Your Money, Your Rules | Financial Planning, Budgeting, Scarcity Mindset, Financial Freedom, Online Business

83 | 3 Essential Money Tips for Female Entrepreneurs with Lisa Marie Robinson, Fractional CFO

• Erin Gray | Financial Mentor and Guide

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Are you making these common financial mistakes in your business without even realizing it?  Join me as I interview Lisa Marie, fractional CFO and host of The Cash and Sass Podcast.   This episode explores the importance of understanding your numbers as a female entrepreneur. 


Key topics covered include:

  • How to develop a healthy relationship with money through gratitude and mindset work
  • The importance of knowing your numbers and creating financial safety in your business
  • What a Fractional CFO does and how they can help scale your business
  • 3 essential tips for female entrepreneurs managing their finances
  • Ways to overcome financial anxiety and build confidence around money



If you would like to connect more with Lisa Marie, you may do so here 


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From my soul to yours,

Erin

Lisa Marie Robinson:

The first one is you don't know what's going on with your money. Yep, I see that on my yep, don't know your numbers. And when I say that you know how much money you bring in, but you don't know how much your monthly expenses are. You don't know what your yearly expenses are. You don't know what's going on with your money.

Erin Gray:

You're listening to Generate a Life Well-Lived Podcast. I'm your friend and confidant, erin Gray. To Generate a Life Well-Lived podcast. I'm your friend and confidant, erin Gray. On this podcast, we will explore all things money, business and self-development, including human design. I hope you enjoy the journey where I share everything that I know and am continuing to learn along the way, as I honor my heart's desires while inspiring and encouraging you to do the same.

Erin Gray:

Do you ever feel like your business finances are more confusing than they need to be? Do you ever feel like your business finances are more confusing than they need to be? What if just a few small shifts could make managing your money easier and, dare I say, more profitable? On today's podcast, we're diving into the three money tips that every female entrepreneur really needs to know and implement in their business. I know you're going to love this interview because, one, my guest, lisa, is so fun and real and she shares a lot of stories that I think you would probably relate to. And two, it's going to normalize that you aren't alone in this, because Lisa and I both see this in our practices, and I know that if we see this in our practices, I know that other women who aren't working with us are experiencing this as well.

Erin Gray:

A little bit of background about Lisa. She is widely known as the Sassy Wealth Queen and the host of Cash and SaaS podcast. As a fractional CFO and a wealth mentor, she empowers high achieving women entrepreneurs to manage their money with confidence and take control of their financial futures. Today, lisa teaches her clients how to create, retain and expand wealth through a balanced mix of savvy, financial strategy and mindset shifts. Her work is all about helping women entrepreneurs stand strong on their own two feet, whether they need it or not, and to make mindful decisions that fuel growth, stability and abundance.

Erin Gray:

This was such a fun conversation and I know you're going to love it as much as I did, and before we dive in, if you're enjoying this podcast and finding value in these conversations, I'd love to ask for a quick favor. Leaving a review helps more women, just like you find this show, so we can continue having these powerful money conversations together. It only takes a couple of minutes. You could head over to Apple or Spotify and leave a rating and a short review about what you love most about the show. Your support truly does mean the world to me and I read every single review. Also, it really helps us reach more amazing women who are ready to transform their relationship with money. As always, thank you so much for being here, for listening, for tuning in every week and for being part of this community. Now let's dive into today's episode. Thank you everyone for being here for listening. On today's podcast, I have Lisa, so I just want to thank you for coming on and joining us and talking about all things money.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Erin Gray:

So I think everybody has a money story. Even the people that say they don't have a money story has a money story. So I would love it if you would share with the audience what your money story has been.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

Um, my money story started off with a very hate, hate relationship. I guess I didn't like money. Um, I thought money was only for the rich and greedy. Um is is the talk I had. Um, and that was because I grew up.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

You know we hear stories, right, we've talked about this before. I heard stories. Stories that were around me were if you didn't come from money, you don't marry into money, you're never going to have money. You know all of our generations we work, we pay bills, we work, we pay bills. So it's wash, rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

And so I had this mindset and this money story of that right Of I didn't come from money, I'm not going to have any. And then had the money story of money was only for certain people, certain tiered people, and I wasn't it. And then any time I would come into money because of that, shit would happen. You know I was like, oh okay, I do have money, but subconsciously, because I had it in my brain and my head and my thoughts. That wasn't always something that always would happen and money would disappear and then fast forward Trying to make ends meet, married right before we even had a fresh kid. So been through a chapter seven bankruptcy, a foreclosure and then another foreclosure after having kids. So you know, constant battle with money, right? Constant battle with how do I do this, how am I doing this, what am I doing wrong?

Erin Gray:

Yeah.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

What am I getting wrong? That everybody else is getting right? Why, you know, and it's why this, why that know, and it's it's why this, why that. And then one day, um, fast forward a little bit, still doing that struggle, determined to figure it out. Determined, you know, okay, there has to be more there. This can't be all I'm put on earth for, right.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

Um, and I was let go in 2016 from my corporate job where I was barely making ends meet. Um, I had migraines, I had tension, headaches, the whole. I was miserable. I was on the verge of I swear, I was on the verge of a mental breakdown and in that process, when I got let go, I was like, okay, what am I going to do?

Lisa Marie Robinson:

Now, you know, and this voice just said now or never, my best friends came and told me you're going to do exactly what you've been wanting to do, what you've always wanted to do, what you didn't think was in the cards for you, um, and that was start my own business. And and, of course, I didn't look like what it looks like now as me, as a fractional CFO, um, but I, I went head first in. I, I dove in and, you know, something about me is like once I make up my mind, that's it. And still went into business with that mentality, not knowing better. And a year into it I couldn't figure out why I was still struggling, why I didn't have any money. And you know, I was on food stamps when I started my business because, again, I was barely making ends meet. And but I was determined, you know, to get off, because again, people tell you, once you get on the state assistance, you're never getting off all those things Right and I met I.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

I there was a. She's a mentor. She doesn't realize she's a mentor, someone I've met on Facebook, and she said something that literally changed my life, sent me down this rabbit hole of money stories, money mindset, the whole kit and caboodle, and she asked us if we had a love relationship or a hate relationship with money, like what was our relationship with money? I said what do you mean? You have a hate relationship with money, like what was? Our relationship with money is what do you mean? You know you have a good relationship with your best friend, your spouse. Do you have a good relationship with money? And I'm like what? And I was like I guess you know. And she said well, do you hate money? I said I don't hate money, but I do. I didn't think I did, though that of course not. Of course. I never said I hated money. I just never. I didn't think I did, though, of course not, of course not. I never said I hated money, I just never had it.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

Right and I always grew up hearing we're broke, we're broke, we can't do this, money doesn't grow on trees, yada, yada, all those things. And she said, oh really. She says do you say thank you when you pay a bill? Yeah, pay a bill, yeah. And my response was why in the hell would I say thank you when paying a bill which many of the listeners are probably thinking the exact same thing and she said well, why not? She said, let me put it another way if someone, if something, someone, treated you like absolute crap over and over and over again, didn't respect you, didn't appreciate you, would you come back? No, then why? With money? Yeah, though that little thing, right, there was like light bulb. She's not talking about it as a person, not talking about loving money over god and all that. That is not what we're talking about. We're talking about loving money over God and all that. That is not what we're talking about. We're talking about being appreciative of what it's doing, being appreciative of receiving it and knowing that it flows through us and that's how the world goes around.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

Right, it was a light bulb and that sent me down this huge head first. Like literally, I put my head down down and someone went and just flipped me over and I just nosed in and realized that, oh, my money story is I'll never have money because I didn't come from money, because I didn't marry into money, I never came from it, I'm never going to have it. So therefore, I'm blocking it because I'm not, I don't deserve it, because it wasn't high tiered or wasn't in this wealthy, whatever the things are. And our society doesn't help matters, right, yeah? And I was like, okay, what can I do to change it? And so then I went in and started reading more books and more books and, believe it or not, there are a lot of books out there. And it did something to me. I was like, okay, I know from an accounting background that it's important to have numbers in order, yada, yada. The mindset obviously plays something, because I had a good business that first year, but I'm still broke. How does this correlate together? And it sent it. It changed everything.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

I went from not saying thank you to saying thank you Every time I pay a bill, saying thank you when I pump, when I put gas in my vehicle. Thank you that I have the money in my account to put gas in my vehicle, thank you, you know. And I'm being, and, and at first it sounded really weird and now I'm, you know. But I took a deep breath and was like really genuine. And I do it when I go to the grocery store.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

And I'm very genuine now because it's very easy sometimes to get frustrated with the prices of groceries or whatever. So I make sure I take a breath and just go thank you, yeah, because I had the money, because one I know what it's like not to right. Yeah, and I was able to change my story. I was able to change my relationship with money from really really bad hating it not realizing that I hated it when hate is a really bad word, by the way, I tell my kids you're not allowed to hate anything, we don't say that and to having a really respectful, good relationship with it, understanding that it is energy. It's not good or bad, it's what we as people do with it.

