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I believe business owners are often underestimated when it comes to finances—sometimes it’s because we hold ourselves back from what we’re capable of achieving. In this episode, Luisa Alberto of People First Finance joins us to share how you can move towards achieving financial autonomy in your business. If you’re not paying attention to your finances or even pursuing the numbers you believe you’re capable of hitting, this episode is for you.
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Luisa Alberto is the CEO of People First Finance, a Virtual CFO agency that provides accounting, tax planning and financial strategy services to women agency owners and service providers.
She has almost 20 years years of Finance and Operations experience working alongside visionary leaders of successful startups, and earned her first entrepreneurial stripes as owner and operator of a boutique, made to order juice bar in San Francisco.
Her mission is to ease the financial burden and overwhelm that holds too many talented women business owners back from reaching their fullest potential, and making a successful living as the brilliant creators they were born to be.
Understanding Financial Autonomy
Luisa Alberto went through her own financial disasters, which led to her own exploration of finances and financial autonomy. This experience has helped her to better serve her clients through her agency, People First Finance.
Luisa believes it’s important for women to have their own experts who speak their language, understand the emotional side, honor their intuition when it comes to making financial decisions, and aren’t just sort of like cramming prescriptive financial principles down their throat, right? There’s more nuance to finance than that.
She wanted to personalize the experience so that her clients could truly understand their finances and reach financial autonomy.
Financial Autonomy as a Business
For many business owners, specifically agency owners, the goal is for you to be able to work where you shine brightest and to be able to hire or set up systems so you can scale. There isn’t a direct relation to the amount of work and the number of hours that you as a CEO are working anymore.
Financial autonomy is not just generating the revenue to support that infrastructure and growth, it’s also being able to learn about the levers that you can pull as a business owner. What about your taxes and tax strategy? Do you know what questions to ask?
Part of financial autonomy is knowing what questions to ask to those who handle your accounting. No one cares about your money as much as you do.
At People First Finance, Luisa and her team are equipping their clients with the knoweldge they need to build and set expectations for their business in order to achieve financial autonomy.
Steps to Achieving Financial Autonomy
Not all of us studied finances, so it can be hard and intimidating to explore financial autonomy. Here are a couple of steps to take if you’re ready to achieve it:
- Be willing to confront your beliefs on finances.
- Pay attention to your finances: revenue, expenses, and projections.
- Explore your current client experience to maintain your recurring revenue.
Decision Making in Finances
Within your business, you will be faced with financial decisions on expenses and investments. If you’re a five figure business wanting to grow to a six figure business, you have to consider what you’ll need later on when making these decisions.
Stretch yourself to think about that future business, what decisions need to be made, how those decisions look different, and really stretch yourself into that mode. This could be with projections and plans you have for your business based on your actual sales.
Money is a Tool
Luisa is a really strong advocate of understanding and listening to your intuition and letting that guide you. So in all of the financial advice that she gives, it’s gonna be different based on the client that they’re working with, because all of their clients have very different goals.
One similarity in them all is that money is a tool they can use to power their brands—more women need to think about it that way.
In a capitalistic society, money is a necessity that we need to cover the cost of living. When you stop looking at money as selfish, and realize that you need it and deserve to make the money that you want, you absolutely can.
Encouragement for Financial Autonomy
Let’s achieve true financial autonomy as business owners. To do so, you have to take a risk or a leap towards the vision you have for yourself and your business! Take action and that action needs to be aligned with the person we want to be with the business we want to build.
Catch the Show Notes
Get to Know Luisa (:46)
Understanding Financial Autonomy (5:50)
Financial Autonomy as a Business (8:45)
Steps to Financial Autonomy (17:54)
Money is a Tool (29:15)
People First Finance (39:43)
CONNECT WITH LUISA
facebook.com/peoplefirstfinance
instagram.com/peoplefirstfinance
linkedin.com/in/luisa-alberto-07a54b3
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Review the Transcript:
Bonnie:
Hi, friend, and welcome to the Brand Strategy Podcast, a show created to equip you with the inspiration, encouragement, and clarity you need to build a brand of your dreams. I’m your host, Bonnie Bakhtiari, brand designer, strategist, and founder of the Illume Retreat from sustainable Strategy to heartfelt Encouragement. Each episode is designed to equip you with the tools you need to chase after your dreams, because you deserve a brand that empowers you to do what you love, connects with your dream clients, and offers a deep sense of fulfillment along the way. So grab a cup of coffee and join me on this journey, won’t you,
Bonnie:
Friends, Welcome back to the Brand Strategy Podcast, where today we’re talking about achieving financial autonomy in your business with Luisa Alberto, I’m so excited to be able to introduce you to Luisa because she is the c e o of People First Finance, a virtual c f o agency that provides accounting, tax planning, and financial strategy services to women agency owners and service providers. So folks like you and me, her mission is to ease the financial burden and overwhelm that holds too many talented women business owners, back from reaching their fullest potential and making a successful living as the brilliant creators they were born to be. And today we’re talking about what it looks like to pursue and actually achieve financial autonomy in your business so that you can experience that kind of freedom as you pursue success on your own terms. So Luisa, thanks so much for joining me. I’m really excited to get to chat with you today.
