Amy Vaughn:
Alright. Hello, everyone, and welcome to our weekly power lounge. This is your place to hear authentic conversations from those who have power to share. My name is Amy Vaughn, and I am the owner and chief empowerment officer of Together Digital, a diverse and collaborative community of women who have power to share and choose to share their knowledge, power, and connections. You can join the movement together on digital.com. This week, we are talking about money, my friends. How does that make you feel? Is it complicated? Well, you’re not alone. According to the 2023 Fidelity Investments survey, women’s number one word for their financial feelings was stress.
Amy Vaughn:
Have no fear, though. We have got someone truly exceptional with us today, and she’s the one and only Sarah Grace Mohr. Lovingly known as s g, g, the power this powerhouse wears many hats as the chief operating officer of the and minority owner of the Prosperity People, and Mackie overseeing strategic directions and operations and much more. SG’s passion for empowering women, promoting financial literacy, and fueling small business success runs deep. She was raised by a trail blade oh, goodness. Trailblazing entrepreneur from serving as president of Impact 100 to currently serving on the Gehring Center board. Her contributions are felt far and wide. When she’s not leading the business in the business world, you can find this lifelong Northern Kentuckian embracing the Bellevue life with her wife and kids, playing at the park, strolling the avenue, and connecting in Polkadot Alley.
Amy Vaughn:
SG has garnered so much wisdom from her incredible career and life experiences. I know that the insights that she’s gonna share with us today are going to be invaluable. So, everyone, please, let’s give a warm and long awaited welcome to the inspiring Sarah Grace Morh. Thank you so much for being with us today.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Thank you. That feels like such big shoes. Like, is that me? What? Absolutely. Absolutely.
Amy Vaughn:
I had the privilege of seeing SG on stage at the Queen City Game Changers event, maybe a month or 2 ago. And I was just so moved by your passion and your background and your story. I I held back and didn’t accost you right away as you came off of stage, but definitely reached out right away. We had a great phone conversation, and we made this happen. And I’m just really excited because I think, you know, money is a difficult thing for women, especially, to sort of talk about. And as you often say, it’s a very emotional thing. And I’m excited because I think, you know, our listeners are just gonna get a lot out of your experience, your story, and they’re going to get some very actionable things as well.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
I hope so. That’s the plan.
Amy Vaughn:
That’s what we talk about today but let’s start a little bit with your journey.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Mhmm.
Amy Vaughn:
We always love to hear folks’ background and experience, a little bit about your upbringing, this female finance entrepreneur upbringing and what started to sort of shape your personal money beliefs?
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Oh, how much time do you have? Right? So I like to be whenever we’re talking about money with your friends than talk about how finances are in your life. Right? I mean, there’s a whole Sex in the City series, but there’s no Money in the City series. Right? Like, so I’m really happy you started with this. So I didn’t realize how different my upbringing was when I was younger. My mom founded our company about a year before I was born. So she had always been an entrepreneur. This was 1982 when she founded the business. Yes, I am 41, I was born in 1983.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
And so I just, I think my journey started with immense privilege that I had no idea I was aware of, right? I mean, there was privilege of having a female, like having a mom who was a boss everywhere. Yeah. Like she was, she was a boss everywhere. Uh-huh. And I didn’t see that as anything different. There was no ceiling for me to shatter, there were no limits in my mind of who I could be as a woman. So I think that was huge. Amazing.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
But the second privilege is the knowledge I got from her, right? So she was an accountant, she is an accountant, she’s a CPA. And when you’re in a family business, I’m sure there are a lot of you out there, shop talk around the dinner table, it’s just the thing that happens. When my parents were still married, my dad was in the business as well. So they talk about clients, they talk about team members, they talk about like what’s happening, you know, in terms of legislation and like, I, that was just the water I was swimming in the air I was breathing, right? So I grew up and I didn’t realize until probably a decade ago that like, woah, the amount of privilege I have from having a female founder as a mother and also this like financial knowledge that so many people don’t have. And so, that was amazing. But the thing that really when I finally did the work that we’ll get into talking about, what really defined my money beliefs, was that when I was 11, my father died by suicide. And it was traumatic for a number of reasons. But as it relates to, you know, my money beliefs, one of the things that all of these well intentioned adults in my life told me to, like, console me was, you know, your dad had worked really hard, but you’d been unemployed for a long time and he he couldn’t find a job.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
And so he was running out of money. Yeah. And it gives me chills thinking about it now. And I just looking back, you know, looking back, I’m like, wow, that was it. Like that was the moment when everything I started to believe and then act upon for money was created. Yeah. And for me, what that created was 2 beliefs. So 1, any child of divorce knows what I’m talking about here, money by his love.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Right? So, like, if I had if my dad had money or if I had money to give him, maybe he’d still be alive. Right? That’s like the thinking from an 11 year old. Absolutely. So that was a huge one. Money buys love. Mhmm. And then the second one was money is literally life. Yeah.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Like, if money like, it was like, I hadn’t realized until that point how powerful money is in our lives that somebody could end their own because they didn’t have enough, right? And so it became this incredibly polarizing thing in my life. Mhmm. And, yeah, that’s where my money’s mindset for the first for the majority of my life so far has been rooted in those two beliefs.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah. That’s huge. And that’s a lot to overcome because it’s such a young age, but then it’s, like, at that age where you are aware enough to be truly and deeply impacted. So what was the turning point in overcoming those now deep seated money beliefs, and how did that impact your life both personally and professionally from there on out?
