Financially Naked Follow Up with Alyssa
Getting Financially Naked with Alyssa
At the Financial Gym, we call the first meeting you have with a trainer, the “financially naked session”. In this meeting, you share everything about yourself financially so the trainer knows where you’re starting so that he or she can make the plan for how you can get where you want to go. Above all other meetings, this one scares clients the most because they are afraid or ashamed of their financial situation. Over two years ago on this podcast, I shared my financially naked session and it led to a request for more. Now, this is a regular series on this podcast.
At this point, I’ve gotten naked with dozens of people on this podcast and many of you ask about update episodes so we can check in on people’s journeys. Well, joining me today is Alyssa who is going to give us an update on her finances. The last time we got naked with Alyssa, she was finishing up a bankruptcy process and working professionally as an opera singer. With the pause of live performances in 2020, you can imagine this was a tough challenge for Alyssa to get through. She joins me today to share all of her digits and what she’s doing online until she can get back on stage.
What are we drinking?
Alyssa - Coffee with Coffee Mate Natural Bliss Sweet Cream
Shannon - Black Cherry Schweppes
Podcast Notes
Alyssa is an opera singer, and her financially naked session, on Martinis and Your Money, aired in April 2020. Her episode was recorded when COVID was faintly in the background.
Shannon is thinking about starting another podcast called Martinis and Matches, a place to drink and talk about online dating experiences.
So much has changed since the beginning of the year. It has felt like three weeks since the beginning of the pandemic and also 35 years. Time doesn’t make sense.
Alyssa’s biggest financial challenge, earlier this year, was dealing with her Chapter 13 bankruptcy and her relatively low-paying career.
At the beginning of February, the recording of her first episode, Alyssa was sitting in a hotel room, singing in Cinderella with the Virginia Opera, and they were wrapping up the run. She was in Virginia for another month, until the end of February.
She drove home and, that same day, she and her boyfriend of four years broke up. She only had two days before her next gig, so her friend invited her to stay in Atlanta and then she could drive to Birmingham, which was her next job.
She was scheduled to be on the road doing gigs for four months, and her apartment was in Manhattan, so she took a lot of her stuff with her.
Alyssa started the job in Cinderella in Birmingham. It was supposed to open around March 20. On March 12, Alyssa did an entire day of costume fittings, wig fittings, and promo photos and she asked why they were doing it, because the show was going to be canceled. It was right after travel was closed and the NBA was canceled.
After they were done, Alyssa drove back to her Airbnb and when she got there she received an email from her agent saying the show was canceled. There was a clause in her contract that said if the show had to close due to a pandemic or an act of God, she doesn’t get paid. She had booked this gig years out.
She was hoping it would blow over, because her next job paid $25,000. By the time she drove to her mom’s house in North Carolina, the next job in Dallas was canceled. The Birmingham Opera and the Dallas Opera did come up with something to pay them, but not the full amount.
Alyssa immediately emailed her attorney about her bankruptcy payment, to let him know about her job losses. Luckily, she has not had any trouble paying the $565 a month to the bankruptcy.
She stayed at her mom’s house for a few months and during that time, she and her boyfriend reconciled. They had a lot of personal financial stuff to deal with at the same time she filed for bankruptcy. They had a lot of financial stress.
Alyssa had been having conversations with her friends about how unprepared the Opera was online. They already have the content, they just don’t showcase it well.
Alyssa and her friends are all in their early thirties and they thought an online presence would appeal to others in a similar way that ESPN appeals to people. It is equal part games and equal part features on the players.
Operas are all about the characters and who is playing the character. They made what they didn’t see available and decided to film content and put it online.
Alyssa and her friends created a company in May, called OSSIA, and put together opera centric/artist centric points of view on things. They invented game shows and their main goal is to expand the audience for it and to allow other people in who didn’t have access before.
They spent a lot of time making the site look good and they are now just in the beginning part of growing their audience. The company is comprised of Alyssa and her friends Joseph Lattanzi, Marcus Shields, and Patricia Westley.
There are a lot of growth opportunities with people who are in their 30’s. Opera’s current audience includes people in their 60’s. The best feedback they are getting is from people who would never go to an opera house.
Alyssa would not have been financially prepared for the pandemic without her Financial Trainer, Victoria. It was less scary facing the job losses, with someone there to help her change her financial plan.
Alyssa was able to apply for several grants meant for artists who lost work, and she was able to get unemployment. It was important for her to first get a handle on her expenses. If you lost work because of the pandemic, google grants for your career and you may find some that are accepting applications.
Alyssa lived with her mom for a couple of months, and she told herself that when she had $21,000 saved, she would get an apartment. In October, she had over $21,000. Apartment furnishing expenses have been about $7,000. Overall, her costs in Atlanta are much lower than in Manhattan.
Earlier this year, Alyssa had $2,000 total. Now, her savings accounts are at $12,419 (emergency fund $10,369, and new apartment fund $2,050)
Alyssa lost $35,000 in income in three months this spring.
Personal checking account: approx $1,000
Business accounts: $1,300
Rent in Atlanta: $2,100 base rent; $1,108.92 each, power bill $169 (budgets $1,250/per month)
Student loan: paused, included in bankruptcy payment; prior to bankruptcy, her debt consisted of over 92% student loans; she is on payment number 14 of 36.
Vantage Credit Score: 686 (was 585 earlier this year)
Health insurance: $165
Auto insurance: $100/month (paid for the rest of the year)
Income: New York unemployment $1,000/mo; The Gym $740 last month
Business: LLC, registered in Georgia
Monthly expenses: goal is no more than $3,000; she is usually under budget
Goals: Alyssa met her goal of having a savings account
Takeaway: My biggest takeaway is that the road to financial health is not a straight path and sometimes we’re thrown big obstacles, like losing a job or a global pandemic. Just because we have obstacles doesn’t mean our financial health journey has to stop completely. Don’t be afraid to pivot and regroup. Who knows, you might find something even more exciting down that unexpected path.
Random Three Questions
The next time you travel, where will you go?
What have you have been bingeing during the pandemic?
If this was your last meal on earth, what would it be?
Connect with Alyssa
Website: OSSIA
YouTube: OSSIA Op Culture
Social Media: @__OSSIA__
If you have any topics you would like me to cover on this podcast, or if you’d like to get in the financially naked hot seat, I encourage you to email me to Shannon@fingyms.com, or join the private Martinis and Your Money Facebook group, and let me know what you want to hear.
2020 has been a challenging year and if money was one of those challenges for you, please don’t let 2021 be more of the same. Despite a global pandemic, we’ve witnessed Financial Gym clients, like Alyssa, achieve amazing goals all year long. We’ve worked with over 6,000 clients at this point and we’ve literally seen it all. We would love to help you achieve your financial dreams in 2021. If you are ready to get started, head over to, or send friends to, financialgym.com to get set up today.