Anne Mahlum Has $115M and Spent $340K on Knicks Tickets

Anne Mahlum built Solidcore from $175,000 of her own savings into an $88 million exit. Two years later, her net worth sits between $115–120 million, with $65 million in public equities and $15 million in a single stock. But the numbers are the least interesting part of what's happened since. After the sale, she secretly launched a second fitness company, had panic attacks she'd never experienced before, shut the whole thing down, spent two years in legal fallout, had a baby, pulled an accepted offer on a lake house the morning after making it, and started forcing herself to spend $200K a month just to stop the money from piling up.

Like all Moneywise episodes, Anne breaks down her net worth, income, portfolio, and monthly expenses and then I, your humble host, pick it all apart.

We also went deep on: her $340K Knicks playoff ticket spend, why she gifts money to her husband instead of doing a prenup, the second company she launched and shut down (and the panic attacks that came with it), why she almost bought a lake house she didn't actually want, her die-with-zero philosophy, and what she actually wants to be remembered for.

Below you'll find my summary of the episode along with the entire transcript.

And by the way...this podcast, the concept of it came from Hampton. Hampton is a private, highly vetted community for high net worth founders started by Sam Parr. Members range from companies doing 3-5 million in revenue all the way up to hundreds of millions. The reason we started this podcast is because there are amazing conversations about money and growing companies that typically happen only behind closed doors, and we thought it would be awesome to share all of this information. If you're a CEO, founder, or business owner, check this out. New Moneywise episodes come out weekly.

Listen to this episode on:

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Now, below are the notes and the full transcript.

The Numbers: Anne's $115–120M Net Worth Breakdown

• Net worth: ~$115–120 million
• Public equities: ~$65 million (including ~$15M in Nvidia alone)
• Hedge funds: $8–10 million
• Real estate: ~$22 million (most in a ~$15M primary home in Pinecrest, FL — bought for under $12M)
• Private equity: ~$12 million
• Private investments: ~$10 million
• Art, jewelry, Bitcoin: ~$2.6 million
• Monthly personal spend: ~$200K/month (forced, not natural)
• Knicks playoff spend (this season): ~$340K

"The Expensive Ceiling" — Why She Forces Herself to Spend

Anne describes something she calls the expensive ceiling — the psychological barrier that keeps wealthy people from actually spending the money they've earned. Her argument: if you made more money than you've ever spent and you refuse to close that gap, you're strangling money instead of using it.

She targets $200K/month in spending. In light months, she'll give $20K to a friend, take someone shopping, or book an experience. She dropped $40K on Dolly Parton tickets for her mom, sister, sister-in-law, niece, and aunt before the show was canceled. Her philosophy: "If I don't spend it, it just continues to pile up."

This extends to generosity. She's never had a friend or family member ask for money, but she regularly gives $5K–$15K to people in her life. She flew her entire family to Miami for Thanksgiving and paid for everything. She gave away two Knicks playoff tickets to a mom and her son — and said it felt better than going to the game herself.

Why Public Equities Beat Everything Else

Anne's investment thesis has simplified dramatically. The majority of her wealth — $65M — is in public equities, and she's increasingly skeptical of private investments.

Her reasoning is math-based: a $500K private check that 10x's over five years turns into $5M. In that same window, her $65M public portfolio — returning 15–20% annually as it has recently — could double to $130M. The $5M home run doesn't move the needle.

She points to Jerry Buss selling the Lakers for a staggering sum — and notes that if he'd simply put it in the S&P, he'd have made more.

On Nvidia specifically: she holds ~$15M in the stock at around $205/share and says she's still a buyer. "I tell people I still think it's an attractive price based on the price to earnings ratio."

The Prenup Alternative: Gifting Money to Her Husband

When Anne and her husband Brett got engaged, every lawyer wanted to plan for divorce. Anne took a different approach entirely: she gifted Brett money so he'd feel on equal financial footing during the marriage, not as a consolation prize after a potential divorce.

Her logic: she wasn't willing to live in a house they could "both afford" without her money — that would make everything she worked for feel meaningless. But she also wasn't willing to ask Brett to live in a $12M house while feeling like it could all be taken away.

"I didn't want him to be with me because of the money. And he didn't want me not to divorce him because she would've had to pay him money."

The result: they've never fought about money. They share a credit card, split certain expenses, and Brett has his own financial independence. Anne's advice: "Don't wait till you get divorced. Give that person some financial independence in your marriage."

The Lake House She Almost Bought (and Why She Pulled the Offer)

Anne grew up going to her grandmother's cabin — 800 square feet, no running water, an outhouse, jugs of drinking water. She describes those memories as her "fondest, brightest rush of dopamine."

So she found a lake house in Minnesota, flew private to see it, made an offer, got it accepted — and woke up the next morning asking herself, "What the F am I doing?"

The reality: her family was a five-hour drive away. They'd maybe get one week a year together there. It would mostly be her, Brett, and a six-month-old who wouldn't remember any of it. A friend who'd sold his business went through the same cycle — bought 3–4 homes, was down to one within two years.

"I'm telling that story because I want people to know it's just not all logic. We still have to keep our emotions in check when it comes to money and what the money actually means."

The Secret Second Company — and the Panic Attacks

Before Solidcore even sold, Anne launched Ambition — a new fitness concept in New York that combined 3–4 boutique fitness experiences under one roof. She raised money, opened locations, and immediately started having panic attacks for the first time in her life.

"I can feel it in my body that it's rejecting this." The same problems from early Solidcore resurfaced: mold, plumbing disasters ("actual feces coming up"), landlord issues, change-of-use complications.

The real reckoning: "Am I really willing to live the next 10 years of my life building this thing, knowing what it took at Solidcore, for what? Even if I do it again and make another 100 million, am I willing to trade 10 years of my life to have the same story written again?"

She shut it down at the end of 2023. The legal fallout lasted until just a month before this episode aired. She calls it an expensive lesson — she paid back investors and pursued legal action against architects and landlords — but one she's grateful came early.

The Perfect Day — and Why She's Not Starting Another Company

Anne described her perfect day: up at 5:45, baby time until 7:30, gym for 90 minutes, investment call on the way home, a call about her upcoming book (Outsmart the Odds), volleyball training from 11:30–1:30, more time with her son, a legal call, a massage, this podcast, then Knicks on TV.

She's emphatic about not starting another company: "All starting a company is is living the same life that I've already lived a couple times. I don't want the same chapter lived on repeat."

She describes herself as being in her "volleyball era" — 7 AM to 10 AM is off-limits for calls, as is time with her son Elliot. She put a beach volleyball court in the backyard of her $15M home specifically so she wouldn't be inconvenienced.

The hypothetical she uses to test herself: if Miami told her she needed to write a $10M check to keep the volleyball court, she'd do it without hesitation. "You're not gonna take something from me that I do three hours a day. So I have an extra 10 million I can look at on the screen?"

What She Wants to Be Remembered For

Two things:

1. "She went for it." Anne wants to be known for never letting anyone tell her what she could or couldn't do. Her niece is staying with her for a month, watching her go to the gym, play volleyball, eat well — seeing a 45-year-old who isn't slowing down.
2. Generosity. "If you are on the receiving side of someone's generosity and you're not paying it forward, you're a taker, not a giver. I don't care how much you have. If you have a dollar, you could probably give five cents to somebody else."

Other Key Quotes

"What if you met somebody who had 120 million apples, and they're like, 'What are you doing today?' 'I'm trying to go get more apples.' You'd be like, 'Are you insane?'"

"I force myself to spend that money because if I don't, it just continues to pile up."

"The people and the powers that be have a vested interest in the market going up. I'm gonna RSVP to that party every single time."

"I didn't want him to be with me because of the money. And he didn't want me not to divorce him because she would've had to pay him money."

"Am I really willing to trade 10 years of my life to have the same story written again? Like, what am I trying to prove?"

"My number for Solidcore was 100 million, not because I thought about any of those things, but it's because nobody could then debate if I was smart enough."

"That felt better than us going to the game."

Links You Might Like

• Join Hampton Community: https://joinhampton.com
• Hampton Wealth Report — 50+ founders reveal their personal finances
• Daily Body Coach — Premium coaching for entrepreneurs (episode sponsor)
• MoneyWise Podcast: Full episode archive

Full Transcript

Anne Mahlum: We've gone to three games ourselves. We've brought four people with us, and then I sent two people. So I think it's around, like, 340 grand we've spent on the Knicks so far in the playoff season.

Daniel Berk: Anne Mollem was on this show about two years ago. She'd just sold Solidcore, which was a Pilates studio chain she built from 175,000 in her own savings and sold for $88 million. At the time, her net worth was around $100 million.

Anne Mahlum: I started to put my professional worth in how I was making this money turn into more money, and I, I had to stop doing that too 'cause it was getting a little obsessive.

Daniel Berk: Then we get into what having a baby has done to the way she thinks about how she spends her life, how she spends her money, and just what matters most to her.

Anne Mahlum: But what if you met somebody who had 120 million apples, and they're like, "I..." "What are you doing today?" Like, "I'm trying to go get more apples." You'd be like, "Are you insane?" Like, "Why don't you just eat what you have, and frankly, share it with some other people who can't find any apples?"

Daniel Berk: Finally, we talk about what she actually wants to be remembered for, which has nothing to do with money. This is Moneywise. I'm Daniel Burke. Here is Anne. Before I get into it, this show comes from Hampton. It's a private community for founders who are doing 3 million a year in revenue or who have sold a company for $10 million or more. Most of the members are running companies doing anywhere from 3 million to hundreds of millions in revenue, and the reason I get to sit across from guests like Anne and have them tell me their actual numbers and have amazing conversations that are really life-changing is because that kind of honesty is what Hampton is built around. If that type of honesty, those types of private conversations behind closed doors interest you, this is your world. Check it out at joinhampton.com. Well, Anne, thank you so much for coming on Moneywise. I'm excited. The second episode-

Anne Mahlum: Yeah, me too.

Daniel Berk: ... for those listening, she's been on Moneywise before, so this is kind of like a, a return of the king or queen as you, as you will. So, uh, this is gonna be great. Thank you for joining.

Anne Mahlum: Yeah. Let's see what's the same and what's changed.

Daniel Berk: Yes, let's see, and, and congrats to, uh, to your Knicks teams. Uh, it's, it's so cool. Well, it's-

Anne Mahlum: You told me you've just flew up to New York for the last game.

Daniel Berk: Yeah. Uh, when this airs, a lot more will maybe have, have occurred, so let's cross our fingers. Well, well, I'm just gonna-

Anne Mahlum: But, uh-

Daniel Berk: ... predict it. You know, congrats to the Knicks on winning-

Anne Mahlum: That's right.

Daniel Berk: ... the championship. Let's-

Anne Mahlum: There we go.

Daniel Berk: ... let's speak it into reality.

Anne Mahlum: Exactly. That's exactly right.

Daniel Berk: What, uh, what does that look like, flying up for the games?

Anne Mahlum: Yeah, so to New York, it's super easy for us. Um, so we, we, we definitely have flown our fair share of, of private, but it's honestly not any easier, so we'll just fly commercial. Like, the Delta out of Miami, the gate, I don't know if anybody flies Delta out of Miami, but it's like, literally, you walk right through-

Daniel Berk: Yep.

Anne Mahlum: ... clear, and, and we're within our gate in, like, 10 minutes. So it doesn't get any faster. The only reason I f- fly private is if I can't get somewhere direct, like North Dakota, which is where I'm from, um, or just the flight times don't work, and that's just not the case from Miami to New York or LaGuardia, so super easy. And then of course, you know, the Knicks tickets are not, uh, not cheap these days, and if I'm gonna go all that way, I'm, I'm, I wanna sit in good seats. I wanna see the action.

Daniel Berk: Sure.

Anne Mahlum: So we have... Gosh, what have we spent so far? We've gone to, um, three games ourselves. We've brought four people with us, and then I sent two people. So I think it's around, like, 340 grand we've spent on the Knicks so far-

Daniel Berk: Wow.

Anne Mahlum: ... in the playoff season.

Daniel Berk: That's wild. Yeah. Do you go s- watch the Knicks when they're not in the playoff season?

Anne Mahlum: Yes.

Daniel Berk: Or-

Anne Mahlum: Yes. So you're just a fan every year.

Anne Mahlum: I'm not relishing in my, you know, $5,000 tickets that I'll spend on that.

Daniel Berk: Yeah.

Anne Mahlum: Seems like nothing. But it's funny. You know, Dan, like, as we've purchased, you know, I look at seats now, I'm like, "Oh, they're only 50 grand."

Daniel Berk: Right.

Anne Mahlum: It's so crazy how fast it happens. Once you spend it once, it doesn't feel like that big of a deal, you know, to do it, to do it again.

Daniel Berk: There's an important distinction here. Anne is not saying to spend recklessly. What she's describing is something very specific. When you actually have money and you refuse to spend it, you're actively working against yourself. The ceiling doesn't move on its own. You have to move it deliberately. She calls it the expensive ceiling, and the reason it matters is that people listening to the show have probably made more money than they've ever spent. And Anne's argument is that that gap between what you make and what you let yourself spend is actually a problem that you can solve.

Anne Mahlum: And it's why I always tell people, when they start to step into money, you have to up your expensive game, and I'm really glad I've been doing that because otherwise, you just hang on and you strangle money, and you don't-

Daniel Berk: Yes

Anne Mahlum: ... spend it even though you can afford it.

Daniel Berk: What Anne said about not spending money even when you can afford it is the type of thing we hear in Hampton all the time. It's a community for founders who have private conversations you'd never hear out in public. A lot of them are doing 25 million or more in revenue, and when you're in a room with other people who've been through it, it gets a lot easier to actually talk truthfully about some of the different struggles you have with your money and your, your company. If you own a company or you've had a meaningful exit, check it out at joinhampton.com.

Anne Mahlum: So I know for some people that might sound absurd, but it's, it's all a relative game, and it's no different... You know, someone may look at your life and be like, "I can't believe you spend $100 on a pair of jeans." Well, you do it because you can afford it-

Daniel Berk: Right

Anne Mahlum: ... and you made that calculation, and I owed it to myself to do the same thing.

Daniel Berk: Yes, absolutely. No, that's, uh... You do owe it to yourself, and then people like me get to hear all about the game. Uh-

Anne Mahlum: Yeah

Daniel Berk: ... first-person experience. Uh-

Anne Mahlum: Yes

Daniel Berk: ... last time you come on, you came on Moneywise, you told us about your 88 or ish million dollar exit. You were spending about 200 to 300,000 a month, and it's been two years.

Anne Mahlum: Yeah.

Daniel Berk: So tell me what's changed in your life in those two years, and walk me through some of those numbers now.

Anne Mahlum: Sure. So net worth today is right around like 115, 120, depending on the day of the market.

Daniel Berk: Right.

Anne Mahlum: Um, the last couple days have been a little... last few days have been a little rough. There's a little, a little uptick, but, you know, my market, my, my day can have a seven-figure day-

Daniel Berk: Wow

Anne Mahlum: ... swing, you know, in either direction. And if the market's going up and there's a few of those in a row, you know, it does, it does make a difference, which is, which is why I never get hung up either way. It's like you, you just, you just give it time.

Daniel Berk: Yeah.

Anne Mahlum: Um, so majority of that is in public equities still. Um, I have found that is my number one place where I like to park my money for several reasons I'll get into in a second. So there's... I wrote these down for you so I wouldn't screw them up. Um, but there's about 65 million in, in public equities today. Um, there's about 8 to 10 million in hedge funds. Um, 22 million in real estate, um, most of that in our primary, our primary house here. Um, 12 million in private equity, 2.6 between art, jewelry, and some Bitcoin. I, I don't have a lot of Bitcoin, um, which is a good thing. And then, um, 10 million or so in, in private... I'm s- yeah, sorry, 12 million in private equity and 10 million in private investments.

Daniel Berk: Very cool. And y- so you said most of the real estate investment's your primary home.

Daniel Berk: How much, give or take, is that primary home?

Anne Mahlum: Yeah. So that house is probably worth about 15 million now. We-

Daniel Berk: Okay ...

Anne Mahlum: we bought it for a little under 12, um, two and a half years ago. Uh-

Daniel Berk: Great ...

Anne Mahlum: just really nice area that's continuing to, you know, appreciate down in Pinecrest. Uh, it's crazy how much construction's happening here, but... So Pinecrest is about 25 minutes from Miami. You get a little bigger lot. The schools are excellent out here. Um, so anybody who wants a little bit more space, and you'll... You, you may laugh at this, but a big primary driver for buying this house was it was big enough to put a beach volleyball court in the backyard. Um-

Daniel Berk: That's amazing ...

Anne Mahlum: because I play every day, and I didn't-

Daniel Berk: Yeah ...

Anne Mahlum: want to be inconvenienced. That's one thing that has, has remained the same, is I will throw money at convenience, no problem, um, to make sure I can do the things that I wanna do. Hence, a housekeeper, a night nurse. You know, anything that improves my quality of life, um, is the best use of money that I continue to spend.

Daniel Berk: Yeah. And congratulations on becoming a mother. That's so exciting.

Anne Mahlum: That has happened. Yes.

Daniel Berk: Yeah. So how has your thinking on convenience changed? Because I'm a dad myself, and-

Anne Mahlum: Right ...

Daniel Berk: what used to be convenient and inconvenient, I mean, it, you- it just, you, it rewires when you become a parent. So talk to me-

Anne Mahlum: Yeah ...

Daniel Berk: talk to me about that.

Anne Mahlum: I think, I think it's reinforced the convenience piece for me. You know, so again, every, there's 24 hours in a day. It comes, it goes for all of us. And, you know, our, our house is, is, is decent size, and we host a lot and have people here a lot. There's volleyball players here every morning. So there's just a lot to, to take care of. And also, Brett and I, you know, we really don't go out to eat and order food much. We like to have our food cooked at home, um, go to the farmers market and all that stuff. So when you think about grocery shopping, prepping food, doing dishes, laundry, you know, there's blowouts two to three times a day some days for the... not me or Brett, but for the baby. And, you know, it just, it's a lot to take care of. Plus when there are guests here, you know, the towels, the sheets, it's... y- you can see how you could spend 40, 50 hours, which is what our housekeeper spends per week, you know, supporting us to be able to do the things we wanna do. So today has kind of been my perfect day, and I'll run you through it. I got up at 5:45 this morning. You know, I let the night nurse go, who leaves at 6:00. Um, my son wakes up right around then, so I get, you know, 6:00 to 7:00, 7:30 with him. And then my housekeeper, Jacqueline, comes and I go to the gym. So I went to the gym for about an hour and a half, crushed leg day. Uh-

Daniel Berk: Nice ...

Anne Mahlum: it's summer now in Miami, so the gym is empty, which is amazing, so that was awesome. Um, I did a investment call on my way home from the gym. Um, came home, did a call about my book, which will hopefully be coming out early next year.

Daniel Berk: Very cool.

Anne Mahlum: And then I had volleyball training from, you know, 11:30 to 1:30. That ended. Spent more time with my son. Did another, uh, legal call for an investment, and then, um, had a massage, and now I'm doing this podcast with you, and then I get to watch the Knicks play. Like, to me, that is a 10 out of 10 day. I got almost four hours of activity. I'll probably take my dog, Ruby, for, you know, a walk at some point too. Um, and it's, like, the best. I'm super content and happy right now.

Daniel Berk: That's so cool. Uh, I... yeah, that sounds like a great day to me, and the volleyball court being in your backyard is very cool, so I think that adds to the convenience of a perfect day like that.

Anne Mahlum: It does.

Daniel Berk: Uh, when you think of, um, I know some of the things that have changed around becoming a parent and some of the investment portfolio, which you've already kind of broken down for us, in the last two years, has anything changed about the way you think of where you put that money? You mentioned a c- a few investment calls even today. Yeah. Are you doing more or less of those in the last two years?

Anne Mahlum: Um, interestingly enough, I am doing less, and I'll tell you, you know, one of the interesting stats, did you read that stat what, as Jerry Buss, who owned the Lakers, I think I have that right.

Daniel Berk: Yeah.

Anne Mahlum: He, he, um, he owned the Lakers, you know, and I, I should pull this up too, but he sold, you know, y- uh, I don't know if you were gonna pull it up where you can see, but he sold the Lakers for a ridiculous amount, and the number seems-

Daniel Berk: Yes ... staggering, you know?

Anne Mahlum: And then the, the sentence right after that was, if he just would have put it in the S&P, he actually would have made more money.

Daniel Berk: Yes.

Anne Mahlum: Now, don't get me wrong, it's probably a lot more fun to own the Lakers and be a part of all of that, but what has t- what I've learned the most over the last couple years is my money is best in the market, and I, and again, I like it there for several reasons. One, the returns have been great. I, I'm not naive to think that there's not going to be, you know, a down year or two. I got pretty lucky with the timing with selling SolidCore beginning of 2023. It has been on a bull market, '23, '24, '25, and into '26. So far so good. Um, so the returns have been amazing. Great. And I, I like that it's liquid, and if I ever want to pull it out, which I haven't, I can sell some of it. You know-

Daniel Berk: Yeah ...

Anne Mahlum: when you own a home, you're not selling 20% of your house to somebody. You know, o- one, you have to find a buyer. Two, the realtor commission, you know, which I negotiate, but still is, is, is 4 to 6%, you know, of what, of what you're selling your house for.

Daniel Berk: Mm-hmm.

Anne Mahlum: Um, you can do your, um, you know, stock portfolio on your own. I do have a financial advisor just because my taxes can be a bit complicated, and they help with a lot of tax loss harvesting and things like that. But, you know, I, I, I, I like the simplicity of it. And let's not fool ourselves here. The people and the powers that be have a ves- vested interest in the market going up. The president-

Daniel Berk: Yeah ...

Anne Mahlum: you know, anybody in- involved, anybody who's wealthy wants to see the market go up. And so I'm gonna RSVP to that party every-

Daniel Berk: Yeah ...

Anne Mahlum: single time, and I'm gonna, you know, make sure I get mine. And it just becomes a little bit more complicated from a private investment perspective. And I think the reflection for me, and this is not to discourage folks, but you have to look at the data, Dan. There's not a lot of private investments that go from early stage, you know, to go and having an exit like I did at SolidCore. You're, you're looking at, like, 1%, you know?

Daniel Berk: Mm-hmm.

Anne Mahlum: So you have to... And I think about, you know, the journey of SolidCore, and I started that company when Pilates wasn't on every corner, and it's on every corner now. You know, so I got in at the right time. I happened to know how to scale. Um, I have a high risk tolerance, and our timing for everything, you know, worked in our favor. And I also went through two failed private equity rounds when SolidCore was doing great. But private equity finds reasons not to invest. People think it's a risky business. It's really not. Private equity guys are pretty risk-averse because they lose their jobs if they make a wrong bet. You know, so they're looking, th- they're paid to have pessimists, you know, on their-

Daniel Berk: Yeah ...

Anne Mahlum: team and look for all of the things that this could go wrong if they make this investment. Um, so it's, it's just not a common thing, and I, and I, I did what everybody else does. When you get a lot of money, you w- you wanna play in some of this fun space.

Anne Mahlum: And I don't know if I'll make another private investment. I, I, I'm sure I will at some point if something-

Daniel Berk: Mm-

Anne Mahlum: ... you know, really comes along, um, that I'm very passionate about, and I'm doing it more so for the impact of what the business-

Daniel Berk: Yeah ...

Anne Mahlum: is doing 'cause I wanna see it, you know, whether improve people's lives, health, whatever, um, rather than a, rather than a return. But I'm telling you, the best, the best pla- place to park your money is in the market.

Daniel Berk: Yeah. And when you came on the Money Wise episode last time, you had a minimum threshold of, like, 250,000 for each check you wrote.

Anne Mahlum: Yeah.

Daniel Berk: Now that you're writing less, are your thresholds a lot higher? Do you have a threshold, or are you really kinda circumstantial?

Anne Mahlum: Yeah, I do, I do the math, right? So it's like same thing. If I don't invest at least 250 in some of the private investments, you're, it's either gonna be, as they say, a zero or, you know, a, a 10X, maybe a 5X.

Daniel Berk: Yeah.

Anne Mahlum: But it's also gonna be a five to seven-year period.

Daniel Berk: Mm-hmm.

Anne Mahlum: And a 500K check for me in five years, you know, if it 10Xs and turns into 5 million, based on what my port- my $65 million portfolio would do in those five years, I mean, that 65 is turning into 130. That's not unprobable for that to happen.

Daniel Berk: Yeah.

Anne Mahlum: So the 5 million doesn't really mean that much, and that's only if it's a home run.

Daniel Berk: Yeah.

Anne Mahlum: So unless I'm gonna make bigger, bigger bets and say, "Okay, I'm gonna do a million," but, but I'm not really willing to part with it and make a, "Okay, I'm gonna take this million, and here's a 1% chance it's gonna turn into 10."

Daniel Berk: Yeah.

Anne Mahlum: It, it just doesn't, just doesn't add up for me, and it doesn't, doesn't feel, doesn't feel smart. And don't forget, that million dollars, I can't access any of it-

Daniel Berk: Totally ...

Anne Mahlum: for however long. It could take 10 years, you know?

Daniel Berk: Yeah.

Anne Mahlum: So I just, I, it's just not something that, that feels, again, smart to me. And I think everybody who's been in my position, in the first couple years you start to feel like you're a startup angel investors, and that feels fun and sexy, and you kinda realize the boring index funds, public markets. You know, I, I'll spend my time with my son Elliot, with my husband, traveling to Knicks games, playing volleyball at the gym, and I'll just let my money do the work for me.

Daniel Berk: Yeah, and I think you're, I mean, you're spot on. Why, why take the risk of losing a million for five to 10 years if you can just let the million stay somewhere it's making you money every month?

Anne Mahlum: Yeah, I-

Daniel Berk: That's a, yeah, that's, that's a classic way to look at it. Yeah. I, I am interested, what does your personal spending look like with the liquid money you do have? I mean-

Anne Mahlum: Mm-hmm ...

Daniel Berk: let's, let's set the, the Knicks season to the side for now because that's obviously, uh, well, I guess you tell me. Is that-

Anne Mahlum: Yeah ...

Daniel Berk: a one-off, or are you spending that amount on basketball tickets year-round?

Anne Mahlum: No, I'm, I'm not. But I will spend that amount of money if I, if I wanna go do something. So-

Daniel Berk: Yeah ...

Anne Mahlum: I'll give you a funny little story. You know, I romanticize about having a lake house. I had a cabin growing up, and it was as modest, as mod- I need a different word for modest and humble because it was probably 800 square feet. My, my family, it was my grandma's, and it was on the tiniest river. We didn't have running water. We had a outhouse. We had to bring all the jugs of drinking water, and I had the best time at that cabin. Like, it is my fondest, brightest rush of dopamine memories that I can remember. So every once in a while I'll get on Zillow, you know, and I'll just look at lake houses.

Daniel Berk: Yeah.

Anne Mahlum: And I don't even care where they are. And I found this one in Minnesota, and we were in North Dakota visiting my family, and I'm like, "Babe," like, "let's make a pit stop." We, we flew private there. I'm like, "Let's make a pit stop in Minnesota."

Anne Mahlum: Go look at this-" This, uh, house on this lake, which was totally my s- I mean, everything about it was like screamed my name, and I absolutely loved it. We came back. I'm, like, talking to Brett. I'm like, "Babe, just imagine the memories, all of this and all of that." And, you know, I made an offer, and they accepted it, and then literally the next day I'm like, "What the F am I doing?"

Daniel Berk: I love this story because it's really brutally honest. Anne almost bought a lake house in Minnesota. She made the offer. She got excited, but she pulled up the next morning and realized, "Wait a second, I don't really want the lake house. I wanna buy memories. I wanna build memories with my family." And a feeling from a cabin without running water when she was a kid is what was driving this decision that she ultimately sort of regretted making and, and kind of tried to undo. Once she named that, the math of buying this house stopped making sense. That type of clarity is really hard to get when you have enough money to just say yes to basically anything you ever wanted.

Anne Mahlum: Like, what, what am I, what am I doing? I have said so often, and Brett even, my husband reminded me. He's like, "Anne, I thought you didn't wanna have, like, a second home," because we know how much a big home, you know, takes to work. But all I could get in my head was these flood of memories of having a kid, but the reality was, listen, my family's in North Dakota. It was a five-hour drive for them to get there. You know, if we're lucky, we're all gonna be able to plan one week a year where everybody-

Daniel Berk: Yeah ...

Anne Mahlum: can be together, 'cause it wasn't close or convenient. And really it was just gonna be me, Brett, and our, you know, six-month-old baby at that time, who's not gonna remember anything, like, being like, "Oh, this was stupid." So I, I still have those moments. And again, I... We are driven by these emotions, and that's what money-

Daniel Berk: Yeah ...

