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Transcription
Kalika Yap:
My four-year college boyfriend had moved out to California to work at Frank Gehry's architect firm, so I wanted to join him. Joined him three weeks after I got there, he broke up with me so that he could date the receptionist and I didn't have a place to live. He dumped me at this internet café, that was the only place I knew where to go and I became friends with the owners. And one of the owners said, "Hey, well, you know, I have space in our two-bedroom condo. You can sleep on the foot of one of the second bedrooms, if you want."
Bobbi Rebell:
You're listening to Financial Grownup, with me, Certified Financial Planner, Bobbi Rebell, author of How to Be a Financial Grownup. And you know what? Being a grownup is really hard, especially when it comes to money. But it's okay, we're going to get there together. I'm going to bring you one money story from a financial grownup, one lesson, and then my take on how you can make it your own. We got this.
Bobbi Rebell:
Hey, financial grownup friends. There is nothing wrong with putting love first, but sometimes things don't work out and we have to pick up the pieces. Not just of our heart, but also our finances. Kalika Yap did all that and so much more. She now runs a number of digital marketing ventures, some smaller IRL businesses, and has invented a device to keep handbags clean and off the floor. It's really cool, we'll talk about that. We get the scoop on all of it from this incredibly inspiring entrepreneur. Like all of our guests, Kalika is a high achiever, to say the least.
Bobbi Rebell:
And for those of you new to the show, welcome. That is what we do here at Financial Grownup, we talk to people who have made it and who we can learn from. And as is the case with Kalika Yap, these wonderful guests candidly reveal their challenges and money experiences so we can all benefit. And we do it all in about 15 minutes, because you're busy and we never want you to be able to not fit us into your day. And with that, let's get to Kalika Yap and find out how in fact she became this incredible role model. Here is Kalika Yap.
Bobbi Rebell:
Hey, Kalika Yap. You're a financial grownup, welcome to the podcast.
Kalika Yap:
Thank you so much.
Bobbi Rebell:
You are a serial entrepreneur and author, and we could take the whole podcast to go through your entire resume, but among your businesses are Citrus Studios, Orange and Bergamot, Luxe Link, which I'm fascinated with and we're going to circle back to that later. And you're an author, The Little Brand Book, which you have a co-author, Erika Brechtel. Am I saying her name correctly?
Kalika Yap:
Yes. And I also own a waxing salon in Honolulu.
Bobbi Rebell:
Awesome, you're into everything that we care about.
Kalika Yap:
Yeah.
Bobbi Rebell:
That's awesome. Well, I'm so happy to have you here and we're going to talk more about that in a few minutes, but I am really curious about the money story that you brought because you actually started your career on the East Coast because you had graduated from New York University.
Kalika Yap:
Right.
Bobbi Rebell:
You left the job for love, which is great, but then, somehow, you ended up across the country and homeless, working for under the table, six dollars an hour in an internet café. What happened and how did you turn it around?
Kalika Yap:
So My four-year college boyfriend had moved out to California to work at Frank Gehry's architect firm, so I wanted to join him. Joined him three weeks after I got there, he broke up with me so that he could date the receptionist and I didn't have a place to live, I didn't-
Bobbi Rebell:
And wait, you'd been together for four years.
Kalika Yap:
Yes, yeah.
Bobbi Rebell:
So it's not like you just moved out there on a whim. And you gave up your job.
Kalika Yap:
Yes. I was working at CNBC at the time and quite my job as a tape producer, moved out to California to be with him and try to find a job and [inaudible 00:03:57] I thought that we would get married.
Kalika Yap:
He dumped me at this internet café, that was the only place I knew where to go. So I would take the bus from Hermosa Beach, where I was living at the time, and would go to this internet café every single day because I didn't know what to do. And I became friends with the owners, and one of the owners said, "Hey, well, you know, I have space in our two-bedroom condo. You can sleep on the foot of one of the second bedrooms, if you want." So basically I didn't have a place to live, I crashed there for many weeks. They gave me a job making lattes and zucchini bread, for six dollars, under the table, while I was collecting unemployment.
