131. Money Talk with Clare Wood

Talking about money might be uncomfortable... but if you want the money to FLOW the voice has gotta FLOW first. I invited Money Mindset coach Clare Wood to explain - WHY it's important to talk about money - WHAT are the tricky questions to answer and HOW you can learn to confidently speak about finance!

To connect with Clare head to instagram @clare_wood_coach

Transcript

Money, money, money. I could not introduce an episode about money talk without a subpar rendition of ABBA. If you want to be a confident communicator, you need to be confident communicating about those topics that are perhaps a little bit tricky and awkward to talk about, like, money. I'm Sally Prosser. Welcome to That Voice Podcast.

I can vouch for this firsthand if you are confident speaking about your numbers, your pricing, your sales, your profit. If you are confident and comfortable speaking about money, money will be more confident and comfortable to flow into your business and your life. And what better person to speak about this than the wonderful Clare Wood.

So Clare is a money mentor who uses her number powers for good. And she's all about empowering women to take control of their money and make a shitload more of it. We love that philosophy here on That Voice Podcast. Now, before we dive in, if you want to be able to speak confidently, clearly, and from your soul, then get in for presale of my next to six-week course, Speak From Your Soul. This will take you. all the steps you need to access your soul's voice, and you will leave this course with such a clear connection to what your voice is and what you want to say. That you won't compare yourself to others, you'll show up with confidence and you'll sound so easy and pleasant to listen to because connection to others starts with connection to self.

That is Speak From Your Soul. Jump on the details in the show notes. Pause now, get on the list. And now, it's time for money talk.

Sally: Clare Wood, Money Magician, my dear friend. It is so great to have you on the podcast and I apologize it took so many episodes to get you here.

Clare: Well it's great to be here. Thanks for having me.

Sally: So why are you so passionate about helping women get confident with their money?

Clare: Well, a big thing that I find is that women in particular tend to avoid the uncomfortable subject of money. And you know, something that we see is that a lot of women, um, are ending up in poverty. And what I find is that it, it's not really about stepping into the place of, um, of being in charge when it comes to your money.

A lot of people don't take that, that step and say, Yes, I'm really, really ready to be in the driver's seat. And I specifically love to help business owners to, to master their money and to really understand what's going on with their financials. So I guess that's how I got to be where I am today, is because I really wanna help and empower women to become, you know, a lot more careful with their money and mindful with their money.

Sally: Love that. And it is a bit taboo, in society, it's that uncomfortable conversation. Do you find there's a lot of people who have that belief that money's not something you should talk about?

Clare: Oh, a hundred percent. And I see this a lot in my content and my conversations that I have with, with women business owners.

There's this discomfort around it. People shy away. And I even notice when I talk about specific numbers that people get really, sometimes a bit embarrassed, a bit uncomfortable when I ask people, you know, Where are you at in your business? They get very, very uncomfortable to, to share. And um, I really love to empower people to say, Let's start having these conversations about both the good and the bad. Like let's share when things are going well in business and empower other women to know what is possible. And equally, I love to also have the conversations when you know things aren't going so well. Because sometimes in the online world it all looks perfect on the outside and actually, everyone has tough times as a business owner. So I love to talk about, you know, the, the good side and also the, the other side of, of money as well, so that people know that they're not so alone if it's not going, going to plan for them.

Sally: Mm. So what do you find are the most, maybe not awkward questions, but the, the things that people find most difficult to verbalize?

Clare: Yeah, so I think definitely talking about their income, their profitability, and also I see pricing is a very uncomfortable topic for a lot of business owners I see. You know, when it comes to having a money conversation with a potential client, people get really.

Awkward about it when it comes to putting their prices out there on their website. Again, sometimes people just shy away from it and, they won't put it out there. They say, What if people judge me? What if potential clients don't wanna come and work with me because they see what I charge? And, um, I just think that the overall, a topic of money is quite awkward, but those are the biggies.

Talking about income, profitability, and um, and pricing is another big, big one.

Sally: And with the voice, I know this firsthand because I've been through it. I'm a business owner, and what can happen to the voice is everything's going along swimmingly. You're sounding confident, and they're like, Oh, how much is it?

Oh, mm...!

The pitch of the voice goes up and you get that little rising inflection on the end, like, Oh, so it's a hundred dollars? Then like, it's like the, the volume goes more quiet, the inflection goes up, , and even though we might be saying what the words, the way the voice sounds behind it is not giving any confidence to our client.

So I know that I, as a voice coach, give my clients lots of voice exercises. It's what we do. So I was wondering with what you do, do you do anything similar? Like where you get people to, I don't know, walk around the house and practice their pricing as saying it out loud, that kind of thing?

Clare: So one of the things that I love to do is work on people's mindset because I believe that if you are going into a conversation and you are a hundred percent confident about your pricing, your offer, then your potential clients can absolutely feel that through your voice, through your body language, and just the way you hold yourself when you're having that conversation.

And I know I can see it myself as well. If I'm selling something in and I'm like, Oh my gosh, I'll put the price up. I can feel myself getting anxious when, I say the new price as compared to, you know if I've been selling something at a certain price point for a while. It's like, Of course, that's how much it is.

Everyone pays me that. And so what I do is encourage people to be in that state, even if they don't necessarily feel it inside if that makes sense. And we do that by reprogramming how they're thinking about things like going into an offer or a conversation. So recently I launched a new course, and I am such a believer I have never launched something so confidently in my life.

I knew that it would transform the lives of people who came into the course. And so when I was selling it, because I was just in such a state of Everyone has to buy this thing! I was so, so sure of it, and that is why. It was such a successful launch because people could sense that in, in my delivery, they could see my passion.

They could see my confidence in the pricing and the offer.

Sally: You hear it in your voice.

Clare: I could hear in your voice, but I think that for me, you know, I'm not so much about the voice per se, I'm about the thinking that is behind the voice. And you know, this is something that's extremely, like, what are the stories that you're telling yourself?

And Sally, I know that you talk about this all the time in this space of public speaking, but if you are going into a conversation being like, they're gonna say no, people are gonna think that I'm a show of, people are gonna think that I'm ripping them off. If these are the conversations that you're having with yourself inside your head, of course that's gonna be reflected in your body, in your voice, in the way that you are having that conversation. So if we can start to reprogram the mind before we are going in, then what's happening in our, in our body, in our voice will be a reflection of what we're feeling on the inside. So that's the work that I do is on the mindset, on reprogramming.

Like for example, with price, I'll have clients say to me, No one's gonna. I'll be like, Well, I paid someone who does the exact same thing as you that, and they're like, Really? I'm like, Yeah, I didn't even think it was expensive. So if I fall into that category, there's gonna be other people that fall into that category.

So I'm, I'm helping them to break down the stories or the fears that are coming up for them and really be in a space of going in with confidence. And then that is reflected in the conversations in the way that they present in their voice, all of those things.

Sally: Yeah. That's why I personally am such a big fan of seeing other women share their financial wins online. Like I know hearing figures from people like yourself, Clare, and others in the space, it gives that permission to be able to say, Yes, I am worth this. Because that's what it really comes down to, doesn't it? When we're having that in a conversation with ourselves where we are doubting if we say no one will pay.

I guess we are really saying that we don't think we're worth it

Clare: A hundred percent. A hundred percent. And when and when you step into that space of worthiness in, in any area of your life, that's what you're gonna attract for

Sally: Sure. And what about the role of other people in our life, especially if there's relationships?

Our partner might not be in business and is really in that idea of, oh, no one talks about their salary and, you know, it's all been hush-hush. Would you encourage open conversations about money to everybody or do you think there's still an element of, keeping something hush?

Clare: Oh, that's such an interesting topic because, um, the listeners might not know, but I'm a mom of, uh, two young boys and they're aged five and seven, and it is sort of a bit of a delicate dance because we talk about money quite openly.

You know, our children will say, How much is it gonna be to, to build the dream house? And we'll say, you know, it's gonna be about one to one and a half million dollars. And our kids are like, Whoa, . And, um, I'm also like, maybe don't tell your teacher that. So it's kind of balancing the, you know, societal norms. You know, I, uh, I certainly talk in my, in my social media a about money and things like that, but I guess within my family environment, my wider family environment, for example, you know, perhaps talking to my parents about money, uh, that they sort of obviously don't, aren't quite on the same page and I don't feel necessarily that I need to have those conversations with them because they're not in the space, but in the online business world, I really want to bring it to the forefront, have those conversations openly and empower other people to say, Hey, the more that we all talk about this and normalize success and normalize charging our work, then the more that other people will say, Wow, if she can do it, I can do it. And I know certainly for me, that seeing my role models early on in my business journey, talking about money and sharing their successes and just being, I guess, Down to earth as well. I think sometimes we can idolize rich people or wealthy people and think they need to be eloquent or stunning or young or, I used to have a ton of stories about what successful people had to look like or be like, and some of my early role models, I was like, She's not even wearing shoes.

And she's a, and she's a multimillionaire! Um, she's just down. Person who's got an Australian accent and isn't particularly eloquent or well-spoken, and I found that really inspiring. So that's what I love to do. But yes, I totally understand what you mean. Sometimes people outside of the business world might not necessarily understand or even really need to be a part of those, those conversations.

Absolutely.

Sally: And that's why I feel it's so important to seek out coaches and, uh, communities with other like-minded people so you can have those conversations and feel that flow. I find it interesting, I was just talking with a client about this morning, is the word currency, You know, another word for money is, is currency.

And currency is flow. And for our voice, we need to have the flow of oxygen. So the more we can flow the oxygen and speak about money, the more we can call in money into our lives. And it's all connected.

Clare: I love that idea. I love that too. .

Sally: So my next question is, is what would you say are the key things? I feel like I'm gonna get called out here with this question before I read it.

What are, what are the key things women in business should be able to articulate clearly in regards to money? Now I feel like I know what you're gonna ask me, and I don't have the answer to the question. However, it will make it rhetorical. So you're a woman in business and one of the questions you should know, I know the first one should be: profit.

Clare: Yeah, look, I am all about profit, so, um, if the listeners don't know my background, I'm actually qualified accountant by trade. And one of the things that I do see in the online world is that people talk about sales all the time. They say the million dollar business. I've, I've had made six figures in my business, and I sort of found this really curious because I've come from a corporate background in accounting and in corporate world, everything is profit and your sales is simply a subset.

So, for example, a, a business would never publish a report that says we made $10 million cuz the shareholders speak, well, how much of that is actual? Like, how much do we get to keep? So when I came to small business land, I found it really curious that everyone talks leads with sales. And I'm on a mission to teach business owners that profit is far more important than sales.

And I've created my, a whole course around, it's called the Profit Academy Foundations, to teach business owners to understand their finances and to, to actually just look at them. I talk about having money meetings, which is this time where you carve out to actually just sit down, look at your financials, and to understand them, to really dive into the scariness of it.

Don't be like, Oh, you know, I'm making a hundred thousand dollars a year. It's like, you, you could be making a hundred thousand dollars a year. I'm making no profit at all, and even running at a loss. So for me, the one of the big, big things that I, I really empower business owners to look at is their profitability and to look at it every single month. I also believe that cash is another big thing. So cash is separate to profit. You can have a profitable business and still run out of cash and still be like, I can't afford to pay my team member or my invoice, or whatever it is. So cash is another big key metric. And another thing that I am such an advocate for is budgeting.

So many business owners, I would say, 95% of business owners, maybe even more small business owners do not do a budget.

Sally: So is that the question where you say, Okay, do you have a budget?

Clare: Absolutely. It's the first thing that I ask anyone. And honestly, like I think in my, I I, you know, I've been a, a money mentor for nearly seven years now, and I think I've only ever had one person who's told me they have one.

And again, this is me bringing my, my corporate background into to small business thinking is saying, You know, when it comes to profit, you need to have a plan. You need to know, well, how much am I investing? How much sales is that gonna deliver back to me? To, to know that your business is viable and worthwhile, and all of this stress and time and energy and effort that you're putting into your business, you're doing it with intent.

You're being clear about the profitability that you're wanting to create. And um, again, I find that people get really scared when I say the words budget or profit and things like that. I'm like, it's, it's actually not that hard. Like when, you know how, and that's something that people say to me all the time.

They're like, Oh. It's actually not that complicated . And I said, Don't let, don't tell everyone because your accountant will freak out that they know that it's not that hard. But that's what I would say the the key, the key things that I think that business owners need to be doing.

Sally: Because it's just another story that we tell ourselves is, Oh, it's too hard, it's too complicated.

I'm a words person, not a numbers person. So all of that just complicates it when you can step forward and learn it and understand it and get the clarity. Around the finance of the business and around money in general. Then that translates into the clarity to be able to communicate value as well, I believe.

Clare: And something that I think that a lot of business owners forget, right?

We are in business to make a profit. We're in business because we have a desire or a dream for a bigger life. And at the end of the day, the profit is the money that you get to keep the, the profit is the money that you get to go on holidays with, that you get to buy a nice car with, that you're gonna use to build your dream home or whatever your, your big desires are.

And yet most business owners are just letting their money. Slips through their fingers and and hoping that it comes out okay and that they have enough money left at the end of the month. And I wanna say to people, you, it doesn't need to be like that. You can be in the driver's seat and you can say, I know what I need to be doing.

I know confidently that I'm gonna have enough cash to pay all of my bills this month. And um, yeah, the confidence obviously attracts more in turn as well. So , it has a beautiful knock on effect.

Sally: Yeah, I know my, I was a little bit self-deprecating earlier, however, I do feel like I have a good handle on my finances and it's really helped confidence across all other areas of me as a business owner. It's, I'm a more confident leader, more confident coach, more confident partner. You know, it's sort of like that, that queen of coin, when you are in control of the finances, it just translates in every other way. Clare, you speak so beautifully and clearly about money. You do have your own podcast, the Clare Wood Podcast.

However, you weren't always confident to show up on camera and speak at events and do this kind of thing, were you?

Clare: Oh, I've got a story for your listeners. So, look, my first podcast I was a guest on, it's called the Mums with Hustle Podcast, and she's got a really quite a big following and, um, I, I pitched to go on the podcast and she said, We started talking and I had a panic attack.

I couldn't speak. I got so nervous. I was visualizing thousands of people all around the world listening and I just couldn't speak and I was like, oh, you know, all the things that you talk about, Sally, like the heart racing, the throat was tightening up. I was shaking, like, shaking, shaking, shaking like a leaf. And I couldn't concentrate because all I could think about was how every part of my body was trembling and closing up and starting to shut down.

And so I, I said to her, I've gotta stop. And she's like, What? And I said, I've, I've gotta stop the, the recording. I, I, I can't do this. And I had to stop the recording. And that was my very first experience, on a podcast and a lot of people in the space of, of public speaking can have a, a terrible experience and say, I can't do this.

The first time that I spoke to my camera, you know, doing, um, Instagram stories where you talk to your phone, I started crying. I stumbled over my words. I was so, so nervous, but I knew that I have a purpose and a passion, and I knew that speaking was part of that and I had to push through the discomfort because I wanted to make an impact on people's lives.

Mm-hmm. And so my discomfort had to be squashed down and I kept going. And trust me, it wasn't like overnight, I was suddenly ah let's jump on Sally Prosser's podcast and, and have a chat kind of person. This was a journey that took me a long time. I remember for probably 18 months, my husband would come in and he'd be like, I'd be crying, and he's like, Were you trying to record a video again?

I'd be like, Yeah. So bad I can't do it. I'm too nervous. And I kept on going and I kept on trying. And Sally, I know that you've seen me speak at an event. I couldn't have even imagined doing that at the start of my business journey and...

Sally: And spoke incredibly well.

Clare: Thank you. And now, you know, I have a podcast. It's shot to number two in the Australian business um, charts.

Sally: Woo hoo!

Clare: And even when I first, my first couple of episodes of the podcast, when I recorded them, I rang one of my friends, she's one of my business best friends, and I said to her, I'm like, It's so bad. I stumble over my words. I'm not very eloquent, I'm not well spoken.

It doesn't make sense. I said, It's, it's terrible. And she's like, It's fine. Just, it's, it's great. It's really, really good. Put it out there. And then my podcast shot to number two on the business charts.

Sally: So good!

Clare: And since then, you know, I've interviewed all of these amazing celebrity-type people in the business world on my podcast, and I, you know, it's just getting used to that discomfort.

So if, if people are listening and thinking, I could never speak so confidently, as you know, Sally or myself, I wanna assure you that I started from a very, very low base. And I kept on going and I kept on believing in myself, and I stayed really focused on my audience, which is Sally, something I know you talk about all the time.

I stayed focused on the value that I was delivering and the impact that I'm here to create rather than, Oh, I feel nervous. It's not about you, it's about who you're helping. So if you feel nervous, if you feel anxious speaking, trust me, I can totally relate and I can also tell you that you can get through it, you can improve, and you can even get to the point like me, where you actually enjoy speaking.

Sally: Are you listening to this? That was, that was so good, Clare. It's such an amazing story and something I really like that you said is it's about focusing on what that impact is. I feel like a lot of people focus on the video or the speaking and it becomes this thing and we can lose sight of the fact that our voice and speaking is just a beautiful channel for us to share our message to our audience.

Clare: And I think a big tip that I've got for people is just, it's gonna feel uncomfortable. And I think that when you accept that growth in any area of your life, it's gonna feel uncomfortable. When you first start working on your money, you're not gonna be spread cheating like a boss like I am. It's gonna be kind of awkward.

You're gonna make a few mistakes and it's okay, but if you throw your hands up in the air and walk away from it, guess what? You're not gonna get better. The only way to improve is just to keep on trying, and it took me years, years of, you know, baby steps forward, maybe a step back, and just keep on going.

Sally: Oh, singing from the same song sheet. I love this! So, Clare, you've shared so many incredibly inspiring and practical tips today. Where can people find you if they'd like to find out more?

Clare: Yeah, well, you can come and check out my podcast, the Clare Wood Podcast, and my podcast is all about money, talking about both the practical side of, profit and budgeting and all of those things, but also I talk a lot about money mindset, which is how you think about money and, you know, empowering business owners to, to make a lot more of it, which is what I'm all about.

Uh I'm also quite active on Instagram, so my Instagram handle. Clare underscore wood underscore coach, and my name is spelled Clare. I should say this. C l a r e. There's no I in it. So please come over on Instagram, say hi. Drop me a dm, make sure you check out the podcast as well.

Sally: Amazing. Clare, thank you so much for coming on the podcast.

Clare: Thanks so much for having me, Sally.