April 9, 2025 • 47 mins
In this episode, you’ll get to meet Kia Commodore, the 26-year-old financial literacy powerhouse who's changing how young people in the UK think about money. As founder of Pennies to Pounds and author of "How to Handle Money" (HarperCollins), Kia is tackling a startling reality: the average financial literacy age in the UK is just nine years old.
Join Jess and Brandon as they discuss Kia's journey from early money lessons, to running her first business and the lessons in between that helped shape her understanding of business and finance. What makes Kia's approach unique is her ability to make financial concepts accessible and age-appropriate, breaking down complex topics into manageable pieces that both children and adults can understand.
Whether you're looking to improve your own financial literacy, teach your children about money, or simply gain inspiration from an entrepreneur making real-world impact, Kia's story offers valuable insights that cross generations and borders.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 2 (00:45):
That's what Brandon and I did after eight years of
marriage.
So how to Handle Money isactually that book that I wish I
had when I was 11, 12 and up,and it's a beginner's guide to
personal finance in the UK.
So we cover everything fromchapter one, where I talk about
budgeting and saving and breakthat down into different
accounts how savings work, howto budget properly all the way
through to the art ofnegotiation, so how to negotiate
(01:06):
whether it's bills, cash back,all those kind of things all the
way through to credit fraud,investments.
And then the final chapter isalmost like planning for the
future.
So we talk about understandyour pay slip, pension, which is
401k for everyone, for you guysin the US, but yeah, all of
those things that we need toknow when it comes to our
(01:26):
finances, because I think therewas a stat that came out in
terms of the UK recently thatsaid, the average financial
literacy age in the UK is nineyears old, so you can imagine
there's a lot of people in their20s, 30s, 40s and beyond who
have the financial literacy ageof a nine-year-old.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Hey babe, what are we talking about today?
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Today we are talking about young people in finance.
I know we are millennials,we're elder millennials, but
today we're going to focus onpeople who are younger than us,
with a finance expert who I hadthe pleasure of meeting in New
York and I'm just going to tellyou right off the bat I
apologize for the terribleEnglish accent that I will be
(02:21):
doing throughout this episode,because we have our own Love
Island English you know accentfor our very first English
person on our episodes on theSugar Daddy podcast.
So just that's a littledisclaimer for anybody who's
listening.
I'm going to be doing a lot ofterrible English accents for you
(02:42):
today.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Okay, you cannot talk about when I try to do your
German accent anymore.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
That's because you make my German accent sound
Indian.
But we actually do havesomebody who's literally from
the UK with us today.
We have Kia Commodore.
She's incredible.
Her accent is real, you guys,so you get to enjoy her real
English accent on our episodetoday.
Kia, welcome to the pod.
Thank you for being with us.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Thank you so much for having me, and I find it so
interesting that everyone lovesthe British accent.
I mean, for me it's just how wetalk, but I understand the
fascination behind it, Yours.
It needs a little bit of work,but we'll get there.
We'll work on it.
We'll get there.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Yeah, we'll work on it we'll do like a call
afterwards and do a littlepracticing.
Yeah, yeah, does any does?
Speaker 3 (03:27):
anywhere actually enjoy the like quote-unquote
american accent, because no,because it's terrible.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Who wants to sound like us?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I wouldn't but, um, I think we enjoy putting it on.
I wouldn't necessarily say weenjoy it, but in the uk we we
watch a lot of american TV.
So it is, you know, fairlynormal to hear, but I think the
fascination is more so on yourside of the British accent than
we have of American.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
I would say yes, well , when I met Kia, I was like, oh
, kia, and she was like, yeah,kia, like the car and like did
the hand motion and everything.
And then, as we got comfortablewith each other, I was like,
well, you should do an Englishaccent, like an American accent,
and she did it and it washysterical and I was like, yeah,
that is kind of what we soundlike.
And it was awful.
Who wants to sound like us?
(04:13):
It was yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Yeah, yeah, it was a good moment.
I'll be honest, it wasn't great, but yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
I tried you, it's fine.
I apologize in advance againfor butchering your beautiful
accent.
We're not here because of Kia'samazing accent.
We're here because she's abaddie in personal finance.
I instantly became obsessedwith her when I had the pleasure
of meeting her in New York atWomen in Money again for FinCon.
(04:39):
This is why y'all got to be outin the streets, y'all because
you meet people-.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Not in the streets, I mean in the financial content
creator streets.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
There we go, because you meet amazing people like Kia
, and then you get them on thepodcast.
And let's just get into thisbio, because Kia is doing some
things, y'all, all right, areyou ready?
Speaker 3 (05:00):
I've been ready Stay ready.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Kia Commodore is the author of how to Handle Money,
released this year byHarperCollins, and founder of
the highly successful Pennies toPounds platform, a financial
literacy hub created to empoweryoung people by enabling them to
shape their future withcomplete financial knowledge.
Love that.
In August 2022, Kia starred inthe Channel 4 series Money on my
(05:24):
Mind in partnership withBarclays, and appeared live on
BBC Night News to discuss thecost of living crisis.
Kia has also co-hosted the BBCFive Live podcast, your Work,
your Money, Cosmopolitan and theHuffington Post, and she has
(05:45):
worked with a number of globallyrecognized brands to create
easy to understand financialcontent.
Kia you out here.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I'm trying, I'm trying to be out here as much as
I can in the UK, you know, justtrying to do what I can to
teach people, and it's been ajourney, it's been incredible.
I mean, hearing you read it out, it really does.
I'm like wow, for me it's beenfive years and to hear it, you
know, put down like that, I'mlike wow, I've actually done a
fair bit, haven't I?
Speaker 1 (06:10):
I've done a little bit.
You really have you really.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
I'm so proud of you for the work that you're doing
and it's so impactful, right,because you're teaching them
what we all wish we would havelearned 10 20 years earlier than
we did.
You know, and kia, how old areyou?
So the audience knows I'm 26.
See, yeah, 26.
So she said this has been fiveyears of her doing this yeah,
yes, what was I doing at 21?
Speaker 1 (06:37):
not helping 21.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I could tell you exactly what we were doing.
We were in college, acting afool, probably.
That's true.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Not partnering with BBC and bar companies for
financial literacy, that's forsure.
Well, we are so glad to haveyou and to talk about this
journey that you've been on.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Thank you.
No, honestly, I'm so happy tobe here.
I am a massive fan, so thismeans so much.
I'm so excited.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Thank you All right.
Well, we kick off every guestepisode with understanding your
background and experience withmoney.
So, kia, can you talk usthrough your first money memory?
Speaker 2 (07:14):
My first money memory would probably have to be, I
would want to say I was aroundmaybe six or seven and my mom
took me to the bank for thefirst time.
So my parents had opened up asavings account for me and I had
got it I think Christmas moneyfrom family members that had
(07:35):
given me money and my mum.
Usually I'd want to spend it onnonsense.
It really was.
It was sweets, chocolates, allthe stuff that is not good for
your teeth, your health, but asa kid you want it.
Instead of that, mum said no,we're going to go to the bank,
I'm going to put it in the bank.
Her saying that to me itsounded very boring, but when I
actually went with her, the bankteller allowed me to give them
the money.
I got a little checkbook at thetime.
(07:57):
I don't think I do anymore, butyou have like a little savings
book where they would write downhow much you put in and I had
to sign it.
And I think they also gave melike a savings coin jar thing
and that's what really got meexcited about wanting to go to
the bank.
I didn't really understand whatthe bank did.
I just knew they had my moneyand whenever I saved up enough I
could get it back out and buystuff.
But it got me into that habitand we'd make it probably a
(08:18):
regular habit.
Every time I get money eitherChristmas, birthday or some sort
of special occasion where yourfamily members gift you with
some money my mom wouldencourage me to write we're
going to take a little bit out,maybe you can treat yourself a
little bit, but the most of it'sgoing into a savings account
and we go to the bank.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
I love that Because you know I'm thinking about our
daughter has been collecting hertooth fairy money.
She ain't got no more teethleft at this point, but her big
bank is full.
And you know I was talking toBrandon.
I was like, well, what shouldwe do?
Should we put it on a debitcard, what you know?
And we were talking about like,well, they physically need to
see the money to understandbecause, you know, even when
they're with us, all they see usdo is swipe.
(08:55):
They don't actually see cash.
And even the other day, whenher tooth randomly came out, I
was like, oh, do you have anydollars?
Because we just don't carrycash.
But going to the bank andphysically having that
experience and talking to theteller and filling out something
, it makes it so official.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
We do need to take them in to actually see and have
that experience, Because Ithink you said that is a core
memory that you have andobviously it has influenced how
you interact with money as anadult.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Have you been listening to our podcast and
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Am I doing the right thingswith my investments?
Am I on track to reach myfinancial goals?
What could I be doing better?
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said free 30-minute introductionconversation to see how his
(09:53):
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know you could be.
What are you waiting for?
It's literally free and at thevery least, you'll walk away
feeling more empowered andconfident about your financial
future.
Link is in our show notes.
Go schedule your call today.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Also, did you have additional conversations with
your parents about money outsideof opening up the savings
account?
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Yes.
So my parents made it a habitto teach me the relevant lessons
at the right ages.
So my parents got gottentogether when they were quite
young and they'd made theirfinancial mistakes, but I think
they'd decided not to make surethat their kids had the same
experience.
So I remember, like I said, atsix or seven it was savings.
Then, when I got slightly older, around 11 or 12, it was
(10:42):
talking a bit more aboutbudgeting what that means.
And when I got slightly older,around 11 or 12, it was talking
a bit more about budgeting whatthat means.
And when I got a bit older, itwas things like credit, because
credit cards started to becomeavailable and those lessons got
incrementally harder in thetopics as I got older and more
relevant.
So when I got to university,there was a lot of talk around
managing bills and what doesthat look like and um, you know.
(11:03):
But I wanted to save for ahouse and understanding how
mortgages work and what doesthat all of that entail.
But that was only at the rightpoint, because I think if I
learned about what mortgage wasat like 14 a, I wouldn't be
interested and b, I probablyfeel very overwhelmed.
I think I'm never going to havethousands of pounds to be able
to put towards a house, whereaswhen I'm 18 I'm like, oh, okay,
I'm earning a bit more.
It might take me some timestill, but I can reach that
(11:25):
point at some point.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Our son this morning it's funny it was this morning
he asked me he's like how muchwas the house?
And I was like a lot of money.
He's like a thousand.
I was like way more than that.
I was like I wish it was athousand dollars.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Well, we talked to them about money all the time.
Right Like the other day, therewas like a whole lid of
strawberries where theybasically took one bite of each
strawberry and like put it backon like the container lid, and
then walked away and thoughtthat they were done.
And I was like, so we're aboutto take money out of your piggy
bank because you're wasting alot of money just by like take
like what did?
What were you doing?
And um, they were like, well,how much does it cost?
(12:07):
And I was like, well, this pintof strawberries, you know, is
four or five $6, depending onwhen you buy it.
And they were just like what youknow?
But they still have no concept.
So I'm that's why I'm like,well, if we took the money out
of their piggy bank and actuallylaid it out and started showing
them you know we're doing somesort of fun activity to make
them understand like you have $5, if we take two away, you know
(12:30):
you're only left with three andthat's going to go very quickly.
So I love that your parentswere so clearly intentional
about the act of teaching youabout money, because it's so, so
important money because it's so, so important, absolutely, yeah
.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
I mean I I was gonna say I loved it and, like you
mentioned earlier, it'ssomething that's really been
embedded in my mind.
So I'm always very mindful ofhow I spend my money and I
always reflect back to thoselessons and how those lessons
impacted me, because I think ifI didn't learn about savings
from earlier, I probablywouldn't be as good of a saver
(13:05):
as I am now, if I didn'tunderstand the importance of it
when I was younger.
Now it's a no-brainer to save,it's just part of my budget.
But I have friends who didn'thave that let those lessons
growing up, who now find itdifficult to save money and keep
it in the savings.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
I would honestly say that is the hardest skill for
most people.
You know, when working withclients, if I'm meeting with
someone and I can already tell,like I've already looked at
their stuff and they're a greatsaver, like oh, it's going to be
easy, you already have thehardest part down because, like
you said, most people are nottaught to save at an early age.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
And so it's so difficult to do as they get
older.
Yeah Well, you have to buildthat habit right.
It really is like a muscle thatyou have to build and for me I
know if it's not automated itdoesn't happen.
So it has to be automated, andI'm always so grateful, like
when I look at, you know, for,for my example, my 401k, I'm
like, oh okay, the 401k islooking good because that
automatically goes.
Every paycheck it goes in there, I'm getting my match.
But if I didn't have systems inplace to automate especially
(14:05):
that savings, it would be adisaster because I would never,
I would never do it.
So I wouldn't say it would be adisaster, I think it would be a
disaster.
Yeah, I'm just going to callmyself out on it.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
How Disaster?
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Yeah, I'm just going to call myself out on it.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
How did you go from being the six or seven year old
in the bank and you know,putting money into a savings
account to pennies, to pounds,and your platform and your
podcast and all of that.
And for those that don't know,a pound is part of British
currency.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Yes, In case some people didn't know.
I just wanted to let them know,with the pennies to pound.
I hope if you're listening tothis podcast you know that we're
talking about.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Some people aren't as well-traveled as we are, so you
never know.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
Okay, let me not be judgy, all right.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
That's true.
That's true.
I'm going to run it again.
Well, well, for me, when Imentioned six or seven was when
I started on how to save, andthen nine was when I started my
first business, or side hustle,however you want to phrase it.
My mom had taught me how toknit over the summer holidays
and I'd gone back into schoolduring the autumn time and I
(15:10):
would go in.
My friends would tell me whatkind of scarf they wanted.
I'd buy the color wool, I'd gohome after my my homework, I'd
knit and I'd give them theirscarf and I'd make money that
way.
And then I got to secondaryschool, which is when you're
around 11 years old, and duringthat time I was selling cookies
and donuts.
That was very, very normal.
For a lot of entrepreneurialkids in the UK.
(15:30):
We'd always be selling cookiesand donuts because we didn't
really have a tuck shop oranywhere that you could buy
sweets or anything at school.
There was a healthy eatingregime going on, so there's none
of that, only fruit and veg.
So I capitalized on that.
Business was thriving, thriving.
Every day I would shift about40 to 50 cookies.
(15:51):
It was very easy.
I would sell so many cookiesand I'd make a lot of money
doing that.
So again, I think that's alsowhere my parents knew I was
doing that, to the point where Ithink I was making somewhere
around probably like 300 poundsof profit a week and that's a
lot of money.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Yeah, I was making a lot of money.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Yeah, I was making a lot of money.
I did it for the five years ofmy secondary schooling, yeah, so
I had a lot of money.
And again, because I'm makingso much money, I think that's
also where my parents were up inthe ante with the money lessons
because like, wow, you'veactually got a lot of money
coming in.
Now we've got to show you howwe, you know you actually manage
your money.
And then when I got to sixthform which when you're 16 to 18
(16:30):
I started wholesaling uh, haircare products from the US.
So I'd import them from the USand I'd sell them in the UK and
Europe and I made a lot of money.
So that's that's kind of likethe business side of things.
And I think because I was veryinto business, it naturally
moved into into money.
So when I got to university,when I was 18, I was good at
(16:50):
business, good at budgeting, gotto manage my money, even
setting up bills.
I was in charge of all thebills in my house with all my
friends I lived with.
But a lot of my friendscouldn't budget.
They had no idea how to.
So they'd call me or FaceTimeme, ask me to help them budget.
So I realized if they'restruggling, there's probably
other people our age who arealso struggling.
So that's how I turned toYouTube initially, and then,
(17:11):
about a year after YouTube, Iwent to Twitter and I created a
Twitter thread about thisaccount that we had in the UK
called Help to Buy ISA, whichwas coming to a close, but a lot
of young people needed to getit before it closed.
And that went viral.
And shortly after that Istarted the podcast because I
said, okay, there's a demand forthe content, so I'm just gonna
find somewhere to put it, andthe podcast was born oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Okay, let's rewind a little bit, because there was a
lot of entrepreneurial spirit ata young age.
Where did that come from?
I mean, why did you have thispassion for, like, I want to
make my own money um, that's agood question.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
You're probably the first person to ask me this
question if I actually peel itback yeah, you're very good at
questions.
I've never been asked before.
But if I actually peel it back,my parents probably probably
watching them.
So my parents both what theirindividual jobs, but they were
all very big in side hustles andmaking extra money on the side.
And one thing that I used to gowith them to is we go to I guess
(18:12):
what you'd call like a dollarstore but we called a pound
store, and they get things thatcost one pound but they'd use
their phones and you there's a Ithink you still do it now but
you scan on Amazon and it'llshow you how much it retails for
on Amazon.
So something like a, an actionman figure that is one pound in
the pound store, might be onAmazon for 12 pounds.
So they knew that, oh, if this,we can sell it.
(18:33):
Even if you said like 10 pounds, we're still making a huge
profit because it only cost usone pound to buy.
So they do that for tons ofthings, like my living room
would be filled with stuffbecause they just clear the
shelves of anything.
That would make a lot of profitand they just sell it on ebay
and they made a lot of money onthe side doing that.
So I think, seeing them do that,I remember I asked to get an
ebay account when I was like 12.
I wanted to join.
(18:53):
I like, I want to do the samething, but you have to be like
16 to get an eBay account, so Icouldn't do that.
So I think I looked for otherways to make money because I saw
them making extra money.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Oh, I love it.
And did they openly talk to youabout, like, the profit that
they were making or how much youknow they spent on that action
figure and then how much itwould cost to mail it out and
the time equity, Like?
Did they really go into detailon the commitment of this
entrepreneurial business?
Speaker 2 (19:20):
absolutely, because not only would I see them do it,
so I might come downstairs andsay, what's my dad doing?
And I see my dad there's, he'spackaging out what my mom's
prints out labels I'm seeingthem both do it but they'd also,
like I said, that's when Irealized what they were doing,
because to begin with we just goto the shops and I see them buy
loads of action figures, butthen I couldn't get any of it.
My brother couldn't get any ofit and I was like what?
(19:40):
So why are you buying so manyif we're not going to get any?
So that's what I asked them whydo you keep buying so many?
We don't get any of it.
And then then they began toshow us what they were doing.
I was like, oh, that makes alot of sense.
And then my dad also used to.
He used to.
My dad's been to america moretimes than I have.
He flew to america a goodcouple times around the time the
nintendo wii had come out.
(20:00):
He flew to new york because youcouldn't really get it in the
uk.
But I remember he was in newyork.
He managed to buy two or threeconsoles.
He had my mom in the uk go andqueue up for a toy store.
She bought one console.
So he's now come back.
We had four consoles in thehouse and I was like, oh my gosh
, we've got nintendo wii.
We didn't see nintendo wii forabout a year.
Yeah, we don't.
(20:21):
We did not.
We didn't see one for about ayear.
He kept buying them and thenselling them for a profit
because it was so difficult toget.
So he'd be queuing upeverywhere, fly wherever he
needed to fly to get them andthen make this his profit.
And then eventually there wasone, and but by that point my
brother and I would look at inthe living room thing, it's not
even ours.
We just walked past him, it'snot ours.
So one day he said actually,this is our one.
I said finally we get to seewhat this thing is finally oh my
(20:44):
gosh, I love that.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
well, we're all about normalizing the conversation
around money in our home so thatwhen the kids do have questions
of how much does this cost orhow do I do this Right, they
they know that they can freelyand openly come to us and ask
those questions, and so I lovethat your parents consciously
did that, because it takes thatshame out of you know, out of
(21:07):
the equation, whereas you saidyour friends, who didn't know
how to save, didn't know how tobudget.
Then you get to college andit's like how are you expecting
your children to keep the lightson and the water running if
you're not?
You know teaching them how topay these bills on time or what
a credit card really means, andyou know so.
It's amazing that you took thaton and saw the need, even just
(21:28):
amongst your friends circle.
So kudos to you for recognizingthat.
Also thank you, I mean.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
I tried being the older one here, I I always think
back.
I'm like man, like I like tothink that maybe I might have
been a little bit better withthe internet like as it is now.
You know, back then.
But I don't know, man like,because I so like you still
gotta give them credit forbecause there's so much
information out there now andyoung people are there's still
tons of young people are nottaking full advantage of that.
(21:55):
But, like you know, when wewere in college the internet was
very much in its infancy.
Like none of this informationwas really out there.
There wasn't any social media.
I mean, facebook came around mysenior year of college.
That's how old I am.
So like I'm the same age asMark Zuckerberg, amazing amazing
(22:25):
.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
You really are the voice of young finance in the UK
.
How does that feel?
It's very overwhelming, but ina good way.
When I started off doing what Iwas doing, as you mentioned
earlier, I was 21.
I didn't really know what I wasdoing.
I was still in university.
So I still I was in my finalyear of university trying to
figure out what I was going todo for the rest of my life.
I studied French in business.
(22:45):
So I was like am I going to goand speak French somewhere?
Am I gonna?
I don't know what I'm gonna dowhen I leave university.
I have no idea.
And that kind of slowly tookoff.
I was also working part-time.
I worked in an apple storepart-time.
So I was kind of just trying tofigure it out.
And then, I think, after aboutfive months of starting the
podcast and I was being asked todo talks I was being asked a
(23:09):
lot by the BBC to do stuff withthem that I basically one day my
dad was in the living room camedownstairs I said Tim, I'm
leaving my job, I'm leaving myjob, I'm leaving my job.
And he said what are you goingto go and do?
I said I'm going to podcast, Ithink.
And he said but what does thatmean?
I said I have no idea.
When I know, you'll be thefirst to know.
But this is what I'm going topursue and I'm glad that I get
(23:35):
to educate so many young peopleand it's.
It's also really nice to hearfrom people, because very often
I meet people in all walks oflife.
I could be anywhere, I could bein a supermarket, and someone
recognizes me and then they tellme how much of an impact that
my content has had on them.
Someone told me the other daythat they were able to buy their
first house because of thecontent I've been putting out.
They followed me for years andimplemented a lot of that and
(23:56):
have been able to get theproperty I love, which is just
amazing to hear those kinds ofthings.
So yeah, it's great, but it'soverwhelming.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
That is.
I mean, that is so incredible.
Not very many 26 year olds cansay that they're having that
kind of a truly positive impacton people because we know you
know money isn't everythingno-transcript, you know people
(24:44):
have access to and it doesn'tcost them anything.
So you are a aside from yourbook now, which I'm sure they
can rent at the library.
You know you have so manyoutlets for people to learn and
to consume your content, and sojust be really proud of the work
that you're doing, because itreally is impactful.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
It means a lot, thank you.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Let's talk about the book Kia, because it's your
first book.
Congratulations Traditionallypublished by one of the biggest
publishers in the world.
I mean, are you just likescreaming on the inside?
Speaker 2 (25:27):
I think I've screamed on the outside now I think I've
let that out.
It's come out for sure I loveit.
But yeah, I mean it's stillmassive, massive.
It's been out for just over amonth now, at the time we're
recording this, and it's yeah,it's incredible.
I mean it's been a wholeprocess, a whole journey.
So to walk you through it, Ifound out that about the book
(25:52):
and what the premise would beand what I'd write, and I was
hoping about October 2023.
Then I actually agreed andsigned to the book deal, I
believe somewhere around the21st of December 2023.
So literally right beforeChristmas, I knew I was going to
write a book and then I startedwriting the first week of
(26:12):
January 2024.
And it was a very quickturnaround.
I had just about four months towrite the book.
Yeah, usually it's like atwo-year process from like start
to publishing, but they reallywanted to get that cranked out,
I guess.
Wow, yeah, they really wantedit out.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
There's a lot of pressure but they really wanted
it out this year.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yeah, yeah, they really wanted it out before
Christmas time this year, sothat's why there was a lot of
pressure in terms of deadlines,so I finished the book.
I think end of April 2024 iswhen I finished the book and
then it was available forpre-order in August and it came
out in October.
So it was a very quickturnaround.
A lot of people are surprised.
I wrote it this year and itcame out this year and I'm like,
yep, it was a a hard slog.
(26:52):
I mean, it's very indicative ifyou look at, in the first four
months of this year there washardly anything because all my
time and energy went to writingthis book, but I'm glad that
it's out now and people areenjoying it.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Oh my gosh.
So how to handle money?
What is in the book?
When people buy it, what canthey expect and what was you
know?
What was the context behind it?
What did you want people to getout of it?
Speaker 2 (27:18):
So how to handle money for me is almost the book
that I wish I had.
At a younger age.
I was very much a bookworm.
Growing up, my mom bought mebooks on everything from the
ancient Egyptians tounderstanding history, to
cookbooks, everything but moneywas always that void that she
couldn't find a good book tofill for me to actually learn.
So how to Handle Money isactually that book that I wish I
had when I was 11, 12 and up,and it's a beginner's guide to
(27:42):
personal finance in the uk.
So we cover everything fromchapter one where I talk about
budgeting and saving and breakthat down into different
accounts how savings work, howto budget properly, all the way
through to the art ofnegotiation, so how to negotiate
whether it's bills, cash back,all those kind of things, all
the way through to credit fraud,investments.
And then the final chapter isalmost like planning for the
(28:05):
future.
So we talk about understandingyour pay slip pension, which is
401k for everyone, for you guysin the US, but, yeah, all of
those things that we need toknow when it comes to our
finances.
Because I think there was astat that came out in terms of
the UK recently that said theaverage financial literacy age
in the UK is nine years old, soyou can imagine there's a lot of
(28:29):
people in their 20s, 30s, 40sand beyond who have the
financial literacy age of a nineyear old, which is why I wanted
to educate people.
So, even though the book isaimed at 11 plus, so someone you
know, a parent, could buy itfor their child I've also had
people who are in their 40s whohave bought it and messaged me
and said it's a great bookbecause it's just getting that
(28:50):
foundation, that understandingof personal finance that you can
build upon in your own lives.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Yeah Well, and making that information so accessible,
because I think and I'm sureyou would agree so many people
think talking about money,finance, investing, is
intimidating, right?
They don't even know where tostart.
Then there's all these acronymsand the lingo and it just feels
very unattainable, like youreally need a finance degree to
understand it all, and so I lovethat now, yourself included,
(29:19):
that there's so many more bookscoming out in the financial
literacy realm that are easy tounderstand and easy to process
and digest and have clear,actionable insights.
Right, it doesn't feel like youhave to go and get an economics
degree in order to budget foryour household properly or
negotiate a bill, or negotiate araise or whatever it might be.
(29:41):
I mean just immersing yourselfin that content, whether it's
your podcast, your book, yoursocial media, your YouTube, you
know you make it so accessible.
So I love that.
It's for like 11 and up.
I mean, who has written afinance book for an 11 year old?
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Well, there's thank you.
Well, there's very few people.
I've I've gone into bookstoresand that's also a very surreal
experience seeing my book instores, cause obviously I have a
few copies at home home, soI'll be seeing it in my own
house, let alone outside of myhouse.
But when you look at thatselection, at least in the UK
anyway I'm not sure about how itis in America, but for us
there's probably about fourbooks or five books in that kids
(30:23):
selection.
So when you look for kids andmoney, it's a very, very narrow,
you know, number of books and Ipretty much know all the
authors yeah, I know all theauthors, because only a few of
us who've written for thatdemographic.
So yeah, I mean it's a spacethat's starting to grow.
I think adult personal financevery important and I think we
still need more books on in thatspace.
But there's whale books beingwritten at a faster pace for
(30:45):
adults than there is for kids.
I think the younger that peoplelearn about finance, the less
mistakes they can make and thebetter foundation that they get.
So so we need more books foryoung people.
I'm glad that mine is added tothe pile, but hopefully that
list keeps growing.
Speaker 3 (30:58):
Absolutely.
I think most people really needto start with this.
Information is not somethingthat was taught in school, so
the whole concept of youbelieving that you should know
it just because you're an adultyou need to get that out of your
head because you don't knowthings just because that's not
how that works, and also to,like you know, as someone who
works in financial services,like we haven't done the public
(31:20):
adjust service in regards to howwe provide the information,
because often the informationwas gatekept and we tried to
make it seem more complicatedthan it is in some aspects so
that you feel as though you needus.
Now I do believe that you knowthat we serve a valuable service
when you're working with theright person, but the basic and
the foundation information isnot hard to understand once you
(31:43):
have someone or find a resource,obviously like your book, where
it explains it in easy tounderstand language.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
Absolutely.
I think it is so important.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Yeah Well, and people seeing you know a brown woman
behind the platform too, right,because then again, if you can't
see it, then you don't feellike you can be it.
And so having your face behindthe pennies to pound platform
and, you know, working with thecompanies that you've worked
with to get this financialliteracy content out into the
(32:15):
universe, I mean, it makes itmore accessible when you can
learn from people who look likeyou and from people who are
saying, like I didn't grow uprich or I didn't grow up in the
country club or I didn't grow upon the golf course, right, and
it's still something that Ilearned and I mastered and I'm
still learning and growing andI've been able to do this, this
(32:35):
and this or pay off this debt orraise my credit score, whatever
it is.
You know, I think seeing themelanin behind it, too really is
impactful and makes adifference, because, especially
in our, in our black and browncommunities, you know it's still
very taboo to talk about moneyin general or disrespectful or
that's a private thing.
We don't talk about that andit's keeping us broke, you know.
(32:59):
It's keeping us from investing,it's keeping us from
generational wealth, it'skeeping us from so many things,
and so I'm so glad that there'screators like you who are really
making it accessible andattainable for people to make
those positive changesfinancially in their lives.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
No, thank you so much .
Honestly, it's a massive thing,especially in the UK, and I
grew up in London.
I don't live in London anymore,but I grew up in London, in one
of the poorer areas in Londonin terms of economically, and I
didn't really see anyone talkabout money.
We weren't really taught aboutit in school.
(33:38):
I mean, a lot of people aren't,but we definitely weren't.
And a lot of people who I grewup with fell victim to our
circumstance because of where welived, and that is almost.
It works against them, becauseI think a lot of people don't
have that foundation and ifwe're not taught it, you think,
oh well, this is as far as I cango because of where I live.
(33:58):
I can't achieve any more andthat isn't the case.
So I wanted to obviouslyhopefully be a face to change
that, because I'm not someonewho came from money.
You know I worked like everyoneelse instead of my parents.
But it is that you can comefrom one thing and still change
the situation and decide whereyou want to be.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
You don't have to just let your current position
be your forever destination.
Yeah, that's such a greatmindset too.
What would you say is one ofthe best skills, over your youth
into your adulthood, thatyou've learned when it comes to
money, that you wish otherpeople could learn really early
on?
Speaker 2 (34:35):
I would say one of the best goals I've learned
would be creativity.
Now when I say this, I meanbeing creative with how you
spend your money.
So if I break it down to anexample, a big thing for me is
as you get older I'm sure youguys will agree it becomes
harder to see people.
(34:55):
Everyone's lives get busy, youknow.
Whether it's kids, weddings,everyone's lives get very busy.
So when you do meet up withpeople, it often is let's go
meet up and spend some money,whether it's having lunch,
having dinner, let's go out here.
Often there's some sort ofmoney involved and that can rack
up quite quickly if you'redoing two or three meetings in a
month to catch up with people.
(35:16):
So I think one thing that'sreally helped me is getting
creative with how you see people.
So my friends will often sayyou know, come round and then
they might cook at home, so youmight bring something small
which doesn't cost much, but westill get the same meetup time
we would have.
But we saved ourselves 30, 40pounds that we might have spent
if we went out for dinner.
Or some of my friends are verymuch so into fitness so we might
(35:38):
go out for a walk.
We go for a really long walktwo hour walk and we're catching
up over that walk.
