IAM1759 – Coach Helps Clients Achieve Financial Fitness and Empowerment

Annette Harris Teaser 00:00

We have conversations about their upbringing, like how were you raised and how finances were managed in their household. There are individuals, hey, this is where my current situation is and I always think back, this is how my mother or father handled things, I don't wanna continue that cycle. So, I work with them to try to break that cycle.

Intro 00:20

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of.

This is the I AM CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:47

Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I appreciate you listening to this episode. If you've been listening this year, you know that we hit 1600 episodes at the beginning of this year. We're doing something a little bit different where we're repurposing our favorite episodes around certain categories, topics, or as I like to call them, business pillars that we think are going to be extremely impactful for CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business owners, or what I like to call the CB Nation architects. Those that are looking to level up their organizations.

In this month, we are focusing on knowing thy numbers. I could hear the phrases from Mr. Wonderful on Shark Tank, and if you understand or don't understand exactly what numbers is, think finance, economics, accounting, capital, investment funding, bootstrapping, anything that's around numbers. So, We have to understand how important it is to know your numbers and how important that is for you to forecast, make decisions, and to be able to truly strategize around your business and do that successfully.

Things are gonna be a little bit different obviously, this month. So look for CEO hacks and CEO nuggets and interviews that focus around this. But more than everything else, make sure that you know your numbers because they're extremely important to the life of your business.

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Annette Harris of Harris Financial Coaching. Annette, it's great to have you on the show.

Annette Harris 02:13

Thank you for having me today. I'm excited to be here.

Gresham Harkless 02:16

Yes, I'm excited to have you on as well and hear about all the awesome things that you're doing. Before we jump into the interview, I wanted to read a little bit more about Annette, so you can hear about some of those awesome things.

Annette is a certified financial fitness coach. She has been a noteworthy leader in the financial and human resource industry for over 13 years, and she is a US Army veteran. Thank you for your service, and the founder of Harris Financial Coaching. She volunteers with local and national nonprofit organizations to help enhance the community's financial literacy.

Annette, great to have you on the show. Love everything that you're doing. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Annette Harris 02:51

I'm ready.

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Gresham Harkless 02:52

Let's get it started then. So to kick everything off. I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit, and hear a little bit more on how you got started, what I call your CEO story.

Annette Harris 02:59

Absolutely. So about two years ago, I worked to get my family debt free. Paid off a mortgage in eight and a half years, had our vehicles paid off, furniture, and everything was done, so we had no debt. After that, I had a little bit of time on my hands with finishing my education, and my husband was like, Annette, you really should start a business. Think about what you wanna do to like give back to the community.

I did a little soul searching, trying to figure out, okay, what can I do? What am I good at? And finances have been my passion since I was a teenager, 18 years old. My mother was like, Annette, you need to enroll in this personal finance course. And I just fell in love with it since then. So I started, again, and did little soul searching. I was like, you know what? I think I wanna teach people about finances and teach them my story as an African American female who became debt free, show them how they can do it too, and how they can understand their finances.

What I did was I actually talked to a mentor of mine. I told him what I wanted to do with my business and he was like, Annette, you need to do it like you've already lived this truth and you can be seen as a figure that other black females can look up to. We had that conversation one night the next day I was registering my business.

Gresham Harkless 04:22

Nice. I absolutely love that. I'm such a big believer in that so many times, the thing that is our passion, our gift, the thing that assist our soul on fire, for lack of a better term. Sometimes we often will get that, like when we're very, very young and you have that opportunity to just run with it.

So I love hearing, the personal financial class that you took and then just how you took the baton and started running from there.

Annette Harris 04:45

Absolutely. It came full circle with my personal business and also in my career as well. Because like you said, I work in human resources, so it's like I'm constantly talking to employees about their benefits, their pay, things like that.

So it's like I've always been in a profession of service and I was like, I just wanna continue that path.

Gresham Harkless 05:06

Yeah, absolutely. I'm not sure how much, those conversations go into finances, but it's like the elephant in the room. I feel like a lot of times where, it's something that kind of is a filter or is influencing everything, but sometimes it may not be that conversation.

So I just love everything that you're doing because first of all, it creates I think sometimes a narrative you don't always hear about being able to pay off debt and do those things and you accomplish things and it makes it real. And I think when you hear somebody's story, not only does it make it real, but it also makes it tangible that you can also do the same.

