More Money Podcast - 136 Thoughts on My First Year of Entrepreneurship - Jessica Moorhouse

Episode Date: December 7, 2017

For my season ending solo episode, I share my thoughts on making it to the one-year mark of entrepreneurship, what I’ve been up to & how I’ve grown these past 12 months Long description: To wrap up Season 5 of the Mo’ Money Podcast, I thought it would be a good opportunity to do another solo episode to share my reflection of the past year. A ton has happened these past 12 months, so much so that even though I spewed my guts for 40 minutes in this episode, there was still so much I didn’t share. But I think my overall sentiments on the year got across. To think back to where I was this time last year, honestly, it’s like night and day. This time last year I was stressed, burnt out, and frustrated. My life was going in a direction I didn’t like, and I knew the only way to get back on a path that felt right, I needed to make a drastic change. Even though I thought I was prepared before quitting my job to work for myself, looking back I really was taking a huge risk. I didn’t have a business plan, I just had some ideas on how I’d make a living based on how I earned money with my side hustle (being my blog and podcast). Throughout the year, I fleshed things out a bit more, got more focused (sort of), and now have 10 different streams of income. I definitely want to focus things more in 2018, pair down those streams of income to maybe 5, and increase my business revenue to 6-figures. And two big ways I hope to accomplish this is by ramping up marketing and promotion of the Rich & Fit Bootcamp and launching my financial counselling practice. Lots to look forward to in 2018, but before the New Year starts I’m just thankful of how 2017 went. I’m proud that I stayed strong, worked hard and proved to myself (any all the nay-sayers) that I could do this on my own. Here’s to a New Year and endless possibilities! For full episode show notes visit https://jessicamoorhouse.com/136 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to episode 136 of the MoMoney podcast and my finale episode for season five, my solo episode to kind of cap off 2017. How crazy that the year has come and gone already. It's insane. But yeah, I am super excited to be doing a solo episode. It feels like it's been a while since I've done one, and a lot has happened since my last one, where I guess it was the end of season four, where I did an episode about my six-month update of being a solopreneur. Well, this is kind of my year update, I suppose.

I guess technically, if we want to be technical about it, my one year anniversary of being self-employed is January 9th or something like that. But whatever. This is the end of season five. So this is, I'm going to say this is kind of my one year anniversary. So a lot to talk about this episode. And I was actually really looking forward to recording this all week. And I like literally just recorded this. So I've got a lot, a lot of stuff to share. But before that, I want to say a big thank you to this episode's sponsor, Credit Card Genius. Support for this episode comes from Credit Card Genius, the only tool that compares over 50 features of 150 Canadian credit cards using math-based ratings and rankings that respond to your needs instantly. Now you can get rewarded

faster without all the headache. Visit creditcardgenius.ca to learn more. Once again, that's creditcardgenius.ca. All right, let's get into this episode. So it is the end of 2017. It is the first week of December and I am still kind of in shock that I'm here where I am right now, that I've been able to basically kind of do what I've always dreamed of this whole year. Now, I always like to preface that everyone has different ideas of what entrepreneurship looks like or solopreneurship, whatever you want to call it. And for me, that was, I think, the biggest challenge to kind of figure out in the first couple of months of working for myself. I definitely looked to other people that were

doing something similar or ran their own small business, were freelancers full time, and tried to see like, okay, they're doing that, where do I kind of fit into that, you know, kind of framework, or what do I want my, you know, new job to look like. And honestly, I feel like now that I've done it for about a year, I have a better idea of actually what I'm doing. I feel like I'm not really making any sense, but these words are just kind of coming into my brain and I'm just spitting them out. I told you this is going to be kind of a bit of word vomit. But so let me kind of like go back a little bit in case you're just like, what the hell are you talking about? Okay.

So just to kind of, you know, go back a little bit about like November, December of 2016 is when I decided to leave my full-time job. I used to work in digital marketing for a big law firm in Toronto and was there for almost three years. But it kind of came to a point where I needed to decide whether I was going to stay there or look for another job or do something really crazy and quit to try to work for myself. And well, just a bunch of things happened that kind of led me to that third option. I thought, you know what, if I'm going to do something, I want to really do something. Yeah, I could look for another job and then, you know, try to, you know, climb that ladder that I was never really honestly able to climb up. And that's kind of like part of my story too is, I mean, I've been working full time in different roles for different companies for the past seven years. And I've never once gotten a

promotion. And it was always kind of a pain point for me and a bit of shame, honestly, because I know I'm a hard worker. I always got great feedback. And I was always promised promotions and raises, and it never happened. So basically, it kind of just came to a head where I'm like, this, I'm in again, once again, in another situation where I was promised this, it didn't, you know, come to fruition. And it kept on being delayed. And I'm like, what do I do? Should I just stick it out and, you know, see what happens? Or should I just like take this opportunity as, you know, maybe a sign that it's time to do something different. It's time to do something a bit scary. But also, it's not totally impossible. I mean, it's not like I'm quitting my job and then I'll figure out what I'm going to do to make money. I had a side business. My side business was this podcast and my blog and being, I guess, air quotes, an influencer, which I kind of hate the name of because it just sounds so annoying millennial, which I am not. But anyway, so I had this side

business going on for several years and I was making money. And for me, it was nice to have that extra cash so I could afford lots of things like experiences and trips and owning a home and doing what I want. It was nice to have that extra income. So it was kind of scary to think that, oh my gosh, if I quit my job to work for myself and try to make my side hustle into my full-time hustle, will it be enough? Will I actually be able to live off that kind of income? Because I really have no idea what that would look like as a full-time income. I just know what it's like when I kind of spend my evenings and weekends on it. So it was a big risk. But my husband, Josh, lovely Josh, was very supportive. He's been

working for himself for over a decade. And since we've been together for pretty much that entire time, I've been able to kind of see the ups and downs and how it can be, you know, feast or famine. It can be awesome. And it could be super depressing working for yourself. So I did kind of go into this knowing sort of what I was getting myself into a little bit. I didn't have this idea. I mean, I dreamed of it. I kind of, you know, part of what I was getting myself into a little bit. I didn't have this idea. I mean, I dreamed of it. I kind of, you know, part of me hoped it would be like this, but of course it wasn't. I didn't have this idea that I think a lot of people have. It's like you quit for your, you know, work for yourself or whatever. And you're finally, you know, ranking in like, you

know, five figures a month and you're living it up and you're just all over Instagram, loving your life. You know, that is a lovely picture. And I think that's a lot of, I mean, I get targeted like crazy on Facebook ads for all these business coaches being like, I can teach you how to make a million. Yeah. Okay. That is not reality. And that is not what self-employment looks like. And that certainly, I knew that's not what my life would be. Obviously, I have dreams of being successful and earning enough to really feel more secure. But this year has actually been pretty awesome. I've got to say, knock on wood. And I'll kind of explain what the hell happened this year, what I was really up to, and what that really meant for my finances.

Okay, so let's start with, okay, what is exactly my job? Now, I kind of explained a little bit of this in my six-month update podcast episode. But basically, I have a number of hats. I'm actually going to pull up my spreadsheet right now. Okay, so I, you probably already know this, because if you've been a longtime listener, I do talk about this a little bit. I love spreadsheets. I'm a big spreadsheet lover and I have a crazy organized budget. So I know, you know, I have my free opt-in, my budget spreadsheet, which you can download for free, JessicaMorehouse.com slash budget. So I've basically manipulated that to kind of work for me and my business.

So the free budget spreadsheet is great if you just want something for your personal finances. The one that I've developed for me and my husband is basically a version of that. That is for personal finances. Also our business finances. And there is several tabs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Oh my gosh, there's only 10 tabs in this thing. But anyway, so I track my spending.

We track our joint spending. So we track our individual spending, our joint spending. Josh also tracks his HST. I use a different software for that. I track my business expenses, which are different than my personal expenses. Also my business income, cashflow, than my personal expenses. Also my business income, cashflow, net worth. It's a mega thing. Anyways, on one of the tabs where I kind of track my income,

and of course I also track that using FreshBooks as well. I like to have them in two places. But anyway, so part of it also I organized like what are my sources of income and what are their percentages and all that kind of stuff. So I have an idea of where I earned my money this year. Because honestly, when I quit my job and started working for myself last January, I had a sort of idea of where I could make money just based off like, okay, well, I do sponsored blog posts sometimes. I get sponsors for my podcast. So I knew I could make some money off partnering with brands that I like and believe in and partnering with them in

whatever capacity to kind of spread the word of whatever they want to share to my audience. But beyond that, I'm like, I don't know what else I'm going to do to earn money. So here is a breakdown of how many, okay, let me just check. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. I have 11 sources of income. So that may sound insane to you. And it probably is. And I definitely kind of want to whittle that down so it's a bit smaller. But let me give you an idea of where I am actually making my income. I like to be very transparent about this because I think it's interesting. Anyways, okay, so number one, I've got my blog and kind of social media sponsorships, so brand partnerships for my blog and social media channels.

