6 Ordinary Steps To Achieve Extraordinary Financial Freedom With Candy Valentino

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It's not just about creating wealth. It's about creating a rich life. And I don't mean that by your bank account. I mean it by a rich life that you love and that you're that you want to show up for and that you enjoy. That's where where real wealth is created.

Hey everyone, welcome back to the show. Get excited because today is all about your money and finances. This guest is going to literally school you on everything that you need to know about it. Candy Valentino started her business at 19 years old with no degree, no corporate background, no money and you guys listen to this one.

No Internet.

Remember that she successfully started skilled and sold businesses in service, retail, e commerce and product manufacturing in addition to creating a vast real estate portfolio as a flipper and investor. You guys, Candy is a friend of Chris and I's and she is so much fun to talk to because her portfolio of things that she's done is so diverse.

So you can imagine the wealth of knowledge that you are about to dive into today.

And at the age of 26, Candy founded a nonprofit charity and through her success in business she bought and donated a building to that organization. Since then they saved thousands of lives and Candy has been actively involved personally raising millions for the charity. And during the last two and a half decades as an entrepreneur she's been named top business leaders, 40 under 40, top 50 women in business, 10 people making a difference, top 10 business consultants by Yahoo. Finance and was the youngest female to receive the Governor's Award in entrepreneurship in Pennsylvania. You guys, I'm so excited because Kand is releasing her first book of a multi book series Wealth Habits and that's what we're talking about today. So we're going to talk to you about the six ordinary steps to achieve extraordinary financial freedom. You guys, anybody can learn about this. Even if this is not your strength, even if Normally you hate numbers. If you get all freaked out talking about money, I am telling you, listen to this podcast and you're going to want to get this book.

Let's get started. Candy, I am so excited to have you back on the show. You've already been on the show once.

I know, right? We did like a little, little caveat there.

I think it was a little thing. So this is going to be our big in depth. Like, you guys are in depth. In for a treat today. Candy, you have been in the entrepreneur investing. I'm going to let you say it because you've been in this for like 25 years. You have built, scaled, exited, you have a nonprofit. You kind of have had your hands in so many different things. When you first set out on your entrepreneurship journey, did you know even like, what that was going to look like or what you first. What was your first endeavor?

Oh, yeah, that's a great question. First, thanks for having me back. It's so good to see you. And I think the interesting thing was, no matter what I was doing, I knew that it was going to be great. Right? Like, I knew that it might change, it might evolve, but I knew that going in that this was going to be hard. I was going to try to figure it out, but eventually I'd find my way. And so at 19, I started a small brick and mortar business in my local hometown. And I had a SBA loan and a six week run rate to figure it out. And prior to that, I grew up in a trailer in a really small town and had two teenage parents, blue collar. My dad was a mechanic, my mom cleaned houses and I just saw people working really, really hard. And so I thought, you know, maybe I want to do the college route because my parents didn't do that. And I'd be the first in my whole family on both sides to do college. And I was in my first couple classes and there was a professor in there talking about business. Now, just a little bit of backstory. I was dropped off at my dad's auto mechanic shop from the time I was 5 until I was 16. So I didn't learn a sport or dance or anything like that. Like, I learned business. Basically I was working in his office, answering phones, you know, just kind of picking up. Because I think the interesting part about kids is I don't know who originated the saying, but things are caught, not taught. And that's literally been my life. I've caught that kind of entrepreneurial ship life from just watching my dad. And so fast forward to College, I was in this class and I said to the guy, I said, what business do you have or what business are you in that you know you're here? And he said, oh, I don't have a business. I'm just, I teach here, this is my job. And I remember, even in my 18 year old brain at that point, I remember thinking, what are you going to teach me about business if you've never built one?

Wow.

And it was like a light switch. I think sometimes we always have those moments where there's just a light switch that goes off and it's just like, no more. So I walked out and I said, that's it, I'm going to start a small business. And so I was like, what can I do fast? Like, if you know me, it's like always like, I want to do it. Speed of implementation, get it done. And so I saw that you could go for like six months and get a beauty license. So I went and learned how to do hair and nails and facials and all these things and hurry up and got out and then started my first spa when I was 19, before they were a thing, before all these med spas were around, I was the only one in like an hour and a half, so. And that just kind of started the life lessons that, as you know, we learn through building a business and from there, obviously multiple businesses and investing and everything kind of came from that first one.

Oh my God. So you were 19 years old. I definitely was not starting businesses at 19. I was doing something a little different. But you said something, you said that you knew you would be great. What do you think that came from?

I think it came from what I had already been through at that point in my life. And so oftentimes we forget all of the stuff that we've been through and we feel like this next business or investing in real estate or getting out of debt is so scary or big. But I would challenge anyone who's about to do something right now that feels that, that thinks, oh my gosh, how could you go into something and think you're going to be great? Take a look at all of the crap you've been through in the last 10, 20, 30 years of your life. Abuse that you've overcame, challenges that you've got through, and take five minutes and sit and write every single one of those things down on a piece of paper. Really? Was it the baby that you didn't think that you were going to have or the baby that you didn't know what to do with? When you got pregnant, was it the business partner that stole from you? Like, write all of those things down and the next time you doubt yourself that you're going to do something great or that you're not going to get through this next challenge, pull out that list and remember who you are. Like, I think for me, I had been through so much at that in my life of overcoming abuse and not having anyone to talk to about it and going into a really kind of crazy cult, like, type of school. And. And I was like, if I can get through all of that, building a business is going to be cake, because I've already developed the muscle of resilience. So why isn't this next thing going to work, too? And I've really carried that philosoph not because I think I'm capable. I just remember all of the things that I've done. And if someone else out there has done it too, it's like, we have the proof that we need. We have the people tell us, oh, you're not going to be successful. Look, you made this mistake. You did this wrong. You shouldn't have done that. But you also have a lot of proof of other people who have done it. So it's not like I wanted to charter a rover to Pluto or put a person on Mars, right? We're talking about a business. It happens all the time. So I thought all I need to do is just remind myself of all the other people that have done it and remember that that is available for me, too.

Oh, my God, that's so good. So I want to go into your mindset when you first were creating that spa, and then actually this can kind of like move into when you were first doing all of the other things that you had never done before. What were the things that you were focusing on so that you did not get caught in the story of what if it doesn't work? Like, how did you accept. Expand your risk tolerance to be able to hold everything that comes with something that's new and not knowing, like, holding the uncertainty.

It's a great question. One, you have to have a North Star. If you don't have a super clear what. I know everybody writes about the why, but you first have to have the what. What do you want your life to look like? What do you want this next chapter to look like? If you don't have clarity on that, the why doesn't even matter because you're just kind of like in a car, driving aimlessly. For me, the North Star was so clear that I wanted to be successful, I wanted to be independent. I didn't want to ever have to depend on anyone for money ever in my life. That was literally the choice that I made when I was 15, actually is the first time I wrote my first set of goals. And I was like, I want this by the time I'm 30. Because 30 was so old when you're 15.

Oh my God. I know looking back and like what.

I know, I'm like. And so I just had that super clear. And it was, it was pretty silly things. But in a 15 year old's mind, the most expensive house I had known at the time was $300,000. So I was like small town, right? So I was like, I want a $300,000 house. Like, I don't know what job I want, but I want to have. I want to be important enough that my name plate is on the door and I carry a briefcase and I wear a suit. 25 years later, I'm still wearing a suit. So it's a self fulfilling prophecy. And the third was I wanted to be able to drive like a BMW or Mercedes, something like that by the time I was 30. And that was my North Star. Very shallow goals at that point, right? But for a 15 year old, those were big things. And so I was willing to work as hard as I needed, be as committed as I needed, disciplined. But really what it was was being able and willing to say no. Back then when my friends were in college, going to parties, drinking, having fun, being able to see that if I trade a lot of these yeses that I want to say now for no's later, I'll be able to say yes to anything I want. And so when I started that first business at 19, my goal was to be done by the time I was 39, to be retired by the time I turned 40. And I did that. So now everything that I do is just because I want to. It's a fun thing. Like you said, what can we do to have fun? Like this is it, you know. And so it was really that it was being so clear on the North Star and being willing to trade short term instant gratification for my long term vision.

