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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.
[00:00:00] Kate: Welcome to another episode of Plenty. I am so excited to introduce you to a woman who is actually my neighbor. And we found out at an open house at pre K four at our daughter's school that we were in the same industry. And as we started chatting, we went to follow each other on Instagram. And it turned out that she had literally just tagged me in a post about reading my book, do less.
So Vilma is the number one female paid speaker in the Latin American market. She has over a million visitors to her website every single month. Teaching entrepreneurship and conversion. So digital sales. She consults with fortune 500 companies like Dell and how to increase their digital sales. And her curriculum is used in most business and entrepreneurship.
Curriculums in Spanish speaking universities. She is an incredible woman. She is funny. She is wise. I really love how unapologetic she is about who she is and how successful she is. So in this episode, we talk about. Vilma's background with money and how she rewrote her own money story. She shares some behind the scenes of some mistakes she made in her marriage, running her business with her husband and how she cleaned that up.
She talks about some advances she's made in the last year or so as a leader, how she got better at delegating. We talked about how to teach kids about money, and there's a very funny moment where she describes a moment on Christmas morning when her daughter made a particular request regarding money that I think you're gonna find funny and eye opening.
And so much more. Also, the importance of dressing. which really opened my eyes to some more possibilities in fashion. So if you are an entrepreneur, if you are a marketer, if you just want to step more boldly into your own version of success, this episode is for you. It is also a big deal because it's Vilma's first podcast interview in English because she's trilingual in Spanish, Italian, and English, but she usually She does all her content in Spanish.
So I'm so excited to be the first to get to interview her in English and you are going to absolutely fall in love with Vilma. Enjoy!
Welcome to plenty. 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. Every week we're going to dive in with experts and insights to help you unlock a life of plenty.
Let's go fill our cups.
Hi Vilma!
[00:02:28] Vilma: Thank you for being here.
Thank you, Kate. I'm excited because this is going to be officially my first interview in English.
[00:02:36] Kate: Woo! And English! Yes, in fact I, yes, I was looking and I was like, is it possible that Plenty is Vilma's English debut?
Yes, it is. I am so happy about that. Me too. And I'm very happy you're here. Okay. So, I want to know. Okay. You grew up in the Dominican Republic. Uh huh. Where are your parents entrepreneurs?
[00:02:53] Vilma: My mom, she wasn't actually, my mom worked for me right now.
[00:02:57] Kate: I know she does, which is so amazing. How many years has she worked for you?
[00:03:01] Vilma: Three years. I think that's one of the things that I love most about to be an entrepreneur, a serial entrepreneur, because I got that my mom quit her job for 23 years working at the same company with my uncle. And now she works with us and she's like amazing helping us to recruit.
Like the talent that we need. Oh. But my dad actually was really famous in the Dominican Republic. My dad has a Wikipedia page. And he was like one of the biggest celebrity in my country. He used to have a TV show on TV, a radio program. He used to help a lot of politicians. Yes doing speeches and getting like amazing results.
So yes, from my dad. He was an entrepreneur, but he wasn't good with money. Actually, he was making a lot of money. And actually I have something fun because I remember that my dad used to call you like, yes, you can came to to get your monthly payment. Like, okay. And we were like getting the checks, like everybody, he called everybody.
Come on in. I got money. And if you didn't change the check early, there were no funds anymore. Yeah. So I was the first one. Changing that check the other day. So yes, that was kind of like my, my dad is very famous. He make a lot of money, but you know, it wasn't like something more stable that I saw as a kid.
[00:04:31] Kate: So you learned by modeling. That, you know, you could be like a public persona and do big things, but then what do you think that you learned about money from that style of modeling from your parents?
[00:04:51] Vilma: I wasn't doing it, I think, in the right way because I was so afraid to not having money the other day. So, So I was obsessed with saving, and my mom, as an employee, she was always saving, and my grandma, she still used like the, the, the pocket, like a strategy that she put money into the different envelopes.
So my grandma still this day use that method. So I was like, okay, I can do that digitally with different accounts. And I, and I'm doing that right now, but my grandma and my mom, they are like obsessed. You need to save. Like every time like I call there and I'm like, Oh, we just did a launch and this is the biggest launch ever.
I'm so excited. We made that kind of money. And they are, Are you saving money? Are you thinking about your future? And I'm like, Okay, so imagine I was upset with saving that it was hard even for me to buy me something like as a gift or as a bonus because I did something amazing. So imagine like the opposite.
How did you to rewrite my story with money because when business was like not having a good month, I was feeling scared that I can lose it. Everything that I was, I wasn't able to make more money in the future because of my past. Yeah. And
[00:06:11] Kate: do you remember the moment when you realized you needed to rewrite your money story?
Like, was there a moment in time that was what was happening then?
[00:06:21] Vilma: It was like we were growing so fast. That's usually what happened with a startup. And if you do the things like in the right way, but then like I started seeing that we weren't growing. We were like stable and I was so afraid and I start thinking the worst, you know, and I have 40, 45 people, 45 family that they relied on my business including my family members.
So that was like a big responsibility. And instead of like asking for help, I started feeling like afraid. I couldn't sleep at night. It was like the worst thing ever. And I was like, okay, this is a problem with my mentality, with my mindset. So I started learning. I started reading a lot of books. I started listening to a lot of podcasts about money.
And then I discovered that with a small change, because I usually was an entrepreneur that when End of the month arrive. Oh my goodness. I had to pay that much to payroll, you know? Yeah, so everything that I was getting like money I was happy, but every time that I was about to pay to other like sharing my success my revenue I was feeling bad.
So imagine the bad energy that I was given I was like good energy when I'm receiving but bad energy when I'm giving so I did that small change And everything changed like I start to be more grateful, not only for what I'm making, but for what I can pay. So right now on my annual goals, there is like an amount of how much money I want to pay to others.
And that's going to be like the perfect like a KPI for the success of my business. I love that so
[00:08:02] Kate: much. What a beautiful KPI. How much am I able to give to others?
[00:08:06] Vilma: Yes. Between provider, affiliates payroll. Even my salary is how much my business is able. To share with
[00:08:14] Kate: others. Right, right. Absolutely. Okay.
Now, one of the things that I know about you is you're a brilliant marketer, . And thank you. Even though I do not speak Spanish fluently, I speak it enough to understand that you're a brilliant marketer from following you on Thank you. Social and you speak all over the Latin American market. Yes. And so I wanna know, like, how did you get started with your speaking career?
Okay. And how did you, what are some of the tips that you have for building. The level of success that you have as a marketing expert first as a speaker and then we'll get into have some questions about marketing. Okay.
[00:08:50] Vilma: So I have 12 years being a speaker. I was an employee and I was a speaker. I used to take like vacation days so I can travel like from Madrid that I used to live there to Mexico, Colombia, whatever they hire me.
And my friends were like, why are you taking vacation to more work? And I'm like, Hey, I'm working on my future and I'm doing something that I really love because I don't know if that happened to you, but for me, when I'm on a stage, it's like I belong there and I just want to be there. So that's one of the reasons that I traveled so much, even right now.
And my strategy was very simple at that moment. I wasn't thinking that was a strategy. But now I put it a name because you know, I'm a marketer names to everything. So my strategy is very simple is like my free content, it's better that the pay content of my competitors. So because I publish a lot of content.
But I use time blocking, like for example, just like you, you do different interviews in one day. You focus on one task, you excel that task, but then you save a lot of time. So that's what I do. I record, I think it's like four hours a month, we record for six week content. Yeah. Vertical content. So it's very easy, people don't understand that.
And that's what I do. I teach a lot for free. And because I sell also, pay online education, and I sell my career as a speaker, people say like, oh my goodness. If this was free, can you imagine like if we hire her or we pay to her? So that's like basically my public, my digital public relation campaign and my strategy.
And I use a lot like people, can you recommend that my, me as a speaker, I'm going to give you like a commission. Smart. I know. I, we don't do inbound, so we never call like a company. Do you want Vilma as a speaker? Because we, we. Sorry, we use inbound. We never do outbound. I see. Yes, nobody from my team. I don't know to like try to sell me
[00:10:48] Kate: so they're not pitching you.
No, no,
[00:10:49] Vilma: no, no, no But we receive a lot of inbound because they're doing the things that we are doing and also this program that I have it behind The scene like if you refer me, I'm gonna
[00:10:59] Kate: give you a commission. That is a really smart. Okay. I love that because people who hire speakers Yes, no people who hire speakers.
Of course. Yeah. So, okay. I love that. Very very very smart Okay. Now when it comes to marketing so much of the marketing world changes, especially because you and I are both in the digital marketing world. And so, what are like your top three, let's say your top three marketing strategies or pieces of wisdom that are timeless, that a hundred years from now are still going to be true about marketing, that you lean on every day in your company?
[00:11:34] Vilma: Okay, I think one of the mistakes that a lot of entrepreneurs do, It's like they only try to attract new customers and they forget about the clients that they already have. So most of the time, the marketing that I'm doing, the social media content that I'm posting is not only for new followers or new clients.
It's for my actual clients. So what I do is basically I docu selling. I call it like I document everything that I'm doing. Docu selling. Docu selling. Love it. Like my assistant is recording this behind the scenes. And she's going to be posting like, Oh, my first interview, that's going to get me more interviews.
Yeah. And also that's going to position myself as an expert. So that's important to do it. And I do that like every single day. But most of the time that's not marketing for new people. That's marketing for my existing client. So they see that I'm, Oh, Vilma have progress. Wilma is getting better. Wilma will be an amazing mentor for me.
Wilma will be an amazing teacher for me. So, that's my first recommendation. You need to work for marketing for new clients and for existing clients. And, I also, we discover a formula in our business. We know if a product is going to be a best seller, if 50 percent of the paid clients were existing clients.
And the other 50 percent are new clients. So you know that you have a bestseller that you can scale if 50 percent were existing client that they saw the value to buy again from you. Yeah. Yes. Something new and complimentary, and then you could convert stranger. into client. So every time that we have 50 50, we know that we need to scale and we need to put more money.
So that's the first thing. The second one is like people think that we need to choose between quality and quantity. You can have a vote. Like, there is like a small difference to be ordinary than to be extraordinary. So what I do is like, okay, I only have one hour. Maybe I can't record 30 reels, but I can record 15 good reels.
