Finance Journalist Nicole Lapin is a girl boss extraordinaire. One of the most successful women in finance, Nicole, has come a long way. Hailing from a family of immigrants, Nicole’s interest in all things money comes as an act of survival. She takes this passion and extends it to helping other women enter the industry and prosper as well as she has! The best way for a woman to be empowered is to be financially independent. Read on as Jejune Magazine gets up close and personal with the ever lovely Nicole Lapin!

Where are you based?
Los Angeles.

Can you tell us how and when you decided that you wanted to pursue financial journalism?
I grew up in an immigrant family where the only exposure I had to the concept of finances was green cash in a safe under the kitchen sink. I never imagined I would even get to a place where I had my own finances figured out much less be teaching anyone else about them. I didn’t have a silver spoon in my mouth growing up, I barely had a spoon of food in my mouth at times. I was completely clueless about money so much so that my boyfriend in high school said he wanted to be a hedge fund manager and I thought he wanted to be in gardening! It all changed when I was 18 and was offered a job as a business reporter in Chicago. I needed a job so I said I knew about business news at the time, thinking I would just figure it out. And I did! And since then I’ve always wanted to help that scared girl who had so much shame about her financial acumen, or lack thereof. I went on to anchor and report business news for CNN, CNBC and Bloomberg. I also wrote four books on the subject (with six more to come!) and speak to my audience every day with my daily show Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin. I turned the thing that I thought was my biggest weakness into my biggest super power. I really think my story serves as a reminder that if I can do it, truly anyone can.

What made you decide to take up finance as your point of interest?
I think money is a language like anything else. We just don't have a Rosetta Stone for that language growing up. We don't learn it in school and most of us, myself included, don't learn it at home. I grew up in an immigrant family so there was no talk of stocks or bonds or mortgages. The world of investing sounded foreign to me. That's until I learned how to actually speak the language and once I did, I felt empowered and could join money conversations. I also realized it wasn't as complicated as I imagined it to be. The same thing happens with any language. If you go to Japan and you don't speak Japanese, you'll be really confused. If you go to Wall Street and you don't speak the language of money, you'll be really confused... until, of course, you learn it. It's never too late to learn it. You're not too old to start. I wanted to be your Rosetta Stone to help you decode the language of investing and growing wealth once and for all.

Finance is a male dominated world. How does it feel to be a woman in this field? Do you feel more women go to you for advice just because you are a woman?
It feels pretty sweet! I’ll never forget when I started on the floor of the stock exchange 20 years ago, the women’s bathroom looked like a little coat closet next to the palatial men’s room. That’s no longer the case anymore. I’ve tried to make a traditionally boring and stuffy subject dare I say fun. The work I do is all about making complicated topics in business and finance accessible. I think it is the last taboo we have as a society. Like with any hard subject, someone has to go first. So, I’ve taken the approach of let that be me. I go first sharing my embarrassing money foibles and exactly how much debt I had and money I made with every salary or project in my career. The best antidote to shame is truth. So hopefully I lead by example.

All your books are for female audiences. Did you feel there was a lack of financial empowerment for women?
Yes! Men don’t know more about money and business than women do, they just talk about it more. So, let’s start talking! Unfortunately, too many women stay in abusive relationships because they don’t think they can support themselves or take care of household finances themselves. The power to do that is well within your reach, but only if you grab for it!

Financial independence can be one of the most empowering acts one can have, especially for women. What is your go to advice for a woman looking to learn more about finance?
The biggest thing is to start investing. Now. You’re never as young as you are today and today is as good a day as any as far as I’m concerned. You know the nasty force of compound interest that’s used against you with credit card debt? You can use that very same force in your favor when you invest. If you’re a newbie, I would start with low-cost S&P 500 index funds or ETFs. It’s really hard to beat the market no matter how much people try to sell you on that. The reality is: very few fund managers beat what the market does. So just buy what the market does instead! That’s what an index fund helps you do.

What advice would you give young females trying to break into the finance industry?
Oh wow! Where do I start? I would say be really honest with yourself. You don't need to tell the world about your problems like I have, but you have to at least tell yourself. In all of my books I have a money “confession” in each step. All of my books are 12-step plans because the first step to any recovery is admitting you have a problem. The only financial problem you can’t fix is the one you don’t admit you have. I have a lot of super embarrassing stories about money, but I would say being in a boatload of credit card debt early in my career and getting out of it strengthened me for anything I’ll face financially. I am never going back there.

Your podcast, Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin is constantly trending on Apple Business Charts. Congrats! Can you walk us through the entire process of creating this podcast — from conceptualization to execution? What is your goal for the podcast?
Every day on Money Rehab, I offer listeners bite-sized episodes of what’s happening in the financial world in plain English… how inflation affects you, what’s up with interest rates and student debt or wtf is the metaverse?! Being up to date with financial literacy and the latest happenings is a key component to growing long-term, generational wealth.

When most people think of finance they don’t think of humanitarian work, but you are actually very actively giving back! What drew you towards giving back so much?
I think they should! I think there's a lot of energy attached to money. It follows the same law of attraction. The more you put out there, the more it comes back to you. I think the secret to living well is giving. I view everything I do through the lens of service. All of my work is centered in financial literacy and helping other people not make the same mistakes I did. That's really what gets me up every morning!

From the multitude of accolades that you possess, what makes you the proudest?
I am most proud of the word of mouth recommendations I've received. It's not an accolade per se but it means the most to me. When all the razzle dazzle or launches dies down, the people who tell their friends about it are the true sign of success. I think young Nicole would be most proud of that!

It has been a rough few years, how have you been staying positive during these times?
I honestly haven't 100% of the time. But I remind myself I'm a Super Woman (I have it tattooed so it serves as a literal "in your face" reminder). Being a super <space> woman is different from the one-word version because it allows space for you, the woman. So often we are told to do it all and be it all for everything else, which means we are nothing to ourselves. I wrote Becoming Super Woman to remind us to put our oxygen masks on first and argues that self-care is the biggest asset or liability in your career. It is a business book, in the business section of the book store not the self-help section because it focuses on how EQ (emotional intelligence) and FQ (financial intelligence) beat out IQ as the most important catalysts to success. The good news is: it’s really easy to boost both of them. Changing your IQ is hard but upping your EQ and FQ is totally up to you.

What is your motto in life?
It will be okay in the end, if it's not okay, it's not the end.

To know more about Nicole Lapin, please follow:
www.nicolelapin.com
www.moneyrehabshow.com
Instagram: @nicolelapin and @moneyrehabshow

Photo credit Nothing But Gold Productions.

Nicole Lapin - Money Talks & Girl Bossing