One Year Birthday Episode | HMM 55

EPISODE 55

[INTRO MESSAGE]

[00:00:08.0] ANNOUNCER: Welcome to the Her Money Matters Podcast, the podcast to help you take control of your finances. Join your host, motivational money coach, Jen Hemphill, as she shares with you practical, simple money insights into real life stories by women like you.

Let’s get to it.

[DISCUSSION]

[00:00:26.3] JH: Hey there, this is Jen Hemphill, your host for the Her Money Matters Podcast. Today marks the official one year birthday of this podcast. I am excited, I hope you are as excited as I am so if you are listening to this on Thursday, June 23rd of 2016, you are listening to this exactly a year after this podcast was launched. So it’s been a year of hard work, it’s been a journey, it’s been amazing nonetheless but I want to tell you I haven’t been able to do this by myself, okay?

Putting the podcast together week after week is not easy. There’s basically a production team, if you will, that supports me through this. I want to thank you Butch, I want to thank you Li Ping and I want to thank those at We Edit for really supporting me for all the technical stuff, the transcription, the editing, the images, all those things because I couldn’t have done this without you.

I most definitely cannot forget my family, my boys and my husband. Sometimes this podcast is recorded on weekends, during the days and the evenings, during the weeknights depending on what was going on. So I had to tell them, basically I had to make sure that they kept silent or I had to tell them because I told them, “I do not want to re-record this.” So they did great, they’ve been a great support.

I also want to thank you as a listener. You are really such a monumental part to the success of this podcast. This podcast really can’t continue to exist unless you are listening. Can you imagine me doing this and no one listening? That essentially would mean that I’m not providing or giving you what you are needing. So I thank you for confirming that I am on the right track. Also our amazing guest are a big part of the success of this podcast too.

So to each and every one of my guest, thank you for being on this journey with me. You each have really impacted women across the world with your money story. You each have brought a different and unique perspective. You each have brought a different nugget, a tidbit that has definitely made an impact so for that, I thank you.

Today I thought as a part of the celebration, that I would take you through this past year on the Her Money Matters Podcast so let’s go ahead and do this and how I wanted to do this because so much has happened in this past year. So not just some business but also on the home front. So I’m going to share with you a little bit of the two so that way, you don’t just see what’s been going on with the podcast but also behind the scenes, like what’s been going on with me as well.

So when I was prepping for the podcast launch, I was prepping that in the spring of last year, our family was nearing the end of the long year separation. My husband had been on an assignment where he was on a company by us. He was on the other side of the world literally thousands, and thousands, and thousands of miles away and we were really preparing for his return. So in the timeframe when the podcast was launching, of course I was prepping the podcast to get launched, we were preparing for his return and we were also preparing for a three week trip as a family to Spain and to some of Portugal.

So definitely some busy times but definitely some memorable times of being able to fulfill something that I wanted to do in launching the podcast, being obviously reunited as a family, and taking such an amazing trip. So while we were overseas, so let’s fast forward a little bit, we were already on the trip. This was on July of last year. The podcast was launched, everything was in play and I was starting to get this awesome feedback. I had people e-mailing me about the podcast, how they’ve enjoyed it, also people e-mailing me wanting to be on the show.

In this timeframe as well. We were featured on the New and Noteworthy various times in iTunes and we had started to get some really nice reviews on iTunes. On the home front, we were going through this adjustment. We went to Spain came back, so it was really a period of adjustment from that long separation where it was just me and the boys for a whole year and now, he was back. So it was definitely a transition but of course, we were definitely happy to have him back.

Then in September, school started. My oldest not only turned 13 but started middle school as well. So for me as a mom especially for you moms out there you can imagine and for those of you who already have teenagers, I’m sure you understand the emotional adjustment that I was going through. I continued as far as the podcast to get e-mails on how helpful the episodes were for them. I was blessed that I’ve got to connect with some fabulous guests from different parts of the world and I started work on something that I had been wanting to do.

And so I started working on my Fearless Money Sisterhood membership program, something that I wanted to bring and that’s when I started working on that months later because it definitely takes work to put this together. I finally launched it, but guess what? I had this webinar and on a technical side, it was a nightmare. It was disastrous because it just broke literary in the sense that I did everything that I could, I couldn’t get the webinar to work. But what do you do? You press on, you move on and it is what it is.

Then in December, we launched the community on Facebook. I had done a community before but I didn’t have a plan so I didn’t go as well. So in learning my lessons, I came with this with a plan and let me tell you, this Facebook community has been so special for me because I get to connect with you individually and have a conversation with you. Versus there being a one sided conversation as far as you listening to me on the podcast.

So that makes it really, really special and the conversations and the community are amazing and the support that you have for each other is really more than I could have asked for. There is some really fabulous women in the Facebook group. Also in the New Year on the home front, we celebrated my youngest turning nine years old and the last year of him being in the single digits.

I also continued to balance, if that’s really the right word for it because we as women, you understand that, taking care of family, taking care of clients, customers and then of course, I was also trying to create more podcast episodes for you. So doing all that stuff is definitely a lot of work but you just do your best.

We also in the New Year, probably February or March, we hired a financial planner to look at our finances and that way, it was nice to have someone else look at our financial picture and give us suggestions as to how can we increase our wealth. Well, not just how but talking about how we wanted to live in retirement, what that looked like and what we could do to get there. So that was very, very helpful and such a great decision for us to hire a financial planner.

In our community we continued to connect, have conversations and not also that, I also noticed that you connected with each other as well. We got to a point where we surpassed over 30,000 downloads, which in the scheme of things for some podcasts like the big podcast, that’s nothing. But 30,000 downloads is 30,000 downloads, that’s huge and so I am definitely grateful for that. I also started hearing my clients sharing their success and also for my members in the Fearless Money Sisterhood Program.

So it’s nice to see them succeed, to take what they learn and go forward to taking action, implementing and seeing the results from their hard work. In the community, which is so amazing, we also hear stories of what they have implemented, what the ladies had implemented from the podcast and what has been working, which is just so fabulous that you can take what you learn from a free podcast, implement it, and have results. So that was really amazing for me.

On the home front in the spring, I survived a super busy spring season. This spring was just extra busy or just felt like it was, especially with the boys. I mean we were literally every afternoon/evening in and out of the house for sports and everything and then the husband was in and out of town for a while. I thought I was going to pull my hair out there. There was just so much going on. I literally stopped cooking for weeks because I reached this fatigue point where I just couldn’t do it anymore. Something had to give, there was just something that had to give.

So yes, the spending money that we spent on eating out was more than normal but it was just for a time, right? So I gave myself permission to do that and now we’re back on track. We also received some pretty sweet mentions of the podcast and that, I definitely saw that especially with the spikes in the downloads so it was very nice to see that the Her Money Matters Podcast is getting noticed, it’s a beautiful thing to see.

Now, I wanted to share some recordings from some of you. I asked if you were interested if you were wanting to be a part of the celebration and there is definitely interest. So some of you I know were brave enough because I know it’s hard to put yourself out there. So you were brave enough to submit a recording of what you thought of the podcast and I really can’t thank you enough.

So first let’s hear from really the dynamic of uplifting Heather:

[00:12:23.6] H: “Hey everyone, my name is Heather. I’m from Toronto, Canada and I listen to Her Money Matters Podcast because number one, it makes my excruciating commute into work every day that much better and number two, as a little bit of workaholic/serial multi-tasker, I find it very difficult to find time to actually dedicate time to budgeting and finances. I find that single mindedness required a little hard to come by some times. So the inspiration and guidance I get from Jen’s podcast are awesome.

I’ve started using Power Pay, it’s great. I get it, very simple but great for the long term so that’s amazing. Jen, congratulations on your first year. I’ve listened to all of your podcasts and now I have to wait a week for each podcast. So here’s to many more, you’re the best. Thanks for everything and I’ll see you on Facebook. Buh-bye.”

[00:13:23.0] JH: And now from the sweet Julie who has been diligent, committed, and paid her debt off this year.

[00:13:30.1] J: “My name is Julie and I am a business owner in Germany. I listen to the Her Money Matters Podcast because I am looking for real advice for money matters from real people. My favorite part about the Her Money Matters Podcast is the totally open and honest conversation. One thing I have learned about this podcast is to discover my money beliefs and spend with awareness.”

[00:13:52.3] JH: Oh and Laura, her commitment to learn more and be more is so inspiring.

[00:13:59.8] L: “Hi, my name is Laura. I am a solopreneur and a mom of two boys and I live in St. Louis, Missouri. I listen to the Her Money Matters Podcast because I love the variety of topics and the uplifting tone that all of the podcast have. I think my favorite part are the interviews with real people and getting to hear people’s money story. That’s not something I thought about much before I listened to this podcast.

One thing that I have learned is to approach money and financial matters with more confidence. I think hearing people’s money stories and the challenges that they’ve overcome and how honest people are on the podcast has really helped me to get over some of my own fears and it has allowed me to focus and, like I said, really to have more confidence in dealing with financial matters.”

[00:14:52.6] JH: And let’s meet Suzanna, who I personally know has made such huge growth.

[00:14:59.1] S: “My name is Suzanna. I live in England. I listen to the Her Money Matters Podcast because it gives me strong beliefs that I can trust myself. My favorite part of the Her Money Matters Podcast, the interviews, practical ideas, how can I change my thoughts, my focus, a language of how we speak about money, and the community. One thing that I have learned from this podcast is I can manage my financials without struggling at feeling guilty because money doesn’t matter anymore.”

[00:15:31.3] JH: And where do I start with Cathy? Earlier this year she committed on New Year’s to take a hold of her finances and she has definitely stayed the course.

[00:15:45.3] C: “Hi, my name is Cathy and I am a mother of three and I work in the financial services industry living in the Boston area. I listen to Her Money Matters Podcast because for years we have struggled with our finances. I made it my New Year’s resolution this year to get us on track and start moving us forward. Jen’s podcast opened a whole world for me because I learned that it isn’t just about the technicals of budgeting, it is about the mindset just as much if not more.

My favorite part of the podcast is how easy to make these steps of her teaching. I always walk away with action items and steps I know I can accomplish. One thing that I have learned from the podcast is to stay positive, being the most important thing ever. You can never win with money with a negative attitude or mind. I just want to say a sincere thank you to Jen for offering this amazing life changing podcast. It’s made all the difference in the world for us. Thank you Jen.”

[00:16:50.7] JH: So as you can see, I love to personally connect with as many of you as I possibly can, talking to you, hearing your accomplishments, your feedback, even your frustrations. All of those things fuels me to do more, be more, to help more. It’s so important for me to help you and give you the most that I can because I know I have been where you have been, to some of you have been and understand that frustration. So I know the possibilities, I know what’s possible and I want to make sure that this can happen for you as well.

So that is a wrap, thank you so much for being a part of this one year birthday episode, for listening, for being — if you’ve been here since the beginning, thank you. If you just got here, I’m excited to have you. Whenever you came or came across this podcast along the way, thank you for being here. If you haven’t joined the community, please do so. I’d love to connect with you as well at Jenhemphill.com/community.

I can’t wait to see what this next year in the podcast brings, what your number two brings. I’m excited to do more episodes, I’m excited for the different guests that I have coming on the show, for the meet ups that I am starting to do. Definitely lots of fun things in the works for the podcast, for you all, so thanks again for the support, for being a listener and I will talk to you again next week. Next week on episode 56, I will be interviewing a very special couple. They are financial educators and not only talk the talk but walk the walk. So it’s going to be a great interview and I can’t wait to share it with you.

So I appreciate you tuning in once more and I will talk to you again next Thursday. There are some show notes at Jenhemphill.com/55 if you want to go and refer to that. So thanks again and we’ll chat again next Thursday.

[END]