Transcript of Episode

Leah Gervais: Hey visionaries. Welcome back to the Your Biggest Vision show. I’m your host Leah. And today we have Mrs. Alli Williams with us today. She is the founder of FinanciAlli Focused and she and I had been friends since we started our businesses and Instagram’s years ago. She is also in my mastermind. She’s a really incredible person and today she’s going to talk to us about how she really beautifully took a lesson that she learned in life, something that she cared about and is passionate about and has taken it into a successful business, which all of we all of us can do. Um, so we’re really excited to have her and blessed to have her. So thanks for being here, Holly.

Alli Williams: Thanks for having me. I’m so excited.

Leah Gervais: I’m excited for you to be here too. So why don’t you first give us a sentence or two about what you do now and then we’ll go back a little bit.

Alli Williams: Sure. So, um, right now I work mostly with one on one clients, kind of helping them reduce financial anxiety, just build wealth and really just dream big because I mean, as you know, finances are so connected to like every aspect of life. So it’s really important to, you know, get a financial plan together and then make sure it relates to your big goals.

Leah Gervais: Fabulous. And she’s very, very good at what she does. So I have known that you’re passionate about personal finance forever. You guys, Alli- I’m not even kidding. Since we’d probably had like a hundred followers on it sooner. We have been following each other and I’ve seen so much of her journey and we were engaged at the same time. It’s been so much fun. Um, so, but take me back a little bit to what got you interested in personal finance and how this came into your life.

Alli Williams: Honestly, I don’t, there wasn’t like a light bulb like moment, which I think a lot of people like wait for that. Like that one moment that you’re like, this is what I want to do. Cause I mean, as you know, like you said, we’ve kind of followed each other’s journeys for awhile. Like it was, it’s a long process to get to this point. It took like years to get to this point. But, um, honestly in college I kind of just started, I mean, like I worked in college, I was always interested in like, at that point it was like being rich, you know, just like just like making money. And, you know, I always thought like I’d be like CEO of a company or like doing something like crazy from a business world standpoint. And um, after college when I moved to Indiana, when I graduated and I was there for a few years and I had a good salary and a really low cost of living and it kind of just made me like kind of click that, like I could do something with this.

Like I could, you know, save or travel or, you know, just kind of set myself up more for success in the future. And that’s kind of where it started. Where like, you know, creating a plan, even if you’re not sure exactly what you want to do, just like creating a financial plan for your future. Like when I was in Indiana, which I read them about all my website, but like that’s, I started saving for my wedding before I was even engaged. Like I knew one day I wanted to get married and I was like, I have to pay for my wedding. So like I need to, you know, start saving now so that I’m not adding to my debt. And so kind of all these little nuggets came together. And after talking with like friends and family, I started a blog and that’s kind of how it started. And it was just me writing like things I knew or you know, tips I learned or what I was reading in a book or things I’ve learned over the years. And then from that blog, like it grew like a following. And then from that, it really, that’s when it turned into like the coaching, like business side.

Leah Gervais: Hmm. And one of the things that I really remember seeing early on was that you, you did have debt in college. Like you had student debt and maybe some other debt and you were, you became debt free by 25. Was it? Was that right?

Alli Williams: Yeah, so I became debt-free at 25 and then, um, if we skipped, we skipped some years. As you know, like I’m back, I’m in debt through marriage. Um, so we’re paying off six figures of debt. 154 is where we started.

Leah Gervais: Okay. So let’s break this down a little bit. What debt did you have that you then paid off by 25?

Alli Williams: So, um, thankfully  I didn’t have, um, I didn’t have student debt from my own. Um, my parents helped and I was on academic scholarships. So, um, I got a lot of money to go to South Carolina, which helped a lot. Um, but I had, you know, after I graduated I decided it was going to be great to buy a brand new like $30,000 car. Um, cause when you’re an adult, you know, like you need a buy that’s like an adult purchase when you graduate. So I bought a new car. Um, and I think the loan was like after I put like a thousand or two down cause that’s like all I had when I graduated, like for three broad and I did all this stuff in college. Then when I graduated I was like, I have no money. Um, I think I put like $2,000 down pretty much just to cover like the taxes or something.

