July 22, 2025 • 8 mins
Amber Payton talks to Melissa Jean-Baptiste, a former NYC teacher turned personal finance expert who paid off $102K in student loans on a teacher’s salary.
Known as the “Beyoncé of personal finance,” she now helps millennials and Gen Z build wealth and confidence through accessible, shame-free financial education
Listen now!
Known as the “Beyoncé of personal finance,” she now helps millennials and Gen Z build wealth and confidence through accessible, shame-free financial education
Listen now!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So I'm here with Melissa Jean Baptiste. Now you are
known as the Beyonce of personal Finance. I am Okay,
tell me where that name came from.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Okay, So I am a first generation Haitian American. I
was a high school English teacher in New York City
for eleven years, and I paid off one hundred and
two thousand dollars in student loan debt on a teacher salary. Girl,
And in doing so, I started teaching people how to build
financial freedom, build generational wealth, how to level up in
their jobs, make more money, and so in doing so,
(00:29):
it was kind of like a jack of all trades,
a master of one specific thing. And that is how
the name Beyonce Personal Finance came to be.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
You have to tell me, now, how do you pay
off one hundred and two thousand dollars on a teacher salary?
Now before I before you answer, yes, we know how
much teachers, you know don't make. They most certainly don't
make enough. The level of patience that you have to have, yes,
with thirty different personalities in one classroom, and that's just
for one class.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Exactly if you teach, if you're in.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
High school or middle school and you have about four
classes a day, eight class, yes, and you got thirty
students and all different person out they are underpaid.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
It's when I'm getting in. I agree that all.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
So I actually leaned into being a teacher, and I
sold my lesson plans at unit plans as digital you know, sales,
and was making about ten thousand dollars a year, so
about eight hundred dollars a month, And each time I
would get that chi ching in my inbox, I would
send it towards my student long debt. So I capitalized
off of being a teacher, not making a lot, but
knowing a lot because I was the curriculum developer for
(01:32):
my school.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
What got you into personal finance?
Speaker 2 (01:35):
So I was interested to find out how everybody was
going to Thailand and Bali and all these things. Aund interested, Yeah,
I'm like, am I the only one who has to
do a loan debt who can't pay things? And so
I lead into the right type of writer, and I
created a screen of digital play like pre screenwriting, pretty
much talking about how I can't afford anything with my
(01:56):
student loans and just sharing my experiences. And my friends
and family were like, you know, you should turn this
into a web series and kind of like talk about
all of our funny stories because we're not talking about it.
It's just like it's a disillusion of everybody can fly
to Thailand, but you don't know they might be in
credit card debt, or their student loan payments might be
in default. Like we just don't know because we're not
having those conversations. And so I created the web series.
(02:18):
I include two seasons on YouTube, and that's where I
kind of leaned into teaching people out money of all
the things I learned about from my friends and family
and my own experiences, and that kind of like pushed
me into this avenue of okay, so no one knew
what they were doing, but now let me create this space,
this digital space where people will feel comfortable talking about budgeting,
talking about saving, and learning about investing. So that's that's
(02:41):
what landed me there pretty much is the mystique that
no one was talking about.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
So one thing that we know, we know that, like
we talked about teachers are underpaid, we know that the
black community is also underpaid. Yes, so in twenty twenty five,
we're all already being underpaid.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Inflation is a very weird thing.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
I've paid eight guys for a carton of eggs earlier
this year, Right, so how do we budget all of that?
How are we how do we save in an economy
where we're having to spend more than we ever had?
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yes, so I always tell people, So I didn't start
with this budget. This is just one budget style. But
I always talk about the zero based budget. And the
reason that I always talk about this is because you're
giving every single one of your dollars that comes into
your pocket a job, and you need to know how
much is going towards Uber Eats, You need to know
how much is going towards Netflix. These are things that
(03:31):
are just like silent killers to the budget where we
might not think about, Oh I spent you know, I
budget at three hundred dollars for groceries, but I actually
spent six hundred dollars, which has happened to me? Right,
I'll get to the end of the month. Wait, when
did I spend the extra two hundred dollars at Trader Joel?
Speaker 3 (03:46):
When did that happen?
Speaker 2 (03:48):
And so, going on this money date, which we'll talk
about a second, Going on a money date, sitting down
and doing the zero based budget where I allot every
single dollar into a specific category that helps me identify
if I'm under I'm over spending in a specific category,
or if I have the glorious gap, which is I
have extra money at the end of the month that
needs to go somewhere I need to either put into
(04:10):
savings or investing, but I need to know that that
amount exists, or.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
I'm kind of just moving blindly.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
And so I talk about this money date, which can
be uncomfortable, but you take yourself out on my date,
whether it's in a living room, your favorite diner, wherever
it is, and you look at every single dollar you've
spent for the month.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
You gotta do it.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
You look at every single dollar you spent for the month.
You look at every single dollar that came in. Right,
if it's your job, your side hustle, your freelance, or
whatever you're doing, you need to kind of see what's
coming in versus what's going out so that you can
really sit with that and understand your numbers, because if
you don't, it's just like I'm making an estimate. I
feel like I spent one hundred dollars, but I know
I didn't. I know I spent five hundred dollars so
(04:50):
money date zero based.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Budget as a part of I think I'm maybe one
of the treat yourself queens. Right, I get caught up
in the because it happens, right, you have a bad day,
you want a little retail therapy. That's and then five
hundred dollars later, Yes, you've treated yourself a little too much,
gone too far for the rest of them, So I
(05:12):
can So you know, looking at your budget can be uh,
it's intimidating, and then.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
It also you can feel a little shamed.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Yeah, you know, I remember, and all I love using
myself as an example because I never mind putting myself
out there. I was not always a cooker. I love
cooking now, right, what made me love cooking? I looked
at how much I spent on uber eats in one month.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
It'll wake you up. Eight it'll wake you up.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
And and the numbers sometimes are so shocking because you're like,
what did I even eat?
Speaker 3 (05:44):
What do we eat?
Speaker 1 (05:45):
And then they're like, do you know what else I
could have done with that eight hundred dollars?
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Exactly? Yeah, So it's that's what really helped me.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
So I say all that to say money dating, like
really facing what it is that you're spending.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Although it doesn't feel good right now, we'll feel good later. Correct.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
So what piece of advice do you have for the
person that's listening right now? And maybe they think they
think that they don't have the budget to be able
to save right now.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
So we always think like I don't have this, I
don't have that, which could be true right sometimes because
like you said, inflation, our salaries aren't keeping up. It
is very possible that it's just like I'm doing my best,
but the world is doing, you know, crazy. But if
you don't sit down and look at the numbers and
look at where you can kind of maneuver that money,
You're never gonna be able to get ahead, right And
so I always talk about side hustling is so important. Yes,
(06:35):
but am I side hustling to earn an extra hundred
dollars or am I side hustling to earn extra thousand dollars?
I need to know how much additional income I need
in order to maneuver my next month, or if I'm
trying to prepare for the holidays, which people I tell
people start preparing for the holidays in January right, start
putting money aside monthly so that when November December comes,
it's not shocked, and then you don't have credit card
(06:57):
debt kind of looming after the.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Holidays are over.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Oh, you really need to sit down on a month
to month's basis every month, even if it's like, oh,
I didn't do so great this month, that's okay, that's
all right, You're gonna do better next month. You sit
down with those numbers and you look at all right,
I don't make enough money to cover this particular I
don't either I'm gonna earn that extra income or I'm
gonna cut it out of my lifestyle. But that conversation
needs to happen because if we keep going with the
(07:21):
I see you or I think, we're never going to
get to where we want to be in the next year,
five years, of ten years.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
So what else are you working on?
Speaker 2 (07:29):
So right now I am working on the Accountability Group
launch for the fall, which is a twelve week program
that I do where I work with you and teach
you how to budget, how to save, how to invest,
all of those things, and I model it basically after
the twelve week year. And so twelve weeks is essentially
how much, especially when it comes of finances, how long
it takes you to really build that habit, build those
(07:49):
routines so that when the program's over where I'm like, okay,
you know you're on your own now, you're not feeling lost,
You're feeling like you already have that momentum to keep
going for the next twelve weeks, the next twelve weeks,
and the next thing, you know, a year's past and
you're investing, saving and budgeting in the way you want to.
So that's basically.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
What I'm working on.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
And you know, just making sure everyone is feeling comfortable
to be a future millionaire. That's that's always the premise,
the goal.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
That is always the goal.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
I know, well, where can they find you so that
they can start participating in the accountability But that's a
big words to accountability.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
I can't and it's I needed twelve weeks and it's live, right,
so we stay together for three months. So you can
find me on millennial indebt dot com or Millennial in
Debt on all social platforms.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
So thank you so much for talking with me today. Yes,
are you enjoying the conference?
Speaker 2 (08:35):
I am?
Speaker 3 (08:36):
I am loving it.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
I love the networking, all of the like black owned businesses.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
It is just a vibe. A vibe feels good to
be in a room full of us. Yeah, it definitely
does well.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
I hope you enjoy the rest of your time here
at the National. Thank you, You're welcome.
So I'm here with Melissa Jean Baptiste. Now you are
known as the Beyonce of personal Finance. I am Okay,
tell me where that name came from.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Okay, So I am a first generation Haitian American. I
was a high school English teacher in New York City
for eleven years, and I paid off one hundred and
two thousand dollars in student loan debt on a teacher salary. Girl,
And in doing so, I started teaching people how to build
financial freedom, build generational wealth, how to level up in
their jobs, make more money, and so in doing so,
(00:29):
it was kind of like a jack of all trades,
a master of one specific thing. And that is how
the name Beyonce Personal Finance came to be.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
You have to tell me, now, how do you pay
off one hundred and two thousand dollars on a teacher salary?
Now before I before you answer, yes, we know how
much teachers, you know don't make. They most certainly don't
make enough. The level of patience that you have to have, yes,
with thirty different personalities in one classroom, and that's just
for one class.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
Exactly if you teach, if you're in.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
High school or middle school and you have about four
classes a day, eight class, yes, and you got thirty
students and all different person out they are underpaid.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
It's when I'm getting in. I agree that all.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
So I actually leaned into being a teacher, and I
sold my lesson plans at unit plans as digital you know, sales,
and was making about ten thousand dollars a year, so
about eight hundred dollars a month, And each time I
would get that chi ching in my inbox, I would
send it towards my student long debt. So I capitalized
off of being a teacher, not making a lot, but
knowing a lot because I was the curriculum developer for
(01:32):
my school.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
What got you into personal finance?
Speaker 2 (01:35):
So I was interested to find out how everybody was
going to Thailand and Bali and all these things. Aund interested, Yeah,
I'm like, am I the only one who has to
do a loan debt who can't pay things? And so
I lead into the right type of writer, and I
created a screen of digital play like pre screenwriting, pretty
much talking about how I can't afford anything with my
(01:56):
student loans and just sharing my experiences. And my friends
and family were like, you know, you should turn this
into a web series and kind of like talk about
all of our funny stories because we're not talking about it.
It's just like it's a disillusion of everybody can fly
to Thailand, but you don't know they might be in
credit card debt, or their student loan payments might be
in default. Like we just don't know because we're not
having those conversations. And so I created the web series.
(02:18):
I include two seasons on YouTube, and that's where I
kind of leaned into teaching people out money of all
the things I learned about from my friends and family
and my own experiences, and that kind of like pushed
me into this avenue of okay, so no one knew
what they were doing, but now let me create this space,
this digital space where people will feel comfortable talking about budgeting,
talking about saving, and learning about investing. So that's that's
(02:41):
what landed me there pretty much is the mystique that
no one was talking about.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
So one thing that we know, we know that, like
we talked about teachers are underpaid, we know that the
black community is also underpaid. Yes, so in twenty twenty five,
we're all already being underpaid.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Inflation is a very weird thing.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
I've paid eight guys for a carton of eggs earlier
this year, Right, so how do we budget all of that?
How are we how do we save in an economy
where we're having to spend more than we ever had?
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yes, so I always tell people, So I didn't start
with this budget. This is just one budget style. But
I always talk about the zero based budget. And the
reason that I always talk about this is because you're
giving every single one of your dollars that comes into
your pocket a job, and you need to know how
much is going towards Uber Eats, You need to know
how much is going towards Netflix. These are things that
(03:31):
are just like silent killers to the budget where we
might not think about, Oh I spent you know, I
budget at three hundred dollars for groceries, but I actually
spent six hundred dollars, which has happened to me? Right,
I'll get to the end of the month. Wait, when
did I spend the extra two hundred dollars at Trader Joel?
Speaker 3 (03:46):
When did that happen?
Speaker 2 (03:48):
And so, going on this money date, which we'll talk
about a second, Going on a money date, sitting down
and doing the zero based budget where I allot every
single dollar into a specific category that helps me identify
if I'm under I'm over spending in a specific category,
or if I have the glorious gap, which is I
have extra money at the end of the month that
needs to go somewhere I need to either put into
(04:10):
savings or investing, but I need to know that that
amount exists, or.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
I'm kind of just moving blindly.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
And so I talk about this money date, which can
be uncomfortable, but you take yourself out on my date,
whether it's in a living room, your favorite diner, wherever
it is, and you look at every single dollar you've
spent for the month.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
You gotta do it.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
You look at every single dollar you spent for the month.
You look at every single dollar that came in. Right,
if it's your job, your side hustle, your freelance, or
whatever you're doing, you need to kind of see what's
coming in versus what's going out so that you can
really sit with that and understand your numbers, because if
you don't, it's just like I'm making an estimate. I
feel like I spent one hundred dollars, but I know
I didn't. I know I spent five hundred dollars so
(04:50):
money date zero based.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Budget as a part of I think I'm maybe one
of the treat yourself queens. Right, I get caught up
in the because it happens, right, you have a bad day,
you want a little retail therapy. That's and then five
hundred dollars later, Yes, you've treated yourself a little too much,
gone too far for the rest of them, So I
(05:12):
can So you know, looking at your budget can be uh,
it's intimidating, and then.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
It also you can feel a little shamed.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
Yeah, you know, I remember, and all I love using
myself as an example because I never mind putting myself
out there. I was not always a cooker. I love
cooking now, right, what made me love cooking? I looked
at how much I spent on uber eats in one month.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
It'll wake you up. Eight it'll wake you up.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
And and the numbers sometimes are so shocking because you're like,
what did I even eat?
Speaker 3 (05:44):
What do we eat?
Speaker 1 (05:45):
And then they're like, do you know what else I
could have done with that eight hundred dollars?
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Exactly? Yeah, So it's that's what really helped me.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
So I say all that to say money dating, like
really facing what it is that you're spending.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Although it doesn't feel good right now, we'll feel good later. Correct.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
So what piece of advice do you have for the
person that's listening right now? And maybe they think they
think that they don't have the budget to be able
to save right now.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
So we always think like I don't have this, I
don't have that, which could be true right sometimes because
like you said, inflation, our salaries aren't keeping up. It
is very possible that it's just like I'm doing my best,
but the world is doing, you know, crazy. But if
you don't sit down and look at the numbers and
look at where you can kind of maneuver that money,
You're never gonna be able to get ahead, right And
so I always talk about side hustling is so important. Yes,
(06:35):
but am I side hustling to earn an extra hundred
dollars or am I side hustling to earn extra thousand dollars?
I need to know how much additional income I need
in order to maneuver my next month, or if I'm
trying to prepare for the holidays, which people I tell
people start preparing for the holidays in January right, start
putting money aside monthly so that when November December comes,
it's not shocked, and then you don't have credit card
(06:57):
debt kind of looming after the.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
Holidays are over.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Oh, you really need to sit down on a month
to month's basis every month, even if it's like, oh,
I didn't do so great this month, that's okay, that's
all right, You're gonna do better next month. You sit
down with those numbers and you look at all right,
I don't make enough money to cover this particular I
don't either I'm gonna earn that extra income or I'm
gonna cut it out of my lifestyle. But that conversation
needs to happen because if we keep going with the
(07:21):
I see you or I think, we're never going to
get to where we want to be in the next year,
five years, of ten years.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
So what else are you working on?
Speaker 2 (07:29):
So right now I am working on the Accountability Group
launch for the fall, which is a twelve week program
that I do where I work with you and teach
you how to budget, how to save, how to invest,
all of those things, and I model it basically after
the twelve week year. And so twelve weeks is essentially
how much, especially when it comes of finances, how long
it takes you to really build that habit, build those
(07:49):
routines so that when the program's over where I'm like, okay,
you know you're on your own now, you're not feeling lost,
You're feeling like you already have that momentum to keep
going for the next twelve weeks, the next twelve weeks,
and the next thing, you know, a year's past and
you're investing, saving and budgeting in the way you want to.
So that's basically.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
What I'm working on.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
And you know, just making sure everyone is feeling comfortable
to be a future millionaire. That's that's always the premise,
the goal.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
That is always the goal.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
I know, well, where can they find you so that
they can start participating in the accountability But that's a
big words to accountability.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
I can't and it's I needed twelve weeks and it's live, right,
so we stay together for three months. So you can
find me on millennial indebt dot com or Millennial in
Debt on all social platforms.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
So thank you so much for talking with me today. Yes,
are you enjoying the conference?
Speaker 2 (08:35):
I am?
Speaker 3 (08:36):
I am loving it.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
I love the networking, all of the like black owned businesses.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
It is just a vibe. A vibe feels good to
be in a room full of us. Yeah, it definitely
does well.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
I hope you enjoy the rest of your time here
at the National. Thank you, You're welcome.
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