Oh my God. Okay, so that actually kind of answers this next one, but I want to have you elaborate on it too, because in all that you do for you personally as candy, but also as a business owner, like there is a lot of challenging, daily, mundane things that are not like your day is a lot of if, if somebody looked on it from the outside, looking in There's a lot of not fun things that you have to do during the day. How have you started to be able to look at those things and just looked at them more in a way that you don't hate your everyday life, but you actually enjoy it. So to somebody listening who is making everything hard or sitting in the resistance of like what this looks like, how have you like flipped that perspective of how you look at all the work that comes with it?

Yeah, so it's, it's a conscious choice. Right. Like I can certainly get sucked into the day to day or the questions I feel like I already answered and now the team's asking me again and get frustrated. But it's always being disciplined to remember that a lot of the things you're dealing with right now are things that you once wanted, you once prayed for, you once craved. And so anytime I feel that tension, that angst, that frustration come up, it is a conscious choice because our brains cannot process pain and gratitude at the same time. So the second we feel pain, challenge frustration. If you flip it, flip it to whatever the house that you're in, the car that you're in, when you feel it, the child that you're looking at that's frustrating you, the business that all of these issues that you have because now you're successful or you're on your way there, you once wanted. And I think as humans, we're so dumb almost to the fact that we forget to remind ourselves of that. And we're so focused on the next thing that we lose presence of the thing that we already have. And so every level, there's another level. Obviously, you know that. And so for me, it's always remembering as I am growing towards the next level that I can also appreciate where I am. I can appreciate where I've. It's not an or, it's an and you can appreciate where you are and stretch, appreciate where you are and grow. It's a dance that you do together. So if someone's ever feeling that mundane ness, you've missed the point, you've missed the point of the whole thing is to be grateful for the journey of how far you've come.

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Okay.

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You know, I found myself the last three weeks saying because I had a bunch of speaking things back to back and I'm a homebody, I don't love to be away all the time. And I was like you once dreamed of people wanting you to speak. And so that helped. I mean, like, that's all I'm saying to myself right now is like, I get it.

This was a dream.

You're living in the dream right now. And that has just changed everything for me. It's so, so funny how fast we forget that. It's just crazy. So I love what you just shared so much. Tell me about a pattern or a belief that you had to completely change that maybe sometimes still haunts you a little bit in order to become the woman that you are today. Maybe it was a belief from your childhood, maybe it was something even in your 20s or 30s or whatever that looked like. Now you're completely having to break to.

Be who you are. Yeah, that's so good. You know, it's a little bit of what you just talked about, you know, when you're speaking and you're doing all these Things. And I'm like, you, there's only so much of that I can do. And then I'm like, I don't want to see a human put me in a room and just leave me there. You know? So I get that. And that is what I believe when we get somewhere and then we realize that, oh, my gosh, like, now I'm not happy, or now this isn't joyful, or this isn't what I want. Oftentimes I found for me personally that it's a destination addiction.

Oh, God, yes.

Not in travel.

I relate, right?

And I think a lot of entrepreneurs and a lot of high performers, a lot of successful people can. But there's this destination addiction where we feel like we're somehow going to be fulfilled or whole with this next accomplishment, this next thing. Like, well, if people are inviting me to speak, that must mean that I'm worthy of having to be on that stage and that my information is worthy to be hired to speak. And then we get there and we realize that maybe it was just about us trying to become something than it was us wanting to do the thing. And so, for me, I'm just more intentional in observing that behavior. And I'm also totally okay to be like, you know what? I really thought I wanted this, but it's not my jam, and I appreciate it, but I'm going to have to bow out because I didn't work for 25 years scratching and clawing and grow to be able to be at a place that I have choice and then give my power away. Yeah. So I think that's part of it. Understanding one destination addiction is a real thing, and it may be something that a listener has, that you were like, oh, my gosh, I didn't even think of that. But if you've ever been in a place where this next thing hasn't quite been it, and you realize that this isn't it either, that there may be something in you that needs fixed first before you do this next dream, this next goal, this next level. So that's definitely been one. And I would say the other one is probably from running so hard, is that I don't always have to force. I have. All of my success has been, you know, it's not. Nothing's been handed to me. It's. To be completely honest, nothing has ever been easy. Like, it's always been a challenge. And I'm also okay with that because I. I like a challenge. I rise to a challenge. And. But I also realized that that was a little bit of me trying to prove what I could do as opposed to be in some sort of ease and flow with who I am. And so that has been an ongoing journey every day, sometimes where I think we can do it, we're on it. Let's do it. Push it. Push my back against the wall. I'll come out fighting. But I don't necessarily know that I want to live my life like that. And I think it's so important for us to identify it and realize that we can choose something different.

