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Embark on a captivating journey into the realm of financial enlightenment with hosts Sherida and Afia, and their guest Matthew Gaul - a rising star in Guyana.
The hosts, Guyanese diasporans living in the United States, delve into Matthew's remarkable story—from his upbringing in Guyana to his role as a tax auditor, financial literacy advocate, and visionary leader shaping Guyana's financial landscape.
In this illuminating episode, Matthew shares his personal evolution from a finance student at the University of Guyana to the driving force behind the EconoME Business Conference and the insightful Common Cent$ Podcast. Explore the cultural influences that have shaped Guyanese attitudes towards money and witness the transformative impact of Matthew's initiatives on financial awareness across generations.
From navigating entrepreneurship to unraveling the intricacies of revenue and profit, this conversation delves deep into the fundamental principles of financial success. Matthew's infectious vision for the EconoME conference and his podcast transcends borders, aiming to ignite significant change on regional and global scales.
Join us for a thought-provoking discussion that challenges conventional financial norms and inspires action towards a brighter economic future. Whether you're in Guyana or anywhere else in the world, this episode promises to empower and uplift, equipping you to take control of your financial destiny, and will resonate with anyone aspiring to make a meaningful impact.
Check out Matthew and his platforms:
https://www.facebook.com/mngaul1
https://www.instagram.com/gaulbladder/
For more information about EconoME: https://www.instagram.com/econome_business/
For more information about the Common Cent$ podcast:
https://www.instagram.com/common_centsgy/
The hosts, Guyanese diasporans living in the United States, delve into Matthew's remarkable story—from his upbringing in Guyana to his role as a tax auditor, financial literacy advocate, and visionary leader shaping Guyana's financial landscape.
In this illuminating episode, Matthew shares his personal evolution from a finance student at the University of Guyana to the driving force behind the EconoME Business Conference and the insightful Common Cent$ Podcast. Explore the cultural influences that have shaped Guyanese attitudes towards money and witness the transformative impact of Matthew's initiatives on financial awareness across generations.
From navigating entrepreneurship to unraveling the intricacies of revenue and profit, this conversation delves deep into the fundamental principles of financial success. Matthew's infectious vision for the EconoME conference and his podcast transcends borders, aiming to ignite significant change on regional and global scales.
Join us for a thought-provoking discussion that challenges conventional financial norms and inspires action towards a brighter economic future. Whether you're in Guyana or anywhere else in the world, this episode promises to empower and uplift, equipping you to take control of your financial destiny, and will resonate with anyone aspiring to make a meaningful impact.
Check out Matthew and his platforms:
https://www.facebook.com/mngaul1
https://www.instagram.com/gaulbladder/
For more information about EconoME: https://www.instagram.com/econome_business/
For more information about the Common Cent$ podcast:
https://www.instagram.com/common_centsgy/
Follow us on ALL platforms @GOLDRUSHgy
https://www.instagram.com/goldrushgy/
https://www.facebook.com/GOLDRUSHgy/
Check out the GOLDRUSH website: https://goldrushgy.org/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
All right, welcome everyone.
We have a special guest here.
This is Matthew Gall.
He is a graduate of bothBishop's High School and
University of Guyana.
He is currently a tax auditorat Guyana Revenue Authority, as
well as the founder of EconomyBusiness Conference and Mixer.
(00:51):
He's also a digital contentcreator of Common Sense, which
is a podcast that's dedicated tohelping young people achieve
financial freedom and make wiserfinancial decisions, so it can
be viewed on all social mediaplatforms and will allow him to
introduce himself.
All right, matthew, pleaseintroduce yourself to the
audience.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Hi, good afternoon everyone.
As was previously mentioned, myname is Matthew Gwa and I'm
currently employed at the Guyand Irving Authority as a tax
auditor, and apart from that,I'm the founder of the Economy
Business Conference and Mixerand Common Sense Podcast.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Did you want to add any more information about your
background and what inspired youto start the conference, or
podcast?
Speaker 2 (01:35):
So the Common Sense Podcast, the foundation of
everything that I'm currentlydoing and the catalyst for the
increased opportunities thatI've been afforded over the past
few years, was based on amotivational pep talk from a
University of Guyana lecturerwho encouraged us to utilize our
(01:57):
degrees to help our community.
And my love for finance andbusiness and my love for public
speaking.
I merged those two skills andtalent and formulated a podcast,
and the podcast touches onvarious financial matters, not
only in the business field, butyour personal life, your family,
(02:19):
your marriage, yourrelationships, your education,
your health.
So it's very wide andencompassing all facets of our
lives and from the podcast ithas helped me to move that
virtual community into aphysical community with the aim
of developing a cadre of youngbusiness people help them to
(02:43):
develop their businessaccumulate their knowledge and
to network and expand theirmarket.