Luisa:
Thank you so much for that wonderful introduction. Bonnie, I am stoked to have a conversation today about financial autonomy too.
Bonnie:
I know it’s gonna be so good. And honestly, you know, knowing just the power that having a good handle on our finances as business owners, as service providers, as entrepreneurs, that can be, you know, not only business changing, that can be life changing. And since this is your zone of genius and really where you shine, I’m excited to be able to have us conversation and, and honestly learn from you in this way today. So thanks again for, for making this happen.
Luisa:
Amazing. So excited to chat.
Bonnie:
Well, if you’re up for it, I’d love it if you could share a little bit more about who you are and this business that you’ve built where you’re able to help women agency owners and service providers in this incredible way.
Luisa:
Totally. So, like so many people, my journey was a windy road. It was not a straight line, which I think makes for a more interesting, you know, story mm-hmm. . So, um, my experience actually early on was in food and beverage. I had a brick and mortar business that actually ended in bankruptcy, so I learned a lot of financial lessons the very, very hard way, and also coincided with me becoming a mother. So they’re just all these things that women go through in life by virtue of being women that I think really holds us back from completely taking control of our financial autonomy or even be having access to the financial literacy or having the encouragement to even pursue learning about how to manage our money and finances better. And then you throw in, you know, there’s personal finance, but then you throw in business finance and how we don’t really learn about all that goes into managing that, and it’s just a recipe for disaster.
Luisa:
So I went through the disaster, I say this so that my clients don’t have to , um, and really just learned a lot that way. I was doing a lot of one-to-one work before the pandemic, so working with local business owners to help them get their finances, both personal and business, sort of, you know, all worked out. And, um, then the pandemic hit and I had to pivot to the online world, which is, I think for me it was a blessing and a curse because I really do love people and I love, you know, meeting with people in real life, but, you know, in the digital world and realm of things, it was easier to reach a lot more folks who were building these online businesses. Um, you know, these service providers in this space, there are more women than ever before building these businesses. It’s easier than ever before to build these businesses just with the technology and the software that we have access to.
Luisa:
So it was sort of this confluence of factors that led me to, um, launch an agency. So build a scalable model. I’m sure a lot of listeners can, um, relate to this. You sort of get to the point with one-to-one work where you’re like, this is awesome. I love serving my clients. I’m completely maxed out and I really wanna get to the next level. And so that’s essentially what happened in my case and was really the impetus for me thinking about, you know, how much hands-on support women entrepreneurs really need when it comes to finance, and how I could really, um, you know, meet that need for them and build out a team to support it.
Bonnie:
Hmm. I love that your journey has taken you through so many unique experiences that give you this insight, like this deep insight into what it’s like to not only reach, you know, these levels of, of success where you have an agency where you’re generating consistent revenue and consistent profit, but also you’ve had the experiences with your brick and mortar where that ended in bankruptcy. And so, you know, you, I believe that that probably gives you this level of like empathy and compassion when you’re dealing with clients who maybe their finances, their new client, and like things are kind of a mess and they’re feeling Yeah. Some shame and some insecurity. And you can show up in, in that conversation and be like, Hey, this is not something to beat yourself up over. This is something that you’re learning and you’re growing in, and that’s powerful.
Luisa:
Exactly. Well, and it starts there, right? Because if you don’t feel like you can ask questions, if you don’t feel like you’re working, working with somebody who hears you, you know, it’s really, really difficult to feel like you can make progress. And so a lot of clients come to us having worked with, you know, accountants or tax preparers who maybe their family has worked with for a long time, or their partner has worked with for a long time, and they don’t really have a personal relationship with the people who are helping them to manage their finances. And so they sort of feel like they’re on the outskirts almost. And so this is one big reason why, why that term financial autonomy is so important to me, because I really believe it’s important for women to have their own experts who speak their language, understand the emotional side, honor their intuition when it comes to making financial decisions, and aren’t just sort of like cramming prescriptive financial principles down their throat, right?
Luisa:
Like there’s, there’s more nuance to finance than that. And so for me, and as an entrepreneur and at, you know, someone who’s working with women entrepreneurs, that conversation is really important. And I always say like, when you come to us, ask me your stupidest question, like there’s probably some term or something that you’ve always just been like, you know, curious about, but never really felt like you can ask. We are the people who you can ask. And to see the relief on people’s faces when they ask like, like, what is a balance sheet? How do I read my balance sheet? I’m like, let me walk you through it. And just the relief in them knowing that they can understand their business that way is like, it’s why I do what I do, honestly, . Mm,
Bonnie:
Wow. I love that. And honestly, knowing that there’s, there’s a safe space where yeah, people can go and talk about money, talk about, you know, like all of the things that go into that, especially when so many of us, we have complicated relationships with money. We might have these, these really challenging, or in some cases even traumatic money stories and bringing those experiences into, you know, our businesses can be these unintentional roadblocks that we’re experiencing. I know that in my own journey, I had to, as, as I got really serious about scaling my business and, you know, growing things on the financial side, I had to really face a lot of the stories I was telling myself about money or a lot of the limiting beliefs that I had about my personal relationship with money or my ability to generate money. And that’s deep work. And so knowing that you and your team are there to support people in that way and, and kind of be that like really that really kind compassionate hand to guide them through parts of that, um, that to me just feels really expansive.
