Wanna hear from someone who’s financially free??
Then it’s your LUCKY day! Nicole Glen was so kind to join me on this podcast episode today to tell you all about her journey from a CEO’s Assistant, to being her own boss and gaining financial freedom.
It was so touching to hear all that Nicole has accomplished through the ups and downs of life as a widowed mother fighting her way to prosperity.
Talk about strength! She’ll explain how to get started, and her BIGGEST piece of advice that changed her life one day at a time.
Being your own boss looks a lot like how your current relationship with a boss looks. You have to evaluate your performance, keep records, ask the right questions, and hopefully get the promotion you’re looking for. Dive right in to hear all about it with Nicole.
Nicole’s Links:
Website: https://www.nghscorp.com/
Business LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nghscorp/
Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikwglenn/
Passive income calculator: https://bit.ly/46D8Pqo
TRANSCRIPTS
Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you think about it, isn’t that the world we strive to control so many things externally, then the ultimate goal is to control yourself. And how many of us truly have self-control? See yourself as your boss. Pick some hours of the day and for those hours, you are the
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Hello, my fellow Ripples. This is Chris Miles, your cashflow expert and anti financianal advisor. This show is for you. You work so hard for that money and now you want that money to start working harder for you today. You want that freedom. You want that cashflow right now. You want to become work optional where you work because you want to, not because you have to, because you have enough passive income coming in to live the life that you love with those that you love. And it’s not just about getting rich, it’s about living a rich life. Because as you’re blessed financially, you have a greater capacity to bless the lives of those around you. Thank you for tuning in today, allowing me to create that same ripple effect through your lives as well. Guys, as a reminder, if you haven’t done so, go to our social media.
(01:14)
Anything you can look at, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok. What else am I missing? I know Instagram, right? Wherever you go, you can always just type in Money Ripples. It’s always at Money Ripples. You can find us there, so be sure to check us out. Follow us there today. Okay guys, so I’m Brianna, special guest, someone that I’ve actually known for the last little bit now because she’s actually worked with us as a client. Very knowledgeable woman. A woman that has no problem sharing her wisdom. That’s the one thing I love, is that when we have her monthly VIP calls, she’s more than willing to ask questions, share her wisdom. And a lot of her wisdom I know comes from asking great questions. And one of the things I want to talk about with her today is especially that, what could your life actually look like?
(01:57)
Because we are designing our own lives. I mean, we are trying to create our own lives, and many of us just kind of go through it as a reactive place, not a creative place. And the one thing that’s amazing about Nicole is that she has is an overcomer, right? I mean, forget about the lemons, right? She made lemonade with whatever she was given. I mean this woman that went through hard times, even with dealing with death and things like that. And try to raise a family on her own. I mean, overcome so many things. We’ll talk about that in her story as well, and how she was able to overcome, but not just overcome, but be able to conquer in her own life. So Nicole, welcome to our show.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Thank you for having me on.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah, absolutely. Well, I mean for me not to try to ruin it here, give us a little bit about your background. I mean, I kind of teased them a little bit with it, but tell us where you were and where you are today.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
So when I first started with Money Ripples, I actually was executive assistant to CEO. It’s been less than three years, I want to say. I’ve been basically doing what I feel everyone should be doing. I’m very high on executive function. I assist the CEO, who basically hands executive function off to me. And I realized in doing my job in day to day, that if I brought that home, my life will be completely different. And in doing that, I found you guys as an executive assistant to CEO. I’m actually a widow now of eight years. My son is nine Nicholas. I actually recently retired maybe two years ago. You guys were a part of that. My last few legs as an employee that took me into saying I can’t keep going to work. I need to stay home and do what I’m doing for my CEOs, for myself. So here we are today. I’m a real estate investor full time if you want to say. I’m also a stay at home mom. And I basically spend my time helping others get started into what I’m doing now.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Wow. So your son was only a year old when you lost your husband?
Speaker 1 (03:59):
A year and seven months to be exact.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Oh. Oh my goodness. Oh, that’s when my kids began their terrible twos. It’s right at that exact age. If it weren’t hard enough, I mean, that’s a pretty challenging time in and of itself. So how would,
Speaker 1 (04:13):
I don’t know if you know it yet, but then the terrible twos go on for more than that one year, so yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Yep. My kids were always from age one and a half to four and a half, and then finally about four and a half, right about the time they’re about to go into kindergarten, they finally chill out a little bit more to where I can stand again. Yeah. So at that point, that’s kind of when you became assistant to A CEO, how were you able to really, that takes the emotional toll? I know I haven’t gone through a lot of death experiences, but I’ve gone through divorce before. I remember I wanted to shut down. I didn’t want to do anything. I didn’t want to work. I barely managed the clients that I had at that time. How were you able to overcome something like that?
Speaker 1 (04:53):
To be honest, I just kind of went through it and through going through it, I guess one thing I should tell you is I’m a marine. I’m not going out without a fight. I don’t know how big or bad you have to be to make me feel like, okay, I give up, but I haven’t met anything today that has made me feel like, oh, I can’t do it. With that as a backbone. As things got harder and I felt more of a victim, I felt the need to stand up. How my drill instructor would say, stiffen up your back a little more vocal. They say, reach down and grab some, but more or less, all in the same essence, I had to step up to the plate. And in doing so, that’s kind of where I really took an assessment of what life had on my plate and what I could do with it. And because I was an executive assistant, a lot of it is looking at the overall situation and how can I add value? How can I make it better? What is it that the other person isn’t seeing? So in this instance, I became my own CEO, which is more or less what I am now.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Yeah, well, I mean beyond, thank you for your service. I mean, that’s just admirable. I mean, just how you’re able to really pull yourself through that. I mean, that’s definitely not easy. What would be one piece of advice you’d give anybody who might be struggling right now who maybe feels like they’re just up to here, they’re just almost overwhelmed, maybe even feeling like they’re just not ready to give up. What would you suggest to them?
Speaker 1 (06:22):
That’s a real good question. Honestly, it’s slow down.
(06:27)
Take a step back, sit down and really look at everything that’s going on. A lot of times when I’ve been overwhelmed and up to here is because I’m people pleasing and I’m trying to do more for others than I’m doing for myself. So a lot of what your being involved with your company makes me do is look at myself, focus on myself. A lot of society pushes us. I don’t know if it’s just a woman thing, a mother thing. We’re taking care of everyone else. And in doing that, we’re putting ourselves last. So I’d say put yourself first for a second. Sit down, take some time, gain some silence, gain some still time, and really try to figure things out. Because in doing that, I developed, I realized I was sitting on what I felt like was a gold mine. Other people are willing to pay six figures for eight hours a day.
(07:23)
What could this same experience, skill and know-how do for me, so I’m really big on executive function. Please look at what you’re doing for other people and what could that do for you to change your situation. And that’s kind of how I signed up for you guys. I’m very sentimental. I’m very emotional, but I use it to drive the functions of what we do every day, which are very regimented, right? Numbers based, monitoring things, looking at, I take it and I get very technical and analytical with it. I’ve started spreadsheeting everything. It just changes how you look at everything. So your guys’ spreadsheet really drove me off the deep end. So now I track, I try to track and monitor as much as I can, but it really makes a difference. And beginning with your net worth, looking at what your moves do to your numbers really drives what your next actions are. Starting there, I thought I was doing so much when I got to you, but starting there with you guys made me do multiples of what I was already doing. So
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Yeah, now I can already hear a few people saying, okay, I’m not a numbers spreadsheet kind of person. I can’t do that. What would you say would be an easy first step for them? What would be a baby step for them to, even if they’re not numbers person in their mind,
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Start playing with it. I know it sounds crazy, but when you go into Microsoft Excel, there’s a, you can take a class, play with it, try to make a budget, try to make a to-do list, try to set some goals or do some time blocking. There are templates in there and you can play. And the more you do, the more you realize just like everything else in life, you didn’t know it before you did it. You didn’t know how to walk before you walked. You didn’t know how to talk before you talked. You didn’t know how to work before you work, eat anything, so do it. These are things I repeat all the time, and that’s a big part of how I deal with other people when I’m trying to teach them to get into their net worth or get into real estate investing. I don’t just talk at it. Come on, let’s pull up a spreadsheet. Let’s do it. You learn more from doing than you ever will from studying, reading or talking.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
So true. Now you keep talking about this executive functioning, kind of define that for everybody. What does that really look like?
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Ooh, I should have had that definition ready for you. So the executive function, if you think about it, right? It’s managing all of your faculties, whether it be making sure your physical is addressed by working out a certain amount of times per week, making sure your mental is addressed by meditating every day, a certain amount of times per day, making sure your diet is correct by shopping, cooking, eating a certain amount of times per day, and then it gets a little more technical, right? Managing your finances, making sure your numbers and your budgeting is right. Once you get there, it’s like you should have an excess. What are you doing with that excess? I’m surrounded by people who think life is about work and their boss. No, your life is about you and everything you’re doing for your boss should be showing you and teaching you what you should be doing for yourself. That itself is the executive function. Getting up, going to work every day, showing up, dressed a certain way, making sure your hair is done a certain way, speaking properly, knowing of the topic you speak. So that entails everything from teaching yourself things, reading regularly, wanting to learn and seeking the avenues to learn. I’ve been defined or labeled as an autodidact, so I may be a bit extreme on that, but why not? I pay a college to do it, so I pay to do it. I’m a bit extra in that regard.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
That’s true. At least in the Marines. You got paid when you were going to college. You have to pay to be tortured.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
And I was an old college student, so I had people 20 years my junior playing and talking and on their gadgets, and I was in the first row, like, excuse me. What’d you say? It’s a different perspective.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Yeah. Well, I know you and I were talking before, got on the air and I had an epiphany talking with you about this. Many people, if they get their job performance evaluations done with their boss, ideally, hopefully, I’m not saying this is everybody listening right now, but you’ve probably got at least an average if not a favorable review because you want to get that raise. But how many of us could give ourselves as our own boss a favorable review with our physical health or mental or emotional health even including our education? Are we actually learning and reading those books like you’re saying and doing those things? We talk about the hour of power, the power hour and that kind of thing, or that morning ritual that you could do every day to make sure you stay on top of it and make it a habit. But what we get fired from our own lives, if we were our own boss, would we fire ourselves or would we actually say, you know what? You’re doing awesome. You deserve a raise. Really, it makes you wonder how we would evaluate ourselves in the other aspects of our lives.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
And I am really going to go out on a tangent here, my life changing YouTube clip, Eric Thomas, you owe you u, he screams at you. But I literally have goosebumps right now thinking about it. He’s like, if your cable guy doesn’t deliver the cable, you’re calling him. You want your money back rights. If you buy some bad from the grocery store, you get it home. You’re taking it back. You should be the same way. But are you doing that to yourself? Are you checking yourself on what you don’t deliver on? So yeah, it’s basically an integrity check.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Yeah, absolutely. Right? True integrity check without the shame, right? That’s the big difference there. It’s always easier to shame somebody else, but it’s harder if you do it to yourself, then you end up not doing anything. You just shut down, don’t you?
Speaker 1 (13:29):
Right. I mean, if you think about it, isn’t that the world? We strive to control so many things externally when the ultimate goal is to control yourself, and how many of us truly have self-control?
Speaker 2 (13:44):
That’s great point. So I know you have your own system. What’s a good first step? Like you said, start to monitor things. What are examples of ways that you monitor? You mentioned spreadsheets, but are there other ways people can do it in case they’re not, maybe they’re a visual person, maybe they’re not as much of a visual person, maybe they’re more this or that. People have different preferences. What have you seen work for different personality types?
Speaker 1 (14:06):
So I’m going to be honest, I’m going to speak to this from firsthand experience. I was the person to hire the bookkeeper to do what I didn’t want to do. And so she monitored my books. She fussed at me every week, every other week, get into your spreadsheets, look at your numbers. You need to know what’s happening with your money. And I’m going to be honest, there is no avoiding it. You really need to get into your numbers and know what’s going on with your finances in whatever way you can. Some people use Quicken, some people use QuickBooks, some people use Excel. I’m just very granular and I like to manipulate and control things. So I go to Excel and I actually do have QuickBooks. I still use Excel. I’ve walked people through writing it out, and that’s okay. There’s no manipulation there. It’s just a list you look at. So there are other ways, but they’re not as functional and maneuverable as an Excel spreadsheet or program would be. So ultimately, I had walk people through creating the spreadsheet on their own, their own list, their own numbers, and with time in each meeting, it builds out into this what I call a beautiful beast that’s theirs that they’ve created from their own information. There’s no pre-populated template that you can pass around. That’s where people zone out and you get the deer caught in headlights look, right? So
(15:35)
It hits home and people are listing their own accounts. And then, ooh, we add a column, we now list account balances, and then, ooh, we add a column. Now we list the month and the year that account balances, and then we start adding columns. And before you know it, we’ve got a whole year of a cashflow statement or a profit and loss statement. It is really the crux of everything financial. So there’s no avoiding it.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
That’s right. And I’m kind of hearing a common theme here, just like you mentioned with your bookkeeper, kind of riding you a little bit to make sure you do it. That’s why in accountability is so important. It’s not just you’re doing it yourself. Sometimes you might need that extra person to give you some guidance, not just give you a tool. Because how many tools do people have? It’s like somebody having weights in a gym, but if they don’t use it or they don’t know how to use it properly, it doesn’t create any results to why keep doing it. And I know you do more of that accountability stuff with those people with especially like you said, you kind of that liaison helping them out with real estate. Tell us more about what you do.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
So I have been helping people for maybe five years or so now, buy houses. I’m in a bunch of different guru programs. We all sign up for the program and we think I’m going to buy a house, but then we realize we spent this money and we actually needed the money to buy the house. So I kind of take a different route and I do more of a mentor. There’s no program or thing you’re going to buy to read, although there is reading involved. I kind of walk you through the entire transaction of buying a house, and we teach and we learn and we talk through each step so that you understand what you’re doing, you’re doing, you understand your options, and along the way I introduce you to the professionals you need to perform the necessary functions. So whether it’s a lawyer or an accountant or a property manager or a contractor, you don’t know until you get there.
(17:26)
But that’s kind of what I do because a lot of things I’m learning is people hit a wall and they stop. They don’t know who to ask the questions to. So I’m there to answer the questions all along the way. Obviously there is a fee. Typically I throw the fee into your closing fee so that you don’t necessarily have to pay for it, but it’s a case by case situation. I’ve had LPs or limited partners, people who just want to lend money but want access to call and email and text, and it’s a different experience altogether. So since I’ve started investing, I’ve begun teaching, showing, and trying to give back to the people I’ve come across who seem astonished that I’m doing it. You can do it too. Where are you? Let’s figure out where you are and what steps we need to take to get you here or to get you doing it with me. It’s whatever journey you feel comfortable with. Some people want me in on their deal because they know if I’m in and then they’re going to profit and they don’t have to worry about being on their own. And then there are some people who just want to be set up, but they don’t want to be bothered with the whole purchase transaction because they’ve done it before. It is really a case by case situation. Whatever I can do to help people, I try to just be available.
Speaker 2 (18:46):
Kind of really holding people’s hand along that whole journey. Right,
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
That’s wonderful. You’re creating your own ripple effects, aren’t you?
Speaker 1 (18:54):
I’m trying. I’m trying. Whatever good I can put out in the universe, I know how karma goes. Hopefully it’ll all come back. At least I’ll be able to pass something on to my son, Nicholas.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Absolutely. Well, I know he’s seen that example on you already and I’m sure he appreciates that. Whether he says it or not or whether he knows how to verbalize it, I know he appreciates it. Well, let me ask one final question. I know you mentioned this before, and of course with everything you’ve experienced and you’ve gone through, what’s amazing is you’re financially independent, right? You’re financially free. What are some things you would recommend somebody listening to this show right now, maybe they’re early on this journey, maybe they’re midway in the journey, maybe they haven’t started yet, but they want to be there where you are too. What have you learned that you wish you knew years ago that could have maybe sped up the process for you? Looking back, knowing what you know now, what would you tell yourself maybe seven, eight years ago?
Speaker 1 (19:50):
I would say do it. Just do it. Get in, start tracking and monitoring everything. And it sounds crazy, but I mean like your goals, the books you read, the actions you take, your expenses, you are going to be glad because you’ll have a record to look back on. Even if you’re just keeping lists, it starts somewhere. I’d say improve yourself constantly. As you’re making that list, you’re going to start to look at your actions and say, oh, you’ll remember how you felt and say, I should have, could or would’ve do it. Do it right. Learn to do for yourself like you would for your boss. See yourself as your boss. Pick some hours of the day, and for those hours, you are the CEO, and you work for yourself. Implement repeatedly. And the last two things that I see not many people do, reflect. Reflect as much as possible, and then repeat the process. Do it all over again. Just keep doing it. Set goals to live the life you thought was impossible, right? Because life is too short to do otherwise.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Great advice. Yeah. I know what you just recommended reminded me of the book, the Road Less Stupid by Keith Cunningham, where he talks about not enough people spend time thinking, right? Reflecting. They don’t really spend that much time doing that, and that’s why they’re usually kind of caught in their own rat race and they’re caught in the rat race much longer than they should be. And what you’re talking about is that discipline, right? That ability to really become your own, really the boss of your own life. I love that. I think that’s such a simple, yet powerful concept that I know so few people act on, but if they did, how would this world be so much different if they were to do that today?
Speaker 1 (21:31):
Exactly. I try to get as basic and as practical as possible because you’d be surprised with those little moves. They have ripple effects, I say.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
They sure do. Well, Nicole, I appreciate your time today. Now, if somebody does want to follow you, maybe they want to, whether learn from you or whatever it might be, or if they want to reach out to you to learn more about what you do or even maybe get assistance for themselves, what would be the best way for them to do so?
Speaker 1 (21:59):
First things I say, visit my website, NG hs corp.com. My company is NG Home Solutions Corp. I have Facebook, I have LinkedIn. I’m actually, I have Instagram. I’m currently building out my social media presence. So just Google me, look for me, reach out, use my contact us, use my Message Messenger on any of those apps. I’ll respond.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Great. Yeah, we’ll be sure to put that in the show notes too, so people can actually do that. Again, really appreciate your time. Great wisdom. I know this is powerful for me just to hear as well, just to kind of reflect on my own life and where do I need to step up my game and become a better CEO of my life. So really appreciate your time here, Nicole.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
And everybody else. One thing I noticed she kept saying over and over and over, the best thing, the first step is just to do it right. You’d be a hear of the word, but it’s much better to be a doer of the word. So you can actually see the real results, the real fruit of your labor show up in your life. Guys, go and make it a wonderful process week. See you later.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
Thank you. Yes. Hey,
Speaker 4 (23:13):
Visit us online@moneyripples.com for more resources to help you fix money leaks and get your money working harder for you. Now.