In a world where women have historically been underrepresented in leadership positions, it’s crucial we have access to resources and advice that can help us succeed and turn the current status quo on its head. One area where this is particularly potent is all things finances. That’s why we’ve gathered insights from 24 women leaders from various industries and backgrounds to learn about the tried and tested pieces of money advice that have made all the difference in their lives.
From tips on knowing your numbers inside and out and making smart investments to managing debt and building wealth, these women’s invaluable and hard-earned insights have the power to make all the difference on your journey. Whether you’re just starting out in your career or are a seasoned business owner, navigating the sometimes complex world of finances will be so much smoother and more abundant with these gems in your pocket.
Shang Saavedra
Founder of Save My Cents, a platform that teaches Americans the connection between mental health and financial wealth.
My advice: When I was in my mid-20s, I was trying to drastically reduce my spending so I could save more money and reach financial freedom. I was struggling despite being very analytical. I realized that when my mental health suffered, so did my ability to save money and take risks in my career. By focusing on bettering my mental health and being grateful, I was able to become more frugal and empowered in my decision-making. I became work optional as a result of my savings at age 31. I have been teaching thousands of Americans to understand how their mindset and money are connected ever since.
Yewande Faloyin
Founder and CEO of OTITỌ Executive Leadership Coaching, helping leaders manage their energy for a direct business impact.
My advice: Prioritize smart investments in strategic business development that feel slightly uncomfortable—these are the things that will move the needle forward in your business. I invest in the things that accelerate me forward, take my time to find the right fit without overthinking, and stop cash bleeds by canceling and pausing subscriptions that aren’t having an impact today. The result is a stable, solid business, growing year-on-year, with further room to expand. I don’t let finances hold me back from investing but do so smartly to maximize what I have now.
Vivian Chen
Founder and CEO of Heyo, a video-based professional storytelling platform, like TikTok for LinkedIn.
My advice: Invest in yourself and your business. I remember being hesitant to buy this slightly expensive software, even though I knew it was critical to our success. But taking that leap of faith made me take my business more seriously and paid off in spades. It’s all about believing in yourself—if you don’t, why would anyone else?
Jessica Meunier
Founder of Empowered Personal Finance, changing the game of financial coaching by providing a different approach to financial wellness.
My advice: Treat your relationship with money like one with a lifelong friend. Build your interactions with your financial wellness into your life on a day-to-day basis, not just when there is an emergency. I live this out by having a money date with myself every Friday. I review the state of my finances and reframe any negative feelings I had about money that week.
Kt McBratney
Co-Founder of OwnTrail, the social platform to visualize your path through life, then make your vision a reality.
My advice: Changing my approach to financial matters from one of permission to one of power has been a game changer. Now when I think about fundraising or even budget allocation, it’s in terms of offering people an opportunity to be a part of our success—not asking for funds. When you operate from a place of knowing your value as a business, team, or employee, you can rebalance the power dynamic in money conversations and decisions more in your favor.
Lucy Bedewi
Founder of My Write Hand Woman, a copywriting business that helps women-owned businesses stand out with personality-packed messaging.
My advice: It’s really easy to label something as expensive and try to find a cheaper solution. That’s why I started looking at costs based on their potential. For example, a $150 shirt that I’m going to wear 50 times is far more worth it than a $30 shirt I’ll wear once, even though $150 looks much more expensive at the point of transaction.
Meghan Hardy
Founder of Happening Ideas, helping build and grow female-focused direct-to-consumer brands through digital marketing and e-commerce strategy.
My advice: One of the best pieces of business advice I’ve received is to think of myself as a business owner rather than just a freelancer. This mindset shift helped me raise my rates, feel more confident in negotiating contracts, get comfortable pushing back on late payments, and prioritize working on my business and not just in my business.
Vanessa Duran
Principal at DCC Accounting, offering accounting and finance support services to small businesses from launch to scale.
My advice: A finance professor once told me that budgets were an underrated tool and that I should apply it to everything—planning a trip, a party, etc. I thought at the time what many young people think: that having a budget is similar to going on a diet. Fast forward 20 years and I am teaching budgeting practices to my small business clients as the number one finance tool for scaling. Budgets create a roadmap on how the business resources can be used in generating growth.
Betty Ban
Co-Founder and CEO of Evermeal Labs, a social meal-planning app that simplifies meal planning with personalized recipe recommendations, shoppable recipes, and grocery delivery.
My advice: Frugality is a virtue, especially when starting a company that can be risky and capital-intensive. Even after raising a lot of money, it’s easy to forget to stay mindful of being frugal, which is crucial for many venture-backed startups. I’m grateful to maintain a lean and humble mindset. That doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate or treat our team well. There are many inexpensive experiences that can still build a strong team culture.
Francesca Delisle
CEO of MySyde, facilitating connections between local businesses and their communities, fostering mutually beneficial relationships that help both parties thrive.
My advice: Like many others, I have faced financial challenges and found a strategy to overcome them. My approach has been to snowball my payments by prioritizing the smallest amount first, allowing me to achieve a small win. By then adding that payment amount to the next smallest payment and continuing to build on it, I find that this method simplifies my financial management.
Thamina Stoll
Founder of Give Her Dollars, an initiative and call-to-action to help women build wealth for themselves and other women.
My advice: When I started my first full-time job in the corporate world at age 24, I maybe had $2,000 and didn’t know how to invest in the stock market or save for retirement. I was embarrassed because I saw many male peers around me who had already been building their portfolios for years. I made the conscious decision to start educating myself on all things investing. Within two years, I was able to generate a net worth of $100,000 on a moderate five-figure salary. By setting up automatic deductions that would go straight into investments, I trained myself to live off significantly less money than I had available to ensure I would pay future me first.
Renia Carsillo
Chief Strategist at Realign Consulting, a business strategy firm that partners with founders and leadership teams to develop sustainable, people-driven systems.
My advice: My background in banking taught me the traditional accounting model of sales: expenses equals profits. But the first goal of most small and micro businesses is to provide enough for the founder to live off of. MBA-program thinking assumes the founder primarily wants to scale the company and advises investing in the business first. Mike Michalowicz’s advice in his book, Profit First, transformed my family’s financial stability and my business’s staying power. With this advice, I began paying myself first, flipping to a sales minus profit equals expenses formula, which made staying in business more sustainable. Once I knew my family was covered, I was able to build from a more solid foundation and our growth took off.
Amy Schultz
Co-Founder of Bolder Money, a financial coaching platform providing personalized financial guidance to those who have been left out of standard financial advice.
My advice: Entrepreneurs should have six to twelve months of personal expenses saved as a runway before diving into their business full-time. Oftentimes we think about what the business needs to grow or become profitable, and we forget what we will need in order to be able to put all of our time and energy toward that growth. As a result of this advice, I was able to spend many months giving my business my full attention before I was able to take a salary—without the pressure of running out of funds clouding my judgment or sucking up my energy. Business and money are emotional. Being prepared can help you make the best choices, personally and professionally.
Marnie Rabinovitch
CEO of Thigh Society, a size-inclusive underwear brand making soft, breathable, second-skin base layer shorties that protect from chafe and sweat under skirts, dresses, and pants.
My advice: Hire a fractional CFO. It can be a big expense, especially for a small business, but don’t be shortsighted in your approach. This person is going to be a key member of your team and cash is king, especially when you’re a startup. Finance can be complicated and, as a founder, I can’t be everywhere and do everything. Invest in someone who can help you with your finances—it’ll be a decision you won’t regret.
Luisa Alberto
Founder and CEO of People First Finance, a woman-owned and operated financial services agency supporting women agency owners and service providers.
My advice: Make decisions and investments that align with the business you want. In doing just that, I have hired and trained team members who were ready to hit the ground running before new clients came on board. I have prioritized investments in operations and infrastructure to support scalable growth. I have implemented a four-day work week, knowing that I want team members with a healthy work/life balance, who will want to stay with us as the company grows.
Carrie Melissa Jones
CEO of The CMJ Group, a consulting and training company that helps organizations build meaningful, impactful, and engaged communities.
My advice: One of my mentors once advised me that, “Money is movement,” and that has become my philosophy ever since. Rather than hoarding and clinging to money, it should be viewed as a tool that can help us progress in both our personal and professional lives as well as support our larger communities. When used judiciously, money multiplies.
