Raj Girn: Hey, everyone. Raj, again here. I’m back at it with Season Two of my podcast ‘The Transform Your Confidence Show.’

For those of you who are here for the first time, thank you for stopping in. This is a weekly professional development show where I bring industry experts to discuss important insights, strategies and resources that target executives and entrepreneurs who are looking to level up their mindset branding, media, marketing and leadership game.

I focus specifically on these five areas because they’ve been my wheelhouse of experience over the past 20 years where I’ve worked with Fortune 500 brands, entrepreneurs, celebrities and thought leaders through two brands I founded two decades ago in the events and multimedia space, namely ANOKHI Life, and Open Chest, as well as my newest brand, The Open Chest Confidence Academy, which, by the way, turned one just recently.

This offers coaching, consulting, mentoring as well as guided mastermind courses and media and marketing support in a curated format designed specifically to meet the needs of our clients, whether they be newbies to business or industry stalwarts, whether they be personal brands or legacy brands.

My years in the biz have had me involved in everything, from interviewing high profile personalities around the globe to having them attend my various brands’ curated events as performers, speakers and awardees to marketing and promoting new campaigns for globally syndicated multinational corporations. And here is the most valuable thing I’ve learned. You can only perfect expertise if you’re willing to deep dive into the trenches of experience. That’s been the big takeaway for me and allowed me to succeed at the long game.

“You can only perfect expertise if you’re willing to deep dive into the trenches of experience.” ~Raj Girn

Looking back, yes, I’ve had tremendous success along the way, but I also deeply value the debilitating failures because if the truth were to be told, they’ve seriously helped me police my ego on one side and taught me to appreciate every stage of the business process on the other. Like knowing who all of the stakeholders are and not just the ones that pay the bills, but the ones that keep working when you yourself as the founder can’t anymore, or the ones who clean up your mess like the daytime culprits and equally, the nighttime cleaning staff.

Both roles that I’ve held over the years, by the way, because they know that without them, things would cease to function efficiently and in some cases would cease to function at all. I’ve also learned that sitting at the bottom of the corporate pyramid as the CEO is far more valuable than peacocking at the top. And I’ve done both. Because you learn more from the doers at the bottom than the lip service at the top.

Another thing I’ve learned is that the best people that really lift up your vision are the ones that can see beyond your limitations. And mark my words, guys, these are the most destructive people you will ever come across because they know how to get the visionaries, people like you and me, to where they so desperately want to go. My advice to you regarding them, let them be destructive and shake shit up, guys, because the reality is to build up better, you have to break down what exists that doesn’t work anymore.

I’ve learned the hard way that what’s scarier than trusting the perceived crazies is not trusting your decision that you should. Let me say that again. What’s crazier than trusting the perceived crazies is not trusting your decision that you should. I’ve worked with so many people who at the core of their failures, didn’t trust their own gut. I know because I’ve also been that person, and I’ve learned that when I trust myself, I always get it right, even if that right is to correct the wrong.

“I’ve learned the hard way that what’s scarier than trusting the perceived crazies is not trusting your decision that you should.” ~Raj Girn

So with all that said and done, for those of you who are regulars to my show, thank you so much for your patience, for allowing me to give context to everyone new here and thank you for allowing me to take a two-month hiatus. It was important for me to do that this time, especially with the couple of years that we’ve all been experiencing.

And the reason why it was really important for me is that last year for my third brand, The Open Chest Confidence Academy was a foundational year. This year for me is a growth and expansion year, so I really needed to take those two months off to sit with the year that was and I needed to reflect on that year and to meditate on what could the next year look like so that I can see what worked and what didn’t work and what the possibilities could look like for me in 2022 to be able to just serve greater and deeper on with better value. That’s always what I’m looking to try and accomplish because I’m always on this perpetual journey to better my life on every single level that I possibly can. And with that parallel, I want to be able to offer you guys the nuggets of wisdom from that experience.

So in this second season of ‘The Transform Your Confidence Show,’ I’m looking to delve deeper into the experiences of my guests to garner their expertise and to get a greater understanding of their unique vantage point where the real takeaways come from, and not the ones you can flip through in the textbook or Google about. This season I want to participate in your journey, albeit virtual, to help you quantum leap this year if you’re ready to armour up your game. I found that the only way to get there is by getting to the crux of understanding three core elements, namely the strategy piece, the actioning part and the measurables that can help you swing back to the strategy piece far stronger when you go to tackle the next stage of upping your brand and company’s growth.

