Younger generations want digestible knowledge from niche content creators they trust. Notably, a growing number of Gen Z and millennials are looking to educate themselves in finance and find non-traditional ways to achieve financial success.
Women at all levels of their financial journey are using TikTok to share tips and information with each other. Personal finance is no longer a “boys club” and these creators are ensuring that Gen Z and millennial women have free and accessible resources to make safe decisions for themselves. The lack of resources available to women is what fuels their drive to raise awareness about this issue using a platform with no access controls.
When it comes to the financial industry in general, women are underrepresented in leadership positions and men are more likely to rise to leadership positions, according to Investopedia. This lack of representation of women in leadership leaves fewer opportunities for mentorship and pathways to establish the same success rates as men, which ultimately affects how basic financial knowledge is passed on to women from generation to generation. generation.
Lissa Prudencio, the 36-year-old founder of Wealth for Women of Color, is one of the creators tackling this issue by focusing specifically on educating women from underrepresented backgrounds.
“I was in graduate school at the University of Southern California,” Prudencio told Passionfruit. “We went around the class saying what we wanted to do, and there was a guy sitting next to me, a white guy, who was like, ‘I’m going to get into hedge funds.’ And like, I’m here right next to him scratching my head like what the fuck is this a hedge fund?
Since leaving USC, Prudencio has built a successful career, first working in YouTube’s business operations and then building a brand to encourage women of color to take control of their finances. Originally posting content under the name “Shit They Don’t Teach You in School”, Prudencio’s ambitions to impart financial knowledge led her to post informative content on TikTok under the moniker “Wealth for Women of Color”.
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She is currently taking courses to become a Certified Financial Planner, which would give her the formal expertise to help others in areas such as financial planning, retirement, insurance and taxes. She says the certification would boost her ability to create content to educate women of color, in addition to reading anything she can get her hands on. Acquiring this knowledge enables him to make his own financial decisions, which is ultimately his mission for others. TikTok makes it easier for women to find her and ask questions about 401K plans, health savings accounts, and how to deal with financial stress. As for connecting with followers, she expressed surprise at how engaged her audience really was.
“Most of my videos are between two and three minutes long, and I’m quite surprised how many people watch them,” Prudencio said. “I have a pretty good retention rate on a lot of videos, so at least 10% of people are watching the full three minute video, which is kind of crazy for Tiktok… But yeah, I’m still learning a flat -train me too, but it’s really interesting.
Prudencio plans to explore other avenues alongside TikTok, including developing an online financial course to roll out this fall titled “Financial Fundamentals for Women of Color” that dives deeper into financial planning.
TikTok’s financial space is also enabling other women to excel in their craft, such as financial activist Taylor Price, who goes by the name “Pricelesstay”. Her content is hard to miss as she has amassed over a million followers since 2019. The 22-year-old self-described “first financial activist on TikTok” resonates with many Gen Z women, especially after having developed the series “Fin/Esse: The Playbook”, which teaches the basics of finance.
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Like many other women, Price has shaped herself over the years.
“Just like my generation, I saw the ‘get-rich-quick’ schemes on social media and I was immediately hooked,” Price told Passionfruit via email. “Without much education or experience in personal finance (and you’d be surprised how little personal finance is covered as a finance major), I read everything I could find on finance personal and investment…”
Price said she was born with a passion for helping people. Her mission tackles inclusivity because she wants to create a space in personal finance that includes those who are not just white and cisgender. She said she was excited to be part of a changing world creating content in an industry historically male-dominated. She and her team are “finnovating” (a term coined by Price), a service that will focus on financial security and feedback from its audience.
Other rising creators like Mary Esposito of MoneyWithMary and Grace Lemire are two other rising content creators who further show that women can be successful in finance without formal industry experience.
Esposito, a 19-year-old creator, found a community creating financial literacy content for young women, especially teenage girls, who sought her advice on investing and entrepreneurship. Its content covers topics such as stocks and cryptocurrency, and its goal is to help others know what options are available when it comes to managing finances.
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“There are so many things out there, you know, that can help people manage and optimize their money, but no one likes to talk about it, or if they are, it’s not implemented. in the American education system,” Esposito told Passionfruit. “So not enough people realize that.”
After initially launching TikTok to advertise her crochet business, Esposito turned to financial literacy content that resonated with an audience of 45,000 followers. She finds empowerment in knowing that there are other women with a similar mindset and wants shared resources to be accessible.
“I wanted to help these people because I was struggling with resources myself, because there really aren’t any free and accessible educational resources online for Gen Z, and if there are, they are mostly suitable for men and boys,” she said. “Most people talking about financial literacy are men, so they automatically appeal more to the male population.”
Like Esposito, Lemire, 23, wants to help others and is focused on using her non-traditional career experience to bolster her education in finance. As a full-time freelancer, Lemire now writes and creates financial content after deciding the law wasn’t for her. She is constantly on the lookout for her financial content writing jobs, which often helps inform her content on TikTok. She believes that making content accessible will help bridge the gender gap as well as social and economic barriers. Right now, she has a budget spreadsheet in the works that she plans to share with her followers in the near future.
@grace_lemire the last one is a big regret!! I couldn’t have had that much extra money if I had done it sooner! 😅 #twentysomethings #20somethingsoftiktok #personalfinancetok #moneymanagementtips #personalfinanceforwomen #personalfinancetips ♬ original sound – personal finance | travel
Krystal Todd is a 30-year-old black designer and certified public accountant, which means she is licensed to provide accounting services and financial advice. She grew up with insight into the financial industry and eventually started uploading videos to YouTube before joining TikTok.
“I would say in the first month [of being on TikTok], I think I was at 20,000 subscribers or something. So that’s obviously very motivating,” Todd told Passionfruit. “So it was a lot easier as I mentioned so I was pretty spoiled and I love doing it because it’s more personal. I could literally be on the go in my car.
Todd said many women come to her with trust issues around finances or careers. She said one problem is that women, especially those of color, tend to reject themselves compared to their male counterparts.
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“So I think we can actually learn from our male counterparts, from our white counterparts, because instead of just seeing them as the best dogs and saying and dismissing ourselves as inferior to, that’s what they’re doing. ?” she says. “And just let me copy it.”
TikTok is here to stay for the foreseeable future, and female creators are increasingly empowered to share their knowledge and experience with money, even if they don’t come from traditional financial backgrounds. The short format allows viewers to take snapshots of information and shoot what they need, and it creates an intimate space to connect with other women looking for similar goals. No personal financial matters are off limits when it comes to the content produced by these women – all are welcome, whether you’re just starting to plan your finances or need a little extra advice here and there.