The Wealth Strategist Who Says Stop Betting On An Exit with Amelia Misenheimer

Amelia: [00:00:00] at the end of the day, your inheritance that you leave for your heirs that you privately have is your personal wealth. It's not your business. Your business can give you a paycheck, but I think 30% of all businesses actually sell. if you're counting on getting a big paycheck from selling your business in 10, 15 years, like, odds are not in your favor.
Amelia: And I hate telling people that, but that I'm like, "It's not in your favor."
Intro - Outro: You're listening to the Seven Figure Leap podcast. We're here to leverage rich relationships and smart strategies to take your business to the next level. Here's your host, Dustin
Dustin: Riechmann. As entrepreneurs, how should we be thinking about building wealth? I think this is a topic that doesn't get talked about enough.
Dustin: As someone who's been sort of a personal finance nerd for years, I feel like I sort of in the [00:01:00] shadows study these things, and I follow a lot of people on this topic. And I was really blessed, somewhat recently, to meet our guest today, Amelia Meisenheimer. We met through Rich Relationships, which is Selena Soo's, community, and she was doing a mini training in there on this very topic, specifically wealth building for entrepreneurs.
Dustin: And as we had a follow-up conversation, like this needs to be on the podcast. So I'm, I'm really excited to have this conversation with Amelia and let you all listen in, so you can th- think more strategically about money and wealth building, and really how to maximize the personal fulfillment and peace that you have from all this work that you do in your business.
Dustin: So Amelia, thank you so much for being here. Welcome, and I'm gonna give the mic over to you and just let you introduce yourself and give a little context for people so they know where you're coming from.
Amelia: Thanks, Dustin. I, I'm excited to be here. when I, in 2021, I got married. I found myself on the other side of the world living in England, married to a military guy, and I went from being like boss babe in my business to being a [00:02:00] dependent, and that was for me like a huge rude awakening.
Amelia: And I really had, obviously took some time kind of transitioning from, I was, ran my own companies. I had my own property management firm, my own real estate brokerage, had dozens of realtors working for me. We managed over 450 properties, s- pro- single family, multi-family properties. And then getting married, relocating, and just being, like, dependent.
Amelia: It's really hard to get a visa. It's really hard to get a job over there. I was like, "Oh my gosh, what have I done?" And-
Dustin: Well,
Amelia: is it worth
Dustin: it? You know- I guess we'll bury the lead here, so.
Amelia: in the long run it was worth it. I think it took, it took me a few minutes to get there, but I, I got there.
Amelia: And, I think having that transition and really reflecting on, like, what in the world did I do, as things started to shake out, I really realized that the investments that I had built up over my years in business really allowed me and gave me that flexibility to navigate this transition. And I [00:03:00] was so thankful that I had those assets built up, and they were, my personal assets.
Amelia: I sold the business assets went with the business, so it was like what did I have that allowed me to navigate that transition? And when I started thinking about it and talking to other entrepreneurs, I realized how few entrepreneurs, because so much of our business is our life, and, we work in it, and it's a very nebulous thing, which is, can be great, too.
Amelia: But, at the end of the day, your inheritance that you leave for your heirs that you privately have is your personal wealth. It's not your business. Your business can give you a paycheck, but I think 30% of all businesses actually sell. if you, if you're counting on getting a big paycheck from selling your business in 10, 15 years, like, odds are not in your favor.
Amelia: And I hate telling people that, but that I'm like, "It's not in your favor."
Dustin: Yeah. So that's interesting. So you had this inflection point, about five years ago when you got married, found yourself on the other side of the world, this whole different, lifestyle where you're, traveling to different duty stations and married to, a [00:04:00] military, service person.
Dustin: And so thank you for your sacrifice as the military spouse. We have a, a lot of, a lot of that in our family, and I think a lot of times the families and the spouses sort of get left out of the, the appreciation there, and I know that's a huge sacrifice. And for you, it was also a big turning point in sort of how you viewed your own identity in some ways with your career, your professionalism, and money and wealth, and that's really interesting.
Dustin: So if we just back up just a little bit, were you always an entrepreneur? Like, how'd you get into real estate? Where'd the property management function come in? And then, of course, we'll kind of go from there forward for most of the interview today. But I'd love to hear a little bit more about how you accumulated that, business and the, those assets,before you met your husband and got married.
Amelia: part of that was born into it. So my parents actually ran a manufactured housing, retail center, so we sold mobile homes is how I grew up. and then-
Dustin: I grew up in a mobile home, so we were,one of your customers, so
Amelia: And that's the thing, too. Affordable housing is a huge key term in [00:05:00] life, right?
Amelia: And everybody, especially with the price of housing these days, like, it's always, like, an interesting dynamic of how real estate and the housing sector comes, because people need shelter. At the end of the day, everybody needs shelter. And so, growing up in a... I was cleaning rent houses out at 14 years old.
Amelia: I mean, I remember one time, I was probably seven or eight, my parents, my, I was with my mom. We went to go collect rent in December, and we knocked on this door and there's, there's just toys littered everywhere all over this yard. And they're behind on the rent, and my mom's in there, like, "You gotta pay rent or get out."
Amelia: And the mom's like, "It's Christmas. You can't." My mom's like, "Yeah, that's how this works." And the kid actually gave up hi- his go-kart in lieu of rent for the month so that they could stay in their home for Christmas, and that was how we got our first go-kart, us kids. Which, I saw all of this play out, and it was just traumatic.
Amelia: And my parents were always very open with us and, even like my mom, I remember her saying like, "That kid's smarter than his mother," of willing... she's out there spending all the money buying [00:06:00] Christmas gifts, and the kid's like, "I just want my home. I just wanna stay here for Christmas."
Amelia: So really growing up enmeshed in the business world. I remember sitting at the dinner table having conversations about interest rates and CDs. We talked about, lawsuits and problems with employees. We talked about when, theft happened. Like, so we were just always exposed to it.
Amelia: growing up, our fun for car rides was role-playing, like how to answer phones, 'cause I really wanted to start answering the phones at the office. So we didn't sing in the car. We like role-played customer call scenarios. And so it was just part of life. So then my parents started investing in real estate.
Amelia: When they started seeing, like my aunt and uncle started investing in real estate, so my parents were like, "Okay, that's working for them, like, let's start." So then I s- grew up in it. And so when I was in college is really when I made my first re- real estate investment, I guess just shortly after college of buying my first rental property and starting that investment.
Amelia: Because I s- I realized, time and all of this take pays off. And that's the hardest [00:07:00] thing about all of this stuff, especially with real estate and in, in any investment. People are like, "Oh, compound interest and all..." Yes, it's great, but you need to have it over time. And I think that's an easy part of this equation that people forget.
Amelia: it's just you gotta start. And it doesn't have to be sexy, it doesn't have to be big, it doesn't have to be like any of these fancy things. You just gotta start and give yourself as much time as possible. So kinda seeing all of this stuff ravel and unravel, And I don't know if you know this, Dustin, I was previously married, so I had a lot of these rental properties in my first marriage, like before my first marriage.
Amelia: So when I got married and then divorced, a big thing that I kept separate was these rental properties. They were always in my name. He s- when... Part of our divorce decree was he had to sign a quitclaim deed to make sure he never came back after any claim of these properties. So these investments that I made starting in like 2010 over the years have not only served me, they served me in this divorce, allowing me the f- financial freedom to essentially pay off my ex-husband, but also [00:08:00] gave me the freedom to navigate this water then, a decade later as I'm transitioning into this military life.
Amelia: So they're the assets that just keep on giving. They're great, I tell you
Dustin: So that's really interesting. I'm, I'm glad I went there. So you, you were born into entrepreneurship and real estate and, all the craziness that entails, and it... But what I think is really interesting about the way you share that is while you saw some of the dark sides, the difficult sides, the traumatic sides, it sounds like you liked it, right?
Dustin: Like, you were, you were attracted to it. It wasn't like it was forced upon you and like, "This is your life's decree. You're in this family. This is what we do." Like, you also chose it, and you chose it even coming out of college and starting around like 2010. You started independently b- started investing yourself, grew your own portfolio.
Dustin: Sounds like you grew a property management company, through the divorce and into your, your new, your new marriage here,five years ago. So Where does that experience intersect with [00:09:00] your sort of call or desire to serve entrepreneurs? Like entrepreneurs, 'cause,as we're gonna get into as we start talking about more like your methods and how you actually help entrepreneurs today, the way I understand it, maybe correct me if I'm wrong, is you love to find an entrepreneur, they've got a, a good business, they're making cash flow, but they're so, like, living day to day in that business, they don't see the long term, they don't know how to, prepare themselves for that.
Dustin: yeah, in your words, why entrepreneurs and why, like, kind of wealth building as your specialty in this chapter that we're, we're finding you in today?
Amelia: Yeah. So, I, I have so much experience in real estate, and so after I started doing, like, the online courses, like how to buy a rental property, h- how to analyze a deal, and that was fine.
