Transcript

Turning Setbacks Into Millions: Tim Storey & Natasha Graziano On Making, Multiplying & Giving Money

From The Money Mondays Podcast · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 49 min · 9,355 words · 146 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Turning Setbacks Into Millions: Tim Storey & Natasha Graziano On Making, Multiplying & Giving Money", an episode of The Money Mondays Podcast published July 28, 2025 (49 min, about 9,355 words). It mentions 24 people, works and ideas, including Money Mondays, Tim Story, Natasha Graziano, Charity, Aspire Tour.

What this episode is about

The discussion focuses on transforming setbacks into opportunities for financial success, featuring insights from Tim Storey and Natasha Graziano on earning, investing, and charitable giving. The speakers draw from their personal experiences, emphasizing resilience and the importance of mentorship in achieving financial growth and contributing to society.

Key takeaways

  • Born in a donut shop, Tim Story proves success doesn't need a silver spoon, just a sprinkle of ambition.
  • The key to business isn't just in profits; it's in purpose—helping others can unlock unexpected opportunities.
  • From the inner city to international stages, sometimes the best networking happens through genuine goodwill and humor.
  • When motives are pure, payments skyrocket—Tim was stunned to earn $15k/hour for his passion, not just a performance.
  • Nelson Mandela's approval at 31 turned Tim's 'nice guy' act into global recognition—proof that authenticity resonates across borders.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Tim Story, Money Mondays, Charity, Grant Kimble
  2. – 10:00: Aspire Tour, Tim Story
  3. – 15:00: Dr. Helen Mendes, Ghana, Los Angeles, Malaysia
  4. – 20:00: Marvin
  5. – 25:00: Money Mondays, Charity, Stephen Soderbergh, Think and Grow Rich
  6. – 30:00: Charity, Money Mondays, Tim Story, Natasha Graziano
  7. – 35:00: Natasha Graziano, Three Feet from Gold
  8. – 40:00: Charity, AX Paris, Artificial Intelligence
  9. – 45:00: Gary Vee
  10. – 48:42: Charity, Money Mondays, Natasha Graziano, Law of Attraction Secrets

Notable quotes from "Turning Setbacks Into Millions: Tim Storey & Natasha Graziano On Making, Multiplying & Giving Money"

  • Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to a very, very, very special edition of the Money Mondays podcast. We are here inside of a Hubble studio just completing a multi-day event where our next guest was the keynote speaker, the grand finale of.
    about Money Mondays · at
  • So, my bio is born in Los Angeles.
    about Tim Story · at
  • Obviously, we're booking an Aspire tour together all the time, these celebrities and athletes cuz it is how else are you going to get 100 grand, 200 grand, 300 grand to speak for.
    about Aspire Tour · at
  • I started going to see a therapist who taught at USC. She was very well name known named Dr. Helen Mendes African-American lady. And I'd pay her fee and more. And I would say, I.
    about Dr. Helen Mendes · at
  • Planet. Sometimes at events together, sometimes events. I've seen her in some amazing events all over the world. Give it up for Miss Natasha Graciano.
    about Natasha Graziano · at
  • So there's a famous book that she's referencing by Greg Reid called Three Feet from Gold. Mhm.
    about Three Feet from Gold · at
  • Store. I couldn't even afford the thrift store clothes. They gave me an outfit and I remember it was this brand called AX Paris. And I put the outfit on and I walked into the…
    about AX Paris · at
  • Okay, Chat GBT is [ __ ] amazing. Go on ChatGBT. It will write it for you, but I'll tell you how to prompt it and then I'll tell you how to write it if you don't want to use each chat to me with.
    about Artificial Intelligence · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Tim Story — Person · Main guest · 4 mentions · first at
    He shares his origin story, how he monetized speaking, built teams for investing, leveraged social media, and frames charity/philanthropy as essential to life and business.
  • Natasha Graziano — Person · Main guest (second segment) · 4 mentions · first at
    She explains her rise from debt to building a coaching/media business, monetizing social media, using AI tools for outreach, and her approach to charity and legacy.
  • Grant Kimble — Person · Referenced event organizer · 1 mention · first at
    He is credited with running the 3-day mastermind where Tim Story was the keynote speaker, setting the recording context.
    Multi-day event where our next guest was the keynote speaker, the grand finale of the 3-day mastermind by Grant Kimble.
  • Dr. Helen Mendes — Person · Referenced mentor/coach · 1 mention · first at
    Tim Story credits her (a USC-affiliated therapist) as an early paid mentor who encouraged his life coaching path.
  • Gary Vee — Person · Referenced expert · 2 mentions · first at
    Used as an example of a top personal branding figure and as a prior/typical guest type on the show.
    Might hear from real estate agents, celebrities rappers athletes business mogul. From Gary Vee to Dr. Gary Brick, and everyone in between, you're learning different types of…
  • Stephen Soderbergh — Person · Referenced filmmaker · 1 mention · first at
    Tim Story uses meeting him as an example of relationship-building without transactional intent.
    So, it wasn't like I saw that guy. I remember being with Stephen Soderberg who did Oceans 11, 12, 13 and we it was at a party and he was just kind of by himself and we just started talking about life. Okay. But I never thought.
  • Dr. Gary Brick — Person · Referenced expert (name-drop) · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as part of the range of guests/experts the host references to position the podcast’s breadth.
    Might hear from real estate agents, celebrities rappers athletes business mogul. From Gary Vee to Dr. Gary Brick, and everyone in between, you're learning different types of…

Books & papers

  • Three Feet from Gold — Book · Referenced story/metaphor source · 1 mention · first at
    Used to illustrate persistence past imposter syndrome and the danger of quitting right before success.
  • Think and Grow Rich — Book · Referenced reading material · 1 mention · first at
    Cited by Tim Story as part of his daily study routine to build knowledge and coaching skill.
    So I study two hours a day. So already today, I study two hours today. So whether I'm reading Think and Grow Rich or Atomic Habits Y or I'm watching a Kobe Bryant interview…
  • Atomic Habits — Book · Referenced reading material · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as an example of self-improvement study supporting Tim Story’s emphasis on continuous learning.
    Today, I study two hours today. So whether I'm reading Think and Grow Rich or Atomic Habits Y or I'm watching a Kobe Bryant interview when he was alive on YouTube or I'm…

Companies & orgs

  • AX Paris — Company · Referenced brand (first monetization story) · 2 mentions · first at
    Natasha Graziano describes tagging AX Paris from a thrift-store photo as the first paid brand deal that catalyzed her business growth.
  • Bethlehem Steel — Company · Referenced employer (family background) · 1 mention · first at
    Tim Story cites his father’s work there to contextualize his working-class upbringing.
    And then dad worked at Bethlehem Steel.

