Episode 315 Financial Literacy for All with Michelle Campbell (Part 1)

John talks with Michelle Campbell — serial entrepreneur with experience across real estate investing, horticulture (interior scaping), commercial trucking, and financial services, founder of  a social services non-profit organization, #Stability, author of Bluebird: A Memoir of Trauma, Heartbreak, and Divine Beauty in the Struggle, and a passionate advocate for helping people transform their relationship with money and build more stable lives.  Listen to this episode to learn more: [00:00] - Intro [00:48] - Michelle's bio [03:23] - Michelle's entrepreneur journey [05:50] - Getting into real estate [09:22] - What is financial literacy and why is it important? [13:31] - Financial problems can affect mental health [14:53] - Slowing down and being mindful [16:51] - How pain can transform your life [17:53] - Michelle's struggles with identity [20:11] - Overnight success that took 25 years [23:07] - How her struggles help her connect with others  [25:01] - Being real on social media and building trust [27:38] - The truism of pain [37:54] - Michelle's book Bluebird and its purpose  NOTABLE QUOTES: "Never dismiss anything that you've been through, any of the processes, the journey, any of it, because all of it adds up to what your purpose is ultimately meant to be." "We all need to humble ourselves, have that moment of honesty, and be courageous enough to face whatever it is we're going through." "Everybody needs a budget, whether you make $10,000 a year or $10 million or more, because you have to know what's coming in and what's going out." "A lot of people see our finished work, our finished picture, our finished success, but they don't know the journey. They don't see the failures, the moments we wanted to give up, or all the mess-ups along the way. They just see the end, and sometimes they become jealous." "You can be a more relatable person when you've been in someone else's shoes, and that's what truly connects us and builds compassion for others." "What I was going through was painful, but what was even more painful was keeping it all inside. No one knew what I was dealing with. I was presenting this image that everything was fine, no problems at all, but internally I was panicking. I was scared, anxious, and completely stressed out." "Mindfulness is huge. You need to sit with yourself, be in your own thoughts for a while, and really think things through. The answers will come to you, but not when you're in the middle of chaos." "We've all had something happen to us ... Everybody has been through something. Those experiences are what connect us, not just as a country, but as a world. None of us are perfect. So we need to have compassion for others and be open to sharing our stories to help someone else. That's the mindset we all need to have." USEFUL RESOURCES: https://bymichellecampbell.com/ https://bluebirdmemoir.com/ https://linktr.ee/bluebirdmemoir https://www.instagram.com/bymichellecampbell/ https://www.instagram.com/bluebirdmemoir/ https://hashtagstability.org/ https://www.taxshell.com/ Bluebird: A Memoir of Trauma, Heartbreak, and Divine Beauty in the Struggle (https://a.co/d/04SJIEqJ) CONNECT WITH JOHN Website - https://iamjohnhulen.com    LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhulen Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/johnhulen    Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/johnhulen    X - https://x.com/johnhulen    YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLX_NchE8lisC4NL2GciIWA    EPISODE CREDITS Intro and Outro music provided by Jeff Scheetz - https://jeffscheetz.com/