Leading Her Introvert Way: Conversations about executive leadership, career growth, business and mindset for mid-life Black women.

90: Why Side Hustles Are Stopping You From Building Wealth (+ The $400K Per Year Alternative)

• Nicole Bryan • Episode 90

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What if everything we've been taught about financial security and executive careers is actually keeping us from building generational wealth as Black introvert women? Listen here for what you need to know to change the trajectory of your career and your finances.

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LET’S CONNECT!

*Reserve your seat today for my webinar on July 26th: “From Invisible to Invincible: Strategies for Black Introvert Women to Get Executive Promotions in Five Months or Less.” 

Speaker 1:

Hi, lady Leader, and welcome to this week's episode of Leading Her Introvert Way. I'm Dr Nicole Bryan and I help Black introverted women get promoted to the executive level, become elite leaders and build generational wealth. All right, so today. There's so many things I want to talk about today, all right, first let's start with the fact that last week was my birthday. So if you listened to last week's episode, you knew that I was planning a birthday trip, a solo birthday trip, and I went and it was the best birthday that I have had in such a long time. So I actually I love road trips. I love any type of trips, honestly, but I do enjoy road trips.

Speaker 1:

I am that introvert that can you know, get in a car, drive for long distances, spend time with my own thoughts or put on a podcast or put on music and just sing at the top of my lungs. So this year for my solo birthday trip, I actually went to North Carolina. So I did a road trip to North Carolina. The drive was about seven and a half to eight hours and each way, and I went on a road trip to actually go hiking. I recently took up hiking, which I shared last week, and I went hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I've never been there before. It was absolutely beautiful.

Speaker 1:

Now, listen, I almost I thought I was going to die on that hike. I don't know what I was thinking. I knew I was going to the Blue Ridge Mountains, right, I knew that it was going to be. It was supposed to be a short hike, like a two and a half mile hike, but what I didn't put together was that I was going hiking in the mountains. So what that means is, if you're hiking and you're in the mountains, you clearly are going to be going up, the elevation levels are going to change and I knew I was going to see this incredible view at the end of it. But it didn't dawn on me that I was literally going to be hiking uphill for two and a half to three hours. So I thought I was just going to be going for, you know, like I said, a regular little hike to two miles, two and a half miles. But it took me all of four hours to go up and back and I probably realized 10 minutes into that hike that I had bit off probably more than I could chew. But your girl did not stop. I listen when I put my mind to something I am going to make it. I didn't care if I had to rest every 15 minutes. I was going to make it up that mountain. I didn't have to rest every 15 minutes, although, honestly, my body was screaming for it, but I made it up that hill. It took me two hours what would normally take me about an hour and a 15 minutes to hike. In this regard, because of the elevation and because of the, I'm literally climbing up rocks to get to where I need to go. It took me two hours one way to get there and then an hour and a half back coming back down. The view was worth it.

Speaker 1:

If you asked me right now, would I do it all again, even knowing what I now know, I would say absolutely yes. I probably would have prepared better, but I definitely would have done it. So it was a wonderful, wonderful birthday. I even took myself out for a solo steak dinner and the people who were around me helped me celebrate. I went by myself, but people around me were very cordial, very kind, helped me celebrate. It was the best. So if you've never, as an introvert, taken a solo trip, I know a lot of people don't necessarily feel comfortable traveling on their own, not from a safety standpoint, but just from a like they like to be in other people's company when they travel. If you've never done it, I would encourage you to think about it, because there is something to keeping your own company, particularly in new and different environments, and it just replenished my soul. So happy birthday to me and thank you to you guys for all of your birthday wishes that you sent me on LinkedIn and on Instagram and even on TikTok. Thank you so much for the birthday shout outs. I really appreciate it, and here's to another New Year. I am very, very happy to be back and very happy to be continuing our conversation here today.

Speaker 1:

So today's episode is all about building generational wealth through executive income. So for the first 20 years of my career, I was hustling all over the place. I mean, I had multiple jobs going at one time, side hustles that stacked upon side hustles. I had hit six figures in my early 20 in terms of from my nine to five, but I was still operating from scarcity. I was always, always looking for the next income stream and I was constantly worried about where my next dollar was gonna come from. It wasn't until I discovered executive leadership that I realized I didn't have to hustle all the damn time that one executive role could pay me more in a year than many people earn in a lifetime. So if you are tired of the constant hustle and you wanna build real generational wealth through strategic career positioning, then this episode is going to change everything from you, all right. So I want to first talk about where the hustle mentality comes from right.

Speaker 1:

So many of us come from homes and communities where finances aren't stable. Homes and communities where finances aren't stable. Now, that could be because your family is first generation here in the United States, or it could be because your family just did not earn a lot of money combined, no matter who was in the household. It could be for a variety of different reasons. But you may be from a community where finances are not stable and oftentimes we don't know where the next dollar is coming from, which makes us very, very uncomfortable. In at least the Black American culture and actually the Black Caribbean culture, of which I straddle both If you've been following me for any amount of time, you know that I straddle both. But in both of those cultures in particular, there's this belief that the more irons you have in the fire, the safer you are. Now I think we all know intellectually that is not true. That's a false equation, right. Multiple income streams does not equal financial security, but that's the messaging that we have all been raised on.

Speaker 1:

This usually shows up in our careers in a variety of different ways. So you may have your nine to five right now, plus you might also have two to three side hustles, right. Or you might feel guilty if you're not constantly busy and constantly working. Or you might think that if you don't have five jobs going, that you're a slacker and that other people may see you as a slacker. Or this might show up in your career if you believe you're not contributing to society if you're not constantly hustling. So I can relate to that, because I was that woman, I was the have multiple jobs at one time, always planning the next hustle. I thought I was being smart and I thought I was being strategic, but what I was actually doing was exhausting myself and I was limiting my wealth building potential because I was so focused on creating multiple small income streams that I never focused on creating an insignificant income source that could fund whatever I wanted.

Speaker 1:

Mentality that you and I both have suffered from One is about survival mode thinking. So when you grow up in an environment where finances are so central and it's because there's not a lot of it to go around there's not a lot of excess money to be had. So when you grow up with financial instability, your brain gets wired to believe that multiple income sources equal safety. But this keeps you in survival mode instead of wealth building mode. You are so busy trying to secure the money that you're not necessarily thinking about ways in which it can build wealth for you in the current day or in the future. The other psychology behind the hustle is that busy equals productivity. Right, and that is a fallacy. We confuse being busy with being productive. Having 10 side hustles feels productive. Having your nine to five plus two other jobs feels productive to you. Working for every hour that you are awake it feels productive to you, but what it is actually is scattering your energy and that prevents you from building real wealth and or taking your career, growing your career.

Speaker 1:

It wasn't until my third decade of working that I discovered executive leadership Right and that I finally understood that I didn't have to hustle all the damn time If I could get myself into an executive leadership role into one senior leadership role. I could earn from one position what most people earn across their lifetime. Here's the math that changed everything for me, right? One full-time job plus three side hustles equals maybe for most people, 75 to 100,000 US dollars total, but you're exhausted, whereas one executive role would bring you 300,000 to 750K per year from one position, with energy left to actually enjoy your life.

Speaker 1:

What executive income really provides you are a multitude of things. The finances part of it, yes, but it also gives you other things as well, right? So there's four things that executive income really provides. The first is the obvious one financial security from one source. No more wondering where your next dollar is going to come from. You get it from the job. Right, it is that one role, that nine to five that you have as a senior leader or as an executive, that is bringing in your income, right. Multiple six figures that's the first thing that executive income really provides. The second thing is that you get time back. You get your energy. You can get that and redirect it from hustling to wealth building. The third thing is it helps you with your mental capacity. When you have executive income, you also gain space to think strategically about money instead of just chasing it. And then, finally, executive income really provides you with investment capital. You'll get real money to make your money work for you. Right, and I'm really big on that.

Speaker 1:

I switched my thinking at some point in time during my early 40s. Instead of trying to just work to make money, I started thinking about I'm going to get this money. I'm going to work to make money because I want my money to actually start working for me. Building generational wealth isn't about figuring out 15 different jobs to bring in dollars, to bring in money. It's about earning a good income and figuring out how to make that income work for you. There is a huge difference there. Now, when I think about why executive income beats multiple hustles, it's rational to me, right? It's all about the compound effect. One high paying role compounds faster than multiple small income streams.

Speaker 1:

The other thing is benefits multiplications. Many people don't even understand the type of benefits that come when you reach the executive level or when you reach the senior leadership level. Right, it's not just about health insurance, right? It's not about going to the doctor, though that is important, of course, but your level of 401k matching reaches the stratosphere when you become an executive because it's based on income level right your level and you get access. Most companies give you access not just to 401k, but when you reach a certain level of income, you also get access to a retirement vehicle that is a complement to 401k and that's called like a 457B. We can talk about that another, we can go deep into that another time, but all that to say is you get.

Speaker 1:

When you reach a certain income level inside an organization, you usually get additional access to save for retirement beyond 401k matching you. Also, if you're working for a for-profit organization, you also usually get access to equity as a senior leader or an executive. So your executive benefits, they multiply your compensation, your base salary. The other thing that happens is your investment capacity grows. So high executive incomes gives you real capital to invest in other things outside of the job. So for me, for example, it gave me access to invest in property Like. I bought several different real estate investments and properties. I invest in stocks. I have invested in other businesses.

Speaker 1:

So when you have executive income, it allows you to use the money that you have to make it start working for you to invest it in things that will give you a return, a higher return. And then what executive income does for you is it makes you be more sustainable, right, so you can maintain your executive performance long-term and you don't have to hustle forever. Listen, it is important that I share this with you because it will move you from hustling to having a wealth strategy. So, specifically, instead of thinking I need multiple income streams to feel safe, you can start thinking about I need one substantial income stream to build wealth right. And how do you do this?

Speaker 1:

There are multiple steps, so there are about three to four steps. The first is, when you are looking to get an executive wealth building framework, the first thing that you're going to do is you're going to focus your energy Like stop scattering your energy across multiple hustles. Focus on advancing in your primary career to the executive level, to the senior leadership level. The second thing that you want to do if you are trying to build executive wealth is you want to maximize your primary income. One executive role that's paying $300,000 to $400,000 beats out four side hustles paying $25,000 each. The math is simple, but the mindset shift is hard. The third step is you want to make your money work for you. With executive income, you have real capital to invest Instead of working multiple jobs, your money works multiple jobs for you. And the fourth step is you build systems, not hustles. You get to use your executive income to build wealth generating systems, whether that's in real estate, whether that's in investments, whether that's in stocks, whether that's in businesses. You get to use your money to operate on your behalf.

Speaker 1:

Now, I know that this goes against everything that we've been taught. Our community celebrates the hustle and what's interesting is most of our communities don't necessarily even talk openly about finances, about money, about wealth and, like I have always said, this community that we're building on Leading Her Introvert Way. I want to be able to talk about all the things that we can't necessarily talk about in our friend groups or in our family or in our communities, because if we don't talk about it, if we never get exposed to it, we can't do different, we can't be different, we can't improve. And for me, like I mentioned, I didn't even know. That's not true. I knew what an executive was intellectually, but I didn't understand everything, the success that it granted. I didn't understand what all came with it in terms of power, in terms of income, in terms of influence. I saw executives in their roles, but it was so foreign to me that I truly did not understand what it actually meant. That's what I want to eradicate here.

Speaker 1:

I want you, as a Black, introverted woman, to truly understand what comes with becoming a senior leader, what comes with becoming a executive leader, not just in terms of the responsibilities, but all the benefits that you have, access to, all the great things that come along with it, how you can create change, not just for yourself, but for your community, for your family, through wealth, through influence, through power. So again, I know that this goes against what we've been taught, but sometimes what got us here won't get us the generational wealth that we're trying to create. Sometimes we have to be willing to do and be something different. So before I wrap up, let me just say one of the things that I have been able to do and have been blessed with is I have been able to achieve financial independence, which is other people if you've heard the term FIRE before you may have financial independence. Retire early is the acronym, and I was able to do that age 47, not because I had the most side hustles, but because I had the highest executive income At my executive level. I was taking eight weeks vacation every year, never answering emails after 6 pm, working 45 strategic hours instead of 80 scattered ones.

Speaker 1:

Executive income funded my soft life while building generational wealth, and it can do the same for you. So this week, what I want you to do is I want you to calculate how much time and energy you're spending on side hustles versus focusing on your primary career advancement. And if you are just having one role right now you're just working one job I still want you to calculate how much time and energy you're spending on that middle manager job that you have. I want you to ask yourself what would happen if I put the same energy into reaching the executive level that I put into all of the things that I'm doing right now. If you're ready to stop hustling your way to exhaustion and start building generational wealth through strategic executive positioning, then I want you to join me in my free webinar on July 26th at 10 am Eastern Standard Time. It's called From Invisible to Invincible, and I will be showing you the exact roadmap to executive compensation and executive leadership that builds real wealth.

Speaker 1:

Remember your energy, particularly as an introverted Black woman. It is finite, but your wealth building potential is infinite when you focus it strategically, stop scattering your hustle and start building your executive wealth. I'll talk to you next week and until then, keep leading your introvert way. That's a wrap for this episode of Leading Her Way. Thanks for tuning in. If you have thoughts, questions or ideas for future topics, connect and send me a message on LinkedIn and if you enjoyed today's episode, subscribe. And please take a minute to write a quick review on Apple Podcasts. Your review will help spread the word to other ambitious females so they know they're not alone and that this podcast is a community of support for all of us. Leading her way to the top, Remember your leadership is needed. Your leadership is powerful, so lead boldly Until next time.