I've got my podcast sponsorship, so that is stream number two. Number three, I've got, by giving you numbers, they're not in any particular order. They're just, I haven't ordered them. Number three, public speaking. Number four, my tax refund. So that's not actually like really income, but it sort of is. I got like 800 bucks back from my taxes last year. So whatever. I put that in there just because I like to put everything in there. Number five, podcast producing. So I do do this. This isn't something I really publicize. But again, I help companies produce podcasts for whatever they want. So I actually helped my old employer produce a podcast. So that is in there. Number six, other. Other, I think, actually is the income that I earned by participating in that Money 2020 payments race, which I didn't know how to classify because it

was kind of a random thing that I did. After that, financial coaching. So I've actually started to do that kind of on the down low because I have not yet completed my financial counseling training, which I will hopefully be done by the end of this year, which I will, of course, update you. But anyway, so I've been doing that kind of on the DL. So that's why that's in there. Events. So obviously, you know that I host the Millennial Money Meetup and it is not a nonprofit or anything. It is literally just me organizing the whole thing, hiring help to put it on, getting a venue and catering and all this kind of stuff. So what it is, is I ask brands to sponsor my event. They give me a check and I put it all

together and I set aside a part of that sponsorship money as my fee for organizing the whole thing because it is a ton of work and there's no freaking way that I would do that for free. I mean, I actually did do the first Millennial Money Meetup. I did get sponsorship, but because I really didn't know what I was doing and I booked a really expensive venue. I mean, it was an awesome event, but I didn't actually earn any money that first event. So moving forward, I figured how to budget a little bit better, still making an awesome event, but still make sure that I'm being paid for my services because yeah, it's a whole lot of work to put those events on. Next, I've got freelance writing. So I am a contributor to PC Financial's blog and also

have contributed pieces to a bunch of other blogs on Sonnet's blog and Achieve a Financial, and there might be a few others. And after that, I've got the Rich and Fit Bootcamp. So income from that. And last but not least, I've got some income from affiliates and also YouTube. I finally got my $100 check from YouTube. Yay. So hoping to ramp up more video production and doing more stuff on YouTube because I really like it. I just cracked a thousand subscribers. And I just, I really, really like doing YouTube videos and talking about personal finance and that kind of format. So that is how I earn my money. That is what I've been up to this year to make an income. And if you're curious how much I made, well, I'm not going to tell you because I like to keep some

things private. I share a lot about myself and my life. And I so appreciate when other bloggers and personal finance people out there share that information, what their net worth is, what their spending is. I think that's so valuable and helpful. And I absolutely appreciate that. But because I do share quite a bit about myself, and I am pretty much an open book, I do like to keep some things private. So that's why I like to keep that private. So all you got to know is I did reach my goal of surpassing what I earned at my last job. So the salary that I left, not only did I match it, but I exceeded it. So that was kind of my really

big goal for the year. And I had no idea if I'd be able to do that because I really at the beginning of the year, I literally didn't really know how I was going to make my money. But throughout the year, I just kind of, you know, took opportunities where they came. I started making my own opportunities, which I think is a really, really important thing that I also want to kind of talk about. And yeah, things kind of worked out. So yeah, so let's, let's talk about that. So I get asked a lot, like, oh my gosh, like, you know, you're doing all these things are always like, you know, on the media, you're getting onto TV now and all this stuff, like, how did you do it or whatever? Okay, number one, I am not an overnight, like, you're like, oh, it sounds like you just like, you know, just happened. You've probably heard that like,

oh, I'm an overnight sensation. It just took me 10 years to get there. Yeah. I've been doing this for over six years, people. So this is not something that it just happened. I have been building and working towards this and evolving and changing what I'm doing for over six years. So it hasn't just like happened like that. It took a lot of time, a lot of, you know, things that worked, things that didn't. And what I'm kind of talking about is like me having that Mo Money Mo Houses blog for four years. I know a lot of people loved it. And I actually mentioned it at a panel discussion that I was part of at FinCon. And I was saying, oh, I had to switch gears and move away from Mo Money Mo Houses because it just wasn't working for me. And I had a lot of people come up to me being like, oh, I actually really liked Mo Money

Mo Houses. And I didn't too. I really did love it for what it was. But I knew that it was great to be a personal blog, but it wasn't so great if I wanted to kind of use it for my business platform or whatever. So there's lots of things that I did that worked, lots of things that didn't. So it's a lot of trial and error. And you do hear, you know, if you read a lot of business books like I do, they talk a lot about failure. And failure shouldn't be something that you should be afraid of or something that you should steer away from. You should go in at full force. If you're failing, it means, okay, that didn't work. I'm one step closer to finding out what does work. So it is taking a lot of risk and pushing yourself and doing things that terrify you. And actually, there's, I really love, there's, oh goodness, I want to say, yeah, it was Kelly Keene, who was on the podcast recently, definitely

checked that episode out. But she did a keynote at the Canadian Personal Finance Conference recently. And she talked about kind of her journey and how she's gotten to where she is today, where she's an author of like nine books. She's always on TV. She's rocking it. And she talks a lot about being uncomfortable and how that's a good thing. That is important. That's something that you should strive towards. And I a hundred percent agree. You know, being successful is never an easy road. It is not for the faint hearted. I absolutely believe that. And sometimes that's just not like the path you want to take and that's fine. And that doesn't mean that like you can't be successful. That's not kind of what I mean. I'm more kind of talking about from the perspective of starting your own business and being an entrepreneur. If you want to kind of go that

route, it's uncomfortable. It's never easy. Things work out, things don't. Sometimes you're panicking, and I'll get into that too. It was not an easy road this whole year. I'm ending it off, I feel like, on a really high note. I'm really proud of what I've been able to achieve and I'm really happy for all the work I've done and just for me being able to just look back on the year's work I've done. And I'm proud of it. I'm proud of it. I'm also proud of the person that I was able to be this year. I feel like I'm kind of, I was kind of the best version of myself this year. I was, you know, not kind of stuck in a job that wasn't really fulfilling. I tried to surround myself with people that uplifted me, that motivated me, that challenged me, that were positive people. And then I also made sure to stand up for myself and kind of say, no, I'm not going to accept that behavior or I'm just not going to have you in my life to anyone who didn't kind of fit that bill, who were, you know, negative or just didn't understand where I was coming from.

And that is just like, you know, life. I mean, that is something that as I've gotten older, I'm like, oh, my gosh, I kind of wish I implemented some of these things earlier. If you want to have a more fulfilled life, a happier life, full of more joy and satisfaction, then a really good place to start is looking at who you surround yourself with. Make sure that you're surrounding yourself with people that share your values, that are positive, that also challenge you, that will be honest towards you and support you. And you want to do the same too. It's not just, you know, you have to give and receive. So that's definitely one thing that I really focused on this year. And I'm really glad I did because now I could look, I'm like, wow, all the people I have in my life

are really, really awesome people. And that includes you listening to right now. You listening are an awesome person. And I really appreciate you taking the time to listen to me blab about whatever I want. And honestly, every person that I've met in person or we've done an email exchange or a tweet exchange or whatever, who said that they've listened to my podcast or they're in my Facebook group, are awesome. They're such amazing, inspirational, motivational, positive people. And that is totally what my mission was all year. I wanted to really embrace kind of my mantra, money, life balance. I want to earn money and

feel comfortable and financially secure in that respect. I wanted to earn money and feel comfortable and financially secure in that respect. I wanted to live a more fulfilled life. And above all, I also wanted to have more balance in my life. Now, it's difficult to have balance. And that's something that I think it will be always a kind of a work in progress. But I feel like this year has been the most balanced out of probably the past five years, 100%. Like, it's been crazy. It's been busy. But I'd say, looking back, like the feeling I have right now, definitely, definitely more balanced. So yeah, so anyway, so that is kind of a long story of what the heck I've been up to. And, you know, what kind of the years looked like. But I do want to kind of go back because

I talked a little bit about successes and failures. And I kind of want to share a bit more about what the ups and downs of being your own boss can look like. So this is my first year in business. I am happy to say that, yes, I exceeded my salary that I left at my old job and that I'm cash flow positive. I did not go into debt. I did not take on any debt to start my business. I made sure to live as frugally as I could. And that meant, honestly, I didn't go out a ton. I didn't do as much as I used to. I didn't go shopping. I think I went shopping once and I bought two things back in the summer at winners that were heavily discounted. So I definitely kind of tried to scale back. I also realized that when I was at my old job, I was spending quite a bit.

And I think I was trying to fulfill something. I was unhappy and I was trying to fill that void by spending money. So I wanted to not do that. I wanted to maybe live a little bit more minimally, be more conscious of what I was spending my money on, and just change some of my habits. So that meant not eating out as much and trying to make more meals at home. And not just feeling like I have to buy all this stuff for my house because now I'm a homeowner. And I got a little crazy with that when we did first buy it last August. I'm like, no, okay, we have enough stuff. Let's maybe take a look at what stuff that we have that's just taking up room that we don't need. And there's lots of stuff that I would love to replace in this place. There's lots of stuff that I would still like to get, but they're not essentials. I've lived the year without them, so I don't need them right now.

But kind of going back to the ups and downs, well, there was definitely some ups. I'd say the first kind of quarter of the year from like January to like April, May, maybe that's like half of the year, isn't it? Anyways, that was a real up. I was busy. I had a lot of opportunities come my way. I was really, really thankful. And it really made me like, okay, maybe this wasn't such a bad thing. Maybe this wasn't a mistake. Because sometimes when you're self-employed, especially your first year, you're like, oh, crap, what the heck did I just do? But the kind of low point I think would be in the summer. And the reason is, you know, a big portion of my business comes with working with other brands.

And it's kind of a slow season in the summer for them. And so there was a couple months where I'm like, oh, no, has my luck run out? Is this it? Oh, geez. And it really made you or made me rather think twice about my decision for leaving my job. I was really, really panicking. I mean, I was, you know, again, thankful that I did think ahead and saved up quite a bit of cash and reserves in my emergency fund, for instances like this, where I wasn't earning that much. But it was scary because I thought, oh my gosh, maybe I just had a really good run and this is it. And it's, it's, this is it. And so, well,

at that point, what I try to do to keep positive was I did try to work out quite a bit in the summer and that really did help. I also made sure to just like, okay, if I'm not getting a lot of work, what else can I do to kind of move my business forward? Well, part of my business that I want to launch is my financial counseling service. And so I made sure to take my first exam and I still have one to go. And so I did take that kind of free time that I had back in the summer to really do that. And I'm glad I did that because then I got, you know, things work like this. They're really slow and you're panicking. You're like, oh my gosh, this is it. I'm going to have to find another job. And then you get, you know,

a really great email saying, hey, do you want to participate in this? And you're like, oh, that sounds good. And then you get another one and things start ramping up. And then they are basically like insanely busy from like end of September to right now. And that is kind of like literally what my years look like. It was awesome. And then it was the worst. And I'm like, oh my God, I need to start like brushing, you know, making my resume look better again. And then it got awesome again. And so that is what I feel like probably other people who are maybe self-employed listening to this. You're like, yeah, that's, that is accurate. And I talk to my husband all the time because he's gone through this. It's like, for instance, his years always look different. Sometimes, you know, there are slower periods that he prepares

for, but he works in the music industry. So it's very, it's a weird, weird industry. And so he basically had a awesome year up until October. And that's pretty good. That's like most of the year was just like he was so busy. And then October rolled around and like crickets. He was just like waiting on things to happen and nothing. And then he started to panic. He's like, oh my gosh, maybe again, I had a really good streak and now it's over. And luckily now we're back in December and things are starting to ramp up again for him. And that is just kind of the nature of the beast. It's good. It's bad.

You have to be really strong and not take things personally. That's another thing is I had to kind of shift my focus instead of being like, this is me as a person earning money. And instead shifting kind of my, you know, how I thought. It's like, no, no, no. I'm a business person. This is my business earning money. You know what I mean? I don't know if that makes sense. But for me, that was a really important mental shift that I made recently that's helped me a lot because I feel like I'm more protective of my business. I'll take more risks for my business. But if it comes down to just me, Jessica, I don't know. I'll be a little less... I'll be more conservative, basically. I don't

know. I don't know what that means. But that's also one thing that I recently did to kind of change my budget. And that's another thing too. Let's talk about personal finances, shall we? So I mentioned that I've developed a really crazy budget that has like nine tabs in there. It didn't always look like that. I think there's maybe four tabs to begin with. But throughout the year, as I noticed just different aspects of my business or things that I wanted to track that I wasn't, I, you know, okay, let's create a new formula for this or let's, you know, have a chart for that or whatever it was.

And so it kind of basically turned into like nine different tabs. But I'm really glad. And that's the other thing too. It's like, even if you don't have a budget for your business, if you have a personal budget and you find, oh my gosh, I'm always changing something, that is okay. Because your budget should evolve as you evolve. As your life changes, your budget should change or the way you do things. Because maybe you'll find more efficiencies that way. And that's the thing. That's why I kept on developing it even throughout the year. Like I literally just made a kind of a different, some more tweaks just this past week is because I wanted to find better ways to do things, more efficient ways to do it. So it can

really tell me the things I want to know. So it's like, I want to know, you know, where I'm earning my money and what the percentages are to see the ones with the lowest ones so that I maybe I can cut those, you know, streams of income out because they're really not adding anything to my business. So I could focus on the things that are making me more money. And another thing I did to really organize my business expenses was I have, before I used to basically track all my personal expenses and business expenses in kind of one Google sheet or whatever. And it just really confused me because it always made me feel like I was spending too much. But really, it wasn't me. It was my business that was costing me. So then I basically made another tab just for my business expenses.

So it would show basically how much money my business has earned, what are my business expenses, and then what's left over. And then for that money that's left over, that would turn into my actual salary. So now how I budgeted is kind of like how I used to budget where I had a set salary and that's as much money as I could get. And that for me makes a lot more sense than trying to figure out every month how much did I actually make this month. Giving myself this kind of idea of like, okay, this is my salary. Let's divide that by 12. This is how much I can spend this month. Giving myself this kind of idea of like, okay, this is my salary. Let's divide that by 12. This is how much I can spend all month. That has really made it a lot easier

for me to just understand the flow of my money and also not feel like I'm overspending because I'm very diligent with my business expenses. Let's see if there's anything that I'm currently paying for that isn't worth it. Is there a cheaper program I can use than the one I'm currently using? But yeah, that is kind of how I do it. Maybe I'll even do a special webinar or something in the new year to show you what my business and personal budget looks like now that I'm self-employed. I think that'd be actually really interesting. All right.

So that is kind of a view of what my past years look like. It has been a very interesting year to say the least. But as I mentioned, it is also really nice and I feel like more balanced this year because I'm finally being able to put all my energy into projects that I really, really believe in. And I feel like I have a core mission now before I didn't really know where it was going. For me, my mission is to educate people about how to manage their money because it shouldn't just be for the rich or it shouldn't just be for people who are lucky enough to go to business school or whatever. I feel like everyone is absolutely capable of taking care of their own money. They don't need to business school or whatever. I feel like everyone is absolutely capable of taking care of their own money. They don't need to rely on someone else. They can learn the stuff

themselves, implement those things, take action, and reap the rewards of that. That is what I do. I do my own finances. I've done it since I was in my 20s. And I am so glad for it because I have a better... And obviously, yeah yeah you do have to be pretty self-motivated you do need to know what you're doing but personally all that stuff is learned all that stuff anyone can learn there's the internet there are libraries there is absolutely no reason that you cannot uh teach yourself how to manage your money properly and uh yeah and and that kind of also goes to investing. And that's something I definitely really want to create more information about in the new year because I get a

lot of questions from people, especially millennials, about like, how do I invest? Like, there's all these robo advisors. Are those good? What's an ETF? What about going to the bank and just asking them to do it? Like, I just don't even know where to start. So there needs to be more transparency and clarity about what investing is, how to do it well, and how you can do it yourself without necessarily hiring someone to do it on your behalf. There's nothing wrong with doing that, but I feel like there's a big misconception that that is the only way that you can earn money on your investments by hiring an investment manager to

deal with your portfolio. No. I've talked to so many people, especially a lot of successful people, and a lot of them say the exact same thing is you can absolutely do it yourself. And it is important to be diversified and a good route to go is by investing in index funds and ETFs. So that is kind of why I like to talk to a lot of people on the show about investing. And we always kind of talk about that. We don't really talk about stock picking or mutual funds because I don't personally believe that those are good routes for everybody. Obviously, mutual funds do have some benefits because they're diversified, but the fees are incredibly high, especially in Canada, and they don't outperform index funds and ETFs that match the market instead of trying to beat

it. And stock picking, it's very volatile. Lots of people make good money by doing it because they know what they're doing, but there's also a ton of risk that you can lose it. And that's why in general, I obviously do want to talk to more people on the show about it, but it's not necessarily something that I think everyone needs to do in order to save enough money for whatever their financial goals are or for retirement and stuff like that. So yeah. So anyways, I want to talk a little bit about what's in the books. What's 2018 going to look like? To be honest, I have no clue, but I definitely am excited to do my new dream board. So there's a video that I did back last January. I think it was one of my first videos after quitting my job

of me making my own dream board. I've never made one before. I've had a lot of friends that have found lots of success in doing them. And so I did it. And honestly, I've looked at it all year and I've been able to accomplish almost everything on that dream board. Two big things that I probably won't be able to accomplish, one of them maybe, is buy a watch for myself. I'm just so frugal sometimes. I'm just like, I'll literally go to the bay and try on a bunch of watches and be like, there's nothing I like enough that makes me want to spend this money. So maybe, maybe Boxing Day I'll find something, but I don't know. And the other one is getting my driver's license. That is never going to happen. I'm going to be

the oldest person to still have their like new driver's license. I've had it for like 10 years. And this is actually the last year, 2018 is the last year that I can get it without it reverting back to my learner's license. So I'm going to make that a priority. But everything else pretty much I've accomplished on the Dreamboard. But I'll do a special video on that in January to kind of go through that. Anyways, I'm excited to make my next one because I want it to be a little bit more focused. I really had no idea what I was doing for most of this year. And so now looking back that I have this year that I can be, okay, this is what I did. This is what worked, what didn't. Let's focus on the things that did. And some of the things that I definitely want to

do is obviously open my financial counseling practice. As an accredited financial counselor, I will be by that time. I want to make more courses. I was super stoked that I was able to create the Rich and Fit Bootcamp with Jacqueline Phillips and just like literally go from scratch, like have no idea how to even make a course to, oh my gosh, we made one. We've had students take it. It was successful. It was a really good thing. And now we need to just kind of market it more and kind of spread the word about that. But I want to create more courses that are specific to what people want to learn in personal finance.

So budgeting and what a financial plan looks like and all the things that you need to do to take care of yourself financially. So I definitely want to create more courses like that because now I know how to create a course. I also, again, want to ramp up my public speaking. So something I actually did back in the summer was hire a speaking coach. So I had done a couple of speaking gigs in the early part of the year and they were fine, but I definitely knew I'm like, oh gosh, if I want to be awesome at this, I need to hire someone. I need to get some help. And so

I hired an awesome speaking coach in Toronto and she's been helping me the past few months. And she's absolutely really, really did help me. As I could tell, because she helped me with my latest speech that I did at the Canadian Personal Finance Conference. And before I saw her, I had to give her my presentation before I did it live. And she gave me a ton of notes that I implemented. And I think it made all the difference. So I definitely want to focus more on that. So what did I say?

Financial counseling, more speaking, more courses. Definitely want to focus more on creating videos. I love having my blog, but it's not something that, I mean, obviously I haven't been consistent with it. I don't post every single Monday like I should. So I think if I kind of focus more on the video and always write a blog post with that video, that'll be kind of help me, you know, do both. And also I just like doing video and I have a lot of fun ideas. And also doing that money 2020 payments race made me really like, oh my gosh, I could totally do this and not feel like kind of silly for like going out with a camera and like shooting myself and getting weird looks. I could totally do this. What else do I want to kind of do in 2018?

Goodness. Actually, I would like to see if I'd be able to go, and this has been a dream of me and my husband's and we've been talking about it for a while, go to a foreign place, like we've been kind of talking about Portugal or something, for a month and just working completely remotely. That's just like the dream is to be completely location independent. So maybe one day we can leave Toronto and live somewhere else, maybe a bit more affordable, own some land. I don't know. But so that would be kind of a dream to fulfill. That's for sure. But yeah, and of course, doing more events. So I just actually did my last millennial money meetup of 2017 in Toronto for Financial Literacy Month in November, which was awesome. And I think that was like, I'm like,

okay, the one I did in Vancouver back in September, I felt like, yeah, okay. I kind of changed how I did the event, made it smaller, more exclusive. And at a restaurant where there's just really great catering and stuff and great location. And I got a lot of great feedback. So I tried to replicate that in Toronto and I did, and it was awesome. I got a lot of great feedback. Everyone's like, when's your next event? So I definitely want to make more of a firm schedule on when am I going to do these events so people can look forward to them. They can buy their tickets in advance and all that kind of stuff. Because honestly, I freaking love my...

Obviously, I organize it. But I really do like my meetups because it is such a great way to connect with people in person and have a special guest to share some knowledge, answer questions live to people. And you just feel like, oh, wow, like to create a like fun networking event with like drinks and food and, you know, people talking about money in a safe space is literally probably like one of the coolest things I've done all year. So I'm super stoked to do more of those. And of course, I'll always let you know on the podcast when those are. Though sometimes I do record my podcast in advance. So that's why I always suggest getting on my mailing list because I always send all the good things that I'm up to and whatever on my mailing list. So you can do that at jessicamorehouse.com slash subscribe. All right. So I feel like I've been talking for a long time, and that's just me because I could talk for hours by myself, apparently. But okay, first,

I want to share some special words about this episode's sponsor. And then don't go away because there's actually some really important things that I need to tell you to wrap up this episode. A big thank you to Credit Card Genius for supporting the Mo Money podcast. If you're not aware, they are the only tool that compares over 50 features of 150 Canadian credit cards by using math-based ratings and rankings that respond to your needs instantly. Now you can get rewarded faster without all the headache. If you want to find the best credit card for you, make sure to check out creditcardgenius.ca to learn more. Once again, visit creditcardgenius.ca to learn more. Okay, so like I mentioned in yesterday's episode, this is kind of a thing I've never done before, but I absolutely, I don't know why.

Clearly, I'm just like, oh yeah, duh. I want to get your feedback on the show. I totally appreciate the feedback I get in iTunes reviews. So keep those coming. And I will be way more diligent about doing actual shout outs. I'm going to make like a really organized list of everyone who has sent me or given me an iTunes review and then literally checking them off after I've get like, I just need to be a little bit more organized next year. But I will do so much more iTunes reviews shoutouts next season,

including all the ones that have come this season. But beyond that, I want to get your feedback on the show. I want to know what kind of guests you want on the show, what you like about it, what you don't like about it, what I can improve upon, how I can make this a way better show. Because I have some big dreams for this show. I want this to be in the ears of so many more people to help others that feel like they can't really take control of their money. And hopefully if they give this a listen,

they'll get a little bit more motivation and inspiration to actually know you can. Anyone can. Anyone can take control of their money and live a more financially secure life just like me. So how you can do that is go to jessicamorehouse.com slash podcast survey and fill out a short questionnaire. And to say thank you, I will also be drawing one winner from the survey, maybe one or two. Let's see if I'm feeling fancy to win a $25 Amazon gift card. And speaking of $25 Amazon gift cards, I mentioned yesterday that I wrapped up the contest I've been doing all season long.

So in October, November, December, I said I would draw winners who submitted an iTunes review and then went to the show notes for details on how to actually submit themselves for the contest. And I drew randomly three lucky winners. And here they are. All right. The first winner is from Canada. Neola is her Apple iTunes username. And she says, I came across Jessica's podcast while looking for a relatable and practical female perspective on money in Canada. She did not disappoint.

Her podcast is a collection of all topics and all experts I needed to cover all the basics and to get a ton of inspiration and concrete leans about how to take my money saving and making to the next level. I also love the community she's creating both on Facebook and through her in-person meetups. I cannot wait for the next event. Thank you, Jessica. No, no, no. Thank you for entering my contest, giving me an iTunes review, and I really hope you enjoy that Amazon gift card. All right. The next winner is also from Canada. Timberchick is her username and her review says, handy info to take in. Great info on the basics plus a bit more perfect for those of us who know they need to learn more about money and financing well thank you so much and

enjoy your prize of your uh $25 amazon gift card and last but not least our third winner is from the us of a their username is upbeat and positive influence love that username and uh her review shares uh look forward to each episode release. It wasn't long after I discovered Jessica's podcast earlier this year that I listened to and finished all of her episodes. Wow, that's a lot of episodes. Thank you. I love the upbeat and pleasant tone of each episode. She really makes the interview sound like she's hanging out with a good friend, which is one reason why I enjoy this podcast so much. The finance messages portrayed helps me stay focused and motivated on my goals.

I also learned so much. Missed this podcast over its summer break and happy to have my weekly dose of the Mo Money podcast back. I know. If only I had the stamina to continue during the summer, but no, I need a break, girl. Uh-huh. Which is why i am taking a much needed break throughout december so i don't think i've revealed yet when the podcast will resume after my much needed winter break but it will resume on january 17th that's wednesday january 17th is when you can expect the first episode for season six of the episode. And I've already recorded a few episodes already for the season. And damn, I am so stoked to reveal who the guests are.

It's going to be a really, really good season. So although I said that today's, this episode right now is the end episode of the season, which is true, I do have actually a little gift for you, a little special bonus episode that will air tomorrow. So as I mentioned, I just did my Millennial Money Meetup in Toronto. I was joined by my special guest, Lisa Zamparo. She is a financial strategist and lifestyle

optimist, and she was awesome. We had a great conversation about debt and credit and also did a Q&A and recorded it all for the show. So I will be releasing my bonus episode of that conversation with her tomorrow. I'll also be putting the video of our conversation on my YouTube channel. And if you're not on my channel yet, make sure to subscribe. I'm going to be really putting a lot of focus on making some really fun, fun videos on there. So you can just go to JessicaMoorhouse.com slash YouTube and it'll direct you right there and please subscribe. I would really appreciate it. Okay. Well, that is it for me. I am sad to say goodbye, but I, I'm not really going anywhere. I'll, I'll still be around. Hit me up on Twitter. Send me an email. I am putting an autoresponder in my email. So it forces me to actually like

dedicate December to just, you know, getting ready for the new year, studying for my course, and just maybe taking a breather after working nonstop. So but don't be shy. I always appreciate your emails and your tweets. Even if you have any questions, I've been getting lots of great money questions that people like, hey, I don't really understand this. Could you help me? Yeah, send them my way. Not only is it like my pleasure to help, but it's also it really helps me find out what what people want to know more about. So I can get guests on the show to really go into those subjects in depth. But yeah, anyways, thank you again for listening. I hope to see you back here tomorrow for tomorrow's special bonus episode and have a fabulous holiday season. You rock.

I really appreciate you listening and making this such a successful podcast, helping me do this for a living. You rock. I appreciate you. Make sure to send me your feedback and let me know what you think about the show and what you want to get more out of it. JessicaMorehouse.com slash podcast survey. And on that note, catch you later. This podcast is distributed by the Women in Media Podcast Network. Find out more at womeninmedia.network.