The Ramsey Show - App - Focus on the Payoff, Not What You Have to Sacrifice (Hour 2)

Episode Date: June 19, 2020

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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studio, this is the Dave Ramsey Show, where America hangs out to have a conversation about your life and your money. Well, as you can tell, I am Chris Hogan. I am joined in studio with my co-host this hour is Ms. Christy Wright. Christy, you're typically so calm. I'm quiet. I'm going to need you to have some energy, please. I'm quiet and just, you know, you don't even notice I'm there sometimes.

So docile and silent. America, I'm joking. This young lady is full of fire and she's full of passion, loves helping people. And so I get an opportunity to do something. Christy, you have made a little bit of a shift here. I've known you over the last several years to be focused on helping women with business, helping them with their business plans, helping them start this thing and go from a hobby to a business, being intentional and focused. But now you've made a little bit of a shift and

you're helping women in more ways than just business. I want you to tell me and tell all the people what you're doing. Yeah, it's really cool. And, you know, you and I have shared the stage at Entree Leadership, so we teach business and leadership. We've done this for years together. And we're always telling people in business, for example, to listen to your market, respond to your market. What is your market saying? Hey, we need more of or less of, or can you solve this problem for me also?

And what's interesting, Hogan, is over the last, I don't know, two to three years, I've noticed a real pattern in my market, in the business boutique market. I would have women come up to me at events, women I see out, you know, in public and they listen to the podcast or they read the book or, or whatever, or they read the blog and they say, Oh, I love your, I love your podcast. I love your event. I love your book. It changed my life changed my life and I'm like oh great what's your business they say I don't have one I'm like oh okay well you got an idea you know you're working on like you're trying to get it started and they're like no I don't want to ever have a business I just you helped me in my life and I was like wow I said you helped me reach my goals you helped me build confidence to become a better

person you helped me improve my relationship Hogan this happened so often that it became that that was the majority of people i was were seeing and meeting out and i thought okay well let's let's look at this and respond to this not to just move over there because that's where they are and that's what they're saying but i also at the same time was feeling a stirring in my own spirit and feeling god leading me in this space of saying hey christy all this content and teaching that i've given you and life experiences and lessons you've learned from Ramsey Solutions and so on, you don't have to put it through the business filter. Most of this applies to your entire life. When we're talking about goals, that applies to your life.

When you're talking about fear, that applies to your life. When you're talking about money, that applies to relationships. They all bleed into other areas. And so it's been really fun to see how this company has come around me, our leadership team, Dave himself, you guys as the other Ramsey personalities have come around me and said, yeah, let's do this. Let's go after this new space. And so it's not so much a shift in terms of we're abandoning the business. It's just expanding. So instead of just helping women with business, I'm helping people with their life, with personal development goals. And so it's been really fun to see that. Okay. Since the expansion, what are you hearing from

your peeps? Oh, this is so fun. So I wonder if I can even pull it up on my phone and read you this example, but I've been getting messages on Instagram already and feedback from the market where they're saying things like, Hey, I love the new shift. I've been here. Let me read you one right here. She says, I love this new direction you've taken with your content. I'm nowhere close to being a business owner, and I have no desire to be. Somehow, I've been here following your account for years. That's cool. Another woman said, I've been following you for years and don't have a business, don't want one. I've just been applying it to my life, and now you're speaking to me even more directly.

So, man, talk about affirmation. That's really cool. So, all right. Now, what is your Instagram? How can people find you on there? What are you? Oh, sure. It's still at Christy B. Wright.

But the biggest shift that people will see is the Business Boutique Podcast, which has been a show on YouTube. It's been a show wherever you listen to podcasts, has shifted and become the Christy Wright Show. So, you'll find that in the same locations, but now we're not just talking about business. We're talking about all the different areas of your life. So, this, and it's gone weekly, which is fun. So every Tuesday at 8 a.m., we launch a new episode.