Bobbi Rebell:
Oh, my goodness. Okay, so then what actually happens? I mean, how long did you do that for? What was it like? How did you then move into entrepreneurship?
Kalika Yap:
My mom and my grandmother were both teachers, and they said that if you want to learn something fast, teach it. And so while I was there, I created these internet workshops and they ended up being sponsored by a little-known company then, called Yahoo. I saw that they were sponsoring a whole bunch of workshops at Harvard and so I reached out to them and they-
Bobbi Rebell:
Right, because your background was in media.
Kalika Yap:
In media, right. And so I wanted to get more information and learn about the internet. And all my friends who were journalists, they were working at The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Today Show, they thought it was completely crazy, they thought it was completely nuts. And so I got the website kalika.com and I was like the brunt of all their jokes when I went to go visit them, and they just thought that it was the most ridiculous thing that I was getting into the internet. And I was trying to tell them like, "Hey, you should get an email address. You should really look into the internet." I think at the time there were only two websites that I was familiar with, it was just Amazon and Yahoo, and-
Bobbi Rebell:
What year was this?
Kalika Yap:
1996.
Bobbi Rebell:
1996.
Kalika Yap:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Bobbi Rebell:
So there was not really any news on the internet, that wasn't happening. What did you see that other people did not?
Kalika Yap:
I think at that point you realized that your intuition really can guide you. And because I was no longer distracted by a boyfriend, I was no longer distracted by the life in New York, I was just very quiet. And I started doing yoga as well at that time and got into meditation, is you become very clear about what you think is going to happen, and it was so clear for me. I get these intuition things even now today, I feel like some of the things that I see, these trends, really are three years ahead. That's really what it was, is I relied on my gut. I find that when I interview entrepreneurs or mentor entrepreneurs, when they have a strong gut it really can lead them the right way.
Bobbi Rebell:
I love that. So what happened next? You start producing this content for Yahoo.
Kalika Yap:
They sponsored these workshops and them from there, The Getty was looking for someone who had visual experience, and this was, again, in 1996, 1997, and I beat out a whole bunch of people with masters degrees and PhDs, because I already had six months of curriculum where I was teaching What is the Internet, The History of Internet, What is Chat. It was really quite fascinating. So I got a job at the J. Paul Getty Trust working at the LA Culture Net, which was a collaborative initiative project with the President's Office, the arts and education department in the Getty, and that's where I started my career.
Kalika Yap:
When I started getting paid more doing my web stuff than getting paid my annual salary, I thought that it was probably a good idea. And the Getty became my first client because I was doing so much. I went above and beyond my regular job, I started teaching workshops there. So I was considered, I guess, a web producer, web editor. I was updating the site, doing designs, just for arts department, but I went above and beyond. I started doing these search engine optimization round tables, I started doing all these workshops, teaching all these people at the museum, at the art institute, at [inaudible 00:07:41]. I just went above and beyond everything I was doing. And then when I left, there was, I guess, a hole. And so they hired me back and I started doing all their exhibition websites, we ended up doing their intranet. We did a lot of work for the Getty and it was incredible working with them, and I still work with them today.
Bobbi Rebell:
What is your takeaway for our listeners from all that?
Kalika Yap:
Listen to your intuition, I think is one. And also to pick up a book. I mean, the book that changed my life was The Energy of Money by Dr. Maria Nemeth. There, she talks about cleaning up your unfinished business with money. And for me it was paying back my parents because they had supported me during college and I had racked up all these credit card bills and basically made them pay for it, racked up all these parking tickets, basically made them pay for it, and realized that if I didn't understand what my values were, nothing could be successful for me. So one of my values is having integrity and having integrity is not making everyone else pay for your bills.