These are the things that have resulted in each of my guests accomplishing the really big moves that have led to the major successes in their brands, the major successes in their businesses and yes, in their lives also. Isn’t that the whole point of why we do what we do is to get a better curated lifestyle and for it to kind of be exactly what it is that we’ve always dreamt of. But to create a reality around that dream isn’t that the whole point of life, guys? It is for me, and I hope it is for you.

So if this is also what you’re looking for this year, mark this down, guys, because I don’t want you to miss a single episode of this groundbreaking season. For those of you who prefer to watch these revelations unfold, because it’s how you understand how to connect with what’s being shared, subscribe to my YouTube channel at The Open Chest Confidence Academy. If you prefer to listen, because that’s how you absorb the digestibles, I recommend you subscribe to the ‘Transform Your Confidence Show’ on all podcast platforms. And if you’re far more of a reader like I am, then head over to my website: TheOpenChestConfidenceAcademy.com/media/podcast because that’s where you can do the read. That’s also the easiest way to be able to go back over the aspects that means something to you without having to rewind anything back.

Each month guys, I’ll be bringing you, guests, in a weekly themed episode where week one will be focusing on mindset and clarity. Week two will be focusing on media and communications. In Week three will be jumping into branding and marketing, and in week four will be rounding things off with anecdotes on what makes for great leadership and advocacy. 

Raj Girn: Guys, with this being week one, my focus today is on Mindset and Clarity. I’ll be chatting with finance and wealth expert Pam Malhotra, the founder of What The Financial here in Toronto, with an episode entitled Money Mindset for the Win in 2022.

Pams extensive 25-year career has focused on financial planning, wealth management, real estate and mortgages, and she believes in a holistic approach to money.

Here is our conversation:

Raj Girn: We definitely want to find out more about that, so please welcome the fabulous Pam Malhotra. 

Pam Malhotra: Raj, thank you so much. Thank you for this opportunity. I look forward to chatting with you. 

Absolutely. I’m really excited to share your story Pam, with everyone watching, listening and reading this, as well as having you share some tips and strategies around money and specifically money mindset because that’s where we tend to really hiccup as we continue to grapple with all the things that we’ve been dealing with with the global challenges of the past couple of years.

So to just kick things off, I want to ask you to share a bit about what was life like for you before you realized that you had a special talent for understanding the money game. Like what was your personal narrative like as you were growing up? 

Well, Raj, I’m actually a child of two immigrants who came to Canada with the hope of giving their children a better life. So you can imagine what it’s like not having everything but still having enough. And I think that’s where I was more appreciative of everything that I was learning and just focusing on growth. I think that’s where my journey started.

I wanted to aid my parents in this mission that they had left everything — their home, people that they know — and aid in their process and say, “You know, let me help you.” Because they would say, “We wish we had education funds for you.” Well, you didn’t know about it. So I took it upon myself to make a difference for other Canadians or other immigrants who were coming and challenged by financial literacy.

My early time started when I was 21. I applied to the banks, four banks out of the five, and I was lucky enough to get an interview with all four. I chose the bank that gave me the most exposure to immigrants and because they had a program designed for immigrants. Even at 21, I knew that I wanted to make a difference and I wanted to make sure that it was calculated and the right path for me. 

Absolutely. And you had quite the illustrious career in the corporate realm. I’m really curious and I want you to share this with everyone. What encouraged you to go from this high-profile corporate career to becoming an entrepreneur when you launched What The Financial last year? What gap is it that you’re looking to fill that you feel traditional financial institutions are missing the ball on? 

Well, first of all, let’s acknowledge that financial institutions do a great job of creating a financial plan. They put millions of dollars behind their procedures. So I think that that part’s down. The challenge and the opportunity that I figured was, well, I give you a financial plan and now you know what you need to do. But who actually follows through? Who actually mitigates the risk of not being able to do what you talked about?

I think right now, financial plans are just given to you and ultimately you are responsible for your financial freedom. But wouldn’t it be nice to have someone by your side to help mitigate the risk? Let you know when opportunities exist so that you can really work and focus on what your passions are? That’s why I created WTF. We help you so you can focus on your passion, and we make sure that you do it in the most effective way possible. We create wealth, and that’s what we want to do. Because why are we working? We’re working to create wealth. 