And what one of my strategies, what I can do today with the resources that I already have. I cannot be thinking, oh, I should have more money, I need more time. No. What I can do. And for example, right now, the reason I'm working for us is like, I go to the street to record. I, I was, I met your husband a few days ago on my parking lot because I was recording video.
And you think like, no, I need like a big studio. No, you need a phone. Not a selfie mode with the other part, and you, you just need to record with a good microphone that you can get on Amazon, like chip microphone. It's going to, no, it's going to be the best quality, but it's going to be good. So that's something that we need to do most of the time.
And I think the third strategy is like leverage AI and automation. You and I both, we use that and our cost is descending while everything is going up right now with marketing and advertising, we get cheaper leads, we get more leads, we get more sales because we are leveraging AI, automation and chatbots.
So right now is amazing. Not a lot of people do it. So we have a huge opportunity. That is so true. I've been doing chatbots on Facebook, I think seven years. Wow. Yes. Seven years. Since the beginning of ManyChild, one of the tools that we use, I was working with them doing on Facebook and it was amazing, the results.
And now we are doing it with Instagram and we are doing like everywhere in every social network that they allow to do it. We do it because it's easier. And you need to think what is going to be best for you, your business and for your clients.
[00:15:19] Kate: Totally. And I just recorded an entire episode this morning which is probably live already with our mutual person who we're a client of, Natasha.
And I loved that just from meeting you in pre K four at a parents gathering, it turns out we were also doing the same strategies behind the scenes with our digital marketing. Okay. So I love that. So number one, we're, we're just reviewing now. Number one was. Make sure that you are not only marketing to get new clients, but marketing to retain and serve the clients you already have.
Yes. Number two was you can have quantity and quality. Yes. And you want to not ask what else do I need, but ask how can I use the resources I already have. And then number three was using AI and automations. Okay, fantastic. Now. You have been able to really carve a huge audience and a huge platform in the Latin American market.
I think it's really important. There aren't that many women leaders in digital marketing. I don't know how it is in Latin America, but in the United States, it's still a bunch of white guys. And so, I'm curious, what are some of, I mean, obviously you're a woman, obviously you're a native Spanish speaker, but what are some of the additional things that set you apart as a business owner that you think have contributed to you being able to build a large audience and a large platform to really serve millions?
This is very
[00:16:43] Vilma: Instagram account, my metrics, I will have more a female than male. But when we go to see paid clients every year, I have 50 50. Really? Yes. So for me, that's a good KPI because even like a male entrepreneur or employee in a company, they see the value. But I think my, one of my strengths is like, I have consensus.
Like I show up every single day. Yes, it could be pre record the content. I'm not going to be lying. It could be like a we are recycling content, but I always show up every single day. So at the beginning of my career, it was really hard. So I just talk with a like a company that they sell you as a speaker and they told me for the Latin America market that only 25 percent were female.
On stages and I was like, I thought that we were like less because every time that I go to Ivan, maybe I'm the only female speaker or I'm the only one that is on main stage. So I thought like your number doesn't make sense to me, but I remember that the beginning of my career, I was an employee having a like a side job selling online.
I used to play the victim role. Oh, it's because I'm a female that I cannot sell, it's because I'm a woman, like, oh yeah, they sell more because they are men and they are more, they have more confidence and they don't have like a mental issue, you know, like I feel small instead of feeling bigger or feeling secure on myself.
I used to play that victim role. And then I discovered, look, I'm not doing good to anybody, either me. So I said, like, if I can get good results. So if I a female leader, like the industry and the market in general, I can be an inspiration to other woman. So my example is going to be the evidence that if I did it, you can do it too.
So that's why I don't see competitors. Because when I see a competitor, I'm seeing like, Oh, you are the evidence that I can do the same. I just really want to do that. Because sometimes you are like comparing yourself to another competitor and you don't even want. That result or the price to get that result.
But in my case, it's like I love to see people succeed because that's an evidence that I can do whatever I want. So I had to change that part. And once I change it, like I'm growing like a huge community inside of my community of women that they brought me letters every time that I travel around the world and they said, please do not stop what you're doing.
You know, you're a mom. You're a wife. You're a business owner. So you inspire us that we can do the same. And it doesn't matter like the age that we have. So I wasn't expecting that. But now that's part of my mission to keep doing that. And one of the thing that I actually use is dress to impress.
[00:19:44] Kate: Yes. I love this about you.
You always look amazing. And I found out that you actually have an entire extra room. Yes. It's dedicated to your amazing wardrobe, which my husband, Mike, was like, Vilma, can you please not discuss this with Kate? He was like, Kate, our guest room is not becoming your closet, but talk to me about your relationship with fashion.
I think it's actually really interesting. Like tell me
[00:20:10] Vilma: more. Okay. The first team, because people, when they, like, if I talk about fashion, they think like I spend a lot of money on fashion. Even my friend, they say all the time, my best friend. And I'm going to say like, You can spend your money the way that you like.
I spend the money the way that I like. And, also, people is afraid to say, like, for example, that one of their hobby is to do shopping. Like, for me, one of my hobbies, like, I read. Every morning, I'm reading. I'm learning. But I love to go shopping. Like, it's something, like, magical for me, and I love it. So, I enjoy it, but, every time that I'm taking things from my closet, eight people use mine.
So it's amazing because it's like a cycle, like I'm using it. I don't feel like I don't have a connection anymore. I don't see myself using that anymore. So I put everything in like a suitcase and every time that I go to the Dominican Republic, I put all those dresses to my family and friends in a suitcase.
Female, they get to dress. That's so wonderful. So that's my circle, the first thing that I do. I love that. And, and I'm not waiting, like things are not worth anymore. No, no, no. Like sometimes I take things with the ticket, but I, yeah. Sometimes you
[00:21:21] Kate: buy something and it just, yeah. You're feeling a moment in the store and then you get it home and you're not feeling it.
Yes. Yeah. And this is the
[00:21:26] Vilma: thing. Usually 90, 99% of the time, I never return something. If I bought it, usually I just pay the car. So , I already paid for that. I never give the clothes back, so I just give it to other person. You just pass it along.
[00:21:41] Kate: Yes. So you are really like allowing yourself to be a conduit of resources.
Yes.
[00:21:46] Vilma: Beautiful. All the time. But, I have a stylist. I've been working with her for four years. It was a rough bet because at the beginning my closet was only black. I'm just using black again four years later, actually. Because I used to go to Macy's and buy all the Calvin Klein's dresses. And it was like a uniform for me.
Every day like, you know, navy blue, black, sometimes white. It was hard for me. Why? But, and it was so boring. And then I was feeling insecure all the time. Usually, you know, it's not only for men. When I see like a really well dressed, And she looks so confident. And then I discover that when I was putting things that I really like it, I was watching myself on the mirror and I was feeling like, Oh my goodness, I'm invincible.
And just because what I'm wearing, that is something that I like is not like a trend. I don't even buy things for trends. Usually I buy things that I can use for years and I can reuse this skirt. I've been using this skirt this year. Like this is. Time eight maybe that I'm using it. Yeah, and I don't care and I show to my my Instagram account like hey, please repeat Yes, absolutely.
Please repeat and use it and again, it doesn't matter why? Because I like it why I'm not gonna be reusing something that I really like and love and yes Most of the time every week I'm buying new things that I love especially for my talks Yeah that now I'm using like big skirts and long skirts And I'm impressing even, like, the corporate guys that they are so hard to impress.
And they, after my talk, they go to me and they say, The way that you dress, and the knowledge that you have, I just want to congratulate you. And I'm like, okay. So that's why I use the phrase, I dress to impress. I love that. First myself, because I need that confidence to feel comfortable. And then to impress others, so they will never forget about you.
Well, that's the
[00:23:45] Kate: thing. It leaves a mark, right? It leaves a, they remember you. Obviously, you do have the goods to back it up. Like, you're very smart and you know what you're talking about. Your content is excellent. But, we, we are, you know, we are visual creatures. And we do so much of communication. You know, I know you know this, 90 percent of communication is non verbal.
And so, a lot of it is, what is the visual, and it doesn't mean we have to fit the standard. No, no, no. You know, you're saying like, you're dressing what feels good to you and what helps you feel confident. I love that so much. Talking to you about fashion has really expanded my horizons, in terms of like, oh, maybe that matters more than I think, or like, maybe I'll go for it more.
For now. For you around the transition of when you went from dressing in only black or navy blue, what was happening in your life and in your career four years ago where, where like you felt like you were ready to start dressing in color? I know it might seem like a small thing, but I think there's something important there that was happening energetically.
[00:24:55] Vilma: I, I even thought that I was depressed, I think at the moment, but I have been doing coaching with the same coach for six year. And I was asking, I remember every Friday, I'm, Anna, you think I'm depressed? And she was like, no, you don't know what is depression. Like, I promise you are not depressed. And I was like, I just don't feel good with my life, with everything that is going on.
And I have everything. I was having a business that was growing. I was having a healthy little baby. And then I discover, what happened? It was like, nobody told me that the day that Emma was born. I reborn because I used to be, okay, Vilma, a successful woman, speaker, whatever, all the tags that you want to put me, but I was a mom and I didn't know the feeling of being a mom to be responsible of a kid, like for real, because you can imagine what it's going to be, but until you have your baby, it's different.
So I lost myself. And I couldn't lose all the weight after the pregnancy. And now, I even have like less weight than before my pregnancy. So, if I see myself in the picture before having my daughter, and now I'm looking like, I'm looking so much better right now. But because I made peace that I was another person.
Yes. I rediscovered myself. I think I fall in love again with me. But with the new version and I start to value more things. I start to put a lot of limits Four years ago. I start to put limits. No, I don't want this. I don't like it and I start to like be a rebel Yes, and and even my mom and my family were like why you're doing this and like I don't like it I don't want him.
I don't want to do it. So I won't do it and it was so hard the beginning I think it was harder for me And to other people, but still this day I'm putting limits to everything. Even to my daughter. She's like, mommy Can you play Barbie with me? Honestly, I don't want to play Barbie And that's
[00:27:00] Kate: that is so my parent
[00:27:02] Vilma: Boundaries, so I'm teaching her that when she doesn't want to do something she doesn't have to do it She can speak herself and say what she want.
And sometimes I'm the one like Emma. Do you want to play Barbie? It's weird, but sometimes it happens to me and she's like, okay. Well, sometimes she's like, I don't want mommy and it's okay. But that cost me a lot of therapy. Let's say that I've missed a lot of knowledge, like professional knowledge and personal development too, but like the therapy and the coaching.
Oh my goodness. I think. It doesn't matter how much I spend, it's not going to be
[00:27:41] Kate: never enough. No, it's an ongoing lifelong process. So one of the things that we also have in common in addition to being moms and running digital marketing companies is also being married to our business partner. Oh yes.
And so I want to know a little bit more about your journey with Jose. Did you go into business when you first met or what happened? Like how did the business come about? How did you end up being business partners? So I
[00:28:04] Vilma: was an employee in an agency and a marketing agency. It was a marketing agency, but we only used to work with music branding projects.
Okay, what it was an agency only for music branding and We needed like a technology team and my husband one of his company is like a technology company software development Whatever and I asked to my ex boss like oh, can I refer you to my boyfriend? He has a company and we start working together. He was one of the providers of the agency and then he was like, Oh, we should like create a startups.
Like it was like a, something like digital for social media. We did it. It was, it was okay, but he was working when we moved to Miami, we decide to not put all the eggs in the same basket. That was like the strategy at the moment. And I think that was smart because it got the chance that. He could decide if he really want to work with me.
And it's not like, oh, this is now the legacy. This is now the family business. No, it doesn't have to be that way. I know that sometimes it doesn't matter like the husband or the wife, whatever, decide to push the other person. No, this is mandatory. This is like a family legacy. It doesn't have to be. In my case, Jose was working with the other company when we moved here.
And he was helping me like I promise you every small lounge that I was doing all my evergreen like funnels Because he is a tech guy and He said all with this story. She converted me into a marketer and I was helping her And he never asked for one dollar of the help that I was doing, he was doing with me.
And then we did like a launch. Oh my goodness, Kate. It was like, I was, I was, I had never saw that kind of money in my bank account. I remember that it was like on my bank every day, all the time. Like I was watching. She's looking, yeah. Yes. There was a lot of money. And I think Jose was doing the same because after a few days, after we we finished the launch, he asked me.
I'm going to be working with you. How much are you going to pay to me? And I was like, Oh, wait, wait, wait. I don't want problem with your marriage. So the same amount that I'm making, you're going to be making the same amount. So it's going to be 50 50. Okay. So you need, you don't need to worry. We are not going to be, Oh no, you make more money than me.
And I think that was like a wise decision. Because still this day is not easy because I'm the face of the business. So I get more like recognition and I have more fame that he has because now he's starting also to show, you're not like I'm surprised, but yes, that's cool. And it hasn't been easy, especially because we were trying to be two CEOs at the same time.
Tricky, tricky to boss. There is no bus. Yeah, I learned that in the hard way and it cost us like marriage therapy also and Since like I think it was three months ago that we We decide to not do it anymore. I was hired my coach She was in the middle of us every two weeks so we could make decisions without fighting Or without putting, like, our personal life in the middle of the business.
Anything that was really helpful for a lot of time, because it helped us to have, like, a safe space. I'm telling what I want, you're telling me what you want, and together we decide what we are going to be doing. So, what I recommend is always ask for help and take the help. Because sometimes you pay for the help, you ask for the help.
and you do nothing, right? And you stay in the same place. So, right now, I think we are in a good place. Actually, I'm surprised how good we are doing right now, everything with our marriage, with Emma, because she's getting older, it's easier, and in the business also, now we don't care about the problem that we used to care about in the past, but I also think that both of us, we write our story with money.
Because I promise you that every time that we were like fighting at home usually was because something unrelated with money. And it wasn't that we were losing money, but I think it was we were scared. We were operating a business not about only scarcity, but we were afraid. We were operating a business by the fear.
And I think when we both changed that, everything started to change. Mostly. Because we both thought that we had to work eight hours, 10 hours a day. So we went from to be operators, even if we were business owner, to be like a real founder. So now the team that decide to work with us, we give them responsibility and they do.
Like I'm not on the top of them most of the time and they do a better job. It's amazing. When you decide that no more, I'm not going to be an operator. I'm going to be a founder and a founder is a visionary. 10 percent ideas, 80 percent the team do it and you 10 percent review and say, okay, this is ready to launch.
When we change that both of us, we rewrite our money story. I think everything started going, like, really well. I love
[00:33:31] Kate: hearing that so much. So what are some of the things in that transition that you stopped doing as an operator that you were able to let go of and let your team do? Like what are just some practical
[00:33:45] Vilma: examples?
Like for example I used to be really bad delegating because I thought that I could do a better job. And that's your ego talking. So you put down your ego, and you start to act like a like a leader. And a leader has other leaders. And a leader is growth, so the other leaders also growth. And a leader, they don't have, they don't have fans.
They have followers. They have people that believe in their mission. So, I just try to be an example to my team. So they see me as a high performance leader, they see me as a high achiever so they can see what I want and the way that I work. I have to be honest, it's not easy to work with me because every time that I do, I try to excel.
I try to be extraordinary. You do have a high
[00:34:34] Kate: level of excellence. Oh
[00:34:35] Vilma: yes, and I and I think
that's the way, that's one of the values of my company, right? But... Then when I start to delegate, and it was incredible because I was starting, I was start having a lot of free time, it was like, Oh, I have nothing to do. This is amazing. And then my coach for a few months helped me to learn how to be bored and enjoy to be bored and enjoy to not to do nothing.
