Episode 077 - NFA Money Mindset

If I came up to you on the street and said you never have to worry about money in your business anymore, would that change the way you operate? Of course it would. I know myself absolutely 100%. Now we have a mental block when it comes to money. It's something that just paralyzes us in business. We make a lot of quick decisions based on the money that is either in the bank account, the money that's not in the bank account, or the fear of future money that is either going to not be there or be there. Today's guest, Amanda Berrientez, is coined the money healer, and she's built an entire business around helping people get rid of that mental block. And her business is NFA. I'm not going to spoil what that means. We're going to talk about it in today's episode. Amanda, thank you so much for joining me on the show today. I'm excited about the topic in which you are an expert on and learning more about your business because, you know, right from the name when you first booked into the show, it caught my attention. But I want to tell our listeners, you are known as the Money Healer.

Yes.

Yes. So tell me what— like, why the Money Healer? What, what do you do?

Yeah, I love this. Thanks for having me on. You know, it was interesting. I actually, I do, I do money healing work with entrepreneurs. And what that means is that I help them empower their relationship to money so that they feel confident to create whatever amount of money that they want to create doing what they love in their business. And we have all these unconscious money blocks. So one of the strategies I use with my people I work with is to write a money story. And one day I had done this money story with Actually, it was a really cool group of entrepreneurs. So it was a set of siblings who were working together building a business. And so they were all doing their individual money stories and then working on them together. And they had this really transformative process. And one of the guys in that group, he's like, you know what, you're the money healer. And it really stuck. And I was like, I love that. That's amazing. And so I, you know, started branding myself in that way. And people, you know, like, oh, you heal my mindset. You help me heal my money blocks. So I, you know, really loved that way of thinking about what I do in the world with entrepreneurs.

Yeah, this concept of a money story, I want to ask you more about this. What is it? What's a money story?

You know, we all have money stories. So we, when we're born, we are like absorbent sponges and everything around us we absorb. And so the things that people are saying, what they're doing, what we're experiencing, and we, I call it money OS downloads. So money operating system downloads. So it's like we're downloading information. Some of them are like viruses. And some of it's really supportive. And, you know, it's not that our parents or the people around us wanted to teach us bad things about money. It's that, you know, most people have a lot of shame and fear and doubt and uncertainty and sometimes embarrassment and jealousy. Like, money brings up a lot of deep stuff. And so when we're young, we just take that all in and we start to create a belief system around it, even though we don't know we're doing it. And so having people write their money stories helps them dig into what they started to learn when they were young, and then it brings it to their conscious awareness so then they can choose, do I want to keep playing out this money story or do I want to debug my system and get conscious and choose a different direction so I can have a more empowered future with my money?

Absolutely. And I think a lot of people, especially in business, make their decisions based on money, right? Whether it's fear or, you know, they get an influx of money and then next thing they're out shopping and buying stuff for their business they don't really need.

Yes.

Right? So it's that whole relationship that, like, you hit it right on the head there. It's something that you need to develop if you don't already have it early on in life. You know, if you're, if you're raising kids, it's, it's an important skill to teach them about money because it's going to carry through later on. What, what do you think people fear or have? What's the biggest block, I guess, with money when you see business owners that are kind of limiting their growth?

You know, I think that the thing that really is the overarching theme for most entrepreneurs is imposter syndrome. And so it's that belief like, do I have what it takes? To build a successful business. And that plays out in so many different ways because, you know, it leads to perfectionism, overworking, procrastination, feeling like you've got to be the best at everything you do, setting your goals really high, and then when you can't achieve them, beating yourself up in this imposter syndrome, you know, kind of inner critic beat-up way. And I see this time and time again with entrepreneurs. They're usually very high achievers. They really care about what they're doing and they work really hard. And so they get this money block belief they've got to work hard to make money. And it just causes entrepreneurs to just constantly be working, care a lot, but then be going, why am I doing so much and it's not getting the high ROI results that I'm expecting? And then they have this dream of creative freedom. You know, they go like, I want to create the business I love and I want to make unlimited amounts of money, but there's some stuck point I just can't seem to figure out. And so it's all these unconscious money blocks that they have problems with.

Yeah, and I love speaking to people who have, like, they walk the walk that they talk. And, you know, from your bio here, you've been doing this, you say, for 4 years, and you've come from, you know, food stamps to the 6-figure business. Tell me about that journey. Like, what was that pivotal deciding moment where it's like, enough's enough, I'm going to do something about it?

Talk us through it. Yeah, it was a sad one. I actually was on the floor crying one night. I had left my 15-year marriage having an affair. And my next relationship wasn't working. So my boyfriend had moved out of the house and the basement was empty. And I was just sitting on the floor looking at this empty basement and going, what's the common issue here? It's me. And feeling really hopeless and helpless and stuck and scared and going like, no one's coming to save me, you know. And I had 3 kids and I was in grad school, so I was, you know, I was on my way to being a professor and I was working hard and I didn't have any more time to make more money. And yet the money that I was making was not enough to pay rent at the places I was looking for that I was going to to move to. And I was like, oh crap, this is scary. And so, you know, in that moment I decided I'm willing to do whatever it takes to shift my money reality and my relationship reality. And that led me to listening to podcasts because I was so busy already and I needed something that was free. So I was just listening all the time, you know, riding my bike to school or taking my kids to school or washing the dishes. I was listening to podcasts and I thought, wow, all the people that I'm listening to are coach-type people. And at the same time that this was going on, my university had this national news fallout in our department, and professors were leaving, and there was so much stress. And I was like, I don't think I want to be a professor anymore. And so I decided I'm going to finish my degree, and I'm going to just take the leap and be a, you know, decide to build my own business as a coach so I can still get to do the teaching that I love, but make, you know, I wouldn't have to move, and I could make more money, I could have huger impact. And so I just decided, screw it, I'm taking the leap, and I went for it. And then that first year I went six figures.

That's amazing. So talk us through that first year. I know a lot of people when they're starting their business or even people that are listening to the show that are like, you know, I got an idea, or they may be in that, that point of struggle where they feel that there's no hope. You know, what was that first year like? Like, how did you build that business?

You know, I love the name of your podcast because I remember similarly when I saw yours, I was like, oh, content is awesome. And I think a lot of people freak out about creating content. For me, I had such a drive toward podcasting and doing that world because it had helped me so much. And so content was actually a huge way that I built my business. That first year, I did a lot of personal, like in-person networking. So what I decided was, I don't know anything about business, you know, like I better figure this out. And so I thought, I gotta get people to know I exist. And so I started going to networking events and I went to a lot of them and I just talked to people and I would create stuff on the fly. You know, I'd be like, let's have a coffee talk. And I would have a really powerful conversation conversation, and on the fly I would just tailor a package for them for coaching. So it's really creative and really fun and really flowing. And simultaneously, I went to a couple of marketing events because same thing, I thought, I don't know anything about business, I'm going to need to learn marketing. And at those marketing events, I met someone who we decided to do a collaboration at a— for— to do a podcast. I was like, oh cool, that'll get me going that way. And so what I would do is every week we would just record a conversation between the two of us and have this really simple podcast. We, I mean, we got it up and running in like 3 hours. We didn't overthink it and we just went for it. And then I would take the clips from that podcast, like 1-minute clips, and put them on Instagram. And I was consistent, like I did it every single week without fail. And I would post inspiration and videos, you know, I'd do 30-day challenges with myself and go, okay, I'm doing a 1-minute, 30, a 1, a 30-day 1-minute video every week. And I just kept doing it. And I, it was so cool because I had people reaching out to me and saying, let's chat, I would like to, you know, see what we— how we can collaborate. And I just took every opportunity I had. And I really tell people that my, my journey to six figures in huge part was through posting content on Instagram from my podcast, and that was it, you know. And just con— and when people DM'd me, really being interactive and talking to them and having tons of meetings on Zoom and just being like, sure, let's talk, let's see what's possible.

There's, there's so much gold in what you're saying right now. You know, the two points that I pulled out of that was the fact that didn't overthink it and you were consistent, right? Consistency is key in, in content is, you know, if you're going to do something and you're going to do it weekly, you need to do it weekly. You can't just be like, I don't feel like it this week, right? That's the thing. You got to show up and that's where you're going to start to grow that audience. And, and I think you saw that happen.

Yeah. Yeah, it was so validating. You know, it was like, it was amazing to connect with cool people and, and have, you know, I don't, I didn't have a big audience. So that's another thing I think that's really important for people to hear. I did not grow to 6-figure business with a huge audience. I had a tiny audience. I still have a pretty small audience. I mean, I'm in my 4th year and I only have around 4,000 people on Instagram and it's been my main source of meeting new connections.

Absolutely. What was it like when you got your first paying job or client.

So beautiful. One of the best things ever. You know, it's really cool because part of the gift of being on food stamps and living a really simple life at the time was that I didn't need a lot of money. And so, you know, I thought if I could just, you know, take the leap and make $2,500 a month, I could make— I could have my ends be met. And so I was like, if I gotta be— I gotta figure that out. Like, I can full— I can figure that out. And so my first client, I was like, I'll just charge $2,500 and see what happens. And it worked. And then it was so cool because I was at that meeting and they had such a powerful result. They're like, you to double what you charge. So the next meeting I went to, I was like, it's $5,000. And they were like, okay. I was like, what? I was like pinching myself. And, you know, so it was, it was amazing. And, and I'll say this, actually, my very first client that ever paid me— I don't know if you can see it in these pictures up here, but there's a $5 bill up there in the corner. And it's, you know, it was this person I was coaching for free through this, um, relationships program I was in, and we weren't allowed to charge. And then he decided, oh, I want to work with you one-on-one individually. And I was practicing, and so I thought, well, like, you want to be my first paying client? So he pulled $5 out of his pocket and gave me $5. I'm like, and it says on it, he signed his name and it says, my first paying client, you know. So I coached him for a little while, and then when I, you know, it was like, okay, now I got to create a business out of this, I went for it all the way. And so it's another trick for people is, you know, making sure that you're charging what you're worth. And that's something I love to help people work on because coaches especially have— coach-type people have like big hearts, and, and I think they have often this money block of over-delivering and undercharging, and then work so hard and they feel defeated because they're not really making the money that they deserve to make.

Absolutely. You know, I, I'm, I'm guilty of that early on in my business. You know, you, you start out and you want to, you want to get the business and you're like, well, I'm gonna— I can't charge that, right? I'm gonna charge less. And then, you know, you get the job very easily because the price was so low.

Yeah.

And then it's like later on you realize, you know what, I'm going to charge more. And you'll hear people like you had that said, you know, you need to double that and you do. And then you're like, wow, like you double it. And then the next one was an easy sale as well. You're like, well, should I have tripled it? Like, yeah, those type of things. So for people to understand what they're worth is extremely, you know, a valuable skill or a block for somebody to overcome.

Absolutely. Yes.

Now you have a very unique name to your method that you've created. And when you booked in, I was like, okay, this has got my attention. And you can say it, if I have to bleep it out, I can in the final part of it. But first of all, tell our audience what's the name of your business and your method?

Yeah. So, my company name is NFA Money, which stands for No Fucking Around Money. And it's actually such a fun story how I came up with that name. And before I tell that story, it's really about radical responsibility. Be NFA about knowing that you can create any reality you want. So, I tell people it's NFA, radical responsibility. Responsibility. It's NFA. Be NFA about your life. Be NFA today. Be NFA about joy. Be NFA about becoming a master of yourself, and then you get to earn NFA money, you know. So it's like the way that you are attracts what you say that you want by taking inspired action in that direction and being NFA about not settling for creating a prison out of your business, you know. Create something you love. This is the only life you get. Let's design lives we love and let's make money doing what we love. And so, you know, really the NFA is this heart and soul confidence to create money doing what you love.