Concepts & topics

  • Charity — Concept · Core topic · 12 mentions · first at
    One of the show’s three pillars; both guests argue giving is essential personally and for businesses, tied to purpose and abundance.
    Now, as you guys know, we cover three core topics. How to make money, how to invest money, how to give it away to charity. This gentleman has done all of the above and a…
  • Artificial Intelligence — Concept · Tactical tool (brand outreach) · 1 mention · first at
    Natasha recommends using ChatGPT to draft persuasive brand-collaboration emails, tying AI to monetization workflows.
  • Marvin — Concept · Omitted (not a valid person entity) · 2 mentions · first at
    Referenced only by first name; per instructions, single-name person references are skipped as person entities.
    Yeah. Again, this was very powerful men in Beverly Hills that were much older than me. one of them was my friend Marvin. Marvin is very, very wealthy. And he'd say, Tim, I love…

Places & events

  • Aspire Tour — Event · Referenced speaking tour/event series · 2 mentions · first at
    A concrete example of how speakers monetize and gain marketing exposure; the host and Tim Story discuss touring consistency and promotion.
  • Los Angeles — Place · Referenced origin location · 2 mentions · first at
    Tim Story’s birthplace; grounds his upbringing narrative and early socioeconomic context.
    So, my bio is born in Los Angeles.
  • Winchill's Donut Shop — Place · Referenced upbringing detail · 1 mention · first at
    Tim Story mentions his mother worked there, anchoring his lower-income childhood narrative.
    Mother worked at Winchill's Donut Shop.
  • Ghana — Place · Referenced travel/speaking market · 1 mention · first at
    Used as an example of lucrative international speaking offers and the difficulty of saying no.
    Most when you were raised like us, right? They're Dude, we're paying you a car. I remember this one guy in Ghana was trying to get me. He says, I don't think you're getting what I just told you. I'm going to give you $80,000.
  • Long Beach — Place · Referenced personal location · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned in an anecdote about growing up near Winchell's and a music video location, adding personal texture.
    I grew up next to it in Long Beach where they did where they did where they did the Snoop Dog video.
  • Malaysia — Place · Referenced travel/speaking market · 1 mention · first at
    Part of the example itinerary illustrating global demand for Tim Story’s speaking.
    Right. For years obviously how you choose, right? If you're booked to be in South Africa, then you're in Malaysia, then you're back to LA, then you're off to Dallas, Texas…
  • CVS — Place · Referenced place (public recognition example) · 1 mention
    Used to illustrate how social media recognition happens in everyday places, not just via TV appearances.

Media & podcasts

  • Money Mondays — Media · Primary podcast / setting · 6 mentions · first at
    The show framework structures the conversation into making money, investing, and giving to charity; both interviews occur on this podcast.
  • Law of Attraction Secrets — Media · Referenced podcast (guest's show) · 1 mention · first at
    Natasha Graziano promotes it as her podcast, reinforcing her media platform and brand.
    Love connecting with my people, with my fans. My podcast is super fun. Go find it from here. It's easy. It's called Law of Attraction Secrets, and it's right there. So, as you…

Full transcript with timestamps

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to a very, very, very special edition of the Money Mondays podcast. We are here inside of a Hubble studio just completing a multi-day event where our next guest was the keynote speaker, the grand finale of the 3-day mastermind by Grant Kimble. Now, as you guys know, we cover three core topics. How to make money, how to invest money, how to give it away to charity. This gentleman has done all of the above and a sprinkle on top for decades now on television, on tour, and everything between. So, here's the thing. On these podcasts, as you're consuming the content, it's not just for you. It could be for someone from your past, your present, or your future. You might hear from real estate agents, celebrities rappers athletes business mogul. From Gary Vee to Dr. Gary Brick, and everyone in between, you're learning different types of information that might not be for you. It might be for

someone else in your life that you don't even realize it. So, take in this information and listen to our next guest. He's going to give a quick two-minute bio so we can get straight to the money.

Mr. Tim's story. Good to see you. It's always good to be seen. So, my bio is um born in Los Angeles. Mother worked at Winchill's Donut Shop. Have you ever been there before?

I grew up next to it in Long Beach where they did where they did where they did the Snoop Dog video.

What's the What's my name video? Yeah. I live right there. And then dad worked at Bethlehem Steel.

Mhm. uh was a steel worker and but one of the things that was cool, Dan, is that I am the the youngest of five children. So my three older sisters always made sure I did my homework.

Mhm. So even though we were like lower income, I remember my mother saying, "We might be lower income, but we're not lower class."

Nice. because we had seven people in a two-bedroom apartment, but I was really into school and I wasn't trying to be the person that the teachers liked, but the teachers liked me.

Sure. So, I I had a likable personality. I had a lot of humor and uh love school and just started taking off. Ended up going to seminary because I wanted to be a cool Mother Teresa. So the way you give out toys and all the humanitarian work you've been doing all these years, that's what I gave my life to.

Wow. So starting at 18, I was in seminary and had already started like programs for inner city kids to think big in small places. That was a whole course. That's what it was called, thinking big in small places.

And then uh I'm like you. I'm a bit creative. So, I went and got some NFL players to start coming into inner city neighborhoods with me. And a couple of the stars said, "Hey, how old are you?" I said, "18." They said, "What the heck?" And one guy who became a Hall of Famer, he said, "I've got money. You got a skill set. Let's go." I love it.

So, since I was 18 years of age, this is what I do. So, what's the turning point? When do you turn it into a business? When do you become Tim Story? like when is it was it was it Oprah that made that happen? Was it you going to your first stages? What was the turning point that made you from little Timmy to the Tim story?

So I think in life some things you decide and some things you discover. So I never decided I was going to be a businessman and own many many businesses and be part of a lot of businesses as I am now. I never made that decision early. I discovered it and the way the way I discovered it

is that by helping people. So if I was with these NFL players or NBA guys, I'd hear them talking business and because I like to read a lot. So it goes back to this education component. I would then say, so okay, what are you going to do with this or how come that or wouldn't it be a good idea to do this? and they started to pick up on, man, this guy, he's he's quick.

Mhm. He's quick. So, I started picking up on the business side of things from the very people that were helping me to help inner city kids.

Was there one stage you first remember? Was there like one moment like, whoa, I'm Tim's story?

Yeah. Like, 100%. It was when Nelson Mandela go came to came to see me. So, it it had been um talked about that for real Mandela thinks you're awesome and he's his people are really talking you up to him that you got that Mandela vibe now. Uh there's a humility about you, a texture to you that you know you you're a revolutionary person and he's going to come and see you. And at that time I was only 31 years of age. I was speaking to 10,000 people and I remember when he rolled up I was probably like eight minutes into my talk and I went like, "Oh my goodness." It was like a a shift there. Yeah. It was that it it was that

it was that shift of like this this this is for real. Yeah. So for someone out there listening that might be want to become a professional speaker,

when's the turning point when you go from speaking at events for free to now you're commanding 50,000, 75,000, 100,000, sometimes six figures more to go international? Like what's the turning point to actually get paid for the first time whether it's a,000 bucks or five grand that first time to actually get paid?

I think you would agree with this. I think that motive is a thing that has made me that my motives were always good where I wanted to just help people and based on that motive I just kept getting invited like

companies would would invite me and this is like when I was really young and they're going and they would say and by the way we're going to pay you $15,000 and I said

for how long? I go no for an hour buddy. And that just blew my mind. like what the heck

and so then they would say and we have other friends that that we can hook you up to. So I think I think the motive is so important that to me it was not about monetizing at first. It was about the motive and creating what I call a signature message. And my signature message to start with was how to turn your setbacks to a comeback. And who hasn't had a a setback? We all have. So So Dan, what happened is that I started getting invited all these places. But because I'm almost too nice, I needed my lawyer to make the deal.

Interesting. So I I brought on brought in an outside source to negotiate. Yep. Cuz I was I was too nice.

So if you're listening and you can't afford that, you can become that by just changing your name and changing email address. So you can become Jennifer the assistant. You could be you could be Robert the assistant and you could email on the behalf of you the speaker.

So good actually. And because at first who can afford it when you're first getting started but it adds this level of credibility to have an assistant to to go back and forth and you're doing it to actually get paid. You're doing it to be to turn into a business because you got to pay your rent.

Also fun fact the highest paid profession in the planet per hour is speaking. Yeah.

Nothing's even close. No athlete, no celebrity, no nothing. Amazing. And as you know, even uh as much as me or more than me, that's why some of the biggest entertainers in the world are trying to get in this space for sure.

Literally the biggest they want in this space. We're booking household name speakers for other people's events all the time. Obviously, we're booking an Aspire tour together all the time, these celebrities and athletes cuz

it is how else are you going to get 100 grand, 200 grand, 300 grand to speak for an hour

and the company's marketing you. Yes. Right. an Aspire tour for example, they're spending six figures, mid- six figures or more per month promoting their event with the flyer of Tim Story. Yes. Me, the celebrity, the athlete, etc. So, they're getting marketing during this time, you know, leading up to the event as well.

Let me and let me just say thank you to to you about things like that. So, one of the things you've always been to me, cuz we're friends first and we love each other as brothers, but you've always looked out for me like, man, Tim would fit in here. Tim would fit in here and then Tim should stay here

because even like at Aspire, there's a lot of people that have come and gone, but I've been rolling with that group for now for two and a half years.

And uh a lot of that is because of you uh secretly having my back all the time. But tell me why why you chose to have my back

in some of these things. You were the one like you're right. You fit into that thing. It's not like I'm doing a favor. like you are that guy. And a lot of people come and go. A lot of speakers come and go. We've seen it happen over and over and over. They think that they can handle being on tour 12 months a year. They can't.

They have family life, friends situations. You've been there every single time for 28 shows, 29 shows in a row. Yeah.

People can't do that. They're not built like you. And I'm there early. It it starts at 8. I'm there early.

I stay to the damn end. You see me all around everywhere just talking to people. But again, that's my upbringing.

But what else? Most of the speakers, they land at 10:40 a.m., they speak at 12:00 p.m., they're done at 1:00 p.m., and they're back on a plane by 2:22.

Yes. Yes. And like they have to be like it's like as if they couldn't stay for another hour or two.

No, that makes sense. So that monetizing side, I I like what you what you just said that they could u do that through another email. So, I would use my attorney. He would he would make the deal then I would come in. And then I started to realize that man, I'm more liked than I'm giving myself credit for. And it wasn't like low self-esteem. It's it's almost like we were just taught that, you know, we had to be humble. We should be humble. That's just how my mother taught us about life. And so again, I needed outside people to say, "Hey, Tim, you're worth that.

Y you you you should be on that stage with those people." Cuz I almost for a while had uh imposttor syndrome like how come this stuff is happening to me at such a a a big level.