Dustin: So you started your own business with that, like, real estate education? Okay.
Amelia: Yeah, that was kinda my transition after that I was doing from England, because I'm like, "I gotta... How do I share all of this decade worth of hard-earned wisdom?" And some of the lessons were very hard. I'm like, "Somebody should benefit from this."
Amelia: I kinda moved into the course, and I'm like, "This isn't the whole conversation." I truly believe real estate is a [00:10:00] huge piece of wealth building, but it's not the only piece. So when I start working with entrepreneurs, because they're such... They're kind of a forgotten industry, if you will, especially, like, service industries like contractors or, hairdressers or electricians or all these people that we use all the time in our lives, and they're so busy plugging away at what they're doing, answering phone calls, scheduling appointments, doing work.
Amelia: Like, they're so focused on these step-by-step things that they forget nobody's matching their 401contributions. Nobody's piecing this stuff together. And when you're so busy in business, it's hard. Like, "Okay, I need to buy another investment property," or I need to... like, "How do I, how do I even start talking to the bank to get a loan?"
Amelia: Right? It's just another kinda albatross task on their shoulders to do. One more thing to do in all the never-ending lists of things to do. So helping entrepreneurs and business owners, like, really kind of zone in on that, [00:11:00] verifying the importance of it, right, of starting now, like, doing some of these small steps.
Amelia: And things like getting a loan or setting up a line of credit, like, these things pay off maybe not today, but the goal, anytime with money, you're better off securing it when you don't need it so then it's available when you do need it. it's going through the framework and getting that. But as a entrepreneur, there's a lot of games to be played with business, and I enjoy the games.
Amelia: And I don't, I don't like paying any more in taxes than I have to. So some of these decisions are how can we do this in a way that's not only gonna move investments from your busin- your revenue from your business into your personal wealth, but also how do we save money on taxes too? Because that's the other side of this.
Amelia: And they don't, they don't teach this. And, I guess I'm a business major, but I didn't take, I didn't take tax strategy classes or anything, right? Like, they tell you to go to your CPA, but your CPA typically records after the fact. It's really hard to find a strategic CPA who does [00:12:00] tax planning and optimization and all of these things.
Amelia: if you then, "Okay, well, I'm gonna go talk to my financial planner," well, they don't talk to each other either. So, your financial planner's like, "Great, let's invest in these stocks," but they don't take into consideration the tax consequences or tax opt- And like, nobody talks to each other. And you're like, so now you're running a business and trying to figure all this out on your own.
Dustin: Yep.
Amelia: And that's when like-
Dustin: That's where you come in, right?
Amelia: Yeah. So- 'Cause like, this is a lonely spot to be.
Dustin: It is. So, that, that's really helpful. So, you grew up in entrepreneurship, then you had this, lengthy chapter of entrepreneurship in the real estate space, and then whenever your, circumstances changed, you got into online business, and you started to be exposed to what courses and coaching and what people do there.
Dustin: And then it sounds like you also have a passion for sort of the blue collar service-based businesses, where it's just a grind, and they're in the day-to-day. and so maybe let's talk about, this is kind of where you opened actually in talking about, This, I don't know, disconnect, between, like, bus- like, short-term thinking, long-term thinking.
Dustin: maybe we can just start to name some of the mistakes. So a lot of [00:13:00] people listening to this podcast are, they could be service-based business owners, but a lot of them are online-based businesses. and, one of the mistakes I guess we could start with is what you opened with, which is they're putting all their eggs in, "Well, I'll sell this business someday, and then I'll have wealth.
Dustin: But for now, I'm just focused on making cash flow, and making payroll, and making the day-to-day work." so maybe we can start there, and if there's any other just mistakes people make in, business owners make in how they think about or act on wealth building. Like, let's start there, and then we can start to talk about, like, how to correct those mistakes and be more effective.
Amelia: One of the biggest things that I don't think gets talked about in the online business space is there's no assets. you think back to, like, your plumber's building. The plumber had a storefront. The plumber has, inventory. The plumber has trucks. The plumber has, like, whatever. And in a lot of cases, when the plumber goes to shut down their business and sell, they're not actually selling their plumbing business.
Amelia: They're selling the real estate that they've been on for 15 years that have all this,appreciation in it. Now it's the middle of town and [00:14:00] somebody wants it for this hot new thing. And when you're in the online spaces, you can have all of... You have no assets, but then you also have no write-offs, right?