“Financial plans are just given to you and ultimately you are responsible for your financial freedom. But wouldn’t it be nice to have someone by your side to help mitigate the risk? Let you know when opportunities exist so that you can really work and focus on what your passions are? That’s why I created WTF.” ~Pam Malhotra

And you do this in a number of ways. There are actually four core areas that you focus on: financial planning, wealth management, real estate and mortgages. And I’m sure there’s a slew of others, but those are the four core I know the financial focus is on at this present time. Can you briefly describe why these are the areas that your company services is predominantly speaking of? 

Well, during my career at the bank, what I realized is year over year I was dealing with clients who were happy with their money management system. But as you know, as a Canadian today, you’re interested in figuring out what’s happening over there, which is real estate. I realized that at one point, real estate and financial wealth and financial freedom were not different things at the bank where were designed to help clients with financial planning and focus on that.

But I had a hard time telling my clients that real estate didn’t make sense. And this is where I decided that you know what? If I could be true to the art that I enjoy so much that it was time that I took a step back and learned the areas that interested me the most and that I’ve actually made wealth from. Because I was interested in those areas. So you want to walk and talk and then teach. I think that’s what I wanted to illuminate that I knew what I was doing, that I was able to build this wealth for myself. And I have the theory, the practical to create that for other people as well, for other Canadians as well. 

There’s just so much to talk about here. I guess what I want to focus on are some of the more common areas that people tend to trip upon. Maybe it’s the knowledge piece. Maybe it’s the execution piece. Maybe it’s the advice piece. So let me ask you this: How can someone sustain and grow wealth through diversification? Because everybody in the money game talks about diversification. Can you explain that one piece for us? 

Yeah. Let’s start off with what is diversification? First of all, understanding that diversification is the art — I want to call it an art because it can be of taking your money and putting it in the best possible pockets to have the maximum return. Inadvertently, it’s also mitigating the risk. There are different types of risk.

As you know, recently with COVID, the world stopped and we had to figure out a different way for us to function. Just like that, as your portfolio is performing, you want to make sure that if things happen, it continues to perform and that we mitigate the risk associated with it.

So with the financial, we’ve built our program around proactive risk management, proactive strategies. So you’re not left with, “Oh my god, something happened!” Now, I’m not saying that every time something happens, we have an answer. But what I’m saying is we’re definitely going to approach it from a perspective of making a change as quickly and efficiently as we can for our clients to ensure that their goal of financial freedom is not altered more than it needs to be. 

You mentioned something here that I grapple with a lot and I know that a lot of entrepreneurs do. And this is the whole idea behind risk management. From my perspective, I tend to take greater risks as an entrepreneur than perhaps someone who may be working for someone. For all the entrepreneurs out there, can you share perhaps the top three insights that you feel that they really should be considered when wanting to optimize their risk management IQ? 

Right. First of all, the risk is subjective. We all are different people and therefore we all have different risk tolerances. This year, personally, I’ve also learned that entrepreneurship is completely different than when you worked in a corporate job. I think the three things that I’d like to say is, first of all, be mindful that we are different and that there isn’t a cookie-cutter approach to our strategy.

What we need to be really good at is defining our goal, understanding that it’s the journey that we have to plan out Raj, a couple of times when you and I are discussing things, you remind me to slow down, stop, take a minute. And that can happen for anyone. I’m in the industry and I feel overwhelmed. So first of all, understand where you’re at. You know, there’s a huge focus on behavioural finance. And why does that exist? Because we need to understand who we are in order to engage in a portfolio that makes sense to us. 

Secondly, identify your risks. I mean, how can you solve something if you don’t even know it exists? If you know there’s a risk to your business or there’s an opportunity that you’d like to pursue, but you’re limited, look at that and ask yourself, “How can I make those changes?” It’s not going to be an overnight success. I mean, I’m personally realizing all the challenges, but I’ve taken the time to understand what the challenges are and navigate through them.

“If you know there’s a risk to your business or there’s an opportunity that you’d like to pursue, but you’re limited, look at that and ask yourself, “How can I make those changes?” It’s not going to be an overnight success.” ~Pam Malhotra

The third thing is, to be kind to yourself. Create a strategy that’s reasonable, attainable and manageable. At What The Financial we believe in armed goals. What that means is they’re attainable, reasonable, measurable, defined by economic value and defined by date. How much is it going to cost you? When do you want to get there? And how are you going to get there? I would say these are the three things that you want to navigate every single day. Ask yourself one percent better. 

This begs me to ask you my next question, which is: What are some things people should avoid that a lot of financial people are selling out there? I mean, especially on the internet, right? We’re bombarded with all kinds of sales strategies to make money, save money and all of the above. And I guess the second part of that for me would be why would we need to avoid them? 

First of all, I don’t think you need to avoid them. I actually think that knowing what’s out there is half your battle. We need to understand what’s out there and remember somebody actually used the formula that they’re selling to actually make money. So maybe that works for you. I think what the deeper understanding needs to be is what works for me as an individual. What can I tolerate personally?

Raj, maybe somebody can tolerate only a five percent deviation on their plan, whereas someone else might say “Hey, I’m okay with the 20 percent deviation.” That alone gives them two different opportunities and thousands of opportunities within those opportunities. So I think you don’t need to avoid everything. I think we need to just really be focused on what we want to achieve and understand that while these opportunities are available, maybe some of them make sense for you to take the time to do the research, see what resonates with you. And trial and error. That’s the only way.

What The Financial, though, the way we focus our program and courses is we actually teach you not only what you do, but why you should do that. So because we focus on reprogramming not only your mindset but your behaviour around money, we inadvertently change your relationship not for today, not while you’re coaching with me, for the rest of your life. Because remember, a decision or their lack of, in the financial world is also a decision. It impacts your generational wealth. Regardless, if you like it, that purse you buy, et cetera, so forth, impacts us. 

Absolutely. Guys, you heard it right here. We are speaking with Pam Malhotra, who is the founder of What The Financial. And she’s a master strategist when it comes to really get your headspace and your heart space and your planning for wealth, your understanding about what wealth is, how to diversify it and how to do what you want that’s best for what you’re looking to accomplish.

The other piece here that What The Financial offers, you got to go check them out. Pam, can you just quickly drop the website for everyone? Just want to make sure that they can go and see more if they’re interested in what your products and services are. And even some information that you just share because you feel that you’re compelled to share that stuff with people. 

Our website is www.whatthefinancialacademy.com. But I would actually say venture off into Instagram. We’ve really focused on Instagram at the moment. Starting this month we are actually changing our strategy around social media. Raj, that was something new to me as well as I mentioned to you a few of my challenges. So I’m working with my team to make sure that we’re more effective. But for now, say, let’s head over to What The Financial on Instagram and give us a follow. You can book an appointment and you can see what kind of courses, et cetera, we have come forward. 

Absolutely. And when people book appointments. Let me just kind of put this out there. Is this something like a discovery call? Is it a strategy call the people have to pay for? Is it something that you do complimentary? Because I know this will be a question. It’s the question I get all the time. 

Well, first of all, because I believe that you need to know who you’re working with. I also like to take the opportunity to make sure that I’m working with clients that I can work with. And here’s why. Because if you and I are not in sync, why would you want financial advice from me? And so this opportunity, it’s a 15-minute discovery call just so you hear who I am, kind of understand where my mindset is.

“I believe that you need to know who you’re working with. I also like to take the opportunity to make sure that I’m working with clients that I can work with. And here’s why. Because if you and I are not in sync, why would you want financial advice from me?” ~Pam Malhotra

I like to take a few minutes and understand who you are, what your goals are and see if we can work from there. Now if you have a quick question. I’m more than happy to answer. But when it comes to the program before you jump into any program — and this is going back to, what should we do? Get to know the person actually giving you the program. I think that’s important.

There’s no cost for it. Feel free to reach out. I’d be more than happy to have that discussion.

Raj Girn: Guys, I just want to say again, if you are just joining us: I have known Pam for quite some time, and I’ve seen her journey through her various avatars in the financial arena. And one thing that I do . . .

Pam Malhotra: One thing I want to correct. It’s not just watching me, Raj, you have been pivotal in getting me here. So I just want to add that back in 2016, when we had that moment where I was kind of just explaining what I do and you stood up and you said, “We’re going to work together.” I was like, “Okay.” And look at where we are today. So thank you. 

Thank you, sweetheart. It’s such an honour and a blessing to work with someone like you and, like you, I choose the people that I want to work with, and this is the thing that’s really important, folks. This is not an ego thing. When conversations are had with people that you’re looking to help you — coach, consult or mentor or give you expert strategy or advice — we want to make sure that this is going to be a collaborative effort. Right, Pam?

“When conversations are had with people that you’re looking to help you — coach, consult or mentor or give you expert strategy or advice — we want to make sure that the this is going to be a collaborative effort.“ ~Raj Girn

This is the keyword. And the key that’s going to help you to really get to where you want to get to at the end of the day. Pam, I have this question, but I’ve got to ask you because I’m at that mid mark in my life. I’m coming towards the kind of maybe two-thirds of my career already, you know, being in the past coming to that point in my life. I want to ask you this because this is also something that I feel a lot of people don’t really know how and when to do. Here’s the question: When should someone start to plan for retirement? Give us that nugget. 

Absolutely. First of all, Raj, congratulations. You’ve been a trailblazer in the industry. I think that we just want to take a moment and really acknowledge the changes that you’ve made. So I want to do that as well.

Secondly, retirement — what an interesting concept nowadays. I mean, not everybody wants to retire at 65, and not everybody wants to work until . . . you know, some people are like, “I don’t want to work at 40.” For me, retirement starts early. I have retirement discussions with my clients at 18 or 19. And the rationale for that is . . . and you’ll hear specialists and they’ll say, “Well, they can’t even put into the RSP. That’s not when they get their maximum growth.” But here’s what I’m going to say.

It’s about building the discipline around money so you can build the financial freedom you want. Okay, I know you want to retire at 65. Maybe you want to retire at 50, but there are people right now who don’t want to work a day in their life. Having said that, consequently, there are also people who don’t want to stop working for the rest of their life. So retirement, I would say, for What The Financial is the ability to choose the lifestyle you want. It’s not associated with making an income or not. It’s really about being able to live your life the way you want on the terms that you want and having the financial ability to fund that lifestyle. So I would say start early. Have those discussions early so you can build the discipline so you actually have the option to retire whenever you want. 

“Retirement, I would say, for What The Financial is the ability to choose the lifestyle you want. It’s not associated with making an income or not. It’s really about being able to live your life the way you want on the terms that you want and having the financial ability to fund that lifestyle.” ~Pam Malhotra

I love that. That is just gold right there, folks. Can I ask you just off of that for people starting early on in life, you say? So basically, it’s never too early to start thinking about your retirement. But for those people, especially older generations, where the whole retirement thing was something that we thought about later on in our lives because that’s what we were taught to do.

What would you say to those people Pam? Like people who are in the latter part of their lives and they feel that now is the time that they should be planning it? Is there anything different that you would advise that group of people versus the people that are starting off at 18, 19 or 20? 

Definitely. So, for example, understanding that we have CPP old age security, that’s something Canadians have that is a benefit of being a Canadian. Knowing how much you’re going to get, that’s really important as well. Meet with your financial planner. We’d love to be that planner for you. But you know, if there’s somebody that you’re already working with, go to them. Understand what you’re actually going to get for your future. You can plan that now.

See, we believe in reactive planning, holistic planning and then kind of look at the gap that you’re going to have. What kind of lifestyle. The general rule of thumb, when you look at your current income in retirement, you’re going to want to maintain 70 per cent of your income. So if you’re looking to do that, we can easily generate an estimate of what you need to put away. And I know when we start later, we feel like we’ve missed it. We haven’t missed anything. I think it’s about closing the gap and being proactive. So I would say just be open to learning, engaging and then executing. 

I love everything that you just said. This is so helpful. I’m learning a lot. I know that everyone watching, listening and reading this are also learning a lot. A lot of what you’re talking about, Pam is also going to beg so many other discussions so you know you have got to come back on. 

It would be my absolute pleasure. 

Oh my God, it would be great. So I want to ask you this now. Let’s step into this whole idea of this kitschy pop cultural ideology called money mindset. The single most precious skill, from my perspective, is to learn to cultivate a successful relationship with money. Many of us carry these mindset habits that come from our parents, right? I want to kind of maybe go there first.

