Episode 172- Reaching Financial Independence, Buying her Dream Home in Cash & Amassing a $2 Million Portfolio w/ Teri Ijeoma

Jamila Souffrant 0:00

You're listening to the Journey to Launch Podcast an updated conversation with Teri Ijeoma, who since our last conversation has reached financial independence, bought her dream home in cash, and amassed a $2 million portfolio. Let's get into it.

Recording 0:20

Welcome to the Journey to Launch Podcast with your host Jamila Souffrant. As a money expert who walks her talk, she helps brave Journeyers like you get out of debt, save, invest, and build real wealth. Join her on the Journey to Launch to financial freedom in five, four, three, two, one.

Jamila Souffrant 0:47

Hey, hey, hey Journeyers! I hope just from the intro that you're excited about this episode. Now a little background. So Teri Ijemoa she was on episode 154 for the podcast. So a few episodes back. And I knew the conversation that I first had with her was epic and amazing. And it was validated because once I put out her episode, so many people were interested in more in learning what Teri teaches-trading, swing trading. And Teri, if you heard that episode and follow her at all, you know that she has a knack and gift for teaching trading, for talking about her story, for inspiring people. So when Teri was on the podcast, and I released the episode, I had so much incoming messages wanting to learn more from Teri. And so Teri and I teamed up a few weeks later, and we did a joint webinars/class where I introduced you journeyers more to Teri so you can dive deeper into what trading is all about. And specifically, just ask her questions and learn more about her program- Trade and Travel. And so we are teaming up to do it all over again because it went so well. The last time we did it, I had so many people actually join her course I became an affiliate for Teri for the course. And so many people took the course are raving about the course. And you'll hear about that in another episode. And so I was like, "We need to do this again," because I want as many people who are ready to learn and take this step, be prepared, and have Teri as a teacher if they are willing. So I'm inviting Teri back on the podcast. So this episode is an actual new conversation with Teri, because even since our last conversation, she's been up to so much, she has reached financial independence. So literally, Teri does not even have to do this anymore. She doesn't even have to teach her Trade and Travel course anymore. She could literally live off of her portfolio, which you'll hear her talk about. It's about a $2 million portfolio. She said at the time, we recorded that. She bought her house in cash. Hello? And she's continuing to help students though, realize their financial goals and dreams. So I wanted to bring her back on to one- just dive a little bit deeper into what's been happening with her and just about trading and what it takes to succeed in this manner, right? Because while it's great and it something that I want more people to learn about, I want you to be prepared. If you are going to invest the money and time to learn trading, I want you to know the real deal that it does take work, it takes dedication. And Teri and I talked about that.

With that, this conversation was so interesting. So we recorded this in August. And it's funny, so let me try to do this as quickly as possible. For the month of August, we kind of have been riding solo because my aunt who usually helps with the kids is on vacation, so much needed vacation. And so we have the kids and it's been hard trying to get work done quite honestly, with the kids, because you know, they're only six, four and two, they need a lot of attention. And even if we give them their iPads, sometimes that doesn't matter, they still want attention. So this episode, we recorded the audio and the video versions. It may be that you hear my daughter or kids in the background, even if you're watching this on video, so you can go to my YouTube channel to watch the video. You may see a glimpse of my daughter. She kept coming in to the interview. And Teri was so gracious about it. I kept having to stop and kind of redirect my daughter because my husband he had stepped out. So it was that whole day was just like hello working parent working mom. I feel the struggle, but we got through it. I think we still had an amazing conversation.

So just a couple things, some links that you may want to write down and check out. If you are interested in joining Teri's program, you can go directly to JourneytoLaunch.com/Teri. That's my affiliate link. If you still after this episode, you want more information, you want to join us to learn more like in a free class, then join us we are doing a free class again later on this month on September 23 at 8:30pm eastern time. You can sign up now by going to JourneytoLaunch.com/tradingclass. So make sure you grab your seat to learn more. If you want the episodes Show Notes for this episode, go to JourneytoLaunch.com. Or you can click the description of wherever you're listening to this episode to get the full episode show notes.

Now if you are a new listener to the podcast or an OG journeyer, I've created a Jumpstart Guide to help you on your journey to financial freedom. It includes the top episodes to listen to, the stages to go through to reach financial freedom, resources to help you, and so much more. Get it for FREE by texting "launch" to 33777. Text "launch" to 3377 or go to JourneytoLaunch.com/Jumpstart to get your guide for free right now. Okay, let's hop into the episode.