Amelia: Like, you can only write off your laptop so much. Like, when you have a physical building, you've got depreciation, you've got, you just have repairs. You got a lot of different things that is so much more limited when you're in the online space. And I don't think people fully appreciate.
Amelia: They're like, "Oh, it's... I don't have rent to pay. I don't have this. I don't have..." Which is true. That's great. It's a lot lower. it is a big commitment to go pay rent, and have a storefront, and, all of those things. But those things build up so much of the wealth of a business. So when you're talking about an online business, like, you've got an email list, and you've got your laptop.
Amelia: you've got very few items that would actually sell if you wanted to sell, and then even then it's a unique buyer. So I think that is one of the biggest parts of the conversation that gets left out of just the intrinsic differences of online versus, like, a brick-and-mortar business. But then everybody's like, "Oh, I'm gonna hire the next coach to help me [00:15:00] improve," or, "I'm gonna invest in the next software.
Amelia: I'm gonna do this," which is great. Like, there is an importance of growth and helping train yourself for that next level, but who is matching your 401? you're not making those 401contribution, and nobody's matching it. So then it's these little things. they don't have to be big things, You don't have to Do 30% tax, matches and contributions and all that. But it's how do you create systems and habits that allow you to invest strategically over the years, because again, that timing that allows you, 'cause as a business you can write off those contributions into the, your solo 401or SEP IRA or, any of those things, simple IRA, like there's so many different tools out there, right?
Amelia: So you, the business gets to write that off. That money is going into your personal that then is an asset for your children or your college kids or, whatever the case is. So these little things really add up over the years. you could hire your kids into your business and get some money out that way.
Amelia: Like, there's just [00:16:00] some little simple things that reduce your tax exposure, get money into the personal side of the world that online entre- entre- online entrepreneurs, again, you have to take the effort. You have to go set up these accounts. You have to, go through the motions of doing this correctly so that way...
Amelia: And so many people like ask their CPA and their CPA's not supportive, or they're like, "No, that's too, sketchy," if you will. Or, they're like, "No, this is just how it's done."
Dustin: Yeah, most CPAs first and foremost, role and responsibility is to not get you in trouble, right? And, and so they're really conservative.
Dustin: Most of them work in very traditional settings. They're mostly focused on personal tax returns. And so it's very different to have a strategic CPA who understands what all is possible to you as a business owner and thinking long-term and strategic about all the different games,and legal, but like legal games to be played with this.
Dustin: Yeah.
Amelia: Legal, but I mean, and I tell people, I'm like, "There's one tax code." Trump doesn't pay, play by a different tax game than we do. He just [00:17:00] has a many different coaches that give him the tools and play differently than we do, right? Like there's one tax code. We all have access to the same tax code, and it's just a matter of how you play the game, is how my basketball brain works apparently.
Dustin: I was writing some of the, these big mistakes down. So, banking on an exit, I think is kind of the opening one, right? Like as, so lack of diversification because you're- depending on the business itself to sell for some big number in the future to represent your retirement and, inheritance. So that's one.
Dustin: Two, not realizing that, especially with an online business, you're not necessarily building assets in the business, which ties to number one, right? That would allow you to exit, or it has intrinsic value or something to borrow against, et cetera. So lack of assets. Three, all things taxes, right? Like tax, write-off strategy.
Dustin: but we'll just call it taxes, like business tax, strategy. And then four, I wrote like [00:18:00] personal assets, personal investments, the idea of pulling cash from business to the personal side because no one's doing that for you, right? Unlike with an employer where maybe that's happening automatically or by default.
Dustin: So it sounds like there's a mix of these mistakes and opportunities in the business, and there's also in the personal side, and that's one of the th- ma- things that makes entrepreneurship, such a unique challenge is some, some of the things you shared about your own childhood is this human is both. I, I like own the business, and I have the personal stuff, and no one is looking, generally, at both sides of that reality in that these things, not only have separate strategies associated with them, but they also tie together, right?
Dustin: so anything else about sort of mistakes that we've left out and before we move into more like your wealth flywheel and talking about how to actually take action to make this better f- for our listeners?
Amelia: No, I, I mean, I think that covers the overall mistakes of it. I think what's hard too is that there's just, like there is so much information out there, and [00:19:00] there is no right answer.
Amelia: All of it is what do you want? Like what works for you as a business owner and what works for you as a homet- as a human? Because- You have, like, it's easy to point the finger and be like, "These are all your problems," but there is no one-size-fits-all solution. And that's, I think, a problem in itself, is that then you're like, "Great, what do I do?"