So every Tuesday at 8 a.m., your primary audience is who? It's mostly women, but we do have men that show up and say, hey, this applies to men for business or personal development. And I think now with this shift, we're more intentionally talking to busy individuals. People that are, you know, kind of like the, the entree leadership group where they're, they're self development junkies. They read the books, they want to be better. They want to reach their goals. Yes. Yeah. And we're going to help them do that. So, okay. So what are you talking about on your show? Give me an example. All right. So the biggest thing we're kicking it off with, and I would

love to hear your thoughts on this. So we can, we can talk about this for a minute as minute. As I've been processing, okay, what is key to making all these other aspects of your life possible? And the word that comes back again and again in my life, in my experience, in scripture and examples is confidence. Now let's talk about this because people, sometimes even Christians have this idea about confidence like it's negative. Confidence means you're self-centered, you're conce conceited that's not what i'm talking about at all i'm talking about a rooted firm foundation and knowing who you are and whose you are and so i walk them through something it's a

framework i call the core of confidence where i'm going to help you work on your life from the inside out not just working on the symptoms and putting a band-aid over the problems but starting at the at the at the center of you which i say is start with your spirit start with your faith then move to protecting your mind and your limiting beliefs and your thoughts then you move from there to appreciating your body a lot of women struggle with 91 of women don't like their body hogan and you can't not like your body this one home you have to live and think you're going to have 91 91 it's really hard to love others when you don't like yourself it's really hard to be others when you don't like yourself it's really hard to be confident relationships when you're feeling insecure in your body so we talk about that

and it's not a gene size i'm talking about appreciating this home that we live in on this earth and then from there you're working on spirit mind body and then your relationships as you build this confidence it pours into your relationships and from there your resources your time your money your energy and so really the show has been walking through that last week we talked about protecting pours into your relationships, and from there, your resources, your time, your money, your energy. And so really, the show has been walking through that. Last week, we talked about protecting your mind, and this coming week, on Tuesday, we will have an episode on appreciating your body.

And I've got to be honest, Hogan, when I watched the proof of it, I just teared up, because it's just such a, we're talking about really important topics that really, that are hard to talk about, but important to talk about. But necessary. Yeah, yeah, they are. No, that's fantastic. So I'm excited to hear that there's a safe haven for women to be able to reach out, to be empowered. It's funny you said, remember who you are and whose you are.

Yeah. Mama Hogan, for me, as I was a freshman in high school, cross-stitched some things for me. Okay. The first one was, if it is to be, it's up to me. And that was a cross-stitched some things for me. Okay. The first one was, if it is to be, it's up to me. And that was a cross-stitch. But the other one was, always remember who you are and whose you are. Those two items are in my closet today. Wow.

They've gone with me everywhere I go. Yeah. Because it does remind you that it does require sacrifice. You do have to be careful what you think about yourself. Yeah. And what you think is possible. Right. And so it's really important. you do have to be careful what you think about yourself and what you think is possible. And so it's really important.

So I am glad to hear, again, Christy Wright Show available, all the places that you go hear podcasts. She is primarily helping women, dudes. You can go in there, but you better act right because she's going to call you out. But an opportunity to be able to get connected. You can find her at Christy Wright on Facebook, at official Christy Wright on Facebook, at Christy Wright on YouTube, and at Christy B. Wright on Twitter and Instagram. I've known you've had this burning desire, and I've known even when you were doing Business Boutique, you were still focusing on the overall.

Right. And so I'm excited for you now to be able to unleash and to be able to be here full on, still helping ladies with business. This is an expansion of the brand. That's right. This is not a shift or a change. It's an expansion. Thank you.

And I'm excited for you. Thank you. And I'm excited to be on with you this hour. America, if you've got a question and it's about personal development, about life or about money, guess what? C&C are here. Chris and Christy, you better bring it because we will. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. hey folks father's day is just around the corner if you're looking for the perfect

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hello everyone you are listening to the dave ram Show. I'm Chris Hogan, and I'm joined in studio with my co-host, Christy Wright, and we're ready to take your calls. So if you've got a question about money or life, call us. The number to call is 888-825-5225. Again, that's 888-825-5225. And again, go ahead and put this as a contact in your phone, right, just so you got them. And you got all the social media thingies as well, so you can find us at Ramsey Show. You got the phone number. Hit the button.

It dials. Kelly will be there to talk to you. So we're going to go to the phone lines, and we got Kim on line two from Colorado. Kim, how are you? I'm doing fine, thanks. Well, good. How can Christy and I help you today? Well, my boyfriend and I, we're 50, and we have started doing the baby steps.

So we're on step two. And my 17-year-old son, who came down to visit for the summer, heard us talking about it and asked what we were doing because we were talking budget and stuff. And so we showed him some YouTube of the baby steps, and he saw where you were talking about if you invest now and only do it for X amount, you'll get this. And if you wait and do it here, you'll get this. And he turned to me and he said, I want to invest. That's awesome.

So I went to a SmartVest okay that was kyle good and he's getting that set up he my son makes 12 bucks an hour and he's going to put a hundred dollars a week while he works this summer in a Roth IRA that is absolutely fantastic. But my boyfriend and I don't know what else to do to encourage. He doesn't have any living expenses, so it's not like he has a budget or anything like that. What's the next step? He doesn't think

he wants to go to college, and if he does, he said he'd just live at home and pay for it and go to a community or a tech school. Where do we go from here? Well, I think the beautiful thing is he's starting out on the right foot. I would definitely encourage him to start with having an emergency fund. As you mentioned, he doesn't have a lot of expenses.

So his first hurdle would be getting to the $1,000. He doesn't have debt right now. And so the mindset around it, he doesn't have that obstacle to overcome. But what he does have is opportunities to do is save cash for vehicles, save cash for himself and have an emergency fund, pay cash for school as he goes to community college to knock out those prerequisites. And so he's building and preparing instead of having to clean up with debt. So he's still got a great opportunity in front of him. I've got a question, Kim.

How old did you say he was? He turned 17 on the 9th. Cool. Well, one of the things I would encourage, and this is just one of those things that it may just be for practice now, but you said he doesn't have any expenses, so he doesn't have to live on a budget. Living on a budget is actually a great practice, even if he doesn't have independent expenses. Because I'll tell you, Kim, one of the biggest mistakes I made when I got out of college was I never,

because I lived, my mom funded my lifestyle in high school and in college, I didn't know how to say no to myself on an entry-level salary. So I wonder if you, whatever those expenses are, whether it's, you know, if he has a car or even eating out with the friends, you give him something to pay for, something that he pays for on his own. Well, he does that. He pays for all of, when he goes to the movies, he pays for himself. So last summer he worked and he kept $100 in his checking account and the rest he put

in his savings account and he lived he put in his savings account. And he lived on that for nine months. Wow. And he started going through it really fast last year because his friends were like, oh, buy for me, buy for me. So finally he got to the point where he started making his own lunches to take them to school so that he wasn't paying for their lunches. Right. Because he couldn't say no. Yeah.

You've got a saver on your hands. And that's an awesome, awesome place to be. I think that he will have some expenses, you know, whether it's college or after college, just saving up for those transitions and getting used to living within his means. Sounds like it comes very naturally for him. But maybe, Kim, you help him with the boundaries, with the friends and that kind of thing. Because that's only going to magnify if he is on his own. And especially as you get older, those things get bigger. And you don't want to do that.

And so helping him with that. So that's fantastic. I love that you all have fostered this saving element in this young man. And he's intentional. Let's guide him. Help him to keep growing. Have him jump in. Listen to my show.

Even listen to Christy's show, because he's got an opportunity to learn about goals and dream in bigger for yourself than anything you ever thought previously possible. And that, to me, has been one of the biggest game-changing moments for me, is having people see potential in this little country boy that maybe I didn't see for myself. Thank you for the call. That's awesome, Kim. Thank you, Kim. All right, next up we've got Troy on the line.

Troy, how can we help you? First off, how's it going? I'm sorry, Kim. That's okay. You're fine, buddy. We are fantastic. How can Christy and I help you? So I just had a question.

I'm currently debt-free. I'm actually stationed in Japan right now. Oh. I'm going to be here for the next three years. I sat down and did a budget with how much I'm getting here. I have money going into the TSP, 5%, so that I can get that match. I've opened up an IRA and I'm putting in $500 a month there so that I can

hit that $6,000 limit. But with the rest of my monthly bills, I still have a little over $2,000 a month left and I already have a six-month emergency fund set up. I'm kind of just trying to figure out what should I do

next. Okay. Well, Troy, first and foremost, what branch of the military are you in? I'm in the Air Force. Well, brother, thank you very, very much for your service. That's amazing. Here's what I do. I like the fact that you're debt-free. Did you ever have debt, Troy?

