Black women financial gurus are breaking barriers in the personal finance realm. They serve as role models to women everywhere, especially women of color. There's something inspirational about seeing someone who looks like you achieve the same goal that you want to achieve. Their visibility consistently gives me the motivation to meet my own financial goals because if they can, why can't I?
As a finance major who has worked in the financial services sector, I look up to personal finance experts that are women. It takes guts to break into such a monolithic industry. I can relate because the financial services industry is the same way, so I've personally suffered from imposter syndrome. I understand the courage it takes to break into an industry where the majority of people don't resemble you.
These Black women in finance have helped me in more ways than one because they've helped change my money habits and serve as inspiration. I am a regular on their sites, a fan of their books, and a member of some of their Facebook groups. Surrounding myself with role models, resources, and other women interested in reaching financial goals will surely feed your ambition for financial independence, as it does for me.
1. Michelle Singletary, The Color of Money
Michelle Singletary is a personal finance columnist. She pens The Color of Money, a recurring column in The Washington Post on Wednesdays and Sundays. She is also the author of three personal finance books, a television host, and has appeared on NPR. Subscribe for weekly newsletters to learn how to spend well and live rich!
2. Kara Stevens, The Frugal Feminista
Kara Stevens is determined to help black women step into their financial confidence and eradicate their debt. She has worked with thousands of women as a consultant, speaker, writer, and coach. Be happy. Be healthy. Be brave with Kara!
3. Tonya Rapley, My Fab Finance
Tonya Rapley is a millennial money expert who is dedicated to breaking the typical millennial paycheck-to-paycheck cycle. She is also a co-founder of a FinTech app (FOAM), and provides workshops for clients throughout the U.S. Sign up for her fabulous newsletter!
4. Patrice Washington, Chase Purpose, Not Money
Patrice Washington is a financial expert who is redefining wealth. She helps women to live their life's purpose, find fulfillment, and earn more without chasing money. Patrice is a number one best-sellingauthor and has appeared on dozens of popular media outlets, such as the Steve Harvey Show and Dr. Oz. Subscribe to her newsletter and podcast to live in your purpose!
5. Bola Sokunbi, Clever Girl Finance
Bola Sokunbi is a certified financial education instructor, money expert, and best-sellingauthor of Clever Girl Finance. Her main goal is to help women save money, build real wealth, maintain accountability, and ditch debt. Bola offers a financial education program that provides financial guidance and empowers women. Join Bola at Clever Girl Finance!
6. Tiffany Aliche, The Budgetnista
Tiffany Aliche is an award-winning financial educator whose mission is to empower women and provide them with resources to create a better life. Her financial movement has helped over 800,000 women and eradicated $75 million in debt. She is a blogger, podcaster, and she has even helped change the legislature in New Jersey (The Budgetnista Law). Join her Live Richer Academy!
7. Marsha Barnes, The Finance Bar
Marsha Barnes is a certified financial social worker, financial educator, and financial commentator. Marsha aims to build your financial confidence. She believes in financial education for all and she even has a financial literacy bus! Join her Members Club!
8. Dominique Broadway, Finances Demystified
Dominique Broadway is an award-winning financial planner, personal finance coach, speaker, finance expert, entrepreneur, and the founder of Finances De·mys·ti·fied & The Social Money Tour. She has a passion for helping young professionals, entrepreneurs, and people of all ages achieve their dreams. Join her Bootcamp!
9. Kendra James, The Finance Femme
Kendra James is a virtual CFO and business manager. Kendra specializes in building a structure and financial strategies for businesswomen that are ready to take their business to the next level. She offers a podcast, consultations, coaching for accounting professionals, and a virtual CFO service. Sign up for her services!
10. Melissa Boutin, Your Money Worth
Melissa Boutin is both a certified financial education instructor (CFEI) and a money coach. She specializes in helping the Caribbean and American millennials rid themselves of debt, so they can live the life of their dreams! Join her Money Massive Crew for financial hacks, money tips, scholarship alerts, and more!
11. Carrie Pink, Motherly
Carrie Pink is a personal finance blogger who teaches her audience how to look fly and raise children while on a budget. She is a podcaster and an author of the book, This Is Motherhood. Subscribe for inspiration and mother empowerment!
12. Dasha Kennedy, The Broke Black Girl
Dasha Kennedy is a millennial financial coach who is helping women of color get ahead. She is the founder of the Broke Black Girl Facebook group, filled with over 60,000 women. She consults with clients about money management, women's entrepreneurship, and empowerment. Dasha aims to improve Black financial literacy within the community. Keep up with Dasha here!
Featured image by Shutterstock.
Originally published on January 24, 2020
- Best Skincare Experts On TikTok - xoNecole: Women's Interest, Love, Wellness, Beauty ›
- Top Personal Finance Websites Bloggers 2021 - xoNecole: Women's Interest, Love, Wellness, Beauty ›
- Black Female Millionaires: Casey Cooper - xoNecole: Women's Interest, Love, Wellness, Beauty ›
- Best Money Management Apps 2021 - xoNecole: Women's Interest, Love, Wellness, Beauty ›
- Black Celebrity Investors In The World - xoNecole: Women's Interest, Love, Wellness, Beauty ›
- Tiffany Haddish: The Best Financial Advice - xoNecole: Women's Interest, Love, Wellness, Beauty ›
- 11 Black Female Entrepreneurs To Follow - xoNecole: Women's Interest, Love, Wellness, Beauty ›
RELATED
Skylar sees things differently. At the time, she was shooting content on her iPhone. Temi came into the picture with a new perspective, an understanding of tech, and, eventually, a camera. “He doesn't give himself enough credit,” Skylar says. “He wasn't just my tripod. He wasn't just standing behind the camera and going ‘click.’ He was giving advice. He was giving me insight to how I could look at things from a different perspective. And I was like, 'Oh, he’s an artist.' I think it was maybe a heartbeat of that kind of energy of like, ‘Baby, can you take this picture?’ And it turned so quickly into, we're partners. We can work together in a way where we're advancing each other's creative thinking.”
The pair often says they’re two sides of the same coin. Skylar is an Aquarius. She attended art school, paints, and loves poetry. She’s more than happy to let the couple’s management firm and agency, Kensington Grey, handle their admin work. And, she loves to sleep in. Temi, on the other hand, wakes up early. He’s a Virgo. He loves a to-do list and regularly checks in on the couple’s brand partnerships spreadsheet to make sure everything is on track.
Because his storytelling was steeped in his love of technology, he didn’t always think of himself as a creative person. “Where I [am] the dreamer who wants to pluck things out of the sky and spend all day with my head in the clouds, Temi [is] so good at grounding me and helping me figure out how to make things make sense on paper. We just work together in such a complimentary way,” Skylar says.
It’s been more than six years since Brooklyn-based couple Temi and Skylar started dating, and nearly four since they cemented their working relationship. On TikTok and Instagram, the couple’s travel, fashion, and home content regularly rack up hundreds of thousands of views. They’ve worked with brands such as Coach, Aesop, Away, and Liquid IV, bringing their vibrant perspectives to every campaign they execute. Still, nearly two years since both Temi and Skylar committed to full-time content creation and creative directing, the couple says their romantic connection remains their priority.
“We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting,” Skylar says.
Working from home can make it hard to separate work from personal life for any entrepreneur. It can be even more challenging when your business partner is also your lover. Temi and Skylar had already used couples therapy as a tool to help them effectively communicate with one another. When they ran into challenges while working together, their therapist helped them set physical boundaries to help combat the issues.
"We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting."
“It actually took us doing very specific physical things to create boundaries between work and play in our relationship,” Skylar says. “So, for instance, we will only have conversations about work when we're out of bed or we're at the table or in the office. Initially, when we started, we had to light a candle to say that, 'Okay, this is a space where we're connecting, we’re not talking about work.' We needed really hard boundaries at the top. And then it became a little bit more organic.”
The boundaries have been crucial to implement, especially because the couple began working together so naturally. When the pair first met, Skylar was NY-based a social strategist for BuzzFeed and was using content creation to drive business to her lingerie company. She was shooting her own content. Temi was working for Microsoft in D.C. He’d recently traded in his DJing equipment for a camera. “I've always loved taking pictures,” he says. “Even when I was a kid, my African mother would wake me up at 3:00 a.m. [during a] party, and be like, 'Come take the family picture.'”
Growing up, Temi says he watched his parents support each other and be the true definition of partners. He knew he wanted the same for his own relationship. But, the couple also wanted to make sure they were being financially responsible. The pair didn’t quit their traditional jobs until they’d saved up two years' worth of their cost of living. And, Temi received his Master of Business Administration from New York University with the knowledge that it could either help him advance in his corporate career or be applicable to his business with Skylar.
Temi and SkylarCj Hart @hartbreakToday, they say their working relationship is more of a “quiet dance.” They still implement some of the boundaries they learned in therapy, but they also lean into their natural strengths and deep love for one another. When we speak, Temi has planned a date for the couple to see Princess Mononoke in 4K IMAX and added it to their Notion so they can factor it into their busy schedules. “I fully plan to date for the rest of my life,” he says.
Skylar says the couple doesn’t just wait for date nights to check in with one another, though. This often happens in the mornings, after Temi has made her peppermint tea and poured himself a cup of coffee. When they ask each other how they slept, she says, it’s not just a “nicety.” It’s a genuine question meant to foster connection.
“A lot of it happens during the day in the midst of work. We'll stop and we'll hug. Or we’ll slow dance in the kitchen,” she says. “Sometimes it's hard to set a whole date night when you have 7,000 things going on. So, we must grasp these moments and check in when we can. And I think it's become so organic to us that I actually didn't even realize how often we do it. But all day long, we're like, 'Are you good? I felt like your energy shifted,' because we're best friends, we just know. We just feel it happen.”
What’s better than being in love? Building wealth while doing it. Watch Making Cents here for real stories of couples who make money moves together.
Featured image by Cj Hart @hartbreak