WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:11.040 Hello. Hello. It's Holly Rustick here with Grant Writing and Funding, and I have another bonus episode for you. I'm really excited to actually go behind the scenes with you and kind of tell you about my story. Right? 00:00:11.040 --> 00:00:38.550 So, definitely, let's kick it off. And I want you to picture it like we're sitting in a coffee shop somewhere, maybe like in Europe because I'm probably gonna be there next month. So I'm really excited about that. And I just wanted to share kind of my journey with you because I know a lot of people are, you know, thinking about, okay, they see me now and they think, oh, but you have it all figured out and you had this and you had that and blah blah blah, like to get where you're at. And I just wanna be like, not I didn't start there though. 00:00:38.550 --> 00:01:10.845 I I started like every single other person. And I've heard every single type of fear, impostor syndrome, situation, etcetera. And there's so much that is so relatable among everybody that is thinking about starting grant writing or a grant writing business or growing a grant writing business. Like, it is very similar the feelings that we all feel and the situations that we face and the fears that we have right and how we move through that. So I've been doing this full time as a freelance grant writer for twelve years now. 00:01:11.085 --> 00:01:49.265 Twelve years of running my own full time freelance grant writing company. And before that, I was learning how to do the craft all over the worlds in ways I never expected. So I wanna pull back the curtain on what I actually learned, and this isn't gonna be polished. This is kind of off the cuff, but I want you to hear the real version. And it was funny because I I came up with this idea to do this podcast after I was actually listening to I love Pat Flynn and his podcast, Smart Passive Income, and he was talking about his story, and it it really, like, resonated with me on him sharing it, especially because he was saying, oh, yeah. 00:01:49.265 --> 00:02:14.065 You know, and I remember this actually. I remember this. He said, in 2000, I can't remember when he said he started doing this, but he stopped doing it probably a year or two after I found him, and that was, like, 2017 maybe, '18, something like that. And he used to publish his income. Like and he would say, like, this is where I'm getting money from here. 00:02:14.065 --> 00:02:40.025 This is where I'm getting money from here because he's an entrepreneur. Right? And he would publish it just to show full transparency, like, this is how much money I made last month. This is what happened, blah blah blah. And he said he eventually had to stop publishing it because the income grew so much, and he wasn't relatable to his customers anymore, which were start up people thinking about opening starting a business that were very new to it. 00:02:40.025 --> 00:03:06.085 Because they were seeing these big numbers, they're like, oh, but you're over here, and how can you really help us? Even though what he was doing was still helping so many people. And I kind of thought about this the other day because on our training we had last week, we had a free training and how to get consistent clients in 2026 in your freelance sprint running business. And we're just showing, like, oh, here's how much money people are earning in the program. They're you saw how much money they they're winning in grants. 00:03:06.085 --> 00:03:23.180 Da da da da da it's funny because, like, we do that to show you, like, it's possible and to show you case studies. But what we were hearing a lot was, oh, this is too good to be true. Like, almost like, oh my gosh. No. This sounds like good to, like, get rich quick scheme, which it's not. 00:03:23.180 --> 00:03:43.210 And we say it's not gonna happen overnight. It takes time. We have access for twelve months in our program because we know it's gonna take some time to, you know, get the confidence, to grow the skills, to get the coaching, like, all of the things. But we also know that it can happen rather quickly, but not overnight. And it happens at different speeds for all different people in different situations. 00:03:43.370 --> 00:04:14.560 So as I was hearing this and I was hearing his podcast and he kinda then went back to the beginning and kinda told his story, I was like, oh, this is good to, like, hear this again because a lot of times you guys don't really you haven't heard this story before, right, all the way. So I wanted to show, like, the growth and the trajectory, but also, like, remind you all, like, I started exactly where you're at today. And, I came at it from different ways. We all do. We all feel like we fell into grant writing, quote, unquote, but this is the story that I wanna share with you. 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:28.535 Let's let's get into it. Okay. So before I even get into my story, I do wanna share something that happened just this morning actually on a sales call or not on a sales call. We were having our mentorship program has our quarterly strategic planning call. I had a sales call after that. 00:04:28.535 --> 00:04:46.260 But on our quarterly strategic planning call, I had a grant professional mentorship student who has made over a $100,000 in her business all already. And she said something that stopped me. She said, you know what holds me back on sales calls? Fear. Fear of not knowing enough. 00:04:46.420 --> 00:05:09.330 Like, don't like, if I'm not clear about my offer or if I'm not clear about objections or just fear that I might not know as much as somebody else. And when I'm not confident, I don't convert. And I was like, oh, this is so good. So we did like a whole coaching and we gave her like, here you go and for five minutes before you got on a sales call, what to do, right, to help with that and give her a strategy. And I was like, yes, also that's so normal. 00:05:09.570 --> 00:05:40.480 You guys, it's not just the people who have never made a dollar before who go through impostor syndrome. It's even people making 6 figures, making high 6 figures, it's doctors in our programs, we've even had senators. They don't have impostor syndrome maybe in that side of their professional lives, but they're new to grant writing or they're new to business and they are wide eyed, vulnerability shining bright, right, with this. I don't want you to think someone comes in the program and they're like, oh my gosh, like, you're making all this money you need on this. Like, they all started the same way. 00:05:40.560 --> 00:06:00.610 Just because you're an expert in one area doesn't automatically make you an expert in everything. This is just a skill. It needs to be learned. I had to learn it too. And even with this girl who was asking today, this lady in our mentorship program who talked about fear, she has thirty years of experience in social work, but new to sales. 00:06:00.610 --> 00:06:12.290 Right? New to sales and that's scary. You can be an expert in one area and learning something new is always gonna be learning something new with all the learning curves. Okay. Let's get into my story I wanna share with you. 00:06:12.290 --> 00:06:31.190 I've been doing this for twelve years as I mentioned, but sometimes I do worry that where I am now looks so far from where you might be starting that it doesn't feel relatable. But I promise you, I'll start it exactly, like I said, where many of you are today. Alright. So let's go in the time machine. Let's go way back. 00:06:31.190 --> 00:06:50.245 You got that hot coffee right. I know I got my, dry cappuccino, three Splendas. More than twenty one years ago is when I first learned what grant writing actually was. Fun fact, I'm turning 50 this summer. So do the math with me and you'll see I was like in my late twenties, about 30, something around there when it all started. 00:06:50.245 --> 00:07:29.600 I was actually living in Kuwait working as a teacher and the when the tsunami, Asian tsunami hit on Boxing Day in 2004. The largest tsunami, it devastated Aceh, Indonesia, also like parts of Thailand, Sri Lanka, like lots of places, but it mostly like the worst hit area was Indonesia. And I remember watching the footage and feeling this pull like, oh, I have to do something. I have to help. And a little bit on my background that might surprise you even before this time, if we go back in the time machine a little bit, before I was a Grant writer, I was a fitness instructor and I actually won Miss Fitness Hawaii in 2003. 00:07:29.600 --> 00:07:50.185 It was a little fun fact. Yes, that happened. So when I saw a job posting from a new NGO in Indonesia that needed someone to teach fitness to young women in the affected communities, I was like, oh, I can do that. That is literally me. I'm, you know, I've been doing teaching for like, I think that was my first year actually. 00:07:50.185 --> 00:08:05.770 And it's not like I went into my degree wanting to teach. So even before that, I went into my degree and I got a political science bachelor's. What can you do with political science? Well, many things. You actually have a lot of opportunity because it's not so niche. 00:08:05.770 --> 00:08:13.805 Right? So my mom was teaching them. She was like, should try this out. You know, overseas at the time you didn't need a teaching degree. You just needed a bachelor's. 00:08:13.805 --> 00:08:29.290 And I was like, cool. Let me try it out and see if I like it. But I really in my heart of heart, I really had since college, I was a newspaper. I was editor in chief. Like, I was thinking more like I would go into foreign affairs and doing like maybe even being an international journalist. 00:08:29.610 --> 00:08:48.555 So I was really interested in that and working abroad and even with NGOs at the time, like, working in the field. And so I was teaching in Kuwait, which isn't quite that in the field kind of thing, but it was and then I saw this and I was like, okay. So I have teaching experience. I also have fitness experience. I can teach fitness, like, of the things were lining up. 00:08:48.555 --> 00:09:07.465 And it was like, oh my gosh, that's me. And I got hired, right? So I got hired and I flew from Kuwait to Aceh, Indonesia. I'm in these communities building relationships, learning the language, even learning a local martial art and it was really, really fun. And what I kept hearing from people in the community was, we need support. 00:09:07.465 --> 00:09:25.880 We need funding. Like, our you know, especially, like, I always tell this story because it was my martial arts sensei, right, kind of a thing. Like, my art martial arts instructor, teacher that she was saying it was a female. It was really, really cool. And she had, like, this sand lot and everything that we would go do all of our training in. 00:09:25.880 --> 00:09:43.945 And I remember me and my friend who was also a a fitness instructor at the school. He and I were about the same age, and we, like, got our first belt with a bunch of five years old five year olds. Like, it's so cute. Anyways, so the whole thing. And but what she was wanting is she was like, oh my gosh. 00:09:43.945 --> 00:09:56.300 My water cart got washed away in the tsunami, and that was how I used to make money, like, with selling water and candy and chips and that sort of thing. But I don't have no capital, like, to replace it. And just simple things like that. Right? Simple things like that. 00:09:56.300 --> 00:10:16.470 And they wanted to they wanted to funding from these bigger organizations like UN organizations, like UNICEF, UNHCR, that sort of thing. But they they felt completely untouchable. Right? Because they drove around in their armored cars, and we drove around on our bikes. So it was a little we were a little more approachable. 00:10:16.790 --> 00:10:42.340 So she was like, can you help? And I said, oh, of course. Like, I actually went to weekly NGO coordination meetings with some of these large nonprofits and large NGOs and different stakeholders. I just started connecting community members to organizations that had money to give out. I was asking questions, advocating for them, even writing back to my mom who was also teaching in Kuwait and her students did a fundraiser and donated as well. 00:10:42.500 --> 00:10:54.580 So I was doing all of it. And here's the thing, I had no idea what it was called, what I was doing. I didn't know the phrase grant writing even at the time. I just knew I was connecting money to mission. That's it. 00:10:54.580 --> 00:11:07.435 I felt like a lia liaison between people who had funding and the people who needed it and didn't know how to access it. And that is literally what a Grant Writer is. I just didn't have a name for it. I was just like, I don't know. I'm connecting money to mission. 00:11:07.435 --> 00:11:18.060 I'm helping people. Right? I'm a middle person, like, just doing that connection. After that contracted in, I really like doing that work. It felt really fulfilling. 00:11:18.060 --> 00:11:39.280 The contract was a year. I went back to The States and I was staying in Northern Virginia area for a little while trying to figure out what was next. And I stumbled onto a grant writing agency about an hour outside of DC. So in this little rural area, was living in Northern Virginia, and my brother was in that area and his family. That's why I was there because I was kinda like, okay. 00:11:39.280 --> 00:11:50.080 Where do I go next? Right? And this was back 2006. So they had virtual clients from all over the world, completely novel concept at the time. And I was like, okay. 00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:57.695 Let's do this. So that's what I was doing in Indonesia. This is what it's called. Shout out to Here For You Consulting, by the way. Still going strong to this day. 00:11:58.015 --> 00:12:10.000 And they actually serve faith based nonprofits and churches specifically. They niched all the way down back in the day and had all online clients. Like, incredible. Incredible. Very forward thinking. 00:12:10.640 --> 00:12:34.195 Now if you think grand prospecting is hard today, let me tell you what I was doing back then. I would drive from Northern Virginia into DC to go to the actual foundation directory office. They have a headquarters there. And at the time, they had, like, maybe five other physical offices in The United States. And that was the only place they had, like, an online, like, prospecting like they do still today. 00:12:34.195 --> 00:12:55.565 Like, you know, you could go online, but it wasn't for international grants. The only way you could find international grants was to go to their physical location, and they had these big books. Of course, they're already outdated by the time they printed them, all the things. Instrumentl wasn't even around at the time. That's how I would, like, try to find funders for our international clients. 