Leading with Power & Purpose

118. Closing The Wealth Gap: Strategies for Financial Empowerment

• Sabine Gedeon • Season 5 • Episode 118

Share episode

Want to know the strategies successful people use to build wealth and achieve financial freedom? Whether you're a first-generation wealth builder or looking to optimize your financial strategies, financial success begins with examining your money traumas and adopting a growth mindset.

In this episode of the Power, Purpose, & Prosperity Podcast, Sabine speaks with Ray’Chel Wilson about her incredible journey from a modest upbringing to becoming a financial education expert. Ray’Chel is an award-winning educator, published author, and international speaker. She is the CEO of Raise the Bar Investments and is on a mission to close the gender and racial wealth gaps.

Listen in to learn the importance of diversifying your income in different wealth-building opportunities for financial stability and flexibility. You will also learn how to become financially educated and empowered as a woman looking to overcome systemic barriers to sustainable wealth.

Key Takeaways:

  • The role of mindset in effective financial planning and long-term wealth creation. 
  • The impact of your environment and community support in accelerating your financial success.
  • Leveraging cryptocurrency as an investment tool and establishing multiple income streams for financial stability.
  • How storytelling and social capital can boost your business's financial success.

What You Will Learn in This Episode: 

  • [04:11] The importance of mindset in financial education, plus why Ray’Chel wrote her book Holistic Money Mindset.
  • [05:24] The concept of changing the trajectory of your last name through financial education and legacy building.
  • [07:05] Ray’Chel’s early career achievements, journey to investing, and the importance of aligning investments with personal values.
  • [15:26] She explains her strategic approach to investing in cryptocurrency and achieving financial goals. 
  • [18:34] The importance of empowerment to overcome challenges women face in creating and sticking to financial plans.
  • [20:04] The systemic and individual barriers to women's financial empowerment and the role of education in overcoming these challenges. 
  • [22:24] Practical strategies for managing a full-time job while pursuing additional wealth-building opportunities.
  • [27:34] The importance of planning for your future self and business and the significance of storytelling and social capital in growing a business. 
  • [29:43] Ray’Chel discusses her book series, which offers valuable financial education tailored to different levels of financial literacy.

Connect with Ray’Chel Wilson:

Book Recommendations:

  • Who Not How by Dan Sullivan
  • Atomic Habits by James Clear
  • The Four Agreements by Don Mi

*************
HOST INFO:

Sabine Gedeon is a dynamic force in the world of leadership and personal development. As the Founder of Transformed Leadership Institute and CEO of Gedeon Enterprises, Sabine leverages nearly 20 years of experience to guide clients in both startups and Fortune 500 companies. Her unique approach combines human-centered principles with tech-enabled solutions, delivering customized programs for leaders at all levels to tackle crucial leadership and talent development challenges.

*************
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT:

Download Free Resources - https://sabinegedeon/gifts
Get Coaching Support: https://meetwithsabine.as.me/Discovery

Are you tired of playing small and ready to step confidently into your greatness and share your unique brilliance with the world? Well, you're in the right place. I'm your host, Sabine Gideon, and I've dedicated nearly two decades empowering individuals and leaders as they confidently navigate the twists and turns of life and career transitions. If you're seeking direction, connection, or just a little push to play bigger, consider this podcast, your VIP path to a community that genuinely understands your journey. Join me every week for candid conversations and practical guidance designed to help you navigate the challenges of life and business, foster a growth mindset and cultivate meaningful connections. It's time to embrace your inherent power, define your unique purpose and prosper in every aspect of your life. Let's get started.

Sabine:

I'm your host, Sabine Gideon and I'm so excited to be continuing this. Power of Money Series with Ms. Raquel Wilson. So, Raquel is an award-winning educator, published author and international speaker. She's formerly a teacher and she is also a certified Financial education instructor and serves as the c e O for Raise the Bar Investments. A minority friendly personal finance education social enterprise furthering her personal mission to close the gender and racial wealth gap. With that, welcome to the show Rakel.

Ray'Chel:

Thank you so much for having me, Sabine. I'm so excited to be here. Um, and thank you for that lovely introduction. I just humbly call myself an educator to an entrepreneur. I saw real world issues in my classroom during the pandemic and wanted to create solutions. So everything that I do is really centered around community empowerment, community education, and empowering us to build wealth for our.

Sabine:

All right, so tell us a little bit about your journey, cuz you, you have had a very unique journey in a short period of time, and so I just want you to share with the world how you've been able to, you know, really navigate and create your own economy, so to speak, um, while you're also trying to teach and, and support people in doing it on

Ray'Chel:

their own. My journey starts in Ohio. Although I'm based in Oklahoma. I'm from the original O state, and my parents could not afford to invest in anything typical. They go to invest in stocks, bonds. Even the home that my parents ended up purchasing, we ended up losing it later in life. But one thing they did invest in and something that sustained me throughout all of that traumatic upbringing was my education. My parents always invested in my education, made sure I went to the best schools, even if I was the only person for miles and miles up on end in my neighborhood. To have access to that, they showed me the importance of it. So going from uh, small town in Ohio to studying at Ohio State, how our wellness is affected by things around us, including our education, wall Street, Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was an entire. What is threading through my life and education is what drives me to drive others. Even with the individuals that I work with, um, whether it be students or community members, or even folks that I mentor online and coach online, they always speak to the, uh, transformations that they've experienced due to the education. Um, so really education has always been a part of my life through trauma, through triumphs, and I continue to aim to grow in that every day.

Sabine:

Awesome. I love it. So, so tell us how you, I mean, obviously you have a, a couple of of things going on right now, but for the most part, when it comes to working with individuals on their finances, and I definitely wanna talk about the books that you've written as well, how do you support individuals who come to you with, you know, really planning out their financial future with the mindset and the understanding that the goal is to build long-term wealth and legacy?

Ray'Chel:

You said a key thing right there. It starts with the mindset. When I was in the classroom, I would often have students that wouldn't be able to be in their most optimal, um, mindset of learning because they had things going on at home. They didn't have, uh, breakfast that morning. They, you know, had family members arguing within the household. And similarly, when we think about our money mindset or our wealth journey, it all starts with how do we engage with money? When I have to go pay a bill, how does that make me feel inside? When I think about, um, how I first engage with money as a child or even my, um, role models and those that I look up to as a child, how did they engage with money and what did that teach me? Um, everything when it comes to educating about financial wellness and about our wealth journey comes back to our mindset. Um, so that's why my first book is called Holistic Money Mindset. Mental preparation for abundance. And for those that are serious about creating wealth and really changing, uh, the trajectory of their last name, uh, I always say it's important to start with educating yourself on your own money mindset, your own money traumas, um, and moving forward with that.

Sabine:

So you just said something there, uh, for those who are interested in, in changing, um, the trajectory of their last name. Oh. Talk a little more about that. Absolutely. Well,

Ray'Chel:

if you're like me, then you're a first generation wealth builder. Like I said, my parents couldn't, uh, afford to invest in anything traditional. Um, and for me, especially as an only child, as a woman, uh, the Wilson for me as Rel Wilson, uh, the Wilson last name holds a lot for me. Um, some people do like the trajectory of their last name and their family history. Some people don't. But what I think we all have the agency to do in this day and age is create the life that we desire. Which I believe is through education. So that's what I mean when I say creating change for our last names.

Sabine:

Okay. Awesome. Awesome. All right, so we, we have a lot to cover here. We can definitely talk about the. Ins and outs of personal finance. Right. And how, how important that is. Which, which we, I'm sure we'll touch into. Um, but you know, as you, as the big visionary that you are, right? Like you're looking at this from the standpoint of. What does this look like? What does the narrative of wealth look like in, you know, underrepresented communities, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now? And certainly what does that look like for, for women as a, as a younger woman who has literally. Just changed the entire trajectory of your life. What were some of the things, and, and we'll go into specifics in, in terms of details of the how to, but what were some of the things early on in your life and early on in your career that triggered this understanding for you? Or even the, you caught the glimpse that, wow, if I want to, and if I put my mind to this, like I could literally change the game for myself and for others.

Ray'Chel:

Well, uh, to even set the stage and tell a little bit more backstory within my first two years of teaching, which, which I was teaching in Oklahoma, which is one of the lowest paid states for teachers. Um, but within two years of teaching, I was able to pay off my student loans from my investing profits, right? So no student loans. I'm very thankful for that. Um, and I say that because. It wasn't able to happen overnight. And I think that we as women, we naturally have our intuition and we know that sometimes things take time. Um, but I think sometimes as women we can be perfectionists. And I would say that don't let perfection be the enemy of getting started. Um, if you're wanting to learn how to invest, if you're wanting to learn how to create change for your last name, you know, it's important to just go get started. And even when we look at the statistics, we see that about. 60%, um, specifically of black women have no assets invested. So when I saw that statistic and I knew that education as has been before, has been the key for many things for me. I knew that education was the key to learning how to invest. Um, I decided to put those two together. There's an opportunity for me to grow. There's an opportunity for me to learn. Let's put this together, see what happens. Um, and that's what resulted in not only me accomplishing that wealth goal at the age of 23, buying my home before 25, and now working on new wealth goals as well. So I would say the triggers for me were just looking at the cold hard facts. Seeing what was around us and deciding, I don't like those specifics. I don't like that reality for me. So how can I change that? How can I create change, not only for me, for my last name, by doing the work?

Sabine:

Yeah. So you said, uh, obviously the education was the vehicle. Did you like, uh, register with a financial advisor? Was it just like reading books or Google University? Like what, what, what, what vehicles or tools did you use to support you in your education?

Ray'Chel:

Great question. Early on, it was a lot of, a lot of hours, uh, searching the internet and I really found that there wasn't a lot of information that was easy to understand and easy to apply, especially written from a perspective like mine. Which is why I created my books to fill that gap in the market so people don't have to spend as many hours as I did. Um, searching for all of those resources. However, I did hit a wall. Of course, when you're just searching on the enter of web, um, it's not always reputable. And again, as I mentioned, it's not really written towards you. So then I did become a certified financial education instructor through the National Financial Educators Council. Um, and that really added a lot. Of, um, what do I wanna say? Standards based education to my life, experience and education. Um, one of the things that, um, entered me into my wealth journey and entered me into investing was trading. I used to day trade, which for those of you that are not familiar with investing versus trading, as I explained in my book, Day trading is more of a short term form of, um, leveraging the markets and selling and buying stocks, assets, foreign exchange, different things. Whereas investing is usually more long term. For example, over a year you are holding, um, or buying and holding an asset. Um, so going from this very hustle mindset and this very, uh, busy space of day trading, um, I realized what I did and didn't like. I learned about myself while I was learning, um, about how to be A C F E I and learning from Google and things in limited fashions. Um, so I think it was important for me not only to pursue formal credentials, but also to be reflective while I was, um, learning and educating myself and really thinking, okay, there's so many ways to approach personal finance. What is the best way to make personal finance personal for me and reach my walk goals?

Sabine:

Yeah. Um, so I, I have the same, I think we talked about this when we, we met last time. I, I have the same designation and the same certification, and at the time, I, I, I pursued it for two reasons. One for me personally, um, just to strengthen my understanding. And then I had this vision of, you know, like supporting people in their finances and whatnot. Yeah, clearly that was short-lived. Um, but I am grateful. For the learning and the experience and, and because the, the, um, council, they are so passionate, like they really invest a lot in making sure that they're up to date. They, um, you know, allow their, their coaches or their consultants, uh, whatever we're we're titled, um, to have access to resources because, you know, that is the, that is the foundational desire of the council to really, um, educate, uh, or make financial literacy accessible. To more and more. And I, I think, I forget what, back when I studied it, it was probably like 2016. It was so startling. The, like the statistics around financial literacy or illiteracy, yeah. Um, more so than anything. And it was just like, oh my gosh, like. Even now to this day, you know, I'm still curious as to why they don't teach basic finances in schools, or at least in high school, at the very least. Cuz then, you know, people are, have part-time jobs, they're making money. Like just the understanding of how do you really empower yourself, um, financially since mm-hmm. Money is. Such a big part of our world and our society. But yeah, total aside. So I'm glad that you took the course and you are now fully involved and engaged in doing that work. Maybe, maybe it was a, a, a time of sewing for me and at some point in my career I'll pick it back up, but, um, but nonetheless, thank you for that. So let's talk about. You know, you're in, uh, Tulsa and I asked you this question, uh, when we first met that, you know, did you know that you would end up, like, was this part of the strategy? Was it intentional? Because really over the last, what, three years ever since, you know, the pandemic and the social uprising, that's where all of this, um, Awareness has been brought back to Tulsa and Black Wall Street and all of the things that happen and, and the, the status that people of color used to have, uh, particularly black people used to have there. So, um, it's, it's, I I, it's not ironic. I'm pr I, I know everything, everything happens for a reason, so, You didn't intend to end up there, but you are there. So how is that experience being there, being literally on the land and the territory and the space affluence and wealth, uh, once existed and now they're trying to bring it back? What is that experience like for you?

