Episode 7: Turning Passions into Paychecks: Risks and Rewards with Special Guest Reagan Bashara

Kayla: Thanks, reagan, for coming on. I’m just laughing because of what we were talking about before. Thank you so much for having me. Yes, so today we have Reagan Vachera. She is a small business bookkeeper with nearly a decade of experience helping entrepreneurs in the US be more financially literate and empowered about their business. She loves working with new and established business owners to get their practices in place to achieve success. No matter where you are at in your journey, she has the experience and know how to help you create a more balanced entrepreneurial identity. Yeah, thank you again for joining us and, of course, the first question I always ask all my guests is what is your definition of balance?

Reagan: Yeah, so I thought about this question a little bit, since she sent it to me in advance. Thank you for doing that. So I’m not like in the spotlight as a business owner. I think the idea of balance is so much different from being an employee and I worked as an employee for my entire working life up until last year and started a business and having to intentionally create not like balance but like segments of my time for like work thinking and household thinking and running and pleasure activities and hobbies so that I can have a relaxing, creative outlet and then sleeping at appropriate times.

So having a balanced life to me doesn’t necessarily mean equal times or equal parts in those different areas. But if I’m being drained by work and talking to people and working on stuff, then I need to kind of fill up the other areas that are spending time with my husband and my pets and watching TV or whatever.

Kayla: Oh yeah, yeah, I love watching TV. That is a cup of things that I like to fill. It’s my TV watching time Top priority. Yes, I will get that in, yeah. Even if I have to stay up a little bit longer.

Reagan: Mm-hmm.

Kayla: Yeah. So I totally understand that, trying to find a way to make time to fill all those areas, especially going from being an employee to being an entrepreneur, because you don’t just go to work and then come home and then you get to do your home stuff. Your business can encompass all your life, or it can not encompass, it can take over. Yeah, yeah, definitely. If we’re not careful, we’re going to be working all of the time, when, for most of us, we started our own business partially to have that freedom when we are probably more free when we are an employee. Yeah, yeah.

Reagan: Especially if you’re an hourly employee too. You clock out and you can just shut it off and not think about it, mm-hmm, and I work from home. This is my home office, and so my business literally lives with me, mm-hmm, and it’s a virtual firm, but it’s a huge part of my life and I have to establish those boundaries with myself, to like, because when you say like, well, we could just end up working all the time, it’s not even that. Yeah, you could end up like just doing marketing all the time, or just doing client work or sending emails or something. You also have to find that balance within that segment of I’m going to be working.

Well, what am I working on today? Mondays are really a rest day for me, and then I have a weekly podcast. I record those episodes. Monday afternoons and Tuesdays and Thursdays are my client work days, so I still have to be like I am only going to work on this thing at this time, and then I don’t work on the weekends. I don’t want to at all, and I try really hard to have that boundary with myself so that he do have time to rest and do things that I just enjoy in that are pleasurable activities with me for me.

Kayla: Yeah, no, that’s really good. It’s like so important to have those boundaries and if you don’t try and figure out a way to establish some form of rest in? There or even like a full day where you’re not doing any work at all because that’s so important to not go into burnout.

Reagan: Yeah, I recently had a burnout episode that I had been working almost every day for a couple weeks and obviously I chose to do that. Nobody’s sitting here like telling me to. I’ve just well, I’ll just do a couple hours this on Sunday, and on Saturday I can do this one thing, and several weeks went by and I completely crashed and then I got sick the next week and couldn’t do anything and I was like well, this is why we don’t do this, because then I completely wind up in burnout mode where I physically and mentally cannot work and it just all has to kind of get shut down for a minute until I can recover.

I don’t want to do that.

Kayla: Yeah, yeah, no, I mean for me, even earlier this week, there was one day where I had no client schedule, no interview schedule, there was just an open morning, and so my idea was to catch up on some paperwork and notes and stuff. Well, that didn’t happen, because I was just so exhausted. I had watched a TV show while I was eating breakfast and I’m like oh, just one more, just one more.

Reagan: And I realized well, my next session is one more.

Kayla: Well, just one more. And then I realized I’m just so tired because I’ve been going, going, going that I needed to be okay with taking this break or else. I wasn’t going to be going.

Reagan: Yeah, and if I tell myself, oh, I’ll just get a couple of things done, unless I decide in advance what those couple of things are going to be, either nothing gets done or something completely different takes up my time. And so I have a it’s not strict, but I have like I don’t even want to say rigid it is. It works for me and it’s just a calendaring system of like I know what’s coming up and so in advance I can kind of prep my brain to be in the mode to do that thing.

So, yeah, I like this system that I’ve come up with for that reason, because I don’t want to fight with myself when the time comes. I don’t want to be sitting there trying to come up with excuses. But if I am truly feeling tired or burnt out, I also allow myself to have the rest that my body is asking for in that moment.

Kayla: Oh, yeah, yeah, and that definitely takes paying attention to your body to do that.

Reagan: Yeah.

Kayla: Yeah.

Reagan: Yeah, and it’s a practice thing too to have that conversation with yourself without the shame and stuff too.

Kayla: Yeah, so I was excited to have you on because I haven’t had anyone on. That talks about like finances, finances in entrepreneurship, and this podcast is definitely marketed to moms and women. So, in your experience, what has been maybe the number one I guess it doesn’t have to be issue, but number one thing that maybe moms who are entrepreneurs or who have started a business like what is the number one thing that they’re coming to you for? Yeah, I mean coming to you for, but like fine that that was a number one problem or struggle.

Reagan: I think like there’s just so much socialization for women, and especially if you’re a mother, which I’m not I don’t have children, but I have so many friends and clients that do have children that share these experiences with me. And it’s like as women, we are definitely taught to kind of like not take pleasure just for the sake of pleasure, like not do a hobby that we really enjoy without also monetizing it. Like, how is this giving back to me financially so that I can turn around and buy my children’s school clothes and supplies and take them on a vacation?

And I see so many moms struggle with the guilt of just finding time for themselves to do something that they enjoy without having that necessity of like well, what is this giving? How is this giving back to my family? It doesn’t have to. It should give back to you first and that you enjoy it or it’s relaxing or you like some sort of emotional benefit from it.

And I talked to folks a lot about kind of turning folks that like have a hobby that they’re like I’m going to kind of turn this into a side hustle. I want to turn this into a fully fledged business and I see that as the progression that we’re all kind of expected to do any sort of creative pursuit, or even in like the direct sales industry, where you’re being told that you need to market to your friends and family and create this network. And it’s like, can we just kind of enjoy it? Or like hang out and do this thing, or can I just do it because it’s fun and relaxing for me and it’s only for me, like it don’t have to make money off it to pay for tuition.

Kayla: That is so true. I’m so glad you’re bringing this up, because I didn’t even think about it. But it’s so right and like not everything that we enjoy needs to become a business or something that we gain financially from. It can just be something that you can do, just to do. But, like you said, I think Sometimes being a mom isn’t enough, or it doesn’t seem like enough, but it is. If you’re not a working mom but you’re a stay-at-home mom, you’re still doing a lot of work.

Reagan: Yeah, and you don’t have to also provide financially?

Yeah, I’m sorry, and it’s skilled work too. A lot of people don’t see being a mother like childcare and making a home and household chores. What am I trying to say? People don’t see that as skilled labor and it’s like no, there are people with the financial means to hire folks to do that. It is skilled labor. You have to have a skilled set to raise children especially, and you also have to have the skill set to maintain a home economy and you have this microeconomy in your home and obviously, historically that labor has always been done with women, and especially like black and indigenous women and people of color, and it’s like we need to appreciate and acknowledge that that is skilled labor that has financial value, even if you’re just the default parent to kind of do those things and there’s not anything wrong with that, just deciding that you’re going to like stay home but recognize that that is your contribution and it does have financial value in the home.

Kayla: It does, it does. That reminds me of. There’s a book I can’t remember the author, but it’s called Fair Play. I’ll put it in the show notes. But she talks about how I mean being a say-at-home mom. If you’re not contributing financially because you’re not working, you’re still contributing financially because if you were working, you would probably have to pay for someone to do some of these things. I mean from personal experience. My house right now is a disaster. It is a giant.

Reagan: It’s a mess.

Kayla: There’s something sticky in the living room that I have not mopped up because that takes some time. It is a mystery.

Reagan: Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s grapes, but we don’t have all of the time to keep up with the house the way you want to if someone just that’s just not their job already.

Kayla: Yeah, to balance all of these things, that is still contributing financially.

Reagan: Yeah, Like I said, I don’t have children. But since I work from home, my husband works a salary job in an office, so he’s not here most of the day. I cannot sit here and expect myself to also be doing laundry and chores while I’m running a business during my business hours. Just because I’m home doesn’t mean that that stuff’s going to happen. My house is also sometimes a mess and I don’t even have kids. I’m just saying I’m ashamed of that.

Kayla: But for some people they have this idea that well, if she’s at home, I mean she can do it. Right, like, why can’t she also do the dishes and the laundry?

Reagan: Right.

Kayla: If it was the man staying home, that would not be a question.

Reagan: Yeah. That would not be a question.

Kayla: I’m like oh well, can’t he also do the dishes, cook the laundry?

Reagan: and all of the other things while he’s there, yeah.

I’m not saying that my husband asks that of me at all. I’m saying these are my own thoughts about like well, I could just go run the dishes or I could run a load of laundry, but no, I’m in the zone when I’m here at my desk working on my business, I take a break for lunch where I step out of here and go sit down and eat a meal. I might get up and do some chores in the meantime when I’m on a break, but I cannot ask myself to multitask that way.

We, as, just like the royal, we ask that of mothers who are staying home and raising children and keeping house. We ask them to multitask so many of those skilled labor things and not pay them for it. And it’s just wild how all of that kind of stuff like intersects with the work that I do.

I work with business owners. I’m a bookkeeper. I’ve been working with taxes for bookkeepers or business owners for many years. But I still think so much about all these things because I have people come to me that are like I just kind of do this hobby or I have this side hustle, but I need to be financially organized because that’s how you save money on your taxes. That’s how you make sure you get all your deductions as being a good record keeper for your finances. And so I see it happening and I have to talk to people about these things and I’m not able to not pay attention to that kind of stuff either.

Kayla: Yeah, it’s clear. Yeah, but it’s not anything else. Create something a father canTape. Sometimes I even catch myself doing it like, oh, that could be a business. Yeah.

Reagan: Business every day, every day, yes, yes, it does help. I’m like I’m like into scrapbooking and stuff right now and I’m like, oh, look at these people selling these beautiful journals the thing by hand I could do that and then I’m like, stop it, you already have a business. Can we just focus on like one thing right now?

Kayla: Yes, that’s so funny that you bring that up. I went and visited a friend and her mom lives with her and I had never met her mom. And so my friend she basically occupies like the upper floor in her house and her mom’s usually like downstairs. Well, I didn’t know that that was the arrangement. So my husband and I were downstairs and her mom, just like hi Doc does, and was showing us all these YouTube videos of these junk scrapbooks. Yeah, she was like look at this and I’m like that’s me. Well, here we are watching it.

Reagan: It’s quite fascinating.

Kayla: Yeah, all of these things that they make, like how, and people buy that.

Reagan: Wow, they pay good money for those things too. Like I saw this one girl auction hers off on eBay and it was like five grand. Like the auction. Oh my gosh. I was like, okay, now I really need to get down.

Kayla: Is there a sign Taylor Swift ticket on there?

Reagan: Like, you’ll get to see Beyonce and Taylor Swift.

Kayla: Yeah, Actually it’s 10,000 if you want to meet and greet oh gosh.

Reagan: I mean, that’s why we all work, isn’t it so that we can meet Taylor Swift and Beyonce?

Kayla: So going back to everything doesn’t have to be a business.

And then if you did make this hobby that you really enjoyed a business, I find that it sometimes can take away that joy, because now you’re putting pressure on this thing that didn’t have pressure, because now you’re like, well, I can make something financial, like I’m having financial gain out of this, but then you use that financial stuff on things and then you feel pressure to continue that financial thing for this stability.

Reagan: Yeah, I talked about this recently too on an episode where it was like first of all, according to the IRS, which I’m in the United States I’m not sure where you and most of your listeners are from, but I’m going to be speaking specifically to the United States kind of taxes, so you can claim the expenses related to your hobbies. If you’re making an income from your hobby and you kind of hit like the little side hustle phase, people are paying you for your products or you know whatever, there’s a limit to what you can claim. So totally go recover your expenses for your hobby, you go do that. The only thing is that they could come back. If you’re trying to claim that it’s a business, like a for-profit business, and they see you continue to take a loss where you have more expenses claimed than income claimed, then come back and say this is actually a hobby, which means you can’t claim a loss. You just get to claim zero.

So I don’t want to discourage anybody from taking a hobby and something that they love and monetizing it like having some sort of financial benefit for doing that on a consistent basis. Totally go do that. I don’t want to tell people that that’s the wrong thing to do at all? Of course not. But there is that aspect of it where, like when we do go with the intention to monetize something, some of the joy does get sucked out of it a little bit, especially if you start to rely on that income or if you need to start making income from it so that you can financially support some area of your life.

It does get to that point for a lot of people, in which case having that balance, kind of like you talked about in the beginning, is so important so that we can really have those boundaries with ourselves. We will all end up working ourselves to death if we take something that we love and try to monetize it without boundaries.

So I try to be there for folks that are looking to have some financial gain from a hobby or an activity or turn something into a business. I want to be there with them for that journey, just to kind of like show them. These could be the implications if you were like not making a profit from it, which you don’t need to make a profit from, something to like, have it support you. There’s other ways to like a fund, a business, but having something that you love doing. I see this.

I have a lot of art artist friends like all of my art appears like made by my friends and they just end up feeling so drained and burned out whenever they do a show or a fair or something like a craft makers fair and they have to intentionally work their schedule and sit for the creativity to flow when you’re not working on a project that you’re going to sell. If you turn everything into a money thing, it’s not going to be fun. There has to be stuff that you do that sucks, that is like trash that you don’t intend to sell, so that you can have some outlet for creativity. That isn’t money, yeah.

Kayla: I mean, yeah, I mean even I don’t straight monetize off the stuff that I put out on like social media, but sometimes the stuff isn’t that great. But I need to put out the not great stuff so that the creative stuff for the good stuff comes.

Reagan: Yeah, and that’s the consistency part of it. Nobody’s saying that you have to be consistently amazing. Consistency is how you define it and for me, just showing up in whatever kind of state I’m willing to show up in, is good enough. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I love that. You said, like you know, we’re going to be on video, but also just come comfortably and I’m like. You got it.

Kayla: Yeah, yeah, I’m like sometimes I’ll be in a t-shirt, Sometimes I’ll be in my cutot, but yeah, it’s yeah. I want everyone to feel comfortable.

Reagan: Speaking of like turning hobbies into like money making financial activities. I also play video games, like just really casually, but I’ve like I could set up a twitch account and like stream and like just play video games all the time for money and it’s like, of course, it’s not that easy. Why is my brain want to come up with like see how easy this would be? Yes, it’s not going to be that easy. I know that for a fact.

Kayla: And I had heard something like entrepreneur, like if you have more of like an entrepreneurial, like it’s a curse.

Reagan: I want to say like brain.

Kayla: But if you have this entrepreneurial spirit or thinking, you can see how everything could be a business which isn’t always a good thing. No, it’s the shiny thing syndrome.

Reagan: Yeah.

Kayla: Oh, that’d be cool, and it was. It’s so funny because even the other day I was telling my husband. I said I have an idea. He goes for your business. I’m like, no, I have an idea for fun, get together. He goes. Oh, okay.

Reagan: Like where are we going?

Kayla: Apparently, I had lots of ideas I didn’t tell him about Again. Yeah, he was like what’s for your business? Like no, just it’s a fun get together for friends. He goes oh, okay, so what is that? Yeah?

Reagan: So as a bookkeeper, I’m always going around and like analyzing people’s business models in my head when I’m like somewhere not business you know I’m off the clock but I’m like looking around and I had this TikTok video come up of a guy who I guess is like a CPA or whatever. He was like at Disney World with his family and he took a video where he was like going over all the things in his head about like what was their annual revenue be? And oh, they rent out the strollers and they must make this much money and that’s this many dollars and assets for them and just. And he made this video and I was like this is so me. Like everywhere I go, not only do I have like the entrepreneurial, like how could I turn this into a business, I also have the bookkeeping side of me going. So what would their annual revenue look like? Yeah, what would my overhead be? And I’m just like brain is just constantly going with that stuff and I’m like can we just relax? Like I just want to sit here and relax.

Kayla: Oh yeah, yeah, I mean, it takes effort to turn that off. I mean yeah me as a therapist people. I mean, you know how people always say like oh, you’re a therapist, you must be analyzing needs. Like no, but I could. But I intentionally have to turn that off. I could be a normal human, because that’s exhausting. Like to just be there listening, taking everyone’s stuff in and trying to analyze everything. That’s too much so.

Reagan: I can imagine, yeah, if they, if someone’s like, if you’re just having a casual conversation, somebody says something to you and you’re like, ooh, I’d love to learn more about that, like in a therapist. But I don’t want to like dig into their shit with them. Like you know, maybe that’s not something I should ask them about, but I’m really curious that I want to know about it. That would be me if I were a therapist.

Kayla: I’d be like so how does that your childhood yeah?

Reagan: So how do I mean, how does that make you feel it would be like I know what you’re trying to do right now?

Kayla: I had even seen someone, someone like a therapist was saying something like I have to be like I don’t think this is conscious, but I have to be aware. Probably I have to be aware. Am I asking this follow up question because I want to know the gossip? Yeah, because it’s pertinent to their treatment. Right, oh yeah, but yeah it’s like being intentional in both settings in different ways.

Reagan: Yeah, I mean, I have people come meet with me and cry too, so I’m just like we’re just talking about your number.

Kayla: Yeah, I can imagine.

Reagan: I try to like hold space and give them support and you know just, I’m not making fun of anybody at all, I want to make that clear. But I’m also like I am just not equipped to really handle this like as a professional. I don’t know what to. I’m sorry you’re upset and you know, just trying to really coach them through it, I guess, or just be there so that they could kind of like talk through it and then I’m like yeah, and I mean all you can do is like validate their emotions and say you’re going to get through this Exactly.

That’s the word validate their emotions and just be like I understand.

This is very difficult. Listen, I cry about my business all the time. Absolutely fine, but yeah, it’s a lot.

Kayla: And yeah, it can be, and I don’t think people realize that money and finances is such a big topic. That is more than just the numbers, because it’s never about the numbers it’s more about like what does money mean for me and what is my money situation? Like say about me.

Reagan: Yeah, I can.

I can play with numbers all day and sit here and show you five different numbers that come from the same data and you know we can talk about it.

But usually it’s like sitting here, people telling me you know what they’re afraid of and like what they’re trying to prevent from happening. And I love getting to work with folks on that level that are like really looking for the tactical or practical, like skills to get where they want to be using the kind of data that we create when we create a set of bookkeeping. So I love that part of it, and so it’s totally okay for people to come in whatever emotional state they’re in, to be quite honest, like it’s fine, but I am going to be like, okay, now let’s talk about what we’re going to do from this point.

And I appreciate when people are truly transparent and vulnerable with me too, because I’m not going to be able to get through with you and help you make the changes that you need to make if you’re not willing to be real with me. And let’s be honest, I’ve seen your whole bank account. There’s not a lot hiding from me after that.

Kayla: Yeah, it puts people like a really vulnerable position and I think it also makes them just more aware of their own financial situation and their own, like beliefs about their finances. When you start working with you, know someone helping you with your bookkeeping.

Reagan: Yeah, it’s. I’ve always said that it’s kind of like holding up a mirror, like it’s just black and white numbers on a page. But you truly see your lifestyle, your spending habits, what you value, what you spend the most time thinking about or working on. You see all of that reflected in your numbers. For a lot of folks who don’t consistently look at those numbers it can be quite shocking or hard to face. So I try to be there with them in that moment of like, like a client.

We were kind of doing a mid year review and looking they want to hire like another person for their business and we were looking at their cash flow and it was like I mean, your cash flow right now does not support you hiring a person at the salary level. But that’s, we’re looking at the small window. If we look at a different window, it definitely supports that. So it’s and I hope they didn’t have like a complete meltdown after that. But I imagine that there was a little bit, a little bit of crying after that.

But you know it’s not to say that like things can’t be changed or worked on or implemented and it’s not like you can’t take some sort of strategy to change that. It’s not a permanent thing. So if you want to get to know where we’re starting from, if we want to get over here, we want to hire somebody, we want to, you know, save money on taxes. Whatever it is that you want to do in your business, no matter how big or small, the record keeping financial organization will be one of the tools that you use to hire. So it’s everybody needs it.

Kayla: Is there a favorite tool that you use for record keeping?

Reagan: Yeah, I’m a QuickBooks Online Advanced Pro Advisor, which just means that I’ve taken their certifications for their products. I use it for my business. All of my current clients use QuickBooks Online. I don’t necessarily think that everybody has to or should use it, but I find that it is the most robust tool for reporting and tracking things and staying on top of it and automating a lot of that kind of record keeping and staying on top of your money. So I recommend it. But it’s not like a half-two situation. We can totally help you get organized, save money on taxes without paying for software like that.

Kayla: OK yeah, and where are you located? Because, yes, I am also in the US. I’m located in Texas.

Reagan: OK, I’m in Shreveport, louisiana. Actually I don’t know where part of Texas you’re in, but I’m in the northwest corner of Louisiana.

Kayla: OK, I’m on the very opposite side of Texas from you. I’m in Del Rio, Texas, which is southwest Texas.

Reagan: Gotcha.

Kayla: Not like Brownsville South or like southwest of San Antonio, it’s the northern state and they know Texas geography.

Reagan: Yeah, yeah, I haven’t been too much to that side. We went to Austin last fall for a little getaway, which was nice, but it’s still hot Like it’s in the 90s right now here, and I’m just like I’ll never be cold again Until February.

Kayla: Still hot. Here too, it’s still in the 90s.

Reagan: Yeah, miserable, but yeah.

Kayla: Someone in Oklahoma that they’re in Texas. Now they’re like so when is it going to get cool? I said never.

Reagan: Don’t ask that, because you’re going to jinx this and curse us all to another snowstorm.

Kayla: Like.

Reagan: I can’t deal with that but yeah, I can.

Kayla: In Oklahoma it already be chilly by now. I’m like, no, don’t expect things here.

Reagan: Yeah, we go to Arkansas a lot for camping or we go to hot springs and stuff and it’s like the Ozarks up there. So it’s like the mountainous and it gets cold and they have seasons, but as soon as you come down into Louisiana it’s like none of that. Nope, can’t.

Kayla: Yeah, I can do that. Great. Well, we are running out of time, I feel like we keep going, I will. Yeah, if you let me.

Reagan: I will keep going.

We’ll be able to close down the situation.

Kayla: Yeah. Yeah, I always do my clients Well. I think this is a good stopping point because, I don’t like to open anything. I can’t close.

Reagan: Yeah, I’m a clock watcher in therapy, unfortunately. I’m like so we’re kind of almost done. I know this isn’t my job, but I am watching the clock yeah.

Kayla: No, I don’t think. I think because all of my practices completely are troll. I think that helps because, there’s no clock, so it puts me in charge, but I’m very much aware of the time.

Reagan: Yeah, yeah, that’s good. That’s good though. Yeah, yeah, cool.

Kayla: Oh well, thank you so much, reagan, for joining me and sharing your knowledge and just hanging out, yeah.

Reagan: Yeah, thank you so much for having me. It’s such a pleasure to be on.

Kayla: Yeah, thanks. Well, I hope you have a good rest of your day. Thanks you too.