I am like full body goosebumps because I just so resonate with that and feel that and I'm also in that place of that like realization of those things. And it's really. First of all, we're going to talk about some of the six ordinary steps to achieve extraordinary financial freedom from your book Wealth Habits. And I feel like this is segueing us perfectly into the number two which we talked about, which is grow your way to more wealth and some of the things that you were saying because in some aspects of your story of growing up, I just can relate to some of the things that you're saying. So I'm wondering if what you just shared is some of that from. For me, I'll just share from just wanting to be acknowledged, wanting to fit in, wanting to belong, wanting for someone just to finally tell me enough or like to believe in me, all of those different things. So are there things that you've pinpointed within the grow your way to more wealth and you can tell us a little bit about what that is as well that you've pinpointed even from your childhood that you've kind of had to heal and get through?

Oh yeah. I mean I think, I think we all do. It's just whether or not we all have acknowledged it yet, I think we all have things even if we had the most epicuric amazing someone had a great childhood with no real issues, there are still patterns, things that were taught, things that we catch, things that we're told that could be so insignificant in your parents life of the day to day of just trying to make a family in a household and make things grow. But it might have been significant to the mind of the 7 year old or the 9 year old or 13 year old that heard it. And so for me, my dad was working his guts out as a 19 year old kid that found out he was going to have a baby and just working so hard. And my mom was 16, had to drop out of 10th grade to have me. And so for Us. It was more about survival. There wasn't a lot of intentional raising because my parents were damn kids themselves. Right. So my dad was out working a lot. So no matter. I felt. Not that this was intentional. He's a. He's a great man and one of my best friends, but it's one of the things where, like, he wasn't around. So I was always trying to do better and have the best grades and. And be able to, like, be the smartest person, the kindest person, the sweetest kid, the. The one that did everything in the garage before he had to ask. Because I was trying to get recognized just as a child is trying to be recognized. So I think what happened was, as life was going on, a lot of those first things that I wanted to be successful in, I was still carrying that along because I wanted to be seen. And then the interesting thing, this is what's so funny, is once I started to be seen, I realized that I actually don't like that. I actually prefer being behind the scenes.

Isn't that funny? Oh, my God.

Right? It's like when you want to be on stage and you're like, okay, I really want to just go home.

Yeah.

So I think that those are all things we have to identify. I think it's also important to realize that it's not right or wrong. Right. Like, I think if you're a good human with good intention and good integrity, this doesn't make you wrong. It doesn't make you broken. It doesn't make you unworthy. It's just that maybe that there were people in your life that were doing the best they could with the information that they had, and they made some mistakes. You can either take those mistakes with you, or you can fix them. I chose to just rip the band aid off. It's kind of like Tony always talks about. You don't go in the garden and say, oh, there's no weeds. No, there's freaking weeds. Let's pull them out. I look at that as anything I've had to heal from. Like, okay, this makes sense why this happens. Okay? So let's fix that so that I don't continue to carry that along. And the reality is you still sometimes will carry it along, but it's identifying it as you go. Right. I think we had a little bit of a similar. With Christian and church and school and stuff. There's a lot of crap that you have to heal from when you're in a very controlled environment. Right. Why do you think? Probably one of the reasons why My goal was I don't want to ever have to need anyone for money ever again. Right? No matter what. Because no one is going to tell me what to wear, what to say, how I should act. Right? And it's so you almost like have to go to such an extreme to get through that. And then you're operating as an extreme and you realize at some point, wait a minute, I don't have to operate as an extreme anymore because I do have control. I do create my own path. I don't have to run from anything. I can actually be right here and I'm safe. And I think that that's been the greatest shift for me, is realizing that I'm not. I no longer have to run from anything, but I get to run towards whatever I want. And that is a list that is endless for anybody that's listening.

There are so many challenges to business that I don't want starting to be.

