Molly Claire 00:45

All right, coaches, I'm so thrilled with today's guest, one of my favorite people, Jamie Berman, who focuses on wealth, financial abundance. We'll let her share the exact words that she would use to describe it. But Jamie is a fantastic coach who I very much, not only do I really admire her and look up to her and love her as a human being, but also she and I, I feel are very aligned in the ways that we approach supporting our clients through change. So we're going to have a great conversation with Jamie here. We're going to be talking about money. We're going to be talking about how we can really open up financially and really feel more powerful as a human being, as a coach, as a person running your business. So that's what we're talking about. Welcome to the podcast, Jamie. 

Jamie Berman 01:40

Thank you for having me, Molly. I'm so excited to be here. And it's just a full circle moment, because you were the one who trained me, you were one of the trainers at Master Coach Training. And that was one of the most pivotal moments of my career was deepening in that work and deepening in my coaching. And so I'm just so grateful. And yeah, I'm excited for this conversation. 

Molly Claire 02:07

What a gift, me too, me too. Yeah, we've kind of been in the same coaching world here and then we've kind of discovered similar things, right? As we've deepened the work and we're gonna talk more about that today. So thank you for being here. And so tell everyone, how would you describe who you are and what you do? 

Jamie Berman 02:26

Totally. So I am a master certified coach and I also have a background in spiritual psychology. So I blend everything from the mindset and nervous system along with psychology and spirituality all together into one place for growth and for expansion and really stepping into, you know, the person that you want to be and specifically in business. My specialty is money and it's really something that I think came finding me. It's not like I was growing up thinking I want to work with money at all. It's not something I used to think about much, but it was just through going through my own transformational journey with it that I thought I can't not share this. And in fact, people just started hiring me to coach them on money because they could see the transformation. And so just to give you a little backstory, growing up, I was always into spirituality, manifestation, intuition, and felt like I could manifest amazing things in my life. And I'm a big dreamer. I always had big dreams for myself. And I would go after them starting with at 23 years old whenever I decided to drive out to Los Angeles by myself in my little car and move out here. And I had this big dream of becoming a makeup artist. I had this vision of where I wanted to live and found that a lot of that fell into place and I manifested it. The only thing is I felt like I could manifest just about anything but money. I was like, Oh, I can call these things in or I call in an amazing home that has a low rent that I can afford. But I was always living paycheck to paycheck. I was always in scarcity. I was always stressed about money. And when I started my business, I brought all of that into it. And it was really hard for me to grow my business. And I'm not someone who's afraid of hard work. I'm not someone who is afraid of learning. I would learn all the things. And I was implementing strategies and all of this, but I felt like there was this cap. And I realized that it really had to do with my relationship with money and my relationship with worthiness and my belief in my ability to actually make money as an entrepreneur. So I decided to dive into that work myself. It wasn't like I had any idea I would ever teach this, but I decided to start a money book club just to hold me accountable to actually reading money books. Cause I was like, I want to read these on my own. So I better start a book club. So I forced myself to read it. If I'm hosting it, at least I'll have to read the book. I read so many money books and started doing a lot of inner work around it. I hired a coach around it. And that work really changed my life because it not only allowed me to start making money as an entrepreneur, but there's such a ripple effect when you do make money. And there's so much positive that can come about from creating more abundance. One of which is creating a sustainable business where you can, you know, serve clients and continue to grow the business. And then also it just allowed me more freedom in my life. It allowed my husband to be able to take a step aside in his career and kind of reinvent himself. 

Jamie Berman 05:55

And none of that would have been possible if I wasn't really willing to do that inner work around money. And so now I just feel very, very passionate about helping others with that and coaching others to really recognize the power that they have within to create what they want. And whether that's, you know, financially or the vision for their business, which always includes money because we can't run a business without money. So, we have to be willing to have that conversation. 

Molly Claire 06:23

Yeah, yeah, I love this for so many reasons, you know, I think so often the very thing that is such a challenge for us is where our magic lies and what I love about this is as you're listening to Jamie's story here, it would be easy for you Jamie, to want to figure out the money by just working harder hustling crunching more numbers and certainly you probably could have increased your finances that way.

Jamie Berman 06:57

Yep. 

Molly Claire 06:58

And I love the wisdom and the awareness to say, this isn't really about this paper, right? Or this metal, but this is really about leaning into seeing what is going on in me, what needs to be unlocked here. And what a gift that you've done that, because like, to your point, this allows you now to have this, this gift, this ability, this magic in that space of finances, where you can help other people. 

Jamie Berman 07:30

Totally. Yeah. And for me, you know, what it was was I felt such a calling to be a coach. I love coaching. It is like there's nothing that makes me feel more alive than when I'm coaching. And so I realized if I didn't heal that, I wouldn't be able to do it because how am I going to run a business that makes no money? Yeah, I couldn't survive. I couldn't live. So that was really the why behind it was I was like, I want to make this coaching business work because I love it so much. And this is what I want to be doing with my life. So it gave me a real strong why it wasn't just about having a bunch of money in my bank account. Of course, there's nothing wrong with that too. And there's nothing wrong with having some of those luxuries in life and all of that. But yeah, it was really like, okay, we're going to do this. Or we're not because I don't think I can have this business without doing this work.

Molly Claire 08:28

Yeah, and one of the things I love about the work you do and I want to bring this up but put a bit of a pin in it because I have another question to ask you first, but I just want to mention I love the spirituality aspect of what you do because I think a lot of people think of money and spirituality almost in very different places. Like if someone is a spiritual person, maybe they think that also means they are a religious person. They are a, you know, air quotes, good person and almost that the virtues that someone like that would possess would have almost distance from money, right? Distance from that sort of temporary financial wealth, but I believe the opposite is true. And I want to talk more about that, but right now I'm just going to put that out of the teaser. So you listening, we're going to talk about that in a minute, but before we do, as you were talking about wanting to be a coach and making money as a coach, having a sustainable business as a coach, I know that everyone listening to this podcast right now has a different relationship with money. And I know that one of the common things that I experience, especially with coaches who identify as helpers, as givers, that they can have noise in their head around asking for money in exchange for helping and they can get pretty caught up around that. What do you say to the listener that that's what's going on for them? 

Jamie Berman 10:14

Oh, my gosh, I love that because I had that same predicament. Like I had the same thing, and that was also this thing of that I love it. How can I get paid for something that I would do for free anyways? And I loved it so much. And there's a couple pieces. There's actually two things that I had a breakthrough around that I always like to talk about. And the first piece is that number one, I had read the book The Big Leap, and it's by Gay Hendricks. And he talks about our zone of genius. And what I realized is that oftentimes it is those things that actually light us up the most that we feel like time slows down. It's what we actually love. It's what we would do, even if it was for free, that are actually our greatest value. It is what is most valuable to others. So I started recognizing it not as I should give it away just because I love it, but more of like, oh, this is actually what makes me super valuable to others. This is the value I provide. And so just holding onto this is valuable. If I love it, if I feel very aligned with it, it means it's probably really valuable and probably really good at it. So that was one piece is holding that as valuable. And then the other piece was when I learned about this universal law of giving and receiving. And basically what this law states is that we can only give to the amount we are also equally willing to receive. So if we block ourselves from receiving money, we're also blocking ourselves from being able to give. And we see this firsthand with coaching. And like I said, if I kept blocking myself from making money, if I held on to all those outdated beliefs about not being worthy of receiving, not being OK with taking money for this. Well, then that blocks me from actually being able to serve and to help people because a business needs money. You need that cycle of giving and receiving. So I kind of broke up with that idea when I realized, oh, that also blocks me from giving more. It's like I have to have both. There has to be an equal flow. And also for the person that is hiring you, they're going to perceive it different if there is an exchange there. So if they are changing money, they're going to show up completely different for themselves, for the sessions, for how they view it. Then if they don't have any exchange. So it's really just for me, I think of it as it's healthy. It's healthy all around to be willing to open up to receiving money in exchange for my value and for my services. And I had to do some work around. I let go of the misbelief that it has to be hard in order for it to be deserving of compensation. It's not true. What is like the more fun it is, the more aligned, the more lit up I feel, the more deserving it is of compensation. So I just want to do some like rewiring and kind of challenging some of those beliefs in there to see that this is actually the healthiest for it is when I allow myself to receive.

