Episode 132 for July 13, 2021

 

The following is an automated transcript from episode 132, with the host of the Her Story Her Way podcast, Priya Vir.

 

Tom Gentry: So, I know that you work in the financial sector. One of the things about the show, I like to really talk to people who I know are genuine, authentic, or else people who help the rest of us become increasingly authentic. And one of the things that can get in our way of being are.

Most authentic selves for some of us are our relationships with money, things like self-limiting beliefs around money. So, I wanted to maybe touch on that a little bit, but also just to hear about you and what you do. So why don’t you tell everybody what you do exactly. Sure.

Priya Vir: So, by profession, I’m a technical consultant and a FinTech specialist.

And so normally I work for consulting companies and work hired by financial institutions. I work up in Toronto, Canada. So normally our clients are always banks and what we’re doing for them. Streamlining processes, making things more efficient, whether that’s from a data aggregation perspective, whether that’s from a compliance perspective, making them more compliant, using AI capabilities and machine learning technology.

So, a lot of the consulting companies I’ve worked for in the past, we have built our own tech in-house that we then deploy to FIS. So that’s My day job, other things that I’m involved in. I also have a sort of family foundation that I’ve started with my husband in Toronto, and we basically support very grassroots organizations in Toronto that are doing real impactful work.

Just with this last year of us being in COVID. I think that we made a big strategic decision that we were going to give to sort of food insecurity, just because of the amount of people that were on here, we call it syrup, which was the government assistance because I don’t know if people know, but Toronto in north America has had one of the longest lockdowns in any city, I think, even in the world.

So, there’s been a lot of people that have been affected. So that’s where our charitable donation went last year. In addition to that, I do have a podcast called her story her way, which is a platform to promote financial literacy and liberation for women around money management and having a lot of fun with that.

And I think we’ll get into it a little bit more about people’s relationships with money, because I don’t think enough people to ask themselves, what is their relationship with money? Because I think a lot of us adapt the money messaging that we were that we grew up in. So, it’s the money messaging that like our parents adhere to.

And we take that into like our adult lives, unless we really stop and address it to really understand whether that is the money messaging we want to adhere by and live with. One of my motivations actually to start the podcast. Was that just in this sort of last year and a half of us being in COVID, especially up here in Canada and being home and having the opportunity to think a lot more as you have less distractions is I am also an angel investor.

I do have written checks at the seed round for multiple tech companies. I did start back in 2014. So, I’ve been at it for. A few years now. And what I found was that anytime I was getting deal flow, or I was having conversations around angel investors. There weren’t a lot of females around the table.

There definitely wasn’t anyone that looked like me around the table and I’m a woman of color. So, my initial thought was like, you know what? I’m just asking for too much. And I think that in itself is really sad that I think that I think that it’s too much to ask for women of color, to be around the table.

So, I actually wanted to dial it back and be like, why aren’t just not more females having this conversation. Why are they not looking at it as an investment? Ave and an investment vehicle for themselves to generate wealth. And I stopped and took stock of sort of my networks and my life. And I was like, you know what, maybe the problem is me and I’m just in the wrong networks.

And I started having conversations with more and more females, even more. To be like, why are there not more females around this table? And I think that the answer I got was like, yeah women, don’t like talking about money. It’s just something that, is uncomfortable for them.

And it’s very taboo. So then when I, what I realized was that I was asking or expecting women to be at step 10 when a lot of them didn’t even know where the ladder was. And so, there was this massive disconnect. And then I realized that like the podcast was really neat. To normalize having these conversations about money and changing the narrative.

Yeah, that’s a little bit about me. I think I rambled.

TG: So, what is step on in this process for you of doing this podcast? Conveying the message. What’s the first part of the message that you want women, people who have maybe adverse relationships with the money. What do you want? To say

Priya: to them.

Yeah. I think that the first step is to take control of your finances because a lot of times with a lot of females that I’ve also featured on the podcast, because I feature like an aggregate of women and that’s why, it’s not one way is the right way. And I’m not trying to say my way is the right way, but I think more and more women need to definitely take control of their finances.

I hear way too much and way too often that a lot of females have gone from a household where their fathers were managing their finances and then they got married and now their husbands are managing it. And that’s just a realm of their life that they don’t pay attention to. And these are like, very, successful women.

And, it’s just because their attention is in other places, like whether it’s raising a family or their career. But I think that having control of that gives you a level of liberation. And also, a clearer, like understanding of what your goals are. Are they realistic? Because at the end of the day, money is something that binds us.

All right. We’re all really collectively out there hustling, going to university to get a degree, to be able to go out into the real world and get a job and then go and, climb a corporate ladder to enhance our skills, to earn more money, whether that’s working in a corporate ladder or starting your own business.

So, I think that really having an understanding of it and having a even high-level picture of it is really important. So, for me that’s step one.

TG: Just the engagement in it really is what you’re talking about. Yeah,

Priya: take an active role in it and really understand it, right? If, we all look up to people that are super successful that are not slaves to money and they’re able to do whatever they want with their time.

And one of the common things that I find with all those people is that they have understood how to make money work for them. And I think that this is something that’s just not taught to us. And especially women, we’re not taught to like, to think that way. How do I make money work for me instead of me constantly going out there and just working for money?

So, it’s about changing that narrative a little bit as well.

TG: So, what made you pursue this line of work?

Priya: Yeah. You know what? It’s so funny because when I entered university, I never, in my wildest dreams would have thought that I would end up in technology. It’s just something that I fell into.

I started my career working in capital markets on the operations side of things, on a fixed income desk at a major bank up here in Canada, and then slowly transitioned. And my advice for sort of young people that are. Looking to guarantee themselves a job out of university is really going into tech because that’s where the future is.

And I think I realized that very early on in my career as well, that’s where all the opportunities were and that’s where the high paying sort of jobs were in the, in what I could pursue and what was attainable in terms of my skills. Yeah, that’s how I fell into it. Where are you from?

I am from Toronto, Ontario, and Canada. However, I was not born here. I was born in Calcutta in India, and I have traveled extensively. I’ve lived in many countries before moving to Canada when I was 16. So, I’ve obviously lived in India and a lot of cities. I left India when I was five years old. Moved to Singapore, then moved to Dubai.

Then moved to Muscat in Oman. I’ve lived in Sofia, in Bulgaria and then moved to Toronto moved up to Waterloo for school and then came back to Toronto. Met my husband here and, he’s born and raised, and this is I’m extremely proud Torontonian. So, I don’t think that we’ll be leaving anytime

TG: soon.

Are you happy in Toronto? Do you like it as well as other places that you’ve lived in?

Priya: Yes. I think that I definitely, I think Toronto has a lot of value. I do not like the winter. I think our winter season just lasts way too long, but I think the multiculturalism of Toronto is something that’s amazing.

As I said, as I mentioned, I am a woman of color living in Toronto, proper in the city. I don’t feel like a visible minority. And that says a lot. Yeah, I think that I definitely enjoy it. I think it’s also in terms of opportunities, especially in the tech space, it’s becoming a really big tech hub and yeah, I think it’s only going to grow from here.

TG: What about your childhood? Do you have siblings? What was your childhood like? You obviously moved around.

Priya: Yeah. I think that my childhood was probably a lot different than most people that you have on this podcast. I have a younger sister who lives in New York city. She is an attorney in New York. She attended NYU for her undergrad and then Cardozo school of law as well in New York city for law school.

And she’s actually married as well. And her husband. Yeah. Also native to native to New York. So, I don’t think she’ll be leaving anytime soon. And actually, my parents reciting Dubai. So, we’re a very sort of international family. And I think that one of the. Benefits of the way that I was raised is that I got to see the world at a very early age and see how different people lived and got to appreciate that there’s definitely pros and cons, but I think that’s a huge pro.

And I think because of that experience, I feel like I’m able to relate to people from different backgrounds and cultures quite easily that has, really been beneficial to me.

TG: Obviously you work with a lot of people who do have issues with money or problematic relationships with money, besides the absence of that engagement that you’re talking about.

What do you see most often?