00:12:55.805 --> 00:13:29.245 And then we'd have to still print out all the grant applications out, usually at least four or five copies because reviewers scored them on paper. You'd actually have to mail in physical copies. I feel like as I'm saying this, it's like the I walked to school two miles in the snow, which I actually did because I'm originally from Michigan. But, anyways, anyways, yes, I'm gonna be 50 this summer, clearly. Of course, a printer would jam up every single time on the day that all the grants were due and that you're printing them out. 00:13:29.485 --> 00:13:50.705 And I'd be racing into FedEx right before they closed because as long as it was postmarked by the due date, it counted. So I knew this FedEx in place very well, and sometimes I even go behind the counter. Like, that's how it was. So if anyone thinks this field is hard right now, just know it used to require a road trip and a working printer. Printer. 00:13:50.705 --> 00:14:04.865 We have come so far. When I was ready to leave Northern Virginia, I was like, okay. This has been fun, but I'm ready to go back overseas. And I was like, the teaching opportunity was still available to go back to in Kuwait. And I was like, okay. 00:14:04.865 --> 00:14:22.175 So I've been in Northern Virginia for about a year working in this agency as a w two employee. And I was like, I really I really wanna go get my master's in Europe. And if I go back to Kuwait, I can earn some money. Like, you you know, don't have to pay for housing there that I put you up. It was really nice gig that I had. 00:14:22.495 --> 00:14:43.750 And I was like, why couldn't I continue doing this on the side and not as a w two? But why can I do it as another way? Because all of our clients are virtual anyways. Like, so what difference does it make? So I, you know, I walked into my boss's office and I was like, okay. 00:14:43.750 --> 00:14:59.485 You know, I prepared for this and I said, hey. None of our clients are actually here. They're all online. Can I keep doing this work from wherever I am and work fewer hours but get paid a bit more since I won't be you won't have to pay my fringe benefits? You won't have to do all that. 00:14:59.485 --> 00:15:08.390 You don't have to provide an office for me, and that's what I wanna do. And he was like, oh, okay. Yeah. Sure. That makes sense. 00:15:08.630 --> 00:15:18.405 And that was it. I became a $10.99 contractor. And once again, didn't even know the word freelancing. Just was like, why couldn't I do this situation? Right? 00:15:18.405 --> 00:15:32.190 Why can't I do this situation? Why can't this be possible? And it was. I went back to Kuwait, then ended up and being able to work during the day, take a lot of vacations, do a lot of things as you do there with teaching. They have a lot of time off. 00:15:32.190 --> 00:15:52.605 It was quite a nice gig as I mentioned. And, yeah, if you're like, Kuwait, like, yeah, actually, there's a lot to do. And then I was able to also work with my freelance clients on the side, like, after school because I would get done by 03:00. I'd work for a couple hours, and I'd go to the gym, hang out with my friends. Like, it was it was really nice. 00:15:52.605 --> 00:16:12.475 You know? And, of course, I was single back then, all the things. And then I was saving up for college, and I was also able to get a scholarship, which was amazing. So I went to Brussels for my master's degree in Belgium. And after my and even while I was there, I didn't have to worry about getting a work visa or anything like that. 00:16:12.475 --> 00:16:36.295 I had my student visa, and I was able then to still work for my United States based grant writing writing firm. Right? And I was basically a subcontractor, right, for their firm. So I was able to earn some money doing that, and I could also go to my classes and live in Europe, which was quite nice. So once I graduated, I'm kinda giving you, like, my whole spiel here. 00:16:36.295 --> 00:16:51.650 So I hope you're finding this somewhat interesting. But I'm really like, you might I'm not relating to you at all, Holly. I've never lived overseas. You might be thinking that, but I'm just saying how anybody is possible and how anything can happen. Any, it does not matter. 00:16:51.650 --> 00:17:13.595 This is how bizarre my trip has been and yours is your own bizarreness of how you've come out. Right? Like, we all have our own stories. But then, I went to The Middle East, and I was able to do grant writing there as well, keep doing it on the side. I'd even get clients from where I was at in The Middle East because they wanted to get some grants for other things. 00:17:13.915 --> 00:17:36.645 So I was doing it remotely before it was normal. Like, this was at at but this point in time, this is probably 2009, 2010 after I had been living in different places, doing my masters, etcetera, and I kept this side hustle going. This was before Zoom. This was before any of this infrastructure existed. So if you're wondering, you might be like, I don't really understand that journey, Holly. 00:17:36.645 --> 00:18:06.335 That doesn't relate to me, but I'm saying that even without all of the things that make it so easy today for you, even if you have no experience. I did it I did it without all of that infrastructure. And whether you can do this from home, from abroad, from a different time zone, I was doing it in 2007 from Europe with no video calls. It is absolutely possible now. In 2011 is when I moved to Guam, and I have stayed here since. 