Latest / Real Money with Lisa Chastain / How Women Are Redefining Financial Freedom | REAL MONEY

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How Women Are Redefining Financial Freedom | REAL MONEY · Real Money with Lisa Chastain

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Only 7% of women and them owned businesses make over $250,000 a
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year gross. Because so much was on my
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shoulders that I had to take care.
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Of I honestly believe that hustle culture needs to die
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altogether. There was a lot of guilt around.
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I really literally only have 10 hours a week to work.
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What happens when a woman decides to stop chasing the
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grind and start designing wealth on her own terms?
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Megan Hale didn't just reject hustle culture.
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She created a blueprint for aligning business growth rooted
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in ease, integrity, and profit. This is a story for every woman
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who's ready to disrupt how we build wealth and do business
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differently. Megan Hale is my guest today.
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She is a fierce advocate for doing business in a way that
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honors both wealth and well-being.
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She's the creator of the Dream Money Method and App and a
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former psychotherapist turned business strategist.
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Megan knows her shit when it comes to money and building
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dreams. She helps women shift from
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hustle to alignment and build businesses that are both
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profitable and fulfilling. She's not just teaching
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strategy, she's disrupting how women create power in business.
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And if you're looking to make big changes in your business and
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know exactly the steps that you need to take in order to do
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that, this is the show for you. Let's get started.
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You're incredible. So are you?
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Thank you. The work that you're doing is
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incredible. Thank you.
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You wear lots of hats in life. The hat that we're going to lean
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into though is Fintech creator and how you have progressed in
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your own journey from psychotherapist to life coach to
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business coach, which which you still are doing some life
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coaching and business coaching. And then also you, you at some
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point had an AHA where you were like, this isn't enough and we
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need a technology and we need to get out of spreadsheets.
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And so you took this on and I'm so grateful that you did.
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And so introducing to you Megan Hale of DREAM MONEY.
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Welcome to REAL MONEY. Thank you for having me, I'm so
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excited to be here. I know.
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I'm really, really grateful that you're here.
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I am a member of Dream Money. I'm so excited to sink my teeth
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into this technology. My money personality.
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If you don't know your money personality, go to
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lisachastain.com/quiz. My money personality is a
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dreamer. I think big.
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I'm loving this already. Yes, I think big.
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I dream big, I go big. I take butt pucker risks in my
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business and and here is why we are here today, Megan, because
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we are both we had this conversation.
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You were like who? We kind of did like a little
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date at 1st and I was like, well, who are you?
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And you're like, well, who are you?
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And I was like, oh, you're cool. This is kind of how girls how we
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make friends now, right? It does.
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And then I was like, well, I'm on a mission to have women
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become the leaders of the world financially.
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You said I'm on the mission for that too.
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We're doing it in our own ways. And here's why.
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We know women are climbing the ranks financially.
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More money is coming to more women this decade, more than
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ever before. And yet only 7% of women and fem
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owned businesses make over $250,000 a year gross.
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Not take. Not take home and Less than 10%
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of female coaches earn more than $100,000 a year.
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I've seen that statistic too, which is so hard to see.
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It is I I see that as opportunity. 100%.
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That the the lion's share is out there for us, and as lionesses,
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it's time for us to go get it. You're saying all my favorite
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words. I'm a Leo over here.
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Yes, we're in Leo. I think we're still in Leo
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season too. We're in Leo season, yes.
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Yes, so smart business design, confident business leadership,
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financial education. This is way more than APL. 100%.
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Way more and the dreamer in me is like PL's are kind of boring
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because where is all of this going?
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Yes. And I would say too for
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entrepreneurs like PL's are made for tax professionals, Yes, and
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finance professionals there it's not a lot of helpful data for
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entrepreneurs to make strategic decisions.
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What is the helpful data? Yeah.
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What is the helpful data? Exactly.
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It's great to know where your money is going, but you have no
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way of knowing if that's a healthy way to be spending your
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money. And that's one of the things
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that we're really educating business owners on.
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But also, how do we earn more money in the most sustainable,
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smartest way possible? It's a great question.
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How do we do it? Yeah.
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So for me, the dream monies approach is 1.
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We have to get really clear on the target revenue goals we
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really need to be pursuing that are actually profitable and
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sustainable and meaningful for you and your life and your
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financial dreams, which is, I think one of the reasons we
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connect so well. Because I think a lot of times
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we're pursuing a number that someone else has told us is
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enough, but we haven't. We don't have a framework of
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really determining like what is truly enough for me and my
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dreams? How much do my dreams cost?
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When do I want to fund those by? And those are really, really
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important questions. So we're pursuing specific goals
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and once we have those goals clarified, now we can ask the
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really smart question of what's the most sustainable way for me
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to get there? Because not all money is dream
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money. And I would imagine that most of
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us know what burnt out money feels like.
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I'm working way too hard for it money.
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And so how can we get more strategic with how we're
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designing our businesses so we have a more streamlined way to
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growth? And those I think are one of the
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two of the main, main problems that Dream Money is really
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solving for people, is helping them get clear on personal
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meaningful financial goals that makes sense for them.
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And then the business model that's going to get them there,
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that really honors their capacity.
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Here's my dream, Megan. My dream transparently is that
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people can come to me and do the work to figure out that stuff.
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The on the mindset side and the reason that we're partnering,
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which is an evolution kind of partnership, but that it is what
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we're we're just like getting, we're getting to it.
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Is that great? If you don't know, come work
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with me and figure it out instead of trying to fit into
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the box of 10% profitability or 20% profitability and trying to
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find the rules and do it right. Make it work for you.
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Figure it out for you first. And now because of you, Megan,
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there's an actual tool that then syncs with that versus just
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giving you a prescription and go to QuickBooks and just look at
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your percent to revenue income. Yes, yes.
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And that's like one of the biggest goals for us here at
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Dream Money is really partnering with other Allied professionals.
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We're going to provide the software, but when it comes to
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bespoke coaching and really looking at what does this look
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like for you and your business, having someone else who can
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really hold those conversations for you is going to be key.
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It's absolutely key. I have been down the wormhole
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and daily I'm getting emails from tech companies saying, hey,
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try our app, pay, try our app. And the one thing that that I
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see over and over and over again is it's just another glorified
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budgeting tool. Yes.
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How is dream money not that? So we don't really do any
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budgeting. We, we do put in your spending
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plans. Sure.
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So and that's really essential for us to understand what your
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true financial needs are. So how much does it cost you to
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run your business? How much does it cost you to pay
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your team? How much does it cost you to
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reinvest back into your business?
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How much does your personal life cost?
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So we're really getting clear on those numbers for you, but we're
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not tracking any of your spending at all.
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It's really around how do we get clear on your financial needs?
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How do we get clear on your financial dreams?
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And then we move straight into business strategy after that.
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So with Dream Money, although on our product road map, we do
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eventually want to have accounting both an end, we're
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not doing any any of those features right now.
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And so there isn't really a platform on the market that's
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really helping you get clear on how to earn more money in the
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most sustainable way possible. That's right.
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And we know for most of my clients, Megan, when they come
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and sit with me, they're expecting me to tell them to cut
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back and that their spending is the problem.
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My #1 feedback to people after I look at their financials is your
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under earning. For everyone who's listening to
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this, there's a huge smile on my face right now because yes,
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that's one of the things I think is the biggest detriment because
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when we don't know our numbers, it's very easily to under
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charge. It's very easy to do that.
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Under charge. And then we hide from the
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numbers because of the decisions that we made when we were kids
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about what it meant. Or like me, I got AB in math in
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4th grade and just decided that I was horrible in math,
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therefore I sucked at it. Which really isn't true at all,
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but created an aversion to numbers.
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Yes, and dream money is a soft landing.
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Your world is a soft landing. Yes, for women, I think yes.
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All right, well, let's just figure it out.
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I'm so glad that you said that because I think one of the
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biggest reasons we've created this is I've been teaching this
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methodology for eight years and there's two things that always
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show up. 1A spreadsheet adversity for most people
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because it feels overwhelming. You feel like you're going to
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break some equation, you don't know how to fix it, so how can
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we just erase that issue? And the second thing that shows
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up is math trauma. This fear that you don't know
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how to do math. Well, you're going to screw up
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an equation, you're not going to have real numbers.
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So how can we create software that's doing all of that heavy
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lifting for you? It's brilliant.
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We're really excited about it. I know you should be.
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I'm super excited about it too. All right, so for you, you're
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not about hustle culture. I'm not about hustle culture.
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I honestly believe that hustle culture needs to die all
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together. Yes, here, here.
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When a woman right now, like my nervous system, when someone
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just tells me to work harder, I want to move in the opposite
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direction because I'm over it. I'm a 45 year old woman.
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I have teenagers. I want to wake up in the morning
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and go to yoga and still earn $3,000,000.
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Yes. I don't want to work harder.
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And you also made that decision at some point.
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I, I watched on social media, on Instagram, you were telling the
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story that I believe you were pregnant and your husband was
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being deployed, which is a direct equation of like, fuck,
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I'm going to have to work really hard right now.
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And when did you realize that for you hustle harder was not
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the model and for and what are what are you doing to help women
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shift out of that culture? Yeah, I mean, I think that
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hustling that year was I knew it wasn't an option because so much
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was on my shoulders that I had to take care of me because if I
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fell me, I was taking care of two kids under 2 that year while
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my husband was gone for six months.
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So I knew that I had to be really, really wise and
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intentional with my energy and my reserves if we were going to
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make it through that year. And even just protecting my
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mental health, Like for all moms, you know, those early
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years of motherhood are just, they're very demanding on like,
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physically, spiritually, mentally, all the things.
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And I also was a business owner. And So what did it look like to
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make space for all of these things in the most sustainable
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way possible? And so I had to get radically
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honest with myself that year. And there was a lot of guilt
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around. I really literally only have 10
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hours a week to work when I was used to working 40-50 hours a
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week, right? And so I was like,
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realistically, I only have this much amount of time.
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And also I want to make twice as what I'm used to.
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And that felt like an almost impossible equation, but it was
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the right equation for me to sit with because I asked myself the
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right question. How could I double my revenue
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working very, very minimally? And that's going to invite you
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to think about leveraging your time and your energy and
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expertise and in new ways that you might not have thought of
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before. And that's exactly what happened
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for me. So that year was a very
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transformative year. I created one offer that allowed
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me to work very, very minimally, like 5 hours a week, because the
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other five hours and that 10 hour work week, how do we spend
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on all the other things that a business needs to run?
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And I doubled my revenue that year and also doubled what I was
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paying myself, which are two different numbers.
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Two totally different. Numbers.
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So that was just so transformative for me and so
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much money healing work happened that year too because I had
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consistent cash flow for the first time ever in my business
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working less like not hustling at all, even though it was a
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very hard year personally. Sure.
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And that just changed how I thought about business design,
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how I thought about financial stability and the quickest and
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most streamlined way there. And that really became the
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foundation for all that dream money has really grown into
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today. I love it specifically, Was it
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just charging more? Was it putting together a
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program? What was it that doubled the
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revenue? So back then this was like
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early, early stages of my business.
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I just made the transition from therapy to coaching, which is a
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very big mental construct to shift into, especially from a
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pricing perspective, you know, cuz I was a therapist, you know,
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charging 150 an hour, like you're at the top range already,
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or at least I was in my area. And then moving into the
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coaching arena. That's like the bottom of the
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barrel, right? And so that took me some time to
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really think about that. But in that year I created a 12
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month program that was a tiered program and I loved tiered
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programs because you get to create more accessibility for
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your people, but you also get to add more revenue potential for
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work you're already doing. And so that offer that year was
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a 12 month program for 20 women. We had two different tiers. 1
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was like just a community level tier and then the other one was
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community plus 101 support. It just had 1101 call a month.
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And that was what took me to that double of revenue, right?
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And so, and it was also very accessible pricing back then
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too, because that year I really only needed like 60 K to take me
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to a place where I had a consistent 5K months.
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And then I ended up doing that plus paying off 30K in business
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debt that year by stocking other offers on top.
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And so that offer that year, our community level was 150 a month
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and our one O 1 tier was only 350 a month, which felt like a
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stretch for me at the time. And I think that pricing, I
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mean, you know, my hourly rate as a like business strategist
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now is like 1500. So I've like 10 times my rate
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over the years, but it takes some time to really, I think,
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get client results, like build that confidence, all of those
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things. So I'm really proud of the
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shifts that I made that year and also how I structured that offer
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because it was just a game changer that took me to my first
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six figure year and then multiple 6 figures soon after
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that. And like, it's just been growing
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ever since. I love that you broke that down
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for us because that's exactly where so many women are right
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now. And I, I, I've coached
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therapists who are in that process.
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And that's exactly where I started too.
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I was a financial advisor, which at that time a decade ago, there
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wasn't fee based really a whole lot of that anyway.
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And coaching money coaching was really not a thing.
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So I went from making like hardly any money to charging 150
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an hour to having a group program for $300 and I made six
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figures. I made $128,000 in 10 months by
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doing that. Yes.
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And it felt like freedom for me. Yes, yeah.
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I mean, I can't even. I remember just sitting in
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tears. Like I didn't even realize that
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I had had like a 60K launch until months later when I was
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breaking it down with my friend. She's like, so hold on a second.
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If you had a 60K launch, I was like, did I?
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Oh, I guess I did, but I just price things on a monthly basis.
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That's what I was really focusing on and not the total,
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you know, cash in the door. So yeah, I think so many of us
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want to skip over, I think the gradual steps that really allow
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us to embody new price points confidently.
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And that stuff takes time if you're going to do it right for
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your nervous system and and for your audience.
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I totally agree, nervous system work is non negotiable in
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expanding your capacity. Melissa Blinn and I, we do,
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she's all over. I've done several episodes with
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her. We host a retreat annually all
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about your capacity and the nervous system work that goes
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with the money work. And I know that you're, you
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know, you're super aligned with that.
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So ladies, if you're, I know you're listening because you're
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listening to us right now. Take that from this
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conversation. First of all, start with where
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you're at. Don't judge yourself from where
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you're not. And one thing that I know on
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social media for sure is you've got a lot of people telling you
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that they're running multi $1,000,000 coaching businesses.
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And I don't believe that that's actually the case.
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Yeah. So so do your due diligence when
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you're working with a coach to understand how they're making
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that money, where it's coming from, and also where they
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started. Because most coaches don't start
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making millions. Many the the majority don't
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anyway. Yes.
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Yes, but to your point of all of this is none of that matters
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unless you know how it's going to personally connect because
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you might decide that all you need is $60,000 a year to live
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the life that you want to live or all you need to make is
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$300,000 a year. My one of my dear friends,
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auntie and I just had this conversation on Instagram
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yesterday. The point is you get to decide
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what what the number is and you and then figure out how you're
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going to work and model your business from there.
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Yes, this is a soapbox I have been on for years because I, I
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despise like the 10K month, 20K month, 50K month, you know, 100K
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month conversation. Those numbers mean nothing
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unless there's relativity in your life and your for your
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family and your dreams and what you're really trying to create
18:14
together. I much prefer to take that
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approach to numbers and like, even with our good, better, best
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goal calculator inside dream money, you're not ever going to
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see a 10K number or 20K number. It's going to be 12,742 that
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like it's very, very specific to how much you truly need.