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Yeah. So the way these two beliefs showed up in my life, the best way I can describe it is it was like I was financially binging and purging. And I think there’s so many ways that we show up for our bodies is how we show up for our money life. So like I think there’s so many correlations there but it was for me it was financial binging and purging. So like I would binge in the sense that I would like to buy friends gifts, take them to events. When I had roommates I would pay their rent or I would buy their groceries, right? Right. And on some level too I was beginning to like gaining stuff to make myself feel better too. So there’s like a huge binge.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
And then it was like like and then all of a sudden, it would be, like, oh my god. This is too scary. It’s too much. I don’t have, like, I don’t have enough. And so I would restrict and constrict and restrict. And, you know, I’d eat ramen noodles for weeks, and I’d, like, make sure that everybody was off in the house. And, you know, I was living in this just, like, wildly vacillating out of control thing. And, what happened to really have me shift how I was behaving in my money life was the great recession.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Mhmm. So I found myself, you know, in my early 20s with maxed out credit. Mhmm. No really earning potential at that point other than what I had. And my only choice was to declare bankruptcy. Like I had gotten myself that financially unhealthy. Yeah. And as a daughter Yeah.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Of a badass finance entrepreneur. Yeah. Woah. Like, to have to do that. So like and I thought it was just before I did any of the work, I thought I was just inherently deeply broken. Mhmm. Right? Like why can’t I just do what I know I’m supposed to do? Yeah. Because like I said at the beginning, like I knew all of the things. Mhmm.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
And it was the impact, I think, of having to declare bankruptcy really, if I can sum up in one word, is shame. Right? Like, the amount of shame I carried not just about my financial life, but like, if we feel unhealthy in our financial life similar to like, we’re trying to do anything with our body or any other part of our bot, like our world. Like if we can’t do what we think we should do, it becomes a shameful thing and like shame freezes us. Mhmm. And it and it just packs us down deep. And you know, I think for a really long time after that, I just took what I could get. May you know, I lived a little bit in fear. And, yeah, it took a long time to, like, get out of the shame. And even when I was, like, finally aware of it after doing my belief work, like, it was, yeah.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
It was a long road.
Amy Vaughn:
I can imagine it was such a cycle. Right?
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Mhmm.
Amy Vaughn:
Such a it sounds like such a cycle of, like, when you talk about, like, the binge and the purge. And again, when you’re looking to find a sense of love and belonging and it’s about, like, that shame cycle, I yeah. I could only just imagine. And then when you get to that point of, like, the lowest of the low and then you have something like a mother that has Mhmm. That’s like that’s your benchmark. Yeah. That’s really hard.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Well, I think the shame I felt is her daughter. Right? I’m like, oh my god. Nobody can know this. They’ll say, like, what will they think of her? And like, how does this and I oh my god. I think my mother is the most amazing person on my hands. So it was like one of these things of like, not just have I really irreparably harmed myself.
Amy Vaughn:
Sure.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
At least in that moment that’s what I thought.
Amy Vaughn:
Mhmm.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
But I was like, how is this gonna impact her? And like, is this gonna be, you know, a stain for her? And like, how is she gonna if this gets out, how was she ever going to
Amy Vaughn:
talk about it with people? Right.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Yeah. And have to explain her, like, reckless daughter away.
Amy Vaughn:
What I love about you sharing this story is that I think it opens those that are listening, I hope, up to trust that anybody that’s listening, wherever you might be in your money journey or experience, like, you’ve been there. You know, I think sometimes we get people that come in that are the gurus and the experts and you sometimes wonder like what we all have a different level of experience that we’ve been through and privilege that we’ve come from. But I think it’s so important to peel back the layers and show our not just reveal the privilege that we’ve been through, but the vulnerabilities and the experiences and sometimes the shame that we’ve experienced to show others that we too are vulnerable, we too have been in those places so that others know that we have done the work.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Yeah. Absolutely.
Amy Vaughn:
You know? To say that, yeah, and that I have done the work. I’ve been at the bottom and have worked my way up, and that’s how I know that what I’m about to share works.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Yes. Exactly. Yeah. That is how I know it works. I am living proof. Right? And it’s still a journey.
Amy Vaughn:
Exactly. An ongoing journey for sure. Yeah. Let’s dig a little bit too much into how we, in general, think about money, you know, as people, and how shifting from one mindset to another can begin to help us transform our financial health.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Absolutely. So we have experiences in life, and then we make beliefs out of those. And some beliefs are helpful, some are harmful, just like most things in life. But really what happens is over time, we build this window with which we see the world. And so with money, it’s no different. We’ve built beliefs, credit cards are bad, leasing a car is a waste of money. Like, we have all of these little things, and they build up and build up into this frame. And it doesn’t become a belief anymore.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
It becomes what we know. Right? We get real righteous and like, I know this. Uh-huh. But this limits. Right? This limits our ability to make choices. It limits our ability to see different outcomes. And so that’s where belief systems can get in our way. And because we have this belief system, every choice we make is from this window, and we have our outcomes based on our beliefs.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
So I think, especially when people out here, out there, me, are trying to work on their money life from the tangible, from input of paycheck to output of expenses. You know, we’re already at the aftermath, right, like we’re already at just like the results. We have to go further and further back up that line to really uncover like, well, what is it that makes me make these choices? What are the beliefs? Do they serve, like, and some of them are great, it’s like they serve you well. But like which ones do I wanna hold on to? Which ones do I wanna change? Where did they come from? So I think that’s the biggest reason shifting your mindset can transform your financial health because you’re no longer looking at the surface fits. You’re looking at like the groundwater of, like, what is happening Mhmm. And what has created your money life.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah. That’s great. I think, like, all commonly called limiting beliefs. Right? Limiting, in other words, we’re limiting ourselves and not looking at the bigger picture to say where the opportunities are. In other words, you’re missing the chance for abundance. You’re missing the chance for growth by just basically kind of keeping yourself locked in a room Mhmm. And saying these are the 4 walls of a room that basically doesn’t exist.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
The limit doesn’t exist.
