A student in the Emory financial planning class asked me in front of everyone: "How should I think about my career if I don't come from money?" I looked at her and said: "Your being poor is your superpower." She looked at me like I had two heads. But also backed it up with the famous line from the 1987 movie Wall Street when Michael Douglas (as Gordon Gekko) tells Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) to avoid hiring Ivy League graduates, "Most of these Harvard M.B.A. types, they don't add

My husband is from San Diego. The movie Almost Famous is one of our family favorites — a throwback to SD in the 70s. The whole film is about a young journalist who gets the band to reveal their true insecurities. That vulnerability? It made them real. And it made the Rolling Stone article unforgettable. I've been living my own version of this the past few days. First, I spoke to Professor Usha Rackliffe, a financial planning class at Emory's Goizueta Business School my th

Beverly Hills High School Graduation 1991 The Best Lessons Came From What Mom Got Wrong A friend once asked me: "Does your mom find your posts offensive?" I told her the truth: My mom isn't on LinkedIn. But even if she was, she knows — I wouldn't be where I am today without learning what NOT to do from her. She was my anti-role model. And here's what I've come to believe: Humans can learn from others' mistakes. Watching someone else fail is a shortcut. You skip the emotional

Jackson Hole Dec 2024 The most valuable model I ever built had nothing to do with Excel. On Wall Street, I loved modeling. Not walking the runway—financial modeling (plus I'm way too short to model) Projecting cash flows. Stress-testing assumptions. Seeing a company's potential future. Now as a CFP, I do the same thing for people. Can they retire? Will they be okay? The model tells the story. But this spring break, I discovered a deeper kind of modeling. Henry went skiing in

Beverly Hills High School Pep Rally Fall 1990 I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what really drove me to Wall Street. Why I chose a world of sharp elbows. Why I was willing to compete in rooms where I wasn’t “one of the guys.” Why I stayed—and ultimately thrived—in a game that wasn’t built for me. For years, I was told a simple story: Finance is one of the best games in town. If you can learn it, play it, and stay in it—you can build real independence. And I still believe

I just finished reading 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 by Belle Burden. It's one of the best books I've read on what NOT to do with your money in a marriage. Belle was married to a successful hedge fund manager. Big house. Nice life. She thought she was set. But she made 3 mistakes that cost her millions: 𝟭. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴. All the investments. All the bills. She had no idea how much money they were spending. Clueless. 𝟮. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝗼

The happiest people I know aren't doing more. They're doing less. On Wall Street, I was always running. – From one meeting to another – Chasing more titles – Looking for proof that I was enough I worked until I weighed 98 pounds. I’d look at my ring on the subway and wonder if I needed a bigger one. Everyone around me was optimizing every minute of their lives. I loved it. But I was exhausted. Here’s what I’ve learned since climbing my second mountain: The happiest people are

As we celebrated Caroline’s cum laude ceremony last night… and get ready for her to head off to college next year… I found myself thinking about one of my favorite Modern Family episodes—Phil-osophy—when Phil sends Haley off to college. So instead of Phil’s book of wisdom… I thought I’d share my own version—this time about money: Mom-ology: 10 Things I Want My Girls to Know About Money (and Life) 1. If you get dumped by a boyfriend, focus on work. When you make more money, h

NYC last summer I remember when I first got engaged. I loved looking at my diamond ring Two carats. Clear. Beautiful. I felt lucky. I had just started my career on Wall Street, riding the subway every morning as my boss did. After getting married, having babies, a nanny, and a wonderful husband, my career took off. But something funny happened one morning on the subway. I looked down at my ring and thought: Maybe I deserve a bigger one. Around me was the wealth of New York—

As we head into spring break, I had a small breakthrough. Yesterday I presented to the Harvard Business School Women’s Association. They reached out after I posted an article about my career pivot and the lessons I learned along the way. The title of the talk: From Net-Worth to Self-Worth: What Markets Taught Me About Identity, Loss, and Personal Alpha. I told the truth about the dips and valleys in my life and career. I talked about not avoiding pain — because if you lean in

I was running along the banks in Boston, leftover snow crunching under my feet. Cold. Dry. But there was light. I was there on a college tour with Caroline. And something hit me mid-stride: I sometimes feel frozen. This is a turning point. An ending, yes, but also a brand new beginning. Previously, we attended a rehearsal for Cambridge Common Voices. The energy in that room — voices blending, harmonies swelling — was electric. The kids loved having Caroline there. And watch

New Canaan, CT Men's Club What I Told Men in New Canaan About Their Wives and Money While everyone knows there are two certainties in life: death and taxes. There's a third topic most couples hate discussing even more. Money. Tuesday, I spoke to my dad's men's club (after my snowy run in Old Greenwich) —a room full of retired guys who've spent decades building portfolios. The topic? How to talk to your partner about the stock market and money. I started with a question: Wha

early mornin' bacon experience A $2 savings on bacon taught me more about wealth than most finance books. Tuesday morning, I was unpacking my Walmart grocery delivery. Bacon. The microwave-ready kind. $7.98 delivered to my door. At Publix? Same bacon is $10. They pay premium rent. Premium operating costs. Premium prices. But here's what stopped me mid-unpack: The driver who brought my groceries earns maybe $10-15/hr with tips. No leverage. Paid by the hour. Trading time for

Last year, Kiki and I stood at the top of Tower Three (a Double Black Diamond run at Jackson Hole). The run looked terrifying — steep drops, trees, rocks, no easy way down. We could've taken the groomed trail. The safe route. Instead, we pointed our skis downhill and went. That's how I've come to see most of life's big choices. Ten years ago, I sat down one night and drew something (A Decision Tree) that quietly shifted everything. Just two possible trajectories on a piece o

My husband told me to go f .. figure it out. I was in Houston. Three young kids. Money in the bank. And I was paralyzed with anxiety about whether I would have enough. On paper, I had nothing to worry about. But in my head, I was back in my childhood crappy Beverly Hills apartment, watching my mom do nothing about her financial future. Next week I'm speaking to my dad's men's club in New Canaan. (Just got postponed due to weather to Feb 10th! ) Topic: How to talk to your wif

My biggest teacher was my mom's checkbook. At 15, I was balancing her checkbook in our tiny Beverly Hills apartment. Watching her fall for "buy now, pay later" schemes. Seeing the stress she tried to hide. She never sat me down and said, "Let me teach you about money." But she taught me everything. I learned that credit cards aren't free money. I learned that pretending to be fine doesn't make the bills disappear. I learned that financial independence wasn't optional—it was s

Patio at Beverly Hills High School (1998) Life Yearbook signing. Harsh? Maybe. But hear me out. I recently read 𝘐'𝘮 𝘎𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘔𝘺 𝘔𝘰𝘮 𝘋𝘪𝘦𝘥 by Jennette McCurdy — a raw, honest look at trauma, control, and silence behind closed doors. It made me reflect on my own uncomfortable truth. The custody battles. The power struggles. The courts. Unlike Jennette, I fought back — a lot — with my single mom. Where did that independence come from? At a young age, my mom gave me sma

What I’d Tell My 23-Year-Old Self About Money — and Climbing Mountains Greetings from Zermatt. The last time I stood here, I was in college. Same mountains. Same views. Completely different lens. Back then, I thought success was about earning altitude fast. Wall Street. Long hours. Steep climbs. No looking down. What I didn’t understand yet: Work isn’t just about earning — it’s about training for the next ascent. Here’s what the mountain (and money) taught me over 30 years: ⸻

Homecoming ( guys dress up as cheerleaders, cheerleaders dress up as football players.) Not rich in money. Rich in perspective. We lived in a crappy apartment in Beverly Hills. Just so my mom could feel rich. Just so I could go to Beverly Hills 90210 While classmates drove BMWs, I walked to school. At 15, I was balancing my mom's checkbook, watching her fall for "buy now, pay later" scheme. That Circuit City TV? $19 a month for 5 years on a $700 purchase. While I didn’t

(Photo: Henry noticed where my attention was and took one of my 6 CFP books I was reading to pass my Certified Financial Planning exam. ;-) Greenwich → Houston → Atlanta. Each move for Rich's career meant starting over. New city, new schools, zero network. But the real kicker came when Morgan Stanley held Rich's stock plan. As a "courtesy," they assigned us a financial advisor. When Rich kept dodging the guy's calls, he finally said, "Just talk to my wife." I was between ca