Women Like Me Stories & Business

BILLIE SINCLAIR - FINANCIAL WISDOM

• Julie Fairhurst • Episode 114

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What if your relationship with money isn't just about numbers, but about freedom from shame and finding your own sense of worth? Billie Sinclair, a credit and financial counselor with over 25 years of experience, reveals how consumerism has trapped many of us in cycles of debt by convincing us our value is tied to our possessions.

Having stumbled into the financial world at just 19 years old, Billie brings a unique perspective that bridges sophisticated financial knowledge with practical everyday advice. She describes how her early exposure to Merrill Lynch gave her confidence around money that many women lack, allowing her to demystify financial concepts for those who feel intimidated by "the big mumbo jumbo of acronyms."

The conversation takes a fascinating turn when Billie shares her personal story of discovering LegalShield after her brother's death left her navigating complex legal waters without guidance. This experience opened her eyes to how inaccessible legal help is for most people—especially women business owners who need contract protection but can't afford traditional $300/hour lawyer fees.

Perhaps most transformative is Billie's approach to budgeting, which she reframes entirely as "spending plans"—a subtle but powerful shift that transforms restriction into ownership. "Budget feels like lack," she explains, "but a spending plan sounds like power." This approach acknowledges our individual priorities (whether that's doggy daycare or retirement savings) while encouraging intentional choices rather than shame-based restriction.

Ready to rethink your relationship with money and find genuine financial empowerment? Listen now to discover practical strategies for breaking free from consumerism, protecting yourself legally without breaking the bank, and setting goals without needing to know the exact path forward.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bsinclairsuccess

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billiesinclair

Email: bsinclaircoaching@gmail.com 




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Who is Julie Fairhurst?
Julie Fairhurst – Speaker, Author, and Founder of Women Like Me

Julie Fairhurst is a champion for women’s empowerment and the founder of the Women Like Me Book Program. Since 2019, she has published 30 books and 300+ true-life stories—at no cost to the writers—giving women a platform to heal, inspire, and reclaim their power. Dedicated to breaking generational trauma one story at a time, Julie’s mission is to uplift women emotionally and financially, helping them create better lives for themselves and their families.


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Speaker 1:

Well, hello everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Women Like Me, stories and Business. I am your host, julie Fairhurst, and today I have a beautiful woman. Her name is Billie Sinclair and well, let me tell you a little bit about her. I actually had to write it down because she's got so much stuff going on. So Billie is a credit and financial counselor at Debt Free and Empowerment, an independent associate at LegalShield and a powerhouse educator with years of experience helping individuals and families gain control of their finances and protect their futures. She's here today to share her wisdom and debunk money myths and help us all to step into financial freedom. So, billie, thank you so much for agreeing to do this. I'm very excited about the conversation we're going to have.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, julie. Thank you so much for having me, and I'm excited too, and I'm excited to learn more about your community.

Speaker 1:

Oh, thank you. Okay, well, why don't we start off by you telling us a little bit about yourself?

Speaker 2:

Present or past.

Speaker 1:

Whatever you want to tell us, whatever you want to reveal, Well, I really love your introduction and thank you for that.

Speaker 2:

I think that an important fact about me is that I got into the financial field A by accident and B when I was very young, so when I was 19, I applied for a job. It turned out to be with Merrill Lynch. I didn't even know who Merrill Lynch was and I didn't know anything about all the ticker tapes that were happening on the wall and all that stuff. But what it did was it gave me a comfort around the money industry that I don't think I would have if I hadn't started there, and I think a lot of women don't have. So I've been able, over the many decades of my career, to simplify the concept so that I could teach personal money management, so that people could understand it better and take the concepts and actually go and use them, because sometimes it's just a big mumbo jumbo of acronyms, and so that's been a real blessing for me to have been able to contribute that to the world.

Speaker 1:

That's perfect. You're so right, because women, we don't put enough value on what we do. I think we I mean, we have money, we get money, but for some reason we just there's a fear or something there. I don't that relationship, there's a block, I think, for a lot of women. So hopefully we're going to be able to, or you're going to be able to, help clear some of that out. So what inspired you? What was the inspiration to start in financial counseling and literacy?

Speaker 2:

Well, funny story.

Speaker 2:

I was in the actual, you know, financial services industry for my first 20 years of my career, and I was really helping the wealthy get wealthier, whether that was in commodity futures or the retail stock market, mutual funds and all of that.

Speaker 2:

At some point, though, I started to get involved in personal development and in nonprofit, and that's when it really started to create a certain amount of dissatisfaction for me. I wasn't very satisfied helping the wealthy get wealthier no offense to the wealthy and so I actually left the stock market, put myself back into school as an adult learner, first with the distance education program, and then full-time school as a single mom of three kids living in nonprofit housing as a single mom of three kids living in non-profit housing. So it was a project and a half, but I came out of school really ready to be a counselor and also to focus on classroom facilitation and curriculum development, and then, as it worked back in those days, you just went looking for a job a little bit different in today's market. But I found. I found a dream job, and I was able to teach and coach in personal financial money, personal money management, for the next decade or so. So it's really been a blessing.

Speaker 1:

Wow.

Speaker 2:

And you. So you started off from quite humble, for it sounds like, or at least as a single parent of three kids. Yes, actually I come from a very poor background. My parents were Hungarian refugees and they were only 20 when they got to Canada and didn't speak any English and landed in the frozen north. So I'm from Alberta, frozen north of Alberta, and had zero financial training in my life, and my mom was a single mom by the time us kids were two, four and six, so everything I learned was by necessity.

Speaker 1:

Yes, yes, and I think what's wonderful about that, coming from that type of background, billy is that you can relate to so many different levels of living for different people. You know, you know you've been there, but you've been there, and I think that that's a real, a real asset to have.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, thank you. Yeah, I also never made enough money to put enough money away for my future. So that's a common problem for women that we might have a job and we might manage our family, but we're not really able to invest, even though we hear all the investing talk and we want to. But you know, our system is still a little bit weighted against women making it financially, and maybe we're going to talk about that today, but it's not. It's not easy to make your way in the world as a woman who doesn't come from a family with money.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I absolutely agree. So let's jump into money and mindset and empowerment. So what do you think the common money myths are that keep women stuck this particular one.

Speaker 2:

we hear it all the time and it's kind of a glib phrase keeping up with the Joneses, and so I think one of my main soapbox platforms is actually consumerism. We are so bombarded by the message of our worthiness based on our stuff that it's very debilitating, and even though I shared earlier that I didn't really make enough to save enough, a lot of times that money that we do have goes to the wrong things because of consumerism and because of the message that our worth is based on our stuff. So, for example, I have a cell phone, everybody has a cell phone, but I don't buy the latest, greatest, newest cell phone every time it comes out right. I just use my phone as long as I can because I don't have to keep up with all the cameras and all the fancy doodads. But I do want to be efficient. So I've got a very nice MacBook laptop and I will be happy with it until I'm not. But I'm not trying to always spend.

Speaker 2:

So sometimes this consumerism culture makes it feel like our worth is based on our spending and sometimes it can feel like I'm actually participating in in my own economy by buying stuff. But it's so the opposite message when we buy stuff that we don't need or when we have a lot of stuff around us that is really not even making us happy. Who did we buy it for and why did we do that? Because it was on sale. That's's consumerism trap. Don't go shopping just because it's on sale, or shopping because you need something and find a store that has something on sale, but but don't make shopping an activity like I have. I could be on this soapbox for a while, so I'll be quiet.

Speaker 1:

Well, no, it's a very good lesson and very good advice. And, as you're talking, I mean I'm not a big shopper, but I do get on Amazon once in a while and next thing you know, the delivery is here and it's like, oh, what was my reason for doing that? Because it's just way too easy these days to do. But I think that's a good message, because even when you were speaking, I thought it was speaking to me as well. Smart, not Julie, but it's true. Sometimes we just go through life thinking about things and not really thinking about why we're doing them, and I think that that's a great message to give people.

