For Women’s History Month we are featuring some amazing women on the Holistic Wealth podcast. I’m especially delighted because PayUp by Reshma Saujani and Holistic Wealth by Keisha Blair are two iconic books for women, that seek to redefine the status quo. In her new book “Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work (And Why It’s Different Than You Think”, Reshma Saujani, Founder of Girls Who Code and the Marshall Plan for Moms, argues that corporate feminism and the way women work need to be redefined for a whole new generation of women. Similarly, in the NEW Holistic Wealth Expanded and Updated book: 36 Life Lessons To Help You Recover From Disruption, Find Your Life Purpose and Achieve Financial Freedom, I’ve argued that we need to redefine what wealth means for a whole new generation of women (#theholisticwealthgeneration) that want to redefine what success means to them, and they refuse to be defined by their net worth alone and value balance and harmony in their lives as well as their mental, emotional and physical health.
In today’s episode of the Holistic Wealth podcast with Keisha Blair, Reshma outlines how feminism hasn’t attained the protections and support women need, and that we need a new definition of working motherhood in North America (around the globe). Reshma took on around $300,000 of student loan debt to attend both Harvard University and Yale Law School but felt stuck in a private-sector role because it allowed her to make enough money to pay off part of her loans.
According to a 2020 report from the American Bar Association, more than half of law school grads have over $150,000 in debt at graduation, and over 40% of young lawyers in corporate jobs chose them simply because of the salary. In an interview with Bustle, Reshma said that “without the burden of her student loans, Saujani says she never would have entered the corporate world at all”.
Reshma has spent more than a decade advocating for women’s and girls’ economic empowerment, working to close the gender gap in the tech sector, and, most recently, championing policies to support mothers impacted by the pandemic. Saujani is also the author of the international bestseller Brave, Not Perfect, and her influential TED talk, “Teach Girls Bravery, Not Perfection,” has more than five million views. In the interview we also discussed the recent news of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, the Duchess and Duke of Sussex, unveiling a series of donations in a holiday card released in December 2021, included in that list was the Marshall Plan for Moms. We also discussed Rehma’s personal financial identity and how it has shaped her entrepreneurial life and spending philosophy (based on the personal financial identities quiz that I developed). Tune in to listen to this amazing episode of the Holistic Wealth podcast with special guest Reshma Saujani.
Resources Used In This Episode (Get a Copy of Both Books):
Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work (And Why It’s Different Than You Think
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
- Reshma Saujani’s amazing new book, the importance of discourse on themes such as corporate feminism, workplace and gender equity,
- Reshma’s experience with being the daughter of immigrant parents, her childhood and how it influenced her personal financial identity.
- Reshma’s perspective on the wealth gap and the way forward, in fighting gender inequality.
- Reshma’s reaction to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, the Duchess and Duke of Sussex, unveiling a series of donations that included the Marshall Plan for Moms.
- Reshma’s personal financial identity and how it has shaped her life as an entrepreneur and mom (based on the Personal Financial Identity Quiz developed by Keisha Blair).
Listen to the Full Episode here: