#2: 3 Hard Truths It's Time to Face

You don’t need another financial hack. You need to face the truth.

In this unapologetically honest episode, Chelsea Williams, Chief Financial Architect of Core Solutions Group and financial strategist for law firm owners, gets real about what’s actually keeping so many legal professionals stuck in scarcity.

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by financial pressure, trapped in debt, or like your money never seems to reflect how hard you work—this one’s for you.

Chelsea shares:

1. The one mindset shift that every financially free law firm owner has made
2. Why your money habits—not lack of knowledge—are sabotaging your progress
3. How your personal boundaries may be directly affecting your bottom line
4. What to do when your passion project or firm isn’t profitable (yet)
5. The truth about financial freedom—and why it’s never found, only builtWith warmth, clarity, and straight talk, Chelsea walks you through the 3 hard truths that changed her business, her mindset, and her money—and shows you how to apply them to your own life starting today.

This episode isn’t about guilt. It’s about liberation. Tune in to reclaim your financial peace and commit to building wealth the real way: with patience, purpose, and strategy.

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Transcript

[00:00:00] This is also why I appreciate money, because it's a really good place to start in life. It gives us this very black and white inanimate picture, but because money is a reflection of you, 'cause money is a tool, the way it's dressed up, the way it looks and appears in the way it moves, that is all you and your energy and your focus and your priorities.

So if this is all speaking to you. I would recommend asking your question and thinking long and hard, and even journaling around what are you pretending not to see in your money, in your relationships in life? Because most of us don't need more advice, we need to change our habits and what we're doing.

Welcome to the CSG Law Firm Podcast, where we talk all things law firm, finance, operations, strategies, and feature those who have dared to embrace bold [00:01:00] changes in the legal landscape. I'm your host, Chelsea Williams, founder of Core Solutions Group, and Chief Financial Architect for law firms since 2017. I get the rare glimpse behind the curtain and into operations, mindset and money habits that make or break law firms.

Since COVID, everything we thought we knew about how a law firm should run, look and feel have been shattered. And out of that disruption, a new kind of law firm owner has emerged. One who's bold enough to build outside the box. Around here, we spotlight those renegades owners who blend legal brilliance with real business strategy, who build boldly, think creatively, and know that money isn't just math, it's mindset.

We don't shy away from hard truths. We lean in with curiosity, grit, and a little humor. Whether you're scaling, stabilizing, or just trying to stay sane, you'll find stories, strategies, and straight talk to help you run a more profitable value-driven law firm. So grab your coffee or your case files and let's get into it because it's time to ditch the stuffy suits and take control of your cash flow.

Build something bold and prioritize protecting profits in your pocket.[00:02:00] 

I think in today's day and age at this point, we have heard and been just diluted with so many messages. A lot of us are waking up to those messages, validity, and how it is lacking, and we're really looking for the truth. And here's what I have come to really trust and understand. Truths can be hard to hear and hard to accept.

I. And I have a mantra that I live by. Kindness is greater than being nice. See, there's a difference between being kind and being nice. Nice to me is when we're trying to make somebody feel better. Kind is where we speak the truth. Coming from a place of love, even if it stings a little bit. So today's episode isn't about surface level finance.

It's about the hard truths I had to learn, the ones that actually changed my life and business. So I wanna share [00:03:00] three hard truths with you today. The first of which is you don't need more advice. You need to face your habits. I got a DM from what I consider a family member kind of extended and we don't talk all the time, but I love and adore her and she reached out to me because she knows that I work with people and their money and she's like, Hey, do you help people like with their money and getting it in order and talking about debt and all of these things?

And I'm like, yeah, absolutely. Gimme a call. Let's just talk about it. And the first thing she said when we started to talk on the phone a few days later was, you know, I think I really just, I know what I need to do. I just, I need to do it. She's like, there's probably nothing you're gonna say that I don't know.

I'm just struggling and I need help. And I find that's. True with a lot of the individuals that I work with, they have this really solid idea of what they need to do, and a lot of 'em are [00:04:00] right for the most part. Hard truth number one. A lot of you don't really need more advice. You need to face your habits.

Right now, we are inundated with advice. Hacks information. Some of it's saying this, some of it's saying that some of it is just flat out wrong, especially in the financial space. Some of it is incredibly misleading. You know, I have these, uh, I have friends that send me reels on people giving business advice, tax advice, money advice, and they're like, Hey, is this legit?

