Latest / Real Money with Lisa Chastain / How Women in Small Towns Are Breaking Free From Traditional Roles | REAL MONEY
Transcript
- 0:00No one talking about the intersection between personal
- 0:02growth and development and women in small towns and rural
- 0:04communities. I think a lot of women in small
- 0:07towns buy into this idea of if you want to do something more
- 0:11important like go to the city. And then I'm like, well, I don't
- 0:13want that. But like I cannot go through the
- 0:15rest of my life just going through the motions.
- 0:17The number of times I've had the conversation with women, they're
- 0:20like, I just, I'm afraid I'm going to outgrow my husband.
- 0:22They're becoming more self aware, more aligned, more filled
- 0:25with purpose and who they're meant to be.
- 0:28And their partners are simply not interested.
- 0:31If I want to continue doing life with this person, that comes
- 0:34with a willingness to sit into discomfort.
- 0:36As we are going through massive identity evolutions.
- 0:41Like there has to be the willingness to be uncomfortable.
- 0:43Hey, I'm Lisa and this is real money.
- 0:46Forget the spreadsheets for a minute.
- 0:48Money is emotional 1st and that's where real change begins.
- 0:51Today we're talking about money, community, and the courage to
- 0:55lead differently. My guest Emily is a Community
- 0:58builder podcast host and she runs this amazing community
- 1:02called The Coven. She is teaching women how to
- 1:05lead with authenticity, how to rise together.
- 1:08And today we're talking about how Emily rose from small town
- 1:11roots. She lives in a town of 43 to
- 1:13today building a huge platform that gives women permission to
- 1:16be themselves and lead with love.
- 1:18And it all has to do with money. Let's get started.
- 1:21Emily, welcome to the show. The reason that I brought you
- 1:28onto the show is that you're doing some really progressive,
- 1:32amazing, disruptive work for women in the Midwest.
- 1:36I was on your podcast, Gosh, over a year ago.
- 1:40I know I was thinking about that like kind of a long time ago.
- 1:43And I have a total girl crush on you and I love what you're doing
- 1:48and I love your podcast and I love you.
- 1:50So please check out Emily on Instagram.
- 1:52We'll give you everything's in the show notes.
- 1:55And what I really want to talk about is my experience of women
- 1:57in the Midwest and the work that you're doing to disrupt
- 2:00conversations and art working for women in the Midwest.
- 2:04I love this, This is going to be good.
- 2:05Yeah, and there's the whole, and this isn't just women in this
- 2:08isn't just women in the Midwest, but like there's this whole trad
- 2:11movement, trad wife movement, people wanting to go back to the
- 2:14way things were for women politically.
- 2:17There's a lot of conversations about what women's roles are.
- 2:21Should they be in the military? Should they be stay at home
- 2:23moms? And you're blowing this
- 2:26conversation wide open. What do you think about all
- 2:28this? I think you bring up so many
- 2:31interesting points in so many of these conversations.
- 2:34I feel like it's really easy for us to get hyper fixated on the
- 2:38one topic at hand. And I think especially the past,
- 2:41gosh, 18 months or so, not only with what's been going on within
- 2:46me, but also in response to what is happening in our country and
- 2:50externally in the world, I have been starting to see like, oh,
- 2:56this is all so deeply interconnected and so much more
- 3:00than the conversation that's right in front of us.
- 3:02Like I just kept seeing the same through line with my clients of,
- 3:07you know, this like total disconnection from self, this
- 3:10perceived lack of confidence that actually comes from the
- 3:14fact that they don't know love and trust themselves, right?
- 3:16And so it was like, what has contributed to all of these
- 3:20brilliant, passionate, beautiful, smart, kind, caring
- 3:24women, like having this like crisis of I've checked all the
- 3:29boxes, I've done all the things and like, why am I so miserable?
- 3:32But why am I so stuck trying to do what I want to do?
- 3:35And so it's peeled back all of these very systemic layers in
- 3:39religion, in politics, in the way that we were raised.
- 3:43And then even going back generations and generations
- 3:45further, like, Oh my God, man, we could really go on so many
- 3:49different rabbit holes of, you know, patriarchal conditioning,
- 3:52like the onset of colonization, like the onset of the church as
- 3:56an institution, as a means of power, and the way that that has
- 3:59been manipulated over time. And like what we see right in
- 4:02front of us isn't even rooted in the reality of what actually
- 4:05happened, right? And so it's been this really
- 4:09messy, complicated unraveling. And I think especially 2020 till
- 4:15now, but especially especially the last year has kind of been
- 4:19this explosive awakening. It really has for women,
- 4:22especially being like all of these things that we were told
- 4:26is the truth or is what we need to be doing or is the path
- 4:30forward. Like none of this is working
- 4:33anymore. And to your point, like I've
- 4:35been seeing for years, these little like pockets of
- 4:37awakening, like questioning the school system, questioning the
- 4:39food system, questioning hustle culture, this, that and the
- 4:42other. And now I feel like more and
- 4:45more women, at least the ones that I'm connected to, are
- 4:47starting to be like, OK, but this is like, everything.
- 4:50And what does this mean? And where do we go from here?
- 4:52What does this mean and where do we go from here?
- 4:54Emily, that's a great question. Where do we?
- 4:56What does it mean? Well, that's how long do we
- 5:00have. We have the time that we need
- 5:02for the woman who is wanting to have a healthy relationship with
- 5:05money. That's why she's in my world.
- 5:08But also in the sense of disruption.