Yeah. So again on the making money side, you get bombarded by events now. Yes. Right. For years obviously

how you choose, right? If you're booked to be in South Africa, then you're in Malaysia, then you're back to LA, then you're off to Dallas, Texas, then they want you in Dubai, then they want you in New York. Like that's a lot of travel.

But in between there, people are offering you, you know, 50 grand, 100 grand, however much it is.

How do you say no? Okay. So that that became a tough one for me. So I would say from age like 27 for about 20 years I was too busy.

I I was just moving too fast. Yes to everything because pro golfers have told you and me it's just hard to say no when they're giving you literally like a car.

Most when you were raised like us, right? They're like, "Dude, we're paying you a car." I remember this one guy in Ghana was trying to get me. He says, "I don't think you're getting what I just told you. I'm going to give you $80,000."

Right. Plus travel. Plus travel. And the size of the diamond ring. He wanted to give me for a woman. He says, "Who's your woman right now? I will get her the greatest diamond ring." Yeah. And he was he was sincere about it, too. And then

Did you go It happened. Yeah. Yeah. But Yeah. But for that period of time, I was I was moving too fast. But again, this is some wisdom that I learned from the older guys. Put the right team around me. Because I remember Leakoko, he said, "You teach me about life, I'll teach you about money."

And Aayakoko was the man, as you know, of course. And so I learned to always have a good team around me to help me with my with my investing, uh, what I was doing, what company I companies I was letting use my name because a lot of those things I didn't know. And then I started learning more and more about that in my 30s.

So let's talk about the investing side of the world. Why is it important for people to invest into themselves? Why should they be reading books, watching courses, going to masterminds, going to live events? Like why should they be investing into themselves? I I think that it it is the most important thing because um we are like a a walking gold mine. And uh when you look at somebody like a you know a prince the singer had he not invested in himself to see how many instruments he could play and how he could make that sound be that sound.

uh then people began to discover that but he had to invest in himself through the practice and the mentorship. So I began to invest in myself and pay money. Uh I started going to see a therapist who taught at USC. She was very well name known named Dr. Helen Mendes African-American lady. And I'd pay her uh her fee and more. And I would say, I want to do this thing called life coaching. Cuz life coaching really didn't start getting popular until later. So this is in the '8s. And she says, Tim, I'm telling you, you could be like a forerunner mostly amongst our people. And so I invested in her. I used to give her extra gifts. and I invested in other people to come into my life because I knew that I was building up wealth uh inside of me that I could then therefore release

to others. So over the course of your career as you're making 50 grand, 100 grand a night and sometimes you're doing it

week after week or three or four times in the same week. Yes. What are you doing with the capital? Was there ever times you're investing into companies, investing into real estate? Like how are you deciding what to invest into?

Yeah. Again, this was uh very powerful men in Beverly Hills that were much older than me. Uh one of them was my friend Marvin. Um Marvin is very, very wealthy. And he'd say, "Tim, I love you like a son. You can run this by your guys, but this is what I would do. I take this amount, I put it here. I take this amount, I put it here. I take this amount, I put it here." But then I would question Marvin so I could then learn. So everybody needs a Marvin, right?

Because Marvin's motives were good. Marvin never said, "And when you make this much money, I want this percentage." And and Marvin saw my money start to go chuch-ching chuch-ching ching ching ch-ing ching. It got a little crazy. And um in a in a in a beautiful way. And I think that's another time where I had to get a mind shift change that this is this is your life now, Tim. This is this is supposed to be your life. This is not just happening and it's going to go away in two years. This this is your life and it has been my life since I was 20 years of age.

So to me, most speakers unfortunately aren't very good at social media. Mhm. You've taken it on to a whole new level.

Yes. You're live Instagram stories, posting from the events, getting photos with the other speakers, posting that, doing behind the scenes, funny stuff, serious stuff, and everything between.

Did you learn from someone? Does this evolve or you just watched the evolution of time of why you need to be involved in social media? Well, I do listen to people like you and um I feel like our conversations have really helped uh about really posting about things that authentic to me like what is what is my brand? So I think my my brand is joy, my brand is goodness, my brand is next level. And I I did see my social media just literally explode when I just started posting about what I'm about, which is life.

And um and I I I love the fact this thing about social media is so wild that you know how it is. We could roll through even like a CVS and people come up to you and say all these things

and you think, "Oh, you may have seen me just now on the NBC Today show or just, you know, last week I I was on uh Night Line on ABC." But it's not that. It's social media,

Facebook and Tik Tok. They they know you all about social media and they feel very connected that way. So, a lot of events they are monetizing from sales from stage.

Yeah. Where they sell something they believe in or a package or a course or a one-year program, but then they bring you in.

Yes. And it's typically right before the main speaker or the main sale from stage, which is how they monetize their event, which is, you know, keeps the lights on. It's very expensive to throw live events, especially the events you speak at are 2,000 3,000 people, for example.

Yes. Why you? What do you think it is that makes it so that someone is more encouraged or more more uh eyes wide open to want to make a purchase to better their life?

Yeah, I think I think one of the gifts that I have is to talk to people's hearts and really locate them of where they are and then speak to them of where they can go to. So I can help them take inventory. Like right now I may be in a challenging time but if you take these steps and you walk with us here at this company we could take you from dimension to dimension to dimension. So I feel that people trust me because you're right that's a role that

that I am usually in. So talk to me about investing into relationships. you know, you spend time again, huge, you're staying at these events backstage all day long. Yeah. When it' be very easy for you to fly out like the other speakers. Why are you spending the money, time, and energy to build these relationships?

Okay. So, like you noticed that I text you just to say thank you. Out of nowhere, we may not have even been at an event.

I just I'm just saying, "Hey, love you." And then you send me some kind of really cool emoji that you get somewhere from your phone. Okay. So, so what that is about to me is is gratitude but extended. So, not that I just say good things behind Dan's back, but I want to say it to your face. So, I every single day of my life, every single day of my life, I text 10 people.

