Just because you got your initial degree in education doesn’t mean you have to end your career in education. As humans, we have lots of different passions, so why not explore them? That’s the philosophy my guest on today’s episode, Natasha Carrillo, had. Natasha started as an educator but explored her passion as a financial coach, which she shares her journey with and advice today.

We’ve discussed on the podcast many times before about transferable skills from education to a different field, and a financial coach is no different. Natasha gives insight into how she got started, what you’ll need to begin, and breaks down the different categories and terminology of all the different kinds of financial support roles to find which is the best match for you. Natasha followed her interests and passions to start a new career outside education, and she shares how you can do the same too!

For all links and resources mentioned in this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.educatorforever.com/episode44

Watch our free on-demand workshop to learn more about flexible work opportunities beyond the classroom: https://www.educatorforever.com/workshop

Take our free quiz to discover your next career step: https://www.educatorforever.com/quiz

Follow us on Instagram @educatorforever.

Lily

Natasha, Carrillo is the founder of Money with Confidence where she serves as a financial educator and coach. She's the co host of Black and Brown Make Green, a Financial Empowerment Podcast that she hosts with her husband Damien. Her mission is to educate and inspire others to manage their money with confidence.

Lily

Natasha holds a BS in elementary education and Master's in educational technology. She spent 10 years in education with most of her time as an elementary teacher and instructional coach. Now she does many workshops empowering others to take control of their money.

Lily

Welcome, Natasha, so glad to have you here with us.

Natasha

Thank you, Lily.

Lily

Well, I'd love to start off with a very broad question that I always ask, which is, tell me about your journey as an educator to where you are now.

Natasha

Sure. So I will start back before I even became an educator. One of the things that I remember hearing from my mom was, you can always get a job as a teacher or a nurse. And so going into college, that's what I heard. That's what I heard in my brain. And I didn't really understand what all the other options were out there. And so I ended up going to school for education.

Natasha

And I got my degree in early childhood to fourth grade education. And then I became an elementary teacher. And so I taught second grade and third grade for five years. And then I transitioned into a position that was labeled as a teacher on a special assignment, which essentially was an instructional coach for Kinder through fifth grade.

Natasha

And in that position, I got to work one on one with teachers in their classrooms to improve instruction, and then also to do like professional development for the teachers and for the principals in the district. Because at the time, there were 13 elementary schools in my district. That is how I started with teaching.

Natasha

And then in my seventh year, or after my seventh year, I got pregnant with my first son. And I knew I wanted to stay at home after I had kids. And so that's what I did, I stayed home with my son. And by the time he was four, I was ready for something different. Because anyone who is a stay at home mom knows that, it can just be a lot, you know.

Natasha

And for me, I have the type of brain where I need to be doing something active more than just doing the mom thing. And I think I leaned a little too heavily into being a mom, and didn't really take care of myself as much as I should have during that time. So after being home for a while, I put him in part time care, which only lasted three months, because then COVID happened. The he was back home. Yeah, I tried, I tried but didn't get too far.

Natasha

And then I ended up having a second son like during the years of COVID. And in that year COVID, like my husband and I decided to start this podcast called Black and Brown Make Green. And so my husband is Mexican. So I'll say this, and I'm black. And our podcast is I'm the black, he's the brown and the goal is to help others make green. So we're trying to help people to like earn money and to save money and to really elevate their financial positions.

Natasha

And from doing that podcast, I thought I want to do more of this. And that's when I started researching what are the other options. And one of the options I was looking at was becoming a certified financial planner, which is something I had been interested in even when I had my first son many years ago. And I ended up becoming a financial coach instead of a financial planner. And so that's what I'm doing now is the financial coaching.

Lily

I love that. I mean, I resonate with so many parts of this journey, too. I also taught for seven years left when I had my daughter, and I did do work while she was at home with me, you know, I was basically doing many things because I'm like what you were saying of having that part of my brain wanting to be used also having to make money, like really hustling to try and make it my teaching salary. So I didn't have to go back to the classroom, but really wanting that time with her as well.

Lily

But I think that sometimes it can be hard to go like both ways in a way that doesn't feel crazy. It's like, I feel like I have the opposite in some ways of being like, Alright, I'm gonna do all this work, and I want to be home with her. And I always kind of felt this tension of being like, Am I in work mode? Or am I in mom mode? Or am I somehow trying to just have it be both at once?

Lily

So I think it's hard to find that balance. But it's interesting to hear you talk about just that journey and how you've ended up where you are now. So I'm wondering a little bit about the decision to become a financial coach. How did you decide that?

Natasha

So I've always had a passion for finances. And even when I was in my fifth year of teaching, I had started training to be a financial advisor. And so in the summer, I was going to start doing the financial advising thing to see it was if it was something I wanted to transition into.

Natasha

And what I realized was it was selling insurance, essentially, that's how a lot of financial advisors get started in financial advising is selling insurance. And within a week of me doing that, of learning what it was really about, I was like, No, this is not what I wanted to do. I want to really help people to learn to manage their money to learn a budget, to learn to save. And I'm not trying to be a salesman first for insurance.

Natasha

And so I ended up telling the person that I had signed up to do it with this isn't for me, I'm gonna keep doing my teaching thing. And so that's where the idea was first in my head. And then when my son, my first son was two years old, I found out about the Certified Financial Planner certification. And so I looked into doing a program nearby here, there's a campus University of Texas is here in Austin.

Natasha

And so I was gonna do it there, but it was on on campus. And I was like, I don't know how I'm going to make that work. At the time, my husband was pretty much working 7am to 7pm because he worked downtown and that commute meant he was gone pretty much 12 hours a day. So it wasn't really going to happen. And so I just kind of put it aside.

Natasha

And then after we did the podcast, like I mentioned to you, then I started exploring how I could become a certified financial planner. I did an externship through the Financial Planning Association, and that externship was so great because it's like an internship.

Natasha

So the externship was developed during COVID for like college students who were not getting to do their internships in the financial industry. But they opened the externship up to be available to career changers, and other financial planners who just wanted to up their skills as well. And so I thought, Oh, this is great, because it's a summer, I'll get to really see if I'm interested in it.

Natasha

And it was absolutely phenomenal. Because I I got to meet so many different financial planners and to learn about how things worked in their different businesses. And then I also learned about financial coaching, which is different from financial planning. And I thought, that's where I really need to be.

Natasha

Because most people are in a place where they're not ready to invest yet or you know, more of their issues are around just managing money, creating a budget, trying to pay off debt and that kind of stuff. And so that's how I decided to do financial coaching.

Lily

That's so interesting. I've never really known actually the difference between all those different terms before. So it's interesting, and so helpful to hear you walk through them.

Lily

And I do remember that when my daughter was born, we also I think maybe it was a financial planner, we were like, Okay, we're gonna sit down with somebody, like get a financial plan, this is going to be great. If it was a lot of insurance sales It was like, Okay, I mean, maybe. But it wasn't really what we were looking for at that point being like, Okay, how do we, you know, I was transitioning out of the classroom, we had a baby, like, what do we need to be thinking about and planning for, like all women?

Lily

It felt a little bit. Yeah, I guess disappointing, you know, not what I was expecting. So I appreciate you kind of shedding light on the different categories and explaining what it means to be a financial coach.

Natasha

Yeah. So just to expand a little bit on that, we kind of dealt with the same thing of wanting to work with the financial planner to help us figure out like, are we on the right track. And when you're looking for like a certified financial planner, or a financial advisor who works with what you and your husband were looking for, those people tend to want you to have a certain amount of investments.

Natasha

And so you typically have to have like a half a million dollars that you can invest, we did not. Most people don't have that. There are some nowadays who will work by the hour. And so like they they charge a flat rate fee. But that was not very common 10 years ago, even five years ago, and even now, it's still not that common.

Natasha

There's a lot of them has, who still have that model of you need to have a minimum to invest with me for me to even talk to you. And so that's why like financial coaching is really great, because those people can really help you with probably answering some of those questions you and your husband had.

Lily

Yes, absolutely. That seems super, super helpful. And I know you've talked a little bit about the journey of becoming a financial coach. But I'm wondering for folks who might be interested in doing this themselves kind of what requirements are there?

Natasha

So when it comes to financial coaching, there are not any requirements, there is no certifications that you must have. There are some that you can have. There's an accredited financial counselor certification, and that will give you all the knowledge you need in order to work with people and to coach them.

Natasha

But if you have done a lot of research on your own, you have a good background in finance, or you're just have a passion in it, like I have a passion for it, and you've worked through it yourself, then you can start financially coaching people. So there's not actually any particular requirements for it.

Lily

Interesting. All right, that's good to hear that it's more accessible maybe for folks to pursue. And I'm wondering also about the transition from being a teacher to being a financial coach.

Lily

I guess, kind of two part question here. One, just how your daily life changed, you know, thinking about your work life before in the classroom, or in schools versus now. And then kind of how you use your teaching background.

Natasha

So you definitely use your teaching background a lot because coaching is really all the things you do as a teacher, you're educating people on what they need to know. And I'll give you an example.

Natasha

When I became an adult and started investing. When I thought about the stock market, I remember my dad saying that it was like gambling, which it is not. But that's the reference that I had in my mind. And so when it came to investing, I didn't want to do that, because I'm not into gambling.

Natasha

And I didn't have that knowledge of well, the stock market has been around for 100 years. And actually, if you invest in something like the s&p 500, that has actually had an average return of 10% over time. Now, it's not 10% every year, but over time, it's been a 10% return.

Natasha

So like that type of educational knowledge, that's what the financial coach can provide to you. And so the way my life has changed from being a teacher to now is, as a teacher, you go into work every day, you have a set schedule. And as a financial coach, I get to determine my schedule, because currently I am working for myself.

Natasha

And it allows me the flexibility to be able to take my kids to school and to pick them up at 3pm in the afternoon. And as a teacher, you don't necessarily always have that option. And so I have a little bit more flexibility with the my time schedule.

Natasha

So if I want to say I'm going to have Monday's off, then I could have Monday's off to do chores and things like that. And then I also work from home now. A lot of the work that I do is virtual. So that also allows me to just have a lot more time at home to be able to take care of things and to have a little bit more balanced than before as a teacher.

Lily

I love that. Yeah, I can't imagine. I mean, I know people all the time have children or teachers, and my hat's off to all of them. But I truly can't imagine, you know, I also have two kids now, and you get to drive them to school and pick them up. And just it's not a huge deal if they're home sick, you know, all the things that being a teacher are so hard to just deal with life during the school year.

Lily

And even now, if I have a dentist appointment at like 11am, I'm like, Oh, this is so thrilling. Like, I get to have a dentist appointment at 11am and have that flexibility. So I love hearing about how that's changed for you.

Lily

Well, how about you personally? What have you learned about going out beyond the classroom and doing something not necessarily explicitly education related?

Natasha

I think I've learned that you are not pigeon holed into the career that you started. I think when I was in education, I thought, Oh, well, I already have a degree in education. So if I go back for my masters, it has to be an education. And so that's what I did. I got a master's in educational technology.

Natasha

But looking back now I realize you do not have to stay in that same field, you can switch to a completely different career field. And it can work out just fine. And so that's what I would say I've learned.

Lily

Yes. And I think that our experience is so relevant, as classroom teachers in so many different ways that we don't necessarily see. Yeah, and so I think some of it can just feel so limiting, like the whole school system can feel so limiting, like, Okay, well, I could be a teacher, I could be an administrator like or maybe I could be a vice principal. These are the options.

Lily

So I think we can get so stuck in that, that it's really true that you can change at any point. And it requires kind of some reflection of what you want and what you're interested in. And that I really think as teachers, we're experts in learning. And so if you feel like you did you know that you're interested in learning more about financial coaching, like you went and did it, and you learn more about that, and you made that path forward.

Lily

And so I think that's really inspiring for everybody to just have that permission, you know, which is like internal permission, we have to give ourselves to explore what these other paths could be like for us. Exactly.

Lily

And so thinking about other people who might be having that thought of like, maybe I don't want to stay in teaching, what else might I do? What advice would you give people for moving beyond the classroom?

Natasha

I would say really explore the things that you're interested in. There are so many podcasts now on so many different topics and careers. And so that's a great place to start learning about the different career options.

Natasha

So if you're interested in financial coaching, like if you search for financial coaching, you'll find one where they're talking about how to become a financial coach. And even from listening to your podcast, I learned about a lady who like started her own literary agency. So just like there's so many different options out there to learn about whatever you might be interested in.

Natasha

So I would say definitely lean into the resources that we have now like YouTube in order to like learn about things for free. And then if there's a paid option that is not too expensive that you want to try too, like I did with the externship, you know, that's definitely something that I would encourage people to do.

Natasha

And then the other thing would be like to write out a plan. So like before, like I had this plan, it was to join Financial Planning Association, and then do the externship, attend these meetings, and the plan change over time. But even just having a plan helps you to actually make the steps to do it, because you can think about it all day. But if you don't like start the action, then it's never going to happen.

Lily

Absolutely. I appreciate both of those parts of like the exploration and the flexibility of that exploration too right. It's just like, I'm gonna listen to some podcasts, I'm gonna watch some YouTube videos, I'm gonna see what feels good and interesting. And then with that, like we could also do that forever, right? Like, it's awesome. And I totally get sucked into like, Oh, I'm gonna watch another YouTube video about this.

Lily

And so having that exploration super key, but also taking that action and not feeling like you have to commit to everything at once, you know, making a plan. And like you said, that plan changes and evolves over time. But really having that plan can keep you more accountable too.

Lily

So I would love to hear more about your financial coaching business that you've been building and what services you offer.

Natasha

One of the most popular services I offer is a one on one service called a clarity session. And the clarity session is something that I provide for individuals and for couples. And it allows us to see exactly where their money has been spent over the last couple of months.

Natasha

And then we also look at what are their values? What are their goals? What are their priorities? And we use that information to create an intentional money plan. And the goal is really, really to just be more intentional with your money. And so we're not just looking at what are you spending, but we're looking at what are you saving? Do you have an emergency fund set up? Do you have goals that you're trying to save towards? Are you trying to save for a down payment on a house or a down payment on a car, or a vacation?

Natasha

And so we look at that different information, and we try to craft a plan that aligns with it. And even if you have debt, we can work on crafting a debt payoff plan. And so after we have gone through those sessions, then you'll receive an action plan a detailed action plan with steps that you can take in order to reach those big money goals that you have.

Natasha

And if after the first two sessions that we do, you feel like you're gung ho and you're ready to go and do it on your own, then we send you about on your way. And if you feel like I really need a little bit more education, I need a little bit more mindset work to shift my mindset to to make those better money decisions, to feel comfortable and confident making those decisions, then we can continue working one on one to build your money confidence and to build your educational knowledge around finances so that you really feel confident with your money. So that is the one on one services that we that I provide.

Natasha

But then I also provide presentations for small groups. And that could be with a company or an organization or a church or other type of business. And with those, it's just providing education, interactive, engaging presentations for groups of people, and it can be small groups to large groups.

Natasha

And then the other service is money with mocktails. And money with mocktails is really a fun way for you and your girlfriends or your guy friends or your mixed group of friends to get together and to talk about money in a safe space. I think a lot of people feel really uncomfortable talking about money. And talking about money with my friends has been one of the ways that I have grown so much with my finances, because everyone does things differently. And money with mocktails gives you an opportunity to talk about money in a really safe and comfortable environment.

Lily

I love that that sounds so fun. I mean all of those options sound great and having that one on one support and accountability all through you know having some coming in speaking to a group and then that money in mocktail sounds amazing and a super fun way to just start those conversations. Awesome.

Lily

Well, where can folks connect with you if they want to learn more or maybe take you up on some of these offers?

Natasha

The best way to find me is through the website moneywithconfidence.com and you can reach out to me via the contact form, you can see the services that are provided and the schedule if you see something that seems interesting to you.

Natasha

And then you can also follow along the podcast, which is Black and Brown Make Green. And if you'd like to subscribe to that newsletter, we send out tips on money through that. And you can find that at blackandbrownmakegreen.com/subscribe.

Lily

Wonderful. Well, thank you so much. It was so wonderful having you on the podcast and I really appreciate you sharing more about your journey.

Natasha

Thank you so much for having me Lily. This has been amazing.