EP. 1 / Former TODAY show producer turned ‘Accidental Entrepreneur’ and Rachel Cruze has financial tips to quit your job or make a big life change
SHOW NOTES:
Oops I’m an entrepreneur! Meet Patrice Poltzer, an award-winning former TODAY show producer whose dream job at a startup flamed out quickly. That failure led her to be an ‘accidental entrepreneur,’ launching Patrice Poltzer Creative and despite serious financial struggles at first she says she’s “never been happier.” Plus financial expert and bestselling author Rachel Cruze, host of The Rachel Cruze Show, has super easy tips on how to prepare yourself financially for a big change and why you need to be debt-free - whether you’re shifting into entrepreneurship, to work part-time or to be a stay-at-home mom. And stick around to hear what happened when Aliza Friedlander, the publicist and producer of the show, assigned her husband to dress the kids (hint hint, it involves a retro diaper and ended up going viral).
LISTEN BELOW! And don’t forget to ‘follow’ and leave a rating & review!
Takeaways:
Patrice on why she didn’t envision herself as an entrepreneur: “I actually did think you needed to be special. I really thought that people that ran their own businesses and aspired to do that had certain traits and skills that I did not possess.”
Patrice on the financial uncertainty of being an entrepreneur: “I cut my salary in half that first year. We were really struggling financially. It was scary. And I went into debt…. what I lost in actual salary, I gained in softer things that are arguably way more impactful to the quality of your life and the happiness of your life.”
Patrice on her career high year 5: “I teach entrepreneurs how to storytell and use video in their business. I had 20 women and they all made signs on my last zoom class and they were just like, you're the best and they all held up signs for me and then they made me a video. I could cry now just thinking about it. And that was the moment where I'm like, I'm doing the right thing. I'm on the path. I've never felt so happy professionally.”
Rachel Cruze on how to know when you're financially ready to make a change: Make a budget and make it cover FSUT: Food, shelter, utilities, and transportation. Also include miscellaneous items.
Rachel Cruze: “I want you completely debt free, because when you have no payments, you have options. And then after that, save three to six months worth of expenses for emergency funds. (But you can make a career shift even while you're getting out of debt!)”
Rachel Cruze on when knowing you’re financially ready to make a change: “In a dream sense would be that you are able to replace your income just 1 step at a time. The goal would be that 1 to 1 hand off.”
Plus, our producer Aliza Friedlancer tells a funny story about the time her husband accidentally sent their child to school in just underwear and it went viral.
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GUESTS / EPISODE LINKS:
Guest Patricia Poltzer Official Website / Instagram
Rachel Cruze Official Website / Instagram
Aliza Friedlander Instagram
FULL PODCAST EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Kim Rittberg (00:04):
On this episode of mom's exit interview, you'll meet a former today show producer whose dream job at a startup turned into a nightmare and it led her to be an accidental entrepreneur.
Patrice Poltzer (00:16):
I never aspired to be an entrepreneur. I didn't believe in myself. I've never felt so happy.
Kim Rittberg (00:23):
Plus, you'll learn how to prepare your bank account for a career or life shift from financial expert, Rachel Cruz.
Rachel Cruze (00:30):
I want you completely debt free. Cause when you have no payments, you have options.
Kim Rittberg (00:36):
Leave your lanyard and swipe card at the door. Welcome to mom's. Exit your view, a podcast for moms seeking fulfillment and contentment outside the traditional nine to five, whether you're considering taking the leap or if you're already mid-air, this podcast is for you. You'll meet moms, poor consultants, entrepreneurs stay at home moms side hustles and part-time workers across various industries and levels. Plus every episode will have experts with tips so you can turn your inspiration into action. I'm Kim Rittberg. I was a Netflix executive and former head of video at us weekly, and I'm a mom of two. I quit the corporate world and I've never looked back, but I'm still on this journey. So join me. We don't need a boss to give us permission or a promotion to lead the lives we want.
Kim Rittberg (01:36):
First off, please. Don't forget to subscribe and review the show. We would really appreciate it. Now I am excited about today episode because it focuses on being an entrepreneur and in our guest case, an accidental entrepreneur, which you'll hear about, and it really proves that business people and their stories come in all forms. I love this topic because female entrepreneurship is on the rise. The us has more than 12 million women own business businesses. That's about 40% of all companies and those women owned businesses generate about 1.8 trillion annually. And in 2020 more women registered to start a business than men.
Kim Rittberg (02:19):
About our first guest, I have known Patrice puer for 10 years. We clawed our way up the ranks in media. We were both news producers. She was a today show producer who won the prestigious Gracie award for her coverage of Syrian refugees. Patrice is someone I've always looked at and admired. She has a similar skillset and was from the same industry. Media Patrice took the leap before me. So when I was thinking about working for myself, I watched her launch her business. I was thinking, okay, so how do her skills translate to finding clients and making money outside the walls of a media organization? Patrice's also been really generous and kind. I remember over lunch one day she shared with me some document templates. When I landed a big client, I was like, oh, what should this document look like? And of course she shared me into hers and I was so appreciative. Tell me a little bit about your career that led you up to your aha moment that made you wanna work for yourself.
Patrice Poltzer (03:27):
So my last media job was, I was a producer at the today show for about six years and during maternity leave with my second son, I was recruit to this fancy startup. And it was one of those opportunities where my boss of today's show was like, you have like, get outta here, like go do something different. You have got to take this. So I took this dream job and that dream job turned into the worst professional experience of my life and completely obliterated my esteem sense of self worth my identity. And so when that job died, a fiery death only like 90 days later, you know, I'd, you know, I'd like to say, oh, and then, you know, I always knew I wanted to work for myself, but that's just not true. I was at such a low point in my life that the thought of actually going back to corporate America to interview, I was not equipped.
Patrice Poltzer (04:27):
I had a newborn, I had a toddler and I had just essentially couldn't hack it outside the walls of the today show for more than 90 days. So my, um, not so inspirational entrance into entrepreneurship life was one of, I'll just take on a few projects while my esteem recovers. And then I'm gonna go back to corporate America. I never aspired to be an entrepreneur, which I don't think you tend to hear a lot. I think the word on the street tend to be, I was running lemonade stand when I was five. And I was so entrepreneurial, even when I was young and everyone knew it, no one would probably say that about me.
Kim Rittberg (05:12):
I laugh at you saying that because, so my dad was an immigrant and total hustler, a workaholic had his own business. I admir respected him, but I was not like, oh, I can't wait to run my own business one day. That was like, not on my radar, but of course, like you said, running your own lemonade stand. I started selling jewelry and making jewelry. And I was president of, of student government and I loved organizing things, but I would say, no, I like to just make things happen, but I wouldn't call myself an entrepreneur. And of course like here we are, we're entrepreneurs. And we envision something that just isn't the face of entrepreneurship is, is many. There are many phases of entrepreneurship.
Patrice Poltzer (05:49):
Uh, yeah, no, absolutely. And, um, you know, I think I just didn't even think that was a possibility for me. Not because I didn't believe in myself, but I just didn't even, I actually did think you needed to be special. Like before I entered this crazy life, I really thought that people that ran their own businesses and aspired to do that had certain traits and skills that I did not possess.
Kim Rittberg (06:17):
I wanna hear more about that moment where you just took your work badge and you threw it in the garbage and you set it on fire and said, I'm never going back to this job. And you thought you were going back to corporate America, but you knew you had to leave that job. Tell me about your mindset, where, where you were at. Right then
Patrice Poltzer (06:34):
When I was at the today show, um, this was in 2016. I was at my peak career. I mean, I had just won a Gracie award for, you know, my reporting overseas in refugee camps. I was flown to LA with all the, you know, Natalie Morales and Hoda and Kathy Lee, you know, in media, it takes so long to establish your worth in that industry. And then to finally feel like you're at a place where, oh my God, you're getting recognized for what you do. And so I finally felt like, oh my gosh, I feel so settled. But I started getting like really into Snapchat and at the time Snapchat, like mom and I started amassing this following on Snapchat and little did I know was following me on Snapchat. He was the CEO of this new media startup company. And he reached out to me on Snapchat and I turned them down because I'm like, oh, I, I am at the tan day show. Like I am leaving on a high when they kept giving me more money and this and that. And so finally it was just like, oh my God, I gotta, I gotta take this. So I didn't return back. And so I was so excited start this new experience.
