From Broke to $18M: Why Hustle Stops Working (and What Replaces It) w/ InvestDiva

If you've been working harder, pushing longer hours, saving more aggressively, and still feel like living a truly wealthy life keeps moving further out of reach, this episode is going to hit.

What's up, you guys?

Welcome back to the podcast. Today I'm sitting down with Kiana Danial, otherwise known as Invest Diva and the creator of the Triple Compounding System. Kiana is a wealth strategist, investor, Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author, and the woman behind Triple Compounding for Dummies. She's been featured everywhere from Fox Business to Forbes and she brings a completely different lens to money, identity, and success. In this conversation, we unpack why hustle has a ceiling, what the wealth gurus like Warren Buffett, Dave Ramsey, and Grant Cardone are actually doing behind the scenes. And it's not the methods they're teaching on the scenes. We talk about the difference between making money and holding the responsibility of true wealth, and why so many high achievers make millions and still end up struggling to cover their expenses. The 3 parts to triple compounding and how you can start doing it today, even if the only investment you're ready to make is in yourself. Making $10 million from a single funnel and how to build income streams that don't require trading time for money.

Why Kiana changed her mind about hustle culture after she spent $130 grand for a meeting with Alex Hormozi and what it has felt like to shift more into her feminine energy since then. So if you're wanting to build generational wealth, scale a business, or break up with the idea that getting rich means you have to suffer, this episode episode is for you. Let's dive in.

Welcome to the Makeshift Happen podcast. I'm your host, Samantha Daly, entrepreneur, life coach, and your no BS bestie, here to bring you all things mindset, manifestation, and personal development. This podcast is designed to help you expand your mind and uplevel your life. So turn the volume up and roll the windows down if you're coming along for the ride. Let's go make shit happen. Welcome to the show, Kiana.

I'm so excited to have you here. I know that my audience loves all things like wealth building, and this is gonna be a really powerful conversation because I know you have some codes and information. You have so many books, you've done so many things. I'm ready to pick your brain on entrepreneurship, on money, on investing, on all the things. So welcome. Welcome to Makeshift Happen.

Thank you for having me. This is going to be awesome.

I'm really, really excited. So I wanted to start by kind of talking about this idea of how we often hear about how the money, the amount of money that you can save has a limit, but the amount of money that you can make is limitless. I think that's a common, you know, concept that you hear about in entrepreneurship of like, don't save more, just figure out how to make more, which could lead some people down the path of working harder and kind of grinding their way to financial overflow, right? But as someone who's passionate about teaching others how to start building The Real Path to Wealth. Can you talk about why, in your opinion, working harder or grinding or even obsessing over savings is really not the way?

Because we don't have much time or energy. Like, I am all for working harder. I'm all for doing things, making shift happen. I love the name of your podcast, by the way. 100%, I'm all for it. However, it is not sustainable. You can do it in your 20s, you can do it in your 30s. I hit my 40s, I'm like, bro, like, I, I me 10 hours of sleep now. Sometimes I sleep like 12 hours, and like, your lifestyle changes. So if you don't want to work super hard until you're 80, 100 years old— I don't know, maybe by the end of the century we're going to be living until 200— you need other methods to complement your hard work so that you can accelerate the growth of your wealth. So what I talk about with triple compounding, again, I didn't invent this. I literally saw it. I saw all self-made millionaires and billionaires getting to their billions without constant grind, and I was like, okay, how do they do this? Like, they have the same 24 hours as I do. They have probably the same energy as I do. Why is it that they are worth a billion dollars and I'm worth 500 bucks? Something is not adding up cuz I am working hard. And I started studying them and all of them after the hard work add a couple of layers.

This concept, I have your book here. It's been fascinating to me to kind of dig into it. This concept of triple compounding, you say that this is really what fueled your own financial growth from being worth $500, living paycheck to paycheck, to then $5 million in 2023 and then $18 million in 2025. I mean, those are some insane jumps.

My trolls are like, oh, you just like— this is like Photoshop. I'm like, come to my live event, I'll log into my account.

Like, it's fascinating. And if you are kind of in a victim mindset, you might think not possible, it's fake, you know, all that stuff. But if you're someone who's really in your abundance mindset, you want to pull up a chair and you're like, teach me, I want to learn. And so that's me and my audience. Can you explain to us a little bit about triple compounding? And you mentioned you didn't invent it, you came across it. And so kind of what led you to that path and for you to go, wait, I actually want to go really deep in this to the point of even writing a book about it.

Yeah, 100%. I'm so— I'm like, this is like the joy of my life right now because yes, I am financially free. I technically don't have to do this, so I do this because it actually gives me fulfillment. So when I was in my late 20s, I came to America, I got a job on Wall Street, I got a boyfriend who was a surgeon, I thought I was gonna marry him, I was so excited, and I was like, I was living on the Upper East Side of New York City, just like I had seen, I don't know if you've watched like Gossip Girl and like Sex and the City, it's like Upper East Side is a place to be, I'm like yes, I got everything, I was super happy, I thought I have conquered the world. A year in, within a week, I got fired, my boyfriend dumped me, And I ran out of money to pay rent and rock bottom. Thank you very much. And I'm like, what happened? So back then I was already aware of the law of attraction. I'm like, okay, this may be a mindset issue. What am I going to do? I have to change my mindset. So I was all about like, what is, what, what do I have to change? So I was changing that we have to change my mindset. I have to pull whatever. And I started slowly and by slowly, I mean. What I'm about to share with you took 8 years, starting pulling from wealthy people, one thing here, one thing there, one thing from an investor, one thing from an entrepreneur, from mindset gurus, all of these different things. I started pulling and pulling, like, okay, this is where I can do better, this is what I could do better. And by the time I was— I entered my 30s, I had started my business. I'm like, okay, I have to start a business. I don't want a boss. Bosses are bad. I'm gonna start a business. Started Invest Diva in 2012, and I even wrote a book about a topic that I no longer agree with. Don't read that book. But it did open up some paths for me, and I was working my bones off. And I had gotten married at this point, and right off the bat, my marriage was not working. And I'm like, I'm an independent woman, gonna get a divorce, and I don't want to rely on my husband because I'm very independent. So I'm like, I need to become financially self-sufficient before I get a divorce. Now I have my business, I'm not making that much money in it. I have started investing in all the things that finance gurus were teaching me, like, okay, put it in an index fund, like do this, like whatever Warren Buffett says. And again, I like Warren Buffett, I'm gonna get into that, but what he teaches is different than what he does. So I was doing the things that they were telling me to do, and I'm like, bro, I'm I'm still broke. Like, if I get a divorce right now, I'm not gonna be able to afford anything. So I started looking deeper, and I was actually just complaining about the situation to one of my investing buddies, and he says something along the lines of— again, this is not exactly what he said, you know, sometimes a story that you create in your head— but he says something along the lines of, hey, I don't compound just one thing, I compound multiple things. And I'm like, what does that even mean? What is compounding? What? So here's a lesson. Number 1, compounding means to put together. So when they say, oh, compound interest is nothing insane, it's like when you have something and you add something on top of it, you just compound it. That's why compound interest— you have some money, it earns some money, now you have more money. It compounded. All right, you can also compound weight, or you can— all right, you have a body, you add some fat, you compound it. And what do you mean you compound multiple things. He said, well, that's what all of these people are doing. Like, look at Dave Ramsey, look at Warren Buffett. I'm like, what? So I started looking into what they're actually doing. So this is insane because I started looking to— looking at Dave Ramsey. Dave Ramsey is known as the budgeter, like, stop spending money. I'm like, okay, cool, how does he actually make money? So how he actually makes money is not by saving and budgeting. He has a business, he has courses that he sets up. I call it generate. So he sat down, he did the work, sat down, created something that now for the past decade has been selling on auto, call it automating. And then on top of that, he invests in other people's assets. So for example, he has something called like the partnerships that people who are affiliated with him sell his stuff without him even being there, without him doing anything. This is what I call accelerating. And if you go down the list of the things that he does, there is so many things. I'm not going to bore you with it. Warren Buffett, again, oh, he's the best investor of all time. He knows how to pick assets. Really? Then how come all the people who know exactly what Warren Buffett invests in are not billionaires? Like we've known what he— he's not like hiding it. We know what he invests in. Then how come he's a billionaire and I'm broke. Well, because he didn't start at investing. He has a freaking business. He has business. He has insurance companies that pay him on auto, something called insurance floats. He's the owner of Berkshire Hathaway, creates— he generates income through so many different aspects that are automated. And then he takes that money, yes, and he invests well as well. Be like, oh yeah, he's a billionaire because he didn't buy the latest iPhone. No, that is not how the— he took that money. Yes, that is one of the elements, but the list of the things that he does for to generate, to automate, and then to accelerate is way longer than the snippets that we hear on social media. Same with Grant Cardone. He is known as the real estate investor. How he actually makes money He has books that he's written. He, again, like Dave Ramsey, has courses that he sells. He has a whole infrastructure that sells on auto without him even being there. And then he goes and takes that money and puts it in crypto, puts it in real estate, generate, automate, accelerate. And all of these people, when you look at the investment portfolio, it is not just stocks. What I notice, and again, if you've read Think and Grow Rich, You know that the first thing that these self-made millionaires and billionaires all have in common is that number one, they were not born with a mindset that makes them successful. They all acquired it. How do they acquire it? By first investing in themselves as the first asset. So that is the first investment in what I now call triple compound, because you invest in yourself, right? Now you have something, you have unlocked a new version of you, the future you, if you will, generate. You generated a new identity. You no longer have a lack mentality. Then another thing I've been repeating has been automate. What does that mean when it comes to investing in yourself? You repeat this new identity for 30 days until it becomes a habit. It becomes an automated habit that is now something that is your second nature. So you automate it, and then you accelerate this by adding the next layer of the next version of you. So that was investing in you, and then the actions that you take— generate, automate, accelerate. How does this apply to your business? You first start a business, create a something that has value, you actually generate an income stream. But here's where majority of entrepreneurs stop. They keep getting on one-on-one sales calls. They keep going door to door. They keep exchanging time for their energy. So the next thing, again, you want to compound, the next action you want to compound here again is to automate. You got to delegate. You got to find automations. Again, it has never been better for automations. We have AI, we have everything at our fingertips. That is why it has never been easier to become wealthy. In a ridiculously short amount of time because automations are just everywhere. You can use them all the time. And then again, you go ahead and accelerate. So, so far we've had two investments, the first one being in you, and then you generate, automate, accelerate. The second one is your income-generating extension. It could be your career, it could be your job, or it could be your business. You could still do this with your job, right? You could use automations to get promotions. You could, All of these things can apply to somebody who has a job as well. And then finally, from there, you take the money that you've created in this income-generating extension and put it in what I call external assets. That is when we get to stocks, index funds, crypto, real estate, whatever it is that you cannot control but allows you to now make your money work for you, make money babies. And then again, here is where majority of day traders stuck because they are like stuck to their screen and they're like, oh my gosh, the market went up, oh my gosh, the market went down. Again, this is like you generally, you set up your strategy, you spend some time, figure out how to do this. Once you've figured out the strategy that is personalized to you, then you're going to automate it. You're not going to be stuck to your screen all day. I manage my $18 million portfolio in 1 hour now every 3 months. I went from managing it every day to every week. Once I became a mom, I was like, oh, I don't have time. Okay, once per month. The more I automated it, Actually, the results were better because I wasn't obsessing over things that I cannot control. I can't control the stock market. I can't control what, I don't know, the president is going to say. I can't control that. So it's better to actually automate it, set up the strategy that is good for you, and then let it go. Let the markets do the work. And then you accelerate it by adding other assets to it. And that's it. That's triple compounding.

Well, I love how you related it to the idea of first investing in yourself. And so no matter where you're starting, you can actually use triple compounding even just from that standpoint of like, well, first, I'm going to invest in me. I'm my greatest asset. I believe that every, you know, investment that I go into, every mentor that I hire, everything that I do, every event I attend, any retreat I go on, any of those things, I'm like, I don't even really need to see like testimonials from other people or what other people are doing because I'm like, I'm my greatest— like, I always get an ROI. Like, I'm going into the room so I know I'm going to get a result. I'm going to learn something, whether it's how I want to be or it's how I don't want to be, but I'm going to get something super valuable from this because it's me. And so also reminding people that like, you are your greatest first investment to invest in yourself, acquire the skills so that you can generate something, build a business, a side hustle, an investment strategy, whatever the thing is, and then take on the additional steps of automating and accelerating that and how it just kind of applies across the board. I'm so curious when you came across this and you realized, okay, you know, all of these wealth figures, these giants, Grant Cardone, Warren Buffett, Dave Ramsey, all the people that you mentioned, you know, they have their zones of genius, their thing that they're known for. And I think that's smart, right? Because to be known in the public, you really kind of have to pick your lane. And so none of them would be individually as famous or well-known as they are if they tried to share all of their strategies for everything that they're doing to build their wealth, right? So from a brand perspective, it's like, okay, I see you and I raise you. Cool. We get Grant Cardone, you're the real estate guy. Got it. Love it. Dave Ramsey, you're the debt-free living guy. Cool. But you realize that's not the whole picture of what they're actually doing. Once you saw that and you kind of learned that machine, that mechanism of, of everything that truly wealthy people are doing behind the scenes, what did it look like for you to go and generate and then automate and accelerate? Like, what was your— I mean, obviously you talked about investing in yourself, but what was your first thing where you were like, I'm gonna build this, this is gonna be my first generating move, right?

So I hadn't given this a name until I had the result, right? So I didn't know I was generating, automating, and accelerating. So, and it's interesting because this name of triple compounding came to me after I had already had, I think it was like $5 million. I was flying to Mexico, I was having a retreat for my members, for my students. I'm like, I'm doing this triple compounding. So this came after the fact, but what I was doing and I went back, I'm like, what did I do? Because I wanted to like pass this along to my students. I'm like, I don't want to be the person who just tells you that strategy. And again, I totally get it from the brand perspective, but I'm like, I'm going to build my brand differently. What did I actually do? It's like a flywheel that everything was working together. So every single time I unlocked a new identity for myself, it was first because I had hired a coach, I had read a book, I had heard something. And when I go on social media, even if I intake something, I literally close down my app, I go and take that note because most people, we just get dopamine hits and we don't actually apply it. So my investment in myself came from everywhere, right? And then I actually would go and start like doing it until it becomes automated. So the first investment has always been me, and sometimes instantly it would unlock how to make more money and then instantly how to invest in external assets. But one thing that I did realize and one thing that I made a mistake about was that you cannot do this in reverse. The investments have to be first in you, second in your income-generating assets, and finally in external assets. So the mistake that I made at the beginning. So I mentioned before that I wrote a book, and it was actually published by McGraw-Hill, which is one of the largest publications in the US. And it, but it was about forex trading, something that I was very passionate about. I had expertise about back in 2012, and I was actually successful at it. So I was forex trading, I was generating an income by forex trading. Now here's what I hadn't done. I hadn't really created an income generating outside this external assets, because trading any asset that you cannot control, I call it external asset. So Forex is the trading of currencies, US dollar versus Japanese yen, Japanese yen versus euro, is an external asset, is an external asset that belongs to a country. So you study it, there's a science about it, I wrote a book about it, and my goal was to generate an income by active income by trading an asset that I really don't have a control over. And even though I was successful for 3 years, because I hadn't really understood what is the identity needed for this, and I didn't have other income streams, that impacted my mentality so much that fear and greed became my automated habit. And then in one trade, I lost all of my gains. I wiped out my entire portfolio. Shit. Shit. And that is when I'm like, all right, I don't— everybody go burn my book. Like, do not buy that book. And it's insane because like, that is the evolution of you. Like, you might not be agreeing— like, agree to what you did like 10, 12, 20 years ago. And that is exactly what happened. And it's so public now. Like, oh my gosh, what am I gonna do? And, um, that is when I realized, oh my gosh, I need other income streams. And that is when I then put my focus on my business. So for that, obviously I had to unlock an entrepreneur mentality. And I'm like, all right, I guess I'm not an entrepreneur. How do I do that? Oh my gosh, imposter syndrome. Why would I like do this? Why would I go? Why would anybody listen to me? I just lost a whole bunch of money. So all of that was The investment in myself, figuring out, upgrading myself, figuring out where I want to go, creating that brand around it, and then putting that into that business, and then generating a structure that could earn me money, and then automate it so I don't burn out. This whole process took 8 years. So I'm saying it, oh, I just did it. No, I had at first, I, at the beginning, I didn't want to invest in coaches because I'm like, uh, like, I don't have money. I would like go and watch YouTube videos and of course, trial and error, trial and error, trial and error, years, year after year after year after year until I actually hired a coach and was like, hey, do this. I'm like, whoa, thank you for charging me $30,000 for telling me one thing that actually changed my life. And that is when I became obsessed to actually hiring coaches. Like, I invest up to a million dollars per year in myself. And every time, sometimes they're good, sometimes they're bad. I'm not gonna lie, not all coaches are great, but All of them, I learn a lesson, even if they're not good. And that has resulted in increasing my income, which has resulted in having more money to invest in stocks and crypto and all of these other assets that I hold. And this whole avalanche has created— now, now, because I have the structure, the acceleration is insane. Because it took me 8 years to make my first million, and then from a million to $18 million has taken me 4 years. Wow. And every year it accelerates even more because I actually shared it on my social media the other day. So my stock portfolio alone just hit $8 million. So this is just one of my stock portfolios. Last year this time was $6 million. The year before this time it was like $2 million. So it's like accelerating. It's insane.

