S26E8: Healing Financial Trauma with Alejandra Rojas

Hey lady! It’s almost the halfway point of the year. Are you making progress with your financial goals? If you’re still stuck in old patterns and running the same loop of financial management mishaps that lead to paycheck-to-paycheck scenarios then this episode is for you.
 
Alejandra Rojas is an entrepreneur, Forbes contributor, writer and the founder and CEO of Brown Way to Money, a financial mentoring platform that helps women overcome financial trauma and improve their relationship with money. She’s also the host of the podcast Brown Way to Money. As a trauma-informed financial coach, Alejandra helps you get to the root of your money wounds so that you can reframe your financial situation and begin to speak life into your bank accounts.
 
Lady, every day is a great day to restart your money plan and move yourself to solid financial footing. So, if you’ve turned off your notifications and ignore when your bank statements come in the mail let this episode be a gentle guide into taking accoutability of your financial past so that you can take ownership of your prosperous financial future. Warm up a nice cup of tea, grab your Cultivating H.E.R. Space journal and get ready to take notes. Alejandra has actionable tips you can implement today for a brighter financial tomorrow!
 
Quote of the Day:
“Being ambitious is a bad thing is one of the most ingrained beliefs we hold…when in reality, it’s what transforms everything.”
– Alejandra Rojas 


Where to find Alejandra Rojas:
Website: Alejandrar.com
Podcast: Brown Way to Money
Instagram: @moneymindsetexpert
LinkedIn: Alejandra Rojas  

Goal Map Like a Pro Workbook
Cultivating H.E.R. Space Sanctuary  

Resources:
Dr. Dom’s Therapy Practice
Branding with Terri
Melanin and Mental Health
Therapy for Black Girls 
Psychology Today
Therapy for QPOC  

Where to find us:
Twitter: @HERspacepodcast
Instagram: @herspacepodcast
Facebook: @herspacepodcast
Website: cultivatingherspace.com

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/cultivating-h-e-r-space-uplifting-conversations-for-the-black-woman--5470036/support.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
On this week's episode of Cultivating her Space.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Owning your voice means what you have to say is valid, period,
and of this story. What you want is what you want,
what you stand behind with your beliefs, the way that
you manage money, what you want to do is yours.
And we have to get comfortable in that again because
as a black woman, we have not been taught how

(00:26):
to be comfortable with that. Instead, we have been couraged
to just keep silent a lot of the times.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
Hey, lady, have you ever felt like the world just
doesn't get you? Well, we do.

Speaker 1 (00:43):
Welcome to Cultivating her Space, the podcast dedicated to uplifting
and empowering women like you.

Speaker 3 (00:50):
We're your hosts, doctor Dominique Broussard and educator and psychologists.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
And Terry Lomax, a techie and transformational speaker.

Speaker 3 (00:59):
Join us every week for authentic conversations about everything from
fibroids to fake friends as we create space for black
women to just b.

Speaker 1 (01:12):
Before we dive in, make sure you hit that follow
button and leave us a quick five star review. Lady.
We are black founded and black owned, and your support
will help us reach even more women like you.

Speaker 3 (01:23):
Now, let's get into this week's episode of Cultivating her Space,
it's doctor dom here from the Cultivating her Space podcast.
Are you currently a resident of the state of California
and contemplating starting your therapy journey? Well, if so, please
reach out to me at doctor Dominique Brusard dot com.

(01:46):
That's d R D O M I N I q
U E b R O U ss ar d dot
com to schedule a free fifth minute consultation. I look
forward to hearing from.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
You, lady. If you're in a space in life where
you want to get your money right, or you have
financial goals that you're not quite sure how to achieve,
our guest today has some gems just for you. Alijandra
Rojas is an entrepreneur, Forbes contributor, writer, and founder of
Bround Way to Money, a financial mentoring platform that helps

(02:26):
women overcome financial trauma and improve their relationship with money,
and she's also the host of the Brown Way to
Money podcast. Alejandra provides a unique blend of financial expertise
and trauma informed coaching, empowering women of color to break
free from limiting beliefs and create financial abundance. She delves

