Candice (00:01.613)

Hey Erin, welcome to the show.

Erinn Bridgman (00:03.419)

Hello! I'm so excited to be here.

Candice (00:06.275)

I'm so excited to talk to you all about money today and how we can actually start paying ourselves and fix our money mindset. So thanks so much for being here. This is a conversation that I have so often with our lovely wedding pro friends and it can be so difficult to figure out a better financial way forward. So I'm excited to hear your insights.

Erinn Bridgman (00:25.592)

excited to be here and talk about money.

Candice (00:27.499)

Yes, love it. It's so your specialty. And so as I introduced you into the episode, I talked about how you were originally a photographer, so you know the wedding industry really well. And you've built a $7 million real estate portfolio all by learning how to actually make your business and I found that such an interesting word choice, how to make your business pay you.

Erinn Bridgman (00:53.166)

Yes, yes, yes, yes. And I actually just got off a call with a client and we were talking about this and I said, well, the point of your business is to pay you, right? Because her goal was I want to hit $500,000 and she is a wedding catering bar company. And I said, great, but who cares if you make $500,000 if it costs you $500,000 to make that.

Candice (01:03.887)

Right.

Candice (01:09.071)

Mm-hmm.

Candice (01:21.154)

Yes ma'am.

Erinn Bridgman (01:21.312)

The number one thing is prioritizing how much do we pay you because when the business pays you, you can build real wealth. You can then make investments like inside of real estate and things like that. So that was the key for us when we started realizing like, revenue is sexy. And that's really fun to say I'm a six figure entrepreneur. But what's even more sexy is when we can actually like have the business pay us and generate us.

Candice (01:25.603)

Mm-hmm.

Candice (01:32.952)

Yeah.

Candice (01:43.299)

Right.

Candice (01:49.199)

Mm-hmm.

Erinn Bridgman (01:51.018)

money.

Candice (01:51.863)

Yes, and wealth, and that's exactly what you've been able to do. you went from weekends behind the camera being a wedding photographer. Before we even go any further, do you miss that all or no?

Erinn Bridgman (02:04.27)

I personally love photography. You know, so many of us as wedding pros, get into it because we love the craft that we're doing, right? We love flowers or makeup or whatever, planning. So I love it. I told Brad, what if we just do like one wedding a year and it's kind of like a paid date night? He didn't go for it. He didn't go for it. So, but my brother-in-law and sister-in-law just got engaged. We did their photos and I cannot tell you how magical it felt to be behind the camera again.

Candice (02:06.457)

Yeah.

Candice (02:10.968)

Yeah.

Candice (02:19.767)

Yeah.

you

Candice (02:29.967)

fun. I love it for you. I love it. I don't miss weddings one bit. And anybody who knows me knows that I don't miss it. I love helping wedding pros, but I don't miss being at a wedding at eight o'clock at night on a Saturday, unless I'm a guest. Yeah.

Erinn Bridgman (02:45.774)

Exactly, right? Yeah, totally get that.

Candice (02:51.541)

So you went from weekends behind the camera to building the $7 million real estate portfolio. And I don't feel like that's the usual path that people take. And so I guess first, what I'd love to know from you is what was the turning point where you realize that money wasn't just something that you would get by with but something that you could even like you could master and you could build wealth with?

Erinn Bridgman (03:16.216)

Well, part of it I think is kind of just like my DNA and Brent's DNA. Like I'm part nerd and part creative. So I feel like, like I love the photography and I love the art of that. And I do interior design with our real estate stuff, but I'm also just like very data driven, numbers driven. And so that's why I felt really called to help wedding pros in particular because

as I was helping them make more money, I was realizing that that's not most people's kind of wiring is to have the nerd and creative sort of together. So I think like I'm so grateful for that. And basically, I think I decided like I wasn't available for the lifestyle that Britt and I had originally. Like we were almost $100,000 in student debt.

We were literally like splitting meals at Cheesecake Factory, like scraping by. And I wanted more. And I was surrounded by, because at that time I was working in higher education, I was surrounded by a lot of people who that was their normal. That was the lifestyle. And I was like, actually, like, I don't want that. Like, I want, you know.

I want to go to Punta Cana on vacation. I want to feel differently about debt. I want to pay the debt off. And so that was sort of just like, we got to figure out how to make that happen. And so that's sort of like, we both had full-time jobs. We were both getting our master's degrees and we were scaling the photography business. And so I think just like having that vision for myself in my life that I wasn't

Candice (04:47.267)

Right.

Erinn Bridgman (05:01.88)

going to settle for something different, like makes you show up different. And then just sort of the clarity of, I wanted to get rid of the debt. It was very heavy. Brent was the big believer in real estate. So if you want to touch on that part of our story, we can like talk about why we did that. But that's kind of like where it came from.

Candice (05:22.711)

Yeah, it sounds to me like you had this moment of awareness where you were kind of looking around at your own lifestyle and what you were going through, but then also looking around at some of your peers and colleagues who maybe were in the same position you were in and even several years advanced. So older than you and thinking like, this can't be what this is all about. Like there has to be a better way to make money, to build wealth.

to not have to keep repeating the same kind of broke cycle or eating the same meals at Cheesecake Factory, which by the way, Cheesecake Factory meals are huge. So I feel like you could split.

Erinn Bridgman (05:57.545)

Exactly.

Yeah, thank God. That's why I really like, thank God they're so huge because we were splitting them. Yeah, okay.

Candice (06:06.703)

Strategy, once again, strategy. Yeah, but it sounds to me like you were just looking around and saying like there has to be a better way. obviously you uncovered what that better way was. I actually love for you to talk a little bit about why real estate became a part of your strategy.

Erinn Bridgman (06:24.878)

Yeah, so Brent grew up with his dad had a duplex and that served him and still serves him in a massive ways. So that duplex, you know, is two doors. So two doors, one mortgage. And so Brent was like so into this real estate idea. I was like, once we started making money and it was really when we started to say, we need to actually do something with the money. We need to manage the money. We need to pay ourselves like.

We need to, you know, that's when it all clicked for us. And that's why I'm so passionate about helping that happen for other people. Brent was like, he very educated, like learning a lot in real estate, all this stuff. So it's actually a funny story. We went to bed one night and we were, was in a college town. I literally worked inside of the residence hall, like the dorm. Okay. So.

Candice (06:55.789)

Mm-hmm.

Erinn Bridgman (07:17.396)

I was like, Brent, if you really think that real estate's it and stuff, and I was starting to learn too, like, let's consider it. And I'm not kidding, I woke up the next morning and he was gone. And he called me on the phone and was like, I'm on my bike and I'm finding our first real estate investment property. So we did, we bought the first one in 2014, literally with the cash that the photography business paid us.

Candice (07:25.325)

Mm-hmm.

Candice (07:35.826)

that's so exciting. I love that.

Candice (07:43.768)

love.

Erinn Bridgman (07:44.018)

and we were able to kind of do some renovations. It became a two-door investment. It was a cash cow. It actually caught on fire. We got insurance money. There's a whole story around it. But that was the beginning of really understanding. We have these dollars that we need to go make them have a job. They need to go look at more money and not with us having to do much. And so that's the idea of like,

Candice (08:04.217)

Yeah.

Erinn Bridgman (08:13.422)

Every dollar needs to have a purpose and real estate became a big avenue for us to go give money a purpose and have it make us money. And the power of it is obviously there's lots of ways you make money in real estate. You make it through cash flow monthly. Your tenants are paying down your mortgage. So you're gonna have a paid down investment 25, 30 years. You're gonna own that property outright.

So when we say like, what's the girl's college plan? It's like literally that duplex down the street. That's the plan.

Candice (08:46.221)

Right, right. Yeah. Yeah, that's so exciting. It's so fascinating to me. It's something that Jason and I have talked about a lot recently, actually. It's like, how can we start to think about investing our money in different ways? And real estate is something that we're excited about. But in order to do that, we have to have some money. Now, I mean, you could use the bank's money, but you have to have some money coming in in order to be able to invest that money.

So I would love to kind of circle back to the beginning and in talking about money itself. So many women in the industry, they tell me the same story. They don't like numbers. They feel behind when it comes to money. They're not a numbers person. They're not a math person. And I have so many feelings about that, but my feelings are not important today. Your knowledge is what we're here for. why do you think avoidance to money is so common? And what do you wish?

women who say that to themselves new instead.

Erinn Bridgman (09:47.662)

Love this. Okay, so I like to pull back the curtain even more than your personal story. So each of us as women or as humans on this planet, we have a personal money story. We were taught things based upon our parents or other authority figures based on sort of our socioeconomic upbringing. But if we look at women in particular, situated in American history, it's pretty crazy to think about like

You could not open a bank account without a man until like the 1950s and you needed a man to open a credit card. Like you had to have, even if it wasn't your husband, like you had to have a man to sign for opening a credit card up until the 1960s. And so this is like a systemic thing that not, this is not just an individual story. This is something as women

that we're kind of up against, right? We have a very patriarchal society that throughout time, even that's less than 100 years ago that we would have to have a man. You know what mean? That's crazy. And even now, the way that media speaks to men versus women, like media will direct any sort of money conversations is very much around budgeting, saving when it comes to speaking to women.

Candice (10:55.949)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Erinn Bridgman (11:12.696)

When it's men, it's more about investing and growing. And you cannot save your way to wealth. Yes, there's a purpose and there's a spot for savings, but that's not going to make you wealthy. And so we understand that we are situated in this narrative that money has not been to our advantage and we're changing history. I mean, the way that women and what we see happening with women in the workforce and

as entrepreneurs and their ability to make money and stuff has grown significantly. But we can't forget how close the history is and that that certainly still runs through so much of like our subconscious wiring and how we interact. So I like to say, you know, it's not your fault. This is a bigger problem. And also I want it to be something that literally motivates people to say,

You're we're in the moment of changing history you changing your money story Is is changing legacy. It's changing like for the next generation. It's making impact and so as scary as it is and as big as like The avoidance can feel in the sweaty armpits you stepping into this can really change your own Family your own legacy and all of that So that's like I think a really important

context piece for people to like really digest.

Candice (12:41.517)

Yeah.

Yeah, that's so important. It's actually not the answer I thought you were going to give. And I love it. I love that how also that frees people up from any shame they might feel about not knowing their numbers or not paying attention to their numbers in their business. I know so many six figure business owners who, by the time they come to me, they've built a business that's recognized it's making money, but they don't understand how it's making money. They're not paying themselves and they feel a lot of shame around that. And what you just

I think helps to alleviate some of that shame. have a wild story to share though, little side tangent, but when I was trying to open up a bank account in Barbados, I didn't have any utilities in my name. They were all in my husband's name. And the bank told me that they couldn't open a bank account for me unless my husband wrote me a letter.

Candice (13:36.559)

Hahahaha

Erinn Bridgman (13:38.807)

What?

Candice (13:39.929)

said, excuse me. And this was a man telling me this on the phone. was like, excuse me. And he's like, yeah, we need your husband to write you a letter and state that he is your husband and that he manages all of the bills and this, that, the other thing. And I was like, I'm sorry. Is this the 1950s? My husband will not be writing me a letter to open up a bank account. I will find somebody else, another bank, which I did. But I thought that that was like, I'm like,

Erinn Bridgman (13:46.264)

I'm

Candice (14:08.367)

What decade am I living in? And how is this still a thing? Yeah, crazy, crazy. Yeah, crazy.

Erinn Bridgman (14:12.354)

Right? Yeah, it's prevalent, right? It's crazy. And the whole idea of like, you make this money, but you don't know where it's going and you don't, right? Many of us as wedding pros, like I kind of said, we fell in love with the craft. Like I fell in love with photography. People fall in love with doing makeup, or planning weddings. And then their friend hires them. And then their friend's friend hires them. They're like, my gosh, this can be a business.

Candice (14:25.197)

Right.

Erinn Bridgman (14:41.414)

And so you kind of inherit the task of not just planning the wedding or doing the makeup, but you have to wear that CFO hat as well. And they always say, you don't come out of the womb knowing anything. Like you're not born, you don't know how to use IO planner or you don't know how to shoot a camera on manual or whatnot. This is a skill that you can learn, but we're kind of fighting against the idea that we've been told we're bad at math or women.

Candice (14:52.782)

Right.

Erinn Bridgman (15:10.478)

And so we just need to understand, like normalize the shame, like it's okay. And this is a skill we can learn.

Candice (15:19.959)

Yeah, you can absolutely learn it. And I think Erin and I are both like proof of that. You can learn how to know your numbers. All it takes is a little curiosity and a little like against the patriarchy energy. And really that's all you need. So with that said, what's, what do think is one small, maybe even practical step that somebody listening could take if they've been ignoring their numbers out of fear, out of overwhelm, out of systemic

patriarchy stuff, what could they do today to just maybe

eliminate some of that overwhelm or fear and take a step in the right direction.

Erinn Bridgman (15:59.67)

to do micro steps because I think that's how habits are built. It's like small things over time. And I think so depending on where you're you're as a listener, your step could be different. I know like, in the past, I've had people just almost like hyperventilating, they don't even want to open their bank account and look at their bank account. So the step for you could literally be every day you just look at the bank account. And you're just building musculature to say like,

look at my numbers. I am the person who at least sees the bank account. So that could be like one really practical step. could be, well maybe that's not super terrifying for you, but maybe it's you need to log in and like look at your upcoming, like what you're bringing in in revenue and like start to look at the future side of your numbers and be like, okay, this is what I'm going to be bringing in.

And just kind of seeing that number and starting to build well, what should I be aiming for? What's the difference? So maybe you use honey book Maybe you use some sort of thing and you can see what you have booked out and so that gets you into like a very proactive energy with money and looking forward So those are two like really specific things that you could do

Candice (17:20.335)

Yeah, I love it. I think it's so smart. And micro steps are a great way to dip your toe into something and get comfortable, test the temperature of the water, see how it feels. And then before you know it, you're moving on to the next level step of whatever it is you're doing. Most of us also, I think most of us forget that as entrepreneurs, we actually have a lot of control over how

Erinn Bridgman (17:38.99)

Absolutely.

Candice (17:46.849)

we make our money and how much money we make more than if we were, let's say, like in a corporate job. I mean, it's the whole point of like opening up a business is like, we're supposed to be in control. However, what I see is people are not in control and they're like at every whim of whoever inquires or wherever the money is coming from. Could you kind of unpack the advantages you see that creatives have?

Erinn Bridgman (17:55.81)

Yeah

Candice (18:14.147)

when they finally decide to engage with their money and pay attention to their money and really start thinking about how they're spending their money, where it's going and where it's also coming from.

