@gracebeverleyI know I said I wouldn’t start another business and technically I haven’t!! But this project came about so naturally based on genuinely needing this product, and it's been such a joy to work on. Yay for loopholes!! If you want to change your showers for the better you can get 50% off with the code GRACE, I've popped the link in my bio (ad - proud co-owner & investor)

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The ease with which Grace starts and co-founds businesses is a sensational example of how to build and use leverage.

Leverage is so important once you go through your Earn and Keep seasons and start to enter the Grow season: where you need to prioritise making the money (and earning potential) return more than the effort it took to get it.

If you’re unfamiliar with Earn, Keep, Grow™, learn about your financial season here:

Leverage was a mystery to me in the early days of my financial literacy journey. Being in a Grow season seemed like it was only for people who were already cash-rich. So let’s dissect how Grace has built leverage (not just financially!) and how anybody can too.

𝜗ৎ In this issue:

• The three layers to Grace’ unusual leverage ability

• Layer 2: the ownership stake

• How we can copy Grace (financially)

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✦ The three layers to Grace’ unusual leverage ability

Leverage is using something you already have (your knowledge, your brand, your credibility, your audience) to generate a return that’s bigger than what you put in.

It’s the opposite of just working harder for more money. It’s making what you already have work harder instead.

Grace has three layers of leverage stacked on top of each other, and this is what makes it so clever:

Layer 1: her personal life. She is her market. She was the actual customer with an actual problem before she was the owner of the solution.

Layer 2: her personal brand. Her audience is the distribution channel. Every business she launches already has a warm, trusting, bought-in customer base because she makes content about layer 1. Most founders spend years and an uncomfortable amount of money trying to build that.

Layer 3 (the magic): equity. She’s not an employee in any of these businesses, and she’s not just a paid spokesperson either. She’s an owner. She has a financial stake in the growth of the company. Which means when these businesses grow (and they grow partly because of her and her brand, which is the point of layer 1) she participates in that upside for years. But without needing to show up and earn it every single day.

In the Financial Hot Girl world, your Grow season is when your job, skillset or money is leverage. Effort and hours put in start to matter less and the focus is on turning what you already have into assets that compound without you putting in that same effort and/or hours.

Grace’s leverage is distinctly powerful because she has a personal brand most people don’t. But in my opinion, the underlying logic is available to everyone.

⟡ What the rest of us are doing instead

Most of us, when we have money left over or unallocated, do one of two things:

1. They either spend it, i.e. lifestyle creep (the slow drip of upgrades that feel earned but accumulate into an expensive lifestyle)

2. Or they save it, which feels responsible, and is until it reaches a ceiling.

A savings account right now might give you somewhere between 4% and 5% interest annually if you’ve shopped around. It doesn’t really fulfil the Financial Hot Girl’s definition of leverage, because your money is sitting still, losing ground to inflation.

Equity (owning a share of an asset) has historically returned closer to 8% to 10% annually over the long term through something as simple as a broad index fund. That gap, compounded over 10 or 20 years, is the kind of leverage that’s worth the effort to earn that money in the first place.

Saving keeps your money safe, but equity makes it work. Understand that early and act on it.

꩜ How we can copy Grace (financially)

A stocks and shares ISA is the interpretation of this strategy with a normal life, without co-owning a company. When you invest through one, you’re buying tiny ownership stakes in different companies. You’re participating in the growth of the global economy in the same way that Grace is participating in the growth of the companies she owns.

Grace’s layers look like this: personal brand + business ownership + equity stake

Yours can look like this: income + stocks and shares ISA + time

You use what you have (your income, your ISA allowance*, your time horizon) to participate in the growth of something bigger than your savings account.

Start paying attention to equity.

*A stocks and shares ISA is one of many assets you could invest your money into, but the equation is still the same.

Grace spotted a problem in her life. She used her existing assets—brand, audience, credibility—to make the investment into the solution viable. And she took equity, not a fee, because she understands the difference between getting paid once and participating in growth forever.

Grace’s business portfolio as a wealth-building manifesto is a fascinating example to me of not only how to grow your money, but how to build wealth as a creator-entrepreneur. It’s something I’m actively thinking about as I grow my brand and business.

If you want to unlock something in your brain when it comes to leverage, think of it like this: stop getting paid once for things you could own a piece of.

Until next week,

— Dev xo

Summer also means Cancer season 🦀 and I have some financial wise words of wisdom to share if you’re an end of June or July baby.

Over here in the Financial Hot Girl universe we love astrology x finance, in the same way that your personality and human design affects your relationships and behaviours, they affect your money.

𝜗ৎ In this issue:

• What Cancer season means for your money

• Lululemon vs Costco: here's what to learn

• July's business and social media strategy

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Quick note: Close Friends subscribers are getting the first drop of five mini-masterclasses this month. As soon as the FHG 30 day challenge is over, all the materials will be made available for close friends to learn from. This will include a bonus cringe mountain masterclass! If there are any topics you want me to explore, I read every reply.

🦀 It’s Cancer Season 🦀

We’re in Cancer season, and if you’ve felt extra sensitive to plans, pressure, or performance lately… this might be why.

Cancer energy is deeply connected to safety, loyalty, and emotional closeness. Which sounds wholesome, until it turns into people pleasing with your time and money.

1. Your generosity might be stretching you

Cancers often give before they’ve checked if they have anything to give.

So if you’ve been saying yes to dinners, gifts, trips, or time commitments you don’t feel grounded in, it’s worth asking whether you’re spending for connection or out of guilt.

2. You need boundaries and belonging

It’s easy to confuse showing up with being valued. But these two aren’t the same.

So this is your reminder that saying no is more important if you’re a Cancer, and that it’s what protects your nervous system, your budget, and your sense of self.

How WE can learn from Lululemon vs Costco

Lululemon just sued Costco for selling $8 hoodies that look like their $118 ones. The internet's response has been: "Thanks for the shopping tip, Lululemon!!!"

Now, unlike typical IP battles, Lululemon's dispute with Costco is playing out in the court of public opinion (social media) where consumers already increasingly favour dupes over pricey originals. And the court of public opinion has spoken: we're not exactly mad about affordable alternatives.

And this is what got me. I watched this TikTok from our social media fashion IT gal Farron Clark on why you shouldn’t complain about big brands ripping off your products, especially if you’re a small fashion business

She talked about how customers need to see your product 7-10 times before they buy - this is marketing psychology, and it’s often referred to as ‘touch points’.

Instead of using those precious brand touch points to build desire, Lululemon has essentially just spent them advertising Costco's clearance section.

The real lesson here is that fighting consumer behaviour in 2025 is like fighting gravity, you're just wasting energy.

Smart brands are learning that in an economy where money's tight, complaining about dupes is essentially telling your customers where to shop instead. 

Even your most loyal fans will always choose practicality over prestige when their budget demands it.

Bottom line: Every brand mention is currency. Instead of spending this currency giving your competitors free advertising, focus on those touch points. Build your community, customer experience and strong brand values instead.

This goes for any business: if you’re a creator, you’ll have copycats. If you’re a service provider, people will rip you off. Dupe culture as a whole is a sign you’re doing something right: double down and build your community while you’re there.

Close Friends, welcome back ❤️‍🔥 Let’s get into it.

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