Angie Colee (00:01):
Welcome to Permission to Kick Ass. A podcast about leaving self-doubt in the dust, punching fear in the face and taking bold action toward your biggest dreams. I'm Angie Colee, and let's get to it. Hey and welcome back to Permission to Kick Ass. With me today is Alexandra Dotcheva. Say hi.
Alexandra Dotcheva (00:25):
Hello there. Thank you for having me.
Angie Colee (00:27):
Yeah, it's so nice to meet you. I was reading through your story right before we got on the show and found it just so fascinating. So tell us a little bit about what you do, what what's your business and how do you make money?
Alexandra Dotcheva (00:40):
Okay. Oh, several different ways to be able to make, make money several different ways. But, uh, I am a real estate investor. I own my own rentals. I manage my own rentals. I also, uh, recently wrote a book and I also have a job as a nurse because I still want to stay useful to people and people now need nurses. So I've been a nurse for 12 years. I'm a late starter in life. Okay. I'm 46 years old. My first profession was classical violin. I came to the states and earned my, uh, BA uh, excuse me. My master's in doctoral degree in violin. I earned my bachelor's in Bulgaria, cuz I immigrated from Bulgaria age 24, but um, then the market shrunk for musicians, orchestras started bankrupting between 2006 and 2008. And then I had embarked on the nursing career. I went to nursing school after having been a musician for 26 years. It was a difficult decision. I had no scientific background whatsoever. So I had start all over, uh, with school and, um, trying to get a full-time job, which I did in 2011. So I have been a nurse for, like I said, since 2011 and in 2014 I purchased my first investment property. I decided to become a real estate entrepreneur and that was tough because it was a fourplex. So I had not purchased ever real estate before. So that was my first real estate property. And not only did I have to fix the property like one house or fix four apartments because of course the previous absentee landlord really I've done pretty much absolutely nothing for the tenants and treated them like dogs. So I decided I wasn't going to be that landlord and property owner that treats tenants like dogs because I had been a tenant for 14 solid years in the United States. And I figured I can do better as a landlord. So all these budgeting and planning and um, dealing with contractors, banks, lenders, everything just came all of a sudden. And I was still relatively new to nursing because two, three years into the nursing, that's like you've been a nurse for five minutes. So I was still learning that on top of learning to be a real estate entrepreneur. So it was very interesting and a great learning curve, but um, it taught me perseverance discipline and really focus on the goals and being less distracted. And that was it. And then the real estate business took over very nicely. And now my boyfriend and I are completely financially independent. We paid off our third year loan on the house for five and a half years. The nursing loan disappeared in four years. Since all these loans, they just, we made them disappear very fast while still building all the time. Uh, cash flowing assets.
Angie Colee (03:12):
Oh, that's amazing. I love, I was writing notes while I was listening to you speak. And one thing that I thought was really interesting was I think you're the first person that I've spoken to on the show that made such a drastic like di I don't even wanna say it's like a drastic difference, but it's such an interesting pendulum swing to go from music and creative, right into science and like taking care. So that's interesting. What made you, I know that you said you wanted to be useful to people but why nursing specifically?
Alexandra Dotcheva (03:41):
Well, for one thing I had been in college, uh, for 11 years, Angie, before I decided to go on nursing and I, um, realized that nursing was in demand. And I was gonna be guaranteed a job if I was good as a student and I wasn't gonna be in school for another 11 years. That was imperative. Cause after 11 years in college and you have nothing to show for it, you figure, well, what is shorter school time and guaranteed job. And nursing was definitely the profession that, um, just screamed at me. And I used to like biology as a child where I had very minimal biological preparation in the music school in Bulgaria because it was 12 years of strictly music school and minimal, minimal science, like really ridiculously, uh, little. So, um, it prepared you for music, but you were dramatically dysfunctional in any other areas of life, as far as real life is concerned. So I also wanted to understand real life. I wanted to understand better human suffering in disease. And um, and it turned out to be, uh, way different from what I imagine, because yes, you understand human suffering, you help people, but you also see how diseases used to make profits. And that was very eye opening, very disappointing, very discouraging, disturbing. So I made it a mission to really be a strong patient advocate. And since I'm adamant about health, I'm a healthy, frequent fitness maniac .So I teach my patients the best I can because I'm lucky to be a home care nurse. You have much more one-on-one time with the patient and can teach them the things that you see are, um, can be improved in their lives. So they are not a constant decade, long, long commodity and asset to the healthcare system and pharmaceutical industry. So I made it a mission to be that type of nurses and, uh, patients are very appreciative. Do all of them listen? No now, but that's once you teach them that's of course their choice.
Angie Colee (05:30):
Yeah. I love that. You said that I, I was writing again while you were talking about that. And it seems like your entire approach to everything is people first, which is amazing. Like you said, that when you were talking you about building your rental empire here and you were like, I can be a better landlord than this. I can treat people well in the process of this,
Alexandra Dotcheva (05:50):
I wouldn't call it an empire. Really. I don't want to be super big because once you're like big, uh, multimillionaire billionaire, then more than half of your fortune goes to insurance agents, accountants and lawyers. So how much do you wanna depend on these people? You have to make that decision only in the early in the process, but, um, I am a self-made millionaire. I never thought that would happen to me because I came from a family that was, uh, very, um, oriented towards work and studying and languages, but never towards making money. Practically. My parents are fantastic people, both, both were financial invalids. And I said this with all the affection, I can, um, put into that, but we have had arguments back and forth with them. And my dad passed away a couple years ago, but people first, because I took an investment class. And before I, uh, embarked on the real estate investment journey and the, uh, people who taught me, that was the Rich Dad company, Robert Kiyosaki, they were very much about, you have to create a win-win situation between you and the seller first, and then between you and the tenant, cuz you can't, um, bank on people and expect them to be willing to work with you and cooperate. It just doesn't happen that way because resentment quickly builds. And you have to have integrity with your clients at any level, whether they're your patients or your residents, the residents in your properties.
Angie Colee (07:11):
I love that you said the word resentment. Cause I don't think we talk about that enough in life and in business. It's like when you, you make those little decisions that feel like a compromise on your integrity or you buy into something, that's kind of setting off some red flags, but you're like you talk yourself into it. Those are ripe breeding grounds for resentment, which is the great destroyer of relationships.
Alexandra Dotcheva (07:34):
Yeah, I agree. I agree.
Angie Colee (07:35):
And I think relationships are, are so critical, cool to everything that we try and do in business and life. I don't understand why we take those so lightly and, and sometimes just trot all over them for a short term gain.
Alexandra Dotcheva (07:48):
Yes, relationships can destroy your health and they can destroy your finances. Very interconnected, uh, categories of life. And uh, in my book actually view life in five essential, uh, pillars, um, health spirituality, career finances and relationships integral to success. But you have to keep them at high levels at all times. You can't ignore one for the sake of the other. Everything has to be optimal level for you to function optimal as an individual and have the self confidence. The self-esteem in a holistic way.
Angie Colee (08:24):
I totally agree. Cause I think we can get in this, uh, bad habit of like swinging a pendulum back and forth, like focusing on one thing, ignoring another and then realizing, oh crap, I'm suffering over here. Let me go focus my attention. Like lose sight of the fact that you're striving for. I don't even necessarily wanna say balance cuz I think balance can be a toxic concept too.
Alexandra Dotcheva (08:45):
Yes, you, we strive for abundance. You gotta strive for abundance.
Angie Colee (08:48):
I love that abundance instead of balance.
Alexandra Dotcheva (08:50):
But the pendulum, you know, Angie it's normal, it can swing back and forth, um, in a big amplitude for a while until you figure out, okay, so we fix this aspect. Now let's go to this aspect and eventually you learn to be in control of all five aspects. Very good control and focused. That doesn't happen immediately though, because we all know what is drastically missing in our lives. At some point, problem is we tend to over focus on that. And we either capitulate because we feel, um, very uncomfortable and inadequate that something's missing in our lives like money or we have in a horrible relationship at some point in our life or our health is we have this chronic disease with potential for multiple organ damage that is sucking our bank account and insurance money. But that's the immediate problem. But then you ignore the other problems. Yet once you start fixing that problem, you will have to also recognize that everything else in your life is just as important. Yeah. And not neglect because, um, otherwise you will, other people will make decisions for you that are not necessarily in your best interest.
