WEBVTT - Our Rich BFF ft. Vivian Tu 0:00:04.280 --> 0:00:08.840 Hey, ba fam, so we need to favor me and Mandra. 0:00:09.680 --> 0:00:14.200 We need more reviews because it really helps like folks 0:00:14.200 --> 0:00:16.360 to find us. It helps in the charts and the 0:00:16.440 --> 0:00:19.400 ratings and all the algorithms and all them things. 0:00:19.079 --> 0:00:19.320 You know. 0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:22.599 So if you leave us a review, we might pick 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:24.919 it in a read it online. Okay, Manny, do we 0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:26.720 have a new review that's like, you know, really cute 0:00:26.760 --> 0:00:29.240 indicative of like how we want to be represented to 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:29.640 the world. 0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:33.920 No pressure, I got a couple of juicy ones actually 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:35.680 that just came in this past a week, So thank you, 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:39.080 BA fan. Specifically to listener h h Shaw's I've been 0:00:39.080 --> 0:00:41.400 listening to this podcast for a while and I still 0:00:41.400 --> 0:00:44.280 make some bad decisions. It's okay, we still love you, h. 0:00:44.320 --> 0:00:46.840 I always have the voices of Bandy Tiffany in my head, 0:00:46.920 --> 0:00:49.440 like girl, get it together, you know what to do. 0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:53.280 Thanks for the amazing advice, encouragement, guests, and so much more. 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:55.600 As I'm reading this review, I'm also like, wow, do 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:58.360 we not do that great of a job on the show? 0:01:00.680 --> 0:01:04.600 Don't just take notes use them? Okay, And then listener 0:01:04.680 --> 0:01:07.679 to says this is a must here podcast, very good advice. 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:10.760 I listen every week. All these are actually really nice. 0:01:11.560 --> 0:01:12.960 Yeah, and so if you want us to read your 0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:15.560 review and you want us to smile big and cheesy, 0:01:16.080 --> 0:01:18.600 please leave us a review and share the podcast with 0:01:18.640 --> 0:01:21.200 the people that you love, even your haters too, because 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:26.560 they need some financial education as well. Thanks. Hey, hey, 0:01:26.880 --> 0:01:30.080 hey we're back. 0:01:30.480 --> 0:01:31.800 We're black, but. 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:38.640 B B B brown. 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:42.880 Ambition and ambition and ambition, ambition, and. 0:01:44.319 --> 0:01:47.760 We got a little we have some vanilla bean brown 0:01:47.840 --> 0:01:52.840 in the studio today. I was wondering, you know, we know, 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:54.880 we think you know, Mandy, we think Wait a minute, 0:01:54.880 --> 0:01:56.520 will we give you like a like a latte. 0:01:56.960 --> 0:02:00.720 Let's not start the cast system again, Hey to finis, 0:02:02.040 --> 0:02:04.120 can we not be seeing in origin like. 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:06.960 Mandy's in her winter winter winter color? 0:02:07.840 --> 0:02:13.280 Yeah, I am. I listen to my Midwestern family. I 0:02:13.680 --> 0:02:15.080 represent you these minds. 0:02:15.080 --> 0:02:16.320 You know what. It's so crazy because I was looking 0:02:16.360 --> 0:02:17.840 at myself in the mirror. I was like, mean, well 0:02:17.840 --> 0:02:19.440 for me, I'm like, you look so pale. I'm like, God, 0:02:19.480 --> 0:02:20.119 that's why it's winter. 0:02:20.160 --> 0:02:22.760 But this is me, this shade, this is the shade 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:24.600 that we are right now, and this I will be 0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:27.800 in about July. Okay, if you're watching on YouTube, I'm 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:29.480 holding up my winter in my summer. If you know 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:31.880 you know hi, Vivian two. 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:35.000 Yes, we have a special guest in the stew today. 0:02:35.120 --> 0:02:37.040 Her name is Vivian too. And you know you know 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:39.840 her because come on, she's your rich bff. You have 0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:43.000 seen her videos unless you just don't have a cell 0:02:43.000 --> 0:02:46.440 phone or internet or a computer. 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:48.720 Or someone or knows someone who has a phone or 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:50.840 an internet or a computer and have no friends. 0:02:51.240 --> 0:02:53.040 Yes, you know Vivie. So I'm gonna be her official 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:55.720 bio and they're gonna introduce her to the stew. So 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:58.400 when it came to when, when the burnout came for 0:02:58.400 --> 0:03:01.960 former JP Morgan trader Vivi to she decided to leave 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:04.960 Wall Street for a gig in the media space. But 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:08.200 when she did, she took with her her financial savvy 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:10.680 that would lead her down an unexpected path, building a 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:15.600 career out of offering fun, digestible financial advice on social media. 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:18.560 We love her for that. She was always the one 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:20.640 that her friends would go to for this sort of help. 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:24.360 And so she started. And once you start, Vivian, what 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:25.639 year when you started going viral? 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:29.160 It was January first of twenty twenty one, very first 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:29.840 day of the year. 0:03:30.080 --> 0:03:31.960 First video went viralva. 0:03:31.720 --> 0:03:34.000 Went viral love it because she's like, what a winner. Okay, 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:39.120 we really realized. She realized how great the need was 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:43.560 for financial literacy beyond the big banks. And honestly, we 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:44.960 all say this because we got the I think we 0:03:45.040 --> 0:03:47.760 all got this from Bernard that financial services has been 0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:52.800 historically mail Pale and stam and these lessons are things 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:55.120 that rich dads have been teaching their rich sons on 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:58.320 the golf course. This is what Vivian has shared. So 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:01.520 Vivian told this is Vivian told Forbes. Right, So she's 0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:04.280 got three point five million followers that she lovely calls 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:05.320 the leftovers. 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:07.000 That is not even accurate. 0:04:07.200 --> 0:04:08.560 I'm going to say, is it up to day now? 0:04:08.560 --> 0:04:09.760 I was gonna say, I feel like it's more than 0:04:09.800 --> 0:04:10.440 this now. 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:12.240 Yeah, it's closer to six or seven. 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:17.320 That's incredible. Okay, I'm a leftover. So it includes women, 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:20.839 people of color, and marginalized communities that have not gotten 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:24.800 the same level of financial education. You're rich, bff. This 0:04:24.880 --> 0:04:27.640 is where she comes in. Her goal is to turn 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:31.919 finance into a fun nance space. I love that to 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:35.040 speak and to speak to those who are seeking financial advice. 0:04:35.680 --> 0:04:38.400 She has landed partnerships with places like MetLife, r At 0:04:38.440 --> 0:04:42.240 the Runway, Credit Karma, and Vesco wellth Front, and is 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:46.599 now being represented by W M. E. Her first book, 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:49.039 which by the way, is a New York Times bestseller. 0:04:49.080 --> 0:04:49.960 Because of course the. 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:52.160 F it is, so what you're saying is you're rich. 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:53.360 BFF is rich? 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:58.719 Yes, right, rich richf we get it right? So yeah, 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:01.679 she and also too left a. She was ranked number 0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:05.160 fifty on the inaugural Forbes Top Creators List in twenty 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:08.080 twenty two. Like, yes, we welcome Vivian two to the 0:05:08.160 --> 0:05:09.479 stew Bay. 0:05:09.640 --> 0:05:09.719 You. 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:13.360 Thank you guys so much for having me, and I'm 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:14.200 so happy to be here. 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:16.960 You guys are like old friends. It's been a minute. 0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:18.200 I haven't seen y'all in a second. 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:20.479 I know, well I've met you, Vivian, like for the 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:22.560 first time in person on. 0:05:22.640 --> 0:05:25.120 The White House. I know, humble brag. 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:27.800 I mean it was crazy because we were like, a, 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:29.200 were we gonna bet the president? We're not, We're not. 0:05:29.440 --> 0:05:30.880 And then we met the first lady, which I was like, 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:33.080 that's more than enough, and then the President we were 0:05:33.120 --> 0:05:36.800 all like, this is your life? Like it was just insane. 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:38.279 So it was a great place to just be Like, 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:41.760 I was overwhelmed with the emotion of the grandness of 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:42.960 it all. And then I got to meet you, which 0:05:43.040 --> 0:05:43.640 was so awesome. 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:46.480 Yeah, Tiffany was overwhelmed with the emotion of the grandness. 0:05:46.520 --> 0:05:48.440 I was overwhelmed by the free snacks. 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:52.600 No im over here in the back, just trying to eat. 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:55.479 Wait, so y'all met at the White House. I met you, 0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:57.760 Vivian for the first time at the Marshalls. We have 0:05:57.800 --> 0:06:00.560 a partner and partner in common Marshalls. Ye, I mean 0:06:00.560 --> 0:06:02.839 that we were on the panel a couple of years. 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:07.360 Ago Marshall's I'm Available Marshals say. 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:11.039 Mandy was chatting all things career and I was chatting 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:14.200 all things money. And it was a summit to actually 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:18.520 empower women to make choices that align with their values 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:20.720 and you know, essentially put their money where their mouth 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:22.840 is and be really, really mindful with their spending. 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:23.400 It's cool. 0:06:23.560 --> 0:06:25.280 And if you want to know how savvy Vivian is, 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:27.680 if you didn't already follow her, like we said at 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:29.960 that event, I remember being at the table. We had 0:06:29.960 --> 0:06:31.560 just gotten done, and I was starving and I was 0:06:31.600 --> 0:06:33.440 eating and like you were gone, and I was like, oh, 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:35.800 Vivian left that didn't get to say goodbye, and I'm 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:38.960 just eating and then and then and then they me 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:42.080 like forty five minutes later, Vivian and whoever your plus 0:06:42.080 --> 0:06:44.960 one was, you come back your friend, right, you come 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:48.560 back in with like loaded down with swag because she 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:49.960 was like, oh, I went shopping. 0:06:50.000 --> 0:06:52.560 Because I didn't Mandy exposing me. 0:06:53.120 --> 0:06:55.120 Everybody went shopping and I did not get the memo 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:57.000 that we could go and like shop from the rack, 0:06:57.400 --> 0:07:02.400 like just take stuff. And I but I'm like, I 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:05.279 should have see when you're with Vivian, just follow her, y'all, 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:07.680 but literally, not like on social media, like just follow 0:07:07.680 --> 0:07:09.800 her around and I feel like you'll just a little tips, 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:12.120 like she'll land just like the it's the yellow brick 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:15.400 Road personified. It's sort of how I would describe you. 0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:17.720 So I'm very very happy. And on top of that, 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:20.800 you're just a nice, you know, human being. And I 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:23.040 think I DMG the other day to let you know 0:07:23.080 --> 0:07:24.800 that I've been listening to and I was trying to 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:28.040 find my stupid notes because I always like to take notes, 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:30.880 but I was listening to your podcast, Networth and Chill 0:07:30.920 --> 0:07:33.880 if we may talk about that, and you were, and 0:07:33.920 --> 0:07:37.760 I learned about like your background, and I think for 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:40.080 for the for the people who only know you from 0:07:40.080 --> 0:07:42.760 TikTok and haven't really dived deeper, maybe haven't listened to 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:46.960 your personal stories on your podcast, tell us introduce yourself 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:50.200 and like the Vivian before your rich bff, because you 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:52.680 are a favorite Wall Street girly, but you weren't just 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:54.560 a Wall Street girly, Like you left Wall Street and 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:56.120 then you had this career afterward. 0:07:56.160 --> 0:07:57.480 I want to hear more about that. 0:07:57.520 --> 0:07:59.120 So tell the folks what you want them to know 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:00.559 about how you got here. 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:05.680 Yeah, So, I, like so many people in this country, 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:09.640 come from an immigrant background. My parents immigrated to the 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:13.640 US from Shanghai in their early twenties. And I love 0:08:13.680 --> 0:08:15.680 my mom and dad. I hope that they don't hear 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:19.080 me say this. They are the best parents. 0:08:19.720 --> 0:08:24.920 But they are very very frugal, and I. 0:08:24.840 --> 0:08:28.360 Wouldn't necessarily say that they've been smart with their money. 0:08:28.920 --> 0:08:31.600 I think the money that they do have a lot 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:37.760 of it comes from extreme saving very much the family 0:08:37.800 --> 0:08:39.880 where like you open like the cookie tin and it's 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:43.200 like a sewing kit inside, and like you go to 0:08:43.320 --> 0:08:46.440 the under the kitchen cabinet like there's just like one 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:49.240 random bag that houses all of the other bags, and. 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:52.160 Like, you know, you reuse those bags every day as a. 0:08:52.200 --> 0:08:57.199 Lunch box, and like very you know, almost like down 0:08:57.240 --> 0:09:01.319 to the tea Chinese, American, Asian tropes. 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:06.520 And I think that made me a very. 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:14.160 Worried and a very scarce minded kid. It always felt 0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:16.240 like the other shoe was going to drop. Neither of 0:09:16.280 --> 0:09:18.439 my parents at the time, especially when I was younger, 0:09:18.440 --> 0:09:22.000 I would say before high school, neither of them were 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:29.560 high earners. So we oftentimes lived in the smallest home 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:33.440 or smallest apartment in the school district. And my parents 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:36.360 were very, very focused on education because to them it 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:40.680 felt like a form of class mobility socioeconomic mobility, So 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:43.640 instead of moving into a nicer home, they would move 0:09:43.640 --> 0:09:48.120 into the smallest home in the nicest school district, right 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:50.840 on the edge, right before you got into the other district. 0:09:51.360 --> 0:09:53.440 And that is how I was able to go to 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:55.600 some of the best public schools in the country, and 0:09:55.720 --> 0:09:58.800 my parents didn't have to pay for that education, but 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:01.640 I was able to get you know, a bit of 0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:03.719 a head start there because I had some really good 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:08.480 public schools that I went to, and from there I 0:10:08.640 --> 0:10:11.440 was told, you know, do the right thing. This is 0:10:11.440 --> 0:10:14.599 the American dream blueprint, right, you get a grades. I 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:16.440 was the valedictorian of my high school. I love to 0:10:16.440 --> 0:10:18.600 bring this up whenever anybody asks, because it's like my 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:19.840 crowning achievement of life. 0:10:20.679 --> 0:10:24.520 Your parents must have been so proud or were they. 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:27.839 Like, Mandy, please, my parents were like, this is your obligation. 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:29.640 I was gonna say, Manny, do you know do you 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:32.120 know immigrant parents? My parents are Nigerian, which is very 0:10:32.120 --> 0:10:36.600 similar to that, like like you said, Vivian, super like frugal, 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:40.120 but also education is everything. It is the only way 0:10:40.200 --> 0:10:43.319 out and also too like an A is like I 0:10:43.400 --> 0:10:44.880 used to my dad would tell me that a B 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:47.640 was was no, a C was failing, A B was 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:49.480 a C, and A was you better have. 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:53.839 I'm sorry, Nigerian parents, you come home with a ninety eight. 0:10:53.880 --> 0:10:55.400 They're asking you were the other two person? 0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:57.760 I mean, so I'm feeling right here, Vivid. I'm like, yes, 0:10:57.800 --> 0:10:59.560 go ahead, continue. So this is what you grew up. 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:01.960 So this is how I grew up. But I was 0:11:01.960 --> 0:11:02.760 a very good student. 0:11:02.800 --> 0:11:06.200 I ended up getting into the University of Chicago, and 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:09.280 the deal that I had made with my parents essentially 0:11:09.520 --> 0:11:12.840 was like they had been saving and investing their entire 0:11:13.000 --> 0:11:15.160 lifetimes for one thing, and that was for me to 0:11:15.160 --> 0:11:19.400 be able to go to school. And when I got 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:22.480 into U Chicago, it is one of the most expensive 0:11:22.480 --> 0:11:26.640 schools in the country, and I was very nervous about this. 0:11:27.240 --> 0:11:33.000 And fortunately for me, through high school, my family's financial 0:11:33.000 --> 0:11:36.160 situation improved quite a bit because my mom ended up 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:39.880 leaving the pharmaceutical industry. She was like a chemist, a 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:43.640 supervisor of a lab, and went into consulting. So then 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:46.199 she started consulting for pharmaceutical companies, started making quite a 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:49.200 bit more money, and I was able to go to 0:11:49.360 --> 0:11:53.120 Chicago and they gave me the greatest gift, and we 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:55.600 as Americans know this is truly the greatest gift. I 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:58.480 graduated without student loans, without student debt. 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:02.320 That's what your parents so they were able to. Did 0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:04.720 you get financial aid at all? So, I mean like 0:12:04.840 --> 0:12:07.360 real aid, not loans, which they do call aid. 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:12.760 So I got fifteen thousand dollars in merit like grants 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:15.880 from the school themselves. I believe that was per year, 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:20.640 and then I got additional private scholarships, but the remainder, 0:12:20.679 --> 0:12:23.600 which was still six figures. My parents were able to 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:27.680 help pick up, which was wonderful. And I know, you know, 0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:30.640 I look back on high school and I look back 0:12:30.720 --> 0:12:34.960 on some of the students that would drive Mercedeses or 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:38.400 Audi's or you know, these fancy cars into the parking lot. 0:12:38.440 --> 0:12:42.440 And I had a beat up and I mean beat up. 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:45.600 Sheldon was the best car ever, But Sheldon was on 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:46.600 his last legs. 0:12:46.920 --> 0:12:47.600 Not Sheldon. 0:12:47.679 --> 0:12:50.560 He was a beat up Honda, a cord with the 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:56.600 paint coming off and the headlights like barely worked, so 0:12:56.720 --> 0:12:58.600 like on rainy days, I was like, I don't know 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:02.360 if I should drive the school. But you know, I 0:13:02.400 --> 0:13:06.040 always thought that, like we just didn't have it like that. 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:10.040 But then to hear from some of those peers who 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:13.439 drove those types of cars and wore nicer clothes than 0:13:13.480 --> 0:13:17.120 me and like had more bigger houses whatever. To hear 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:21.800 that they were choosing other alternatives to college, you know, 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:24.320 doing two years at a community college to then be 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:25.640 able to afford to go to the school that they 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:29.040 wanted to go to, or choosing their second choice even 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:31.400 if they got into their top choice because of pricing. 0:13:32.080 --> 0:13:36.280 It made me really reevaluate my parents' relationship to money. 0:13:36.440 --> 0:13:38.880 And instead of like making fun of them, calling them 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:42.360 like cheap or whatever, like, I just realized that they 0:13:42.360 --> 0:13:45.360 had bigger goals, and their goals were very different than 0:13:45.600 --> 0:13:46.880 some of our neighbors. 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:49.360 But I'm at U Chicago. 0:13:49.800 --> 0:13:52.079 I'm a decent student, but I'm going to be honest you, 0:13:52.160 --> 0:13:55.280 Chicago is not a Maryland public school. Like everybody at 0:13:55.400 --> 0:13:59.800 Chicago was their high school valedictorian. I'm certainly not the 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:02.840 artest kid in the room. Ever Again, after that moment, 0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:09.360 I get to junior year and essentially I have no 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:11.880 idea what I want to do with my life. But 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:14.320 I don't have a trust fund to fall back on. 0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:17.960 I cannot go spend a year backpacking and figure it out. 0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:18.880 I got to have a job. 0:14:19.600 --> 0:14:21.280 So a lot of my friends at the time were 0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:24.040 interviewing for jobs on Wall Street, and I was like, 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:27.320 you know, what, seems as good of an idea as any. 0:14:28.360 --> 0:14:30.880 There was no real passion. I just wanted to make money. 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:33.600 I wanted to live in a cool, fun, sexy city 0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:37.320 like New York, and I wanted to do the young 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:41.520 twenty something thing. So I interviewed ended up getting an 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:46.360 internship at JP Morgan on the trading desk, and that 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:52.000 summer they hired three interns, myself and two young men, 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:54.800 and I was the only one who got a return offer. 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:59.160 It was a super cutthroat summer. It was very competitive 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:03.800 as always who's in first, who's out last, who's putting 0:15:03.840 --> 0:15:07.520 out more work product, who's mingling networking more, who's It 0:15:08.000 --> 0:15:10.520 was always a game of like who could do more 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:15.240 with less? And I think that was the first time 0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:18.440 I ever realized. I was like, I'm just as good 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:22.040 as these people sitting around me. I'm just as smart, 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:25.240 I can run just as fast, and I can accomplish 0:15:25.400 --> 0:15:29.720 just as much, even if I don't necessarily look like 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:30.600 everybody around me. 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:34.440 So what made you decide that? Like, okay, so you 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:36.400 go to JP Morgan, You're like, womp, not for me. 0:15:38.680 --> 0:15:41.600 That's not quite how it works. 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:42.040 Yeah. 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:44.640 So I got there and I was like, wop, this 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:45.600 is definitely for me. 0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:46.760 I want to be rich. 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:49.680 I you know, I find my mentor and she is 0:15:49.720 --> 0:15:51.880 still my mentor to this day. She's the coolest person 0:15:51.920 --> 0:15:54.480 I've ever met. She and I wanted to be like 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:57.440 her for very shallow reasons. At the beginning, she would 0:15:57.480 --> 0:15:59.600 click clack in on those marble floors with her like 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:03.320 Gucci stilettos, like have a new like Chanel bag on 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:05.280 the counter every day. And I was like, I want 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:07.960 Gucci stilettos, and I want a new Chanel bag every day, 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:10.320 And so I wanted to be like her. But because 0:16:10.320 --> 0:16:14.560 of her, and because of her explanation to me of like, 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:18.200 you can only have these things if you're good with money, 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:20.360 I started investing in my four ow and k I 0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:22.800 started being mindful of, like how long do I have 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:24.480 to tough it out here to get a pension? Like, 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:27.960 you know, what should I be doing with my exercesse money? 0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:28.760 Should I budget better? 0:16:28.800 --> 0:16:29.320 Should I save? 0:16:29.360 --> 0:16:32.200 Should I be investing outside of this? And I started 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:35.600 getting decent with my money. And while that happened a 0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:37.040 year and a half in the head of my desk, 0:16:37.040 --> 0:16:40.600 I'll let go. Half the team got fired, new people 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:44.280 brought in, and I was assigned to work for somebody else. 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:46.960 And that was the beginning of the end. 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:51.600 Literally, dun dot like the beginning of the end. And 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:53.920 this guy just hated me. He didn't like that I 0:16:53.960 --> 0:16:56.160 was girly. He didn't like how my nails click clacked 0:16:56.200 --> 0:16:59.200 on the keyboard, he didn't like how I looked and 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:01.840 who I was. And the final straw was I came 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:04.760 into work one day with a long cardigan on and 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:07.800 he looked at me, touched his hands together, bowed and said, 0:17:08.000 --> 0:17:08.760 is that a kimono? 0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:14.200 M And wow? 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:18.200 You know how, I don't know if this happens to you, guys, 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:21.000 but when something like that happens to you, you think 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:23.119 of all the insults you want to say back, like 0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:24.320 six hours later. 0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:26.600 Yeah, especially when they're your boss. 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:29.960 Yeah, and you're not a power. 0:17:30.320 --> 0:17:33.520 When I heard that anecdote that you just said on 0:17:33.560 --> 0:17:37.439 your podcast, Networth and Chill, y'all, I will plug it 0:17:37.440 --> 0:17:40.200 for you, don't worry. And the first thing I thought 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:42.480 of was I wish I could say I was surprised, 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:43.960 But I think around that, I think we're around the 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:45.680 same age and around the same time you were working 0:17:45.720 --> 0:17:49.040 on Wall Street. I was reporting on Wall Street as 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:52.959 a reporter at Business Insider, And I'll never forget like 0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:55.760 b I in the early days was a wild wild West, 0:17:55.880 --> 0:17:58.360 like we were just a bunch of kids on the Internet, 0:17:58.480 --> 0:18:00.320 like you know, writing every wanted to. There were no 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:03.879 rules of journalism anymore. It was like post media apocalyptic 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:07.040 moment from the recession, and it was about clicks. We 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:09.800 were like headlines and photo, headlines and photo that was 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:12.600 everything on BI it was the main page. And I 0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:18.320 was specifically told by an editor feature an Asian American woman, 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:21.880 Feature young Asian American women in your photos, and the 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:24.760 men of Wall Street will click. There was like this 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:30.040 weird Yes I'm not kidding, No, I know it's fucking gross, 0:18:30.119 --> 0:18:33.120 but this fetishization at the same time, but then use 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:34.800 it on the you know, the other end of it 0:18:34.840 --> 0:18:38.160 that you experience is this, you know, this racism, this 0:18:38.320 --> 0:18:41.840 other ring and I'm just really sorry that that happened 0:18:41.840 --> 0:18:43.199 to you. I'm so glad you got to give them 0:18:43.200 --> 0:18:46.240 the double middle finger. And I did not take that 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:49.520 editor's advice, but I will say, like, who writes the 0:18:49.560 --> 0:18:52.240 news and who's you know, in charge on Wall Street? 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:57.080 It so matters. Yeah, so then you. 0:18:57.520 --> 0:18:59.560 Just like, how long did you last after that? 0:19:00.720 --> 0:19:01.520 A couple of months? 0:19:03.240 --> 0:19:05.320 Oh, but can I tell this, I've never told this 0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:08.400 story before, but this is quite spicy. 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:13.120 So I wanted to like leave that day. 0:19:13.240 --> 0:19:13.600 I liked. 0:19:13.760 --> 0:19:16.480 I was like, I basically texted my mentor on the 0:19:16.520 --> 0:19:18.000 side because she was still on the team, and I 0:19:18.040 --> 0:19:20.359 was like I'm about to quit, like right now, like 0:19:20.600 --> 0:19:24.159 I am leaving today, And she was like, don't be 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:26.119 an idiot, you don't have another job lined up. 0:19:26.200 --> 0:19:28.560 What are you doing. We'll talk about it after work. 0:19:28.640 --> 0:19:30.560 And she basically coached me through it, and I think 0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:32.679 she was obviously very very sad to hear that that 0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:37.359 had happened to me. But she introduced me to my 0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:45.000 second manager, my very first manager at BuzzFeed, and I 0:19:45.920 --> 0:19:51.080 was so strategic with this guys. I started interviewing and 0:19:53.400 --> 0:19:57.160 right before I knew I was going to quit, like 0:19:57.200 --> 0:19:58.840