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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.
I've been doing this work for a while. I'm in the health and wellness world. Sure. And I've always written my manifestations down. I did my abundance work like a good girl, and I always say to Brian, like, I get it in my head.
Lauren Chaitoff:Yeah. I get it. But I'm not I didn't even use the word embodied because I don't even think like, I was like, but I'm not feeling it. I'm not feeling it. Yep.
Lauren Chaitoff:And what you taught me was you have to get before the thought. Hello. Today kicks off
Kate Northrup:a new series on Plenty that we only do once a year. It is a series taking you behind the scenes with our students. So today, you're gonna hear from Lauren and Brian, and their story is absolutely incredible when it comes to their reclamation of financial power and financial ease and relaxation. So no matter where you are in your journey around your money, listen in because Lauren and Brian were in a place in their lives where they were feeling up against a wall. It was a sink or swim moment around their own finances and their own sources of income.
Kate Northrup:Brian had been let go from his high, high paying job, and suddenly, they needed a new plan. So if that resonates with you, if you've ever been in the place where you're, like, looking for the corporate job to give you the benefits and the, quote, unquote, security, if you and your partner struggle around money conversations, if it's a source of tension in your lives, then Lauren and Brian's story is for you. They are delightful. They are delicious, and their story is so powerful and transformational. So enjoy Lauren and Brian, our Relaxed Money case study.
Kate Northrup: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 gonna dive in with experts and insights to help you unlock a life of plenty. Let's go fill our cups. Please note that the opinions and perspectives of the guests on the Plenty podcast are not necessarily reflective of the opinions and perspectives of Kate Northrop or anyone who works within the Kate Northrup brand.
Kate Northrup:Hi. Welcome to Plenty.
Brian Chaitoff:Thank you.
Kate Northrup:I'm so happy you guys came in person. Thank you for saying yes.
Lauren Chaitoff:Oh my god. Thank you for asking.
Brian Chaitoff:My gosh. It's an honor.
Lauren Chaitoff:Thank you for having us.
Kate Northrup:Thank you. Okay. So I wanna know, just for our listeners, can you kind of give us the idea of the constellation of your lives? What do you do for work, kids, you know, just kind of like the the the facts of the general Yeah. Broad overview of your life.
Lauren Chaitoff:Would you like me to do the broad overview?
Brian Chaitoff:Please. Okay.
Lauren Chaitoff:I'm gonna do I'm gonna I'm gonna okay. Broad overview. So we've been married about fourteen years. We have two girls like you. Ours are nine and 12.
Lauren Chaitoff:And we own a children's yoga business called Yogi Beans that was started in 02/2007. Mhmm. And I'd say it wasn't oh, it wasn't You've
Kate Northrup:got a really long term business.
Lauren Chaitoff:Yes. And we had some major money blockages to the business.
Brian Chaitoff:Different iterations?
Lauren Chaitoff:Different many different iterations, many poor business decisions, poor business partners. So I'd say it wasn't until 2019 where I had to take out a loan to buy my business back Mhmm. That we had full ownership of the business and things started to change. Okay. So it's very long journey.
Lauren Chaitoff:And in 2023 what do you wanna take over? Oh, okay. I'm gonna keep going. In in 2023, Brian was as we were running the business, Brian always had the 6 figure job. Had the insurance.
Lauren Chaitoff:Yeah. Had the security. Yep. Right? Because the business for a while was a liability, business partners, ex business partners, legal fees, all that.
Lauren Chaitoff:So Brian was always kind of the anchor or the breadwinner. And in 2023, Brian got let go from his tech startup when the whole kind of tech world
Kate Northrup:Imploded. Imploded. Yes.
Lauren Chaitoff:And our life imploded at the same time. So in 2023, he got let go from his tech startup. We had our business, which was doing well. We had full ownership. Yep.
Lauren Chaitoff:But we were still having this 6 figure salary
Brian Chaitoff:Yeah.
Lauren Chaitoff:Insurance and all of that. And after a year of Brian looking for work and things starting to feel really low. April is my birthday. Last year, April was a really low point.
Brian Chaitoff:Yeah. So my birthday was in May
Lauren Chaitoff:of low We were really starting to feel like a sink or swim moment. I was like and I was in a bad place. What's going on with my life? Why can't Big Brian get a job? And lots of resent, lots of anger.
Brian Chaitoff:Right. With these prevailing structures about money and jobs still very much active Yeah. During that time. I do this, here's that. You The separation.
Kate Northrup:Right. And and, like, possibly some stuff in there about traditional gender roles and all it. Programming. Partnership.
Brian Chaitoff:It brought to surface everything. Yeah.
Lauren Chaitoff:Everything. So that was 2023, '20 '20 '4, a year later, low point. And I kind of had a Lauren, you're either gonna sink this family, you're gonna ruin everyone's life, or you're gonna rise to the occasion. And, like, we're gonna figure this out. And that's when I saw you with Mama Gina on, like, a live or something.
Lauren Chaitoff:No way. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh my god.
Kate Northrup:That's amazing because I didn't know you came through Regina.
Lauren Chaitoff:No. I I came to I've probably I I found you through Megan. I found you through Duless. I think I I feel like you and I might have been, like, early the the early oughts been in a room together at Megan's prom Yeah. So I think I found you through Megan Watervilles.
Lauren Chaitoff:Duless. Like, I've known you for long time.
Kate Northrup:Oh. So I But but that live popped up with Regina, which I was doing in my car in a parking lot outside a school visit in Miami, and it was, like, literally a hundred degrees. And I couldn't keep the car on because it was too loud for the live. Sweating my ass off. Regina was asking me ridiculous questions, which she always does.
Kate Northrup:Oh my god. That's really funny.
Lauren Chaitoff:So I saw you on that, and I thought to myself at this, like, low point in my life. I was like, relax money. I'm like, that, like, I'm like, that would be nice to be relaxed about money kind of like Yeah.
Brian Chaitoff:Right? Situation was anything but relax.
Lauren Chaitoff:Anything but relax around money. And I kind of, like, chuckled at the name, but it caught me because I was like, I need relax money. That but I, you know, I watched. I remember where I was. I was putting my makeup on.
Lauren Chaitoff:I watched the live for, like, three minutes, and then I kind of, like, got swiped. So I was like, oh, okay. Kate from Duless. Yeah. Then I got an email from Jen Rasiope.
Lauren Chaitoff:Oh. Who I was, like,
Kate Northrup:obsessed with in her book. I freaking love Jen. Amazing. We gotta get her on the podcast. So good.
Lauren Chaitoff:Side note. Yeah. And right around this time, I had this epiphany. I was, like, at the sink or swim moment, and I said to myself, the universe is giving us pings, Brian. Mhmm.
Lauren Chaitoff:You're not meant to get a job. I was like because it was so low and we were he was applying for things that were so not in alignment. And I finally had this surrender and I was like, you're not meant to get a job. Yeah. You're meant to work with me and we're meant to grow yogi beans together.
Lauren Chaitoff:Like, I just know it and that's really scary to be like, you're not gonna get the the job, our security, our insurance. So we made this decision and that's when I got the email from Jen. And I was like, oh my god. A free reading with Jen, which I was like, you know, and I was like, this relax money. I'm like, Brian, we need to do a discovery call.
Lauren Chaitoff:We need that something about this is like, I feel like if we're gonna make this shift in our life, where we're doing the business together and it's a huge change for us, like, we need help. Yeah. So we did the discovery call with Takesha. Oh. Obsessed with.
Lauren Chaitoff:Love your team is
Kate Northrup:Takesha is
Lauren Chaitoff:the gift moment. Just the moment. She's so great. Takesha. Yep.
Lauren Chaitoff:And what was really huge for us was when Takesha said, if you join Relax Money, your partner
Brian Chaitoff:That was the kicker.
Kate Northrup:Okay. So so that was the kicker for you was like, okay, you get to like, your partner gets to do the program
Brian Chaitoff:Yes.
Kate Northrup:For for, you know, one login per romantic partnership, essentially. Yes. If you're in a, I suppose we could also extend that work.
Brian Chaitoff:But yes. It was a great opening. I Yeah. Had no resistance to to going in the program and being with Lauren, but just that fact that Tisha
Lauren Chaitoff:So your partner can do it
Brian Chaitoff:for both of you.
Lauren Chaitoff:Cool. Was huge. And I was like, Brian, if we're gonna take this leap, because I was scared. Yeah. I am a very, like you said, roles, security, like insurance, more like all of that.
Lauren Chaitoff:And had so much scarcity mindset around money. And we were like, we're gonna do this. And it felt so it was like a okay. We're gonna make this transition and this huge change in our life that's gonna affect us financially. Yeah.
Lauren Chaitoff:And we're gonna have you
Brian Chaitoff:Yes.
Lauren Chaitoff:To kinda guide us through it. And that, Kate, I can't tell you. It changed our life Wow. Going through this huge transition.
Kate Northrup:That timing is so interesting. I okay. I wanna come back to that. And Brian, I'm curious for you, like, talk me through that year, twenty twenty three for you, and into this moment when Lauren said, like, you're not meant to go get a job. Like, what was going on inside you Yes.
Kate Northrup:During that time?
Brian Chaitoff:It's a very hard year 2024.
Lauren Chaitoff:Twenty '20 '3.
Brian Chaitoff:Twenty '20 '3 into early twenty twenty four. Historically, I always got a job rather quickly within one to three months in a crazy high risk, high return world of the tech startups. Yeah. And this was very different. It did not pan out that way.
Brian Chaitoff:And it evolved into notions of, like, what is this job that I'm getting? Where does this fit into my life? How how long is this going to oh, what is this gonna do for us? It just it surfaced so much, not just a job, but who am I? You know?
Brian Chaitoff:What do I want in a job? And it was so shrouded with job, job, money, money. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter at anything. Just get a job.
Brian Chaitoff:Get get a job. It was purposeless. It was aimless. Wow. It was kind of subservient to our subservient to our our familial global situation, just get a job.
Brian Chaitoff:Yeah. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter your feelings or anything, where or when or commute or not It's It was I was lost, and we were unhappy, and the family life was just stressed out.
Kate Northrup:Yeah. And then what did you feel like when Lauren said, this is you're not meant to get a job. You're meant to join me in yogi beans and grow this with me.
Brian Chaitoff:It was humongous. It was a relief. It was over a birthday dinner, and I reached for her arms over, and I got a little teary eyed because I realized once again, Lauren found the summoned the energy of on behalf of us and our family. And, yeah, she she saw that, well, we we can either be pulled down or we can grow together.
Lauren Chaitoff:Yeah. Yeah. It was one of those, like, you know, where you hit sometimes you need to hit that lowest point in order to
Kate Northrup:that weren't true, but it just is.
Lauren Chaitoff:Kind it kind of, you know, it was like that surrender moment. Totally. Like, what are we gonna do? Are we gonna, like, sink or swim? And then finding relaxed money and being like, that's what I need.
Lauren Chaitoff:I need to be
Kate Northrup:relaxed about in this big transition for our family.
Lauren Chaitoff:I had blockages around abundance. Uh-huh. And something that you taught me, Kate, that was so profound. I mean, I've been doing this work for a while. I'm in the health and wellness world.
Lauren Chaitoff:Sure. And I've always written my manifestations down. I did my abundance Yeah. Work like a good girl, and I always say to Brian, like, I get it in my head. Yeah.
Lauren Chaitoff:I get it. But I'm not I didn't even use the word embodied because I don't even think, like, was like, but I'm not feeling it. I'm not feeling it.
Brian Chaitoff:Yep.
Lauren Chaitoff:And what you taught me was, you have to get before the thought. Like, I'd read all love Joe Dispenza which read the books and be like, this is great. Why is it not working? And the way that you tied in the nervous system healing with abundance work, I said to Brian, I said, I kinda feel like, how how have I been in this world so long and I didn't know about nervous system healing? I was like, how have I been doing this?
Lauren Chaitoff:And, like,
Kate Northrup:this is brand new to me.
Lauren Chaitoff:It was like the missing piece.
Brian Chaitoff:Yes. And you are a kinesiatic person. Yeah. Yeah. And movement based.
Lauren Chaitoff:Yes. That was Yeah. Yeah.
Kate Northrup:That's amazing. Now I'm curious. What were some of the fears that were you know, you said when Tequisha said, okay, your partner can do this with you, you know, for, you know, essential I mean, it sounds so cheesy, but it's like two for the price of one. Right. Great.
Kate Northrup:It was great. Right? That was big for you guys. What other fears or hesitations were coming up around doing this work? Because it's not a meaningless investment, especially when you are changing your financial situation so dramatically.
Kate Northrup:Like, it's significant. People really have to think about it.
Brian Chaitoff:And it's and it can be hard?
Lauren Chaitoff:Yeah. Yeah. What what was the question? What were
Kate Northrup:the fears? Like, what were your what were you worried about?
Lauren Chaitoff:Money. I was worried about, like, can we do this? Right. Can we
Brian Chaitoff:Monthly expenses. Yeah. Can we meet our monthly expenses?
Kate Northrup:Yeah.
Brian Chaitoff:And be free, you know, to own our own business.
Lauren Chaitoff:I I think something you said too is really important. Like, when we went into this, like, I kind of put on my, like, Lauren's student hat. You know? I get there. I'm like, if I'm gonna do this and Right.
Lauren Chaitoff:I remember, you know, it was an investment, and you said something like, the best investment you can make is in yourself.
Kate Northrup:And I will just say, like, I just wanna sideline that. I have talked to many, many financial professionals who are investment advisers and and wealth planners, financial advisers, and they every single one of them say, at the end of the day, the best investment you can make is in your own business The best in yourself.
Lauren Chaitoff:It was the best investment.
Kate Northrup:Of the market, regardless of anything, like, it's always gonna pay the highest returns. And I was like, you know, that has always felt true to me, but I love hearing it from a professional.
Lauren Chaitoff:It was so it's very true. And you said that, and it really resonated. And I think what you said though about I we went into this and kind of I was like, we're you know, I put my student hat on, and I'm like, Kate is my teacher. And I can I feel like I can confidently say that this what you are teaching in Relaxed Money works if you do the work? You have to if you are gonna go into it, and I went into it, we both went into it very open.
Lauren Chaitoff:Yeah. Right? Which I love that song, Rye Open.
Kate Northrup:Yeah. I love that song. It's It's Everyday. It's it's definitely on my twenty twenty four most played songs.
Lauren Chaitoff:A %. And you have to you have to be open, and the work like Brian said, it's not easy. Did I enjoy writing my, like, three days of the same thing over? What no. Like all my issues and childhood issues around money and sitting there for three days.
Lauren Chaitoff:You're like, you have to do the three days. But we we did the we did everything you told us, and I felt like, you know, when you read like those like a self help book and you're like, it worked for them, and like they tell their story, and I'm always like, why am I never the story? Like, why is it not work? Not just like, I wanna be the one that takes the leap or has the Yeah. Reckoning.
Lauren Chaitoff:And with this, like, I was like, oh my God, the magic that started happening. I'm not like, after we started doing the work was like, just the changes we saw in our life, and in our own relationship too. Like, what you taught us about money dates, and like how we talk about money now.
Brian Chaitoff:Absolutely.
Kate Northrup:What were some of those magical moments for you guys? Like, what were some of those tangible shifts that started to happen? Shifts from soon after you made the commitment Oh, sure. Did they start?
Brian Chaitoff:Shifts around our money dates and how we talked about money was really a big formative first kind of change. Yeah. We were able to be calm and specifically Calm
Lauren Chaitoff:specific. I love that.
Brian Chaitoff:Be calm for a half hour.
Kate Northrup:Yeah. Totally. I
Lauren Chaitoff:think it also gave us, like when you you suggest the money date, it was such a good idea because there was always tension around money in our marriage. Yeah. There was just always, like, a tense topic. If I bring it up, it would escalate. Like, it was never.
Brian Chaitoff:Yes. It's expenses. How we can pay for this? It just went out months and months and months, and it was just we had no structure. We we were just working off our feelings and our emotions.
Brian Chaitoff:Yeah. And
Lauren Chaitoff:and So having that planned date, even sometimes, like, I'd say to Brian, oh, if something came up during the week, I was like, know what? Don't break it up now because you're gonna speak on Monday. Right? Right. You know?
Lauren Chaitoff:Like, so it gave us so we
Kate Northrup:really got clear. Like, there's a container Yes.
Brian Chaitoff:For this. Yes.
Lauren Chaitoff:Yes.
Kate Northrup:Yeah. We don't have to, like, talk about it as we're, like, trying to put the kids to bed. Or, like Or You know, Sunday mornings or whatever.
Lauren Chaitoff:Right. Right. Worst time at night. I'm like, hey. By the way Yeah.
Lauren Chaitoff:Oh my god.
Kate Northrup:Oh my god.
Brian Chaitoff:I think in a relationship, I I'm speaking for the general world, but Yeah. When something pops up in our heads, often we project that through text or verbally onto our partners. And one byproduct of the money dates has been recognition of boundaries and understanding that things can wait. Yeah. Yeah.
Brian Chaitoff:I'm not just gonna send off my vomited thoughts over text to Lauren. It's just a projection of my own anxiety.
Kate Northrup:That's so beautiful. Yes. Right? Like, this is not an emergency, actually. And the nervous system, the wounded nervous system actually tells us that things are urgent Yes.
Kate Northrup:When they're not. And one of the signs that we're in our wounded nervous system is false a false sense of urgency around anything, really. We know when something's actually urgent. Like, when your child is crying and bleeding
Brian Chaitoff:Yes. Urgent. Yeah. You hear that tone.
Kate Northrup:You know? Like, when you're having contractions and you feel the urge to push? Urgent. Urgent. Other than that, like, most things actually aren't.
Kate Northrup:And so I love that the money date and having that container and that place to come together every week gave you that ability to take space. Yeah. That's so beautiful.
Lauren Chaitoff:You said to the like, what how quickly? Like, that was what was amazing for me because like I said, we went in and we did the work. We were like, we're listening to Kate. We came to every Yes. You did.
Lauren Chaitoff:Yeah. We did. We did.
Kate Northrup:A, students. Yes.
Lauren Chaitoff:Yes. I put on my I was
Kate Northrup:like, you're coming with me every, you
Lauren Chaitoff:know, Wednesday at twelve, and he was was like,
Kate Northrup:are guys really committed?
Brian Chaitoff:Yes. Yes. The cathartic writing, the expense profile evaluations.
Lauren Chaitoff:The way you had us go through, like and, again, like, if you do the work though, it works. You had us when we're in the beginning going through all the expenses and going through like, we did everything. I cannot tell you how helpful now having that clarity Yeah. Is. And in August, because I think, like, the modules went to the August.
Kate Northrup:Right? They run basically, like, May through August.
Lauren Chaitoff:Yes. So at the August, we got back from our trip. We went away with the family. Yes. And we got back.
Lauren Chaitoff:And this
Brian Chaitoff:Well into the course.
Lauren Chaitoff:We were well into the course. I think the modules were just winding down, still had the coaching calls and stuff. And August, we're in the kids business. So August is like a typically a slow month. Right?
Lauren Chaitoff:Because schools are out, camps are kinda done. It's always like we know, like, August is gonna be pretty pretty quiet. One of our like, one of an organization we worked with literally called us. We were at that coffee shop, and they were like, hey, we have this grant we wanna use you for. Can you send us an invoice?
Lauren Chaitoff:And I was like, for how much? She was like, I don't know. Just put a number, and if it's too much, we'll let you know. I mean, literally, I was like, Brian, what's going on?
Kate Northrup:So like write a blank check to yourself. Yes. Essentially.
Brian Chaitoff:Yeah. Something I mean,
Lauren Chaitoff:I had to figure out, like, okay. Like, you know, could. I wanted it to be, like, somewhere reasonable Related to Yes. Related to
Brian Chaitoff:be, like,
Lauren Chaitoff:a million dollars. But, like, it was a nice a A five figure out of the blue, like, boom in my and she's, great. Send us the invoice. This is gonna move quick. You're gonna get a check-in three days.
Lauren Chaitoff:Please let us know when you receive it. And it was one of we were like, what just happened? Okay. Like, the heck just happened? And I, we both we were like, it's the work.
Lauren Chaitoff:It's the work working.
Brian Chaitoff:We were relaxed. It just
Lauren Chaitoff:It just and Yeah. That's what I knew when I'd read books and hear these stories, and I'm like, oh my god. It's happening to us. It's happening. I'm like, it's me.
Lauren Chaitoff:I'm the person in the story. And it's because of what you taught us, and I can wholeheartedly say, like, anyone that is listening, because I listened to all the case studies last year, that is going through a transition, that has it it just tension with your partner around money, or just feels like you know you are blocked around abundance. You have changed my life with this work. Our life. Like, it if you do the work, you can't just sign up and be like, no.
Lauren Chaitoff:My life's gonna change. If you do the work, it will work for you. Like, I'm not we're not special. I mean, we're all special. But, you know, I'm not We're
Kate Northrup:all special and
Lauren Chaitoff:none of
Kate Northrup:us is special.
Lauren Chaitoff:Right? Right. Like, I'm not anyone like, oh, like, I've been doing this for years and nothing clicked. And then this jump really and doing this course, it mean, you could speak more to the numbers even, like, in our
Kate Northrup:business what we Yeah.
Lauren Chaitoff:Please do
Kate Northrup:whatever you wanna share. It's it's great specifically.
Lauren Chaitoff:Doing this work.
Brian Chaitoff:Yeah. Coming out of 02/2024, this year. Well, we've seen shifts in our our personal communication around money, and of course, the business has reflected that as well. Financially, our revenue top line grew 30%. And more specifically, the work on the expense side Yeah.
Brian Chaitoff:In relaxed money really enabled us to do several things. One, it clarified personal versus business. We have a very enmeshed situation, and it's beautiful.
Kate Northrup:I'm familiar.
Lauren Chaitoff:Yeah. Yeah. Yep.
Kate Northrup:We have
Brian Chaitoff:a very enmeshed Yes. Personal and business situation.
Kate Northrup:Kate knows. You could call it integrated.
Brian Chaitoff:Integrated. It's good. So clarity, I remember in the course. Now that's personal. That's business.
Brian Chaitoff:Clarity around that. And then on the expense side, the course really enabled us to build, for example, salary distributions around that monthly expense number. We really got honest. What do we what do we spend? What do we need?
Brian Chaitoff:And that's it. And it just works. It
Kate Northrup:you know what? When you get clear on the numbers, but you have to feel safe enough to do that first so that you can come to it with some level of neutrality and and love. Yes. You know, as opposed to because most people are coming to those conversations already from a place of judgment and scarcity. Yes.
Kate Northrup:Yes.
Lauren Chaitoff:And I don't wanna cut you off. Oh, he's touching my leg. Don't Okay.
Brian Chaitoff:Absolutely. And because of that monthly expense profile and the changes both on the Yeah. To our product revenue offering side and the expense side, we actually grew our net income 125% year over year for the first two months of this year.
Lauren Chaitoff:First two months of year, though.
Brian Chaitoff:But For January, February.
Kate Northrup:That's a great start to the freaking year,
Brian Chaitoff:you guys. Great start. We're coming out hot. Wow. We built a multi 6 figure company on our way to our first seven.
Kate Northrup:Yeah. You are.
Lauren Chaitoff:And other thing I just wanna say that you taught us that has helped us, because we speak about this a lot, is there's a module where you spoke about spending money that aligns with your values. Mhmm. And I think that was huge for me, for us, because Absolutely. I really came into Relax Money with a big scarcity mindset. Mhmm.
Lauren Chaitoff:I was a remember, like, empress. I I was like the horde. I was like, oh, we're not gonna spend. We're not gonna spend. Like, we can't spend.
Lauren Chaitoff:And you taught me about currency and how money needs to move. And since then, little things, I I even like I mean, I could give you an example of, just coming here. Right? Like, saying, we're gonna we're gonna we wanna be in person, and we're gonna fly back, and we can do it. And, yes, we were, you know, we've loved Relax Money Live.
Lauren Chaitoff:We were amazing. We're like, we wanna come back, and we wanna be in person. And then, just from what we learned, we were like, we're gonna get the Amex Platinum card. Right? And that was I would have never paid a fee, like, I would have never done that.
Lauren Chaitoff:And then we were like, we went to when we came to Relax Money, we went to the lounge, and they were like, oh, you only have one card, because we were like, oh, he'll get the Right. I got him, like, the plant.
Kate Northrup:The bunny. Yeah. Totally.
Lauren Chaitoff:And then we were like I was like, oh, no. And we were like, we're gonna get you the two cards. Yeah. But I've never done that because why would I spend the money? Right.
Lauren Chaitoff:And when we came here, we went to the lounge, and it fell. So and I know that that, you know, but it felt so good. Yeah. It felt so abundant. And I was like, this feels right, and it feels like, yeah, we can we're living it, you know.
Lauren Chaitoff:In the past, I would've never never, even like small things like, just just not feeling so scared. You know, not feeling so like, I have to hold on to everything. I'm still saving and being practical. All those things. Yet the mindset.
Brian Chaitoff:Yeah. Absolutely. And it's really opened up other opportunities for not just yogi beans, but for people who work with yogi beans and just the opportunities.
Lauren Chaitoff:Supply people with work feels so good, meaningful work, all of those things. It's like a trickle down.
Kate Northrup:You know? It is. Because it turns out, as a business owner specifically, but really everyone, when we have more resources come into our sphere, we are able to steward those resources and allow them to flow into other people's lives in a far more powerful way. Absolutely. Yeah.
Kate Northrup:So have you been able to make some more hires or bring in contractors, or can you tell me more about that?
Brian Chaitoff:Yes. Absolutely. Yes. We we currently have a marketing hire. We're playing with the idea of a virtual assistant.
Brian Chaitoff:Amazing. We are expanding our instructor base Yes. And Yeah. And and more.
Lauren Chaitoff:Yeah. We have yeah. We have some that now helps us with our emails and our blogs, like all of those things Yeah. And looking to expand on that. And it feels really good.
Kate Northrup:Able to free up your own time also, which is another form of currency.
Lauren Chaitoff:Well, you you taught us a lot too about, like, being a steward of the money and, like, all all of those things that he I never it was just like when Brian was saying it was like it was just like, we need money.
Brian Chaitoff:We need money. We don't
Lauren Chaitoff:have enough money. We don't have enough money. We need money. You know?
Brian Chaitoff:Intense. Vacuum of
Kate Northrup:that's what happens. So, you know, in the the greater sort of scientific or neuroscience context, what's important to understand, I know you guys know this, but for people listening, is when we are in a dysregulated nervous system response, it limits our capacity to see the big picture. So we go into blinders, literally. Actually, our peripheral vision goes away. And then more metaphorically, our peripheral vision goes away.
Kate Northrup:And we cannot see outside the possibilities of what we've been programmed to see. Right? Like, you just if you you know, we hear about these stories of when people are actually presented with something they've not seen before and no one else in their life has seen before, they literally actually can't see it because there's not a receptor site. That's the same thing so that, like, I have to get a safe, secure job for the health insurance. I'm just curious because people are wondering, what do you guys do for health insurance now?
Kate Northrup:Oh, so that
Lauren Chaitoff:was good thing.
Brian Chaitoff:Yeah. It's great. That was a big transition. I had excellent health insurance from these startups, then we moved to COBRA. Yeah.
Brian Chaitoff:We COBRA was like COBRA. And then we moved, to a a New York State plan
Lauren Chaitoff:Great.
Brian Chaitoff:For our family.
Kate Northrup:And it's working. And it's great. Things okay?
Brian Chaitoff:Yes. They're
Kate Northrup:great. See? They're great. Okay. This is so big because people are so programmed from being employees to believe that you have to have a job for the benefits.
Kate Northrup:But when you actually do the math, you realize that that's not always the case, but you cannot have the capacity to actually do the math and see the real big picture until you feel safe enough so that then your mind has the capacity, the resources, literally the energy, enough calories to just practically and logically be like, oh, actually, health insurance costs x y z. All we need to make in our business is x y z. That's not worth going to get a job that I hate.
Brian Chaitoff:That's gonna last for twelve
Kate Northrup:months be that you've always hated your jobs.
Brian Chaitoff:No. No.
Kate Northrup:I'm speaking on behalf of someone listening.
Brian Chaitoff:No. No. It's it's true. Yeah. It's it's but it is temporal.
Brian Chaitoff:The the truth is that whatever next job, I'm probably not gonna have that job. And whatever it is, twelve month, thirty six, it doesn't matter. But there's something that's, not fulfilling in that. There's, for me.
Lauren Chaitoff:Yeah. When you were talking about, like, the the energy, you you what it what what you used a term a lot that was so good. Oh, energetically expensive.
Kate Northrup:Yeah.
Lauren Chaitoff:Right? And how you'd you tied everything into the nervous system and energy just made so much sense because I was admitting an everything is energy. And I know that. And I was admitting an energy of just scarcity, lack, fear. So it made sense to me that everything that was coming into my life was kind of A line.
Lauren Chaitoff:Match. Right.
Kate Northrup:For that.
Lauren Chaitoff:And then when you taught us through the nervous system work, and it was like magic. Like, I can't I'm not it really felt like, how is this all? It's it's from me. And that's what I've told because I talk about you all the time, and I talk about all the time. And I said to one of my friends who was kind of struggling with something, and she didn't love hearing it, but it's the truth.
Lauren Chaitoff:I'm like, it's you. Like, you have to do the work. I I didn't say like Hard thing to say to a friend? Babe, it's you. Yes.
Lauren Chaitoff:It was like, you have to do the work because you can look outside of yourself and try and blame all of these things, but it's it's energy. It's like that. You know? So I was like, you have to start looking rather than even though those things are true. Yeah.
Lauren Chaitoff:All those things are true, and I'm not, like, trying to
Kate Northrup:A %.
