058: Nikki Gajoo-Frielinghaus – Financial Freedom, Self-Growth & Following Your Passion

Nikki Gajoo-Frielinghaus is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), certified life coach, certified money coach, certified business archetype coach, and an NLP practitioner. Nikki is also the founder of Opulentus Wealth Management, an advisory practice based in South Africa, and Imali Coaching, where she assists individuals, business owners, and couples to transform their relationship with money.

Today, Nikki joins the show to discuss self-growth and personal development, the decision to shift from CFP to coaching, and what inspired her to make this leap.

📺 Watch on YouTube

https://youtu.be/2Rx13AqrErA

Key Takeaways

00:52 – Jonathan reads another five-star review from a recent guest of the podcast

02:04 – Jonathan introduces today’s guest, Nikki Gajoo-Frielinghaus, who joins the show to open up about the loss of her father and financial lessons that came out of that experience

13:08 – The shifting dynamic of finances in the lives of couples

21:34 – Differences between CFPs and CMCs in South Africa and America

30:35 – Nikki’s career progression

35:33 – What inspired Nikki to launch Opulentus Wealth Management

45:34 – How Nikki differentiates coaching clients from financial planning clients

52:02 – One piece of financial advice to heed and one thing to completely ignore

57:23 – One thing Nikki would like her clients to know about her and the one question she would want to know the answer to

1:00:36 – Jonathan thanks Nikki for joining the show today and lets listeners know where to connect with her

Tweetable Quotes

“I’d say, for me, a turning point in terms of finances was at that point in time – after the age of fourteen – because then I sort of got a reality check. My mom did whatever she could to provide for us, but instead of getting five Christmas presents, we were only getting two. So, that shift in terms of our financial situation became very apparent when my dad had passed on.” (06:31) (Nikki)

“At that young age in my teens, I was very clear no matter where life took me, what was going to become very important for me in my lifetime would be financial independence. And not only financial independence, but just independence in general.” (11:21) (Nikki)

“I think it would definitely be linked to legislation, definitely from a tax perspective. So I think that’s the big thing because we’re both CFPs. I’m part of the Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa. That’s my geographic location, and I guess yours would be the USA. So, I’d say the biggest thing would be legislation linked to tax laws.” (21:54) (Nikki)

“I’d say, for me, it was more looking internally, introspecting, and realizing that there was so much more that I needed in order to advise clients, specifically clients who had larger sums of money. And that is what led me to the CFP qualification.” (34:21) (Nikki)

“I’m unsure of what your experiences were in the States during Covid, but here in South Africa, because I work with a lot of either business clients or investment clients, the initial knee-jerk reaction was, ‘Cash out! Cash out! Cash out!’ Now, you and I both know that is the wrong thing to do. You stick it out. The market will rectify itself. You stick to your goals. You keep calm. You keep going. But, it didn’t matter what I said to clients. They were not interested in hearing the technical side of it. They were so driven by emotion, and I just couldn’t communicate with clients.” (39:54) (Nikki)