Felecia Higgs Walker-Empowering Women For Financial Success

Felecia Higgs Walker, executive career and business coach, is the CEO and Founder of the Focus Group by Felecia LLC,  a real-world career coaching company highlighted in her BRAND NEW BOOK "Paid On Friday, Broke By Tuesday: The Pathway to Unstoppable Success". Rhonda and Felecia discuss the new book, Felecia's journey to becoming a passionate financial consultant and balancing motherhood and career. 

Transcript

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So we are recording now. And this morning was fun with the photo shoot who was at home. And I'm like, all right. So I'm going to ask like, what am I going to do in the kitchen, girls? Because I have to ask Minnaing. And they're like, no, you can make cookies. I'm like, I'm not doing that. Not rolling dough out to my head. That's not what we're doing. And I said, how about I make a smoothie? Because that is something that I do. So I got. fruit and stuff and and I feel like the colors would be pretty and I think that probably made it work so I say that because this is my love a good smoothie. I actually had one for breakfast this morning. So this morning I just went to like smoothie king and but I got one with extra protein powder and extra peanut butter, kale, bananas. So yeah, so it was really good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. well, next time. Okay, here we go. we go. Hi Felicia, welcome to the podcast. Hey Rhonda, how are you? I'm doing great. Thank you. I'm very happy. It's Friday, fri -yay, everybody out there. And I'm looking forward to the weekend. I'm going to go and see Bad Boys. I didn't realize it was in theaters already. Yeah, I'm trying to go check that out. All right. So, Felicia, you are incredible. I was so excited to have you on the podcast today. You have written a book. Before we get into that, let me just say Felicia is CEO of her own company. She's an author. She's written a book titled Paid on Friday, Broke by Tuesday, the Pathway to Unstoppable Success. I love that unstoppable success. I can't wait to get into that. And she's a financial consultant. And I think that's just like a modest way to express your financial consultant. You are a life changer and you care. You're an advocate. Like you don't just want person to come in and say, well, let me help you manage your finances. You're like, no, let me help you find the perfect job. Let me help you prep for that job. And so that's, that's like confidence building, you know, you're providing a little in the front end. So we're going to get into all of that. Very excited to explore that with you today. So first, my first question. So how did you get here? What events transpired in your life that led you to be an advocate for financial freedom? Because I know we, we all have a story and we want to hear your story. Wow. Wow. So it seems like it has been a long time, but it really hasn't been that long. So I have been a, I started out as a pharmaceutical sales representative. I was in that industry for 10 years. A layoff happened as layoffs happen. And I was forced to leave $115 ,000 salary behind. I took a job later. where there was a 60 % pay cut. So I went from $115 ,000 a year to basically $22 an hour. And once I started that job, they said to me, you can't even look for a promotion, apply for another job until you hit an 18 month milestone. What? So I thought, you know, it'll be okay. I can do this. 18 months, it'll be fine. It was not fine. So we're talking $22 an hour.$700 a week, roughly $40 ,000 a year. And I had three children to take care of. And so one day we were going to the grocery store. I was going to the store to buy all things for tacos. And it was a few days before payday. And I knew how much money I had in my account, $23. I was like, I can do this, tacos stretch. And so we get into Kroger, we get to the register. And my card was declined twice. And I'm like, why did my card decline? I knew how much money I had in the bank. And I looked at my account and one of the popular streaming services had hit my account in the middle of the day. And so at that moment, I was embarrassed. I was humiliated because this was happening in front of my children. And so that night, yeah, it was, it was tough. So that night I went home. I laid on my face and I said, God, you have to help me. You have to help me earn more money. You have to help me change my life. And so the next day I went to work and I went to work different. I started showing up early, staying late, talking to people, networking with people that I probably had no business networking with, but I needed, right? Like why, you know, I'm talking to presidents and they're probably thinking to themselves, why is this? Why are you talking to me? But Rhonda, when I tell you I had to change my life. there was no way I could remain in that $22 an hour position. Now, I know people have to do what they have to do, but for me, I come from something different. So I needed to change my life. So 18 months hit because, and because of all the things that I've done. Yeah. Yeah. a minute. So, you know, everybody $22 an hour. It's great if you're spending $5 an hour and you're keeping 17 or have a much that math of it, but you were coming from you had established a lifestyle around 115 a year. You depend on that. And so, okay, maybe we can we can drop $10, $15 ,000 and still kind of make some things happen. But to go from 115 to 40, that's like almost going to just poverty. Like overnight, overnight. So no, that's hard. Yeah, yeah. So I changed my life. I changed the way I did things at work. I earned my first promotion at 18 months. I doubled my salary at that point. I stayed in that position for about nine months. And I decided, you know what, let me get back to what I'm used to. Let me get back to this lifestyle that I was accustomed to. And I returned to the pharmaceutical industry at around 140, 150. So I tripled my salary within three years. And so that's where... That's how I ended up here because I put all of that in a course. I put all of that in a book because I knew what I was going through, how I was going through it. I knew it wasn't for me. It was for me to go through it so that I could teach other people how to do the same. So everything that I've done up to this point has been because I knew in the beginning that I would help other people with their process. So yeah. Awesome, awesome. So your book, so you're at your book now, Paid on Friday by Tuesday, The Pathway to Unstoppable Success. What are some things that you've put in this book? Right. So everything, everything that I did to earn my first promotion. So how I prepared for interviews, how much in advance I prepared for interviews. And let me tell you, when I knew that I had to walk away with that promotion in 18 months, I started preparing for my interviews at least eight to nine months in advance. And my coworkers around me were... or nine months in advance? You don't even know what the job is. Let's talk about this. Exactly. Exactly. So my coworkers were like, how are you preparing for a job? You can't even apply. I said, well, I knew that when that 18 months hit, I knew that I needed to be the person to walk away. Right. So all of those emails, all those add a girl emails, Hey Felicia, thank you for leading the meeting. Thank you for your contribution to the conversation. Thank you for leading this task. I created a folder on my computer and I called it my Adagirl folder and I started keeping up with my successes. I started keeping up if I started a, if there was a scenario where I had to figure a problem out, I would document how I figured that problem out from beginning to the end and then I would throw it into my success story, into my success folder. And so that's how I started. prepare for an interview. And those are the stories that are being used to prepare for the interview questions. So, yeah. You took ownership of your own success. You didn't leave it up to someone else to get you there. I think that's amazing. And you had a goal. You're like, all right, this is my goal. I got to wait eight hours, but I'm gonna make sure I'm ready. And so what do I need to do to prepare to be ready? And... I mean, I'm just kind of thinking, like feeling, feeling through this and it takes, it takes some energy to take the time to create the folder, push those emails, you know, in the folder. It takes even more time to sit down and reflect, okay, I solved this problem at work. Let me document it. Let me take the time to put it in there, but it pays off big time, which I'm sure you will, you will tell us about. Yeah. Putting in a little effort. on the front end you get big blocks on the end, on the back end. absolutely. And that's what I would say to anybody. Anytime you're starting anything new, anytime you're starting something where you're unfamiliar with, it's going to take time in the beginning to learn what you need to learn. You're going to have to put the energy into it in the beginning so that you can have a more relaxed outcome, right? So yeah. the energy in the beginning so you can have a more relaxed outcome. I'm repeating it. Good. yes, yes, yes. So yeah, so that was what I did. I started doing things that other people weren't doing. Started volunteering for committees, volunteering for meetings, volunteering for conferences so that I could gain more exposure. And so people could learn who is this chick, who is Felicia, right? And so then as I'm networking, Now my name is in rooms that I couldn't get in. So, yeah. Awesome. All right. All right, where do we want to go to next here? Okay, interview, interview prep. So let's say you're at the interview, you're ready, or at least you've gotten the job interview lined up. What are your top three tips to prepping for an interview or an interviewing? I know that's two different things, but you can combine them somehow. Yeah, so prepping for interview is very important. And I would say the first thing you want to do is you want to make sure that you're studying the company. You want to know what initiatives that company has on the table. You want to know what are they working on. You want to know if they started a recent initiative, how's it going? Are they meeting their goals? You want to be able to. Have that information so that when you get into an interview, it's more of a conversation more than an interview. And now you can ask them questions versus them just asking you questions, right? So you want to study the company. Once you land your job interview and you have a date, I use LinkedIn. Like I use it religiously. I would go, I would first follow the company that I'm about to interview with. And then I would seek out people who already work for the company. Once they accepted my connection, then I am reaching out to them asking for a few minutes on the phone so that I can ask them about the culture. What has been your experience with this company? What is the culture like? Are you satisfied with the company? Right? Because here's the thing. We apply for jobs and sometimes we don't. We think we want that job. We think we love that job until we talk to someone who's already been working there. So, you know, it could be that that company may not be for you, but it really does help to get some other people's opinions who are already working for the company. So I really love that. And then the last thing I would say is study yourself. Know what your strongest qualities are. Know what your weakest qualities are. Know what those things you need to work on. Right? Know, yeah, so you really want to know yourself because this is your time to shine. This is your time to brag on yourself because no one else is going to do it. So that's what I would say would be the three things. Know the company. Reach out to people who are already working there. And then lastly, study yourself. so that when you get into the room, you can sail yourself. Okay. Nice. Prepare, prepare, prepare. The more prepared, the more confident you are, the more you can have a conversation and get in your flow. the last minute. Yeah, don't wait till the last minute. If you know that you are about to start the journey of looking for a job, don't wait till the last minute. Don't wait until the interview date comes. Go ahead and start preparing now so that when the opportunity presents itself, you're ready. Stay ready so you don't have to get ready. Stay ready so you don't have to get ready. Awesome. Okay. So in the capacity of a financial consultant, can you tell us what you do? Right. So right now I am helping people to put life -changing life insurance policies in place. And when I say life -changing, I'm talking income replacement life insurance policies. So if you think about a two -income household, if something happened to one of those parents or one of those adults, if something happens to them today, The question is, can your family move forward financially without you tomorrow? And if that income goes away, how will your life change? And for someone who is dependent on two incomes, if one of those incomes go away, then your life is going to change drastically. Similar to me going from $115 ,000 to $22 an hour, the same way. agree. Right. And so the other thing that I do is I'm helping people with investing and trying to help people to create generational wealth. I have been talking about generational wealth and building wealth for years, but not really knowing how to build it. And so now I have acquired that knowledge and I'm teaching other people how to do it. I'm teaching people that you don't have to be wealthy to invest. Right. You don't have to be wealthy to invest. You just have to start. You have to start somewhere. And so, yeah, so I'm pretty excited to be able to educate my friends and my family and my community. And when I say my community, I'm not just talking my local, but globally, you know, as far as just how to start that process and how to change your life just, you know, with just starting. Yeah. So let's say, you know, I came to you and I, if my story was, look, I don't make, I make$60 ,000 a year. I'm spending $60 ,000 a year. How can I start my journey of wealth building? Let's say I'm renting, I don't own my own home. Mm -hmm. You know, but I'm single. I don't have any kids. So and what do you say to that person? Yeah, so to that person, I would say let's first evaluate how you're spending this 60. If you're making 60 and you have 60 going out, let's take a moment. Let's get it all out on paper and see where your money is going. to eat. No, let's sit and let's evaluate where you are, right? Let's evaluate where that money is going. Once we figure out where the money is going and we can see where the money is going, now let's see, is the money going where it needs to go, right? Is it going too many places that you should not be going, right? So it's a strong evaluation of where you are, where your money is going. where is the money going in the right direction and are there areas where we can cut, right? So because you can't save if you don't have anything to save. So we need to be able to evaluate your expenses, your monthly expenses, your weekly expenses, even your daily expenses. When you think about how many times are you going to Starbucks, right? How many times, right? So it really is evaluating where you are. And then once we are able to see, okay, this is where your money is going, where are some of those areas that can be cut? Because we have to find money for you to be able to save, right? We have to find that. And then it's a matter of looking at what are your goals? You know, someone who's making $60 ,000, and they're renting, they may not have a goal of owning a home, you know, within the next five years. But is it within your goals to own a home in the next 10 years? So then it's, okay, how do we get there? Right? Making sure that the money that you are saving, making sure that it's working for you, that you're not putting that money somewhere where it is just sitting and just hanging out. No, we need this money working hard for you. So it is about finding those products and services that can work for you, where your money can really grow for you and you can see progress. and want to do more within the next five or 10 years. So that's what I would say to someone is let's evaluate first. Where is this money going? Yeah. I have another question for you. So I know it sounds like as a financial consultant, you certainly help people build budgets. What about the person who's like, I hate budgeting. I don't like budgets. I don't like penny, like having to count every dollar. What types of tips do you give someone like that who wants to be able to, they don't mind some boundaries, but would like to have some freedom in spending? Yeah. So again, I think that goes back. I think, me too, right? I think that goes back to goal setting, right? Where do you see yourself in five years? Where do you see yourself in 10 years? And when I say yourself, I'm talking about your money, right? Where do you, what would you like to see yourself? Not just where you see yourself, but where would you like to see yourself, right? you. then let's look at where you are right now based on where you are right now. Are you going to be where you want to be in 10 years based on the savings that you have right now? Is your money going to grow enough where you're able to, I don't know, retire in 10 years or, you know, quit your, leave your job in 10 years. So it's a matter of comparing, looking at your goals, looking at where you are right now and really making a strong decision of based on where I am right now, is that really going to get me? to where I wanna be in 10 years? Do I need to be more aggressive in my savings? Do I need to diversify my money? Do I need to, you know, so it's those kind of questions. What do you wanna be able to do in 10 years, right? And based on what you want to be able to do is the trajectory that you're on right now, is it going to get you there? Yeah. no, I like that because you need a buy -in, right? You don't need to be holding in the wind, something that is important to you, because when we have something important to us, we can, we see that it's worth it, like these sacrifices that no longer become sacrifices. It's part of a fulfilling process, you know, because I'm going to come out good on the other end. So we skipped right into like the meat of our podcast, like talking about what you do and as a financial literacy advocate, and I'm gonna delete that because that's what I wanna call you, a financial consultant. But let's start a little bit at the beginning, because I wanna know how Felicia became Felicia. So where did you grow up? How'd you grow up? What's that like? And... that part of your journey a little bit. Yeah, so born and raised here in Memphis, Tennessee to a single mother and who did an amazing job, worked really hard. And I would say that just kind of going back to that financial piece, that's where my relationship with money started. She was a hard worker. She had to make things happen. And so I grew up the same way, not really saving, but just hustling, making things happen, right? And so it wasn't until later that my relationship with money changed. But that's neither here nor there. But raised by a single mom and when I actually went to college, I love to tell this story because when I went off to college, she registered for college and we graduated from college with our bachelor's one week apart from each other. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I love that story. but I'm a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where I earned both of my bachelor's and master's degree, degrees in social work. And I worked as a social worker for several years, at least 13 years before I moved into pharmaceutical sales and then now as an entrepreneur. I'm a single mom of three boys. My boys are 24, 22 and 17. I love them dearly. But what I love most is the relationship that I have with them now and we're able to have these same financial conversations and so now What I didn't have I'm able to give it to them I heard a statement the other day and the statement said You may not have come from a wealthy family, but your family can come from you but a wealthy family can come from you I was like, my goodness, right? Yeah. my goal. That is my goal. No, I didn't come from a wealthy family, but generations after me will. I will create that wealth for them. So yeah, yeah. you started talking about your, your mom and, how you grew up with a single mom and she had to hustle and you took on that same pattern of hustling. and then you kind of skated over it and kept going like there's nothing else. I was like, no, no, no, no, this is great because we can change. We don't have to live in patterns that were set before us. We have the power to change. our patterns and create the life that we want. And I think awareness that a pattern exists is one of the first steps. And, and then meeting someone like you, who gives you the tools and can coach you through how, how to do that to establish, you know, a future that you want for you and your families. No, that's fantastic. Yeah, and there's a level of uncomfortableness that comes with admitting that you have an issue, that you have a problem, right? That you've been in, you know, going down a certain path for the majority of your life. There's an uncomfortableness with that. But if you can get over the uncomfortableness and understand that by being different, you can do different, then you'll be okay. Yeah. You'll be okay. Yeah. No, that's great. Okay, so you majored in social work, right? I think, okay, so you always you love people, you love helping people, you love making people's lives better. Yeah. I was a young girl. I was like nine years old and a few of my family members had to deal with the court system and from a little girl I always wanted to help them but I was a little girl. I didn't know. So yes, I've always wanted to help people. I've always had a heart for people and compassion for people. So yeah. Yeah, because I'm guessing or like that shows up in all of the work that you do because on the podcast, we like to talk about pivots that we make in our lives and our careers and giving women permission to pivot, make these changes. So social work is something that you focused on in college. You graduated. What was your first job? Gosh, so I worked in a few mental health centers. I worked on inpatient hospital floors. And then I worked for Girls Incorporated for a while as an assistant director. So. Girls Inc. Shout out. out, yay. And then, so my next big job, I guess, was I was a school social worker for Memphis City Schools at the time. And I worked with teen moms, a grade 7 through 12th grade, girls who were already pregnant or already had children. And so my passion really grew for that population, because when you think about your children, when they graduated from high school, they were still children. Well, team up, right. Right, exactly, exactly. Exactly, exactly. I know. Yeah. And so that population, I found that when they graduate from college or from high school, they graduate as heads of households. That's stressful. That's stressful for me right now, you know? And so, so yeah, so that was my. my first job and it's really where my passion grew to help people and to make other people's lives better. Yeah. I love that. So that's completely, I won't say completely different from what you do now. You're helping people in a different way, but you moved from that into pharmaceutical sales at that point. So why did you make the leap? Because I made a big pivot from working in the city schools to becoming a lawyer. So you pivoted from this different world, like sales. yeah, yeah, yeah. So there it was, my family was growing and as your family grows, especially when they're little, things become a little bit more expensive. And I had a friend who was a manager for a pharmaceutical company. And one day we're at a birthday party and I'm like, Hey, when you gonna hire me? And he says, I actually have a position right now. I was like, and I had no idea. I was like, what, are you serious? And so, I just transferred my skills. I'm a people person and, organized and I'm always up to new challenges. And so. I got the job and I learned the job. I took the time to become the type of representative that I needed to become. And that's how that happened. And I loved it. just said so much there. You said, I transfer my skills. We just said, I have transferable skills. And then you listed your transferable skill set. And then, and then you told us, that you took the time to learn. So don't be afraid to try something new because you can learn it and don't think you have to know everything already before you do it. Like before you take that next. job or leave school. You talked for like, you said two sentences, you said so much in those two sentences. Yeah, but it's true. If they want you, they will hire you and they will train you on whatever they need for you to know. They will teach you. You just have to be committed to take it to the maximum level so that you can be the best wherever you are or wherever you go. Don't settle, right? Don't settle for what they teach you during orientation. No, take it a step further. Always be willing to go above and beyond. And that's been my mindset for years. Yes, love that. All right, one more topic and we already kind of talked about it a little bit. So you have three beautiful sons. You told us their ages. And just so everybody knows, so Felicia and I, I'm from Memphis. I moved to Chicago in 2010, but we met many years ago because our children went to the same school in... kindergarten, like pre -K, preschool through first grade, something like that. And I always thought she was awesome. She had these three beautiful black boys that she was raising and has done an amazing job with them. So what is it like raising three black men in America? Scary. Scary and proud at the same time. So with my last son, when I was pregnant with him, I thought it was going to be a girl and he was not a girl. And I cried on the table when they told me that he was another boy. I was like, no, you don't understand. But I call him, he is my little broke best friend right now. So I love him to death. My life would not be the same without him. But. I took it at that moment when I had him and I knew that was I wasn't gonna have any more children. I felt like God had given me the I guess the pleasure the honor of raising great men. So and I took it serious. I'm raising someone's father. I'm raising someone's husband someone's friend like that's me. And I take that very serious. And so I'm honored and proud to be their mom. We have a great relationship. They talk to me about more than they probably should, but we have a great relationship, right? Yeah, you're right. You shouldn't say that to me, you know, but yeah, but the scary part of it is although I have one who's away in college, Whenever they leave my house, I'm nervous. I'm nervous that there's a possibility that they may not return to me. And so it is about making sure that they're making the right decisions, that they are choosing their friends wisely, that they understand that it's very easy to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, right? And so making sure that they are thinking that through. where you go, what you do, how you do it. And so, yeah, but, you know, I trust God, I put them in his hands and I ask for protection over their lives every day. But yeah, so that's it. It's happy and sad and proud and all at the same time. yes, no, I love that. So how do you balance like building a career and making in the pivots that you've made with parenting? And I know there have been parts of your parenting, maybe that where you were single parenting because you have divorced. So what is that journey been like that balancing act and? yeah, yeah. it's okay to put your needs before your kids needs sometimes? Like how do you do that? You know what? When you talk about putting my needs before my kids, I decided that a long time ago when they were young, because my older two are two years apart, and then there's seven years between the oldest and the youngest. And as a young mom, it was overwhelming. And I knew at that point that if I don't take time for myself, If I don't take time to love myself, if I don't take time to ask for help with them, I am going to have nothing to give them. Because there were moments when I found I'm like, I'm overwhelmed. I'm fussing at them and there's no reason for me to fuss at them. I'm upset about another situation and I'm taking it out on them. And when I recognize that, I say, you know what? That's not the type of mom, the type of parent that I want to be. And so I asked for help from my mother, my mother -in -law at the time. And I started doing things like going to sit in Starbucks just to sit there and have a cup of coffee, or I would go walk around Target just to walk around, you know, just to bring sanity, just to find peace. Because I knew that in order for me to give them everything that they needed, I had to take time for me, right? So that started a long time ago. I'm not afraid to say, hey, peace out, I'll be back. Yeah. But to keep balance now is I communicate with them every step of the way. This is what's happening right now. And I'm always letting them know I'm okay, right? I may be a little sad, I may be a little this or whatever, but I'm okay, right? But I keep the communication lines open with them every step of the way. And I ask for their opinions because they are humans. I want to check in with them. How are you feeling? How do you feel about this? How do you feel about that? And I want them to know that I value their opinion because I do. And so I spend time with them. When it's time to be in the car and listen to rap music, I listen to the rap music, right? I don't judge, right? I don't judge them. I love them. exactly where they are. And they all are in different places in their lives, but I don't judge them. I don't hold anything over their heads. I treat them as individuals, you know. And so that's how I balance it with them, just keeping them in the loop. Even with my businesses, you know, we had a family meeting last week and the family meeting was this is where we are in business. This is the type of money that we have coming into our household. However, these are the expenses that we have in our household. These are the contracts that we have coming up. So things will change. So I keep them in the loop. We have family meetings. I ask, do you all have questions for me? Is there anything you're wondering about that maybe your friend said something about and you're not sure if they're telling the truth, right? Let me clear it up for you, right? So it's the communication, yeah. I love that. I love the family meetings. Honestly, I wish I had done that sooner for my children because I'm the bank for them. They don't really know how deep the banking is. You know, it would have helped, I think, them understand and set some boundaries if they had an understanding of the overall. Yeah. Right. Right. Yeah. well green household. Yeah. Yeah. No, I love that. I think I'm going to incorporate that into. Yeah. adult, they think they're grown, but there's still so much they don't know. And we have so much experience and so much wisdom to share with them. But I think if we allow them to voice their opinions and ask questions, then that changes the dynamic of the relationship. And they then begin to trust you and want your advice over their friends' advice. So, yeah. So this has been fantastic. I love it. You've already given us so many pivot pearls of wisdom, but what's a final pivot pearl of wisdom that you can leave us with? So this is my quote, it's my favorite quote and I say it all the time, I've given speeches around it. You deserve the life you desire. You can change that word desire to you deserve the life you're dreaming about. You deserve the life you see someone else having. You deserve the life you desire, but it's not going to fall in your lap. You have to go get it. Ooh, I love that. That's so great. Thank you so much for being on the podcast. I cannot wait for people to listen to this. This is going to be amazing. This has been... Yes. Talk to you later. Bye. Stop being...