Natalie Levy
Founder of She’s Independent Investments, a women-first angel investment group with a mission of getting more women on the cap table, in the boardroom, and in positions of power.
My advice: Know your worth. When you step into comp packages or a career that pays, you step into independence, more access, and resources. I’ve negotiated year-over-year compensation increases of more than 40 percent because I knew what I was worth and what I needed to stay at a company. They said it was extreme but they got it done.
Christina Langdon
Founder of Christina Langdon High Performance Coaching & Consulting, helping CEOs and founders scale their businesses by scaling their minds.
My advice: Don’t be afraid of your numbers. Your numbers are the currency for a stronger mindset. I’ve worked with many leaders who are afraid to understand their P&L, profitability, and their labor costs. Because of it, they don’t know when to hire, if their company’s pricing is right, or if it is leaking profit. When you learn your numbers and what they mean, you can’t unlearn them.
Monica M Rivera
Business Clarity Coach at YOU WANNA DO WHAT?!, helping multi-passionate women build a personal brand around the things they love to do.
My advice: Take the time to understand your relationship with money. This understanding will guide your choices, anxieties, and both personal and career achievements. Begin by reflecting on your earliest memory of money. Was it a positive or negative experience? How was money discussed in your household? When I noticed how my money story influenced my decision-making in both my personal and professional life, it made me a more self-assured leader and entrepreneur.
Amanda Aldinger
CEO of Antonym, a white glove brand voice strategy, and copywriting studio that conspires with beauty, lifestyle, and food brands.
My advice: The most impactful business advice I ever received as an entrepreneur was from a mentor when I first built Antonym. She recounted how she had recently turned down a significant opportunity with a profound budget because she could feel the expectations that came with a budget that large. They would feel like they owned her; that she was at their beck and call. She reinforced that not all money is equal. Since then, I’ve turned down many opportunities where the money was there, but the project would have compromised my desires and vision for Antonym.
Meredith Noble
Co-Founder and CEO of Learn Grant Writing, helping those looking for more flexibility build a meaningful career in grant writing.
My advice: If you have a block on charging more, one tool that helped me was calculating what we call the Cost to Acquire and Serve a Customer (CASC). We calculate it as [marketing expenses + sales expenses / # of new customers that week]. Sales expenses include salaries. Tracking CASC weekly will help you recognize when you need to increase prices. It also eliminates many of the scary emotions around doing so because the hard costs don’t lie!
Marissa Joy Pick
Founder of Marissa Pick Consulting LLC, providing strategic consulting focused on digital transformation, content marketing, social media strategy, personal branding, and more.
My advice: Start investing for retirement as early as possible. I’ve always contributed to a 401(k) if my employer offered it and taken advantage of matches if possible. They really can add up and I encourage you to contribute. If you’re unsure of how to get started with finances, reach out and seek the support of someone to help. There’s no shame in asking for advice from a specialist and someone who can help you achieve your long-term financial goals.
Katharine Hirst
CEO of IdeaShift LLC, offering transformational coaching for female and BIPOC entrepreneurs looking to build companies that create exponential change.
My advice: A great money strategy has to fit with your personality and interests. While I understand how to make money work for me, actually doing the work is not my idea of fun. So I created a set-it-and-forget-it savings and investment strategy: Get paid into your savings account and pay yourself less than that into your checking account. Set up a robo-advisor, like Wealthfront, to invest in the market every month.
Morgaine Trine
Owner of Honestly Bookkeeping, a boutique bookkeeping firm helping owners with a portfolio of businesses to stabilize, strengthen, and create sustaining financial systems.
My advice: When I first started, I took all the courses to learn more about running an online business. However, I frequently got sucked into the “for a limited time” sorts of sales pitches that made me want to sag a deal. In order to combat this, I started telling myself, “When it’s the right time, I’ll have the funds and the discount won’t matter.” This shift has changed everything for the better both in business and personal finances. I no longer run toward a sale or deal and it’s helped move me into an expansive mindset around money instead of a restrictive one.
All individuals featured in this article are members of Dreamers & Doers, an award-winning community that amplifies extraordinary women entrepreneurs and leaders by securing PR, forging authentic connections, and curating high-impact resources. Learn more about Dreamers & Doers and get involved here.