How to leverage your wealth to buy back your time to transform your time, energy with Nicole Connery

Kathi: Hi everyone, we're back, and as promised, I'm with Nicole Connery. She is a financial strategist, and we're going to talk strategy. We're going to talk how to increase your money, how to keep your money, how to organize your money, and all things money. So welcome to the show, Nicole.

Nicole: Thank you so much, Kathi. It's such a pleasure to be with you and your audience today.

Kathi: Absolutely. I'm happy to talk about this, because finances impact us everywhere that we turn, through all aspects of life, and especially as entrepreneurs. So tell me a little bit about what got you into this lane of finances and strategy.

Nicole: Well, as a little girl, I was always really fascinated by seeing many around me not really do what they said they knew. So this concept of: you say you know something, but then are you actually executing and doing it? I was always just intrigued with this concept of proactive choice. And as I observed those around me flowing through life, I saw growing up that we struggled financially. My parents had this belief: always leave things better than you found it. My mom was a nurse and then a teacher, and my dad worked at the local light department, so he helped turn the lights on for people's homes. And it's just so fascinating, as I have really been focused in my business around helping to turn that light on for people, and give women especially, who are super busy and carrying so much, that financial empowerment and that freedom, so that they can use their money to really invest in themselves and have more choices. So it really came from all of these layers of my own background as a child, as well as combining my professional experience helping large companies in large-scale transformations. For us to be successful in transformations, I saw these behaviors and patterns and beliefs, and in really advising CFOs, I started to think about how there are so many individuals who need this in our own lives, so that we can show up for our families and our companies looking good, feeling good, being kind, and really feeling like we have that focus and that capacity to be able to take on that next big challenge.

Kathi: It sounds like you shifted your focus a little bit from large corporations to more of the womenpreneurs and women in business.

Nicole: That's correct. Right now I'm actually doing both. So I'm parallel pathing it, which is amazing. I am really loving helping women with financial empowerment. It's really a passion, and I think a purpose of mine, and my professional background has been an incredible place to learn and grow and gain skills over the last almost 15 years.

Kathi: That's fantastic. So you can combine the corporate, the big world, with us as entrepreneurs, which is our real world on a much smaller scale. So tell me a story about one of your clients: where they were in the beginning, what happened, and what was the shift that you helped them make.

Nicole: Sure. Just as a disclaimer, this is a personal client, not through my professional role. This personal client was feeling a bit stuck in their career. They had just gone through a life event, brought a new family member into their family, had big dreams and wanted to upgrade their lifestyle, and they were feeling at a pivotal point in their career on what to do. I want to be this way at home and for my family, and I'm also very focused on my career and my progression, and this isn't moving at the pace that I want. So we worked together to really get clear on my client's values and what they really wanted. Through discussion and some of the internal work, which we can chat about, but really it's interior design for your inside, which then becomes your external reality, we did some of that inner work to really focus on worthiness and confidence, as well as looking at the personal finances, looking at how they were spending their time and where they were directing their focus and their energy. Through our work together, they ended up identifying an opportunity. They've now taken on this new role, they feel like they've accelerated their career by five years, they've doubled their income, and they're still able to show up in the same way that they want to within their home responsibilities and structure. And they feel like they're moving forward towards the lifestyle vision that they wanted.

Kathi: Yeah, it's interesting. I know whenever big life events happen, you do re-prioritize and reorganize and try to figure out how to do best. So was the goal for them to spend more time at home, or to have a home-based business? What happened with that?

Nicole: Their goal was actually to be able to provide more for their family. They wanted to increase their income. They were feeling like they were already able to do their job really well, they could take on more, and they wanted to earn more and not do less. They are a very hard worker, but they wanted to be compensated for the value that they were providing.

Kathi: So what did they do? Did they up their rates?

Nicole: They actually changed roles and got a new position. So this is a non-entrepreneur. This is somebody who is in the big company world, and they applied for a new job and got a new opportunity, and they now have a title change. If they had stayed in their same role, it would have taken probably five-plus years to get that role. But they changed environments through some of this inner work: putting themselves out there, believing in themselves, getting organized on what was the financial target that they needed. We worked through some of those money blocks and emotional barriers and beliefs that we're not even aware of until we start to take action. Then, as they went through the interview process, they were very pleasantly surprised that it just seemed culturally like a great fit. And when they got the comp package, they were like, this is double what I'm making now, and it's not more time. So that's always the juxtaposition there. And I'm working with my clients on: how do we scale your income and your life? How do we find those leverable opportunities? Of course, everybody's working hard, but how can we work smarter? And how can we do things in the right environment, where you're valued and you're compensated, and for you it feels more easeful and effortless because you're really enjoying it? You're in your genius.

Kathi: Yeah. And I agree with you, Nicole, that you don't really know your genius when your mind is stuck in the disbelief that you're not enough, or that you could never do that. So I'm so happy that you start with the inner work along with the outer goals, because we can't reach any goal unless we have the inner confidence that we can do it, right?

Nicole: Of course. Yeah. I love that.

Kathi: Oh, that's great. So they got a new job, or they were promoted laterally or vertically.

Nicole: Yeah.

Kathi: Love it. Love it. Okay. So as a financial strategist, what tools do you use? Because you're doing two things now. You have parallel lives, right? You're in corporate, you're in entrepreneurial. What's your favorite organizing system or organizing hack to keep yourself focused and on track with both of those?

Nicole: Well, it's a two-part answer. I think first it's using my own body's wisdom and our energy system, and I work with my clients in that way. So it's starting with a gratitude practice. That is a system that I've been doing for over five years. And I'll be honest, coming from a financial background, I pooh-poohed it. But then, as I've really done it… I have an 11-month-old, so I've ebbed and flowed, given myself a little break if I haven't hit it every single day with this new baby in my life. But as I've not done it, I've really seen the power of doing it. So that's my number one. Morning and night, I have to come from a place of: how do I direct my mind to see opportunities, to see abundance? How are we taking advantage of our body's wisdom and our focus? I always say health is our greatest wealth, time is our most precious nonrenewable asset, and our focus is our differentiator. If we start our day with where we are focused, everything is just so much more easeful, and things can just line up. You have those synchronicities. You've primed your brain and your energy body and your system and your electromagnetics to really be a magnet to propel and attract those opportunities. So starting with the mind is number one. But then, as we were just chatting about the calendar, and I know you have a master class coming up, using the calendar is so key. I think if you do not schedule it in your day, and not only schedule, but then execute and keep the promises you make to yourself, time will just float away, and you won't even realize where the whole day went.

Kathi: Yeah, absolutely. And I think scheduling gratitude in your calendar is an excellent idea. I'm all for that. What am I grateful for? I try to go to sleep every night saying what I'm grateful for, and waking up in the morning being grateful that I woke up in the morning. Just showing gratitude all throughout, I think, is good. Now, you said a great quote. Can you remember what you said about time and money? Say this again, because this is a good one. Listen up, guys.

Nicole: Thank you. Yeah. So I always say health is your greatest wealth, time is your most precious nonrenewable asset, and your focus is your differentiator.

Health is your greatest wealth, time is your most precious nonrenewable asset, and your focus is your differentiator.

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Kathi: Love it. I love that. That's a great quote. We'll have to put that in the show notes for sure.

Nicole: Thank you.

Kathi: Very, very astute. Okay. So what would you like to talk about that we haven't hit on yet? Let's put it that way.

Nicole: I think one area that is really important to me, especially as I'm working with my clients, is that it has to be in alignment and it has to be in integrity. A part that I really bring to my clients, with my background as a CPA, is that it's really important that I can be objective and be in my integrity. So it's important just to know: what is my client really open and ready to receive, where do they want to move forward in their life and in their finances, and how do they want to use it? So it's very specialized and curated. One of the questions that you had asked is what is one lesson that I've learned in business, and what I've really learned is that I have to go where my client is, meet them where they are, and help guide and maybe help them see possibilities and opportunities, or maybe blind spots or roadblocks that they don't see. But also, because I love to see people so happy and have their dreams be achieved, a lesson that I've learned is that if someone is not ready and willing and open to receive, or to maybe look at something differently, then they won't even hear what I'm saying. So that has really been a lesson: sometimes it's hard to see the people that you care about in their pain. And I always bring back the way that I grew up: leave everybody better than you found them. But really, I let my clients take the lead, and I navigate for them in an objective, independent, highest-integrity way, and maybe help bring awareness, and then they'll come to a conclusion or to a decision when they're ready.

