Teaching Women to Chase Purpose, Not Money

The power of purpose.

That’s the theme that has inspired my collaboration with Capital One since 2017. 

Although I had become known in the media as America’s Money Maven in 2012, made popular by my mindset approach towards budgeting, savings and debt elimination, I always knew intuitively that money was so much more than mere budgets and credit scores.

I launched the Redefining Wealth Podcast as an expression of my commitment to helping women redefine the term “wealth,” using its original meaning, “well-being.” My promise at the end of each show is to help move my listeners from defining financial empowerment to mean relentlessly striving for arbitrary numbers peddled by mainstream media to pursuing their own purpose, actually being fulfilled, and earning more without ever feeling like they have to chase money.

You might think this sounds simple, but I can tell you it’s anything but that.

Women historically have earned less than their male counterparts despite experience and education. In 2019, it was reported that women earned just 79 cents for every dollar men made, and if you’re a woman of color that number can be as low as 74 cents for every dollar. Forty-three percent of working women have had to reduce work hours to care for children or aging parents which means less time in the workforce and less income. And the typical woman will lose $530,000 over the course of her career due to the wage gap. 

The statistics are daunting which means that by the time someone like me comes along saying that the most critical piece to improving your financial blueprint is not to focus on money at all, but on your purpose, it sounds unbelievable and unrealistic at best. 

As women, the challenges we face to truly pursue purpose are as multifaceted as the approach we must take to combat it. My approach to teach women how to live this mantra of chasing purpose — not money includes several layers.

Curating Quality Content

A running joke amongst my peers is that Redefining Wealth is the personal finance show that forgets to talk about money. I believe that discussing skill set and tactics are only one piece of the puzzle. Our content is focused on changing the beliefs and behaviors that lead to building wealthy habits. It’s not often that you’ll come across a personal finance expert explaining the importance of mental health, physical fitness, navigating personal and professional relationships or even why you should clean up your clutter so you can think about your next best money step with clarity.

Each week I use solo insights from my own life experience of founding a successful business straight out of college to losing it all in the Great Recession and rebuilding brick-by-brick to inspiring interviews with authors, executives and other thought leaders. Capital One has supported empowering those important conversations through commissioning research like the Capital One Banking Reimagined Savings Study, Capital One Listen In Survey or the most recent annual Auto Navigator Car-Buying Survey. All work we’ve shared on Redefining Wealth presented in a way that’s enlightening, engaging and able to effect lasting change in the audience.  

Coaching to Clarity + Confidence

Presenting the concept of chasing purpose was a noble first step, but I soon learned that what my listeners needed was the how. In March of 2019, I launched Purpose 2 Platform, a business accelerator to help women increase impact, influence and income with integrity. I believe we each were born with a gift, talent or skill that can be monetized in order to help us build wealth and while many might feel called to explore what that looks like for them, they simply don’t know where to start. 

By leveraging and sharing what has amounted to a decade of training and personal experience, we help women give themselves permission to earn more by adapting the mindset of a marketer, creating their own proprietary method, clarifying their message and infusing their genuine personality in their marketing efforts. This clarity breeds confidence. And when women can confidently go after the dream that’s calling them, only fulfillment can follow. 

Creating Supportive Community

Humans thrive in community — especially when they feel safe. One part of the secret sauce in making Redefining Wealth the movement it’s become has been through cultivating safe spaces for women to share their truth, judgment free. For the women who have poured their hearts out via e-mail over the years or stood in line to share their own stories with me after a speaking event, my online and in-person events have become a hub for sharing financial shortcomings and asking for support without shame. These environments are designed to help women realize that they’re not alone on this path of pursuing purpose and that better personal finance habits don’t have to be achieved in isolation. Similar to Capital One Cafes, the goal is to not just share financial tools, but provide a support system that allows women to embrace the idea that the journey is sweeter together.

Chasing purpose over money isn’t an easy task in a world full of distractions, but deciding to  commit to purpose first equally allows publicly traded companies like Capital One, small business owners like myself or everyday women like the ones I coach to make decisions rooted in our core values. Redefining Wealth is only just beginning, but with the partnership of organizations that understand the power of purpose, I know that the impact will be great for years to come.