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Yeah, this is something that I'm rejecting and disrupting in my
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world is you won't see me a whole lot on social media or my
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website shouting from the rooftops people's financial
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goals for that reason. Yeah, because someone if if
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you're if you go to a coach's website and they're like, I made
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$5000, I made $10,000, I made $20,000.
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It really is like so abstract to your personal life, it doesn't
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matter. And then all you end up doing is
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judging yourself for what you don't or what you're not, and it
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it's like feeding this scarcity beast that I think is ultimately
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so unhealthy. So stop comparing yourself and
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your revenue to other people. It doesn't matter.
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Amen. And I think the other thing is
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too, a lot of what's happening on social like using these
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numbers is it's not telling us the most important piece.
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Yep, because it's not just top line revenue, it's the margins
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that you have behind the scenes that matter immensely with how
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your money feels and also what it's funding for you.
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So for instance, somebody might be saying, well, I made 10K, but
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they spent $7500 to to get there, right.
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So that's really not nearly as impressive.
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That's the sparkly 10K. And so I want women in
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particular to be having a much more nuanced, layered
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conversation around revenue and money because it really, really
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matters immensely with how your money is supporting you and your
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dreams behind this. I totally agree.
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I couldn't agree with you more. And depending on what industry
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you're in, the margins are going to be different.
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Yes. Right, so coaching, coaching and
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I have a client I have several clients who are interior
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designers tend to have pretty high margin revenues, meaning
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let's break this down. OK, let's let's break this down
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to you in this moment when I mean high margin, low margin and
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Megan's going to help me do it too.
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If you're making, if you're, if you have low costs, so coaching
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other than what we mostly marketing is the biggest cost
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that we have as coaches, right? If you're, if you're a coach,
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you have a very profitable business.
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You can charge $300.00 an hour. And unless you're spending a
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buck, a bucket load, which I do in marketing, a good portion of
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that 6070% of that can come back to you in the, in the form of
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profit. But if you sell pencils, right,
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so lots of women have lots of different kinds of businesses, a
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good majority of the cost that you have.
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So I have a client that owns an HVAC company, well 60%.
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So if you charge $1.60 of that is gonna go back to costs and
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your margin will be lower and then you have the cost that it
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takes to operate your actual business, Yes.
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So maybe even even though you're making $3,000,000, you might
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only have a 10% margin at the end of the day, yes.
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So not all businesses are created equal.
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Do you have anything to add to that?
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I think that's so important for women to understand of what type
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business that they're running because the lower your overhead,
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the greater, right? Like the leaner you can run your
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business, always the better. But sometimes depending on the
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business model, like even leaning at like a restaurant,
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for example, even if you are as lean as possible, your margins
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are still incredibly tight just because of the nature of the
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business. And so I think understanding
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what's expected and typical in your business model is also
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really important too for just are you even in the game park of
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what this should look? Like exactly.
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And so you can learn through Megan, through Dream Company,
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Dream company, through Dream Money, how to actualize numbers
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that make sense for your lifestyle.
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And the number one bleed to your business, by the way, is your
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lifestyle. Yes.
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Oh, I would totally agree. Yeah, I would say the other
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place that we see bleeds quite often is also with team because
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people tend to over hire and they're they're holding these
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very, very expensive teams when they actually need to be running
22:36
leaner. And then they also, their
22:38
reinvestment margin can also be fairly high because we live in a
22:42
world where there's so much, so much of goodness and greatness
22:45
to invest in. And so we really want people to
22:48
understand how much they really should be reinvesting back into
22:50
the business because that can also greatly disrupt your
22:53
profitability. Yes it can.
22:56
Yeah. Yes it can.
22:58
How long should someone reinvest into their business before they
23:03
shift over to and being able to take out more for themselves
23:08
because they're like, and it depends, right?
23:10
There's an early, there's an early stage of business where
23:12
you might need to reinvest back into your business more.
23:15
But so you have, I guess maybe this is a good place to take it.
23:18
You have good, better, best goals, yes.
23:22
And how do you walk someone through those ebbs and flows of
23:25
business? Yeah.
23:26
So I think about business developmentally because
23:30
background is a psychotherapist kind of just tracks.
23:33
So we have different phases of business growth.
23:35
And in my mind, we have the building phase.
23:38
And this is going to be your most expensive phase because
23:40
you're typically having to skill yourself up and school yourself
23:44
up on what it takes to run a successful business.
23:48
And during this stage, you're likely going to feel like you
23:50
have so much money going out and not as much coming in.
23:55
And that is very, very normal. I think when people are in that
23:58
phase, they feel like they're failing.
23:59
Yeah. And there's going to be startup
24:00
cost to any business. So the thing that I usually
24:04
refer to is when you're going to get a degree in something,
24:07
you're paying all of this money upfront to get that education.
24:10
So then you make that money back after you graduate.
24:12
It's very similar in business. When we move out of building
24:16
stage, we're very clear and usually what it is that we do
24:19
and who it is that we serve. Now we move into the next stage,
24:22
which I think is the refining phase.
24:23
Now we're refining how we get people the best results.