Okay Journeyers I'm so excited to bring back this superstar guest Teri! I think like we are episode I felt like I got the most feedback from. So Teri Ijeoma was on episode 154 of the podcast so you can listen to this one if this is your first time listening to Teri, and then make sure you go back and listen to that one. But when you were on that episode, so many people like reached out to me after about, okay, I want to learn more about Teri, her course because we talked about this course that we're gonna talk about a little bit later because you had such a dynamic story! So I don't want to like go too deep in it because I feel like if you heard it already, then you know, but I do want to for people who are just like, wait, what's going on? Who is this girl? That they get just a brief sense of your journey to being Teri and I was gonna say master but it's their woman thing for master whatever. You're the master man or woman. You're the master of trading and how you think and how you got here because I just think it's just so amazing.

Teri Ijeoma 6:48

Ah, quick recap is I used to work in education and nonprofits for about 10 years and I dedicated my whole life to that but had a good time. But I was stressed and in toxic work environment and needed an exit strategy. So I decided that I was going to trade stocks in order to replace my income. And my last job, I was an assistant principal of an elementary school, I needed about $300 to replace my income. So that's what I did. I started trading stocks, I buy stocks, sell it a little higher, make that extra income. And then eventually I was able to quit my job and start traveling around the world. So went to Asia, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Israel. And then the last time we talked, I was actually in South Africa during our podcast. So it's just been amazing learning how to use stocks to afford my dreams. And now that's what I teach other students to do, too.

Jamila Souffrant 7:43

Yeah, and so that was like the main thing people were saying like, "Is Teri legit?" So part of it was like, they just got that sense from you. Because you have such I always say this because it's true. You have such a warm personality. And it's not just like, just online like in person I met you and it's real guys. I'm telling you. It's real. Like, just like the energy that she emits and so I felt like that was a real draw for people. Because sometimes within this space, like you want to learn these things, but then you want to trust the person that you're going to be buying from or learning from. And when it comes to especially investing, there's so many, right, there's other legitimate sources that you can learn from. But I think in this sense, where it's this goal that people want to learn to do like like trading, and it seems sexy and fun, not only do you like show the results, but you also learn know how to teach it too, which is like within the course. But you've also since our conversation also had some amazing milestones. So I do want to touch upon that because you first just said, when you originally started trading, it was to replace your income, which was a couple hundred dollars a day that you needed, right?

Teri Ijeoma 8:46

Yeah.

Jamila Souffrant 8:47

Since then, now, you've come to the point where you I don't want to like steal your thunder, but tell everyone what you've been able to do even since our conversation last time.

Teri Ijeoma 8:55

Okay. Okay. So our conversation was around February and I just know that because I was in South Africa living my best life. And I'm so glad that I went right before COVID because otherwise I would have been stuck at home. So like that was one of those like, "Man, Lord, I'm so thankful I took advantage of that moment" because you just never know what's gonna happen next. And since then, of course, came back home, stuck at home because quarantine happened, the market crashed, but that was a blessing, such a blessing because, for me, I know how to make money when the market goes up and down. So one of my big goals this year is I wanted to learn how to make six figures in a day in the stock market. Of course, I started at $300 worked up to $1,000. So my big goal was, can I make $100,000 in a day trading stocks and girl I did it during quarantine. I did it actually several times. I did one on Boeing I had like $100,000 a day. Then I did another one on American Airlines a little further down made like $200,000. Then I had like a $500,000 day so the stock market has been great. And I've been so like, I've been amazing myself at the numbers that I've been able to do, which is pretty cool. And then my students have been doing well too. So like our goal is to help 1000 students make $1,000 in a day, it's called, like our million dollar a day mission, because we can generate million dollars to actually change the world. And like, over 300 of them have now gotten to the thousand dollar day club too. So students have been killing it. I've been killing it. It's just been like this super cool journey the last few months.

Jamila Souffrant 10:31

Yeah. And you know, I do want to step back, I want to define trading because this is something where, you know, for me like I don't trade in the way you do. I'm more long term investor, put my money into the market and index funds and let it go, right? I wanted to define trading the way you're talking about it. Because I feel like for some people who are hearing it, they're like, wait, wait, trading, like what does that mean? And then like, I want to talk about the things you can do when you're generating income from trading. Yeah.

Teri Ijeoma 10:58

Yeah! So the way the IRS or the government would designate a trader is I'm somebody who actively invest for income. So there are some people who may buy a stock today. And then they hold it for the long term for retirement. Long term and investing world is like a year or more you hold the stock. But if any, if you're trading that means that you're you could be day trading or swing trading. Day is I get into a stock and one day and sell it that same day or swing trading is I get into a stock and I hold it three days to a few weeks or even a couple months. But that would be an active investor because we're trying to actively invest for income. And what this looks like for me is like, right now I just bought this new house. And I know Jamila is going to be like,"Yes, Teri, tell us about your house." So like I just bought a new house, but one of the things that I really want to get is a swimming pool. And so I've had two vendors come and they came and I was so excited until they told me the price they were like, "Yeah. To build this pool is $80,000." And I was like "What at what?" First of all, how much does it cost for me to get a shovel and use it as my workout plan, right? But then I was like, oh, but they need to be professionals and get permits and stuff. So maybe I'll let them do it. But it's $80,000. So when I'm thinking about using stocks for income, my recent goal is okay, well let me trade in order to afford the pool. So I broke it down. I said, Okay, if I can make $3,000 a day at trading stocks that would be like, Here, I'll tell you how to do it in a second. But first, let me break down my goal. So if I could make $3000 a day, that's $15,000 a week because five trading days a week, that's $60,000 in a month, if I just am consistent with making $3000 a day. So I said, "Okay, well what can I do to make $3000 a day?" Well, I can get 300 shares of a stock that moves $10 a day so that could even be like a Netflix or Salesforce, they move about $10 so if I had three hundred shares of one of those stocks, then that would help me reach my $3000 a day. Or I could get more of like 1000 shares of something that moves $3 a day. So that could be like an Apple if I could afford it. So like, basically you're looking for good healthy companies, and then however many shares you get you times that by how much it moves, and that's your profit. And you try to sell within a reasonable time so that you can use that money for your goals.

Jamila Souffrant 13:28

Yeah, and I love the distinction- so you're trading for income. So I have people who even so when we had our interview, Episode 154 and we actually did a joint class together where people, journeyers joined your program. And one thing that I wanted to like make clear even like in that presentation that we did together was you know, this is like trading like as a side hustle like to generate income to help you pay off debt to help you reach your financial goals, right? So not necessarily like how I usually talk about investing which is like you know, for the longer term and financial independence. Which this actually does help you reach financial independence if you are using it for your goal. So not like, "Okay, I'm making $1,000 a day. I'm just like spending it on whatever." It's like, no, this is I'm looking at it as actually income to help me pay off that debt, save that emergency fund and do all these other things.

Teri Ijeoma 14:16

Yep. It's-I would think of it as the difference between a flipper in real estate and a long term investor in real estate. So they're both investors, they're just different methods. If you're a long term investor, you're waiting for the stock or the house to appreciate or maybe you're doing rental income, you're just thinking of different ways to make money. But if you're a flipper, then you're going to buy the house lo fix it up, and then sell it real fast, and you take the cash real quick, neither one is better or worse than the other. They're just different ways. And it depends on your goals. If you need the money quickly, then you can basically "flip the stock." You're just going to be getting in and out of the stocks that you normally would have kept for a longer time. If you don't know need the money, then you can let that sit for a while. So it's just neither one's better or worse. It's just different depending on your goal set.

Jamila Souffrant 15:07

Yeah, I like that. Well, I'm able to talk to you in this way, because again, this was foreign to me. And it's not something I have personally done yet legitimately. I always say like if I had the time and it's an excuse, right, because there are people who are way busier than me who are doing your your program and succeeding. But like, it just because it's new or different for me, doesn't mean my journeyers couldn't benefit from learning this method from something different. Like I like to say like, this is a buffet, I like to present you with the options help you make and take the educated risk, and to try something I'm different and new, especially if you tried things before or you knew this is something you're interested in and you want to learn about, here's a really legit option for you to explore.

Teri Ijeoma 15:49

Yep. And it's a skill set. So I like to tell people, it's a skill set that you can use whenever you have time. So like maybe right now you're super busy. You don't have time to look at the market and see where the stocks are going. But you know, another week you're sitting on the beach like I've done, I said on the beach in Mykonos one time, I'm looking at my cell phone and the, you know, the brokerage is on my cell phone. I made $20,000 sitting on the beach chillin. So it's a skill set that you can use when you want to. And one of the things like someone asked me recently, they were like, "Why do you think a lot of new investors are not doing well at trading? Like, you know, you hear about all the people getting into like Robin Hood and stuff and they're like, why do you think that they don't do well?" I think it's because they forget that it really is a skill set and you have to actually get education on how to do it right. I'm not sure what it is. But for stocks, they assume that you can just kind of learn you know, I'm gonna get in and I'm just gonna know how to make it work or I'm gonna figure it out on my own. Hey, baby girl. Before investing, it doesn't work like that you need education, just like any other skill set. If you were going to learn to be a doctor, you got to go to school first. If you're going to even learn how to speak a new language-Spanish, French, you need to take some classes when you learn how to take some classes and investing you can you can pick this skill set up too.