Absolutely. And you speak about the law of attraction too, in some of your YouTube videos you have, you speak about that. And it's not just about relationships. It works with money as well.

Oh, yeah, it works with both, which is so fun. It works with anything. And the funny thing is people have sometimes like a, I'd say a negative thought about law of attraction, they're skeptical. And I tell them, it doesn't matter if you believe in it or not, you're doing it every single day. So you might as well learn how to tap into the power of it instead of creating things that you don't want to be creating.

Yeah, for sure. For sure. Now, your two main channels that you're using are YouTube and Instagram. And you talked, you know, moments ago about not having a large following. I mean, your YouTube channel, I think when I checked, has about 611 subscribers to it, but you've got a very well-populated channel. I mean, there's a lot of content on there. Why YouTube and why Instagram? Why did you go those, those two routes?

Yeah, you know, Instagram's been the one that's been longstanding, and I've had this long love affair with Instagram, you know, where it's like when I found Instagram and as a business, I didn't really get on Instagram much before I started business. But when I found it, I was like, oh, I love quotes and I love inspiration. And I used to have, when I was a kid, I had like quote cards on my wall. And so, you know, Instagram reminded me of that. And so it was the platform for me that was just the most fun. I was— I've never been a social media person before this. You know, it's like I posted a few pictures on my Facebook, not many throughout the years. I was never one of those people that just got on any social media platform, you know, for hours a day. That's never been me. It still isn't me. I still am like very business-minded about it. And I just liked the platform. It was fun. It was the one that I enjoyed the most. And so that's why I chose Instagram initially. And it's been the one that's gotten me the most results. I post on Facebook and LinkedIn, and I actually, you know, played with LinkedIn for about a year really aggressively. I'd say I was like, oh, I'm gonna grow LinkedIn. And I had 120 coffee talk meetings on LinkedIn, and I met so many cool people, and I had a lot of podcast interviews and connections and cool collaborations and things like that. Um, and I didn't I just wasn't getting as much engagement on it. And so I ended up going— I tell my people, narrow your focus to expand your freedom. And so it's one of those concepts of like, okay, let's focus on a few platforms that you really, really enjoy and just go there. So I have more followers on LinkedIn, but I have more fun on Instagram, and, and I get good results there.

How much effort and time do you— would you say you put into Instagram? Like, do you, do you plan out your content, or, you know, do you take the approach of when I have something of value to I'm going to say and I'm going to put it out.

Definitely planner. So it's funny, right now I have— I'm in the transition between my team and so I'm bringing on a new person and she's getting married and then going on her honeymoon. And so I'm onboarding a new person right now. So I'm like totally out of my normal routine with Instagram. Typically since day one, I have been very consistent. I'd have like a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule. Sometimes I'd have a Monday through Friday schedule. I'm not a— I'm not a weekend poster person unless unless it's scheduled. Like, I don't, you know, I keep my weekends pretty sacred. And then, um, now it's same thing. Like, well, we will post at the same time, you know, we look at the analytics and see what— when do our posts get looked at the most. So typically it's, it's— we've experimented a lot, you know. We'll go like, is this 3 the right amount? Is 4— is what gets engagement? And so we play with it quite a bit.

And the metrics determine your, your decisions, right? Yeah, yeah. So how much of your social media is you? I mean, you mentioned you have a team, so obviously, you know, people responding to comments and things like that. How much are you actually hands-on in it?

I respond to all of the comments and DMs, and my team posts and engages. So my team might go on and like other people's posts to attract people to our account. They post everything. They often write the copy. Like, I'll train someone in my voice, and so like, they might I, you know, they might not post anything without me giving the okay for months, depending on, you know, how well they can learn my voice and my brand. I really— it's to me very important to have it be in alignment with things that I would say, and I want it to feel authentic and connected, you know. And so I'm really conscious and careful of that. So for the time being, I don't have a ton of engagement. And so I still go on and comment and post, and I answer all the DMs I do voice messaging to people and like say, hey, I have a little video I send out when people become followers and say like, hey, what's your superpower? And like talk to them. I'm very interactive in those ways.