Speaker 2:

Thank you. Yeah, the why is a big part, and then also the consequences of it. I've taught people to stay away from the dollar store. Now, that seems very counterintuitive, but isn't the dollar store the place to get the best prices? And I'll say, okay. So if you want coffee filters, go to the dollar store and your coffee filters and go straight to the coffee filters and leave as soon as you've got the coffee filters. Heaven help us if we go up and down all of those aisles and throw things into our basket because they seem like a good deal and maybe we need some new potholders. We kind of don't. And then if it was called the $39 store, you wouldn't even go in there. Yes, but you go into the dollar store and you come out $39 poorer with stuff you didn't really need. I've literally gone into the dollar store to buy marbles for my grandson and all I bought was marbles for my grandson. It absolutely can be done.

Speaker 1:

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Speaker 2:

Now I'm not saying don't be smart about your money. I buy office supplies sometimes at the dollar store, and my local dollar store is going out of business and they had a 50% off sale. It might even still be going, I'm telling you. I scoured that store and it was tempting. I feel the same feelings that people feel oh my God, look at the price on the Christmas stuff and the Valentine stuff and the St Patrick's Day stuff and the Easter stuff. But now then we have to rent a storage locker for all the stuff that we can't fit in our closets and our closets are already overflowing, so our money is there.

Speaker 2:

Oftentimes it's just kind of going to the wrong places, so I just caution people about the consumerism monster.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, no good advice. Very good advice. Okay, so you talk a lot about debt free and empowerment, so what does that empowerment through money really mean to you?

Speaker 2:

I think it's about confidence. It's about how we feel about ourselves and show up in the world. I speak with a lot of people that have a lot of debt, and with the debt comes shame, and so that's the empowerment piece. That's the opposite of the empowerment when we feel shame, and so as I talk about consumerism, I'm helping people spend less so that they get into less debt or so that they have more money for debt repayment. It's kind of a continuum of behaviors and with that shame around the debt, people don't recognize that it's not all on them. The industry also plays a great, you know, role in giving I call it giving out credit or debt like jelly beans, and we're vulnerable. We really are. We're young and dumb sometimes, sometimes not so young, and so we're vulnerable to again that consumerism message where I'm not okay. Consumerism message where I'm not okay if I don't have certain things, and so it's easy to then get into debt on top of everything else. Debt can really be debilitating for people, and so the empowerment piece comes from making better decisions, understanding what you are at the effect of and then making the better choices, going forward.

Speaker 2:

Like I always say base your actions on your goals. Most people don't really put it together like a mathematical equation. But if they stopped and asked myself is this purchase anywhere near helping me get to my goals? Well then they would to say but what goals are we talking about? Well, I don't know. Let's talk about that then. Shall we Like? What are our goals? To fill our medicine cabinet with creams and lotions and potions, trying to feel better about ourselves? And we've got, you know, hundreds of dollars a month going out to lotions and potions, like I say, maybe that doesn't make sense. I say, let's call a moratorium on that stuff. Let's use up all the cream we have before we buy any more. Or, you know, let's use the purses in the closet before we must go buy another one.

Speaker 2:

Yes, and so the empowerment comes from all of that. Once we start making better decisions and seeing that we're in control, maybe we now have a spending plan. We're not just willy nilly using our plastic because plastic is super dangerous and our whole culture is based on plastic. Like I said, I could go on and on about this topic.

Speaker 1:

Well, let's, let's. Let me ask you what are three small things that someone can do today to start improving their financial health.

Speaker 2:

Well, let me just write myself some notes here. So three small things, yes. Well, the first thing, 100% is to create a spending plan. Now, I actually don't like the word budget, because nobody else likes the word budget. Right, I can't teach people to do something they don't like. I have to teach people to do something that they can absorb and are willing to adopt. So, we're all going to spend and let's plan our spending instead of just being random.

Speaker 1:

So it's if I can just say just for a second. When you said that spending a spending plan versus a budget, a budget feels like lack, yes, but that wording spending plan actually sounds right like power.

Speaker 2:

I love that. Yeah, it's a sense of ownership, yes. So, for example, I was teaching a group of staff that worked in a nonprofit agency and one of them said I have a dog and I'm not willing to leave my dog at home alone, so I put my dog in doggy daycare every day. Now the temptation might be for someone A who doesn't have a dog, or B doesn't feel like that about their dog, like how can you spend all that money on dog, on doggy daycare? Come on, does that even make sense?

Speaker 2:

But my approach is more let's create a spending plan and let's see what you're going to sacrifice, because we can't do it all. So I get it, and I'm not here to judge. What can we put into the spending plan so that you can put away $60 a week in April so that you've got the May doggy daycare already paid for when the first comes? And that's what a spending plan allows you to do. It allows you to think of all the places that you want your money to go. But then also you can sort of see that wait a minute, there's more stuff than money here. So we've got to make some choices, otherwise we're going to be maxing out a credit card and trying to get our hands on another one.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

Right.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and I love it too, that you know. You know it is no judgment we all have things that that are important to us and and I'm I'm a cat person. I don't have a dog, but but my in-laws have a dog and a lot of times they have to take their dog to the doggy daycare and while they, you know, do the things that they need to do and and because they just couldn't never leave the dog alone, and I know that that costs money, but that's that's what's important to them. You know, I think that I think that and and then, like you say, planning on how you're going to be able to continue to do what's important for you without going into that nasty debt that we find ourselves in sometime. Yeah, very, very true. So I want to ask you about LegalShield, because I don't really I don't really myself fully understand what that's all about, but you certainly are involved in it Did you want to tell us, tell me, tell our viewers and listening listeners, what is LegalShield? What's that all about?

Speaker 2:

Sure, absolutely, maybe. I'll just start by a quick story about how I found out about it. Sure, okay, so it was 10 years ago, and I think there's a word that you say when you want to warn the audience that you're going to say something that's potentially upsetting, some kind of alert like. I forget what the words are. So my brother died, and he died by suicide. So he just lived 10 minutes from me. It was very, very tragic, as you can imagine, and I knew that he was going through some stuff. I didn't think this was going to happen, and it did, and so I had a lot of responsibility to deal with all of this going on. I wasn't just the next of kin, I was his only family. He was my only family other than my children. So, anyway, make a long story short, I contacted the CRA to let them know that he had passed. I just thought it was the right thing to do and they said oh, thank you. You know, please send in his debt certificate and, by the way, he's five years behind in his tax filing. Would you submit that? I did, I'm a money person, so it wasn't hard to get his T4s and to send off. You know, he was just an employee, so super easy tax returns, wouldn't you know? They sent him a $6,000 refund and it was in a check payable to his estate mailed to my house.

Speaker 2:

Now, at the time I'd been teaching financial literacy forever, but wills and estates was not a topic in our curriculum, and so I took this check to the bank and they said, well, that's very nice, but without a will, nobody can have this money. And I'm like what do you mean? Like nobody. And they're like, yeah, nobody except us. We can have it, we can put it in our bank, but nobody else can touch it. And I had that look on my face Like you just have Julie. I was like what, how can this be fair? How can this be right? I'm not just his next of kin, I'm his only kin. Like there's nobody else. And they're like, yeah, sorry about that, go see a lawyer.

Speaker 2:

So I dutifully went to see a lawyer down the street. The lawyer said, yes, it's called a grant of administration. You need to let the courts know that you're the person who should administer your brother's affairs. I said, great, let's do that. And they said, okay, we just need a $5,000 retainer and we charge $300 an hour. And I was like, wait a second here. So once I signed the document I know I have no control how many hours you work for me what if you were to work for me for 20 hours, for whatever this process is? Would this whole $6,000 just go to you? And the lawyer's like, yeah, sorry about that, yeah, that's how it would go.

