She's On The Money - $40k Salary to a $400k Side Hustle

Episode Date: September 22, 2024

Today’s Money Diarist made a bold move, turning her life (and bank account) around! Feeling stuck in her job, she spotted a golden opportunity, took the leap, and built a side hustle that’s now bringing in some serious cash. She’s proof that with a little strategy and a lot of hustle, you can completely transform your financial future. Tune in for an inspiring, feel-good story that shows how hard work and a smart idea can lead to the life you’ve always dreamed of! SIGN UP FOR THE INVESTING MASTER CLASS! Use the code PODCAST for a cheeky discount. Acknowledgement of Country By Natarsha Bamblett aka Queen Acknowledgements. The advice shared on She's On The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's On The Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs.  Victoria Devine and She's On The Money are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN - 321649 27708,  AFSL - 451289.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hello, my name is Natasha Nabanunga-Bamblett. I'm a proud Yorta Yorta, Kernai, Wolperi and Awadjeri woman. And before we get started on She's on the Money podcast, I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land of which this podcast is recorded on Awadjeri country, acknowledging the elders, the ancestors and the next generation coming through. As this podcast is about connecting, empowering, knowledge sharing and the storytelling of you to make a difference for today and lasting impact for tomorrow. Let's get into it. She's on the money. She's on the money.

hello and welcome to she's on the money the podcast of millennials who want financial freedom welcome back to another one of our money diaries where i get the absolute pleasure of sitting down and talking to one of our incredible She's On The Money community members all about their money story. Let's jump straight into it because this week I got an email and it sounded exactly like this. Dear She's On The Money, back in 2014, I was making $40,000 a year living paycheck to paycheck and had little understanding of financial basics. But I did know that there was not much room for career progression in sports and community rec. So I did a complete 180 and moved into project management in construction and I am now on $90,000 a year. My husband has

always worked in machinery and he had noticed a gap in the market in our community. When we were building our home, we realized we needed the machinery, so why not just buy it ourselves and then hire it out as a side business? I'm putting working nights and weekends in, but it's worth it because this business is projected to turn over $400,000 in its first year. Money diarist, does that give you a little bit of whiplash? Like from $40,000 a year to now a business turning over 400 grand, like be for real, that's so much money. It's pretty cool. And that's part of why I wrote in because I was like, oh my gosh, this is actually really incredible. And I kind of, it was actually really nice

validating it for myself as well. Oh, it's so cathartic. Like I think one of my favorite things about money diaries is that reflection that the diarists get and I can see it. And I feel like our listeners can hear it as well. You know, when you go through a diary and at the start, they're like, yep, I'm here. And then we reflect on their money story and what they're going through. And at the end, they're like, hey, I'm pretty cool, aren't I? And I'm like, yes, you are. Yeah. It's a nice moment of growth to actually think about and be like, yes, we've done okay. Let's do that together now. Money diarist, what grade would you give your money habits if I asked you to give them a grade from A through to F? I would say a C.

A C and she's turning over 400 grand. Okay. No worries. Let's learn a little bit more money, diarist. You started off making $40,000 a year. We don't have a lot of context. Can you tell us a little bit more about your money story? Yes. So as I said, so 2014, 10 years ago, I was out of uni earning $40,000 a year and that was on a contract sort of basis. So I went from job to job, living paycheck to paycheck. I wasn't brought up around business or anything like that. So, I didn't have a great understanding, I guess, of how to spend my money, how to save my money. Saving money is also really hard on that amount as well. Yes. I say this all the time. And isn't it wild, just to like butt in here a little bit,

but isn't it wild that when you're earning $40,000, you probably still put so much pressure on yourself. You're like, oh my God, I'm so bad with money. I can't save, I can't invest. But we didn't look at the base of it. And that's that you don't have the cashflow to support those things. Like you're just doing the best that you can, but you're still thinking that it's just because you're not good at it. Like what? Yeah, absolutely. And that was, that was something that at the time I, you know, it was like, oh, I can't save. I am still living paycheck to paycheck. My mom and dad, you know, gave me a loan for a new car, those sorts of things. And then now, now sitting back and looking at it, I completely understand and, and realized that for what I had,

I did well with that. But then when I made that sort of switch to actually start saving and learn more, that's what really changed for me. Yeah. It really upsets me when I speak to people and they're like, V, like I'm earning $45,000 a year and I just, I can't seem to save or invest. Like it's all beyond me. And I'm like, I get that. But to be really blunt with the income that you have, life is expensive. There's not going to be much wiggle room left. And as much as that's not nice to hear, sometimes it's quite validating to hear because you're like, oh, it's not me. Like it's not that I'm bad at something. It's that we just don't have that wiggle room or we don't have that cashflow or that's actually just not going to work for our current chapter of life. And that

is actually okay. I don't want people walking around feeling like they're bad at something when the reality is you're doing pretty good. And it was only on reflection that even you said, oh, actually I was doing pretty well for not earning all that much. Yeah, absolutely. And I was living in a metropolitan area at the time. I was still visiting friends and family in regional areas. So I still lived a really, really good life. I didn't go without what I needed to. It was just that I then had a moment where I turned from, I guess, different priorities and wanting to purchase a house and wanting to get out of share housing. And that was kind of the switch for me that made me realize I had to make a few

changes and had something to work towards. And something had to change. You might have absolutely loved working in sports and community rec, but at the end of the day, sometimes there are caps on careers and if money and finances are a really big priority to you, you do have to sometimes do a 180. At what point did you come to that realization? You were like, oh, I actually need a whole new career, not just like to work harder at work. Yeah. Well, it was a couple of years ago now, just nearly two years ago. And I was talking to my partner at the time, who's now my fiancee, which is super exciting. Congrats. I did see the ring. Thank you. She's cute. So I was kind of thinking, you know, we're wanting to raise a family, we're wanting to

start businesses. And I came to the realization with the job and career I had at the time, I wouldn't be able to do those things the way I wanted to. So that may work for other people and that's fantastic. But the way we wanted to live our lives, it wasn't going to work. We then kind of sat down and he was often like, you know, you're fantastic at organizing things. I've never seen someone with a checklist and a red pen strike through a list like you do. I love that. That's like the biggest compliment. Yeah, it was. And I was like, actually, you know what? I am good at that. Thank you. And he was like, well, let's look at how you can make a career out of that.

And so project management was a sort of a perfect fit, I guess. I'd worked in management previously, so a lot of transferable skills that I could bring across. And then, yeah, did a 180 and here we are. So what kind of study did you have to do to get into project management? Because I feel like I sometimes hear that people have these roles, but I'm like, did you have to go to uni? Did you have to do a certificate? Or did you just apply for the job and be like, hey, did you see that I crossed things off in red pen? What's the career path there? So I was really lucky in that the company that I'm now working for, they had in their ad, we're looking for project managers, but happy for people that are looking for a change and

we're willing to train you. Oh, how good is that? Yes. I jumped on it and submitted my application, had a brief phone conversation, which then actually ended up with them saying, look, we've actually just employed someone with 35 years experience. Of course you have. And I was like, okay, that's understandable. I'll cop that. Can't compete with that. Yeah, definitely not. And they said, however, we would like to offer you like an assistance sort of role so that we can have you on board and then train you up so that you can then move into a full project management role. Oh, how good is that? And you know what, like from my perspective, looking at that, that maybe is even better. Oh, absolutely. So for me, when I made the change, I didn't have

to take a pay cut. I worked less hours. I didn't need to work weekends. How good is this? You're selling the dream. And I was then getting trained as well. So for me, I'm enrolled in a diploma of project management, but there's others here that have a certificate for in project management. So I think the thing is that there's varying levels of study. I think it's about finding the right company and organization to take you on and train you where you need it. Because for me, the training on the job is far more, I guess, beneficial than anything on a piece of paper. I can attest to that. Having been a chronic university goer, I know so much more just from doing the work. And like, I know it kind of feels like a rock and hard place because you're