Luisa:
Yeah. Well, and we’re working with service providers and agency owners who wanna grow and growth. As we all know, if you’re an entrepreneur, you ha you just by virtue of being an entrepreneur, sort of have to go on this like personal growth journey, right? It’s just, it’s it, they go hand in hand. . Um, and, and to grow a business, you really do have to sort of stick your neck out, take more risk, hire team members maybe before you have the revenue to support those team members. Like, there are certain things that we must do if we want to grow and scale a business beyond just us. And it, that’s really hard. And like, exactly like you’re saying, Bonnie, it sort of like drudges up all of these feelings of fear and loss and uncertainty, and those are the things that keep us stuck. Those are the things that keep us scrolling on Instagram, looking for solutions outside of ourselves because we’re just so held almost captive by these fears and beliefs that maybe we’re not even consciously aware of.
Luisa:
And so I see that come up for folks a lot. This comes up in a lot of sales conversations, right? Because a lot of people aren’t used to investing in this side of their business. So it’s really sexy to invest in marketing. It’s really sexy to invest in a website rebrand. Um, it’s sexy to, to invest in things that, you know, are gonna help you bring in, generate more top line revenue. And it’s not as sexy to invest in systems and, you know, CRMs and ops and finance in, in your business. But really, if you are an entrepreneur who wants to scale again, beyond yourself, it’s necessary. Um, and so we have a lot of those conversations because the people that we’re working with are specifically wanting to grow. They see that there’s demand, that there’s potential for their brand, and they’re just like, I’m stepping into territory that I don’t know, that feels very uncertain and where I, where I can’t see the path forward. And that’s really where we’re able to commit and have those really insightful sort of trailblazing conversations with our clients.
Bonnie:
Mm-hmm. . Yeah, that makes, that makes sense. So in having these conversations with people and, you know, in the line of work that you do, what do you think financial autonomy looks like in a business?
Luisa:
Oof. Yeah. So I can speak from my personal experience, what I’m trying to do, build my business to achieve financial autonomy. So with an agency model, and, and I don’t know most of your listeners are, are building agency models, you, the goal is for you to be able to work where you shine brightest and to be able to hire, um, other people, other team members, implement systems that sort of handle the rest of the business to set a model and a framework that can scale, right? Where you can take on an exponential number of clients, um, and be able to serve them without it, meaning that there’s an equal increase in the amount of work or the amount of hours, right? There isn’t a direct relation to the amount of work and the number of hours that you as a C E O are working anymore, right?
Luisa:
Mm-hmm. . So for me, financial autonomy is not just generating the revenue to support that infrastructure and growth, it’s also being able to learn about the levers that you can pull as a business owner. So on the tax side, um, and just in a oh webinar about this, we’re, you know, sort of talking about things that people don’t usually talk about, but it’s really easy to obsess over revenue and think about sales and invest in, you know, different things that help you increase sales. But are you thinking about your tax strategy? And are you working with somebody who understands tax law and, and understands your goals, your personal vision for your life and your financial goals, and can make sure that the way that your business is, um, allocating and tracking that cash results in, you know, a lower tax bill so that you’re keeping more of that money to reinvest either in your business or in yourself for retirement or, you know, what have you.
Luisa:
Are you working with somebody who can help you do that? Do you know what questions to ask? So part of financial autonomy is knowing what questions to ask, having a baseline understanding of, you know, proper handling of business finances so that you can ask your accountant, oh, well what about this? Or, I’d like to do that because let me tell you, most accountants out there and tax strata, tax filers are not thinking about creative solutions for you to get more wealthy. Most of them are just checking boxes. And so I think it’s really important for us to recognize and own that we are the ones who care the most about our money. No expert you hire, no, nobody else who’s working in your business, same with your business, cares about your business as much as you do, right? Cares about your money as much as you do. And so I think we need to really take control and understand how that money’s being allocated and how we’re taking care of that money as stewards of that money in our business, um, in order to achieve true, true financial autonomy.
Bonnie:
Hmm. I love how there’s this, to me, when I hear that, I see all this possibility about how there’s this agency that we can take this kind of, um, almost this sense of control that we can have and how, like you said, we’re being thoughtful stewards of the resources that we have in our businesses so that we can then take that to generate more money or to hire the support that we need or to have more the impact that we wanna have. But we can’t really do that if we don’t understand what’s going on in, in really the finance side of things. And we can’t do that if we’re still believing that our finances are so, you know, so confusing or complicated or scary that we just ignore them altogether and kind of, you know, avoid them. Right?
Luisa:
Exactly. And that’s what people do. People really, a lot of clients who come to us have either trusted blindly other service providers to handle their accounting, their bookkeeping and their tax filing, and then they come to us and we’re asking all these questions and we’re expecting them to engage, um, and really get into the nitty gritty of what are the, these expenses for? And you’ve really gotta separate your accounts and all this stuff. And it’s like, because of the way that we do it, again, the name of my business is People First Finance. I will do it in a way that feels people first, that feels like we’re able to meet you where you are, because that’s really important, right? It’s not like, it’s not like there are, there’s this way that you’re supposed to be doing it, you’re not doing it that way. So you are doing it wrong.
Luisa:
That is absolutely not the right, that’s not the best perspective to take. That’s not helpful. And so for us, I think there is just this like path of illumination where we’re able to explain, okay, you elected as an S-corp, you’ve heard maybe different tidbits in social media or here and there about what that means, but here’s what it actually means. Here’s how you can leverage that to your advantage, regardless of whether you work with us as financial service providers forever, or you move on, you are then equipped with that knowledge to know what expectations to set for your cash and for future financial service providers for the entire, you know, lifetime of your business. If that’s, that’s true financial autonomy.
Bonnie:
Mm-hmm. , I totally agree. And what I’m hearing there is, you know, there’s some steps that we can start to take, you know, first is, or, or one at least, is that commitment to, um, opening yourself up to learn about this to maybe, you know, be bad at something for that first little bit. You know, I say bad, like in air quotes, like, you’re not, you’re not bad with money, you’re not bad at handling your money, , it’s just new to you. You most of us, we didn’t, you know, go to school to get a degrees in accounting or tax strategy or any of these things. So we are relatively new at this and we’re having to learn as we go. So it’s unrealistic that we expect ourselves to operate as experts in this part of our businesses where we have no formal training, at least most of us.
Bonnie:
So, like what I’m, what I’m saying is I’m hearing that there are a lot of steps that we can start to take on that path to achieving financial autonomy. You know, one might be, uh, giving ourselves the freedom and the permission to experience a little bit of that, you know, maybe a little bit of that initial discomfort while we’re getting into this and committing to showing up in these areas, in these parts of our business with the support of someone like you. Or maybe, you know, we are allowing ourselves to really look at all the different aspects of the financial side of our business, not just the bookkeeping, but also the tax planning, the, the projections that we can be, you know, experiencing. But I wanna hear from you, since obviously this is, this is literally what you do, what are some steps that people can take just really get started on that journey towards reaching that autonomy?
Luisa:
Yeah, I love it. So I think the first most important thing is, is yes, absolutely sort of being willing as a business owner who wants to grow, being willing, willing to confront these, you know, maybe they’re their dark corners or you know, their beliefs that you’ve held, and just being open-minded there and open to focusing more on your vision and the life you want to lead, and less on sort of the baggage that you’re, you might be bringing into your business. So I definitely think that that’s a really important sort of foundational principle. But the other thing is literally just paying attention. So whether, even if you just start on a monthly basis, I say weekly is best, if this is something that you wanna start to prioritize in your life, just literally each week opening your accounts where you have money coming in and money going out and reviewing those accounts, right?
Luisa:
Just like literally opening it up and getting, starting to get a sense of a feeling for the cadence of how cash flows through your business. Um, yes, on the sales side, but more so on the expense side. So understanding what those costs look like, um, and just starting to sort of get familiar with them is step number one. Cause a lot of people, you know, again, to your point, sort of ignore or, you know, don’t pay attention to that piece. They’re just like, as long as I can bring money in the door, I’ll be fine. Mm-hmm. . And that is absolutely a limiting belief because you are gonna be spinning your wheels trying to bring more revenue, get more clients, do more on the sales side, and where our future, you know, outlook really needs to be, is on the resources and investments it will take to support the amount of revenue that you wanna bring into the business. And I think a lot of times we just sort of like, check our bank accounts, make sure there’s enough money, okay, I’m not in a negative. Okay, let me check the credit card. Okay, we’re good there. Like, I can do this thing. And it’s just such a shortsighted way to look at things. But as long as you’re looking at things, you get a, you know, gold star in my book, because that’s really a big first hurdle to overcome for so many people.
Bonnie:
Oh, I completely relate to that. Honestly, when I first started my business, and you know, I’ve, I’ve been been in this for 10 years. When I first started, I was like, uh, I was in my early twenties, I was like still learning so much about life, not just business. And I was doing it all at once. And I honestly like just had my head kind of buried in the sand when it came to my finances in those early years, I was just like, exactly what you were saying, oh, there’s money in the account, cool, I can invest in this. But where I was not seeing the full picture there is I wasn’t fully understanding the recurring nature of some expenses or the cyclical nature of some of my expenses in my business. So yes, technically there’s the, there’s the money in the bank for me to make that investment, but if I have this big recurring expense coming up, you know, next quarter or something like that, I need to be aware of that and I need to plan accordingly so I can like completely relate to that.
Bonnie:
And, you know, honestly, creating that kind of pattern, basically setting up that rhythm for myself where I was starting to kind of like date my money, like date my bank account and show up once a week and be like, Hey, what’s going on in here? What’s going in, what’s going out? And, and making it like a fun thing, not a scary thing, not an intimidating thing. It’s literally just me checking in and saying, Hey, what’s going on? What’s coming up? What trends are we seeing? What, what’s making us happy? What’s not working for us? You know, that kind of thing. And that has become, that’s actually something that I still like to check in on with my business on, you know, just my, my like finances on a weekly basis because I like to understand now at this point, it’s like, oh, me and my money, we’re friends, we’re pals. Like, I wanna know what’s happening. But that’s something that, that was a change that I had to create for myself. And, um, I can personally attest that, uh, you know, life is a lot better when you know what’s going on in your business bank accounts.
Luisa:
It’s so true. And again, it’s like we, we are, I believe very deeply that we are sort of these bright shining powerful lights. And when we start out as entrepreneurs, we have this like, dreamy idea of what it’s gonna be like, right? And then we get into it and, you know, it’s hard in a lot of ways. There are lots of highs, lots of lows. And if we don’t stay true or very, very closely connected to that vision of why we started and kind of life we wanted to lead, it’s really, really difficult to keep going. And I think that’s a big reason why a lot of business owners eventually decide to move on. You know, why, you know, in when times are really hard, if you don’t stay connected to that vision, you, you find yourself starting to like look for, look at job postings and think like, wouldn’t it just be easier if I can go back and collect a paycheck?
Luisa:
Um, you know, things like recession get thrown around and we just, you know, it’s just constant whiplash. But I think that as long as you stay really close to that vision, um, you can get through anything. And so projecting cash forward, which is something that we do with our clients, I’m actually doing a behind the scenes of how I do cashflow planning, projecting forward and allowing yourself to sort of dream and, and, and look at what your revenue could be over the next 12 month period. Um, and then, you know, really see from revenue draw down into, okay, if that’s my revenue, what are my expenses going to be? What other investments do I need to make and myself and my team and my systems and processes to ensure that, that I’m still providing the best service to my clients? Because I think this is another thing we forget when we’re obsessed about revenue and thinking about sales is it’s like, well, you have clients that you’re already serving, so you know, are you, are you doing the best you can by them as well?
Luisa:
And how are you factoring that, you know, recurring revenue into your future projections, um, you know, in addition to new money that you’re gonna generate. Um, and again, really just projecting forward month over month, and then thinking about what’s the team that I need to support this new revenue. If I get, you know, 20 more clients in the next week, what in my business will break? And how can I invest now to make sure that nothing breaks, to make sure that our systems are sound and strong? And so I think without a visual representation of that, it could all start to feel a little like pie in the sky, ambiguous. And so I really love, like cashflow projections have saved my life and help me grow my business in so many ways over the past handful of years. I can’t even tell you . And it’s a skill you have to learn. You know, it’s not one that you’re just bored with understanding how to run a cash flow projection
Bonnie:
, right? Yeah. Well, um, you know, knowing, having access to that cash flow projection for your business and knowing what that looks like, that to me sounds like power. Because you know, okay, this is what I can realistically create. This is what I may be on track to experience. And so then that allows you to make decisions that support that vision and keep you on that track. Right?
Luisa:
Exactly. And so, again, working with, you know, growth-minded individuals and people who wanna really grow their agencies or grow their businesses, again, beyond themselves, that will always require investing. That will always require you acting like the person who runs that, you know, seven figure business. Because if you’re making decisions from where you currently are running a six figure business, let’s say, then you’re gonna stay running a six figure business because those are the kinds of decisions that you’re making. And so you really need to stretch yourself to think about what a million, if this is your goal, what a million dollar business, what decisions need to be made, how those decisions look different, and really stretch yourself into that mode. And I, I, again, I think it’s really hard, like we can say that, right? We can talk about that all day. And I don’t think that’s a new concept.
Luisa:
I mean, this is, you know, if you’re in auto, uh, you know, personal development journey, if you have worked with different coaches, I mean, you hear this, right? You’re like, but what does that actually mean, ? And so I, this is where I think that that tools, like, again, like I’m saying, cashflow projection is literally a spreadsheet with all of the bumps at the top. Um, you know, what your projected revenue or sales are gonna be, and then a list of your expenses. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s a visual tangible document that you can start to play with where you literally can move money around like it’s monopoly money. And I think that’s fun, , like, I love doing castex, you know, and so for some people it can, it can be a little scary or you’re like, I don’t know how many sales I’m gonna make next year, right?
Luisa:
Um, and so we really start with like, what has your business been doing? We start with your actual, so we literally pull a profit loss report and look at your actuals, and you can always start there. What is happening right now in my business? What have the last six or 12 months of my business actually looked like? What have my sales been, what have my expenses been? And that’s your starting point. You don’t have to start from, you know, the, the great abyss you can start with what you’ve already got going on in your world.
