My First One Thousand Dollars

I remember saving my first one thousand dollars. Do you too? I remember where I was, who I was with, and the circle of emotions that I felt.

I was twenty-three years old, with my Kiwi boyfriend (now husband), Mark, and house-sitting in the Inner Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco when my toothpaste-selling commission bonus check arrived. When I finally crossed into the four-digit wonderland, I was euphoric, a smile stretched from ear-to-ear, and jumping up and down in celebration. “A thousand dollars!” I thought, feeling proud.

Then, as if a needle to my party balloon, the thought shifted to a more depressive I can’t believe it took me six months to save a thousand dollars. How will I ever buy a house or get off this hamster wheel at this rate? I’ve got to figure something else out.

And, that is what sparked my entrepreneurial spirit. A need for more control over my money-earning potential, a desire for the freedom of my time, and a deep belief that my time was worth more than I was making in my full-time job.

I minored in photography and had thousands of images already taken over years of travel. So, I selected twenty-four and had them printed onto greeting cards. My thought was I’m already going to these health food and natural stores to sell this natural toothpaste, it would only take me a few more minutes to also give them a sales sheet and try to sell them a rack of cards. If they put a 24-card floor model fully-stocked, that’s a $567 sale with potential on-going restocking orders.

Here is the sales sheet I used that my friend Chelsea at C.Bay Design helped create for me on a budget I could afford. I interviewed her in one of the earliest episodes - she’s a gem of a human. And, I’m sharing this in case the insight is even remotely helpful for anyone who is just starting out and doesn’t know how to get products into stores: Find the name of the buyer, give them a heads up or schedule an appointment, pitch what you’ve got, and leave a sales sheet.

My little bootleg “Kanopy Kards” business ended up in almost sixty stores and with recurring income, I was able to net after expenses an extra ~fifteen thousand dollars a year. Boom!

That was the first of four businesses. The next were significantly more lucrative.

This week’s episode highlight:
Farnoosh Torabi is SO MONEY: Mastering Mindset, Wealth, and Financial Freedom

Farnoosh is an award-winning financial correspondent, television personality, and best-selling author of You’re So Money, A Healthy State of Panic, Psych Yourself Rich, and When She Makes More.

Her Podcast So Money was ranked a Top Female-Hosted Podcast by Entrepreneur Magazine, described as "a Podcast Your Wallet Will Love" by The New York Times, and has been downloaded over 35 million times, earning multiple Webby awards. She is on a mission to teach people how to become unapologetically rich.

Here are three key takeaways:

1. Make Money a Topic of Curiosity, Not Taboo
   Embrace open conversations about money with your children. Answer their questions, share your goals, and encourage them to see money as a resource for achieving impact and personal passions. If they’re interested in earning, challenge them to identify a need at home, develop a project plan, and solve it—instilling an entrepreneurial mindset early.

2. Redefine Success on Your Terms
   In a world that often equates success with material wealth, take the time to define what success truly means to you. Instead of following societal expectations, think about what genuinely brings you fulfillment and joy. When you ground your financial decisions in your own values and priorities, you’ll find that success feels more authentic and achievable. This approach helps you build a life that’s aligned with your personal vision of happiness, rather than one shaped by external pressures.

3. Navigating Career Setbacks
   Losing a job or facing a professional challenge can be a deeply emotional experience, almost like a form of grief. It’s essential to allow yourself to feel those emotions but also take time to ask, “What skills do I have that the world needs?” Reflect on new directions and use this as an opportunity to realign with your strengths and passions.

Strategy Spotlight: Create a “Skills Inventory”

List your strengths, abilities, and the problems you’re passionate about solving. Then brainstorm ways to apply these skills in new fields, projects, or entrepreneurial ventures. This inventory will help you see opportunities that align with your strengths and provide clear next steps for moving forward.

Positivity Corner:
Empower Yourself by Defining Money’s Role

Take a quiet moment to reflect on the role you want money to play in your life. Instead of seeing it as just a measure of wealth, think of it as a tool that supports your dreams, your family, and your values. What impact do you want your financial decisions to have on your future and the world around you? By defining this, you’re empowering yourself to make choices that align with your values. Every dollar spent or saved with intention brings you closer to a life of purpose, fulfillment, and freedom.

Thank you for being a part of Time To Live: Thriving in Business and Beyond! As always, we love hearing from you, so feel free to share your thoughts, questions, or feedback.

Stay inspired,

Anne McGinty
Host of 'How I Built My Small Business'

A Thousand-Dollar Lesson

Looking back on that first thousand-dollar milestone, I realized it wasn’t just about the amount—it was the spark for a new mindset.

The euphoria, the reality check, the dread of slow progress—all fueled a fire for new ideas. The challenge of saving gradually pushed me to explore how my creativity and skills could generate income beyond a paycheck.

That moment planted a seed: my time was worth more than I’d been earning. But I had to believe in my own potential—and take action to make it real.

What is it you truly want in life?
Close your eyes and imagine it unfolding now and feel the emotion you would feel if you got what it is that you truly want in life.

Neuroscience shows us that when we deeply feel an emotion, our brain registers it as a memory—whether it’s past or imagined. This magic of belief primes the mind, setting the stage for action.

Belief guides us toward the future we’ve envisioned. And from belief, the body follows.

Want to connect? Send me a message, I’d love to hear from you.

Last Week’s Episode Highlight:
Jack Brewster, Founder of NewsReel.co

Jack is a journalist and the son of journalists! He’s a self-described “news junkie.” He was a FulBright Scholar in Germany and researched what is happening with news consumption habits today and why we should care. And, he is also the Enterprise Editor at NewsGuard, which rates the credibility of news sources and works to combat misinformation in media.

Learn more about NewsReel, support his Kickstarter and at the very least, be diligent, be informed, not “influenced,” and choose kindness.

I asked him to be a guest on the show because I admire what he and his team and their mission “to make high quality information accessible to our peers, and the generations that come after. ”

Stay inspired,

Anne McGinty
Host of 'How I Built My Small Business'

Let’s Connect!

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