- 5:09We're we're redefining real time what it means to be a woman on
- 5:13the planet today. And women with money, which is
- 5:17where you and I connected, was like, holy shit, this is a lot
- 5:20to take in. And this is the work that we
- 5:23have to do right now as women. We have to step up into the
- 5:26leadership role of our lives. We have to be having more
- 5:29conscious conversations, aware of our generational patterns.
- 5:33Yes. And owning our choice, not just
- 5:37by default, that this is who we have to be as women.
- 5:40Yeah. And this is where this whole
- 5:41other layer to your point comes in, you know, specifically
- 5:44talking about the Midwest or primarily the the women I work
- 5:47with are in small towns, rural communities, you know, and so
- 5:50there's this extra perceived or real layer of expectations.
- 5:55And that's ultimately what. What are the?
- 5:56Expectations. This is ultimately what it comes
- 5:59down to. Expectations around, like you
- 6:01said, who a woman should be, how she should show up, how she
- 6:04should work, how she should be in the home, like how to be a
- 6:08good mom, a Good Wife, a good employee.
- 6:11And there isn't just one, right? Yeah, So many of the women in my
- 6:16world are unconsciously and consciously living into this
- 6:20laundry list of expectations that they have been handed over
- 6:23the course of a lifetime. And then we have these, like,
- 6:26little tiny computers, dopamine machines, which is such a
- 6:29blessing, right? I've gotten to meet you and so
- 6:31many incredible people in my life through it.
- 6:33But we have this, like, ever present measuring stick that
- 6:36tells us that we're not enough or that we should be doing it
- 6:40differently or that we're doing it wrong.
- 6:42And So what I have found is like the most common in how we help
- 6:47women regain their power. And I think that this is in, in
- 6:50money in life and autonomy, in purpose.
- 6:52Is that reconnection with self, Right.
- 6:55If every woman genuinely knew, love and trusted herself, we'd
- 7:01be having a totally different conversation.
- 7:04But we've been living into all of these other layers of
- 7:07conditioning and expectations that have severed that self
- 7:12trust, totally disconnected it. So of course we are at the whim
- 7:17of all of these external factors telling us how to define our
- 7:22lives and what we should be doing.
- 7:24If we trusted ourselves, if we trust ourselves because I've had
- 7:27this conversation in small rural communities with women, that
- 7:30would mean that we would also have to make changes in our
- 7:34lives that we may or may not want to make.
- 7:39I had a woman tell me specifically, Lisa, if I if I
- 7:43make more money than my husband, I'm afraid he's going to leave
- 7:47me. What are you hearing on the back
- 7:49of the other side of that conversation?
- 7:50If we trusted ourselves, if I trusted myself, holy, I would
- 7:55Blank. Yeah.
- 7:56Well, I think this goes back to the roles that we feel like we
- 7:58need to play. And you know, on this
- 8:00conversation of even looking at like a hetero marriage dynamic,
- 8:05right? Like it is in so many ways.
- 8:09And again, this is my perceived experience from my point of
- 8:13view, from my life and from the women I work with.
- 8:15I am not an expert in this by any means.
- 8:16So if someone's listening and they're like, no, no, no, you're
- 8:19wrong, please, by all means, send me your information.
- 8:21I am a student of life. You are you're an expert because
- 8:24you're an expert in your own life.
- 8:26OK, there we go. But so many women of I would say
- 8:29our generation or around us have been empowered to have it all to
- 8:34lead to like step into doing all of these things.
- 8:37We've cultivated inner self-awareness.
- 8:39We have a growth mindset, right? And I don't feel like men have
- 8:44been conditioned to do the same. So there was someone who was on
- 8:48my podcast a while ago who was talking about how so many women
- 8:53are living in like a very masculine space, almost like a
- 8:58wounded masculine space. And how many men are actually
- 9:00living in a very wounded feminine space.
- 9:02Like they have not been empowered to have the autonomy
- 9:06over their lives and they are equally as reactive.
- 9:08So when a woman is stepping into her power, potentially earning
- 9:11more, trusting herself, like bending the rules and
- 9:15expectations of the community, the church, the political
- 9:18narrative, the generational things that have been passed
- 9:22down like that feels very threatening because they haven't
- 9:25necessarily been taught or empowered to step into the
- 9:28fullness of their, you know, divine masculinity or really
- 9:31even their power in themselves, right?
- 9:34We have all these, like, false narratives of what it means to
- 9:36be a man that isn't really rooted in their, you know,
- 9:41mental and emotional health either.
- 9:42It's totally disruptive. It's totally changing things,
- 9:45yeah. So I think this is another
- 9:47example of how we're seeing this like bubble popping of this
- 9:53like, again, deep severance from self, this deep emotional
- 9:57immaturity and not knowing what to do about it.
- 10:01And so like the number of times I've had the conversation with
- 10:04women, they're like, I just, I'm afraid I'm going to outgrow my
- 10:06husband, right? Whether or not this is related
- 10:08to money, when they're on a personal growth journey or
- 10:10they're focusing on their health or, you know, they're diving
- 10:12into their spirituality or whatever, there's this like
- 10:15they're moving onward and upward.
- 10:17They're becoming more self aware, more aligned, more filled
- 10:20with purpose and you know who they're meant to be.
- 10:23And their partners are simply not interested, of course, like
- 10:29they're going to grow apart. And most women that I talked to
- 10:32are not asking their partners to necessarily grow in the same
- 10:35way. Like you don't have to agree
- 10:36with me. You don't have to be on this,
- 10:37but like you got to be on your own path.
