In our season finale, we’re wrapping things up with a conversation that every business owner needs to hear — all about financial literacy. This episode ties together the insights, lessons, and empowering stories we’ve shared throughout the season, bringing it all home with a focus on what it really takes to prepare your business (and your mindset!) for success — especially as we head into the busy holiday season.

We’re talking budgets, cash flow, and the importance of truly knowing your numbers. Because let’s be real — knowledge isn’t just power, it’s profit. It is YOUR money on the line.

Episode Highlights

• Why financial clarity is the foundation of business success.
• The importance of budgeting and cash flow planning before the big and small events.
• The harsh truth: women-owned businesses receive only 3% of venture capital funding — and what we can do about it.
• How financial literacy empowers women entrepreneurs to make informed, confident decisions.
• The value of mentorship and community support in building resilient businesses.

Quotes We Love

“Knowledge isn’t just power — it’s the prerequisite for security and success.”

“Understanding your financial landscape gives you the freedom to grow strategically.”

Key Takeaways

• Know your numbers. Don’t run your business in the dark — financial awareness is non-negotiable.
• Financial literacy = empowerment. It’s not optional; it’s essential for every entrepreneur.
• Talk about money. Transparency strengthens relationships, it doesn’t weaken them.
• Find your tribe. Mentorship and community make the financial journey far less intimidating (and a lot more fun!).

Companies & Guests Mentioned

Lori Kibbe • Abby F. Large • Julie Laughlin Harris • Scarlet Stantrop • Crystal Wallace • Dr. Ruth Mannschreck

Links & Resources

• bossyroc.com

bossyroc.com/podcast

Final Thought

• This episode is your invitation to get real about your finances. When you understand your money, you can manage it with purpose — and that’s the ultimate power move.

Mentioned in this episode:

Lunchador Podcast Network

Check out all of the shows on the Lunchador Network at lunchador.org!

Joe Bean Roasters

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ESL ROCHESTER FRINGE FESTIVAL - SEPTEMBER 9TH THROUGH 20TH

THE ESL ROCHESTER FRINGE FESTIVAL, THE MOST ANTICIPATED FESTIVAL IN THE REGION, WILL ONCE AGAIN EXCITE AUDIENCES WITH NEARLY 650 PERFORMANCES SEPTEMBER 9TH THROUGH 20TH . FROM COMEDY, DANCE, AND THEATRE TO JAW-DROPPING SPECTACLES ACROSS THIRTY-NINE VENUES ALL AROUND ROCHESTER. DON’T MISS AMAZING PERFORMANCES IN THE SPIEGELTENT INCLUDING THE WORLD PREMIERE OF CIRQUE DU FRINGE: CLAWS OUT, SHOTSPEARE, KIDS FRINGE, AND MORE. AND DIRECT FROM ITALY, SPHERE, A MIND-BLOWING OUTDOOR SPECTACLE FREE AT PARCEL FIVE SEPT. 19TH AND 20TH . ROCHESTERFRINGE.COM.

Hello, and welcome back to another episode of Getting Real with Bossy, the podcast that shows you what it's actually like to be a business owner.

We are your hosts, Kelly Bush and Kelly Metras, and we are so happy to be here and wrap up the season.

The summer of money.

The summer of Money.

I really hope people took the opportunity to learn all of these free things.

But anyways, how are you today?

I'm tired.

Yes.

But I'm good.

I'm good.

It was a late night.

It was a late night at work, but I'm excited to be here.

How are you?

I'm fantastic.

So I got to see you in person last night.

It was so nice.

I know.

That was so nice to see you and all the kids and Aaron.

It was wonderful.

Yeah.

I wasn't sure if he was gonna make it, but he did.

That was great.

So, yeah, anytime I get to see you in person, it's a good time.

I agree.

I know.

And we're like 10 minutes from each other.

It's really.

And I literally saw you for, like, 30 seconds.

It was good.

I think I saw your kids more than I saw you.

Oh, right.

I'll take it.