Erin Gray:

Yeah, I love that you shared that, because I think that when you said, well, I didn't know that I hated it or didn't like it, I think a lot of women would would say the same thing. Right, like I'm not. I, I don't hate money, but we, we put up a wall or resistance around it. When we look at someone that has money and we either say, like what you did, that can't be me. Or oh, look at that person. Or we judge them or you know. And so we do this, like you said, subconsciously, and I'm curious how did you? I know there, there the books and what I call like the 3D, there's all that mindset stuff, but how did you get into your body to start? Because I really think, also for women, we have to feel safe with money and in the beginning, money is not a safe thing for us If we have, you know that, less loving relationship with money.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

You know the you know how the thing in the memes with the entrepreneurship that says if you hear me talking to myself and myself answers back don't worry, it's just me, my business, having a team meeting Okay, that was basically what was happening. As I was getting, I would literally talk out loud to myself telling her my body it's okay to have money, it's okay to have this business, I'm worthy of it. There are a lot of women out there who have their own business. There's a lot of women who are successful. And then I would show examples like and I would do actors, whoever, goldie Hawn, you know, I would just name all these people. And then I did research and found out that you know there are several of them who failed 50,000 times before they succeeded.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

And I would literally put that on Oprah Winfrey. She was denied like boom coons of times before she got her first thing on the show and then she got her own show. She didn't wake up just one day and be Oprah Winfrey and we all knew her. And having that and just every day is's kind of like pep talking. Right, yep, but pep talking, because what you're doing is you're retraining your brain, not only the mindset part, with the books and all. But you know, I believe that you know people are saying, oh, read these affirmations. Say I believe the affirmations need to be posted and we're saying them out, writing them, but then also saying them out loud and also if we I think I'd add one more thing to that if our body believes it.

Erin Gray:

So if you don't believe that, you know sometimes people will be like I generate a hundred thousand dollars a year. If your body's like no, no, no, no, no, but, but using more, like I'm in the process, or I'm in the middle of my hundred thousand dollar year, I'm in the middle of generating or having a million dollars in our investment accounts, things like that. You've got to really tweak it to what your body feels, because if your body is backing away and being like the hell, you say, the affirmations aren't going to work. What are your thoughts on that?

Lisa Marie Robinson:

Well, it's true, because the affirmations are only going to work to a certain point. Here's and here's the thing. Last year, um, I realized, oh, my business could, just before we went to Phoenix rising, okay, I realized, you know, right there in the 2023, my business could just catapult, like all these things could, you know, just be awesome. It was right around July, august of 2023. And my, you know, oh, 500k, it's possible. And I didn't realize what happened. But my body went into oh, hell, no, Because it's one thing to be six figures, you're talking about going up to half a million, you're, you know, the half a million, not multiple, because one thing, multiple, six figures, that's two, 300k, right, Half a million. My brain just went and I didn't realize it until the last year of Phoenix Rising and the business that that.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

And I also believe that sometimes you have to go through that, because what came from there was deeper healing that needed to be done. Transition need to be done or, as my coach calls it, you needed to pull all those weeds out of that garden. You need to burn the entire ground down and you had to. You had, you had to burn it and you had to replant, because sometimes you have to burn a garden by the. You know, I didn't know this, learned it. Sometimes you have to burn a garden by the. You know, I didn't know this learned it that you have to burn in order to replant.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

And of course, I don't want to go through all that to navigate and tweak the business, pivot and grow. I want to just pivot and go right. Yeah, well, that's not how God source universe, whoever wanted it to go, yeah, universe, whoever wanted it to go. And I subconsciously sabotage I'm not gonna say it's my fault and I subconsciously sabotaged to where, all of a sudden, I was like I will go say it, I had debt for the first time in my business to keep my business going, and it's because part of the reason is because there were things that happened out of my control and how I reacted to them was because of some of those underlining beliefs. So, like we have, we have to do the work and sometimes we find out we have to go deeper than we've gone before in order to grow even more, and that was one of the things I had to learn over the year last year, yeah, I talk about this all the time of like.

Erin Gray:

If you break that financial thermostat too fast, you will. It's almost like a rubber band. It will just go back, and I think that that's what you're explaining. Least is what happened. Right, the mind thinks oh, it's amazing 500,000, but the body's like no, no, no, no. That doesn't feel safe. I don't know what that feels like on a consistent basis no, no, no, no, no, no. What are we going to do to keep you safe? And, like you said, subconsciously, we don't do this on purpose, but it happens because our nervous system hasn't had the capacity of having or generating that amount of money yet. And I think we idolize all of this overnight success and growing quickly. But if you haven't done the nervous system work to be able to be that person, that 500,000 is just what you do every single year. That's just who you are. Then you will rebound back to what you're familiar with.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

And one of the things that I did is my coach even had me do it. One of the things that I did is I started writing a letter from my future self.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

What would it be like if I made $500,000? Once I got to, what would that feel like? Who would I be? How would I act Like? And just write how I would dream about it, so that my nervous system is going oh, I'm still going to be safe, I'm just going to do more good and my kids are going to be taken care of, and okay, this isn't going to be, you know, detrimental to my health and those kinds of things. Because the key is is, subconsciously, our nervous system is wanting to keep us safe, but a lot of times, what it does by keeping us safe is it keeps us in place instead of us growing, and we have to be able to remind our nervous system this is okay, this is safe, this is yes, I'm a little nerve wracked and this is still safe, and so it's. I think of it as an equal balance, if that makes sense. You know, part of the thing with me is I believe knowledge is power.

Erin Gray:

Me too.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

I say this constantly. You and I have talked about this. I believe knowledge is power. So, for my brain, in order to help my mindset okay, where are my numbers? How can I make this safe? How can I be in control to put money up where I want it to be, to do the things I want it to do, so that my nervous system can see that I am safe. I'm doing this and the money's there. Money's there and we're all. And so that's where, where the mindset, you know the wealth coaching, where the mindset and the fractional CFO come in hand. As I combined it, because I'm like, okay, knowledge is power. Now I've got this and my mind can see it. And now it's also showing proof, like Oprah Winfrey is showing another proof that, hey, it's okay, um, and and I'm a big, I'm a big, uh, I'm passionate about it. I guess you know of of saying you know, knowledge is power. You, you, you got that's. That's the way you're able to help calm that nervous system too.

Erin Gray:

Yeah, Big proponent Like I and I want to say familiar is very different than safety, right? Yeah, Big proponent Like I, and I want to say familiar is very different than safety, right? We think familiar versus familiar Isn't always the best thing for us, but safety, as we're moving and evolving, very different. And I think also.

Erin Gray:

I want to go back to what you said about you know, writing the letter from your future self, and that's what I did. You know, when we were, you know, accumulating, generating or having more money and building our wealth, and I was like who am I going to be when I have a million dollars? It's like, oh, there's lots of things that are going to be still the same. I'm still going to take my kid to school, I'm still going to make her lunch. We idolize or fantasize about, oh, when we get that, all these things will be different. It's like you're just going to have more choices, really, but a lot of the things that we do are still going to be the same, and so I think that that's really um important to like what are the things that are actually going to stay the same, even if you generate or have more money? Um, so, let's dive into fractional CFO Like. What is that? How do you help clients give us all the details on that?

Lisa Marie Robinson:

Okay. So a fractional CFO is a CFO. First is a chief financial officer. So big corporations have chief financial officers inside their company who go over all their numbers. Again, knowledge is power, so they need to know the figures, the estimates. If we do this, what's the projection for this and all those things? And a fractional CFO is basically the same thing, slightly smaller scale, but basically the same thing for smaller businesses. So I'm not inside your business full time. However, I'm still your fractional CFO. To where I get in your business. I know your numbers. I help you basically navigate your money.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

So I work with women who are at that 250K plus mark. Where I call, I say that they're on this hamster wheel. They're making the money but they're not quite seeing what's possible, where the results. They're wanting to get to that next level, but they're they're constantly plateaued and they're not seeing the profit they want to see. Or next level, but they're constantly plateaued and they're not seeing the profit they want to see. Or they're just they're not sure where, what's going on and how to do those things.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

And I'm able to come in and help them create a system so that we can do projections, we can see what's going on with their money. We know what their monthly expenses are. We know what you know. Okay, if something was to happen, do we have a rainy day savings? What would it take to have a rainy day savings? Right, because there are things that's happened in this world that we have no control over that has proven we should have a rainy day savings. I don't call it an emergency savings because then my brain goes oh, an emergency is going to happen. No, we call it rainy day because rainy days, days, always happen and it's no big deal. Emergency is like the brain just goes, it's like you're planning for it.

Erin Gray:

I mean, that's like financial planning. It was always like an emergency savings. I'm like I'm always planning for an emergency. I just have a halving account. I just have money if I need it, if I want to use it in the business.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

I call it a rainy day savings. In personal, I don't have one. I have multiple savings accounts there for specific things and they're like so you don't have it and no, because what I deem as an emergency or what you deem as an emergency when something happens, we're, our brains, are going to say, oh, that's an emergency, we're going to touch it and then when something really big happens, we're not going to have it. So I have accounts for specific things, but you know, working with me, what we do is we go in and we create the system. And the cool thing about what I do is I don't create a system like a cook cutter system. I create the we call it a money roadmap dashboard. I create this dashboard. Yes, the shell of it's basically saying but by the time we get done, it's built just for you and your business and your lifestyle. So your goals, right, your desires. Because one of the things that I've realized over the last year, especially with mine it's so funny because I changed how I was doing this it's like, oh, nobody's going to stick to these things if it's not aligned with their values and their desires and their goals. And last year, my values and goals and desires early last year changed. Oh, I wonder why Phoenix started when I was still going the same direction, but my values and goals, literally y'all it happened. I had to learn my own lesson of what I teach to my clients. Know, when you're, when your goals and your desires and your values are not aligned, something happens. And it's the reason why I created the five wealth codes. And the five wealth codes are spiritual, energetic, mental, physical and financial, and they all intertwine, they all affect each other and if we're living our wealthiest life in those five areas, we'll be able to be truly wealthy, which means have more money financially right and do the things that we want to do and give back however we want to give back. And when one of those gets out of alignment, guess what happens Like a domino effect, and what a fractional CFO is able to do. Sometimes, when we're in the thick of it, we don't see what's right there and, as a fractional CFO, you can come to me and say, oh, I'm thinking about doing this and this. Well, I'm going to look at several different scenarios because I'm from the outside of the windshield looking in and we're going to figure out what's the best way? Okay, what's the best direction? How can we do this way? Okay, what's the best direction? How can we do this?

Lisa Marie Robinson:

I tell my clients my sole goal is to cover your butt so that, no matter what you do, your, you and your business are safe and it doesn't come back and bite you. Yeah, that and and I, that's the goal. I want you, I want I. I've taken several clients from 250k, 300k, 400k to above seven figures. I've I've supported them in from 250K, 300k, 400k to above seven figures. I've supported them in doing that, and we've been able to do that because of how we've navigated the things that happen, because, y'all, the bigger business, you get. What is it? They say? The bigger the business, the bigger the problems.

Erin Gray:

I'm just like. It's like just more business and more problems is all that it is. You're just amplifying all this stuff, that's already there.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

The more money you make, the bigger the business, the bigger the problem, and they're only going to be bigger, though, to take over if you're not having the things to help you. You know, navigate Right, and you know, here's the thing. You can be good at money, okay, you can. You can look at the number, but when you're an entrepreneur, when you're a CEO of your business and you're navigating all these things, you're likely not to pay attention to some of the things.

Erin Gray:

Yeah, well, I also wrote down. You're probably really emotional about it too. There's so much. I mean, we started off with like what's your money story, and it's also like if you haven't really cleaned up or are really working through the emotional side that you have with money $10,000 of investing in someone with a business it's going to be a hundred thousand and you're going to be like what happened? It's because you haven't cleared up that stuff that you have with money, and so you're emotional about it versus I think about like fractional CFO or CFO. You know, it's just like you're just looking at numbers. You're just like here it is now. Now, obviously you want to have emotion in terms of like I value this. This is important to me, right, that is what you're saying. But getting squirrely around the numbers, they are just what they are. It's literally just math and we have so many thoughts around math.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

Well, and here's the thing, there's so many people go oh, you're great at math. No, I'm not, I love that you said that.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

No, I'm not. I'm not, I'm horrible. My girls are a whiz at math. They're awesome at math. They do not get it from me, okay? And you're going. Oh crap, I don't want you to be a fractional CFO or whatever. Wait, I'm gonna act, because I asked my father-in-law when he was alive I remember asking him he's if he was a physics professor and he's awesome at math. And I asked him. I said how is it that people assume or say that if you're an accountant or that you're great at math? He said because they're mixing it up. He said math is arithmetic and counting and numbers has nothing to do with arithmetic. He said you're good at looking at the numbers and making things happen to where everyone's okay. He said arithmetic is arithmetic is some. It's just totally different. People just assume you got to be able to add in your head and do all these things in order to make the numbers work. You don't. I have what's called an ad machine, but I think it's honest about it.

Erin Gray:

Okay, but I think it's really important that you said that, because I think people like you're saying, like we don't need calculus, we. You know my kid's in seventh grade, but she's doing like eighth or ninth grade math now and literally I'm like Grayson, I don't remember that stuff. Like I'm going to have to learn it with you. But I know my financial calculator, I know how to add and subtract and those are the things like like listen, ladies, if we can figure out how to start a business, how to figure out how to market, how to there's so many things we've had to figure out how to do to get to where we are we can 100% learn how to add numbers.

Erin Gray:

Look at numbers. Like we I think we owe that to ourselves. Like I think we're shortchanging ourselves when we think that we're not capable of doing this. It's almost like this I mean, even I think people have that, that story around math like, well, I'm not good with math or numbers, so I'm not good in my business. It's like, no, you're not. That's not true. It's just what have we been told that we, you know, have been with numbers or money? And how do we want to change that narrative to make it more empowering for for ourselves?

Lisa Marie Robinson:

Yeah, and you know, and here's the thing you know, I'm awesome with numbers, I'm awesome at doing what I do. And here's a perfect example I had a client call today and she came on the call and she, she was emotional, she was ready to burn it down, like she was done. You know, she didn't know how this was going to work. She was tired, every year it was one thing or this. And I let her get all those feels out and then I said, okay, let's look at your accounts, let me get into the bank, let me go look. And I said, oh, you know, and, and y'all, I do this quite often with her, okay, we've been working together for a while, and it was funny because she was like I knew it, and I told her. I said I'm good, I figured it out, I'm good. And it was over the last set of estimated taxes and we had been navigating some of the things, and one of the things that neither one of us had realized is that she'd curtailed her spending so much that we hadn't put enough into her tax savings account. However, we really did. We put money up, we just put it in a different account, okay, but her brain wasn't seeing it. And so what happened was, as I said, I figured it because she was like I'm not going to pull on a line of credit to go pay the estimated taxes, right, yeah, and I didn't want her to do that either. And I was like, okay, just hold on, just chill for just a minute. Figured it up and I said, okay, this is what we're going to do. And I told her what to transfer into the tax savings account and boom, all the money was right there and she goes and she goes. I knew it. I told and this her two lead teams. I told them I you had your work cut out for you today. I wasn't sure how you were, that you had your work cut out and that I was sure you'd figure out something, but I just wasn't sure how you were going to do it. And look at there, and she just she was awesome, and she was just like I'll give you any testimonial you want. Oh, my gosh, okay, I don't need to fall off the tracks, I'm not falling off, I'm right on track, I just need to take a moment to breathe. And I went. I'm not gonna let you fall off the tracks, she goes. No, you're gonna make sure my butt stays on the tracks, you're not gonna let me fall. It was exactly I'm not gonna let you. So that's that's part of the fractional CFO, right is we're helping you navigate things so that you can one take a deep breath. Yep, you know. And then literally she went okay, I'm, you know what, I'm okay, we've got that. I was like she goes, we're not derailing. I'm like, no, you're not.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

And and that's that's where it's similar to having a CPA or a tax advisor, right, looking at those taxes. I don't do taxes. I have an enrolled agent who I've partnered with, who she does those things. She's a tax advisor, she does. That is her wheelhouse, that is her expertise. I don't want nothing to do with it. I have her as a partner because she's really good. That's her jam. Okay, my jam is this just like having a business coach, their jam is to help you see what's possible so that you get out of your own way, right, and so that's that's where this it comes, because normally, if you're wanting to reach those high five figures, those high or high six figures, going into seven figures, you've got a goal, you've got dreams. You want to make sure your kids are taken care of or your grandkids are taken care of. You want to make sure you can give back, and you also want to make sure that you're taken care of Right and so I'm able to come in and help you see how all those things can be done, yeah.

Erin Gray:

And it's a lot of fun when you have someone like I've. I've had a lot of women tell me like it's, I want to be handheld, but not as like a baby, but just more so like it's fun to be with, doing it with someone that sometimes in the beginning it feels a little scary, you're not quite sure, versus having someone to hold your hand, to have fun, to enjoy the process, to flip the switch on being with your money and looking at your numbers. It's, it's fun and it's it's fun to have someone boring with me.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

Hey, come on, it's never boring with me. I mean, I promise I'm going to have you see the good in and I'll have you laughing at no time. It's not it time, it's it's not it. And that's the thing is. I remember being stressed and crying all the time with money, like over money and the lack of, and how stressed it made me and oh, but it wasn't the money itself that was doing that yeah it was the stories yep of how it was supposed to be and how society was telling me, especially as a woman, how society is supposed to be telling me.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

I'm not supposed to know these things. And now, even with early 2024 being one of the hardest years in my eight years of business, I still wouldn't do it differently.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

I still made more money than I ever made in corporate and I still wouldn't do it differently. I still made more money than I ever made in corporate and I still wouldn't do it differently, even with the. It was difficult. You ask a lot of, a lot of small businesses. 2024 was a very difficult year for business and I still wouldn't do it differently. And there are some who decided it wasn't for them and that's okay. And if you know this and you go through this and you wouldn't do it any differently, meaning you would still have the business, then let's make sure your numbers are being taken care of and let's make sure that you, you know one, you know what's going on with money and you have a good relationship with money, so that you can.

Erin Gray:

Yeah, I agree 100%. So tell us three things or tips that you see on your side of the laptop that you probably see a recurring theme or pattern with your clients.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

The first one is you don't know what's going on with your money.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

Yep, I see that on my yep, don't know your numbers, yep, and when I say that you know how much money you bring in, but you don't know how much your monthly expenses are, you don't know what your yearly expenses are, you don't know what's going on with your money. Now can I tell you how much my expenses are off the top of my head? No, but I can immediately pull up a spreadsheet and I can tell you, yes, and if that spreadsheet is updated constantly, like yeah, every month it's updated, and my clients would be able to do that now too, because they have that money roadmap, because knowing, again, knowledge is power. That's the biggest thing. The second one beating yourself up for past mistakes.

Erin Gray:

Yep.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

Because we, as women, we are awesome at giving other people grace Me included, by the way but we are not so great at giving ourselves grace. Yeah, and that's one of the things that I had to learn. Right, I could have and for a while it did the bankruptcy and the foreclosures and you know I could have let all of that stop me. You know I could have, and that was part of the problem, and you know I could have also let maybe the mistake I the problem, and you know I could have also let maybe the mistake I made at such and such stop me. Right, we're human, we're going to make mistakes. Yeah, it is just the way it works.

Erin Gray:

Well, that's how we learn, and I think in in school we aren't taught to make mistakes, we're taught to get A's get it perfect right Versus entrepreneurship. It's like no, you learn by doing. And the way that you learn sometimes is $5,000, $10,000, depending on the size of your business. I had a previous. He and I used to work together at my family's construction business. He was like Erin, it was like $60,000. Family's construction business he was like Aaron, it was like $60,000. And I'm like, yeah, that's. I mean, understanding how insurance works is really important. You know, and we learn it.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

I mean, he had the money. But, like we learn it through doing Well, and one of the things that another mentor told me, um, that I worked I worked with um with in the healing process. He said let's change it from it being a failure but instead and this happened to me let's change it to where we're asking a question of what was I supposed to learn from this? Yeah, and when we change that question and we really look at what did I learn from this, what was I supposed to get from this? And we learn and we realize, oh, oh, okay, and it's funny because there was a reel a few days ago that came up I can't think of the guy's name Big Bang Theory Sheldon. He's on the reel and it says me looking at God's plan for me and he's flipping the pages and he's going why? But why, why? And he flips it over three pages. Oh, that's why. And sometimes those learning experiences we may not see again late 2023, early 2024, we may not see what I, what I didn't see, what those learning experiences were maybe until now, and even more going and they're changing it to what am I supposed to learn from this? What was I supposed to learn from this. What? What am I supposed to get? What am I supposed to learn from this? What was I supposed to learn from this? What am I supposed to get from this Is a way to change it around to where it's not a negative thing beating yourself up and okay, what am I supposed to?

Lisa Marie Robinson:

And writing it down and seeing it as a positive thing. So now you've learned and you're able to move forward. And that's the biggest thing is because we beat ourselves up and then we stop. And the third thing is give yourself credit. I mean, honestly, I know that's similar to not beat yourself up, but my coach even tells me you don't give yourself enough credit, you don't pat yourself on the back. Yes, your client did this, but you supported her doing this. You, you know, and it's like, like you know, I, I celebrate the client. He's like celebrate what you did right and you know, and doing those things and and just um, realizing, hey, I grow, I've got a business, I'm growing it and, and I'm part of you know a very small percentage and and, okay, I did this and I've learned from it. And then, honest to goodness, please go know your numbers. I'm like I can't stress that enough. Please go know what's going on with your money, because not knowing is is is.

Erin Gray:

I think that creates more lack of safety or feeling of lack of, yeah, havoc, because it's like it adds to it. It's like what Lisa has said so many times is knowledge is power. It's like when you know it, you may not like it, that's okay, that you're okay to to not like it, but knowing it gives you, I think, immediate power. Like a client of mine we were, we did the same thing and she was like I can't tell you how good I feel now just knowing where we are. And I'm like we I think we under value that exercise because once you know, then you get to start making decisions and then that leads to more, you know, feelings of empowerment because you're actually able to make sound decisions, because you know where you are.

Erin Gray:

And I would say, if you're avoiding it, I would get curious of like, why, what am I afraid of? Because I think a lot of women are like okay, it's the scary little monster in the closet. But it's like once you actually open the closet and you have your breakdown, you're like okay, there's nothing, I mean, it's all fixable, we can all work it out, like and and it just creates this almost like this momentum of it. You just don't look at your numbers and then you stay not looking at your numbers and then it adds up and then it becomes this huge snowball versus okay Every day or every week. You know, like what is it that might be?

Erin Gray:

And I always say start small, like it might be okay Every day on your calendar. I'm just going to log in to my QuickBooks or my bank account or however you want to do it, and I'm just going to see and feel what it feels like in my body to then work your way up, to then start to look at that stuff, because I think it's almost like going back to that rubber band that we were talking about. It's like you look at it and then you don't look at it for months again, right? So what is the going back to your number three or number two, I can't remember. It's like what's the most loving thing, right? Is the most loving thing to maybe just sit down or call a friend and say hey, will you keep me, help me, keep me accountable for the next month or two? I, for the next month or two? I want to look at my bank statements every single X, and you know asking yourself like what?

Lisa Marie Robinson:

what is the most loving thing I can do for myself in this moment? One of the things I did is I actually started? Um, I, I have my bank on my the bank app on my phone, yep, and so I got in the habit of okay, at least twice a week I'm going to look at it.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

Yep, now I go into my bank account at least three, four times a week, sometimes every day. But I get in the habit of looking, just going in and looking at the balance, looking at the charges, because, again, people are human, making sure what's supposed to come out, supposed to come out. I cannot tell you how many things I have caught because of that, and it's just, and doing what you said. How's this making me feel? And so, even last year, I forced myself to go and look at my bank account, even when we were having the struggle, because I I knew if I didn't, because I had some of that popping up, I was like Nope, we got, we got to keep this. We got to know that it's okay. How does this feel Okay? Why does it feel this way? And just, you know, um, having that conversation with myself, yeah, and you're journaling, and my client did the same thing, by the way, the one we were talking about from this morning, she got off the phone. Right before we got off the phone, she says okay, I can't tell you how I feel so much better. You've turned my mood completely around. I am ready to go now. I no longer want to burn it to the ground.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

Lisa, you know it's like, okay, and I didn't judge her for having those feelings, right, I listened, okay, and if you have someone who is not listening and who judges you, please run the in the opposite direction of them, because that's the key. I let her have her feelings, I let her feel them Right, I let her talk them out. I listened, I didn't say but this, but I listened and then I said, okay, let's look at this and let's see what we've got first. And then I, as she says, I worked my magic magic. I did what I did and she no longer wants she. She's like holy crap, you know, just like your client. Oh, my gosh, I feel so much better knowing where I'm at and what direction we can go. Okay, this is breathable, this is doable. Okay, we're not, you know, tinkering off into a deep end with sharks.

Erin Gray:

Cause that is where the mind wants to go, Right? I mean I haven't ever had a client that has just been like, oh, it's a mate. It's like it's always like doomsday and it's like, hang on a second, exactly what you're saying, Right? It's like you feel the feels and then you're like it's almost like an exhale, you know, and then you're just about. It's almost like, you know, when the little toddler gets like stickers, like that's what it is for us, Like that's what we're doing for ourselves. We're building that, that love, that self-confidence, that self-trust, that like I do what I'm saying I'm going to do, and it feels, it's like so. When I say proud, I don't mean prideful, I mean like satisfied, right, Like you're so satisfied that you do, you stuck to your plan, you did what you said you would do. Now look at how far you've come. I mean that's that, like you said, that is to be celebrated and I don't think that we do that enough.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

No, we don't.

Erin Gray:

We don't.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

I mean, I, I, I don't, you know. My coach asked me, uh, asked all of us on our mastermind call what um 2025 was to be a most amazing year. What would what, what would have happened, right. And so I have all this list and then he goes, okay, and he says and what would you personally be doing for you?

Erin Gray:

for it to be amazing year.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

And I went um and he said that's okay. I said, can I get back to you on that? He said, yep, and don't be surprised that that is what normally most of y'all will say and I was like, and then he sent me a message saying I want you to really think about this and get back to us and tell us right, because he was he's being serious. You know whether that's a a trip for me and my best friend, what? What would happen for me personally, myself thinking of me taking care of me would happen for 2025 to be an awesome year, and I'm gonna be honest, that never crossed my mind to put that on my list. Yeah, and and so it. We, as women, we we don't tend to to look at those things that way. Only time we look at ourselves is when we think we don't tend to to look at those things that way. Only time we look at ourselves is when we think we've done something wrong and we're beating ourselves up and um, y'all were business owners, your business owners. Look at what you've done. Yeah.

Erin Gray:

I mean, you literally have created.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

if you've made $1 in your business and anything over that, you have created something from nothing and I mean, and and I'm reminded that I did you and I've talked about this I started my business with a vehicle being repossessed, no money to my name because, again, my 401k had already been cashed Right, um, and like nothing, nothing.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

And even on my hardest years, I still created this out of nothing. I created a business out of nothing and that is something to be proud of and something to be said. You know, and you know if you're, if you're a business owner and you've got a toddler and you've, you know you've got a baby, you've created a business and taking care of those so that you can be home with them and not have them in daycare Y'all. Hey, look pat yourself on the back please, because that's. I know what the cost of daycare is, and when my kids were little we didn't have the internet. So you know, having a business as easily as we have it now wasn't really a thing and just really truly looking at it like, oh, okay, and if you can do all of that, why can't you do all of this?

Erin Gray:

Yeah.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

That's what I do. I'll go back and look at all the things I've done, oh, wow. And my nervous system goes oh, you, you know what. You did all these things. And so why can't I do all of this? And the answer is you can, yep.

Erin Gray:

Yeah, oh, I love it. Anything else that you want to add or say that we didn't talk about? Oh?

Lisa Marie Robinson:

you know we've covered a lot.

Erin Gray:

I know.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

And both of us could go on and on, and on, and on and on. Uh, no, I mean just exactly those three things, right, don't beat yourself up. Give yourself credit and, for the love of everything, go know your numbers. I mean, just you know, even if it's just a small thing, or even if it's just gratitude and saying thank you, and just you know. Start. The key is, don't go. You don't have to do both as, but just start, start moving in that direction and getting curious and reminding yourself that you're safe and that you're okay. And then, gradually, you know, and, or if you're good, oh okay, this didn't work, this was good, this didn't. You know, I didn't catch on fire, or whatever it is we think we're going to do. I can add another one, right, and just keep adding.

Erin Gray:

Yeah, I love it. Where can people find more about you and connect with you, lisa?

Lisa Marie Robinson:

You can find me on my website, the sassy wealth coachcom. You can also find me on Facebook Instagram. The handle is at the sassy wealth coach Facebook Instagram. The handle is at the Sassy Wealth Coach and yeah, I'm all over. I also have a free Facebook group, the Sassy Wealth Collective excuse me, wealth Queen Collective and it's for women entrepreneurs, for us to build our wealth, and, you know, lift each other up and there. If you go to the website, there's a free offer there that you'll be able to get and it'll um, it'll, help you on your way.

Erin Gray:

Oh, love it. Thanks, lisa, for joining us.

Lisa Marie Robinson:

Thank you for having me.

Erin Gray:

Until next time.