00:18:06.575 --> 00:18:17.560 But at the time, I still wasn't this is before 2012. Remember I said I went full time, so this was still or 2014. Sorry. 2014, I went full time in my grant writing agency. This was 2011. 00:18:17.560 --> 00:18:38.845 I moved here, I actually made a decision that I thought made sense at the time was I took a full time nonprofit job. So I was a staff grant writer, grants manager, the whole thing wearing three hats, getting paid for one job. And here's the moment I considered myself successful in that job. I finally hit $50,000 a year in salary. And I was like, oh my gosh, I'm making it. 00:18:38.845 --> 00:19:18.640 I'm at the top. But I was working fifty plus hours per week going in on weekends and evenings for grant deadlines and literally being the last one at 06:05 every day to pick up my daughter at daycare. I felt passionate about the mission. We were doing a lot of the organization I was working for was doing a lot on recovery for women in recovery, sexual assault victims, like all of like we were doing so much good work, right? And I let that passion keep me longer than I should have because it was it was really affecting my personal life with the amount of work that I was putting in. 00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:39.070 And that environment became really toxic. I was getting paid like the passion was supposed to cover the rest of my bills and pick up my daughter and they just did that didn't happen. So I actually started getting depressed. I remember just not being able to shake a deep form of depression. And I know there's clinical levels and all of that. 00:19:39.070 --> 00:19:53.295 And, you know, I'm not trying to say anything about any, this was just my experience of feeling like it's hard to get out of bed. It's hard to do things. I'm exhausted. I'm just shattered. I'm I'm just it was it's a dark place for me. 00:19:53.375 --> 00:20:17.725 And even though I finally made the most money, I it was a little bit it was too little too late. Right? It was too little too late, and I I was already really struggling with everything I was doing. I remember listening to a podcast that's why I love podcasting because oh my gosh podcasts have helped me so much. I was listening to a podcast and I remember this person talking about depression. 00:20:17.885 --> 00:20:39.380 And they were talking about it and once again there's clinical things like medication, like all the things, but this was my experience. He started mentioning that depression can often be a red, it can be a red flag, right? It can show you like there's something off going on. And I know that does clearly make sense, but it was like, yes, there can be hormonal things. There can be so many things. 00:20:39.380 --> 00:20:57.035 There can be mental health. But for him, he was like, you can also look at it like, is this a trigger? Like or is it a red flag for you to change something because if you don't, you're going to it's going to start affecting you even worse. Like, is it your body's way of saying, wake up, right? Wake up. 00:20:57.035 --> 00:21:21.485 Something needs to change. What you're doing, like your truth is coming out, right? And I was really, that just hit me so hard. Like I just had this huge epiphany and I was like, oh my gosh, that's he's talking about my situation. Like that's my situation right now is this depression, what it's showing me is I need to change something drastically. 00:21:21.805 --> 00:21:34.270 And, of course, like, consulting therapy, like, all the things, but, like, I know I am not doing what should be doing. Like, this job, I need to leave it. Like, I have to leave it. Like, this is the way. And that was for me. 00:21:34.270 --> 00:21:41.035 That was my journey. So I did. I actually left. I resigned. I gave two week notice, and I left. 00:21:41.035 --> 00:21:59.280 And I didn't have a client yet. I didn't have anything set up. I didn't know? And we we help in our academy, we help you, like, if you're in a job, we help you, like, quit it with, like, getting the client first and all the things, but sometimes you can't as well. Sometimes you're in a situation similar to mine where you're so burned out that you literally have to leave. 00:21:59.600 --> 00:22:08.635 And I was a single mom. Right? I lived in a tiny little place. I was living paycheck to paycheck. I was on WIC even though with my raise, like, the cost of living is high in Guam Yil. 00:22:08.635 --> 00:22:20.635 50,000 might sound like a lot compared to where you might live, but it really wasn't a lot. You know, for some of you, like, that's nothing. Right? So it depends geographically where you live. And I was just like, I can't. 00:22:20.635 --> 00:22:38.235 So, fortunately, I sent out an email to all of my contacts since I had been working there for about four years, and I was like, hey. I'm, you know, I'm resigning. This is your new point of contact. I'm opening my own freelance grant writing business. And I had someone reach out right away. 00:22:38.235 --> 00:22:59.610 Within, like, as soon as I sent that email, they reached out because they knew I had one grant, and they said, hey. We wanna hire you. So, I mean, I got lucky, but I I took that chance. I made I kind of let the universe open up and a lot of that I will say, for me, a lot of that depression went away almost immediately when I left that situation. Like, it was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. 00:23:00.675 --> 00:23:24.950 However, I didn't start earning a lot of money right away, I didn't figure everything out overnight, it still took time. Some of the things that I did in the beginning and I gotta remind you, single mom, still living paycheck to pay or I wasn't having any paychecks then. I had to make money. I had to make money and I had to make it fast. I had someone depending on me and I had to figure it out. 00:23:24.950 --> 00:23:42.205 And even that person who hired me, guess what? They worked for the government. And while that was fantastic and I got like a consistent job with it or not job but like consistent contract for a while, it took a year for the government to pay me. A year. So what did I do in the meantime? 00:23:42.205 --> 00:23:55.730 I had to get other clients. But what did I do in the beginning? I undercharged. I assumed nonprofits couldn't afford my rates, so I gave deep discounts before anyone even asked on a sales call. I let people pick my brain for free. 00:23:56.415 --> 00:24:23.600 I felt so awkward following up on proposals that I'd either go completely silent or follow-up too aggressively, like zero middle ground. And I resisted talking about pricing on sales calls because it just made me feel uncomfortable. I wasn't used to selling myself, and I was already, like, kinda low on all the things that had happened and not felt valued. Right? So I was already kind of low on self confidence and then having to, like, sell myself. 00:24:23.600 --> 00:24:42.530 I was like, oh my gosh. Like, what do we how do I do this? And I spent way too many hours tinkering on my website instead of going out and actually making calls because of all of mindset and just, you know, experiences. These situations and with the mindset that I had and without support or training or no one's talking about this. It's so gate kept. 00:24:42.530 --> 00:25:16.580 That's why I talk about this all day long, right, about like how to price your your services and how to get clients and how to do sales with nonprofits and how to overcome objections. I talk about this all day long because it's so gate kept and it makes me mad. And because I didn't have the experience yet, that cost me money, time, and a lot of unnecessary stress. Once again, I was also that single mom with a toddler on WIC. I had a roommate in my late 30s and I remember being genuinely relieved to get those WIC benefits because it meant I could get groceries without wincing at checkout. 00:25:17.060 --> 00:25:30.375 But I also remember looking around the store before I pulled out that WIC card, like, no one is anyone watching me? Right? Like, oh my gosh. It was it was a little shameful. I felt shame, and there's no shame in it at all. 00:25:30.375 --> 00:25:40.450 Like, if you're on WIC, like, amazing. It is amazing resource, but I felt like a little bit, I already have my masters. I've already have all this experience. I've already done all these things, and here I am. Right? 00:25:40.450 --> 00:25:48.085 Here I am. Like, I really felt like, oh gosh. I mean, I love being a mom. I love all of that, but it just felt a little bit like, ugh. Right? 00:25:48.725 --> 00:26:13.020 So I had made decent money living abroad and then I stepped into the nonprofit work and then early entrepreneurship and the contrast was stark. But I knew something deep down that I had to hold on to. I did not have to be a martyr to do meaningful work. I'm gonna say that one more time because I know some of you are stuck there. I didn't have to be a martyr to do meaningful work. 00:26:13.260 --> 00:26:55.320 I didn't have to feel guilted or passionate about the cause and then sacrifice my own health. Right? I see a lot of you doing that and I understand it. I understand how much toxicity there is within the nonprofit industry and it doesn't even mean that it's people sometimes that are toxic, they could be the most beautiful people but there's just this toxic environment because the industry hasn't changed fast enough and I'm here to help change it. But before I got there, before I got to this place of having a movement for a billion dollars in grants and $30,000,000 in your businesses, before I got way up here I was still there, I was still like oh my gosh, but I believed, what I did is I believed before I saw it. 00:26:55.320 --> 00:27:15.145 I was like, there's got to be a way that I can have money and mission. The nonprofit sector tells this story that you have to choose and I stopped buying that story. I was like, no. And you can see I'm a little not very traditional. My route has never been really traditional but I was like, no. 00:27:15.145 --> 00:27:35.315 I don't believe that. I believe that you can make really good money. You can be a really good person and you can support your family and your health and that's actually going to help you support your community better. Here's the most important thing I want to say in this whole episode, so listen up. None of my success happened because I became the world's best grant writer. 