So that is where I'm currentlyat and so far the journey has
been pretty rewarding.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
That's really good to hear.
To go deeper into that, whatmotivated you the most to focus
on promoting that financialliteracy in Guyana?
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I think there is a vacuum in Guyana when it comes
to financial education.
I'm not the first to attempt tobring financial literacy to
Guyana, but I think that I havebeen the most successful thus
far and my success has alsohelped others who may have had
(03:27):
similar desires and passion toget into the field of financial
literacy.
And you can see now otherpeople are helping others
financially to developthemselves educationally.
And also many more workshops,training sessions, seminars
centered around financialliteracy.
Almost every conference, everyevent, whether it be in the
(03:50):
corporate world, in church, inyour groups, in NGOs, there is
some topic now relating tofinancial literacy.
I won't take credit for that,but I know that Common Sense has
been a catalyst and aninspiration to help people to
see the necessity of financialliteracy and also see how
(04:13):
beneficial it can be to ourindividual lives.
So I think the vacuum in Guyanaalso just looking around at
fellow young people, athletes,celebrities and see how they
have mismanaged their personalfinances and we just want to
help people to do better becauseat the end of the day, lots of
(04:34):
mental illnesses, depression,divorce, I guess feelings of
being unworthy andunaccomplished tend to tie into
your financial position.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Right, and so you mentioned athletes and people
who may have larger sums ofmoney to manage, that they have
maybe previously mismanaged it,whether it's to their own fault
or circumstances that may haverequired a larger amount of
their money to be spent.
What do you think are the firstcouple things that you learned
about managing money, and howdoes that compare to maybe
(05:10):
friends and other people thatyou've met in Guyana?
Speaker 2 (05:13):
I think, fortunately, in 2020, during the pandemic, I
came across a book called theRichest man in babylon which
totally transformed the way thatI view finances and money, and
from reading that book, Istarted to read lots of other
books centered around money, andI don't think the rise in
(05:36):
financial literacy is it's justhappening by chance.
Guyana itself as a country,economically over the past five
years, has been experiencingunprecedented growth.
So I think those two things thepandemic as well had an
influence, because the pandemicbirthed lots of young businesses
(05:59):
and young entrepreneurs,because many of them lost their
jobs and they were forced tofind alternative means of income
generation.
So I think the pandemic,guyana's current economic
trajectory and just a moreeducated young populace wanting
to have better lives than maybetheir parents would have
(06:24):
experienced, have better livesthan maybe their parents would
have experienced those forcescombined has propelled the
desire for financial literacy,financial management, and I
think that those are themotivations that young people
want to know where they caninvest, to know where they can
(06:49):
invest, how they can invest, howto budget, how to save, how to
manage their businesses, how tomanage their money.
I think this current couple ofyoung people in Guyana, we just
are very ambitious, and part ofbeing ambitious requires money,
money, and I think those factorshave, like, propelled the need,
the desire for financialliteracy and management okay, so
(07:13):
we, we do know that you have,you know, an extensive
background in finance.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
But before all of that education, what did you
know personally about financialliteracy as a child?
Like, what were you taughtpersonally back then about money
?
And you know finances, if youwere taught about it at all I
think most young people inguyana.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Some of the common phrases that you would have
heard.
Also, I come from a verychristian background, so you
know you would hear the love ofmoney is the root of all evil.
It's hard for a rich man to getinto heaven.
And then from your family side,you would hear money doesn't
grow on trees, and there was alot of negative connotations to
(08:02):
owning money and wanting money,and I think that has to do with
our entire history and you cango as far back as slavery and
all of that.
But in my immediate family Ididn't hear much about money.
You know, you felt when therewasn't money, though you felt
(08:25):
when there wasn't money I, youfelt when there wasn't money.
I grew up in a single-parentfamily.
It was just my mom.
Actually, I grew up with my momand my grandparents.
My grandparents migrated when Iwas about 10, 9, to the United
States, so all I knew is that mymom was trying to do her best
(08:46):
to provide for me.
By no stretch of theimagination did I grow up poor
as compared to, like I thinkthere are people that are
actually poor.
They don't know where the nextmeal is coming from, and stuff
like that.
I've never had to experiencethat for most of my life, all of
my life.
I think there were years thatthere were a few challenges.
(09:07):
Maybe you couldn't go certainplaces because the money was so
limited, or sometimes you wouldhave to walk to school because
maybe you can only afford food.
You can't afford food andtransportation, things like that
.
But I think I wasn't poor and Iwasn't rich.
It was just somewhere in themiddle there for most of my life
(09:30):
.
But I never had any money,conversations with my parents,
with my mom, or any financialknowledge.
It was just nothing really.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Right, yeah, and that is actually very common, you
know, in many households, youknow, money isn't really talked
about.
It's kind of taboo I agree.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
I I think that you know, matthew.
Your background is veryrelatable for most guyanese
people.
You know, not just because youhave a christian background, but
you know a lot of guyyanesefamilies in Guyana and outside
in the diaspora.
They're humble families, notrich, not poor particularly, but
very principle-based as itrelates to spending and saving
(10:14):
money.
So I'm curious to know how haveyou, in your work,
no-transcript.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
I think the main thing is the fact that the
conversation has been started.
Some of the conversations thatI've tried to foster on my
podcast are conversations that Iconsider I've never been privy
to any.
You don't really hear peopletalking about things like that.
(10:47):
I think that conversation nowhas catapulted more discussions
and more conversations.
I think, firstly, you have tounlearn the negative things that
you would have learned aboutmoney.
I think most Guyanese have grownup with negative thoughts about
(11:07):
money, like if you have adesire to be rich or to have
lots of money, like sometimesyou feel like a sinner or you
feel like it's a wrong ambitionto want to be affluent and
wealthy and it all starts in themind, like when I first started
to take a serious interest inpersonal finance, because
(11:31):
everything that I've been doingon the podcast and so forth,
it's just a very minisculeaspect of finance.
Like you weren't taught thesethings in UG.
UG is more about corporatefinance, governmental finance
and stuff like that.
You're not taught budgeting,like personal budgeting, in
university, so those are thingsthat you would have to learn on
(11:52):
your own or if you're luckyenough to go to a seminar or
whatever, um, but you have tounlearn the negative things
first before you can learn whatis right.
Um, and I think common senseand all of the other things that
have been going on in thecountry lately as it relates to
personal finance have started aconversation and people have
(12:14):
started to unlearn.
I just look at social media nowand five years ago, when you
scroll on Facebook or Instagramor whichever social media
platforms, you just used to seestuff about either politics or
relationship or drama.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Now I see lots of young people engaging in
business conversations, sharinginsights into insurance, into
investing stocks, Like there's acomplete transformation and
shift in the mentality and themindset of young people now
towards finance and I think thatjust bodes well for our country
(12:55):
and our individual lives in thefuture.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Totally agree.
Yeah, that is true, and youknow everyone has a different
idea when it comes to financialliteracy.
Everyone has a different ideawhen it comes to financial
literacy and you know socialmedia gives us different ideas
and you know more so podcastslike yours, and they're more
driven towards giving the rightinformation.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Some people they see you know misinformation online,
but what would you say are somecritical financial literacy
topics that 90s individuals andcommunities should prioritize,
especially if they're not, youknow, completely aware of like
what's right I think currently,um, the most pivotal thing, or
(13:43):
the most pivotal concept that Ithink is necessary right now, is
investment, right, um, I alwaystell people that if you're
earning $100,000 per month, youcan only save $100,000.
It doesn't limit.
But if you're earning $100,000and you invest $50,000 from that
(14:05):
$100,000, there's a possibilitythat you can make nothing.
You can make 500 000, you canmake 5 million, you can make 50
million you never know dependingon the viability and the
sustainability of the investment.
But there are higher chances ofyou earning more investing
(14:32):
$50,000 from your salary into arevenue-generating activity than
just having it in your bankaccount.
For me, it's a worthwhile risk.
Having money in your bankaccount depreciates the value
over time and reduces thepurchasing power.
And in Guyana, where theinterest rate is almost next to
(14:52):
nothing, you might as well justtake your money out and put it
into an investment vehicle thatcan generate more than 0.02 or
0.03% interest rate that you'regetting.
However, of course, you have tobe knowledgeable.
(15:13):
You have to know what you aregetting yourself into before you
take out your money and go sayyou're investing.
You just can't invest forinvesting's sake.
You must do your research, reada bit about business and finance
and educate yourself so thatwhatever it is that you're
(15:36):
getting into you'reknowledgeable about and it
actually has a the opportunityto be profitable, the prospects
to be profitable.
I see a lot of young people andfor those watching and
listening be very careful ofbeing pressured into becoming an
(15:57):
entrepreneur because it seemsglamorous, but the fine prints
are always more important thanthe things that are in the bowl.
Right, there are manyentrepreneurs that struggling.
There are many entrepreneursthat it may appear that they may
(16:21):
be making a lot of moneybecause, again, if you don't
have a finance or businessbackground, you may not know the
difference between sales andprofits right you might be
getting thousands of sales everyday.
Like, let's say, you have aboutique and the clothes are
being sold out on a weekly basis, but so the public is seeing
(16:43):
that.
They think, hey, he's, he'srich, he's making a lot of money
.
Every week it closes, sold out,but they don't know the
expenses that were incurred inselling those clothes.
Let's say you have sales of $10million but your expenses are
$9.9 million.
You just made $100,000.
(17:05):
Right, but to the generalpublic, hey, he made 10 million
dollars in sales.
So entrepreneurship, I don'tthink it's for everybody.
I don't like to tell peoplethat because I don't want to be
a dream buster but that's justthe harsh.
There's just the harsh reality,um, and you need to be very
(17:28):
careful because you can findyourself in serious debt and
financial misfortune if you justjump into it because you want
to say that, hey, I'm a CEO, I'ma girl boss, I'm a this.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
I'm a that.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
You're not lying, don't be shadythew, that's okay.
But no, I think you're bringingup extremely valid points.
You know, um, investments areextremely important, but it's
also important that you thinkand be thoughtful about, you
know, becoming an entrepreneur,because it's more than just
being able to say you're yourown boss and that you're
(18:04):
bringing in so much revenue,because, again, revenue and
profit are two different things.
But you know, we had a really,really interesting pre-interview
conversation and you know I'msure you'll share more news and
information about economy andcommon sense.
But I am curious to know andwant you to share with the
audience do you have any hopesand aspirations for the economy
(18:26):
conference and the podcastmoving forward?
Speaker 2 (18:29):
I think my continuous goal is expansion and scaling.
Actually, the theme for theconference this year is scale.
Moving from one level toanother level is always
challenging in business and thestatistics prove that more than
(18:49):
50% of businesses fail after thefirst five years.
Sustainability and scaling aremajor challenges.
What I've even noticed inGuyana is that lots of
businesses start off at a bang,hot and sweaty, booming, and
then they just fade away intooblivion.
(19:09):
I am paranoid and very fearfulof that happening to me, and at
this point I'm just trying toposition the conference to be of
a regional and internationalstandard in terms of the quality
and the execution, and I'mhoping in the very near future
(19:33):
to.
Obviously it won't be as big asit is in Guyana, but to start
small somewhere, whether it bein the Caribbean or in the
United States of America.
Of course, the US has a verylarge Guyanese diaspora that I
feel like I can tap into andthere is a potential
collaboration there.
(19:53):
So that's the short andnear-term future of economy.
I use the Guyan EnergyConference as my benchmark.
The Energy Conference featuresdozens of international leaders,
presidents, ministers ofgovernment.
It's a four-day conference withlots of big sponsors and so
forth, and I don't see why theeconomy in the next few years
(20:18):
can't reach that level.
As far as the common sense, I'mgoing to be taking a different
approach with Common Sense.
Probably within the next six tonine months, I am hoping to set
up a studio in my home wherebyI can speak as free as I want to
speak.
Yeah, you need that.
(20:40):
Currently you have corporatesponsors and you can't really
say certain stuff, obviously.
Um, I just want that freedomnow because, like the vision
that I have for common sense isnot something to profit off.
I just want to have that freespace that I can be creative and
have the tough conversationsthat need to be had as it
(21:02):
relates to finance and money andbusiness.
So those are my current andfuture projections for economy
and common sense.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Okay, and actually I do just want to interject before
Afia goes to one of our finalquestions.
But don't think that justbecause you have scaled so
widely in Guyana, because yourconference size and your turnout
is amazing We've seen thepictures and feedback from
people who have attended theconferences as we said before,
(21:31):
this is a topic that is verytaboo amongst our entire
community globally.
So as you are looking to, youknow scale into the U S like yes
, you know, maybe initially itmight be a small turnout, as it
was maybe the first time you puton the conference, but trust,
like we know, a bunch of peoplein our community, especially
with you know how much Guyanahas to offer at this time that
(21:52):
people would be very interestedin hearing.
You know what you have topresent.
But, um, I'll let Afiya take onthis last question with the
time we have left.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Yeah, but how can the Guyanese diaspora and overall
the listeners of GAF with GoldRush, support your efforts and,
you know, get involved withpromoting financial literacy in
Guyana.
Like you know, promote yoursocial media.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Tell us how we can get involved with you all right,
so you can follow me onFacebook, instagram and LinkedIn
on my personal account, machuGual also.
Commonsend has an Instagrampage and a YouTube channel, as
well as Economy is on Facebook,instagram and LinkedIn at
Economy Business Conference Anyof those platforms you can get
(22:38):
me on.
I'm on Twitter, but not forbusiness purposes.
Not for business purposes.
Yeah, we know how it goes.
But yeah, you can support by asimple like, share or follow.
If you're in Guyana, you canattend any of the conferences
and seminars that I host and youcan share with your friends,
(23:03):
with your family, if you'reinterested in sponsoring the
event or the podcast.
Just a simple message and wecan collaborate and formulate
something that is beneficial toboth parties.
So those are some very simpleways that you can actually not
(23:23):
simple because I reallyappreciate every share and I
follow and like that, I getMostly a lot from strangers,
like I was going through myshares to my friend at a poster
yesterday for economy and Idon't even know half of the
people.
So that says a lot indeed andI'm grateful that initially,
(23:43):
when economy started, it wasfriends and family.
Now I don't know half of thepeople that come, so that says a
lot about good.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
Well, you've really inspired us with the work that
you do and we're so excited forthe way that you plan to scale
and the way that you arechanging the taboos of our
culture that the work thatyou're doing and messages that
you're sending on your platformsand through your conferences
are going to spread well beyondpeople who attend the
conferences in Guyana and beyondborders.
(24:12):
So we really appreciate youtaking all the time to talk with
us and to talk with the rest ofthe Guyanese community and to
all of our listeners for MathieuGall's information.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
In terms of economy, that's econome M me, and common
sense is c-e-n-t dollar sign.
Anything else you would like toadd, matthew?
Speaker 2 (24:33):
uh, just want to thank you guys for having me and
, um, all the listeners to checkout economy, check common sense
as well, and in your ownpersonal lives and day-to-day
basis, uh, try to use commonsense we usually end out our
podcast with.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
You know we can get later, so if you would like to
say that, you can get off later.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Yeah, and sure that y'all use your common sense and
don't forget a secret belongstogether right?
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Thank you so much again, Max.
Thank you, Max.
I appreciate that All right.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Thank you very much, guys.
All right, welcome everyone.
We have a special guest here.
This is Matthew Gall.
He is a graduate of bothBishop's High School and
University of Guyana.
He is currently a tax auditorat Guyana Revenue Authority, as
well as the founder of EconomyBusiness Conference and Mixer.
(00:51):
He's also a digital contentcreator of Common Sense, which
is a podcast that's dedicated tohelping young people achieve
financial freedom and make wiserfinancial decisions, so it can
be viewed on all social mediaplatforms and will allow him to
introduce himself.
All right, matthew, pleaseintroduce yourself to the
audience.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Hi, good afternoon everyone.
As was previously mentioned, myname is Matthew Gwa and I'm
currently employed at the Guyand Irving Authority as a tax
auditor, and apart from that,I'm the founder of the Economy
Business Conference and Mixerand Common Sense Podcast.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Did you want to add any more information about your
background and what inspired youto start the conference, or
podcast?
Speaker 2 (01:35):
So the Common Sense Podcast, the foundation of
everything that I'm currentlydoing and the catalyst for the
increased opportunities thatI've been afforded over the past
few years, was based on amotivational pep talk from a
University of Guyana lecturerwho encouraged us to utilize our
(01:57):
degrees to help our community.
And my love for finance andbusiness and my love for public
speaking.
I merged those two skills andtalent and formulated a podcast,
and the podcast touches onvarious financial matters, not
only in the business field, butyour personal life, your family,
(02:19):
your marriage, yourrelationships, your education,
your health.
So it's very wide andencompassing all facets of our
lives and from the podcast ithas helped me to move that
virtual community into aphysical community with the aim
of developing a cadre of youngbusiness people help them to
(02:43):
develop their businessaccumulate their knowledge and
to network and expand theirmarket.
So that is where I'm currentlyat and so far the journey has
been pretty rewarding.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
That's really good to hear.
To go deeper into that, whatmotivated you the most to focus
on promoting that financialliteracy in Guyana?
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I think there is a vacuum in Guyana when it comes
to financial education.
I'm not the first to attempt tobring financial literacy to
Guyana, but I think that I havebeen the most successful thus
far and my success has alsohelped others who may have had
(03:27):
similar desires and passion toget into the field of financial
literacy.
And you can see now otherpeople are helping others
financially to developthemselves educationally.
And also many more workshops,training sessions, seminars
centered around financialliteracy.
Almost every conference, everyevent, whether it be in the
(03:50):
corporate world, in church, inyour groups, in NGOs, there is
some topic now relating tofinancial literacy.
I won't take credit for that,but I know that Common Sense has
been a catalyst and aninspiration to help people to
see the necessity of financialliteracy and also see how
(04:13):
beneficial it can be to ourindividual lives.
So I think the vacuum in Guyanaalso just looking around at
fellow young people, athletes,celebrities and see how they
have mismanaged their personalfinances and we just want to
help people to do better becauseat the end of the day, lots of
(04:34):
mental illnesses, depression,divorce, I guess feelings of
being unworthy andunaccomplished tend to tie into
your financial position.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Right, and so you mentioned athletes and people
who may have larger sums ofmoney to manage, that they have
maybe previously mismanaged it,whether it's to their own fault
or circumstances that may haverequired a larger amount of
their money to be spent.
What do you think are the firstcouple things that you learned
about managing money, and howdoes that compare to maybe
(05:10):
friends and other people thatyou've met in Guyana?
Speaker 2 (05:13):
I think, fortunately, in 2020, during the pandemic, I
came across a book called theRichest man in babylon which
totally transformed the way thatI view finances and money, and
from reading that book, Istarted to read lots of other
books centered around money, andI don't think the rise in
(05:36):
financial literacy is it's justhappening by chance.
Guyana itself as a country,economically over the past five
years, has been experiencingunprecedented growth.
So I think those two things thepandemic as well had an
influence, because the pandemicbirthed lots of young businesses
(05:59):
and young entrepreneurs,because many of them lost their
jobs and they were forced tofind alternative means of income
generation.
So I think the pandemic,guyana's current economic
trajectory and just a moreeducated young populace wanting
to have better lives than maybetheir parents would have
(06:24):
experienced, have better livesthan maybe their parents would
have experienced those forcescombined has propelled the
desire for financial literacy,financial management, and I
think that those are themotivations that young people
want to know where they caninvest, to know where they can
(06:49):
invest, how they can invest, howto budget, how to save, how to
manage their businesses, how tomanage their money.
I think this current couple ofyoung people in Guyana, we just
are very ambitious, and part ofbeing ambitious requires money,
money, and I think those factorshave, like, propelled the need,
the desire for financialliteracy and management okay, so
(07:13):
we, we do know that you have,you know, an extensive
background in finance.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
But before all of that education, what did you
know personally about financialliteracy as a child?
Like, what were you taughtpersonally back then about money
?
And you know finances, if youwere taught about it at all I
think most young people inguyana.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Some of the common phrases that you would have
heard.
Also, I come from a verychristian background, so you
know you would hear the love ofmoney is the root of all evil.
It's hard for a rich man to getinto heaven.
And then from your family side,you would hear money doesn't
grow on trees, and there was alot of negative connotations to
(08:02):
owning money and wanting money,and I think that has to do with
our entire history and you cango as far back as slavery and
all of that.
But in my immediate family Ididn't hear much about money.
You know, you felt when therewasn't money, though you felt
(08:25):
when there wasn't money I, youfelt when there wasn't money.
I grew up in a single-parentfamily.
It was just my mom.
Actually, I grew up with my momand my grandparents.
My grandparents migrated when Iwas about 10, 9, to the United
States, so all I knew is that mymom was trying to do her best
(08:46):
to provide for me.
By no stretch of theimagination did I grow up poor
as compared to, like I thinkthere are people that are
actually poor.
They don't know where the nextmeal is coming from, and stuff
like that.
I've never had to experiencethat for most of my life, all of
my life.
I think there were years thatthere were a few challenges.
(09:07):
Maybe you couldn't go certainplaces because the money was so
limited, or sometimes you wouldhave to walk to school because
maybe you can only afford food.
You can't afford food andtransportation, things like that
.
But I think I wasn't poor and Iwasn't rich.
It was just somewhere in themiddle there for most of my life
(09:30):
.
But I never had any money,conversations with my parents,
with my mom, or any financialknowledge.
It was just nothing really.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Right, yeah, and that is actually very common, you
know, in many households, youknow, money isn't really talked
about.
It's kind of taboo I agree.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
I I think that you know, matthew.
Your background is veryrelatable for most guyanese
people.
You know, not just because youhave a christian background, but
you know a lot of guyyanesefamilies in Guyana and outside
in the diaspora.
They're humble families, notrich, not poor particularly, but
very principle-based as itrelates to spending and saving
(10:14):
money.
So I'm curious to know how haveyou, in your work,
no-transcript.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
I think the main thing is the fact that the
conversation has been started.
Some of the conversations thatI've tried to foster on my
podcast are conversations that Iconsider I've never been privy
to any.
You don't really hear peopletalking about things like that.
(10:47):
I think that conversation nowhas catapulted more discussions
and more conversations.
I think, firstly, you have tounlearn the negative things that
you would have learned aboutmoney.
I think most Guyanese have grownup with negative thoughts about
(11:07):
money, like if you have adesire to be rich or to have
lots of money, like sometimesyou feel like a sinner or you
feel like it's a wrong ambitionto want to be affluent and
wealthy and it all starts in themind, like when I first started
to take a serious interest inpersonal finance, because
(11:31):
everything that I've been doingon the podcast and so forth,
it's just a very minisculeaspect of finance.
Like you weren't taught thesethings in UG.
UG is more about corporatefinance, governmental finance
and stuff like that.
You're not taught budgeting,like personal budgeting, in
university, so those are thingsthat you would have to learn on
(11:52):
your own or if you're luckyenough to go to a seminar or
whatever, um, but you have tounlearn the negative things
first before you can learn whatis right.
Um, and I think common senseand all of the other things that
have been going on in thecountry lately as it relates to
personal finance have started aconversation and people have
(12:14):
started to unlearn.
I just look at social media nowand five years ago, when you
scroll on Facebook or Instagramor whichever social media
platforms, you just used to seestuff about either politics or
relationship or drama.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Now I see lots of young people engaging in
business conversations, sharinginsights into insurance, into
investing stocks, Like there's acomplete transformation and
shift in the mentality and themindset of young people now
towards finance and I think thatjust bodes well for our country
(12:55):
and our individual lives in thefuture.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Totally agree.
Yeah, that is true, and youknow everyone has a different
idea when it comes to financialliteracy.
Everyone has a different ideawhen it comes to financial
literacy and you know socialmedia gives us different ideas
and you know more so podcastslike yours, and they're more
driven towards giving the rightinformation.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Some people they see you know misinformation online,
but what would you say are somecritical financial literacy
topics that 90s individuals andcommunities should prioritize,
especially if they're not, youknow, completely aware of like
what's right I think currently,um, the most pivotal thing, or
(13:43):
the most pivotal concept that Ithink is necessary right now, is
investment, right, um, I alwaystell people that if you're
earning $100,000 per month, youcan only save $100,000.
It doesn't limit.
But if you're earning $100,000and you invest $50,000 from that
(14:05):
$100,000, there's a possibilitythat you can make nothing.
You can make 500 000, you canmake 5 million, you can make 50
million you never know dependingon the viability and the
sustainability of the investment.
But there are higher chances ofyou earning more investing
(14:32):
$50,000 from your salary into arevenue-generating activity than
just having it in your bankaccount.
For me, it's a worthwhile risk.
Having money in your bankaccount depreciates the value
over time and reduces thepurchasing power.
And in Guyana, where theinterest rate is almost next to
(14:52):
nothing, you might as well justtake your money out and put it
into an investment vehicle thatcan generate more than 0.02 or
0.03% interest rate that you'regetting.
However, of course, you have tobe knowledgeable.
(15:13):
You have to know what you aregetting yourself into before you
take out your money and go sayyou're investing.
You just can't invest forinvesting's sake.
You must do your research, reada bit about business and finance
and educate yourself so thatwhatever it is that you're
(15:36):
getting into you'reknowledgeable about and it
actually has a the opportunityto be profitable, the prospects
to be profitable.
I see a lot of young people andfor those watching and
listening be very careful ofbeing pressured into becoming an
(15:57):
entrepreneur because it seemsglamorous, but the fine prints
are always more important thanthe things that are in the bowl.
Right, there are manyentrepreneurs that struggling.
There are many entrepreneursthat it may appear that they may
(16:21):
be making a lot of moneybecause, again, if you don't
have a finance or businessbackground, you may not know the
difference between sales andprofits right you might be
getting thousands of sales everyday.
Like, let's say, you have aboutique and the clothes are
being sold out on a weekly basis, but so the public is seeing
(16:43):
that.
They think, hey, he's, he'srich, he's making a lot of money
.
Every week it closes, sold out,but they don't know the
expenses that were incurred inselling those clothes.
Let's say you have sales of $10million but your expenses are
$9.9 million.
You just made $100,000.
(17:05):
Right, but to the generalpublic, hey, he made 10 million
dollars in sales.
So entrepreneurship, I don'tthink it's for everybody.
I don't like to tell peoplethat because I don't want to be
a dream buster but that's justthe harsh.
There's just the harsh reality,um, and you need to be very
(17:28):
careful because you can findyourself in serious debt and
financial misfortune if you justjump into it because you want
to say that, hey, I'm a CEO, I'ma girl boss, I'm a this.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
I'm a that.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
You're not lying, don't be shadythew, that's okay.
But no, I think you're bringingup extremely valid points.
You know, um, investments areextremely important, but it's
also important that you thinkand be thoughtful about, you
know, becoming an entrepreneur,because it's more than just
being able to say you're yourown boss and that you're
(18:04):
bringing in so much revenue,because, again, revenue and
profit are two different things.
But you know, we had a really,really interesting pre-interview
conversation and you know I'msure you'll share more news and
information about economy andcommon sense.
But I am curious to know andwant you to share with the
audience do you have any hopesand aspirations for the economy
(18:26):
conference and the podcastmoving forward?
Speaker 2 (18:29):
I think my continuous goal is expansion and scaling.
Actually, the theme for theconference this year is scale.
Moving from one level toanother level is always
challenging in business and thestatistics prove that more than
(18:49):
50% of businesses fail after thefirst five years.
Sustainability and scaling aremajor challenges.