Jamila Souffrant 17:08

I think too like because so many are in it for like that quick win which I know it's very appealing or...

Teri Ijeoma 17:13

Yeah appealing is a good word.

Jamila Souffrant 17:14

And then you know people market to it and that way like whereas it's like oh it's super easy here just like do this and I can help you make a gazillion dollars and not much work. And that's like that's not the case. You do have to set aside time and learn this stuff. But when you put in the work there is a benefit. So a couple other things that you were able to do so you bought your home and you bought it in cash.

Teri Ijeoma 17:36

I did, I did

Jamila Souffrant 17:37

Talk about it!

Teri Ijeoma 17:40

This year has been super crazy for me because I actually never intended to buy a house. I always thought that because I want to travel and be free, that I would just you know maybe do luxury Airbnb's around the world and like house was not on my vision board for 2020. But then I realized that where I was renting was like three times the price of a mortgage. Like I was paying $4500 a month for rent and it was beautiful. I had like this high rise and I could see the whole city but at the interest rates that the mortgage had come down to, like that was like three mortgage payments. So I started looking for houses and then I ran into the issue of because I'm a entrepreneur, I didn't have the paperwork they wanted to afford the houses they said I could afford. And I'm like but you guys see my bank account I literally have enough money to buy this flat out in cash but you guys won't give me a mortgage. So then I had to boss up put my big girl panties on and say well it's fine then I'll just pay for it in cash.

Jamila Souffrant 18:41

Wow.

Teri Ijeoma 18:42

Mm hmm

Jamila Souffrant 18:43

Being able to do something like that right? Like I that's one of my dreams like to pay off my mortgage and or if you want to buy something else you have enough like in cash to do that. And I'm sure people listening because I had Kumiko from the Budget Mom-she was able she saved up and bought her her dream home in cash. and as we all know, like mortgage is your like biggest expense. So for a lot of us to think about not having that is amazing, but the way you've done it so like breaking down your path to being able to do this was like you saw an opportunity to just earn some money on the side, and then replace your income. But then there was an opportunity to because you combined all your previous skill sets to like as a, you know, being an administration to be able to teach this stuff. And I often think about, like how many of us are sitting on a skill set that not only can we earn money from like, if we were doing it one off, but also, so many other people want to learn from us, right? Like, what is that unique thing that you would be able to teach or do that you can bring to the world and have not only you benefit, like can you make a profit, but your people succeed? And I just think that's an amazing story because I know that everyone's like sitting on something that they could do that with.

Teri Ijeoma 19:54

Yes. And I think if there's something that you hear people keep saying, please pay attention to it. Because for awhile, I was running away from the gift of teaching, even when I was in education. I always said, "Well, I don't want to be in a classroom." I think I actually would have loved it now seeing how I enjoy teaching. And most of my students now are adults, you know, like they're 35 to 55, either about to change jobs or looking to retire soon and want to make their money work for them. But I always ran away from being in the classroom. I was like, "I'm going to be in an administration. I'll run the school but not be in the class." But it's a gift! Everyone that I run into says "Man Teri! There's just something about the way that you teach. You know how to break it down and make it simple. Like I can understand it when you teach it." And I think that is a gifting that just really speaks to me. That's my superpower. I'm a teacher.

Jamila Souffrant 20:47

Yeah, yeah. And in terms of your journey to do this, right, so one of the things that we did talk about offline is that now you've also reached a point where you've reached financial independence. Like literally if you did not want to like run your business anymore, right? Like you would be okay to sit and chill.

Teri Ijeoma 21:03

Totally fine. Yep.

Jamila Souffrant 21:06

So let's talk about that because I do talk about financial independence a lot and people reaching that and love that and basically, meaning you have all the money you need to live and sustain your lifestyle, so you don't have to actively work again. So for that mean, like literally like, you wouldn't have to even do trade and travel anymore if you didn't want to? Like you could just trade your own your own money and to be good or you don't even have to trade again, really?

Teri Ijeoma 21:27

I don't even have to trade again. So okay, so let me paint a picture for you guys. So imagine if you were able to buy a home that was over $700,000 in cash. Imagine if you were able to still pay your staff. Now I have five staff and three of them are family members. So now you're able to pour money into your family. Imagine if you were able to generate like hundreds of thousands of dollars in a day trading stocks or you have a school that's also generating income because people are signing up each day. So this is this is my FI. So I reached a place where I've now had an account where I put like $2 million in it. And that account, even if it just makes 2% interest and so I'm working with Trade Stations, my broker, they've been trying to help me figure out ways because savings accounts don't have a lot of interest right now. But there are ways that you can invest in certain things. Like I don't really like crypto, but there are certain crypto things that give a 2% return or even the way I invest in stocks. There are some things where I could do a longer term investment and they move more than 2% a month. So even if my the money in there was invested in a couple different stocks and it made 2% a month that's still $40,000 a month. That was my whole assistant principal salary for the year back in the day. So now I've gotten to the place where my cash can start making me more in a month than I used to make in a year. I'm totally good. I don't have to have the school. I don't have to really day trade or swing trade if I didn't want to. But I mean, cool thing is I love both of those things. So I'm gonna keep doing it. But yeah, that's where I'm at now.

Jamila Souffrant 23:11

Yeah, I think that is where everyone is working towards because we often say okay, what would you do if you did not have to earn the money right? If you had enough money to never work again. And the fact that you're still working and doing it is a testament to like this being your passion. So I love also that you just said like, you're employing your family members. Again, I don't see why anyone else like wouldn't want to attempt this. Now, the one thing I will say is like, you know, you're one amazing case study. If there was a best case scenario, like you're like, you know, how they have like the range of people. Yeah, you'd be the best case like ultimate scenario but and you know, there of course, I'm sure some people who with all intentions try to do something like this, but just can't get it off the ground. But what would be your thing for whether it's trading or something else, that they should at least give it a try and not look at the failure rate or the bad that could happen. Like why should they focus onthe best case scenario?

Teri Ijeoma 24:09

Hmm, good question. And I do have to admit, like, I've always been the person who is striving to be number one. So in high school, I was trying to be valedictorian. And then I was so upset when I was like some tenths of a point away like I was, I was third in my class instead of one and I was so pissed, you just do not know. And then in college, like I went to MIT, and I still had like a, I still got A's and B's. I had like a 4.5 GPA at MIT like so. Yes, I do have to admit like, I am smart. And I always seem to be number one. So there is a piece of it. That's like, don't-please believe I work super, super hard. This didn't just happen out of thin air. And like I've been trading 10 years so I didn't just start here. I started with losing all the money that I was making because I didn't know what I was doing. And then finally taking classes and becoming a better trader. So yes, so it took some time to get here. But to your question of like, what would I tell people to do? Honestly, I really would tell them to learn to invest. And I wouldn't stop at just, "Okay. I'm going to do a buy and hold." I would learn the skill set of actively investing. And I know some people are going to be like, "But Teri, I don't have time." I understand. That's why we said it's a skill set that you can use when you want to. "But Teri, I don't have enough money." Start small even if you start with like $500 and then learn the skill set in a simulator with fake money, at least you're practicing so that when you do have more time or have more money, you can do it well. This is one of those skill sets that when the opportunity comes you don't want to be behind the ball like trying to learn when the market fell like in March. The market fell to some great prices and now people are trying to learn but what if you had learned before and now you are ready, right?

Jamila Souffrant 26:01

Right.

Teri Ijeoma 26:02

So I do think it's a it's an important skill set. And I also think there's a big part of it that you have to learn how to protect your risk. Because somebody in here is going to say, "Teri, I tried it and I lost money," and I'm going to completely agree with them. Yes, there is a possibility that you're going to lose in investing. But that's why you got to learn how to protect your risk too.

Jamila Souffrant 26:21

Yeah, and I'm happy that you also mentioned that the hard work it took you to get to where you are, and also your mindset. I think maybe we should spend a little bit at a time here because if there's going to be one thing that holds you back, it will be a mindset thing, right? It will be if you believe this is possible for you. If you believe financial independence is possible, if you believe you're going to be a success story. You talk about going to MIT like getting have such a high GPA all these amazing like feats and you continue that kind of passion and progress throughout all areas of your life. How do you keep that up? How does one if they don't have it, because someone if they're going to be honest with themselves right now be like, "Well, I don't don't have that kind of internal motivation, but I feel like I should try to have it." How would one-someone who doesn't feel like that instill that in themselves? And then how can someone just if they are feeling like that even continue that so they can really become and be their best selves?

Teri Ijeoma 27:15

I do have to admit that part of my drive is a more spiritual drive. So when I there's there's two scriptures that I think about, one of them is like there's a part in in Colossians in the Bible, and it says, "Do your best as if working for God and not for man." And so I often think about that, like, you know, what, if God gave me this great opportunity, and I just threw it away, that would just kill me. So oftentimes, I'm just, I'm just trying to do everything I can to make sure that I like do my best for God and it and it's not for like my students. I love them and but it's like, "I'm not doing this school for you. I'm doing it for God." Even trading, like If it was me, I would kick my feet up and just chill. But I'm still striving to become better because I know that God has more for me. For me, it's very much a spiritual thing. And then I will say the one other spiritual thing that I think of is there's this one scripture, I can't remember where it is. But it says something like, "I would hate to get to heaven and God say, you were ineffective and inefficient." And I remember reading that and I was like, "Oh my gosh, like I would hate to get to have him get all excited and then God told me you know what, you are ineffective in this lifetime, and you were not efficient with what I gave you." So now that's kind of also been a driver of like, I want to be effective. If I'm gonna be here, let me not just be here for myself. Like let me be effective in moving God's mission forward and then just helping other people, right? So those are some of the things that internally drive me.

Jamila Souffrant 28:56

I love it because having a higher purpose that drives you that why, like that's outside of you like that bigger thing. And you know, the superficial stuff is fun, right? Like, oh, I will maybe want the nice car or you want to maybe prove someone wrong, that you know, those are good external factors. But when you have something so internally motivating and it's spiritual, I think that's, like, unmatched when you think like, I know so many people who are spiritual, who if they harness that with their goals, if they put that together, they'd be unstoppable. Like I often sometimes say when I see people who are like big good runners, because like I started running now, because it's hard like when I'm running my little miles I'm just like, "Oh my gosh." And I see people like are talking about they ran 5 or 10 miles. I'm like, this person should be able to do anything they want and like if you can run 5 miles, 10 miles...

Teri Ijeoma 29:44

Yeah, you got grit.

Jamila Souffrant 29:46

That's what I'm saying! I'm like how do you transfer that passion, that energy into other areas where whatever you're good at or passionate about? How do you put that towards something like your money, like your other goals you have, your education, so that you can reach your best potential?

Teri Ijeoma 30:02

Yeah. And that's like sup- like runners. I'm always jealous of you guys because you guys have some like mental just discipline, something that says, "Even though I'm tired, I'm going to keep going." And I think that piece that like one little push right there is what everybody means. That I don't want to do this, but I'm going to make myself like, I got tired, but I'm going to keep going anyway, like, My legs hurt, but I'm going to keep pushing to the finish line. You know, like that piece that grit. That's the piece you need to be successful in any business, even with trading too! Like, yeah, I might have lost on the last couple trades, but I'm going to take that next trade and that might be the one that's successful. That discipline of "Okay, this is the trading plan that Teri told me. But I'm going to do the steps like she said and not go crazy." But that kind of mental discipline is what you need to be successful in all areas of life. I totally agree.

Jamila Souffrant 30:55

Yeah, all areas, okay. So when you think about your most successful kind of students, so the people who are coming in and doing that thousand dollar per day, right? That's the goal for your students?

Teri Ijeoma 31:08

Yep.

Jamila Souffrant 31:08

What qualities are, what are the things that they're making sure they listen to that they can do? That...because I think that's interesting too. Like, as a teacher, like you can tell everyone what to do. But oh, you know, some people just don't like follow directions, or they want to kind of veer off and do their own thing. So what would you say are the qualities or the things that you're most successful students do?

Teri Ijeoma 31:26

One, they actually listen to the course. They take it and they finish it. So I know that even for myself, like I've signed up for several courses, and then never take them. So I think like, first that initiative to just start. I think it's crucial. Then the second piece of it is, the students that I see do the best are the ones who are willing to listen to everything, practice and then relisten. Like I often hear them say, I watched the videos again, I've watched it multiple times. And that second time, I I listened to it, I actually understood it a little better. So taking the initiative to own the education for themselves versus trying to feel like the teacher needs to come motivate me to learn. That key thing is also really important. Like, they're like, you know what, I didn't quite get this. Let me listen again versus sending an email, "Teri, I don't understand this." They've just got some kind of initiative, which I like. And then the other piece of it, I would say, is making sure that they're actually getting to know the stock market, because I don't have any kids. But I would equate this to being a parent. Somebody could give you parenting ideas or advice, but it's going to be different for every kid, right? So like, you may listen to them and they say, Okay, well, you should feed your kid at these three times. And then you go to your kid and they're like,"I don't wanna eat nothing," right? It's kind of the same with investing, which is, I mean, it sounds like a crazy analogy, but I can give you the best practices in investing. But depending on what the market is doing, it's a living being it changes every day. So sometimes the rule may work perfectly. Other times it may not work just right. So there's some pieces of it that are also just getting to know the market. And that helps too with being a better investor.

Jamila Souffrant 33:18

Yeah, and that adaptability again, these are what all the qualities you just mentioned, works in every area of something you're pursuing.

Teri Ijeoma 33:25

Mm hmm.

Jamila Souffrant 33:26

And or that you're trying to learn because adaptability to me is also really important. Because look at you know, the journey to financial independence which involves so many possibilities and toolkits, one being trading, one being real estate investing, you know, there's so many things you can learn, right? And do, but the path itself is not always gonna be straight, right? Who would have thought of COVID and, you know, the pandemic and certain things even in your personal life? Like all the you know, something goes wrong with your car that you weren't expecting or something throws you off, someone needs maybe money, and you have to be able to adapt and not be thrown off by those things. Maybe Yeah, it's gonna happen. It may happen, but how can you set it up so that one, you have the ability to make the best choices in that moment for yourself, but then adapt as you go?

Teri Ijeoma 34:11

Exactly. Yep.

Jamila Souffrant 34:13

Okay, so I think the last thing I want to talk about is just like what your future goals are. So I have actually, I'm so excited because in a future episode, it may be like a couple days from now, I'm not exactly sure or next week, I want to bring on some journeyers, who also became Teri's students talk about their experience with Trade and Travel. But I want to talk a little bit about what your future goals are, because I feel like you you've done so much since our last conversation so I want to put like a limit on like, what that may be. But I'm just curious to like the woman who like literally does not have to work anymore, but still doing it and helping other people create wealth in their lives like what is next for you? What are you looking forward to doing?

Teri Ijeoma 34:55

Sleep.

Jamila Souffrant 34:56

Yep! Good for you!

Teri Ijeoma 35:02

But I think the first thing is, I still want to hit that thousand students like I told you, I'm very much about goals. And so we made this goal to have 1000 students make $1,000 in a day. And so I just talked to my team and I said, "Well, we're at 300, what do we got to do to get to the rest of the way?" Like, there's probably things that we can improve for the actual student journey. So for the current students that are in the course, how do we make sure they're learning better? And then for new students, we probably need to recruit more students to come into the course. But how do we make sure that we're reaching this goal of generating a million dollars a day? Like I just feel like if we have enough students generating money from the stock market that literally can change the world. And so this is the mindset I have. So I'm like, "What do we need to do to get there?" So like, that's one-working to help more students learn how to invest and then personal life. I think I'm also like, excited to learn how to relax and enjoy my free time. So I've been working on just like time management and how do I use my work day more effectively so that I can enjoy the night without having to worry about anything? Or how do I better delegate? So I started hiring staff and now I'm trying to think through systems like okay, how do I teach this person how to use Webinar Jam? And you know, there's all these like random things that I used to do by myself, how do I delegate that? So really trying to learn how to be a good CEO, and stop being in the day to day and start being able to think more strategically? So I read like a couple articles recently, like what are the task of a CEO? Like so that's on my radar, and then one thing just further down the road, I love helping other business owners too. Like I've found a lot of joy in that like, I like having our financial network and being able to be accountability partners for each other. So I see that also being somewhere in my future, like, somewhere being kind of like mastermind for other businesses trying to become bigger and better, but for right now, like, focus on helping students with Trade and Travel and just building out this team in a better lifestyle.

