Proving Them Wrong: Annie Yang’s Path from Frugal Living to Financial Success

🎙️ Welcome to another inspiring episode of Pathways with Amber Stitt!

💡 In today's episode, we have the pleasure of speaking with the incredible Annie Margarita Yang, owner and founder of Annie Yang Financial.

📹 Annie is not only a successful business owner but also a renowned YouTuber and Amazon bestselling author.

📚 In this episode, we cover:
 
💰 Annie's journey from a working-class family to financial independence.

💪 Her early motivations and how the Great Recession influenced her financial decisions.

💵 Practical tips on saving money even on a minimum wage income.

🚫 Real-life examples of financial habits that can hinder your path to financial freedom.

📖 Insights from her bestselling books, "1001 Ways to Save Money" and "The 5-Day Job Search".

📈 Her approach to job searching, including the importance of applying to 50 jobs a day.

📸 The significance of personal branding and how to present yourself effectively in the digital age.

💸 Anecdotes on her mother’s entrepreneurial spirit and how it shaped her own career.

🏠 Annie shares her unique perspectives on living a minimalist lifestyle, the power of frugality, and the essential mindset shifts needed to achieve financial freedom.

💼 Whether you're struggling with saving money, looking to land a job quickly, or seeking inspiration to pursue your dreams, this episode is packed with valuable insights and practical advice.

📽️ To watch the video podcast: https://youtu.be/9XVETEpfi9c

🔗 For more information on Annie Margarita Yang, visit her website:

📲 https://www.AnnieYangFinancial.com

🔗 Don’t forget to check out Amber's website:

📲 https://www.AmberStitt.com for more amazing content, including blog articles, books, and additional podcast episodes.

👉 Remember, let's take action today!

#pathwayswithamberstitt #amberstitt #annieyangfinancial #financialfreedom #anniemargaritayang #minimalistlifestyle #moneysavingtips #jobsearch #personalbranding #entrepreneurship 🔥💪

Transcript

Amber Stitt [00:00:00]:
Hello and welcome to Pathways. I am your host, Amber Stitt, and today we welcome Annie Margarita Yang to the show today. Welcome, Annie.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:00:09]:
Amber, thanks for having me on today.

Amber Stitt [00:00:10]:
So you are the owner, founder of Annie Yang Financial. You have a YouTube channel, you have two Amazon bestselling books, and so you have a lot going on behind your name. So I'm so excited to have you on the show. I know you're passionate about helping others find their way to financial freedom and I want to talk about how you really started spearheading this, and I think you just see things differently. So where did this all come from? Was it something that you grew up with, or did you always just have that motivation, or did something happen early on?

Annie Margarita Yang [00:00:41]:
No, it was definitely something happened. I didn't always have the motivation. I think...so I gotta say, a lot of my motivation comes from people telling me that I'm wrong and then I want to tell them I'm not wrong and I just want to prove people wrong. A lot of that comes from that. So I grew up in a working class Chinese immigrant family, so we didn't have a lot of money and I didn't want to take on student loan debt. My high school years were from 2009 to 2013, so right around that period, that's the Great Recession. And I was reading in the news about how college graduates were coming out and half of them were unemployed, or underemployed and working jobs that didn't require their degree, or weren't in their field of study. So when I was reading those kinds of statistics, I was like, "Wait, why is my guidance counselor, why are my teachers, they're all pushing college when it doesn't line up with what I'm reading in the news?

Annie Margarita Yang [00:01:29]:
So are my teachers right, or is the news right?" I couldn't tell, but I was just like, if the news is right and they keep reporting on this, then maybe it doesn't make sense for me to go to college. So I had this guidance counselor though, because she saw that I had straight A's. I had like one of the best grades in the school, good enough to go to Harvard. And she was just telling me, you're going to be a failure for the rest of your life if you don't go to college. She just drilled that into me over and over and over again. And I just said, "You know what, I want to prove this person wrong." So that's motivated me all these years. After I graduated, I worked minimum wage jobs, but even despite I didn't make a lot,

Annie Margarita Yang [00:02:06]:
at the time, I was saving 25% of my income because I came across people online that were talking about how important it is to have a minimalist life and to be frugal and things like that. So I really embody those values and that's really what started my journey.