So last night I got home and I saw.

And I'm gonna share it because I think it's relevant, this reel.

And this woman was like, how did she put it?

If the Nutcracker has been cast, it's too late.

And I was like, oh, I gotta watch this.

Like, what?

What is she talking about?

She's like, if you see those ballerinas are lacing up their shoes and going to rehearsal, the year is over.

You are 13 weeks away.

It's over.

You need to make sure your budget is in place.

You need to make sure your holiday planning is in.

If you don't do it now, it is too late.

And I was like, oh, my God, I gotta bring this to tomorrow when I talk to Kelly, because it's so relevant and it's actually funny.

The Nutcracker has been cast.

It's extra funny because my baby's in the nutcracker this year.

We were all laughing.

I'm like, oh, shit.

The Nutcracker has indefinitely been cast.

We are definitely rehearsing.

Oh, we're so behind.

Get.

Get your shit in gear and make sure you're ending your budget.

You're cash flow projections of how the holiday season is going to hit your business, whether that's good or bad, how your employees, if you have them, are going to be taking their pto, which is always a nice hit.

When it's slow and then everybody takes their PTO for the holidays, you're like, yay.

Yeah, you got.

You got to know your.

Know your stuff and make sure it's in place.

Because for those of you that it's not birthday season.

It is holiday season.

It is starting.

Yeah, it sneaks up.

Somebody just emailed me about Thanksgiving week.

I'm like, what are you like, why are you even sending me this message?

I'm like, oh, cuz it's.

It's next month.

No joke.

It's not October yet.

In my head.

Yeah, I need to get my altar up.

We do it October 1st every year.

I keep forgetting it's October.

Mm.

It's just too nice out.

I don't know, I just don't want it to be October.

I don't know.

Yeah, but we're here.

We're here and you got.

I don't even know how many weeks.

I didn't double check her math.

But make sure you've got your stuff in place for the holidays.

That's the.

The note to start the show.

Yeah.

There was actually another woman I sent you the reel for, Tabitha.

She's an influencer and author and podcaster and all kinds of stuff.

And she a little bit blew up the Internet, pissing people off about how you might just need to get a job.

Yeah, people don't like that.

Real talk.

I was like, I just got a job, so I totally understand watching people get very upset.

And I don't think they understood the importance of what she said because you can't put everything on the line and then just ignore the fact that you've got stuff to take care of.

Well, and there's ebbs and flows of that too.

And I think that, like I said, people don't want to hear that.

They don't want to hear that.

Sometimes it's hard and sometimes it's difficult.

And like I think I said, every once in a while this reel pops up from you and I.

We were recording in your dining room and it's you and I talking about, like, sometimes I feel like people think of business owners like kids think of teachers.

Like when they see you out in.

Kids see teachers out in Wegmans, they're like, you shop, you.

You leave school, you don't live there.

And they, they don't think that we have real lives and we have real struggles and.

And sometimes, yeah, you just got to get a job.

These bills have to be paid.

If that's what you need to do to make sure that you don't go under, that's what you need to do.

Because if it doesn't mean the business isn't going to work, but if it's not working in the moment, you still got to figure out life, it's not going to magically change, so.

Exactly.

For those of you that are upset that we agree with Ms. Tabitha, I'm sorry, but I literally have three part time jobs.

So let's be real.

I'm doing whatever I can to make sure my bills can get paid while I'm bringing back my business.

You know, it's working.

You know, businesses, you know, we're, we're, we're managing and we're, we're doing the things, but I still have to pay the bills and I'm not in a place to be able to pay myself.

So it's, what can I do on the side?

So everybody talks about their small business being their side gig for me.

I have my business and then I have all these side gigs.

How can I make some extra money?

How can I buy groceries, how can I pay the mortgage?

You know, so for me it's all my side gigs and then my business is the main thing.

So yeah, it's been busy.

But do what you gotta do.

Exactly.

So if you need any marketing or social media or swag, feel free to reach out to Kelly and Kelly, because we can do all that stuff for you.

Yeah, those are our side gigs and we were happy to, happy to help out because that's what we do to pay our bills.

So many side gigs.

Yeah.

Kelly saw my little sweatshop last night where I make a bunch of swag and products for other businesses so they don't have to go to I don't know what is it for Imprint or all those other online companies.

You can come to me and I'll make all your stuff for you.

So you have everything.

I do.

I love it.

All right, so let's get real.

Let's talk about.

Let's get real.

Like we didn't just get real.

Let's get real about what we talked about.

How many episodes did we do?

7.

So this is the eighth episode.

So this is the final episode.

Eighth episode.

So much information.

I mean, honestly, all of our episodes.

I'm sorry, I'm biased, right.

Share so much information, but specific.

And we talk about money a lot in a lot of episodes.

But having this specific, you know, purposeful series of breaking it down in various ways from different points of view.

Women doing all kinds of different things that have to do with financing.

Right.

And your business.

And that's what makes us different and that's what makes us Nominated for the Best of Rochester podcast.

I forgot.

Get online and vote.

Yes.

City Magazine, Best of Rochester.

We're nominated for the best podcast.

Yes.

Yes, yes.

I'm dancing.

If you can't see me, I am as well.

Dancing.

Singing.

So while we're dancing and singing, let's talk about some stats.

I know that we've talked about a lot of them before.

There's more stats embedded in all the episodes, but women owned businesses make up 40% of businesses in America.

So we get 40% of that funding, right, Kelly?

No, we don't.

What?

That's unreal.

Ask for less money.

Of course it's because we're bootstrappers.

We're more likely to self fund which actually talking about getting a job.

That's why you might need to get a job.

If you're self funding your business, it even more is on the line.

You may have taken out a line of credit, you may have taken out, you know, a credit card and it's all in your name.

Like that's affecting your personal credit.

Self funding can be very scary.

And I know that in a personal note because I have self funded all of my businesses and it's very scary.

That 40% we're getting.

Women are getting 3% of that venture capital funding.

3%.

So women or men are getting.

So 60% of businesses are getting 97.

It's kind of like the economy right now.

So 60% of businesses are Getting 97% of venture capital.

And venture capital is different, but we're also less likely to get loans from banks.

We're more likely to get higher interest rates and shorter terms.

Yeah, no, it's insane.

And lower.

Yeah, we're better.

So women owned businesses are growing at a faster rate.

1 1/2 times faster.

Yes.

So go women.

Now let's, let's catch up.

Banks.

Yeah, yeah.

They're giving us less money and a harder time when we go in.

Which means that you, it's really, you got to focus on those relationships.

We're going to talk about that a little bit later.

Yes, I think relationships are really important and I think, and I know from experience the difference of, you know, been doing this for a while and I've walked into banks in various levels of my confidence.

And when you walk in and you just kind of let them take the lead and you don't push back and you don't know, it's very different when you walk in with a very specific ask and you know why and you know how and you know what you deserve.

They're going to respond to you.

They're usually men, and they're going to respond to you very differently.

So another reason to know your numbers.

All right, so we started with Lori Kibbe.

Mm.

So Lori was talking about building legacies.

We talked about the transfer of funds that's happening through baby boomers starting to die off.

Sorry, baby boomers, but it is what it is.

Yeah.

Lori shared candid insights on how women can redefine their financial confidence from real estate investing to personal finance strategy.

She emphasized the power of mentorship, risk taking, aligning money decisions with life purpose.

She was.

She was the first one that we interviewed there.

That was a great episode.

And really, it comes down to financial literacy equals freedom.

Whether it's a good financial or a good money thing that happens to you or a bad money thing that happens to you.

I could probably use better words right now.

But if you are comfortable with your needs and what you know is coming and what you know you need, whether that's good or bad, what happens next, you're going to be able to respond appropriately.

So whether that is you get a chunk of money from, you know, relatives that pass on or, you know, there's some kind of crisis in your business and you need to react.

You really need that freedom that comes from knowing your stuff.

Right.

So financial literacy equals freedom.

Thank you, Lori.

Then we moved on to Abby F. Large.

Abby fucking large.

Ah, she was great.

It was great.

And that's how she refers to herself so.

Well, they should know already because obviously they listened.

Exactly.

Abby broke down how women can build wealth and agency through informed financial choices.

She highlighted the importance of early financial education and encouraged listeners to own their seat at the financial table.

And we touched on.

Women are already the financial decision makers in most households, whether they know it or not.

You may not have the control of the finances, but you're making all the decisions.

Right.

And we don't realize it, and we don't because we're just not talked to like that.

As young as young girls and young women, that's not how we're educated.

That's usually not how our parents brought us up to see ourselves in that role, but we take it on naturally, and we just don't deserve it.

Right.

So we're making all of these decisions, but we're just not.

Not acknowledging it.

Yeah.

So I think that it's very important to make sure you're not sidelined and So I think that Abby taught us that financial literacy equals confidence.

We are already doing it, so own it.

Make sure you're at the table.

Yeah.

I think one thing to take from that, like, really sit down, take 10 minutes, think about all the things you do in your day, not even in your business, day to day things that you take charge of.

And when it comes to finances, write it down.

You would be surprised.

You are.

You are the money maker.

You are the.

Or the money decision maker, most likely in your.

In your life.

And then it was us.

Us.

The Importance of Money conversations in business.

A frank conversation about money shame and avoidance.

In entrepreneurship, we tackled why transparency about pricing, profits, and payroll can strengthen, not threaten your business.

Know your numbers.

Know your numbers.

Really?

That.

It is the backdrop of all of these conversations.

If you're not at the table, you can't know your numbers.

No.

So, yeah.

Financial literacy equals power.

It equals control, and you should have it.

It's yours.

Mm.

You can't be scared of what's in your books.

You can't be scared of the finances in your business.

And when it's hard, is the time you really have to dive in.

Yeah.

And it's.

It's very important to know why you're spending the money you're spending and where you're spending it.

And if you're doing it blind, you're missing a ton of opportunities.

And for small businesses, that's your payroll.

That's you.

Like your.

Your pay is getting wasted.

So every dime that you're paying out that you shouldn't be or you're doing because you're.

You're doing guesswork and you don't see a return on investment, you're not looking.

That's money you could be paying yourself.

You could take yourself on a vacation, you could pay your mortgage, you could feed your kids.

Whatever it is that you need to do, those are dollars that are yours.

Right.

So leaving things in your accountant's hands.

I mean, I think we.

We gave some amazing.

If there's.

If you have not listened to any of these seven episodes, and you should, shame on you.

Listen to this one, because there are some tips that we give that are going to save you money.

And you think leaving things in your accountant hand in your accountant's hands is one of the most horriblest things you can do.

We're dangerous.

It's very dangerous because there are so many things that they just don't know that you could be changing the things you can be saving money on, things that you can just be Auto paying that you're not realizing things that, you know, small things that you're paying that aren't really affecting your day to day that add up.

If you could be cutting these out and.

And you just don't.

They go unnoticed.

Take that is dangerous control.

Then we talked to Scarlet Stantrop.

Yeah, that bitch.

I love her.

Ditch the scarcity mindset.

Oh my gosh, she was great.

With Scarlet, we explored money through a spiritual and emotional lens, encouraging business owners to heal money wounds and detach from scarcity thinking and build a business that feels abundant and aligned.

She made me feel good.

Yes.

I mean, talking about money just makes me scared.

I mean, just anxious in general.

And she was just like, ooh, the healing, like deep breath that I needed.

Yes.

And I go back to her episode a lot.

It's very healing to be aware of why you feel the way you do about money.

To really break down.

It's therapeutic to release that at least just a tiny bit.

Even just a tiny bit of release of this is why you feel this way.

This is how you were raised.

It's not necessarily your parents fault.

They did the best they could with what they had.

Absolutely.

But you now are in charge of a business and you need to be comfortable talking about money and knowing your numbers and breaking down the inner workings of why is really important.

So financial literacy equals self awareness.

Absolutely.

With Scarlett, that was a great episode.

That's right.

And then on the flip side, and Julie, we talked to Julie Laughlin Harris.

Yeah.

Julie discussed balancing family values with financial realities, how to set boundaries, prepare for unexpected challenges, and keep love and leadership intact with when life throws curve balls.

And man, this woman has had curve balls and we didn't.

I mean, this episode was really about her business and what.

And finance.

But man, we have to bring her back in so you can really hear her full story because you will learn so much more.

Yes.

She has learned so much.

And I'm so happy she's willing to share it with the women she works with.

And we talked about, like we already mentioned in this episode, when you know your numbers, you can react to the negative things as well as the positive things.

So when you get pulled out of your business because you have to take care of personal issues, you need to know what and how you're gonna survive that business or that business is gonna survive without you there.

Things are gonna happen.

Whether it's you or your business partner.

Life happens and it never happens at a convenient time.

And many of us are in that sandwich.

Generation entrepreneur women Entrepreneurs generally be.

I think the average was 40ish.

I don't have the stat in front of me, which means that we're raising kids and our family or our parents are aging.

So our parents need us more and our kids need us more.

So it's fucking exhausting.

I love you kids and parents if you're listening.

But it's never.

It's a lot of pressure.

Mm.

And you're running a business on top of it.

So you really need to be prepared so you don't have to worry about it.

You know your numbers.

And we also talked a little bit about financial abuse.

And it's very common.

And a lot of small business owners that are starting out that are women are using, you know, their self funding, which means they're using their family's money, which means their spouse may be in control of the financial input for their business.

And really being able to be open with your spouse and make sure that you can move forward and that they're not completely in control.

Right.

Being aware of what that looks like, having those conversations before you go into business and knowing what abuse looks like and knowing where to get help for if you need that help.

And then we went to Crystal, Crystal Wallace.

Crystal demystified the funding process, outlining how to organize a funding folder, prepare for grants, and choose the right kind of capital for your goals.

Definitely a good listen for anybody who's trying to scale sustainably.

Cash flow.

Cash flow, Cash flow.

If you don't know your numbers, you don't know your cash flow.

No.

So you won't do anything without cash flow.

So financial literacy equals resources.

You need to know what you need and when.

Yep.

Profits.

And you know those, those, those look great on paper, but your cash flow is what pays bills.

Yeah.

And sometimes that means that you're gonna have debt.

And debt is okay.

Absolutely.

There's nothing wrong with debt.

You do not have to be debt free to be a successful business owner.

And I think there are plenty of people in very high up positions that you can look at and know.

Everyone knows that they have like billions of dollars in debt and are considered some of the most successful business owners in the world.

So debt is not a negative as long as you're doing it appropriately and you have control over it.

And how do you have control over your debt?

You know your numbers.

You know your numbers.

Yes.

Ah.

And then Dr. Ruth.

Dr. Ruth.

Ruth Manchuk.

She was amazing.

I wish we had talked to her 15 years ago.

No matter where you are in your business, are you ready to Sell.

Yeah.

Yeah.

She outlined how to plan your exit years before you're ready to sell.

Her message is, think like a buyer.

Build transferable value, and remember that a strong business runs without you.

Yes.

So many tips and tricks.

I took so many notes on things I need to clear up and organize so that when the time comes, we are prepared.

Because if you do want to sell or need to sell, you don't want to be doing it in that scarcity mindset.

You want to have it ready means you want.

Your books need to be clean, know your numbers, but you need to.

You need to be organized ahead of time, because that is stuff that will take you months to clean up.

So if you start from the beginning and just have it ready and just have that mindset.

And we also talk about the best time to sell your business is when it's the most successful, which is not when we want to.

Right.

So that's.

That was another shocker.

I mean, it makes sense, but you're like, why would I want to sell my business now?

Right.

And we talk about exit strategy, and, you know, I think, Kelly, you talk about it a lot with your business plans.

You know, we write that in, and it's just something you write in because you're supposed to have it in there.

But really think about what that looks like and why you have it in there.

And you know what?

Maybe it might be time to sell.

Maybe it might be time to look into something else.

Yeah.

So financial literacy equals security.

So if you are ready to sell at any given point in time, whether you're mentally want to sell or not, having that security that you're in a good place and that, you know, you have.

You know, we always talk about you can't quit your job as a small business owner.

That is a way, you know, so the security of having everything lined up.

Right.

It was a good seven episodes.

Well, on this one, too.

So it was good eight episodes.

Good eight episodes.

So if you missed any of them, just clear out and go back.

Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss them in the future.

We have some more amazing women already lined up.

I can't wait.

We have so many cool things to share.

Absolutely.

But most importantly, know your numbers.

If you don't know your numbers, you are running your business blind.

Your budget means nothing.

Your marketing has no aim.

Your decisions are just educated guesses.

There's always some gamble in business, but confidence comes from clarity.

Know your numbers.

Because knowledge is power.

Can you tell?

We grew up in the 80s, but yes, every time we say that, I have the little, like, star.

Words are knowledge.

Knowledge is power.

Knowledge is power.

They're like little, like After School Special.

I don't know.

Yep.

You guys can't see us on screen, but I'm trying to describe it with my hands.

But yes, knowledge is power, and we can't push it more.

How important it is to know your numbers.

And if you need help with that, let us know.

We will help you out with your books.

We'll help you dig in and dive in and clean up those QuickBooks.

We're not scared.

We've helped many other.

Many of our bossy members.

We've sat down with them.

We're happy to do that with you guys, too.

Just give us a call.

We'll make that another sidekick.

And honestly, doing that work is so important because that's how you catch waste.

That's how you catch change.

That's how you catch theft.

That's how you catch.

Or not even catch, but that's how you check your roi.

You know, this is the money I'm putting in.

What am I getting back?

Is this working?

Having other people look at my QuickBooks and Things has been help.

Like, it's scary at first, but having to kind of justify why I spend stuff, it's like, okay, this is making me uncomfortable, having to talk about it.

Maybe it's something I need to think about.

And having other people's eyes look at stuff is stuff.

I didn't.

Oh, right.

Oh, crap.

You do it differently.

You don't pay that you can do this differently.

I didn't know that.

Oh, there's a company that does that.

I've been paying this.

I had no idea.

So it's really, really, really helpful.

So I encourage you guys to do that.

You don't have to look to us, but if you have a trusted business friend, please do that.

It's a really helpful tool.

And I think another common thread, probably in all of our episodes, but specifically since we're talking about this chunk, is to have mentors, to have a group, to have people.

You can be honest and ask questions so that you can learn.

Because we can't walk in and be confident if we don't know things.

So when people, you know, use acronyms or words that you're like, what does that even mean?

Have the power to a.

You can just look it up.

Right.

We have the power to do that, but also to have a group that you're comfortable with or have a person that you're comfortable with to ask those questions.

It's so important.

Find your people.

Find your people.

Knowledge is power.

Find your people.

Right.

So follow us.

Rochester.

Email us if you want to talk, if you want to be on the show, if you have questions, if you have topics you think we should cover that we've missed.

Bossy Rock B O S S Y r o c mail.com Go and check out our website, RossyRock.com and make sure you subscribe to this podcast because you are missing out on so much free information that these women are willing to share with you so that you can be more successful.

Absolutely.

And if you would like to sponsor, you are welcome to do that.

We are always looking for sponsors for this podcast.

The great thing about sponsoring a podcast like this, if you're a business owner, if you are a business to business situation, it's so targeted, most of our listeners, whether they're male or female, are small business owners.

So you're not filtering through the masses.

You're getting a very targeted listener.

Absolutely.

So be bold, be brave, be the.

Boss, be the boss.