Speaker 2:

And so again I thought about people and all the people that I've never talked to this about, even though I had thousands of students by that time, and I thought this is a really big problem in society and none of us knows this and lots of us don't have wills. I had a will, but I was a mom of three kids. I never thought should my brothers have a will? And my brother had no money in the bank, he didn't own a car. It just didn't seem like an issue.

Speaker 2:

So, anyway, it took me nine months to discover that there was this company out there called Legal Shieldield, and LegalShield was not trying something new. They'd been in Canada for 15, 20 years at that point and what they do is they partner with law firms across North America, in five provinces in Canada and all of the states, and those law firms agree to have a different business model. So instead of charging us $300 an hour, we become a subscriber, so we pay a small monthly fee. And I said, oh, please sign me up. And the lady did. I found it at a networking event. You and I have been to many networking events and there was this table, yeah.

Speaker 2:

And on Monday I got to talk to the lawyer and she said you know, you don't really have to hire a lawyer to do this. I mean, it's no fun, it's a lot of paperwork, but you can absolutely do it yourself. So just go to Staples and buy this book is $40. And go through the book and print the forms that are appropriate when someone dies without a will and submit it to the courts. I didn't even know there was a probate court at 800 Smythe and I did all that. And she said if you don't understand anything, just, you know, call in and ask. And I did that too. And a few months later I was able to go into the bank and say here's your document, here's your grant of administration. And they were able to say great, here's your $6,000.

Speaker 2:

And at that time I was like man, I need to join this company, I need to share this with people.

Speaker 2:

People need to know that access to legal advice is available to them.

Speaker 2:

Most of us don't even think about legal advice because we know about the $300, $400, $500 an hour price tag which nobody can afford, and so for $50 a month, I don't have to call them every month, but when I do call them three, four times a year for this, that and the other thing that happens in life I can do that without getting a bill, and so it empowers me to make those calls. So if I feel like something happened that was unfair or wrong, I have someone to talk to and I can say what are my rights here and what might my next steps be. Can you review this contract before I buy a car or before I lease some part-time office space? And then they redid my will for me and my powers of attorney, and it didn't cost anything except this small monthly fee. So that's why I really got on the bandwagon and I was the number two producer in Canada in 2024. I'm just a keener. I just feel like because people don't know about us, the only reason they don't have it.

Speaker 1:

Right, right, and so can people choose whatever lawyer they want, or I guess the lawyer has to be involved in the program working just for the LegalShield department.

Speaker 2:

So when we call in we get to speak to whatever lawyer is available in rotation and you know, if we have a favorite lawyer we can always ask so-and-so available to take my case or my intake. But we trust that the company so LegalShield is the parent company has vetted that law firm. They don't hire new people, they don't hire paralegals or articling students. It's a full service law firm and we can trust that when we make that call they are looking at our best interests.

Speaker 1:

Well, I don't know if you know this about me, but I did 34 years in the real estate world and boy, I could have used that that telephone call many times, many times, flying by the seat of my pants thinking, okay, I'm pretty sure this is how I do it. I'm not really positive, but okay, let's just cross our fingers and hope nothing comes back to bite us. Definitely valuable.

Speaker 2:

Very valuable, thank you. And because my community was women in business before my brother died, yes, it was a logical next step for me to tell all these women in business, because some people I get it, they have a skill and they decide to start offering it as an independent contractor, but they have no contract expertise. You know they don't. They don't know what, what to put. And even if they find a template on a you know Google and a website, that's good, but wouldn't it be better if a lawyer reviewed that? But wouldn't it be better if a lawyer reviewed that? And if they said you know there's holes here, you're not covered there. Based on what you're doing to charge people money, you know this could come back to bite you. So they don't have the legal protection and support because of the high hourly cost. And once they find out that it's available for a small monthly fee, as I said, it just empowers them to say, oh, okay, well, now I can ask them to review my terms and conditions and I cannot take on a client if they won't sign my contract and agree to pay me in 30 days.

Speaker 2:

Like I've had people reach out to me and say, well, I did the work for her. And then I sent her my invoice and she informed me that she pays her invoices in 90 days and I said, okay, I hear you. That's probably a problem for you. I guess you guys didn't discuss this in the beginning. What did you? What did your contract? Say yes, and she'll say, well, I didn't have a contract, she wanted this work done, I wanted the work. So I just said yes. These are the ways that people get in trouble as a business owner, and never mind the times when someone, just plain old, doesn't pay.

Speaker 2:

And so you can talk to your law firm and you can talk to your lawyer, and then they'll actually send a letter on their letterhead reminding your client about their contractual obligations. So we need that, we need that muscle. Sometimes, if you say to someone, you know what, I'm just going to nevermind, I'm just going to run this by my lawyer, it just changes the energy in the conversation. Yes, it does.

Speaker 1:

You're absolutely right and I agree with you. There's so many small business owners out there who don't don't do do any kind of legal agreements at all, and and if they try to do one and then do it on their own, sometimes that's just just looking for trouble down the road.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, speaking about real estate, you mentioned real estate like your clients can also use legal shield because they're homeowners. Well, speaking about real estate, you mentioned real estate like your clients can also use LegalShield because they're homeowners. Now they're going to hire some trades guy to come in. I had one client. She said I hired this guy to come and do all these jobs in my house. So far I've spent $40,000 and he still hasn't finished the job. And now he wants more money and he's threatening to come and get his tools instead of finishing the job. Well, what do we do? We're just innocent bystanders and we need someone who who they will respect and nobody really wants to do a lawsuit, but you have to feel that you've got some power behind you.

Speaker 1:

So how does the monthly fee work then? Is that a set fee for everyone, or are there different levels, or how does that work?

Speaker 2:

That is a great question. It used to be a set fee for everyone and very recently the company adopted three different family plans or personal plans and three different small business plans, so that the family or the small business owner can personalize their plan based on their needs. So, for example, we have a family plan that's called the basic plan, that helps the husband and the wife with their wills and with general legal advice. But we also have a preferred plan that's just a few dollars more and it covers the kids. So if you have kids in university, if you have kids that are drivers, if you have kids that are starting to participate in sports and do field trips across the country like you, just want some protection for them too. So you would take the preferred plan. And then we have a premium plan, which also covers what they call simplified probate.

Speaker 2:

So that's what I needed with my brother's situation, because simplified probate is for a small estate and he had a very small estate. So simplified probate is something that you can tell your executor. If anything happens to me, don't worry. Here's my law firm's phone number. I got them to do my will. They will help you with the simplified probate so you don't have to do it by yourself. So see how there's different levels, so people can move up the level too if they decide at some point that they want more support support.

Speaker 1:

Very interesting, well, it sounds. What about criminals? What if I did something and and I was do you know whether that's covered, or is it more just? Or I guess you could call and get advice.

Speaker 2:

You can almost always call and get advice on any topic, but I don't think criminal law is covered in this one. But just stay on the straight and narrow there, julie. But everything else. We actually have a couple of documents that are called 101 reasons to use legal shield for your family or for your business. Just, sometimes people don't even think of the things that they're dealing with. They bought a TV. It was broken. When they got home they didn't realize it was on sale. But it was a crack on the corner, my clients. They took it back to the store and they treated them like criminals.

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

And they felt terrible. And they were. You know, english is a second language and they just felt awful. When they got home, like they were like wait a minute, we didn't do anything wrong. So when they told, they went back to the store and told them we're going to have our lawyers reach out to you. All of a sudden they were treated very differently.

Speaker 1:

Yes, of course, of course, yes, I guess that's the, that's the ace in the back of your pocket when you need to pull it out.

Speaker 2:

Very nicely said yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, wow, so you said that you did that. I can't remember your exact words in the beginning, but let me just ask my question. So what is it like balancing that was the word balancing your work as a. So are you still working as a? Do you call yourself a financial counselor then?

Speaker 2:

I do call myself a financial counselor, and is that the?

Speaker 1:

same as an associate, because you do a lot.

Speaker 2:

Actually, officially, I only work with LegalShield because I'm retired, so kind of part of my story is that, as I shared, I never saved enough to put anything away. Yes, so 10 years when I saw that subscription income was kind of a new thing for me and knowing that this is a good service and people keep it for many, many years, it became a way for me to get passive, residual subscription income, teaching so that I could focus all of my energy on sharing LegalShield. And the work that I do as a financial counselor is off the side of my desk so I don't charge for that. I put myself out there. So a lot of people refer their friends to me and, based on my experience and some of the resources that I can share with them, I help them find the right people or the right direction for them to go with their particular concerns.

Speaker 1:

It's so wonderful to be able to, because I retired from real estate in February of 2024 to do Women Like Me full-time. And isn't it just feel good to do something you're passionate about, that you know you're helping people. It's I just love it. And I can tell that you love what you do as well. I think that's just amazing. It's good stuff.

Speaker 2:

Good stuff, billie, and you too Good stuff too Julie.

Speaker 1:

Well, thank you, billie. Can I ask you my five favorite questions to ask my podcast guests?

Speaker 2:

Sure thing.

Speaker 1:

All right here we go Just to learn a little bit more about you. Okay, so what's your favorite book that inspires you in your business or your life?

Speaker 2:

That's a hard one because I love my books and I have too many of them. But my favorite book is called Influencer and it's really about you know, as a teacher, you're trying to help people go here and they're here, so we're always trying to find the path to help people get over to here. So that's why I really love this book and I highly recommend it. It's called Influencer.

Speaker 1:

Beautiful Influencer Okay. Really love this book and I highly recommend it. It's called Influencer, beautiful Influencer Okay. If you could have dinner with any woman in history, who would it be and why?

Speaker 2:

Ruth Bader Ginsburg and I like to play Ruth on Halloween and I loved the movie which is called oh boy. I always get it wrong because it's got the word sex in it and I just wish it. It's such an interesting, amazing movie of her life and you know she was a real trailblazer when it came to women in law and she attended university with an all-male class and she was the only woman.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I remember. Yes, it's coming back to me now.

Speaker 2:

Yes, Ooh, On the basis of sex. That's the name of the movie.

Speaker 1:

And sex, of course, meaning gender. Yes, of course. Yeah, yeah, interesting. Okay, what's your favorite way to unwind after you've had a really busy day?

Speaker 2:

Favorite way to unwind after you've had a really busy day. I know this sounds funny, but I actually like to sit on our love seat and watch the news with my fella.

Speaker 1:

Nothing wrong with that. We do that as well, and that is a nice way to unwind. Okay, two more to go. What? Or do you have a favorite motivational quote that keeps you going?

Speaker 2:

Well, I hate to double up on Ruth, but Ruth said women should be involved in all decisions. I forget exactly how she said it, but all decisions that involve women should involve women. You know there's a lot of stuff yeah, I don't have it right, but there's a lot of decisions being made for women, not by women, yes. So I think that's really important, that women should be in every room where decisions are being made for women.

Speaker 1:

Love that one. That's a good one. Okay, and the last one. If you could travel anywhere in the world tomorrow, where are you going?

Speaker 2:

I know people have a hard time believing this, but I don't even like to travel, so I would love to have just time in Vancouver. That's my favorite place to be. I don't like to travel. I don't like suitcases, I don't like airports. I don't like not travel. I don't like suitcases, I don't like airports. I don't like not having my stuff with me. And I do travel to see my friends, but I don't like traveling.

Speaker 1:

That's okay. That's okay, you know, I think we travel maybe too much and we really should be tourists in our own communities, because we don't even know half of what's there, what's around we really don't, yeah, and it's good to get out and find that.

Speaker 1:

So, no, I think that was my first answer like that. Usually I get Bali or nothing like that, but I love that you just be a tourist in your own neighborhood, so I would love to just be. I know we're getting on in our time here, but really quickly I want to touch on the BC Women in Business, because I'm a member of your group and maybe you could tell us a little bit about that, and of course, we'll have all of Billy's links and will be in the details section, so we certainly can pop that in the details sections as well. But what's the BC Women in Business all about?

Speaker 2:

Sure, well, originally, you know, I found social media because I needed to. I knew that I was a good person. I had a great message and people would say, well, you should get online. And I'll say, but I don't know where online is Right. You know you should talk to more people, but I don't know where the people are.

Speaker 2:

So I found out about a blogging course, I found out about a training in California, so I went to LA and during that time into LA, and during that time he talked about Facebook as, like Facebook, that's only I follow like five friends and my children. So I never thought I never seen a group on Facebook, I'd never seen an ad on Facebook. I just didn't get it. But once I really started to look into Facebook, I super loved it and especially I love the idea of groups, because then I like private groups, because you're kind of in a little bit of a cocoon. So I found a group and I felt that, like I found many groups, that a lot of them had like dumb rules, like you have to do this only on Mondays and this on Tuesdays and this on Wednesdays, and oh, am I frozen? Oh, you are. Give my system a second here.

Speaker 1:

It's okay.

Speaker 2:

Let's see if I will come back there. I am there, you are Perfect. So I found a group and it wasn't really very busy, people didn't seem to talk to each other and so I reached out to the founder and I said I'd like to create more of a community here. And she agreed, she was busy, she started these groups and she hadn't really had a lot of time to spend in them. And so I was very fortunate and she trusted me that I would do a good job and I got to take over. Very fortunate, and she trusted me that I would do a good job and I got to take over and I really wanted kind of that BNI concept where we could get to know each other. Yes, a so we could find more customers, but B so that we could refer each other. And so I just built that kind of community and made enough rules so that it wasn't onerous. But we have, you know, I got to manage the chaos rules so that it wasn't onerous, but we have, you know, I got to manage the chaos, yes, and make sure that people are respected and feel respected and safe.

Speaker 2:

And people started really, you know, gravitating towards it. So, for example, if I see someone that says you know, is there anybody that does these collaborative books out there? I can quickly just pop in there and tag you on the comment and say, julie Ferris, can you advise, can you support, can you help? Yes, so I begin to get known as a trusted advisor and a helpful person and someone that contributes to not just community but also to help and get the word out about your business, whoever you are. So that's how the group started at you know a few thousand people and now we're at almost 30,000. And I feel really good about the groups that are growing in Ontario and in Alberta and in other areas in the United States. We've got some small groups growing as well, all with the same theme and the same concept.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's beautiful. Well, ladies, the link will be in the details section if you're interested in joining. So, Billie, I hate to say it, but we're going to have to end our conversation. Can you in any last words of wisdom that you would like to share with the audience?

Speaker 2:

last, words of wisdom that you would like to share with the audience. Well, let's just think about that. So you did originally ask me for three. Oh, yes, I did, and I only gave one. So I'll finish with a tip, which is about writing goals. So you know, a lot of people feel like I can't write goals because I don't really know where I'm going or how I'm going to get there, and so my tip is really just to allow yourself to have goals and to write them out and trust in the universe that the path will lay itself out in front of you. You don't have to know the path when you write the goal, you just have to know the goal path when you write the goal. You just have to know the goal and be willing to find the path to your goal, and I really feel that that's a big and important message for women to follow.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely Well. Thank you for that, billie, and thank you so much for being willing to come on. I've learned a lot. I'm sure all of our listeners out there have learned a lot as well. So remember everyone, you can find out more information about how to connect with Billy in the detail section of whether you're on the podcast or the YouTube channel or wherever you're. Wherever you're seeing this, the details will be there. So once again, billy, thank you so much for being here. I greatly appreciate it.

Speaker 2:

Thank you. Thank you for having me, julie. I really had a great time and really appreciate you, thank you.

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