75. From Fear to Financial Freedom: Conquering Emotional Triggers for Successful Investments (Alejandra Rojas)

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This show, the Grow my podcast show is very much about it's about growth. Let's say it's about the growth of your podcast. Yes. It's also about the growth of your business and the growth of you. And I know, as a fellow entrepreneurial podcaster, that you get how intertwined these three things are.

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And one thing that underpins all these aspects of growth that actually fuel that growth is money. For me, money and making a ton of it was always the gold standard of growth. But the more that I have personally grown and changed, the more my relationship with money has changed. I used to be incredibly uptight about money. I thought that growth could only come from watching every single dime that came into my bank account and that left my bank account.

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I thought that was me being, quote unquote, smart with my money. But now, a decade into my entrepreneurship journey, I know that this approach to money is not the path to success, and it never was. In fact, it's what broke me along the way. It's what kept me up at night. It's what brought on my migraines.

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It's what had me questioning whether entrepreneurship was even for me. So I know you might be asking, well, what approach to money is the path to success? How do we need to view money, interact with money, and form a relationship with money so that we can find growth and success in our podcasts, our businesses, and ourselves? And by you listening to this podcast, I know you're invested in your growth, at the very least, the growth of your podcast. And so figuring this out, figuring out your relationship with money, is, I promise you, going to be the most important variable to get right.

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We talk a lot on this podcast about all the tactics about your SEO and social media marketing and podcast visibility optimization. But how you approach money ultimately trumps all of these tactics. Because when you start playing loose in your podcast and your business, you will not only succeed, but you will have fun doing it, too. And who wouldn't want that to actually have fun making money? And so I am so excited to have a good friend and Capshovian Alejandra Rojas, join me on this podcast to talk us through a foolproof strategy that enables us to think and interact differently with money in a way that helps us succeed with it and make a ton of it.

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My name is Deirdre Tshien, CEO and co founder of Capsho, the fastest way to repurpose and market your expert content. And this is the Grow my podcast show.

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My relationship with money has always been a complicated one. As a child of first generation migrants, especially Asian migrants, I was always taught that money was hard to come by and that I have to save as much as possible for that rainy day. We never seemed to have much or enough of it. And it was never something that could be risked. So you can imagine then, with my first business, how uptight I would be with money.

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I was averse to investing in anything, even if my gut and head was telling me that it could mean making a significant ROI. My fear always held me back. Grinding towards making money was my gold standard of growth. Attaining money was my end game. And now I view money very differently.

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I view it as a vehicle of growth rather than as the end result of growth. In fact, I see this playing out each and every day and in any big or small financial decision I make. And with those decisions, I can feel myself leveling up as a person and entrepreneur. In episode 68 of this podcast, my cofounder Bona and I spoke about where Capsho was heading as a business and in who we were serving. And I spoke about the example of making the decision to invest into HubSpot, which is one of the more pricier CRM systems in the market.

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We had just made the decision to go from spending a couple of $100 for existing CRM to spending thousands instead. Talk about scary. But the shift I've seen us make in this business has been phenomenal. As a result, I have seen us now level up to fulfill on that higher investment rather than settle and fall to what was comfortable. Because the more you pay for something, the more you pay attention to it.

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For example, how we're now approaching our sales journeys and automations has leveled up, the smarts we're putting into our reporting and analysis has leveled up. How we serve our Capshovians you has leveled up. And all of this, this is the vehicle for growth, not the end result, and was only made possible because of my relationship with money. And so I wanted to hear from someone who is way more qualified than me to talk you through how to make this shift. Someone who is also a fellow podcaster and who has used podcasting to grow her own business too.

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I'm Alejandra. I'm a finance professional trauma mind for know trauma and background. I'm the founder of the money mindset hub and the host of the money mindset show and overall, I'm just a finance lover helping entrepreneurs to achieve financial success. So for me, podcasting is like the window of my shop. I give you a taste of it.

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It's like a free sample. It's like here is what you can do. But it's not just a hook for my business. I run a whole business on the back end after the podcast. So to me, it's not just like I want to bring people in.

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I really want you to feel like you are in a waiting room. Like, if you can imagine when you go to the dentist and you already feel like, oh, the expert is going to see me in a moment. But I still feel I'm part of the environment on the waiting room that is my podcast. I give you everything there to start reprogramming whole conversations that are not going to be valuable for you. And then when you're ready, when it's your time for the appointment, that you go to see the expert to really see what's going on with you.

00:06:27
To me, podcast has been a big business avenue. I think most of the clients that I have from the podcast have been with me for at least a year. So that shows some consistency that I don't have with people that finds me in social media because they are really used to my voice, they are really used to my typos when I'm talking. Because I talk a lot with this Spanish Latina that I'm not even clear in Spanish sometimes what's happening. So they're already used to all that, that it's great for me because now their mind are ready to receive the information and to transform.

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And my results with my business. Is that transforming mindsets. Now we're talking about money mindset in today's episode. And we know that Alejandra is a Capshovian herself. And so given how intentional Alejandra is with her podcast, in terms of knowing exactly what she wants out of it and how it impacts her business, I was really curious to get her perspective on what went through her mind when she was making the decision to invest in something like Capsho.

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I tell you, when I found Capsho a year ago, I was really in a position of I need to figure this out because I cannot be investing the time that I'm investing right now, doing the show notes, all the promotion and stuff. So as a business owner, the decision for me was easier my business and as an expert, I need to spend time with my clients. That's what they are paying me for and that's what they deserve from me. But also I know that for my shop, I need to keep my windows clean. I need to keep it attractive, right?

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So I was like in between, what is more valuable that to attract more people or really sit down and invest time on my clients? So when I found out Captions like, this is exactly what I need and then it was so easy to make the decision. And a year later, I continue using it in every episode that I have. And now with the new features of LinkedIn and blog posts, it has been amazing. Not only for the results, of course.

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That's part of what drives people in the podcast. But not only because my podcast has grown, but also because I feel more confident about I know that I'm going to record an episode and that I won't leave it on the storage like before, because I don't have time to do the descriptions or all the things that needs to go in there. It was a huge thing for me before I probably had like ten episodes recorded because I batch record and then I just didn't have time to do all of that. So I never aired those episodes. Right now I have the confidence that if I sit down and record I just put it through capture, get that thing done, that's it.

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If you have a business and your business is not podcasting, then you got to take care of what is important for your income, revenue, which are your clients. So I felt, yes, I love podcasting. I do it for myself in big part of it. Like I said before, I just sit down and throw stuff out but then that is not my complete and whole business and I need to find a balance and the comparison of the value that I perceive from my time and my money it was like a no brainer decision. Like okay, I value my time five times more, five times more than the investment that I'm doing or the thing that I'm acquiring at this moment.

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So I think that's the strategic mind that you need when you are a business owner really put in perspective because numbers are relative. Numbers tell stories that only you can tell. What is that story mean for you? So to me just to say a number $500 was telling oh, this is an opportunity that you will get to have all your content done and not worry about again of worrying every single week on how you're going to get that done and then stealing the energy and time from your clients. That is not worth it.

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So it was easier. So awesome. Now what Alejandro has just spoken to you about using Capsho as example is almost the end result of her decision making process. But there is actually a method that she uses and that she teaches her clients that help them make the right decision when it comes to investing money and feeling really good about it. It is called the Mess method.

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And what is that you ask? So the Mess method, it's saying finances for entrepreneurs from a 360 way. It's not only about a strategy. It's not only about can I afford it or not. It's about mindset, the emotional triggers that it can have and the strategy that you put in place together all in a synergy.

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That's Ms. That's what it stands for. And the reason why I developed this method is because like we said before, every single thing as an entrepreneur triggers you because we don't realize it. That we are living by all these different rules and different ideas and thoughts that we grab. We are living in kind of a financial trauma response all the time.

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Am I going to have enough? Am I making the right decision? What if this doesn't pay off? Or all these financial decisions that we have to take. They are not only strategic, they are about the perspective and how you perceive those opportunities.

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If you can perceive it, if your mindset is able to allow them to see the opportunities and how you respond emotionally to those opportunities or to those investments or to those new paths that you want to get. And then it's about the strategy. So it's kind of to me, the Mass method just represents what we as an entrepreneurs act. We are a mass that needs to adapt new mindset shifts, regulate emotionally, because that's a huge part of becoming financially smarter with money, financially smarter with becoming financially smarter, and then adapt the strategy that works for you. Because that's the other thing.

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Not every strategy is going to work for you. You need to find your own depending on those mindset and those perspective and depending how much your emotional or nervous system is being triggered by the decisions that you make. The cool thing is that the Mess method is a super easy to remember acronym. Each letter me S s stands for each step in her strategy. So Alejandro is going to break each step down for you so you have the framework to follow.

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And she'll be using Investing in Capsho as the example. So that it hopefully makes it easier in your own mind to apply to any type of investment decision you're making. So let's kick off with the first step. The M which stands for is Mindset Shift. I can assure you that most of the purchases that you are doing, you are doing it because you are thinking, oh, this will help me grow my business, or this will help me free up some time, right?

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What is the perspective that you are holding right now? To buy or not to buy or to invest or not to invest in a software like Capshot? If you know that a software can free up time for you, can add more value for your clients and for you as a business owner and can really speed up the process if you fill that block. Why is that? What are the beliefs?

