This Nurse is Building Wealth to Buy Time to Live His Life’s Purpose- Ep. 8
Daniel graduated from nursing school in 2010 in the middle of the recession. It took him over a year to find a job, and he decided the way new grads find and apply for jobs was broken. So he built the website NewGradNurseHelp.com as a side business.
He now works for the tech startup Trusted Health which is completely changing the game for travel nurses. Daniel shares life and financial hacks and how playing poker professionally changed the way he looks at money.
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Links mentioned:
Mister Money Mustache Blog https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/
Boglehead forum https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/index.php
BiggerPockets forum https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums
Capital One 360 Banking Account https://capital.one/2CvryHB
4 Hour Work Week Book/ Podcast
https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9yc3MuYXJ0MTkuY29tL3RpbS1mZXJyaXNzLXNob3c%3D&hl=en
Pat Flynn Book/Podcast
I Will Teach You to be Rich https://amzn.to/31YfCZ9
Trusted Health Articles
https://www.trustedhealth.com/blog/nurse-entrepreneur-daniel-diaz
https://www.trustedhealth.com/blog/nurses-money-wealthier-doctors
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TRANSCRIPT:
Naseema McElroy: 03:51 All right. So, we have Daniel Diaz today. Hey Daniel, go ahead and give a brief introduction of yourself and then can talk about what you're doing now as a nurse.
Daniel Diaz: 04:03 Hey, thanks for having me. I started on the floor in 2010 or I graduated in 2010 from nursing school right in the middle of the recession and it took me over a year to find a job, which was horrible. And, I started working on the floor, on a telemetry floor and then I transitioned to the operating room.
Naseema McElroy: 04:24 Uh oh, what happened?
Daniel Diaz: 04:27 Yeah. And through that process, like on my off days, I wanted to solve the problem of how difficult it is for new grads to find their first job. Like there's no reason why it has to be that hard to find a job. It's just like simply that nobody cares to solve that problem and like there's not a lot of money in it because new grads don't have any money. And then, hospitals don't want to pay for new grads because they're untrained and they have to spend money to train them. So, like it's all just really hard for no reason. And, I think that's a bad way for nurses to be introduced into the industry. So I am in newgradnursehelp.com as a side business. And then, that just kind of streamlines the process of finding a job. Like I list all the application windows for the new grad programs and then there's like a direct link to the job posting on the website. So you don't have to like go through the really poorly coded website on the hospital end to try to find the top post. You just like click the link and it goes straight to it.
Naseema McElroy: 05:25 Yeah. I think that's amazing. So you graduated the year after I graduated from nursing school, so I know the struggle all too real. So when I graduated in 2009, in our class of 83, only three of us had jobs. So, I wish this existed then. But then, before creating this because it is super hard as a new grad, I mean I'm so glad that you're solving a problem that's so desperately needed because as a new grad, i'ts extremely hard to find a job. And the only reason why I had a job was because by some stroke of luck. Before I went to nursing school, I had like this temp job through a temp agency where I worked at a hospital in nursing administration as like a secretary. It was like something that I was doing just until I started nursing school because I was in healthcare administration before and it was just like this kind of bridge to get me into nursing school. But that job worked out and when I graduated, you know, all the managers knew me, so they were just like, where do you want to work basically? But that was an extreme fluke, so I'm glad that she created it because it's super duper hard for nurses coming out of school to find jobs. So currently right now, Daniel, can you talk to me about what you're doing? Are you currently working as a nurse?
Daniel Diaz: 06:38 Yeah, I'm actually not. So that's the thing that you gotta, if you think of the listeners want to hear more about that. But right now I worked for a tech startup called Trusted Health. And Trusted Health is in the travel nursing space. It's like disrupting and revolutionizing the travel nursing space. Basically just making the user experience as awesome as it is using any other popular apps that you use, but for travel nursing, so there's like a friend information about your contracts and then you get paired with an actual registered nurse who's the person that interfaces between the hospital and you. So, like you have somebody that actually knows what you're going through, which is huge for travelers. I never traveled myself, so I'm.
Naseema McElroy: 07:21 Yeah, I never travel. But I work with tons of travelers and I know that there's so many barriers. Like even just looking at it like I had some interest in and I was just like, there's too much stuff to figure out here. I don't know how they do it, but they do it.
Daniel Diaz: 07:34 Yeah. I have to try to figure out what was going on. Like the model and it's so confusing. There's like travels, stipend meals and incidentals and then the housing stuff, but it's like eliminated based off of your zip code and then there's taxable and nontaxable money. It's like, it's really confusing. So, for any travelers out there that are listening to this that also think it's really confusing, check out Trusted Help and it's way easier. So...
Naseema McElroy: 07:56 Do you guys partner people with housing because that's another hard thing. Especially like I know a lot of people who travel like from the south to the bay area and they're just like, oh my God it's so expensive. Like where can I stay when I'm working out here?
Daniel Diaz: 08:08 Exactly. Yeah. Nothing official yet there. We're working on on some stuff with some of the popular other services that are doing that, so definitely stay tuned for that.
Naseema McElroy: 08:17 So don't steal my idea, but like I totally want to pitch Airbnb, for Airbnb type site just for nurses because the need is so much there like nurses are all scattered around. I feel like there's a market share there that's so large that if they tap into it, they can really make a lot of money. Especially like with the insurances and all that stuff that Airbnb offers. I feel like more people will open up their homes to nurses, which will give more opportunities for people to travel if they knew. Yeah. And on both sides it takes that interaction like a level of interaction and out of there, you know, a level of, what is it called? You know what Amazon tries to a lot of over friction out. [laughs] That can help a lot with travel nursing and even our travelers like where I work because you know, the Bay Area pays nurses so well. We have, like I said, nurses from everywhere and if they could just go to this site and oh, I'm saying that they're not just travelers, they're per diem. They actually are staff at the hospital but they have to navigate their housing every time they come out to. So, I feel like it's a huge market that Airbnb or another company like that or maybe even yours since it's already in that space can kind of disrupt because I feel like there's a lot of potential there.
Daniel Diaz: 09:30 Yeah, for sure. I've thought about that a lot. I'm like, if you're a lot more like how do you do want somebody with like really good income that's not going to get fired. And that also is guaranteed to not throw parties when they're not working. Like they're sleeping, you know, like nurses are perfect.
Naseema McElroy: 09:49 Yeah. Nurses come out. They work and they sleep. They work and they sleep. Like that's it. Like they're at like the perfect house guest, perfect tenant. Like, yeah. So I think that nobody steal my idea, but you know, you heard it here first. [laughs].
Daniel Diaz: 10:08 Yeah. I'm sure somebody's working on it.
Naseema McElroy: 10:09 Right? So Daniel, can you talk to us a little bit about where you are with your finances, your views on financial independence and how nursing ties into that?
Daniel Diaz: 10:20 Yeah, so where I'm at personally, financially, I think I'm like in the first mile of a 20 mile marathon or 21-minute mile marathon for sure. Fortunately, I don't have like a tremendous amount of debt. I was able to graduate from nursing school without any debt due to playing online poker for living back then. And then also some help from family members, which was awesome.
Naseema McElroy: 10:45 Another interesting story. Online poker player. Yes.
Daniel Diaz: 10:50 I did. I did that too. Yeah. And then, [inaudible] to nursing is one of the things that nursing gives you is perspective. And most people, they have like a near death experience or experience like facing their own mortality once, right? At the end or maybe a handful of times if they're reckless or really unluckily throughout their life. But nurses face death every single day. And one of the lessons that I learned from that, just the kind of mindset that I've taken from those experiences is I started asking myself a question of age old question that we all try to answer is what is the meaning of life? And I know that sounds kind of woo, but like if you really, if you just really take a step back and look at it, that's, that's really all worth doing every day for the people that are very intentional about the life, about their lives, which I'm sure the people that are listening to this are. And so I was so privileged for the opportunity to be there for these patients at the end of their life and I wanted to learn from them. So I always ask people as much as I could just ask everything about their lives, everything, like everything I could learn from them and learned over the years that there are two things that are the most tragic to watch. The first is a parent losing a child. And the second is a man or a woman who's reached the end of their life full of regret. And when you asked the latter, like what do you regret? They never say like oh man, in my thirties there was this client that I didn't get or I never got that Porsche I always wanted or I never hit my milestone of 1 million or 5 million or 10 million. Like I was only a couple of million. Sure. I wish I worked harder to get to that mountain. Literally nobody has said that. 100% of the people, 100% of my patients. And then if you read the biographies of Steve Jobs and like all these billionaires, they all say, I wish I spent more time with my family. Like I wish I was more kind to myself. I wish I didn't lose touch with my friend or my wife or my daughter and my son like over this random insults or indiscretion. And that happened 30 years ago. Like we don't even remember why we're mad at each other, but we just haven't talked. And then, or like I wish my wife and I took that trip that we never got around to taking right. Like this is what people say when they get to the end and hearing this kind of stuff. Like, and knowing that it was too late for them, it really broke my heart. It's, I remember every single time I've had this conversation and it fundamentally changed how I see the world.
