She's On The Money - MONEY DIARIES: From Centrelink to a 6 figure business!

Episode Date: April 24, 2022

What can we say about this week's Money Diarist except...WOW! In 4 short years, and still at the tender age of 22 she has no debt, owns her own home, has developed a 6 figure hospitality business all while working her freelance copywriting business on the side. Prepare to be inspired! She also gives blood and currently the Red Cross are seeking donors.You can get more info hereThis year our Money Diaries are being brought to you by the legends at Shopback! Check them out at https://app.shopback.com/aus/partner/SOTM and you'll get a cashback bonus when you sign up!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. Victoria Devine is an Authorised Representative of Infocus Securities Australia Proprietary Limited ABN 47 097 797 049 AFSL - AFSL 236523.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just before we get started, we'd like to acknowledge and pay respect to Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. They're 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 we share our friendship and our kindness. 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. Welcome back to another Shop Back Money Diary Monday, where we get to chat to one of our Gorge community members, learn about them, their life, their money, everything that

could possibly go in between. Victoria. Jessica. Hello. People really don't like it when we use names. No, for some reason they don't. So hello, it is the people you already know. I'm trying to think of something to say that isn't today's diarist is a good one. And I'm, you know what, once again, just say that we'll work on the scripts later. Maybe in a future episode. Let me read it to you. It says I'm a 22 year old who has come a long way in regards to money in the past four years. I went from being freshly 18 and having to borrow money from parents, friends and anyone else who would give it to me to having just graduated, owning my own home with my partner, a six-figure hospitality business, a freelancing copywriting business, and no debt. Sorry, what?

I know. I am so proud of how far I've come from having only $250 a week from Centrelink to now making over $100k per year fresh out of uni. Who are you, Money Diarist? You're already here to join us. Welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited about your story. I feel like you have had an ultimate glow up. Like what? You're so impressive and I want to learn more. So let's start from the very beginning. Money Darius, can you tell us a little bit about your money story? Yes. So growing up, my parents broke up when I was very young and they were both single parents for the first couple of years. So when I was living with my mom, it was always single working mom doing her best. And then my dad did remarry and then he was supporting

a family of five on his income. So it's safe to say that both sort of sides of my money story were not very rich. We didn't have a heap. I remember being like six years old and dad and my step-mom counting out five cent pieces to go buy milk. And they were super open with us about that. Like they would say we're broke, which looking back on now, I think is a pretty poor attitude to sort of be putting out there, but you know, they were keeping it real. We learned the value of money from a young age, but we weren't really taught how to save it, I guess, and how to handle money that we had because we never really had any money. So yeah, I mean, my mom's a super hard worker. I've always seen mom work really hard and dad is too. I guess it was just circumstances

that they weren't really able to get themselves out of. And so that's really raised me to look at, I mean especially now I just see money as a tool like it's not about how much you have it's about what you're able to do with it and that's always sort of been my goal is to just be able to do the things I want to do and feel safe doing those things oh my gosh I have so many questions about your money mindset because I agree with that broke mentality that you mentioned before because I really don't like the concept of broke right like I get it if you're literally you don't have a roof over your head you're not able to put food on the table and you are genuinely broke but I feel like so many people will say things like oh I'm so broke this week and it's like well you're not

your money's allocated towards other things or you've spent it on things that you value or you haven't managed it properly but that doesn't make you broke I feel like that mentality can be quite limiting and it's not really a growth mindset in a way like and we want to have these growth mindsets where we're like, oh, we just don't have the money for that right now. But like the term broke makes it sound like it's, I don't know, something that's placed upon you instead of a situation you can get out of yourself. So moving on, we already know you're a bit impressive money diarist because we got your email and just read it out. But can you tell us what you do for work and how much money you earn? Yes. So work situation is a lot. So I work in marketing. I'm a marketing

executive for a charity which is a fairly new role yeah it's very exciting I love it I'm really happy there and it's honestly I had a bit of a nightmare trying to get my dream graduate position out of uni but you know if it's meant to be it'll be and this job like oh it's just my dream so I work there part-time which will hopefully turn into full-time later in the year and then I also it was almost exactly a year ago, actually, I opened a cafe. Oh my God. You're a child. You can't have a cafe. Yeah. So I did that while I was studying full time as well and working another job to, you know, pay my bills. So I opened that and now I just work there from a sort of managerial perspective. Like I'm not making coffees anymore. And then on top of that,

