How Audrey Faust Broke Free from the Poverty Line to Build Wealth

Audrey Faust: 00:00:00

So I was working at the mall at income tax place. I did my tax return for the first time and I put it in the computer and up came my refund. And I was, like, shocked. It was so big.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:00:17

In a good way. Yeah.

Audrey Faust: 00:00:18

Yeah, it was so big. And I'm like, well, I must have did something wrong, right? I'm like, go and check it. Did I do anything wrong?

And as I checked it, I realized that we qualified for what was called an earned income credit. And you get an earned income credit from the government. It's additional money from the government when you're like, right at the poverty line.

And that was kind of the slap in the face because, you know, my mom brought me up to be independent, right? And financially independent.

So not only was I not financially independent, like we were at the poverty line as a family, and I was just, you know, it threw me back. It really threw me back. And I realized that this isn't what I want for myself. This isn't what I want for my family. And I'm right there, Matt.

I'm right there where my mom told me not to be.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:01:15

Today's guest is Audrey Faust.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:01:17

Audrey is a business financial coach. She's an expert cfo, and now she's a bestselling author of a book called she Grows Rich. Her story is one of really overcoming adversity.

And I think I related to this challenging self limiting beliefs and building this life of financial independence and purpose. She takes us back to this pivotal moment when she discovered that her family was at the poverty line.

And it was this realization that really became the catalyst for her journey towards this financial empowerment that she now has.

Through her determination, shifts in her mindset and strategic decisions, Audrey not only built a successful career, but she also created a life of abundance and fulfillment. She shares how key moments like working with a mindset coach, transitioning her business to better align with her values really shaped her path.

In this episode, you'll hear Audrey's reflections on finding purpose, building wealth, and empowering others, especially women, to take control of their financial futures. I think many of you will resonate with parts of Audrey's journey. So without further ado, here is my conversation with Audrey Faust.

I'm Matt Gilhooly and this is the.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:02:28

Life Shift candid conversations about the pivotal.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:02:31

Moments that have changed lives forever.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:02:44

Hello, my friends. Welcome to the Life Shift podcast. I am here with Audrey. Hello, Audrey.

Audrey Faust: 00:02:49

Hi, Matt. Thanks for having me.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:02:51

Well, thank you for wanting to be a part of this. We were talking a little bit before recording and we're both in Florida, which is kind of rare. I don't talk to too many people in the same state.

Audrey Faust: 00:03:00

Yeah, I'm in Florida half a year. When it's warm, best weather.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:03:05

You're smart. Yeah. And you're in South Florida, so that's. There's a little bit more warmth and tropical nature down there.

So we're hopefully you are enjoying this season of your year and staying warm, and then you go back north and you stay warm there, but not too warm. Right. Well, thank you for wanting to be a part of the Life Shift podcast. For anyone that's tuning in, that is here to listen to Audrey and her story.

This show really stems from my own personal experience. And what happened was When I was 8, I was visiting my dad. My parents were divorced, they live states apart, and I was visiting him and.

And my dad brought me into his office and he had to tell me that my mom had died in a motorcycle accident. And at that moment in time, I lived with my mom full time. I was just kind of visiting my dad.

And everything after that moment, he told me that whatever the last word of that sentence was, everything about my life that we all had imagined for my life was going to be different. I was going to have to move states and move schools, have a new parent, you know, that's taking care of me full time.

And this was like late 80s, early 90s. And I don't think a lot of people were really talking about grief or helping kids through that mental health journey.

So I kind of pushed that all down. And all along, I was always wondering if other people had these, like, line in the sand moments in which everything was different. So here we are.

I'm in my 40s now, and I'm able to have these conversations with people on the Life Shift podcast about these pivotal moments. Not all of them are tragedies. They thankfully. But, you know, like, you know, we all have many pivotal moments in our lives, which I've learned.

And I think when I first started, I was a little naive thinking, oh, that was. There's just one. But there are a lot of them, if we're lucky. Right. And we're able to kind of move through life.

So I'm just so honored that I've Talked to over 150 people now about these pivotal moments. And the thing that I've learned is that there is something about everybody's story that I can relate to or that resonates with me.

It might not be the main character part. It might not be that big part. But it might be something in the corner of their story in which I feel less alone in my journey.

So, a little bit about the Life Shift podcast. Thank you for wanting to share your pivotal moment with. With my audience and. And all the people listening.

Audrey Faust: 00:05:19

Thank you, Matt. I'm happy to be here. And you're.

You're so right, like, how we can resonate with pieces of people's stories and just, you know, know that we're not alone. That's so special.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:05:31

Yeah, it's funny, too, because I hear from a lot of people, too, and yours, I think your story has an element of this.

But people will talk about how maybe they have read a book before, but then they were going through something in their journey, and they picked up that book again, and something that they had read before now stood out to them in a totally different way that changed their perception or changed the way that they were thinking about themselves or about their lives or those kind of things.

So, you know, it can be something as simple as a sentence, an email, you know, a notification, anything like that that can change our lives in a good or a bad way. There's so much more that we have in common than we have different. So I just love it.

le bit about who Audrey is in: 2025

Audrey Faust: 00:06:21

So I am a business financial coach.

I work with small businesses, mostly women, and help them overcome any money mindset issues as well as understand the financial pieces of their business so they can become more profitable. Fun fact, only 30% of businesses are actually profitable.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:06:45

That's an unfortunate number.

Audrey Faust: 00:06:47

It is, it is. And there are plenty of things that. That I work with them to help them become more profitable.

And understanding the financial pieces of your business is, like, so important for that. Right. Everybody gets into business because they have a gift or a talent, and the financial piece just comes with it.

So you either gotta figure it out the hard way and learn it, or, you know, get somebody to help you understand that piece.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:07:18

It's so important.

I think there's so many people also that start businesses and only think of the revenue aspect of it and not so much like all the expenses that come along with it. And, you know, and. And maybe Shark Tank's been out a lot, so people hear a little of those little background things of things to think about.

But at the same time, I think when you have this dream of starting a business, it's always just thinking about the Money that will be coming in and not the money that you have to spend to hopefully bring in that money. Especially at the beginning, when you have. There's such a big offset at the beginning. So that's. I mean, that's amazing work.

Do you feel really fulfilled by. By doing that work? Is that something that, like, fills your cup 100%?

Audrey Faust: 00:07:59

Yeah, it. You know, I especially love working with women, like, because they.

They have a lot of, like, beliefs around money and around business and around creating a business, that they just struggle a little bit more than men do because of these beliefs. But, you know, it's because of our upbringing. We're really the first generation of women that can have a business.

even have a credit card until: 1974

Matt Gilhooly: 00:08:26

It blows my mind every time I hear that.

Audrey Faust: 00:08:29

So it's like, we weren't allowed to have money until, you know, just a few years ago, really.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:08:36

And now there's a ton of women just kicking butt out there, and it's so wonderful to see, and hopefully more. And hopefully you're helping people be more profitable in that way.

And obviously, you're driven and you're passionate about these things because of your own story. Well, I shouldn't say.

Obviously, I should say, I'm assuming, because I think so many of us, the things that fill us up, like this podcast fills it up because of my own personal experience. Right. So is it right to make that assumption that your own lived experience helps you feel really passionate about this?

Audrey Faust: 00:09:10

Yes, I'm passionate about helping women be financially independent because of my own story and my mother's story, actually. So it goes all the way back to her.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:09:23

Well, why don't you paint the picture of what your life was like leading up to this pivotal moment, and we can kind of just go from there.

Audrey Faust: 00:09:28

Sure. So my mother was in a marriage with my father, and he struggled with mental illness, so it was a very difficult marriage for her to be in.

But she couldn't financially afford to leave him. He was the breadwinner. He was bringing in all the money. She could not afford to leave him.

So she felt like she was stuck in a marriage that she didn't want to be in. And what she told me, you know, growing up, was, make sure you can always support yourself.

And it stuck in me, but I didn't necessarily listen to it, really, like.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:10:05

Know what it means. It's hard to understand what that means when you're growing up.

Audrey Faust: 00:10:09

Yeah, I like, you think, like, it's easy to support yourself. It's not as easy as when you're younger. You think, oh yeah, I'll just go get a job anywhere and support myself. It's expensive to support yourself.

And you don't, like you said, you don't really understand when you're younger, like in high school and things. So. But I had that in my head my whole life. So I was 27 and had two young children.

Now, even though my mom constantly said she wanted me to go to college, but I didn't do that great in high school. I had like a brother who was quote unquote the smart one. And he constantly like told me that I wasn't smart enough.

I wasn't, you know, I didn't know anything. And as big brothers often do to younger sisters, unfortunately, I believed him. So I had all these fears around.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:11:05

Like going to college because you didn't want to fail.

Audrey Faust: 00:11:08

Yeah, I was afraid to fail. I was, you know, I get that. Yeah, I've dug into that a lot. And I was, I was afraid to fail because that would mean he was right.

That's what I realized.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:11:21

Yeah, I had the same thing. I was afraid to fail. Not because of that, but with my own experience.

I was afraid to fail because if I failed, my dad might also leave because my mom left. So it was this fear of abandonment. I had to be perfect. So it was a. It's a little different.

You know, I really tried to be perfect, but at the same time I was so afraid of failing. So I chose the easy things, like I chose the things that I knew I could do, do really well. So I get that.

Audrey Faust: 00:11:45

Yeah, I guess there's a lot of people afraid of failure. Right?

Matt Gilhooly: 00:11:48

Well, I think it's also society, I think for so long too, especially now with social media. It's like this performative nature of.

We show the highlight reels and I try not to do that because I, you know, like we're all human, we're all going to make mistakes and we're all going to fall on our face. And sometimes those are the best moments because we realize how strong we are after we fall on our face, you know, and.

But we don't realize it in the moment cuz it hurts. But at the same time it's important to realize that nobody's perfect and who wants to be perfect really?

Audrey Faust: 00:12:18

Yeah, well, you know, fail your way to success.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:12:21

So I, I guess so that's how you keep learning, right? You keep trying. So anyway, yeah, no, it's a quote.

Audrey Faust: 00:12:30

I recently heard from Tony Robbins was there's no such Thing as failure, only outcomes. And I was like, boom. That kind of blew my mind.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:12:39

Right? It's like changing your perspective on the word that we assumed for so long was like this really scary thing.

And you just turn it on its head and you're like, oh, it's the same thing but a more positive outlook of it. So you were 27, you had young kids.

Audrey Faust: 00:12:54

I was 27, I had two young kids. And my husband was starting his own business. And with two young kids, I didn't go to college. I had an administrative job.

Like I couldn't afford childcare. So I went to and got trained on how to do income tax returns. So I was working at the mall at income tax place.

I was, did my tax return for the first time and I put it in the computer and up camera my refund. And I was like shocked. I was so big. Yeah, yeah, it was so big. And I'm like, well, I must have did something wrong, right? I'm like, oh, checking it.

Did I do anything wrong? And as I checked it, I realized that we qualified for what was called an earned income credit.

And you get an earned income credit from the government. It's additional money from the government when you're like right at the poverty line.

And that was kind of the slap in the face because, you know, my mom brought me up to be independent. Right. And financially independent.

So not only was I not financially independent, like we were at the poverty line as a family and I was just, you know, it threw me back. It really threw me back. And I realized that this isn't what I want for myself. This isn't what I want for my family. And I'm right there, Matt.

I'm right there where my mom told me not to be.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:14:32

Well, it started to make sense probably too, right, what she was saying.

Audrey Faust: 00:14:35

Yeah, I was like, you know, I couldn't support myself, let alone two kids. And, you know, although I was happily married, I'm still married to the same person today. You don't want to be stuck in that marriage like she was.

Things change on a dime.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:14:51

Yeah, you need to be self sufficient.

I think it's, it's interesting too because I would imagine that if you knew that you couldn't afford child care and those things, you probably felt some of those things in your everyday life of the fact that, like, I just can't afford the things that maybe I should be able to afford or someone said I should be able to afford and those kind of things.

But then you see this innocuous earned income Credit words and verbiage on the screen, and you're like, that's the thing that triggers you to be, like, slapped in the face when life was happening. Slapping you in the face all the time, right?

Audrey Faust: 00:15:24

Yeah. Yeah.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:15:25

You know, it's fascinating how we can do that as humans. It's like this survival mechanism, too, where we kind of just go through the motions.

And then like, that book example I gave you earlier was kind of like when you saw your tax returns and what you were going to get, first of all, you were probably excited because there was a lot of money there. But then.

But then when you saw, like, the reality that the only reason that you're getting all that extra money is not because you, quote, unquote, earned it, right?

Audrey Faust: 00:15:53

Yeah.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:15:53

It was because someone. Did you. Did you feel that it was almost as if someone was feeling bad for you and giving you that money. Did you assume any of that?

And please say no if you didn't.

Audrey Faust: 00:16:06

Not really. I just felt like, this isn't, like, who I am. Like, I'm not somebody that needs the government to support me.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:16:16

So it's more of an ownership thing. You wanted to feel power there.

Audrey Faust: 00:16:20

Yeah, it was an identity crisis, I think, is what it was. You know, I was like, this isn't who I am. Like, this isn't how I was raised. So, like, this isn't more like that.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:16:30

So it was kind of like it lit a fire in you, or was it. Did you play. I would probably play a pity party for a little bit. Did you have any of those moments?

Or was this like, let's go, we're going to make a plan to get out of here?

Audrey Faust: 00:16:43

No, it was a reality check. So I was like, this isn't the life I want for myself or my children.

Like, I want to be able to give them all the things that they need, you know, and want. So, of course, the only thing I knew at that point was like, okay, well, I got to.

Not only do I got to figure out how to bring some more money into the family, which I did. I still continued to work part time, moved on to working for Vanguard, which is a financial institution. Learned a heck of a lot there.

That was like, the best education I ever had.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:17:18

But, like, financial planning kind of stuff, or.

Audrey Faust: 00:17:21

Yes, but I just worked in customer service, so.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:17:24

Not.

Audrey Faust: 00:17:24

I was.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:17:25

You worked.

Audrey Faust: 00:17:25

I know. Thank you. I heard that. I worked in customer service, but I got the best education of my life, I bet.

And then I started taking a couple classes, going back to school. The one class I was good at in high school was accounting, which is.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:17:43

A rare thing, right? A lot of people are good at accounting.

Audrey Faust: 00:17:46

Well, it's kind of funny because I thought it was the easiest class, and there were people failing all over the place in that class. And I was like, this is the only class I got an A in other than math. I was good at math, too, but I was like, wait a minute, this stuff is easy.

How are you failing? But it was just evidently my gift, right?

But I was also by hand back then, and I was like, I could never sit there and do this, like, all day by hand. But, you know, things change. Technology changed.

But that was kind of my, like, one little nugget that I'm like, okay, well, I was good at accounting in high school. Maybe I can go back to college and do something in accounting. So that's, you know, I took classes. It took me about off and on, about eight years. Wow.

Yeah.

It took two years in the middle off because in the meantime, as I took a couple accounting courses, I started my own bookkeeping business, because that was a business that I could make run on, like, my own schedule and work around the kids. So back then, there was no working from home. Right? There was none of that. Like, you had to go in an office and work 40 hours or 40, forget it.

So after I took a couple accounting courses, I started my own bookkeeping business, and that got super busy. I was successful in that. So I took two years off in the middle. And then I was like, wait a minute, I.

I need to get this degree, so I at least have the degree in my pocket.

So then I ended up going back after the kids got older and a little bit older, and it took about 10 years total, but, like, eight years of schooling part time and had another kid in. In. In the middle of all that.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:19:28

Would you say that it triggered you to find purpose at all?

Audrey Faust: 00:19:31

It was more about financial independence.

Like, yeah, like, it was more about, like, I need to be able to support myself to have that, like, ability to walk away if I want to, that my mom didn't have.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:19:44

Yeah, no, I think it's a big driver. But you also, like. And the reason I asked that is because it.

It sounds like you also kept steering yourself to the thing that you were good at as well. So you know it. And then by way of that, if you're doing bookkeeping for other people, you're helping them be better in. In a way.

So then there's that fulfillment that comes from all the pieces. So that's where that came From. I'm swinging and missing a lot with. With my assumptions with you. But I.

Audrey Faust: 00:20:13

It's okay. I'm different.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:20:16

Well, you know, and. And 2. Did you have struggles in choosing to go back to school? Because there is a cost that comes with that. So was there any.

Any part of that where it was like, okay, I know I'm at this point I need to make more money, but now I need to shell out more money in order to end up to the place that I want to be?

Audrey Faust: 00:20:37

Well, I did a lot of loans because we weren't making a ton of money. I got a little bit assistance on that. That didn't bother me for college, for whatever reason, but college is expensive.

But yeah, I did get a little assistance and some loans and pretty much was able to pay for most of it through the assistance and loans.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:20:58

That's awesome.

Audrey Faust: 00:20:59

And then pay it back later. There was a little bit here and there that we had to pay out, but especially in the beginning, it was.

I was able to, like, do it through loans because I was doing it slower too. Right.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:21:11

That's true.

Audrey Faust: 00:21:12

So that. That helped.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:21:13

Did your journey start to become, like, a snowball effect for from there, like, were you making your way to financial independence and at some point you reach a summit, or is this an everlasting journey for you?

Like, what does that look like for you as you're really changing your life to become successful in the financial sense, to make sure that you are independent if life throws you a curveball?

