0:00:00 - Kaitlyn Carlson

And every point along your wealth creation journey you're going to have to be balancing this masculine and feminine energy. Where I typically see people get into trouble is when they're in lack in one or both of those. When I describe myself, I always say like I have one foot in the practical and one foot in the spiritual, one foot in the masculine and one foot in the feminine, and I'm constantly trying to balance those. Like I can only sit around and visualize for so long before I need to go actually ground that and take that into action.

0:00:33 - Alexia Usgaard

Welcome to Elevate Daily, the podcast for those ready to elevate their life, one intentional day at a time. I'm your host, alexia Usgard, here to give you a permission slip to unapologetically savor the beauty and richness of life. Join me as we explore modern rituals, self-leadership, the gene keys and the art of elevating your health, wealth, love and leadership. It's time to elevate. Let's dive in Hello, hello and welcome back to Elevate Daily. I'm Alexia Usgard and I am so honored and truly grateful to have you here with me today and to welcome the extraordinary Caitlin Carlson to the podcast. So Caitlin is the founder and CEO of Theory Planning Partners, a boutique wealth creation firm serving some of the most visionary female entrepreneurs in the United States. Wealth creation firm serving some of the most visionary female entrepreneurs in the United States. Before launching Ciri, she spent years at UBS Financial Services, developing over 300 financial plans and advising on portfolios ranging from $500,000 to $1 billion. She's a certified financial planner, a certified exit planning advisor and an accredited wealth management advisor, but frankly, beyond all of that, she is truly what I can say to be a soul-led advocate, a mother of three and someone I deeply respect for the way she leads, with integrity, tenderness and truth, this episode is honestly one of the most powerful conversations I've had the privilege of being a part of, I would say on the podcast. At this point, caitlin shares the raw and the courageous story of what led her to walk away from a prestigious role and actually roles in private wealth management, and how she built a new paradigm that centers equality, transparency and deep partnership. We talk about what it really means to be a wealth creator and how wealth is about so much more than money. We explore how to calculate your peace number, why she created a flat fee model that offers the same white glove service to everyone, and how spiritual alignment and nervous system regulation are core pillars of her financial philosophy. And, as always, I wove in a few of Caitlin's gene keys gene key 37, which is her mission code, which moves from the shadow of weakness to the gift of equality, to the city of tenderness, and gene key 31, which is her money code, which carries the gift of leadership that's really rooted in the city of humility. I found this conversation I think you really will too both expansive and grounding. It's really, as she even shares right, incorporates both the spiritual and the practical, and so full of paradigm-shifting wisdom. So, whether you're just beginning your financial journey or you're someone leading a multi-million dollar company. Caitlin's perspective, I feel, will definitely meet you right where you are and invite you into deeper clarity, deeper compassion and possibility.

We're here for the dreamin', so, without further ado, let's dive in with Caitlin Carlson. Okay, well, here we are, caitlin, on Elevate Daily. It's so good to have you here. It's an absolute honor. As someone who knows you and has the gift of witnessing your gifts in so many ways, I'm so enthused for everyone here to get to experience you, to experience your energy, to get feelings around your unique leadership that I think has so many transmissions for us all, and to really get into some of the very important practical aspects of what it means to be a wealth creator, what it means to honor the power, especially as women, to create long lasting legacy level wealth for ourselves, for our families and for the generations to come. So I know we're going to go many ways and many directions probably in this conversation, but I just want to start. You have an incredible story and just for I think, mostly for those who are listening to feel into.

You made a big shift. You made a courageous choice. You're someone who was working at one of the most you know well-known prestigious wealth firms and you were working in a very prestigious role and working with large ranges of assets and large range portfolios, everywhere from, I think, what? $500,000 to a billion. And yeah, you chose to leave. You chose to step away, when I guarantee I have no doubts you had a lot of people who are looking at you like why would you leave this success and all that you've created? And you made the bold move to open and create theory, theory planning partners from scratch. So I would love to know whatever you feel called to share about that moment where you just knew that there was a different way. And what was that spark to go? Okay, I don't have anyone, because I know there's no one that paved that path for you forward. No one gave you, in particular, the guidebook, but you did it. So what do you feel like really was that moment? Are those moments that led to that shift and that commitment?

0:05:52 - Kaitlyn Carlson

That's such a good question, lex, and I'm getting chills because I've never really answered this question before. You know, I have kind of my normal talk track of like here's my background. Then let me do it in two minutes or less. But this question is a little bit different and it makes me realize I think that I've known this consciously, but mostly unconsciously that it was really like the universe opening up doors for me and sometimes I would run through them and sometimes I would be dragged through them.

0:06:34 - Alexia Usgaard

Who can relate to that? I don't.

0:06:38 - Kaitlyn Carlson

So I don't often talk about like the intricacy of leaving UBS and starting theory all that often, just because, again, I have like a short amount of time, but it's actually quite interesting. So, as you know, and I've shared with you before, at UBS I got an extraordinary level of experience, which is what I deliberately went there for. I got my certified financial planning designation. I worked with over 300 families. I worked with ultra high net worth individuals. I partnered with over 80 different financial advisory teams. So I really saw how the quote unquote best of the best do it, and so that was a major benefit of working at UBS.

At the same time, I was wrestling with a tremendous amount of pain and agony for the sexual harassment that I was enduring while I was there, starting with my very first week at the firm. And it was very explicit, there was no confusion, it wasn't just a passing comment, it was, you know, to the extreme of an advisor asking me to take my clothes off in front of him and just that power dynamic that existed when you're in your first week at a new company and you have a 15 year veteran saying I'm going to mentor you, but you have to do these things for me veteran, saying I'm going to mentor you, but you have to do these things for me. Fortunately, I had enough self-confidence and self-respect that I did not do that and I ended up reporting him, and that was in large part. I actually didn't think about reporting him until I came home that day and my my husband he was my boyfriend at the time he and I went to the gym because we were both former athletes and working out was very important to us, and I just broke down crying at the gym. My husband was like what's wrong? What's wrong? And I ended up telling him what happened and he was like you have to report this to your manager. So it was 2015.

It was two years before the Me Too movement. I had no idea what was going to happen. I thought I was going to lose my job. Fortunately, I did have a fantastic manager while I was at UBS who always had my back, and they ended up doing a two-week investigation. There were corroborating cases unfortunately fortunately, other victims that he had been doing this to, and so I was just put in this place of becoming an advocate, even though I felt like I didn't ask for that. But of course we know I'm sure my soul asked for that, to find this inner fire and this inner advocate. And that was a very traumatizing experience but at the same time a very empowering experience.

But I stayed quiet about it for a whole year until um, an assistant at the firm came into my office one Friday afternoon and she said you know, I heard allegedly that you were the person that spoke up and got this advisor fired. And I said how did you find that out? And I wasn't entirely happy with the way that she found it out, but at the same time I was really happy that she came and said something to me because it made me realize oh, this isn't just about me. And and then I started reporting the other cases that had been happening to me because I realized that I needed to protect more than just myself. And so, um, while I was at EBS I ended up filing six claims in three years, because every time it happened I would think this isn't just happening to me, it's happening to the new woman that was just hired, or the intern or the assistant. And someone needs to be laying a paper trail because part of the reason why that advisor got fired is because an assistant had come forward four years earlier. They lost her, allegedly lost her complaint.

But there was a paper trail and there were other people who had said things and that's why they did end up believing me. And he intimidated me. He said you've been here for one week, no one's going to believe you. So he tried to intimidate me into not speaking up. But because others had, he did end up getting fired. Because others had, he did end up getting fired.

And so I always think of that Maya Angelou quote. You know, when a woman sticks up for herself, she sticks up for all women. And that really became a huge part Of my purpose. That I didn't see coming but feel so deeply ingrained In who I came here to be and it was a lot to carry and act like nothing was happening at the same time and that got really, really heavy and I ended up after I was in this planning program, I ended up becoming a one of the youngest private wealth advisors and my business partner. At the time he even knew what I had been through and he still ended up sexually harassing me and physically coming on to me on business trips. And there were three business trips and by by the third one, I you know, it was a trip to New York city and I got home and I walked in the door and I told my husband I was like I cannot do this anymore. I need to move home. We had moved down to Louisiana for his job and we were there for four years and I was just like I'm ready to go and I went to UBS. I knew that I had leverage. I said you're gonna pay for us to move home, you're gonna get me on a new private wealth team up in Boston and like you're gonna pay for all of our accommodations to make that happen. And they did.

But it felt like such a band-aid on a bullet wound and I joined the new team up in Boston but I was a shell of myself and I was really suffering and I was dealing with some family challenges at the same time and really trying to be a leader within my own family at the same time that I was deeply hurting for what had happened in my career. And so I joined a private wealth team in the Boston office but I just really wasn't showing up as my full self and they also had a very toxic dynamic that was hard for me to be around. It was different, but it was toxic. Anyway, that team this is where it's so interesting because my soul knew that I could not be at UBS anymore. But it was like my human self I'm loyal, I have strong work ethic, I um, you know I do what I say, I'm going to do.

And so it felt like multiple times I needed to be shoved out of the situation and one of them was the team that I had joined. They had decided to leave UBS and go independent and the lead advisor of that team he lived on the opposite side of Boston from me. So my commute turned from an hour into basically like five hours and you know that just the team dynamic was very toxic. The commute was just untenable and it made it very obvious that that was not going to be a long-term fit. And I was also severely suffering and just not really sure what I wanted to do. But my instructions at the time were we'll just go find people who have money and I was like it's not enough for me. I cannot do that. That is soulless and I needed something that had soul in it. So that ended and I was just like what am I doing?

And a former colleague from UBS who was in the program with me, in the planning program with me. He reached out and he said hey, I saw that you went independent and I had a really good reputation in the program that I was in for being talented and for being a hard worker and being easy to get along with. And he had just started an RIA and he said I would love for you to come on as a co -founder. So I did that. I joined his RIA as a co-founder. We ran it together for about 10 months and then he came to me and said my wife is pregnant with our second child. I need cashflow. And he really wasn't in love with business ownership.

But in that time I did fall in love with business ownership. And when he came to me for that conversation I was actually so relieved and excited because this vision was growing inside of me and I in the meantime, while we were partners, I got my SEPA designation, which is my certified exit planning advisor designation, and I just so badly wanted to work with business owners. I loved them. I loved everything about them, like what big thinkers they were, how dynamic they were, how fun they were. They were how dynamic they were, how fun they were just their outlook on life I was so inspired by.

And it's interesting because, as a woman in the wealth management space, everyone kept saying, oh, you should work with divorcees, you should work with divorcees. And I was like, but I'm not divorced, I don't ever want to go through a divorce. There's the level of authenticity I just can't relate to there. But because I'm a woman, they kept saying you should work with widows and divorcees, and I was like that's not what lights me up. Business owners is what lights me up. I felt like such a mess and yet I felt like all these pieces were coming together at the same time.

And when Joseph approached me and said, hey, I'm going to need to go back to a wire house and he wanted to go back to a wire house, and I was like I cannot think of anything. I'd rather do less. I was like here is the invitation to start what my soul has been yearning for for a really, really long time, and that is to be an advocate for women, do the work that lights me up, which is stewarding money and wealth creation, and do it in a way that completely aligns with me as a person. And so it's interesting because sometimes I feel a little bit of like I don't know if it's imposter syndrome or shame but like it wasn't this bold moment of like F. You guys, I'm going and starting my own thing. It was just these like quiet invitations and nudges, and sometimes shoves, to do what I came here to do. And I think the more that I access love for myself, the more I'm able to see there's nothing wrong with that. So thank you for asking you a question.

0:17:54 - Alexia Usgaard

Thank you for sharing the story like really letting us feel you and be with you and know the fullness of what led to who you are today, because I know you've been on so many podcasts and so many of us can look at and we'll go into more about like what you've created today. Yet thank you for letting us all realize the many moments of courage, the many moments you advocated, the many moments you were living out your mission before theory was created. And to me it just makes me like I mean I've I've had the gift of knowing you in so many different ways and like this just makes me feel like I've just cause there's I can't even express to you, like the way you've had it reflected to you. You're like very tender heart, you're deeply caring, kindness, like the generous spirit you give. Right, and I think, especially in the wealth space, that's not necessarily what you. You know what you really expect. And then look at your background, look at your experience, look at all of the environments you navigated as a high achiever, as an incredibly talented woman, to name a pain that I think so many who are listening can relate to in their own ways of just wanting to do the right thing, just wanting to show up, just trying so hard, yet all of these seemingly invisible things that you're constantly going against, invisible things that you're constantly going against. And I just think about the fact that you were so willing to put your name on the line, to like stand up to say the thing in so many moments when I can guarantee there were many options inside of yourself that were terrified, very like. You know. There was probably so much going inside of you Like what will this mean? You know there was so many risks to you actually speaking up in some ways right, but you did it and all of the like ways you don't even know, probably like that influenced different people and other women or simply became the champion for other women to realize they can speak up and the and the significance and the importance of us speaking up with and for each other.

And I feel like this is a good time to bring in your gene key because, as anyone who knows me and the podcast, I will always weave in a few gene keys and you like your story just so beautifully to me is such an invite, like an invitation and such a opportunity for us to see you actually walking through the shadow and showing up in your gift and honoring the city frequency, and you really are someone I feel like, who's like. I said this to you from the moment we did our illuminate experience, you know I was like you are living out your mission and that is just one of those moments that makes me like get this deep level of joy, because what a gift it is. And so your mission code, so the code that's linked to, as you know, like what you're here to do, what you people are here to see you do, and the impact you're going to have in your brand and your work. Of course, yours is GeneKey37, which goes from the shadow of weakness to the gift of equality, to the city of tenderness. And this shadow of weakness is such an important shadow to get alchemized on the planet, especially right now. And it is that shadow of hierarchy, of power over, of being taken advantage of. And I also think it's extra interesting in your world because money can be a very big dynamic of power over and how many people feel weak, no matter how much they've made, no matter how much resource they have, how much they can consistently live in this reality of never enough, trying to like constantly play the game of that and how you've lived that experience of walking and feeling that energy of the shadow and then walking into your gift of equality, which is genuinely this gift of reminding us all that we're all equal, power, unique. And when I just think about even the energy I feel you bringing in with your you work and your clientele that you have are high net worth powerhouse. We're going to get to this part of her story more high Once she left and made all these big decisions, I feel like you undervalued, just like you're, like I didn't have some big, bold exit and turn it through.

I'm like I'm sitting here like are you kidding me? Like are you kidding me? Like every single one of those moments people are like bold, bold, bold, bold. And now you're working with all these incredible you quality of like, walking with each other, creating an actual community with that and making them all realize that no matter like something I've always felt in your frequency is no matter where someone is financially, that you see them as an equal and that is such a gift.

And I think, especially in the wealth space, like I think actually the two in so many different ways, but I'm like it's so powerful.

And then your city of tenderness like to really bring the kindness, the tenderness back to a topic, to make people feel safe in a topic that again, I mean especially as women. It's like one of the quotes, taboo topics that I feel like so many women, no matter what, have shame around for some reason of like different dynamics. And so one I know we've spoken about it before but I'd be curious to know like in what me sharing now your gene key, even in connection now to your story, and like feeling into your story and feeling like all of these different moments, and especially the challenging ones, to never diminish the intensity and the pain of what you walked in those moments. And to, like you named a couple of times like my soul kept taking me, to like almost the next moment or there was like something my soul was telling me and I just you know, as you hear your mission code again like what stands out or what resonates to you, resonates with you, oh gosh, so much, well.

0:24:07 - Kaitlyn Carlson

Well, the shadow of weakness. It's really interesting. Within the past few months I've had, um, a girl from my high school I should call them women a woman from my high school and a woman from my college reach out to me for mentorship and I had been honest with them about my experience and how blindsided I was by it. And I have also said to them you should never feel uncomfortable. I had this conscious thought I'm going to have to sacrifice my safety to be successful in this world, have to sacrifice my safety to be successful in this world. And when I had that thought, I was at UBS and I was like I cannot go on like this, I just can't. And so I try to be to the point of tenderness, just so honest and open about my story, because it's a dynamic that exists virtually everywhere. It happened to me multiple times, not just at UBS. I had that dynamic going back to when I was an intern at an asset management firm and it was just this carrot that was dangled in front of me, you know of like I'm going to make your career, or I'm going to make you this, I'm going to make you that, and it puts people in this position where they don't feel equal, and especially for younger people. And just reiterating, like you should, you do not need to feel uncomfortable. You should not feel uncomfortable to just being radically honest about that and I told them. I was like, if you ever have a situation, come to me, I will be to the point of tenderness, a safe space for you to process and guide you and I. That's a new thing that has just organically emerged and I love that. I love being a safe space for these women who they're just like me. They're hockey players. I sent myself to boarding school and it was, like you know, the number one boarding school in the country. So now there's these younger women who are coming up the same way that I did and you know, a lot of masculine energy, a lot of work, ethic, high performance, achievement, and helping them find that tenderness for themselves has been something really cool. That's new.

And another thing that you were talking about with the gift of equality. I remember sitting at this table when I was at UBS and we were prospecting this family. It was second generation wealth. They had a $500 million trust and it was essentially the gentleman whose family it was, and then there were five people from UBS and the dynamic was so difficult for me to be in. I felt like I almost had to like get up and leave the table because the power dynamics were just so off. It was just like everybody was like sucking up to this person who felt like they had all the cards and all the power. It just felt like such distorted reality. And it was also happening in New Orleans, which had this layer of race to it, where there's this dynamic of racial inequality, even though everybody coexists. And it was very, very difficult for me to exist in that environment. It wasn't an environment that I could exist in long-term because it was so out of alignment with the way that I see the world, and so I knew that that I wasn't going to be able to make a career in that environment because the dynamics were just too untethered to the ground, if that makes sense. And then, finally, I would say starting theory.

One thing that you mentioned that a lot of people assume is that we work with high net worth individuals with theory. It's actually not true, because somebody can come to us with $0 and get the same white glove service as somebody who's coming to us with $10 million and that, as you know, is a huge part of my mission. Everybody pays the same fee. They get the same level of white glove service. We are going to treat you like you have $100 million. It is up to you to take our advice and implement it, and so I wanted everybody to have equal access to that level of strategy and service and support.

And what's really interesting about the dynamic that that creates is I was very intentional about calling it theory planning partners. This is a partnership. We're going to show up and do our half. You have to show up and do yours. And guess what you have to do to be a good partner in this partnership? You have to believe in yourself. You have to be a creator. You have to believe that you are the creator of your own reality, because we're going to give you the instructions, we're going to give you the roadmap. You are responsible for making your life happen, and for that you have to tap into what cannot be seen and measured.

0:29:13 - Alexia Usgaard

Oh, my gosh. I mean, you took it exactly where I was desiring to hear. Next, which was what, based on what you experienced, what have been the founding principles and the unique paradigm shifting way you've created theory, based on which one we already heard? I'd love if you would even give a little bit more explanation about the uniqueness of the flat fee. And I have to just take a moment to honor the, the beauty in your statement and again, how aligned it is with your mission code of you living it out of your. I know and I want this for the listener Cause I know there can be these moments people think like, oh, people say that, but you know, are they really like?

I have seen you over and over again. I've witnessed you give your insights, your feedback to so many different like, different people, so many different financial experiences, stories, and I have never seen your energy, posture differently, like, I've never felt to be like. You know, cause we all know that experience when you could just tell in a room, when someone like kind of scans the room and transactionally looks for like, okay, what's you know going to be the best, you know profitable situation or whatever it may be Right. And I have witnessed you truly what you've just said of honoring equality no matter what you come to you with, they're gonna receive the white glove.

0:30:27 - Kaitlyn Carlson

Experience A hundred percent and how sacred that is. First of all, lex, thank you so much for reflecting that, because I was going to say as a projector, but I also just think as a human being, one of the greatest gifts that we can give each other is to truly be seen, and I'm so grateful for that reflection. So I just want to take a second to say thank you. It is something that has just come inherently to me since I was a little kid and I think back to even just being in college and, like the, I would talk to the bus driver when we did our team meals and it's like, well, he's the person getting us to the game and he has a story and I'm happy to sit here and listen to his story, and his story is just as valid as my story and I find it to be the best way to go through life and I also love it because I trust that I trust the universe, I trust that the person being put in my path is the person that I'm supposed to be connecting with, but that can also feel like a massive act of bravery to just trust and relax, and I think that's why they call it a spiritual practice, because it's something that you have to practice, because your human mind will seep in and you'll want control. You just yearn for this element of control, and so that's why, the more I can make space and this is thanks to working with you you've brought to light for me the more that I can make space to tap into myself it's like, the more I can tap into my own superpowers of groundedness and that trust and relaxation. I want wanna make sure that I answer your question.