What would you say are things that you've seen happening now or in the last several months that it's like, you know what, this is a technique that's working really well that you've been able to use. I know you mentioned about this video. Which I don't know if many people are doing that. You know, are there things like that, like, or tactics that you guys have been doing that, that somebody could learn from and like, hey, I could try this?

Yeah, yeah. You know, I'd say on Instagram, something that works really well— first, I'll say Instagram loves personal stuff much more than anything else. And you think about it kind of like it's the personal party. It's like where they see who you are, not what you do. So that is something that I've gone back and forth with because I love to teach, and I'm like, that is who I am, you know. I'm, I'm, I, I do what I love all day, and a lot of that is reading, learning, teaching. It's not— I'm like not out and about like in my bikini doing all the things that sometimes gets attention on your posts, you know. And so I very much just stay true to myself and go, okay, I'm posting this and it'll attract the people it needs to attract. And I, um, oh well, I got sidetracked from what you asked directly. Um, oh, what's working the best? I would say personal, often like just on-the-fly type of stuff. Uh, definitely posting about my, you know, me and like— I got married recently and posting that and posting family pictures and that type of stuff works really well. Or even just on-the-fly videos that are not— that they aren't super polished, you know. Like, people really like that personal engagement. Um, the more I play with it, I'm excited to get my team member back because I like to play more on social media when I create the time from my team taking over the, you know, a lot of the busy work. And then I can be more playful when I don't have a person that I'm like, too many things on the plate. And so, you know, it depends on the state of my team, and, and typically that's been pretty solid. I just had a big shift recently. So, um, I would say for people listening, takeaways would be: be personable, be authentic, enjoy the process. Always remember, you can't get what you want doing what you don't want to do. So if you want to have a business that gives you freedom and happiness, don't spend your day doing stuff you hate. You can't attract something you love through doing something you hate. So come to a place of enjoyment with it, and then, you know, play with it and see what works, what doesn't. And then something that worked really well to build my podcast was a similar strategy I do now, which was having something like a video. But on Instagram, it's cool, they have pre-populated messages that you can, you can just, you know, click a— you know, you— it's too hard to explain in podcast, but look up, you know, Google pre-populated messages on Instagram and follow it. It'll take you 3 minutes to learn. It makes the process so much easier. And then you can just personalize every single one of those. And so, and that's how I built my entire your audience organically. Like, I've built my whole business organically that way, just saying like, hey, you know, saying something to the person after reading their bio, connecting with them, and then going like, PS, I have an awesome podcast if you want to learn money-making tips, and then just putting a link there. And then they're like— I mean, 75% of the time they'd be like, awesome, I love podcasts, thanks, I'll check it out. And that's how I grew my podcast to be in 55 countries.

Wow. You're still doing your podcast?

I don't— I don't— I stopped doing it January of 2022— uh, 2021. So So, I switched to YouTube. So, then that was the YouTube transition to where I went, "Okay, I'm going to start in January 2022." I'm like, "I'm going to hyperfocus on YouTube." So, that's when I stopped doing my podcast. So, it's still out there. I'm just not doing any more releases.

Excellent. So, just before we wrap up, I want to talk a little bit about your business structure now. You know, we're going to post the link to The Money Formula website there. It's a landing page. You can opt in. I did it before we came on the show. So, I don't know what the drip or the nurture is. Like, how have you structured kind of your, your offer? Like, is it, is it free content first, and then you get into nurturing them into a consult, into more of a consulting method? Like, how have you built this?

Yeah, that's been ongoing. At first, I would say when people are starting, definitely do in-person. Like, the more face-to-face you can have with, with deep dive conversations, you're always going to have a higher conversion rate. The more face time you get with people. As I've grown, you know, you want to build— I think it's really powerful to have a list that you build. And, you know, most companies would say that your list is your gold. So, you know, I don't have a huge list. I just have a very specific list of high-quality people. And so don't focus on the numbers. Don't freak out if you don't have a ton. Just focus on the quality of the people that you have and that they're the right people. And so I always create lead magnets and test them out. So one that's converted incredibly well for me has been a quiz. Quiz, you know, like a money mindset type of quiz. And then the new one that I have is the one that you went through. It's called the NFA Money Formula. And this is like all of the strategies I've learned throughout those— these last 4 years that I've done on myself and worked with hundreds, if not thousands, of people in different ways on what I know works for people to start to develop money confidence. And so there's some free stuff in there. So this is a new strategy I'm playing with that's been fun so So when they opt into that, so they just go to nfaformula.com, they opt into it. There's just a short video. It gives them, you know, like bang for their buck and just to know what they're getting into. And then it's training, training, training, training for free, also linking to my paid offerings. So they get a whole bunch of free value. And then if they're like, hey, I'm NFA serious, then they can pay to do other work with me.

And I believe you're using Kajabi as your platform for that, right?

Yes, I love Kajabi.

Okay, I was going to ask you, how do you, how do you like that? I like telling people, you know, firsthand experience about different tools that are out there.

So yeah, yeah, I mean, if anyone's listening or watching and they're like, oh, I want to talk to you about Kajabi, reach out. I'm an affiliate for Kajabi, which anyone who gets a Kajabi can be. So I don't even pay for my website platform because I share it with my clients who are also building businesses, and I love it. It's definitely, I would say, in some ways on the higher price end. But if you are a content creator, you know, expert, thought leader, someone who's going to sell products like thought, like, like digital products, and, and/or have a platform for your clients to come to. I've used it since day one and it is awesome. I don't pay for it because I have affiliate, you know, I have people who pay for it because they use it, which they have a really great affiliate payout. And it's, I think it's very easy to use and it's very versatile. So I, I give it like a 10 out of 10.

Excellent. Well, you know, Amanda, I've learned so much just from the, the 25 minutes that we've been talking. Um, there was a wealth of, of knowledge that you've given out here. We're going to post all the links with the episodes. If you're listening, um, it's in the show notes. If you're watching. It's in the, in the post. And, uh, anything you want to end with? Any little, like, words of wisdom you want to give to people that are, that are in business?

You know, specific to your audience, like, hey, hang in there, everyone. Like, I think sometimes when we put content out, we feel so defeated. It's like, oh, I put it out there and I put my heart and soul into it and I really care, and it's crickets. And here's the thing, you're one person away from a highly successful business. One person can can make or break your business, you know. And so like the making it is the one person who sees that post and resonates with it and reaches out and says, hey, let's collaborate. I mean, I had that. It was like when I was getting like 5 views on posts and no engagement, I had someone reach out and be like, I see that you're always here, I love your stuff, let's talk. And then we created a joint venture that's made hundreds of thousands of dollars for me. Like it— I mean, so I just want everyone to stay encouraged on being consistent and continuing to just put stuff out there and play with it and come from your heart. Like, you will attract the right people when you do it that way. When you do it from a place of scarcity and fear and have to and shoulding yourself, then you're going to feel like frustrated with it, right? When you do it from a place of like, I care, I'm going to bring value, and I'm going to trust the right people will come my way, everything will work. I tell people, and then I'll stop, I could keep going forever. But I always tell people my success formula is, and this is your— the inevitable success formula: daily, consistent, strategic action plus time. That's it, right? So just hang in there, you know, be consistent and love what you do. And I can guarantee that people will notice that over time and you'll find the right people to work with.

Amanda, thank you so much.

Yes, you're welcome.

Running your own business is hard. Those long hours, the doubt, the challenge to meet demands. But you're resilient, strong, dedicated. You do all of this for more than profits, success, or money. You do it because you care. You care You care about the people who shop here, eat there, drink here. You care about your community. You care about your team. Despite all else, you care. No matter what life throws your way, you power through it with grit and perseverance. You are the epitome of dedication. You are a small business owner. For this reason, Blue Cow Marketing salutes you.