Ilana Jankowitz is a certified Mindset Money Coach and NLP Practitioner. She’s the founder of Mindful Money Coaching and helps women in business unblock their money and increase their Magician Archetype. By understanding their money stories, Ilana helps her clients change their money behaviours. Ilana believes we don’t have business problems, but personal money issues that show up in our business or work. Her work is fascinating and really needed by a lot of women who are ready to get themselves and their businesses out into the world in big ways.
So without further ado let’s dive into our interview…
Q: One of the obstacles I find a lot of my clients come up against, is guilt for investing in good quality clothes for themselves. What advice would you give to help them get over this hurdle?
Ilana: I think clothing, especially for women in business, is your signature. You only have a few seconds to make a first impression and you get this opportunity only once, so a good investment in your outward appearance is vital. You don’t have to start your wardrobe from scratch every time, once you’ve made that initial investment, you’re then just adding to the basics. I think it’s very important to have a good wardrobe and especially a good one for work.
Look at it this way, investing in your wardrobe is investing back into your business. For instance in your business you invest in a new computer, new business cards, brochures or other equipment when you need them, and I believe clothing should also be on that list. It’s something that is actually really important because, as I said, you’ve only got a few seconds and one opportunity to make that first impression.
Q: I meet so many women who find it hard to speak with their partner about money, and will even hide new clothing purchases from them rather than face the conversation! How would you help them overcome this?
Ilana: I always encourage my clients to talk about money, and that money is not a taboo subject, so to talk about it with their partners and even with their children. Believe it or not, you can actually talk with your partner about money and it can be something that is quite exciting, especially when your planning ahead for certain things like a holiday or putting away money for your pension, or for clothing. I believe that clothing, as I said before, is part of your business (if you’re in business or going into businesses) and that it’s an investment in ensuring you have the right tools for the job. I think the more open you are and the more honest your conversations are with your partner, this helps them to understand that it’s important for you to make that investment.
Q: What are your top tips for setting up and sticking to a clothing budget?
Ilana: I’d recommend making an injection of cash into a good wardrobe twice each year, because I believe it’s about quality not quantity. Especially working with you Monika, because a woman can have certain items of clothing in their wardrobe and you can show them how to wear these same pieces with different accessories to create a completely different look. So I believe you don’t need to buy a lot of clothing, but instead just have some good staple pieces and the best quality your budget allows.
Q: I’m a big believer in morning routines and rituals. Do you have any morning routines or rituals that help you every day with your money mindset?
Ilana: Yes definitely! I have a morning routine that I do daily without fail and have been doing it for a few years now. I always encourage my clients to do the same, and that is to keep a gratitude diary. I also meditate daily as well. I think that gratitude is very, very important so if you start your day off with gratitude, every day you’ll find more things to be grateful for. It’s important to remember that money is also energy, and it flows to you and, also, away from you, so it’s also a wonderful way to start the day with an attitude of gratitude towards your money and the money in your business.
For me personally, when I do my gratitude obviously I include things that are important to me like my family and the positive energy that I have that I try to take into the day with me. I also have a strong prosperity and abundant focused mindset, and it’s one of the things that I say gratitude for every single day and even at night before I go to sleep. I’m eternally grateful that I have abundance in my life, so it’s definitely a morning routine that I practice. And, as I mentioned, I encourage ALL my clients to practice this too. At the start some of them say they can’t find things to be grateful for, but the more they practice, you know, the more they go from being able to think of two to five to ten things, as they get into the rhythm of it.
Q: And finally, if you could only give ONE piece of advice to help a woman realise that’s she’s worth and deserves investing in herself, what would it be?
Ilana: Self-care is vital – if you don’t look after yourself nobody else will. I believe it’s about feeling confident and happy, and investing in yourself will make you feel taken care of. So I would definitely say it’s self-care. Clothing falls into that because when you get up in the morning and you put on something that you feel great in, you then go into your day feeling good.
That’s a wrap…I hope you enjoyed this interview and have taken away some nuggets of gold that you can apply in your life. If you’d like to find out more about Ilana and the great work she does, you can connect with her at Mindful Money Coaching.
If you’re ready to take charge of your style this year, feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] and we can chat through the ways we can make that happen for you.
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