Episode 42: How To Go From Overworked Employee to Full-Time Entrepreneur

Acquania Escarne 0:03

You are listening to the Purpose of Money podcast, a podcast where we talk about ways to build wealth and create more freedom in your life today. I am your host Acquania Escarne.

Hey guys, welcome back to the Purpose of Money podcast. We are officially in season three, and this is episode 42. The Purpose of Money is turning three years old. I'm so amazed at how far we've come. But three years ago, I was at Fin Con in Orlando, Florida. For those who don't know, Fin Con is a financial conference for money nerds, people who like to talk about money just like me. It was my first time attending the conference. And I was so inspired during that weekend that I went to my cousin's house after the conference, I bought the purposeofmoney.com, and the rest is history. This platform has been sharing wealth building tips, and entrepreneurship stories and a little bit more about my journey for three years now. And to celebrate this milestone, I am giving away three $25 gift cards for randomly selected Apple podcast reviews. So in order to qualify for this contest, I need you to go to Apple podcasts, leave a new review on your favorite podcast episode, or the podcast in general, and then send a screenshot of your review to info@thepurposeofmoney.com. I will randomly select a winner from the left reviews a week from today.

So this episode is being published on September 15. And you have until midnight at September 22. To put in your review, and on the 22nd I will announce on Instagram, the three winners of the gift cards. So remember, go to Apple podcast, leave a review on the Purpose of Money, and then send a screenshot of your review to info@thepurposeof money.com. a winner will be announced on September 22 on my Instagram page at the Purpose of Money. I'm super excited. We have had 42 episodes, several bonus episodes, 10,000 downloads, and a lot of loyal supporters and listeners just like you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for supporting me in this journey to help share wealth building tips and financial literacy.

I'm super excited to also announce that I am putting my budget bundle up for sale. It is a bundle where you can access over $600 worth of financial literacy, education and tools to help you build a budget that works. The bundle includes two masterclasses one on setting SMART goals that you can achieve and another on budgeting mistakes to avoid. In addition, I'm including my never before released budget spreadsheet that helps you budget for a whole year. And some of my best use spreadsheets such as my asset tracker, my debt payoff plan. And for those who like to budget month to month or paycheck to paycheck because your income fluctuates. I also have a sample budget spreadsheet you can use to. I'm including all of this material in one place. You can check out the budget bundle it is $47 for over $600 worth of stuff. I'll definitely leave a link to this in the show notes so you can go check it out.

But now without further ado, I like to happen to my interview with Toni. Toni is the host of her own podcast. And she is tackling subjects like entrepreneurship, personal development, and being your own boss. Toni in this episode is sharing how she went from a nine to five accountant to a full time entrepreneur with several businesses. I have her on the show because I know that a lot of you out there are debating full time entrepreneurship and you need tips on how to juggle it all. So that's what Toni's here to cover today. And I hope you enjoyed this episode. And of course if you like it, leave a review. Love to hear what you have to say on Apple podcast, but if you want to listen anywhere else, this podcast is also on Spotify I Heart Radio, Google podcast, and on my website.

Now let's hop into this episode.

Hey everybody. Welcome back to The Purpose of Money podcast today I'm super excited. We have special guest Toni, the host of a podcast, which tackles topics surrounding entrepreneurship and personal development. Prior to becoming a podcast host Toni works as an accountant and business traveler. In 2018. She made the decision to leave her career to pursue her entrepreneurial journey, and her experience was featured on XONecole. Toni's mission is to inspire others to courageously make the choice to live out their most persistent desires.

Hey, Toni, welcome to the podcast.

Toni King 5:54

Hi, thank you so much for having me. I'm excited.

Acquania Escarne 5:57

Me too. I'm so excited to have you here today, because I want to share with our guests a little bit more about your transition from a nine to five to full time entrepreneurship. I loved your story, I found you on Instagram. And I thought this would be a great story to share with the Purpose of Money listeners. So first thing I want to know is for those who are not familiar with the life of an accountant, what was your life like as a nine to five employee?

Toni King 6:25

Yeah, so it was pretty interesting, actually. And I would say it's not the norm, because I worked for this fortune 500 company that was an multi media company. And they owned like a ton of newspapers, and a ton of broadcasting stations across the country and in the in the UK. And so my job was actually to travel to these different areas, different properties that they owned, and I audited them. So I did a lot of traveling. I have it up to like 50% of the time. So it was very cool opportunity in a unique way to be an accountant.

Acquania Escarne 6:59

I love that did you pick the job because of the travel?

Toni King 7:02

I did. It was actually my first job out of college. So it was just like, boom, we do travel. This is what we do. We have up to 50% of the time. And I just fell in love with that. So yeah.

Acquania Escarne 7:15

So if it was a great gig, what pushed you over the edge to want to leave corporate America.

Toni King 7:22

So it's funny because I always knew that I was not cut out for corporate america life, I just had that gut feeling that it wasn't for me. And I stayed for seven years at my job because of wanting to travel. And then also I stayed because I was comfortable with my lifestyle. You know, I made a certain amount of money, I was used to certain about a certain kind of things. And I just felt like I couldn't walk away at the moment. So yeah, that's kind of why I stayed for as long as I did. And what made me leave was I realized I was entering my 30s. And I was taking stock of my life and how I showed up in the world. And I realized that I wasn't happy. And I wasn't doing things with purpose, or with passion. I was doing things for a paycheck. So I had that realization. And I had and I just made the decision that it was time to go.

Acquania Escarne 8:19

I love that what you said about doing stuff with passion and with purpose. We'll talk a little bit more about that. Because this is the Purpose of Money podcast. Purpose is behind everything I do. And I love the way you phrase that. How did you financially prepare to take the leap? Is there anything in particular you did? Or did you just show up resignation letter and quit?

Toni King 8:42

I wish it was that easy. But no, I actually I was pretty good at saving money. And I checked my bank account, of course and did some calculations. And I realized I had about eight months of saving. And so with that I decided for me, that was enough to let me leave my job and have me give me a cushion to kind of go forward in that way.

Acquania Escarne 9:09

Very, very good. So for those out there who are thinking about taking the leap, I want you to remember that she said she had eight months of her monthly expenses saved before she did it. And so she was a good saver. So that's a really good tip to help others. Is there any other advice or tips that you would give to entrepreneurs who are considering jumping into full time entrepreneurship?

Toni King 9:31

Yeah, I mean, there's, there's so much I could say, but I would say one of the things is that you just really need to trust yourself. You need to trust your timing because you can save all the money in the world. But you're gonna have to take that leap eventually. And I'm not saying take the leap and don't have a plan and don't have money saved but definitely trust yourself. Trust that timing trust that instinct that tells you it's time to go.

Acquania Escarne 9:56

I love that. I think a lot of people are really torn about the security of the paycheck, and don't always know that it's okay, if they're ready to do it. I would say one of my favorite tips is that you have proven plan of what's going to happen next, meaning you have a business idea, or you've already been working your business and you know that there's a demand for what you're trying to do. That really helps you know, that it's a more mode of income is going to come in, because whatever you've been selling, or doing before you quit has made you some money. And maybe when you have more time to yourself, you're able to make more money or to scale up your business.

Toni King 10:38

Yeah, exactly. And I do say, though, I always say to people, you know, you got to check your risk tolerance, what are you willing to give up? What are you willing to sacrifice in order to go after your goals and after your dream, so that's, you know, another thing too, as well.

Acquania Escarne 10:53

I love that. And I've never heard risk tolerance. In that context, we normally talk about it in investing, right? Like, if you're going to invest in something, make sure your risk tolerance is in line with that. Because if it's too risky, you might panic and be really stressed out the whole time you're invested, and you don't want to be in those types of investments. But I love the way you consider risk tolerance in the form of entrepreneurship, because that is important. Are you going to stress out every day as an entrepreneur? Because you took this leap? And you weren't prepared? Or are you going to just calmly transition and build a business that's successful? Because you've prepared yourself mentally, which is really important, and physically and financially? So I love that. Thank you for those tips. How many businesses do you run today?

Toni King 11:43

Today, I'm at three, three active businesses.

Acquania Escarne 11:49

Tell me a little bit more about that? What are these businesses? And how I mean, are they all connected? Or are they all completely different,

Toni King 11:56

They're all completely different in a sense. And they all I would say, two thirds of them came out of a need. So I knew I wasn't gonna go back to the workforce, I knew I needed to make generate money until my actual goals started to make money for me. And so I started a dog walking business. And I started a photography business. So on top of that, I did the podcast, and then I also had a travel blog before.