Molly Claire 13:33

Yes, and I want to highlight a couple of things from this for those of you listening. So one is first, if you haven't read it, The Big Leap is a great book. And really it's one of the things that talks about in the book that Jamie's referencing here is that we can have our zone of excellence and then our zone of genius. And the zone of excellence is where I would say most achievers live. And the zone of excellence is where we do something really well. Like truly we can do it well, right? And that's kind of the trap sometimes is that if we're doing something well that we want to stay stuck there and just keep almost like, I feel like that's the space where you can get caught in the trap of overachieving, overworking, because we're trying to make more money or succeed more. But you can only go so far in the zone of excellence, even though you're excellent at what you're doing. Then the zone of genius is really where Jamie's talking about this magical space where we are using our very greatest gifts and it feels more open and more light and there's more of an ease to it. And truly that's where the magic is. And that's where there's really no limit to what we can, like in air quotes, achieve or create in that space. And so as all of you are listening, I think it's important to think about that and really ask yourself kind of like Jamie's saying here, what are those things within your business, within your work you do with your clients where it does feel effortless? It's almost like, I don't know if you relate to this Jamie, but it's almost like this area where we sometimes don't even realize how exceptional that thing is because it feels so easy and obvious to us. And so all of you listening, you have that. So watch for it, watch for it, watch for it. The other thing that I wanted to mention after what Jamie was sharing is this idea of giving and receiving. Because I know one of the things that in Master Coach training, of course, we're talking about these different areas of our cognition, the way we think, our emotions, our nervous system. And my favorite part about the program is the expansion of our capacity within our emotions, to truly be with our emotions. And I know that can be a kind of an ambiguous thing to say, but this came to mind because one of the ways I think about this giving and receiving is it's like if I am struggling to receive, if that feels uncomfortable to me, if I feel undeserving, if I feel guilty, it's almost like there are emotions there that I'm not really taking the time to look at and be with and understand. And so, therefore, there is a limit in that receiving. And that limits my capacity across the board, right? My capacity to understand, my capacity for compassion, for love, for empathy. And so it's almost like where any of you listening, if you struggle to receive, it really is worth taking a look at what are the beliefs there, right? Or what are the emotions that feel uncomfortable? And would I be willing to open up to understanding them so that capacity can be expanded, right? Because when we have that increase in capacity, I can say this for me for sure. I have that greater capacity with my clients, right? To see them better, to see them and understand them more deeply. The expansion has to go all the way around, right? 

Jamie Berman 17:18

Sure does. Yes, totally. 100%.One of the practices that I did just so that it didn't feel so overwhelming was I would start small and work with it even though I would hit my edge and it felt uncomfortable. I would look at what felt uncomfortable, but I would practice overcoming it with things like receiving a compliment. Yes. Or a friend saying, Oh, I got dinner. I used to reject that. And I would say, Oh, no, no, it's okay. Let's let it like, no, no, no, I got it. And so I had to work with it with the little things first. And that really helped me to grow into it and realize that I could get comfortable with it and I could accept it and practicing accepting it was really powerful. 

Molly Claire 17:58

Yes, yes, I love that and you know, something else that brought to mind for me, which was like a little trick I guess I used for myself is I started really enjoying paying people for services that I appreciated that they did well. And it was almost like when I was able to really appreciate the value people were adding and joyfully reward them financially, it made it easier for me to receive because I thought, well, there are other people that feel the same way about the value I'm offering, right? So I do think there's a lot of value in just these little things that can challenge our mind. 

Jamie Berman 18:43

I love that. Yeah, so good. 

Molly Claire 18:45

So I want to talk a little bit about this spiritual piece. And so as I was just, I know Jamie and I were chatting right before we started recording, and I was telling her, it's so funny because we're right now in MCT–Master Coach Training–where we're in the financial module. That's what we're talking about. And it's like we go through the different facets of how to approach this. And I don't use the word spirituality there, but one of the things that I do speak to that for me, maybe this is the connection there. So I'm interested to talk about this with you, but I think that feeling in alignment with money, understanding who am I like, what is my purpose and how is money a part of this equation and kind of checking in on that. So that's one piece of it. And of course there are more things to it, but I would love to know for you, how do you describe the relationship between money, financial abundance and our spirituality because I think there's such a beautiful connection that we miss. 

Jamie Berman 19:50

Oh, 100%. Yeah. Yeah, this question. So I don't really see them as separate, right? Because I see spirituality as for me, the way that I kind of define it is a connection to whatever word you use, whether that's higher self-intuition, God, or source, right? Just a connection to something that's bigger than the ego, right? And I believe that in order to create money, that's what I had to do was connect to something greater than my little ego because my little ego didn't think that I was deserving or capable or all of these things. And I know that that goodness that is all around us, the spirituality wants nothing but the best for me. That's the belief that I carry is like, it wants nothing but the best for me, it wants whatever I desire is something that was put in my heart, I believe by something greater than me that I am meant to create, I meant to manifest, I meant to play out for my evolution, right? And so I think money can just be such a piece of that. And honestly, I just see money as a resource that we can use, just like any resource, just like Wi-Fi, right? Wi-Fi is a resource, we can get online, and we can use it for good; we can put beautiful things out into the world. We can also get online and be a cyberbully, right? Like, it's not the Wi-Fi that is creating who we're, right? It's just like money is the same way, it's a resource. And if you are tapped into spirituality, into goodness, into kindness, into love, you will use money to do beautiful things in the world because it's a resource that can be used for so much good. In fact, it's probably the most other than like emotions like love, it's probably the most valuable resource that we have in this world. So look at what you can do with money. I mean, look at how you can give, how you can support others, how you can employ others. And I just started questioning this idea that in order to be spiritual, I had to not have money. And I'm like…

Molly Claire 22:21

Who made up that rule?

Jamie Berman 22:23

Right, exactly. It's like, well, then I wouldn't be able to have my team who they've created jobs because of that, right? Like you said, and that's something that's their zone of genius and that they love and I wouldn't be able to do that. I also wouldn't be able to have, you know, my gardeners that that is their zone of like, I would have to fire people and that's blocking abundance, that's blocking the flow. So I wouldn't be putting money out into the world in a positive way. And I also just realized, like, I think a big part of why a lot of people believe that money is greedy or wrong or, you know, wrong to have is they see it as like this pie, like it's this concrete thing. And if I take a piece of the pie, someone else has less. And I just had to start questioning that too, because I realized, like, the person down the street who doesn't have as much money is not going to be affected if I limit myself. If I limit myself, that's not going to serve someone else. If money doesn't work that way, it's not a pie. It's not like if I take a slice of pie, someone else is not going to have a slice. It just doesn't work that way. It was made up to begin with, right?

Molly Claire 23:15

A hundred percent. That's the funny thing about money: we act like it's the most concrete thing. And it was invented. And so one of the things--as Jamie was talking about it being a resource--one of the things I love to do in my work with my clients and encourage, you know, I think as coaches, we have this opportunity to help our clients know who they are, truly know who they are, understand what they're about and what they value and align their life with that. And money is one more way that we bring forth what is within us, right? What we spend our money on shows what we value. And that's a beautiful thing. It's a beautiful way to have a tangible way of saying, I love this, I value this. So yeah, I think there's a lot of power in it. And I had one other thought, but it left my brain. Maybe you have something to share while I find this thought that must be. 

Jamie Berman 24:20

Yeah, and I would just give for the person who, which is a lot of people, right, because I know because I coach on this and I know a lot of people feel guilty desiring money or making more money. And one of the exercises that I like to assign to people is just, if you had more money, what would you do with it? Write it down, right? What would you do if you were given a million dollars, right? What would you do with that money and take a look at it? My hunch is that it would only be things that are creating a positive ripple effect in the world. And so I think that's a helpful exercise in seeing like, Oh, what do I value? And looking at how that can create beauty and how it's not a bad thing. 

Molly Claire 25:04

Mm hmm. Yeah, totally. And that did help me remember what I was also thinking, which is, you know, I think that when you were talking earlier about how we can think of money as something to do with greed, or power or some of these negative connotations or negative things we relate to money, those are really more about fears and money. And so when someone is greedy, when someone is stingy, when someone is trying to withhold from someone financially, that's about fear. And that's why, right, whether it's lack of money, whether it's hoarding of money, any kind of money behaviors that are, you know, less than desirable, or money circumstances that are less than desirable, really attending to and caring for the fears within us and having healing is the solution to it. Period. It's just the solution across the board.

Jamie Berman 26:03

100%. When you heal your relationship with money, right, that's what it's about is deciding a purpose and being intentional, right? Because it's not like money is just going to make you become that or if you already are in a place where there's fear, there's greed, that's an inner working, right? Like I said, that's a healing opportunity. But money isn't really affecting. Yeah, money doesn't make you something that's not already there. 

Molly Claire 26:28

No. And I think one thing that's also really important to mention to all those of you listening, especially if you're having, you know, thoughts of self-criticism or judgment about the way you think or feel about money. I mean, the reality is that we all have experiences with money. And these experiences, they make imprints on our nervous system, they are very real things that exist within us that need to be attended to. So if you're having any of that noise come up, just know that you're not alone. And the beauty is that feeling is possible as we understand, right, our own human biology and psychology and how it all fits together. Okay, Jamie, as we wrap up in just a minute, I want you to tell everyone how they can find you. But before we do, any last parting words, tips, anything else you'd like to share before we wrap up? 

Jamie Berman 27:22

Absolutely. I would say if you have a calling in your heart to do this kind of work, it is absolutely worth it, especially as an entrepreneur. And I think a lot of people tend to be scared of it. But what I would consider is what if it doesn't have to be heavy looking at this stuff? What if you can have fun with it? What if you can hold all of this healing work around money with light touch just so that you're not scared of diving into that piece? Because I know for me, I avoided it for so many years because I thought it was just going to bring up so much or it was going to be so triggering. And what I realized is I just did it little by little, like 1% more each day. And that's what allowed. I mean, so much can change from just that. So I would just encourage you not to be afraid or avoidant of it because it really can be an amazing journey going about this and create beautiful things too. 

Molly Claire 28:23

Yeah, yeah. Well, thank you so much. It's such an honor to have you here because I think money is such an important topic. It's an important topic for us as human beings, as entrepreneurs. I know I have so many female listeners. It's such an important topic and I appreciate bringing you here because I know that you're a person of like depth and alignment with your values and integrity. And so it just means all the more coming from you. So thank you so much for being here.

Jamie Berman 28:52

Thank you, Molly. I appreciate it. 

Molly Claire 28:53

Okay, Jamie, how do the people find you? I know everything is in the show notes, of course, but tell people where can they find you. 

Jamie Berman 29:00

Perfect. So I am on Instagram @jamieberman_. I love hanging out on Instagram. So you can come find me there, send a message, say hi, let me know if anything resonated. And then I also have a podcast too. It's called Money, Manifestation & Business. And so I talk about all of these things with, you know, money specifically is my main topic on that podcast. So come listen if you feel intrigued by it. And I'm at JamieBerman.com. 

Molly Claire 29:31

Awesome. Thank you so much. And thank you everyone for being here. Take this in, you know, allow this to kind of percolate in your mind. And if you're feeling called to begin healing your relationship with money, take these words to heart from Jamie, it doesn't have to be big, it doesn't have to be all at once, it doesn't have to be heavy. Just lean in and trust that healing is there. Because in my experience, it's always, always worth it. All right, I'll talk with you all next week.