like, yes, Victoria, but I need the uni degree to actually get in the door. And that's often the case. But then there are things like what you've just gone through where they are willing to train you and they are willing to go through it, but you're not going to find it unless you're looking. Like it's not going to jump out at you unless you're like, hold on, like maybe this is something I should have a look into. Because had I asked you while you were still at your sports and community rec job, like, oh, you could probably just find a job in project management and they'll train you and you're like, no, I even have to take a pay cut. You'd be like, sure, Victoria. Sure. Yep. Absolutely. And I think that was a big thing in that we had those

conversations, realized like, I guess, where our values were and what was important to us. And then we started looking. Yeah. How good. I love that so much. So now tell me, how old are you? What's your official job title and how much money do you earn? So I am 32. Official job title is contract administrator and I'm on $90,000 a year. Is that including or excluding superannuation? Excluding super. Oh, how good. So then it's like super on top. So girl, you're basically on a hundred grand a year. Yeah. Oh, we love to see it. So tell me a bit more. So you've just gotten engaged. I peep a very cute ring. Thank you. What are your big money goals at the moment? What are you currently working towards? So money goals at the moment for us,

where the main aim is to have multiple passive income streams. That's the goal. That will be broken down into a couple of smaller steps, but that's our end goal. How exciting. And what do you, like, do you have specific goals for that? Or is that just like a holistic, our entire life is working towards that? Or do we have like a list with some red pen that we can cross off goals? Yeah. So we have a full, I guess, sort of business plan that we're working towards. You've got a business plan for life as well. I love this. Not for life. That one's actual business. Business plan for business. No real business plan for life. We're kind of just for us, it's a matter of like

looking at where we are with work and then what we're wanting to get to with business and then how that all fits together. Adore. I love this so much. Let's go to a really quick break. On the flip side, I want to ask so many more questions about this business. How the heck you got it to be turning $400,000 over in the first year. I want to know about investments. I want to know about debts. And I feel like someone like you has some really good money habits. So guys, don't go anywhere. All right, we are back. And our money diarist has gone from being on $40,000 a year to now being on $90,000 a year. And in her first year in business is about to turn over $400,000. Money Diarist, can we dive straight in to investments? So when you were earning $40,000

was only two years ago. I'm assuming that investments felt pretty far off, but was that something that you spoke about or thought about or what did that look like and now what does it look like today? Investment was always something that I thought was this, I guess, grand dream that I could never afford. It was as simple as that. I just didn't think that that was possible. I then purchased my first house on my own, which was amazing. Oh my God. No, you didn't. Yeah, I did. How?

You bought your first house. Hold on. What was your salary when you bought your first house? It would have been around 60, 65. Holy moly. So you're just like, by the way, I'm buying my own house and I'm on 65 grand. that is iconic. Yeah. I share house for a long time. Of course. Sacrifice is what makes these things happen. Yes. So I made the most of it. I worked really hard to put everything aside that I could and then happened to find the perfect little home just before the COVID chaos, which was fantastic. So I was able to get in there. Since then, met my now partner and that first home is now a beautiful investment. So, that's my first actual investment is my home.

Okay, nice. What a little dream. I love that. So, tell me a bit more. I've got to be pervy. Buying your first home is hard enough. You did it earning 65 grand. Did you have a guarantor? Did you have somebody who taught you how to get into property? Did you have to save up a 20% deposit? I need to know the nitty gritty. How'd you get in? So I went to my local bank and spoke to them about first-time buy scheme at the time. So I was able to get in with less than 20% deposit. I did have the full 20% deposit available. Of course you did. You're saying that, oh no, when I earned less, I wasn't able to invest or save. Girl, you were. You were. You're deceiving us. You're really good at money, weren't you?

I wasn't. I wasn't. And then I became more aware and I learned some tricks along the way. So I went to my bank and they were able to offer a first-time buyer scheme, which meant I didn't have to put in the 20% deposit, but still didn't have to pay lender's mortgage insurance. So the bank manager, she calls herself my local mum because my family lived 10 hours away. That's so sweet. And I remember the first meeting with her, she was like, no, we are not letting you pay lender's mortgage insurance. We will apply for the first home buyer scheme. We will make sure you do this right. And that's how I did it. What an icon.

The additional money that I had, which would have been the 20% deposit, I then over two to three years put some of that into renovations and increasing the value of the home. Iconic. It's increased nearly $200,000. No, it hasn't. In three years. So tell me, how much did you purchase your first home for? What's it worth now?

It was $356,000. $356,000 and then it's now worth like $556,000. Oh my gosh. And how much is left on your mortgage? That one, I've got around $290,000 left on that mortgage. Isn't that insane? You've got so much equity now. Yes, so, so much.

So it's just that equity sitting there. So cool. Yeah. Ready for even when we ever need it. Oh my gosh. I'm so excited for you because it just, everything works out when you start to just care about your finances. Like this is really empowering because I think so many times when you're, you know, you're just a girl, you're earning 70 grand, which is a really normal income and you just feel like nothing's possible. And then you hear stories like this coming out of our community. You did that on your own. You hadn't even met your partner yet. And you were

like, nope, I'm going to buy my own home. I'm going to make sure I go through these situations. As you know already, I own a mortgage broking company called Zella Money and we do this every day. I know it's possible, but so many times we meet with people, they're like, oh, I don't know if it's going to work for me. This money diarist has not only worked out how to get into her own home, she's unlocked a heap of equity. If she sold it over the last two years, she would have made more than $200,000 having started on a salary of 60 grand. That is wild and so, so cool to me. me. Money Diarist, let's get a little bit further into it. Do you invest in any other way or is it just property at this point? What are your thoughts on it? Is there a plan for the future or is it all

about business at the moment? So, no other investments at this stage. We have just built our first home together. So, at the moment, yeah, first home is our investment. I have a whole lot of analysis paralysis with actual investing. I have to admit it. That is my next, I guess, personal goal is to look at that further. Our investing masterclass is about to drop on the 30th of September. So, I'm going to gift that to you. And then there's no excuses. Like, I'm going to teach you absolutely everything because it sounds like you've got property down pat. But the investing side of things, oh my gosh, I can't wait. 10 years from now, you are going to be running rings around literally everybody.

Thank you. That is, yeah, that's my personal goal is just to get that part, I guess, down pat. I just, it's always been too much. Like I haven't known sort of, I guess, where to start. I've, you know, opened a tab and started reading and it's still open on my phone. So that's the next step. I know analysis paralysis is the worst, right? And then you think you're about to pull the trigger and then someone mentions something and you're like, oh, what does that mean? I need to start again. And as women, we just don't trust our intuition enough sometimes to just dive in and get started. I think you're going to love it. I feel like our stars have aligned. We're talking at the perfect time for you to then start the Investing Masterclass on the 30th with us,

which is really exciting. But for everybody listening, obviously, I'll put a discount code in the show notes to make sure that you don't miss out either. I'm so excited about that for you. tell me a bit more. Do you have any other debts? So for us, it's just first home, the home we've just built. And then my partner has a debt on his vehicle and that is it. Sorry. And one machine. One machine has a debt as well. Yes. Sorry. All right. Well, tell me a little bit more about this home that you're building. What kind of block size is it? How much have you spent on it? What type of mortgages have you got? I'm just so pervy. And it is literally a privilege to be able to ask someone all their pervy money questions that you'd never ask them if you

met them at the shops. No, I love it. And I'm all for it because it's actually really cool. And we're in a fantastic position that we've both worked really hard to be in. So where we've just built is a 2,700 square meter block. Okay. How exciting. It is very exciting. However, there is a lot of mowing to be done on a block that size and a lot of vacuuming to be done on a house that's 340 square meters. Do you know what's so funny? You just said that your house is 340 square meters and my entire block, like my house is on 400 square meters. Like that's the land size, babe. That's insane to me. How cool you're mowing my entire block.

