Fractional CFO Kelle Thorpe's Guide to Strategic Financial Planning

If you're a business owner, you've probably heard the term "Fractional CFO" thrown around at some point. But what do they actually do and how can they really benefit your company? 

Meet Kelle Thorpe, a seasoned Fractional CFO who's here to enlighten us on the crucial differences between a bookkeeper and a CFO. Kelle's entrepreneurial spirit runs deep, with not one, but two successful business launches during a global pandemic. She shares her inspiring tale of resilience, adaptability, and determination. 

Join us as we dive into the importance of surrounding yourself with diverse voices and investing in your personal growth. Get ready to learn from the best and level up your business game!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It doesn't change any of that right.
It came from that environmentof speaking the same way I speak
in person.
And then these messages onlineis okay, and in emails it's okay
.
It's how people appreciate you.
And then she started dissectwhat I did and she's like tell
me from start to finish, what doyou do when a client leaves in

(00:22):
discovery?
So I gave her each step andshe's like okay now they're
client in that way and I gaveher each step and she was like
you do all of this.
And I'm like, yeah, and she waslike, so tell me the stories,
tell me some client stories.
I was like, well, you know, Ihad one client that came to me
in May of 2022.
She was at about 225 and sheclosed out 2022 at 765.

(00:47):
And she was like Kelly, do yourealize what you just said?
And she was like, okay, I'mgonna hold that.
What's the next one?
I was like, so I had anotherone.
She's been in business for 16years and she's been full-time
for 16 years and she was runningherself out of her business and
she just kind of wasn't surewhat to do next.

(01:07):
She came in about 150 and she'sbeen with me almost three years
now and last year we had 1.1.
And she was like million.
She was like you realize, onaverage you just told me, you're
three to four extra people'sincome and, on average, five to
six months.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
Y'all welcome to Friends with Businesses where I
expose you to my friends withbusinesses and I know that you
will benefit.
I'm Carl Gray, your businesssolutions architect, and today

(01:49):
I'm joining with somebody who Ihave not seen in almost 25 years
.
Ms Kelly, is it Kelly or Kelly?
You know, you started Kellywith.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
Kelly.
I know everything.
It's Kelly today, 25 yearslater.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Okay, cool, so it's Kelly, Cause it was Kelly to me.
Can you put something rightthere?
I'm gonna acknowledge you.
I'm gonna acknowledge you thatthe joint the accent right.
So I'm so glad you're here.
We went to Parkdale High Schooltogether, class of 2000,.
We're just telling her how,like you know, we look better
than people our age.
Look when we were, you know,back then, that's it.
Carl Winslow was 37.

(02:24):
And I'm sure Carl Gray does notlook as old as Carl Winslow.
Look way back there.
So again, you know this.
You know we had theseconversations cause I have
friends who do some dope stuffand Kelly is a fractional CEO, I
mean CFO.
You know, and I promise you I'mprobably gonna have a program
when we're fractional, somethingfor somebody, because it's like

(02:45):
the sound of it, right.
But can you tell the people youknow who you are and what a
fractional CFO is, and you knowjust, we're gonna dive right
into it.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
Yeah, thanks for the space.
This is so dope.
I'm so blessed and happy thatwe get to reconnect in this
space.
Right it is.
It really is a blessing thatwe're both in this space.
It's, we're great, we'rehealthy and we're doing good.
So, yeah, awesome.
But yes, so I am a fractionalCFO.

(03:18):
My business is commas withKelly, so I show CEO
entrepreneurs how to spendstrategically to drive up
profits, optimize productivityand stay in their zone of genius
.
Most CEOs and entrepreneurs areburning themselves out in their
businesses and that's not whythey started their business,

(03:39):
right?
Usually they started theirbusiness cause either they hated
working for somebody else andthey wanted that flexibility, or
they may have had children anda family and they wanna do the
soccer games and go tocheerleading and do all the
things.
But then you start a businessand you're in the rat race,
you're checking your phone atthe game, you're not tuned in to

(04:00):
your family because you'reburning yourself out and you're
doing all these things in yourbusiness, right?
So actually, fractional is thisnew buzzword in
entrepreneurship I'm sure you'veheard like fractional CMOs,
fractional COOs.

Speaker 2 (04:17):
Me.
I'm a fractional COO.
That's what I do, okay.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
Yeah.
So it's the new buzzword overthe last couple of years in
entrepreneurship and it meansjust what it looks like.
It means you have whatever theC-suite executive is on your
team for a fraction of the time,for a fraction of the cost,
right?
So a lot of people when theysee a fractional CFO, they like,

(04:41):
oh look, I can't afford herservices.
That's, I can't afford them.
So let's just move on.
Let me go on back to mybookkeeper.
And we just won't stay on withthe bookkeeper.
So I try to do a lot ofeducating on my platforms to
tell people what we do as afractional CFO, because I think

(05:02):
it's very misleading to thinkthat you don't need one when
Fortune 500 companies didn't getto Fortune 500 without
fractional or without CFO andfinancial strategy.
And that's what a CFO does isgive you financial strategy,
right?
So how do you stay in thebookkeeping lane once you get

(05:23):
beyond the first six figures ifyou're in this for longevity and
for the legacy of your businessto carry on?

Speaker 2 (05:33):
So, look, you said a lot and I don't even be taking
those right.
I haven't had an opinion aboutit.
I'm like, okay, she jumped itdown.
So because one thing I likeabout this is I bring people on
here who do what I can, I did.

Speaker 1 (05:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
Like I tell you all the time, don't come to me and
ask me how to do your books.
Are you serious?
Like I wrote a book that's itno, hey, yes, your book.
No, so all right.
My first question is what isthe difference between a
bookkeeper and a CFO Period?
Because I know I'm in the auditspace so I work with CFOs all
the time and I understand thatpiece.

(06:07):
But most people think that it'sreally just about tick and tie,
devils and credits.
But let people know, you knowwhat a CFO to a chief financial
officer would do.

Speaker 1 (06:19):
Yes.
So let's start with thebookkeeper piece.
So a bookkeeper is yourtransactional person.
So they pull your transactions,depending on what software you
use.
We'll take QuickBooks and theypull them into a bank feed and
they categorize thosetransactions and put them onto
your accounting books and thenthey'll do a bank reconciliation

(06:41):
for you to make sure everythingticks and ties.
And usually you'll get yourfinancial statements, a P&L and
a balance sheet, maybe monthly,maybe quarterly, depending on
how you're set up.
And that's a bookkeeper.
A CFO then takes those reportsand looks at the back end of the

(07:02):
strategy and tells you what thestory is behind those numbers.
So many of times entrepreneursor even I'm not even just
entrepreneurs, I came from theC-suite and a $2 billion law
firm before I started mybusiness and they don't even
look at the reports they had me.
That's what they had me therefor right.
So entrepreneur is definitelyon looking at them.

(07:26):
If y'all are.
You just wanna see how muchmoney you bought in last month,
if you hit that high ticketoffer that you were selling or
your price point that you wantedto be, and boom, I did it.
But what does that tell you?
That doesn't really tell you awhole lot, because that doesn't
tell you how sustainable you areover the next six months, for
the rest of the year, right?
So that's what a CFO does.

(07:48):
We take those financial reportsthat you get from your
bookkeeper and you drag them anddrop them in your email file or
on your cloud cloud storagesystem and don't look at till
tax time.
And then you want us to worksome magic.
Yeah, we take those and dosomething with them and provide
you with financial strategy.

Speaker 2 (08:06):
See, and I think that's what you know, so many
entrepreneurs need Nothing.
This is what separates the menfrom the boys, the ones who just
have a self-employed nine tofive to those who actually have
a actual business ororganization.
Is strategy right?
Like strategy?
I'm learning is, you know,because I'm a business solutions

(08:29):
architect.
So all I think is strategy andI think everybody thinks
strategy, like I'm always, youknow, I think I think about
strategy too much Sometimes,where I'm like, yeah, I find a
new or this thing telling thestory, so, but it's up to me to,
you know, really help havepeople in my organization who
can really do database stuff.
But that's what separates us sooften is people don't have a

(08:55):
strategy moving forward.
So we kind of take what we canget and sometimes it sustains us
because what we're getting isgood.
But we're not aboutsustainability.
You know our people have donethat for too long.
We're about building legacy,you know this is this goes
beyond.
I mean, sustainability is good,but it's a level above that,
because I like to mention thatfirst six figures.

(09:16):
Honestly, it's not that hard.

Speaker 1 (09:18):
It's not, it's not easily.

Speaker 2 (09:21):
But no, but there's a whole lot there.

Speaker 1 (09:23):
No.
So you know it's funny becauseI did not realize what I was
doing in my clients business asfar as how much I was 3x thing,
5x thing, their revenue and thetime frames Until the last four
or five months.
So four or five months ago Istarted working with a coach to

(09:47):
help me with messaging and whenI sat down with the messaging
coach we realized that mymessaging was still very much
corporate messaging, right.
So I've been in the corporatespace and, like I said, I was in
the C-suite of A two billiondollar firm.
In my last position I was theonly black woman in the firm and

(10:10):
I was in the C-suite positionand there was only one other
black person in the whole.
So I wasn't in very diversecultures where I've worked in
the C-suite for almost 20 years.
So which that's been a wholeother podcast we could do of how
we conform to the cultures thatwe're in, right, so I didn't.

(10:32):
I was telling her in my firstor second session that this is
who I am like.
She's like no.
Like who are you really?
And I literally had nothingelse for her because who I'd
become in the C-suite was who Iwas and she told me she was like
no, when we're on these zoomsessions, you're delivering your

(10:55):
language and your Assertivenessand, like your matter-of-fact
and I know my shit it comesacross different than your
content on your platforms.

Speaker 2 (11:07):
So so I'm gonna be with a buck, right.
I know, you know you need mycut and so I'm sitting down like
this and I see you got thetattoo right here.
You know, I mean like to say,well, where my hair, you know
all these things like it's likeyeah, and you know, I know you
said we're talking anotherpocket, but that's part of what

(11:29):
this podcast is about.
It's, you know, like it's myfriends with business, but it's
also I recognize where I comefrom, right, and where we come
from.

Speaker 1 (11:41):
You know, you know when I say I grew baby like
thank you.

Speaker 2 (11:47):
This is who we are um , and Part of what I love about
this, and even who I bring on.
It's a celebration of ourculture, and not everybody came
from the hood like us.

Speaker 1 (11:58):
You know so not everybody.

Speaker 2 (11:59):
You know that you have diversified the way, but no
matter what it is, our cultureneeds to be Celebrated.
And you mentioned something andwe're gonna get back into this
three x thing but you mentionedsomething about conforming to
culture.
That's how you, all the time Inot only do I not Code switch, I
don't know how to.
This is how I, this is how Ispeak.
Yeah, I mean, you know I get mypassion and you know everyone's

(12:22):
know what I'll be talking to aCFO, coo, ceo, whatever it is,
and I'm gonna say young, yeah,it's gonna happen, it's not
gonna change.
But like you see my hair, youknow I came here a negro, yeah,
and and.
But there's nothing wrong withthat, we got this.
We still got the skills.

Speaker 1 (12:41):
Yeah, no.
So when she thought it to myattention, she was like so it's
okay to be humble, but it'simportant for you to tell people
these results, because that'swhat drives people to come is
Results.
So you need to start speaking.
The results so in that journeywas when I started speaking and

(13:01):
I started actually asking myclients who had these results
hey, do you mind Given atestimonial?
And one of them she justarbitrarily gave a testimonial
on a masterclass that I did andI was like okay, this is, this
is a thing.
So I always knew, when I take onnew people and I'm in discovery

(13:22):
phase, that I'm not going to.
I have a bookkeeping team andwe do do bookkeeping.
So if you come to me and you'relike I kind of want to see what
this fractional CFO space lookslike not sure from ready and
Either one of two things eitherI see, hell, yeah, you're ready.

(13:43):
You're just afraid to start atthat investment point, which we
can talk about too, which I knowyou can afford it.
I've already seen yourfinancials.
I know you can afford it.
I know I'm going to get you themoney back to be able to afford
this plus some.
So this is not going to be anissue in less than three months.
Max I'll give you, so I'll putyou in bookkeeping.

(14:04):
You can come on over here.
You're going, my bookkeepingteam and I'll just watch from
the bookkeeping afar and beginstrategizing behind the scenes
and You'll migrate on over tofull fractional CFO services,
which usually is what happens.
Or they take the leap andthey're like alright, the first

(14:27):
tier of investment is 1150 amonth.
Okay, I'll, I'll do 1150 amonth.
I'm scared as hell, kelly,because I don't know, but I'm a
trust you and I'm gonna do itand it it never fails by month
three or four.

Speaker 2 (14:40):
They're just like alright, don't even want me with
me, no more.

Speaker 1 (14:42):
I'm like this, the monthly strategy session that
we're going over.
They like, yeah, no, I'm goodthis month because they got it.
They already know that themoney has already started taking
the turn and they're in abetter place.
So it is.
It's an interesting Dynamicthat I love being in.

Speaker 2 (15:04):
I love Interesting, it's miraculous, all right.
So because again, and I'm in mybusiness right and so In some
cases you know, I do businessprocess reorganization right.
Well, some of these companiesin work and when I do that, like

(15:24):
I'll increase margins, becauseI Do that, but from a I very
rarely.
Unless I'm helping someone toeither create a product or sell
a product, I Don't increaserevenue.

Speaker 1 (15:43):
Right, I disagree with that Talk to me, tell me.
It's an indirect increase ofrevenue.
I'll give you a.

Speaker 2 (15:52):
So one of my c-suite, obviously what you do.

Speaker 1 (15:58):
No, because you need to do the same thing and that's
part of actually your pivot ofmessaging right, because one of
my positions in the c-suite Ihad a dual role as the C A O In
the CF.
Oh, so I was the chief adminofficer and CFO.
So on the admin side, it wasmore of what you're talking
about like Operational,organizational stuff dissecting

(16:20):
the systems, making things runmore efficiently, streamlining
the processes.
Can we be more lean on staff ordo we need beef up on staff?
Do we need to recategorizewhere some of the numbers are
all in your lane of things thatyou do right?
So when I did that but I hadthe dual hat, I had the
advantage point of saying, yes,I'm not directly bringing in

(16:44):
money, but I'm increasingrevenue, because the things I'm
doing is Optimizing the systemsthat either they currently have,
or bringing in systems that aregoing to help reduce the time
that people are spending.
We're just putting money backinto the firm or reduce the
staff.
So when I had the dual hat, Icould do the numbers.

(17:06):
So, for example, that that firmthis was Five years since 2015,
long before Kobe.
One of the first things I sawis they were a Law firm that I
don't want to say the industry,because if you go back to my
LinkedIn, you're very figure outwhat one does.
So it was a Law firm that madeit very, very easy to be go to

(17:31):
go paperless, right, becauseeverything they did was kind of
on the cloud or electronic, okay.
So it was one of the thingsthat I'm like okay, if we
continue down this path of goingpaperless, we can reduce
storage.
We can reduce onsite andoff-site storage fees.
We can potentially reduce staff.
We can change our software.

(17:52):
Yes, we'll need to buy thismore expensive software, but we
now no longer have an $8,000storage fees, so this is gonna
offset this.
Mmm ended up giving back 30% ofthe office space because we no
longer needed the wing that hadstorage.
So when I did all thatcalculation, it saved them

(18:14):
$340,000 a year.
That's an increase in revenue.
So you're doing so.
You just need to start.

Speaker 2 (18:26):
This is crazy.
No, I can say the numbers tellthe story.
Right, the number.
So, okay, all right, all right,so I'm so.
No, I mean, I mean because,again, like I know what I'm good
at and I know what I'm.
What's the word serviceable, asthey would say?

