Written by Kelsey Krahn

The global pandemic has shaken society as we know it. Our economy currently rests in a state of unpredictability, uncertainty, and unease, making it tough for many employers, employees, and non-essential businesses to generate income and stay afloat. 

However, numerous working ladies in Denver have used innovation to turn adversity into impact. Several have taken this opportunity to get creative and expand their network by reaching out to new customers and clients. While others have pivoted their business to make an impact on the community. 

The following eight ladies have creatively swiveled their business to help out others during the coronavirus pandemic: 

Adriana Giorgetti: Content Creator and Social Media Strategist

Adriana Giorgetti, the founder and CEO of Posting Bee, is an experienced social media consultant and content creator who has ditched charging fees and is giving out her expertise for free. She has been working with businesses to help them brainstorm, bounce ideas around, and aims to do whatever she can to keep companies from closing doors. 

On the side, the innovative strategist and creator is sewing masks for whoever needs them. 

Erika E. Righter: Agitator, Advocate, Mom

Erika E. Righter, founder of Hope Tank, has fearlessly developed an idea that has helped small businesses during COVID-19. The agitator, advocate, and mom developed Hope Tank in 2012, a local Denver retail store that sells gifts that give back. Ever since day one, Erika has taken a percentage of Hope Tank’s sales and delegated it to a nonprofit chosen by the creator of the product. And she has continued her streak of goodwill by starting a unique fundraiser!

The fundraiser aims to raise money for now-closed small businesses that may be subject to robbery and vandalism during COVID-19. Several storefronts have been covered with plywood to hinder damage and break-ins, but some can’t afford to do so. Erika’s fundraiser will bring in money for businesses that need extra help, but it gets better. 

Poets and artists will get the chance to write and draw visuals of hope on the boards, and she will pay them to do so.

Sydney Jackson-Clockston: Business Strategist, Responsible Travel and Retreat Coordinator

Sydney Jackson-Clockston, founder of Sydney Starr Travel, a company that helps clients plan ethical and sustainable travel, has experienced a significant dive in business due to COVID-19. 

When Sydney started her business, she knew something like this could happen based on history: September 11th, Bird Flu, Recession of 2008, etc. But the outside-of-the-box thinker had no idea that the hospitality and tourism industry would get hit this hard.

With all that being said, she had to become strategic and savvy to ride this wave out, which is where the Business Strategist within her shines through. With COVID-19 showing limited signs of slowing, she decided to jump right into marketing virtual travel opportunities. She is now offering four weeks of free virtual travel to inspire and educate folks. This offering has been great for all ages as it gives clients something to do, is free, it inspires people to want to see the virtual destinations in real life, and it keeps her name and business relevant. 

She notes that “Business will pick up again and I want to be the first name people think about when they are ready to travel again. This is just one example of how I have personally been strategic during COVID-19.”

Abby Gardner: Owner of Abby Cooks Wild

Abby Gardner, busy mom, wife, and owner of Abby Cooks Wild, alleviates the stress of mulling over dinner choices (and the thought of cooking, in general) by offering full-service, in-home meal prep to those who are time-strapped but want to consume healthy home-cooked meals. She takes orders from clients and shops for ingredients and portions the meals for them. Unfortunately, frequent grocery shopping and face-to-face interaction is no longer an option due to the pandemic. Therefore, Abby has had to pivot her business model. 

She now spends a lot of time using her Facebook page to share kitchen tips and tricks with viewers—Abby rarely used her business Facebook page before COVID-19. 

Since March 21, the helpful chef has gone live on Abby Cooks Wild every evening at 5 pm from her home kitchen, where she shares what she’s concocting for dinner each night. Abby aims to show her viewers that cooking doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. She wants those tuning in to feel empowered! 

In addition to sharing recipes, Abby has been engaging with her viewers by providing tips on ingredient substitutions, discussing kitchen hacks, and detailing unique ways to use the food already in the fridge or pantry.