Bonnie:
That makes so much sense. And I think that, you know, that helps to create this kind of starting point that, that, you know, we can get started with like today, tomorrow. Like, you don’t, obviously, I I encourage people to seek out the support that they need in the areas of their business where they need it. So if you’re tuning in today and you’re listening to all of the wisdom that Luisa is sharing, and you’re thinking like, wow, I need , I need some people first finance in my life, definitely, definitely connect with her, you know, learn more about working with her and, and if that would support you do that. But there’s also that incredible power and potential that you, if you are showing up in your business as that six figure multi, six figure, seven figure business owner that you want to be, you can get started with this today. And Luisa, you’re sharing so many incredible steps that we can take right now to make this journey more intentional.
Luisa:
Totally. And I also think what’s really important in a game changer is getting really clear on your vision. You know, because the decisions, like I just said, you know, it’s not everybody’s goal to build a, you know, million dollar, multi-million dollar agency, right? Not everybody wants to build out this huge team and scale that way, but the decisions that you make, if that’s your goal, are very different from the decisions you make. If you’re like, I just bought a very small team. I wanna be out the day-to-day client work and like just do design or just, you know, do business development. So I think it’s all, all it’s as important to know where you wanna go, and that is specific to you. There is no right or wrong answer that involves getting really quiet with yourself and really thinking and listening hard to what your intuition is telling you you want.
Luisa:
Um, and so I’m also a really strong advocate of understanding and listening to that and letting that guide you. So in all of the financial advice that we give, it’s gonna be different based on the client that we’re working with, because all of our clients have very different goals. They have different family setups, some wanna buy property, some wanna escape off the grid, right? So I, I think that that’s a variable that a lot of financial experts don’t take into account. And I think this is why, why, you know, I have a background in coaching, um, and just I, I have my, I actually majored in philosophy in school, so I love, um, you know, philosophizing about life and that sort of thing. And I think that, you know, finance and money is just a tool. It’s a resource. It’s a tool. And I think that more women need to be able to think about it that way. Um, and that’s a very, you know, new call to action for us, I believe. And I think we just really need to own it, honestly.
Bonnie:
Well, I completely agree. And knowing that that kind of definition of success, that vision is gonna be so unique to every single person, and it’s, it’s, you know, not this like one size fits all kind of like final destination that all service providers and agency owners should be pursuing. It’s, it’s absolutely going to look unique. So the point there with identifying what that vision looks like is to help us not only have that clarity, but also to be making thoughtful decisions that propel us towards that definition of success. And financial autonomy really is a piece of that puzzle that empowers us to, to realize, uh, and really bring that to life. Right?
Luisa:
Totally. And you know, I’ll say part of my personal story is, you know, I had this brick and mortar business and, um, I was pregnant with my daughter, and I have lived in the same San Francisco apartment for many years. And during this time of turbulence in my first business, the people who owned the building were, gave me a warning that they made need me to leave my unit. So here I was, my brick and mortar business was not in a good place. I was pregnant, and I may be kicked out of my home. I live in San Francisco, so like affordable housing options are not plentiful. And I just had this moment of realization. I was like, if I had money, this would not stress me out If I had money, if I knew that I could generate the money that I needed to like, you know, find another apartment or, you know, purchase a house, or if I had that resource available to me, or if I knew how to generate it in this moment, none of this would be stressful.
Luisa:
The only the thing that was stressing me out the most was just not, not having access to that resource. And it was a moment for me where I was like, oh my gosh, like, I really need to learn how to like, make money on a dime. Like if I need it, I can generate it. Um, and I know you and I are in, uh, a, a, you know, club, a membership program where that’s really, you know, a big part of the philosophy there is being able to generate cash when you need it. And I think that that’s a really important skillset for all women to be able to master. And so, you know, all of this, again, leading back to the importance of, of financial autonomy, and, you know, if you’ve ever had a moment in your life where you were in a relationship or a housing situation or a predicament because of your lack of access to financial resources like this will resonate with you really strongly. And so it’s a big reason why I think that mastering very foundational concepts, understanding what your vision is, seeking support, and having conversations about money with people who make you feel good and don’t make you feel, um, ashamed or less than. It’s, it’s an important part of our lives, um, not just in business, but for us to be able to live the lives that we truly deserve to live
Bonnie:
1000%. I mean, and I love that you said that because you know, the, the reality for those of us living in the US is that we live in a capitalistic society, and money is an integral part of that system. We need that. It’s literally the currency that we use to be able to access the goods and the services that we need to survive. Not even, you know, we’re not even talking about luxury things. We’re just talking about like the bare , the bare basics
Luisa:
Yes.
Bonnie:
Of housing and food and, you know, medical care and all the things that we need to live our lives. And so what I think is so powerful about what you just shared is that it helps to, it starts to lay the foundation for that shift where we stop looking at money as something that’s selfish or it’s nice to have, but you don’t really need it. And we start looking at the reality, which is we need money to exist in this society, and we absolutely deserve to have all the money that we need, that we want to live the quality of life that we want. And what I think is, is so cool about that as business owners, as agency owners, as service providers, as that, like the sky is literally the limit. Like, you can use all the ideas that you have access to in your brilliant, beautiful brains to create new products, new services, new offerings, new ways of serving your clients, your customers, and you can leverage that to generate revenue literally whenever you want to or need to.
Luisa:
Oh, yes. I mean, just that’s like, amen, so, so beautiful. And it’s the time that we’re in. And I think like the pandemic just really, you know, so many business owners who had real world experience and then just leveraged their skillset into, you know, becoming service providers for, to achieve that level of financial autonomy. Like we had a a just a surge of that during the pandemic, and now we’re sort of seeing, you know, the people who are, who are sticking with it, who are, you know, and, and to stick with it, you’ve really gotta level up into this place where you have a grip on how you’re allocating your money, how you’re leveraging your money, how you’re leveraging lines of credit. Um, a lot of people now, you know, re re recession speak and that sort of thing, we’re seeing, you know, purchasing behaviors shift a little bit.
Luisa:
I don’t know if you, you felt this in your business, but, you know, in the conversations that I’m having, we just feel a little bit of a shift in the way that people are making their buying decisions and what they’re, you know, buying these days. And, you know, so when your cash flush, another financial principle is really making sure that you have access to lines of credit to get you through, um, times when maybe you have a dip in cash. And, and really leveraging, again, these other parts of sustainable business that have, I feel like fallen out, fallen by the wayside because we’ve been in this like looking for more sexy content about sales and marketing and that sort of thing. It’s like, well, there’s this other practical side to business that when you’re ready to really level up and ready for the next stage, you ha you must pay attention to or you’ll not survive just because, you know, you get that first huge, you know, bill to pay to the i r s, for example, and it totally sideswipes you.
Luisa:
And that can be a real deterrent for many people who are like, oh my gosh, well, that means that if I make more money, I’m gonna have to pay more in taxes. So subconsciously you don’t make more money, you keep yourself limited because that’s your belief when it’s actually not true. When, if you had, you know, a better grip on these, you know, sort of next level strategies and levers that you can pull in your business, um, from that financial place, there’s really a lot you can do and a lot of benefits for business owners in the us. Again, we’re a capitalist society, as you said. So, you know, business owners get special treatment, you better understand what that means. Where’s the special treatment? I want some of that, right? Mm-hmm. . Um, and so there is this learning curve, um, you know, that we all have to go through, but like, you know, it’s inevitable. It’s, it’s essentially inevitable .
Bonnie:
Mm, yeah. Well, knowing that, you know, this is a part of, you know, we, you’ve been mentioning a lot, you know, that kind of like growth mindset of, you know, the, the people that you work with and the people that we’ve been kind of talking about today are the people who are wanting to consistently grow. And an integral part of that is generating more revenue. And you’re right. Like we get so focused on what it takes to, to, you know, increased sales, but on, on the backend, how, you know, it’s not just like, how are you generating more sales? It’s how are you prepping for taxes? And how are you prepping for unexpected expenses? How are you, you know, creating, creating these assets, these savings that you can access when you need? And exactly like you said, are you utilizing credit that you could have access to in order to, you know, create more options for yourself?
Bonnie:
And I think that, and I can just speak from a personal experience, there are definitely seasons in my business where, you know, this conversation, if I were listening to this conversation, I would just be tuning out because I’d be like, I don’t understand how to, how to utilize those options to my advantage. I don’t get it. And it feels, it feels scary, it feels intimidating. I don’t, I don’t know. But that’s the power. And this is one of the cool things about, you know, gosh, the internet, like being able to connect with people who are familiar with these tools, who understand how to access these options and can break it down like you do in a way where it doesn’t feel scary and it doesn’t feel intimidating. Like right now we live in an age where we have access to so much information, and so literally there’s no reason why we should be feeling in the dark or confused or unsure of how to utilize some of these tools and systems to our advantage. And that’s another thing why I just think it’s so great that you focus on such a holistic approach with your clients. It’s not just, you know, it’s not just bookkeeping. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but there’s, there’s so much more that creates a healthy picture of a business’s financial state.
Luisa:
Yes. And I’m so glad you brought that up actually, Bonnie, because why we are different is, I am not an accountant. I tried to go down the c p a route and I was like, I feel like I’m in a dark tiny tunnel with blinders on. Like, I feel, you know, I’m just more expansive than that, or I have other interests outside of that. And so while my brain really understands sort of that piece of the equation, and I really enjoyed doing that work, I realize that in leveraging my experience working with startups and early stage businesses as they scale in operations, in finance, being an entrepreneur myself, running various different types of businesses over the past decade, that I can offer a business owner’s perspective and getting the, and in the mindset, I’m, I’m already in the mindset of, of a business owner. Obviously the people I serve are agency owners just like me.