Daniel Diaz: 13:23 So now every decision that I make in my life, I make it in the context of time. So time is the most valuable resource that we have on this planet. Like we're given a scarce amount. We have no idea how much of it we're given, right? And once we spend it, we can't get it back. So, everything that I do is in an effort to give myself more time. And so with wealth, you can buy time by outsourcing the things that you don't want to spend your time doing. Like on the micro side, it's like I paid 10 extra dollars to have the laundry mat, like do my laundry for me and fold it and hang it, right? So I don't spend three hours in the laundry room. Right? There are cleaning people, right? Like that kind of stuff, it's like ways that you can buy your time and a little bit. And then, when you get to the advanced level, like the Steve Jobs and the Elon musks of the world, they have multiple executive assistants. Like Jeff Bezos has two executive assistants and they literally will just plan and organize and filter his entire day. So, he just wakes up and does like exactly what he's supposed to do and he doesn't have to think about anything else. So yeah, end of the marathon where I want to get to, I don't want to become a billionaire because I've read all of their biographies and I haven't read very many that have a good home life and I love my wife, you know, I love my future family. Like I don't want to sacrifice that. And that's like what you have to sacrifice in order to become a billionaire. Except for Bill and Melinda Gates. I think they're the only two people that somehow did it. So maybe we can learn from them. But my hero, like the person that I look up to is Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income.
Naseema McElroy: 15:05 I love Pat Flynn.
Daniel Diaz: 15:05 Yeah. He's actually in San Diego, too.
Naseema McElroy: 15:05 Have you met him?
Daniel Diaz: 15:10 No, no, not yet. Yeah, I'm definitely gonna stop him at one of his like monthly meetups at some point. But...
Naseema McElroy: 15:18 He seems like he's super personable. Yeah.
Daniel Diaz: 15:22 And for those who don't know him, basically he's built this empire teaching people about affiliate marketing and like and passive income. And then, he has this tickler on his website of all the courses and stuff, all this revenue generating stuff that and like how much is generating every month and now it's at like some absurd level where it's like millions of dollars every month. Then once your passive income exceeds your monthly expenses and that's it. Like you're free.
Naseema McElroy: 15:52 That's FIRE.. That's the goal.
Daniel Diaz: 15:55 That's FIRE I'm trying to get to. So, however long that takes, I have no idea. But that's what I'm progressing to.
Naseema McElroy: 16:00 I think you're not too far from approaching it. [Daniel Says "It doesn't take as long as people think."] It really doesn't. And that's what I'm trying to teach people with this platform. It really doesn't take that much, but it does take a little bit of intentionality. All right. So, I know you have a family full of doctors. I want to ask three questions along those lines. So what made you become a nurse? Like why nursing? What did you really like about your nursing career and then what made you take a pivot where you're not necessarily working day to day as a nurse?
Daniel Diaz: 16:36 Yeah. So you're correct that I have like six doctors in my immediate family and so everybody was always like, when are you going to be a doctor annnd when are you gonna be a doctor? And I started going down that path and then I realized like midway through, we're talking about an undergrad where I was like, okay, I'm going to San Diego state, right? I'm not going to stand for it. I'm not going to use CSD or anything like that. The odds of me getting into like a program are not that great. Right? And then if I didn't get into med school and graduated with a bio degree, like what am I going to do? Like work in a lab, right? Like I really don't know what bio degree is? What Bio Majors do if didn't get into med school. And then, so I started thinking like I'm always developing backup plans. So, I started looking at other things that, and I looked into nursing and I was like, okay, this is interesting. I'm really good at medicine so this is like a natural fit. And I started going down that path and like taking the prereqs and stuff and talking to nurses and I was like, wait a sec that you guys work three days a week, you clock in and then you clock out and unless you've accidentally took the phone home, like you're not getting called about you made like a mistake or [inaudible]? You're not getting called at home. Like my dad was getting called 24/7 365. I never, and even when we took him on vacation, he was still worried because there was a doctor covering for him who has all their own patients and then they have like double the patients now that they're covering for and so he's stressed. I'm like, like what kind of life is that? You know, even if you're getting paid. So I didn't want that life and that's how I got into nursing and then I'm happy to say that I was completely right. Completely corrected my [inaudible] especially when talking to the other doctors and in fact like I did a blog post for Trusted Health where I, I did a deep dive into the math of wealth creation comparing nurses and doctors and there's like there is a situation where nurses can retire more wealthy than doctors putting up like if a nurse at a certain phase of their life put 50%of their retirement account or 50% of their salary into a retirement account and then the doctor put 15%, the nurse will end up with like almost the same if not more money than the doctor. Yeah.
Naseema McElroy: 18:52 That's a study that you have access to?
Daniel Diaz: 18:54 It's not a study. I did the math and so. Yeah.
Naseema McElroy: 18:57 Okay. Yeah.
Daniel Diaz: 18:58 If somebody wants to do actual research on it, they can, I based it off of a bunch of assumptions. Like I use the median, like the median salary for nurses and like the bottom three positions. And then, like the average medical school that and then the average age of graduation both for nurses and for doctors. So, like I pretty much had all the variables that I need to make like a pretty accurate assumption. So, if somebody actually wants to do a deep dive and like do a huge survey, I'm curious to see if your results are different, but I can't imagine that they would be that far off.
