She's On The Money - BONUS EP: Victoria on Seize The Yay!

Episode Date: June 23, 2021

A sneaky lil bonus ep should cure those hump-day blues! V joined BFF of the show, Sarah Holloway of Seize The Yay on her podcast and I just HAD to share here! They chat everything from V's life long before finance, all the way up to her book launch! Make sure you nab yourself a copy of glorious Sarah's book right here, too!!!!Just a small Content Note for this pod, there are mentions of Eating Disorders and also Financially Abusive relationships in here, so please take care if this is something that may affect you, and don't forget you can always call 1800 RESPECT or Lifeline on 13 11 14.Love ya xSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She's on the money. She's on the money. Hello and welcome to She's on the money, the podcast for millennials who want financial freedom. My name is Toni Lodge and I'm sure that you weren't expecting to just hear me today, but I've got something really, really special for you all. Last week, Victoria joined our friend Sarah Holloway over on the podcast called Seize the Yay. And I'm sure that a lot of you have heard of her. You can follow Sarah on Instagram at Seize the Yay or Spoonful of Sarah. And they

had a really insightful chat. And as soon as I listened to it, I thought, oh my gosh, as she's on the money community would absolutely love this. So I've decided to share it straight to our feed so that you can listen to it and hopefully see a bit of a different side of Victoria and maybe the beginnings of She's On The Money that you've never actually heard before. I know that you're absolutely going to love it. So please enjoy. Victoria, welcome to the show. And hi. Hello. How are you? Oh my gosh, it's been so lovely to see your face.

We've guys been chatting for about 20 minutes before we actually started chatting about actual podcast things. Yeah, we're not very good at this whole get to the work thing, are we? Well, as you know, before we kick off, I start every episode by asking what the most down to earth thing is about you. To break the ice, particularly when we put our guests on a pedestal and you said it so well yourself in the new book. She's on the money book that we often think of you as, you know, the elusive oracle of saving and you've made Forbes 30 under 30 this year. You're right up

there on a pedestal for me. So it's wild. Can you break the ice and just remind us that you're a normal human? I am so normal. It is not funny. In fact, I wasn't even sure what to tell you because I am a very big listener of your podcast, obviously, but I knew you were going to ask this question. And I kept being like, what am I going to say? But in our conversation before you were like, Oh my gosh, I wish we had been recording this. So I guess I'll just retell the story of how everybody thinks I'm this polished human because you know, she's on the money profile definitely has some beautiful pictures. We've got a gorgeous photographer, Miranda, who always makes us look like our best selves. But me in real life, if you came into the office, it's very likely

that there are at least six empty coffee cups that have arguably been sitting on my desk for a week, which is not a good thing. That is not a bragging right. Like my team literally always like, Victoria, that's disgusting. And I'm like, I don't even care. And I don't wear shoes very often in the office. Like obviously if I'm having a photo shoot or if I'm going on socials or I'm going to see a client, yeah, I'll definitely put on a nice pair of shoes. I adore shoes, but good luck trying to get me in them at my desk. So I feel like I genuinely would just say I am incredibly normal. I am incredibly down to earth. My favorite things are my oat latte in the morning with my partner, walking my dog where I look like I've just rolled out of bed because

I don't want to get ready first thing in the morning. And, you know, maybe you wouldn't even notice me and walk past me and be like, oh, she was a mess. I hope she's having a better day later. But yeah, I think I'm relatively down to earth and something that my team actually say very often is like, oh my gosh, Victoria, if only the internet knew the real you. I love, I love like revealing that side of you, the actual real you that everyone would be like, you know, that you would be mortified if it came out, but that makes us all feel better. I wouldn't be though. Like I've got nothing to hide. And you know, like if you want to see more of that. Go follow all my team members on Instagram because they actually film me half

the time and put it on their Instagrams because they genuinely find it really amusing. I've got no shame, my friends. What about something financially relatable about you? Because you are the elusive oracle of saving. I have it in my mind that you never make a bad financial decision or you never do anything that other people might think is wasteful or like indulgent, but I love it. Oh my gosh. Are you very joking? I'm the pinnacle of do as I say, not as I do. Like I would be honestly embarrassed if you guys saw some of my spending habits and just, I could absolutely tighten up and you know, there's never a good excuse. You know, you always should be caring about future you and putting it first, but given how busy I am,

and that's again, never an excuse. I am very good at Uber Eats, very good at fast food, like not McDonald's and stuff, but just take away like the amount of acai balls that I buy on Uber Eats is wild. And I'm not mad about it because I know that that's the way that I'm still nourishing myself and still looking after my body and making sure that I'm not just eating junk all the time, but it's getting a little bit out of hand. But that is the greatest thing about you. I reckon that's the greatest thing about the podcast and the book and your overall approach to you know financial health and the way that we manage our life for future us is that it's so flexible and you make time for the things that make you happy like you're very much like you

don't always have to make only sensible decisions you know you can do your oat latte in the morning that makes you very happy you know it's not like you have to be sensible all the time it's just you have to work around the things that are priorities for you I love that because then I feel less guilty when I'm like, oh, that bit's okay then. No. And I think that that's a really common misconception, maybe about us, because I know other financial advisors do follow or subscribe to this notion that you need to cut out all the unnecessary spending. And if you cut back your coffee, Sarah, oh my gosh, you could save nearly $2,000 in one year. That's ridiculous. That is what makes me happy. That is what sparks my joy. That is what I really value. And I don't want to

change those things. I don't want somebody to pry away the joy from my life and the little things that we have. So, I just don't subscribe to the notion that somebody else can dictate to you how you spend your money. What I want is people to just understand what their own values are so that their money flows in relation to that. I don't want you to miss out, but I also want you to be really aware of where your money is going because more often than not, let's use me as an example, more often than not, your money isn't actually flowing in line with your values unless you sit down and make a plan for it. Like, do I value Uber Eats? Absolutely not. I wish I took my lunch to work every single day, but my money and my money story and my, you know, my budget right

now would tell you that I really do value Uber Eats when that's not actually the reality. And I need to shift that. It's not saying it's bad. There's no such thing as bad when it comes to money. It's just more, do you want to do that? Or do you want to do something else? Like, have you not got a bigger goal? And like, yes, I do. But am I currently prioritizing it? No. And that's silly by future me. Like I'm not putting myself first by spending that way. And that's why I'm really aware of it. I'm not saying cut back on spending because that doesn't make anybody happy and it's not sustainable. No one wants that. No one does want that. Well, I think one of the reasons I'm so excited to dive into this episode in particular, and as you know, the first section

that we will go through is your way to yay. So how you got to this position of knowing what your passion is and knowing what you want to teach people and the best way to do that and you are doing it so incredibly well to millions of Australians. But what I'm excited about is that our friendship is one of those that really epitomises the idea that life does unravel in chapters given that we met a few chapters ago for both of us and the things that we're passionate about and that we wake up full

of purpose and drive for didn't exist when we first met each other. yeah so while you know she's on the money makes so much sense now is your big mission and vision you're a wonderful example that you didn't wake up like that you didn't even wake up in finance you know that wasn't even your first career it takes a lot of little steps to build up to the thing that later is crystal clear is like why you ended up there the dots often only connect a lot you know further down the track and as you always say on your podcast you can do everything, but not all at once. Yes, so true. And I think it's one of those things. Sometimes you go through things and you don't realize how beneficial it is for you until you've actually

come through to the other side and you can say, oh my gosh, that taught me so much, even though it was a terrible experience at the time, or you really weren't enjoying it. And, you know, I talk to people all the time, like, oh, I wish I was in your position where I get to do something that I love every single day. And I'm like, oh yeah, but like, I've been in the position where I didn't even know what I wanted to do as my next step. And I had, I would say a crisis when I realized I didn't want to be in psychology anymore. And, you know, talking back on it, it sounds like a really beautiful story, right? It sounds like this, oh, the flow of her career has been so dreamy and easy and, you know, those logical steps exist. But at the time I felt like I'd

wasted my university degrees and what was I doing? And why have I even gone down this path? And like, this is so silly. I don't fit here. And yeah, I think that that's the side of things that people don't talk about, which is really important to talk about because we don't always see that clarity in the moment. We only see it looking back on it. And I don't know what's next. I don't know what's coming up, but I think that my journey has taught me that it's actually okay to sometimes not know and okay to just dabble and test and see if it works and you know have a good time along the way because sometimes you forget that it's not necessarily about the destination that we're getting to it's actually about the journey and enjoying that because if you didn't enjoy the

journey what was the point of getting to this impressive place in the end absolutely and also that even though now in this chapter of your life this is the ultimate destination that all the dots so far have led you towards. I think it's also important that you acknowledge that this isn't the end destination. This is just the iteration of your joy and your passion and your skills and them all intersecting right now. But in two years, three years time, we could jump on podcast again together and we both be doing completely different things, which is why this section is, I spend a lot of time on how you got here to remind everyone that if they're not where you are, that's okay. maybe they're not meant to be maybe they're 10 steps beforehand and that you too had to start

right back at the very beginning so can you take us back to young Victoria what it was like at Padua College in Mornington you know what was your first job and your first idea of what you thought you would want to be and how did you choose psychology and kind of take us through I think what's really interesting is when people start to agitate for change how do you know the signs that something maybe isn't working for you when you have gone down a particular pathway for quite a while. And then it's hard to know what the signs are that maybe you need a shift. So, yeah, take us through those early years in that first career. Ah, it is such a long story. And, you know, I think it's actually a really relatable one. If you go back to school, I don't think I

had a very good school experience. I was really bullied. I didn't enjoy it. I had, you know, I had some really good friends and I've still got those friends. So, I wasn't completely on my own. but you know as a teenager it often feels that way and you know I was good academically and I guess that's what you know didn't hold me back but you know makes you feel like you're not the cool kid and you're always trying to fit in and you know I was really good at maths and I was really good at science and I adored biology and you know I was often a teacher's favorite just because I would ask lots of questions and always be really interested because learning has always been something that one, I've been really good at, but two, I'm just interested in, like, I don't

want to know the answer. I actually want to know how we got there. And I guess, you know, I had a maths teacher that really didn't like me and got really frustrated because in year 11 and 12, I did specialist and specialist maths is a lot more formula than it is times tables, I guess, to summarize it, right? It's less simple maths and more complex formula. And I would not be able to understand the formula until I understood where I could apply it and how it would work. And I remember this teacher being so frustrated with me because everybody else would just read the textbook and, you know, understand it. And I just couldn't comprehend the formula until she said, okay, well, this is how you'd apply it to a, you know, a mini setting, or this is what that

means, or this is where X actually comes from. And that would really help me. So for me, my learning needs to be really contextual. I need to understand it. So she didn't particularly like me. And in fact, I would say that I was somewhat bullied by that teacher. My parents had to get involved and I got moved out of her class because of that. And I guess that really deflates you in a way because I didn't have somebody who had my back in, you know, I would say that I do come across as quite intelligent now, but it made me feel really silly because she used to tell me like, oh, if you're going to keep doing this, you'll amount to nothing and things like that, which is really horrendous from a teacher when teachers are meant to support you so I guess this isn't

the experience people would assume I had because they'll be like oh she would have flown through school and that's just not the case in fact in year 11 and 12 I missed a lot of school I was struggling with you know feeling really flat but I also had a pretty serious eating disorder during school as well one that I was hospitalized for a number of times and it's it's totally okay and I'm so happy to talk about it because I think this context is really important for people, especially on a podcast like yours, to understand that I haven't come from a place where it's always just been really easy. It's always been a bit of a struggle.

And I think that the thing that I'm most proud of myself is, is my tenacity. And I always get back up and I go, no, I can absolutely do this. I don't need somebody else's validation to make sure that happens. And I wasn't experiencing an eating disorder because I wanted to be skinny or pretty or any of those things. It was actually an outcome of me wanting to feel more in control of a situation because, you know, going through school, you just don't feel as in control as you can. And so, mine ruminated into that and, you know, I'm absolutely well and truly recovered. In fact, I look back and go, who was that person? Like, I'm such a foodie now and I enjoy food and there's

no issues there at all, which I'm really grateful for because I know a lot of people sometimes don't lose that. So that experience really led me down a path of, you know, I guess, realizing things. Enlightenment. And being enlightened and wanting to learn more about psychology because I had a really good psychologist and I felt like in that moment, I could do that for people too. So psychology was the next step because I've always been someone that wants to help others. That would be the underlying thing for every career that I've ever had is, can I help other people because that's where I get my joy. I get joy out of teaching. I get joy out of knowing that you're in a better position having crossed my path. And psychology was always something that

really enabled me to do that. So, I started studying that and just thought, wow, this is so interesting. And there's lots of biology in that. You get to do a lot of study and understand how the brain functions. And then I remember getting to third year of psych and that's the last year of your undergraduate degree. And I did a placement and I hated it. I was such a good learner and adored university, but I could not get my head around the fact that, what do you mean? This is going to be the job? This is how it translates? What? This is awful. And I took everything home. So I was definitely not very good at psychology. And I think it takes a really special. Sorry. Lucy, that is not yours. Give me two seconds. Sorry. Oh my God. Don't be silly.

I'm definitely leaving this in just saying. Lucy is the sheepadoodle. Just FYI to everyone, because I'm not cutting that out because that was amazing. Sorry. She just went into my bathroom and I've left one of the drawers open and she had literally a mouth full of silk scrunchies and she was running out of my office with them. And I was like, no, Satan, not today. Not today. Oh my God. And the silk, it's like, can you just get my cotton shitty scrunchie? Why my silk one, you asshole? Yes. She had three of them. So, thank you, Lucy. Where was I? I was telling you about how psychology was not my calling. Anyway, I would take everything home and I just felt like I wasn't the right person for that. And I genuinely believe it takes a really special

person to work in psychology and be able to separate themselves but I wasn't able to do that and it really impacted me like my emotional energy would be so flat at the end of the day I'd go home and just ruminate on the stories that I'd heard and you know now I'm much better at that but as a 21 22 year old I can't remember how old I was but about then it's a lot to carry I'm very lucky in that I've never experienced serious trauma. So I couldn't relate to a lot of these stories, especially at such a young age where I didn't have a lot of life experience. I have beautiful parents who brought me up. I'd obviously experienced some stuff, but none of it was seriously traumatic. And so hearing those stories, I was always like, wow, like I just wanted to pick

those people up and take them out of those situations. But that's not what psychology is about. It's helping them deal with those situations. Anyway, kind of hit a crisis point and realized that wasn't for me. And thankfully I was surrounded by a lot of really supportive people. And one of them said, I think you want to be in organizational psychology. I was like, what is that? I've literally never heard of it. I've been doing psych for three years. Anyway, did my research. Organizational psychology is the science of people at work. and it is all about culture and engagement and improving work-life balance for people. And I was like, oh, I could totally get around that. So, without having any experience in it,

I enrolled in an honors program at a different university doing an organizational psych thesis and doing my honors year in that because I was just like, yep, that seems to be the only logical answer, obviously. And I went and I got an internship in the space and started to love that. And culture is, it's so important. Obviously, that's what's going to help you enjoy a job, whether you like the actual job semantics or not. And I really liked having an impact and working in a space where I could help senior leaders, you know, go to the next level. It was never about fixing things in the way that I felt psychology was, but it was more about, you know, empowering them to take the next step and talking about, you know, the next thing in their job or, you know,

what do you want to achieve? Or, you know, have you got imposter syndrome? And I would always just, I loved those conversations. And so, I did my honours year and I went and I got a grad job in org psych and I was very lucky to get it because I was the youngest one on the team and I started being a consultant and I went out to organisations and, you know, I worked in a team. it wasn't just me being sent out as a grad, I promise you. Hi, I'm brand new. Let me change everything. Yeah. Hi. I would love to measure the engagement of your community or your, your business. I have no experience, but hi. Anyway, so it was kind of a grad role, kind of not a grad role. It was like the next step because they didn't have grad roles and