Acquania Escarne 12:26

I love it. And I think that even though they're all different, the travel blog, definitely probably take us takes advantage of your photography skill set. And the dog walking business helps you have that guaranteed income because you have a client base, I'm sure. Yeah. So that's, that's pretty cool. And so you've been running all of those consecutively? How do you manage that all? Is it? Is it a struggle to keep them all aligned? Or is it pretty simple?

Toni King 12:50

You know, I really, I think I'm pretty good at setting boundaries with work and making sure I a lot the right amount of time for things. So over the years, I've gotten really good at doing that. So it hasn't really been hard managing the schedule. You know, I, whenever I feel like I'm getting overwhelmed, I just take a step back. And you know, always try to remember what's important, what's the priority for today, what's what needs to get done now, and then anything else can be pushed to later. So I'm pretty good at establishing those boundaries,

Acquania Escarne 13:20

I lovie it boundaries, even in your business guys, we need boundaries, to protect our health to protect our wealth, and our sanity. But I love how you are using it to time block your businesses. That's how running multiple businesses works well. And it's a really good tip for those out there who might be juggling several things. Because I'm a mom, I'm a wife, I'm an entrepreneur, I'm a podcaster as well. I sell life insurance, and then I do real estate. So I have to make time for all these things as well. And I live by my schedule. If it's not on my schedule, it's not happening. Yeah, I really like that. And I plan for family time. And I plan for me time. So that's, that's really good.

Let's talk a little bit more about your podcast. I want to know like who's your ideal listener? Because some of my listeners might need to start tuning in. And what are the topics that you cover? I know I said entrepreneurship and personal development. But if you can expand upon that a bit, that'd be great.

Toni King 14:19

Yeah, so my podcast is really about empowering new and aspiring entrepreneurs to, you know, go into business and know that their struggles aren't isolated, that they're not alone in their struggles, and then also to help them avoid some of the pitfalls and mistakes that you know I've gone through as an entrepreneur starting out. And so some of the things that I talk about is I really talk about mental health because I think that's so important in entrepreneurship, making sure that you have a stable environment, a stable mental state. And I talked about, you know, consistency and entrepreneurship because a lot of times starting out you have a hard time being consistent. I also talked about how much money you need to have saved before you quit your job. I also talk about the mistakes that I've made in entrepreneurship. So yeah, that's kind of where we go with the podcast. And I really try to get open and raw and real about the things that I talk about so that others can kind of take heed to that advice.

Acquania Escarne 15:15

I love it. And I think one of the other perks is your podcast episodes are short. Yes, they're very short. So you can literally listen to it on your way to something. And by the time you get there, it'll be done. It'll be so I love it, you get straight to the point get to the meat and the juicy stuff. And then you wish people well for their day. So that's really good.

Toni King 15:37

Yes, wish them well,

Acquania Escarne 15:38

I love it. I love it. So the name of the podcast is called the Purpose of Money. So I asked all my guests this question, what is your purpose for money?

Toni King 15:49

I would say my purpose for money is the freedom to live life on my terms, and the ability to help others do the same thing.

Acquania Escarne 16:00

That's my favorite answer. Because I want to use money to create freedom to create experiences for my family, and for my friends, they've never imagined. And those are all great things. And that's why it's really awesome when you apply yourself to that goal, and then you accomplish it, you know, $1 at a time. That's what we're doing building wealth $1 at a time. So I want my listeners to start following you. I want them to start listening to your podcast. So please let us know. Where are all the social media platforms and websites that we can find you so we can connect?

Toni King 16:35

Yes, so you can find me on Instagram and then I'm on Twitter.

Acquania Escarne 16:45

Yes. And don't worry, guys, I'll make sure to include all the ways to connect with Toni in the show notes. I hope that this episode was helpful to you. If it is don't forget to like share, subscribe and leave a review. We love it when you do that. Until next time, keep building generational wealth $1 at a time.

Thank you for listening to the Purpose of Money podcast. For more resources and information, check out my website, the PurposeofMoney.com And while you're there, please sign up for our newsletter so you have the latest information on new episodes and blog posts. Until next time, keep creating freedom in your life today.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai