hi lil bees! I GAVE MY FIRST TALK LAST WEEK!

I was told that April is dedicated to both National Stress Awareness Month. It was perfect timing to give a talk about the psychology of money.

I was at Penn with the Common Cents club, a non-profit club dedicated to financial literacy. Crazy to think the Common Cents club actually formed a year before I graduated…

So grateful I got the opportunity to be in the flesh with students, that too at my alma mater 🙂 

rundown of the event

We began with an activity. I went old school and had everyone write down an emotion they think of when they hear the word money (not me tweaking an hour before the event and buying pens because I didn’t know if students use pens at school).

Here were some of the responses 🥺

This set the stage that we were not going to talk about investing advice. Or basic financial literacy. But rather people’s intimate relationships with money.

Before I dove into what I wanted to cover, I did a little background on why I was there.

I wasn’t there to list credentials or but rather let them know that I was in their seats just 5 years ago.

How I’d gotten into my dream school at Penn. And how excited I was because the two things I valued the most were intellectual stimulation and financial independence. 

How I’ve had experienced a full range of emotions when it came to money. But the one thing that held true to me was the value of money. And that as a woman, a brown woman, I knew it was a path to independence and autonomy, a path that wasn’t available to a lot of women before me. 

Of course, before it got too serious, I had to include the pic below:

Because talking about money doesn’t always have to be serious, it can be amusing. Funny. Light. Seriously, I had like ten people come up to me when I held up this sign to tell me about how their Vital Farms cage-free, hen-free, whatever-free eggs cost them $20…

I just wanted folks to recognize that money is personal and far from being “just numbers.” I acknowledged that money is top of mind for a lot of college students, due to the rising costs of living, a struggle bus of a job market, and eggs being $10.

And to make sure I gained their trust, I told them about this Atlantic article.

We did a quick deep dive into the history of money, by yours truly, David Graeber. To explain money’s deep entanglement with social obligation.

I showed them this graph about the increase in research being done in the “psychology of money” space.

Now, after all of this context, I had them take the “money vibe check test.” If money is so personal, what was their vibe?

We got to do live reflections of their personalities and their feedback, and what they learned about themselves.

some reflections

• Money meets emotions is a provocative title for a talk, which is intentional. Still sitting with this and thinking about keeping the name to bring in people’s attention or change the language to widen the funnel of people.

• Folks enjoyed taking the money test. Insights are helpful and fun, but what can I do with this?

  • There is a playbook to grow for each vibe, but a strong call to action is extremely important. Some folks voiced interest in step-by-step instructions to open banking and investing accounts.

  • I think this would’ve been a really good opportunity for breakout discussions where folks discuss their money personalities. Since the money test is not a crystal ball, but rather an instigator for discussion and critical thinking.

  • Both of the insights above make me think that both an educational and social aspect would be useful for Gen-Z to understand money 👀 

• It was clear the room felt it when I talked about how scary and illogical money can feel – heads were nodding everywhere. Plus, the fact that I've heard at least 20 personal "money meets emotions" stories in the last couple of weeks was very reassuring.

next steps

• More in-person events! Getting in front of folks and talking about this is where it is. Social media is great, but there is an energy that’s exchanged by being in the same room as someone and sharing your stories. In the future, I’d love to do more talks that are workshop-oriented. Aka I do the least talking. I want open conversations to flow so young folks can feel like they have a safe space to ask money questions. If you have ideas or suggestions of communities, please send them over to me!

• I’m actively developing the call to action, a platform where folks can use to better understand their relationship with money after taking the money vibe test and anonymously post about money. Think a reddit for personal finance + some personalized learning. If you are interested in helping me code it out, send me an email at [email protected].

With 💛 & until the next 🐝,

Sneha