Get Your Mind Right and Your Money Tight with Erika Dox-Martinez

Episode 60 • 6th October 2025 • Beabosscoaching • Beatriz Rivera

[00:00:00]

Hey y'all, and welcome back to another episode. Here at the Beabosscoaching Podcast, I'm your host Beatriz Rivera, and I'm excited to kick off another episode in our season of expansion. Today, I'm joined by someone who truly embodies what it means to grow, stretch, and support others in their journey. My friend and fellow entrepreneur, Erika Dox-Martinez.

Eri is the CEO and founder of Blissful Vida, a holistic and financial wellness company. Dedicated to helping people transform their relationship with money

As a trauma money certified financial wellness coach, Erika guides her clients to unlearn old money stories, release financial stress, and move toward what she calls. Financial Bliss. Her approach is all [00:01:00] about looking at money from the inside out, addressing emotions and habits and the deep rooted beliefs that shape our financial lives.

a opens up about her own journey of healing and entrepre. Sharing how her personal growth has fueled her business growth. We talk about the power of community, the importance of taking small, brave steps even when it feels scary, and how expansion isn't just about business milestones, but about who we become along the way.

You'll hear Erika's story of launching Bliss will be that during the pandemic, overcoming personal and professional challenges and building a business that centers healing, abundance, and support for. Others, we dive into practical money tips, the realities of being an introverted entrepreneur and the values of celebrating every win, no matter how small.

If you've ever felt nervous about putting yourself out there, struggled with money, mindset, or wondered how to balance [00:02:00] growth with self care, this conversation is for you. a's wisdom, vulnerability, and actionable advice will inspire you to embrace your own expansion one step at a time. So I encourage you to grab your favorite beverage, get comfortable, and get ready to be inspired by Erika Dox-Martinez, Let's dive in.

And it's officially recording, and I'm really excited because Erika, I have known you for so long now that I'm really excited to finally have you on the podcast in this really amazing season, season four of the Beabosscoaching Podcast. Thank you so much for joining me.

Thank you.

And, uh, but tell us, okay, so we know each, like, I, I feel like you are.

A friend that I've known forever, and even though we've never met in person, I know that I could count on you, confide in you and you are just one [00:03:00] of those peers and colleagues and entrepreneurs that I've seen and grown and I've, in my own journey, like we've shared a lot of our own challenges and so.

In that journey that we shared together and, you know, your journey and mine are, are very different, but we still are always supporting each other. So thank you so much, Erika, for, for joining me today and for joining me in this special season, which is season of expansion. Um, which is why I wanted to have you on, you have been experiencing so much expansion lately.

I've seen the expansion your, your. Creating and uh, but let us go into introducing yourself, who you are and what you do, and then we can go into , perhaps how we met, but, we'll, we'll, I know it's a little blurry 'cause it's been so long now, but if you can just start us, [00:04:00] start us off there.

Thank you so much for having me on. And so my name is Erika Dox-Martinez. I'm the CEO and founder of Blissful Vida, which is a financial wellness company that I started. Yes. So, um, I'm trauma money certified as a financial wellness coach, and I help people transform their relationship with money and take control of their money in, in a way for them to really unlearn the things that are not serving them anymore and learning the tools and strategies we need to thrive in this environment that we're in.

So I want more of us to live and fund the blissful vida's that we desire and deserve, and that's where the Blissful Vida name comes from. It's like a holistic financial wellness company. So we look at. Um, things from the inside out as I like to say. So we talk about, um, emotions we have around money, stories we have around money, and how those are affecting our habits today, and transforming those and rewriting those into something that you want that better, serves the blissful life that you want [00:05:00] to, to live.

So it's a, a whole process in there of all the things, but it's really, I want more of us to release financial stress and the financial challenges and move over to abundance and what I call financial bliss.

Awesome. Well, thank you so much Erika, for sharing with us what you do okay. So I do like for people to know and for listeners to get to know you a little bit better beyond your company and what you've started and created. Is there anything that you wanna share? That you want listeners to know about you?

I think a big part of me right now in this season too, is I'm on my healing journey as well as building a business, um, and just trying to live my blissful vida as well. So I think it all like lends itself to each other and it's a big rotating cycle of how, how healing lends itself to that The the person that I wanna become.

So, um, I'm here [00:06:00] alongside many of the people like us who are like heart led and soul centered and wanna just do better. And, um, tapping into different modalities of healing and working with my inner niña and also going to therapy. I restarted therapy late, uh, recently. Um, I think what's happening right now in this current.

Climate or season is really triggering for me. And, um, I kind of need all the tools and support that I can grasp at. So, um, I think that's just a little bit about my, me personally right now, um, really focusing on my healing and emotions and making sure that I can navigate both sides of it. Um, well, so I, I know that there's like a lot of things going on, but I also wanna remember that there's a lot of still good and good people around as well.

Absolutely. Yes. Thank you for sharing. I know especially as. Um, you know, uh, financial trauma, when you bring in a lot of work around trauma and money, trauma and [00:07:00] money wounds, of course you're gonna be on your healing journey. And I love when entrepreneurs and people like you who have started companies in, in order to serve people to live better lives and learn resources, learn, The tools that we don't get taught in school around finances and money, um, and also just how our previous experiences shape the way that we behave with money later on that. We don't know that until we know it, right, until someone points it out and talks about it and says, this is why you might be, uh, behaving this way with money or feeling this way around money and that alone takes a lot of inner work, that it encompasses a lot of healing.

That I think without you doing that, you wouldn't be able to. To serve the, the clients that you have and the people your community in, in such an impactful [00:08:00] way because it is such a integral part of this process. And to learn how to live blissful Vidas. I'm on my way there. Well, it's a, it's a mindset, right?

It's like a mindset. So it's a constant, um, it's a constant way of being, and it's. For us to have a community and someone to remind us of that, to do that work consistently, it's what keeps us on the right track towards that blissful vida. And we might be living blissful vitas now, but what is our, what is our imagination?

Where can our imagination go with the kind of dreams and goals that we can achieve , by attaining. Financial goals, paying off debt, paying, you know, all these things that we wanna do with, with money. So thank you so much for sharing that with us. Um, yeah. Okay. So, uh, and [00:09:00] I don't remember, I don't remember where we met.

But I do wanna say, I think it's with casita, uh, Cafecito Con Jefas, with the the jefa, Kita Zuleta, who is the creator and founder of Cafecito Con Jefas, also known as CCJ. And in that community, it's. A community of so many amazing women who are on this path, on this entrepreneurship path, but also jefa path. Any sort of path that you're on.

And I remember us meeting, I don't even know what, we've been in so many of these spaces together that it just, we, I know. I've seen you in your like, element of, of providing resources and, and really sharing your expertise and also being vulnerable and sharing like what your challenges have been as an entrepreneur and, uh, and so in, [00:10:00] in all of the spaces that we've been together, I feel like I know you like a, like a true amiga, like a true like.

Comrade in this journey. And, um, but tell us more about how Blissful Vida really came into your life. Because I, I've heard this story, but I want listeners to really know how that story came to be and, um, and if you could tell us how blissful vida, why it exists now.

For for sure. So this all started back in the pandemic. So COVID threw me for a big old loop for sure. And um. Honestly, I separated from my husband at that time. I moved out of the house and, uh, started therapy back then as well. And then my husband and I also did couples counseling and, uh, we did a couples retreat that really, really saved our marriage.

So we are still [00:11:00] together, happily celebrated 10 years, uh, just this past February. So yay.

Congratulations.

Thank you. We went to Paris also,

Amazing.

and, and some other, um, cities in Europe, um, to celebrate that and that was amazing. But, um. During that pandemic, I bumped into Tony Robbins Wheel of Life. Um, so I'm not sure if you're familiar with that or it's like a happiness wheel.

So it asks you to think about different pillars of your life and rate them from one to 10. So for me, I was rating all of them and, uh, the one that I had pretty low was my career and my health. And my health is still probably the one I need to work on the most, um, currently, but back then it was career was low.

Um, my emotional stuff I was working on, my relationship was kind of like in the middle 'cause I was working on that too. But, um. I really was like, all right, I'm working on all these other pillars of my life, but my career is the one that's like, um, I, I know that this is not what I'm supposed to be doing.

I wasn't happy with where I [00:12:00] was, so I was like, what can I do? , Instead, and I did try to get into nonprofit space. I had a big cancer scare back in 2011, and it just didn't pan out with the nonprofit. So I was like, well, what can I do for myself? And, , I looked at my pillar of life and the highest one that I had was my finances.

So I was like looking at that like, okay. This was a space where I once struggled, like I was back when my husband and I got engaged, which was 2012. Right. Yeah. 2012. And I was like, I was making six figures, had no savings for a wedding in tons of debt, and that was like kind of my aha moment to change my financial trajectory.

So I was like, I don't wanna go into more debt because I'm getting married. So I decided to get outta debt and save $10,000 for this wedding before we would get married. So that's kind of like what catapulted me to make the, the financial change in my life. And we did, it took three years and we got married, uh, paid for a wedding in cash, and one year later I was debt free.

So that's 2016. [00:13:00] So fast forward to the pandemic. So it was about 2022 when I started Blissful Vida, where I was like, all right, if I did that, I can help other people do the same thing so people that make good money and were like, I should be further along by now, I should have more money in savings. I don't even know where my money is going, which was like me.

So me talking to myself back then and just being like, there has to be other people struggling because like you said, they don't teach us this in school. They don't want us to manage our money well, they want us in debt so that we're paying all this interest and keeping ourselves stuck in these situations.

Uh, they don't want us to have savings. Like there's so many people I talk to that don't even know what a high yield savings account is or have one, and it's like, why are we not educating people on how to make our money work for us, even if it's in that capacity because if you have your money in your bank bank, it's only getting 0.01% interest versus a high yield savings can get you three and a half to 4% right now.

So that's a huge difference. Uh, so, uh, I think it was like, all right, I'm gonna take it upon [00:14:00] myself to help people with this. And that's when I stumbled on trauma of money as well. So I wasn't planning to have all this background with the trauma informed piece, but there's so much emotion around money and.

You know, a lot of negative emotions around money too. And, uh, a lot of people avoid their money or there's a lot of shame and I wanna help, , alleviate that for our community because it's so important for us to, to get over the taboo part of the money and like, let's talk about it. Let's heal from it and let's look at what's holding us back.

So that's how Blissful Vida was born because I couldn't find a job in nonprofit and I was like, okay, I'm gonna start my own company. And that whole story I'm sure we'll get into too, of the challenges of that. But I was like, I'm gonna bet on myself. And I had the financial means to be able to do that, uh, by that point in time.

So that's another big part of it. 'cause I did quit my job six months after I started Blissful Vida.

Yeah. Yeah, well, definitely we, we, I'd like to get into that, but, so [00:15:00] being that this season is very focused on this theme of expansion, and the reason why I chose expansion is because I feel like I, I, I feel it in myself definitely. And. But I've also been seeing it in you and in all of the other guests of this show and just like, what is, and, and I really wanted to discuss what does it feel like to, how does, how has expansion shown up for you in these moments?

Right? So in these moments of you making that decision to start Blissful Vida, and even though. Expansion is, um, you know, we might all have the, the similar explanation of expansion. It feels different. So I'm wondering when you were making this decision of starting [00:16:00] your Blissful Vida company and deciding to.

Teach people about, the, the frameworks that you have around money and, and how you did it yourself. How you were able to save up $10,000 and pay off your debt On top of that, how did feel , what did that feel in your body, what were you thinking and how did you navigate Those decisions as you were moving into really making this a reality?

Yeah, so those are two different time points. So first

Mm-hmm.

I'll talk about, um, just making the decision to, to get my financial house in order and what that felt like. Uh, it was, I think for both situations it's honestly scary 'cause we're, um, I'm stepping into situations that I'm not really sure how to, how to navigate.

So in terms of like saving money and getting outta debt, I was like, all right, there have to [00:17:00] be tools out there to help me do this. I just need to learn them. So it's like there are people who save money and there are people who gotten outta debt. So what does that look like? What do I need to put in place?

And I think that was like step one is all right. Uh, first of all. I can say first, uh, step is awareness. So where is my money going first and foremost, and is it going to where I want it to go, being that I wanna save money and get outta debt? So I had to look at that and start moving some funds around, but also incorporating things that I still like to do, right?

So that's part of the blissful spending plan that I like to incorporate. And, um. I just had to put a timeline in order. If I wanna get outta debt by this date, I need to put this much towards my payments. And there are, um, a lot of spreadsheets, ones that I use with my clients too, that we pop in all your numbers and we put in what you can pay, or if you wanna get outta debt by a certain date, you kind of can calculate what that looks like on a monthly basis.

And I did that, that was like a longer journey. Um, so it took me four years to get outta debt after I [00:18:00] decided, and three years to save $10,000. So it's not like a quick thing, but I had to. I had to have a plan, and I think that that's what was missing prior to that is like I was making money, but I didn't have any goals or plans with this money.

So money was coming in, I paid my bills. Yes, I had fun, but I would, I was like, I wasn't saving for anything. I wasn't intentionally trying to get outta debt as soon as I could, but now I had a goal. I was like, all right, I wanna get married, so I need to do this quicker or figure this out. So I think that's part of it too, is you have to have a, a why?

Like, why do you wanna do this? And if we move over to the business expansion, that part is like a lot more. Um, what expansion meant to me for that was more growing and becoming, uh, someone who can do this and have a business. I never saw myself as an entrepreneur. I didn't know that this was even an option for me.

So in looking at what that looks like, it took a lot of work. Mindset work too. Like, [00:19:00] okay, I can do this, or I can figure it out as I go , but I think before I even started, I struggled a lot to, to decide because it's like, I don't know if I could do this. Um. And I have no one who's done this to help me.

So navigating that space was tricky until like, I kept seeing people on social media following people kind of being like, all right, they're doing it. Seeing other Latinas, uh, honestly, has helped me so much being like, all right, they're coaching, they have their own businesses, so this, if you see other people doing it, then obviously you can do it yourself.

It, it's, it's more of that belief system. Um, but it still is like I was an accountant prior to this, so I was someone hiding behind a desk for 20 years. Like I did not have to put my face out there. I did not have to do presentations. I did not have to speak on social media or in front of people. So I think for me, that was the biggest, um.

I still struggle with that. Even like, I never thought I'd be on [00:20:00] podcasts, you know? So,

know. Yeah.

so I think for me, the expansion is, is that part of it, the growing into who I need to become. Like if I want to run a successful business, people need to see me, I need to be visible, and I need to be able to share and articulate what it is that I do.

And I think for me, that's been the, the biggest struggle, on this journey and. I think the expansion part is, it gets easier as I keep doing it. , So I, I really do feel that, and I'm like, all right, I know I could do hard things because I'm doing them right, or things that I never thought I, I was, I could do.

So I, and as I do them, they do become easier. So I just wanna say, say that. And a lot of people ask, you know, with the confidence piece of this work, um, like, where does it come from? And it is, does come from doing it and. 'Cause say the first time I ever rose my hand to speak at an event, my whole body was literally shaking.

So that's my nervous system reacting, right? So then it goes into that kind of work, [00:21:00] like my body doesn't feel safe to put myself out there or it didn't feel safe. And then you have to be aware of that. But I told my body, okay, I'm still gonna talk and I dunno how I look like,

Mm-hmm.

but I still did it right. And, you know, I got, I got a, a speaking engagement out of that.

And so. As crazy as my body felt, but then the next time I rose my hand, it was a lot easier. And it's, it gets your body to know , your nervous system. It gets my nervous system to know that, hey, I didn't implode, I didn't faint. And then it gets easier and easier as as I do it. And I think that's what I'm taking with me as I keep expanding because I am gonna continue to do things that I haven't done yet in order to.

You know, get the business to where I want it to go. And I'm just okay with that. I'm, I'm okay with the uncomfortableness of it and the scary parts of it as well. But I think that, that, for me, that's what expansion is, is is stepping into the uncomfortableness and doing it scared. So [00:22:00] to the CCJ model, do it scared?

Um,

scared. Yeah. But juntas, right? Yeah.

And together.

Yeah. I mean, well, first of all, I just wanna recap, you said awareness, you said. Setting the goals. But then the last thing is really being a, being in your body, and, and I just wanna say thank you for highlighting that because that's one of the, the.

I guess tangible ways that we can feel expansion is when we can feel the visceral physical reactions in our body. And I talk about this all the time where I. My, my voice shakes, my armpit sweat. And even after three years of doing this podcasting, um, and even coaching or [00:23:00] facilitating, I am drenched in my, my shirt after doing some sort of speaking engagement.

And I think that that is one of the. Uh, biggest hurdles to get over and, and like how you're reacting to doing something scary is being aware of, of that, but then also supporting yourself through that process and saying. I'm still gonna do it and I'm still gonna put my, put my hand up. I'm still gonna get on the podcast.

I'm still going to run this workshop or, or go pitch myself to this potential client and all of that it for, I'm glad that you said that that is expansion because we often think of expansion as like, well, how are we gonna, you know. It's like, how, like how are we gonna get our next client? Or how are we gonna, you know, get the [00:24:00] speaking engagement and, and it's like, really, it's how it's, it's about how you feel.

Yeah. And then learning how to support yourself and regulate yourself through those moments to get yourself to, to the other side. And at that point you realized. Like you said, after each and every time that we raise our hand or that we get on the podcast or that we get on a video to do a social media reel or a live, or anything that requires us to be in front of a camera,

Mm-hmm.

I, I, those things are necessary for entrepreneurship.

I think sometimes we try to, I, I remember a time when I was. Thinking, is there a way to not do that? You know, like, can I try to avoid it? But, um, yeah. Right. Like it's still something [00:25:00] that like, we have to, we're like, is this always because it gets exhausting, right? Like we, us to us feeling that way and having to regulate ourselves over that.

And I'm an introvert, so I feel like the energy, right? Erika, like the, as introverts we're like always trying to think of ways to stay safe, but as, as an introvert entrepreneur, there, there, you definitely have to grow into those moments and like you said, into being that person that you need to be for your business.

Um, and so I have seen. I've witnessed your expansion, you know, just like your book club when you facilitated your book club and the podcast and all of that is proof of your expansion and growth. And I just want listeners to remember that in any [00:26:00] journey, entrepreneurship journey, as you continue moving forward and growing and grow, I think growing and expansion can be almost.

Synonymous. It's, it's, you can see it in the things that you do, but it's really about like how you can, how you learn how to, uh, support yourself through that. And I'm so happy that you know, you, like you said, you still, like, each time that you do it, it gets easier and easier and easier. Um,

but I just wanna state like baby steps are important too. So it's not like I just didn't fully throw myself into all these things. 'cause I could even say, let's say for Zoom rooms. Uh, for instance, back in the day, I would not even go on camera or say a word. So then I just started like chatting in the chat.

Then one day I'll put my camera the next time I put my camera on, but I won't say anything. Then the next time it's like, all right, maybe I will say something, or, you know, and it just got up to the point where now I'm just like, I'll, I'll raise my, I wear. Yeah, I'll raise my hand to go first so I [00:27:00] could kind of get, the jitters won't catch up to me yet.

And then now I'm just like always on camera. I, I'm okay with it, but it takes time. Like these things, it does. Nothing happens overnight. And the same with the business. So I know you've seen my expansion, but um, I've been in business for two and a half years now and, um, I feel like I'm finally, all the seeds that I planted are finally blooming.

Um, so that's, I think what you're seeing. But it also comes with doing the things that, um, I probably. Would never think I was gonna do, or, or, yeah. Just pushing through the, the scaries of a lot of things because even doing like my first in-person workshops, like those were like, oh my God, everybody's gonna be looking at me and, and having to do this.

But every time I've done them, you know, it does get easier, but, I just told myself I got this and I trust, uh, that I got this. But even like, I could even say my first workshops, even on Zoom and my first podcast, I had a script and everything, so that's what I had to lean [00:28:00] on. That made me feel safe to have something like sometimes I was reading, but like my very, very first podcast, I was definitely reading the whole time.

Yeah.

So I just like, it's, and that's okay. Like I did the best I could at that point in time until I started growing and I got better. Um, so now I don't have a script and I just hope that what I want to come across comes across. But I don't think I'm the best speaker yet, but that's something I'm also working on.

So I think it's just okay to say, Hey, we're. Um, working on getting better. We we're growing and we want to do better, and that's why we're here. We're here to learn and to grow and to do it together. So I think, um, from even seeing you and your seasons and your expansion, like all of us together in this space have accomplished so much as we are on this journey together.

But it takes, it takes time and it takes, yeah, just kind of like pushing through and talking ourselves. Um, hyping ourselves up sometimes and being our biggest cheerleader. And I think that that is, um, we gotta [00:29:00] celebrate these little wins, like as we keep doing them. So, yeah, this is, you know, I did a podcast today.

I went live on IG today too, uh, with Kita, so it's like, yay, I did that. Um, I, if you ever told me I'll be doing either of these things like three years ago, I would've been like, you're crazy. But so.

I know I absolutely, all of what you said. Absolutely. I've experienced myself as well, so I, I think that that is the biggest thing is just learning how to, like what feels learning, what feels unsafe. But then teaching yourself that actually you are safe. What are some small steps that I can do to get myself to the next little step?

And then the next little step. And I'm so glad you said that because sometimes we, we think we have to do it all un solo. Like all at once, like, let's get on camera. And we like, I think that that's the message that we get sometimes as entrepreneurs is like, if you wanna be a successful entrepreneur, [00:30:00] you have to, you know, you have to put yourself out there.

Get on camera, just do it. Don't worry about what people are gonna say. And while I know that, that. Advice comes from a good place. It's still, like you said, we, we, you are a trauma informed coach that teaches on finances and so not understanding and knowing like how we might physically react to a situation.

I think that that. Not understanding that sometimes prevents us from, from actually taking those steps because we think we have to take those huge steps when we don't realize that actually we have the option of taking tiny steps

Yes. So true.

just do a little by little, even. Even when it comes to your financial journey, it's the same. It's like even I think savings, especially, a lot of people are [00:31:00] like, I just can't save, I don't have enough to save. But you can probably save a dollar or $5 a week or $10 a week and you'll see it.

Just make it a habit and then it'll start to grow. And then you could be like, all right, maybe I can allocate more to that. But with everything, we don't wanna, like, I feel like we think, oh, I can't save a hundred dollars, so I just won't do anything. And it's. It's the same. It's the same with anything we do, right?

It's not only with money. And I think a part of it that you helped me with personally was my, my morning routine when I was like, there's so many things I wanna do in the morning and I just don't do anything. 'cause it's like so overwhelming. And you were like, just do pick one. Just start with one. And that was just so helpful to hear.

And it's like, all right, I can do that. And then I can add onto that. So that's with like anything too.

Yeah, absolutely. Small steps and over time, like when you do those small steps over time, like you see now, right? Like two. Two, three years later into your business, like you've seen all of these steps that you've taken now [00:32:00] finally come to fruition, right? And everything is blooming now, like you said. So it takes time and, um, and that expansion, but that, that's what expansion looks like, uh, to me.

And, and I'm glad that you share that. Um. Okay. So I do wanna go into a little bit of what your, how your healing has impacted your, your business in general, like how it's informed how you run your business and how you wanna, like, provide, , the services that you provide. And, uh, if you can tell us.

Whatever comes to mind in terms of how there's such, there's a lot of different ways to heal, but like if you can tell us how that became something to that was important to you.

Yeah, it's, it is. [00:33:00] I, I think one thing you were saying earlier too is like, we want to grow for our business. And one thing I've heard too is like we can't grow our business more than we grow ourselves. So there's work that we need to do right, uh, on ourselves that we can. Have the capabilities to be able to keep going and keep moving with our business too.

But for my healing journey, again, awareness is a huge, huge part of, of that, and being aware of, of my thoughts. So not only with the business, but also with myself and what I think I'm capable of doing. And I do struggle with that so much, but, um, that's just like one part of it. And then we have to be aware, but then learn to release what no longer serves us.

And I do this with, this is with the money stuff as well. So become aware, what is it that you're thinking? What is it that you're doing and what do you wanna be doing? And how can we like, make sure that we're in alignment with that and who do we need to forgive or what do we need to let go of? Um, so sometimes it is.

You know, maybe you [00:34:00] got downloads from people. It's not their fault. Everybody did the best that they could, but can we forgive them for that? And can we tell ourselves a new story? And that's the big part too. When it comes to money. We can tell ourselves a new story, but um. I think when it comes to money too, safety is a big part of like, money just feels unsafe sometimes or it feel, we have a lot of negative connotations with it.

And I think with any healing kind of journey, whether I'm healing, you know, my relationship with my myself or my weights or my food or with money, anything, it's all kind of like all in the same boat. But it's like we have to dig into what it is we're doing and why, and then, you know, be becoming, or.

Rewriting these stories that of who we want to become and the goals that we do have, and then taking aligned action from there. So even for my healing journey for myself, um, the awareness part is, is where I'm, I'm at too. I like to journal a lot and just kind of like get things out so I can [00:35:00] see what just comes out of there.

And I know a lot of it is. Inner Nina work for me and that can also affect my finances or my business goals. 'cause if she's struggling or she doesn't feel like she could speak up or she's not good enough, then that reflects on me. And, you know, as a constant, you know, back and forth with that. But I feel like doing that kind of work is so important to, um, to reparent ourselves and.

Another thing really quickly I wanna touch upon is the trauma piece of it. Because it's not only like financial trauma that could cause you to have a weird relationship with money. 'cause it could be any kind of trauma. Uh, really. So like for me, I didn't feel like I was good enough or loved as much as my brother for let's say.

So I use money as a way to, to get or give love.

Hmm.

it's kind of like when you think about these stories, sometimes you can be like, all right, well. That makes sense for, I was, you know, fulfilling a need that I had for [00:36:00] love, but I was doing it in that way, so I was using money. Um, so it's just become aware sometimes like, why am I doing these things?

And it's like, all right, well now I can show love in a different way. I don't have to do that anymore. Right. And I can put my money towards the goals that I want. So that was like one big aha I had when doing the work around, you know, our money stories or just stories in general from when we were little.

Absolutely why, which is why it's so important to do this, this work or that you embed this type of work in your work with your clients because it. It does go deep. And I think when you can understand that and see how deep it can go, that's when the changes begin to happen, I feel.

Um, and then you begin to see making connections about how you spend money, why you spend money, why you think about money this way. Uh, and I'm so glad that you do that, [00:37:00] embed that work. In there as well because, you know, like we can, we learn these concepts. Like I, I remember when I was first before starting a business, I was learning a lot about how to get out of debt.

How to save more money. And it was the first time, this was also during the pandemic when I learned for the first time ever what a high yield saving account was and how to manage my 401k and i and what this, how the stock market worked. Literally, this was 2020 when I was, and I was like, oh my God, there's so much to learn here.

And then when I finally felt like I had learned. I couldn't learn anymore. I'm like, what else can I do to increase my, my net worth? I was like, I'm gonna start a business. But at that point I didn't realize that that would take so much internal work to get myself to feel safe, to get myself to promote it on [00:38:00] social media.

Right. Which is a whole other piece of work. And, and it just sort of, for me at that point, it's like. Everything that I had learned about money, it's almost like I forgot it because I had to go back to this other work and I had to go back to, to this work that I needed to do to, to get, and it took much longer.

So I feel like you doing this work upfront is so, so critical. Um, and how I think expansion unfolds for a lot of people. Um. After that, but thank you so much for sharing that, Erika. I wanted to, uh, begin to just wrap up with where you feel your next expansion is coming from and how you plan on [00:39:00] navigating that and how you, like, what do you see?

Yourself. Where do you see yourself going after this? And, well, first of all, tell us where you are now, because you started this, you said two years ago, right? It's been about two years or two and a half years. Pretty much almost the same as me, also two and a half years.

Wow.

And, uh. From there to now and from now to like the future.

Tell us where you are and like how you see the future expansion going.

Okay, so right now Bliss Vida is hosting, uh, one-on-one coaching. I also do group coaching. I just started my first group cohort literally last month.

Woo.

So just a quick story about that too. And in, in terms of growth and expansion, I also launched it back in January. Uh, but I had two signups, [00:40:00] so I decided to split them one on one on one, so I, it didn't run the cohort.

But with that offer, I remember going. F fighting with my brain inside because I was like so nervous to put that out there. So I was gonna launch the book club first. So I was like, instead of the group cohort, let me just launch a book club. 'cause that seemed, it was first of all cheaper and I felt like it would be easier to get, uh, people in.

So I was like, but then I was like, no. I said I was gonna do this, so I'm gonna launch this and whatever happens, happens. And I'm grateful I got two people to sign up. Uh, for sure. Uh. So I think it was just like crazy the how our mind, you really have to navigate, um, know, the little voices in your head and kind of stick to what it is that you say you're gonna do.

And I think that that's where I struggle a lot too, is, is discipline and, uh, consistency. So being completely honest and vulnerable with that. But I was, like I said, I'm gonna launch it, so I launched it instead of, um, you know. Switching it up to [00:41:00] something that seemed easier. I was like, no, I'm gonna do that.

And then I launched the book club right after that. So the book club is also a thing. The book club is, uh, coming out again. For September, no, August, uh, 2025. I don't know when this is coming out. So if people are interested in that, I'll be running the book clubs every twice a year. So, uh, think that that'll be cool.

And then, um, I also do workshops for memberships and corporate. So corporate is my next. Big thing, uh, that I, I want to say, that I'll be focusing on from now until the rest of the year. So I think for expansion for me is to be focusing more like, all right, I got the in-person workshops down. I've been doing a lot of those and for the memberships.

So I think I can, work on getting my programs into more corporate spaces, nonprofits. Have been a big space for me as well. So getting financial literacy programs in, but also talking about the money mindset pieces of it. So for me, expansion and growth is, is kind of like, all right, um, [00:42:00] mentally it's like, all right, do I have it ready and locked into pitch to corporate now?

Uh, so that's my next challenge. So I've gotten to two big corporate contracts so far. Um, so it's just like navigating that space. And how does that look like going forward? Because, it's not something I, I know very well or how to do, so it's gonna lean into my community too and be like, all right, uh, help me navigate these proposals and these contracts.

Uh, it's, it's a lot like a different, I think, playing field than doing one-on-one coaching or group coaching as well. So, um. I think also for Blissful Vida, I see a membership down the line. I would love to build community around this because, um, even in doing the book club, it was so amazing to have the space where we could all be together and just talk about our different money stories and the, and have these relatable experiences to know that you're not alone on this journey when it comes to how we grew up, especially.

Everyone in the group was Latina. So we all have kind of similar, not all [00:43:00] first gen, but first gen, second gen, even third gen. But we all have similar, uh, relatable stories and I feel like it's such a, a great space to be able to talk about money, um, non non-judgmental space and a safe space. So, um, I see a membership down the line too.

So that's the vision for now.

Yay. Yeah, I'm excited. I, I, I was part of, uh, your first book club. It was really amazing. We'd learn. We read Gigi, is it Gigi Hernandez

No. Giovanna Gonzalez. Gigi Gonzalez.

Gigi Gonzalez. My bad. Gigi Gonzalez

Cash.

Cultura and Cash. My Brain, y'all. My brain. Um, but, uh, it was a great book. I, I had the book at that point. I had had it for a year.

I hadn't started it. The booklet was coming out Perfect. I can get to read the book and get to discuss it with a bunch of, yeah. With a bunch of Latinas. [00:44:00] And, um, it was incredible. It was an incredible book. The, the space too was so amazing to hear everybody's. Journeys around money and me sharing, you know, at one point, three years ago, four or five years ago, I don't even know how long, I would've been so ashamed at letting people know how much debt I have in student loans.

And now I can just, you know, share it because it is, it's helpful and it's like, I'm I, to me. It's something that I'm working on. It's, it's, and to be in a space to that where you feel like you can share that easily and share your wins. I, I think that it's such a, a, a space, like you said, we take those little steps towards, you know, um, healing those money wounds because.

[00:45:00] Yeah.

Trust me, we all have money mistakes that we've made in the past and uh, and so to me, I'm like, I didn't even think about how much debt I would be out of grad school, but now it's like, obviously, you know, such a big deal, but it's coming down and so to share in that space, like the small wins

Mm-hmm.

that I had toward paying off my debt was so incredible, so empowering.

So please join. Erika's book club twice a year. Go to the show notes. You'll see all of her links there, her website, her services, her programs, and the book club. Um, so I'm excited. Yeah, go ahead.

something else. Um, I also host dates with Dinero

Yes.

Dates with Dinero is a free coworking body doubling space where you could come get your money tasks done. So if you have a money to-do list or you've been wanting to read a book on money, you wanna research how your savings or work on your budget or track your [00:46:00] spending.

Any money task you wanna do, uh, you could do that at dates with ro. It's a Zoom room full of other bliss seekers, is what I call people in my community and we work for an hour. On our money tasks, I'm usually in there tracking my spending for the week. I wanna make sure my money is going where I want it to go, and then we open it up for 30 minutes at the end to talk about sharing wins, talk about money, any questions you have for me.

And also you get the perspective of anybody who's in the room, which is amazing as well. So that happens every the second and fourth Mondays. Of every month at 7:00 PM Eastern. And I also wanted to share just for your community, I have a shift Your Money Mindset workbook that is for sale, my website, but you can get it for free with the code.

Be a boss. So anybody listening, be a boss, use the code. Um. It will be in the show notes, but the, the link would be my bliss vida.com/workbook 2025. So you can get the Shift Your Money Mindset workbook for free with Be a Boss, uh, coupon code. [00:47:00] So

Yay. Thank you so much, Erika. I love it. Thank you for sharing that with the community and with the listeners of the Beabosscoaching Podcast. I cannot say how much you need to be in community with Erika just to be in hers. Space and in her circle and everything that she learn, that she teaches, that she shares.

Uh, I'm so excited to see your journey continue to unfold and grow and expand. So thank you so much, Erika, for sharing everything with us today, your journey and, uh, you're, every time I. Whatever interaction I have with you, whether it's one-on-one like this, or on LinkedIn or on social, wherever. I just always feel so just support by you and, and like you are just [00:48:00] one of those people that I, I always feel inspired by truly.

Um, so thank you so much for being here today and,

for you because I see all you're doing and you know, we're on this journey together, but you're an inspiration too, especially as a fellow introvert. Um, I see you putting yourself out there, you know?

I try, girl. I try.

are, you're doing, you're doing. And I think, yeah, you are doing, we are doing.

And you know, it might not be the most comfortable thing for us, but we're doing it. And there's a lot of people who wouldn't even dare to. So I, I think I wanna dare more of us, um, or people out there listening to, to do the things that scare you or for you to live a better blissful life. Like it. It's within us.

We have everything we need inside of us, and we can push through the scaries, um, to it scared like, uh, the CCJ community. And Kita says, um, it's, it's us versus us at the end of the day. And it's not easy. But it's possible, right? So it's just, um, I, [00:49:00] I just encourage more of us to live in bliss and, uh, you know, live and fund most Blis, like really understand, decide what that is for you and go after it.

Like, we can do this and if you need support, you know, come shout out to me and, and Beatriz.

Yes, absolutely. So before we officially sign off, where can people find you? What is the best way people can contact you and, um, connect with you?

Uh, you could follow me on Instagram. It's at my Blissful Vida, uh, LinkedIn. It's Erika Docs Martinez, and my website is my blissful vida.com. So you can go there and get all the freebies. There's also, um, a, a Financial Bliss Workbook. Toolkit there, that's for free as well. And um, you can schedule a call with me if you wanna talk more about what your financial journey, what do you want it to look like, where you're struggling, and see what the best steps are to move forward.

And, um, I hope to see people at dates with dinero as well. So, um, just come join us and let's get our money game tight. Like I say, uh, let's [00:50:00] get our mind right and our money tight. So

Mind. Right. And money tight. I love it.

Yes,

Thank

thank

Erika. This is great.

Yeah. Thank you so much for having me.

Hey y'all. I hope that you enjoyed this episode. As we wrap up, I wanna leave you with a question, How will you regulate your fears when doing something that you've never done before, but that is necessary for your growth? Take a moment to answer this question. Share it with us if you'd like, you can email it to me over at [email protected] and uh, you can also tag me on Instagram or LinkedIn.

And let me know what your answer is to this question. If you enjoyed this conversation, make sure to sign up for my newsletter, which you can do over a coaching.com for more insights and updates. And I wanna tell you not to miss next week's episode.

Again, thank you so much for [00:51:00] joining me. Come on over to connect with me on Instagram or LinkedIn, my website, or via email,

Have a great rest of your day and I'll see you next week. Bye.

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