So, with the traditional model in wealth management, it's called an asset center management model, and so what that means is that let's use Lex as an example. So if Lex were to give me a million dollars, I would charge her 1% to manage that million dollars, so I would make $10,000 a year off of her million dollars, and when her money grows with the markets, as it does over time, my compensation grows, and it's a highly lucrative model because I don't have to provide any additional service to Lex once I get her assets and getting that recurring, essentially passive revenue, and she's not feeling this beam because it's coming directly out of the portfolio, and so it's a highly, highly lucrative model that creates a great lifestyle for financial advisors. And the problem with that model is that all financial advisors end up chasing these large sums of money that very few people have, and so it neglects the majority of the population, and what I saw when I was a planner is that it especially neglects business owners, who tend to not have these lump sums or know how to build these lump sums until there's some sort of exit. And what I learned as an exit planning advisor is that eight out of 10 entrepreneurs never exit, so 80% of business owners are never going to get access to this potentially life-changing information. And so I thought that dynamic, that paradigm just has to change, and the only way that I could think to make it a viable business model to get entrepreneurs access to this life-changing information was to make it a flat fee, and what's been so cool about that is it's led to so many other benefits, you know. The first one is the fact that we have no tiering. Every client is treated the same and to your point, lex, I didn't even come to appreciate how much that meant to me, like because of my design, but that means the world to me that there's no tiering and everybody's getting the same level of service.

But the other thing that unfolded is that I founded theory on two words, which will probably make a lot of sense now. The two words I founded theory on were advocate and protector. I wanted our clients to feel like they had an advocate and a protector, and one of the coolest things about charging a flat fee is that we can fulfill those two roles for people because we are guiding them objectively. We are not going to get paid any more or any less based on what you hold in the stock market. If you want to look into real estate and that provides tax benefits and that makes sense for your financial plan, we'll go there.

If a market portfolio makes sense because you're a mother of three children and you have no time, I'm totally for that. I love the markets, but I want it to be because it is our objective opinion. And then the last thing is if we're doing our job well, your wealth should be growing exponentially, while our fee grows linearly, and so then we're really delivering on the mission of getting wealth as much wealth as possible into the hands of women, and, as you can imagine, that's a huge part of my purpose as well. And so once I started to think about this model, I started to see all the benefits of it and now that we're five years in, it's like wow, we have results. And it's mind blowing and even more fulfilling than I ever could have imagined.

0:35:56 - Alexia Usgaard

It's so beautiful to feel your passion, to feel your level of care, and I just wanna there's a few pieces here that I can just share. From my own personal experience, I felt the pain points of, like one, the flat fee versus scouring. I've even told you this like scouring through statements to try to understand where the hidden fees are in portfolios, I've had managed Like I'm, like I can't. Where is it? It's there's just such a lack of transparency that it ends up not only does it take so much precious time for so many of us who don't have the background and all of the expertise, it's like you don't even initially know where to look. You know, you're like what is happening and so I just named first off, that piece is so huge. And then two, to feel like you have partners who actually care about what it's all for.

I mean, I just think you know money is energy, yet Money also is just like one of the biggest resources that we navigate is that.

You know it gives choice and lots of freedom in different ways and also, I think for so many it's we have a lot of dynamics with it. There's a lot of ways. I think you probably I actually goes back to what I was saying earlier about like way money gets pedestaled in different ways, where we can get caught in scarcity dynamics, and actually this is an interesting question I was going to ask you is because now you've worked with people so many different financial portfolios, yet I would imagine, no matter whether they have $0 in their portfolio or, let's just say, 100 million, I wouldn't be surprised if there's still some pretty similar limiting beliefs and patterns that play out and in people's relationship to wealth, cause that's the part I find so fascinating is like what we make it all mean, like what we make it all say about ourselves, and especially entrepreneurs, I would imagine, especially so I'm curious if there's anything that particularly stands out for you in that A hundred percent.

0:37:55 - Kaitlyn Carlson

So one of the things that was really cool about theory is I finally got to express myself in my full self, and so of course, we have a very intentional framework around building out your net worth and your cashflow and combing through your wealth protection documents and the calculations and the time value of money and all those things that are super important. But we also have two monthly mindset calls. The first one is led by a spiritual and intuitive channeler, so that's our spiritual alignment call, and the second one is led by Sarah Tangretti, who's been on this podcast. She is a nervous system regulation advisor. I would say I think of her as like a guide. She's a specialist in that. So we have two calls a month for our clients that are totally optional.

They're just there as an added layer of support, because I know to your point, lex, firsthand, no matter how successful you become, it does not exclude you from the human experience, and these are things we are going to be practicing and reconciling and wrestling with for the rest of our lives, and so offering those calls feels like an invitation for us to say like you can come relax.

Here, you can put down the facade, here you can put down the mask and, yes, I know that social media sometimes exacerbates our need to show up. You don't have to show up as anything to these folks. You can just show up as who you are, where you are, and everyone's gonna be dealing with things for the rest of their lives and if we're just honest about that, it allows us to access that tenderness. But to your point, it took a lot of bravery for me to add those calls. As far as I know, I don't know any other wealth management firms that have spiritual alignment and nervous system regulation calls. It would probably behoove people to start adding them, but in our world it takes a lot of bravery to own that more intangible side of things.

0:40:12 - Alexia Usgaard

Oh, my goodness, I just think about so many times I have avoided my connection or my relationship to money or wealth because I just didn't, I didn't feel I didn't have a partner in the sense of like trying to figure out what to do, or any transparency. I didn't feel guided. I didn't also know like where in community to ask. You know, I'd have my masterminds, I guess in business, which is probably my best outlet. But I just think about how sacred it is the way you've really zoomed out and are thinking from such a holistic level of actually at the core of this whole experience of becoming a wealth creator. Beyond the actual money, which I know is something you really stand behind, the money is like the material expression of all the intangibles.

0:41:00 - Kaitlyn Carlson

A hundred percent.

0:41:01 - Alexia Usgaard

And so I'd be really curious because I know you really stand for wealth creation and I would imagine there, if we like, tap into the identity of that, being a wealth creator is the identity I tune into. What does it mean to you to really embody being a wealth creator, and are there any like specific qualities or ways of being you notice like people are really committed to when they're tapped into that frequency?

0:41:24 - Kaitlyn Carlson

Well, I think one thing that's important to name is money is just one form of wealth, right? So you can have wealth in relationships, you can have wealth in time, you can have wealth in space, land, wealth in love, wealth in talent and skill. Wealth in finances is just one expression and, to your point, lex, it's a byproduct of what's happening on the inside. I just went to a workshop with a friend of ours over the weekend and we were talking about how thoughts have a frequency. They actually have a frequency to them, and then thoughts turn into feelings, feelings turn into action and action turns into tangible results, right? So it is so important that you go back to the root, back to the core thoughts, like are you wealthy in your mind? Are you wealthy in the kindness that you give yourself and the grace that you give yourself? Because it all starts internally.

The external is just, it's the easy part. It's like okay, insert here, you know calculating here. That is the easiest part of the equation. The hardest part of the equation is going back to the root of it, and so I feel like a huge part of my mission is to make that connection so clear, but also to hold space and kindness and tenderness at every step along the way, because the human experience is it's not the easiest one. I don't know what other options were out there, but for some reason we chose this one and it's a pretty challenging one, and that's why we need each other, and so part of what I train my team to do is to hold space for people, no matter where they are in their relationship with all of those things.

0:43:27 - Alexia Usgaard

It's so beautiful because it's such a topic that I just can't. There's very few people, I think, can talk about money and not have some you know something that they're lovingly desiring to work on in some way, because you know it's something that comes up. But I love the way you named wealth because I think it also can take if someone's listening and they feel like, okay, I'm not as far along as I would like to be with my money desires, you know, and maybe there's a lot of charge on their worth that's linked to that part of their life. I love the way you zoom us all out into. Wealth is so much bigger. That's one that's one part of your portfolio, the money, yeah. So maybe for even someone listening, this is a beautiful opportunity as just something to inventory is.

If you are someone with that story right now, are you notice it's been coming up extra for you at this time or there's been nervousness in that area? Like, can you go and scan these different areas that you just mentioned and can you take a moment to honor the wealth of the different areas you have and, like, lean into those as spaces to really see how capable you are as a creator, because also love and relationships and all these other things don't just happen. You know Exactly. Those also require a level of care, and you know commitment too right? Is that how you would see it, or yeah?

0:44:49 - Kaitlyn Carlson

Yeah, and investment, right Like a relationship, requires an investment of time and thought, just like a portfolio requires an investment of savings that are allocated to it and one. One other thing I want to name is at every point along your wealth creation journey, you're going to have to be balancing this masculine and feminine energy. Where I typically see people get into trouble is when they're in lack in one or both of those. So we tend to attract a lot of women who are great in their feminine energy, really lacking in their masculine energy. When I was in private wealth, it was very high in masculine energy, completely lacking feminine energy.

You need the balance because what you're striving for is the ability to create the wealth but also to enjoy the wealth, and that's why you need both of those energies and alignment. So when I describe myself, I always say like I have one foot in the practical and one foot in the spiritual. To me, what I'm saying is like I have one foot in the masculine and one foot in the feminine, and I'm constantly trying to balance those Like I can only sit around and visualize for so long before I need to go actually ground that and take that into action, and that's the equation that we talked about, right, like thoughts turn into feelings, turn into action. When people just stay in the thoughts and feelings, it's like well, no, it's great, but it's feminine. You need to balance it with the masculine, and so that's a huge part of theory's role.

We tend to turn up our masculine because we tend to attract people who are highly feminine, but our advisors are naturally super high and well-trained and masculine, so sometimes I'm balancing their feminine. So it's just this you need to have both at every step along the way, and that's why we have such a high touch service, because it's a constant recalibration, it's an iterative process, and what's so cool about theory is we get to be that only we're the only professional in your life who is looking at everything in your life. Yes, the business is a hugely important line item on your balance sheet, but there are many things happening outside of that and we're also looking at everything over the course of your entire life. So we're looking at this year and we're also looking at 2045 and 2085.

0:47:13 - Alexia Usgaard

We're talking about end of life planning with all of our clients, no matter how old they are. Yeah, so I'll leave it. There is equalizing the yin and yang Again, even putting the like. Not having either of those on a pedestal, like neither of those, it's like honoring the polarity of like them, being an equal.

0:47:43 - Kaitlyn Carlson

I know it makes a lot of sense. Every time I talk to you I'm like, oh, that's not trapped Like. That makes so much sense.

0:47:53 - Alexia Usgaard

Well, it's so interesting too, because I even think you know when you think about your clients, right, there's also families involved, so it's not just like you know. When you think about wealth management and like what you're creating and being partners, I mean, you're impacting the whole ecosystem with it. And something I've shared, of course, about your chart in particular is there's a lot in your blueprint about building culture and like building a new culture, and when I think about what you stand for with wealth, I really do feel like you're paving a new path where women feel women in particular, but all everyone and that's also another key thing to name is I know how much your advocacy is for women, but it's also for women and knowing that that's also key for everyone, and I think it's just so beautiful because we can I mean, for anyone listening, if you just think about one person's impact, if one person has is like really well resourced and again, this doesn't just have to be money If you are existing in a resourced way of being, you've gotten to this place of like peace within yourself. You know you're good, like think about all the other ways you show up in presence for the people you love, the other things you care about. You know you don't find yourself running in 12 directions. If so, okay, I would be really curious. If there's. I know you. I want to go in a moment into your entire beautiful philosophy of like creating a work, optional life, rather than thinking about retirement yet before I'd.

I'd really love to answer this question, because one of the things that I find is one of the questions I've asked many people on my journey, especially earlier stage entrepreneurs, I would say or, honestly, we need it at every point is how I've defined it, but I'd be curious how you would end up defining. It is like what's your peace point? And to me it's just like what is that number? If you like, really survey your lifestyle right now and like what's happening in your life where you want to make a slight pivot.

Like what is the peace point? Cause I find actually that so often we don't have the clarity of that number and how. Almost like that lack of clarity which is why I imagine theory is just so powerful for so many is because it gives people clarity on like what's happening, what do they have, where do they want to go, and like what the roadmap is, you know, but before we go into the work option. I'd be really curious how you would like or what you would suggest for someone who's like I actually just am sitting in a situation right now where I don't have clarity. I've been nervous, I haven't been like getting super visible about my finances right now. What would you recommend as that like starting place to know how they could just create that first base level of, like huh, peace in their body?

0:50:29 - Kaitlyn Carlson

Okay. Well, it is a profound thing to make a decision right. And when theory was making $0, I sat down and I wrote out my dream life, and my dream life was going to cost $60,000 a month, which, when you're making $0, sounds ridiculous, but it's hugely important because it informs what your future is going to look like. So I wrote out like what are my expenses in my dream life? What are the things that I want to do? This was also before I had any children, and now I have three, but I knew I wanted to have three kids, so I looked up the. Basically, what I'm trying to say is like allow yourself to dream, no matter where you are. Go in Zillow, look at the dream house. What's the mortgage for that? What types of vacations are you taking? Are you sending your kids to private school or public school? How are you spending your summers? Like, really start to dream and then don't there's. Don't be afraid to. Like, take pen to paper and start writing that stuff down. When I did that, it came up to $60,000 a month. That gave me a lot of information for what my business was going to require or what my family was going to require of my business, and then making a decision around okay, well, when would I like to be work optional? By? So, having clarity on what it takes to live your lifestyle, like what your monthly expenses are, is hugely important to your work optional number. So I said, okay, well, I think I would like for work to be optional around age 60. And I was like, but I don't know if I started to play. I was like, maybe, let's say, age 60, but I'm only spending $30,000 a month Because, like the kids, I don't know if I started to play. I was like, maybe, let's say age 60, but I'm only spending $30,000 a month because, like the kids, I've moved out of the house and we've reduced our lifestyle.

So then I got clarity on, well, what does that number look like? And literally it's as easy as just going to Google and typing in retirement calculator there's a great nerd wallet one and just start to look at what do those numbers look like. If I want to be work optional at age 60 and I want to spend $30,000 a month, how big of a portfolio do I need? What do I need to be saving monthly? And then just start to put these things in your mind because your mind will start figuring out the solution to those things and I built my whole business around reaching that number.

But what's incredible is like it totally changed in the greatest way. When I first started theory, I was like, okay, I'm gonna be a solopreneur, I'm gonna take up my little corner of the world, I'm only gonna work with 40 clients, I'm gonna charge like 1500 a month. So, like I reverse engineered this whole plan that was just for me and just for my family, and, of course, the university is like that's not enough. That doesn't impact. That only impacts 40 people. You're here to have bigger impact.

And so then I started growing into this vision of okay, there's more demand for theory. Okay, actually, you know what? I need a team. Actually, I want a team. Actually, I'm meant to be a leader. Actually, I'm really not. I don't totally thrive in the weeds. I actually love the high level. I love to be a leader. So, again, it's just these small nudges.

But it started with making decisions and putting pen to paper and allowing myself to dream, and that, I think, is where people get the most caught up, because they don't ever take time to actually sit down and do that. But it is profoundly powerful because it impacts every decision that you make along the way. It impacts your pricing, it impacts what your offerings look like. It impacts I still had that vision front and center when I was talking to my CFOs about, well, if I hire a team, what does that look like and how does that get me to this goal? And they were able to show me that and they were like actually, you can get to it with way more ease and doing the things that you're actually meant to be doing.

And I was like, wow, that's mind blowing. And it's funny because you would think, okay, I'm a personal finance expert, but I wasn't a business finance expert. That's why I needed to hire my own financial advisors for the business. And we all need each other, right? Because just because I'm a personal finance expert doesn't mean that I knew how to pay myself, what to pay myself, how to run a financially healthy business, like I need other people as my own support team. And now I even have a financial advisor. Because, guess what, when you're an entrepreneur, you tend to lose sight of your own goals and you need somebody bringing you back to center. And I started to realize like, wow, I really need this role within my own life.

0:55:03 - Alexia Usgaard

I am just taking a moment to honor how many goosebumps I got that you. I was like sitting there going, okay, we'll go to work optional next, but let's just talk about the peace point, and I actually love that you named that. In order to even know your peace point, you were like get to the big number, like know the bigger number, like let the dream live. And I love that so much because I feel like I haven't heard someone say that specific way before, where it's that deep trust and actually often like we can get so focused on like what I felt in that with you is we can almost fixate so much on just like what's in front of us and probably hold so much pressure on it.

Yeah, but by you going and inviting us all to like go dream, go like pull out Google, get really granular about it and like name, and I bet even in that process people really have to get honest, like why do I want that? Do I really want that? Ooh, like what's what's the deeper desire? And then knowing things shift but to actually understand what your big picture number is. So actually I would love to just have you clarify and kind of define what you mean by work, work, optional life Cause I know it's kind of your version of it instead of thinking about retiring and that story. It's like what that means.

0:56:16 - Kaitlyn Carlson

Well, so I do want to make sure I say so. When you do that exercise, you are raising your vibration, you are changing the way that you feel, because you're dreaming, and you're dreaming about the things that you want, and so peace is accessible at any time. Right, of course, yes, there are practical things that you need to do. Right, of course, yes, there are practical things that you need to do. But that dreaming is where you're just going to start to get all of this energy, and that energy is going to hold information about. It's not a destination, right, it's a feeling that we're looking to achieve. And yes, of course, there are practical things you should do along the way. Yes, you should have three to six months worth of living expenses and an emergency savings account, or our clients like to call it an abundance fund or a trampoline fund. Yes, those things are super important, but you won't.

One of the greatest gifts I think we give people is telling them what enough is, and that enough number is directly connected to what does it take you to live your lifestyle, because then we'll be able to give you the plan which is going to give you the enough number which is going to give you the quote unquote peace point, even though we know that's an illusion, right, but actually it does help. It does to feel like there's a moment where if I tell you, lex, you need to save $2,500 a month and you're hitting that, you'll feel like you can go take a walk outside. You don't need to be killing yourself to hit twenty five thousand dollars a month because you have context, right, you know like, ok, I hit the twenty five hundred dollars a month, I'm good, I can go take the donkey walk, like I don't need to kill myself to get to this end. Let's feed this hungry ghost that's never satiated. So that is one of the beautiful aspects of our work Work optional.

We say work optional with our clients because pretty much everybody that we attract loves what they do, which is such a beautiful gift, and they can't ever see themselves stopping working. But one thing that I often say is wealth is not a specific number, it's the luxury of choice and we want to position you to be able to make that choice to release the business when you want to release it, to take a sabbatical when you want to take it, to go on a vacation, work, you retire, whatever you want to do. We want to be positioning you in a place of choice, because when people to your point are well-resourced and they have choice and agency, they're more present.

0:58:43 - Alexia Usgaard

What I feel so deeply in what you're sharing is the power of clarity.

0:58:47 - Kaitlyn Carlson

Absolutely.

0:58:49 - Alexia Usgaard

Yes, and it always reminds me of that, that classic quote I love from Brene Brown, that clear, is kind. And going back to your tenderness thing and how I can, even when I think about myself, the times when I felt more stressed out about money or more in worry about wealth stuff, it's usually when I just haven't sat down and like really built a really loving, intimate relationship with the numbers, cause they're just numbers. And that's why I love your perspective on the intangibles and on visioning it and finding a way to like disconnecting it from being your worth. You know, I think that's a huge part of the story is so often it's linked and so, especially for entrepreneurs, they can be so like easy on themselves when they're in a season where business is just all working and it's just like exceeding their expectations and they're flying. And then it's a season because it's all in the beauty of nature. There's going to be the winter seasons where suddenly it's things are contracting and all the or what's happening in the external world can create fear, you know, and then they go into that contraction too. So I feel like I just love that in so much of your philosophy.

What I feel is just this energy of really coming into a deeper place of alignment with who you truly are, what you actually care about, what you actually value, inspiring those to like really vision, to name what you want, to raise your vibration to that frequency and then to give the very practical also feedback of, and to also let know when enough is enough.

You know to also honor that there can always be that like continual part of ourselves that thinks like we're supposed to create more but we forget that the creation can be in the sustaining. I would imagine I'm sure you've navigated that plenty with clients where you're because you said you're seeing the full picture of their life, and so I'm sure there's moments where you're watching and you're going. Okay, you know. But if we look at your bigger vision, are those specific financial goals in your business actually what you want right now? Or is there, like you know you're saying, in your vision actually you value more time with your kids? So like, how do we rearrange so we can actually see your more authentic wealth portfolio in the way that will actually nourish you?

1:01:03 - Kaitlyn Carlson

Oh my gosh, you're putting on such an important point. We often are that truth teller, if you will, because we do live in a 3D world, we do live in a dualistic reality where sometimes something's not again right. But what's cool about that is it does help you get very in alignment with your values and on our goals call. We have people write out their values, so sometimes our job is to bring them back to their values and say, well, you said this that is not in alignment with this, so what is more important, this or that? And it's one of the greatest honors to play that role in somebody's life. And there were a couple of things that you said that I wanted to comment on. The first one is clarity is free, so you can get clarity anytime, and so that's why it's a great first step getting clarity on your goals, on your values.

Numbers are neutral. Numbers are not going to jump off the page and murder you. They don't want to. They're just there. They're neutral.

There are a lot of hangups we tend to find from childhood for people who grew up in homes where limiting beliefs were really at the forefront of their relationship around money. I do want to acknowledge that that is a challenge that needs to be overcome in some cases, and again that's where it circles back to the internal work. Right, I do totally want to acknowledge that. But you can control what your future looks like, and getting clarity around your future is it's of the utmost importance, and we are there to help guide on the practical side of what implementation looks like.

And I also wanted to name allow yourself to dream, but hold these things lightly. So it's like I don't live in my dream house yet and maybe I never will, or maybe I will. I love our current home. It is perfect for the stage of life that we're in. If I lived here when I was 50, I wouldn't think any less of myself. I love to dream. I'm an Enneagram 3, so I'm in the future time orientation trend now. It's super fun, but I also know that it doesn't mean anything about my work. And so when I am creating money, when I am achieving goals, I think the older that and I probably the healthier that I have become. I also recognize that I should be doing it because it's fun, not because it means anything about me.

1:03:44 - Alexia Usgaard

In my inherent word, that is one of the questions I was going to most ask you. Next is when we dream. Yet you're living like I wanted to imagine, like you in early days of theory, you've dreamed you know where you want to go to that number of 60k. Yeah, I was so curious to know like how you live and breathe in the process to get there, like how you find the peace, because I think that's where so much tension lives for so many with money is they see where they want, but then it's like that. But I just want to be there instead of like really relaxing into.

1:04:22 - Kaitlyn Carlson

So what have you found for yourself and for others is like deeply supportive in that I always have the goal in front of me, but I'm not attached to the how.

1:04:33 - Alexia Usgaard

So can you say that one more time? I feel like that's an important double click for all of us.

1:04:40 - Kaitlyn Carlson

I always have the goal in front of me, but I'm not attached to the how, and I think this is where being an athlete was super helpful. So I, when I was eight years old, I told everybody I was going to play hockey in college. There were some years where I progressed in my skills by leaps and bounds, like went from a tier three team to a tier one team like just incredible growth. And then there were years where I plateaued. There were years where there's something called national development camp, which is a camp that you get selected to, where they're like looking at you for the Olympics. So there was a year that I made that camp as a defenseman and then I switched to forward and I didn't make it. I made it as an alternate. But then that whole summer I practiced because I was like, well, I'm not at camp right now, I'm in the driveway at home, I need to get back there. Then I went back the next year and I made it as a forward, as a different position. So I did end up playing hockey in college, but there were some years where I crushed it and some years where I plateaued or regressed, and so I think that being embedded in me as an athlete really showed me, like not to be attached to the how but the vision. Holding the vision no matter what and showing up every day and continuing just to candle and continuing to practice. Like even when I didn't make the team, even when I made it as an alternate, I still had to go to practice. I still had to show up in the driveway. I was so enthused by the goal that that's what gave me the motivation to keep going.

And my husband would always say when I was starting theory focus on the inputs, focus on the inputs, don't focus on the outputs. You have no control over the outputs. So I feel like that's also been. He was also an athlete, so I feel like that mentality of focusing on the inputs has been. That's where the fun is too right, like don't forget that. It's fun and it's going to totally change shape. I thought I was going to be a solopreneur. Now we have a team of six people. Like that's even better than I ever could have dreamed of myself. So I think staying open is a super, super important part of the journey.

1:07:02 - Alexia Usgaard

I love this focus on the inputs. You're speaking my language. I don't even know if you know. Right now you're speaking my rituals language and actually I speak in the most finance and analogy style way with it. I'm always like no rituals are your energetic compound interest. Yeah, just keep showing up for them in honoring the identity of who you're becoming, and they just compound and compound.

And hearing your story Cause you I mean the fact in the past five years, what you've grown is unbelievable and you've done it so much your unique way. You know, I mean, I'll tell right Like you could have gone and tried to create this in so many different styles. Yet what I've found so sacred about your process is, you know, you didn't do it on social media. You didn't feel like you had to have an email list. You really honored the no's. Like you didn't feel like you had to have, you didn't have to have your own podcast, but you've guessed it on a lot of podcasts. You know you've really focused on doing it your way and I guess this is a good opportunity for me to name your money code, which you know because we've shared. I've shared it with you before, but I think this is, for those listening super powerful. So the money code is the code that gives a lot of insight in your gene keys about what is the energetic frequency that serves to show that you're in alignment for being a magnet for money but really just a resourced being, like how you're here to attract wealth and resources. And also in your shadow, like what's going to also repel it and not have it work in your favor, where you'll feel more in scarcity.

And yours is Gene Key 31, which moves from the shadow of arrogance to the gift of leadership, to the city of humility. And when I just tune into so much about how you lead and how you show up and like even your story from earlier, like everything you've had to walk and what you hold others in right, like when I think about what you've had to really navigate in yourself. And when I even hear about your story about dreaming, like dreaming big, having it but then also not getting caught in the ego consciousness of it has to happen in a specific timeline. I got to hold on to my how, because that's a good example of the arrogant shadow is that it has to happen a certain way. I have to look a certain way. There's a, there's a focus more on how it's perceived versus your internal expression, there can be more again of the like power dynamics that play out, Whereas in your gift of leadership it's honoring that as you show up and follow the call to lead, as you follow the call of your bigger mission, your humility, your city of humility, your humble mission, which just simply means, like you, truly are devoted to being a channel for where you are guided.

As a leader, you steward wealth, you steward resource in the most aligned, authentic way.

And when I tune into what you've created and also what you naturally because this is what I also love about the gene keys is what you embody, you activate in other people, and so thinking about how you activate that frequency of what it really means to like, lead and to live a life that really is true to you, and also because I know this is a big one for you and when we first chatted about the gene keys, this was like a very clear point is you also have a line four in your money code, so your key to prosperity is charity and it's this consistent connection to giving back and feeling also intimacy with people, feeling connected.

It's for you. It's actually really important. You feel like you know where your resources are going and who they're going to and the way it serves the ecosystem, and so it also serves as to why I can see and understand so much in your blueprint, why you know having the email list wasn't your path, because, for you, creating the depth, creating the tenderness, creating the intimacy with people is just so aligned with who you came here to be on a soul level, and so I just wanted to take a moment to name this, because it really is so beautiful that you are this walking permission for so many of us to tap into this frequency for ourselves.

1:11:07 - Kaitlyn Carlson

Thank you so much, lex. You've told that to me no less than five times and you'll probably have to tell me another 50 times, but, like every time, it just resonates so deeply because it feels so true, and thank you for that.

1:11:25 - Alexia Usgaard

So, as we wrap up, one thing I would love to ask. There's two final questions I'd love to ask. One is just what was one ritual as we just spoke about compound interest and something that I live and breathe is a love for rituals what is one ritual, as we just spoke about compound interest and something that I live and breathe is a love for rituals what is one ritual that you would recommend for someone who's really at a place where they desire to tap into this frequency of really honoring themselves as a wealth creator?

1:11:52 - Kaitlyn Carlson

Oh, I'm going to give a highly practical one, um, especially because if you are I'm assuming if you're in the early innings then you probably have time, like I had an abundance of time in the beginning, and so I did ground myself in a daily ritual, which, for me, was exercise. So I worked out every morning and that gave me a sense of routine, even though I wasn't showing up to like a full day of calls. I was telling myself, like you're starting your day and I anchored it into a routine and, for me, I love moving my body. So exercise was the thing for me. So, whether that is, um, a walk with your dog, that's something I just started doing. That has been like a very grounding. Before I even opened my email, I've been taking him on a walk and it's just the downloads you get are insane. Like this morning I was walking him and it's so funny that we're talking about this, lex, because I just kept. I just kept, like I don't know if I was hearing it or thinking it, but I was just saying like I just want to be of service. Just let me be of service.

And there was one other time in my career that I was like brought to my knees and I was like, okay, I give up universe, I will do what you want me to do. And it was like, right after that rupture with the UBS team that had left and right before I talked to my former colleague and started that RAA, that moment brought me to my knees and I was just like I give up, I will be whatever you want me to be. And then, like theory basically started being birthed from there. So okay, coming back to answering your question, for me it was exercise that told me like you're legit, you're grounding in a practice, you need to show up for your work today. Me, it was exercise that told me, like you're legit, you're grounding in a practice, you need to show up for your work today.

1:13:40 - Alexia Usgaard

I love it because I feel like it gives such a massive permission slip to see how simple it can be, because so often we think wealth means we have to go look at our numbers or we have to go look at those pieces. But I actually love how your response was something that's more about just connecting with your energy and being with yourself and what I felt, too in your examples, as being receptive to, like being in a space where you get to hear yourself and feel yourself, which that's just what it felt like when you named. Is there any specific finance ritual that you've seen has been super powerful for people?

1:14:16 - Kaitlyn Carlson

Um, On the finance side. I will say give yourself the talking about peace points. Give yourself the luxury of living within your means. So get clear on what am I spending every month, what is coming in every month, and be honest about what needs to happen.

Right now it feels way better to live within your means than it does to be like pretending or spiritual bypassing, like there is a very. Again. We are in the 3d world right now, living within your means. This is important for your nervous system because it feels like a very real that you cannot trick your nervous system in this way. Like if you're living in your means, you're going to feel more well resourced. And then system, because it feels like a very real that you cannot trick your nervous system in this way. Like if you're living in your means, you're going to feel more well resourced. And then there are going to be these moments where you take leaps of faith, right, and those are going to be like potentially quantum leaves, so, but you're not going to have those every day.

So if you can give yourself the, the peace in between of just keeping things simple, finding joy in the walks, the meditations, the things that are accessible to you for free, and I'm to again, I'm talking like very early stages entrepreneur here, but like but it applies throughout. We even have clients who run seven figure businesses where it's like hey, you're stressed, you're so stressed out, why don't you guys just come back to a place of simplicity and you're going to feel so much more spaciousness, and that spaciousness is going to afford you more creativity, which is going to get you back to that place that you want to be in. So again, just being very clear on your cashflow is a basic thing that you can control. That can bring about a lot of peace pretty quickly and easily.

1:15:57 - Alexia Usgaard

Thank you so much for this. I feel like it's something that I just don't think is talked about enough is, honestly, the power and the freedom that lives in truly knowing what your means are, living within them and supporting your nervous system with like, trusting every next sustainable growth edge and appreciating each pocket. And so I really appreciate your philosophy. And, again to your point, it's because you know it so, so intimately, because you've witnessed it so intimately. I'm sure you've sat in so many dynamics where you've seen people who seemingly should feel the most free, yet they haven't really allowed themselves to fully inhale and exhale into these intangible wealth, into the intangible wealth of like really living in that energy. So I'm so grateful for you, I'm so grateful for this time together. I just you really are a treasure trove of wisdom and insight, and so of wisdom and insight and so supportive for all of us who have the gift of witnessing your advocacy and the new paradigm you're truly craving when it comes to women and wealth and what it looks like to honor all of us in our equality, and like honoring the resources we have and tapping into the abundance and doing it from a practical, holistic, grounded way. So for those who are going.

Okay, I want to connect with Caitlin. I know you are so generous in and you literally, she literally says like please, anyone reach out to me. So please, I want to. I want to have you share, but what would? What would be the best way for someone to connect with you?

1:17:36 - Kaitlyn Carlson

Yes, Thank you so much, lex, and I did write this in the intake form. I truly am happy to help anybody and give them a gut check and next steps, whether they're ready to work with theory now or in the future, or we can make a referral. You can just go to our website it's theory planningcom, and at the bottom there's a link to book a call with me. I would be happy to chat, or I'm also on Instagram at theory planning partners, so feel free to reach out there as well.

1:18:06 - Alexia Usgaard

Thank you so much for this incredible conversation, for all the juicy insights. So we'll put a lot of the key resources in what you named in the show notes for those who are listening, and I would love to invite any of you who've been tuning in to share I feel like I can say to you as well, but to send a DM to me or to Caitlin and to just share, like what's your biggest takeaway? Is there something you're specifically going? Okay, it's time for me to really own this dream. Maybe it's like I'm going to really find peace and honoring living within my means. Maybe it's doing the ritual of I've been moving my body and, honestly, it's changing everything for me. You know, just know that we, that both of us, love connecting, we love knowing that we're on the path together. And so, yeah, just to know you're not alone, you're not walking alone, dancing through this wild human experience alone, and until next time, I hope you elevate your life one intentional day at a time. Thank you, time is a million. Caitlin, it's such a treasure to know you.

1:19:07 - Kaitlyn Carlson

Oh, thank you so much for having me, Lex.

1:19:14 - Alexia Usgaard

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