Keep What You Earn with Shannon Weinstein

SHANNON WEINSTEIN (00:00):
The focus changes, right? If you’re marketing yourself really well, and you d and I’ll add this, and if you deliver a really, really good offer, meaning if you make your client super happy, you also never have to sell for yourself because they will talk you up and they will sell for you as well. If you focus on nothing else, but really good marketing and building a brand and identity and awareness, and you also make clients really happy, you basically don’t have to sell very much in an effortful way.

(00:30):
What is keeping you from growing your business to the next level? I’m Jess Burgio, one of the hosts here for Fast Foundations, the podcast Between the three of us, my co-host Jim, RT, and I have grown several businesses scaling Beyond Seven Figures. And you know what? Not a single one of those businesses came with a blueprint for years. We poured time and resources into our businesses from salons, tech companies, and product-based businesses navigating success and failures on our own. For all of us, though, it began to change in 2019 when we found a community of like-minded entrepreneurs and industry leaders to mentor us. That community was fast. Foundations just like the Mastermind we’re bringing on experts and having discussions to give you tips to not only improve the foundational skillsets you need, but to also fast track your growth. We’ll dive into the core pillars of what will make your business succeed. Whether you have a brand new idea that you’re looking to turn into a business, or you’re already a successful entrepreneur looking to scale, this community is here to take you to the next level. Let’s dive in.

(01:34):
Welcome back to Fast Foundation’s, the podcast. It’s your girl Jess Burgio, with one of my dear friends from Fast Foundation’s, the mastermind, but I, I actually can’t even remember how we met. I think we met on a call, but then we became fast friends because Shannon Weinstein’s one of those people that you just wanna like hang out with because she knows a lot of shit, but she’s actually really fucking funny too, and she speaks my dry humor language. So we hope you find this podcast inspiring and funny because we’ll probably tell some jokes, but we’ll let you in on the jokes too. Shannon, welcome to the show.

(02:03):
Hey, thanks for having me. And I assume because you’re the host, we can swear on this, right?

(02:07):
Absolutely. <laugh> <laugh>. Okay, cool.

(02:11):
Yeah, thank you so much for that introduction. I usually don’t get, uh, funny as an adjective for an accountant. So I, I take that as a compliment.

(02:19):
That’s because they must not have gotten to know you as well as I have. I think sometimes if you only get to do business with people, maybe you don’t get to see those cracks of funniness come through, but you’re pretty freaking hilarious. I mean, I think we should just start off the podcast talking about your alter ego who came through in the form of a hand puppet, because I am not letting that not be the first thing I talk about today, <laugh>.

(02:40):
Okay. So now we have to explain, uh, <laugh>. So there’s a, I had this weird idea because I was watching a lot of these like really funny puppet videos on TikTok during the pandemic, and I was like, how cool would it be if I made puppet videos? But the puppet looked like me, So I, so I got a puppet custom made that looks just like me from my brand photo shoot and it’s amazing and I love her.

(03:01):
I’m living like my American girl doll childhood fantasy with this do thing. Cause I was like holding it and brushing its hair and I was like, oh my God. And it’s phenomenal because I can record reels and I don’t even have to put a bra on. It’s awesome

(03:14):
you guys take notes. If this is the one piece of value you get outta this podcast episode, it is get a puppet that looks like you, so you can create content and not have to put a bra on, brush your teeth, do your makeup or any of that kind of stuff. You know, it’s exactly girl problems, right? Girl problems,

(03:28):
massive content. Hack number one, <laugh>. Yeah,

(03:31):
. And only if you do anything in your life for just do this, create a puppet. But no, it’s funny. And, and you, that’s the beautiful thing that you do about finance and numbers is you try to make them fun and interesting so people pay attention and I’m sure creating content around that kind of stuff.

(03:46):
You know, if people aren’t super into it, they’re gonna just swipe and they’re gonna be like, a lot of, you know, my background in the beauty industry, we don’t wanna pay attention to anything that’s not like sparkly and fun and like gets us really excited which money should. So, you know, I think the way that you portray things being more digestible, funny, short humor, but also you drive a lot of value not only through your podcast but through the stuff that you share on your Instagram. I mean, it’s a ton of content on there. So if you guys haven’t started following Shannon yet, pause this podcast right now, go follow her because she gives a ton, a ton, a ton of value. Um, and if you’re just starting to pay attention to your numbers in, in this world of business, there’s a lot of free stuff you can start out with learning on there before you need to hire somebody like her.

(04:29):
She can tell you all the dues that you need to be doing before you get into the season of taxes and you want to jump off a bridge like I did for the first probably 10 years of my career. Um,

(04:38):
oh my gosh.

(04:39):
Yeah. So Shannon, tell us a little bit about your backstory, because you and I did meet through Fast Foundations. I got the honor of coaching with you, um, during couple, uh, or one of the rounds, but also, you’re such a high level person at what you do. So can you break it down in, in maybe some more digestible terms for people like myself and those listening to the show today? Maybe?