Naseema McElroy: 19:31 No, but I mean like anecdotically like know that that's correct. Like, because I know a lot of nurses come straight out on nursing school in their early 20s and it's just the opportunity cost. Like what most doctors graduate in their mid-30s like, so it's just that time that they have their money has in the market, even if the salaries don't match up. I mean it's compound interest. Compound interest works with time. So with the time that's lost. And so yeah.
Daniel Diaz: 19:57 Yeah. For those that are listening, the biggest variables that biggest impact on these numbers was, as you were saying, is time and market. So like do you have whatever you have to do to graduate without debt. And, I know it's very hard and I know it's way harder for people to do now than it was even for us like 10 years ago. The tuition is like exploding. I fully realized that. So like, and you know it was a monumental task. Whatever you can do, it makes a huge difference. And then like as soon as you graduate just start socking away like as much as you possibly can into your retirement account. And then yeah, and it just, that's all you have to do actually to become wealthy as a nurse. Like you don't have to do any other fancy stuff that you and I are doing with outside businesses and podcasts and all that stuff. Like you really don't have to do that. You can just put away 30 or 40% of your income and then retire and in like 10 to 15 years. That's it.
Naseema McElroy: 20:55 It's really that simple. You guys and like, yeah, the cheapest education that you can get is the key. Because I went to UCSF. I went to the fancy nursing school. You know, I did do my nursing in a year, which was extraordinary, but that also costs me $80,000 just on it. Oh well actually a hundred. Well, $80,000 just for the nursing part. But it's just like, I mean like luckily I was able to find a job in the Bay Area where I'm make a lot of money, but I see nurses coming out of school with $200,000 in debt where they're not making, you know, six figures. And it doesn't matter where you go to school, just make sure that you graduate with a license. And so if like nurses in California, I know it like it's super hard to get into nursing schools in California. You don't have to go to nursing school in California, you know, there is Nevada that's really close. There's Arizona, you don't have to go to a four year university. You know, it might be harder to get a job, but once you get a job and you know, Gale knows how to hook you up on that front. You know, like once you get in the door, you know, you can get tuition reimbursement to go back and get your bachelor's degree. So though cheapest way that you can really get your nursing degree is like goal is like ultimate like what you should be ultimately what you should be aspiring to do. I mean, most people listening to this are already nurses, but still, I mean a lot of them, you know, a lot of people think that in order to get well, you know, you have to go back to school and pay all this money, maybe get, you know, and a master's degree, a doctorate. And actually in nursing, like I've seen the... What is it called? I've seen the opposite where the more degrees that you have, the less you make, 'cause you go into different institutions that may not pay as much as just hospitals. So you know all that aside to say, you know, get your degree, get in there, sock away your money as early as possible. And that is the key to building wealth. You don't have to do anything extra, but save and invest early once you get your job. Bottom line.
Daniel Diaz: 22:59 And I realized that I didn't talk about why I transitioned into the startup world, but before I get there on just the last point about this, it's interesting. I've been working on a really cool report just as a teaser that I analyze the data of Trusted Health, like their salary data for all their travel nurse stuff. And I looked at all these other research papers about the nursing shortage are, and now some people think it's there's going to be a surplus. I actually think that the research is wrong on that, but that's a whole other thing. But...
Naseema McElroy: 23:28 I can see it, listen, I'm grinding out there for you. I need some more nurses. So come my way. You know.
Daniel Diaz: 23:35 You can have this new report came out is true and they're saying there's a surplus. Even in that one, they said there's going to be a shortage at the state level and in California, Texas, and a couple of others. So not a lawyer, not a CPA. This is not financial advice. Please seek a professional. But discerning individual that was like, you can see if you live in a place like Washington and Nevada or Texas, like if you go to nursing school there, you can enjoy a state that doesn't have any state income tax. And then, you can take travel nursing contracts or per diem contracts in California. And then so you can earn a boosted California wage, take it back home to your primary residence where you don't have to pay, you know, pay as much taxes as in California. So, you know, that's something to think about. Like it's all about what your goals are. If your goal is to just retire as quickly as possible, that's one way to do it, you know? But... Yeah.
Naseema McElroy: 24:32 Yup. I definitely benefited from that for the year. I was living in Nevada. Oh my God. It makes a huge difference. It makes a huge difference.
Daniel Diaz: 24:42 And so like as far as why I transitioned to working in a startup. So there's, there were like two things that happened. One was I was getting burned out, right? There was no like, ifs, ands or buts about it. This job is hard and I was hurting physically. Like my back was killing me and like I was on my shoulder was starting, I could feel my shoulders breaking down. And because in the OR, you're literally carrying dead weight. We do too fast for people. We have to rule them out because of, you know, they can get in the way sometimes or they get, you know, covered in blood or whatever. So yeah, so like we haven't transitioned but also like prep the leg or something like that. There's no, yeah, you have to hold it up. So, I was like taking some real stuff myself. You know, I feel like I'm a pretty fit and healthy person, but I was like, my body is not gonna make it to succeed by like here, you know, like, and I see the other nurses that do that and like more power to you but like let's be real, you know, they're having trouble doing the bedside nursing that when they say... [Naseema Says "There's a lot of brokedown nurses."] Yeah and then like you have to lean on the the younger nurses, which costs like all this resentment and like it's just like this really bad dynamic. And then, and so I was always looking for, you know, that side business or something where I could replace my nursing income with like the side thing. Then another thing that happened was I had a day where one surgeon yelled at me because I didn't pull the cell phone up to his ear when somebody called. And then, a few hours later, a different surgeon yelled at me because I held the phone up to his ear and he was like, why are you getting so close to what we're doing? I don't do that. So like, he was like yelling at me, you know? And then so I was like, this can be my... And that was like one of the moments where I was like, is this the best that I have to offer? And you know, while it was great for that patient, you know, I did a great job. I always did a fantastic job for each patient, but I was helping one person at a time and like, I felt like I had the ability to help like thousands of people at a time, maybe more, you know? So when I got involved in the startup space, I saw that like, there's a real opportunity to really help a lot of people at scale. And I'm interested in doing that. I just want kind of a low key mission of mine is I want everybody that devotes their life taking care of other people in a way where like, you can't turn away people, if that makes sense. That's what right, that's what we do as nurse. Like, we can't just, you know, you're not my patient. It's like tough luck. So people that don't turn people away, firefighters, police, nurses, teachers, stuff like that. Like I feel like you shouldn't have to worry about anything about making enough money. It's all about taking care of kids about retiring with [inaudible]. You should not have to worry about that. And, I actually think that we can build that world. So, it's writing for nursing because that's what I know. But hopefully other people are working on that for those other fields 'cause they deserve it. So that's how I... Yeah.
Naseema McElroy: 28:05 That's an amazing goals]. Super ambitious but amazing.
Daniel Diaz: 28:09 But yeah, I mentioned this previously, like before we started talking, there's ups and downs going from a nursing school to the startup world for sure.
Naseema McElroy: 28:18 Yeah. Are you keeping your license? Okay. Yeah, definitely. Never lose that license. Like I just renewed my nursing license. I'm a little salty right now. Okay. Did you renew your license this year because the fees went up like crazy?
Daniel Diaz: 28:31 I literally have to do it. It's just very soon. Like in the next few months.
Naseema McElroy: 28:35 So yeah, mine's is June, right? So nurse practitioner never practice as a NP because I just haven't, and I have a furnishing number, right? So, all of a sudden, now I have to pay my fee for my nursing license, then my fee for my NP, then my furnishing numbers so that like this year, like all the fees went up. It was like $500. I'm super salty right now. So I was like, I can't believe it. I know. So just know the fees went up. When you go to renew, it sucks anyway. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's still worth it. But I was saying that to say I'm not losing any of my licenses, even though I'm not currently using my NP or my furnishing number, I'm not going to let it lapse. So, I'll pay for it.
Daniel Diaz: 29:24 Yeah. Yeah. You never know. You never know.
Naseema McElroy: 29:26 Right? So let's talk about some of the tools that have helped you professionally and financially. What things can you recommend to nurses who are on the path to financial independence or just, you know, are itching to learn more?
Daniel Diaz: 29:39 Yeah, for sure. So, one of my big things is like I read a lot and I do a lot of this research so that like you don't have to. So well these resources I can that these are like the best. Like you can take my word for it and then, and you'll be golden or you can just like, you can go down that path yourself, which is fulfilling. Yeah. But you're gonna end up, you're going to end up here. So like, as far as information goes, like I'm all about learning and I'm all about automation. So on the learning side, Mr. Money Mustache's blog is life changing for me, like this guy is all about the frugality, like extreme. I don't even want to say extreme frugality because it makes it seem like it's hard to do, but like he just lives such a luxurious life by spending so little money. And so, if in our equation we were talking about where you can reach FIRE if your passive income exceeds your expenses, one way to get that faster is to lower your cost of living. Like lower your burner as they say in the Silicon Valley, a terminology where how much money you're spending every month. So if you want to learn how, Google Mr. Money Mustache blog, he's the one that got me into biking. I used to bike to the hospital and people make fun of me and I'm like, hey you spend like spend like 10 minutes parking and I got my exercise and yeah my bike costs like $300 and you spent like $35,000 on the car.
