Fractional CFO shares how she humanizes business finances and helps entrepreneurs grow

Janette Gallardo specializes in Fractional CFO services with a focus on strategy. She works with entrepreneurs who are great at their craft but don't have a finance background and she provides visibility and guidance for them to reach their financial goals. 

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TRANSCRIPT

The Artful Podcast-Humanizing Business Finances with Janette Gallardo

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[00:00:00] Voice Actor: Ann Coatney: Hi and welcome. The Artful Podcast is an interview show where you'll get to know the people behind the creative brands we love. These open, casual, and candid conversations will shed a light on what it's really like to reach your true potential with joy, fulfillment, and freedom. Presented by Artful and hosted by Gabe Ratliff, an award-winning artist, entrepreneur, and coach.

[00:00:23] Voice Actor: Ann Coatney: Are you ready to create your artful life? If so, then tune in, turn up, and listen hard.

[00:01:00] Gabe Ratliff: Janette oh my gosh. Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome to the show,

[00:01:06] Janette Gallardo: Hi. Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm so happy to be here. And it's always a pleasure to get to talk to you and just, you know, like go, I feel like we go into the rabbit hole every, every time we talk, but I love it

[00:01:18] Gabe Ratliff: We do, we have our own little matrix. We have our own little, like, carve out our own little section of the matrix.

[00:01:25] Janette Gallardo: Exactly.

[00:01:25] Gabe Ratliff: I totally agree. Well, yeah, I'm so excited to have you here. It's just such a pleasure. You've helped me so much in my business and getting clear and getting comfortable with playing with the numbers.

[00:01:40] Gabe Ratliff: And I remember a couple times where you were like, I feel like I created a monster. I think was kind of, kind of the gist you were getting at. And we laughed about that cuz when I first started talking to you, that was not the case. I am not the spreadsheet king, like my partner is the spreadsheet queen.

[00:02:00] Gabe Ratliff: And like yourself. I am I had some trepidation around numbers and you know, the projections and, and how to really properly budget and to think around to think about these things that really are important to the success of a business. And for this audience, it's one of those things that, you know, money, it's, it's one of the hardest things to talk about, whether it's with your partner, whether it's with yourself, about your business, whether it's with other people, like your friends, family.

[00:02:39] Gabe Ratliff: It's a touchy subject. And so to get more comfortable with it, I just feel like it's just absolutely critical for us as humans. But obviously importantly as business owners. To find success. So I'm just super excited for you to share your story, your journey, your work, and and to share value with the listeners of the show and the audience.

[00:03:08] Janette Gallardo: Yeah. No, thank you. I do remember, that's one of the things I love about working with people like yourself because when we. Working together, it's always like, you know, like they don't feel comfortable around the topic and then all of a sudden it's like, they're challenging me, which I love by the way, with like, No, shouldn't it be this way?

[00:03:30] Janette Gallardo: And I'm like, What, what ma? Like, you know, having that conversation and then me witnessing the growth that I just get so excited. Cuz my goal is always to empower anybody that I come in touch with and clients anybody. I wanna empower people, so it's not like I wanna intimidate you and so that you, we work together for ever.

[00:03:54] Janette Gallardo: No, it's like, I want to empower you, give you the tools so that you can apply them, feel comfortable, and actually grow and grow your business and, and grow as a person. And so, so yeah, I'm, I'm super excited to be here and also to witness your growth is just, it's one of the best I, I call it like a treat.

[00:04:13] Janette Gallardo: It's such a treat.

[00:04:15] Gabe Ratliff: Mm. Thank you so much. Well, you've been a big part of it, so I, I, I, I kind of realize I, I have this question, I also wanna I wanna invite you to feel free to share. All of how you work, because there's some interesting parts about how we first started to work together that I think are very unique to you.

[00:04:47] Gabe Ratliff: And so I would, I would love if you could touch on that when we get to it. And I know I'm kind of prefacing a little bit, but I, I just wanna again, open this, the gates to the opportunity to share like that uniqueness in the way that you work because it was so important to me and so powerful and such a different way to engage with someone like yourself.

[00:05:09] How do you explain what you do?

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[00:05:09] Gabe Ratliff: But my first question is, how do you explain what you do?

[00:05:16] Janette Gallardo: I actually stopped explaining it cuz people just get so confused. So what I, what I do say is I humanize business finances. That's how I, I think that's a simple way to say it. And actually people get very intrigued by what it is. It is that I just humanize finances and it means getting rid of all of the lingo, the finance lingo and the complexity that we have come to know about finances and just simplify it.

[00:05:54] Janette Gallardo: Like just you and I having a conversation, a simple conversation around numbers and that's, Yeah, that's how I explain it.

[00:06:05] What was the defining moment in your life that made you choose to do this work?

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[00:06:05] Gabe Ratliff: N Easy peasy kids. There you go. Easy peasy. So what was the defining moment in your life that made you choose to go down this path?

[00:06:19] Janette Gallardo: Yeah. So it was, I feel like, I don't know, like a lot of people can relate or, or at least that was my path where I was before starting my own business. I work in corporate and I came to a point where I'm like, I just cannot do this anymore. I was very confused about what I, what path I wanted to take.

[00:06:45] Janette Gallardo: And actually I had the opportunity to do some soul search. And I realized that I love numbers, I love finance. That's really truly one of my passions. And which I thought, how can numbers be your passion? What I was missing was working with in the right environment. So corporate wasn't the right environment for me because I feel like I wasn't having an impact.

[00:07:14] Janette Gallardo: So for me, combining finances and working with people like business owners, entrepreneurs, creatives all those people that are so good at their craft, they don't have a business or finance background. That was like the key for me where I was. I was like, this is my passion. When I combined finance and the right environment, the right people, this is truly what I love doing.

[00:07:43] Janette Gallardo: And that's how, I mean, it took me years to figure this out, but I came to a point in life where I'm like, I just cannot go on this path of what I was doing as far as the corporate environment. And as we were talking earlier, like it took a lot of me to go into the unknown and you know, just pull the trigger.

[00:08:06] Janette Gallardo: I knew deep in, in my heart that this was a path, but it was so hard to just leave reliable income and start from scratch. And I'm so happy I did it cuz I just I love what I do. I just cannot believe I get to do this.

[00:08:25] Gabe Ratliff: That's so awesome. It's, it's so awesome to me to be able to capture that joy that you get from your work. When, when you were also literally just moments ago saying like, how, how can, how can finance be my passion? Right. But the, the fact that you, it was, it was, there was a missing piece and that when you found that, that brought it together and you can see it all over, like when, I mean, you get so excited and I, I, I've had these moments when we've been working together where I, I'll see you just get this huge smile and you're just like, beaming.

[00:09:01] Gabe Ratliff: Cuz you are so excited for me cuz I figured something out or I showed up with something and you're like, Oh my gosh,

[00:09:08] Janette Gallardo: Yeah,

[00:09:09] Gabe Ratliff: You know? And like

[00:09:10] Janette Gallardo: that's,

[00:09:10] Gabe Ratliff: joy.

[00:09:12] Janette Gallardo: yeah. And that is my favorite when people or my clients are connecting the dots and they're like, I get it. I see it up for me. Like, yes, like we did it. So, yeah, cuz it's not that hard. It's hard because I feel sometimes we get in our head because, Oh, I don't know it. Or, Oh, numbers intimidating me.

[00:09:32] Janette Gallardo: Or like, we have all these things that we have like layers and layers of things of how we feel around finances. But in reality it's just like, it's, it takes practice. It's like doing anything new and just like, you know, like testing, testing it out, and like being curious about it, I, I feel is the same way.

[00:09:56] Janette Gallardo: But finances can be very challenging because there's so many layers to that that, you know, like that we have like this connection with, with that. And then it just feels uncom.

[00:10:11] Gabe Ratliff: So one of the things that I thought was, so

[00:10:20] Gabe Ratliff: when we started, one of the things I thought was so interesting and unique about your practice was that you introduced me to this concept of human design and that you plug this whole other element into your practice and it has absolutely nothing to do with finance, relatively. And I didn't know much about it, if anything.

[00:10:49] Gabe Ratliff: And so I got educated. You educated me in that and got me on this whole path with that. And it was this wonderful entryway into getting an understanding of how I felt like it was this o just wonderful way to get an understanding of how I show up for yourself, but also for me, it was a learning for me.

[00:11:12] Gabe Ratliff: I was wondering if you could share a little bit about human design and how that plays a part and, and just what, what that looks like for people so they, especially people that don't.

[00:11:21] Janette Gallardo: Yeah, yeah, of course. And so, and thank you for asking that question cuz I'm very passionate about human design. And human design was one of the reasons I left my corporate job cuz I truly got to understand myself and my strengths. So I love Incorporat and I have been studying human design for a couple of years now.

[00:11:45] Janette Gallardo: So and human decided all started for me. Like I was very curious about it. I was never intended to incorporate it into my business, but I use it with clients when there's. First of all, when they're into curious as well. So I don't use it with every client, it's just people that are open and curious that we tap into human design.

[00:12:08] Janette Gallardo: And what human design is, is basically it's a blueprint who you are. But what I love about it is that it shows you what you are not so you can really get rid of what you're not and really focus on who you are because those are your gifts. And that is, like most of the time we turn those gifts into what's wrong with me?

[00:12:32] Janette Gallardo: Why am I this software? Why am I this, Why am I all of these things? And in reality, there's not nothing wrong with you. Like you're perfect the way you are. And once we start owning who we truly are and let go of all the labeling, let go of all the conditioning from our environment, then that's when you really get to like life unfolds on a such a beautiful way that it feels like effortless.

[00:12:59] Janette Gallardo: Like it's just because you are just being you and, and things are just unfolding the way they're supposed to. And I use human design with coaching when coaching finances. So I do offer a couple of services like fractional CFO work, which I, I don't work with human design on that aspect, but when I'm coaching people on their finances, I do pull this, when I, I see that there's some layers that we cannot get into into because there's so much conditioning around finances, that that really helps for us to kind of like identify what is truly happening.

[00:13:45] Janette Gallardo: Because at the end of the day, finances, as I said earlier, like it, it's simple in a way that is kind of like a common sense. It's just us getting in the way of. Dealing with our finances because there's so many layers of conditioning of like generations that have passed like all of his beliefs around money, around finances.

[00:14:09] Janette Gallardo: So that's when I pull human design and yeah, so I, it, what I do is I love because it's not like one size fits all. And that's one of the things when I started my business was that I don't want like a cookie cutter like thing. So I may like the conversations that I have with one client are gonna be completely different or, or, or what we, what do we what we cover is gonna be a little bit different because there's gonna be a need for something different cuz everybody's so unique.

[00:14:44] Janette Gallardo: So I, I love that I get to do that.

[00:14:46] Gabe Ratliff: Hmm. Yeah. And I mean, like I said, I mean for me, thank you for sharing that. For, for me it was a really eyeopening experience. I've done a lot of like personality tests and things like that, and I, I cherish those. I think they're valuable cuz they just help us get more insights into ourselves. We don't have to cater to them and just take that label and be like, Okay, this is what you are.

