Why Entrepreneurs Should Profit First with Relay - Episode #365

In this insightful episode of In The Lab, Ruben sits down with Wendy Wei from Relay Financial to unpack one of the most overlooked skills in entrepreneurship and real estate investing: understanding your cash flow. What starts as a conversation around money management quickly turns into a deeper discussion on psychology, conditioning, identity, habits, and the systems that shape how entrepreneurs operate their businesses and lives.Wendy shares her journey from growing up in a traditional immigrant household to building a career across psychology, marketing, SaaS, storytelling, and fintech. With a background in psychology from Harvard University and experience spanning photography, creator partnerships, and performance marketing, Wendy explains how curiosity, experimentation, and human behavior became the foundation for the work she does today helping business owners better understand and organize their finances.The episode dives deep into the Profit First framework and how entrepreneurs can stop operating with one giant “bucket” of money and instead build systems that create visibility, automation, accountability, and profitability. Ruben also breaks down exactly how Invested Escapes uses Relay internally across multiple properties, vendors, virtual cards, owner payouts, and operational systems to move faster and stay organized while scaling nationwide.Relay is a digital banking and money management platform that helps real estate investors get clear visibility into what they’re earning, spending and saving—so they can better understand the cash flow in their business.Throughout the conversation, Wendy also shares powerful insights around neuroplasticity, conditioning, growth mindset, rewiring limiting beliefs, and how small consistent habits can completely change the trajectory of your life and business over time. This episode blends entrepreneurship, psychology, systems, and financial organization into one conversation designed to help operators think differently about both money and growth.Tune in now to learn how to stop leaking money, organize your business like a true operator, and build systems that help you pay yourself first while scaling with clarity.Sign Up For Relay through My Referral Link: https://join.relayfi.com/partner/?referralcode=temporaryhousingmeetup&utm_source=events&utm_medium=…HIGHLIGHTS:42:21 - Wendy talks about rewiring your brain through growth mindset. 55:50 - Wendy talks about automating cash flow for entrepreneurs. Keeping it Real:01:00 – Building micro communities03:20 – Understanding cash flow06:10 – Graduation season pressure11:30 – Travel shapes perspective15:20 – Psychology meets marketing16:30 – Curiosity drives growth20:10 – Small actions compound31:00 – Understanding conditioning34:30 – Coaching changed everything36:00 – Rewiring self-talk42:20 – Neuroplasticity explained46:10 – Identity shapes habits51:20 – Profit First explained54:40 – Automating cash flow58:20 – Relay inside operations1:03:00 – Virtual card controls1:07:00 – Banking misconceptions1:10:00 – Most-used Relay features1:15:00 – Building real community1:17:00 – People over logos #RealEstateInvesting #ProfitFirst #CashFlowManagement #EntrepreneurMindset #RelayFinancial #BusinessSystems #FinancialFreedom #MoneyManagement #RealEstateBusiness #Entrepreneurship CONNECT WITH THE GUESTLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bankwithrelay/https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendyhwei/