[Ep. 403] How to Take Advantage of Being an Outsider with Ciera Rogers

Hello and welcome back to the More Money Podcast.

This is your host, Jessica Moorhouse, and this is episode 403 of the podcast.

Not only that, this is the second to last episode of season 18 of the show.

So got this one, got one next week, and then summer break, y’all.

I hope you’ve got plans, because I do.

I’ve got a big barbecue that I am planning for the end of June, and it’s taking up all my time, and I’m very excited.

I’m probably going a bit overboard, but I have not been able to ever host a barbecue in my home before, because I’ve never lived in a home that had a yard.

And this is gonna be epic, so very excited.

I’ve got plans.

I hope you’ve got some amazing summer plans, but until we get there, we still have a few more weeks.

Until it’s summertime, I’ve got two amazing guests in the next couple episodes, but for this episode, I have someone who I just, is a delight.

I absolutely loved having her on the podcast.

I’ve got Ciera Rogers on the show.

You may already be familiar with her because she is the founder and CEO of the multi-million dollar brand called Babes, which is a brand that caters to curvy women.

Like yourself, hello, I’ve got some curves, let me tell you.

So I’m very excited to shop at her shop after this episode.

And her brand has been worn by huge celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Beyoncé, Ciera.

I mean, the who’s who, the who’s who.

And we talk about the amazing story and the new book that she has out, all about her starting this business from literally nothing.

She has the book called The Outsider Advantage because you don’t need to fit in to win.

And it’s really all about owning the fact that you may be an outsider, and that could actually be a good thing.

That could be the thing that differentiates you from everyone else and makes people go, huh, I want to follow that person.

I want to see what they’re doing.

I want to buy into whenever they’re up to.

And you really do.

Once you get a sense of who Ciera is, I mean, you just fall in love, and you’re like, this is why she was able to become so successful and just start her business literally from, I mean, making clothes herself or finding some stuff at the thrift store and posting them on Instagram.

Like, wow, incredible, incredible journey.

And we also talk about some of her money issues because we all have them very relevant to the book that I’m writing that will be out next January.

So we’ve got so many great things to discuss in this episode.

You’re absolutely gonna love it.

I’m also gonna give away a copy of her book.

So listen to the end of this episode for more information about how to enter to win.

But with that, let’s get to that episode with Ciera.

Welcome, Ciera, to the More Money Podcast.

I’m so excited to have you on the show.

Hi, me too.

I’m super excited.

Yes, it’s gonna be fun.

So you wrote your memoir, which is very like a cool thing to do at such a young age.

A lot of stuff has happened in your life to write a memoir called The Outsider Advantage because you don’t need to fit in to win.

You’ve been able to accomplish so much in your lifetime, which is incredible.

But what I really loved about your book is, I mean, you’re very transparent, very honest, and talked about the struggles with money you’ve had along the way that I think often, when you see some of those from zero to 100 success stories of entrepreneurship, sometimes those mini stories get lost in the mix.

And those are the important lessons that I think a lot of people can really learn a lot about.

So before we really dive in, do you want to kind of share a little bit about what you do, your business, so people can kind of get some insight?

Sure.

I have a brand, it’s called Babes.

We cater to women with curves.

I’ve been with Babes for 12 years now.

Yeah.

I started with vintage a long time ago, well, not a long time ago, 12 years ago.

I started with vintage when I first moved out here, obviously because I didn’t have any money, and I had a lot of…

We’ll talk about that.

Yeah, we’ll get to that.

But I thirsted for the majority of my life because I couldn’t afford new clothes, even as a young kid.

And then I just kind of got a knack for it, and then it helped me make money later on by starting my own brand.

So yeah, that’s how Babes began, and now we are where we are.

Yeah, and where are you?

Because especially hearing some of the origin story, which we’ll touch on, it’s now a very successful business.

Do you want to kind of share, if someone were to look at the brand now, what they can expect?

I’m currently in Los Angeles, but we’re still online.

We don’t have any physical storage yet.

I almost got a physical store right before the pandemic, and I was like, thank goodness I didn’t do that.

Yeah, thank goodness.

Maybe not at the right time.

Yeah, I think that was perfect.

So we don’t have a physical store yet, but we’re online at shopbabes.com.

Maybe one day.

I mean, that’s a goal of mine.

I mean, online is where I, I mean, that’s where I do most of my shopping.

I don’t really go to stores anymore.

Me too.

So I feel like maybe what you’re doing is fine and working how it is.

It’s working, yeah.

But for sometimes for curvy women, I think it helps if you can try on things in person.

So I’d like that option eventually when it makes financial sense.

As someone who does have curves, I totally understand it has been a journey for me to find pants that fit these curves.

It’s definitely, yeah, get them tailored.

You said special pants.

Special pants.

Yeah, I know I’m also short, so it’s like, jeez.

You need special pants, obviously.

That’s why we have such a great exchange return policy.

I think that’s important for online businesses to offer, especially for women like us, so we have options.

Absolutely, and again, you mentioned that it started as kind of a one-man show.

Now you’ve got this whole company making some really amazing revenue numbers.

It’s kind of incredible what you were able to do.

Oh, and 12 years, it sounds like a lot, but actually, that’s a short amount of time.

Yeah, it feels like it kind of, when I say 12 years, I’m like, 12 years ago, it feels like so long ago, but it really wasn’t that long ago.

And I was really lucky to grow so fast and pick up so much.

Even during the pandemic, we had so many more eyes on us.

So there’s a little luck involved.

I’m never like, I did it all on my own type of person.

I’m like, you know what?

I got lucky to have a great following and Babes has a great audience, so to have lasted as long.

Yeah, so let’s kind of start with the origin story.

So you moved to LA with pretty much no money in your pocket.

We’re on a friend’s couch and they’re like, yeah, you need to pay your share of rent.

Hello.

Yeah, I think I moved here in hopes that the dreams would just fall out of the sky.

I mean, I moved here from Houston and LA just seemed like, you know, everything’s just gonna work out when I got here.

And it didn’t.

I mean, eventually it did.

But not immediately.

Yeah, the money wasn’t falling down from the sky.

I moved here, I had technically moved here with $200, but when I started Babes, I had $10.

So I obviously had no money.

Yeah, I was struggling.

I was on my friend’s couch and she was like, I’m gonna need you to start paying rent.

And rightfully so, it couldn’t be on her.

I wasn’t mad at her and it actually gave me a kick in my butt to move faster.

So I’m happy about that.

Yeah, but even just reading that, I remember reading your story.

I’m like, that would cause me so much anxiety if you’re like, I have $10 and they’re asking me for $1,000 rent, and you’re like, that’s a big difference.

How were you able to like, okay, like $10 is hardly enough money to-

Do anything or pay your phone bill or anything.

Like luckily I had, one of my friends had paid my phone bill.

I still think of her and thank her to this day that I had a phone because I didn’t, you know, like I at least had a phone bill and I was able to like eat my roommate’s food.

So that was great.

But I don’t know.

I think when you’re an outsider, like my book says, you’re kind of used to like stuff, you know, like I’ve been in worse situations than on a couch with $10.

Like I’ve been in a car or I’ve like had nothing or I’ve been hungry.

So it’s just like, at least I have something to like work with.

I had a bunch of thrifted clothes that I brought to LA from Houston.

So I just kind of like looked at what I had and figured out like, what am I gonna do?

So it wasn’t a time to just feel down on myself.

It was a time to like get my stuff together.

Yeah, and you were able to do that.

It’s kind of incredible that you had a very small following on Instagram.

Again, what year was this?

I guess this is-

This was 2012.

So this is-

Geez, I didn’t even know what Instagram was like.

It was, no, it was just starting.

Yeah, it was just starting.

It was the perfect, I miss Instagram back then.

It was so simple.

I know, now it’s different now.

It’s like, ass and this and that.

It was so simple.

You kind of like, you said what you were about.

You grew an organic following.

I started off very small, but I grew very quickly because I don’t know if you remember back then, everyone was like smoothing their skin out to be like, when you look at those pictures now, you’re like, we’re not even looking human anymore.

Everything was like overly edited.

It was very like skinny obsession, but also like surgery obsession, if you remember.

I mean, there’s still that.

Still that.

It’s still happening, but we’re embracing more now.

You’re seeing a lot of different types of body types.

You didn’t see that then.

So when I got on, I was like, here’s my cellulite.

Like, I’m not editing this out.

Like at first, I don’t feel like it, two, I don’t know how, and three, I’m like.

And that kind of like drove a lot of people to me and a lot of women to me.

And that’s how my following grew.

And that’s really how babes grew at that time.

And so you were able to do that by having a few pieces.

You just modeled them yourself, took photos and posted them on Instagram and literally did a transaction over here’s, I’ll ship it to you.

I promise.

Here’s the PayPal link.

Yeah, no, I got this body suit from like a Goodwill.

It was like $4 or something.

And then I just put it on, I cinched the waist and I put it up for $60.

And that was the first little hint that, oh, like there’s some money here.

Like if I keep doing this over and over and over again, like maybe I can stay in LA and get off this couch.

And I did.

And you did.

And also too, it’s important to note that you were doing that.

You were also working part time and you were doing all of the kind of alterations, just working nonstop.

I eventually got a job, which helped.

I got a job at Buffalo Exchange, which I’ll love them forever for hiring me.

Thank you.

And it also like got me to, I was learning, you know, I was learning retail.

I was learning how things work.

I was learning how they priced everything.

I was soaking all that information up.

And after work, I would go to Goodwill, I would go thrift and then I would go home and then I would put things online.

So I had two paychecks coming.

And then eventually the online stuff were beating my Buffalo Exchange paychecks.

So I was like, peace.

So I know now you do your own designs.

At what point did it make sense to kind of shift the focus on to like, I’m just gonna make my own stuff because that’s what I wanna do.

And that’s, there’s a market for that.

I think when I got out here, I don’t know if you remember, but thrifting became more trendy.

Yeah, it was very, yeah, I remember you mentioned Nasty Gal, and your story kind of reminds me of like, oh, I remember that time.

Yeah, it was like, okay, it wasn’t a skill anymore.

It was like, it became trendy and it became a hobby for everyone.

So before, people didn’t know how to thrift.

They were like, where do I go?

What do I do?

And then I noticed the market was changing and I needed to make a shift because people weren’t gonna, I mean, we’re back to it now, obviously, because fashion goes like this, but people weren’t gonna find that skill that impressive in like the next year.

So I had to jump spaces, which I did.

So I went from thrifting and then I went into wholesale.

And then after that, I went into cut and sew.

But now I do a little bit of everything.

So I wanna kind of talk about like, you were able to make all these leaps and bounds and make some really smart decisions and timing and things like that.

Do you feel like you always had that kind of business sense?

I know you do mention that you learned a lot from your mom who also had a clothing business.

Do you wanna kind of share a little bit more about how you were able to integrate some of those lessons and experiences into your own business and grow it to what it is today?

Yeah, my mom always had, I mean, she always had, she had a vintage store back in Houston, but it was nowhere, I don’t know.

It’s hard to say.

Like when people ask me that question, it’s kind of like everything you’ve, I’m turning the interview on you now.

Everything, cause I imagine you’ve been through something, like everyone’s been through something.

I feel like it really like prepped me for this.

I found like these things were like instinct almost.

Yeah.

It wasn’t, it’s not learned.

It’s like what you already like know, you know what I mean?