Amy Vaughn:
Ring girls’ reference. Right. Exactly.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
But, yeah. I mean, we have. We are in our own self created boxes. Yeah. Absolutely.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah. I feel that.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Well, that happens in every part of our life.
Amy Vaughn:
Absolutely. It’s not.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
I mean, it happens in every part of our life, our own identity, our work, like, our work gifts, everything. We put ourselves in this box, but we’ve put ourselves there.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah. Yeah. And the first step is really starting to acknowledge them. Right? So, like, I grew up in a family that wasn’t particularly wealthy, and so the scarcity mindset is just kind of running deep within me. I can’t stand food waste. I hoard my money. I will sit and I will save. I will never spend it.
Amy Vaughn:
I’m not a person who is very, I don’t love debt. It really sits hard with me when I see credit card debt mount up, and it becomes like a tension point, right, for me and my partner or for me for my business and things like that. And I have to become more aware of these things as it is a narrative that sometimes doesn’t really serve me well. You know? I understand that there’s a time and a place in which it does make sense, and it’s not a bad thing, but it’s not always the end of the world, you know, to have that, you know, that I’m not, I’m not a trailer park kid anymore. I hope they can grow beyond that.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Right. And I think at any, you know, I think the importance of it, like, at any level of earnings and at any level of, like, money health Mhmm. We need to find those ways to enjoy, like, enjoy
Amy Vaughn:
Yes.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Enjoy what we have because, like, money is energy.
Amy Vaughn:
Yes.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
You are exchanging your precious time for these dollars. And, like, yes, we have, like, yes, we have to pay our rent or our mortgage and we have to have transportation and, like, but we we need to find the small even the small is like for people who are because I think people typically live in either overspending bucket or hoarding bucket. Like, that’s kinda like, we never live in balance. Right. We’re always on either side of the spectrum. Right? And like for those who are in this like, the scarcity mentality like I need to hoard, where’s the joy? Yeah. Right? But for those who are overspending, where’s the joy? Because like when I was overspending, when I was, you know, binging, it felt like for a split second after I ran my credit card, I was like, that’s great. That was great.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
And I was like, oh my god. You know, it’s so there’s it’s about finding it’s about aligning who we are with our spending and, like, energy like, and both energetically and physically, like, our dollars. Mhmm. I don’t know why I was doing that a lot from between the clock, but that’s okay.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah. No. I totally understand it. It’s like, I did some reading in the past about, like, hedonic adaptation. Right? And how people, especially, like, a great example is those who’ve won the lottery and how they do not have an extensive amount of joy and oftentimes, self sabotage themselves and end up losing a lot of what they win. And it has to do with head on like adaptation in the sense of and those who are typically wealthy. It’s that idea that once you gain something that you want, that desire, that longing, the longing and the anticipation is actually more gratifying than once you have received it. Yeah.
Amy Vaughn:
And if you if it’s if it’s something that’s more, material versus it’s it’s like the the chemical response to you, I think, is it’s more of a, like, a dopamine, right, hit than a serotonin, which is like a longer standing release of hormone. So if it’s a dopamine hit, I just bought this cute little handbag. I spent $300 on it. I have it now, but now I want that $1,000 bag. You know? Because, like, now I have it. It doesn’t mean as much. The anticipation of getting the bag was more than actually getting the bag.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Well, they’ve been studying vacations too so that people actually, when they’re studying, find more enjoyment in planning and anticipating the vacation Uh-huh. Then going on a vacation. And I have to say if they were like these people who have children, that is accurate. Like, they’re very Right. Right. 100%. Like, the idea. And thinking about all the idea of the children’s bathroom
Amy Vaughn:
Right.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Water. And then you get there, and it’s an absolute essay by Patricia. So but, yeah, I mean, that’s it. It’s almost like the longing and the anticipation is what it’s, it’s the journey.
Amy Vaughn:
It is. 100%. My solution that I’ll share with everyone that I have learned over the last few years is because of that insight, what I have done is I take more frequent short break vacation type of things versus any one long, like, 2 week vacation now. So we do, like, more quarterly long weekends Mhmm. And maybe 1 week long vacation versus any 2 week long vacation because then I have more things to look forward to throughout the year.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
I do the same thing.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah. It’s just helpful.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
It is.
