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Money & Pursuing Your Dream

We want to know some more about you at this point because you really are a fascinating person, he said at the very top of the show, you one of the very few women who's actually sold the business to bill gates. I would love to know more about that, but you've also had some real challenges in your life. I mean, you, you've bean down at rock bottom, I think that's fair enough to say that you're telling me earlier you you were homeless at one point you were left as a single mother, and yet here you are, this incredibly successful woman tell us, tell us more about this incredible journey and about your book and about how you've really recovered. Thank you. So while part of it is about that, every hero has a journey, and the first thing I'm going to tell you is that when we read a biography on the biography never reads, things were great, things got better, and then some really good stuff happened would not be nice biographies always read the same way, it was really tough, and then it got wo...

rse and in something really bad happened, and if that wasn't enough that's when the real tough stuff started, and then just to top it off to more bad things happen and the turning point came, and then somehow you emerge so when you were done with it and you look back at your life you know and this is the part of journeys I guess I'm ultimately no but what does that really mean what really means is that I had to activate things in myself that I didn't even know existed so the unruly one the inability to follow what others have done the necessity that I feel to create new things all the time and perhaps which makes me unemployable is how do I turn that into into a benefit and so my journey is about having been you know, I immigrated to the united states I had a pretty quick career early on so by the time was twenty three I was running the photo department at elle magazine in germany but it's very bored so I figured I wanted to have an adventure and boy did I have an adventure and I may have made every mistake in the book you know I married somebody proposed to me after only six weeks romance and that ended up really shaping the next twenty years of my life because it turned out that he wasn't always very truthful about the things that he said and it was a responsible in a sense you know I told you that my my daughter almost died because of a terrible asthmatic that took literally her breath away one night and I didn't know that you know he was smoking and so what do you do and we talk about this now a lot going forward is when you are so far behind so I was a single mom I had got no help from my ex husband I was an entrepreneur and then these things that happened to other people all happened to me I became you know the person when you hear about that this bad employee that was my employee she had a little too close to one of my key vendors one of the photographers and then they became connect it off some sort and next thing I know they're running my business just without me and my invoices weren't paid to me and they said oh they called us they're having a business now so the money is going to them I'm like why would you pay my invoice to them and just when I thought it you know and so suit them because I humanistic you stole my business for me and just as I think I'm about to recover because you know six months into this lawsuit um my books have failed right it's you know production season september rolls around and then september eleventh came and within twenty four hours I lost every job I had because there was not one person anymore anywhere in the world that would go on a plane and fly to los angeles I have made produced for them my production business ended in twenty four hours and then my lawsuit eventually settled, but, you know, I had this idea for the stocks in the case, but I couldn't get, you know, I couldn't get on my feet fast enough because I was so far behind and the loss would settled and the loss would settled and I made money on the lawsuit, but when everything was paid, I was a zero I mean, literally, I mean, it was zero, so I started all over again. I could've saved myself that year off a fight, I could have had zero before. So now how do you get from zero to that sort of next level? And I had this idea, but I really believed in my idea and so in this segment, we're going to talk about, you know, how to find the money and how to find the, uh, tenacity to bite your way through it, and I think that's what? I'm going to leave this at waiting for you in the movie a great story, nicole. People, perhaps? Yeah, perhaps perhaps good idea. We wanna hear your journey's term in what has been through and how she such what she's achieved on the back of setbacks etcetera is really the example that we're setting here on this particular course I mean I'm gonna be hearing from our students some of their journeys as well they've come with stories that they want to share and that's going to help them move forward to upward let's hear yours as well so get into the chat rooms and let us know what your journeys yes, we need to get in and talk about money yes let's get going on that thank you so much. Okay, so before we sort of go into this and I purposely withheld that jack kale is this is a letter that, um I received from the president of the united states the white house so at this point in my life I lost so much that I was so desperate that I really didn't know what else to do. So I wrote a letter to the white house why not? My former mother in law kept saying what he's your president he's here to help the people you are the people is your president to several them a letter and I got a letter from the white house you heard just a moment ago sort of what my lowest point wass right whether it really wasn't a lawyer's point yet it got worse but when I went you know, when I went to germany for on a business trip my father had a stroke but my father didn't really have a stroke my father had pancreatic cancer and it had metastasized in the brain so within only six weeks my father died that comes on the heels off this lawsuit losing the first portion of our business that comes on the heels off losing my entire production business in september eleventh you know, being completely out of money now my father died my biggest supporter, my number one fan you know, my my my my friend and I remember you know, and this is sort of part of the story that I think so important to tell that people never think about when they hear the fascism multimillionaire, you know what she have to worry about, but what got me there's like I made the grave so we in germany it's the first the first day of spring in the year, um two thousand four and, you know, and I and the phone rings and it's, my office from los angeles and it's and they said, you know, you're being we just got a notice served by the landlord, so he waited while I was in germany bearing my father, you know, and totally broke not even knowing how it's gonna pay for the funeral that's how bad it wass and I'm standing there and I'm not sure what's going to happen I and the defining moment and defining moments are important to success and I tell you why in a moment so I fell on my niece literally. I mean, envision that it's it's called it's in germany it's on this beautiful hill in front this broke church. And you know what? This great view off the whole area and there was that just got the phone call. I mean, what else could happen? My worst case in are you happened? I lost my biggest fan. You had no business, you know, I was in debt up to my ears. I know I didn't have a house to live in anymore either. And I you know, I don't know if you believe in god or in spirit of unity, whatever that is I do and I I threw a fit, I threw a fit, I raised my fist and I yelled at god for good two minutes and I said if you have a plan it would be a great time to fill me in now but what happens is that when you have thes defining moments and you let go off that intensity, you