Yeah. Yes. So like my first home actually fits square meter wise, fits in the middle center of our house, of our new house. Isn't it so funny? So tell me more about this. So you've got this beautiful big block of land and you're building your home. Like how are you funding this? So my partner had an amount of cash to put in. So we've done that. And then we have a $500,000 mortgage for that property. Oh my gosh. Why is it only $500,000 for 27? You've got to give me more context here. We were able to put so much in that that's all we needed. What's it worth? We're waiting for final valuation. We are living in there, which is amazing, but it's looking like it'll be valued at 1.4. Sorry, there's a bit of context missing here.

When you say, my partner had a little bit of cash, what do you mean a little bit? So he'd sold his previous house and all of that went straight into this new one. Oh my gosh, she's marrying rich guys. No, I'm just marrying a beautiful man. How good is that? I'm obviously joking, but it is so cool how this is all just working out for you. So tell me more about this business because you mentioned we have a machine and it has some debt on it.

Obviously, when you were building your home, you realized that the machinery was necessary. Why not purchase it? why not then lease it out after? Is this like, you know, a $20 wheelbarrow from Bunnings or is this like, you know, a hole digger? Is this a crane? I don't know. You've got to tell me more about how this works and then how you worked out that you could lease it out. Yep. So when we first started designing the house and obviously a big block, we were like, well, there's a lot of landscaping that's going to need to be done. And we were like, well, we'll do that ourselves. at the time his brother and his wife were also building on a large block and his parents were

also building on a large block. My God, so much construction. You wouldn't be short for conversation at family dinner, would you? Oh yeah, we will be shortly. We actually joke about what we're all going to talk about in six months time when everyone's done building. Oh, you guys will find another project. I can almost guarantee it. Yes, definitely. So yeah, we, we looked at it and we thought, you know, well, between just the three of us building and, you know, needing to hire a digger to do some earthworks or a skid steer to do something else, we were like, hang on, this is really, really expensive in town. And if we do that and say we need it, we worked it out over a certain number of weekends and what it would come

to. And we were like, why don't we just buy one? So again, there was some money from the sale of my partner's house. So we actually paid cash for our first machine. How much does a machine cost? So that was a mini excavator. So a brand new Caterpillar excavator. And that one at the time, I believe was $40,000. And then it was about $11,000 then for the trailer. Yeah. Okay. And so, you need the trailer, obviously, to move the excavator. Yes. So, to move it around, we did buy a more expensive trailer because you could just buy a plant trailer where you can just drive your machine on and that's all its purpose is. However, we went for a different trailer that was, say, a tipper trailer so that people can also use it

for soil, which you often- She's a smart cookie. So, you can move the stuff that you excavated. Correct. And you can also hire that trailer out as its own asset, whereas no one really needs to just borrow a plant trailer on its own, but someone wanting to do some gardening can hire a trailer. I see the vision. I get it. So you've essentially invested $51,000 in this trailer and this excavator, and I'm assuming you've used it, your partner's parents have used it, other family members have used it, and now you're hiring it out. What does that look like? Do you advertise it online or is this a word of mouth thing or like how does that work? How does it go from

we bought this fancy thing to other people are paying you for it? Yeah. So, it did just start out with social media advertising locally. We put some signage on the trailer and on the machine and it just kind of went from there. We've actually stopped advertising for it at the moment because the second part of the business is labor hire, which we've got my partner employed through. So he's out of town a lot with that. So we've actually stopped advertising the equipment hire because we're getting enough with it to cover the repayments on our second machine. Okay. I love this. And what does it look like in the future? I know you said earlier on the other half of this episode, we have a business

plan. What does that look like? So for us, I guess, you know, more machinery, bigger machinery, definitely is the plan. To do that, we need a shed to store it all. So our first sort of goal at the moment is to open a second business with a workshop. So we can do, I guess, heavy vehicle workshop, which also means that the machinery we have can be serviced. Yeah. Okay. You guys are thinking smart. It's not like, so I thought you would say, so we're building a shed on our 2700 square meter block and I would be like okay smart girl but she's going further than that you've really really thought about this yeah we have thought about it and we have a really clear vision of where we where we want to end up so essentially we're

looking at the moment at shed rentals in the town we're in so that we can have a start and then pending those first 12 months, then we would either look to then build a shed or then start like a second stream again. How cool are you? I love this. And so over the last like 12 months, you've built this up and now it's projected to turn over $400,000. Can it be real pervy? How much of that is profit? So majority of that. Very nice. Very nice. I don't have the like percentages with me, which I should, and I definitely don't. So that is from, so as I said, we've got the two streams with plant hire and then also labor hire. So the vast majority of that has come from labor hire,

but we made the call and I guess the sacrifice to add that in rather than my partner being on a wage working for someone else. It's far easier when it's your own name on your shirt to put in the hours. Oh, a hundred percent. And also sometimes you've got to do the dirty work yourself. Like you've just got to start from scratch instead of hiring someone else and trying to manage it while he's got a full-time job. It's going to be so much easier to scale, which is so exciting. So is the plan for that to scale and maybe you not work in your $90,000 project management job? This is, and this is very, very, very big picture. And I don't normally put big picture out to the world until I know what's going to happen. No, we're manifesting it. We're manifesting it.

We are. So big picture would be that we have enough machinery that we could potentially start sort of a civil branch and having that would need a project manager. It would. It would need your skills. Yes. So that's sort of, I guess, how we'd integrate my skills into them coming full time into the business. Oh my gosh. I'm so excited. But I also know your skills are already being utilized in the business. Like you need someone who can organize everything, like even just down to when it's hired out when it's not hired out the like the facilities getting it organized to be serviced like all of that stuff I'm pretty sure you're in charge of that aren't

you yes I am so I do all of that before and after my I guess nine to five full-time job so she's working two jobs yeah so I yeah work full-time I do on and off hire of machinery before and after work. So I might be doing it on hire at 6.30 or 7 o'clock in the morning, getting that out and then coming to work. The end of the day, then finishing work, going, doing off hire, getting it back, making sure it's clean, fueled, et cetera. And then I go home and manage our finances and pay bills. The last six months I've learned about payroll. I've learned about superannuation and how to pay that. So, lots of little things within that I've learned how to do my BAS. How good. I'm so proud of you, but also look at how hard you're working to create this like

epic level of financial freedom that you guys will have in the future. Like I cannot wait. Please message me and be like, V, my business is now turning over a million dollars. Like I know it's coming. It's just going to be a short period of time before that happens. So, I'm waiting for the message. Yes. How good. I'm so excited for you. I feel like you've got all of your ducks in a row. Tell me, what do you think your best money habit is? I think honestly, for me, it's being across what's coming in and what's going out. So I'm very old school in that I will actually sit down. I will look at everything. I have finally set up my direct debits to have bills just coming out automatically. So that is good. But I do still have a sit down and look at

everything and where we're up to. I sort of sit my partner down and go, right, it's finance date night. This is where we're at. This is what's going on. And he's like, perfect. We're good for another few weeks. We'll chat about it then. I love that. I love that so much. What's your bad money habit then? Is there one that you're like, well, this one always gets me. I don't know if it's a bad habit. I think the investment part for me, I really want to get on top of that. So for me, that's a bad habit in that I haven't started it to let it become a good habit. Oh, that is so easy. And honestly, I've just fixed it. So like we are immediately in a plus because of that. Thank you. But for me, I guess it's important for me to, you know, go and enjoy

a coffee or brunch and take myself out and do those things. So I guess the worst habit would be that I do that once and then I'm like, oh yeah, we should definitely do this more often. And then I'm like, wait a second, let's reel this back in and make it something to enjoy rather than just spending that money. But also look at the life you're building. That's going to afford more coffees out more often. Like your lifestyle can also scale. I mean, we always talk about lifestyle creep and that's really important to get a hold of if it's not in line with your values and you're not happy with it. But like when you earn more money and you're working as hard as you do. I do think that we deserve to enjoy it. I think that we

