the bossbabe podcast - 126. Lessons From My 7-Figure Business Bankruptcy with Patrice Washington

Episode Date: October 19, 2020

How do you define wealth and what does a wealthy life look like to you? We’re joined by Patrice Washington aka the “Money Maven.” She’s a financial expert, #1 best-selling author, speaker, and media personality. Patrice has also been featured on The Steve Harvey Show, The Dr. Oz Show, and in major publications like Cosmopolitan, Essence Magazine, and so much more.  What sets Patrice apart from other financial experts is her philosophy on wealth, which is more holistic, grounded, and spiritual, but it wasn’t always this way. Before she became the “Money Maven”, Patrice had already built a seven figure business and achieved massive success. Despite living what she considered her “dream life” back then, Patrice was anything but happy or fulfilled. In a divine turn of events, she was forced to redefine wealth after going bankrupt during the 2008 recession.  Patrice went from being a seven figure CEO to scraping for change. Tune in as she takes us on her amazing journey, sharing how she overcame one of her lowest moments and what led her to dig deep into the concept of wealth. If you’re ready to redefine what wealth means to you, and live a more fulfilled and financially free existence. then this episode is for you!  Links: Join Online Launch School, our 12-week program designed to take the guesswork out of sold-out launches. https://bossbabe.com/ols Sign up for our free training: How to Plan & Execute Profitable Repeatable Launches with Our 4-Step Formula. https://bossbabe.com/launchformula  Get two free months of Skillshare premium membership and receive access to unlimited to over 1000+ classes: www.skillshare.com/bossbabe Follow:  @bossbabe.inc Natalie Ellis, @iamnatalie Patrice Washington, @seekwisdompcw

This was about purpose. This was about serving the people that I was called to serve in my unique way and knowing that they would find me and I will find them. Your business or career is only going to grow to the extent that you're willing to heal. So whenever you feel trapped, I always invite people to look for the clutter physically that that might represent. Well, hello there, friend. This is going to be an epic episode because we are talking about money. I'm a Capricorn, so I feel like money is my love language, to be honest. And today's episode is all about money and building wealth. And this is a topic I get asked about all the time. So before we dive in, I want to just give you a couple of my little hacks or tips around money. The first thing is if you are saving in cash and you're not investing your money right now, use a high interest savings account. I was just keeping my money in the bank

for a really long time. And someone was like, why don't you put it in a high interest savings account where you're actually going to get a lot more interest than if it's just sitting in the bank. So I did that. I actually use a company called Marcus. It's a Goldman Sachs company. This is not sponsored. There are so many different versions of them and I'm probably not listing even the best ones. So go have a look. Obviously that's not available in the UK, but there'll be different ones in the UK. So that's one thing that I've been doing

because we're looking at buying, building houses right now, figuring out what that looks like. So I wanna be holding cash versus investing a lot, which is what I was doing over COVID because the stock market was not at the best place it's been in. So we put money in and made quite a lot of money from investing in the stock market over COVID.

But right now we're not. I think everything's just so rocky right now. I'm just kind of sitting back and watching and seeing what happens. So if you're not investing and you wanna be making more money from money sitting in the bank, definitely look into one of those accounts.

And then the other thing, this is one thing that I tell everyone who wants to get better at managing money, their money mindset, all of that kind of thing is just really look at your money. So I have spreadsheets up. I use an app called Copilot. Again, I'm not sure if this is in the UK and this is not sponsored at all. Copilot's been amazing for putting all my bank accounts together, where we're at even my 401k accounts and all the likes all together and then basically it records everything that comes in and everything

that goes out so every month I get to see how much money I've spent how much money I've made and I get to budget and all that kind of thing I think that's so important when it comes to managing money even if you're maybe not in the financial position you wanna be in, it really helps to see it because sometimes when you're maybe not where you wanna be yet, it can be really easy to shy away from money and just be like, if I don't look, I don't see it. And I actually think having a real hand in your wealth

and looking and seeing where your money is going is really important. So those are apps that I absolutely love. But the main thing is just really looking at it, seeing where you're spending money, where could you be saving money, where could you be investing money smarter, that kind of thing's been a game changer.

So just wanted to share that with you before we dive in. So when it comes to wealth, I really wanna ask how you define it. And I want you to dig deep because I don't believe most people have their own definition of what wealth is to them because it's very different to every single person. And that's why I'm really excited for today's guest. Patrice Washington is also known as the money maven. She's a financial expert, number one bestselling author, speaker,

media personality, and just a total boss babe. She's been featured on the Steve Harvey show, the Dr. Oz show, as well in major publications that you've all heard of. And what I really love about Patrice and what I believe sets her apart from other financial experts is her philosophy on wealth. So she's got a really holistic, grounded, and spiritual approach to wealth, which we'll dive into deeper in this episode. So I go a lot into Patrice's story and I took so many things away from this episode. I was scribbling down notes like crazy so you might want to have something open to be able to take notes on or you can listen again and I'm excited to be bringing this and if you're really interested in hearing more about money, managing money, building wealth,

all that kind of thing, please let me know because as you know we listen to all of your feedback so you can share this episode tag me at I am Natalie at bossbabe.inc and then you can also DM me with anything you'd like to see and then I just really want to just ethically bribe you to leave a review because it makes such a big difference to us getting our podcast out there so if you leave a review and you take a screenshot and you send it to podcast at bosswhip.com we will send you over the boss babe 25 which is the ultimate resource list of all of my must-have things so all of the items that I have in my desk the things that keeps me productive my routines rituals books everything and anything it's inside there and we'll send you that for free so just take a screenshot send it up to podcast at bosswhip.com and we'll send that to you. So with that, let's just dive straight in.