Danielle Smith: Photographer and Personal Development Coach 

Danielle Smith, founder of Lotus & Lily Photography, has had to change her work drastically due to social distancing measures. The lifestyle, portrait, and wedding photographer needs to be around people for her business to thrive, but she can’t do so anymore. 

However, Danielle has decided to push another aspect of herself that she has been hesitant about, which is to work as a personal development coach. She aims to encourage positivity during these tough times. Her story portrays that COVID-19, even though horrible, may inspire a fire within to try something you’ve always wanted to try. 

Jennifer Peters and Amber Hunter and: Owner, Head Baker at Just Be Kitchen

Jennifer Peters, owner of Just be Kitchen, a fast-casual restaurant that has a mission to serve mindful meals, and Amber Hunter, Head Baker, have pivoted their business to benefit members of their community. 

Just Be Kitchen has concocted the first medically approved immunity boxes: Just BE Immune Meal Kits. These boxes will help keep their business relevant while also benefiting the community. 

The Just BE Immune Meal Kits include a nutritious, fulfilling box of meals and supplies, specifically made with proven nutrients that elevate immunity and combat illness. Each box contains five large entrees with specific ingredients that build the body’s defense against illness, soup, house-made bone broth, and golden turmeric powder to fight inflammation. The boxes are available for individual purchase, but they are setting a target for 500 boxes to be donated to front line workers in healthcare, law enforcement, and grocery stores. 

Diane Wall: Psychotherapist for Domestic Abuse Clients

Diane Wall, psychotherapist, has had quite the shift in her work. She has had to learn to live with so much uncertainty over the last few weeks. Diane used to help women by not only seeing them in her office but at their place of business or a phone session. The psychotherapist unveils that COVID-19 has stopped her from seeing clients, but she still manages to find moments where they can exchange a few words. 

She says that “now there is no break from an abusive partner.” Diane continues, “I feel as though I am holding my breath and waiting for that very thing I’ve tried so hard to help them avoid.”

Diane’s work exemplifies how COVID-19 is forcing some people to live in painful, uncomfortable, and abusive situations. 

COVID-19 has shifted everyone’s lives and the economy. Some jobs have stopped completely—around 17 million Americans have applied for unemployment benefits in the last month—while other entrepreneurs have been forced to get creative and tap into another skill or try out another endeavour. Everyone is fighting to stay relevant, and these ladies deserve recognition for their hard work and dedication to empowering and bettering the local community of Denver. 

Well Fit Human founder Wendy Yates is a beam of light in the wellness travel community.

Contributed by Lisa Blake, Writer, Editor, and Content Creator 
 
Colorado entrepreneur Wendy Yates is a woman on fire. Not even COVID-19 can shut that down. The luxury lifestyle designer has spent the past year carving out a trailblazing niche, bringing together destination travel, fitness and philanthropy with her groundbreaking retreat series, Well Fit Human.
 
Spurred from her successful national luxury lifestyle design firm Abigail-Elise Design Studio, Well Fit Human takes wellness destination travel to the next level, amping it up with intense cardio workouts (think booty-shaking hip-hop sweat sessions), coach-driven strength training, soul-nourishing yoga and mindfulness talks and impactful volunteer efforts.
 
Yates had planned to travel with her team of coaches and humanitarian volunteers to Hopkins, Belize in May and Vis Island in Croatia this October. In the wake of COVID-19 and subsequent travel and retreat shutdowns—and, who are we kidding, all around life shutdown—she is pivoting and inspiring others to stay mentally and physically well.
 
Her organization has shifted to growing community through connection and promoting personal growth and positive impact. Yates’ virtual community dinners, dubbed Cocktails and Conversations, are bringing people together over Jeffersonian-inspired BYO feasts. Friends and strangers gather over Zoom screens to share their travel and wellness stories and books and quotes that lift them up and to listen to encouraging speakers share their success stories.

As a small business owner, it can be challenging to keep the pace of business during a crisis that has now shut-down about 1/4 of the country. Many companies are struggling to maintain momentum, or worse, closed completely as we strive to flatten the curve through social distancing. 

While even large businesses are bearing the burden of this shut down, small companies have the additional challenge of having a smaller footprint, and a lower budget for marketing activities. 

So how can a small business maintain a customer relationship and prepare to ramp up again when the "stay at home" orders are lifted?

1. Take the time to reach out to customers - Reach out for a quick phone call to say hi and offer a moment of connection to your regular customers to show that you're thinking of them. In this time of disconnection, a simple conversation goes a long way. 
2. Create video content on your favorite social platforms - Many people are at home with extra time to spare. Creating positive content that they can tune into can be a great way to interact on a larger scale with your community to continue the relationship you've built with them. 
3. Continue your ongoing marketing - While it may seem best to pull back, staying the course of marketing (if budget allows) will keep your company in mind for the moment when business activities resume. 
4. Find ways to provide virtual services - Is there something you can offer online? Make a list of the services and products you sell and think about the needs your customers have right now. If something you offer has value in the current circumstance and has the ability to be offered online, find a way to provide that product or service through digital sales to keep your business operating. 
5. Engage in online groups providing valuable responses and tips - When in-person networking isn't available, we can turn to online avenues such as social media groups, and virtual events. Use your available time to engage in those conversations to meet new people, share your knowledge, and improve the lives of others. People will remember the impact you made and that support will come back around when you're back in business. 

Women of Denver has a network of thousands of women in business. Connect with us by joining our Facebook group, becoming a member and attending virtual events, or use us as a platform for marketing and PR support by becoming a Power Woman. 

We're excited to showcase the newest member of the Power Women of Denver, Lisa Lewis, CEO and Founder of Career Clarity, a platform that has helped over 500 people get clarity and make bold, exciting career changes.

Connect with Lisa:

Facebook
​Instagram

What unique impact do you make on the world through your work?

I help people who don't love their jobs to find the work that lights them up. We spend so many waking hours at work every single week that it's a huge honor and privilege to help people map a pathway to work that better aligns with their values and fits their needs.

Tell us about a recent accomplishment you're proud of? 

I just learned how to crochet and successfully made my first baby blanket for a friend! I'm the kind of perfectionist who can't just have a hobby for the sake of it -- I need productive, creative hobbies where I get to have fun outputs at the end!

What actions do you take to support and empower other women? 

My business tends to skew towards supporting women identify who they are, what they value, and find the work that suits them, so I support and empower women in their careers every single day!

How did your career take off, and what do you attribute your success to most?

My career took off when I started to get courageous and calculated in my decisions. After spending about a decade working in digital marketing, I knew I was done, but didn't know what was next. Over the course of 2 years, I took baby steps to explore different directions, and started up my career coaching business on the side of my full-time job. One year later, I had started generating enough business to take a leap of faith and leave my full-time job -- and if I hadn't been willing to do that, I would have never been able to serve and have an impact at the scale that I do today.

How do you keep yourself passionate and driven regardless of how busy you are day to day?

Taking breaks every once in a while to recharge and re-ignite is important! The passion comes from taking care of myself and my needs while also remembering the bigger mission I'm serving. (I'm a woman on a mission to help people truly enjoy their work!)

What do you see as the future of your industry?
The coaching industry is in a fascinating high-growth stage right now, because typically high growth means a lot of regulation is coming (look at Uber or Lime scooters!). I think the future of the industry will be incorporating far more coaching into companies, so that you won't have to be an entrepreneur to build a satisfying career as a coach.

What is the best piece of advice you've ever received?

When I worked in grassroots communications consulting in Washington DC, my boss Bill noticed that I was very smart and also very quiet. He told me never to leave a room without making sure the people in it heard my voice and knew why I was there. That encouragement changed the trajectory of how I was showing up professionally and using my voice for good.

What's been inspiring you lately?

New music has been inspiring me lately! Loving groups like American Authors and Magic Giant.

What do you love most about Women of Denver? 

It's exciting to find a community of ambitious women who are focused on building community!