Priya: some of the themes that have surfaced on my podcast as I’ve been talking about this topic more, is that. Money is something and finances is not something that’s spoken about in people’s homes. Young adults, especially when they move out of their house for the first time.

And normally that’s going away to university. They’re extremely ill prepared for the real world. And specifically, when it comes to credit card debt, people apply for their first credit card. No one really explains to them. Compounding interest works. If you don’t pay off your credit card bill in full, and if you’re only paying the minimum payments and that’s how a lot of young people get trapped in credit card debt.

And it’s very hard to eradicate when you have developed some bad habits. I think those are some of the themes that I’m seeing emerging. And I think there definitely needs to be more education around that at an earlier age. I actually don’t understand why financial literacy is not taught in high school before people are preparing themselves to move away from their homes away from their parents for the first time.

Because if it’s not taught to you and it’s not spoken about in your house, then the only way for you to learn is really trial and error. And unfortunately, you know it, I think that we’re just doing a really big disservice to our younger population and our youth by not educating them about this at a younger age.

TG: Yeah. I grew up in a home where and I’m the youngest of eight kids. It just, wasn’t something we really talked about, much at all. Would we just knew everything was taken care of, but I think it was considered impolite. To talk about money. There’s a little bit of that. And also, I think there was a little bit of a scarcity mindset as well, and that’s part of the reason why it didn’t get discussed coming from such a big family.

But, I can see where that’s definitely problematic, where it sets someone up for failure – to not have that muscle developed, where conversations and conversations like that feel normal and comfortable.

Priya: Yeah. And I just want to add to what you just said, Tom, is that I think that, I have interviewed a lot of financial advisors on the podcast as well.

And I think some of the themes that they see occurring in sort of the clients that they advise is that they will be some very successful females that are on their sort of roster of clients making well into the six figures but are still carrying credit card debt. And that is because. They have not addressed their relationship with money.

They have not addressed their spending patterns and their spending behavior. And even though that they are high income earners, they do not understand why this is. They just cannot eradicate this debt. And I think that’s why it all comes back down to what is your relationship with money and you really need to address that.

And what was funny to you, right? Like the tool for you is a means of freedom. Like those are some questions, hard questions you really need to ask yourself to be able to put a plan together for yourself, for your goals, for your future.

TG: Yeah. There’s a book that I have a copy of. I haven’t read it in its entirety, but it’s called wired for wealth.

Have you heard of it? No, I have not heard of it. It’s written by these two brothers. Ted Klontz and Brad Klontz and I’m familiar with them working in the helping profession because they’ve been associated with this facility in Tennessee called onsite workshops, where people go to work on codependency, trauma, that type of stuff.

But they also have, I don’t know that they’re currently doing them, but they also have. I think probably like three-to-five-day workshops for people to resolve those kinds of issues that they have with money based on the work of the guys who wrote this book. And it’s, but it’s they talk, they call it your money script.

The story that you tell yourself about money and the beliefs that you have about money, that sort of set the tone. For the decisions that you make throughout your life around money, I’m an addictions counselor. Obviously that comes with its whole set of issues around money as well.

And compulsive spending is another, a lot of times when people find abstinence, when they get sober or get clean, they then resort to other behaviors. To fill the hole and a lot of times it’s compulsive spending.

Priya: Yeah. And honestly the flip side of that is drinking too much.

You’re dependent on alcohol as you’re using it as a sort of coping mechanism. And if you’re in the addiction space, you probably see that a lot.

TG: Yeah. Yeah. People do it with spending as well. Definitely shopping spending and people can also become overly fixated on it.

Amassing money. And one of the things I helped start a facility at one point, most of my career I’ve worked with people of means, the healthcare system in the United States is, as I’m sure you understand is very much a story of the haves and the have-nots and it’s a magnified. In addiction treatment because it’s really hard to get insurance coverage for it.

So, the really great providers out there almost just forego, even dealing with insurance and only take cash pay clients because, with the reimbursement rates for the services they provide, they’re so low that they can’t afford. If they took insurance to provide the quality of care. That they need to, so what ends up happening is that people can’t really get the good help unless they have the money for it, and it can be, there are programs out there that are 60 or $80,000 for 30 days.