Lauren Chaitoff:Any of that, but, we it needs to come from within.
Kate Northrup:It does. It does. And out there in the world of, like, money energetics and abundance teachers, everyone talks about shifting your frequency. But it's like, what does that even mean? You taught me how.
Kate Northrup:Exact yes. Exactly. So it it the we actually have a specific Yes. Protocol Yes. For how to change your frequency.
Lauren Chaitoff:I I still do.
Kate Northrup:Just a theory.
Lauren Chaitoff:Correct. It's not this cloudy, like, change your frequency in your and no. You gave us tangible only. Right. No.
Lauren Chaitoff:It's not that at all. And what I love too, and I think you can speak to this as well. Right? Because it it was a lot of female energy.
Kate Northrup:Yeah. I would love to hear about that.
Lauren Chaitoff:Yeah. A lot of female energy. Loved the like, loved that there was a men's offering too. That was so great. But just that idea of you did such a beautiful job, because I relate to things on a spiritual level.
Lauren Chaitoff:Mhmm. Right? An energetic level. So there was that, but there was also like YNAB. And like, need to act like, so it was this great, like, for people that do are spiritually conscious.
Lauren Chaitoff:It was like the perfect money course for me, for us, and then it also had, like, you'd be like, we have to look at the numbers. Yeah. You know?
Kate Northrup:That'd be both.
Lauren Chaitoff:Yeah. And it was. And that was such a Because if it was all like, the second I see a spreadsheet, I kind of like, I'm like, you know, so Pete
Brian Chaitoff:says that. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Lauren Chaitoff:He's like, anytime I see, like, lines Yeah. I'm like, but you we had to, and I want to. Now I feel
Kate Northrup:more confident.
Lauren Chaitoff:You know?
Kate Northrup:Exactly. So such a good blend of that. So, Brian, for you, what was it like being you know, the truth is, like, increasingly every time we do relax money, more men do show up, which is great, and we have people of all genders, but I but it is primarily cisgender women. So, like, for you, what was that like being in that space?
Brian Chaitoff:Yes. It was amazing.
Lauren Chaitoff:Great. It
Brian Chaitoff:it was amazing to see this group of 108, one hundred four women.
Lauren Chaitoff:Okay. Relax money live. Oh, at
Kate Northrup:relax money
Brian Chaitoff:live. That that was my big.
Kate Northrup:Oh, I love that.
Brian Chaitoff:Oh. Cool. And into Well, sure on Zoom. But yes.
Lauren Chaitoff:I wanna
Kate Northrup:know about your experience at the live event because you were one of, like, four men in the room.
Brian Chaitoff:Correct. Yes. I've never been around such a group of strong, high functioning, high achieving, intellectual, spiritual women.
Lauren Chaitoff:It was kind of floored. I love that.
Brian Chaitoff:It was amazing. Wow.
Kate Northrup:If if there are any single men out there looking for some great ladies
Lauren Chaitoff:Oh my god. Come relax, money. Absolutely. That
Brian Chaitoff:that that is the place.
Kate Northrup:This is a total side
Lauren Chaitoff:place, side offer.
Brian Chaitoff:No. No. It is. It's a special group Yeah. Of people.
Brian Chaitoff:Yeah. No joke. I love being there with Lauren.
Kate Northrup:Yeah.
Brian Chaitoff:You know, we we giggled at times. We had
Lauren Chaitoff:our moments. We had our
Brian Chaitoff:our mutual edges and Yeah. Individual edges. Yeah. Yeah. All all normal and good.
Brian Chaitoff:The other men there were so so impressive with their spouse reading, you know, texts from partners. And So beautiful. It was just wonderful.
Kate Northrup:I love that.
Brian Chaitoff:Yeah. I I really still can only talk in platitudes and bromide. It was you know?
Kate Northrup:Because It's great, though.
Brian Chaitoff:Because, yeah, the energy was all around abundant and supportive. And I really left the conference the whole course feeling more confident in myself, you know Yeah. And in us.
Lauren Chaitoff:In our relationship. Just the way you know, money look. What do they say? Like, kids, religion, money, like, things that part like, those are the three. Right?
Lauren Chaitoff:And, like, money was definitely point of tension for us, and just the way that we talk about it now. Like, it's it's you've helped us in our, you know, business life, in our personal life, I mean, in so many ways. So I just I know I said it to you at Relaxed Mind, but thank you. Thank you so much, Kate. Because you really this work, it it shifted our life, and I'm so glad that I took the that I took the job.
Lauren Chaitoff:Right? I'm so glad because sometimes it is for anyone. Anytime you even, you know, sign up for something, I was like, you know what? Like and it but it felt like a good risk. You know?
Lauren Chaitoff:It was one of those risks that it's like, yeah, it's a little scary. Mhmm. It's a little scary.
Brian Chaitoff:Sure. I I gotta say because I'm I'm thinking now about the conference and the women. And to see this group really wanting to make change to break generational issues, the collective introspection, the support that the audience members gave each other was just So beautiful. Very inspirational.
Kate Northrup:So I wanna know from you, Brian, as we wrap up here, and then I'm gonna come back also to you or Lauren. If if someone is listening and their partner is feeling resistance. Now you were not a partner who was feeling resistance, so I would just wanna honor that. But if you could put yourself in the shoes of someone who was feeling resistance, like, maybe the partner is like, I'm I'm in. Like, I wanna do this.
Kate Northrup:Let's do this.
Brian Chaitoff:Yes.
Kate Northrup:What would you wanna share with the partner about what it's been like to be on this journey with Lauren who was the instigator Mhmm. Of this? And it seems like she's
Lauren Chaitoff:the instigator of a lot of things. You're like, but what what would you wanna
Kate Northrup:what would you wanna pass along to them as they're thinking about this possibility for themselves?
Brian Chaitoff:Where those feelings arise, there is fear. Okay? And I encourage the men or women that are showing resistance to dive into the specific feeling and the specific fear. It doesn't it could be about it doesn't need to be about money, but why is there resistance?
Lauren Chaitoff:Yeah.
Brian Chaitoff:And it it could be anything. It could be money related. It could be jealousy of partner. It could be it could be anything. Oftentimes, it's their own insecurities.
Brian Chaitoff:You know? And there's different components of the course. You know? Some may resonate more to others. And, yeah, I would I would encourage the resistance partner to look at the full agenda and the different aspects, both, you know, quantifiable money management tools and spiritual relational techniques and components, nervous system healing.
Brian Chaitoff:This work can help the individual person irrespective of their partner and money issues. It's it could be a boon and opening for very individual blockages. Yeah. I I I encourage you to really, understand where that specific persistence lies.
Kate Northrup:It's great advice. Thank you. Thank you. Then That's good answer. Then Lauren, you you already kind of shared some of your own hesitations, but is there is there anything else for someone who's considering joining us in this cohort that you would wanna share to help them make the best decision?
Lauren Chaitoff:If you're considering it, I'm gonna say definitely do it. And speaking from a more like, I know because I was someone that lived with scarcity. Like, you have to pay this money, you have to, know, like How
Brian Chaitoff:are we gonna pay for that?
Lauren Chaitoff:You know, like, all the all this Right. Right. Right. So, like, you're like, it's this well, first of all, you offer, like, very generous payment plans, which I think is, like, very helpful. But if you are someone that is blocked and has been trying to figure out why, and, you know, why is it not happening?
Lauren Chaitoff:Why do if you're someone that's thinking about maybe transitioning a career, I mean, this this is it. Like, having you guide us and teach us how to heal our relation. That's what it's a healing the relationship with money. And what you did really, for anyone on the fence, if you're looking to repattern your brain around money, because that's what you did. You taught me with the nervous system healing how to
Brian Chaitoff:Yeah. The the these are default neurotags.
Lauren Chaitoff:Yeah. You taught me how to rewire program. My my brain through the nervous system healing techniques, through the work and the journaling, like, yeah. So it was not you know, it's work, but you gotta do the work in anything. And I'm a big gotta do the work.
Lauren Chaitoff:Yeah. You know? Because it works. It does work. So I would say if you are even thinking about it, do it because you are going to see tenfold what you invested.
Lauren Chaitoff:You're gonna see you're gonna see a return if you do the work. You are gonna see a return.
Brian Chaitoff:Other things, seeing the world through the eyes of cash flow has been a very meaningful piece of advice for me. We look at the world through the eyes of cash flow now.
Kate Northrup:I love that so much.
Brian Chaitoff:We identify money wins, the smallest things. I found a penny, 8 dollars credit, whatever. It doesn't matter.
Lauren Chaitoff:It keeps us connected to gratitude. Yeah. You know, when he's like, hey, $8 money win. It's not like Yes. Yeah.
Lauren Chaitoff:And we see him all the time. It all matters.
Kate Northrup:Yeah. So beautiful. I love that you too. And I just think about the gift too for your girls of growing up in a household where there is this abundance consciousness and what a gift that is for them in their lives. Thank you so much for showing up.
Kate Northrup:I so appreciate you two. You are just like the most beautiful couple. And if people want to learn more about what you do and connect about Yogi Beans, what like, how can they do that?
Lauren Chaitoff:Find us. How can they
Kate Northrup:find they find you. Find us. Delightful people.
Lauren Chaitoff:We're on, like, all the socials. When I say Instagram, we're yogi underscore beans. You can find us there. Just Google Yogi Beans and
Kate Northrup:Amazing. Amazing. Well, my girls love your book, so thank you for that. It's really, really beautiful work that you do. You two are just such beautiful humans.
Kate Northrup:Thank Thank you for being here. Thanks for being part of our community.
Lauren Chaitoff:Thank you.
Kate Northrup:What if managing money felt effortless? You've worked so hard to earn money, so why does it feel stressful? Well, I wanna introduce you to something brand new that I've created called the money reset because abundance starts in your body, not in your bank account. This free audio experience will help you rewire your nervous system for wealth, stop the money in money out cycle and create a foundation for true wealth, and relax relax into a new relationship with money. Plus, it comes with the five minute calm cash flow ritual, so you can have financial clarity and magnetism anytime you want.
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