Money Mindset and Trauma: A Journey to Financial Freedom with Katy Chen Mazzara

🎧 Excited to share the latest episode of the Superfan Attraction podcast. In this episode, we dive deep into the intersection of money mindset and trauma with the amazing Katy Chen Mazzara. Here are 3 key takeaways:

1️⃣ Money mindset is crucial for creatives: Katy’s year-long membership program, Financial Freedom for creatives, provides emotional and practical steps to reach financial freedom. Diversifying income, having passive income, and getting out of scarcity mode are vital for stimulating creativity.

2️⃣ Healing trauma through a body-centered approach: Through her trauma-informed program, Katy helps artists work through trauma over time, decreasing its impact. She shares powerful techniques, like checking in with the body and using somatic release methods, to release trauma.

3️⃣ Belief system and the power of visualization: Jim Carrey’s story of writing a $10 million check for himself and achieving it highlights the importance of belief in action. Katy shares tips on strengthening belief systems, such as using daily reminders, like self-worth jars, to reinforce positive thoughts about oneself.

To hear more about Katy’s journey, check out my previous interview with her on episode 55.

Check out Katy’s FREE Financial Freedom Formula Workshop here: https://bit.ly/fff_diane

TRANSCRIPT:

[00:00:02.290] – Diane Foy

Artists and creatives, you have the power to heal, transform, and elevate lives. Are you ready to step into that power? Hello, and welcome to Superfan Attraction, personal branding for artists and creatives. Today I have my first return guest. Katy Chen Mazzara was on my podcast a couple of years ago. If a few years ago now, and she’s a financial coach for creatives, and we need to…

Since I found myself coaching different clients on money, mindset, and childhood traumas that sometimes contribute to that, I was reminded of… I was totally channeling her when I was coaching my clients on these. You could hear in the episode with Stacey, Marie Kieba, we talked about money issues, money mindset issues. So if you want to hear me coaching someone on that, you can go back and listen to that.

But yeah, I wanted to have Katy on because she’s the expert and everything I’ve learned from taking her program and coaching with her. And I’ll let you know a little bit about her. Here’s your. So Katy Chen Mazzara is a certified trauma-informed financial wellness coach and graduate of UC Berklee’s Personal Financial Planning Program. As a former freelance TV producer, Katy understands the balance between dreaming and doing.

[00:01:51.910] – Diane Foy

She helps creative freelancers and entrepreneurs release traumas and fears so that they can find emotional and financial freedom. And trauma-informed is also a theme in the more recent episodes, so we’re just going to go with it. And because it’s so important trauma, and since even just in the last month, I’ve gotten a certificate in trauma-informed coaching, and I want to further my own knowledge. So I asked Katie about her experience. She did a more intensive trauma-informed training and certification.

So I wanted to hear a bit about that, and then also why she was drawn to taking the trauma-informed training and also the challenges that us artists and creatives have when it comes to financial issues. We want to avoid it. I know, I do. And Katy is someone that a few years ago when she was launching her program, at first the financial stuff, I’ll admit, I wanted to run away from. I was tuning out when she’s talking about the financial stuff. But then when she coached someone and you got to witness her coaching someone through money mindset issues and connecting with childhood trauma, it sold me. I was like, Oh, I need to work with this woman.

I was in her program for two years, and I don’t know, I might even do it again, because it was so valuable.

[00:03:48.520] – Diane Foy

There’s the core training, but then there’s also the coaching sessions and the group coaching sessions and the guest speakers. Her program is Financial Freedom for Creatives Club, and we do talk about that in the episode as well. But definitely if you’re catching this in time, in early December, she’s having workshops that are free. You can sign up, so I highly recommend, even if you’re not even thinking about joining a financial freedom program, get into her world, take this workshop, and see what she’s about because she really understands us creatives, and that’s what sets her apart as a financial coach, because she understands being a creative and an artist where we don’t have steady income.

It’s up and down, up and down and how to survive that and how to connect with your mindset and the trauma that lives in your body that’s maybe holding you back. So highly recommend that. But for now, let’s get into the conversation I had with Katy.

[00:05:10.100] – Diane Foy

Katy.

[00:05:10.620] – Diane Foy

Welcome to the show. You’re the first repeat guest I’ve had.

[00:05:16.620] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Oh, I’m so honored.

[00:05:18.130] – Diane Foy

It’s been a few years since you were on the podcast, and I’ve been wanting to have you on again and catch up with you. We’ll maybe give a little introduction to who you are, what you do, and why you do it, and all that good stuff.

