April 2, 2024 • 22 mins
Unlock the potential of businesses with a conscience on Mindful Marketplace, where profitability meets purpose. Join me, Joel Skeen, and Courtney Shaughnessy of Alchemy Financial, as we navigate the crossroads of fiscal responsibility and social impact. Courtney brings her marketing smarts and financial acumen to the table, offering a unique perspective on nurturing businesses that care. Together, we celebrate the successes of worker-owned media like DeFactor and dissect Google's antitrust tumble to Epic Games, pinpointing lessons for entrepreneurs and tech enthusiasts alike. Plus, we'll shed light on a local church's compassionate endeavor to wipe out medical debt, reflecting on the hurdles they face when up against the Goliaths of the healthcare industry.
Hear how Courtney's financial prowess is empowering solopreneurs, especially single mothers, to achieve economic independence without sacrificing their values or well-being. Our conversation traverses from the personal motivations that fuel our guests to the strategies that sustain small businesses and their communities. With a keen eye on financial sustainability and responsible growth, this episode is a treasure trove for those committed to making their mark ethically and effectively. You'll leave with actionable insights on integrating social responsibility into your business model and a deeper appreciation for the financial guidance tailored to the nuanced needs of solo ventures. Tune in to transform your business ethos into enduring success.
https://www.alchemyfinancial.co/
This program is brought to you by:
Arc Integrated
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Joel (00:00):
What if investing in each other could change the world?
I'm Joel Skeen with bizradiousand this is the Mindful
Marketplace, and we are back foranother edition of the Mindful
Marketplace here on bizradious,if this is your first time with
us.
(00:20):
On this program, we talk to theentrepreneurs, advisors,
industry leaders and economicexperts who are not only solving
a market problem to make aprofit, but who are also solving
a social problem to make animpact.
It's where we learn how toconnect our money and businesses
to our value, our community andourselves.
(00:40):
Today I'm excited to be gettingto talk with my friend,
courtney Shostney.
She's the owner of AlchemyFinancial.
But first we got to hit on thebalance sheet the assets,
liabilities, debts andinvestments.
So first, in the assets column,I want to talk about and
highlight the success ofworker-owned website DeFactor,
(01:04):
which has released its thirdannual financial report showing
a raise in annual revenue upfrom $3.8 million to $4.5
million in 2023.
This success demonstrates thepotential for worker-owned media
to thrive, as evidenced by thelaunch of new sites like
Aftermath and 404 Media, whichaim to provide high quality
content without being at themercy of a private equity or VC
(01:27):
growth imperatives.
The rise of worker-owned mediareflects a broader trend of
worker-owned power acrossvarious industries, with more
journalists branching off fromtraditional publications to
launch their own cooperatives.
This shift is driven by adesire for editorial freedom and
the ability to operate withoutthe constraints of corporate
ownership.
(01:48):
Worker-owned media companieslike DeFactor and 404 Media are
embracing subscription-basedmodels offering a pathway to
sustainability and independence.
Despite the challenges andcomplexities involved in
establishing and maintainingworker-owned media, the
successes of these venturessignal a shift in the media
landscape, where journalists aretaking control of their work
(02:08):
and pursuing alternative modelsthat prioritize editorial
freedom and sustainability.
All right in the liabilitiescolumn.
So good news.
In the liabilities column, weoften talk about big tech
monopolies as a liability.
So good news.
In the liabilities column, weoften talk about big tech
monopolies as a liability.
And in a recent San Franciscojury trial, google lost its
first antitrust case, with thejury finding that Google harmed
(02:31):
rival Epic Games in the $48billion App Store Android market
.
The case was initiated by EpicGames, which sued both Apple and
Google to break their controlover App St stores.
The trial revealed thatGoogle's goal was to maintain
its dominance by preventing theemergence of other app stores,
and the company had engaged inanti-competitive behavior.
(02:52):
The jury unanimously found thatGoogle has monopoly power in
the Android app distribution andin-app billing services market
and that Epic was injured byGoogle's behavior.
The judge will determineremedies next year and Google
has announced that it willappeal the decision.
But this case is significant asit marks Google's first
antitrust law and sets aprecedent for future cases.
(03:15):
The decision has implicationsfor Google's control over the
mobile app ecosystem and maylead to remedies that loosen its
dominance.
The case also highlights therole of private litigation in
addressing antitrust and theimportance of injuries in making
such decisions.
The outcome suggests that moresuits along these lines may
follow.
Overall, the verdict signalsthat big tech companies are not
(03:37):
above the law and that privatelitigation can play a vital role
in addressing issues ofmonopoly power and
anti-competitive behavior in thetech industry.
Next in the debts column.