Amber Stitt [00:02:21]:
I told you a little bit early on that working with, really helping clients with financial freedom, even just an emergency savings account, 3 to 6 months is what we try to save. You know, depends on the philosophies. So you are above and beyond doing more on minimum wage is what you're saying?

Annie Margarita Yang [00:02:37]:
Yes, yes. So while making $10 an hour in New York City back in 2013-2015, I was saving 25% of my income, which was about $400 to $450 a month.

Amber Stitt [00:02:51]:
So what's the excuse out there that you see? I mean, what do you think outside of coffee? You know, don't spend money on Starbucks...well, you should spend money if you deserve it. You know, there's a different philosophy there on that. But truly, what do you think your peers are wasting money on?

Annie Margarita Yang [00:03:06]:
Well, yesterday, down in the laundry room, I live in a condo building. So we have a shared laundry room. And one of the people that live in the building, he's actually a roommate. He doesn't own the condo, he's just the roommate of a condo owner. And I know for a fact that he has $10,000 in student loan debt that he hasn't even begun paying, even though he's 29 and he borrowed that 7 years ago. And me and his roommate, which is the owner, we've been like telling him it's kind of smart to save your money for a future down payment of your own place. Right? It's a smart thing to do.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:03:37]:
And he's like, "Yeah, but I have no money. You know, money is tight." But he just came back from Colombia and I was just like, "Oh," see, I never really travel unless I really have to. So I don't travel for leisure. I travel because an event is happening that I have to attend. So for practical matters. So I have no idea how much airfare costs.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:03:57]:
I always, in my head, I just thought, "Oh, it must be so expensive." But then he was like, "Oh, yeah, the airfare was $400 round trip. Oh, and during my time there, I got this tattoo." He showed me, like this gigantic tattoo he just got. And he's like, "And it was only $700 and I paid for like a three day tour package." He didn't tell me the tour package price. But tour package price plus hotel, plus food for 3 to 5 days.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:04:21]:
I'm assuming $300 is approximate for Colombia.

Amber Stitt [00:04:24]:
Right.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:04:24]:
So just like in that trip, that was $1,500. And this is a guy who tells me he doesn't have money. I think millennials, they tend to spend their money on experiences. They have this mindset, "Well, I'll never be financially free anyway, so I might as well just spend it on experiences that I can have for the rest of my life. I'll always have those memories."

Amber Stitt [00:04:44]:
Yeah, I feel like...and I told you, I'm more in that middle grouping of that Gen X kind of that tail end...but it's not just millennials. I mean, if we look at statistics, when it comes to retirement planning, most people have fear that they don't have enough money on the other side, too. So there's some behavior that's got to happen. And I know that you have one of your books that talks about "1001 Ways to Save Money". Did you just start mapping out all these ideas? And you're like, you published the book, but I mean, clearly there's some ideas out there. It's just whether or not people want to put it and implement and get it done.

Amber Stitt [00:05:16]:
Right?

Annie Margarita Yang [00:05:17]:
Yeah, the information is there. How I got that information was from reading a whole bunch of blog articles back then on how to save money. Like, I would read them, I would wake up every morning and I would read blog articles about money and how to save and be frugal and everything for two years straight. To the point where I just had them memorized. And then people would ask me, "I don't understand, how do you save money?" And then I was just like, "I don't understand how you can't." So I'm not sure where you're based. I'm actually originally from Brooklyn, New York. So I'm from Brooklyn, New York, and everyone thinks it's so expensive.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:05:47]:
But there was this time when I went to a gathering, Like a gathering of 10 people. We went to someone's apartment for the gathering, and she lived alone, but she was renting I think a one or two bedroom alone. And she asked me what I was doing, and I was like, "Oh, well, what I do is I help people save money." And then she asked me, "How can I save money?" I was like, "Is it rude for me to tell her to downsize?"

