Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Trudi Kayser. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Trudi, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the best or worst investment you’ve made (either in terms of time or money)? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)

The best investment I have ever made was investing time in myself.

Have you heard of Imposter Syndrome? I hadn’t either! Harvard Business Review describes Imposter Syndrome as this: Imposter syndrome can be defined as a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist despite evident success. ‘Imposters’ suffer from chronic self-doubt and a sense of intellectual fraudulence that override any feelings of success or external proof of their competence.

Anyone out there feeling like a fraud in your own business? It’s okay to admit it. I have spoken to several business owners over the past 8 years of being in the industry that I am in and it’s a common theme! At first, I had no idea this was even a “thing.” I was told, work harder on yourself than your business. To me, that didn’t make sense. If I am working on myself, how is my business going to thrive?

In my last interview I explained how I started out in this Financial Industry as being a financial train wreck. This, coupled with a background of alcohol and drug abuse, and not coming from an influential or wealthy family fueled this Imposter Syndrome to set in. I had mentors in the company I decided to join and was assured that it was common to feel this way when you first get involved in the industry. I went with it. I pushed forward despite feeling unqualified for a position like this, much less talking to people about their own money! Especially, my friends and family who knew my financial position.

I was given a set of tasks to complete each week and I did my best to do it. However, those feelings of doubt and self-criticism set in, and I would freeze. I was stuck. I simply could not make myself do the simple tasks that it was going to take to get my business up and running. What was the problem? Was this business not for me? All these questions swirling around in my head caused anxiety, anger, sadness, a whole gamete of feelings. I made decisions based on my feelings. I loved this company and all that they stood for, and how they went about helping people. It was a living hell if I am being honest!

I kept hearing, don’t give up! Never give up! I committed to 5 years. I will do this business for 5 years and see where I am at. It’s a common time limit for most new business owners, especially in the Financial Services industry. You see, the company I went to work with specifically focuses on hiring people that have no experience in financial services. They prefer to grow leaders and apparently this takes time!

At year 3 I was finally starting to understand how it all worked and had the ability to take care of clients on my own as opposed to having a field trainer with me. I was starting to feel a little more competent but couldn’t help but get overwhelmed with doubt and fear a lot of the time. Especially at night, while trying to go to sleep.

I was living in San Diego, California and my husband and I were looking at the business landscape in California and decided to move out of state. I was starting to get a great reputation in the area as being the girl to go to if you needed help financially. So, you can imagine the weight of this decision. Some days I was very confident that I could establish new connections quickly and be back on track shortly after the move. Other days, not so much.

We moved here to Phoenix in September of 2016. I had just bought a new car and was feeling good about this move. I did have some success right away, but it was very short lived. I refused to get a job. At this point, it had been over 5 years since I had a real job. I considered myself unemployable. I started driving Uber and Lyft to earn money and just barely made it every month. Imposter Syndrome followed me around everywhere.

I remember driving up to networking meetings and sitting in the car before going in to give myself pep talks. They worked, until I hit the door of the meeting, and frankly I just wanted to turn around and run! Looking back, I think I put on a pretty good show, and no one knew I felt that way! There was an energy that I put off though. It was difficult being comfortable in that situation and being able to be open to new relationships without the collections of feelings that made up Imposter Syndrome sneaking in and mucking up the waters. It felt like a constant battle inside. Is this really the life of an entrepreneur? Does it ever get better? I was doubting that I could ever shake this feeling. It was exhausting! Constantly questioning every decision.

Time passed and I kept going, and it did get a little better. After two years of networking constantly and finally making some connections that were meaningful, business started being more consistent and I decided to get an office at a co-working space. That would mean I am legit! I got a private office in the building and I had made it! The decision was super scary, and I was constantly stressed out about how I was going to pay for it every month and where were the clients going to come from. Once again, the syndrome secretly followed me around and haunted me at every turn. I would politely push it down and move forward.

Here’s the thing – for someone who had just met me and even my longtime friends and my family watching me, their opinion of me was that I had made it too! I had a nice office, great furniture, I had hired agents that I was now their field trainer and to all involved, it looked very successful! Deep down inside, it wasn’t enough for me, and constantly living with that feeling was starting to take a toll on my health, and eventually my wealth.

This is when I decided that enough was enough. I expressed my feelings to one of my mentors. I was told that I needed to keep going and work harder on myself than my business. I was asked, what are you doing to be better? Be better? Better at my business? I study the trends of the market, I read articles about all things financial, and I work on building better, closer relationships with people. I learned how to present the workshops that we teach. I led an event every month called Wine, Women & Wealth® in Chandler, I supported agents and their journeys. What else could I possibly be doing?

Then they asked, what are you doing to be a better version of Trudi? Okay, I go to gym (not consistently), I listen to books (not consistently). What do you mean? In sports, the participants have coaches. They have people that help them with their diets, their mentality, their attitudes and so on. In business, you need to have the same. We attract who we are, not what we want.