And one of the things that I learned over the years is that, there’s, I had this idea that. People who have issues with money are generally people who have issues with not enough money. But what I learned is that to some degree, it doesn’t matter where you are. Socio-economically people with means also misused money.

And I’ve seen an awful lot of parents who sacrifice the quality of their relationship with their children. In order to make a lot of money so they can give them the quote unquote life that they deserve. And by the time I encountered these people as they’re young adults, they just missed having, they would rather have the time with their dad than have their dad gone all the time, making money so that they could have nice things.

You know what I mean? So, it’s really, it also is used as a replacement for love in our culture as well. Have you noticed anything like that in the work that you’re doing around this podcast? I feel

Priya: like that isn’t a theme that has surfaced, but I can totally understand when there’s an abundance of wealth, it can definitely be a substitute for many things, because then you’re in a very privileged place. Outsourcing certain things, which is, I don’t know, having nannies and, people are doing your bedtime routine and putting you and giving you a bath, then, I think those are some bonding moments with your kids.

So, I totally agree with you that, more money sometimes definitely translates into more problems. And as I, and I gave you an example of a lot of females, that are. Making well into the six figures, still carrying credit card debt. It doesn’t mean that if you are just earning more money, all your problems go away.

So, you really have to, it all comes down to values. And what do you value? Do you value time over money? Some people don’t, some people value a certain lifestyle over time. So, I think that’s the question to ask is really what is your value proposition?

TG: And I know for me watching that happen, What I just described over and over again, encountering all these young adults who just wish they had time, more quality time with their parents and don’t know how to relate to them.

Then becoming a dad, myself. It really has influenced my decisions and I’ve been intentional about prioritizing time with my son over. There are times when I could have had jobs where I would have made substantially more money, but I would have been sacrificing time and I always chose him over that.

That’s a core operating principle for me as a dad, having seen that and I’m sure that it’s it is a sacrifice. It’s a choice. Definitely. And we have to live with the results of these decisions, right? Whether it’s being in debt or being in debt and have time or money, it is, it’s very much about values.

So, what does it mean to you? The idea of being. Authentic as a human being. Yeah. That’s

Priya: a loaded question. I don’t know. It’s like, how do you be authentic? I’m like, oh God, like

TG: I’m interested in your perspective what that means to you. Yeah.

Priya: Yeah. I think that, being authentic is like really being happy with you, who you are and whether that is, what you do for work every day, are you making an impact in a way that’s meaningful to you?

Are you living authentically, true to yourself and not making compromises and not I would say trying to fit into somebody else’s box for someone else’s happiness or society’s happiness. So, I think that’s a big thing for me about living authentically. I think that we all realize that as we age, and I think that’s something that’s a privilege of us aging.

We realize that a lot of us may be like, I know I’m guilty of this. I think early on in my career, probably was definitely doing things because I thought I needed to be doing them, even, picking a career, going into like finance and starting my Korean cap capital markets. It was, because I thought I needed to be doing that.

Not really doing the work of sitting down and really asking myself the tough questions of what is going to bring me joy. What is going to get me excited every day. When I wake up to do the thing that I’m going to be doing, instead of chasing a paycheck, I think the younger generation coming after us, like I’m a millennial and I think millennials as well, thinks that it’s less about the money.

And it’s more about what is the impact I’m making in the world. What is, I would say the legacy that you want to leave behind. And I think that all plays into living an authentic life.

TG: Yeah. I am always inspired by younger generations. I’m not of the mind that, what’s the world coming to kids these days, like every generation has said since the beginning of time, I think you’re right.

I think I’m a generation X guy and I think all the subsequent. Generations from mine, have all had it a little bit better or a better mindset, I guess when it comes to, authenticity being real and doing what we really want. I have a 15-year-old, I don’t think he would ever think about doing something with his life because it might be expected of him in terms of societal norms.

I just don’t think you would have. Think of such a thing, nor would he think of judging someone based on the color of their skin or their sexual orientation? It’s I feel like kids are pure and as we, as the generation go on they keep getting it closer to it’s cool to watch.

Priya: Yeah. A hundred percent. Cause I think that as a regeneration comes, like we become a little bit more accepting of things and, equality becomes like a really big, hot topic. One of the things that I do want to bring up is that based on something that I said earlier is that I think that for me feeling that pressure and as well as I think that a lot of people yeah, in the Toronto and Canadian ecosystem, we are a country made out of immigrants.

And so, I think children of immigrants are very aware of the sacrifices that their parents made to leave their Homeland to come here specifically, in most instances, to give their children a better life, that they had more opportunity than they had. So, I think there’s this level of guilt that children of immigrants carry where they have to succeed.

They have to be successful. They hear it all the time that, their parents made all these sacrifices for them. So, I think that like generations to come probably have less pressure, especially when you’re born and raised here where there isn’t that sense of guilt where you’re more free to think really about what it is that makes you happy.

Where do you add value? So, I don’t know if that makes sense, but I did

TG: want to, I think it does. I think it does. Obviously the United States is also a nation of immigrants, but I don’t think we do a very good job of remembering that a lot of times. And maybe the reason why generations seem to be getting better with this stuff is because, maybe here we’re a little further away from that, we’re a few generations removed.

On average, from that person who left everything to come here, which is, I can’t even imagine, I lived in the same home my entire life until I was an adult and never, I couldn’t imagine picking up and leaving one side of the world to go somewhere else and I’m doing it under duress.

And then coming to a place where you probably don’t speak the language and people then looked down upon you as if you’re a lesser, it’s just, there’s so much around it. That makes it hard to some degree, just, I would think traumatic for a family to go through. And then I, I’ve seen that phenomenon that you’re talking about.

Probably more in popular culture than anywhere else where, the children of immigrants who feel this pressure to be a doctor or an attorney or whatever, because mom and dad did all this. So, I could have that opportunity to really make a difference in that, it’s, that would be tough growing up that way with that kind of pressure.

Priya: Yeah, because I think that, with the advancement of technology and just the way that like our world has moved that idea of the American dream, the Canadian dream of, graduating, going to a good university, getting a degree, maybe getting to just like guarantee, lines you up for a great job, a great career.

You buy the house; you settle in a very nice neighborhood. Your kids go to a top school. I think that idea is outdated. I don’t think that dream exists anymore. And in the same breath, I think it’s a lot tougher for four kids because there’s so many options, right? We’re just inundated with options.

The amount of careers that you can choose now, it’s I think a double-edged sword where it can be a good thing and it could be a bad thing.

TG: One of the things that worries me is that, with all this technology, we are getting so far from analog, that my son, like he, the concept of Wi-Fi, he doesn’t really get it the way that I get it.

This didn’t always exist, it’s just expected to have this sort of unlimited access. To everything right now, everything on demand, where, to me, I wonder sometimes, what would happen if it just all falls apart and suddenly we’re not connected anymore, then what are you going to do?

If you don’t know how to do anything that doesn’t relate to technology or isn’t dependent upon technology? Then, where are you hour? Are you going to survive? It’s just an interesting world.

Priya: I totally agree. Cause like sometimes I feel bad for kids growing up in the society today because they’ll never know what it is to feel bored.

I feel like kids don’t know what boredom is anymore because it was constant. Engagement and gratification and, iPad and screen time. Whereas, just even going out to like making neighborhood friends, things like that, I find that like kids are missing out on. And even with, the introduction of Netflix and prime video and stuff.

There are no commercials. Some of my, like fondest memories was like shows that only came on once a week and you waited all week for that show to air. And then you’re like yelling to like your sibling to be like, hurry up. It’s back on don’t miss anything. And

TG: yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

For me, as a little kid, I think about. The night before Easter, they always showed the wizard of Oz. And every year you waited for that or the Christmas specials, like the Christmas cartoons specials as kids. Now it’s just, you press a button and there it is. Yeah. And the stimuli, I think, our brains aren’t really designed to handle all that.

I don’t think.

