23. Breaking the Money Taboo: Overcoming Emotional Barriers to Building Wealth with Keina Newell

Also available on YouTube!

Are your money emotions holding you back?

On this episode of The Impact Ripple Podcast, I sat down with my friend and Financial Coach, Keina Newell, founder of Wealth Over Now, to talk about building generational wealth, creating a values-aligned budget that feels liberating, and making investments that deliver more than just a financial return.

Keina shares about the way the emotions we associate with money can hold women business owners back and practical steps you can take to build generational wealth and abundance.

She encourages women to create a budget that aligns with your values and goals, which can feel more liberating and empowering rather than stifling and restrictive. 

Keina also shares new ways to think about the return on your financial investments, which go beyond simply making more money. 

Our conversation then shifts to the challenges that women face in hiring help for their businesses, and how to see the return on investment of outsourcing in non-financial terms.

Keina shared the importance of creating a "Hell No” and “Hell Yes" investment list for personal and business expenses, which can help you become more aware of your spending habits and make more intentional decisions with your money. 

Additionally, we talk about the guilt and shame that can sometimes creep up when buying things we don’t need or use, and the benefits of auditing our life and expenses to save money.

This conversation with Keina is an honest look at the way we think and feel about money, practical advice, and inspiring mindset shifts for women business owners who want to create financial abundance and freedom in their businesses and their lives.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The emotional connection with money and how it can hold women business owners back.

• The importance of creating a budget and how it can be liberating when you align spending with your values and goals.

• The mindset shift needed to see a return on investment that goes beyond just a financial return.

• The challenges that women face in hiring help for their businesses and how to overcome them.

• The concept of a "Hell No” and “Hell Yes" investment list to make more intentional and conscious decisions with money.

Mentioned in This Episode: 

• Money Month Series – Episode 22: How to Shift Your Money Mindset and Start Hiring Your Dream Team with Christine Walsh

• Money Month Series – Episode 24: Why Hiring Right is Critical for Your Small Business Success with Carla Titus - coming next week!

• Keina’s Website: www.wealthovernow.com/wealthovernow.com

• Keina’s Instagram: www.instagram.com/wealthovernow 

• Keina’s Freedom + Flexibility Guide: https://wealthovernow.com/freedom-and-flexibility

Transcription for Episode 23 - Breaking the Money Taboo: Overcoming Emotional Barriers to Building Wealth with Keina Newell

Ashley Cox  0:05  

Welcome to the Impact Ripple Podcast. The go to source for hiring and leadership made simple, doable and fun for visionary female business owners. I'm your host, Ashley Cox, author, certified HR expert and founder of sprout HR. And I believe that you don't have to change who you are to be a great leader because you've already are one. Join me as we kiss uncertainty and overwhelm goodbye and say hello to the tools and support you need to grow a profitable, sustainable, impactful team with more confidence and ease. 

Ashley Cox  0:42  

On today's episode, I'm joined by Keina Newell. Keina is the founder of Wealth Over Now where she works with professional women and solopreneurs to create new possibilities with their money so they can save more, pay off debt, invest in themselves, and stress less about money. She's passionate about her work and finds no greater satisfaction than helping her clients start managing their money with joy, because they've learned to feel possibility, where they once felt shame, guilt, overwhelm and anxiety when she is not coaching Keina is spending quality time with friends and family and traveling. To learn more about Keina, listen to her podcast Money Files - Wealth Over Now and explore her tips to manage your money. During our conversation, Keina and I talked about some of the most common emotions that come up around money, especially as women business owners, and how those hold us back. Keina shares her philosophy on building generational wealth and abundance rather than hoarding money. Why creating a budget is liberating and can support us in spending money in alignment with our values and goals in life and business. Rather than just trying to keep up with the Joneses. And she shares new ways to think about the return we're getting on our financial investments. And spoiler alert, it's not just about making more money. This episode is chock full of practical advice and inspiring mindset shifts, plus a few laughs along the way, and I can't wait for you to get it in your earbuds. So without further ado, here is my conversation with Keina Newell. 

Ashley Cox  2:24  

Welcome to The Impact Ripple Keina and I'm so excited to have you joining me for our conversation today.

Keina Newell  2:29  

I'm excited to be here. 

Ashley Cox  2:31  

Yeah. So for our listeners, Keina and I, we met on Instagram like 2019. Was it 2018 or 19? 

Keina Newell  2:39  

Yeah, it was it might have been 19. 

Ashley Cox  2:42  

Maybe it was before the world went to chaos, right? Yeah, we'd both been recognized by HoneyBook and the Rising Tide Society as part of their 20 on the RISE program. And so kina had reached out to me and was like, Hey, I see that you got this honor to would you like to connect? I was like, Yeah, sure. And like we hit it off right away, right? Yes. Then been tight. Ever since then we've been?

