#78 | How to Handle Financial Ebbs and Flows in your Interior Design Business with Jenny Karlsson
Welcome to the Designers Oasis podcast. I'm your host, Kate Bendewald. If you're tired of one-size-fits-all all advice to running your interior design business, you're in the right place. Join me each week as we dive into topics to help you run a thriving interior design business. Without the hustle. We'll talk about the business of design, but also mindset and mental health because I know when you thrive, so will your life and business. It wasn't that long ago that I stepped away from my corporate interior design job to build my own design business so that I could realize my own creative dreams, have more time with the people I love, and serve my clients at the highest level, while making more money than I ever could have working for someone else. It wasn't always easy, and I made my share of mistakes along the way. Fast forward to today. And I've learned a thing or two. Since then I've built multiple six-figure interior design businesses on authentic word-of-mouth referrals with many repeat clients. And I want to share it all with you the ambitious, inspired, and I get it occasionally overwhelmed interior designer who shares this dream of transforming lives through the art of interior design, You can do this. Thank you for letting me spend part of this day with you. Let's get to it.
Kate Bendewald
Today on the show, we have returning guests and my friend Jenny Carlson, a certified money coach helping creative entrepreneurs develop practical financial resilience and stability strategies. She's also the creator of the money at Compass deck, a tangible tool to help you cultivate your connection with money. Jenny offers a safe shame free environment to help creatives develop a healthy relationship with money so they can experience greater ease and freedom. Today, Jenny and I are going to explore the idea of financial resilience, what that means and how we can employ certain strategies day to day to help us strengthen their relationship with money. While handling that the ebbs and flows of being an entrepreneur. Please welcome my friend, Jenny. Good morning, Jenny. How are you? Good
Jenny Karlsson
morning. Hi, Cape. It's so wonderful to be here. Thank you for having me back on the podcast.
Kate Bendewald
Oh, it's been too long. I'm so happy to have you back. You are a name that comes up all the time inside our program that interior designers business blueprint, you're what I call a fan favorite for good reason. So it was time it was time. So a little background. For those of you who might be new to the podcast. First of all, welcome, we're glad to have you, we'll be sure to link to Jenny's previous podcast episode, which is also a gem. And you don't want to miss that. But Jenny Carlson is the founder of financials for creatives. And she was my money coach for a period of time and she really helped unlock something really special in me, helping me to get clear on my own money story and really have more money consciousness, if you will, is kind of what I've how I phrased it. And it was really transformational and helping me launch designers oasis. Because I was at a point where I was, I was trying to figure out, I had this dream I had this fire in my belly of wanting to explore this. And I had tried and I had tried, but I couldn't balance it with my client workload. And so you really helped me work through trying to figure out how to practically make space a room and time for designers Oasis while serving my clients. And so I'm really grateful for that. And I just want to share you with the world because I think you have a true gift. And I want everybody to know about you and the really special way that you help people so glad to have you.
Jenny Karlsson
Thank you. It was a you know, it was so much fun to work with you back in the day when you had the idea for designers choices, and you had a very clear vision of what you wanted to create. before it even took form and now to see what it is has grown into. It's you know, it's beautiful. And it's so important in your industry.
Kate Bendewald
Well, thank you, thank you. It really, it really is work that lights me up. And I feel excited to be able to have this opportunity to serve interior designers. Jenny, what I love about you so much. And I want other folks to know is Ginny has this really soft voice. But do not let that confuse you. She is a powerhouse of a woman. And I love that quiet confidence that you have, like, there's just a there's a peace and quietness and stillness about you, which I think a lot of us need when we're talking about money, because money can become very triggering for anybody who's had maybe an unhealthy relationship with money or have, you know, entanglements with the money story. And so I love that about you, but at the same time you are your fierce, you have a fire in your belly, I know that you are passionate about helping women, creative entrepreneurs, really get clear on their money story and helping them change their relationship with money. And I think that's that sort of tenacity is required. And so I just, I love that juxtaposition of this strength, this quietness, but also very strong and powerful. And then so yeah, just wanted to say that.
Jenny Karlsson
Thank you. Yeah, when I speak with prospective clients, I often hear that, you know, like, if I could have an ounce of your calm, that would be a win. And so, you know, it's really important to have that safe, non judgmental space to talk about money, and to be that groundedness. For someone who's working through any guilt and shame, that comes up around money, that's really important to me, but I will also, you know, I will be the fiercest cheerleader for my clients. And it's an honor to do this where I would add Oh, yes, yeah.
Kate Bendewald
Because I know, there were times and moments where, you know, in our coaching together, I remember distinctly one time I chalked something up to just while I'm in Enneagram, seven, and I just, that's just my personality, and you were like, Well, wait a second. And really, I don't remember the context of what we're talking about. And so it was that you can use it to help really hold somebody accountable in it in a safe and healthy way, of course, but I really appreciate that about you. So cool. Well, let's get into it. But before actually, we're gonna get into it in a minute. But first, I want to, I want to ask you to share and I, we talked about this a little bit before, and you gave me permission to ask you about this, but I believe it was last summer, Jenny, you were diagnosed with breast cancer, which you've been public about on social media. And since then, I understand you've been undergoing chemo treatments, and sharing about this journey. And I believe you recently completed your last chemo treatment for now. And so I'd love to just hear how are you doing today.
Jenny Karlsson
Today, I'm, I'm doing great, all things considered, I am still very much in the midst of this healing journey. Chemo was the first step to try to shrink the cancer. And then next, I will be going through a mastectomy, and then radiation on top of that. So there are still a couple of months left of the treatment journey. And then there'll be hormonal treatment for five to 10 years to kind of keep things at bay. You know, you learn more and more as a human as a woman, hormones are like such a big part of our life and, you know, cancer can feed off of hormones. So that's where the, you know, those suppressing medications will come in. So it's been a wild journey in terms of, you know, going from being in a pre menopausal state to then going through chemically induced menopause. So, like hot flashes have started and it's like, it's so bizarre how that happens. Like out of nowhere, it's just like, the temperature just rises and inside and like, it has to come out somewhere and, you know, just rises up through the head and And, you know, that's a whole new, fun adventure. I guess, ma'am. Well, that
Kate Bendewald
was me last night laying in bed. Well, thank you so much for sharing that with us. And I just want you to know that we're all here for you cheering you on rooting for you and praying for you. And first, which recovery. And I know that pretty soon this will all be in the rearview mirror as part of your story. And I know, thank you. I look forward to hearing and seeing how that story becomes a part of your work. Because I in fact, let me just ask you this, I'm sure it already has How has this experience so far? Or has it changed your approach to your business or your coaching methods?
Jenny Karlsson
Yes, I would say that it's shifting. I don't know entirely how that will take form yet. But I know that in my work, I often serve as a bridge between where you're at and where you want to be. And looking at it through the that financial lens. But with going through breast cancer, and in the past, having navigated recurring miscarriages, before I had my son, there's been a lot of health issues or, you know, events that have shaped me as a person. And something that continues to come up through that work is money, money and navigating health challenges, and having a business in the midst of it, as well as being a mother of a three and a half year old. So, you know, it's balancing a lot of different roles. And I think that that, in the long run serves my clients better because I can see, you know, life and business through a lot of different lenses. And that's kind of where, you know, resilience, for example, plays a big part, and financial stability, you know, even as a money coach, going through this, you know, at the early stages of being diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer, which it's a rare form of breast cancer, that usually doesn't get diagnosed until it has spread to the rest of the body. But because I have a very strong intuitive sense, and I'd had a mammogram that came back normal, I was able to say, You know what, I don't think it is normal. And we need to do more testing. And I was right. So intuition has also such a huge component with having, you know, confidence in yourself and trusting yourself with money. And oh, what I was going to say is, even if you're a money coach, when something like this comes up with a health challenge, for example, it doesn't matter how much you prepare, you might have a financial foundation, you may have tried to do everything, right. But there can still be moments where, you know, it's kind of beyond your control. And that can be really terrifying. And I know I kind of went through some self judgment initially, like, I should be able to figure this out when you know, bills for just diagnostic tests started to come in. And it's really also opened me up to learning how to receive and to ask for support, and to recognize that we can't get through these kinds of things alone.
Kate Bendewald
I love what you said just at the top of that, because it touches on something that I've been thinking a lot about and talking about somewhat which is learning to trust ourselves. And in this case, you're talking about it not only in the context of money and trusting yourself that you can figure this out, you can do this, but also your body and taking care of yourself and your health and you knew that there was something off and you weren't afraid to speak up and you trusted your self even though the experts and for those of you watching online using air quotes here I've got something wrong with mine. he and I went and saw a doctor and he's like, you're fine. And I'm like, Okay, why is my knee hurts? So, you know, I'm probably gonna have to figure something else out and go find somebody else. But I, I promise, we're gonna get into talking about financial resilience here in a second. But I want to ask you a different question. Before we do. Question, right? We're talking about intuition. Do you believe I consider myself an intuitive person. And it's one of the things that I consider to be a strength of mine. And I've talked to people who feel who have said or expressed that they didn't feel like they have a strong intuition. And I'm curious, do you agree with that? Do you think that intuition can be taught or nurtured? Or that some people either have it or they don't do have you ever contemplated this because I have recently Yes.
