Speaker 1: Hi, and welcome to this week's episode of Money with Alpha. I have a lovely guest today, Billie Sharp. Welcome.
Speaker 2: Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1: And I'm very excited 'cause I've, we've met through a women's networking group. And you've got such a beautiful light happiness about you, and you're, you've got lots going on and you're doing so many things. And so I was really looking forward to this conversation to get to know you a little bit better than, than I have managed to so far. So thank you for, for coming on.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm excited. I'm excited to share and to learn more about you as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, wonderful. So I was, I was looking into you a little bit beforehand as well, and there's, you've got so many things going. You know, you're a business coach and multiple business owner and mom and, and wife and, oh, so many, so many different roles, which a lot of women do have. You seem to have amplified that. So please share a little bit about who you are, what you do, and what you, what you love about what you do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so we own six businesses. So I do I do business coaching and, like, public speaking. I think that's the biggest thing. I don't do as much coaching as probably what people would, I think they assume that I do.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: actually do a lot more public speaking and running of workshops and things like that. And then we also own some trade businesses. We own a business in the tech space, and we also own e-comm business as well. So we have fingers in a lot of different pies. But I think that is really important for, like, as you grow, like when I first started with one business, I didn't intend that, but the, when I started to actually make a lot of money, I was like, "Okay, so what now? Like, how do I create generational wealth? How do I-"
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: set us up forever?" And I soon realized that I needed to have a really diverse portfolio to create that type of structure around that growth so we could amplify everything and keep growing.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Oh, goodness. There's so many things in there 'cause I think a lot of, when, when I think to, to sort of how money gets not even taught, but how we kind of hear about it as we grow up, it's very much save money, save for a house, buy a car. You know, you get into debt 'cause, you know, either you're using a debt to buy a car and then to buy a house. And then when we think about investing, it's usually just either in buying an investment property or buying some shares and diversifying a portfolio potentially within that. You've done that in a business space, which is quite sort of unusual really. So how did you, like you said you didn't sort of set out to do that, but have you, like did you, when you were in your when you bought one and you realized more, how come you went down, "I'll just, I'll buy another business," or, "We'll build another business"? Did you buy businesses or build them? What, and, and
Speaker 2: Yeah,
Speaker 1: did you choose business rather than shares or property?
Speaker 2: So I think for me, like, I've actually always had a really keen interest in real estate. I actually love real estate. Like, I will be on realestate.com all the time just looking up property prices, different... I love human psychology and behavior and how our brain works and why we do things, right? So for me, that's just a fun hobby.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: And, but at the end of the day, I knew business.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I didn't know real estate. I didn't know investment portfolios. I didn't know shares. Like, I do have a little bit of shares and I do have a little bit of crypto. And I have a little bit of real estate, but that's not my primary thing and it's not where I started either. It was like, "Okay, I have an abundant amount of money now. What do I do?" So that was like, "Okay, I'll learn these things along the way." For me, I knew business and that was where I started. So my first business was just simply one-on-one business coaching. So originally it was in-depth business coaching and that's what I did.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: And then I also created courses. And when we scaled those courses to create seven figures, I was like, "Okay, this is a lot of money now," and there wasn't a lot of me involved. It was a huge profit. So I think that's the other thing is people always look at like, "I have these huge revenues," but it's the profit in the underlying, in the, in those actual figures. So when you're selling courses, it's almost pure profit. Like, there, there is no real underlying set of, like, financials to deal with, especially when you also have, I had coaching clients as well. So any expenses I did have was being covered by those kind of clients. So that's when I was like, "Okay, what do we do now?" And I had the money sitting there and for more than 12 months I'd had clients ask me, "Who does your marketing?" And I was like, "Oh, I do." Like, and they were like, "Can you help me with mine?" was like, "If I did that, I wouldn't have time to do this. Like, it wouldn't be beneficial."
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So I tried actually just finding a marketing agency to collaborate with. And I tried about five, I think. And every time the clients would come back to me and be like, "Oh, no, it didn't work out. Like, this happened. They took my money." I was like, "Oh, this is a real problem." Like, I didn't even know that this problem
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: in the marketplace. So then I ended up hiring one freelancer to just help me with some marketing stuff. So I was still the ideas person behind everything, but they I just worked with this one freelancer. And that now is a standalone agency and we have 15 staff in that. And that one freelancer is now our COO. So that business was born and built from, from that
Speaker 1: a problem.
Speaker 2: and that necessity. And
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: from there, it's just been like this snowball of things. And nothing has ever actually been really intended. It's just a gap in the marketplace that we have been shown.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: And we've either created something or bought something preexisting. So like we own a cleaning and yard maintenance business. That business was an existing business that was closing down and we purchased it. And that, for, for me, is like our community business. It is, the profit is basically nonexistent.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: It looks good on paper because the revenue is high, but the profit is not good.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But we create a lot of jobs for people that are overlooked.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: ... people trying to go back to the workforce after having kids, it's really hard to find those jobs, like 9:30 to 2:30, that's a perfect job for them. People like escaping DV situations.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: people that have severe endometriosis or minor disabilities that still could, like maybe their neurological disabilities, so cleaning works really well for them. So we're creating an environment of employees that can now give back to the community that didn't have a space before.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I always call that, like, our love business.
Speaker 1: Almost a social enterprise.
Speaker 2: Exactly. So everything has been, it's just been about finding those gaps within those marketplaces and filling them, really.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So when you first started, and you said you knew business, how did you get to know the business...
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: how to run a business?
Speaker 2: So, so I had a very I would say, unusual childhood.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: It wasn't probably the easiest sailing. My mom ended up leaving when I was 16, and at that time, I was already working three jobs.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: But then those jobs became a necessity for me to live. Like, I needed to be able to pay my rent. At the same time, I was going to take, doing a diploma of business.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: And the high school I was at recognized the situation that I was in, and they allowed me to do a school-based traineeship. I probably was one of the first school-based trainees in Queensland. So I was basically allowed to drop two days of my
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: to work full-time, and
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: They included those credits a part of my schooling I was still doing TAFE. So I was allowed to do TAFE and high school at the same
Speaker 1: Yep.
Speaker 2: and work. So and I also was... I was also working, so I was doing that but I had two other jobs. And one of my other jobs was in a taxi business.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: And so I learned a lot about money and scheduling and operations and those types of things. And it was at a time where technology was being introduced.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: offices had computers but nobody was using them. Like, we still did payroll in a book.
Speaker 1: Uh-huh. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I learned to transition payroll from a book to a computer. So I think because I got to see both sides and I got to see that, like, technology be introduced across so many different industries, because from there I ended up going into shipping, I ended up becoming an operations manager in shipping.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: I was the youngest and first female operations manager out of the Port of Brisbane.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And then when I left to have my daughter, I left work, and then I ended up going to work for a different company and I worked as their general manager. So
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: And it was always in small business.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So you wear so many different hats in a small business.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: So I was just shown so much. I was guided. I had some of the best mentors that really just took me under their wing and showed me their lives of experience. But I think when you have somebody that's as ambitious as I am, you're like, "Sure, I'll show you."
Speaker 1: Well, as a mentor, like I've, I've mentored before, and it, and, and if that you can see if there's a fire in their belly and they wanna learn, you're like, "I wanna give you as much information as you can possibly take in, because I know you want it."
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Whereas if you're trying to... It's like teaching kids at school and they're not interested. You know, like, well, it, it's just... It's depressing for both the teacher and the
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: you know neither is really got their heart in it.
Speaker 2: Exactly.
Speaker 1: But if, as soon as you've got somebody who wants to learn, oh my goodness, that's... Yes. That's wonderful.
Speaker 2: So I was definitely that person, and I took in everything. Like, if my work hours were eight hours, I was there 12, 16 hours a day, unpaid, just learning every, like, facet of the business that I possibly could so I could just absorb. I didn't know that I would go and start my own business.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: All I really knew was that I didn't want the life that I'd had as a
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: and I needed to create more, and I just didn't know how to get there or what that looked like. So I just thought it meant working hard at the time. I was like, "Okay, I just have to work really hard and then-" "... it will come."
Speaker 1: Yeah. Now, do you wanna touch on your childhood? But first, when you say working harder, I mean, you've got six businesses, did you say?
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So how can you run six businesses and still be a mom and still have life and...?
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think that's really important. So I think the key word there is run. I don't run six businesses. I ... six businesses.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: So all of our businesses have their own management teams.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I oversee everything. I do a lot of our financials. We do have a team of accountants and lawyers, but I do the day-to-day transactions. I do payroll. I do those, I do our financial forecasting, things like that. So that I feel that still allows me to have my finger on the pulse, because I can see where money is being spent, I can see if there we've had a bad week, I can see if staff hours are down. Like, just from doing those few things, I can really get an overview of each business every week.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But I think that's the key thing. Like, I We home school. So I think people are like, "How?" I'm like, "But actually, it fits our lifestyle, because-"
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: we don't have this 9:00 to 5:00 routine." Like, we actually have worked all weekend just because we've been away. So it doesn't feel like work.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: Like, when you're creating this environment where you really enjoy what you're doing, it doesn't feel like work. You're like, "Oh yeah, I get to do this." It's "... I have to do this."
Speaker 1: Yeah. it's a really, really interesting mindset shift because I absolutely love what I do as well. And yes, I'll be doing stuff on the weekends. And my daughter doesn't ... She sees that as well. And I homeschooled her for a year. I found an alternative school for her now, which is fine. But I have to admit, I love the idea of we could just homeschool for high school and travel and enjoy life and then have clients and do like do the enjoyable part.
Speaker 2: Mm.
Speaker 1: because when you're homeschooling, you can pretty much get the whole thing done in like two hours a day.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think the thing for us is like, like I said, I do a lot of public speaking. Like in September alone, I did 12 different events and like that, it most professional public speakers don't do 12 events in a year, and I did 12 in a month. So for me, it means that I get to come home from those events and it might not be home, it can be to a hotel and a lot of the time it is a hotel
Speaker 1: Mm.