Um, and I think the loan was 27 or 28,000. So I had that and I didn’t really care to pay it off for a while. I paid, it, ended up paying it off a year earlier than the loan because I was like, why am I like, I can pay this off a lot faster. So thankfully I ended up paying that off. Um, yeah. So how, I’m 28, so a few years ago, which I’m glad I did. So that one, you know, I met Joe, my husband, like I thankfully had no debt and was able to, I mean he had, we have enough for both of us. So.

Leah Gervais: Okay. So I’m going to ask you some personal questions about this because I think it’s gonna really help a lot of people. So, um, you, you pay off your debt and it was then that you started saving for your wedding or maybe you had a little bit before. Is that right?

Alli Williams: Yeah, I say I started saving a little bit before, but yeah, once that was paid I was like, I know like we were dating and I was like, even if we don’t get married, I still have a savings that I can then put towards like a house or do something with. I was just calling it like my wedding savings just to kind of have a purpose for it instead of just like blindly saving.

Leah Gervais: Right. And so kind of on the side, is that something you advise your clients to do? Do you think it’s necessary to save for something or,

Alli Williams: Oh yeah, I think, I mean every, I mean you probably see it a lot even from the business side it, but like when you set a goal, if you attach it to something, instead of just saying like, Oh I want to say $10,000 or Oh I want to make $5,000 it’s understanding like why you want to do that and then it kind of helps you go at like keep going on the days that you don’t want to put that money aside or the days that you do want to use it for something else. So attaching like a reason for a goal. I mean in any people, not just financial, but like for money goals. Like if you’re saying like, Oh I want to save this amount for this, like I didn’t have an end date, so like I couldn’t say it had to be saved by whatever day. But I did try to save like a certain amount each month for that purpose because I knew we had to pay for our wedding.

Like, I’d have to pay for my own wedding one day, which I was totally fine with, but I know like I knew I wanted like everyone I cared about there and I wanted it to be like what I envision. So I knew it wasn’t going to be a $5,000 wedding or a $10,000 wedding. It was a lot more than that, which I have no regrets about. You know, even as a financial person, like zero grads, if you save for it, if you’re not going in debt for it, totally fine. But I knew that I would need this money one day, so.

Leah Gervais: Right, right. And so you have the savings account, you pay, like you’ve kind of done some unique things. You know, you, you have this story where you have started saving for your wedding before you’re engaged, which is brilliant because I still, I got married and I still don’t understand how you’re supposed to like pull it together in a year. I don’t know how we did it. Like it was nuts. Yeah, it was a lot. Um, it was, and it’s crazy expensive. Um, and then you also had paid off all this debt by 25, which is super impressive. So were those the kinds of things that started getting your blog and Instagram traction? Like how did things look in terms of your business at that point?

Alli Williams: Yeah, I would say, you know, more of the non-cliché blog posts. Like we’re the ones that people resonated with. Like you know, focusing on finances at a very young age. Like the saving before I was engaged was a very popular post just because it was like people, it didn’t make sense to some people. Like why? Like you’re assuming you’re going to get married. I’m like, but the thing is, it was, I was say, like I said, I was saving for the wedding, but it really could have gone to like if I just didn’t get married, I would have used that for a house or you know, use that as a, a fully funded emergency fund or used it for something. Like it was more of I wanted to get in the habit of saving and I knew I had these goals coming up and whether that happened or not. Like you have to start before and so-

Leah Gervais: Talk about manifesting something. If you want to get married, start saving for a wedding, I believe you’re going to have a wedding. And you did. I mean you did.

Alli Williams: I wouldn’t have had the wedding we did without that. Like I paid $17, I wasn’t dollars before I got engaged. Um, and like the wedding we had at the time, we had like, we were engaged exactly one year. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without either like taking on debt or cutting like half our water. You know, there’s no way that we could have just found another $17 in a year. Like, cause we weren’t, we already had to make up the rest of it. Like within that year we saved pretty much everything to pay for their like cashflow the rest of it. So it was, it was definitely a needed fund by the time we were planning our wedding.