[00:05:37.790] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Amazing. Yes. Well, I’m a financial wellness coach. I’m a trauma-informed financial wellness coach, and I help creative freelancers and entrepreneurs make more, worry less about it, and achieve true financial freedom so that you can create the life of your dreams. And the reason I do what I do is twofold.

One, I was a freelance TV producer for about 15 years, so I really understand the ups and downs of the industry and having to find a job and then not have a job for however long it was. I really want to help creative people to make this a lot easier in their lives.

And then the second reason I do what I do is a little bit more personal. It is because I’ve known three women in my life who stayed in abusive relationships because they didn’t have the resources to take care of themselves and their young children.

So they felt like they were stuck and they couldn’t get out of it. And so my mission has been to empower people to make decisions not based on money. Instead, I want you to make decisions based on the dreams that you have for yourself and if you have children to be able to help your children to fulfill their dreams as well.

[00:07:01.600] – Diane Foy

Cool. You’ve recently, I’m curious about the trauma-informed. I recently got a certificate in trauma-informed as well, but probably not as in-depth as yours. I want to hear more about what inspired you to get that certification and why did you choose whatever school or whatever it is that you chose.

[00:07:28.290] – Katy Chen Mazzara

All that talking about. Yeah. I’ve done a lot of work, and I have a background in inner child work and those kinds of things that I bring into the process. Because as children, we don’t really understand the concept of money, right? Because money isn’t really real.

We, as humans, made up the concept of money. And so as children, we’ve experienced so many different aspects of like, let’s say it’s just your parents were fighting about money all the time. Or for me, it was a couple of different things. My dad, every time the taxes would roll around during the year, he would be at the kitchen table frustrated and angry while he was doing his taxes. And then my parents would fight about money all of the time.

And then I also had a grandmother who she had some money, but she also was very tight with her money. And she would accuse everybody of stealing her money all of the time. And there was a time in our lives when we were younger that there was a day where she came out of the guest bedroom and she was like, Oh, somebody stole my money.

[00:08:47.450] – Katy Chen Mazzara

I put it underneath the mattress, and it’s gone. And instead of the fun thing we were going to do that day, she ended up making us all look for her money. To this day, I still have no idea where that money went. And then however, as an adult, I started to really remember those moments and say to myself, I don’t ever want to be like her. I’m going to just do the opposite, right? Which isn’t necessarily healthy either because the opposite was as soon as it came in, it all went out.

There is a lot of things that whether it’s big trauma with the capital T, like the things that I was talking about with the three women in my life who stayed on those abuse and relationships, or it’s a smaller T, small traumas actually can also happen so that it informs how you’re behaving now.

And until you get to the root of those issues and you’re willing to dig deeply and unearth them and bring them up to the surface and then also learn how to release them from your body, then it can keep you stuck into the same patterns that you’ve been doing over and over again.

[00:10:01.990] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Even if you’re saying, I’m doing all the things. I’m doing all the practical things. I’m reading all the books and I’m taking all the courses and all of the stuff. And it may still not help you to make more money or to be able to take down, to pay off your debts or to save and invest more in your future because those other pieces are trying to keep you from doing the things that it feels like you feel like you’re in danger, right?

In those senses. And so that’s why it wants you to stay in the same place and be just comfortable on the couch not doing anything and making changes in your life. So that is the main reason I did that.

And I went through a program called Elementum, and it was a nine-month program at the time. I don’t know if it’s still a nine-month program. It might be even longer now because I think they felt like it was too short or maybe it was something like that. It was very intense. It was not only were we learning all of the processes of what it means to be trauma-informed, what it means to somatically release these experiences and traumas from your body.

[00:11:21.920] – Katy Chen Mazzara

It was also a process of taking ourselves through this because they always talk about how you can’t actually get someone else through a process if you haven’t actually been through it or released it from your own body, right? And one of my things that I work through was my visibility issues, right?

I have a thing where it was very, very challenging for me a couple of years ago to even do lives or to do any thing that was like… I felt like I was putting myself out there in so many ways. And that was something I worked through in that nine months. And now I feel pretty confident about doing that. And I definitely don’t have the same kinds of fears. I definitely feel like I’m on the other side of all of that.

[00:12:20.720] – Diane Foy

Yeah. I had the same thing with visibility and I spend my life trying not to be noticed because that’s scary. And’and so now you want me to go on camera? That, again, was a big challenge for me. But again, the more you do it, the more you get used to it, and you’re like, whatever now.

But the trauma-informed coaching, the one I did was very… It was more shorter. It was 20 hours and it was free. It was the Center for Healing. And it was cool. Two guys from Australia that just thinks it’s so important that people are trauma-informed that they’re offering this, and they have bigger courses that if you want to get more into it.

I find that trauma-informed, is such a serious and because it’s the same in the coaching is that, oh, I’m a certified coach, but you might have just taken a day program or someone else has done for years, whatever. But I think when you’re dealing with the word trauma-informed, that’s serious. I even felt weird about putting trauma-informed, II don’t want to say trauma-sensitive because I actually read a really good description of that.

[00:13:49.510] – Katy Chen Mazzara

There is a difference, for sure.

[00:13:51.680] – Diane Foy

Yeah. Before I took the program, I saw this description of it, and I was definitely in the trauma-sensitive. But then after I finished the program, I read it again and went, Oh, I’m here now. I’m trauma-afford now. But I also will be the first to say that I don’t really want to be that person that really does the trauma work.

It’s more I attract people as clients who have trauma, and often I’m the first person they’re telling. I just wanted to learn enough to, as it is, it’s a safe space. I’ve been lucky that nobody’s gotten too far traumatized, but I just want to take that responsibility and be prepared so that it is a safe space. That’s why I did it, and I’m learning. Even though I’m finished, I still am reading books about it, and I want to learn more. Also, I think I learned I’m not healed.

[00:14:54.470] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Oh, no. I mean, I don’t even believe in like, Okay, we can actually just heal ourselves like that. I always think about it as a cone, like the bottom. At first, when you’re working through something that you’ve been going through your whole life, it’s really wide at the base. And the more that you’ve been working on it, it gets smaller and smaller at the top of the cone, right? But it’s still there, and you’re circling the same thing, but it’s just hopefully at the top of it, it just gets smaller and then it takes less time for you to dwell in it. You can recover from that place a lot easier.

[00:15:36.530] – Diane Foy

Yeah. I’m curious to know also what approach that program took in the sense of the one I took was anti-traditional therapy, and it’s all about the body and getting in touch with that. I think that’s where I was like, Oh, I haven’t even done that work. I’ve done the trauma in my body, and I did try to avoid it, and it’s all in the head. I do want to learn more about that? But was it more about the body connection?

[00:16:11.390] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Oh, absolutely, yeah. Because what they really teach is that you can do a lot of therapy. And they’re not anti-therapy. I think that there is a place and a time for therapy, and I think there are… And it’s a very interesting distinction that I think coaches need to be aware of. Even if you are trauma-informed, you are not to go into those spaces where a therapist, a licensed therapist who have really been trained to go into, those are the things that you need to know. What is that line? And in terms of the body, they talk about how sometimes if you’re just talking and talking and talking in therapy, yes, it can feel like you’re doing the work and you’re getting it out and all of those things. However, trauma lives in our bodies, and until it actually releases from our bodies, it doesn’t really create a major shift and change. That’s why so many times people can stay in therapy for years and years and decades and decades.

[00:17:23.190] – Diane Foy

Yeah, because I think years ago, I did a lot of different therapy programs or trauma, healing and everything. But now I look back at it in the last couple of years, like getting to know some of the coaches that we know that there’s a whole world of new or older processes that connect to the body. I’m like, I don’t think we did any of that in those programs that I did back then. We did art therapy, but it was mostly talk. I’m interested in learning about the different modalities that.

[00:18:07.440] – Katy Chen Mazzara

You can take. Absolutely.

[00:18:09.460] – Diane Foy

Yeah.

[00:18:10.320] – Katy Chen Mazzara

And I think for me personally, I am somebody who is probably more in my mind than I am in my body. And so it was a really cool reminder. And then it helped me to do a process where now I have different modalities and ways to get it out of my body and to really do that. And it feels so different. It actually feels more expansive.

All of a sudden, after doing some of the work, it’s like I can breathe more easily and I can feel so good in my body afterwards. And instead of sometimes like, Yeah, you’re just dealing with a mind and you’re just talking through it, it’s still stuck there and I’m just reliving it over and over again in my mind.

[00:19:02.830] – Diane Foy

Yeah. What are the different modalities that you learned or that you put into your work with clients? Some people are doing the tapping thing. I don’t know about that either yet. I want to learn more about that. What are the different modalities that you learned that you want to or have put into your practice with clients?

[00:19:25.270] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Yeah, well, we didn’t learn tapping. That wasn’t one of the things. Ours was more of a somatic approach. And so there are different ways of doing, of opening, whether or not it’s like… We go into a process of going deeply into your body, really checking in, first of all, where in your body it’s located, and then what does it feel like and look like and what message is it trying to give you?

And then it’s like wherever it is in your body, that’s where you get to work on the release. So it’s very different in all of these different areas, right? So let’s say, oh, you have a headache above your eyes or something right here, right?

Then there is a very rapid eye movement modality that you can use, or if it’s in your shoulders and it feels like you’re carrying the weight of the world on there, then there are shoulder releases. And some of it is even just in the self-massaging as you are releasing whatever it is that you’re feeling. We can talk about, Oh, yes, I’m feeling in this moment that I have a lot of work to do. Or I always have to work so hard in order to make money or something, and I’m feeling it in my shoulders.

[00:20:53.640] – Katy Chen Mazzara

And then I can actually say those things and rub my shoulders, get those knots out while I’m doing it. And then that helps in terms of connecting your brain and your body in order to release whatever it is that you’re working through.

[00:21:10.450] – Diane Foy

Cool. Yeah, these guys were talking more somatic as well, but they didn’t get into the actual… That’s their further program. Or later. But I’m curious about that. When did you first… Even when I took your program, you were still always starting it off with a meditation and connecting with your body even then. When did you first get interested in… Were you always interested in meditation?

[00:21:44.700] – Katy Chen Mazzara

No.

[00:21:45.380] – Diane Foy

You were like me, always in the mind.

[00:21:48.410] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Yeah, I was always in the mind. When I was a TV producer and a journalist, it was like, yeah, I don’t think I ever thought about any of that. I think it all switched. It might have been 10 years ago. Ten years ago, there were a lot of things that happened in my life. I had a death in the family. I lost a job in the entertainment industry, and then I got a health diagnosis. That wasn’t something I really wanted, of course. That one year, I think it was 2016, and that one year was the year of major transformations because I felt like what I’ve been doing before this is not working.

Then I was also noticing that when I went into therapy that that wasn’t working. I would talk to my therapist, talk to my therapist, and then I feel like I felt the same or I felt just as crappy. And then I felt really stuck. I felt like nothing I was doing was working, and then everything in my life was blowing up. In some ways, it wasn’t real, but in some ways, it was, right? And so however, those were the things that I felt in my mind and body.

[00:23:18.770] – Katy Chen Mazzara

And so then I started to look for other modalities of doing things. And first I went through transcendental meditation. And if anybody does that, you know that you actually have to pay for it. It’s not a free meditation thing. And you go and get training on it, and they give you a mantra. Like, each person is supposed to have a very specific mantra to them. I don’t know if that’s really true or not, because I’m sure if we did talk about it, we all probably have the same mantra. And then that waslike… I had an experience through that.

One time when I was doing the meditation where it really took me out of my body and I started to feel like, I don’t know. I mean, this… I’ve never actually talked about this, so forgive me if it goes into this really strange woo woo place. But it really felt like an out-of-body experience. It felt like I was floating above myself and really observing myself. I was like, Whoa, what is that?

[00:24:36.440] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Also, it. Made me realize there was something else that I don’t really know. I grew up going to a Southern Baptist Church for crying out. So this other stuff, like growing up Baptist, you’re like, No, we don’t believe in that stuff.

But then when it happened, I was like, Oh, there is something here. I started to go into more different modalities of spirituality and really understanding. And understanding from… There was this place of curiosity and what is this? And what do other people believe in? And how do people do things? Then it wasn’t just the meditation.

It was also more of a personal development journey that I went on. And then I did a retreat, a spiritual, personal development retreat, and went even deeper. All of these things, led me to that place and then realized very quickly that after I did a financial planning certification at UC Berkeley, that was a very practical certification.

Then I realized when I was working for the clients, it’s not just those practical things. It’s not that that really helps to move things forward. Because if it was just practical, first of all, none of us would fight about money.

[00:26:15.210] – Katy Chen Mazzara

And money is the number one reason most couples get divorced and fight over—and then second of all, if it wasn’t an emotional piece with your money, then you can read all the books about it, the books that other people talk about. I love the book, The Personal Finance for Dummies. I actually think it’s very good. It’s very great in terms of the practical stuff. And so if it’s as an emotional and if it’s not about changing habits, then you can read those books and implement them, and it’s all going to work out, right? You’re going to be a multimillionaire, right? All of the things.