24:26
This is usually when a lot of your methodology is going to
24:29
start coming out. If you're a service based
24:30
business, which is, you know, my prior expertise and we're
24:33
building a lot of systems, we're trying to systematize things
24:36
that are creating more sustainability and capacity in
24:39
the business to start serving more people.
24:41
In this stage, you're still likely going to have a lot of
24:44
investments around some of those key concepts of learning how to
24:47
build key systems, learning how to.
24:49
If you're building group programs, for instance, you
24:51
might be investing in curriculum design or learning more about
24:55
adult learning. How can you create the best
24:57
possible program with the best possible outcomes?
25:00
OK. Once we have that built, then we
25:02
move into the next stage, which I see as streamlining.
25:05
That's when we're really starting to think about how does
25:07
everything we're off we're offering fit together?
25:10
How, what does my offer suite look like?
25:11
How do we create this organic sales engine in my business?
25:14
So one offer is really selling into the next and all of those
25:17
things. Here you're really focusing on
25:20
marketing and messaging. So again, you might have some
25:24
investments that are directly related to that if you're
25:26
noticing an education gap here. But in the streamlining stage,
25:30
you're usually starting to invest less and start to put
25:33
more money into team. So that's going to support the
25:36
operations of your business. And then the last stage in my
25:39
mind is that then we're ready to scale.
25:41
OK? So scaling up is now we have
25:43
everything built and we're really ready to serve more
25:45
people. And here you're probably going
25:47
to see more money be spent in advertising to grill your
25:50
audience to get enough reach to really support your scaling
25:54
revenue goals. But your team, we really want to
25:57
keep lean in that season. You're not really in reinvesting
26:00
a lot into your education at this point because you're
26:03
skilled up and schooled up on what it really needs, right?
26:06
So a lot of that money is going to go into ads.
26:09
And we have margins that breakdown.
26:10
Like most small businesses are going to be spending like
26:13
anywhere from like 7 to 10% of their revenue on marketing,
26:16
depending on their marketing strategy.
26:19
We like to see businesses depending on the type of
26:21
business to be somewhere around 5:00 to really make sure that
26:25
you're getting that ROI from your ad spend before you start
26:28
scaling that up. So that's how I think about it.
26:30
And I think it's really important to think that there's
26:33
these three different stages that come before we even think
26:35
about scaling. And so many times you're like,
26:37
I'm just ready to scale. I'm like, no, you're not, no,
26:41
not not even close. You're not.
26:43
That's. That I love the way that you
26:45
describe those stages. And so the question back to you
26:48
today, the listener is what stage are you in?
26:52
And give yourself full acknowledgement and grace and
26:55
ownership of that stage. Because if you're anything like
26:59
me as a dreamer, money personality, I hop onto all
27:03
these different websites or I'll look at Instagram or
27:06
Entrepreneur magazine or whatever, which I've been
27:08
featured in. And I'm like, well, I'm not
27:10
there yet. And then I'm like pissed.
27:13
And I want to skip steps, but you can't skip steps.
27:17
You can't and it'll come back to bite you if you try and scale
27:20
too soon because you don't have the infrastructure yet to
27:23
support the things will start to break if you try and skip over
27:26
steps. And the people that usually
27:28
suffer, well, one, you're going to suffer because you're going
27:30
to feel stressed out. And two, your client results
27:33
also tend to suffer because you're just stretched too thin.
27:36
And so you don't ever want to let that be the variable that
27:39
falls because that's the thing that all of your business is
27:42
really built upon is your client outcomes, that word of mouth,
27:46
the way people think about your brands and the trust that you've
27:49
built with your people. That's right, that's right.
27:51
So hone your craft first. Yes, right, yes.
27:55
And I think from like a timing perspective, it's really hard.
27:58
You know, I would say if you're like super clear, depends on how
28:02
long you stay in the building stage, honestly, because I think
28:04
a lot of times people are like, oh, I'll be in the building
28:06
stage in year one that can actually last from one to three
28:09
years. Because you might serve, you
28:12
might think that you have clarity on this is what I want
28:14
to be doing and this is who I want to be serving.
28:16
And then as you start to deliver that work, you're like, this
28:18
isn't quite it or something else will show up in your life that
28:20
you want to weave into how you're supporting people.
28:22
So that can take some time to really get that dialed in.
28:26
And then refining depending on what past experience and
28:30
education you're bringing to that process, right, that could
28:33
also take a couple of years. And so I think like the scaling
28:36
stage realistically is like the earliest I think is year 7 or 8
28:41
obviously. I agree, which is so, so real.
28:45
Thank you for being real and honest because this is what
28:48
people need to know. This is what my clients need to
28:51
know. This is what women need to know
28:52
is that it's going to take time for a reason.
28:56
It's not because you suck. It's not because you're not
28:59
great at what you do. It's not because you're destined
29:02
for failure. It's just that it takes time.
29:05
And in all of the research that I've done, it's a 10 year
29:09
window. It there is not, there is no
29:11
such thing as an overnight success.
29:14
Yes, the first person I worked with on money, this was back in
29:18
like 2019 I think she told me because I was so in my head that
29:24
I should be further along by now.
