For this edition of FinanciElle “$tatements”, I had the opportunity to interview Eugenie George, Certified Financial Educator, Personal Finance writer and Podcast Host of Money & Flow Podcast.

The Money & Flow Podcast, helps educate and support women of color by looking at historical contexts of discrimination and racism; support in dismantling old thinking patterns around money and encouraging the start of new businesses via planning and strategies.

Eugenie, has just published her book, “Our Money Stories: A Six-week no B.S. Holistic Financial Wellness Plan”. I really like how the first section of the book focuses on money stories and the stories of 40 women of color in the United States are represented. I’ve started reading the book and will be doing a FinanciElle Bookshelf review/discussion guide, so stay tuned for that.

Paolina: What does money mean to you and where does that meaning come from?

Eugenie:

Money means to me the ability to take care of myself FIRST and others. I think throughout my twenties I saw how money could create accessibility; but, every year I recognized more that money could help me understand my past, heal from it, and build a better future.

Paolina: Congratulations on the new book, “Our Money Stories: A Six Week No B.S. Holistic Financial Wellness Plan”, what is the most significant money lesson, you learned from interviewing the 40 women, researching policy, writing and publishing your book?

Eugenie:

Thanks so much. Throughout these 2 years, and my shoestring budget of 2,000 dollars, I’ve learned that with time, pressure, and humility you can create a great piece of work.

With every interview I had to humble myself and be vulnerable. The more honest and vulnerable  I was in the writing process the more therapeutic it became.

Paolina: What does financial wellness look like for you specifically, how do you create that for yourself ?

Eugenie:

Financial Wellness is the latest buzzword in personal finance. The term financial wellness means to be financially stable. Because it is a buzzword, there isn’t a good definition to explain how you can achieve it. It becomes a woo-woo blanket statement, but it doesn’t have to be. I think that we have the opportunity to create our own definitions and I like to look at Financial Wellness through the lens of the Eight Pillars of Financial Wellness

The eight wellness pillars: physical, nutritional, emotional, social, spiritual, intellectual, financial, and environmental. Wellness is the most important aspect of our lives. When we are not well, everything else spirals out of control.

Most of us don’t see how our past, present, and future encompass our entire wellness story. It was essential to see how looking at my money daily, weekly, and monthly would change my habits around money, comforting than restricting, which is why WELLNESS is emphasized.

We have to ask the question: When I look at every aspect of my life how does each wellness pillar  fit into my life and money?

Paolina: What are your current FinanciElle Faves?

Favourite business/leadership/Money book?

“Atomic Habits” by James Clear, about how the act of starting a habit is always hard. It describes how habits take time to grow and how starting small can compound over time.

Favourite money/financial wellness tool?

Therapy! So many of my money blocks were uncovered by relationships with my family and my past.

Favourite piece of media – TED talk, podcast…?

Dr. Nadie Burke Harris, “How Childhood Trauma affects health across a lifetime” changed my entire book and how I view habits.