Speaker 2: they're there. My husband and my daughter are there. I get to go and have dinner with them, I get to hear about their day, they get to hear about my day. We get to wake up and have breakfast together. Like we get to do all of these things together. Whereas if she was at school, they would be back at home and I would be on the road. And we've done that. Like we have lived that life and it just isn't for us. We're such a little tight-knit, like three family. We love each other so much. So for us, like having each other is so important.
Speaker 1: Yes. And I think that's a beautiful thing because A, you get a richness of relationship for you and your daughter, your husband and your daughter, and the three of you and you and your ... Like it's, there's not just three people in there. There's almost like three extra relationships on top of that.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And a lot of our lives are, you know, oh, in the mornings it's always like, "Hi, get ready for school," and you go home, "Have you done your homework?" And then their kids are exhausted and then they're like racing to the end of well, dragging their heels to the end of the year. And you're like, really? We do this every year. And it's the same as whenever if I'm out on the roads around peak hour, I was like, "Why are we all doing the same thing at the same time because all our work start at the same time of day?"
Speaker 2: Yeah. It's
Speaker 1: So then I was like, "Why, I have a choice. Why am I on the roads during peak hour traffic?"
Speaker 2: But it's really hard like even for me when... 'Cause I went from this hard worker, I really did and to
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: like when I first started my, like went out on my own, for the first year, I went to my home office dressed in like I like in a
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: ... working from my home office, having no idea what I was doing. I was like, "What?" Because that, it was so ingrained into me.
Speaker 1: Right. Yeah.
Speaker 2: And then one of my very successful friends, I saw her and she was wearing a T-shirt and I thought, "Sure, I could wear a T-shirt." And I said to her, "Oh, how do you wear a T-shirt?" She's like, "How do you not wear a T-shirt?" I was like, fair, like so fair.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I was so like, because of the school uniforms and then you go to like work and you wear a uniform and if you're not wearing a uniform, you need to be dressing professionally. And like you have to wear makeup and do your hair. And I was literally going to my home office, hair and makeup, like ready to go for the day for
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: was not getting anywhere.
Speaker 1: No. No, no. Yeah. My, my I literally, I have ... It's a thing for my, my mum was the same, like lipstick, that's my thing. And so I've always got a lipstick there otherwise everything else I'm like, "I can't be bothered."
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: The hair, the makeup, whatever. If my hair's a bit too fizzy, I just get some water and slick it back, even if I can be bothered doing that. So when you mentioned before very much about knowing your numbers as a business owner and you do it weekly as well, I noticed.
Speaker 2: Yes.
Speaker 1: So how did you know which numbers to track and how do you track them? Do you use an accounting system? Do you have like a dashboard report? How do you do that?
Speaker 2: So we we use
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: for our accounting, like as our accounting software. But on top of that, we do have a lot of spreadsheets.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Specifically around like, our spreadsheets are more for like KPIs and different metrics.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I love data. Like I'm just like a complete data Nazi, like love it so much. How do I know? I think to me that would say, I would be like that's just intuition and common sense. But I think it comes from, actually comes from experience because I didn't know when I started.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And every single business is so different.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: So it's about understanding within those businesses, okay, what do we actually need to be tracking here?
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Because I think the thing is some people, most people have data, they don't even realize it. And then the other thing is people don't track things. And that blows my mind. I'm like, "Why don't you track that?" And even if you don't know what to do with it, just track it. Because then you have the information for three years time so that you can actually start running some reports and things like that.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But like understanding like how long a vacuum might last, for example, right? That's imperative to
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: ... that this still has to come out of our bottom line and we have to replace our vacuums after X. How, how often do they need to be serviced, maintained, all of those different things. Like people don't track that information. And I like in a trade business especially it really blows my mind as to like they don't break down like, "Okay, well we are doing this much travel and we are doing this much like actual labor."
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: They just, "Oh, it was in the quote." I'm like, "Yeah, but where are we breaking it down?" Like ... There's no actual breakdown. although we do use Xero for like our basic kind of accounting, financial forecasting, a lot of that underlying
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: driven by those reports as well.
Speaker 1: Yes. Yeah. And even, I mean if it's a website, like even with core sales, you're like, where do people come from? How
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: are they on your page? Where, where did where did you lose them on the page?
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: and there's so much technology out there now. I remember putting Hotjar on my website and my website through it and just going, "Oh wow, this is really interesting." Like the heat map, going, "Oh, I love this," 'cause I like data as well 'cause it allows you to make better decisions. But we get scared of it 'cause we don't know what to do with it. But like you said, just collect it to start with-And then figure out what to do with it, if you can. But then you can see trends,
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: you, if you have enough data over a period of time, and this is what I do with, like, the money side of things. I've had clients who, you know, there's always, like, a peak in August and I was like, "So what keeps happening in August?" And they're like thinking about it, thinking about it, "Oh, that's when we go on holidays." I was like, "Right, there we go." But the, the holidays aren't in August, that's why it was confusing. The holidays are in December but they pay for them in August.
Speaker 2: Yes.
Speaker 1: And so that's why there's a spike. And I was like, "Okay, now I see what happens. You paid for them every... So now we need to plan." Now we know that that's happening every single August.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: We need to save for that so that the spike is not going to cause so many dramas.
Speaker 2: And like, understanding as well, like, I had this once I had this air conditioning cleaning client.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And, like, they knew that winter is their quietest time. Like, their three months was, like, their dead period, right?