But then I forgot the follow up. And then when I was waiting for the result, there were no results. Because I was good delegating, but not doing the follow up. So I had to learn again, in a bad way, how to do it. Right now, what I do is like, I take my time. Maybe when I want to delegate, I can spend one week creating one email.
With everything, all my expectation, all the things that I want, all the help that I can provide. Like for example, I use an app that is called Noted. That app, I can record voice. And you do a transcription. So instead of sending like WhatsApp audio or emails that nobody will understand, I put my heart into every task that I want to delegate and I help them.
And after I'm done with that, sometimes I ask, How can I help you to do your job? Yes. That simple question change everything around. Great question. So yes, I'm delegating with purpose, maybe. We call it that way. Hmm. What else I think I'm doing follow up. I'm doing more frequently, but in meetings like I do weekly meetings, weekly meeting for approval, weekly meeting to create, to innovate, to I don't know, plan something else because otherwise you had to stop to doing your things to do
[00:36:27] Kate: their things.
Very disorganized. Yes. Yes. Well, that's back to time blocking and batching. Oh, yes. So that you're doing the same kind of tasks. For a day, or for an afternoon, or at least for a couple of hours, or whatever, and you're not constantly switching
[00:36:39] Vilma: contexts. Yes, and the last thing is like, every time that they call me, we have a problem.
Or they say to me on email, oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. If you have a problem, or the company has a problem, bring me your solutions. Yes. And together, we are deciding what solution... Use or try, but because I promise you, sometimes I went to the office, I go to the office and I'm like, it's only 12 and I feel like I'm so tired because I was making decision the whole time and you need to make quick decision with not a lot of information and it's going to be my responsibility.
So now we also share the responsibility. So we together decide what is going to be
[00:37:21] Kate: the best. I love that. So much. Very, very, very smart. Okay, so, and then with your daughter. Huh. So we, I, you know, I have an eight year old and a five year old, but you have your five year old daughter, Emma, who's in class with Ruby.
Yes. And I want to know how you are talking to her about Money because already our five-year-olds are aware of money, they're asking for things, they're whatever. And so what are you, what are you teaching her? Are there any systems that you're setting up around allowance or savings or just any, anything like that?
[00:37:58] Vilma: So we haven't started with the allowance part because Emma did something that I'm still thinking how to react to that. So, What we did last year, you know, Santa Claus. Huh. Give to her, her first wallet. Mm hmm. With money inside. And we put 50 euros because we were about to go to a trip to Madrid. Huh.
And to Europe. So we decide, so she can start like to paying for things, whatever she wanted. Mm hmm. So we decided 50 bucks was, was okay. And when Emma opened the wallet, she asked me, where is my credit card? Because. I don't use cash, I only use cash to give away to other people, because I have a generosity wallet.
And she was like, where is my credit card? And I was like okay, I open my wallet and I say, I cannot give you my credit cards because they have my name. And, and I, but I say like I have a gift card, it's only half like a, I, I think it was like a, a dollar and she was like, that's not enough mommy, I want your credit card or just like that credit card that you use it and use it.
So I'm still figuring out how I'm going to explain to my daughter how credit cards works because we are living in this moment. That she doesn't see cash around. And so that's the reason why we are not doing that anymore. But the relation with money, because I was raised in a way that I'm good, okay?
Don't get me wrong. But I think I can do better for my daughter in the moment that we are living. And so she can have like tools that will help her to get through their problem with money in the future. I... Explain everything to Emma about money, like so Emma, you know that I'm working and because I work every two weeks, I get money.
So every time that I get my payroll, Emma, I got my money, my salary. I start like, so she learn like, okay, my mom and dad, they are working and they have salary. And then I explain, for example, I don't know to my sister, one of my best friend, my assistant usually go a lot to my place and I say, Emma, we pay to them too.
So they have a salary too because they help us in an amazing way. The help that we have at home, I said to Emma, we pay and we pay really well to her because she's very important for us. She's the one she's taking care of the house. She's the one that make your lunch boxes. So I try to explain the whole thing.
And every time that I go outside and I work as a speaker because I'm leaving my daughter, I say, Emma, remember, mom always leave but mommy always come back. You need to remember that and then I say what is gonna be doing mommy and she said mommy's gonna be doing something that she loved She's a speaker and she helped a lot of people and a lot of families and she make money And my husband was shocked the first time that she said that and he said like can you remove the money part?
I'm not no she need to understand that. I'm getting out of my place Not having my you know, all the things super comfortable that we have when we we don't have to travel Because I'm making money, and that money is gonna be buying things for our future, investing in our future. So we have that kind of conversation.
For example, my husband was raised the same way that me. Nah, we don't have money. I don't have money. And Emma was another, again another teacher, because we went to Target. And I was like, no Emma, I don't have money. Because she wanted like two toys instead of one. Huh. Typically. And when we went to the register, I was having like a full car, and she said to me, you lied to me, because you said that you didn't have money, and you paid for all of this.
And she was really serious. And that hit me so hard. So every time that my husband was like, Oh, my mom. No, we don't, Emma. No, we don't have money. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no. In this house, we always have money, but we have priorities. Yes. So we change. We don't have money that we have priority. Oh, this is not the best moment.
Oh, we need to choose. What do you prefer? You want to go to a vacation like because kids are smart. So when you travel like tourists, main cabin and you try a business class, they already know the difference. So Emma ask, can we travel to Spain in the when, in, in the plane that has the bed? And I'm like so every time that she's asking for Martin, I remember, Emma, you wanna go in the bed or you wanna go in the seat?
And she's like, no, I wanna go with the bed, mom. So yes, we need to use in a wisely way, the money. We cannot spend money without thinking about that because then we get good present. Good. So that helped me a lot with her. We are still working on that. And I think I like it the way that we are doing. I think I could learn even more.
We're trying to explain right now how she can invest money. Yeah. Because, you know, she's losing her teeth? Yeah, dientes. Los dientes. And she's getting money. So now we need to start thinking, like, we are going to introduce her how she can put money Yeah. And then get more money back. So that's the next step.
[00:43:08] Kate: I love that. I remember one time I ended up sitting next to a eight year old girl, I think on an airplane who was like an unaccompanied minor on, or a, yeah, unaccompanied minor on an airplane and somehow she and I got to talking about money. Okay. This is before I had kids. And she had been given, she was excited, she had been given money to take on her trip with her wherever she was going.
And so I started to try to explain to her the benefits of investing in compound interest. And I came up with this whole... Metaphor about gardening and watering your garden and how the plants just keep growing but you have to plant the seeds and I don't know that she got it, but It was very funny. And I think that our kids like if we teach them.
Oh, yes the value of time That they have now early if they invest that money that it can turn into more money And I think there's got to be a gardening analogy that would work. So I love that We'll keep talking about how to teach ruby and emma and penelope about money And you need
[00:44:09] Vilma: to then record that because I think a lot of parents i'll come up with it Yes, I think a lot of pattern will need that for sure
[00:44:15] Kate: I'm doing a lot of reading right now because it does feel penelope just turned eight, you know, okay, so it feels like okay Like, it's important.
Like, now I really want to teach them and, and like you, I turned out okay. And, I would like to be a little more conscious about it than, than my parents were. Okay, this has all been so wonderful. I just love hearing more about your story. And, I'm curious, I have two more questions. Okay. One is, What is your dream right now that you're working on?
What is your next vision that you're working towards? Because you have created tremendous success. You run all of these companies. You have a beautiful home. You have a beautiful daughter. You speak all over the world. And you know, you do a lot of things already, but I know that you're very ambitious, and there's always more because you're like that.
So what is next
[00:45:00] Vilma: for you? So I just discovered this year The Grand Cardone did 200 million. with the educational part of their businesses, in a set, in a year, in a set. Okay, that was selling in English, that you have more people to sell than in Spanish. Is that true? Are
[00:45:17] Kate: there more English speakers in the world than Spanish speakers?
I
[00:45:20] Vilma: think that's true. You think that's true? Okay. At least people that they don't have the English language as the first language, they understand and they know English as their second language. I
[00:45:30] Kate: see, right. That's the reason why Because there's overlap, right? Yes, overlapping. Okay, gotcha.
[00:45:34] Vilma: So I was like, okay, I can do 100 million a year between all my businesses.
So that was like the, the seat of the big plan that I'm still working on that. Because what I do is like I have a business plan for my personal brand. And one of the things that I want to achieve on one of the income sources that is speaking, I want to make 1 million as a speaker in one year. I had been doing that in the past, but not in one year.
Because if I achieve that, That will be a KPI of my success on stages, and I had to keep growing as a speaker, as a improve my communication skills, the teaching part, everything. So that's one of the things that I want to do, and it's not also about the money, because you know, after TATS and up in between, it's not about the money, it's about how can I be...
So I can impact and I can be the evidence to other women to do the same. But, if I close my eyes, I have to be honest, every time, without the economic and financial goals, if I close my eyes, I see myself driving around the world, writing a lot of books around the world, doing a lot of talks on stages, and helping companies as an advisor.
And, it is hard because that will be like I have to do homeschooling with my daughter, that we have to be traveling a lot most of the time, so that's a conversation that we are having like I think every month, Jose and I are still planning on that, because I want to ask to my daughter in a few years, do you want to have that kind of life?
Because right now she loves to travel. I think this is going to be the same with her daughters. But, I don't know if she really wants the other part. So, I'm waiting for her to be old enough that she can choose what in the future she wants for her. So we can take a decision as a family and not me.
Imposing my dream over my family dreams, over the pet. So, that's my plan, but let's see. I'm not in a rush. I used to be in a rush, Kate. Like, I promise you, I was like, running all the time. Like, thinking, like, I'm not in a rush anymore. Actually, I was for eight years in my comfort zone. Because the natural pet will be like, Oh, you keep growing.
You keep growing. And I was like, do I really want that for me? Or I want to do it because I'm supposed to do it. So I spent eight months listening to myself. A lot of quiet time, me time, all the time. Staying at home, no working, no fun, no nothing. Listening, what do you want? Because, for example, this is going to be super, super stupid, but I used to love to TJ Maxx.
Like, I promise you, still to this day, I love to go to Maxx and buy amazing things that you find, like a treasure, and you pay nothing compared to the rest. Like, I love to do that. And then I start, like, every time that I was doing here in Miami, HomeGoods, TJ Maxx, I start, people start to recognize me, and I hurt them.
Oh my goodness. Look, she's here buying, and then they go to you, can we take a picture? And I was like, no makeup, you know, hoodie, whatever. And then, you start thinking like, my life is not private anymore. Whatever I do, I will have people that will know me. For my exposure on social media and I was like, do I really want that part that like taxes that you have to pay to be like a well recognized people.
So I didn't know if I really want that. And then after eight months, I decide that I'm going to try it in another, like now I have another mindset that it makes people happy sometimes when they met someone that they admire. But I couldn't understand that, Kate, because I never had this fun moment with someone.
Like, even when I admire someone, like, I don't know, Tony Robbins, Rankard Dawn, and I got the chance to be with them, I'm not, like, a fan. I'm just a grateful person. So, I couldn't understand people that, when they were, like, having that moment. So, I couldn't understand if I really want that for my life, or also for my daughter, because, for example, we are not taking Emma anymore to malls.
Because when I get to people, they want to take a picture with my daughter, and I don't want to sound like you know. Yeah,
[00:50:00] Kate: absolutely. It's a
[00:50:01] Vilma: safety issue. I know, like, I expose my daughter when I want, but you exposing a picture with my daughter, I'm not comfortable with that. And I have to be honest with that part.
So, for example, we are limiting Emma's exposure to malls in Miami, because I have a lot of community around the world, and you know Miami is the favorite place in the United States. Absolutely. So everything, everywhere that you go here in Miami, in a mall, you will find tourists from everywhere. So yes, that was like a hard thing.
That was one of the biggest limits that I put this year. Boundaries.
[00:50:34] Kate: Yes. I love your talk about boundaries. It's so important. And it really, boundaries add so much to the richness of life. So I think that's you could go back and tell yourself a piece of wisdom, something you would want to tell yourself about money, and you're about, you know, the age somewhere where you're going off on your own.
So sometime between the age of 18 and 22 in that. Age range. What would you go back and tell Vilma about money?
[00:51:05] Vilma: Keep invest in your knowledge. And skill and skills because once. You have the knowledge and the skills, you can make money always. Like, I wish that I knew that before. Because now I consider myself, one of my tags, I love to put tags on myself, I don't mind, is I'm a moneymaker.
I can impact and help people while I'm making money. And I thought that that was like hard, and that was like something mean to say, like, you're a moneymaker. No, it's not that I care only about money, but I know how to make money while everybody wins. So I wish that someone told me that when I was like between teenager and an adult life, that you invest in knowledge, you...
Education is a solution. I truly believe that. That's one of my screen saver on my phone. Like, every problem that you have, with the right education, you will get through. Like, your book about money... I've helped a lot of people. Why? Because they were thirsty for the right education to start working and taking care of their story or their problem with money.
So yes, now I love to be a moneymaker, I love to teach entrepreneurs how they swift their mindset. Yes, I'm a moneymaker. It doesn't matter if you don't have a good month, it doesn't matter if, like, a debt was too high or you did, like, bad movement. Remember? So, what can I do with the resources that I have?
That's one of the things that I love to be now, an America citizen, is like, here is a country of opportunities. But also, I travel around the world, and people think because they are from Dominican Republic, or Argentina, or Venezuela, they think that they cannot succeed because of their countries. And I said, look, if in your country, people is making money, and In those country, a lot of people are making a lot of money also.
Why you can't do it? They are just like you. But maybe they have another mindset, they have another vision. So start learning not only about how a people is successful now. Ask them or listen to interview from them. How was at the beginning? How they really started? So that help me to put like focus because sometimes you put, Oh my goodness.
Like, oh my God, look Kate, she's so successful because I want to tell a story like one of my friends from Spain told me, you need to read this book, do less. I was like it makes sense because I was a workaholic. I was working a lot, my friend from Spain and I, obviously I bought the book from Amazon and I couldn't stop reading.
I was like in my bed and my husband was like, are you going to be finished that book today? And I was like, yes, of course. And I put a story tagging Kate. And then we met at school and we were like, Oh, give me your Instagram and we discovered that I was tagging her. She was my neighbor. It was so funny. It was so funny.
So yes, thank you for that.
[00:54:07] Kate: Oh my God. So beautiful. I just love listening to you. I love your enthusiasm, your knowledge. You've opened my eyes and helped me expand my own vision. And I'm so grateful for that. So if people want to connect with you more, where should they come find you?
[00:54:22] Vilma: Vilma Nunez. That's, you can look you can put Vilma Nunes on Google and you will find all the social networks, everything.
Everything is in Spanish right now, but I think this podcast and other things that I've been doing, they're going to be like an opportunity that I'm going to take to explore. At least I'm going to explore again.
[00:54:41] Kate: I'm so excited for you with that. Thank you. Thank you so much for this conversation. I appreciate you.
Thank you. Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of Plenty with Vilma Núñez. It was so fun to get to dive deeper with my neighbor and fellow mom at school and incredible digital marketer, entrepreneur, and speaker. So I know for me, I'm taking away some really important lessons around how to talk to my kids around money, Different things about roles and responsibilities with my husband at work and how to think about marketing in new and different ways.
Plus, I'm going to be looking at my closet with new eyes. So I'm excited to hear what your takeaways are. Please go ahead, if you liked this episode, rate our podcast, leave a review, share it with a friend, tag us on social, and I can't wait to see you on the next episode of Plenty.
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