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What if you could get more of what you want in life? But not through pushing, forcing, or pressure.
You can.
When it comes to money, time, and energy, no one’s gonna turn away more.
And Kate Northrup, Bestselling Author of Money: A Love Story and Do Less and host of Plenty, is here to help you expand your capacity to receive all of the best.
As a Money Empowerment OG who’s been at it for nearly 2 decades, Kate’s the abundance-oriented best friend you may not even know you’ve always needed.
Pull up a chair every week with top thought leaders, luminaries, and adventurers to learn how to have more abundance with ease.
Welcome to Plenti. I have an amazing feature of one of our relaxed money alums for you. Her name is Erica Jones. She is a children's book illustrator. She's an author.
Kate Northrup:She's amazing. And her story of really allowing in her self worth and allowing that to expand and the ways it's impacted her financial life is really breathtaking. So I can't wait for you to hear it. Welcome to Plenti. I'm your host, Kate Northrup, and together, we are going on a journey to help you have an incredible relationship with money, time, and energy, and to have abundance on every possible level.
Kate Northrup:Every week, we're gonna dive in with experts and insights to help you unlock a life of hunting. Let's go fill our cups.
Voice Over:Please note that the opinions and perspectives of the guests on the Plenty podcast are not necessarily reflective of the opinions and perspectives of Kate Northrop or anyone who works within the Kate Northrop brand.
Kate Northrup:Hello, Erica. Thank you for being here.
Erika Jones:Hi, Kate. Thank you for having me.
Kate Northrup:I'm so happy to see you, and I really enjoyed seeing you throughout the entire Relaxed Money course. You were very often front and center with your video on, fully engaged, often with your husband. So I just love that. Like, as a teacher, I just wanna say thank you. I always remember the people in the front row, like, virtually or in person.
Kate Northrup:So, thank you for your level of engagement. So I'm curious. How did you hear about this work? Well,
Erika Jones:I saw it on my Instagram feed. And I had, I was following you years ago, and I actually took it was a Feng Shui course Oh, yeah. Course. And so I I took that. Yeah.
Erika Jones:Some time had passed, and I saw it come across the feed. And I was like, I would like to reengage with Kate and just see what she's up to now. And so I saw the I think it was called Flourish. Flow. Flow.
Erika Jones:Flow. Sorry. Yeah.
Kate Northrup:That's great.
Erika Jones:I saw that Flow was coming up, and I said, why not? I mean, let's see let's see what's different and and what's new and what I could apply to my life. So
Kate Northrup:Okay. That's so cool. Do you I now this is just me as a marketer asking this question. Do you happen to remember, and you don't have to, if it was an ad that you saw on Instagram or if it was from, like, just a post that I had done organically?
Erika Jones:I mean, I think it was just like a sponsored, like yeah. I think it was an ad. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Kate Northrup:I I mean, I just always like to know that when we're spending money on marketing, that it's, like, working. So, I mean, we have the data for that, but I like I like to meet the humans. So Cool. Cool. That's great.
Kate Northrup:And what was going on in your life specifically at the time that felt like, oh, I wanna I wanna show up for this workshop around money?
Erika Jones:Oh, it was kind of a stressful time. I was actually, experiencing 2 big losses. I was losing a dear friend, and, our primary source of income was in jeopardy. And so I was pretty frightened about the future, stressed out, and I didn't really know. I didn't really know what was gonna happen next, but I said, well, maybe.
Erika Jones:Mhmm. Yeah. Maybe there's something in this for me.
Kate Northrup:So Yeah. So it was a time of financial uncertainty Yes. And also grief.
Erika Jones:Yes. Yeah. So
Kate Northrup:Okay. When you went through the workshop, what stuck out to you? Was there anything specific that met you in that place where you where you were?
Erika Jones:Well, several things. But what you were speaking about the nervous system and, how it could play a role and and even be like a thermometer for, like, where we were in childhood versus, you know, it's always seeming like, you know, you kind of win and then you expand, contract, expand, contract. The nervous system work was new to me. I hadn't heard anything. It's all over my Instagram feed now.
