Where did you grow up and what was your childhood like? Did you have any particular experiences/stories that shaped your adult life?

Fremont, California. Now made famous because it is where the Tesla plant is located. It was a nice place to grow up. I’m proud to be from the Bay Area but I oddly do not miss California. I guess I was born to be a nomad.

What is something you wish you would’ve realized earlier in your life?

My own power. Bad things can happen to you but your own power is something that you travel with. Your strengths, your loves, your passions. When life is kicking you straight in the butt, you do have power still. It is always hard to see but I have learned to cling to my power when I feel powerless. There are ways.

What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession or area of expertise?

I don’t like it when I hear people discouraging young people from any profession. I went to journalism school and all the professors harped on about how impossible it is to get a job in print, TV, radio, you name it. I don’t ever think you should tell someone else how hard something else will be. Don’t ever put your limiting beliefs on another person. It’s wrong.

Tell me about one of the darker periods you’ve experienced in life. How you came out of it and what you learned from it?

We had a business associate we worked with that we referred investors to. It turned out that person was taking that money and not performing services for the people we referred him to. It caused a lot of legal and reputational damage for us and it was heartbreaking to see that people were hurt by our recommendation. We had no idea and we never saw it coming. It was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever been through, being served with lawsuits over people who were legitimately harmed but not by us. I will never be the same.

We have moved past this because we had set ourselves up for trial in ways that I could not have anticipated. I have come to believe that you are given clues in your life for things you will eventually need to protect yourself. Much like a video game, you are provided with powerful tools to make you stronger. You can walk right past them or you can pick them up. If you pick up those tools, you will be prepped for the upcoming challenge. My husband and I had been picking up these tools all along but we did not know it. We had the right legal team, accounting team, asset protection, insurance plans. We had read books that we had no idea would be helpful. If we had not done those things, we would have been sunk. But we weren’t. When life gives you a clue like this, PICK IT UP! If you hear about a book, or are introduced to a person, or someone recommends a podcast, use those resources! That is the universe preparing you for what is coming next because a higher power knows what you do not.

What is one thing that you do that you feel has been the biggest contributor to your success so far?

I chose a good spouse. My husband and I were born to build together and not just a family. I don’t think I could have known that when we met but I am grateful every day that we know how to run our family like a business and we are able to build wealth that way.

What is your morning routine?

My 4-year-old daughter starts talking at my head at 6:30 a.m. If I try to beat her with my alarm clock, she switches to 10 minutes earlier. There is no winning that game. She snuggles in my bed for about 10 minutes before we go and get the household ready for school. After the bus leaves, I work on our daily newsletter. It takes me about two hours but I cherish it because it is a project I do with my husband. I do the writing and he does the graphics and headline. We typically sit by the fire with coffee to do this.

What habit or behavior that you have pursued for a few years has most improved your life?

I’m a Virgo. I’m full of good habits. I journal, I exercise, I eat well, I keep organized Dropboxes and use a label maker like a boss bitch. It makes New Years’ boring because I’m always fairly up on self-improvement but that’s my thing. The world is secretly run by Virgo organizational junkies, in case you didn’t know.

What are your strategies for being productive and using your time most efficiently?

My husband obsessively time blocks his day. I don’t do that. I am a walking to-do list. Things rarely fall through the cracks. And if something doesn’t have a spreadsheet, it might as well not exist to me. Not everyone can do this, I understand, but I think the important thing is to find out who in your house can and delegate.

I don’t come up with big ideas. That is my husband, Clayton. But I can implement and support him because I’m such a Hermione Granger. The important thing is to play to your strengths in your household. And if you are alone, delegate what you are not good at. If we don’t employ the same tools in our house and wealth-building that we apply in our careers, we will never build wealth.

It’s really important to think of your home life and your business life in similar paradigms. I don’t mean you can’t relax at home but you should have goals, things you want to learn, improve, team building, all of those things. That is why we launched the Financial Freedom Academy. We want families to think of wealth as something within reach of their own little teams. It is not just for other people. Most people have far more resources than they think they do, they just have to learn to see them.

What book(s) have influenced your life the most? Why?

The Alchemist is a book I read fairly regularly. It reminds me that the best lives are the ones that throw you for a loop. I also just finished a book called The Red Tent that was a bit like The Alchemist for women. This is one that will stick with me for a really long time. It presented womanhood in such a powerful light and had a similar message of beauty through trial.

From a life perspective point of view, a book called Journey of Souls. I love the way of seeing life, life’s purpose, and the afterlife. It breaks apart all human dogma and shows how connected we all are. I can’t recommend it enough.

Do you have any quotes you live by or think of often?

Yes. As a child, my parents subjected my sister and me to a lot of Jim Rohn tapes. He used to say, “What’s easy to do, is easy not to do.” I think of that a lot when I don’t feel like doing something that feels hard. I could just as easily not do it but taking those small steps is what spells out success.