July 2018 Income Report

Welcome to the July 2018 income report and the first place where I’ve shared my income publicly!

I’m publishing my monthly income report as a transparent way to show you how I actually make a living each month as an entrepreneur, and how it can be scary as f*ck.

There have been months where I’ve thought about applying back to student affairs for a steady paycheck. However, the amount of hours worked is just not worth it for my mental/emotional/physical health to throw myself back into that space just yet. And my bank account. I feel like I’m doing really well on my own so far, and I'm really excited for expected growth in the upcoming months!

Many of you will ask why I would ever want to post my income publicly each month. I want to publish my monthly income for 3 main reasons:

1. Before I started my coaching business, I was not interested in started a coaching business on my own. I obtained my Wellness Coaching Certification in 6 months, preparing to head back into student affairs from the higher ed space, and realized that I absolutely loved what I was doing as a coach. I didn’t really think side jobs were worth the effort except for babysitting (I make around $20/hour for my experience) and I thought I was only able to get a raise if I hustled and worked 50+ hour weeks to get noticed. My mindset was so narrow. If I hadn’t seen other coaches being transparent about their income, I would have never tried building a side hustle or building a full-time business. There are so many different ways to make money online, and I try to share my story as much as I can to help reframe others perspective about how to make money online.

2. I want to publish my income reports because it will be motivating, but even more, I will be able to reflect and learn about what I did specifically to create money each month. I’m also learning about my seasons of coaching in business and where I should be focusing my time each month.

3. I disagree with the way we talk about making money and salary transparency in student affairs/higher ed. At the same time, we still allow inequitable and archaic hiring practices to continue on. It wastes everyone’s time who is on a search committee AND the candidate’s time. It totally ignores the fact that people are human beings who have needs (supporting themselves + family). Not posting salary supports the gender gap and the salary gap for BIPOC in the workplace. Not to mention, it’s shady and starts the relationship off on a rocky foundation. By working for myself, I can create my own rules and engage in my own self-development work. All in all, it’s much easier to work for myself - I don’t have to deal with microaggressions around mental health, the pay gap, and negotiating my salary is a non-issue. Some people may read this as me being bitter, and that’s not the case. I’m really passionate about creating work environments that honor and support people holistically. I really feel at my core that student affairs professionals and higher ed folx deserve to be supported better.

How was business income in July of 2018?

I made $3761.32 in total for July.

$2771.32 is from coaching, affiliate opportunities, and my reiki and life alignment offer.

$990 is from nannying. I decided to pick up a few hours each day during the week. I’m paid really well because I have 16 years of experience and because I’m good at it. I want to reinvest more money in my business, and need extra support as I head out to Bali for a month and taking a month off from active coaching.

This time last year I made whopping $50 a month. SO, for me this feels really awesome. Even better news? I’m pretty confident I can make much more in August by creating more value for the people I serve.

*If I made the about amount every month, my income would be around $45,000/year.

I think the next few months I’ll see an increase for August/September, and then stay the same or decrease a bit while I’m traveling abroad to Bali in October/November. My income fluctuates, but I know I’ll be able to cover necessary expenses each month. I’ve had one month where income has been around $7k and other months that were around $500/1k. It's expected to have income fluctuate in the service-based industry.

I think it's also good to know I pay for my own taxes (25-30%), dental insurance ($28/month) and life insurance ($20/month). I don’t pay for health insurance right now because I visit most alternative doctors who don’t take insurance or, if an emergency I would just go to urgent care and pay out of pocket. I don’t qualify for disability because I’m an entrepreneur, but I’m starting to find organizations who do support them/us - more on that in next month’s post. I met with an accountant almost 3 months ago now, and I’m excited that I’ll be able to sign-up through healthcare.gov now that I make over $12,000/year in my business. Just in case I break a bone, or need to visit the ER it will be nice to have. As an alternative to healthcare, I'm investigating a health sharing program since Gio and I are hoping to travel in our future RV in the years ahead, and we’d like something that can cover us while we’re on the road.

I've learned so much from starting my own business. I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. I finally feel free to create my own income and not have my self-worth be tied to my salary. I’m confident. I feel secure, and most of all, I'm genuinely happy.

Anyways, back to income!

My goal is to consistently make 5k a month by the end of the year, and generating 10k months by this time next year.

My business is growing, my income is increasing, and I have a ton of amazing ideas for this year and this has just been the beginning. If you’ve read until this point, thank you so much for the support!

Website/Blog News

Last month I had about 338 unique visitors stop by my website and I’m happy with this because I haven’t promoted it much other than my monthly newsletter and sharing them out once or twice on social media. The majority of my traffic comes from my personal Facebook page.

Plans for My Business

• I am creating a group coaching program for side hustlers and new entrepreneurs to help them start and grow their businesses in just a few short weeks. While I do individual coaching, my time is limited, and I realize the need to serve more people and help get their projects off the ground and build their mindset. This would also be more affordable for people who are looking for group support while building their biz and creating multiple streams of income.

• I’m creating one niche product to sell. To be announced in the upcoming months!

• I’m hoping to incorporate meditation into my business as another stream of income after I obtain my 500 hour yoga meditation training in Bali, Indonesia.

• Have fun and celebrate! I often forget to do this, and it feels really good to look at how far I've come and be in the present moment.

I have so much more I could share on the topic of money and developing a money mindset.