Today we’d like to introduce you to Cleo Childress.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Cleo. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’m originally from Nashville TN. I was a teen mom, but I was determined to graduate high school and go to college on time. I graduated from Tennessee State University with a Bachelors in Accounting. All of my financial problems started in college. No one taught me about money, so I began learning through trial and error. For years I struggled with managing money and was in serious debt. From student loans, payday loans, credit cards, personal loans, auto loans, to vehicle repossessions, eviction, wage garnishments, and so much more.
After several years I realized I could not keep living like this. I knew there had to be more to life than just struggling to pay bills. I knew I could no longer use the excuse “no one taught me.” I was financially stressed, depressed and hopeless. I wanted to teach my daughter to do and be different. She looks up to me and I just wanted her to be proud of her mother. I wanted to be proud of myself. Wishing, hoping and praying for a better life wasn’t enough. I knew I needed to take serious action if I wanted to see new results. So, I decided to stop making excuses and start taking action.
As I began educating myself on changing my financial lifestyle, I also started practicing yoga and meditation. This was at the same time I was homeless living in my car in Orlando, FL. During those four months of homelessness, I sent my daughter back to my hometown to stay with my sister temporarily so she wouldn’t have to experience living in a car. No one knew I was homeless at the time because I just didn’t want anyone to know. I was terrified, embarrassed and disappointed in myself. As I continued to practice yoga and meditation, it helped me strengthen my mind and body. It elevated my confidence. It helped me control my negative feelings and emotions about life, which allowed me to change my behavior with money.
I changed the way I thought, felt and spoke about money. My financial mindset got stronger and wiser. As I challenged myself mentally and physically through yoga and meditation, my financial progress became more aggressive and positive. I began experiencing financial wins that I thought would never happen, but it did. This experience made me realize that if I can break the cycle of living paycheck to paycheck, stop worrying about money and overcome my financial challenges, the next person can do the same if they have the right plan of action.
At that moment, CLEO Yoga Finance was born. I mix yoga and finance to help transform mindsets and create healthier financial lifestyles. As a Financial Educator, Yoga Instructor & Journalist, my mission is to financially empower others so they can have the confidence, strength and mental ability to stop living paycheck to paycheck and have the financial freedom to do more of what they enjoy.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
When I first started my business, one of my struggles was working so many hours as a single mother. I was working 60 hours a week at my job, then outside of those hours I was building my business for an additional 20-30 hours a week, plus being there for my daughter’s school work and activities.
I didn’t get a lot of sleep, I wasn’t eating healthy, and sometimes I felt like I worked hard but accomplished nothing. I knew for the long term this was not going to work. I always take risks, make sacrifices and do whatever it takes to get the job done, but I knew this messy unorganized system I created wasn’t going to work.
At the time I needed that job to financially support building a business. I needed my business because I enjoy it and want to continue helping other people. I needed to continue being there for my daughter to support her and be a positive influence in her life.
I knew I needed to create a system that works best for me so that I would be happy, healthy and productive as a mother, employee and business owner. I knew that if I wanted to go full time in my business, I needed to get more organized and creative with my daily efforts. I’m thanking myself now for what I did then.
Another challenge I faced, in the beginning, was being told to start the yoga business first then the financial education business second. Then another person advised me to start the financial education business first then the yoga business second. They said to focus on one business at a time, but that was difficult for me to do because my mission, values and goals included both yoga and finance.
For this reason, I decided to stick to my vision and do both. I’m happy I did because my clients appreciate the vision I have for my programs. I also love getting responses from people saying they never heard of mixing yoga and finance, but curious to know how and why I mix them together.
Please tell us more about your work. What do you guys do? What do you specialize in? What sets you apart from competition?
My business is CLEO Yoga Finance. As a Financial Educator, Yoga Instructor & Journalist, I mix yoga and finance to help transform mindsets and create healthier financial lifestyles. My mission is to financially empower others so they can have the confidence, strength and mental ability to stop living paycheck to paycheck and have the financial freedom to do more of what they enjoy.
I specialize in vinyasa yoga, acro yoga, personal finance and business finance. My services include yoga financial empowerment classes and workshops, one-on-one and group financial coaching, financial education classes and workshops, speaking and writing. My products include financial affirmation cards, Healthy Financial Lifestyle online course, and other digital products.
I have an annual college scholarship called “Debt Free Is The Way To Be” which was created to help lower-income students pay for college expenses and not feel forced to use student loans. I also educate them on how to find other opportunities for more money. As a company, we are proud of being able to give hope and bring excitement into the lives of other people so they can not only create a better financial life for themselves but also inspire the next person to do the same.
What sets me and my company apart from others is mixing both yoga and finance. It’s one thing to work on improving your finances and fitness lifestyles separately, but when you do it together you get this huge domino effect, spreading growth and new opportunities in all areas of your life. Before you can see the results you desire, you must first believe it and feel it in the mind.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I’m looking forward to April because it’s my birthday month, Financial Literacy month, the deadline for our annual college scholarship and the release of my new Healthy Financial Lifestyle online course on a new platform. I’m also planning my first four city tour to share the yoga finance experience. Finally, I’m looking forward to partnering with small business and corporations to offer the yoga finance experience to their employees to improve their productivity and quality of life inside and outside the workplace.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cleoyogafinance.com/
- Phone: 972-504-5606
- Email: hello@cleoyogafinance.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cleoyogafinance/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CleoYogaFinance/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/cleoyogafinance
Image Credit:
Marrica Evans (photo of me with red shirt only)
Destiny Kennedy
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