit My Job to Become an Entrepreneur - Jessica Moorhouse

Episode Date: January 12, 2017

Before the holidays, I made the life-changing decision to leave my job and become self-employed. In this episode I share why I chose to quit my job and what I've got planned for the next year. Long description: This week, I'm no longer an employee — I'm an entrepreneur. It's crazy for me to even write that because I honestly never thought this would be my reality. Growing up, I never had aspirations to own my own business. I thought I'd follow the path my parents laid out and would work for a company until I retired. But...life is hard to predict isn't it. Even though this wasn't a premeditated decision, it was something I was thinking about doing on and off for the past while. I honestly thought I'd work my 9 to 5 for another year, then maybe take the plunge, but the timing was just right. You know when everything in your gut and in life is telling you to do something? That's basically what happened in a nutshell and I had to just do it. It's a big risk going on my own, but I really excited for this new adventure. I will absolutely be documenting this new journey and sharing more solo episodes along the way, but if you haven't already, make sure to check out my blog post that announced my new venture. For more podcast episodes, check out the podcast page. Shownotes: jessicamoorhouse.com/82 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, this is Jessica Morehouse and you're listening to episode 82 of the Mo Money podcast and the first solo episode of season four. Thank you so much for joining me for this very special episode. A lot has happened in the past few weeks, few months, year, and I tried to recap 2016 as best as I could in episode 80 in season 3 right before I took a break for the holidays. But a lot has happened since then too, so I'm going to take this episode to kind of fill you in on the new adventure that is now in front of me. So gosh, where should I start? Well, I guess I should, you know, start and share the big, big news. My life is going to change drastically. Starting now this week, I am officially self-employed, which if you've been a long-time listener, and especially the first couple episodes I ever did for this podcast, I was very kind of averse to that.

That just seemed like a crazy thing. I would never be able to be a full-time freelancer, work for myself. That just seemed very foreign to me. And it still kind of is. It's still kind of very fresh. But, you know, it is what it is. I'm excited for this new adventure. I'm terrified at the same time.

But I think it's been a long time coming. And there's a reason where I've been actually telling some of my, you know, friends and family when I've been explaining this is kind of the new thing I'm doing. I'm working for myself now. They're like, oh, really? That doesn't really sound like you. And it's kind of true. I like kind of like to think of myself a little bit as the reluctant entrepreneur because I've always been very comfortable working, you know, in the kind of nine to five culture, being an employee and having tasks and the, you know, job description and all that stuff. I've been doing that ever since. Well, gosh, I guess I've been an employee, honestly, since I've been able to work at 15. So if I'm 30 now, that is 15 years of being an employee. That's a long time.

And I think a long time to, well, maybe that explains a lot of why I think I'm having, you know, definitely some, you know, it's definitely going to be an interesting experience because I've been an employee for so long. I've created those habits. I've, especially the habits of getting up at a certain time, getting on transit, commuting to work, working a full eight hour day, leaving, going home, and then doing the same thing every day in and out and then having weekends and just having that kind of structure. it's definitely going to be a huge change getting out of that after, you know, so long of having that routine. So you're probably listening and you're like, well, then why the hell? Why did you do this? Because this does kind

of seem a little bit of maybe out of character or just completely contradictory to how I perceived being self-employed, I guess, a year and a half ago when I first started this podcast, when I interviewed my husband and a couple other freelancers for the show. And I was always like, wow, I just can't imagine doing that. Like, that just seems so crazy. Well, there's, you know, several reasons. I would say the biggest driving force for this decision is, I don't know how to explain this, but I've been explaining it kind of this way. When life kind of wants you to move in a certain direction, and you don't really want to,

but it really wants you to, you can't, you know, at a certain point, it's like yelling at you or just, you know, making so much noise, you can't ignore it anymore. And that's kind of what I started feeling. It, you know, wasn't so much that I, you know, really wanted to start my own business this year and really go for it, I felt a little bit that I was very reluctant and I was kind of scared of taking on this new adventure because I've never done anything like this before. And so, yeah, it took me, I think, a while to really come to this place of understanding that, you know what, I could do this. I should try to do this. You know, it's, it's certainly not easy. There's a lot of people that try to go the self-employed

route and doesn't work out. And that's, you know, that's a big possibility. And I'm completely aware of that. I think I am one of those people where I kind of was at hope for the best, but I always kind of expect the worst. I guess I'm a bit of a pessimist that way. But I'm also just, you know, very aware of how, you know, difficult it can be to be a freelancer. Again, like my husband has been a freelancer. He's been working for himself for over 10 years. And yeah, he is in a very tough industry. He's an artist, I would say. He's an audio engineer, and that is a very artistic, creative field to go into. And he's working with artists. I'm not doing something like that exactly. I am in the financial sphere, personal finance. So it's a different, you know, industry. But still,

I'm very aware that it is not going to be an easy route. It's definitely going to be a bit of an uphill battle for a while as I get started and get my, you know, grounding and just really figure out what I'm doing. So I would say, yeah, that is kind of, you know, a big reason why I decided to make this big plunge. It wasn't a big, it wasn't a plan I've had for the past year. And I've been like, concocting this and holding this secret. This really kind of came to, you know, a decision ahead, I suppose, a few months ago, I guess, back in, you know, October, November is when I really just couldn't ignore this, this gut feeling that I needed to do this. And yes, of course, there's a bunch of other elements that I won't get into. But, you know,

it just came to a point where, you know, I wasn't happy doing what I was doing. And honestly, I was getting burnt out. I know a lot of you've, you know, tweeted me and written to me and just asked me straight up, how do you do all this? How do you have the time, the energy to, you know, work full time, and then do everything on the side, like the blog, the podcast, your YouTube channel that I've started. So I've been doing more videos and everything in between. I've been doing some more public speaking and I have a bunch of projects in the works. You know, people ask me all the time, how do you do it? And, you know, sometimes I'm like, oh, you know, I just figure it out. But honestly, the honest truth is I work all the time. I go to work Monday to Friday. I work nine to five. I transit home. And basically from 6 to 10 p.m., I'm working on my own stuff.

And then I go to bed and then I do the whole thing. So that's a really long day. And I've been doing that pretty much for a full year. And, you know, it definitely came to a point, I guess, in the summer, when things were really crazy. I was organizing my first event, the Millennial Money Meetup that happened in Toronto. I was getting ready for two conferences, you know, FinCon, and there was also the Canadian Personal Finance Conference in November. And I was, And I was just trying to juggle all of these different things. And I was just exhausted. Oh, also, we bought a place and moved. I'm like, there's something else that was really stressful. What was that? Oh, yeah, we bought a place and moved. Yeah. So much happened that I can't even

recall all of it, which I think is a problem. Like if you can't remember everything you've done and accomplished, which is I'm glad I did, you know, that previous episode, episode 80, where I really go through everything and talk about what happened in the past year. If I didn't do that, I probably wouldn't ever know. It was just a crazy year. And basically, I had several conversations with my husband, Josh, so patient and so kind and so supportive. And he's like, you just can't keep this up anymore. I'm sorry. You have to kind of choose one or the other. You're burning yourself out. You're not happy.

You need to figure out, you know, there's no balance in your life. And it's, which is that I think really hit home for me since my whole, I mean, my tag line is money, life, balance. And I was preaching this and I have so many, you know, projects in the works that are all about that. And I'm like selling something or preaching, projects in the works that are all about that. And I'm like selling something or preaching something that I'm not even living. I'm not leading by example. I felt like a little bit of a fraud when he brought that up.

And so, yeah, that's a big reason why I decided to do something out of my comfort zone. Totally scary. The biggest risk of my life, I would say, you know, besides moving to Toronto from Vancouver unemployed and not knowing anyone, I'd say this would be, I'd say this one's going to top that risk. Yeah, I think that that tops that for sure. But so yeah, so that's kind of the big news I've got. I quit my job after I was so I don't think I've ever really talked about my job, but I worked in digital marketing for a big law firm in Toronto. I was there for two and a half years, actually. And it was really, yeah, it was really bittersweet leaving. It was, it was a really tough situation. It was really

hard leaving everybody. I kind of, you know, I've been there for so long. You create a little mini work family. I spend way more time with those people than I probably do most of my friends, just because you see them every day, you know, for eight hours a day every week. So it was really tough kind of, yeah, telling them that I'm going to leave and this is kind of the end of our, you know, little work family. And that was really tough. And just, you know, yeah, it wasn't easy. I thought it would be kind of easier because, you know, I'm moving on to something exciting and I'm going to get to more about what exactly I'm going to be doing for my own business. But it was still bittersweet.