00:27:36.115 --> 00:27:54.500 None of it. I changed my strategies. I learned. I read every single book, listened to every podcast, listened to every single audiobook about pricing out there. There's not that many, but I've a bought lot of podcasts about pricing, about showing up, about sales, entrepreneurship, etcetera, and I went full in for years. 00:27:54.820 --> 00:28:04.385 I changed my strategies. I changed my mindset. I changed my offers. I learned sales in an ethical way that didn't feel uncomfortable. I actually love sales calls now. 00:28:04.705 --> 00:28:23.670 I learned value based pricing, and I learned how to run a business. That's what changed things. Not perfecting my writing, not getting another certification, not working more hours, not doing more for my clients than they pay me for, but the business skills. And the results? I paid off all my student loans. 00:28:23.670 --> 00:28:36.685 I bought a condo with an ocean view. I renovated my kitchen. I take four to six weeks off every summer and every winter. We take around two to three weeks, and clients find me now instead of chasing them. Right? 00:28:36.685 --> 00:28:53.760 I'm working towards a million dollar retirement fund right now and I'm already over halfway there. That is what learning how to run a business did for me. I want you to think I started where many of you are. I started in the toxicity. I started without having, you know, capital. 00:28:54.560 --> 00:29:18.720 And after twenty one years as a grant writer, here's what I know to be true. Grant writing is a skill that is always in demand. Grant writing as a staff position is never financially secure, and grant writing is a skill anyone can learn. How I know all this is because I've worked with so many nonprofits now. You've seen, like, I was side hustling and working with, like, various nonprofits before. 00:29:18.800 --> 00:29:46.470 I even got into the nonprofit industry as a staff person. I've seen all the budgets. I know how close you are to losing your job even if you never see that. I also know what it's like to work in a nonprofit and I know that the the wonderful feelings that you can get from it with the passion and the causes, but I also know the toxicity and burnout and so that is very important to me. After twelve years as a freelance grant writing business, three more things. 00:29:46.470 --> 00:30:09.845 Freelancing provides real financial stability and freedom. I would have never been able to make this kind of money in the nonprofit sector ever. That's important to me, and I've been able to serve more and more non nonprofits and causes so many more. Like, we're moving towards a billion dollars of what I've helped, right, as a as a teacher, as a facilitator. And it also gives you a flexible schedule and location. 00:30:09.845 --> 00:30:31.885 You heard my story. I was doing it before I even knew what it was called. And it gives you the ability to have massive and lasting impact. That stability piece is the one that surprises people because from the inside of a job or a nonprofit, that staff job feels safe. It has a title, a salary, maybe health insurance, maybe, maybe a little office. 00:30:32.285 --> 00:30:40.125 Freelancing feels like a rope bridge over a canyon. Right? Like, oh my gosh. Like, I'm gonna take the jump or the dive they call it. Right? 00:30:40.605 --> 00:31:07.335 But when your income depends on a single organization's funding, you are only as stable as their grant portfolio. Budget cuts, and a lot of times that's on your shoulders to keep your job if that grant gets renewed or not. That's a lot of pressure to have on your shoulders. Budget cuts, leadership changes, federal funding shifts, we all know how fragile that can feel and be. When you have four clients though, you are never at the mercy of one. 00:31:07.495 --> 00:31:42.350 If one situation changes, you still have three others. And even if you're serving all that we have a client or a student in the mentorship and in 2025, in quarter one or, like, beginning of quarter two of twenty twenty five when all the federal grants were frozen and she only wrote federal grants, she literally lost a $100,000 in a week of contracts. And you might be like, well, what about that? Well, because she was a freelancer, because she followed our policies, and because I'm like, I wanna make sure you're financially safe and never in the situation that I was as much as possible. Right? 00:31:42.910 --> 00:32:06.910 She also had money saved up. So she continued to pay herself the same salary for months. Her business paid her for months even when she had no clients the same amount because she had a business, right, and because she had strategies. So so important. And we also know or when she was a burned out we have a lot of burned out in house grant writers that come into the academy. 