We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Natasha & Damian Carrillo. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Natasha & Damian below.

Natasha & Damian, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

The podcast and the financial education company were born out of a mission, and that mission is to help people manage their money with confidence. It all started when we decided to create this podcast, Black and Brown Make Green. We started the podcast because we wanted to make money more accessible to people. We wanted to share our story and strategies to help people feel more confident with money.

We both had really solid foundations on managing money that we learned from our parents, but we had gaps when it came to investing, tax strategies, and making our money grow. Around 2016-2017, we were looking for a financial advisor to help us in those areas and struggled to get anyone to respond to us, so we just started learning more on our own by reading finance books and blogs. We started implementing a plan based on what we’d read and sure enough, we started to see the growth in our finances happening.

Then in 2020, we had this crazy idea to start a podcast, mostly for fun, but also because we wanted to empower others with money in the same way that we felt empowered. One of the staggering stats we learned was that 50% of Americans don’t have $1,000 saved for an emergency, and we know that must be stressful for people to be in that situation. We want more people to be prepared for emergencies and to not be stressed about money. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t have anyone to talk about money or learn from when it comes to money so part of our mission is to be a safe space to talk, learn, and grow with money. Black and Brown Make Green, the podcast, is a safe way to pick up some tidbits on your own and Money with Confidence, the company, is a safe way to get 1-on-1 guidance with your money.

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

We are Natasha and Damian, husband and wife, and the co-hosts of the Black and Brown Make Green podcast. Natasha is a financial coach at Money with Confidence, and Damian is a software engineer.

(Natasha) – My background is education. I was an elementary teacher and instructional coach for 7 years, then I became a stay-at-home-mom, and now I split my time between mom duties and being a financial coach. Through Money with Confidence, I work one-on-one with couples or individuals to help them make a realistic plan to pay off debt, start saving, and prioritize spending on what they value most. Something that sets me apart from others is my empathy, patience, and encouraging vibe.

(Damian) – I am a software engineer, an amateur podcaster, and an award-winning family man. I have been a software engineer for over 15 years with a current focus on iOS development. I am the audio engineer for the podcast and work behind the scenes for Natasha doing her website and whatever other tasks she needs.

We want people to know that our podcast is really a fun way to learn about finances, and small steps can lead to big successes.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

There are 2 books that I think have really impacted me as an entrepreneur, We Should All Be Millionaires by Rachel Rodgers and Shoe Dog by Phil Knight. Rachel Rodgers really convinces you that you are deserving of making millions, you are deserving of being a business owner, and she also outlines some steps to do those things. Her book has historical facts, her personal stories, and a blueprint for business owners.

Shoe Dog is written by the founder of Nike, Phil Knight, and that book showed me that building a business is messy and imperfect. It also helped me realize that people who create successful businesses are just normal people (not anymore extraordinary) than me or anyone else.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I have always had a passion for finances, and in my 5th year of teaching, I decided to make a transition. I started training to be a financial advisor towards the end of the school year. I would sit in on calls with the lead financial advisor, and he also started working with me to pass the licensing test for the job. About a week into the training, I realized that the job was primarily insurance sales at least to begin. I felt really conflicted because I had this desire to help people with their finances, but this position didn’t seem like what I was looking for. I felt really bad because it was a pretty intense interview process. My husband, who was my boyfriend at the time, even had to be interviewed by the company, and I started having doubts about continuing. I made the hard decision to pivot away from that position, and I had to tell the lead financial advisor that I didn’t want to continue in the role. It was hard because I felt like I had taken this position from someone else who would’ve stayed in the position, but I also knew that it was best for me to walk away from it. It’s funny looking back on this now because I’ve come full circle and now 10 years later, I’ve found myself back in the finance space again.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://moneywithconfidence.com and https://blackandbrownmakegreen.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/blackandbrownmakegreen
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackandbrownmakegreen/
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/heynatashac https://linkedin.com/in/heydamianc
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@blackandbrownmakegreen/about
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/money-with-confidence-austin

Image Credits
Photos by: Lindsay Herkert https://lindsayherkert.com/ Little Memories Photography Austin https://www.littlememoriesaustin.com/