Priya: Generations before us. I don’t think we’re used to consuming this much information and this much content and one time. And I do think our brains get tired of it. No wonder there’s so much more sort of mental health issues when you’re like constantly like online looking at other people’s lives and feeling oh my God, is that what I’m supposed to be doing?

Or I’m not leveling up or I’m not living up to what society’s expectations of me are. And I think that all comes back to your question about living authentically and I think in today’s world, we all want to live authentically, but how do we block out that noise?

There’s so much noise that we are constantly inundated with, and you and I are adults. Like how do kids these days you’re raising a teenager. How do you teach them to block out the noise? Like I think that’s the challenge. And that’s the question.

Yeah.

TG: Yeah. I don’t know. It’s a lot. It really is. Yeah. What I was going to say is that I had a guest on a while back who she’s a therapist and she works a lot with sex addiction and pornography addiction. And she talked about, our brains, aren’t designed to have that many stimuli on demand all the time.

That’s exactly what we, it’s just so much. And it’s destructive. And, I don’t know if, but pornography addiction is rampant. It’s more and more a problem. And the generations now, if I wanted to access pornography as a kid, it was a whole thing.

Like it was a VHS tape that some kid had it as out. And somebody’s watching the window for when mom pulls in the driveway. Now it’s all right there on your phone right now. Anything you want? And it’s the world is different now. How everything happens in our lives is different now.

It’s crazy. I’m really glad that I grew up when I did that. I didn’t have to deal with social media as a teenager. And all this stuff. I just think it would have been really hard.

Priya: It’s so funny because I’m actually surprised to hear that like pornography addiction is on the rise. And I don’t know if you mean within young kids, because I think I was reading something the other day where the younger generation today is.

A lot less sex, like teenage pregnancy and teenage sex right now is at an all-time low because people are just addicted to their screens. So, I don’t know if for you, that’s it that’s a good thing because you have, a teenage boy at home.

TG: I suppose there is an upside to it too, but the, it’s not really age dependent.

It’s not I’m good friends with a guy who. Is the operations director at a program out in Colorado that treats intimacy disorders in men. And when I say intimacy disorders like sex addiction, pornography addiction, that’s how they describe it as intimacy disorders. And that said, I have a friend like an old childhood friend who.

Was divorced maybe 10 years ago at this point. And one of these people who I’m like sporadically in contact with my life has changed a lot. I moved away from there and I’ve worked in the addiction space. Bits and pieces over the years, learning what happened.

He basically lost his marriage. The pornography addiction is. Became the wedge in the relationship because, it’s a way to have our relationship with an apparition essentially that satisfies you in a certain way and then enabled you to avoid the real sort of substantive.

Relationship with a human being that actually requires accountability. So, I know that there are lots and lots of husbands out there who, people get married and the, the cliche idea of people get married, then they stop having sex. Obviously there’s a reason why that stereotype came about.

So, I think a lot of guys what they end up doing, if they don’t have it, functional sex life is resort to that. And then it becomes this whole, it becomes a wedge and then it’s addictive. An addiction is inherently difficult to stop. So yeah, it just, it makes me sad to know that it destroys marriages.

It really does. And, I’m not saying this with any judgment about whether it’s okay or not, to engage in it. I’m just saying that this is, it interferes, it becomes invasive to real intimate relationships. So yeah. Didn’t see us going down this path, Priya, to be honest, I didn’t think we’d be talking about pornography addiction, but yeah it’s a big deal.

It is. It’s a. More and more, I think as time goes on, we’re going to see the prevalence of it all age groups. But this is where kids learn about, like I learned in the alley about sex on my way, home from school, from other kids, that’s how I really learned about the birds. And a lot of kids these days are learning about it from porn of

Priya: such a difference.

I think that probably this is probably what the education system is doing. Cause I think sex education is part of the curriculum. So, I think a lot of kids probably already know before that class start. But if they didn’t, then that is a good way to, to teach it to you in the right way, in a scientific way, in a structured way, in a safe environment.

So, I do think that’s really important. I will give kudos to the education system too, that is doing that. But yeah, to your point, I think a lot of people learn it through their friends or, find a sort of a magazine sitting around at home or to your point, like it’s way too easy to find on the internet now, like you’re on a site, a gaming site and some pop-up comes up and then you’re Hey, what’s that?

And inquisitive minds are going to are going to click on it. So yeah, there’s way too many avenues. Now that. The younger generation can tend to. And sometimes that’s great because, it’s information is power and sometimes, it leads down places like, looking at pornography very early and giving you an idea of what sex is supposed to be, which is very unrealistic.

TG: Yeah. And going back to one of the original points that we covered. Part of the reason why this dynamic exists is because that’s another taboo topic that families don’t often talk about. They avoid it, and so it’s another one of those things that people go out in the world with a funny relationship with just like money,

Priya: a hundred percent. This is a topic that I feel like is like super taboo in like immigrant homes. So, I think that, yeah, I think again, it’s like, how do you normalize that to be like, no, this is like a part of our life. It will be a part of your life as you grow as an adult. And it’s important to talk about.

And it’s important to yeah. Talk about the safeties of it, the dangers of it and it’s, I think I can draw so many parallels to money. You’re totally

TG: right now. I got it. Have you ever made this correlation before? Is this something we discovered together?

Priya: Definitely something I’ve discovered together.

I’ve just aha moment. Isn’t it? I did have a personal coach, a personal trainer on my podcast as a guest. And she was just making so many, distinctions and references to how money and budgeting is so similar to fitness goals and your diet, and what goes on, got to track what comes in, what goes out.

And it’s so similar to food and she was dropping these gems where I’m like, oh my God, I’ve never thought of it that way. So yeah, I’m having like a flashback moment in that interview.

TG: They’re all basic human needs, money’s a resource and we need it. Yeah.

Priya: A hundred percent. It’s so secular.

TG: Yeah. So why is all of this important to you? You think what party you like deep down? Where’s the conviction. What’s the why?

Priya: The why for me is really all about how do we. Empower more women to take control of their financial independence. I feel like I’ve spoken to way too many females on my podcast.

Have only taken control of their finances once a binary event has occurred in their life. And that binary event normally is a divorce for them to totally change the direction of their life and how they view finances and money. And I think that’s a really unfortunate thing. So how do we empower more women to really think about this at an earlier age?

Because. If they do have an understanding of it at an earlier age, they’re going to start building wealth. And the more people that are building wealth, the better off, our society, our economy is going to be, it infiltrates into all aspects. So that’s my, why is, let’s empower more females to make better financial decisions.

TG: So, looking back on your life and what you’ve experienced. If there was a time when the younger Priya needed some support or a word of advice, when would she have needed it most? And what would you go back and say to her?

Priya: Yeah, I think that it would probably be. Maybe when I was in high school, applying to universities, I think I did it very blindly just being like, okay, I need to apply to these programs because if I graduate out of these schools and these programs, I’m going to have a great job without really doing introspective work without working with a coach.

I think that’s super important or a counselor, a good counselor to really understand like what my skills. And how could I leverage post-secondary education to enhance those skills? Because I think, intrinsically, people that do really well in life or have successful careers is because they’re doing something that they love.

And that they’re intrinsically good at. So, it doesn’t feel like work for them. So, I feel like I definitely didn’t give that enough. At that age. And I, if I could go back in time, I would tell myself, do the work really dig deep and figure out what matters to you.

TG: Sounds like pretty good advice.

And talk about personal authenticity. That’s really why I wanted to do this podcast because that’s something that I didn’t do. I just went along doing what I felt was expected of me by the people who loved me, the people around me, what would appease everyone and, pretty quickly found myself miserable.

It didn’t go well. And so, if I can do something to help someone else avoid that and have a happy life and dislike you, you talked about more people with wealth. Making it better for all of us. I feel like the more of us who are doing what we actually want to be doing with our time with our lives, the better off we all are.

The world’s a better place. Listen, I really appreciate you taking the time to do this. Thank you.

Priya: Oh, my pleasure, Tom. This was a riveting conversation. Thank you so much for having me on the show. It was my pleasure.