Amy Vaughn:
It’s a good insight. Alright. Let’s talk about some methodologies, and some tools for our listeners. You know, and some of the things that you’ve you’ve you’ve written and talked about in the past, you’ve mentioned that change requires patience, reflection, and self love. Could you elaborate on how these practices in particular affect our relationship with money? Yeah.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
So there are 4 steps to change in growth. Again, this is universal, not just about money. The first step is unconscious incompetence. So that ignorance is bliss. I’m walking around life. I’m living it. I might have hurdles or boundaries or whatever, and I just think that the world is cool sometimes. Right? And sometimes I’m not saying it’s not.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Sometimes it is. So that first step to get out of unconscious incompetence requires reflection. Right? You can’t if you don’t know something exists, you can’t
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Work on it, change it, love it harder if it serves you, all of those good things. So the second step is conscious incompetence. So this is where, oh, I know I’m the problem. I have no idea how to help myself not be the problem. And so that’s where we have to love ourselves anyway. That’s self love, right? Like that is okay, That is a great job for realizing it. Great job for digging deep. That is, like, just like, you know you’ve got this.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
And then the next step is conscious competence. So this is where we are walking through life in slow mode and hyper vigilant at the same time. So this is like being intentional and reflective and in the moment every time we’re doing something and whatever we’re trying to change. And that’s where it takes patience. Because if you don’t have patience with yourself, you’re, you know, and I’m horrible at patience, but it’s not a virtue I have. So, like, I get it. I just want, like, I want it to be done. But, that step requires patience.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
It requires you just be like, yep. We’re making tiny little baby steps. It’s the same as if you wanted to start a running habit instead of going for a 5 mile run the 1st day, you put your gym shoes by the door the 1st day. Right? And then you put your gym shoes on and then you and that is how you actually build up to that change, not in one sleeping movement. And so then the 4th step is unconscious confidence where we finally integrate our new habit, belief, whatever into ourselves. Yeah. But I think at every stage, it requires reflection, self love, and patience. Like, those are the 3 things that have to happen for us to change anything in our life.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Yeah. I
Amy Vaughn:
I love it. Those are great steps. Hopefully, y’all are taking notes and writing those down, and I love that. You gotta be patient with your impatience.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
I tell people I’m a sprinter. Like, I’m great in a crisis. You know, like, I can go hard. I can work 12 hour days for 3 weeks straight and, you know, whatever. You want me to run a marathon? Yeah. What? Like, no. That is, you know, that is Yeah. For me, I’m not a marathoner.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
I don’t think many people are. Mhmm. Especially when it comes to themselves. Sure.
Amy Vaughn:
Sure. I think that all that self awareness though is so important because you know that about yourself so you allow yourself to sprint and then I think you probably just take a lot of time and rest hard in between. Right?
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Yeah. That’s what I like to do.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah. I’m very similar. I feel you. I feel you, Steve. I feel you. I feel you. Let’s talk about some more tools because we love these things. What practical tools and exercises do you recommend for someone who is looking to change their money mindset?
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Yeah. So I wrote down that I had to take notes for myself guys because I didn’t wanna lose anything. My first 2 are a little ethereal, but we’re gonna share them anyway. The first is, how do you take guilt, shame, and judgment and turn it to curiosity. Because if we are judgmental we are not gonna shift because we’re, you know, we’re in judgment. But if we shift that judgment from, like, oh, I’m just really bad with money. Even just a slight change of, I wonder why I’m bad with money. Right? So, like, even changing the language you’re using in your own head from judgment to curiosity, that itself can be transformational in how you approach your money life.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
The second thing to do is to build in a pause. So if there’s something specific you wanna change, this is the example I use all the time because I am guilty of it. I spend too much too much at the target dollar spot. Right? Like, who
Amy Vaughn:
Does this?
Sarah Grace Mohr:
I don’t allow my likes, I allow myself to look through. Uh-huh. And then I don’t pick anything up because there’s a million of everything. Like I don’t Yeah. So I don’t pick anything up and then I go do whatever else I need to do. And if I am still at the end of my shopping trip Mhmm. Want that one well, nothing’s $1 in there anymore. 3 or $5 thing, I will get it because I’ve spent enough time, I’ve paused and done the necessary shopping.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
So building in that pause wherever you need it.
Amy Vaughn:
I love it.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
And then the third thing is to journal. Like so when you have like when you move from judgment to curiosity and you start getting insights, don’t just let those go in your head because you’re gonna lose them. Write them down, make sure you’re highlighting or underlining or, you know, post it noting things that hit. Right? And it’s also because you will need to track your growth because your growth will be slow. Right? We’re talking marathon, not sprint. Mhmm. And so we do it, we need to journal and write it down so we capture what we’ve remembered because we will or what we’ve learned because we will lose it again and then we have to relearn it. Yes.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
That’s how humans are. Uh-huh. But also for progress. And then the other I have this so I wanna share this, and this is an exercise that I have been inspired by from my bartending days. So I don’t think I really understood money for myself until I had to work, you know. It was like, okay, I served 25 tables tonight and walked away with $300. Oh my god. That means that, you know, like, doing that math in your head.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Right? So my suggestion in terms of trying to understand some of what’s happening in your life and where you have urges, or maybe urges you’re not meeting, is to take one day’s worth of post tax earnings Mhmm. In cash. Mhmm. And only spend things in your life with that. Because I think that gives you when the cash is physically with you. Yes. It is very different to to
Amy Vaughn:
give it away.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
It is.
Amy Vaughn:
It is.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
When it’s just on a card and the numbers are not like, there’s no number there telling you your balance. No. You know? Mhmm. And so I think there’s like this this exercise of taking a day’s worth of your life force
Amy Vaughn:
Mhmm.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
And then spending it in your life will show you
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
What is important and what’s not. Mhmm. And that would be really powerful for a lot of people.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah. I love that exercise. I love that exercise. We’ve talked about that too as a family of, like, this is what I earn in a day and I wanna spend money on something. If I was to break that down and how many days it took me to work for that thing, is it worth that? Like, we’ve been doing that with our kids too and it’s been really kind of powerful and interesting to see, you know, breaking it down into, like, their paper route or babysitting hours or things like that. Absolutely. To help them truly understand the value of something. Because a lot of times, we don’t think about that.
