A perfect match for Melissa Mitt | Solopreneur in RV Living

In this engaging conversation, Melissa Mitt shares her journey from traditional homeownership to embracing a nomadic lifestyle in an RV. She discusses the motivations behind her decision to sell her home, the challenges and benefits of working while traveling, and the financial lessons learned along the way. Melissa emphasizes the importance of not settling for a life that doesn't fit and how her experiences have shaped her approach to personal and business finances. She also highlights the significance of self-efficacy in managing debt and achieving financial goals.
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Transcript

Less House More Moola Podcast (00:01)

Well, welcome, Melissa Mittelstaedt we were just talking, I was just working on the clarification of the pronunciation and I'm like, Stat, how math nerdy. Super excited to talk to you about the work that you do in the finance world, just like me, and also your nomadic lifestyle in an RV. Thank you so much for joining me.

MelissaMitt (00:25)

Thank you so much for having me. This is a conversation I've been looking forward to having because not often do I get to have such a mix of my lifestyle and my business. The conversation really gets to encompass the whole me. So looking forward to it.

Less House More Moola Podcast (00:44)

Isn't that why we chose this self-employment entrepreneurship journey is to be our whole self.

MelissaMitt (00:51)

Yes, 100%.

Less House More Moola Podcast (00:53)

So let's talk about that in the context of homeownership because I want you to introduce yourself and then talk a little bit about why you quit homeownership.

MelissaMitt (01:07)

Okay, Melissa Middlestadt, as you said. I go by Melissa Mitt because the last name is just a mouthful. It's hard enough for me to spell, let alone for other people to figure out how to spell it. I made the mistake with my first website. I tried to shorten it a little bit and it was like melissamiddles.com and someone's like, yeah, but it still sounds like middle, like M-I-D-D. I was like, yeah, that's not right.

gone through some iterations there. I am a financial consultant for small business owners, mostly people who identify as solopreneurs. And as a financial consultant, we'll kind of get into my backstory a little bit more later, but I work with folks from the moment the money comes into the business to when it

leaves out of your personal checking account so that entire flow of money through the business, through your personal life, we have to obviously separate our business and personal finances but the influence that they have on each other cannot be broken. So I get to look at the whole life cycle of money as a financial consultant. that.

is very fun for me to see it all.

Less House More Moola Podcast (02:20)

Yeah, I think we'll have to probably put in another episode where we talk more about this because I'm just thinking about so many questions about, you know, how solopreneurs, know, are thinking about themselves in terms of their, you know, sort of tax set up and how, you know, there's so many unanswered questions for someone who's new to this business, like, can I just take money out of my, you know, business account and how do I pay myself and what do I need to set aside and.

You know, I've run into, you know, small business owners in the past who were just sort of using up all that money and not reinvesting profits back into their business. And it was just a feed for their personal lifestyle. And there's just so much more can be so much more to it. If you're trying to actually run a growing business. so maybe we'll plan another time to tease that out in more detail.

MelissaMitt (03:04)

Mm-hmm.

Yep, I'd love to.

Less House More Moola Podcast (03:14)

So let's talk about quitting home ownership.

MelissaMitt (03:16)

Yeah, let's talk about it. So, my, my husband and I, when we bought our first home, we bought our first home within two weeks of our wedding date, which do not recommend. that was quite, that was quite chaotic. but we bought our house in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, and it was a four bedroom.

three bathroom. It was just the perfect, it was the perfect house. When we walked in, we're like, yep, that is the house for us. We lived in it for nine years and the memories that we had in that house, the people that we had come visit in that house, like we still are extremely fond of that home, but we knew our transition out was coming when my husband, he

started doing bass fishing tournaments and he's, you know, he's done local stuff in the state of Minnesota, I think since he was like 18, 19 or something like that. But his fishing career started to grow and he would go to regional tournaments and then he would go to national tournaments and he would be gone for two, three, four weeks at a time. And I'd be figuring out, you know, do I fly there for just a

couple days for the weigh-in and then what happens when he goes to the next place and he's practicing for two weeks before the next weigh-in and it just, it got to be too much. And we had the very hard conversation of, do we want to like make this work? Like, do we want to make this lifestyle of

going to these tournaments and bopping about, do we want to make that work or do we want the house? And the ultimate decision, we don't have children, we chose to be child free. And so we're like, what are we holding onto the house for? Was it because that's just what you're supposed to do? You get married and then you have a house and then you have this life and like, is that what we're supposed to do? And we're like, yeah, we're not living life.

We're not living life the way people are supposed to anyway. So the house really, the house really just became a piece of the puzzle. They're like, okay, it's going to be tough, but we're going to sell it. And then we're going to transition to a nomad life and see how it goes. And here we are today. We're what? Five, six years in.

Less House More Moola Podcast (05:47)

And so what does your home of choice look like now?

MelissaMitt (05:51)

We are currently in an RV. It is a 40 foot fifth wheel, which means it attaches into the back of our truck. When you think about RVs, know, there's ones that you can drive that are the motor homes. And then there's the ones that attach to the bumper. Those are the travel trailers. We've got the RV that attaches into the back of the truck and it's a toy hauler, which means the back end of it has a garage where folks would put

a golf cart or a motorcycle or whatnot, but I turned that into my office. So I've got a 10 by 11 foot office that's got a door that closes. because it's to block fumes, it really like cancels out the noise and all that good stuff. I've got a half bath back here. I've got a patio that folds down. So my little office is my

sanctuary in the RV.

Less House More Moola Podcast (06:47)

Dang, how cool to have that whole separated space for your office. And it seems like that your transition into this nomadic lifestyle was more kind of pushed by career goals than actually a lot of people. It's kind of like the opposite. Like they make that lifestyle choice and then they, you know, tag the.

tag the career on afterwards, like figure out what they're going to do once they're out there. But it seems like that this, it was actually the whole fishing career that actually pushed you into this nomadic lifestyle, which is kind of an interesting twist on things. So how is that going for your husband's goals and for your kind of

MelissaMitt (07:13)

with me.

Less House More Moola Podcast (07:32)

what you were trying to achieve in terms of being there or not having to try, you know, get on a plane so much. How is that working out?

MelissaMitt (07:39)

Yeah, in regard to the tournaments, it's been incredible to be able to watch his process and his gear up and to be there to witness the weigh-ins and it's been so fun. And it has, I wasn't quite sure what it would be like. was like, what it.

Is it going to be tough having your spouse there when you're trying to be like in game mode, you know? But it's actually been so much more beneficial because instead of having to try to figure out like, are we going to FaceTime or how are we going to call each other? How are we going to communicate? It's like, I'm already here, you know? So we get to have time together at night to chit chat and catch up and all of that stuff and to be able to have that together.

has been so fun.

Less House More Moola Podcast (08:30)

And so it's so awesome that you can kind of ride along, but how has it worked for you and your career?

MelissaMitt (08:37)

Yeah, so my career path, my background is a sign language interpreter. Well, I'm gonna go back even further than that. My bachelor's degree is in business administration. And as I was getting that degree, a bunch of deaf students were in the dorm next to mine and they'd be signing and I was the hearing person who was very inappropriate, right?

just stare at people as they're signing. We know that this is true, but I was a 18 year old, so I didn't think through that. But luckily they were so kind, they walked over with a piece of paper and said, hey, we get together every Wednesday night and we teach, you know, hearing students how to sign so we can communicate with each other. Like, is that something you'd be interested in? I was like, yes, I'm interested. So I went every Wednesday night and just

fell in love with sign language. was like, Ooh, this is, this is good. So then I took sign language classes as a foreign language and about my junior year, I was like, I really love this. Like, I think I want to do something more with sign language. And so I decided I wanted to stay, get my bachelor's degree just so I had one. And then I went back to school to get my sign language interpreting degree, which is an AA degree. And

So I have been sign language interpreting since I graduated in 2008.

everything that I was doing was in person. I was working for hospitals, college systems, corporations, everything that I was doing was in person. then COVID hits and everything that I had been doing just kind of like vanished.

And I had to, I had to, I had to pivot. I, I was in that moment of like, okay, everything I know, everything I've been doing is just kind of like gone. So money kind of became the thing of like, what else are you good at, Melissa? What do people reach out to you for? Like what, what makes sense as, you know, something that you can do in this moment. And so money coaching was kind like, I'll do money coaching.

Accreditations and all that came later. We can dive more into that but that's kind of how that came about so the fact that we were like transitioning in to This life kind of anyway, and then me trying to figure out how am I gonna make that work? I was still trying to like if we go somewhere Will I sign up with an agency and I'll interpret there and there was just so many moving pieces that I couldn't quite

figure out and COVID just like pushed me over and was like, okay, we've got to figure out something completely. So that's how the money piece just kind of came up in my life. And so to run a fully online business, I also got forced into that. So he said it was the career choice for Kent that kind of pushed us in one direction. And then COVID just like fully said, okay, you're

you're doing this. And so figuring out how to run a business completely online versus the in-person stuff that I had been, you know, used to definitely changed the game for

Less House More Moola Podcast (11:52)

And so was selling the house and getting into the RV like a helpful part of the whole financial transition for you in terms of your income dried up and you had to launch a fully online business, which of course we all know has runway investment costs and takes a while to start making any money. So was that a helpful piece?

MelissaMitt (12:14)

big time, would not, my runway was based on the equity that we had in our home. I would not have been able to make that happen had we not sold the house.

Less House More Moola Podcast (12:30)

Yeah, and so in a world in which your income had dried up while you were in that house, like that would have been tough times as it was for so many people in that pandemic period. Yeah. So interesting. It's all kind of like serendipitous, the timing of things.

MelissaMitt (12:43)

Yeah, it certainly was. I wish I would have done more journaling through that time to really capture... Because now when you're on the other side of it, you're like, yeah, I see how it all pieces together. But in that moment, you're like, boy. There was so much chaos and so much happening that it just felt insurmountable at the time.

But here we are today.

Less House More Moola Podcast (13:16)

Yeah. So

interesting. So now you're on this entrepreneurship journey and helping other, entrepreneurs. noticed when I travel, whether it's going to a conference or, know, going, you know, wherever I'm going, I like my schedule like flies out of my head when I travel. So tell us what it's like for you, like keeping on schedule while you all are.

you know, hooking up and fueling up and packing up and supplying up and moving between locations. How do you balance all of

MelissaMitt (13:45)

Yeah, so I wish I could say like, I've got this mastered. But I'm similar. I'm similar to you in the fact that things just kind of like fly out of my head, you know, when I'm traveling. I was just thinking about last year when we made our, I call it the migration south. Last year when we made our migration south, I had a workshop.

planned for, I think it was like the third day after we were scheduled to arrive to Florida. Not smart, because last year we had our truck break down. We got stuck in random podunk Kentucky. We had to find a random RV place that would like take us to park until who knew when the truck.

repair shop that we ended up having to go to was like an hour away and they ended up having to keep our truck for like five days in order to get the part and get the thing, you know, and do all the things. And so I didn't have access to strong enough internet and I had to just like reschedule everything. And so it's been through a lot of trial and error where I'm now

putting on my calendar, like these are kind of like our set travel dates, but here's the flex that I'm going to need on either side of coming and going, which has definitely helped my nerves and to make sure that I can stick to the commitments that I've made. Cause that of course is important as a business owner, being able to stick to that. And I'm pretty transparent too with

with clients when they come on that we're nomads and we do a lot of traveling and you know, here's what the plan is and I'll give you as much notice as possible if things have to kind of transition. Like someone had asked me if I could do a presentation and they said, what about March 13th? And I said, I'm not quite sure if that's a travel day yet for us, you know, like can we pencil it in? And then once I get that really ironed out, I'll.

I'll give you a clearer idea if I'm gonna be able to make that or not. it's a lot of pre-work on the calendar, double, triple checking. And then the piece that has still caused some hiccups is we have both T-Mobile and we have Verizon internet, but there are still places that I land and those internets don't work.