I was excited to move on to something new and something that I believe in, that I really feel like I have a mission to do in life. But it's really sad, you know, saying goodbye to, you know, your work family that you've, you know, just really created these strong bonds with for, you know, so many years. And that was, that was tough. It definitely felt like the whole kind of, I guess, exit definitely felt like a bit of a breakup. And I hate breakups. I haven't really done many. I've only had two boyfriends, though. And Josh is my husband. He's number two of the boyfriends. So really, I've only broken up with one person. But this definitely kind of felt very similar feelings to that first breakup back when I was like 19 or 18 or something. So yeah, so it's, it's, it's been a kind of a tough few months. You know, some days I'm really like excited and excited to start, you know, start this journey, especially like around,

you know, November and December when it was, you know, you know, ramping up. And then sometimes I just get really down because I, you know, a I'm, you know, it is the unexpected that's ahead of me, I really can't predict what will happen. But and it was also just really sad leaving my work family that I've, you know, known for so long. And we've worked on so many projects together. And, yeah, and also just kind of I think the other kind of sad part that I was also you know took me a while to really you know understand why I was sad was I'm not just saying goodbye to that uh particular job but I'm I'm essentially and you know hopefully saying goodbye to that whole nine to five life. I mean, you know, yes, there's absolutely a

possibility that I can go and get another job if the self employment thing does not work out. That is an option. But I really want to give this the best go I can. So, you know, this is what I'm doing. Moving forward, I would love to be able to be like my husband, who's been freelancing for 10 years. I would love to be able to say that, yes, I've been having, you know, I'm, you know, working at my own business for 10 years or whatever. So, yeah. So that's kind of what's been going on. And I feel like part of the reason why if you've been following me for a while, I've been a little more silent in December just because I have a lot of stuff going on. But yeah, that is the big news in my life. Get groceries delivered across the GTA from Real Canadian Superstore with PC Express. Shop online for super prices and super savings. Try it today and get up to $75

in PC Optimum Points. Visit superstore.ca to get started. All right, so I kind of now want to jump into like a little bit of a happier section of this podcast episode. So I want to talk to you about what does this mean exactly? What does me starting my own business being self-employed mean. So, you know, basically for the past year, since I rebranded last January, a year ago, and I can't believe it's already like a year has passed, so much has happened. But once I kind of rebranded and had more of a focus about what I was, my brand was all about, like, why do I have a blog? Why do I have a podcast? And really made it focused on like, I want to help millennials. I want to help everybody,

but specifically millennials. I want to be that voice for them to teach them about personal finance. I feel like I really do have, there's just something in my heart and my gut that has been telling me for so long. And I think I just couldn't ignore it anymore, that's like I feel like I really do have a purpose on earth to help people manage their money because it's not just about dollars and cents and if you're good at budgeting or not good at budgeting. It's literally about taking your life in your hands. There's so many smart people that make decent money that just don't know how to manage it properly. And because of that, you know, they're living paycheck to paycheck. They're drowning in debt. They feel really disorganized and confused in their life. And that trickles into lots of other areas in your life. You can trickle into how you deal with your relationships, how you deal with your job. When your money, I feel like, isn't organized, there isn't a plan in place for it, you don't know why you're making it or saving it, then it just kind of infiltrates the rest of your life. So I really do truly believe that once you figure out how to

do your money and know what it's for, and why it's for, you will see that the rest of your life, the things that maybe were like kind of problem areas, aren't such problem areas anymore. I maybe that's just me. But I feel like in my life, if I hadn't really figured out what money was all about, how I could use it for my own purposes, for my own opportunities and choices, I don't know where I'd be right now. Well, I for sure would not have been able to afford to quit my job and try to start my own business after, especially after I just bought a freaking townhouse with my husband. Super smart idea, Jessica. But yeah, like if I didn't know how to, you know, save and live frugally and just be smart with my money, I wouldn't have had the choice,

the freedom to be able to quit my job and do and pursue, you know, kind of my my dream of doing this full time. So I want to be able to kind of help others do the same thing, not necessarily so they can quit their jobs and, you know, be self employed unless that's what they want. But just realize that once they really understand personal finance, a whole new world opens up to them. And it's just better. So that's what I'm excited for. So what does that mean in practical terms? Well, a couple things.

First, the big thing, obviously, is helping people one-on-one. I've been writing about personal finance. I've been talking about personal finance for years now, over five years now. I help my friends all the time just for kicks. Now I want to branch out and actually help people one-on-one. That means basically becoming a money coach or whatever you want to call it. I think I did, I think I've explained on one of my solo episodes that I did register for this accredited financial counselor program, which I am, finally, I have time to, you know, really dedicate some time and energy to. So I'm

in the midst of doing that. And yeah, once I feel like I've kind of gotten a grasp of certain things, I've developed a certain program, I will open up my money coaching service to anyone who is interested. So it's not open yet, but when it does, I will absolutely be emailing everyone on my email. So if you're not on there yet, I highly recommend that you do. I'm going to be putting a lot of, you know, first, there's a lot of products I'm working on and I tell the people on my email list first. So make sure to go to jessicamorehouse.com slash subscribe to get on my email list for that. So yeah, the money coaching is a big priority. That is something I'm super, super, super excited to pursue. And the other big project, and lots of you actually were a part of this a year ago now, it's like it's one year anniversary, is the Rich and Fit challenge that I did with, friend and now business partner, Jacqueline Phillips.

So if you're not aware, so this time last year, me and Jackie, uh, we, uh, did a free 21 day challenge. We called it the rich and fit 21 day challenge. Um, and basically it was about, she's a fitness coach and a champion bodybuilder. And she really is so passionate about teaching people about fitness and health and how it can also very similar to personal finance. And that's why we kind of got together. She wants to teach people how once you really take control of your health and fitness, you will feel amazing. You will basically just feel like you can take on the world. You have more energy. You'll have more confidence in yourself. It really does, you know, just like really owning and understanding personal finance, it will infiltrate other parts of your life and

just make your life so much more awesome. And so we got together because I'm like, there are so many parallels between fitness and finance. We need to create a program that is basically all about empowerment, getting balance back into your life, setting yourself up for success by really taking control of your money and your health and fitness. And honestly, it's true. It's like, for me, I've always struggled when it comes to my health and fitness. I've always wanted to have more of a strict workout regime. I'm always that person. I wish I could lose five more pounds, and I never do. So I'm like, Jackie, would you please help me deal with my fitness and others? Because I know there's so many people like me that want to really take control of that aspect of their lives and have been struggling for years. And for Jackie, she's the same thing.

She's got that covered. But when it comes to money management and just having a plan in place, really understanding your financial goals, she kind of was like, okay, so I'm helping her with that. And so yeah, we kind of came together and created this program last year just to see if we can pull it off. And we gave ourselves like a ridiculous timeline. I think we put it all together in a couple months, like two or three months, which was insane because it was like around the holidays and we were both still working full time. It's just crazy. But we also just want to see if the interest was out there. Like Would anyone want to participate in this type of program? Because nothing's really in existence like it. And yeah, we had almost 500 people sign up. And I think I promoted it on my social channels. We did a Twitter chat to promote it that way. But I think that was kind of it.