(18:46):
It's like hey, it's gettingdone.
No um, you know, and but thisis this is amazing.
You know, and one of the thingsthat you know, I'm, I'm, I'm a
very much an advocate of, andI'm also training myself in, is
who, not how, and this is what Itell everybody is what it's a

(19:08):
great book.
Dance up, sullivan.
Um is and you talked about itearlier the first thing I wrote
down, that zone of genius.

Speaker 1 (19:15):
Yes, right.

Speaker 2 (19:16):
It's not even a zone of excellence, zone of that
thing that you can do in yoursleep, not thinking about like I
was just doing a coachingsession, a Wonder mini coaching
session, and I literally did notplan it at all.
All I did was hot seat thewhole 90 minutes because it's
your life.
Right, everybody, what's youridea?

(19:37):
Let's tweak it, punch it up.
Punch it up the whole top to amicrophone.
I'm not gonna plan it, lettinggo to sleep tonight.
I am this morning.

Speaker 1 (19:43):
I was just and.

Speaker 2 (19:46):
Right, and the session was at noon, so you know
, I was like I said.
I'm just gonna hot seateverybody.
And they were like, oh, this isamazing, this is great.
Look, that's my zone of genius,right, my zone of excellence,
like high point presentation.
Exactly you know I could dothat piece of you know, but you
just talked about uh, and thereason that I say that is we

(20:08):
have to start craving To operatein our zone of genius that part
.

Speaker 1 (20:15):
That's the key when you ask how I do it Is because
by the time I strip you of thefinancial worry and you have
someone like me in your cornerthat you know Is for your vision
.
A lot of people are surprisedwhen they first hit discovery
with me.
I don't ask numbers.
I ask tell me why, why youstarted your business, what's

(20:37):
your vision for your business?
What made you start it?
What I, what I tell me tohighlights what has happened.
What dope stuff have youaccomplished since you started
this business?
Now let's talk about what's yourpay points, what's what's these
things?
And the reason I do that is tosee how dedicated you still are.
Are you really burnt out or isit just the stuff you're doing

(20:59):
in your business that has youfeeling burnt out?
That's the first thing I wantto see, and the other thing is
because I know that's where yourzone is and that what you,
that's what you crave inconversation and you can talk to
me all day about what that isthat you do right and that's of
interest to me, because when I'mstrategizing behind your

(21:20):
numbers, I'm going to keep inmind Okay, this Carl said his
only zone of genius is helpingpeople Revitalize or build their
offers and helping them learnhow to sell better.
Why the hell did I just see himspending two hours on a
powerpoint Presentation when hecould have hired somebody and
just sent that stuff over thereand let them chat, gpt and use

(21:43):
his notes as best that theycould and come up with a draft
and send him a draft.
He just spent two hours at.
We got his rate of 200 an hourwhen you could have paid a va
150 to do it.
Your waste of my time for all.

Speaker 2 (21:56):
I know, and my rate has to 500 hours, but yeah, I
Like the point and this to yourpoint of what you said.

Speaker 1 (22:05):
Like people have to know that and stop being scared.
You can't be a scaryentrepreneur like it's just.
You can't be scared like you'rewasting money, scared because
that's exactly what you're doing.

Speaker 2 (22:19):
Oh, I For this and this is gonna be a real you what
she said?
You wasted money, scared Way.
Yeah, yeah, no, we, we're gonna.
We're gonna feed my mind'sturning.

Speaker 1 (22:31):
Already know that I'm a master my mind's turning
because and if people arestaying in their zone of genius,
right, 500 hours an hour, youstay in your zone.
You gotta work half the time.
You might love one of the tasksthat I do when I get somebody
like you as a client and I'mlike all right, I see he, he

(22:52):
liked it over here.
You know what I call thatpowerpoint side, that's your
procrastination side of box.
I got four boxes right.
I'm like all right, this thebox, this is the box up here on
my upper.
I'm talking to you.
I know.
This is the box on my upperleft hand side.
That's your high revenue box.
That's where I need you to liveto bring in all this five x.

(23:13):
I'm talking.
The box on the right Is thempowerpoint presentations, that
research, that review.
Do all the desk stage rightthere.
That's the.
I'm high, optimizing my time atdoing these because this is
also my zone.
But that doesn't mean that'swhere I should live.

(23:33):
That means I need to hiresomeone and let them be my right
hand and groom them to do thiszone for me.
And then you got the other twoboxes that are just like stuff I
hate to do, like maybe socialmedia management or something,
but I haven't quite outsourcedyet.
And then the left Is the maybestuff.
That's the stuff that maybe youneed to be doing like I don't

(23:56):
know what can I think of in yourindustry.
Like maybe you should behelping people.
While you're helping them learnhow to better sell, they need
to also need coaching andmessaging.
But you don't do messagingcoaching.
But you're trying to figure outhow to do messaging coaching,
but that ain't your lane.
So you waste some time when youneed to just collaborate with a
messaging coach and then we canbring this up here.

(24:18):
So that's typically how thefour quadrants of how it works
right, and then you got five x.
So if you stay in your zone ofgenius, I know it's crazy like
you said, it's easy to make thesix figures, getting beyond the
first six figures.

Speaker 2 (24:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (24:39):
And not run yourself out and be rat crazy.
That's like.

Speaker 2 (24:43):
Because I legit, I had, I had a six figure week,
right, yeah, and it was from oneclient I know.
Yeah, right.
Um, and I was like, oh, I cando this again.
But what the problem was?
I did everything to get there.
I did everything to get there.

(25:06):
I mean, a couple of things areoutsourced to my assistants, my
VAs, but for the most part, Idid everything and I was like do
that again, rough Worth it.
I mean of course six reasons aweek.

Speaker 1 (25:22):
That's like no great.

Speaker 2 (25:23):
I'm putting my phone on the check.
Oh, that's wonderful.

Speaker 1 (25:27):
And that's when the fractional CFO will sit down
with you and be like all rightdope.
That's the highlight for ourmonthly meeting.
Yes, how can we recreate this,but in a different time frame
and a different setting?
To make the same amount ofmoney, but spread it out a
little bit and you don't have towork that hard by yourself.

Speaker 2 (25:50):
And what's crazy is I talk to people all the time.
I say this all the time Everycoach needs a coach, Because
that's exactly the process I'lltake my clients through.
They're like, oh, this wasgreat, Now let's make it easier
on you to make the same amount.

Speaker 1 (26:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (26:05):
Right, but doctors can't heal themselves.

Speaker 1 (26:10):
That's the good one.

Speaker 2 (26:13):
It does not happen.
Everybody gets better resultsfrom your work than you do
Everybody.
Yeah, it's crazy.
It's like, oh wait, like what?
Oh, my god, the world, like Itell my clients you're going to
make more money than me in thatworld.
Really it's going to happen,because why I have coaches that

(26:33):
I'll make more money from themthan I pay them.
That's the point.
Yeah, that's the point.
And I know a number of peoplewho watch this, who do this, are
kind of in this coaching,consulting, entrepreneur,
solopreneur space and literallyjust last week I had somebody
who does intellectual propertyoh wait, it does intellectual

(26:53):
property NIL and it's been acontinuous thing.
To get to the next level, Ihired a coach.
To get to the next level, Ihired somebody who is better at
something I need than I am.

Speaker 1 (27:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (27:08):
We got to continue to do that.
But here I got a question,because I know some people out
there like all right, so thissounds great, but is it for me
Right?
The answer is automatically yes.
However, what do they need tohave to come to you?
Is there revenue they need tohave?
Is there any type of assistancethey need to have In order to
come see you?
What should they have?

Speaker 1 (27:30):
Yeah, now, that's a great question and it's one that
I built out on my website too.
You need a fractional CFO ifand there's four bullet points
and usually you've already had abookkeeper.
You have a bookkeeper andsomeone that's maintaining your
books, but you're doing like Italked about earlier you just

(27:50):
dragging and dropping them'sreports into a file and you're
not paying any attention, andthen at tax season, you want
surgery to happen.
The next person is don't make aface so they won't know what
I'm talking about you.
Oh, the next person is youcould be DIYing, right, like

(28:11):
maybe you don't mind and I'massuming, too much.
So you're still trying to keepup with your own quick books and
you're trying, but you're notquite staying in there as much
as you should.
You pop in and out once a week,you start it out, then maybe
once a month, and so forth, andthen the next bucket is you
already launched beyond thefirst six figures?
Right, you're beyond the firstsix figures.

(28:32):
You're full time in yourbusiness, it's what keeps the
lights on for you, but you'renot sure how to create.
I say sustainability, but I usethat loosely to not minimize
what you make, but how to spreadit out over time and manage the
wealth so it works for you.
Because part of my team isinvestment advisors, right?

(28:54):
So once we get to the point instrategy, then I start talking
to them and saying, hey, shecame in making $250 this year.
She said $675.
We need to A figure out how tolessen her tax liabilities and,
b talk about how to do thisinvestments for her.
Because the other thing inentrepreneurship that we

(29:14):
typically aren't doing and Iwasn't even guilty of this until
this year is you're so used toa 9 to 5 W2 job that if you were
taking advantage of the 401kover there, it was automatic
coming out of your paycheck.
And now you're anentrepreneurship and that just
stopped.
Ain't nothing happening in thatarea?
Stop talking about me.

(29:35):
I had a job in 10 years, soyou're just going to do this in
front of my face and you're justgoing to let it just talk about
me, right?

Speaker 2 (29:44):
I had a job in 10 years, so nothing ahead of 401k.

Speaker 1 (29:49):
So, yeah, so you're at that point.
You're like I got beyond thefirst six figures.
Not too sure if I'm ready for aCFO, but I need to figure out
my long term goals and plans andthere is no minimum.
Like I don't tell people you'vegot to be at six figures to

(30:11):
work with me, I work with me.
I have a client who she stillhas her 9 to 5 in her business.
She's working on it in hopes bymid next year she can
transition full time in it.
She's not at six figures yet.
She stepped out on faith andit's like I've seen the results.
I know someone who personallygotten them four.

(30:31):
I'm just going to go ahead andjump in and go full fractional
CFO so I can get the strategypiece and you can help me get
there.
I took her on because I see Iknow that she got it and I know
I can get her there right.
So book a strategy session.
There is no cost, they're free.
You can go to my website.
There's an inquire now process.

(30:51):
There's the application thatmay take you five minutes to
fill out, a solution form thatyou flow through.
It comes to my inbox and that'swhen I begin dissecting to see,
ok, where I think you may falleither.
In bookkeeping, we can gostraight fractional CFO I do
have a membership too so there'sthree options that we can

(31:12):
entertain and then we can takeit from there.
So there's no that.
Those are the buckets that youcould potentially, I would say,
book a strategy if you fall inany of those categories.

Speaker 2 (31:23):
This is crazy.
I'm so glad, I'm really gladthat we're doing this.
It's open in my eyes a wholelot.
I didn't feel bad, but I didwith you Sorry.

Speaker 1 (31:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (31:36):
But OK, all right, all right.
All right, all right, here wego, here we go.
So how big is your team?

Speaker 1 (31:42):
I have five feet.

Speaker 2 (31:45):
She got to look up.

Speaker 1 (31:46):
No, because I need to expand more.
That's my hard thing.
So how I knew you lived overthere in the stratosphere of
PowerPoint and IT stuff, becausethat's what I do it took me a
while to get a bookkeeping team,because that's the side that
I'm like.
I can sit behind thesecomputers and move transactions

(32:07):
all night and all day long, andso I'm at a point where I need
to expand even more because I'mstill sitting behind a desk
doing more things than Iprobably should be doing.

Speaker 2 (32:18):
Well, you know, we are growing up, we talk, yeah,
but so I don't do my PowerPointsanymore.

Speaker 1 (32:25):
Look, look.

Speaker 2 (32:28):
I mean, I do like the outline of it.
You know pretty much.
I'm like, hey, joni, because Igot two right now I got Joni and
I got Angie.
Angie does like my video stuff,Joni does some of my more
high-level things and thingslike that.
But yeah, so all right.
All right, so you've seen fivepeople.
I'm going to ask you a question.
You don't have to answer it howmuch money do y'all?

Speaker 1 (32:48):
make.
So I launched in the pandemic.
I started full-time for myselfin February 1st 2021.
I went full-time July 2020 waswhen I got my first client and I
was working in the C-suite andmy business on the side.

(33:08):
I launched my first year atmultiple six figures and it was
I taught people all of them.
They're like it was easy.
Honestly and I'm hesitant tosay that because I realized in
the pandemic most people losttheir businesses, so I'm being

(33:29):
sensitive to that.

Speaker 2 (33:30):
I started mine.
I could just did a wholeepisode about that.
So no, it's right.

Speaker 1 (33:38):
And I think it's well not.
I think I know it's because ofthe industry I'm in.
Right the same for you theindustry you're in has the
impact.
So I launched at multiple sixfigures my first year.
My second year I stayed aroundthat lower multiple six figure
point and this year, in yearthree, I'm still at multiple,

(34:03):
but I'm going to be a littleless because I took some steps
back to get coaching.
Because the first two years itwas just God and the blessing
and again I enjoy working in theC-suite.
So I wasn't the entrepreneurthat hated my job and was like
one day I'm going to work formyself.
I just kind of got pushed intothis.

(34:25):
So now at year three I was like, oh, I guess I'm at this and
I'm nearly unemployable at thispoint.
So I think I need some strategyfor me.
Like you were saying, I needcoaching.
So this year I took a step backon my client load to make room
for me to actually get coachingand make time for me to use the

(34:50):
coaching that I paid for.

Speaker 2 (34:52):
That's another thing Addition by subtracting.
Yeah, I did the same.
I'm doing the same thing, likeI don't know.
If you saw, during thechallenge I did last week, I
wasn't able to do some of thework that I was supposed to and
unfortunately I didn't do allthat I should have done in the
challenge.
I mean, I still made a lot ofmoney.
I mean not a lot of money.

(35:13):
I made relative.
I'm like, oh, because when itcame time to close the last day
I was getting damn paid, Takeyour money.
I'm like, ok, I did it.
I'm definitely going to dobetter at it the next time.
But you say something very,very important and you let me
know when you run out of time,because I know you're busy.
I'm going to take all thefractions at a time.

(35:35):
I'm thinking somebody elsefraction, but you mentioned
something about you launchedyour business during the
pandemic and I launched actuallytwo businesses on the pandemic.
I see opportunities and Ineeded money because I was doing
consulting for somebody who alarge organization.
But they need to switch on theresources.
So I'm perfectly good withconsulting, obviously, but you

(36:00):
said during the pandemic thatyou basically jumped in this and
there are some people whobelieve that there's another one
coming.
There's another shutdown.

Speaker 1 (36:14):
This is unbelievable.

Speaker 2 (36:15):
I know.
No matter what, there is aneconomic downturn that is known
which can lead to a lot of someof the same situations.
Whether we can't go outside ofthat is neither here nor there.
As a fraction of CFO.
Oh yes, not the water.
I caught it.
I caught it Good, I think it'severywhere.
Good Bye.

Speaker 1 (36:35):
Quick.

Speaker 2 (36:38):
Good, I can't think of a lie.
We'll leave that in there.
I got it in there.
But in what you do, how wouldyou tell somebody to prepare?
Or here's another thing,because as a business solution
architect, do you have anythingfor people?
You know whether it's.
You know some of the DIY ontheir own or DFY.

(37:01):
You know, done with you, donefor you, whatever that someone
could have in place so that,when this does happen, they flip
in the switch because financehas completely changed.
When depressions and receptive,you know, we got inflation and
stagflation at the same time orand all right, this is just
crazy.
What should somebody beprepared to?

(37:23):
Because you're the one whomanaged to fund, and what
numbers?
What do you even tell in yourclient?
I tell them specificallybecause they ain't paying you
yet.
They've been not paying you,but give them a little something
.