So I'm trying to figure out like do we move to somewhere else so I can get internet? Am I trying to find a local coffee shop that I can go to instead? Like what that looks like. So, you know, always got to keep things interesting as a nomad. it just comes with the territory.

Less House More Moola Podcast (16:40)

Yeah, for sure. And like that level of complexity and travel uncertainty can be super stressful. I've definitely have had our moments on the side of the interstate and, you know, trying to find tires at, know, tire shops and, you know, like it could be.

pretty stressful and yet at the same time you've been in this for a number of years it sounds like that it is just really resonating with you all and working out for you know kind of what you're trying to accomplish right now.

MelissaMitt (17:12)

Yeah, yeah, 100%. And we, you know, people will say to us, like, how long are you gonna do it? Or, you know, what's this look like for you? And the beauty of it is we have the option to say as long as we want, you know? We just kinda, we check in and we're like, still good? Are you still loving it? Yep, okay, great. Let's do another migration south and see where it takes us.

Yeah, we'll do it until it doesn't work for our lives or our work anymore.

Less House More Moola Podcast (17:46)

And you all go back to your family property, right? In Iowa on a, you know, part of your schedule to tell us a little bit about that.

MelissaMitt (17:54)

Yeah, so the tournament schedule is January typically through mid-April-ish and then we'll head to my parents' farm. So my dad has been a farmer my whole life, corn and soybeans. so there's a planting season which happens mid-April-May-ish kind of obviously depending on weather.

so we help out with that. Kent is on tractor duty and I'm on both kitchen and taxi duty. I joked with my dad. was like, we have a little, ATV that I drive around and I was like, I'm going to get a little taxi sign to put on top of the Ranger to be like, the farmer taxi's here, you know? so that's my duty. and then we stay put in Minnesota. We're there from

May to September-ish for the most part. We do do some jaunts here and there, but say put in Minnesota, we have a seasonal spot that we love. Then we'll go back to farming, to harvest, and then start the cycle all over again.

Less House More Moola Podcast (18:57)

Amazing. Yeah, it's great because you get so much variety, right? You get to see and look forward to going to different places. And I think it's really cool to be able to see a different part of the country on a season in a seasonal way, because you get kind of, you know, used to, we like your place even as beautiful as it may be, get kind of used to whatever place it is. And so it's nice to have somewhere to look forward to and, you know, a little bit of road trip.

though who knows what happens along their trip but it's also like kind of freeing to get on the road for a little bit even if it's you know not that far and how great because you know being in that four bedroom house 12 months out of the year maybe that was a little bit too much too much monotony.

MelissaMitt (19:40)

Yeah, yeah, so true. It was interesting when we first got married. I had lived, I think it was in 13 places in 10 years or something like that. It had been, like, I just am a mover. And so when we were like, buy a house, originally my reaction was like, don't know if that's like, can I commit to a house? Can I do that?

And once we made the decision that yes, that was the right thing to do at the time, but it's interesting now that we're back outside of the house and I'm like, yeah, I remember this, Melissa. Like the one who's constantly moving to a new location, seeing new things, trying new things out. It definitely brought that piece of me back to light. it's, yeah, it's been really fun. We are, we're...

We're pretty much, we try to chase 70 degrees. Sometimes we'll get caught, you know, somewhere that's like 50, 60 or whatever, but we like the 70 plus range. So that's been quite nice having, we both grew up in the Midwest and the polar vortex is just a real, a real thing. So when all of our family is like, we got, you know, a foot of snow, we're like,

Not sorry, not sorry about that.

Less House More Moola Podcast (20:56)

Yeah. So let's come back to money and talk about what it's been like for you all to be debt free.

MelissaMitt (21:02)

Yes, okay, so we're not currently debt free. I want to clarify that right off the bat, but my financial journey did start that way. When I got out of school, so I covered my school with student loans and credit cards. And I did have jobs through college, but it's like you had to also pay for life. And so I didn't...