29:26
And that is one of the worst things for us to say to
29:30
ourselves. But I was just stuck in this and
29:33
I just felt so defeated. I felt like I was a failure.
29:36
And she said, Megan, usually it's going to take seven years
29:39
for a business to have any level of like, consistent, sustainable
29:42
cash flow. And it took me 6 years because,
29:45
right, we had the big shift in 2018.
29:47
But it took me some time to get that to happen over and over and
29:51
over and over again. So I'm so glad that she said
29:54
that to me because I'm kind of the person, like, if you tell me
29:57
how much it's actually going to take, I have that personal
30:00
resolve of like, OK, I can be committed to that process.
30:03
And I have a very different expectation of when I should be
30:07
seeing these results. Yeah, it's so honest and so real
30:10
and so important, because if someone's telling you anything
30:14
other than this, they're just trying to sell you into their
30:16
program. Yes, because faster is always
30:18
better, yeah. And it's bullshit.
30:21
It's bullshit, bullshit. It's bullshit because you again,
30:24
going back to your nervous system too, you're, you're in
30:27
the experience process of $100 million.
30:31
I've seen you say that. I don't exactly know what that
30:34
means. I'll help.
30:34
Hopefully you can break that down.
30:36
But I can imagine you've needed to expand your capacity.
30:39
You've needed to expand your nervous system in order to be
30:42
able to receive that call it in. What's that been like to go from
30:47
$60,000 a year to evaluation? And it's not, I'm, I mean to be
30:53
clear, I'm pretty sure it doesn't mean $100 million in
30:55
cash flow, but it's evaluation ultimately of how this whole app
30:59
and fintech is going for you. So what's that journey been like
31:03
for you? Yeah.
31:04
Let me break down where that 100 million is coming from.
31:06
So first of all, when you move from being a business owner to
31:11
being a founder, these are two very different roles and I was
31:14
not prepared for that at all. A small business owner is
31:18
someone who doesn't necessarily have the vision of building
31:21
multiple, multiple, multiple $1,000,000 to have an exit one
31:24
day of selling their company for a billion, right?
31:26
Let's, but that's not how small businesses operate.
31:30
A startup is a very different animal where you are looking at
31:33
that type of scale. And so it was last year that I
31:37
went and applied for a very big grant opportunity.
31:40
You could win up to 150,000 is the most competitive grant in
31:43
the state. And I said, you know what, I
31:46
think I have a shot at this and I'm going to apply.
31:48
And so part of that application process is I had to build out a
31:51
business plan, which is different than a revenue plan.
31:54
OK, so I build out revenue plans all day, every day.
31:57
A business plan is much more thorough.
31:58
I had to YouTube what all goes into a successful business plan.
32:03
And there were three numbers that I had to calculate, which
32:05
are called your Tam, Sam and Sam.
32:07
And these three numbers really clarify your total addressable
32:12
market. How many people in the world or
32:14
in your niche could actually use your products?
32:17
OK, Then you have to go to your Sam, which is your serviceable,
32:21
addressable market. Out of all the people who could
32:23
use this, how many people are you likely to serve?
32:27
OK, Then you have to do the third calculation, which is your
32:30
sum, and that is your serviceable obtainable market.
32:33
So how many of these people are we likely to actually capture,
32:37
OK and serve? And so the numbers start out
32:40
really, really big and get smaller.
32:43
And what somebody told me is that if your sum, so the
32:46
smallest number is not at least a billion dollars with AB.
32:51
OK, Yeah, I don't even have a shot at getting investors
32:55
getting this grant. And I always said I'm coming
32:57
from an industry where $1,000,000 business is a big
33:00
deal and now we're talking about a billion.
33:02
So I had to look at the numbers and we when I calculated that
33:06
number, we were at 2 billion with our sum.
33:09
So I was like, OK, this is the first paradigm shift.
33:12
OK, So then I had to say, OK, that that could be where we end
33:17
up. But now I have to run my
33:18
financial projections of the next five years because that's
33:21
another part of the business plan.
33:23
So before I sat down to look at any of this and do any of these
33:25
calculations, I thought dream Money might be a 5 million, $10
33:28
million company, which is still amazing for any woman
33:31
entrepreneur. We were at 5 million in year 1.
33:35
Like once we got our product to market, we were at 100 million
33:39
by Year 5 if we hit all of our targets.
33:42
And the thing that really broke my brain is that for us to be at
33:46
100 million, we only have to support 2% of women owned
33:50
business owners who need this 2%.
33:54
So that's where that $100 million, that number is coming
33:58
from. But I'll never forget when I was
34:00
looking at that and doing all the math, like Lisa, I did the
34:03
calculations like 5 times. I'm like, I've never played with
34:05
this many zeros, like something must be wrong.
34:08
But once I knew, like there's no mistakes.
34:11
I remember there was a very distinct moment of like, OK,
34:14
Megan, like this is how big this can be.
34:17
You've never done anything this big.
34:19
Are you game to take this on? And I really sat with that
34:23
because I'm like, can I be the person that takes that on?
34:27
And that was the day that I committed to this of saying, OK,
34:30
whatever is going to be asked of me, whoever needs to come across
34:33
my path, like whatever this is going to look like, I am willing
34:36
to just let's go for it. Like, what is the worst thing
34:39
that can happen? And so we've really been on that
34:42
journey ever since. That's amazing.
34:45
I, I call these butt sweat moments like literally when,
34:48
when these things happen in my life, my, I like sweat all over
34:51
the place. What is the work that you've
34:53
done in your nervous system to be able to stay on this path and
34:59
and track it and still be a present mom and still connected
35:03
to Dream Money Live the lifestyle that you want to live.
35:07
Yeah. So very similarly, like when I'm
35:10
coaching someone around stepping into different price points, the
35:13
way the nervous system works for me is that we can think
35:16
something intellectually, but we really need it to register in
35:20
our body and our somatics. Yeah.
35:22
And the way that I have done that is that I have to verbalize
35:25
things out loud. I can't just think about the
35:27
number. I have to start saying the
35:29
number. And so when we're talking about
35:31
a price point, I will tell my clients and they think I'm
35:33
probably totally nuts, but I say I want you to walk around your
35:36
house and say your new price point out loud.
35:38
It's $1500 a month to work with me.
35:40
It's $2000 a month to work with me.
35:42
Whatever your number is, I want your nervous system to totally
35:46
freak out the first time you say it.
35:47
And I want you to have all the fields, like, Oh my God, I can't
35:49
believe I'm charging that. Like, Oh my God, are people
35:51
going to pay it whatever the nervous system does?
35:54
Yeah. And then I want you to keep
35:55
going until you can say that new price point.
35:58
Like it's saying the sky is blue.
36:00
That's how I want your nervous system to respond.
36:02
There's nothing to respond to. It just is what it is.
36:04
We've taken the emotional component out of it, right?
36:07
That's been one of the strategies that I've used here.
36:11
And I first shared this $100 million vision at a conference
36:14
that I was speaking at last September.
36:17
And I remember sitting in that chair of like, can I say it?
36:20
Because what are people going to think?
36:23
That was the first thought that I had.
36:24
Who is this girl who thinks she can build this $100 million
36:27
business? Or I was afraid that people
36:31
would compare like, oh, my dreams aren't big enough because
36:33
they're not I, I never want people to feel like they're not
36:37
pursuing something big for them. So big is relative, you know?
36:41
But I took a deep breath and I shared it and I've been sharing
36:45
it ever since for part of my own nervous system regulation work.
36:49
I'm just reminding myself like, this is what we're building and
36:51
it's OK to say it. It's OK to claim it, and it's OK
36:54
to remind yourself of your vision publicly.
36:56
It is. Yes, yeah, I love that.
36:59
Thank you for sharing that. Of course, This has been so
37:03
great. This has been so great.
37:05
Yeah, I'm so grateful that you're here.
37:07
And I, I know that whoever is benefiting from this
37:10
conversation is taking these takeaways from you.
37:13
So let's shift gears and talk about calling women forward.
37:18
Yes. I believe without a shadow of a
37:21
doubt, and I heard it. I heard it last night.
37:23
I heard a guy say this last night and I was like, yes, that
37:27
for the world to heal, it is going to require women to lean
37:32
in, to step up, but not in the masculine.
37:37
It's going to require us to claim and own.
37:40
And I truly believe this to my core, that when women are in
37:43
financial ownership of the world, everything will change.
37:47
And we are in that century of it happening.
37:50
We are in the moment and you are taking the lead.
37:53
I'm in. I'm taking the lead in my way.
37:56
What's one small but powerful disruption any woman can make in
38:00
her career and Business Today? The.
38:02
First thing that comes to me is that you have to trust yourself
38:05
to take risk. And what feels risky right now
38:08
might feel so small and silly that it feels risky and do it
38:12
anyway. Because the minute you start to
38:14
take the risks that feel risky for you, the more capacity
38:17
you're going to build to take bigger risks later.
38:19
And I firmly believe that we're not going to create the world
38:22
that we want to see until we get comfortable being risky.
38:25
That's right. Yeah, that's right.
38:27
I love that. I love that.
38:29
And then attract people in your life who are going to support
38:31
you and taking the risks. Yes, yeah, absolutely.
38:34
On the front end and then on the back end, because you will have
38:37
a vulnerability hangover sometimes.
38:39
Can I really do this right? Like there's so many times I've
38:42
taken a big leap and like that 5 minutes of bravery or five
38:45
seconds of bravery, I'm like, I totally got this.
38:47
And I say yes to the thing. And then like literally an hour
38:49
later I'm like, Oh my God, yes to like, can I really do this?
38:53
Like you need your scaffolding. You really, really do.
38:57
You do, and it's going to take money to get there.
38:59
Yes. Do not be delusional about that.
39:01
It's going to take money and probably way more than you think
39:04
it's going to. So learn how to arm up and level
39:08
up financially. Yes, yeah.
39:10
We live in a system where money equates to options, freedom,
39:16
power, decision making. And I know in the beginning, I
39:19
didn't want that to be true, and I wanted to create something
39:22
different. But then I realized in order for
39:24
us to create something different, we have to play these
39:26
rules and win at the same game so we can change things from the
39:30
top. That's right.
39:31
So And that has been very freeing for me, honestly, of
39:34
partnering with money, seeing it as the way through.
