My mom taught me about the power of a women’s network.
Mom stayed at home to raise her family. But she was extremely active in her community. She participated in a host of women’s groups, from the garden club to the Junior League.
And she also taught me about the importance of talking about money. She and a group of close friends started an investing club called “The Dividends.” Starting an investing club for women born in the 1920s was pretty “radical” at the time. Mom and her friends got together monthly to discuss stocks. They collectively set up an investment account to invest in the stocks they researched. Their meetings were a combination of networking, community building, and education. Amazing! There has been an intrinsic gender bias towards male networking groups long before any of us were born. Mom and her friends were truly trailblazers!
However, this is not the norm. Traditionally, wealth management has been a macho, eat-what-you-kill business. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, brokers worked the phones, dangled stock tips, and racked up sales commissions.
While the industry is shifting, some of this residue remains – and women feel it. These prejudices have nudged women towards building their own communities, be it for entrepreneurship and funding, moms, tech, or other facets of living – and investing.
WHY WOMEN & MONEY?
I am sure my mom’s role modeling had a strong influence on my desire to build a community to support women in the money conversation.
Talking about money is hard. Particularly in a world where over 70% of advisors and investment professionals are men. Women just talk about money differently than men. Most of our female clients come into the conversation thinking about how to support and protect their families and to serve their communities, not about using investments just to wield more power and influence.
Our aim with Women, Money & Mindfulness is to create a safe space. To make it easier to be candid, original and authentic, and where expressions of vulnerability are welcomed. To create access to information, education, support – and integrated services.
WHY MINDFULNESS?
One of these integrated services is mindfulness. As a long-time yoga practitioner and meditator, and former yoga teacher, I strive to experience all aspects of the world through the lens of mindfulness. Including how I interact with money.
Mindfulness is the ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.
You might ask, “What does this have to do with the money conversation?”
Everything!
Most women have an incessant internal dialogue about money. A few things I have heard over the years from my female clients:
- I am ashamed I haven’t paid more attention to my money.
- I am embarrassed I don’t know much about investing.
- Talking about money makes me feel overwhelmed and anxious.
- It’s just too scary to think about retirement. What if I haven’t saved enough?
- I feel like I was taken advantage of in my divorce. I don’t know much about money.
This self-talk is hugely sabotaging. Not at all empowering. And what many of us don’t realize is our money mindset and relationship with money are a product of our subconscious beliefs and thought patterns stemming from our childhood. They are deeply ingrained, and they determine how we as adults deal with money.
Taking a mindful approach means that we stop long enough to identify our sabotaging self-talk. That we label it. Then we flip the script to a more empowering internal dialogue.
Join Us!
Our intention with this community is to encourage women to be our best selves. To realize that we are stronger when we come together. To believe that when we feel informed and empowered with our money, we could bring about real positive change in the world.
If you want to “talk money…mindfully” join us in building our community, starting with our program on Thursday October 14. If you can’t attend and want to stay engaged, sign up for our women’s focused newsletter.
-Roberta Keller