Compounding, if you will.

Compounding on auto.

So wild. I think it's a true sign of growth when you do outgrow things that you used to teach or preach or believe, like that is a real sign of your own personal evolution, of learning more, of getting into different circles, of hiring mentors, of expanding beyond, you know, the way that you used to think or operate. And so I think that's tough for a lot of people, regardless of what their business model is or if it's as public as publishing a book on something where they're like, oh, yikes, like not necessarily what I'm doing or teaching now and don't really like want my name tied to it as much anymore. But like a lot of my clients even they outgrow programs that they were once selling, or they outgrow the things that they wanted to speak about in their personal brand or their content. Like, as someone who is committed to self-growth and that first step of this whole process of like investing in yourself to change the identity, to uplevel the identity of who you are, it creates that experience, that uncomfortable experience of like outgrowing old versions of yourself. But that is part of the path to the insane compounding effect that we're talking about here, you know, like those crazy jumps that you've had, of course, have to do with your business and everything that you're doing behind the scenes and smart investments and everything that you teach. But none of that would be possible without that piece of like investing to upgrade the identity first.

It can't happen.

Okay, so I have something I think you're really going to love and your business is going to love it even more. Do you want to steal the strategy I've been using to seduce premium buyers and sell out my offers on Instagram stories? Chances are you're already posting, you're already making sales, but if your Instagram stories aren't working as hard as you are, you're leaving money on the table. Sold Out Stories is going to teach you exactly how to change that so that you can sell out any offer at any price point. And even high-caliber coaches miss this because selling on stories isn't about how much you post or how frequently you show up face to camera. It's about psychological sequencing, and the way you're posting right now might be giving premium buyers in your audience the ick. Documenting your day and hoping it builds trust, posting look-at-me content and calling it authority, sharing client wins as soon as they drop in instead of strategically weaving them into a story selling sequence designed to drive demand and convert sales.

We both know that you're not here to learn how to show up more.

You're here because you know your content could be converting faster and more effectively. Sold Out Stories is going to give you 5 high-converting story selling frameworks built specifically for premium buyer psychology. Inside, you'll get over 6 hours of deep dive video trainings, real IG story breakdowns, and live walkthroughs that show you exactly how to elevate your slides from authority building all the way to offer flow in less than 10 slides. My clients have already been using these frameworks to pull 5-figure sales days while posting less. One client generated 14 premium leads from a single story sequence. Another sold out her event in 6 hours with just 8 strategic story slides. No sales calls, no paid ads, just the right frameworks. You'll walk away knowing how to sequence for desire, transition into your offer seamlessly, and sell daily without ever feeling salesy.

You already know your offer's incredible, so now it's just time for your stories to sell it like it is.

Grab Sold Out Stories today and turn 10 slides or less into your highest converting content. Let's make your next story your most profitable one yet. Click the link in the show notes below and I'll see you inside.

Like, I've tried it, it can't happen.

And it kind of makes sense because at the end of the day, and you said it very well, if you're not the person who can hold it, if you're not the person that can do it, if you're not the person that could even see the opportunity, like, there's— your brain doesn't even see things when you're not open to it. And so you have to unlock that like next level of self and identity first.

This is the exact reason why lottery winners within 3 years, with that, like, if they were broke and won a lottery, they lose it. They hadn't grown into the capacity that can hold and manage a million dollars. I see it even with entrepreneurs. So I was in line to— I don't know if you know Russell Brunson. So he was my first mentor, and he's the one who taught me how to automate my business with webinars. And I did it, and I made a million dollars. I generated $1 million in my business. That was the first thing that I did. And then Russell, he— and I love him, by the way, he's like the best— and he gives you an award when you generate $1 million in revenue in your business. Now, what people who haven't generated that don't see is that out of that $1 million revenue, I was doing really well because I'm really good with money, and I had netted $500,000 out of that $1 million. So I was standing in line to get this award from Russell. There's 1,000 people who've done the same thing, generated $1 million in revenue in their business. And I was asking them, oh my gosh, this is amazing. There's so many millionaires in this room. This is so cool. So I started talking to them and oh my gosh, I found out almost half of them were either break-even or ready to file for bankruptcy. And I'm like, how did you generate $1 million and you have nothing to show for it? And that was another aha moment for me. That is the identity. If you can't manage $100, you can't manage $1 million. At that exact time frame, by the way, because I was also doing the triple comp— the full triple compounding thing— so I had risen my mindset to a person who can hold $1 million first before I made $1 million. And I was also investing in external assets the right way, not forex trading. You want to guess That time that I had netted $500K, my investment portfolio that moment had hit $1.5 million. Meanwhile, all of these other entrepreneurs, same exact scenario, same revenue, zero to show for it. So that is why you gotta have the whole, all of it. And it starts with mindset and it doesn't stop with it though. It has to, you have to have the other.