So there's a church inWinston-Salem, north Carolina,
that gained national attentionearlier this year for its
remarkable act of erasing over$3 million in medical debt for
(03:59):
3,355 local families livingbelow the poverty line.
Despite its small size, with anaverage attendance of about 75
on Sundays, this church raised$15,000 and partnered with RIP
Medical Debt, a nationalnonprofit that buys unpaid
medical debt and then forgivesit.
However, major hospital systemsAtrium Health and Novant Health
(04:21):
are now refusing to sell ordonate their bad debt to RIP,
preventing the organizationhelping these families in
Charlotte.
This issue is particularlysignificant in Mecklenburg
County, where 18% of familieshave medical debt in collections
, compared to the nationalaverage of 13%, and it's where
medical debt is a leading causeof bankruptcies.
(04:42):
Rip Medical Debt's efforts toalleviate medical debt have been
met with challenges, as majorhospital systems have been
unwilling to collaborate, citingexisting charity policies and
financial assistance programs,despite the charity's assurance
that its programs wouldsupplement, not conflict with,
the hospital's financialassistance programs.
The reluctance of Atrium andNovant has hindered the
(05:04):
organization's ability toaddress the pressing issue of
medical debt in the community.
The situation underscores thebroader challenge faced by
individuals and families inmanaging medical expenses, with
nearly seven in 10 adultsreceiving medical bills they
cannot afford and two-thirds ofbankruptcies citing medical debt
as a cause.
Despite the obstacles, theefforts of Trinity, moravian
(05:28):
Church and other organizationshighlight the critical need for
addressing medical debt and thepotential impacts of
community-driven initiatives andalleviating financial burdens
for vulnerable populations.
Just a reminder in order tohelp combat the debt crisis, the
Mindful Marketplace isproviding all of our listeners
with a free, customized reporton how to best eliminate
personal or business debt, basedon your unique situation.
(05:50):
Lots of families and businesseshave been able to use this
report to eliminate their debt,including mortgages, in nine
years or less without spendingany additional money.
So get free from debt by goingto mindful marketplace showcom.
All right, in the investmentscolumn, I want to highlight an
article on Main Street Journalabout the improvements to
crowdfunding for local investors.
So in the world of crowdfunding, there's this fairly risky
(06:13):
thing called a simple agreementfor future equity or safe note,
but honestly, they shouldprobably call it an unsafe note,
because it's a bit of a shinycarrot for early investors, but
there's no set time for when theconversion to stock would
actually happen.
Even if it does so, you mightend up putting more money into
the company than you ever gotback through stock value, and if
(06:34):
the company goes under, safenote holders might not get
anything back because theremight not be any assets left.
Now, while venture capitalistsmight talk up safe notes, it's
been local investors who usuallyend up feeling the pinch.
So Justin Renfro at WeFounder,which is one of the big
crowdfunding platforms, saysthat revenue sharing or profit
sharing is more likely to giveearly grassroots investors a
(06:58):
good return.
So WeFounder has started withfive companies using the revenue
share model on their site, andother platforms like MainVest
are doing the same.
In addition, crowdfundingportals are starting to use the
quote testing the watersofferings, where a company can
see if people are into the ideabefore they go all in on formal
(07:19):
funding.
So great improvements there forlocal investors.
All right, all right.
I am excited to get to talk toCourtney today.
She is the owner founder ofAlchemy Financial.
Courtney, welcome to the show.
We're happy to have you ontoday.
Courtney (07:36):
Thank you so much, Joel.
I'm excited to be here.
Joel (07:39):
Yeah, thanks so much.
I find your business, AlchemyFinancial, really interesting,
filling a really great need and,like we said, not just filling
a market, solving a marketproblem, but also solving a
social problem along the way.
But first tell us a little bitabout yourself.
How did you get into the workof financial planning?
Courtney (07:58):
Yeah, so, interestingly enough, my
undergrads in marketing, I hadno plans of going into
accounting or finance.
I sort of fell into it, so tospeak.
I started my career as apricing analyst at a large
international bank before thesubprime bust, so I found myself
laid off and then ended up ingeneral contracting and
(08:20):
construction, and so that'swhere I really got into
accounting and where I've beenworking since 2007, 2008.
And yeah, as they say, the restis sort of history.
I spent a lot of time workingin corporate America and, within
the last couple of years, wentthrough my own existential
(08:41):
crisis around how all of thisoperates and how this works, and
so hopefully that answers yourquestion and how this works, and
so hopefully that answers yourquestion.
Joel (08:54):
But that's the short of the long.
Courtney (08:59):
So, yeah, so tell me a little bit more about that
decision to take that leap andto go out on your own?
Yeah, so, like I said, I reallybecame disillusioned with just
the accounting industry as awhole.
I did not come through sort ofthe traditional way where you go
to school, you go into public,you get your license.
I went into industry and thenwent back to school and got my
(09:22):
master's in accounting and I wasjust really, I guess, hopeless.
I had, like I said, anexistential crisis and I thought
there has to be a better way todo this, Even within accounting
firms.
The grind, this expectation ofyou're going to have a busy
(09:43):
season, kiss your life goodbye.
This is just suck it up andgrind it out and get it done.
And this is the way it is.
And I really came as a mom andhaving young children.
I just was unwilling to do thatand I wanted to find a way to
serve businesses, do this work,do it well and not at the
(10:04):
expense of myself or my family.
Joel (10:07):
Yeah, I think there's definitely a misconception out
there about accountants.
We had on Veronica Edwards, theowner of Balance Virtually, and
she's also a biz radio host.
Everyone should listen to herand she cleared up the
misconception on here that allaccountants are tax preppers and
, I think, without us evensaying it, she also cleared up
the misconception that allaccountants are boring people,
(10:28):
and you seem to be doing both ofthe same there.
So tell us a little bit abouthow Alchemy is different.
Who do you guys help and howdoes the business part operate?
Courtney (10:39):
Yeah.
So yeah, I'm definitely not atax person.
I'm always very quick to letpeople know.
I know enough to be dangerous.
I don't even do my own taxesand that's honestly a thing that
kept me from going into this,not to go down another tangent.
But I only ever saw CPAs andaccountants who did tax and I
thought, well, I don't want todo that.
And then I connected withsomeone who was doing CFO,
(11:02):
fractional consulting, and thatopened up a whole new world of
accounting to me.
But in terms of and I'm sorry,can you repeat the question?
Joel (11:11):
up a whole new world of accounting to me, but in terms
of and I'm sorry, can you repeatthe question?
Yeah, no, I think you're righton track and please go on
tangents.
That's what we're here to do,so, yeah, so I guess, tell us a
little bit about Alchemy.
Courtney (11:21):
Yeah, yeah.
So I provide strategicfinancial consulting for
socially conscious businesses,and that is out of out of again
that period that I went througha boundary that I set for myself
and for my business, but I wasonly going to work with
(11:44):
businesses who are at least opento a certain set of on, and you
know.
So that's really what was.
My ultimate goal is I want tohelp small businesses do good in
the world, because I thinkthere's a lot to be said.
Small businesses make up themost right, the majority of
(12:07):
businesses in our country, andthere's a lot of influence and
there's a lot of change that canbe affected by them and a lot
of times that comes through howthey spend their money, how they
plan for their money, how theyforecast their money, and that
was my ultimate goal.
Joel (12:24):
Yeah, I recently got to talk with Michael Schumann from
the Main Street Journal and heechoed exactly what you're
saying.
He said that we don't realizeit.
But in between, depending onhow you define small and local,
in between 60 and 80 percent ofour economy is local businesses,
because oftentimes, when wethink about you know job
creation, or we think aboutinvesting our money, or we think
(12:46):
about you know all thesedifferent things, what we mostly
think about are big companies.
We think about you know theCoca-Colas and the Walmarts of
the world, but actually thesmall, local, independent
businesses make up so about twothirds give or take of of our
economy, and so it's awesome tosee you put that same focus in
(13:07):
the in the right place, in theplace where the money is going
to stay more locally.
When we buy things that arelocal, most of that money is
going to stay within ourcommunity.
When we use a local creditunion, most of that money is
going to stay within ourcommunity.
When we spend it at Walmart,the money is in Bentonville.
By the end of the night itdoesn't stay put there.
(13:29):
I am curious when you talkedabout having your services
primarily focused on helpingsocially conscious businesses.
What type of businesses.
Have you guys been able to helpso far?
Courtney (13:42):
I primarily work with agencies and service providers.
I've done a little bit ofe-commerce, but it's mostly in
the service industry.
Like I said, I spent a lot oftime working in general
contracting.
That's like a whole new thingthat I want to work on in the
next few years is finding whereare those ethical, socially
(14:04):
conscious contractors who aremaking waves in housing and land
development.
But that's TBD to come, but fornow mostly service providers.
Joel (14:17):
Gotcha, okay, and I guess, what type of then services are
you?
So you've got a business thatis a service provider or a
general contractor and you'rehelping them in the financial
world of things.
What is it about your services?
For them that's different thanwhat they might find at any
other CPA shop?
Courtney (14:39):
Sure, that's a good question.
So a lot of what I focus on soit goes all the way from a
solopreneur to someone who'sbuilt a thing and they've got a
whole team.
And a lot of times it startswith someone who has an idea,
they have a vision and they havea book of work and an area of
(15:00):
expertise that they've developed.
And being able to start andlaunch and have a business that
sustains them is life changing,and that's been my experience
and and so it's, it's helpingthose people get to that place
where their business issustainable to them.
I work a lot with singlemothers, um, women who are
(15:22):
solely responsible for thefinancial provision of their
household, um, and and sohelping, helping them get to
that place of financialindependence.
And then someone who's built abusiness and they have a team
helping them keep it sustainablebecause there's, I think
(15:45):
sometimes we get to this placewhere you hit the seven figure
marks, right, that idea ofscaling, and they're exhausted,
they're burnt out, so figuringout how to make all of this work
so that they actually enjoybeing in their business.
And I like to say, even thoughwe're working with numbers and
we're working with finance,there's a little bit of a
coaching component to it,because sometimes you know they
(16:09):
just need a place to vent aboutwhere they are and they need a
safe place to talk about theirmoney, especially with women.
There's a lot of shame that wehave around our money.
I cannot tell you how manytimes someone comes to me and
they're like I just need to getmy stuff together and when I
look at it, I'm like youactually have it quite together,
but they have this story thatthey've told themselves because,
(16:30):
right, we're all.
None of us are immune to thecomparison of the highlight
reels that we see in everyone'ssocial media and that certainly
there's no exception when itcomes to businesses and helping
them see because I get to seethe back end of so many
businesses, you know I can letthem know hey, listen, you're
(16:50):
actually doing really well, andgive them that encouragement and
confidence to say, okay, Idon't need to stress about this,
I don't need to.
I can alleviate some of thatanxiety that I feel around the
finances or around how mybusiness is doing.
Joel (17:08):
Yeah, you mentioned finding sustainability in
business for single mothers inparticular to be I think you
actually used the wordlife-changing.
What is so life-changing aboutthat for them?
Courtney (17:23):
When you are the sole provider for yourself and for
your household it's a big burdento carry, having been raised by
a single mother.
And when you get to a place offinancial sustainability and you
(17:44):
get to do it on your own terms,and when you own a business,
you can have the freedom and theflexibility to earn a living
and be available to your family.
That's the life changing part.
Joel (17:59):
Yeah, no, it's.
It's that hierarchy of needsthing is what it seems like to
me.
You know there's so many thingsthat we would all love to do,
no matter who we are in our life.
You know fulfill our, you knowour goals and our dreams, not
just when it comes to money butwhen it comes to who we are as
people.
You know to grow.
You know psychologically,spiritually, physically, you
(18:21):
know to get healthy and to getin shape in all those different
areas.
But a lot of times, man, itsure is difficult.
I had a mentor once say it'sit's really tough to lead a lead
a, really tough to lead an armyinto battle when you're worried
about your cell phone bill.
You know it's really tough tobe your best and to kind of do,
do everything that you want todo in life when you're feeling
(18:41):
that, that crunch for people.
Why, I guess why, has this been?
You know, why has this been apassion of yours?
Where does that come from inyou?
Courtney (18:52):
Yeah, that's a great question, Having being a mother,
even though I'm really lucky tohave an incredibly supportive
spouse, so I'm not doing this onmy own I have had many bed desk
, bed days working as anemployee in a business where,
even though I worked from home,I wasn't even seeing my own
(19:14):
family, and that was a big wakeup call for me and that I was
just not willing to do thatanymore.
And I know that I'm not alone inthat experience and sort of
having extracted myself fromthat system via launching my own
business and then really makingit my ultimate mission to help
(19:36):
others do the same.
And you know.
But it doesn't stop there,because once you start the
business and then you've got tokeep it going and eventually
it's going to grow and helpingthem figure those challenges out
as they grow, as they scale,because you know it can also, as
many business owners will say,right, if you want to work 24-7,
(19:56):
365, start a business and sofiguring out how to do that
sustainably so that you don'tjust end up essentially
exploiting yourself instead ofbeing exploited by someone else.
Joel (20:09):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, because if you just end up doing it to
yourself, you could just stay ina job at that point, exactly.
Yeah.
So what I'm excited to?
So, just for the audience toknow, this is a two part episode
that we're going to dig in herewith Courtney, and I'm really
excited for part two becauseshe's going to share with us a
(20:29):
few really practical and simpleways for business owners,
whether they're socialenterprises or whether you're
just a small business on yourown how you can embrace social
responsibility in your finances.
A lot of times, you know, wethink of socially responsible
businesses as you know, beinggreen or being, you know, in a
certain kind of field but wedon't often think about it.
(20:51):
How do we actually implementthat when it comes to the
financial side of our businesses?
And so Courtney is going toshed some really great light on
that for us.
So please make sure to tune innext time on the Mindful
Marketplace here on Biz Radio US, and in the meantime, Courtney,
where can people find you?
Courtney (21:09):
Yeah, I am at alchemyfinancialco and you can
find me on Instagram atAlchemyCFO.
Joel (21:18):
Awesome.
Now make sure to subscribe.
We are now on YouTube with ourvideo podcast, but now we still
are on iTunes, spotify, stitcher, iheartradious, to check out
all of the other fantasticentrepreneur hosts that we have
(21:38):
here on the only independentbusiness talk radio station that
I'm aware of.
There might be others, I don'tknow about them, and so tune in
next time and until then,remember we are each other.
What if investing in each other could change the world?
I'm Joel Skeen with bizradiousand this is the Mindful
Marketplace, and we are back foranother edition of the Mindful
Marketplace here on bizradious,if this is your first time with
us.
(00:20):
On this program, we talk to theentrepreneurs, advisors,
industry leaders and economicexperts who are not only solving
a market problem to make aprofit, but who are also solving
a social problem to make animpact.
It's where we learn how toconnect our money and businesses
to our value, our community andourselves.
(00:40):
Today I'm excited to be gettingto talk with my friend,
courtney Shostney.
She's the owner of AlchemyFinancial.
But first we got to hit on thebalance sheet the assets,
liabilities, debts andinvestments.
So first, in the assets column,I want to talk about and
highlight the success ofworker-owned website DeFactor,
(01:04):
which has released its thirdannual financial report showing
a raise in annual revenue upfrom $3.8 million to $4.5
million in 2023.
This success demonstrates thepotential for worker-owned media
to thrive, as evidenced by thelaunch of new sites like
Aftermath and 404 Media, whichaim to provide high quality
content without being at themercy of a private equity or VC
(01:27):
growth imperatives.
The rise of worker-owned mediareflects a broader trend of
worker-owned power acrossvarious industries, with more
journalists branching off fromtraditional publications to
launch their own cooperatives.
This shift is driven by adesire for editorial freedom and
the ability to operate withoutthe constraints of corporate
ownership.
(01:48):
Worker-owned media companieslike DeFactor and 404 Media are
embracing subscription-basedmodels offering a pathway to
sustainability and independence.
Despite the challenges andcomplexities involved in
establishing and maintainingworker-owned media, the
successes of these venturessignal a shift in the media
landscape, where journalists aretaking control of their work
(02:08):
and pursuing alternative modelsthat prioritize editorial
freedom and sustainability.
All right in the liabilitiescolumn.
So good news.
In the liabilities column, weoften talk about big tech
monopolies as a liability.
So good news.
In the liabilities column, weoften talk about big tech
monopolies as a liability.
And in a recent San Franciscojury trial, google lost its
first antitrust case, with thejury finding that Google harmed
(02:31):
rival Epic Games in the $48billion App Store Android market
.
The case was initiated by EpicGames, which sued both Apple and
Google to break their controlover App St stores.
The trial revealed thatGoogle's goal was to maintain
its dominance by preventing theemergence of other app stores,
and the company had engaged inanti-competitive behavior.
(02:52):
The jury unanimously found thatGoogle has monopoly power in
the Android app distribution andin-app billing services market
and that Epic was injured byGoogle's behavior.
The judge will determineremedies next year and Google
has announced that it willappeal the decision.
But this case is significant asit marks Google's first
antitrust law and sets aprecedent for future cases.
(03:15):
The decision has implicationsfor Google's control over the
mobile app ecosystem and maylead to remedies that loosen its
dominance.
The case also highlights therole of private litigation in
addressing antitrust and theimportance of injuries in making
such decisions.
The outcome suggests that moresuits along these lines may
follow.
Overall, the verdict signalsthat big tech companies are not
(03:37):
above the law and that privatelitigation can play a vital role
in addressing issues ofmonopoly power and
anti-competitive behavior in thetech industry.
Next in the debts column.
So there's a church inWinston-Salem, north Carolina,
that gained national attentionearlier this year for its
remarkable act of erasing over$3 million in medical debt for
(03:59):
3,355 local families livingbelow the poverty line.
Despite its small size, with anaverage attendance of about 75
on Sundays, this church raised$15,000 and partnered with RIP
Medical Debt, a nationalnonprofit that buys unpaid
medical debt and then forgivesit.
However, major hospital systemsAtrium Health and Novant Health
(04:21):
are now refusing to sell ordonate their bad debt to RIP,
preventing the organizationhelping these families in
Charlotte.
This issue is particularlysignificant in Mecklenburg
County, where 18% of familieshave medical debt in collections
, compared to the nationalaverage of 13%, and it's where
medical debt is a leading causeof bankruptcies.
(04:42):
Rip Medical Debt's efforts toalleviate medical debt have been
met with challenges, as majorhospital systems have been
unwilling to collaborate, citingexisting charity policies and
financial assistance programs,despite the charity's assurance
that its programs wouldsupplement, not conflict with,
the hospital's financialassistance programs.
The reluctance of Atrium andNovant has hindered the
(05:04):
organization's ability toaddress the pressing issue of
medical debt in the community.
The situation underscores thebroader challenge faced by
individuals and families inmanaging medical expenses, with
nearly seven in 10 adultsreceiving medical bills they
cannot afford and two-thirds ofbankruptcies citing medical debt
as a cause.
Despite the obstacles, theefforts of Trinity, moravian
(05:28):
Church and other organizationshighlight the critical need for
addressing medical debt and thepotential impacts of
community-driven initiatives andalleviating financial burdens
for vulnerable populations.
Just a reminder in order tohelp combat the debt crisis, the
Mindful Marketplace isproviding all of our listeners
with a free, customized reporton how to best eliminate
personal or business debt, basedon your unique situation.
(05:50):
Lots of families and businesseshave been able to use this
report to eliminate their debt,including mortgages, in nine
years or less without spendingany additional money.
So get free from debt by goingto mindful marketplace showcom.
All right, in the investmentscolumn, I want to highlight an
article on Main Street Journalabout the improvements to
crowdfunding for local investors.
So in the world of crowdfunding, there's this fairly risky
(06:13):
thing called a simple agreementfor future equity or safe note,
but honestly, they shouldprobably call it an unsafe note,
because it's a bit of a shinycarrot for early investors, but
there's no set time for when theconversion to stock would
actually happen.
Even if it does so, you mightend up putting more money into
the company than you ever gotback through stock value, and if
(06:34):
the company goes under, safenote holders might not get
anything back because theremight not be any assets left.
Now, while venture capitalistsmight talk up safe notes, it's
been local investors who usuallyend up feeling the pinch.
So Justin Renfro at WeFounder,which is one of the big
crowdfunding platforms, saysthat revenue sharing or profit
sharing is more likely to giveearly grassroots investors a
(06:58):
good return.
So WeFounder has started withfive companies using the revenue
share model on their site, andother platforms like MainVest
are doing the same.
In addition, crowdfundingportals are starting to use the
quote testing the watersofferings, where a company can
see if people are into the ideabefore they go all in on formal
(07:19):
funding.
So great improvements there forlocal investors.
All right, all right.
I am excited to get to talk toCourtney today.
She is the owner founder ofAlchemy Financial.
Courtney, welcome to the show.
We're happy to have you ontoday.
Courtney (07:36):
Thank you so much, Joel.
I'm excited to be here.
Joel (07:39):
Yeah, thanks so much.
I find your business, AlchemyFinancial, really interesting,
filling a really great need and,like we said, not just filling
a market, solving a marketproblem, but also solving a
social problem along the way.
But first tell us a little bitabout yourself.
How did you get into the workof financial planning?
Courtney (07:58):
Yeah, so, interestingly enough, my
undergrads in marketing, I hadno plans of going into
accounting or finance.
I sort of fell into it, so tospeak.
I started my career as apricing analyst at a large
international bank before thesubprime bust, so I found myself
laid off and then ended up ingeneral contracting and
(08:20):
construction, and so that'swhere I really got into
accounting and where I've beenworking since 2007, 2008.
And yeah, as they say, the restis sort of history.
I spent a lot of time workingin corporate America and, within
the last couple of years, wentthrough my own existential
(08:41):
crisis around how all of thisoperates and how this works, and
so hopefully that answers yourquestion and how this works, and
so hopefully that answers yourquestion.
Joel (08:54):
But that's the short of the long.
Courtney (08:59):
So, yeah, so tell me a little bit more about that
decision to take that leap andto go out on your own?
Yeah, so, like I said, I reallybecame disillusioned with just
the accounting industry as awhole.
I did not come through sort ofthe traditional way where you go
to school, you go into public,you get your license.
I went into industry and thenwent back to school and got my
(09:22):
master's in accounting and I wasjust really, I guess, hopeless.
I had, like I said, anexistential crisis and I thought
there has to be a better way todo this, Even within accounting
firms.
The grind, this expectation ofyou're going to have a busy
(09:43):
season, kiss your life goodbye.
This is just suck it up andgrind it out and get it done.
And this is the way it is.
And I really came as a mom andhaving young children.
I just was unwilling to do thatand I wanted to find a way to
serve businesses, do this work,do it well and not at the
(10:04):
expense of myself or my family.