Daniel Diaz: 31:06 So Mr. Money Mustache, huge. The Bogleheads forum for investing. That's great. But like if you go down that rabbit hole, just know like just invest in a Vanguard, low cost index fund.
Naseema McElroy: 31:19 This is not an investment podcast. Yes. But yeah, it's true.
Daniel Diaz: 31:30 So like mathematically speaking like the S and P 500 index fund is like the best value that you can get. Yes. Especially from like Vanguard or Fidelity has like a competing one that's also super low. Yeah, you can check that stuff out. And then, if you're into real estate, the Bigger Pockets Forum, that's the best resource for real estate.
Naseema McElroy: 31:53 Oh definitely, Bigger Pockets has everything and they have a super strong community for you to just even just ask questions and learn.
Daniel Diaz: 32:00 Exactly. Yeah. And maybe on another episode we could talk about like if real estate is like good for FIRE.
Naseema McElroy: 32:06 Yeah, yeah.[laughs]
Daniel Diaz: 32:09 And then automation-wise, I love the capital One 360 online banking account because you can have an unlimited amount of accounts. So you can have one for like vacations, you can have one for your food budget, you can have one for every little thing that you want to save. And then, you can set up automatic deposits from your main account that you're getting direct deposited into. So it just automatically splits and deposits things into it. So like, that's amazing.
Naseema McElroy: 32:38 So wait, it's a savings account, right? So you just have like your regular direct deposit put into that savings account and then your nicknamed accounts get the distribution whenever the money hits that account. Right?
Daniel Diaz: 32:48 Yeah. Well you can actually have an unlimited amount of checking accounts as well. So, yeah. You can do either. Yeah. So, but yeah, for most of this stuff I just use the same 'cause I don't need to move it in and out. And then I have like a couple, I have two checking, like one that's automatically deposited in and then one is like for food because that's something that you have to constantly spend from and then deposit it too. So yeah, that stuff. And then, if you're interested in doing an online business, like a side gig. I highly recommend The 4-hour Work Week book slash podcast and in the Smart Passive Income book slash podcast, which we mentioned earlier. And then the last one is one that people may or may not have heard of, it's called Iwillteachyoutoberich.Com by Ramit Sethi. All of these have like hilariously bad names and they seem like infomercial scam. But like if you want to learn how to do an email funnel and Naseema, this is probably relevant to you too, as you're starting your marketing journey, just put your email anywhere onto like the, Iwillteachyoutoberich.com website and then you'll start getting hit with these emails and like I will defy you to not have your credit card at the end of the funnel. It's so crazy like how they hack your mind.
Naseema McElroy: 34:09 They have the best copy writers. Yeah, no I know. I know.
Daniel Diaz: 34:13 Yeah, I'm very resistant to sales pitches because I understand how they're hacking my mind and like, and I don't like that. But then there was one time where I was like, okay, I'm going to learn what, how he does this. I'm just going to sign up for an email funnel with the explicit mission of trying to figure out what they're doing and in the middle of the funnel I was like, man, I really want to buy this course on productivity. I knew what was happening and they still got me. And so like, yeah, so check those out. If you're into marketing and copywriting. I have the copywriting class that I spent money on that and it's amazing. Yeah. So good.
Naseema McElroy: 34:57 You have it through him or...?
Daniel Diaz: 34:59 Yeah, I bought one of their super expensive, like it's so expensive some of their courses and that's why they have such elaborate email funnels because like you get to the end and then there was like that sticker shock.
Naseema McElroy: 35:12 Right? They provide so much value. You're just like I have to buy.
Daniel Diaz: 35:19 Exactly and they're so brilliant. And to people listening, just to give you a taste of like how subtle all this stuff is. So one of the ways they get you is the first little mission they've put you on is because this is all about personal finance, their website. So, they have you call your Internet provider or your phone company and then ask them for a lower rate and then threaten to leave. And then, like 100% of the time you get connected to a customer retention specialist and then they knock like a crazy amount off of your bill. I do this every single year now and then so you save like you save. Like, for example, my, I literally just did this for my internet and my Internet speed is 10 times faster and it's $10 cheaper a month, like after a single phone call. So like you just keep doing that for everything, your phone and all this stuff. And, and like those are ways where you can save that little bit of extra money. And, here's the thing is like saving $10 a month or whatever. That's enough to do that laundry thing that I was talking about.
Naseema McElroy: 36:19 Exactly. So the other say like, oh now we got you to save this money. So look, you can help it to afford this program now.
Daniel Diaz: 36:28 So those are little things, like if I can just like make a hundred extra dollars doing resume or interview coaching, then I can pay for a cleaning person and I don't have to spend like half my day doing dishes, which is what I do currently. So like all these little things, you know, just help you buy more time.
