For better or worse, the pandemic has normalized Zoom and other online connections. We used it pre-pandemic, but 2020 made a number of companies question the value or need for one-on-one interactions, to the point that we should all practice or feel highly confident with our Zoom presence going forward. This is why I’m excited to chat today with Joanna Lovering, an executive presence coach, workplace psychologist, and fashion stylist, who helps women develop transformative leadership skills. Joanna joins me today to discuss some best practices when putting our best foot forward, at least in the sense of online interactions. I learned so many great tips from this conversation and I hope you do as well.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/executive-presence-with-joanna-lovering

Today is the last Friday of the month and my regular listeners know that on the last Friday of the month, I host the happy hour on the podcast where I gather great friends with me to drink cheap drinks and talk about money topics. 

This is our May Happy Hour and May happens to be Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, as well as Mental Health Awareness Month, so my friends joined me to not only amplify voices in communities that you may not be following but also share amazing resources (most of them free) for you to work on your mental health. As usual, another great episode with so much important information. 

For more information, visit the show notes at https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/aapi-and-mental-health-awareness-month-with-the-happy-hour-ladies

I know and hope that so many of us are taking away a number of life lessons from the experiences of 2020, and the start of 2021, and one of those lessons for me is the value of amplifying voices. I started this podcast over six years ago, as a dare to bring more female voices to the personal finance podcasting space. Over a million downloads later, I take this platform you’ve given to me, by listening over those years, very seriously. 

Many of my long-term listeners know that, like you, I’m on a journey to learn every day and get better every day in all aspects of my life, especially finances, and I’m bringing those lessons to this community. Today, I’m excited to share the unique cultural and financial journey of my teammate at The Financial Gym, Ramona. Ramona’s family is from Guyana and she joins me today on how her family’s background and journey has influenced her.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/growing-up-guyanese-with-ramona

As as start-up founder, I’m always open to speaking to potential startup founders to hear their ideas and share my thoughts on next steps for them and what types of financing routes they may want to consider. After having three such conversations recently, I realized it would be really valuable to memorialize some of these thoughts for other potential founders, and when I thought of who I wanted to have this conversation with, my first thought was my good friend Hitha Palepu. 

Hitha is not only an entrepreneur, but she’s also an angel investor who’s invested in multiple start-ups, including The Financial Gym. Hitha joins me today to share her thoughts on the process of starting and financing a business. This is a valuable conversation for anyone thinking of pursuing their own business.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/financing-your-business-with-hitha-palepu

At the Financial Gym, we call the first meeting you have with a trainer, the “financially naked session”. In this meeting, you share everything about yourself financially so the trainer knows where you’re starting so that he or she can make the plan for how you can get where you want to go. Above all other meetings, this one scares clients the most because they are afraid or ashamed of their financial situation. Over two years ago on this podcast, I shared my financially naked session and it led to a request for more. Now, this is a regular series on this podcast. 

Getting in the hotseat today, for the second time, is Liana. When we last got Financially Naked with Liana, she was living in Vermont, working as a medical writer, and planning a wedding. She joins us today to share if she had a pandemic wedding and what her career and finances look like over a year later.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/financially-naked-follow-up-with-liana

Today is the last Friday of the month and my regular listeners know that on the last Friday of the month, I host the happy hour on the podcast where I gather great friends with me to drink cheap drinks and talk about money topics. This is not only the last Friday of the month, but it’s the last Friday of one of my favorite months: Financial Literacy Month. My friends joined me today to share their journeys to finding and discovering financial literacy and they share some of the best resources for how we can all continue to refine and improve our own financial literacy. Of all of our happy hours, I feel like this one is a must-listen, especially for any of your friends and family who are new to the concept of Financial Literacy.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/discovering-financial-literacy-with-the-happy-hour-ladies

Getting financially healthy at its core is essentially two steps: making more and spending less. It sounds basic, but the fact that over 70% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck tells you that it’s not so basic. Yes, there are systemic changes that need to happen for a number of Americans, but from my experience of getting people financially healthy over the last 10 years, I believe the majority of those 70% can stop living paycheck to paycheck if they lower expenses and/or make more money. 

In an effort to help our clients at the Gym find ways to make more money, we’re always talking about side hustles as a part of that equation, and a side hustle I love for just about anyone is writing and selling books.

Joining me today is my good friend, Ash Cash, who’s not only a bestselling author, but founder of Mind Right Money and host of Inside the Vault podcast, to share why he feels everyone can have bookselling as a side hustle and how you can take the steps to start ASAP. I always love reconnecting with Ash, not only for his positivity and motivational approach to life, but his practical and applicable advice on this side hustle.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/book-writing-as-a-side-hustle-with-ash-cash

Part of getting a financial plan done, especially one through The Financial Gym is identifying risk factors to your financial health. One of the solutions for mitigating financial risks is insurance, whether it is life insurance, car insurance, or renter’s insurance.

Today’s episode, with podcast friend and listener, Colin, is the perfect cautionary tale as to the importance of renter’s insurance. Renter’s insurance is something that not enough people consider, but for the value of what it covers should make sense in your monthly budget.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/the-importance-of-renters-insurance-with-colin-becker

April is Financial Literacy month and I always say that Financial Literacy is like regular literacy, it needs to be taught from an early age, preferably practiced and supported at home, and continually learned as you grow older and your financial decisions get more complicated. 

Financial literacy is the core mission of The Financial Gym and it’s also the core mission for today’s guest, Dan Sheeks owner and founder of SheeksFreaks an online community to help young people live their best lives by making smart money decisions. He shares some of his best tips for helping Gen Z’ers, and really anyone else, become more financially literate.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/teens-gen-z-and-finances-with-dan-sheeks

Today is the first Friday in April, and, in case you didn’t know, April is Financial Literacy Month, or, our favorite month of the year at The Gym. If you are listening to this podcast, you’ve made financial literacy an important part of your life. If you are looking for more resources, especially this month, we have a number of free events going on at The Financial Gym — we have one for every weekday. Check out the schedule at financialgym.com, and, again, everything is free. 

The Gym also has its own podcast call Financially Naked, where you can hear more from our clients and our trainers, and you can find that anywhere you listen to podcasts. I hope you will check out our events and share them with your friends, so they can embrace financial literacy as well.

Onto today’s show! Managing couples’ finances is a challenge, especially if you are in similar industries or have similar job types. Joining me today are my good friends David and John, otherwise known as the Debt Free Guys, and the the hosts of Queer Money Podcast, to discuss how they’ve managed their household finances as a couple, and also weathered a global pandemic that affected their joint business, and stayed financially healthy throughout it all.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/suviving-job-insecurity-with-the-debt-free-guys