Joel (10:07):
Yeah, I think there's definitely a misconception out
there about accountants.
We had on Veronica Edwards, theowner of Balance Virtually, and
she's also a biz radio host.
Everyone should listen to herand she cleared up the
misconception on here that allaccountants are tax preppers and
, I think, without us evensaying it, she also cleared up
the misconception that allaccountants are boring people,
(10:28):
and you seem to be doing both ofthe same there.
So tell us a little bit abouthow Alchemy is different.
Who do you guys help and howdoes the business part operate?
Courtney (10:39):
Yeah.
So yeah, I'm definitely not atax person.
I'm always very quick to letpeople know.
I know enough to be dangerous.
I don't even do my own taxesand that's honestly a thing that
kept me from going into this,not to go down another tangent.
But I only ever saw CPAs andaccountants who did tax and I
thought, well, I don't want todo that.
And then I connected withsomeone who was doing CFO,
(11:02):
fractional consulting, and thatopened up a whole new world of
accounting to me.
But in terms of and I'm sorry,can you repeat the question?
Joel (11:11):
up a whole new world of accounting to me, but in terms
of and I'm sorry, can you repeatthe question?
Yeah, no, I think you're righton track and please go on
tangents.
That's what we're here to do,so, yeah, so I guess, tell us a
little bit about Alchemy.
Courtney (11:21):
Yeah, yeah.
So I provide strategicfinancial consulting for
socially conscious businesses,and that is out of out of again
that period that I went througha boundary that I set for myself
and for my business, but I wasonly going to work with
(11:44):
businesses who are at least opento a certain set of on, and you
know.
So that's really what was.
My ultimate goal is I want tohelp small businesses do good in
the world, because I thinkthere's a lot to be said.
Small businesses make up themost right, the majority of
(12:07):
businesses in our country, andthere's a lot of influence and
there's a lot of change that canbe affected by them and a lot
of times that comes through howthey spend their money, how they
plan for their money, how theyforecast their money, and that
was my ultimate goal.
Joel (12:24):
Yeah, I recently got to talk with Michael Schumann from
the Main Street Journal and heechoed exactly what you're
saying.
He said that we don't realizeit.
But in between, depending onhow you define small and local,
in between 60 and 80 percent ofour economy is local businesses,
because oftentimes, when wethink about you know job
creation, or we think aboutinvesting our money, or we think
(12:46):
about you know all thesedifferent things, what we mostly
think about are big companies.
We think about you know theCoca-Colas and the Walmarts of
the world, but actually thesmall, local, independent
businesses make up so about twothirds give or take of of our
economy, and so it's awesome tosee you put that same focus in
(13:07):
the in the right place, in theplace where the money is going
to stay more locally.
When we buy things that arelocal, most of that money is
going to stay within ourcommunity.
When we use a local creditunion, most of that money is
going to stay within ourcommunity.
When we spend it at Walmart,the money is in Bentonville.
By the end of the night itdoesn't stay put there.
(13:29):
I am curious when you talkedabout having your services
primarily focused on helpingsocially conscious businesses.
What type of businesses.
Have you guys been able to helpso far?
Courtney (13:42):
I primarily work with agencies and service providers.
I've done a little bit ofe-commerce, but it's mostly in
the service industry.
Like I said, I spent a lot oftime working in general
contracting.
That's like a whole new thingthat I want to work on in the
next few years is finding whereare those ethical, socially
(14:04):
conscious contractors who aremaking waves in housing and land
development.
But that's TBD to come, but fornow mostly service providers.
Joel (14:17):
Gotcha, okay, and I guess, what type of then services are
you?
So you've got a business thatis a service provider or a
general contractor and you'rehelping them in the financial
world of things.
What is it about your services?
For them that's different thanwhat they might find at any
other CPA shop?
Courtney (14:39):
Sure, that's a good question.
So a lot of what I focus on soit goes all the way from a
solopreneur to someone who'sbuilt a thing and they've got a
whole team.
And a lot of times it startswith someone who has an idea,
they have a vision and they havea book of work and an area of
(15:00):
expertise that they've developed.
And being able to start andlaunch and have a business that
sustains them is life changing,and that's been my experience
and and so it's, it's helpingthose people get to that place
where their business issustainable to them.
I work a lot with singlemothers, um, women who are
(15:22):
solely responsible for thefinancial provision of their
household, um, and and sohelping, helping them get to
that place of financialindependence.
And then someone who's built abusiness and they have a team
helping them keep it sustainablebecause there's, I think
(15:45):
sometimes we get to this placewhere you hit the seven figure
marks, right, that idea ofscaling, and they're exhausted,
they're burnt out, so figuringout how to make all of this work
so that they actually enjoybeing in their business.
And I like to say, even thoughwe're working with numbers and
we're working with finance,there's a little bit of a
coaching component to it,because sometimes you know they
(16:09):
just need a place to vent aboutwhere they are and they need a
safe place to talk about theirmoney, especially with women.
There's a lot of shame that wehave around our money.
I cannot tell you how manytimes someone comes to me and
they're like I just need to getmy stuff together and when I
look at it, I'm like youactually have it quite together,
but they have this story thatthey've told themselves because,
(16:30):
right, we're all.
None of us are immune to thecomparison of the highlight
reels that we see in everyone'ssocial media and that certainly
there's no exception when itcomes to businesses and helping
them see because I get to seethe back end of so many
businesses, you know I can letthem know hey, listen, you're
(16:50):
actually doing really well, andgive them that encouragement and
confidence to say, okay, Idon't need to stress about this,
I don't need to.
I can alleviate some of thatanxiety that I feel around the
finances or around how mybusiness is doing.
Joel (17:08):
Yeah, you mentioned finding sustainability in
business for single mothers inparticular to be I think you
actually used the wordlife-changing.
What is so life-changing aboutthat for them?
Courtney (17:23):
When you are the sole provider for yourself and for
your household it's a big burdento carry, having been raised by
a single mother.
And when you get to a place offinancial sustainability and you
(17:44):
get to do it on your own terms,and when you own a business,
you can have the freedom and theflexibility to earn a living
and be available to your family.
That's the life changing part.
Joel (17:59):
Yeah, no, it's.
It's that hierarchy of needsthing is what it seems like to
me.
You know there's so many thingsthat we would all love to do,
no matter who we are in our life.
You know fulfill our, you knowour goals and our dreams, not
just when it comes to money butwhen it comes to who we are as
people.
You know to grow.
You know psychologically,spiritually, physically, you
(18:21):
know to get healthy and to getin shape in all those different
areas.
But a lot of times, man, itsure is difficult.
I had a mentor once say it'sit's really tough to lead a lead
a, really tough to lead an armyinto battle when you're worried
about your cell phone bill.
You know it's really tough tobe your best and to kind of do,
do everything that you want todo in life when you're feeling
(18:41):
that, that crunch for people.
Why, I guess why, has this been?
You know, why has this been apassion of yours?
Where does that come from inyou?
Courtney (18:52):
Yeah, that's a great question, Having being a mother,
even though I'm really lucky tohave an incredibly supportive
spouse, so I'm not doing this onmy own I have had many bed desk
, bed days working as anemployee in a business where,
even though I worked from home,I wasn't even seeing my own
(19:14):
family, and that was a big wakeup call for me and that I was
just not willing to do thatanymore.
And I know that I'm not alone inthat experience and sort of
having extracted myself fromthat system via launching my own
business and then really makingit my ultimate mission to help
(19:36):
others do the same.
And you know.
But it doesn't stop there,because once you start the
business and then you've got tokeep it going and eventually
it's going to grow and helpingthem figure those challenges out
as they grow, as they scale,because you know it can also, as
many business owners will say,right, if you want to work 24-7,
(19:56):
365, start a business and sofiguring out how to do that
sustainably so that you don'tjust end up essentially
exploiting yourself instead ofbeing exploited by someone else.
Joel (20:09):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, because if you just end up doing it to
yourself, you could just stay ina job at that point, exactly.
Yeah.
So what I'm excited to?
So, just for the audience toknow, this is a two part episode
that we're going to dig in herewith Courtney, and I'm really
excited for part two becauseshe's going to share with us a
(20:29):
few really practical and simpleways for business owners,
whether they're socialenterprises or whether you're
just a small business on yourown how you can embrace social
responsibility in your finances.
A lot of times, you know, wethink of socially responsible
businesses as you know, beinggreen or being, you know, in a
certain kind of field but wedon't often think about it.
(20:51):
How do we actually implementthat when it comes to the
financial side of our businesses?
And so Courtney is going toshed some really great light on
that for us.
So please make sure to tune innext time on the Mindful
Marketplace here on Biz Radio US, and in the meantime, Courtney,
where can people find you?
Courtney (21:09):
Yeah, I am at alchemyfinancialco and you can
find me on Instagram atAlchemyCFO.
Joel (21:18):
Awesome.
Now make sure to subscribe.
We are now on YouTube with ourvideo podcast, but now we still
are on iTunes, spotify, stitcher, iheartradious, to check out
all of the other fantasticentrepreneur hosts that we have
(21:38):
here on the only independentbusiness talk radio station that
I'm aware of.
There might be others, I don'tknow about them, and so tune in
next time and until then,remember we are each other.
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