More Money Podcast - 403 How to Take Advantage of Being an Outsider - Founder and CEO of BABES and Author of The Outsider Advantage, Ciera Rogers

Episode Date: May 29, 2024

Is there an advantage to being an outsider? Often we just want to fit it, but what would happen if we leaned into what sets us apart? That's what Ciera Rogers, founder and CEO of BABES and author of The Outsider Advantage, did to get herself out of poverty and eventually build a multi-million dollar fashion brand. In this episode, we talk about changing your money story, accepting and healing from your money trauma, and changing course so you can achieve the life you want and deserve. Follow me: Instagram @jessicaimoorhouse Threads @jessicaimoorhouse TikTok @jessicaimoorhouse Facebook @jessicaimoorhouse YouTube @jessicamoorhouse LinkedIn - Jessica Moorhouse For full episode show notes and transcript visit jessicamoorhouse.com/403 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to the More Money Podcast. This is your host, Jessica Morehouse, and this is episode 403 of the podcast. Not only that, this is the second to last episode of season 18 of the show. So got this one, got one next week, and then summer break, y'all. I hope you've got plans because I do. I've got a big barbecue that I am planning for the end of June and is taking up all my time and I'm very excited. I'm probably going a bit overboard, but I have not been able to ever host a barbecue in my home before because I've never lived in a home that had a yard. And this is going to be epic. So very excited. I've got plans. I hope you've got some amazing summer plans. But

until we get there, we still have a few more weeks until it's summertime. I've got two amazing guests in the multi-million dollar brand called Babes, which is a brand that caters to curvy women like yourself. Hello, I've got some curves, let me tell you. So I'm very excited to shop at her shop after this episode. And her brand has been worn by huge celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Beyonce, Ciara. I mean, the who's who. The who's who. And we talk about the amazing story and the new book that she has out all about her starting this business from literally nothing. She has the book called The Outsider Advantage, because you don't need to fit in to win. And it's really all about owning the fact that you may be an outsider. And that could

actually be a good thing. That could be the thing that differentiates you from everyone else and makes people go, huh, I want to follow that person. I want to see what they're doing. I want to buy into whatever they're up to. And you really do. Once you get a sense of who Sierra is, I mean, you just fall in love. And you're like, this is why she was able to become so successful and just start her business literally from, I mean, making clothes herself or finding some stuff at the thrift store and posting them on Instagram. Like, wow, incredible, incredible journey. And we also, you know, talk about some of her money issues because we all have them very relevant to the book that I'm writing that will be out next January. So we've

got so many great things to discuss in this episode. You're absolutely going to love it. I'm also going to give away a copy of her book. So listen to the end of this episode for more information about how to enter to win. But with that, let's get to that episode with Sierra. This episode is brought to you by Canon Canada. From street interviews to vlogging or filmmaking, great content gets even better when you're shooting with great gear. That's what Canon's Level Up sales event is all about. With awesome deals on their range of cameras and lenses, you can grab everything you need for that shot or scene you've been dreaming of for less. Whether you're helping that special person take their content up a notch

or adding that extra quality to your own shoots, Canon's got you covered. Shop the Level Up sales event today at canon.ca. Welcome, Sierra, to the More Money Podcast. I'm so excited to have you on the show. Hi, me too. I'm super excited. It's going to be fun. Yes, it's going to be fun. So you wrote your memoir, which is very like a cool thing to do at such a young age. A lot of stuff has happened in your life to write a memoir called The Outsider Advantage because you don't need to fit in to win. You've been able to accomplish so much in your lifetime, which is incredible. But what I really loved about your book is, I mean, you're very transparent, very honest, and talked about the struggles with money you've had along the way

that I think often when you see some of those from zero to 100 success stories of entrepreneurship, sometimes those, you know, mini stories get lost in the mix. And those are the really those are the important lessons that I think a lot of people can really learn a lot about. So before we really dive in, do you want to kind of share a little bit about what you do your business so people can kind of get some insight? Sure. I have a brand. It's called Babes. We cater to women with curves. I've had I've been with Babes for 12 years now. Wow. Yeah. I started with vintage a long time ago. Well, not a long time ago, 12 years ago. I started with vintage when I first moved out here, obviously, because I didn't have any money and I had a lot of we'll talk about that. Yeah, we'll get to that. But I thrifted for the majority of my life because

I couldn't afford like new clothes, like never, like even as a young kid. And then I just kind of got a knack for it. And then it helped me make money later on by starting my own brand. So, yeah, that's how Babes began. And now we are where we are. Yeah. And where, where are you? Cause it's, you know, especially hearing some of their origin story, which we'll touch on. It's now a very successful business. You want to kind of share, you know, if someone were to look at the brand now, what they can expect. I'm currently in Los Angeles, but we're still online. We don't have any physical storage yet. I almost

got a physical store right before the pandemic. And I was like, thank goodness I didn't do that. Yeah. Thank goodness. Maybe not the right time. Yeah. I think that was like perfect. Um, so we don't have a physical store yet, but we're online at shop babes.com maybe one day. I mean, that's a goal of mine. I mean, online is where I, I mean, that's where I do most of my shopping. I don't really go to stores anymore. So I feel like maybe what you're doing is fine and working how it is. It's working. Yeah. But for sometimes for curvy women, I think it helps if you can try on things in person. So I'd like that option eventually when it makes. As someone who does have curves, I totally understand. It has been a journey for me to find pants that fit yeah it's definitely yeah

you know get them tailored and you said special pants special pants yeah and i'm also short so i mean you're special you need special pants obviously yeah that's why we have such a great like exchange return policy i think that's important for online businesses to offer um especially for women like us, we have options. Absolutely. And, you know, again, you mentioned that it started as kind of a one man show. Now, you know, you've got this whole company making some really, you know, amazing revenue numbers. It's kind of incredible what you were able to do. Oh, and 12 years, it sounds like a lot, but actually, like, that's a short amount of time. Yeah, it feels like it kind of when I say 12 years, I'm like 12 years ago, like it feels

it feels like so long ago, but it really wasn't that long ago. And I was really lucky to grow so fast and pick up so much even like during the pandemic, we got we had so many, so many more eyes on us. So there's a little luck involved. I'm never like, I did it all on my own type of person. I'm like, you know what? I got lucky to have like a great following and Babes has a great audience. So to have lasted this long. Yeah. So let's kind of start, you know, with the origin story. So you moved to LA with pretty much no money in your pocket. We're on a friend's couch and they're like, yeah, you need to pay your share of rent. Yeah. Hello. Yeah. I think I moved here in hopes that the dreams would just, just fall out of the sky. I mean, I moved here from Houston and LA just seemed like, you know, everything's just going to work out when I got there. And it didn't. I mean,

eventually it did. But not immediately. Yeah. The money wasn't falling down from the sky. I moved here. I technically moved here with $200. But when I started babes, I had $10. So like, obviously had no money. Um, yeah, I was struggling. I was on my friend's couch. And she was like, I'm gonna need you to start paying rent. And rightfully so. It couldn't be on her. I wasn't mad at her. And it actually like gave me a kick in my butt to move faster. So I'm happy about that. Yeah. But even just reading that, I remember reading your story. I'm like, that would cause me so much anxiety if you're like, I have $10 and they're asking me for like, was it $1,000 rent? And you're like, that's a big difference.

How were you able to like, okay, like $10 is hardly enough money to do anything or pay your phone bill or anything. Like, luckily I had one of my friends had paid my phone bill. I still think of her and thank her to this day that I had a phone because I didn't, you know, like I at least had a phone bill and I was able to like eat my roommate's food. So that was great. But I don't know. I think when you're an outsider, like my book says, you're kind of used to like stuff, you know, like I, I've been in worse situations than on a couch with $10. Like I've been in a car or I've like had nothing or I've been hungry. So it's just like, at least I have something to like work with. I had had a bunch of thrifted clothes that I brought to LA from Houston. So I just kind of like looked at what I

had and figured out like, what am I going to do? So it wasn't a time to just feel down on myself. It was a time to like get my stuff together. Yeah. And you were able to do that. It's kind of incredible, but incredible that you had a very small following on Instagram. Again, what year was this? Like, this was 2012. So this is, I don't even know what Instagram was like. It was, no, it was just starting. Yeah. It was just, it was the perfect i miss instagram back then it was so simple i know now it's different it's like it's just like it was so simple you kind of like you said what you were about you grew an organic following i i started off very small but i grew very quickly because i don't know if you remember back then everyone was like smoothing their skin

out to be like when you look at those pictures now, you're like, we're not even looking human anymore. Everything was like overly edited. It was very like skinny obsession, but also like surgery obsession. If you remember, um, I mean, there's still that still that it's, it's still happening, but we're embracing more now. You're seeing a lot of different types of body types. You didn't see that then. So when I got on, I was like, here's my cellulite. I'm not editing this out.

At first, I don't feel like it. Two, I don't know how. And three, I'm like. And that kind of drove a lot of people to me and a lot of women to me. And that's how my following grew. And that's really how babes grew at that time. And so you were able to do that by having a few pieces, you just modeled them yourself, took photos and post them on Instagram and literally did a transaction over here's I'll ship it to you. I promise. Yeah, here's I'll ship it to you I promise yeah here's the paypal link like I'll probably can you trust me um yeah no I got this bodysuit from like uh a goodwill it was like four dollars or something

and then I just put it on I cinched the waist and I put it up for sixty dollars and that was the first little hint that I oh wow like there's some money here. Like if I keep doing this over and over and over again, like maybe I can stay in LA and get off this couch. And I did. And you did. And also too, it's important to note that you were doing that. You were also working part time and you were doing all of the alterations, just working nonstop. I was at, I eventually got a job, which helped. I got a job at Buffalo Exchange, which I'll love them forever for hiring me. Thank you. And it also like got a job, which helped. I got a job at Buffalo Exchange, which I'll love them forever for hiring me. Thank you. And it also like got me to I was learning, you know, I was learning retail. I was learning how things work. I was learning how they priced everything.

I was soaking all of that information up. And after work, I would go to Goodwill. I would go thrift and then I would go home and then I would put things online. So I had two paychecks coming and then eventually the online stuff were beating my Buffalo exchange paycheck. So I was like, peace. So I know now you do your own designs. At what point did it make sense to kind of shift the focus onto like, I'm just going to make my own stuff because that's what I want to do. And that's, there's a market for that. I think when I got out here, remember, I don't know if you remember, but thrifting became more trendy. Yeah, it was very Yeah, I remember you mentioned Nasty Gal. And this is your story kind of reminds me of like, Oh, I remember that. Yeah, it was like, it was like, okay, it wasn't a skill anymore. It was like it became trendy. And it became a hobby for everyone. So before people

