A famous rapper once said, “mo’ money, mo’ problems.” But girl, when you have NO MONEY you’ve got even more shit to deal with. I started my first company at twenty-one years old; a decade ago. For the first six years, I made no dollar amount worth mentioning. I had the highest belief in my abilities and I knew that one day I’d experience a breakthrough, but when? At the time, the most challenging problem I had was deciding where to focus my attention. I kept hearing top leaders say I should spend time on revenue-generating activities but still didn’t fully understand what that list looked like for me and to what degree. I worked in the corporate world and received a consistent check but when you’re early on in your entrepreneurship journey without a sense of direction, for me, it was such a struggle to manage.
Girl, I used to be dead-ass broke. And ain’t nothing cute about it. I still remember the day I checked my bank account balance and saw $2.09. My early 20s – a hotmess.com.
But I quickly learned that if you don’t make it a priority to understand money, you will always be a slave to it. The average millennial woman from 16 to 34 makes roughly $35,000 per year, and that number is lower for black and Latina women. But what’s so interesting about the world today is that even though a corporate job determines your salary, YOU can still determine your total income. That simple shift in my mindset has helped me make power plays that drastically improved my business.
My mentor Shannon Boodram (since ’09) and Shameless Maya released a YouTube video a few years ago that I still reference today. I really want you to take in. During a slumber party with Amy Pham and their featured Guy Next Door, Khleo Thomas – they brought up some interesting questions that I believe every woman should ask herself.
Didn’t you LOVE the clip? It totally looks like fun. So I’m also going to join the conversation and answer these same questions (and a few additional ones). Girl, you need to keep it all the way real with yourself. I’ll go first. Let’s get it! Name: Pauleanna Reid, 32 My Career: Journalist, Celebrity Ghostwriter, Public Speaker Revenue Streams:
- Speaking/Hosting Engagements
- Celebrity Ghostwriting
- Freelance Journalism
- Consulting
- Mentoring
- Brand partnerships
Annual Income range: (Gross, 2019) $260,000. I’ll surpass that this year for sure though. Hashtag growth. Living situation: Still living at home and will be until I get married. Period. Are you currently in debt? Proud to say that I am debt-free (for now, lmaoooooo!). Read about how I accomplished this here. Education: School of hard knocks. I dropped out of college in my 2nd year. Student Loans: Thankfully, no.
How much do you spend a month “going out”? Little to none. I typically don’t go out to just “chill” but will spend on my friends when necessary for birthdays and milestones. Other than that, I spend money on client dinners and gifts.
Do you have a savings account? Yes.
Do you invest your money? I just started learning about this strategy.
Do you invest in an accountant or financial planner? Yes. I have both. I also have a bookkeeper. Do you have good credit? I just checked on CreditKarma. I’m part of the 700 club. List one money book you love: If you check my Instagram, I post a new book each Sunday. Follow the hashtag #thereidinglist Name another #GirlBoss who is also transparent about her money: My friends Courtney L. Sanders, Brittany McKinnon, and Jereshia Hawk. Speaking of transparency. Here are some specific ways I have grown my income to this point.
I have a personal board of advisors No one is self-made. At some point in our lives, we have to stand on the shoulders of giants. My giants are mentors, my parents, my pastor, and my staff; the people I work with every day. I currently manage a crew of 20 freelancers. We move like ninjas; swift and silent. I don’t know everything, that’s why I surround myself with people who are smarter than me. But what I do know for sure is that you don’t have to go through it alone. To see a goal through to the end, it requires accountability partners; people who have your back and are in a position to advise you on the path of your next step. You and I are alike. We are big dreamers, doers, believers, and achievers, but we also recognize that there is power in partnership. Support, whether emotional or mental will level up your game.
Spend time studying your ideal client and the problem you’re solving During a phone call with a friend the other night, I asked her, “Who does your service cater to and what problem do you solve in their lives?” She replied, “everyone.” – Girlfriend, that’s impossible because the needs vary between a teen, millennial and woman in her late 40’s. My point is that you cannot help someone you don’t actually understand and perhaps your service/product isn’t moving because the pool is too big. Even the term ‘millennials’ is quite broad and although it’s the target for one of my companies, I’ve gone a step further to implement audience segmentation. It’s the process of dividing a large audience into smaller groups of people in order to increase marketing results.
Create an elevator pitch and actually practice it You cannot afford to go on without one. In the Fall of 2017, In the Fall of 2017, I met with a colleague inside a building lobby to catch up for a few moments. His friend (another millennial founder) walked by and in less than a split second, we made eye contact and shook hands. He then asked me, “Hi. My name is XXX. What do you do?” Now, this is where most people freeze up. If you cannot explain who you are, what you do and how you help your audience in a few sentences, that’s a problem. Shannon has a great take on elevator pitches when you have to answer the dreaded question “What do you do for a living?”
Here’s your opportunity to work on yours. My introduction definitely didn’t happen overnight I tweaked it numerous times over the last few years so if the opportunity that I’d been praying for fell into my lap, I knew I’d be ready. That 5-min encounter resulted in a contract that earned me $20-30,000. I was hired on the spot. Easily, he was one of my highest paying clients at the time.
Master your sales pitch (or hire someone who is brilliant at it) Selling requires time and investment. You gotta put your heart into it. If you aren’t excited why the hell would anyone else be? The client will always feel your self-doubt. You have to believe in the product, service, industry, and community to win at this game. Another reason people do not sell is product competency, meaning you have leaks in your delivery and presentation. Conducting research that communicates to the customer that you’re an expert is critical. You cannot wing sales. It is guaranteed to work if you know your shit. I could sell you a napkin and make you believe it will change your entire life. Study your industry inside out and be ready for any follow up questions. A key lesson I learned is people don’t buy services/products, they buy the transformation they expect as a result of using your service/product.
Under-promise. Over-deliver By far the most brilliant customer service talk is given by Joey Coleman on his 100k approach. I won’t even spoil it for you. I want you to take a moment to watch for yourself. The secret to customer longevity is in the first 100 days. Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook Gary Vaynerchuck wrote an entire book on this concept. He says…
“Your story needs to move people’s spirits and build their goodwill, so that when you finally do ask them to buy from you, they feel like you’ve given them so much it would be almost rude to refuse.”
Marie Forleo often says, generosity is the best business strategy and I agree with her. I know you need money to pay bills, but at the same damn time, you need an engaged audience in order to earn it. The reason I do well financially is that I overdeliver on giving my tribe free resources and industry insight. Whether through my newsletter, blog content, vlog series, podcast, social media, thank you notes, conference calls, meet & greets, book giveaways, and more – it all matters. Once the consumer builds an emotional connection, they will be loyal to you for a lifetime. Stop pushing the service or product and start pushing your story. Build your brand by telling the truth.
Stay within your zone of genius Most people don’t stick to anything long enough to master it. I excel at mentoring, consulting, writing and public speaking. You know me as a multi-faceted entrepreneur today, but over the course of ten years, I focused on one skill at a time. If you take on too much at once, you will only have the capacity to give 20-30% of your energy to each task. You’ll feel stretched and overwhelmed. There’s nothing wrong with taking your time. Do not let the internet rush you. While it took me ten years to figure this shit out, most people don’t even make it to ten weeks or ten months before getting impatient and running out of steam. In fact, watch this video clip on patience. Those who are able to consistently practice it, win. Just because you don’t see results right away doesn’t mean you should switch careers or quit abruptly. You either have to put in more work and or adjust your strategy. But focus on the path that has the least resistance and tap into activities that make you lose track of time.
Maintain a global perspective I had a conversation today with my girl Erikan, a former LinkedIn executive. We had a deep discussion about global leaders and activating our capacity to learn to identify opportunities across borders. The other night I had a conversation with my mentee, who earns a living in four different currencies. Social media, particularly, platforms such as LinkedIn make it easy to connect with people across the world. Honestly, it’s easy math and a simple chess move that has changed the way I play my game. Erikan and I are always perplexed when people limit themselves. Think bigger.
Raise your prices (and don’t feel bad about it) I remember the first time I quoted a client $50,000 and I also remember nearly talking myself out of it. That tiny voice of self-doubt will ruin your life if you let it. Don’t allow negative thoughts to convince you that you don’t deserve all the coins you’ve worked so hard for. One thing I realized is that people with money are comfortable talking openly about it. So I started practicing saying big numbers on my own (acting a fool in the mirror and shit – totally inspired by my girl Issa Rae) and soon enough the discomfort felt normal. Here are 3 cool articles/videos that give you the confidence to change your price model. How to Say No to People Who Want to Pick Your Brain No, You Can’t Pick My Brain, It costs Too Much Never Accept Pickle Juice
Spend time with wealthy people Steve Harvey once said, if you have 9 broke friends, you’re likely to become the 10th one and that has stayed with me ever since. The reality is, you are the sum of the closest people you spend time with and if you’d like to enter a new tax bracket then I recommend entering spaces where those types of people hang out and let their energy rub off on you. Ask purposeful questions, pay attention to the amount of focus and detail they put into every task, learn their habits and most importantly find out who their money team is. If you cannot connect anyone personally, there’s always the Internet. I study two CEOs monthly. I’ll read every article, watch every talk, follow them closely on social media – I don’t miss a beat. Some Senior leaders who have caught my attention include Jeff Weiner (CEO at LinkedIn), Melanie Whelan (former CEO at Soul Cycle) and Indra Nooyi (Former Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo). Right now Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks is heavy on rotation. Actually, he co-signs my advice when he stated in a recent Masterclass that, “You’ve gotta be the best student in the world. Study every single company that is directly or indirectly related to your product or industry. Create a personal guidebook of those companies – everything they have done, what has succeeded, what has failed, what their resources are.” Another habit that is apart of my morning routine on my drive to the gym three times a week is to pass through a few surrounding wealthy neighbourhoods. The law of attraction is real. I literally sit on the side of the road and envision my plot of land right where I am. I did it when I was dead ass broke and I still do it now that I’m a better position financially. No dream is too big.
Your money mindset is important so here are a few of my favorite titles: May Cause Miracles by Gabrielle Bernstein Money: A Love Story by Kate Northrup Get Rich Lucky Bitch by Denise Duffield-Thomas The Law of Divine Compensation by Marianne Williamson Nice Girls Don’t Get Rich by Lois P. Frankel Profit First by Mike Michalowicz