S01 Ep08: When Your “Why” is Driving Your Dream and Your Money Mindset with Nicole Barham

EntrepreneurshipSelf-ImprovementFinances

Feb 6

Written By Melissa Wesner

When you have a powerful “why” driving your dream, not only does it provide much needed motivation, but it can cause you to take a good look at your numbers. Nicole Barham, CEO of Design Your Wealth and creator of The 5 Minute Bookkeeper not only has a clear “why” behind her business, but she is mindful of her money mindset and encourages other entrepreneurs to stop being afraid of looking at their numbers.
In this episode, you’ll hear Nicole talk about:
• Reasons entrepreneurs are afraid of looking at their numbers
• The repercussions of ignoring your finances or bookkeeping
• Common money messages and how we can change them
• How we can start taking charge of our finances
Follow Nicole Barham:
Instagram: www.instagram.com/5minutebookkeeper
Facebook: www.facebook.com/nicolebarham2
Nicole’s Website: www.designyourwealth.net
Giveaway: www.5minutebookkeeper.com
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (00:03.107)
Welcome to the Dreaming and Doing podcast. I am super excited about today's guest We are talking with Nicole Barham who is the CEO of Design Your Wealth. And she's the creator of Five Minute Bookkeeper. If you know Nicole if you follow her online, then you know that she knows her stuff But in case you are new to meeting Nicole, you should know that she's been featured on Good Morning America, The Breakfast Club,
Time Essence Black Enterprise, where she shares her secrets of helping solo entrepreneurs stay on top of their finances. Nicole, thank you so much for being here today.
Nicole Barham (00:45.186)
Thank you so much Melissa for having me.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (00:48.159)
So Nicole, I know that you are super passionate about Five Minute Bookkeeper and helping people stay on top of their finances. And I also know that you have a very strong why. And so before we dive into the money stuff, which I'm super excited to talk about, would you mind talking with us a little bit about your why and what drives you?
Nicole Barham (01:11.778)
Absolutely. So my big why, anyone who has ever known me for like five minutes, they know that my big why is my son Brandon. So Brandon is 11 years old. He's on the autism spectrum. And one of the reasons why I became an entrepreneur is because I wanted to provide the kind of life for him that I didn't see myself providing.
if I had a nine to five, if I was spending so many hours at somebody else's job, having a long commute, all of that. So he's my big why for starting my business a little over three years ago. And really, um, it's been amazing over the past three years, right? And we can get a little bit more into that. Um, but I just wanted to provide a better life for him. I wanted to have him to have therapies that were, um, good, you know, with good therapists.
And if that meant paying out of pocket, then we had to figure out how we could do that. I wanted to be home so that he didn't have to be going to daycare or afterschool care. And we could be at home and having therapies during the days instead of at night when he really wants to just relax and wanna enjoy his evening and not have therapists in his face at night in our home. So, so much of what I do is because of him.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (02:38.267)
Totally coming back to that later on Nicole, because I think it ties into one of the things that I did want to talk to you about with regard to money. So as I'm sure you know better than anybody else, money is one of those topics that is kind of taboo. Sometimes we don't talk about it. Sometimes we received negative money messages and you get to dig into people's finances and hear all about it.
So I'm wondering, Nicole, can you talk with us about why we're so afraid of money and why are we so afraid of looking at our numbers?
Nicole Barham (03:17.57)
So it really is so multifaceted, Melissa. It's not one thing or even two things. It's a whole lot of messages that we've been receiving all our lives, right? So as children, we may have, I'm not sure about you, but the way that I grew up, money was always not available. It always cares, right? So there were a lot of things that we could not afford.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (03:40.523)
Hmm?
Nicole Barham (03:46.038)
And there were more times that we could not afford things than we could afford, right? So that's one thing. So then we start to think it's hard to combine. Money's hard to combine, number one. Number two is the messages in our society. If you're religious, maybe in your churches, where you're told that in the Bible, there is a verse or chapter or something that talks about
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (03:55.367)
Mm-hmm.