00:32:07.070 --> 00:32:31.400 She left her job, took a few months to breathe, then needed support to build the business side. Within two months of getting that support, she made 18,341 in her freelance business. We have other parents who take on like, they wanna stay home with their kids. They take on a couple of jobs, and they're able to earn just as much or more than their full time job, but at half the hours. So there's all types of past. 00:32:31.400 --> 00:33:03.270 You don't have to have lived around the world or have grant writing experience even to start this. It's really learning the skill of grants does not take long at all. Learning the skills of business does not take long at all, but you need to have the training and the community to support so you can feel your nervous system can kind of set and you have everything to overcome that impostor syndrome. So you get to decide what your life looks like. As you can see, I've always kind of shaped mine, but I also got stuck in a place where was like, I don't like the way mine's looking right now. 00:33:03.270 --> 00:33:20.595 I want it to change. And it did not happen overnight. It did take time, but it's not gonna take it doesn't take you guys as long now as it took me because I've created the road map, and now we've tested it on literally over a thousand people. Right? So that's we know what works. 00:33:20.595 --> 00:33:46.285 We know what works. But I'm sharing all of this because I know how it feels to see someone who has been doing this for a long time and think, oh, she's just lucky. She has advantages, it was so easy for her. No, I started in a tiny apartment with a roommate living paycheck to paycheck trying to figure it all out and I did all this feeling the guilt and the weight of being a single mom. I had to learn the business side and I did and thank God I did. 00:33:46.285 --> 00:34:05.480 My entire life is now the dream, right? Like I really look at it and I'm like, oh, I just have moments throughout my day where I'm like, I'm so happy. I love my life. Like that's amazing, Amazing. So if you're new to this or struggling or sitting on the fence about whether this is actually possible, I want you to know this is. 00:34:05.480 --> 00:34:30.160 This skill is learnable. The business side is learnable, and the life on the other side of figuring it out is really, really good. Like I grew up in a very poor household with a single mom as well and with a sister and a brother and, you know, living in rural areas in Michigan and not getting child support and all of that having nuns bring us groceries. Like I didn't grow up with the silver spoon either. You know what I mean? 00:34:30.160 --> 00:35:00.160 Like I grew up still deciding I want to shape how my life can be. And it's taken me a long time and took me overnight. I've had my own journey, my own path, and it's been adventurous and amazing, but I could see where I could have stopped giving myself options, just feeling like, okay, I guess the job's okay, and then leaning in, could have like really leaned hard in that depression, right? That's what shook me out of it. But I want you to know that the business side is learnable. 00:35:00.160 --> 00:35:23.130 The life is really, you can have options. You can bet on yourself. It's better than betting on someone else to take care of you, 100%. You can definitely head over to grantwritingandfunding.com/academy to learn more about the freelance grant writer academy. That's where most people start in our programs, and it definitely teaches you both the grant writing and the business side. 00:35:23.130 --> 00:35:42.295 You will learn everything, my frameworks that I've spent more than a decade putting together, and it's been an amazing ride. And I love hearing from other students inside program when their life, it just clicks finally. And they're like, oh my gosh, I have options. I don't have to depend on anyone. Like I got this. 00:35:42.375 --> 00:36:26.535 Like even after the program finishes, I have something set up that will serve me for life. So, I mean, we've even had people like leave abusive situations, you know, just because now they can, they have the financial security that they can go out and make it. And to me, oh my gosh, like that makes me tear up thinking about it because it's just always like wow. The impact that having a business is more than just having a business and being like a business girly, it does really change your life. You can retire, you can still keep some money coming in, you can have little kids and stay home with them and be a mom and like change their lives because you're there and able to still make money. 00:36:26.535 --> 00:36:41.420 There are so many ways that you can utilize this for the rest of your life. So thank you so much for being here for this one today. Share it with somebody who needs it, and I'm gonna see you in the next bonus episode. I'm excited to share some of these behind the scenes with you. Alright. 00:36:41.420 --> 00:36:49.900 And let me know. Like, if this really touched you or you resonated with some of this, I would love to hear from you. Send me an email at holly@grantwritingandfunding.com. Alright. Talk soon. 00:36:49.900 --> 00:36:50.220 Bye bye.