Kate Northrup:Right? I know. Once you go in, it's like, oh.
Erika Jones:But it was brand new, and I was like, I think maybe this might be a missing piece. This is different. And you like, you talked about things being visible in terms of, like, the tangible things you do about money, but then also the things underneath the surface. Like, yes, Feng Shui is one of those things, but there's other things, that you could be needing to tap into and, you know, treat money like you would treat a friend or treat someone you were dating, versus ignoring it and, you know, choosing like, I I was stressed, but I thought avoiding was going to make me less stressed, but, of course, it was making things worse. So the clarity piece, that was just like, wow.
Erika Jones:Clarity is power, I think, is what you said. It's pretty powerful to me.
Kate Northrup:Yeah. It really feels like not looking at it is the is the way, and it just never is. It's just sort of, like, you know, similar to if you had an infection. If you don't tend to it, it will get worse.
Erika Jones:Yes.
Kate Northrup:Yeah. So I'm glad I'm glad you said that piece. And then when it came to actually joining the relax money program, did you have any hesitations? Did you have any resistance?
Erika Jones:Do you remember? Yeah. I mean, before I went through the 3 day, I was like, okay. Will I feel welcome in this community? Will I feel will I learn anything new?
Erika Jones:But that had really been answered after we spent 3 days together. But I was still very nervous about making the financial investment. And at the time, I would say my idea of how money could come to me, like, versus, like, jobs just working jobs or getting another you know, it was limited. And so, yeah, that that was just a concern. Like, would this would this really be worth it?
Erika Jones:But then you started to talk or have people share, like, money wins that were happening in real time in the 3 days, and that really intrigued me. Like, how is this happening? But it's like a collective abundance thing happening, and I wanna keep being a part of that. So
Kate Northrup:I love that. And, you know, that happened by accident. So the money miracles thing that we celebrate and talk about during the live workshop, That was never part of it. But what happened is the first time I did a version of the workshop that you attended, that was called money love the revival. And all of a sudden, I started getting DMs from people saying, I'm shocked.
Kate Northrup:Like, I got this unexpected check-in the mail, or I got the that happened this money miracle. And it was just, like, the only thing that had shifted is that they were putting this certain level of energy and attention on their money by being in the workshop. So then by the time we did flow, which was the 3rd time we had taught this, type of workshop, I intentionally called it out because what we know is what we put our attention on grows. And so that had happened by accident, but now it's kind of part of the magic of the whole thing that when we get together and we say, we're gonna pay loving attention to our money, we're gonna tend to this part of our lives in a beautiful way, you know, we water the grass, the grass grows. Right.
Kate Northrup:Yeah. So I'm glad you pointed that out. And you
Erika Jones:would you know, the first time you you kinda saw people like, somebody said something really big. I can't remember what it was, but you saw some people kinda go. And you're like, no. We gotta celebrate. Trauma's collective and so is abundance and celebrating other people's joy.
Erika Jones:And so that was huge, I think. That was it for me. So
Kate Northrup:Oh, I'm so glad. Okay. So if it's okay, I'm gonna kinda just highlight for those who are maybe not as familiar that, our bodies don't believe the lie of separation. So our bodies have these things called mirror neurons. And I, you know, I know you know this because you were in the course, but for everyone else, our mirror neurons can't tell the difference between something that's happening for someone else and something that's happening for us if it's somebody we identify with.
Kate Northrup:So if if it's someone who shares some of our identity traits, then we're going to see that that is happening for us as well, which is, really tricky when it's something traumatic that we're witnessing or if it's, like, a big media story that gets recirculated on social media. We can see. That's that's why one of my policies is I don't repost about traumatic events on social, because it can be really traumatizing to people who identify with that group. But at the same time, the same wiring works for joy. The same wiring works for healing.
Kate Northrup:And so when we celebrate those money miracles, I remember one time this woman was like, I got a BMW. I was like, what? You know that? Like, most people, their money wins are gonna be more like, oh, I found $20 in my, you know, winter jacket pocket or somebody paid for my latte or whatever. But we need to celebrate the big and the small.
Kate Northrup:We celebrate it for the other person, but we also celebrate it in terms of collectively, that abundance is happening in our community. Yeah. And, it changes us on a cellular level because it breaks down that illusion that our lives don't touch each other and don't impact each other. They do. My abundance is your abundance.
Kate Northrup:Your abundance is my abundance. And, yes, like, in actual neighborhoods, in actual families, that's more true. But there's an energetic truth of it that where whereby any groups of people are intertwined and threaded together, anybody's win is everybody's win when we can let our bodies experience it as such. Yes. Thank you for thank you for highlighting that.
Kate Northrup:Okay. Great. So you were, you know, you were thinking, like, am I be welcome here? Am I gonna is this gonna be a community for me? Is this gonna be different?
Kate Northrup:And then you you did embark on the relaxed money program, and you really showed up. So I wanna say, you know, I know you have a business. You're an illustrator. You're an author. Your husband's a professor.
Kate Northrup:Right?
Erika Jones:He he is going to be starting being a professor. He's an entrepreneur, speaker, and now professor. We're adding kids. And you have you have kids? Yes.
Erika Jones:3 kids.
Kate Northrup:Also? So you have a very full life, and, you know, it's not exactly like you just suddenly had all this spare time that opened up. So I'm curious. What did you do to organize your life to prioritize actually showing up and doing the work, oftentimes with your partner?
Erika Jones:Yes. Well, I don't know. This helped me have a little more structure. I had flexibility. I mean, being an author illustrator, you as long as you figure it out, you can work whenever.
Erika Jones:So I was thankful that I had the freedom to hop on the calls and move lunch down or or or work or a meeting down and just really prioritize it because, I don't know, it just felt really important to me. And, like, I was gonna get what I put in. And so I prioritize it. My husband couldn't couldn't couldn't make as many, and that was a growth thing for me because, you know, I I wanted both of us to benefit, but I had to let go of we both have to do all of this class together in order for it to work for our family. And, you know, it was like division of labor.
Erika Jones:Okay. You go to your meeting. I'll get this good stuff, and I will share the highlights, when I need to. And then we started having weekly, meetings and getting our I had YNAB for years. Yeah?
Erika Jones:I couldn't get it to balance. I couldn't get it to do and so it would just be a point of frustration where we just would let it get behind.
Kate Northrup:And then at the end of the
Erika Jones:year, we're trying to figure out what's turned into our account and stuff. But just something about doing the nervous, system tools help to expand the capacity. Suddenly, I sit down, and I I do I watch the tutorial on how to do YNAV again, and now we get it set up. And it's it's working again, and we can meet weekly and not argue with. It's like, what's happening?
Erika Jones:This is great. So, he was benefiting too. And just the idea that, oh, I need to regulate, or I need like, we both could speak that vocabulary, and that was just huge. Versus before, it was just a lot of fault finding or what'd what'd you know this for? What'd you you know?
Erika Jones:It's completely different now. So Wow. Thank you.
Kate Northrup:I love that your experience with learning to feel safe in your nervous system allowed you to engage with a piece of software that you had been trying to work with for years, but finally were able to get to work for you because you were coming from such a different energetic place. Yes. That's incredible. For those listening who don't know what YNAB is, it's a budget to it's a software called you need a budget dot com. I don't actually like the word budget, but that's what it's called.
Kate Northrup:I like spending plan, but, it's not that's too long and whatever. I didn't make the software. But I do recommend it, and it's part of, it's it's a little bit of the behind the scenes of what we work with in, in Relax Money or I recommend that people do. So I love that you're doing that. I love that you're having those conversations that, you're able to regulate with each other, for each other, and, you know, and not be finding each other or self at fault.