However, because it is emotional, then that’s where I started to, Okay, I got to go back to getting certified in these more spiritual modalities and emotional places, right? And I think that’s why right now, even the idea of a financial therapist, that’s a growing field. I’ve seen so many different people going into that because of exactly what we’re talking about. The habits that you’ve created, the things that we grew up learning in childhood, that completely makes us like, we’re still five years old when it comes to money sometimes.

[00:27:48.690] – Katy Chen Mazzara

We don’t understand it. We don’t know what to do with it. All we know is that it seems like it’s the only way to survive. Then you put this importance on it.

[00:28:02.810] – Diane Foy

You help creatives and artists, and that’s really probably a bigger struggle for creatives because we just want to create.

[00:28:15.020] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Yes, absolutely.

[00:28:16.540] – Diane Foy

Avoid all that, the stuff we should do, the stuff we.

[00:28:21.030] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Would know. Yes.

[00:28:22.000] – Diane Foy

What are some of the mistakes that you see artists and creatives making when it comes to their financial? I would say I know mine is avoiding.

[00:28:35.150] – Diane Foy

Do all creatives and artists avoid the whole money thing?

[00:28:39.500] – Katy Chen Mazzara

I think most do until it becomes more of a painful subtext. Context. I think if you’re somewhat good with your money, like if you’re somebody who, Oh, you pay off your debt, and you don’t really accrue debt, then you can go years and years and years without having to work with anybody or to dive into the subject deeper, right?

However, I think it gets to a point where then it feels a little frustrating. It feels like when 2016 happened and all this stuff happened to me, I was like, Oh, my goodness, I’m stuck. I don’t know what to do anymore. And I feel like, Yeah, now I got to start over or whatever. And sothen it’s like, Okay, now I got to find somebody to help me to make this a little bit easier.

Because sometimes when you’re stuck, it’s like if you keep trying to do the things all by yourself, it actually can make things worse or just keep you in this place of like, nothing’s working out. And that’s a hard place. And then the other thing I would say when you asked what I see overover and over and over again is really buying into a belief.

[00:30:03.380] – Katy Chen Mazzara

The belief that in our society, the belief system in the Western world is that you have to starve for your art. You have to be a starving artist. That’s how everyone starts and all the things. Then the other belief is that you have to work really, really hard in order to get where you want to go. I do believe, and there is a piece of work that you do have to make. Especially with money, you can’t just put up vision boards and manifest it that way because money is so earthly. There is some work that you do have to put in.

However, the belief system is so important because there is a spiritual teacher that I work with, Michael Beckwith, who always says, You don’t get what you believe. You don’t get what you want, you get what you believe. If you think about that, it’s so deep because our belief system really colors your world. If you believe that the world is out to get you and that there’s nothing that you can personally, like you have no personal control over anything, then that’s what you’re going to be finding the evidence for over and over again in your life.

[00:31:31.200] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Then when you find the evidence for that, then you’re putting yourself into a cycle of all of the time. You’re like, Yeah, I know that that’s true because this is the experience that I have. Versus, okay, if your belief system is that things do work out for me, and then you’re also looking for the evidence of that in the world, and then things do show up for you in very different ways than someone who believes the other thing.

Your belief system is so, so important when it comes to anything you’re doing, and especially as a creative person and in the entertainment industry or in the music industry where you started from. It’s like because there is no set path to getting to the place where you want to go.

My dad was an engineer. So there’s a set path of like, okay, you do X, Y, Z, and you’ll get to the place where you want to go. Whereas if you’re a musician or an actor or a writer, there isn’t that same exact thing. And so then it really does rely on your own belief system. I talk about this. I love the story of how Jim Carey wrote a check for himself for $10 million, right?

[00:33:00.190] – Katy Chen Mazzara

And then he dated it 10 years in the future. And then exactly 10 years later, he actually got 10 million for I think Dumb and Dumber, the mask or one of those movies. And I said… And then a lot of people will do that, right? A lot of actors will write the check and whatever, and then they’re like, Well, why didn’t it happen for me? And it really is around your belief system. I do believe that there’s something about the way Jim Carey did it, and he really, truly believed it that that is what’s going to happen in those 10 years versus somebody who’s just writing it based off of Jim Carey’s story.

[00:33:42.930] – Diane Foy

Yeah. It’s hard to get that connected to it because sometimes I’ll read about manifestation or take different programs for it, but it’s hard to get to that core of really believing it. What are some different tricks that we could do that will have a more belief system? I’m thinking like, I need to put more things, like the things that I need to remember on a daily basis, putting little notes or inspirational things or just things to remind you of like, remember.

[00:34:28.410] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Yeah, that’s very helpful. And it’s also helpful to take it step by step. Don’t go so far into it. It’s like, if I say to myself, by this time next year, I’m going to make $10 million in my business. It’s like, Yes, there’s part of me that can believe it, but then there is a huge part of me that really doesn’t believe it. That’s not the way to actually create that belief system.

Instead, it’s like, Okay, so what is the next step and the next step that you can take in order to build up your belief system? The belief system needs to be just one step away from where you are currently, and then you’re building into that. And then once you’re at that step, then you can go into the next piece of building into that.

[00:35:25.080] – Diane Foy

Yeah. I remember you had this… What was your jar thing? Oh, yes.

[00:35:30.590] – Katy Chen Mazzara

It’s called a self-worth jar. I love this. Yeah, the self-worth jar. And it works in the same way. I always tell people a self-worth jar is like compounding interest in your savings account. Each day, you write something positive about yourself, and it almost doesn’t matter what you’re writing as long as it is positive and it’s about you because it builds it up, right? Like, each and every day that you’re doing this, then you’re getting closer and closer to believing that to be true.

I had a client one time who did this exercise, and then a couple of months later, read through what she had written, and she told me, I didn’t even recognize who wrote those things. And that’s because we’re so far removed from our higher selves. And so that’s why the practice of doing this daily really helps you to build up into that place where you can start to really believe in that higher self. Believe in the place where, let’s say, it’s the most benevolent parental figure and who really cares about you and loves you unconditionally. This is us getting to reparent ourselves in a way because none of us have perfect parents.

[00:36:58.380] – Katy Chen Mazzara

And then it’s a way for then for you to get to that place of being like, oh, yes, I unconditionally do love myself. And then I do see my own worth and I know who I am and what I bring to the table. And then whenever you do need a reminder, whatever you can pull it out and start reading through it. And it’s just a practice of building that up. And I think it’s such a beautiful practice for everybody to do because I do believe that our self-worth is really tied into our net worth.

[00:37:37.290] – Diane Foy

I was thinking of doing something similar, but for accomplishments, those accomplishments. Those accomplishments like… Because I work, work, work, and at the end of the year, sometimes you’re like, Did I accomplish anything? But meanwhile, I was thinking of having that jar of every day, what did you accomplish today? Even if it’s, You know what? I took a self-care day. I didn’t work at all. And having that at the end of the day, you could look at it and go, damn, I accomplished a lot. I think I’m just putting that into place.

[00:38:15.670] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Yeah, I love that. I think that there are some journals who have things like that, too. There’s a place for that so that you can also see your success building up.

[00:38:27.650] – Diane Foy

As well. Yeah, there has to be more in your face like you could see it.

[00:38:32.420] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Cool.

[00:38:34.610] – Diane Foy

Tell me about your program, Financial Freedom for Creatives.

[00:38:41.160] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Yeah. This membership is a year-long membership where we go into all of these things that we’ve been talking about, the emotional places as well as the practical steps to reaching financial freedom. And a lot of times people are surprised that we go so deeply into the emotional spaces.

A lot of the hot seat calls are pretty emotional. People will cry or allow themselves to get very vulnerable. That may feel scary. However, I do believe that in a group space, part of the healing that happens or the transformations that happen is the fact that you get to be seen and heard.

Then also, as Brené Brown’s work talks about, is that shame and guilt likes to hide in dark corners. Then as soon as you’re able to speak up and announce like, This is what I’m going through, then things really start to change in that way. A couple of years ago, I had a member who admitted that he had over $100,000 of debt. He was like, I don’t know how I would ever pay it. He later told me that that was the moment when he finally said it out loud on one of the calls, that that was the moment that things shifted and changed for him.

[00:40:13.420] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Then on that call, I gave him some suggestions, and one included even bankruptcy. He said, Oh, that was a thing that woke me up too, was like, Oh, I don’t want that. That’s not what I would want. I have to figure it out in other ways.

And then he was able to manifest actually about 75% of that amount and be able to pay that off during that year in the membership. This is like, yeah, that combination of things that we do. We start off with some foundational work, really setting your goals and getting clear about what it is that you want, writing out some of your money stories.

