Who are you?
Michelle is a personal finance influencer who focuses on empowering Gen X and millennial women with a money making mindset. She’s the author of the upcoming book Unsexy: A Savage AF Money Story, and she runs her website Michelle Is Money Hungry. When she isn’t geeked out about money, she’s geeking out over her love for her state of Colorado. She is also a student of my Persuade To Profit program, and she has found her target market and built her platform accordingly.
Can you tell us about your debt to freedom journey?
Michelle is still currently on her debt to freedom journey. She began blogging about money in 2012 when her mom lost her job and couldn’t find another one right away. Michelle admits to having horrible money habits when she was still in college, and she says that she never really saved money or used credit cards wisely. When her mom lost her job, the two decided to move in together and fix their finances. When she realized she was fed up with living paycheck to paycheck and having a negative mindset about money, Michelle started reading personal finance blogs. In 2012, she decided to buy a ticket to FinCon, a financial bloggers conference.
How long have you been on your journey?
Michelle has been on her debt to freedom journey for five, almost six, years. After attending FinCon, Michelle started creating better habits and beliefs about money, and she decided that she also needed to make more money.
How has life been since you changed your mindset?
Michelle took a step back at the beginning of 2018 and analyzed everything she was doing in her business. She realized she wasn’t happy with the results she was receiving, and she knew and felt like she could do better. After realizing that she traveled a bit too much in 2017, along with having her personal life turned upside down for a while, Michelle decided to stay home and focus on growing her business.
What have you done to grow your business this year?
While taking my program Persuade to Profit, Michelle realized there was a major need in the networking market. So now, she is in the process of creating a program that helps women network to make more money. She even created an event in Denver to showcase the product.
How do you find the balance between building relationships and making money?
For Michelle, it all starts with the first meeting. She prefers to meet in a more casual and social setting vs. a business setting. She believes this helps people keep their guards down, which really allows them to come out of their shell and start the process of building a relationship. Many of her connections have been made on the dance floor, in meetup groups, and even hiking.
Michelle also makes sure that if she does attend a business event, it is aligned with her goals and visions. That way, she surrounds herself with people who already understand a bit of what she does, and she is less likely to have to explain herself over and over.
Michelle believes that in order to build relationships, you have to be aware that every time you walk out of your door, you are networking. It’s important to be present and aware of your surroundings.
How can someone build relationships and make money in the process?
Michelle understands that time is money. So not only has she built structure in her business, but she’s set up processes on how she operates. For example, she only has phone calls on Wednesday’s and Thursday’s, because she wants to stay on track with her work. She also changed her mindset to realize that it was okay to make money and not feel ashamed for it.
Michelle believes it’s important to set boundaries, know what you are willing to give away for free (or get paid for), and have the mindset that making money is a good thing.
What is one money tip that you can share with my listeners?
Michelle says her biggest money tip is to just start. She believes that today, whatever day you’re in, is the day to start managing your finances and getting them in order.
How do you make money your honey?
Michelle makes money her honey by spending less but living her life to the fullest. She takes advantage of the free or cheap activities in her city and doesn’t sacrifice on what she loves to do. She just finds a more frugal way to do it.
Where can listeners go to find out more about you?
Resources that are mentioned or add value to this episode: