S6E2: Embracing Financial Feminism w/ Jacki Zehner

We are exploring economic inclusion this season, and today we are
focusing on the intersections of gender inequality and
finances. 





Here to talk a little bit more about this is Jacki Zehner. Jacki
refers to herself as an enthusiastic and dedicated financial
feminist. In 1996, she became the youngest woman and first female
trader to be made partner of Goldman Sachs. 





Today, she works to provide women with the tools to grow social
capital and achieve financial freedom through her companies
ShePlace and SheMoney. 





She chats with host Frances Johnson in this episode all about the
false narratives many women have around money, building community
through talking about money, starting active money management
earlier in our careers, and what stigmas we might have attached
to money that don’t belong there.





Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School
of Business and is produced by University FM.



Episode Quotes:




Time is the biggest variable when it comes to
money





[26:44] My biggest thing to remember, like a big money tip, is to
know that time matters. Time is the biggest variable when it
comes to money and having a healthy financial future. So the
earlier we educate our kids, the earlier we take responsibility
for our money. The compounding effect of that is extraordinary,
and one of the things that hurts my heart the most is to be in
conversation with people that are my age or older, saying,
"Shoot, why didn't someone tell me to talk, think about this, do
it, take care of it earlier?" It's like our health—the same
thing. Don't wait for a crisis to catalyze your curiosity or
necessity.





How do women experience inequality financially?





[05:16] The wage gap is one of the biggest ways that women
experience inequality. Of course, we have the investing gap,
which is women, in general, invest later, invest less. So what
that means is in the context of the investing experience or those
participating in wealth creation through investment, and we can
talk about the reasons for that, there's also a big gap.
There's also the wealth gap and, equally, the retirement gap. And
you can imagine if you make less because they all build and
interconnect with each other. If you make less and invest less,
and again, these are huge averages, and talking about sort of
these bigger macro things, not how that might manifest at an
individual level, but that means, and women live longer, so what
that means is you have less money in your later years, which
means a different, perhaps, standard of living, on average, and
less money to take care of your future self. And there are other
gaps, too, as it relates to money, which is, again, one of the
reasons I started SheMoney: is confidence gap.





Talking about money is not bragging about money





[17:27] Talking about money is not bragging about money. Talking
about money is not making money; it is something bigger than it
is, which is a resource, a medium of exchange, and a store of
value…[17:51] And we tell a story about money too, that is
especially tied up with status and achievement—that, if you were
smart, you'd have a lot of money. If you were this and made good
life choices, you'd have a lot of money. And that's just not
true. There's a lot of luck involved.





On normalizing money talks





[18:31] I think we all have these beliefs and behaviors that came
from somewhere, and to be able to debunk those myths and
normalize talking about money in the context of recognizing its
value around our own well-being is, I hope, going to take away
from those fears that we all have that we're going to be judged
either for not having enough or having too much.



Show Links:

Brene Brown Money talk (Jacki references posting it in the
show) 

New York Times Article - Women in India (Frances references
in show)

SheMoney | LinkedIn

Women Who Succeed

SheMoney Summit Summer 2024

Ray Arata

Guest Links: 

Jacki Zehner

Jacki Zehner | LinkedIn

Jacki Zehner (@JackiZehner) / X

Jacquelyn Zehner (@jackizehner) • Instagram photos and videos

SheMoney

ShePlace

Women Moving Millions