Okay, I want to quickly interrupt this episode because I've got some really exciting news that I want to share. So if you haven't yet heard, Online Launch School is now open for enrollment. This is one of the most exciting courses we've ever created and it's been in the works since November 2019. Let me tell you this course has the ability to significantly impact and supercharge your business and your life. Here at Boss Babe we know a thing or two about launches and let me give you some insider info. So our last launch was actually our biggest launch yet and it was actually the least stressful time for me and the entire team. This is such a big reason we decided to create Online

Launch School. We know that we've unlocked such an amazing formula to make our launches really profitable without the stress, without the overwhelm, and without endless amounts of caffeine because trust me, Danielle and I have been there. So OLS is a 12-week program designed to walk you step-by-step through a successful launch of your online product or service. We want to help you take the guesswork out of sold-out launches so that you can spend more time moving the needle in your business and doing the things that you love. So if you're ready to have the biggest cash injection your business has ever had, head to bosswave.com forward slash OLS and let's dive in. A boss babe is unapologetically ambitious and paves the way for herself and other women to rise,

keep going and fighting on. She is on a mission to be her best self in all areas. It's just believing in yourself. Confidently stepping outside her comfort zone to create her own version of success. Welcome to the podcast. I am so excited to have you here. Thank you for having me. I'm excited. This is a dream. So I want to dive in at the deep end as always. And I was just reading that Success Magazine just recently named you as one of the 12 inspiring Black voices in personal development. And you're not only such a big voice in personal development, but also in wealth. When I was

scribbling down notes of things that I really wanted to dive into with you on the podcast, it was money, finances, wealth, and the way that you've redefined that. So starting there and backtracking, what's led you to where you are now? Is there a moment in time you remember when things changed or when did this journey start for you? Oh, absolutely. Is there a moment in time you remember when things changed or when did this journey start for you? Oh, absolutely. I remember the moment as if it were yesterday. I was on the bathroom floor, my teeny tiny apartment in Metairie, Louisiana, bawling and snotting and ugly crying. Natalie, I don't know if you've ever had an ugly cry. Oh yeah. But I was ugly crying because what I had turned into a seven figure business straight out of college had actually went belly up in the recession in

2007, 2008. And I found myself going from a seven figure business to literally scraping up change. And this was so significant because I didn't grow up with money. I don't come from a family with money. I grew up in South Central Los Angeles, and all I knew is that if you worked hard and got good grades and went to a good college, you should be fine, right? And I followed that to a T, made my way out of Leimert Park, which is the area that I grew up when I went to University of Southern California, studied business, was on the Dean's list, became a broker during my senior year in college, started this business with my now husband of almost 13 years. Then he was just a guy that liked me really hard. We started this thing together and it wound up being wildly successful.

And I literally thought that was it. I thought I got the cash. We have matching Range Rovers. We got the big house in South Pasadena near the Rose Bowl. And I am set. And then I found myself on bed rest. I'd taken a fall down the stairs while I was 20 weeks pregnant. And I got to the emergency room and they said, ma'am, I'm sorry. This baby's coming any minute now.

You're in full-blown labor. And so I did the only thing I knew how to do at that moment, which was pray. And I started praying. We called other people, had them pray. And what was supposed to be the baby coming any minute now, I ended up actually being in the hospital on bed rest for 10 weeks. And it was during that 10-week period that I'm laying on the bed, tilted to bed, trying to keep this baby in the oven cooking as long as possible. But I'm watching the banks close down left and right,

one after another. Banks that my team worked with, my 16 loan officers and real estate agents at the time, these were the companies they worked with. And these businesses were closing down and going out of business. And we had clients that were losing deposits on condos and homes that they were buying. And it was a nightmare. And there was nothing that I could do to fix it. And I remember the day my doctor came in and she said, Patrice, if you don't stop stressing out, you're going to stress this baby out. And you're going to leave here two years in a row with no baby because I had a son prematurely the year before. Same doctor, same hospital. And he passed after five hours in my arms. And that was the wake up call that I couldn't be so consumed about what would happen to the business or what would happen with my credit score or the bank account. I was

like, I just want to bring a baby into this world healthy. And I had them take the TV off the wall. The maintenance team came in, they took the TV off the wall. And my husband brought me a Bible, a journal and an iPod filled with like gospel music and praise and worship music. And I literally journaled and meditated and sang to my baby off tune, but it was the song with love nonetheless for the next several weeks until my daughter was born. And she was also nine and a half to 10 weeks premature, but she was healthy. And that was the beginning of realizing that just because you're smart, when you feel like you can pass the test or you go to all the seminars or you get all the things nowadays, people listen

to podcasts and read all the books. It's not enough. And I went from that seven-figure business to eventually losing my home, being at a place of scraping up change. And so when I was on that bathroom floor in Metairie, Louisiana, about a year later, it was me looking in the mirror, started out just saying, God, why me? I've been a good person. I treat people well. I try to do the right things. Why does stuff like this happen to good people? And I was bawling, snotting, and doing the ugly cry. And then I felt that nudge that said, get your Bible, which is for me always a go-to. And I found the scripture Proverbs 17, 16. And Natalie said, what good is money in the hands of a fool if they have no desire to

seek wisdom? And that was the first time it hit me that I've had a lot of knowledge. I've had a lot of information. I have all the education in the world, but wisdom is knowing how to apply it, when to apply it, with whom to apply it. And one of my greatest weaknesses at that time was that I did not know how to ask for help. I went through all of that experience pretty much alone because I grew up being the person who didn't ask for help. I gave other people help. So I didn't know how to ask. And we were at a place where our back was up against the wall.

So when I found that scripture, it was like the skies open up and it's like, oh, this is it. I'm like, I've been chasing money, but I don't know how to seek wisdom. And I got to change that. And that was the beginning of me wanting to share with other people that this journey is so much more than just chasing money and seeking wisdom. And that's what I've been doing since March of 2009. Wow. I mean, just going back to that journey, it must have, I guess this happened in just the span of a couple of years, but to go from losing a child to losing your house and then being on bedrest for 10 weeks, what kind of mental state were you in? Were you able when you then

had this breakthrough moment to just transition or like what were you feeling at that point? someone who is an overachiever or a goal setter, list checker, to completely be consumed with chasing the next high, the next achievement, and forget about everything that you've done. So I was in a place at that moment of like, I'm a failure. What was I thinking? I was in beat up mode. I was picking myself apart. And literally when I got to that scripture, I was like, okay, but if I seek wisdom, what does that mean? It's wise counsel. What do I need to do? I started to really, one, just for me, it was like take responsibility. Cause I was also in that phase of wanting to blame everyone, which I think is also common when you go through a lot of things. It was like, if so-and-so didn't do this, if we hadn't moved to the bigger office, if we hadn't bought this car, if we hadn't moved in

that house, it was just a picking apart of everything, which it's important to take a look at yourself, but to stay in beat up doesn't serve you. So what's the lesson or the blessing here? There's only two options. It's a lesson or a blessing because I get to choose. It didn't take long because I have a strong faith background, but it did take some talking to myself often. Let's take a quick pause to talk about my new favorite all-in-one platform, Kajabi. You know I've been singing their praises lately because they have helped our business run so much smoother and with way less complexity, which I love. Not to mention our team couldn't be happier because now everything is in one place so it makes collecting data, creating pages,

collecting payment, all the things so much simpler. One of our mottos at Boss Babe is simplify to amplify and Kajabi has really helped us do that this year. So of course I needed to share it here with you. It's the perfect time of year to do a bit of spring cleaning in your business, you know, get rid of the complexity and instead really focus on getting organized and making things as smooth as possible. I definitely recommend Kajabi to all of my clients and students. So if you're listening and haven't checked out Kajabi yet, now is the perfect time to do so because they are offering boss babe listeners a 30-day free trial go to kajabi.com slash boss babe to claim your 30-day free trial

that's kajabi.com slash boss babe yeah and i also just want to say what a humbling experience and also such a strong reminder that you might think you're invincible but none of us are invincible oh no no matter how much revenue you've got, no matter what assets you have, there's so much that can happen externally that can affect that. And so I'm really curious. So you found that quote, what good is money in the hands of a fool if they have no desire to seek wisdom? And you went on to do that to seek wisdom. And I know you talk a lot about redefining wealth. I'm really curious what your insights have been. I mean, I'm sure you have so many around really building wealth and seeking wisdom in a way that has you feeling more secure than, okay, I could just lose all this tomorrow. It could be gone tomorrow if we hit a recession

or something. Yeah. One of the things for me was, first of all, like I said, being able to ask for help and seek people out. And it was funny. I don't think it was funny. It was divine. About a week or two before, I was in a Starbucks in Metta, Louisiana, and I met these women who were mommy bloggers. And I did not know what a blog was. I had never heard of such a term. I owned a brick and mortar business up until that point. So I was not very into like online anything, right? I didn't even order things online. I didn't pay for things online.