But I think getting creativewith how we spend your money and
recognizing at some some points, yeah, you can spend money,
there's nothing wrong with goingout and having a nice lunch
with your friend and catching up.
But in other points, especiallyif you're saving up for things,
you can get creative and stillsee people that you love.
I think that's a big thing thatwhen I speak to young people,
(36:00):
they always have that, thattrouble, because they're saying
I really want to achieve thisgoal, whether it's to buy my
first car or buy my first house,but it's hard to save because
people want to go out and peoplewant to go on holiday.
And I'm like there are creativeways that you can actually
still enjoy yourself but notnecessarily break the bank and
still be able to reach yourfinancial goals.
I think that's one thing that Ihad to get creative when I was
(36:21):
younger because I didn't havemoney, so you have to figure out
ways to still have fun withoutmoney.
That I've now kept that, eventhough I do have more money, I'm
still not willing to you know,go crazy, unless I'm like okay,
cool, this is a treat and I'veplanned for it, but I'm not just
gonna do it every week when Isee someone, let's just go and
spend 80 pounds and just whocares?
We'll just have fun becausewe're young.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
No, remember on tiktok or I think, instagram,
there was like the 200 brunch,like it was.
It was kind of this viral wherepeople were like going crazy at
sunday brunch with likebottomless mimosas.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
I must have missed that one.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
You're literally going broke at brunch.
It should have been calledbroke brunch, because that's
what people were doing on theinternet.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
Well, what you described to me sounds like a
typical 40-year-old.
That's what it is.
I was going to say that is nowour life.
That's our life.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
Bring your own bottle of wine.
We'll have something to eat.
Play a game.
We'll stay in.
I can wear sweatpants, right.
I don't have to find a parking.
Yes, please.
Whose house are we going to be?
Yes, and we can let the kidsplay in the yard.
Yeah, just wait, give it 10years kia we'll have a different
conversation, but but I thinkthat's a great and I'm glad you
(37:29):
said that, because there is alot of societal pressure to go
here and buy these concerttickets and buy a new outfit
every time you go somewhere andmaybe grab a $5 coffee instead,
right, or whatever that might be.
(37:54):
Or let's meet at the dog park,or you know, like getting
together for the true value ofquality time versus making it
something where you have tospend X amount of dollars or
pounds.
Speaker 3 (38:06):
I think that also, you know, builds into the
conversation that we're having.
As far as being more open abouttalking about money, because
then sometimes you know, ifyou're, your friends are like,
hey, let's go out and spend thismoney, but you guys don't have
these conversations and you feellike ashamed or guilt, then you
just go ahead and spend themoney, rather than saying like,
hey, the reality is that I don'thave the money for this.
I'm trying to work on this.
(38:27):
But if you surround yourselfwith your friend, with friends
that you guys are having theseconversations, then you guys can
, you know, I guess it'd be openabout that and not feel shamed
and you can save the money.
And then even to like being withfriends that genuinely want
your company, where, like, hey,maybe they're in a better
financial place right now andthey're like, hey, really, I
really do want you to come outto lunch.
I'm a pay for it, don't evenworry about it.
(38:48):
Like it's not about the money,it's about the you know
companionship and being together.
So, like I mean honestlyboiling down to having more open
conversations and ultimatelybuilding better friendships,
cause, like, I feel like part oflike obviously, money does not
make our personal life a sense,you know who we're choosing to
be around.
That's not the central focus ofit.
(39:08):
Not the central focus of it,but our friends that we have
these conversations with.
I feel like we know them better, they know us better and we
have deeper connection, not justaround, like you know, money
conversation, but just ingeneral, because we have bridged
.
We have bridged theconversation that most people
find taboo and now we don't haveany conversations that are off
the table.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
We talk about everything with each, each other
I think that is key and soimportant to have those over
conversations with your friendsand I know it is either said
than done.
I'm well aware.
But whenever I say this topeople they're like, oh, but
it's not that easy.
I understand, but I think thathas been, as you mentioned, like
it's been such a game changerin my friendships.
(39:49):
Naturally, because of what I do, my friends are more open with
me, but they're not always openwith each other.
So they'll come and tell methings, but they won't talk to
each other.
But yeah, so I know everyone'severything.
When it comes to money, peopletell me oh, kia, I don't have
the money this month.
Or can we go out, but not gotoo crazy?
You know, everyone told me, butthey won't tell each other.
So it's down to me to relay themessage, or almost um it as
(40:11):
yeah, yeah.
It's always me in the groupchat saying right, guys, we're
gonna go out, but 30 pounds isour limit, because someone's
told me that they can't spendmore than that.
So I have to be the voice ofreason to say this is what we're
doing.
But I've always told my friendsand encouraged them to just be
open if you can't affordsomething or something's out of
your budget, or if you're savingtowards something, let people
know.
And one thing that I've donewith my friends is that I always
(40:33):
start off my new conversationsby saying something that I'm
doing, because I find it'salways easier, if you share
something, that people are morewilling to be open.
So if I say, for example, youknow I'm currently saving
towards, um, I don't know abrand new car, you know my car
now is cool, but I really want anew car.
I'm gonna upgrade.
That's what I'm saving towards.
What about you?
People now feel morecomfortable talking about oh, do
(40:54):
you know?
I wasn't really saving towardsanything, or I was on track and
then I fell off a little bit.
But now we get, we have actualconversations around money and
they don't feel weird.
And that's something I'm reallytrying to encourage my friends
and anyone I speak to to do.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
I love that.
It's that vulnerability andthat transparency that really
helps bring you.
You know, communities together,families together, but also,
like you said, when one personshares, somebody else is more
open.
And then in that that groupchat, you know, when you end up
saying, hey, actually, let's notgo to brunch, let's meet at the
park, you know, have a picnicand bring a couple of card games
(41:28):
, and bring a couple of cardgames, you still get the value
of being together as friends ina more intimate setting, without
spending money and then withouthaving that guilt of oh, did I
just spend that on brunch.
You know, I mean because theguilt that comes with those
decisions, I mean that it's justnot worth it in the end.
Speaker 3 (41:46):
And I want to call out like again, like you're only
26 years old and you're havingthese conversations, because
just might have theseconversations now, but when I
was 26, I wasn't having theseconversations with my friend
circle, I wasn't.
It started something that camea little bit later in life and I
just think it's amazing andit's inspiring to see what
you're doing at such a young age, because I'm not a pessimist by
(42:08):
any means, but people my ageand older, we're not doing the
best with the world.
We're not doing the best rightnow Things in the world as far
as overall.
So it's always nice to seeyounger people that are doing
amazing things and, you know,give you more hope about how the
world can actually change andbe better.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
Oh, thank you.
That really means a lot.
I mean, as I always say, I'mtrying my best.
I'm only one person trying mybest, but honestly, it's just
nice to be a positive impact,and we see a lot of everything
online nowadays.
So if I can kind of help peopleevery so often learn something
about their money or inspirethem to do something different
with their money, then that'sall I can ask for.
Speaker 3 (42:47):
But think about it this way Each person just did
one good thing for somebody elsein the world.
Imagine how different the worldwould be just in one day.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
That's very true.
It's not a matter of you.
Speaker 3 (42:57):
You don't necessarily have to help millions and
billions of people.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
Yeah, that's too much pressure.
Speaker 3 (43:03):
Even just your immediate circle, everybody
helping out their immediatecircle, and it just extends a
little bit further and further.
Speaker 1 (43:17):
Because big change is just honestly just incremental
change on top of each other.
Speaker 3 (43:19):
That's very true.
That is very true.
I like that perspective.
He has some good things to sayevery now and then.
You gotta weed through all theother nonsense and mumbling
jumbling that I say oh my gosh,kia, is there any?
Speaker 1 (43:24):
I mean, that was a fantastic kind of final thought,
but is there any?
I mean, that was a fantastickind of final thought, but is
there any final thought?
You know our audience, asthey're listening today, that
you want to leave them with,whether it's you know, getting
over past money mistakes ormoney mindset, what is it that
(43:45):
you ultimately want people tolearn or know about money and
how to handle it?
Speaker 2 (43:54):
people to learn or know about money and how to
handle it.
You see, what I would say?
For me, I, that was good, thatwas really good.
I was gonna leave that onethere.
You did very good with that one, but what I would want to leave
everyone with is probably to bea bit kinder to themselves when
it comes to money.
We're ultimately not taught itin schools and, unless you had
parents who had that education,you probably didn't learn it
(44:16):
from your parents either, andyou might have taken on their
behaviors good or bad as to howthey treated money.
So be kind to yourself.
If you're someone who perhapssees themselves as the impulse
spender and struggles withsaving, or you've gotten in some
debts and you're struggling toget out of it, just be kind to
yourself and then just taketoday as day one and see it
right.
(44:36):
This is a fresh start and noweverything I do today is working
towards a positive changebecause, as you mentioned,
brandon, you know it's thoseincremental, those small changes
that will get you to that bigchange.
So if you want to pay off, ifyou have twenty thousand dollars
, for example, worth of debt,you're not going to pay that off
overnight.
It is going to have to be five,ten, fifty dollars at a time,
(44:56):
but you will get that as long asyou keep burning on those small
changes.
But yeah, I think being kind toyourself is a big thing, because
a lot of people that Iencounter will say how terrible
they are with money, and I'mlike that's really the wrong
mindset, because you're notterrible.
You were never taught aboutmoney, so don't put that in your
head, but just let's justslowly unpick and unweave maybe
some of the behaviors thatyou've learned from people
(45:19):
around you or that you thoughtwere okay because you might have
seen it online, and unpickthose and then start to build
positive habits and behaviorslove that.
Speaker 1 (45:28):
Where can people find you kia?
Speaker 2 (45:32):
I am am on all platforms.
So me personally it's.
You can type in Kia Commodore,which is my full name, or Ikea,
which is a play on the store, soI-K-E-E-Y-A-H, and then my
platform is Penny's to Pound,which is everywhere.
So if you're interested inseeing how we do things about
money over in the UK.
Speaker 1 (45:48):
that's where you'll find out in the UK that's where
you'll find out, yeah, and ifyou want to hear her amazing
accent, you can find her on allof those platforms.
We will link them in the shownotes, because who would not
want to listen to you, kia?
I'm so sorry.
I'm going to stop now.
Kia, you've been incredible.
Speaker 2 (46:08):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (46:09):
You're the best.
Thank you, Don't forget.
Benjamin Franklin said aninvestment in knowledge pays the
best interest.
You just got paid Until nexttime.
Thanks for listening to today'sepisode.
(46:33):
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(46:55):
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Speaker 3 (47:00):
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Speaker 2 (00:45):
That's what Brandon and I did after eight years of
marriage.
So how to Handle Money isactually that book that I wish I
had when I was 11, 12 and up,and it's a beginner's guide to
personal finance in the UK.
So we cover everything fromchapter one, where I talk about
budgeting and saving and breakthat down into different
accounts how savings work, howto budget properly all the way
through to the art ofnegotiation, so how to negotiate
(01:06):
whether it's bills, cash back,all those kind of things all the
way through to credit fraud,investments.
And then the final chapter isalmost like planning for the
future.
So we talk about understandyour pay slip, pension, which is
401k for everyone, for you guysin the US, but yeah, all of
those things that we need toknow when it comes to our
(01:26):
finances, because I think therewas a stat that came out in
terms of the UK recently thatsaid, the average financial
literacy age in the UK is nineyears old, so you can imagine
there's a lot of people in their20s, 30s, 40s and beyond who
have the financial literacy ageof a nine-year-old.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Hey babe, what are we talking about today?
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Today we are talking about young people in finance.
I know we are millennials,we're elder millennials, but
today we're going to focus onpeople who are younger than us,
with a finance expert who I hadthe pleasure of meeting in New
York and I'm just going to tellyou right off the bat I
apologize for the terribleEnglish accent that I will be
(02:21):
doing throughout this episode,because we have our own Love
Island English you know accentfor our very first English
person on our episodes on theSugar Daddy podcast.
So just that's a littledisclaimer for anybody who's
listening.
I'm going to be doing a lot ofterrible English accents for you
(02:42):
today.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Okay, you cannot talk about when I try to do your
German accent anymore.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
That's because you make my German accent sound
Indian.
But we actually do havesomebody who's literally from
the UK with us today.
We have Kia Commodore.
She's incredible.
Her accent is real, you guys,so you get to enjoy her real
English accent on our episodetoday.
Kia, welcome to the pod.
Thank you for being with us.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Thank you so much for having me, and I find it so
interesting that everyone lovesthe British accent.
I mean, for me it's just how wetalk, but I understand the
fascination behind it, Yours.
It needs a little bit of work,but we'll get there.
We'll work on it.
We'll get there.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Yeah, we'll work on it we'll do like a call
afterwards and do a littlepracticing.
Yeah, yeah, does any does?
Speaker 3 (03:27):
anywhere actually enjoy the like quote-unquote
american accent, because no,because it's terrible.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Who wants to sound like us?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
I wouldn't but, um, I think we enjoy putting it on.
I wouldn't necessarily say weenjoy it, but in the uk we we
watch a lot of american TV.
So it is, you know, fairlynormal to hear, but I think the
fascination is more so on yourside of the British accent than
we have of American.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
I would say yes, well , when I met Kia, I was like, oh
, kia, and she was like, yeah,kia, like the car and like did
the hand motion and everything.
And then, as we got comfortablewith each other, I was like,
well, you should do an Englishaccent, like an American accent,
and she did it and it washysterical and I was like, yeah,
that is kind of what we soundlike.
And it was awful.
Who wants to sound like us?
(04:13):
It was yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Yeah, yeah, it was a good moment.
I'll be honest, it wasn't great, but yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
I tried you, it's fine.
I apologize in advance againfor butchering your beautiful
accent.
We're not here because of Kia'samazing accent.
We're here because she's abaddie in personal finance.
I instantly became obsessedwith her when I had the pleasure
of meeting her in New York atWomen in Money again for FinCon.
(04:39):
This is why y'all got to be outin the streets, y'all because
you meet people-.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Not in the streets, I mean in the financial content
creator streets.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
There we go, because you meet amazing people like Kia
, and then you get them on thepodcast.
And let's just get into thisbio, because Kia is doing some
things, y'all, all right, areyou ready?
Speaker 3 (05:00):
I've been ready Stay ready.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Kia Commodore is the author of how to Handle Money,
released this year byHarperCollins, and founder of
the highly successful Pennies toPounds platform, a financial
literacy hub created to empoweryoung people by enabling them to
shape their future withcomplete financial knowledge.
Love that.
In August 2022, Kia starred inthe Channel 4 series Money on my
(05:24):
Mind in partnership withBarclays, and appeared live on
BBC Night News to discuss thecost of living crisis.
Kia has also co-hosted the BBCFive Live podcast, your Work,
your Money, Cosmopolitan and theHuffington Post, and she has
(05:45):
worked with a number of globallyrecognized brands to create
easy to understand financialcontent.
Kia you out here.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I'm trying, I'm trying to be out here as much as
I can in the UK, you know, justtrying to do what I can to
teach people, and it's been ajourney, it's been incredible.
I mean, hearing you read it out, it really does.
I'm like wow, for me it's beenfive years and to hear it, you
know, put down like that, I'mlike wow, I've actually done a
fair bit, haven't I?
Speaker 1 (06:10):
I've done a little bit.
You really have you really.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
I'm so proud of you for the work that you're doing
and it's so impactful, right,because you're teaching them
what we all wish we would havelearned 10 20 years earlier than
we did.
You know, and kia, how old areyou?
So the audience knows I'm 26.
See, yeah, 26.
So she said this has been fiveyears of her doing this yeah,
yes, what was I doing at 21?
Speaker 1 (06:37):
not helping 21.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I could tell you exactly what we were doing.
We were in college, acting afool, probably.
That's true.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Not partnering with BBC and bar companies for
financial literacy, that's forsure.
Well, we are so glad to haveyou and to talk about this
journey that you've been on.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Thank you.
No, honestly, I'm so happy tobe here.
I am a massive fan, so thismeans so much.
I'm so excited.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Thank you All right.
Well, we kick off every guestepisode with understanding your
background and experience withmoney.
So, kia, can you talk usthrough your first money memory?
Speaker 2 (07:14):
My first money memory would probably have to be, I
would want to say I was aroundmaybe six or seven and my mom
took me to the bank for thefirst time.
So my parents had opened up asavings account for me and I had
got it I think Christmas moneyfrom family members that had
(07:35):
given me money and my mum.
Usually I'd want to spend it onnonsense.
It really was.
It was sweets, chocolates, allthe stuff that is not good for
your teeth, your health, but asa kid you want it.
Instead of that, mum said no,we're going to go to the bank,
I'm going to put it in the bank.
Her saying that to me itsounded very boring, but when I
actually went with her, the bankteller allowed me to give them
the money.
I got a little checkbook at thetime.
(07:57):
I don't think I do anymore, butyou have like a little savings
book where they would write downhow much you put in and I had
to sign it.
And I think they also gave melike a savings coin jar thing
and that's what really got meexcited about wanting to go to
the bank.
I didn't really understand whatthe bank did.
I just knew they had my moneyand whenever I saved up enough I
could get it back out and buystuff.
But it got me into that habitand we'd make it probably a
(08:18):
regular habit.
Every time I get money eitherChristmas, birthday or some sort
of special occasion where yourfamily members gift you with
some money my mom wouldencourage me to write we're
going to take a little bit out,maybe you can treat yourself a
little bit, but the most of it'sgoing into a savings account
and we go to the bank.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
I love that Because you know I'm thinking about our
daughter has been collecting hertooth fairy money.
She ain't got no more teethleft at this point, but her big
bank is full.
And you know I was talking toBrandon.
I was like, well, what shouldwe do?
Should we put it on a debitcard, what you know?
And we were talking about like,well, they physically need to
see the money to understandbecause, you know, even when
they're with us, all they see usdo is swipe.
(08:55):
They don't actually see cash.
And even the other day, whenher tooth randomly came out, I
was like, oh, do you have anydollars?
Because we just don't carrycash.
But going to the bank andphysically having that
experience and talking to theteller and filling out something
, it makes it so official.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
We do need to take them in to actually see and have
that experience, Because Ithink you said that is a core
memory that you have andobviously it has influenced how
you interact with money as anadult.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Have you been listening to our podcast and
wondering how am I really doingwith my money?
Am I doing the right thingswith my investments?
Am I on track to reach myfinancial goals?
What could I be doing better?
If you answered yes to any ofthese questions, then it's time
for you to reach out to Brandonto schedule your free yes, I
said free 30-minute introductionconversation to see how his
(09:53):
services could help make you themore confident moneymaker we
know you could be.
What are you waiting for?
It's literally free and at thevery least, you'll walk away
feeling more empowered andconfident about your financial
future.
Link is in our show notes.
Go schedule your call today.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Also, did you have additional conversations with
your parents about money outsideof opening up the savings
account?
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Yes.
So my parents made it a habitto teach me the relevant lessons
at the right ages.
So my parents got gottentogether when they were quite
young and they'd made theirfinancial mistakes, but I think
they'd decided not to make surethat their kids had the same
experience.
So I remember, like I said, atsix or seven it was savings.
Then, when I got slightly older, around 11 or 12, it was
(10:42):
talking a bit more aboutbudgeting what that means.
And when I got slightly older,around 11 or 12, it was talking
a bit more about budgeting whatthat means.
And when I got a bit older, itwas things like credit, because
credit cards started to becomeavailable and those lessons got
incrementally harder in thetopics as I got older and more
relevant.
So when I got to university,there was a lot of talk around
managing bills and what doesthat look like and um, you know.
(11:03):
But I wanted to save for ahouse and understanding how
mortgages work and what doesthat all of that entail.
But that was only at the rightpoint, because I think if I
learned about what mortgage wasat like 14 a, I wouldn't be
interested and b, I probablyfeel very overwhelmed.
I think I'm never going to havethousands of pounds to be able
to put towards a house, whereaswhen I'm 18 I'm like, oh, okay,
I'm earning a bit more.
It might take me some timestill, but I can reach that
(11:25):
point at some point.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Our son this morning it's funny it was this morning
he asked me he's like how muchwas the house?
And I was like a lot of money.
He's like a thousand.
I was like way more than that.
I was like I wish it was athousand dollars.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Well, we talked to them about money all the time.
Right Like the other day, therewas like a whole lid of
strawberries where theybasically took one bite of each
strawberry and like put it backon like the container lid, and
then walked away and thoughtthat they were done.
And I was like, so we're aboutto take money out of your piggy
bank because you're wasting alot of money just by like take
like what did?
What were you doing?
And um, they were like, well,how much does it cost?
(12:07):
And I was like, well, this pintof strawberries, you know, is
four or five $6, depending onwhen you buy it.
And they were just like what youknow?
But they still have no concept.
So I'm that's why I'm like,well, if we took the money out
of their piggy bank and actuallylaid it out and started showing
them you know we're doing somesort of fun activity to make
them understand like you have $5, if we take two away, you know
(12:30):
you're only left with three andthat's going to go very quickly.
So I love that your parentswere so clearly intentional
about the act of teaching youabout money, because it's so, so
important money because it's so, so important, absolutely, yeah
.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
I mean I I was gonna say I loved it and, like you
mentioned earlier, it'ssomething that's really been
embedded in my mind.
So I'm always very mindful ofhow I spend my money and I
always reflect back to thoselessons and how those lessons
impacted me, because I think ifI didn't learn about savings
from earlier, I probablywouldn't be as good of a saver
(13:05):
as I am now, if I didn'tunderstand the importance of it
when I was younger.
Now it's a no-brainer to save,it's just part of my budget.
But I have friends who didn'thave that let those lessons
growing up, who now find itdifficult to save money and keep
it in the savings.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
I would honestly say that is the hardest skill for
most people.
You know, when working withclients, if I'm meeting with
someone and I can already tell,like I've already looked at
their stuff and they're a greatsaver, like oh, it's going to be
easy, you already have thehardest part down because, like
you said, most people are nottaught to save at an early age.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
And so it's so difficult to do as they get
older.
Yeah Well, you have to buildthat habit right.
It really is like a muscle thatyou have to build and for me I
know if it's not automated itdoesn't happen.
So it has to be automated, andI'm always so grateful, like
when I look at, you know, for,for my example, my 401k, I'm
like, oh okay, the 401k islooking good because that
automatically goes.
Every paycheck it goes in there, I'm getting my match.
But if I didn't have systems inplace to automate especially
(14:05):
that savings, it would be adisaster because I would never,
I would never do it.
So I wouldn't say it would be adisaster, I think it would be a
disaster.
Yeah, I'm just going to callmyself out on it.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
How Disaster?
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Yeah, I'm just going to call myself out on it.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
How did you go from being the six or seven year old
in the bank and you know,putting money into a savings
account to pennies, to pounds,and your platform and your
podcast and all of that.
And for those that don't know,a pound is part of British
currency.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Yes, In case some people didn't know.
I just wanted to let them know,with the pennies to pound.
I hope if you're listening tothis podcast you know that we're
talking about.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Some people aren't as well-traveled as we are, so you
never know.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
Okay, let me not be judgy, all right.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
That's true.
That's true.
I'm going to run it again.
Well, well, for me, when Imentioned six or seven was when
I started on how to save, andthen nine was when I started my
first business, or side hustle,however you want to phrase it.
My mom had taught me how toknit over the summer holidays
and I'd gone back into schoolduring the autumn time and I
(15:10):
would go in.
My friends would tell me whatkind of scarf they wanted.
I'd buy the color wool, I'd gohome after my my homework, I'd
knit and I'd give them theirscarf and I'd make money that
way.
And then I got to secondaryschool, which is when you're
around 11 years old, and duringthat time I was selling cookies
and donuts.
That was very, very normal.
For a lot of entrepreneurialkids in the UK.
(15:30):
We'd always be selling cookiesand donuts because we didn't
really have a tuck shop oranywhere that you could buy
sweets or anything at school.
There was a healthy eatingregime going on, so there's none
of that, only fruit and veg.
So I capitalized on that.
Business was thriving, thriving.
Every day I would shift about40 to 50 cookies.
(15:51):
It was very easy.
I would sell so many cookiesand I'd make a lot of money
doing that.
So again, I think that's alsowhere my parents knew I was
doing that, to the point where Ithink I was making somewhere
around probably like 300 poundsof profit a week and that's a
lot of money.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Yeah, I was making a lot of money.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Yeah, I was making a lot of money.
I did it for the five years ofmy secondary schooling, yeah, so
I had a lot of money.
And again, because I'm makingso much money, I think that's
also where my parents were up inthe ante with the money lessons
because like, wow, you'veactually got a lot of money
coming in.
Now we've got to show you howwe, you know you actually manage
your money.
And then when I got to sixthform which when you're 16 to 18
(16:30):
I started wholesaling uh, haircare products from the US.
So I'd import them from the USand I'd sell them in the UK and
Europe and I made a lot of money.
So that's that's kind of likethe business side of things.
And I think because I was veryinto business, it naturally
moved into into money.
So when I got to university,when I was 18, I was good at
(16:50):
business, good at budgeting, gotto manage my money, even
setting up bills.
I was in charge of all thebills in my house with all my
friends I lived with.
But a lot of my friendscouldn't budget.
They had no idea how to.
So they'd call me or FaceTimeme, ask me to help them budget.
So I realized if they'restruggling, there's probably
other people our age who arealso struggling.
So that's how I turned toYouTube initially, and then,
(17:11):
about a year after YouTube, Iwent to Twitter and I created a
Twitter thread about thisaccount that we had in the UK
called Help to Buy ISA, whichwas coming to a close, but a lot
of young people needed to getit before it closed.
And that went viral.
And shortly after that Istarted the podcast because I
said, okay, there's a demand forthe content, so I'm just gonna
find somewhere to put it, andthe podcast was born oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Okay, let's rewind a little bit, because there was a
lot of entrepreneurial spirit ata young age.
Where did that come from?
I mean, why did you have thispassion for, like, I want to
make my own money um, that's agood question.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
You're probably the first person to ask me this
question if I actually peel itback yeah, you're very good at
questions.
I've never been asked before.
But if I actually peel it back,my parents probably probably
watching them.
So my parents both what theirindividual jobs, but they were
all very big in side hustles andmaking extra money on the side.
And one thing that I used to gowith them to is we go to I guess
(18:12):
what you'd call like a dollarstore but we called a pound
store, and they get things thatcost one pound but they'd use
their phones and you there's a Ithink you still do it now but
you scan on Amazon and it'llshow you how much it retails for
on Amazon.
So something like a, an actionman figure that is one pound in
the pound store, might be onAmazon for 12 pounds.
So they knew that, oh, if this,we can sell it.
(18:33):
Even if you said like 10 pounds, we're still making a huge
profit because it only cost usone pound to buy.
So they do that for tons ofthings, like my living room
would be filled with stuffbecause they just clear the
shelves of anything.
That would make a lot of profitand they just sell it on ebay
and they made a lot of money onthe side doing that.
So I think, seeing them do that,I remember I asked to get an
ebay account when I was like 12.
I wanted to join.
(18:53):
I like, I want to do the samething, but you have to be like
16 to get an eBay account, so Icouldn't do that.
So I think I looked for otherways to make money because I saw
them making extra money.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Oh, I love it.
And did they openly talk to youabout, like, the profit that
they were making or how much youknow they spent on that action
figure and then how much itwould cost to mail it out and
the time equity, Like?
Did they really go into detailon the commitment of this
entrepreneurial business?
Speaker 2 (19:20):
absolutely, because not only would I see them do it,
so I might come downstairs andsay, what's my dad doing?
And I see my dad there's, he'spackaging out what my mom's
prints out labels I'm seeingthem both do it but they'd also,
like I said, that's when Irealized what they were doing,
because to begin with we just goto the shops and I see them buy
loads of action figures, butthen I couldn't get any of it.
My brother couldn't get any ofit and I was like what?
(19:40):
So why are you buying so manyif we're not going to get any?
So that's what I asked them whydo you keep buying so many?
We don't get any of it.
And then then they began toshow us what they were doing.
I was like, oh, that makes alot of sense.
And then my dad also used to.
He used to.
My dad's been to america moretimes than I have.
He flew to america a goodcouple times around the time the
nintendo wii had come out.
(20:00):
He flew to new york because youcouldn't really get it in the
uk.
But I remember he was in newyork.
He managed to buy two or threeconsoles.
He had my mom in the uk go andqueue up for a toy store.
She bought one console.
So he's now come back.
We had four consoles in thehouse and I was like, oh my gosh
, we've got nintendo wii.
We didn't see nintendo wii forabout a year.
Yeah, we don't.
(20:21):
We did not.
We didn't see one for about ayear.
He kept buying them and thenselling them for a profit
because it was so difficult toget.
So he'd be queuing upeverywhere, fly wherever he
needed to fly to get them andthen make this his profit.
And then eventually there wasone, and but by that point my
brother and I would look at inthe living room thing, it's not
even ours.
We just walked past him, it'snot ours.
So one day he said actually,this is our one.
I said finally we get to seewhat this thing is finally oh my
(20:44):
gosh, I love that.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
well, we're all about normalizing the conversation
around money in our home so thatwhen the kids do have questions
of how much does this cost orhow do I do this Right, they
they know that they can freelyand openly come to us and ask
those questions, and so I lovethat your parents consciously
did that, because it takes thatshame out of you know, out of
(21:07):
the equation, whereas you saidyour friends, who didn't know
how to save, didn't know how tobudget.
Then you get to college andit's like how are you expecting
your children to keep the lightson and the water running if
you're not?
You know teaching them how topay these bills on time or what
a credit card really means, andyou know so.
It's amazing that you took thaton and saw the need, even just
(21:28):
amongst your friends circle.
So kudos to you for recognizingthat.
Also thank you, I mean.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
I tried being the older one here, I I always think
back.
I'm like man, like I like tothink that maybe I might have
been a little bit better withthe internet like as it is now.
You know, back then.
But I don't know, man like,because I so like you still
gotta give them credit forbecause there's so much
information out there now andyoung people are there's still
tons of young people are nottaking full advantage of that.
(21:55):
But, like you know, when wewere in college the internet was
very much in its infancy.
Like none of this informationwas really out there.
There wasn't any social media.
I mean, facebook came around mysenior year of college.
That's how old I am.
So like I'm the same age asMark Zuckerberg, amazing amazing
(22:25):
.
Speaker 2 (22:25):
You really are the voice of young finance in the UK
.
How does that feel?
It's very overwhelming, but ina good way.
When I started off doing what Iwas doing, as you mentioned
earlier, I was 21.
I didn't really know what I wasdoing.
I was still in university.
So I still I was in my finalyear of university trying to
figure out what I was going todo for the rest of my life.
I studied French in business.
(22:45):
So I was like am I going to goand speak French somewhere?
Am I gonna?
I don't know what I'm gonna dowhen I leave university.
I have no idea.
And that kind of slowly tookoff.
I was also working part-time.
I worked in an apple storepart-time.
So I was kind of just trying tofigure it out.
And then, I think, after aboutfive months of starting the
podcast and I was being asked todo talks I was being asked a
(23:09):
lot by the BBC to do stuff withthem that I basically one day my
dad was in the living room camedownstairs I said Tim, I'm
leaving my job, I'm leaving myjob, I'm leaving my job.
And he said what are you goingto go and do?
I said I'm going to podcast, Ithink.
And he said but what does thatmean?
I said I have no idea.
When I know, you'll be thefirst to know.
But this is what I'm going topursue and I'm glad that I get
(23:35):
to educate so many young peopleand it's.
It's also really nice to hearfrom people, because very often
I meet people in all walks oflife.
I could be anywhere, I could bein a supermarket, and someone
recognizes me and then they tellme how much of an impact that
my content has had on them.
Someone told me the other daythat they were able to buy their
first house because of thecontent I've been putting out.
They followed me for years andimplemented a lot of that and
(23:56):
have been able to get theproperty I love, which is just
amazing to hear those kinds ofthings.
So yeah, it's great, but it'soverwhelming.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
That is.
I mean, that is so incredible.
Not very many 26 year olds cansay that they're having that
kind of a truly positive impacton people because we know you
know money isn't everythingno-transcript, you know people
(24:44):
have access to and it doesn'tcost them anything.
So you are a aside from yourbook now, which I'm sure they
can rent at the library.
You know you have so manyoutlets for people to learn and
to consume your content, and sojust be really proud of the work
that you're doing, because itreally is impactful.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
It means a lot, thank you.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
Let's talk about the book Kia, because it's your
first book.
Congratulations Traditionallypublished by one of the biggest
publishers in the world.
I mean, are you just likescreaming on the inside?
Speaker 2 (25:27):
I think I've screamed on the outside now I think I've
let that out.
It's come out for sure I loveit.
But yeah, I mean it's stillmassive, massive.
It's been out for just over amonth now, at the time we're
recording this, and it's yeah,it's incredible.
I mean it's been a wholeprocess, a whole journey.
So to walk you through it, Ifound out that about the book
(25:52):
and what the premise would beand what I'd write, and I was
hoping about October 2023.
Then I actually agreed andsigned to the book deal, I
believe somewhere around the21st of December 2023.
So literally right beforeChristmas, I knew I was going to
write a book and then I startedwriting the first week of
(26:12):
January 2024.
And it was a very quickturnaround.
I had just about four months towrite the book.
Yeah, usually it's like atwo-year process from like start
to publishing, but they reallywanted to get that cranked out,
I guess.
Wow, yeah, they really wantedit out.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
There's a lot of pressure but they really wanted
it out this year.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yeah, yeah, they really wanted it out before
Christmas time this year, sothat's why there was a lot of
pressure in terms of deadlines,so I finished the book.
I think end of April 2024 iswhen I finished the book and
then it was available forpre-order in August and it came
out in October.
So it was a very quickturnaround.
A lot of people are surprised.
I wrote it this year and itcame out this year and I'm like,
yep, it was a a hard slog.
(26:52):
I mean, it's very indicative ifyou look at, in the first four
months of this year there washardly anything because all my
time and energy went to writingthis book, but I'm glad that
it's out now and people areenjoying it.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Oh my gosh.
So how to handle money?
What is in the book?
When people buy it, what canthey expect and what was you
know?
What was the context behind it?
What did you want people to getout of it?
Speaker 2 (27:18):
So how to handle money for me is almost the book
that I wish I had.
At a younger age.
I was very much a bookworm.
Growing up, my mom bought mebooks on everything from the
ancient Egyptians tounderstanding history, to
cookbooks, everything but moneywas always that void that she
couldn't find a good book tofill for me to actually learn.
So how to Handle Money isactually that book that I wish I
had when I was 11, 12 and up,and it's a beginner's guide to
(27:42):
personal finance in the uk.
So we cover everything fromchapter one where I talk about
budgeting and saving and breakthat down into different
accounts how savings work, howto budget properly, all the way
through to the art ofnegotiation, so how to negotiate
whether it's bills, cash back,all those kind of things, all
the way through to credit fraud,investments.
And then the final chapter isalmost like planning for the
(28:05):
future.
So we talk about understandingyour pay slip pension, which is
401k for everyone, for you guysin the US, but, yeah, all of
those things that we need toknow when it comes to our
finances.
Because I think there was astat that came out in terms of
the UK recently that said theaverage financial literacy age
in the UK is nine years old, soyou can imagine there's a lot of
(28:29):
people in their 20s, 30s, 40sand beyond who have the
financial literacy age of a nineyear old, which is why I wanted
to educate people.
So, even though the book isaimed at 11 plus, so someone you
know, a parent, could buy itfor their child I've also had
people who are in their 40s whohave bought it and messaged me
and said it's a great bookbecause it's just getting that
(28:50):
foundation, that understandingof personal finance that you can
build upon in your own lives.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Yeah Well, and making that information so accessible,
because I think and I'm sureyou would agree so many people
think talking about money,finance, investing, is
intimidating, right?
They don't even know where tostart.
Then there's all these acronymsand the lingo and it just feels
very unattainable, like youreally need a finance degree to
understand it all, and so I lovethat now, yourself included,
(29:19):
that there's so many more bookscoming out in the financial
literacy realm that are easy tounderstand and easy to process
and digest and have clear,actionable insights.
Right, it doesn't feel like youhave to go and get an economics
degree in order to budget foryour household properly or
negotiate a bill, or negotiate araise or whatever it might be.
(29:41):
I mean just immersing yourselfin that content, whether it's
your podcast, your book, yoursocial media, your YouTube, you
know you make it so accessible.
So I love that.
It's for like 11 and up.
I mean, who has written afinance book for an 11 year old?
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Well, there's thank you.
Well, there's very few people.
I've I've gone into bookstoresand that's also a very surreal
experience seeing my book instores, cause obviously I have a
few copies at home home, soI'll be seeing it in my own
house, let alone outside of myhouse.
But when you look at thatselection, at least in the UK
anyway I'm not sure about how itis in America, but for us
there's probably about fourbooks or five books in that kids
(30:23):
selection.
So when you look for kids andmoney, it's a very, very narrow,
you know, number of books and Ipretty much know all the
authors yeah, I know all theauthors, because only a few of
us who've written for thatdemographic.
So yeah, I mean it's a spacethat's starting to grow.
I think adult personal financevery important and I think we
still need more books on in thatspace.
But there's whale books beingwritten at a faster pace for
(30:45):
adults than there is for kids.
I think the younger that peoplelearn about finance, the less
mistakes they can make and thebetter foundation that they get.
So so we need more books foryoung people.
I'm glad that mine is added tothe pile, but hopefully that
list keeps growing.
Speaker 3 (30:58):
Absolutely.
I think most people really needto start with this.
Information is not somethingthat was taught in school, so
the whole concept of youbelieving that you should know
it just because you're an adultyou need to get that out of your
head because you don't knowthings just because that's not
how that works, and also to,like you know, as someone who
works in financial services,like we haven't done the public
(31:20):
adjust service in regards to howwe provide the information,
because often the informationwas gatekept and we tried to
make it seem more complicatedthan it is in some aspects so
that you feel as though you needus.
Now I do believe that you knowthat we serve a valuable service
when you're working with theright person, but the basic and
the foundation information isnot hard to understand once you
(31:43):
have someone or find a resource,obviously like your book, where
it explains it in easy tounderstand language.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
Absolutely.
I think it is so important.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
Yeah Well, and people seeing you know a brown woman
behind the platform too, right,because then again, if you can't
see it, then you don't feellike you can be it.
And so having your face behindthe pennies to pound platform
and, you know, working with thecompanies that you've worked
with to get this financialliteracy content out into the
(32:15):
universe, I mean, it makes itmore accessible when you can
learn from people who look likeyou and from people who are
saying, like I didn't grow uprich or I didn't grow up in the
country club or I didn't grow upon the golf course, right, and
it's still something that Ilearned and I mastered and I'm
still learning and growing andI've been able to do this, this
(32:35):
and this or pay off this debt orraise my credit score, whatever
it is.
You know, I think seeing themelanin behind it, too really is
impactful and makes adifference, because, especially
in our, in our black and browncommunities, you know it's still
very taboo to talk about moneyin general or disrespectful or
that's a private thing.
We don't talk about that andit's keeping us broke, you know.
(32:59):
It's keeping us from investing,it's keeping us from
generational wealth, it'skeeping us from so many things,
and so I'm so glad that there'screators like you who are really
making it accessible andattainable for people to make
those positive changesfinancially in their lives.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
No, thank you so much .
Honestly, it's a massive thing,especially in the UK, and I
grew up in London.
I don't live in London anymore,but I grew up in London, in one
of the poorer areas in Londonin terms of economically, and I
didn't really see anyone talkabout money.
We weren't really taught aboutit in school.
(33:38):
I mean, a lot of people aren't,but we definitely weren't.
And a lot of people who I grewup with fell victim to our
circumstance because of where welived, and that is almost.
It works against them, becauseI think a lot of people don't
have that foundation and ifwe're not taught it, you think,
oh well, this is as far as I cango because of where I live.
(33:58):
I can't achieve any more andthat isn't the case.
So I wanted to obviouslyhopefully be a face to change
that, because I'm not someonewho came from money.
You know I worked like everyoneelse instead of my parents.
But it is that you can comefrom one thing and still change
the situation and decide whereyou want to be.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
You don't have to just let your current position
be your forever destination.
Yeah, that's such a greatmindset too.
What would you say is one ofthe best skills, over your youth
into your adulthood, thatyou've learned when it comes to
money, that you wish otherpeople could learn really early
on?
Speaker 2 (34:35):
I would say one of the best goals I've learned
would be creativity.
Now when I say this, I meanbeing creative with how you
spend your money.
So if I break it down to anexample, a big thing for me is
as you get older I'm sure youguys will agree it becomes
harder to see people.
(34:55):
Everyone's lives get busy, youknow.
Whether it's kids, weddings,everyone's lives get very busy.
So when you do meet up withpeople, it often is let's go
meet up and spend some money,whether it's having lunch,
having dinner, let's go out here.
Often there's some sort ofmoney involved and that can rack
up quite quickly if you'redoing two or three meetings in a
month to catch up with people.
(35:16):
So I think one thing that'sreally helped me is getting
creative with how you see people.
So my friends will often sayyou know, come round and then
they might cook at home, so youmight bring something small
which doesn't cost much, but westill get the same meetup time
we would have.
But we saved ourselves 30, 40pounds that we might have spent
if we went out for dinner.
Or some of my friends are verymuch so into fitness so we might
(35:38):
go out for a walk.
We go for a really long walktwo hour walk and we're catching
up over that walk.
But I think getting creativewith how we spend your money and
recognizing at some some points, yeah, you can spend money,
there's nothing wrong with goingout and having a nice lunch
with your friend and catching up.
But in other points, especiallyif you're saving up for things,
you can get creative and stillsee people that you love.
I think that's a big thing thatwhen I speak to young people,
(36:00):
they always have that, thattrouble, because they're saying
I really want to achieve thisgoal, whether it's to buy my
first car or buy my first house,but it's hard to save because
people want to go out and peoplewant to go on holiday.
And I'm like there are creativeways that you can actually
still enjoy yourself but notnecessarily break the bank and
still be able to reach yourfinancial goals.
I think that's one thing that Ihad to get creative when I was
(36:21):
younger because I didn't havemoney, so you have to figure out
ways to still have fun withoutmoney.
That I've now kept that, eventhough I do have more money, I'm
still not willing to you know,go crazy, unless I'm like okay,
cool, this is a treat and I'veplanned for it, but I'm not just
gonna do it every week when Isee someone, let's just go and
spend 80 pounds and just whocares?
We'll just have fun becausewe're young.
Speaker 1 (36:41):
No, remember on tiktok or I think, instagram,
there was like the 200 brunch,like it was.
It was kind of this viral wherepeople were like going crazy at
sunday brunch with likebottomless mimosas.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
I must have missed that one.
Speaker 1 (36:55):
You're literally going broke at brunch.
It should have been calledbroke brunch, because that's
what people were doing on theinternet.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
Well, what you described to me sounds like a
typical 40-year-old.
That's what it is.
I was going to say that is nowour life.
That's our life.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
Bring your own bottle of wine.
We'll have something to eat.
Play a game.
We'll stay in.
I can wear sweatpants, right.
I don't have to find a parking.
Yes, please.
Whose house are we going to be?
Yes, and we can let the kidsplay in the yard.
Yeah, just wait, give it 10years kia we'll have a different
conversation, but but I thinkthat's a great and I'm glad you
(37:29):
said that, because there is alot of societal pressure to go
here and buy these concerttickets and buy a new outfit
every time you go somewhere andmaybe grab a $5 coffee instead,
right, or whatever that might be.
(37:54):
Or let's meet at the dog park,or you know, like getting
together for the true value ofquality time versus making it
something where you have tospend X amount of dollars or
pounds.
Speaker 3 (38:06):
I think that also, you know, builds into the
conversation that we're having.
As far as being more open abouttalking about money, because
then sometimes you know, ifyou're, your friends are like,
hey, let's go out and spend thismoney, but you guys don't have
these conversations and you feellike ashamed or guilt, then you
just go ahead and spend themoney, rather than saying like,
hey, the reality is that I don'thave the money for this.
I'm trying to work on this.
(38:27):
But if you surround yourselfwith your friend, with friends
that you guys are having theseconversations, then you guys can
, you know, I guess it'd be openabout that and not feel shamed
and you can save the money.
And then even to like being withfriends that genuinely want
your company, where, like, hey,maybe they're in a better
financial place right now andthey're like, hey, really, I
really do want you to come outto lunch.
I'm a pay for it, don't evenworry about it.
(38:48):
Like it's not about the money,it's about the you know
companionship and being together.
So, like I mean honestlyboiling down to having more open
conversations and ultimatelybuilding better friendships,
cause, like, I feel like part oflike obviously, money does not
make our personal life a sense,you know who we're choosing to
be around.
That's not the central focus ofit.
(39:08):
Not the central focus of it,but our friends that we have
these conversations with.
I feel like we know them better, they know us better and we
have deeper connection, not justaround, like you know, money
conversation, but just ingeneral, because we have bridged
.
We have bridged theconversation that most people
find taboo and now we don't haveany conversations that are off
the table.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
We talk about everything with each, each other
I think that is key and soimportant to have those over
conversations with your friendsand I know it is either said
than done.
I'm well aware.
But whenever I say this topeople they're like, oh, but
it's not that easy.
I understand, but I think thathas been, as you mentioned, like
it's been such a game changerin my friendships.
(39:49):
Naturally, because of what I do, my friends are more open with
me, but they're not always openwith each other.
So they'll come and tell methings, but they won't talk to
each other.
But yeah, so I know everyone'severything.
When it comes to money, peopletell me oh, kia, I don't have
the money this month.
Or can we go out, but not gotoo crazy?
You know, everyone told me, butthey won't tell each other.
So it's down to me to relay themessage, or almost um it as
(40:11):
yeah, yeah.
It's always me in the groupchat saying right, guys, we're
gonna go out, but 30 pounds isour limit, because someone's
told me that they can't spendmore than that.
So I have to be the voice ofreason to say this is what we're
doing.
But I've always told my friendsand encouraged them to just be
open if you can't affordsomething or something's out of
your budget, or if you're savingtowards something, let people
know.
And one thing that I've donewith my friends is that I always
(40:33):
start off my new conversationsby saying something that I'm
doing, because I find it'salways easier, if you share
something, that people are morewilling to be open.
So if I say, for example, youknow I'm currently saving
towards, um, I don't know abrand new car, you know my car
now is cool, but I really want anew car.
I'm gonna upgrade.
That's what I'm saving towards.
What about you?
People now feel morecomfortable talking about oh, do
(40:54):
you know?
I wasn't really saving towardsanything, or I was on track and
then I fell off a little bit.
But now we get, we have actualconversations around money and
they don't feel weird.
And that's something I'm reallytrying to encourage my friends
and anyone I speak to to do.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
I love that.
It's that vulnerability andthat transparency that really
helps bring you.
You know, communities together,families together, but also,
like you said, when one personshares, somebody else is more
open.
And then in that that groupchat, you know, when you end up
saying, hey, actually, let's notgo to brunch, let's meet at the
park, you know, have a picnicand bring a couple of card games
(41:28):
, and bring a couple of cardgames, you still get the value
of being together as friends ina more intimate setting, without
spending money and then withouthaving that guilt of oh, did I
just spend that on brunch.
You know, I mean because theguilt that comes with those
decisions, I mean that it's justnot worth it in the end.
Speaker 3 (41:46):
And I want to call out like again, like you're only
26 years old and you're havingthese conversations, because
just might have theseconversations now, but when I
was 26, I wasn't having theseconversations with my friend
circle, I wasn't.
It started something that camea little bit later in life and I
just think it's amazing andit's inspiring to see what
you're doing at such a young age, because I'm not a pessimist by
(42:08):
any means, but people my ageand older, we're not doing the
best with the world.
We're not doing the best rightnow Things in the world as far
as overall.
So it's always nice to seeyounger people that are doing
amazing things and, you know,give you more hope about how the
world can actually change andbe better.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
Oh, thank you.
That really means a lot.
I mean, as I always say, I'mtrying my best.
I'm only one person trying mybest, but honestly, it's just
nice to be a positive impact,and we see a lot of everything
online nowadays.
So if I can kind of help peopleevery so often learn something
about their money or inspirethem to do something different
with their money, then that'sall I can ask for.
Speaker 3 (42:47):
But think about it this way Each person just did
one good thing for somebody elsein the world.
Imagine how different the worldwould be just in one day.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
That's very true.
It's not a matter of you.
Speaker 3 (42:57):
You don't necessarily have to help millions and
billions of people.
Speaker 1 (43:00):
Yeah, that's too much pressure.
Speaker 3 (43:03):
Even just your immediate circle, everybody
helping out their immediatecircle, and it just extends a
little bit further and further.
Speaker 1 (43:17):
Because big change is just honestly just incremental
change on top of each other.
Speaker 3 (43:19):
That's very true.
That is very true.
I like that perspective.
He has some good things to sayevery now and then.
You gotta weed through all theother nonsense and mumbling
jumbling that I say oh my gosh,kia, is there any?
Speaker 1 (43:24):
I mean, that was a fantastic kind of final thought,
but is there any?
I mean, that was a fantastickind of final thought, but is
there any final thought?
You know our audience, asthey're listening today, that
you want to leave them with,whether it's you know, getting
over past money mistakes ormoney mindset, what is it that
(43:45):
you ultimately want people tolearn or know about money and
how to handle it?
Speaker 2 (43:54):
people to learn or know about money and how to
handle it.
You see, what I would say?
For me, I, that was good, thatwas really good.
I was gonna leave that onethere.
You did very good with that one, but what I would want to leave
everyone with is probably to bea bit kinder to themselves when
it comes to money.
We're ultimately not taught itin schools and, unless you had
parents who had that education,you probably didn't learn it
(44:16):
from your parents either, andyou might have taken on their
behaviors good or bad as to howthey treated money.
So be kind to yourself.
If you're someone who perhapssees themselves as the impulse
spender and struggles withsaving, or you've gotten in some
debts and you're struggling toget out of it, just be kind to
yourself and then just taketoday as day one and see it
right.
(44:36):
This is a fresh start and noweverything I do today is working
towards a positive changebecause, as you mentioned,
brandon, you know it's thoseincremental, those small changes
that will get you to that bigchange.
So if you want to pay off, ifyou have twenty thousand dollars
, for example, worth of debt,you're not going to pay that off
overnight.
It is going to have to be five,ten, fifty dollars at a time,
(44:56):
but you will get that as long asyou keep burning on those small
changes.
But yeah, I think being kind toyourself is a big thing, because
a lot of people that Iencounter will say how terrible
they are with money, and I'mlike that's really the wrong
mindset, because you're notterrible.
You were never taught aboutmoney, so don't put that in your
head, but just let's justslowly unpick and unweave maybe
some of the behaviors thatyou've learned from people
(45:19):
around you or that you thoughtwere okay because you might have
seen it online, and unpickthose and then start to build
positive habits and behaviorslove that.
Speaker 1 (45:28):
Where can people find you kia?
Speaker 2 (45:32):
I am am on all platforms.
So me personally it's.
You can type in Kia Commodore,which is my full name, or Ikea,
which is a play on the store, soI-K-E-E-Y-A-H, and then my
platform is Penny's to Pound,which is everywhere.
So if you're interested inseeing how we do things about
money over in the UK.
Speaker 1 (45:48):
that's where you'll find out in the UK that's where
you'll find out, yeah, and ifyou want to hear her amazing
accent, you can find her on allof those platforms.
We will link them in the shownotes, because who would not
want to listen to you, kia?
I'm so sorry.
I'm going to stop now.
Kia, you've been incredible.
Speaker 2 (46:08):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (46:09):
You're the best.
Thank you, Don't forget.
Benjamin Franklin said aninvestment in knowledge pays the
best interest.
You just got paid Until nexttime.
Thanks for listening to today'sepisode.
(46:33):
We are so glad to have you aspart of our Sugar Daddy
community.
If you learned something today,please remember to subscribe,
rate, review and share thisepisode with your friends,
family and extended network.
Don't forget to connect with uson social media at the Sugar
Daddy podcast, the Sugar DaddyPodcast.
You can also email us yourquestions you want us to answer
(46:55):
for our past, the Sugar segmentsat thesugardaddypodcast at
gmailcom, or leave us avoicemail through our Instagram.
Speaker 3 (47:00):
Our content is intended to be used, and must be
used, for informationalpurposes only.
It is very important to do yourown analysis before making any
investment based upon your ownpersonal circumstances.
You should take independentfinancial advice from a licensed
professional in connection with, or independently research and
verify any information you findin our podcast and wish.
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