[00:15:10] Gabe Ratliff: But the thing I found interesting about human design is, like you said, it, it helps you understand, you know, to some degree who you are and then who you're not. And then it gives you this kind of guide around with understanding of those elements so that you can go forward and, and, and take that knowledge and use it to your advantage as opposed to not knowing it and just continuing to flail and have those, you know, like you said, those layers of programming that, you know, that we have to, there's, there's not as much of a, a possibility and an access to unlearn those without it.

[00:15:51] Gabe Ratliff: You know what, when you do have that knowledge, it's just helpful. It's just another, it's just like if you read a book that's teaching you about something and then you read another one and you start to develop an understanding of something or watch on YouTube or whatever, right? It's like, it's just giving you more tools and giving you more knowledge to, to take with and go, Oh, okay, so I understand this is how I am showing up in this way.

[00:16:15] Gabe Ratliff: I can use this to my advantage,

[00:16:17] Janette Gallardo: Yeah. And, and one of the things that I have heard over and over and also for myself is like, Oh, there's nothing wrong with me. Actually. I'm perfect the way I am. It's just that I have, like, I just need to, to really allow myself to, you know, like find the gift in what I thought it, that there was something wrong with me.

[00:16:41] Janette Gallardo: And that is huge. Every time people hear that. I mean, every time I, I share this with people, it's like, there's nothing wrong with me. I'm like, and they can feel it, like, Yeah, there's nothing wrong with me.

[00:16:55] Gabe Ratliff: Wow, that was powerful. Find the gift. Wow. That's awesome. Especially cuz we, I, I remember growing up being a generalist and liking all kinds of things, whether it was sports or the creative arts music. I hung out with a lot of different types of people and I didn't, I wasn't even like one click or anything like that.

[00:17:22] Gabe Ratliff: Like I

[00:17:22] Gabe Ratliff: generally, like, I, I'm just, I liked connecting with all kinds of people. I still do. And I, I remember feeling like that was a curse. And I remember when we first started talking like conveying that, you know, like, because it's like you're, you feel like you're, because you're not like others, you're, you're wrong.

[00:17:45] Gabe Ratliff: And it's not, not the case whatsoever. It's actually, that's what I love about James Victoria is quote about, you know, what made you weird as a kid was what makes you great now, You know? And Robin, Robert says, Our mess is our message. You know, And it's like, it's, it's, it's the same thing that you're speaking to, right?

[00:18:01] Gabe Ratliff: It's like it's our gift. It's actually our gift. It's what differentiates us. And, if you are your business, it's right there in front of you, . It's

[00:18:11] Janette Gallardo: Yeah, ex. Exactly, Exactly. Cuz we have this I mean, as part of our, our culture, like, there's this way of doing things and if you are that like, even like for success, like this is success and it's not like, success can mean different things to people. And also how you show up, it doesn't have to be a certain way.

[00:18:35] Janette Gallardo: Like, we have been a, as you mentioned earlier, like program to like, by looking at magazines or shows or all of those things that we're supposed to become that. And no, we're like, just once we embody who we truly are, it just, and it also, what I love about it is once you show up like truly as who you are you start not only attracting the same, you know, like the same type of people, but also it's almost like given permission to others to show up as themselves.

[00:19:17] Gabe Ratliff: Here. Here.

[00:19:17] Janette Gallardo: just like a Yeah, exactly. So it's just like a beautiful, beautiful thing to see.

[00:19:25] Gabe Ratliff: Yeah. And I mean that's definitely one of my goals here with Artful is to help people lean into that and to being the example, you know, living that example, being that example for the world that you want to be in. I mean, that was, that was what Gandhi's quoted for, for saying, you know, and well known for saying, I mean, it's like, be the world you want , you know, treat others like you wanna be treated.

[00:19:49] Gabe Ratliff: I'm pretty sure that one's written in a few pretty epic places in history. But yeah, it's, I mean, it's the golden rule. And so to kind of tether this. Finance for people to kind of help them understand could you break down sort of how you take that information and how that can play a part into the finance work and the, the, the, the support with a business owner by using that information from the human design.

[00:20:20] Janette Gallardo: Yeah. So it is basically I like starting, not in all cases, but in when I do work with like clients and I combine human design and finances. Obviously this doesn't apply to every client, but to the ones that it does apply to it really gives me an idea, well, not an idea actually. It gives me a full picture of what that person is all about, like their traits.

[00:20:51] Janette Gallardo: And it really helps me navigate through finances cuz I can, I, I know like what, like how they learn or how they take information or, you know, like how, how they, they are basically, And that is really helpful because then I can tailor that into the coaching as far as like, okay, so again, because it's not a cookie cutter is gonna be like, Oh, this person is gonna do better if, if we do this this way.

[00:21:22] Janette Gallardo: Instead of like, you know, like there's not like a, Cause the thing with finance, and that's one of the things I love about it, is that there are so many ways to come, to come up with an answer or a result or a calculation. Like there's so many different ways. So it's just that it is not one. And that's what, what I, I love to learn about clients because then we get to like how they process things.

[00:21:51] Janette Gallardo: Like, okay, so they like, I mean, I have, I have worked with clients where it's like working like on building models, like for them to scale their business and it's like, oh, they see things this way. So the way I'm showing them is not clicking because that's not how they work. So that's how I can use human design to kind of get a better understanding of how they process things and what really sticks and like kind to learn almost like it's like a language that is gonna click and it's gonna make sense.

[00:22:24] Janette Gallardo: So that's how I combine the two where it's, and that's where the humanizing piece of it comes into play. Cause it's not like I'm telling you, well, if you add like A plus B equal C, like that's it. No. It's more like, okay, so that doesn't stick. So what if we do it a different way? Like C minus B will say, Oh, that clicks.

[00:22:45] Janette Gallardo: Okay, let's go into that path. So it's more like really again, humanizing the finance aspect of it and simplifying it so that all of a sudden it's like, okay, this is not as difficult as I thought it was.

[00:23:01] Gabe Ratliff: And it worked.

[00:23:04] Gabe Ratliff: It totally worked. It worked for me. I mean, wow. I was like, What? So I wanted to ask you next as thank you for sharing that and just kind of bring that together, cuz again, I felt like it was such a unique element that you can add to your work that I had not heard of before. A human design and b, In incorporating that with finance work.

[00:23:26] Gabe Ratliff: I mean, it's just, it just, and it, to me, it, it, it also helps create this relationship, right? Because we're getting to know each other better. You were sharing about your human design and vice versa, and you were, you were sharing your example of how it kind of would differ from mine and, and, and helping to explain how it works.

[00:23:44] Gabe Ratliff: And it's its own arena. I mean, it's a whole world. Once I started to look into it, I was like, Oh my gosh, there's like a whole, the people that just practice this and this is what they coach people on. And I mean, it's a whole thing. So to take this and implement it from your life and then to inject this into the work that you do with the clients that are interested, I just, I thought it was absolutely worth sharing cuz it's such an interesting thing and it's unique.

[00:24:11] Gabe Ratliff: And it's one of your, you know identifiers that I, I think of and was of interest to me because you did right. It's not this like, I'm gonna focus on the finding cuz I, that didn't work for me.

[00:24:24] Janette Gallardo: Yeah.

[00:24:25] Gabe Ratliff: design, I was like, not so much. gonna happen kids.

[00:24:32] Janette Gallardo: Exactly.

[00:24:33] Gabe Ratliff: go ahead,

[00:24:34] Janette Gallardo: And, and I was gonna say exactly, and also one of the things that I love about working with creatives is that creatives are more open to trying different. And that's one of the things I love because then like when I, like, I kind of know who to bring that with, like human design. Cuz I know there's some clients that it's just like, No, no, no, let's focus on businesses, business.

[00:24:58] Janette Gallardo: Don't bring in your whatever tool you have. But I love, that's one of the things I love working with creatives and is like, Yeah, let's do it. I'm curious. And, you know, it's just, it's so much fun.

[00:25:09] Gabe Ratliff: Yeah, it is, it is. And it, again, like I said, it starts a relationship and it creates this whole multi other level. And to me, we've seen so much over the last several years. How important relationships are in business and how businesses have become kind of on the forefront of changing the world. Right? I mean, it's just that plain and simple.

[00:25:36] Gabe Ratliff: I mean there's, we're seeing that more and more and more how important it is when customers or clients are looking at their vendors or the people that they wanna spend their money with and how important that is. And so having this other element to create this deeper relationship, I just think is awesome.

[00:25:58] And to leave the corporate world to run your own business, how has that choice changed your life?

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[00:25:58] Gabe Ratliff: And so I wanted to share it cuz I felt like this is a wonderful venue to share it with this, this audience. I wanted to ask how this choice that you've made to leave corporate and to do this work, how it's changed your life.

[00:26:13] Janette Gallardo: Wow. That's It has changed. I mean, it has transformed. I, it has changed my life in so many different ways. One of them is trusting, as we were talking earlier, like trusting the unknown has been huge. Because before I, I was like, No, I need to know. I need to be in control. I was a control freak back then.

[00:26:42] Janette Gallardo: And the unknown was something that I would not even consider exploring. And it has allowed me to really trust. Like as I was saying earlier before we started the, the conversation, it was if it feels good in my soul and I feel energized by whatever I'm doing, then I have learned to trust it. And I have learned to lean, like, lean in and like then let it unfold.

[00:27:14] Janette Gallardo: So that's one of the biggest things. Like, it's, it's very scary. It's like stepping into the unknown can create a lot of fear in anxiety. But I have been working through that when I know it's just knowing. It's like I know deep in my soul, this is what I wanna be doing. It feels good to me and just, I cannot even explain it.

[00:27:40] Janette Gallardo: Cuz even when I left my corporate job, like friends were like, What are you crazy? Like, you have a stable job, you have a stable income. Why would you leave that? Why would you leave that stability? I'm like, I just cannot explain it. It just, I just feel it in my core. Like I, there's a sense that I feel it and I feel like doing stepping into my start in my own business, it has allowed me to really be in alignment with who I am and allow myself to, like, I have a lot of moments of clarity that come from like this wisdom inside of me that I, I cannot even, sometimes it doesn't make sense.

[00:28:28] Janette Gallardo: Like if I wanna do this and like I cannot explain why I wanna do it, but then I do it and it's just, Okay. It's just, I don't know, like that's one area that has really changed, I guess, trusting myself, trusting my, my wisdom, trusting the unknown. Like there's this trust of knowing that everything is gonna be okay.

[00:28:55] Janette Gallardo: And I think that's the biggest one. I mean, there's, there has been so many things that have changed or that have like a lot of transformation, but I think that's the, the for sure the biggest one.

[00:29:09] Gabe Ratliff: Mm. Well, and that's, that's enough. I mean, just that, right? I mean, that's enough. I mean, cuz that's, that's something that, So we, I mean, so many of us, I would, I would wanna say everybody that we deal with is trusting ourselves, listening to our intuition, you know, listening, trusting what's coming from within, you know, and, and, and, and, you know, you, we could start together on this whole path about how that can also be a part of like not trusting others, right?