Yes, sir. I had just student loan debt. How much student loan debt did you used to have? It was around $22,000. Okay. So you never had credit card debt or car loans? Nothing. Wow.

Okay. And how long did it take you to pay off your student loan debt? Well, I was actually just paying the minimum for a couple years, and then I kind of just got tired of it and just kind of bared down on it and took about maybe five months to pay off the last $7,000. Okay, I'm proud of you. You got serious about it. Well, I want you to remember that feeling of attacking debt because you realize it's not your friend. It's a frenemy, right? So you want to remain allergic to that.

What I would tell you is that I want to see you increase. You've got an emergency fund. You don't have debt that I want to see you increase. You've got an emergency fund. You don't have debt. I want to see you increase your investing up to 15%. So through the TSP, the Thrift Savings Plan, that's the federal employee's version of a 401K or a 403B, get that up to 15%. Then what I do is start to save elsewhere. You said you're there for three years. So at some point, you're going to be stationed somewhere else, or you may be out, but eventually you're going to look to buy a home. So having some

money put away, Christie is always going to be a good thing. Yeah, that's what I was going to say. Sometimes it's so hard to think that far in advance because three years sounds a long time from now, but in three years that let's say you save after your 15%, you save, you know, a thousand, $1,500 a month in a savings account, the amount of money that you can put down on a home when you get back to the United States or whatever the plans are for you, you're going to be in such a better position to do what you want to do then because you've got that pile of cash. So once you get your investing covered and taken care of, definitely just pile up that

cash and that's going to open up so many options or to buy a car or whatever you need. Yeah, Troy, you're going to have great options. Hey, Chris, let me show you how fast three years goes. Three years ago, how many kids did you have? Think about it. Process it real quick. How many did you have three years ago? One.

How many you got today? Three. And they are expensive. Welcome to Fast Math. Okay, three years does go fast. But I tell people this, and don't you steal this on your show. I will. Because you will.

You do. And that's why I'm glad I got all these people listening to the show. I this on your show i will because you will you do and that's why i'm glad i got all these people listening to the show as i tell you but here's what i tell people to do as you start to think forward i won't i encourage people to make what i call two-year decisions meaning i want to make a decision today that i'm going to look back on in two years and i'm glad i made it that's good good. You know what I mean? Yeah. And it causes us to rise out of our current situation a little bit, but to look forward into what could be and what you frankly feel should be. Yeah. And it allows us to kind of navigate and make some progress.

I love that. You know, it's really about anticipating the reward, anticipating that the happiness you're going to feel, the benefit in two years, not the sacrifice you have to make right now. So look at that. Look ahead. Like you're saying, in two years, what's the reward and payoff? Focus on that, not what you have to sacrifice today. Don't steal that.

Don't you do it. I'm going to borrow it. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. Business leaders now more than ever, we need people with the right skills to support our communities, especially the frontline workers who provide resources and care for those most in need. To help, LinkedIn is offering free job posts for health care and essential service organizations that need to quickly fill critical roles with the people who help us all. If you are hiring for one of these organizations, free job posts on LinkedIn can help you quickly find the right people for your front line. LinkedIn jobs can help by screening candidates for skills and experience you're looking for and putting your job post in front of qualified people who have what you're

looking for so you can find the right person to quickly fill critical roles to post a health care or essential service job for free or if you're in another industry and have hiring needs visit linkedin.com slash ramsey linkedin.com slash Ramsey. Terms and conditions apply. Hello, everyone. You are listening to The Dave Ramsey Show. I'm Chris Hogan, and co-hosting with me this hour is Ms. Christy Wright, who is on the ball if you're not plugged in and following her you can on facebook at official christy right also on youtube at christy right and twitter and instagram at christy b right so make sure you check that out plug in and follow we're having a blast taking your calls if you're out there and you've got a question call call us. The number to call is 888-825-5225. Again, that's 888-825-5225.