Anne Mahlum: can provide for us, is these, you know, memories or whatnot. Um, but I had to remind myself that, like-

Daniel Berk: Mm-hmm ...

Anne Mahlum: that doesn't e- that, this doesn't make, it doesn't make any sense. And I had a friend who also sold his business. He did the same thing. He had three to four homes. Within two to three years, he's like, "I, I have one ho- house." And he goes, "I'm thinking about getting rid of that." It becomes this work and brain space that you have to manage. In Minnesota, what happens in the winter, and it's snowing, and the pipes are freezing, and now you're managing, and you gotta make sure someone's going to the house. Um, so, so I- I'm, I'm telling that story because I want people to know it's just not all logic. Like we still-

Daniel Berk: Yeah ...

Anne Mahlum: have to keep our emotions in check when it comes to money and what the money actually means. Um, and then back to the spending, you know, we're still averaging a spend around 2- 200K.

Daniel Berk: Hm.

Anne Mahlum: And frankly, if I have, like, a light month, I'll be like, "I need to spend this." Like, I, I either give it away... Um, it is not crazy for me to give my friends 5, 10, $15,000. Uh, they never a- they've never, ever... I have never had a friend ask me for money. I've never had a family member ask me for money. Like, they know that I am generous, and I will give it, and obviously if someone was in dire need and there was a crisis, you know, someone could come to me-

Daniel Berk: Yeah ...

Anne Mahlum: if I, if it's my friend or family. Um, but I force myself, Daniel, to spend that money because if I don't, it just continues to pile up.

Daniel Berk: Hm.

Anne Mahlum: So if, for example, we had a light month, I will, you know, give 20 grand to somebody. I will take somebody shopping, or I will say, "Hey, let's book an experience." You know, like, I was supposed to go see Dolly Parton in Vegas, uh, with my... I was like, I was gonna take my mom, my sister-

Daniel Berk: Yeah ...

Anne Mahlum: my sister-in-law, my niece, my, um, aunt and her daughter, and then of course she canceled, but I dropped, you know, 40 grand on those tickets 'cause I'm like, "I need to spend money this month."

Daniel Berk: Mm-hmm.

Anne Mahlum: Some people might think that that's nuts, but I think that that's how you force yourself to continue to live a life that you know that you can afford. And so I try to... This, again, I know I'm in a privileged position, but I try to keep my spending at, at that level 'cause if I don't, it's just gonna stockpile.

Daniel Berk: That's cool. So when it comes to your actual personal spending and your portfolio, where does your husband come into the mix?

Anne Mahlum: Yeah. Good, good question. And this is really important for anybody who either has money or with somebody who has money. Um, Brett and I met, again, six months before I sold SolidCore. Um, and Brett was doing, you know, well for himself, but this was just a different stratosphere, Daniel. Like, you know, I'm about to be, you know, a nine-figure n- net worth. And when Brett and I got engaged, it's like, okay, I know we need to get a prenup, and we started to talk to all these lawyers, and, you know, everything was about, "Well, what's gonna happen if you guys get divorced?" And I'm just like, "This is so stupid."

Daniel Berk: Hm.

Anne Mahlum: Like, w- w- I wanna focus on my marriage and making sure my marriage has the best shot possible. So instead of me planning to give Brett money if we would get divorced, like as some kind of consolation prize for being married to me, which if we're getting divorced probably is gonna be acrimonious.

Daniel Berk: Hm.

Anne Mahlum: I have to think through that that's probably gonna be the case. You know, why on earth wouldn't I just gift some money to my husband during our marriage so that he-

Daniel Berk: Oh ...

Anne Mahlum: can feel on the same financial footing? Because I'll tell you what I wasn't willing to do. You know, I wasn't gonna say, "Okay, well, Brett, we'll just live in a house that-

Daniel Berk: Oh ...

Anne Mahlum: we could afford if we weren't factoring in my money."

Daniel Berk: Mm-hmm.

Anne Mahlum: That would make me feel like everything that I worked for, you know, was meaningless and wasn't-

Daniel Berk: Yeah ...

Anne Mahlum: able to contribute to our lifestyle. But I was also asking Brett to step into living in this-

Daniel Berk: Oh ...

Anne Mahlum: $12 million house, you know, upping our spending.

Daniel Berk: Yeah.

Anne Mahlum: And if he was always gonna feel like he was on borrowed time, that it could be taken away from him at any moment, you know, th- that's sort of a tricky place to be in. So I didn't wanna feel like Brett had to ask me for money or to feel like he was getting an allowance. I thought that that wasn't gonna be good for our relationship. So I simply said, "I'm just gonna gift you some money, and If we get divorced in 10 years, I'm probably not gonna think about the money I gave you at the beginning of our marriage. I'm just probably not.

Daniel Berk: Mm-hmm.

Anne Mahlum: So you can grow. Use this to, to, to invest. I'm here to help if you need questions, but that you have your own set of money so you feel financially secure 'cause I also didn't want him, Daniel, to be with me because of the money.

Daniel Berk: Yeah.

Anne Mahlum: You know? And I... And he didn't want me not to divorce him because I would've had to pay him money.

Daniel Berk: Right.

Anne Mahlum: So I can tell you with full transparency, we don't f- we've never fought about money. It is never something-

Daniel Berk: No ...

Anne Mahlum: in our marriage that since that's happened, and we're like, "Great, this is what we're doing," and we also collectively share a credit card. You know, we decide, okay, Brett's gonna cover this, and then, you know, this credit card's gonna cover everything else. We don't have any money fights. Um, it works really well for us, so I think if you have some disparity in your marriage, don't wait till you get divorced or think that that's gonna happen, then you have to pay it out. Give that person some financial independence in your marriage. Um, let them feel a little bit more financially secure and on the same level that, that you are because Brett was never gonna catch up to $100 million. Like, I don't care if he knocked it out of the park. Like, it just was gonna be a, a real low probability, especially-

Daniel Berk: Yeah ...

Anne Mahlum: as that money continued to grow. So that's how we solved it.

Daniel Berk: That is the coolest way I've ever heard of someone solving that problem, so I appreciate you sharing that with us.

Anne Mahlum: Yeah, no, it's worked really, really well. Highly advise it.

Daniel Berk: All right, Money Wise listeners, quick reality check. It's that time of year when you catch yourself thinking, "Why didn't I start earlier?" We knew summer was coming. It always does. And if you keep doing what you usually do, you'll blink, and it'll be New Year's again. Same story, same body, same excuses. That's why today's sponsor is Daily Body Coach. Daily Body Coach is a premium online coaching service for ambitious entrepreneurs and executives who want their body to perform at the same level as their business. Training is built around your schedule. Nutrition is built around your specific needs. There are clear targets and clear metrics, and most importantly, there's no guesswork, just science and a multidisciplinary team covering training, nutrition, and the psychology behind behavior change. Daily Body Coach is run by Anthony Monica, who's a Hampton member himself, and in fact, a bunch of other Hampton members are using it and have been showing great results. Yes, you'll look better this summer, leaner, stronger, sharper, but the real win is that you'll stop carrying a body that's taxing your energy, confidence, and longevity. If you're serious about fat loss, muscle gain, and building a body that supports your standards, don't think about it, don't bookmark it, don't push it to Monday. Click the link in the description and I'll hook you up with Anthony directly. Check out dailybodycoach.com/moneywise. That's dailybodycoach.com/moneywise. In the last episode, you mentioned just from compound interest alone, you'll be a billionaire by the time you're 70, give or take. Uh, I guess two questions is, one, is that still the case? And two, is that something that causes fear of, "Oh, only a billion"? Or- ... no, that's still the comfortable number?

