Join us for an enlightening episode of About That Wallet as we delve into the world of asset protection and LLCs with insights inspired by Anthony Weaver's conversation with Jonathan Feniak, an esteemed asset protection lawyer from llcurnorney.com. If you're an entrepreneur or have a family member considering starting a business, this episode is a must-listen. Discover the critical role of LLCs in safeguarding your assets and learn why relying solely on insurance might not be enough.

Jonathan Feniak shares his fascinating career journey, from English major to hedge fund manager, and now a leading asset protection lawyer. With a wealth of experience, he emphasizes the importance of planning for unexpected events and explains how an LLC can act as a firewall to protect your personal assets from business liabilities. He also highlights the potential pitfalls of overcomplicating asset protection and offers cautionary tales of legal schemes that have failed in court.

Explore the concept of an LLC operating agreement as a business prenup, ensuring clarity and foresight when entering partnerships. Jonathan shares anecdotes and practical advice on managing risk, even for seemingly simple ventures like a lemonade stand. He stresses the significance of a sales-focused mindset, encouraging entrepreneurs to start with the end in mind and build a loyal network of mavens and apostles to spread the word.

Gain valuable insights into Jonathan's personal definition of wealth, which centers around optionality and the freedom to make choices. He shares lessons learned from the 2008 financial crisis and the dangers of lifestyle inflation. Discover the power of expert advice, starting simple, and scaling up as needed, along with the importance of maintaining a positive and adaptable mindset.

Don't miss out on the special offer from llcurnorney.com—use code WALLETPOD100 at checkout to enjoy 100% off your initial LLC formation fee. Tune in for more fantastic financial advice and support on your entrepreneurial journey.

Discover more about the About That Wallet podcast:

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

YouTube

Subscribe, rate, and share to help others find valuable insights. Until next time, happy venturing!

#AboutThatWallet #AssetProtection #Entrepreneurship #FinancialPlanning #LLC

>> Ai Westly: All right, so today we're going to be doing a deep dive,

uh, into asset protection and LLCs.

>> Ai Sarah: Okay.

>> Ai Westly: And this is inspired by, uh, an

episode about that wallet.

>> Ai Sarah: Oh, yeah, I listened to that one.

>> Ai Westly: Oh, you did? Yeah. With Anthony Weaver. Yeah. And, uh, he's

talking to Jonathan Feniak, who's, uh, an asset

protection lawyer from llcurnorney.com.

>> Ai Sarah: I was gonna say he's got toa be a lawyer.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah, yeah, he is. And this is a really

good one. If you're, uh, an entrepreneur or if you

have a family member who's maybe thinking about starting a

business.

>> Ai Sarah: It is. Yeah. This is something that a lot of people, I think they

don't think about when they're first starting out, and, uh,

it could be pretty critical.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. And Feniac has, uh, like, a

really interesting background.

>> Ai Sarah: Oh, yeah. Um, tell me about it.

>> Ai Westly: He was an English major.

>> Ai Sarah: Okay.

>> Ai Westly: And then got into logistics.

>> Ai Sarah: Wow.

>> Ai Westly: And then he was a hedge fund manager. Hedge fund manager and

a financial advisor. Oay. And now he's an asset

protection lawyer.

>> Ai Sarah: So I feel like I should listen to this one just for that. Like,

how does that. How does that happen? Right. I know.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah'like that's quite a career trajectory.

>> Ai Sarah: I know. That's kind of. That's a wild ride, right?

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. Yeah. I'm intrigued.

>> Ai Sarah: So, yeah, I mean, that'he's coming at this from a lot of different

directions, right?

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. A lot offectives.

>> Ai Sarah: Um, and he really hits

on right away this idea

that, like, you can do everything.

Right.

>> Ai Westly: Right.

>> Ai Sarah: But, like, a single unexpected event could, like,

wipe you out.

>> Ai Westly: Totally.

>> Ai Sarah: And he uses this example of, like, uh,

imagine, like, you have a rental property

and there's a fire and someone gets hurt,

and now you're facing this lawsuit that could wipe

out your life savings.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. And you're, you know, and you're thinking, well, I

have insurance for that.