Or send us a question via social. You can do that to us at Ramsey Show or me at Chris Hogan 360 or Christy on Instagram or Twitter at Christy B. Wright. All right, we're going to the phone lines. We've got Elisa on the line. How can Christy and I help you, young lady? Hey, guys. I'm excited to pick your brain and get some solid advice here. I'm just coming off of, well, coming out of a divorce after a 30-year marriage. I just turned 50.

For the most part, I've been a stay-at-home mom. I'm working part-time right now. But after the divorce settlement, I paid off all my debt. So I'm debt-free now, paid off my car, student loan, everything, and I have about $30,000 left. And I feel like I need to purchase a home because, obviously, I need somewhere to live. And our rent in the area is comparable to the mortgage rates. So my question is, I'm weighing out these huge life decisions right now. One is buying a house and just working full time and living my life or using the money to go to school and put off buying a house.

My fear is that if I don't buy something now, I might not be able to in the future because of the area that we live in. We have this influx of people coming in. It's just really driving up the real estate. And so I just wanted to hear your advice on what you think is wisdom. Yeah. How many, do you have any children?

I do have four children, and they're all out of the house. My youngest is now 21. Okay. And so, yeah. Okay. And you said you're working full-time, or you want to? I'm working, currently I'm working part-time for my church, and so that would be if I purchase a home, I need to

go back full-time and focus in that direction or continue part-time and go to school and use that money for other things. What do you want to go to school for? Well, it would be almost like starting over because it's been so long, but my education in the medical field, I didn't quite finish my nursing degree. And so that would likely be the direction I would head. But I also, I just turned 50. So it's like, oh my gosh, you know, I don't have a ton of time left. I mean, yeah.

Wait a minute here. We're going to call you on that one. I'm going to throw the flag, Elisa. Wait a minute. You've got a whole lot of time left. Let me speak to this because I see Christy's brain over here ruminating. We're both. Yeah, we're both.

But I want you to hear me. You have to give yourself permission to be able to start cleaning. And in that, you've got a false fear about this home buying. Yeah, I agree. You're trying to force your way into doing it. You're like, the rent is comparable and blah, blah, blah. All right. But also, guess what?

Renting lets you have some time to save up to make a decision about where you want to be. You have raised children. You're now able to make decisions about what you want to do. And I can tell you, if you've raised those kids and been married that long, you're so used to thinking in a partnership that you're going to have to learn to think for you. See, you're who the ones that you have to call. You get to decide now. So I would tell you this. I think it would be smart for you to do a six-month lease, rent somewhere for six months, breathe.

I hear people call in on my show all the time, the Chris Hogan Show. Chris, the rates are low. I need to buy. Are you ready to buy? They're like, I don't know. Then you're not ready to buy. So we're not going to do it just because the rates are low. Can I just share with you that was actually my plan.

I'm in three months, three of a six-month lease because that was my plan. Okay. Good. I'm going to buy some time to think this through. Yeah. And so that's why now I'm like, okay, do I extend out another year lease or do I hop into this and, you know, yeah, it is very foreign. It is foreign.

I know. And I'm going to tell you right now, there's nothing wrong with you extending the lease another year for you to be able to feel confident about where you are and what you're doing. So I don't want you to rush and have that false expectation because of mortgage rates and all this other stuff. This is a time for you to think about what you want to do. And Christy, I know, obviously, on the emotional side here for Elisa, this is new territory yeah it is and i love that you hit on this of the idea of thinking for yourself because when you do anything whether it's a job or a role

as a mom or being in a marriage in your case all of these things you can have a bit of an identity crisis when you go through a life transition like this and you go okay who am i outside of my three grown children that i've taken care of who am i outside of this marriage who am I outside of my three grown children that I've taken care of? Who am I outside of this marriage? Who am I outside of this job or whatever the thing is? And I think that time is your friend right now. The first thing that jumped out to me when you were sharing your question, Elisa, is I'm scared that if I don't buy a home, I can't in the future. That's just not true.

That's just not true. Yeah, that's been the fear. And we don't want to ever, you know, advise anyone to, to make decisions based on fear. So I would say to extend it another six months, another year and give yourself time to really pray, journal, think, uh, you know, get, get your footing under you of who am I and what do I want in this next season? You might, at least you might find a job in another city that's not too far, still close to your kids or whatever, and you wouldn't be able to take that as easily if you go and

rush and buy a home and put down some roots just because you're frantically trying to grasp at straws and feel like this is the next right thing. Give yourself the space to breathe and give yourself all the options in the world. And then you can, just like we were were saying chris project out two years or three years and say okay what do i want my life to look like does it look like i'm working as a nurse that might direct my decisions does it look like i'm working full-time but living in a home here in this city that'll help you back out of that and decide what to do today but i think you need time and space to be able to do that not from a place of fear i agree and i i'm so glad that you

called in uh because you're dealing with very sensitive things that are very real. But I agree with Christy, giving yourself time. And you know what? You've known who you've been in all those roles. You get to decide moving forward. That's right. I've got a friend that's also walking through a tough divorce situation right now And I've told him, I said, you just got to embrace it It's uncomfortable, it's frustrating, it's irritating, all these things But you get good people around you being plugged in And I'm going to tell you, you start to see things Now, I'm different because I'm a Christian And so I've got my faith, and at least I think you are as well And so just breathe, young lady, breathe

This isn't a microwave, this is a crockpot This is your life, and you get to be the shot caller here And at least I think you are as well. And so just breathe, young lady. Breathe. This isn't a microwave. This is a crockpot. This is your life, and you get to be the shot caller here as you move forward. So don't rush. Take your time. Definitely want to encourage you to sit down and talk to people you trust. It's always good to get some guidance, you know.

And, you know, men are stubborn. They don't ask for help. We can tend to be very reluctant to reach out to ask for help. And, uh, it's, that's not, it's not a good thing. Isolation is dangerous. Yeah. It's interesting too, that I think when you have the, you know, a lot of people are scared of silence. I would be one of those people.

I don't like silence. I like to fill it. Um, and if we're just allow ourself to sit in silence, whether it's you pray, whether you journal, whether you, um, have coffee with friends that you trust, wise counsel, the Bible talks about wise counsel, then what's interesting is it will come to the surface. If you're a believer, you believe God will put it in your path to show you what you're supposed to do next.

You know, Chris, that's why I love helping people start with your spirit, because so often we run ahead and we think, well, God, you keep it up because I got things to do. It's like we can start there and say, hey, what do you want for me? If you're a believer or, you know, even if you're not a person of faith to say, hey, I'm just going to give myself the time to reflect on me and look ahead to the future and what do I want?

But you need silence. You need space to identify what that is. We can't identify that in rushing and fear. No, you really can't. And if you've spent so much of your time raising four kids and being a spouse, now you get a chance to put yourself first. That's right. That's going to feel weird. Yeah. You, you don't, you got to learn how to do that. That's like learning to walk again. So give yourself some time, give yourself some space. Uh, there are some great books out there.

I'd encourage you to dive into, uh, in the midst of this journey, but most importantly, don't do life alone. That's not the goal. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. let's talk about preventing the unexpected imagine your refrigerator goes out you can fix your major appliances yourself with parts and expert advice from my friends at Appliance Parts Pros. They carry over 2 million appliance parts and offer easy returns. And anyone can do the job themselves with 3,500 repair and how-to videos, plus live chat on their website. save money and get your parts today at appliancepartspros.com hello everyone this is the dave ramsey show i'm chris hogan joined in studio with my co-hosts christy wright and we are having a blast taking your

calls, diving in, talking about the things you want to talk about. So if you've got a question about life or money, guess what? We are right here ready for you. Okay. We're going to go to line four. We've got Sean on the line. Sean, how are you? Good. How are you guys doing? Oh, focused and not finished, my friend. What's your question? Very good. Well, first of all, my wife and I are on Baby Steps 4 and 5, and we just become really passionate about the Baby Steps and telling everybody we know and trying to help as many people as possible. So I want to try and do it as a side hustle.

