Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bernadette Joy. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Bernadette, thanks for joining us today. Do you have any thoughts about how to create a more inclusive workplace?
Ten years ago, I was the token Asian girl my employers would dump the DEI work on for free labor.
NOPE! Not doing that again.
This week, I was the PAID keynote speaker for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion conference in front of the biggest employers in North Carolina.
I’ve gone from burned out corporate professional to six-figure business owner and a debt free millionaire.
I only started getting paid (a lot) once I stopped accepting “opportunities for exposure.”
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
ABOUT
Bernadette Joy is a nationally recognized money expert featured on Good Morning America, NBC News, Time and USA Today for her unique ability to inspire her audience to explore the intersection between net worth and self-worth.
While she has two degrees in business and a degree in psychology, her credibility comes from truly leading by example. As first generation Filipino Americans, she and her husband AJ paid off a whopping $300,000 of debt in three years AND grew their first $1 million of net worth in their thirties. Not one dime was inherited, while transitioning from a decade as a corporate HR professional to a six-figure business owner.
She founded the Crush Your Money Goals® Academy for those overlooked and underestimated by traditional financial services. She will teach you everything you wish you knew about money, and the confidence to manage yours well.
Once you hear her speak, you’ll grow confidence to make financial independence a reality, and a clear blueprint to help you get there.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
Happy Money by Ken Honda
A fast read that helped me de-program my negative thoughts and feelings towards money.
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferris
I’m not quite at 4 hour work weeks, but I’m on my way! This was the first self-development book I ever read, and it made me realize I didn’t have to keep trading time for dollars.
Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller
A must have for anyone building a business brand. It’s how I got clear on Crush Your Money Goals by leaning into my ability to tell stories.
The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker
This book taught me how to be a great host, saving me lots of time, energy and money in useless meetings and social events.
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo
Read it with your money goals in mind and it will have new meaning. Spark joy in your space and your finances!
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
For too long, I resented that my parents did not teach me about money I typically start my money classes by asking students, “What’s holding you back from crushing your money goals?”
“Nobody taught me” is the most popular answer.
For the first decade of my adulthood, I was guilty of that same response. There was no financial literacy education in my household growing up. My parents immigrated from the Phillipines to the U.S. with the American dream in mind. But as my mother would remind me, I was raised in a different culture than she was, and those cultural differences meant that she wasn’t in a position to teach me how money works in America.
But for all the things that my parents didn’t teach me, there were things they did that I never gave them credit for. My father paid his younger brother’s college tuition, who subsequently paid for the next sibling, until all nine graduated from college. He worked his way up from being an accountant to an executive. My mother became a bookkeeper at a law firm. My mother-in-law recently retired from over 30 years as a traveling physical therapist, and my father-in-law graduated from nursing school in the U.S. after a career in accounting.
All this only a few decades after there were signs in the U.S. that literally said, “No Filipinos Allowed.”
My father passed away this time last year, and only in these last few months did I realize that resenting my parents for their lack of financial literacy is not something I can continue to carry as an excuse. Both my parents and my husband’s parents made incredible money moves that I seriously doubt I would be able to make in the same situation: leaving rural areas of a developing nation to build careers, homes, and families in a foreign country.
It only occurred to me now that they couldn’t teach us financial literacy because they were busy just trying to make ends meet. They were doing the best they could with what they knew.
Contact Info:
- Website: crushyourmoneygoals.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/bernadebtjoy
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/bernadebtjoy
- Twitter: twitter.com/bernadebtjoy
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKJFaHM2KDcaT_UpUYE7hKQ
Image Credits
Jen Yuson