Amy Vaughn:
And I love the cash idea. We’ve been talking about that as well as budgeting for a family, like doing little, like cash envelopes. Just kind of because again, you just swipe and you swipe and you swipe and you don’t think about that as money coming out. Mhmm.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
That’s true. And pro tip because I know we all support small businesses. Yes. If you use cash in a small business, a dollar equals a dollar.
Amy Vaughn:
Yes.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
If you use a credit card 100%. Of a small business, a dollar equals 87¢. Mhmm.
Amy Vaughn:
Great point.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
And so it and so the dollar devalues if we use digital. Yep. If we use cash, the dollar equals a dollar and it can keep
Amy Vaughn:
the equal in the dollar. Yeah. Because of those fees, things try to narrow money. Yeah.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Bonus is a good thing.
Amy Vaughn:
That’s a great point. And I love you talking about slowing down and getting curious instead of judgmenting or judging because I’m always saying, don’t get furious, get curious.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
I need to
Amy Vaughn:
put on a t- shirt.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
I would wear that t-shirt all the time. I’ll get some made. I will be the first one to order.
Amy Vaughn:
Don’t get curious with yours. I’m an Enneagram 9, so I like to find ways to kind of redirect my anger because I don’t I’m not I’m not great at not my anxiety. Be handling my anger. So it’s like I don’t. I don’t like that. I don’t like the anger. I’m like, I wanna find a new place to put it and it’s getting curious. And I and I loved what you said too about journaling. It is a great exercise and I 100% agree because I don’t often go back to what I’ve journaled, but it does crack me up when I’m when I am in a a point where I feel like I’m I’m struggling with something that feels new, and I’ll go back and start reading it.
Amy Vaughn:
I’m like, duh, Amy. We’ve been here before.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Sometimes what I have done has been ridiculous. I’m like an app. Like, I don’t necessarily journal. I have, like, my daily planner and there’s a lot of notes that go in that. And oftentimes, they’re journaling, like, if I’m struggling with something. But the amount of times I’ve gone back even, like, a quarter, I’m like, oh. Oh, man. Great.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Really?
Amy Vaughn:
And they’re done. How did I forget that we’ve been here before and we solved it, yet we forgot? That’s how we went about this. And I was really wise about that, And I figured it out. So let’s just lean on that knowledge and take that route.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Exactly.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah, yeah. Alright. Let’s talk about financial literacy and how it can empower women. What are some steps that we can take to improve our understanding and control? Mhmm. Over our finances?
Sarah Grace Mohr:
So, I think the problem with oh, god. There are a lot of problems with financial literacy. Uh-huh. That’s where I might get a little preachy. So Right. Free apologies. So our country sucks at financial literacy. Right? I mean, I remember when I was in high school, the most you got to learn about financial literacy was how to balance a checkbook.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Yeah. There
Amy Vaughn:
was no Which is actually pretty decent, considering most schools. I don’t even think they do that.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Right. Yeah. So like, I am true. Okay. Fair enough. Fair enough. True. It’s like, you know, to send that 18 year old out into the world, especially when I don’t know if they’re. I don’t think they’re allowed to do this at colleges anymore.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
But especially when they go to college and every credit card booth is there, wanting to give them these ridiculous credit cards when they’re taking massive amounts of debt like it is completely unconscionable that we’re doing this to our youth, and we’ve done it to ourselves. Right? Because the argument has always been, oh, it’s for the parents. Like, it’s for the family to teach. And it’s like, we haven’t equipped the parents. So how are the parents supposed to teach? And so financial literacy is not taught anywhere in a really great manner. But there are some very cool ladies out there right now doing stuff. So there’s a podcast called The Financial Feminist. Nice.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Check her out. There’s Dow Janes, which is an educational platform for women. And then, the other piece is like, I’m an I. I love coaches, having support, having somebody help you. So there are, like, amazing financial coaches out there as well. I’m gonna do one financial bliss on Instagram. She’s amazing.
Amy Vaughn:
But
Sarah Grace Mohr:
I think it’s really taking deciding that you want to understand this and taking control of it. And it’s finding the right resources because there are 1000000 reasons out there. Sure. And I think the other piece of this is, and it cannot be understated, is understanding what you want versus what you’ve been told you should want. Mhmm. Right? So we see this a lot with people being intentionally childless. Right? They have decided this is what I’ve been told I I I should want, but I have decided it doesn’t fit into who I am. This is what this could be, I don’t want to own a car, I just want to lease.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
I don’t want to own a home. Renting suits me just fine. Like there are lots of decisions that we just assume we should make. And so not just do we want to get financially literate and understand how money works and how you make money work for you, because, you know, investing, saving, all of that good stuff, we need to be doing that so that we’re not just always working. But yeah, really understanding what feels good to me, what does life look like for me? And in our business in The Prosperity People, we do this with people in terms of what we talk about, what is ideal and what is acceptable. So the ideal is, I’ve hit the effing lottery, every dream is coming true, but like we wanna know those things, Right? We wanna know what you’re like, since we don’t acknowledge those intense needs, we’re gonna keep trying to find them in, like, little ways that may not be super good. And then we wanna find acceptable, which is, like, I can live with this. This feels good. And so if we start looking at big buckets of our life where we spend money, homes, cars, vacations, material goods, like we can start thinking and if we can use these two ways of ideal and acceptable and understanding what’s the most important, we can start helping ourselves create a framework around, well my car, I don’t care I could drive a beater but I want the Prada bag.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Yeah. Right? So that might be an ideal goal in material goods and an acceptable goal for cars. Mhmm. So it’s finding ways to find what aligns for you. Right. That’s like that’s the biggest thing. And then having that, like and then finding those places for education that help you use the systems that are in place to get those wants and needs met.