- 10:39And my husband and I have been very open about what this looked
- 10:41like in our relationship. When I kind of started my
- 10:44personal growth and health journey, it was kind of like a
- 10:46whoa, what is happening here? My wife is becoming different
- 10:51than, you know, who we were when we agreed in this like marriage
- 10:54situation. And it took a few years of him
- 10:58also sitting in the very real fear of, my gosh, what if she
- 11:01outgrows me? What if she leaves me?
- 11:03What if we're not compatible anymore?
- 11:05Before he had to rise the occasion and be like, well,
- 11:07that's a choice. Like, OK, how do I do this too?
- 11:11And like, I can't do it for him, right?
- 11:12I can't make him go to therapy. I can't make him read the book.
- 11:15I can't make him listen to the podcast.
- 11:16Like it had to be his self ownership to be like, if I want
- 11:20to continue doing life with this person, like I need to step the
- 11:23fuck up and figure out the ways that I need to grow and pursue
- 11:27my own journey. That's right.
- 11:29But that comes with a willingness to sit in the
- 11:31discomfort. And this is true for men and
- 11:32women, right? As we are pursuing growth of any
- 11:35kind, as we're pursuing change, as we're taking in new ideas, as
- 11:38we are going through massive identity evolutions, like there
- 11:43has to be the willingness to be uncomfortable.
- 11:46And I know that you speak on that too, with especially
- 11:48conversations around money. There is no other transfer of
- 11:51energy that has so much emotional weight behind it.
- 11:53Or no, something you speak on too is like, you have to get
- 11:57uncomfortable. You have to be willing to sit in
- 12:00that messy middle, to be able to look in the mirror, to be able
- 12:04to face and befriend your shadows in order to actually get
- 12:08from where you are to where you wanna be.
- 12:10And the truth is, like, that is a very intentional choice
- 12:13because it's not fun. It's very messy, and it doesn't
- 12:16happen quickly. We live in a world that just
- 12:19wants, like, the easy button. Like, I'm gonna listen to this
- 12:22podcast and I'm immediately gonna know what to do and I'm
- 12:24gonna apply it. My life is gonna be perfect
- 12:25forever. Like periods of evolution,
- 12:28especially when it's related to our identity and rearranging our
- 12:33worldview and belief system. Whether it's around money, you
- 12:37know, the way that we parent, our marriage, our self, mental
- 12:41health, like whatever. Like, it comes with this like
- 12:44shadow period this wintering, this like going inward and
- 12:48taking it all apart and putting it back together before we see
- 12:52the fruits of our labor. And that's where, you know, this
- 12:56understanding of seasonality has been also really important for
- 13:00me. Do you want me to dive into that
- 13:01or is there something another direction you want to go?
- 13:03There's there's a lot that we can cover.
- 13:05The point of all of this is that Emily's amazing and she you're
- 13:08having these conversations on the daily.
- 13:14But I do want to slow it down because for a woman who is who's
- 13:18listening and she's like, just tell me what to do because what
- 13:22I'm doing isn't working anymore. What I'm what I'm seeing real
- 13:25time on the political landscape. America is in crisis right now.
- 13:29We have a mental health crisis. All the things that you were
- 13:31just speaking into is that there is an unfolding and undoing of
- 13:37things. And you have to lean in.
- 13:41Yeah. And realize that this isn't the
- 13:43end. This is the beginning, not just
- 13:45for women, but for men, because those conventional ways of being
- 13:50are being challenged and ripped apart.
- 13:52And we're seeing toxic masculinity raise its head right
- 13:56now because it's like, what? We've had all of this
- 13:59unawareness and have and. And now you're telling me that
- 14:03I'm wrong. Yeah, And we're saying no, dude,
- 14:07there's just another way. And we're tired of the way it's
- 14:10been. And So what do you do?
- 14:13You lean in. And then the second thing that
- 14:16you do is you join a community of women where you have the
- 14:20support and the sisterhood to take the time that you need to
- 14:24figure things out. So don't just jump off the
- 14:26diving board. Yes, Yeah.
- 14:28But join the conversation. This is an invitation for you to
- 14:31join the conversation and speak the fuck up.
- 14:34Speak up, speak into your pain, speak into your discomfort,
- 14:39speak into your like your weariness, speak into your
- 14:42questions, your rage, your rage, your rage.
- 14:46I was literally thinking this, I have eczema on my foot right
- 14:49now. TMI, whatever.
- 14:50I have eczema on my foot and being an NLP practitioner, I'm
- 14:53like, what is this about? It's on my left foot.
- 14:56And this morning it came to me like boom, right out of the
- 14:58shower. It's rage.
- 15:00It's on communicated rage and sadness and worry and knowing
- 15:05that you and I, we have the microphone, we have the power,
- 15:08we have the voice, we use our voice.
- 15:10We want women to join us in this conversation.
- 15:13Yeah, it's so true. You know, for years we have been
- 15:17taught that women are our competition.
- 15:21You know, I don't know about you, but I feel like I was
- 15:23raised in, like, the height of mean girl culture.
- 15:25Totally. Literally, we have every teen
- 15:27movie about it, right? Like, she is out to get you.
- 15:31Like, she's here to ruin your life.
- 15:32Like, let's fight over this, like crusty boy, Right?
- 15:35And that is intentional because when women come together, magic
- 15:40happens. And I'm not being dramatic when
- 15:41I say that I have led, LED enough women's circles,
- 15:46retreats, masterminds conversations where when we
- 15:49enter into a space with the intention of safety and being
- 15:53seen, heard and understood, like walls come down so quickly.