Ray'Chel:

It shows the importance of placement. It shows the importance of environment. Um, I hope it inspires everyone that is thinking about either a location change or career change. Um, that if you align yourself with the right opportunities and the right people, that you can create the change that you not only desire, but we're sent on this earth to change. Um, so I'll say I did not wanna move to Tulsa initially, even back when I was in kindergarten as year old. I saying teacher money, Of course I came here to teach and in college saying that I don't wanna be a business owner. It's too much responsibility. And of course, here I am not two businesses here. So, um, I'll say this. Even though I did not want to come to Tulsa, it's really shown initially. Um, it's really shown me the value in just getting out there and trying things. I believe, um, for those that are thinking about how can I accelerate my success in my life, just get out there and try things. Really have a high level of self-awareness. Know your values, um, know your non-negotiables and then explore. And that's why I've made a home in Tulsa. That's why I quite literally home here. Love it here. Contribute the community here, community here. There's so much opportunity to change things, so no, it wasn't not initially planned. I encourage everyone to visit Tulsa, wall Street, Greenwood at least once in.

Sabine:

Absolutely. And so one thing, and I I don't wanna, uh, gloss over this, is that you mentioned that you were able to buy your house with cryptocurrency, right? So like it, that's again, another level of I'm going to learn something new and then actually leverage that to, to really change and shift what, what got you into crypto? Yes.

Ray'Chel:

So I was able to pay for my student loans with my cryptocurrency profits, and then continuing, um, those goals and of course continuing to invest, um, which allowed me to also buy my home. So, uh, what got me interested in cryptocurrency, throwback again to day trading. Um, I was initially tra day trading, um, the US. Dollar, the Mexican pay. So these are different foreign exchange. Um, for any, to catch anyone up to speed, you can trade different, um, currencies across the entire world. Um, that's a great diversification method for those that already have balanced portfolios. You can learn more in my second book, personal Finance Crash Course. What they didn't teach you in school. Um, but what initially got me in invest, interested in investing in crypto was day trading. And I wasn't having as much success doing it on the fast paced short term market. So that led to me, um, wanting to grow in my investment skills. I learned about due diligence. I learned how to evaluate a company to actually determine. Is this one of those cryptocurrency companies that's gonna just vanish tomorrow? Or is this a cryptocurrency company that actually has sound backing, that has a sound business models actually, um, solving a problem in the world. Um, and even when I was paying off my student loans with my cryptocurrency profits, the coin that I invested in was called um, It was called, it's blanking on me right now, I'll put it in the comments afterwards. Um, but its utility was focused on sending remittances back home to those that lived in countries like, um, India or live within the continental continents of Africa. Um, and I understood that, wait, this actually solves a real problem for people. I understood that. Wait, this market size is the actually very large, um, compound. That's the name of the coin compound, so you can go back, check it out. During the time that I invested in it, it was able to grow over 300%. But the problem with cryptocurrency that a lot of people often forget is, number one, what are your goals? And number two, what are your values as someone that's family oriented, that asset aligned with my values, and also as someone that knew I wanted to pay off my student loans, that aligned with my goals. So once that coin reached that level of growth, that let me get to my goal. I withdrew and I also kept in mind other tax things and other things that I talk about in due diligence. Um, but that's really how I got interested in cryptocurrency. Seeing the value that it had growth, but also seeing that, hey, in this specific format of day trading, I wasn't having the most success. So then moving myself into a category of trading that allowed me to have more success, allowed me to have more time freedom and allowed me to reach my goals, which allowed me.

Sabine:

Awesome. Thank you for that. So obviously you, you, you work what with individuals at like the student level to like full-blown adults who are really trying to get a handle on their finances as it relates to women in particular. Um, in, in the work and the support that you provide, where are you seeing, um, some of the pitfalls, if you will, or some of the challenges that women are having when it comes to really. You know, creating that plan, sticking to that plan and, and building out their wealth strategies.

Ray'Chel:

Well, it's something to that I foreshadowed to earlier actually doing the work. Um, when we look online at what women are searching in relation to personal finance, they're doing the Google, they're researching how can I rebuild after divorce? Or how much will it cost me to have a divorce? How much money do I need to have saved in relation to that specific topic for women and financial insecurity. Um, we're seeing that especially black women are researching on reaching out to nonprofits and financial organizations to find out how to do the work. However, as I mentioned earlier, we actually have to pull the trigger. We actually have to do the work. Um, which leaves me to question, well, why aren't the current solutions on the market empowering people to do the work? And that's why I'm building for our last names, to empower people to bridge the gap between education and investing.

Sabine:

Okay. Based on the clients that you work with. And, and I can't remember if you work, uh, with one-on-one clients or with clients one-on-one, but what do you I I get the do the work part, right? Like people aren't willing to do the work because, you know, you hear cryptocurrency and people are just like, oh, I don't want any parts. Like, that sounds complicated. Investments, and obviously, you know, For the most part. Right. And I know this is a generalization, but like, women have a lot of responsibilities, right? They're taking care of the home, they're, you know, working, they're doing all of the things. What do you, what do you perceive to be the biggest, um, mindset challenge, or maybe even the story behind not being able to do the work or willing to do the work? Yes, and

Ray'Chel:

I, I think, I think it's interesting that you said able or willing, I would even push it further and say, um, Going back to empowered, not being empowered to do the work because women are fully capable. Right? Right. Women aren't able to do it. We can do the work. Um, I would say that part of it comes back to a systems issue. Um, because when we think about even 50 years ago, um, and 60 years ago, 70 years ago, women couldn't have bank accounts. So when we think about the stories we tell ourselves, what were the stories we were told by our mother, grandmother story? Our value and our ability to have ownership. So I think that's the first thing on the systemic level. On the individual level, I think that's where imposter syndrome comes in. Um, am I able to make a sound decision? Am I that emotional woman that they claim that I'm right? Um, so I would say that it's a both and both systemic and both individual. Which is why it's so important to start on that mindset journey first. Um, even when I think about my book series, the Black Wealth Freedom Series, the first book, which is focused on money, mindset and abundance, is a bestseller for women. Whereas my second book, personal Finance Crash Course, what they Didn't Teach You in School is a bestseller for men. I think this shows that men oftentimes are skipping that emotional, skipping the mindset part, but. Do want to lean into that intuition, do want to heal, but once they get apart, they're more apprehensive to make the action back again to those individual and systemic issues. So that's what I've seen from my research as well as just engaging with our clients.

Sabine:

That's fascinating. That is fascinating. So, you know, my audience for the most part are for those who, who tune in. Um, you know, it's a, it's a nice even balance between those who are in entrepreneurship as well as those who are in traditional work environments. And so if we could just kind of, uh, split them up for. Those who are in traditional work environments where obviously they have their 401k, they're doing the savings and whatnot, but they really wanna level up or they really wanna take it to the next step and say, okay, you know what? I don't wanna work forever and I wanna figure out a strategy and a plan to allow my money to w work for me. What are some of the vehicles or some of the avenues that they can start to look at to help support them, you know, while they still have this regular full-time job, paycheck coming in.

Ray'Chel:

Absolutely. Such a great question, especially considering that I started both of my businesses while being a full-time employee, one of which, while being a full-time teacher throughout the pandemic. So that was extremely difficult. I would say number one, um, think about your streams of income. I like to think about income like a table. It's better to have a table that has multiple legs instead of one leg in the center. Because if that one leg drops a k a, your one job as your one stream of income, then that means that the whole table falls. But if you focus on building additional streams of income, which I'll talk about some methods in a moment, um, then you'll have the opportunity to have more financial flexibility. I know some people say financial freedom as well, right? Um, so if another pandemic comes or a life emergency comes, or a family emergency comes. One of your streams of income, aka one of the legs on the table, at least the table can still stand. At least you're still standing, right? Yeah. Um, so some ways to think about, uh, creating additional streams of income beyond investing as we talked so thoroughly about in this conversation. I would say number one, real estate. You can think about this in a physical real estate term. Um, there are ways to invest in what we like to call REITs. AKA Real Estate Investment Trust. Um, and there are ways to basically invest in small portions of, um, say a large apartment complex or even we think about the Dollar General, uh, stores, right? You can invest in a portion of that so you don't have to have thousands of dollars available to say, buy a home, get a down payment, all of those different things. Um, now aside from physical real estate or um, Buying your own property. There's also digital real estate, and that's something that's becoming very popular in 2023 and beyond. Um, because we know the power that exists online, we just have to actually tap into it. So digital real estate can look like podcasts, for example, where you're able to receive income. From, um, from ads, it can look like YouTube to where you can also receive money from your digital impact, what you discussed, your thought leadership, um, advertising as well. TikTok is also another place where you can create digital real estate and create income from that, right? So I would categorize real estate as a whole physical. For digital. That's a very large way that people are expanding on multiple streams. In this day and age, of course, there's always the old fashioned, um, getting started with your business. I like to think about business in itself as multiple streams too, so you can have a book business. Razor Bar initially was a book business, but we've expanded now into. Speaking, we've expanded now into contracting. We just closed the contract, um, with a high school system over in DC to provide financial literacy to their seniors and juniors. Um, so I would also say that for my ladies and folks that are thinking about starting their business while they are employed, it's okay to start with just one product, but also think about how can I develop the multiple streams even within this business. Um, so those are for the sake of time, I'll just mention those. Starting your business, real estate with digital and physical, and of course investing, which is where we help you.

Sabine:

Yeah, I love that. I never, I guess never looked at. Like the digital content creation, if you will, as real estate. So that's a, that's a mind shift that I'm taking away, uh, from this. So hopefully for those of you who are listening in and who are watching or will catch the replay, you know, you're taking, you're, you're picking up what she's putting down here that, there's a lot of ways. To look at, you know, not just the creation of money, um, but really how do we grow and how do we keep it? I think our society is really big on, teaching us how to make money, right? Like there, there's no shortage of ways. To make money, especially with the gig economy and everything else, but really strategically, how do you grow money? How do you, multiply it that I feel like that's where the biggest gap is, um, in the market as it relates to financial literacy or financial efficacy. and certainly for, for women who are just trying to navigate. All of the things that they do. So, and, and you touched on this, especially with the, the business owners, right. So for the most part, you know, a lot of individuals, especially within the last couple of years, I, I don't know the specific statistics, but you know, women have started businesses at record numbers over the last couple of years, and black women in particular have started businesses. And so it's basically what you said, took a skill, figured something out, and now they're starting their businesses. But you know, for a lot of us, right, when you first start out, when you don't have examples, it's a, there's a learning curve there. And you know, the revenue that comes in is either getting re-put back into the business to invest or to bring on team and whatnot. So for someone who has recently started their business where, you know, maybe they are profitable, maybe they are, you know, generating revenue, but they're also like, I don't, I don't. Want to put any money away because this is like my livelihood or I'm not sure I have enough. What do you recommend, especially in those beginning phases of really creating that balance and having that longer term strategy at the forefront?

Ray'Chel:

Great question. Well, I'll go into the what and then the how. It's always important to plan for your future self as well as plan for your future business. So in the same way, um, when we think about just. Maintaining yourself as an asset. Number one, you are an asset. You are your best asset. Give yourself a hug and thank yourself that you're here to take care of yourself. Alright, um, so when we think even about like, um, business formation and like, uh, business documents and personal documents, I like to think about wills. Wills are how you protect yourself in the future, right? So in the same way, a business plan is how you protect your business in the future. Well, how can you achieve these plans? On a personal side, there's things like budgeting and wealth planning, but specifically on the business side, since that's where your question was around, I would say that it's so important that we think about how can we expand our revenue sources beyond what we're providing, but also through methods like grants, through methods like Angel investing, through methods like vc. My first book was actually, we won a$2,500 grant. And we were able to launch our first book because of that. Um, from simply just telling our story, talking about our business plan, all you need to do is first plan the what, get to the what, and then afterwards. Um, so I would say important for women who are in business. People are think. How can I expand this? Maybe I'm not ready to expand my product line or my service line or make additional streams of revenue through what I'm providing, but maybe I can find a way story to people. Um, and capital, social capital can also lead to fiscal capital. So think about as business owners, how can I grow in my social status? How can I grow in my relationships so I can tell the story of my business? And all good businesses solve real world problems. So if you're really solving a real world problem, it should be hard to not talk about your story. So get really good at storytelling, and that will impact your bottom line as a business owner.

Sabine:

Love it. Thank you. For those who are listening, who are thinking, to themselves that they want to, um, invest in the book and depending on where they are. What are some key pieces that you think, you know, would like this book for the person who's looking for this or this book? For the person who's looking for that.

Ray'Chel:

Absolutely. Well, the Black Wall Freedom Series is a book that's written for us, by us, especially as someone that read, think, and Grow Rich, and all of these other personal finance books that are so popular and didn't see any of them written by me or for me. I wrote this for us by us. However, of course anyone can learn from this book. It's chock full of information that anyone can apply. Um, our first book, holistic Money Mindset, mental Preparation for Abundance is for the true beginner in their personal finance journey. The. So stressed and anxiety filled whenever they think about money, that book is for you. Alright, um, the second book, personal Finance Crash Course. What they didn't Teach you in school is really that, uh, chock full of book that has all of the information you need to know on saving credit, budgeting, and even beginner investing. Um, and then our third book, the Money Moves Workbook Achieving. Is the same reflective and proactive budget workbook that I used when I was moving halfway across the country when I was paying off my student loans, leveraging my investment profits when I was buying my first car, which at the time was a dream car. But now I'm even going towards more. Um, and also the same budget that I used when I was buying my home before 25 years old. So if you are someone that feels like you've got your money mindset down, you know how to walk in abundance. Money doesn't stress you out. That feels like you have the basics down of, uh, personal finance, saving credit, all of those things that I mentioned in book two. Then book three is a great tool for you to actually put in the work to plan ahead of time and reflect and then adjust your scope based off of that. Um, the entire series is easy to understand and easy to apply. I dunno if I mentioned this, but the curriculum that I wrote for my seniors is what turned into. The second book book. And because of that curriculum that I wrote, um, in Oklahoma, it's a requirement to have personal finance before you graduate. We had a 93% graduation rate, which is about 15% higher than the rest of the area. So, um, it's working in the classroom, it's working in the boardroom, it's working in our community rooms. I've had folks that buy it, that are in their twenties, they'll, their parent will end up. Feeling it and then they'll read it with like a younger sibling. So I like to, these reach ages six to 60 and beyond. Um, so if you, someone that wants easy, understand, easy way, finance is for.

Sabine:

Okay. Awesome, awesome. And we'll talk about your, your website and how to get in touch with you. But before we do that, and, and, and to, to wrap up, to be mindful of your time, uh, we're gonna go through the, the blitz session here. So, um, three, three questions. So first one up. You know, as you think about what you've been able to accomplish, and, and I, I don't know if you guys have been paying attention, uh, in terms of what this genius is or how old this genius is, um, but she is still in her twenties and she has accomplished, um, and this is not a dig by any means, but, you know, things that people much older have not been able to accomplish. So, you know, kudos to you for that. And so I, I know. I, I'm pretty sure you can answer this, but I, I just wanted to put that out there that, you know, you, you still got some living to do and you've already accomplished a lot in, in, in the time that you've been here. Um, but when you think about, you know, what you've been able to accomplish so far, if you could go back to a younger version of yourself and give her some advice that you think would've been a game changer for her, um, or for you, what might that be?

Ray'Chel:

Trust the process, um, which can mean so many different things. I mean, I know that God placed me here for a reason. There's even like, uh, a large story around my birth and me potentially not even being here, but here I am and my purpose is here in front of me. So I would just tell my younger self to trust God, trust the purpose. Um, continue to explore and try new things. Um, that has been pieces of advice there. What has opened the most doors for me and also close the doors that are not aligned for me.

Sabine:

Yeah, I love that. And I, I'm gonna, uh, detour real quick. Do you, I would imagine, right, like obviously you're, you're a quick study and a quick learner. Do you, do you intentionally keep a lot of mentors in your circle?

Ray'Chel:

Oh yes, mentorship is important. Um, and accountability is very important for me. I'm someone that will walk in a room and start doing something and then remember something else in another room. Um, so mentorship is very important not only to learn from someone, but also so they can help you stay accountable. Um, even shouting out some websites, the limit, you can get free mentorship on there, um, as well as. Free grants on there. That's where my, all of my advisory board members came from. Um, so they helped me really grow my first business and also helped me realize, wait, Raquel, you're doing something revolutionary with, for our last names. You need to get that out on the market. Um, so they've even been able to push me. So I would say mentors are so important for your journey, and once you feel like you've had some level of success, don't forget to give back and mentor as well.

Sabine:

Love it. Thank you. Um, and so let's, let's future forecast for a moment here. You know, you're 30, 40, 50, 60, however many years down the line, and you are looking at your life, um, and the impact that you've made. What do you want that legacy to be?

Ray'Chel:

I, so here's this. Legacy is very important to me, which is even why I say the brand being for our last names, building Wealth for our last names. Right. Um, so I would say that in 60 years for our last names has empowered over 1 million families to build generational wealth. Um, I would say that, um, I don't know what the format will be. Um, But I hope to create something that can empower entrepreneurs, um, especially those, um, underrepresented by race, class, or gender to practice stewardship and build businesses that bring. The Kingdom on Earth that bring good on earth, right? Um, I know that my faith is something that very much so influences me, um, as a social good and entrepreneur. Um, so I would say that 60 years from now there is some type of philanthropy or fund that I've contributed to or created that does good in the world and can give the capital and resources to empower others to do that as well for generations.

Sabine:

I love it. Thank you. And then last question, uh, you, obviously you have your books, right? Um, but you also, uh, indicated that you are big on reading, uh, as part of your, you know, your learning journey. So if, are there any books or is there one book that you know, you've read along your journey that you felt was, again, another game changer for you and something that maybe you go back to regularly or recommend to clients?

Ray'Chel:

Two books, um, one that I read last year that changed my life. And I think especially for women that feel like, oh my gosh, I'm so, how can I find more time to do something? There's only hours time, it's called who not how. And it talks about delegation. When I brought on an assistant to run my business, uh, or run the operations of my business while I was operating in my zone of genius and the things that I liked to do as a ceo, not only did I find more time in that 20 hour day, um, but I also found myself having more mental wellness. Um, and that even flashes back to imposter syndrome because at first, I felt like I didn't deserve an assistant. I felt like I wasn't worthy of having an assistant, who am I to put together a grocery list and have someone order that on behalf of me. But then I realized how timed up and how much mental, uh, the higher level of mental wellness that I was able to experience. So check out who not how, and get to delegating in your life. All right. Um, the second book I read back in college, and I try to read it at least every year, every other year, and it's called Atomic Habits. Um, our life is built around the habits that we have, even within the, for our last names app. We're building in some really great habit building and habit forming, um, exercises so people can find it easier to achieve success on their wealth journey. So those will be my two wealth, uh, books. I'm sorry, my two book recommendations. Who not how and atomic habits,

Sabine:

both of which I have sitting in Audible, like I, I've, uh, the who not how is like my next read, that's been a growth opportunity for me and it's been recommended so many times where I was just like, okay, let's, let's go ahead and read it and get the, the inspiration and the tips and, and move forward. Um, so thank you for those, those recommendations. And I know Atomic, uh, habits is, um, a really powerful book that gets circulated in the entrepreneurial space. So we'll be able, um, we will definitely go

Ray'Chel:

ahead. If I could add one more. Mm-hmm. This is a throwback. My high school health teacher made us read this and I didn't appreciate it then, but I appreciate it so much Now, the four agreements, ah, sometimes we can, especially our wealth journey, we can think that this is other people's problem. You know, this is, my life was set up this way. We have control of our own situation. We just have to have that mental shift. That paradigm shift and reading that book over and over and over again has helped me understand that this is within my control. Yeah, this is within

Sabine:

my spirit control. You're like the, I don't know, fifth person on the show and I've read, read it like two or three times, but did you say that your high school teacher had you read it?

Ray'Chel:

And this is why I say it all comes back to education full circle.

Sabine:

It is. I mean, I didn't read it until I, I was in my late thirties and I, I can't imagine, um, it, it was a game changer. Certainly was a game changer. It, it teaches you self-accountability in ways that, you know, you just, you can't learn different ways. But the fact that you read that in high school, I feel like these are the types of. This is what education is. This is the stuff that people should be learning to help them navigate life, um, and, and be resilient or build resilience earlier on. So I'm a kudos to your, your teacher for making you read that and kudos to you for reading it and. Rereading it cuz I, I do, I I try to read it at least once a quarter. Um, as a reminder of, okay, Sabine, not only do you have agency, but you, you have power, right? Like, you get to create what this existence looks like for you. So, so thank you for bringing that up. So, um, who not how Atomic Habits and the Four Agreements, we will be sure to link those in the show notes. And if you are a regular listener, To the show. You have heard the four agreements at least four or five times now. And if you have not read that book, come on. Like, let let this be the, the additional sign you need, uh, to go ahead and grab it on Amazon. So with that, I know you, you talked about your books, uh, we have your links to your books, but for those who are listening and watching, if they wanna get in touch with you, what's the best way?

Ray'Chel:

Yes. Well, I would say that I'm always working within my businesses, so if you wanna get in contact with me in relation to the app last names, it empowers first generation investors to connect education investing. Less pro or less risky, more profitable, and build generational wealth for their last name. So if you wanna learn more, connect with me there. Visit for our last names io. If you're interested in financial education or you're a corporate organization looking for workshops or curriculum development, you can visit us at rtb investments org. And if you just wanna chat about anything, wall Street entrepreneurship pitching, then you can reach out to me onl.

Sabine:

Love it. Well, thank you so much Rachell, for coming on, sharing your wisdom and your knowledge and, and dropping these practical nuggets. Um, for those of you who are listening or watching, uh, all of her handles will be in the show notes. With that, have a wonderful rest of the day. And we will talk soon. Take care.

Hope you enjoyed this week's episode. If you found today's conversation helpful or got a piece of insight that you plan to implement in your life, I'd love to hear from you. Connect with me on LinkedIn at Sabine Gideon and send me a message, or feel free to leave a review on either Apple or Spotify. I also invite you to share this episode with anyone in your network, another powerhouse, possibly. Who you think might benefit from today's conversation. Lastly, as always, any links, any resources, or any upcoming training is included in the show notes. So be sure to check that before you leave today. Until we chat again, have a blessed and powerful week.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Sabine Gedeon

Host