Amelia: Like, "What's the answer here?" And everyone's like, "Well, it could be this or it could be that." And you're like, "Cool, thank you so much for your help."
Dustin: Or everyone's got their own version of what they like. "Oh, I love real estate," or, "Oh, you have to, you have to invest in crypto," or, "You have to have this," "Everyone should be doing index funds and doing s- standard, investments, dollar cost averaging."
Dustin: But like, and the list goes on for infinite, right? And it changes all the time because everyone's got the pet- the pet of the day. so that's a really important distinction before you maybe start talking about your approach and potential solutions is letting our listeners sit with this really uncomfortable question that everyone [00:20:00] tries to avoid, which is, what do you want?
Dustin: Like, what do you want? what does winning look like for you, right? And so, like, in the work that you do in consulting business owners around wealth building, is- is that sort of where you start, is helping them get clarity on that question?
Amelia: Yeah. So, and a lot of it's, like, easy to say, "Okay, in three years I want to double my net worth," or, "I want to own five rental properties," or, like, right there, some of these, like, I'll say low-hanging fruit, easy answers, right?
Amelia: And we can all spout this out. And then it does, it does picture into that long-term, bigger vision. Like, I, in 20 years I want to be on the beach and not have to answer my phone, or, I- I want to still be working, I don't want to be working. Like, all of those things are bigger. And I think we need to all have a direction to go, but I think we also need to leave space that, like, that vision can change, and that vision will probably change, where, you could have more kids than you were expecting, or you could have health issues that you were not expecting, or, there's just different things- And marry a
Dustin: military guy and
Amelia: end up moving Marry a military guy and move every three [00:21:00] years.
Amelia: Like, there's that. so having that goal, I think, is important, but realizing it's not, the end-all, be-all, and there's probably gonna be some things that come up. And I- I try to approach those investing conversations with that. Like, how do we build this ecosystem for you that's easy and attainable for you to continue contributing to, but also is flexible with your life?
Amelia: And so, like, I had a call with a client the other day. She's like, "I am b- I am buying real estate all in my local area, and I like it here." And I'm like, "Great," you're comfortable with the area, you know the system, you know the people, you know the community. Like, great, you don't have to go chase out-of-state investment deals and, like, all these other fancy things.
Amelia: Like, you like what you're doing and it's working. Stick with it. Like, let's optimize that. And I think, especially with everything you see on Instagram or the reels or, all the experts like, "Oh, you gotta do this." I'm like, "No, you don't. You don't have to do any of it." And I think having... So I call it the wealth flywheel.
Amelia: the three parts of it are your vision, your strategy, and your building, [00:22:00] the implementation of it. So having that vision allows you to kind of plot a path. Like, okay, I wanna invest in rentals. I wanna start buying one property a year for the next 10 years, whatever it is. It gives you that goal to work towards.
Amelia: And then the strategy, okay, what does buying one property a year look like? Like, where's that money coming from? How's that plan look? Or, is it contributing to your IRA and maxing out your solo 401? Like, right, there could be anything it is. And then implement, you gotta set it up. Like, let's start those recurring transactions.
Amelia: Let's go to the bank and get that loan, right? There's all of these steps. But I think anything, and whether you're talking about tax planning, and I'm gonna counter, I'm gonna sorta argue with myself here, but, like, all of these things take money, right? And like, and especially if you have, if you wanna play the tax games, like great, if contribute $10,000 to your ro- to your traditional IRA, it's gonna reduce your taxable income.
Amelia: Well, that's wonderful advice if I have $10,000 sitting around. Like, there's a lot of business advice out there, then you're like, "Well, I would, yeah, I would love to do that if I had the [00:23:00] cash sitting there." And so I think that is an important piece of the conversation also is, like, how do you plan for this?
Amelia: Because to make those moves takes the cash planning. Whether you wanna buy a piece of equipment or contribute to a 401or whatever it is, it takes the cash. And so making sure all of these pieces are kind of being built up, whether it's I'm gonna savings account or I'm gonna start with only $100 a month contribution or, whatever the case is, to kind of build that realm to allow you to have the flexibility to make those moves.
Dustin: Yeah. That's really good because I mean, I think everything you're sharing is true of, all modern Americans at least, as far as like tax planning and investing for the future. But I think this huge variable that you touched on there specific to entrepreneurs is you have this whole different opportunity cost of investing in the business.
Dustin: It's like, do I take the 10,000, save money on taxes this year and put that in so I can have it for retirement in 30 years? Or do I join that coaching program or [00:24:00] go to that mastermind or buy the... or, employ this team member or maybe buy that building, right? And look at what the long-term implications of that are for taxes and things like that.
Dustin: and I think that's... I mean, one thing I'm hearing in your description is all of this is pretty individual. Like it's all pretty, dependent on what this person wants, what stage of life and business they're in, how much free cash flow they even have in the business, what tax strategies are available to them, family structure.
Dustin: there's lots of, lots of variables. And so The general flywheel is true of all. It's like setting a vision that works for you, that you're excited about, having a strategy that is easy, flexible, and that you can, that you're, enthused to follow and that you're not questioning, right?
Dustin: And then the, the part where a lot of people then fall short is the execution or the, the building of that plan in a way that's sounds like kinda automated and sort of keeps you ha- from having to make that decision over and over again, right? so yeah. So like tell [00:25:00] me about your business and how you help people with this.
Dustin: Is it one-on-one? Is it, do you... Is it like a I work with you for 30 days or it's like I'm your lifelong partner? like are you doing the taxes or do you like hook them up with a, a CPA? Like, just give, give me kind of a, a feel for how you help entrepreneurs answer the, all these myriad of questions that come up when you open this can of worms.
Amelia: Yeah. So I primarily work with people one-on-one because this is a deeply personal process, right? There is no one size. It's a lot of conversations, a lot of conversations if you've got business partners or spouses, making sure that everybody's got the same goals, 'cause that's always unique, too.
Amelia: When one partner says something and the other partner's on another page and you're like, "Oh- Yeah, you talked about
Dustin: that. All the,
Amelia: the people involved ... oh, okay." so pr- primarily one-on-one. I typically start with building out the wealth flywheel fl- flywheel plan, which is how does this plan look like.
Amelia: So, that's usually a three-hour process. We get together, talk about your plans, your goals, discussions. I build out this plan, and it's your plan. You can take it to your CPA, take it to your CFP. Like, it's your [00:26:00] plan. You can take it with you however you want. And if you want help implementing this, so that's, okay, like let's go open these accounts.
Amelia: I w- we need to have this conversation with my accountant. I will attend meetings with your accountant, your lawyer, all of those things. I am not... I am a licensed realtor. That is the only license I have. So, I don't manage money for anybody. I don't have tax advice. I don't have legal advice.
Amelia: all of my CYA, like I don't do. But I'm more of like your quarterback. Like, how can... Nobody in, being in business, especially if you're an entrepreneur, it's lonely. You're the only one, right? And you might have some co-working or networks to bounce ideas off of or whatnot, but it's really... Even when I was a business owner in my property management business, I'm like, I remember thinking, there's lawsuits going on and property manage- property management's the most litigious industry.
Amelia: So there's always, you're dealing with people's money and shelter. Like, you do not get two more passionate subjects. And I just remember being, feeling so alone. I'm like nobody has my back. It's only me. And I remember how tough that was [00:27:00] and to get through, and thankfully, I had my parents that have been through business and have been through.
Amelia: My mom's like, "Yeah, it does suck, doesn't it?" I'm like, "Thanks, Mom. You're so supportive. I appreciate that." Yeah, right? See what I did for 30 years? so really offering people that support too of saying, "I don't care. Like, I am investment agnostic. If you wanna invest in racehorses and art, like, let's do it.
Amelia: Just know what you're investing in and what the plan is." So, and that's where I really try to support people is imple- we do the plan, and then we can implement. And I can help you implement. If you wanna implement on your own, that's great. But, having somebody that you can call up and be like, "Amelia, I've got this idea," or, "This is what I'm thinking.
Amelia: Can you help me bounce ideas off of..." be devil's advocate or whatnot. A unique skill I have in life, and I don't know if I like to call it a skill, but I do, is I hear all the time, "I've never been asked that before. I've never seen this before. I've never..." And I don't know. it's my thinking.
Amelia: I think it's perfectly logical and normal, and not everybody does, I'm learning. So sometimes though it's really nice to have a person, like, ask you these out-of-the-box [00:28:00] questions. They're like, "Have you ever thought of this?" Or, "What about if we did it like this and added this to it? Then we could do both of them."
Amelia: Or right, and it's sometimes when you're facing the problem, you've got, you've got a line of problems, and then you're trying to deal with this one problem. Like, you just almost don't even have the capacity to think creative, to get, different ideas and to approach it from a different angle.
Amelia: So having that fresh perspective that has your back. It's not like, I flat fee, you pay me a flat. I, like I, again, you can do what you want with your money as long as you're, it aligns with your values and goals and your risk tolerances, and I will support you off a cliff if you want, but, hopefully not.