Nicole Barham (04:15.094)
a camel being able to go through the eye of a needle, then a rich man can get into heaven or something like that. So if you're religious, then you're thinking money is bad because everybody who's religious wants to get to heaven, or who's Christian, sorry, wants to get to heaven. So again, programming. And so that programming, you grew up with that. And in society, nobody talks about money. Nobody shares.
anything about their salary, how much they're making, if somebody flaunts their wealth, or it look like they're flaunting their wealth, right? You feel like they're bad people, rich people are bad, that's the messaging as well in society. The poor, being poor is noble and helping the poor and everybody wants to help the poor. And I know that there's a quote that says, the best thing that you can do for poor people is not be one of them, right?
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (05:10.443)
Hmm.
Nicole Barham (05:11.458)
And so having this programming, I believe, in society, it really is subconscious when you get to be an adult, it comes with you, right? It doesn't appear and you're like, oh, so now I get to have this totally different mindset around money. No, we don't. We all get to take that baggage, right? And exist in a society where we have to now reprogram our minds.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (05:22.826)
Mm-hmm.
Nicole Barham (05:40.054)
Because now if we're thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, hello, we are becoming entrepreneurs to make money. And if you have subconscious programming around money and thinking it's bad, which people are evil, then I don't wanna be evil, so I cannot be rich, right? And so that comes with you, and it takes a lot of changing your mindset, working with either a money coach or a mindset coach or doing a lot of work to
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (05:46.871)
Mm-hmm.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (05:55.972)
Mm-hmm.
Nicole Barham (06:08.854)
deprogram or to, you know, kind of remove that programming from the way that you grew up. And it's years and years and it unfortunately never goes away.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (06:17.459)
Right. And I'm making a note because I'm coming back around to that later on as well. So, Nicole, like you said, because we are uncomfortable with money, right? Sometimes we don't talk about it and we avoid it. Like we won't look at our bank accounts. So whether you're in your personal finances, your business finances, we avoid looking at the numbers. Like the scale, like, you know, you don't want to step on it. You don't want to look at it.
Nicole Barham (06:23.97)
Ha ha.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (06:47.395)
And so I'm wondering what are some of the consequences that you've seen of people avoiding their finances? They don't wanna look at them.
Nicole Barham (06:57.106)
Yeah, so many negative consequences, Melissa. And I always say that it does not have to be a pretty picture before you start looking at it. Because I feel like a lot of people, especially entrepreneurs, there's this preconceived notion that the only time that I'm supposed to look at my money is when I'm making money or making a lot of money. If I'm in the red, if my business is going through like a little low point.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (07:18.826)
Mmm.
Nicole Barham (07:26.41)
Let me not look at it because it might, you know, it won't make it go away. We still don't look at it because we're like, um, if I don't look at it, it might, it, it's not real. Don't have to remind myself, but I always, always say that sometimes when you look at it, it does not matter what it looks like. That's when you start making change, right? Positive changes, right? That's when you can take a look at it and say, okay.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (07:31.038)
Mm-hmm.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (07:38.536)
Right?
Nicole Barham (07:56.226)
I might not like where my numbers are right now, but at least I know where I'm starting. This is my new starting point. And how much do I need? So now you're able to make decisions as well in your business. So do I need to increase my prices so I can bring more money in? Do I need to sell something else so I can bring more? What are the solutions? And I'm a solution-oriented person.
right? Tell me you're a Virgo without telling me you're a Virgo. I always think about, okay, this is the problem. Let's get to the solution. And let's first engineer this, right? And so I would say, you know, that's a starting point. That's where you start looking at those numbers, no matter how they look at the moment. But if you're wanting to change it, right, if you're wanting to make some changes, ignoring it will not, you know, you'll never make changes because you
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (08:29.087)
Mm-hmm.
Nicole Barham (08:50.198)
How are you gonna make change when you have no idea where your starting point is? So yeah, I've seen a lot of entrepreneurs ignore their finances or people in general, right? Ignore their finances and detrimental. I was one of those people by the way, right? So I used to be the kind of person who would be like, let me not take a look at it and it might go away. Like just thinking, not thinking consciously that would happen.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (09:00.755)
Mm-hmm.
Nicole Barham (09:18.326)
but just not looking at it and I'm like, what did you think was gonna happen? Right? And that led me to bankruptcy, right? That led me to file bankruptcy, six figures in debt, not sure how we were gonna get a failed business. And I know for sure that if I was looking at those numbers way back then, I probably would have gotten out of that business a long time before it was too late. And I probably would have not filed bankruptcy, right? And I know that because I've now built
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (09:25.495)
Mm-hmm.
Nicole Barham (09:46.922)
a successful multiprocessor business in less than four years because I look at my numbers, right? And I know what my numbers are telling me and I make decisions based on those numbers.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (09:47.878)
Mm-hmm.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (09:59.955)
Yeah, so Nicole, one of the things that I sometimes hear people say is like, you can't expect, you know, to make money or to find money if you are uncomfortable around it. How do we become more comfortable with money and the topic of money?
Nicole Barham (10:17.662)
Um, I would say there's so many resources out there nowadays, Melissa, there's podcasts, there's, you know, YouTube there, you know, everywhere you go, you can find, um, lots of money, mantras and affirmations, and you don't have to believe, start out believing it, but just being open, right? Having an open mind around, you know what? I could probably, you know, I want to build this business or I want to make this kind of money.
I'm the kind of, why would I not be the kind of person to make this money? Why would I not be the kind of person who has this money coming in, into my bank account, whatever it is, right? And so you just have to start with a little tiny shift, right? Everything, I believe in just tiny shifts. Any big habit change, it's usually not sustainable, right? So little mindset shifts around money and proving it to yourself, right?
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (11:10.877)
Mm-hmm.
Nicole Barham (11:17.45)
So something that I always refer, and I don't remember the exact link, I can give it to you later. It's like a money song on YouTube.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (11:27.423)
Oh my goodness, I don't know this one.
Nicole Barham (11:29.706)
Yeah, so it's a money song and it's really, it's very catchy and it's also very funny, right? And it goes, ching money comes to me. And it's like, yeah, I don't remember the exact name, but I listened to it and I've shared it with my clients all the time because it's just something, first of all, it's very fun. It's very catchy. And it's, and you're like, I could believe that money just comes to me when I, you know, just say how much I want.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (11:41.053)
Oh!
Nicole Barham (11:58.902)
You know, you'll just go out and get it. I deserve it kind of thing. I'm worthy of it, right? And so these are just the little things that you can do. It doesn't have to be like this big old program, you know, or this, you know, you don't have to join a six month program in order to start changing your money. And so that's what I would say is, you know, I know that you don't wanna look at it, but I promise you it's not as bad as you think. Number one.
And number two, it will get better if you start from where you are, even if you don't like it, start from where you are and making little tiny changes.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (12:35.731)
Yes, well, and I hope that as people are listening, I hope that they're also taking a moment to reflect in like, what are the money messages that I've received growing up? How have they influenced me? Like I know for myself, just thinking about them, one of the things that I would hear is, money doesn't grow on trees.
Nicole Barham (12:52.682)
Every one of us have heard that.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (12:54.427)
Yes. And so now in particular, like the past few months as image that I have been coming up with is I just you know, like they have those actual trees that are called money trees. Like I just keep imagining like those trees with like the leaves that actually have bills on them like, and I wrote down the other day, like a plantation of money trees. Um, oh, see, I need to go out and actually buy one.
Nicole Barham (13:14.062)
I love that. I have two money trees. Yeah.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (13:23.579)
Yeah, so, you know, I'm hoping that people are just really reflecting on like, what are the messages I've received about money? And how have I integrated them? How have I adopted them? How are they influencing me? Are they serving me? Or are they not? And one of the things I'm thinking about, I keep thinking about like bank accounts and also scales, since, again, scales are like numbers that people don't want to look at either. And I'm thinking about stories about how
how, you know, like people eat healthy for two days or they do like two days of exercise and they step on the scale and they're excited because like I just ate healthy for two days. And then the scale doesn't say what you want it to say because of course like you've only exercised for two days and it's not always enough to produce change. And so you see the number on the scale and you feel defeated and you feel really upset and bothered and then.
A lot of times what happens is because of that self-defeated feeling or whatever thoughts circulate around that number on the scale, we kind of throw the towel and we're like, well, I might as well go and eat that whole plate of cookies in the kitchen. And I'm wondering if you see any of that self-sabotage show up when people are starting to look at their numbers because they're just overwhelmed with the reality of what they're seeing and maybe how difficult it feels to pave a path.
forward.
Nicole Barham (14:47.01)
Absolutely. And the good thing about that is that, again, because I'm solution oriented, I always talk about, OK, so this is where you are. This is not your permanent position. The same way that if somebody is trying to lose weight, which is very, you know, we can find parallels or similarities between weight loss and money, right, and looking at money or managing money, basically, right?
It doesn't have to be, it's where you start, but it doesn't have to be where you end up, right? And so a lot of times ignoring it won't change it. We've established that, right? But you also have to make a decision to do the hard thing. And I know that people don't wanna do uncomfortable things or hard things. Guess what? A lot of it to get into the other side of things.
you know, getting to the side where you actually have money that you, the kind of money that you want in your life, it's going to take some hard stuff. It's going to take you going through some very uncomfortable, you know, scenarios, very uncomfortable, you know, doing things that you don't want to do discipline, right? If you're going to, if you want to be comfortable, then you're, you're not going to be wanting to be disciplined, right?
And so I say all the time that you just have to be, make a commitment to get to that other side. What do I want? Right. What are your goals? And sometimes just the goal, what's your why? Right. I told you about Brandon. And so sometimes when I'm feeling like, Oh, I don't want to do this, or I don't feel like doing this. I'm like, wait, but you have to, you want this lifestyle, right? You want to be able to run a business that supports this lifestyle.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (16:18.056)
Mm-hmm.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (16:34.432)
Mm-hmm.
Nicole Barham (16:40.286)
You want to have the time to drop into school, to pick him up, to pay for his therapies out of pocket, because you want the best therapy, and maybe the company doesn't take your insurance, whatever that is, anytime I feel myself slipping, I get back to my why, I get back to my goal, right? And it's not just him, like I want to travel more, and I want to have four vacations a year, right? And I want to do a lot of things that take money, right?
And so when I think about that and think about setting the kind of goals and think about that, okay, if you can, don't worry about the current situation, where do you want to go? Okay, how are you going to get there? And, you know, if you're an entrepreneur, you already know because you have a skill, you have a product, you know, whatever it is that people have already paid you money for. So you know that you have this thing that you can sell, you know how to make money. So that's not the issue, right?
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (17:19.529)
Mm-hmm.
Nicole Barham (17:37.306)
And so I say that you just have to look at it. It's not comfortable It you one of my mentors would say would you rather be comfortable and miserable? Right, or would you want to do the uncomfortable thing now so that you could get to the point later where you are, you know Totally comfortable totally achieving your goals
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (17:58.503)
Yes, and one of the things that I'm thinking about as you're talking is kind of that shift from like, money is bad, money is negative, having money is bad, right? Like, you know, to like money is a tool, right? Like, which is maybe neutral, money is a tool, but money can give us opportunities. Like you said, it gives us access to therapy for your son, the opportunity to travel four times a year to amazing locations. And
So one of the things I wanted to ask you about is, you know, as we're talking about people who want to dream and do their dreams, I think that money is one of the things that people often cite as the reason that they do not pursue their dreams. You know, even when people are calling my office for therapy services and my office accepts insurance, which is I view it as a.
That is a community service in and of itself, because we deal with all this red tape from insurance companies and it's a whole thing. We pay extra money in order to do that, just to allow for the billing and the complications of it. But money is a conversation that comes up as people are considering seeking therapy services. Can I afford that? Can I pay for that? This big trip that I wanna go on. Well, do I have the money for that? This thing that I wanna buy, taking care of my health. And so...
we use money as the reason for doing or not doing something. And I'm wondering what are some things that we can do to take charge of our money so we're not constantly finding ourselves using money as the reason that we don't do something that we wanna do or money is a reason that we don't do something that might be beneficial for us to do.
Nicole Barham (19:46.986)
Right. So one of the things, let's go back to the basics, Melissa, right? Because I think that a lot of people don't utilize these different buckets of money properly, right? So the basic savings account, right? There's a statistic that says that a high percentage, I don't
Nicole Barham (20:16.782)
$400 emergency, right? And that's very sobering because you think about that, it's very, you know, just thinking about somebody who says I would love to go on a vacation this year, right? And if they're only bringing money in that they can live off of, there's no additional money. So when I say start a savings account and all these things, people are like, well, I don't make a lot of money. So how am I gonna do that? But.
If you're talking to entrepreneurs, which I believe that we are, then we talk about allocating money. And I have, I love Profit First by Mike McAlwitz, where he gives you like a percentage of the money that comes into your business, what you should be doing with it. And so you are supposed to pay yourself from your business. A lot of entrepreneurs don't pay ourselves, right? Especially in the beginning. And I know people are like,
but I can't afford to pay myself. But the point is, sometimes what you have to do is just put the money away and not look at it. I promise you, if you start this new habit, and again, we were talking about habits, small habits, right? You're thinking, I wanna go on four vacations a year. If last year you only went on one, maybe you wanna go on two next year, right? And so you're like, let me put money aside and not look at it and not have access to it.
Because I think sometimes what happens is we think that we're going to be deprived and we're not going to be able to afford. But I promise you, I've done this so many times. My clients do this all the time. Put that percentage away. As soon as that money comes in, put that percentage away. Do not focus on it. Focus on only the pot that's in front of you. Because that also helps you to make decisions. You can look at it and you don't have to afford everything at the same time, but you can save towards it. Or you can put money aside for it.
And before you know it, these accounts are building up and you can, you know, oh my gosh, my vacation account is looking great. Now I can go on to vacations next year, right? Or whatever it is, it's just a matter of allocating the money, giving the money, giving each dollar a job is what a lot of the money, you know, people would say, give each dollar, don't just have the money sitting there because now you're gonna just maybe use it willy nilly, not plan for it, not manage it properly, right? So,
Nicole Barham (22:41.454)
Do you, using that method where you put that money aside in an account that you have no access to and then the money that you have access to, managing it properly, right? Making sure that you're paying, you know, paying your bills, allocating money to your bills and whatever you can afford right now, save towards it or, you know, plan towards it, right?
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (23:05.755)
Yeah, now Nicole, I know that this is not like your big thing. I know that the five minute bookkeeper is like your big thing. And we're going to talk a little bit about that because I really want people to know about that based on my own experience and before having a bookkeeper. But I reached out to you this past year because I started working with someone new and they were asking me questions about like personal spending for the home and
I was like, I don't know, like I'm not the one who pays that bill. Like my partner is wanting to pay that bill. And he's like, well, I really want you to start tracking. So even though I have a business and I have someone who's doing my business bookkeeping, this new person, this strategist I'm working with is like, Melissa, I want you to start tracking your home expenses. And so I reached out to you and you're like, Oh, yeah, Melissa, I got a tool for that. And I'm imagining that whether someone's a business owner, they're not that might be a helpful
for people to know about and I'm wondering if you can just talk a little bit about that.
Nicole Barham (24:07.694)
Sure, so I think a lot of entrepreneurs don't know what deductions that they can start tracking. You know, if you have a home office, right? You can, there's a percentage of almost all of your home expenses that can be written off, right? And just keeping track, like it's great. It's a great habit to keep track of your finances, personal and business finances. Cause you want to know how much...
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (24:17.591)
Mm-hmm.
Nicole Barham (24:35.99)
your spending in your business, right? How much is coming in? How much is going out? That's one of the biggest issues that I find with entrepreneurs that I've worked with is they have no idea. And they're only focusing on their bank balance. I call this operating at the seat of your bank balance, right? Flying at the seat of your bank balance. And so that's not a sustainable strategy either, right? Because what if one day you wake up and you're like,
$20,000 in my account, but I only have $2,000. Hopefully, that's nobody who's listening to this. But it's not a sustainable way to build a business or to even manage your money. And so I remember, I think I said to you, Five Minute Bookkeeper is so easy. Your grandma can use it. I do have people who are retired. I have retired people in my.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (25:24.685)
Mm-hmm.
Nicole Barham (25:30.966)
my programs who are using Five Minute Bookkeeper and they're loving it, right? Because it's just an easy way to keep track of their finances. And there's also a personal tracker, right? How much money am I paying, you know, dining out, right? During the pandemic, when I looked at my takeout bill, it was absolutely ridiculous, right? And so some people might be thinking, I wonder how much I'm spending on, you know, dining out or takeout or...
you know, whatever it is, right? A lot of times we know the fixed expenses, but we're not sure about the, you know, all the other expenses, discretionary, you know, expenses that we have. And so it's a great way to track it so you can keep on top of it. And if you're not tracking, if you're not measuring, then how are you managing? Like you can't manage anything that's not tracked or measured.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (26:22.391)
Mm-hmm that I feel like is such I want you to say that again Nicole. I want people to hear that last line
Nicole Barham (26:29.106)
Yeah, so if you're not, you cannot manage what's not being tracked or measured, right? So we can always think that I'm on top of it, but when you get to a certain point where you probably need funding for your business or you need to report to someone on the state of your business and they ask you, okay, what's your profit margin for 2023? And you're not able to answer that question.
