January 1, 2025 • 23 mins
Rhianna Basore is a celebrated serial creative entrepreneur committed to promoting financial empowerment among creatives. An international director, producer, writer, and award-winning actor, her creative endeavors have graced stages from Off Broadway to Reykjavik, Toronto, and Paris. Basore's impactful work in the realm of financial empowerment and the arts has been highlighted in esteemed publications like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. With vast experience in business development for a multi-million dollar nonprofit, Basore now leverages her expertise to support female business leaders and creative entrepreneurs in achieving financial health and realizing their dreams. She believes that financial empowerment is crucial for creatives to thrive, drawing from her own experiences of overcoming financial instability to pursue her passions. By founding Self Trust Fund, Basore aims to educate creatives on managing their finances, fostering self-trust, and enabling them to focus on their artistic endeavors without the weight of financial stress. 2025 Offer: "How to slay your money monsters" course (00:01:27) Self Trust Fund: Empowering Creative Finances (00:07:00) Financial Empowerment Coaching: Self Trust Fund (00:12:29) Self Trust Fund: Empowering Creatives to Thrive (00:16:49) Financial Freedom Enables Creative Project Selection (00:22:37) "Culinary Adventures: Tasting Delightful Global Dishes" #FinancialEmpowerment #SelfTrustFund #FinancialFreedom #CreativeInspiration #ChooseCreativeProjects #FavoriteFoods #DeliciousFood #ChildhoodFondue #TurkishEggDishes #FinancialStability #CreativeEntrepreneurs #FinancialCoaching
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Episode Transcript
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Alya Lei (00:01):
Welcome to Conversations with Aaliyah Le. Tune
in for inspiration, information and upliftment as
creatives and entrepreneurs share their journeys, challenges
and successes. Today we have Rihanna Basor,
who is a serial creative entrepreneur who
believes financial freedom is the right of
all. She works with female business leaders
(00:23):
and creative entrepreneurs kick their hamster wheel
mentality to the curb and live the
life of the thriving and financially healthy
business owners they've always dreamed of being.
Whether they're negotiating contracts, pricing their services,
or figuring out how much to reinvest
in their businesses, she helps powerhouse visionaries
(00:46):
set themselves up to fund their dream
lives. Before starting her own company, Rihanna
spent over a decade managing business development
and outreach for a multi million dollar
nonprofit organization. An international director, producer, profess
writer and award winning actor, her creative
(01:07):
work has appeared from Off Broadway to
Reykjavik, Toronto to Paris. Rihanna has been
featured in the New York Times, Wall
Street Journal, the LA Times, the Chicago
Tribune, the Find you'd light Podcast, Thrive,
Global Medium, and more. So thank you
so much, Rihanna for joining us here.
Rhianna Basore (01:27):
It's absolutely my pleasure. Thank you for
having me.
Alya Lei (01:30):
You are also an actor, a creative,
and then you became this financially savvy
person. Can you share with us your
journey from where you were before and
how you became financially savvy?
Rhianna Basore (01:45):
Absolutely. It'd be my pleasure. I was
living my best creative life here on
the west coast and I had just
booked a job performing off Broadway in
New York with a company I really
believed in, a brand new play I
was excited about. I was riding high.
But in the transition of going to
New York in order to do that
(02:06):
show, the relationship that was the foundation
of my life, my emotional and financial
life, it fell apart. It was too
hard for my partner to sustain a
long distance relationship even for a short
gig. So I went to New York
and I was there rehearsing with my
beautiful company of other actors and creators
and I got the phone call that
(02:28):
my grandfather had died. And my grandfather
had been sick for a while and
he was such a powerhouse patriarch in
our family that I just couldn't imagine
the world without him. It was really
devastating to me to be on the
east coast when I wanted to be
on the west coast with my family
mourning my grandfather and I couldn't afford
(02:50):
the ticket to fly home on my
one day off. So here I am
in New York, supposedly living my best
life working on this show I believed
in with passionate, beautiful humans. And I,
I was miserable. I didn't have the
freedom, flexibility and finances I needed to
really spend my time where I felt
(03:10):
like it needed to be spent. And
I knew there had to be a
better way. I don't believe that you
need to suffer in this life to
be an artist, to be a human,
to be alive. I think life is
meant to thrive. And so I figured
there was something I didn't understand. Turns
out there is. It's called money Classes
and business instincts. These, at the time
(03:33):
when I went and got my BFA
were not taught in drama school. I
could tell you all about the history
of classical theater and how to pretend
to be a bear. But when it
came to running my creative business like
the business it was, I was clueless.
So I took a step back from
my creative career. I got a couple
certificates in business development and marketing from
(03:55):
ucsd. I worked managing nonprofits. I really
just figured figured it out department by
department, skill by skill, until one day
it clicked. And I said, oh, it's
not hard. No one translates this into
creative brain thinking. You just assume, oh,
I was bad at math. I got
(04:15):
a D in algebra in sixth grade.