What else would you like our readers to know about you?
​
I’m an obsessive learner, recovering perfectionist, passionate traveler, INTJ, English breakfast tea lover, perpetual dreamer, a cappella singer, overachiever, raw cookie dough enthusiast, and a definite Ravenclaw.
​

​By Andrea Sarow, Denver-area Small Business Banker with Bank of America
 
As we celebrate women this month, it’s an ideal time to focus on the outlook for women in small business. Denver was recently ranked as the top metro area for women looking to start a business, ranking above 49 other cities across the country. With 29% of business being woman-owned and operated and an unemployment rate of 4.2% for women, Denver is leading in economic and business mobility for women in business.
 
To better understand this thriving community of business owners, Bank of America surveyed more than 500 women across the country to gain insights into their aspirations and concerns, as well as similarities and differences with their male peers.
 
Bank of America’s 2019 Women Business Owner Spotlight found that women entrepreneurs are increasingly confident in future revenue growth (with that confidence reaching a four-year high), and 73 percent of women business owners plan to expand their business in the next 12 months. Additionally, 25 percent are planning to hire, compared to 21 percent in the fall of 2018. Women entrepreneurs are taking action, but not without facing difficulties in several areas.
 
This year’s report examined women’s perspectives on barriers to establishing and financing a small business – including the extent to which gender bias may play a role. More than half of women entrepreneurs say they don’t have the same access to capital as their male counterparts and approximately a third say it will take some time — about 14 years on average — to achieve equal access to capital. Nearly a quarter say they believe women will never have equal access. Business.org found that while women on average make $10,000 less a year than men in Denver, this is “one of the better pay gaps across metros in the country.”
 
When reflecting upon positive influences on their business, more than half of women business owners identified external factors like experiencing adversity, obtaining a college degree and having a mentor have helped them achieve success. When asked for the single character trait that has had the greatest impact on their business success, women entrepreneurs identified integrity (23 percent) as the top personality attribute, closely followed by perseverance (22 percent).
 
When looking to factors that could have the greatest impact on women business owners over the next five years, strong majorities of both women and men business owners believe achieving work-life balance, pay equality and equal access to capital will be important milestones to achieve at a national scale. Looking to the future, business owners agree that having more women in positions of influence would be the most impactful in paving the way for the next generation of women in business. At Bank of America, we recognize that women play a vital role in driving economic growth and we have formed partnerships to connect women entrepreneurs to mentoring, capital and other tools that will help them have the power to advance their businesses and make significant contributions to our economy.
 
For more research findings on the 2019 Women Business Owner Spotlight, please click here. 

Contributed by Deborah Radman, Chairman, Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame, CoGreatWomen.org

​The Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame is dedicated to recognizing and preserving the history of accomplishments by extraordinary women with strong ties to Colorado. Since 1985, 162 diverse women have been inducted.

These inductees represent our 2020 class, and the next group of contemporary and historic women to be recognized for their exemplary contributions to their fields and for opening new frontiers for women in society. 

These women will be recognized in a formal ceremony on March 18, 2020. 


Katherine Archuleta Growing up in Colorado’s San Luis Valley, Katherine Archuleta has had an extraordinary and influential career, including a position in the Obama administration as head of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, that has changed the landscape for what is possible for women and, specifically, Latina women.
 
Lupe Briseño As the organizer of the Kitayama Carnation Strike, Lupe Briseño demonstrated the strength and power of Latina leadership in Colorado’s Labor Movement and helped set the stage for the Colorado Chicano Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and ‘70s. 

Rosalind “Bee” Harris Rosalind “Bee” Harris has dedicated her career to elevating communities of color by providing a platform for their voices and their stories with the founding of the Denver Urban Spectrum newspaper in 1987 and the Urban Spectrum Youth Foundation in 2000. 

Velveta Howell Velveta Howell has made many contributions as a life-long champion for social justice and advocacy. She was the eighth African American female graduate of the University of Colorado Law School and the first woman of color appointed as Colorado’s Deputy District Attorney. 

