Today we’d like to introduce you to Kali Roberge.
Kali, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I began my career out of sheer stubbornness.
I wanted to be a professional writer but graduated with my B.A. in history and minor in professional writing during the middle of the Great Recession in the Deep South. I struggled to find ANY work at all and found it difficult to convince hiring managers or companies to take a chance on an untested, inexperienced, recent college grad. I finally took a job working in an administrative role in a small company because it paid enough for me to cover my bills and offered a 401(k) — but I continuously applied for writing gigs, both full- and part-time, hoping someone would give me permission to begin my career as a gainfully employed writer.
I tried that for a year before I finally realized that if I was going to make it work, I had to stop waiting for someone to give me permission. I had to figure it out and do it on my own — so that’s exactly what I did. I started freelancing, and my first paying gigs were far from impressive. I wrote 600-word articles for $15 a pop — and I LOVED it because I was finally doing exactly what I said I always wanted: I was getting paid to write. I also started a personal finance blog on the advice of some other freelancers who said it was a good way to build a portfolio when you were just getting started. That leads to a number of other writing opportunities with incredible exposure, but that came with $0 paychecks. At the time, I took that tradeoff because exposure and experience were exactly what I needed.
All this was back in the summer of 2013. Over the fall, I enrolled in more continuing education classes and earned a few more professional writing certificates. I started focusing on more and more on a niche and found that I excelled at copywriting for financial brands. Meanwhile, my blog was making an impact. I regularly got comments and emails from people telling them my advice and suggestions around money changed their lives and helped them turn their financial situations around. The way I wrote about money helped people make the change they needed; it helped them shift their mindsets and start doing things differently.
Between the fall of 2013 and the summer of 2014, things really took off — and I finally started making a significant income from my freelancing work. In fact, by May of 2014, my freelance writing earned me double what I made at my day job. So, I quit and switched to full-time freelancing, and I haven’t looked back since. Today, I run another personal finance blog, GoingBeyondWealth.com.
That’s my story on the business side. Personally, I was born and raised in Georgia and lived right outside Atlanta until my early 20s. Moving up to Boston in 2015 was and is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I’m in love with this city and all it has to offer, and both my personal and professional life has grown by leaps and bounds since I made the transition up here.
I live with my husband, Eric, who is also an entrepreneur. He’s a fee-only financial planner in Boston and runs his own independent firm, Beyond Your Hammock. He’s an incredible force in my life and one of the things I appreciate most about him and our relationship is that we work together as an amazing team (and we literally work together; I’m also the Chief Content Officer of Beyond Your Hammock!) and we both empower each other to reach our highest potential. I love being with someone who is not only my biggest supporter, professionally but pushes me to keep growing and improving as a person.
We live with our two cats, Stormy and Scout, who constantly provide lots of snuggles and entertainment. They’re full of love and have such funny personalities.
Has it been a smooth road?
Yes and no. When I think about all I’ve accomplished and all I have to be grateful for right now, it’s hard for me to say “it hasn’t been a smooth road,” because my experiences have served me perfectly. Still, I faced challenges and plenty of failures along the way.
My biggest struggle right now is in making a transition to a new role with my work. I used to run a marketing firm that specialized in serving financial brands, but I’m in the middle of moving away from that and focusing on expanding my role as Chief Content Officer at BYH.
If you’re just starting your journey, I would say get comfortable with being uncomfortable. No one has any idea of what they’re doing, no matter how much they look like they have it all figured out. We’re all constantly working to figure it out. The only difference between you and someone who looks like they are crushing it is that another person is actively DOING something. The best advice I can give anyone gets in action, even if you’re not quite sure what you’re doing. Figure it out as you go.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Going Beyond Wealth – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a blogger and what sets you apart from others.
I’m known for helping people make smarter money decisions while also staying true to themselves and getting closer to their own authentic selves. I do that through my own blog, but also through Beyond Your Hammock (which you can check out at BeyondYourHammock.com!).
The mission of BYH is to help people make smarter money decisions and to use money as a tool to live a life they love today, while still planning responsibly for tomorrow. All the content I produce with BYH — from the blog to social media to a (hopefully coming soon!) podcast strives to meet that mission and that’s something that means a lot to me.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts or other resources that you’ve benefited from using?
Apps: Asana. I can’t live without that. Others that I use on an almost daily basis include VSCO, Focus@Will, and Pocket.
Books: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, The Four Agreements by Don Miguel, A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, Solve for Happy by Mo Gawdat
Podcasts: Smart Passive Income and Super Soul Conversations
Other Resources: Personal development courses or coaches can be a great way to show up as your best self and grow in ways that are important to you. I recommend doing some sort of personal development work, however, feels most effective to you.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.goingbeyondwealth.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/kaliroberge
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/beyondyourhammock
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/kaliroberge
Image Credit:
Kali Roberge
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