On this episode of Financially Naked: Stories from The Financial Gym, our host is Jazmin Higgins, a California-based Certified Financial Trainer. Joining her today is Jaliyah, owner of Jaliyah Kreationz, which carries budget journals. Jaliyah comes from a family of entrepreneurs and helps people with their budgets on TikTok live, which is where Jazmin first met her. She’s here to talk about how she learned how to budget at a young age and how she uses her knowledge to help people with their money every day.

Podcast Notes

Jaliyah learned to budget when she was 15 years old. She took a personal finance class in high school and it ignited a spark. She wanted to move out as soon as she could, and knew money was the key to her freedom.
She realized she needed to manage her money when she started working. When the people around her wanted material things, Jaliyah was focused on big goals, like a car because she’d been walking and biking to her jobs.
She was able to save $6,000 for the car. Once she accomplished that goal, she realized she could do anything.
When she turned 18, Jaliyah moved out. She knew she was great at budgeting and wanted to teach other people how to manage their money. She dreads school and doesn't want to charge people a lot of money, so becoming a traditional financial advisor wasn’t the right path.
In addition to helping people online for free, Jaliyah has physical products including a budget planner. Her budget worked for her, she was able to save a lot of money, so she created a budget planner.
Right now, Jaliyah has a morning job and she likes the consistent income it provides. She’s already on live four times each week and isn’t sure if she wants to make this her full-time gig. Between the budget planners and other products, she is working on multiple income streams.
The journal comes with a personal session with her. It’s very hands-on.
Entrepreneurship takes a lot of work. To stay sustainable, Jaliyah has a routine. Each month she writes down her goals, business, personal, and financial. They aren’t always huge goals, but the key is thinking about it and writing them down on paper.
Consistency is key. There is no one coming in to tell you what to do or hold you accountable. If you’re serious about being an entrepreneur, you have to put your best foot forward every day. It can be hard to stay motivated.
Sometimes it can be draining, but to her, this is fun. It doesn’t feel like work.
Her morning job covers all of her fixed expenses, so all of the income from her business is extra. The challenging part of budgeting is that the income is inconsistent.
She has funded her business from savings, never taking out loans.
Her brother is an entrepreneur and is a mentor for her in a lot of ways. It’s nice having a trusted someone to ask questions and be inspired by.
The first few years of the business were rocky, she looks back at her old marketing post and cringes.

What’s next for Jaliyah:

She wants to offer her personal finance journal in more colors.
She wants to create materials for schools and colleges.
A personal finance board game is on her mind.
Right now, everything is very hands-on with her business. Hiring a team is one of her goals so she can continue expanding.