need to enjoy the journey, not just becoming rich or not just becoming, you know, the destination. Like if you've got that free cashflow, like you don't work as hard as you do to not enjoy life. Yeah. That would probably be my worst habit actually. Now I'm thinking about it is that I probably don't enjoy it enough for what I could. I think, you know, as you say, we both have worked really, really hard. We're putting in the hours. And I think it's nice to actually be like, actually, you know what? No, we do deserve to spend that money on us. That's like a stereotypical small business owner journey. And it's taken me many years to be able to step back and go, look what we've done. That's really cool and celebrate it. Because I think that

a lot of business owners, we work so hard and we put so much pressure on ourselves that even though it's an achievement, it actually feels like a weight lifted. So like when something happens and you're like, oh, finally that happened or I achieved this, you just feel lighter and you're like, okay, cool. I've got to carry on though because there's some more stuff to do and we don't give ourselves credit. And I think that it is smart to integrate celebration into that and go, all right, well, maybe we should go out for a fancy dinner or maybe we should treat ourselves or set something up that's a goal that we're looking forward to that's not a business goal because we have something to work towards and give ourselves a little bit of a break.

But toxic small business owner things, which I can definitely relate to, my friend. It's nice to hear that that is not just me because this is all very, very, very new to me. Oh no, for years I didn't celebrate it. And it's not because I wasn't grateful. I was really grateful, but you just feel so overwhelmed and you just feel like there's so much more to do. And like, that's great because I'm so motivated, but I just feel like, oh my gosh, I'm glad that that's over. Or I remember winning an award in the next morning being like, okay, cool. I should go back to work. And my team were like, that's so cool. And I was like, yep, yep. But I've got stuff to do. And then they're like, why don't you care? And I was like, it's not that I don't care.

It's that I'm stressed because I feel like this adds more pressure. The bigger I get, the more that I grow, the more that I feel like I have to prove myself. And that's not the case, right? The more I grow, the more I should feel safe in what I've built. But I think that especially as women, we just put more and more pressure on ourselves. So we go, oh my gosh, now I set this expectation that I did win this, that people are going to expect more from me. Or, you know, now I have a turnover of $400,000. Well, next year it would be really disappointing if it was less. Like we're just not good at celebrating ourselves and how impressive that can be. Yeah, that is me. So that is, that's my little-

Get it together. I'll be your founder friend and we can celebrate our successes together. That I think is important too. It's the same as, I guess, reflecting on where we've been and where we are now in that, you know, it is amazing. It is something to celebrate and be proud of as well. I feel like it can also be a sidetrack founder conversation, but it can also be really challenging if you're experiencing this in isolation. So I'm assuming that this is, you know, you said in your money story, I didn't grow up around business. This isn't something that my parents had, and I'm assuming that not many of your friends have started businesses. It is really inspiring. Your friends are really happy for you, but it can be really challenging when you're like,

oh, wow, I've got a business that's turning over $400,000. I'm probably not going to mention that at brunch because it's unrelatable. And there are these pain points that you'd love to chat about with somebody, but also you feel bad because your friend has just said, oh my God, mortgage payments are really, really overwhelming. And you're like, oh, I'm just trying to work out how to pay super or I'm trying to work out how to do my bass or, you know, I just, I finally worked out payroll. Like these are things that I struggled with because you want to talk about how well you're doing, but not in a gloating way. I want to talk about it because I've got stuff to do and maybe I'm not doing this as well as I could. But often in a friendship group that doesn't have

similar experiences, you can feel really like, oh, they're going to think that I'm gloating when in the reality, like the reality of the situation is I just need help. I just want to vent. This is really stressful but because there's so much money often involved you're like this is really stressful but they're not going to appreciate that I'm not you know grateful for that it is it's very very very difficult um and it is a challenge that I have found obviously the last sort of six months or so and it is you know conversations that my my friends might be having are around you know what their toddlers are up to and what sicknesses are coming home from daycare and how their day was you're like, ah, this isn't relatable to me. I'm like, I don't have kids, but can you teach

