“Money: A Love Story” Book Review

Hello, spa owners! For this week’s Spa Business Break I’m deviating (partially) from my COVID-related entrepreneurial advice, spa owner leadership shift recommendations, contingency planning guides, crisis management tips, and warnings against common retail pitfalls, to instead focus on another factor that’s been on everyone’s mind: financials.

Penned by Kate Northrup, daughter of prominent obstetrician and gynecologist Christiane Northrup, “Money: A Love Story” is a vivacious financial guide that, through exercises that force you to face both the emotional and practical aspects of your finances and financial patterns, steers you towards having a healthy relationship with your money. 

Right now, with the financial implications of COVID-10 hitting the spa industry hard, is an ideal time to re-evaluate our relationship with money— rather than feeling off-kilter in the face of uncertainty! And that is exactly what makes “Money: A Love Story” the perfect book for our current financial situation.

“Money: A Love Story” — The (Much-Needed!) Bridge Between Financial Freedom and Relatability 

Christiane Northrup’s ability to make women’s experiences relatable and thought-provoking has stayed with me ever since my grandmother gave me one her books as a teen, and so, when I saw that her daughter had penned a book specifically for women about having a healthy relationship with money, I knew I had to get it: Kate Northrup bridges the gap between us and financials in a much-needed way, especially right now during a time when many of us are “triggered” by the lack of financial stability brought about by COVID-19. Even if we have rainy-day savings tucked away for crises just like this, that doesn’t take that stress away… but re-evaluation might.

My favourite points from “Money: A Love Story”?

• It reads like an exercise book: unlike other financial guides, Kate Northrup forces you to “action out” your thought process and evaluation steps to not only connect with her teachings, but provide you with personalized goals that you can utilize in your day-to-day life.

• The opening quote, “My mom always told me that you have to feel it to heal it.” Now, whether it be in my personal life as a wife and mother or in my professional life as a former spa business owner and current spa business coach, it’s been my experience that it’s true that you have to allow yourself to work through your emotions in order to come to the best understanding of a situation. The same goals for money, which is why I appreciate this quote as much as I do: for example, if you have gone through life with negativity linked to your financials, then sorting through your feelings towards money is the first and most vital step towards making the best financial decisions for you and your spa business. 

• That it’s not even really about money. “But Kirsten,” you may be thinking, “you JUST called this a financial guide!” And it is… but what makes it so genius is that it deconstructs the mythology behind financial freedom. In our society, money means something different to all of us: whether it be for our business, our online shopping binges, groceries, and everything in between, Kate Northrup forces us to ask, “What does money mean to ME?” Which is so incredibly vital, especially as a spa business owner.

• It turns a discussion about financials into a discussion about how much you value yourself. Managing your finances is directly linked to your priorities, especially during a crisis like COVID-19; when it comes to spa business, we in the esthetics industry are programmed to be “givers” rather than “receivers”, which also means priorities towards ourselves can slip. Kate Northrup teaches how to prioritize yourself properly through how you manage your finances.

“Money: A Love Story” — Financial (and Personal!) Tips for Spa Business Owners

One of the biggest themes in this book that links directly to spa business owners? The link between negative financial thinking and self-sacrifice.

As a business coach I find that, especially when spas are only just getting started, there is this desire to simply give to people (through pricing that’s affordable enough for all, complimentary services, etc.); while that is altruistic and beautiful in theory, it disadvantages you by placing an emotional barrier between you and charging what you are worth. It’s what spa business owner Shannon Hall and I call “stinkin’ thinkin’” in my free Facebook group for spa owners, Spa Business Mastery.

Whether you’re worried about raising your prices or setting prices (especially after COVID-19, when cash flow will matter more than ever!), “Money: A Love Story” talks you down from engaging in the “stinkin’ thinkin’” that puts unnecessary hurdles between you and your professional goals. 

Kate Northrup’s many checklists and exercises retrain your schools of thought about pricing, managing funds, and general cash flow… especially her mantra about “considering bills as blessings”. While I thought it was crazy at first, changing the way I looked at things like my cellphone bill and focusing on the gratitude and appreciation made my financial obstacles feel that much more beatable.

“Money: A Love Story” — How it Relates to Spa Business Owners Going Through COVID-19

Now, more than ever, is the perfect time for spa business owners to sit down and evaluate how much money we really need; it’s the perfect time to step away from the daily grind and ask ourselves what our goals are long-term. 

If you are one of the many spa owners who had been caught up in that daily grind, now may be the time to evaluate how much money you want on the other side of this. What fulfills you? What fulfills your family? This is a talk I’ve had with many of the spas I manage digital marketing for and with myself, as well; tapping into the process behind your money mindset can prevent you from having a foot on the gas and a foot on the brake and can, instead, empower you to make decisions that make you happy with your financial situation long-term. 

Let me know: are you going to be using the slow reopen of the spa industry to reset your money mindset?