Audrey Faust: 00:21:38

Great question. So as I took some accounting courses, started the bookkeeping business, and then paused it for two years, as I said, and then went back. Right.

One of the reasons I went back was because I would work with CPAs and I would see what they were making, and I knew how to. Like, I was working for small businesses.

But then once a year, the CPA would come in and I would see the bill that the CPA sent, and I knew how to do tax returns at that point, and I knew how long it was taking them to, like, do these tax returns and what they were charging. And I'm like, I think I need to make that kind of money. So, you know, you say there are multiple pivotal moments. So I.

My goal was to get my cpa, and once I finished my accounting degree, I went and left the bookkeeping business for a little while and went to work for a cpa. Well, I worked for that CPA for about two weeks and said, this is not happening. Went back to my bookkeeping business.

But it was a decision I Had to make. And it felt depressing at first, Matt. It really did. Like, that was my goal to get my CPA.

But in order to get your CPA, you have to work for a CPA for two years. And in tax season, CPAs, the offices, they're working till like 10 o'clock at night. I had kids that were in school at this point.

I'm like, I'm not going to not see my kids, like on a given day. Like, that was, that was a. No. Like that was a deal breaker.

And I don't think I realized the hours that were worked and expected to work during tax season.

That and the fact the work I was doing in my bookkeeping business was actually at a higher level than the work coming in the bottom of a CPA business that I was doing. And I hated it. So there was a couple factors. And then I was like, forget this.

And I went back to my bookkeeping business and said, yeah, you know, it was a little depressing because I had it all planned out. I was going to study for my cpa, I was going to get that cpa. But I realized that wasn't the lifestyle I wanted.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:24:02

Yeah. And I think that's okay. To learn that and shift your priorities or your goals to something different. I think so many people can relate to.

Well, I, I mean, myself, I, I think so much of my life, I played this society's checklist game where I felt like, okay, I'm going to be happy when graduate high school. Okay, no, not yet. When I graduate college. Okay, no, when I get my first master's degree.

Okay, no, you know, like every, it was just like, keep moving the line, keep moving the line. Instead of.

And this is probably what you were doing in your bookkeeping business eventually was finding the joy in the moment as you're building whatever those things are instead of like looking for that next mile post or whatever it is. It was always, I was always just chasing, chasing, chasing, chase.

Audrey Faust: 00:24:53

Yeah.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:24:54

Same thinking. Whatever that next one was going to be was going to make me feel the way that I assumed it was going to. And it never did.

So at some point I just stopped running because it was like, I mean, how many times is it going to take for me to learn my lesson that each step wasn't going to bring me any closer to whatever I thought this success was going to feel like. I think your devastation is warranted. I think your sadness is warranted. I think all those pieces are warranted.

But it's important that we realize that that's just a Moment, right. It's just something that, that happened and now we, we make decisions. Like you made a hard decision, right?

Like you're like, okay, well that was my goal. It's not my goal anymore because my kids are more important. I can do other things. So I mean, good for you for, for getting through that.

But I think it's so relatable, so many of us.

Audrey Faust: 00:25:42

Thanks.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:25:43

Hit that. We're like, nope, that's not what I wanted.

Audrey Faust: 00:25:47

Pivot.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:25:48

Exactly. Yeah. Did you keep at the bookkeeping business?

Audrey Faust: 00:25:52

Well, what ended up happening then is when I went back to it, I changed the structure a little bit. I got really picky on the clients I was bringing in. I would go around to different businesses.

When I went back in and I said, I'm only going to one business a day and they have to book me for at least five hours. And that was kind of like the thing because I was running around a lot and that got to be a lot. So I changed the structure, which helped.

And in changing the structure, I got a new client. And that client ended. Turned out a few years later. They were growing and growing. They were multi six figures when I started with them.

And then, you know, they were growing to seven, multi seven figures. And then once he got to about 2 million, he asked, he said, you know, I'm gonna keep growing, I wanna grow this business even further.

He's like, would you like to come on and be my controller full time and you know, have, you know, grow an accounting team. And you know, I thought about it for a little while because I liked all my clients.

But I thought, well, this is my opportunity to go to the next level. Right? Because I'd only, at that point I'd only done bookkeeping.

And I'm like, now I get to go to the next level, really use the accounting training that I have from college and it'd be an amazing learning experience. And it was like five minute commute from my house. So that was a no brainer.

So yeah, so after some thought I did, I said yes and transitioned over, became his controller. He did keep growing all the way up to like 5 million when I actually finally left there.

And the reason I left there was the five minute commute became a 60 minute commute because he moved the business. And that was not fun.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:27:46

It wasn't the job that got you out there necessarily, or would you have stayed if it was five minutes away?

Audrey Faust: 00:27:53

Probably. But there were other issues going on. I did have an accounting person, I had a bookkeeper working for me now. She Was great.

And the business was getting to a point where I didn't have as much connection with the owner as I originally did because it just got too big. Right.

And I, you know, when I first started with him, it was like five of us, and now we're up to like 20, you know, and it's just, I really enjoyed like working with him and helping him grow the business. And then it just became like, oh, I'm just over here kind of doing the accounting. And I wasn't.

Didn't get involved in the business aspect of it, which really what I loved. Right. It was more just, you're just doing the numbers and then, you know, so there was that factor. But the five minute commute, it was.

He was a great boss. Like, to.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:28:47

It would have been easy to stay.

Audrey Faust: 00:28:49

It would have been easy to stay, but. But when he. The commute changed, it was kind of like, okay, I need to do something else.

Like, this is kind of two hours in my car a day was like, not fun. So. So I was like, I'm going to go back out and do my business again, but I want to make it different this time.

I want to work with even larger businesses and I want to work with, you know.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:29:13

Well, you were making a difference before.

Audrey Faust: 00:29:16

Yes.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:29:17

All those people that you were helping.

