How to Become Financially Healthy with Financial Gym CEO Shannon McLay
Episode 725: Show Notes
Our mission at Boss Project is to empower creative business owners to build a life and business that excels financially and supports them soulfully. Since we started this business, we have been truly dedicated to helping build a community of fiercely supportive people that are also ridiculously profitable. So much of that comes with financial literacy.
We want to see more women and femmes in business be not only financially safe but financially thriving. That’s a huge reason we brought on today’s guest who is dedicated to empowering people through financial literacy. Shannon McLay is the CEO and Founder of Financial Gym, a revolutionary financial services company, and she is an expert in helping others to build both personal and business finance.
Shannon offers a membership package, consults with clients and connects them to trainers on her team. There’s a missing piece of financial literacy, especially for women and femmes in the creative small business space. Figuring out where to start to build better financial health can feel like a minefield, but through Financial Gym, Shannon makes it possible to reach those business goals.
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Shannon McLay’s Journey to Happiness Through Helping Others
When she turned 30, Shannon McLay thought she had it all figured out. Six months later, everything changed. That was the moment she went from focusing on making money with the knowledge that she wasn’t changing lives, to learning that the secret to true happiness is helping others without expecting anything in return. In search of inclusivity within advisory, she left the hedge fund she was managing and went to work for Merrill Lynch. It was here that she realized the problem she had identified was actually inclusivity with clients.
She became the Advisor of Yes, saying yes to every meeting even though she was only meant to take on clients with over $250,000 in assets. It was here that she began to take on what she called ‘pro bono clients’, moved to action by people’s stories. Finding enormous satisfaction in supporting people who really needed her ignited a fire in her to dedicate all of her time to doing exactly that.
Building A Place for All to Get Financially Healthy
Shannon’s work with clients in need of her support to get debt-free and financially fit coincided with a personal fitness and healthy eating journey. It was here that she realized that there are many places to go when you are prioritizing your physical health, but none to support financial well-being. That’s how the idea for Financial Gym was born. She decided to create a place where everyone could go to get the ‘workout’ they needed. Instead of advisors, she would have approachable ‘trainers’ dressed in t-shirts and jeans. Her vision was clear, and although she had no experience starting a business, she decided to take the plunge.
After burning through every resource she had, her then-husband stepped in and offered his personal capital, before a former boss invested $100,000 in her business. This speaks to the power of having a strong network. Today, she has raised over 10-million dollars to work with clients with a net worth of negative $2,000 in the bank, all the way to seven figures of income, and seven figures of debt! They’ve literally seen it all. And that’s a source of joy! While a normal financial advisory usually works with a narrow demographic, the Financial Gym has an insider’s insight into why America has a financial fitness problem.
What We Can Do to Address the Financial Health Crisis Today
If you are feeling financially unhealthy, you are not alone. The majority of Americans are unhealthy, and only 23% of women are considered financially healthy. There is a crisis. There is still a lot of work to be done. So where does it start? From the beginning. From the home. Personal finance is a language, and we have to learn it. The problem begins at home because our parents don’t feel confident in their financial choices. It’s not something you learn in school either. But the second we get into the economic system, we all have to learn to manage our finances.
Even if you have the knowledge, it doesn’t always prevent this crisis mode that you enter when you start earning your own money. That’s why education needs to start as early on as possible. Shannon recommends that you create an economic system for your kids at home. Have a way for them to earn, spend and save money because those are the three basic components they’ll have later on. It’s also so important to address any emotional trauma that you might have around money. The majority of people experience financial anxiety, even if they’re doing well! Acknowledge that you have an emotional connection with your earning, spending, and saving.
Fear, Shame, and Financial Cycle-Breakers
The best part of the beginning of developing a healthy money mindset is understanding that none of this is life or death! We all have to have a relationship with money. It’s the way our society works. But fear and shame characterize many people’s interactions with it. That creates a toxic relationship! A lot of the work Shannon does is around developing a healthy money mindset. We have to break these cycles and work through the trauma because we are creating more trauma by not knowing. Shannon calls the first training session a ‘Financially Naked’ session because of the taboo around finances. The good news they like to share is that anything you do financially is fixable! Your financial picture isn’t permanent.
Podcasts are free! They’re an amazing resource to help you to become financially fit. Talk to friends, read books, and learn from experts. Find those places where you feel excited to learn. Find the right people who are excited to talk about these things with you! The more you speak about it, the easier it gets. At the Financial Gym, each relationship starts with a warm-up call. Current clients talk to prospective clients, hear their journey and their goals, and connect you with the right trainer. They’ll ask you, if money wasn’t an object, what you would like your life to look like. To end with, they’ll ask what your non-negotiables are. What pieces of the puzzle have to stay? We all have to make choices, but a lot of people will find that their goals are not actually that far out of reach, and with the right support, they may be achieved far sooner than you expect.
Quote This
“Everything you do financially is fixable.”
—Shannon McLay
Highlights
Shannon McLay’s Journey to Happiness and Creating Wealth for Others [0:03:17]
Building A Place for All to Get Financially Healthy [0:09:25]
What We Can Do to Address the Financial Health Crisis Today [0:13:58]
Fear, Shame, and Financial Cycle-Breakers. [0:22:06]
Today’s Guest:
Shannon McLay
The Financial Gym
Martinis and Your Money Podcast
Shannon McLay is the CEO and founder of The Financial Gym, a revolutionary financial services company focused on financial wellness for all. After a 13-year career in finance, working for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Shannon recognized the need to create a financial services company that would provide clients of all financial shapes and sizes the financial partner they needed to achieve their goals. Over the past ten years, Financial Gym has worked with thousands of clients in all 50 states, all income brackets, and all backgrounds. Shannon currently hosts the award-winning podcast, Martinis and Your Money and is the author of Train Your Way to Financial Fitness.
Key Topics:
Financial literacy, Debt, Finances, Saving, Spending, Net worth, Financial education
