Latest / The Life-First Solopreneur / 22. Finding Success As A Solo Digital Nomad With Brooke Tomasetti
Transcript
- Brooke Tomasetti (00:00): First, determine and design the lifestyle that you want, and then figure out how your business and your work can compliment that. Opening (00:10): Bigger doesn't always mean better. Welcome to the One-Person Business podcast where people who are flying solo in business come first. Specific tips and advice to find success as a company of one. Here are your hosts, Joe Rando and Carly Ries. Carly Ries (00:28): Welcome to the One-Person Business podcast. I'm one of your hosts, Carly Ries. Joe Rando (00:33): And I'm Joe Rando, Carly Ries (00:35): And I am so excited for today as we are interviewing Brooke Tomasetti, personal finance consultant and CEO at Money Life Mentor. And while we would love to have her on at another time to discuss her business and how it helps solopreneurs, we wanted to have her on today to talk about her journey of being a solopreneur herself because her lifestyle and the way she approaches her business are just plain awesome. Brooke has always been the go-to person her friends and family ask when they have a personal finance question. She saw firsthand how building an investment portfolio in smart money management changed her own life. And over time, personal finance coaching found her as she realized that one-off advice can't change lives, but focus, mentorship and a customized money plan do. She's obsessed with how personal finance can enable people to pursue their craziest dreams. So she started a Money Life Mentor to help other freedom chasers like herself use money as a tool for creating their dream lives by getting organized with their money and making the most of their income every month. Brooke also practices what she preaches and has been traveling around the world while working remotely for over six years. Her focus is on being a location independent career that she never wants to retire from. Brooke, did I miss anything? Brooke Tomasetti (01:58): Hi. Thank you both so much for having me in for that great introduction. Carly Ries (02:04): So, I was just saying you traveled the world. Where are you? Brooke Tomasetti (02:08): Yes, I'm currently in Southern Germany. Carly Ries (02:12): I cannot wait to share your Instagram handle at the end of this because it is so fun following you and all of your adventures and how you mix your work life and your personal life. So we'll get to that at the end of the show. But to start, I just wanna know, so far so good on your path to success in creating a career you never want to retire from. So what is your why for staying small? Why not escalate Brooke Tomasetti (02:35): Absolutely. So I wanted to be a one person business very intentionally because primarily of how flexible it is. And I'm sure that people can infer this from my story, which involves a lot of travel and location independence. But freedom and independence are certainly my core values. So as you can imagine, having 100% say over what I'm working on, what programs I'm creating, when I work, et cetera, is incredible and extremely important to me. And of course, apart from the fact that for now at least, I'm enjoying not having to accommodate my work schedule or business decisions based on anyone other than myself. My business is very much an extension of myself and my personal brand. Something I always say is, personal finance is personal. I do think that my clients appreciate that the person who is sharing their thoughts on my Instagram, my business Instagram is me. I'm the one who does all of the discovery calls and I'm the only coach that they work with on their finances. I think there's something special about that. Carly Ries (03:59): It makes so much sense just to have a personal relationship for something like you said so, personal. I'm curious. In our house, my husband has become very obsessed with the FI movement, just like learning about the financial independence. I don't know if you're aware of that, but you probably are. He just thinks it's really fascinating and I feel like it's starting to catch on and maybe a lot of people might be getting into it. So it might just be more of a crowded market than it used to be for the type of position you're feeling. So how do you distinguish yourself from other people in the industry that are doing what you're doing? Brooke Tomasetti (04:32): I have noticed just in my travels and going to some finance related conferences, I've been meeting more people who are focused on helping others with financial freedom. I think there's probably a shortage of coaches who are focused on money. I think it's really great there's so many people, but that's a really good question. I guess I'll start by sharing how I narrowed down my audience. That was kind of the first thing that I thought about. Who do I want to work with? In summary, the reason for my business is I help driven young professionals keep more of their hard-earned money without them having to sacrifice living their best, most fulfilling lives. So with that as kind of my main goal for what I'm helping my clients with, most of my clients are between 25 and 38 years. (05:33): And for most of them, it's the first time that they've been able to sit down and have an open judgment, free conversation about their finances, especially with someone who understands them and that I'm also a millennial. A lot of my clients are women who haven't felt like they ever aligned with other financial professionals that they might have met in the past, whether that's on the insurance side, CFPs, things like that. Because a lot of financial professionals are men. As my friend opened up to me, she said, I don't want to talk about my personal finances and life goals with some old man. I want to talk to you. Carly Ries (06:19): Yeah. You want to relate. Brooke Tomasetti (06:21): Exactly. I think it is interesting that that's now kind of something that sets me apart because I used to think that the fact that I look and sound young and am female would be a weakness, but I've actually found it to help to set me apart. Carly Ries (06:40): I mean why not? And you're so right I just think even stereotypically it's a male filled industry, so it's awesome that you caught on on pretty early on in your career. Joe Rando (06:53): I love that too. I just love that you used what might have been considered a weakness or a challenge in a particular industry to differentiate yourself and make it work for you. That's fantastic. Carly Ries (07:06): My next question, you were saying that you used to go to industry conferences, but obviously it's been a weird few years to meet people at industry conferences and meeting in person. I know you travel the world and you probably meet tons of people that way, but how do you go about getting clients? Brooke Tomasetti (07:21): Yes. So in short, the bulk of my clients actually come from my network or people who I meet along my travels. And I can give you one example. In February and March of last year, I spent about six weeks at a digital nomad community, which was very interesting. Essentially during Covid, a lot of the resorts were shut down. Tourists weren't able to travel into Belize. So once the country was opening up, the resort partnered with like a few digital nomads who were putting together this community, and I ended up taking the chance and going there. When I'm there, I love sharing skills. I love environments where it's a lot about teaching each other about our specialties and helping with each other's businesses and careers. I was able to speak to the community there about personal finance, of course, and designing your dream life. (08:30): Now I work with a few people who I met in Belize, which I think is just so cool. Really it reminded me of the value of in-person. It's so easy for us to forget that from the last few years. So I feel really lucky that I have been able to do some in person things these last couple of years. It's really strengthened my network. So that's where most of my clients come from. I do get some clients from Instagram. That's really how I started my business, speaking about these topics on social media. So I do have some clients who found me through there, which is pretty awesome. Sponsor (09:12): And now a quick word from our sponsor, you may be going solo in business, but that doesn't mean you're alone. In fact, millions of people are in your shoes running a one-person business and figuring it out as they go. So why not connect with them and learn from each other's successes and failures? Lifestarr has created a one-person business community where you can go to meet and get advice from other solopreneurs. Be sure to join in on the conversations at community.lifestarr.com Carly Ries (09:43): Your Belize trip sounds amazing. I'm glad you brought that up because the question I have for you is, since you travel so much and you work independently, I feel like that could sometimes feel pretty isolating. It sounds like you were able to find a different group to meet up with, but do your travels and working alone ever get isolating? And if so, how do you combat that? Brooke Tomasetti (10:03): Yes, absolutely. I think we have to be really intentional. I know I do anyways to make the effort to combat feelings of isolation and loneliness. Especially as a solopreneur and freelancers too. I make sure that at least a couple times a year, I am either going to something like a "co-living, co-working environment"', or I'm able to attend certain conferences. Even though I find I'm more on the introvert side. Introverts get lonely too, right? So one thing that has really helped me is my good friend, she also runs her own business. Every Monday we spend one hour, virtually, of course, she actually lives in Lisbon. We meet up for that one hour over Zoom. We set our business intentions for the week, and we do a little bit of mind sharing. We'll each pick something that we want feedback on. I found that to be incredibly