I'm also freelancing so my partner and I have started a copywriting business social media copywriting and I have about 10 clients through that which um yeah it's pretty great so all up I added it up the other day it was just over 110,000 annually and then I do some babysitting some nannying on the side when I have time as well so yeah when do you have time for that Like, okay, you don't though. It's definitely a case of me doing freelancing work on my laptop while I'm looking after the kids. Yeah. Okay. All right. That makes a little bit more sense because I'm like this woman, there's no way, there's no way she has free time. Money Diarist, I want to know what is currently your big money goal? What are you working towards

with this $110,000 income? So my big goals, I'd say I want to fill all my savings accounts. I use up and I have like 12 savers in there. Oh my gosh. So good. And so I want to meet the savings goals for all of those, which excluding the car account will come to just over $20,000. So I'm getting there. I'm working towards it, but then longer term, my partner and I want to invest in some more property. So we currently own our home and we're hoping to move from here and then turn this into an investment property. How? Just how? I can't even get one house. you're going for number two. And she's 22 and owns her own business and has this marketing executive job. Like, what are you, a wizard, Harry? But I just want to say before we invest

in more property, our shared goal is to get a pool. We live in Queensland and it is very hot. I love that. Oh my gosh, lifestyle. I love it. That's sort of the goal. Yeah, at the moment. Oh my gosh. Let us know when it's done because Jess and I will be up there. We'll come visit. We'll come visit. It won't be because you have a cool house or anything and it will definitely be to see you. All right, money diarist, can you tell us about the investments you might already have? Yes. So I've, you're going to be unimpressed or maybe not. Why? Because you've got a business and a house. Well, yes. So I mean, on a more broad description of investment, I've obviously invested a lot of money into the business, which is definitely paying off.

But apart from that, I've got eight grand in crypto. Most of that was purchased for me by my father and gifted to me. Interesting choice, dad. Yes. Yep. That's how he's got himself out of his pickle is investing in crypto. He's super passionate about it and gifted all of his children thousands of dollars worth. And my uncle's on the same train.

So he's also given me some cryptocurrency. And then I've got $2,000 in an ETF through Vanguard. I think $1,000 in spaceship and a couple of hundred in raise as well. Check you out. Yeah. So I would like to do more investing, but it's just not my priority right now. I also pay extra into my super. Of course she does, Jess. Of course she does. Just because there was a couple of years there where I wasn't working a PAYG job for a little while. So I wasn't paying it. So now I'm just prioritizing getting that up to where I'd like

it to be. Oh my God. I'm obsessed with you. You're like literally a wizard. I'm convinced. Like there's no way you're actually 22. Do people sometimes say to you that you're an old soul? Yeah, I have heard that. I feel like I'm getting that vibe from you. No one can see that, but I'm just getting that vibe. I want to know next, you said you have a house. Can you talk to us about what debts you have? Yes. So obviously I do have the mortgage. That's $300,000-ish, I believe. And also I have obviously my hex debt, which is 20 grand the last time I checked. So when I said on my email that I had no debt, I was lying. No, you weren't because those both are okay debts. They're not bad consumer debt.

Well, on the subject of consumer debt, today is Tuesday, which means my shop's credit card probably has six or $700 on it because we do all the ordering at the start of the week. And then I pay off the balance at the end of the week. So that's a cashflow tool. When you said the shop, I was like, it makes sense when you have a business. And this is something I literally said to you the other day, Jess. I was like, I think it's time that I get a business credit card because as a business, you incur so many expenses and it kind of makes sense to one, give yourself the financial security of having a credit card because you can cancel it and it's not directly linked to your bank account, but then two, you get some points. Are you doing,

are you getting some pretty good points with the amount of money that you spend? Oh my goodness. I have enough points to go on around the world trip. What? Wow. Yeah. It's amazing. We have so much money going through the business and the card has all sorts of like bonuses and stuff you can do. So I'm just trying to use that as a tool and I pay it off at the end of every week. So I'm really trying to be very responsible. And also my accountant will get very angry at me if I use it for personal expenses as well because I get that stuff it up for him so yeah don't mess up the bookkeeping our bookkeeper Nicole if you're listening she's clenching her