Amber Stitt [00:06:10]:
That's right.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:06:11]:
No, I'm serious. Like, would it be rude for me to tell her, well, instead of renting a one or two bedroom, why don't you rent a studio for yourself? Don't have all this furniture. And also she was commuting from Brooklyn into Staten Island, as well. So the commuting fee to get on that ferry and, and the bus and everything. So I was also going to say, "Well, why don't you move to Staten Island so that you're also closer to work, also where the rent is cheaper." But she wanted to be in Bay Ridge where there's all these cool restaurants nearby.

Amber Stitt [00:06:38]:
Right.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:06:39]:
And the rents are really high in Bay Ridge. So it's kind of like rude to do that in a real life interaction. So I figured, why don't I write this book for people?

Amber Stitt [00:06:50]:
It's for everyone. But here you go. No personal signed copy for you. No, I mean, it is pretty wild. And so Arizona is where I'm based, but I'm kind of tucked north out of the old town Scottsdale area. And of course, to have a home that is 1 to 2 million, like, California is right next door and you

Amber Stitt [00:07:12]:
can't get much for that. And then of course, depending on where you are in New York, but you can get some decent homes. I mean, give or take what period of time we're talking about, it's still pretty inflated here, but you can get a pretty decent sized home. And beyond that, why do we need that big of a size? Frankly, I don't want to clean that much. And I feel like, coming from the Midwest now living in Arizona, we don't have basements as much as that. It's annoying for storage reasons. You actually can't store a lot of holiday stuff. So the tchotchkes, the knickknacks, the holiday stuff that we tend to mindlessly spend money on at times, I really can't. So having that ranch, one-story does definitely help me with my budget.

Amber Stitt [00:07:50]:
And then you say there's not enough room for other things, but having that living space, being able to work out of the house as needed, and then living space, I mean, that's really all I need and I'm happy with that. So, I mean, it's really looking at, "Could you go bigger?" Sure. But, you know...

Annie Margarita Yang [00:08:05]:
But you choose not to, right?

Amber Stitt [00:08:06]:
Yeah.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:08:07]:
Yeah. Because you know exactly what you need. It seems like you're really clear about your needs versus your wants. Like, I would like to live in a mansion, but I don't need to live in a mansion.

Amber Stitt [00:08:17]:
You know, one of my friends, she went really big in her house and she says, "You know, when I leave my room and I forgot something, it takes forever to get back there." And I'm like, "Well, I don't know what that's like." So no, but...so let's see, going back, you talked about student loans way back to present day. Do you feel like everything is still the same conversation? There's still the debt. We're still not getting ahead.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:08:39]:
It's only gotten worse. I've been following the news on student loans since like 2013 when I graduated. And actually back then, the average debt that people graduated with was 26K. And I was like, "Wow, that's a lot." And now people are graduating on average 36K to 37K. And then I'm like, "Wow, that's even worse." It's like, it hasn't gotten better. And then I was just like, well, I mean, they've been reporting on this news for now, at least 13 years in my adulthood.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:09:04]:
And so I'm just like, "Why does no one read this and think I should take this information and decide maybe it's not a good investment after all, or maybe I should go to community college first or, you know, something cheaper, but not as brand name, but it still has the same value, which is you get the degree, so long as it's a regionally accredited institution, what's the difference, really?"

Amber Stitt [00:09:27]:
Yeah. And I know that you have podcasted quite a bit. And I have found in the community of a lot of entrepreneurs that are very successful as we hear their stories. Not a lot of them...well, I'll say a lot of them did not finish college and they just got after it and got to work. And so there is, if we study very successful people and wealth, it's not always based upon academia, let's just say. So, that's really interesting that you basically told people very young, "I'm not going to listen to this."