Kim Rittberg (07:40):
All right. So your, your exciting hot media startup job flames out. Yes. It's, it's mutual. You're never talking again. It's a really bad breakup. Okay. So it was bad. It's bad. You start picking up some jobs and then you're going to start applying to new full-time media, uh, roles. Okay. So then why not go back? Why didn't you go back to full-time media?
Patrice Poltzer (08:04):
Well, what ended up happening was, you know, you start, you don't realize what you didn't have until you realize a different way of life. So coming from the media world, I know you understand this it's intense and while it's great and it's exciting and you feel, you feel like you're almost at the center of the universe. I will say that after I had children being in media, I was like, this, this isn't gonna work. This isn't sustainable. Because as you know, you know, media, it's weird hours, you know, breaking news happens and you can be at work for the next 48 hours straight. And they don't really care if you are still nursing, they don't really care. If you have small kids that need to get picked up in the middle of the day, it's like you, who, who else wants your job? You have like a line of people waiting to take your place.
Patrice Poltzer (08:54):
So, you know, when I got out of that atmosphere of just always going and on that hamster wheel and always feeling like I was only as good as the last story that I made, I started realizing, oh my God, I actually like this freedom, like this freedom to choose and this freedom to think about, well, what do I really, you wanna do? And you start to realize that like, oh my God, there are other things outside the halls of media and NBC. And then you would start talking to people about, well, yeah, you know, this person and this person, and they'd look at you, like you had five heads and you're, and you start to realize, wow, like you're really in this small bubble. And there's a world of possibility outside those walls. And I had never really been exposed when you're in media or at a job, you don't really go to networking events. You start meeting all these different people. And it was just like, this whole world started opening up to me. And that's when the wheels started turning in 2017. When I kept delaying looking for media jobs, you know, I was like, oh, I'll do it next month. Or I'll, I'll, I'll look back into if there's any availability at ex station next month. And I, and I just like, couldn't bring myself to do it. I felt like sad about it. So that's kind of when the, the, the mentality started to shift for me.
Kim Rittberg (10:17):
And, and I'm gonna tell the listeners that Patrice is one of those people that opened up my eyes, because I also obviously came from media, worked as a producer for like 10 years in news and lifestyle, and then hour long shows. And then finally I was running us weekly's video unit. And, you know, when I was on I second Matt leave and it was cut to three weeks and my whole team was quitting. Cause we were acquired and it was really messy. I was thinking, oh, I have all of these skills, but where do I put them? Like, how are they applicable to anything besides working at a media company, it's really hard to see outside the four walls. And so Patrice, you were one of those people. Oh my gosh, I saw you were, you've always been sort of like, um, you know, a mentor mutual mentor.
Kim Rittberg (11:03):
Um, no, but I think that you, you I've always looked at what you're doing and said, okay, Patrice, I have similar backgrounds and, and not the same, but similar skill sets. And you seem to have opened up your worldview beyond the four wall of your existing job. And that's not just media. I think everyone feels that way. I have, we did a survey of we're now at hundreds of, of moms across the country for this podcast. And a lot of the questions were, how do I find a job or how do I find something else that isn't just my job in education or my job as a psychotherapist or my job as whatever. How does it apply to other things? Anyway, I felt like you had opened your worldview larger. And I thought that was really amazing. So I wanna, I wanna take that to say, so then how did you start getting jobs? What sort of clients were you landing? Like how did it go from you and a, and a camera and an editing laptop to having a business? How did that start?
Patrice Poltzer (11:58):
When I started, I didn't have anyone to look up to, like, I didn't want to start a video production company. That was never my goal because I wasn't thinking about it. Right. I was like, Ugh, I, I don't wanna run around with video and a tripod, even though what I was doing in the beginning. I mean, I think about my first client and I'm mortified, like actually mortified,
Kim Rittberg (12:20):
But to be fair, I am mortified. Every time I leave a job or two, I look back at something I made at that job. And I think, oh, that was so bad and it's not bad. It just were very critical.
Patrice Poltzer (12:30):
I never understood about, you know, the money and like brands and branded content. That wasn't my world. And so when I went to this startup, I was in branded content land. So all of a sudden my projects were like, okay, Unilever just gave us, you know, 50 grand, it's your job now to go, you know, make some funny content, uh, that's sponsored by Unilever. I mean, 50, it was more like a hundred grand, 200 grand to
Kim Rittberg (12:53):
Leave was like, where's the rest of your ad agency? And you're like, I'm it? Well, you
Patrice Poltzer (12:57):
Were, yeah. I mean, that was kinda the, you know, I'd be like, they, this is crazy town. Like they're talking from a marketing hat, like that's boring. Like no one's gonna watch that video. So I was already coming at it with our, you know, when you have an editorial lens on. So I remember thinking I could do this video for $50,000 and they're paying my company $200,000, like this is insanity. And so even though I didn't realize it, then there, that was like percolating in my brains. So my first client was this vitamin company. And I, I wanna say I got it from, I think I went on my Facebook and I made an announcement that, you know, I'm very official. I was very official. I mean, I had no website. I had, you know, I still had Gmail. You know, I was like pul at Gmail. I mean, I had, I had nothing.
Kim Rittberg (13:48):
Don't make fun. You, you are the person who made me get a professional email as well. So it's important to get,
Patrice Poltzer (13:54):
I only like pass on information. I ended up meeting this woman and we, we got on right away and it turns out she ran the marketing department for a big VC firm in New York. She goes, you're my video girl. Like we have all these companies you're gonna come in and like, you're gonna do all the video for all of our companies. I'm like sweet. So I didn't really realize that I had pitch myself. So she goes, Hey, can you, um, just send me like your website? So I didn't have a website. So I was like, oh my God, no problem. So I quick went to Squarespace. I slapped together like a landing page and I didn't know what I was doing. So I put like a photo of me with a giraffe with the camera. She goes, can I be very blunt out with you?
Patrice Poltzer (14:36):
And I said, oh my gosh, of course she goes, what in the actual F and beep is your website. I think you're great. But like, I can't, you gotta get, like, you gotta get a website. She goes, you should change your Gmail. I've been thinking of, I have to level up because I, the whole time I was thinking, I'm just freelancing. I'm just doing this for a little bit. I'm going back to corporate America. This isn't what I wanna do. This isn't real. Like, I'm just trying to not be depressed anymore and get, so I was never really taking myself seriously. And so why would anyone else take me seriously when I really wasn't giving it? My all, it was like, I'm gonna give myself six months to like fake it. Like almost like fake being a business owner, like fake being a founder. I'm not a freelancer anymore. I'm a founder. And in that shift is when things started to happen. I started landing bigger projects and I, I partnered with a production team. So I don't use freelancers anymore. I have a steady team.
Kim Rittberg (15:40):
There can be a lot of weakness in the term, freelancer. Not that it's a negative thing, but sometimes it could be a weakness to ourselves cuz we don't think of ourselves as like running a company. The leveling up is really funny because it is important obviously. And even people like you and I who know the value of branding and media, it's not even automatic to get a nice website quickly because it's work. It's always work. It's always time. It's always money
Patrice Poltzer (16:04):
Back to the website thing. A website is the least of your worries. Like that is not the reason. And that's not why I started getting jobs, but you need something. You know? So like even my simple DIY landing page was like, it just wasn't even reflective of what I did. You know?
Kim Rittberg (16:25):
But I, I would say though that even though website might be the least of your worries, I would say you have to own Google. Like the first thing someone's gonna do, if you're trying to get people to hire you. Oh yeah. Is they're gonna Google your name. Oh. And they're also gonna assume whatever is the website for you, whether that's your jewelry business or your furniture company or just you that's the site that you put up. Yeah. So other people quoting you at somebody else's site. That's somebody else's information. That's earned media. That's somebody else's journalism. But if you're owning your own site, it doesn't have to be perfect, but it should represent something to what you're doing. Oh yeah. Cause I agree. I think sometimes nowadays people can, people can send them, send people, can send potential customers to Instagram, to YouTube, to TikTok, whatever, to see what you do. But the truth is if you do have a website, even if it's super, super simple, I do think it needs to be on brand. I think that you learned a good lesson about that. That I, not that it has to be the biggest, best website. It doesn't have to be expensive, but it should say what you do at the bare minimum. It should reflect what you want them to see. I asked Patrice about the financial impact of going out on her own
Patrice Poltzer (17:26):
What I was making in my last, you know, the startup job. And even at the today show my first year in business, I made less than half that. So what I cut in half my salary that first year. So when you don't know about business and you don't know what you're doing and you're staring at that number, all I'm thinking is this isn't working like you have this. But what I realize now being in business is that actually even making what I made my first year and it wasn't even a full year, wasn't actually bad. It was actually like a good positive. It was like a warm sign. Like you're warm, you're on the path. Like me and my husband had to talk about it because he had also, when I had taken, um, my startup job, he had taken a risk. He had left his steady job to take a career risk.
Patrice Poltzer (18:16):
So he also was doing like entrepreneurship things and, and, and it takes a while to ramp up. So we were really struggling financially. It was scary. And like I went into debt, he believed in me. I believed in him, we have family in Europe. So like we're going to Europe all the time in the summer. So it seems really glamorous. But like no one knew, like we were in very, very bad debt and it was scary. I don't think enough. A lot of people talk about finances, but I also don't think a lot of women are honest and say like it doesn't, I'm starting my own thing cuz it's not as, as risky. So it like, doesn't matter as much to like the financial stability of the house. So I wanna say like, I actually think that it was better that I had that pressure because I think when you don't have that financial pressure, I don't think my hustle would've been the same. My hustle was like a, because I'm like, oh my God, I don't wanna be in debt. I'm too old. I felt like I'm too old to be in debt. And my husband always said no. Like he always was like, no, like I know you can do this. Like I know you like you're, you know? And so I, I kept at it.
Kim Rittberg (19:26):
And how is your income through your company?
Patrice Poltzer (19:27):
And so, um, my, my good, in addition to having video production, I now, you know, because everything's shut, um, I started getting into teaching and like teaching entrepreneurs, how to story tell and use video in their business. And that this digital part of my business is exploded. And last year I, so this is this past year was the second. So I started top of 2020. And so that was like 25% maybe of my income last year, it was 50. Um, and this year it's, it's gonna be more than that. And I'm already like outpaced almost my, so it's, it's like I'm in the, I I'm in the role now, but it takes five years. I swear to God, it takes five years. Like people who say people who say that it takes less, but there's a reason that most businesses, that five year mark is kind of that mythical mark, because you, you know, you know, by year five or, you know, by year four, really, if like it's sustainable, you're managing that against lifestyle choices.
Patrice Poltzer (20:36):
So, you know, yes. Maybe I'm making more money in that startup job or, you know, I I'm I'm, I'm like where I was, where I was, I'm past where I was when I left my startup job. Thank God. But like, even though I was making less money the first like three and a half years of my business, I, I was so present. Like I, I mean I was around, I could do whatever I want with my kids. I didn't have the stress of a boss. So what you, maybe what I lost in actual salary, I gained in like so many other softer quote unquote softer things that are arguably way more impactful to the quality of your life and the happiness of your life.
Kim Rittberg (21:23):
So now you're in your five. Have you exceeded your full-time income from when you were or having a full-time job? Yes,
Patrice Poltzer (21:28):
I have exceeded my income. So that is a that's. That's awesome. But this whole teaching side of the business, I love it. I did not know that about myself until 18 months ago that I would love forming these online communities of women and, and, and like, it, it lights me up. So I actually go to bed at night thinking I cannot wait to like get up in the morning. Cause I just wanna like start finishing up the course I'm working on and I can't wait to talk about it. So even though I'm working more, I feel like it's so much more purposeful and I've gotten way choosier about the people that I work with. I've gotten, every person goes through this. I've I've had some, her horrific experiences. Like one of my clients ruined Christmas one year. Cause I like cried for like day. I mean, so, you know, you, you learn, you only learn through like saying yes to everything and letting everyone in your space cuz you just wanna make you're like so excited people wanna give you money.
Patrice Poltzer (22:23):
You're like, oh my God, people are gonna give me money. Like yes, yes, yes. And then all of a sudden you like, this is, oh, this is, this doesn't feel good. And I'm working all the time and I'm working with people. I don't like, so last year I burnt out pretty bad. And so I actually, for the first, like if you like, even this year, I turned down a lot of business and I never, and it doesn't make me nervous if I, yeah. Part of me is like, oh, cause I think in day care cost, you know, I'm like, that's my baby's daycare for six months. Like what am I doing? But I know now that there's an energy transfer. And if I say yes to these jobs, that don't make me excited, then I'm not gonna be working on stuff that will make me excited. And I think in the long run have a or opportunity, but this is I'm five years into this. Like I was not thinking like this year three, you know,
Kim Rittberg (23:15):
I, I agree with you very much. I am like many people. I find it really hard to say no. And I have started to turn down work because I realize, well, how many hours is that gonna be? Can I fit it in? I have other projects, like actually this is gonna stretch me too thin. I'm gonna resent it. I also I'm like, well, I don't wanna be a bad service provider. I have been better about saying thank you so much for thinking of me. Uh here's another person I think would be great for this. How does being a parent impact your decisions?
Patrice Poltzer (23:45):
Oh, I mean, well it, it impacts everything. I mean, just from, just from a straight up logistics, you know, I, I just like, I like being a mom and so I, I think the way that it impacts it, but I also like really love my business. And my husband Ali is like, you know, very involved and supportive. So I don't feel like I might feel differently if I felt like I had to do everything. Like if I had to do all the mommying and all the parenting and all the grunt work, and then I had to have this business, I might feel resentful, but that's just not the dynamic that I have with my husband. My job is just as important as his job, even if he makes more money now, like it doesn't matter. It's not a money thing for us. It's like, this is just as it important, you know? So it makes everything a lot easier.
Kim Rittberg (24:29):
Your sweetest moment where you realize you're doing this, right? Like you're just feeling great about yourself.
Patrice Poltzer (24:34):
Okay. I remember my last class I had, I had like 20 women and they all made signs on my last zoom class and they were just like, you're the best. Thank you. You're the great. And they all held up signs for me. And then they made me a video. Like they made me, my students a video thanking. I, I was, oh my God. First of all, I'm a crier anyway. Like there's not a day. I like don't cry. I was like, next level. I remember being like, oh my, like I can't handle this. Like I, I could cry now just thinking about it. And that was the moment where I'm like, I'm doing the right thing. I'm on the path. I've never felt so happy professionally outside of like my refugee stories, honestly, that was like the highlight of my career. And then this honestly was like a highlight and it, it gave, gave me the fuel to keep on going. Cuz if there's a lot of self-doubt along this road,
Kim Rittberg (25:34):
I just got, I just got the tingles. Oh you
Patrice Poltzer (25:36):
Did. That
Kim Rittberg (25:37):
Was that's so sweet.
Patrice Poltzer (25:38):
Yeah. Oh my God. They that's so amazing. It
Kim Rittberg (25:40):
Was amazing. I'll never forget my, my team at us weekly when I left, they made a scrap look. Oh, these nice things about how I was such a nice boss and I'm not a crier. I
Speaker 4 (25:52):
Don't look at me. There's something in my eye. It's very dusty in here.
Kim Rittberg (25:57):
I was so touched. Like I'm really not a crier. I was so touched. It was, it was amazing. It's always so fun to chat with Patrice. You can follow her on Instagram at Patrice Poltzer and she offers storytelling courses. Her contact information will also be in the show notes. Patrice talked about the financial stresses of starting her own business and the stress and fear around debt. Next, we have Rachel Cruz with tips on how to make the finance work when you're shifting, whether it's launching a business or downshifting in your career, Let's talk money, honey. Earlier we heard from Patrice, the accidental entrepreneur. Yeah. I'm gonna keep using that phrase. And now I wanna bring in Rachel Cruz, she has a number one New York times, best selling author, financial expert and host of the Rachel cruise show. She's got tips on how to budget to make a career shift, specific financial tips for entrepreneurs and why you need to get out of debt. So we've been doing a survey for this podcast and moms have been asking us questions and a lot of people wanna know, how do you know when you're financially ready to make a shift either you're full-time and you're shifting to part-time or you're shifting to a different area, or you wanna be an entrepreneur. How do you know when you're financially ready?
Rachel Cruze (27:25):
Well, let's say number one, you have to know where you are. So doing a budget is really important. And so I, I teach people to do a monthly budget, so I would get even a sheet of paper out or Excel or the every dollar app, like whatever it is that you say, okay, I'm gonna look at next month's budget. Let's let's set all of the categories that we spend the money on. And I would love for you to include some giving saving, and then first focus on what I call your four walls. So that's food, shelter, utilities, and transportation. So making, making sure your mortgage or rent is gonna be paid that the lights aren't gonna be cut off, you have enough money for food. So figure those four categories out, then anything under that, then you can prioritize and say, okay, you know, here's the category for, um, shopping.
Rachel Cruze (28:05):
Here's a category for, um, you know, miscellaneous things that are going on in our life with our kids, you know, whatever it is, have other categories under that and then say, okay, here is the state of the union of our household finances. So let's say I take my income and I lower it by, you know, half, because say you're cutting your income in half by making this transit. Okay. How much can you live on that? Looking at your budget, your budget really is that game plan to say, Hey, here's where the money runs out. And if it runs out before the food line item of your budget, it's probably not a smart move right now. You wanna be able to eat. So I would say really making sure, okay. The things that are necessary to be paid that we know for sure that will be paid no matter what, but I think a dream sense would be that you are able to replace your income just one step at a time.
Rachel Cruze (28:48):
So meaning, um, it just within that one step that you've built up your side hustle so much that, you know, if I can put X amount of hours more to that, that's how much more I'm gonna be able to bring in. Um, that would be the goal obviously is to be able to just kind do that one to one handoff. But again, if you're in a position that you're able to cut back a little bit more, more, um, and bring in less and you're okay, and the whole household is not shaken financially, then you're able to do that.
Kim Rittberg (29:13):
Is there a certain amount of savings you recommend having
Rachel Cruze (29:18):
Well in general? Yes. So I would love for you to be completely debt free. And then after that save three to six months worth of expenses it's so that three to six month fully funded emergency funds is, is a huge goal to have. And if you have that, then making the jump of switching careers, again, even if your income goes down, then that's very doable. If you have no payments and you're debt free and you have three to six months of expenses saved in the bank, then yeah, I think you're able to take that gamble and that jump a little bit sooner. Um, but that savings yeah. Is, is very important. But again, I think you can make a career shift even while you're getting outta debt. When you know, I'm still gonna be bringing in this income and I'm gonna choose to do that because I know I I'm able to replace my income or whatever it may be. Uh, you can still make that shift while you're getting outta debt.
Kim Rittberg (30:06):
How do you recommend looking at that financially if someone's interested in downshifting or shifting to part-time?
Rachel Cruze (30:14):
Yeah. So I would say, you know, when you're looking at the debt piece specifically, cause a big part of my message is getting people outta debt that I want you completely debt free. Cause when you have, have no payments, you have options when you don't owe anyone, anything it's amazing what can happen in life. So that is a, that is a big goal I have for people. So I would say to look to see, okay, how long would it take for me to be in my current position of what I'm making now? And if I threw as much money at this at my debt, how quickly could I be outta debt? You know? And for some people on average, it's 18 to four months. So maybe you say, okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna stay in this job for nine more months, even though I really wanna downshift.
