You Betcha She Did! Life Advice, Business Tips for Rad Women Entrepreneurs, Leaders, Coaches and

57 | Achieving Financial Independence: The Mini-Retirement Approach with Jillian Johnsrud

• Ladies First Digital Media Company • Season 4 • Episode 57

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Are your dreams of financial independence feeling unattainable? Don't lose hope! We've got the inspiring Jillian Johnsrud with us today, a true testament to the power of focused determination. Jillian, along with her husband, vanquished a massive debt of $55,000 and achieved financial freedom at a surprisingly young age. Not only that, but her journey of adopting four children, adding two biological ones, trotting the globe, and buying their first home outright with cash stands as an indomitable pillar of hope.

Have you ever thought of taking a mini-retirement? An idea that feels so alien, yet intriguing, right? Jillian enlightens us about this concept and how she has incorporated this idea into her family's lifestyle. She also shares her unique perspective on life's different seasons and the importance of pausing to recognize fleeting opportunities. Jillian's philosophy of intentional living is a game-changer - a lesson in focusing on what truly matters and leaving the rest behind. 

But there's more to her story! Have you ever felt the pressure of conforming to societal norms on your way to success? Well, Jillian teaches us that it's okay to take the road less travelled. Her unconventional choices led to significant financial strides that others could not comprehend initially. We dissect the 'big three' areas of housing, transportation, and food, and explore how making short-term sacrifices can set you up for long-term success. So buckle up as we journey with Jillian, learn from her experiences, and get inspired to make your dreams of financial independence a reality. The only way to get better is to keep showing up, and with Jillian's guidance, we might just find our own path to success.

Your time to shine has come!  Join us for our amazing women-only retreat at the shores of beautiful Lake Michigan.  Spend time away focusing on you and master the art of self-appreciation. This relaxing and energizing retreat includes appreciation training and coaching, yoga, and other engaging activities.  Learn more here

If you're a current podcaster or aspiring podcaster who wants to grow their business with a podcast, check out Podcast Growth Club where Rayna shares her best strategies to help you grow and monetize your podcast with a small audience. 


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Speaker 1:

Did she really do that? You, betcha? She did. Hello, and welcome back to another episode of you. Betcha Sheeted the podcast for female entrepreneurs, leaders and change makers. Share their wit and wisdom.

Speaker 1:

I'm your host, rana Rukicki. Today, I am thrilled because the guest I have is someone I have personally been a huge fan of for years and years and years, even going back to my days when I was living in Nigeria. Today in the studio I have Jillian Johnsrud and I'm just going to give you a quick little backstory. I know I've mentioned some things about her in the podcast before, but Jillian, when she first started out, her and her husband had 55,000 in debt, which is not a small sum, but by working really hard and saving and following some techniques, they were able to become financially independent at age 32, which is not old. As you know, that's very young.

Speaker 1:

She and her husband have taken a dozen mini-retirements Think about how nice that sounds. They've adopted four kids, they've had two biological kids, they've lived abroad, they've done tons of traveling, including up to 27 countries, and they paid cash for their first home. Jillian currently lives in Montana by Glacier National Park, where she likes to hike on the weekends. She's also a writer, coach, speaker, podcaster, and I am thrilled, like I said, to have her on the show. Welcome, jillian.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much for having me. This is awesome.

Speaker 1:

So one thing I have shared with my you Bet you she Did audience is your intentional living framework. That I actually use every single month, on the first day of the month, where I think to myself and I share with my girlfriends, I said okay, guys, where do we want to lean in this month? Where do we want to show up, where do we want to drift? And we all share our ideas and our values. And I don't know.

Speaker 1:

I'm just in love with this framework because it really the thing that I get most out of it is the fact that whole drift part, like that permission to let things go and not have to do everything, because I feel like, as a woman and a mom and a business owner I don't know, there's just all this pressure and maybe it's self-induced where you're like I got to do all the things and I have to do them all, but it's like no, actually to be successful, you don't. You got to kind of like shift priorities. For our listeners who aren't familiar with the Lean In, show Up, drift framework, explain what that is and then just any insight you want to give about that framework, where it came from and how you use it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think there's this misconception that if an area of our life is important to us and if there's something we value, we have to really lean into that every single day, every single month, all seasons of life. But in reality you might have kind of front-loaded that work and you have a really good base and you have good habits and good routines and so you don't have to lean into that, even though it is something that's really important to you. So maybe that's with your health, you're like it's important, but I have my gym routine, I have my nutrition routine, I know my recipes. Like I don't have to give it extra mental and emotional energy right now. And sometimes that's even like our families or our kiddos.