So I'm saving up right now for the Financial Coach Master Training. But at the end of that what do you recommend sort of in terms of i have no gift for marketing so kind of is it more like word of mouth how do i get out there and start like telling people about this and helping people but also getting paid for it is it word of mouth or do they go knocking on doors or what do you recommend is the best way to okay so sean you you you and your wife are doing the baby steps what baby step are you all on right now four and five we're on four and five we kind of skip 3b we'll probably go back to that at the beginning of the year okay paid off 25 000 last

year in five months okay let's say you just found out in a complete transformation okay well hold on i was gonna swear to tell you let's say, you just found out that I'm your long lost cousin. Okay. And you've been living this stuff and it's made this change. So you just are meeting me and I'm asking you, Hey, what are you guys? How are, we paid off $25,000 and now we have $28,000 in savings. We're not saving for retirement. We're saving for our kids. College has been a huge transformation all in 15 months. So this stuff works and it's, you know, I want to show you how to do it. Hey, guess what you just did?

You just did it. You just, that's exactly how I would tell you. You don't need to do marketing. What you do need to do is testimonial, which is you telling people what you did that worked for you. And that's exactly what I would do as you're talking to strangers, cousins, family members. Anybody that'll listen. Anybody with some ears.

And so that's honest truth. Find moments to slip it in. That's right. Well, and here's the thing, Sean, and this is what Chris Hogan just hit on. So many people get caught up in this idea of sales. I don't want to be salesy. I don't want to be it in. That's right. Well, and here's the thing, Sean, and this is what Chris Hogan just hit on. So many people get caught up in this idea of sales. I don't want to be salesy. I don't want to be pushy. I don't want to be annoying.

I don't either. Hogan doesn't either. And we're great at sales. Here's what sales is. It's not being pushy, annoying, getting on people's nerves. It's sharing your heart and sharing your story. And that's just what you did. You share your story.

Share your why. Share your heart. Share your heart to help. Share your transformation. When you share your heart, which is so natural for you, you just did it. Then the sale naturally follows. People will naturally say, sign me up. How can I help? How do I follow this path? How can you help me? Sean, when it comes to the actual business piece of it, I will tell you, if you go through financial coach master training, they give you some teaching and training on how to set this up as a business.

But then from there, once you do what we've just been saying of sharing your heart, sharing your story, it can be as simple as an email to your family and friends. Say, hey, guys, I'm doing this. Here's my heart. Here's my story of how it helped me, and I want to help others. If you know of anyone that might benefit from this, please pass along my information. So you might just start with your personal contacts. But here's what's really cool, Sean.

Here's what's really cool about service-based businesses. Once you get one client, the second is easier. The third is easier than that. It gets easier with every client, and then you can activate your tribe, even if it's a very small tribe of five people, to be evangelists for you, where you then really activate referral marketing,

word-of-mouth marketing, which is what you alluded to initially. Because who do you want in your house doing your lawn, watching your kids, teaching someone piano? Someone you trust. So you hire people that you were referred by others. And that's what people do for financial coach training as well or for financial advising as well.

And so you can activate those customers to market for you once you get this thing going. But I think just sharing your heart will be a great kickstart. And you'll keep doing that the whole time. But it can just magnify once you activate that tribe. It will, Sean. And I'm going to tell you, you doing the Financial Coach Master Training, I actually teach that training all via video. It's a digital course online. But they will walk you through setting it up as a business, as Christy said, beginning to think differently about it, reaching out.

You want to serve people. And that's how you do it. And whether you're opening up to questions, if they have a question that they can reach out, they can have a conversation, you can sit down and do that. The big thing you're also going to learn is, again, how to appropriately charge for that business and treat it like a business. And so you've got a great opportunity. We've got people that will do it as a ministry. We've got people that do it as business. ministry we got people that do it as business get people to do it as both so i really want to encourage you uh think

about your business plan think about your process and i'll send in my book i'll send in my book stay on the line kelly will send you a business boutique book i know it says for women sean your wife can read it if the business principles apply don't feel weird it's it'll work either way well but there's your plan there's your plan you turn that thing into a business. She's like Santa. Ho, ho, ho. Here we go. She never gave me a book. So, Sean, she likes you.

Whatever. All right. Next up, we've got Martha on the line. Martha, how can Christy and I help you? Well, hey, I am so excited to be on the phone with you guys. This is just, Christy, you are my hero. Oh, you're so kind. We were at Dave Ramsey Solutions two weeks ago, but we missed everybody.