First of all, how can we remodel ourselves to have a healthy relationship with money rather than a fear-based one, which I feel a lot of our parents and prior to generations were more conditioned into believing in because of the way that the industrial revolution had us all pigeonholed into a hierarchical system? Can you share your thoughts on that first? 

First of all, we have to understand that her parents did the best they could base on what was available to them. There were a lot of programs that were fundamentally available to them, but they just didn’t know about it. So the number one thing is to understand what’s available to you, understand the program that’s available to you. If you actually go to the government website, there is a financial planning platform that they’ve created for Canadians. Take the time and go there and understand what’s available. Now, it can be a daunting task. This is where What the Financial comes in.

We go ahead and eliminate all the noise because I think we already have enough noise in the industry and just say, “Who are you? What’s important to you?” You tell us that, we don’t tell you that. And then we help you navigate. We look at it from a perspective of how do we get our clients to from point a, where they are, to where they want to be proactive with the least amount of impact in their lifestyle, in their current spending. There might be an impact, but how do we mitigate that along with managing risk for our clients? 

“We look at it from a perspective of how do we get our clients to from point a, where they are, to where they want to be proactively with the least amount of impact in their lifestyle, in their their current spending.” ~Pam Malhotra

Absolutely. You know, Pam, there are so many studies that show that women have a much lower propensity to valuing themselves around money than men do. So men very quickly and easily can ask for what they feel they’re worth.

But women feel that they need to be like a gazillion times better than their male counterparts to be able to ask the same amount of money. So I want to ask you this: I would love to share your experience around this with men and women clients that you’ve serviced over the number of years that you have. What are your insights to that? 

My insights is regardless of gender, it’s what we believe we are worth. If we believe that we should be going to work and making X amount of dollars and through our program, we actually teach you what your return on investment, return of your time is. You know, you’re going to work, you’re making this much. We actually calculate it for clients. Do you like this number? If you don’t, then let’s change it. I think women may have had a hard time, but also today women own 32 percent of the world’s wealth, and that is only increasing year over year.

One thing that I did a really good job with, even in my life throughout my career, is regardless of who the client was, regardless of gender, I took the time to understand what their needs are. Just because it’s a man versus a woman I didn’t assume anything. Because we are so fortunate that we can ask and do anything. Once we truly fundamentally believe that this gap will diminish further. And this is what I’ve seen. I’ve had clients who have started with me at 18,19, young women. I’ve been able to mould them a lot faster where they’re at 30, under 30, and have more wealth than our counterparts in higher age.

I think it’s really about being open to learning and understanding that it’s not a gender thing. It is completely a mindset thing. What The Financial this month will be focusing on, Get Fit With What The Financial. It’s about getting fit mentally, physically, spiritually so that you can really understand what’s important to you. Because once we do that groundwork, Raj, we can build a financial empire. That’s not the hard part. It’s about understanding what you want and what resonates with you. Regardless of gender.

Absolutely. A lot of women still unfortunately grappled with this whole idea that their income isn’t as important or maybe their value isn’t as important as their male counterparts. Unfortunately, that still is the case. 

Oh, absolutely. 

So if you were to be faced by a client that came to you with that ideology, what would you say to them? 

Well, this is why we designed our Financial Freedom 360 program. We change your mindset. We change your behaviour. And we change your relationship with money. Because see, the thing is, money is not genderized. Money is money. So your desire for money is not based on the fact that it is something that resonates with your gender. It’s something that you want. So the best way to achieve that is to understand that it’s everything in here. You need to understand what’s important to you and get it. Does gender inequality exist? Absolutely. I’m not saying it doesn’t. I’m just saying we have to do a better job of focusing on what we can control and asking for what we feel we’re worth. And if we feel that we’re not able to get that, then we need to look inside and say, “Okay, what am I doing? What am I missing?” And then ultimately work with you because I know you can change lives. 

“Money is not genderized. Money is money. So your desire for money is not based on the fact that it is something that resonates with your gender. It’s something that you want.” ~Pam Malhotra

Absolutely, sweetheart. I adore you. So I want to just ask you this. We are sitting at the beginning of 2022, right? This is when people in Q1 are all very excited about the opportunity of a new calendar year. What are some of the trends in money and wealth-building that people need to know about this year? 

Well, I’m sure you’ve heard of bitcoin and NFTs. There are so many things out there and I’ll be very honest What The Financial does not focus on any of them, but focuses on everything. What I mean by that. Just because it’s out there doesn’t necessarily mean that that trend is for you. You hear about the wins, but seldom do you hear about the losses, whether that’s in a portfolio, whether that’s in the purchase of bitcoin.

So again, our program is designed for us to focus on not only the trends but ensuring that we have sustainable plans that will endure time. As we evolve as humans we’re going to have more programs. We’re going to have different things. We’re going to have different trends. We just have to understand what’s important to us. So, sure, you look into bitcoin, look into NFT. For Canadians, look into real estate. What really resonates with you and then eat, breathe and sleep that stuff and get to know what’s important and make it happen for yourself. And if you can’t, let us know, we’ll be more than happy to help.

You know what I really love about the reoccurring theme that I’m hearing here from you Pam, which I think is just the key that I feel that anyone that feels that they’re not making enough money or saving enough money or don’t have enough opportunities to be able to take them to that kind of place of financial freedom that they want . . .

The theme I’m hearing you constantly say is you’ve got to design your wealth portfolio based on what you’re looking to accomplish for your lifestyle. This is the big takeaway that I’m getting from you and that What The Financial is really in a position to help you wherever it is that you may be along that journey because you have a very holistic approach to financial planning and wealth building. Is there anything you want to add to that? 

“You’ve got to design your wealth portfolio based on what you’re looking to accomplish for your lifestyle.” ~Raj Girn

No, you’ve got it right there. We navigate with you, right? So we don’t teach you what to do. We focus on the journey. You already know the destination. I think that’s really important. And we move with the punches. If things change, we change with you. We help you create that difference.

And, again, like I said, we get these beautiful financial plans in the traditional method. But who actually helps you with the execution? How many times when you go to execute that the other partner in the industry, say it’s a mortgage agency or a realtor, forgets or misses the mark of what you want to achieve. And then we’re frustrated. And then we go back and we rinse and repeat the cycle. So take charge. 

Absolutely. You know, Pam, I want to ask you about your courses because I know that by now, everyone will be curious. You know, we’re talking about courses. We’re talking about working with you and your team. Let’s give people an idea of what you’ve got available now and what your plan is to roll out throughout 2022.

Because anyone that’s watching, listening or reading this, whichever one of those kinds of makes sense to them, they can easily book that free strategy and discovery call with you. So can you share that piece with us? 

Absolutely. So right now, we spend a lot of time on creating our Financial Freedom 360 program, and the rationale behind that is I realize that no matter what financial plan I was giving people if their fundamentals were not right, it only worked for that moment. And then when they went away, they were frustrated again. So we’ve spent a huge part of our existence creating this program. This is based on my experiences.

This is based on things that I know that I have tried on hundreds of clients that has fundamentally changed the way they think about money and inadvertently how much they have. We are rolling out courses. This program will be an online program. And then we will be working on podcasts.

WTF is going to be coming up with the service platform where we’re actually going to be bringing in professionals so that you can actually take a look at what that should feel like, what that should look like and maybe reach out to some of the professionals we believe are in the right mindset, which is working in your benefit to create the financial future that you want. 

I love everything about that. A couple of things I want to kind of touch upon about what you just said there. One is the course, the 360 degree approach that you’re talking about the course, when will this be available for people to maybe pre sign up? And when are you projecting to roll it out? Next spring? 

I think we’ll be ready by late this summer. There is a lot of hard work and production, and like I said, this is a new game to me. I’ve never been an entrepreneur before, almost 20 years in the banking industry.

So be gentle. I am coming out with it. I do need some time. As you know, I am a designated personal financial planner. I have my real estate license and my mortgage license. So I have to work three parts of my brain and really put this together. But understand when you work with us, you really leave feeling in absolute control of your financial future. 

Absolutely. You also mentioned that you’re looking at launching a podcast. When can people expect the launch for that? 

We’re focused on launching our podcast for Q2, because, again, production, learning the ropes, technology, is something very challenging for me, finding the right partners. I’ve been very lucky to find the right partners to execute this. So I look forward to it all coming together. What I’m sure you’ve noticed on What The Financial there is no presence of me, so you can stay tuned for that as well. You’ll be seeing a lot more of me. 

Absolutely. And, Pam, I wanted to kind of just direct people to this as well. Is there a way that people can maybe sign up to your email list or something like that through your website or any other means to be notified when some of these launches will be coming out? 

Yeah, we actually have it available through Instagram right now. You can book for our pre-launch course Budgeting 360, and then also sign up for the 12-week Comprehensive Financial Freedom 360 program. And the reason for 360 is I truly give you a 360 view on your finances. 

I love everything about that. I want to ask you this since we’re kind of getting ready to close off. There’s just so much more that I want to speak to you about that again, as I mentioned earlier on in the show, I’ve got to bring you back on. There are just so many different nuances, so many areas to deep dive. This was more like an overview of what to think about from a money mindset perspective.

But there’s so much more I would like to hone in and deep dive. So I really would love to have you come back on. But before we let you go, I want to ask you this: Is there anything that I haven’t asked you or we haven’t touched upon that you feel that you’d like people to know right now? 

As we move from COVID, I think it’s really important to understand — and like I said, we’re bringing in the financial fit with WTF — where your finances are. And sure, there’s a lot of people that have saved a lot. We hear about that. But there’s also a lot of people that are not going to be in the positions that they like.

So what I would say is take account of your current finances and find the right professional to help you move to the goals that you want. Second thing is, I like to build 90-day programs. What that means is in 90 days, let’s shift mindset. Let’s shift wealth, let’s shift real estate. So I always tell my clients, to build a 90-day plan for themselves. Tell me what you want to achieve in these 90 days. Why? I don’t believe it. Like it’s a new calendar year. I have a new year. I’m going to do all this. It’s just hard to be accountable. I mean, we started in 2020 and said, “Okay we got this. This is our year.” And all of a sudden the world shut down. So, 90-day plans for yourself, personal and financial. Set them and really focus on making those things happen. One foot in front of the other. 

“Take account of your current finances and find the right professional to help you move to the goals that you want.” ~Pam Malhotra

Absolutely. And What The Financial will be there to fill in the gaps and to anchor you and help you make decisions that are ones that really are where you want to go rather than what pop culture and your parents are telling you you should be doing, guys. I mean, let’s get real here. This is about you and where you want to go. And I think that that’s the big key difference between What The Financial and any of the other financial institutions, independent or corporate. I really do feel that’s a big difference here. Pam, as we close out, please share again all of your credentials and all the places that people can hang out with you and reach out to you. 

Absolutely. You can actually check out my credentials on LinkedIn. I am verifyable. So if you click under my courses with CSI, you can actually click and verify and see when I got those. Also, like I said, I have my real estate and mortgage license. I’m not looking to do everything. What I’m trying to do is create a niche where I understand that if I give you a plan to go purchase a home, that it is actually something that is attainable and that you’re not hostage to going through the whole process and then figuring out, well, Pam’s plan didn’t work because that is what’s happening with financial plans that are set today.

We have these wonderful, elaborate ideas of what goals should be. And then we kind of missed the mark. So check out LinkedIn for my profile. And like I said, right now, I’d like to focus on Instagram. That’s where we’re at. Feel free to jump on there. Give us a follow. And if you have any questions, send us a DM and we’ll be more than happy to answer. 

Pam, you are such a pleasure. What insightful information. You really dumb it down for those of us who don’t have the financial literacy that you have. And that’s the other thing. I think that’s very different with working with someone like you. Working with you, particularly, is that you’re able to bring it down to everyday language. I really, really thank you for all the insights that you’ve shared, and I really hope that everybody’s able to kind of utilize some of what you’re talking about to create and cultivate and grow a healthy money mindset. Pam, thank you so much. 

Thank you, Raj. Thank you again for the opportunity. And I look forward to speaking to you soon. 

Absolutely.

Guys, I really hope that you got some real value from today’s show and will share it with everyone who you feel needs to get today’s insights. I also hope that you’ll subscribe to my YouTube channel at The Open Chest Confidence Academy. On podcast platforms search ‘The Transform Your Confidence Show’ and on my website hop to look to TheOpenChestConfidenceAcademy.com/media/podcast where you can read and bookmark the episodes that really speak to you. I’ll see you next week for a Media & Communications themed episode.

Take care, guys. 

To contact Pam Malhotra: Web, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn