#188 – Important Financial Advice to Help E-Commerce Sellers Stay on Top of Their Game

The longer we live, the more we come to appreciate how our life’s twists and turns often take us right where we need to be. In the case of this episode’s guest, that journey has also taken her somewhere that could be very beneficial to Amazon sellers.  

For a lot of entrepreneurs, making money in e-commerce seems like the easy part. It’s much of what comes after that becomes challenging. Scaling up effectively, managing taxes, and budgeting money have traditionally created hurdles for Amazon sellers. 

Today on the Serious Sellers Podcast, Helium 10’s Director or Training and Chief Brand Evangelist, Bradley Sutton welcomes Amanda Gail. Amanda is a former sponsored athlete and gym owner who suffered through personal struggles before becoming a skilled financial advisor to entrepreneurs.

Coincidentally, she also teamed up with Bradley to help popularize Zumba back in its heyday. 

Who doesn’t want to hear more about Zumba AND finance? 

 In episode 188 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Bradley and Amanda discuss:

• 04:15 – Amanda Grew Up on the Road
• 05:30 – Sports was Always Her Outlet
• 08:00 – Fitness Competitions Put Her in the Spotlight
• 10:15 – A Second Business Begins   
• 13:35 – How does an Entrepreneur Manage Insurance?
• 15:00 – Where’s the Money Going to Come From? 
• 19:25 – Emergency-Only Plans are Possible 
• 22:40 – Don’t Forget About Taxes  
• 24:05 – A 401K on Steroids  
• 28:55 – Step One; Find an Expert
• 30:45 – Calling Airbnb’s Home
• 33:25 – Roof-Top Pools Make Great Remote Work Locations  
• 35:00 – How to Reach Out to Amanda 

Enjoy this episode? Be sure to check out our previous episodes for even more content to propel you to Amazon FBA Seller success! And don’t forget to “Like” our Facebook page and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Google Play or wherever you listen to our podcast.

Want to absolutely start crushing it on Amazon? Here are few carefully curated resources to get you started:

• Freedom Ticket: Taught by Amazon thought leader Kevin King, get A-Z Amazon strategies and techniques for establishing and solidifying your business.
• Ultimate Resource Guide: Discover the best tools and services to help you dominate on Amazon.
• Helium 10: 20+ software tools to boost your entire sales pipeline from product research to customer communication and Amazon refund automation. Make running a successful Amazon business easier with better data and insights. See what our customers have to say.
• Helium 10 Chrome Extension: Verify your Amazon product idea and validate how lucrative it can be with over a dozen data metrics and profitability estimation. 
• SellerTradmarks.com: Trademarks are vital for protecting your Amazon brand from hijackers, and sellertrademarks.com provides a streamlined process for helping you get one.

Transcript

Bradley Sutton: This former sponsored athlete and gym owner suffered through personal struggles before becoming a skilled financial advisor to entrepreneurs, perhaps like yourself. But more interestingly, she and I back in the day used to be two of the biggest Zumba fitness influencers in the space. How cool is that? Pretty cool, I think.

Bradley Sutton: Hello everybody, and welcome to another episode of the Serious Sellers Podcast by Helium 10. I am your host Bradley Sutton, and this is the show that’s a completely BS-free, unscripted and unrehearsed organic conversation about serious strategies for serious sellers of any level in the e-commerce world. I’ve got somebody from the opposite side of the country here. Amanda, who’s actually not a seller necessarily, but we’re going to get into her whole story a little bit, but Amanda, welcome to the show. How’s it going?

Amanda Gail: Thank you, Bradley for having me, but I’m not a seller yet. 

Bradley Sutton: I love it. Amanda, this is not the first time we are meeting for those out there who know, but some of my backstory, how it used to be a Zumba fitness instructor. So Amanda is kind of like my sister from another mister from way back in the day. We started around similar times like 11, 12 years ago, teaching Zumba. And we were kind of like the male and female versions of each other. Like I had my crazy socks that I would wear and she had her crazy tutus everywhere. Right. And yeah, it’s hard to believe. It’s been like 11, 12 years.

Amanda Gail: I know tutus and wigs, and crazy socks and just doing crazy things like it was just living the best life.

Bradley Sutton: Living our best life. I would travel out there to where she was in Yuma to do masterclasses, and she would come out to California, do masterclasses and we’d go to the Zumba convention. And then here I am, checking out my Facebook feed the other day, which still mainly, it’s kind of now about 30% Amazon people, but still like 70% Zumba is from my previous life there. But I just hit your profile was just stalking you for a little bit. I’m like, wait a minute. She’s talking about being an entrepreneur and she’s working with entrepreneurs and nothing about Amazon or anything on there. So I was like, let me slide into the DMS here and just see if there’s something that– I’m just curious about what you do. But before we get into that, I want to go back to the things that I don’t know about you, which is like, even before we met 12 years ago. But anyways, let’s go back even farther. So you were, let’s just say eight, nine, 10. Where were you growing up? Were you in Arizona or Oklahoma? I forgot. Where was it?

Amanda Gail: Oh man. Okay. So, entire life, I traveled so much. So like Arkansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Arizona to every single year growing up, I moved. So it wasn’t–

Bradley Sutton: Just wherever you were that young age, did you have a vision of what you want it to be when you grew up?

Amanda Gail: You know what, it’s funny though you asked me that because I have done a lot of reflecting and trying to figure out what got me to here. And at a very young age, I knew that I was going to do something different and special, and I was going to make a big impact. And for some reason back then I was like, I’m just going to be famous. Cause that’s what famous people do, famous people, everybody knows who they are. So I used to– in school we were like, what are you going to do? I’m going to be famous.

Bradley Sutton: Hey, I like you, you hit that with the Zumba fame and other things too. So you want to be famous. Hey, that sounds like the most boring thing. So, sometimes I’ve had some people on here and I’m sorry for those people who I’m calling out, but they were like, I was like, I’ve asked the same question. They’re like, I wanted to be an accountant. I was like, Oh my goodness, what kind of eight, nine year old wants to be an accountant when they grow up anyways. Right. I want to be a doctor. I want to be an astronaut or something. That’s what I want to hear. Anyway. So, you went to high school and then graduated. Did you go into college after high school at all?

Amanda Gail: A little bit. Fun fact is I actually went to five different high schools and I didn’t even go to my graduation because I felt like there’s no need to go. And right after that, I went right into CNA school. I became a nurse assistant working nights, started going to school to get my LPN. And so I was going into the nursing direction because I didn’t know where to go, what to do. I was just following what was being thrown at me at that point. And that was in Oklahoma. So, I was working nights going to school during the day. My parents left me in Oklahoma and they moved back to Arizona and I was kind of on my own for a little while. It was 18 years old, just trying to figure out life and what to do.

Bradley Sutton: Okay. All right. I mean, a lot of people, I think are a similar boat when they get out of high school and there’s– maybe take some kind of courses in college, but they really don’t know the directions. They just kind of go with the flow. Now, later on, I know you became like this supermodel, kind of in the fitness world and in the bodybuilding and winning, how did that whole thing happen? Were you always like into fitness and things when you were younger or did that just something that kind of happened?

Amanda Gail: I was always competitive. I would always be in a sport. That was just something that I did in high school since I was so shy. I mean, even though I was like, I had this idea and be famous whenever I was the most shy girl ever, but my outlet was either dancing on the stage in dance class or sports. So, every time I moved, the first thing I would do is either a gym, find a dance class or find a sport. And right after high school, most people who have played sports in high school, you still have that competitive athletic thing that you want to do. But then it’s like, well, if you’re not playing sports in college, what do you do? And I had moved back to Arizona at this point. I was working as a front desk person greeter at a gym. 18 years old still. I mean, after I got my CNA.