Angie Colee (09:52):
And there there's so many fascinating things that you you've said here. Like of course they can't see the video, but you're probably seeing me like looking down from time to time. I'm, I'm taking notes as I'm listening to you and there's so much good stuff here. Like I wanna circle back to one thing that you said that I thought was cool, which was that you were a late starter on this entrepreneurial journey. I hear so many people that tell me it's too late for me to get started. And I, I just, it breaks my heart when I hear that. Like as long as you've got a breath in you, it's not too late to get started.
Alexandra Dotcheva (10:22):
I can tell these people that I was one of you. Uh, ladies and gentlemen, um, with age 32, I had done violin for 26 years. Then I come from a culture where you think that basically after 25, it's too late to learn. Unfortunately, my culture used to be like this. Now it's a little bit better. But um, I had to overcome this cultural understanding and my parents were horrified when I told them in, uh, 2008 that I wanted to pursue a nursing career. And not just because they knew that nursing is one of the hardest professions imaginable, but they were acutely aware that I had zero scientific preparation or math or chemistry, anything just, you name it. And I told him, I, I don't care. I I've hit rock bottom in my life right now. I'm not competitive enough as violinist. The market is shrinking. And um, then my, I also went through a divorce at that time, which was an added benefit, so right. Rock bottom. But um, I told them that was the time because 30 years from now, if not, if I not do it, I don't do it now or regret deeply that I didn't take that initiative and that inspirational moment and transform my life. And uh, once I became a nurse and I saw how most of the nurses lived, oh my God. I was thinking I was gonna coast on the nursing profession. And I saw this nurses, uh, after 50, after 60 years old, they had every disease known to man they were teaching patients how to be healthy and not be sick. And I'm like, okay, this doesn't make sense. Then 80% of the nurses were broke, even though they were making significantly more hands on salaries to me because of their seniority and said, okay, so this doesn't make sense either. I'm not gonna be one of those sick nurses. And one of those poor nurses, I clearly am missing something here. There's something more to learn. And then I casually came across an advertising, uh, on the internet by a self-made millionaire who then I started reading his post and I came across Robert Kiyosaki books and I read six of his books. And then I bought two of his online courses. And that was it. I, I said to my boyfriend, we have to learn to invest. There is absolutely no other way to ensure that we will not be victims of the stock market. Like people lost their retirements in 2008. And I said, we're not gonna have a 401k that's BS. We're gonna build our own assets. We're gonna build our own retirement. We will not trust our money to anybody. We're gonna handle our money and we'll have to do the necessary learning and pay the money for that learning. And they'll then buy the assets.
Angie Colee (12:48):
I think that's such a great story too, because they're, I, I feel like I just am going to keep coming back to, I think this is brilliant, but I really wanna highlight this, um, the power of the right idea at the right time and being open to something that you didn't expect. Like I loved the idea, okay. Nursing is a good profession. I think there's some solid opportunity here. I'm gonna study. I'm gonna enter this field. Whoa, that is not what I expected. I don't wanna be somebody that is, you know, like disease ridden and broke by the end of this, something has gotta change. And then you go looking for a solution and find the ideas that you need to help you get out of that situation. Do you wanna speak a little bit more to that?
Alexandra Dotcheva (13:32):
Yes. And important. It's important not to abandon the job though, while we don't have any other financial basis, because if you say, well, this is not for me just after you started, that's really you're quitter, not a winner. Right? So you add to the load of your shifts. I was working night shifts at that point. Hmm. And I started learning about investing. I was reading, um, in between in the night shifts, uh, many hours a day, just like I did when I was studying for nursing school. And I really didn't ever have the feeling that the learning stopped because I was like, oh wonderful. I'm gonna have a job. There is no more learning on a, no more learning. I can, you know, coast a little bit here and to relax and breathe. Right. Well, not so much. Cause if you have any sense, you will see the problems of the healthcare system within the first couple of years, if you really are honest and uh, not like a blindfolded person and in denial of what's going on around.