What I've even noticed inGuyana is that lots of
businesses start off at a bang,hot and sweaty, booming, and
then they just fade away intooblivion.
(19:09):
I am paranoid and very fearfulof that happening to me, and at
this point I'm just trying toposition the conference to be of
a regional and internationalstandard in terms of the quality
and the execution, and I'mhoping in the very near future
(19:33):
to.
Obviously it won't be as big asit is in Guyana, but to start
small somewhere, whether it bein the Caribbean or in the
United States of America.
Of course, the US has a verylarge Guyanese diaspora that I
feel like I can tap into andthere is a potential
collaboration there.
(19:53):
So that's the short andnear-term future of economy.
I use the Guyan EnergyConference as my benchmark.
The Energy Conference featuresdozens of international leaders,
presidents, ministers ofgovernment.
It's a four-day conference withlots of big sponsors and so
forth, and I don't see why theeconomy in the next few years
(20:18):
can't reach that level.
As far as the common sense, I'mgoing to be taking a different
approach with Common Sense.
Probably within the next six tonine months, I am hoping to set
up a studio in my home wherebyI can speak as free as I want to
speak.
Yeah, you need that.
(20:40):
Currently you have corporatesponsors and you can't really
say certain stuff, obviously.
Um, I just want that freedomnow because, like the vision
that I have for common sense isnot something to profit off.
I just want to have that freespace that I can be creative and
have the tough conversationsthat need to be had as it
(21:02):
relates to finance and money andbusiness.
So those are my current andfuture projections for economy
and common sense.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Okay, and actually I do just want to interject before
Afia goes to one of our finalquestions.
But don't think that justbecause you have scaled so
widely in Guyana, because yourconference size and your turnout
is amazing We've seen thepictures and feedback from
people who have attended theconferences as we said before,
(21:31):
this is a topic that is verytaboo amongst our entire
community globally.
So as you are looking to, youknow scale into the U S like yes
, you know, maybe initially itmight be a small turnout, as it
was maybe the first time you puton the conference, but trust,
like we know, a bunch of peoplein our community, especially
with you know how much Guyanahas to offer at this time that
(21:52):
people would be very interestedin hearing.
You know what you have topresent.
But, um, I'll let Afiya take onthis last question with the
time we have left.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Yeah, but how can the Guyanese diaspora and overall
the listeners of GAF with GoldRush, support your efforts and,
you know, get involved withpromoting financial literacy in
Guyana.
Like you know, promote yoursocial media.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Tell us how we can get involved with you all right,
so you can follow me onFacebook, instagram and LinkedIn
on my personal account, machuGual also.
Commonsend has an Instagrampage and a YouTube channel, as
well as Economy is on Facebook,instagram and LinkedIn at
Economy Business Conference Anyof those platforms you can get
(22:38):
me on.
I'm on Twitter, but not forbusiness purposes.
Not for business purposes.
Yeah, we know how it goes.
But yeah, you can support by asimple like, share or follow.
If you're in Guyana, you canattend any of the conferences
and seminars that I host and youcan share with your friends,
(23:03):
with your family, if you'reinterested in sponsoring the
event or the podcast.
Just a simple message and wecan collaborate and formulate
something that is beneficial toboth parties.
So those are some very simpleways that you can actually not
(23:23):
simple because I reallyappreciate every share and I
follow and like that, I getMostly a lot from strangers,
like I was going through myshares to my friend at a poster
yesterday for economy and Idon't even know half of the
people.
So that says a lot indeed andI'm grateful that initially,
(23:43):
when economy started, it wasfriends and family.
Now I don't know half of thepeople that come, so that says a
lot about good.
Speaker 3 (23:51):
Well, you've really inspired us with the work that
you do and we're so excited forthe way that you plan to scale
and the way that you arechanging the taboos of our
culture that the work thatyou're doing and messages that
you're sending on your platformsand through your conferences
are going to spread well beyondpeople who attend the
conferences in Guyana and beyondborders.
(24:12):
So we really appreciate youtaking all the time to talk with
us and to talk with the rest ofthe Guyanese community and to
all of our listeners for MathieuGall's information.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
In terms of economy, that's econome M me, and common
sense is c-e-n-t dollar sign.
Anything else you would like toadd, matthew?
Speaker 2 (24:33):
uh, just want to thank you guys for having me and
, um, all the listeners to checkout economy, check common sense
as well, and in your ownpersonal lives and day-to-day
basis, uh, try to use commonsense we usually end out our
podcast with.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
You know we can get later, so if you would like to
say that, you can get off later.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Yeah, and sure that y'all use your common sense and
don't forget a secret belongstogether right?
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Thank you so much again, Max.
Thank you, Max.
I appreciate that All right.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Thank you very much, guys.
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