Bradley Sutton: You were 18 years old for a while, it seems. So, you got your CNA and then you were in Oklahoma, your parents left you now you’re back in Arizona and you’re working. And somehow you’re still 18.

Amanda Gail: One whole year. My 18 year old moment.

Bradley Sutton: That was a busy year.

Amanda Gail: It was like a year I live three lives. Yeah. I went back and forth from Arizona to Oklahoma a few times. I remember driving my Geo Metro with a piano in the back and all of my belongings all the way through 24 hours straight to Arizona. So yeah, I, I lived like three lives my 18 year, 12 months. It was crazy.

Bradley Sutton: Okay. All right. So then you’ve been working front desk at a gym, and then is that how you really start getting into the fitness world or what happened there?

Amanda Gail: Yeah. I had a few people telling me, they were like, well, why don’t you try like that Miss Fitness America stuff. You’re so athletic and you still want to compete. Why don’t you try that? And I was like, Oh, I never thought about it. So, I started training and I was trying to figure out how this all works. So, I ended up not competing because I started having babies. And after my first baby, I was like, okay, I’m going to do it again. I’m going to start training again. So, I started training again. And by this time I think I was like 22 or yeah, I must have been 22 and I ended up getting pregnant again. And I was like, I still wasn’t competing. And so, I made a promise to myself. I was like, okay, I’m going to compete after this next baby. And I’m going to do it as fast as possible. So, I competed my very first competition three months after I had my second child and I just started to kill it. Like it was, I was winning and then every competition I did, like they just wanted me to come back. It was fun. I was winning trophies first place here, Miss Fitness Arizona. So, that’s really what kind of catapulted me into starting my first business– was the gym business, because since I was getting all of this attention in the fitness world, people wanted me to train them. And so, that’s whenever I opened up my first gym, quit my job, open up my very first business.

Bradley Sutton: Okay. So now, you’re running your own gym, you’re doing training. You’re doubling as a Zumba instructor for years, et cetera. And pretty much kind of like fitness and exercise was your main income, whether it’s from the gym or these other things. Right? Okay. Now what changed since the time that we kind of lost contact where now you’re kind of more into the business world. So, what brought you to this field that we’re going to be talking about, which I think actually is important for Amazon sellers to be thinking about, but that’s kind of a drastic, that’s kind of like me in the past, going from Sumo wrestling to Zumba or going from a Zumba to, now Amazon, but you had just as much of a dramatic transformation too, so how did that come about?

Amanda Gail: Well, you know that we all have defining moments in our life. And I think that this was a very defining moment that I went through, was through the gym, having the kids, I was married. I ended up going through a really bad divorce and I was homeless. And I had like all this shame, sharing this information with anyone around me, because I was so embarrassed. I was humiliated that I had built this business. I let it go with over a hundred thousand dollars in debt. At this point I had no credit, I didn’t have any money. I had nothing. So, that was one of those moments where it kind of shook me up to the point where like I got to kind of get this money thing together. And I was like, I need to find some solutions. And what’s funny in this thing called life is anytime you’re looking for something, you’re going to find it. And that’s exactly what happened to me. Somebody sat down, got my financial house in order, even though I had a CPA, I had a financial planner. I had all of these things in my bucket. Nobody showed me what I learned at this very moment. And it shocked me because I was like, everybody needs to know how to do this. Everybody needs to know how to protect their money. Everybody needs to know how to protect their family, their business, everything. And so I was on fire at that point. I was like, I’m going to make sure my employees and the people I care about. And I love know about these things. So, that became my second business.

Bradley Sutton: I like that. And that’s kind of like what made me think, I forgot what it was, but you had asked me a question like, Hey, what do Amazon sellers and people to protect themselves. They’re not “working for the man” and they don’t have their 401k and their dental insurance and their vision and their retirement and this and that. And I’m like, that’s a great question. The last few years I’ve been working for companies, corporations, and I didn’t think I would work for the man again, but back in the day, it wasn’t too difficult to get your own insurance. There was these like websites I would use. It was like lower my bills.com or something like that. It’s not even around anymore. And I could just get insurance for my family. Even though I didn’t have a nine to five job, but nowadays, things are different a little bit harder to get insurance. I’m like, that’s a great question. I want to have this conversation because a lot of people do come from the corporate world or other companies, and then they get into Amazon. And the goal is, eventually they want to get to a place where, Hey, I am going to quit my job. And I want to be my own boss and run my own things. But still, a lot of people don’t know how to deal with these important matters, because it was all kind of taken care of by their HR department at whatever company they worked at, or, Hey, here’s your employee packet. Here’s all you need to do. We’re going to have a demonstration for you. And now all of a sudden, they’re in this world where it’s like, Oh, it’s the law. I have to have my own medical insurance. I know I needed a dentist. How do I do this stuff? So, that’s why I wanted to talk about today is kind of like, even though you don’t have experience with Amazon sellers yet, tell me about the kind of people that you have been helping with this. What kind of entrepreneurs or professionals are your main clientele right now?

Amanda Gail: Yeah, well, I mean, it comes down to anybody who’s on a 10 99, athletes, independent contractors, business owners, people even have side hustles. And one of the things that I would mention is that, like you said, it’s something that the HR takes care of. So, it’s out of sight out of mind, people don’t understand what they have. They don’t know what they have and the people who don’t have anything, or even wanting to make that transition from their job into a full-time business owner. The most important thing that they can do is learn now and not wait, because one of the things that we get caught up in our mind is all worried about it when I get there, or I’ll start investing or saving when I have money. And that’s not how it works. It’s kind of like saying, I’m going to start selling on Amazon when I have the very first perfect product. And it’s like, well, there’s steps. And there’s like an evolution of the growth. And that’s the same thing when it comes to our health insurance, our life insurance, our investments, our disability, like whatever that protection looks like, you don’t necessarily need a whole bunch of money to start investing in your future. You just need to know what can you do now? And then as you’re growing and evolving, now, what else can you do?

Bradley Sutton: Okay. Yeah. I mean, and it’s something that’s important because if 2020 has taught anybody anything is that you never know what’s going to happen in the world. And what disease is going to come up, or people can lose their livelihood or whatever, you got to be prepared for different things. And so just run me through a little bit, like what, as you started getting into this field and started learning about it, what were some of the obstacles and problems that the entrepreneurs and the professionals that didn’t work for the “man”, what were they looking for? What solutions were they looking for? And I’m sure whatever you say, there might be some Amazon sellers who are listening, who could say, you know what, that’s exactly me. So, what were some of those things?

Amanda Gail: Well, one of the things that became very important was thinking about, well, I don’t have anything saved. So, if something happens to me or my family, we have nothing. So, it was even entrepreneurs and business minded people, they think no matter what, we can always make more money because once you learn how to build a business, you’re always be able to make money. But at the same time, it was more so of, if something happens, we’re not prepared, what, I don’t know what my options are. So, that was the main concern was where’s the money going to come from? How can I make sure that I can put food on the table?

Bradley Sutton: Okay. And I think a lot of people can relate to that. I mean, for many people, the Amazon was one of the few kind of incomes that wasn’t really negatively impacted by coronavirus, because if anything, sales went up. However, there was still Amazon sellers out there who were dealing with their main thing, was like, let’s say neck pillows for airplanes or something. I mean, imagine that market, what happened to it from March to July or something, probably went to zero.

Amanda Gail: I think one of the things that we see a lot now too, is it might not even be the business side. Business could be fine, but what if you wake up tomorrow and accident happens and you can’t run your business, or you’re in the hospital for three months, you got COVID, now what? Where’s the money come from. And, we see the GoFundMe accounts all the time. That’s something that we see more and more of. So, if somebody were to sit down and figure out there’s actually options to prevent those things, why wouldn’t every single person know that there is a very simple solution.

Bradley Sutton: I hundred percent agree. Now, a lot of people out there, they’re not in this boat yet. So, I’m assuming that people who are full-time Amazon, maybe they figured something else out. Maybe they were wishing, man, I wish I would’ve heard this podcast two years ago, I would have known what to do, but I kind of got it under control now, but for those people who are Amazon sellers, they’re not making enough yet to be on their own. They still are getting benefits. Let’s just say from their current work. I think the first thing that comes to mind, because if I’m not mistaken is the law. Now you have to have medical insurance, whether it’s from your work or whether you have it yourself, I know it varies on people’s medical condition, and your age, and the size of your family. Let’s just say, I’m 28 years old. And I’ve been working for five years at an accounting firm, and now I’m making some pretty decent money on Amazon. So, I’m going to go full-time Amazon, and I’m going to lose my benefits. Let’s just say, I’m married. I have one kid. If I need to go through you or on my own to get medical insurance at least minimum baseline of what’s required, like what would that set me back in a month?

Amanda Gail: That’s why it’s so important to do the homework because it’s going to be different for everybody. How much is that going to set you back? Well, think about a medical bill or a bill that comes up unexpected that can set you back, your entire savings could go away just because of that.

Bradley Sutton: I’m just curious is like what the range is like, what’s the cheapest, if I’m 25 years old and in perfect health and no pre-existing conditions and single, and I don’t know own my house, if that makes a difference, what’s still what I would have to budget for, because I think this also is important when somebody knows when they can afford to quit their day job, because they might think they, Oh, yeah, I’m grossing 150K on Amazon. And my profit is about 40 K, Hey, my current salary is 40K at my job. So, you know what, that’s my limit when I know I can afford it. But what they don’t realize is, Hey, their employer is paying 75% of their medical insurance or whatever it’s called premium. Right. And so, they’re only paying $250 a month, but when they do it on their own, now they have to pay a thousand dollars a month. And these are the kinds of things that maybe they’re not thinking about.

Amanda Gail: It’s case by case. I mean, I can’t give a range of numbers, but it’s case by case. And they have to do the homework, have to sit down and go through. It’s a lengthy questionnaire. Yeah. It does take some time. But it’s case by case.

Bradley Sutton: But we’re not talking like there’s not, I mean, people need to understand it’s not like $50 a month or something like that.

Amanda Gail: No, but there could be options too. There could be, if you just need some protection and you’re worried about, like, if you get in a car accident and you can’t work and where’s the money going to come from? Yeah. You could have like a 20 to $50 a month policy to help cover those emergencies. Absolutely.

Bradley Sutton: Interesting. Okay. And then would you recommend, what’s that thing called where you have a grace period after you leave your work, like Cobra or something like that. Is it usually best to just go into your own plan right away, or to pay those exorbitant amounts that you pay to keep your one from your business or from your company, your old companies to work for going for a couple of months?

Amanda Gail: And once again, that is something that needs to be discussed before you even get there, because there, you need to figure out, you know, how much is that going to cost to keep that interest? Sometimes that is so outrageous that you can’t afford it.

Bradley Sutton: Yeah, in my experience it’s ridiculous.

Amanda Gail: Yeah. So, it just depends, every job is different.

Bradley Sutton: It sounds like it’s important that, Hey guys, don’t take this plunge of leaving your company and then try and figure this out. Hey, even if you’re doing it day one, the first day that you’re a free man or woman, this is something that you should be planning in advance because until you run these numbers, you’re not even going to know at what point it’s going to be doable for you to be working on your own.

Amanda Gail: It’s just due diligence. It’s one of those things that way we put off, because we think, Oh, well, it’s that Monday mentality. I’ll get to it on Monday. I’ll do it Monday. I’ll do it later. I’ll do it whenever it hits me in the face and I have to do it like, no, this is one of those things that you need to do now, make it a priority to figure out because it gives you a target. It gives you an idea of what do I need to do to get there. And then sometimes you even get there faster because it wasn’t what you thought it was going to be.

Bradley Sutton: Yeah, absolutely. Now, I asked the question that I think is probably at the top of mind for people, because the number one thing that people are concerned about is his medical insurance. But you work with very wealthy professionals and even MMA athletes and things, which sometimes to me, kind of mirrors what an Amazon, a successful Amazon seller could be, because yeah, you could have– absolutely have an Amazon seller who’s grossing millions of dollars a year. So, for that typical person who I’m just assuming their first concern might be medical insurance too, for some of them, but what would be the second thing that they’re needing like guidance on? Is it life insurance? Is it something simple? Like dental? Is it investments or 401k, whatever. What’s the second thing to medical insurance?

Amanda Gail: Okay. Get ready for it. It starts with a T.

Bradley Sutton: T. I have no idea. I have a tea cup right here.

Amanda Gail: Taxes.

Bradley Sutton: Taxes, of course. I don’t even think about that in this kind of like setting, but absolutely that is something that in the past, you’re working for a company, you get your w whatever it is, and they, like, it’s all done for you. It’s right there. And you had already had it withheld and sometimes even get money back. But that’s not the situation when you’re a solo-preneur.

Amanda Gail: No, no. And here’s the fun thing. This is my most, the funniest part about being a business owner and knowing where to put your money is you can save so much in taxes if you know where to put your money. And it’s just a matter of knowing and understanding where can you put your money and spend the less in taxes. So that’s why, sometimes we hear the rich get richer. It’s like, well, because if you know where to put your money and you’re using several different types and you can start diversifying where you put your money, then that’s when it becomes fun.

Bradley Sutton: I don’t know if you can combine taxes and fun in the same sentence.

Amanda Gail: When you’re saving them.

Bradley Sutton: Yeah, I guess so. That’s a great point because that is also uncharted waters for many people who come from the corporate world or whatever more structured kind of form of employment that they’re coming from. It’s one of those things that you don’t have to put too much thought into because everything’s kind of done for you, but okay. That makes sense. Well, what’s the third thing then after taxes?

Amanda Gail: After taxes, is lifetime streams of income.

Bradley Sutton: That’s what Amazon is all about. But I’m assuming you mean something, even in addition to Amazon, there’s other ways that you can get these lifetime streams of income.

Amanda Gail: Yes. I call it like a 401k on steroids. There’s a way that– as business owners and this was something that was important to me, as well as thinking about, Hey, I want to be able to have some money coming in from my businesses, but then also have a guaranteed stream of income. That’s going to last me a lifetime. So, no matter what happens, I know that I will have something very similar to a pension. And it’s not one of those things that is taxable either. So, I have a tax-free income that’s going to produce guaranteed income for me for the rest of my life.

Bradley Sutton: And so, like, what’s an example of, I mean, you don’t have to say somebody’s name, or you don’t have to say what they do, but just say, Hey, I had this one client and they were doing this. And so this is what they got into, and this is basically what it’s going to mean for them years from now.

Amanda Gail: Yeah. Well, there’s so many stories I would love to share. But there is one particular client who– it’s been a help on so many levels because we were able to combine so many of these things that we’re talking about today to make sure that not only do they have the protection and like the life insurance, they’re a business owner as well, but being able to have a peace of mind knowing that this particular family, this individual is only putting away. Because they started a lot younger. Sometimes, we don’t have our heads screwed on right when we’re younger. But being able to only put away a couple hundred dollars a month, which is not a lot and to be able to guarantee that this particular individual have over 50 to $60,000 of tax-free income for the rest of their life and 30 years from now. So that, I mean, and being able to have access to this money and not have to worry about what age they have access to it either. So, if they decide to pull out some money capital, and what do people need in business too. This particular individual wants to open up a coffee shop one day and how do we get money to open up our businesses? We go to the bank and apply for a loan, or we come up with money, borrow it, and then we have to pay it back. But what if we can create that ourselves?

Bradley Sutton: I like it. Now, this is like, I thought, I’m sure you’ve probably known just without even knowing some Amazon sellers, but that’s never been really a focus of yours, but when I found out what you did, I was like, there’s a lot of things here that I think apply to the typical person who’s trying to become an entrepreneur on Amazon. I know you were intrigued when I first told you about what you didn’t realize, like what people do that, like, that’s so crazy. We don’t– we take that for granted. We think we’re buying from Amazon. It’s their products, but most of it’s like products from just normal people like you or I, so it’s a way to make money. And then it’s not the end of the story though. I mean, just the number that you guys see when you’re selling on Amazon, there’s so much more to it, no matter what, whether you’re an MMA star or whether you’re a sole proprietor, lawyer, or whatever, these are the kinds of things that to be honest are not that fun to talk about. And not that sexy, but it’s not the sexy part of being a business owner is like taxes and insurance and things like that. We just want to think about driving Lamborghinis or whatever some people do, because that’s what they think, being your own boss. Isn’t, Hey, you know what? It could result in a Lamborghini one day, that’s up to you if you want to go that route, but there are so many other things that people need to be aware of. So, that is why this is super important what we’ve been talking about today. Now, anything else that people out there who are considering taking that plunge and being their own boss and like cutting the cord with corporate life, something that we haven’t talked about today, that you think is important for them to know, like an obstacle that they might come up with, or like some kind of life hack or something like that.

Amanda Gail: Okay. Well, one thing, I mean, I have so many life hacks, you know that, but one thing that I have experienced personally, and then I’ve also had several people experiences when you make that transition from your corporate job or whatever job you have, if you do have any kind of retirement account, pension, anything that this company was providing for you, there are so many options. If you decide to pull that money out and take the tax, take the penalty, all of that money. And most people have done this one time in their life. And they’re like, Oh my gosh, it was like, they took 40% of my money. But there are other options. There’s other things that you can do. And when you call and you fill out the paperwork and you do these things, it’s so confusing because that’s not your expertise. Have somebody help you, who actually that’s their expertise. Have somebody help you who knows what they’re doing, knows the terminology can get you the answers and even help you understand what your options are and what to say, how to ask the right questions.

Bradley Sutton: Okay. Now, I mean, no matter how important and how much I say this is important stuff, I’m sure there’s some people out there who are like, Oh my God, this is like, I don’t even want to think about this stuff. This is kind of a– this is a pain in the neck to have to deal with because I just can’t deal this stuff kind of stuff. I just want to know about the Lamborghinis and stuff. And guys, I’ll just tell you again, this is important stuff, but let’s do a quick shifting of gears. Now, we have this part of the show here on the podcast where we call the TST or the TST, 30-second tip. So, instead of giving us some tips about insurance and taxes and all these other things that people find “boring”. Let– why don’t you give a couple of one or two of your life hacks that you talked about that can be our 30-second tip that you’re going to share with us.

Amanda Gail: Well, you got to help me out Bradley which life hack do you want to know?

Bradley Sutton: Anything. Anything that’s like not– that’s kind of fun. It could be a travel hack. Oh, no, that’s right. Okay. I want to TST for the first life hack, you tell me about your living circumstances and how that actually works out, because that just blew my mind when you told me about this.

Amanda Gail: Okay, so there’s a couple things here, a couple life hacks, and this is something that I discovered and with some help from wealthy people who have done this before in the past. And I figured out that I could Airbnb and not have to pay utilities and not have to pay even all the other little things that we have to think about. And I can minimalize a lot of the things that I don’t need furniture, I travel very lightly. And the other thing is negotiating with the Airbnb host, you could say, Hey, I’m going to be staying here for two to three months. Is there any way that we could drop the price to this? And many times they will. And if that one doesn’t, go shop around and it really depends on the area you’re in too. I was looking in California and I was like, whew. California is definitely– you got to have some money saved up there, but then also negotiating. And right now, the time it is in the world, it’s easier to negotiate for just about anything.