Luisa:
So I have a unique vantage point where I can again, sort of understand where people are coming from, what hangups they have, and really lead them through the process of getting their financial world in order. Again, not from the lens of an accountant who’s just looking at the numbers, but from this more holistic place where we bring in all of the fears and anxiety and life changes. I’ve had clients who are, who have had things come up in their life and they ask, can we hold on services? Can we, I mean, life happens, right? So I am, again, people first finance, we wanna p put people first and people are who run businesses, people are who hire other people. The people are behind all of it. So it’s really important that we take care of ourselves, our clients as we’re looking at their financial world in this holistic way. And I think that traditionally, you know, people have thought they, it’s an either or, either I’m looking at my finances and have to make decisions based on the numbers, so I can’t do what I want, or I’m taking care of myself like, or I’m doing what I want, or I’m, you know. So I feel like with our approach, you don’t really have to choose between one or the other. It really is a human approach to looking at finance, thinking about business, and understanding what goals and priorities you have in your life
Bonnie:
So much Yes. To that. It doesn’t have to be either or, it gets to be both. It gets to be holistic and expansive and data driven, but that doesn’t mean it can’t still be fun and freedom inducing. Right?
Luisa:
Exactly. Exactly. And I think with, you know, I don’t, I haven’t heard too many people use the term financial autonomy, but it really resonates with me. I’m a really independent person. You know, if you’re an entrepreneur, this probably resonates with you. You, you have this, you know, independence, this leadership, this unique idea of what you want your life to look like and wanna build a business ar you know, that supports that. Um, and again, and we get in the weeds and it’s really difficult for us to connect to that vision. And I think that true financial autonomy is making sure you have, you’ve made the right investments, you’ve made the right business decisions to put yourself in a position where you’re, you have a healthy business that can make money for you instead of you trying to make money for your business. Um, and those are, those are, you know, that’s a different way of thinking about it, but I think that’s our end game, uh, when we get into this lifestyle.
Bonnie:
Yeah, absolutely. Knowing that you specialize in that people first approach and that you honor the fact that at the core of these businesses we’ve built, there are humans, like actual humans that are running these businesses. What kinda final advice or encouragement would you wanna share to the actual wonderful humans who are tuning in today that are ready to take that action towards pursuing financial autonomy?
Luisa:
I would say you’ve gotta take a risk, a leap towards the vision you have for yourself and your business. Like you’ve gotta today, right? Not tomorrow, not, you know, 1st of November, not Q1 2023. As you’re doing your planning today, you can literally book that consultation, you know, with a financial advisor. I mean, there’s so many different financial experts in the industry, but everything from going to YouTube and looking up a term that you didn’t know before, going to, I really love Investipedia, um, is great for understanding different terminology related to like retirement plans. If you’re like, there’s so many retirement plans, I don’t get it. There are resources out there where you can really start to educate yourself today in this moment. Don’t, do not wait, um, or book that consult call or really, you know, my bookkeeper isn’t really doing what I want them to do. I have so many questions, then I have to talk to my accountant and tax preparer, book a call with me. I will talk you through, you know, whatever resources you need and help you get a better understanding of of, of, you know, the right financial service for you at your stage of business. Like, we’ve gotta take action and that action needs to be aligned with the person we wanna be with, the business we wanna build. And we need to start taking that action yesterday. So today’s fine.
Bonnie:
. I love that. Well, where can folks find you? So, you know, as they like, want to connect with you, learn more about working with you, or just follow along with your journey online?
Luisa:
Totally. So I am still the Instagram person. I’m not a TikTok person. I haven’t quite crossed that line, um, , but on Instagram, you can find me at People First Finance.
Bonnie:
Amazing. And where can people connect with you to learn more about your services? Is Instagram the best place?
Luisa:
Instagram’s great, or Our website is, um, people first finance.com. So that’s another way to, um, sort of get a sense of our services and our philosophies.
Bonnie:
Amazing, amazing. Well, Luisa, thank you so much for really sharing your expertise with us today and for taking this concept that can feel, you know, to some intimidating or confusing or complex and putting it into a, a frame that we can, a lens really that, that so many of us can relate to and understand. Um, I’m just so grateful that we got to have this conversation.
Luisa:
Thank you so much for having me, Bonnie. This was a blast,
Bonnie:
. It was absolutely my pleasure. And for those who’ve been tuning in today, as always, you can head to brand strategy podcast.com and click on the latest episode link to find, uh, you know, a full recap of like today’s biggest talking points, all of the resources that Luisa shared, um, all of the links of where you can connect with her. And there is also a full transcript if there’s a conversation or an exchange that really resonated with you, you can find that there in the show notes as well. And as always, I’m super grateful for you being a part of this community, for you tuning in, and I’m hopeful that you’re walking away from today’s conversation with Elisa with a lot of ideas about how you’re going to start taking your business’ financial wellness into your own hands and taking action so that financial autonomy is something that you can create for yourself with the support that will serve you best. So as always, friend, I’m cheering you on from Waco.
Bonnie:
Thank you so much for joining me today. Friend, before you go, I would be so grateful to receive your feedback on the Brand Strategy podcast. If you enjoyed this episode or the podcast in general has helped you grow your brand, I’d really appreciate it if you left us a review in iTunes. Your positive reviews enable the brand strategy podcast to continue to grow and reach like-minded creatives just like you. Thank you for all your support and encouragement as together we pursue building brands with purpose and intention. Until next time, I’m cheering you on from Waco.
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