It wasn't such a big part of life like it is now. And so I met these women and I just wanted to know like, was it a book club? How do I get involved? And they're like, we're mommy bloggers. And I'm like, what's that? And so they explained the concept to me. And so that night when I found myself on the bathroom floor, my first grade teacher taught me many moons ago, she said, when you know something,

it's not good enough for you to just know it. You have a responsibility to share it. And the only thing I could think after really digging into that scripture and then starting to look into the difference between knowledge and wisdom. And then I start going down this path of like, what is wealth and what is rich and what, you know, money and all this stuff. As I started to discover things, I was like, you got to share it. That's what I've been doing since first grade. Ms. Boynton said it. When you know something, you got to share it. So because I had just understood the term blogs just within a week or two before, I said, I'm going to start a blog. And I did the next day, a free blogspot.com. And I shared that scripture. And then every week I would like share a scripture and make the money

and business connection to it. But it was going back to one of the young women that I met at that Starbucks and saying, Hey, I don't know anything about this blog stuff. Is there anything that you could tell me or teach me? And so that began my process for being OK with asking for help because I grew up in a very strong Caribbean, Central American family. And I always thought asking for help was a weakness. And I've since learned that it's actually one of my greatest qualities at this point. I don't waste any time when I don't know something, Natalie. I don't even waste time Googling for too long. I'll look things up to get a general understanding.

But if I know of or have heard of anyone who's mastered it, I'm trying to go straight to the master. I'm trying to go straight to, because I know that person's gonna help me master it sooner, quicker, faster than wasting time Googling all night or trying to piece things together with YouTube videos. I'm just gonna buy the course. I'm just gonna hire the coach. I'm just gonna do the thing so I can get what I need.

And that was not who I was before, but I credit that to being a big part of my success today. Being humble enough to ask for help, not suffering in silence because I'm supposed to be the smart one. There is no smart one. If I need to know something, I just go straight to a source and figure it out. And I mean, just so many lessons in the big one, too, at that time for me was the difference between just the wealth piece, because what it made me do too is dig deeper at everything, like not trust the face value conversation, not just look at what the first definition was. When I was looking at wisdom, it also made me really look at wealth. And I was like, what is wealth really? And so the very first definition for wealth is

money and material possessions. And that's where most of us stop. It's like the accumulation of money and material possessions. But when I really started to dig deeply, Natalie, what I found was the 12th century definition of wealth, which was the original definition, it's the condition of well-being. And that's what I never had the first time around. I knew how to make money, but my well-being was not a priority for me. And since rebuilding my life for this last decade or so, what I teach now, redefining wealth, are the things that I was doing. So as my career started to take off and I did my four years on the Steve Harvey show with my own weekly segment on money, and I did multiple appearances on Dr. Oz and Fox News

and tons of different networks. And people will say, well, how did you do that? How did you rebuild your life? It was not by focusing just on dollars and cents. It was on changing my habits, my beliefs, my rituals around other areas of my life that ultimately impacted my finances. And so that's what I teach now, redefining wealth. That's nothing wrong with getting down to the dollars and cents, but I want to be well in the process. There's so much that I agree with.

The first thing around not spending too much time Googling and just going straight to the expert, I think is such a good point because we just don't know what we don't know. And sometimes we don't even know the right questions to Google. And I find that a lot. I'm like, okay, I want to find out about this, but I don't even know where to start or I don't know what my blind spots are. So I'm the same. I'll go straight to the expert, get the course or the book or the podcast and start to introduce that way. I also love what you said about wealth being a condition of well-being. And I think this year, especially when COVID hit, we would never have imagined that we'd be fighting over toilet paper and hand sanitizer and going to the grocery store. But all of those things really

bring you back to remembering, wait, if I don't have my health, then what else matters? Oh, yeah. Digging into that well-being specifically, what does that mean to you? So well-being is really for me having fulfillment in all the other pieces of my life. One thing that I learned from this entire experience is that I never again want to be a public success, but a private failure. And I realized looking back, and even it's a lesson that I've constantly learned because we're always growing, right? And evolving. So I've learned over the years that the pursuit of money many times has, I've allowed it to make me put me on the back burner, right? So even when you talk about health, there's so

many of us, and I'm sure in your community, who are like, they're chasing the dream. They want the thing. They want to be the thought leader, the author, the podcaster, the expert, the whatever, insert professional title. And what I always share with my audience is it's nothing wrong with going after that, right? It's fine to have that vision. But if you hold a vision of who you will be two, three, five, 10 years from now, it's important to understand that it's your duty and responsibility to protect the only vessel you get that's going to help you execute that vision. We got to take care of ourselves. And so it makes no sense to hustle around the clock. I'm all about trying to do things with ease and grace, but I know that there's a lot of talk out there that glorifies

not sleeping. It glorifies not resting, not practicing self-care, not taking care of yourself, not taking a Sabbath or a day off to just really rejuvenate and let ideas flow to you, just to give yourself a breather sometimes, we literally think that we have to be working and on and connected and plugged in 24-7, and that's killing us. And if that's killing us, then who's going to serve the people that we feel we were called to serve? We're literally just handing the platform over to someone else because we're driving ourselves to the point of burnout, especially as women who juggle so many hats, who may have families and just other things that you're also responsible for.

I totally agree. And I do really believe that burnout affects women more than men. I've been reading a lot of articles on this about how the past decade has really glorified that hustle. And when you think of women just generalizing, they generally do wear more hats than men in their life. And when I talk about burnout with my friends, when I'm talking to my husband, it's not a conversation that he's having so much with his friends, which is really, really interesting. And I wonder what it is about us as women that makes us feel like we need to be everything to everyone all the time. I know. I think that it starts really young. And again, speaking as a Central American woman, I just grew up in this family that made it feel like you are your sister's keeper,

your brother's keeper, your granny's keeper. You need to wear all the hats and be all things to everyone, which is why, again, it's so hard to ask for help when we need it. Because it's like, well, who do I go to when I need help if I've become everyone else's solution? And that is a real life struggle. And it's definitely something that I've had to else's solution. And that is a real life struggle. And it's definitely something that I've had to learn to set boundaries around because I do have a very visible career. I've set boundaries around stuff like lending money.

I don't lend money to friends and family. If I choose to give it, I'm gonna give it. But I've also learned to have scripts in place that say your life lack of planning is really not my emergency because that's another thing. We have all these hats and then other people don't plan appropriately. And then whatever they're going through now becomes another burden added to your list. And that's just a notion that I'm really working to reject and rewrite the script around

because I have a daughter and I don't want my daughter to have the same burdens that I had, right? I want her to know how to navigate those conversations and know that self-care is not selfish. It's just a part of the routine, just as much as brushing your teeth or going to bed at night. It's a part of what's necessary because you have a vision and the only way you're going to execute that vision with grace and ease is to have some of these things in place, which are just about taking care of you, whatever that looks like for you. I love that. And I also love the idea of having scripts. That is genius for those things that we know come at us frequently. I think to have a script with your boundary in us would be really powerful. So I'm really curious. So for someone that's

listening who is thinking, yeah, I actually know I do really need to redefine my version of wealth, but has no idea where to begin even thinking through this, how would you recommend they work through that? So what we do at Redefining Wealth is we share what the six pillars are. So I'll just say them really quickly because I think that it's a journey that everyone has to figure out for themselves, right? But the first pillar is fit. Like I said, it's about being mentally fit also. I really believe that for many of us who are entrepreneurs or just career-driven women as a boss babe, right? Your business or career is only going to grow to the extent that you're willing to heal. And many of us think that this is about getting the next degree or climbing the ladder or going for the next achievement. And the truth is, for many of

us, we may be dealing with some type of childhood trauma that we haven't processed yet, like we haven't worked through. And so we're relentlessly pursuing on one side, but then we're also self-sabotaging at the same time. And so my life changed when I started therapy. Girl, therapy was the best. And for Black and brown people who don't always grow up hearing that therapy is acceptable, that was another thing where it was really important to get the support that I needed. But if you know that there may be a block there, or you know you just haven't been taking care of yourself physically, you might want to start with the fit pillar. How do I start to incorporate healthier habits? How do I just make better choices about what I'm putting in my body, how I'm treating myself, going to bed at night,

do I need therapy? Those are the things that you would focus on in this season. The next one is the people pillar. It's about creating relationships that matter. And so that is really personally and professionally. One of my greatest lessons there is first of all, my daughter has taught me that it's not enough to be present. You have to be present because I used to confuse physical presence with presence and I could be in the room with you, but if you're glued to your phone or you're scrolling through Instagram or Facebook, or your loved ones are talking to you and you're like, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. And you're not really engaging. You're not present, which is what's for me, it created mommy guilt because I knew in the back of my head that I wasn't fully present when I was home. But then

here I am on the road doing all the things, speaking and training and helping everyone else. But I would have this guilt that would rise up about being gone. And once I started to be more present with my family, when I'm home, I'm home. When I'm home, I'm not Money Maven. I don't wear all these monikers. I'm not the host of the Redefining Wealth podcast. I'm mommy and I'm babe, right? And I'm present to that. I'm playing Uno, which is our family's favorite game. If you've ever followed me on Instagram, we talk a lot of smack around Uno, but being present so that when I go out to serve, I can be fully present in my service because I'm not worried that my family feels neglected, right?

So that people pillar, focusing on my family when I'm with my family has allowed me to show up even better when I'm working. And then also professionally, just being aware of the fact that there's always someone watching you who has the power to bless you, but how do you show up? And that's a big one because people, Natalie, I'm sure you get this all the time. Folks are clamoring to get to you because you have a huge platform. And so it's like, oh, if I meet Natalie, if I get on Natalie's podcast, if I'm connected with Natalie or Danielle, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But how many people do they not treat well on the way to you? And I have this rule even in my business that when people don't treat my support staff well, I will cancel an interview

because it's not enough to be nice to me. I love that you're saying that. And I completely agree with you. And we have a rule too internally. If someone demands to get on a call with the CEO and treats any of our team with disrespect, I don't care how much money we leave on the table. If it's a partner, we will walk away because you're so right. If they can treat one person like that, how are they treating the rest of the world?

And no amount of money is worth sacrificing that integrity for. No, it's not. And I've learned because I used to think that I could change people. I remember I had someone on my team who was rough around the edges and I thought, oh, I'm such a great influence. It'll definitely build her character. And instead, what she was doing is not representing me when I wasn't around. Right. I thought that I was above someone else's bad behavior. And that was a big lesson for me just a year ago in the people pillar that I have to stick to my core values. And I don't care if you're a friend, a family member, a vendor. I mean, I don't care who it is. If it

feels out of alignment with my core values, I'd rather have nobody than a bad body in my presence. I'm just very selective about who I allow in my space now. And so if you are struggling with boundaries, if you're struggling with finding people who are in alignment with your core values or having difficult conversations, that could be a key that's preventing you from building wealth the way that you want to. And so maybe you would start there. Maybe it would be about evaluating your relationships, both personally and professionally. Then there's the space pillar that's about setting up your life to support you. We talk a lot about clutter there, Natalie, because that's one that I don't think people realize. I think when people think clutter, they think like A&E hoarders.

It's like, you don't have to be a hoarder to be dealing with clutter. But in this time, I feel like a lot of us carry clutter from one place to the next. I remember when I was moving and the stuff was neatly, I mean, if you came to my house, it was always immaculate. It was always neatly put away. But there was a point when we realized we were moving things from one house to the next, one state to the next that no longer served us.

It represented a time in our lives that was not peaceful. It was not our best time. But for some reason we were holding onto it because it was neatly packed away. And it's like, even when you can't see this stuff, it still has an impact on you. You might still feel stuck in some areas of your life because you haven't dealt with stuff. And we call it the physical manifestation of chaos in your mind. So whenever you feel trapped.

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membership so receive free access to thousands of classes for a limited time. You can be one of the first 1,000 to sign up at skillshare.com forward slash BBP. And the link is also below. And we're back. Let's jump straight into today's episode. It's real. Like if you're struggling with your health, your fitness or anything, take a look at your closet. It may be a there might be a correlation there for your finances. If you feel like, oh, my gosh, I can't get control of my finances. Where are your financial documents? Are they scanned?

Are they organized neatly or are they all stuffed in? Are your statements all stuffed in a junk drawer in your kitchen? The minute you clear up that clutter and get it organized, all of a sudden you will feel more empowered. And there's a direct correlation. So if you're feeling stuck in different areas, look around you right now. It could be your car, your office space, your home space. But the truth is any space that we occupy should be considered sacred. I look at any space I occupy as sacred and I ask myself, is this the money making space? Is this the space of a peaceful person? Is this the space of a woman with joy?

Is this the space? And like I go through that and if it doesn't feel like that, then I know where I need to start. I love that. So asking yourself, and I'm making notes too, because this is just so good for anyone listening, looking at the space as peaceful, joyful, abundant, asking those questions. I think that's so powerful and often can, like you say, be the thing that we're overlooking. Oh, it doesn't matter about that. I'll do it later because I'm focused on this other thing instead. But actually the space you're in is so important.

Oh yeah. Because your space will unlock creativity and productivity. So many of us spend time, valuable time, looking for things we already own but can never find. They say the average American spends like seven, six hours looking for stuff every year. That's just three days a year where you just walk in circles going, can you find my keys? Can you find my phone? Right? And you're getting mad when people don't want to help you look. That's my favorite. So that's the space pillar. And if you take a look around and you're like, you know what, this space doesn't represent who I'm becoming,

then you would start there. That might be where you start. And then I'll just do the last three really quickly so we can talk about other things. But the fourth one is faith. It's about believing in something greater. I never try to push my faith in particular on anyone. My big thing is that your faith should hopefully underscore for you that nothing in life is happening to you. It's happening for you. And so even in my experience, even with my son dying prematurely and losing everything, and just the many things that I've been through on this journey called life, I continue to see things as a lesson or a blessing. So because of that, I have been very resilient. And people say, oh my gosh, you're so strong. I don't think it's that I'm so strong,

but what I've learned is greatness requires you to expect resistance. And I believe I was called to be great, to do great things. And with that, there's always going to be opposition, right? People are not trolling folks who ain't doing nothing. They troll people who actually have something going on. That just is what it is. And I've come to embrace that. And my faith always reminds me to stay grounded in that. And so I don't look for time to practice my faith. I make time. So when the shutdown closed down churches, I was not bothered by that because I am the church. I have a prayer closet. I spend time there. I meditate every morning. I do these morning rituals, which comprise how I view my faith and it keeps me grounded. So it's funny, this big thing happened in my business last year with a mastermind. We got to the Airbnb and it was completely misrepresented. And one of the young ladies on my team, I was just very calm and I was like, okay, so here's what we're going to do. Because we have 14 women coming in the next day.

And they were like, why are you sitting here? Why are you not freaking out? And I'm like, freaking out for what? Right. There's no reason to freak out. It is what it is. And I have a choice. I choose peace at every step of the way when possible, I choose peace.