- 15:58One of the most powerful words in our language is me too.
- 16:01And realizing like the things that we are deeply wrestling
- 16:05with, We're not alone in that. Like we were meant to do life
- 16:08together. If you think about like the
- 16:09earliest of peoples, women have always been side by side,
- 16:13raising our kids, having conversations like asking
- 16:16questions and just being together.
- 16:19And here we sit in these little concrete boxes, staring at
- 16:22various sized screens, theoretically more accessible
- 16:25than ever, but more deeply disconnected than for most of
- 16:30humanity. And so, so much of the is the
- 16:34willingness to lay down those wounds of sisterhood and be able
- 16:41to step in to spaces that are having conversations like this
- 16:48and not feel like we have to have it all figured out.
- 16:50Like that's so much of what I'm trying to create right now is,
- 16:53you know, most of the women in my world identify as being
- 16:56achievers to some capacity. Like we want to have the answers
- 16:59before we do anything with it because we don't we don't want
- 17:01to be seen as like wrong or ill prepared or dumb or whatever.
- 17:06Yes, imperfect. That's the exactly the word.
- 17:09And it's like I'm on a forever journey of curiosity and taking
- 17:13a new information and changing my mind and figuring things out.
- 17:16If I wait until I have everything perfect to say
- 17:21anything like it's never going to happen.
- 17:23No, and often we not even often all the time when we engage in
- 17:28these meaningful dialogues without the expectation of
- 17:31imperfection is actually when we connect the dots and are able to
- 17:36speak from this like healed healthy place to be able to
- 17:39drive our thoughts, our ideas, our missions.
- 17:41For sometimes it feels like it's too big.
- 17:43Sometimes it feels like, I don't know if you watch the morning
- 17:45show on it's on Apple. It's a show that Jennifer
- 17:49Aniston and Reese Witherspoon have done together.
- 17:52Masterful. It's masterful, yes.
- 17:54Put it on your list, everybody put it on your list.
- 17:56And in a very beautiful way, they are painting the picture of
- 18:01what it's like to be a corporate woman today, corporate woman in
- 18:05media today, and what the relationship is with the media
- 18:08and the public. And it feels very big.
- 18:11And it feels like you have to be Jennifer Aniston, who's running
- 18:14this billion dollar media company to get anything done.
- 18:18But the the truth is, and to the point of your whole community is
- 18:21it's done with your neighbors and your sisters.
- 18:23And in rural America, we're speaking to you right now in
- 18:26your heart is that it happens in your communities, it happens in
- 18:30your schools. It happens with intentional
- 18:33raising of our children to be less competitive, which is the
- 18:37masculine way, and lean in to support each other.
- 18:41And we don't have to be marching down the street in Washington,
- 18:44DC to get anything accomplished. And I would say when it comes to
- 18:48money specifically, where it's accomplished is where we spend
- 18:51our money every single day and by making new choices.
- 18:57All of that to say is where where are you bridging this
- 19:01conversation with money? Because I know our first
- 19:03conversation was eye opening and I know you're still talking
- 19:06about money in your communities. But for a woman who wants to
- 19:08make change in her life financially, what are the ways
- 19:10that she can do that today, right now, in the moment?
- 19:14I think a really important part of this conversation that comes
- 19:18up a lot for the women I work with is even just trying to
- 19:22understand what are the stories that they have around money.
- 19:26And this is true no matter what journey you're on, whether
- 19:28money, mental health, parenting or beyond.
- 19:30But what are the capital T truths that you believe because
- 19:35someone else told you or you absorbed along the way?
- 19:38Like what is guiding your thoughts, your ideas, your
- 19:42decisions around this idea of money?
- 19:44And a lot of times for the women I work with, it's like, money is
- 19:47bad. People who have money are bad.
- 19:50But then there's also the juxtaposition that's like, make
- 19:52as much money as possible, but also like, don't tell anyone
- 19:55that you're make. Like there's just so much drama.
- 19:59It is a lot of drama. Around money, you know, then
- 20:02you're talking about the way that you earn and your role in
- 20:04the house and like all of this. And so I think one of the most
- 20:07powerful things that we can do is even just recognize the
- 20:10conditioning, the stories, the expectations we have around
- 20:13whatever it is that we're desiring to understand or change
- 20:16and just bringing a sense of neutrality to it.
- 20:19Like, of course, I feel this way because of this story I was told
- 20:24in my childhood. Of course, I feel this way
- 20:26because of this thing that I've absorbed.
- 20:28And then I think it can be really helpful to be like, OK,
- 20:31but is that something that I want to continue to be true for
- 20:34me anymore, right. And often times the answer is
- 20:37no. And so then I think it comes
- 20:38from this place of curiosity around, OK, well, how can I
- 20:41start healing or changing that? Because then unfortunately it's
- 20:45not as simple as like, OK, Yep, I don't want to believe it
- 20:47anymore. I guess it's gone.
- 20:48It's not. That easy.
- 20:49I wish it was that easy. I wish.
- 20:51It was too, I know. But a lot of times when we have
- 20:55the recognition around the story, then we feel shame.
- 20:57I wish I wasn't this way, or I feel terribly about this, like I
- 21:01hate this about myself. Like shame serves absolutely no
- 21:05one. Literally no one.
- 21:07Well, so just people who are trying to control you, well
- 21:09that's it serves who are trying to be right.
- 21:12If they're going to be right, they're going to shame you for
- 21:14being wrong. That's so true.
- 21:15It doesn't serve us to. Sit.
- 21:17It does not serve us. But it does, it does serve,
- 21:19especially in the finance industry, it serves a lot of
- 21:22people. That's such a good point.
- 21:25OK, so, but for the person listening, I think even just
- 21:28bringing to the state of neutrality of like this is where
- 21:31I'm at, of course, that this is where I'm at now.
- 21:33What can I do from here? And then, you know,
- 21:36unfortunately, there's not a super easy answer, but I think
- 21:39you have a million resources of directions that you can then go
- 21:43to start healing, to start making changes, right?
- 21:46Maybe it's working with Lisa. Maybe it's a podcast, maybe it's
- 21:48a book, maybe it's therapy. Like maybe it's some sort of
- 21:52like energetic, the healing work, right?
- 21:54Like I know for such a long time I tried to intellectualize my
- 21:58way through solving my problems, right?
- 22:00Because I'm a smart girl and I can figure anything out.
- 22:03And the first time my therapist was like, but how does that make
- 22:05you feel? I was like, bloody lead.
- 22:09What? Gross.
- 22:11And so that's what led me down like deeper paths of like
- 22:14somatic breath work or Reiki or just working with different
- 22:18types of practitioners or people who have ideas around rewiring
- 22:22mindsets and limiting beliefs. And like clearing some of those
- 22:27cords and attachments we have to, I mean, there's so many
- 22:29different directions we can go, right?
- 22:30And it's not one-size-fits-all, but at the very basic
- 22:34understanding how you're experiencing it, what you're
- 22:36feeling about it, what you're thinking about it, where that
- 22:39came from, bringing it to a place of neutrality and then
- 22:42deciding where to go from there and doing it.
- 22:44And then do it. That's such a great point.
- 22:46And then go do it. When was your awakening to this?
- 22:51Being in a rural community, you are not the majority of
- 22:55thinkers. And I'm imagining in your own
- 22:58community, you are not the majority of thinkers.
- 23:01So you came to this on your own somehow, some way.
- 23:04So let's start there and then let's talk about for the women
- 23:07who are not in the majority, who are thinking more progressively,
- 23:10more outside the box. My friend Morgan comes to mind,
- 23:13who came to one of your conferences or a conference that
- 23:16you spoke at where she feels really isolated.
- 23:19So how did it happen for you? Yeah.
- 23:21And this is, I feel like it was a layered journey for me.
- 23:25So 2019, I had had my second child and as so many of us do,
- 23:30had like checked all the boxes. I was just trying to be so good
- 23:33for everyone. I didn't have the language for
- 23:34it at the time, right? How old are you?
- 23:37How young were you? Let's see, I would have been 29.
- 23:40I was born in 90. So math is like to figure out.
- 23:43So I was 29, I had had my first, I changed careers, I had had my
- 23:46second. I went back to work way too
- 23:47early. Was working like 60 hours a
- 23:49week, pumping like 8 times a day, nursing around the clock,
- 23:52had a baby, had a toddler, had a husband, we renovated a house,
- 23:55we bought land. Like we did all the things
- 23:57right. And I had this moment of
- 23:58realization of like, I have everything I've ever won in and
- 24:01that we worked so hard for and I'm grateful and miserable.
- 24:05Yeah. Like I low key hate this.
- 24:07I'm so burnt out. I'm so frustrated.
- 24:09I didn't even have the language for it at the time, but I was
- 24:11just like, I hate this. And I don't know why.
- 24:13There has to be a better way to live my life.
- 24:16And so that started with a health journey rooted in love
- 24:19instead of shame for the first time.
- 24:21Like I can't. I don't care about ellipticaling
- 24:23skinny or about like some weird diet.
- 24:26Like I just want to feel. I just want to feel better,
- 24:29right? Like it was the first time I
- 24:31really listened to myself to be like how do different foods make
- 24:34me feel? Turns out like gluten and dairy
- 24:36were waging war on my body. But I had known because before I
- 24:41became a mom, I spent eight years binge drinking, right?
- 24:43So of course, I felt like garbage.
- 24:45And that ultimately led me to the world of personal growth and
- 24:47development, which helped me understand goals and habits and
- 24:51really what it looked like to build my day-to-day from a place
- 24:55intentionality instead of just default, right?
- 24:58And I've always been like an ambitious person who is doing
- 25:01good things. But it was like, OK, but how do
- 25:03I want to feel? How do I want to experience
- 25:04this? How do I want to show up?
- 25:06So again, but it was like through this lens of trying,
- 25:09trying to listen to like what I really needed, not just like,
- 25:12here's the checklist that someone else has said is going
- 25:14to make me feel better, but like, what do I actually need
- 25:17and want in the season I. Love that.
- 25:19For you, Yeah. And so then, to your point, I
- 25:23started to realize there was no one talking about the
- 25:27intersection between personal growth and development and women
- 25:29in small towns and rural communities.
- 25:31My husband and I live on a farm in West central Illinois in a
- 25:34town of 43 people. Takes us 45 minutes to get to
- 25:37the grocery store and we love it here.
- 25:39Like I love walking out of my back patio and seeing green and
- 25:44the stars and my kids run muck, right.
- 25:46It's beautiful. And also, I think a lot of women
- 25:50in small towns buy into this idea of, like, OK, this is it.