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So if you know
Speaker 1: Yes.
Speaker 2: ... it's about creating marketing that's going to push through that period.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Or moving people's start dates, giving them a discount to move them into that 12 months, like, 'cause it's a 12-month return service. So, like, move, giving them a, like, six-month free discount, whatever you want to market it
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: ... moving and filling those gaps. But you have to see that they're there. If you don't see the gap, you can't fill the gap.
Speaker 1: No. Yeah, exactly right. Yeah, one of... I had a client who's an educator and of course, December, January, things are quieter so, I mean, and she knew that, like, like just by instinct anyway, and also because she knows the money's not there. But until you actually see it on, on a page and you can, like, see the graphs, and she's like, "Oh, I think I might start doing some educational products that parents can use for their, to keep their kids occupied during the school holidays." I'm like, "Yes." So that, so then the income can come in in that, that but from a different revenue stream. So yeah, it's, it's, it's invaluable to see that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1: Now childhood. I wanted to have a chat about this 'cause there's a lot of our stuff, and you've, you've sort of alluded to a little bit already. How did money kind of show up or how do, how do you remember money as a child?
Speaker 2: Money was really weird for me because I had... I was raised by a single mum.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: But at the same time, she did have relationships.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: And where we lived was in a mining town.
Speaker 1: Mm.
Speaker 2: So there's a lot of money.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But she didn't have a lot of money.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: So I saw this kind of... And usually when people do have a lot of money in that type of area, they don't... What they do with it is crazy in itself.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: So it was very weird. Like, on the one hand, you know, I saw my mum be very frugal. She would lay by everything and made sure, like, pay things off in advance. But then I would see, like, my, like, my stepdad and people like that get their, you know, thousands of dollars paycheck in, and then we'd have a brand new TV. ... or we'd go into debt to buy something. So for me, money was very confusing. I thought that you could just have whatever you wanted. Like, I know that as soon as I started earning my own money, I just thought you could spend it all. Like, just get it in and spend it. Like, honestly, that's how I treated it for so long.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And then even when I was working as the operations manager, I was on over $100,000 a year and I was just spending every single cent.
Speaker 1: Mm.
Speaker 2: And my husband, he saved everything. Like, everything. Like, this guy, he could work at a pizza shop and have savings, and I was
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And he was like, "How do you not have savings?" And I was like, "Wow." So our money, from the day we had been married, our money had been joint and, like, I always paid my share of the bills and then I would spend everything else.
Speaker 1: Mm.
Speaker 2: And he said to me, like, "If, you're serious about buying a house, you need to, we, you need to save because your paycheck is much bigger than my paycheck."
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: "So we really need to be saving off your paycheck."
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And I was like, "Oh, okay. Well, what, how do I buy my stuff then?" You don't. Like
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So then he's like, and we, he tried to teach me and I just couldn't. I would not. I just kept spending all my money.
Speaker 1: Mm.
Speaker 2: And he said to me "Do you really want to buy a house?" And I was like, "Yes, of course I really want to buy a house." And he said, "Okay, that's it. I'm just going to give you a $50 a week cash allowance."
Speaker 1: Uh-huh.
Speaker 2: "And that's all you're allowed." So I remember I was... first week on this $50 cash allowance and I went out night clubbing. And we lived 7Ks from the city at that time.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And I spent all my money and I couldn't get a taxi home, so I had to walk. I was
Speaker 1: feeling the pain.
Speaker 2: When I got home, I said to him, like, the next day, I was like, "Look, I had to walk home. Like, this is ridiculous. Like, I earn money. I should be allowed my money." And he was like, "You just needed to budget to get, to make sure you had a taxi home." He's like, "That's ludicrous." Like...
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But as soon... I did. Like, it was a tough learning curve but I learnt very, very, very quickly. And, and when I would,
Speaker 1: love.
Speaker 2: "I want to buy this watch." And he was like, "Well, you have to save for it." And I was like, "Right." So then, like, yeah. It was probably a weird six months but, yeah, I'm glad that he did it because it really did teach me about saving and putting aside and things like that.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I was like... so bad.
Speaker 1: It's interesting actually 'cause like, money in, and relationships, there's often a lot of friction there. So for, for him to do that and for you to, to, to take ... on as well, 'cause in some situations people are kind of like, "Oh, it's like financial control," and you know, the, these days we kind of go to that extreme, whereas sometimes it is just genuinely, "I'm really trying to help you here." And that money... And, and it's also important, and this is something else I find I, I really, really, really want everyone to understand, that money needs to have a purpose. And once, once you sort of... Like, your husband had that purpose. He's like house. You, you knew what you wanted it for but you hadn't connected enough with that purpose to change your belief system yet about who you were and how to manage it. And partly it's knowledge, and often we'll either go towards or away from. Like, my parents were big spenders. So you know, credit, my, my dad was self-employed so, you know, he got... Well, he would get, literally get wads of cash. He was a house painter. And then the money would just disappear, and so they'd be back to square one again. And so I watched this growing up, and so I squirreled away. So I was like that. I, I worked in retail for, for like, I don't know, four years, and I I had, I saved up thousands of dollars. I paid for my own trip around the world, all of that. So I... Yeah. That was very much me. But we we tend to go to one extreme or the other. We're either towards or away from. So once you got that feeling of saving, did... How did that change things for you from then on?
Speaker 2: Once I could see, like, oh, my paycheck is like building up in the bank. Like, it's actually saving, and I'm not going without. I think that was the biggest thing.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: felt like if I saved I had to go without, and I really didn't. Like, I was still going out, I was still buying nice things. I was just buying things with more of a purpose, and I was thinking about the things I was buying. I wasn't just impulse buying everything.
Speaker 1: It's important.
Speaker 2: no, I... And I think that was really good, and that changed my relationship with money because then I was like, "Oh, I don't really need that right now." And even... And I was really scared that once I started earning, like, more money that I would go back to
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: ... spending so much money. And it's funny, I was talking to somebody the other day and I was like, "No, I do that thing where on your phone, like, if I want something I leave the tab open for 30 days, and then if I still want it I'll go back and buy it, but usually I'm like, 'Oh, what did I even want that for?' Like..."
Speaker 1: Yes. Yep. I do the same thing actually. I have lots of tabs open on my phone. Only at the moment it's for Christmas present ideas.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: But yes. But no, it's, it's a really good way of doing it. And same with, like, emails. Sometimes I'll just, I'll just take myself off the email list. It's like, I don't even want to be tempted with that, because if I want it, I will go find it. Or if I need something, like, I needed... My, my daughter got a new bed so I needed different bedsheets 'cause it was a different size, and now I'm on Adair's list, and of course they keep sending these emails with beautiful sheets and stuff. It's like, "I don't need them. Unsubscribe. Go away." Don't worry.
Speaker 2: But it is really hard, because I feel like it's in our face more than ever.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: like, places like Amazon and places like that have made it really easy and accessible. Like, it's so easy just to be like, "Oh, I'll get that and it's delivered tomorrow."
Speaker 1: Yes. Yeah, one-click buy.
Speaker 2: get in my car and drive to the shop. Like, literally it'll be here tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. No, and it's... And that consumer, like, we have to have it right now. There was even something recently, I was like, "Does anybody wanna wait anymore?" Like, I, I remember saving up for... I had, you know, this camera that I wanted, as I used to do photography, and it took me a year to save up for this thing. But I felt such a sense of, like, pride when I actually went into the shop and... And I still bargain. Well, not bargain.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Like, you know, negotiated to get a better price but I was like, "Yay! This my camera." Rather than using Buy Now Pay Later or whatever, which I absolutely... Like, I'm like, "People, please." I don't offer it. I don't like it.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I don't offer it either, and I, I have... I've never had an Afterpay account or anything like that,
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: I see the holes that people are in from it, and I'm really glad that that stuff really wasn't around, like, when I was younger.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But I think, like, then for me, like, we became debt-free, and that was, like, a huge milestone for me. Or actually like, we were not debt-free. We had our mortgage, or a very small amount of our mortgage, but we didn't have any personal loans, any car loans, anything like that. But then, then once you get to a certain wealth bracket, it's relearning that, because
Speaker 1: Yes.
Speaker 2: debt is good.
Speaker 1: The problems change. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but well, it... What you know is not right anymore, so my whole like, you're told, like, "Debt is bad. Save." Blah, blah. And you do all those things, and we did all of those things. And then our financial advisor and our accountant was like, "Okay, but you're at a point now where debt is good."
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And I was
Speaker 1: It's leverage.
Speaker 2: I was like, "What?" So then it's, then it's just about, like, relearning everything you thought you knew in a whole nother way. I was like, "I'm so confused right now."
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, and this is the thing. Like, there is good debt. I mean, I, I started out as an accountant, so we had, like, good debt and bad debt, and so I've had that in my mind for the longest time to the point where I've never taken out a loan for a car, 'cause I just can't get my brain around taking out a loan for something that's gonna decrease in value. So yeah. So when we took out our home loan I was like, "I'm okay with that, 'cause A, we need somewhere to live, and secondly, it's going to appreciate in time." But yes, I still, I still have a... I'm not a, I'm not a big debt fan. I don't like debt. But I do recognize that it has the power to get you places faster and to get access to assets that you probably can't save for 'cause it would take too long.
Speaker 2: different types of assets too. Like, for us, we, we owned our cars outright.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And our financial advisors and our accountant were basically like, "Yeah, but they're yours, and you own six businesses, so they could have vehicles in them and we
Speaker 1: Yes.
Speaker 2: ... be offsetting here." "And you could sell yours and take your cash back." And I was like, "But we don't have a debt."
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: they were like, "That's not the point." Like...
Speaker 1: No. Well, 'cause... And this is where when you have a business you have so much more ability to leverage. So you have leases. And, and because it's tax deductible you can... You need that thing anyway, like the car.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: You may as well... And if it's being used for the business, and your accountant, like, you know,
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: using it in a way that, where you're intended to in terms of taking deductions, then absolutely. So it's... Yeah, it's just... You also have to... 'Cause I think a lot of people just automatically assume they can deduct their car if they have a business. Not necessarily. Trades, absolutely. Clean... Yes, absolutely. Like, you need that vehicle to... It's like a mobile office in a way.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: But for a lot of people they can't. But there's still ways to do it, and that's why you need those finance professionals to actually help you with that.