I loved it, but I kept coming into this situation where I'd only studied psychology, but I'd go and meet with a team of people in a business who worked in accounting. They'd be like, well, it's accounting. I don't get it. Or people who were from the marketing department. And I'd be like, I also don't get your work experience because I didn't know, genuinely, I didn't know what work they did. And they kept coming up with questions for me that I just felt really stumped on. So, when it came to culture and engagement, I'd be across it because I'd studied it and fully comprehended it. But people would often say, oh, Victoria, it's not my work that's stressing me. It's that I don't have enough money. It's, oh, my wife is pregnant

and we just don't know how we're going to afford it because we hadn't planned for this. Or, oh, my mortgage repayments are getting us down. Don't worry. My engagement's not because of that. It's because I've got a lot going on at home. And money at that point started to become this really big underlying theme in my life that I didn't feel like I understood I had control of. so during this time also because I didn't understand the different segments of business I in typical Victoria fashion wanted to study more so I enrolled in my MBA is that when you started your MBA I started my MBA when I was 21 and I finished it at 23 of course you did and yeah absolutely of course I did it's really normal guys so normal and I love that with your other

degree you know the one before that you're like I just want to step my toe into org psych so I'm going to do like a full thesis. Just going to dip my toe in a little bit. I'm definitely a go hard or go home kind of person. So yeah, I started my MBA and got to study finance. So I did my finance. I did managerial accounting and thrived, like loved it. Could not understand why I hated times tables so much. Could not, you know what I mean? Like I just was so shook that the impact of finance was so profound for me. And yeah, I started loving that and dabbling in that. And at that point at this job where I was working in org psych, I had this client who was a financial advisor. And every day he used to say, like every day that I worked with him, he'd be like, you'd

be a great advisor, like consider it. Like you'd be so much better at that than this. And I'd always be like, that is literally the worst job I can think of. Like who would want to be a financial advisor. So obviously I pushed it off and push it off. I had no interest in entertaining this. And you know, after studying it and really feeling like I understood it and becoming a bit disengaged myself in the role that I was in, because I just felt like I wasn't having the impact I wanted to have. I kind of just took the plunge and said, all right, I'm going to quit anyway. I'd actually just moved roles to a new job. I'd gone from consulting to being internal at, was actually at a university and I didn't like it at all. The team were not good. Their culture was awful. I

realized that, you know, in this role, I was never going to have an impact because there was just too many hoops to jump through and, you know, very much a culture of, but this is the way it's always been done. And I just don't adhere or, you know, subscribe to that notion at all. So I think I was in that job for just over six months when I said, I can't do this. Like I wanted to meet probation so that I didn't look like I'd not met it because I was definitely an achievement-based person. I was like, oh, I don't want people to think that. So, I think just over six months, I said, you know what, anything would be better than this. And I started doing finance and started a role there. And obviously, you have to be certified to do that. So, I went and I'd finished my MBA. So,

I jumped into doing financial advice and I did my diploma of financial planning. And yeah, I guess I've never looked back. And from there I was really lucky because I worked in a space that was high net wealth. So I wasn't working in, you know, what people call mom and dad financial advice. And it's not meant to be an offensive term at all. It's just, you know, everyday people. I wasn't working in that space. It's actually the space I'm really passionate about. I ended up in ultra high net wealth people. So that was people who had a minimum of $10 million to invest on, on the regular. So all of us, you know. Yeah. So all of us, really relatable content, Victoria. But that was the space I was working in. And so I learned a lot about investment really quickly.

I got really great exposure to boards of people who would make decisions for investment companies. I got to understand the private family office space and what that meant and how to invest. And for me, then I wanted to do my own thing because I just felt like that wasn't me. And I started Zella and the financial advisor that I worked with became my business partner in that because financial advice and becoming an advisor and having a practice is really expensive. So you definitely need someone behind you to be able to go out on your own. And I'm very grateful for that opportunity that was afforded to me to do that and establish this business. But the more I worked with ultra high net wealth people, the more I realized that I wasn't passionate about it. Like

I didn't want to make rich people richer. It didn't serve me. It didn't have that level of impact that I wanted to have. And so on the side of, you know, building up this business of clients that were pretty wealthy, I started doing these workshops for women in law firms, because that was who I really wanted to talk to. And I felt like it could have a really big impact with. So I went to some pretty big law firms around Melbourne and said, Hey, got in contact with their HR departments. Thankfully, some of the clients were actually partners at these law firm. So, I had a pretty smooth in and said, can I talk to your HR partner? Like I'd love to have a chat with them. I've got this workshop idea. So, they let me come in and run these workshops

called She's on the Money. And I did that because I genuinely felt like every other workshop I'd run because that was something I often got asked to do because I do love presenting and I do love teaching. The women in the room never put their hands up and they never wanted to in front of men say, oh, I don't really understand super or why would I make additional contributions or what's this insurance or how do I start investing? Because especially women in law, and maybe you'll understand this, Sarah, it's not a bad thing. You are smart women, but you just don't want to seem silly in front of your male counterparts. And men, especially in law, often like, oh yeah, I invest and I do this and I do that. And you're always like, oh,

I don't want to have this conversation. So, I'd often find that after those sessions, women would loiter back and ask me these questions they weren't comfortable asking in front of other people or they would email me and ask these questions post the presentation and so I decided to do a female only one and I called it she's on the money and so for a few years I was doing these seminars and I loved them I didn't do them for any other reason it wasn't paid to do them sadly and I just adored it like I loved the connections that I was creating and the women that would say Victoria, I didn't even know this. Like it's so easy. And you know, I'm going to start investing or I'm going to do this or that. And it was just so beautiful that I wanted to carry those

conversations on outside of the workshop. So, I created a Facebook group and that Facebook group is She's On The Money. And I remember it starting to grow and people that I didn't know were joining and I was like, who are you? I didn't invite you. Like, I don't know you. This is awkward. could. And people would message me and say, Oh, hi, Victoria. I hope you don't mind. I went to one of your workshops, but my sister didn't, but I think that she'd love your Facebook group. Is it all right if I add her? And I'd be like, of course, like the more the merrier. And so I thought, Oh, there's all these people that haven't been to my workshops and haven't understood, you know, what I'm about. So I'm going to start doing some structured content. And so every week

I'd cover a different topic and upload a little PDF for them to do their own thing, or, you know, talk about a specific topic or I did this pretty consistently for about 12 weeks. And I was shook because I ended up having 1700 people in the Facebook group. Like, and at that time I was like 1700 people, like, what am I going to do with this? And I asked them literally, I was like, how do I do this? And I asked them, who are you all? Where have you come from? Like, am I famous? It literally was overwhelming. And I said to them, what do you want next? How can I help you learn more? Because I'm genuinely just passionate about sharing this information. And they said, can you create a YouTube channel? And I was like, no, not a chance. Not a chance. It's not happening.

I'm not confident enough for that, says the now famous TikTok person, but whatever. Okay. So weird, right? So weird. Someone's gotten a little confidence that they didn't have before. And I might have a few tickets on myself now that I definitely didn't have before, but that is okay. That is personal growth. Absolutely. That's part of the, that is seizing your yay, babe. That is getting rid of the nature yay. Thank you. And it's so fun, but I was really afraid of judgment and I was really afraid of what people would think. And I felt like in video, I didn't have the flexibility to construct the conversation in the same way that I could in a Facebook post, because you can proofread it and think about it and, you know, make sure your stats are right.

And I was just really nervous. Right. So they wanted me to do a YouTube and I just wasn't comfortable with it. And at the time, Michelle and Zara from Shameless were people that I was having chats with and friends of mine. And I said, how do I do a podcast? Like, would they, would they take a podcast anyway? And they saw the vision that I saw for a podcast and they helped me to bring to life the first season of the She's on the Money podcast with 12 episodes. And we originally thought it would just be those 12 episodes. Like, you know, I jam packed them full of value. And I genuinely felt like that was all we'd ever do because who wants a podcast on money, right? Like there weren't really any other podcasts on money, especially for women. And I

felt like, okay, cool. Like if we put these 12 episodes out into the universe, like they will help people. And because they're up on a podcasting platform, people can come back to them time and time again. They could re-listen or, you know, be introduced like a year later and that'll be enough. Anyway, it kind of, and I say kind of blew up. I don't mean kind of blew up. It genuinely did blow up and you know we finished season one and I decided that you know after quite a lot of demand to bring it back after a couple of months of people going um when's the next season and I was low-key like ah there wasn't ever one planned so I had to work out a way to actually get a second season and start producing it and Michelle and Zara were so busy and obviously they've got

an incredibly successful podcast so it wasn't an option to continue it that way and yeah we found away and now she's on the money from those 1,700 people that wanted a YouTube and didn't get one. We've grown to more than 170,000 people in that Facebook group and a podcast that gets more than a million downloads every single month. And I think we're number seven still in the country for podcasts on the podcast ranker. And that's been since January, which is crazy. And yeah, that's, I guess, in a very long way, my journey and how I've gone from being someone who, you know, really didn't have confidence and really didn't, you know, trust themselves or understand themselves or know what I wanted to do all the way through to, I guess, having this

community. And I still don't know what I'm doing, but we're making it up as we go and it's working well. And I'm grateful I have a team behind me that she's on the money team is, I think we've got seven of us now and, you know, I've got a wealth business on the side. Zella, I had a business partner and a year and a half ago I bought him out. So now Zella is a hundred percent mine and it's all me. And yeah, it's, it's crazy to think that from, and I say this quote all the time, but like from little things, big things really do grow. And yeah, I need to get that song on now. Oh my gosh. Yes. But it's so true. And, you know, I look back on it and, you know, now you've heard that story. I feel like people go, oh, that made so much sense. Like you can see

how the logical steps happened. But at that point in time, like it did feel like a crisis when I'd done three years of study for psych and then realized I didn't want to be a psychologist. And then, you know, even when I was in this role that I didn't like, that I just felt like I wasn't fitting into, like, I didn't know what I was going to do. And I just wanted to take a leap, but didn't know what was right. And it was scary and terrifying. And I guess, you know, even starting she's on the money was hard and people think it's great now. And I absolutely adore everything about it. And I always have, but I remember I got a lot of criticism at the start and people saying that it was lame and, you know, no one wants to talk about money. And I used to ask

my girlfriends like, Oh, Hey, um, so I just did this post in my Facebook group. Can you go like it? Cause no one's liked it yet. And, and it's one of those things. Yeah, but it's true, right? Like, and we all grow from places and we're all not confident in what we do at the beginning until, you know, we seek some kind of validation. And it's silly because we should be validating ourselves and know that inherently if we're making the leap and we're making this decision, like there's a reason we're bringing it to the table. And I think the second you try to be everything to everybody, you really dilute the value

that you bring to the table and you really do yourself a disservice because you are so valuable. And there are people out there who are going to adore you, but the more you're adored, the more people that don't resonate with your story and your journey. And it could just be because it highlights to them a deficiency they have. So it makes them feel really uncomfortable, but I guarantee you the people that aren't comfortable with you, they don't know you. They don't know anything about you. And it's never actually about you. It's always about them. like it's a reflection of their own feelings and their thought patterns has nothing to do with us

and I think that when you can genuinely start seeing that and see that you know it's actually never about me it's actually about something that they're experiencing and you know maybe I could help them through that or maybe they're not ready for that that's okay but it really helps you understand that you know the world is a good place and there are just some eggs that make you feel a bit sad sometimes. And also that any worthy journey where you're doing something a bit different, like I've spoken about it quite a few times with people who have been the first or among the first in an area or an industry where they're doing something quite different is when you're the first person to do something, it's going to draw a lot of negativity at the beginning. It's going

to feel really uncomfortable, but nothing is cool until it is, right? Like finance isn't cool until you made it cool. Like now it's so cool to be financially secure. Like you've turned that into something that people want to be associated with financial savvy and financial literacy. Like it's not cool to not know your books. It's not cool to be winging it and struggling and not having support and resources, but it's really uncool until someone makes it that way. And you just happen to be the person that's forged a really unique path facing all these obstacles to get through to now take it to where it is and I love that because the quote I always say is someone out there is looking for exactly what you have but people think that you found all those

people overnight but this chat reminded me that actually like you know even the way that people sometimes refer to a jump from one industry to another as a leap I think that detracts from the fact that it isn't one big jump that happens overnight you didn't just go I'm gonna leap from like a shit time and one job to a really great time where I'm really popular in another. No one gets to do that. And it's entitled to think that too, because there's so many factors in the background, right? Like I had to work out whether I could afford to do that. And fortunately at that point in time, I was young, I had housemates, I didn't have any commitments, I didn't have any responsibilities. So I could move and I could take a job that, you know,

didn't pay as much, but I kind of saw it as an opportunity. And to be honest, at that point in time, it wasn't about pay. I was just miserable and was like, oh, I'll do that. Thank you. Like that'll be more than enough money for me to pay rent and still go out and buy bottles of Prosecco with my girlfriends to hang out at precinct on the weekend. Like I definitely like wasn't the type of person that was like, okay, cool. Like this is going to be my career. Like I'm very study driven. That's what I love and what I adore. But I think that people think I'm just this person that sits at home and reads and, you know, doesn't engage. And while I'm not that person anymore, and I don't go to precinct on the weekends, I'm sorry. I just, yeah, sorry. I don't even drink

that much. I'm so boring. But past me, like, obviously would be very proud of what I've achieved, which is you found out that I got excited over the fact that I got a new dishwasher yesterday. Like, oh, babe. Oh, it's a dream. It's happened. And way before your time, you're not even in your 30s yet. Like, calm down. Yes, I literally have like 20 days left of my 30s and this is how I'm spending it? Victoria. But I love that so much because it really is like I was struggling a lot. You know how much research I do before these episodes and I really wanted to use a big part of the episode on you are just such a fountain of practical knowledge that has really made some really unsexy and sometimes stigmatized. A lot of people grew up in a time

where you didn't talk about money, religion, and politics. There is a lot of stigma around financial conversations. But it does hold us back in a lot of ways. And as you mentioned, in the workplace, it's very difficult to have these conversations if you don't have a support network. But I love that you've not just made a very difficult, intimidating, complicated, multifaceted area very approachable and non-judgmental as well like your book your podcast everything comes from such a place of it doesn't matter where you are there's no bad there's no wrong it's just how can we improve you from here i wanted to spend so much of the episode on the practical tips that you have i feel like that's exactly what we've done so i do

apologize but i i genuinely agree with you there and i think that that's something that is really special about she's on the money right like it actually came from a place of love and i think that that's why it has a different vibe and it has this community behind it. And it's not, you know, obviously now it is a business and I'm so grateful that it is because I can employ some really beautiful people to help me educate even more people. But for me, the idea of She's on the Money came from this place of love and from giving, and it was never something about making money because I had a business, I had something else on the side. And, you know, I never thought in my wildest dreams that this is where we would be. And I guess that's what

we always as a team come back to as well is like, are we serving our community? Are we putting them in the best possible position? Are we giving them every single tool and resource they need to be savvy and financially literate and, you know, educated and empowered? And I guess that comes from me, you know, if we distill it down, having experienced this ultra high net wealth world where they can afford all the advice in the world. And I just saw such an unfair advantage that they could access awesome advice and my friends couldn't. And I guess that's where She's On The Money came from. And I guess, and I hope that it'll always feel that way to people. And, you know, you're a quote person and I love that about you. It makes me so happy.

But a quote that's really helped me, especially along this journey, because people aren't your greatest fans are like, some people just really don't like what I do because you're right. It's money, religion, and politics. And if you talk about those, you make a lot of people uncomfortable, but the quote is you'll never be criticized by someone who is doing more than you. You will only ever be criticized by someone who is doing less. And that brings me a lot of joy because I just know that if ever someone says something that, you know, doesn't resonate and I'm all about feedback, right? Like if you tell me like, Hey, Victoria, I just don't think that landed well enough, or you didn't do enough here. And, you know, people slide into our DMs all the time and

give us different perspectives. And I'm so grateful for that. I never want that to stop. But sometimes, as you would know, Sarah, in a place of, I guess, the social media world, like people are just mean and they are just rude. And that quote really helps me in that space. I love it so much. I haven't heard that one. And it's, I think one of my new favorites, because it's so true. What I was saying before, though, about the fact that I really wanted to use a lot of this episode for a lot of the practical tips, but because the book is the most comprehensive, covers literally everything from debt, savings, super, home loans, investment, children, estate planning, it is the most comprehensive, approachable, really just

beautifully worded in such a, it's really demystifies quite intimidating areas because people can get it in the book. I'm so glad that we spent more of the time on the story because it doesn't get as much airtime, right? Like people come straight to you and in interviews. No. And it's not something I share either. It's not because she's on the money. Isn't me. It is not about me. It is about the people in my community. And I've really shied away in the book actually from talking about my personal experience, because that doesn't help you. I wanted to fill it full of value and things that could actually help you and money stories from my community that I thought were really interesting or inspiring or just relatable because I didn't

want to give you a whole chapter on saving and then not have relatable examples of people who have done it to inspire you to take the next steps. And, you know, my, my publishers were really frustrated with me because when I started writing, they said, Hey, here's the word count that we're aiming towards and how many chapters have you got that you think you'll write on and you know you've written a book so you would know that you give them the skeleton and the outline of the book and you go yep this is what I think I'll write and I started writing and then I'd call them and be like hey um I just I want to do another chapter uh Izzy I just I think this is going to be really good and then she would be like yeah no problems and then I had this chapter that

included saving and so I started writing that and then I called her I was like oh yeah so I wanted saving to be its own chapter and I want to call it this and she'd be like okay no problem so now we're up to like 22 chapters. What are we going to do next? And I was like, okay. So, also in addition to this, can we have a plan? And she'd just be like, this is not the book we agreed to, but okay, no problems. And it's one of those things that it really evolved over time and it really, you know, grew. And I knew I wanted money stories to be a part of it, but I thought I'd have a couple, right. But every single chapter has like one or two, because I just couldn't stop. Like I just, the second I was there, I was like, oh, this feels empty without another story in it.

And yeah, I just feel like I'm so grateful to have been able to bring to life exactly what I wanted She's On The Money, the book to be, but also that, you know, it's to me a gift. Like it is like not, you know, buy for other people gift, but more just like a gift of financial literacy. Like hopefully it encompasses absolutely everything that young women need to feel financially secure and know they're on the right path. I'm very acutely aware that it's not the only a financial book you'll ever need because I want you to learn more and absorb more. And I'm never going to pretend to be absolutely everything to everybody, but I hope that it is the right start for people. It is the right step in the right direction to give you the confidence that

you genuinely deserve to be financially successful. And, you know, I touch on everything, but it's not like this is your guide to ultimate investing, but it will teach you what you need to take into consideration and the next steps and where to start and how to understand your risk profile and, you know, well, Sarah, how should you invest? I don't tell you what to invest in though, because that's not my position. That's not my job. Only you can decide that. So I think that it is one of those things where, you know, people are like, oh, is this the be all end all finance book? And I'm like, of course not. Like I want people to read more and educate themselves and have lots of different opinions. And, you know, even take what I say with a grain of salt,

because you should be, you know, always cautious. Like we're talking about finance here. That's really personal. So I can't be everything to everybody, but I hope that this book can be everything you need to know to start. I think it absolutely is. It's such a comprehensive framework and I love that it does give it an overlay of really every area at all different stages of your life that you would need to think about and enough understanding to then know where you would want to look if you did need to go further into something. Yeah. What you said before is really interesting that you're like, I didn't include a lot of the backstory we've discuss today because it's not helpful. Whereas I've spent most of my time on that because you

can get your actual financial knowledge and advice, which is immeasurably important and invaluable. You can get that in the book and I think everyone should go and buy the book. But I think it is helpful to have heard your personal story as well because people will pick up this book now with some context and know that you didn't wake up like this, that She's On The money has definitely not been an overnight success. It started as a Facebook group. And that's the thing with anyone who has big dreams and big visions and who does put you on a pedestal as this incredibly high achieving, intelligent, warm author now. You are too kind to me, honestly. Podcaster, Forbes 30 under 30, that you also started small. You started not knowing where

she's on the money would go. You started through a Facebook group, a podcast with what, just one season, a podcast with two seasons, like before the book, there have been so many chapters before this one to get here. And I love that you've taken us through the fact that it's never too late, really. You can have had so many careers before you stumble upon the thing that clearly you are now. This was your God-given purpose on this earth. Oh, absolutely. And I'm really grateful for that. And it's not something that you think about, right? You see it now and you go, wow, it's so polished and so professional. But Sarah, the first logo I made for my Facebook group, I didn't know how to use Photoshop or any kind of editing tools to create logos. And I sure as hell

didn't have any money to pay for one. So, I made it on PowerPoint with a free font that I downloaded from the internet and I made a hot pink because what is better than a hot pink? And then I screenshot it and that became our logo. And I just think that, you know, if you want to do something, it doesn't matter what it's going to not cost. Like it just matters that you start and that, you know, the polished logo can come later, but find your community, find the people that you can love and love them hard because they will help you grow. And now, you know, I'm so grateful that, you know, I did get to work with a designer at one point to bring together our website and our logos and stuff. And they are so much better than they used to be, but I'm not embarrassed of the

journey. I'm not embarrassed of what they used to be. And I think that, you know, there's this saying, and I'm not going to get this right, but they say that if you're not embarrassed of the first thing you put to market, like, oh, you didn't start soon enough or something along those lines. And I just look at it. I always say that if you don't cringe, you're doing it wrong. Like it's meant to have evolved a little bit. I get that. And you know what? My logo is real cringy and like awful, but I wouldn't say ever that I'm embarrassed of it because that's part of my journey. And like that girl that just wanted a Facebook group to talk to her friends and these people in her workshops about money, like she did those things for the right reasons and she's

created this. And like, we need to be respectful of the journey as well. And that's something I say about finance all the time is we are often too hard on ourselves for our past spending habits. We are often too hard on ourselves for what we've been through because, you know, you might pick up this book and go, okay, great. And thankfully I do cover this in the book. So hopefully nobody experiences this, but you pick up a finance book and go, oh my gosh, I've been doing it so wrong. I feel so bad. I've wasted so much money or I'm in so much debt, or I can't believe I did that. I'm so silly. I'm so stupid. And it's just not how we should be treating ourselves. Like past you did absolutely everything they could with the tools and resources

they had at the time, just because you have new tools and new resources and a new vision doesn't mean that you did the wrong thing at the time for you. And that person has created today's person. So I think we need to genuinely honor them and care for them and really put them first because if we look backwards, it doesn't serve us in any way, shape or form. So I think that the guilt that we feel over, you know, the debt we're in, it's just unnecessary and it doesn't serve us. There's no guilt. There's no shame. There's nothing in it. It just is part of your money story. And that's pretty cool because it doesn't have to remain your money story. You get to change that. And that's awesome.

i actually applied so much of that and those chapters about your money story and neuroplasticity and rewiring the beliefs and approach you have to your financial health and freedom and how you can at any time of your life change the pathway that you're on i applied that so much to career and joy and fulfillment because again like because we're so instant gratuity based we want to get to the passionate job and dream life. I think everyone wants to rush there. They want to have a book. They want to have a number one podcast. They want to have everything now, but they forget that if you had had the idea for She's on the Money as it is right now, but 10 years ago and skipped the whole psychology chapter, you would have been too young. It wouldn't have worked.

You're actually not meant to skip any of those chapters. Nothing is ever a waste if you learn something and there's something about the passage of time that actually makes the dream possible if you tried any earlier the world might not have been ready for it it just wasn't gonna work like you are exactly where you are supposed to be and i think that i always get you know a lot of solace out of that because sometimes life is hard and you know like now that i've quote made it which lots of people say like forbes 30 under 30 like way to put more pressure on me guys oh my gosh people are like well where to next I'm like I don't know like I was in bed I don't know what am I supposed to do now like you guys are putting so much pressure on me to

perform now and I think that you don't see it from that aspect but I think that the solace in knowing that I'm exactly where I need to be right now in this moment and that I you know I'm serving my purpose and, you know, I just want to live every day as me. And that is, you know, that's what I prioritize. And I think that, you know, people always like, oh my gosh, like you must hustle so hard. Yeah. Like, I guess I work a lot, but like, I also really love a wine on the couch with my partner and I've got two cats and a dog and I just love spending time with them. And, you know, I love spending time with my parents and my sister and, you know, it's, I'm not who people seem to think I am. And I think that that's a really important thing to remember,

that we've all got lives outside of what you see on social media and what you hear on a podcast. And, you know, nothing happens overnight. Like I didn't just end up with this massive podcast where, you know, millions of people listen. And thankfully, I'm really grateful for this. We can put advertising on and, you know, create a revenue stream from that. So I can employ people like I had to pay for the first season. It was really expensive. It was really expensive. And I didn't know that you could do podcast advertising. I remember when I first got approached and I was like, what? You can do what? I can make, I can break even. Are you very jokingly? Like, I just remember that was never the intention. I didn't even

know that was an opportunity. And to be honest, I think that in a space where we are talking about money, had I had that intention, it just wouldn't have worked anyway. So I think that my naivety at that time actually served us really well. Which is also a very, very common theme in this podcast that actually naivety sometimes is better because otherwise you would overthink it with too much knowledge and awareness. Like maybe you wouldn't rip the bandaid the same way that you did. Literally. Well, I do actually want to ask you about that whole productivity pressure and dive a tiny bit deeper into your identity outside of She's On The Money because I think it is really important that we all have a plaitier, as you know. But six days out at the time of recording

from this beautiful book actually coming into the world. It's wild. It's less than a week. I believe it is. I feel like I'm having a baby. You are actually. That is actually what you're doing, except that more people are going to touch it and feel it and have it in their homes than your actual child. And there's actually no pain. Like, I don't have to go through the birthing process. You've kind of done that, though. You've had a long pregnancy. Yeah, I cried a lot. I think it is no shit, the book that we all need so much. It is filling a gap. You can safely say, which not many authors can say, that you're actually putting something out into the world that doesn't exist and that speaks to

a whole huge portion of the world's population in a way that no one else speaks to them, which is so exciting. If you had to distill just quickly for us, the three biggest tips you would say to a financial newbie and the three biggest myths that you bust or the myths that you hear constantly, what would they be? Just as a little taster for the book. Oh my gosh, no pressure. I know, I know. Because obviously people can go and get, you know, do their own further research and listen to the pod and buy the book, which of course we want them to do, but just a taster. Okay. So, I think the first thing is understanding your money story. It is the first chapter in my

book. And if you don't understand who you are and where you want to go and where you're coming from, how on earth do you think you're going to get anywhere? Like you are going to fall off track if you start budgeting like somebody else, because that's their plan. It's not your plan. And I think that understanding your money story and giving yourself time to process why your thoughts, values, beliefs, and behaviors around money are the way they are is really going to serve you well. And I think a lot of people would have just jumped into like, here's a hot money tip and mine's like, just to understand you. Like that's such a Victoria thing to do. So that would be hot tip number one. Hot tip number two is to understand your budget and cashflow and stop

seeing your budget as restrictive and start seeing it as a way that you can personally make sure that your money is flowing in line with your values and your beliefs. Like how cool is it that we get to make sure that that comes to life. Like we have an opportunity here. It's not about saying, oh, well, okay, next week I'm only going to spend $70 on groceries because I read that that was a pretty good number. Like, sorry, if food sparks your joy and that is the one thing that you adore and you know, my partner and I love cooking and I love food. Like if you said I really had $70 in a week, I'd be like, hi, Sarah. So you can just put that opinion right in the bin over there and put that straight outside because I couldn't do that. You might, because you might have other

values and things that you're working towards, but I don't want you to take those things off me. And that's why in the book, I never talk about percentages. And frustratingly, I'm sorry, I don't say things like, oh, well, you need to save 20% of your income because that's really unfair. What if you earn $40,000 and you have a child, like you can't save 20%. And that's a really unfair expectation that I'd put on you. Whereas conversely, if someone reads this and they earn $400,000, you best believe I'd be expecting them to save a lot more than 20% because their cashflow is so high. So, it is not fair to put percentages on people. And that's why I want you to understand your budget. And a budget is not a spending plan. It is not a reflection of

how much you're allocating to each area. It's actually understanding what's coming into your bank account and what's going out of your bank account and whether it flows in line with your values. And then the third thing is a bit of a pivot from there. And that's understanding your superannuation and your super is so powerful. Like your super is literally you guys at this point in time, investing a minimum of 9.5% each and every single month. Like not many of us could say that we've been doing that since we started working when in reality, that's what we are doing. and it is your money and you need to care about it and you need to make sure that it is working in line with your values, but also that it is working as hard as you do for it. Yeah,

you can't touch it until you retire, but that's what's going to prop up your retirement. So, we need to start caring about that now because, you know, a good example, and I do use this in the book, is if you started investing $500 a month as a 20-year-old, at the time you retire, you'd have an investment portfolio worth $1.2 million. And that $1.2 million, if you had only saved $500 a month, you would have $240,000. But you could literally have essentially a million dollars more if it was invested instead of just saved. And the special thing about a $1.2 million portfolio is that it will generate you a passive income on average of $60,000. Like what? You're going to have a passive income of 60 grand when you retire, if you just start saving like 500

bucks a month, that's wild. But if I then said the same thing and said, Hey, Sarah, do you want to retire with $1.2 million? But you know, you haven't really prioritized it and you're now 50. Great. Like let's work towards that. Have you got seven and a half thousand dollars a month to save? Like, can you do that? It's wild. The difference between putting it first and really understanding it while we're young means we just make a few small changes, set up some really good habits and keep consistent with those habits. Whereas if I get to you too late, well, we actually have to be really aggressive. And at that point we have to significantly compromise our lifestyles and sell assets that we might have and, you know, create a way to make that work.

And nobody has seven and a half thousand dollars of free cashflow to invest. So I think it is really important to start prioritizing super now because that's what it can do for you. Like that's pretty sexy if you ask me oh my god you have like that was my favorite chapter and I was reading it like shrinking into my chair a little bit but also because you do it in such a non-judgmental way I wasn't feeling any shame but I was like Jesus Christ oh my god the example of doing it at 20 is it even makes me feel a little bit attacked because I definitely wasn't saving $500 a month at 20 I'm kind of like hey here's this missed opportunity that I missed that I hope you don't. But it's really important to understand why we're doing these things because

so many times people are like, oh, retirement. I don't care about that. But you shouldn't. Yeah, that's future me's problem. Yeah. And we look at our parents and go that's so far off. But if you ask them, hey, do you remember when you were 30? They'll be like, oh, like it was yesterday. Like time flies and, you know, future us need to be cared for. Like it's crazy. And yeah and what about the myths that you hear or just more like the most common thing that people sort of look I've got a good myth for you and that is that you need a good credit score and to get a good credit score you need to have credit cards and that is absolutely not true so to get a good credit score you just need to pay your debts and you know make sure that you

don't default on your phone plan and make sure that all the bills that you get are paid on time and consistently. I think it's really interesting. And it's such an American idea that you need to have a credit card to develop a credit score is absolutely not the case. And too many times do people fall down this slippery slope of getting it because they're like, oh, but one day I want to buy a house and I want to have good credit. And it's actually putting you behind because having a credit card is actually a reflection of the fact that you're not that good at prioritizing your budget and saving for things. And that's actually not that sexy. and yeah I think that that's something that a lot of us still believe in and the second's about buy

now pay later I know that there's a lot going around at the moment about how it quote doesn't impact your credit score and they're running myth busting literally it's doing me up the wall because they are running myth busting advertising campaigns where they're like oh it's a myth that this product actually impacts your you know credit score and you're like they're not wrong in that it only impacts your credit score if you default on a payment which happens a lot if you let it get out of hand and it's only going to impact you negatively if you actually aren't using it properly or you find yourself not able to make that month's repayments and it's just a little irresponsible so for me that is a myth it does impact your credit score because too many times

we miss a payment or forget to transfer money into the account that it's direct debited from and most of the time we're not trying to do the wrong thing we just slipped up and that does get tracked but when it comes to getting a mortgage if if that's aligned to your values getting a mortgage they do look at buy now pay later schemes and platforms they see it as you not being able to manage your cash flow so it's as much as it might not impact your credit history it is definitely on your bank statements and banks when they are giving your mortgage review all of that so for me I think that those are probably two myths. I can't think of another one off the top of my head. I've got a third statistic.

Oh, what is that? It's from that section, which I found really interesting along with that myth busting about the American perception of needing a credit card was that I can't remember the exact statistic, but just the buying behavior when you have a credit card that the average purchase on a credit card is like $104 something. But if you did it on an EFTPOS card, it's like $14. dollars so the mentality of having a credit card is that you spend like you just spend times as much yeah as money when it's your money that you have to have in that account and how bizarre like you think you're on an even playing field that you'll get you're not you know your points but

you'll pay it off from the cash that you've got and and it doesn't operate that way and and that's crazy right like I feel like it's actually crazy that you know so many times we just don't assume that. Like if you've got a credit card, you'd be like, I'm not spending more, but I guarantee you if I made you get a hundred dollars out of the bank and that was how much you only had in your hands to spend on groceries this week, you would be so much more conscious walking around to the supermarket, picking up things and putting it in your trolley because you know that's all you've got. Whereas when you have a credit card, you're like, oh, whatever. Like it's not a thing. Like I don't mind. Yeah. Like I've got this budget in my head and like, hopefully it's about that,

but you just have a different mentality and it is a different mindset. And yeah, it's really frustrating because you just, you feel a bit stooged. Oh, well, our very last section is Play TA, as I mentioned before, where I would love to talk about all the things and all the sides of you that aren't finance related. And it's hard when your job and your passion is something that does touch kind of areas of everyday life. Like literally everything could give you a new idea and you have to live on the internet and on social media to you know keep up with your job which means that similar to me like we're always looking for the idea in something because we're a type personalities that love to just deliver to our

audience and you mentioned before that productivity pressure as well as a book you've just started two more podcasts on top of the three episodes that you already do for the one that you have like we literally have a podcast a day now it is insane oh and you've just got a new platform that you developed you have one every day so between all three podcasts we've got monday wednesday friday where she's on the money you've got the property playbook on tuesdays and the business bible on thursdays wow so this section is redundant because it's like wait there are no minutes left for her to do anything else oh my gosh no and then we do bonus episodes because I just get too excited and like, oh my gosh, can we put this up? And my team are literally,

they are angels and they look after me so well, but I am absolutely certain that they don't like me because. But this is the hard thing as well. When you love what you do and you actually genuinely get excited about the content that you're creating, that gives you even less incentive to have space in your life outside of it. Exactly. So, how do you do that? Like, especially when the momentum from your community, like there's actual demand, you know, some people have trouble with productivity and rest and downtime, even when there's not literal DMs, like when is the next episode coming out? How do you actually, how do you do things that are just for joy and that are separate from finance and separate from podcasting and that are just for

you? Yeah. You have to plan it, right? Like you have to actually make it planned. And, you know, I used to be that person that put a lot of pressure on myself and I got up at 4.30 in the morning and I'd go to the gym and then I'd be at work by seven and I would run my life very like clockwork, but I wasn't that happy. And now you best believe I do not show up to the office until at least 1030 most mornings. And that's amazing. My partner and I prioritize making sure that we go for a walk every morning and get a coffee. And I was saying to you before we started recording that we've got a dog, Lucy, and we got her in December. And, you know, we don't ask her if she wants to go for walks, like everybody else's dog will say, do you want to go for a

walk? And she'll just look at you like, what are you talking about? But if you say, Lucy, do you want to go for a coffee? Like she loses it and runs to the front door because that's Steve and my thing. Like we go for a coffee and a walk every single morning. Like we do this 5k walk together and it's always the same loop because we're really boring, but we also have it well-timed. And that's our time to have a chat in the mornings and set up our day as well and just enjoy it. And I do work really late and I think our community sees that, but it's not because I'm working 24 seven. It's because I've come in late and enjoyed my morning and, you know, lockdown has definitely, and COVID has definitely got in the way of me being able to seize the

things that I love doing and being able to do them. But when COVID's not a thing, I want to go back to playing netball on Wednesday nights. I play socially terribly, mind you, like I play center and like, there is no way, absolutely no way that anybody would ask me to be on their team, but I'm small and I'm pretty good at running. So I feel like I make a pretty good center. Like I'm there. I'm in it. Center's like the core of the team. You're like holding up the whole team. I wouldn't call it the core. I'm like the little one that runs around and I'm definitely not tall enough to be a shooter or even a defender. So, I think I just ended up with that position because they were like, oh, well, she needs to be on the team, but like we're not putting her

in that ring. But she could be the treasurer. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We need her. So, yeah, I do that. And speaking of treasurer, I'm the treasurer for a charity, TLC for Kids. And I've done that for more than a year now and yeah Tim is he's so special he is one of those people that you meet and you just are like are you a unicorn like how do you how do you care so much like he's just such a beautiful person and I'm so grateful to be able to do that so I do that in my spare time as well that's literally just a passion like TLC is a charity for sick children and I'm just so passionate about everything they do and so proud of being you know a part of their team and you know just to be young as well and on that feels really special because I don't think that

that's an opportunity that you know I ever thought would be extended to me like to sit on a board like what who am I you're so fancy I talked about the pedestal at the start you're literally like getting even higher yeah but it's not the case it is not the case like I do that you know on the weekends. Like I love hanging out with my family. I love cooking. I am terrible at reformer Pilates, but religiously go. I'm that person that they're like, oh, if you could just fix this. And I'm always like, stop it. Like I suck. I know I suck. Like, and I know, you know, I suck because I've been coming here forever, but this is my joy. So just leave me alone. Yeah. If you could just leave me alone, I'm just trying to be healthy. Oh, I love it. I genuinely don't have as

much time as I would like to have free but as my team grows you know I'm finding that I'm able to take my hands off things as much as I could like 12 months ago I never ever could have you know come into the office at 10 30 in the morning but now I'm yeah creating the life that I want to live and you know I'm grateful that I get to do that but I also get to extend that to my team and you know knowing that they get to I just want them to do their work so like they get to come and go I feel like we've got this little team of people who are passionate about She's on the Money, but also have lives outside of She's on the Money. I don't want everything to revolve around that. Except you've created such a beautiful environment when you know that they probably do want everything

in their life to revolve around that anyway. Oh my gosh, they are so kind, honestly. I am so grateful for all of them. And yeah, like being in lockdown, especially for the fourth time, it just reminds us, we're always like, we're itching to get back to the office to be together, to just hang out together because we're more creative together. We, you know, vibe off each other and just enjoy it. And the office dog, Lucy, she comes in every day and she's got her own like basket and hangs out and yeah, everyone just gets along and it's definitely not a high pressure environment at all. And I think it keeps you humble and keeps you really down to earth because like when something fancy happens and I'm very grateful, it's happened a lot recently, like with

Forbes and there's been a lot of news articles that have featured us. My team always like, oh, you're a wanker. Like look at this article. Like if only they knew the real you. And to be honest, I wouldn't change it for the world. Like I don't want people to think that I'm some fancy person. Like I'm normal. I'm down to earth. And like, yeah, like I'm just trying to pay my mortgage guys. Congratulations on having one, by the way, we saw that you bought a house. Well, just to finish up, what are three interesting things about you that don't normally come up in conversation? And I'm going to have to say that they cannot be finance related. Well, there's nothing interesting when it comes to finance. Who would do that as a job?

Yeah, how shit to talk about money all the time. Gross. What have we got? I don't know. What makes me interesting? So many things. So many things. And can I also just say as a little aside, having met when we were both at very different stages I have always had this sense that you are going places and you have such a passionate energy about what you do and it's so satisfying and I don't know quite how to describe the feeling though to see that all that energy and buzz and passion and intellect and potential that when we first met I was like oh man this woman like you are taking over the world that you you're doing it like it has just been such a privilege to what

you know what you know what I mean though when you meet someone before the thing that you know them in now to have watched it is such a great privilege because this is what you were destined to do that is so kind and I feel like I was destined to do it and it's it's crazy to think we're doing it and it you know reiterates when people say stuff like that to me it just reminds me that I am doing the right thing and I am in the right place and you know like all of these achievements over the last few like months or years or whatever we want to call it like just reminds me that whatever we are doing we're doing it right and we're in the right space and we're making the right steps forward and we're having these impacts and you know my favorite

thing in the entire world is you know I guess that's an interesting fact it's not about finance but it is about she's on the money is that when it comes to dms and it comes to you know managing the socials. Like I don't want to let go of that. Like my favorite thing is talking to our community and talking to the people in our DMs who message us to be like, Hey, I know you might not read this. We do definitely read it just FYI. But I just want to tell you that I paid off all my debt because I listened to your podcast or, you know, a really special one the other day was that she'd gotten out of a financially abusive relationship. And it was because of our episodes on that. And she'd, you know, saved up and it was a plan that she'd created over the last eight months. And

that, you know, we were integral to that. And that's crazy to think that we're impacting people without even knowing it. And they just tell us later, they're like, oh yeah, by the way, you did this. Like what? I helped you get out of a financially abusive relationship. That's wild. Like I'm so proud of that. And I don't want us to ever lose that as our driving force and as our priority, because no, you're right. It's really fancy to be a Forbes 30 under 30. I don't want that though. I want the people in my DMs. I want to talk to people about saving. I want to talk to people about, you know, a savings hack that I made and I made it on PowerPoint, but I made it a PDF and you can download it and put it on your fridge. Like that's who I am and what I

want to do. And I think that, yeah, that's, I guess, something that people assume I've handed over because we do have a content manager now and a content producer, but like I'm pretty controlling when it comes to that. I love that though. It's because you're so in touch with your audience still because of that well you have to be because that's why I'm here like they're the reason I get to do what I love every single day and I'm so grateful for all of them to be here because not many people can say I wake up every day so proud of what I do and like that's so cool and yeah I guess that's one thing people don't know and assume it's not me what about one that Steve would know but no one else would know like weird things that you do oh that I am obsessed

and have an uncontrollable desire for frozen ice cream, chocolate mochis. So specific, but like, if ever I'm sad and he comes home with a box of chocolate ice cream mochis, there are six in a box. You best believe I will not be saving you any. I will eat the whole thing. And like, he can change my day with a box of mochis. Like I promise you. And that would be such a bad spending habit. Cause I think full price, they're like $7 a box, but they are a good deal, even not on sale. They spark joy, my friend. Your budget pie chart is like mostly mochi and then like rent, mortgage. Groceries is like tiny, health insurance, eh, you know, mochi's more important. Yeah. Yeah. I think he would absolutely say that. And I think he would

also want to tell people that my personality is also in my pet's personalities. And we talk about this all the time because we've got three pets. I have two cats and a dog. I've got Bailey who's 10 and he's a Tonkinese. I've got Henry who's one and he's a chocolate Tonkinese. And I've got Lucy who is a sheepadoodle and she is nine months. And yeah, they're all as crazy as I am. And sometimes he just looks at them and is like, you are actually like your pets. Like, you know, Lucy's very snuggly and cuddly and just wants to be on the couch in her blanket. And that is me. and Bailey can be really sassy and that is also me. And he always tells people that I get my attitude from my cats and my cats get their attitude from me. So, maybe that's something

people would definitely not talk about because people just don't care. People definitely care. I have followed your pet journey and your little menagerie at home with a keen interest, a keen interest. It's going to turn into a farm. We bought our house in December, like at the start of December, it was absolutely whirlwind. Like we found it, it was like a two week settlement. Like it was yay to nay, like so quick. And my partner had always said, we can't have a dog until we own a property. And that was my motivation for getting a property. I was always like, all right, well, I didn't want property until now. Well, we're going to have to buy a house, I guess. Good priorities. Yeah. And so I reached out to this

breeder and one thing led to another and we ended up with Lucy two days before we moved into the property. And I was just like, all right, cool. So, I've organized a puppy. And he was like, were we not going to move in and maybe talk about it? And I was like, uh-uh. Like, we are. We have a dog. We have a puppy. We are moving in. And I remember bringing her home because we'd secured her and she had to be, she's from New South Wales and I live in Victoria. So, she had to be driven down for us. Oh, baby. Yeah. We went to pick her up and I didn't want to take her to our rental property, but we'd just been given the keys to our actual property. And so, Steve and I slept on a blow up bed in our new house with no other furniture in it because we wanted to have the dog

in the new property. And I remember bringing her home and not having any furniture and just sitting on a dog bed in the middle of our new lounge room with this puppy. And I was just so happy. I cried because I was like, oh my God, all my dreams are coming true. This is living. This is living. Like I've got this dog and I adore it. And like, I guess, yeah, like my life goals have never been around Korea. They're always around, you know, I guess, love and family and, you know, hopefully one day creating a family of our own, but for now, our pet family. And yeah, I guess that's central to who I am and what I do. And when you start to get to know me, you're really like, oh, cool. So, she actually doesn't care about any of these achievements. She's just proud that her

dog can shake paws. I love that about you so much. Well, final question, lovely. What is your favorite quote oh my gosh I already told you why did I why did I ruin that so early because it was such a good one oh my gosh yeah I'm actually going to reiterate that for you because I do think it's really important and it's helped me and I feel like it's one that we don't talk about enough and that is that you will never be criticized by someone who is doing more than you you will only ever be criticized by someone who is doing less and I think that that is I guess a really good place to leave it right like anyone can adhere to that like if anyone ever says anything bad about you my friends like I bet you it's because they are not you know following in your footsteps or

you know being the person that you are and it's hard in Australia because I feel like tall poppy syndrome is such a prevalent thing and I'd heard about it you know and I'd spoken about it before and obviously studying psychology I'd been told about it and I just was like no that's not a thing I've never been held back and I absolutely haven't been held back. But my gosh, now I have what you definitely could call a profile in this space. The people that don't want you to be successful, they're loud. They're loud and they can make you feel like crap so easily. And I think that a quote like that just really helps you remember what's important. Absolutely. And fortunately, you have a community, a very engaged and increasingly expanding all over the world

community who absolutely adore you and um i have only the best things to say about you and she's on the money and the new book and everything you do it's just been a privilege to be oh my gosh alongside and to be able to watch you are so kind i can't oh my god i don't even have words like i have no language it's just you are really shaking up a really really important part of our lives that is obviously having such a huge impact for everyone so congratulations oh thank you sarah that is honestly, I should come on your podcast more often because sometimes I need the pep up. Like I just need someone to be as complimentary as you are. Anytime. Honestly, you are just such a, a wonderful, wonderful robot of all of us.

Well, thank you for having me. I'm genuinely so grateful. hi it's Tony again I hope that you absolutely loved that podcast and just to give Sarah a little shout out you can find her at spoonful underscore of underscore Sarah on Instagram or you can follow seize the yay at seize underscore the underscore yay on Instagram as well make sure you go and check out her podcast because it's amazing she posts awesome interviews all the time with heaps of different people. So I promise you it's time well spent after you've listened to She's on the Money, of course. But before I head off, I'd like to acknowledge and pay respect to Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the traditional custodians

of the lands, the waterways and the skies all across Australia. We thank you for sharing and for caring for the land on which we are able to learn. We pay our respects to elders past and present and share our friendship and our kindness. The advice shared on She's on the Money is generally 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 and victoria divine is an authorized representative of australia pacific funds management proprietary limited abm 34132463257 afsl 339151 and you can follow all of us at she's on the money aus and if you haven't already make sure you jump straight into our

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