Annette Harris 05:36

Absolutely. And the conversations go into finances all the time. I do that all the time. Just the conversations I have with people when I'm filing their taxes. I do that for volunteering. It's just always about them saying, I didn't realize that, or I'm glad you said that. It's like that light bulb went off when we had the, have these conversations.

Gresham Harkless 05:57

Yeah. That's why it's so important and I love that just because, again, like when you have your gifts, you have the thing that you're really excellent as your craft. So many times you can approach it and sharpen your craft in so many different ways and having so many different conversations. I love that you've been able to do that.

Annette Harris 06:12

Awesome.

Gresham Harkless 06:13

Perfect. I wanted to drill down a little bit more, hear a little bit more on how you're working with your clients. Could you take us through what that looks like and how you're serving the clients you work with?

Annette Harris 06:21

Yeah, so I work with clients. We have conversations. I say I provide coaching services, but it's having those conversations with them. So clients reach out to me, and we do a consultation together to see how we can fit together with each other and their goals.

So some of them say, hey, I just want you to work on my budget. Tell me how to pay my bills. That's not what I do. I help you set those goals. We set up these meeting touchpoints, whether or not they're weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly meetings, and we define what their goals are in life, and what they're currently struggling with so that we can address those issues.  Some people may not be struggling. They're just like, hey, I just wanna manage my finances better, wanna plan for retirement,  plan for my children's education in the future. So, we have these monthly check-ins on like, how can you start planning for that?

I also work with clients for their resumes. That's taken a little bit of my HR expertise and recruitment and working with them on building their LinkedIn profiles and their resumes. So that kind of comes into financial coaching because I provide them with that career guidance on how to get them to that next level in their life and with their finances.

What do you need to do to earn more money? It's not always a side hustle. It's what can you do professionally? Do you need more education? Do you need a tune-up on your resume just to get you to that next level so you can achieve those goals?

Gresham Harkless 07:48

Nice. I love that. Again, thinking full circle, like we were talking about how finances go into different aspects of your life, and sometimes you don't even put two, I didn't at least put two and two together that your finance is in your career and you understand it when you say it.

But sometimes you're like, okay, if I want to retire by this amount and saying okay, maybe I need to have this increase in pay, you don't think about some of those things. I love how you seem to have, for lack of a better term, a holistic look at how finances can influence and what things need to be talked about or at least have space to discuss.

Annette Harris 08:20

Yes, absolutely. Another thing is I work with clients on weighing those options. What does that look like? You said you want to go to another career, you wanna make more money, but what are you currently making right now at your current job? How satisfied are you with that current job?

Do you want to travel a little bit further? You're stuck in traffic for an hour, but your current job is 20 minutes away from your house. How much are you spending on gas and that time away from your family? So it's making those life choices in addition to the financial changes that you wanna make as well.

Gresham Harkless 08:55

Yeah, and I could see why it's definitely a lot more than saying, Hey, can you just balance my checkbook? Because I think when we make those decisions, it's so much that's involved. Like you said, it's not just a career. It's sometimes a different route to work, a different amount of time, less time maybe with your family.

Just considering all those things is so important, when we're ultimately making that decision or taking that step or even saying what can we do to get to where we wanna be?

Annette Harris 09:17

Absolutely. And again, that's why we have multiple conversations because yeah we have that initial one and that light bulb goes off and they're like, you know what? I need to think about that. Let's come back when we come back to our next meeting. Let's revisit like what soul-searching did you do, or what conversations did you have, with your friends, with yourself, with your spouse? Or even with your children.

Gresham Harkless 09:37

Yeah. That makes so much sense. It almost makes me wonder, and this might even be part of your secret sauce the thing that you feel sets you apart and makes you unique, but I almost feel as if I wonder how many times these conversations are maybe not had, maybe people aren't even considering that.

So for one, I feel like you have this ability to of course hold that space so that those conversations actually happen. But two, I feel like the words you use, and I definitely, as well too, is the word holistic, where you're not just having those conversations, but you're having them holistically to look at the whole human and how finances can impact that.

Do you feel like that's part of your secret sauce, something that you've been able to do?

Annette Harris 10:11

I think it is a part of it. Yeah. Again, having them take a look at their life in general not just going forward or where they're currently at, but also like your past, we have conversations about their upbringing, like how were you raised how were finances managed in your household. There are individuals, Hey, this is where I'm and I always think that this is how my mother or father handled things. I don't wanna continue that cycle. So, I work with them to try to break that cycle and also be open to having those conversations.

I know for me and a lot of the individuals I talk to, it's a lot of African American females and they say, Annette, I didn't have these conversations growing up, I feel really comfortable talking to you about this. Whereas, and that's part of my secret sauce because there aren't a lot of black females that are out here talking about finances.

There are not a lot of financial coaches that are military veterans as well. A lot of financial coaches try to go get that training, but the military system is very complex when you're working with the disabled veterans, and things like that. Where you aren't as comfortable talking to a financial coach that doesn't have that experience, or if you are a black female talking to someone who's a different race.

There are some that will reach out, but they're like, they just don't know my story or my background demographically.

Gresham Harkless 11:34

Yeah, absolutely. Which is again, why I think it's so powerful, your story and what you've been able to accomplish. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. This could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

Annette Harris 11:49

So my CEO hack is that I love collaborating with other people in my space. Other coaches. I reach out on a weekly basis to other coaches, whether or not it's fitness, whether or not it's wellness. They're recruiting military veterans who have their own small business.

I'm just constantly trying to build my network and our tribe together and see how, as I said, it's a holistic view of how everything plays together. So I create blog posts with other coaches. I attend business events with them.

So what that does for me is, it helps me span my network so that I can reach more clients. Not even just clients because I do a lot of volunteering as well. Just reaching more members of the community.

Gresham Harkless 12:41

Awesome, awesome, awesome. So what would you consider to be what I like to call a CEO nugget? So this is a little bit more word of wisdom or piece of advice.

I like to say it might be something you would tell your younger business self if you were to hop into a time machine or potentially your favorite client.

Annette Harris 12:55

I would say to continue learning. I'm a lifelong learner. I am always trying to gain different certifications and in trying to gain those certifications, you have to do your research in order to build your credibility.

I have also gone to school from 2003 until 2021, getting different degrees, so you name it, from religion to IT to business finance, to human resources. I have degrees in all of those subjects and even more like I could go on, but it's just that me want to learn more and be able to just be as educated as possible in the profession that I'm currently in. It also has fed over into my business.

Gresham Harkless 13:39

Yeah, I think there's much to be said about setting a goal and actually accomplishing it no matter what it is. So, what would you consider to be the answer to my absolute favorite question, which is the definition, of what it means to be a CEO.

We're hoping to have different quote and quote CEOs on the show so Annette, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Annette Harris 13:55

Being a CEO to me means freedom. Freedom to be creative in my own right. Working for an employer, there are certain things that you can or cannot do, but being a CEO you can be as creative as possible and just achieve the dreams that you have set for yourself.

In addition to freedom of being creative, it's the freedom to be able to reach out to who you want to reach out to. You can market your services to basically any demographic that you want, to any group of people. It is just you're able to be a contributor to society on a larger scale as opposed to working for an employer or things like that. I just wanna impact lives. So, I'm able to do that through my business and through my volunteering.

Gresham Harkless 14:45

Perfect, perfect, perfect. I appreciate your time, Annette. Of course, I appreciate all the awesome things that you're doing. What I wanted to do now was pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know. And of course, how best people can get ahold of you, find out about your blog and all the awesome things that you're working on.

Annette Harris 15:03

Absolutely. So again, if people wanna reach out to me, they can reach out to my website. It's harriswealthcoach.com. That's my main site where I provide resume services, LinkedIn services, and financial coaching services.

One thing we didn't talk about is I also do group coaching as well. So I am open to that. It's small groups of five, things like that just to have those conversations. It helps people become more comfortable with talking about finances when they see what others are going through.

Then my blog is totally separate. That's harriscashcoach.com and again, the conversations there range from personal finances, health, wellness, travel, and things like that because I love to travel. But I am on all social media at Harris Cash Coach.

Gresham Harkless 15:50

Awesome. To make it even easier, we're gonna have the links and information in the show notes as well too so that everybody can reach out to you. I hope you have a great rest of the day.

Annette Harris 15:59

All right. Thank you.

Outro 16:00

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast, powered by CB Nation and Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community.

Check out the latest and greatest apps, books, and habits to level up your business at ceohacks.co. This has been the I AM CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless, Jr. Thank you for listening.

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