Amber Stitt [00:09:55]:
And you paved your way.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:09:56]:
Well, I have a story to share. My mom, she doesn't have an education beyond 6th grade. She was a farmer in China. So they were very poor. And then my dad is the one that's well educated. He got the associates and bachelor's degree in China in a time when everybody didn't have a degree. It was really hard to get into college.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:10:16]:
He was the only one who got into college in his whole town. So, you know, people held him in really high esteem.

Amber Stitt [00:10:21]:
Yeah.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:10:22]:
But after they both moved here to the United States, so he worked for the MTA. I don't know how much they make. 70K. Back then he was fixing traffic lights. He got a associate's degree here. In the United States. So now he has 3 degrees, right? Fixing traffic lights.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:10:36]:
And then my mom, with no degree because she also didn't speak English, she had to hustle. So at first she was working at the garment factory making 25 cents a piece. And then one day my dad said something. I think I got this personality trait from her. He said something to her about how she was spending so much money on groceries. Nicer groceries.

Amber Stitt [00:10:56]:
Your dad?

Annie Margarita Yang [00:10:57]:
Yeah, my dad said that to her and she didn't like that. And she just decided from then on she's like, "I'm never asking my husband for money to buy groceries ever again. I'm going to go earn my own money and I'm going to buy any groceries that I want."

Amber Stitt [00:11:11]:
Does she ever go on video with you?

Annie Margarita Yang [00:11:13]:
No, I want to maintain her privacy.

Amber Stitt [00:11:15]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:11:17]:
Well then from then on, she started like a Chinese takeout restaurant, a nail salon, ice cream shop, like a whole bunch of businesses, one after another. Not all at the same time, one after another. Until she finally stumbled upon a business that I can't really talk much about, but she sells a product for $5 door-to-door, and selling $5 at a time, door-to-door, she makes $200,000 a year. So she makes more than my dad.

Amber Stitt [00:11:41]:
Yeah. No excuses, people. Seriously. And I know you do with "The 5 Day Job Search", you focus a lot about being competitive for yourself and really standing out and so taking what you've seen, even with your mom, maybe you didn't know it's in your DNA, but really giving yourself that competitive edge, even globally now is so important. And I'm sure you've studied about this, knowing how just in a small period of time, how much you do research, what are you finding is so important now for your own personal brand, even if you're not a business owner, but just to stand out in business, period.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:12:15]:
Well, one of the important things is your headshot these days, I think a lot of people don't put a lot of emphasis on that. They think, "Oh, my credentials are more important." But actually, I think what's changed is since everything is online these days, your brand is basically the first thing that people see is the picture of you. And yes, I used to say, "Well, it's not fair, some people are born prettier than others and I'm not necessarily the most beautiful person in the world." But then I kind of like just sucked it up. And I was just like, "You know what, it's true that before I open my mouth to speak, people are gonna look at my face. So I might as well, you know, spend some time grooming myself and putting in that time to learn how to do my makeup, how to dress better, and having a nice profile picture that looks very attractive that will make people want to talk to me online."

Amber Stitt [00:13:01]:
Yeah, and I checked that out too, by the way. So I do agree, you have some good shots on there.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:13:06]:
Thank you.

Amber Stitt [00:13:07]:
But I do, you know, the LinkedIn that there's like the circle, like, you gotta put something up there, you know, something, please. You got to get t.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:13:14]:
Don't leave it blank.

Amber Stitt [00:13:15]:
And that's another thing too. When you look at....and I was talking about global competition, I mean, people are moving all over, digital nomads. I mean, you can be working anywhere, doing anything, but people want to have that trust with people that do have that appeal. So I think when we think personal brand, it's not like marketing like a big brand, like say a sports logo, but really it's that trust factor that you can bring to the table. And I know that that's why, I mean, your YouTube's amazing and you do have that polish and that clean edge with your photography and your video. So did you learn that along the way? Were you always just kind of good at putting that together?

Annie Margarita Yang [00:13:53]:
No, I actually started off by recording in my bedroom. So I was one of those YouTubers that started by recording while on her bed. Because we lived in a one bedroom apartment and the only area in the whole apartment where you had like this natural sunlight coming in to make it look really nice was the bedroom. So people saw me recording on my bedroom. I had to make do with what I had, right? It's all I had, I didn't have anything else. I didn't have nice lights. Nice lights cost around $500 and I didn't have that money.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:14:25]:
So I just started off like that. And then slowly as I made more money, I made investments into better microphones, lighting, and all. But then actually my employee two months ago, she said, "You know, you're too polished." She said, "You're too polished in your brand and people can't relate to you anymore. That's why people aren't watching. They can relate to the old Annie when she wasn't making that much, when she was just so raw and authentic and that's what people really liked." So I went back to just recording in my kitchen. So now I don't even edit the videos anymore.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:14:57]:
I just turn on the iPhone, I put it in the selfie mode, and I hit the record in my kitchen and then I stop and upload. I'm going for that really old style, very amateur feeling on purpose.

Amber Stitt [00:15:08]:
Well, you talk about consistency. So back to your team supporting you and saying, "This is what the people want." Are you doing different modes for different platforms to be consistent there? Is it the same, just like selfie mode now moving forward on all platforms?

Annie Margarita Yang [00:15:23]:
I'm actually only on YouTube and then starting next week going on more TikTok. But yes, I'm trying to go for that very amateur style on purpose. I will even do that on TikTok because I feel like if I'm too polished and it seems like I put way too much time into my makeup and lighting and everything, people are going to be like, "Well, of course she can land a job in 5 days. Look how amazing she is. And I'll never be as amazing as her." Like they might feel that way and then that might be even more off-putting for them because they might be like, "Well, I'll never be like her. Look how amazing she is. She's put in all this money.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:15:57]:
I don't have that money."

Amber Stitt [00:15:59]:
So it could be intimidating.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:16:01]:
Yeah.

Amber Stitt [00:16:01]:
Not relatable. So let's stay there. There had to be some grassroots to build the outline of the book. So let's go back and talk about maybe that bootstrapping kind of that attitude that we know lives in, that fire that you have, that I can tell you have. But let's talk about those elements that really anybody can have if they put the time in to have that outline themselves to success.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:16:24]:
Yeah, so one of the things people need to learn is the numbers matter. It's really everything you do in life is a numbers game. And that is the first principle to learn. Because a lot of people, they give up way too early. And in my book I talk about the importance of applying to 50 jobs a day. And I talk about this on my YouTube channel as well. But this concept has actually gotten the most pushback.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:16:46]:
It's gotten the most resistance and people saying, "Well, this advice doesn't work. It's never going to work. You know, you need a tailored resume for each job you apply to. And how can you do 50 a day?" So many excuses for not being able to do it. But the people who actually do apply to 50 a day, they find results really quick. They can land a job in two weeks. Like, I literally had someone, he's an immigrant from El Salvador, came to the United States 7 years ago. He lives in California and so his English is really poor.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:17:14]:
He was writing in my YouTube comments every day. And I literally thought he was maybe based in India. I had no idea he's here in California.

Amber Stitt [00:17:22]:
And he keeps commenting and writing?

Annie Margarita Yang [00:17:24]:
He kept commenting. He's like, "You give me motivation. I feel motivated after watching you." And then one day he said, "I just landed a job in two weeks. Thank you for your advice."

Amber Stitt [00:17:34]:
I love it.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:17:35]:
So this is like, literally a guy not even from the United States. His English is really bad, and he got a job in two weeks. Come on.

Amber Stitt [00:17:42]:
You know, in sales. I'm in sales. And some people think, "Oh, sales bad." We're all in a version of sales at some point. But the volume, the numbers. So I was wondering if you're talking more like monetary, like the travel. You're really going on travel and having expenses that are built around your business, but when you're talking about numbers in this context, you're talking about the volume. And I go through so many appointments with my clients, and there's only so many I can help.

Amber Stitt [00:18:07]:
And we have a healthy practice, but we see a lot of people. Yeah, so you're getting feedback from people that just say it doesn't work. But, I mean, are they truly doing the work?

Annie Margarita Yang [00:18:17]:
They're not doing the work. They're not doing the work. Yeah. I was helping someone. I was privately coaching him for free. And I said, "Okay, we've done your LinkedIn, we've done your resume. You're ready to apply to 50 jobs a day.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:18:27]:
That's your homework. Get back to me next week with 300 jobs that you've applied to.

Amber Stitt [00:18:31]:
Right.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:18:31]:
And then he came back with only 45. The thing is, though, when he came back to the session, he's like, "I applied to 50 a day. I don't know why I'm not seeing results." And then I was like, "Oh, yeah? Prove it. I want to log into your account. Let's log into your account. Share your screen with me.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:18:47]:
And I want to go to the section where I can actually see which jobs you've applied to." And then, so we did that. And then, lo and behold, he applied to 45 total, not per day.

Amber Stitt [00:18:56]:
Did you fire him? Was he out? No...

Annie Margarita Yang [00:18:57]:
I was so upset, though. I went like, full on Gordon Ramsay on him.

Amber Stitt [00:19:01]:
Don't tell me it's 50!

Annie Margarita Yang [00:19:03]:
Yeah. And then I said, you better come back to me next week with 900 that you applied to, otherwise don't come back. And he came back the next week with 500. So I was like, "It's okay." But he ended up getting a job in a month.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:19:16]:
Like when he was unemployed for 6 months prior. So I was just like, the advice works if you're willing to put in the work.

Amber Stitt [00:19:22]:
You know, okay, so you apply to all these jobs. Then you actually have to talk to people in an interview. So I suppose if you have some social awareness, you can understand how you enter a room. There's always personality assessments that can help us understand who we are. But then who are we sitting across from? I know you talk about storytelling. That's helpful in the room. Is there any icebreakers for really any personality type to get in there and get over the nerves of the Zoom call, the phone call, the full interview.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:19:48]:
Well, I'll be very honest. This is something I do. It's really funny. You might laugh. So before I get on the call or I start recording a video, I start going, like... I do vocal exercises to get my voice warmed up. I feel like if my voice isn't warmed up, I can't get in there with confidence.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:20:10]:
Another thing is I do this affirmation where I say, "Okay, I'm not worthy. I'm not capable. I'm not worth it." You know, like a whole bunch of things that are bad about me. And then I step forward. I do a one big step forward of my leg. So I'm standing up while doing it. I step forward, and then I say, "You know, I can do it.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:20:28]:
I'm capable. I'm worthy. I got this." So it's like I go from not worth it to worth it. Right. So I...

Amber Stitt [00:20:34]:
You jump into, "This is happening!"

Annie Margarita Yang [00:20:37]:
Jump into the zone. Yeah. That's what I do.

Amber Stitt [00:20:39]:
Yeah. Well, I wasn't completely laughing about the...

Annie Margarita Yang [00:20:42]:
Do you do them?

Amber Stitt [00:20:43]:
No.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:20:44]:
Oh, okay.

Amber Stitt [00:20:44]:
But I know that I've taken speaking courses and improv, and some of those actions kind of get you in the zone. I think some of the prep. It's kind of like if you like watching golf, I don't know who really likes watching golf, but golfers have a way, kind of their system. I need space before I record. And I sit kind of quiet and I look over notes, or there's certain things that I do, talk and speak out loud, to get the voice ready.

Amber Stitt [00:21:07]:
But the goofiness of the tonality and working through your voice, it's so important. And Vinh Giang is a guy that is in Australia. I think he's still there, but comedian/teacher on other coaching. But he would talk about improv and how the voice is the most important thing.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:21:23]:
Oh, okay. So it's not so embarrassing.

