Welcome to The Rachel Kurzyp Show.

Let’s talk money!

I’m talking about financial security and freedom today because as a business coach, it’s what my clients come to me to create. Talking about money and clients in general has recently got a bad rap online and I understand why – it’s become an overused trope in the biz space.

BUT let’s be clear, the reason why everyone is talking about how to get more clients and money is because it’s ultimately what most of their community desire and I know this because it’s why my clients choose to work with me. And I’m guessing if you’re listening to this, you also desire financial security. 

So in this episode, I want to talk about why we need to remove the shame around speaking about money and share how you can talk about money in your business that supports you to gain your own financial security and how you can talk publicly about money from a place of service that supports your clients in the best way possible.

Because if we want to make a difference in this world, and I know that’s what many of us want to do, I believe women need to have access to more wealth and the first step in this direction has to be talking about money.

Growing up in a low-socio economic household, working as a Teller at one of the main banks in Australia and writing about financial literacy both personally and professionally has given me a unique perspective about money, income and wealth which I discuss in more detail in Episode 20. Go back and listen to this episode on money mindset too.

But before we dive in, I want to highlight I’m not a qualified therapist so what I’m sharing today is based on my own experience and what I’ve found has worked for me. 

I’m also not a qualified accountant so again what I’m sharing isn’t financial advice and I recommend seeking professional advice before making any financial decisions in your business.

So just over a week ago, I shared a post about making $40k in sales for the month of September. 

I legit sat and stared at the publish button for 30 minutes before I got up enough courage to share this post on my Instagram account. I was afraid to share my revenue because I didn’t want to come across braggy because I know many of my clients and community are struggling financially right now due to the pandemic and I didn’t want everyone to think my intention for sharing was to sell my success and therefore spots in my 1:1 coaching program.

There has been a huge pushback recently around business owners making wild monthly income and revenue claims as a way to establish credibility and expertise. Many people believe that we shouldn’t be sharing our income at all, while others believe it’s an important conversation to have when running a business.

I can see arguments for both sides. You don’t have to share your monthly income with your community if this doesn’t feel good to you or align with your values. And you should never feel pressured to share your revenue as a way of establishing your expertise. Context is everything which is why I always share the context or background behind my figures (more on this in a minute). 

But I do think sharing blanket statements like, “talking about your income is a gross sales tactic and you should never do it” can have a negative impact on women because this encourages us to be silent about our financial achievements and ashamed of our financial goals. For too long women have been denied their financial power and I’m personally on a mission to change this.

Which is why I decided to share my revenue figures publicly knowing that this may change people’s opinions of me. And I’m so glad I felt the fear and did it anyway because it started an amazing money conversation with my community. 

To be honest, I was actually blown away by the positive responses and was thanked by many for sharing my revenue with context. I really didn’t expect it, which is why I decided to survey my community to see if my money fears were warranted. Spoiler alert they weren’t! 

I asked my Instagram community if they thought business owners sharing their income was useful or braggy. 92% of participants said they found it useful while 8% said they thought it was braggy. 

And look, the sample size was small and I’m sure more people in my community may think it’s braggy but didn’t participate in the poll but the overwhelming response was that people wanted to see, share and talk about money.

Based on this, I then asked my community to share why they found it useful and why they found it braggy and there were some clear themes.

The majority of people said they found it useful because it showed them what was financially possible, made them feel good about what they had achieved themselves, inspired them to make financial goals too and provided a real life example of a financial goal in action – specifically a direct contrast to the wild claims being made by celebrity entrepreneurs. 

Over the last few years I’ve found it really useful for my peers and coaches to share their income with me for these reasons too. I still remember feeling like a failure in the first few years of my business because I was seeing all of these wild financial claims and as a result I believed I was doing terribly. 

It wasn’t until I spoke to a few peers that I realised I was doing great and that $30k revenue months were very rare in the small business space. These conversations completely changed my mindset and I started to celebrate my wins and make decisions from an abundance mindset instead of telling myself that I was a failure and that I can keep pushing.

The same people who said they found financial information useful also said that it could become braggy when it was used in a lazy or manipulative way like sharing how much money was made in a launch and then telling people the reason why their launches weren’t making them money is because of their mindset. 

And that sharing figures without context could have a negative effect, making them feel frustrated, like they were failing and that financial goals were unattainable. 

I understand this feeling well and not wanting others to feel the same has always been one of the biggest reasons why I have shied away from talking about money. 

But what I’ve learned after spending a long time looking at my own money mindset is that someone’s ability to make money or not make money is no indication of my own ability because everyone’s personal circumstances are different. 

So when someone share’s their income with me I’m able to be objective and see it as information that I can choose to use or not use to inform my own decisions. It’s also helped to understand and embrace my own business finances so that when people share their figures even without context I can interpret the information. For example understanding the difference between sales generated and cash in the bank. And revenue versus profit. 

What I loved most about having these 1:1 money conversations with my community is that even if a person was negatively triggered by conversations of income online, they all wanted business owners to keep sharing. 

Which confirms what I know to be true: As women, we need and want to be talking about money. And it’s accepted that if you’re in business, you can’t not talk about it.

We’re living in a capitalist and patriarchal world. We can’t change this. But what we can do is acquire wealth ethically through our businesses and use that power to support and advocate for the causes we care about.

Because most of us didn’t get into business with the ultimate goal to make money for money’s sake (and if you did, no judgement here). We started our businesses to make the world a better place and to do that we need a sustainable and profitable business. 

So I’d encourage you to work on your money mindset, to ask questions about what income may be possible for you, understand your finances and talk about money with your community in a way that feels supportive for both you and them.

Based on our conversations and what I’ve shared with you today, here are some supportive ways you can start talking about money, income and financial wealth.

As a client or community member

• Ask for context when people make money claims. Particularly if they are using them to sell a service or program. If they don’t feel true, they probably aren’t.
• Educate yourself as much as you can about money and seek professional advice and support
• Support your peers and community when they share their income. It’s bloody scary to have these types of conversations and having money in the hands of more women is worth celebrating.

As CEOs

• Talk about money openly and honestly with your clients and community where appropriate 
• Always include as much context has you can and share your intention e.g. this post is for education purposes 
• Check in with yourself and your intention before sharing – do you feel comfortable? Is there a better way to establish trust and credibility?

 

Was this money conversation helpful? Send me a DM on Instagram and let me know your thoughts.

Having honest conversations like this one, is one of the reasons why my clients choose to work with me. If you want support to create an ethical business, then I’d love to speak with you. 

I have a few 1:1 coaching spots left in 2021. Use this link to book a discovery call so we can chat through the ways I can support you to build a sustainable and profitable business.

Thanks so much for tuning into today’s episode.

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