We really didn't – we had limited resources, limited time, and so that's all we did. But still with that, we got 500 people that signed up, which is huge. It's pretty crazy. And so a year has passed. We've had a lot of time to figure out how we want to kind of rebrand, redevelop this program. And so we are going to be coming out with the Rich and Fit Boot Camp this spring. I am in the process of working on it and developing this awesome – it's going to be kind of more like a course, most likely six to seven weeks. And it's going to be awesome. It's going to be kind of more like a course, most likely six to seven weeks. And it's going to be awesome. Like I'm so, so, so, so excited to launch this course. This is something

we've really been talking about seriously for well, all throughout the year. And finally, now as a self employed person, I have the time to dedicate to really making this course the best thing it can be. And I'm excited to share it with you. And yes, unfortunately, it will not be a free thing because we are putting so much just valuable content into this course. I mean, we're talking meal plans, grocery lists, workouts for six days a week. And then on the financial side, there's going to be a lot of great resources like, of course, the budget spreadsheet, lots of video tutorials on stuff that you need to know, the basics of personal finance, and a lot of other really, really, really awesome stuff. So I'm very excited to be working on that. And I'm excited to

share more details about that when they are available. All right. So there's a couple other things I've kind of gotten the works. And when I kind of say this out loud, I'm like, I don't even know how I thought I was going to do this when I was working full time. It's just, I'd have to be a crazy person. But I do have a lot of ideas. I have a lot of ideas for projects. And finally, I'm excited to have more time that I can dedicate to these and really take action and get them done. It's annoying when you have such an idea that you've had for years and you've never been able to really just do it.

And I feel like the last year has really been in 2016. It was really my let's do it year. I mean, there were so many things that were you know, were such big ideas in my mind and they seemed so scary. I'm like, oh my gosh, I can never pull that off. Come on, that's crazy. But then I actually, I'm like, you know what, let's just do it. And you just take one step at a time.

And then, you know, after a bit, you kind of look back, you're like, oh my gosh, I can't believe I just did that. mean it's insane and so I really want to continue that momentum and just do some crazy big things that seem a bit ridiculous in my mind and what I'm kind of talking about is public speaking is another thing that I'm really going to be pursuing in 2017. I've done a couple of public speaking gigs in 2016. And I mean, I used to be good at it, I think back in like grade school, but then I haven't, you know, there's been a time where I just didn't, I felt self-conscious. I used to hate kind of speaking out. I just, I don't know.

I just didn't like being, I guess, kind of in front of like, I mean, I went to film school. I was a very behind the camera girl, not in front of the camera kind of thing. And so to kind of come to this understanding, like, well, if I really want to help people and reach different people, part of that is doing public speaking or being in the media and speaking out, I'm gonna have to get comfortable with that again. And so I've been did a couple a couple, yeah, public speaking gigs in the past couple months, and I really freaking liked them. Like, I, like, I'm always a bit afraid that I'm not going to be good. And then I do it and I just get such a high from it. It's just so awesome. And I absolutely love it. So I'm really excited to, you know, kind of break down that fear

and just go for it. So I'm going to do a bit more of that in 2017. I also hope to kind of really do something with my Millennial Money Meetup event. I did my first one. And again, that was like a big idea I had. I'm like, let's see if I can do an event and get, you know, sponsorship money to pay for it and get millennials to come together to talk about personal finance. And I did it. It happened in September. It was a big success. So now I am in the process of figuring out how I can kind of, you know, redesign that event into maybe smaller workshops that I could do on a more regular basis and see if I can maybe live stream them or something like that. So that is in the works. And finally, and this is the craziest idea I've had. I don't even like telling people about it because I'm a bit

embarrassed because it just seems like, oh, you are. So is everybody. It is, I've had this idea to write a book for about seven years now. And I'm like, you know what? I, again, I'm just going to take action. I'm going to try it out. I'm going to, uh, create an outline and a structure for the, uh, book. And I'm going to write a book proposal and then I'm going to try to pitch it to some, uh, book agents and see if anyone is interested. And, uh, now the book isn't a typical personal finance book at all. It's actually more, it will have personal finance elements obviously because it's a huge part of my life. But it is going to be a bit more general about – well, I don't want to give too much away. But basically it is kind of about a book about adulting.

I've had this idea ever since I graduated university and moved out of my parents' place and moved out on my own. And I was really clueless as to what does it mean to be an adult? What is that? Just all these things. And so I was actually looking for it. I'm like, is there some kind of guidebook on this? And no, that doesn't exist.

Probably because most people were like, well, you just figure it out for sure. But wouldn't it be great if there was actually a guidebook? So it'd be kind of part adulting guidebook, part, I guess, autobiography because I like talking about myself, obviously. That's why I have a blog and a podcast. I like to talk about me. So that is a crazy thing that I'm going to try to do and see if it happens. Why not? Like, I really do feel like once I turned 30 back in June, I really, I don't know, something clicked or something happened where I just didn't care. I don't care as much about what people think. And so far, that's actually been a really good thing. I'm not in like kind of a mean way, like, I don't care what you think. It's more just like, I'm gonna really just pursue what makes me happy. And I'm not gonna be crippled by the fear of what other people may

think or how they're going to criticize me or the backlash or whatever. You know what, I get that. Anyway, so I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna do me basically. And, and so far, so good. I've had a very fruitful 2016 and I hope to have just as fruitful a 2017. Okay, so before I kind of wrap up the solo episode, one thing I think I always forget to talk about or share is in case, because I know lots of you listening right now, you listen to me on the podcast, but you may not necessarily go to my website, jessicamorehouse.com in case you don't know, which is fine. But I talk a lot about, well, in this episode specifically, I've talked a lot about how I want to help people. And actually in the past year, one of the ways I've tried to do that is create some useful resources.

So I actually have a number of like, I've had my budget spreadsheet that is kind of my, you know, pride and joy. It's the budget spreadsheet that I've been using for years on end. And so I created it in Excel and in Google Sheets or yeah, Google Sheets. So if you want a budget template, basically, I have one and you can use the one that I've been using. And I also have a bunch of other awesome resources. Like, let's see, I've got a mortgage interest calculator in case you want to see if you have a 25-year mortgage and you're paying a certain percentage for your interest rate, how much interest would you be paying over 25 years? I also have a mortgage prep checklist. I actually made that for one public speaking gig I did

where I talked about mortgages. It is basically the 10 most important things you need to know about getting a mortgage. And it's super, super helpful if you don't know, if you're considering buying a place and you know you need to get a mortgage, I highly recommend you download that because it will absolutely help you figure out what you need to know because they can be a little complex. And let's see what else I have. I have a moving out checklist. So if you are in the process of moving out for the first time or just moving and you need a list of everything you need for your home, I have a checklist for you with everything that you will need

so you won't have to figure that out on your own. And there's a bunch of other great stuff on there, I may say. But I also want to make more helpful resources. So if ever any of you have any ideas, if you have like, oh, this would be really helpful to shoot me an email or a tweet. My email is Jessica at Jessica Morehouse.com. And I will look into making it because why not? Why not? Right? All right. So yeah, that is kind of what's going on with me, guys. A lot of things, all the things really. It's been a very intense couple months. And yeah, I really do actually really, really, really appreciate when you send me an email or tweet or subscribe to my email list or

basically just any form of support for what I'm trying to achieve and what I'm trying to do. It really does make all the difference, especially as I'm, you know, doing this completely new thing and it's, I, yeah, I would appreciate if you haven't given me a rating or review on iTunes, but you would like to, I would really appreciate it because those kind of comments get me through some tough days sometimes. I would really love that. And again, if you are listening to this right now, I am going to restart my listener series of the podcast. I am absolutely looking for new people to interview. So if you would like to be on my show to share your personal finance journey, your story, just shoot me an email, jessica at jessicamorehouse.com and I will get back to you right away. So I guess that's kind

of it. I talked about a lot today. I mentioned those resources. I'm going to link to all that stuff in the show notes for this episode. So just go to JessicaMorales.com slash 82 and you will find all that stuff. And yeah, that's kind of it, guys. Thank you for listening to my rambly solo episode. I love doing these. I hope you like listening to them because they do – they help me kind of put lots of my thoughts into place or something i don't know i don't know anyways thank you again for listening uh to episode 82 of the momany podcast season four and i will see you This podcast is distributed by the Women in Media Podcast Network. Find out more at womeninmedia.network.