November 11, 2020 • 38 mins
I want it, I got it - right? Well, if you can afford it. The freedom of college means a lot of different things. One big one may be managing money for the first time. This episode is a lesson in living on a budget and finding how to balance what we should save for, what we can’t help but splurge on, and investing to grow your money.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hello everyone, Hi, Welcome back to The Secret Syllabus podcast.
The Secret Syllabus is a production of The Female Quotient
and I Heart Radio and co produced by the Female
Quotient and Wonder Media Network. I'm Katie Tracy and I'm
Hannah Ashton and this episode is about money. We know
there is the stereotype of a broke college student, but
(00:28):
I know for us, Katie and I, we started making
money off our YouTube channels in our early teens and
how to start thinking about money and managing it and
making it pretty young? Yes, we did. Hannah and I
met online when we were thirteen, and I think at
the same time we both started using ad sens on Google,
which allowed us to put ads on our videos and
gained some money from it. But actually, what people don't
(00:50):
know is before that, another way I earned money was
as a freelance designer. So I had a phone case
collection with a phone case company based in l A
and I would design for them and for every phone
case I sold, I would get commission out of it.
But what about you, Hannah, what was your early adventure Like? Yeah, so,
like you said, making money with ad sense and then
(01:12):
going into brand sponsorships, making money through brand collaborations, and
then I have always been interested in having a business
outside of YouTube as well, and so I started just
by doing some YouTube consulting to viewers, helping them start
their own channels. I've done some in person like blogger
female Entrepreneur events, which have been super cool. And then
in t I launched my first e commerce physical product business,
(01:37):
which was my dream achieved workbook Planners. So I've always
kind of loved talking about money, talking about finances, talking
about making money. UM, but I know that's not the
narrative for everyone. So what have you felt like has
been the relationship between you and money? Katie? This is
such a good question because I feel like I had
a total different experience than you. So I am an
(01:59):
international student and I grew up in the Philippines. My
relationship with money was actually very shielded because in my culture,
at least my family would always take care of the money.
They would kind of try to shield me from the
truths of it, and I was just told to study
and work hard, and I didn't really learn as much
about it until I went to college in America, and
(02:22):
that's where I learned a totally different outlook towards money.
People were very financially independent. It was something they sought
to be, and in retrospect, I wish my family had
taught me more about it. But I'm also, of course
grateful that they wanted me to focus on my education
at that point. What about you, I'm thankful that money
(02:42):
and investing in saving was a conversation I had in
my family, and I'm thankful for that because I don't
think it's a conversation that's had enough in high school.
I know in a lot of high schools in America,
you take one semester of a like financial class, and
you just learn about the basics, but they don't really
tell you about how to act save each month, how
much money you should put in savings, like if you
(03:02):
should invest and where does that even happen, and how
to avoid maybe large interest loans like on things that
we're all paying for like student loans, and so it
can be very confusing, I know for young people out
there to learn. But that's why I love how we
can go online and find resources, and so through listening
to podcasts and reading books, I've learned a few different
tips on saving and making money. One tip that I
(03:26):
know is pretty common is the fifty thirty twenty rule,
which basically you divide up your after tax income and
you allocate of it to spend on your needs. So
if you're paying for rent, groceries, food, transportation, all of
that kind of things, and then thirty percent goes to
your wants, so whatever you want to spend that month.
And then you're also saving, um, you know, for that
(03:49):
rainy day fun and hopefully building up a good savings
so that if anything happens, you do have some money
to lean on that you can pay for your daily expenses.
And although I am not this specific about out my
budgeting now, I do make sure to always say and
then I put about maybe five to ten percent in investment.
But what do you feel like the conversations you're having
(04:11):
on campus about money have been, Katie, since you said
it's different now that you've come to the States, so
many eye opening conversations about people's relationships with money. I
think the first one is in the States, I've noticed
a lot of people take out student loans. The debt
crisis is a pretty big thing that I've learned about.
A lot of students also do part time jobs, which
was something very different. Back home, it wasn't very common,
(04:34):
and there also weren't that many opportunities for for high
schoolers to work either. And a lot of my friends
love teaing or being a teacher assistant for classes because
they can get paid for teaching a concept they love.
And I also just want to add to what you
said about how some classes don't always teach everything, because
I'm actually taking a financial accounting class right now and
(04:55):
I am learning, though I definitely learned about the time
value money and how you know money today is not
worth the same as it is in the future, so
you're better off investing. You can use apps like robin
Hood or something else to buy shares of a company
and over time, hopefully if you choose well, they'll do
well and you'll get a higher return on your money
(05:16):
without having to do anything. And I've been finding it
really fascinating with how you can make your money grow
without actively doing any work. Well, what you said about
investing is so great. I think that's something that a
lot of students aren't jumping into. And I know our
guests today does talk a little bit about making your
money work for you, but I know along with that
(05:36):
along with going into new ventures, new opportunities, maybe new investments,
it is also important to save and just understand where
your money is going every month. And I know also
as college students, though a lot of my friends you know,
are living paycheck to paycheck. It's your part time job
is just covering the expenses you need to live. So
one app that I have used before is called Acorns,
(05:57):
and this is a great simple way to start je
saving a little bit of money each month. And so
what it does is it actually rounds up all your
transactions so you safely connect it to your debit card
or your bank. And so if you paid five dollars
and fifty cents for something, it will round up the
transaction to six dollars and take that extra fifty cents
and put it into a separate account. So you can
(06:17):
make that separate account your savings. And so you're saving
money without really even thinking about it. That's an easy
way to like get started, not think about the fact
that you're actually saving money, um, and it will be
you know, a nice surprise at the end of the
month to see that savings grow. And then one other
app that I actually do use daily is called the
empower budgeting app, and I love this because it gives
me notifications every time I have a transaction, so I
(06:39):
can make sure that all my transactions are going through safely.
And it also gives you little graphs of like how
much of your money you're putting towards food, how much
you're doing and shopping and all these types of things,
So it helps me know where my money is going.
And I think if you just start tracking where you're spending,
where you're saving, just do that to start so you
kind of have an under standing, it'll make you feel
(07:01):
a lot more empowered and encouraged maybe in your finances
and knowing knowing what's what's happening. But do you have
any other last tips yourself? Yes, that is so good,
just to echo, I completely agree with saving. That's really
all I do with my own earnings with YouTube or sponsorships,
I just save them. I'm looking into investing them right now,
but for the most part, I just save and try
(07:23):
to avoid consumer culture because Loki, when I was in college,
I bought a lot of things I didn't need, Like
did I really need that misdiff user? Not really, Like yes,
it was Black Friday, but you know, I just also
cut a lot of the platforms that we're telling me
I needed this and that, and I realized that I
really don't need a lot of these things. And especially
(07:44):
during COVID, I've realized what really matters has been the people.
So I think also surrounding yourself with the things that
you really love will help you or could help you
make better financial decisions as well. And I think this
episode is so inspiring to anyone looking to have a
better relationship with money. Also, guys, I have to apologize
(08:04):
I sadly could not join this interview. It was at
two am my time, and I don't really function well
at that time. But I know you guys will love
this interview. Hannah did an amazing job. And Hannah, do
tell us about our guest today? Yes, our guest is
jay Darma Wanza, who is an entrepreneur and digital strategist.
She quit high school to start her own online business
(08:26):
and with over two d and ninety thousand followers, her
personal brand focuses on social media growth and motivation. I
loved interviewing Jade because we have been online friends for
I would say four years now, and I've gotten to
see her grow and change and just help so many
people with her content and businesses. And I know you
guys will all love her. So let's get into the episode.
(08:46):
Let's go. Hey, Jade, welcome to the show. Hi, Hannah,
thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited.
Of course, I love talking with you, and I love
how our stories are so similar, even though we live
across the country and I've never met in person. You
started your YouTube channel at nine years old by turning
(09:07):
videos of you playing with dolls into YouTube films. From there,
you transformed into an e commerce business. And how has
starting an e commerce business at such a young age
shaped your view and approach to entrepreneurship. Yeah, I think
that my view of entrepreneurship since I was nine has
changed quite a bit. I think the main thing is,
(09:28):
I think what really stuck out to me is a
lot of people think selling e commerce is all about,
you know, getting revenue, It's all about like the strategy.
But when you're a kid, you don't think that way, right.
You think in a way of like what would be
fun to do, like what will be nice to have?
And I think when I was making doll videos on YouTube,
I knew that like, all I wanted to provide for
my audience was a way for them to have that
same experience and dolls. So that's how I came up
(09:50):
with the product. I feel like sometimes now when I'm older,
I overthink things, honestly, and I think about the overall
strategy of what's going to be more profitable. And I
think the main difference for now and like ten years
ago is just the freedom and creativity that comes when
you're just a kid. For sure, I definitely experienced that too,
and so I would love for you to tell us
a bit about what it is you do now ten
(10:12):
years later. Wow, okay, so I was just realizing this.
How long have you been on YouTube, Hannah? About ten years?
Oh my gosh, Wait, when was your first video uploaded?
It was an American girl all video? And I would say,
I know, we're so similar. I would say, yeah, round
two thousand nine. Same two was when I uploaded my
(10:33):
first video. My video was like a little pet shop video.
Do you know what that is? Yes? I love those two. Okay,
So ten years later almost eleven actually, which sounds so weird.
Most of the videos I make are marketing and business related.
I'm the founder of a company called X eight Media.
We produce educational videos in the tech industry. So essentially
we partner up with brands to launch their YouTube strategy
(10:56):
and we also have a production arm in set the
company to produce like actual videos. So that's what we
do right now. In addition, in my own personal brand,
I do like flogs and everything in entrepreneurship similar to Hannah.
So that's what I do today. Yes, so you're nineteen
years old right now. Like you said, you create YouTube
videos and you make a lot of content centered on practical,
honest advice and how to make money from YouTube and
(11:19):
from videos. I love some of your YouTube videos titled
how to make three thousand dollars a month without a degree.
You also talk about your six streams of income and
how you make money at eighteen. So who would you
say is your audience on YouTube and how would you
explain your brand on there? I would say my audience
on YouTube are people who either make content or are
(11:40):
like solo preneurs. I think that another makeup of my
audience are people who don't want the traditional maybe nine
to five and the content I make over there just
centered everything around how to grow as a person on
social and also how to grow financially. So I think
the common thing we all have in common is trying
to be the best version of ourselves. Yes, I love
(12:00):
how your content is so valuable, but it's also has
great cinematography and you put a lot of dedication into
your quality, and you've even done some short films. Can
you tell us a little bit about the short film
you did titled Create with the Purpose where you talk
about the influencer economy? Yeah? Um, so I have this
(12:20):
side of me that's still in two thousand nine making
little pet shop videos. But I know, like if Hannah
and I dropped doll, video would not do so well.
So you know, my way to compensate that is creating
short films about serious topics with cinematography. So that video
was made a year ago, and I honestly I was
(12:41):
pretty angry like that, but he was actually made out
of anger because whenever I have a pressing topic, I
always make content out of it. Like sometimes I know
how a lot of contentators feel like we have to
post every Friday just to post, but I really have
a reversed approach where I've done that and it doesn't
work well. So This video was not even made out
of like, oh I got a post on Friday type thing.
It's more like I was so passionate about this topic.
(13:04):
So essentially the idea was I think that for any
contemplator trying to grow on social media, the number one
question that everyone asks is how to grow, and the
more universal advice is to find a niche or to
pick a spot. And I got really angry with that
because I personally struggled with that, like if I picked
a niche from two thousand and nine until now, I
(13:24):
would be still making little pet shop videos. And I
didn't like being placed in the bubble, not just on YouTube,
but in in school, or I don't like being told
what to do. So that video was basically a short
two minute video about how I was actually pretty angry
about that advice and how people should just be themselves.
If you are an influencer, you don't need to be
(13:44):
something just sort of sake of views, like genuinely post something,
even if it's outside your niche or a bubble. And
I was also watching a movie called Alita Battle Angel
at that time, so a lot of the tracks were
inspired by that. So that's how that video came to
be that's great. I definitely you have seen that in
my story as well, as I started out with the
doll content, then went to beauty and fashion, and now
(14:05):
I am in college and focusing on entrepreneurship content. And
I think that the idea of the niche is so
pushed by online marketers and people telling you to grow
your content. But I would love to know what advice
you would give to budding creators who are trying to
figure out how to create long term and sustainable content
but not be stuck in that bubble or niche. I
(14:26):
think there's a time and place for niche. I think
technically I have a niche. It's just more of like
in the very beginning, you want to date a lot
of people before you marry someone. So I think it's experimenting.
So my best advice is to make a hunter videos
and they're gonna suck, and you have to be able
to publish, not make it perfect. And I think that's
the first start, right like if your YouTube and that's okay, Jay,
(14:48):
I've been making videos for three or four years. I've experimented.
I still have a found traction. A lot of the
things I have to say, with that is about mending
ideas together. So say you are making a Hunter ideas,
but you're being pretty risk adverse with it. You're combining
two trends together to create a new one, and I
think that's really the key. I think the real key
with YouTube is experimenting. And once you figure out what
works a k a. What the audience likes, and maybe
(15:11):
what's getting views, but also what you enjoy, then you
can kind of milk that series. But a lot of
people I feel I don't want to experiment because there's
a lot of pressure in your first Hunter videos to
make it right. So I think the best way to
go bad it is two things. Remove that pressure. Like
my first a hundred videos sucked and that was a
part of the process. So just have the expectation that
(15:32):
you might not grow and there's a hundred videos, but
you're going to learn a lot. And the second thing
with that is is really to express yourself and mend
new ideas together. So you can at least mesh two
trends together, but still at your spin on it. And
I know there's a lot with my content. Whenever I
see a trend, like for example, a lot of people
are doing financial videos, but not a lot of people
mended it together with cool animation and cinematics. There's so
(15:54):
many ways to do this, and that work gives you
endless content ideas as well. That's great A scent agree
with those top two tips. You've said previously that a
part of your decision to make a YouTube channel was
because of your dad's advice. And around that time there
was the two tho financial crisis. I know we were
only seven or eight at that time, but what do
(16:17):
you remember about that time and how, if any, has
it reminded you of the current economic crisis and pandemic
were in? Oh my gosh, I was so young. So
the main thing that I remembered was my dad had
a software company and in thousand and eight it did
go bankrupt. Like I didn't know what was going on.
I think my dad tried to shelter me from the information,
(16:39):
but it's pretty obvious. We moved from l A to like, Texas,
and then from Texas to Oregon, so we moved around
a bit, and I think because of that shift, I
didn't have so many friends, Like I was moving every
so often, and I had no friends circle that was consistent.
So the only thing I could talk to was a camera.
So honestly, that's how YouTube actually came about, was out
of my frequent moves and how it writes me to
(17:01):
this kind of current crisis slash pandemic. Okay, first of all,
I was actually talking to a financial advisor. It's like
a completely different situation if you guys want to go
technical to thousand eight, it was a housing crisis. This
is a obviously viral sickness that's spreading. So because of that,
the America is affected in different ways because in the
in the thousand eight market, it was more of like
trust with housing and banks, and then this one's more
(17:23):
just like trust between peers and our friendships and each other.
So because of this, it reminds me in a way
of like every crisis actually is the opportunity to get better, because,
for example, you know in right now, a lot of
companies maybe couldn't avoid a lot of problems they had
before were now they're really forced to be at home
and sit down and like face these problems. I'm sure
all of us who don't have companies are facing maybe
(17:44):
ourselves right So honestly, there's always an opportunity. I think
my dad saw an opportunity from the crisis to basically
use the time that he didn't have the big company
to work on to work on himself, and same with
this one, like this is a lot of time for
people to make content, to experiment with new things they
had in before, because you don't have pressure from seeing
your friends maybe every day, so you're doing things out
(18:05):
of your element. So at the core the economically it's
different because it's induced in different ways. But I think
the effects sort of saying people are facing themselves and
getting better or as I hope they're getting better, and
I think it's a great opportunity to take a crisis
into something good. I'm glad you pointed out that there
is a difference two thou it was the housing crisis,
(18:25):
now it is a health crisis. But what I've thought
about through this time is how entrepreneurs are here to
solve problems, and with a crisis like the pandemic we're in,
more problems have a rose, and so there's more opportunity,
just like you said, to start a business or become
an entrepreneur and solve a problem that we're now facing
that we maybe didn't even think we would face eight
(18:46):
months ago, and so as you've had so much business
experience even being so young, I'd love to hear any
advice you have for people who want to create a
business during this time. Yeah, three industries, are you ready? Yes, healthcare, telecommunications,
and financial tech. Those are the three industries that are thriving.
(19:07):
Peril's kind of peril is kind of questionable right now,
but e commerce is doing well too. The reason why
I mentioned those three industries, it's because they're the ones
that are vcs or if for anyone who doesn't know,
venture capitalists or investors are really trying to put money
into Like it's pretty obvious, like social communications like this
meeting we're on Google Meets, is you know a product
(19:28):
and we need that. So more and more tech companies
are creating products to communicate similar to Instagram reals. People
are creating more social platforms or TikTok and stuff like that.
And fintech and healthcare are again pretty obvious as well.
Like healthcare, pretty obvious of financial tech is people really
want to use this time to be a bit more
financially stable because people are losing their jobs. And I
(19:49):
think if you really can see the pattern of these
problems in the industries and start businesses. In those, you'll
find a lot more success in finding customers who need
your product a k a. Generating revenue. Connors is doing
really really well too. I know, Hannah e commerce as well,
So maybe you can testify to this. But you know,
brick and mortars and physical locations are it was about
(20:09):
to go down anyways, but now it's there's no reason
not to. So um, it's a great time to sell
physical products. And I talked about like four categories, right.
I think the last thing that I would say is like, Okay, cool,
I know the category. How does that help me? I
think it's not about like just like diving into something
you don't know, right, Like you don't want to go
into financial tech if you don't know anything about the
financial or tech, right. But it's more about, like, say
(20:32):
you see a problem and you are in those industries,
you want to surround yourself with people that know more
than you. So say you're like not the best person
at healthcare, right, you don't know much about what's going on,
but you're passionate about solving this problem about people getting better,
And maybe you send yourself with three people one person
is a doctor, another person is a patient, and the
other person build software. Just about being around those people
(20:53):
and over time just listening and having conversations. I really
believe that's the best way to start a business because
you're not going to build a mountain without a team.
And I really believe, honestly, all the companies have started
over on accident. I never started a company was like Okay,
for example, for X eight medium, the content we produced
for tech companies was literally someone emailed me it was like,
(21:15):
do you do this type of service creating educational content
for a platform? And I'm like, um, maybe, And then
I was interfering them more and more and more. Brands
and everyone of these tech companies have the same problem.
For example, for them, they had a trouble explaining their
complex product to the everyday person. So YouTube and social
media is a great way to make it more relatable.
So essentially, I think a lot of starting a business
(21:38):
and a lot of people force it is a lot
of accidents. It's like I think, I'm curious. It starts
with surrounding yourself with the right people, and if you
want to do it right, I would start in the
right industries. So make sure maybe you don't start a
physical business obviously in the middle of pandemic. So those
are like the three elements i'd say, um, and it's
all pretty organic, like if you go into the mindset
of the vision, you know, it's kind of like a baby.
(21:59):
Like the best analogy I have is like you could
have the best vision for your child, like you want
them to be a dancer or a football player, you
want them to be super smart, but the baby doesn't
want to be any of those things, you're kind of screwed.
So it's kind of like going with an open mind
and cheating out company like a child. That's a great
a great analogy, and definitely just paying attention to what
(22:20):
that child needs and once and also that being your
customer too, because as an entrepreneur, you know you're not
just working for yourself, you are working for your customer.
And I think that, like you said, there's a lot
of opportunity for people to see what's what's needed in
the market. Totally, as a young entrepreneur, specifically as a
young woman of color, have there been moments where people
(22:42):
haven't taken you or your work seriously? And how do
you deal with that? If you've come across it, I
think so I think, um, I think it's more age,
but also kind of being Asian American and growing up
in a very predominantly male industry, especially with entrepreneurship right
like what is it like two percent of female founders
are being funded right now? There's definitely moments where I
(23:04):
think I walked into into conference, like I was a
speaker at this conference, and this dude BLUs his soul,
but like, what the heck? He was like, Oh, why
are you here? And I didn't say I was speaking,
and I just said, like I just basically said like
I got invited by a friend, because like that's actually
how it went. And then he was like, oh cute
for like a little modeling gig, and I was like what,
(23:27):
And like there's instances where I'm like, are you not
self aware or just like I don't even know. So
there's instances where people don't take me seriously because I'm
not taking seriously. I'm not able to answer in clients
for my company, and I think it's a part of
the process, like I try my best not to take
it personally and understand that when you are trying to
serve a need or a problem in the industry, You're
(23:47):
gonna get pushed back, and it's a part of the process.
So I definitely received that tension and pushed back, and
it's very uncomfortable in the beginning. I'm sure I actually
got mistaken. I was speaking at an event when I
was eighteen so senior in high school, and I was
like going into the room before I was about to
speak to kind of feel it out and check out
the stage, and I just kept getting asked, why are
(24:09):
you back here as an attendee' not supposed to be
back here. I'm like, no, I'm actually speaking, so similar situation.
For sure, it can be tough navigating a career space
when you're in your teens. Yeah, that's so funny. So
now that we've talked about ways to make money, what
are your thoughts on saving money as a gen z Okay.
(24:30):
I do two things. So I obviously like I think
this is you can set us easily up in your
bank account. But any income I have I put into
savings account. I don't put a lot. I'm risking first,
so I only put I know some people put like
fifty I know some people put a hundred percent and
they take like a dollar. I use my cash because
I have a team, so I paid them directly and
I reinvest everything I have. But I do do a
(24:52):
savings I used to not do that, and I don't
know why. So that's what I've implemented. So when it
comes to saving money, matter what save of what you make,
you can even if you don't even have the self control,
you can add it in your bank account as an
automated sequence. Now, the second thing I think is most important,
This is my take. I genuinely don't believe saving capital
is there's a there's a point where it's not very
(25:15):
efficient unless you're saving up for like a house or
something bigger than that's that's not another story. But like
a lot of people save money just to save money,
and I don't understand why. Because if you're an entrepreneur
and you think in a way of like how can
I spend money to get a return, you need to
think of that way because money that sits in your
bank doesn't do anything like it just doesn't. And you
really want to provide for economy because if you're growing,
(25:35):
then you can hire more people and you contribute. So
the way I think about this is after giving myself
a salary or whatever I need to to pay for
the month, I always reinvested. I asked myself, if I
have an extra, let's just say two right this month,
how can I reinvest it into myself? If it's a business,
it's a business or my YouTube channel, to get maybe three,
(25:55):
like what is the return? And when you think that way,
you start to realize that spending moneys on a bad thing.
I really think it's actually a great thing, especially for
supporting a business or a freelancer. And I think it's
so good to circulate money because that's it's going to
help other people. So other than saving, ask yourself, what
can I spend today that will allow me to have
a positive or return on the investment positive future? And
(26:19):
for me, I'll give you guys examples because I know
it's pretty hard to imagine, but so you have an extra,
just say a hunter bucks right, Imagine you buy with
that money a microphone that will help you post once
a week on a podcast that will earn revenue like
fifty bucks an episode or something. So it's just super
important where even if you can't quantify it, just guess
and try it out and you're gonna soon realize that
you're gonna have more and more cash that goes around
(26:40):
not just to you, but to other people. And I
think the most gratifying things not just having money, but
it's literally giving back, Like I think that's what's really
fun for me. It's like I am more risk averse
where I don't save that much compared to my maybe
other peers, but um, I think it's super gratifying to
to help others. I love your approach to money because
I'm the same way. Even before I had my physical
(27:03):
product business, which obviously takes a lot of money to
start and to run, I would just want to spend
my money in high school on books and resources and
going to workshops and events where I could learn more
trade and digital skills, whether it be how to edit
better or just how to manage your time. I think
that's a great point. And especially with the stage the
economy is in, obviously you want to save for that
(27:24):
rainy day. I also save, and I think that's a
great base. But then also investing in places and people
that you believe in is really how you can manage
your money and take control and have an input in
our economy. And so I'm so glad you brought it
up and said, yes, saving money is important, but also
what's powerful is knowing where to spend and to spend
(27:45):
on yourself, meaning investing in yourself and in your future. Totally, Like,
I think that what I've been doing recently is just
realizing that, like the whole point of a business is
not too okay, it is to make money, right, but
it's genuinely to circulate money. That's like the whole key
circulating capital. So I love that we're on the same
page as I remember, like my friend he's he's a freelancer,
(28:08):
but he he like makes let's just say a thou
ten tho dollars a month, right, and he puts it
into saving all of it into savings account and then
throughout the week he won't take anything out, and we'll
like he will basically be like, Okay, J broke, I'm like, dude,
what's the one this? So I have different spectrums and
it's totally fun if you do that. I think what
I really find amazing is not just spending money, but
(28:28):
it's it's genuinely like being able to have the cash
that you can help someone or buy product like Hannah,
maybe from other suppliers, and it's it's just great to
to contribute exactly. And do you have any resources you
love for managing money, any apps or websites that you use.