(02:48):
into the emotional and psychological roots of money problems, helping
women heal from past experiences and develop a healthier, empowered
relationship with their finances. I don't know about you, but
I got my notepad here and my pen I'm ready
to take some notes. Welcome to Cultivating her Space, Alejandra.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
Thank you so much, so happy to be here.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
You're so welcome.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
Yes, we are definitely looking forward to this conversation. And
so we're going to go to our quote of the day.
And Alexandra, this will sound really familiar to you because
these are your words. As we were doing research, we
came across lots of gyms in your social media accounts,

(03:36):
and so our quote of the day, Being ambitious as
a bad thing is one of the most ingrained beliefs
we hold, when in reality it's what transforms everything. All right, Yeah, now,
to make sure that everybody heard this, and because I

(03:57):
messed up initially, we're gonna run that back one time.
Being ambitious is a bad thing is one of the
most ingrained beliefs we hold when in reality it transforms everything.

(04:17):
That's right.

Speaker 1 (04:18):
Yes, okay, So our.

Speaker 3 (04:20):
Hundreds tell us when when you hear your words reflected
back to you, tell us, give us some context. What
what does that really mean when you say like it
transforms everything?

Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yeah, just it's just so much just to hear it back.
Because here's the thing. We believe that what we have
like money problems, that the root of the problem is
that we are not good with the number, that we
are not good understanding how to deal with the finances.

(04:53):
But what we really need to tap in into is
really in thinking, well, what does numbers mean to me
and why they are meaning this limited perception, this limited
idea and as a black woman, as a black culture,

(05:15):
I'm Latina, I'm a black Latina, Black Latinos. We have
so much narrative around being quote unquote grateful for what
we have and not being encouraged enough to aspire for more.

(05:36):
Because we have this limitation with ambition, we know that
we should be more ambitious, but not too much, not
too much to draw attention, not too much to you know,
be as the next billionaire or trillionaire in town. Just

(05:57):
be enough ambitious enough so that you can go two
steps ahead, but be careful with how much ambition you
are like asking for So I think that's that's one
of the quotes I love the most, and That's one
of the beliefs I love to debunk the most because
everything starts on how you are understanding your where are

(06:19):
you going? Without ambition, we don't have a norse. Where
are you going? You want to get out of a
financial situation, then ten x that ambition, ten X those dreams,
ten eggs. That those the narrative around what you want
to do, and you will really find what are the

(06:40):
limiting beliefs that you are holding. That is why I
love it. Thank you so much for sharing. That is
so powerful, Alejandra. So, Alejandra, can you tell us your
origin story, like how did you become the Alejandra Rohause
that sits with us today? Yes? So I am a

(07:00):
finance girl through and through. My parents are both accountants,
and I just went down that path as well. But
I didn't want to deal with taxes, so I was like,
I need something different than what they are doing. But
I truly fell in love on understanding the human interactions,
how people just understand their lives through the numbers. So

(07:24):
I would sit down with my dad he was working
at the table doing invoices, and I will help him
and do all this admin and stuff, and it was
a natural path for me to go into university to
study finances, and I wanted to be the Wall Street girl.
I wanted to be the bank and all that. Quickly

(07:44):
understood that wasn't the path for me, because again I
wanted to understand human behavior through money, not just numbers
on a screenwrite. So I finished my university and I
quickly got high. I finished my university at in Madrid,
and I quickly got hired to work in Washington, DC.

(08:06):
And then was when the big girl job started. And
I had a lot of you know, I'm very good
at what I do since very early because of the
exposure that my parents gave me. Right, and I got
this at this point of my life where I was

(08:26):
just checking all the boxes. I had the job, I
had the quote unquote success, I had the money, I
had the everything that they said young professionals should have.
I did. What I did not have was the understanding
of where I was right. I was like just chasing

(08:48):
these experiences, must have experiences and things, and I ended
up in burned out. So six months into my job
into having amount of money coming in, I also had
a massive amount of debt accumulating and as the nerd

(09:10):
that I am with money. I was like, why is
this happening to me? It is not about financial literacy,
because I have financial literacy. I've been having financial literacy
since I am nine years old, right, I went to
university to study for this, Like why is it that
I'm not able to say no to happy hours? That