But here's my deal. So I am an accountant full-time, but I fell into a side hustle of making cookies for University of Wisconsin students. So the moms find me on Facebook. There's a UW parent page. They send me money, and I take cookies to their students Monday and Mondays and Fridays on UW campus. Well, that is real cute. But my thought, it's so much fun. I brought cookies that Friday, but you guys weren't there.

Oh, I'm sad we missed that. Okay. But anyway, my thought is, where do I go from here? I can't quit my full-time job. There's too many benefits. We all need health insurance, right? But I have so much business, and it's word of mouth now. I don't advertise at all.

I have so much business that I have to turn down business quite a bit. Now it's my off season because the students are gone for the summer. But in the fall, it's just crazy. It's crazy busy, especially around Christmas and the end of the semester, Valentine's Day, all those holidays. But how do I know when it's time busy especially around christmas and um end of the semester valentine's day all those holidays but how do i know when it's time to jump in i'm terrified i have you know state benefits i can't get rid of that yeah i'll give you i'll give you the quick answer on how to build it up on the side if you do want to do it full-time which we get this question all the time chris we get this all the time we don't want you to make a terrifying leap to your

side business and hope it's going to support you full time. I want you to build the side business up so much that it can support you. And then it's the next logical step. Now, it may not equal in personal income from the business what your salary take home pay is from your full time job, but it needs to be an amount you can live on. So maybe you make $60,000 right now, but you can live on $30,000. You need to build the business up to $30,000. So financially, the dollars need to be an amount you can live on. So maybe you make 60,000 right now, but you can live on 30. You need to build the business up to 30. So, so financially the dollars need to be there. We're not going to assume they're going to show up when you, when you go full time, then it's not a terrifying leap. It's the next logical step. But I will tell you one thing I want you to do right now in your business. Are you ready for it? It's going to be, it's going to be uncomfortable,

Martha. Okay. I want you to raise your prices. If you're so busy that you're turning down business, your prices are too low. And I don't even know what your prices are, but I know they're too low. Don't you, Hogan? They're too low. Yeah. So raise your prices. There you go. Okay. That's going to get you there even quicker. It is. And Martha, I'm going to tell you another idea is that you may look and is there a bakery? Is there somewhere around that you could partner with? And as far as helping in the offs somewhere around that you could partner with? And as far as helping in the offshoot of that business. Now, again, I'm not talking about necessarily a straight-on partnership, but to be able to help you in the busy times.

But you've got to think through it. Because I hear this giggle in your voice, Martha, that tells me that you're having fun. Yeah. Right? And that you're excited about it. And that's a good thing. You can get creative and do all kinds of stuff with that. On a campus, like, that could be really fun.

It really can. And you're right about the pricing. See, people typically have this scarcity mindset. So you don't want to raise a price because if you raise prices, I'm going to miss out on people. No, you're not. You know, there's a thing called a fair nickel and then there's an unfair dime. Right? You want to charge the fair nickel, not the unfair dime. But at the same time, you're in a business.

You are trying to make money. And so it's important to always be looking at that. And the best way for you to find out is to get an independent third-party decision, just an opinion. Well, for sure. But you also have to think about what your business is. See, I guarantee you, Martha thinks her business is cookies. Her business is not cookies.

As a mama, you're taking cookies to my baby in college. That's a whole different value. I would pay so much more for my babies to receive cookies in their dorm room. You got to think about what you're, the bigger picture of what you're doing. It's not just cookies from your local grocery store. It's the service. It's the experience. And you could, you could get, you could have a lot of fun with that, Martha. Well, listen, Martha, thank you so much for the call. Christy, thank you for taking the time to join me. This is so fun. This has been fun.

Listen, we want to thank all of you all for listening. I want to thank Kelly Daniel, our associate producer. Zach Bennett, producer filling in for James Childs. And I want to thank all of you for listening. This has been The Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, it's Kelly, associate producer and phone screener for The Dave Ramsey Show. This episode is over, but if you heard about an event, product, or service and didn't have a chance to write it down, don't worry. We list everything you've heard about during this episode in the podcast show notes

or head to DaveRamsey.com. Thanks for listening.