This week, Courtney Nicole chats with her good friend Eddie all about financial freedom through education and using the right tools, setting your eyes on the next goal for yourself instead of drifting aimlessly, and how to spend effectively, safe effectively, and invest effectively.
Check out Eddie's Website, LinkedIn, or send him an email to learn more!
Want to engage with Courtney Nicole? Check out Courtney Nicole's LinkedIn, Sidecar Solutions, and Nonpareil Coaching for next steps.
This week, Courtney Nicole chats with her good friend Eddie all about financial freedom through education and using the right tools, setting your eyes on the next goal for yourself instead of drifting aimlessly, and how to spend effectively, safe effectively, and invest effectively.
Check out Eddie's Website, LinkedIn, or send him an email to learn more!
Want to engage with Courtney Nicole? Check out Courtney Nicole's LinkedIn, Sidecar Solutions, and Nonpareil Coaching for next steps.
Hello and welcome to the podcast, What Our Parents Didn't Teach Us. This is a place where we will be creating space to discuss all the lessons that we've learned along the way that have led us to where we are today. We'll have conversations with entrepreneurs and freelancers and people from all over the world about what it means to be successful. And the things that we've learned that we hope to pass on to you. I'm your fearless host, courtney Nicole. I'm a coach that currently resides in Denver, Colorado with my wife, two dogs and plus or minus 27 plants. And I can't wait to talk to you. Welcome to the podcast. What our parents didn't teach us. I'm here today with my really great friend, Eddie. Eddie, and I met just by chance. I was working at a coworking space at the time and he came for a tour and I was like, Hey, you're really cool. You seem to be doing neat stuff. I'm going to try to break out as a coach. And he was like, cool, I'll hire you. That's a shortened and edited version, but it was basically that from the beginning, we knew that one way or another, we wanted to work together. We have seen each other through job changes and moving and life events. And we got to go out and celebrate our mutual engagements a couple of months ago as COVID started to lift. So just a dear, dear friend of mine. Eddie, what would you like everybody to know about you?
Eddie O:Well, thanks for that intro. Super humbling there. Thanks for again for having me today. And this is I'm super excited to chat about this topic. And as far as what I'd like everyone to know about me, and why should someone listen to any of this advice from me? My hope is that it just resonates with you no matter where you're at in your journey. And I would just ask to keep an open mind and take what you need and leave the rest. And as far as what's brought me here, of coming up from humble beginnings. Uh, Parents grew up in Puerto Rico, came to New York City in the early sixties as part of that Nuyorican wave. And, and because of that, they went into the city and didn't have a lot of opportunity in some of the neighborhoods that they grew up in. And as such, started to have a family and, out came myself and into that same atmosphere though, of basically, not having opportunities, basically not understanding what wealth accumulation was, or is. Didn't understand basic budgeting skills. I mean, we're talking about, living during a time where the only thing your parents are concerned about is just putting food on the table. And that's the extent of financial literacy in my family growing up. And so, naturally I brought those things into adulthood and I was lucky enough to have a full scholarship to college. And in college is where I was finally introduced to other people from other socioeconomic levels and demographics and stuff. And so, you know, they started to introduce ideas since to me that I've never heard or seen. So, using those and taking those, and fast forward to today, I feel like a much more responsible financially illiterate person. And as I look back, in terms of those around me or those that come from my same demographic, whether that's socioeconomic, whether that's just being a person of color, I vibe with them and I want them to know that it's doable to get to a better financial place. And I just love sharing that message with others.
Courtney Nicole:Yeah, I think you do a great job of sharing it. And he's one of the most empathetic people I've ever seen or heard. I feel fully confident sending any of my friends at any financial place to him. Whether or not they're$20,000 in credit card debt, or they just inherited a hundred thousand dollars and want to know what to do with it and how to invest it and how to be smart about it. I think he just takes a really practical approach. So naturally, a lot of our conversations have led towards the topic of finances. And since this podcast is all about success and how we found it and where we found it and the lessons that our parents didn't, or couldn't teach us in your case, I've found a lot of people are like, it wasn't that they, you know, just skipped out on that lesson. But they just didn't have the tools, they also didn't have the opportunity. And one thing that I heard someone say the other day was, anyone who's ever been truly successful in, obvious metrics. You're looking at the Elon's and the Jeff's and all of that, all had capital investments and infusions at some point. Somebody believed in them enough to literally give them money dollars, like green. So I think an interesting topic is for people who just don't have access. Because there are not a lot of people in the world that can call their uncle and just ask for$50,000 or ask for a hundred thousand dollars to start up their brilliant idea. I think a lot of us, yourself included, have had to be our own investors. And what has that type of a path taught you about wealth and investing in yourself and what it takes for you to be successful?