fist yeah you're listening Nicole like she's chasing us for all of our reconciliations for our baths and I'm busy I'm sorry I love you still please keep my books clean so next question I feel like it's a good question for someone who does a lot of online shopping and does a lot of things for their business to use Shopback. Yes, I do. I'm a big fan of Shopback. I just have it on my browser. I didn't know there was an app, but yeah, I use it on my browser. I see if it'll work for whatever I'm buying. I do a lot of personal online shopping too, but there are a heap of things I order for the business, like, you know, new coffee jugs and signs and stuff. So always make sure to use Shopback. And if there's a website that sells something similar, I'll always swap over to the

one that uses Shopback just because it's like free money. I want cash back, exactly. Although last night I did make a Princess Polly order while I was sitting on the couch watching TV and I did it on my phone on the app and missed out. And you didn't get your cash back. It was like $500 as well. I kind of want to be there. You're going to like do a haul on your Insta or something. I'll be there for that. I feel like I love perving on other people's shopping online. I'm like, what you get? Show me girl. Yes, I know. So that was really disappointing. And I realized as soon as I checked out, I was like, no. Oh, so silly, but that is okay. Next question is what is your best money habit? I feel like having learned a little bit about you in the

last few minutes, I feel like she's got a few Jess. Well, look, I actually struggle to think about this one because I don't know if it's like imposter syndrome or if it's true, but I feel like I don't necessarily have good habits. I'm just a really, really hard worker. So like if I want something, I will find a way to make that money so I can have what I want as opposed to like me being a really good saver or something. Like I just, I will find the work. I will find the time to babysit or I'll find another client or I'll go and clean someone's house. Like I can always find a way to get the money that I want. Being a hard worker is a good habit. Like that is, you've literally just described a good habit and it's a very good one to have.

Being willing to do what you've got to do to like get what you want instead of just going, oh I want it but I don't have it that's a shame after pay or I'll go and get a credit card or I'll borrow money for it like that mentality of like no if I want something I'm gonna go work really hard to make it happen that's the best money that's an awesome one that is the best okay I stand corrected in saying that if you can't think of a good money habit can you think of your worst money habit? Oh, I'll list as long as my arm. Definitely. I'm a bit chaotic. Same girl. I've never been able to stick to a budget. Like I've tried so many budgeting tools. I don't seem to have the discipline to be able to stick to it. Like I'm always transferring out of my savings

account. Even if I have enough money in my spending account for my usual expenses, I'll just transfer out and make an online order or go out for dinner or shout my friends, which is another another bad habit which I think is a good habit in terms of me being a nice person but I'm very very generous always spending on other people always offering to pay for dinner buying gifts for people like I think my love language is giving oh my gosh I was just gonna say is gifts your love language yeah like it yeah and I'm just like I can't stop myself I resonate with that yeah I do it all the time I think everyone in my team would be like uh yeah that's Victoria but I don't want to change that like I love that about me and I love being in the position where I can do that

for my team and like it's a thousand percent my love language like I get so excited if I think of a present that I'm like oh my god Jess is gonna love this and then I get ridiculously excited and I'm like oh my god it's not even a birthday maybe I'll just give it to her and then Jess is like what is this for I'm like I just got really excited that's me that's me I know it's so fun But if you've got a good budgeting cash flow system that's built into it, and I've worked out over the last few years how much on average I spend on that, and I make sure it's part of my budget. And I think one thing you said during that, and I'm going to talk to you after this episode

about the budgeting cash flow masterclass that I do, it's not necessarily about creating a budget that you have to, quote, stick to. It's actually about tracking every dollar that goes into your account and every dollar that goes out. So it's not saying, oh my gosh, money diarist, this month you have an extra $100 to spend on your friends and your family. It's actually about going, how much do you spend? Do you actually know? Because more often than not, when your love language is gift giving, you don't really know because it's so variable. So it's nice to have in the back of your head that you're like, all right,

well, on average, I spend about $100 a month on that or $200 a month on that or whatever it might be. So it's not necessarily about budgeting in the traditional sense where people feel really restricted, but rather just being super aware of everything going in and out of your bank account so that you can make decisions that are in line with your values so that you can go, oh, like, maybe I shouldn't do that. And I would go, well, maybe you should, you love that. But like that gym membership, you're not using it. Should we get rid of it? Because you're so aware of everything else that's going out. So I think that it's really important to see the difference between a cash flow plan and what traditionally was a budget because traditionally people would be like