Marianne Neifert, MD, MTS Colorado’s earliest physician breastfeeding champion, Marianne Egeland Neifert, MD, MTS, has devoted more than 40 years to improving maternal-child health. She helped re-establish breastfeeding as a community norm and advanced the nascent discipline of breastfeeding medicine. 

Gale Norton Gale Norton was the first woman Colorado Attorney General (1991-99) and the first woman to be appointed as Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior (2001-06) under President George W. Bush. On behalf of Colorado and 45 other states as Colorado Attorney General, Norton helped negotiate the most extensive legal settlement in history: a $206 billion national tobacco settlement. 

Mary Lou Anderson A passionate advocate for cultural arts and arts education, Mary Lou Anderson was an influential leader across Colorado and the nation through her development of programs that engage millions of students, educators, and business leaders in the cultural arts. Anderson founded the National Parent Teacher Association Reflections Program and the Arts Business Education Consortium. 

Dr. Alida Cornelia Avery A graduate of the New England Female Medical College of Boston in 1862, Dr. Alida Cornelia Avery was a professor of Human Physiology and Hygiene, and a Resident Physician at Vassar College from 1866-1874. In 1874 she moved to Denver, Colorado, and is credited as Colorado’s first woman to practice medicine while also serving as the Superintendent of Hygiene. 

Elizabeth Piper Ensley Elizabeth Piper Ensley was an African American educator, political activist, and suffragist. Her leadership was instrumental in Colorado’s victorious campaign for full voting rights in 1893. Ensley dedicated her career to organizing for women’s rights, especially for African American women. 
​
Carolina Gonzalez Carolina Acuña Díaz González was a Colorado Renaissance Pioneer, renowned for her welcoming home, her active support for the arts and culture, and her uniquely authentic restaurant, Casa Mayan, a “Mutalista” or refuge for 40 years for immigrants in Colorado. González provided accommodations and a safe haven during the Depression for countless youths “riding the rails” to Colorado. 

​

Submitted by Amy Collette; Written by Amy Collette

Gratitude is a powerful catalyst for happiness. It’s the spark that lights a fire of joy in your soul. The stories and practices in this book help you connect to the positive power of gratitude every day: 
​

• Love and appreciate what you have and who you are
• Build a foundation of happiness 
• Celebrate your victories large and small 
• Relieve the worry and stress that’s keeping you stuck 
• Find the peace of mind that you crave 
• Connect to gratitude even in tough times 
• Activate success and abundance 
• Claim a renewed sense of personal power 

May you embrace the positive power of gratitude!

Get it at: https://amzn.to/2r9USR1

Submitted by Celeste Ferro; Founded by Celeste Ferro
​
Mala necklaces are beautiful pieces of jewelry, but did you know that they are tools to help you in your meditation practice? Each mala I make is unique and comes with an intention tied into each knot. Every step of the process, from creation to the tassel, it is done while chanting a Sanskrit mantra specific for that Mala. Your necklace will come with instructions as to how to use it during your meditation practice through Japan mantra meditation.

“Celeste is an extremely gifted massage therapist. Her healing touch and intuitive sense allows for the deepest parts of my physical body to experience healing while in her care. Her knowledge and wisdom as a conduit for the Reiki Ki energy is an extra added bonus, as is, the medicinal oils she uses. I highly recommend her to all my friends and clients.”-esteemed client.

Get it at: www.wholeheartedlywellbeing.com​

How would you describe your job/business to a 5th grader?

I help people get reliable transportation so they can do their daily necessities such as getting to work, getting to the grocery store, getting to the gym, picking up their children from school, getting to family activities, going on family vacations, and help them not worry about breaking down on the side of the road when having to do these daily tasks. I also help women get promoted into positions of power within the car business or the automotive space.

How did you get started in the business?

I was going to college and working the Gap when a woman named Carmara Hughes came into my store. She originally visited for coats and blouses, but I ended up selling her three pairs of denim after she stated I wouldn’t find her size. Afterwards, she invited me to work with her. I took her up on the offer and was trained by a team of women who were selling 20+ cars a month. The rest is history.