Audrey Faust: 00:29:20

I was, I was. But I like. So here's, here's the thing, Matt. Here's what I wanted to do versus what I wasn't doing in my bookkeeping business.

When I moved in as the controller role, right. We were analyzing things, we were looking at numbers, we were deciding what was going to grow the business. Right. The bookkeeper role.

Most of my clients, they didn't even want to look at the numbers. They just wanted me to do my thing and then leave and, you know, at the end of the year, they'll cry if they owe taxes or celebrate if they don't.

But this owner that I worked with was different from the other ones where he wanted to grow, he wanted to look at the numbers, he wanted to make sure they were right. It was a lot more fun so for me than just data entry as a bookkeeper.

So I wanted to create a business controller on demand is what I named it as a controller for small businesses. So I did.

I stepped away, ended up doing more bookkeeping than I wanted to do, but then did a quick shift and started working with larger businesses doing their accounting. And I ended up hiring a bookkeeper and she was doing the bookkeeping and I was doing the accounting.

Up until recently, I started Coaching in the last couple years.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:30:40

What made you do that?

Audrey Faust: 00:30:42

What made me do that? So I worked with a mindset coach, probably. Oh, gosh.

Probably like: 2018

Matt Gilhooly: 00:31:06

It is. It is. What made you choose to get a coach, though, in that first? Like, what triggered that?

Because I think that that's a hard leap for a lot of people.

Audrey Faust: 00:31:14

Well, I worked with a coach for a little bit at the last company that he paid for, so I was an executive coach. Right. So I. I saw some transformation there too, and I was like, oh, wow, this.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:31:29

So you get to dip your toe in the water.

Audrey Faust: 00:31:30

Yeah, with. With. Yeah, his company on his dime. So I got coaching, right? I got. I understood what coaching was about, and I realized, like, it was pretty cool.

And then I was following this coach on Facebook and, you know, she was doing a lot of lives and things like that, and I was interested and, you know, got on the phone and then I was hooked.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:31:53

And so you started to shift your mindset and you. That brought you to wanting to coach other people, or was it just the experience of being coached that was like, this feels good.

Maybe I can help other people in that way?

Audrey Faust: 00:32:05

As an immediate. I never thought that I could, like, be a coach. Like, I thought you had to be special.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:32:13

I get it.

Audrey Faust: 00:32:15

This person, the person I worked with, she had a psychology degree. So, you know, I was just like, I didn't. You know, I didn't think, like, that was a possibility for me. And then.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:32:25

Were you hearing your brother's voice at all in any of that?

Audrey Faust: 00:32:28

Probably, yeah. I hear my brother's voice my whole life.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:32:32

I get it. Yeah. No, we. We really do. We hold on to these things. I think you might agree with this. Maybe not.

When I think about some of these things that really hold me back, I also logically think that doesn't make any sense, Matt. Why are you thinking that way? But it's still so deep seated that you're just like.

Audrey Faust: 00:32:50

It is.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:32:51

Yeah. I hear it's like, how do I get rid of it? So, yeah, I.

I could imagine that that why you feel or you felt at the time like, I'm not good enough or like, who am I to be a coach?

Audrey Faust: 00:33:02

Who am I?

Matt Gilhooly: 00:33:03

Yeah, who am I to be a podcaster? You know, like, we just do I.

Audrey Faust: 00:33:06

To write a book, that's all. That was a whole other thing.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:33:09

Exactly.

Audrey Faust: 00:33:11

But, yeah, it's, you know, peel the layers and it's still in there. Right. Keep peeling them. You keep working with coaches, and it's still down there. Just another layer deep.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:33:21

Curious about, like, in this journey where you're.

You're kind of navigating your career and creating in your career and following different paths and then taking sharp rights or lefts or whatever they need to be to find whatever's feeling right at the time.

Was there any point on that journey where you had, like, a marker in which you were like, okay, I'm financially independent now, or I've hit this point where I'm, quote, unquote safe, or were you always like it? Was it never enough?

Audrey Faust: 00:33:50

Both.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:33:51

Okay.

Audrey Faust: 00:33:51

Like, I. Yeah. If that makes sense. So there was a point in my life where I did for the bank. You have to do a personal financial statement. Right. I've actually.

Clients I worked with. I created a calculator that does the exact same thing. And on there, you find it has your net worth.

Not many people know this, but because I had an accounting background, I was like, wait a minute. That's like, my net worth. And when I saw that number the first time I saw a million dollars in my net worth, I was like, what?

Like, I'm a millionaire. Like, I mean, I was, like, shocked because it. I didn't even realize it. And it was. That was definitely a light bulb moment.

But then I'm also to the point, well, it's like, I want to live this lifestyle of living in Pennsylvania, living in Florida. So I do need more, and I do need more, you know, did you.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:34:47

Feel like you were out of the. The grasps of, like, the hands of the past?

Yeah, like a safety, almost like, okay, I've passed this line, whatever that line is that you created for yourself.

Did you feel like a weight lifted or any of those pieces that came along with it, or was there more responsibility now that you were already successful, so now you got to keep it going, because I think there you could play both sides.

Audrey Faust: 00:35:14

Well, I didn't mention that I did go back and get my MBA as well.

And I feel like after I got that, I felt like I could, you know, worst case scenario, I can always get a job with the education I have, you know, in corporate and be able to support myself, no problem. You know, I think that was.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:35:33

I did not feel that when I got my MBA, really. But I was also, like, 23. So what did I know at 23? Like, nothing. I got a free MBA.

I was like, cool, the check mark, you know, So I was older, I was much older.

Which if I would, every time I talk to people that are considering, I'm like, make sure you're working for like 10 years before you go do it, because nothing will. You'll get so much more value out of it. I was 22 when I started it. It was a 10 month MBA program. It was just like doing classes in my undergrad.

I mean, it was harder, but it was, you know, like it.

There was no life experience that I was able to really bring to the table when I'm doing my suave marketing case study from Harvard Business Review, you know, like whatever it was.

But in any case, I could see how that could be validating at your, in your journey because of what you did in between and the time that you took to get your undergrad. Adding that extra layer becomes such a, such a marker that probably feels safe.

Audrey Faust: 00:36:39

Yeah.

I mean, I have to say, even getting my undergrad and my MBA as an adult, I probably learned more than if I would have taken those classes right out of high school, because especially the fact I even have my own business while I was going to school. I was working in doing accounting while I was going to school.

So it was just kind of like it all made sense to me and maybe that's why I felt like it was easier for me.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:37:08

I think it just probably feels more valuable.

I think you start to feel like, oh, like I can actually use this, you know, like I can implement whatever I'm learning here or I can tweak something because I just learned about it in this class.

Whereas younger individuals, you're just like going, and you're just doing the homework and then you're forgetting about it and you're, you know, like, so it's not as valuable. So I think there I, when I talk to young people, I'm like, give yourself some time and then go back.

Audrey Faust: 00:37:36

Yeah, no, I agree.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:37:37

Life will teach you a lot of things. And then school can like, put things into perspective.

Audrey Faust: 00:37:43

Yeah, yeah. Especially the mba. Like, I got that I took a break after I got my undergrad and then, gosh, I think it was like eight, 10 years.

And then I went back and got my MBA.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:37:53

What do you think the biggest lesson that you've learned about yourself though, in this journey of. Because like, there's a lot of pivots that you've even mentioned in this, in probably the brief version of your story. Right?

What, what's the biggest thing you learned about yourself compared to that version of you that was, like, in the mall, working.

Audrey Faust: 00:38:12

I am smart, even though my brother said I wasn't. So that's probably the biggest thing I learned.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:38:20

When did you. When did you accept that?

Audrey Faust: 00:38:21

Probably, you know, when I did well in college, in my undergrad, you know, I was, like, pretty smart.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:38:28

And there's proof in the pudding now. Like, you can. If he ever questions you again, you can show it in his face kind of moment, right? Like, I did it.

Audrey Faust: 00:38:36

Well, I think in. Even. In order for me to go back to college, I think I started seeing it as evidence in, like, when I was working, you know, when I was doing a job.

Like, things would. You know, like, I would get things. I would not. You know, I'm like, okay, I'm.

You know, I might not have been a history buff, and I hated history, like, and I didn't do great in social studies, but, like, business, I was good at. So that was kind of probably the shift. I'm not, like, gonna sit there.

The high school work just, you know, to me was not high school, not interesting.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:39:13

A whole other experience. There's a lot of other things happening during high school years, so I think we can discount that.

Were you always this version of you, like, in happy, Like, I mean, you've been laughing a lot in a way. Like, have you always been this way, or is this kind of emerged from this experience?

Audrey Faust: 00:39:34

It's kind of funny because I was super shy when I was younger. So shy, Matt, that I remember my mom, like, took me on a play date. It was, like, kindergarten or first grade.

And probably the first and last play date she ever took me on because I literally sat under the kitchen table and she stayed, and, like, I clung onto her leg the whole time. Like, that's how, like, quiet and shy I was. So, like, I. You know, even in high school, I had a friend that.

She used to call me Mouse because I was so quiet. So I've come out of my shell a lot. I have a husband who's very social and very outgoing. So that helped for sure, too.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:40:19

Yeah.

I would imagine the confidence in having successful businesses and navigating that world can give you a little bit more confidence to just be who you are and who you want to be, versus feeling afraid that the world is going to, like, eat us and minimize us to dust. You know, I think we can all feel that way at some point in our lives, but you can tell the zest or the.

The feeling you have for life and the things that you do and that it seems like You're. You're enjoying life at this point of. Of your journey. Is that true?

Audrey Faust: 00:40:53

Absolutely, yeah. 100%. Yeah. I love what I do.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:40:57

In your percentage of your light, like, how much does. Does what you do bring you joy? Because there's got to be stuff you don't like to do.

Audrey Faust: 00:41:08

Well, I mean, part of the reason I'm walking away from the done for business is because it doesn't bring me joy anymore.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:41:16

Good.

Audrey Faust: 00:41:17

The coaching brings me joy. I like helping people.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:41:21

Are you transitioned full time into that now?

Audrey Faust: 00:41:24

In a couple of weeks, yeah.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:41:26

Congratulations.

Audrey Faust: 00:41:27

In, like, four weeks, I'll be transitioned completely away from that. But, you know, I had to give them enough time to, well, fair. Find somebody else.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:41:37

Fair. That's nice of you. You briefly mentioned it or you hinted at it, but that you're an author now.

Audrey Faust: 00:41:43

Yes.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:41:43

When did you. Why did you decide to write? Like, what does that journey look like? Why did. Why did you do that?

Audrey Faust: 00:41:49

Well, that's an interesting story, too. So, as I mentioned, my net worth was a million dollars at one point. It is now over 2.5. And, you know, I was at the poverty line and I built that.

Right.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:42:05

And so many people have been there.

Audrey Faust: 00:42:07

Yeah. October of 22, I was on a vacation with my best friend, and we were, like, sitting poolside. She's seen, like, how I did this. Right.

So I had a couple, you know, I've invested, like, forever. And I also had a couple rental properties that helped. And she said to me, why aren't you sharing your story?

And I said, what do you mean I don't have a story? She's like, because we were sitting there talking, you know, rental properties or finance, you know, building this and that.

And, you know, she always would ask me a lot of questions. And we've been friends since high school. And she goes, why aren't you sharing how you've built your wealth?

Like, why aren't you sharing that with people? And I was like, well, it's not that special.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:43:00

Yeah.

Audrey Faust: 00:43:02

I'm like, who am I to do that? And, you know, she didn't mention a book or anything that was.

Kind of came to me, like, as my idea, but she just meant sharing it with people, teaching people and working with people to do that. So I was like, well, give it a try. I'll see, you know, see if anybody wants my help.

Then a couple months later, you know, I'd always wanted to write a book. I just never knew what I was going to write it about. Not always, I should say, in the last couple of years.

I'm like, yeah, wouldn't it be kind of cool to write a book? But I have no idea what I want to write about.

And then when she said that to me, and like, within a couple weeks later, somebody else said something similar to me. Like, you were like this financial genius. Like, I just want to be around you all the time. Somebody said to me. And I was like, me, this seems.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:43:56

To be a theme in your life.

Audrey Faust: 00:43:58

I know, right? And then, then I thought about it more. I'm like, well, that would be kind of cool to write a book.

Why don't I write a book on all the things that I've done and to build my wealth, like, all of that. And, you know, it morphed into something even a little bit more than that, but universe, God, however, whoever you believe in.

Like, in January, I was working with a coach and her, another coach and another coach in January of 23 decided to do this, like, come ask us anything. So I went and one of the coaches was a book writing coach. And it was mid January, January 1st.

I had said one of my goals this year is to write a book. And boom, right there, right in my lap. And I was like, are you kidding me? I didn't even know someone like that existed.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:44:53

Yeah, right.

Audrey Faust: 00:44:55

So I did, I did kind of like follow her from the sidelines and do her free stuff for a while. And then I was like, I was hooked. And, you know, I started working with her and I don't think I could have wrote the book without her for sure.

Like, I would have had no clue what, how to do it, what to do.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:45:12

You probably could have written it, but maybe not structured it in the same way.

Audrey Faust: 00:45:16

Yeah, that's it. She helped me structure it in a way that, like, people can follow and, you know, each chapter structured correctly. I, I had no idea before that.

And I also started working and coaching women on personal finance. We also put stories, their stories in there as well.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:45:39

Nice.

Did you find on that journey of writing out your story and the map and, and all the, you know, like, what that journey could look like for other people? Did you learn anything about yourself in that journey?

Audrey Faust: 00:45:51

I'm a writer. I never thought I was a writer.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:45:54

I mean, well, I'm thinking, you know, I.

And, and maybe it's a little different because it's financial focus, but I would imagine that by uncovering some of the path that you took and the decisions that you made, that maybe reflections come out a little bit more of like, oh, I wonder why I did that?

Or I can see why I did it that way, you know, and it kind of just like you alluded to earlier, that peeling the onion back a little bit of, like, well, that sure connects to what my mom said, or, you know, that's related to my brother or whatever those things. So that's kind of where I was going with that somewhat.

Audrey Faust: 00:46:27

I mean, a lot of things. Like, if you. You know, I. I feel like every day, Matt, if you look back at your life and you're like, why did this happen?

Well, if I look back at my life, I can. I can see why everything happened the way it did.

Like, even though I said it, was devastated about not getting my cpa, when I came back to my business and restructured it, I got rid of some small clients. And the big client that came in was the one that I actually wanted to go, that actually went to be the controller.

So it opened the door because I was booked full before that. And then I said, no, I'm only taking back the big clients. And then that left a room for, like, one more big client to come back in.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:47:12

So it refocused you. Yeah.

You know, and I always find some really fascinating things when I decide to write something about my own personal story, whether that's losing my mom or the things that I did for the 20 years, failing my grief journey after that. And I'm like, oh, wow. I didn't realize that until I put the words to paper, because I think some.

Sometimes it's all jumbled up in your head, and then when you try to make sense of it on paper, new things evolve. So that's kind of where that question came from.

Audrey Faust: 00:47:38

Yeah, I think. I think it did. Like, probably the pivotal moment came out, like, in writing the book.

I didn't realize that that pivotal moment was really a pivotal moment, probably. You know what I mean, Until I wrote the book.

So that was a big thing that came out because my book writing coach was kind of like, probably helped me bring that out because she's like, you want to have a story? You know, we need a trigger. Yeah. And I was like, I don't have a story. And then I thought about it for a few minutes, and I'm like, oh, maybe I do.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:48:12

I can trace it back. Yeah. Yeah. It's an interesting game. I've heard from a lot of my guests who, you know, they'll.

They'll say, you know, like, my cancer journey was this pivotal, pivotal moment. And I was like, well, that's kind of like. I mean, yes, but it's also an extended period of time. Was there a moment? Was it the diagnosis?

Was it a scan? Was it what was it? That, like, really feels like it was the trigger. That comes from me thinking, when my mom died, it was the moment. But it wasn't.

It was when my dad told me because she had already been gone for a couple hours at that point and my life was still the same. Nothing changed until the words came out of his mouth.

I'm sure for him as well, of his moment is probably a little bit different from how, you know, life shifted in that way of like, now I gotta tell this 8 year old that his mom's dead kind of moment. So I think we are lucky when we can take the time to trace back those little shifts.

Because if things like that happen again in the future, maybe we have different tools now in which we can approach them with a more advanced mindset. I guess moving into those moments and making decisions. Like, for me, I knew how terribly I grieved my mom.

So when my grandmother got sick, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

I knew I had to have that final conversation with her when we could say all the things, no regrets, sit by her bedside until she took her last breath. Like, I knew those were the things that I needed to do, but it's only because I knew I didn't get to do them the first time around.

And so that's kind of where the show really comes from, is the blessing it is to be a human that is able to reflect and find that journey back to that, like, pinpoint, like you pulling up your earned income credit and going, I am at the poverty level and this is exactly what my mom told me not to be. And I need to do something about it. And from there you lit that fire and it took your path and the way you are.

And now you're, because of seeing that on the screen, you're helping women business owners be better, improve their lives, improve their business, succeed, meet their goal, you know, like, so it's because thinking like, what if you didn't come full circle? You know, what if you just looked at the number and you were like, yes, big check, you know, and you didn't scan down to the details.

Not that you would because you're a math person and an accounting person, but it's just fascinating how certain things that we do or certain things that happen in our lives allow us to help others in the most beautiful butterfly effect kind of thing here. So I hope you, I hope you look back through this whole conversation.

A lot of it was, you mentioned, like, there were moments in your life where you were, who am I to do that? Like, I hope you're. You're feeling a lot more like I am me. Like, this is me and this is who I am.

Because it's certainly very impressive from the short amount of time that I've been able to talk to you. So thank you. Thank you for putting you into the world, and I hope that the journey continues for you in that way.

Audrey Faust: 00:51:17

Thank you. That's so sweet.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:51:20

I like to kind of bring us full circle. We'll talk about your book in a little. In a second. But to wrap up your. Your story, is there anything that.

That Audrey, now 20, 25, living in Pennsylvania, living in Florida, like, doing her thing. Is there anything that you.

If you could go to Audrey that's sitting at that desk in the mall, about to, like, pull up her information, is there anything you'd want to tell her?

Audrey Faust: 00:51:45

It's all going to be okay, you know? Yeah.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:51:49

And at that moment, you probably would have been like, no, I don't know. This is tough. Life is tough.

But what you just said is probably like 75 or more percent of the people that I've talked to would tell their younger version that it's all going to be okay, even in those, like, super hard moments. And what it tells me is that we're just like resilient people, you know, beings that we can get through things.

It doesn't seem like it in the moment, but somehow we get the fortitude, we get the strength, we get the smarts, we get whatever it is. And here we are on the other side helping other people. So.

Audrey Faust: 00:52:28

Yeah. What a great reflection.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:52:30

Thank you for that. You're most welcome. Can you. Before you give us, like, how to connect with you, can you tell us what your book is called?

Can we celebrate that you're an Amazon bestseller now? Like, all these things.

Audrey Faust: 00:52:41

Thank you. Yeah. It's called she Grows Rich. How to Become Financial Powerhouse.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:52:46

I like the title.

Audrey Faust: 00:52:47

And it's all about personal finance and growing your wealth and from a perspective that, you know, it doesn't matter where you are, that you can grow it and step by step. So it's not, you know, there's a little bit of, you know, there's mindset in it.

There's your relationship with money, there's your behavior with money, and then there's practical stuff as well as, like, you know, I have what's called a 7% rule. When you're looking at debt, if it's above 7%, pay it off. It's below. Invest your money instead. And that's how I built my wealth.

There's a whole chapter on how to invest all by yourself. And it's easier than a lot of people think it is. You don't have to be an advisor.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:53:35

I make the worst decision. That's why I love financial.

Audrey Faust: 00:53:38

It doesn't matter.

Yeah, but it doesn't matter because as long as you're investing something in like a mutual fund, I'm not talking stocks because that's, you know, it's crazy talk. Yeah, that's crazy talk. But like mutual funds just go with the market.

You know, it's really hard to make a bad decision just celebrating your wins and knowing that it's a long term game. It's not, you know, it didn't happen for me overnight.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:54:07

Right. It's not like winning the lottery. Right. You have to, you have to make a lot of smart decisions in a row.

Audrey Faust: 00:54:12

Yeah. Just consistent. Right? Just be consistent. Be smart about it.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:54:17

And so it's a, it's an, it sounds like it's a, it's a nice, it's a nice approachable book. It's not like something where it's. I can't do that.

But it's like meet you where you are and you take these small steps to kind of get to exactly where you want to be. Whatever rich is defined for you.

Audrey Faust: 00:54:34

Yes, exactly.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:54:36

Nice. And as we, I think maybe a week ago or so, two weeks ago, bestseller lists on Amazon. So congratulations on that.

Audrey Faust: 00:54:44

Thank you. Yes. Bestseller. Bestseller in the finance category on Amazon.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:54:50

So that's awesome. There are only eight bazillion books on Amazon, so it's great to be in the bestseller list. Well, congratulations on that.

If people are interested in learning more about you, maybe getting your help or just sharing their story because it's very similar to yours. What's the best way to get in your orbit?

Audrey Faust: 00:55:09

You can go to my website, audrey faustconsulting.com. there's several different things you can hit that you can join my newsletter. You can get a 20 minute profit plan.

Call with me where I can, you know, help you figure out something to do to make your, you and your business more profitable. There's a bunch of free resources.

If you buy my book, there's a free book portal that you can log into and that has amazing things in it, a really amazing money mindset training in there for free, as well as some great calculators that go with the book.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:55:44

So you're setting them up.

Audrey Faust: 00:55:46

Check me out.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:55:47

So going to your website is the best way to get into you. Okay, cool. So we'll put that. Anyone listening?

We'll put that information in the show notes so that you can connect with Audrey and see how she can help or if she can help or whatever it may be. But check out her book. Website is going to have the book, right? It's going to have the links to the books and all that stuff.

Audrey Faust: 00:56:05

So, yeah, it's on Amazon. You can just search on Amazon. She grows rich and it should come up.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:56:10

Awesome. Well, I appreciate you allowing me to ask you questions and I thank you for saying no to some of my questions when I made wrong assumptions.

I think that's okay. No, I.

I'm not mad about it because I think it's important that we ask the questions and we say these things and that other people have the ability to say, no. No, that's not right. For so long growing up, I was afraid to ask questions that I. If I thought I could be wrong. We just talked. We talked about that.

Like the fear of failure. So you just ask the safe questions. Where's, what's. What's the fun in that? So thank you for allowing me to do that.

Audrey Faust: 00:56:49

Of course. Thanks for having me here. It was really fun.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:56:52

Well, I appreciate that. Thank you all for listening.

If there's someone in your life that you think might need to know about Audrey, we'd love it if you share this episode with them and encourage them to reach out to Audrey for some help or get the resources or anything like that. Thank you for listening. With that, I'm going to say goodbye and I will be back next week with a brand new episode of the Life Shift podcast.

Thanks again, Audrey.

Matt Gilhooly: 00:57:26

For more information, please visit www.thelifeshiftpodcast.com.