Jenny Karlsson
And I, you know, I think we live in such a noisy world right now, that if you haven't learned to listen internally, then it's really hard to pick it up. Which means it's really important to learn how to get quiet inside, so that you can hear these messages, because the brain will always be loud, you know, ego fears, all of it, it's like the volume is dialed to the maximum. But intuition comes from a different place, it comes either from your heart or your gut area, and it can come up, you know, there are different intuitive senses, whether it's a knowing or a feeling, or some pick it up as a, they smell something or they hear something. So like, you have to learn how to identify how those messages come through. And they're like little whispers, at first, I feel like but the more you learn to trust those messages, the more you can actually pick them out from the noise. It's something that I've been passionate lately, especially going through chemo, and you know, it just saps all of your energy. So I'm in the process of becoming a certified heart, math, mentor. And HeartMath is a methodology to become more coherent, which means that your brain and your heart works more in sync. So that you're able to maintain composure, and have more clarity, and ability to solve problems under high stress or just with different kinds of stressors. And in the teachings, they kind of liken it to having an inner battery with your energy. And we always have like a baseline of energy. And if that's, you know, empty, and we get stressed, whether it's in our business, or in our personal life, we tend to just react. And it may not look pretty. So if you can, there are different methods that I'm learning and starting to practice with some clients. But it allows you to tap into your heart more so that you can reduce the energy leaks that tend to SAP most of the, of what we have in our battery, so that you can learn how to both get rid of the leaks, learn how to recharge the battery, and still be able to, like tap into that inner knowing the intelligence that the heart has, when you need to solve problems. I love that because it it can be it's actually creating a physiological change in your body, which is really cool. So, you know, working with different stressors around money, and actually have a tool that can change the way you both feel, how you act, how your body is responding to it, is, you know, that's another layer of this work that is real be fun to experiment with. Gosh,
Kate Bendewald
I'm so excited to hear this from you and I, It's so wild, I have heard of this idea, the concept of Heart Math. In fact, I think you brought it up to me the first time, but months and months and months ago, and just yesterday, I came across an article in Forbes that led me down the rabbit hole to their website and just just scratched the surface of that recently. So it's funny that you're bringing this up back up again. Well, we're gonna have to have you back to talk more about this, once you've sort of gone through the program and want to share more, because I know I can't think of a better person to share about that with us. So well, let's, let's talk about financial resilience, because that's what's been on your heart and what I am so eager to dive into, first of all, what what is financial resilience? What does it mean, and and how does it relate to financial stability.
Jenny Karlsson
So financial resilience, it kind of it goes to the kind of the capacity that you have to, to adapt to, you know, when economic climate changes, or things change in your business or in your life, the, the more resilient you are, the easier it is to get back on track, so that you can continue to move towards your financial goals. But it's highly interconnected with financial stability. And financial stability is basically when you have enough income, to cover both your expenses to manage and the debt that you have, and to save. When you have that kind of foundation in place, and that starts to grow, and you have a cushion, you have an emergency fund, and you have savings for your future self. when shit hits the fan, it doesn't have to be something big, but it can be you know, your computer dies, that you need to have to run your business. If you have a cushion, it doesn't become an emergency, like you can go and get it repaired, or buy a new laptop or whatever. And keep moving with your business. Or if your fridge dies, you can go and order a new fridge and it doesn't have to be a big stressor. So that's what we want to get to where you have enough of a buffer that when something happens, you can handle it, you can adapt, and you can move on.
Kate Bendewald
Right, right. You know, one thing that comes to mind for me is I think about designers who have and I've definitely had this experience, you know, in the past, where, you know, there's something out of your control that causes a project, to poof, be gone. You know, I'll tell you my this specific example of mine was we had been working really closely with this family. We did the full design project, full concept design, design presentation, they loved it, they signed off on it, and it was going to be stunning. We were so excited about this project, it was a historic renovation of an 1800s Victorian home here in Denver. Full full remodel with an addition historically accurate, like the details were impeccable. I still, by the way, have their presentation over here printed Oh, and I look just like oh. But what happened was they got into construction and they were demoing the back of the house. And they uncovered they revealed that the structure underneath was unstable. And it was so bad that it would not be able to be shored up through engineering and they were they went round and round and round with the city the structural engineer homeowner builder all of this I've I've of course I was out of it because I don't know anything about that but I was on standby for like you know, I got a call that day after Christmas to tell me pause on all the work because we still had the the rest of the contract the rest of the process to complete with them in terms of ordering, you know, all of the things that were on our scope of work and of course helping overseeing our end of it. And that was income and revenue that we were really counting Hang on for the next couple of months. And the ultimate word was that they were going to have to raise the building and completely the house and completely tear it down. It was really, really devastating. For the homeowners in my heart, just, you know, my heart broke first and foremost, for the homeowners who had this vision of freezing their daughters in this beautiful home and they're fine. They've moved on. And they've they've, you know, they're okay. So it felt a little hard in that moment to be worried myself. But it did feel good to know that I was at a place where it wasn't going to impact my business financially in a devastating way that this project literally got pulled out from underneath us. I've had projects where we've started. And, you know, we just realized right off the bat, you know what, I think this was a mistake, I think we're going to need to maybe reconsider this project. And that's only happened once. But it's something that it felt good to know that I had the financial ability to be able to turn away and say no to a project or client, and not feel like I had to be stuck or entangled with a toxic personality, or a project that wasn't the right fit. And that is really freeing, you know, and so when I think financial resilience, those are the kinds of benefits that I could see clearly for designers as being able to have the luxury of saying yes to the projects that are exciting for you and say no to the projects and the people who aren't right. And not be devastated. If something, you know, maybe it is a great client, like the case of the Victorian home. But there's something outside of all of our control that that changed things. So I think it's really important that we're talking about this with any business owner, but designers especially because we all know, there's so much out of our control so much. Yeah, my good friend has control is an illusion. And I'm like, that is really hard to hear, because you're talking to someone who is a recovering control, freak perception. Okay, so Well, I so our listeners are by and large women. And what we know about women is we're often also caretakers, whether that's folks who've chosen to grow a family, or they are caring for people in their community, or they're caring for aging parents, or, you know, they're building a marriage a partnership with a spouse or partner. They have various social obligations, community obligations, volunteering. So we are by choice, I think a lot of times choosing to have all of these roles, because that's something that's important to us. And we want that Yes. And yet, with those responsibilities come times where we have to prioritize taking care of either sick children, sick parents. In the case of today, we have a snow day. So our kids are not in school. And it no I fortunately, my kids are a little older. So those days are a little easier, I could still get some work good. And one day is not going to throw the whole thing off track. But my point is as as women in this role, oftentimes when these other responsibilities come up, the first thing that gets put to the backburner is our work is our career. Yeah. And I will be very honest, that there have been moments in my life where I have felt resentful of that. And yet, it's what I want. I want to be available for my kids. I started my business because I wanted to be available for my kids and my family. And yet sometimes when it means that it competes with my work, I get resentful, and I struggle with that a little bit with carrying both of those things. So walk me through this if when I'm having to or when we're having to put our work or career on the backburner for whatever reason be it Health Beat caretaking, whatever. Coach me, Jenny, what would you say? What would you say to this and asking for a friend?
Jenny Karlsson
I will say you're not alone. Hey, I've been in my same in the same situation. I think a lot of your listeners will be sitting and nodding their heads and you know, it's easy to kind of feel like you're in a in a victim mode when this happens because we've chosen to be business owners because we have purpose, outside of mothering that is like tied to our soul and our souls work. And when our, like, when that thing that matters to us so much gets derailed, you know, it's natural to be pissed about it. And I think it's important to feel those feelings. And, you know, go through the whole rain range of it, I know, I can get real raid Gee, that looks like it's full on fire, and be like, Okay, I know how to figure this out. I can, you know, rescheduled meetings and turn it into good day,
Kate Bendewald
you're trying to think stuff?
Jenny Karlsson
Yes. And they are wonderful clients, too, that are flexible, and oftentimes mothers, and they might be in a different phase of life, but they've had little ones. So in terms of concrete strategies for what to do, it kind of ties back to capacity, again, in terms of surrounding yourself with resources, like, how resourced Are you in terms of time, energy and money. Because when you have capacity, you're able to solve those problems a lot easier. Whether that is to have more of a support system. So let's say I'll go back to my my own example again. But hopefully, there are listeners who also have kids in daycare right now, even with school, but my son goes to an in home daycare, which is smaller than a typical daycare. The challenge with that is, if the owner of the daycare gets sick, the daycare closes, which then means I have to shift everything around in my schedule, to then, you know, be with my son. Sure, if you have a daycare that has more than one employee, that's one way to be more resourced, that things don't shut down because of one person, but it might be a staff of five people so that the daycare still open. And you you as a business owner, then have more stability, and don't have to put out as many fires. So same thing in internally in the business, if you have people on your team like that you have a team, you're actually able to then delegate and not have everything be on your plate, right? Which then frees you up to do the work that is most essential that you complete, the less essential pieces still important, but they don't have to be done by you. That could be you know, sourcing, furniture or procurement. rendering those sorts of things. The owner of the business, Oh, yes. Yeah, doesn't Yeah, doesn't have to be under there. But like, figure out what components of the business are essential that you do, so that the rest can be delegated? Have the, it's going to come back no matter what you asked me, it's going to come back to having a financial cushion and some money in the bank so that you can more easily solve problems. It's also important to when you have that that many different obligations across life and business, that you set realistic expectations of what you can accomplish. When we're driven individuals. We think we can accomplish a lot in a day but even on the on our best day, we might be able to finish our maximum of three to five tasks. And also, to make sure that you take really good care of yourself, both through stress management through self care and surrounding yourself with peers, hey, designers choices, yeah. And mentors. I mean, Kate, right, when I hear you talk, I just feel so grateful that you have created the space for interior designers to have a role model. Especially, you know, with that historic home that you can model to business owners who are a little bit earlier on that, you know, it is possible to get to a place of financial stability and financial resilience. And to, you know, show that in action. Well, thank
Kate Bendewald
you. And I, I appreciate that. And I just have to say that, you know, this has come through a lot of trial and error and a lot of, you know, trying things that didn't work and re evaluating and doing differently. So it just, to those who are newer, it just, it just takes time. But yeah, you know, so when you talk about being resourced, I'm hearing a lot of really specific strategies, and, you know, mentorship is one of them. And obviously, that's something that that we can provide. But focusing on building that financial cushion for yourself, finding a support system, whether that's externally in the way of childcare, or meal delivery services, or whatever that might look like, or, or internally through a team that can support you and keep the train on the tracks so that if you need to go take a minute, like the business can still continue to move forward. And I will say, that was one of the things when I first started to hire folks in my business that gave me at first i I'm not going to sugarcoat it, it felt very vulnerable to feel somewhat responsible for someone's income. I learned to shift that a little bit. But ultimately, once I got past that hump, I recognized that it was their support that was going to allow the business to grow exponentially. And that certainly was the case. But it was scary at first for sure. Yeah.
Jenny Karlsson
But you also you also brought up something really important, which whether it is as you know, a business owner who's wearing many hats, or if, if you're wanting to improve your relationship with money, having a growth mindset, that you're not continuing to do the same thing over and over, but you actually want to learn and experiment and, you know, tweak when needed. Yeah, I've
Kate Bendewald
recently heard the phrase and I think I'm getting this right, you're, you're either winning or you're learning. Yes, that's that's all those setbacks are learning opportunities. And you also talked about, you know, self care, which I know is a word that can sometimes feel trait to people but I just have to say I have been changing my relationship with sleep. I have not historically been a great sleeper and I tend to stay up too late and too much screen time and get up early and really not getting enough sleep or quality sleep. And I have made a conscious decision to try to improve my sleep. Hygiene is the phrase I've heard. And I cannot speak highly enough of how that has changed my energy during the day and my ability to focus. I've been very public about the fact that I have attention deficit and I have to really work to stay focused on get the most important things done through the day but making quality sleep a priority has been a huge game changer in my ability to show up for my business and make the most of the time that I have even if it's abbreviated because shit hit the fan that day which I will tell you was like two weeks ago on the same week I had it was just like mayhem. And I was like Tuesday I just chalked the week up to being done because I've been fine but I had a kid who was sick and like growing up a kid that got licensed school and we had to wash all of the everything and go to a clinic and I like I didn't know this but there's apparently these lice clinics where they will like look at every single inch of your head and like clear it out and like it Wow. It's amazing and you It's such peace of mind but that was all a learning experience of that happened. We did all this laundry. Clean I sanitize the entire house, shower, everybody showered, bathe, wash the laundry, wash the Dogs, even though they were not a threat. And I, as soon as that was done, I got a sick kid who throws up in her bed because she couldn't make it to the balance sheets that week and sick. And I was like, Oh, okay. And then we had a dog with a double ear infection, who couldn't sit still, it was just running circles around the house, we had to get her to the vet, oh, by the way, and my husband was traveling for work that week. So I'm like, Wow. This shitstorm showed up, and it's just hanging out. So I just like I told my assistants, I was like, Listen, if I'm not checking my email, just text me if you need something, because I'm trying to keep my head on straight over here. But you know what, it was fine. Like it worked out. But it was if I hadn't been resourced in terms of quality sleep. Yeah, I've totally cut out alcohol just to do that experiment. And that's been great. I do have a team in place to support me today. But you know, I didn't have all of these things overnight, it didn't start out with these things, right. It's been something that I've consciously worked towards. And I hope that's what people listening can take away from this. And I'd still love more, you know, I want all the resources. Yeah.
Jenny Karlsson
And I agree 100% with you, any mention of self care. It's kind of like, your cringe. But you know, self care doesn't have to be something big and going right to a spa or massage or whatever. But like, quality sleep is essential. Same thing with drinking enough water in a day. I mean, I'm guilty of like, I hate drinking water. But I It's so boring. But it's so essential, like, you go through the whole day just drinking coffee or tea or whatever. And then you're like, I wonder at the end of the day, like, Oh, why am I so tired? Oh, have I had even a sip of water? No. But yeah, that changed with chemo. Because when you go through chemo you you have to hydrate, I had a very good friend who kept texting me, like drink more water. So that's part of it too, like making sure that you have friends who will check in with you and people you can rely on for different aspects of your life.
Kate Bendewald
That's a really good one. Because one of the things I've really learned in the last couple of years is that you can't like you have we have this community of people around us and they are all resources for us and can fill us up in different ways. And obviously, we hope to reciprocate that depending on what the relationship is. But whether it's a partner, or a friend, or a coach, or our neighbors, right, just knowing that you've got people that you can count on to help you out. You know, when I got stuck in traffic the other day, I knew that I could send a voice text to three of my friends. And I'm like, well, somebody pick up my kids, you know, it's just very comforting to have a community of people that you can can count on. And there's not one person that can do it all. That's when it can help anyway, but
Jenny Karlsson
it really teaches you how to ask for help, to not try to do it all like you will hit a wall at some point, if you don't learn how to ask for help and to receive help. Sometimes it can be hard to even answer if someone asked how can I help you? Life might be so overwhelming that you don't know what to answer. And then you you might ignore the text or whatever. But it's yeah, it's like a muscle to build in terms of, you know, asking and receiving. Yeah, yeah.
Kate Bendewald
And it sounds like you work through some of that in this season of your life when?
Jenny Karlsson
Yes,
Kate Bendewald
the diagnosis came through and you realized I can't do this on my own. Yeah, man. Good. I'm glad. I'm glad you found the strength to do that. Because I think it is a great characteristic and it's yet not something that always comes naturally to everyone stands for help.
Jenny Karlsson
No. And there's a lot of magic to going on fold when you allow yourself to ask for help. And I've even had, you know, past clients and friends who have said, you know, if you don't know what to answer if someone asks if they can bring you food or whatever, like, text me and I'll, I'll tell you what to say. It's like
Kate Bendewald
you I love that.
Jenny Karlsson
I love that. Yeah. So well, I've
Kate Bendewald
certainly haven't gotten to where I have nobody has on their own. And I have relied on the wisdom and knowledge and expertise of many coaches over the years. And you were obviously a favorite. So I, I'm a big advocate for that. And I hope to be able to return that and pay that forward to the folks who are in my community today. couple of last questions for you, I have had many conversations with interior designers who feel like they are in a feast or famine cycle. And they are, excuse me, they have experienced the feast or famine cycle. And yet, when they get into what we might consider a season of abundance, right, when there's plenty of work, there's plenty of resources, it can be hard to settle into that and sort of ride that wave, if you will, of just like, Okay, let's just enjoy this moment of abundance, and not force themselves to fight or work or, or I don't want to, I don't want this to be confused with ambition, but not learning how to settle into that moment. And just enjoy the the time freedom that you have, knowing that there's going to be another season of busyness around the corner, and use this opportunity to sort of refuel, refuel your creativity, refuel your emotional battery, because that's what you've worked hard towards. And that's been a challenge of mine. So how do we how do we find a way to stay balanced? Regardless of what season were and, and sort of normalizing those seasons? I think,
Jenny Karlsson
yeah, I think part of it is to recognize that there is an ebb and flow in business and the longer you're in business, you might be able to recognize the seasonality. So that you don't end up like really judging yourself or criticizing yourself if you're in a slow period, but to meet yourself with, you know, awareness that this is a natural part of the business cycle or of the year, and that it will pick up, but then also, when it picks up to not go beyond your capacity to actually know what enough is, so that you're, you're not in the scarcity mentality of thinking like, it's gonna get slow again, I better take on everything I can possibly take on them, then you burn out. So if you can shift from can focus to more of a longer term vision, then it's a lot easier to you know, soom out and be more aware of your boundaries, your capacity, but also to like have systems in place so that you know, what your money is going to do to carry you through each face. And that I think, really helps avoid the the risk of constantly striving to grow bigger and bigger. But to focus more on that it goes back to financial stability, having given money that comes in purpose, so that your nervous system can kind of relax and know everything is taken care of. I will get paid for X number of months. Like to focus more on that versus do as much as you possibly can and it just evens everything out more and I think the more more even things get, the easier it is to navigate the ebbs and flows. Yeah,
Kate Bendewald
I love that so much because I do feel like that anxious energy that scarcity that almost like quiet panic inside it. It doesn't serve you well. No,
Jenny Karlsson
no.
Kate Bendewald
asked me how I know. So where does somebody start? Right? Let's say you're taught such Have any listening and they're just like, I don't know where to start, what is the most important step that one should take to start to organize one's life or business financially, Jenny.
Jenny Karlsson
So it's important to know that it's never too late to start learning about money and ask questions and to tap into that growth mindset of, of wanting to, to change things for the better. I am a huge fan of having a budget or a spending plan, because you need to know what money is coming in, and what's going out. It doesn't have to be fancy, I started on a piece of paper, just writing out all the recurring expenses to get an idea of when they happen, how much they are, do I need them? Or did I think I was going to use them, but I actually didn't. So it creates more awareness of what's going on in your business, then it's also essential to make sure that you separate your personal and your business finances, so that it's crystal clear what the money is used for. It reduces so many headaches, it makes everything simpler. And that helps you make better decisions. One of the things that a lot of early business owners try to get by with is having a spreadsheet instead of implementing a bookkeeping system. But if I've seen something from working with numerous interior designers, is that you have a lot of stuff going on. And a spreadsheet, you outgrow that real really quick. Because you need to be able to track projects, you need to be able to track profitability, and see if a project was actually profitable, and how much and also that it's accurate, a spreadsheet. There's human error involved in that. It may sound like I'm contradictory to what I said about that. It doesn't have to be fancy. But that's when you're doing like, mapping out where money is going. Right. But for bookkeeping, having QuickBooks, or something of the like, is essential to have updated, accurate knowledge of what's going on. But then also to remember that you don't just set them forget these things, but you need to review them regularly, so that you can make adjustments and ask for help. It comes back to that again to whether, you know, if it's a financial advisor, or a money coach, or, you know, a therapist, if, you know, you're navigating a lot of stress, or you're in a lot of depth, and you need to have a safe space to talk things through. You know, it's both, you have to take care of both your mental health and your financial health. Yeah, it's
Kate Bendewald
they are closely tied my friend, Leslie died. I know. I mean, I felt so shameful for a really long time about carrying student loan debt. And I realized now that so many people carry that kind of debt because we have a broken education system for higher education in my opinion. And I I've talked about my my backstory here, but you know, I got a late start in life, because I had to work full time while going to college. So it took me many years to get through college. I had $0 When I started college, so I literally had to borrow every cent that I needed to get me through college to earn my degree and I didn't have the I didn't have the the resources, the bandwidth or the mentor ship to help me understand the importance of starting to get that paid off early. And so I sat with that debt and the shame for a really long time. And it was a it was a great day when I wrote that check to pay off all of my student loans and to have that go away. But looking back on it, I realized that that shame kept me stuck and playing small for a really long time. So when you talk about being resourced having a mentor, the only thing I wish I would have done differently is had a mentor earlier in this space to be able to help me sort of navigate that without without the shame, and I look back on it now, and it was really wasted energy because I didn't need to be ashamed. That's what I needed to get myself through that period of life. And I'm very proud of my education and my achievement there. But yeah, it is, I can't speak highly enough about the importance of of getting help, in whatever way that might look like for you.
Jenny Karlsson
Yeah. And I mean, guilt and shame around debt is really common. Be easy to beat ourselves up, if we end up in debt. And feel like, it's really hard to get out of it. I think the important thing is to remember that by starting to pay it off, or you're doing something to change your situation. But it can, you know, there are so many layers to that, you know, I think it's very important as business owners and as individuals to learn how to save, because when you build the saving muscle, it's a lot easier to then pay off debt. Because otherwise, if if you don't have enough of a money influx coming in, it's really hard to pay off debt. And if you're not learning how to hold on to money, then there will there will never be a surplus of when you have a surplus, as he said, then you can, you know, make a large payment to pay off a student loan and release energy. I also wanted to add in terms of if if you feel silly about not knowing where to start with working on your money and your relationship with it. Remember to start small, learn the basic of you know, budgeting, saving, investing, use your curiosity, to gather information, and to be kind to yourself that it's okay that you're not that you don't have certain knowledge yet you may not have had role models teaching you. And it can also be made into something fun. If you're a natural learner, and that just happens that money hasn't been the area like that might have be the last area that you're approaching. But then like there's so many good podcasts, audiobooks. Netflix shows about money, like listen to it, learn. See how other people have navigated it and see that you're not alone in a lot of these situations.
Kate Bendewald
Yeah, yeah. I love that. And I, for those of you who are watching the video version of this, you'll see me chuckle here because as we're talking about this, I just I have to laugh because, Jenny, I'm a work in progress. But it makes me think of this pillow that I have. It says it's a needlepoint pillow. It says I'm not needy, I'm wantI. And I like that I like things that I and that is, you know, I've always I've been public about this and like I don't, I don't have a hard time making money. It's the holding on to it part that I really have to work at because I like stuff. And periences It's good food and all the things and so really learning to get that joy out of things that that are free in life has been a really fun journey for me. And like I said, I'm a work in progress. So I hope I hope and appreciate that we can have a laugh there about that and just, I'm human.
Jenny Karlsson
we all we all have our moments. And yeah,
Kate Bendewald
the Instagram ads on this one. This is a company that I love and I like and I follow in one state gets you. They're like, Oh, she likes that she wants it and then they just keep showing up until they owe you break, you crack open and you're like, Fine. Take my money. Yes.
Jenny Karlsson
Add to Cart.
Kate Bendewald
Shetty. This has been such a wonderful treat to get to chat with you. Again, I'm wondering if you have time for one quick question that was submitted from a listener? Sure. Okay. Because it does tie into what we talked about today, we're talking about money, financial resilience, and being resourced and building capacity for the ebbs and flows that come and your business. So this question comes from Zoey. But I will say I get this question a lot. And so I would love your expertise, if you can answer it sort of high level? Because I know you don't know her specific scenario, but her question is this. How did how do you assess your firm's financial health before deciding to hire additional team members? Any key financial indicators or benchmarks you would consider?
Jenny Karlsson
Oh, that's a good question. I I would look at, you know, first of all, you need to be clear what your finances look like. So that you can basically assess your profit and loss statement. Is the business at a healthy point? Does it have a healthy bottom line? To begin with? And does it have capacity to take on people on payroll? Are you getting paid, first of all, being in the business. And you know, this is really where having a very good accountant comes in, because they can look at it more in depth around payroll, and what capacity the business has to take them on. But you may not. Initially you could experiment with having different contractors. So for rendering, or for putting together presentations, or for sourcing, or even for your bookkeeping, I mean, those are all things you can outsource and start small. If you need a VA, for example, start with a couple of hours and see what you can get done. And set that money aside to experiment and see what's possible when you add that layer of support to your business. And then when you kind of you feel how how much more is possible. When you're surround yourself with support, then you can get a lot clearer on the amount of business you need to attract to make sure that that can become a sustainable part of your business. And then you can expand whether it's ours or more people. But do it in a gradual fashion so that you don't add on too much upfront, and then have to basically fire people because you realized, oops, now I'm not getting paid or I can't actually I don't have enough work for this. Team members. So are small. Yeah.
Kate Bendewald
So practical. And I just love the simplicity of that advice, because I think some of the wisest advice is also some of the simplest things to really approach. And yeah, I think I, I don't know if you'd agree with this or not. But you know, I think too, that you have to assess your ability for business development, you know, somebody who's just starting out and who maybe isn't a strong salesperson or isn't super well connected. Those are things and aspects that I would focus on first getting really strong at so that you can feel like you have a pipeline like you have a network like you have the ability to Yeah, and client from a discovery call all the way through the proposal process and getting them to say yes, and that is a skill, you know, and by the way, that's something I teach. Our program is selling because it wasn't something that came naturally to me. I had to learn it I had speaking of getting resources I hire it was my very first coach was a sales coach and I have used what I learned that was a huge investment for me at the time. What I learned in that experience, I have I continue to draw upon today and I utilize it and I've made it my own, and I've been able to teach it to the people inside my program. But those are other aspects to that I would consider when, when hiring and growing, as you know, strengthen your ability to be able to, to, for business development, and sales and networking and all that
Jenny Karlsson
100%. I mean, that's stability, the more systems you have in place, and processes, the more in flow you will be, the easier it is to actually attract business. And, you know, some business owners, when they start out might also keep themselves small out of fear that if they grow, then they have to add employees, and they didn't go into this business to manage a lot of people. But that's where identifying a specific support and have them outside of your organization can actually allow you to grow without, you know, some of the management. So, like, look at that, too, in terms of where the fears come around, adding people and how that might be holding you back.
Kate Bendewald
Yeah, I love that just you're reminding people that that support can look different, it can be an internal support system, or it could be an external support system, and they both can be really impactful for your business, then I just want to, you know, also mentioned the the folks that are listening, but I will die on this hill, I firmly believe that part of that, that approach to growing your business, getting word of mouth referrals, and repeat clients has to do with the level and the quality of their experience with you. And when you have an internal support system and assistant that can help you keep keep the train on the tracks, get the stuff ordered in time, get the drawings done in time, all of those things are things that can help you give an exceptional experience. And that in turn results in repeat clients and word of mouth referrals. So once you do get to that place where you feel ready to bring in somebody to support you internally, you can see just how that can. That effect can be compounded. Right? When you when you have somebody that's helping you give your clients a really great experience. So
Jenny Karlsson
I will die on the hill with you. Yeah.
Kate Bendewald
Live on that, oh, no, he's dying, we got work to do. We
Jenny Karlsson
got we have a lot of our life work to do.
Kate Bendewald
Oh my gosh, Jenny, you love you so much. And I'm I'm so honored to call you a friend and thank you so much for your time, I know that it probably takes a lot of energy for you to sit here and to be able to do it an interview like this. And so we really appreciate you taking the time out of your day to to share everything with us.
Jenny Karlsson
Thank you, it's it's actually like chatting with you. And you know, talking about something that I love talking about is energy giving. So thank you for having me back on the podcast and to have this conversation.
Kate Bendewald
I love that before we go Would you mind sharing with our listeners where they can find you if they want to learn more about working with you and and how they might start to learn more?
Jenny Karlsson
Yeah, so my website is financials for creatives.com I hang out on Instagram quite a bit at financials for creatives. If you're curious about learning more about my Oracle Deck, the money compass deck, you can go to money compass deck.com to check it out. It helps you take bite sized action to strengthen your relationship with money. And I work with interior designers, other creative entrepreneurs and offer both cashflow intensives where we do a deep dive into the numbers to to get some clarity. But also I have a longer six months coaching program one on one where we go both practical behavioral, emotional and spiritual like the whole holistic package which is quite unique in in the money coaching space and which makes it really fun. So if, just like Kate was saying earlier that you're you're good at making money, but needing to learn how to hold on to money, money management And it's my zone of genius. And if you're in that sweet spot where enough money is coming in, that you may not be able to take home, the kind of salary that you want, and need to put more of the money management pieces in place, you're good at making money, but how to hold it on how to get out of that how to build a cushion of money in the bank. That's where I come in. And then we can look at the money story behind the two and why there might be some limiting beliefs that are holding you back.
Kate Bendewald
Well, 10 out of 10, recommend Jenny and working with her. It truly was life changing for me, I know that it can be for you, too. So go check her out. And we'll be sure to link to all of that in the show notes. Jenny, thank you, you're a gem. And I'm so grateful for your friend. Have a great rest of your day. Bye. Bye. Hey, friend, thank you so much for letting me spend a part of this day with you. I'm so passionate about helping designers like you. And I believe in a rising tide that when one of us does well, we all do better. So if you share this attitude of abundance with me, I want you to do just one little thing. Please share this episode with someone using might love it. And if you're feeling extra generous today, go ahead and take just 30 seconds to open your podcast app and leave us a five star rating and review. It's free for you to do and it helps me to be able to keep making more episodes and resources for you. However you choose to help please No, I appreciate you so very much. Thank you, my friend. Have a wonderful rest of your day. I'll see you soon.