And it'll be ael of like. How to get a $200,000 business loan from blah, blah, blah. You know, create an EIN and submit an application and do this and do that. And it's like, well, I mean, yeah, it would probably work to get the money. I. But you just created a business to get the money. What's your business gonna be?

How are you gonna pay it [00:05:00] back? Like a lot of us are looking for a quick fix. And in the world of finance, there are very few, if any quick overnight fixes. The problem is we are looking for a fast solution, but the problem isn't that you can't get the information or a way to deploy something with your money that's gonna actually work in the long run.

The problem is most of us avoid doing the things most of us avoid taking action, getting a grip, organizing and managing. Proactively and intentionally managing our money, which means looking at it, which means monitoring how much cash is where, what's coming up, planning bills, and focusing on how can I make more money.

So with my family member that called me, you know, and this is why I [00:06:00] prefer to start. Helping someone with a conversation. I genuinely come from a place of curiosity, and my first question is usually, so tell me the story because I. If you listen to my podcast, you know and understand that everybody has a money story and it is ingrained into them from a very young age, and they have the power to change that story.

So what I do when I talk to someone for the first time about what it is they're struggling with in their finance, I listen and I come from a place of curiosity of non-judgment because everybody's story is valid. I listen. I listen to how they tell their story and the pivotal storylines that they bring up that inevitably shaped or impacted where they are now that they have felt the need to reach out and ask for help.

The next question I asked her, because she had told me I [00:07:00] was doing really good, and now I'm just deviating from the plan. Part of what she told me when we were chatting. Is that It's been a weird year, a great year, but I just haven't made the progress I wanted to, and I had asked her, why haven't you made the progress that you wanted to?

The story that she told me behind that there was a consistency, and it was that other people that she was involved with in her life had circumstances that led to her deviating from her financial plan. And so while she knew the logistical steps that she needed to take to get her money plan back into action, what was important in her conversation was recognizing and looking at how did you fall out of the plan?

And it wasn't outside influence. That was the only thing. It was also that she was so determined to pay off her [00:08:00] debt. That she overextended her budget in order to do so. Now, what that did is that. She had financial burnout. She was hellbent on getting this debt paid off, which is amazing and I love that.

But understand that there is a balance. Even if you are in a financial position where you are on paper behind in the form of debt, you still have to prioritize you, you, your fun money. That money that you can go blow on whatever the hell you want and feel no guilt about it. And look, if that's one Starbucks drink.

Uh, every other week. And that feels small to you. No, that is something you gotta start somewhere. And we all have our little simple pleasures. So it is important that even if you have a financial plan and it involves something like paying off debt or starting to invest in a, a retirement vessel, [00:09:00] you still have to prioritize and balance.

Your fun money and your future self money. So after our conversation, you know, one of the things that she was going to have to look at in her habits wasn't really a technical money habit. It was her habit of allowing other people to cross the financial boundary and. Practicing having those hard conversations, upholding her own boundaries and all of that was the challenge to do all of this while still coming from a place of love.

We don't wanna lose family and friends over money. Nobody does, but it happens all the time because we don't know how to have. A conversation around loaning somebody some money or paying for something for somebody, and they say they'll pay you back and they start paying you in payments and the payments are late and you're chasing it.

Nobody wants to lose a [00:10:00] relationship because of a financial situation like that. So one of the things that you can do, if this is. Speaking to you is practice those conversations because here's the thing and why it's always a never about money. If you are having a hard time having money conversations and setting your money boundaries and not allowing other people to cross boundaries that are going to risk your financial security, chances are you're probably exercising that same relationship habit.

In other areas of those relationships that don't have anything to do with money. And so this is also why I appreciate money, because it's a really good place to start in life. It gives us this very black and white inanimate picture, but because money is a reflection of you. 'cause money is a tool, the way it's dressed up, the way it looks and appears and the way it moves, that is all you and your energy and your focus.

And your [00:11:00] priorities. So if this is all speaking to you, I would recommend asking your question and thinking long and hard, and even journaling around what are you pretending not to see in your money, in your relationships in life? Because most of us don't need more advice. We need to change our habits and what we're doing.

Hard. Truth number two, if your financial equation is not profitable, you are living in scarcity. This is another thing that if you listen to me at all, you probably know what I mean when I say your financial equation, but we are all, everybody on this planet is living in the same exact equation, and that is money earned.

Minus money spends equals money kept to save and invest. Whether you work a job, whether you own a business, if you have a side hustle, doesn't matter if your [00:12:00] equation is not profitable, you are living in scarcity. And this is what we hear called the net zero mindset. A lot of people are living in a net zero equation, meaning we spend everything of what we make.

Therefore, we have nothing left to keep and save and invest. So if your equation is profitable, that means you have money to keep, that you are saving and that some of that you are investing. And if your equation is not profitable, you are living in scarcity, meaning you are one major life event from your equation being broken, turned upside down, going into the negative, which means debt.

A lot of us have purpose and passion in our lives, whether it is through a job that you love and adore and truly believe in, whether it is your business and you love what you do over there, whether [00:13:00] it's real estate, and you really enjoy that investment model. Some of us are incredibly purpose driven. But we are hiding behind that passion and avoiding the numbers.

I have come across so many people who work jobs they love and who have a, an incredibly honorable mission, but they're not getting paid enough to survive and they have to make a hard decision of. Do I do something else? I work with business owners who have created a business on paper behind something they're incredibly passionate about, but it's not profitable and therefore they are suffering because.

They don't understand how to rebalance that business equation, using that passion to generate profits. And so what we as a whole can work on is shifting our perspective. Profit is not greedy. [00:14:00] It is sustainable. You. Deserve to live a life of peace and enjoy moments with people who you love and you deserve to afford whatever that's going to cost you, whatever your vision is.

And we have to let go of guilt around wanting that because what you're choosing between is. Sacrificing your peace of mind or making the hard decisions of changing your equation. Your equation deserves to be profitable. Nobody should have to live from scarcity hard. Truth number three, financial freedom isn't something that is found.

It is something that is built. Brick by brick. And this, I notoriously talk about lottery winners when we're talking about overnight success, quick fixes, [00:15:00] financial freedom that you just stumble upon what comes quick, tends to leave quicker, and there are so many instances where that is proven. Financial freedom is something that is.

Built it is built slowly, steadily. Sometimes some bricks fall off and you got a plaster 'em back on there. I don't build walls, so if plaster's the wrong word, let me have that one. It takes patience. It takes consistency. And again, when we're talking about being patient with your money and consistent with your money, we're talking about living within your equations, within your means, even if it's not what you want to do Now.

And being okay with stepping up one stone at a time. That lack of patience and lack of consistency is not something that you're just struggling with in your money. Heck, I struggle with it in my daily routines. I want a daily ritual, but I also don't [00:16:00] like. Mundane, repetitive, same exact thing. I like to spice it up.

I like to do things different, so I continue to experiment with, I have a daily ritual, but how that ritual looks, feels how long it is, is different every day. So it's almost like I am consistently inconsistent. And one of my favorite metaphors around doing something consistently over time for a long-term goal is by Usain Bolt.

So I love track and field ran it. When I was younger, I was so close to going to a college that had an Olympic training center and that was my goal. And then life happened, but that's for another story. Usain Bolt has a quote where he says, I trained four years for a nine second race, and some people give up in three months.

So using elite athletes as an example of what it really takes to create wealth and financial freedom [00:17:00] is perfect because it's the habit. It's the showing up when nobody's there to cheer you on. Look, I used to run track and field. Track and field is not like a basketball game or a football game where you have a stadium full of people and all that adrenaline is going and everybody's watching you.

Track and field is a very humble sport. Our stadiums were pretty bare. There weren't a lot of people there, and you train so hard and nobody sees it. Track and field is literally exert your body to its complete potential for as long as you can, as long as the race is. It's also incredibly strategic. It's not just simply run a race.

There are milestones and meters and your form matters. It's incredibly technical, but nobody sees the work that we put in. But we show up every day, every season, every year for just the chance to win a medal. [00:18:00] So here's what I wanna encourage you to do. What can you commit to building quietly, patiently for the next year?

Is that a budget? Is that setting aside for savings? But remembering that financial freedom is not something that you are just going to find. It is going to be something that you have to build. So what is it that you can commit to building right now? And I want you to know from the bottom of my heart, these three truths.

Come from a place of love. They are not meant to leave you feeling guilty or in shame. They're meant to liberate you, to call you to action on behalf of yourself, because I want this for you. Thanks for tuning into the CSG Law Firm Podcast. If today's conversation sparks something for you, an idea, a challenge, or even a little discomfort.

That's exactly the point. We are here to rethink the way law firm owners approach money, leadership, and growth. If you're ready to dive deeper, [00:19:00] connect with me and my team and learn more about Core Solutions Group and what we do. Head on over to our website in the show notes, door core solution.com because sometimes all it takes is a fresh perspective and the right people in your corner.

Until next time, keep building with intention, lead with clarity and remember the numbers, tell the story, but you get to write the next chapter.