Clearly I'm destined to be bad at
math forever. This is not true. So
based on that insight, I was able
to repair my finances. I was tens
of thousands of dollars in consumer and
student loan debt. I didn't have any
retirement. I barely owned my car. I
was not in the most financially stable
(04:37):
situation. And in the series of several
years, I completely paid off all of
my debt, completely debt free, got a
new car. I was able to start
my retirement fund and eventually buy a
house in Southern California. And as I
was going through this journey of rebirth,
I would listen to my beautiful creative
(04:58):
friends talking about how they never had
any money. And I just thought, I
know there's a better way, and it's
just a matter of them not taking
the time to understand it. Well, I
can help troubleshoot that. I can expedite
by sharing what I've learned. And so
self trust fund, my financial empowerment coaching
company, was born.
Alya Lei (05:19):
Nice. So that is, I mean, I'm
so sorry about your grandfather. And then
that huge emotional impact because you didn't
have the funds to actually go to
his funeral. And that meant so much
to you. It really triggered you to
make a change. Yeah, right. And so
(05:40):
you gave up your creative career, or
not gave up, but took a pause
in it in order to heal or
learn about finances, Right?
Rhianna Basore (05:51):
That's right. I'd been focusing in such
a single way on moving my creative
career forward that there were other parts
of my life that had atrophied. And
I knew that I needed to just
put a pause in order to get
the other parts strong.
Alya Lei (06:05):
Right, right. Yeah. And what sounds fantastic
is that because you learned your financial
literacy and you went to school, I
love ucsd. But you still maintained your
connections with your friends that are creative.
You saw and felt and understood their
(06:27):
pain and now you know how to
help them with it. Right. So then,
like, tell us more about how, as
you heard your friends saying they didn't
have money or that, you know, things
were tight financially while they pursued their
creative careers. How did you start turning
(06:47):
this into a business? And as this
business, what is the name of it
or how can people find it? How
is it different that it can help
creatives?
Rhianna Basore (06:58):
Absolutely.
Alya Lei (06:59):
Three questions.
Rhianna Basore (07:00):
I got it. I totally know what
you're asking. So the business is called
Self Trust Fund. Because we have to
develop the self trust in order to
have the trust fund of lifelong financial
stability. We give that to ourselves. And
so you can find me@selftrustfund.com that's my
website. It shows all about the services
(07:21):
that I offer and some of my
media opportunities just like this. It's a
really great place to get started on
a Self Trust Fund journey. And so
I believe you said, what was it
that sparked it? Where did I see
what was possible for my friends? Well,
I knew it was possible for me.
And I had really felt financially strapped
(07:42):
my entire early career. It was a
very dominant feeling for me. And now
I realize that it drained my creativity
and my life force, which would have
allowed me to put more of that
into my creative pursuits. And who knows
how I would have profited by that.
So having had enough distance and healing,
as you said, around my own financial
(08:03):
journey, seeing the suffering around money concerns
in my loved ones was very easy
to spot. And I knew if I
could do it, they could do it.
I was the queen of buying cocktails
and shoes and then, you know, putting
my rent on my credit card. I
was the queen of so many poor
financial decisions. I didn't know any better,
(08:24):
but I didn't care to educate myself.
And so now that I had the
knowledge and the experience to really help,
I just started to talk to my
friends that seemed like they would the
most benefit from it. So I started
to pull them and say, you know,
if you were to work with someone,
what would that look like? What would
you like to, what would you like
that to feel like? What would that
(08:46):
experience be? And what is your relationship
to money? Just really trying to understand
their point of view. And I think
think about my friend all the time.
She Broke my heart when she said
this. She said, yeah, I got one
of those money books, you know, that
everybody says you should read. And I
opened up and the first page says,
put a little bit aside every month
to save. And I don't have a
(09:08):
little bit every month to save. So
I closed the book and put it
away.
Alya Lei (09:12):
Right.
Rhianna Basore (09:13):
And I just think about how many
of us feel the sense of defeat
in our financial journey before we get
started.
Alya Lei (09:22):
That's huge. Yeah.
Rhianna Basore (09:24):
And so I really try to offer
the possible and in fact, the emotionally
inspiring and the creatively focused in the
services that I offer. I very quickly,
after working with my first few clients,
realized there's something that I've come to
call the money monsters. And the money
monsters are the voices in our head
(09:44):
that tell us we don't deserve the
money we want. No one will ever
pay for that. We're overcharging. Everyone judges
us. I liken them to when you're
a little kid and you're convinced there's
a monster under your bed, but the
minute your adult comes and turns on
the light to investigate, there's nothing really
there. In that same way, our money
(10:07):
fears, our money monsters don't actually exist.
They aren't actually going to eat us
up in the darkness. It just feels
like they are. And that fear keeps
us stuck, broke and alone, not pursuing
opportunities, not investigating the possible. And so
my coaching has become teaching people to
(10:28):
identify, target, and slay their money monsters
so they can make the right financial
moves to build their best creative life.
Alya Lei (10:38):
I love that so much. I especially
love the money monsters and the whole
idea about that. Because that's a subconscious
belief.
Rhianna Basore (10:49):
Yes.
Alya Lei (10:50):
And I've been listening to some other
self development mindset people, and it sounds
like a lot of what we create
in our lives are based on these
subconscious beliefs that we have. And especially
if it comes from money and fear.
I love what you're offering because you're
(11:11):
offering people to be able to see
the possibilities that they wouldn't or couldn't
see before because that fear has just
clouded over.
Rhianna Basore (11:26):
That's right. That's right. It's a financial
fog. It's a fear fog. And it
really makes us think that there are
scarier things happening than there are. And
it takes us out of the present,
it robs us of our creative inspiration
and energy, and it means that we
have less to give to, to the
(11:48):
things in our life that matter, including
our loved ones, but also the next
creative opportunity we're building towards. And in
fact, when we feed the Money monsters.
Instead of the possibilities of what's next,
we are creating a cycle. Exactly what
you're saying. Which is those subconscious beliefs
are self perpetuating. Once you're stuck in
(12:09):
a loop, it's easy to just stay
there. And we gotta get out.
Alya Lei (12:12):
Yeah, yeah. And I love that you.
What you offer is how to get
out in a way that creatives can
see the possibilities in a way where
you understand where they're coming from. Because
you lived it. Right?
Rhianna Basore (12:25):
That's right.
Alya Lei (12:25):
And so they can really relate and
connect with you.
Rhianna Basore (12:28):
Yes.
Alya Lei (12:29):
I heard you say creative endeavors. I
agree. Like if we have more money,
we can be more creative. Because your
energy isn't sapped out of gear or
fear of not being able to pay
the rent, not be able, whatever. You
know, I can't afford this class. I
can't. You know all these can'ts. Right.
So when you have that financial foundation,
(12:51):
then you can move forward with your
creativity with more inspiration and openness. Right.
And so now that you are set,
you bought a frickin house. That's huge.
You're out of debt, you got a
new car, like everything is like 180.
So fantastic. And now you're doing more
creative endeavors. Right? Because that's what. Because
(13:13):
you're still creative. Can you share more
about that? Like now what?
Rhianna Basore (13:17):
You're absolutely. My creativity has exploded because
of the freedom I have financially, both
physically in my bank account, but also
emotionally. So as I was thinking about
what it would be like to dip
my toe back into creative pursuits, my
friend was working on a one man
show. And it was a one man
show that sparked some ideas. And he
(13:38):
and I like to jostle back and
forth in brainstorming sessions. So I gave
him some key ideas for the script.
And then he said, well, who do
you think should direct it? And I
was like, oh, I don't know. I
gave him some names. None of them
seemed quite right. And he said, well,
why don't you direct it? And I
was like, oh, I haven't directed anything
since high school. Okay. But I really
(13:59):
need a producer. And I was like,
oh, I can produce. Because that time
I'd been running multiple businesses for myself
and for other people. So producing for
me was an extension of that business
knowledge that I was very confident in.
We worked on his show for about
six months. It premiered at the San
Diego Fringe Festival. It toured the United
(14:20):
States, it won an award to have
its international debut in Reykjavik in May
2020.
Alya Lei (14:30):
Nice. Okay.
Rhianna Basore (14:32):
And so when Americans were uninvited to
the island of Iceland. In April 2020.
The company that was inviting us to
come over said, well, you can do
a Zoom recording. And I thought, this
show won't play well on Zoom. We
were still really exploring what theater looked
like on Zoom. This show was a
clowning piece. It just didn't really suit
(14:54):
the medium of Zoom theater. And so
I said to my actor, I said,
what do you think about making it
a feature film instead? We can shoot
it in your closet. It'll just be
you and me. We can do that,
you know, socially distancing. What do you
think about that? He loved it. We
shot it over the course of three
weeks in his house. He did the
editing together. We put the pieces together
(15:17):
and sent it off to Reykjavik. It
premiered at the end of June 2020
to thousands of views. Better reviews than
the play. And not to mention that
our friends from all over the globe
were able to check out the shared
work that we've done. And based on
that experience, I realized that it's less
about what your challenges are and more
(15:39):
about what you turn them into. The
challenges can be alchemized into gold, and
that is the investment in talent that
reaps unlimited returns.
Alya Lei (15:51):
I love that so much. I am
so, like, picking that part out and
putting it into, like, a. I don't
know, some kind of a advertisement blurb.
I love that. Love that. Congratulations on
all of that. The pivoting. Can you
repeat what you said again? Just repeat
(16:11):
it. I mean, I know I have
it and I'll pull it out, but,
like, if someone's just listening, they're like,
what is that? Like, just repeat it
if you want to.
Rhianna Basore (16:20):
I believe that challenges are not the
obstacles we perceive them. I believe that
they are fuel to alchemize into golden
opportunities. They are where we invest in
ourselves with the faith to turn the
obstacle into gold. And that is truly
how we become that next bigger part
(16:42):
of ourselves.
Alya Lei (16:44):
Yeah. That's so great. I love it.
Love it so much.
Rhianna Basore (16:49):
Thank you. Yes. And based off that
opportunity, I've been producing other people's projects.
I have been brought on to other
people's short films. I'm beginning to write
my own so that I can have
my own feature film. It has really
expanded what I thought was possible for
myself. And a bit part of that
(17:11):
is I'm not afraid of raising the
money. I'm not afraid of running a
project as a leader, and I'm not
afraid of creatively contributing wherever is needed.
And that level of authority and owning
my talent has freed me from the
needs of people please. That I think
really haunted me as a working actor.
(17:33):
I always felt like it was creativity
on command. And now I can be
creative anytime I want because, yes, I
take on other people's projects as appropriate,
but I also make my own. So
the only limit to creativity now is
myself.
Alya Lei (17:50):
Yes, I love that. That's so fantastic.
Rhianna Basore (17:57):
It's really been freeing for me. And
the fact that now I'm paid to
do all these additional things so my
creative career has expanded into multiple income
streams is just, you know, a cherry
on the cake. It's almost a second
thought now. Whereas before I think I
would have clung very tightly, like, oh,
here's an opportunity to do this and
(18:17):
they're going to pay me this much.
And it's like, okay, but do I
like the project? Do I like the
people? How much are they paying me?
Okay, that sounds like something I want
or it doesn't and I get to
choose. And again, that freedom allows me
to put my life force and creativity
into the things that reward me most,
most.
Alya Lei (18:37):
Oh my God, so good. I love
that so much. Because as a recovering
people pleaser, that's actually what I focus
on from, for when I act are
people pleaser characters, you know, because it's
still all inside me. Of course I
don't want to live that in my
regular life, you know.
Rhianna Basore (18:57):
Of course it is such a beautiful
impulse to want to make people happy.
And there is a part of the
performer energy that's like, am I delighting
you? Are you laughing? I think that's
beautiful and sacred and incredible. We just
have to be able to play it
(19:18):
as opposed to have it play us.
Alya Lei (19:20):
Yes, a hundred percent, yes. Yes. And
I love that you have now the
freedom, the awareness to be so clear
about what it is that lights you
up versus looking and thinking, what can
(19:42):
I do from to get others to
light me up. Right. Or to get
this job or that. I mean, it's
always great to get a job, but
you're now choosing the projects you want
to work on.
Rhianna Basore (19:55):
That's right. And in some cases being
the visionary of them. And it just,
it takes me back to being that
little weird 8 year old girl who
every time I'd sleep over at my
friend's house would end up writing and
directing and producing a talent show that
their parents were forced to watch. And
of course it's starring me as well.
Like in some ways I have gone
(20:16):
back to that adorable, bossy 8 year
old who just wanted to make cool
stuff with her friends.
Alya Lei (20:23):
Yes. And that's who we really are,
that adorable, like vibrant person that we
are. Yes. I love that.
Rhianna Basore (20:32):
Yes, exactly. And and to bring the
experience and the knowledge and the insight
of being a seasoned performer, an experienced
artist in the world is allowing me
to feel that I'm contributing to a
conversation that before I felt like I
had to be picked to join.
Alya Lei (20:52):
Right? Yes. That is huge. Rihanna, we
are getting close to time, so is
there any last things that you might
want to promote coming up? And also
again, best ways to follow you and
stay in touch.
Rhianna Basore (21:08):
Absolutely. So the best way to follow
me and stay in touch is on
my website, selftrustfund.com because you need the
self trust to build that trust fund
that's going to sustain you through the
long term in your career. And there
you should sign up for my email
list. I have a couple different ways
to do that. There's a quiz, identify
your money monster, money mantras. All of
(21:32):
those are great ways to grab a
freebie and also jump on my email
list. And the thing that I would
like to offer your audience is that
my course, how to slay your money
monsters is an eight audio lesson experience
in which you really identify, target and
slay those money monsters so you can
(21:52):
get started for 2025 on the right
foot. We are coming to the last
few months of 2024. It's been a
great year and yet we always have
more money monsters to slay. So I
encourage you all to check out that
offer. It's on my website, selftrustfund.com and
there's going to be a companion piece
in the coming months to follow up
(22:15):
on the initial course. So stay tuned
for that.
Alya Lei (22:18):
I love that. That's so good. All
right, thank you so much, Rhianna. Last
little question, if you want. Just something
kind of fun because I'm still figuring
out the format of this rebranded podcast.
Favorite foods or least favorite food. And
why.