>> Ai Sarah: Right.

>> Ai Westly: And that's the thing is, like, a lot of times, insurance isn't going to cover

everything.

>> Ai Sarah: Exactly. Yeah. And that's where asset, uh,

protection comes in. And.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. That's why this is so important. I think people, you know,

they think, oh, I'm covered. I have insurance. I don't need to worry about that kind of

stuff. But this really kind of, like,

you know, opens your eyes to the fact.

>> Ai Sarah: That, uh, you could overcomplicate it, too.

>> Ai Westly: Right?

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah, he talks about that, too.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. Yeah.

>> Ai Sarah: So, uh, let's dive into that.

>> Ai Westly: Okay.

So, yeah, let's get into, like, the nuts and bolts of, like, what is

an llc.

>> Ai Sarah: Okay.

>> Ai Westly: Like how does that actually work?

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: So, um, Feeniac talks

about this idea of like a risk bucket. It's like, okay,

you set up an llc.

>> Ai Sarah: Mhm.

>> Ai Westly: You put a certain amount of money into that llc that's

like in your bucket.

>> Ai Sarah: Okay.

>> Ai Westly: And so like, let's say you put $100,000 into an

LLC for your restaurant or something. If your business

gets sued.

>> Ai Sarah: Mhm.

>> Ai Westly: Even if they're suing you for a million dollars, the most

you're gonna lose is that $100,000.

>> Ai Sarah: Okay.

>> Ai Westly: That's in the bucket.

>> Ai Sarah: I see.

>> Ai Westly: So your personal assets outside

of that are protected.

>> Ai Sarah: So it's kind of like a firewall.

>> Ai Westly: It is like a firewall between your.

>> Ai Sarah: You personally and your business. Yeah, that makes

sense.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. So. And the states actually like, they want you to do

this.

>> Ai Sarah: Really?

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. Because it encourages entrepreneurship.

>> Ai Sarah: Would that make sense?

>> Ai Westly: Right. Because they're saying like, hey, we want you to start a business.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: But we're also going to give you these guardrails.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: So if things go wrong.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah. If you go belly up.

>> Ai Westly: Ah. You don't lose everything.

>> Ai Sarah: You don't lose everything.

>> Ai Westly: It's not like you're bed in the farm every time you

start a business.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah. Right. And that can be scary. Right.

Like who wants to risk everything?

>> Ai Westly: Like uh, it'like uh, it's like going to the

casino and putting all your chips on one bet every time.

>> Ai Sarah: Every time. Exactly. Who wants to live like that?

So. Yeah, yeah.

>> Ai Westly: So that makes sense.

>> Ai Sarah: But he also has these warnings about, um.

>> Ai Westly: Oh yeah.

>> Ai Sarah: About taking asset protection too far.

>> Ai Westly: Well, yeah. I mean, how, how do you take it too far?

>> Ai Sarah: Right. Well, he talks about these schemes you

see online.

>> Ai Westly: Oh yeah.

>> Ai Sarah: Like, you know, like the ads and stuff. Like, oh, become,

you know.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. Be invisible.

>> Ai Sarah: Invisible to creditors.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

>> Ai Sarah: And he's like, uh, you know, it.

>> Ai Westly: Is that all about, like, that's like.

>> Ai Sarah: Having a home

security system with aotat and

alligators.

>> Ai Westly: Like sometimes you just need to lock on your door.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah. Keeppt it simple, you know. Ye.

>> Ai Westly: And he actually talks about a Supreme Court case.

>> Ai Sarah: Oh, wow.

>> Ai Westly: Where this company tried to shield all their

assets with all these LLCs

and it didn't hold up in court.

>> Ai Sarah: So the Supreme Court was basically like, nah, uh,

you're trying to hide stuff.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. They were like, this is too much.

>> Ai Sarah: Right. Like, this is interesting.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. So he's like, don't overcomplicate it.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah. So it sounds like, I mean, obviously this is good

to have the llc, but you don't want to know

over engineer it.

>> Ai Westly: Right.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: And it's interesting because he talks about this client he

had who had, like, three different

LLCs. Some of them were esc Cor.

>> Ai Sarah: Okay.

>> Ai Westly: But they were all basically doing the same thing.

>> Ai Sarah: Oh.

>> Ai Westly: Just a different name.

>> Ai Sarah: So just different branding.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. So he was like, why are you making this so

complicated for yourself?

>> Ai Sarah: Right. And I bet that's a nightmare at tax time.

>> Ai Westly: Oh, yeah.

>> Ai Sarah: Three different LLCs, some of them esc cor.

Oh, goodnesse.

>> Ai Westly: And also, like, you're just, like, raising red

flags, right?

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah, exactly. The more complicated you make it, the more likely you are

to, uh, get audited or whatever.

>> Ai Westly: And then he brings up this really interesting point.

He compares an LLC

operating agreement to a prenup.

Oh.

>> Ai Sarah: To a prenup. Okay. So this is if you

have a partner.

>> Ai Westly: Right?

>> Ai Sarah: Okay.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. If you're in business with somebody else.

>> Ai Sarah: Right. Because you're not gonna get married to your business. Hopefully

not.

>> Ai Westly: Hopefully not.

>> Ai Sarah: And it's like, you know, you wouldn't.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah, but I see what you're saying.

>> Ai Sarah: You wouldn't go into a marriage without.

>> Ai Westly: A prenup without some sort of understanding.

>> Ai Sarah: Right. Should have that same level of forethought, uh,

clarity with your business partners.

>> Ai Westly: Right. So, you know, what happens if somebody wants out?

>> Ai Sarah: Right.

>> Ai Westly: What happens if, you know, God forbid, somebody

dies or, you know, gets sick or something

like that?

>> Ai Sarah: What are the spending limits? What if one partner goes

and, like, spends a bunch of money, commits the

business to something?

>> Ai Westly: Right. Without the other person's knowledge?

>> Ai Sarah: Without the other person being able actually know.

Contribute their half or whatever.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. He gives an example of, like, these two business partners.

>> Ai Sarah: Oay.

>> Ai Westly: One of them committed the llc.

>> Ai Sarah: Uh-huh.

>> Ai Westly: To a real estate purchasek without the other

one even knowing.

>> Ai Sarah: Oh.

>> Ai Westly: So. And the other one couldn't even come up with the money.

>> Ai Sarah: Right. They didn't have it.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah.

>> Ai Sarah: So that's a recipe for

disaster.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah, I see your point.

>> Ai Westly: So, you know, it's, like, really important to have that clarity up

front.

>> Ai Sarah: Well, yeah. I mean, like, it's almost like anything else in life. Right. Like,

you want to have those difficult conversations up

front.

>> Ai Westly: Right.

>> Ai Sarah: So you can avoid the real problems down the road.

>> Ai Westly: Exactly.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah. That's a really good point.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. And so, um, I think this is a

really good point to just like, stop

and think, like, if you were

starting a business with somebody, like, what.

>> Ai Sarah: Are the things, what are your non negotiable.

>> Ai Westly: Right.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: That you absolutely need to have in that operating

agreement?

>> Ai Sarah: Right. Like, what would keep you up at night?

>> Ai Westly: Right. What are you worried about?

>> Ai Sarah: Ye.

>> Ai Westly: So then he goes on to this other example which I think is we'll

resonate with some parents out there. He's like, okay,

imagine your 21 year old kid wants

to start a lemonade stand business.

>> Ai Sarah: All right. So cute. Classic, right?

Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: It seems pretty harmless.

>> Ai Sarah: Right.

>> Ai Westly: Like, what's the worst that can happen?

>> Ai Sarah: Right. What are they gonna get sued for?

>> Ai Westly: Well, Feeniac is like,

even in that situation, u. Uh-huh. You need a business

plan.

>> Ai Sarah: Okay. I mean, yeah, fair enough. But like.

>> Ai Westly: Right.

>> Ai Sarah: It's a lemonade standak.

>> Ai Westly: But he's like, you know.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: What's the market?

>> Ai Sarah: Right.

>> Ai Westly: Like, what are your costs?

>> Ai Sarah: What's your customer acquisition strategy?