- 25:54If you want to do something more important, like go to the city
- 25:57or something, like, right, There's all this, like, bullshit
- 26:00stuck in there. And I'm like, well, I don't want
- 26:01that. But like, I cannot go through
- 26:03the rest of my life just going through the motions.
- 26:06So I did what any sane person does during the pandemic.
- 26:08And I started an Instagram account just being like, I can't
- 26:11be the only person who's thinking about this.
- 26:13Yeah. And it turns out I wasn't.
- 26:15There was thousands and thousands more women who live in
- 26:17places like this all around in the world, who were feeling
- 26:20similarly, who were feeling like aliens for wanting to be
- 26:23intentional mother differently. Talk about goals, dig into
- 26:28personal growth related things. So I jumped in and started a
- 26:32coaching business which I thought was going to be rooted
- 26:34in goals and habits and mindset. Work.
- 26:36Yeah, no. Lol no no but quickly you know,
- 26:41became a community builder and brought together women through
- 26:44masterminds who were interested in bringing their goals and
- 26:46dreams to life and felt like aliens in their zip code and
- 26:50sprinting towards that led me to another season of burnout that
- 26:53got me into therapy for the first time which started.
- 26:56That last That was 2020. To what?
- 26:58So I officially left my job in August of 21 and it was by
- 27:06probably October of 2022 that I was like I am not OK.
- 27:11So still in that achiever. Drowning, yes.
- 27:14You were still in that achiever mode, right?
- 27:16Yes. So it was in therapy that I
- 27:17finally understood and confronted my addiction to
- 27:21approval and achievement and accolades as a means of earning
- 27:25love and worthiness. And I have never been a person
- 27:29that's motivated by money. Like, I was an elementary school
- 27:32teacher making $26,000 a year. Like, I just wanted to be loved
- 27:38for, like, how impactful I was, Right?
- 27:40I just wanted to make a difference.
- 27:41I wanted to help people. You still.
- 27:43But that was my driving force. Yeah.
- 27:45Yeah. And now I make a shit ton of
- 27:47money. It's amazing, right?
- 27:50But it was like I was constantly chasing like, if I can just do
- 27:53enough for someone else, then I will be enough.
- 27:55So that kind of changed the conversation around mental
- 27:58health. And then, you know, as I was
- 27:59growing my business, more and more women in small towns, rural
- 28:02communities started being really curious around like, wow, you're
- 28:05really building this life of like playing by a different set
- 28:07of rules of financial and time freedom, Like how do I do that
- 28:11too? And so that led me into working
- 28:14with more aspiring or new entrepreneurs.
- 28:17And not that entrepreneurship is my passion, but at the time,
- 28:20especially women who were wanting to claim autonomy on
- 28:25their own life and throw the rules out the window and really
- 28:28dive into like, what do I really want and how do I craft that for
- 28:32myself through the vehicle of entrepreneurship was so
- 28:35exciting. And that's where the
- 28:38conversations around money and worth come up so much.
- 28:42You know, a lot of women are very comfortable with like the
- 28:44transaction of like, you hired me.
- 28:47I do this exact kind of work and then I get this exact kind of
- 28:50salary, right? And not that there's not all
- 28:53sorts of other things we could take apart in there, but helping
- 28:56women gain the clarity and confidence to be or be
- 29:01compensated for who they are and the gifts that they bring to the
- 29:04table, independent of what someone else that's right
- 29:07expected from them. Like was a whole another layer
- 29:10of money mindset work. And even one more layer past
- 29:14that, Like the number of entrepreneurs I work with who
- 29:17like, say, for example, it's like, OK, well, I have this
- 29:20amount of beef, you give me this amount of money that feels good.
- 29:23Or I create this amount of social media posts, you give me
- 29:25this amount of money that feels good.
- 29:27And then when they want to step into like a thought leadership
- 29:30related business and it's like, wait, people are going to pay me
- 29:33for my time and my presence. And my energy and.
- 29:36In my opinion and my ideas like that is very, very unsettling
- 29:40and another really big thing to work through.
- 29:43And again it comes back to that like self, inner trust and
- 29:46worth. This is the future for women.
- 29:49Listen up. Listen up.
- 29:50What Emily speak. This is happening in a in a town
- 29:52of 43 people. And this is in the heartland of
- 29:55America. And this is where the majority
- 29:58of Americans, we have a lot of people in the city.
- 30:00But this is this is the heartbeat.
- 30:02This is the pulse of women in America today.
- 30:05And you need to hear this, that our future is not in corporate
- 30:09America. Yeah.
- 30:10We are paving a new way connected to value and vision
- 30:13and purpose, and we're learning how to make money that is not
- 30:17dependent upon a corporation. So this is the disruption
- 30:21happening real time. Which is crazy because if you go
- 30:24back far enough, like this is how it's always been.
- 30:27Like women were the spiritual guys of their community, they
- 30:29were the healers, they were the doulas, they were the creators
- 30:33of of life and everything and beyond.
- 30:35And so interestingly enough, I feel like we're just coming back
- 30:41to we're coming home to ourselves, to each other and to
- 30:44like the way we were always meant to be.
- 30:47But that is really unsettling for this like capitalistic
- 30:50patriarchal machine that we've been running in for the past
- 30:55couple 100 years, you know, and it was like before the
- 30:59agricultural and industrial revolution, like women's time
- 31:03and value and presence was valued very differently than
- 31:05when it became like a transaction of goods and money
- 31:08in exchange. Here's what I know about women
- 31:13when good women, good people in general, but especially women,
- 31:17have money in their hands. They do really good things.
- 31:20We do. We do.
- 31:22It is circulated in communities. We pay each other generously,
- 31:26like we support artisans. We focus on our healing and the
- 31:31well-being of the people in our lives.
- 31:33Like when money is in the hands of women, like it circulates and
- 31:38it moves and it does so, so much good.
- 31:41And so I always like to say, like, you are not a bad person
- 31:45for desiring financial resources because you will do so many good
- 31:49things with them. And when women are well
- 31:51resourced, they are able to show up better for their families.
- 31:54They're able to do really empowering, incredible things
- 31:58for their communities. Like, it is actually the most
- 32:01like selfless thing you can do to charge what you're worth and
- 32:06step into your powder and own your shit and like, let go of
- 32:10this conditioning that says like you're not good enough or you're
- 32:13not worthy enough to be compensated.
- 32:15Like bullshit. You're so smart and you're so
- 32:18passionate and you're so good at what you do.
- 32:21Like, just keep going on. Just keep doing it.
- 32:24I pray everyday because I am. I am a woman of faith.
- 32:27I was raised Southern Baptist, fell away from the church.
- 32:31I found Jesus again. I'm so grateful for Jesus.
- 32:35And also, I'm not a Bible thumper.
- 32:37And I believe that God is love and that when we have more
- 32:40money, there will be more love in the world.
- 32:42When money runs through the hands of women because we are
- 32:45the life givers. We are the ones that want
- 32:48sustainability. We want the environment to win.
- 32:52And you know what Emily? Men want that too.
- 32:55They just haven't been given much permission or space or
- 32:58respect for wanting that, too. And it's time.
- 33:02And it will happen when this is the predominant conversation for
- 33:06women and money, Yeah. I mean, I think if more people
- 33:10had the willingness to come home to themselves and break out of
- 33:13the boxes they feel like they have to live in, like so many
- 33:17beautiful good things would happen so much.
- 33:19It's happening. Hatred that we see, so much
- 33:21projection, so many just yucky things that are happening are
- 33:25coming from, like, people who are deeply unhealed and
- 33:28repressed and angry. And it's, you know, how do we
- 33:31change the world? We heal ourselves.
- 33:32Yeah. It influences our partners.
- 33:34It influences our friendships. It influences our communities.
- 33:36It influences our kids. Like, you know, I came into
- 33:39teaching because I wanted to make the world a better place.
- 33:41So what I have learned is we make the world a better place
- 33:44through our own hearts and through our own healing
- 33:46journeys. And then the way that we stand
- 33:48in community with other women because by nature we value
- 33:52reciprocity, we value community, we value like everyone having
- 33:58what they need and then some. But it has to come from this
- 34:01willingness to like, lay down the rules we don't want to play
- 34:04by anymore. Agreed.
- 34:05Totally agree. And this is the conversation
- 34:08that we are having on Real Money.
- 34:10This is the conversation that you're having on your podcast.
- 34:14Wild and waking. I know it's it's rebranded since
- 34:17you were on it. It used to be called Gather and
- 34:18Growth and it needed some. It needed some more fire behind
- 34:21it after everything I've been through.
- 34:23I love that we invite you as a part of the Real Money community
- 34:26to keep having this conversation.
- 34:28Share this episode out to another woman who is wild, who
- 34:31is waking, who has seen that there's another possibility.
- 34:34Come join the conversation with us.
- 34:36Just because someone who has 300 million followers said it
- 34:40doesn't make it true. So question what's what's
- 34:43happening in the media? Question what's happening in
- 34:46your communities, question other people.
- 34:48Do it with love and courage. And on those days where you
- 34:51don't feel as strong, come hang out with us and we'll give you
- 34:53the courage. We'll lift you up because that's
- 34:55the work that you're doing, Emily.
- 34:56Yeah. Ultimately, I mean, there are
- 34:58just too many women who feel like they're the only ones.
- 35:01Yeah. And it stops them from using
- 35:04their voice. And of course, like when women
- 35:06use their voice, really big change happens.
- 35:09And that's very threatening to a system that does not like that.
- 35:13But we are so much stronger together.
- 35:16I mean, that's like the most cliche thing to say, but it's.
- 35:18It's true. And so when we sit in circles,
- 35:21when we sit in rooms, when we sit in conversations, we're
- 35:23like, oh, my gosh, I'm not the only one.
- 35:25Like we get to lean on each other's courage and bravery to
- 35:28really change the conversation, and that's what excites me.
- 35:32Agreed, and it's not just for wealthy women in Manhattan
- 35:36anymore. It's for every woman.
- 35:38You're doing it in small town America, which is beautiful and
- 35:43agricultural America, which is beautiful.
- 35:45I'm doing it here in Las Vegas. However we do it, we do it.
- 35:49This is your invitation as a listener to do it yourself too
- 35:52and figure out the pathway for yourself and lean into love
- 35:55because love wins at the end of the day.
- 35:56I truly believe that it. Truly does, yeah.
- 35:59And I, I really think we are in a whether you call it a season,
- 36:03a portal, a period right now of women, especially leading the
- 36:07charge and like waking up and asking harder questions and
- 36:09diving into themselves and healing and learning and growing
- 36:12and challenging. And I know that this timeline
- 36:15feels so disoriented, like it's impossible to not open your
- 36:19phone right now and just want to throw it out the window and
- 36:22scream into the abyss. Yeah.
- 36:24But I I forever optimist and I also believe that like this is
- 36:29happening for a reason, right? Like things have to explode and
- 36:32crumble sometimes before the phoenix can rise from the ashes.