Amber Stitt [00:21:26]:
No. Well, clearly you're successful, so incorporate that into the mix. Give it a shot. You can't not do that. So you get the game face on, or like we might do deep breathing, or whatever, and then we go into the room. So any advice for those people that are trying to land the job, having that conversation with that future employer?

Annie Margarita Yang [00:21:46]:
Yeah, it's really more about being yourself. That's the hardest thing, that people under pressure, when they feel like they're being watched, they feel like they cannot be themselves and that they want to please the employer. And we're trying to go for that authenticness. We're not trying to be fake, we're not trying to lie our way through the interview. Because if you lie, they're going to find out later and then they're going to fire you or they're going to be really disappointed in you. Right?

Amber Stitt [00:22:07]:
Yeah.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:22:08]:
So just remember this is a two-way conversation. You do your research on the employer beforehand, you have your own questions about the job because it's like dating. You want to make sure it's a good match between the two of you. It's not just the other person's like, "I like you," because I have to tell people, "They're trying to impress you too." Especially if it's a toxic company. They have such a high turnover that everyone who works there only lasts for 6 to 7 months. They're trying to impress you too.

Amber Stitt [00:22:40]:
Oh, you just gave me a flashback. It was like I really needed this job and I get swooped into The Top 10 Home Builder and go to lunch and they pick me up and it was so toxic. Oh, that is so funny.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:22:51]:
I mean, maybe, my gosh... There's someone in my office. I went on his LinkedIn last week and then I saw a post, he was like, "I just got hired by this, the company", that I work for, "And I'm so excited to start next week, blah, blah, blah." And now he's been here for a month. And then when I went in the office, I heard a conversation with his manager that went something like, "You know, I've been looking at the times you enter and leave the office and I just want you to know that this is a 9 to 5 job, not a 9:05 to 4:55. And don't think that I don't know just because I don't walk out of my office. I can hear you locking that door and that door needs to be open until 5:00 for anyone to walk in. And then he goes, "Yeah, but if anyone can walk in until 5:00 on the dot, then I won't be leaving the office because I have to help the person.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:23:40]:
So that's why I locked the door at 4:55, so I can leave at 5:00 on the dot." And then she's like, "Yeah, but you know, it needs to be open until 5:00." I was like, "Oh my God, it's not a good culture."

Amber Stitt [00:23:52]:
Well, and I think, yeah, if you're not your true self in that interview and they're maybe off, there's going to be turnover. You're either going to leave and have to start this process all over again, or it's not going to work out for them either. So maybe take that extra time to maybe have more time on the phone and in the interviews to find that out.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:24:11]:
Really make sure.

Amber Stitt [00:24:12]:
Really make sure. Yes. Okay. So, outside of the YouTube, you work with clients personally. So let's talk about how people can work with you.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:24:20]:
They can head over to www.AnnieYangFinancial.com. That's A N N I E Y A N G F I N A N C I A L dot com I recommend people check out "The 5 Day Job Search" audio book. It's available for free. So you can download that for free on www.AnnieYangFinancial.com.

Amber Stitt [00:24:35]:
Awesome. Any final tips, takeaways?

Annie Margarita Yang [00:24:38]:
Just remember, go big, or go home.

Amber Stitt [00:24:40]:
I like that. You're awesome. Well, thank you for being here. You're truly motivating. I love the attitude and bottom line, we got to put the work in, right? That's right. Numbers matter.

Amber Stitt [00:24:52]:
Thanks so much, Annie, for being here today.

Annie Margarita Yang [00:24:54]:
Amber, thanks for having me on.

Amber Stitt [00:24:56]:
Thank you for joining us on this episode of Pathways. For more information about the podcast, books, articles, the blog, and so much more, please visit my website at: www.AmberStitt.com And remember, let's take action today! Thank you for listening!