Debbie Bailey

THE MONEY CONVERSATIONALIST

MY STORY

I read your numbers, then we talk about your life.

Chartered Management Accountant. Certified Financial Coach. More than 20 years working with numbers, and a lifetime of learning what they actually mean.

ACCOUNTANT. STRATEGIST. MONEY CONVERSATIONALIST

SPEAKER AND PODCAST HOST

COLD WATER LOVER

ENJOYING IT ALONG THE WAY

Let me guess. You are good at what you do. In fact, you are brilliant at what you do. The sales are coming in. From the outside, the business works, you look and are very busy. But you avoid looking at the numbers, you are not sure what you should be paying yourself, and some months you catch yourself asking the question I have heard from more brilliant women: I am busy, so where is the money?

I ask that question for a living now. But I have also asked it about my own life, which is rather the point.

I grew up on a London council estate. Lewisham to be exact, where I worked on the market for a number of years. Money was not something I grew up believing I would ever have much of, and nobody around me talked about balance sheets or profit margins. What I learnt early was how it feels when money is tight, and how much space that feeling takes up in a family and our own heads.

THE EGG STALL, LEWISHAM MARKET – MY FIRST LESSON IN SALES (AND HOW QUICKLY THE BOSS SPENT IT)

What I also had was a head for numbers (Mathematics was one of my favourite subjects at school). A first class degree in Accountancy. A promotion to Finance Executive in a FTSE 100 company just before my 28th birthday. On paper, I was sorted, good salary, final salary pension and amazing benefits. I could read a set of accounts, create a budget, live by a budget (a little too well) and have conversations with project managers, commercial leads and the customer about millions of pounds.

Then I started my own business, and the reality was humbling. All those qualifications, and I still could not pay myself what I had earned as an employee. My own money stories, written back on that estate, were making my decisions for me. I was so reluctant to spend, wanting to hold onto money to protect myself. And when I looked around at the business owners I worked with, I saw the same thing everywhere: capable women taking no salary, working every hour, carrying all the risk and getting none of the reward. The problem was never intelligence. It was never effort. We all know that women are there grafting and putting in the hours. BUT information alone does not change money behaviour, because if it did, we would be sorted – YouTube, podcasts, books, it is all there. Safety is what we need.

Having the money conversation, out loud, with business owners.

So I trained as a financial coach to work on the half the spreadsheet wasn’t solving. Now I do both jobs at once: the qualified financial strategy that tells you what is actually happening in your business, and the money story work that means you can finally act on it. You are the expert in your business. I bring the financial expertise that helps you make better decisions, and I will never make you feel silly for asking a question.

I know the fitness and wellness world especially well, after years working with the people who run gyms, studios and wellness businesses. I have watched so many of you spend all day on other people’s health goals while your own profit is meant to be looking after itself. You deserve the same care you give your members, clients and family.

THESE DAYS

These days you will find me hosting Get Financially FIT, guesting on other people’s podcasts, and speaking on stages about why anyone can be good with money. I am also a contributing author in Empowering Women To Rise, alongside Kier Adair and Gill McKay. And because I believe in practising what I preach about building things, I am building a second business too: Padel Partners Networking. When I talk about wearing every hat, I am still wearing mine.

Away from work I spend time with my family, including my son, who was actually the catalyst for leaving corporate work. The 10pm finishes didn’t work with nursery timetables and I was fed up of missing out on bedtimes. I run, cycle, lift weights and swim in open water all year round. Yes, including winter. Make of that what you will.

A note on names: before I married, I worked as Debbie Hancock. It did feel a little scary, changing my name and losing all the credibility I had built under that name, but AI assures me, if I tell you here, it will all be ok. If you have read my earlier press or heard me on older podcasts under that name, you can see it all on the media page coming soon.

Ready for an honest conversation about your numbers?

Make your business work for you, not you for your business

Debbie Bailey

THE MONEY CONVERSATIONALIST

Make your business work for you, not you for your business.

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