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Clearing a New Path

Gaining confidence in managing money

Learning how to forecast and budget helps “Clearing a New Path” podcast founder take control of her finances

The challenge

Shauna Rae launched a podcast called “Clearing a New Path” to connect with underserved audiences in rural Ontario and shine a light on the race and justice issues she supports. Though she was proud of her early success, managing the finances of her business created so much anxiety that she would often avoid bookkeeping and basic accounting work. Shauna applied to the Managing Money & Risk lab to better understand how she was spending money and learn systems to build her accountability.

Shauna also wanted guidance in creating advertising opportunities and a media kit to use with sponsors. Given that she reaches rural residents across Ontario, she needed a way to communicate the value of her community engagement without relying on scale to sign partnerships.

“After Tackling My Finances, I Can Sleep At Night Now. And I Feel Like I Can Be Really Fulfilled. I’M Putting In A Lot Of Hours, You Know, But I Don'T Get Tired Because I Love What I'M Doing.”

Shauna Rae
Founder, Radar Media

The results

Shauna was paired with coach Graham Watson-Ringo, who helped Shauna embrace her vulnerability around finances and become less fearful of tracking how she spent money. Shauna also benefited from the virtual course on money management taught by City Bureau’s Harry Backlund. Learning how to budget helped Shauna realize she was blending her personal and professional finances and overspending on expenses (like conference travel) that weren’t necessarily leading to revenue growth.

Graham also helped Shauna develop a media kit that emphasized her penetration into over 500 rural communities. Shauna began reaching out to potential sponsors with Graham as a feedback partner. Shauna signed an annual sponsorship worth $20,000 and is engaging with multiple potential sponsors to support her growth. She is also working to hire students of color in 2023 to bring more young voices into the podcast.

Successes:

Developed media kit focusing on reach and engagement

Launched a members-only newsletter

Signed $20,000 annual sponsor

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