Jamila Souffrant 37:17

Yeah, I think what like when I look at your like business and demo, like probably you're likein millions, right? Like you're building your business itself, not what you're trading on, personally, your business like is bringing in millions and like, your business structure. And you being able to have employees like that's what I aspire, like in my business like to be able, you know, to do. And I know like, it's crazy, because same thing with money, right? Like, because even though you're at the point where you're earning millions, you're still trying to implement some structure in your business so you're not so into it. And then I'm thinking to like imagine if you did get that part like really oiled and running, how much more you could do with your time to impact like other people. And how it's always a journey! Like just because you have the million dollar bill doesn't mean, it's all gonna be figured out right away. It's still a progressive journey. So I'm just super proud of what you're doing. I will say this, like, I think I've said it on our joint class and on the podcast before but, you know, when you introduce people, like I introduce people to my audience all the time, because I've read them on the podcast, right? But you were like, the first person that I did like a joint thing with, right? Because that's like a big like, I'm telling my audience, if I'm selling something, I know it's good. So yes, you should buy from me because I put in my stamp of Jamilla Journey to Launch on it. But to like, work with someone else and like to introduce my audience to them and say, "No, this person is legit, and what they're teaching is legit, and I trust you with them," like was a huge step for me. But I wouldn't have wanted to do that for the first time without like with anyone else, because you were so amazing like to do that with. And as you'll hear from people who went through your stuff, like, it works, it's working. And it's true. And I think it's so hard sometimes if you've been jaded or sometimes if you're a realist in the world. That it's hard to like trust things like that. Like not just from a business perspective, but just like when you hear people who are saying, "Hey, I can actually help you do this, but you do have to invest something so that your skin is in the game. You put the time and you put the money in, you can get this result." And you know, I think that's just amazing opportunity that you're giving people and I'm glad I'm able to help you spread that message to more people. So

Teri Ijeoma 39:23

Aww! Thank you so much. You gonna make me cry. I just did my makeup.

Oh, but thank you so so much. That is that is the sweetest thing anybody has ever said. Thank you so so much.

Jamila Souffrant 39:38

But you'll be hearing more from Teri and I in future things. So just make sure you're staying in tune for that. And Teri, just one more time tell people where they can follow you on social.

Teri Ijeoma 39:46

Yes. So on YouTube and we're trying to get everything under Trade and Travel ,so search that first. Tade and Travel. And then on Instagram @Imaninvestor. It looks like Imani Investor. And then I've learned recently, when people try to look up Teri, they don't know how to spell it. So it's Teri and then my last name is Ijeoma.

Jamila Souffrant 40:11

Excellent. I'm going to add all that in the episode show notes. Plus we are doing a joint class again later on in the month, depending on what you listen to this, in September. So I will link all that in the show notes. Thank you again, Teri for coming on and joining us.

Teri Ijeoma 40:24

Thank you so much. I love this.

Jamila Souffrant 40:31

Wow, I really hope you enjoyed that conversation with Teri and that you are inspired as much as I am every time I talk to her. What living your purpose, having a passion, and working because you want to, right? Like we all aspire at least I do. I know you do, too. Because you're listening to this we aspire to work because we want to, not because we have to. And it's really nice to see someone who's in that position who still Waking up, working as hard as Teri does still, right? Like girl Teri, take a vacation! Take a break. But she is so driven to fulfill her life's mission and purpose. And I love that she brings in spirituality and her relationship with God, in terms of helping to motivate her because once you have a higher power guiding you, sky is the limit. There is no limit. The sky is not even limit, right? So again, here's some links that you may want to take down. If you are convinced and just like I need to sign up for Teri's next, like go around in her course, go to JourneytoLaunch.com/Teri. If you want to join us for a free class to talk more about Trade and Travel, her program, and trading in general, so just tips you know to learn more, you can go to JourneyToLaunch.com/tradingclass. There you can sign up for the free class that we're doing together again on September 23. Oh and stay tuned because in the next episode of the podcast, I will be bringing on a roundtable of Teri's students so journeyers. So people who are journeyers, who listen to the podcast just like you, who actually took the course the last time around that we did this, and they're going to share their experience. So I can't wait for you guys to hear that episode. Stay tuned for that one.

If you want to check out the episode shownotes, that's where you can get links to anything that's mentioned, find out more about our guests, and even get a transcribed version of this episode that you can read, go to JourneytoLaunch.com or click the description of wherever you're listening to this episode. Now you can also still grab your free Journeyer Jumpstart Guide by texting, "Launch" to 33777 or go to JourneytoLaunch.com/Jumpstart.

If you want to support me and the podcast and love the free content and information that you get here, here are four ways that you can support me and the show. One, make sure you're subscribed to the podcast wherever you listen, whether that's Apple Podcasts, that purple app on your phone, your Android device, YouTube, Spotify, wherever it is that you happen to listen, just subscribe so you are not missing an episode. And if you're happening to listen to this on Apple Podcasts, rate, review, and subscribe there. I appreciate and read every single review. Number two, follow me on my social media accounts. I'm @JourneytoLaunch on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And I love love love interacting with journeyers there. Three, support and check out the sponsors of this show. If you hear something that interests you, sponsors are the main ways we keep the podcast lights on here. So show them some love for supporting your girl. Four, and last but not least, share this episode, this podcast with a friend or family member or co-worker so that we can spread the message of Journey to Launch. Alright, that's it. Until next week, keep on journeying, Journeyers.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai