Vanlife to Pay off Student Loan

Nickolas Natali

Wealth Performance Coach & Podcast Host

Where do you reside currently?

San Diego, CA

What do you do?

I help individuals (predominantly millennials) achieve the highest level of success and fulfillment in their wealth, health and relationships. I focus primarily on helping millennials get and live debt-free, hit their savings goals, and take the ceiling off their income so they can live a fulfilling life.

What is your top personal value?

Faith! Faith to me is holding on to hope and belief that God will provide when times look uncertain. I graduated a year early from college and still managed to come out with $60,000 in student loan debt. I decided to shack up in a 1986 Chevy Suburban, live as frugally as possible, and ended up paying off my student loans in 11 months.

What do you do when you aren't working?

Podcasting is one of my absolute favorite things to do. My podcast, The Nickolas Natali Show, is all about interviewing entertainers, experts, and entrepreneurs and picking their brains on how we can live a more fulfilling life and level up our businesses. Something I live by is at the root of everything we do, there is a necessity to create meaningful relationships with others. After all, all we have is one another! The podcast is now listened to in 30 countries around the world and my friends say it's "solid". So, that's a win in my book.

What makes you unique?

I love meeting people exactly where they are at and walking with them to get to where they want to be. Part of my Get Out of Debt Like A Maniac program involves having a one on one with people and going through their finances. My absolute favorite thing that I hear is, "I didn't know getting out of debt was possible for me until after meeting with you". It's the sweetest sound to my ears because these individuals are now having a taste of financial freedom. They're putting in the work and recreating what their life is going to look like for the better.

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What is the number one goal you are trying to achieve in your professional life?

Serve as many people as possible and inspire them to reach their full potential.

Share your morning routine or a routine that has helped you become successful

Morning routines are a wonderful way to set our intentions for the day. Right now it's as follows: 1. Take care of dental hygiene and have a glass of water 2. 10 to 15 minute ab workout 3. 10 to 15 minute stretch 4. Cold shower (I know, cliche but I love it) 5. Read Bible and pray 6. Cup of Joe & get to work!

Share a bit about what life was like before it became better.

After graduating college with a degree in software engineering, I thought I was going to be on top of the world. This wasn't the case - I ended up have $60,000 worth of student loans in my name. The uphill battle of getting rid of debt began and it was a gruesome one.

Was there a catalyst that happened to inspire you to want a better life?

I observed the world around me. Everyone that I knew had debt and was so comfortable handing money over to the banks month after month. I didn't want to live that way. There are only a handful of things in this life that we have control of and staying in debt is one of them.

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Who helped you to create the life you have today.

My friend Luke McGrath, he's a few years older than me was the only person that I knew that was good with their finances at the time. I was never taught financial literacy, so I called Luke and I told him how much debt I was in. Over the phone he walked me through how to create a budget, we made a spreadsheet that gave the timeline to when I would be debt free based on certain payments. Without Luke, it's hard for me to imagine that this journey would have ended as successfully.

What things did you try doing that didn't help you create a better life?

A big part of my story is the malnourishment that I endured while trying to pay off my debt - one of the worst things that I did was I bought $1 frozen Mac n Cheese meals from Walmart. I spent a whole week only eating three to five of those a day. It was horrible, my body hated it, and it probably ended up costing the same amount if I had invested in fruits and microwaveable vegetables.

What thing helped you to change and create a better life?

Grit and a plan. If you have no idea where you'd like to end up at - you'll never reach that destination. The most important thing we can have for our financial lives and lives at whole is clarity on what we want.

Write a letter of inspiration to those who are where you were before, what do they need to know to help them to keep trying for a better life?

You have purpose! Know that. You are loved by a God above and people in your life. The thing you need to know to about beginning to create a better life is taking action. You could take action and love the thing you do, hate the thing you do, either way you're getting closer to finding what fuels you when you do.

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Do you have a goal or a vision of the life you want for yourself that you'd like to share with others?

Three things I'd like to be remembered as: 1. Someone who loves God and loves others 2. Someone who is generous, trustworthy, and selfless 3. Someone who never settled Also, I hope to be a talk show host and working actor so keep an eye out for that as well.

Are you looking for something or someone who can help you get to the next level in your life?

Always open to chatting about personal development, personal finance, and entrepreneurship. Would love to connect with anyone reading this that's open to creating a dialogue!

What his website says.

Nickolas Natali is a comedic content creator, small software business owner and people lover from Southern California. Nick began making short films in 7th grade when he got his hands on his first phone, The Envy 2. He began writing and filming short comedy skits with his friends and eventually created a Youtube Channel in 2010. As he matured, so did his content. From comedy skits to social experiments to vlogs to comedic commentary – Nick tailors his content creation to how he believes he can best influence, entertain, and inspire his audience.

Nick attributes the majority of his success and character development to his friends and family that encouraged and believed in him even when he didn’t.