Asking the Right Financial Questions With Fearless Finance Ceo Lori Atwood

Are you on the road to financial wellness? Are you taking the right approach? Is it too early or too late to start thinking about financial planning for your future? If you have asked any of these questions you are going to love my interview today with Lori Atwood, the founder and CEO of Fearless Finance. This is a platform and app that gives a complete 360° view of your entire financial situation.

Lori also has the expertise to back up her work. She started Fearless Finance after working in the finance industry for over two decades. Some of her prior experience includes private equity funds, investment banking, being CFO of an Internet startup, and telecom investment banking in Europe. She also has a financial planning consulting business where she helps clients understand overall cash flow and retirement planning.

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Show Notes

• [03:13] Lori started out on her own in kind of a roundabout way. She wanted to improve her video skills and started offering free finance workshops. Pretty soon people were asking her if she took clients.
• [05:01] She became a certified financial planner. While working with clients, she discovered that many people had the same questions and she wanted to find a way to automate things.
• [05:40] Lori took her passion and combined it with technology and Fearless Finance was born.
• [07:16] The Fearless Finance platform can be a way to discreetly run different financial scenarios and explore your tree situation.
• [08:07] Fearless Finance is only $6.99 a month.
• [09:21] With the software, Lori is trying to reach people who don't want to come in and see a human.
• [10:06] She also wants to help people who are making it, but who just aren't financially secure yet.
• [11:58] Most people are too overwhelmed to work on their finances.
• [13:33] It's never too early or too late to track your expenses and project your savings. Clients range from college students to retired people.
• [14:57] A lot of Lori's clients are millennials and what stands out about them is that they are asking questions.
• [15:47] Getting people to ask the question creates an opening to serve people with Fearless Finance or consulting.
• [16:59] Lori has an undergraduate degree in computer science. She's always been interested in technology.
• [17:58] The biggest obstacle when offering something new is getting people to understand that they need it.
• [19:16] The ultimate challenge is finding a need and then finding a solution to that problem.
• [20:04] Taking the first steps when starting a business can be nerve-racking. People need to understand the runway of cash they need to get going.
• [25:34] Lori gets so much done because she has a single focus. She also tries to be extremely economical with their time.
• [27:40] Lori knows how long things take to do, so she sets out realistic time goals.
• [30:51] It's better to set out time to do the unpleasant tasks then to get behind and become stressed out.
• [31:45] Lori is a one-woman crusader for living within your means. She thinks it's better to face things head-on.
• [33:01] Lori likes tools that help her simplify her life.
• [34:47] Lori just came back from FinCon and people told her that her app was amazing. She is building the app because it needs to be built because people need a tool to help them with their finances. Lori feels successful because she is filling a need by helping people.
• [37:52] Your passion finds you. Be open to your passion finding you.

Links and Resources:

• Fearless Finance
• Lori Atwood
• @LoriAtwoodsays on Twitter
• Fearless Finance on Facebook
• Lori Atwood on LinkedIn
• MileIQ
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