Rhianna Basore (22:37):
Well, I always say my least favorite
food is not delicious food. Everything else
is open game. But if it's not
delicious, that's my least least favorite. I
am a very passionate foodie cook, adventuresome
eater, all of it. I was in
Switzerland at Christmas revisiting childhood fondue. I
was making sesame noodles this morning for
(22:59):
breakfast. I just love a good Turkish
egg situation. It is a global palette.
So my favorite foods are all the
foods that are delicious.
Alya Lei (23:10):
Yeah, that works. That works. Thank you
so much, Rihanna. I really appreciate you
being here on the convers with me.
Rhianna Basore (23:18):
Aliyah Le it was my pleasure.
Alya Lei (23:21):
Thank you so much for listening to
conversations with AALIYAH le I'd love to
hear from you. Follow me on instagram
@aaliyahlei. A L Y A L e
I.
Welcome to Conversations with Aaliyah Le. Tune
in for inspiration, information and upliftment as
creatives and entrepreneurs share their journeys, challenges
and successes. Today we have Rihanna Basor,
who is a serial creative entrepreneur who
believes financial freedom is the right of
all. She works with female business leaders
(00:23):
and creative entrepreneurs kick their hamster wheel
mentality to the curb and live the
life of the thriving and financially healthy
business owners they've always dreamed of being.
Whether they're negotiating contracts, pricing their services,
or figuring out how much to reinvest
in their businesses, she helps powerhouse visionaries
(00:46):
set themselves up to fund their dream
lives. Before starting her own company, Rihanna
spent over a decade managing business development
and outreach for a multi million dollar
nonprofit organization. An international director, producer, profess
writer and award winning actor, her creative
(01:07):
work has appeared from Off Broadway to
Reykjavik, Toronto to Paris. Rihanna has been
featured in the New York Times, Wall
Street Journal, the LA Times, the Chicago
Tribune, the Find you'd light Podcast, Thrive,
Global Medium, and more. So thank you
so much, Rihanna for joining us here.
Rhianna Basore (01:27):
It's absolutely my pleasure. Thank you for
having me.
Alya Lei (01:30):
You are also an actor, a creative,
and then you became this financially savvy
person. Can you share with us your
journey from where you were before and
how you became financially savvy?
Rhianna Basore (01:45):
Absolutely. It'd be my pleasure. I was
living my best creative life here on
the west coast and I had just
booked a job performing off Broadway in
New York with a company I really
believed in, a brand new play I
was excited about. I was riding high.
But in the transition of going to
New York in order to do that
(02:06):
show, the relationship that was the foundation
of my life, my emotional and financial
life, it fell apart. It was too
hard for my partner to sustain a
long distance relationship even for a short
gig. So I went to New York
and I was there rehearsing with my
beautiful company of other actors and creators
and I got the phone call that
(02:28):
my grandfather had died. And my grandfather
had been sick for a while and
he was such a powerhouse patriarch in
our family that I just couldn't imagine
the world without him. It was really
devastating to me to be on the
east coast when I wanted to be
on the west coast with my family
mourning my grandfather and I couldn't afford
(02:50):
the ticket to fly home on my
one day off. So here I am
in New York, supposedly living my best
life working on this show I believed
in with passionate, beautiful humans. And I,
I was miserable. I didn't have the
freedom, flexibility and finances I needed to
really spend my time where I felt
(03:10):
like it needed to be spent. And
I knew there had to be a
better way. I don't believe that you
need to suffer in this life to
be an artist, to be a human,
to be alive. I think life is
meant to thrive. And so I figured
there was something I didn't understand. Turns
out there is. It's called money Classes
and business instincts. These, at the time
(03:33):
when I went and got my BFA
were not taught in drama school. I
could tell you all about the history
of classical theater and how to pretend
to be a bear. But when it
came to running my creative business like
the business it was, I was clueless.
So I took a step back from
my creative career. I got a couple
certificates in business development and marketing from
(03:55):
ucsd. I worked managing nonprofits. I really
just figured figured it out department by
department, skill by skill, until one day
it clicked. And I said, oh, it's
not hard. No one translates this into
creative brain thinking. You just assume, oh,
I was bad at math. I got
(04:15):
a D in algebra in sixth grade.
Clearly I'm destined to be bad at
math forever. This is not true. So
based on that insight, I was able
to repair my finances. I was tens
of thousands of dollars in consumer and
student loan debt. I didn't have any
retirement. I barely owned my car. I
was not in the most financially stable
(04:37):
situation. And in the series of several
years, I completely paid off all of
my debt, completely debt free, got a
new car. I was able to start
my retirement fund and eventually buy a
house in Southern California. And as I
was going through this journey of rebirth,
I would listen to my beautiful creative
(04:58):
friends talking about how they never had
any money. And I just thought, I
know there's a better way, and it's
just a matter of them not taking
the time to understand it. Well, I
can help troubleshoot that. I can expedite
by sharing what I've learned. And so
self trust fund, my financial empowerment coaching
company, was born.
