At 17, Ming found herself homeless. Now a small business owner, she opens up about the impact of financial stress.
Perth-based small business owner Ming Johansen is known to her clients as the ‘Mother of Unicorns’.
“A unicorn in the startup environment is a business that scales quickly,” Ming explained.
“Being the ‘mother’, I help them.”
Ming and her team support other small businesses across Australia with their technology and digital marketing needs.
“Running a business is really great. You get to be creative and help people solve their business problems,” she said.
But being your own boss can also result in a significant amount of financial stress.
“Going from a salary to a fluctuating income – there’s so much more stress around where your next amount of money is coming from and managing your cash flow,” she said.
“You feel such a responsibility to make sure your staff get paid before you do. Sometimes I end up sacrificing my own financial wellbeing.”
During the more stressful periods, Ming admits she’s experienced periods of “crippling anxiety and depression”.
“I can sometimes shut down completely. I’ve felt like I’m falling into a black hole,” she said. “I feel ashamed about what I’m going through or that I’m a failure.”
For Ming, the impact of financial stress is exacerbated by experiences earlier in life. When she was 17 her family became homeless, and in 2014 she lost her fiancé in a motorbike accident.
“While trying to manage my grief, my cost of living had doubled. I’d gone from a dual income to a single income household, so I couldn’t keep up with the bills,” she recalled.
“You just don’t ever want to go back there. You don’t ever want to go into that situation ever again.”
During challenging periods, in the past and now as a small business owner, Ming says that being able to talk to someone and share what’s going on has made a real difference.
“It’s a huge benefit to be able to talk to somebody,” she said.
For Ming that’s often her partner Derek, or other small business owners in similar fields that she regularly meets with.
“Having that community helps me to not feel so alone and so isolated, and reminds me that I’m not the only one that’s going through it.”
In her role as an R U OK? Community Ambassador, these conversations are something that Ming advocates for in her community. She reminds people that it’s not their job to fix problems, but rather to listen.
“I find if I can just talk to somebody, I can often just problem solve my own problem,” she said.
She wants finances to become a normal topic that people check in with each other about.
“A lot of us really struggle to have conversations about finances, I think we have an enormous amount of stigma around it,” she said.
“But these conversations are so vital as a lot of people are suffering in silence.”
Ming shared her story as part of When life happens, ask R U OK?,proudly supported by our Conversation Partner, ING Australia.
All of us experience ups and downs in life – there are times of joy and celebration, as well as life events or periods that are challenging, and some moments will contain a bit of both.
In these tough times, it’s the support of family, friends and colleagues that can help us through.
That’s why we’re calling on Australians to ask R U OK? when life happens.
Click on Source for more info or Contact RUOK if you need to chat with someone.
Let’s talk openly about financial stress’
Let’s talk openly about financial stress’
At 17, Ming found herself homeless. Now a small business owner, she opens up about the impact of financial stress.
Perth-based small business owner Ming Johansen is known to her clients as the ‘Mother of Unicorns’.
“A unicorn in the startup environment is a business that scales quickly,” Ming explained.
“Being the ‘mother’, I help them.”
Ming and her team support other small businesses across Australia with their technology and digital marketing needs.
“Running a business is really great. You get to be creative and help people solve their business problems,” she said.
But being your own boss can also result in a significant amount of financial stress.
“Going from a salary to a fluctuating income – there’s so much more stress around where your next amount of money is coming from and managing your cash flow,” she said.
“You feel such a responsibility to make sure your staff get paid before you do. Sometimes I end up sacrificing my own financial wellbeing.”
During the more stressful periods, Ming admits she’s experienced periods of “crippling anxiety and depression”.
“I can sometimes shut down completely. I’ve felt like I’m falling into a black hole,” she said. “I feel ashamed about what I’m going through or that I’m a failure.”
For Ming, the impact of financial stress is exacerbated by experiences earlier in life. When she was 17 her family became homeless, and in 2014 she lost her fiancé in a motorbike accident.
“While trying to manage my grief, my cost of living had doubled. I’d gone from a dual income to a single income household, so I couldn’t keep up with the bills,” she recalled.
“You just don’t ever want to go back there. You don’t ever want to go into that situation ever again.”
During challenging periods, in the past and now as a small business owner, Ming says that being able to talk to someone and share what’s going on has made a real difference.
“It’s a huge benefit to be able to talk to somebody,” she said.
For Ming that’s often her partner Derek, or other small business owners in similar fields that she regularly meets with.
“Having that community helps me to not feel so alone and so isolated, and reminds me that I’m not the only one that’s going through it.”
In her role as an R U OK? Community Ambassador, these conversations are something that Ming advocates for in her community. She reminds people that it’s not their job to fix problems, but rather to listen.
“I find if I can just talk to somebody, I can often just problem solve my own problem,” she said.
She wants finances to become a normal topic that people check in with each other about.
“A lot of us really struggle to have conversations about finances, I think we have an enormous amount of stigma around it,” she said.
“But these conversations are so vital as a lot of people are suffering in silence.”
Ming shared her story as part of When life happens, ask R U OK?, proudly supported by our Conversation Partner, ING Australia.
All of us experience ups and downs in life – there are times of joy and celebration, as well as life events or periods that are challenging, and some moments will contain a bit of both.
In these tough times, it’s the support of family, friends and colleagues that can help us through.
That’s why we’re calling on Australians to ask R U OK? when life happens.
Click on Source for more info or Contact RUOK if you need to chat with someone.
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