Leah Gervais: Well from the business perspective at this point, I kind of know the answer to this, but I’d still love for other people to know at this point were you making money from your blog? And if so, how?

Alli Williams: Um, no, very little. I tried like affiliate marketing and I would make like a sale here or there from like either being affiliates of courses or like programs in the beginning. Um, similar to you, like I was very blog focused and I thought like, Oh, that’s how I’m going to like make a lot of money in this business is like through just my like blog itself. And I tried that for a little and honestly I just wasn’t fully like passionate about it. Like, yes, it sounds great. Like you want to make money from your website, but like my passion wasn’t in like affiliate marketing or like adding ads to my website or trying to like get that little like, you know, $10 here and like, you know, doing all that stuff. So I wasn’t, I mean I was barely making anything at that point. 

Leah Gervais: Right. Yeah. Okay. So, um, at that point [inaudible] it’s kind of like a hobby at this point. You are, um, you get engaged, you have the $17,000 and your now husband has debt. So can you walk us through that a little bit and that bit and how you guys,

Alli Williams: So probably date like three or four money came up cause that was something I did not care if like my potential spouse had debt. It’s more like the mindset of like what you want to like how you’re handling it or even if you’re not handling it in that way now. Like how you will handle it like as a team. Because if I’m going to, you know, work on this with you, like my, my view was always like we’re a team, we’re going to do this together. Like once, once we’re married, like this is our day. Like I’m never going to, I’ve never once said, and you know, Joe would agree, like I’ve never said here it’s your debt. Like I’m not going to be a part of this. Like, Nope. Like we have our finances combined, you know, we’re a team. Like I, like I said yes to all of him, like every part of it.

This is part of me now too. Um, so he’s originally thought I was around $100,000. So that’s what I thought for like our whole dating relationship, which was fine. I like had a plan. I was like ready and so I wouldn’t pay for it, you know, like start contributing until, um, we got engaged, we moved in together and so then we started budgeting together. So I was like, okay, now we can, since our incomes are combined, like we’ll plan as if, you know, we’re one like unit. And so that’s when I started, you know, both our salaries were starting to go towards debt and of course all our bills. Um, so we added it all up, like in our one and only budget meeting, cause budget meetings don’t work for us. But, um, our one and only budget meeting, it ended up 154, so it was like 54,000 more than he thought.

And more than like I thought. So there’s definitely a shock factor for both of us, like as individual. So it took me like I kind of let myself soak for like a day, day and a half and just like feel bad for myself. And then I just kind of was like, I can, we can sit here and complain about it, but it’s not going to, no one’s going to pay it for us. So we really need to like just revise our plan. We already had a plan. I mean obviously that’s a lot additional like debt that we didn’t think, but it didn’t really change our plan that much. It just added time to it really.

Leah Gervais: Right, right. And so like some things that have stood out to me from your story so far, it’s just that you, you have such a confident mindset around money and I think that that’s so admirable. And I think you have it both. Like when you have a savings goal, you’re very disciplined about getting there. But on the flip side, when you’ve saved for something or when even some situations which would really stress people out about money, you seem to have, you know, a really level head. So, for example, you saved $17,000 for your wedding. Was there any moment when you’re like, wow, I worked really hard to save that and he’s just gone. Did you have any freak out? Yeah, a little.

Alli Williams: Well, it’s just like, you know, it goes so fast as you know, like when you’re paying for a wedding, it’s like your caterers. Like, Oh, okay, well now I just need this check for $5,000 and then I need this check for it. And you’re like, Oh, okay. And like, I know I’m like sending money in it. It definitely depleted. But I did have like a sense of peace about it just because I knew it was like, that’s what I saved this for. Like it was for this purpose. So, you know, it’s hard seeing like that amount, leave your bank account and like be gone forever. But it didn’t, I wasn’t stressed about it. It was more just the like I would rather keep that money, which anyone I think would feel. Um, but I w I wasn’t like a stressed feeling cause it wasn’t, I wasn’t adding debt to pay for my wedding. I wasn’t, you know, like stressed about like how are we going to pay, like pay for our caterer, pay for DJ. Cause I knew we could. So there was like a sense of peace, but you know, losing $17,000 out of your bank account for anyone I feel like is like Ugh, I’d rather keep it.

Leah Gervais: But it’s what you see for, it’s what you work hard for like money at. If it’s just sitting in your bank account for forever, it’s just numbers on a screen. It’s not like actually the tool that you want it to be. And so, um, another thing that I thought that stood out that you said is that you, you didn’t care whoever you married if they had debt or not, it’s more that you cared about how they would address it. Did you have to get to that point or was that just like naturally how you were?

Alli Williams: I think I had to get to that point, honestly. I feel like when I was really young, like I was also just like naive. Like I, since I didn’t, you know, graduate with six figures of student debt like Joe did. It didn’t, I didn’t cross my mind that like, so many people really struggle with like six figures of student loan debt. And I think that just comes from like, one being naive and to like not personally experiencing it. So, right. Um, it did, I think for me, you know, personally, like I, which is an episode for another time, but like I was, I was engaged out of college, um, to someone else. And, um, going through that and just realizing like what was important to me in a spouse and like what was important to me and someone I wanted to be with, like, it kind of changed my view of like, it doesn’t matter necessarily, like obviously it’s certain things matter what you do in your past or like, but like student debt and, you know, he had a, you know, we have a truck, a credit card, um, and students, so it’s, it’s decisions that like, he made, you know, signed when he was 18. Like, I’m not gonna say that I won’t marry him-

And you know, for especially like, there’s no real education around student loans. Like at 17 or 18 you’re just signing like, I need money for school. Okay. And you don’t realize that like interest is probably accumulating depending on what type of loan you have, like right away and like you have to pay it back like right after you graduate. And so my mindset definitely shifted, I think as I like grew as a person. But for me there were so many other factors that were like way more important in life than that. And that was something we could work on together. There’s certain things that you, I feel like you can’t work with someone. Like you can’t change. There’s like, you know, complete deal breakers that like, this is it, I’m not gonna like go through this. But that to me is something, as long as my spouse or potential spouse was willing to create a plan together and really like tackle this as a team, I was like, this is something we can really work on.

Leah Gervais: Mm. I love that you share that and I love that you share like that you kind of had to learn maybe the hard way or something, what actually is important. But thank God you learned it and got married to the man that you did. Oh, okay. So you’re engaged. Your $17,000 is like just people are taking it like hotcakes, been there. Um, and then your business kind of takes off. So can we get to that? What happens then?

Alli Williams: So it’s funny is so you were reaching out for like ever and I would give you every excuse like to just be like, you know, it’s not the right time or like you know, I don’t have money, which is like, I would say probably you the general like excuses that people give when trying to start a business. And I knew like it was something I wanted to do and I knew it was something I was like super passionate about, but I was just, I mean really it was fear-based responses. Like it was very like, yes I have my life’s hectic, but like my life’s still hectic and I’m doing it. So it’s like, that doesn’t change. Um, so giving those excuses, you know, just, and I just got to a point where I started to finally let myself think like, well, what if this like works?

Like what if this actually turns into something that I can do full time? And like that would be like if I had to pick my dream day, like where I was doing something I like loved all day, it would be like doing this type of like, you know, coaching clients and helping people manage your money and change their money mindset and do all that stuff. Like that would be my, like, I wouldn’t dread my Monday, you know, like where everyone’s like, I hate Monday, like that type of stuff. And I just kind of got like sick of, I guess saying no to myself and decided that there’s never going to be a good time, which I think is the honest truth for everyone. There’s never like that moment where you’re like, this is it. This is the day, this is the month. Um, and then I just was like, all right, we’re going to, we’re going, I’m going for it.

And yeah, just kind of was like, I’m gonna finally invest in myself. And I always, which I think comes one is like an oldest child slash type a. Like you, I put everyone first like always, which is fine in most cases. Like I, you know, I would rather give someone a gift than get a gift. I’d rather like help someone else and help myself. And I realize that it’s okay to invest in myself too and like it’s okay to, you know, like follow what I’m passionate about. And I think giving myself the permission to like say yes to myself, which I don’t normally do, is like very freeing and then also led to really like where I am now.