>> Ai Westly: Right. Like, how are you going to sell this lemonade?

>> Ai Sarah: Okay.

>> Ai Westly: And he uses this example of the food service industry in general.

>> Ai Sarah: Okay.

>> Ai Westly: He's like, it has a very high failure rate.

>> Ai Sarah: It does. Yeah. Restaurants are tough, right? Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: And there's a lot of unexpected complexities that can come up.

>> Ai Sarah: Like what?

>> Ai Westly: Like he mentioned that, like Whole Foods requires a

million dollar liability policy for vendors.

Lemonade standick or I getting a

barcode. Uh, getting shelf space.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah, that's true.

>> Ai Westly: You know, it's like, I hadn't thought about that. Yeah. So it's

like even something as simple as a lemonade stand.

>> Ai Sarah: Right.

>> Ai Westly: Can get really complicated.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah. It can snowball.

>> Ai Westly: Right. And he's basically saying, like, you should treat your

kids business idea.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: With the same seriousness as you would treat any other investment.

>> Ai Sarah: Right. Don't just blow it off because it's cute.

>> Ai Westly: Right?

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: And it's interesting because he actually started his own

business when he was 14.

>> Ai Sarah: Oh, really?

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. He had a skateboard company.

>> Ai Sarah: Oh, wow. Okay. So he's been doing this for a while.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: Called Happy Dog Industries.

>> Ai Sarah: I love that.

>> Ai Westly: And so Happy Dog Industries, you learned.

>> Ai Sarah: All these lessons about risk and reward.

>> Ai Westly: Uh, from a very young age.

>> Ai Sarah: I mean, that's the best way to learn, Right.

Like when you're young and you don't have that m much to lose.

>> Ai Westly: Right.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: And then he goes on to say, like, regardless of

what your business is, you have to be a salesperson.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah. You know, so like, everybody's in

sales.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: Like you could have the best product in the world.

>> Ai Sarah: Right.

>> Ai Westly: But if you can't sell it, you're.

>> Ai Sarah: Not gon toa get anywhere.

>> Ai Westly: You're not go going toa get anywhere.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: And he's like, assume everything goes

right. Like you create your product or service.

It's perfect. You have a website, you have marketing

materials.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: Now how Are you gon toa get people to buy it?

>> Ai Sarah: Okay. Yeah. How are youn toa close those deals?

>> Ai Westly: Yeah.

>> Ai Sarah: That's a good question to ask yourself.

>> Ai Westly: Right?

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: And he's like, huh. You actually should start with the

sales side.

>> Ai Sarah: Interesting.

>> Ai Westly: And let everything else fall into place.

>> Ai Sarah: Huh.

>> Ai Westly: Hu so figure out that sales process

first.

>> Ai Sarah: Okay. So like figure out your

ideal customer, like who is going to buy

thisactly. And then figure out. Okay, how do I talk

to them? How do I reach them?

>> Ai Westly: And this ties into this concept of like

your network and building a network.

>> Ai Sarah: Mhm.

>> Ai Westly: Of what Malcolm Gladwell calls mavens.

>> Ai Sarah: Mavens.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah.

>> Ai Sarah: Or apostles.

>> Ai Westly: Your super fans.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah. Like your early doctors.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. The people who will spread the word for you.

>> Ai Sarah: Right.

>> Ai Westly: Okay.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah. So basically like what does this all mean

for you?

>> Ai Westly: Right. Let's bring it back.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: We've talked about a lot.

>> Ai Sarah: Okay.

>> Ai Westly: What are like the takeaways here?

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah. What are the action items?

>> Ai Westly: So I think the first thing is like you have to

figure out like your risk tolerance.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: Like how much are you willing to risk?

>> Ai Sarah: How much skin are you willing to put in the game?

>> Ai Westly: Right.

>> Ai Sarah: Ye.

>> Ai Westly: And that's going to inform like how you structure your

business, what kind of investments you make and all of

that.

>> Ai Sarah: If you're very risk averse, maybe don't start

a food truck.

>> Ai Westly: Right. Yeah, something like that.

>> Ai Sarah: Exactlye. Um,

and then an LLC can be a really valuable

cool for asset protection.

But it's not a magic bullet.

>> Ai Westly: Right. It's not go goingna solve all your problems.

>> Ai Sarah: Right.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah.

>> Ai Sarah: And you also have to think about like even when

things are going well.

>> Ai Westly: Right.

>> Ai Sarah: What's the worst case scenario?

>> Ai Westly: Plan for the worst y hope for.

>> Ai Sarah: The best and then start simple.

Don't like overco compllicate things from the beginning.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. Don't try to like you know, create some sort of super

complex legal structure.

>> Ai Sarah: Right.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. When you're just starting out with your lemonade stand, keep it simple

and then.

>> Ai Sarah: You can scale up as you need to.

>> Ai Westly: Right. Exactly. Ye.

Good advice. Yeah. We're gonna pause

here.

>> Ai Sarah: Okay.

>> Ai Westly: And we'll come back for part two of this deep dive.

>> Ai Sarah: I'm excited to see what else he has to say.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. This is a really good one.

>> Ai Sarah: Okay.

>> Ai Westly: So stay tuned. We back in a minute.

>> Ai Sarah: I'll be here.

Welcome back. So, um, you know,

one thing that I thought was interesting in that episodeah was

um, the way he kind of tied his

own experience as an entrepreneur to some of

these points about LLCs and asset protection.

>> Ai Westly: Right.

>> Ai Sarah: He started a skateboard company when he was 14.

>> Ai Westly: Oh, yeah. Happy Dog Industries.

>> Ai Sarah: Happy Dog Industries. Yeah. I love that.

Um, but, yeah, he didn't have an LLC at the

time, but he was already thinking about, like,

okay, how much money do I have to put into this?

How much risk am I taking? Um, and it's

interesting because a lot of these principles, they

apply, whether you're running a lemonade stand

or, you know, a Fortune 500 company.

>> Ai Westly: Right. It's all about managing risk.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah. And being smart about it.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. And being smart about it. And planning ahead.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah. And it's funny because he tells this story about how

he hired a friend to design the logo for Happy

Dog Industries. Um,

and he didn't have any kind of formal agreement.

And so he's like, you know, looking back, I don't even know if I own

the rights to that logo. It's like,

you know, even when you're starting out small, it's

important to think about these things.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. Easz to overlook that stuff when you're just excited to

get going.

>> Ai Sarah: Totally. Yeah. You know. Yeah. And I think that that's something

that he kind of emphasizes throughout the whole

interview is, like, the importance of getting advice

from experts. Like, he talks about how much he enjoys

learning from other lawyers, especially lawyers

who specialize in bankruptcy or

divorce or litigationion.

>> Ai Westly: Interesting.

>> Ai Sarah: And he's like, you know, I want to understand how those

things work so I can better protect my

clients.

>> Ai Westly: Yeahuse he's basically trying to think of, like,

okay, what could go wrong?

>> Ai Sarah: Right. Exactly.

>> Ai Westly: He's playing devublin's advocate, and how do we prevent that?

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah. How do we protect against that?

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. And he even talked about, um,

staying up to date on recent legal developments.

Like, um, there's this corporate transparency act.

>> Ai Sarah: Oh, yeah, I've heard of that.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. And he was kind of like, you.

>> Ai Sarah: Know, what is that about?

>> Ai Westly: It's more nuanced than people think.

>> Ai Sarah: Okay.

>> Ai Westly: And you really need to understand the details and, like,

talk to an expert.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah. Don't just rely on some random blog post.

>> Ai Westly: Right.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah. Talk to a lawyer.

>> Ai Westly: Exactly.

>> Ai Sarah: Who knows what they're talking about.

>> Ai Westly: So, um, for our listeners out

there who are maybe thinking, like, okay,

great information. Yeah, but where do I even

begin?

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah. Like, how do I actually put this into practice?

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. What would phniac say?

>> Ai Sarah: Well, um, he's a big advocate for

starting simple and scaling up as

needed.

>> Ai Westly: Oh, sh.

>> Ai Sarah: So, like, he uses this example of, like,

you know, someone who has this, like, brilliant tech

idea, but they haven't even written a line of code

Yet. And they're already like, oh, I need to form a

Delaware C corp. And he's like, whoa, whoa, uh,

whoa. Uh, hold your horses, hold your horses.

Just start with a simple Wyoming llc.

>> Ai Westly: Okay, so why Wyoming?

>> Ai Sarah: Well, Wyoming is known for being very business

friendly. They have a really straightforward legal

structure. Um, it offers a good level of

privacy for business owners.

>> Ai Westly: Okay.

>> Ai Sarah: And it's generally less expensive to form an

LLC in Wyoming than in some other state.

>> Ai Westly: Okay. So that's like your starting point.

>> Ai Sarah: That's your starting point.

>> Ai Westly: And then as you grow, you can convert it to a

corporation later or domesticate it to Delaware.

>> Ai Sarah: You need to raise venture capital or something like that.

>> Ai Westly: Right, exactly. So it's all about, like, being

strategic and adaptable.

>> Ai Sarah: Right. Meeting your needs now.

>> Ai Westly: Right.

>> Ai Sarah: But also keeping in mind what might happen in the

future.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. And he talked a lot about, um, kind of

the mindset that you need to have.

>> Ai Sarah: Uh-huh.

>> Ai Westly: For entrepreneurial success.

>> Ai Sarah: What did he say about that?

>> Ai Westly: Well, he really hammered home this point about

being sales focused. You know,

like, regardless of what your business is,

you have to figure out how you're gonna get people to buy your product or

service.

>> Ai Sarah: Right? Yeah. Everybody's in sales whether you realize it

or not.

>> Ai Westly: And he actually said, like, flip the script a bit.

>> Ai Sarah: Oay.

>> Ai Westly: Instead of thinking about, like, okay, I'm gonna build this product and then people will

come. He's like, start with the sales process.

>> Ai Sarah: Interesting.

>> Ai Westly: Like, assume everything goes perfectly. O develop your

product, you build your website, you're ready to

launch. Now, how are you going to get those customers?

>> Ai Sarah: Okay, so start with the end in mind.

>> Ai Westly: Right?

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah. Work backwards.

>> Ai Westly: Exactly.

>> Ai Sarah: Oay.

>> Ai Westly: And that kind of forces you to think about, like,

okay, who is my ideal

customer? What's my message?

>> Ai Sarah: How do I reach them?

>> Ai Westly: Exactly.

>> Ai Sarah: What are their pain points? How do I solve their problemah?

>> Ai Westly: And that ties into this whole idea of, like, the mavens

and the apostles.

>> Ai Sarah: Right. Those early adopters.

>> Ai Westly: Right.

>> Ai Sarah: The people who are going to be your biggest fans. Yeah,

yeah.

>> Ai Westly: And, like, spread the word for you.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah. And it's so much more effective than,

like, you know, just throwing money at ads.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. It's like authentic marketing.

>> Ai Sarah: Right, Exactly.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. Word of mouth is the best marketing.

>> Ai Sarah: It really is.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. And it's free.

>> Ai Sarah: It is. Yeah. That's a good point.

>> Ai Westly: So, um, you know, he also talked a little bit

about kind of his personal definition of wealth.

>> Ai Sarah: Oh, yeah? What did he say about that?

>> Ai Westly: He was saying, like, you know, it's not just about the number in your

bank account.

>> Ai Sarah: Ok.

>> Ai Westly: It's about having optionality.

>> Ai Sarah: Oay.

>> Ai Westly: Like having the freedom to make

choices.

>> Ai Sarah: So, like the freedom to say no. The freedom

to walk away from a deal that you don't feel good

about.

>> Ai Westly: Exactly.

>> Ai Sarah: The freedom to, you know, start a business that you're

passionate about, even if it doesn't make a ton of money.

>> Ai Westly: It's like, what do you want your life to look like?

>> Ai Sarah: Right. Yeah, Exactly. What's important to you.

>> Ai Westly: And he also talked about managing expenses. Uh, like,

even as your income increases.

>> Ai Sarah: Right.

