How To Turn Financial Mistakes (Due To Financial Trauma) Into A Stronger Financial Future In 2025
Have you ever looked back at the year and felt disappointed? Maybe your savings goals fell short, your emergency fund felt like a distant dream, or your business didn’t hit those sales... what to do?
Have you ever looked back at the year and felt a sting of disappointment? Maybe your savings goals fell short, your emergency fund felt like a distant dream, or your business didn’t hit those sales targets. If so, take a deep breath—you’re not alone. Instead of letting financial setbacks define us, let’s use them as stepping stones to create a more empowered financial future. (Honestly, this is the only way you have to succeed as an entrepreneur.
As we step into a new year, there’s an incredible opportunity to turn reflection into action. For women of color, our financial journeys often carry a unique set of challenges shaped by generational trauma, societal barriers, and the relentless demands of entrepreneurship. But here’s the good news: those very challenges can be transformed into our greatest strengths as long as we are diligent and self-aware of them.
In this week’s newsletter, we’re exploring how to turn financial trauma into empowerment and create a future rooted in financial independence. Together, we’ll unpack lessons from 2024 and lay the foundation for financial growth in 2025.
This is a short version of the detailed run I’ve given you about my own financial mistakes during 2024 and how to turn them into your strategy for 2025. To hear it fully go to Brown Way To Money Podcast
The Perspective:
As women of color in business, we often are wearing so many hats—founder, mother, partner, community helper, sister, well, you name it…—and the weight of it all can make it hard to pause and assess where we’ve been and where we want to go financially. This constant movement can cause us to carry financial habits or beliefs that no longer serve us.
However, to grow financially, we must face our past financial decisions just like any other corporation, finance team, and other entities would do, learn from them, and commit to moving forward with clarity and intention.
Here’s how we can begin reframing our financial journey:
Define Your Return on Investment (ROI)
Too often, we make financial decisions out of excitement, fear, or FOMO (fear of missing out). This emotional approach can cost us. Instead, shift your mindset to prioritize data-driven decisions by asking: “What’s the measurable ROI here?”Prioritize Your Time and Energy
As ambitious entrepreneurs, burnout is real. And when you’re burnt out, your finances tend to reflect it. Time is your most valuable currency, and protecting it is essential for financial independence.Balance Business Investments with Personal Goals
It’s easy to pour everything into your business and leave little for your personal financial health. But true financial success lies in balancing the two.The Practicality:
How do you actually make it happen? Start here:
For every financial decision, pause and evaluate its ROI. If it doesn’t deliver a clear, measurable return, it might be worth reconsidering.
Build a realistic schedule that respects your need for personal downtime. Remember, financial wellness (And independence in my case) includes time, freedom, and energy management, not just money.
Set clear boundaries between business and personal finances. Fund your personal savings, retirement, and emergency accounts before reinvesting in your business.
As a general outlook:
Reflect on Your Ideal Life in 2025:
Using a framework like the Life Wheel, identify what you want in key areas: relationships, health, finances, career, and personal growth.Align Your Vision with Your Business:
How does your business support each area of your life? Define clear relationships between your professional and personal goals.Expand—Then 10x It:
Imagine the life of someone you admire—a mentor, a celebrity, or an icon. How would they dream bigger? Reframe your vision with that expanded mindset.Identify and Address Your Barriers:
What fears, beliefs, or doubts surface as you think bigger? These are your subconscious blocks. Write them down and begin the work of releasing and reframing them.
Rewiring Your Ways:
Your Exercise for the Week:
Reflect on Your 2024: Turning Reflection Into Action
Let’s take a moment to look back at 2024 with curiosity rather than judgment. Reflection is one of the most powerful tools for growth. Ask yourself:
What would you have done differently?
Write down one or two financial decisions or habits from 2024 that you wish you’d approached differently.Why do you believe it didn’t happen?
Dig deeper. Was it a lack of planning, fear of risk, or maybe too many responsibilities pulling you in different directions? Understanding the "why" is the key to making real change.Create a plan to turn it around.
Take that missed opportunity and align it with your 2025 financial goals. For example, if you didn’t save for an emergency fund last year, map out a plan to save a set amount monthly. Break it into small, actionable steps that feel achievable.
Here’s a simple example:
Reflection: I didn’t save as much as I wanted for my emergency fund in 2024.
Reason: I wasn’t tracking my spending, so I lost track of where my money went.
Plan: In 2025, I will track my spending weekly using a budgeting app and automate $100/month into my emergency savings account.
I wish you all a very ambitious and prosperous 2025!
With Love,
Alejandra Rojas
Founder, Brown Way To Money