didn't know how to thrift. They were like, Where do I go? What do I do? And then I noticed the market was changing and I needed to make a shift because people weren't going to, I mean, we're back to it now, obviously, because fashion goes like this. But people weren't going to find that skill that impressive in like the next year. So I had to jump spaces, which I did. So I went from thrifting and then I went into wholesale. And then after that, I went into cut and sew. But now I do a little bit of everything. So I want to kind of talk about like you were able to make all these leaps and bounds and make some really smart decisions and timing and things like that. Do you feel like you always had that kind of business sense? I know you do mention that you learned a lot from your mom who also had a clothing business. You know, do you want to kind

of share a little bit more about how you were able to integrate some of those lessons and experiences into your own business and grow it to what it is today? Yeah, my mom always had. I mean, she always had she had a vintage store back in Houston, but it was nowhere. I don't know. It's hard to say. Like when people ask me that question, it's kind of like everything you've, I'm turning the interview on you now. Everything, because I imagine you've been through something like everyone's been through something. I feel like it really like prepped me for this. I found like these things were like instinct almost. Yeah, it wasn't. It's not learned. It's like what you already like. No, you know what I mean? Like whatever. I don't know what you've been through because I don't know all your business because you haven't written a memoir yet, but not yet, not yet, but I'm sure it's something. And it's like, and sometimes you get that instinct just like pops on. I don't know if that's like a good answer, but that's my answer. No, I mean, cause you touched on that in the book too. And I thought that was actually really important and brave of you to do, to talk about not only your origin story, but also trauma. We all have trauma. They're all different types and shapes, but they have a huge

impact on some of those instincts that we learn and those things that are like, oh, you know, you got the good that are also bad. No, they're not so bad. There's things that's like, you know, where you clinch up and you don't know why, or you're like, I'm uncomfortable about this and I can't explain, or this triggers me. And like, why am I upset? Or why am I jealous of this girl? Or like, why do I not like the way they talk? Like everything comes from somewhere. But then sometimes you can flip it. Like my trauma is being poor or like feeling like I'm about to be poor again because I'm

out. So that has pushed me. Like I'm a really hard worker. So that's the good. But the bad is if I have a low sales day, I'm like, it's the end of the world. The end of the world. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And that's something I'm constantly dealing with. I have to remind myself like, no, you are not homeless. You like have a savings account. You can like, there's triggers there. But

yeah, there's good and bad. There's just flipping it and making it work for you. Yeah. No, I think that's super important. I mean, so I'm, you may not know this, but I'm currently working on a book. Part of it is, it's not a memoir, but part of it does share some of my stories, but we really go into the ideas of trauma and its connection to money. And I thought that was so interesting that you were talking about that in your book. I'm like, I think these conversations are happening a lot more because we're recognizing, yeah, what I went through, especially as a child, man, that's going to influence me. And that has influenced me for a long time. And it's interesting, just some of the points that you make in your book, such as, you know, you sharing your story of having

that kind of abusive boyfriend, and him holding you back from really realizing your potential in your business and like growing and earning more money and things like that. And it's like, where did that stem from? Well, something from your past made you attracted to this guy. He was feeling something from your past. And I feel like there's so many instances that we experienced like that, that are holding us back from, you know, switching jobs or going for that promotion or starting a business or trying to earn more money or even just learning about money because you feel like, oh, no, that's not for me. I'm too dumb or I can't do this. You're speaking to me with the relationship because I didn't even until I wrote it. I was

like, oh, that makes sense. That's why I stayed in that relationship for so long, because he gave me something my father didn't, which was like, I claim you. So I took it in any form. And it's really like, it's really sad. It's actually really sad. Yeah, I mean, but we all have these things that Yeah, like you said, we've got to recognize I mean, it was really great that you were able to eventually, you know, and that relation, recognize the unhealthy bits of it, and then kind of move forward. But yeah, we have a lot of these things that hold us back. But I also find it, you know, really great that you were able to recognize some of the things from your childhood and also your mom that you're like, huh, we, you know, we lived in poverty, and that was really

difficult. And then you recognize, you recognize, especially when you were just starting your business, there are resources out there that you can take advantage of that your mom maybe didn't take advantage of and maybe she should have. And I wonder if that's like, do we have a hard time expressing, I need help or the shame of it, right? I was just talking about this yesterday because I'm doing this partnership with Goodwill that I'm really talking about this yesterday because I'm doing oh, I'm doing this partnership with Goodwill that I'm really excited about. But I'm just. Oh, yeah. And I'm learning now that we were shopping in a Goodwill and we weren't even using the resources.

Like I even when I was here, when I bought that bodysuit and Goodwill, I didn't know like I could have gotten a job. I could have gotten like I didn't have to teach myself Photoshop or editing like they have free classes. And even when I was younger, like our car would break down a lot. I didn't know that Goodwill will fix your car if you need it for work. Like they're so well, I know that either. I mean, I think those conversations definitely be had because a lot of people aren't like, oh, yeah, like I had to like get Goodwill to help me. You know what I mean? Like a lot of people don't talk about those things. So definitely those conversations of sharing resources and being open, like, hey, like I didn't have to sleep in my car last night because, you

know, this particular resource helped me. And it can be embarrassing sometimes to talk about. So that's why we don't have those conversations. But yeah, definitely. I wish if I would have used or if my mom would have used more resources when I was younger, I would definitely be in a different place. But then sometimes I'm like, it's okay, because it prepped me. Like I, the world is so like when I don't view my story sometimes as like, like a sob story, because we had a car to sleep in. You know, like, and I wasn't in like any unsafe places. And the world looks so sad, like when you look at it now, and I'm like, man, I was true. Like, I was actually very lucky. But definitely like taking advantage of more resources would have made me push me to success a little bit sooner or whatever. But yeah, like you said,

there's a lot of, you know, shame that goes around, whether that's, you know, people feel like ashamed or people are shaming you. And that's why if you don't have those conversations, then more people won't know about these resources. And they, you know, how much easier would it be to get back on your feet if you were able to access some of these things that are there for you? And people don't talk about money. People don't talk. Like I was embarrassed about like how broke I was. So I never really asked for a lot of help.

Also have a male ego sometimes. I'm like, I'm fine. I'm fine. Which doesn't help me. Yeah. But actually, I'm hungry. But yeah, people don't have those conversations, whether it's like how much money you're making, if it's a lot, if it's a little, it's just like an uncomfortable topic. But I think if we normalized a lot of those conversations, to some of the things that you were able to experience. I really liked the part where you talk about this idea of kind of competition versus collaboration and also asking for help from kind of your circle to help you grow.

Right. And so you bring up the story of this girl, Brianna, who and I feel like lots of have been in the situation, especially if you run a business where someone's like, hey, I want to, you know, pick your brain. I want to interview you real quick. And you're like, yeah. And you're like, okay, I'll help you. And then what happens? And you're like, wow, you know, a couple days later, you see them copying you. And you're like, that is not what I want to happen. So many people have probably had that experience, whether you're at the workplace, you're like, I have this idea. And then the meeting, you know, Joe next to you is telling you the idea. Yeah. And you're like, I have this idea. And then the meeting, you know, Joe next to you is telling you the idea. And now all of a sudden he has the idea. Yeah. And you're like, that's my idea.

Yeah. So that is such a, it's a hard thing because, yeah, part of it, if you have that experience, then you don't want to, you will see everyone's competition. It hardens you. But I mean, what I found is the best way to move forward is to like collaborate and share. But I guess have, you know, again, listen to those instincts to be like, am I sharing too much? Or what's their kind of motivation? What was your experience? Kind of going through those ups and downs? Yeah, with first of all, there's been a lot of Brianna's that was just one story. Because I was so I think because I I've never had anything. So when I got success, I just wanted to share it. Like, I'm like, of course, everyone join in on this. And I had I didn't have that business mindset that was like keeping some of my cards close. So I'm not creating so much competition that have come into my life and got information.

And that's fine. You know, like, that's fair. Like, I'm pretty sure I've gotten information from people. But doing it in a malicious way and straight up copying is never OK. So I do think collabing is great. Like, when I met my next friend in the book, I was more open. Like, hey, like, I want to because I wanted to get into graphic design. So when I figured out she was in graphic design, I'm like, hey, this is what I want from you. Just so you know, I want you to teach me graphic design.

And then it's up to her to be like, do I want to teach this girl graphic design? Do I want something from her? And eventually made the relationship work. Not to say go around using people, but just when you're struggling, you have to see everything as a resource and there's opportunities everywhere. And just being upfront and not being malicious about things helps. And it helps relationships too. Because now when I see the girl, Brianna, we don't talk. And what a shame for Brianna because it's like she could have created a great relationship, a collab partner, someone to support each other. And she burned it. She burned it.

And what a wasted opportunity. And she affected other people because after that, she hardened me. So when people would ask me questions, I would be like, no, no. So I could have. I don't know. She ruined like my outlook of the world a little bit, but then later I, later in the chapter, I'm like, you know what? You did what you had to do. And sometimes people have to do that. Like maybe she was on a couch or something. I don't know her

situation at the time. And she's like, let me get this information from this girl. That's fine. That's fair. I mean, it's a learning situation. It's just doing it more openly feels better. Yeah. Like you mentioned, it's, it's, it's because there is sort of a bad word opportunist. But it's like if you go about it as like the ethical opportunist, I think that's a great way to explain it because it's like there's nothing wrong with asking for help. I mean, I've learned so much from like, you know, meeting people that do similar things and be like, hey, how did you do that? And but you've got to go about it in a way to be like, hey, how can I give back to them and support them in a way? And how can I also make sure that I'm still being me and unique and not just straight up copying? I mean, we learned that in school. Don't copy. Don't do that.

Don't do that. Make something. Do something yourself. Do it your own. Yeah. Yeah. Put your own spin on it, for sure. Exactly. And like I'm sure you've experienced getting to know other business people, there's plenty

of space for all of us. So there's actually no need to just straight up copy someone. And yeah, it ruins it for everybody. It does. If you want to collaborate, that has been the best thing for me is getting to know other people in the personal finance space and then seeing what are they doing and then how can we support each other but also how can i make sure that i am different right exactly that's how you your business is stood out you make sure you don't do that you don't copy people you're like how do i stand out

and make sure i'm unique and offering something that no one else is off right because you have to because once you start copying you just look not silly but you just look like a sillier version of yourself like it's just never you can feel it like other people can like that's not really like her so it's best to just like you have this unique perspective why not use it it's just silly not to that's why people are probably I mean that's why people are attracted to other people they're like oh what's, what's that? That's different. That's something unique. That's interesting. You don't want to like a carbon copy of something else. No, no, there's just no, there's no need. No, there's no need.