Kalika Yap:
So even though they didn't provide me with any type of invoice, I went back and I paid them for every single parking ticket, every single credit card bill, and I paid back all my student loans. I didn't have very much money, working at a full-time job, but I made it happen. I would shop at these secondhand vintage stores, and I would just save up my money and pay all my dues back. And from there I think I felt really free and I haven't looked back since.
Bobbi Rebell:
What is your everyday money tip? I love this because it's simple and yet it's going to enhance everyone's day-to-day focus.
Kalika Yap:
So every day we put in our password for any type of app, whatever we do, and so my password is my money goal. I put down how much money I want to make and it just reminds me of what my money goals are.
Bobbi Rebell:
So I don't want you to reveal any passwords that you currently have, but in the past what would be an example of how you would come up with a password?
Kalika Yap:
My first password was 4$million and I was able to surpass that after typing in that password many, many times. And then from there I just started increasing the number as I wanted to increase my revenue.
Bobbi Rebell:
Awesome. And it doesn't have to be literally just the number, it could be other kinds of goals.
Kalika Yap:
Right. It could be clarity, it could be focus, it could be ease, it could be grace. It could be a word that your intention for the year.
Bobbi Rebell:
Awesome. All right, let's talk more about your businesses. First of all, we went through the list of them. I don't want to ask you to pick favorites because I know they're all your babies, but I want to talk ... Because we have the holiday season coming up and I think it's really important for people to have good karma. There's one that you think is most focused on that.
Kalika Yap:
Right. So Luxe Link, I have the worldwide patents on purse hook that I invented. And I invented it because my grandmother always said don't put your purse on the floor. And while there were all these other hooks that look like actually J-hooks that have been around since the 1920s, I thought creating a hook that was a little bit more compact and easy to carry would be a great product to produce. So Luxe Link keeps your purse off the floor and it's really fantastic.
Bobbi Rebell:
Well, it's very elegant. It looks really pretty and it's nice because it's actually portable, so you could keep it with you as opposed to a lot of places they have them but then they don't and you end up with your purse on the floor, which is never fun.
Kalika Yap:
Right.
Bobbi Rebell:
Especially when you spend money on things. It's important, if we do invest in quality products, that we do take care of them.
Kalika Yap:
Right.
Bobbi Rebell:
So I think that's definitely a good idea to always be careful with the things that you invest in. So tell us more about where people can find you.
Kalika Yap:
My website, kalika.com, K-A-L-I-K-A dot com, has links to all my business. It has a link to my podcast, I have the EO Wonder podcast, which is for women entrepreneurs primarily. And I'm also on Wikipedia, I have a page on Wikipedia with links as well.
Bobbi Rebell:
Which is great. Thank you so much, Kalika.
Kalika Yap:
Thank you so much, Bobbi.
Bobbi Rebell:
Okay, my friends. Let's break this down. Financial grownup tip number one, mixed feelings about moving for love, but in Kalika's case she didn't have a plan for her own career. So that's my advice here. Not that you can't make compromises to make a relationship work, but never take your eye off the prize, which is you and your future of course. Even if they had stayed together, she had no specific financial plan for her career at the time that she moved. Financial grownup tip number two, read. Kalika took the time to open up a good old-fashioned book and it really inspired her. I have a lot of great authors on this program whose books I highly recommend, but whatever draws you in and inspires you. I hate to say it, but put down the phone, open a book and shut out the world for a little bit. It will open your mind and help you create and imagine your own opportunities. Maybe things you never though would interest you.
Bobbi Rebell:
All right, DM your favorite inspiring books. They could be business related but they don't have to be. On Instagram at bobbirebell1, on Twitter @bobbierebell, and you can email us always at hello@financialgrownup.com. And thanks to entrepreneur Kalika Yap for her wisdom today and helping us all get one step closer to being financial grownups.
Bobbi Rebell:
Financial Grownup with Bobbi Rebell is edited and produced by Steve Stewart and is a BRK Media production.