Then we go into core values, which is so important because you can start to make decisions based on your core values. And if you’re in alignment with it, the spending becomes so much easier. And then you start to spend towards those values rather than not towards those values. And we go into decluttering your debts and savings, your own self-worth. Again, we do a lot of practice with that. And then towards the end of the year, we really dive deeper into investing investments too.

[00:41:31.280] – Katy Chen Mazzara

If anybody wants to learn more about investments, we definitely do that as well. Then I do it at the end of the year because so many times people are not ready for that at the beginning. If I started off with investments, it.

[00:41:44.880] – Diane Foy

Would just- Investments. I’d be like what did I sign up for?

[00:41:51.700] – Katy Chen Mazzara

exactly. And yet for creatives and artists, I do think it’s really important to have a diversity to diversify your income, right? Your income streams diversify the way you’re making money, have some passive income streams coming in so that then it doesn’t create so much worry and anxiety.

And then you can create from that space because it’s really hard to be creative when you’re in scarcity mode. You’ve got to get out of scarcity mode in order to create. And sometimes getting out of scarcity mode is actually one of the harder parts because you don’t have the momentum yet behind you.

Once you’re in a certain place where it doesn’t feel scarce, then you actually have so much more momentum to keep you going versus in the very beginning, right? So that’s why I think something like my course or even something else, like another course, I think everybody has different coaches that they can work with that actually really resonates with them. So it’s not like I’m advocating just for mine.

But I do think it’s really great when you’re in that place to actually find somebody to help you with that momentum, getting you to that next level, because that’s actually the hardest place to be is when you’re in a place where it feels like you’re just in survival mode.

[00:43:23.000] – Diane Foy

Yeah, and to be in a group program with other artists and creatives who either they’ve been where you are or they.

[00:43:30.470] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Are where you are. Exactly. That feels really supportive. Yeah, for most people, everyone talks about that, too, is that the group environment is so supportive. A lot of people have made friends. Last year, I think one of the members, they went to Europe or went to London and met up with another member. Then they took a photo and sent it to me. I was like, Oh, my gosh, that’s so great that they’re making friends across the world.

[00:44:04.420] – Diane Foy

Yeah. And how many years have you had this program now? I think I have them the first two years.

[00:44:09.260] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Yeah, three years. And this is the third year, and then I’m about to go into the fourth year with it.

[00:44:15.280] – Diane Foy

Have you found that you’ve evolved the program, or is it still the same thing?

[00:44:23.730] – Katy Chen Mazzara

It is. I think, well, in some ways, it’s the same because I do believe in there’s a specific process that I like to take. The training part. Yes. And then there are some differences as well because I like to evolve things as years goes on because I like to ask everybody, Okay, well, what was your experience? And getting that feedback from everyone. And then whatever feedback I’m getting, I’d love to incorporate those things because the members are the ones that are going through the program each year, too.

[00:45:00.320] – Diane Foy

Yeah. I love having… My system hasn’t… It’s been at the core the same, but I’ve realized how much I’ve evolved it and got better. We were at it. And so it’s always still interesting.

[00:45:21.010] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Yeah. And I would say that I had not gone through the trauma and form program in the first year, too. I think I went through it last year. I think I did it in 2021, I want to say. I think that has shifted and changed a lot of things as well because of that program that I’ve gone through.

[00:45:46.860] – Diane Foy

You launched the program with a challenge?

[00:45:52.520] – Katy Chen Mazzara

No, not for December. Yeah, in August, I did. I did do a TAP challenge. For December, it’s going to be a series of workshops. You get to come to one of the workshops. I always feel like during these workshops, I give you a lot. You can probably walk away with… If you really don’t want to sign up for the program, you’re going to walk away with a lot of great things you can start implementing right away. And then I also open it up for questions. So if anyone has anything, I’m really open to hearing what people have to say about that. And it’s not one of those fluffy like, I’m going to sell you something deals. Instead, I’m really giving you a lot of actionable things that you can implement.

[00:46:43.690] – Diane Foy

So coming up in December, is it a multiple day workshop or is it one workshop done a few times?

[00:46:51.440] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Yeah, it’s one workshop done a few times. You get to choose which day works best for you.

[00:46:57.260] – Diane Foy

Okay, cool. We’ll put that in the notes for people to sign up and check it out. I don’t always recommend you to my people, and I’ve mentioned you on a few podcasts lately.

[00:47:10.580] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Thank you.

[00:47:12.650] – Diane Foy

There’s a trauma-informed theme happening in the latest episodes. We’re going to go with it for a while. Awesome.

[00:47:24.780] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Recently, you had mentioned working with a client, and you were working with that client on money. And it was so cool to hear because I loved everything that you had told me about it, about how you worked with this client. And I was like, Yes, that’s.

[00:47:45.200] – Diane Foy

Exactly right. I knew it was going to be there too because that was the third or fourth session I’d had on Monday in that month or so. I was like, Why does everybody keep coming to me? like. Multiple clients. It’s such a common thing. But it was just funny that I did it with one client, and then I swear the next session with a different client, I’m like, We could go through this again.

[00:48:14.110] – Diane Foy

My client that I had in the past that I had on their podcast, I had no idea that’s where we were going to go. I don’t know what I thought we were talking about, but then all of a sudden we’re into the money thing again. I’m like, I’ll give it a shot.

[00:48:29.320] – Katy Chen Mazzara

yeah. Definitely. Well, money touches on everything, right? Yeah, it permeates our whole entire lives, and so it’s important. Yeah, it’s good.

[00:48:41.700] – Diane Foy

Yeah. I’m channeling you and everything I’ve learned just even through my own experience. Well, I think also her questions were a lot about the business. I’m like, Yeah, I’m good at that. Charging, not working for free and that stuff naturally to me, but the getting into the childhood thing, it was cool. I get into the childhood when I do the why and your story and stuff like that. But it was like there was a few clients in a row there that was digging into the money story.

[00:49:18.200] – Katy Chen Mazzara

That’s so cool. I love that. Yeah, I love it. When you reached out to me and asked me about it, I was like, Oh, and I listened to it, and I was like, Yes, you did a great job.

[00:49:31.020] – Diane Foy

I know what I’m talking about.

[00:49:35.100] – Katy Chen Mazzara

You know a lot of times what you’re talking about.

[00:49:38.850] – Diane Foy

Yeah. You’re more passionate. You want to learn about everything. That’s why even the trauma-informed, or with each of these clients, I said, If you want to dig deeper into the money, go see Katie. I can get you started, but then go see Katie.

It was the same with the trauma-informed. I plan on being like, I can help you through this part, but I’m fully aware. Even that I do branding, I don’t do graphic design. I still will probably send you to another branding coach that is going to help you with the design of it. Everyone has their own specialties. I think that’s so cool, the community of coaches that were a part of.

[00:50:24.530] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Even.

[00:50:25.920] – Diane Foy

If it’s a different money coach or a different personal branding coach. Exactly. They might come at it from a completely different way.

[00:50:36.000] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Than just.

[00:50:37.250] – Diane Foy

Whoever you connect with.

[00:50:38.860] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Yeah, that’s why even in my program, I bring in people, guest experts who have the different things. Recently, I had a certified financial planner who came in who really focused on working with musicians. And I love bringing in people who have the different expertise because he’s all about getting you to those retirement goals and the investments. Then because he works with musicians, it’s a very good combination of my audience and who he serves as well.

[00:51:16.950] – Diane Foy

Yeah. I’m from the music world that I’m sure some of the other creatives will, after hearing about musicians go, I don’t have it so bad. Musicians make next to nothing. Everyone in canada, it’s so can is the money that you make on your songwriting and publishing, and everyone’s posting lately, I guess the check came in and everyone’s like, I got a $1.30 I got $0.34, I got $2, I got $3.50. So yeah, it’s fun. Yeah. Cool. Anything else you want to share? I think we covered a lot.

[00:52:02.070] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Yeah, I think we did, too. I just want to say you can make this part of your life a lot easier so that then you can be even more creative, right? I really believe that once you have your financial pieces in place, then it helps you to go into other places in a more confident way and make the money that you really want to make doing what you love.

[00:52:35.860] – Diane Foy

I think I talk about that when I talk about figuring out your why and your purpose. Because I know I’m not money motivated, but if you can tap into what you really want and why you want it, look at all the good you could do if you had more money, if you had more freedom.

[00:52:58.600] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Absolutely.

[00:52:59.400] – Diane Foy

Thank you so much. I hope everyone joins your workshop, or if you’re listening to this late, still go check out Katie and all that she does.

[00:53:10.570] – Katy Chen Mazzara

Thank you so much for having me, Diane. Thank you.

[00:53:15.150] – Diane Foy

So I’m going to stop. Thanks for watching Superfan Attraction. If you enjoyed this episode and all that you’re learning, be sure to subscribe to the channel. To connect with me, I’m Diane Foy Arts on All Socials and in the Superfan Attraction group on Facebook.