Meet Jessica Cole

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jessica Cole. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jessica below.

Jessica , we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

I found freedom through personal finance.

When I graduated college, I left with 2 Ds: a degree and debt. Since I had attended a prestigious institution, I was called “lucky” to have graduated with “only” $55K of student loan debt. I didn’t feel so lucky. While some of my peers graduated with six figures of student debt, the term “only” felt reductive. $55K is a lot of money, especially for someone who had no means of paying that off. This was also my first time having debt of any kind.

A few months after graduation, I found a full-time job paying $35K in advertising. I couldn’t even afford to get my own apartment with that salary. I remember walking by a dress in a store window, and feeling distraught that I couldn’t even part with $20-$30 to buy it. I saw my student loan debt increasing each month, as the minimum payment was barely enough to pay the interest. I gained some credit card debt as well, to help make ends meet.

I felt powerless. Here I was, shrinking, while my debt grew larger than me. I created a proper budget just to see what it would tell me about my finances. I knew things were bad, but the results shared that things were worse than I thought. A fire was lit under me. I decided to take a stand at my job, and asked for a raise. I received $9,000. This allowed me to breathe for a bit, and I started building a savings fund. It was small, but it existed.

I later realized that I was more valuable than I had allowed myself to be seen as. I needed a job that would value my experience and skillset enough to pay what I deserved. I leapt to another job the next year, and doing so set me on a pathway to paying off $100K of debt in 5 years and saving my first $15K in 4 years.

When I shared these achievements with friends, they asked how I did this. I thought back to every action I’d made in those few years, and 5 steps were repeatedly taken each year. Those steps became the BASIC Method framework I created, which allowed me to achieve lifestyle freedom so that I could increase my net worth and confidence on autopilot. The tables turn with dedication!

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

Thank you for allowing me to share!

Many would like us to think that this is a man’s world, and women are just living in it. I believe women have much more power than they realize.

My work helps women unpack their financial trauma and develop the confidence needed to achieve lifestyle freedom. Practically everyone knows about financial freedom, but not its lesser known cousin.

Financial freedom takes a long time to achieve and some people will never reach it due to their circumstances. However, lifestyle freedom can be achieved at almost any stage. It’s about recognizing what is possible where you are in life right now!

For one person, lifestyle freedom could mean travelling across the globe. For another, it could mean aggressively slaying debt while building a savings fund. It’s about painting the picture of the life you want based on your income, debts, assets, and overall financial outlook.

I built WorthMinded to show women that not only are they worth more than they think, but also how to command that worth. Nothing has ever been built without a forethought, but you have to also take action.

It must be pointed out that, as a money coach and self-proclaimed financial baddie, I don’t believe in a ramen noodle budget. There is always a way to get necessities while also enjoying some desires. All you need is a plan, unwavering motivation, and steady income. At WorthMinded, balance is the name of the game.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

This is where the passion overflows. I could talk about money all day, but that’s only part of my journey. Who I was before starting on this journey and who I am now are not identical.

Discipline is underrated. I don’t mean discipline as in starving yourself financially. Many think of a budget as a place where their money goes to jail. It’s not. It’s like putting a magnifying glass over the money to see what’s really there.

Sometimes, this means temporarily reallocating funds to feed a specific area that’s more urgent. For instance, if you need to save $3K in 6 months for a renovation on your home, you could pause on attacking your debts if that would give you the $3K you needed. Then, you can resume attacking the debt once the other goal has been reached. Without discipline, less will become even less and more may never be found.

The next quality is honesty. It links back to discipline. If more people were honest about their habits, their finances would look very different. Making a 6-figure income doesn’t equate to riches. Even millionaires go broke! Why? Bad financial habits.

Who are the Joneses and why do you feel the need to keep up with them? Be honest about what you can afford. Be honest about the lack of security you feel from not having a savings fund or 401k. Then take the appropriate action.

At the end of the day, only you are left to deal with the consequences of your actions. This leads me to the last quality: confidence. To all the women out there – if there ever was a knight coming to save you, it’s you. It was always you.

Only you can take the route necessary for progress. Only you can change your behaviors. Only you can change your mindset. So, get on that horse already and charge into your future!

How would you describe your ideal client?

My ideal client is a woman working in corporate or as an entrepreneur, and who feels stuck in a money hamster wheel. She works hard but isn’t enjoying the fruits of her labor. She’d like to build a bigger savings fund, slay her debt dragon, and maybe even travel the world. She wants to have her cake and eat it too.

She would have big dreams that are grounded in reality. There is a natural progression that happens when you start this journey, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. When I first started saving, I could only afford $40 a month. After a few months, it became $60. About year later, it became $100. It then progressed to $200.

4 years after starting, I had saved $15K. This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t started where it made sense for me to. If I had overwhelmed myself with a lofty monthly goal to begin with, I might still be where I was.

Lastly, she would be so fed up with her current reality that she would be seeking help right now. Not a quick payday, but a real resolution. One that is flexible enough for her to grow with.

If this sounds like you, set up a call with me at calendly.com/worthminded and visit my website at beworthminded.com. If you’d like to hire me as a professional speaker, send an email to hello@beworthminded.com.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://beworthminded.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worthminded/
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/worthminded
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/company/worthminded?trk=public_post_feed-actor-name

Image Credits

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