Episode 221: A Profitable Passion

The beauty of the podcast is that we speak with experts who went through the hoops and hurdles and are doing everything in their power so that YOU don’t have to. 

Cody watched his dream die because of money and despite getting his start in the live band and concert booking industry - he had to give it all up. Who would’ve thought that a pandemic would change the trajectory for so many business owners and entrepreneurs?

Once he shifted his focus and became a financial coach, his mission was to ensure no one would have to face that same harsh reality. 

So how has he been able to help over 250 people to date?

Tune in to episode 221 as he explains the psychology and emotions behind discussing money, details some great next steps for business owners and much more! 

For more information about Sizemore Financial Coaching:

Instagram: @sizemorefinanacialcoaching

Facebook: Sizemore Financial Coaching

LinkedIn: Cody Sizemore ; Sizemore Financial Coaching

Website: masteryourmoney.support

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

More times than not, depending on where you are in life, the conversation surrounding finances can be one that makes people a bit uneasy, a bit uncomfortable. Cody wants to change that narrative. Cody was in a totally different industry prior to the pandemic, but due to what happened, it caused him to shift a little bit. It caused him to really reach rock bottom in a sense, but he vowed to never allow anyone else to experience the same thing that he did without the proper knowledge, without the proper resources. And that is why he transitioned into becoming a financial coach. Not only to change the connotation around finances, but to also help people, to also recognize that we may have goals, we may have things that we want to do, things that we want to achieve, and it is all attainable. So, whether you become a client or not, whether you decide to pay Cody, whether you decide to utilize his services or his resources, he still wants to help. It all starts with a conversation. Are you willing to have it? So without further ado, enjoy episode 221 of Profitable Passion.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

What's going on, everybody?

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Welcome back to another episode of the Down to Business Podcast here with Tamar Turner. Look, it's a happy Friday on my end. I don't know when you're going to be hearing this or what day of the week it'll be on your end. But nonetheless, I'm saying all of that to say it's been a good week. I really have to appreciate Cody for just the accommodations. You know, as he even just spoke to before we clicked play, life happens. And if life could happen, it'll definitely happen. But Cody was very accommodating. He was very just, you know, open and flexible for us to get back on here for us to really get down to business. So I'm excited for him to get into everything that we're here to talk about today, really because we all need it in some capacity. We it's something that, you know, if you want to be in the best position in life, if you really want to, you know, achieve those goals, you know, have that beautiful family, have that wealth, break those generational curses and everything like that. This is really kind of that stepping stone to building that foundation and getting there. So as y'all know in my intros, I kind of like to walk on eggshells a little bit. I don't like to give too much, but I also like to kind of you know take a deeper dive. But I obviously I want Cody to come on here and do everything, tell y'all everything, and obviously be a resource to you or someone who you may know. But before we get into all that, Cody, how you doing everything? How you how are you doing today? How's everything on your end?

SPEAKER_02 2:08

I'm doing great, man. Doing great. Football's back, you know, so I'm feeling good. Uh, but no, man, um, can't complain too much. I'm very blessed and uh I'm excited to you know talk with you and have a good conversation today.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

Got you, got you. So for those of y'all who are not looking, Cody does have on the is that the uh lions, bro. The Lions I'm looking at, baby. So yeah, yeah. Um actually had a pretty good commercial too that they debuted yesterday too, that I was I was very much a fan of too. So I'm liking that. I would say ever since Hard Knocks, I've become a uh a hidden Lions fan in the century. I couldn't watch that hard knocks series without really wanting to root for them and really give them all. So, all right, we can talk about football all day, obviously. But we're here to really talk about something just a bit more important, just for everybody tapping in. So now I know we're gonna have people from your side, we're gonna have people from my side, we're probably gonna have some newcomers, maybe even some mutuals along the way. But to bring everybody up to speed, to put everybody on the same playing field, can you just do two things for me? Can you one, just tell me a little bit about yourself, and then can you two just tell me what brings you on the Down the Business Podcast today?

SPEAKER_02 3:11

Sure. So my name is Cody Sizemore. I am the founder owner of uh Sizemore Financial Coaching. And basically what that is, is I'm a financial coach and I help people with several different types of things. Um, you know, number one is I love helping people just get a better grasp of how to manage their money, um, you know, getting themselves out of debt, building up their savings, getting started with investing. Um, and a lot of the people that I talk to are people who have aspirations of starting a business, but they just feel like they can't do it because they're stuck in their job because they need that money kind of thing. And uh, you know, one of the goals that I work with people a lot is just, you know, helping them get to the point where their finances are so healthy that they feel really confident for taking that that next leap of faith and that next step in their in their you know careers. So that's what I kind of do. Um, I also, you know, put a really heavy emphasis on the, I would say like the mental and emotional aspects of money as well, because like almost like the money psychology, because I found that that is like one of the biggest drivers of people's either failures or successes with money themselves. So that's kind of like who I am, how I serve people, and uh, you know, why I'm here as well. Um, you know, talk to people who are either business owners right now, who are looking to get their finances more organized so that they can maximize their profits, or two, help people get financially healthy so that they can feel confident in order to start that new business.

SPEAKER_01 4:41

I like that. So meeting people at different points in the journey, depending on what you know their comfort level is, or maybe even their education. So touched on a few things there that I want to take a bit of a deeper dive into. So the first thing though is really the origin story in a sense. You know, with finances, with the financial industry, it's not something that is the easiest thing. I feel like everybody may have an opinion, everybody may have an experience, everybody may have a not so good experience with things like that. So for you, what did what propelled you to take that leap of faith to become a business owner, to step into this realm, but also be of a resource and a light to others? You know, because it's one thing to be a business owner, but it's one thing to be a business owner offering a product or a service or some help or to be a resource to someone else. So for you, why did you decide to go that route?

SPEAKER_02 5:28

Yeah, that this is a great, great question. Um, because I may have one of the more unique stories as far as like why I got into finances as compared to a lot of people in the financial industry. So as you might be able to tell a little bit from like the black shirt and like all, you know, the arm of tattoos and stuff like that. Um, I come from the music industry, actually. So uh I was in a um national touring band, you know, was recording with like multi-platinum record producers, um, stuff like that. And then after the band was done, I then moved into the concert booking industry. So that's what I did for a living, was just booking concerts. And uh, you know, COVID came and all the concerts went away. And that's when I kind of made the shift over to coaching, but it goes a little bit deeper into what actually led up to me actually stepping into this space. And it goes back to when I was in the band. Um, the band was doing great. Like we were playing, you know, all over the country, playing like these massive festivals, recording with that producer. Um, everything was amazing. And unfortunately, the one thing that wasn't amazing was like my own personal finances. You know, like I was living paycheck to paycheck. I had a horrible spending problem. I had a ton of debt, no savings, like all this kinds of stuff, right? And at first, I kind of like embraced that because I was like, this is how I earn my stripes. Like it's it's the starving artist, you know? Um, but really, dude, like it led to me living basically eight months out of the year in our van, basically surviving off of like $5 a day to eat, to do whatever I needed to do, you know? So that was like just enough for me to get like, you know, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and maybe like a like a Chef Boyard, like a cold can of Chef Boyer D ravioli that I would like throw into the dashboard and heat up in the sun in Arizona and all that kind of stuff. And like I said, at first I loved it, but man, after like three, four years of doing that, it just started to catch up with me. And I just remember that there was this one time when we were driving through the night, we were in the middle of nowhere in Oklahoma, and we stopped at this gas station to like fuel up to you know get a snack, like whatever it might be. And I pulled out my wallet, and uh there was no money in my wallet, so I was like, okay, no problem. I'm sure I have something on like my card, right? So I pull up my bank app and I had one dollar and three cents in my bank. And in that moment, I just felt like this huge weight come over me. And I was like, how in the world could I ever let myself get to this place? You know what I mean? Um, and I dude, I just remember like I went into our trailer because I couldn't, I was like feeling like super overwhelmed. I think I was having an anxiety attack, to be honest with you. Um and like my my hands, my head, my head just fell into my hands and I just started crying, you know. And it was in that moment that I was like, I need to fix this. I need to fix this. So after we got home from that stretch of shows, I went down this like rabbit hole of trying to learn and figure out everything that had to do with money. Um, and I had to tell the guys, I was like, hey guys, unfortunately, I just can't keep doing this. So I had to leave the band. So my dream died because of money, and I was so pissed off, and that's why I went on that rabbit hole to figure this out. And after I was able to figure things out, and I did a ton of research, I started trying new things, you know. Some of it didn't work, some of it did, and I got some like experience under my belt. I finally got myself out of debt, I finally got some money in the bank, I finally got my footing, and then I was like, I know for a fact that there's other people out there that felt the way that I did, and that sucks. And I don't want that for anyone. I don't want anyone to give up on their dream, whether it be playing music, starting a business, um, you know, being able to provide for the family the way they actually want to, whatever it might be. I don't want anyone else to feel that. So I want to help other people experience what I experienced of getting out of that situation and getting into a place to where you can actually feel like abundant and have all these different opportunities come to you. And that's what kind of birthed um, you know, size more financial coaching. I launched that uh June of 2020, like right in the middle of the pandemic, and um haven't looked back since. It's been great, man. Um, over the last four, four, four and a half years, um, I've worked with, man, I don't know, like 200, 250 people. And uh collectively speaking, uh, they have seen a positive impact in their finances of of over a million dollars. Or uh, I'm sorry, over five million dollars collectively speaking. Uh, and it's been great, man. So that's my origin story. That's where it all comes from. You know, band guy turns financial coach. There you go.

SPEAKER_01 10:45

A transformation you don't hear about too often, but nonetheless, a story indeed behind that. And I I love really asking that question because you really never know what you're gonna get. You really never know where that experience stemmed from, where that interest came from or was peaked from, and what happened. And in your case, you know, it was realization, it was reflection, but it was also a decision that had to be made because, you know, even in that situation alone, you could have still found a way out, in a sense. It may not have been the most ideal thing, it may not have been something that, it may have been something that you would have paid for to for time to come, but you could have figured that out and you could have kind of kept just moseying around, figuring things out in that way. But the fact that you chose to kind of just halt, in a sense, realize that, hey, I can't ever get to myself, I can't ever allow myself to get to a position like this. But God forbid I don't want anyone else to be in that position. I think that that also says a lot about who you are and this and the decision to step away. I know that was nice, I know that wasn't easy, especially for just the experiences, the camaraderie, just everything and just your passion where it lies. So to have that is amazing. Now, we got some feedback on the Instagram live here, and it's crazy about this question because the question was asked prematurely before I even asked the origin story, but your origin story also kind of peaked this in my brain too. So, what's your hack to start slash have the financial conversation with those who may not be where they are? You know, because it's never an easy conversation to tell people what they're doing wrong, to give people that feedback. And some people just aren't receptive of things like that. So when you're going into a position when somebody has decided to be transparent and be vulnerable, not just let you know what they have in front of them, and then recognize that you know a change needs to be had, something needs to give. How do you really go about that? How do you really start that?

SPEAKER_02 12:27

Just uh just for clarification. So you're basically asking like how it would kind of start that conversation with someone who's maybe like taking a big, you know, uh vulnerable leap of faith of just even saying, hey, indeed.

SPEAKER_01 12:40

Like you helped me. You speak sometimes to people who may be on that fence, like teeter tottering a little bit, may know that they kind of want to start that business, but may feel like you know, they don't know what resources to exhaust per se, or they don't know kind of where to go, or maybe they feel like their financials. Sometimes we we we overthink or we second guess ourselves. And a lot of times business owners, entrepreneurs, creatives, we think that we just have to have this elaborate setup or this boot coop amount of money in order to really start. But a start is really just a start. It could be putting pen to paper, it could be putting an idea or a vision up, it could be making that phone call or returning that email. So, yeah, for you, when people kind of come to you with a vision but are a little, you know, apprehensive or maybe even a little nervous about it, how do you kind of ease that?

SPEAKER_02 13:21

Yeah, man. So the first thing I would say is like, I tell every single person that I talk to, I'm like, listen, before we even talk about anything, I want you to understand where my intentions are. I don't care if you pay me or not. I don't care if we work together or not. You came to me for help, that's what I'm gonna give you, first and foremost. And you know, if you want to take that next step of getting more help, we can sure, we can talk about that, sure. But like I just want to provide you some value first and foremost, right? So the way that I kind of handle things is like, you know, I know that this area of life is so um personal, you know, and and people have to be kind of vulnerable, um, especially someone they've never really talked to before. So my big thing is like I just love asking a lot of questions, first and foremost. So I'll ask you questions about like what your overall financial landscape looks like, you know, like what your income is, debt, savings, investments, stuff like that. Um, and then, you know, I might ask like a couple other questions that kind of give me like a bit a little bit better of an idea of A, what you want to see, but also B, um, how things are affecting you, you know. So I'll ask them like, what are your goals? You know, is it paying off debt? Is it starting a business? Is it whatever? But then I'll also ask them like when you think about everything that is going on with your finances, what sort of like thoughts, emotions, or feelings come to mind or do you typically experience? I'll also ask them, like, if you were to be 100% honest with yourself, what do you feel is like the number one thing that's kind of standing in the way or kind of holding you back from having the money be where you really, really want it to be? And those two questions in particular are very telling because it's those two, how things affect them and what's holding them back. Those two are the ones where it really opens up that door to the money psychology side of things. So usually I'll usually take their answer and I'll say, can we talk about this a little bit deeper? So maybe someone will say, like, you know, I feel like uh I feel like a failure or I have like this imposter syndrome because I'm a you know banker, but I can't, and I can, you know, budget million dollar budgets, but I can't figure out my own finances, you know, so I feel like I'm I'm some fraud kind of thing, right? Um, so we'll go deeper into that and I'll start just asking open-ended questions, like, okay, so what's what's actually causing you to feel this way? Like, you know, and we just kind of have a conversation about it. If someone says that they have a spending problem, cool, we'll talk about that. Like, what's that look like? You know, how does it feel when you spend? You know, like uh, where do you think that this really comes from? Stuff like that, right? So a lot of what I do is just asking questions. And then when when I once I feel like I really understand the person on a really, really deep level, that's when I'll give them some feedback and I'll say, hey, so here's some feedback on your financial situation. This is what I think is possible for you. This is what I think you can do in the amount of time, um, and all that kind of stuff, right? But then I'll usually through the other conversation with the money psychology side of things, um, there's usually a few things that I'm able to kind of pin pinpoint that are like maybe missing for them that would really, really serve them if they got it in place. Uh, and then I just kind of give them feedback on that, you know, and I'll I'll just say, like, hey, based off of this conversation, this is what I think would really, really benefit you. And here's why, and here's where this comes from, and all that kind of stuff. And I just make sure that they understand everything really, really clearly so that they they have the ability to do two things. Number one is just take that information and run with it themselves. Like if they want to say, hey, Cody, this call was great. Thank you so much. I'm gonna go put this stuff in action and I'll keep you posted, cool. That's fine with me. But also, too, it's it might be some one of those situations to where someone's like, this all sounds awesome. I really, really think this is possible, but I really think that having someone in my court to help me like, you know, hold myself accountable, guide me, whatever, um, that would really benefit me too. What would that look like? And then we can have that conversation too. But really, it's it's just about being open. It's just about asking questions and not being judgmental on it. Um, there's so many people on the internet that like, you know, they're like those financial gurus who will like throw up their YouTube shorts or whatever it might be, and uh they'll just rip into people. And that's cool because it's entertaining and it's funny and it's exciting, but it's not constructive to actually helping people, you know. So that's one thing that like, if anyone's like, I don't want to reach out to this guy because he's gonna make me feel like crap, that's not me, you know. So I don't know if that answered the question, but hopefully it did.

SPEAKER_01 18:12

Yeah, he said, Rest assured, you know, we're we're here to make you as comfortable as possible because vulnerability is never easy, and especially with finances. You know, it's something that nobody ever wants to talk about the credit score, nobody ever wants to talk about what happened or the debt or anything like that. But these are problems that are plaguing us that are facing us, that the more we put them off, the more we don't address them, or the more we kind of just try to ignore them or turn the other cheek, the more that they can can have drastic effects, and not just that immediate effect, but some of this stuff can really have long-term effects and really, you know, it can be things that you can be fighting back for for years upon years upon years, had it not be addressed. But I love the inquisitive nature behind what you do because I think that that's important. And it also goes to show, like you said, that I'm not really here to make a sale, I'm not really here to tell you, hey, I'm this is it's it's me or the highway. You know, I'm here to let you know that there are a lot of different things out there, there are a lot of different options, there are a lot of different routes, there are a lot of different resources. You chose to come to me for a reason, and I'm here to provide my service and how I do that. Exactly. It's just the same, you know, and that's so important. You know, I I love to ask questions. You know, I'm naturally, I think that may not come as a surprise to many people. That's why I'm here today. But right so important to get down, as I call it, the nitty-gritty, just really getting down to the bare bones, that foundation, figuring out where this all started, what happens, because with asking questions, you begin to uncover things. We begin to even learn things about ourselves. You know, I had an uh interview earlier today, and it's not until you really start to talk about yourself or that people ask follow-up questions that you really realize, oh, I did do that, or oh wow, that is like that. Maybe I do like, you know, I tell people all the time the hardest thing to do is really to talk about yourself. But if you make it easier, you know, if you engage, you kind of let me know where we want to go or steer this in a way, you can go because I forget things. You know, I forget what I did back there. I had to pull up my resume, mid-interview, just to recognize, just to remember where I did that, when get yours that, you know, so it's hard sometimes to really just be able to do all of that. But when you have someone who you feel is on your side, like you said, it's not here to be that guru that just makes you feel bad from living paycheck to paycheck or bad about not necessarily having your finances in order as if they weren't at one point in your position. I think that that's kind of crazy too.

SPEAKER_02 20:15

Yeah. Well, one one thing I just want to note um, you had mentioned uh, you know, learning more about yourself when you start talking to people about things. Dude, there have been more times than I can count where I've had a conversation with someone and they'd said something along the lines of like, I never, ever, ever thought of it that way, but that makes so much sense as to why I behave this way with money or why I think this way or believe this way about money. Because I understand now like where it comes from and and you know, like how it's affecting me. Um, and you know, the it's one of those things where it's like if you can help someone understand themselves better just through like one conversation, that's where the real magic happens, you know, like that's what you really need to have happen. And you're never ever gonna get there if you just show up with like, this is the way I do things, take it or leave it, you know. Like, no, like personal finance is personal, you know. So like you have to be able to like dig deeper with that. And uh it's really it is magical when that kind of experience happens with people.

SPEAKER_01 21:27

We've been getting some great feedback on the IG live. So I appreciate everybody tapping in with me. But Cody, I I really think that you said it best. You know, it's important that people realize, and the reason why I love to kind of dig deeper and ask these types of questions and have these conversations is because I don't want people to feel like I'm just bringing on big names or people who I'm I'm just trying to sell something or you know, I don't get anything from these interviews. When I say get anything, I mean like monetary or anything like that. Like I just one is pure enjoyment, pure curiosity, but two is also to push that, have that impact to make sure. People can educate themselves to you know there may be somebody who comes across this episode who feels as though their finances are not where they need to be, or maybe there may be someone who thinks like me and says that there's always room for improvement, even with the savings, even with maybe high-yield savings accounts, even with you know putting money away, even with contributing however you do it, IRAs, 401ks, whatever you choose. There is always different options, there are always different ways to invest and make money and have your money then multiply and make money for you. So I love to really see how deep of a dive that you take into things because it also just lets people know the genuine nature behind things. That look, we don't have to ever work together, but if you take that advice and you implement it and it helps, then I'm happy. I feel like it's a job well done. And I think that that takes a special type of person, especially with someone who has been there, you know, because you can easily be somebody who's been there and you can gatekeep. You can find the secrets out yourself, you can get that secret sauce and find out the foundation and find out what works for you, and it can just be tailored to you. But what people also don't realize too is that everything is not for everyone. The podcast episode that we dropped earlier today, episode 194, is entitled Everyone Can't Go. And it's just because, you know, in that episode, David, he was talking a lot about how we all want to make the sales, we all want to make the money, we all want to bring the revenue in, but every customer is not your ideal person. Every you're you have to always think about your why, what you're trying to do here. And if the why was to be authentic, was to be genuine, then you shouldn't just be worried about sale after sale after sale after sale. Sometimes you have to make those connections, sometimes you have to put in that legwork, do those cold calls, do those cold emails with nothing to show for it. Because if you really love what you do, and if you're really passionate about financial coaching, AI automation, podcasting, weightlifting, anything like that, you're gonna continue to do that regardless of what the outside or extenuating circumstances are. So I love that. Now, across my podcast, from audience to um to even interviewees, we've tackled a host of different industries: real estate, healthcare, financial coaching, AI, schools, everything that you can think of. I got people in clothing, people who make their own dog treats. I don't think I'll ever let that one go. Um, when it comes to you and being niche specific, and there goes that siren I told y'all about. I told y'all if a siren could happen, it will happen. But no, so when it comes to different niches and industries, you recognize that there are a host of different business owners out there, a host of different entrepreneurs, a host of different creatives. When it comes to what you do specifically, are you niche specific? Can only certain people kind of come to you and say, hey, this is what I do. Do you specialize in anything? Or are you just open and bound? You're you're saying that, hey, we have this sit down, we can really get to the nitty-gritty, I can ask these questions. And at the end of the day, I can make sure that I can be of service or a resource to you. What does that look like?

SPEAKER_02 24:35

Yeah, I would say it's a little bit of both. Um, you know, if there's someone who's coming to me who wants some support, like I'm not gonna turn them away. You know, like I'll at least like have a conversation with them. Um, but I will tell you like there's there is like a specific type of person that I really love serving the most. And that's just people who are like, they're wanting to get better control of their money, they're wanting to get themselves out of debt, they're wanting to build up their savings, they're wanting to start a business, get into real estate investing. Real estate investing is something that I'm really, really passionate about. So stuff like that, right? Um, you know, I could even give you like, you know, I I love working with people who are be between the ages of 25 to 50, you know, because that's me. Like, you know, I'm I'm 31 kind of thing. So that those are my people, you know, the millennials kind of thing. Um, but really, dude, like if I were to say that I'm niche specific on anything, it wouldn't be age, it wouldn't be income level, it wouldn't be goals or what they're kind of trying to accomplish, it wouldn't be any of that. Um, any of the demographic side of things, it wouldn't be that. It would really come down to what I will call like the psychographic side of things. So I look for a certain type of person, you know, the people who are like really, really driven, the people who are just so fed up with dealing with this that they're not gonna want to deal with this anymore. The people who are like, I'm gonna be a like a massive person of integrity, and I'm gonna take ownership of all of my successes that are to come, but also all of my shortcomings too, and understand that it's a me versus me journey. No one's gonna save me, no one's gonna hold me back, it's me kind of thing. Like that's who I love working with. And if I was to be niche specific, it's those type of people. I've had great conversations with people that I think have a lot of potential, have a great situation to turn things around with, have good goals, all that kind of stuff, but they weren't that type of person. So I didn't, I never even like steered the conversation in the way of like, hey, do you want to learn more about coaching? I just helped them and then I just sent them on their way and told them to keep in touch. And if they have any questions, let me know. Um, because I don't want to, you know, like I want to work with people that are gonna be best for me, because if I do that, that's gonna be best for the people that I work with, you know. So hopefully that answers your question. If there's any sort of niche, it's not really about the demographics, it's really about who you are as a person.

SPEAKER_01 27:05

You've got to want to work with those who are willing, who want to put the work in. You know, I often think about that statement alone made me think about you can lead a horse to the water, but you can't make them drink it. You know, you can give everybody all the resources, tell them where to go, what to do, put it in a handbook, put it in a reel, put it in an email. It's up to them to capitalize on it. It's up to them to really want to take that step further and and kind of want to go there and do that. So, some more feedback that we got now on the IG Live. So, as a coach myself, when my clients don't achieve their goals, it hurts. How do you deal with that? Can everyone truly be financially free?

SPEAKER_02 27:40

Yeah, so I don't know if he's if if that person's a financial coach or if they're just a coach in general, but what I will say is this generally speaking, um you just can't make it about you. Because it's not about you. Like, you know, if you're a coach and maybe your client doesn't achieve this the results that you think that they could or that they should, that's not on you. You know, um, that's a them problem. It goes, it goes back to that thing I said earlier, like it's a it's a you versus you journey, right? So sometimes when I think that a lot of coaches struggle with this, and um the reason for it is that we are painting in the picture um or we're painting a picture in our head that we're the hero for people, and that's just simply not the case. They're the hero, we are we are the guide, you know. So think about it like Star Wars, right? Like we are not Luke Skywalker, we are Yoda for Luke Skywalker kind of thing, you know? And when you when you understand that they're the hero and that we are not the savior, we're not, you know, anything like that, we're the person who's guiding them and supporting them, then all of a sudden, like you not only separate your yourself from their wins, but you also separate yourself from their shortcomings as well. And you just know that like at the end of the day, like you're a good coach, you're doing what you need to do, you're holding them accountable, you're guiding them, you're supporting them. If you're giving your all and they're not taking it and running with it, that's not on you. That's not on you. So that's my biggest suggestion is like reframe that mindset of I'm the hero and it's about me, versus I'm the guide and it's about my clients.

SPEAKER_01 29:30

And yeah, I know he's not a uh financial coach specifically, but he does just he's even been like a coach and a mentor to me. So I'm actually glad that I'm glad we decided to go Instagram live today. We've been getting some good feedback, but I like the way that that was worded. I even like the word shortcomings in replace of the word when we think of wins, and obviously you immediately just think of losses, but I like the word shortcomings because we like to turn losses into lessons here. We don't really like that word loss or lose or anything. So I like that, but I do think that differentiation is is important in a sense. But I love the way that you frame that. He said great perspective himself because yeah, I didn't think of it like that. You know, when you become a mentor to someone in a lot of cases that I have been, you just you take everything personal, you know, you take that when they succeed, oh, I didn't do something right. I didn't do, you know, and a lot of times I think maybe we need to have a different frame of mind about that and think maybe hey, what if that, what if everything was implemented correctly? What if I did lay out the foundation correctly? It just didn't go the way that was supposed to. What if that person didn't execute to their entirety? But I think for us, we immediately place ourselves as the expert, as that person that's kind of like that top dog in a sense, so it's just like, look, I feel like I'm not doing my job, or I feel like I'm having to come up short now because I didn't necessarily propel them or push them where they needed to be. And you said you feel like a lot of what people deal with and what they experience comes in the form of that. What do you mean by that? What like what do you I understand there's a lot of emotion that comes with money? Good, bad, ugly. I'm happy some days, I'm on a high day, you know, pay week, it's my favorite week, payday. Oh, you you got the best tomorrow. But on those days where, you know, it's check to check, or you're kind of starting to figure out how is that getting paid or what what bill is that, or I need that, or you know, what's going on like that. So when it comes to that emotion in the financial world or in the financial realm, what have you what have you found to be experiences with people? Do you feel like a why do you feel like emotion plays such a big role in the decisions that people make around their finances?

SPEAKER_02 31:33

Man, it plays such a huge role because I mean we're we're human, you know, like uh the the money behaves a certain way and things happen to the money uh because of our choices and because of our behaviors. And that comes from, you know, the the mentality of things. Like it doesn't come from anywhere else, you know what I mean? So um there's there's so many things I could talk to you about this. Um, and there's a lot of like, you know, it goes back to that thing I said earlier, like personal finances are personal. So every person's gonna have a different experience, a different thing that they need to kind of like, you know, recognize, understand, and overcome. Um, but that I will say that there are certain, there are certain trends, you know. I've been doing this enough um with enough people for long enough that like there are some like kind of buckets that people tend to fall into. Um, so I'll give you a couple examples. First and foremost is just talking about someone's overall like relationship with money. So what I mean by that is like this could be, you know, a belief system they have about money. It could be uh how they behave with money, it could be how money makes them feel, um, whatever it might be. But one thing that comes up quite often, especially with people who do have like that that easy to spend kind of habit, right? Like they they impulse by, they buy because they're feeling down or because they're stressed or they're bored or whatever it might be, right? Like they just have a spending uh habit, right? Um, one thing that I have found that comes to fruition often is that they're kind of looking, they're spending in the sense that they're trying to get some form of control over their lives. So what I mean by that is like maybe the way they grew up, there wasn't a lot that they could control. Maybe they grew up with like, you know, abuse in the household, maybe they grew up with a broken family, maybe they grew up just, you know, kind of poor, or or paycheck, paychecked where they were told no and not a lot, or they couldn't get, you know, the the nice thing that their friend had across the street, like that stuff kind of thing, right? So they were, you know, just experiencing this over and over and over, and they were just kind of having they were, they were playing with the cars that they were dealt with, right? As they were growing up, going into their you know, adolescence and even maybe even early adulthood. But then they grow up, they go off on their own, they get their big boy or big girl job, they're making big boy or good big girl money, and now all of a sudden they're like no one can tell me no. I can do what I want, not because it maybe should be what I do, but simply because I can do it, right? And that feeling of like autonomy, that feeling of control just lights them on fire and they're just like, yes, like I can do this now, right? So then they go off and they're spend their money, and it's all great in the in the in the moment, but then at the end of the month or you know, right before the next paycheck, they're stressed and hard again because all that money went away, right? Well, that entire time they weren't going after the you know the stuff, they weren't going after the new sneakers, they weren't going after the new PlayStation, they weren't going after, you know, the the caramel macchiato. What they were really going after was like just just this sense of autonomy. They're really going after that sense of control. And that's a very, very interesting thing to understand because that very thing that they were going after, which is that sense of control, is actually that thing that's putting them out of control with their finances. Except this time it's different because when they were growing up, they didn't have a choice, but this time they're willingly doing it to themselves and they hate it, you know. So that's just one example of like the relationship with money side of things. Another example might be um, you know, talking more about a different element of like money psychology. So you brought up like, you know, your why. Now we were talking about uh, you know, starting your business and stuff like that, but it's the same thing with your finances, you know, like you gotta find that, like, you gotta find that why that just literally lights you on fire. Like, I'll ask people, like, well, why do you want to be debt free? And they'll say things like, because I don't want to stress out about money anymore. And it's like, okay, cool. What does that mean? You know, like so like peel back a layer and then ask yourself a question about that, and then and another layer and another layer, and it's like a seven-layer dip kind of thing until you find an answer that's literally so powerful that like you like you, it's something that's actually worth fighting for because it actually freaking matters, you know, because if you can find that, bro, it doesn't matter what happens. It doesn't matter, like if there's a car issue, if there's a job loss, if there's, you know, if the whole process of getting yourself out of debt starts to like lose its luster and all that kind of stuff and becomes boring. Like that thing, like that reason why is going to be the thing that helps you push through those barriers that life tries to throw in front of you all the time to help you actually see it through, versus just reverting back to when you're in that very low moment and you ask yourself, like, why the why the heck am I even doing this to myself? And you say, like, oh, well, I just don't want to be stressed about money. Well, you're gonna be stressed about money in that in that moment. So you're gonna be like, well, clearly this isn't working. So I might as well just stop because it's not worth it, kind of thing. So, like, there's there's and that's just a couple things, right? So there's so many things that we could talk about there, but I think that just a couple things for context would be helpful.

SPEAKER_01 37:04

So that's important too, because I I love the point that you touched on about peeling back the layers, because oftentimes I don't think we sometimes we don't necessarily know the why behind something, or we don't we we know the why, but it's not until we really dive or dig a little bit deeper that it's just like, oh, well, this was actually rooted in something else. And what I'm starting to slowly but surely realize is that a lot of the behaviors that we exhibit as adults or parents or grandparents or aunts, uncles, anything like that could be tied back to how we were raised, how we had those interactions, how we had those conversations or different things, or lack thereof. You know, like you said, if you felt like you kind of grew up under wraps or not really being able to do too much, then now that you have that A-word, that autonomy, it's just like, oh, well, I'm gonna, I got money to blow. That's all I was thinking of in my head when you were saying I just going like this. You know, sometimes it's like that because you've never had the opportunity to be able to do that. But if you really take a step back and if you really analyze, you'll realize that this is the reason why you still feel like you have those shackles on you can't really move. So I do like the point that you also touched on too about seeing it through, about life comes in phases and waves and everything of the sort, like that. So do you allow that wave to kind of consume you and do you keep going? Or do you, you know, you take that hit, but you get back up, you set yourself back up, and you go, fall down nine, get up ten, though. I think that that's so important because the emotion, the mental behind things is so crucial. Once you're I tell people all the time, when when I can I can always tell when my mental is off because it affects so many different other areas of my life, and I just don't feel like I'm giving my best self or I'm being my best self or I'm really living up. And time and time again, I tie it back to I'm not thinking right, I'm not feeling right. Maybe my sleep, even this week, my sleep has been off, and I've just been feeling it, you know, and just my procrastination has increased a little bit because I'm too busy thinking about being tired or things like that. But do I allow this to consume me? Do I keep complaining about it, or do I just make changes? Do I maybe hydrate a little bit more, maybe get to sleep a little bit earlier, maybe wind down, maybe just a little bit more, maybe prioritize some things so that I can still knock out what I have to do and get an adequate amount of rest on top of the travel. So it's so important for those checks and balances, and it's even more crazy because you probably see a host of different things in just dealing with so many different people. Like you said, you're probably dealing with people on this side of the spectrum, in the middle of the spectrum, on that side of the spectrum, some people who aren't even on the spectrum that you still have to, you know, some make shift and make things happen with. So we're thinking about size more financial coaching specifically. I always love to, you know, we we we clearly have talked about why this happened, the origin. We clearly have been able to push through and figure out what you're doing and kind of how you're trying to change and move around there. I'm always curious now because as I said in the beginning, we're gonna have some newcomers, we're gonna have some people who you spoke to during this episode, we're gonna have some people who, oh, he said something that I I like. I I need that, you know, I'm I'm willing to take the steps. I'm willing even just to sit down and have a conversation. I want to do that. So for those people, for the people too, like myself, who are gonna now be following along this journey from today and thereon, what can we expect moving forward? Is there anything that Sizemore Financial Coaching is trying to get into? Is there anything you guys are experimenting with as we think about kind of moving towards the end of this year and even preparing for 2025? Is there anything that we can be on the lookout for? Anything on the horizon for you guys?

SPEAKER_02 40:13

Yeah, so um there's actually a couple things. Uh so I am uh hosting on September 23rd, I'm actually hosting like a free like online um kind of masterclass for people. Um so you know, like you can just register for that and uh, you know, it's free. So it really only takes you like 30 seconds to sign up. But what that what what that masterclass is, is um it's titled something that I have found to be true in almost every single person that I talk to. And it's literally titled this You have way more money than you think. Five secrets to unlock your money and live your dream life now, kind of thing. So that's happening on the 23rd of September, 6:30 Eastern. Um, and it's over Zoom, so you can, you know, join from whenever. Um, but if you can't make that, you know, I also have just like a pre-recorded kind of like webinar as well. Um it's a it's a similar kind of setup, uh to but it's a different kind of thing. So that one's called Master Your Money Five Uh Simple Shifts to Rapidly Eliminate Debt and Amplify Your Wealth. Um, and you can find that as like a direct link. It can you can just type in like masteryourmoney dot support and it'll take you straight to it. Um, not dot com, because that's not what I'm about. I'm about the support. So it's masteryourmoney.support and it'll take you right there, right? So um that's just a couple of events and resources I have current currently going on. But right now, man, I'm just really focused on like just talking to people, you know, really focused on just having more and more conversations, whether they become clients or not, just talking to them, helping them out, um, and just kind of going from there, you know, and it kind of goes back to our earlier conversation. Like, I'm not trying to make every single person a client, you know, like uh just just like two weeks ago, I had a call with someone, um, or he shot me a message two weeks ago. I had a call with him probably like three months ago, and he shot me a message and said, Hey, dude, just want to give you a heads up. I ended up paying off my car and I now have seven grand in the bank. Thanks for your help. And I was like, sweet, this wasn't even a client of mine, someone I had one conversation with, you know. So that's kind of what's going on with in my world right now. So if you're listening to this and you're like, I want to check out that masterclass, I want to check out that webinar, um, you can you know find both of those at uh you know masteryourmoney.support.

SPEAKER_01 42:35

And I'll be sure to share those as well. I don't think I've ever visited a dot support. So yeah, one of the kinds. I'm definitely interested in that for sure. But no, I love to ask that question too, because I love to just give people the the outward look that to see what's going on because you've clearly uh multiple times during this podcast offered yourself as a research, told people that, hey, look, I'm not, we haven't even discussed a number or what clients look like or anything like that. We've talked about those conversations, building those connections, figuring out what's going right, what's going well. And like you said, too, that the results speak for themselves. The fact that, like you said, people who you didn't even necessarily take under your wing in full capacity, but just maybe connected with one time or talked about or answer some things for them or even put their mind at ease. They're following up with you, they're letting you know kind of what's happened, testimonials, everything of the sort. So time and time again, I always tell my listeners, I always tell my audience, everybody, no matter how you're tapping in with me, take advantage of these conversations because I do. I tap in with these people, I connect on LinkedIn, I ask the questions that sometimes y'all are too afraid to ask or just don't want to ask, or maybe too prideful over. I'm gonna, I'm putting everything to the side because I I know what I want, I know where I want to be, and I know what I also want for others. I want for those under me, I want for those around me. So I can't get there by being stagnant, by not doing my due diligence, by not wanting to put in that work, by not listening. You know, I because I think it's just really about listening and applying. That's not that's not really a hard concept. So before we officially wrap things up, before we close. Things out before we tell people where they can find you, connect with you, everything of the sort. Do you feel like there's anything that we have not touched on today that you want to leave the people with? Do you feel like there's any last words even that you have for other entrepreneurs, business owners, whether they be in the financial side of things, not being the financial side of things, or even people out there who you may just be speaking to just generally? Anything?

SPEAKER_02 44:20

Yeah, man. Um I think that probably the only other thing that I would say is is this this topic and this, you know, thing that we deal with in life called money, it's a very personal and touchy subject. It could, you know, some people say it's taboo, right? Um, so there's there's probably like a lot of uh, like you mentioned, pride or shame or guilt or fear around just talking to someone about it. And I just want to let you know, like that's okay. You know, it's it's very understandable, but um, I think that one of the things that has really helped turn my life around, and this goes back to when I was first figuring out my own personal finances, is just having that strength and that humility to reach out to someone for help. Um, I became a coach because I went through financial coaching myself and I realized like how life-changing it was for me. And that's why I wanted to, you know, help people as well. Um and I'm not, I'm I would be lying to you if at first when I had that initial conversation with them that I wasn't reluctant about it, you know, like I wasn't fearful about it. I would I was like, you know, I wasn't um unsure about what was going to happen and all those kinds of stuff. Like I had all of those feelings, but it took that strength and that humility to start that conversation. And looking back, that was probably one of the most like impactful decisions that I've ever could make because not only did it change my life with my finances, but it also changed my life with my career and my impact and what I'm doing now. Like this has become more of a passion for me than music ever was. And there was a point in my life that I thought nothing could top music. Nothing. But this has, you know. So um, you know, that's not me trying to say, like, oh, reach out to me. That's just me saying, like, whether it be me, whether it be someone else, whether it even be your spouse, because there are maybe some married people who, you know, don't really have that transparency within their own relationship. I don't care who it is. What I am telling you is like, if you're feeling like you're being held back in some way, if you're feeling like you know that you're capable of more, but you're just unsure about how to get there, start the conversation. Start the conversation and and do it boldly, you know. So that's my my parting, you know, message to people.

SPEAKER_01 46:46

Man, wow. I I'ma just let y'all host the podcast the next time. I got I got my guy Aaron on here who was the coach who was saying, you know, it was much needed for everybody. I got my boy Dre on here doing just the same. But no, Cody, really, I think through and through from the time we started until now, I I just I see the passion, I hear the passion. As someone who, you know, would have never guessed themselves to be a start of podcast, but nonetheless a podcast with business owners, entrepreneurs, I'm a sports guy. So we could have, we could have, I could have been talking sports since 2019, you know what I'm saying? But the fact that I've been able to, you know, do this, see this, and really truly develop and really realize that, yo, there's nothing more that I love than this. I I definitely sense that with you. And I sense that experience, but I also sense, as you said, just it just takes that start. It just takes that leap. If just it just takes being willing. And I think that that will take you a longer way than anything. Well, I can't tell you how many times where I second guessed something or was apprehensive about something or didn't do something, or maybe was in my head or was worried about what the outside was thinking. And then as soon as I did, as soon as I took that step, I said, man, I should have did this months ago, weeks ago, years ago. I should have just never considered, I should have did it as soon as it crossed my mind. So now, whenever something crosses my mind or whenever I'm thinking about something, if I can do it, if I can achieve it, it's happening every single time. So, Cody, obviously, you know, again, thank you for offering yourself as a resource. I'm very excited to see what's to come. I'm very excited to tap into this masterclass, the webinars, but I'm also excited just to see how this continues to build, how the impact continues to broaden, and how people just continue to change for the better and move forward. Now, for the call to action, as I like to say, for the part where, as we said, you know, we figure out who really wants to take that leap, who really wants to, you know, make that change, whether it be with you or whether it be just in some realm or some fashion. Can you just let everybody know the best places to reach you when it comes to social media, websites, everything you got?

SPEAKER_02 48:33

Mm-hmm. Sure, man. Uh, social media, just to look up Sismore Financial Coaching on all platforms. So um, you know, you'll be able to find me there. Um, as far as like, you know, getting connected with me goes, I think that probably the number one thing that I want you to do first is before we even have a conversation, I want you to get some value from me. So take that free, you know, webinar, you know. So just masterymoney.support. All you gotta do is just put in your name and email. That's it. Uh so you know, just put that in, you'll get access to it. Watch the webinar. And if you feel like you like it, you feel like you have more questions, you feel like you want to take that next step, there will be a button on there that you can book a call with me as well. So you're welcome to do that too. Um, so that's probably the best way. Like, I, you know, I don't want you just to hop on a call with me. I want you to like get something out of it first and then hop on a call with me, you know. So that's the best way. Mastermoney.support.

SPEAKER_01 49:25

All right, y'all. I don't I don't know what else to tell y'all. I don't know really what else to say unless y'all want to hear some sports. It's football. Like we said, football is back. By the time y'all probably hear this, will be some weeks in so we can talk some teams and we can see where everybody's at and if people want to take the hats off or keep them on or do what we're gonna do. So, but no, Cody, thank you so much for everything as I spoke about in the beginning. Thank you just for the flexibility. Thank you for just understanding. Thank you for still hopping on and taking the time to do this with me on a Friday at that. So, wishing you all the best from down the business to size more financial coaching. Very excited to continue to stay tapped in, very excited to tune into the masterclass. And for everyone else who listens, for everybody who joined us on Facebook, on LinkedIn, on YouTube, on Instagram, I'm running out of platforms at this point. There's too many cameras, too many lights, but this is all good, you know, from the feedback to just the entertainment to just the value. I definitely think that's the biggest thing. And for me, I just want that value. I want somebody to walk out of here, to close that screen, to hit end, and to feel like they learned something today, or to feel like they want to do a follow-up. They want to get on that call, they want to do that masterclass. So to everybody who continuously taps in with us, tunes in with us, I love y'all. I thank y'all. This has been another episode of the Down to Business Podcast here with Tamar Turner.