- 36:35And I think that's what we're seeing in real time.
- 36:37I agree. I think a lot of us worry like
- 36:41how bad is it gonna be before we grumble and have to rebuild?
- 36:44But I hold on to the trust and the faith and the hope that we
- 36:48will. And the work like you and I are
- 36:51doing, and the women in our communities who are doing the
- 36:54same thing, are going to be the ones that put it back together
- 36:57and lead the charge from a healed, healthy space that is
- 37:01rooted in love and reciprocity and just beautiful, beautiful
- 37:06things. That's right.
- 37:07That's right. Great way to end the show.
- 37:08Thank you for being here today. I I do have a rapid fire round
- 37:11that I love to play. This is one of my favorite games
- 37:13to play with kids. My favorite game to play on road
- 37:16trips. And so we're going to play an
- 37:17old fashioned game of this or that.
- 37:19Are you ready? I am so ready.
- 37:21Morning person or night owl? Become a morning person.
- 37:23OK, cook at home or eat out. So far away from here, it's like
- 37:27we have no options, no delivery, no restaurants, nothing.
- 37:31So you must cook. She must cook.
- 37:33I must cook. I had to get really good at
- 37:36grocery shopping. It's terrible.
- 37:38Podcasts or books? Oh, I can't choose.
- 37:41Pick one. Books.
- 37:43Beach vacation or mountain retreat?
- 37:45Mountain. Me too.
- 37:46Save or spend? Spend Me too.
- 37:48Big city or small town? Small town.
- 37:51We knew that we knew that summer.
- 37:54But I do love, I do love to visit the city.
- 37:56Yeah, but then go home. I could be happy anywhere.
- 37:58Like I love to hang out on the beach.
- 38:00Like I'm not the person that's like going to get a vacation
- 38:03home in one place. Like I want to see it all.
- 38:05I want to do it all. I want to explore.
- 38:06I want to be everywhere. Sneakers or heels?
- 38:09Sneakers for sure. Planet or wing it?
- 38:11Wing it. We do You're like my spirit
- 38:13sister. Netflix binge or outdoor
- 38:17adventure? Outdoor adventure for sure.
- 38:19Dream big or stay grounded. Dream big while staying
- 38:22grounded. I thought the same thing.
- 38:24Yes, that's exactly what I thought too.
- 38:26Why we have to pay? Yeah, I mean.
- 38:28Because for a long time, like so much of my platform was about
- 38:30like, go after the goals, go after the big dreams.
- 38:32And I still wholeheartedly believe like, you can bring
- 38:34freaking anything to life. But if it's rooted in this like
- 38:37expectation and need to prove yourself and it's not coming
- 38:40from a healthy place, that's also not good either.
- 38:41So I think it's part of like getting really aligned and clear
- 38:45on you and your desires and your purpose and freaking going for
- 38:48the stars. But it has to be coming from a
- 38:51healed health the whole place or else it's just another fast
- 38:56track to burnout, obviously. We've seen this story right
- 38:59itself over and over and over again that unhealed, ungrounded
- 39:03people drink, dream big, go big, somehow attract the results, and
- 39:06then burnout and even die in the.
- 39:08Process, yes, it's like the I think it's called officially the
- 39:12arrival fallacy. But the lie of ones once I do
- 39:14this, then I'll be happy once I do this, then I'll be happy.
- 39:16Once I do this, then I'll be happy.
- 39:17And the truth is, your life happens everywhere in between.
- 39:20Like big goals, big dream, big ideas.
- 39:22Like amazing love that. But your life consists of the
- 39:26way you feel on a Tuesday morning and the depths of your
- 39:28relationships and like what you're thinking about when your
- 39:31head hits the pillow every night.
- 39:33And so there has to be this rooted, grounded intention
- 39:38behind reaching for the stars. I totally agree.
- 39:41Thank you. That was not a very good this or
- 39:43that, but that's my. That was great, That was great,
- 39:46that was great. I appreciate your heart.
- 39:48I appreciate you as a human, as a woman, as someone who is on a
- 39:52mission similar but in our very different ways.
- 39:56If you don't follow Emily, make sure to follow Emily.
- 39:58Let us know what you loved about this episode.
- 40:00Let us know what you learned. We're all over Instagram.
- 40:03We'll be all over YouTube. And we'll have you back on the
- 40:06show. Emily, thank you for being here.
- 40:08Thank you for being who you are. Yeah.
- 40:11Anything else you want to share while before we head out?
- 40:13Man, that's like, that's like the hardest question.
- 40:16Like what's the one piece of advice?
- 40:18What is it? What's in your heart?
- 40:19What's in your heart right now? What's in my heart right now?
- 40:23I think that it is safe to be you.
- 40:26It is safe to be the weird, the wild, the curious, the
- 40:31emotional, the empathetic, the out there.
- 40:35Like whatever it is, people are there and so much of the what
- 40:40are they going to think that we drown in is completely
- 40:43fabricated or not meant for you in the 1st place.
- 40:46It's safe to come home to yourself and in fact, it's a
- 40:48really beautiful place to be. Love that, love you.
- 40:51Thank you. Love you.
- 40:52Thank you, this was amazing. It was amazing.
- 40:55All right, everyone, you heard it.
- 40:56Be yourselves, love yourselves. This is real money because when
- 40:59you change your relationship with money, you change
- 41:02everything. We'll see you next time on REAL
- 41:04MONEY and have a beautiful day everyone.