39:38
Yeah. And that's just a beautiful type
39:40
of relationship for you to be cultivating anyway.
39:42
The money's really on your side. It's on your team.
39:44
It's like here to help you do amazing things in the world.
39:47
That's right. We, we, I love not the nonprofit
39:50
model and it does such great work in the world.
39:53
And for those giver money personalities out there, why not
39:57
just start your own business and own it from the top and make the
40:02
impact from the top. And it doesn't have to be a
40:06
nonprofit to be impactful. When women look back on this
40:11
generation of entrepreneurs, what do you hope they'll say
40:13
about the way we have changed the narrative around money and
40:16
business? Love these questions.
40:18
They're like, they're like thought provokers.
40:21
I hope that women will have transformed the way that money
40:24
is often demonized and seen as something that's taboo and that
40:28
if you want money, it means something about you that we
40:31
don't do to men. We typically tend to do it only
40:34
to women. That we have changed the
40:36
narrative so much that women talking about money, wanting
40:40
money, making money, holding money, giving money, all the
40:44
things is like the most normal thing in the world.
40:47
Yeah, Yeah, I want that too. Well, you and I are going to
40:51
lead the way on that. Yes.
40:53
We are leading the way on that. Yes, it's happening.
40:56
Like we're literally in process of it right now, Yeah.
41:00
OK so for a little fun my one of my favorite road trip games or
41:04
friendship games is this or that.
41:07
OK. I play, I've played it with like
41:09
first and 2nd graders who absolutely love it.
41:11
So let's tap into our inner child here for a moment and
41:15
we're going to do rapid fire this or that.
41:16
Are you ready? Yes.
41:18
OK. Beach day or mountain escape.
41:21
Mountain escape, Ziplining or yoga retreat.
41:24
Ziplining. You're my girl, Champagne.
41:28
Hold. That is really hard.
41:31
I'm gonna go tequila. Heels or sneakers?
41:36
I've really been loving my heels lately.
41:37
I'm actually gonna go heels. First class flight or private
41:41
villa? Private villa.
41:44
Karaoke night or silent disco? I just did my first silent disco
41:47
a couple weeks ago. It was so fun.
41:49
Bookstore browse or Netflix Netflix binge.
41:53
Netflix bench. Sunrise meditation or midnight
41:56
brainstorm? Sunrise.
41:58
Bold lipstick or no makeup glow. Bold lipstick.
42:03
Cash flow now or long term wealth later?
42:05
Long term wealth. Risk it all or play it
42:08
calculated. We all know the answer to this
42:11
one. We're worth risking at all.
42:13
We're going all in. Grow faster, grow steady study.
42:18
I love that. Where can people find you and
42:21
how can they subscribe to Dream Money today?
42:23
Yes, so. I am most active on my
42:26
meganhale.co.instagramwehaveadreammoney.co.onebutmoreitsjustkindofthereforrightnowyoucanlearnmoreaboutourproduct@dreammoney.co and there's two ways of joining
42:37
Dream Money, either on a quarterly subscription which is
42:40
297 or you can join yearly for 997, get two months free.
42:45
Plus, we have some one-on-one bonuses offered at that level
42:48
too, to really incentivize. One of the biggest reasons that
42:51
we want to incentivize the yearly subscription is 1.
42:54
It's great for cash flow for a startup.
42:56
I don't want to be very transparent about that because
42:58
it's very expensive to build software.
43:00
But the second reason is I'm sure you'll agree with this.
43:02
When it comes to creating financial change in your life
43:05
and in your business, this is something that's it's going to
43:07
take some time. And so having a framework that's
43:10
supporting you, having a process and a practice that are
43:13
supporting you, that's what's going to lead to the highest
43:16
outcomes. And so that is why we really
43:18
want to see more people saying yes to dream money for a year.
43:21
And the outcome is that you'll have dream money at the end of
43:25
this thing, which stands for deliberate, reliable, easeful,
43:28
abundant, meaningful money, by the way.
43:31
Who doesn't want that? Exactly.
43:33
Maybe you didn't know you wanted that, but now you're like.
43:35
Yes, I want that. That's exactly.
43:39
That is what we want for you. We want you to live your best
43:42
life, leading from the top of your life financially.
43:46
This software works when you work with it.
43:50
Yes. You cannot.
43:51
Please take this today and implement it in your own life.
43:55
You cannot outsource your dreams.
43:58
You cannot outsource your numbers, but you can play with
44:02
it and enjoy it. And that is what Dream Money is
44:05
here to do, is to teach you the method so that you can see that
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it's possible and then you can go do it.
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Megan, thank you so much for being here today.
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Thank you so much for having me. Yeah, and what's one thing you
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want to leave with our community?
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I think the one thing that I want to leave is no matter how
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money is feeling for you currently right now, just know
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that change is possible because I see it every single day.
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But it comes from really showing up, taking the risk to get
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uncomfortable and doing the work, and all of us have access
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to that. Yeah, we do.
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All right. You heard it from Megan.
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You know where to find her. Follow your dreams.
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They are absolutely worth it. Nothing is too big.
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Everything is possible. And we'll see you next time on
44:45
REAL MONEY. Thanks for joining us.