(09:34):
I know that my credit card is exploding, but I
will push it one more day just to go and
have them. Like why is it that I am keeping
up with this way of living? If when I arrived home,
I am crying and vomiting until I fell asleep. And

(09:57):
that was the moment when I wanted to turn things around,
when I realized what I was living wasn't really anything
for me. Like I wanted to travel the world. That
was my promise with my great grandpa. My great grandpa
passed before I was eighteen, before I turned eighteen, and

(10:17):
it was our promise that when I turn eighteen, we
will travel the world. So I wanted to do that
and I couldn't because I was in this financial mess situation.
And when it was time to turn it around, I
was like, wait a minute, I know how strategically to

(10:41):
get there, So why is it that I have not
done it. And in that search, I understood that there
was way more than just the strategy and the numbers,
and I found things like relationship to money, relationship ship
to success, financial trauma, and the narratives that we have

(11:05):
around money. And I understood more and more the behaviors
that I was having, and that was what slowly led
me to start, you know, mentoring other people to see
money in a different way, especially those that were in
the entrepreneurial path, because they were more open to understand

(11:28):
what they were doing that were stopping them to grow
with their businesses. And then, you know, seven years later,
here I am with a whole framework understanding that money
is not this just one you know, substruction pluses and
minuses money. When we are talking about humans, it's about

(11:51):
our stories and how we relate to those different stories
and numbers. And if we talk about women of color,
we I also need to talk about that generational kind
of narratives, any stories that comes with money. So that's
me in a nut chill.

Speaker 3 (12:12):
Wow, thank you for sharing that. I think one of
the things that I really appreciate, well, there are lots
of things that I appreciate about what you share. But
two of the things that I that definitely stand out
for me, particularly as a psychologist who studies human behavior,
is that aspect, that psychological and emotional aspect that's tied

(12:37):
into our relationship with money and our decisions around money.
And the other thing that stood out to me is
the acknowledgement that even as you have the education and
the degrees in money management right, that you still Bill

(13:00):
found yourself in a position where you weren't you weren't
following the principles, you were having money issues yourself right.
And what I appreciate about that is that, to me,
what it shows is that we can have the knowledge

(13:22):
and there are still barriers that will keep us from
being able to take appropriate action with the knowledge that
we have. And so one of the things that that's
coming up for me as you were sharing your story
is this understanding of trauma associated with our relationships with money,

(13:51):
particularly for black women. And now ale Hans you in
Terry's reading of your bier, we know that you are
a certified trauma money practitioner. Now we hear the word
trauma tossed around a lot. As a psychologist, I'm like, listen,
let's make it plain, let's really understand what the word

(14:12):
trauma means, but particularly in terms of the relationship to money,
and so tell us exactly what a certified trauma money
practitioner is and how you work with clients to heal
their money wounds.

Speaker 2 (14:33):
Yes, So here's the thing with money and traditional financial advice.
There is a lot of shame and guilt that comes,
and there is a lot of questioning of why you
didn't do something where like you should have done something
with your money, or you should like by twenty five
you should have x amount of money saved by FETI

(14:54):
you should have both the house or whatever. Right, So
that is traditional advice and financial education, and it is
just not helpful. Well, I am here and thirty, I
didn't do it, like what else?

Speaker 3 (15:08):
Right?

Speaker 2 (15:09):
But when we don't have that financial trauma or that
trauma infirm approach, we believe that that's how we're going
to change the behavior. That by you making you aware
that you are thirty and you haven't hit the financial goals,
it is how you're going to change your behaviors because
we're going to sprinkle a little bit more of comparison formal, Right,

(15:34):
that is how you traditionally, how you get your one
two years old daughter to stop doing a bad behavior, right,
That's not how you really understand the emotional traumo that
money does to you. So financial trauma approach and what

(15:57):
I deal with the female entrepreneurs that I hope is
to understand where they are right now to help them
go through that shame that has been accumulated because of
this broad traditional financial advice to get them through the

(16:17):
guild that that produces. Because I understand that these money
situations have brought a negative impact that scout's in the trauma.
So when I sit down, I'm sitting down, I'm understanding
and hearing your story, and I'm making a picture of

(16:41):
hearing how this person is understanding money. Because of these situations,
I have a context. I'm not going to have a
shameful approach about money. I am going to encourage you
to start are looking for different avenues to move forward,

(17:04):
understanding that you are here at this point right now
for different reasons, and that we have to move forward
with those reasons in mind, but not bring it up
again and not justify your actions because of it. So
there is a lot that we do not anymore in

(17:27):
coaching because I'm not doing one on one coaching anymore,
but in the groups and the workshops and soon in
the collective that we are going to have in Broadway too.