Speaker 2: Definitely. And I think like, yeah, just like if I didn't have those people on my side and a great team of people, I wouldn't know. Like
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I don't know what I don't know. So it's, it is their job to be like, "Hey, well, you guys have done an amazing job to get to this point, but now this is the next level."
Speaker 1: Yes.
Speaker 2: "This is what the next level looks like." I'm like, "Oh, that's very scary."
Speaker 1: Yeah. And, and I think it's, like you said, every step of the way it's like leveling to this point, and then you need certain advisors. And then you need to level to that point, and then sometimes those advisors aren't the right ones anymore. You need others.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So, but it's still important to get that, that knowledge and that coaching and that advice because we, like you said, we don't know what we don't know.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So that's, yeah, very important. I wanted to touch on, you said generational wealth before. Why, why is that important to you? And what does it mean for you?
Speaker 2: What it means for me is to leave my family, like specifically my daughter or my husband, like if I was to leave before
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: give them opportunity. Like I think that's the biggest thing for me is money is ... I see money as an opportunity for power.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: And I see power as the opportunity for change. And my entire goal in life is to drive real change globally, not just within my
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: but to be able to truly give back and make change around the world.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So I want to leave knowing that I've made change, but also created opportunities for my family too.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So like, for my, with our daughter, for example, like she, obviously she's homeschooled, so she doesn't go to regular school, but having money means that you you have more options all of a sudden.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Like, there's so many more avenues for different things. And, like, my husband retired at 37.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Like that, that's insane.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And to think he's also, like he's a, he's a high voltage electrician and an electrical engineer.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: Like he's an extremely talented person, could easily go back into the job force, but we recognized him at home as way more important for us. So having him retire and just be with us at home is so much more beneficial. But that that money created that opportunity.
Speaker 1: Yes.
Speaker 2: And I think the biggest thing is like I was really afraid of success. I was never afraid of failure. I didn't care so much about that, but I was really afraid of success. I was afraid that if I became successful that I would be greedy and selfish and I would lose a lot of friends. And I did lose friends along the way, but it's not because I'm greedy or selfish. It's because you create a different circle of people and you just simply have outgrown them. That's all it is. It's like going through high school, and then when you leave high school you kind of make new friends. It's the same. When you actually grow up and you continue to grow up, that's what happens.
Speaker 1: Graduating. Adulting.
Speaker 2: Yeah. You, you just make new friends, and those other friends, you, they, it's not like they dislike you. They just don't, we just don't spend as much time together anymore. So I think like that's the biggest thing really is understanding that type of change and creating that type of opportunity for everyone.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And I think a a lot of what underpins what you've been talking about is being intentional, and being clear, and having, having a vision for your life and your family's life, and not just for the immediate but for the, the future and like generationally beyond.
Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1: And I completely agree with what you're saying in terms of, like people just tend to have different priorities. And especially if you're sort of challenging the status quo, which you're essentially doing. I mean, there are more and more homeschooling families out there, but there's, there's not probably as many who are doing sort of multiple businesses and owning them the way you do, and then having your husband there, and you know, there's ...
Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1: I, I've got I've got friends who, he retired, I think he was probably in his like 30s, early 40s, and became the house dad, and her career sort of really took off, and he's been sort of taking care of their, their three boys. And, and he gets a lot of judgmental
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: ... but one of them, you know, very diplomatic way. Like he tells me some of the things that the other parents, primarily mums would say at school, and you know, "Oh, where's your wife?" and, "Doesn't she love her family?" Just like, like quips like this. Like who, who has the right to say any of that anyway? But it's just such a different way of doing it, so I think what you're, what you're doing is great.
Speaker 2: And I, I think it's funny
Speaker 1: It's a
Speaker 2: because like I've heard my husband like I've been there when he's caught some comments. He gets things like, "Well, we don't all just have a rich wife."
Speaker 1: Oh my God.
Speaker 2: And it's like but let's just rewind. We weren't ... just to start with. That is not how it happened. He was raised by a single dad. I was raised by a single mom. Like that's not, not where we came from.
Speaker 1: judgment dripping from those comments.
Speaker 2: Yeah. But, but, and he handles it so well.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And I, and I think it takes a real like man, but any person, to really put themselves
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: and chase their partner's dreams, and I said to him this year, I said, like, you know, "Are you bored?" ... do you want? Is there something you wanna do? Like, and he said to me, "When my dream is bigger than your dream, we'll chase mine, but I don't think that's ever gonna happen." And I was like, "Okay, fair," because I wouldn't be okay with just doing what he wants. That wouldn't be okay with me, whereas for him, he sees
Speaker 1: Exactly.
Speaker 2: real, he, I think he sees the fire within me and he's on board with the purpose.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And he, that's enough for him. He's like, "Yeah, no, your purpose is so huge. I would just wanna be a part of that, and I'll support you and help whatever way we can to, to reach that goal."
Speaker 1: Yeah. So what is your dream?
Speaker 2: My dream, I wanna be a billionaire. I wanna be, like, a
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: because I think that's the type of money that drives real change.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And people often ask me, like, "What does that change look like?" And the truth ... I don't know. I, I envision that it would be something where we create some type of board of people where ... can come with different solutions to different world problems, and then we would
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: able to seed invest into those problems to give them a start.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, it's interesting, I, when you were talking about that, I was like, oh, I'm thinking combination of, like, the elders, you know, like Richard Branson had, like, the elders.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think they're all probably slowly passing on from now. And then I think of, like, Alex and Leila Hormozi and that sort of empire-type of thing. I mean, that, that's a, a different space but I was like, oh, but the money really does have the ability to make the changes that you want. ...
Speaker 2: Yeah. And I think, like I think probably the most, like, person that I would assimilate to would be, like, Bill Gates and Melinda Gates.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: They have a foundation where it's exactly this. They basically, they look at key problems, so, like, sanitation issues around the
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: the carbon emissions, things like that, and work with engineers and scientists. They just come in and like, "What's your idea? How can we solve this? This is it? Okay, we'll seed fund." They seed fund, like, 500 businesses a week.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: That's nuts.
Speaker 2: And, and, and he'll say like, "Maybe 10 successful."
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: It's not profitable at all because of how much funding they're giving out, but they're solving real-world
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: and they get no credit. Like, there's no credit pushed back to them which is, like that, and that's not the purpose of it. Like, the purpose is to create a better world for
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: ...
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And I think it takes, it like, there has to be people that do that.
Speaker 1: Yes. And that is a beautiful, amazing goal and dream. I
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Any, any little help that you need, I am happy to help because ...
Speaker 2: We're on track so you you just have to keep going. I think
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: biggest thing. Like, it's scary like, it's scary to admit that that's your dream and just to go for it because
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: happens if I don't get there? And it's like, even if I make it
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: we did pretty well. Like ...
Speaker 1: Well, it's a heck of a lot better than not having even, like, strived for it getting there, and saying it out loud is actually really important too. I think every time I've said something out loud, and to be honest, usually it's borne out of certain degree of frustration for a present situation, and suddenly it just, that just becomes the juggernaut to make it go 'cause it's like, oh, it's real now. I've said it out loud. It has to happen. And then energy and opportunities tend to come as a result. So, I, I love the, you know, the, that, I remember the first time I heard this, like, term BHAG, like the big hairy audacious goal.
Speaker 2: Yes.
Speaker 1: Where it, whether it needs to be hairy or not, I don't know, but you audacious I think is wonderful. So, yes.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: have a
Speaker 2: they say, like, dream big then dream bigger.
Speaker 1: Yes. Yes. Oh my goodness, yes. and anytime someone says, "Oh, well, that's not realistic," I was going, "Well, who's living in reality?" Like, who's reality anyway?
Speaker 2: Yeah. Aren't we living in a simulation? No, just kidding.
Speaker 1: Well, the Matrix ... You know, there's all sort, you could have all sorts of theories. Who knows? You create your own reality.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I have a, just a bit of a frivolous question now. Where did the tiara come from?
Speaker 2: Oh, so the tiara actually one of my friends, she is a well-known coach and she was wearing wigs in her videos.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: She just, she actually has alopecia where your hair falls out.
Speaker 1: Yes.
Speaker 2: So, and she used to own an extension business, so she
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: but she has an obsession with wigs. They're not
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: ... they're, like, pink and blue and, like, purple. They're really cool wigs. And I was "Oh my God, that's so cool." And she said, "Yeah, and it's a real point of difference, right?"
Speaker 1: Yes.
Speaker 2: And I, for every birthday in my entire life, I have had a crown on my birthday, a tiara on my birthday. And I'm obsessed, like, just with them. I think they're so beautiful and fun.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And then I remember when I got married and, like, I don't know if it was my mom or someone on that day was saying to me, like, "You know, it's really important that you take this all in because you don't get this type of treatment all the time, like your hair and your makeup done, and like, you know, you don't always get to wear a crown and things like that." And then when I started creating this own, my own life, I was like, "I'm getting my hair and makeup done professionally all the time now." I was like, "Why can't I just wear a crown all the time?"
Speaker 1: Oh,
Speaker 2: why can't I just wear a pretty cool thing?
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And so I just started, and then I was just doing it
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: ... on, on course when I'd create it or things like that, and then what happened was I would turn up to an event and people would say, "Oh, you're not wearing a crown." was "No, I'm not, am I?"
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But then it just became this part of the brand, and I was
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: ... okay." I think women really relate to it, and it was so great this year we were the major sponsors of the Beam
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: and we gave every winner and runner-up a crown, so we gave out 55 crowns that night.
Speaker 1: Oh, wow.
Speaker 2: I was like, "Yes, this is so cool."
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And to, like, look around the room and just see all these
Speaker 1: That's incredible.
Speaker 2: crowns was so beautiful. I was
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: loved it."
Speaker 1: Oh, I think it's brilliant. There's so much seriousness, and especially as women, we, you know, we kind of like, "Oh, well..." You know, I like to wear sparkles, so
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love glitter. I love sequins. I
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: ... all of those things, yeah.
Speaker 1: I went to, I've got a, another friend who likes them too, and we went to an event and my daughter and I dressed up and we walked in there and I could just see her shrink because not everybody was wearing them. And we had face glitter, we had, you know, face gems, all of it. She literally went back to the car and changed, and I was like, "Okay."See what happens. Halfway through the night, she's like, "Momma, can I have the car keys?" She went back and changed and put her sparkly dress back on, and I was like, "That's my girl." I was like, "I don't care. This is fun. We wanted to do this." There are a few other people wearing it, but it's important, I think, to... It's not... It's a symbol as
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I just... whether it's a tiara or something else. But it's, it's symbolic of you just being you and authentic.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think it's so interesting because, like, I... It's those things. Like, I bought this pair of pants recently, and they're sparkly. I love 'em. They're, they're crazy pants. They remind me of, like, being in a magic show, honestly.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But I don't think they're the most flattering pair of pants on me. So I was, like, a bit like, "Oh, do I wear them?" Like, "I don't know." I was like, "Actually, I don't care. I love them so much, I'm just gonna wear them."
Speaker 1: Wear them, yeah.
Speaker 2: The comments. Everyone's like, "Oh my god, I love your pants. Oh my god." I was like, "I love these pants too." I don't care what my mum tum looks like in these pants. I'm obsessed. And I think that's just it, right? It's just getting that little bit of confidence to be like, "Nah, I'm sending it. I don't care."
Speaker 1: Yeah. That's it, yep. A little bit more confidence, like 51%. I remember reading ... somewhere as, like, you just need, like, a, just a little bit more than less and then you're good.
Speaker 2: And I think, like, showing our kids, and especially our daughters, like, that type of confidence is so
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: just turning up being who you are authentically all the time.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And I... Like, I watch my daughter. She gets to watch me work. She comes to our events a lot of the time. She sees me on calls. Like, all of those different things. And, like, her version of working in her mind is so different to any other child's version of working because she's nine.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And this is all she knows, like, is us doing this.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So this is all she really remembers is us doing this, and she just... Like, she knows it's not
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: ... but she doesn't know what is normal.
Speaker 1: Yes. Oh, that's so sensational. I love it. Yeah, no. My, my daughter, like, we went to an event, and I, I was wearing a dress that had sparkles on it again. And, and she's like, "Oh am I too much?" It's like, "No. You never need to ask me that question if you're too much. The answer will always be hell no."
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: "Be as much as you want."
Speaker 2: You too much.
Speaker 1: So, yes. Yeah, my daughter's ten, so similar age group. But yeah, she is surrounded still by some family members who have, you know, what's normal and what you're supposed to do and all of that. So, so I'm trying to balance it out with my sparkly
Speaker 2: so it's funny you say that 'cause my mum... Because we've been away, so my mum's been watching her for three weeks. And we were home briefly in between, and Mum kept saying, "This household is just weird. This household is just weird. This household..." And I was like, "It is weird, but we love it."
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: it's weird, but it works, and it's our weird. And to us, that's all we know now. Like, we don't know, like, the normal. I'm like, "So what do you do then?"
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: how does it play out for you? 'Cause we don't do TV in the morning. We don't... Like, we just sit around and read books. Like, Mum's
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: ... "Nine-year-olds aren't reading books." And she's 'Cause we take Bella to the library every week, and Bella gets, like, 17 books a week, and they're, like, little novels,
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And she reads them.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And I was like, "But if she didn't read every day, she wouldn't get through her 17 books."
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: She has to... It's not like, "Well, we need, you need to read." It's just she likes to read.
Speaker 1: She's
Speaker 2: So that's what happens. So that is our normal.
Speaker 1: Follow your bliss.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. And if you wanna go dig a hole with a stick out in the dirt, go dig a hole in a stick. I don't, really don't care.
Speaker 1: If you wanna do it wearing a tiara, go for it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, go for it. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: Now, we're, we're starting to run low on time, so how do people find you, work with you, be in your sphere? Like, how does that happen?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I have the Bazillionaire Academy now, which is $25 a week, cancel anytime.
Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2: And you can just basically find me on Facebook or Instagram, billysharp.official.
Speaker 1: Yep.
Speaker 2: And you can find them there. But the academy has literally over, I think it's, like, 50 courses. Has website templates, email templates, everything you absolutely need. Weekly coaching calls quarterly long coaching calls. has everything you need for a successful business. And I just wanted to create a platform where it was affordable because I felt like when I first started, there was nothing affordable. Like, it was so
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: ... and there was no entry level thing. And if it was affordable, it was a lock-in contract. So it was really important for me to create something that is week to week. You, you can just opt in and opt out. It's no, no presser, no pressure, no stress, go from there.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Oh, wonderful. We'll put the links in the show notes if you happen to be listening to this and can't write that down, so you can go back later and, and follow Billy and look at her Bazillionaire Academy, which is a great name. but thank you so much. I really appreciate your time, and so much in there. I think I'm, I'm gonna have to play that back ... 'cause that was really, really good. I loved it. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1: All right, everybody. Enjoy the rest of your week, and yeah. Take, take take a week to soak all that in. I'll catch you next time.