then you might lose them right there. And so you have to be as a CEO in your business. And if you have a bookkeeper or a CFO, you still as the CEO want to make sure that you're on top of it. You know what these numbers mean. You know what your margins are. You know how to, if you go to a meeting by yourself, you can just with a balance sheet or your profit and loss statement, you can...
really explain it, anybody has questions, you have enough knowledge that you can have a conversation about your finances.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (27:34.183)
Yes, absolutely. And so knowing that those tools are there and we've had conversations, you're like absolutely most of people can get this done so quickly. I think everything that you're saying now goes back to, this is why we need to look at the numbers because I might be telling myself, well, I can't put money aside for savings or for this trip. But if I looked at my numbers and I saw that I'm spending a lot of money on entertainment or a lot on eating out, I might find that in fact,
Nicole Barham (27:43.499)
Mm-hmm.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (28:02.951)
Maybe I can, I might just have to reallocate, you know, and change some behaviors. So, and I know personally, you know, one particular year, you know, like normally I would just send a few things over to my accountant and, you know, not that it's fun, but it's, you know, it is what it is. But this one particular year, not only did I have to send over the usual tax stuff to my accountant, but I was applying for a program that required me to send them a bunch of stuff and...
I don't know if I was applying for a home or what it was, but I had such a headache and I was spending so much time going through my stuff. Like I had stuff printed out. I had my partner reading stuff to me so I could enter it on a form. And at some point he said, "'You realize that if you were paying someone to do this, "'that it would get done a lot faster. "'And how many hours have you spent doing this already?'
And that was my aha moment. Like, yeah, you need to pay someone to start doing this and like, don't be cheap. Like pay someone to do this because it's probably cheaper when it comes to money and time to have someone else do it. Because time is invaluable. We're not gonna get it back.
Nicole Barham (29:18.134)
Exactly, and that's the thing I always say, I know sometimes people look at it and be like, oh, it's gonna take me two hours, sometimes four hours, sometimes longer, right? And it becomes overwhelming and they don't wanna do it. But my team and I, we have worked on bookkeeping, we have done a year of bookkeeping in less than an hour. Show people how to do that too with Five Minute Bookkeeper. So.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (29:41.225)
Mm-hmm.
Nicole Barham (29:45.222)
If there's, you know, sometimes it just depends on the platform that they're using. Or if you're using your own method, if you're, you know, creating your own little spreadsheet and then downloading 12 months of, you know, credit card statements and 12 months of bank statements, that's overwhelming. Just thinking about, you know, just saying that I'm like, Oh my gosh, that's a lot of work. And so that's what, that's what a lot of entrepreneurs do who are not on top of the finances daily, weekly, or monthly, right? Months pass.
a year pass, years pass, right? And now you have to go back and pull all this data. And sometimes it's not just pulling the data and spending the time to put it together, but sometimes you might miss some of your expenses because if you're not doing it in the moment, you might be at a business conference or an event and you may have used your personal card to pay for something, right?
If you're not remembering or putting that receipt aside and say, Oh, I need to put this in my tracker. And then six months go by, you may have forgotten a $200, you know, business expense that you put on a personal card. And of course, I'm not encouraging that people do this. Make sure you put your business expenses on your business cards and your, and stuff like that. But in the event it does happen, you want to make sure that you're on top of things so that you do not get to the point where you're not, you're missing deductions.
and you're paying more in taxes, right? Because you're not paying attention and you're not focusing on the finances. Because yeah, if you're doing it months later, you will miss some of your taxes. So that's a great way to stay on top of your finances, stay on top of your expenses and save on your tax bill.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (31:11.274)
Mm-hmm.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (31:19.304)
Mm-hmm.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (31:28.159)
Yes. Now, Nicole, I know that you are a big dreamer. And I know that because I've been fortunate enough to watch you grow your business and do really amazing things. And it's been really inspiring to watch you grow your business and achieve new milestones and new goals. But I follow you on social media and I see you posting, I manifested this or.
Nicole Barham (31:33.719)
Yes.
Nicole Barham (31:52.663)
I'm sorry.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (31:53.615)
I met with this business owner and I can see the vision, I can see the strategy, I see how they could be growing, making more money and so on. So for anyone who's listening and they're thinking about, well, I wanna be a bigger dreamer, how do I tap into that? What are some strategies that you engage in to help you be a bigger dreamer?
Nicole Barham (32:15.394)
So I've always been a dreamer, even when I didn't know it. Even when I'm a young girl growing up in Jamaica, I just saw my life being a lot bigger. And I also had a very encouraging community, family members who would kind of lift me up and make me think that, or tell me that I can achieve anything. So that foundation was great. And then when I got to the
the point where I was, I started working. Like I literally manifested my first job at 17 years old. Right? And I was like, oh, this is amazing, right? In four years, starting from 17 to 22, I was working in New York. I had moved from Jamaica to New York, working with the Jamaican government as a diplomat. And I'm like, how is this my life? Right?
But I also knew that I always said I would love to because in Jamaica there's no natural progression at that time. That was oh my gosh, over 30 years ago, right? There was no natural progression to going to college and like not everybody had the opportunity and a lot of people were leaving high school and starting working and I wanted to be one of those people where I was you know wanting to get a job, got the job. I wanted to then go on to do my degree.
So I started to think, oh my goodness, all I have to do is say I want this thing with conviction, right? And then I'm just able to work towards it, right? Create the plan.
Nicole Barham (34:33.282)
So, And then years later, I stumbled upon the law of attraction, right? I'm a huge believer in the law of attraction. And I just looked at my life before when I...
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (34:43.888)
Mm-hmm.
Nicole Barham (35:00.306)
I stumbled on it, I looked at it and I'm like, the things that I wanted in my life, I just said I wanted them with conviction and then the solution showed up, right? And I told you earlier, I'm a solution oriented person. So I'm like, okay, if this is the solution, then if I have this problem, then all I have to do is ask for the solution, right? And so, you know, like everybody else, watch the secret.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (35:22.067)
Mm-hmm.
Nicole Barham (35:27.586)
got into the law of attraction, listened to Abraham Hicks all the time, and just thinking about, okay, what do I want in my life? And I remember when I was traveling, I had a three hour round trip commute to Miami, back in, you know, round trip commute. And my son was always sleeping in the back of the car. And then when I get home, he would be so tired. But then if he had slept, and now we were, you know.
At night, up at midnight, he didn't want to sleep. And I said to myself, this is no way to live, right? I have this business that I really want to focus on, right? And I really want this business to replace my income.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (36:01.271)
Nicole Barham (36:12.458)
And then the pandemic happened and I said, okay, I have more time, cause now I didn't have the commute anymore cause everyone was working from home. And I said, I have more time. I'm going to dig a little bit deeper into my business. Then I happened upon our mutual coach, Rachel Rogers, right? Joined her community six months after joining that community. I was able to quit my day job and be
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (36:41.527)
Which is amazing.
Nicole Barham (36:42.698)
Yes. So, and so I'm like, I know the power, like just even, even when I think something isn't working now, I go back to way back when I was 17 years old, or when I started my business. And I literally was not making a lot of money. I think for 2020, before I came to Retail's Community, I had made like $3,000 my entire business because it was a side hustle.
I had a couple of people that I was working with doing their bookkeeping. But then when I created, when I got to that community and learned a few things, right, because didn't I, did I not say that I wanted to, to be a full-time entrepreneur? So this is the solution that is being presented to me. And so I went all in and like, oh my gosh, this is what I've been searching for, replaced my salary from my day job in six months. And so I was like,
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (37:35.575)
Wow.
Nicole Barham (37:38.87)
This is how, and over the years, like that was, you know, the first year and then by the second year, we were a multiple six-figure business. I'm like, oh my goodness, this actually works, right? Just wanting to, you know, have a better life for my family, have my son not being, you know, sitting in this commute, sleeping in the back of the car, me not driving in this traffic every single day for three hours, all those things I did not want. And I'm like, in order to get, to not do these things anymore.
I would love to have a full-time, a business that I can run full-time from my home. And I've been doing this now for almost three years.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (38:16.159)
Which is impressive, Nicole. Really impressive. And so for anyone who's like, ugh, but I really hate looking at numbers. I really hate looking at money. My hope is that they're hearing your why and thinking about their own why and thinking like, yes, looking at numbers maybe isn't fun, but I'm willing to do it if it allows me to pursue the thing that's most important to me.
Nicole Barham (38:18.059)
Yes.
Nicole Barham (38:39.306)
Absolutely. I knew fashion, like a lot of things are not fun. Like the things that are fun to me are, you know, hanging out with my family, going on vacations, reading a great book, you know, a lot of the things that we do in our business. And of course, if in your zone of genius, you enjoy that, right? I love, you know, doing the numbers, managing the numbers, helping my clients with business strategy. I love that piece, but there...
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (38:43.284)
Mm-hmm
Nicole Barham (39:06.818)
There are lots of pieces in my business that I don't love. But it's necessary in order to build this thing that's going to sustain the things that I love to do. It's gonna sustain the vacations, it's gonna sustain the downtime, it's gonna sustain the bills. I love living in a beautiful home, I love driving a nice car. That's gonna sustain the things that I love to do. So again, it doesn't have to be, it's not.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (39:12.042)
Mm-hmm.
Nicole Barham (39:35.454)
Every day is not going to be fun and happy and roses, but there are things that you really have to do in order to set in motion the things that you love to do.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (39:45.971)
Yes. And so if anyone here is a solopreneur and they're just thinking about, wow, like it's tax season. It takes so much time to get my numbers in order. I can't stand it. I have papers everywhere. I do just want to encourage you to reach out to Nicole. Look at, look into her five minute bookkeeper and we'll get that information for you soon. But Nicole, as we're wrapping up, one thing that I've been asking everybody is what is your big dream? What is your big dream now?
Nicole Barham (40:16.554)
Oh, wow. My big dream now, I have so many. But my big dream now is to build my business to a million dollars. We just crossed over in 2023. We crossed over $300,000 for the year. Remember in 2020 we had made $60,000. To, you know, four years later to or three years later to cross the 300k mark. It's like.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (40:25.63)
Mm-hmm.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (40:36.01)
Mm-hmm.
Nicole Barham (40:44.67)
a huge dream come true for us. And now our goal is we're setting our sights on a million dollars in 2024.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (40:46.516)
Yeah.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (40:53.195)
I love it, Nicole. I'm rooting for you. I know I'll see it when it happens.
Nicole Barham (40:55.566)
Thank you. Yes, for sure. And so we are, and we're starting off with a bang, right? I'm speaking at ROI, and then I have a few more things lined up that will get me to that goal, right? And I am a huge dreamer, but I'm also a big doer. Sometimes I overdo, I tell people that I'm like, wanting to do things and being a little bit impatient.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (41:05.072)
Mm-hmm.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (41:15.622)
Mm-hmm.
Nicole Barham (41:24.694)
But setting the goal and just working at those goals, doing the work, right, in order to manifest. Because a lot of manifesting for me has been, this is my goal, this is what I want, now how do I get there? I start doing the work. So yeah, this is gonna be a big year for us and we're excited.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (41:40.659)
Mm-hmm.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (41:47.179)
Yeah, so for anyone who's like, how do I find Nicole? How do I get in touch with her? How do I learn more about the five minute bookkeeper? How can they get in touch? How can they find you?
Nicole Barham (41:57.134)
Sure, so we are on Instagram, 5MinuteBookkeeper, the number 5MinuteBookkeeper. You can follow us there or you can also send us a DM over there. 5min the number 5min is our website. We have a demo of 5MinuteBookkeeper that shows you exactly how it works. So you can see how easy it is, whether apart from pulling down all those papers and bank statements and credit card statements.
It just shows you an easy way to get your bookkeeping done, even if you're a little bit behind, right? Or you can follow me on Facebook as well, facebook.com forward slash N-A-Barham and send me a friend request or send me a message. I love connecting with people. One of my biggest strengths is relationship building. So I love to talk to the people that I work with or new clients or whatever.
So, you know, don't be shy about like sending me a DM and just say, Hey, I heard you on the podcast.
Melissa Wesner, LCPC (42:59.275)
Awesome, Nicole, I'm so excited for you and I'm so glad that we got to touch base again today. It's always good to talk with you. Thank you again for joining us.
Nicole Barham (43:09.599)
Thank you so much, Melissa. This was fun.