Multiplying your Money with Julia Carlson

 Welcome back to the podcast everyone. You have asked and we are delivering today. This is one of the most. Top requested topics of all time, because I have talked about the different buckets of money and the idea of both having circulating and multiplying money. And so many of you wanted to talk about how do you multiply money.

So I decided to bring on the most incredible expert on this topic who. I was lucky enough to meet at a retreat in Cabo and totally vibed with, and I am just so excited to have Julia. So let me tell you a little bit about Julia and then we are gonna dive into the episode. Julia is CEO and founder of Financial Freedom Wealth Management Group, LLC, and with its successes, she has become a thought leader in the financial industry. Julia, an expert in personal finance, has been honored to be recognized

for her excellence throughout her career, including being ranked by Barron’s Ann Forbes as one of America’s top advisors. Julia has been invited to speak internationally on topics ranging from how she built an eight figure business while integrating life as a mom, how to lead an extraordinary team in business and inspiring entrepreneurs to.

Fire themselves, scale their businesses while creating financial freedoms in their lives. She also loves to speak about personal finance and how to take charge of your financial future as a wife, mother to three, an owner of multiple businesses.

Julia is passionate about living life fully in the present and living out the concepts discussed in her book. Money Loves You. She lives in a small town on the Oregon coast, and I am so excited to have her today and to dive into. Julia’s amazing wisdom and brain. And what I really love is that you have that background in, financial management, but you also really live out a lot of the concepts that we talk about on this podcast in terms of the mindset piece of it and the abundance piece of it.

And you bring all of that together And, so thank you so much for being here, Julia.

Me a.

Yes. Yay. I love it. Okay, so let’s dive in. So in your book, money Loves You, which everyone go get that book, it is so good. You talk about money as a mirror. And so I am curious, can you share a little bit, , with the listeners about what you mean by that as money being a mirror?

So the way I think about money is it, it is, it is energy. It’s a resource. It’s a tool. It’s all those things, but it will reflect back whatever we give it. So if we give it. Uh, you know, attention, if we give it intention, if we give it a possibility and dreams, you know, it’s gonna reflect all of those back to us.

But if we give it, you know, I hate money, or money’s hard, or it’s challenging, it’s the scarcity mindset, all of that will be reflected back to us, so

true. A hundred percent. We talk about it like a relationship, right? Where like we actually have this relationship with money. It’s an energy and it’s so true that it really is a mirror because thoughts become things. So whatever you’re thinking about it, whatever you’re saying about it, however you’re holding it, it really does come back to you as.

What you see in your reality, and it is a relationship. It’s something that you, you know, you can change too, which is so beautiful.

Yes.

Yeah. Yeah. So good. I love that concept so much. So one of the things that you are so brilliant at is multiplying money and investing money. And I know a lot of the women that listen to my podcast are in a place where they’ve started manifesting the money.

They’re making the money. One of the things that they get into is, you know, I wanna multiply it, but where do I begin? I don’t even know what that looks like. Or they might just feel overwhelmed by the whole thing. So I am wondering, you know, what would you say is the simplest way to start doing that or to start overcoming that fear of it being this big, overwhelming thing with lots of risks.

Okay. Great question. So my, my first response to that is. We are always our best investments ourselves. And so I assume if someone is already investing in themselves, they’re making money, they’re, they’re finding success, they’re well on their way, and then they need to say, oh, how do I start getting my money to work for me?

And actually invest, then it, it’s, you could start out really small. I love this story. , I have, someone that helps clean our home and helps me in my home and she wanted to start investing and I’m like, a hundred dollars, start with a hundred dollars. And that’s where I started. I started my dad, when I had my very first job at McDonald’s.

Set me up with $25 a month in the late nineties where I would, invest in a mutual fund and , every month they’d send me a little coupon and I’d send in more money, and now we can do it all online. And so it’s, it is like starting really small and getting into the habit of investing in a. An index fund.

A mutual fund that is widely available, and just getting started.

So if someone says, well, where do I begin? Do I need a financial advisor for this? I don’t really know what a mutual fund is. They haven’t really learned this stuff. Would you recommend that they start reading about it, learning about it first, or hiring some? Like what would be the first step for that person?

Okay, so we have, , a lot of different ways, like we have a program for, it’s actually, I talk about it in my book and we call it Inspired Wealth, and it’s actually the a coaching program that over a year you work with a financial coach, a financial advisor, every quarter. And they actually can guide you in setting up, you know, whether it be a retirement account or a non-retirement, which is just , an investment account that’s more flexible.

And you want someone to do it with you and for you. That would be why you would go to a financial advisor. If you’re just starting out, most financial advisors will say, will have minimums. So thankfully we don’t have minimums, but we have this program that you have to be in to get, that advice and to get started.

So if you’re doing it out on your own, then. There are plenty of companies that will, you set it up directly with the fund company and they, can help you get started and, you know, yes, you’re not working with the same person every time. But they have good resources to help you get going.

Totally. Oh my gosh. That’s awesome. That’s amazing that you can get, because with that it’s nice that you can get started without a minimum or something like that. So that’s beautiful. I love that so much. You know, one of the things you, we were just laying by the pool talking in Cabo, which was the best when we’re just coaching and talking and all the things sharing, and I remember asking you this question, I said.

I was like, aren’t you nervous, like with your clients? Like what? What happens if the market tanks or something like that? Are you ever nervous with them in terms of guiding them? And I said, what are your thoughts about the stock market? You’re like, oh no, Jamie. I just believe so much in it that no problem.

I have so much belief in it. I would love to hear more about that and how you built the belief in it and what it is you believe in,

, So much nowadays with so much political headlines and just the emotional charge of, politics. A lot of times people confuse that with the stock market, with investing, and I would say separate that we’re not investing in the government, we are investing in.

Companies that are proven that there are products that you use every day that are, total separate entities from, what’s going on in America. So I would say like, you wanna know what you own. You wanna invest in companies that you believe in, that you feel good about, that provide the technology that we all use every day.

And I think for me, I have been following stocks since I was sitting on my grandpa’s lap and he was looking at the TV watching the ticker symbols. Yeah. And then in high school, my, my business teacher, set up like a mock portfolio that we would watch stocks and, pretend to invest in them. And then at 18, my dad set me up with my first investment.

And so I have been very comfortable. Investing in companies, watching the markets, and I do it every day. And so for me, you have to detach the emotions from the experience of investing because in the short term, the markets are very volatile. The prices, like, let’s say you buy something and the price could go down the next day, but it also could go up and so.

Over the long run though, if you are investing in good companies that are profitable at a right price, you’re, gonna make money over the long run. , And you actually learn when the market pulls back to be like, Ooh, it’s like going to the Nordstrom’s yearly sale Right?

Yes. Yes. That’s a sweet spot.

I wanna buy this on sale.

And

Totally.

And you look and you look at stocks that way.. So I would encourage everyone, like, I nerd out about it, but just like, look at your favorite companies and , and look at their stocks and, it’s see how they, see how they go up and down and you, recognize patterns.

And if you don’t wanna nerd out about it, like, reach out to me and my team can help.

Yeah, because y’all are nerding out on their behalf. So good. That’s awesome. I love that. So what do you think, um, people or maybe women in particular. Let’s say women business owners, ’cause that’s typically who’s listening to this podcast. What do you think you see as their biggest fear of taking that leap and starting to put money into something to multiply?

I think it’s just the unknown of it, whether it’s opening the account and setting it up and, and learning, feeling comfortable with it, um, or even knowing the possibility that it exists. Yeah. And so I think, if they’re a business owner, like I said, like I will always say, invest in yourself first.

Invest in your business first, because that can grow exponentially where, you know, in the stock market, you’ll get 10, 12% over the long term. So I, I always say it’s like we, you’ll hear advisors talk about diversification. I actually think if you are a business owner. You shouldn’t diversify in the beginning.

You should go all in on yourself and on your business. And then as your business grows, that is the ultimate wealth building vehicle to then take money out of your business to then build wealth. That’s when you diversify.

Yeah. Oh, that is such a good perspective. And in looking at my journey back in hindsight, that’s exactly what I did. My first huge scary investment was investing in a coach and I sold my car to do it ’cause I didn’t have the money. But I will tell you the ROI on that was. I mean, it’s still, you know, I feel like it’s one of those things where when you invest in yourself, it’s like you have that, it’s, there’s a ripple effect for the rest of your life too.

And then, yeah, that, that’s what can create the overflow to then. Diversify even more and invest in all kinds of things. So that’s amazing. And actually it’s a great perspective. So if you’re a listener who’s like, I don’t know about investing, I’ve never invested, if you are like getting coaching, if you’re investing in your business, you are doing something to multiply money, right?

You’re already doing it.

Yeah, I was gonna say like who you become in that investment is. Way more valuable than what you’re gonna get in a stock market over a year. Right. So I’d much rather have someone do that investment first, and then accumulating wealth will come.

Wow. And this is coming from like the best financial advisor. So that’s huge. Amazing. Amazing. Such good advice. I love that. Um, so a lot of people have. Uh, avoidance, right. You’ve probably seen this in terms of a mirror avoidance of just not wanting to look at their money and feeling resistance to look at it.

And I’m sure you’ve had people who have come in and started working with you that feel freaked out about looking at their money, and that’s kinda step one, would you say?

Oh yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

Yeah.

And that it’s, it’s not just looking at it, it’s understanding your money story, like. Most likely, once you dig down into their first money memory, what they learned as a kid about money, what they were taught about money or what they weren’t taught. It’s like, of course you feel this way, of course you wanna avoid your money.

Yeah. So it’s like having this, coming at it from a very compassionate place and like unveiling, it’s like, I, I like to call it, it’s like mining the subconscious. Like, let’s get to the bottom. And then once you know, you can’t unknow. And then you get a to start new habits , to not avoid your money, to, you know, plant these seeds of hope and abundance in your story that then can get lived out as you walk that path.

Yeah.

Yeah. That’s so good. I think compassion is such an important piece of that, of understanding of, like you had mentioned the, of course, maybe you didn’t grow up looking at it. You didn’t learn how to look at it, or you were taught that it’s a scary thing to look at and having compassion for the part of you that’s a.

Afraid to look at it can be so big because it kind of eliminates that shame and then you can actually dive in and start creating that financial freedom and get intentional and have fun with it. Like you said. I also love what you shared that when you were younger, in high school,

you played with, oh, what if we invested in the stock market? I think that’d be a fun exercise for anyone who’s afraid of diving into this. Do something playful. Imagine you’re doing it first. Get your subconscious on board with the idea that it’s safe. And then of course, like you, now you do play with it, but in real life.

So that’s fun.

yeah.

I love that so much. That’s great. So you have created an eight figure business and have built fan complete financial freedom and that is the desire of my listeners. It’s not necessarily to build an eight figure business, but they all want to create financial freedom, but also create the balanced life that you also have.

You’re a mom of three. You live in a beautiful home on the coast of Oregon, and you just have. This balanced life. And I know a lot of people probably learned that if you wanna have financial freedom, you can’t have balance too. You can’t have other values, you have to double down and hustle for it.

So I am curious what your thoughts about creating financial freedom are, and if you could share any nuggets of wisdom of how you have created this life.

Yeah, sure. So it hasn’t always been without the hustle,

Yeah.

you know, that, I mean, there was definitely a season where, you know, probably for a good 12 years of starting my business, that I did work really hard. And it didn’t necessarily come from a healthy place. It was like I, I was out to prove that I could do it.

I was out to prove that I’m good enough. And I, and I think all of us kind of struggle with that concept of self-worth thinking. The money will bring the worth. But, but it actually doesn’t, it’s who you become in all of that building actually, that you understand all of us are worthy. Like what if we started at that point?

Yeah.

and so I actually think financial freedom and financial independence are very separate.

So financial independence is, yes, I have all the money that I need, or I have investments and assets that are spinning off an income to satisfy the lifestyle that I wanna live. And for us, it’s, it does, it’s all different and it’s a moving target as you have more success.

And so. You know, reaching that WA was great and now it, it doesn’t become just about the money, it comes about the ripple effects and the impact that I can help others. But when I think about financial freedom, that I actually think is available to all of us.

And I think it happens in the moment where you do have this really juicy relationship with money, that you do have a plan and an intention with your money, and , you are practicing a discipline with your money.

Yeah. And so, you know, you may not be financially independent, but you know what you have to do to get there.

In that plan, in that discipline is where you find the freedom.