So I recommend an app called Zero, But it's really
(28:49):
hard to manage as I hate tracking stuff. So I
got a bookkeeper, so that's what really helpful. But if
you're looking for a good money management software, Zero is
a bookkeeping software that helps you easily track your books
and expensive. Is what I actually want to talk about
is my friends company. This is just because I like
supporting smaller businesses and startups because I feel like there's
a or pie to go around there. My friend has
(29:09):
a company called Carrot. It's tricaret dot com and they
are a credit card company for influencers. So instead of
taking your FICO scored, I look at your social media
following and I love that so much. For maybe because
you know, me and Hannah started at like freaking twelve,
you can't get a credit card at twelve or nine, right,
So my friends company called Carrot, we're partnering them up
with them on some projects in the future. But I
(29:31):
have seen a lot of companies actually start to make
products for influencers, specifically in this economy. One of them's Carrot.
So if you're someone who needs a credit card but
you are too young or your FICO score is not there,
try Carrett. So that's a little bit about my two recommendations.
I love that concept. I will definitely be checking them out.
And I'd love to know since you didn't take the
normal college route, Um, do you feel like not going
(29:53):
to college and not taking the normal student route has
helped you save or lose money or how has it
affected your finances? Yeah, so I didn't have money to
begin with, Like, like to be honest, like I wanted
to go the University of Southern California, Like my my
guy went to there, my family went there, Like it
was just a dream school. It's a nice school but expensive.
So if I had the money to pay for it,
(30:15):
I totally would go there. I just didn't when I
was like sixteen. My parents just didn't have the money.
So to answer a question, yeah, I saved a lot
of money. Like we we didn't have the money to
begin with. Now looking back, like there's a couple of
experiences when that are priceless, right, like having a college
experience having friends in college, being a normal teenager and
feeling like you are not growing up too fast, and
(30:36):
that's priceless to me. And I don't have that. I
don't have that still, and that is something that I
question a lot, because sometimes I wonder if I grew
up too fast because I dropped out of school at sixteen,
so not only did I leave high school but part
of my college high school and college experience as well,
So that I'm not sure about. But I definitely save
money a short term. It's just a matter of like,
(30:58):
is Jade personally had you with that decision? Um? And
I think I am. It's just like it's just sometimes
I do wonder, like, hmm, what would life be like
if I was going this route? But I I do
realize that, like my my social circle might not look
the same in a college hemisphere, but I have online
friends like Hala and other people. But it's just different, right.
So that's kind of my take on it. M hm.
(31:19):
And I'm so glad you share your story because I
think having different narratives that different people can relate to
in content creators and influencers is so important, and so
I love that you're open about the fact that you
stopped in high school and you decided to venture into entrepreneurship.
But finally, I would love to know a little bit
about your thoughts on the consumer power of gen Z.
(31:41):
Since you help businesses market to gen Z, what do
you find the buying habits are for our generation? Good question.
So it's hard to say because depending on the area
and you know the financial situation, it's different. But this
is kind of my analysis. So the funny thing is,
if you were to tell me six months ago this question,
(32:01):
I would have a completely different answer. Back the beginning
of this year is working on a company called eat
Like with a few other investors and partners. But it
was as food subscription company where people can eat like
their favorite influencers. Really fun project. Don't work on that anymore.
But the reason why it's like our entire marketing tragedy
was marketing to gen Z. So gen Z really, at
the end of the day values either cost or experience.
(32:25):
And let me explain. So we were selling the food boxes, right,
what we realized is we either have two options. We
can get a consumer to buy based on low cost
ten dollars a month. Right, you get to feel are
worth of snacks, great greade buy and people bought that immediately,
Like we got a lot of conversions. The other way
you can do it is by experience. Say it's a
fifty dollar box right, like that doesn't make sense for
a kid, but they value the Artesian factor. There's a
(32:48):
story behind it, or the influencer handcraft at the box,
or there's just a nice message. Consumers will buy right
because it has status, it has experience and a little
bit of luxury. And what I realized is you don't
have to play in the Amazon economy where you're trying
to just be the cheapest product. And reported to me
in a survey that they get around eleven to twenty
packages a quarter from online. So it just shows you
(33:11):
that there's huge purchasing power in gen Z. Most of
it will be cheap products right from Amazon or like
contest Poli or just like kind of like you know,
big fast fashion names, which is unfortunate, but they do
still spend many on our teesian products. Like the other day,
my friend told me that she bought like a seven
longboard and I was a primer based on the product
or situation, but it does mean if you're a luxury
(33:33):
product or you're more expensive, you still can market. It's
all about how are you telling that story, how are
you utilizing influencers or people that have trust already built up,
and how are you being flexible Because for Eat, like specifically,
we have to literally go back and forth on being
the cheap product or a comedy product and then the
luxury issue product, and we still have to find that
middle balance. So I think you're gonna if your company
(33:55):
or you're trying to undertag gen Z, just try to
create two different products, experiment and you'll get your answer.
That absolutely. And I believe what sets gen Z apart
from younger generations in the past is that so many
of us are already in the workforce, like you and
me being self employed or students getting more jobs in college.
And obviously with the influencer economy, people can start making
(34:17):
money at age fifteen or maybe even younger. So that's
good point. Yeah, like you said, gen Z has money
to spend, and it's just deciphering if they want to
go maybe it's more cheap route with your product, or
if you have a story, or you give back or
there's a sustainability aspect, then we are willing to pay
a little bit more of a premium. Like I'm sorry,
(34:39):
but like I remember, like these bracelets called like Loci bracelets,
not to shoot on them because they're their their company
is doing well. I know their founder, but I mean,
like every kid bought that bracelet. It was like a
twenty dollar bracelet. But if you were to ask gen
Z what the mindset of like, oh, they're broke, Like no,
they don't value the story behind it. It's a simple bracelet.
(34:59):
But because there's a story where there's a branding around it,
it's valuable. So you make a good point Canada, like
most chen's years, um at least maybe in my circle
are working. So that's a huge change because you remember,
like ten years ago you have to graduate high school
or college first before you can get a job. So
you make a really good point there that like there's
nine year olds or fifteen year olds making money on
(35:20):
TikTok and that's really interesting now because it had never
happened before. Yes, and I definitely had one of those
bracelets along with my brother, like maybe same. Well. I
love talking money and career with you, Jade, but sadly
we will have to wrap up. But I would love
to know what projects you are currently working on and
(35:40):
where our listeners can find you. Guys, thank you so
much for listening. Hannah has been a pleasure. If you
guys want to find me UM, I'm actually hosting a
virtual event for anything content creation, financial and UM and
I have YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, Twitter. Feel free to
reach out there. Yes, you'll have all your links in
these show notes because she provides great content all the
(36:03):
time and it's definitely resourceful. So thank you again, Jade Hannah.
That was an amazing interview with Jade. I wish I
was there, but I still do have a takeaway, and
it's that if you have an idea, sometimes the best
move is to just jump on it. Don't fall into
analysis paralysis and overthink it to the point that it
(36:25):
stops you from acting at all. Some of the best
things in my life have come from just acting on
a whim and letting my enthusiasm guide the way. For example,
I used to talk to a mirror and one day
I tried talking to a camera and look where we
are now making YouTube videos. I also used to design
and code my blog on Tumbler when I was eleven
because I wanted rainbow cursors and now I'm an information
(36:48):
science major at Cornell University studying product design and web
and app development. So stay in tune with your childhood
hobbies because they can reveal a lot about your interests.
That makes me so happy to hear about your childhood
to get you to where you are now. But my
takeaway would be to look out for opportunities to make,
(37:10):
save or invest money. Jade said she started many companies
from accidents, and I would relate to that, but this
applies not just for entrepreneurs starting companies. Like seriously, if
you're around a family friend and they're looking for a
babysitter and you have some free weekends offered a babysit,
there are opportunities everywhere for you to generate income, and
I think just growing awareness to look out for those
(37:32):
opportunities is so important. M yea. As always, you can
keep in touch with us on Instagram. I'm Katie and
you can find me at Aloha Katie X. And I'm Hannah.
You can find me at Miss Hannah Ashton. The Secret
Syllabus was created by the Female Quotient in partnership with
I Heart Media and co produced by the Female Quotion
and Wonder Media Network. The Female Quotation is committed to
(37:55):
advancing equality and elevating women from college campuses to the
corner office. You can find out more at www dot
the Female Coaching dot com. See you AfterClass by H
Hello everyone, Hi, Welcome back to The Secret Syllabus podcast.
The Secret Syllabus is a production of The Female Quotient
and I Heart Radio and co produced by the Female
Quotient and Wonder Media Network. I'm Katie Tracy and I'm
Hannah Ashton and this episode is about money. We know
there is the stereotype of a broke college student, but
(00:28):
I know for us, Katie and I, we started making
money off our YouTube channels in our early teens and
how to start thinking about money and managing it and
making it pretty young? Yes, we did. Hannah and I
met online when we were thirteen, and I think at
the same time we both started using ad sens on Google,
which allowed us to put ads on our videos and
gained some money from it. But actually, what people don't
(00:50):
know is before that, another way I earned money was
as a freelance designer. So I had a phone case
collection with a phone case company based in l A
and I would design for them and for every phone
case I sold, I would get commission out of it.
But what about you, Hannah, what was your early adventure Like? Yeah, so,
like you said, making money with ad sense and then
(01:12):
going into brand sponsorships, making money through brand collaborations, and
then I have always been interested in having a business
outside of YouTube as well, and so I started just
by doing some YouTube consulting to viewers, helping them start
their own channels. I've done some in person like blogger
female Entrepreneur events, which have been super cool. And then
in t I launched my first e commerce physical product business,
(01:37):
which was my dream achieved workbook Planners. So I've always
kind of loved talking about money, talking about finances, talking
about making money. UM, but I know that's not the
narrative for everyone. So what have you felt like has
been the relationship between you and money? Katie? This is
such a good question because I feel like I had
a total different experience than you. So I am an
(01:59):
international student and I grew up in the Philippines. My
relationship with money was actually very shielded because in my culture,
at least my family would always take care of the money.
They would kind of try to shield me from the
truths of it, and I was just told to study
and work hard, and I didn't really learn as much
about it until I went to college in America, and
(02:22):
that's where I learned a totally different outlook towards money.
People were very financially independent. It was something they sought
to be, and in retrospect, I wish my family had
taught me more about it. But I'm also, of course
grateful that they wanted me to focus on my education
at that point. What about you, I'm thankful that money
(02:42):
and investing in saving was a conversation I had in
my family, and I'm thankful for that because I don't
think it's a conversation that's had enough in high school.
I know in a lot of high schools in America,
you take one semester of a like financial class, and
you just learn about the basics, but they don't really
tell you about how to act save each month, how
much money you should put in savings, like if you
(03:02):
should invest and where does that even happen, and how
to avoid maybe large interest loans like on things that
we're all paying for like student loans, and so it
can be very confusing, I know for young people out
there to learn. But that's why I love how we
can go online and find resources, and so through listening
to podcasts and reading books, I've learned a few different
tips on saving and making money. One tip that I
(03:26):
know is pretty common is the fifty thirty twenty rule,
which basically you divide up your after tax income and
you allocate of it to spend on your needs. So
if you're paying for rent, groceries, food, transportation, all of
that kind of things, and then thirty percent goes to
your wants, so whatever you want to spend that month.
And then you're also saving, um, you know, for that
(03:49):
rainy day fun and hopefully building up a good savings
so that if anything happens, you do have some money
to lean on that you can pay for your daily expenses.
And although I am not this specific about out my
budgeting now, I do make sure to always say and
then I put about maybe five to ten percent in investment.
But what do you feel like the conversations you're having
(04:11):
on campus about money have been, Katie, since you said
it's different now that you've come to the States, so
many eye opening conversations about people's relationships with money. I
think the first one is in the States, I've noticed
a lot of people take out student loans. The debt
crisis is a pretty big thing that I've learned about.
A lot of students also do part time jobs, which
was something very different. Back home, it wasn't very common,
(04:34):
and there also weren't that many opportunities for for high
schoolers to work either. And a lot of my friends
love teaing or being a teacher assistant for classes because
they can get paid for teaching a concept they love.
And I also just want to add to what you
said about how some classes don't always teach everything, because
I'm actually taking a financial accounting class right now and
(04:55):
I am learning, though I definitely learned about the time
value money and how you know money today is not
worth the same as it is in the future, so
you're better off investing. You can use apps like robin
Hood or something else to buy shares of a company
and over time, hopefully if you choose well, they'll do
well and you'll get a higher return on your money
(05:16):
without having to do anything. And I've been finding it
really fascinating with how you can make your money grow
without actively doing any work. Well, what you said about
investing is so great. I think that's something that a
lot of students aren't jumping into. And I know our
guests today does talk a little bit about making your
money work for you, but I know along with that
(05:36):
along with going into new ventures, new opportunities, maybe new investments,
it is also important to save and just understand where
your money is going every month. And I know also
as college students, though a lot of my friends you know,
are living paycheck to paycheck. It's your part time job
is just covering the expenses you need to live. So
one app that I have used before is called Acorns,
(05:57):
and this is a great simple way to start je
saving a little bit of money each month. And so
what it does is it actually rounds up all your
transactions so you safely connect it to your debit card
or your bank. And so if you paid five dollars
and fifty cents for something, it will round up the
transaction to six dollars and take that extra fifty cents
and put it into a separate account. So you can
(06:17):
make that separate account your savings. And so you're saving
money without really even thinking about it. That's an easy
way to like get started, not think about the fact
that you're actually saving money, um, and it will be
you know, a nice surprise at the end of the
month to see that savings grow. And then one other
app that I actually do use daily is called the
empower budgeting app, and I love this because it gives
me notifications every time I have a transaction, so I
(06:39):
can make sure that all my transactions are going through safely.
And it also gives you little graphs of like how
much of your money you're putting towards food, how much
you're doing and shopping and all these types of things,
So it helps me know where my money is going.
And I think if you just start tracking where you're spending,
where you're saving, just do that to start so you
kind of have an under standing, it'll make you feel
(07:01):
a lot more empowered and encouraged maybe in your finances
and knowing knowing what's what's happening. But do you have
any other last tips yourself? Yes, that is so good,
just to echo, I completely agree with saving. That's really
all I do with my own earnings with YouTube or sponsorships,
I just save them. I'm looking into investing them right now,
but for the most part, I just save and try
(07:23):
to avoid consumer culture because Loki, when I was in college,
I bought a lot of things I didn't need, Like
did I really need that misdiff user? Not really, Like yes,
it was Black Friday, but you know, I just also
cut a lot of the platforms that we're telling me
I needed this and that, and I realized that I
really don't need a lot of these things. And especially
(07:44):
during COVID, I've realized what really matters has been the people.
So I think also surrounding yourself with the things that
you really love will help you or could help you
make better financial decisions as well. And I think this
episode is so inspiring to anyone looking to have a
better relationship with money. Also, guys, I have to apologize
(08:04):
I sadly could not join this interview. It was at
two am my time, and I don't really function well
at that time. But I know you guys will love
this interview. Hannah did an amazing job. And Hannah, do
tell us about our guest today? Yes, our guest is
jay Darma Wanza, who is an entrepreneur and digital strategist.
She quit high school to start her own online business
(08:26):
and with over two d and ninety thousand followers, her
personal brand focuses on social media growth and motivation. I
loved interviewing Jade because we have been online friends for
I would say four years now, and I've gotten to
see her grow and change and just help so many
people with her content and businesses. And I know you
guys will all love her. So let's get into the episode.
(08:46):
Let's go. Hey, Jade, welcome to the show. Hi, Hannah,
thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited.
Of course, I love talking with you, and I love
how our stories are so similar, even though we live
across the country and I've never met in person. You
started your YouTube channel at nine years old by turning
(09:07):
videos of you playing with dolls into YouTube films. From there,
you transformed into an e commerce business. And how has
starting an e commerce business at such a young age
shaped your view and approach to entrepreneurship. Yeah, I think
that my view of entrepreneurship since I was nine has
changed quite a bit. I think the main thing is,
(09:28):
I think what really stuck out to me is a
lot of people think selling e commerce is all about,
you know, getting revenue, It's all about like the strategy.
But when you're a kid, you don't think that way, right.
You think in a way of like what would be
fun to do, like what will be nice to have?
And I think when I was making doll videos on YouTube,
I knew that like, all I wanted to provide for
my audience was a way for them to have that
same experience and dolls. So that's how I came up
(09:50):
with the product. I feel like sometimes now when I'm older,
I overthink things, honestly, and I think about the overall
strategy of what's going to be more profitable. And I
think the main difference for now and like ten years
ago is just the freedom and creativity that comes when
you're just a kid. For sure, I definitely experienced that too,
and so I would love for you to tell us
a bit about what it is you do now ten
(10:12):
years later. Wow, okay, so I was just realizing this.
How long have you been on YouTube, Hannah? About ten years?
Oh my gosh, Wait, when was your first video uploaded?
It was an American girl all video? And I would say,
I know, we're so similar. I would say, yeah, round
two thousand nine. Same two was when I uploaded my
(10:33):
first video. My video was like a little pet shop video.
Do you know what that is? Yes? I love those two. Okay,
So ten years later almost eleven actually, which sounds so weird.
Most of the videos I make are marketing and business related.
I'm the founder of a company called X eight Media.
We produce educational videos in the tech industry. So essentially
we partner up with brands to launch their YouTube strategy
(10:56):
and we also have a production arm in set the
company to produce like actual videos. So that's what we
do right now. In addition, in my own personal brand,
I do like flogs and everything in entrepreneurship similar to Hannah.
So that's what I do today. Yes, so you're nineteen
years old right now. Like you said, you create YouTube
videos and you make a lot of content centered on practical,
honest advice and how to make money from YouTube and
(11:19):
from videos. I love some of your YouTube videos titled
how to make three thousand dollars a month without a degree.
You also talk about your six streams of income and
how you make money at eighteen. So who would you
say is your audience on YouTube and how would you
explain your brand on there? I would say my audience
on YouTube are people who either make content or are
(11:40):
like solo preneurs. I think that another makeup of my
audience are people who don't want the traditional maybe nine
to five and the content I make over there just
centered everything around how to grow as a person on
social and also how to grow financially. So I think
the common thing we all have in common is trying
to be the best version of ourselves. Yes, I love
(12:00):
how your content is so valuable, but it's also has
great cinematography and you put a lot of dedication into
your quality, and you've even done some short films. Can
you tell us a little bit about the short film
you did titled Create with the Purpose where you talk
about the influencer economy? Yeah? Um, so I have this
(12:20):
side of me that's still in two thousand nine making
little pet shop videos. But I know, like if Hannah
and I dropped doll, video would not do so well.
So you know, my way to compensate that is creating
short films about serious topics with cinematography. So that video
was made a year ago, and I honestly I was
(12:41):
pretty angry like that, but he was actually made out
of anger because whenever I have a pressing topic, I
always make content out of it. Like sometimes I know
how a lot of contentators feel like we have to
post every Friday just to post, but I really have
a reversed approach where I've done that and it doesn't
work well. So This video was not even made out
of like, oh I got a post on Friday type thing.
It's more like I was so passionate about this topic.
(13:04):
So essentially the idea was I think that for any
contemplator trying to grow on social media, the number one
question that everyone asks is how to grow, and the
more universal advice is to find a niche or to
pick a spot. And I got really angry with that
because I personally struggled with that, like if I picked
a niche from two thousand and nine until now, I
(13:24):
would be still making little pet shop videos. And I
didn't like being placed in the bubble, not just on YouTube,
but in in school, or I don't like being told
what to do. So that video was basically a short
two minute video about how I was actually pretty angry
about that advice and how people should just be themselves.
If you are an influencer, you don't need to be
(13:44):
something just sort of sake of views, like genuinely post something,
even if it's outside your niche or a bubble. And
I was also watching a movie called Alita Battle Angel
at that time, so a lot of the tracks were
inspired by that. So that's how that video came to
be that's great. I definitely you have seen that in
my story as well, as I started out with the
doll content, then went to beauty and fashion, and now
(14:05):
I am in college and focusing on entrepreneurship content. And
I think that the idea of the niche is so
pushed by online marketers and people telling you to grow
your content. But I would love to know what advice
you would give to budding creators who are trying to
figure out how to create long term and sustainable content
but not be stuck in that bubble or niche. I
(14:26):
think there's a time and place for niche. I think
technically I have a niche. It's just more of like
in the very beginning, you want to date a lot
of people before you marry someone. So I think it's experimenting.
So my best advice is to make a hunter videos
and they're gonna suck, and you have to be able
to publish, not make it perfect. And I think that's
the first start, right like if your YouTube and that's okay, Jay,
(14:48):
I've been making videos for three or four years. I've experimented.
I still have a found traction. A lot of the
things I have to say, with that is about mending
ideas together. So say you are making a Hunter ideas,
but you're being pretty risk adverse with it. You're combining
two trends together to create a new one, and I
think that's really the key. I think the real key
with YouTube is experimenting. And once you figure out what
works a k a. What the audience likes, and maybe
(15:11):
what's getting views, but also what you enjoy, then you
can kind of milk that series. But a lot of
people I feel I don't want to experiment because there's
a lot of pressure in your first Hunter videos to
make it right. So I think the best way to
go bad it is two things. Remove that pressure. Like
my first a hundred videos sucked and that was a
part of the process. So just have the expectation that
(15:32):
you might not grow and there's a hundred videos, but
you're going to learn a lot. And the second thing
with that is is really to express yourself and mend
new ideas together. So you can at least mesh two
trends together, but still at your spin on it. And
I know there's a lot with my content. Whenever I
see a trend, like for example, a lot of people
are doing financial videos, but not a lot of people
mended it together with cool animation and cinematics. There's so
(15:54):
many ways to do this, and that work gives you
endless content ideas as well. That's great A scent agree
with those top two tips. You've said previously that a
part of your decision to make a YouTube channel was
because of your dad's advice. And around that time there
was the two tho financial crisis. I know we were
only seven or eight at that time, but what do
(16:17):
you remember about that time and how, if any, has
it reminded you of the current economic crisis and pandemic
were in? Oh my gosh, I was so young. So
the main thing that I remembered was my dad had
a software company and in thousand and eight it did
go bankrupt. Like I didn't know what was going on.
I think my dad tried to shelter me from the information,
(16:39):
but it's pretty obvious. We moved from l A to like, Texas,
and then from Texas to Oregon, so we moved around
a bit, and I think because of that shift, I
didn't have so many friends, Like I was moving every
so often, and I had no friends circle that was consistent.
So the only thing I could talk to was a camera.
So honestly, that's how YouTube actually came about, was out
of my frequent moves and how it writes me to
(17:01):
this kind of current crisis slash pandemic. Okay, first of all,
I was actually talking to a financial advisor. It's like
a completely different situation if you guys want to go
technical to thousand eight, it was a housing crisis. This
is a obviously viral sickness that's spreading. So because of that,
the America is affected in different ways because in the
in the thousand eight market, it was more of like
trust with housing and banks, and then this one's more
(17:23):
just like trust between peers and our friendships and each other.
So because of this, it reminds me in a way
of like every crisis actually is the opportunity to get better, because,
for example, you know in right now, a lot of
companies maybe couldn't avoid a lot of problems they had
before were now they're really forced to be at home
and sit down and like face these problems. I'm sure
all of us who don't have companies are facing maybe
(17:44):
ourselves right So honestly, there's always an opportunity. I think
my dad saw an opportunity from the crisis to basically
use the time that he didn't have the big company
to work on to work on himself, and same with
this one, like this is a lot of time for
people to make content, to experiment with new things they
had in before, because you don't have pressure from seeing
your friends maybe every day, so you're doing things out
(18:05):
of your element. So at the core the economically it's
different because it's induced in different ways. But I think
the effects sort of saying people are facing themselves and
getting better or as I hope they're getting better, and
I think it's a great opportunity to take a crisis
into something good. I'm glad you pointed out that there
is a difference two thou it was the housing crisis,
(18:25):
now it is a health crisis. But what I've thought
about through this time is how entrepreneurs are here to
solve problems, and with a crisis like the pandemic we're in,
more problems have a rose, and so there's more opportunity,
just like you said, to start a business or become
an entrepreneur and solve a problem that we're now facing
that we maybe didn't even think we would face eight
(18:46):
months ago, and so as you've had so much business
experience even being so young, I'd love to hear any
advice you have for people who want to create a
business during this time. Yeah, three industries, are you ready? Yes, healthcare, telecommunications,
and financial tech. Those are the three industries that are thriving.
(19:07):
Peril's kind of peril is kind of questionable right now,
but e commerce is doing well too. The reason why
I mentioned those three industries, it's because they're the ones
that are vcs or if for anyone who doesn't know,
venture capitalists or investors are really trying to put money
into Like it's pretty obvious, like social communications like this
meeting we're on Google Meets, is you know a product
(19:28):
and we need that. So more and more tech companies
are creating products to communicate similar to Instagram reals. People
are creating more social platforms or TikTok and stuff like that.
And fintech and healthcare are again pretty obvious as well.
Like healthcare, pretty obvious of financial tech is people really
want to use this time to be a bit more
financially stable because people are losing their jobs. And I
(19:49):
think if you really can see the pattern of these
problems in the industries and start businesses. In those, you'll
find a lot more success in finding customers who need
your product a k a. Generating revenue. Connors is doing
really really well too. I know, Hannah e commerce as well,
So maybe you can testify to this. But you know,
brick and mortars and physical locations are it was about
(20:09):
to go down anyways, but now it's there's no reason
not to. So um, it's a great time to sell
physical products. And I talked about like four categories, right.
I think the last thing that I would say is like, Okay, cool,
I know the category. How does that help me? I
think it's not about like just like diving into something
you don't know, right, Like you don't want to go
into financial tech if you don't know anything about the
financial or tech, right. But it's more about, like, say
(20:32):
you see a problem and you are in those industries,
you want to surround yourself with people that know more
than you. So say you're like not the best person
at healthcare, right, you don't know much about what's going on,
but you're passionate about solving this problem about people getting better,
And maybe you send yourself with three people one person
is a doctor, another person is a patient, and the
other person build software. Just about being around those people
(20:53):
and over time just listening and having conversations. I really
believe that's the best way to start a business because
you're not going to build a mountain without a team.
And I really believe, honestly, all the companies have started
over on accident. I never started a company was like Okay,
for example, for X eight medium, the content we produced
for tech companies was literally someone emailed me it was like,
(21:15):
do you do this type of service creating educational content
for a platform? And I'm like, um, maybe, And then
I was interfering them more and more and more. Brands
and everyone of these tech companies have the same problem.
For example, for them, they had a trouble explaining their
complex product to the everyday person. So YouTube and social
media is a great way to make it more relatable.
So essentially, I think a lot of starting a business
(21:38):
and a lot of people force it is a lot
of accidents. It's like I think, I'm curious. It starts
with surrounding yourself with the right people, and if you
want to do it right, I would start in the
right industries. So make sure maybe you don't start a
physical business obviously in the middle of pandemic. So those
are like the three elements i'd say, um, and it's
all pretty organic, like if you go into the mindset
of the vision, you know, it's kind of like a baby.
(21:59):
Like the best analogy I have is like you could
have the best vision for your child, like you want
them to be a dancer or a football player, you
want them to be super smart, but the baby doesn't
want to be any of those things, you're kind of screwed.
So it's kind of like going with an open mind
and cheating out company like a child. That's a great
a great analogy, and definitely just paying attention to what
(22:20):
that child needs and once and also that being your
customer too, because as an entrepreneur, you know you're not
just working for yourself, you are working for your customer.
And I think that, like you said, there's a lot
of opportunity for people to see what's what's needed in
the market. Totally, as a young entrepreneur, specifically as a
young woman of color, have there been moments where people
(22:42):
haven't taken you or your work seriously? And how do
you deal with that? If you've come across it, I
think so I think, um, I think it's more age,
but also kind of being Asian American and growing up
in a very predominantly male industry, especially with entrepreneurship right
like what is it like two percent of female founders
are being funded right now? There's definitely moments where I
(23:04):
think I walked into into conference, like I was a
speaker at this conference, and this dude BLUs his soul,
but like, what the heck? He was like, Oh, why
are you here? And I didn't say I was speaking,
and I just said, like I just basically said like
I got invited by a friend, because like that's actually
how it went. And then he was like, oh cute
for like a little modeling gig, and I was like what,
(23:27):
And like there's instances where I'm like, are you not
self aware or just like I don't even know. So
there's instances where people don't take me seriously because I'm
not taking seriously. I'm not able to answer in clients
for my company, and I think it's a part of
the process, like I try my best not to take
it personally and understand that when you are trying to
serve a need or a problem in the industry, You're
(23:47):
gonna get pushed back, and it's a part of the process.
So I definitely received that tension and pushed back, and
it's very uncomfortable in the beginning. I'm sure I actually
got mistaken. I was speaking at an event when I
was eighteen so senior in high school, and I was
like going into the room before I was about to
speak to kind of feel it out and check out
the stage, and I just kept getting asked, why are
(24:09):
you back here as an attendee' not supposed to be
back here. I'm like, no, I'm actually speaking, so similar situation.
For sure, it can be tough navigating a career space
when you're in your teens. Yeah, that's so funny. So
now that we've talked about ways to make money, what
are your thoughts on saving money as a gen z Okay.
(24:30):
I do two things. So I obviously like I think
this is you can set us easily up in your
bank account. But any income I have I put into
savings account. I don't put a lot. I'm risking first,
so I only put I know some people put like
fifty I know some people put a hundred percent and
they take like a dollar. I use my cash because
I have a team, so I paid them directly and
I reinvest everything I have. But I do do a
(24:52):
savings I used to not do that, and I don't
know why. So that's what I've implemented. So when it
comes to saving money, matter what save of what you make,
you can even if you don't even have the self control,
you can add it in your bank account as an
automated sequence. Now, the second thing I think is most important,
This is my take. I genuinely don't believe saving capital
is there's a there's a point where it's not very
(25:15):
efficient unless you're saving up for like a house or
something bigger than that's that's not another story. But like
a lot of people save money just to save money,
and I don't understand why. Because if you're an entrepreneur
and you think in a way of like how can
I spend money to get a return, you need to
think of that way because money that sits in your
bank doesn't do anything like it just doesn't. And you
really want to provide for economy because if you're growing,
(25:35):
then you can hire more people and you contribute. So
the way I think about this is after giving myself
a salary or whatever I need to to pay for
the month, I always reinvested. I asked myself, if I
have an extra, let's just say two right this month,
how can I reinvest it into myself? If it's a business,
it's a business or my YouTube channel, to get maybe three,
(25:55):
like what is the return? And when you think that way,
you start to realize that spending moneys on a bad thing.
I really think it's actually a great thing, especially for
supporting a business or a freelancer. And I think it's
so good to circulate money because that's it's going to
help other people. So other than saving, ask yourself, what
can I spend today that will allow me to have
a positive or return on the investment positive future? And
(26:19):
for me, I'll give you guys examples because I know
it's pretty hard to imagine, but so you have an extra,
just say a hunter bucks right, Imagine you buy with
that money a microphone that will help you post once
a week on a podcast that will earn revenue like
fifty bucks an episode or something. So it's just super
important where even if you can't quantify it, just guess
and try it out and you're gonna soon realize that
you're gonna have more and more cash that goes around
(26:40):
not just to you, but to other people. And I
think the most gratifying things not just having money, but
it's literally giving back, Like I think that's what's really
fun for me. It's like I am more risk averse
where I don't save that much compared to my maybe
other peers, but um, I think it's super gratifying to
to help others. I love your approach to money because
I'm the same way. Even before I had my physical
(27:03):
product business, which obviously takes a lot of money to
start and to run, I would just want to spend
my money in high school on books and resources and
going to workshops and events where I could learn more
trade and digital skills, whether it be how to edit
better or just how to manage your time. I think
that's a great point. And especially with the stage the
economy is in, obviously you want to save for that
(27:24):
rainy day. I also save, and I think that's a
great base. But then also investing in places and people
that you believe in is really how you can manage
your money and take control and have an input in
our economy. And so I'm so glad you brought it
up and said, yes, saving money is important, but also
what's powerful is knowing where to spend and to spend
(27:45):
on yourself, meaning investing in yourself and in your future. Totally, Like,
I think that what I've been doing recently is just
realizing that, like the whole point of a business is
not too okay, it is to make money, right, but
it's genuinely to circulate money. That's like the whole key
circulating capital. So I love that we're on the same
page as I remember, like my friend he's he's a freelancer,
(28:08):
but he he like makes let's just say a thou
ten tho dollars a month, right, and he puts it
into saving all of it into savings account and then
throughout the week he won't take anything out, and we'll
like he will basically be like, Okay, J broke, I'm like, dude,
what's the one this? So I have different spectrums and
it's totally fun if you do that. I think what
I really find amazing is not just spending money, but
(28:28):
it's it's genuinely like being able to have the cash
that you can help someone or buy product like Hannah,
maybe from other suppliers, and it's it's just great to
to contribute exactly. And do you have any resources you
love for managing money, any apps or websites that you use.