Angie Colee (14:24):
Oh yeah.
Alexandra Dotcheva (14:25):
You will see the callousness of your colleagues. So some of them question it, others just about bitch it. And very few actually do something about it. And then they say, oh yeah, I'm gonna retire at 70. I'm gonna work till 80. And I like, uh, no, no. I will take care of myself in order to take excellent care of the sick people I'm supposed to serve.
Angie Colee (14:48):
Oh, I love that.
Alexandra Dotcheva (14:49):
I never compromise these concepts. I am adamant about my whole foods, organic vegan diet, my detox, my two and a half to three hour day fitness, four days a week.
Angie Colee (15:01):
Wow.
Alexandra Dotcheva (15:01):
These things don't get compromised. That's nonnegotiable. My health is nonnegotiable. My boyfriend's health is nonnegotiable. He's just as adamant about it because he has been a nurse for 30 years. That was his first and only profession. The things he has seen, I have learned from him so much, just as much as I have learned from my patients or from nursing school, I just combine all this knowledge. And then I draw my conclusions and like, okay, say we have to do this in order to avoid this.
Angie Colee (15:27):
Yep.
Alexandra Dotcheva (15:28):
I get that engine in my brain going about how we can do things better with our lives and still be of service to humanity without letting humanity cycle up our energy out. Because I'm sorry. But, um,
Angie Colee (15:41):
Yes,
Alexandra Dotcheva (15:42):
Society is great. But you also need to understand that you're just as valuable and important and deserve enough everything you wanna have in your life.
Angie Colee (15:51):
They can't see me of course, because I'm sitting over here like fist pumping wildly while you're saying that. But yes, you are valuable. You are important. I learned something. I was a firefighter very briefly before I got,
Alexandra Dotcheva (16:03):
Oh, that's impressive.
Angie Colee (16:04):
Yeah. I got, I was a teenager. It was an impulsive decision. And ultimately I wasn't as passionate as I could have been about it. And, and the kind of toxic masculinity, I was like, all right, well, I just don't wanna deal with this. They wanna make me quit. Cool. I'm gonna quit. But one of the takeaways that I got from it, I, I think it led me toward where I needed to be. So I don't feel as guilty about it, but I do miss playing with hydraulic equipment. There was something pretty cool about operating heavy machinery.
Alexandra Dotcheva (16:29):
That's fascinating.
Angie Colee (16:30):
Cutting open cars. Well like one, one thing that they really, really tried to hammer in with us during training was this idea of you have to take care of yourself. You ha if, if you are not there looking out for yourself.
Alexandra Dotcheva (16:44):
Absolutely.
Angie Colee (16:45):
Then there are two victims that need to be rescued because you're in trouble now, too.
Alexandra Dotcheva (16:49):
Exactly. Exactly. We have firefighters here in our gym and there to see this amazing shape because we in Phoenix, Arizona imagine 110 degrees in the summer. They have to be there and you must have also done the same with the heavy equipment you have to climb. And then in the fire where it gets even hotter with this heavy equipment. And then you have to be able to carry out the body. And of course you have to take care of yourself. Demanding profession.
Angie Colee (17:14):
People used to be in total disbelief that I'd tell them, like we would run miles in full gear.
Alexandra Dotcheva (17:19):
Absolutely.
Angie Colee (17:19):
With the packs on, with the masks on. And they were like, why, why are you doing all that? Like push up sprints, all of this stuff in the gear. Yep. Because that gives us the strength to do it for, you know, the 30 minutes to an hour, sometimes even longer on like complicated scenes. Um, but yeah, we like almost overexercise over prepared so that you're ready when the time comes. I love that. And you know, I, I wanted to just re like underline that idea of that. It's, it's just never too late to try something new, to change your mind, to decide that you wanna take care of yourself. I had a great story about that, that I think that you would appreciate it. Cuz my, uh, my aunt Chris who's, uh, now, now left this world, but I remember she went back to school for her master's degree in special education. She had been an elementary school teacher for a long time and in her sixties decided to get her master's degree. And I remember talking to her about it one day, cause I was just like, so what made you go back to school and get your master's degree at this stage in your life? And she goes, well, I was gonna be 60, whether or not I had the degree might as well have the degree.