We can earn all the money in the world, use up resources and buy more. There is one thing we will NEVER be able to get back and that is time. All the time I spent worrying, doubting, and self-criticizing is lost. I will never get it back. I can change my perception of it and use it as a lesson to grow forward. But I will never get it back.

The best investment I have ever made was in myself. Giving myself time and grace to learn a new business. Giving myself time and grace to learn how to build great relationships (not just the one with my drug dealer, which was the habit I had created in a former life). Giving myself time to grow. I was earning good money but didn’t realize that I was spending it on bills, business, and lifestyle. I wasn’t investing it back in my business, and by that, I mean ME. Personal development and personal growth are imperative to build longevity in business. I wanted to build something that I could be proud of all the while not realizing that I needed to be proud of me and feel confident in me before any of that could happen.

I developed a personal development plan with my mentors and implemented it immediately. Daily meditation, daily workouts, reading books, implementing what was in those books and squashing all negative thoughts immediately! I also hung around super positive people, withdrew from the negative ones in my life and centered everything in life around Gratitude and being thankful for all experiences including the bad ones. I changed my perception. It worked, until it didn’t. I realized that I had gotten that BIG FANCY office to give me a boost of confidence and I realized I didn’t really need to spend $12K plus a year on it. So, I downgraded and started investing more in ME, growing me. Coaches, programs, more books and time with myself. My confidence grew as did my client base and income. I had just saved $12,000 a year! And then….

The pandemic hit, and all networking stopped, all business stopped it seemed. All except mine! Because of the moves I had made and personal growth I had went through I thrived through 2020 and earned more that year than I ever had in the past, helped more people and was feeling GREAT! All the actions I had taken the previous years gave me the confidence to do business anywhere – and online is where it was at during quarantine! Our team of Financial Consultants grew more than ever! We pivoted everything to online, our workshops, our meetings and I was able to work from home all of the time!

I was so excited and pumped – I kind of slacked off on the personal development and started missing meditations, missing workouts, missing reading every day. Missing networking and meeting new friends. I slid into 2021 with no full pipeline and none on the horizon! Business slipped, money slipped, and I slipped right into that Imposter Syndrome once again. It was probably the worst year in business I had beside the first year! I had sunk into my house and the comfort of the couch with big blanket and settled in for the worst. I lost more clients than I gained, and I was having serious issues with my attitude and weight. I had developed some pretty serious chronic pain in my body. It seemed that the “great ride” was over and all I was left with was Imposter Syndrome. It was tired of being pushed down. It reared its ugly head and took me down!

You see, the thing about personal development is that it must be started over every single day. The consistency is key. You don’t get fat from eating one donut. You don’t get lung issues from smoking one cigarette. It’s the consistency of eating donuts and smoking that cause overweight and cancer. You can never stop doing the daily activities that keep a good attitude. We must be positive ON PURPOSE. I learned very quickly that my default is negative. I was programmed with this as a small child.

By the time July 2021 came around, I had started the consistent actions again and then I got sick with COVID-19. By the way, I started another business in 2020 as well in addition to Life Made To Order Financial Phoenix, LLC. Sourdough Made To Order – homemade sourdough bread and boy was it good!

I had officially launched it two days before I got sick! The worst possible time to get sick especially with COVID! It was a home baking business, and I had all these orders piling up because people had been eating my bread for the past few months. Telling all their friends etc. I truly was at my wits end. So, I did what most people do in my position. I prayed. Why is that always the last straw?

Well, some dramatic things happened over the next 6 months. I developed long haul COVID symptoms and really had a hard time getting back into doing anything. All I could do was wander around my house, and bake. It was difficult to form complete sentences, so therefore meeting with clients was out. I did some serious soul searching and thought, should I even continue this financial business?

Looking back, I now see it as being pruned for promotion. It caused some much-needed humility in my life. Once the symptoms of COVID starting subsiding in the beginning of this year, I started feeling back to myself somewhat so. I plugged into my mentors again and started with the self-development practices again. I also learned that Imposter Syndrome comes from us not having great relationships with ourselves. Turns out talking to yourself doesn’t make you crazy! I started speaking kind, loving words to myself daily. Treating myself better. Practicing loving myself. This involved getting real with myself about my health.

I had been to doctors back in 2021 and got some allergy testing done on myself and I found out I was allergic to almost everything that I was eating daily. The wheat from the bread was amongst the culprits, which I ate on a daily basis. Mild allergies mind you. I chose to continue eating all those things except for a few. The doctor told me that this could be causing the chronic inflammation and pain I was experiencing in my body. I ignored them.

This year I revisited this and did some soul searching and decided to cut out all the food that I was allergic to. I started elimination of all allergens on March 1, 2o22. Here I am 22 days later, and I really didn’t expect to feel the way I am. Investment in myself has paid off once again. The way I treat myself is the way others will treat me. When I feel good, I attract good. It’s truly amazing all the things that have happened in the short 22 days for my businesses as well! I am baking more than ever, helping more people with their finances than ever and I am helping people find a new career just like I did all those years ago!

I hired a coach to help me better my relationship with myself and I am so excited to start that this month as well! The best investment I have ever done is in myself.

When I feel good, I do good. I expect good. Do yourself a favor and invest some time in yourself and grow yourself. Don’t be surprised if you start to notice all good things coming your way for your personal life and your business. I suggest you start with a book by Mel Robbins called The High 5 Habit. Learn about your reticular activating system and how to retrain your brain to notice all of the things you’re missing in life because we are all so focused on our default. The negative. In closing, we can say we love ourselves. My question to you is, do your actions prove it?

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

Life Made to Order is a way of life, a belief that each one of us has the power to orchestrate our ideal life experiences, especially when it comes to money! This is where the brand comes from. I am the second agency to name myself this and more specifically to the city of Phoenix. We do work nationwide though and we are an agency under Five Rings Financial out of Littleton, Colorado.

When I was first introduced to Five Rings Financial back in 2013 I was a financial train wreck. I had no savings for retirement and was worried all the time about money. I tried my best to push it down but the truth was that I was convinced at that point that I was going to have to work until the day I died, and that was that. I truly thought it was too late for me to start saving or do anything with regards to my finances. On top of that – I had recently been diagnosed with COPD and knew that it was going to eventually be costly to take care of that once it advanced in later years.

I met a woman who invited me to a money workshop and I completely ignored her, but in the back of my mind, thought, I should probably go to that and learn something. Then, the next thought would come, which was – but it’s too late – why bother. I eventually ended up going to the workshop and walked away that day with hope. That day changed the financial trajectory of my life. The very next day I called her and got covered with Living Benefits and was taught how to save for my future with some products that were no risk and I felt very comfortable with.

This started my journey with a new relationship with money! I was so happy! A short time later – I decided to go to work with her because it had made such an impact on my life! I thought if I can do this, so can others! That was 6.5 years ago! It hasn’t been easy to reprogram my mind to have a positive mindset with money and it’s taken a lot of work. The reward has been amazing and I know it’s going to get better as life goes on. The more I share it, the more I learn and get to share.

My current relationship with money is a great one, and despite the fact that I came from an extremely poor background, I get to build wealth and share this strategy with others! It’s super exciting!

We specialize in educating individuals about how money works through workshops and one on one meetings. If our clients don’t understand that concept we do not move forward until they do. This is what we are known for! We have upwards of 150 workshops a month across the nation online and in person! Individuals can attend in person, or online and they get valuable information that they can use to change their financial trajectory as well! There is NO SELLING at our workshops.

I am most proud of our growth at LMTO Financial and Five Rings Financial. We are the fastest growing company that does what we do in the nation! We have surpassed being a $1 BILLION company! I love that we grow leaders in our company and have an apprenticeship program that ANYONE can plug into and become a business owner by helping others with their finances! I am hiring here in the Phoenix area!

What sets us apart from others is our dedication to education! I would have to say that most people that work in the financial services industry are pushed to do business by quotas and pressure from corporate businesses. It’s understandable and hard to get away from. The founder of Five Rings Financial (Mike Wilk) set up a system that allows us to work at our client’s pace – not a quota pace. This allows us to be patient with clients and actually educate them BEFORE they do business with us! We are a fee free company and love our clients!

We specialize in Living Benefits – it’s our flagship product. Living Benefits are changing the world – one client at a time! They allow an individual to be covered in case of an unforeseen illness that would otherwise wreck their financial situation. If someone is covered with Living Benefits they can tap into a stream of income to replace what they lost when they cannot work because of illness. Super powerful! Attend a workshop to learn more or come and see us!

I am most proud of the fact that I never quit even though I wanted to daily!

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

I am a huge fan of Darren Hardy and his books. I relate with them and any entrepreneur would. They were written specifically for us! His encouragement of using the BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) setting system is the best! I use it every year to keep my goals top of mind and on track.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

I know every one of my clients on a personal level. We are friends. Referrals are the best source of new clients for me. I am part of a referral group that focuses on Relationship Marketing. In my industry, working with people’s money, it’s imperative that they know, trust and like me. The only thing that fosters that is a friendship. That’s what I work on first and foremost. With all of the marketing tactics out there and scams, referrals and recommendations is what people depend upon to be connected with a professional.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://trudikayser.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lmtophx/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lmtophx
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trudikayser/
• Other: linktr.ee/lmtophx

Image Credits
Karianne Munstedt – photographer for headshot