Being Poor Was My Superpower. Here's Why Yours Might Be Too.

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 up to dog shit. Give me guys that are poor, smart, and hungry - and no feelings."

So let me explain.

I grew up in a crappy, small apartment in Beverly Hills with my single mom, whose alimony checks barely kept us afloat. Just so I could go to Beverly Hills High School.

One afternoon, I came home and found a pink notice on the door.

In that moment, I had a choice my classmates with the big houses and family accountants never had to make.

I could ignore the issue at 14 or 15. Or I could step up.

I stepped up.

I started helping my mom manage the bills. I then eventually started to book my own dentist appointments, orthodontist visits, and doctor's appointments — all before I was old enough to drive.

I even rode my bike to my ortho appointments.

And I loved it — the freedom.

The independence.

The feeling that I was the author of my own life.

That wasn't deprivation. That was agency being born.

Some of the most powerful sparks in life are struck by friction.

Helping my mom pay the bills, balance her checkbook was my spark. It didn't look like one at the time. It looked like stress. But it was quietly building something in me: a fluency with money, a comfort with financial reality, and a deep understanding of what it feels like to be financially vulnerable. I didn't want this for myself.

If I had grown up wealthy, I might have become a competent financial advisor.

Instead, I advise from a childhood memory that gives me purpose. I know what a pink notice feels like. I know what it feels like to be financially vulnerable.

That's not something you learn in a classroom.

That's specific knowledge. And specific knowledge is leverage.

The girl who grew up without money and went on to build a career in finance didn't succeed despite her childhood.

She succeeded because of it.

The pink notice on the door wasn't the end of the story.

It was the spark.

What moment in your childhood quietly shaped who you became professionally?

Tiffany Kent

Your Friendly Wealth Engagement Guide

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