And so we're going to move through this with grace and ease. We just talked actually this week and she was like, the way that you handle things, it's like, how do you do this in real life? But it's because I practice faith regularly. I practice these things regularly. So I don't wait for a problem to come up. This has just become who I am. I love that. I practice faith regularly. I think that's such an amazing thing. And I can see I'm just taking so many notes when you're speaking, I can see so many growth areas for me to where I probably would get to the Airbnb and be like, Oh, shit. And so I totally get this. And I think it's such a good point. Yeah. And I have this episode when greatness requires you to expect resistance, where I just talk about coming up with your game plan is

because to act like life isn't going to happen is foolish. Life is coming. Accidents don't make appointments. People are evil. Like not all people, but you will run into some real characters. Like these things are coming. That's why we have car insurance, right? That's why you have flood insurance. That's why you have homeowner's insurance because life is freaking coming. And I feel my faith practice is my insurance. I dial into it and I don't have to figure out

what I believe in the midst of a crisis. I know what I believe. So that's what carries me through and keeps things that for many people might turn into a crisis, but I've chosen to see a lot of this stuff as mere inconvenience because I've already been through too much. It's like, I've been through a lot of things. This ain't going to rock the boat for me, honey. So that's the faith pillar. So if you feel shaky there or feel like you don't have a way to really navigate difficult times in life. And again, I started with fit saying that mental health piece is important. So that's also a strong component. So I'm not saying

that you can pray away anxiety or depression or any of those things. I don't want to make light of that, but I use them together. I use those things together to just help me move through life. And then there's work. I believe in living your life's purpose. I believe in doing work that is in alignment with who you were called to be, not who you want to pretend you are. And I think a lot of business owners and career people have the right idea, but in the wrong place. Sometimes we're just trying to force ourselves to be in a space that's maybe tolerant of us, but is not celebratory. And I remember when I was starting out in this space, Natalie, as a financial expert, I thought I had to look and sound like this picture. I actually got coaching around it back then. And they were like,

oh, your jewelry's too big. You need to wear power suits. Your shoes are too flashy. And I found myself conforming into this person I did not recognize. And at the time I was about 29 years old. And I remember by the time I took all of that advice, I had to look a smooth 62. I was 20. I was so crazy. I just did not look like myself. It didn't fit my personality either. I was cracking jokes, but looking like an old substitute teacher. It was just crazy. And I woke up one day and I posted on Facebook, if anybody is looking for a job or starting a new job, I would love to donate these suits. I gave away all the suits, all the kitten heels, all the little pearls, all the things that someone else might really like. And I was like, you know what? If I can't be myself, then this was not for me. If I can't rock my long braids to my butt and wear my staple necklaces

and wear my jazzy shoes or skinny jeans that are my thing now and a blazer, if I can't do that, then I'm not going to do it. And that was the first time when I stopped putting on this costume that other people thought I should have, that I even thought I should have, that I put myself in this box. When I let myself get out the box, my career took off. And that was the beginning of me understanding that I didn't have to do anything, again, to chase money. This was about purpose. This was about serving the people that I was called to serve in my unique way and knowing that they would find me and I will find them. And that was such a beautiful, just freaking, it was that, it was like an exhale, right?

Because when you're not being yourself and holding your breath, when are they going to find out that this is not who I really am in terms of personality and stuff. And that was also the beginning of me really, I think, finding wealth, redefining what it would look like for me was being in a space where I could be all of myself and have fun unashamed, unapologetically, and serve people in the process. I'm loving this. And you've just taken me back to being 16 and doing work experience. I think it was like an accounting firm or something. And the same, I was 16. I must have looked about 40 because the way you think you need to look. And it's so amazing now. I hadn't even realized it, but I just looked down

at what I was wearing and I don't feel like I need to take off my work clothes to put on my real clothes. And I think that alone is such an incredible moment. Who are you when you're showing up to work? Are you really your full self or are you this picture of what you think you should be to be seen as successful or taken seriously? Yeah. I'd rather make less money and be all of me than have to feel like, again, like I'm putting on a clown suit. And it actually worked in the exact opposite, right? When I stopped doing all that stuff, I started to stand out because there's no other Patrice Washington. You might be similar. We might talk about similar things, but you're not me. You don't have my life experience. I'm not you. And there's more than enough people. There's

billions of people on this earth that we can all serve. So we don't need to be a clone of anyone else. And even with the advice piece, I want to just say this too, because I was so committed to seeking wisdom, to seeking wise counsel, I did consult people and they did give me that advice. And it was very well-meaning advice. But at the end of the day, the other lesson that I've learned on this journey is that I have to still run all advice through my alignment filter. Just because you give me advice,

I don't blindly take it anymore. I still have to go back in that prayer closet and I pray about it and I think about it and I ask myself, is this me? Just because that advice worked for them or has worked for others, if it's not in alignment with who I am and what I'm being called to do, it's still not going to really work, which is why people can't take everyone else's formula and then be mad when they don't get the results.

You still have to run the formula, the advice up against what feels right for you. So true. Just be writing so many notes throughout this whole thing. And you've had so many quotes throughout this. And I just want to point out as well, when you are really going through your framework, for anyone listening, I think they're probably feeling the same way. There's something that you feel when you're listening to someone who's a real expert and who's living what they are teaching. And I think sometimes online, there's so much information, you don't know where to turn. And I love to turn to people who have frameworks, who have got experience. You've been

doing this for over a decade. And you're not just saying make money quick and do things this way. It's here's where I've been and here's how I've learned this. And then even so, even as you're sharing this, telling people and run it through your own filter, take question the advice you're getting, has that person got the experience and then still run it through your own filter. Perhaps what's meaningful to me might be different to you. And so that to me is just such a big takeaway. And I'm feeling really inspired to just totally hone in on my craft, which is something we haven't been talking about. But I think you're such a great example of someone that has really honed in on their craft and has got really good at it. So I just want to honor you

for that. Oh, thank you. I think first of all, I really appreciate you acknowledging that. Oh, thank you. I think, first of all, I really appreciate you acknowledging that. And I think that it's really coming from a space where you're not chasing money and you're doing things that are so much more in alignment and purposeful with who you are. It gives you the freedom to do fewer things a million times rather than do a million things a few times and be upset about the results. And that's what I see many people do is, Natalie, they're always launching something. They're always going to the next thing. They're always going from one job to the next. There's always this, I don't know, it's almost like a rush to feel a new high or experience a new high of some kind. Whereas I feel like I'm just getting started and I'm 10 years in

because I just wanna do fewer things a lot of times and bless a lot of people. So I reserve that energy. We talked about that before we started recording is like reserving that energy so that I could serve really well with my fewer things rather than being someone who has to do a million things. Because I've really also in this journey, because I have such an affinity for well-being and trying to just take good care of myself. It also comes with this spirit of contentment.

So I have to learn when enough is enough. There's not this sense of I must chase more, I must do more, I must make more, I must have more. If it's not peace and joy and fulfillment, I'm good. I'm going to manage my finances in a way that allow me to do what I want for how long I want with who I want, because to me, that's freedom. So true. And I think constantly chasing the shiny object, it just takes you off path and it's going to make the whole process even longer. But I think that definitely is a thing. And I know I've had it too, where it's like, what's the next shiny thing? What's the next thing I can create and work on versus how can I

hone in on what I've got and make it better? And I know when I made that switch for myself about two, three years ago, where I was like, I don't want any more products. I don't want to be creating new things. I want to really focus on what I've got. That was such a big shift for my business. And I actually thought it would go the opposite way. I was like, you know, I'm willing to sacrifice profit. I'm willing to do that. And it completely went the other way, which was really interesting to me. So we could dive in so much to finances, but I know you've got a new book coming out,

which I am so excited about. For anyone listening, all the links below are in the show notes. I really recommend grabbing a copy. Can you tell people a little bit about the book, where they can find it, and then also where they can find you on all your social platforms? Yes, well, I am so excited about this book. It really

was just birthed out of the success of the Redefining Wealth podcast. And while I talk a lot about financial psychology practices and mindset things, the book is going to take those concepts and make them practical because it's the daily habits and rituals and routines that help us shift our mindset. Many people are not talented enough to just boom, mindset switched. It's like you have to practice certain behaviors and see the results. And that ends up changing your belief about that thing. And so then it becomes a part of who you are, part of your DNA. And so Redefine Wealth for Yourself is about going through the

six pillars and each pillar just breaking down what are the everyday things that you can do to start to shift. Like we said, if you find yourself struggling, and I really wrote it to be more of a guide, so you could read it all the way through, But it also is like if you know you're struggling with the people pillar or the faith pillar, you can also go straight to those sections. So I'm super excited about it. You can find out more at patricewashington.com. We have a lot of pre-order goodies going on right now. And for me, for all things me, you can find me at patricewashington.com.

And my favorite place to play in social media is on Instagram. I'm at seekwisdom. No surprise there, right? Seekwisdompcw. It's my little daily reminder to always be seeking wisdom and to know that wisdom can be found anywhere. I learned from children. I learned from my elders.

I learned from my peers like you, Natalie. I'm always looking to learn and then running it through that filter to figure out what feels good for me. I love it. Thank you. And yeah, your podcast is redefining wealth as well. So everyone head over there and subscribe. Patrice, thank you so, so much for being on here. I've honestly taken more notes in this podcast than I think I ever have. So thank you so, so much. Oh my gosh. Thank you. And I just have to thank you publicly too, for just being just such a light and always so kind and always so giving. You're just a very kind soul. Like having actually met you in person. I know we didn't get a chance to do a lot of bonding, but I'm a watcher and I'm a feeler and I'm an energy person and you just have such a kind giving spirit. but I'm a watcher and I'm a feeler and I'm an energy person. And you just

have such a kind giving spirit. And I'm looking forward to just getting to know you more, but just thank you for your light and how you show up as well. If you loved this episode, please subscribe, download a few more, and please leave us a review. I really want to hear what you enjoyed, what your main takeaways were and I also want to know what you want to hear us talk about next. To say thanks for leaving us a review, we'll send you a copy of The Boss Babe 25. The Boss Babe 25 is the 25 essential resources you need for personal and professional growth. It covers everything from our favorite rituals, books and hacks. If you want a copy, just leave us a review, screenshot it, and send to podcast at bossbib.com.

We will then email you a copy ASAP. And since we love Instagram, you can go to the hashtag thebossbibpodcast and find our latest post and leave a question in the comments. We love reading through the comments and we'll make sure to answer it on our next podcast.