Speaker 3 (17:37):
Money.

Speaker 2 (17:38):
What we do is to understand three basic things from
the financial trauma perspective. One, you are here and that's
all that matters. I cannot ask you, can you go
back to this morning and wear a blue shirt if
you have a rich shirt. I mean, I cannot write.
You are where you are and that's fine. Number Two,

(18:00):
we remove the shame and guild because from this perspective,
shame is just an quote unquote artificial emotion that we
have created to control human behavior. It is not as
a physiological emotion that your body creates, like hunger. Your

(18:21):
very creates that hunger so that you go on and
have food that's a need from your very. Shame is
created by society so you behave, and then you have guilt,
also artificial because again it's created so you behave and compertialize.
And again back to my daughter's like, it's very easy

(18:44):
to get her to do something once they understand this guild, like,
oh you didn't do that, Oh okay, And that's what
we grew up with. So it's easier when you are
an adult and you get money to tap it into
the those behaviors, and then you get financial trauma and
you say, WHOA, If I continue doing this, this person

(19:06):
is not only going to have a hard time changing
their behavior, but we'll also add to the reasons why
she has been on this situation in the first place.

Speaker 1 (19:20):
Wow, so insightful. Thank you so much, Alejandra. As you
were as you were speaking, I'm thinking about someone who's
listening and they're wondering, do I have financial trauma or like,
do I fit into this category? So if you could
just kind of share with us maybe some things or
examples of money rooms that someone might have had that

(19:42):
you've experienced, like within your coaching program, and how that
might impact their confidence and decision making. So we can
kind of see like a real life example in action
of what that looks like.

Speaker 2 (19:53):
You know, yes, so it all depends. And here's one
thing that I want to be very clear with your
that you are listening. The way that you feel with
money is the way that you feel with money. Don't
let anybody else to tell you that because you don't
feel a certain way you are not going through either

(20:14):
financial trauma or trauma response or any situation. So what
I can tell you is what I have experience, But
it doesn't It doesn't mean that your experience is not valid.
It is valid and you should acknowledge how you feel.
So having said that, there is a couple of things

(20:35):
that I see comment as a common thing, right. Number
one in confidence and decision making, people avoid to make
decisions at all costs with money when they're in in
financial trauma. They either wait, we really saw it with taxism,
they wait until the last minute to file times. But

(21:01):
it's not the lack of knowledge that they have to
do it, and it's not the lack of support because
they have their tax advisors and the CPAs. Right, is
the this body responds, the stomach timing, the chant, the
getting sweaty, right, that is making them feel like, oh,

(21:24):
I just don't want to go to that platform that
comes to decision making. Sometimes it's really you know, it
affects too much that people ends up paying late fees
for filing laid right. Another thing that I see a lot,
especially when entrepreneurs is underprising and if you put it
in you know, in a normal job is never asking

(21:47):
for a race or negotiating your salary, So it's both
sides with female entrepreneurship. For me, it's easier to tap
in because when you are an entrepreneur, you have control
over your prices and everything else comes to line. So
one of the things that I love to do is
to go to the landing pages of these women and

(22:10):
just ask them, tell me what is your offer and
what is this for? And then show me your price.
Tell me this story and you see the misalignment. And
that's the way to spot the financial trauma, because then
this story comes out, Oh really, if I charge that much,

(22:30):
people is not gonna buy, and people is and then
this story, the real, you know, the real belief that
they have experience with money comes up. But if you
are in a normal job and you have been there
for two years, three years, five years, and you have
never asked for a race, you have never gotten your

(22:54):
salary negotiated why? And when you ask why, feel how
it feels in your body, because that's the thing with trauma, right,
you feel it in your body. It is not like
it's just living in your head. I feel my stomach
is the best indicator of where I need to move

(23:17):
through a situation. So when we talk about earnings, there
is a lot of trauma that we can tap in,
and it shows in different ways. When we talk about
confrontation with money or conversations more than confrontations with money,
that's another context where we see a lot of trauma.