helpful having that consistency. Carly Ries (11:19): So I have to ask you, how do you stay disciplined to do that? I guess maybe having an accountability partner would help, but I feel like that's such an easy thing to be like, "oh, I have too much to do. I'm just gonna push it aside. I don't need to do that today." I'm just curious how you stay so disciplined to kind of do the mind work behind your business. Brooke Tomasetti (11:39): Yeah, it's hard sometimes because there will always be a reason to push those kinds of things off. I guess when I'm working on my business on my own, it's something that I've started to do since I solely focused on my business is Monday, and I borrowed this from my friend, but Monday is my CEO day. That's the day that I try to block out three hours in the morning where I'm reviewing my goals and my KPIs from the week before just to check in and see how am I doing. I set three most important tasks that I absolutely need to get done this week. So I ask myself the question of "if I get nothing else done, what would constitute a good week?" (12:33): If I only got done these three things? So that's been extremely helpful, just blocking out that time. I also use that time to journal and reflect. It sounds very much in contrast with the analytical KPI side of the business, but it's really important when I have to pull myself out of my business to see, okay, what makes sense to launch next? Or am I working with the people I want to be working with? What is the next stage of growth? So that's been really helpful, just having that accountability and then also on my own blocking out time to be intentional. Joe Rando (13:14): Sounds like a left brain, right brain thing. Brooke Tomasetti (13:16): Oh, yes. Carly Ries (13:17): Brooke. I feel like I'm an Instagram groupie of yours or something. The cool thing that Brooke does is she also documents all of this. So when she says she goes through the processes, she shares this on her Instagram account. So it's very inspiring too. I'd imagine that gets a lot of people motivated to do it on their own as well. And what I've found in following you is, you seem to have your processes down. Like you were just saying, you time block, you journal, you put your intentions out there, all of that, but it must have been a process in itself to get there. What is one thing you wish you would've known before going into entrepreneurship that you didn't, that you'd want to share with people? Brooke Tomasetti (14:08): Like you mentioned, Carly, I am so much a process oriented person. I'm really good at staying disciplined and figuring out what habits and processes work for me and my business. So that's never been as much of a hurdle, but more so on the mental and confidence side of things. I wish that I had believed 100% in my core that I could be successful launching and running my own business. I try to ask myself from time to time, if you knew you couldn't fail, what would you do? My answer, probably two years before I started my business was, oh, I would quit my job and start a business. I would've done it so much sooner had I just had the confidence that I'd be able to work it out. Carly Ries (15:08): Well, you have worked it out. So I have to ask, what are your favorite and least favorite things about being a company of one? Brooke Tomasetti (15:17): I would say my favorite thing is making my own rules. Breaking society's rules and expectations of what running your own business is supposed to look like has been really challenging, but also probably my favorite part about having my own business. For example, the hustle culture just never felt really aligned with me. I always make sure that I work fun into my week. I block out times to go explore, depending on where I am. Get outside, go paddle boarding, go for a hike. (15:56): Carly Ries (15:56): You go for a walk every day, right? That's part of your routine? (16:01): Yes. Even something as simple as that. In cold, rainy Germany right now, getting outside is important and that's a rule that I set for myself to make my business fun Carly Ries (16:20): Absolutely. So what's your least favorite thing? Brooke Tomasetti (16:23): My least favorite thing is sometimes I feel guilty. Asking even my really business oriented friends who we share things with, I feel guilty taking up their time sometimes asking for feedback on things I'm putting together for my business. It's hard not having a partner in my business who I say, "Hey, what do you guys think about this?" It used to be so easy. It's easy when you're at a company to get feedback, but you don't really get that feedback loop when you're on your own as much. You really have to orchestrate it. Carly Ries (17:01): Absolutely. Just going back again, I feel like I'm fangirling or something just over your Instagram account. We'll see when this plays back if I sound like a stalker or not but we were talking about the walks and everything in the way. I knew that because you do share your personal life on your Instagram account as well as your business life. How do you separate your work life and your personal life and mix that fun in, but keeping the two things separate or do you? Brooke Tomasetti (17:30): It's a great question. I think anyone who is looking from the outside in, and especially on Instagram, my life and my work are definitely very closely integrated, sort of by design though. The tip that I would give is first determine and design the lifestyle that you want and then figure out how your business and your work can compliment that. So many of us do it the other way around where we pick a career or we pick a business and it starts to kind of grow and balloon and takes over things. I think that's much less effective versus being "okay, here's what my ideal day looks like for me as a business owner". Actually write that out. Write out how you wake up, what you're doing, what you're working on when, who you're interfacing with, and figure out what that looks like and then figure out how your business can help design that. Carly Ries (18:41): This kind of goes back to the discipline and just talking about your processes and everything just now. I used to travel around the country in an RV full-time just exploring the United States. People would always ask "don't you get distracted by going to different places and exploring new things? How do you actually get work done when you're in Moab and you can just go do awesome climbing or whatever?" And you're taking it to a whole new level doing international travel. You talked about an accountability partner, you talked about your processes, but what is one tip you would give people to just stay focused when you have to get stuff done? Brooke Tomasetti (19:20): I get asked that as well all of the time. When I am in Mexico or Belize or somewhere where people perceive there being a lot of temptations, instead of doing work, which you know, is certainly the reality. I do think for me, because I always am long-term traveling, I'm staying somewhere for usually at least a month, so I can be a lot more intentional about, okay, I'm gonna explore on Saturdays and Sundays. Then Mondays through Fridays are all about work. But very specifically I would say multitasking is a productivity killer. So for me, I do not multitask. I try as hard as I can to not. I set timers when I'm working on a task and I work on that one thing for however long I determine I need. otherwise, with it just being me working on my business, I could probably work on that task for hours if I'm not careful. So multitasking and blocking out the time is so important. Carly Ries (20:35): Absolutely. Have you heard of the Pomodoro technique? Brooke Tomasetti (20:38): Oh yes. Carly Ries (20:39): I've relied on that quite a bit, the timer and everything. So the other question that I used to get asked while I was on the road is not so much income but schedule uncertainty. How did I embrace that? Because things come up when you're traveling, flight delays or whatever. How do you embrace the uncertainty of your schedule? Also when it comes to income, ups and downs being a one-person business? Brooke Tomasetti (21:06): That's a really great question. I'll start with the income side because I'm very much a finance marine, but in general the way that I plan my finances with my business is I essentially do my expenses and budgeting and financial planning based on the minimum, the average amount that I expect to make. I try to keep it really conservative. I do kind of consulting work. So some months are higher, other months are lower. I try to base my budget and my expected monthly spend for my business, then also the amount that I'm paying myself out of my business. I try to base that on a conservative lower number from my average income. That's been really helpful. Also having a much larger emergency fund padding in a separate savings account. (22:10): I keep that in my personal account. I essentially built that up really before I started my business. It's so nice to have. Even if I didn't have it, what I would do is probably set aside a portion of my monthly income so that I could build that emergency fund back up so I have three to six months of living expenses set aside just in case I had some much lower income earning months. There's a lot of potential for uncertainty and things like that when we have our own businesses. So those are two things on the income side that are really helpful to embrace for me. Then on the scheduling side, there are a lot of habits that help me maintain a schedule that works for me. I think it really goes back to being intentional about how I want my day and my week to look. I will say it's different. I'm sure you know this, but from your experience when you're on the road, depending on what location you're in, that's going to change. When I'm staying at the beach, oftentimes I like to get up early so I can go paddle boarding before it gets too hot in the afternoon, which is when I really want to be working in the ac. I try to shift that depending on where I am location based. Joe Rando (23:31): Going back to the slush fund of expenses, I'm curious, I imagine you advise your clients to do the same, to put that money aside as they go forward just because everybody should. Do you have any thoughts as to, do most of your clients successfully do that? Is that a big battle for a lot of people? Or how do you find that is received by your clients? Brooke Tomasetti (23:57): So I find that it has to be explained in the right way because emergency fund sounds so unsexy and do I really have to set this money aside? I started renaming it. It's funny you say this because I started renaming it to Freedom Fund. a rebrand. Because the reason why we're setting aside this emergency chunk of money in a separate savings account is to give you flexibility. Let's say for whatever reason you wanted to launch this new program in your business and you had to stop spending time on some of your bread and butter products, you might have a lower income month. But you want to have that freedom and flexibility to take those risks and try new things. So it's really more about freedom than it is having some money just in case. Which of course, if something happens and you need to tap into that money, you can, but it's so much more than "oh no, my laptop broke and I have to buy a new one".. Joe Rando (25:11): Very good, that's a great way to rebrand it because it is freedom. It's freedom from fear, it's freedom to do things that you might want to do. Carly Ries (25:21): Brooke. You should copyright that! Joe Rando (25:24): Check out the trademark episode that we had recently. Carly Ries (25:27): Yeah, exactly. So one of the reasons I like asking about the uncertainty with income and all of that is because we hear that that's a big mistake a lot of one -person business owners make. They don't set aside enough or they don't have enough put away when they initially dive in. But being a personal finance coach, you would have that figured out and you have figured that out. So I have to ask, what was your biggest mistake as a solopreneur? Brooke Tomasetti (25:55): I think for me it was feeling like I needed to get permission from some outside organization or a person in order to be a legitimate business. It definitely slowed me down in the beginning because. I had these fears of "oh, no one's going to want to work with me if I don't have some fancy certification or something like that." Thankfully I never ended up taking any kind of certification, but in the past I did always find that I was asking for permission and I wish I hadn't because it really slowed me down. Carly Ries (26:36): So on the flip side, cause I want in on a positive, what was your biggest "aha, I've got this" moment where you're like, "Yes, I'm doing what I want to be doing. This is working out." Brooke Tomasetti (26:53): The feeling of getting my first client who wanted to work with me month over month on a consistent basis, seeing that first payment hit in my Stripe account was the best feeling ever. There's really no replacement for that. When I started out I was doing mostly one-off 90 minute consults, which was great, but I felt like we couldn't get deep enough to really solve their problems and fix their habits. I was like, you know what? I'm gonna do month over month coaching because this is what my clients need. And then also from a business perspective, it's going back to the income discussion we were having. It's so much easier to predict your finances. So definitely getting that first client who wanted to work with me in that consistent basis was the coolest feeling ever. Carly Ries (27:48): I want to circle back because it sounds like you have quite the network of friends and you've surrounded yourself with very business minded professional friends. Have you learned any advice from them that you'd want to share? Brooke Tomasetti (28:08): Absolutely. This is from my friend Taylor Lane. She's also a digital nomad. She actually lives in Guatemala, but that's another story. One time she told me that feeling good is your only job. Meaning that when we prioritize feeling good in our lives and in our business, we're able to do the rewarding and fulfilling and sometimes challenging things that lead to growth. So I always remind myself feeling good is my only job and I use that as my mantra sometimes. If I wake up and feel off or maybe under the weather, I'll extend my morning out if I can. I'll take a bath, write in my journal, make some breakfast. This also prevents me from ever feeling burnt out in my business. I always say feeling good is my only job, and it's so true because I am way more productive. I'm better at serving my clients. All of the things just seem to work out so much better when I'm feeling good. Carly Ries (29:15): Feel like that could be printed out and put on a wall or something or a bumper sticker. Brooke Tomasetti (29:19): Yes. Carly Ries (29:20): Circling back again to your whole being process-oriented, what tools do you