Plutus Awards Podcast

In today's episode, Dr. Derricka Harwell shares how early success without the right systems and people in place can be costly. She tells what she learned, how she figured out what didn't work, and the successful decisions she made the second time around. https://plutusfoundation.org/2022/derricka-harwell-haste/

We can build courses and do webinars, but these actions don't guarantee success. Adrienne Taylor speaks with Michelle Jackson about the need to be authentic and vulnerable with our audiences and the importance of seeing people and not just sales. https://plutusfoundation.org/2022/adrienne-taylor-wells-purposelessness/ Adrienne-I’m the founder of Tailored Wealth Saver and our goal is to help Millennials live a life on their terms. I help people figure out their financial intentions while reaching your financial goals. Michelle-How did you get into this space? Adrienne-When I was in college I was a chemistry major. I transferred schools at the end of freshman year in 2009 during the Great Recession and was an interesting time to be in finances. Personal finance has always been pretty interesting to me. Michelle-How did you grow your brand and what your intention was behind the type of work you were looking to do? Adrienne-Every week I recorded on YouTube. I cringe at those videos now. Right before COVID started I moved to Houston and I noticed that Instagram Reels was starting to pick up. I started making Instagram posts and stayed consistent with that. I would do fun money reels. “How to fly first class without paying” went viral Michelle-How did you translate that traction into paying clients. We’ve heard the stories of folks unable to convert their followers to purchases. Adrienne-I actually had a failure like that. I launched the Wealth Saver Planner. A lot of people booked consultations with me (10 minute free consultations) out of the free consultations I may have converted 20% of those people who became clients (I didn’t have clear intentions behind it) when I launched the planner I actually didn’t have a lot of sales. What I realized was that the audience wanted to learn about flying first class, I didn’t have the intention to convert them into understanding the financial content (and the “why”) behind what you’re talking about. The importance of finances. I had to get a marketing team for the planner because it wasn’t selling. Michelle-Why do you think your audience didn’t understand what you were trying to do. How do you share what you’re doing without being disingenuous? Adrienne-I still struggle with this because I don’t like selling. I realized that everything we do we’re being sold to. One of the greatest things we can do is have authentic conversations. Sometimes we forget that people are people. Let people know that you actually care for them. When we first talked about intent I thought about compassion. Michelle-How did you know that your product was a product your audience wanted? There’s intention, purpose and service. Sometimes a content creator designs a product with purpose but it may need to be repositioned. Adrienne-The planners at first were a failure. I thought I would sell thousands of units of this planner. I laughed at myself. What I did was I realized that the planner could be used as a supplement and offered it to my clients. You can buy them separately but I focus on the planners being a supplement to what I’m working with clients on. Once I stop working with clients after 3 months they still have a tool to use for their goals. I was one of the winners of the Plutus Grant and because of that I was able to reposition the planner. Michelle-What are some tips that you would share with other content creators building out their brands in relation to intent. This is a BROAD question Adrienne-Be intentional about your purpose with your audience, be vulnerable. I had emergency surgery in May. Be vulnerable about some of the things you normally wouldn’t share. Your audience will connect with your authenticity. Also, do market research. Ask your audience-What do you want from me. Follow Adrienne Tailored Wealth Saver Podcast-The Wealth Saver Podcast

It is hard to know what areas to focus on when building your brand. One thing is clear, you can not do everything! Felicia Gopaul shares with Michelle Jackson how trying to do everything hurt her brand and what focuses allowed her business began to thrive. https://plutusfoundation.org/2022/felicia-gopaul-misalignment/ Felicia-It’s funny, we talked about how we make mistakes when building out our online brand. In the beginning I was everything. That was the biggest mistake I made and not taking the time to understand who I was online. Michelle-If someone was to ask you what your online brand is could you share how you began positioning yourself online? Felicia-I like to talk and to educate. I’m not ok with clients just taking what I say, I want to understand why we’re doing what we’re doing. I’ve always spoken, done workshops, etc. When I say I’m an economic catalyst because I’ll educate you so you understand exactly why you should do what you’re being educated to do. Michelle-We’re talking about the sins that content creators can make as they’re building out their brands. One of the things that I realized was that these sins don’t exist separate from each other. Could you share how inconsistency showed up in your brand and what you did to change that? Felicia-When I first got online I had a hard time articulating who I was. I would invest with various different mentors. I would invest with Facebook, etc. and was an early adopter and can’t articulate who you were and what you do so I wasn’t able to get the traction that I was hoping for with those investments. Michelle-The journey of trying different things isn’t that you’re inconsistent, you were testing things out. How did you recognize what worked for your audience? Felicia-I took time off to take care of my father for 7 years and when I returned I realized that what I was doing before wasn’t working. What I would say to other entrepreneurs is there is a common theme or thread throughout your business that you’re comfortable doing within your business. Michelle-Once you figured out that speaking was in alignment with your business how did you create products how did you build in consistency? Felicia-I had to find a company that was in alignment with what I was trying to do. Recently, though, I found a company to work with that is consistent with the type of education/resources that create a synergy with my customers as well. I had a focus on creative affective content Michelle-I want to know more. What’s a day in your life look like for you? How are you getting enough people to connect with who you are and your message? Felicia-I have a team. When I’m doing quarterly events with the company I’m partnered with I direct them to their events. I’m constantly talking to people about what I’m working on. Michelle-You’re doing ongoing messaging? Felicia-Not an affiliate though. It’s an ongoing education company. I look at what’s coming up and then invite folks to those upcoming events. I know in general up to a year in advance the different events that are coming up on an annual basis. I also take the months of July and December off. I build into my schedule these breaks. Michelle-What has the impact been scheduling those breaks? Sean DeSouza “The three month vacation” Podcast Felicia-I started with working 4 days a week. But, that’s not enough of a break. I realized that I needed a longer break and I’m married to a gentleman who gets 6 weeks off a year. If he gets six weeks off I need to take 6 weeks off too. I also didn’t want to work too much in December and want to play and relax at the end of the year. Michelle-What was the impact for your business (taking those breaks) Felicia-I was very worried when I first did it and I didn’t announce it-I just did it. I wasn’t going to ask permission to do this. I was unwilling to do that. In terms of the revenue it means that I have to get the revenue within 10 months versus 12 months....

When you are unclear and confused about the direction of your business, others will be too. Terri Huggins-Hart and Michelle Jackson discuss clarity and intentions in business and how ownership develops in a freelance career. Show notes: https://plutusfoundation.org/2022/terri-huggins-hart-vagueness/

Marcia Armstrong joins us to talk about the sin of inconsistency. Marcia shares how too many zero revenue months forced her to look at her business and the steps she took to turn things around in a little over 30 days. https://plutusfoundation.org/2022/marcia-armstrong-inconsistencty/

Fear and perfectionism are the constant enemies of a creator. Today, Michelle Jackson speaks with Amanda Page about how creators can overcome these obstacles and take risks in developing projects that may feel out of reach for them. For more information, visit the show notes at https://plutusfoundation.org/2022/amanda-page-perfectionism

For more information, visit the show notes at https://plutusfoundation.org/2022/rahkim-sabree-hubris Welcome to Series 6 of the Plutus Awards Podcast hosted by Michelle Jackson. Our community is filled with hundreds of stories from creators and entrepreneurs just like you. And through this show we share these stories of challenges and successes from bloggers to podcasters, from writers, speakers, and more. In this season we talk about a somewhat taboo topic — the deadly sins that personal finance (and other content creators) can make. We share lessons learned, how to avoid these mistakes, and the fact that we’re all human, putting our creative work out there into the world. This season’s conversation is about the inherent risks we’re taking in developing online brands, our own hubris, and the impact that how other people perceive us can make us or break our online brand. Today’s guest is Rahkim Sabree and in this episode we talk about hubris. Just because we built something doesn’t mean that our audience wants it. Learn the lessons learned from the mistake of building out a product without talking to your audience. We’ve all done it before and how Rahkim is avoiding making that mistake in the future. Rahkim Sabree – The Sin of Hubris: How to Use Insight From Your Audience Rahkim-I’m Rahkim Sabree, I’m an author, columnist, speaker and financial coach. Got into financial education about 10 years ago. I talk about financial empowerment, financial trauma and financial mindset. Michelle-How would you describe what your business is to other online entrepreneurs? Rahkim-It evolves part of me feels like I act like a consultant and stepping into an influencer role. My business model is definitely digital media. Michelle-This season of the Plutus Awards Podcast we’re talking about the 7 deadly sins that creators need to be aware of making in their businesses. We’re definitely talking about this with a lot of empathy. How did you even get into this space? Rahkim-I fell in by accident. A happy accident. I spent 10 years in the banking industry. And one of the things I realized was that there was a lot that I didn’t know about money. In my banking career I had to learn about the products in order to sell them. I realized what I wasn’t exposed to growing up. For example-the idea of homeownership. It didn’t occur to me that homeownership was available to me. I shared my knowledge with my friends and family because they also didn’t know. Michelle-What’s interesting around your brand and mission is that it’s positioned around firing your boss. Rahkim-The best decision I’ve ever made and the hardest decision I’ve ever made. I had to figure out how I was going to move forward and figuring out how I was going to survive. It’s been a liberating experience, but the biggest takeaway for me is that my mental health has improved significantly. The idea of “I fired my boss” is to take back your power. Michelle-What are some of the ways your building out your brand and components of your business? Rahkim-I like this question. When I first started I didn’t know what to do. A lot of the growth I’ve experienced is based on a combination of things. Being active on Twitter, reels, etc. But, what solidified my credibility was contributing to publications and being featured. People look at you as a thought leader. Michelle-You’re talking about building up your authority. What about building out how you’re making money? Let’s deep dive into the product’s conversation and the deadly sin related to product. Rahkim-Most of my money comes from solidifying that credibility. I do a lot of writing and the writing brings in income. I wouldn’t have gotten paid for my writing if I was writing for free first. I also do some social media management, get paid to speak and one-on-one financial coaching. Going into products I was approached by a coach to build out a course. I was like “oh, ok.” I’d never thought about creating a course and this should be...

Welcome to Series 6 of the Plutus Awards Podcast hosted by Michelle Jackson. Our community is filled with hundreds of stories from creators and entrepreneurs just like you. And through this show we share these stories of challenges and successes from bloggers to podcasters, from writers, speakers, and more. In this season we talk about a somewhat taboo topic — the deadly sins that personal finance (and other content creators) can make. We share lessons learned, how to avoid these mistakes, and the fact that we’re all human, putting our creative work out there into the world. This season’s conversation is about the inherent risks we’re taking in developing online brands, our own hubris, and the impact that how other people perceive us can make us or break our online brand. Plutus Awards Podcast - LaTisha Styles Headshot Today’s guest is LaTisha Styles. In this episode, we talk about the sin of pride. LaTisha shares how she bet on herself to never have to return to her 9-5 and then ended up working a 9-5. She shares why the second time around was different. For more information, visit the show notes at https://plutusfoundation.org/2022/latisha-styles-pride/

For more information, visit the show notes at https://plutusfoundation.org/2022/natasha-scott-omission

Welcome to season 2 of the Plutus Awards Podcast hosted by Michelle Jackson. Our community is filled with hundreds of stories from creators and entrepreneurs just like you. And through this show we share these stories of challenges and successes from bloggers to podcasters from writers, speakers and more. In this season we talk about a somewhat taboo topic-the deadly sins that personal finance (and other content creators) can make. We share lessons learned, how to avoid these mistakes and the fact that we’re all human putting our creative work out there into the world. This season’s conversation is about the inherent risks we’re taking in developing online brands, our own hubris and the impact that how other people perceive us can make us or break our online brand. In proposing this series I wanted to touch on our shared vulnerability and humanity. We’re not perfect and sometimes I’m frustrated by the narratives shared online that content creators never make mistakes. Because a lot of what we do is failing forward. The other part of the conversation related to the 7 deadly sins to avoid making in the content creation space as personal finance creatives is figuring what’s the fine line between making a mistake (and resolving it) or committing an actual sin with no understanding of why it’s a sin and no intention to resolve it. The goal with this season is not to shame anyone because of the mistakes that they’ve made, Instead, it’s to have authentic, empathetic conversations around what can go wrong when running an online brand, share how people address different situations so that you have ideas of what to do if you find yourself dealing with the same issue and try to answer the question “Are some mistakes unforgivable?” And what role does the greater personal finance space play in a creator’s redemption? I’m about to share some of the Deadly Sins and one that I committed as well Omission-Are there aspects about building an online brand and business that you could be more transparent about? In the next episode my guest Natasha and I talk about this at length. Reputation-This refers to how the greater community perceives you positively or negatively. Interestingly, you may be perceived negatively and still be a pretty influential content creator. Consistency-Life happens and sometimes you may end up disappearing for a moment. How consistent do you really have to be before hurting your brand? Money-There are so many different angles that we can talk about from the money angle. There’s an endless number of possibilities where actions around money can impact your brand. Products-Developing unique to you products is a great way to earn money. But, what if something goes wrong? People hate your product, you don’t deliver on the premise of the product or maybe YOU hate YOUR product. Lack of Connection-This one is tricky, lack of connection could relate to the greater personal finance community or how your circumstances change and how those changes impact how the community you serve views you. I’ve noticed this in 3 different situations:When personal finance content creators earn moreWhen their interests change and they fail to realize how this change impacts their communityWhen a personal finance content creator seems to be out of touch with what their community actually wants from them Pricing-Developing and creating products and services is a scary and exhilarating process. But the pricing process can go bad very quickly. How? By under or overcharging what you’re selling and how your clientele perceives your pricing. Intentions-Sometimes your community doesn’t understand what your intentions are and things can go badly pretty quickly if this type of miscommunication isn’t addressed fast. Michelle’s Mistake-Related to Money and Reputation This mistake happened several years ago and I’m still a little embarrassed by this even though the issue I’m about to discuss has been resolved for many years. When I...

In the first episode of this season I spoke with Harlan Landes, founder of the Plutus Awards, Plutus Foundation and Plutus Voices events. It’s a great conversation about the evolution of the Plutus ecosystem and what motivates Harlan to do the work that he does. The main question that the Plutus Foundation will be exploring this season is the tension that content creators in the personal finance space feel when deciding whether or not to monetize their brand. I absolutely felt this tension and nervousness at the time that I decided to monetize my brand partly because I had to ask myself if I was being inauthentic, greedy or disingenuous as a person in the personal finance space. I thought it would be interesting to share what I thought about, what I was afraid of and how and why I ultimately decided to say “yes” to making money as a personal content creator. For more information, visit the show notes at https://plutusfoundation.org/2022/monetizing-personal-finance-brand

Rachel Hernandez is known as The Mobile Home Gurl. Rachel talks about listening to what your audience tells you they want, leaning into your authority and how making mistakes helps content creators find the right products and services for their brand. Adventures in Mobile Homes

Patrina Dixon is the It’s My Money Lady. We talk about the impact that COVID had on her business and the unexpected opportunities for growth that occurred from pivots that she had to make during that time. We discussed why she loves affiliate marketing what it is and what isn’t and how her community guides her business decisions. Where to Find Patrina https://Itsmymoneyjournal.infoIt’s My Money with Patrina Dixon

Joseph Hogue is creator of the Let’s Talk Money YouTube Channel with over 500,000 subscribers. We talk about candidly wanting to earn money as an online creator, letting go of projects that aren’t serving you well and the important questions that multi-passionate content creators need to ask themselves in order for their projects to grow. Where to Find Joseph Let’s Talk Money-YouTube https://mystockmarketbasics.com

Angela and Regina are co-founders of Women’s Personal Finance, a massive community that is a safe space for women to talk about all aspects of how money shows up in women’s lives. We talk about monetizing a community like this one, the purpose it serves and being able to lean deeper into the brand mission through intentional monetization. Women’s Personal FinanceMeet the Women of the Personal Finance Community Post For more information, visit the show notes at https://plutusfoundation.org/2022/angela-regina-mission-driven-brand

Jillian Johnsrud is the author of Fire the Haters, a book that isn’t about the FIRE movement, but is all about creating content online and the challenges that may impact your brand. We talk about how different seasons of life influence her business, the pushback on content creators positioned in the FIRE space aren’t they allowed to make money too? And why Jillian has decided not to attend any events in 2022 “I didn’t write this for year 1 sales, I wrote it for year 5 sales” "I admit that I don’t have the capacity to host another event"

Today's guests are Julien and Kiersten Saunders of Rich and Regular. We talk about the importance of knowing how to talk to your audience vs. at your audience. How they decided on a monetization strategy that allowed them to stay out of the pockets of the community that they serve with their content and the goals that they have for their upcoming book. Julien and Kiersten Saunders introduce themselves “Rich and Regular” and their upcoming book “ Cashing Out: Win the Wealth Game By Walking Away” They share how they got into the personal finance space-they were content consumers and got excited about being involved They soon realized that a lot of people that they knew weren’t interested because they didn’t see themselves in the content. How to resonate with specific audiences became a driving question in the creation of their brand. I ask them to expand on what they do as content creators and I wonder why they decided to lean into video in the way that they did. What does it take to get their financial message to resonate with their audience? It had to stand out and be approached in a different way. Rethinking the design of their content and decided it had to be entertaining. Found a videographer that they paid and designed their content Why are so many personal finance content creators staying on the surface vs. digging deeper? Instructor vs. Connecting via story and role modeling The nuance of expression, questions, etc. communicate story better-but, might not be good for social media algorithms Creatives who don’t view themselves as creatives who are unclear about marketing Why vs. How to (do it) Why did personal finance content switch from story brands to SEO driven only? I ask “Is blogging dead?” No. Kiersten breaks down why this is a silly belief Were there concerns around your monetization strategy and the impact on your brand and community that you’re serving? They decided that they didn’t want to be a line item in their community’s budget. So, the Rich and Regular monetization strategy had to be approached in a different way. They focused on creating compelling content that attracts brands vs. monetizing directly from their community Brands reach out to Rich and Regular because it’s clear who they’re connecting with their content Recognizing the middle point in a business’s life cycle which needs different types of connection and content I ask Julien and Kiersten about what they invested in with their business specifically-editing their Money on the Table, etc. Julien points out that brands appreciate the level of investment that they’ve put into their personal content and that it will translate to the content that they would create for a brand. Be so unique you couldn’t unsee it In 2022 Julien and Kiersten are publishing “Cashing Out: Win the Wealth Game by Walking Away” We discuss their upcoming book and what does “winning” look like in a 9-5 career? I share a story about how people’s beliefs may influence their ability to accept the message that Julien and Kiersten are sharing with their book Kiersten makes the point that the majority of retires are retiring early based on data 97% of Black employees do not want to return to the office How did Julien and Kiersten decide that they should be the ones to write their book “Cashing Out Win the Wealth Game by Walking Away” Having thousands of conversations helped inform Julien and Kiersten on what content actually resonates with their community I ask about how they decided to be on the cover of their book? Because Black people on the cover of a book like this is so rare I share that I would have missed seeing them on their book as a fan If you want to sell your book take the actions that will get likely buyers to actually buy your book. What is considered success for the book? Readers reaching out or is it sales? Or, a combination of the two metrics. The Black Experience at work as a welcomed critique within business spaces What’s their next goal after publishing their...

Welcome to another episode of the Plutus Awards Podcast. Our community is filled with hundreds of stories from creators and entrepreneurs just like you. And through this show we share these stories of challenges and successes from bloggers to podcasters from writers, speakers and more. In today’s episode I share how and why I decided to monetize my personal finance brand. It wasn’t an easy decision and for those of you making the decision my monetization story will highlight the fears and concerns I had about the process leading with the following question that I needed to answer “Will monetizing my brand impact the authenticity, brand mission and purpose of my project and negatively impact the community that I serve with my content?” In the first episode of this season I spoke with Harlan Landes, founder of the Plutus Awards, Plutus Foundation and Plutus Voices events. It’s a great conversation about the evolution of the Plutus ecosystem and what motivates Harlan to do the work that he does. The main question that the Plutus Foundation will be exploring this season is the tension that content creators in the personal finance space feel when deciding whether or not to monetize their brand. I absolutely felt this tension and nervousness at the time that I decided to monetize my brand partly because I had to ask myself if I was being inauthentic, greedy or disingenuous as a person in the personal finance space. I thought it would be interesting to share what I thought about, what I was afraid of and how and why I ultimately decided to say “yes” to making money as a personal content creator. The Beginning I started blogging about money in 2012 and honestly, what I put out for the first couple of years was messy. I started with Blogger, a free blogging platform until eventually I decided that I liked blogging enough to tackle using Wordpress. I’ll never forget sitting in Eric Rosenberg’s apartment in Denver wanting to use his turntables on Christmas Eve and hanging out with his girlfriend who would become his wife as he transferred my website to Wordpress. Something that I couldn’t afford to pay for at the time. I wasn’t a prolific blogger, but I was passionate about the space, the community and the content that I was putting out there and my hope was that if I could help at least one person by sharing my story-I’d made a difference. 2012 soon became 2013, 2014, and then 2017 arrived. It was around that time that I was really having some deep private conversations with myself about the value of my time vs. what I was putting out. I still had debt that I was paying off, I had made the leap into self-employment and was navigating what I enjoyed doing as an entrepreneur and I was increasingly asking myself the following question “Does it make sense for someone in the personal finance space to say “no” to money…especially when they needed it? They… meaning me. And the other question that I literally spent years working through is how can I make money, still be authentic and still advocate for the financial changes and empowerment that I talked about on my platform. I didn’t want to make money with credit card sign ups, I loved affiliates but hadn’t yet found many affiliate programs that were a good fit and “lit me up” At the heart of the conflict that had over monetization was how to do it in such a way that I could still share what I believed without having the products or services that I partnered with negatively impact my brand? Finally I figured out how to monetize authentically while staying true to my brand. I became incredibly clear about the overall mission of my brand which is to empower Black and Brown communities while educating and partnering with allied communities to increase access to financial tools, products and opportunities that were previously inaccessible to these communities. This looked like sharing free content in the form of podcast episodes, leads for projects and sharing opportunities such as grants,...

Can your business succeed if making money isn’t its guiding factor? Perhaps in the most successful businesses, creating monetary value isn’t the primary objective -- or, at least, owners have another purpose in mind. In this episode, Sarah Li Cain has a candid conversation with J.D. Roth, founder of Get Rich Slowly. J.D. discusses the benefits of getting away from the idea that money is the primary goal in business, how to blend your business and personal life together and enjoy meaningful and successful work, and why he is not fond of search engine optimization (SEO). Episode highlights J.D. discusses different types of goals when making money is not top priority in your businessHow its ok for your purpose to change for your business and personal lifeJ.D. expresses the importance of creating meaningful workHow pivoting Get Rich Slowly from a blog to something meaningful to J.D. For more information, visit the show notes at https://plutusfoundation.org/2021/money-business-purpose

Success is not necessarily defined by how much money you make or how many subscribers you have. You can create your own vision of success, and your metrics may be unique to you. It helps to know what’s within your control and what’s beyond your control, and define your success accordingly. In this episode, Sarah Li Cain speaks with Candice Latham, brand business owner of Latham Agency. Candice shares what it means to own your own version of success, how she shifted and pursued her goals in her business and life, and how you can work backwards to capture the feeling of success in your business. Episode highlights Candice describes what success meant to her in the past How seeing other people’s success changed her definition of success How to deal with the competing versions of success How to pinpoint what habits you need to accomplish your goals About Candice Latham Candice Latham was born and raised in the inner city of Boston. She started using her skills from her nine-to-five ad agency job to start her own design business on the side which later became her full-time hustle. Candice documented my journey of paying off $47,000 of debt and investing, going from a negative net worth to a positive one. She believes that even if you grew up in an environment where you didn’t see opportunities & possibilities, you can still defy the odds, build wealth, and think differently for yourself and your family.