Making Good Money

I’ve been an avid goer to all the events NYC has to offer since moving here recently. I bumped into today’s guest, Victoria at two events, which, you know, feels like universal serendipity in a huge city.Victoria runs a bunch of hyperlocal ventures and initiatives around planning and historic preservation issues across Red Hook, Brooklyn. And she sustains herself by running a real estate company, Realty Collective. It feels like ethics and real estate do not belong in the same sentence but that’s why I wanted to interview Victoria! In a world of huge real estate conglomerates like Compass, how does one operate a small, local, community-connected business?Resilient Red HookRealty CollectiveHosted by Elina Ashimbayeva - follow me on my adventures with money and impact on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ and InstagramMusic by ⁠Mark Michele⁠Edited by ⁠Jemilah Ross-Hayes

I met Liv in 2023 when we both came to NYC for a 6-week summer acting school. Years later, we reconnected, and I learned Liv is living this beautiful double (triple?) life. She's pursuing acting (I went to see her in this amazing Lesbian Bigfoot play, yes you heard that right). She's working a day job. And she's organizing to make the 72-unit apartment building where she lives in Jersey City rent-controlled — which means suing her landlords.We talked about what that process actually looks like, what it costs, how she supports herself through it all, and how she holds these three lives together. We disagree, we agree, we laugh — I feel like I got to know Liv better through recording this, so hope you enjoy a little sneak into our friendship!Find Liv's GoFundMe here and her IG hereHosted by Elina Ashimbayeva - follow me on my adventures with money and impact on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ and InstagramMusic by ⁠Mark Michele⁠Edited by ⁠Jemilah Ross-Hayes

Thomas has been running Equal Entry, an accessibility consulting company, for 12 years. Twelve years of helping organizations make their apps and websites usable for the billion-plus people worldwide who experience disability. No big exit, no venture funding, no hockey stick growth - just a small team doing essential work that most of tech still ignores. (Fun fact: only 40% of the top 100 websites are actually accessible.)I met Thomas at his accessibility meetup in NYC, and then we went to a Heated Rivalry spin class together 😛 because that's how friendships start on this podcast. We got into the real stuff: how he runs the business, what it actually earns, how much he pays himself, and what 'contribution' means when your work matters but the market doesn't always reward it.Find Thomas's work here:a11y NYC meet up Equal EntryThomas Logan LinkedIn profile Hosted by Elina Ashimbayeva - message me on LinkedIn or check out Making Good Money on InstagramMusic by Mark MicheleEdited by Ethan Alderson-Hughes

Baby I’m back!My name is Elina Ashimbayeva and this is Making Good Money.A podcast for people who run or want to run projects, organizations that are good for people and the planet AND who hate talking about money.We have so much great content where people break down how they built their businesses, what playbooks they use, how to make sales, marketing tips, growing your wealth.But what about us, artists, socially conscious entrepreneurs, activists, non-profits, usually broke, usually uncomfortable about money & the idea of business?I want to see how people build wealth for liberation. To quote Simone Grace Seol and Joey Liu: “We can’t do land back and healthcare for all on thoughts and prayers”.After running my Storyo platform for 5 years, where I interviewed over 200 people every day in New Zealand. Where the mission was always to share openly and vulnerably!Not thought leadership but personal experiences and learning together.This series is no different. I want to have transparent conversations with people who run tech for good projects, educational blogs, sex therapists, local grocers, artists and ask them all the vulnerable questions:How do you make money?What goes into running your business? Marketing? Sales?What values do you hold and where do they get shakyHow do we build wealth, not to become rich but to sustain ourselves and people around us?So if you are running or want to run your own project, organization that is value-led, mission-driven, tries to create good for the world AND you are like “how the heck do I and others navigate money conversations - join in!