Speaker 1 (37:34):
No, and that's a great question and proves the
point of why you need afractional CFO, right, if you
are in business full time foryourself to help figure out
those ebbs and flows and what todo.
So one of the things that we dois we strategize out, we do
three, five, 10 years right, andI tell them there's room, we're

(37:56):
going to wiggle room at 10 andfive, but we need to put a plan
in place because if we have thestrategy and the revenue goals
and the expense amounts in place, then we can project where we
could or may be right.
So that way, if a recession orwent and not a recession happens

(38:17):
, you're already on target basedupon the revenue goals that
we've already spent.
And quite naturally, like thespace that you're in, I operate
pretty lean, so of course, mystrategies are built to have my
clients scale to be pretty lean,so when the recessions and

(38:40):
things happen, they can stillmaintain the momentum of where
they are.
So it goes back to that sixfigure week, right?
Yes, we want to duplicate that,but we don't want to spend all
of the six figure weeks becausethat's unnecessary.
What you need to do, which wewon't spend that much money on,
right.

Speaker 2 (38:59):
So it's like a 52, 60 weeks after your highway work.
I promise I will buy an island.

Speaker 1 (39:10):
So, but no, to that point you could and reinvested.
And those are the things wetalk about.
All jokes aside, you jokinglytell me I'm going to take the
money and buy an island.
All right, what are we going tostart looking for the island
now?
How much you think it's goingto cost?
Can we rent it out?
Can we Airbnb out that island?
For how much money and put thatback into this business?

(39:33):
All of the reinvestments inthose things are all strategy.
They're all a piece of thepuzzle that help you.
That's why you can't think inthe same box as an entrepreneur
and you can't think scared.
You can't make scared decisionsBecause the financial decisions
you make now are impactful forthe years ahead.

(39:56):
So if you have someone like mestrategizing for you and I'm
forward thinking years inadvance, and you like, hey, I
have had multiple six figureweeks over the year and I want
to splurge on this and buy anisland, then I'm also
strategizing OK, the best placeto buy this island is here

(40:18):
because the Airbnb's, you canmark this up 150% and we can
reinvest this.
So it's not just focused on yourbusiness, it's focused on your
personal.
Because, remember, my initialquestions are why, why did you
start this?
So I cannot, and I do not drawa line and say, no, I don't deal

(40:41):
with your personal finances,you need to find somebody to
deal with that.
No, they all are the same, sowe deal with that, right.
So if you come to me and yousay I had a multiple six figure
business, I've been selling outmy hot ticket off for all week,
yeah, what's your finances looklike personally?
Oh, I had a $30,000 credit carddebt.
All right, we'll start with that, let's talk about that.

(41:03):
So it all goes together and itall helps with that longevity
piece that you're speaking ofand getting through recessions
and getting through even hardtimes of entrepreneurship when
the revenue isn't hitting thegoals you thought they were
going to hit.
That's why you have thatsustainability plan in place,

(41:26):
and when you hit a spike, you'realready okay, that's a win.
And when you hit the low, we'rejust that sustainability, it's
fine, but we're still at a win,right.
So that's the key.
It all boils down to thestrategy.
That's when the investmentadvisors on my team come into
place for us to do all of thatpiece and navigate those puzzles

(41:48):
.

Speaker 2 (41:49):
Yeah, that's one of the things that I don't
encourage.
I kind of force some of mylarger clients once we're you
know, if I'm yours, we alwaystalk about the pivot plan, right
, because you know, as I said,I'm you know, I see Arbiter by

(42:09):
Tracy my hacker mask over thereand all that stuff.
But what people don't know isfor about since 2006, 2007,
probably beyond that.
But that's why I actually gotinto the field.
Companies were required to havea pandemic plan to the part of
disaster recovery, a continuityof operations with a pandemic.
It's a part of the standards.

Speaker 1 (42:32):
Right.

Speaker 2 (42:33):
Is you know you plan for, you know fire, you plan for
this, you plan for people beingsick and you put the test for
that and so many people, so manycompanies were not ready, big,
small, whatever.

Speaker 1 (42:46):
Yeah, you're right.
I do remember that when I wasin the CAO role, we definitely,
after the 9 11 thing happened,and that was when it all started
playing out that you had tohave these plans.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (43:01):
Biological weapons.

Speaker 1 (43:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (43:04):
And so it's like so they were telling people.
You know it's like hey, youneed to have.
Like I was, I actually wrotethe, the IT policy for a large
HBCU or whatever, and you knowthey were supposed to have a
pandemic plan and this was in2006.
2006, 2007.

(43:25):
Yeah, so of course, nobody hadit and I think you know, and we
can't act like it's not going tohappen again, meaning, like I
said, it may not be the same,but we got to be open to all
possibilities.
Nobody ever thought that therewould be a time when you
couldn't go into a anything.
Yeah, my favorite places wereclosed for two years.

Speaker 1 (43:48):
I know right.

Speaker 2 (43:51):
What's going on here, like you can't go to a state.
So you know, I mean, and Ithink you know, from a financial
, I mean the same way it is fromit, like me, I always have like
, hey, look, if this happens,this is something you can easily
turn on to make.
You know, keep revenue comingin, but at the same time, like
you said, there needs to begoals that are met up until that

(44:11):
point from a revenue standpoint, because flip it a switch, yeah
, you flip it a switch, but youneed revenue for that.
Because you got to market, yougot to market the stuff in your
coffers to make that happen.
And you mentioned something yousaid you know, you, you one of
the reasons that you step back,because you know, you kind of
got you know between God and thesituation, you know, if there's
a little bit of love here andthere, kind of helped you out.

(44:34):
I think so many people were indenial of that, like they drank
their own Kool-Aid, you know,and they were like, oh, I got
this when, I mean, the pandemicwas one of the easiest times to
make money, the one we had, youknow, I mean we had a president,
like him or not.
All he cared about was business.

(44:55):
Yeah, all he cared about wasbusiness.
Like he's like yo, business isgonna make money no matter what,
and he's blinds his own.
So like, look he, you know allhis money's a blind trust.
We can't see it.
Whatever I got to do to keepall business up, so I keep
making money, I'm going to do it.
So that was already set up.
Then, you know, people were inpositions that had never been in

(45:17):
before, and so you're able totouch.
You know you don't clubhouse,get on zoom, you don't miss, you
don't miss.
And you were able to reachpeople in a different way.
And so a lot of people gotlucky.
They grew lucky, but they didnot really know a lot of the
basics, and so now there's a lotof struggling going on.
You know where they're like andthey're, and they're

(45:38):
unemployable because theyhaven't had a job in three years
.
Yeah, I know I'm unemployable.
I haven't had a boss in 10years.
And I'm not just unemployablebecause I had a boss, I'm
unemployable because I don'tknow that part.

Speaker 1 (45:52):
That's where I am.
I can respond to one of theseLinkedIn requests right now that
sit there that want me to comein and talk to them about a
potential opportunity easily.

Speaker 2 (46:05):
I don't want to.
I've gotten.
I get all these headhunterscoming in there.

Speaker 1 (46:09):
Exactly you want to be this CISO.

Speaker 2 (46:12):
Do you want to be no Audit director?
Do you want to do this?
Man, I'm like no W2, greatbenefits, I cool.
I'm not worried about that.
That's not me, like you know.
And so, in becomingunemployable, you have to have
even more things in place.

Speaker 1 (46:32):
You know, with it.

Speaker 2 (46:34):
So, look, we're going to close down soon with a
regional hour and I can't even,like you want to look at it,
yeah, and nobody will listenafter certain points.
I don't know, I don't know withthis joint.
I don't know it's been fire forme, I don't know I don't want to
listen to this, because everytime you talk you be driving a
gym.
You tell them you made a wholerack of bread and all this kind
of stuff.
But I want to ask you, what wasthe worst situation you ever

(46:57):
walked into with a client?
Everybody can be brave.
You're like don't kind of belike.
You got together.
That's what you're saying.

Speaker 1 (47:09):
You know, that's what I do.

Speaker 2 (47:11):
I remember.

Speaker 1 (47:12):
That's not even worth .
My clients get on.
They already know, like theyknow, I was just one client.
I'm still trying to think ofthe answer to that.
I was one client, she shedodged me for a couple.
She ain't dodged me, she was alittle busy but she could have
made time for a couple months,missed a couple of meetings and
finally I pinned her downbecause I had to go on her
Facebook page and she got on themeeting and she was like I know

(47:33):
, I know, I know, I know I'm introuble.
I was like I ain't said nothing, how you doing, how's it going?
So they already know.
They called me.
I did a live earlier with oneof my clients who is a business
lawyer and she was like she's abig mama where she can be like
baby, don't do that, no more.

Speaker 2 (47:57):
We know you Okay.

Speaker 1 (48:00):
So that's what she calls me.

Speaker 2 (48:02):
I'm on my part there, people I cool Kevin, kevin,
kevin, I guess my brother.

Speaker 1 (48:10):
Don't be calling my name.
Yes, I stopped.
I'm thinking of the word Worstclients, that you wait, okay, um
, that I've walked in, you saidwith a current client or a good
average.

Speaker 2 (48:26):
It doesn't matter.
I mean, you may have fired them, I did.

Speaker 1 (48:31):
Yeah, that's the thing too, though, like people
have to realize why are youworking in a business with
people you don't even want towork with?
You can go back and get acorporate job, w2 job, to do
that.
No, I'm not doing that.

Speaker 2 (48:45):
Right, don't waste my time.

Speaker 1 (48:48):
And no.
So I think the most challengingthat comes to mind there is one
client.
He only lasted, I think, threemonths maybe, and he perceived
to have more money than he saidhe had because and this is how

(49:10):
my process, this is how you know, I wouldn't I have a business
plan.
I saw this out it was just like, oh yeah, this works, I'll keep
going.
That's when I develop theseapplications.
I'm telling you how to goonline to do and all the things,
because I was just trustingpeople to say I made this kind
of money last month and theyreally wasn't.
So that was when I was in hisphase.
For six months he was makingall this money and he had three

(49:34):
businesses going on and he wasmaking all these money, this
money.
One business he was justkicking off, so it wasn't making
money yet, but the other twowas going to pay for that one.
And once I got into his books Irealized he literally barely
had a three figure number andany of the bank accounts and he

(49:56):
had six bank account and I waslike what, what am I doing?
Like, how am I?
You got a three figure numberspread across six, but why you
got six bank accounts?

(50:17):
I'm like hundreds like hundreds,like I think, in total I don't
even think he had $1,000.
And I had to talk to him and belike look, you misled me to
thinking that you have more.
You can't afford my services.

(50:37):
You can't afford my services,so we can't continue on.
But I'll give you some trainersso you can know how to do your
own quick books, how to do thethings and be a couple pointers
as far as your business planmodel goes, and then you go from
there.
Oh no, no, no, I got it is goingto be coming in.

(50:58):
And then, of course, you knowwhat happened at a hard time
paying second month.
Then he's taking moneypersonally to pay the third
month and I was like I'm not, Ican't let you do this.
I am a CFO.
Like I cannot.

Speaker 2 (51:13):
Right, there's other coaches.

Speaker 1 (51:15):
You know there's different coaching like my
message.
Oh, she could have did that.
Call the sales coach.
They could do that because theyhelp you to make the money
right.

Speaker 2 (51:24):
I'm the CFO, I can't do that so if I do share
responsibility to be like you,need to cut it.

Speaker 1 (51:33):
One from a client that came in new from the
beginning and why you ain't donethis the whole time.

Speaker 2 (51:39):
You already frustrated thing about I'm sorry
.
Is that a trigger?
Did I take it?
Did I take you to old place?
You didn't know, but look, okay.
So look, look, look.
This is great.
This is great that you saidthat.
So is your training that youhave for people who need to get
to that place, because my goalis there are people watching
right now who, like I need tocall you.
I need to call you right.

(52:00):
There are some people that,like I need to call you, but I'm
not ready for you.
You know what I'm saying, andso you have training.
So is it one-on-one training?
Is it automated train?
What is it?

Speaker 1 (52:13):
So that's the space to that I've been working to
Talk to the pain points ofpeople who go to my website or
go to my social media.
The Person who, like, I don'tthink I'm ready for her or I
don't think I can afford her isI don't know if you're gonna
tell him my energy.
I don't give a shit.
We, this is a judgment-freezone, like I.
Yes, I studied, studiedaccounting and finance in

(52:37):
college, but I I checked up, youremember.
So I started out at Maryland,but then I had a baby at 19.
So I ended up finishing.
Oh, it's been 25 years.
I ended up and that's a part ofmy journey in my story Is that
ended up finishing online atStrayer because I had to get a

(53:00):
job and support.
I was a single mom at 19 andraised my kid and along 22.
Yeah, I feel low and along thatjourney, though, I jacked up my
own finances.

(53:20):
I ran up credit cards.
I got into ridiculous debt, toreup my credit score, but all in
all I knew that I enjoyedaccounting in the world of
accounting.
So I don't ever want people tothink just because of where I
came from, in the amount ofmoney that I came from in the C

(53:41):
Suite and managing overall Meansthat you can't afford me.
Because I work in theentrepreneur space for a reason,
I could still be doing businessconsulting and making 2524 $1 a
month per contract doingbusiness advisory level work and

(54:02):
that was how I Mastered up soquickly in my multiple six
figures in my first couple ofyears because I stayed in that
lane.
But it was one day when Idecided to cut all my hair off
and I was sitting in the salonchair and she's venting to me
about how she's tired of beingbehind the chair but she booked
and you can't get on hercalendar for six months and she

(54:23):
killing it making third to threethousand dollars a week that my
will started turning, that myexpertise is needed in this
space.
And in order for me to serve thepeople in this space, I have to
build this platform for them,right?
So I do have something wehaven't talked about yet, which

(54:46):
is a membership called crushingit collectively, and in that
membership you do get theQuickBooks training.
There's some one-on-onetraining in there, but there's a
content vault that Houses allthe trainings I've done in the
past.
You can go look at those andget help on bank Reconciliations

(55:07):
and all of those things.
All of my masterclasses are inthere.
All of the masterclasses that Ido when you join forward are
free for you.
They're usually $97 each.
The replays live in there.
You could always reflect backon there.
There's debt trackers in there,expense trackers, budget

(55:27):
templates.
It's so much in the contentvault that can help you to get
there.
And then, depending on thelevels of the membership, you
can get a one-on-one with meonce a month to either get
support in the areas where youneed it, or there's a One time a

(55:47):
month Q&A session when you canjump in the Q&A on zoom.
Once a month I pop in and youcan pop in and ask whatever
questions.
We're sure what you're havingissues with this month.
I also use an app in thatprogram called boxer.
Not sure if you heard of it.

Speaker 2 (56:04):
Yes, yes.

Speaker 1 (56:05):
So you get boxer access to me where I mean, I got
boxed clients.
I can scroll for days andthey'll box me at any point.
If I happen to be up like youhave experience it is one or two
o'clock in the morning I'llanswer the question.
So, depending on the level ofaccess, there's a signature and

(56:25):
premiere.
It starts at $97 to 750 a month, but there's room right so you
can start.
If you can't afford $97 a month, you do not have a business.

Speaker 2 (56:38):
This is true.

Speaker 1 (56:41):
That's it.
Oh, and an important piecethat's in that space.
Actually there's acollaboration, a space in there.
There's a private Facebookgroup where this was important
for me, for my fractional CFOclients too, because since I'm
all in their business, of theirpersonal things, that's
happening.
I would see Consistent thingshappening between the clients,

(57:02):
but because of theconfidentiality, I can't be like
, hey, carl called Kelly thatshe got this and she can help
you.
So I was like, hey, how about Idevelop a space and just throw
them all in the pool togetherand then figure it out and
collaborate?
And so it's a beautiful spaceto get somebody that you could
potentially collaborate with,become your client, share

(57:24):
resources, share referrals.
There's 40 to 50 people thatcome to the zoom meetings twice
a month on second and fourthThursdays, and it's called gift
goals and gaps.
I partner with this bomb girlnamed Deanna Jean and we go in
there and entrepreneurs get totalk about what's your gift and,

(57:45):
in your gifted area, what'syour gap and what's your goal,
what's your goal and what's thegap that's stopping you from
reaching the goal, and thenpeople help you in that space
too.
So, yeah, between thatmembership, the bookkeeping and
fractional CFO of your full-timebusiness owner.
We have some for you.

Speaker 2 (58:04):
So you know I'm with the rap side.
When we first booked it and youknow, as you were talking, I
was kind of looking and Y'all.
So commas with Kelly, commaswith a K, kelly with a e,
dot-com, just go, just go look.
No, I'm saying just go look,it's something there for you.
There's a couple thingsdifferent me and I'm like
alright.

(58:24):
So I gotta yeah, yeah, wereally do, because, like this,
so You're hitting what we need.
I'll just actually talking tosomeone.
Yesterday, I know I just hadthis conversation, I love having
this conversation.
No, they're great things thatare like earn your leisure right

(58:47):
.
Right, you know, the huge justhad invest all that type of
stuff and they give a lot ofadvice, to have a lot of people
on and they talk, but there'sthis level that that is missing
between the layperson, you know,the entrepreneur, the, you know
, but that, and to get to thoseto even be able to do those

(59:08):
things, and a lot of times wedon't even have the time to do
it.
Yes, or the not.
It's like okay, yeah, I meanyou say it like this, yes, it's
simple, but I mean it's easy.

Speaker 1 (59:17):
Yeah, not even just the time, though, right, you
don't even know what you don'tknow right, I needed somebody
like you to teach me sales.
When I started two, three yearsago, I was.
I needed that.
So you don't know, you need afractional CFO.

(59:38):
It's speaking of investment.
I don't know if you've seen aclip a Puffy, I think I just
aged myself, but you just sayingage, so I don't know what his
name is now, but but he was onthe investment stage and and

(59:59):
they were doing a discussion andhe said he recently fired his
business manager and hired a CFOand he did that in his business
.
I actually screen recorded theclip because I told my social
media manager most allcirculating, because it's what I
say in every single Talk I didit's because he realized that

(01:00:22):
after all these years, he's justnow realizing he needs somebody
to keep eyes on his money andtell him what's happening with
this money.
And that's exactly what a CFOdoes.
We've been five.
I know the story behind yournumbers and what's happening.

Speaker 2 (01:00:36):
No, that that that's crazy.
This has been wonderful.
I was gonna say something else,but I think that's what it was.
No, it was about.
Okay, it's about fluff.
I gotta gotta say it now.
That was a we say for the nextone.
So, like I said, have aconcentration.
My boy, chris, um, he's a Sir.
I'm sure he has a bunch ofdifferent businesses on that.

(01:00:58):
He runs like he's doing a.
He does electric bikes.
You know he had a lot, a large,the largest fleet of bird
franchise In DC.
You know the all types of stuffhas a catering company where he
doesn't feel crazy, so thattype of stuff.
And what he said was it was likeman Did.
He don't know what he reallyhas right now.

(01:01:20):
You know he's made money off ofthe music.
He's made money off theproducts, the services, things
like that.
But what his his legacy couldbe, why getting into this
information age stuff andOpening doors for the people who
are in the high six feet youknow you ain't you ain't quite

(01:01:42):
crust seven, but it's like I'mopening the door for you to have
conversations with the peoplethat made me who I am.
So you know, once a monththere's somebody you're able to
talk to my attorney.
Then the next month you'retalking to my CFO, in the next
month you're talking to this andtalk to that and it's like, oh

(01:02:04):
why, and people will pay 2550k amonth just to be in the room.

Speaker 1 (01:02:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:02:12):
And one thing that I am learning heavy is the power
of proximity.
It's like you get in the roomwith the.
It's like people pay.
Because I always wanted likeI've been going to these, these,
these things since the DanKennedy days, 2002.
I went to my very no, actuallyno in the 90s when I was in high

(01:02:33):
school.
I was like conference my past.
But then after that, you know,you know, you know I'm, you know
, see the Dan Kennedy's and I,you know I was at the very first
funnel hack, a lot, all thetype of stuff, and I never
really understood why peoplewould buy these platinum
packages, these VIP packages,these super Don't know you're
paying a hundred thousanddollars just to walk through the
door and sit down with somepeople.
Get something about that levelof proximity.

(01:02:57):
That proximity, being aroundpeople who are gonna drive,
you're gonna push you the onerelationship.
You may get the one tip or theone trick, because the thing is,
when people have, when all ofyou have invested a lot, you're
not less secretive.

Speaker 1 (01:03:11):
Mm-hmm, it's true that.
See we.
We said we was gonna stop andnow I I am literally going to a
cbc right after we get off thisand get myself together.
I'm going to a cbc eventtonight that I paid to be in the
room.
I'm likely gonna be the only,likely the only accountant.

(01:03:35):
Probably I know I'm gonna bethe only cfo likely the only
accountant.
It is a event for healthcareprofessionals.

Speaker 2 (01:03:47):
Hmm.

Speaker 1 (01:03:49):
Do you think I'm scared as hell and I'm
uncomfortable?
Hell yeah.
But you know why?
I said I'm just gonna pay, I'mjust gonna pay it and I
literally, as I'm talking myself, trying to talk myself out of
it, I just pull out the card andI just thought processing the
payment.
On sunday afternoon, I sent thetext to two of my clients that

(01:04:10):
are ones of psychologists andones of doctor, to see if I
could wheel them over with me,right, so I can have a security
blanket to go with me.
They wouldn't respond and and Iknew if I sat at that computer
and waited for them, I was gonnatalk myself out of it because
I'm afraid to be in the roomwith those people, right?
But I know I need to be in theroom with those people because

(01:04:32):
they are my target.
I ticket audience.

Speaker 2 (01:04:36):
Hmm.

Speaker 1 (01:04:37):
So I'm just gonna do it and that's just what you're
saying.
People have you.
If you feel uncomfortable, youneed to click the button and you
need to be there.

Speaker 2 (01:04:49):
You know, and that's one of the hardest things, I try
to get out people to see.

Speaker 1 (01:04:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:04:54):
The only way to succeed is to be uncomfortable.

Speaker 1 (01:04:57):
Yeah, and do it by yourself.
Stop waiting for people.

Speaker 2 (01:05:00):
No, like you look.
Look, only one person can swimat a time.

Speaker 1 (01:05:07):
I'm out.

Speaker 2 (01:05:08):
There are certain things you can only do.
I can't go to the bathroom foryou.
No, I can't eat for you.
I can't sleep for you.
I honestly can't make money foryou.

Speaker 1 (01:05:20):
You can give them all the tips, all the strategies.
You can even give them awell-written plan to tell them
how to get there.

Speaker 2 (01:05:28):
Tell me about it.

Speaker 1 (01:05:30):
But the execution part.

Speaker 2 (01:05:32):
And I'm telling people all the time the less you
pay, the worse your results.

Speaker 1 (01:05:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:05:39):
Because all you're focusing on is not losing.
Yeah, when you open up yourcheckbook and, like I am a
little old, when you open upyour checkbook and use right
those four, five figure one timethings, that's going to change
what you do.
That's when you're focused onthe success.

Speaker 1 (01:05:59):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:06:00):
When you sit there and you try to, you know him and
what we've been trained andtaught to do is, you know, bring
down the value.
Okay, let me negotiate all this, that and the other.
No, you're already operatingfrom a deficit mindset and
you're not going to get theresults you want.
Well, somebody gives you aprice, pay it, yeah.
If you believe that it willwork, yeah, pay the cost.

Speaker 1 (01:06:25):
Which is why I said I'm making less this year than I
did the other two.
Why?
Because I knew I needed to paythat and invest and scale back
in my business.
Because I know next year mygoal next year is to double what
I made in year two.
So I know I now have thestrategies because I've invested

(01:06:45):
what you're talking about inthe coaching that I needed.
And I invested that muchbecause I have to practice it.
If I don't pay it now, it'shard.
I play tennis, fitness matterof fact.
Let me write this down.

Speaker 2 (01:07:00):
You can't do that.
Look me too.
Hold on, wait.
Here's the crazy thing.
I got a plan to fitness accountthat I ain't cancel.
I got a sport fit account thatI need to use.
I ain't done it yet.
That's how you see it.

Speaker 1 (01:07:16):
But um, I ain't still doing it.

Speaker 2 (01:07:19):
Yeah, I'm not doing that, but anyway, what was crazy
about all of that?
In my backyard right I have a1400 square foot concert hut
with fitness equipment in it.
I paid little for all of that,so it's not important.

(01:07:44):
Yeah, but guess what?
The stuff in this office Idon't pay for.

Speaker 1 (01:07:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:07:51):
The stuff that I live in this office.

Speaker 1 (01:07:53):
Yeah, that's how it works.
You will utilize what youinvest in because you don't want
to waste your money.

Speaker 2 (01:08:00):
And I know you're getting all that money.

Speaker 1 (01:08:02):
That's not a plan and fitness is still open.
People used to go to PlanetFitness just on pizza Before
Right and now people don't go.
It's just come out and we justlike yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:08:15):
I would say so, you know why I got to.
Planet Fitness in the countrythat I am on road trips.
There's that.
In the other I know there's abathroom I can use.

Speaker 1 (01:08:27):
Thought she was gonna say he was gonna go to the gym.

Speaker 2 (01:08:30):
No, I got pee.

Speaker 1 (01:08:37):
That's funny, that's actually.
If you do the math on that,that's a hefty price to pay to
have somewhere to pee, no matterwhat?

Speaker 2 (01:08:42):
Hey, hey, hey, hey.
I ain't hired you yet, Don'tyou go to, but literally it's a
high price.
It's a high price bathroom, butit's immaterial.

Speaker 1 (01:08:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:08:56):
The amount is so immaterial.
We gotta start making materialinvestors.
Find out what, find out thenumber that makes you scared,
find a program that works foryou and pay it.
I remember writing the firsttime I did a $10,000 program.
I paid for that joint.
I was like yo, I'm really doingthis.

(01:09:16):
I'm doing this scared, and Ispent thousands and thousands
and thousands, probably hundredsof dollars on stuff.
Yeah, but that was the one thatwas like I got and I went into
it.
Very similar.
How did all of them like I'mgonna, you know, double that.
I'm like hold up.
I paid 10k for this.
So I said this is the only oneI'm going to do.

Speaker 1 (01:09:38):
That's it.
That's it, cause you got apurpose.

Speaker 2 (01:09:43):
Right, because it creates a spending.
The bread creates a focus foryou, which is why we can't
afford.
We cannot afford to be cheap.
We can't afford to charge theprices that you think you can
afford, because then you won'tget checked out.
Posted the other day I actuallyI reposted somebody else.
I said if it costs you less,less than $5,000, not going to

(01:10:05):
change your life and there wereso many people that were like
you can't say that.
I'm not this, I'm not listeningto you.
I'm like I understand that thatmay sound sound a little bit
offensive.
No, because a few thousanddollars right now would change
your family's life very easily.
I understand what you say, Iget it and I'm sensitive to this
, but you're not understandingwhat I'm talking about right now

(01:10:26):
.
I'm talking to entrepreneurs.
I'm talking to people who sawthis and they felt it.
Yeah, I feel like you're right,Because how many times have you
bought a 997 product?
It didn't hurt.

Speaker 1 (01:10:38):
And you don't even.
You never even opened it.

Speaker 2 (01:10:40):
I've got so many $1,200 products that I ain't
touched.
But you know that 10K jointyeah, and I wouldn't even do a
payment plan, I paid it all.

Speaker 1 (01:10:55):
All of it Because the payment plan, if they had
spread it across, what three,six months you would have did
the same thing, because youdidn't see it all in one.

Speaker 2 (01:11:04):
Exactly, but when that number?
Oh my, I really just did it ithurt yeah.
But it wasn't a stab hurt, itwas a weightlifting hurt,
because when that muscle grew uplike oh, shoot.
But now you know what I do, Iain't got no problem charging
somebody 10K.

Speaker 1 (01:11:24):
Yeah, and you're doing a disservice when you're
not charging your value in theword and you're probably missing
your ideal audience, because Imean, if you're too cheap, then
I'm going to be like what youdoing, what you really doing
over there.

Speaker 2 (01:11:40):
Right.
So this episode comes outMonday, right.
So today's Monday, whateverMonday, I don't know what day it
is, but it's a struggle, butanyway.
So this past Saturday, becauseI honored a Sabbath, I actually
have an episode going up.
I was talking about theblessing to sell right, and

(01:12:03):
probably it was 11.
And what it says?
It says a man who hoards iscursed, right, who hoards his
reign is cursed.
We understand that, right.
But it says but the man whosells is black.
It didn't even say give away.

Speaker 1 (01:12:22):
No, that's good.
Yeah, no, that's a good point.
Oh man preaching.

Speaker 2 (01:12:28):
Yeah, and you know, for those who missed it, go back
and watch it.
But I talked about, you know,yoseph in the time of family,
you know when you know he savedup for the seven, the seven gig,
three and a half good years orwhatever.
I mean seven good years andthen when the family came, he
didn't give the food away, hesold it.

(01:12:50):
He sold it to his own brothers.

Speaker 1 (01:12:54):
Yeah, no, I never even looked from that
perspective.
No, that's good.
Yeah, no, that's good.

Speaker 2 (01:13:02):
So yeah, so giving stuff away, it's that you give a
man, you give a man a fishyou'll eat for a day.
That's literally the thing.

Speaker 1 (01:13:10):
Yeah, you teach him how to fish you for a lifetime.

Speaker 2 (01:13:12):
But I'm not teaching you for free.
That's what people forget.
We don't teach for.
We're not giving, like you know, because you're eating for a
lifetime.
I'm giving you something tolast your lifetime.
I'm going to give you two afree.

Speaker 1 (01:13:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:13:29):
So, look, this has been wonderful, I'll close.
Okay, I need you to close.
Here's a close, here's a close,here's your close.
All right, either a piece ofadvice that you give
consistently or that you receivethat changed your life.
Which one?

Speaker 1 (01:13:53):
Oh God, I feel like I've given a lot of advice today
, so I'm going to do one that Ireceive consistently and that is
to trust myself, which may seemsurprising for many people.

(01:14:15):
I'm very indecisive in most ofmy decision making and it has
halted a lot of growth in manyareas business and
professionally.
So if I can turn that adviceover to you guys and say trust

(01:14:37):
yourself.
You took this leap toentrepreneurship to be full time
and you got lights to keep onand stomachs to feed.
You got to trust yourself andtrust God and the decisions that
you make.

Speaker 2 (01:14:58):
Ladies and gentlemen, this has been Friends with
Businesses with Kelly Thorpe.
I'm encouraging you right nowGo to commas with Kelly that's
commas with a K, kelly with a Edot com and sign up now.
Get at the very least get the$97 monthly membership.

(01:15:19):
Do that now.
As she said, if you can afford$97 to have a good financial
business, then you need to callme because I'm gonna have to
help you get some money realquick.
You know we got way to getmoney up like that.
We're gonna do that.
But sign up for that becauseit's like you need it.

(01:15:44):
We all need what she has.
Thank you so much for coming on.

Speaker 1 (01:15:48):
Thank, you for having me.

Speaker 2 (01:15:51):
We're not gonna our folks like we're probably gonna
end up doing this again.
We actually got to find a wayto collaborate because I think
there's some, there's some.

Speaker 1 (01:15:58):
I think so.
Yeah, let's talk about that.

Speaker 2 (01:16:01):
Y'all definitely gonna do that.
So all right, y'all, it's beenreal.
This has been Friends withBusinesses, where you meet my
friend with businesses and I see, and we know that you're gonna
benefit, I'll let y'all laterSee you.