3 Money Tips Every Entrepreneur Should Know

You guys, this episode is a really fun one. You get to hear me talk to a really, really close friend of mine who, like, I'm not just saying it like someone that I've met. A lot of the ladies that I've had on the show that are amazing that I've met on Instagram, I have never met them physically in person, but I love them and I love what they're doing and their story. But this lady that I'm having on the show is another close friend that I have sat down at a table and ate food and talked to, and she's the person that I call, um, to, you know, share my wounding chronic illness stories with, and she's another fellow chronic illness warrior. Her name is Jania Hamilton. She is the owner of Peach Tea Calculations. She is a bookkeeping coach. In this episode, she is going to share with you her journey to becoming a bookkeeping coach and what that looked like for her, and some things and tips that we all probably know but don't really pay much attention to on what it means to be, you know, financially ready for tax season and things like that. Yes, you guys, it's almost that time again. We're in November basically almost. So you definitely want to stay tuned. This is a fun episode. Me and Janita talk like— you're going to hear us like talking like sisters, basically. We are spiritual sisters and good friends, and she's married to one of the coolest guys that I know. So I'm going to stop babbling and let you guys hop on into this episode and definitely stay tuned for some, some cool jewels.

Welcome to She's Crafted to Thrive. I'm your host, Nikita Williams, and this show is for all the ladies who are making and creating things that they love. You will hear conversations about the real everyday struggles of juggling life and business while trying to maintain passion and harmony. As women, we have the skill of getting things done, but sometimes we get in our own way. It's here where you'll see that you're not alone. You'll discover that success does not mean perfection. Fear and negative thoughts and challenges are all a part of the journey. And on this podcast, you'll find the inspiration and tools you need to have a life and business that thrives.

I'm so excited. I have a good friend, like a really, really good friend on the show, and I'm just so excited to have her on. We've done other things together on Instagram and just, I mean, we've worked together, but for some reason we haven't done a podcast episode. So I'm like, what's going on? So I'm so excited to have Ms. Janina on. Please introduce everyone. To who you are and what you do. And, um, we'll talk a little bit more once we get past all that stuff.

Yeah, um, like Nikita said, my name is Janina Hamilton and I am a virtual bookkeeper and bookkeeping coach with Peach Tea Calculations. Um, it is definitely a mouthful. Um, my husband has a, a business and we also, we also both lived in Georgia our entire lives. That's where the peach comes from. So I'm Peach Tea Calculations you know, kind of signify I deal with numbers.

Well, we actually have known each other not, not as long as I've known Chris. Like, your husband and I have known each other for a long time, but when we met you, we loved you. We're like, what? And I'm so excited that you're in my life. I've been a part of your journey with your business since you kind of started. Yeah, figuring out what you're gonna do. So tell us a little bit about how you first kind of got into this world, a little bit about, you know, about your life situation that led you to, to doing this?

Yeah. So in 2012, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. And at the time I was working in a law office. That's what my degree is actually, is in paralegal studies. And I loved it. I love paralegal studies. But in the office, it was just me and the lawyer. I worked for one woman lawyer and she was an amazing boss. I really did love my boss. Um, but, you know, being the only person in the office meant that I wasn't just the paralegal. I did administrative work, and I also got thrust into being the bookkeeper. I didn't really even know what a bookkeeper was until I started working there, and I started working there in 2010. So, um, after I got diagnosed, a few months later, I asked her if I could change my schedule so that I could accommodate and work on figuring out how I was going to work my health into working as well. And she very graciously allowed me to do that. When I started feeling better, she also allowed me to take on some more work. So I started working for her a little bit more. But then I got married a couple of years ago. And even though marriage is amazing and I love my husband very much, marriage comes with its own types of struggles and stresses and hormonal changes.

Girl, yes.

All of that kind of stuff. So, um, after I got married in February 2018, my health took a turn for the worse again, and I was not working as much as I was working. And so Chris was like, well, you know, you can keep working if you want to, but I really think that you should do something else because you're not being able to go into work as much as you're, you know, staying home. So, um, In September of that year, I quit my job. I asked her to reduce my hours again and she wouldn't let me. So I was thrust into entrepreneurial life and I took a few months off first to decide, okay, what do I want to do? Which, which of the things that I learned and loved the most in my job, the skills that I had in order to take them, take them with me to start a business and So bookkeeping is what came, came with me. I did learn underneath an accountant, um, that she had there. So I am skilled in service-based businesses.