Kathi: Yeah, I totally agree with that. As an organizer, what happens as well is when they're ready, they're ready. If they're not ready, they're not ready. I have people hear me speak, or they go to a class, or they listen to a podcast, and five years later, I'm ready, right? And I do believe that it's very similar with finances, because they're both very personal modalities. It's stuff that you really have to open yourself up to receive guidance in, organizing or finances, because it's a vulnerable spot to say, I don't know. Any kind of coaching is like that, but I think in particular our two modalities, very much so. So I appreciate that you let them breathe and be ready when they're ready. The whole point is, let's not get our feelings hurt because they're not ready yet, because they will be ready. And knowing that, I think, is a good comfort when we stay in integrity. I love the fact that you're shining the light. That was one of the mottos that I used at the beginning of my career: to shine the light on people's possibilities. And your dad actually does that. I always say we don't fall far from the tree. We just don't. So you're a lightbringer in your own regard, just like your dad's a lightbringer in his regard. And you're a teacher like your mom's a teacher, right? So it's kind of funny how that works.

Nicole: It really is. Is that similar to how you got into organizing?

Kathi: Well, my dad was a minister, but he was Mr. Systems Man, and he had systems within systems. Every week he would have a better system, and he would tweak and create all this stuff, and it used to drive me crazy, because I'm way too micro, but he just loved it. And obviously I learned vicariously from him. And at the same time, my mother, being the minister's wife, was the stylist, right? She was the fashion person. So I got my personal styling hat from her, because she always just looked impeccable and she always knew how to put things together. So yeah, it's interesting how that happens, because the last thing I ever thought I would be would be a professional organizer or an image consultant, quite honestly.

Nicole: So it's beautiful, just what happens, right?

Kathi: It's pretty cool. Pretty cool. And for those listening, if you have kids who are not liking what you're doing, just watch out, because they could become that. And it'll be kudos to you after the fact, probably. You're like, oh, okay, isn't that interesting? Now they like it.

Nicole: Yeah. Pretty funny.

Kathi: Okay. So last year was about celebrating success, and so I'm very curious how you celebrate success when you feel it. What do you do to celebrate yourself?

Nicole: Oh, I love this question. My love language is quality time. So I love to spend time with my husband and my son and my family, my friends. We always just take a moment to acknowledge it, and sometimes just having a deep conversation to me is so meaningful. It's really those small things that make such a big difference. So sometimes it's over a nice meal, or going for a walk, or a trip. But I think it's just spending time with those that I love and taking a moment to acknowledge it. And for myself personally, sometimes it's just that inner acknowledgement of maybe taking courageous action or doing something outside of my comfort zone.

Kathi: And with the 11-month-old, I'm sure just having time with you and your honey is an invaluable thing and a great way to celebrate. I like that for sure. And congratulations, by the way, on your baby.

Nicole: Oh, thank you, Kathi. That's sweet. Thank you.

Kathi: So if you had to look back and give your 18-year-old self some advice, what advice would you give the little Nicole?

Nicole: Well, this definitely made me very emotional. I was nicknamed the Energizer Bunny as a little girl. My mom said for the first three years I didn't sleep. I came out ready to go. And I think I would tell myself: just chill. You don't have to be so hard on yourself. Just have fun, enjoy. Because we struggled as a family financially, my dad worked six days a week, my mom was a nurse and then going to school at night, and there was always this energy of what's next, and boom, boom, boom. I had a very beautiful life and a beautiful childhood, but there was this what's next, keep it going sort of mentality. And I think I would just tell myself, if you could see the life that you're living now… wow. I think I would just be in awe.

Kathi: That's awesome. Where did you grow up?

Nicole: I grew up in Massachusetts. I live in Boston now, and I grew up in a small town right outside Boston.

Kathi: Okay, that's awesome. I thought I felt a little bit of Midwest in there, but nope. New England. Okay. So I know that you have a valuable download for people that they can grab. Let's talk about that just a little bit.

Nicole: Yes. My Instagram handle is The Wealth Designer, so definitely find me on Instagram, or on my website, thewealthdesigner.com. And I have a great guide that really talks about the three secrets to financial freedom and how to live a truly wealthy lifestyle. So often we have many beliefs and feelings about what money is, and it can get confusing, because it's like, well, money doesn't buy happiness, but money is a tool. Many of these beliefs are unconscious and passed down, until we really take a moment to look at them, because of course nobody would intentionally be blocking themselves from receiving money, or feeling like they needed to be a slave to money and work super hard in order to receive it. So this guide really talks about three secrets, and as I touched upon, the first one is around how our mind and our body impact our finances. So definitely go check it out. I'm actually creating a mini course as well that will supplement this guide. It's living in that wealth of freedom, the ease, of course, in addition to financial prosperity. It's not that we don't want money. Of course we love money. We want to have prosperity. We want to have abundance. But it's also that spaciousness of time. We don't want to be financially rich and time poor. So it's really designing this portfolio of your life, similar to how you look at your investment portfolio. It's taking a step back and making these intentional choices around how you want to design your life, and how you use your finances as a tool to invest in yourself and to invest in the areas that give you what you truly want, whether that's more time or spaciousness or new opportunity. So go check that out on thewealthdesigner.com or on Instagram. It's an immediate download, complimentary.

We don't want to be financially rich and time poor.

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Kathi: Oh, that's fantastic. I really appreciate that. That's generous. And I love what you said. I think a big, strong belief is often that if you have a lot of money, you don't have a lot of time, and if you have a lot of time, you don't have a lot of money. I found that to be true as an entrepreneur. In the beginning of my career, I truly felt that way. It's like, oh, I'm either going to be slammed and have lots of money and zero time, or I'm going to have all this time in the world and no money. But it does not have to be that way. So go ahead and download Nicole's booklet and her training, and we'll look forward to seeing your mini course that's going to come out. We'll put a link to your website so they can get in touch and stay in touch with you and get it as it's ready. Is there anything that I should have asked you, that you wanted to touch upon, that I've flown over?

Nicole: Oh, I think one question that I often get is: how could I shift my relationship with money? I want to experience more ease and abundance and freedom. Oh, that sounds so great. That's so luxurious. That's for someday, when? And I will just tell you, you absolutely can shift your relationship with money. It does not have to be someday, when. I was caught in this cycle of: let me just keep my head down, let me just keep working harder, not include myself in the equation. And that will not really give you a fully wealthy lifestyle. So I think the number one thing to know is that money is a tool, and living in this way is truly a consciousness, and it's a choice. And of course it has to be backed by the strategies and the proactive choices, to be able to take advantage of the investment decisions, or to find ways to earn additional income, how to leverage your time, how to outsource and delegate or defer certain things, to not get caught in the shiny object syndrome. But I really teach a lot of my clients about shifting your energy and shifting your state, because it really does start with that inner work. And we go very deep. I say to get more money, you have to go to the ATM. The A is you have to become aware. The T is we have to transmute any fears, resentments, judgments, maybe any beliefs that were not even your own, but that you caught or picked up. And then lastly, we have to move into more money. So I intentionally use that ATM: let's go to the ATM to get you some more money. As you shift your energy and you shift your state with new perspectives and beliefs, as well as the structures and the strategies, taking those right specific actions at the right time, and really honoring yourself in the equation of your life and knowing your worth, and that you do deserve to take your time and you do deserve to be wealthy, financially abundant and prosperous, your whole world can change. So just know that the power and possibility and the hope is very much within your control. It is not something that is outside of yourself. For so long I felt like I'm in this class and I'm in this situation financially, not like a victim, but like I can't change it, or money feels so complicated, I don't know how I'll ever get out of this. Or I often heard growing up, when I retire, I'll do this, and I'm like, 40 years to then be happy, or to then live in freedom and ease? So just know that with the ATM you can shift it, and you can shift it in a two-second moment.

Money is a tool, and living in this way is truly a consciousness, and it's a choice.

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Just know that the power and possibility and the hope is very much within your control.

Kathi: That's fantastic. Let's all go to the ATM. You guys, download this and go to the ATM yourself, and learn how to feel empowered, be empowered, make more money, have more freedom. That's what life's all about. I consider money energy, really. It's just energy that moves around, in my opinion.

Nicole: Me too. Yeah.

Kathi: Oh, we're so much in alignment. It's been a real pleasure to speak with you. Make sure to check the show notes, you guys. If you're listening, go online and grab the links. If you're watching, you're going to see the notes and the links right there. Meanwhile, I really appreciate your time, and I'm so glad to have you as a guest, because it is all about our mindset to shift anything in our lives, and especially around money.

Nicole: Yeah. Thank you so much, Kathi. This was such a pleasure.

Kathi: Absolutely. Until next week, you guys. If you like this segment, go ahead, give us a thumbs up, give us a comment. Comments are awesome for the algorithm, so type something in there. Spread the love. Share this podcast. Very much appreciate it. Very much appreciate you listeners, and especially you, my guest, Nicole Connery.

Nicole: Thank you. Thank you.