Episode Guide

A journey of resilience and entrepreneurship emerges as Christine Huey shares her inspiring story of navigating financial turmoil after an 85% pay reduction within weeks of her marriage. Facing a drastic drop in income, she and her husband pivoted from despair to action, launching their successful food tour company, 'A Little Local Flavor' in Nashville. Christine emphasizes the significance of community, financial creativity, and the hustle required to rebuild life on new terms. Through resourceful living and strategic financial decisions, including capital gains harvesting and tracking expenses visually, they managed to thrive despite initially limited resources. Christine's narrative underscores the importance of seizing opportunities, embracing change, and developing a passion-driven life, which has ultimately led to a fulfilling and financially stable future.

Episode Timestamps

ChooseFI Podcast Show Notes

Episode Title: Transforming Financial Hardship into Entrepreneurial Success with Christine Huey

Episode Summary

In this inspiring episode, Christine Huey shares her journey from significant financial challenges shortly after marriage to establishing a thriving food tour business, A Little Local Flavor, in Nashville. After a shocking 85% reduction in income, Christine and her husband redefined their financial path through creative expense tracking, side hustles, and unwavering commitment to their goals, highlighting the joy of building a career around personal passions.

Key Topics Discussed

Introduction to Christine's Story
- Christine's background and how she met her husband.
- Encounter with financial hardship shortly after marriage.
Financial Hardship and Adjustments
- Losing 85% of their income and the emotional impact of job loss.
- The immediate necessity for a budget overhaul and cost-cutting.
Tracking Expenses and Side Hustles
- Creative financial tracking using a whiteboard on the fridge.
- Side hustles like driving for Lyft and serving to supplement income.
Starting A Little Local Flavor
- Transitioning to entrepreneurship and the passion behind starting a food tour company.
Buying a House
- The challenges and strategies involved in purchasing a home during a financial crisis.
Community and Business Impact
- The role of community engagement in her business success and fulfillment.
Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
- Encouragement to take the leap and start small.
- The importance of celebrating every achievement.

Actionable Takeaways

Utilize a Visual Tracking System for Your Finances
- Incorporate creative methods to track income and expenses.
Consider Multiple Income Streams to Enhance Financial Stability
- Explore side hustles or freelance opportunities.
Engage with Your Community to Strengthen Personal Networks
- Build connections through local engagement and support.
Always Follow Up on Financial Commitments and Negotiations
- Don't hesitate to ask for what you're owed or negotiate for better terms.

Key Quotes

“Prepared to embark on my own venture.”
“Shape your life to reflect your dreams.”
“Take the first step towards your dreams.”
“Acknowledge every achievement, big or small.”
“Always follow up on financial promises.”

A Little Local Flavor - Find out more about Christine's food tour business.
Radical Personal Finance Podcast - Resource that led Christine to financial independence strategies.
Camp FI Events - Community events that facilitate financial independence discussions.

Discussion Questions

How can someone begin to overcome financial hardship?
What role does community play in financial independence?
What steps can one take to track their expenses effectively?
How can side hustles contribute to financial stability?
What advice would you give to someone starting their own business?

Conclusion

Christine's journey not only serves as an inspiring example of resilience in the face of financial adversity, but also emphasizes the power of community and the importance of taking proactive steps toward living a fulfilling life.

Podcast Intro: "You're listening to ChooseFI. The blueprint for financial independence lives here. If you're looking to unlock the secrets to financial independence and early retirement, you're in the right place. Stay tuned and join a community of like-minded people who are getting off the hamster wheel and taking control of their lives in the pursuit of financial independence. ChooseFI, your home for financial independence online."

Podcast Extro: "You've been listening to ChooseFI Podcast, where we help middle-class America build wealth one life hack at a time."

Overcoming Financial Hardship: The Journey of Christine Huey

Introduction to a New Beginning

Financial hardships can be daunting, but they can also serve as catalysts for remarkable transformation. Christine Huey's journey from a near financial disaster to establishing her own successful business, A Little Local Flavor, is a powerful testament to resilience and the human spirit.