Rachel Cruze (30:48):
And I kind of wanna pull out a little bit more, but like I'm, I'm going to stick it out for nine months because I'm gonna be able to get outta debt that much sooner. And so maybe it's, it's again, it's, it's really a values question for you to say, you know, if you are miserable and you're like, and, and you, you know, I think I have a friend in her, she's a child at home that really needs her more at home right now because of behavior stuff, all of that. And for her, she's like, it's a value of mine to be, so maybe it takes me a little bit longer to get out debt. But as a mom, this is what I wanna do. Because even while you're home, you can still be doing stuff to bring in, in income. So it, I would say it really depends on each per and their story and what they want. I mean, I talk to people all the time that they, they just bust it and they get outta debt within, you know, 12 months. And then they're like, oh, okay, good. I'm gonna just, I can pull back. And I feel great about that, where other people are like, I wanna do it sooner. So, um, so I would say it's a values question that you have to decide for yourself.
Kim Rittberg (31:42):
I was that person in their twenties, like shoving twenties under the mattress. I was such a little squirrel with the acorns. And then when I finally paid off my college debt, I was like metaphorical champagne toast. I, I still won't buy myself champagne to cheers, but like I was so proud to be done with my college debt. I think I was 30. Anyway. It was like really exciting. And I, so Rachel, what are some tips for people who wanna start their own business or become an entrepreneur?
Rachel Cruze (32:09):
Yeah. I mean, when you're an entrepreneur and you have your actual own business, I do wanna separate your business finances and your household finances. So out of that muddling, the two can get really messy just from an accounting standpoint. And so out of your business say, Hey, I'm gonna pay myself a set salary. And that goes into your household finances. And once it kind of crosses that line, then you do your household budget and everything else on that end. Uh, but I think sometimes for entrepreneurs, they can kind of muddle the two. So I would keep them very separate just for a clean purpose to know here's how much I have in my business. Here's how much we have at home. Uh, and it helps you make good business and household decisions cause of that.
Kim Rittberg (32:53):
And before we go, you are going to hear a funny little story from a fellow mom. This one is from Ali Friedlander who helps produce and publicize this podcast.
Speaker 5 (33:04):
I went back to work after being a stay at home mom for many, many years. And my husband was doing the morning routine for the first time. Since I had an early morning commitment, I was going to interview Michelle Obama's former speech writer. And I have an event with her for a story I was working on and he did a wonderful job, made them mcg, go. My breakfast, got them ready, made their lunches, cleaned their ears from getting their ears pierced. He remembered to do everything, except it turns out my daughter ended up at school somehow in her underwear and not just any kind of underwear, but potty training underwear that I'm pretty sure were saved by my mother from when I was a kid. So it was this pair of white cotton underwear that looked like short shorts from the front. But from the back they had this thick pad to absorb when you were potty training. So he, you know,
Speaker 5 (34:00):
Sent them to school in their underwear and everyone got a good laugh, including the internet. Because as a writer, I felt like this was a story that all working parents could relate to. I wanted to share it. I wanted to use my journalism and emerging media skills to tell this story I did. And lo and behold, it went viral. And now my daughter getting sent to school in her underwear will forever live on the internet and we just keep laughing about it it's years later. And it is still just a running joke. Funny story that we always go back to and always gives us a big smile. Everybody, including my daughter,
Kim Rittberg (34:50):
If you're still listening, that means you enjoyed this podcast. So please subscribe and tell your friends and also please leave a of review. That is how you can say, I love this show and you know what? Don't stop at your friends. Share it with anyone, even your enemies fr enemies. You can find our show notes at my website, Kimrittberg.com. It's also in the show notes. Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter and connect with me on Instagram or LinkedIn at KimRittberg don't forget to visit. So my website, we're gonna have lots of resources there @kimrittberg.com. This episode was produced by Henry street, media edited by John Holowitz with producing and publicity assistance from Aliza Friedlander. See you next time.