oh my grocery budget's $50 this week and you're like okay but like what is it actually going to be because that's different than what you're trying to restrict yourself to. Yes yes to all of that absolutely. But yeah no I would like to be better friends with you. So next question before we get to have a deep dive into a few more pervy questions is, Marnie Doris, what grade would you give yourself if we forced you to give your money habits a grade? I think I would give myself, I want to say a B minus, but I'm being realistic and I think it's probably a B. I feel like there's so much I want to work on in terms of like, I have the world at my feet. I have a good income. I have the opportunity to make so much more money. I, you know, have a stable place

to live. My income is stable. I have so many tools to do amazing things with my money for my future, but I'm just not doing them. So I would say I have a fair bit of a way to go, but I think I'm definitely on the right track. Oh my gosh. I want to break down all of that straight after this quick break. All right, Money Diarist, we are back. And one of the first things we learned about you from when we asked you the question, tell us a little bit about your money story, was that your family's money, I guess, mentality and their money mindset seems to be very different to the money mindset you have today. How did you get there? How did you change that? Like, how do we change that? I met my partner. So sorry, everybody, you can't

have him he's mine all right well in that case podcast over we are done I met him at uni when I was 19 and he was just so responsible like he had his savings account he had his emergency fund investments like what and is he 19 as well he was 21 so he was just a little bit older but I met him and I realized like oh wow you know people my age can do that I didn't realize people my age could do that. And so, you know, he got me to read The Barefoot Investor. That's such a good start. Such a good start. I didn't finish it, but I read the bit about the buckets and that gave me, I don't know, it just started the shift and I can't say I stuck to it, but it definitely got me thinking more about money and it started me saving towards having an emergency fund,

which I think is like the first big step. Yeah. To me, that's the key. That's like the biggest step anybody can make regardless of their financial situation is to have an emergency fund off to the side so that if any expense pops up, you can pay for it. Or if any situation you find yourself in is not a situation you want to be in, you can actually pay to get out of it. And I feel like that's a freedom that not everybody has. There was a stat that came out recently that said 60% of Australians don't have cash on hand if an unexpected $500 bill came up. And I was just like, oh, like, I don't mean to be entitled. I mean, the very, very privileged position of that would, you know, it'd be a bump in the road for me financially. But the fact that more than 60%

of Australians don't have access to that type of cash, I was like, oh my gosh, like the She's on the Money community. Like, I feel like so many people talk about emergency funds now and having access to cash. And now it just, I didn't feel like that was representative of our community. But I mean, we're a money community, so that kind of makes sense. But it just feels so limiting. And I just want more people to have more access to this level of financial freedom. Because I think that too many times we talk about financial freedom in this superficial kind of aspirational way that's like, oh, it's when you reach a point in life where you can afford anything without going to work. And you go, yep, that's absolutely it. But like, what about short term financial

freedom and the financial freedom to make the decision that is in line with my values and my goals in the life I'm trying to lead. Like that, your emergency fund is your first ticket to financial freedom. You've hit the nail on the head, money diarist. I want to know about your cafe because- Oh my gosh, yes. Why didn't I ask this? I got the good one. You were studying obviously, and then you got your dream job. But I think for a lot of people, when you're studying marketing, opening a cafe doesn't necessarily seem like a linear jump. So I want to know like what made you choose to do it? And I guess- How do we do it?

yeah and how are you juggling it we could open a cafe it could be peach and we only serve oat lattes that's that's me that's what we do that's exactly it oh my gosh do you actually oat milk is our best selling alternative milk oh my gosh yes yeah so it was a bit of a situation I was working in hospitality at the time and we had moved to where we live currently and I was driving 40 minutes to do 6am opens in hospitality at my old job rough and I loved it there it was great I loved my team but you know it was a bit rough it's a lot yeah and I was so tired and then my mum and stepdad decided they wanted to open a business they wanted to open a record store so they were looking for a venue to do that in and they found this amazing venue where we live and

it had a little cafe space already set up inside not a space it had the plumbing and the electricity for a cafe. It was empty. And they said, would you want to open up a business in here? Or would you want to manage a business if we opened it? And at first I was like, no, I absolutely do not want to do that. I'm studying full time. I have a job. I have a mortgage. I'm not going to open a business, like go away. And then I thought about it more and I just sort of thought like, you do only live once. Why not? Like I have an amazing partner who would support me through anything. I have the ability to work another job. Why not just do it? So I just did it. I think it cost me about $10,000 and a million hours to open it up. I sourced everything from marketplace or

secondhand from op shops, even like the counter and everything. So I got everything secondhand. Oh my gosh, how good. Yeah. And I really wanted to do that from a sustainability point of view and obviously from a monetary point of view as well. And then for the first seven months of operating, it was just me there every single day. I was exhausted. I was still studying full time, but obviously it was during COVID. So it was online. So I was like, I'd have my laptop there with a lecture on while I was like making coffees. And it was really hard. It was really hard work. But then I got to the point where I could hire one staff member and then another, and then another. and now it's fully started. Now you're thriving. Yeah. So it was a really amazing journey and I'm

really grateful. It's definitely the best thing I've ever done in my life. And at the moment, obviously I still do work for it. There's a lot of behind the scenes work, but I would almost say it's passive income. I get about $700 a week just coming in from that without me having to work there, which is the best feeling. It is so lovely. Oh my gosh, who are you? And that's a business that you can build up and nurture and potentially one day if you wanted to you could sell it on like you're you're building up something really valuable there I feel like how do you go juggling all of that back-end admin because anyone who has ever run a small business would know that admin is where your time just disappears down a hole how do you go with that and then your current full-time

marketing role plus your freelance work as well it's definitely a lot of it is done on the couch at night or I I give plasma every two weeks to the blood bank and that is my time so she's just like an all-around really wholesome person I'm obsessed with you well that process takes about two hours so that is my time where like there's no one there to distract me I just knuckle down I do the pays I do the rostering I do any ordering I need to pay any invoices like I really try and just use that time to like smash it up for their fortnight who are you like you're just like this That's awesome, human. But that's also a really good point. Giving plasma does take time, but you're using it effectively. And it's something that the blood bank needs more of,

right? I heard on the radio this morning, they're really in need of, I think, O negative or something. Yeah, because that's the most useful type of blood. Yeah. Don't know. So just sliding that in there. If you can give blood, do. Like it's a really easy thing to do that. And they have free snacks. They give you free snacks. They're really kind and you literally can change somebody's life. So if anyone's been thinking about it, you can book online, take a leaf out of our money diarists book, you can donate plasma or you can donate blood. Blood is a lot less frequent. I think, I don't think it's every two weeks, but it's every three months. There you go. She's an expert. So it's not even that bigger commitment if you're just donating blood. It's

just once every three months and then you can tell people how good you are. I love that. But what a clever way to use that time to be doing something that's obviously important to you. And you know, you obviously want to give back or support in that way, but then to also be like, I'm just going to bring my laptop along with me. I think that's an incredible testament to your mentality. It's a matter of like finding time. And I could just be sitting there watching TikToks because it's like, oh, I I'm already doing something hard. There's a needle in my arm. Yeah. Like don't attack me like that. But instead I'm just trying to find the time where I can. So like when I was studying as well, I would be cooking dinner and I'd have my lectures on,

like, I'm just trying to find time where I can. And it's definitely helped me manage myself better. Oh my gosh, not to be too pervy, but how does your mental health go with all of that? I know that mine ends up being incredibly overwhelmed and I feel like I recently in particular have just like burnt myself out. Is that something where you're just in the, I guess, in the depths of it and you're like, no, nothing. Or is that something that you have to work on regularly? It definitely comes and goes in waves. Like I have my struggles, we all have our struggles and sometimes it all is a bit too much. I'm a bit of a crier and about once a month, I will just like fully just like, Oh, it's all too much. Like I'm doing too much. I can't do it.

When I get burnt out and overwhelmed, it's a case of stepping back from things that I don't need to be doing. So I'll step back from doing some extra work on the copywriting business, or I'll stop going to the gym for a couple of days. Or, you know, if I've committed to doing some extra stuff for the cafe I'll just step back from that and have a bit of a reset watch some tv like just relax and then I can come back refreshed so it's definitely just listening to my body I feel like that's such an important question to ask especially when you sound like the bigger I don't want to use the term girl boss because I hate that I do not like it's so gross but like you just sound like the biggest boss and I'm obsessed with it but I also go oh like sometimes when listening to

podcasts like this or seeing social media, you just only see the shiny sides of it where you're like, wow, she's so impressive. She has this business and, you know, is doing uni and has this epic job and, you know, does all these awesome things. And it's kind of like, no, let's like normalize the fact that like we also break and sometimes we are really fragile. And it's important to talk about these things because if we don't, how is somebody else going to go, all right, I'm going to give it a crack when they're like, oh, but you know, I'm not a thousand percent mentally equipped for this. And it's like, no, no, no, you do it anyway. And when there is a will, there is a way. Obviously, because the cafe's first birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks,