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So you work with a lot of different people, you work with a lot of different entrepreneurs. You get to hear all of our excuses and roadblocks. What are some of the things that people are carrying that you find is like taking up the most bandwidth and causing them to not have energy or the space or them like tripping themselves up thinking that they need something else when they don't. What are the, what are the things that are taking up the most space that you can see right away that you're like, if you would just set that down, you could move forward.

Ego. So many entrepreneurs carry around ego that they have to know all the answers or they don't want to ask for help. Or, you know, even the ego of like, I can figure this out. Like, it started to be a badge of honor that we can figure this out. Like, we don't, we don't need to ask for help. And that started to be a little bit of a badge of honor. I heard people say, like, well, I can figure anything out. Yeah, you can and you will. But there's also an easier way to be able to, to get the resources that you need, the mentors that you need, get in the rooms that you need to get into. And these aren't things that you need to ask for. These are things you can pay for. Right. And so I think ego is the big. It's also the things that keep people in businesses longer than they need to because they're afraid to fail, they're afraid to look stupid, they're afraid that someone's going to be like, you didn't try, or that idea was dumb, or you should have hired a different team, or you should have had. Right. Like. So I think people get ego in the way. And if they just dropped that and just really got clear on what is it that you want, because you can literally make money doing anything. I had a client that sold. He had net noi on, I think T shirts only T shirts on Facebook, on ads. Like, 250 grand a year. Wow. Net on Facebook ads. He never left his house. He was a big hippie. Like, so love that. Like, you gotta know what you want and understand that you can monetize pretty much anything that you choose to do with integrity and with. And doing it well. But I think that that's the big thing. Like, drop the ego at the door. What can we learn? Because sometimes too, a business isn't just to monetize. Sometimes it's actually to make you grow. It's to make you learn, it's to make you understand. Maybe one of those. Those paths. I think businesses are very. They're very. I don't know. I just. Obviously I love business, but I think it's also one of those things that you really get to learn a lot about people's garbage because of how they actually operate in business, what their roadblocks are, what they typically want to give up on. And anytime they want to give up, it's because they just haven't asked. They haven't asked the right person, they haven't asked the right help. And I think that's all. That's all ego that comes in.

It's so good. And sometimes people can be like, I don't have an ego. But it can come in the form of fear. Like just, just you're. Yes. You're just. You're literally just afraid. Like, exactly like what you explained. You're. You're afraid of failing in front of people or letting people down. And you feel like maybe you've gotten the help that you need, but if you haven't gotten help, you haven't done enough to get the help you need.

So, and there's also the other side of that, the ego that you think you know it all. I've seen that side too, where someone comes in and maybe they're, you know, their first million or first couple, and it's like they think that they know everything. And it's like you've been in business for four years. Like, it's kind of easy to be successful for a short period of time. It is really hard to be successful for an extended period of time. If you talk, if you look at a lot of even people that are in the kind of personal finance space, a very large portion of them have had a bankruptcy at one time. They've had foreclosures at one time. Like, because it is really hard to sustain wealth for a really long period of time. But those first couple years in startup or those first couple years that you're just starting to do something, it's easy to have success. So I think it's letting the ego out of the way and being like, you don't have all the answers. Like, the faster a founder can replace themselves and what they don't know, the more growth exponentially that they're going to have.

Oh, that's so good. Let's talk about sustaining business quick. What are some of the things that you are always looking out for because the world changes so fast and maybe whatever business you're. Well, you're in quite a few different businesses, so how do you kind of look ahead and say, here's how I know if I'm going to pivot or this is when I know I'm supposed to pivot. Like, what are some of the things and signs that you look for in businesses to know that it's time to pivot in order to be more sustainable in business?

Yeah, so that's a great question. And I think that there's two things. One, it's always in the data and the numbers. So the data and the numbers tell you everything. It's making sure that you're not ignoring them. That's what most entrepreneurs, they don't understand business finance, so they ignore it. The only thing, if I've ever been good at anything, it's actually just understanding patterns. It's really just seeing like patterns, charts, understanding kind of like cyclical markets and just knowing that every single time there's a really big push up, there's going to be a little bit of a pullback. But if you sustain throughout and you're smart with what you invest, you're smart with the businesses that you're in. And I personally always love kind of a more recession proof business. I don't normally get into these quick flash in the pan type of like, oh, this is the new hot thing. And maybe it's cost me some money, right, Because I don't get into too many things that are too high risk. But it also, when you don't have someone to fall back on, you are way more cautious because the one driving thread is to never need anyone for money, right? So I'm normally looking at simplistic business models, somebody that can explain it on the back of a napkin. A super simplistic business model. Something that takes little innovation so you don't have to recreate the wheel. Because it is always easier to go into an industry, a market, or even a business that you buy and make it better than it is to start something from the ground up because you lose so much time in those building years. But to go in and buy a company that already has some like systems and processes in place, it's really easy to pour gasoline on that. You can market it better, you can create better teams, you can create better systems. So I like to look at a simplistic business model, something that's a little more recession proof, that has stood the test of time, that no matter what chart you look at, okay, these have always kind of been needed, like storage sheds and rental properties and laundry mats and you know, all of those types of things that don't really require a lot of innovation. The other way is always identifying. Like right now people are talking about possibly a recession, right? Whether or not, whatever that's happening, you hear both sides and we don't have to debate that. The thing to know though is that anytime there's an economic downturn, the one thing that there is coming is opportunity. There is an opportunity to double down and to make more money anytime we've come out of a recession. When I did the research for the book, we looked at 40 years, we did the largest study. Anytime you come out of a recession, there are more wealthy people created. The middle class is what goes to almost nothing. People are either completely broke or they come out ahead on the other side. And so just like in 2020, there were more billionaires created after 2020 than any other time in American history. And there's a reason for that. Because those people that saw all of a sudden everything stopped. They started doubling down into airline stock, Marriott stocks, including me, real estate, like all of those things, like you could see, oh my gosh, where like I didn't have enough. I wanted more money. That was my problem then was I wanted more to buy more. Right. Because you could see it. And I think that's. That's for sustainability, is it's playing the long game. This instant gratification stuff is what's going to trip you up. It's what can you sustain for 10, 20, 40 years? What are you okay doing for that length of time? So that even if you go into a company and build it to exit, which is every company I ever do, I build it to exit it. If for some reason it doesn't get acquired. Did you just spend five years of your life doing something that you hated? Like, that's not a great way to live. So it's not just about creating wealth. It's about creating a rich life. And I don't mean that by your bank account. I mean it by a rich life that you love and that you're. That you want to show up for and that you enjoy. That's where real wealth is created.

Okay, so I think we had just gone into that, but I want to make sure for earning your way, there are there other points that you want to share on that?

Yeah. So business is simple, right? You either increase sales or decrease expenses. Personal finance is the same way. You either make more money or you spend less money. That's it. And when we take everything that everybody says and we boil it down, that's business 101 fundamentals. So if you want to earn more money, you're either looking at, do you have more time that you are consuming, meaning consuming social media, consuming tv, consuming podcasts, consuming whatever, or do you have more time to create, to create another business, to create another revenue stream, to be a freelancer on Fiverr. Like, there is endless ways that people can earn more money. And the way to know if you need to earn more money or if you need to save more money is by doing this very quick litmus test. Any listener that is listening now, if I told you the only way, this isn't the case, but I'm going to say it. For this scenario, if there is only one way to build wealth, and you need to start investing 20% of your income right now into diversified investing, and you said, oh my gosh, Candy, there's no way I can do 20% of my income every single month, month after month, you're overspending. It's the simplest litmus test. So if you can't pay yourself your investments first and invest in your future, you're overspending. Now you're taking the instant gratification of buying a boat or the new car or the Gucci purse or the shoes. You're buying the thing now instead of investing in your life. Because the goal isn't to get to 65 and live on Social Security benefits like the goal is to have a rich life, but to stop trading time for money. Because no matter what, you'll never have freedom if you always have to trade your time for money. We can always make more money. We can't ever get more time. So be conscious of what you're trading your time for every day.

Oh my gosh. If you guys are feverishly writing notes right now, you can't imagine what is in this book. It's truly, it's a bible, you guys. And every single person should read it and should know this. Okay, I want to touch on one more because you have six in here, but we're only going over three. So you guys, there's six incredible points that you're going to learn about that after this. You'll be so savvy. Like honestly, Candy, you put it all in here. This is incredible. Let's talk about giving your way to more wealth.

Yeah. So you know, it's an interesting thing. I remember my publisher was like, you have a chapter about generosity in a personal finance book. And I said, look, this is how I've done it. Like this is all I know. So I have to be real with people. That's how all my content is. I shoot it straight so I have to put it in there. And I feel that it's often missed when we talk about money and wealth. And for me, you know, as you know, like I started a non profit when I was 26 and I bought the building that I donated to that non profit when I was 25. Wow. If I had not first built wealth, if I had not first had money, if I had not first first been successful, I would have never been able to do that. And the interesting thing is when you are accumulating wealth and you're growing and you're becoming more successful. I promise anyone listening, if you haven't experienced this yet, you will at some point. The accumulation of things will never provide you fulfillment. It may give you happiness because it's a quick dopamine hit because you bought the thing or signed a check or got the house, but it is very short lived. I know there's so many things and I've learned this. There's so many things I've bought that were super awesome in the moment. And did you notice that they like really faded fast? Fast. Super fast. Yes. Scary fast. Yep. And what happens is when you can do any of that, you know from experience, that you're not going to have that fulfillment. The only thing, when I did the research for the book, when we studied Maslow's work, which was then adapted by Tony Robbins, the six human needs, and he's kind of who's known for, in our era for talk about it, but literally the work that they did on six human needs, there's only one. Most people that are trying to build money are trying to get significance, they're trying to get certainty, they're trying to get uncertainty because they can go do whatever they want. They're trying to get connection with other people, maybe even love, but maybe even growth. Because, you know, you see it kind of grow and you feel like you're growing as a person. But money cannot give you contribution. But contribution can actually give you all of the other five human needs. It's the only one contribution actually gives us certainty because we know that our money is going to something good. It gives us variety because we can help and bless all these different causes and people. It gives us connections to these missions. I mean, doing the work now for over 15 years in a nonprofit, I can tell you when I look back, it's like I see all the meetings that I had, all the first quarter goals that we set said, all the amazing opens that we did in new locations, and I can tell you that none of those now give me joy, may have given me joy in the moment or happiness or a feeling of significance or success, but what makes me happy and truly fulfilled now is looking back on all the lives we've saved, all the animals that we've healed from abuse, all of the kids programs that we've incorporated for at risk youth and kids that have been abused, we bring them into the sanctuary and tell them stories of hope and healing. I mean, all of that is what. That's when you really get that richness of life. And so I think if it's only about to accumulate things, if that's your only goal, to someone who's listening, don't buy the book. Like, if all you want to do is make a bunch of money and stack a bunch of cash and keep it all to yourself and die with it, seriously, don't buy the book. What I believe is when we are successful, it's truly our life's mission to help other people with it. That's what keeps me going. That's what even got me to write the book, like, I shared with you. I don't. Being front stage, if you will. I'm using air quotes. Like it's kind of a little like, not my favorite thing. Like, I'd rather be behind the scenes building the business. But I wanted. I wanted the book so that maybe it's some person who never heard about wealth this way or that only heard about wealth from a male. Because most men are the ones who are writing finance books and very few that are written by women. So true. Maybe they'll see what's possible for them. Because actually the study also showed that women are. And this is. No, don't come at me guys, but this is stats. Women are actually better with managing money. So all the research that we did, it was. It's an irrefutable fact. But. So I feel that if we get this book into so many hands, it not only shows them how. Because I'm not about just the ideas and the fluff. Like, this is the actual roadmap, a playbook. And all of those chapters are laid out specifically. There's a. A quiz in there that you take to try to figure out what junk's going on in your mind. So if you had some of this stuff like you and I shared, Lori, that people can address it and here's what to do next. And then we talk about how to earn more, how to build the Brinks truck of your life, if you will. Because it's not just about having the wealth, but what are you going to do to protect it? You know, I know so many people that built wealth once and then they lost it, and then they built it again, and then they lost it. That's because wealth, financial freedom is a habit. And you have to lay the tracks of a few things first and do it well, and then it'll pay dividends over the rest of your life.

Oh, my God, we are so happy you stepped out in front and center to do this. Like, this is incredible. And it is so empowering to see a woman out there who's bringing it to everyone in such a. Like, you're so powerful, but you're also so approachable. You're really, like, letting us know that this is for everyone. And I'm so, so freaking grateful for that. I'm so excited about this book because I think it should be required reading. I'm sure you feel that way as well. So you guys, definitely. This is going to be. The holidays are coming up. This is literally going to be such an incredible gift for people as well. First you gift it to yourself because that's important, and then gift it to someone else, too. So, candy, you have some really cool stuff. If people pre order right now, I'm going to let you share how exciting this is. You do not want to miss this. So what are you doing for people who go and pre order your book right now?

So anyone that orders the book, you will get a free ticket to join us live from wherever you are in the world. Jamie Kern Lima. Amy Lacey, Amy Porterfield. We've got a friend of mine from hgtv, Nicole Curtis. We're all going to be there, just doing the premier wealth event for women, talking about how to invest, what you do with your money, how to build a business, all of that. So you'll get a free ticket to join us. It's on November 10th and 11th. But here's what I want to just make sure everyone knows, because we hear money and we hear wealth and we hear about businesses. And, you know, sometimes people hear a little snapshot of my story and they think, oh, my gosh, I can't. I can't do that. Or I can't do what Lori does, or I can't do what those women do. Wealth is not as complicated as a lot of the things that you've already accomplished in your life. When you pull out the sheet that we talked about in the very beginning of this episode and you review all of the stuff that you've been through, you'll realize that these six ordinary things, they're ordinary. Like, nothing about me is extraordinary. I've had a very ordinary, often boring, sometimes things that I've done to get financial freedom. So none of these things are tough. They're all written really simple because that's how I communicate with not having a doctorate degree or whatever in communication. Same girl, very simple. Like, let's just see how can we make it easy? But it's a lot of the things that the experts may not be willing to tell you because if they basically don't make you understand it, it's then you have to pay them to continually understand how to build wealth. This is your roadmap, and it's done in a very simplistic way that anybody can build. So I just encourage anyone to. To take advantage of it. We're donating. I'm not getting a dime. This is why. The other reason why I feel okay to promote the book is because I'm not making a dime on it. All proceeds are being donated to charity. So buy the book. You all the proceeds will go to Heal Animal Rescue and a bunch of other charities that we're working with.

All right, Candy. That is so freaking exciting. So where can they go to get the book?

Anywhere books are sold. Amazon, Barnes and Noble. You can upload a copy of your receipt or your order confirmation@wealth habitsbook.com and you'll get the free ticket to the event. We have a bunch of other bonuses on there, too, but the event is going to be epic. So if you get it now, as soon as this airs, hopefully you'll be able to stag one of those tickets and join the party, because it's going to be a good one.

Oh, my God, I am dying. I like that event that you put together all my favorite speakers. I'm literally. You guys do not. You seriously don't want to miss this. And it is all of my favorite people who I love learning from. So definitely go grab the book and pre order. And also we're going to do a book giveaway. So the first 10 people who share this on stories with the book link, with the book link, I'm going to send you a free Wealth Habits book from Candy. So the first 10 people with the book link who tag her and myself, I'm going to send you a book.

Okay. And.

Oh, my God. And Candy's going to sign it, too. This just got way more exciting.

Okay.

Any last things that you want to share, Candy?

No. I just want to thank you, Lori, for having me on the show and for also being so open with how your whole process has been. I remember watching stories of you years ago, sitting in California, writing your book, going, oh, my God, am I ever going to do it? And I remember thinking those same thoughts when I was writing this book. Oh, my gosh. It's not just me. And I think it's so important that we share that information with people so that people don't think that they're alone. If I did not know that you were thinking those same things, I would have thought something was wrong or broken with me in my process. And so just thank you for always just the way that you show up. I know that your audience is just as grateful for you as I am.

Oh, my gosh. All the feels, and we can't do it alone. We need all of these moments. So I'm so glad that you shared everything today because there's someone that you just made it really possible for and you just normalize the journey. So thank you so much again. And you guys, definitely. It's such a gift for our guest because she just poured into you for you to give her a shout out. Share the book. Just for the sake of sharing something that's going to change lives, give her a tag, let her know what this podcast did for you. And until next time, everyone earn your happy.

Bye. Bye. Sam.