Like whatever, I don’t know what you’ve been through, cause I don’t know all of your business, cause you haven’t written a memoir yet, but.

Not yet.

Not yet, but I’m sure it’s something and it’s like, and sometimes you get that instinct just like pops on.

I don’t know if that’s like a good answer, but that’s my answer.

No, I mean, cause you touch on that in the book too.

And I thought that was actually really important and brave of you to do to talk about not only your origin story, but also trauma.

We all have trauma.

They’re all different types and shapes, but they have a huge impact on some of those instincts that we learn and those things that are like, oh, you got the good, the other is also the bad.

No, they’re not so bad.

There’s things that’s like, you know, where you clench up and you don’t know why, or you’re like, I’m uncomfortable about this and I can’t explain, or this triggers me.

And like, why am I upset or why am I jealous of this girl?

Or like, why do I not like the way they talk?

Like everything comes from somewhere, but then sometimes you can flip it.

Like my trauma is being poor or like feeling like I’m about to be poor again, cause I’m all, so that has pushed me.

Like I’m a really hard worker.

So that’s the good, but the bad is if I have a low sales day, I’m like, it’s the end of the world.

The end of the world.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Good and bad.

And that’s something I’m constantly dealing with.

I have to remind myself like, no, you are not homeless.

You like have a savings account.

You can like, there’s triggers there, but yeah, there’s good and bad.

There’s just flipping it and making it work for you.

I think that’s super important.

I mean, so you may not know this, but I’m currently working on a book.

Part of it is, it’s not a memoir, but part of it does share some of my stories, but we really go into the ideas of trauma and its connection to money.

And I thought that was so interesting that you were talking about that in your book.

I’m like, I think these conversations are happening a lot more because we’re recognizing, yeah, what I went through, especially as a child, man, that’s gonna influence me, and that has influenced me for a long time.

And it’s interesting just some of the points that you make in your book, such as you sharing your story of having that kind of abusive boyfriend, and him holding you back from really realizing your potential in your business, and growing and earning more money and things like that.

And it’s like, where did that stem from?

Well, something from your past made you attracted to this guy.

He was filling something from your past.

And I feel like there’s so many instances that we experience like that, that are holding us back from switching jobs, or going for that promotion, or starting a business, or trying to earn more money, or even just learning about money, because you feel like, oh, no, that’s not for me.

I’m too dumb, or I can’t do this.

You’re speaking to me with a relationship, because I didn’t even, until I wrote it, I was like, oh.

That makes sense.

That’s why I stayed in that relationship for so long, because he gave me something my father didn’t, which was like, I claim you.

So I took it in any form.

And it’s really like, it’s really sad.

Yeah.

I mean, but we all have these things that, yeah, like you said, we’ve got to recognize.

I mean, it was really great that you were able to eventually end that relationship, recognize the unhealthy bits of it, and then kind of move forward.

But yeah, we have a lot of these things that hold us back.

But I also find it really great that you were able to recognize some of the things from your childhood and also your mom, that you’re like, huh, we lived in poverty, and that was really difficult.

And then you recognize, hmm, especially when you were just starting your business, there are resources out there that you can take advantage of, that your mom maybe didn’t take advantage of, and maybe she should have.

And I wonder if that’s like, do we have a hard time expressing, I need help or the shame of it, right?

I was just talking about this yesterday, because I’m doing this partnership with Goodwill that I’m really excited about.

But I’m just, yeah, and I’m learning now that we were shopping in a Goodwill, and we weren’t even using the resources.

Even when I was here, when I bought that bodysuit in Goodwill, I didn’t know I could have gotten a job.

I could have gotten, I didn’t have to teach myself Photoshop or editing.

They have free classes.

And even when I was younger, our car would break down a lot.

I didn’t know that Goodwill will fix your car if you need it for work.

I didn’t know that either.

I think those conversations definitely need to be had, because a lot of people aren’t like, oh yeah, I had to get Goodwill to help me.

You know what I mean?

A lot of people don’t talk about those things.

So definitely those conversations of sharing resources and being open, like, hey, I didn’t have to sleep in my car last night because this particular resource helped me.

And it can be embarrassing sometimes to talk about.

So that’s why we don’t have those conversations.

But yeah, definitely, I wish I, if I would have used, or if my mom would have used more resources when I was younger, I would definitely be in a different place.

But then sometimes I’m like, it’s okay because it prepped me.

Like I, the world is so, like when I don’t view my story sometimes as like a, like a sob story because we had a car to sleep in.

You know, like, and I wasn’t in like any unsafe places.

And the world looks so sad, like when you look at it now, and I’m like, man, I was true, like I was actually very lucky.

But definitely like taking advantage of more resources would have made me, pushed me to success a lot quicker.

A little bit sooner or whatever.

But yeah, like you said, there’s a lot of, you know, shame that goes around, whether that’s, you know, people feel like ashamed or people are shaming you.

And that’s why if you don’t have those conversations, then more people won’t know about these resources.

And they, you know, how much easier would it be to get back on your feet if you were able to access some of these things that are there for you, right?

People don’t talk about money.

People don’t talk.

Like, I was embarrassed about, like, how broke I was.

So I never really asked for a lot of help.

Also have a male ego sometimes.

You’re like, actually, no.

Yeah, but actually I’m hungry.

But yeah, people don’t have those conversations, whether it’s like how much money you’re making, if it’s a lot, if it’s a little, it’s just like an uncomfortable topic.

But I think if we normalized a lot of those conversations, a lot of people wouldn’t suffer so much in silence.

Exactly.

Exactly.

Well, I want to kind of talk about going back to some of the things that you were able to experience.

I really liked the part where you talk about this idea of kind of competition versus collaboration, and also asking for help from kind of your circle to help you grow, right?

And so you bring up the story of this girl, Brianna, who, and I feel like lots of them have been in this situation, especially if you run a business where someone’s like, hey, I want to pick your brain.

I want to interview her real quick.

And you’re like, yeah.

And you’re like, okay, I’ll help you.

And then what happens?

And you’re like, wow, a couple of days later, you see them copying you.

And you’re like, that is not what I want to happen.

So many people have probably had that experience, whether you’re at the workplace, you’re like, you’re like, I have this idea.

And then the meeting, Joe next to you is telling you the idea.

Yeah, and you’re like, that’s my idea.

Yeah.

So that is such a, it’s a hard thing because yeah, part of it, if you have that experience, then you don’t want to, you will see everyone’s competition.

It hardens you, but I mean, what I found is the best way to move forward is to like collaborate and share.

But I guess have, you know, again, listen to those instincts to be like, am I sharing too much?

Or what’s their kind of motivation?

What was your experience kind of going through those ups and downs?

Yeah, with, first of all, there’s been a lot of Brianna’s.

That was just one story.

That’s just one.

Cause I was so, I think because I’ve never had anything.

So when I got success, I just wanted to share it.

Like I’m like, of course, everyone join in on this.

And I had, I didn’t have that business mindset that was like keeping some of my cards closed.

So I’m not creating so much competition that I’m blowing out the water.

So there have been a lot of people that have come into my life and got information.

And I, and that’s fine, you know, like that’s fair.

Like I’m pretty sure I’ve gotten information from people some, but doing it in a malicious way and straight up copying is never okay.

So I do think collabing is great.

Like when I met my next friend in the book, I was more open, like, hey, like I wanna, cause I wanted to get into graphic design.

So when I figured out she was in graphic design, I’m like, hey, this is what I want from you.

Just so you know.

I want you to teach me graphic design.

And then it’s up to her to be like, do I wanna teach this girl graphic design?

Do I want something from her?

And eventually made the relationship work.

Not to say go around using people, but just when you’re struggling, you have to see everything as a resource.

And there’s opportunities everywhere.

And just being upfront and not being like malicious about things helps.

And it helps relationships too.

Cause now when I see the girl Brianna, we don’t talk.

We’re like.

And what a shame for Brianna.

Cause it’s like, she could have created a great relationship, a collab partner, someone to support each other.

And she burned it.

She burned it.

And you’re like, what a wasted opportunity.

And she affected other people because after that she hardened me.

So when people would ask me questions, I would be like, no, no.

So I could have, I don’t know, she ruined like my outlook of the world a little bit.

But then later I, later in the chapter, I’m like, you know what?

You did what you had to do.

And sometimes people have to do that.

Like maybe she was on a couch or something.

I don’t know her situation.

At the time, she’s like, let me get this information from this girl.

That’s fine.

That’s fair.

I mean, it’s a learning situation.

It’s just doing it more openly feels better.

Yeah.

Like you mentioned, it’s sort of a bad word, opportunist.

But it’s like, if you go about it as like the ethical opportunist, I think that’s a great way to explain it.

Cause it’s like, there’s nothing wrong with asking for help.

I mean, I’ve learned so much from like, meeting people that do similar things and be like, hey, how did you do that and da, da, da.

But you’ve got to go about it in a way to be like, hey, how can I give back to them and support them in a way?

And how can I also make sure that I’m still being me and unique and not just straight up copying?

I mean, we learned that in school.

Don’t copy, just plagiarism.

Don’t do that.

Don’t do that.

Do something yourself.

Do it your own.

Yeah, put your own spin on it, for sure.

Exactly.

And like, I’m sure you’ve experienced getting to know other business people, there’s plenty of space for all of us.

So there’s actually no need to just straight up copy someone.

And yeah, it ruins it for everybody.

We wanna collaborate.

That has been like the best thing for me is getting to know other people in the personal finance space and then seeing what are they doing and then how can we support each other?

But also, how can I make sure that I am different?

Exactly.

That’s how your business has stood out.

You make sure you don’t do that.

You don’t copy people.

You’re like, how do I stand out and make sure I’m unique and offering something that no one else is offering?

Right, because you have to.

Because once you start copying, you just look, not silly, but you just look like a sillier version of yourself.

Like it’s just never, you can fill it.

Like other people can be like, that’s not really like her.

So it’s best to just, like you have this unique perspective.

Why not use it?

It’s just silly not to.

That’s why people are probably, I mean, that’s why people are attracted to other people.

They’re like, ooh, what’s that?

That’s different.

That’s something unique.

That’s interesting.

You don’t want to like a carbon copy of something else.

No, no, there’s just no, there’s no need.

No, there’s no need.

There’s no need.

Now, although you’ve had a ton of success, I know also, personal experience as well, on that road, lots of bumps, lots of failures, lots of discomfort.

Again, that’s something that is being talked about a little bit more, but still sometimes when you’re just like scrolling online, you just see the headline of, look at how much money I’ve made, or look how successful I am.

Why do you think it’s so important for people to do things that make them uncomfortable, which sucks, it’s uncomfortable, obviously, and then also embrace those failures?

Because again, there’s a lot of shame attached to like, oh, you did that wrong, you messed up, that didn’t work out.

Yeah, I mean, because it’s a cheat code to me, like if you fail at something, you just know, don’t do that.

Yeah, yeah.

Don’t do that again, and it’s gonna happen.

So you might as well try to flip it, embrace it and learn from it, because there’s no journey out there that has just been like…

I mean, maybe there has for insiders or people that have gotten things handed down to them, but I know for us, like us people that are on the outside, there’s gonna be constant, especially with entrepreneurship, like it’s up and down, up and down, up and down.

So it’s best that you just kind of prep yourself for it and look at it in a different way.

Don’t look at it like, dang, like I quit.

Because there’s been like months I haven’t made money, like months, like a month.

I’m like, no profit.