So I recommend an app called Zero, But it's really
(28:49):
hard to manage as I hate tracking stuff. So I
got a bookkeeper, so that's what really helpful. But if
you're looking for a good money management software, Zero is
a bookkeeping software that helps you easily track your books
and expensive. Is what I actually want to talk about
is my friends company. This is just because I like
supporting smaller businesses and startups because I feel like there's
a or pie to go around there. My friend has
(29:09):
a company called Carrot. It's tricaret dot com and they
are a credit card company for influencers. So instead of
taking your FICO scored, I look at your social media
following and I love that so much. For maybe because
you know, me and Hannah started at like freaking twelve,
you can't get a credit card at twelve or nine, right,
So my friends company called Carrot, we're partnering them up
with them on some projects in the future. But I
(29:31):
have seen a lot of companies actually start to make
products for influencers, specifically in this economy. One of them's Carrot.
So if you're someone who needs a credit card but
you are too young or your FICO score is not there,
try Carrett. So that's a little bit about my two recommendations.
I love that concept. I will definitely be checking them out.
And I'd love to know since you didn't take the
normal college route, Um, do you feel like not going
(29:53):
to college and not taking the normal student route has
helped you save or lose money or how has it
affected your finances? Yeah, so I didn't have money to
begin with, Like, like to be honest, like I wanted
to go the University of Southern California, Like my my
guy went to there, my family went there, Like it
was just a dream school. It's a nice school but expensive.
So if I had the money to pay for it,
(30:15):
I totally would go there. I just didn't when I
was like sixteen. My parents just didn't have the money.
So to answer a question, yeah, I saved a lot
of money. Like we we didn't have the money to
begin with. Now looking back, like there's a couple of
experiences when that are priceless, right, like having a college
experience having friends in college, being a normal teenager and
feeling like you are not growing up too fast, and
(30:36):
that's priceless to me. And I don't have that. I
don't have that still, and that is something that I
question a lot, because sometimes I wonder if I grew
up too fast because I dropped out of school at sixteen,
so not only did I leave high school but part
of my college high school and college experience as well,
So that I'm not sure about. But I definitely save
money a short term. It's just a matter of like,
(30:58):
is Jade personally had you with that decision? Um? And
I think I am. It's just like it's just sometimes
I do wonder, like, hmm, what would life be like
if I was going this route? But I I do
realize that, like my my social circle might not look
the same in a college hemisphere, but I have online
friends like Hala and other people. But it's just different, right.
So that's kind of my take on it. M hm.
(31:19):
And I'm so glad you share your story because I
think having different narratives that different people can relate to
in content creators and influencers is so important, and so
I love that you're open about the fact that you
stopped in high school and you decided to venture into entrepreneurship.
But finally, I would love to know a little bit
about your thoughts on the consumer power of gen Z.
(31:41):
Since you help businesses market to gen Z, what do
you find the buying habits are for our generation? Good question.
So it's hard to say because depending on the area
and you know the financial situation, it's different. But this
is kind of my analysis. So the funny thing is,
if you were to tell me six months ago this question,
(32:01):
I would have a completely different answer. Back the beginning
of this year is working on a company called eat
Like with a few other investors and partners. But it
was as food subscription company where people can eat like
their favorite influencers. Really fun project. Don't work on that anymore.
But the reason why it's like our entire marketing tragedy
was marketing to gen Z. So gen Z really, at
the end of the day values either cost or experience.
(32:25):
And let me explain. So we were selling the food boxes, right,
what we realized is we either have two options. We
can get a consumer to buy based on low cost
ten dollars a month. Right, you get to feel are
worth of snacks, great greade buy and people bought that immediately,
Like we got a lot of conversions. The other way
you can do it is by experience. Say it's a
fifty dollar box right, like that doesn't make sense for
a kid, but they value the Artesian factor. There's a
(32:48):
story behind it, or the influencer handcraft at the box,
or there's just a nice message. Consumers will buy right
because it has status, it has experience and a little
bit of luxury. And what I realized is you don't
have to play in the Amazon economy where you're trying
to just be the cheapest product. And reported to me
in a survey that they get around eleven to twenty
packages a quarter from online. So it just shows you
(33:11):
that there's huge purchasing power in gen Z. Most of
it will be cheap products right from Amazon or like
contest Poli or just like kind of like you know,
big fast fashion names, which is unfortunate, but they do
still spend many on our teesian products. Like the other day,
my friend told me that she bought like a seven
longboard and I was a primer based on the product
or situation, but it does mean if you're a luxury
(33:33):
product or you're more expensive, you still can market. It's
all about how are you telling that story, how are
you utilizing influencers or people that have trust already built up,
and how are you being flexible Because for Eat, like specifically,
we have to literally go back and forth on being
the cheap product or a comedy product and then the
luxury issue product, and we still have to find that
middle balance. So I think you're gonna if your company
(33:55):
or you're trying to undertag gen Z, just try to
create two different products, experiment and you'll get your answer.
That absolutely. And I believe what sets gen Z apart
from younger generations in the past is that so many
of us are already in the workforce, like you and
me being self employed or students getting more jobs in college.
And obviously with the influencer economy, people can start making
(34:17):
money at age fifteen or maybe even younger. So that's
good point. Yeah, like you said, gen Z has money
to spend, and it's just deciphering if they want to
go maybe it's more cheap route with your product, or
if you have a story, or you give back or
there's a sustainability aspect, then we are willing to pay
a little bit more of a premium. Like I'm sorry,
(34:39):
but like I remember, like these bracelets called like Loci bracelets,
not to shoot on them because they're their their company
is doing well. I know their founder, but I mean,
like every kid bought that bracelet. It was like a
twenty dollar bracelet. But if you were to ask gen
Z what the mindset of like, oh, they're broke, Like no,
they don't value the story behind it. It's a simple bracelet.
(34:59):
But because there's a story where there's a branding around it,
it's valuable. So you make a good point Canada, like
most chen's years, um at least maybe in my circle
are working. So that's a huge change because you remember,
like ten years ago you have to graduate high school
or college first before you can get a job. So
you make a really good point there that like there's
nine year olds or fifteen year olds making money on
(35:20):
TikTok and that's really interesting now because it had never
happened before. Yes, and I definitely had one of those
bracelets along with my brother, like maybe same. Well. I
love talking money and career with you, Jade, but sadly
we will have to wrap up. But I would love
to know what projects you are currently working on and
(35:40):
where our listeners can find you. Guys, thank you so
much for listening. Hannah has been a pleasure. If you
guys want to find me UM, I'm actually hosting a
virtual event for anything content creation, financial and UM and
I have YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, Twitter. Feel free to
reach out there. Yes, you'll have all your links in
these show notes because she provides great content all the
(36:03):
time and it's definitely resourceful. So thank you again, Jade Hannah.
That was an amazing interview with Jade. I wish I
was there, but I still do have a takeaway, and
it's that if you have an idea, sometimes the best
move is to just jump on it. Don't fall into
analysis paralysis and overthink it to the point that it
(36:25):
stops you from acting at all. Some of the best
things in my life have come from just acting on
a whim and letting my enthusiasm guide the way. For example,
I used to talk to a mirror and one day
I tried talking to a camera and look where we
are now making YouTube videos. I also used to design
and code my blog on Tumbler when I was eleven
because I wanted rainbow cursors and now I'm an information
(36:48):
science major at Cornell University studying product design and web
and app development. So stay in tune with your childhood
hobbies because they can reveal a lot about your interests.
That makes me so happy to hear about your childhood
to get you to where you are now. But my
takeaway would be to look out for opportunities to make,
(37:10):
save or invest money. Jade said she started many companies
from accidents, and I would relate to that, but this
applies not just for entrepreneurs starting companies. Like seriously, if
you're around a family friend and they're looking for a
babysitter and you have some free weekends offered a babysit,
there are opportunities everywhere for you to generate income, and
I think just growing awareness to look out for those
(37:32):
opportunities is so important. M yea. As always, you can
keep in touch with us on Instagram. I'm Katie and
you can find me at Aloha Katie X. And I'm Hannah.
You can find me at Miss Hannah Ashton. The Secret
Syllabus was created by the Female Quotient in partnership with
I Heart Media and co produced by the Female Quotion
and Wonder Media Network. The Female Quotation is committed to
(37:55):
advancing equality and elevating women from college campuses to the
corner office. You can find out more at www dot
the Female Coaching dot com. See you AfterClass by H
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