(04:58):
Totally. So, uh, so yes, we met in Fast Foundations. I got to hand select you as my coach cuz we got to say like who we wanted. And I was like, I want Jess, because I heard you were pretty much like no bullshit and you would like tell somebody if they were making a terrible decision, <laugh>.

(05:12):
And I was like, I need that person in my life. And fun story, uh, Jess told me not to do the podcast and you. at the time, that was actually really good advice because I was already burnt out, overwhelmed working in nine to five trying to build my business. And I was like, I think I also wanna start a podcast that makes no money and cost me a ton of money every month. And she was like, I don’t think that’s the best idea for you. And I was like, eh, f it, I’m gonna do it anyway. Um, but I redirected so much energy and went all in on that. And this is where I would tell you as entrepreneurs, like the best resource that we put out there in my company is the podcast now. It’s called Keep What You Earn. Jess actually has the number one downloaded episode on that podcast from a guest, which is amazing.

(05:54):
And uh, it’s been so much fun delivering free in a fun and conversational way because we call it the judgment and jargon free zone. So it’s, we’re not here to judge you. We’re not here to shove jargon down your throat. I’m not some old white guy accountant. I’m gonna sit here and talk to you like a gal pal over coffee and say, Hey, here’s what it means for you in like real world language. Because nobody wants to hear textbook jargon coming from an accountant. And like, I’m not here to sound smart. I’m, I’m, I’m not. It does not light me up to sound smart. Um, it what lights me up is when people understand what I’m saying and that’s what you should be looking for is really that heart of a teacher.

(06:32):
Okay? Yes. Please make it so we can understand you not to where we have to go Google research every word that you, every third word.

(06:38):
We’re like, okay, that sounds like something. No, when they go get my, you know, Instagram check things out, how do I, no, um, definitely. And the funny thing about the podcast and the reason why at the time I think I told you no was because there were so much that you were doing. And I, I find it interesting though. You are super consistent and I had gotten to know you a little bit and I did know enough to know that you are a lot like myself and probably a lot of you guys listening that if you say you’re gonna do something, you freaking do it and you do it to the best of your ability. So that’s why I had told you not to do it. Cause I knew you wouldn’t just halfass it. You were gonna go all day in like you have and you, and now it’s five a week <laugh>.

(07:17):
It’s, and your podcast is like, probably like blowing up out of the water. I’ve, I’ve looked your, your numbers a while ago. I mean, it’s insane what you’ve been able to do and it goes to show you how valuable the content it is that you’re talking about. And it’s not that you can’t find this stuff in books or on another podcast, it’s the way you tell it. And I know you referenced, I know you’re not an old stuffy white guy. No, you definitely not. We started it off, she made a a freaking doll out of herself. That’s the kind of woman we’re talking to right now. She makes it fun. So jealous Bo what was going on in your business before you discovered Fast Foundations because you had a thriving successful business before.

(07:52):
Yeah, and well it, like I had a business before and I think what made it thriving successful was <laugh> the participation in communities and masterminds, which like goes without saying.

(08:02):
I know you talk about that a lot on the show and it’s super valuable. So like before Fast Foundations, before Masterminds entered my life, right? I was building a business with a one-on-one coach. Shout out to Jess Glazer, who’s amazing, she’s also a graduate of the of Fast Foundations. So I was actually in her program building a business and learning how to use Instagram and crying over MailChimp landing pages and all the things that we do in our first like three months where we’re like, I don’t wanna make a lead magnet. This sucks, right? Like making PDFs in 2019 that I think I’m gonna, anyone’s gonna download, right? And I was just kind of in that zone of I’m just gonna go do absorb, be a sponge and just listen and do what everyone tells me to do until I figure out if I have an opinion on this or not <laugh>, like if I wanna do it or not, or what my brand is or what my mission is.

(08:46):
You kind of just have to go do and figure it out as you go. Cuz the only way to not make decisions is to not move forward. So I just said, I’m gonna start cranking out content, I’m gonna move forward, I’m just gonna keep learning as I go. Um, and where this came up was working with a coach, right? But then going, I think what I need right now is not just one person telling me what to do, but I need to be in a room and observe other people. I need to have conversations, I need to connect with people, I need to do market research. I need to be embedded in a room of people or a community of people that are just in the same position as me. That can be my, what does Jim call it? Like your crash pad and your launchpad, right?

(09:23):
And to, to be that supportive structure because I said I don’t need anyone to tell me what to do. I’m busy doing everything I’ve been told for two years. I need someone to stand there and go, you’re, you’re enough. You’re doing okay. You’re, you keep on going, right? And I said, I think what I need right now is a mastermind. Cause I think there’s a really clear difference between if you need a coach or a mastermind. And I knew that I was in the market for the mastermind group and I absolutely adore the Harders. I love what the content they put out. So I said, you know what? I think I’m gonna join the, their group and be in that network, in that community. And not only did I join, I joined around at the time of Covid in 2019, 2020, right. Uh, but I had joined and I did two rounds and then I became a coach in it for two rounds, which was amazing.

(10:07):
So I feel like I have always have like home with this like, you know, it’s like going to school there and going back and being like an alum of the mastermind. So I’m super grateful for it. But I think that the before and after was pretty clear difference in terms of my confidence level, my, my prices, my, you know, ability to articulate and, and show up differently. It’s just so many different dimensions.

(10:31):
Well, and not to mention the products that you offer as well, like what you Were doing before when you started, after you finished your coaching with Jess and what you’re doing now. Um,

(10:39):
totally different, yeah.

(10:41):
Not only did the prices, cause some people hear, oh, I changed my prices. Sure, yeah. You, maybe you raised your prices, but you, you changed the services that you offered because you were able to finally, uh, build a team. right

(10:50):
exactly. And, and I was able to, so I was offering like bookkeeping for $200 a month and basically had a mastermind member pull me aside and go, that is the dumbest decision you could make. And I was like, so sad and like broken down. Like I finally figured out what I wanna do and they’re tearing it apart. They’re tearing apart my business model. And like after shedding 20 minutes later, after shedding the ego of getting told you’re doing it wrong, I was like, oh my God. But they’re right. And realized like, okay let me, lemme go back to the drawing board and figure this out again. And that started the whole journey of me building a fractional CFO practice as opposed to a bookkeeping and tax preparation practice. And it really helped me, it helped me figure out that I really wanted a lower volume of clients with bigger depth as opposed to a higher volume of clients doing transactional work.

(11:42):
And it helped me develop core values even. And like sometimes that contrast brings the clarity, right? Where you need somebody to tell you, Hey, I don’t think this is a good idea. And uh, that’s why I also gravitated to you as a coach as well. Cause I was like looking for contrast. I’m like, I want someone to tell me, eh, I don’t like that <laugh> instead of being a cheerleader all the time.

(12:03):
Yes. And I think you can cheer people in the other direction and that’s, it’s, that can come on both levels. But what I wanna point out too though is you had done the groundwork to do the $200 a month bookkeeping, like you that seed

(12:15):
Oh, I was doing it all myself. While, while I was working a corporate job. So I was also thinking I can’t charge these people a ton of money.

(12:22):
I can only dedicate two hours a day to this business and I’m working this big job and I feel terrible taking their money if I’m not showing up every day eight hours a day for them. I had a whole bunch of mindset stuff going on and during the process really like built the business that enabled me to quit my job while I was in fast foundations. So like, I, I quit my job I think after I finished my, uh, last round as a coach.

(12:46):
I remember that. And the thing about that though is, you know, sometimes we think time equated is how we should charge. But really you had all those years of growing the knowledge that you did in order to do the job in less time. And it’s, it’s in those mindset reframes when you’re around people that kind of call you out in a good way.

(13:04):
Like that’s the stupidest thing you could do. It’s, it’s a waste of your time. You could be making 10 times more money doing this. Have you thought about that? And, and until someone sees that value in you or like they see that gift or skillset that you have, sometimes you won’t even see it in yourself cuz you’re so bogged down with that full-time job that you had and then dedicating all those hours to those part-time clients. How could you see what was possible. Like there’s no way. That’s when, that’s when you asked if you should start the podcast mind you guys. Okay. That’s when she asked me when she was doing all that shit before she had quit her job <laugh>. So in all fairness. So I think it’s crazy.

(13:37):
No, I know. I just wanted to call you out on that one.It’s like, keep what you were and wouldn’t have happened if I had listened to Jess’s advice. No, I’m kidding. Uh, no. It, it’s, it’s a phenomenal No, you gave phenomenal advice and it really, it, what it did was though it challenged me even that was the right advice because you and Chris Goodman and a few other people were like, I don’t think this is a good idea. And that really created, but what it did was it created me to question it and to really make a case and go, if I’m gonna do this because everyone’s telling me not to, if I’m going to do this, I better show the F up and be consistent because everyone’s telling me that, eh, this may not be a good idea, which means it’s gonna be hard, which means I have to try harder. So I have to wait until I’m ready to make that effort before I do it. Like what you made me do was not dive headfirst into it and think it was gonna be all unicorns and rainbows. I knew it was gonna be tough. And I said, when I’m ready to walk through that sludge in the mud, I will do it. Um, so I appreciate all that advice.

RT (14:32):
Hey, it’s RT. Thanks so much for listening to the Fast podcast. I want to see you in the room. I don’t want you to just be hearing my and our voices. Let me tell you about the Fast Foundation’s Mastermind. It’s a six month long program and it’s our signature program. It’s how you join our community. Every time we talk about this amazing community of almost 400 people that have gone through our mastermind that we have here on the podcast that we hear from and our mentors, all that kind of stuff, all the guest speakers, coaches, all the awesome things that we get to do. It all starts with the Mastermind. It’s a six month long program with two two day in-person events. One’s in Scottsdale, one’s in Denver. Yes. They’re in amazing beautiful places. We have them in cool spots because that’s fun. We also give you six months with a coach one-on-one.

(15:26):
And the most important thing is once you go through that mastermind and you learn from all these amazing speakers that we bring in, learn from your coach, grow with me and Jim and the rest of our team, you get lifetime access to our community. Every single thing that we do is recorded and uploaded into a private platform off of Facebook, off of the social media’s all credit wrap. And it’s saved in one place that you have again, lifetime access to. So when you join the Fast Foundation’s mastermind, which you can learn more about at fastfoundations.com and click on join the community to apply when you join this mastermind, you are in our community for life. I really hope to see you in the room and I hope to talk to you soon.

JESSICA BURGIO (16:13):
Yeah. And I think we all have that, uh, ugh in us. We all have that grit in us to be able to do those things, but it’s like what season are you in that you wanna be committed to doing that work. Because we’re all capable of doing that work. But it’s like if you can’t, you almost wanna create the like li like what are all the ways in which I could fail? What would happen if this didn’t work out? Like how, what, what would get my way to stop me from being successful with this? And look at that and say, well I’m not gonna let that happen. These are the things I’m gonna put in place to make sure that doesn’t happen. So I think by you growing a team and being able to start diversifying how and you know, who handles stuff in your business made a big difference.

(16:50):
And it looks like you have the time now to be up to podcasting five days a week. You’ve obviously created some systems in your business, some automations in your business. You probably let some shit like that full-time job that was bogging you down and it sounds like you more than, I don’t know, five x what was coming in from that job that you were scared to let go of now in your own business.

(17:07):
It’s crazy to think that, but yes. So I, my revenue currently for this year is tripled my old salary.

(17:12):
Jesus Christ. That’s <laugh>. Say that again.

(17:15):
I know. It’s crazy. And by the way, I’m not special for anyone listening. Like, I’m not that special. This happens. Like it, it’s insane when you put your mind to it and you go, this is what has to happen this year and I’m gonna make it happen.

(17:28):
If, if you asked me, Jess, like what was the factor in being able to do that coming out of the corporate job, I’m like fully committing and going, this is what we do now. Like this is where all the energy is dedicated to and this is what we’re gonna build. I couldn’t like, I couldn’t tell you that I was super strategic or planned, like I had that number in my head, but I was like, well, like this is how I’m gonna craft my offer. This is how I’m gonna deliver for clients. And you know, I don’t even sell that much. Like I don’t do a ton of sales. What I do is a lot of marketing and then when people come to me, I feel like they already know who I am. They know what I do. And, and the hard selling is less of a concern.

(18:08):
It’s more of the, okay, now I just have to convince them this is the right solution for them. But uh, but yeah, like growing my sales to that number, I still can’t believe that happens. So if anyone’s listening going, yeah, that’s nice, you can totally do it.

(18:21):
Give us a timeframe for when you join the mastermind or let’s say when you hired your first coach

(18:27):
Yeah.

(18:27):
In, in the thought process of creating something to now how long has that been?

(18:32):
So March, 2019 to now. So we’re gonna coming up on four years, three and a half, four years.

(18:37):
That’s amazing. And, and like anything, I think the frustration sets in the first like 3, 6, 9, 12 months where you’re kind of just trying things and like you made that joke earlier about creating opt-ins with the PDFs that nobody downloads and like you hit the nail on the head when you talked about more marketing, less sales.

(18:53):
Because if you’re marketing correctly, if you’re showing up consistently, you won’t have to sell. Like people will just know what you have is for them because you’re telling them they’re, you’re telling them. And instead of you use the word convinced and I know that’s not what you do. You’re educating people on why they need different services or why certain things are important for them to implement their business. I knew what you meant and

(19:12):
yeah. Creating awareness of the solutions that are available and why I think mine is the better one, but yep.

(19:18):
Right. Yeah. See, and you gotta say it like that. Why mine’s the better one. Yep.

(19:21):
And here’s why and here’s why I’m better and. It it’s it’s totally true. Yeah. Oh my god. The other focus changes, right? If you’re marketing yourself really well and you de and they’ll add this.

(19:31):
And if you deliver a really, really good offer, meaning you’re, if you make your clients super happy, you also never have to sell for yourself because they will talk you up and they will sell for you as well if you focus on nothing else but really good marketing and building a brand and identity and awareness. And you also re make clients really happy. You basically don’t have to sell very much in an effortful way.

(19:56):
I couldn’t agree more. I mean that’s how I grew my behind the chair business 22 years ago was by giving an exceptional service and value. And then you get those ride or die clients that go out and they talk about you. You don’t have to do any selling. So when the social media online stuff came to be, I was like, wait, how, how does this work? What do I have to do?

(20:13):
Because I didn’t realize what I’d already been doing in that girlilla marketing form like we all did back in the day. We didn’t have access to this. So essentially you take what you’ve been doing and you transfer it in in, in a form on social Right. Which was new to you too, right? You didn’t have to do any of this for your Your job, did you?

(20:28):
No, my Instagram was dinner and dogs as I put it, it was my, my puppy and what I ate and it was some like fitness stuff. Cause I was teaching Zumba at the time and I was like, we just post pictures and I’m learning how to use Instagram. And then I learned how to use it for business and everything changed.

(20:43):
Yeah. And that was a sad day. I had to mourn the loss of my sandwiches in Starbucks.

(20:47):
I still post Starbucks from time time. But I remember being in the very first in-person of one of the rounds, the very first round that I was in. And uh, they had Brendan Kane there and he had the 1 million followers and he was talking to us about, you know, growing our Instagram and this and that. I remember like neatly raising my hand in the back and I was like, so can I just keep my Instagram page for fun and have someone else do all this for me? And he was like, listen little girl in the back. Yeah you could do that but you’re not gonna know what needs to get done and you’re letting someone else run your social. It’s basically like you might as well get a job and work for somebody else. And so it was in that moment that I was like, if I’m dedicated and I wanna play this game, I gotta be the one showing up.

(21:24):
And that’s the thing that I think a lot of people sometimes skip. They wanna skip that part of the work by marketing. Yeah. And talking about their stuff.

(21:31):
Yeah. They wanna shortcut it. And you know what’s funny too is like, even though it’s one of the more time consuming things, I think one of the last things I will ever outsource if I ever do is A responding to dms and B responding to text messages if I outsource those things. And this is just my opinion. So if you’re doing this, hey no judgment. But those are the things that I think build the most intimacy and people would be the most disappointed in finding out it wasn’t me. And I currently have, you know, on my social, I have a team posting all this stuff for me. I record my own reels but I send it to them.

(22:02):
They do the captions and all the fun stuff cuz I ain’t good at that. I’ll put ideas up, I’ll record videos but like, and send them podcasts and things. But my team post, God bless them, they post everything I do and I’m so thankful for them for showing up consistently for me. Um, but before I did that I was literally posting in real time like three to five days a week and it took a lot of time and you just, you just shift your focus from investing your time to investing your money in other people who will do that for you so you can, you know, maximize your time and it’s just an evolution that takes place where you just shift from that time investment to money investment. And there’s nothing wrong with either one,

(22:40):
right? I couldn’t agree more. So if there’s any early stage entrepreneurs listening, which most people for that are drawn to fast foundations are in the early stages of their business, like we once were, what would be some key financial advice or just anywhere around that realm of when they’re getting started, say they’re still in corporate in the, the side hustle and they’re starting something, then they just found this podcast and they’re like, listen, what are the main things I need to be making sure I have my ducks in a row before I get started or as I’m getting started?

(23:09):
Totally. So what people, here’s one thing I’m gonna bust a myth right now that like financial help in your business is expensive and say it’s really not. But you have to know what you’re looking for and what you’re ordering. So if you’re looking at the menu of services, right, when you’re first starting a business, ideally you wanna have somebody you can ask questions to or you can have a resource that you can go to to know how to set up a business properly from a financial standpoint, from the get-go. And like shameless plug, I have that resource if anyone wants it.

(23:39):
<laugh> tweet, tweet plug plug. It’s a yeah. Yes we do. Yes please.

(23:42):
Yes. It’s called the uh, business financial quick starter. And it’s a course that I put out. It’s only like 199 bucks and it is uh, only 90 minutes of me talking.

(23:51):
But it’s all templates and tools and stuff to help you get started really quickly. And it’s like the financial coloring book for your business. It’s like we give you all the lines, all you gotta do is go do it. Go actually take action and do it. And the other thing is you wanna hire a bookkeeper as soon as you can in your business. I wanna say within your first six months. Yeah. Whether that be in the capacity of having someone look at it monthly, if you have a lot of transactions or even coming in quarterly or a few times a year just to spot check your work if you’re doing it yourself, I always say that bookkeeping is down to you’re doing it or somebody else is doing it that you’re hiring. There is no third option <laugh>, there is no not doing it. Uh, you, you’re going to pay to have it done one way or another and it’s gonna be much more painful the longer you wait.

(24:35):
So please trust me in all the other entrepreneurs that I’ve served over the years, when I say start now with the small habits that make a big difference because it will only become a bigger problem if you wait and then you’re gonna have to go back in time and catch up and it can cost you more money, time, energy and just emotion.

(24:53):
And I can tell you from someone who didn’t think that numbers were sexy or important, I knew money was coming in, I knew I had enough at the end of the month in my early years, I’m just talking like a brick and mortar style like service-based business because a lot of you could be service-based industry entrepreneurs too. You know, I once ran the books for a salon and I mean she was making over a quarter million dollars a year and spending just about $10 over that.

(25:16):
And I’m like, I I, I’m not the mathematician, but this doesn’t look right to me. I i, I don’t think we’re in business just to break pennies here. So it’s, it’s one of those things that if you don’t want to do this kind of stuff, really check yourself. If you’re ready to be an entrepreneur, cuz you have to pay attention to this part of the business from the very jump in order to set yourself up to be profitable, um, in, in, in a massive way, right? If you think you’re going to make tens of thousands of maybe even a couple millions of dollars, you gotta pay attention to the numbers. And once I started to fall in love with that process and, and getting yourself the coloring book like that sounds fun to me. I wanna get the coloring book of what to do and what not to do in my financial business.

(25:54):
And and this goes with any new business that you start. So if you’re like a serial entrepreneur and you wanna start several new businesses, they’re all probably gonna require a different version of this financial recording in order for you to know what the heck’s going on in your business. So thank you for creating something like that for people to be able to grab at such a, an affordable price. For sure.

(26:12):
Yeah. That’s, that’s the goal is just to get in more hands to build better savvy business owners so they know what they’re doing when they start their businesses. Because when you’re an entrepreneur, you know, you may enjoy for example cutting hair, styling hair, but you’re changing your job as soon as you decide to open a business. Like your description is now a business owner and you’ll be lucky if you get to see clients with how much time you’re spending being a business owner, right?

(26:34):
So the more we can equip people with the tools to do that a lot faster, the better off they’ll be and they can start making money and serving clients the way they want to. It’s just super important to understand that you are in charge of your financial power in your business and even if you hire somebody else, they’re never gonna care as much as you do. And you can’t give someone else the steering wheel in the driver’s seat to tell you where your business is gonna go. You’ve gotta hang onto that wheel. But make sure there’s somebody in the passenger seat with really good navigation <laugh>. I love that. That’s they can tell you you where to go, that is exactly it. But if you are gonna go, you know what, I’m gonna just like relinquish this seat. I’m gonna go sit in the back where I have zero control over what happens to me and I’m just gonna let you kidnap me, throw me in the trunk for all I care and take me wherever you want.

(27:18):
That is not how you wanna run your business. But that’s how a lot of people are approaching their numbers. They’re like, I don’t even wanna look at it. You take the wheel and take me wherever you want. And then they also get upset when embezzlement happens or when, which is the worst case scenario. But when a big tax bill comes or when something unexpected hits and it’s like, but you weren’t looking in the dashboard the whole time. You have no idea where we were going and you decided to look out the windows once a year to see where we were. You really have to keep that control to make sure you’re hanging on the steering wheel of your own business.

(27:52):
Yeah. Not to, not to scare anybody, but I think sometimes a little scary story. Sometimes we’ll snap you out of not paying attention. I have two gnarly stories, one, back to the what I was just referring to, that good lady business that I was checking her numbers on.

(28:04):
Um, that’s what ended up ended her partnership with her partner because the partner was quote unquote taking care of financials and then all of a sudden they got hit with this huge, well it was only about $15,000 tax bill, but at that time it was, that was, huge. And she didn’t know where it had come from and she didn’t, she hadn’t been paying attention. So that’s what ended up happening. It was the demise of their partnership because, you know, she wanted to point fingers and it could have been an accident but it probably could have been easily avoided had they all been on the same page paying attention to the numbers. And then the second gnarly story that just popped in my head because you were talking about embezzlement, cuz my uncle has a stuc of business he’s had for 40 years and he had the same secretary run in his numbers all those years that bitch fucking took him for, I I wanna say it was over half a million dollars over the course of those 40 years.

(28:47):
How do you not notice you’re missing half a million dollars in your business? Like it’s just wild, insane,

(28:52):
it’s wild what can happen when you don’t pay attention.

(28:56):
So if those two stories don’t scare you a little bit to like go get this coloring book financial, I can I just tell look,

(29:03):
see I know I call it the the coloring book because we give you the lines to color in, but you gotta bring the crayons, right? So it’s the, I’ll tell you what to do, I’ll give you the structure, you just gotta go do it and then it will look nice. But yeah, it’s called the Business Financial Quick starter. I love that.

(29:17):
Okay, let’s talk about something really fun before we, we ta we put a bow on this. We both fallen in love with podcasting. Let’s just keep it real. We are two bitches, hundred percent like to talk.

(29:26):
We’re, I’m not gonna lie, we love to talk. Okay, you Kylie gotta like to talk a little bit if you wanna have a podcast at least one that’s engaging because sometimes, you know, stuff’s not always all that exciting, but you gotta find a way sometimes to make it exciting. So let’s talk about how much we love podcasting because I think it’s really helped you a come outta your box and be able to like get more people listening to your, to your stuff and then also a way for you to get into getting people into your bubble, right? Because I feel like it’s almost like this free access pass to ask people to come talk to you that you might not otherwise have had access to get an hour of, of their time to like quote unquote pick their break. So it’s, it’s like, [inaudible]

(30:01):
it’s like, it’s like being in high school and you have like the nicest house and the parents are never home.

(30:07):
Yes. I love that.

(30:09):
And it’s like the, it’s like where you got Shannon’s house cuz she’s got a cool house. Like it, it’s like when you’re in college or high school and you have the nice apartments and, and you go like, everyone’s gonna hang out at Shannon’s place. Why? Cause it’s like the nicest one. I felt like that again where like when you have a platform, when you have a space that people wanna be in and they wanna join you there, like, it it really does, you know, cultivate relationships and networking that you otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to have. Like there are people that I can reach out to and say, Hey, I have a show that gets 15,000 downloads a month and I would love to have you on. And it’s really hard for them to say no to that type of exposure or to these conversations, especially when you can get really specific about how you’re pitching them.

(30:50):
So I think as a host, uh, one of the, the side effects of my podcast, which I didn’t even think about this was I accelerated my networking 10 x because I’m inviting people to come quote unquote come to my house, come on my stage, come on my show, and, and having really good conversations with them that extend beyond the microphone, beyond the recording and um, and really building some great relationships. So I think that’s been an amazing part of the experience for me.

(31:16):
Yeah, I couldn’t agree more. I I had no idea the doors it would unlock or the network building that it would help me grow and getting to have conversations. Some have been wonderful, some have been, you know, it’s, it’s all, it’s all very interesting because I feel like not everyone’s a great interview, but it, it’s, it’s forced me to learn how to be a better interviewer.

(31:34):
Um, and to ask better questions. And I feel like that’s the best thing about life is like how can we get curious, more curious and to ask better questions because then you’re gonna learn more. And so selfishly as a podcast host for my own show on the Beauty Barry’s Beauty podcast and then now here with Fast Foundations, like I get to talk to such epic cool people and ask Brad questions that hopefully add so much value to other people that get them thinking about things they should be doing in their business in life. And it’s, the staff on podcasts are just so neat cuz there’s only, you know, 20% women that run podcast space right now that this is wild. So there’s plenty of rules if you’re listening to Shannon and I or maybe you had a coach like me that was like, you shouldn’t start one <laugh>.

(32:11):
It’s definitely a super fun, uh, platform to be able to share your voice, talk about the things that light you up and have awesome conversations with women like Shannon and all the other guests that we’ve had on this podcast so far. So, um, Shannon, we’re going into the end of the year. I’m never quite sure when these episodes drop for Fast foundations. Can you give us, I know you can defer your taxes for as long as you fucking want, so any tax advice at this point would probably be well received, but we are coming to the end of 2022. Any must haves or, or things that we need to know about or things you wanna drop or myth, myth bust again for us. I know you know so many things that you can’t Sure. Give us, give us excuse.

(32:49):
I have a couple of like timeless tax tips.

(32:51):
One is like, don’t spend a dollar to save 20 cents. So don’t think that tax deductions are somehow rebates. They’re not like the IRS isn’t paying your expenses, they’re not paying for your vehicle, they’re not paying for anything. What happens is that when you make a deduction or when you spend money on your business, it lowers your taxable income, it lowers your profit and it lowers what you’re taxed on. It’s more like a coupon than a gift card. So it’s not a dollar $4 benefit, you’re basically saving 20 cents on the dollar. So I say don’t, don’t spend a hundred to save 20 or you can add as many zeros to that as you want.

(33:26):
I feel like, wait a second, I feel like you just crushed every beauty professionals dream right now.

(33:33):
I know, I know

(33:33):
I think, I think every single one this is like, wait, what, what happened?

(33:36):
Yeah. for my early stage business owners, I wanna give you a heads up. If you have never started a business before, if you’re working a nine to five and you’re used to getting your paychecks and having the taxes taken out, there’s a couple things that are gonna happen when you’re in entrepreneurship. Number one is you’re gonna be slapped with a 15.3% self-employment tax. You got a plan for which knocks people out every single year as a big slap in the face in April where it’s like, what I thought I saved up enough money. And it’s like, nope, just kidding. And then the other one is that you are responsible to have the discipline to pay your taxes now. So it’s not taken out automatically. You actually have to go and pay on a quarterly basis some estimated taxes. The way the analogy I use Jess, you’ll love this, is if you’re going to a ho a hotel and you know when you go to the bar every night, you order a couple drinks And what do they always ask you when they hand you the tab?

(34:24):
Do you wanna put it on the room right now? Here’s the thing, as an entrepreneur, the whole year you’ve been putting it on the room and that bill comes in April under the door and you’re like, when did I have 62,000 margaritas? What happened? And what, and what happens is we all get shocked and we’re like, oh my God, I owe money. And it’s like, well yeah, you made money, you made all that money and you never had any taxes taken out of it, but we’re so conditioned to go, the money I get is the money I keep that we don’t understand that, that that wasn’t taken out and that we have that responsibility. So one of the best things you can do as an early stage business owner is create some type of system or discipline to set aside money before you really understand how much you get to keep and keep it out of sight, out of mind in a, you know, high yield savings account or somewhere where it’s set aside for tax time and you know that that is not your money.

(35:16):
Because I guarantee you that every business owner I talk to their first year, they get that sticker shock of the tax bill and they just get so scared and that just contributes to this horrible financial fear. We already have that. I just wanna avoid that as much as possible.

(35:30):
Yeah. Um, I or you’re completely off your rocker and you did that to yourself for the first 10 years of your career and you shocked every single time you did your taxes. I mean obviously once that was put in place, like life was, I was like, wow, I’ve, this is everything. Like stocking that money away, having it get pulled out every single Monday and do that savings account for me. And then when the time came for the tax to be paid on that quarterly, it was like such an amazing feeling. It it sounds so simple, but if you are now responsible for your own stuff, you guys gotta take a take advantage of that.

(36:01):
Um, you can get things transferred super easy and set that up like in five minutes. So that was a gate changer.

(36:06):
You’re in control. Yeah, you’re in control of the stress that it causes you. You can either let it cause you very little stress by creating a system or you can let it stress you out every year, uh, but you are in control of the level of stress that you have from your numbers. You really are.

(36:20):
We’ll just leave you guys with that. I hope you found some value in this podcast today, Shannon. Is there anything else we wanna leave everybody? Is there some powerful books that have changed your life when it comes to finances or is this roadmap for them the thing that they should really dive into and start with if they’re starting out?

(36:33):
I would absolutely start with the roadmap, but I would start with my number one book, the Secrets of the Millionaire Mind.

(36:38):
That is one of the number one financial mindset books and I actually got a copy of it in Fast Foundations. There you go. Uh, and it’s one of my favorite things to really shift how you think about money and how, let’s Jess put it, reframing your money and value away from your time and effort and into how you are capable of earning as much as you decide you wanna earn.

(36:58):
I love that. And for anybody on the fence who just found this podcast and they’re like, I don’t know, you mentioned something about a coach over a mastermind, like how do I know when I’m ready for one or the other? Do you have any like discerning like judgments on when one is better than the other?

(37:13):
I would say how, how much you need strategy and direction in something to tell you what to do versus someone to help you or guide you or tell you how to do something.

(37:25):
So it’s more of the, do you already have an idea of your next few stops on your destination and you just need someone to encourage you, support you and guide you through that in the back seat or in the front seat? Or do you need someone to help you really navigate and figure out what your next moves are going to be? I think it’s just the degree of strategy that you’re looking for. Uh, and also it really comes down to somebody you can trust, right? So if you’re having a coach and having someone that you really value their advice.

(37:52):
Yeah. Yeah, I couldn’t agree more. Um, you guys, if you love this episode of the Fast Foundations podcast, please let us know on Instagram, tag us, you can tag Shannon Weinstein, Jess Bergio or Fast Foundations. And if you are interested in joining the next round of Fast Foundations, the Mastermind, you can find all that information at fastfoundations.com where we have it all listed there for you.

(38:10):
We are right in the middle of our round right now and it’s been super exciting to watch everybody kind of grow and flourish. And a few people have started podcasts and a few people have like grown team members and done all the things. But, you know, watching you over the years, Shannon, you’ve just so inspired me and I just wanna personally shout you out and tell you that I think the world of you and I think what you’ve created for yourself and your family and now living your dream part-time in Costa Rica, which is what you wanted, like watching all that happen, I just couldn’t be more proud of you for one. And then two, just like soaked to know such a badass woman like you who is just making moves and helping so many people, just getting them right, getting their businesses right, like it’s everything.

(38:48):
So you’re, you’re amazing.

(38:50):
I I appreciate that so much cuz very few people understand the roots under the ground that had to be formed before the Tree could. And you’re one of the few people who probably seen a lot of the nitty gritty stuff that happened before. So I really appreciate that.

(39:04):
Yeah, and that’s just a reminder, that’s why I pointed out how long it took her to get where she’s at now, you guys, because it’s easy to compare someone’s step, you know, 500 to someone’s step one. And that’s not fair to do to yourself. So remind yourself of where you’re at, put your time in, do the work, grow, ask for help, find the right mentors and people. Listen to podcasts like Shannon and mine and, you know, ask for the help. It’s not it, it’s not a bad thing to ask for help. It’s actually a very, very empowering thing. So we’ll leave you with that and we’ll see you guys on the next episode of Fast Foundations, the podcast.

(39:35):
Thank you so much for tuning in. For more free business tips like this, make sure to subscribe to the podcast and follow us on Instagram at Fast.Foundations. What was your biggest takeaway from this episode? We wanna know, tag us on Instagram, share this episode with a friend and leave us a five star rating and review so we can reach more incredible entrepreneurs like you. We’re so glad to have you as part of our community. Go to our website fastfoundations.com for details on our next in-person event. This podcast Is sponsored by Carter and Custer agency at carterandcuster.com.