Annie Cole Podcast Transcript
Annie Cole joins host Brian Thomas on The Digital Executive Podcast.
Welcome to Coruzant Technologies, Home of The Digital Executive Podcast.
Brian Thomas: Welcome to The Digital Executive today’s guest is Annie Cole. Dr. Annie Cole is an expert money coach and financial educator who teaches women how to master all areas of their finances from budgeting and paying off debt to investing, building wealth and retiring early.
She’s the founder of money essentials for women and all in one online financial resource center, the author of, 101 Ways to Build Wealth in Your Thirties. And the former V.P. of a global ed tech startup. In her 20s, Annie was a burnout social worker struggling on a 26,000 a year salary. This lit a fire in her to learn everything she could about mastering personal finances and making more money.
By her 30s, Annie had an investment portfolio worth over 1 million across the stock market and real estate, had negotiated several raises and promotions, and was headed towards retirement in her 40s.
Well, good afternoon, Annie, welcome to the show!
Annie Cole: Hi, thanks for having me, Brian!
Brian Thomas: Absolutely. I appreciate you making the time.
Jumping on a podcast is one of my favorite things in the whole wide world, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy this as well as we get through this, but I appreciate you making the time again. And Annie, I’m just going to jump right into your first question. Your journey from a social worker on a modest salary to a millionaire by your thirties is inspiring.
What were some of the first steps you took to start building wealth, even while on a limited income?
Annie Cole: Yeah, such a great question. I will say when I was back in that 20-year-old self, making 26,000, the first thing I did was I invested every single month, even the tiniest amount. So, I know a lot of folks think when they’re young, oh, I don’t have enough money to invest.
I was investing 25 a month. And it really did not add up to much back then. But what it did was it built the habit in me to continue investing, which every time I got a raise or a promotion, I just invested a little bit more. So that was the number one thing I did that really made a big difference.
Brian Thomas: That’s awesome. I like that habit you started again, as you know, just like snowballs, avalanches, waves. Once you start that and you’re consistent with it, things start to happen and we’ve all seen that, but I appreciate you sharing that story seems very modest, but it’s come a long way. So, thank you, Annie, your book, 101 Ways to Build Wealth in Your Thirties offers a wealth of tips for financial growth.
Could you share one or two of your favorite strategies from the book that you think might have the biggest impact?
Annie Cole: Sure. It’s very hard to pick just 1. I will say my inspiration for the book was, I read another book that was a list of about 100 different tips for career growth. They were really short chapters, about 2 to 3 pages each, and it felt very digestible.
Like I could keep flipping through the book and picking something out. So, my book is very similar, 101 different tips for mastering your finances and building wealth. Yeah. Yeah. And I think the number one tip that I love the most and have used in my own life is mastering my money mindset. So, the first chunk of my book is all about psychology research on how to have either a positive money mindset or overcome something negative.
So, for example, if you. We’re raised to believe that money is bad, or you want to release money shame. There are actually some activities in the book that will lead you through that and help you to dream even bigger when it comes to what you think is possible and overcome some imposter syndrome around money.
Brian Thomas: Thank you. And I like that you gave us some teasers there, something to get myself and our audience to kind of get excited about your book and learn some of your financial secrets. So, I really appreciate that. Annie, you’ve managed to build an impressive investment portfolio across stocks and real estate for someone just starting out in investing.
What are some of the beginner friendly tips or strategies they should consider?
Annie Cole: I think the first thing to do is to meet with a retirement representative. If you’re employed, most of the time you can meet with a retirement rep for free. I also know that a lot of the big firms now, Vanguard and Fidelity, they’ll offer you free advising or robo-advising.
So, connect with an advisor just to learn more about what’s available. But the second tip I would share is you can set up your own investment account online Transcribed And invest just 1 on your own. That’s actually what I did when I was first learning. I put 1 in and I watched what happened to it over about a month.
And it just, it was a way to dip my toe in without much fear because the max I was going to lose was 1. So, I would say work with a rep and then invest a dollar and just start learning what it feels like.
Brian Thomas: Thank you. That’s, that’s awesome. You know, there are a lot of experts out there like yourself that people could reach out and learn, spend a little time or, and you get some of that mentoring, coaching, or, you know, pay for that service as well.
So, I appreciate that. And I know it takes just little baby steps like you mentioned previously, and I know things will happen over time. The last question I have for you today, Annie, negotiating raises and promotions can be daunting for many people. Can you share any advice for our listeners on how to confidently approach these conversations and advocate for their worth?
Annie Cole: Absolutely. I think the first thing to do, if you are even thinking about advocating for Asking for a raise or a promotion and having that conversation with either a future employer or with the current employer is just accept that. It’s going to be nerve wracking. You’ll be sweaty. You’ll be nervous. The more you can embrace that, the better.
And then once you get past that fear. Practice come up with the language you want to use in that conversation. Come up with a mini script of bullet points. I actually have, I think, on my blog, but definitely in my book, a script that you can use when asking practice that out loud with a friend or a partner so that you have the words memorized and it will make it so much easier when you go into the real conversation.
Brian Thomas: Amazing. And they say repetition is the mother of success. So obviously some preparation is what I’m hearing is probably a big part of this, but I really appreciate that. And yeah, there’s a lot of things that are nerve wracking and things are very uncomfortable, but we know embracing that uncomfortableness will just only make us stronger and more comfortable eventually in some of these challenging areas of our lives.
So, I appreciate that. And Annie, it was such a pleasure having you on today. And I look forward to speaking with you real soon.
Annie Cole: Yeah. Thanks so much, Brian. Take care.
Brian Thomas: Bye for now.
Annie Cole Podcast Transcript. Listen to the audio on the guest’s podcast page.