me how to pay someone? Yes. Please. I'm like, so it is, it is very difficult and it is isolating. And I, I guess I'm not really sure, or I guess what's out there in terms of support around that. And the business Bible community, my friend, I'm going to revive that at some point in the near future. Cause we've just finished with our investing masterclass, but like, this is the support that should be coming out of the business Bible community where you can be like, hey, is there anyone who kind of wants to be my accountability buddy? And you can text them and be like, are you good at payroll? And they'll be like, yes. Are you good at super? And you'll be like, yes. Be like, cool. Let's

jump on Zoom. Yeah. That's what we need, especially as women. I think we need that in whether it's metropolitan or regional areas, regardless of where we're located. I think that's something that we need. And to be around, I guess, and just having conversations with other women that are out there absolutely smashing it in business. That would be really, really reviving, I guess, for me as well in that, you know what? Yes, we're all tired, but we can sit and whine about it over a wine and that's okay. A hundred percent. I feel like sometimes, you know, I'll be like, oh, I'm so exhausted today. And then I'll be like, oh, I probably shouldn't say that because like, I'm grateful for where I am. But at the same time, like,

I am genuinely tired. Like we all need a nap sometimes. Yes, definitely. Money Diarist, you've just told us this epic story. It started with you making $40,000 a year, realizing that that wasn't working. Then it got better and you were like, oh, I'm going to get this job, earn $90,000 a year. Then I find out that's plus super and it's $100,000 a year. Then I find out you're a genius and you've basically organized this business. You're turning over $400,000. Your goal is to turn over a million next year. You're working everything out on your own. You do live regionally, which makes it even harder.

You bought your first property earning 65 grand. There's just so much about you that I'm so impressed by. You literally think that your worst money habit is that you don't know how to invest properly yet, yet you've built a business and you have more than $200,000 equity in your first property that you bought as a single female. You told me that you were a C. I did. Are we going to revisit that together or are we going to sweep it under the rug? What are we doing about that C because now that people have listened to this, they're going to be like, that money, Doris, full of shit. Okay. I would settle with a B, maybe a B plus. What would make you an A plus? I'm happy for you to be whoever you want to be. I'm never going to

argue, but I'm also going to question it. But what do you have to do to get to an A plus? Because from my perspective, you're killing it. Yeah. I think for me, if I can get investing down pat and have that happening, that for me, that would get me to an A. To have that part there and be on top of it, that would be my A. To get me to an A plus would be having two businesses up and running. Oh, no biggie. Yeah. No biggie, no pressure. I really like that. Yeah. Just really small steps. Small steps, baby steps. Yes. I love that. But I also love that to get to the A is really achievable and really easy and it's just about education and that's actually not going to cost anything. So that is very cool. And I'm very excited that I get to be on that

journey with you. Money Diarist, this has been honestly a pleasure. I'm so excited. It has, one, reinvigorated my excitement for celebrating small business owners and helping them. And it reminds me, I have a book coming out in November called The Business Bible, literally because I'm so wildly passionate about this. And I know that that is hopefully going to reinvigorate our community and like remind people why we're here. But I just have a lot to do in this space. And you have motivated me to like dive back in and go, all right, small business owners, what are we going to do? How can I support you? Because these are the conversations we need to be having. And you know what? Our friends don't want to hear it sometimes. And that is actually

fine. But sometimes we need to hear from a group of people who are like, all right, V, tell me about Bass. And I'd be like, oh my gosh, bane of my existence. And this is why. And you go, oh, totally relatable. So, Money Diarist, it has been a pleasure. Thank you so much for joining me. I do hope that our paths cross at some point in the future. I know they will. And when you're turning over a million dollars, please message me. We need to know. I absolutely will. And I look forward to doing that. Adore. Thank you so much. The advice shared on She's On The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's on the Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or

financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs. Victoria Devine and She's on the Money are Authorised Representatives of MoneySherpa PTY LTD ABN 321 649 27708 AFSL 451 289.