Anne Mahlum: Yeah, there's definitely not any fear, uh, in that number at all. And you know, y- no, I, I, I'm trying... I ha- I frankly should pick up my spending because I don't really have any desire. There's no status. I could care less about, I couldn't care less about being a billionaire or on some list or anything like that. And you know, I just made a, a Face, a, a, an Instagram post about this because people get so hung up on more. Like, as we get older, you should be wiser. As you get older, you should be wealthier. Or if you're lucky enough to be in a category, you know, and sell your company for, you know, whether it's high eight figures or be in the nine figures, you know, at some point, and I c- I make this silly example, Daniel, but what if you met somebody who had 120 million apples, and they're like, "I"- 12 apples. "What are you doing today?" And they're like, "I'm trying to go get more apples." You'd be like, "Are you insane?" Why? Like, why don't you just-

Daniel Berk: Yeah

Anne Mahlum: ... eat the ones you have, and frankly, share with some other people who can't find any apples or, or w- you know? So I d- it's like if you take the word-

Daniel Berk: Yeah

Anne Mahlum: ... eating out. So I just don't wanna be one of those people where my self-worth or my worth to other people is like, "Oh, oh, now you're worth this or that." So that's where, where what I mean when I say I force myself to, to spend it, especially when the market is, is doing really well. You know, so if you think about the portfolio, you know, even the 65-ish million, I'm, I'm pretty risky with that money. Like, I'm not just in, uh, index funds. I do have individual stocks. Last time we talked about Nvidia, and I'm, I have, like, $15 million of Nvidia now. I still think it's well-priced. I think it's, like, 205 or something today.

Daniel Berk: Yeah.

Anne Mahlum: I am a buyer today even. I will still throw s- you know, 100, 200 grand more. I tell people I still think it's an attractive price based on the price to earnings ratio. Um, but a lot of people would be like-

Daniel Berk: Yeah

Anne Mahlum: "You don't need to have individual stocks." I'm like, but I'm, I'm betting against the b- uh, betting on the biggest companies, you know, in the world. So my portfolio, you know, easily does 15, has done easily 15 to 20%, you know, over the last few years. So-

Daniel Berk: Yeah ... yeah, I just, like I said, I, I'm not gonna be a fool and let myself get hung up on this number continuing to go up when I only have so many lives to, to live, right? I'm not gonna live forever. At least-

Anne Mahlum: Mm-hmm ... the technology isn't out there yet.

Daniel Berk: Right. And you know, we talked about having kids, and I don't know how you feel, but, um, I have to figure that out because I'm a new mom, and obviously-

Anne Mahlum: Yeah ... my baby can't even talk yet. But I, you know, I don't plan on leaving millions to Elliot or any of my kids. I, I, I don't know my strategy quite yet. I do have a will, and a lot of that is going to, to charity. I'm not leaving a ton of mon- money behind to family, and I still really adopt the die with zero mentality, which is I'm giving my money to my family now. My sister and brother are pretty much the same age I am, and you know, if I live to be 99 or 100, and they live to be 98, well, what the hell do they need $5 million for then? It doesn't really make-

Daniel Berk: Yeah ... any sense.

Anne Mahlum: And so I also will take them on vacations. I always pay for plane tickets. We get together every Thanksgiving. I fly everybody down to Miami. I'm like, "You're not s- you're not- Save your money for something else, but you're not-

Daniel Berk: Yeah ... you know, spending it on this.

Anne Mahlum: So I'm, I'm trying to not have too much delayed gratification in my life.

Daniel Berk: I think that's really a powerful way to live. I mean, just even going back to the, the, the day you described, the perfect day, is that how every day, do you kind of aim-

Anne Mahlum: ... for that? Or is, you know, what's a typical week look like?

Daniel Berk: Yeah. I, I ... It's so interesting as we think about different versions of ourselves. Um, in my book that, again, I mentioned hopefully will come out beginning of next year, there's this girl that I was writing about, you know, in, in college. And, you know, I had this plan. My whole book is called Outsmart the Odds. And I was like-

Anne Mahlum: Cool ...

Daniel Berk: I have to do things so differently than other people in order to get ahead and to be noticed and to stick out, and that's really worked in my favor. But in college, I m- had this grandiose plan of like, "I'm gonna graduate in three years. Everybody does it in four, I'm gonna do it in three. It'll give me a leg up when I'm in an interview." And so I can remember every 15-minute increment of every day of my college experience was planned out.

Anne Mahlum: Hm.

Daniel Berk: And you can ask my roommates that. Like, I was insane. It was like taking a shower, driving to class, going to lab-

Anne Mahlum: Wow ...

Daniel Berk: finding parking. Like, I had to be that maniacal because there was no other way I was gonna do 21 credits every single semester with no summer school, 'cause I was doing internships-

Anne Mahlum: Wow ...

Daniel Berk: you know, and, and be able to get that done. And then I think about just the execution and operations that needed to take place to grow Back On My Feet and Solidcore, and it was a lot of the same thing. Like, I did not mess around with energy. Like, everything I put into, "What's the ROI on this? Do I need to be here? Is this a $10,000 decision or a million-dollar decision?" And interestingly enough, you know, my, my, my husband, Brett, we met in, uh, August 2022, so I had already, you know, moved into the executive chair role of Solidcore and I wasn't the CEO anymore, and then I sold it, you know, f- six months later. He's never really seen that girl, you know? I, I have been-

Anne Mahlum: Interesting ...

Daniel Berk: much more in my feminine in our relationship than in my masculine.

Daniel Berk: I've talked to a lot of people on the show who have had massive exits, and they all share in one form or another this sake of identity where they've spent 10 or 15 or 20 years being the founder of that company, and when they sell, they don't really understand what their identity is anymore. They don't know exactly where it fits. Anne is one of the few people I've talked to who seems to have really solved this problem rather than just powered through it. The volleyball court in her backyard is not just a flex. It's an answer to a real problem in her life that money lets her solve. And I sort of, like, can ... I remember her, but she's, she's really not present in my life right now.

Anne Mahlum: Yeah. I love waking up and being like, "What do I want to do today?" Um, I actually need that a couple days a week.

Daniel Berk: Mm.

Anne Mahlum: And frankly, if I have too many calls on my schedule, like, I just cancel them. I'm like, "I need to move this to next week," even if I don't have anything else planned, because I don't want the structure of having to sort of sit down for five hours a day and be on calls or be on Zooms. That's what the money's for.

Daniel Berk: Yeah.

Anne Mahlum: That's why I have money, so I didn't, didn't have to do that. And so it's the same question that people say, "Are you gonna start another company?" And my immediate answer is, like, "No." Like, maybe in 10 years, who knows? I, I'll never try to predict the future, you know-

Daniel Berk: Yeah ... that far down the road.