Oh my gosh. I love how you are blending two words that sometimes people think are complete opposites, and they’re like, wait, it’s either discipline or freedom, right? You can’t have both. How is discipline freedom? Discipline is restricting. I’m curious your thoughts about

Yeah, no, it’s, it’s true. So I actually learned this principle when I did , figure bodybuilding, and I had to be very disciplined. I had to be.

In the gym every day eating broccoli and chicken every three hours, like with sweet potato. Like it was very discipline and I thought, I’m like, you know what?

I’m gonna do this for a year and my business will probably, um, not do great ’cause I’m spending so much time over here. But do you know in that year my business doubled?

Oh my

Because I was so disciplined that I actually didn’t have to make very many decisions. Because it was like autopilot. I actually put these boundaries around myself and then everything else kind of fell away.

And I was like, superwoman. It was wild. And so what I, yeah, and what I learned in that is in that discipline, I actually felt really free. I felt like because I wasn’t having to make these decisions all the time. ’cause I knew my path.

And so that, that to me is, is that feeling of, it is, it does sound so polarizing, but it actually is the ingredients to feel the sense of the freedom.

That is so good, and I feel like it’s gonna be not only so inspiring, but so healing for so many people, and I think it could be an amazing. Practice for anyone who’s listening, who you know, whether it’s creating some discipline around money or creating some discipline around your life, like anything, any habit that you wanna have that’s gonna impact every other area.

And it’s like, what if you shifted the way that you thought about discipline from restriction to freedom?

Yeah.

And like you said, you felt more free, your business doubled. So I guess we just all need to go become like bodybuilder. I’m kidding.

Or business right.

No, I know. I’m. It does. Oh, I’ve seen it. I used to, uh, work with someone who was doing a bodybuilding competition and tilapia every three hours. Like the break room was like, oh man. But she was so fit. She felt amazing. She did incredible. It was really amazing to witness. So, yeah, and I actually had a client of mine who, you know, she was wanting to grow her business and she had this instinct, you know what I really wanna build.

Some mental resilience. So she did 75 hard, you know the, I don’t know if you’ve heard of that. Yeah. And it really reflected in her business, so I can a hundred percent see that. But yeah, I love that whenever it comes to money, just tying discipline to freedom, it’s beautiful. And discipline doesn’t have to mean restriction.

It can mean discipline. It just means that you decide ahead of time, you do it with intention and you follow it. So yeah. Amazing.

In the book there’s a chapter called the Anti Budgett. And so it’s the same kind of concept, like you celebrate what you get to do or what you get to spend money on. Like we are all gonna spend money on what we value, like I promise you, open up your credit card statement, your bank account, look back 30 days like.

I’m you. Everything you’re spending money on are things that you value. And that’s not wrong. No one can say that’s wrong, but we get to decide how we spend that money. And

the hope is that the future you is inside that value bucket.

For yourself.

Yes, and that’s where you actually get the results that you want and you start reaching your goals and making the progress you want, which is also a huge celebration. And it feels so good because you become the person who’s a match to that. So, yeah. That’s amazing. So we wanna talk a little bit about getting into the blend of strategy and spiritual,?

Because you bring a lot of that into your book. So in your book you talk about money as. Something that is alive in our lives. So I’m wondering how do you see that blend of practical abundance and soulful abundance or practical investing in soulful abundance?

I think there definitely has to be alignment in that. Like you can do the practical things , that feel good to how you want to build abundance in your life, like spending intentionally and, and investing in things whether it’s a home or or investment real estate or the stock market.

Yeah.

Being an investor is like super empowering. And then you also can be a force for good then too, because for me it’s not only building wealth, but it’s using that wealth then to support, , like for me is supporting nonprofits, supporting the work that I, wanna see get done in the world. And so it’s.

It’s their, so if it comes to that, uh, really purposeful place, and it’s not just money, you know, that’s where the spiritual comes in. And I, I think that attracts more. So if you’re living in alignment with what you wanna create, then that is sending that radar out of, Hey, I’m responsible, I’m trusted with a little, trust me with more.

And yeah. And that is that attention, it’s that manifesting. Actually Natalie and I, , were talking about this yesterday. It’s like the whole thing about manifesting is the inside job. It’s doing the healing work. It’s being willing to look at your money story and figuring out where you’re getting triggered and healing through that, where then you can start attracting and manifesting bigger things in your life.

Yeah, it’s amazing to witness. ’cause that is really the core of my program. The money manifestation movement is a lot of the inner work around money, the stories that we have, the subconscious beliefs and really learning how do we shift those? How do we create a new story for ourselves and really practicing that over time.

And it is. Wild and amazing to see what happens when people start doing that kind of inner work, how it reflects in the outer. And people will say things like, I didn’t even change the strategy, or I wasn’t doubling down, or, I really didn’t change that much, but I started making more money. Or this new whatever channel of wealth came in, or, you know, it’s just, it’s amazing to witness

Yeah,

that happens.

you’re vibing at a different level. Right?, It’s that thought. It’s the inspiration that you get. It’s the light that you’re alluding. , It is all of that now you’re like, oh, okay. New level.

Yes. Yes. So you may have witnessed in your work where, you know, with, with individuals, um, people feeling like they’ve hit a ceiling or maybe, ugh, I can’t get past this number. That’s something that a lot of people come to me for when they initially find me, is they’re like, I have been stuck at a plateau for.

X amount of years, three years. My business has not grown. What the heck, Jamie? What is it? So I’d love to hear like how you work with people through that, or what advice you would have, what your thoughts are on that. A lot of times it’s people stuck around like. 80 to 200 K mark, I hear, you know, which, that’s just a lot of my listeners are around that place, so Yeah.

But it could be any number. It could be a million, it could be 10 million. It doesn’t matter. I’m wondering, yeah. How do you recommend people break through?

Plateaus normal, right? We all experience that and I think it, it is like we have our eye on the prize and whether it’s a hundred thousand, whether it’s a million, uh, whether it’s 10 million and . It’s like that set point with our weight, right? We’re like fixated on that, which does put in this like mental glass ceiling.

And so in the book that I’m writing now for entrepreneurs, it’s all about how do you shatter the mental glass ceiling? For yourself. And so I think that’s probably the lot of the work that you do is you’re coming in and you’re challenging their beliefs. You’re getting them. ’cause they need to have a new frame.

Right? They need to have a new floor and a, new 10 x ceiling that they’re going for. And for me, the where I would come in is, the recognition of that, but then also like the strategy, like what gets you to a hundred thousand? Or to a million in revenue will actually hold you back going to the next level.

So it, it’s actually a surrender., It’s, a firing yourself, um, to say, what other resources do I need? Do I need a different coach? Do I need to hire, uh, a number two, that’s like very common is, you know, entrepreneurs, like we’re really good in, in our art and our creative and,

casting the vision, but we may not be very good at hiring and managing and maintaining systems and operations. And so we’re coming in and looking at the strategy to say, you know, how do we elevate the leader and then support her to, fly and do what she does really well and then create structure around her.

Yeah. That is so good. Oh my gosh. I can’t wait for your new book to

I know. So excited. It’s like getting so close.

I, yes. I’ve been watching your journey of writing it. Do you have at all a date or anything like that, or is it still just in the works right now? Something that we can all get excited

Yeah. It’s definitely with the editor, so , my hope will be, it’ll be like beginning of next year. Yeah.

Um, oh my gosh. Around the corner. Oh my God, so good. That’s gonna be amazing. Yes. Because I love your first book and everyone needs to start with that one and then look forward to the launch of the next one, which is just about, you know, expanding from there and scaling it up. So, you know. Amazing. You’re such a genius at that.

I love it. So, okay. I would love to leave listeners with a couple of your thoughts about money, right? And it could be around how you think about multiplying money, how you think about investing. What are some of your favorite thoughts that you just. Unintentionally think about money now. ’cause one of the things that I love is that we can study the people that we are inspired by.

Right? This is one of the ways that I learned to create wealth is I used to go to Beverly Hills and I would like watch people and I think, what do they think about that? Right? And I was working retail at the time, but I’m like, I wonder how they think while they’re purchasing that. And I would just get curious.

So if you would be so generous to offer us some of your eight figure entrepreneur thoughts as a financial investor who has so much fun with investing and uh, you know, has, has really been doing this your whole life, what are some of your thoughts?

Okay. Yeah, I love that. So I think number one, is pay attention to your money. I’ve been married almost 29 years, and every quarter since basically I think 2005, we, we actually look at our, basically our net worth statement. So it’s like all of our assets and our liabilities, and we intentionally say for the next 90 days, what do we want to see happen in this?

Um, so is it increasing assets? Is it paying off , a commercial mortgage? Like , whatever the goal is. And , we set very intentional goals and we actually set that up on autopilot. So we say like, it, whether we are automatically investing or automatically putting extra money towards principal.

Like that’s, that is like we set ourselves up for success ’cause we lead busy lives. And so that’s what I would say has been like. One of our, our biggest, , wealth building tools is being fanatical about tracking and making sure that we’re doing what we said we were gonna do together. Yes. , So, and the other cool thing about that is when your income increases, when you have more profits, when you have more income sources, if you know that you are on track , to meet those long-term goals, the financial independence, like.

You’re gonna do that. Then everything else is kind of like fun. Like, I’m going to Hawaii this month. We know we’re gonna have money to spend. So we can spend that joyfully and almost frivolously, is that the word? Uh, where like, we we’re not gonna have any guilt with that because we already know that we’re on track meeting our goals.

And so where I think what happens is it get, it gets backwards. People spend without intention, and then whatever’s left over they save. And that’s, and oftentimes there’s not any leftover

Yeah, exactly.

And think about that. And I think that’s like, , hugely powerful. Oh my

Oh my gosh. I love

And I, I wanna circle back ’cause I don’t think I talked about like being a mother of three kids and building this business and I, like take your kids on this journey with you.

They’re like, , I just had, my daughter just got married last weekend. I dropped my other daughter off at college and my son’s still in high school.

What.

lots of emotions on high, but. She, my daughter, going off to college, like we’ve never pressured her. Like, do what you love. And,

Yep.

but, and she was going into school for kinesiology and she, she messaged me and said, guess what mom?

I changed my major to financial planning. And I’m like, what? That’s cool. But it is so ingrained in her this wealthy mindset because. I’ve opened the door for them. They listen to my calls. They, they, I’ve taken them to conferences. They’ve traveled so they, so it’s not just like what mom’s doing it, it’s what we’re doing.

So I think it, it is, and although it always, it never is balanced, right. Once you get to balance, you’ll be off balance. So, but I like to think about it. It’s like this integrated give and take where, yeah, mom has a season of working really hard, but then we’re gonna go play.

Uh, yeah. And I, I think that that’s just the biggest thing is like that I, wish I could go back and reverse all the mom guilt I had in the early stages. For them to see me now and they have permission to go after their goals because I went after mine. Like that’s the example and the ripple effect that our kids are watching.

That’s so beautiful. What a gift too. And like also, it’s so interesting, right? Because there’s the guilt back then. But now it’s like what they have is they saw a mom create a business to go after her passions to see what it actually takes to build something. And they witnessed that. So that’s something that’s such a gift, you know?

And gosh, I love that. So take. The kids on the journey and yeah, let them learn about this. I mean, what a gift. ’cause then it’ll never be a thing for them. So good. Yeah. I love it. Oh my gosh. Thank you so much, Julia. It’s been amazing having you here and. There’s just so many nuggets of wisdom in here, so I know listeners are gonna love it and they’re gonna wanna come follow you.

So where can they find you? Um, I will link up your book for sure in the show notes and all of your info, but if you wanna just share where they can find you or work with you, or if they wanna start working within your company with, um, you know, to get some like financial strategy, uh, how they can do that too.

Yeah, well, my favorite, my favorite, uh, social media is Instagram, so you can find me at, at the Julia Carlson. And yeah, feel free to DM me. Uh, that’s me, that’s, that’s doing all of that. And so it’s, um, that’s, that’s where I like to play.

Yeah.

But

Amazing.

it’s been fun to be here today. Thank you, Jamie.

Yes. And how about if they wanna work with your company? Is that, I mean, I’ll definitely link it in the show notes, but is there a website or can they find that on Instagram?

Yeah, I’ll, we can connect them on Instagram, but it’s, it’s uh, financial freedom wmg.com.

Okay. Beautiful. Awesome. Oh my gosh. Thank you for your brilliance. It’s so fun to have you. Appreciate

Yeah. Good to see you.