(23:41):
And when we talk about being intentional with expenses, we
see a lot of trauma as well. So it is
easier for you to spend. But if you hold a
lot of trauma and you know, thinking that you are
going to go broke or thinking that you will never

(24:03):
have enough, you're most likely doing a miidlence spending. You're
not being intentional with those expenses. You don't have a goal,
you don't have a plan. You don't even have your
notification zone every time that you make a payment because
you don't want to see that that money is going.

Speaker 3 (24:29):
Wow. So as I'm listening, there's a lot of information
that you're sharing that, at least for me, I haven't
necessarily heard from other financial efforts. And so you have
a company and you have a platform, the Brown Ways

(24:51):
of money. Yes, so tell us what exactly that is
and what is the work that you do. I heard
you and that you're not doing one to one coaching anymore,
but that you have groups and you're getting ready to
launch a collective. So tell us about what the Brown
Weighs Money is.

Speaker 2 (25:12):
Yes, the broad Wade Too money is really a movement
that I have created to say there is another way
to money. There is another way that you can approach
these money conversations. And what we do in the platform
first through the podcast, we have these conversations. I truly

(25:35):
believe that podcast is doing a great job, especially for
women of color, for black women, to put it on
the table the conversations that we never had, the conversations
that probably if we go out of a podcast or
the community that we are sharing this, they won't understand.

(26:00):
So the Brown Way to Money, it starts with that
platform as a podcast, and then we have courses and
the group programs and like you said, soon to be
the collective where our unique goal is financial independence. I
work with women of color entrepreneurs who know they want

(26:21):
to be financially independent. Because they know they want to
be financially independent and they have, you know, this ambition,
we go through the framework, the Brown Framework, to make
it happen with their businesses the main goal of Brown
Waiting money. My main goal with Brownweight to Money is

(26:42):
to get out there as a women of color. And
you know, just tell the role. Listen. We need to
acknowledge the financial education that we are getting is mostly
white financial education. Why because it comes from narratives, beliefs,
and systems that were not built for us. You are

(27:07):
educating me in a product and in a system that
wasn't built with me in mind. So what of what
kind of education are we getting? And here I am aspiring, ambitioning,
applying my own thing, right, my own framework to this,
saying there is another way too money. There is a

(27:29):
brand way to money that needs to start with the
vision and how we understand money in the first place.
It cannot start with a budget. It is never going
to work if it just starts with a budget. It
has to start with understanding how am I understanding money
and how am I relating to money, so that then

(27:51):
we can go into those specific budgeting, cash flow and
all of.

Speaker 1 (27:55):
That so powerful, and I just want to to I'm
taking a look at notes here, and you talked about
the Brown framework, and I believe that's a big vision.

Speaker 3 (28:04):
Right.

Speaker 1 (28:05):
You start starting with the vision. Remember, but don't relive
the financial trauma. That's so powerful right there, own your
voice and then normalize being there. So thank you for
sharing that. It's super powerful. And when I think about
folks that are listening, if they're if you could share
any practical tips for building a fulfilling life using a

(28:27):
I like to say money plan versus a budget. I
feel like for me personally because if my financial trauma,
budget feels so constricting, So I'm like, I like to
call it a money plan. So what would you say,
are like some practical tips that folks can use for
building that life that they desire.

Speaker 2 (28:41):
Yes, So the practicality is in the framework. First, I
want you to think, what is your big vision, big
vision for a year, for five years from now, And
if you're just scary, then twice that vision. Like if
you don't want to think five years down the line,

(29:01):
then I want you to think ten years down the line,
because that is like we said, like we open this
episode with the quote, I want you to be ambitious.
The more ambitious the better, because that is going to
surface all of those narratives that you're holding, right So
start writer there. Step number one is to find that

(29:24):
vision and the find the number that that vision needs.
Many people will escipe that. But in the Financial independence community,
the fire community, we have something that I love. One
of the few things that I love from the community
is we define a number. There is a lot of

(29:47):
social media boomb around I want to hit the six
figure revenue, I want to do thankam or whatever. What
that even means? What that means to you. So what
you're going to do is to have a financial independence
number and that has a formula that they have a

(30:09):
lot of research have defined and I would just send
you guys a link where people can go through it,
because I know that not very good, you know, retaining
a lot of numbers. But basically the formula is you
will find how much you spend per month. They multiply

(30:30):
that so that you get a total four year and
then you multiply that times twenty five, so that will
give you what you need to have in your investment account.
That will compound every year onto you. You know, say
you want to retire at fifty, onto you turn fifty,

(30:55):
and that will give you enough money to live the
rest of your life. That is how you define your
you know, your vision. It is not just about I
want to do you know, I want to have these
six figures business. Now tell me what kind of business
you want to have, and then how much it will

(31:16):
cause you to run that kind of business, and then
we do the math with the you know, the financial
independence number. Now, the second step to that is that
you're going to release the financial trauma you will remember,
not but not relief. When you start thinking and having

(31:39):
that vision, a lot of his stories will come up
and instead of you saying, well, whatever, I want you
to address them one by one, baby step after a
baby step. So if today the story that comes up
is like, I will never have that amount of money

(32:03):
in my investment account. Once you see that number that
you have created for yourself, then start working there. What
makes you think that you will never be able to
have that in your savings account or your investment account.
What voice comes to your mind when you are saying that,

(32:24):
Because it's usually not your voice, it is the voice
of mom, is the voice of that, is the voice
of Auntie, is the voice of the news who is coming?
And that's when we start releasing that financial trauma. Find
the threat, where is that coming from? And we move

(32:47):
through it. The easiest way that I can tell you
to start moving through it is to journal it, journaledge,
put it down, voice memo on your eye, on your cellphone,
say well, this is what I'm thinking, this is who came,
and then find evidence is that true I have. Last week,

(33:11):
I was working with one of the ladies that is
building she's getting to build seven figure business that is
around two hundred and fifty thousand dollars that she wants
to hit. The amount of stories that came out for
her were incredible, like there was a lot an well,

(33:36):
my mom never had this amount of money. There was
a lot of what my sister will think when I
hit that milestone, And it all came back to be
onned her auntie's voice. Her aunt was the responsible to
take care of the sister and her a long time

(34:01):
of their lives, and the aunt will refer to people
that had money, people that did certain things that now
she wanted to do in a way that was conflicting
with what she wanted to do now. So I think
it is so important that we give value to the

(34:23):
thoughts and how they are coming so that you can
move from there. Because now for the lady that I
was working, we understood. It's not your beliefs, babe. Is
your aunts? Now, let's change the perspective. Is your aunt
the person to advise you and mentor you in the

(34:44):
path that you want to go of two hundred and
fifty thousand dollars with your business, because chances are that
she's not and she's not. So who do we need
to turn now so that you find evidence that that
path that you want to go is the path and
that is the process that we are in. That's the

(35:05):
next step that you can do. I think thus in
itself are going to put you seventy percent ahead. But
to top it all off, following the Brown framework is
owning your voice. Owning your voice means what you have
to say is valid, period, end of this story. What

(35:30):
you want is what you want, what you stand behind
with your beliefs, the way that you manage money, what
you want to do is yours. And we have to
get comfortable in that again because as a black woman,
we have not been taught how to be comfortable with that. Instead,
we have been couraged to just keep silent a lot

(35:52):
of the times. So when you say when and what
happens with money, is that everybody seems like has an
opinion over your opinions on how you're managing. So it
makes it even more difficult to own your voice. But
once you have done your vision, you have your numbers,

(36:13):
you have worked through the narratives, just stand and.

Speaker 1 (36:18):
Steal with it.

Speaker 2 (36:21):
And feel how it feels in your body and feel
how it feels to see from a distance other people's
opinions about what you have. Because if it triggers you,
then come back to set number two and release that
trauma and keep owning that voice. Yeah, I will leave there.

