Creating The Products You Want with Anjali Jariwala

Brian chats with Anjali Jariwala, CPA, CFP, an experienced investment manager and founder of FIT Advisors, a financial planning firm serving physicians and business owners. Anjali shares her newest passion project, Why We Eat with Our Hands, a children's book that describes the rich beauty of Indian culture.

On the episode, Anjali highlights how the lessons she learned building her business have helped her to navigate the book writing process. She also shares what she wished she knew before starting her book and how the idea started as a gift for her daughter Nyla.

Episode Highlights

Mission-driven businesses make an impact on your well-being.

Anjali says a mission-driven business is one in which the primary goal is to have a bigger impact, either through the work the company is doing or through the work of the individuals behind the company. Anjali's company FIT Advisors provided her with the resources to write Why We Eat With Our Hands, helping her to create something different and have an impact.

"FIT Advisors gave me surplus to be able to really fund this project and to fund it in a way in which I didn't have to cut corners because I had the resources available to do so," Anjali said. "That to me was such an eye opener because I can't believe FIT me helped me in turning this passion into a reality."

Build the right support team.

Through her work at FIT Advisors, Anjali deftly creates financial plans and puts a winning team into place. She used the same approach to writing a children's book, which was critical because she didn't have any prior experience in publishing.

To create her winning team, Anjali found a group of professionals and consultants who "just got it" and could provide her with valuable advice as someone new to the industry. She also valued the input of her daughter Nyla, who was the inspiration for the project.

"It really stemmed from trying to build Nyla's inclusive bookshelf and wanting her to have books that she could not only see herself in but also challenged preconceived notions," Anjali said. "And I was really just coming up short on books that featured South Asian children, also written by South Asian authors."

Don't undersell your work.

Because Why We Eat With Our Hands is a true passion project for Anjali, she didn't think about a pricing plan or the break-even point. Even so, she needed to set a selling price for her book. Her team gave her a recommended range but advised she didn't undersell herself since women authors tend to underprice their books compared to men.

"I want to make sure we're charging appropriately for the work that we're doing because we do good work," Anjali said. "We shouldn't sell ourselves short with how we price our services."

Anjali ended up pricing her book on the high end of the range. Why We Eat With Our Hands debuted on September 27, becoming a bestseller on Amazon New Releases and breaking one of her distributor's records for first-day sales.

Resources + Links

• Why We Eat with Our Hands: A Celebration of Indian Culture and Heritage by Anjali Jariwala (author) and Shelley Seguinot (illustrator)
• Fit Advisors
• Anjali's Social Media: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook
• Brian's Social Media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook

About Brian and the Mission Driven Business Podcast

Brian Thompson, JD/CFP, is a tax attorney and certified financial planner who specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who run mission-driven businesses. The Mission Driven Business podcast was born out of his passion for helping social entrepreneurs create businesses with purpose and profit.

On the podcast, Brian talks with diverse entrepreneurs and the people who support them. Listeners hear stories of experiences, strength, and hope and get practical advice to help them build businesses that might just change the world, too.