Leah Gervais: Yeah. And you’re saying yes to yourself has helped other people, I mean, it’s helped your, your marriage and like your finances. So, um, go ahead and brag a little bit what happened when you started working with me. It’s been amazing to see you grow very quickly.

Alli Williams: Oh my gosh, it was so fast. And we were talking about it in the master on yesterday is like sometimes I have to remind myself at like how fast this really has happened because my, my first client was signed end of October and we’re, it’s early February at the time and really. So like four months ago.

Yeah. And I’ve had like consistently like five or six, one on one clients at a time. I have a group that just launched. I have like other, you know, things going on. So it’s crazy to think that like within four months like this is what’s happening, you know, it just, it went sometimes like I, when I get down on myself or try to like, you know, compare whatever, I’m like, this has only been four months. Like it’s not been like five years in the making. Like this has been a four months of really like committing and putting in like the time and effort to like make this work.

Leah Gervais: Yeah. It’s been incredible. So, just to kind of like summarize, obviously I know the thick of your business cause I work with you, but um, you, you kind of, you still have your blog, but really the shift is, is more on coaching with clients. And I don’t want to take the words out of your mouth, but like you said, we went through a similar transition. I started blogging and one of the reasons I really started with coaching and the reasons I stuck with it cause I love it, is because you get to actually see the results. And so if you’re writing blog posts all the time, if you’re making money through affiliates, like it’s just a screen. And when you really care about what you teach, like you and I both do, it doesn’t always have that satisfaction. There’s nothing wrong with it. And it can be supplemental or additional income. But I think that there’s something so powerful about literally seeing people’s lives change because of the work you do with them. And I’m guessing that that’s the experience you’ve had.

Speaker 2: (20:36)

Yeah. And it’s, you know, like I’ll meet with someone, I always do like, you know, discovery call or whatever. And then week one and two are always just kind of like hectic cause I’m figuring out like their current financial situation. But usually within like one or two weeks you can start seeing the change and like, you know, we’ve chat every week with our, like I chat every week with my clients. So it’s like, it’s so fun to see that change happen. Like it’s even like the mindset have change happen so much faster than sometimes the numbers because you need to kind of like change that first. Actually start like seeing the debt pay off faster or seeing like this, your savings go up faster. So the mindset shift that happens is like crazy.

Speaker 1: (21:15)

Yeah. Um, and so, uh, what would you like say to someone who’s listening to this who maybe is feeling like, so what would you say to someone who’s maybe listening to this who kind of is resonating with how you felt in September, October? Maybe they reached out to me on Instagram and they like what I do, but they’re afraid to invest or they’re like, they’re going back and forth and they don’t know what it’s actually like to work with me. Like what would you want to tell them?

Speaker 2: (21:40)

I would say kind of like what I said before, but there’s really is no good time and I probably spoke to you for like a good like year of like you kind of saying like I know I can help, I see what you’re doing. Like I really believe in you and I gave every excuse in the book and I’m finally taking that leap and like trusting that one. I like know what I’m doing to, you know what you’re doing and like three we can kind of like do this together and like really build this into something that like, I just think so many people settle for their current life and like, you know, I have a full time job and like you know I, it’s fine. Like, it’s not bad, but like there’s so much more out there. And something I always tell even my clients is like, time is limited.

Speaker 2: (22:25)

Money is not. And like, there’s just not going to get the time back. You’re not going to get a time back with your friends or family or to do the things that you really love to do. So why not invest in yourself and see what happens. And worst case scenario, it doesn’t work. But like why not try it? And like, just like there’s never going to be a better time to try it. There’s never going to be a better time to like really go for it. So why not? Like what is the reason not to do it?

Speaker 1: (22:53)

Right. Well, it’s been amazing to see what you’ve done. You are very, very good at what you do and you’re very driven and it’s been a joy to be on the ride with you. So what would you say, you know, what’s next? Like what are you excited about in your business for this year?

