We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jodi Smith a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Jodi thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
In 2017 I had just finished my MBA with a student loan and big dreams. I knew I wanted to pay off my debt very quickly and started looking for more information and resources to help me on the journey. I also learned a lot about managing money in the MBA and wanted to put that knowledge to good use to help me pay off the debt and wanted to couple this with other pieces of information out there that wasn’t necessarily taught in school. Things like taxation, 401ks, ROTH IRA to name a few.
It was very hard to find resources that were tailored toward women and young professionals. A lot of the advice in the personal finance space at the time was built for those who were established and the language had jargons that the common person could not understand.
I then felt a nudge in my gut to start a blog to teach people the basics about personal finance, things like how to save money, pay down debt, invest, build assets and build wealth.
That’s how my blog, Abundance of Jo was born – it was developed out of a need to help people, especially young people to manage their money. My mission is to make personal finance information easy to understand and relatable so that people can actually make the changes they need to make their financial dreams a reality.
The blog is also where I document how I have been able to pay off debt, save for retirement and build assets. I want to teach and inspire at the same time and help as many people as I can.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I am a Personal Finance Coach and Blogger with over 12+ years of experience in the Banking, Public Relations, and eCommerce industry.
I started my career in Public Relations working as an executive in Government and media. After a few years as a Public Relations Manager, I went back to school to do an MBA and became fascinated with business and finance.
Post-MBA, I started my blog and business to help young professionals to save money and build wealth. I currently provide one-on-one coaching to young professionals who need guidance with their finances. We work on a personalised financial plan that helps them to reach their financial goals in a methodological and thoughtful way. I look at their personal situation and we work together on a financial plan to help them pay off debt, save for a home or wedding and plan for retirement.
It’s important to note that my work covers financial coaching where they get support to build their finances – I do not sell financial products, instead I look at topics like budgeting and saving money. That way the support is aimed at helping them meet their financial needs and not to sell them a financial product.
I am very proud of seeing my clients light up when they have a plan in place and they are able to start saving money and meeting their financial goals. I have had several clients come back to tell me that they were able to save enough money to buy a home or they have been able to pay off debt. This inspires me to keep going and help as many people as I can.
My financial coaching business is different because I provide that one-on-one support from a place of empathy, encouragement and inspiration. My goal is never to shame anyone but to uplift them to improve their finances as money can be an emotional topic and people need to feel empowered in order to really make a behavioral change.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I remember when I started out with my blog, I had zero followers or readers and I felt discouraged. I thought that I would never get any readers and I felt like giving up. Indeed entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart!
One day, I started to think about giving up and pursuing another business opportunity – at this point, I had very few readers and clients. I was feeling deflated and decided to check my business email. I was very shocked and excited to see an email from a woman who had a podcast and invited me to come on her podcast to teach people about personal finances.
I gladly accepted and from that podcast, I was able to get other podcast invitations which led to more readers and eventual clients.
So never give up – you never know how near you are to success – keep going and believe in your dreams as your dreams are important.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
Entrepreneurship is not easy but it can be very rewarding. Along this journey I have been inspired by several resources including the following books and podcasts:
– The Cathy Heller Show: Cathy Heller is an inspirational leader in the podcasting space and her podcast provides information on how to be a business owner, how to find your passion and lead your business toward success.
– Grit by Angela Duckworth: This book is in my library and I go back to it everytime because it teaches that success doesn’t come from how smart you are and only who you know but it comes from being resilient and strong and never giving up.
– Quiet by Susan Cain: As an introvert, this book is a powerful resource as it helps me to celebrate my introversion as one of my strengths. It’s also the secret sauce to my business – my ability to empathize and inspires comes from my introverted nature and I am reminded that it’s ok to be quiet in a world with a lot of noise.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://abundanceofjo.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abundanceofjo/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Abundanceofjo
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodiannsmith1/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLfnuK9UpBB4kqJ2QKD4qZA
- Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/AbundanceofJo/_saved/
Image Credits
Jodi-Ann Smith