Entrepreneur Angela Matthews On How To Invest Happily

Season 1: Episode 5

In the fifth episode of Hey Awesome Girl with Tivi Jones, you’ll meet Angela Matthews, the founder of Happy Investor Method. Angela's mission is to make wealth investment accessible to everyone.

Angela Matthews, aka “The Goddess of Wealth,” is the founder of Happy Investor Method. Her goal is to make investing accessible and fun for all. As an experienced investor, investment trainer, and conference speaker, she has conducted workshops, seminars, and one-on-one coaching with thousands of individuals from all walks of life. Angela is a regular financial contributor to SiriusXM and has been featured in prominent media such as The New York Times, HuffPost, and Mint App.

In this episode, Angela talks to Tivi Jones about how energy trumps action any day, releasing your guilt around not knowing, not wearing your “lack,” and how celebration is just gratitude on the other side.

GETTING STARTED 

Angela Matthews became an investor 12 years ago after she left her last W-2 job and knew she wanted to create more passive income for herself. She didn’t come from a family or a school that taught her how to invest or manage money. Her goal was to become self-made and the only resource she had was “the granddaddy of information,” Google. So she Googled “how to become rich” and the search results told her there were two ways to do it: invest in the stock market and become an entrepreneur. “I did both,” she says.

There were a lot of ins and outs to learn about investing and starting your own business, so it was a long journey for Angela to become a successful investor. Now her goal and mission are to help people avoid the mistakes she made and invest happily.

Angela says that investing is as old as age – you can invest your time, energy, money, you can invest in relationships and things that matter to you. However, people still have fears about investing and think it’s not for them.

“It’s an echo container of people saying you can’t do it,” she says. “Whether they actually say it or they show you signals that you can’t do it. You typically think of old white men in suits when you think about a successful investor, so the fact that I exist is an anomaly in itself.”

When people see Angela, it takes them time to comprehend that she, too, can be a successful investor. “You went to public school? Your parents didn't teach you about money and you have a six-figure portfolio on auto? I don’t understand what’s happening.”

“So I really aim to release the guilt around not knowing how to invest, not pursuing it, or being afraid. I’m a firm believer that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. And the fact that someone is even listening to this conversation means that there’s something that drew them to this conversation,” she says.

When Angela started investing in her early twenties, she was only earning 40 thousand dollars a year. All the “experts” were telling her that she shouldn’t be doing this because she was too young, didn’t have enough money, didn’t have savings, and had debt. But she broke all the rules about investing, became who she wanted to be, and now actively helps other people to do the same.

Angela started teaching investing about seven years ago. What inspired her to turn teaching into a job is quite a comical story that unfolded publicly.

She used to have a social media agency and talked about it live on the radio. She says even though she is an introvert at heart, she also has a degree in Philosophy. When you come into her presence, she will make you think deeper and be transparent with you.

“So that day, I word vomited on live radio about social media probably because I had a bad day with a client,” she says.

On the radio, she said that people need to put their phones down and enjoy their time with their loved ones, and really appreciate life instead of seeing what people project on social media that might not even be a reality.

“Then I said, you know what, though, Angela, I can't fix the world all the time. And until we get to that point, at least I'm getting richer. As I said this, I was thinking out loud on the radio, and the host was like ‘What do you mean you get richer?’”

“And I said well, you're on Instagram, all day, every day, checking out people's stories and whatnot. And Facebook owns Instagram, and I own Facebook stock. So want to watch stories? Do so because I'm becoming richer. The more people that watch the stories, the more people that interact with the information, the more money these companies make based on the advertising and their business model. And so then the stock price goes up higher and the investors get paid. At the time I owned LinkedIn too, which eventually got bought by Microsoft. So Microsoft paid me for the LinkedIn stock that I had.” 

After this incident on live radio, Angela began teaching how to invest. Some prospective clients who inquire about working with her, share a similar story: how they thought they did everything right in their career–they have a business, a certain income, but still, feel like they don’t have enough security that they thought they were going to have, and are working just as much as when they first started. They want a change.

“I want to tell for anyone who’s afraid of investing–on a psychological level, you’ve been through a lot, “Angela says. “If you happen to be a woman–we weren’t allowed to manage money, own money, or even aspire to have it up until maybe the last two to three decades ago. So you might have a conversation with yourself like ‘I’m a woman, shouldn’t I be having babies and be watching them? Shouldn’t I be cooking a man some food?’ And we are not saying ‘let me start building my wealth on auto so I can go sit on a beach.’ That’s not the narrative.” 

She says you have to ask yourself a series of questions before you start investing, such as: “where did this fear come from? Why do I have this fear? Who gave it to me? Did I give it to myself? And if you really think about it, you realize that you didn't give it to yourself, somebody else did. In that moment of recognition, you can choose to send the fear back and find another way. What is your truth and path around money?”

INVESTING 101 

When Angela became a CEO, she was able to be intentional about what she created. She knows that she’s not someone who looks like a typical investor (aka a white old man in a suit) and gave herself liberation to create the programs that reflect that and inspire others to invest, no matter how they look or where they come from. 

“I’m going to be honest, when I worked at Goldman Sachs, I used to wear a little back suit with a white button-up. I would press my hair and try to look like someone who I will never ever be. I will never be a white man in this lifetime,” Angela shares.

Now she shows up as her full self and uses that to her advantage. 

“I get to utilize the fact that yes, I am an investor, and yes, I know numbers and I’m comfortable with them. But I also get to show people that it’s so much more than the numbers. Energy trumps action,” she says. 

She says the clients that she attracts bring a certain energy to the room. “I don’t care about the small details such as how compounding works. You just care that it does in your bank account, right? And so a lot of us get tripped up on these things. And what I’ve done is I’ve distilled all the things that tripped me up in the past and I put it into the method so that it doesn't trip you up. I do this by creating experiences. I work with folks in small groups. And I also work with folks one on one,” she says.

She signs new clients based on invitation and then decides whether they’re a good fit. One of Angela’s programs that stands out is an incubator for new women investors, called The Wealthy Her. One of the examples Angela loves to give to her clients is equating investing to dating.

“If we look at investing as if we’re dating someone, we see this person and think that they’re hot so we bring them into our house for a good time, not knowing them at all. But when it comes to investing, you have to be a prude, like your grandma who goes to church. You need to have old-school values and ethics,” she says.  “You have a company, you bring them to your front door. You have a conversation with them and then you say goodnight. You don't go and just dump 5k into crypto because you heard everybody's talking about it.”

She advises when you choose a company you want to invest in, think about it the way you think about people who you have considered dating, who have always been there in the background and have always supported you. “We typically don’t look at them because they might not be the most physically attractive, but they’re reliable and they are stable. They’ve been through it and probably will go through it with you. And those are the companies that we should invest in.”

Angela compares herself to an aunt who will advocate for your future and your highest self. “When I see a person, I’m like, man, imagine what that person could be If they had all the money they would ever need. That's the way I see people. And so I'm going to talk to that person, always. And the person that you are now you'll either love it and say I have needed this, where has this been? Or you'll be upset. And usually, the only people who are upset are the folks who are feeling victimized.”

CELEBRATION IS GRATITUDE ON THE OTHER SIDE 

When Angela wanted to celebrate a big win in her career, she decided to buy herself a piece of jewelry to commemorate the occasion. First, she went to Costco and bought a $300 dollar necklace but she didn’t like that experience. “I went home. I opened the box. The chain was in a little clear plastic bag. I was like what is this? This is not what I saw in the window and the experience I had was blah. It felt like I got eggs at Costco. And this was supposed to be my celebration piece. That's how I knew – Angela, you are being cheap.”

Then, she went to the Chanel store on Fifth Avenue in New York City and purchased a pair of earrings.

“When I walked into the Chanel store on Fifth Avenue, generational curses were broken. I swear, I shuttered. When I saw those earrings on my ear in that mirror, I wanted to cry,” Angela says. 

At Chanel, she was provided with an experience that gifted her with the feeling she desired. Someone opened the door for her and they referred to her as ‘ma'am.’ Angela says you have to think about the feeling that you want before you make a purchase like this. Is it going to get you to your next best step? Is it going to motivate you?

“What you have to realize is that money is a renewable resource. And you have to embody that. If I didn't think money was a renewable resource, there's no way in hell I would have paid $800 for some damn earrings,” she says. 

Angela explains the difference between investing in a stock and investing in a feeling. She invested in Chanel earrings because they provided her with a feeling she craved.

