Katie Hurst jumped into business head first at 20 years old, when she and her husband started their own company. To support the business, Katie worked 20 hour days, seven days a week for six and a half years. Despite working with a good accountant who taught her business finance and how to keep books, Katie found that as fast as they made money, they had to put it right back into the business.
While the business was growing exponentially, Katie’s personal life was struggling. After a grueling six-and-a-half years, her marriage ended, and she left the business she had put so much of herself into with nothing.
On top of this private turmoil, she developed a rare form of arthritis from the non-stop work and for 16 years went from surgery to surgery. Side effects from the constant pain medication resulted in liver disease and impaired her memory.
Between the ages of 27 and 39, a total of 29 surgeries left her in massive debt and deep financial ruin. During that time, she remarried, and she says without her husband and parent’s support, she couldn’t have made it through those years. Her parents sacrificed their retirement savings to help care for her.
So in December 2014, Katie took control of her health. After her doctors told her that, even though she doesn’t drink she had the liver of an alcoholic, she knew something had to change. With her “all or nothing” personality, she decided to stop the medications and treat her arthritis with physical activity and a healthier lifestyle. In January 2015, her doctor gave her permission to return to work.
Giving It Another Go
Katie started working part-time in the financial department of a film company. But before long, she was antsy to set out on her own again. This time she would take the lessons from her past to be smarter and more intentional about how she treated her body and grew her business.
Katie’s first business revealed her love for bookkeeping. In this new endeavor, she found her niche assisting clients who are borderline insolvent. She found she has a special knack for finding where the money is seeping from their business.
“At the end of the day,” Katie says, “When a client comes to me, because you’re putting in every single transaction that has happened for them either personally or in their business, you know their life story. It’s not done in judgement, it’s done so that you know what’s happening to them, for them personally. And that’s actually really important, because a person can tell you what they think is happening. But when I look at their financials, a picture is painted on that piece of paper for me—and it comes to life.”
Katie was well on her way to a successful and more balanced business, but her health was still an issue. Two more surgeries in 2016 interrupted her ability to work with clients and disrupted her cash flow.
She knew something had to change, so she attended an event where Dr. Tony was the keynote speaker.
After meeting Dr. Tony and one of MindShift.money’s certified coaches, Julian Musgrave, (who soon became her personal financial advisor) she gained a clearer understanding of how to leverage her clients and business more efficiently—while growing her money outside the business. This MindShift changed how she approaches her work and has helped her grow her business despite ongoing health problems.
Identify The Business Model, Increase Profit
Great success there Katie, despite been such a hard road. Glad you are looking at “better options” for health now. The research is there to prove it.
Keep up the good work.
Thank you Barry. My personal equation for life is Health + Wealth = Happiness. It’s the opportunity both afford us in life personally and philanthropically. I’m really looking forward to teaching my clients this system and being there for my parents in the future
Katie, you have been through lots and are a rising star. This program contains such important lessons and has deep understanding about how to set up one’s business in a way that it can be conducted to succeed and lead to financial freedom for one’s personal life. I know your story will inspire many. Thank you for sharing it.
Hi Jo Ann, I am incredibly blessed to have found my tribe. One can love business but a supportive community, mentoring, a proven methodology and fun along the way means we can work towards achieving financial freedom on our terms and have fun. I love teaching my clients what I now know!