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Some of the beliefs may be like I can find other software or I can find different softwares to make it, but is that worth it for you? That's the first kind of mindset shift. The way that we do mindset shifts are by just self awareness and really introducing a new perspective and seeing things from a different level if you want. And let's just put an example that you have a podcast and you are looking to invest in Capsha because you want to increase your income in your business by, I don't know, ten K per month. If you put the glasses of somebody that is making ten K per month, is that person making those decisions that you're making right now?

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Is that business owner holding that amount of clients looking how to manage 10,000 other platforms for free only because you cannot see it right now? If that is the case, then that's your career to change your mindset and open to new perspective. When you do that, then the emotional trigger comes out. Oh gosh, how powerful is this? It is totally speaking to me personally and especially in what I shared with you earlier in this episode.

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And Alejandra has already started to talk about her second step which we will dive into deeply very very soon. So we have made our mindset shift and now we're on step two, the E, which is the emotional trigger. Because as we all know, any type of decision, especially one to do with money, triggers something emotionally. What is that? Why does that happen and what do we do with it?

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Once you have that perspective, because it's new perspective, it's nothing that you were accustomed. Is that kind of body feeling like am I making the right decision? Is your nervous system that activated? You have emotional trigger yourself. Now, this emotional trigger at this layer can be a thick one depending on your financial trauma.

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So if you come from a lack environment, if you are constantly worried about money, that can be something that you have to surf with time. It's something that on my sessions I clear up very fast because of the different techniques that I use. But emotional regulation with money is key. You won't be able to move to an effective strategy or to stick with an strategy if your nervous system is activated. If the moment you say oh yeah, I should go for this platform.

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But when you are right there putting your credit card, all of these thoughts are on your mind I'm not going to make it, it's not going to be enough. Your nervous system is never going to allow you to do that. And if you go ahead and dirt to do it against what your health is saying, you're going to have such a bad time the coming days and the days after. It's like why did you do that? And that is not helpful to be in a good space with finances and growing your business.

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So regulating your nervous system and reprogramming subconscious mind with money, which is what we just talked about, it's so important. It's so important not only to say okay, this is the avenue that we want to go, but to make it from a space where you are not going against your brain because otherwise that's why you see memberships getting canceled in 30 days or after the free trial or stuff like that. Because it's only an impulse. It's not really that you are making a decision from a calm space. And we are here podcasters and business owners.

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Now, if you are having that reaction with your own business, I want you to imagine what your clients are having or are going through as well. Because this is a two ways street when you have a business. If you are behaving that way, how can you educate your own clients or your own customers with your prices and with your products to not have that behavior? I think that's the most important part of the emotional regulation. Now, something that Alejandro said triggered memories of times.

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My mentor used to say that if I don't make investments in myself, how can I expect my clients to make an investment in themselves and therefore in me. I wanted to get Alejandra's views on that. I think that we can only see and perceive whatever we put out there. It's just like a pair of glasses, right? So I was talking about this in another master class.

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I have wear glasses my whole life and I know when some glasses don't work for me anymore so it's kind of that you can fake it and say no these glasses are working fine but it's blur to you that perspective is not working anymore. Now we tend as human beings to hang with the people that also have the same lights on our struggles because it's how we empathize with each other, right? So it's empathy is a topic to talk about is how we feel comfortable so energetically if you ask me yes, I believe that we attract of what we can perceive but if we put it on a logical plane as well you are only going to feel comfortable talking with people that at some level transmit that safety to you. And if you are safe but by not investing, by keeping yourself in that uncomfortable place even though that you know is uncomfortable, you're going to feel safe working and kind of supporting people that also feel safe in that same space. So when we are entrepreneurs we cannot really have that luxury because that's where nine to five people well I'm like okay here but I get my paycheck at the end of the month.

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When we have a business we know that we have to do things different because clearly it has to work and by you doing things different you attract energetically that people but also you start having those conversations that turns in clients. So it's kind of a different approach. But all of this to say, I do think that it's almost like we. Need to live our success before we can gain that success. I don't know about you but all of this kind of messes me up a little bit.

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I definitely get the emotional triggers and responses each and every time I try to level up and I think so much of that comes down to the uncertainty and honestly the lack of confidence I have in myself to make something of that investment. Does that happen for you too? I might just leave that with you to ponder while we move on to the third step, the S strategy. Now it's time to push the strategy that comes into place and with that putting a strategy means go and check your bank account. Do you know what is happening with your business?

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Do you have a software to tell you what is happening? Like what is really the number trying to tell you? We need to know that. So I do not believe in making decisions just because by swapping this credit card, I'm going to get to the next level and I don't have to look at anything else. That is not how it works.

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The way it works is that you have the opportunity in your mind. You know you're going to take that opportunity and then you strategize your way to that opportunity if you think about something that you really want. And let's come back to the capture example. If you know that this tool is for you and you're putting it away only because you say, oh, that's a $500 investment right from the gate, I want you to think the strategy differently. Tell me, how many coffees in a month are you taking and how much is that?

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Is that more valuable to you than having the software that is going to help you grow your business? And if it is, then that's fine. But chances are that once you see the numbers and once you see the trend that you are having, then you are going to make different decisions. Again, a strategy is different for the goal that you have, the vision that you have, and it's just different for different people. But overall, a strategy means that you do have to know your numbers and you do have to know what is happening on the money side of your business and your personal life so that you can make the decisions that will continue growing in itself.

00:24:17
Okay, this is awesome. This is now shifting from the intangible to the tangible, the things we can be doing on the ground to make this investment happen. But I also know that as humans, we don't want to make these trades. We don't want to give things up like our daily coffee, especially when they make us comfortable. So what if we're feeling a block like this?

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Actually an example. Immediately your mind went like, what if there is a block? That's exactly what clients do, right? Because that is your mind, literally your brain saying, hey, we should stay at the level that we are staying right now. Then it throws all of these questions.

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The answer is very simple, but it holds great power for entrepreneurs. The fact that you are researching for something means that there's an interest on it. When you put on a strategy of seeing your numbers, then you can make an objective decision. Yes, you may love your coffee every single day, but once you see it and your brain starts comparing the value of the thing that you were researching that holds interest to you and the thing that you are doing right now, it's going to be easier to say, well, I just don't need all of those coffees. Or I can just do this, or I can just do that.

00:25:35
Your own mind is going to start coming up with different values, but if you don't open on the first step to a different opportunity, you will never have this back and forth with your mind. Now, the thing with having a podcast as a business or having a business itself is that the more opportunities we see and the faster we act on those opportunities, the greater reward for us as a business. That's literally when your business really grows so you can literally not afford to not see those opportunities, your decision making starts being sharper and sharper every time it really gets into, oh, I find this way more valuable and attractive for me than spending on coffee. Maybe if you are starting out, that's going to be a longer path for you. But the other side for people, that creates like your capture, right?

00:26:37
We are ready to sell to the people that it's already done with all of this wedding and all these Starbucks outings and say, you know what? For two weeks, I'm not going to spend in Starbucks. Or you know what, I'm going to send another client and I'm going to put Couch in because that's going to attract more. You start seeing the opportunities, you don't get stuck in, what am I doing right now? Because the moment that you got stuck in, what am I doing right now?

00:27:05
Is the moment that your business stops growing and you can literally not afford that. This is so, so powerful. I hope you're getting as much out of this as I am personally because we're going to tie it all up now with the last step. Step number four, synergy. Synergy is just glowing all together.

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So whatever helps you to create a routine is what is going to work for you. Because your brain just likes routine. Your brain likes knowing things are going to happen certain way. So you have to make sure that in your daily routine, you are introducing new mindset shifts. You are regular in yourself with your difference and that you are following that strategy.

00:27:49
That synergy is not about doing something really. It's about knowing that by you seeing things in a different way and letting your brain and your nervous system feel okay with it, you're going to get to the place that you said you were going to get on that strategy. It's like putting it all together. It's really being a human. That's what it is.

00:28:15
It's like I'm going to do something by looking at that thing differently and telling my brain and my nervous system is going to be okay and let the plan just roll. Because once we do that, that's when it actually works. Is your mind blown with how we can start to break down those everyday investment decisions we make? It might start off sounding a little complicated when it's taken as one step at a time, but as Alejandro said in synergy, once we become a lot more practiced with it, it starts to just become a part of us and how we manage ourselves. This is so, so helpful.

00:28:51
So, just to recap, here are the four steps to Alejandro's Mess method. One mindset shift. Two emotional trigger. Three strategy. And four synergy.

00:29:03
Now, the last thing I wanted to get Alejandra's advice on is from a very tactical perspective, because she's told us the strategy, the method to how we approach investment decision making. But I also know that as humans, there are some times when we can default to our previous patterns. For example, even with all of the huge progress I've made with my own Money Mindset, I can't help but sometimes look at our bank balance or our churn numbers and feel this very acute world implosion moment as I like to call it. So I wanted to get Alejandra's advice on any hacks for how I can quickly snap myself out of that and stay on course. And what she had to say was so helpful that I started practicing it myself all the time.

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So I've included that as the free bonus clip for this episode. Just head on over to the link in the show notes and you'll find it on the website page for this episode. And if you wanted to get in. Touch with Alejandra, you can follow me on Instagram. I am like at the money mindset expert.

00:29:59
I also have my own podcast. If you visit to the Money Mindset show, you're going to find all of the episodes there and just visit us at the Money Mindset Hub. That is my website. And you can find all of the programs and all of the free offers that we have at the moment. I've also left links for those on this episode's website page with a special offer too for Alejandra's smart pricing course that will help you to stop under pricing.

00:30:24
Definitely go and check those out. Thanks for hanging with me. My name is Deirdre Tshien. Stay awesome.