Keina Newell  3:11  

We've never met it met in real life ever. No.

Ashley Cox  3:16  

Which is wild, which is when you know we both were in Mexico earlier this year. 2023. Whenever you're working, and we were closer there than we are when we are stateside, yes.

Keina Newell  3:29  

But if somebody asked me, if somebody asked me like, oh, when's the last time you actually hung out? I would probably actually scour my brain for a date. I'd be like, Oh, we were, huh. I've never met her in real life.

Ashley Cox  3:41  

And so when we finally do get to see each other in real life, we'll be like, Wait, have we done? Have we done this before? Yeah.

Keina Newell  3:47  

I think we also we also need to discuss important questions like How tall are you? Because I had a client she, like, just recently had a baby and she was telling me she was like, Yeah, you know, my body. I'm so short. And I was like, how tall are you? She's like, I'm 411. I said, I'm so glad I know that. Because otherwise when I met you, I'd be like, Oh my God, you're so short. And I said anyways, I'm gonna say that when I do see you in person. I didn't know you were that little,

Keina Newell  4:09  

Hm. Well, I don't have much on her five, two. 

Keina Newell  4:13  

Okay, I can manage that. That's like my mom.

Ashley Cox  4:16  

Yeah. Oh, my goodness. Well, now that everybody knows how tall I am, how tall are you?

Keina Newell  4:21  

I'm five six.

Ashley Cox  4:22  

Okay, okay, so you got from I can I can almost reach that with some hills. Yeah. Those are some big hills though. And, you know, I don't wear those anymore. But I'm so glad to have you here because we get to have some really amazing conversations all the time, about life about business about money. And since we were doing a money month series, I mean, obviously I was like Cana has to come and be on the show. Because you're one of the people I talked to consistently about money and and the thoughts that come with it and the feelings and the emotions and the experiences that we have and I thought who better to join our money series. Then the person I spend so much time talking about money. And And the funny thing is, is that you, you know, you didn't start out as the financial coach, which is kind of starting to be a theme here. So last week, we had Christine Walsh on the show who's my financial coach. And she talked about how she started off in a totally different career path. And then, you know, came to be a financial coach. And now we have you on the show. And so I'd love for you to tell a little bit about your background, and how you came to be doing this work, because it is so important, and you do such a brilliant job with it.

Keina Newell  5:35  

Um, yeah, I mean, I think the theme for my life is that God has a sense of humor. That's just what I tell everyone. I actually went to college for management and finance. And then I became a teacher. So I did Teach for America. I taught, it was vice principal for over a decade. And then in 2018, like I decided I was going to go up to be a principal for school. And I was like, No, I'm not doing that. I'm just quitting my job, I have money in savings, I'm going to start a business. Crickets like for myself, right. But that summer, I started a financial coaching business, and I wouldn't like when I look back to all the things in my life, they clearly put me here. But um, I like was answering you know, those questions of like, Oh, if you could do anything for free, what would you do? And like I am, I am the person that always talks to my friends about money. They're like, we can't have a conversation without talking about money. And I was talking to my financial advisor, and I was like, I don't want to do what you do. But like, I want to help people on like, the budgeting aspect, especially like, thinking about where I am generationally. Like, I think there's a lot of like, people that kind of sit in the middle of like, okay, we're supposed to like buy a house, you're supposed to save for retirement, I have all these student loans. And so those are like my struggles in the 20 in my 20s. And so, yeah, I like heard a podcast, I heard this guy talking about financial coaching. But then, earlier that year, surely enough. I was like in church, and I don't know what the pastor was talking about. I don't think he was I was taking notes on something else. But what came out of that was I actually, like created this like budgeting series, that I told like me and one of my girlfriends that majored in accounting, when we were in college, I was like, oh, we should do this. And so from like, March of 2018, fast forward to that summer, I was like, Oh, my goodness, like I like have an outline for something that I could do. And yeah, that's how I fell into this space. But I feel like I've always been in a position, especially with being a vice principal and a teacher that my main thing I always wanted to do in life was help people. And so, like, financial coaching is just another way to do that, and being able to have an impact on people's lives. 

Ashley Cox  7:50  

I love that. I love that. And I love kind of your whole philosophy around, you know, money and and generational wealth and helping people move forward past, you know, experiences that they've had, or, you know, maybe it's been generational debt or poverty or things like that. Can you share a little bit more about that with our audience? Because I think that that's such an important key to what you're doing.

Keina Newell  8:13  

Yeah, I mean, I think that like, what people don't understand is that money is emotional. I felt like there's a lot of things that like, when you listen to the narrative about finances, is you should be doing these things. And so I think that's what people adopt. But there's never nobody's, like ever saying, like, hey, like, stop and think about, like, how you experience money as a kid? Or what are the roadblocks that get in the way of you feeling like you can say, or pay off debt, like there's not that level of emotional support. And so when I am thinking about like, working with clients, or even talking with people about like, what they want to shift, like, I love being able to talk about, like, what does this mean for you, but also like the people around you, or what has happened in the past that like, has positioned you to be in this place. Because there are so many other events that actually bring us to where we are when we think about our finances. Like it's, it's not about balancing a checkbook, which is like what they taught us in school. So I think it's just very important for people to recognize that because I don't want people to, and we talked about this a little before we started to jump on and have this conversation to be entering into this conversation with like fear and shame, which is naturally how they come like, I want them to know, there's like a root cause to how you think, and you manage your finances, and it has nothing to do with your ability to add or subtract. Like it's not about being good with math, like it's just about your experiences and how those have shaped you. And so I think when you can take the emotion out of money and allows you to actually move forward and being like, okay, like this is like a picture that I can paint for myself. Like I can create a new decision of how I want money to actually flow in my life.

Ashley Cox  10:03  

And just because something has happened in your life or in your past or in your family or your community, doesn't mean that that's how it has to continue going forward. Right?

Keina Newell  10:13  

Yeah. Yeah, it's like, I mean, there's so many different layers to this in, actually, when you said that you and I talked about money all the time, I think about when I met you, and I was like, you know, you can be making so much more money.

Ashley Cox  10:27  

Yes, you did.

Keina Newell  10:28  

Like, I had also only made $2 At the time, but as per my calculations, you can be making more money. I just think about because, like, the money conversation comes up, I think most oftentimes in saving and like, paying off debt, but it's also an earning, like, and especially with women, like with women, we're consistently under earning even as entrepreneurs because of how we think about money.

Ashley Cox  10:57  

Absolutely, absolutely. And I think, you know, we're culturally, as women conditioned to be savers to be frugal to make ends meet to, you know, the husband or the spouse brings home the bacon, and we have to figure out how to fry up some and freeze some and save some for later. And, you know, it's kind of that that evolution, that women are really still very brand new to the workforce, to making money to being able to have financial control. I mean, even you know, just to being able to have a credit card as recently as the 70s. 

Keina Newell  11:32  

Yeah, or just like being able to, like write, like, Could you buy a house, right, or, like you needed your husband to do different things like the role of men, I was reading an article recently, because I did a podcast, on my podcast about like, patriarchy with another woman. And we were talking about how, when you look at information that is, you know, speaking to men versus speaking to women, it is about women saving money, but when they're talking to men, they're talking to them about investing and like, businesses and growth, right. And so, women, I think, have more of, for lack of better word like scarcity, and like a hoarding kind of mentality, where with men, you're thinking about, like taking risk. And so you know, if you think about taking risk, like, it could be leveraging debt, it could be, you know, put in $100, and you potentially are gonna get $100,000. But like, this is the game you should be playing. And so just like the knowledge and awareness of that, is can be like really, really liberating when you think about your own financial situation.

Ashley Cox  12:38  

Oh, 100%. And that comes up so much with women. And as business owners, when we think about growing our business, and like you said, leveraged debt, I know that I've always been someone who's like, no debt is so bad, that's terrible. And over the years, I've learned debt, in moderation debt for, you know, intentional purposes, debt for reaching goals is actually okay. And it's safe. And so I think there's a lot like you said, there's a lot of scarcity. There's a lot of feelings of lack of security, lack of safety that comes with that. And one of the things that I think really holds a lot of women back from hiring employees and growing their teams and growing their businesses is, is the scarcity is, are these emotions. So what are their emotions? Are you seeing, especially with business owners, women business owners who are starting to grow their teams?

Keina Newell  13:29  

Yeah, um, I mean, I think there's a lot of fear. Like, I think that's the number one thing, especially when you're thinking about income, as you think about it, from one month to another, a lot of business owners talk about how their pay fluctuates. And like, I can't, like, I can't trust that I'll make the same amount of money, or I have these launches. And for me, I'm like, You're not really saying anything that's meaningful.

Ashley Cox  13:55  

Just telling it like it is,

Keina Newell  13:56  

you can, like you can solve for it, right? Like it's a solvable problem, like, yes, there is a month where you may have $20,000, and another month, where you have five or another month where you have 12. But like, when you actually know your numbers and your business, like, you can actually look at the trends and see like, oh, like, on average, I do this or on average, you know, this is kind of what's happening in my business in this quarter or that quarter, like you can prepare, and start to make plans based off of what you see happening in your business. But yeah, I just see a lot of fear. And so then people use their fear to make decisions and so they may not grow, or they may not take risk because of the fact that they're, they're scared.