You know, I was waitressing and making, I don't know, like $3.25 an hour or something, you know? It's like $5.50, I think, was minimum wage and you didn't even have to pay that because you made tips to cover, to get up to that, right? So I was making barely, barely anything. So student loans, credit cards are what got me through school. And when I got out, I was $50,000 in debt.

and I ended up getting my first job working for a school system as a sign language interpreter. And I got the paycheck. and I was like, Hmm, this isn't very much. And then I got my next paycheck and I was like, huh, yeah, that no, that's not, it's not very much. And so by probably like the fifth or sixth paycheck, I'm like,

breaking down, bawling in the staff lounge, like, what am I, what am I going to do? This paycheck, like I did the thing, right? I like, I went to school and I got my degree and I got a job and I like did everything right. But I was like, this isn't going to, this isn't pay for life as I know it. And so luckily for me, I had this colleague who, which I think now at the time I was like, it was very brave.

of her but she was so kind and she just said, maybe it's the financial management piece that you don't understand. I was like, huh, maybe, maybe, you know, and because I didn't really know much about how to handle money, obviously, because I was in credit card debt and all these other things. So I...

Studied everything that I could about personal finance. I read all the books. I listened to all the podcasts and figured out Kind of a system for myself using spreadsheets and whatnot to whittle away at that debt So within three years, I was able to knock off the 50k debt And save $15,000 for our wedding. So I was able to accomplish all of that and it was

Difficult, I don't know if I would do it the same way as I did Knowing what I know now but it's just such a huge part of my journey and my understanding of debt The primary financial guru that I followed at that time Really made debt seem like

the worst thing on the planet. And so I was just like ashamed and I felt gross about it. And then when we were in a position where we needed a new truck, I was like, we haven't saved up enough. We haven't saved up enough. we can't, because we can't buy it with cash. Like we've got to figure out something else. And I just like had myself in...

like knots about like we can't go back into debt. I was terrified of doing that. And so I really kind of had a come to Jesus moment where it's like, okay.

deck can be used in a healthy way. And I really had to kind of unpack and reframe and do some mindset work around that. But again, it's part of my story and it's part of why I'm here today doing the things that I'm doing. So yes, we do have a loan out on our truck and our RV at the moment, but my

my debt-free journey was something that I'm proud of. like I said, it makes me who I am today when it comes to my money.

Less House More Moola Podcast (25:02)

Yeah. It's, you know, such an interesting thing to learn that self, that ability to that, to have that self-efficacy around, Hey, I can accomplish this big financial goal. If I educate myself and I set up a structure and I go at it, like I can accomplish a lot. And so therefore, when you do, you know, take out a loan for something else in the future, it's not quite the big monster because you know how to manage it. So it's just a.

learning experience but definitely getting to that debt-free point taught you so much about yourself and your own abilities.

MelissaMitt (25:35)

Yeah, 100%.

Less House More Moola Podcast (25:38)

So cool. So how has your, you know, life story and your business degree? It's so interesting. I talk about my life kind of like, is this tapestry of all these random threads that don't seem to come together, but when they all come together, it like brings in so many different elements that all make sense.

MelissaMitt (25:54)

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Less House More Moola Podcast (25:57)

for

what I'm doing today. So when you look back at kind of all the threads of your life and here you are helping, you know, solopreneurs figure out their money, like tell me how you kind of pull all those threads together and what that looks like for you when you think about the work that you're doing.

MelissaMitt (26:07)

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I think the biggest part of that, with my life experiences of operating a small business for 16 plus years, right when I'd gotten out of school, yes, I worked for an education system, but I also was freelancing a little bit on the side.

I had a side hustle really from the beginning and then as I went off to, you know, do the freelancing completely on my own as a private practitioner, just having that knowledge of what it takes to run a small business, understand all the moving pieces of it when it comes to money and how it flows and

Then when you wind my own personal finance journey on top of that, it just creates, it just paints this picture of, money is an ecosystem and I've been able to see so many views and perspectives of that ecosystem. I think that's why I landed where I am today.

as a business owner, I'm sure you've heard, know, niche down, niche down even more, keep niching down. And so for the longest time, you know, people were like, Melissa, pick one, personal or business finances, pick one, personal or business finances. And my accreditation as a accredited financial counselor, that education was in the personal realm. So I've got that plus my own debt-free journey.

But then I also have my 16 plus years of experience as a business owner and figuring out those finances and having some in-depth knowledge inside of QuickBooks and spreadsheets and all of that. so I finally just said, no, I'm not going to pick one. I'm not because, because why not have a financial consultant that can see the full spectrum?

they influence each other so much that I have now found that I think that's where my superpower lies is to be able to see the full spectrum. So I'm not sure if that completely answered your question or not, but that's where my brain went when you asked that.

Less House More Moola Podcast (28:36)

Yeah. Well,

that makes sense, right? Because you start a business or you become a, you know, solopreneur in order to create your personal life, right? In order to pay your personal bills, in order to, you know, it's not like you're starting a business in order to, you know, build an enterprise for most people because you have another source of income that's paying for your personal lifestyle. It is all tied together.

MelissaMitt (28:45)

Well.

Less House More Moola Podcast (29:00)

You definitely are trying to create a business entity, you're also trying to make sure you can buy your groceries and pay your electric bill.

MelissaMitt (29:06)

Yes, 100%.

Less House More Moola Podcast (29:09)

So cool. So what have you learned in this RV lifestyle and what are you taking with you? You mentioned earlier that you all are just kind of in it until it doesn't fit anymore. Have you like really taken away any major life lessons that you'll always have no matter where you live?

MelissaMitt (29:27)

Yeah, I definitely have. I think first and foremost is to not settle. And I don't mean never buy a home and be in one place. I just mean if something isn't working for you.

then don't settle for that. If you can feel it in your bones that it's time to sell the house and try something new, then do that. If you're feeling it in your bones that this place that you landed is like, ooh, not the right fit.

We don't have to settle for what's just there in the moment and that's what we should be doing. In addition to that, I thought I was a minimalist and then I got an RV. And that's the definition of minimalism because if you don't have a place to put it, you can't get it.

And even like, I just think about like the art that I have in my office. It's like that doesn't get to stay on the wall. When you travel, that has to come off and get put away so it doesn't fall and break. And so literally everything has to have a place. So that minimalism, I think, well, I will carry.

with me for life, which then brings thoughtful consumerism. I'm not a big fan of just buying things to buy things, having packages constantly arrive, but instead really being thoughtful around like, do I need this thing or is it something that I could rent or borrow or do a different way or think about differently? It's kind of.

living this lifestyle kind of forces you to reframe how you look at a problem and solve it.

Less House More Moola Podcast (31:10)

Yeah, that's one of my kind of mantras right now too on the use what I have, use what I have. What do I have that will work for this problem that I'm trying to solve without buying something new that probably is programmed to break in two years and may not actually solve my problem and would give me a great shot of, you know, some sort of

MelissaMitt (31:18)

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Less House More Moola Podcast (31:35)

excitement hormone in my brain for, you know, making a purchase, but in the long-term, it's just going to be something that I have to figure out where it goes and, know, whether it actually had any ROI. Right. And so like, what do I, what do I have? Cause we have a lot, right? I mean, most of us have a lot already. So what do I have that can, can solve this problem? So Melissa, where can folks track you down and get in touch with you?

MelissaMitt (31:46)

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

I'm most active on Instagram. My Instagram handle is underscore Melissa Mitt. in my bio link, I typically have what's new and happening at the moment. So that is the easiest place to...

not only get in touch but just even get a better feel for who I am and what I'm putting out into the world and when it comes to tips and thoughts and everything money and a little bit of nomad stuff sprinkled in.

Less House More Moola Podcast (32:36)

Awesome. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story and for being here and having such a thoughtful way of thinking about integrating personal and business finances and doing it all while you're out there on the road, trying to keep your calendar organized.

MelissaMitt (32:52)

Yep, we're just out here trying to make it work.

Less House More Moola Podcast (32:57)

Well, thanks for being here.

MelissaMitt (32:59)

Thank you so much for having me, I really appreciate it.