Kate Northrup:One of the things I learned recently is that when we go into judgment, we are in which is, you know, same thing as finding fault with ourselves or others. We are in a low grade fight response. So judgment is a is is is dysregulation. And and I think that when I learned that, I was like, oh. That's not okay.
Kate Northrup:Yeah. I can really track where that shows up in my life. Yes. Yeah.
Erika Jones:Mhmm.
Kate Northrup:Okay. So here you are now. It's been, what, about 6 months?
Erika Jones:Yes.
Kate Northrup:Yeah. It's been about 6 months since since your cohort of relax money started. You already shared some pretty significant wins, which is that care and and attention and love with your with your money and also with your partner being able to do that together. And I'm curious, is there anything else you wanna share and celebrate that's been a tangible shift that you felt in your career, in your parenting, in your marriage, or in your financial life specifically?
Erika Jones:There's lots. I forgot to say earlier that before, like, in general like, even if the losses weren't going on, I was very tense when it came to money. Like, if whenever it was time to spend pay a water bill, go out to dinner, like, it would just be like, because of the chosen lack of clarity. And but the same thing would happen when anyone would say, what are your prices? Or, you know, someone might actually owe me money, and I would be very tense about talking to them.
Erika Jones:You know? And so that has that is shifting. I won't say it's like, oh, what? I never fall into these old patterns, but I know how to recognize them and shift out of them. So that's, really big.
Erika Jones:Let's see what else. Yeah. I talked about the YNAB, and, I'm spending on self care more, feeling worth it. You always remind us that life is happening right now, So it's not about making sure every external entity and thing is good. Like, we have to be.
Erika Jones:Our wellness attracts abundance, and so that's a shift. I am open to types of income streams that I hadn't ever thought that I would. Like, you could you couldn't tell me about you know, that I would enjoy maybe selling or, you know, like, I we kicked butt when it was time to sell my girls' Girl Scout cookies to strangers this year, and it was like a different energy because Cool. You know, just just like that where, you know, my friend goes, you're you're gifted. You're a good salesperson.
Erika Jones:I'm like, I used to hate that and cringe about marketing our sales. But, you know, speaking opportunities, different streams are opening up, and I'm conceiving, like, seeing money in places for myself that I hadn't considered before. So that's been I love that. I could share more with
Kate Northrup:Please. I mean, anything else. I would wanna celebrate the girl scout cookie sale. Celebrate the cooking opportunities. I mean, that's incredible.
Kate Northrup:And it's cool how you're sharing how it infuses all these different layers of your life. Right? We think maybe a money course is just only gonna be about money, but, actually, there's really not
Erika Jones:an area that it doesn't touch. Right. Right. And just being so aware of those wins and, like any size, like nothing's too small to say thank you, this is good. The biggest shift is just saying God is my source.
Erika Jones:Mhmm. I used to say that catchy mantra all the time, but I didn't really believe it. But we went through some things, and I used some of the tools, the prosperity, like, the 40 day thing. It really shifted, like, oh, no. I really believe this now, when he doesn't just have to come from a job.
Erika Jones:Or, you know, it can come it could just come to you from a variety of places. In general, I recognize we've always been good, even though I didn't always feel like it. We've always been provided for, and needs have always been met. Met, and I believe that they will continue to be. I'm just less anxious about that piece in general.
Erika Jones:So
Kate Northrup:So when you say now you really believe that God is your source, what's so cool is because you've been engaging in the nervous system healing practices, your, nervous system has actually shifted. And when our nervous system shifts and we feel safe, our beliefs change. And so so often, work around money or any kind of personal development will begin with beliefs work, But it's really difficult to change beliefs from the level of cognition or the intellect only. And because you engage with that 40 day, prosperity practice, which is a meditation plus a practice, and you already said you were engaging in the in the regulation tool, you're you were able to get your body to shift its set point so then the beliefs sort of become automatic. You don't have to work at them.
Kate Northrup:It's just like, oh, obviously. Yeah. Yeah. So good. So good.
Kate Northrup:Okay. So as an illustrator, as a soon to be also published author and illustrator. I know you have your first written and illustrated book coming out in 2025. Yeah?
Erika Jones:Yep. Yeah.
Kate Northrup:What's it called so we can keep an eye out?
Erika Jones:It's called Zara in the Middle. It'll be published by Harper Collins, and it'll be summer 2025. It Okay. Maybe you want you want more that's the
Kate Northrup:I mean, I'm gonna wanna ask you all the names of your books and all the things. So, yes, I am gonna wanna know that in a minute. So as you are cultivating you know, you're you're moving towards this book launch. You're, I'm sure, in the works, you said, with speaking opportunities with, you know, I'm sure other illustrating opportunities, all sorts of things. How are you noticing?
Kate Northrup:And is there a specific moment that you can think of? And if you can't, it's okay. But what are you noticing in your career as you're getting paid for the incredible work you do, is there a specific shift or a specific moment you can recall where you were like, oh, I'm I'm doing this differently than I would have a year ago or 2 years ago?
Erika Jones:That's a good question. I mean, I would just say I was really like, I got really clear this year about how I wanna work, how I want to make money. I feel less like I have to say yes to everything and, like, I can focus more on what I really feel called to do. So I feel like be I just feel like it's not it doesn't hey. Look.
Erika Jones:Illustration takes a lot of work, a lot of heart, a lot of soul, and a lot of people might not get that. So I cannot illustrate myself too that. Yeah. So I have to choose wisely what I'm going to work on and know that there is an abundance of ways that I can be supported and fulfilled. So I think it's just like a trust that I'm right to prioritize my time and value my time and work on what really caused my name and know that there's other ways to you know, I had I'm going to put my art for sale.
Erika Jones:I'm I'm considering doing mentorships with other people who are wanting to know how to get into this business. And like I said, speaking visits and and school visit opportunities are coming to me, and I I don't even have time to market them, and things are starting to just really come together. So it's just a a trust that I can be here for my family, and I can do the work I'm called to do. And, I don't know. You talked to another artist recently, and we were just talking about it being okay for it not to all come straight through our hands for money, you know, like sweat equity or whatever that but we're still calling it in for our family.
Erika Jones:And so yes. Does that make sense? I feel like I'm rambling.
Kate Northrup:No. You you nailed it. And I I wanna really, like, pin what you just said that abundance comes in a lot of different sources. And we can often and I see this a lot with our students and clients. We can often discount and say, like, oh, it doesn't count if I didn't explicitly earn that money through trading my hours for dollars or trading my services.
Kate Northrup:But the truth is when abundance comes into the family system, it all counts. And one of the ways that we block our abundance is by allowing our brainwashing that we have to have traded or sacrificed something, or it had to have been a certain amount of hard in order for it to count. And, that'll shut down abundance so fast. So I love I'm I'm so glad you mentioned that. Yes.
Kate Northrup:Amazing. So We need to Erica, before we hear about your amazing books and where people can find you and them and all of those things, my last question is, if somebody is considering joining Relax Money right now, or or the or the or just even taking the time to go through the free workshop, and they're hesitant because they're like, I don't have time for this. This gonna work for me? You know, whatever it may be. What would you want to share with them about your experience to help them move through that?
Erika Jones:I don't know. There's there's something well, I do know. There is something about being in a community of people who are focused on expanding and growing their abundance. I know I personally just observed, You know, people would be sharing things that they wanted to do. They might wanna go to Relax Money Live, or they want and I just noticed this was a group of women who didn't just walk around disqualifying themselves from things they wanted to do.
Erika Jones:Like, they'd be like, okay. I'm putting it on eBay, and I'm gonna get it to where I wanna get. And that I noticed because I I used to do that, like, that's just too much. Or, oh, I couldn't do that. That's a huge luxury item or whatever.
Erika Jones:I'm I'm doing that less. And so this really just just being around people who, have a mindset and are expanding in this way is really magnetic, and it's fun. I've made a few friends. I really like logging in every week and seeing other people's money wins and celebrating them. And I don't know.
Erika Jones:I just think you'll grow in ways you you don't expect because you just don't know what you don't know yet.
Kate Northrup:How true. I love that. I love yeah. The community, it's so rare. I mean, where else are people just unabashedly talking about expanding their abundance?
Kate Northrup:Like, that's not a common conversation in anyone's family and very few friend groups. And so, yeah, it's it's rare. It's rare and beautiful. I'm glad you pointed that out. Erica, it's been so fun to get to talk to you 1 on 1.
Kate Northrup:What a pleasure. If people wanna know more about your books, maybe get them for their kids, check out your work? Can you just I see your books are behind you. So can you pull them out and tell us the titles and then tell us what
Erika Jones:There's one I haven't even opened yet, and it's not great. But, the the book that it's I'll tell you about it. I'm sorry. You might have to edit this. No.
Kate Northrup:You're doing it's great.
Erika Jones:Black Girls of Celebration Review. It's published by Harper Collins, written by Dominique Futakawa and illustrated by me. It's a love letter, a joyful love letter to black girls everywhere, and it just talks about the things that we should celebrate, that are unique to our our experience. So that's that's that came out last September. This one is called The Loud Librarian.
Erika Jones:This was my first book because this is, 2020 is when I shifted into this career professionally, by the way. It's not a lifelong thing. So a lot happened really fast. The Loud Librarian is published by Simon Kids. It's, written by Jenna Beatrice and illustrated by me.
Erika Jones:And, I need to get a copy of this to you, Kate, because the lead character's name is Penelope. And she wants to be the student librarian for the day. And the problem is she's really loud, so it's a lot of fun. And then I just had a set of cards come out. It's called the feeling deck for kids, and you're gonna love this.
Erika Jones:I illustrated 30 emotions, and their 2 authors that, Julie Cavanagh and Seth Seguer, who wrote reflection activities about each emotion, so that kids can help to process that emotion and regulate with that emotion. So you see how stuff is that? Do. It's
Kate Northrup:called the feelings deck.
Erika Jones:The feelings deck for kids. Okay. Great. I'm sorry. It is in the box.
Erika Jones:No.
Kate Northrup:It's perfect. It's perfect. So we're gonna put the links to all of those things down below. Is there, one place that's the best for people to find you on a website or social media? Or
Erika Jones:erikalynnjones.com is my website. Right. And that's erika lynnejones.com. And all of my books can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, things like that.
Kate Northrup:Amazing. Amazing. It's such a joy to talk to you. Thank you for being part of our community. Thank you for taking the time today, and thank you for the beautiful work you do in the world.
Erika Jones:I appreciate your time. Amazing contribution to the world. This has changed my life, so I appreciate you so much. Thank you.
Kate Northrup:Thank you.
Erika Jones:Thank you. And your team as well. Thank you.
Kate Northrup:Thank you. They're amazing.
Erika Jones:Woo hoo. You made
Kate Northrup:it to the end of an episode of Plenti.
Kate Northrup:Don't you feel expanded already? So if you liked this episode, go ahead and leave us a review. Subscribe to the podcast, text a friend and let them know they need to listen. And that helps us spread the word so more people can experience plenty together. And if you want to ease your path to creating wealth, I created a money breakthrough guide for you, where I interviewed over 20 of my high earning women friends, and I asked them what their biggest money breakthrough guide was.
Kate Northrup:And the responses were so mind blowing and helpful, I knew I needed to pass them along to you. This is the kind of thing that is often only shared behind closed doors, but now you can access it totally for free. So head over to kate northrup.comforward/breakthroughs and get the guide. Again, that's katenorthrup.comforward/breakthroughs. And I'll see you next time for plenty.