Bradley Sutton: And that just, it was crazy to me. I was like, wait, I mean, because some of these their mortgages is not what you guys think it is out there and they can afford to– they want their place occupied. And to think that I know you’re paying less, I don’t know, a thousand, 1200, 1500 bucks a month for your Airbnb where you’ve got your own house, it’s fully furnished. You don’t have to worry about internet bills or telephone bills, or electricity or water. All that stuff is kind of built in and you don’t have to have any furniture. And you’re not tied down. Like, Hey, sometimes you guys are living in a place for two, three weeks. And then you decided that you’ve got some ridiculous neighbors. You can’t just up and leave and get out of your lease. But on an Airbnb, that’s a little bit more possible. So, that’s a great life hack, but what else? Give us a second TST of the day, something else.

Amanda Gail: I’m going to give you two more. So, the other way you can do this too. And I know a family who did this for an entire year, traveling around, but there’s a website you can go on and you can register. I think it’s like 125 bucks a year to have access to this that you can go and house sit and watch people’s pets for free. You don’t have to pay to live there for a month or so, but you can travel the world and do this. And I mean, that’s a life hack right there. Because all you have to do is pay for the travel. That’s it. So, if you want to go to another countries.

Bradley Sutton: And be selling on Amazon in the meantime, which you can do from anywhere in the world and be explore the world without even having to pay your room there. That’s a great one. All right. You have one more for us?

Amanda Gail: One more, one more. So, I enjoy going and spending days at spas and rooftop pool. And one of the things that I do is I use this website. I’ll have to give you the exact website. It’s like resortpass.com or something like that. And you can go in any city and you can purchase a day pass to either spend a day in like a luxury spa, or a rooftop pool, or what they do here in Atlanta. Often it’s only like $30 for a day pass to go and chill at the pool. And my kids are young enough, they’re free. So, that’s a fun life hack and you have access usually you want to read and make sure you have access or maybe even call the resort. But you can have your internet. So, I’ll go to the rooftop pool and work and hang out. And it’s also a tax write off because you’re working.

Bradley Sutton: I love it. All right. Well, Amanda, if people want to reach out to you to find more of these cool life hacks or just to find out more about those “more boring” things, but are a lot more important than sitting by the pool. But I know people are going to be like, Whoa, that’s how cool is that? But guys, the part that’s cool is the stuff that you need to prepare for the rest of your life, with your insurance and your investments and things like that. But regardless of what people want to reach out to you for, maybe they want some Zumba advice, but how can people find you on the inter webs?

Amanda Gail: Yeah, well, before I get at my website, one of the things that I would say, anybody who’s listening to this, this could be a life changing conversation just from listening to this. If you take the action and do something. You can find me on the web strongladyboss.com. That’s all for my Instagram and anywhere else you want to find me, @strongladyboss. That was kind of given to me by my friends and acquaintances. So, I didn’t make it up myself. I promise.

Bradley Sutton: Strongladyboss.com. All right. Well Amanda, thank you so much. And when things settle down for us, we’ll have to like for old time’s sake, get together and do a Zumba fitness masterclass together somewhere.

Amanda Gail: I think we should. That should be in the plans. We need them to do it old school, all the old school songs and bring everybody together and be epic.

Bradley Sutton: I love it. I love it. All right. Well Amanda, thank you so much for joining us and will be great to touch base with you next year. Maybe by then, who knows? Maybe you’ll be an Amazon seller yourself.

Amanda Gail: Maybe.

Bradley Sutton: Alright. We’ll see you later.

Amanda Gail: Thank you.