Speaker 2: (23:09)

Um, we have to still plan it, but, um, and our mastermind, but definitely so I have a group coaching program that I’m really excited about. We actually have our first call today, um, that I’m excited about to kind of reach more people. And there’s something also about a group just like building community and having people cheer you on that you don’t get from one Oh one. Um, of course, one-on-one clients, I love working with them. It makes my day. Um, it’s so fun to see the progress and I’m so invested in their lives, like I meet with them every single week and you know, like one of my clients, like her dog died and like, I was like crying with her and like, since again, you know, it’s just like I’m so invested in their lives, like these aren’t just like clients that I just like talk to and then leave. Like I know what they struggle with, I know what they’re going through in real life. Um, so really right now the focus is kind of just coaching and then, um, hopefully after that just kind of branching out into some other endeavors that will

Speaker 1: (24:11)

figure out throughout the year. Yeah, it’s very, very exciting. So is there anything, you know, having worked with so many clients at this point, and this is an audience that’s listening, mostly entrepreneurs, but having built your business yourself, you obviously know a lot of what I do. And with the clients you’ve worked for, is there any, you know, just really clear advice you want to give people that are, um, that are trying to be careful with their money and trying to start a business and kind of juggling the two, whether that’s a mindset thing or just a practical thing, whatever comes to mind?

Speaker 2: (24:40)

I’d say it’s mostly mindset. I mean, I thankfully have not taken on any debt in this business. Like even to pay for coaching or courses. Like I’ve been able to make money. Like it’s sometimes it’s been very close, but like, you know, I’ve been able to, it’s kind of motivated me to push myself further. And so I wouldn’t, I w I mean as a financial coach I would not recommend someone like [inaudible] taking on like $20,000 or $30,000 of debt to start like a business unless you know the returns are there that like you’re going to get it back within like a month or two or like you kind of do the analysis. But I wouldn’t like I used money as an excuse for so long and it really doesn’t take that ma like first. Especially like an entrepreneur and like an online business, it doesn’t take that much to start.

Speaker 2: (25:28)

It’s just getting to that starting point and then continually pushing yourself to like invest in yourself to make more money. And it kind of like they go hand in hand. Would you be all the time, it’s like the more you invest in coaches or masterminds or courses like that, you know like you’re investing, which I get, I get that pole, I’ve been there like I where you don’t want to press pay on the PayPal and you’re like, Oh like I don’t know. But then like, you know, your income also goes up. So it kinda just keeps going like a ladder. Like I, you know, did your group last quarter and like, I made that money back within like three weeks, you know, it was like crazy and I would’ve never thought that was possible. So I think would you cover really well and stuff is like the limiting beliefs of thinking that, Oh, like I don’t have enough money, I can’t do it. And instead of thinking like, I don’t, I have enough money, it’s like, what can I do to get enough money to do this? Or what can I do to like get those clients to make sure I attend them? I’m

Speaker 1: (26:24)

kind of making me like excited to get off this call. Like, go for it today. I love, you know, I always think back to, you articulated it better than I do, but when I had a first my first like really big investment, um, or one of the, one of the first, it was a like in a Facebook ads mastermind and I think it was a year or six months or something like that. Um, and I decided to do it because I really knew I wanted to grow my email list and I didn’t know how. I didn’t know how to use ads like I was doing to like Pinterest one subscriber every other day method, which was just like a now. And um, when I did it, I kind of told myself, okay, for two months I’m going to focus on nothing but learning ads and growing my email list, even if it means for two months, I don’t really make this money back.

Speaker 1: (27:06)

And like that terrified me because I had, I was working at a nonprofit at the time. Like I, I had never had credit card debt in my life. I was very nervous about it. But there’s something about that level of commitment, which is I think what you’re alluding to being in my mastermind and stuff like that, where you get into a mentality of like, I have to make this work. And it’s not, it’s not stressful. It’s exciting because you know, you can do it and you’re with people that make you do it. And I think even the most self-driven or self-disciplined of people, you know, you, you don’t know your own blocks some of the time. So even if you want to say, I’ll get there on my own or I’ll make that much money on my own, it’s very, very hard to put that pressure on yourself.

Speaker 2: (27:45)

Right? Yeah. And that’s what I even like I tell, you know with money coaching, with even business coaching, you can find things on Google. Like there’s free resources out there. If you want to put the hours in and go through YouTube videos and go through all these articles and put it together, like that’s fine. Like money. Like it’s not for everyone and I will never preach that it is for everyone. It’s not. But if you want to get results faster by someone who’s been there, done it, have coached other people, will help you get to a level you didn’t even know existed, then why not pay for that and be like, why not invest in that? And yeah, I totally agree. Like you can 100% find things and do it yourself, but why not get results faster so you can do more of the things you love and you can get to that next level.

Speaker 1: (28:28)

Right. Why not do it faster? Like you said, time is limited. So switching back a little bit too. Okay. So you kind of told us what’s in store for business, which is so exciting. Um, you and your husband’s finances. When, what is your, how many years do you guys have?

Speaker 2: (28:41)

So we’ve, so we started at 154,000, not $154. We’re at 119 I think. Wow. Congratulations a year. Um, wow. So, and just to know, like we, we don’t make six figures as individuals. We do combined, but we don’t, so we’re not, it’s not like we’re like bringing in like $300,000 as where people, which even if you do, people like that are still in debt. So that’s not an excuse. But a lot of times I’ll get like, Oh, you must make a lot of money, or Oh, you must be doing something, you know, that I can do. And that’s not the case. Like I, you know, I, I would say our story is pretty average. Like we, you know, we do make decent money, but it’s not like we’re, you know, millionaires that are just paying off this debt. It’s easy. I mean, we sacrifice for it.

Speaker 2: (29:32)

Like it’s not, it’s definitely not easy. Um, I’m not sure. I don’t have a set date because I, I’ve learned if I try to set a date, I get more disappointed if the date moves, like if it moves back or life happens. So I’ve kind of just set like a range. The goal is to pay it off in four years, like total. So that’s kind of which we’re on track to do, just cause we paid off 25%, like in a year. So yeah. Wow. We’re kind of on that track. But if it’s five years, like it’s fine. I just, I won’t, obviously we want it gone as quickly as possible, but we have other things. And the biggest thing I preach to my clients is it’s okay to balance every, like I try to find a balance. We pay off debt, we’re still saving, we still go on trips.

Speaker 2: (30:20)

We go on weekly date nights. Like we, you know, for me I’m not willing to give up things. I value just to pay off debt like a little bit faster. Um, we have a lot of debt. If we had $10,000 a debt then I’d be like, okay, let’s just focus for like a few months and get it gone and then, you know, go back. But since we don’t, and it’s like a, you know, multiple years, I need to realize that like our marriage is important. Like family time, still important. Spending time with, you know, our friends are still important so I’m okay with like balancing it and making the debt pay off journey a little bit longer.

Speaker 1: (30:54)

That’s one of my favorite things about you is I feel like your whole Instagram and your story and the work you do is so relatable because you, you know, are very transparent with the debt that you guys have and the things you’re doing to pay it off. But you also share your life and your life isn’t just like double couponing and like, like Costco runs all the time and stuff like that and just done a great job like branding, you know, it’s, it’s very clear who should work with you and it is that woman who does care about her marriage, who does want to still have fun but who does want to be kind of have it all in a sense but not like be too extreme in doing that. Um, and so I guess my final question would just be to that note, if someone’s listening to this and they’re feeling like they do want to get their finances more in check, but they also still want to have a fun life. Like who, who is this a yes for? Who are you the right person for?

Speaker 2: (31:40)

Um, definitely some like for thing is like a lot of my clients, I’m like, lines don’t have debt. Like it’s not, you don’t have to have that get them money coach. Um, some of my clients just want the accountability piece and want someone to help them figure out like, okay, this is what we’re trying to do. How do we do it? I just don’t know how, or maybe I know how, but like is there any way we can do it faster or I just want someone to hold me accountable. So I think sometimes people think money coaches like, Oh, you need to have like six figures of debt and be like drowning and you don’t know what you’re doing. And most of my clients aren’t like that. Yes. But some are just really need someone to talk. Like money is so taboo still and we don’t have people to like vent to about what they’re struggling with and just be there for them to be like, Hey, like, you know, I spent, you know, $200 on this and now I’m feeling guilty.

Speaker 2: (32:29)

Like, well, let’s break down why you’re feeling guilty. Like, what does that guilt associated with? Is it, you know, a certain emotion? Is it who you spent a Ford, you associate like giving people gifts love, like let’s understand why like your love language is like there’s so many connections with money that people, I think at the surface think it’s just like, Oh you need a debt pay off plan. But it goes so much deeper than that. And so really anyone who is struggling with a mindset money mindset thinking like, Oh well I can’t make more money or there’s no way to increase my income or I need to do like 17 side hustles to even bring in like, you know, an extra hundred dollars a month or someone who has all these big savings goals but doesn’t know how to do it while still wanting to go to Europe or go on a trip or spend time with their family. Like I definitely think I work more with people, like you said, who are trying to find the balance between financial goals and like personal, like lifestyle goals. Because like we’ve talked about like time is so limited. Life is so short. And why not get yourself in a position that like you can make money, save money, and reduce some financial anxiety while still doing all those other things that you genuinely love to do.

Speaker 1: (33:40)

Oh, so you guys, if that resonates with you, a plus the fact that Allie knows what it’s like to build a business as well. And many of you are entrepreneurs, she’s your girl. So we’re going to find out where we can find out more about Allie. But I had a few lightning questions for you. Are you ready? All right. What would you say this is all kind of under the business umbrella. What would you say is your most proud business moment so far or accomplishment?

Speaker 2: (34:02)

Mmm, signing six 100 clients within a month and a half.

Speaker 1: (34:07)

They’re very good one. Um, what do you do when you’re just like having a really rough business day and things aren’t going well?

Speaker 2: (34:15)

Honestly, I usually take time to like reflect and I’ll let myself cry. Like I’ll let myself be emotional, but my whole thing is I just won’t let myself stay there. Like I’ll take, if it takes me a day to just like, I need a day off to just like regroup and drank a glass of wine and just like salt for a second, that’s fine. But then it’s like, okay, like let’s get back into it and understand what happened and then like keep moving.

Speaker 1: (34:40)

Mm. Off the bat. Uh, do you have a business podcast or a book that has helped you as you built financially focus?

Speaker 2: (34:49)

Honestly, no. I mean, built it is really you. That’d be my shout out. I don’t, I don’t, I mean like, you know, from, I’ve listened to a lot more business podcasts as I’ve grown, but in the beginning I feel like it was very much like all hands on deck. Like let’s just figure out what’s happening. And then, yeah, Ben figured out like the scaling, like the, you know, what systems do you use all of that. In the beginning it was since it did grow pretty fast, it was very like, let’s just like figure out what’s happening and then make sure all the like systems are in place to like sustain it.

Speaker 1: (35:24)

Awesome. Yeah, I love that kind of hustle feel. Okay. And so where are you most active? Where can people find you?

Speaker 2: (35:29)

Definitely most active on Instagram. I’m pretty much on there all day every day. Um, and so it’s financially focused. I’m on

Speaker 1: (35:38)

all accounts but it’s spelled like financially but an eye at the end for ally. Um, and my new website actually just launched today, so that is, that has everything about my coaching and discovery calls and my blog posts. It’s kind of a, it’s a good way to see you know about me, but Instagram is definitely where I hang out. So feel free to send me a message. I’m pretty much on there all the time, probably too much, but that’s where most of my clients are and everything like that. So that’s definitely where I hang out. Yeah, you guys shoot Allie message, let her know you heard her. You should, you have any questions? She’s always super responsive and helpful and we’d love to hear from you. So thank you so much Ali. Congratulations on everything you’ve done. I can’t wait to see what you do business wise and also obviously excited for you guys to ring off all that debt and then celebrate.

Speaker 2: (36:26)

Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1: (36:27)

All right. We’ll talk to you soon. Visionary security to your biggest vision.

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