There's no need. Now, although you've, you know, had a ton of success, I know also, you know, personal experience as well on that road, lots of bumps, lots of failures, lots of discomfort. Again, that's something that is being talked about a little bit more, but still sometimes when you're just like scrolling online, you just see the headline of look at how much money I've made or look how successful I am. Right. Why do you think it's so important for people to do things that make them uncomfortable, which sucks? No one's uncomfortable, obviously. And then also embrace those failures. Because again, there's a lot of shame attached to like, oh, you did that wrong. You messed up. That didn't work out. Yeah. I mean, because it's just it's

a cheat code to me. Like if you felt something, you just know, don't do that. Yeah. Yeah. Don't do that again. And it's going to happen. So you might as well like try to flip it, embrace it and learn from it because there's no journey out there that has just been like. I mean, maybe there has for insiders or people that have gotten things handed down. But I know for us, like us people that are on the outside, there's going to be constant, especially with entrepreneurship. Like it's, it's up and down, up and down, up and down. So it's best that you just kind of prep yourself for it and look at it a different way. Don't look at it like, dang, like I quit. Cause there's been like months. I haven't made money like months, like a month. I'm like no profit. And luckily that I've, you know, I'm a save type person because I'm afraid of going broke. Good. Good to have that buffer. So I'm

good. But if I would have quit, I mean, I've seen a lot of people quit on their businesses or quit on their dreams because they feel like they failed. But it's just like, you know what, I'm not going to do it like that. I'm going to do it different. Just that's just something that you have to embrace. I'm curious, what are some of those things like you did mention in the book there, you know, were some dry months or things were like, oh, we hit a plateau. What were some things that made you realize, oh, that didn't work or we need to change things because we can't do the same thing anymore? I think when I that one chapter where I did copy, not copy, but I compared myself. I felt like I had reached success and I didn't look like it. Like, I'm like, I still look kind of homemade.

It's not really giving professional or like the big brands. So I just, I wanted to look like that. And that's when I've like made the least amount of money because I didn't. Yes, because my customer was like, this is not what we bought into. We were fine with the way things were going. Like it felt like us. It felt real. It felt authentic. So when you started going to like another brand, we might as well shop over there. Yeah.

So that's when I'm like, that's one of the things I've learned. And I'm still learning not to look at the competition and not compare myself. It's a constant journey. I really enjoy that part of your book because I do that also. And at first, I'm like, oh, where is she going with this? And it sounded like it's important to know what's going out there. And this is something that I ascribe to, too. Eyes on your own paper.

Just focus on what you're doing. Because that's what people are doing. They're looking to you. They're not also looking at your competition right comparing no like they may be doing that yeah they don't care they came to you for a reason um and if they you know are also looking at competitors let them do that but they'll still come back to you if you're true to who you are you have to be i'm curious like how were you able to kind of figure that out that like we don't actually need to just be obsessed with the competition and then even see them as competition and just focus on me and it's going to put, it's going to put like a,

what is it? A fuzziness over your eyes or like, like if you wore glasses and you took them off, like you're, you're, it's only going to stress you out usually and distract you. You're not going to usually look at the competition like, Oh yeah, I'm amazing. No, you're always like, Oh, this is what I'm not doing. Yeah. And even if you and if you're sick like me and you do feel great, you'll find more competition that'll make you feel bad. You're like, well, yeah, I haven't hurt myself enough. Let's just go down the rabbit hole.

Let me keep going. So it's just never it's just not good. It's good to be aware because you can't be completely eyes on your own paper that you don't know what's going on in the market. You don't know what's doing well for other people. But you have to know yourself. If you're going to torture yourself, don't do it. Have somebody else do it for you. If you're anything like me.

Yes. But if you can control it, that's fine to look at the competition. And you're not crazy like me, then great. But just know yourself and just don't stress yourself out. It's just not worth it. And you're going to make less money and you're not going to be yourself. And your customer loves you for you.

And you need to just be different and focus on that. Yeah. I mean, I still look at the competition sometimes, but I find whenever I look at, if there is someone I'm looking myself and then I realize I'm comparing myself and then I start to feel bad. I'm like, okay, we're going to mute them.

We're going to mute them. I don't need to see this. It doesn't make me feel good. It's distracting. I love muting. It's perfect. Because then it's like awkward because when you're online, if you've created a relationship with someone, you don't want to unfollow. You know what I mean?

You're like, it's not, yeah, it's like, it's not you. It's me. Sometimes it's just you for that month. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I've muted people for like a month a year a week like if they have something going on like let's say you want to get married really bad and then someone just got married on your mute yeah you're like i don't need to see that it's not gonna make me feel good seeing all your wedding

photos yeah i'm cool i'm happy for you but like i don't want that on my timeline right now because that's triggering so just knowing what your triggerings are, knowing what your triggers are, and catering what you see towards that. So we kind of touched on this before, the relationship with money that you've had. And obviously, you know, what you went through as a child has had a big impact. And even like when you were a young adult and then starting from scratch with nothing, that has a big impact. It sounds like you're obviously in a much better place financially, but probably also

just like mental health wise and your relationship with money now, like you mentioned, even though there may be months where low sales or no sales, you know you're okay because you've got cash in the bank. I'm curious, how were you able to slowly make that shift? Because I know that is one of the hardest things to do because it's really built in at such a young age to kind of overcome some of those mental obstacles is really difficult. How were you able to kind of go from this scarcity to be like, no, abundance. We want to think that we can have this.

We deserve this. And, you know, we can get it. Yeah, it took time. Years. Years, yeah. It took years, and I'm still working on it. It's still a struggle. Oh, yeah. It definitely took time. It helped, like, making the money. I'm the type of person that, like, I find comfort because I lacked stability my entire life, these are my traumas. And I'm not saying these are healthy, what I'm about to say. But it helps me to know that I have a savings. So I look at it sometimes and I'm like, you're okay. Because that's what I need. And personally,

because I'm like, you're okay, you have this amount of money. The way my brain works is like, worst case scenario, if you made $0, like, what was you? Okay, you can sell your car. I mean, you can not have a car, you can not have an office. You'll like, that's how that's how my brain works to be like, I'm okay. Like, I know how to live on very small, like I could Yeah. So I, I don't know, I feel like i'm rambling now but just like no no no no you've said so you've set up a kind of a way of like well a super disaster mode if the worst happens we're good we've got and i can always thrift or i can always like let's say babes never makes another dime i know i could like thrift or put it on etsy or like

i can hustle my way back up to i know i can do it because i've done it before i may not be i may not be able to build the exact same thing but i i feel like i can sell anything like i would i would sell paper towels if you told me to sell paper towels i just i just that type of like, I could do it again. If I did it with $10, as long as I can save $10, I could do it again. Knowing that, I guess the other part is like, okay, you're good. You've got some stability and you haven't really had in the past when it comes to your finances. But then how do you kind of then take a look at like, how do we, instead of always thinking about what bad could happen, what good could happen? How do you make plans for the future? And have you thought about what are some of my big lofty goals? And what I'm curious to what are some of those

milestones that you achieved? And you're like, I can't believe I achieved that. That's crazy. I want it. I don't know why, but I wanted to see a million dollars in my bank account. Hell yeah. And I did it. Before I bought a house. I did it. Yeah, I saw the number and I screenshotted it. And I said, and I just sat there with it. That was obviously a big milestone, having a million dollars and then buying a house. I mean, and those are huge milestones. I mean, people can only imagine to achieve those. What are some things that you, you know, what's the next kind of goalpost that you're working towards?

I want to be a New York Times bestseller. No. Well, hey, we don't, we don't, you know, it could happen. I want that. I, um, off, off track, I want to make movies. Like I know I'm in fashion. That's my passion. That's one of my passions. That's always been one of my passions. So if I could like somehow gear up into like making movies from this, that would be like, I would just sit in that and just, I wouldn't even have to make a dime. I just want to like create something and see it out in the world. And then everyone's like, yeah, this is amazing. That's one of my goals for sure. Financial goals. I think that was one after you hit the million thing. It's like, I guess you can try for like 10 million.

But then the numbers start to like, I'm very frugal. I don't really spend my money like I should. I live below my means. That's all good to me. That sounds great. These are great. Those are not bad things. These are suggestions I would make.

I think a lot of people live at or above their means. Especially in L.A., I'm sure. And some things are out of your control, obviously. But if you are doing that on purpose, like you're the one making yourself at or above your means, I would never suggest that because you're never going to like build that savings account that you want because you're constantly spending the same amount of money you make each month and yeah you want to live and enjoy life but you also want like just in case something happens for you to have like that yeah yeah we're just talking now i'm like hey girl we're just we're just chatting well yeah no i think it's it's i mean it's actually kind of a breath of fresh air because sometimes especially you hear i don't know if my algorithm is very full of like these bro podcasts,

finance bro podcast talking about, I want to be a billionaire. And you're like, why do you need that much money? Like, that's a lot of money. You'll never be able to spend it. I don't know. I would give it. I would give, I'm the type, I would give some of it. I can be a billionaire just sitting. Oh, I'm a billionaire. With a billion dollars. Yeah. Like, I don't need that much stuff. And there's a lot of people that need a lot of stuff. And I don't think I would be that.

I don't even think I could get to billionaire status. I mean, I'd give you like just based off this conversation. I'm like, hey, girl, I'm a billionaire. Would you want some? You want some of this? But you know what I mean? Like, it's just like, do something with the money. I don't there's not that many things that I want. Well, I'm curious with, you know,

especially your experience and recognizing that there are so many people that struggle out there, maybe one of your, you know, future financial goals is creating like a foundation or something like that. Yeah, definitely. I think that would like that would really be really fulfilling. Just like even like single moms who like I've always thought of like child care. How expensive. So expensive. So and just like knowing that your kids are safe and in like a safe environment. So if I could do that, because luckily when I was younger, we had a community center where we grew up um so my mom had somewhere to drop us but what if she hadn't like i mean a lot of times we were with her but a lot of times we couldn't be what what if she hadn't like i don't know where we would have been and she had two little girls so you don't want to just like put them anywhere so yeah i would love to do that that'd be so fulfilling for me you're actually reminding me that's one of my goals because i thought yeah add that to your list yeah i was like let me add that to let reminding me that's one of my goals because I thought. Yeah. Add that to your list.

Yeah. I was like, let me add that to the list of things to do. Yeah. Because I feel like too often when we are setting financial goals and we've maybe hit the ones where we're like, I never thought that would be possible. And now I hit those. We don't know where to go next. And then so sometimes exploring those ideas of like, okay, well, how can I give back? Or how can I, yeah, how can I be a positive light in this world, you know, outside of just, you know, doing my business and that kind of stuff. And, you know, I think that's more, you know, powerful and just impactful than I guess my next goal is $10 million. You're like, okay.

Like, what am I going to do? I don't even like, like all these, I don't like a car or something like you can help people that were in your position and you could build. And if you want to think selfishly, you can build a network like training. Like I think about like maybe my staff could be bigger or maybe I can teach, you know, like a single mom how to sew. And then that will be more collaborative because then she can come work for babe. So like if you want to think like also give, but also like be business minded, you could think of it like that.

Lots of ideas. Lots of great ideas. All these ideas. We should be writing this down. We should be writing us out. Good thing I'm recording this. Are we recording? We are recording. This is a podcast. Oh, okay. I love this. Great to know. Oh my God. You know what i'm i'm so

excited for your book it was a very easy read just because i'm like i see myself in this there's so many you know it was just very again a raw honest portrayal of what you experienced and then how you were able to really go from you know starting from the bottom and now we're here. Now we're here. You know, I'm in Toronto. Drake fan over here. Okay. We are here. We are here. And you, yeah, I think you're a really big inspiration for a lot of women who probably want to do something similar and don't know if it's possible. And you're a proof that it's possible and you don't have to start with a lot. But it's not going to be easy.

It's going to be a very windy road. There's going to be a lot of lessons. It's going to be a journey. And so you have to, you know, really stay on that journey. Yeah. Yeah. So any, you know, before I let you go, are there any other kind of nuggets of wisdom that you'd want anyone listening who's like, wow, I can't wait to read her book. And I aspire to, you know, experience some of those things or hit some of those milestones myself, any kind of nuggets of wisdom you'd want to share? It's a business memoir, but we touch on even if you don't want to be an entrepreneur or you don't want to like start your own business. It's just like how you want to get whatever your version of success is. So we talk about like I'm not a mom yet, but I'm friends with moms.

And there's moms that just feel like, you know, I feel like I'm not a good mom or I'm not like those other moms or I want to like or I want to be a better partner or I want to like start a social club. It's just like whatever you've been through is pretty much prepping you for where you're at now, especially if you're an outsider. You already have everything that you need. You just need to look at it differently. So I think that would be the last nugget is just like, you don't have to start your own business because it's hard. And it's not, you may not want to, you may not like it. It's not for everybody. Like entrepreneurship is hard. So it's, it's just for whatever version of success that you want in your life whatever that might be I really like that you

you know and consider like if your needs are met remember that that you have everything that you need and so if you feel like you're not making any forward movement we need to think differently and view things with a different perspective and I think often we just need to be reminded of that because we are very stuck in our ways and our routines i mean gosh i feel like for me the last month i'm like i feel like it's groundhog day every week i'm like are we what happened is monday again i know you know it's it's yeah i feel this time is weird we'll talk about another podcast i feel like they're messing with the time yeah i blame the what was that eclipse that probably did something

that messed it all up it was before that i don't know how we're in whatever month we're in right now but yeah that's another podcast but yeah that's a whole other but you know again going back to you know it's it's just you know we got to view things a little bit differently and sometimes when you do that that is the thing that can just like help you pivot and go in that direction finally yeah and it's not easy like when you're in because sometimes I hate when people are like it's easy it's just looking at it differently and you're like you're like that's actually really difficult to look at things first of all shut up like but I think it's just learning off of my mistakes and learning off of other

people. Like if you read it and you see like, you know what, I see how she flipped this to that. Like, just try to, I understand like times are hard and when you're in it, it's hard to like think of it differently because I'm stressed. Like I don't have time to look at the positive side of things, but if you want to get over this hump and you are as motivated as I am, just think, you know what? Sulking in it is going to waste more time. Yeah. And you're going to be more angry at yourself for wasting that time.

You're not making any money sulking. You're not making any changes. So like, try to push yourself and look at everything differently if you can. Yeah. And you'll be surprised. I'm sure you've had lots of these moments. You're like, wow, I'm really like we not only did we get through it. Wow. I can't believe I you'll be surprised i'm sure you've had lots of these moments you're like wow i'm really like we not only did we get through it wow i can't believe i ended up where i ended up right it's hard but once you break through you really do break through you do yeah yeah well thank you so much sierra for coming on the show i'm so excited i'm putting some good vibes out there so it becomes a new york times bestseller or you you know, that's another sort of bestseller. That's another map.

Just like manifest. That's how you you just say the word manifest and it works. Right. I mean, I ultimately just wanted to help. Like I started this. It was a business book at first. It wasn't a memoir. It was a business book.

But I wanted to make a business book for that felt like it was for me, not people that had everything. Yeah. Had the dad and the well it felt like a more realistic take on this is actually how it works and it also from someone who started a business not too long ago like yeah 12 years but you know as a millennial like yeah 12 years wasn't that long ago and it's interesting to see someone do it and actually learn from it and grow and then succeed and, a lot of the business books you may find on shelves, very archaic, don't really talk about how to run a business in our times now. Right, right, right. Yeah. So that's all I want. I just want to be relatable and easy for people. Just like not because our life is hard enough. Yeah, life is hard. It can be hard. So if I can make that easier for someone

that is in a position similar to how I was, then that's all that I can ask for. Amazing. Well, I'm sure it'll help a lot of people. So thanks again for coming on the show. It was a pleasure having you. This was fun. I like, I like this place. This, this, it was very like, I really like your energy. So this was fun. It didn't feel like work at all. I enjoyed this. I felt like I was hanging with one of my friends. So this is great. Thank you. That's that's the vibe that I've been trying to do these past nine years. Well, I mean, mission accomplished. You're doing amazing. Thank you. Okay. And that was episode 403 of the more Money Podcast with Sierra Rogers. Make sure to check

out her brand Babes at shopbabes.com. You can learn more about Sierra at sierrarogers.com. That's C-I-E-R-A Rogers.com. And you can follow her on Twitter at I am Sierra Rogers. And of course, Instagram at Sierra Rogers. That's where you can find her. And also, if you're looking on her website, the shopbabes.com website, and there's lots of cute things on the website, let me just tell you. Yeah, they do ship to Canada. So there you are. If you're Canadian like me, you can do it. They ship to Canada.

