Guest Article

The Top 3 Rules for Making Money!

Chellie Campbell, Financial Stress Reduction Expert

"In any business, there are jobs that are productive and sometimes confrontational, for they test you. And then there is all the other work, none of which earns any money." -Stuart Wilde

If you are in business for yourself, it is easy to let work fill every waking hour of your life. The problem is it becomes a habit. It’s what your mind tells you is necessary for your business survival. Then fear of financial insecurity runs your business and your business starts running you.

But that isn’t what you want! You want time to play, to paint, play golf, enjoy your children, have fabulous vacations!

You can have all that and here’s how: spend your time on the money-making activities of your business and outsource all the administrivia.

There are three rules for making money in business:

1. Do what makes money now. Can you pick up the phone today, make a call, make a sale and get money right now? Can you have a discount sale this weekend and have cash that day? Actual time working with a client falls under this category, along with sales.

2. Do what makes money soon. These are marketing activities that don’t directly produce income now, but produce contacts that will produce money soon. These are networking activities, newsletters, and emails that are going to produce money eventually, but not necessarily today. (Please note: marketing is not selling. See number 1.)

3. Do what makes money later. Some of your bigger sales will take longer to close. Big ships sail slower. Corporate sales may take months to close whereas you can close an individual client in a day. It took four years from my first idea before “The Wealthy Spirit” was published. I had to make sure I still did #1 activities while I was writing.

But in any case - do what makes money first!

Every other business activity is administrivia and can be put off, delegated, boiler-plated, streamlined, and otherwise made efficient and fast. 

Administrivia is the biggest time waster. The real reason—the hidden reason—we love to shuffle our papers is because it makes us feel like we are working, when really we are avoiding.

So the way we spend our work time actually breaks down like this:

A. Time spent doing things that make money
B. Time spent doing things that cost money
C. Time spent doing things that make you feel like you’re working but are really an avoidance of A.

What we are avoiding is the real work of the business—no, not the delivery of the product or service—we adore that part! That’s what we’re in business to do and why we started our business in the first place.

But we won’t have anyone to serve unless we do the most difficult and confrontational part of the business: We have to find prospects and sell them our products or services. 

Sales is the hard part—the confrontational part—of business. We don’t always like that so much. But that’s where the money is.

Chellie Campbell, Financial Stress Reduction Expert, is the author of bestselling books The Wealthy Spirit, Zero to Zillionaire, and From Worry to Wealthy: A Woman’s Guide to Financial Success Without the Stress. She has been treating Money Disorders like Spending Bulimia and Income Anorexia in her Financial Stress Reduction® Workshops for over 25 years and is still speaking, writing, and teaching workshops—now as Zoom classes and The Wealthy Spirit Group on Facebook—with participants from all over the world. Website: www.chellie.com.

Therapists of Color (TOC) Grant Award Committee

LA-CAMFT's Therapists of Color Grant Awardees and Thoughts

Marvin Whistler, Mediator

On February 24, 2025, the most recent awardees of the LA-CAMFT TOC GRANT AWARD were randomly selected. They are Cassidy Fan and Praisye Yeo.  Each will receive a check for $530, and free admission to 3 LA-CAMFT workshops or networking events with the exception of the Law & Ethics Workshop. The next cycle for the grant will begin on May 1, 2025.  It is limited to members of LA-CAMFT, and the award is limited to once per calendar year. At the end of this article, there is an update on the impact that the award has had on awardees and their thoughts on its value.

Description of Grant Stipend

Every 4 months (3x per year), a grant award will be offered to two applicants who meet the following criteria: (1) must be a current LA-CAMFT member, (2) identify as a Therapist of Color, and (3) must be either an Associate, Trainee, or Student still in graduate school.

Grant winners will receive

• $530 to be spent at the winner’s discretion
• Free admission to 3 LA-CAMFT workshops or networking events of the winner’s choosing with the exception of the Law & Ethics Workshop.

The $530 award can be used at the recipient’s discretion based on their own individual needs (whether it be for BBS fees, testing materials, memberships, rent, groceries, etc.). Confirmation for the purpose that the money is used will not be required.

Application and Selection Process

Interested members can complete the application on the LA-CAMFT website. The selection process entails using a Randomized Generator of the applicants who met the full criteria and complete the application online to take out human bias and decrease activation of one's trauma history. The drawing will be recorded via Zoom and posted onto social media along with an announcement naming the grant winners, whom will also be contacted via email directly. Registration for the next award cycle will open on May 1, 2025 and will close on June 28, 2025. The drawing will take place on June 29, 2025.

Awardees' thoughts on the LA-CAMFT TOC Grant Award

IMPACT OF THE GRANT

"It was very helpful. I was poor when I was an AMFT."

"The grant was very impactful as it eased the burden of some of the costs associated with the MFT process (training and supplies, L&E study materials, etc.)! The grant provided relief and helped finances feel less constrained as a trainee and now Associate."

"I found the grant very helpful to me particularly during a time when I was in dire need of additional funding & support to help keep me on track for the future."

"The grant was very impactful for me, as it helped me to pay my final fees, associated with my graduate program, so that I could finish strong. Every little bit counts, so I am very grateful to have been able to use this money to help toward that end."

VALUE OF THE GRANT

"I just want to express my sincere gratitude to the TOC Grant committee for this program as it truly helps alleviate some of the systemic socioeconomic gaps in this field that passionate therapists of color such as myself have to navigate in our journeys to becoming competent licensed mental health clinicians."

"I appreciate that this grant exists and can be applied to very easily. The gesture is meaningful and I hope other TOC are taking advantage of it."

"It really touched me. SFV chapter started giving scholarships too. I think TOC Grant was a positive influence to the therapists community."

"One additional comment I’d like to make is that it is very helpful that we are able to use the grant money at our own discretion. Removing limitations is advantageous because life happens to us all, and in order for us to be able to do our work well, sometimes we need to be able to address other situations, financially, that may directly or indirectly impact our work." 

Best regards,

The LA-CAMFT TOC Grant Committee

LA-CAMFT’s Declaration
of Inclusion, Diversity, and Anti-Racism

Psychotherapy can be transformative in a democratic society, and can open intellectual inquiry that, at its best, influences and results in lasting positive change. In recognition of our shared humanity and concern for our community and world, LA-CAMFT loudly and overtly disavows all racism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, classism, ableism, ageism, and hate speech or actions that attempt to silence, threaten, and degrade others. We in LA-CAMFT leadership hereby affirm our solidarity with those individuals and groups most at risk and further declare that embracing diversity and fostering inclusivity are central to the mission of our organization.

As mental health professionals, we value critical reasoning, evidence-based arguments, self-reflection, and the imagination. We hope to inspire empathy, advocate for social and environmental justice, and provide an ethical framework for our clients, our community, and ourselves.

We in LA-CAMFT leadership are committed to:

(1) the recognition, respect, and affirmation of differences among peoples

(2) challenging oppression and structural and procedural inequities that exist in society, generally, and in local therapeutic, agency, and academic settings

(3) offering diverse programming content and presenters throughout our networking event calendar, as well as in our workshops, trainings, and special events

While we traverse the turbulent seas of the important and necessary changes taking place in our country, in order to form a “more perfect union.” we wish to convey our belief that within our community exists an immense capacity for hope. We believe in and have seen how psychotherapy, therapeutic relationships, and mental health professions can be agents of positive change, without ignoring or denying that the practice and business of psychiatry, psychology, and psychotherapy have historically been the cause of great harm, trauma, and emotional toll, particularly for people of color and other marginalized groups. We are committed to doing our part to help remedy that which we have the position, privilege, and/or resources to do so.

At LA-CAMFT events, all members are welcome regardless of race/ethnicity, gender identities, gender expressions, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, disabilities, religion, regional background, Veteran status, citizenship, status, nationality and other diverse identities that we each bring to our professions. We expect that leadership and members will promote an atmosphere of respect for all members of our community.

In a diverse community, the goal of inclusiveness encourages and appreciates expressions of different ideas, opinions, and beliefs, so that potentially divisive conversations and interactions become opportunities for intellectual and personal growth. LA-CAMFT leadership wants to embrace this opportunity to create and maintain inclusive and safe spaces for all of our members, free of bias, discrimination, and harassment, where people will be treated with respect and dignity and where all individuals are provided equitable opportunity to participate, contribute, and succeed.

We value your voice in this process. If you feel that our leadership or programming falls short of this commitment, we encourage you to get involved, and to begin a dialogue with those in leadership. It is undeniable that the success of LA-CAMFT relies on the participation, support, and understanding of all its members.

Wishing good health to you and yours, may you find yourself centered in feelings of abundance, safety, belonging, and peace.

Standing together,
The LA-CAMFT Board of Directors and Diversity Committee