In this episode of the Beabosscoaching Podcast, host Beatriz Rivera welcomes Erika Dox-Martinez, CEO and founder of Blissful Vida, a holistic and financial wellness company. Erika shares her journey as a trauma money certified financial wellness coach, helping clients transform their relationship with money, release financial stress, and achieve 'Financial Bliss.' She discusses her personal experiences that have influenced her business, including the importance of community, taking small brave steps, and continuous self-growth. The conversation delves into practical money tips, being an introverted entrepreneur, overcoming challenges, and the significance of small wins. Erika also highlights her healing journey and the power of self-awareness, goal-setting, and inner work. Listeners are invited to explore Erika’s offerings, including book clubs, coaching, and a free financial workbook. This episode is a source of inspiration for anyone looking to balance financial growth with personal healing and self-care.

Get Your FREE "Shift Your Money Mindset Workbook" exclusively for Beabosscoaching listeners using the code: BEABOSS

Visit Erika over at: https://www.myblissfulvida.com

Follow her on IG: @myblissfulvida

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erika-dox-martinez/

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

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

So

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 beatriz@beabossscoaching.com 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.

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