Speaker 2:

You know, this summer we definitely leaned in. We were homeschooling our kids this summer and doing all of the stuff. They're going back to school for six weeks before we start our trip. I am drifting on my motherhood responsibilities these next six weeks and I'm leaning in to professional ones, because then we're going to take a six-month trip with them and I'm going to lean back into being a homeschool mom and a traveling mom and doing all the fun things with my kids. And so deciding okay, this week, this month, this season, my life? Where do I need to lean in and give that extra effort, energy, attention? Where can I just simply show up Like I just need to maintain this.

Speaker 2:

Maybe those are your relationships, your health, some hobbies. You just have to maintain it. And where can you kind of drift a little bit, like it's just not a priority For me. I'm a gardener and there are very specific like there's a lean in season in the spring when you're planting everything and you're getting everything prepped and sprayed and trimmed and all this stuff. And then there's a show up in the summer where you just have to maintain all of that. But, man, winter you just drift, you lean out, you let it rest, you let it sit there. It's going to be just fine and ready for you to kind of show up in next spring.

Speaker 1:

I love that, like there's kind of a seasonality to certain things and you just maybe have to follow that natural cycle and be like, oh, this is the time I'm going to focus and then later that's when it's going to rest and sleep, and that's great.

Speaker 2:

I think there's this pressure to be awesome at everything all the time.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I know, food is that.

Speaker 2:

And like that's cool If, like, you can do that I cannot.

Speaker 1:

No, I don't know anybody who can do it successfully. I think it's a mirage, you know.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I don't have that kind of a mental, emotional band with that, and so I really have to be thoughtful of, like, where am I going to dedicate this energy and this focus right now, because it can't be everywhere all the time.

Speaker 1:

No, you know, it can't Exactly and it's. And, like I said, you have to give yourself permission to let stuff go. Know that you'll come back to it and it's totally acceptable, it's completely fine. Well, let's talk a little bit about many retirements, because for a lot of people that seems like an impossible goal. You know, most people were raised to think like you work hard all your life and then when you're 65 or whatever age, then you can finally retire. And I love how you're flipping it on its head and saying you know, actually, that's, you don't have to live that way. You can write a totally different narrative. So talk, walk us through. Like, how does one even begin to approach the idea of mini retirement? Like, how do you get ready for it? What are some examples of what a mini retirement even looks like? Because I think for a lot of people, that's, they can't even imagine what that might mean.

Speaker 2:

Maybe I'll start with my kind of personal definition, and there's three components.

Speaker 2:

The first one is anytime you step away from your main career two for a month or longer. And the third one is using that to focus on something that really matters to you. And so, with that definition, a lot of people will have access to multiple mini-retirements. Some of them are just natural career breaks, you know, between college and your first job and between careers. You know, maybe you take a step back for family reasons or because you know for your kids or for your parents, or there's all these reasons where we might need to take a step back from our careers and so kind of being prepared for that, as far as it goes with the like, and focus on something that matters to you, making sure that you have this plan and this intentionality to really utilize that time away in a way that would you know when we talked about, kind of, where do you need to show up, where do you need to lean in In those places, that in this season of life, this is what's important and this is what's urgent for me right now.

Speaker 1:

I like that. Can you talk about a time when you took mini-retirement with your family, like you went on a trip I know you're planning one now, but you could talk about a past one too and how did you get ready for that? And then what did you guys end up doing?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we've done a lot of mini-retirements and we've done all sorts of things, so some of them look like a long vacation and they have that vacation vibe where it's either rest or relaxation or adventure or learning or fun. So we kind of pick that intention. Some of them have been focused on, you know, mental health. Some of them have been focused on even wealth building activities. We took two of them where we bought rental properties and renovated those and in that way, even though we were stepping back from our careers, it actually helped propel us towards financial independence. It wasn't a setback, it was like it sped up the process.

Speaker 1:

Makes sense. Yeah, you're like we're going to stop work on this project, which will bring us income later on.

Speaker 2:

One of my favorite travel ones, though, was my kids were maybe two to 11 at the time. I have five kiddos at home, and we had a pop-up camper and a Toyota minivan, and we did a 10-week trip through 10 national parks, and I really loved that, because it is kind of the essence of what value a mini-retirement can bring, and that is leaning into the seasons of your life that might have an expiration date, like if you don't do this thing now, it won't be available to you in 10 or 20 years. And I remember being on that trip and we woke up one morning in you know one of the national parks we were camping in, and it was so beautiful and peaceful, and looking at my kiddos and thinking I can't do this trip in 20 years, like when my kids are all in their 20s. There's no way we're all getting into a pop-up camper and taking 10 weeks to go to 10 national parks.

Speaker 1:

So how do you incorporate that? I mean, do you do a lot of like five-year, 10-year planning out, like really being intentional with it? Because sometimes people I don't know you get lost in the day-to-day grind and you forget about those dreams and goals and then you know all the planning that is involved to make that happen.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think you know, like you were saying, with your monthly check-in, it's really important to have a check-in point that you refocus and kind of regroup and course-correct, because life is so busy and it's so there's so many demands on our time and our attention. I know my kiddos just went to school and I have kiddos in grade school, junior high and high school this year All three schools.

Speaker 1:

The amount of emails I'm receiving this first week I'm like you can't possibly expect me to even open all of these, let alone understand all this information. It's way too much.

Speaker 2:

It's way too much. And some of them have IEPs and there's all these people emailing me and I'm like, oh my God, it's a lot of people. So it's so important to have these check-in points, whether you know, I think it's great if you do it monthly. I'm kind of a personal finance nerd, so combining it with, like, our budget review that we do once a month, or if it's yearly, you know, for me, my husband, my 21 years and I think we start the first year or two, we did a yearly review every year. You know what was the best parts of last year before we really looked forward to the next year and say what of those do we really want to incorporate going forward?

Speaker 2:

And many retirements are a combination of, you know, planned and unplanned. So some of them is really helpful to plan out a year, two years in advance and start setting aside that money. Have that intention. You know we and even if you don't do that exact trip or that exact thing, like I remember the last kind of nine to five job I was working at, I'd always wanted to do a US road trip. We had lived in Germany, we had done a lot of European travel with my car and in our tents. I wanted to do a US road trip and so I started planning and budgeting. I have I've kind of this framework of how do you create like your dream budget and so I thought through how much are campsites every night? Like, how much are museum passes or these places we're going to go see how much is gas per gallon and we're going to drive this many miles, so like, how much is this going to cost?

Speaker 1:

I love that. Yeah, you're like spread sheeted out. Do, do, do, do do.

Speaker 2:

And I spent a year to just kind of dreaming and thinking, you know, if I went to the library I'd get a travel book of like best West Coast trips or best national parks with kids, and and kind of have that intention. Because I find, even if you have the intention and you don't do that thing, you know our life in that season. We had one kid at home, we adopted three, pregnant with number five, and so we didn't do that specific thing for it was probably four years Because all of this other life was happening. But then, soon as we did have the opportunity, like I had already done all of the like mental and emotional work To be ready for this trip, we had already done the financial work to be prepared, to be prepared, so when the opportunity finally showed up, we were ready to take it. So there's, there's planned many retirements, but there's also unplanned, the unexpected ones that life, you know, kind of drops in your lap.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I like thanks for sharing that story. I like that whole idea to have you know you were dreaming and planning and although it was in the right moment for that trip Like none of that work went to waste, it just kind of propelled you to be ready when the time did come apart, come about. Sometimes the best part of the trip is planning. Like I love the dreaming and the planning and Thinking about where it could go, and obviously the trip itself is wonderful too. But there's something really magical about thinking about all the possibilities and then narrowing it down.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and for me that was. That was a ill-fitting job. It was a job I probably should have left a lot sooner than I did. But having this little ray of hope Kind of was some sort of like solace during that hard season. This isn't always going to be this way. Even though I felt stuck at the moment, at least internally, I was doing the steps I could take to kind of create a different future.

Speaker 1:

Now I know you are very well versed in the whole idea of financial independence and Saving money and I've definitely heard you on the choose fi podcast with Brad and Jonathan, who are great as well. There's so many tricks and tips and tactics but I don't know. Can you share a few money saving tactics? I just things that have helped you, that you feel you've noticed have helped other people, because it's easy to get you know, distracted by all the shiny objects and toys out there and advertisers obviously are always trying to sell to us. But, like, how do you stay focused on this financial independence?

Speaker 2:

I find that people who tend to be the most successful in the process have the clearest vision for their life. They have the strongest Sense of self. As far as, like, this is what's important to me, this is what matters to me, this is where I want to go, and I know that other people won't understand, I know other people won't agree or they won't get it or it won't make sense, but it does make sense to me. So that's kind of the first step is just having that, that internal clarity, but then continually prioritizing that, like, if you have that clarity, saying, well, is this more important or is that more important?

Speaker 2:

Because sometimes you know like we were talking about, it's easy to get overwhelmed by all the details and kind of miss the big picture. You know, there were a lot of moments in my life when we had to make choices that didn't seem to make sense. At the time when we we lived in DC for a while very high-passed of living and we were in our 20s. We were in professional jobs, all of our friends were professionals, like we were. We were in that stage of life Like we are not in college, we are not kids, we are grownups now.

Speaker 2:

We made it, we have jobs and kids and like we're doing real grown-up things. And during that season we decided to get a housemate Because it would save us a significant amount of money. And I remember talking to our friends like, hey, this is like a really great hack To get more affordable housing. And they're all like, no, we're real grown-ups with real jobs and kids. Like we're not.

Speaker 1:

We're not gonna have a stranger's into.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's like we've moved past that season of our lives and to each their own. But for us, that one choice, even though it was unconventional, helped us save twenty five thousand dollars, which, about six years later, that was the amount of money we used for the down payment on our first rental property. And if we would have done something more conventional, we just wouldn't have had that money. And for us, you know Some people, some people make enough money when they can look rich and they can become rich. Uh, they have enough income to do both of those goals we were not those people.

Speaker 1:

I think most people aren't those people, right, I mean myself included.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we never. We never had super high earning professions combined, even with benefits and all of that our compensation Was always under a hundred thousand dollars for our family. And so, being really clear of, like we can do one or the other but we can't do both. So you know, having kind of that honest conversation and and making Especially within the big choices, you know you don't have to sweat the small stuff Because you'll have a thousand financial choices in a month. You don't have to stress about a thousand of them. But if you really focus on your housing and your transportation and your food and put that emotional, creative energy towards figuring out those three, then the other stuff doesn't matter as much. Like not every financial choice is weighted equally in your financial progress.

Speaker 1:

I like that advice. It really kind of simplifies it, like you said, because you get kind of know, decision fatigue being like, oh, should I get, should I stress about this thing? And it's like, no, just focus on these big three areas. And also that whole idea of you know, you made a choice to have a roommate and, yeah, maybe it was definitely unconventional, maybe a little uncomfortable, but it's short term right. So you're like we're gonna do this short term sacrifice, but look at how it's gonna set us up in the future to make these games. So it's totally worth it to do this, even though a lot of people think we're crazy or like what are they doing. But you're like, hey, look at this is this is like a big, big step up in the big picture of everything.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and that was the same story when we bought our first house, like we had saved up a lot of cash. For us at the time it saved about two hundred fifty thousand dollars and and this was, you know, twelve years ago. So in 2000, let's see, would have been 2012 in our area $250,000 plot, a very nice house, and we bought the ugliest house and and it was like I remember my Nana walking through the house and going oh sweetie, you're, you're not gonna make my grandson live here, are you like this? This is bad, you know, and it it's tough, but I had this vision of Okay, if we only allotted a little bit to this, then we would have this extra money To have an investments or to buy enough to buy rental properties. And I was encouraged.

Speaker 2:

People like if you have a vision For your business or your life or your finances, it's okay if other people don't see that vision. It's okay if they don't understand that vision. It's okay if that vision isn't right for them because it was given to you. It's your job to understand it, it's your job to see it, it's your job to carry it through, and it's okay if other people don't get it like it doesn't mean that you're on the wrong path. It just means it's not their vision.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, that's awesome advice and not stuff that we hear enough. I think you know what I mean. Like there's so much pressure to I Don't know continues societal norms, when you're like, yeah, they don't work for me or it's not, I don't really have those same values. So you know, I think the most interesting people I always have these Divergent, interesting pathways because they didn't do the same thing everyone else did and it's.

Speaker 2:

It's a tough, painful, honest reckoning when you realize I don't fit, or this wasn't built for me or this isn't the space that I'm gonna thrive. You know, I remember early in my career I'm feeling really discouraged because, like I'm not a 40 hour a week, 50 week a year, year after year kind of employee I'm, you know, I have bursts of energy and I have lulls and I just felt like, and the world isn't built for me to be successful here, and there was this little bit of grief.

Speaker 1:

I was gonna say that's hard to process at first, right Cause I feel like your first thought for most people would be like oh, what's wrong with me? You know, did it done? It's like nope, there's nothing wrong with you. You're just coming to terms with, like there's this mold and you don't fit it. But hey, there's other things you can do.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and kind of that reckoning and saying, okay, well, if I can't play this game, what game can I play? Like, can I build something that's different? Can I, can I build something that does fit me and my vision and my personality and my skill set? And how do I craft a life that I flourish in, versus trying to shove myself into someone else's vision for what my life should look like? You know, so many people are struggling and they feel bad that they're struggling but, like, of course you are, this wasn't built with the intention of you thriving. No one said, like, what's the ideal amount of stress or work for a human being? How about in a massive amount of stress in 60 hours a week? I think that's the place that they'll really do their best as a human. Like no, it wasn't built for you to thrive. That was built for the company to thrive.

Speaker 1:

That is a good tip to remember. It's like who is this for this, this framework, this vision? It's like it's not for us, it's for companies to profit and think about that. It's like we let that sink in. You kind of get a little goosebumps going on Before we go.

Speaker 1:

I wanted to just read a little passage that was in one of your latest newsletters that really resonated with with me and it was near the bottom and it said in a coaching call I might offer 10 ideas. Six of those will be forgotten by next week. Four of them will resonate, be profound and help get the person unstuck, and that's a really productive call. Now that client might make great progress on three things by the next call and one thing's a bust. That's also still a good week. But if they feel so much shame and discouragement about the one thing that didn't go well, they might not have the confidence or motivation to tackle the next four action steps. So that shame does you no favors. That's really important to keep a strong sense of self, keep showing up and play the averages. Can you tell us a little bit more about that, that whole idea of playing the averages?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I am a natural perfectionist and it mostly has not served me well. I guess it's you know. I would love to think that it's pushed me to to produce better things. It has not. It has kept me stuck and dwelling on the things that haven't gone well.

Speaker 2:

And one of the most useful experiences I had in my life was playing basketball in high school. So many of my life lessons come from those few short years and that one hobby. But I was below average in basketball on one of the very best teams in the state With the best players in our state. I never made the starting lineup and I showed up and I worked harder than I've ever worked to be below average. And I remember at one point, maybe in my sophomore junior year, a coach from another team coming and saying you know, if you moved to our team, like you would start every game, like if you moved towns, like you would be the team captain, you would be the best player. And it just didn't sit right for me because I also realized that, like putting in the effort and and pushing myself, even though I was constantly failing, like I was growing more failing than I would be over there being successful and being the star.

Speaker 2:

And there is this. There is this struggle of I only want to do stuff if it works out really well. I only want to do it if it's all good, if, like if I have great outcomes all the time. Great outcomes happen because you keep showing up and you keep putting in the work and some stuffs blow average and some stuff is like passable, but every once in a while you'll get something. You know you'll mine for something good. You know if you're, if you're mining panning for gold, not everything you scoop up is a piece of gold like life just doesn't work like that. You have to sift through a lot of rubble and a couple pieces of gold and you got to show up every day and do it over and over and over, and so that persistence and that consistency is such a better indicator of success than consistent, amazing outcomes. But it's discouraging and that note.

Speaker 1:

Remember that that struggle actually is growth and it'll lead you to more growth. So, just because it seems like you're yeah, not achieving perfection, you're growing and that's that's really important, because that's gonna lead to bigger and better things yeah, you have to.

Speaker 2:

It's so tough. As a perfectionist, I struggle with us all the time, but continuing to put in a tremendous amount of effort to be below average, over and over and over and over.

Speaker 2:

I have a story in my first book, fire the haters, about the everyday to courage podcast and how I flew to Virginia. I recorded in the choose five studio. I was months of preparation leading up to this, like so much work. I recorded like 24 episodes. I was mentally and emotionally exhausted. At the end I had some really big names.

Speaker 2:

I was very nervous about the whole thing and I was driving back to the airport and I was feeling like I just did a really hard thing, like I felt really good I think they turned out pretty good podcast with two of my favorite podcasters and it was so smart and it was so funny and brilliant and sparkling. And I was like that wave of everything I just made was crap. Oh no, yeah, I just made isn't even 10% of what of this that I'm listening to and I just I started crying in the car, like that emotional, exhausted, like I can't even hold in my emotions, kind of crying because of this realization. The only way I was gonna get better was I had to keep showing up and producing this below average work. That was the only path forward. Like I wasn't done with below average, like that was.

Speaker 2:

That was the thing, and I I talk about like dry stacking, a stone wall. You set every rock on that wall with the vision and the intention of how tall the wall should be, but until the very last stone you stack, every stone falls short of where you want the wall to be like, and it's just you have to keep stacking and you have to keep stacking, and it's never where you want it to be, but that's the only way to get it to worry yeah, that's the only way to get there.

Speaker 1:

Gosh, that's a great story, holy cow. On that note, I just want to say thank you so much for being on the show and imparting your wisdom listeners. I would highly encourage you to check out Jillian John Rudd's website. I'll have everything linked in the show note, including her podcast, the book. She's recommended her books. It will be worth your while trust me on that, as I was. If you like what you're hearing on you, betcha, she did. Don't forget to share the show with a friend, a sister or a co-worker, your cousin in another city. They are gonna love it, you know they will. And leave us a positive review on Apple podcasts until next time you.