We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Marie Sutton. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Marie below.

Marie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been one of the most interesting investments you’ve made – and did you win or lose? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)

Best Investment or Worst Investment?

This is a great question! How about I answer both-

My best investment was investing in myself.
Hear me out, I know this sounds cliche, but this was the turning point in elevating and leveling up my life.

If I never decided to bet on myself I would not be a business owner, I would not be an investor, I would not have had the courage to leave an abusive relationship at 21, I would not have had the dream to become a homeowner in my 20’s, get out of debt, etc. It simply would not have been possible if I did not KNOW & TRUST that I was capable and worthy to create my own reality, We are only ever limited by our own thoughts and actions, nothing else.

I am more afraid of NOT doing whatever it is I’m scared to do or accomplish than I am of actually doing it.

Whatever you’re scared to do but desire to do, my advice is to do it.

You may lose relationships/friendships, in the midst of elevating but that’s ok, What you lose you can expect to gain back.

Worst investment? I have not had one bad investment thus far- First rule of investing is understanding proper risk management. You can control what you lose through proper risk management in everything. You can lose in investing but what you stand to gain far outweighs the temporary losses.

Perfect example: I have lost thousands in the crypto market but I also learned where I needed to tighten up. How to better manage my losses and safer ways to invest in crypto. Also never invest more than what you can afford to lose- that’s rule numero uno.

I know how to make back what I lost and have many times over. So in my eyes, it wasn’t a loss just another typical day in the markets lol

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Absolutely-

The name of my Business is LEVEL UP ACADEMY-

We Provide an Academy of services for the average individual and small business owners alike.

We are a Financial Service Provider/Educator.

We are a Tax & Bookkeeping Firm-We prep taxes for both individuals and businesses and offer bookkeeping services.

We also teach offer classes on how to restore personal credit and build business credit.

We offer Consulting services for those seeking answers to questions they may have on investing, business, taxes, credit etc.

And we are preparing to launch a Coaching program for individuals seeking to learn financial literacy, proper money management, budgeting, and how to make smart financial decisions!!

Along with that, we have some awesome things coming that will help put the power of financial literacy into the hands of those really seeking to make a change to their lives!!
We will have even more digital and physical products available to help on their journey while getting access to me to keep them on track.

A lot of people don’t have access to the information but I want to make it easy to understand and accessible and most of all fun!

So you may be wondering well how did I get into all this? What made me want to start a Financial Service Business?

Ok so if you don’t know anything about my story- I survived domestic violence in my first relationship. With the father of my 2 kids. The abuse was so bad I had a life insurance policy put on myself at 18 because I knew that I would lose my life at the hands of this man but at the same time I knew how dangerous it was to leave, all the while it was dangerous to stay.

I remember having to wear turtlenecks to hide the marks on my body. I would cry myself to sleep every night because I was always wondering if tonight would be my last night,

I was not only being physically abused and financially and physically controlled.

The abuse went on for 4 years- but it took me planning my exit plan for 2 years before I was able to finally leave.

He told me his plan was to make sure I never could make it without him-(thus how I ended up pregnant twice in 2 years) and that if I ever did make it out and try and leave it wouldn’t be long before I was back because I would need his help.

That lit a fire in me that is still burning today-A fire that allowed me to put a plan into place and no matter what I would leave that relationship or die trying. I decided to take my power back and take me and my 2 kids away from that situation.
And I would give it my all. I left at 21. It was truly one of the scariest times in my life.
I was terrified that he would pop up at any time while I was packing up my car and kill me like he had promised and attempted many times before.

I made it out with my life and I dedicated my life to elevating and healing so much so that the person who I was 10 years ago is so proud of me today. Because she did it so afraid, so scarred, so broken, so hurt, so traumatized but so hopeful.

I leveled up my mental- I went to therapy
I leveled up in my career- I got into tech
I leveled up my credit- I bought a house at 27 on my own with great credit
I decided to create security in my life-I taught myself financial literacy
I decided to learn the things that I didn’t know and the common denominator was money. I needed to have enough to never return to a situation that threatened my safety.
I wanted to understand money so that I could build generational security and wealth for the 2 kids that were given to me that I was now raising on my own. So they would never want for anything.
I learned about investments.
I learned how to budget.
And I got out of debt.
I did all this on the personal side long before I started my business. And I now apply the same principles in my business.

I learned all these things and know it so well that I now want and will teach others, especially women in bad situations. Because it was me. The difference is I didnt have anyone to teach me what I learned on my own. But I want to be that someone to somebody who needs it.
There is nothing more heartwarming than having a client of mine reach out to me and lets me know of the impact I had on them, how I taught them something that they thought was complex and made it easy to understand and fun to start.

That right there is what makes it worth it.

And running a business is not easy but for me it’s worth it.

So please if you desire to understand money, get financially literate, build your personal or business credit, or start a business am I someone you are gonna want to stick around for. I would love the opportunity to help you along your journey.

I am so excited about the new things coming in my business to continue to help elevate people’s situations.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Referrals!

When you do right by your clientele they will bring you more clients!

Word of mouth in my opinion is the best marketing a business can get!

The majority of my clientele has come through referrals, not marketing surprisingly.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Ohhh I love this question!

I love a good book! And I own several.

I would love to give you my recommendations.
Believe it or not, entrepreneurship is a very spiritual and enlightening journey. And there will be a lot of unlearning that will need to take place in your entrepreneurial journey. Lots of learning about yourself on a deeper level.

Ok, ok so here goes:
Here’s a video rec:
“The Secret”, I watched this when I was like 19 and I never forgot it. And have been applying some of the same principles in my life to this day. (Spoiler Alert; You really do have the power to drastically change your life by adjusting your internal beliefs and thoughts)
This was a game changer for me.

Books recs:
“The 4 Agreements”
“Think & Grow Rich”
“Rich Dad Poor Dad”

Visit my Amazon BookList for others I recommend:
https://www.amazon.com/shop/creoleafrolatina/list/2R0TL5F1XV423?ref_=aipsflist_aipsfcreoleafrolatina

I hope you enjoy!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://levelupacademy.godaddysites.com/
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• Other: Booking Site: https://level-up-academy-llc-108200.square.site/ Financial literacy book: https://levelupyourself.gumroad.com/l/ijwaw?_gl=1*v53pca*_ga*NTc2NDU2MDg5LjE2NzQ1MzM5ODE.*_ga_6LJN6D94N6*MTY3NDUzMzk4MS4xLjEuMTY3NDUzNDE1Ni4wLjAuMA..