>> Ai Westly: It's easy to fall into this trap of

lifestyle inflation.

>> Ai Sarah: Loststyle inflation. Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: Where, like, you just keep spending more.

>> Ai Sarah: And more as you make more and more.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. And you never actually get ahead.

>> Ai Sarah: Right. Yeah. You're on that hedonic treadmill.

>> Ai Westly: Right?

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: And he actually shared a story about how

he learned this lesson the hard.

>> Ai Sarah: Way during the 2008 financial crisis. Yeah. Okay.

>> Ai Westly: He had built this comfortable lifestyle

based on his high income.

>> Ai Sarah: Mhm.

>> Ai Westly: But then when that income took a hit,

he was kind of like, oh.

>> Ai Sarah: Wait a minute, I'm not as secure as I thought I was.

>> Ai Westly: Right. So his biggest money mistake was not

having that buffer.

>> Ai Sarah: Right. Not saving enough.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. Not having that cushion.

>> Ai Sarah: Not being prepared for a rainy day.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah. That's a good lesson for all of us.

>> Ai Westly: And I remember he's a big fan of Malcolm Gladwell.

>> Ai Sarah: Oh, yeah.

>> Ai Westly: And he specifically mentioned,

um, the tipping point. The tipping point.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

>> Ai Westly: And he was talking about these ideas of, like,

mavens and apostles.

>> Ai Sarah: Right.

>> Ai Westly: These people who have, like, an outsized influence.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah, those influencers.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. So again, it's like, you know, building

that loyal following.

>> Ai Sarah: Right. Finding your tribe.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah, yeah. And then, of course, like, you can't

forget about his love of paella.

>> Ai Sarah: Uh. Oh, yeah, the paella.

>> Ai Westly: I was picturing him in his backyard. Like, paella pans

sizzling on the grill.

>> Ai Sarah: Orange wood, charcoal.

>> Ai Westly: Delicious. It's like,

even as we're talking about all this serious business

stuffah, it's important.

>> Ai Sarah: To remember to enjoy life.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. Like, what are the things that bring you joy?

>> Ai Sarah: Right. What are you passionate about?

>> Ai Westly: You knoweah? What makes you tick?

>> Ai Sarah: So I think, um, we've covered a lot of ground

here.

>> Ai Westly: We have. Yeah.

>> Ai Sarah: In the second part of our deep dive.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. What if we learned.

>> Ai Sarah: So we talked about the importance of getting expert

advice.

>> Ai Westly: Okay.

>> Ai Sarah: Um, Starting simple and scaling up as

needed.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah.

>> Ai Sarah: Cultivating a sales focused

mindset. Um, we talked about Feniac's

personal definition of wealth, the importance of

managing expenses and the power of building a

loyal.

>> Ai Westly: Following and finding those Mavens and apostles.

Yeah, yeah. But there's still more to uncover.

>> Ai Sarah: There is.

>> Ai Westly: So join us for the final part of our Deep divek,

where we'll wrap up.

>> Ai Sarah: I'm ready.

>> Ai Westly: Our exploration of Jonathan Finniak's insights from

about that Wallet podcast.

>> Ai Sarah: All right, I'll be here.

>> Ai Westly: All right, so welcome back to the final part of our Deep Dive. And,

you know, one thing that really struck me

throughout this whole episode about that Wallet.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: Was Finiac's emphasis on

mindset.

>> Ai Sarah: Oh, yeah, absolutely.

>> Ai Westly: Like, he's saying, you know, you can have all the right legal strategies, all the

right financial strategies, but

ultimately comes down to, like,

your attitude.

>> Ai Sarah: Right. Your approach.

>> Ai Westly: Your approach.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: And he makes this point about how, like, he's often, like, the

most negative person in the room.

>> Ai Sarah: Oh, yeah, he said that.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. He's always, like, playingain Devil's Abjectate.

>> Ai Sarah: Oh, right. He's always thinking about, like, what could go wrong.

>> Ai Westly: Right.

>> Ai Sarah: What are the worst case scenarios.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. And that's what makes him so good at his job.

>> Ai Sarah: Right. Because he's anticipating those

problems and figuring out how to avoid them.

>> Ai Westly: And he's like, you know, hope for.

>> Ai Sarah: The best, but plan for the worst.

>> Ai Westly: Exactly.

>> Ai Sarah: And I think that's, like, a really good.

>> Ai Westly: It's a good life lesson in general.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah, yeah. Uh, and he's also like, you know, don't be afraid of

the unknown.

>> Ai Westly: All right. Embrace the uncertainty.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah, yeah. And know for anyone out there who's

feeling hesitant or overwhelmed, just like,

just start small. You like, you know, test the

waters.

>> Ai Westly: Dip your toes in.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeahah. And scale up as you gain experience and

confidence.

>> Ai Westly: Right.

>> Ai Sarah: Don't try to do everything at once.

>> Ai Westly: Don't overthink it to start.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah. And speaking of getting started, remember

that discount that llcurnorney.com is

offering our listener?

>> Ai Westly: Oh, yeah, that's right.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah. It's a good one.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah's a really good one. So use the code wallet pod100

at, uh, checkout, and you'll get 100% off your initial

LLC formation fee.

>> Ai Sarah: Wow. That's amazing.

All right, so to kind of wrap things up here.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah.

>> Ai Sarah: What are the key takeaways?

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. Let's, like, recap.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: What have we learned? So, first and foremost, understand

your risk tolerance.

>> Ai Sarah: Okay.

>> Ai Westly: Like, how much are you comfortable risking?

>> Ai Sarah: How much are you willing to lose? Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: And that's going to inform, like, all your decisions about

your business structure, your investments, your

overall financial strategy, if you're risk averse.

Yeah.

>> Ai Sarah: Maybe starting a business is not the best idea.

>> Ai Westly: Right.

>> Ai Sarah: Or Maybe you need to find a partner who's more willing to

take risks.

>> Ai Westly: Exactly.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: Um, and then LLCs are a great tool.

They are for asset protection. Uh-huh. But

they're not a magic bullet.

>> Ai Sarah: Right. You still need to be smart. You still need to have

good contracts.

>> Ai Westly: You need to do your due diligence.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: You know, and you need to plan

ahead.

>> Ai Sarah: Always plan ahead.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. Like, anticipate those challenges and have a

contingency plan.

>> Ai Sarah: What's the worst that could happen and how are you going deal with it.

>> Ai Westly: Exactly. And don't forget out mindset.

>> Ai Sarah: Right.

>> Ai Westly: Believe in yourself. Be persistent.

>> Ai Sarah: Stay positive.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. Stay adaptable.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: Surround yourself with good people.

>> Ai Sarah: Find your tribe, your mentors, your

advisors.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. And, you know, find joy in the journey.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: Entrepreneurship can be tough.

>> Ai Sarah: It can be a roller coaster.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: But it's also incredibly rewarding.

>> Ai Sarah: It is.

>> Ai Westly: You know, so celebrate those wins.

>> Ai Sarah: Yah.

>> Ai Westly: Learn from your setbacks.

>> Ai Sarah: Uh-huh.

>> Ai Westly: And just keep that entrepreneurial fire burning.

>> Ai Sarah: Keep that passion alive.

>> Ai Westly: Yeah. So to all our listeners out there.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: Keep exploring, keep learning. Keep diving deep.

>> Ai Sarah: Yes.

>> Ai Westly: And, um, you know, whether you're whipping up a batch of

paella.

>> Ai Sarah: Oay.

>> Ai Westly: Or launching the next big thing, we're here to support you

every step of the way.

>> Ai Sarah: Absolutely.

>> Ai Westly: And be sure to check out the about that Wallet podcast.

>> Ai Sarah: Yes.

>> Ai Westly: For more fantastic financial advice.

>> Ai Sarah: They're great.

>> Ai Westly: You can find them on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,

YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. Wherever you get your

podcast.

>> Ai Sarah: Yeah.

>> Ai Westly: Be sure to subscribe. Give them a five star rating.

>> Ai Sarah: All that good stuff.

>> Ai Westly: All that good stuff. And until next time,

happy venturing. Happy venturing.