Journey To Launch

Access to capital can determine which entrepreneurs get the opportunity to turn their ideas into successful businesses. In this episode, I sit down with Arian Simone, founder and CEO of the Fearless Fund, to discuss her work investing in women of color, why access to funding remains a challenge, and what it takes to build a venture fund focused on closing that gap. We also talk about her journey as an entrepreneur, investor, author, philanthropist and more.

In this episode, Arian shares:

Going from living in her car at 23 to building a PR and marketing business through referrals
How venture capital works and when loans, grants, or unconventional funding fit better
The 2023 lawsuit against Fearless Fund and the wealth gap behind it
Taking inventory of what fear is costing you and creating from freedom instead of struggle

What's New in the Paperback Edition of Your Journey to Financial Freedom:

A bonus chapter: When Life Happens: Staying on the Path to Financial Freedom Through Setbacks, Shifts, and Uncertainty
A book club and discussion guide with prompts, exercises, and action steps
Updated corrections from the original hardcover
Exclusive bonuses when you purchase the paperback, including: The Fire Starter Course
The Find Your FIRE Number Worksheet


Other related blog posts/links mentioned in this episode:

Get your paperback edition of Your Journey To Financial Freedom if you haven't already.
Apply to Share Your Journeyer Story, here./'
Join the Journey to Launch Book Club to dive deeper into financial freedom with guided discussions and resources here!
Join The Weekly Newsletter List to get updates, deals & more!
Leave Your Journey To Financial Freedom a review!
Get The Budget Bootcamp
Check out my personal website here.
Leave me a voicemail– Leave me a question on the Journey To Launch voicemail and have it answered on the podcast!
YNAB –  Start managing your money and budgeting so that you can reach your financial dreams. Sign up for a free 34 days trial of YNAB, my go-to budgeting app by using my referral link. What stage of the financial journey are you on? Are you working on financial stability or work flexibility? Find out with this free assessment and get a curated list of the 10 next best episodes for you to listen to depending on your stage. Check it out here!


Connect with Arian:

Website: fearless.fund
Instagram: @Fearless.Fund

Connect with me:

Instagram: @Journeytolaunch
Twitter: @JourneyToLaunch
Facebook: @Journey To Launch
Join the Private Facebook Group
Join the Waitlist for My FI Course
Get The Free Jumpstart Guide

A 7% interest rate looks like a wall to a lot of buyers, but Erika Brown sees a market where deals are landing $45,000 and even $150,000 under asking. In this episode, I sit down with Erika, a real estate investor and serial entrepreneur whose portfolio generates over six figures a year, for an update five years after her first appearance.

Erika left banking, got her real estate license, and built a team. She went on to acquire almost 40 rental properties, start a nearly seven-figure landscaping company, and co-found a Georgia brokerage with over 250 agents. It all began with a goal of making $5,000 a month so she could attend her kids' activities without asking permission. Today, she and her husband are selling properties to pay off properties, shrinking the portfolio while increasing cash flow.

Erika also breaks down how to read a market, fund a first investment property, and decide whether you are an owner, an operator, or a passive investor. Her bigger point is that building wealth is about having options, including when to push, when to pause, and how much of your life to spend on what matters.

In this episode, Erika shares:

Why high interest rates can create real estate opportunity instead o nog f closing the door
How to fund a first investment property with the step-up strategy, a 401k loan, a HELOC, or a self-directed IRA
The difference between owners, operators, and passive investors, and how to choose your role
Why she is paying off properties and prioritizing options and time with her family over more hustle

Check out Erika's Conference The Owning It and Living It Experience happening November 13 to 15 at the Starling Hotel in Midtown Atlanta. Use code FREEDOM for 30% off tickets, which close October 31.

What's New in the Paperback Edition of Your Journey to Financial Freedom:

A bonus chapter: When Life Happens: Staying on the Path to Financial Freedom Through Setbacks, Shifts, and Uncertainty
A book club and discussion guide with prompts, exercises, and action steps
Updated corrections from the original hardcover
Exclusive bonuses when you purchase the paperback, including: The Fire Starter Course
The Find Your FIRE Number Worksheet


Other related blog posts/links mentioned in this episode:

Get your ticket to The Owning It and Living It Experience. Use code FREEDOM for 30% off tickets
Get your paperback edition of Your Journey To Financial Freedom if you haven't already.
Apply to Share Your Journeyer Story, here./'
Join the Journey to Launch Book Club to dive deeper into financial freedom with guided discussions and resources here!
Join The Weekly Newsletter List to get updates, deals & more!
Leave Your Journey To Financial Freedom a review!
Get The Budget Bootcamp
Check out my personal website here.
Leave me a voicemail– Leave me a question on the Journey To Launch voicemail and have it answered on the podcast!
YNAB –  Start managing your money and budgeting so that you can reach your financial dreams. Sign up for a free 34 days trial of YNAB, my go-to budgeting app by using my referral link. What stage of the financial journey are you on? Are you working on financial stability or work flexibility? Find out with this free assessment and get a curated list of the 10 next best episodes for you to listen to depending on your stage. Check it out here!


Connect with Erika:

Instagram: @erikabrowninvestor
Facebook: OiliCommunity

Connect with me:

Instagram: @Journeytolaunch
Twitter: @JourneyToLaunch
Facebook: @Journey To Launch
Join the Private Facebook Group
Join the Waitlist for My FI Course
Get The Free Jumpstart Guide

Financial independence started as a formula: save and invest 25 times your expenses, then step away from the job. In this solo episode, I respond to an Instagram post from Ashley Evans asking whether the FIRE movement has lost the plot, as more of the conversation shifts toward making more money, growing businesses, and owning more.

I explain the 25 times rule and the 4% draw down math that first drew me in 12 to 13 years ago, and share the comment I left on Ashley's post. I reached my goal of leaving my nine to five in 2018, and today I'm in what I call work flexibility, stage four of my five stages to financial independence. As a mom of three living in New York City, I have no interest in growing my business if it costs me time and energy freedom. I also walk through the idea of a "vehicle" for reaching FI, which was my full time job and later became Journey to Launch, and why it's okay for that vehicle to slow down.

The episode also covers the parable of the Mexican fisherman and the investment banker, and the reality that "enough" looks different for everyone depending on security needs, family responsibilities, and history with money. Your plan can change, your pace can change, and you get to define what enough means. 

In this episode, I share:

Why Ashley Evans's post on the FIRE movement prompted a bigger conversation
How the 25 times rule and 4% draw down work, with a $40,000 a year example
Using a full time job or a business as the "vehicle" to reach financial independence
How to think about enough versus more, security, and the choice to say no + more 


What's New in the Paperback Edition of Your Journey to Financial Freedom:

A bonus chapter: When Life Happens: Staying on the Path to Financial Freedom Through Setbacks, Shifts, and Uncertainty
A book club and discussion guide with prompts, exercises, and action steps
Updated corrections from the original hardcover
Exclusive bonuses when you purchase the paperback, including: The Fire Starter Course
The Find Your FIRE Number Worksheet


Other related blog posts/links mentioned in this episode:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcoqNBUuYuh/?stkn=b3Zhajh5NGZtdno=












Get your paperback edition of Your Journey To Financial Freedom if you haven't already.
Apply to Share Your Journeyer Story, here./'
Join the Journey to Launch Book Club to dive deeper into financial freedom with guided discussions and resources here!
Join The Weekly Newsletter List to get updates, deals & more!
Leave Your Journey To Financial Freedom a review!
Get The Budget Bootcamp
Check out my personal website here.
Leave me a voicemail– Leave me a question on the Journey To Launch voicemail and have it answered on the podcast!
YNAB –  Start managing your money and budgeting so that you can reach your financial dreams. Sign up for a free 34 days trial of YNAB, my go-to budgeting app by using my referral link. What stage of the financial journey are you on? Are you working on financial stability or work flexibility? Find out with this free assessment and get a curated list of the 10 next best episodes for you to listen to depending on your stage. Check it out here!


Connect with me:

Instagram: @Journeytolaunch
Twitter: @JourneyToLaunch
Facebook: @Journey To Launch
Join the Private Facebook Group
Join the Waitlist for My FI Course
Get The Free Jumpstart Guide

Health insurance is one of the biggest questions standing between you and leaving your job, and for a lot of families, it's the reason one spouse never does. In this episode, I welcome back Jordan Grumet, hospice physician, host of the Earn & Invest podcast, and author of Taking Stock, The Purpose Code, and his newest book, The Healthcare Heist.

Jordan lost his father, a physician, when he was seven and made it his mission to become a doctor like him. Once he got there, he burned out fast, and financial independence became his way out. He breaks down what healthcare really costs once you leave an employer plan, how long-term care can drain a family's assets, and how insurers, drug companies, and private equity have pulled money out of the system.

Jordan makes the case that real change starts when doctors and patients share their stories and push for reform together. Until then, there are practical steps you can take now, from appealing insurance denials to planning for long-term care early.

In this episode, Jordan Grumet shares:

Why healthcare is one of the biggest obstacles to financial independence and early retirement
The limits of ACA subsidies, health sharing ministries, Medicare Advantage, and Medigap plans
How long-term care costs, Medicaid spend-downs, and the five-year lookback affect families
Everyday ways to protect yourself, from appealing denials to choosing generics and physician-owned practices

What's New in the Paperback Edition of Your Journey to Financial Freedom:

A bonus chapter: When Life Happens: Staying on the Path to Financial Freedom Through Setbacks, Shifts, and Uncertainty
A book club and discussion guide with prompts, exercises, and action steps
Updated corrections from the original hardcover
Exclusive bonuses when you purchase the paperback, including: The Fire Starter Course
The Find Your FIRE Number Worksheet


Other related blog posts/links mentioned in this episode:

The Healthcare Heist: jordangrumet.com/books
Taking Stock and The Purpose Code: jordangrumet.com/books
Episode 281, Lessons About Living From the Dying: journeytolaunch.com/episode281
Episode 407, Building a Life of Purpose & Finding Meaning in Everyday Life: journeytolaunch.com/episode407
The White Coat Investor: whitecoatinvestor.com
Health Insurance Marketplace: healthcare.gov
Get your paperback edition of Your Journey To Financial Freedom if you haven't already.
Apply to Share Your Journeyer Story, here.
Join the Journey to Launch Book Club to dive deeper into financial freedom with guided discussions and resources here!
Join The Weekly Newsletter List to get updates, deals & more!
Leave Your Journey To Financial Freedom a review!
Get The Budget Bootcamp
Check out my personal website here.
Leave me a voicemail– Leave me a question on the Journey To Launch voicemail and have it answered on the podcast!
YNAB –  Start managing your money and budgeting so that you can reach your financial dreams. Sign up for a free 34 days trial of YNAB, my go-to budgeting app by using my referral link. What stage of the financial journey are you on? Are you working on financial stability or work flexibility? Find out with this free assessment and get a curated list of the 10 next best episodes for you to listen to depending on your stage. Check it out here!


Connect with Jordan Grumet:

Website

Connect with me:

Instagram: @Journeytolaunch
Twitter: @JourneyToLaunch
Facebook: @Journey To Launch
Join the Private Facebook Group
Join the Waitlist for My FI Course
Get The Free Jumpstart Guide

Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung left their lucrative software engineering careers to enjoy world travel and freedom. Both retired in their early 30's with a 7-figure portfolio and have complied their secrets to success in their book Quit Like a Millionaire: No Gimmicks, Luck, or Trust Fund Required. Kristy and Bryce are financially independent, self-made millionaires who hail from humble beginnings and learned along their journey how to follow the money so they could afford to pursue their passions.

 In this episode we discuss: 

How Kristy went from surviving off 44 cents a day to a 7-figure portfolio.
How you can use CRAP (Creativity, Resilience, Adaptability, and Perseverance) to achieve success.
How to cut expenses from your budget so you can maximize your income and minimize waste.
How to choose your degree and career based on the math.
Why your home is not an investment and how avoiding home-ownership helps you achieve financial independence sooner. 
Why taxes are for the poor and how to win the tax game.

What's New in the Paperback Edition of Your Journey to Financial Freedom:

A bonus chapter: When Life Happens: Staying on the Path to Financial Freedom Through Setbacks, Shifts, and Uncertainty
A book club and discussion guide with prompts, exercises, and action steps
Updated corrections from the original hardcover
Exclusive bonuses when you purchase the paperback, including: The Fire Starter Course
The Find Your FIRE Number Worksheet


Other related blog posts/links mentioned in this episode:

Get your paperback edition of Your Journey To Financial Freedom if you haven't already.
Apply to Share Your Journeyer Story, here./'
Join the Journey to Launch Book Club to dive deeper into financial freedom with guided discussions and resources here!
Join The Weekly Newsletter List to get updates, deals & more!
Leave Your Journey To Financial Freedom a review!
Get The Budget Bootcamp
Check out my personal website here.
Leave me a voicemail– Leave me a question on the Journey To Launch voicemail and have it answered on the podcast!
YNAB –  Start managing your money and budgeting so that you can reach your financial dreams. Sign up for a free 34 days trial of YNAB, my go-to budgeting app by using my referral link. What stage of the financial journey are you on? Are you working on financial stability or work flexibility? Find out with this free assessment and get a curated list of the 10 next best episodes for you to listen to depending on your stage. Check it out here!


Connect with Kristy & Bryce:

Website
Facebook:@MillennialRevolutionBlog 
Twitter:@FIRECracker_Rev

Connect with me:

Instagram: @Journeytolaunch
Twitter: @JourneyToLaunch
Facebook: @Journey To Launch
Join the Private Facebook Group
Join the Waitlist for My FI Course
Get The Free Jumpstart Guide