Erinn Bridgman (18:26.082)

Yes, love, I mean, this is why I love working with entrepreneurs is because we are like, we, somebody is not in charge of telling us what our salary is, which can be very scary, but can be very empowering as well. Like we don't have to go negotiate a salary raise. don't like, we can choose to look at the numbers and see what's making us the most money in our business. And let's sell more of that thing that has.

Candice (18:36.078)

Right.

Erinn Bridgman (18:54.222)

higher profitability or let's choose to book a few more additional weddings and instead of hiring out the assistant, I'll take it on so I can put higher profit in my pocket. And so we have the ability to go and generate money quickly in a way that many people do not have. And I say, you know, the two levers that you have when you're working with money is spend less or make more.

Because the goal is to have access so then you can go put your dollars to work somewhere in whatever way that is. Well, the energy of spending less kind of sucks. Sometimes it's necessary, like people always, they come to me, they think I'm like the money police or, my God, she's gonna tell me to cut my latte budget or something like that. I'm like, that's not the first go-to for me as working with entrepreneurs. The lover that's way more fun is go make more money.

Candice (19:35.001)

Yeah.

Candice (19:48.879)

You're right.

Erinn Bridgman (19:52.012)

That's a much more like right positive energy. Of course, sometimes we have to be really, we have to like look at like, where's the excess going? And if it's not going to good use, like cutting it. But I mean, you could buy yourself a latte every day for a whole year and probably pay for that with like one wedding alone, right? So getting into that energy and knowing how close you are to making decisions that

Candice (19:52.013)

Right.

Candice (20:10.957)

Right.

Erinn Bridgman (20:17.134)

literally put more money into your pocket right away is so powerful. I think also the risk tolerance of an entrepreneur, whether you feel like you're risk averse or have a high risk tolerance, you are a different anatomy as an entrepreneur because you're saying, I'm going to go to the marketplace with my service, my product, I'm going to exchange it for money. So that is a different wavelength than a lot of people who are more

I want to be secure. want to go to the nine to five. I want to get the paycheck. And then I also think like, especially for people who are listening to your show, who are your people, like you are into personal development. You want to learn. You're hungry. You have the AirPods in and you're listening to this conversation. And so that's a huge, massive advantage as well of like having a growth mindset already. So you're going to be more willing to probably

learn about money and learn about something that's intimidating than maybe others who don't have that personal sort of development edge.

Candice (21:23.011)

Yeah. You've mentioned energy a couple of times, and I think that's interesting. I wonder if somebody who is tuning into this podcast thought we'd go through like a step-by-step framework today that's like really strategy and like certain money-driven strategies. And we've been talking about mindset and energy so far, and we're building into a bigger conversation. But you mentioned energy a few times. so how do you connect energy to money?

Erinn Bridgman (21:51.906)

Well, you know, I say that you have to do both when it comes to the money work. You have to do the tactical management, looking at the profitability, understanding the cashflow, all that stuff. But you won't do that work unless you do the deeper work or you won't sustain the work, right?

If you continue to put on the belief of, I'm not good at numbers, I'm not good with that, this is so scary, how can you in that identity then be the person who looks at the numbers, manages it, pays yourself more, right? We have to change our relationship with money and when we do that, we're able to then execute the management piece and sustain it. And in the same way,

As you're starting to do that, as you start to look at the bank account every day or begin to do the work, you you grow that muscle and you start to think it plays into your mindset and like, okay, I do, I can look at my numbers. Okay, this is not as scary. Like money can be supportive. So when we do both of the pieces, it builds on each other and we build like an ability to.

not just change the right now and like, okay, I can pay myself this, but change like our relationship moving forward with money. And that's, we want sustainability.

Candice (23:19.875)

Yeah. Right. We want strategy and sustainability.

with our numbers and our business. And mindset has a huge role to play when it comes to money. We all have our own hangups about money, our beliefs about money, how we view money. I've been really trying to practice this abundance mindset where I'm like, I'm just inviting whoever wants to take advantage of what I have to offer. I'm inviting them into my world and I know it's all going to work out and I'm not going to stress about money on my end. I'm not going to stress about business stuff. I'm just going to invite, I'm opening up a door and whoever shows up,

Erinn Bridgman (23:38.531)

What?

Candice (23:55.265)

and wants to walk through it, I'm inviting them in. And that has been so great for me. Instead of feeling like I've got to meet the sales goal or I've got to get this number, I'm leaving it a little more open-ended. And what I'm finding is, I'm actually like not spending so much energy on the wrong things as it relates to making money.

Erinn Bridgman (24:16.782)

Wow.

And you and I, touched on this like the abundant stuff, like just a tiny bit when we were talking in July at Julie. And I love that you brought this up because what you put out, you are going to see more of that and you're going to attract more of that. like in a very tangible way with money, naturally our brain is wired with a negativity bias, which is

Candice (24:26.061)

Yeah.

Erinn Bridgman (24:46.164)

on purpose to help us survive. It's to see the threats, to see the things that could be a problem, to have that have a higher stimulus and bring attention to that. So when it comes to money, you're going to naturally do that because that's literally how your brain's wired. So you're going to see the unexpected bill or this was way higher or this cancellation happened and you're going to focus on that more than, but I got two other bookings, right? It's like the one review that just

is horrible and you have 20 amazing ones, but you let that one review like kill you, right? So the same thing happens with money. And so I love to do the abundance practice and just like you're what you're kind of explaining. This is like real tactical, but I have my students literally track how much money comes into their world. We create like a 10 day challenge and any way that money comes in. So it's like the parking meter is prepaid. My friend like brought me

Candice (25:18.627)

Yeah.

Erinn Bridgman (25:42.882)

her they delivered the wrong size diapers and she brought me type I mean like okay that's value that's and then what happens is is as you start focusing on that energy and you start focusing wow money is all around me like money this just came this just came that's what you're looking for that's what you're going to find more of and that's so important

Candice (25:49.23)

Right.

Candice (26:02.851)

Right. Yeah. I love that you teach this and you have a whole method behind it, which I think is so fantastic. I was listening to a podcast. was Mel Robbins podcast, and she was interviewing this neuroscientist who was talking about exactly this and how, you know, manifestation, which I'm not a woo person, but I am like woo adjacent. Yes.

Erinn Bridgman (26:24.11)

And it made up his place with like brain science. It's not even real.

Candice (26:28.079)

No, it's not even woo at all. I mean, I think there's people out there who are teaching it that are like maybe not on the up and up, but it was really fascinating. I'll link it in the show notes for anybody who wants to go and listen to it. It was a really fascinating conversation. And it really made me start thinking about manifestation a little bit differently and got me thinking about a lot of different things. It was just fascinating to hear.

Erinn Bridgman (26:34.081)

Yeah.

Erinn Bridgman (26:49.024)

Is it the interview where he talks about like having an action board board versus a vision board? I love her. It's to her or something. Dr. To her. can't remember. Yeah, I love that. Yeah.

Candice (26:55.198)

Yes.

Candice (27:01.519)

from the UK, I think. I think she had a British accent. She was fantastic. And it was just everything about the episode was so great. I would listen to it again. So I'll put it in the show notes. it is speaking to the science to back up what Erin is telling you about, which I think a lot of us like to see a mixture of two, where we have a little bit of woo, but then also science-backed. Yeah. So another question I have for you.

Erinn Bridgman (27:09.698)

That's it.

Candice (27:28.663)

a lot of creatives, they assume that they can just hire like a bookkeeper or accountant in their business. And then that's going to magically solve all their money problems. And of course, you know, having somebody, a partner to look at your money is great, but that's also not necessarily, well, you don't think that that's necessarily enough. And so I'd like to understand more about why you think hiring a bookkeeper and account isn't enough.

Erinn Bridgman (27:53.006)

Right, this is something like people are like, okay, well, I don't need to do that work because I already have a bookkeeper. like, oh no, I know the bookkeeper. So you have to put on the hat of being the CEO, the CFO of your business. Literally nobody else could do that. A bookkeeper's job is to reconcile transactions. that's which, depending on your stage of business should not be something that you do. It should be something that you outsource because

it's tedious work that you can outsource for pretty low cost. So depending on where you're on your business, that's smart, right? But they're literally just going into QuickBooks or whatever software you use and taking this receipt and saying that is groceries and that is, you know, whatever. And an accountant for the most part is just helping you say like tax compliant, hopefully helping you with deductions and some tax strategy. But many times accountants, especially I,

with the clients I work with, they meet with their accountant once for taxes, maybe twice. This is not strategy. This is not, this is managing half of the picture. And I talk about this in the training about we need to have a 360 view of our number and what all that entails because you can't make decisions that are forward-facing decisions based on past information. I mean, we can gather data, we can gather

trends we can kind of see, like how can you pay yourself more if you actually don't know what your bank account will be in three months? So you're the only one who can set the goal, make the decisions, predict cashflow, profitability, make calls, and that really is your role. And again, I hope this goes back into that conversation we said about this is the...

Candice (29:24.825)

Right, yeah.

Erinn Bridgman (29:42.964)

awesome advantage as an entrepreneur is that when you do this work it literally will put more money in your pocket.

Candice (29:48.557)

Yeah, it's so true. It's so true. Well, I'd love to shift into paying yourself because this is something that I know you're so passionate in helping wedding pros and women and creative entrepreneurs finally figure out how to pay themselves not just a livable wage, but the salary that they desire.

You work with your private clients on this. You work with people in other programs on this. And so we've been talking about mindset. And I think if I'm assuming this correctly, paying yourself probably begins with your mindset. And so what do you think is the biggest shift someone needs to make in their mindset around actually paying themselves?

Erinn Bridgman (30:29.954)

Yes. So what I have seen, and maybe you can say you've seen the same or something similar, is people often in the wedding industry, I see them paying themselves least last and inconsistently. And the inconsistency is because of seasonality. You know, a majority of us make, you know, significant money in certain times of the year, and then we have slow seasons.

That was the case for me as a wedding photographer. You know, we had lots of cash coming in in those final payments during like the spring and the fall and then other parts were dead. But you can pay yourself consistently with seasonality if you know your numbers. If you can see a full year of what, which is like a full cycle.

You can still, you just have to not pay yourself when you see the bank account at like, oh my gosh, it's really high. I'm just going to draw it out. Cause you might've just spent money that's meant for some expenses that you have due in four months. You know? Yeah. Yeah. 100%. Right. And so we paying yourself though, and

Candice (31:34.063)

Yeah.

Candice (31:38.285)

Yeah, like to the IRS. Yeah, like your quarterly taxes.

Erinn Bridgman (31:49.61)

What are you saying to yourself when you pay yourself lease last and consistently? When you say that everybody else is more important and all the other bills, you know, and the team and all of that, from a psychological subconscious, it's kind of like this worthiness story is playing. Like you're really like devaluing your time, your energy, your risk that you're putting out there. And so when I'm working with people and

This is like, there's no shame, right? I just really want to say like, and I get to see so many behind the scenes of people's numbers. I mean, I see multi six figure entrepreneurs barely paying themselves. So wherever you're at, starting to put yourself on salary, even if it's 500 bucks a month, what that signaling is, is I'm a priority.

pay is a priority. I'm putting that as a I am not available for anything less than that from my company. Now you can't you're good. You can't go too far with it because you have to know the numbers to be able to like but we can put on a small amount and change the mindset and I always say it needs to be automatic. I work with we need to make money and automations as much as possible because it it removes the human element.

Candice (33:00.558)

Yeah.

Erinn Bridgman (33:13.304)

that freaks out, that's like, maybe it won't happen. It's better to put it on auto and have to pause it than every month you have to make the decision to pay yourself that.

Candice (33:22.327)

You're so right about that. Yeah, you're so right about that. Yeah, the auto taking the auto puts it out of your hands and then it's done for you, which a lot of people just need in order to get it done. And listen, if you're not willing to pay yourself $500 a month to start like that, you have to start somewhere. You have to make a conscious effort to begin. If you want to change the story you have around.

money. And this is what Erin was talking about the very beginning of the podcast when you were sharing your story and saying, well, I looked around and felt like, okay, wait a minute, this doesn't work for me. I don't want this for myself, but I have the power to change my story. So let me do that. paying yourself 500 bucks a month is the step in the right direction of changing your money story and finally starting to prioritize your needs. And I see it all the time and I joke about it, but it's a real thing.

where everybody gets paid before you get paid. Your intern, your light bill, your business coach, everybody is getting paid before you. And that does not make any sense to me at all. But I also know how easy it is when you are in startup mode to constantly reinvest in your business and pay everyone. But the problem is is that you've got six figure sales.

businesses that are making six figure and stales, but they're still in a startup mindset. And you've got to, you have to break that or else nothing is going to change.

Erinn Bridgman (34:49.848)

percent.

Erinn Bridgman (34:56.078)

and doing this, pay yourself first, $50, $500, whatever, $1,000, it's changing the identity. You have to begin to change the identity before you can move into it, if that makes sense. So I have people do this like future wealthy self-exercise and they talk about what their life is like three years from now and really descriptive, really clear and...

And what we do is we pick out things from that that they can begin to do now. And so like one client, one of the things she had is she physically got the newspaper in her future wealthy self. That was something she could responsibly step into right away and part two. And then when you start doing that, then you start putting on that identity more and more. And then that person,

Candice (35:44.088)

Right.

Erinn Bridgman (35:52.142)

well, I just said this to another client. Like, well, you say your future self is this million dollar self, which I love. But does that person have like sell that offer that you already know has like 30 % less profitability than the rest? Because she was wrestling with a do I take it down for my website? And and so then we start but we start like making decisions from that future self.

Candice (36:17.421)

Yeah, it's huge shift too when you start to just be the business owner your business needs, the one that you keep dreaming about in the future. You have to become that person today or at least take one step to start thinking like that person. And I love that newspaper analogy because it's like, well, you desire to be a person who reads the newspaper and the financial section of the newspaper every day. Well, like what's stopping you from doing that? You can at least afford a newspaper, right? Yeah.

Erinn Bridgman (36:43.702)

Exactly. Everyone listening now, you could dream of that and you could think of one thing that you could do that embraces that identity of that future person. But often we don't even give ourselves the space to really tap into that energy, into that vision and see what that is for us.

Candice (36:55.918)

Yeah.

Candice (37:03.351)

It's true. We don't actually. And there's not a lot of opportunities for that space to be opened for us by someone either, where we can really think like that and have a safe place to dream bigger than maybe what we might've shared with our partner or friends or colleagues. I think it's so important to be able to have safe spaces where you can talk about money. You can talk about what you hope to make with money and what wealth looks like to you. Being able to normalize those conversations makes the conversations normal.

Erinn Bridgman (37:32.866)

Yes, and it's crazy. It's so crazy how taboo money is and I get it. It's it's like worse than talking about sex. like people just like, and I'm like, every human on the planet needs money. why is this? We have to have it to survive and more money in the hands of really great people will really help the world change. And so the more we can step into having the conversation,

Candice (37:33.538)

Yeah.

Candice (37:37.508)

Yeah.

Candice (37:45.368)

Right.

Candice (37:49.336)

Right.

Erinn Bridgman (38:01.258)

the more comfortable we can become on this topic.

Candice (38:03.887)

Yes, very much so. final question is about how we're generating money and sort of the mindset that if I just book a few more weddings, or if I just raise my rates to things that are two levers that a lot of wedding pros like to pull, they think, okay, I need to book more or I need to raise my rates. By money stress will go away. Like, it's going to be so much easier, right? That's that's the obvious. Why doesn't that

necessarily make more revenue or why doesn't more revenue automatically solve the problems that you might find yourself in right now where you cannot pay yourself?

Erinn Bridgman (38:46.978)

Right. And I agree. Like, and the solution is often what you've said. Raise the prices. Book more, which is only part. And that's like where we come back to that conversation. said, well, who cares if you book $500,000 if it costs you $500,000 to book that. That's not more money in your pocket. And often if you see more money coming in,

Candice (38:52.942)

Right.

Candice (39:08.045)

Right.

Right?

Erinn Bridgman (39:15.788)

and you don't have a system and a structure, you'll often find yourself having more money go out. Like, well, I went to this wedding, so now I can afford that camera or that a piece of equipment or to hire this person for social media. And so we have to be obsessed with profitability, not revenue. And so more money into your business.

Candice (39:23.377)

yeah.

Erinn Bridgman (39:45.15)

is not an automatic of more money into your personal world. And when you don't know the numbers, when you don't know, actually when I sell that package, it's way, if I sold two of these, I would have to sell three of these to make up one of those, right? If you don't understand what actually is at the bottom line, then you might be generating sales for

not the best profitability or you know all these types of things or choosing to be like spending money that's actually reserved for taxes or slow season and things like that. So we find ourselves then in this situation where we can't trust the money, we can't trust ourselves with the money, even if we're making all this money where the heck is it? And that's why we have to move out of avoidance and we have to have a system.

And that's what I'm super passionate about teaching people.

Candice (40:47.535)

Yeah. Oh, I love that. I mean, when you put it into perspective, it's like you could bring in it. What's the difference between a business that makes $500 in sales and spends $500 in order to make that money and a business that makes $0 nothing. There's literally the actually the, well, yeah. I mean, the only difference is, is the $500,000 business owner is literally making money for other people. Everyone except themselves and they're working probably

Erinn Bridgman (41:02.03)

I spent a lot of time and energy and heartache.

Candice (41:17.007)

80 hours a week to make money for everyone but themselves. It makes no sense. And when you really look at it through that lens, I mean, I hope you can see that that's not sustainable, but it also doesn't have to be that way because I also know plenty of wedding pros and plenty of creative business owners who pay themselves a salary and who are making money in their business and they're not booking more weddings or having to raise their price.

in order to do that. And so you have this awesome free masterclass where you are teaching people about the framework that you teach. And Erin and I knew that you didn't just want to have this conversation today around money. We knew that you would love to take this a step further and actually have tools that you can put into action. And so

she teaches this incredible masterclass. It's called the Wedding Pro Profit Blueprint. And I'm sort co-sponsoring the class with her. I'll be there to listen in. And it's a fantastic class. And so for the person listening who feels booked, you feel busy, but you also feel broke or broker than you'd like to feel, maybe you want a $7 million real estate.

Empire. Maybe you want to get your first door in real estate, which is a term that I just kind of learned, which is exciting. This is your next step. So Erin, I would love it if you could share with those listening how they can register for this free masterclass, which is coming up next week. And we'll drop the date in here and the time so you know what it is. But if you could just share with us a little bit more about this free masterclass and what they'll walk away with.

Erinn Bridgman (43:08.674)

Yes, amazing. So we are planning for this together, which I'm so excited to be able to bring this to your community. And we are planning for it Tuesday, October 14th at 12 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. So you can register with the link in the show notes. It's go.AaronBridgeman.com slash Masterclass Candace. So this is literally a private training.

just for your people and I'm so honored and excited and we're going to get into deeper more tactical strategy there than we can on a podcast. I'm going to walk people through my four part framework that helps you not just make more money which it will help you make more money but it will help you make more money that pays you more money and the goal is not just more money like we've talked about because everyone wants more money more money in your

Candice (43:58.477)

Ooh.

Erinn Bridgman (44:05.56)

Personal world so we're gonna talk about four ways to do that and we're also gonna talk about You know, I've talked about real estate here. We've touched on a few things but Okay, what do you do when it comes into your personal world and a lot of people don't necessarily know exactly like what's the right strategy? What's the right so I'm gonna talk through my five tenets of personal wealth creation

so that people can really start to understand what is their priority for what they want their business to do for them financially in the next six months of their lives. So we're gonna break that down as well.

Candice (44:44.431)

Guys, go and register for this class. It's completely 100 % free. It's packed with very valuable information that is easy for you to digest and understand. I find that Erin breaks things down in such a simple, but not basic, but simple, easy to understand, relatable way. She is a wedding pro, so she completely understands the nuances of our work and our industry. She's totally

been where you've been and she's helped so many wedding pros move past this kind of feast and famine cycle in your business to start paying yourself and then generating more for yourself and then turning that into wealth. And as Erin says, making your dollars work, like making them work for you to make more dollars. We like multiplying dollars. like

Erinn Bridgman (45:35.702)

Yes! Let's make money, have more money babies for everybody. Yes!

Candice (45:40.311)

Yes, I want, I don't want real babies. want money babies. Right? They don't cry. They don't need food. No.

Erinn Bridgman (45:43.756)

Money babies. Yes. Yeah. They pay for things you love. They don't cost you money. It's great. Yeah, it's awesome.

Candice (45:54.787)

They buy you cocktails like they take you on trips. We love money babies. So please go and register for this masterclass. I'm going to be there live as well. Aaron and I are super excited to do this together. I've never done something like this, but Aaron and I are in a mastermind together and we got to talking and I was like, I would love to bring this training to my community because so many people struggle with this exact issue.

and it's something that's solvable. That's the good news here. And that's what I want you to walk away with today is that everything we've discussed, your fear of money, money cycles, the situations you might find yourself in in your business financially, it doesn't have to stay this way. And in fact, the solution, the antidote isn't as difficult as you think. So if you've been avoiding opening your bank account or looking at your numbers or doing CFO style stuff because it feels hard, you don't know what you're doing, it's scary, it's

big girl business shit. I want you to know that it's it's a lot easier than you think. And what ends up happening once you start to know your numbers and Aaron can absolutely attest to this, you become obsessed with your money. You become like you go from one type of person to a person who is like money focused, obsessed with your numbers really dialed in celebrating those numbers, watching them come in, it completely flips.

your personality in the best of ways. I, and it's happened to me.

Erinn Bridgman (47:19.15)

It's so true. I love it. I love it when people are like, come to me and whatever program, if it's Painting Empowerful, if it's one-on-one and they're so, and I'm like, don't you worry. You just wait just a moment. You're gonna be a totally different person.

Candice (47:31.023)

Yeah.

Yeah. And you go through like, I went through a phase where maybe Erin, you see this too, where at first I got really angry at myself. like, how did you spend all this money on this dumb stuff? What were you thinking? What were you doing? Why were you doing this? But a lesson was so learned in that, that I could never turn a blind eye to again. Like it completely changed me and I needed to harness not shame, but frustration, anger, and just saying, wow, you made

terrible decisions like, you're never doing that again, because I'm in charge now. And now that I'm in charge, we're we are going to be much better. So I went from getting angry to then being that anger turning into motivation. And then when you start making money, you feel really fussy about yourself. And you just you know how much is coming in, you know what is going out, you feeling good. And you know, yes, and you also begin to realize that

Erinn Bridgman (48:09.56)

next.

Erinn Bridgman (48:24.046)

you

Erinn Bridgman (48:27.566)

You're feeling like a boss.

Candice (48:36.087)

You can make money at any time and you will always be able to fill in the money gaps that might happen throughout the season or throughout the year. And that you don't have to live in fear or in scarcity about money because money will come to you frequently and often so long as you know where to look. Yeah. Okay. So you're going to go to go.

Erinn Bridgman (48:57.218)

love it. Yes! What the frickin' is this?

Candice (49:04.227)

dot Aaron Bridgeman dot com slash masterclass Candace, but I've made this easy. Just if you're listening to this on your podcast player, it's right in the show notes. Just click the link, go and register. It's completely free. you're going to join us live, mark your calendar. We'll see you both. We'll see you there. And I can't wait to explore your framework and how you're going to take us from where we are now into being like a money bad ass.

Erinn Bridgman (49:33.09)

Yes, okay, I cannot wait. I'm so excited to meet everyone. So we're gonna have a ton of fun and get ready to really dive in and wherever you're at in your journey, you're gonna walk away with shifts both in your thinking and tactically from this time. So it's gonna be great.

Candice (49:40.525)

Yay!

Candice (49:50.383)

Yeah, it's gonna be the best lunch hour you've had in a long time. So we will see you there. Aaron, thank you so much for such a great conversation. I've loved talking money with you. I could talk money with you all the time. And thankfully, I'll see you very soon to talk about money. So that makes me happy. But thank you so much for your time today and for sharing all your knowledge.

Erinn Bridgman (50:08.91)

you

Erinn Bridgman (50:12.928)

amazing. Thanks for having me, Candace.

Candice (50:15.855)

All right guys, go and register for that masterclass. I will see you there. And I wanna remind you, there's so much power in your purpose. I'll see you over in the masterclass and I'll see you right back here next week.