[00:29:40] Gabe Ratliff: And like that there's issues with that and how trust is a big,

[00:29:45] Janette Gallardo: Yeah.

[00:29:46] Gabe Ratliff: part of divisiveness and tension between people is the trust factor. There's not a trust. And, you know, we could get into that could be a whole episode about that. And how that's such a huge factor. But to focus on ourselves and that trust of ourselves, I mean, it really is.

[00:30:10] Gabe Ratliff: I mean that's, that's part of why I have this tattoo to remind me that I am my own North star.

[00:30:17] Gabe Ratliff: You know? And, and, and, you know, and, and what, I mean, that's something for me that helps me. I'll like look down and be like, Yeah bro,

[00:30:28] Janette Gallardo: You got it.

[00:30:28] Gabe Ratliff: you got it. Just, you got this. Just trust yourself. Listen, quiet down and listen.

[00:30:33] Gabe Ratliff: You know, and you could, I could feel that when you were sharing that, like how that's been, I mean, you're, you're pouring out like how impactful that was. And like that's the biggest thing. And that's why I say that, man, that's enough. I mean, that's enough. Cuz that's a big task.

[00:30:50] Janette Gallardo: It is.

[00:30:50] Gabe Ratliff: practice, right?

[00:30:51] Gabe Ratliff: It's a constant practice.

[00:30:53] Janette Gallardo: Yeah. Every day. It's a, it's a everyday practice, to be quite honest, cuz I mean, obviously like we're human and I have moments where I doubt like myself and like, am I do, what am I doing? Like even like, why am I, you know, like I start doubting myself and I'm like, Nope, I'm not going there. I'm just gonna trust in myself and that I'll get the answers and that I'll be okay.

[00:31:16] Janette Gallardo: And it's, and also what you were saying, like, I do believe, like, when we trust ourselves, our intuition, our wisdom, everything within us, it also creates this ability to trust dollars. It, it's so interconnected. And when we have that trust in us, we can trust others like that they're gonna do their job.

[00:31:40] Janette Gallardo: Or even like clients, you know, like sometimes the trust, like is it gonna work out? Or, Or, with employees, is it like, are, do they know what they're doing? Like all these things, but when they're trust within, I do believe it, it expands out and it creates trust in all areas.

[00:31:57] Gabe Ratliff: Yeah. Well, and, and I mean, just to be in this arena around money, right? When we were saying before about this is such a tough topic, period, it's very because of its, its power in our society, whether you like it or hate it, whether you have a lot or a little. I mean, there's so many different variances all across the board, and it also still has power in that way because of that.

[00:32:27] Gabe Ratliff: And so to be dealing with money and then, you know having that daily practice around trust is just so important, right? Because you, you, you also have clients trusting you to, to, to, they're being vulnerable. Very, very vulnerable. I mean, I remember that feeling of like, but I, you made me feel at ease and feel like, Oh, okay, cool.

[00:32:52] Gabe Ratliff: It felt like it felt inviting, it felt supportive, It felt understanding, you know it felt like you know, like a, you know, just like a, a friend kind of gently pulling you in the right direction is what it felt like to me as opposed to, you know, let's work on your finances , and just getting into like the numbers and the black and the white, or the black and the red or what have you, you know, like it really felt like, Oh, okay, cool.

[00:33:28] Gabe Ratliff: Like I, okay, it was a it to wanna do the work. , which is the important thing when you want to have coaching in an, in whatever area, you gotta want to do the work and you gotta be open to have the help. But having help like your, that brings you into that, with that helping hand is just, it's just so powerful.

[00:33:52] How has that choice changed other people’s lives?

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[00:33:52] Gabe Ratliff: That actually leads me my, to my next question of how this choice that you made, how has this changed people's lives?

[00:34:02] Janette Gallardo: Ah, yeah. So just what you mentioned that trust, like having. It's a big deal. And I don't take it for granted. When I work with clients that they're trusting me, and that's huge for me. It's such an honor for, for, them, for for you, for, you know, like people that, because I, I know it's like a tricky subject.

[00:34:29] Janette Gallardo: So for me, like once I, I mean there's that trust is like, I, I truly want to make it I don't know, like as yeah, simple, but also like normal. I think that's a word, normal. It doesn't need to be like, What? Why are you asking that question? Or You should know this, or, you know, like making you feel uncomfortable.

[00:34:57] Janette Gallardo: Like, that's not, my way has never been my way. And one of the things I have always had, even when I was in corporate, was that people would come to me that were even like outside of finance, other departments would come to me to explain them things finance things cuz either they had a meeting or or they had to present their numbers or whatever.

[00:35:19] Janette Gallardo: People always feel so comfortable coming to me. And that's, and that's it's not something that I, like, it just comes natural to me to, you know, like, to make people feel, feel And so yeah. To answer your question, how have I seen that I guess transformation with clients? It has been huge.

[00:35:45] Janette Gallardo: First of all for me it's good. Like when I see my clients excited about finances and, and then like when we meet and they show me like, Oh, look what I put together and this and this, and I came up with, with the margin and this, and, and all of a sudden like they're walking me through excited, walking me through what, how they put together something that to me is like, And I have to always make a pause.

[00:36:11] Janette Gallardo: And cuz sometimes we forget, right? We have made so much growth that we are working on ourselves every day that we forget how how how I guess along we have come. And for me it's like, hold on, let's just take two seconds to celebrate this cause look at you like you just put this together. Like, you're excited, you're talking about it, you're walking me through it.

[00:36:34] Janette Gallardo: So it is just like a reminder of how much progress you have made. And I have seen it with every client. It's just, it, like I, I wish I had like a video of when we first met and then working together. Cause the, the change is huge. The transformation is huge. Like how comfortable they feel about talking about numbers and, and and even like making decisions and also doing it themselves.

[00:37:05] Janette Gallardo: So I give the tools to my clients so that they can figure it out on their own. Meaning, like, it's not like, Oh, it's my secret and you only get to work with me if you want answers. No. Like, I give you the tools so that you can have the answers and you can replicate what we have worked on so that you can go and do it yourself.

[00:37:25] Janette Gallardo: Because for me, like I just don't wanna work. I mean, it's great working with one and having them forever, but at the same time, wanna be able to share this with as many clients as possible. Because I want, like, I almost, I feel like there's this I mean I even like, there's this perception around finances and accounting and there's like this, like, you know, the, a stereotype of what that person looks like.

[00:38:00] Janette Gallardo: And I wanna break that. Cause I don't believe that's how it should be. And maybe it has been like that forever, but we need to change that. It, it has to change and it, it can be fun, it can be empowering. It can be everything. And I have seen that with my clients and it's just just to witness that, that is just such an honor.

[00:38:21] Janette Gallardo: And to see them grow every time I see my clients grow is such an inspiration for me to keep on going. And also I learn so much from my clients. I think that's, I think the, the, the learning is mutual. Cause I learn so much from everybody and I just, I love that.

[00:38:43] What's the most important thing people should do today if they want to improve their financial health?

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[00:38:43] Gabe Ratliff: Yeah. Well, speaking of which, I, I thank you for sharing that. I really appreciate this. This is, I just love the way this is going and what we're covering. Speaking of that learning, what's what's like the most important thing that people should do today if they want to improve their financial health?

[00:39:03] Gabe Ratliff: What's something that you could say like, Here's the top thing you should be looking at.

[00:39:08] Janette Gallardo: Yeah. I think number one is what you said earlier, you have to be willing to do the work since it's not like I can point you into a website, I can point you into like follow the steps, but it's somo like something that I like to, and, and I'll, and I'll also provide some something to work on. But like, the way I see it is it's like working out.

[00:39:33] Janette Gallardo: You wanna get fit. And if you are not measuring anything, like you're like, Oh, I wanna lose 10 pounds. Well, how are you gonna get there? Like, you have to have a measurable. Like how many times a week are you gonna work? How many hours? What exercises are you gonna work? What muscles are you gonna like?

[00:39:51] Janette Gallardo: All of that. All of those things. Then yeah, your, like, your diet, all of those things. If you have a plan that is measurable, then yeah, you probably are gonna lose those 10 pounds within the timeframe. But finances is exactly the same way. So the advice I can give is, first of all, having the willingness to do the work, show up every day.

[00:40:13] Janette Gallardo: And it's gonna be very uncomfortable at the beginning, but it's okay and it's okay not to know. And it's okay to maybe feel stupid at the beginning. It's totally fine. Like even when you start something new anything new that you start, you're not gonna know. And you're gonna feel a little bit uncomfortable at the beginning.

[00:40:31] Janette Gallardo: But anything you do in business, you should be able to measure and just look at it like from that standpoint of, I'm gonna, I wanna lose 10 pounds. What, what actions are you gonna take to get there? It's the same with finances. Let's say you wanna reduce cost or improve your your profit by 10%. Okay, excellent.

[00:40:56] Janette Gallardo: How are you gonna do that? It has to be measurable. you gonna be increasing pricing? Are you gonna be reducing cost? You know, like all those things. So there's, that's the thing, like there's not a, a step one, two, and three. It's more just have a measurable plan you can track and compare and be like, Okay, I can get here.

[00:41:18] Janette Gallardo: Cause otherwise it's gonna be very difficult. Or maybe it is doable, but it's gonna take longer you're not tracking or measuring your performance.

[00:41:29] Gabe Ratliff: Yeah. And, and something that I loved about in our work and or that I love about in our work, and then I also used in mind with coaching is, it's okay if you don't hit the goal. It's about the measurement. Like me, what's me as, as my coach? David, who is also on the show David Martin, whenever we're talking about the health aspect, as you were speaking to a little bit ago, what's measured is, is managed right?

[00:42:05] Gabe Ratliff: And if we don't have it, then it's easy to, you're not, you don't have anything to you, you don't have anything to reference. It's like if you, if you're in a car and you're driving, but you actually aren't tracking like where you're trying to get to, where you are relative to that, how fast you're driving, how much gas is in the car.

[00:42:25] Gabe Ratliff: Like, we need to know these things to know like, Oh, I should probably get gas here,

[00:42:30] Janette Gallardo: yep,

[00:42:31] Gabe Ratliff: to me, like that's part of what's great about this is like, it's just, it's this type of work, right? It's like it's just giving you these dots to figure out here's how we're getting to where you wanna be. And it's okay if you miss this one.

[00:42:47] Janette Gallardo: yep,

[00:42:47] Gabe Ratliff: It's okay if you don't quite. We can just adjust and you're still moving forward. There's still movement forward. And that was something that, that also was, again, adding to that feeling of, of support and encouragement along the way with such a tough topic that so many of us battle. But if you're also owning your own, running your own business, it, like you said, I mean, I love that what you said about anything you do in business should be able to be measured.

[00:43:16] Janette Gallardo: Mm-hmm.

[00:43:17] Gabe Ratliff: that take note kids, I mean, that one's an important one. I mean, because it, so many things we don't, there's so many little things that we don't, and that right there is mic drop,

[00:43:36] Janette Gallardo: Yeah, Yeah, for sure. and and also taking a note of how many hours you spend if you're a service provider, how many hours you're spending on like work behind the scenes or, or with meetings with clients, like tracking your time is key. And not a lot of people, I wanna say none, track their time. And, and that's the thing, like you can use all of this information, This becomes your pool of data that then you can start seeing like, Oh, this is how I have done in the past, so what can I improve or what can I change?

[00:44:14] Janette Gallardo: And that's where you really get to explore. And again, what you said, it's okay if you don't hit your number. It's okay if you don't hit your goal. And it's okay if you haven't tracked anything in the past, it's okay. It's just like, start where you are and move forward and, and baby steps. It's okay. This doesn't have to be like a huge I guess result is just also exploring and testing things out and, and see what works, what doesn't work.

[00:44:42] Janette Gallardo: And, and that's part of the process,

[00:44:45] If you had a magic wand and could change anything related to peoples mindsets related to a healthy relationship with money what would it be?

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[00:44:45] Gabe Ratliff: Mm. Yeah. There's so much I could jump into there. I wanted to ask you, if you had a magic wand and could change anything related to people's mindsets related to, you know, a healthy relationship with money or just the management of money, engagement with money, what would it be?

[00:45:10] Janette Gallardo: Awareness. Cuz sometimes you don't even know that you have issues with money or where they are coming from, or you feel like you're stuck, but you don't know. And awareness, if I had the ability to create that awareness. Cuz it's all about a, that's the first step in changing anything. And when you're not aware, you keep on hitting the same wall and it's so hard to figure it out because you're not aware.

[00:45:45] Janette Gallardo: So I would I I think it starts with awareness and the way to get to that is just being curious of how you're doing things. Just observe what are you're doing and, and yeah, being curious. And then you can start kind of like expanding or growing again, practicing awareness. It's, to me, that's the key to actually anything.

[00:46:13] Anything else you’d like to share?

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[00:46:13] Gabe Ratliff: Is there anything else that you'd like to cover that maybe we didn't touch on or that you'd like to, you know, either elaborate on or, or dive into that we didn't touch on?

[00:46:25] Janette Gallardo: Yeah. One thing I, I do wanna share or is again, with finances and with money we come because how we were raised or our culture or whatever, I like we come from a place of lack or a place of, I'm not good enough and it's very hard and I have seen this a lot with clients on their pricing is reflected and whereas like, Well I cannot charge this cause nobody's gonna show up or nobody's gonna buy it.

[00:47:02] Janette Gallardo: And I'm like, Yeah, well not with that attitude. Nobody's going to, first of all, and second of all, let's work on the pricing behind of like what you're offering. Like what is your service Like, what are the things that make you unique and what are you bringing, like your talents, your gifts, all the things that people are willing?

[00:47:24] Janette Gallardo: Cuz at the end of the day, there's market for whatever you do. And the, and the price is gonna be right for the right client. So if you're focusing on, you know, like, you know what, I, ugh, it's too expensive, nobody's gonna show up. Well, if you put something where you're like, Okay, this is what I'm offering, this is what makes me different.

[00:47:42] Janette Gallardo: These are all the things, There's that client that is willing to pay and I can even, like, I think it applies like to anybody where you're like, there's this type of service that I'm willing to pay for it, and it, it just speaks to me and they're providing the service that I'm willing more than ha and even if they increase their pricing, I would still be coming back because there's this knowing of what you're, what you're providing, what is your unique gift and talent, and you're not coming from a place of lack.

[00:48:18] Janette Gallardo: And, and I, I work with clients on this pricing is huge and working on that, like kind of like getting back to the core and like looking at exactly like, again, tracking hours is key cuz then you're like, you, you are not actually paying anything. Like, you're not paying yourself anything

[00:48:37] Gabe Ratliff: Mm.

[00:48:37] Janette Gallardo: with your current pricing.

[00:48:39] Janette Gallardo: So yeah, I just wanted to bring that up. Like pricing is like a key area and just identifying like where if you're leaving any money on the table and, and there's always people that are willing to pay.

[00:48:56] Gabe Ratliff: Ooh. Yeah. That is a, that is a record that keeps on playing because it constantly comes up. I mean, I have, I have a client. That I was coaching just recently. And, and he blatantly was just like, I, you know, I don't, I'm not gonna charge for the hours I do. I work, It's too many hours.

[00:49:22] Janette Gallardo: Yeah.

[00:49:22] Gabe Ratliff: was like, Wait, wait, wait, what?

[00:49:25] Gabe Ratliff: What? And he is like, Well, I mean, it's just, just too many hours, the work it takes to do these pieces. And I was like, Whoa, whoa. Hold up here. Let's, let's come back here a second. Because there was this complete understanding of, yeah, I put in 500 hours into this creative project, but I don't think, think about it like a complete, like, Oh no, I just like, there it was like not even a thought.

[00:49:58] Gabe Ratliff: Like it was like, Oh no, I can't do that. And I was like, But if you were getting paid, say 20 bucks an hour and you worked 500 hours on something that's decent, how much are you charging for your pieces? And we started, it really unpacked this like, interesting conversation about price for art and like how we undercut ourselves.

[00:50:25] Gabe Ratliff: And it, it, I just wanted to add that on to, to what you were just saying so that the audience can kind of be thinking about that because it's true. Like we don't, like, I, there's still places where I miss tracking my hours and I'm still practicing it. I'll be, I'll be open and honest about that. There are, there are times where you're just, you're working and you're like, Oh I forgot to note it, you know, in my Todoist or my calendar or whatever.

[00:50:50] Gabe Ratliff: And, and I'll, I'll be like, Ugh. I need to practice and I keep practicing. I keep adjusting and trying things, ex experimenting, you know, But it really is, if you're, if you're not getting paid for your, like a nine to five, right? We both used to be in corporate, and if you're, if you're not getting paid that way and you're just giving up that time to all kinds of things, but it's related to your business or it's if, and if it's related to client work, all right, well then we definitely need to have a talk about that. Right? But like that story I was just sharing about that client, like it was really impactful cuz I was like, man, when I heard 500 hours on a project, I was like, Mm, we need to have a conversation. Cuz that's, that's, a, that's a, you just said this, right? Like, that's a way to man it to measure, right? Like you, you can, you can, you can measure that and you can go, Wow, okay, so I know I'm gonna spend 500 hours on this and this is how much the supplies are gonna be, you know, da da da da.

[00:51:56] Gabe Ratliff: You start to get these numbers and you're like, Okay, well here, here's the budget. And I'm like, well, there you go. You know the time, you know the nu the money, you know, all the things, you know, now you have a place to set a level for your price. But it was

[00:52:10] Gabe Ratliff: unheard of. It was, it was still like, even by the end of the call, it was like this, like, I can't, there's no way.

[00:52:17] Gabe Ratliff: And I was like, Man, we have to, Yeah. Like we have a lot of work to do, especially in the creative arena around worth. I mean, we all have a lot of work to do. And around that, I mean, let's, let's be honest.

[00:52:31] Janette Gallardo: Yeah. All of us. Yeah.

[00:52:34] Gabe Ratliff: We all do. And especially when you, when you are, you are in control. Like you're the ceo, you're the manager, you're the technician, you're the whatever, right? You're all the things if you're running the business, unless you have actually built up enough to have people in that place. it really is a, a mind game, it's a mindset game.

[00:52:54] Gabe Ratliff: And having coaches like yourself, it's just absolutely critical, right. To, to, to be able to like, especially to address such a tough subject as money, but it's absolutely critical to having a successful business.

[00:53:11] Janette Gallardo: Yeah, agree. And what you were just saying on the amount of hours, tracking hours is huge because then you can tell how much time is going to what. And maybe it like, you can hire somebody to do all admin stuff that is not your, your zone of genius. Like there's ways to identify, okay, this is not where, you know, like, and also included in your pricing.

[00:53:39] Janette Gallardo: But yeah, it's just so many different areas. Like, but again, measuring, measuring and tracking hours and looking at pricing, I think that would be like measurement and measuring your business. I think those three are like key.

[00:53:55] Tell us something we don’t know about you.

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[00:53:55] Gabe Ratliff: Yeah. So as we wind down now, I wanted to ask you a couple of if a fun question is there something that you could tell us that is interesting that we might not know about you?

[00:54:11] Janette Gallardo: Oh my goodness. Do you wanna go there?

[00:54:14] Gabe Ratliff: Hell yes

[00:54:16] Janette Gallardo: What is interesting about me, I think something that people do not know, especially cuz I, I work with numbers and you know, like I'm very logical which is in my design, it's all over the place, like the logic. I also enjoy a lot of I, I don't know. I, I don't like calling it spiritual cause it can go into the religion arena, and that's not what I'm talking about.

[00:54:43] Janette Gallardo: But I'm talking more about like, I love like meditating, like yoga, like anything that is going to ground me and allow me to find that alignment within me. I'm all about that. And sometimes I don't know, like people do not see that because it's like, what? Like how do the, the two like, work together?

[00:55:09] Janette Gallardo: But I'm, I'm, I'm all about self growth and, learning, reading. I'm big into reading. So yeah, I love anything that is gonna help me expand in and grow and, and more in a, like a, I guess inner, inner work. I guess that's what I would call it. Inner work. I'm all about that.

[00:55:35] Gabe Ratliff: Yeah. Total Kindred. I'm the same . Total is a very

[00:55:40] Janette Gallardo: self help. Yeah.

[00:55:42] Janette Gallardo: Some help.

[00:55:43] Gabe Ratliff: Self-help is a very common genre in my wishlist for sure.

[00:55:47] Janette Gallardo: Yeah.

[00:55:49] Where can people find you online?

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[00:55:49] Gabe Ratliff: well, last question. Where can people find you online? How can they engage with.

[00:55:54] Janette Gallardo: Yeah. So they can find me on my website@vitasolutions.com. They can also find me on LinkedIn. I know LinkedIn. A lot of people don't like that. But I, I actually spend some time there like just sharing under my business, Vita Solutions, or my name Jen Yago and yeah, or just reach out and, you know, like sometimes.

[00:56:22] Janette Gallardo: I feel like people have questions and they're like, it's gonna take, know, like a lot of time to figure this out. And sometimes it's like half an hour, like answer, like, really easy and, and then you keep on going in circle. So yeah, feel free to reach out and yeah, I'm always happy and happy to talk, to meet new faces and learning about what people are up to and doing and, yeah.

[00:56:47] Gabe Ratliff: Awesome. Well, Jeanette, thank you so much for your time. Thank you for sharing you know, your work and how your work is impacting others and all of the wonderful facets of you and how you show up. And I just, I love your work and you're the best. I appreciate it. And we'll see you on the flip.

[00:57:11] Janette Gallardo: All right. Thank you

[00:57:13] Voice Actor: Ann Coatney: Well, that's it for this episode. Whether this is your first time listening or you're already a fan, thanks for being here. We hope you enjoyed the show. All links and show notes for this episode can be found at the artful dot co. If you haven't yet, please subscribe to the show and leave a rating or review wherever you listen to podcasts.

[00:57:37] Voice Actor: Ann Coatney: Thanks again for listening. Until next time, keep being artful!