Amy Vaughn:
That’s fantastic. I love it. Love it. Thank you for those resources too. We love a good list of some good resources and folks to follow. How has the money mindset influenced your career growth and your approach to business leadership?
Sarah Grace Mohr:
That is like, I saw this question. I was like, oh, I don’t know how to answer this. I think post my bankruptcy, it all became about, like, survival for a while. Yeah. And with and so, like, it was always, like, you get a side hustle. Like, it wasn’t, like, go negotiate your salary. It was, like, a side hustle because it was, like, I think I was dealing with, like like I said, the shame of, like, you’re just broken. And so I was, like,
Amy Vaughn:
oh, somebody wants to hire me? Cool. And I’m
Sarah Grace Mohr:
not gonna but it was, like, go find other ways to make money. And so I think for my career growth, it really stunted it in a lot of ways because I felt I felt so unworthy in so many ways from it. But what was lovely is because my mother, as crazy as she is, invited me back into her business to work in it with her. That was the turning point where I was like, oh, this is where I figured out my privilege of like, oh, I just know these things where other people don’t. Oh, I know like, maybe I have, I have created a personal, I’ve created a personal mess, but I understand how business works. I understand, you know, I understand things, I understand what a P and L is and a balance sheet and you know like I understand these things in a really intrinsic way. Right? So I think it was really it took getting back into the business and my mother allowing me into the business and, like, being able to see it at the level she saw it to really change my dynamic and be like, oh, no. I I have these tools.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
And I oh my gosh. I know how to use them for somebody other than me. Yeah. Right? I know how to use them for business. And then I think what in terms of my business leadership, what it’s really changed for me is like, I am highly intentional about who we are as a business, what we stand for, where we put our dollars, how much, you know, we put we do, or how much we of our dollars we put, oh, you know, put out there. I’m just extremely extremely intentional. And I think the other piece is that what this whole journey has done for me is, I look at the truth and in my business that is data.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
So like no longer am I looking at what I’m making up, Mhmm. Right? I’m not looking at making up, oh, this isn’t performing, I think, because of x y. Like, no. No. No. I’m not doing that anymore. I’m not living in my head anymore. I’m gonna look at the data.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Mhmm. And I’m gonna, like, see what it tells me. And then I can start digging and find the solution, but I’m no longer gonna live in my head and live in the assumptions.
Amy Vaughn:
I love it.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Which is super powerful Mhmm. As a business owner Yeah. And as a business leader.
Amy Vaughn:
Yes.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Like, being like this is my truth. Yeah. Not whatever is going to wrap it out of.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah. Not these limiting beliefs. Not those narratives. Yeah. What’s on the paper? What do the numbers tell you? I love it. I love it. I love it.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
And then you can go explore.
Amy Vaughn:
Exactly. Exactly. Another thing I would love to mention too is the fact that, I don’t know if both businesses are, but I know Mackie is an AB Corp.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Yes. Yeah.
Amy Vaughn:
Which I love and is amazing. And that’s no easy feat. It takes a lot to get that certification.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Oh my god. It takes a lot to get recertified.
Amy Vaughn:
Not which I know you guys you’re about to go through. Right? Are you going over?
Sarah Grace Mohr:
We’ve actually been going through it since 2021.
Amy Vaughn:
Oh, wow.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Like, I mean, the pandemic shook it all up. And, like, so it was a wild roller coaster even to get recertified. Mhmm. And especially because I think a small business, you’re like, but we know we do all these things, but it’s the like, it’s all the documentation. And I have to give another shout out to Brandon, my operations manager. He’s taken it from me, and he’s a good team.
Amy Vaughn:
Oh, that’s so great.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
I am a stranger, not a marathoner, and this is a marathon.
Amy Vaughn:
It is. So yes. I we
Sarah Grace Mohr:
It makes us really proud to be a b corp.
Amy Vaughn:
Yes. I think it’s such a fantastic endeavor. And for anyone who’s interested, we’ll drop some links into the show notes and everything. And it’s really a focus on, you know, people, profit, and planet. It’s that top bottom line which I just I truly do admire as, you know, it’s just it’s it’s it’s this kind of balance of, again, it’s not a non profit, right? It’s not an overemphasis on for profit. It’s such a cool balance.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Well, I think in a capitalist society, business is our biggest force. Right? It’s like
Amy Vaughn:
Agreed.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
We live in a capitalist society. The biggest shifts that can happen come from business. Mhmm. And so I think that’s why b corp is so important because it is something that can have any business focusing on this triple bottom line is gonna radically change. Not just our country, like, but the world. Oh, I understand. I love being part of it.
Amy Vaughn:
SGMs are with you. Yeah. We live in a very super capitalist society right now. That could be
Sarah Grace Mohr:
a heavy hour conversation. Podcast. Don’t have me on that one. I have way too many. I would rant. I’d probably, like, get all sweaty. Right? Yeah. I’d
Amy Vaughn:
be standing up and screaming. Oh, man. Oh, man. Alright. I am gonna just remind our lovely live listening audience, that we are here for your questions as well. We got a little bit of a late start so obviously the time has gone fast as I knew it already would even if we would have started bang on time. So, I’m gonna ask this question for our listening audience. But folks, if you have a question, please drop it into the chat.
Amy Vaughn:
I’ve got it up and I’ll be keeping an eye on it. Ashu, what advice would you give to our listeners who are struggling with financial confidence or managing their money effectively?
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Yeah. So the first thing I wanna say, speaking of a super capitalist, is look at the system you’re living in.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
I’m not saying take all the blame off yourself, but I’m also saying with this phone, I could deplete every resource I have in under 5 minutes. Yeah. Just by double clicking the side.
Amy Vaughn:
That’s so true.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
I have influencers all over social media that it is really hard to opt out of telling me all the things that are missing in my life.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Because they’re being paid by super capitalist companies telling me that, you know, wanting me to buy their things. So, like, I think the first thing in terms of confidence is any system you’re involved in is perfectly designed for the results it gets. Mhmm. So our systems are perfectly designed for having very in-depth people.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
So I think that is the first thing. You have to let yourself off the hook. We are living in a time where it is beyond easy to spend unconsciously and wildly. Yeah. Right? So that’s the first thing. The second thing in terms of this is ideally acceptable, find your comfort range. Like this is what I advise my business clients and we advise our personal clients, like, you’re never gonna hit anything right on. So, like, you’re not looking, like, the whole what’s I don’t remember what what, broker did the what’s your number commercial back back in the, like, 10 years ago.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
But it’s like, no. It’s like, what’s your range? Like, give yourself grace and say, this is where I need to live. Not here. Not this little anybody’s place.
Amy Vaughn:
Right.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
So I think that’s part of it. It’s like giving yourself range and, like, knowing that, again, this is step by step. You can’t decide that you’re gonna go from being overly, saving Yeah. All the way to joyously spending. Right? If that’s what your intention is. There are all these steps in between. So reassessing your comfort zone Mhmm. Not a point zone every so often, which is really important.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Another thing is, I think if you’re struggling with confidence or struggling with overspending, managing your finances, start with something small.
Amy Vaughn:
Mhmm.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
So I remember the first thing I ever saved for was a CD player.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
And I went and I bought it and it was service merchandise. Do you guys remember service merchandise? And I remember, like, it coming down in the very belt. And I was just like, I did it. You know? I did it. I remember I found them on sale, so I had enough left over to buy The Bodyguard soundtrack.
Amy Vaughn:
Heck, yeah.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
And I went home and I’m like, I played that CD on that CD player for, like, days because I wished and I was so proud. Right? So, like, start with something small. Maybe it’s like, I want AirPods. Okay. We’ll save, like, save for those AirPods. Maybe you could put them on credit or maybe you could go and spend, like, spend it now, but, like, prove to yourself you can do that with something you know you can do.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
So start small. If with any of the goals, start small. And I think, again, know the truth. Like, stop listening to us in your head. And if you really wanna build your confidence, curiously look at your truth. So that could be through simple things like, that could be through any number of apps. That could be by just downloading your, you know, your accounts onto Excel and looking at them. Yeah.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
But, like, but you have to know the truth before you can move.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah. Yeah.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
You can’t just keep making what’s happening. Exactly. And maybe with the truth, we’ll confirm or deny what you think.
Amy Vaughn:
100%.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
But you know because if you don’t know where you are, you can’t get where you’re going. Exactly. And I think again, just to reiterate, know what you want, not what you’re supposed to want. Huge. Mhmm. Huge.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah. I love it. That is such such great advice. As somebody who, like, in the past, I always allowed my partner to be the one responsible for managing the bills. Mhmm. And there came a time where I was just letting a story play out that this was the situation with our finances. And so I realized I was starting to pick fights about things that weren’t to do with the finances but I knew it was because I felt like there were things going on with the finances. And I probably just was like, Okay, I know this is why I’m picking the fights.
Amy Vaughn:
I need to just ask to see the thing. So as you were speaking there, I’m like, Oh, yeah, this is bringing up some memories. I need to just look at the things and know the realities so I can get the stories out of my head. And then if these are the realities and there are some truths and if I’m uncomfortable, then I need to help come up with a plan to review the things, to fix the things if this is what I’m uncomfortable with.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Absolutely. And I think there’s not to get too woo woo, but I think, like, when we’re in our head, your head doesn’t create action. Your gut creates So, like, I find when you’re in your head, once you look at the truth of what your data is, it hits your gut and you’re like like, you’re just like, okay. I like, there’s this, like, thing in your body that all of a sudden, I think your body is like, okay, let’s go. Like, I now feel this. I’m still not trying to figure it out. Like, I am. I feel like knowing is in your gut.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Yeah. And so, like, if you know the truth, that is where you start from and you have that, like, fire and intensity.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
And I think what you mentioned too in terms of, like, with your partner, I think a lot of people live their financial life either as an ostrich or an architect. So whether or not I’m an architect, archaeologist. So we’re ostrich heads in the sand. It doesn’t exist. It’s fine. Right. You know, and then like we get so freaked out. We pop our heads up and we go into archaeologist mode where we’re like literally sifting through every grain of sand.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Yeah. And neither are healthy. Right? So when I’m saying know the truth, I’m not saying go through the last 3 years of your transaction data. Yeah. I’m saying, like, look at who you’re spending time with, use some filters in Excel and let’s see who you’re spending the most time with. Like, try to group them into, like, some major buckets. Right? Like, find that nice balance between completely ignoring and getting so far on the weeds you can’t see, you know, the forest.
Amy Vaughn:
Mhmm. 100%. I love it. Love it. Alright, listeners. If you’ve got a question, don’t be shy. We love the questions. Drop them in.
Amy Vaughn:
Alright, I’ve got 2 more for you and then we’ll wrap it up. As a business leader and a mom, how do you balance your personal professional financial goals?
Sarah Grace Mohr:
I literally wrote
Amy Vaughn:
in my notes. Alright. I said the word, I said the b word. I said balance.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
So I thought I did what I said. I don’t think it’s so much balance as integration. Mhmm. Because you’re a business owner like, my personal financial life and my business financial life do not exist in vacuums. Like, they coexist. And so I think it’s all about knowing my limits. Like, I’m a post bankruptcy. I’m an incredibly debt-averse person.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Yes. So, like, I don’t carry that in my personal life. I try not to carry that in my business. If we do, I make sure multiple other people, like, review what we’re gonna do. Like so it’s about knowing my limits of, like, okay. These are the things that will trigger me or make me potentially make poor decisions or reactive decisions, things like that, and knowing my comfort level. And I think understanding, like, okay, this is what the business needs. Mhmm.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
So what personally can shift to allow the business to get what it means and vice versa. Right? Okay. Personally, this is what I need. What can I do in the business potentially shift?
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
So I think it’s all about that integration Mhmm. Of the 2 and knowing what the priority is at the moment.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah. Yeah. I think that’s a great answer.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Especially the Especially the.
Amy Vaughn:
Alright. Last one. Looking ahead, what are your financial goals and aspirations for yourself in the business and the communities that you support?
Sarah Grace Mohr:
I wanna change the world. Like, I think both my mother and I do. Like, when I came back to her business, I was like, god, an accounting firm. But she had shifted it so much into this transformational space. I was like, oh, no, you’re literally trying to change the world. And you know, when we help businesses or people find their place of prosperity, it creates more peace in their life and in their bodies, Which means they show it differently for their family, their employees, and their communities. Right? They because if we think of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, safety and security is like the last one. My mother and I go back and forth on this, she doesn’t agree.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
I think money is actually the basics because you can’t get any of those Right. Basic needs without money. Mhmm. And so we have a lot of fearful, anxious, scared people going around the world. Uh-huh. And so the more people we can help find their place of prosperity , Yeah. And can create that peace. It’s just a ripple effect.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
And so like that is what we’re on a mission to do. It’s like help businesses and people
Amy Vaughn:
Love that.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Find peace in their money life which drastically changes everything else. So that’s what I wanna do. It’s wonderful. With my businesses and with my, you know, my one life. Yes. I love my business and I love who we do work with, like, who we work with. And my personal goals, my personal financial goals, you know, one of the things we have our clients do is create a prosperity intention statement. And for the longest time mine has been, I easily find enough and I honor my hunger for more. So like really just like the juxtaposition is like, yep, you can find what you need in this moment, but we do always have to acknowledge that we might want something different and bigger or whatever.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
But I’m shifting mine. I have decided that I am shifting to I am epically abundant.
Amy Vaughn:
I love it.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Because I think I’m like, I think it was good for me to be in the enough space Mhmm. But now I wanna be in the abundance space. And, like, I want to do all of this amazing work and reap the financial benefit for myself and my family and all of that good stuff. So I haven’t put the numbers down yet. Uh-huh. I put extra, you know, like, but with my business, I’m always, like, doing the model and the numbers and whatever. I get really geeked out about that. But I haven’t done it personally yet.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
So, yeah, that’s personally shifting my intention statement. But, yeah, I really just wanna and lastly, I want more business owners.
Amy Vaughn:
Yes.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
I want more small businesses because Thank you. The more people who have a bigger piece of the pie, Yes. The more generational wealth we have, the more families we have. Mhmm. And like I said, in a capitalist society, business is the biggest force for change we have. Mhmm. And small business owners want to change for good. I agree.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
That’s more prosperous business owners, not struggling business owners.
Amy Vaughn:
100%. Oh, s g, thank you so much.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
This has been such a good conversation.
Amy Vaughn:
So for so many reasons, the wealth divide, it’s just it is growing, and I agree, like, economic empowerment, development, small businesses, all of these things. You’re just you’re speaking my language. You’re doing the kind of work that, you know, we need to be seeing more people do in the world and, yeah, we just had, Mackie McNeely and to speak to our Cincinnati chapter for Together Digital the other week, and everybody was just, like, rapt and listening and laughing. And, you know, we are just already such fans of Mackie Group and the Prosperity people and the work that you all are doing. So thank you so much.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Thank you. Thank you. And, you know, imagine being her daughter.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah. I get it. I get it now. I get it. I totally get it.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Oh, big, big, big, big.
Amy Vaughn:
Oh my gosh. You’re doing a fantastic job.
Sarah Grace Mohr:
Alright
Amy Vaughn:
Alright everyone, thank you for tuning in this week. We appreciate all of you for taking the time, for showing up, for listening, for taking notes. Until then, we hope to see you all next week. Keep asking, keep giving, and keep growing. We hope to see you next week. Take care, everyone. Bye.