Speaker 3 (36:45):
Wow. Okay, that was a lot of really good information,
And so lady, as you're listening, you might want to
pause and rewind and take some more notes because I
think this was this was really helpful in terms of

(37:06):
really breaking down what are the things that might be
getting in the way of us moving forward and getting
that attaining that financial freedom that we're looking for and
embodying and being comfortable and confident, like you said, in

(37:27):
the money decisions that we're making. And so when you
think about the current economic times that we're in, particularly
here in the United States, what would be your recommendations

(37:50):
for black women who are feeling the price of aids
are going up, the price of everything is going up,
and our money is not increasing. We've negotiated that raise,
We've figure out a side hustle, but the money, the

(38:16):
money is not the income coming in is not keeping
up with the increased cost of living. And so there
may be a lot of folks who are listening who
are stressed about that. And so what would be your
recommendations in navigating tough economic times?

Speaker 2 (38:39):
Yes, the thing with economic times is that they're always
going to fluctuate. They're always going to be up and
they're always going to be down, and that's how the
economy moves. Now, if you're feeling the stress, I hear you, yes,
But then when the microeconomic is moving, you gotta take

(39:01):
control of what you can control, and you gotta turn
off that noise around you and focus on what you
can control. Now, let's talk about tariffs. If tariffs, because
the big thing now it is not directly affecting you

(39:23):
as a supplier. That is important. Right now, instead of
listening to the news every thirty minutes, you're going to
listen to the news once per week, and you're going
to start moving that noise away because you need your
focus on your financial situation. When the economy is as

(39:45):
uncertain as it is right now, you want to have
control over your expenses, because that's what you can control
one hundred percent. You want to think different scenarios and
how you can move leaner, how the things that you
can postpone on, making the things that if you pass

(40:07):
from them one time or two times is not going
to make a major difference. That's how you will be
thinking at the same time, because economic uncertainty gives a
lot of opportunity for growth as well for those who
are not in that trauma response and can see the opportunity.

(40:28):
You are going to take five to ten minutes to decompress,
Go outside, go around nature. If you can take a
deep breath and think what else could I do today
to have five percent more? You're already doing the side hassle?

(40:49):
Perfect can you increase five percent the rate of your
side hassle? And if the answer is no, I want
you to ask why why not? And give me a
data backed up answer. Not what you think your client

(41:10):
will say, not what you think the economy will do.
What is the reason why you cannot go and say,
you know what? Today I'm working as a VA and
my rate is forty Why cannot increase it to forty five?
Why cannot increase it to fifty? If you're just in

(41:33):
your nine to five job, let's do the same thing.
How else can I go to my employer and have
this conversation. I'm not telling you go ask for the race,
just half the conversation. Hey, I am very concerned of

(41:57):
what is happening. This is what I see, and this
is what I see. I need to keep up with
what is happening. How are we thinking to handle this?
How is it that you are thinking as an employer
that will be the financial forecast for us? It's all

(42:22):
back to having control over what you can control. So
first the first step is expenses. Now, I always like
to say, because it was the same in two thousand
and eight, what's kind of the same for COVID. What
you want to go is Okay, from all of these things,

(42:45):
what do I really need to live? And don't put
yourself in a position of I am just going to
eat and sleep and not do anything else, because that's
just going to trigger a lot more of what we
don't want that trauma. But leave enough, like if you

(43:07):
have and this is a real example story. If you
have Netflix, Hollo and HBO subscriptions, do you really want
all of those or can you just make it with Netflix?
And that's twenty dollars less than it was the month before.

(43:27):
If you're ordering takeouts three times per week, can you
make it with just one time or maybe one week
one time and the next week you take a break, Like,
just think what you can go without and lean into that,
because what you want to do not only to tide

(43:50):
your financial planning, but you want to understand what do
you need really in your life. You want to understand
and kind of like when you are out on a
boat and they want you to be safe, they want
to know your surroundings and where you have to run,

(44:10):
And that's what you want to do with your money.
Like I am here right now. If I need to
sink a little bit, I can drop these things and
that I can control immediately and then go to what
is going to take a little bit more time to change,
which is your earnings. But if you have a side hustle,

(44:33):
you can change it right away. And if you have
to go through your employer, just start sparkling that conversation
that everybody is going to be having during these times.

Speaker 1 (44:47):
That is so good. Alejandro and I took a couple
takeaways from what you share. You talked about focusing on
what you can control, which is something we'd love to
say on the podcast. I love that Also, protecting your
big vision, so not tuning into the news if it's
not supporting that vision, because sometimes the news can be
so depressing. So I love that you mentioned that, And
it sounds like it's all about perspective, right, It's all

(45:08):
about perspective. And I love that you said, well, give
me a data bactor reason on why you can't do this.
That is powerful because a lot of times we do
that where we're like, oh, I can't raise my prices
because my clients are gonna say whatever. But you know
what's funny. I actually saw someone recently send an email
and they released a new coaching program and the price
point was so low that it like brought up something

(45:30):
in my mind. I was like, I wouldn't I thought like,
why is it so low? I wouldn't even pay for
this because now I'm like is it worth it? But
I know this person is worthy of it, But it
must be something that they're They're in a certain phase
of their journey where that's what they believe they need
to do. And so that resonated a lot when you
shared that. So I want to ask you. You shared so
many gems and before we close out, is there anything

(45:52):
that you haven't shared that you really want to share
with listeners.

Speaker 2 (45:56):
Yes, I just want to pick it back on that,
because that's what really happens with this journe right. We
don't realize, especially when you're a business owner, you don't
realize how much of your stories can jeopardize your business growth,
not because of your money management, but how you as
a client, as a potential customer, peak on those money stories.

(46:21):
I told you the landing page, it really shows mis alignment.
The emails shows me's alignment because with prices, especially with numbers,
we are telling our story. We are telling our story,
and when we have customers and clients, they know our story.

(46:41):
And if a number doesn't make sense, it's like a blip,
like way there is something around here, like I understand
the value, but the value is also through a number,
but the number is not speaking that value. Why And
when you flip it to the business owners, the why
is a financial trauma like oh, I need to lower

(47:05):
the prices because nobody's going to buy from me because
they are going through theorifs and recession and possibly a
stagnation things. So I need to make it very low
so people can afford. Where is the data saying that,
where is your customers telling you that? Otherwise it's just

(47:26):
going to be your money story and that we can
rewire that money story. We can rewire. Yeah, So I
just want to I just wanted to point on that
and again tell everybody have these money conversations, especially now
that we are going through the economic uncertainty. Have those

(47:48):
money conversations. Understand different points of view, validate what you're feeling,
and look for different ways to deal with money if
you are not comfort trouble where you are with it
right now.

Speaker 1 (48:06):
Thank you so much.

Speaker 3 (48:08):
Yes, we really appreciate this conversation, Alejandra. So can you
tell us because I know our listeners are like, oh wait,
hold on, this is this is really resonating, Like how
can they connect with you?

Speaker 2 (48:26):
Yes, just where you're listening right now to this podcast,
go to listen to Brown Waite to money podcasts. That's
the first place. But if you want to get in
contact with us. I'm on Instagram as money my said expert,
and then you probably will find the whole platform from there,
and you can also find me at Forbes. I drop

(48:47):
a column highlighting financial stability for entrepreneurs of color every week,
so if you look Alejandro Rojas and Forbes, then you
will find me there too.

Speaker 1 (48:58):
That is so amazing. Thank you so much, Ali Hundras.
We appreciate you and we will definitely be keeping in
touch and add some of those links in our show notes.
So thank you again for your time and expertise.

Speaker 2 (49:10):
Thank you, thank you.

Speaker 1 (49:13):
If you're feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure of your next steps,
this is for you. Hey, lady, is Tea here and
I just want to invite you to my free goal
map like a pro coaching workshop, where I'll share the
five proven steps to get unstuck and achieve your goals.
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(49:34):
or maybe you just need confidence to start, this workshop
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you up for success. I hope to see you there.

Speaker 3 (49:58):
Thanks for tuning in to calls of her Space. Remember
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it's not a substitute for therapy. If you or someone
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(50:20):
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Speaker 1 (50:32):
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