got literally nothing else to lose anyway, I mean it's already all gone. So now comes the defining moment of how much do you have left in you to really do this because it would have been so easy at that moment to say you know what? This is it and moving back to germany I do this or that or that you know and or find a job somewhere whatever their job might be I could have easily given up and everybody told me to do that except the few people that you know I really trust like family and friends all said you know what? You should consider giving it up and just letting it all go maybe you're not meant to do this at this moment in time but I didn't and in that moment everything changed from that moment to me becoming a multimillionaire was only eighteen months imagine if I would not have held on to these eighteen months and I would have gotten a job somewhere what the difference would have been for me so in our darkest and deepest defining moments that's when we're being called and so I want to you know I want you to remember that I actually would like to talk to janice about this for a moment because you are behind the eight ball right now so can we can we share a little bit off your story because I think what self compelling about your story to me and what I relate to personally is the despair I mean it can't get any worse right? It could be very good answer it could if I didn't have my family yeah, I could, um I was with my husband for twenty six years and he and he was in the music business he was a wonderful singer musician songwriter he's written cem very nice things he's been in some albums and I've uh when I met him in eighty three um he was on his way up and all that time um I had been helping him and course he's very talented so I was helping helping him whenever I could but hey died he died four years ago march twenty second and he was still in the business he was he had a ah business partner by this time and you're starting a new business and he passed away um I really didn't I wasn't I didn't really have interest in continuing the business or being in with him and he had a business partner. So anyway, after he passed away I moved away um left the home that we were in for about we were in there for about four years were renting um didn't have enough money to pay the rent I mean and still I have a life I mean I could pay the rent but then I would stay home or you know, nothing else there was nothing so I packed up and I moved one place that was cheaper they went up on the rent and then I moved again to my mother's house and she invited me to stay with her and so it's been working out every since then I've given myself I'd say I was I was hoping about five years to be able to actually get this business off the ground because now it's about what I'm going to be doing because when I met him I was very artistic and I tell him I'll help you and then when you make it you help me and so he passed away so now I have to do it for myself so that's what I've been trying to do but it's been so hard because I don't I didn't know how to do it on my own so what I've been doing it's just purchasing equipment um going online looking at um um instructions and how to do this and how to do that and photography watching creative live and looking at people who really know what they're doing and so and then I and then I saw the little button says would you like to be part of the creative life audience? I say yeah, sure I would and so I I saw the um how to make money in twelve steps I had him how to start a business and do what you love and twelve steps so I said, well, you know, I got a couple more years ago before I actually leave the job that I'm on, which I'm not really making much money at um so and when I retire, what am I going to do? Because I'm not going to really be making anything hardly um I do have a four on one k, but it's not really do anything. So I wanted the photography business to help me to live out the rest of my my years and do other things as well that I really like to do so that's why I'm here today well, and thank you so much for your great advice. Well, thank you, thank you. Thank you for sharing that story. I can only imagine you know what you what you must must have been through so part of this, you know, and the reason why I told my story and why I wanted to hear your story no it's because you know, no someone hawass behind and who made it. Thank you so much. I should also let you know genesee our online community who are always so supportive of our students already here. They're always supporting you two on they're sending you that their love from their best wishes russian you're saying you really are an inspiration. Oh, thank you here to be able to talk about this so openly so thank you for sharing that on creative, I'm sure that was not very easy for you. I think it's not very easy to get through that bottom sure is beatin is demonstrated there is a such a bright future because you have such a positive attitude. I think being here, being here with us and sharing your story and being willing to learn and take on a new experience in your life is going to set set you up very well for the future. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And the guava project says that all these air, all empowering stories and sometimes the miracle is just on the other side of that darkest moment and that's something for us all to remember for sure. Yes, absolutely and you know, and again, remember that the's defining moments are growing pains sometimes, and especially for women like you know, jonas, like the story we just heard is then when you put yourself in service to someone else for such a long time and you take yourself back or some of us have excuses on why we don't step up on why something else is more important, or why this is so important. But you have the right and I give you permission to pursue your dream because it's your dream and you're entitled to live your dream and however it's going to come together and it's going to come together perfectly when the time is right and just the way doesn't like how my story with all this crazy you know, failure in this tragic disaster and being in debt and paula here comes and now all of a sudden all my I sense did it make sense when I was in it off course not I was questioning in what happens jenna's is we lose our confidence and that's why I commend you that you hear because I'm giving you a big fat injection, you know? And I know that everybody here and there is so, uh supportive off you and supportive of each other and that's the community we're building at creative life where we're supporting each other in our endeavors you're on the drip, you're an ivy drip, your confidence I v drip through the entire duration of the course. I certainly appreciate it because I've gone to other organizations and and I think what I really needed is a one on one that's why I'm here I needed to be able to to ask questions personally and to someone who has been there. So um again, I mean, this is very invaluable I I'm so happy that I was picked to be part of the audience no, we couldn't be happier to have you here okay, very good well, thank you so much for for sharing that and thank you for our online audience for being so supportive off our in studio audience. And you know, please do tell us your stories because we were here. I am here for you, and I'm here to give you whatever I can possibly give you to make that dream off your own business and to make the dream off your financial independence happen. So here is, you know, just again the twitter handle. Make sure that you follow us on twitter and use the hashtag b r thio life, and this is the picture you see me after a casting. This is what you would look like if just casted for hundred children. And the other picture is when we were doing a shoot for a furniture company. And yes, that is a camel in the dunes somewhere in california, uh, the stuff you get to do when you're when you're still have produced. So I thought, I'd throw that in for for for pure entertainment.