Business + Financial Transparency
A dear friend asked me, “What does financial transparency mean to you?”
After answering with a bunch of information, I finally got to the meaning behind the facts. Running a business is really fucking hard, really fucking expensive, and really fucking exhausting. What I’ve found since I started Consent Wizardry is that there is a perceived barrier between a business and its clients because of the container of a ‘business.’ The truth is, I am Consent Wizardry, and Consent Wizardry is me.
Consent Wizardry is a labor of love. When I started this business, I was able to ask all kinds of questions about running a business and receive guidance from a peer coaching group, a business coach, and my dad. This support network has been crucial. Being transparent about my business, I hope, can support others who might be interested in starting their own. So much goes on behind the scenes that is either unintentionally or intentionally hidden to foster a positive experience for all of you. But for those who are curious, I want to share.
Transparency in this context fosters intimacy, trust, and community. It nurtures empathy. I hope you find that to be the case.
What I didn’t know, or didn’t fully understand…
Running what’s called an ‘S-Corp’ comes with fees and requirements, some of which I wasn’t completely aware of when I began this endeavor. They’re worth it, but they’re expensive. I have to pay a much higher rate for business taxes in addition to personal taxes; I had to get all kinds of permits; the IRS charges $800/year just to exist; I have to have myself on as an employee of my company which means I pay taxes as an employee and an employer. This list goes on. Having a business of this structure allows me to keep my personal finances separate and to charge business expenses on the company so they’re tax deductible.
The Flow of Funds
By the end of 2023, I was paying myself $1000/week. $1000 comes out to about $700/week after taxes. When I pay myself, my company has to also match the taxes and pay certain other taxes, which means that a little over $775 is actually taken out of the business account when I get paid. There were months last year when I couldn’t afford to pay myself anything and have been able to claim unemployment. I still rely on a CA subsidy for my healthcare. In January of 2023 when I’m updating this document, I’m paying myself nothing from the company in order to make sure I can cover expenses because December and January tend to be very slow.
I put out a lot of free content, all of which costs me money. My podcast, for example, costs me money and has made me none in the 3 years I’ve had it. Trademarking my podcast name cost a whopping $500. The program I use to make my IG posts costs money; this website alone costs over $700 a year to maintain; the site I use for my recorded classes costs $1200/year plus they take a fee from every sale; the payroll processing site I use, the Zoom storage program, the Zoom account itself, plus numerous other subscriptions cost money. Every time someone pays me via PayPal or credit card on my site, the processors take a 3.49% cut. Insurance for the company costs $3,000 a year. A lot of those rates have gone up with inflation.
Running a business requires an enormous amount of administrative labor that I don’t get compensated for directly. What that means is that at all the touch-points where I do receive money, the funds have to cover all that unpaid labor in addition to all the costs of upkeep.
When you pay for a class, when you work with me privately, when you download a digital product, or buy a shirt, you support all the unpaid labor I do and the free content that I put out, as well as all the people I pay to keep this business afloat. A lot of the free content, unpaid podcasts, interviews I do, and articles I write are how people find me. I believe that most people who want to work with me value the whole body of work that I put out, and I hope that it feels good to be in reciprocity with that entire expression of Consent Wizardry even if you’re only directly benefiting from one offering at the time of the financial transaction.
Almost every offering I have has tiered pricing. My lower tier is available to individuals who:
are S€x Workers
have been incarcerated
have excessive medical costs
have debilitating student loans
have ancestors who experienced slavery
have ancestors who experienced, or have themselves experienced, land theft
need to use it.
Wondering if this scale is for you? It is. Still not sure? It is. Still not sure?? Email me.
Prices are set at a rate such that even at the lowest rate, I feel good providing the work, as in, not depleted or taken advantage of. If you feel uneasy using the lower tier but it makes it possible for you to join a program, use it! The ways you can pay it forward include inviting your friends to join with you, forwarding the program and other CW programs to friends, family, and colleagues, and spreading the word any way you can. You can sign up for the newsletter and forward it, send your boss our Professional Wellness Consulting page, subscribing, rating, and reviewing the podcast, subscribing on Instagram, and any other way you can think of to help get the word out.
When someone pays at the higher tier for a class or private sessions, they essentially subsidize these lower-cost options. In this way, the redistribution of funds is built into the structure of my business.
Being Resourced: You + Me Both
I believe in paying for employee education, even when I’m the employee getting educated. In order to further this work, I need to go deeper into it. Sometimes that means a class, a coach, or some books. When I’m determining my pricing, I’m keeping in mind not just the work I’ve put in and the training I’ve had in order to offer the services I offer, and not just the time and energy spent during the class or session, but also the investment I want to make in my business for the future. You participate in that investment.
In order to do this work, I have to care for myself. With significant health challenges, my costs are very high even with intermittent support from my parents. Part of this care is about making sure I have the basics: food, housing, etc., and part is about creating the space for creative flow and pleasure. A huge pillar of this work is authenticity and self-expression, and sometimes the methods for achieving those cost money. I take music lessons, I have three amazing pets, I support my friends by buying their art and by doing so, craft the narrative of my life so I get to witness myself in my surroundings. I’d like to allow myself a massage and hire someone to clean my apartment once and a while (I’ve done each once since Covid started). As a person with a tendency to deprive myself of physical, emotional, and spiritual nourishment, I want everyone to be able to access these things. I have to be able to model this if I’m going to support others in doing the same.
I was able to hire an assistant in 2021. Having an assistant has helped me enormously. I currently pay my assistant $25/hour, and I’d like to be able to afford to have her take on more, and give themhera raise eventually, as well as cover her health insurance. This change in my business has allowed me to focus more on the growth of the practice and crafting new offerings, as well as allowed me to work on new projects like the book I’m writing (part manifesto, part memoir). I’m able to brainstorm new curriculum, do more outreach, and focus more on the purpose of this work because I can hand off large chunks of my to-do list.
In starting my own business I’ve asked myself, “What kind of employer do I want to be?” and then I’ve worked on being that boss to myself. This means vacation days, sick days, taking doctor appts and therapy within the work day, and paying for professional development in the form of classes, books, etc. I’ve worked to incorporate ‘research and development’ time into my workday as well, so that I’m not counting on after work or weekend hours to learn. This ongoing education and care is how I can keep expanding this practice and teaching new things. It costs money as well as takes up a lot of time that I need to compensate myself for.
I want everyone I work with to find a loving relationship with luxury and pleasure. I want everyone to be able to access things that make them feel good. I believe that there is magic in desire and that asking for what you want is the spell. I think there’s more magic in wanting than needing; more magic in desire than survival. It’s taken a lot of work on my feelings around being anti-Capitalist in a Capitalist system and a lot of work on my own relationship with luxury, productivity, and scarcity to get here and I strive to model these beliefs. I hope in witnessing this, others can find permission to do the same.
Updated 1/2023