use to document or just to run your business, whether it's documenting processes or just running a one-person show. Brooke Tomasetti (29:33): I would say that Google Drive and using Google Docs and Google folders as my clients know, is kind of my Bible. I set all of my clients up with their own folder and it just makes it so easy for sharing. It's so basic, but makes things so easy. My tool stack is really simple right now. In addition to building out templates and things like that in Google Drive and making it super easy to share with my clients, my website is on Squarespace, my clients and my prospects book me through Acuity and then my payments are through Stripe. So it's a very simple system and it works for me. Carly Ries (30:19): Sometimes simple is the best way to go. Why make it complex if you don't need to? Do you have any resources that you would recommend for our audience that could help them on their solo journey? Brooke Tomasetti (30:33): I'll give one really specific resource. It's a book called Profit First by Michael Malowitz. I feel like I have to share that because it's a finance resource specifically for small business owners. I'm not gonna go too deep into it, but I definitely wanted to share that. And then, not a specific resource, but use your network. Everything you need to learn, chances are you already know someone who's an expert at it, Carly Ries (31:05): Which I'm so glad you say that because, while Profit First is great and we've actually had another guest recommend Profit First, I feel like people don't often think of their network as a resource. They think of it as a separate entity, but that's what it is. I'm glad that you mentioned that. Brooke we're actually entering the final three questions, which is kind of the fun lightning round because I feel like as a solopreneur, sometimes you just need a little boost if you're having a rough day or even if you're having a good day, it's nice to end the day with some of these. So, what is your favorite movie that always puts you in a good mood? Brooke Tomasetti (31:44): Okay, I am admittedly not a big movie person, probably because I get too into them and then when I do watch movies I usually cry. So I only watch real good movies and I don't know if I've ever watched the same movie twice, but I can tell you my favorite show is New Girl. Carly Ries (32:01): Okay. Oh that is such a feel good show. I'm glad you brought that up. Now I want to go watch it after this. What is your favorite song to pump you up? Brooke Tomasetti (32:12): Anything Eighties music really puts me in a good mood and pumps me up. So think in the range of Don't Stop Me Now by Queen. Carly Ries (32:22): Ooh, I like that. Joe Rando (32:23): Love it. Now have you, have you watched that show? Cobra Kai? Brooke Tomasetti (32:27): I have not. Joe Rando (32:29): It's loaded with eighties music. The original movie was made in the eighties or the original three movies and so yeah, it's all eighties music. It's pretty funny. Carly Ries (32:40): Brooke, correct me if I'm wrong, but you weren't even alive in the eighties, right? Brooke Tomasetti (32:46): Yes, that is very correct. Carly Ries (32:48): Yeah, I was barely born in the eighties, so it's funny because I get very drawn to that music too, even though we couldn't really live through that decade. Joe Rando (32:56): Yeah, I listen to classical music sometimes and I wasn't born in the 1700s. Carly Ries (33:00): That's true. Lastly, Brooke, how do you define success? Brooke Tomasetti (33:11): I define success as living a happy life. And by happy, I don't just mean joyful, but fulfilled. If I'm doing impactful work that I love and creating connections and spending my time doing what I want to do, to me that's success. Carly Ries (33:32): Love it. Well, Brooke, if it wasn't apparent throughout this episode, I just think you're awesome. I think what you're doing is great, both personally and professionally. We just loved having you on the show. If people want to learn more and want to follow on Instagram or anywhere else, where can they find you? Brooke Tomasetti (33:48): Thank you guys so much for having me. My Instagram, if people want to check that out, is Money Life Mentor and my website is moneylifementor.com. Carly Ries (34:01): Easy enough. Well, thank you so much again for coming on the show and audience. If you want to listen to this episode or others, be sure to listen. Be sure to visit Lifestarr.com/podcast or you can listen to this one, other episodes and you can absolutely subscribe. See you next time. Sponsor (34:19): You may be going solo in business, but that doesn't mean you're alone. In fact, millions of people are in your shoes running a one-person business and figuring it out as they go. So why not connect with them and learn from each other's successes and failures? LifeStarr has created a one-person business community where you can go to meet and get advice from other solopreneurs. Be sure to join in on the conversations at community.lifestarr.com.