Navigating the Initial Shock

Shortly after marrying, Christine faced an astounding 85% reduction in income. The sudden loss of nearly $115,000 was a shocking blow that would leave most feeling helpless. However, instead of succumbing to despair, Christine and her husband quickly recognized the need to adjust their financial habits.

The Emotional Rollercoaster of Job Loss

Experiencing unemployment and the associated emotional stress can be overwhelming. Christine recalls her struggles, including the tears shed as reality set in. It’s essential during such times to acknowledge emotions while also focusing on actionable steps.

Effective Expense Tracking

One of the strategies Christine employed was creating a visual tracking system for her finances. This method proved effective for understanding her spending patterns.

Creative Expense Tracking System

Use a Whiteboard System: Write down all income and expenses on a whiteboard hung on your refrigerator. This simple visual can help track daily spending without the intimidation of spreadsheets.
Weekly Reviews: At the end of each week, evaluate your financial situation. This rolling system allowed Christine and her husband to manage their cash flow without feeling overwhelmed.

Embracing Side Hustles

Side hustles became a vital part of their financial recovery. Christine actively sought opportunities to supplement their income.

Strategies for Side Income

Driving for Rideshare Services: Christine signed up for Lyft to utilize her car for additional earnings. This not only helped pay down her car loan but also offered her the flexibility needed during tough financial times.
Bartending and Serving: Taking on multiple shifts in the food service industry allowed them to match their income with their expenses, enabling them to continue saving toward their long-term goals.

Launching A Little Local Flavor

Once Christine felt stability returning, she took a crucial step toward entrepreneurship. Her love for food and hospitality inspired her to start her own business focused on food tours in Nashville.

The Leap into Entrepreneurship

Market Research: Before launching A Little Local Flavor, Christine conducted thorough market research to identify opportunities within the local tourism landscape. Understanding her target audience was vital.
Building Momentum: Christine emphasizes the importance of keeping momentum by making daily progress toward business goals. Take actionable steps each day to build your business.

Community Engagement and Impact

Christine’s business not only brings financial benefits but also deeply connects her with her local community.

The Power of Connection

Supporting Local Businesses: By highlighting local eateries in her tours, Christine helps promote small businesses, enhancing their visibility and customer base.
Personal Fulfillment: Engaging with her community and meeting new people through her tours has provided Christine with a sense of purpose and connection that she treasures.

Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Christine’s insight as someone who’s successfully transitioned from financial insecurity to business ownership is invaluable.

Key Takeaways

Start Small and Stay Consistent: Don’t wait for the perfect moment. Begin by taking small daily actions that contribute to your larger goals.
Celebrate Every Win: Recognize and celebrate even minor successes to maintain motivation and enthusiasm.
Research Your Market: Know your audience and competition to carve out your niche effectively.

Positioning for Success

Christine worked tirelessly to ensure her business would flourish.

Financial Management Strategies

Adopt Creative Financing Methods: Explore options such as capital gains harvesting to minimize tax liabilities. This approach can be particularly beneficial for low-income years.
Maintain a High Savings Rate: Despite the business's lower income compared to her previous salary, Christine and her husband consistently aim for a substantial savings rate, setting goals to reach upwards of 50%.

The Journey Continues

Christine’s journey illustrates the idea that financial hardships can lead to new opportunities and a fulfilling life.

Embrace the Uncertainty

Resilience in the Face of Challenges: Christine found that her significant life changes ultimately led her to a career she loves, with more time spent outdoors and engaging with her community.
If You Can Rebuild, Rebuild Wisely: Take the lessons learned during tough times and use them to create a life that aligns with what you truly value.

Conclusion: The Blueprint for Financial Independence

Christine Huey’s story encapsulates the essence of perseverance, community engagement, and embracing change. By adopting innovative financial solutions, tracking expenses, leveraging side hustles, and focusing on community, you too can navigate life's financial challenges and come out stronger on the other side. Remember, every journey starts with a single step—let Christine's experience inspire yours.

Here is Christine's story about how she and her husband, Jack, rebuilt a life that they love after an 85% reduction in pay six weeks into their marriage.

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Losing Your Income

Two weeks after they were married, Christine was let go from her engineering job. Basically, the company was looking to reduce expenses after they lost a big contract and since she was relatively new they let her go. Four weeks later, as an audio freelancer, Christine's husband lost his oldest and most lucrative client.

In total, they lost $115,000 worth of annual income in six short weeks. That left them with around $20,000 of annual income.

Spending Picture

At the time of this loss, they were spending around $40,000 to $50,000 annually. They knew that they would need to make changes immediately.

They did have a savings account, severance package, and investments to fall back on. However, the couple was determined to not dip into savings to fund their lifestyle.

Job Opportunities

Christine is an engineer with a very specific skill set. She was trained in print engineering. Unfortunately, that is a dying industry so it was not possible to land another job in that field. Especially in the south, there are not very many individual printing plants.

During that time period, there were definitely points when I thought Nashville wasn't for me. Applying for jobs and getting told no repeatedly is very very difficult...so there was a time I was like 'Man, I am over this and we really should move.'

However, it was not a real option to leave Nashville. As a freelancer in the music industry, Nashville is the place where Christine's husband needed to be. If they left Nashville, he would have a difficult time rebuilding his network. Since Jack enjoyed his work and Christine did not, they decided that they would find a way to stay in Nashville.

Making Changes

In order to stay in Nashville, Christine and Jack needed to be willing to hustle. Christine took up driving for Lyft soon after the job loss. Eventually, she found a job as a brunch server and then as a bartender.

In addition to finding income sources, the couple needed to cut down on expenses immediately. After using Lyft to help make car payments, they thought about other ways that their large expenses could pay for themselves.

We try to have all of our major expenses, try to find little things that we can have them produce; a little bit of income to help cover the expense.

Immediately, they moved from their large house rental into an inexpensive rental that needed a lot of work. The landlord allowed them to take any improvements they made to the house off of the rent price.

Overall, the couple was able to reduce their living expenses down to between $30,000 and $35,000 each year. The dramatic drop took a huge amount of determination to make the hard choices.

Tracking Expenses And Saving For A Down Payment

Once they moved into the inexpensive rental, they started to track their expenses meticulously. Instead of relying on an Excel spreadsheet to capture their spending every day, they used a whiteboard calendar. The calendar rolled through four weeks, and they recorded all spending on the whiteboard.

As they went through this major downsizing, they realized that they really wanted to purchase a house. In order to keep it affordable, they knew they would have to buy soon if they wanted to be in a relatively desirable neighborhood. They wanted to have 20% ready for a down payment which meant that on top of their expenses they needed to save around $450 a week.

The whiteboard approach to tracking their finances made it more manageable to track their money goals. Due to the nature of their jobs, they were able to pick up extra work and shifts as necessary to make up for any deficits.

Because of the types of jobs we were doing...we were able to actually work both sides of the equation; which I think is really, really valuable...Not just try to reduce our expenses actively but also try to increase and match our income every single week.

One nice thing about a rolling calendar is that if you have a bad week, then after three weeks it gets wiped off the board. So it's like starting over.

Buying Their House

Nashville was a hot market but the couple wanted to buy a home before they were priced out of the market. In total, they looked at 70 houses and put offers on eight houses. It was a difficult situation because most houses were going above the asking price with multiple offers within 24 hours.

Eventually, they found a fixer-upper through Facebook Marketplace. It was a for sale by owner property, so they were able to close the sale without a realtor. Since closing in 2015, the property has increased in value by 50%.

The property has been able to provide an income in several ways. First, they rent a room out to a friend which helps to cover the mortgage. Plus, they have an acre of land with fruit trees and cut flowers. In the beginning, they sold the fruit and flowers but now they mostly give them away as gifts to friends. It is an easy way for them to continue to be generous without having a large cost associated with that.

Rebuilding A Life You Love

Having your life fall apart feels like a roller coaster ride with lots of heartbreak and hard times along the way. However, Christine and Jack made it through stronger than ever.

What we found is that through, basically, financial demise, we had the opportunity that most people don't have...we had a very rare opportunity where our entire life was blown to bits. And you have to rebuild it. And when you get to rebuild it, you figure out that you can rebuild it the way that you want it to look.

The shocking turn of events forced the couple to really think about what they valued. For Christine, one of those things was spending time outside. She found a passion for gardening and a schedule that allowed her to spend most of the afternoon outside.

Another schedule change was aligning their work schedules. As an audio engineer, Jack worked nights so with Christine's 8-5 it was difficult to spend time together. All of a sudden, they could build a life where they could spend more time together.

I was making less than a third of what I had made in the past and yet I was living this life that I absolutely loved. I couldn't wait to get up and work for four, five, six hours at a time, really really hard. Then I would have a break in the middle of the day then I would go bartend and I loved every second of it.

Eventually, she realized that she loved the life she was building. Without losing the job, she may have never left the higher income of her engineering job.

It is possible to take advantage of terrible events in your life. Instead of looking at some events like they are the end of the world, find a way to rebuild.

CampFI

Before CampFI, Christine was hoping to learn tools that could save her family money. The total cost of the trip was $300 and she was hoping to glean $1,500 worth of knowledge from the camp.

After attending, she realized that she more than reached that goal. Just talking to people and learning about their path equals very real dollars. Christine learned about the saver's tax credit which saved her thousands of dollars alone.

However, she found that some people seemed burned out on their journey to Financial Independence.

I think a lot of people feel like it's this "all or nothing." I'm either working towards FI, and working as hard as I can and saving all of my money, and just burning the candle at both ends; whereas, people don't realize as you are saving money, you are earning freedom along the way.

So, she asked people what they wanted their life to look like. Over the course of the camp, she challenged people to buck their limiting beliefs and attempt to redesign their lives. Of course, someone else challenged her to face her own fears as well. As a direct result of Camp FI, Christine chose to start her own business.

A Little Local Flavor

Christine and her husband founded A Little Local Flavor, a food tour company in Nashville. With over 200 5-star reviews on TripAdvisor, things seem to be going great!

Through the business, Christine wants to help people achieve their dreams. In some cases, that means paying their employees well. In other cases, it means working with local businesses to bring hundreds of customers in the door.

Community is something that means so much to me. In fact, I think all growing up there's been something on my heart where I have this--I just want to help people achieve their dreams.

She works to highlight local family businesses that are doing great things.

Starting Your Own Business

Do you have an idea that you have been waiting to get off the ground? It might be time to take the leap and start your business.

After doing your market research, you need to just take the leap at some point. The key is to just start on something. Try to move something forward every single day.

Try to take little steps every day to either build that life that you love or start working towards whether or not starting a business is right for you. But the key thing is to just start. Keep your eyes forward and don't look back.

Take action every day, no matter how small. Make sure to celebrate and acknowledge every small win along the way. Use momentum to move your plans forward each day.

Listen to the review of this episode here.

How To Connect

You can contact Christine through their business' website, A Little Local Flavor, you can find emails and contact forms there.

You can follow them on Instagram or Facebook @alittlelocalflavor.

If you want to book a tour by A Little Local Flavor in Nashville, then go through the website for the best deal.

The Hot Seat

Favorite Blog: Two podcasts: Impact Theory and Don't Keep Your Day Job

Favorite Article: 1000 True Fans

Favorite Life Hack: Bartending events.

Biggest Financial Mistake: Missing out on money because I was too afraid to have a difficult conversation with my superiors.

The advice you would give your younger self: Stop worrying so much and enjoy every single phase of life.

Bonus! What purchase have you made over the past 12 months that has brought the most value to your life? Bluetooth noise canceling headphones which help to create a quiet space for working on her growing business.

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New to FI? Be sure to check out Episode 100: Welcome To The FI Community!