Eddie O:Yeah. One of the things I've learned is you've got to not play the victim card. You, you've got to take a driver's seat mentality versus a passenger seat mentality. And it's easy to, to be in that passenger seat. I can tell you it's, it's a heck of a lot more comfortable at times.
Courtney Nicole:got feet massagers and
Eddie O:massagers has
Courtney Nicole:the whole
Eddie O:But you know, the one thing you can't do in that seat is drive. And I think having a driver's seat mentality puts you in control of, of your attitude. And I feel that attitude then determines your latitude. And so
Courtney Nicole:Ooh, this is just so juicy, man. You're just laying it on thick.
Eddie O:But it's true! And so that's what I feel like I've learned from that is not necessarily taking a look at what I don't have or what I do have and what someone else has or doesn't have, it's more these are the cards that I currently possess. How am I going to make the best decisions with the information that I presently have, with the tools and resources that I presently have, and not necessarily focus or, or peg my success on what someone else is doing or has done.
Courtney Nicole:Yeah. Let's unpack this driving metaphor a little bit, you know how much I obsess over metaphors. But if you go with the metaphor of driving and getting in the driver's seat, there's a certain amount of freedom and a certain amount of control, but there's a lot of responsibility. Especially for people who have those that are relying on them, who are incapable of driving, like children. They can't drive themselves yet, so they do rely on you to make wise decisions. But I think on the decision front, if you think about being in a car and driving, which hopefully everyone listening to this has done, or at least has observed being done, there's a lot of decisions and some of them are snap decisions, and overall there's a longterm decision. There's a goal. You don't get into a car unless you have a destination in mind. And even if that destination is just to drive and clear your head for a minute, it's still a goal, that's still a place that you want this car to take you. It's a journey maker. So I think money is a lot of times a journey maker for us. And you need to have both short term decision-making, snap decision-making skills, and also long-term goals for what you want it to do. And I'm not talking just a 401k and a retirement plan. And how long do you want to work or things like that? It's hey, in a couple of years, what do you want to do with that$5 a day you save? Hey, in a couple of days, what do you want to do with this? It doesn't matter how short or long your trip is going to be, having an intention with it, having a destination and ideally a map and a copilot to go with you is really powerful.
Eddie O:No, I love that. What we're talking about can seem like, Oh, well easier said than done, Eddie. And, and yeah, sometimes it is. But I will say that Rome is definitely not built in a day. And I think to your point about making small goals and crushing small goals, then those goals turn into bigger goals. And so, sitting here today, speaking with you about wealth accumulation or just things in general that I've learned along the way like, you know, 10 years ago, I didn't know any of that. I mean, if anything. 10, 10, 15 years ago, I was, like everyone else. I'm at the checkout line of a Walmart and I'm swiping my card and I've got my fingers crossed, hoping that the, that, that, that it clears. I think it's about making sure that you're taking bite size chomps of this problem and not necessarily thinking about it in this very big way and then doing so, to your point, in a responsible way, who are the, who are your stakeholders? Who's your support system? Who do you need to be looking after? And maybe this is a time where you need to put on the gas and not necessarily be aggressive with a financial goal. Until a life circumstance gets better and then you could hit the gas. So, it's not a formula that I think Wall Street would want you to believe, or, or a lot of banking and financial firms want you to believe it's, there is some formula elements to that, but I think the other piece of it is just life. And how, how do you navigate that?
Courtney Nicole:Yeah. And I think navigating life comes back to those snap decisions. And it's knowing where you're going, but also knowing how you want to take the journey there. So I have a lot of people that come to me and ask me questions about money. Should I hire an assistant or should I hire a marketer with my budget? And I'm like, I don't know, that's the same as if you called me halfway between Denver and Colorado Springs. And we're like, hey, should I pass this car or not? And I'm like, well, there's a lot of factors and variables that only you really know, and yeah, we can talk through them, but it becomes so much easier to navigate and decide whether or not to pass the car, whether or not to spend the money, if you know what your goal is and how you want to do it. So if you're trying to get there fast, yeah. I would say take every opportunity to pass them. If you're trying to enjoy the drive, probably not because passing is stressful and, statistically has a higher risk. So one of the things my brother says is, he hates it when people say drive safe. He leaves someone's house. They're like drive safe. You're like, if I'm wanted to be safe, I wouldn't be getting in a car. There are so many car deaths every year, like drive safe is just a horrible thing to say. So his favorite thing to say is drive effectively. And I wish that we can take that and convert it to the way we deal with money. It's not spend safe or save a lot or all this other like safe, safe, safe. It's spend effectively. Save effectively. Invest effectively. And what would you say are some of the indicators that people could use? So for instance, with me, everything I do is because of my personal goal and destination and mantra and burden of wanting more freedom, both for myself and for the world around me. So anytime I'm trying to decide whether or not I spend time or money or knowledge or anything on anything, I always will be able to ask, does it bring me more freedom or does it bring someone else more freedom and not really affect me in a negative way? Does it restrict my freedoms. And that's how I very quickly can make decisions. So from whether or not I get the guac and I know it's extra and that doesn't bother me, or I upgrade my car. Or maybe I get rid of my car to save on the amount of money I'm spending every month. But when it came down to that decision of, should I get rid of my car and save on parking and save on gas and save on all this stuff I was like, but then I won't be able to go anywhere. At least while I was living in Colorado Springs, you can not live in that city without a car. It's very difficult.
Eddie O:That's. Yes. Yes.
Courtney Nicole:So when I was there, I was like, Hey, this decision that will give me more financial freedom will restrict my life freedom. So I made the decision to keep my car, even though financially it made more sense to not. So those are just for myself, how I've started to set metrics where I know, should I pass this car or not? Should I make this sale? Should I, make this purchase? What are some of the things you found in the people you've worked with, and counseled, and in your own life, going from not sure if your card will be declined at Walmart to being a real estate investor and making enough money to have the lifestyle that you want, what are some of the lessons that you've learned? A little indicators people could use?
Eddie O:I think you leaned into it a little, by, by giving us your why. I always encourage people to start with why. If you want to learn more about that concept there's a book called Start With Why written by Simon Sinek and I highly recommend. Made it very short read, but definitely a read that actually changed my life. But again, it's exactly that, what is your why? Why do you do what you do? Because when it comes to money, we're quite irrational with it. So how do you start to change your behaviors versus taking a look at money. You know, I think starting with your why, and starting with how you want to live your life. How do you want your behaviors to change to make the life that you want to have? And I'm telling you it can happen. Anybody that's listening to this podcast, whether, whether you're sitting in, in an apartment where you're a couple months behind on rent or whether you're sitting in your penthouse and thinking about which Island in, in Greece, do I want to travel to next? But this concept does affect both of these scenarios. You've got to start with why. Let's take the scenario that's probably most common: and that is the person who's behind on some bills. When you're starting with your, why you're going okay. I, I am done living this way. Okay, why? Well, I'm done living this way because I am tired of being stressed. Okay, why? And then you can just continue to get to that, that why piece, and then all of a sudden, when you get to that why where it's like, well, I'm tired of being stressed because I'm not able to give to my son or daughter the way I want to from an attention and resource perspective. Okay. That's huge. Like you want to provide for them. That's obviously admirable. Like how do you, how do you want to do that? Then you start taking a look at your budget, like, Oh, I am spending more than I bring in. That behavior has to change. It becomes not necessarily about learning a concept or numbers or this huge problem about budgeting and saving and all these concepts that just get to feel fuzzy and too big to learn. And it starts to be about what you were chatting through. It's not necessarily about money as much as it's like, do I want the guac or not? It doesn't even matter how much it is. So I think it's about getting to those places of asking yourself how you want your behaviors to change. And I assure you the money will follow.
Courtney Nicole:Yeah, for sure. So there's a couple of directions to go with this. One is realizing that I would say 95%. Well, first of all, 95% of statistics are made up, but based on my estimation of the world, 95% of people buy from an emotional standpoint. And then you back your decision up with logic afterwards. There's a very small amount of the population who are truly logical beyond all belief, and they will actually stop and not consider the emotion of a decision, but logic it out and then make a decision on whether or not they spend money on it. But just notice that about yourself. Because if you go through this, why exercise and ask yourself at least five times? Why, why, why? The biggest conductor of emotion in our lives are the people around us. So at some point you're probably dealing with something like shame, or embarrassment, or pride, ego, those kinds of things, because when you want to change and actually keep that change. It needs to be something that comes from inside you. It needs to be an emotion you are desiring to feel because if you make it on, Oh, so my dad will be proud of me. What if he's not? And you go through all of this real tough stuff, because changing these habits is very difficult. And you go through all of that and then he's not proud of you. That could be really crushing. And that's how a lot of people get sucked back into a poverty mindset, because what they really wanted to change was someone else's view of them. And that's manipulation. We can't do that. So you need to make it something that you yourself change. The second piece is from Atomic Habits. I've talked about this book on the podcast before, but like good heavens it's brilliant. And one of the things he talks about in there is the identity piece and talking about just all of this needs to happen inside you. You are the driver, how you want to get there, how many risks you want to take on this journey is your decision because ultimately the responsibility falls on you. So as far as identity piece, don't think of yourself as I'm just someone who's always been behind on my bills, or I'm somebody who can never get ahead, or I'm somebody, change it, write it on a sticky note and paste it all over your house. Sticky notes are not expensive, you can manage it. Do something that changes your identity that says, I'm the kind of guy that's going to get out of this. I'm the kind of guy that in a year is going to be driving a Ferrari because I'm just so wealthy, and I'll drive it with my abundance. Like it's not even something I'll have to take out of the bank. Money's just going to flow in. Change the way you think about yourself and start to see yourself as someone who pays their bills on time, and someone who has abundance, and someone who makes shrewd money decisions, and someone who supports yourself, and what you hope to accomplish in your life and not just taken by the whim of whatever will make you happy or get you that next hit of happiness from someone else.
Eddie O:Right. And I think you've hit on a, on a big topic here of identity. That's huge. And I would say in growing up and, in terms of what my, my parents didn't teach me or couldn't teach me, I don't want to say didn't as if they had a choice, I think my parents did the best that they, they could with with the resources and the knowledge that they had at the time. But, one of the things that I felt a little duped on was this identity. And so I, I grew up in Puerto Rican neighborhoods. Puerto Rican culture. And within the Latin X culture in general, you tend to exclude people who are not your family. You tend to only trust those that are probably in your family. And you already think that rich is for is for white people. There are no examples of that, at least in the Latin X community, and if, if there are, that person got lucky. You know, there again, has nothing to do with the things that they did. But the identity piece is huge because, I would say being a member of the Latin X community, I feel a little bit more like dissociated with it now. The more my education increased, the more my uh, which then put me in a different socioeconomic stratosphere. It, it took me away from, from my Latin X community, because there just aren't a lot of those folks in these places. And that, and that's something that means a lot to me to change. I think that if we want to be a representative United States, we have to have diversity. I think diversity and inclusion is something that we talk about just from a workplace perspective. I would like to talk about that from a socioeconomic perspective. Like we should have representation at all socioeconomic levels. And that's not just people of color, but that's also, where are we when it comes to women of color, the LGBTQ community, like, what does that representation look like? And so identity is huge here. And I think like there is a piece of this where you do have to sacrifice pieces of what you thought were huge parts of your identity. And I guess I'm talking about cultural identity. These pieces of culture influenced my behavior. And so, there were pieces of that where I had to deconstruct it. And then take a look at what successful people were doing and start integrating that.
Courtney Nicole:Yeah, totally. I think that there's a couple of notes on that. One is when you talk about these stratospheres levels that you go up and when you go up a mountain, I think that whoever designed mountains or however they happened, and however, the world was formed, we're not going to debate that today, but they seem to, as you go higher, the air gets thinner and there's less space. They go up to a peak. So not only can there be less people up there, but less people choose to go up there. Which I think is another reason why you cannot rely on the opinions of others if what you're trying to do is go up. Because those people may not go up with you. They may not elevate their life. They may not make choices for wealth and abundance, and if they don't, they will stay down. So if your true goal is to go up, then you need to recognize before you make that journey that it's not about others. It's about the decisions you make for yourself. Another thing I noticed, and I am not of the Latin X community. I'm about as white as white can be, but
Eddie O:I still love you though.
Courtney Nicole:Oh, well, thanks. I love you too. One time I asked my mom about our heritage because everyone in the room was talking about it. So I texted her and I was like, Hey mom, where did we come from? What's our lineage, heritage, before 23 and me was a thing. I said, you know, we're what happened. And she was like, Oh, I think we're German and Irish with a Squaw here and there. And I was like, wow, that is so racist. But also unfortunate truths about how this country was founded and how we all ended up here. Again, something we can talk about later. But I grew up on the border of Mexico, and what I saw of the money community down there was the only way to have it was to take it from someone else. There weren't people that were just creating it. And I since then have come to really do believe that money does grow on the trees that you plant. It's not about it literally just sprouting out in your backyard, but it could, if you had the mindset for that to happen. You need to know that you can create money, create wealth, create abundance without needing to take from someone else. Like it's just energy. So when I work with clients that are real weird about money, like how could I charge that much? How could I this, that much? And I'm just like, it's just energy. Money is energy, time is energy, knowledge, like all of this is just part of who we are and we take it in and then we send it back out. So all interactions are transactions. So when you do a service for someone and then they give you money, you're not taking money from them. You're exchanging something. So, it's important to make sure that you stay in a really fair exchange, just so that you can sleep well at night, but just because someone gives you money, doesn't mean you're taking it. And so if that lie or that myth exists out there, realize it's just not true. Let's figure out how to manifest wealth with the abundance of resources we have. You have an abundance of knowledge and experience and all this other stuff that doesn't mean you just have to take it.
Eddie O:Right. And, I think one of the most powerful things that you offer, Courtney and what I'm also trying to encourage others to go and do it in multiple facets of their life is to seek a healthier support system. And you were someone that entered my life and were able to provide me a safe space, a support system, and that was in relation to like where my career was going. It actually didn't have anything to do with money as much as it had to do with what did I wanted to do for work and spend my time doing towards a job. And the support system is huge. And I think that's where a lot of the current solutions that are out there, that are great, there's, there's plenty of tools that, that, that are out now, especially in the app space that have truly democratized, like the knowledge, democratize the tools in order to be able to like generate wealth. And some of these tools I'm talking about here are some of the robo advisors like betterment and Wealthfront, and then probably the more spicier one that's been in the news lately, Robinhood. Yeah. So yeah, these tools exist, but I the tools are essentially for people that know how to use them. And the people that know how to use them have support systems that teach them how to use them. And so, if anything, the message I'd like to, I like to put out there is go seek your support system. And if you don't have one, email me, I will be your support system. I will, or I will help you find that. Because I think at the end of the day that you need to find someone that's going to believe in you and believe in what you can do and believe in what you want your life to look like.
Courtney Nicole:Ooh, Yeah. Amen to that. And I think the metaphor that I would put with that one is if you really want to build a big house, I think you're going to need more than the hammer. And if you're gonna use more than a hammer, you probably shouldn't get your advice on how to build a house from a caveman. And I think that there are a lot of antiquated systems out there. And unless that is the exact system you want to build, asking those advisors for advice on it is not going to get you what you want. They will absolutely be masters at swinging a hammer and a chisel, but they may not have the faintest clue what a power saw can do. And there's no shame in doing it that way. In fact, I think you have to, if you want to build a house now, and one that's going to be tall and big and exactly the way you want it, you're going to need certain tools that certain people just don't know how to use. So if you want to learn how to be a master hammer swinger with a chisel, and maybe you want to go more, the carving routes and carve it out of stone. Sure. Find yourself a caveman, but, and that's not to say there's anything wrong with traditional financial advisors or
Eddie O:Yeah, no, no. There's definitely
Courtney Nicole:not, but it's just diversify a little bit. I love talking with my friends about money because we're all in the same stage of life, more or less. So I'm like cut the BS. Let's not talk about what we made for dinner last night or where we're planning to go on vacation. Let's talk about how much we're making, what we're doing with that money, what our investment portfolio looks like. And let's talk about everything because there shouldn't be shame and hiding. Because if we're going to get to the next level, we need to do it holistically, and realistically, and ideally like you said, well, the support system. Cool. All right. It's always just a whirlwind when we chat. We're like, Oh, let's see how deep this rabbit hole
Eddie O:This rabbit hole goes
Courtney Nicole:dive, dive, dive. When we come out, we're like, Oh, all right. Well, do we want to start 10 more businesses today or should we just call it and wait until next week? Eddie is working on starting a business that will help with finance at every level, but especially for those that have no one else to teach them the elementary pieces. It's not for the people that have$4 million in a hedge fund. Like you clearly know what you're doing with money, go and have fun with that. But for people that really want to make the financial investments of buying a car or buying a house. Or getting out of credit card debt. I think there are more people than we think at that stage. And until we can reach them without shame, without blame, without any kind of darkness and really offer them more freedom, we won't see the rest of the world change because it's very hard for people to unite and get excited about going up when they have a weight like that around their feet. So Eddie, tell us a bit more about the company that you're working on. I don't know if we're going names yet, or if you just want people to know that it's out there.
Eddie O:Sure I can throw the name out. So it's it's called Press Play Finance. And Press Play being just time to go. Let's do this. Let's press play and let's start getting started on the things that we want to accomplish in life. And so, we chat a little bit about what I've seen the current solutions space look like in terms of how banks and financial firms are helping others when it comes to budgeting and saving and investing. And, at this point, I think that there's a whole subset, a whole group of people who just aren't being serviced and are wanting to be serviced. So if anything, I'm looking for trailblazers, eager to, to learn personal finances. We're coming up with a bit of a proprietary, fun, simulation, gamified approach on how to do that. And so if you'd like to be, the, the, the first to test that out, we'd love to hear from you because we're definitely going places and would love for you to come with us.
Courtney Nicole:Yeah, absolutely check out Press Play. This is Eddie and just keep an eye on things because we're going to be changing and we are going to be going and make sure you bring your friends along. And I would say with anything financial, we have to put a disclaimer in here that none of this is financial advice. I don't think we really went that deep today. But please don't sue us. We're just here because we're your peers. We're here to tell you stories think of this as a campfire where we're just sharing what we have learned along the way. And I would say, just like any other decision, the first thing you have to do is decide to. They say the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step and there's many other monikers like that, but it really is true that if what you want to do is change your financial situation, then right here, right now, you've got a couple of witnesses, frickin, decide to. Decide that you're done with this. And don't just decide okay, I'm going to change everything. That's doable, but very harsh on your system. So just say one thing. Just say, Hey, I'm not going to give in to the candy bar at the checkout counter anymore. If I really want candy, I'll go to the aisle and I'll pick one out, but I'm not going to be bamboozled or manipulated in these things. And if you can't stop, then change your habits. Come in through a different door or shop at a different place. I don't care what you do, make Instacart go shopping for you, but do something that changes your environment because you've decided that you're going to be different from today on. So, with that, we will put all kind of contact information and stuff like that in the episode info. If they wanted to get in touch with you right now, like they're on their phone, they pulled over their car, so they're safe and they're not driving, what would be the best way for them to reach out, Eddie.
Eddie O:Best way to get in touch with me pretty quickly is through email. And that is my first name, Eddie E D D I e@pressplayfinance.com.
Courtney Nicole:All right. Cool. And you guys know where to find me until next time. Remember that the universe is conspiring with you. Thanks so much for joining us for the podcast today, and I hope you learned some valuable lessons that will help you on your journey to success. If you're interested in coaching with me, you can check out Nonpareilcoaching.com. That's NONPAREILcoaching.com. Courtney Nicole can be found on most social medias. You can also slide into my DMS on Instagram@courtandwhiskey. If you're interested in being a guest on this podcast, you can check out our website it's just the acronym for what our parents didn't teach us.com. www.WOPDTU.com to be a guest on the podcast. You can find us wherever you find your podcasts. Don't forget: the universe is conspiring with you.