Alya Lei (05:19):
Nice. So that is, I mean, I'm
so sorry about your grandfather. And then
that huge emotional impact because you didn't
have the funds to actually go to
his funeral. And that meant so much
to you. It really triggered you to
make a change. Yeah, right. And so
(05:40):
you gave up your creative career, or
not gave up, but took a pause
in it in order to heal or
learn about finances, Right?
Rhianna Basore (05:51):
That's right. I'd been focusing in such
a single way on moving my creative
career forward that there were other parts
of my life that had atrophied. And
I knew that I needed to just
put a pause in order to get
the other parts strong.
Alya Lei (06:05):
Right, right. Yeah. And what sounds fantastic
is that because you learned your financial
literacy and you went to school, I
love ucsd. But you still maintained your
connections with your friends that are creative.
You saw and felt and understood their
(06:27):
pain and now you know how to
help them with it. Right. So then,
like, tell us more about how, as
you heard your friends saying they didn't
have money or that, you know, things
were tight financially while they pursued their
creative careers. How did you start turning
(06:47):
this into a business? And as this
business, what is the name of it
or how can people find it? How
is it different that it can help
creatives?
Rhianna Basore (06:58):
Absolutely.
Alya Lei (06:59):
Three questions.
Rhianna Basore (07:00):
I got it. I totally know what
you're asking. So the business is called
Self Trust Fund. Because we have to
develop the self trust in order to
have the trust fund of lifelong financial
stability. We give that to ourselves. And
so you can find me@selftrustfund.com that's my
website. It shows all about the services
(07:21):
that I offer and some of my
media opportunities just like this. It's a
really great place to get started on
a Self Trust Fund journey. And so
I believe you said, what was it
that sparked it? Where did I see
what was possible for my friends? Well,
I knew it was possible for me.
And I had really felt financially strapped
(07:42):
my entire early career. It was a
very dominant feeling for me. And now
I realize that it drained my creativity
and my life force, which would have
allowed me to put more of that
into my creative pursuits. And who knows
how I would have profited by that.
So having had enough distance and healing,
as you said, around my own financial
(08:03):
journey, seeing the suffering around money concerns
in my loved ones was very easy
to spot. And I knew if I
could do it, they could do it.
I was the queen of buying cocktails
and shoes and then, you know, putting
my rent on my credit card. I
was the queen of so many poor
financial decisions. I didn't know any better,
(08:24):
but I didn't care to educate myself.
And so now that I had the
knowledge and the experience to really help,
I just started to talk to my
friends that seemed like they would the
most benefit from it. So I started
to pull them and say, you know,
if you were to work with someone,
what would that look like? What would
you like to, what would you like
that to feel like? What would that
(08:46):
experience be? And what is your relationship
to money? Just really trying to understand
their point of view. And I think
think about my friend all the time.
She Broke my heart when she said
this. She said, yeah, I got one
of those money books, you know, that
everybody says you should read. And I
opened up and the first page says,
put a little bit aside every month
to save. And I don't have a
(09:08):
little bit every month to save. So
I closed the book and put it
away.
Alya Lei (09:12):
Right.
Rhianna Basore (09:13):
And I just think about how many
of us feel the sense of defeat
in our financial journey before we get
started.
Alya Lei (09:22):
That's huge. Yeah.
Rhianna Basore (09:24):
And so I really try to offer
the possible and in fact, the emotionally
inspiring and the creatively focused in the
services that I offer. I very quickly,
after working with my first few clients,
realized there's something that I've come to
call the money monsters. And the money
monsters are the voices in our head
(09:44):
that tell us we don't deserve the
money we want. No one will ever
pay for that. We're overcharging. Everyone judges
us. I liken them to when you're
a little kid and you're convinced there's
a monster under your bed, but the
minute your adult comes and turns on
the light to investigate, there's nothing really
there. In that same way, our money
(10:07):
fears, our money monsters don't actually exist.
They aren't actually going to eat us
up in the darkness. It just feels
like they are. And that fear keeps
us stuck, broke and alone, not pursuing
opportunities, not investigating the possible. And so
my coaching has become teaching people to
(10:28):
identify, target, and slay their money monsters
so they can make the right financial
moves to build their best creative life.
Alya Lei (10:38):
I love that so much. I especially
love the money monsters and the whole
idea about that. Because that's a subconscious
belief.
Rhianna Basore (10:49):
Yes.
Alya Lei (10:50):
And I've been listening to some other
self development mindset people, and it sounds
like a lot of what we create
in our lives are based on these
subconscious beliefs that we have. And especially
if it comes from money and fear.
I love what you're offering because you're
(11:11):
offering people to be able to see
the possibilities that they wouldn't or couldn't
see before because that fear has just
clouded over.
Rhianna Basore (11:26):
That's right. That's right. It's a financial
fog. It's a fear fog. And it
really makes us think that there are
scarier things happening than there are. And
it takes us out of the present,
it robs us of our creative inspiration
and energy, and it means that we
have less to give to, to the
(11:48):
things in our life that matter, including
our loved ones, but also the next
creative opportunity we're building towards. And in
fact, when we feed the Money monsters.
Instead of the possibilities of what's next,
we are creating a cycle. Exactly what
you're saying. Which is those subconscious beliefs
are self perpetuating. Once you're stuck in
(12:09):
a loop, it's easy to just stay
there. And we gotta get out.
Alya Lei (12:12):
Yeah, yeah. And I love that you.
What you offer is how to get
out in a way that creatives can
see the possibilities in a way where
you understand where they're coming from. Because
you lived it. Right?
Rhianna Basore (12:25):
That's right.
Alya Lei (12:25):
And so they can really relate and
connect with you.
Rhianna Basore (12:28):
Yes.
Alya Lei (12:29):
I heard you say creative endeavors. I
agree. Like if we have more money,
we can be more creative. Because your
energy isn't sapped out of gear or
fear of not being able to pay
the rent, not be able, whatever. You
know, I can't afford this class. I
can't. You know all these can'ts. Right.
So when you have that financial foundation,
(12:51):
then you can move forward with your
creativity with more inspiration and openness. Right.
And so now that you are set,
you bought a frickin house. That's huge.
You're out of debt, you got a
new car, like everything is like 180.
So fantastic. And now you're doing more
creative endeavors. Right? Because that's what. Because
(13:13):
you're still creative. Can you share more
about that? Like now what?
Rhianna Basore (13:17):
You're absolutely. My creativity has exploded because
of the freedom I have financially, both
physically in my bank account, but also
emotionally. So as I was thinking about
what it would be like to dip
my toe back into creative pursuits, my
friend was working on a one man
show. And it was a one man
show that sparked some ideas. And he
(13:38):
and I like to jostle back and
forth in brainstorming sessions. So I gave
him some key ideas for the script.
And then he said, well, who do
you think should direct it? And I
was like, oh, I don't know. I
gave him some names. None of them
seemed quite right. And he said, well,
why don't you direct it? And I
was like, oh, I haven't directed anything
since high school. Okay. But I really
(13:59):
need a producer. And I was like,
oh, I can produce. Because that time
I'd been running multiple businesses for myself
and for other people. So producing for
me was an extension of that business
knowledge that I was very confident in.
We worked on his show for about
six months. It premiered at the San
Diego Fringe Festival. It toured the United
(14:20):
States, it won an award to have
its international debut in Reykjavik in May
2020.
Alya Lei (14:30):
Nice. Okay.
Rhianna Basore (14:32):
And so when Americans were uninvited to
the island of Iceland. In April 2020.
The company that was inviting us to
come over said, well, you can do
a Zoom recording. And I thought, this
show won't play well on Zoom. We
were still really exploring what theater looked
like on Zoom. This show was a
clowning piece. It just didn't really suit
(14:54):
the medium of Zoom theater. And so
I said to my actor, I said,
what do you think about making it
a feature film instead? We can shoot
it in your closet. It'll just be
you and me. We can do that,
you know, socially distancing. What do you
think about that? He loved it. We
shot it over the course of three
weeks in his house. He did the
editing together. We put the pieces together
(15:17):
and sent it off to Reykjavik. It
premiered at the end of June 2020
to thousands of views. Better reviews than
the play. And not to mention that
our friends from all over the globe
were able to check out the shared
work that we've done. And based on
that experience, I realized that it's less
about what your challenges are and more
(15:39):
about what you turn them into. The
challenges can be alchemized into gold, and
that is the investment in talent that
reaps unlimited returns.
Alya Lei (15:51):
I love that so much. I am
so, like, picking that part out and
putting it into, like, a. I don't
know, some kind of a advertisement blurb.
I love that. Love that. Congratulations on
all of that. The pivoting. Can you
repeat what you said again? Just repeat
(16:11):
it. I mean, I know I have
it and I'll pull it out, but,
like, if someone's just listening, they're like,
what is that? Like, just repeat it
if you want to.
Rhianna Basore (16:20):
I believe that challenges are not the
obstacles we perceive them. I believe that
they are fuel to alchemize into golden
opportunities. They are where we invest in
ourselves with the faith to turn the
obstacle into gold. And that is truly
how we become that next bigger part
(16:42):
of ourselves.
Alya Lei (16:44):
Yeah. That's so great. I love it.
Love it so much.
Rhianna Basore (16:49):
Thank you. Yes. And based off that
opportunity, I've been producing other people's projects.
I have been brought on to other
people's short films. I'm beginning to write
my own so that I can have
my own feature film. It has really
expanded what I thought was possible for
myself. And a bit part of that
(17:11):
is I'm not afraid of raising the
money. I'm not afraid of running a
project as a leader, and I'm not
afraid of creatively contributing wherever is needed.
And that level of authority and owning
my talent has freed me from the
needs of people please. That I think
really haunted me as a working actor.
(17:33):
I always felt like it was creativity
on command. And now I can be
creative anytime I want because, yes, I
take on other people's projects as appropriate,
but I also make my own. So
the only limit to creativity now is
myself.
Alya Lei (17:50):
Yes, I love that. That's so fantastic.
Rhianna Basore (17:57):
It's really been freeing for me. And
the fact that now I'm paid to
do all these additional things so my
creative career has expanded into multiple income
streams is just, you know, a cherry
on the cake. It's almost a second
thought now. Whereas before I think I
would have clung very tightly, like, oh,
here's an opportunity to do this and
(18:17):
they're going to pay me this much.
And it's like, okay, but do I
like the project? Do I like the
people? How much are they paying me?
Okay, that sounds like something I want
or it doesn't and I get to
choose. And again, that freedom allows me
to put my life force and creativity
into the things that reward me most,
most.
Alya Lei (18:37):
Oh my God, so good. I love
that so much. Because as a recovering
people pleaser, that's actually what I focus
on from, for when I act are
people pleaser characters, you know, because it's
still all inside me. Of course I
don't want to live that in my
regular life, you know.
Rhianna Basore (18:57):
Of course it is such a beautiful
impulse to want to make people happy.
And there is a part of the
performer energy that's like, am I delighting
you? Are you laughing? I think that's
beautiful and sacred and incredible. We just
have to be able to play it
(19:18):
as opposed to have it play us.
Alya Lei (19:20):
Yes, a hundred percent, yes. Yes. And
I love that you have now the
freedom, the awareness to be so clear
about what it is that lights you
up versus looking and thinking, what can
(19:42):
I do from to get others to
light me up. Right. Or to get
this job or that. I mean, it's
always great to get a job, but
you're now choosing the projects you want
to work on.
Rhianna Basore (19:55):
That's right. And in some cases being
the visionary of them. And it just,
it takes me back to being that
little weird 8 year old girl who
every time I'd sleep over at my
friend's house would end up writing and
directing and producing a talent show that
their parents were forced to watch. And
of course it's starring me as well.
Like in some ways I have gone
(20:16):
back to that adorable, bossy 8 year
old who just wanted to make cool
stuff with her friends.
Alya Lei (20:23):
Yes. And that's who we really are,
that adorable, like vibrant person that we
are. Yes. I love that.
Rhianna Basore (20:32):
Yes, exactly. And and to bring the
experience and the knowledge and the insight
of being a seasoned performer, an experienced
artist in the world is allowing me
to feel that I'm contributing to a
conversation that before I felt like I
had to be picked to join.
Alya Lei (20:52):
Right? Yes. That is huge. Rihanna, we
are getting close to time, so is
there any last things that you might
want to promote coming up? And also
again, best ways to follow you and
stay in touch.
Rhianna Basore (21:08):
Absolutely. So the best way to follow
me and stay in touch is on
my website, selftrustfund.com because you need the
self trust to build that trust fund
that's going to sustain you through the
long term in your career. And there
you should sign up for my email
list. I have a couple different ways
to do that. There's a quiz, identify
your money monster, money mantras. All of
(21:32):
those are great ways to grab a
freebie and also jump on my email
list. And the thing that I would
like to offer your audience is that
my course, how to slay your money
monsters is an eight audio lesson experience
in which you really identify, target and
slay those money monsters so you can
(21:52):
get started for 2025 on the right
foot. We are coming to the last
few months of 2024. It's been a
great year and yet we always have
more money monsters to slay. So I
encourage you all to check out that
offer. It's on my website, selftrustfund.com and
there's going to be a companion piece
in the coming months to follow up
(22:15):
on the initial course. So stay tuned
for that.
Alya Lei (22:18):
I love that. That's so good. All
right, thank you so much, Rhianna. Last
little question, if you want. Just something
kind of fun because I'm still figuring
out the format of this rebranded podcast.
Favorite foods or least favorite food. And
why.
Rhianna Basore (22:37):
Well, I always say my least favorite
food is not delicious food. Everything else
is open game. But if it's not
delicious, that's my least least favorite. I
am a very passionate foodie cook, adventuresome
eater, all of it. I was in
Switzerland at Christmas revisiting childhood fondue. I
was making sesame noodles this morning for
(22:59):
breakfast. I just love a good Turkish
egg situation. It is a global palette.
So my favorite foods are all the
foods that are delicious.
Alya Lei (23:10):
Yeah, that works. That works. Thank you
so much, Rihanna. I really appreciate you
being here on the convers with me.
Rhianna Basore (23:18):
Aliyah Le it was my pleasure.
Alya Lei (23:21):
Thank you so much for listening to
conversations with AALIYAH le I'd love to
hear from you. Follow me on instagram
@aaliyahlei. A L Y A L e
I.
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