Anne Mahlum: But all starting a company is is living the same life that I've already lived a, a, a couple times, because while Back On My Feet was a nonprofit, it was still the same, you know, level of tenacity required to build and scale that across the country that was required of me for Solidcore, and it was a lot of time sitting, a lot of time in meetings, a lot of time on the phone. Um, and I don't wanna have the same chapter lived on repeat. Like, that doesn't sound a great use of the limited time I have on this earth. So I am in my volleyball era. I, I literally will not take a call when I ... Uh, um, n- normally I went to the gym this morning, but normally I have volleyball from 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM. That's, like, off-limits for volleyball. It's off-limits for time with Elliot. Like, the housekeeper, uh, and the nanny will be here, and I'm like, "This is Anne's time," um, unless obviously he's sick. But, you know-

Daniel Berk: Right ...

Anne Mahlum: ... other than that, I, I, I don't, I don't make exceptions to that rule. And the other question, J- Dan, when I, when I speak, and I speak to a lot of entrepreneurs, you know, and I'm like, "All right. What's your guys' number?" And one, most people haven't thought about that, right? Their number is more.

Daniel Berk: Yeah.

Anne Mahlum: Or if someone does give me a number, they're like, they say, like, "Oh, 100 million, Anne." I'm like, "Okay, cool." Like, "So what's your monthly spend?" And they're like-

Daniel Berk: Yeah ...

Anne Mahlum: "I, I don't know." And I'm like, "Well, then why do you need 100 million?" "Well, that's just, that's gonna be enough." And I'm like, "Enough for what?" You know? They, they, they can't grasp their arms, and it's because we put somebody's value of importance on how much money they've made in their life and what their-

Daniel Berk: Yeah ...

Anne Mahlum: ... net worth is. And, like, I'm not, I'm not a paragon here, and I'm not, like, acting like I didn't do that. I did the same thing. My number for Solidcore was 100 million, not because I thought about any of those things, but it's because nobody could then debate if I was smart enough.

Daniel Berk: Yeah.

Anne Mahlum: If I was talented enough, driven enough, resilient enough, and I was an incredible entrepreneur because I did it twice.

Daniel Berk: Yeah.

Anne Mahlum: And I needed that. I needed the emotion, um, uh, uh, the, the, the public applause, the, "Yeah, that's right." But I d- the 100 million had nothing to do with the number that I factored in for the lifestyle choices that I made. And-

Daniel Berk: Yeah ...

Anne Mahlum: I, I test myself 'cause I'll say, like, "Okay, what if, like, Miami came and knocked at my door, the police, and said, 'Hey, ma'am, you know, we've decided that you, volleyball courts are no longer permitted in backyards, and if you wanna keep yours-

Daniel Berk: Oof

Anne Mahlum: ... you need to write a check to the city of Miami for 10 million.'" I'd be like, "Okay

Daniel Berk: Yeah

Anne Mahlum: Do it. Why not? You're not gonna take something from me that I do three hours a day. Uh, there's-

Daniel Berk: Yeah

Anne Mahlum: ... uh, uh, and do what? So I have an extra 10 million that I can look at on the screen? Like-

Daniel Berk: Yeah

Anne Mahlum: ... you know, so, uh, those are little games I play with myself, Daniel, to try to figure out what something means to me, how much something is-

Daniel Berk: Yeah

Anne Mahlum: ... is, is worth, and it's a game worth doing for yourself because otherwise you'll end up trading five, 10, 10 years maybe for money that you actually realize you don't even need, and you spent-

Daniel Berk: Yes

Anne Mahlum: ... hours doing-

Daniel Berk: Yeah

Anne Mahlum: ... something that, what didn't involve swimming in a pool with waterfalls with your kids.

Daniel Berk: Yeah. I mean, it's, uh, that is wisdom I'm going to carry with me. 'Cause you're right. I mean, you're absolutely right. I think a lot of people have ideas of numbers, but backing into it doesn't actually add up. Yeah. And so it's, it's a question worth thinking about. Um, I wanted to ask, uh, you publicly you mentioned 2025 being a very difficult year. Can you tell me why that is and, and walk me through some of, you know, the reasons behind that being a difficult year in your life?

Anne Mahlum: I think '20... So I actually started another company, um, after Solidcore, before Solidcore even sold, called Ambition.

Daniel Berk: This is one part of Anne's story that wasn't on the last episode. After her Solidcore company sold, she'd already actually launched a new fitness company called Ambition in New York. There were multiple locations. She had a real team, a real raise, but she shut down the entire thing. What she's about to tell you is not the version of Anne that most people know. It's the one she usually spins as a win because she never has a bad day, but this is a different version, and I think it's really useful to hear from her words.

Anne Mahlum: And it's so funny when we look back at some of the decisions we make, like some of my hairstyles, I was like, "What?" But this was one of those things where I was like, "Man, I'm really, I've really figured out this in-person experience game. I understand fitness. No one gets it like I do. You know, it'll be so easy for me to do this again."

Daniel Berk: Yeah.

Anne Mahlum: And so I start this company. The idea was, you know, we would put three to four concepts in one, underneath one roof, 'cause everybody was running around for these particular experiences, um, bespoke experiences in, in New York. I'm like, "Why not just put them together and do them all really, really well?" And, you know, this co- I raised a little bit of money. This company starts going, and I, I feel like I'm having mini panic attacks. And I'm, like, not somebody... This was, this was in 2023.

Daniel Berk: Yeah.

Anne Mahlum: And I'm not somebody who, um, has panic. I'm not an anxious person whatsoever, and I can feel it in my body that it's, like, rejecting this.

Daniel Berk: Mm.

Anne Mahlum: All of the same issues and problems from the beginning of Solidcore started to happen. You know, we frankly had some landlord spaces that needed a lo- there was mold, there was, like, things that got uncovered, uh, change of use space that the landlord said wasn't gonna be an issue, ended up was being an issue. We had plumbing, um, like actual feces coming up in one of our... I mean, it was just like-

Daniel Berk: Ugh

Anne Mahlum: ... it, it was insane. And I'm like, "What am I doing?"

Daniel Berk: Mm-hmm.

Anne Mahlum: Like, am I r- And, a- and halfway through, you know, I, I started this thing, and a couple months later Solidcore is sold, and I'm like, "Am I really willing to live the next 10 years of my life, you know, building this thing, knowing what it took at Solidcore, for what? Even if I do it again and make another 100 million, am I willing to trade 10 years of my life to have the same story written again? Like, what am I trying to prove?" Mm. Um, and, and so, you know, end of '20, end of '23, like, I ended up shutting, you know, I shut the whole thing down. And 2024, landlord continues issues, legal stuff, like all of that stuff just ended literally a month ago. Um, so it was this remnants from this w- bad decision that I made out of, like, it's like I feel like I'm, I should've, I'm, it's, it's... Well, I have these weird things where, like, I should have known better, and I'm really grateful I went through that right after Solidcore, and I didn't make the mistake three years later or something, um, because I feel like I got it out of the way and, and gave me all of this wisdom to be able to know now. Like, I want my life to have all these beautiful different chapters. I don't need to do that again. I'm not gonna build, uh, you know, another company in my foreseeable future.

Daniel Berk: Mm-hmm.

Anne Mahlum: And I get to really spend my time on the things that I'm, you know, highly enjoying. So, like, having that all behind me at, at, at this point is, like, a huge sigh of relief.

Daniel Berk: I loved your episode two years ago, and I th- just hearing you talk now, it just feels like you've grown 10 years in wisdom in the last two years.

Anne Mahlum: But I haven't aged a day. No, just kidding.

Daniel Berk: Yeah. You haven't. You look great. I, I do wonder, what, what would you tell yourself? If you went back two years, if you had a crystal ball and you were right there during the exit, knowing what you know now, uh, how would you change your thinking? What would you tell yourself to do differently?

Anne Mahlum: You know, it's always so hard to answer those questions because then I wouldn't have the wisdom, you know, that I, that I have today. Like, you have to go through some of that stuff.

Daniel Berk: Yeah.

Anne Mahlum: But, you know, a- again, I think call... Like, after getting that offer accepted on the lake house, the old Anne would've been like, "Great, we're doing it." You know? Like, I can be a little impulsive on things like that, but, like, that memory of Ambition was like, "Wait a minute. Let's really think about what this means. And Anne, if you, if, if you're trying to solve for having your family together for a week, why don't you rent a beautiful lake house-

Daniel Berk: Mm-hmm

Anne Mahlum: ... for a week? That way you're all gonna, like, you know it's a limited amount of time. You know, so it's, it's like I have That knowledge and the-

Daniel Berk: Yeah

Anne Mahlum: ... wherewithal to be able to make more rational decisions around money and lifestyle, that, that experience gave me. It was an expensive lesson because I, I paid back-

Daniel Berk: Yeah

Anne Mahlum: ... investors, you know, a good amount of the money. I did pursue legal action against the architects and, you know, landlords, and that took some time and energy.

Daniel Berk: Mm-hmm.

Anne Mahlum: But I felt it was the, you know, the right thing to do. Um, but yeah, I'm, um, I'm not gonna say that I, that I regret it, and it does take a while, Daniel, after having that amount of money, 'cause again, I got caught up in it too. Like, I think I was still caught up and right away of like, "Oh, this amount has to go up." Like, it makes me feel smart if the accounts are going up.

Daniel Berk: Mm-hmm.

Anne Mahlum: Um, especially when you're not w- when you're not working, um, and you don't... I, I wasn't opening like 10 Solidcore studios in three months. So I started to put my professional, um, worth in-

Daniel Berk: Yeah

Anne Mahlum: ... how I was making this money turn into more money. And I, I had to stop doing that too, 'cause it was getting a little obsessive. So having Elliot now, uh, you know, is definitely a... I, I, I, I focus less on that knowing like I know what the numbers say.

Anne Mahlum: We have more than enough to be spending three to 400 grand, you know, a month if I really wanted to get that number down, you know, to zero by the time I was... Even if I did that, there's still money left over. Um, but like I just have these other beautiful things to focus on, my son, my marriage, volleyball, working out, you know, the book. And weirdly enough, like social media, when I put some of the content out there, like I love that it's helping people so much. I love that people-

Daniel Berk: Mm

Anne Mahlum: ... find value in, you know, the journey that I've been on, being an entrepreneur, sharing some of that stuff, getting to speak on stages. I, I feel like I'm in this teaching era where I, I've, I've like had my party. I've had and be celebrated all of those things. And like now it's my turn to support, you know, in whichever way, whether it's, you know, advising, speaking, writing the book for people to be able to tr- try to help them on their own journey of entrepreneurship at least.

Daniel Berk: I wanna ask one final question. If you and I both just get hit by a car tomorrow and leave this earth, what does Anne want to be remembered for?

Anne Mahlum: Oh, wow. I probably think, um, I probably think two things maybe. One, one is that like, oh, she went for it. Like, you know, that's the message I would love. My, my niece is here with me for a month, you know, and it's already cool to hear her be like, "I'm gonna eat like this when I go home," because she's eating real food. She's eating-

Daniel Berk: Mm

Anne Mahlum: ... like, you know, we cook again, everything is sort of here, and she's like, "I feel so good." Um-

Daniel Berk: Mm.

Anne Mahlum: And so that sort of i- impact and her watching me go to the gym, play volleyball, and know that I'm 45 and like not slowing down at all. So I think like, oh, g- uh, you know, again, Anne went for the things that she was important to her, and she never let anybody, you know, tell her what she could or couldn't do. And I think the second piece is probably, you know, the, the, the generosity. Um-

Daniel Berk: Mm-hmm.

Anne Mahlum: I know that I'm a generous person, and I try to inflict that on as many people as I can, and I always try to say, "If you are on the receiving side of someone's generosity and, you know, you're not paying it forward, like you're, you're a taker, not a giver." And I don't care-

Daniel Berk: Yeah

Anne Mahlum: ... how much you have. I don't care if you have a dollar. You could probably give five cents of that, you know, to, to s- to somebody else. Um, so I try to encourage people to just not hoard, uh-

Daniel Berk: Yeah

Anne Mahlum: ... and really think like, oh, you know, like we gave away two Knicks tickets literally last week to one of the playoff games, and-

Daniel Berk: So cool

Anne Mahlum: ... it was, you know, awesome. It was a mom and her ki- and her kid, and her little boy was just, you know, crying, overjoyed. The tickets were crazy expensive, you know, and that felt better than us going, than us-

Daniel Berk: Yeah

Anne Mahlum: ... going to the game. So that's probably the, the, the second thing.

Daniel Berk: What I love most about doing this show is that we always end up somewhere I personally didn't really expect we'd end up. I came in to talk about $150 million portfolio and Knicks tickets, which were awesome, but we ended up talking about generosity and what Anne wanted to leave behind. Those are the types of conversations that we hear in Hampton all the time. It's an amazing community for people doing 3 million or more in revenue or who have had an exit of 10 million or more previously, and on average, people are doing like 25 million. Uh, it's really an amazing place to talk to like-minded people. If this is your world, I highly recommend you check it out at joinhampton.com. Generosity is so infectious too, and so I think you're right. If you give someone money, they'll give money, they'll give money, and it, it just never ending train. I think that's so cool. And I wish everybody just did that. Everybody woke up today and said it's... I mean, there should be like... I know there's a giving day, but like national-

Anne Mahlum: Yeah

Daniel Berk: ... generosity day of-

Anne Mahlum: Yeah

Daniel Berk: ... buy somebody's lunch, coffee.

Anne Mahlum: If you can afford it-

Daniel Berk: Yeah

Anne Mahlum: ... pay somebody's mortgage bill. And if everybody just did that, like-

Daniel Berk: Yeah

Anne Mahlum: ... as often as they could, and we all stopped thought thinking about ourselves so much, man, the world would be a much happier and, uh, more optimistic place. So-

Daniel Berk: It would. Yeah. Yeah. It would. Anne, this has been an amazing episode. I'm gonna have to go back and listen to this one a second time just 'cause I feel like I only heard so much from you.

Anne Mahlum: Well, you're on vacation, so you have all the time in the world.

Daniel Berk: I know. I'm gonna put it on right on my AirPods and listen away. But, uh, Anne, thanks so much for coming back on Money Wise. I think a lot of people are really going to enjoy this episode.

Anne Mahlum: Well, thank you. And thank you for taking time out of your time with your family, and hopefully-

Daniel Berk: Of course

Anne Mahlum: ... you'll get right back to en- en- enjoying it. 'Cause as they say, no one ever says like, "Oh, I wish I sat in front of my, my computer more." So soak it all in.

Daniel Berk: I will. Thanks so much, Anne. Talk soon.

Anne Mahlum: Thanks, Daniel. Thanks.