I've been doing a lot of reflecting and I look back and I find it so amazing how I was able to do it at the start. And I think that gives me a lot of strength as well. It's like looking back from where I've come from and it really motivates me to keep going. I don't know, just like finding strength in my past self. It's like my past self would be so proud of the fact that I'm not having to get up at 5am every day and work there. So for her, I'm going to go ahead and plan this event. I'm going to go ahead and reach out to these new suppliers. Like it's very much, I'm a big fan of doing things for my past self to make her proud. Oh my gosh. So she's a wholesome blood donating plasma donating legend. I'm obsessed with you. I said that before, but I genuinely am. And I

think that that's such a good place to position it as well like can you imagine if we sat you down and said all right money diarist like in another year you're gonna have an epic business of your own you're gonna be doing all these things like would you have believed that no no exactly so I think it's so cool to look back and be like oh my gosh she was doing it she didn't necessarily believe in it but she was full of the hustle and now you do I just feel like it's so so kind to look back on past self with like kind eyes. And we always say that, you know, past self was just doing the best that they could and they just don't know how good it can end up being. Yeah. Yeah. I'm very proud. I'm very proud of myself. Oh, I'm glad you should be. We're proud of you. Speaking of

your job, I want to talk about your marketing role as well, because you're doing this whole other thing. You know, you've got a business and you've got a whole other section of your life with your full-time role, which is a six-figure role, which is incredible. It's not common for someone to graduate, step out of uni and then jump straight into a role that pays so well. Did you negotiate that salary? How did you come across this job? Because typically anyone who's taken a grad position will know that it's usually a little bit of a hard slog doing your due diligence, your time in with the trenches and generally the pay is not great. So what did you do differently that maybe other people can try implement as well? So the company that I work for,

I used to, when I was in uni, I was freelancing for a copywriting agency who this company was one of their clients. So I was familiar with the business. I'd already done some work for them. Unfortunately, I was unable to continue my job with that marketing agency. And then I saw this role come up. I saw it on Instagram, I think, and they were hiring an executive. They were hiring someone with five years experience. They wanted all of these things. And I was like, I don't have that, but it was a sort of a, like a matter of, I'm not desperate for the job. So why not, why not try? And so I tried and I had an interview and then my boss flew up from Sydney so we could properly meet up for an interview. And it was just amazing. Like we got along so well. And even

though I was obviously lucky in some areas, cause I only had about a year's experience, she just, she was happy for me to come on anyway. So that was a really great starting point. And when we spoke about salary, I was absolutely shocked because I assumed that because I wasn't meeting all of everything they wanted for that role, I wasn't going to get paid the salary that they'd put aside. But when she told me, I was just absolutely gobsmacked. I was super happy with it. But again, I really weighed up. I was like, that's a great role and a great salary, but considering everything else in my life. Is it enough? So I did negotiate it to be a little bit higher because I did have to let a couple of my freelancing clients go. And so I just wanted

to sort of balance that for myself. It was obviously a bit of a risk and yeah, they were happy for me to negotiate. And once I'm off probation, which will be next month. Exciting. We've agreed on a pay rise as well then. What? Yeah. So it's really great. And I'm very happy with it. I think it was just a matter of like, obviously I cared I cared very deeply but it was not being scared and just going for it and just giving it a go because the worst they can say is no and then you can re-evaluate and it's like

oh my god that's so true research shows that women will only apply for roles if they feel like they meet I think it was like 90 percent yeah or something like that of the listed criteria whereas men would apply if they met like 60 percent or something I'm not no no no that feels really right. And even if not, the premise of that comment is exactly on point. Where did you find your audacity? Did you borrow it from a mediocre middle-aged white man or like just made it yourself? I was definitely inspired by you guys. Like you've said that statistic before. And I said that to my partner. I was like, who cares if I don't meet all of these, you know, I meet some of them and I have things that they're not asking for. I know the company,

I know what they do. I've worked with them before. So why not? Like I can offer other things that isn't three to five years experience. And yeah, it just paid off. The worst I can say is no. And if you get a rejection email, it just goes in the trash with all the other ones. Right. I love that. I think more people should do that. Yeah. You love that because you did that. You did that for your job. So when Jess applied for her role, she met basically none of the criteria, but she was some of them. No, no, no. But like for a content creation role, you're like, I've never done this before, but look at all my stuff. Look how smart I am. Look how great I am at this. Jess went above and

beyond. I'm not meaning to embarrass you. I'm just impressed. She not only did the application, she submitted her resume. She wrote a gorgeous cover letter. Jess, she actually filmed an entire private YouTube video explaining to me exactly why she would be perfect for the job. And I was like, oh, okay, sit down, come in. And I knew that I was going to hire her before I'd even met her. because I was like, who goes that above and beyond for a job? But Jess was like, no, if I want it, I'm going to go for it. And those are the types of people I want on my team. So I fully back your mentality. And I think more people should do it because you're right, money diarist, nearly used your name, but you are so right. What's the worst I can say? No, sorry. We actually need, need that

five years experience. You go, no problems. Thanks for getting back to me. I'll apply in five years. Yeah. Thanks. See you soon. See you then, babe. Bye. No. Oh my gosh. I love that. I feel like you have been such an inspirational money diarist, but the last question I want to ask you is actually what if we're at uni and we're thinking of starting a side hustle, but we are terrified, what do you think we should be doing? Make sure you're surrounded by people who will support you, not necessarily financially, but who will, you know, lift you up and give you the mental and emotional support that you need. And if you have someone who, you know, will catch you if you fall, that's also really helpful. What I did was I made sure, so I was freelancing at the time

and I made sure that like, I was still going to be doing that. I still had a bit of money coming in. I made sure that my expenses could be covered. So whether that's Centrelink or another job or parents or whatever, made sure that my bills would be paid. And then I just went for it. Like, I just went for it because what's the worst that could happen if the business failed I still had experience in hospitality I could get another hospitality job so easily and you know it often if you try and if you're passionate and if you you know really work hard it will pay off so yeah that's what I'd say is just make sure that you're supported and you're comfortable and then just just take the leap and do it I feel like that is really really important advice and I think to add

to that, you're in the position that I was in when I started, you know, doing my own thing. I started, what was it, Zella? I was 23 when I started that. And I think that people all thought I was crazy and I was. But at the time it was kind of like, oh, you know, I didn't have a partner then. I was in a position where I was living in a share house. I'd worked out what my expenses were and I knew that I could start a business if I had like a part-time job on the side, I could still cover my bills. And I was in the very privileged position of, you know, being young, educated, not having any financial responsibilities like children or, you know, a partner that wasn't working or something like that. And I was like, well, if this doesn't work out, I'll just go

find another job and I'll call it a learning. And I just think so many more of us need to back ourselves in that way because yes, I was very naive and it was much harder than I thought it was going to be, but it's gotten me to this position that I desperately wanted to be in and didn't know I wanted to be in today. And it looks like you're in exactly that same position. And it just makes me so proud that you're like, no, I just did it. And I'm like, okay. It was really scary because we'd bought a house four months before. So it was- She was worse than me. I didn't have a mortgage. Yeah. It was terrifying. It was honestly really terrifying. But again, I made sure that I could

pay the mortgage, my half of the mortgage with the, what was it? I was bringing in like $250 a week. And I was like, yep, that's fine. I can do it. And then I was really lucky that I didn't operate at a loss for too long and could start paying myself from the cafe. And then the rest is history. So good. Well, congratulations on that. And congratulations to one year in business very soon. That is so exciting. And I hope that you're not just celebrating it with like the event you were talking about with the cafe, but I hope you go out for dinner with family and friends and just like actually celebrate it. Because that's one thing that if I look back on it, I wish I'd celebrated those milestones a bit more.

I will. Thank you. Thank you. Do it for me. But thank you so much. I think that is, Jess, all we have time for today. Absolutely. But just before we head off, don't forget 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 a financial decision. And we promise Victoria Devine is an authorised representative of InFocus Securities Australia Proprietary Limited, ABN 47097797049, AFSL 236523. See you next episode, guys. Bye.