Mindful Money 031: Barbara Sloan - Personal Financial Literacy in the Service Industry
Barbara Sloan was a homeless teen who danced for dollars and has worked in every imaginable position in the service industry. She’s familiar with and passionate about the joys and pitfalls of living for tips, and today she owns and operates a high-end construction company in Manhattan. She’s a money coach and the author of Tipped: The Life Changing Guide to Financial Freedom for Waitresses, Bartenders, Strippers, and All Other Service Industry Professionals.
Today, Jonathan and Barbara discuss working in the service industry, getting out of the debt cycle, and tips (no pun intended) for service workers to improve their personal finance situations.
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Key Takeaways
01:15 – Jonathan introduces today’s guest, Barbara Sloan, who joins the show to discuss tackling her mindset through mantras and working in the service industry
09:21 – Getting out of the debt cycle and what inspired her to write her book, Tipped
16:55 – The pillars of personal finance Band which chapters were the easiest and hardest to write
18:39 – The importance of recognizing social hazards
19:54 – The Jäger bottle story and having the hustle to be an entrepreneurial
27:23 – Being your own Sharon
31:59 – Overcoming the shame that is associated with being a tipped employee
38:49 – One piece of advice tipped employees should heed and one thing to absolutely ignore
43:16 – The last thing Barbara changed her mind about and one thing that he would like people to know about her
44:48 – Jonathan thanks Barbara for joining the show and let’s listeners know where to connect with her and learn more about Tipped Finance
Tweetable Quotes
“I think my early money memories are ones that gave me a scarcity mindset. I remember losing one hundred dollars and walking up and down ten blocks to try to find it because I was so scared to go home and say that I had lost this money.” (02:55)
“I talk about this in the book. When you’re trying to work on your money mindset, I break it down into four groups that I call, ‘Freebies.’ They don’t cost any money really. It’s Charity, Gratitude Identity and Mantras. And those usually free or low cost items that you can do to improve your money mindset.” (05:29)
“I spent twenty years working two careers in tandem. So, in the day I worked in construction and at night I worked in the service industry. I like to say, ‘Dirt in the day and dirty in the evening.’” (11:27)
“It was just a lightbulb moment for me. I realized, ‘Oh, these two reasons, the lack of financial literacy and the lack of benefits, are the reasons I and all of my peers in this group were not getting ahead and building wealth.’” (14:31)
“As people who work in the service industry, we are experts at selling fun, sexy, drinks, food. We’re experts at selling these things and, because of that, we can often become the ultimate consumer.” (19:09)
“The tipped industry is the largest private sector employer in the United States. There’s more than 5.5 million people who work on a tip-based income in the United States. That is more than all doctors, lawyers, and engineers put together. It is a massive industry.” (24:57)
“I think that a very misunderstood part of the industry is that there is a real craft and a real calling in this industry.” (32:56)
“If it’s not high interest bearing, debt is a thing that you hold; it’s not a thing you are. You are not your debt; you just have some debt. It is not something to be ashamed of. It is just something that you’re working on. So, don’t aggressively pay it off. I would so much rather see people invest and pay off their debt than just focus on paying off their debt.” (39:43)
Guest Resources
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