Very exciting times. Very exciting times. I will link to everything, of course, as always, in the show notes for this episode on my website, jessicamorehouse.com slash 403. And if you want to also have a low, forgot about her book much, I was just excited about her clothes, quite honestly, you can grab a copy of The Outsider Advantage because you don't need to fit in to win now. And I am giving a copy of that book away. So make sure to go to jessicamoorehouse.com slash contest to enter to win a copy of her book, but also support a new author and entrepreneur and an amazing woman like Sierra. So buy her book,

you know, buy her book, The Outsider Advantage. Go buy it right now. Again, you can find the links to do that in the show notes for this episode, jess, JessicaMorehouse.com slash 403. And if you're looking for the show notes for any episode you've ever listened to ever, a couple ways you can do it. Go to JessicaMorehouse.com slash podcast. There you go. You can look at, you know, every season. You can, you know, do a search. You can do whatever you want. Or if you know what the episode number is, JessicaMorehouse.com slash number of the episode is how you find the show notes for those episodes. There you go. There you go. Okay, so I've mentioned the contest, mentioned the book. I will be, you know, because we only have one more week of the podcast,

I will be wrapping up the podcast probably, or podcast, sorry, wrapping up the contest for all the books I'm giving away likely sometime in August. So even though we're going to wrap up this season soon, you'll have all of June, you know, for anyone who listens a little bit later than the initial air dates of these episodes, you still have some time. And yeah, that's really all I have to say about the contest. JessicaMoorhouse.com slash contest. You can enter to win all of the books that have been featured on this season of the show. So go do so now. Now, a few other things I want to mention. This is a really important one. Number one, I have my Wealth Building Blueprint for Canadians

course. As you may or may not know, I launched it back in 2021. Gosh, I'm like, what year is it? It's 2024. Okay. Yeah. So it's been around for just over three years and I have just made a little, well, A, I updated the entire course, I do that annually. So it is better than ever, as always, and everything is up to date for 2024. But other exciting things. Previously, if you it's, you know, still by application only, I like to kind of filter out people to make sure this is the right fit for them. This is not a course that I built to just make a ton of money. And then I don't know, close the course and people are like, what the hell happened? Was this just a money grab? No, this is a course that I'm going to have for a very long time because I

put my heart and soul and years into it. And the whole goal of this course ultimately is for students to take it, to learn from it, to apply what they've learned and actually build wealth, hence the name of the course. And so with that, I previously had it. So you had to apply. I would get that information, see if you're a good candidate. And if so, then you would have a discovery call with me so you can ask any questions you want about the course. Make sure it's a really good fit for you before enrolling. Now, I've changed things up a little bit because I have literally hundreds of applicants who have never booked a call. And I feel like maybe it's because they are too busy or they just don't like having a

call. And I get it. So I'm changing things up a little bit. So if you apply, and this is for anyone who's previously applied for the course and just never booked a call with me, you now can either do a call or there is a webinar for you to watch to kind of go through all the key things about the course. So you can get that information in that format as well. And again, you can watch the webinar and still have a call with me if you so choose. But just making things a little bit more accessible. So that should,

you know, answer your questions about the course because there's only so much information I could put on a landing page. It's a pretty in-depth course. It's like 17 plus hours of content. There's a lot of tools and spreadsheets and worksheets and a lot has gone into this course. And so there is some information that you need to know. And again, it's an investment in yourself, but it's still an investment. And so I wanna make sure that you're buying something

and you feel really, really good about it. And there's like not that kind of pressure to do it. So that is what's going on. JessicaMorehouse.com slash course is where you can find all the information about that. Also, and hopefully this will be the case by the time this episode airs, but I have also updated all of my budget spreadsheets. So if you don't know, I have a ton of budget spreadsheets for any kind of like situation. If you're self-employed, if you have a side hustle, if you are in a couple and someone's self-employed, but you're an employee, whatever

the case, I have budget spreadsheets for any situation. Done a little update, a little overhaul, and they're better than ever. Now there's ways for you to track savings goals because lots of people are like they want a way to track their savings contributions instead of just tracking their net worth. So that's an option now. And if you're self-employed, there's a way for you to track your sales tax. So it's kind of more mimics bookkeeping software. And so much more comprehensive. You can find all those at jessicamorehouse.com slash shop. And again, if you have any questions about any of the things that I just mentioned, the course, my budget spreadsheets, me, you know, hit me up on my email, Jessica at JessicaMorehouse.com. Or you can always DM me on Instagram and I will try to get

back to you as soon as possible. Oh, with that said, though, I posted a Instagram reel that is pinned on my profile. So you'll find it right there. But I was trying to figure out like, you know, you see people all the time on Instagram, like answer, like comments in the form of a reel. And I'm like, I want to do that. How do I do that? Because I get questions all the time about, you know, money related things in like my email or, you know, Instagram DMs and stuff. But I sometimes want to be able to answer it in like a video. And so now there's a way to do that. So you just have to look on that reel and comment. And then I can answer back in the form of reel. So go check me out at Jessica I Morehouse on Instagram. Also reminder, the podcast also exists on Instagram. So at More Money Podcast is where you can find that where there's, you know, lots

of the clips from all the shows. So take a look at all those. So yeah, that is probably plenty for me. I am a rambler. I am a talker. A big thank you to my podcast team, Video Edit by Justice Carrar and produced by MRAVCanada.com. Thank you so much for being my podcast team. And yeah, thank you so much for listening. I will tell you who is on the show next week the final episode i've got entrepreneur jeff learner on the show he's also the author of a book called unlock your potential and he has a really interesting story coming from someone who dropped out of high school and become became like an amazing concert pianist to now a very successful entrepreneur who um really you, we just dive into topics of

how to kind of get out of your own way, right? Yeah, we're all kind of doing that, myself included. So a really great episode to end the season on. So that is what you have to look forward to. Thank you again for listening. I will see you back here next Wednesday.