Sept. 19, 2024

This paid piece is sponsored by First National Wealth Management.

“Essentially, I worked so hard to reach a status and a financial level that then I had to use that same money to get my health back.”

After growing up in a paycheck-to-paycheck household, Diana Cabrices — founder of Diana Cabrices Consulting — worked so hard to achieve financial security that she began to pay the price with her health.

“I gained a lot of weight. I had insulin resistance. My cholesterol was really high,” Cabrices said on an episode of the Sioux Falls podcast “Common Cents on the Prairie.”™

“So I spent the money. It wasn’t cheap, but I spent the money — because I had earned the money — to get my health back and into a good place.”

Today, Cabrices said she’s focused on finding balance. More specifically, a balance between her health and her wealth.

“I’m forever changed,” she said. “Because, even though I have that scarcity mindset, I will take everything with a balance. I have to say ‘no’ more. I have to know when to let go of a relationship, like a client or to put myself first.”

The business founder joined Adam Cox, host of the financial education podcast from First National Wealth Management, to share her story with the hope of inspiring others.

Growing up with a scarcity mindset

“I still have these experiences with money from childhood when it was very scarce that have changed the way I look at it,” Cabrices said.

She was born in Florida, then her family moved to Georgia so her dad could launch his own business.

Cabrices was 18 months old when he passed away.

“And my mom couldn’t handle the business,” she said, “so that kind of started our money journey.”

One example Cabrices recalls of their financial struggles was the stress around school photos and yearbooks each year.

“My mom always used to put so much effort into our hair and how we looked for the school picture day,” she said. “And by the time we got the samples, it was always like, OK, now we have to figure out a way to actually get the photos.”

Cabrices remembers her mom dropping her and her sisters off at school and saying: “Today’s the last day. I’ll be back later today with $20 so you can get your photos.”

Another core memory is accompanying her mom to take out a loan each Christmas.

“During the holidays, we would always go to the loan officer so that we could have a good Christmas,” Cabrices said, “which I give my mom so much credit for that.

“When you’re an outsider, you might say, like, ‘Oh, that’s really irresponsible to go get a loan every Christmas to just enjoy the holiday,’” she continued. “But at the same time, it created so many beautiful memories for me and my sisters.”

One of those memories is going to the store to buy toys, after which her mom would take her and her sisters to a random lower-class neighborhood to drop off those toys at people’s houses.

“That was very big-hearted of my mom,” Cabrices said, “because even when we didn’t have money, she always found a way to give back.”

Through these experiences, Cabrices learned to live with a scarcity mindset, which would go on to affect everything from her first job to her future business.

‘Who’s going to care for my future?’

As a single mother living paycheck to paycheck, Cabrices’ mom often would work a second job just to make ends meet.

“I was the youngest, so I would usually tag along with her,” Cabrices said. “Like sitting at the restaurant booth in the back while she finished cleaning tables or something like that. In this case, she got a job throwing newspapers.”

So Cabrices and her mother would go in the middle of the night to pick up their stack of newspapers and make their deliveries.

“We had a route, and I was the one out the window just throwing the newspapers,” she said. “I mean, that builds character.”

Her next job as soon as she was old enough was at the McDonald’s up the street from their house.

And because all she had ever known was a scarcity mindset and a strong work ethic, those early experiences with earning money followed Cabrices long into her post-college career.

“When I landed that first $50,000 job, I thought my life was made,” she said. “I had achieved more than what my mom had achieved. I had gotten myself to a place where I could sustain forever.”

Yet all those years of scarcity manifested into a constant fear that something bad was going to happen.

“I’m always feeling like, if something bad were to happen tomorrow — which it probably would because bad things would happen to us as kids — then I would be broke again,” Cabrices said. “And, like, I have to work, work, work, work, work in this hamster wheel because if I don’t, who’s going to care for my future?”

Finding a balance between health and wealth

Skip ahead a few chapters, and Cabrices founded her business, Diana Cabrices Consulting, in January 2023.

“I’ve always played it a bit safe,” she said. “It wasn’t until I launched my business that, for the first time, I took a really big risk.”

Wanting to ensure that the risk would pay off, Cabrices worked herself right into health issues.

“In just this last year, I started seeing a functional doctor,” she said. “And I think she really made me open my eyes to the fact that I worked myself so hard since launching my business.”

“You have to find a balance,” she continued. “Otherwise, you’re literally going to be on one side of the house or the other.”

Despite it all, however, Cabrices believes that launching her own business has been her best financial decision yet.

She even has a five-figure check, which she received for a keynote speaking gig, that she’s planning to frame.

The check will serve as a reminder that she’s achieving her dreams. Meanwhile, she hopes her story will serve as a reminder to others that it is possible to have success while still maintaining a balance between your health and your wealth.

“I can always work more,” Cabrices said. “I can always take on more opportunities as they present themselves instead of saying no. But then I sacrifice my health — and I don’t want to do that.”

Watch the full episode of “Common Cents on the Prairie” below to hear Diana Cabrices’ full story!

And if you find yourself inspired by her experiences, reach out to Adam Cox and the team at First National Wealth Management; they’d love to start a conversation.

Any comments, insights or strategies discussed in this article are intended to be general in nature and, therefore, may not be suitable for you and your situation, whatever that may be. Before acting on anything written here, please consult with your attorney, CPA and/or your financial advisor.