Becoming an Eventual Millionaire with Jaime Tardy

 

This post is my acceptance of Pat Flynn’s Reader Challenge. When I watched his message live at FinCon11 last year, titled “Be Everywhere” the wheels in my head started turning. Since then I’ve done several podcasts/interviews, recorded my first YouTube video and now conducted my first interview. Much thanks to Pat and the Smart Passive Income Blog!

 

Becoming an Eventual Millionaire

Jaime Tardy is an Eventual Millionaire and a huge inspiration to me personally, as a female entrepreneur and blogger. She was kind enough to let me interview her and answer a few questions.

“An Eventual Millionaire is a person who knows they will be a millionaire, eventually. Life is about more than money. But once you have the life you want, then you make your million. That’s why I’m an Eventual Millionaire”. – Jaime Tardy

About Jaime:

At 22 years old she was earning a six figure income and bringing home more than two-thirds of the household income. But she wanted to quit her corporate job after getting pregnant with her first child.

Over at EventualMillionaire.com she shares her story of paying off over $70,000 in debt and quitting a job she didn’t love.

Now she works 20 hours per week as an entrepreneurial coach, while her husband works as a performing artist that travels around the country.

She also interviews millionaires each week (subscribe to her podcast on iTunes) that own businesses and talks strategies and how to become a millionaire.

1. Back in 2006, you declared it to be your “Pay Off Debt Year”. Please share your story and how you started the journey to be an Eventual Millionaire.

Back then I was unhappy with my job, and wondering about what I really wanted in life. I really wanted to start a family with my husband, but realized I couldn’t with the current job I had. (I used to travel almost every week around the US) But I was in $70k in debt and I was the breadwinner. I didn’t feel like I could quit because of that.

So that became the year of paying off the debt and reducing our expenses enough so I could work less and be home with our soon to be born child. It was a crazy year of working 60 hours a week and being pregnant, but after16 months, we were debt free and I quit my job. (I had a 4 month old baby by that time too!)

2. After quitting your corporate job, did you always want to be a business coach, or did you discover your passion later on? Do you think anyone can make money doing what they love?

I discovered it after I quit. I actually don’t recommend quitting without figuring out your business venture, but that’s what I did. I took me a good year or so to figure out what I wanted, pay for training and then find an amazing mentor.

Yes anyone can make money doing what they love, but it might not be a lot of money. Some things should stay as hobbies if they don’t have a market that is willing to invest in it.

Most of us want to be able to eat, and pay our bills and not worry about our finances all the time. I think we can meld the two areas of “do what you love” and “be able to pay all of the bills”.  It might not be 100% perfect but even if it’s 90% perfect then you will have an amazing life.

3. How did you go from business idea to real world application? Please share any resources or tips to help other people who might be stuck in a job they hate, to encourage them to follow their passion.

It’s all about testing the market to see what it wants. Sitting in our office we don’t know what the potential customers want and what they would pay for. That means we need to get out of our office and start to open it up to testing.

I created a webinar that talked quite a bit about this. It starts to get past the excuse I don’t know how. (eventualmillionaireacademy.com/idontknowhow) First is getting a handle on what it is (the niche) and who you are targeting. Then start to analyze it based on what lifestyle you want, and where you see the business possibly going.

Once you’ve found the best idea that really fits what you want, do a SWOT analysis. Another great resource is to listen to Michael Burcham’s interview on iTunes or my site. He runs the Nashville Entrepreneur Center and has great advice on how to evaluate an idea and start to get it out there.

4. What are some of the biggest lessons you learned throughout this whole process? Did you have any fears or mental roadblocks to face, and how did you overcome them?

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is to not put successful people on a pedestal. Millionaires are just real people like you and me. Changing that idea changed my mindset on becoming a millionaire. Everyone has fears and mental roadblocks. We can ALL get better.

I was completely freaked out the first millionaire interview I did (I had never interviewed anyone before) and now I’m so used to them it takes 20 minutes prep time and I’m set. I always look to improve, and do the best I can in each area.

5. Just like when you finish many of your millionaire interviews; What’s one action other entrepreneurs can do this week, to move them towards their goal of having a career they love?

Set a true goal. Something tangible that can be measured. Whether it’s paying off a certain amount of debt in a certain time, or giving yourself a year to figure things out to quit your job. It’s having that goal that starts to drive your actions.

Then, once you write the goal, commit to it and refer to it every day. Make that be your sole focus just like 2006 was my Pay Off Year. Good luck, and enjoy the ride

For more inspiring tips, find Jaime on Twitter and Facebook.