Alexandra Dotcheva (18:25):
Right. Right. And plus learning new things keeps you young keeps your brain young. You have to have fitness for your brain, not just for your body.
Angie Colee (18:33):
Oh yeah. That's that's super, super important. And the other thing that you said that I thought was super brilliant was that your business can be as big as you want. So you don't have to measure your success by other people deciding, you know, successes being a multi-millionaire success is being a billionaire pioneer millionaire.
Alexandra Dotcheva (18:48):
Well, cause you have different and different goals and different understanding of freedom and uh, freedom of time is your most valuable asset. So, it's a very, it's a very wide concept. That could be two hour conversation of course. But I did learn that multi billions multi-millionaire they, they don't retain all of their wealth. You have to that wealth from everybody, from the IRS, from thieves, from friends and relatives, from, um, fires, you, you pay the people who protect your wealth. It becomes another form of slavery as far as I'm concerned. So you can be slaved to your poverty, but you also can also be a slave to your wealth. So if you find the golden middle for yourself and that's different for everybody, that's why there is no recipe to make sense. It becomes very tricky. Once you get to that level, when you, after you build your first million or second million, then everything becomes really a matter of goal sense.
Angie Colee (19:47):
Yeah.
Alexandra Dotcheva (19:47):
What's next.
Angie Colee (19:48):
And you have to do that deep thinking and you know, face that discomfort on your own. Cause I know some people that have, you know, they've built multimillion dollar businesses and they've got 40, 50 people on their team and there's a lot of complexity there. And I know some people that have built consistent, like, you know, low seven figure, they make a couple million a year, but they've got a two person team supporting them. Oh, one of my favorites is a lady that sells art online and art classes online. And we were talking when I was in Savannah, cuz I travel full time and uh, she told me, we take every Friday off and then we take off a couple months in the summer and a couple weeks in the summer, a couple weeks in the winter. And I was like, oh I love this. She keeps it simple. She doesn't add in much complexity because she knows what she needs and she's comfortable with that. And like anybody else's definition of what she should be doing. She's like, meh, no.
Alexandra Dotcheva (20:40):
Yeah. She's still completely financially independent. Doesn't depend on the government or the stock market or anything like this. That's beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.
Angie Colee (20:48):
And I, you brought that up too, because I think a lot of people associate if, if they don't know Robert Kiyosaki very well in his work. They associate him with the stock market and investing in, in concepts like that. And I'm like, the people don't realize how he's.
Alexandra Dotcheva (21:01):
That's totally wrong concept. He he's a real estate freak. Yes. He invests secondarily in the most, uh, stock market and precious metals and oil, but commodities, but uh, real estate that's his and his wife's part. That's their passion. And they got me going on that road pretty soon after I started reading their books. That's it's fascinating how, but uh, also thanks to their company. I learned options trading. Through their stock, uh, paper, asset coach and the trainer. So we took the options training course and I've been trading options for five years now and very good trades on my own. Like I said, I don't entrust my money to any brokers. I do my own trades and that's an additional, uh, stream of cash. You take the risk to calculate the risk and take your responsibility for your decision.
Angie Colee (21:54):
Yes. And every decision has risk and you get to decide what you're comfortable with. I love that. I was writing that down too, because you mentioned that you learned options trading and I think that's all like that's too much for me. I can't learn that. But again, you're challenging.
Alexandra Dotcheva (22:11):
That's what I thought too though. I thought I could never comprehend any idea about a stock market. And after I got two years of experience under my belt with real estate, actually one year, then I figured I'm very curious about a stock market and I need to be literate about that because otherwise I'll continue being a financial invalid. As far as a stock market, that's just stupid. Right. I can't still see it myself that way. And we took the course. It was fascinating. Absolutely fascinating.