Ashley Cox  14:42  

Yeah, for sure. For sure. And you know, there's study after study after study that shows that women wait way longer to hire help in their business than men. And a lot of times they think, again, that comes back to that, that you know, gender conditioning, that societal expectations that well we should be able to do it all we should be able to do it. on a shoestring budget, you know, Oh, you, you're asking for help? Oh, yeah. A lot of there's a lot of hard, you know, feelings around that. And I see that with our clients a lot. And one thing that you mentioned keynote was around, you know, how it's holding us back because we're fearful. You know, a lot of times our clients will say things like, Well, I just, I don't, I don't know if I can sustain it. And I think that's what you're talking about, you know, when you when you talk about those fluctuating months, so you spend a lot of time talking about budgets. And I'd love for you to share, you know, that philosophy with us, because I think that comes into play too. Because people think like, oh, I have to budget for this, I have to budget for this. And it feels restrictive, and it feels small, it feels like the opposite of, you know, abundant. And so I'd love for you to share your philosophy, because it's very different than what I hear elsewhere.

Keina Newell  15:55  

Yeah, um, before I do that, one of the things you just said, though, about hiring, and I was thinking about, and I can tie this into budgeting as well. But I don't think that people see the ROI of hiring or even just outsourcing, right. And I think that that could be in your personal life or in business. And I think that's another thing that we're not taught, is being able to see, like, if I hire a housekeeper to clean my house for $100 a week, I can show it better as a mom or I can show it better for myself or I can be more present, right? And so like, do you make your money back from from hiring a housekeeper? Like, no, she's maybe not giving you $100. But when you think about the impact of that on other areas of your life, like those are the things that you have to consider. And I think that mindset shift applies to your business too, right? Like some things you may not be able to see, like $1 ROI. But when you think about like, if I'm spending this $500 to hire someone, or whatever that looks like, what's the return on investment and being able to be clear on that? Because I think a lot of women, when we were talking about asking for help, I think the thing that I've seen also in clients is like not feeling worthy of being able to spend money on certain things. And so anyone who's listening, like, if you're looking to invest, whether it's in hiring or even like working with Ashley, right, like you're so caught up in the number, but I think a great exercise is to think about like, what's the return for you? Like, don't look at the dollar amount look at like, what is the net positive result in my life, of investing in this or not investing in this because that'll allow your, your brain to make space for it. But then as we think about budgeting, right, it's like, well, this is why I need this in my life, and I want to be able to spend my money in this way is because these are the returns that I get to get for myself.

Ashley Cox  17:50  

Hmm, absolutely. And I think we have to really expand our, our understanding our belief that a return can be more than financial, it can be an energy return, it can be a time return, it can be, you know, so many so many women tell me I'm like, Okay, what would you do with an extra hour this week? Oh, I'd sleep in I'd have a nap. And, you know, lay on the couch and watch TV, like you get to do that every single return doesn't necessarily mean that we have to be more productive, that we have to make more money that we have to, you know, all these things that society and culture and patriarchal business structures tell us we have to do if you're saving an hour, you better be doing something really productive with it. No, my friend, go lay down and take a nap. If you are tired, and your body needs rest, like do it.

Keina Newell  18:36  

Yeah. Yeah. Like, it's just it's so so important just to be able to ship that. And I've even been talking to clients recently about, like, blocking in that time on their calendar. Because I mean, I'm very positioned to work. Because that's, I enjoy work, right? And so I do have to be like, Oh, this is an hour, I can go on a walk, or I can call my friend or do whatever. I also have to make sure I'm not using my avoidant behaviors and procrastinating.

Ashley Cox  19:07  

It's a fine balance. 

Keina Newell  19:08  

Right?  Like just like being able to recognize that those things are life giving. And so if you are invested in your life in that way, what is what's that return for you? But yes,

Ashley Cox  19:20  

I don't want to be at five year old little Ashley sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch, saying, Man, I really wish that I would have spent less time working. You know, nobody's gonna say, Gosh, I really wish I would have worked harder. Right?

Keina Newell  19:34  

Yeah. And I think like that just makes me think something I've been playing around with actually one of my coaches, she did a podcast on like, benefits of being rich, basically. And so one of the questions that my friend and I we were talking back and forth about and I promise I'm coming back to budgeting questioning,

Ashley Cox  19:53  

You're fine, you're fine. I wrote a note down.

Keina Newell  19:56  

But one of the things we were talking about is like what Like, why do you want to make more money in your business? Right? Like when you think about your business goals, and I think like, that's really important for women, when it comes to like making money I have, I constantly have to do that work for myself. But she was talking about the things that she's able to do, like, How did she know she was rich? But she's like, What are the things that you could do now that you don't have to wait to, like, make a certain amount of money. And she has said that, and then I would also, like, align this with one of my other coaches who was talking about, like, I think about all the times when I was driving to work at like, six in the morning. And I'd be like, if I wasn't driving to work, I'd be outside running. Or like, I would go to the museums, right. Like, there's all the things you said you would have done. And so just thinking about, like how those pieces play into like, your rich life, or what you think you'll do at 85, right? Like, oh, at 85, I'll be retired and I'll go to lunch with my girlfriends, whatever that is, right? Or play generally, like, a nursing home, like do that now, right? Like, take random Tuesday off, and like, go have a picnic with your girlfriends, just because like I think those are the things that have made my life feel like rich. And it's not always in money, right? It's like in these experiences, and just being able to, I think soak up also the benefits of entrepreneurship, like wanting to live a full and present life right now, and not always delaying those things. Because I think we have inclination to be like, Oh, well, when this is in order, then I'll do this.

Ashley Cox  21:37  

This whole section, I feel like we should just clip this piece out, and y'all just put it on repeat. You know, living your rich life living, the things that you want to do. Now, you know what, you know, it may take some modification, right? It may take adjusting it to fit your current, you know, ability, whether that's a financial constraint, a time constraint, or whatever. But, you know, later this afternoon, I'm going to coffee with a friend. And so, you know, this is Thursday that we're recording this, and I don't work on Fridays, and I think that's something that was really important to me is I was in the workforce. And I remember those days where I was sitting in my windowless office like called the dungeon. And I was like, Oh, Gosh, I wonder what the weather's like outside. And you know, it'd be really great if I could have a Friday off every now and then. And, you know, then I started my business, and I didn't do any of those things. And I stayed holed up in my home office dungeon was like, wonder what it's doing outside? I don't know, Ashley, why don't you walk out there and look?

Keina Newell  22:34  

I have to be here at my desk. I gotta clock in. Right? Yeah, it's one of those things. Like, when I work with clients, there's a number of clients that I tell them to create, like a joy list. And whether it's like on your phone, or whatever it is, but like, there's moments especially like, right now we're in spring. And like yesterday, perfect example, I walked to go get my hair washed, because my salon is like a mile down the street. My neighbor was outside for a walk. She's like, Oh, I'll meet you. So she met me and like, walk me halfway, like a mom. And then I called her and I was like, This is the life I want where I get to, like, have coffee, talk to my neighbor, enjoy outside, you know, but like, just like those things bring me joy, do Eurodollar spit, but like those things make me a better person, they make me a better business owner. And so I just think about like, when especially like in the money conversation there, sometimes you can tell yourself, I don't have the money to do this, or I'm really stressed about this. Or like we think about emotional spending. Generally, we're trying to create some type of feeling or get away from the feeling. And so the reason I tell my clients to have a joy list is like, being able to like step away from the Amazon purchases and be like, go do something that you like, enjoy. If it's like belting out Beyonce in your living room, like go do that, because your body probably needs that. It's not the clicking of the purchase, but you want to like shift in emotion. So what are other ways that you can do that?

Ashley Cox  24:01  

Oh, I love that. And that kind of brings me back around to the question about budgeting. Because joy. But I'm wondering, as we're having this conversation, we're talking through this? Are people trying to use budgets to run away or run towards something?

Keina Newell  24:21  

Oh, there? I think so. Yes. So here's the thing, I guess. People don't budget because they think it's restrictive. Versus I'm like you're living restrictive life because you don't have a budget.

Ashley Cox  24:34  

It's the ultimate dichotomy.

Keina Newell  24:37  

Like, it's one of those things because I think, like if we think about like, what could be called like financial trauma, right, like people are probably have experienced that when they made 30 or $40,000 a year they had a budget and they were really good at their budget, because they didn't have a lot of money. And so they had to know where every dollar went right. So Then when you shift to making more money, you're like, I'm not going to have a budget because I don't want to be restricted. And so there's this, like, you're attached to this former lifestyle that you had. And so for me budgeting, I'm like, No, you get to like, use it to expand and like build. You told me you wanted to house you told me you wanted to hire someone you told me like, you wanted to be able to travel and you want to take annual vacations, you told me that you want to be able to contribute to retirement. So I'm like, let's like, be able to put all these things, like into tangible numbers to say like, what would your life like need to look like? Like? Do you already have enough money? Where do you want to make more money? How much do you want to you know, charge for your services? Or like, how are you spending money in the ways that you value. So I think there's a lot more curiosity that we can bring to budgeting to actually be able to build versus where I think a lot of people think that like, budgeting is going to be about restriction. And they're scared of what they see what they're going to see if they do sit down and budget that it's going to say like, you can't do this, versus you might actually be so much closer to doing something like I have a client right now. And she's like, I feel like I make enough money in my business, that I should be able to hire a house manager, but I can't figure out how. And so, like, that's what we've been working on. And so in an account, she's paying a house manager. And we've like talked about her quarterly distributions and how she's going to use that. But she's like, having fun watching an emergency fund grow. Whereas like before, like, Yes, her and her husband, they were like traveling, you know, their kids have what they need. There's not been anything that's been taken away. It's just like, brighten the lines on how she wants to spend money. And what she wants to spend it on. Like, I love when one of our conversations, she wanted to do some landscaping in our backyard. And she's like, Yeah, but you know, since I've been talking to you keen on like, to even spend time outside, like, is that where we want to be? Or like, do we want to spend money on something else? And so, like, that's what, like just having a conversation around numbers, has made her question what she wants. It's not about like a yes or no, but she's like, I might actually want to use that money to do closets in our house because I realized we would have a hot tub and probably never be outside.

Ashley Cox  27:23  

Hmm. You know, that's it's it's so liberating to be able to look at your numbers and say, Is this the way that I want to use this money? Because I think we get so sucked into, you know, material culture by this by this have more have more do this, do this keep up with the Joneses. What are they buying? I should have that I should have a pool and a hot tub and a tennis court and a view of whatever things people have. I don't have any of these. You know, I think we get sucked into that. And you know, what if our priorities look different, what if our desires look different? What if it's not trying to keep up with someone else who has totally different goals and priorities? And we don't even know if that person really uses the things that they have either. You know, I'll just sucked into this.

Keina Newell  28:11  

And I feel so like, it feels so good to know that you've made an investment and it's how you like to spend your money like for me, I can really care less about like, like really expensive clothes like they don't do anything for me mainly because I really appreciate my viewer joggers which are expensive, but they're you provide me with a very comfortable life where like I don't I don't know I don't like need red bottom Hills because my feet hurt right? Like I'm just thinking about it as like red bottom hills are like a status marker. Yeah, I'm very clear on I don't need that status marker. Like I don't need money to go out in that way. Versus I'd be like but you do need these worry joggers and let me by all of you appear because you need to experience the soft, lush cotton against your legs. 

Ashley Cox  29:01  

I love this example so much.

Keina Newell  29:05  

What is one of those things right, like but I can respect my girlfriend's that like, they like the Vuori joggers they have a YSL bag and I'm like, I'll get a bag from DSW whatever I don't even know where the bag is and like next year, um, but it's all just about different priorities and and what's not good, what's not bad. It's like, that's just not what I value and my friends would be like I'm not spending $100 on joggers and I'm like, why not? They're amazing. Go ahead go get your target joggers or whatever place you want.

Ashley Cox  29:37  

I know and kina you have sent me this theory link for joggers and I still have not made the purchase but

Keina Newell  29:43  

I need to do it and I need a milestone in your business probably very important.

Ashley Cox  29:50  

You deserve you deserve cozy Vuori joggers, okay? But

Keina Newell  29:55  

like, I think a great a great thing to for people to do and I generally I talk about this with business owners but I think you can do it on personal or with business expenses. Is making like a hell no and a hell yes. Investment like, like list, like what are the things that you always want to invest in. And so like I started doing that when I was thinking about what programs I was investing in when I started my business, because generally speaking, I was like looking for like a silver bullet. And there's no such thing.

Ashley Cox  30:25  

Anywhere. 

Keina Newell  30:26  

But it's nice when you realize like, Oh, I'm not a person who can buy a program and trust myself really to finish the whole thing. Like, I want to work with a one to one coach, right? So like, that can be on your Hell No, hell yes investment list, or I think in your personal life, you might be like, I'm not going to allow myself to buy, like shoes that are on sale, unless I like already have a relationship with the shoes, because I realized that like, I buy sell items, and I leave them with the tags on in my closet. So I would rather save that money to buy something that I love. But like, That's just you learning your spending habits, and also learning about your purchasing behaviors and how that equates to like, three months down the road, what did you actually do with that purchase that you made? Was it an impulse buy? Or was it actually like, No, that was like a really good investment of your money. And you always want to have money to spend on those things.

Ashley Cox  31:19  

Oh, and that's so good. Because it now it reminds me of, you know, we're just talking about like guilt and shame and the whole closet full of things that I never wear, never use whatever. Now I'm going to feel more guilty, because I've spent or maybe felt like I've wasted money on these things. And then what I'm gonna do is probably go out and buy more stuff to like, make myself feel better. And then it's just this whole big cycle of like guilt and shame and then trying to, you know, hide or stuff or run away from those feelings, which is feeding more guilt and shame. Not a fun cycle. Not a fun time.

Keina Newell  31:53  

Like, it's just, I challenge everyone to just audit your life and that way, because I think you'll find a lot of things where you're like, Oh, that's so interesting. I didn't realize I did that.

Ashley Cox  32:03  

And I think too, you can do this in your business. Right? Yeah, you know, why? Why are we investing in, you know, 1000s of courses, or, you know, whatever low price thing that's coming along? It's like, oh, it's only $20, though, it's only $30? Oh, it's only only it's only? You know, okay, all those things add up? And are they adding value? Are they you know, driving some sort of return on investment, whether that's money, time, energy, whatever. And then, where are we not able to invest that money, maybe we can't invest that money and team because we've spent it on a bunch of stuff we don't need or use or really even want, maybe we don't spend it on, you know, payroll or wages, you know, at a level that we feel are is really generative. And that's, you know, a good wage for somebody, maybe we don't spend it on benefits or health care options, or, you know, the 1000 Other things that you're like, Okay, I want to build an amazing team, I want to have an amazing team culture. And I'm going to spend my money over here in these areas that don't directly align with that vision or that goal that we might have.

Keina Newell  33:08  

Yeah, I mean, I think going through your expenses, and just realizing what do I want to keep, what I want to cancel, what I want to revisit, is like always a really great way to just clean up and save some money. Because I think business owners definitely it's like, okay, it was only $10 a month, and you know, like, or you sign up for a 30 day subscription. And you don't realize they're still charging you for it, but you don't use it. And so once again, doesn't have to be anything about guilt or shame, just like, oh, let me actually put that on my list to cancel, which if you, as a business owner, have a weekly time when your calendar that you look at your numbers, like that's how you can make sure that okay, next Monday, when I look at my money, like that's when I can go and cancel these three things. So it's just something that you want and done. Don't have to worry about

Ashley Cox  33:56  

it. I love that. I love that. And also, I think to like, if I do have to purchase or use a tool or system in my business, I am a huge fan of, can I pay one yearly rate and save 10%? You know, I'm going to be paying for it anyways, can I pay 150 bucks all at one time instead of 210 bucks over the course of 12 months, right? So it's even looking at ways that I can say, Ooh, I'm going to save a little money here. And where am I going to put that I'm going to put that towards wages, I'm going to put that towards benefits, I'm going to put that towards my team towards, you know, maybe some fun outing or you know, an activity or a retreat or an event or something that I want to host where my people where I then get to build the kind of culture that I want to have for them as well. Yeah. I love that. I love that. I know that. You know, I've been in business for almost seven years and you've been in business for about the same amount of time, right? 

Keina Newell  34:50  

Maybe it was five this summer. Yeah, yeah.

Ashley Cox  34:53  

So do these thoughts around money, especially when it comes to like investing in your business and growing your team to these ever go away, like the emotion and the thoughts that we have?

Keina Newell  35:04  

I think that they I want to say yes and no. Okay. Because I feel like you can get new flavors of things. You know, like that What did they say new level new devil kind of thing. And I noticed that a lot and like other areas of my business where I'm like, oh, here we go again, right.

Keina Newell  35:28  

But I think about like for my I can use myself as an example when I started my business. And like the drama that I had over pricing and like, I need to make sure that people can afford me whatever that means. And then like also thinking about how much money I thought I could earn. Like, when I first started, I just wanted to like, replace my salary. And I remember another woman asked me, what would happen if you made more? And I was like, oh, obviously, I mean, I don't? I don't know, is that possible? And so like, I had to do that work for myself. And I like when I left education I was making about like, 110 115. And so like, yeah, I was just like, I just need to make 110 115 After I actually started to understand business numbers, I was like, Oh, God, anyway, a lot more than that.

Ashley Cox  36:21  

Because it's not the same, it's the same dollar revenue. And what you actually pay yourself are very different numbers. 

Keina Newell  36:29  

Not, not at all. They're not even kind of equal. But, um, so like, I remember when, like, my goal was to hit a 10 came on. And I was like, Oh, my goodness, like, oh, like, this is gonna be the hardest thing I ever do in my life. And then I hit it, right. And it was like natural. But then I remember going to like the next, like, when I was trying to hit a 25 came up. And like, some of the same feelings and emotions came up like this, like doubt. And like disbelief. And so that's why I say like, there's like this kind of like, new level new devil. And just like you like, you're kind of waiting, like for myself, like waiting for things to crumble and fall. And I think the thing that does get better is my ability to recognize what's happening. Or to be like, Oh, that's funny. I know why that's here. Right? It's like, it's just this thought, or it's this feeling? Um, so I would say like, yes and no, to your answer.

Ashley Cox  37:32  

Yes, and.

Keina Newell  37:32  

Yes, yes. Because I feel like I think I think there's like some, there's some level of it to where you're like, I'm not even worried about this thing. But now I'm worried about this thing. Right. And so I definitely have a stronger belief of like, my ability to create money and but like, if you ask me, like, my thoughts about creating million dollar business, I'd like hold on now. I just probably in the last year said yes. To that, to that thought, right. But like, my brain is still trying to catch up with it. Which, like I said, it's just very similar to what I remember being like, can I make $100,000? Sure.

Ashley Cox  38:16  

It's true. I mean, you really have to build belief around what's possible. Yeah. Yeah.

Keina Newell  38:25  

And just playing with it. Right. Like, I my brain is very logical. And it's like, okay, well, if I charge this much, many people, right, and so you like, kind of kind of go down that rabbit hole, versus just being able to be in a space where you're like, No, I just, yeah. Like if it was possible, like, who would I be? What would I be thinking? But, like, I surrounded myself with a lot of other amazing women that make a lot more money than me. So I'm like, just stay around them. It'll be fine.

Ashley Cox  38:57  

Yes, look at your friends circle. If your friend circle has poor money, habits, poor money, mindset, poor, you know, whatever, around money, you maybe it's time to uplevel.

Keina Newell  39:08  

And yeah, these people over there like hustling. Like they have a side hustle. Like they don't see themselves as real business owners. No offense to them, we can still love them. However, you need to tell them, Listen, we got places to go and this these raggedy money thoughts you got, they can't go. 

Ashley Cox  39:25  

And that might be the quote of the episode. I love it. I love it. Oh my gosh, this has been such a great conversation of keynote. But we're gonna go ahead and you know, wrap things up now. 

Keina Newell  39:38  

I'm like I answer any of your questions. You did, you totally did.

Ashley Cox  39:41  

And I thought it was a it was a brilliant conversation. And I want to give you one more chance. Right. I'm gonna give you one more chance here. So it's time for our final segment of the show called Imagine the impact where we get to envision what it could look like for folks to take action today. So I would love for you kina to help paint the vision have the kind of impact our listeners could create through one key thought, a takeaway and action, either from our conversation or something else that you'd like to share?

Keina Newell  40:10  

I would say like the thought I want people to have is that when I make more money, other people around me benefit. Like, I think, yeah, like just being able to see like, how is that true in your life? Because a lot of the work that I do with women is about like, I'm always like, so you're gonna make more money. And I just want you to think about, like, who does that benefit? I think that there's and I can even say for myself that when you think about making more money, you're like, oh, I don't want to be materialistic, right? Like you think about those types of things. But think about your values and think about if you're making more money, what organizations you get to give to, if you're hiring a team, like how are you helping this woman that you've hired actually be able to support her dreams and like her beliefs. And so there's just like this, like ripple effect to you making more money, and what problems you can solve because you get to vote with your dollar or whatever that is. But when you envision money in that way, I think that's going to allow you to do some of the things that that felt really scary.

Ashley Cox  41:20  

I love that. Imagine the impact that more women making more money can have in this world. It's really it is that ripple impact. It's that ripple effect. And, and you get to touch and reach so many more lives. So alright, Kena I know everybody's gonna be like, Listen, I need to follow this girl, I need to like What is she up to? What is she sharing? I just got, you know, a whole new perspective on money and finances and budgeting and all the things. So where's the best place for folks to connect with you and learn more?

Keina Newell  41:50  

Yeah, so you can go to Instagram and follow me at wealth over now. I also have a podcast and that's called Money Files. So wherever you love listening to Ashley's podcast, type in Money Files, you'll find me there.

Ashley Cox  42:02  

Please go and listen to her podcast and support it. She just, you know, has such a refreshing take and perspective on all things money and finances and the way that we have are in relationship with our money. So we will drop the show notes for Keina's website and Instagram and her podcast and all the great things. And I also know that you have a really amazing guide that could help people with some of these money conundrums they find themselves in right now.

Keina Newell  42:31  

Yes. So you probably got in your business because you wanted freedom and flexibility. So I have a Freedom and Flexibility Guide that is just like helping you actually think about like, what's the personal paycheck, I want to be able to pay myself what are my business expenses, and so it's a Google sheet, you go to the link in Ashley's bio, then you can download that and manipulate it for yourself. So you can actually look at your numbers in a way that's going to help you like expand, because yeah, I need you to have some dollars in your pocket and know how you're using them.

Ashley Cox  42:58  

That's right. That's right. And I love that it's an actually an interactive document that you can type things into and it self calculates. And you know that that really makes it so much easier. Because if it was just like a worksheet and I had to fill in the blanks like it would never get done. Okay, your calculator would be like, I don't even know how to calculate those. Okay? Yes, made it really, really easy. The freedom and flexibility guide will drop the link to that also in the show notes. So thank you so much kina for joining us today on the impact rebel podcast, I know that this conversation is going to be so impactful and so powerful for the women that do tune in and and listen and as always, it's so much fun to talk to you until learn something new every single time.

Keina Newell  43:39  

And listen, same to you. And one day I'm going to hire someone.

Ashley Cox  43:43  

I've only been trying to force her to hire somebody for a while now. So oh my goodness, well you hire when the time is right for you. I fully believe that. But thank you so much again for joining us today and thank you dear leader for tuning in for another powerful conversation with Keina Newell. Please go follow her like her download her guide. She is an incredible human and such a brilliant, brilliant person to have in your corner. And as always, it is an honor and a privilege to be here with and for you on your leadership journey.