And luckily that I’m a saved type person because I’m afraid of going broke.

Good, good to have that buffer.

So I’m good, but if I would have quit, I mean, I’ve seen a lot of people quit on their businesses or quit on their dreams because they feel like they failed, but it’s just like, you know what?

I’m not gonna do it like that.

I’m gonna do it different.

That’s just something that you have to embrace.

I’m curious, what are some of those things?

Like you did mention in the book, there were some dry months or things were like, oh, we hit a plateau.

What were some things that made you realize, oh, that didn’t work or we need to change things because we can’t do the same thing anymore?

I think that one chapter where I did copy, not copy, but I compared myself.

I felt like I had reached success and I didn’t look like it.

Like I’m like, I still look kind of homemade.

It’s not really giving professional or like the big brand.

So I just, I wanted to look like that.

And that’s when I’ve like made the least amount of money because I didn’t, yes, because my customer was like, this is not what we bought into.

We were fine with the way things were going.

Like it felt like us, it felt real, it felt authentic.

So when you started going to like another brand, we might as well shop over there.

So that’s one of the things I’ve learned.

And I’m still learning not to look at the competition and not compare myself and not, it’s a constant journey.

I really enjoy that part of your book because I do that also.

And at first I’m like, oh, where’s she going with this?

And it sounded like it’s important to know what’s going out there.

But, and this is something that I ascribe to you too, eyes on your own paper, just focus on what you’re doing.

Because that’s what people are, they’re looking to you.

They’re not also looking at your competition and comparing.

No, we’re only doing that.

Yeah, well, they don’t care.

They came to you for a reason.

And if they, you know, are also looking at competitors, let them do that.

But they’ll still come back to you if you’re true to who you are.

You have to be.

I’m curious, like, how were you able to kind of figure that out, that like, we don’t actually need to just be obsessed with the competition and then even see them as competition and just focus on me.

And that’s how you’ll find true success.

Yeah, I think they are competition.

Clearly.

They are, but it’s just gonna stress you out and it’s gonna put, it’s gonna put like a, what is it, a fuzziness over your eyes?

Or like, if you wore glasses and you took them off.

Like, it’s only gonna stress you out.

Usually.

And distract you.

You’re not gonna usually look at the competition like, oh yeah, I’m amazing.

No, you’re always like, oh, this is what I’m not doing.

Yeah, and even if you, and if you’re sick like me and you do feel great, you’ll find more competition to make you feel bad.

You’re like, well, yeah, I haven’t hurt myself enough.

Let’s just go down the rabbit hole.

Let me keep going.

So it’s just never, it’s just not good.

It’s good to be aware.

Cause you can’t be completely eyes on your own paper that you don’t know what’s going on in the market.

You don’t know what’s doing well for other people.

But you have to know yourself.

If you’re going to torture yourself, don’t do it.

Have somebody else do it for you.

If you’re anything like me.

But if you can control it, that’s fine to look at the competition and you’re not crazy like me, then great.

But just know yourself and just don’t stress yourself out.

It’s just not worth it.

And you’re going to make less money and you’re not going to be yourself.

And your customer loves you for you.

And you need to just be different and focus on that.

Yeah.

I mean, I still look at the competition sometimes, but I find whenever I look at, if there is someone, I’m looking myself and then I realize I’m comparing myself and then I start to feel bad.

I’m like, okay, we’re going to mute them.

We’re going to mute them.

I don’t need to see this.

It doesn’t make me feel good.

It’s distracting.

It’s distracting from what I’m doing.

I love muting.

Cause then it’s like awkward.

Cause when you’re online, if you’ve created a relationship with someone, you don’t want to unfollow.

You know what I mean?

You’re like, it’s not, yeah, it’s like, it’s not you.

It’s me.

It’s not how it’s just you for that month.

I’ve literally.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I’ve muted people for like a month, a year, a week.

Like if they have something going on, like let’s say you want to get married really bad and then someone just got married on your mute.

Yeah, you’re like, I don’t need to see that.

It’s not going to make me feel good seeing all your wedding photos.

Yeah.

I’m happy for you, but like I don’t want that on my timeline right now because that’s triggering.

So just knowing what your triggerings are, triggerings are, knowing what your triggers are and catering what you see towards that.

So we kind of touched on this before, the relationship with money that you’ve had.

And obviously, you know, what you went through as a child has had a big impact.

And even like when you were a young adult and then starting from scratch with nothing, that has a big impact.

It sounds like you’re obviously in a much better place financially, but probably also just like mental health wise and your relationship with money now, like you mentioned, even though there may be months where low sales or no sales, you know you’re okay because you’ve got cash in the bank.

I’m curious, how were you able to slowly make that shift?

Because I know that is one of the hardest things to do because it’s really built in at such a young age to kind of overcome some of those mental obstacles is really difficult.

How were you able to kind of go from this scarcity to be like, no, abundance, we want to think that we can have this, we deserve this, and we can get it.

Yeah, it took time, years, years, yeah, it took years.

And I’m still working on it, it’s still a struggle.

Oh, yeah.

It definitely took time, it helped making the money.

I’m the type of person that likes, I find comfort because I lacked stability my entire life.

These are my traumas.

And I’m not saying these are healthy, what I’m about to say.

No.

But it helps me to know that I have a savings.

So I look at it sometimes and I’m like, you’re okay.

Yeah.

That’s what I need.

And personally, because I’m like, you’re okay, you have this amount of money.

The way my brain works is like, worst case scenario, if you made zero dollars, what would you do?

Okay, you can sell your car.

I mean, you can not have a car, you can not have an office.

That’s how my brain works to be like, I’m okay.

I know how to live on very small, like I could.

Yeah.

So I, I don’t know, I feel like I’m rambling now, but just like.

No, you’ve set up a kind of a way of like, well, a super disaster mode.

If the worst happens, we’re good.

And I can always thrift or I can always like, let’s say, Babes never makes another dime.

I know I could like thrift or put it on Etsy or like I can hustle my way back up to.

I know I can do it because I’ve done it before.

I may not be able to build the exact same thing, but I feel like I can sell anything.

Like I would sell paper towels if you told me to sell paper towels.

I just have that type of like, I could do it again.

If I did it with $10, like as long as I could save $10, I could do it again.

Knowing that, I guess the other part is like, okay, you’re good.

You’ve got some stability and you haven’t really had in the past when it comes to your finances.

But then how do you kind of then, you know, take a look at, like, how do we, instead of always thinking about what bad could happen, what good could happen, how do you make plans for the future?

And have you thought about, what are some of my big lofty goals?

And what, I’m curious too, what are some of those milestones that you achieved?

You’re like, I can’t believe I achieved that.

That’s crazy.

I want it.

I don’t know why, but I wanted to see a million dollars in my bank account.

Hell yeah.

And I did it before I bought the house.

I did it.

Yeah, I saw the number and I screenshotted it and I said, and I just sat there with it.

That was obviously a big milestone, having a million dollars and then buying a house.

I mean, and those are huge milestones.

I mean, people can only imagine to achieve those.

What are some things that you, you know, what’s the next kind of goalpost that you’re working towards?

I want to be a New York Times bestseller.

Well, hey, we know it could happen.

Off track, I want to make movies.

Like I know I’m in fashion.

That’s my passion.

That’s one of my passions.

That’s always been one of my passions.

So if I could like somehow gear up into like making movies from this, that would be like, I would just sit in that and just, I wouldn’t even have to make a dime.

I just want to like create something and see it out in the world.

And then everyone’s like, yeah, this is amazing.

That’s one of my goals for sure.

Financial goals, I think that was one.

After you hit the million thing, it’s like, I guess you can hit it.

You can try for like 10 million, but then the numbers start to like, I’m very like frugal.

I don’t really like spend my money like I should.

I live below my means just because that’s just-

That’s all good to me.

That sounds great.

So those are not bad things.

These are suggestions I would make.

I think a lot of people live at or above their means.

Especially in LA, I’m sure.

Some things are out of your control, obviously, but if you are doing that on purpose, you’re the one making yourself or above your means, I would never suggest that because you’re never going to build that savings account that you want because you’re constantly spending the same amount of money you make each month.

And yeah, you want to live and enjoy life, but you also want, just in case something happens, for you to have that-

We’re just talking now.

I’m like, hey girl, we’re just chatting.

Well, yeah, no, I think it’s, I mean, it’s actually kind of a breath of fresh air because sometimes, especially you here, I don’t know if my algorithm is very full of like these Bureau Podcasts, Finance Bureau Podcasts talking about, I want to be a billionaire.

And you’re like, why do you need that much money?

Like that’s a lot of money.

You’ll never be able to spend it before you die.

I don’t know.

I would give it.

I’m the type, I would give some of it.

I can be a billionaire just sitting.

I don’t need that much stuff.

And there’s a lot of people that need a lot of stuff.

And I don’t think I would be that.

I don’t even think I could get to billionaire status.

I mean, I’d give you like just based off this conversation, I’m like, hey girl, I’m a billionaire.

Would you want some?

You want some of this?

But you know what I mean?

Like it’s just like do something with the money.

There’s not that many things that I want.

Well, I’m curious with, you know, especially your experience and recognizing that there are so many people that struggle out there.

Maybe one of your future financial goals is creating like a foundation or something like that.

Yeah, definitely.

I think that would like that would really be really fulfilling.

Just like even like single moms who like I’ve always thought of like childcare.

It’s so expensive.

So expensive.

And just like knowing that your kids are safe and in like a safe environment.

So if I could do that, because luckily when I was younger, we had a community center where we grew up.

So my mom had somewhere to drop us.

But what if she hadn’t?

Like, I mean, a lot of times we were with her, but a lot of times we couldn’t be.

What if she hadn’t?

Like, I don’t know where we would have been.

And she had two little girls.

So you don’t want to just like put them anywhere.

So yeah, I would love to do that.

That would be so fulfilling for me.

You’re actually reminding me that’s one of my goals, because I thought.

Yeah, add that to your list.

Yeah, I was like, let me add that to my list.

Yeah, because I feel like too often when we are setting financial goals and we’ve maybe hit the ones that were like, I never thought that would be possible.

And now I hit those.

We don’t know where to go next.

And then so sometimes exploring those ideas of like, OK, well, how can I give back or how can I?

Yeah, how can I be a positive light in this world, you know, outside of just doing my business and that kind of stuff?

And, you know, I think that’s more, you know, powerful and just impactful than I guess my next goal is 10 million dollars.

You’re like, OK, like, what am I going to do?

I don’t even like like all these like a car or something.

Like you can help people that were in your position and you could build.

And if you want to think selfishly, you can build a network like training.

Like I think about like maybe my staff could be bigger or maybe I could teach, you know, like a single mom how to sew.

And then that will be more collaborative because then she can come work for babe.

So like if you want to think like also give but also like be business minded, you could think of it like that.

Lots of ideas.

Lots of great ideas.

We got all these ideas.

We should be writing this down.

We should be writing this down.

Good thing I’m recording this.

Oh, yes.

We are.

Are we recording?

We are recording.

This is a podcast.

Great to know.

You know what?

I’m so excited for your book.

It was a very easy read, just because I see myself in this.

It was just very, again, a raw, honest portrayal of what you experienced and then how you were able to really go from starting from the bottom and now you were here.

Now we’re here.

I’m in Toronto.

Drake fan over here.

We are here.

I think you’re a really big inspiration for a lot of women who probably want to do something similar and don’t know if it’s possible and you’re proof that it’s possible and you don’t have to start with a lot, but it’s not going to be easy.

It’s going to be a very windy road.

There’s going to be a lot of lessons.

It’s going to be a journey.

And so you have to really stay on that journey.

Yeah.

So before I let you go, are there any other kind of nuggets of wisdom that you’d want anyone listening who is like, wow, I can’t wait to read her book and I aspire to experience some of those things or hit some of those milestones myself?

Any kind of nuggets of wisdom you’d want to show?

It’s a business memoir, but we touch on even if you don’t want to be an entrepreneur or you don’t want to start your own business, it’s just like how you want to get whatever your version of success is.

So we talk about like, I’m not a mom yet, but I’m friends with moms.

And there’s moms that just feel like, I feel like I’m not a good mom or I’m not like those other moms or I want to be a better partner or I want to start a business.

It’s just like, whatever you’ve been through is pretty much prepping you for where you’re at now, especially if you’re an outsider, you already have everything that you need.

You just need to look at it differently.

So I think that will be the last nugget.

It’s just like, you don’t have to start your own business because it’s hard.

And it’s not easy.

You may not want to, you may not like it.

It’s not for everybody.

Entrepreneurship is hard, so it’s just for whatever version of success that you want in your life, whatever that may be.

I really like that you, and consider, if your needs are met, remember that, that you have everything that you need.

And so if you feel like you’re not making any forward movement, we need to think differently and view things with a different perspective.

And I think often we just need to be reminded of that because we are very stuck in our ways and our routines.

I mean, gosh, I feel like for me, the last month, I’m like, I feel like it’s Groundhog Day every week.

I’m like, are we?

What happened?

Is it Monday again?

I know!

You know, it’s, yeah.

I feel like time is weird.

We’ll talk about it in another podcast.

I feel like they’re messing with the time.

I blame the, what was that?

That probably did something.

That messed it all up.

It was before that.

I don’t know how we’re in whatever month we’re in right now, but yeah, that’s another podcast.

Yeah, that’s a whole other, but again, going back to, it’s just, we got to view things a little bit differently.

And sometimes when you do that, that is the thing that can just help you pivot and go in that direction finally.

And it’s not easy when you’re in, cause sometimes I hate when people are like, it’s easy, it’s just looking at it differently.

And you’re like, You’re like, that’s actually really difficult to look at things differently.

First of all, shut up.

But I think it’s just learning off of my mistakes and learning off of other people.

Like if you read it and you see like, you know what, I see how she flipped this to that.

Like just try to, I understand like times are hard and when you’re in it, it’s hard to like think of it differently.

Cause I’m stressed.

Like I don’t have time to look at the positive side of things.

But if you want to get over this hump and you are as motivated as I am, just think, you know what, sulking in it is going to waste more time.

Yeah.

And you’re going to be more angry at yourself for wasting that time.

You’re not making any money sulking.

You’re not making any changes.

So like try to push yourself and look at everything differently if you can.

Yeah.

And you’ll be surprised.

I’m sure you’ve had lots of these moments.

You’re like, wow, I’m really like we not only did we get through it.

Wow.

I can’t believe I ended up where I ended up.

It’s hard, but once you break through, you really do break through.

You do.

Yeah.

Well, thank you so much, Ciera, for coming on the show.

I’m so excited.

I’m putting some good vibes out there so it becomes a New York Times bestseller or, you know, that’s sort of bestseller.

That’s another just like manifest.

That’s how you just say the word manifest and it works, right?

I mean, I ultimately just wanted to help.

I started this.

It was a business book at first.

It wasn’t a memoir.

It was a business book, but I wanted to make a business book for that felt like it was for me, not people that had everything, had the dad and everything.

It felt like a more realistic take on this is actually how it works.

And also from someone who started a business not too long ago, like, yeah, 12 years, but as a millennial, like, yeah, 12 years wasn’t that long ago.

And it’s interesting to see someone do it and actually learn from it and grow and succeed.

And again, a lot of the business books you may find on shelves, very archaic, don’t really talk about how to run a business in our times now.

Right, right, right.

Yeah.

So that’s all I want.

I just want to be relatable and easy for people.

Just like not, because our life is hard enough.

Yeah, life is hard.

It can be hard.

So if I can make that easier for someone that is in a position similar to how I was, then that’s all that I can ask for.

Amazing.

Well, I’m sure it’ll help a lot of people.

So thanks again for coming on the show.

It was a pleasure having you.

This was fun.

I like this place.

This podcast, it was very like, I really like your energy.

So this was fun.

It didn’t feel like work at all.

I enjoyed this.

I felt like I was kicking with one of my friends.

So this is great.

Thank you.

That’s the vibe that I’ve been trying to do these past nine years.

I mean, mission accomplished.

You’re doing amazing.

Thank you.

And that was episode 403 of the More Money Podcast with Ciera Rogers.

Make sure to check out her brand babes at shopbabes.com.

You can learn more about Ciera at cierarogers.com.

That’s C-I-E-R-A rogers.com.

And you can follow her on Twitter at IamCieraRogers, and of course, Instagram at Ciera Rogers.

That’s where you can find her.

And also, if you’re looking on her website, the shopbabes.com website, and there’s lots of cute things on the website, let me just tell you, yeah.

They do ship to Canada.

So there you are.

If you’re Canadian like me, you can do it.

They ship to Canada.

Very exciting times.

Very exciting times.

I will link to everything, of course, as always, in the show notes for this episode on my website, jessicmoorhouse.com/403.

And if you want to also, hello, I forgot about her book much.

I was just excited about her clothes, quite honestly.

You can grab a copy of The Outsider Advantage because you don’t need to fit in to win now.

And I am giving a copy of that book away.

So make sure to go to jessicmoorhouse.com/contest to enter to win a copy of her book, but also support a new author and entrepreneur and an amazing woman like Ciera.

So buy her book, you know, buy her book, The Outsider Advantage.

Go buy it right now.

Again, you can find the links to do that in the show notes for this episode, jessicmoorhouse.com/403.

And if you’re looking for the show notes for any episode you’ve ever listened to ever, a couple of ways you can do it.

Go to jessicmoorhouse.com/podcast.

There you go.

You can look at, you know, every season, you can, you know, do a search, you can do whatever you want.

Or if you know what the episode number is, jessicmoorhouse.com/number of the episode is how you find the show notes for those episodes.

There you go.

There you go.

Okay.

So I’ve mentioned the contest, mentioned the book.

I will be, you know, because we only have one more week of the podcast, I will be wrapping up the podcast probably, or podcast, sorry, wrapping up the contest for all the books that I’m giving away likely sometime in August.

So even though we’re going to wrap up this season soon, you’ll have all of June, you know, for anyone who listens a little bit later than the initial air dates of these episodes, you still have some time.

And yeah, that’s really all I have to say about the contest, jessicmoorhouse.com/contest.

You can enter to win all of the books that have been featured on this season of the show.

So go do so now.

Now a few other things I want to mention.

This is a really important one.

Number one, I have my Wealth Building Blueprint for Canadians course, as you may or may not know.

I launched it back in 2021.

Gosh, I’m like, what year is it is 2024?

Okay, yeah.

So it’s been around for just over three years.

And I have just made a little well, hey, I updated the entire course.

I do that annually.

So it is better than ever, as always, and everything is up to date for 2024.

But other exciting things previously, if you it’s, you know, still by application only, I like to kind of filter out people to make sure this is the right fit for them.

This is not a course that I built to just make a ton of money.

And then, I don’t know, close the course.

And, you know, people are like, what the hell happened?

Was this just a money grab?

No, this is a course that I’m going to have for a very long time because I put my heart and soul and years into it.

And the whole goal of this course ultimately is for students to take it, to learn from it, to apply what they’ve learned and actually build wealth, hence the name of the course.

And so with that, I previously had it, so you had to apply.

I would get that information, see if you’re a good candidate.

And if so, then you would have a discovery call with me so you can ask any questions you want about the course.

Make sure it’s a really good fit for you before enrolling.

Now, I’ve changed things up a little bit because I have literally hundreds of applicants who have never booked a call.

And I feel like maybe it’s because they are too busy or they just don’t like having a call.

And I get it.

So I’m changing things up a little bit.

So if you apply, and this is for anyone who’s previously applied for the course and just never booked a call with me, you now can either do a call or there is a webinar for you to watch to kind of go through all the key things about the course.

So you can get that information in that format as well.

And again, you can watch the webinar and still have a call with me if you so choose.

But just making things a little bit more accessible.

So that should answer your questions about the course, because there’s only so much information I could put on a landing page.

It’s a pretty in-depth course, it’s like 17 plus hours of content.

There’s a lot of tools and spreadsheets and worksheets, and a lot has gone into this course.

And so there is some information that you need to know.

And again, it’s an investment in yourself, but it’s still an investment.

And so we want to make sure that you’re buying something, you feel really, really good about it.

And there’s like not that kind of pressure to do it.

So that is what’s going on.

jessicamoorhouse.com/course is where you can find all the information about that also.

And hopefully this will be the case by the time this episode airs, but I have also updated all of my budget spreadsheets.

So if you don’t know, I have a ton of budget spreadsheets for any kind of like situation.

If you’re self-employed, if you have a side hustle, if you are in a couple and someone’s self-employed, but you’re an employee, whatever the case, I have budget spreadsheets for like any situation.

Done a little update, a little overhaul, and they’re better than ever.

Now there’s ways for you to track savings goals, because lots of people are like, they want a way to track their savings contributions instead of just tracking their net worth.

So that’s an option now.

And if you’re self-employed, there’s a way for you to track your sales tax.

So it’s kind of more mimics bookkeeping software.

And so much more comprehensive, you can find all those at jessicmoorhouse.com/shop.

And again, if you have any questions about any of the things that I just mentioned, the course, my budget spreadsheets, me, you know, hit me up on my email, jessica at jessicmoorhouse.com, or you can always DM me on Instagram, and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible.

Oh, with that said though, I posted a Instagram Reel that is pinned on my profile.

So you’ll find it right there.

But I was trying to figure out like, you know, you see people all the time on Instagram, like answer like comments in the form of a reel.

And I’m like, I want to do that.

How do I do that?

Because I get questions all the time about, you know, money related things in like my email or, you know, Instagram DMs and stuff.

But I sometimes want to be able to answer in like a video.

And so now there’s a way to do that.

So you just have to look on that reel and comment, and then I can answer back in the form of reel.

So go check me out at Jessica I.

Moorhouse on Instagram.

Also reminder, the podcast also exists on Instagram.

So at More Money Podcast is where you can find that, where there’s lots of the clips from all the shows.

So take a look at all those.

So yeah, that is probably plenty for me.

I am a rambler.

I am a talker.

A big thank you to my podcast team at video edit by Justice Carrara, produced by mravcanada.com.

Thank you so much for being my podcast team.

And yeah, thank you so much for listening.

I will tell you who is on the show next week, the final episode.

I’ve got entrepreneur Jeff Lerner on the show.

He’s also the author of a book called Unlock Your Potential.

And he has a really interesting story coming from someone who dropped out of high school and became like an amazing concert pianist to now a very successful entrepreneur who really, we just dive into topics of how to kind of get out of your own way, right?

Yeah, we’re all kind of doing that, myself included.

So a really great episode to end the season on.

So that is what you have to look forward to.

Thank you again for listening.

I will see you back here next Wednesday.