Angie Colee (22:36):
I, so what, what made you realize, okay, so you had this head trash about, I can't learn this. This is beyond me. What was it that made you go? Nope, never mind. I'm I'm gonna learn all I can about this. And this will help me.
Alexandra Dotcheva (22:48):
Because I reminded myself, so that I had drastically changed my profession from music to nursing. And I said, if you could do this why can't you learn financial jargon, what's stopping you other than your own idiocy and saying that you can do it.
Angie Colee (23:01):
Yes.
Alexandra Dotcheva (23:02):
You have to be harsh on yourself sometimes.
Angie Colee (23:04):
Yes. Squash those self limiting beliefs with a vengeance because you who can do anything that you set your mind to with the right people in your corner and curiosity. The thing that you said about that was like, I got curious and I started learning about this and it was fascinating. That's what happens when you learn and you find the right teacher, suddenly that thing that you thought you couldn't do is not only possible, but like, whoa, this could be fun. Let's go do this.
Alexandra Dotcheva (23:30):
But then it's important after you learn, you need to take the action to apply the knowledge. You need to take the actual risk because people think, oh, it's risky to pay for the investment course. No, no, wait till you start actually investing in the asset and seeing the real risks and losing some money, then making some money, then losing less money, making more money and eventually consistently start making this beautiful income. I'm a cashflow investor. More so than a capital gains investor. I've made that you made that decision. Which one do you wanna be? Or you can be both. You can take advantage of both concepts, but I like.
Angie Colee (24:03):
Can you tell us a little bit more about those and like why you chose the one that you did
Alexandra Dotcheva (24:08):
Because cashflow is a consistent monthly, uh, income stream from several assets. So if one of your assets gets, uh, temporarily depressed due to market conditions, you can always get the cash flow from the other assets that are booming. Capital gains. You make money when you sell something that you bought cheap and then you sell it more expensive, but it's, uh, more tax than the passive income tax. You have to always consider the taxation, um, impact because the, um, most tax income is the earned income, right? When you're the job, then capital gain income is less taxed. If you're from stock portfolio or you sell something more expensive, but like stocks growing value. But with, um, cashflow depends how you get it. If it's passive, I think from rental it's like minimal tax or not tax, depending what loss you have with renovations and maintenance and depreciation. As far as cash flow from the stock market options trading is a great way to produce cash. Great way. It's one of the more complex ways to make cash because there are so many strategies. I honestly, I just use one or two strategies that I find to fit me. And I have learned all the complex stuff, but if I don't need it, why, why break something? That's not why fix something that's not broken?
Angie Colee (25:24):
Oh, that's one of my big philosophies, uh, in business because I saw all the complicated and, and my background is in marketing. I don't, I don't know if you knew that, but like there's all of these complex automated funnels that personalize paths and stuff like that. And I love that and I think it's valid. And also I know about half a dozen ways that are way easier than that, that work just about as well. And I'm gonna default to those every time because of the minimal complexity, like too much stuff can break when it gets complicated.
Alexandra Dotcheva (25:54):
Exactly. And you, you make the simple strategies match your personality and then you make the even simpler, which for somebody else may not seem simple, but for you, it works beautifully. So you just, uh, use it. Yeah. I also have a little bit of marketing background. Not as much as you, you, because I did try my hand at, uh, SEO website optimization, business and marketing, but the real estate picked up pace much faster. So then I really had to focus on that because you are responsible for renovations and budgeting and I'm like, okay, so that's it. We're gonna keep growing from real estate. And that's how my path went. But
Angie Colee (26:25):
Yeah, I, I, I love the, this just concept of follow the steps, where they go learn what you can and then adjust from there because I thought I wanted to be a screenwriter. And that's what I got. I got my master's degree. It was a hybrid creative business degree. And my goal was, I'm gonna be a show runner, like Shonda Rhymes. I wanna be in LA create fancy TV shows, living the glam life. I got laid off from the Oprah Winfrey network a couple years later and couldn't find a job. And then read like you, I read a book. It was about copywriting, this concept of sales writing. And I have learned so much about storytelling and visual writing from my screen writing that it just like it was a natural transition. It was still an uphill battle. Cuz I had a lot of skills to learn about building a business.
Alexandra Dotcheva (27:08):
Of course. Always.
Angie Colee (27:10):
Um, but you know, following that led me into copywriting, which led me into coaching and entrepreneurship and like every step of the way, even when it seemed like a setback, it was actually a step forward.
Alexandra Dotcheva (27:20):
That's wonderful.
Angie Colee (27:22):
I love this. I love this. This has been a fascinating conversation. Tell us a little bit more about where we can find you. What give us some links. Where can we look at your book?
Alexandra Dotcheva (27:31):
Uh, the book, um, the title is, "It Really Is Simple: A Holistic Approach to Self-confidence. A Practical Guide." So the website is www holistic self-confidence dot com. I have a paper pack and ebook format on the website. The ebook format can be purchased worldwide. The paperback is most available in the US, but uh, on an individual basis we could process international orders. We'll just need to know the address of the recipient through the contact form. And then we can tell them the shipment price plus the book, and then they will decide if they want the, uh, paperback or the e-book. And I also recently placed the book on Amazon. Whatever is easiest to people I do prefer if they buy from the website, but again, it's personal preference and I completely understand that.
Angie Colee (28:16):
Yeah, that's amazing. Oh, I, I am going to get a copy of this book right away.
Alexandra Dotcheva (28:23):
Thank you. I think it'll be amusing to you. I think, I think you will, uh, appreciate cuz it, uh, relates a lot of our conversation today.
Angie Colee (28:31):
I really liked your sense of personality and your approach to all of these things too, which is like, okay, I've got more power. I've got more agency here. Let me figure out what I need to go do and take control of this. Instead of,
Alexandra Dotcheva (28:42):
I forgot to say one of the reasons I was such late start because I really didn't trust myself for more than 20 years. It was really a self inflicted mentality. That's what the book mostly deals with in the beginning, how I, um, got myself into that position and then how I had to get out of there. Very uncomfortable, very challenging. And but eventually there was no choice.
Angie Colee (29:01):
Yeah,
Alexandra Dotcheva (29:02):
There was no choice because I resolved, I, I was not gonna depend on other people out, be independent, fiercely independent. I'll understand how to be independent. And I have no clue until I was 32 years old. No clue how to be financially independent.
Angie Colee (29:15):
I think the first time I lived on my own was at age 34. So like I get, it's almost baked into society at this point that like, you can't really trust yourself. You can't really depend on yourself. Like, and, and I love
Alexandra Dotcheva (29:27):
At the time that wasn't the case yet. At the time that wasn't the case in 2008, that hadn't become so prominent as it is right now. So I was really this weird person that didn't think I could make it on my own. And all of a sudden there was no other choice. So what do you make it on my own?
Angie Colee (29:47):
Yep. I love that. Sometimes those things that happen to you they're happening for you. Not to you.
Alexandra Dotcheva (29:53):
Yeah. Yeah. You just can't see it right at the moment because you're so stressed out and overwhelmed,
Angie Colee (29:58):
But you've always got that agency. I love it, I love it. I love it. This has been a fantastic conversation. Thank you so much for coming on again.
Alexandra Dotcheva (30:04):
Oh my pleasure. Thank you for having me Angie.
Angie Colee (30:10):
So that is it. Another awesome episode of Permission to Kick Ass on the books. If you want to know more about the show or if you want to know more about me, Angie Colee and the mission I'm on to help entrepreneurs punch fear in the face and do big bold things, then head on over to permissiontokickass.com. That is all one word together, permissiontokickass.com. Make sure to sign up for my email list so that you know whenever there's a hot, fresh and ready podcast episode out for you. And also on Mondays, I like to send out a little newsletter called Kick Monday's Ass. I'm sure you're totally, totally surprised by that. So thank you for being here with me today. I'm Angie Colee. Make sure that you share this with a friend that needs to hear this message today. Like it, share it. Comment wherever you're listening to this today and let's go kick some ass.