That's awesome. You know, that story is so like so many of us. Like, we all like at some point were like, oh yeah, our life is normal— or normal in air quotes, guys. Our life was normal, and then we had a diagnosis. Some of us didn't still don't have a diagnosis and are trying to figure out like what is going on, but it's affecting their life and their business. I mean, like their life and their work. And so they have to have that conversation with their boss, like, hey, um, is there a way I can work from home? Is there a way I can— yeah, those are like the most stressful conversations.

I feel like you have no idea. I worked for this lady for 8 and a half years with just the two of us in the office. So having to have that conversation, like, I knew that she would be okay with when I first was like, well, I told her at first I was going to quit. I was thinking about quitting, um, back in 2013. Um, and my goal was to find something that I would only have to work one day a week. And like later on that afternoon, she asked me whether I wanted to work for her one day.

And she's like, I'm like, sure, yeah, I'll go.

But then, you know, when everything changed after several years, she was like, no, you can't reduce your hours. Yeah. Yeah.

It is a hard thing, like having to decide that, like, because that's, that's not an easy thing to do. Like, it's not an easy conversation to be like, no, especially if you enjoy your work, you know, if you enjoy your work, if your boss is nice, you know, it's like, how am I going to have this conversation and maybe try to keep a job or think about starting a new one? Like, it's really weird. It's like a really stressful conversation.

Yeah, it definitely was.

So when you decided that you wanted to like, do like leave, like since she wasn't willing to work with you, what was happening in the back of your head? Like, were you worried? Were you sad? Like, were you like stressed out? Like, I told Chris I was going to go try to get my time reduced, but then, you know, now I ain't got no job.

Well, I did talk with Chris about all of that before I even started the process because I I didn't have a conversation. Well, the first thing, no, the first thing I did do was, was say, I asked her hypothetically, like, how would you feel if I reduced my hours? And she said she wouldn't like it. And then I left it. So I just left it, you know, because then she had the weekend to think about it. And then I went the next, the next week I ended up, I think I left her like a memo because I was just, I was too afraid of what that conversation was going to be like. Yeah, I was totally stressed out about it, even though she was a great person. She has, or she is a great person. She's a very emotional person at the same time. So those feelings that she was having were being thrust upon me at the same time when I was going to work. I was terrified because I had been working for her for 8 and a half years. I'd had a steady paycheck for 8 and a half years. She was like one of my first real jobs, you know, after I got out of college, that's— I only worked for her. So, um, it was, it was scary. It was definitely scary. And now sometimes it's even still scary now in, in the entrepreneurial world. Exactly. I'm like, what am I doing here?

I don't know what I'm doing. Well, I, I wanted to dig into that just a little bit because exactly your point, like, this is the first step for people who are like trying to decide between their health their mental sanity and like staying at a job. I literally had to have that same conversation. My husband and I had that conversation where I was just like, I don't know if I can. My last job was in— I had, when we moved to St. Pete, I wanted a part-time job just because I was moving to a new place. I wasn't really sure what was going to happen. And I was working with like these— they were not nice. Like one of them was nice, but the other one wasn't. I was working for a team of real estate agents. And it was a mother and daughter, and the daughter was super sweet, but the mom was like crazy. Like, oh no, crazy. How I did not pick up on this, because I pride myself on picking up on people's craziness, uh-huh. How I did not pick up on this in the beginning, I'm just gonna say, is because I had just moved to a whole new state and I was kind of crazy myself. So maybe that's why.

Yeah, you were adjusting yourself.

Exactly. So maybe that's why I didn't notice the crazy. But oh my gosh, the stress of that. I was just like, what? I can't. I would come home and she'd be like, man, but I had Jekyll and Hyde, it felt like. Like I had one lady that I really liked, which I spent most of my time with. And then the other one who was like, if she talked to me like that one more time, I'm gonna cut her. Like, it was really bad. Like, so it was like one of those kinds of things where I was just like, she was just— her negativity was really affecting my stress. And so I would come home and I'd tell Maurice and in our current engagement, they're like, oh yeah, we've worked with her. She's mean. Like, it was like, like everyone knew that this woman was not nice. And so for a while, it's just like, I don't think I can do this. It got to a point where I physically held the stress. I know for myself that stress is just not good. It's a flare-up for my endo, for my flare, my fibromyalgia, like everything that I have, stress. And everyone should know this, like stress is the name, like the number one reason why things go horribly.

Even relatively healthy people.

Exactly.

Stress can make you feel horrible.

Exactly. And so I talked to Maurice and I was like, I can't do this anymore. I was like, I, I wish I could, but I can't. And so I wanted to have a conversation with them. It's just like, hey, could I maybe work from home? Because this job is something I could do from home. It's like, you know, and she was like, no, it was just bad. So I feel like I've had the situation where I've had a nice boss and I've had to have that conversation like, hey, I can't come in. When we were in Atlanta, I worked for another real estate, you know, a whole firm. So it was different because it wasn't just me. Was like several other people on the team. So I had a frank conversation with them and it was just like, hey, you know, sometimes I have bad days, I might show up late, I'm going to let you know, of course, or I might not be able to come in, but I can do something from home. And they were completely understandable.

Yeah.

But not with these people.

Oh my goodness.

So when I hear people like who are like, I'm so stressed out about leaving work or trying to ask for less time, I totally feel them because I'm like, We've all been there. Like every woman who's ever worked for somebody else who's deciding whether or not to do a side hustle and so they can have a better, like, health, they feel like, man, that's the most stressful thing. But it can be done. But it also preps you for being an entrepreneur. Yes.

Right.

Exactly. That's a whole different kind of, like, stress if you let it be. Yeah, for sure.

Yeah, absolutely.

So when you decide you're going to be a bookkeeper, like about keeping a, a consultant? Like, what in that made you feel like, oh, I can do this, this feels good, this feels comfortable, this is an easy— like, I should say easy, this is a nice place for you to start with?

Yeah, so, um, I was one of those weird people that went through calculus in high school. Like, I know why. You can see her face, you guys.

I'm like, why? Why would you do that?

Because I could.

Like, I just, I could.

I, I loved numbers. I love like the— I like the objectivity of things. I am a very— I guess the best way to say it is a logical person. Like I like to look at angles and see the absolute in things. And that was where bookkeeping was. Like there are very few gray areas in it. And so The numbers show you something about your business that nothing else really can, you know, because you can have a lot of things that your business has purchased, but you could also be very deeply in debt because you've purchased those things. So when your numbers come together, it shows you where the health of your business really is. So I wanted something that was going to be absolute and black and white so that I could tell my, my clients, hey, this is where I can help you. Specifically in scaling your business, in making sure your taxes are done in an earlier time, or you're prepared for tax season, you've saved for it. Um, are you ready to hire somebody? Do you have enough income to do that? Uh, where you maybe you can save so you can bring home more money, you know, those types of things that, uh, those things were what fascinated me the most. Like, I was like, I can do this and help so many people in in their businesses.

Yeah, I hated calculus. I hated anything math. Like, I, I, I tried so— like, I was a pretty much straight A person, like, but me and math, we did not have a good relationship. I had to go to summer school for the first time because of math in high school. Like, I really— I had tutors. I just, I was not very good at math.

Yeah, I mean, and it's not everybody.

No, it's not.

I'm not even kidding. I say that in all seriousness. There are some people that they just get to a certain point and it's like, I need to be able to add this and add that and it's done. You know, like, as long as I know how to pay my bills, I'm good. You know, that kind of thing. And that's, that's fine. But I just, I loved it so much that I was like, hey, let's figure out how to do this. You know, like, but it was such that I was so rare that there were only 5 of us in my whole senior class. Wow. In calculus. Nice. But, you know, we were only there because we wanted to be.

So, hey, see, you're not alone. I know I'm not alone when I say I don't care for math. I mean, I know it has its purpose, um, and obviously I have to do a lot of math in my own life, but it's like, do I want to do it for work?

No, right? I know after a while, after I've done this, you know, after about the first 6 months or so, I was like, I should have gone to school and become an accountant. I don't know, like, I don't know why I became a paralegal. It just— I should have gone the other route.

That's awesome. I think it's really cool that you tapped into knowing what you like to do and like didn't try to go and find a new skill to start a new business. I think a lot of people, if they're thinking about starting a new business and they're about to quit their job because of whatever reason, um, they like think that they have to go learn all these new skills. And I think what really helps people is just really taking the time to look at your situation, what you like to do, what you're really good at. And then you find like how Janine did it. I love calculus, so I love to be an accountant. Now I don't think that would be me, but that's what happened.

I know, I know. Every time I tell somebody that, they're like, wow, that's interesting. There's that tone of like underlying judgment. You love math? What? Yes, I do. But hey, if you don't like it, give it to me.

Exactly.

Exactly.

So Now that you've kind of like you decided that, hey, I'm going to try this, go this route. What were some of the next couple of steps that you decided that you were going to try out?

So I decided, okay, well, I'm going to just be— I didn't— I hadn't done enough research really. And I didn't think about niching down any. So I was like, I'm just going to do all the things. I'm going to make these cold calls and do this and do that.

And You did cold calls, Janina?

I did make cold calls.

Girl, that's some, that's some good, that's some kahuna right there.

And you know, I got like, I got a couple of potential ones, but when I followed up, they were, they were like, no, that's okay, you know. But I had a couple of really good conversations, and I was able to like adjust a few things from that, from when I did make them. Yeah, it was Yeah, it was.

That's awesome. I'm sorry, I love it because I think, I think again, it just goes to do what you, what you do. Like, that's what you do. Not— I tried that a long time ago when I tried doing something else. We need cold calls.

Yeah, it wasn't, it wasn't fun, but I, I did it. I had to like work myself up to it. And, and the thing, the people that I was calling were, um, because we, you know, we live in a small country town, so people have no qualms about sticking a sign in like the corner of a thing. And so I was like, well, if they're sticking a sign to advertise their business there, they're expecting somebody to call them. So I decided I would just call all the ones that I saw.

I love it, love it. Yeah, yeah.

Never actually turned into any business, but it turned into experience, that's for sure. Yes, and I learned that I don't want to do that anymore. Um, I did go to some networking events also. Um, that is actually where— that's where I got my second client, um, that helped me I learned from that one also. It helped me learn that I wanted to niche down a little bit more in a different direction. Um, that is why I work with only women now, because he was not a very forthcoming person. You know, when, when you hire a bookkeeper, you have to give them a lot of sensitive information. Yes, I mean, a lot of sensitive information. But if you don't give it to them, or if you're trying to hem and haw and You know, it's just putting off things that are going to eventually become urgent. They're always important, but they're going to eventually become urgent. And I found, unfortunately, sorry, I know that this is for— this is generally a women podcast, but men don't like to give you things, especially if you're a woman. They just don't. They're just like, oh no, I'll wait. And then he didn't want to pay me. And, you know, it was, it was crazy. So I gladly accepted that he fired me.

It's like, no, goodbye.

He thought that I was, um, what was, what was the, uh, that I made him feel that I was wasting his, wasting my time by asking him over and over for the documents that I needed.

Well, he was wasting your time.

Yeah, he was. I, yeah.

I mean, he was paying you, but— or was he paying you? Because if he wasn't paying you, he was wasting your time.

Well, usually about 2 or 3 weeks late, but yeah, he was wasting your time, definitely.

So it's a good thing then.

Yeah, yeah, I, I did. I had no hard feelings over that one.

So now that you decided from that experience that you wanted to kind of niche down, what did you decide you wanted? Like, who did you want to serve?

So then I wanted to serve women with service-based businesses. So, um, that took me back to where I was in the very beginning with, you know, working with a lawyer, um, because that is a service-based business. So I've actually niched down just a little bit more now recently, um, just last week. Now it's, uh, VAs, OBMs, and coaches.

Okay.

Um, because I'm, I'm moving my business a little bit more into Helping them understand where they can improve in their numbers so that they can scale their businesses, because there are a lot of VAs and OBMs that are looking for— looking to make agencies, build agencies. And so getting all of their finances in order, knowing what their numbers are telling them, will help them to be able to hire out when they're in a place where they can hire out.

Yeah, that makes sense.

Their, their checkbook.

Yeah, I mean, it's important to know your numbers. It's important to know where you are financially, um, even if you don't want to know.

Yeah, yeah. Not only that, but like I was saying, you know, with this year, you know, tax season's been extended 3 months. But if it hadn't been, what would you be doing? You know, in, you know, a month ago, a month and a half ago, you would have been struggling to figure out what you're doing if you hadn't already looked at your numbers each month.

Yeah.

So what are some things that you have learned— or I guess I should rephrase this question— what are some things that you've learned to share with your clients when you have them, like, that they should keep in mind, um, or make a habit of or routine of when starting a business or continuing to build and grow their business?

Well, the number one thing is always have a separate business banking account. That is because it makes it so much simpler. The example that I always give is when it comes to the end of the year and you're looking, you're getting ready to do your taxes for your business and you take your personal business, your personal bank statements, and you grab a highlighter and you go through with, with it and to decide what was a business expense and what wasn't. Well, maybe you have a Starbucks, um, two Starbucks transactions back to back or like a day apart, and maybe you went to Starbucks to work 2 days in a row, but maybe you met your girlfriend for Starbucks one of those days, but it's been— it was in February, so you can't remember that. You can't really say whether one or both of them or either of them was even a business— business expense because it was so long ago. So if you have a business bank account, everything coming in one account and going out the same account, then you will not miss possible deductions. So that's definitely number one, get you a separate business bank account and then connect it to some type of cloud software because it will then pull all of those transactions for you into the, into that software. And when you go to categorize it, it's already there. Sometimes it will prefill it for you and you can just click add and it puts it in there. And then at the end of the year, you print out a report to give to your accountant to do your taxes. And there all of the numbers are already added up. So it saves so much time. It saves so much stress from tax season to have a separate bank account and a cloud software that everything is being done for you.

Yes, it does. Yes, it does. Totally. That was me in the first couple of years of running my business. I would have my hefty dandy little highlighter.

Oh no.

And I would be going through.

Oh yeah.

But you know what?

I know I'm a weird, quirky person. I love doing that because it's just kind of like, like a, like Oh, look, I don't know. I'm like a puzzle person. So for me it was like, and I did every month, you know, kind of look at what was I spending from that account and then like marked it. But a lot of people don't. And I know that, right? I mean, that's the biggest, one of the biggest things I think a lot of people need to understand is that bookkeeping or having some type of bookkeeping system really is helpful for them, like, come the next year and actually helps them. Like, right now they need to make other decisions, like, do I you know, you were talking about that earlier. How can having a bookkeeping system right now help you in like the next week or 3 months or—

Yeah, so, um, quarterly at the very least you should be printing out what's called a profit and loss report. And every system that's there will— has just a button that you click and you change the dates on it for, for when the period is, and it will print it out for you. And you can print it out and it shows you how much income you've made how much money you've spent, and then it shows you what your profit is. And that is what you need to take a percentage of to either save for tax season, or you can deposit— go, you can go ahead and deposit it with the IRS, or with the— if your state requires you to pay taxes, you can deposit with the state. So that's really important to go ahead and do, because otherwise you're going to have a big tax bill if you're— especially if your business is thriving. And you're bringing home, you know, 4 or 5 figures a month, you need to make sure that you're planning for that. As far as like a week ahead or a month ahead, even just knowing how much you spend each month, like your non-negotiables in your business. Like if you have like Zoom, you know, I pay for Zoom. I'm sure you probably pay for Zoom. Most of us do because you can record your meetings and stuff once you pay for it. Your calendar software, that scheduling software, those are best when they're paid for. Um, and just other systems that you have in order to automate your business. Those are— you need to make sure that you have, have the idea, an idea, or even the exact figure of how much money you're spending so that you know how much money you need to make in order to cover those expenses and pay yourself what you want to pay, what you want to make.

Yeah, I always tell people you can always start a business and not have to pay for like something. You can use Zoom free, you can use the Calendly or whatever calendar thing for free. But at some point, in order for your business to grow and for you to have more time and less stress, you're going to end up having to invest in your business monthly. It doesn't have to be like a huge number, but it's still going to be something. So I think a big thing that a lot of people are dealing with right now, they're looking at all their subscriptions that they're like subscribed to.

Yeah.

Um, and try and decide, do I really need that or don't I need that? And I always find like, if you aren't using it and it's not something that's in your business that's frequently used, that you could use it on a free version, then you go back to free. Like, you shouldn't have to pay for it. Um, simplifying like your business. And I think having a bookkeeper, you know, having someone to help you decide what those are is part of what you do as well.

Yeah. Like, I have a client right now, she's a monthly client that I do her bookkeeping for her. And this month, I— she didn't consult me before she started paying for this one thing, and I'm not really sure what it actually does, but I'm like, this is too much money for, like, the amount of money that I see that she's bringing in. It's— she's paying too much for something. So when we have our conference the beginning of June to talk about May, I'll ask her, what is this for? How often are you using it? Is it really making you more money? Is it saving you that much time that you're paying that much for it? You know, that, that kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah.

So I'm going to ask a question because a lot of people ask me this question is, how do you categorize or how do you— what category or what expense or however you think about this when you invest in yourself, like as far as training or like buying a course or doing a mastermind? Because a lot of people feel like they don't want to spend money that they don't have because they don't have it, one, right? And then, okay, what if I don't make that back? How do I categorize it? Is it really a loss? Like, how do you, how do you explain that to someone who's trying to decide whether or not they should spend money to invest in themselves education-wise?

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Now back to this awesome conversation.

That's an excellent question. Um, in my opinion, I like to not be in debt. I, I just, just saying, you know, I, um, it's not good for your business, it's not good for your mental health. On, in all honesty, for me, that, that's how I feel personally, and that's what I I tell my clients, being in debt is a burden and you don't want to always be thinking in the back of your head, am I actually going to make this money back? So, but I do know that a lot of coaches or sometimes even courses, they allow for payment plans. Now, if the payment plan is within your budget, go ahead, do that. But if you know that, that you want to invest in this particular person, this particular course, start saving for it and pay for it all, all at once. But make sure that you're being disciplined enough to save for it. It's definitely a mindset to, to save and, um, and be debt-free. Um, but sometimes it's not— you can't avoid going into debt in, in certain things. But as far as education is concerned, I do not encourage going into debt for it.

So how would they categorize, like, if they're like physically doing their accounting, like their accounting, like is that a category in like filing their taxes, like education? And it's like, is it the whole amount? Is it part of it? Like, you know, how do they justify that in their accounts, I guess?

Yeah, so you just put it in there as education because you can go underneath. Um, I think if it falls under— because I have everything all written down for me, you know, I don't have to remember these things, I have a list. Um, Um, but you can code it, you can make a whole new category for education, and then when your accountant sees it, then they take care of it.

Yeah, totally.

Yeah, for the, like, the first year of business, I would recommend someone else doing your taxes. Don't do your taxes yourself your first year of business, um, because there are so many moving pieces, especially if you did decide to pay for a coach right away and you do have some debt. And you paid for that debt personally rather than the business paying for it, you know, things like that, an accountant will be better to tell you what you need to do, um, and, and do it for you. So yeah, definitely the first year have somebody else do it for you. For real.

So we're gonna switch gears because I love you and I love that you're accountant, but accounting is boring.

Um, you know what, I agree. And I feel like so many people are like I mean, I love it and I love talking about it, obviously, because we've been talking about it for however long. But, um, it is not a subject that, that people want to— want to discuss, even though it is a subject that needs to be discussed.

Yes, yes, I totally agree. It's kind of like going to doctors or doing like doing your own physical exams of your body to make sure— like, all those things are things, you know, we know we have to do. We don't like talking about them, but we have to do them. Exactly. Um, so I'm switching gears because if you guys want to know anything about accounting anything about bookkeeping, I should say, anything about like what you should do, just hit up Miss Janina. We'll have all that stuff in the show notes. And then, um, yeah, you know, she'll share all that lovely stuff.

Absolutely. I'll talk with you forever about it. No, actually, I just— I, I realize that people don't, so I'm like, just give me an hour to help you.

Yeah, yeah, sounds good. Okay, so with living with a chronic illness, what have been some challenges and fears of like starting a business? Like the reason, like you were saying earlier, the reason why you wanted to start or decided to start was so that you could help the family and kind of get out of that stressful situation. What were some of the things that you had to struggle, like, mindset-wise with starting your own business?

I had this thing where I was like, no one's going to believe me. Like, no one's going to want to work with me because they're not going to see that I know what I'm talking about. Uh, I'm this new person. No one, no one knows who I am, you know, that kind of thing. Um, yeah. And my own personal mindset, just my own self from who, who I am even before, um, becoming an entrepreneur, it's like, wow, do people really like me? Are you sure people are gonna like me? You know, that. Um, so having to get over and become more confident in What I do know that I can do and what I do know what I can help people with, that had to change.

Well, how did you change it? Obviously it's not something that's permanently gone because we all go through like a mindset, like constantly working on that. But what were some things that kind of helped you get out of constantly being in that state?

Well, I talked to you for a while.

Yes, it's true.

And actually pretty early on in the business, I talked to you. And just like, my husband is, is like my biggest cheerleader. It's not— for those who don't have a cheerleader, you need one.

Yes.

Um, support is undervalued sometimes, especially in someone that's close to you. Yeah. Um, so having him say, hey, we got married and I love you, so other people love you too, you know. Um, That, that made a difference. Just make somebody saying, just go ahead and do it. Just keep trying, keep doing, you know, change it up. Maybe something else will happen. Um, I don't know that I've had an aha moment of, yay, this is gonna work out even still. And it's been over a year. I don't— that hasn't happened for me yet. But, um, being able to get clients, having gotten clients and seeing their, their wins their feedback, what I can do to improve, um, how I did help them. Those things have helped me continue on making sure that I'm like, okay, I can help people, I don't need to stop.

Yeah, yeah. And you have proof. You've got— you have clients, you've worked with clients. You, you— beyond like just working in a, in a place, like working for someone, you now have started your own business, and now you have you've had clients, you have clients, you're helping them, you have testimonials, you have all those things. So the belief that nobody wants to work with you or know you is— that should be busted.

Like, should be like, pshh, pshh.

Yeah.

Right. So thanks for sharing that. I think a lot of us think that we have to have it all together when we first start a business. Like, we have to know the answer, we have to know exactly. And first of all, even if someone's been in business for like 10 years, they don't know. Like, they're still trying to figure it out, you know?

Yeah. I had, um, I had lunch with my former boss, uh, about 6 or 7 months ago or something, and she was telling me— and she's been practicing law for 25 years, and she doesn't really do a lot of— her website drives everything for her. And she has a very, um, a very specific niche. Like, she works with probate clients. So when, you know, when people die, they come to her to help them administer the property and stuff. And, um, she said that she had had like— I mean, we were having 2 or 3 people come a week, right? And by then when I talked to her, something had changed and she was getting like 5— she had gotten 5 clients over the last 3 months, which is like nothing. And she was having a really hard time with that.

Like, she—

we talked about how she was feeling about that, and she was feeling the way that I was feeling when I first started, you know. And she's been working for 25 years on her own. So it never goes away, you know, things that, that feeling of, I don't know if I'm gonna make this, you know, this amount of money this month, or I don't know what I'm going to do this month, you know, that kind of thing. It's just never going to go away.

Yeah. It's something we all have to like realize that we all have, we all have fears, we all have mindsets, but I always tell everybody, I'm like, yeah, even if you're scared, even if you don't know, even if you're like, ah, this is, nobody's going to just do it. Just do it. Like, action is the cure for a lot of different things. Like, you can surprise yourself. You can, you can see the result of so many things if you just— instead of just sitting there in fear and like, what's the word, feeling stuck— if you just get moving, things can change. And, um, you learn a lot even if you do fall on your face. And it's like, I just, I was just— we were just talking about this before. I'm like, I just did a a launch. And I'm like, why did I— like, I know why I did it, but it's like I now know so much more about me and about my business that I'm like, okay, I learned so much. I would never have learned that if I had just sat in my head with all these ideas on a piece of paper and then actually go to work and do something about it. So, um, even if you're scared, even if you're thinking you're not good enough, do it anyway.

Yep, yep. Because I, I did this— I just did the same thing like we were talking about earlier and went through a launch and I'm like, man, I am tired. And like, like we were saying, you know, we are chronically ill. Yes, it makes a difference. You know, what we see everybody else doing is— maybe it will, maybe it works for them and maybe it will work for us, but we don't have that kind of energy. So we have to adapt and make sure that we're doing— we're working our businesses where it benefits us. We didn't start the business to, you know, to just help other people. We wanted to help ourselves, and stressing ourselves out about trying to build the business is not going to help.

Amen. Yes, girl. Seriously, all— yes, all day. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes to all what you just said. It's so true because we do— sometimes we get into the business and we're just thinking about, oh, I gotta serve these people with all these things and they want this and but then you forget why you even started this business in the first place. And you start living a life and having all this stress and just so much pressure you put on yourself to be something that you're not, to put out an energy that you just don't even have. It doesn't help you. So for you, Jay and Nikita, how have you found that balance? I shouldn't say balance. How have you found that harmony between, okay, I want to serve and do this for people, but then I also know like you just said, I have a chronic illness and I need to figure out how this works for me. So how have you found some harmony in that?

I don't work on Wednesday.

She makes it very clear on like all Instagram, like every post she's like, yeah, you can find, but you can't find me on Wednesday.

Wednesday is my day. I feel like I need to have a midweek reset. Like Wednesday is also my spiritual meeting day, so I I spend my day preparing for that and just de— I don't know, maybe debriefing myself from what I've done so that on Thursday and Friday I am available again with a renewed mindset, if you will, for my clients. Yeah, I don't check my email. I don't answer the phone. It stays on do not disturb. But if I do do something, it's like something that takes 2 minutes or less. Like, I'll be on Instagram. I'll answer a DM. I'll comment on stuff, you know, that kind of stuff. But as far as doing client work and responding to that kind of stuff, I don't do it. And that's just me personally. And I do let my clients know that upfront. I don't let anybody schedule anything for that day. So that's, that's been my, my biggest thing. I think I started that like 9 or 10 months ago and I, I got off of it a little bit when, when the coronavirus hit because I wasn't leaving the house as much to ministry. So I was like, oh, I have all this time. I'm going to, just go ahead and work. I'm, you know, that kind— and it just— it— I felt it. I felt it after I did it. I had a full-on meltdown, like a full-on meltdown, like hysterically crying. Oh, I don't want to do this anymore kind of thing. So I definitely have to take a— take a day and not do any work.

I think that's a beautiful boundary that you've set for yourself and for your business. Like, that's really what it is. It's just a boundary that you're like, okay, I know for myself I need this day because if I don't, I'm going to end up back at another time that I don't want to experience ever again. And I think that's what, um, a lot of people are afraid of, setting boundaries in their business. Um, and this is just as important as any, any company you work for, any person you work for. They have boundaries. Like, yeah, like, they have boundaries. So to fear having a boundary in your own, putting boundaries on yourself yourself and in your business and letting clients know, it's like, why don't be afraid of that? Because everyone is doing it. And it's not— I'm not saying that because, you know, everybody should do it, but it's, it's honestly to save you. Yeah.

Yeah. Because those, you know, a lot of the people that work, like, if you had a brick and mortar and, um, because, you know, most of that happens with people that are service-based or they work from home exclusively. Um, but if you had a brick and mortar, if you were selling clothes You're not going to be answering people's emails and stuff while you're home. You know, you're just, it's just not a thing. You don't, don't do that. So it's the same thing. You have office hours there. You need to have office hours at home. Yeah.

Yeah. So, well, my friend, I'm so excited that you came on and I hope this was helpful for people who are listening who are like, I'm just thinking about starting or I want to, or I'm in business and I'm like, what the heck am I doing? Yeah. How do I set boundaries? How did I know anything about bookkeeping? Call Janina. If you're like, how do you even have that conversation with your boss? And I think that's actually a really good point to talk about for just one more second. It's like a lot of people right now are going to have to have this conversation even if you don't have a chronic illness. If you're afraid of going to work because of your health and you're worried that they're not taking serious like whatever, you know, social distancing measures that they're supposed to be taking for coronavirus and you're like, I don't think I could do this from home. Like, you might have to stand up and have these conversations, like, with people, you know, your boss or something like that. And so, um, just know that doing it is a lot— it seems hard, but it's so much more beneficial to you. And ultimately, you have to protect yourself and take care of you and your family. And that looks different for everyone, but you kind of have to move. You got to make an action in order to do that.

Yep, absolutely.

Well, thank you. Tell us how we can find you on the gram and Facebook.

I am @peachtcalculations on Instagram. I have a Peach Tea Calculations Facebook page, and my website is also Peach Tea Calculations. So that's where you find me.

Well, again, thank you so much for being on.

Thank you for having me.

This was so fun.

I know, I was like, how did we just now do this?

I don't even know. I don't even— I don't even know. I felt like we had— I think in my head, and I think like I said to you when to invite you on, I was like, I feel like we had this conversation, but we've been— we've done like Instagram Lives and stuff like that. So I think we're just like, oh yeah, and I'm like, why didn't I have her on the show? What is wrong with me? Well, thank you.

All right, ladies, that's a wrap for this episode of She's Crafted to Thrive. Thank you so much for joining me. Please share with your friends and be sure to like and subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes. In the meantime, check us out at sheescrafted.com to check out the show notes for all the goodies and things that we talked about, and there'll be links there for you guys. So in the meantime, just remember, you are crafted to thrive.