It's so true though, because there's so many stories like that where, you know, public facing or on social media, you see all these like flashy things, the income claims, all this stuff. And even if the, the revenue is real and what people are making is true, there's a lot of times that picture that you don't see behind the scenes, which is what you're talking about, to where you may have made $1 million, but how much of that is profit? What are your margins? What are you keeping? What's your actual net worth? Are you living completely beyond your means and spending it all? Do you have any investments? Like, where is the money going? So generating money is one skill, managing money is another skill. And so I love that you're kind of highlighting the importance of really being able to work all these things together for true wealth, because that is true wealth. I mean, if you can just keep, you know, working your ass off, trading your energy for money and generating, generating, but you're also burning it, spending it, not making the investments, not compounding, that's going to burn out like the energy and the ability for you to be able to do that. As you're saying, once you get into your 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond, you're not going to be able to keep up that pace as much anymore. And so you have to have these things that are working for you. And so that's something that I, you know, as soon as I started making real money, I would say, in my business, I was like, I need to be investing. I've got to be putting my money somewhere. It's got to be working for me because I love working hard, but I don't want to work hard until I die. I don't. I want to go back to this idea of your business, and you mentioned Russell. I know that you're a ClickFunnels 2 Comma Club X Award winner. You mentioned the first award, but I know that the word that comes after that is the one that basically means like, okay, you've built a funnel that's generated $10 million in revenue. That's crazy, right? That's a really big feat. What are your tips for the— there's a lot of people in my audience that are leveraging digital business. There's a lot of, you know, coaches, service providers, healers, you know, fitness entrepreneurs, that type of thing. What are your tips, if any, for leveraging like the digital business as part of this larger machine that we're talking about that helps you compound?, to increase your overall wealth down the line? What have you learned in that process?

So what I've learned, and things are changing super fast because the game that I played to make the first million, now with AI, things have changed. But that doesn't mean that there is not opportunity for everybody. And I've been actually asking them, what is it like? How can I first of all get to $100 million? And with AI, like, do I even have a chance? And The things that has been resurfacing over and over again, number one is the thing that you mentioned, which is a personal brand. Because as AI floods social media, people are going to yearn for that authenticity. And the more you suck is actually going to be better. So this is the advantage of it. Like, if you have imposter syndrome, you don't want to hold on a camera, oh my gosh, now you have that advantage because people sick and tired of polished videos, especially if you're starting out. So yes, like, I can see, like, I don't know, Tony Robbins, Alex Hormozi, they all have polished videos now, but they already built a brand. Now that AI is making everybody polished, people want that authenticity. And by authenticity, I mean authenticity, like, keep it real. And you want to dedicate— I know, like, I threw stones on rocks on, on Dave Ramsey. But, but you do want to focus on one thing. Like, I always come back to this every time my business kind of stalls, and I'm like, oh my gosh, what's happening? Is when I'm like, oh, I want to help everybody. I'm big enough to now help everybody. And every single time, humbled, humbled, shows on my tracks. I'm like, uh, all right, I'm gonna go back to basics. Niching down is like, is the game, is the, is the lesson that I cannot learn enough. It's insane. Like, you got to niche down and you can see even like super duper multimillion, even billion-dollar business owners, Tom Bilyeu, if you go down their funnels, super niche down. They literally, if you're not their target audience, I've been testing, like I'm always funnel hacking everybody. Like, I go on sales calls just to see how they, like, I'm that kind of a nerd, but like just to see what they do. And I like do all the things. Like, if I press this one, I go to this side. Like they literally kick you out if you're not exactly who they consider as their niche. And that is how you get rich. So build a personal brand, niche the freak out, no matter how big you are. Like, I'm telling that to myself too, because you're like, I'm big enough now. No, you're never big enough to not have a niche.

Hey, don't forget that every month we are picking a listener of the month to win $50 in cash just for showing love to the show.. All you have to do is leave an epic review of the podcast on Apple Podcasts, screenshot the review before you hit submit, and DM that screenshot to us on Instagram at Makeshift Happen Podcast. And that's it. I wanna thank you for being such a loyal listener and show my appreciation by putting a little extra cash in your pocket. I know it's super easy not to do it, but every single rating and review seriously helps the show rank higher and reach new people., so we appreciate them more than you know. We'll announce the next winner at the end of the month and slide into your DMs if it's you, so keep an eye out and good luck. Love you guys and thanks for supporting Makeshift Happen.

Well, so like what we were saying at the start was like Grant Cardone, Dave Ramsey, you know, all the names we're throwing out there. It's like, yeah, they're doing other things behind the scene to build their wealth, but from the brand perspective, pretty smart that they, you know, stay in their lane. They've chosen their thing. That's what they like have become known for. I call these mastery markers, and I try to tell my clients all the time, like, I think when you're starting out, you are really trying to also figure out who you are and what your zone of genius is. And, and sometimes that unfolds in the process of— like it was for you, like, you wrote the book and then you did this other thing. Like, you have to go through those messy steps of, like, putting stuff out there and doing things and figuring it out and trialing and erroring. And then you're like, oh, you come across something and you're like, this is my fucking thing. This is my thing, you know? And then you like all go all in on it and you create that, that resonance around it and then people know you for it.

So yes, I mean, to that point, for example, triple compounding, I had a very hard time with it because I kept, before I had given it this name, I was like, what am I gonna do? Because I'm talking about mindset, I'm talking about business, and I'm talking about investing and it's all over the place.

So you had to like coin it, framework it.

So this is the thing now and it's one thing. And so that's why I was able to, you know, write the book and Wiley is like, oh, people compounding, so it's interesting enough. Tony Robbins, he's an example of somebody who's also all over the place. Tony Robbins Inner Circle Platinum Partnership is relationship and business and investing and mindset and spirituality, everything. But what he advertises on top of the funnel typically is finance, even though he's not even an expert in finance. Like, he goes and interviews other experienced traders and investors and And that's all of his books. His books are interviews with other people. So that is the niche on top of the funnel. On the backend, then he brings in all of these other elements, which is basically what I do as well. Like I pull people in if it's not for this podcast, but typically people know me because of stocks. So even though I know stocks is not the thing, but they look at me as, oh, the stock crypto girl. And then they come in, I'm like, hey, it's not just this, by the way, it's other things as well. So that is another way that if you are framework is a little bit more holistic and it cannot be dumbed down into one thing. Top of the funnel, you dumb it down and then in the backend you expand.

It's really smart marketing to, it's kind of like the saying of like, give them what they want or sell them what they want, give them what they need. Right? So on the front end, you're like, I know Tony's thinking, I know all these people want, they like love Money Master the Game. Like they wanna learn all this stuff. Okay. So that's what we're gonna really hit with. That hits really hard. And then we bring people in, we nurture them, and then we give them everything that they need, which is so much deeper than the money. And same for you with, with the stocks.

I get mad because like Money Mastery, like his wealth mastery stuff, like compared to the deep stuff that he does on the, on the back end, is crap. And I'm like, why? Like, this actually— and I would always, I was even thinking, oh my gosh, like this actually impacts his brand in a negative way because Like, I wouldn't even— like, Wealth Mastery isn't even good.

You only have that perspective because you're on the inside and you already know how good it is. Yeah, it's really smart, but I think it holds some people back because of that exact feeling of like, if this is my top of funnel, this is what I'm like dumbing my stuff down to, which is what you can feel like when you are a really, you know, deep, gifted practitioner, or you have a lot of depth to like the modalities and what you want to teach people and how you're able to help them. And it is more holistic. It does feel like having to dumb down. Sometimes, and that's what it can feel like. But yeah, when you look at the people who are like really doing it really well, you're like, damn, it works though.

Yep. There are 1,000 people in his inner circle, so I think he's doing something well.

Yeah. Uh, so you mentioned Alex. I know that you've, that you've worked with him, spent a lot of money to, you know, get a meeting with him. And we're also talking about Tony. So I thought I'd mention the recent interview. You've probably seen it between Tony and Alex and, you know, Alex kind of talking about his apathy and how he works all day just because he's good at it and he doesn't really know what else to do. I know you had mentioned that after your meeting with Alex, you kind of had this feeling of like you're no longer willing to just work like a man, and you've really been leaning more into your feminine energy as an entrepreneur as well. So yeah, let's talk about that. I've, I've also worked with Alex. I'm actually going back there in a couple of weeks, and I love learning from him, but also— and I love working hard like we both said, but also I like mirror my life after his lifestyle. So I'm interested to hear your experience and kind of how that unfolded for you.

Yeah, that video that I put on Instagram after my meeting with Alex, it went viral. And, uh, yes, I was talking about how it actually made me realize what I don't want to do and being always in my masculine energy. And apparently Alex saw it, so I didn't want to talk about Alex because everybody's talking about Alex and Tony's, and I was like, I'm not gonna do— so apparently Alex saw and he did not like it. And then some of my clients went to Alex because like I talk about all my coaches, so they got introduced to Alex. So they had a meeting with Alex and he actually brought it up when they said, hey, Kiana like is my mentor. He brought it up about like, well, like he did not like it very, very clearly. And I literally emailed them and I'm like, hey, I wasn't saying that you are bad. I was like, you're very obviously in your masculine and I, I didn't I hate what you said. So he thought I hated him, and I'm like, I didn't hate you, this is my observation, and I don't think you're trying to hide your masculinity. It's in your biceps, and it's great, it's working for you, but this is just my perspective. And I was watching Tony, and like, he literally picked up on everything that had gone through my mind when I met Alex in the first sentence. Like, did you notice the first sentence?

It was the first word that he decided to say, which was duty. And Tony was like, wait, let's backpedal. Why duty? I would never say duty. Language impacts everything. Yeah, I think people were really surprised.

I couldn't thank Tony enough because Alex is not somebody who can, who will listen to me, who will listen to, like, he is a very brilliant, strong-minded guy. He achieved success very, very early and I've been through this when you think you're invincible and then you feel unfulfilled. And all of the things that I felt during my meeting with Alex, Tony just brought up, and I couldn't thank him enough because I really do think this will be the shifting point for Alex. Not because he couldn't have gotten there by himself, but I think Tony is one of the only people on planet that can get through strong men. And you saw my husband, by the way,— and I didn't actually finish that story. After I became financially free, that is when I went to Tony because I wanted to fix my relationship. In fact, I wanted to get a divorce. I went in to figure out, to fix myself first, to become a kind of person, a woman who attracts the right man, and then get a divorce and find the right man. I was completely hopeless about my husband, and so I started this journey of investing in myself as a wife, as a woman, in relationships. So I went all in relationship for a year, and I did all the things. And Tony even challenged me. He has this 90-day love challenge that you only give and love on somebody the way they want to be loved, without expectation. Like, no trading. Like, you give everything unconditionally with no expectation that you receive anything in return. And by the end of that 90 days, you're gonna know if you want to stay with this person or not. I did the 90-day challenge, my relationship did get better, and then I was like, okay, this is a superpower. If I am loving and giving, I can make any relationship work, then why him? I can go find somebody younger. So that was my thought process, and I decided to move forward with the divorce anyway. So he, my husband, had no idea I was doing this, by the way. And, um, right before one of Tony's I have evil plans. It's insane. So I talk about it to everybody and I'm very open about it. And right before going to one of my, like, the, my most favorite Tony Robbins event, which is Date with Destiny, I think everybody needs to attend that event. The day before I was flying down there, I decided to hand my husband the divorce papers. I was planning to wait for after Date with Destiny, but somehow I decided to just tell him, hey, like, let me be honest. I don't, it's not me, it's you. It's not you, it's me. I'm sorry, all the things. And he asked to come to Date with Destiny with me. It was an intense 7 days that completely transformed our lives, and I do believe if it wasn't for Tony, this would not have gotten through to Matt because, like, God bless Tony, because, like, whoever, the universe, because, like, Tony's, like, a huge dude, and my husband, like, is very smart. He's a rocket scientist. Like, it's like, I don't— like, if I give him a book about relationships, he's not gonna read But Tony was able to get through to him and me, and that is when, well, compounded with me already having become a better person and no longer being a bitch, compounded with that, opened my husband up to level up, to step up, to invest in himself, to unlock a better version of himself who today, before this podcast started, you saw I just texted him, he came in, he like did all my tech, went back up, like, and I'm so glad that Alex, Alex had a chance to have this one-on-one because I don't think anybody else would've been able to get through to him. And I think, I hope that he takes it to heart because he's very smart and he has a lot of potential and I hate for him to not be fulfilled and not be happy and think suffering is the way. And that just shows how much growth he can like have, but it's gonna be amazing if he actually applies it.

Yeah, I thought it was interesting the part where Tony recommended that he have children and I was thinking, That would be a really big game changer. But I, for my side, you know, I think it's important that people recognize no matter who you're learning from, like I call it being a secure CEO. So like in relationship dynamics, you know, you have the, the anxiously attached, the avoidant, and then you have secure. And that's like all what we're trying to get towards. I think it's also really important for you to be a secure CEO in your business and be confident enough in yourself and your own path and the way that you want to do things and the vision that you have for your life. And how you want to work and what your values are and what you won't compromise and what you're not willing to suffer for or whatever it may be so that you can continue to learn from people who are brilliant in their own right and have figured out a lot of things that maybe you don't know yet without also assuming that you need to take on their entire vision or version of how they live their lives. And so I, yeah, I find it interesting that there's a lot of men, probably because that's mostly who's like in Alex's sphere, that are very enamored by him and what he's been able to build and, and create. And so then they kind of absorb and take— try to take on every facet of like how he lives his life. And I think that like discernment is so important and just being able to go, you are so fucking talented and incredible at this, teach me this skill. And also I'm not gonna work all day every day and never have any hobbies and not do anything else. Like, I don't wanna live my life that way. Do you know what I mean? But I'm, I'm really interested to know from your perspective, having had that, you know, experience and made that shift, what changed for you? What did it feel like for you to kind of, and all of the growth, right? Date with Destiny, Tony, all these things, repairing your marriage. I mean, you talked about that also shifts a dynamic in a relationship a ton when you move out of your masculine, if you have been in it for for so often, and you do embrace a little bit more of the feminine. So I'm curious, like, what actually helped you make that transition to be more in your feminine energy and what that looked like?

It wasn't just a meeting with Alex, it was the whole company culture, because you go in, you meet the people, and the masculine energy is just like oozing out. Like, you go in and it's like—

I remember I posted, I posted and I was like, I'm here for the girlies because they are not in this room. Like, I'm here to learn all the shit so that you guys can learn it. Because like, I was looking around, I'm like, there are no fucking women in here.

Yeah, I was the— I was almost the only one too. And I really was curious to see how Leila like managed people because I was hearing all of these like their people, their team members rave about Leila. I'm like, okay, how does she manage? Like, is she leading from the feminine or the masculine? And she didn't show up. And I was like, I was very contradicted because, you know, leadership sounds masculine. And I had this struggle, inner struggle before this meeting that, okay, how can I be feminine and lead? And I thought that, okay, maybe I have to switch it on and off when I'm leading, when I'm a CEO. And by the way, I had to get into that leadership. I never was a leader. That was another investment in myself. I never, but I became a leader and in a masculine element. And I thought maybe it's a switch. I have to turn it on and off and become feminine with my husband now and then be a leader and be a masculine. And going to Alex's office literally showed me everything that I didn't want to be. And I'm like, okay, if this is the height of masculine leadership, which is the most successful showcase of it, I don't want this. Like, this would suffocate me. And that is when I started again diving back and I'm like, okay, how can I lead from feminine? And that opened a lot of— like, this is very recent, this is in the past year that I decided to lead from the feminine. And it's been so fun. It's been so freaking fun.

What did you change? Like, what, what does it feel like? What are the differences to you leading from your feminine versus how you maybe used to operate before?

I'm less angry all the time. I'm not blaming everybody for everything that goes wrong. Um, no, but it's more, it's more coaching really. So the way that I would coach my clients and then how I'm a mom for my daughter And then delegating without micromanaging, and then allowing people to come up with ideas and do their thing.

Like that trust, uh, there's a little bit more of like trust, surrender, some more softness in your approach.

100%. I, I was not able to trust. Like that was, that was one of my biggest growths. And so in the past year, I've been letting go more and more and more and more, and we're building this foundation. Giving space, taking in feedback, and having fun has been a big element, 100%. So, if you look at my— so, I have this wallpaper on my desktop that, again, Tony actually teaches, like your away values and your forward values, and my number 1 forward value is fun, and I've assigned it to whatever I do. So, anytime I look at the ocean, because I have an ocean view in my— every time I pee, fun. Every time I rub my hands, every time I dance, every time I create content, every time I talk to my clients, that is when I'm gonna feel fun. And I feel that fun really softens my approach, and my team can feel it, and nobody's like nervous, ooh, let's go. It's like, we're just relaxing, doing things, and we're having fun, and we're changing lives. So it's just a different— I still don't know how to exactly explain it, but it is more surrendering and more letting and allowing.

Yeah, well, because I think when you have the profound, like, inner shift, sometimes you start, like, operating that way. You don't exactly know because it's not like you need a conscious decision of, like, okay, now on these meetings, instead of saying this, I'm gonna say this. But because you, like we talked about, do the investment in yourself, you go to the Date with Destiny, you invest in these things, whatever, you actually upgrade your entire frequency and identity to be different. You naturally start moving differently and then you see that ripple effect in your life.

I mean, you said it best. It's a frequency shift and I don't know how to explain it yet, so maybe later we'll have words for it.

Well, I love this so much cuz I, you know, like I admire you. I think it's amazing what you've done. You're obviously incredibly smart, like so gifted. Like I wish I was as good with like numbers and math and all the things as, as you are.

No, no, no, no, no, no, stop it. Investing is not about math. We didn't even get into investing. Investing has nothing to do with math. It actually has a lot to do with psychology, and you're actually going to be better at it if you don't know math.

You're good. Yeah, well, that's a good tip. So for any of the young women who are listening who are like, I love this, but I feel a little bit guilty because maybe I haven't started to invest yet, or I'm not doing it at the level that I know that I could or should be, what is your like one piece of advice to them? Because I know this You know, it's more common with women than it is with men of like just being scared to, to get started.

Yeah. Not anymore though. I would say, first of all, a word of encouragement. A lot more women are getting into investing and they're crushing it. They're outperforming men and not because they're good at math or have numbers or have Excel sheets. We actually do it differently. And if you're feeling guilty that you didn't do it 20 years ago, well, the same thing that they say about trees, The best time to start investing was 20 years ago. The second best time is today. Don't delay it. There has never been better opportunities. And analyzing the markets have become way easier now with AI, something that used to take me like even when I was an expert, right? So right now, as an expert, as the Invest Diva, it takes me about 10 minutes with my— without AI. If I wanted to analyze with AI, it takes me 30 seconds. So all you need to learn is like putting the right prompts, creating a strategy that suits you. And guess what, what I love about investing, because the first thing that you need to do before getting into investing in external assets is understanding where you are financially. We call it capital analysis. And that gives you so much confidence because you're gonna know where you are, you're gonna know where you're going, just like any other, like with business, you want to know where you are, where you're going. Same with investing. And then once you know that, you're only going to invest in things that match these two. And because of that, you're not going to be listening to all the Finance Bros headlines and clickbaits because you know it's not for you. You already built your strategy. Now go do your business. That's why I can manage my portfolio like a 1 hour every 3 months because I don't listen to— like, the only reason I'm in the news is because Well, top of my funnel is stocks. Otherwise I wouldn't even listen to it. Every time I do listen to it, it actually hurts me. Like, oh, okay, this is just for my social media content. I'm not gonna apply to my—

you're like peeking, one eye open, and then immediately.

Yeah. And I'm like, okay, so two separate things. So it's not gonna take you time. You don't need to be a math whiz, and it is going to accelerate your freedom.

The jumps and everything that you've had and the way that you've compounded, obviously she knows something, ladies. So go grab her book. Also, Kiana, can you let people know what is like the best way to connect with you or start learning from you?

Yeah, so do grab the workbook. My publisher has told me to push them, but the best way— Instagram is now my main, and it's @investdiva, no dashes, no dots. The moment you follow me, you're probably going to get followed by a billion impersonators. None of them is me. My only social media has a verified check, and it's @investdiva, and that's it. So I mean, I'm also on YouTube and TikTok, but I think Instagram is the way that I'm actually in the DMs and seeing your conversations.

So yeah.

All right.

We will link it in the show notes for you guys. Go follow Kiana @investdiva. Thank you so much for coming on Makeshift Happen. Thank you so much for the book. I'm learning a lot. I'm also on my journey of, you know, generating, automating, um, and accelerating. So thank you so, so much. I've loved this conversation. If you enjoyed this, and you know someone in your life who also would love this conversation, please copy the link, send it to a friend, let them know you were thinking of them, that we want to get rich together. The girlies, we gotta stick together on this journey. All right, thank you guys so much for listening, and we'll talk to you next week.

Bye!

If you loved this episode, make sure to check out the show notes where I've linked a few similar episodes I know you're also going to love. You'll find them under the similar episodes section in the description down below with direct links so you can dive in and start listening right away. Or add them to your queue for later. Binge away for even more growth, expansion, abundance, and fire motivation.