“Sometimes women tell me, I invested in this Louie bag. And I say ‘but do you own stock in Louis Vuitton? No, I do–so you just paid me.’ Let's be clear, your Louie bag is not an investment in your future, your Louie bag is an investment in that one moment. The investment you made was in the feeling it gave you, but once you leave that store it is now used. It is not vintage if you don't keep it in the case,” she says. 

When you invest in your future, she says, your investment is going to make you money while you’re sleeping or eating. That’s the difference between investing and spending. ”I haven't been to Chanel in over a year. I'm saving up for that experience again. It’s so precious to me. I already have the screenshot of the new earrings that I want,” she says.

However, keeping in mind investing in your future and investing in a feeling, Angela advises thinking about how we are celebrating our successes and honoring our accomplishments.

“I work really hard. And I love that I have the option to want something and either say yes I want this or no I don't. And it will not be because of the money in my bank account. I knew I wanted to get a nice piece of jewelry to commemorate the success because celebration is nothing but gratitude on the other side,” she says. 

WHAT’S IN YOUR SUITCASE? 

When building your wealth, it’s important to acknowledge the background you come from or else–Angela says–you will hit these “upper limit ceilings.”

She gives an analogy about carrying emotional baggage from your past. She says you can hit these goals of earning 250k, 500k, 750k, but you will still carry your suitcase with you.

“Once you make it to your destination, you’ll ask yourself ‘what am I wearing?’ and you’ll open your suitcase, and there is going to be a sweater called ‘Lack,’” she says.

“You’re going to be like ‘oh it’s chilly over here. I’d never been here before’ and you’ll wear your sweater called Lack and then all of a sudden, you’ll start making decisions as if you were the same person you were when you first got that sweater.”

The sweater is a reference to your upper limit, the emotional baggage you come with, and the conditioning you experienced as a kid. It’s important to understand that once you’re a grown-up, you don’t have to ask your mom for permission to buy something anymore, and you don’t have to listen to her say ‘no, we can’t afford it.’  Angela’s goal is to retire her mom.

This analogy and the Chanel story resonate with Tivi, who has recently started thinking deeper about why she doesn’t consider herself a “fashion person.”

“Is it true that I’m not “a fashion person” or is it because I grew up not having money and so I just put on this veneer of it's better to be hardworking and kind than to be beautiful or fashion-forward? Over the past year, I've been thinking a lot about leisure and luxury. I come from a family of hard workers who label luxury and leisure as frivolous or as something people do when they're spoiled.” 

So based on Angela’s analogy, as long as Tivi wears her “lack” sweater, she will continue to make decisions she used to make when she didn’t have money, and will not purchase herself a luxury item to celebrate her accomplishments. Acknowledging your background and how it can stop us from getting to the next level is an important piece of advice that Angela gifts us all.

Many people are afraid of investing in themselves, like investing in Angela’s programs at Happy Investor Method, because they’re afraid of the outcome not being what they expected it to be. “But regret is a choice,” Tivi says.

Angela encourages everyone listening, who’s interested, to book a session with her and assess how she can support you in your next best step and your goals. “This is something you probably should have started yesterday, and just know that by making the decision today and taking action, you won’t have to think about it tomorrow,” she says.

I hope that you have enjoyed this episode as much as I have!

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Every week Tivi interviews amazing Boss Babes in tech, medicine, law, entrepreneurship, entertainment, parenting, and more about their lives, goals, and how every day, they are working to add more Pleasure, Ease, and Abundance in their orbit.

This show is part business advice, part life coaching, and part real talk with girlfriends. If you’re looking for a show that’s real and relatable but also inspiring at the same time, Hey Awesome Girl with Tivi Jones is the one for you!

Learn more Angela Matthews:

Happy Investor Method: happyinvestormethod.com

Happy Investor Method Instagram: @happyinvestormethod

Angela Matthews Facebook: @TheAngelaEMatthews

Angela Matthews Twitter: @ANGELAEMATTHEWS

Featured in this episode:

Cold-shoulder sweater worn by Tivi: https://www.heyawesomegirl.com/cold-shoulder-sweater

Demi Vitkute is a Media & Editorial Manager at Hey Awesome Girl and Director of Hey Awesome Girl with Tivi Jones show. She’s a passionate storyteller, fashion aficionado + crazy cat mom trying to change the world. She’s a journalist, editor, and media consultant. Demi is the founder of The Urban Watch Magazine and has written for The Washington Post, Inside Hook, and Promo Magazine, among others. You can follow her on IG and Twitter @demiivit.