Wow, that's great. every day of my life,000 people. I text 10 people and I tell them, I think you're you're awesome. You know, I I know you've been through that, but it's you're going to get out of it or congratulations on your baby. You guys just had a baby. 10 people every single day.

So, when you hear the quote, your net worth, it's relevant to your net worth. Yeah. What are your thoughts about that? Well, I think in in in your case and my case, it is it is working. Again, it's motive.

Mhm. Like for instance, I was minding my own business. And then I would meet a director who then would say, I'm working on a Will Smith film. Maybe I want you to work with me and Will on that film. I wasn't looking for that. So, it wasn't like I saw that guy. I remember being with uh Stephen Soderberg who did Oceans 11, 12, 13 and um we it was at a party and he was just kind of by himself and we just started talking about life. Okay. But I never thought it's Stephen Soderberg. I wonder what I could get out of this someday. But it's so interesting on how a lot of my relationships that I sewed seed into two years ago, they just started coming back to me in friendships, connections, or he's the guy. So even like right now, you know, I'm working on a talk show and so we have interests from all the big networks, CBS, ABC, Fox, TelePictures because Dr. Phil is not doing it the same way. And I think we

will do it in the right time. Again, when I'm walking in these guys' offices, I'm not selling anything. They're liking me cuz they're like, "Dude, I've been following you for 20 years. Y

you encouraged me one time. You you even life coach me and wouldn't take my money."

So, that's pretty wild, I think. Why do celebrities, athletes, and business mogul come to you as a life coach or in bad situations? Okay. So, a lot of people will come to me uh people in the addiction space, uh people that are in trouble financially. But I became known in the spaces that you're talking about by starting with the few Beverly Hills moguls that did well and I had the right answers for them. But Dan, part of the reason I had the right answers is I study.

So I study two hours a day. So already today, I study two hours today. So whether I'm reading Think and Grow Rich or Atomic Habits Y

or I'm watching a Kobe Bryant interview when he was alive on YouTube or I'm watching one of your shows, I'm studying two hours a day to grow myself

out. So, I think that I started to get a skill set to where I made a table, stay quiet, and then listen up. That's what started blowing me away when I started sitting with the James Cons and sitting with the Elliott Ghouls and these powerful guys at the pole lounge and and the James Khan would go, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, don't say a word, Tim. What do you think of this?" That's when I thought, man, I'm on to something. M

it wasn't just charisma. It was it was I was dropping I was dropping knowledge.

So let's talk about the charity side of things on the money Mondays. Why do you think it's important for us as humans? Let's say I run a family household. Yeah.

Why inside of my family household should I have some type of charity around my wife husband children parents etc.? So there's there's something about reaping what you sow and there's something about this idea of when I let something go somehow God or the universe brings it back to you. And I I really believe this with all my heart that what I make happen for someone else, life will make happen for me. And I remember my mother even though we she worked at Wincho, she's raising the kids after my father passes when I'm only 10. She's got five kids how we would go to church and she would give to the church and um and she stayed faithful in her giving. But I look at her now, she's like going to be 95 soon.

Her houses are paid off. you know, her kids do well and we've always taken care of her, so you you you reap what you sow. So, I don't give out of the idea of getting back. I I give because I care just like you and I want to make somebody's life more beautiful and better, but dog on it, it comes back.

It'll come back to you. So, similar question, but someone that's listening that owns a company and they've got 35 employees, they're building up their business. Why should they incorporate philanthropy and charity into their business with their staff?

I I actually think that it's a it's a must. Wow. It's it's it's it's essential. It's it's it's where the world is. So, right now, we we have a world that is not just living in the mundane. The mundane is we're just doing things regular. We're not just living in the messy where things are disheveled. We're living in the madness. There's a lot of madness in this world

for sure. And the healers were were the healers. So it's it's it's it's common guys like us who life has chosen us to do uncommon things. So, if you have been blessed with a business and you can get in the middle of all this chaos and bring healing, even if it's toys at Christmas or backpacks for back to school or feeding people, cuz we do it all,

man, you're changing somebody's life and who knows who that person's going to change.

Wow. So there's only one question that I ask on every single episode and I've never gotten the same answer once. So many many years from now after you've amassed this wealth.

Yeah. And unfortunately sometime hopefully it's many many years 50 100 years from now time time for Tim to pass away.

Yeah. What percentage of that massive net worth do you leave to your children? Yeah. So, I know that some of the the the the powerful men don't leave that much to their children.

I'm going to leave a lot to my children. I love it. Yeah. And the reason I'm going to do that is because I've been teaching them responsibility along the way.

Y So, I I really will tell them like, "You got this Xbox. It was not easy to get."

Mhm. And boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Or when the Power Rangers were hot and my son wanted them when he was a little little kid. And I said, "Let me tell you something. Hardly anybody can get the Red Ranger. I found it in Denver. It wasn't easy. Just know what I've done, man. I sacrificed my life. So there's there's usually a lesson

with a gift. But I'm going to leave a lot to my children. No doubt about it. because I'm into uh leaving a legacy.

Y and wealth and wealth and wealth. So Dan, we don't have to start like we started.

You know, by God's grace, we will never go back to where we were. Yeah. Not even close.

All right. Where can people find you on social media? Where can they check out anything you've been up to in particular? Yes.

Podcast, books, live events. What's going on in your world? Tell them. Yeah. So timstory.com. So Tim and then s t o r e y.com and Dan in front of everybody. Thank you again for loving me, having my back, and uh caring about people.

Thank you. All right, guys. You're listening to the Money Mondays where we cover our three core topics about making money, investing money, and giving away to charity. But this is what's truly important. The reason the podcast has done so well is because of your support, liking commenting subscribing etc. So, as you guys are going through life, you've got to have blunt discussions with your friends, family, and followers. We grew up thinking it's rude to talk about money. I think that's ridiculous. You've got to be able to talk about loans, salaries, accounts, taxes. What do you do with your bank?

What happens if you borrowed 500 bucks? How do you get it back? These are real life things that go on in your life. You got to feel comfortable talking about it with people in your world so we can make this a better financial society. So, I appreciate you guys. Check out Tim Story across social media and tim.com. We'll see you guys next Monday on the moneymunddays.com. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Money Mondays podcast where we cover three core topics. How to make money, how to invest money, how to give away to charity. This next guest has done all of those things all over the planet on the biggest stages. You've seen her on social media. You've seen her at, I don't know, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 events a year, year after year after year, spreading her positivity message, which is super important to me cuz I like uplifting people. and she's been doing that at the highest level across the

planet. Sometimes at events together, sometimes events. I've seen her in some amazing events all over the world. Give it up for Miss Natasha Graciano.

Woo! What an intro. I love that. Thank you so much for having me. Pleasure. So, as you guys know, we covered these three core topics. What I need from you, Natasha, is to do a quick two-minute bio so we can get straight to the money.

Love it. Okay, so he pretty much did it so well to the tea. I started about eight years ago at this point. 2019 was really when my rock bottom happened. That was when I found myself on my lowest. That was the point where everything came crashing down around me. And in that moment, I was broke and in hundreds of thousands of debt. I was unwell and I was trying to overcome life and get back on my feet. I was a single mom. Something shifted in my mind. Something in that moment told me, "You're going to be a motivational speaker." And I didn't know what it was, but I knew there was something greater for me out there. And so I decided to commit to a different goal, something that wasn't about my current reality. It was something else. And from there, I built I started a podcast. I started creating a business. I started creating a coaching business and then the ripple effect, bestselling books, etc., etc. to

where we are today. We're going to talk about the etc., etc. We're not leaving out any details today. So tell us on the make money side of this podcast. You go from wanting to be a speaker. A lot of times people go speak at events or they DJ at a party for free at first to get their name, get their connections. When was the first time you asked for money? When you're like, you know what, I want to get paid a,000 bucks, 5 grand. Not not what you're getting now, 50K, 100K. Talk about the times when you're trying to get a,000, 5,000.

Wow. So, I actually decided to build a lot of value first. Like, I was not going to go out there off the rip and be like, "Okay, I want to be paid." Because it doesn't work like that. You have to build your name, build your credibility, build your validation, build who you are by being what you talk about and taught me actually very well being omniresent. You have to be everywhere so that you create hype, you create FOMO, you create value, literally like fireworks. So I was like, how do I get to that place? So the first time I ever charged was probably the 10th time I went on a stage. I didn't charge for so many at first because I was saying mass miners that was a year because I was building my name, building a rapport, getting to know other big speakers and building who I was so that when I then go in was saying okay you know what I'm going to charge 5,000 this first time

it was a slam dunk yes and then you know okay that was cool let me do 10 right and then you do corporate goes up to 50 then it keeps growing you know

what do you think on the making money side what do you think holds people back from making money there's a huge mental block it seems like in our society where people feel like they're capped. They make 30 grand a year or 40 grand a year, 50 grand a year and they don't think that they can do more because of XYZ. What do you think is holding them back?

The limitations in their own mind. We look around us and go I'm never going to be as good as them. Like I'm never going to be like them. So we start to put these limitations and blocks which are the walls of our own mind. That's all they are. Usually it's down to imposttor syndrome. So, we have this little voice that sits there and tells you, "You're never going to do it. Give up now. You're never going to have a voice like him. Give up now. Oh, you're never going to earn money like her. Give up now." And so, we stop achieving at our highest level. We stop believing in ourselves.

And we start to listen to the little voice. That is just imposter syndrome. And what is on the other side of that imposter syndrome is success. It was like when they were digging for the diamonds and they gave up right before. It's a very famous story. We all know it from those people who who originally were finding and they gave up one meter one meter before they found the diamonds. What does that say about life? It's the same thing. Imposter syndrome happens to tell you you are in the right place. You are meant to be there because you are about to feel success. You are about to find the diamonds. You are about to become the diamonds.

So there's a famous book that she's referencing by Greg Reid called Three Feet from Gold. Mhm.

And in this book it explains and it shows a picture kind of what she's describing where they're just they're spiking spiking spiking digging digging digging and they stop. And if you look at the other side of the meme, they kept digging and right behind there was, you know, the diamonds and gold. All right. On the social media influencer side, even though you built up 13 million followers and growing, when you first got to the 100,000 and then 200,000, 500,000, when did you start decide, I'm going to start charging money to do brand deals? M I mean as soon as I had 500,000 followers I would have charged before that but I didn't get savvy enough to think about it. I would have charged at 100,000. Anybody who has an influence of $100,000 followers and more should be making money on social media.

I think to be honest you can even make money at $10,000. But I think the truth is just deciding I am worthy of this and I'm using my platform to help people. I want to make money. I deserve to make money, so I'm going to. And then I started to reach out to people and my questions were phrased when I would email them. Perhaps an assistant would do it or I'd email as an assistant and say, um, this is when we were starting. So, I'd have a VA, you know, at some point have a VA, but before the VA, I remember emailing myself and saying, I was test running it. Hey, Natasha would be interested in promoting your brand.

What's the budget for your campaign? So, immediately I'm asking you what your budget is. So, you tell me. Well, we have this much to pay you. That was fantastic. That changed my life because I was able, in fact, that was how I got out of being broke originally.

Oh, interesting. I was in a charity store, which you call a thrift store, and I was in London. I had no money and my little baby was with me in the store, and I put him on the floor, and he was playing with the toys, and I said to the girls, "Can you watch him while I go on the street and just get a stranger to take a picture on my phone wearing one of your outfits?" And they were like, "Sure." They were so nice to me. Like I made friends with these girls. They had nothing. I could never afford these clothes at the time.

I couldn't even I was wearing a thrift store. I couldn't even afford the thrift store clothes. They gave me an outfit and I remember it was this brand called AX Paris. And I put the outfit on and I walked into the street and I literally it was on this beautiful corner and I said to anybody passing, "Oh, they look like they take a picture. Take a picture." So I stood and I took a picture. And that was when everything changed because I posted that first picture online. I tagged the brand. The brand DM'd me, Natasha, we absolutely love this, but we'd actually like to send you some of our current season and pay you. And that first 150 or 250, whatever it was at the time, dollars with pounds, turned into the empire I have today.

Wow. So, what do you think holds someone back from doing what you just said? Like, what do you think holds someone back from making some content and doing what your book is called, Be It Till You Become It? Well, I think that they decide that they cannot do it. They put the word cannot where they should put can. I do not believe in fear. Fear is just false evidence appearing real. So, people get caught in their fears. They don't fly because of it. They don't do so many things because of their fears. You have to get on the other side of your fears and say, "No, I'm not going to let this hold me back." Here's my end goal and here's the big reason that most people fail and quit way before they even began because they don't have a big enough why. They don't have a reason that they are doing it for. When I go and do anything, whether I'm doing brand deals, why am I doing those brand deals?

Okay, they're on a much larger scale now. We're in multiple six, seven figures for some of the things I do. And why do I do them? For my children, for my future children, for my future grandb babies, and for the children in the charity that I support. So, I do it because there is something greater inside of me that needs to fulfill that for them. I'm not doing this for Natasha's little outfits anymore or Natasha's lifestyle. That is an offset of what I have. The fact that I get to live a lavish lifestyle and travel and be the way that I do is amazing. But I'm doing this for the greater good. So I connect my why to my will, which gives you purpose.

So someone's out there and they're they got their first 10 20,000 followers and they're ready to message to a brand. What should they say? Like how do they say like jump up the courage to finally say, "Hey, Ax Paris fashion brand, pay me."

Okay, Chat GBT is [ __ ] amazing. Go on ChatGBT. It will write it for you, but I'll tell you how to prompt it and then I'll tell you how to write it if you don't want to use each chat to me with T. If you don't chat with T, you're going to say something like, "Hey brand, absolutely love your pieces and would love to collaborate with you. I have the 200,000 followers I have here on Instagram. I also have on Tik Tok X and on Facebook X and what go through the the places that you have value. Might be an email list, whatever it is." And then say, "I would absolutely love to promote your products to my audience." love name or from name warmly name whatever you want. Now if you want to prompt chatbt you got to get amazing at prompt. So I would say something to ch write me an email that is going to be persuasive using NLP that is going to want the brand to work with me and this is the name of the brand and this is the

campaign that I want to do with them and then it will write it for you. I love it. Uh so my social media agency last 14 years and we've done over 110,000 paid posts.

[ __ ] wild with those influencers. The biggest thing is the ones that actually reach out to the brands get the deals.

So many influencers are waiting around for the brands to DM them. Yeah. And by the way, a lot of brands do DM you and you don't see it

because you get hundreds of messages a day. So a lot of times brands do message you and you don't see it or they do email you and you don't see it or they message your manager, your agent or someone and you don't hear about it.

And so being proactive is what I've seen over and over and over how influencers make money or not even just influencers. single mom, three kids, right? Makes money to do YouTube videos about cooking,

right? Because she proactively reached out to brands and because of that, the brand posted her and now her and her three kids have huge following because the brand actually promoted them. Yes.

Cuz they're reposting their content. Yes. All right. So, let's go to the investing side. You've invested a lot of time, money, energy into yourself, into your personal brand. Why is it important for someone to build up their personal brand? Your personal brand is your passport and it is your business card. It is everything. Your personal brand walks in the room before you. Your personal brand like you have the strongest personal brand. Everybody knows Danflment. There are so many things that go into that. For somebody who doesn't have a personal brand, they're not getting on the stages.

They're wondering why they're not getting on podcasts. They're wondering why they're not doing anything and collaborating with amazing people. The people who are collaborating have the most incredible personal brands. Gary Vee, we could start there. One of the top personal branding experts in America. So when you look at people who really invest in their social media, in themselves, in their team, and everything around them, they will build a strong personal brand because that will go in the door before them. It's walked me into red carpet events, huge awards ceremonies. It's got me awards.

It's gotten me where I am. Because when people think of Natasha Garciano, I may not have like a branding color theme. Some people do like Virgin, Amazon, you think red, orange. They have mass branding colors. That's a really great way to do a personal brand as well. But I've invested in me exponentially where my voice just carries that weight. My outfits carry that weight. The way that I dress, the way I speak, combined with the way that I I just say it in such an outrageous way. I can think of many people like that who I don't even really know their name, but I know their brand.

like I'd be able to find them based on that. So sometimes people get a scarcity mindset when you went through really tough financial times, but now you're starting to make money. How do you get past that to finally invest into a real estate deal or a company or a product or even to like hire PR and spend money and like, oh, I'm going to spend 5,000, 10,000,

right? Because I know for me, I have I get I want to spend money, but I still think about being broke and it's still in the back of my mind.

So talk to me about how do you get mental I still have that same thing. It's a It's a broken mindset versus a growth mindset. We get caught in this. Oh my god, if I spend money, I'm not going to make more. Here's the really interesting thing. I every couple of years will I rent my home that I live in. I buy my assets that I rent out because I want to live in the freaking most luxurious amazing place, but I want to make money while I'm sleeping from my assets which are being rented out and there's multiple of them. So, you know that this is my way of thinking. So I decided I push myself to buy rent sorry an even bigger place or more abundant more expensive essentially every two years so that I am forced to make more money and then because of that I go and invest it.

So some people like you're wasting money on rent. No I'm living how I want to but what I'm doing is I'm forcing myself to make more money. It's a mindset. If I know I've got to make that amount every single year I'm going to make triple it. and you just do you keep making more money as you level up. So getting out the broken mindset is as simple as deciding how much do I need to put aside to be able to invest in that property or to invest in myself. If you do not invest in you, nobody else is going to invest in you. Whether you're buying properties, real estate, or investing in PR, whatever you are doing, you want to do it because you know it's going to move you forwards. It's moving the needle forwards. having money coming in while you sleep, a passive income, building your name online, whatever it is. It is so important to create that abundance for yourself, that asset for yourself. And if you constantly sit with

I'm not going to do it, I can't do it. Guess what? You attract more to you. More of the I'm never going to get it stuff. And then you don't make more money. In fact, you stay exactly where you are. If not, you go down. So, you have to be willing to take a risk so that you can invest and get something good in return. So, walk us through the book when you this whole concept of the be it before you become it. Walk us through that.

Okay, so be it till you become it is my favorite way of saying fake it till you make it. I [ __ ] hate fake it till you make it cuz at school when I was young I was called fake and I hated it and it really it really like pierced my heart. I was like why do they think I'm fake? It's because I'm so nice all the time and bubbly and super like hey how are you? like what's happening in your they where I was from in the UK very reserved and like you know you tell them how are you fine it's not I'm amazing I was just super grateful and it wasn't received in the right way and because of that I decided well I want to be who I am but I want to be a millionaire how do I be her and as we started you know into the these later years I decided I want to be the version of me before I get there so if I want to be a multi-millionaire then I have to be her. Now, if I want to be an amazing wife, I don't wait till I'm

married to be an amazing wife. I be her now. If I want to be a super successful business owner, I have to be them now. You have to be the version of you you want to become in 5 to 10 years today. Decide how do they think, how do they feel, how do they act, because all of this becomes your character, which is who you are.

So, let's talk about the charity side of things. Why do you think it's important for people to involve charity into their households like with them themselves, their family, their friends?

Well, whatever you believe in, whatever text, whatever books you believe in, they always say giving to charity, you know, whether it's 10%, whatever it is, is so important for you as a growth, you know, in your own growth, in your own way. I believe charity is one of the most important things we ever do because it's again going back to what I talked about earlier, your why. It's why you're doing everything in your life. It's why you're showing up. It's like, why am I playing at this level? It's not only for my immediate family. It's for the families that I want to feed. It's for the children I want to serve or whatever that is to you. It could be a a horse charity that you support. Beautiful. It could be a dog charity that you support.

It could be whatever it might be. You find the thing that means something to you. And that's where you donate every month, every week, whatever it is that you can that feels good. Some people do hundreds and millions of dollars. You're one of these people who does enormous things with philanthropy and you're very known for it. But and you know the feeling it gives you that amazing, wow, like I really I feel good about myself doing it, but you do it for others. But the reward is so nice. You just know like wow, I'm really I'm putting my heart in the right place. And we don't even need to scream about half the stuff we do. Some of it you want to. The reason we talk about charity is so we get other people to join in with you.

But there are certain things that you know when I donate to certain things I I don't I don't talk about it. But we do it because we're helping others and you will see so much abundance in your life. As you give, you receive. It's just the flow of life.

So there's only one question that I ask on every single episode and I've never gotten the same answer before. So Natasha, over the course of time, you're going to hopefully amount hundreds of millions of dollars, maybe become a billionaire one day from all the things that you do with your business and your career, but unfortunately at some point you have to pass away,

right? What percentage of that net worth of those hundreds of millions of dollars do you leave to your children?

Um, I would leave 75% to my children and 25% I would give to an array of different charities.

I love it. All right. So, where can people find you on social? Where can they check out your books, podcast, and everything you got going on?

Amazing. Okay, you guys. So, you can find me on Natasha Graziano everywhere. Every single platform. And DM me. I love it. I love going into my DMs personally. Reach out to me. If I could ever help you in any way. It' be a pleasure. I love connecting with my people, with my fans. My podcast is super fun. Go find it from here. It's easy. It's called Law of Attraction Secrets, and it's right there. So, as you guys know, on the Money Mondays, we cover these three core topics about making money, investing money, giveaway to charity. The reason for this podcast, we're number 37 in the world because of you guys. Wow.

Liking, commenting, subscribing. You sharing it is what helps us so much. But it's really more important to me that you have these discussions with your friends, family, and followers. We grew up thinking it's rude to talk about money. I think that's ridiculous. You have to talk about money, loans, taxes, banks, situations, borrowing money. Should I lease? Should I buy? Should I rent? We don't get to talk about it cuz we think it's rude to talk about it. It's not rude. That's the whole point of this podcast. We have to have discussions with people in your household, people in your office, people in your school, everywhere. You got to be able to have blunt discussions because it's part of your normal life.

It's part of your daily life. So check out Natasha Graziano across social media. Visit us here at the moneym.com. And we'll see you guys next Monday.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Turning Setbacks Into Millions: Tim Storey & Natasha Graziano On Making, Multiplying & Giving Money"?

Dan (Guest), Tim Storey (Guest), Natasha Graziano (Guest).

What is "Turning Setbacks Into Millions: Tim Storey & Natasha Graziano On Making, Multiplying & Giving Money" about?

The discussion focuses on transforming setbacks into opportunities for financial success, featuring insights from Tim Storey and Natasha Graziano on earning, investing, and charitable giving. The speakers draw from their personal experiences, emphasizing resilience and the importance of mentorship in achieving financial growth and contributing to society.

What is mentioned in this The Money Mondays Podcast episode?

24 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Money Mondays, Tim Story, Natasha Graziano, Charity, Aspire Tour, AX Paris. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Turning Setbacks Into Millions: Tim Storey & Natasha Graziano On Making, Multiplying & Giving Money"?

The episode runs 49 min; the transcript is about 9,355 words in 146 timestamped sections.

More from The Money Mondays Podcast

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.