This week In The Suite welcomes Eugenié George into the guest chair. As an author, podcast coach, certified financial educator and personal financial writer and specialist – Eugenié George is most certainly a multi-hyphenate in the financial services world. Eugenié has spent her career helping corporate and private clients lead their best financial lives. She’s also inspiringly used her own financial hardships to now help Women of Color demystify their financial wellness.
In her new book, “Our Money Stories,” Eugenié intertwines data and storytelling to help people understand how their personal history, ancestry, and environment play a role in their money habits. For the book, Eugenié interviewed 40 Women of Color (Latinx, Native, African, and Asian American) to gather uncomfortable data to inform an unorthodox perspective on how we can look at money patterns.
Eugenié used her own history with money – which started when she found herself sick, evicted and jobless after the death of a childhood friend – to inform her work. After hitting rock bottom, Eugenié committed herself to digging herself up.
Eugenié believes that its when we make these sorts of decisions that the Universe conspires to help us, connecting us to the right people and introducing us to the right situations to help us reach our goals. As Eugenié continued on her own financial wellness path, she continued to align herself with people who knew more than she did about money and enrolled in therapy so she could start decoupling the associations she had with money from her childhood (i.e. only white people can understand money).
In our discussion, Eugenié points out some of the nuances Women of Color deal with when it comes to accessing wealth. One of these is the Black Tax that Black Women face (alongside the Pink Tax that all women face). The Black Tax speaks to the burden than many Black women – who statistically marry later and far less frequently than their white peers – face when it comes to finances. As a result of having to often care for themselves and be the matriarchs of their families, alongside our country’s long history of systematic racism, it doesn’t take much for Black women to find themselves in a financial hole.
And while we all have something that we have to overcome, Eugenié is able to shed light on some of the challenges faced by marginalized groups.
Eugenié is a determined and refreshingly transparent woman who shares how she was able to move past feelings of unworthiness to knowing she was more than enough through her journey with money.
To help you get a better handle on your own finances and better understand the perspective of the women of color in your life, take the below three steps after listening to this week’s episode:
- Purchase and read Eugenié’s book, “Our Money Stories.” And don’t just read it – also complete the 6-week financial wellness plan that Eugenié includes to take control of your finances. I’m giving away five free copies to the first people who contact me at tina@qygww.beeweb.se.
- Do your research and find a way to support Black Women’s Equal Pay Day on August 13th. While women make 82% of what men make, Black women are making $.62 on the dollar to white men. Eugenié is putting together resources for us to support Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, so make sure you’re following her on Twitter @_EugeniéGeorge for more.
- Look at your net worth and identify your money goals. And even if you’re using digital systems, take Eugenié’s advice and print your statements to get a better handle on them. Then use the money goal you have to inform how you’re managing your money.
Show Notes
This week In The Suite welcomes Eugenié George into the guest chair. As a financial wellness specialist and educator, Eugenié helps corporate and private clients lead their best financial lives. Eugenié is a determined and refreshingly transparent woman who shares how she was able to move past feelings of unworthiness to knowing she was more than enough through her journey with money.
In her new book, “Our Money Stories,” Eugenié intertwines data and storytelling to help people understand how their personal history, ancestry, and environment play a role in their money habits. Eugenié has used her own history with money – which includes a life-defining moment where she found herself evicted and jobless – to inform her work.
In our discussion, Eugenié points out some of the nuances Women of Color deal with when it comes to accessing wealth, along with how all women can start reflecting on their stories to help write a better financial future.
Join the conversation to hear about:
- The life-defining moments that led to Eugenié’s career in financial services (10:00)
- What Eugenié did to move out of debt and better understand money (14:07)
- Why therapy is a necessary component for marginalized groups to better understand money (16:55)
- Why Black women are doubly emotionally taxed as they deal with money (22:07)
- How mainstream wealth conversations ignore the Black Tax (26:00)
- What is Adverse Childhood Experience and how it affects women (34:32)
- The money story that had the greatest impact on Eugenié (38:20)
- What goes into Eugenié’s 6-week financial wellness plan (46:55)
- Eugenié’s perspective on how to support Women of Color on Black Women Equal Pay Day (54:45)
- Eugenié’s superhero personality trait (61:25)
Referenced Materials:
- Eugenié George – Website
- Eugenié George – LinkedIn
- Eugenié George – Money and Flow Podcast
- Eugenié George’s Amazing List of Resources
- “Navigating the World as a Person of Color” by Eugenié George posted on Kitces.com – Michael Kitces
- Black Women’s Equal Pay Day 2020 – August 13, 2020
- The Memo Book by Minda Harts
- Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
- White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
- The Trauma of Everyday Life by Mark Epstein, MD
