In this episode, I talk with longtime friend and fellow film school grad Riley Maruyama about his experience trying to make it in the film industry while trying to crush $35,000 in student debt.
Long episode description:
I am so excited to share my interview with my very good friend Riley Maruyama for this episode, all about kicking his student debt to the curb. Riley and I go way back. We were in the same 30-person film program at Simon Fraser University back in 2005, we helped each other as crew members on multiple film shoots, and I even passed down my first basement suite to him after we all graduated (it was a really good deal, so we kept that suite in our “friend family” for quite a few years).
Since I’ve known Riley, he’s always been a true artist. In film school, he was known as the experimental filmmaker out of all of us. But why we got along so well was he was never that stereotypical art school kid. He had (and still has) the best sense of humour, but at the same time is incredibly philosophical. And it very well could be because he’s equal parts creative and thoughtful that he realized how important it was to pay down his $35,000 student loan while still pursuing a career in the arts. Not an easy feat, but Riley is seriously talented and does not give up. It’s certainly no surprise to me that he was able to crush his debt while eventually landing a job as a cinematic artist in the gaming industry.
Since I mentioned a few of the projects Riley’s worked on over the years in this episode, I’ve linked to them below (including his grad film!). I really hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did. What I really wanted to share was that it’s not just a success story if you pay off your debt in record time. If it takes you a bit longer but you still end up paying it off — that’s still a huge accomplishment!
Riley’s Grad Film
https://vimeo.com/16880038
Shownotes: jessicamoorhouse.com/28
Investment coach Aman Raina and I discuss how to be an empowered investor through financial education, changing habits and understanding your comfort zone.
Long episode description:
As I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, I found out about Aman because he commented on my blog post about money coaching. After that we exchanged a few emails and I knew I needed to talk to him a bit more so I got him on my podcast. Aman as a very interesting background. He worked on the TSX’s trading floor back in the 90s and has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to investments.
Later in his career he decided to go it alone and start his own investment coaching business so he could teach others about the principles of investing wisely. Different than a financial advisor, an investment coach doesn’t sell you products or tell you specifically what to do. Instead, it’s more of a teacher role and Aman shares some of his top tips for those of you who want to learn more about becoming a savvy investor.
I was lucky enough to meet Aman in person this fall at the Canadian Personal Finance Conference. He is seriously the nicest guy and super smart. He told me he was thinking of producing more videos for his company website, Sage Investors, and I guess he did because I found this gem! Props for getting jiggy with it Aman!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiT2NFSX15A
Shownotes: jessicamoorhouse.com/27
Rachel Hernandez is arguably one of the hardest working solopreneurs out there. Having had an entrepreneurial spirit from a very young age, Rachel shares her story of working long hours to pay for university and eventually starting her own successful mobile home investment business.
Long episode description:
My guest for this episode is Rachel Hernandez — arguably one of the hardest working women I know! Not only does she have a strong work ethic, she’s basically been an entrepreneur since she was in elementary school. Who else could come up with an idea to sell pencils and stickers to kids (as a kid) but someone who would end up becoming a successful real estate investor.
In this episode, Rachel shares her story of how she worked her way to pay for college, turned down a chance to do her MBA and took a huge leap of faith by starting her own real estate investing company. Although she now predominantly invests in mobile homes, she has a wealth of knowledge on single home investing as well. She’s even so knowledgeable that she’s penned 3 books about real estate investing (and counting!).
Thanks again Rachel for being such a great guest. You’re story is incredibly inspiring and I hope that I too will become an property investor down the road, though probably not in Canada if I’m being honest. Then again, I might actually be able to afford a mobile home in Toronto or Vancouver?
Since we mentioned a few resources on the show, here they all are below. And make sure to leave me a review on iTunes or Stitcher to let me know what you think of this episode!
Blog Posts Rachel Mentioned
Rachel’s Books
Shownotes: jessicamoorhouse.com/26
John Robertson, the author of the DIY investing book The Value of Simple, and I discuss the why and how of index fund investing, his side gig as an investment coach and how investing can be simple (if you're doing it right).
Long episode description:
In this episode I talk with John Robertson, the blogger behind Holy Potato and the author of The Value of Simple, about one of my favourite topics — index fund investing. I explored this subject a bit in my podcast episode with Barry Choi, but John breaks down the principles even further and explains what actionable steps you need to take to become a do-it-yourself investor.
If you are really interested in going the DIY investing route, I highly suggest reading John’s book. I did and I seriously learned a lot about what is involved and what the best ways to get started are.
We mentioned a number of resources in this episode, and here they are below.
Books John Mentioned
John’s Book
Money Planners & Coaches Directory
Shownotes: jessicamoorhouse.com/25