Naseema McElroy: 36:45 Yeah. So, I know you talked about like where you want to be, like what your ultimate goal is and you have some goals for other people that are super extraordinary, which I just know you're going to crush, but you're saying you want to get to a point where your passive income covers and exceeds your expenses and so whatever way, if that's through your job right now or if it's through your side businesses, I know you'll get those there soon with what you're doing. But where are you right now with the New Grad Nurse Help? Yeah, where is that company?
Daniel Diaz: 37:25 Yeah. So after, Jesus, when did I graduate again? 2010. So after 2010 yeah, so after eight or nine years of just grinding this out and like sinking money into this, it's like finally paying for itself every month. So...
Naseema McElroy: 37:41 And that's it. It takes that like those overnight successes you guys. Holly been grinding for 2-3 years.
Daniel Diaz: 37:50 Yeah. That's where that is. And so like, so that was one of the points that I was making earlier about like maybe you don't necessarily want to go into running your own business like as a form of generating passive income because like if we looked at the opportunity cost and actually did the math, like I guarantee that if I just put that money into an S and P 500 index fund, like all the money that I spent keep popping the site up for so long, I would have just made more. I would've made probably 10 times more money in the market. But you know, I really wanted to solve this problem and it was fun. So, and it's fun working on it. So yeah. So that's just like my a cautionary tale is like if you go into starting your own side business or your podcast or whatever, like understand that nobody cares about you and it's going to take a lot of time and effort and money and hustle and marketing to even get like enough people to care to cover the expenses of the thing. Much less like we have a successful business. It's incredibly hard.
Naseema McElroy: 38:54 It is incredibly hard. But the thing about nursing that's super cool is that you can work full time as a nurse. I'm leaving work three days a week if you want to scale back to two days a week. And that's the thing about nursing, like I feel like the flexibility and the amount of options that you have is beneficial if you want to start a side hustle. Like, you know, my business was completely funded by my nursing career and I was able to do that because it was because it was out of love. Like I didn't have to generate a profit off of it because I didn't need to when I started. That's what made it truly authentic. Like I didn't have to have, you know, settle for a spammy advertisers coming after me. I didn't have to. And you know, I was able to grow my brand the way I wanted to, but believe me, it was funded by my nursing career. Financially Intentional did not generate money for a very, very long time. So, you know, I think that that's the bomb thing about being a nurse. And, I don't think if you are passionate about something and it's something that you do want to do, understand the initial investment and if you want to go for it, you should because it will pay dividends later on even if it's not financially, the growth that you get personally and through your experiences, I feel like it's worth it.
Daniel Diaz: 40:10 Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. And don't get at multilevel marketing schemes, dear listeners out there.
Naseema McElroy: 40:21 Those are things that are pushed, a lot of the other things that are pushed in nurses a lot too. Yeah.
Daniel Diaz: 40:33 Take the thing that you're passionate about that you love doing that like you've listened to and read about on your art days and turn that into a business like, no, nobody is, nobody is passionate about selling essential oils. You know, like that's just like a get rich quick type thing. But like you're really passionate about what, you know, whatever that side passion of yours is, can turn that into a business.
Naseema McElroy: 40:56 Yes. And eventually it will be profitable. So what recommendations...? We talked about new nurses as far as making sure that they get into the most affordable nursing program and making sure that they try not to come out with loans because that's what's going to put you ahead financially. But what advice do you have for someone who is going into nursing or thinking about going into nursing?
Daniel Diaz: 41:19 I would say to ask yourself these questions first. One, have you ever been peed on, pooped on, vomit on by somebody? Did that gross you out like gross you out so much that you couldn't process information you can think or were you just like whatever, roll up your sleeves and get in there. That's question one. Question two, have you ever been sexually harassed by someone and not been able to do anything about it? That's number two. Number three, has anybody verbally or physically thrown punches at you and did you have the restraint to not hit them back? Question number three. Question number four. Has anyone ever taken credit for your ideas or not thanked you after you did them a huge solid and save their butt. And were you able to brush this off and then do it again the next day? If you answered yes to all of these questions, then nursing, maybe is for you. [both laugh] I'm kidding but I'm not really kidding. All the nurses listening to this are like, yeah, that happened to me last Tuesday. So yeah, 'cause that's the thing that like you experienced on the day and this is hard, but not everybody, not everybody is built to do that. And like I would say like we don't, nurses don't get paid what we do because of some like glitch in the matrix. Like it's not like some secret that nobody else is aware of. Like we get paid so well because the job is so hard and because most people can't handle any single one of the things that I mentioned before, much less like all the time. So, and that's not even touching on the stress of having somebody's life in your hands and then having to be perfect when you know it's impossible to be perfect. And then, yeah. And like last but not least like the guilt that you feel when somebody dies under your care. Like that stress of if I was bigger, stronger, faster, smarter, would they be here with their life? You know, like yeah that weighs heavily. So understand that that's what you're getting into. Yeah. And don't forget to fill out the occurrence report before you go home. 'Cause If you didn't chart about your chores that day, then it didn't happen. So yeah, all that stuff like it would be great and nursing is the place for you and because of all how hard it is, like nursing has tremendous spiritual and financial rewards for those that can stick it out, that can handle all those things that I was saying about. So yeah, so that, that's my advice is if you really think you can handle that stuff, like really, really dig deep and ask yourself, can I face that every day? Yeah, I found, then go for it. But if not, there's plenty of other ways to make money.
Naseema McElroy: 44:10 What I really enjoy about you, Daniel, is that your path as a nurse has been super like all over the place. And one thing we didn't touch on, which we should touch on right now. So basically the path to nursing is not linear. It's different from everyone. But that's what makes it exciting. Let's talk about you being a professional poker player and how that affected you financially and your views on money.
Daniel Diaz: 44:34 Oh yeah. Yeah, for sure. That was really interesting. So I mean it's important to note that like this was in 2000 like in the early 2000s, I don't know if anybody remembers, but this is during the days when like every commercial on ESPN was like a poker commercial because it was legal back then but it's not legal now. So everybody was playing poker. And so for those that were good, it was just like having an ATM machine, like honestly like just sign on and then just make a bunch of money and then, and that was it. And cash, I was like so easy and amazing. But what that taught me was it really changed my perspective about money because like it showed me how important it is to detach emotion from the money because it don't do that. Then all the people that are trying to take your money, which is everybody in this planet, as soon as you have money, everybody just pays to take it. And so this is true in online programs in real life. So, by detaching the emotion from it, you can make better decisions. And so that's what I learned about that from playing poker. And then the other stuffI think it was really important to learn from our parents, for nursing, for life in general, is that a lot of times you play the hand perfectly. You did everything that you're supposed to do. You're so smart. Like you're so great, you're just awesome. And then, reality just punches you in the face because you got a one in a hundred chance of this hand going badly and then you got dealt that card and that happens, right? So like it just learned to understand that, that happens. And like every decision we make, we're just trying to do the best thing that we can, given the information that we have. And sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. But you just gotta keep trying. And... And that's why it's important to like eat very careful about your money and your expenditures and stuff because you have that buffer of like, if I lose this hand or lose this tournament or whatever, make this bad decision. It's not gonna ruin me versus like, you know, if you put all your retirement accounts into the Bernie Madoff fund, like yeah, big risk and you've got down to that hand and now you're ruined, right? So same thing with starting a business. Like if you put all your eggs in that basket, you know, there's a big chance though that you're just not gonna make it. So just be very careful and very protective of your money. So those are a couple of lessons that I learned from poker. It paid a lot of dividends for me now.
Naseema McElroy: 47:05 I think that's extraordinary and I think that that was an excellent way to sum things up. I wanted to know if people wanted to reach out to you, how can they get in contact with you and then what are some things coming up for you?
Daniel Diaz: 47:17 So, if you're a new grad, you can check out a newgradnursehelp.com and then for other nurses, you, actually new grads as well, but if you're interested in the content that I'm writing about personal finance, check out the Trusted Health blog that's trustedhealth.com/blog and you'll see the articles that I've written there. I'm currently writing.
Naseema McElroy: 47:37 So you don't just have to be a travel nurse. He asked some extraordinary articles on personal finance.
Daniel Diaz: 47:43 Yes. Yeah, totally. I'm trying to strip away all the confusing stuff. You know? Remember it was like part of my mission to like not have you think about what am I, you know, like what am I suppose to what apps or am I supposed to use? What resources are we supposed to look? Like just go there and then hopefully if I did my job right, you can figure out everything. Then you have to know without reading 50 bucks that I did so. So that's my blog, check that out, trustedhealth.com/blog. What's coming up in the very near future? I just finished writing it. So we're just to wrap it up and produced it as a salary report that I've written on the state of the travel nursing industry. That'll on the blog.
Naseema McElroy: 48:22 Yes. Yes. Just head over that link please. Yeah, definitely. Okay. Well Daniel, this has been incredible. I learned a lot, a whole lot about you and aboutjust all the extraordinary things you've undergone in your nursing career and just professionally in general. I mean poker player. Come on, you're amazing. That was awesome. But I want to thank you for joining me and wishing you the best of luck in the future and I know my listeners will get tremendous value from you. So thank you so much.
Daniel Diaz: 49:02 My pleasure. Yeah, hopefully we can do around two in case there are any topics that listeners wanted us to go deeper on. We can definitely talk about.
Naseema McElroy: 49:12 Oh yeah, definitely. So if there's something you want, you guys want to hear more about? Round two, three and four. Daniel just got himself in trouble. But thank you, Daniel. Thank you so much.
Hey there I’m Naseema
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