Dustin: I love that. Yeah. y- you're really a strategic advisor, right? to entrepreneurs about wealth, and you intentionally, and I think to- your benefit and your client's benefit, have no vested interest in their choices other than, like, your care for them. You know what I mean? So like a true fiduciary in the sense that, like, I want you to have the best outcome.
Dustin: I'm here to ask you hard questions, let you ask me questions about my own [00:29:00] experience. I'll make referrals where I can to people that could be better specific advisors in these areas. but it sounds like you're also an accountability partner when people choose to work with you beyond the initial, wealth flywheel plan phase, right?
Dustin: Is that, is that a big part of it, is just, like, check-ins, holding people accountable, talking them off the cliff when they're like, "I think all this was a horrible idea. I'm just gonna burn it all down"?
Amelia: Yeah. 'cause a lot of this stuff, because it is so personal, you have to do. there's only so much I can help you with of, like, opening a retirement account.
Amelia: like I can't help you with your taxes. I don't know where you kept your 1099. like, but there is even co-working. I'm like, "Let's get on here and, like, just for an hour, let's work on this and get all this set up, and then we're gonna do this." Like I'm- I had a client, we opened... She took back her, her retirement account was being managed, and she was very unhappy with it.
Amelia: And I'm like, "You can do this yourself." She's like, "Well, I'd like to, but I don't know how." I'm like, "I promise you it's not that hard," And so together we walked through it, and I just remember her joy the first time she sold a dud account. And she had stocks that, it was like a bond [00:30:00] account losing money.
Amelia: I'm like, "This is not the time to have bonds." and she's like, "I sold that." And I was like, "Yes, you did." She's like, "Ah." And then we went and bought a stock. She, "I bought a stock." I'm like, "Yes!" like- You go,
Dustin: girl. Yeah.
Amelia: Especially, like, as women, we're not taught this especially. Like, I work with men and women, and I appreciate the differences but, with women, we're not seasoned to call each other and be like, "Oh my God, you hear Bitcoin's at an all-new low?
Amelia: You should go buy Bitcoin." Like, that's not what I call my girlfriends on, But I will have that conversation with men, which is funny, 'cause I will have that conversation with, like, with my brother. And I'm like, why don't, especially we as women, have those conversations with each other? And I catch myself, So it's just interesting how we're trained differently in life to have these conversations and to think about these things.
Dustin: Yeah. Well, it's really cool. it's a unique model because, yeah, most of the people who touch wealth, have some vested interest. Like they're a, they're the certified financial planner, or they're a family office director, or they're the tax strategist, or they run a mastermind that they want you to be a part of to get the inside scoop and all that.
Dustin: I really like [00:31:00] that you have a heart of a teacher and an advisor. You've lived this life, right? Let's say you're also coming at it with some, some real lived experience. but you're also not purporting to be the world's best expert at tax strategy or this or this or this. You're the, you're the glue for an individual that...
Dustin: So they don't have to know enough about all that. enough about all of it, and then they have a trusted resource. And entrepreneurship's extremely lonely, and I feel like then you add onto it, oh, this thing you finally figured out in your business. Well, now there's this whole other industry that's one of the big- biggest industries in the world, and it's all about, wealth management and financial planning.
Dustin: And it's like, now you gotta be an expert in that, too. And it's like, no, you don't. Just get like Amelia in your court, and she can, yeah, she can be that trusted advisor and somebody you can go to, hold you accountable. I love the idea of a coworking session that's like, let's just share screens on Zoom and knock this out so you don't have to think about it anymore, right?
Dustin: Because we, we get so stuck in these open loops in our brain, especially with things that feel so consequential, like opening my SEP-RIA or [00:32:00] like making this sale of its stock.
Amelia: Well, and it's so foreign to most of us, right? Like, I mean, you do it once. You literally do it once in your life, essentially. Like Why, why,
Dustin: As we, we're, we'll close out here and, and let people know how to get ahold of you.
Dustin: Any other, stories come to mind or individuals maybe that you've worked with somewhat recently that, I love that example you just gave of the woman who sold some bonds and bought some stocks, and just how empowering and in control that made her feel. Any other examples of business owners that you might, you, that may resonate with some of our listeners?
Amelia: I have one, she's a swim instructor, and watching her, she's like, "I just..." And I think this is, like, the perfect entrepreneurial story. She's like, "I just want to be in the pool giving swim lessons." That's where she loves, that's where she st- why she started her business, all of that. And then, so then I start digging in, and she does all of her bookings on paper that only she has access to.
Amelia: Like, there's no... I'm like, "How do you know who's paid or not?" She's like, "I don't. I kind of trust on the honor system." Like, and I'm just like, oh my goodness. [00:33:00] But when you're in, like, when you're in the business, when you're teaching swim lessons, like, the last thing anybody wants to do after working, she works from like 1:00 to 8:00 PM almost every day, like six days a week.
Amelia: it's like, "Oh, let me sit down at my computer and figure this out." She's like, "I hate my computer. If I could never look at another computer, I'd be happy." Right? So, like, watching business owners, we start a business because we love that, And that's, I think E-Myth is the book that, like, really brought that to light for me, is like, I wanna be the best cabinet maker, swim instructor, property manager, whatever it is.
Amelia: Like, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna do it better than everybody else. So you start a business, and then all of a sudden you are doing everything but that, trying to run your business. And helping entrepreneurs fight that and go through that evolution, because it's, we all go through that evolution. You can't avoid it.
Amelia: but I think knowing... When I learned that it was a natural evolution and a part of entrepreneurship, if you will, like, I was like, "Oh, I'm, I'm not the idiot. We're all idiots in going forward with this." even just offering that support and helping, like, "Hey, let's get you set up on [00:34:00] Acuity.
Amelia: Let's get you set up with this. We can sync it with your QuickBooks, and then we have to, we don't even have to enter things into QuickBooks anymore. And we can hire somebody in Nigeria on Fiverr to do it." Like, I'm not an Acuity expert, but my client had never heard of Fiverr. So it's just bringing some of these resources to people that just, let's get this done just in a different way than you might think about.
Amelia: And I think that's the, that's the fun part, right? When it all comes together.
Dustin: Yeah. 'Cause I, I, I really like that as a closing example, 'cause I think, a lot of people, they hear- you know, how to take your business and build wealth, which is kind of the opening question I had today, which feels very, I don't know, elitist.
Dustin: It's like, oh yeah, when I'm making a million bucks, then I'll take 250,000 and I'll build wealth, I'll go buy houses and play Monopoly. Sounds cool, but I'm trying to give swim lessons or I'm trying to, do one-on-one coaching with my clients, and I just don't feel like I have the capacity to think beyond that day-to-day.
Dustin: And, and I l- I know you work with that whole spectrum, right? But, it's r- just really refreshing to hear, the minimum [00:35:00] viable version of wealth building counts, too. And if that's where you need, then, or, or, shades way beyond that in, in, more advanced strategies, like, that you are here as a resource for people to do that.
Dustin: yeah, so people wanna know more, they wanna get to know you, they wanna maybe have a, a consultation or just learn how you might help them because they're hearing the, their own story in some of these stories that we've shared today. Like, what's the next best step for people to take if they wanna know more?
Amelia: I'm happy to reach out, chat to anybody. I have free 20-minute discovery calls with anybody. it's Amelia Meisenheimer on all the social medias, LinkedIn, Instagram, all of that. There's, I think, one other Amelia Meisenheimer maybe on Facebook, and I think she's 12, so not her.
Dustin: I was gonna say, we, we were joking before we recorded about how horrible our last names are, and at the same time, there are some benefits.
Dustin: There are. there's only one. There's like, I think there's only one Dustin Riechmann, if you can spell it,so look for Amelia Meisenheimer's spelling in the show notes or in the title here. and you can go to ameliameisenheimer.com and then, all the socials. So that's awesome. So you do a 20-minute consultation if people are just curious [00:36:00] about this, they wanna understand how to start and how to start answering this important question of what do they want, and then how to actually start taking meaningful action to that.
Dustin: Amelia's your gal, right?
Amelia: Yeah, absolutely. And, and how it applies to your life, 'cause we're all, we're all coming at this differently, right? And I think acknowledging that is important, that it's different for all of us.
Dustin: It is. All right, well, you're, you're a gift to me, Amelia. I'm grateful to get to know you.
Dustin: really grateful for the wisdom that you shared here. I know it's super helpful and is meeting many people right where they're at and, inspiring them to take action on thinking more long term and having a more holistic, view of what they're doing this whole business thing for ultimately, right?
Dustin: And how to, how to take some practical next steps to, to building a, a real legacy around all this effort that you're putting into your business. So thank you, Amelia. Amelia Meisenheimer dot com. really grateful to have you here, and, thank you, a- again for the ongoing support, for me and for the audience.
Amelia: I appreciate you being here, Dustin. Thank you so much for having me. [00:37:00] [00:38:00]