What makes you successful?

I am at any given time probably the hardest working person in the room. I'm currently working 12 to 14 hour days at my dealership, and wouldn't have it any other way. Nothing is given to you, and you have to get your butt out there and earn it. You've got to work. My success is a direct reflection of the work that I put into it, and I want to give more than I take. Becoming the first black female car dealer in the state of Colorado and one of five in the nation was an honour, as well as a disappointment. Here we are in 2019, and there's still a first black woman category in something as major as the car industry which is something that I don't take lightly. It's another reason that drives my purpose and my passion because I can't fail.

In what way do you help advance the careers of other women in your field/industry?
​
​It’s my duty, my passion, and my purpose to grow the female workforce within the automotive space. Right now it's only 20% at every capacity. The car business is not just my job, it is my life, and hopefully you'll be seeing plenty more from me when it comes to women in the automotive industry and building a female workforce. The automotive space has so much growth and earning potential, that it's really a place where women need to look when they feel they’re underutilized. They can always come to the car business and make a decent living for themselves and their family.  ​

How would you describe your job/business to a 5th grader?

Some people can’t eat or drink gluten because it makes them sick, and Holidaily makes beer that doesn’t have gluten so all adults can drink it without getting sick.

How did you get started in the business?

Holidaily was a combination of my education, work life, and personal life. I utilized my MBA in Entrepreneurial Studies to help understand multiple aspects of the business, worked for Miller Coors for around ten years, and had beer industry experience that helped guide me as well. Lastly, after receiving a second cancer diagnosis, I was given a treatment plan that included a gluten-free diet. I decided to combine my experience, dietary restrictions, and love for beer to start a 100% certified, dedicated gluten-free brewery.

What makes you successful?

Knowing my strengths and weaknesses. I focus on utilizing my strengths and surrounding myself with amazing people who fill in where my weaknesses are.

In what way do you help advance the careers of other women in your field/industry?

​3% of breweries are owned by women, however, we are a growing force in the industry, especially in Colorado. I support women in the industry not only as (hopefully) a role model but through my involvement in groups, speaking at events, and mentorship, while encouraging all women to go for it! We have two separate female customers who have started their own food trucks since Holidaily opened. Women empowering and inspiring other women is contagious.  

How would you describe your job/business to a 5th grader?

​I'm an internal medicine doctor who specializes in what happens to people's bodies as a result of eating disorders. Eating disorders carry the highest risk of death of any mental illness, and people who don't take in enough nutrition, or purge what they eat, or binge eat, can have a lot go wrong with their medical health.

How did you get started in the business?

Having had a family member recover from an eating disorder, I've experienced the fear and also borne witness to the triumph of a full recovery. When I got to Denver in 2007, I joined the Hospitalist staff at Denver Health. A year into my employment, I had the opportunity to join a service within Denver Health that was the highest level of multidisciplinary internal medicine care in the country for adults whose anorexia nervosa had become so critical that they could not receive care anywhere else.

What makes you successful?

Without a doubt, my privilege lies at the core of the opportunities I've had, and I think about that on a daily basis to remind myself of certain structural inequities that benefitted me, so that I am able to use this to pay it forward and do good for others. Also vital were and are my parents' support through my education, my own good health, the fortune of having fallen in love with my husband when we were in college and having his constant encouragement these past 23 years, having two wonderful daughters who inspire me and remind me to be a good role model, and having dear friends and remarkable colleagues within the clinic.

In what way do you help advance the careers of other women in your field/industry?

​I set and personally hold strong boundaries between work and life, and I model these and ask my work mates to do the same. For women especially, who often juggle so many diverse obligations and roles outside of our professional lives, this is vital to preventing burnout and feeling whole. I have mentored young women since my training days, and in my lectures and writing I try to both model and recommend a realization of each person's unique needs, strengths, and challenges. The field I'm in allows me to rail against diet culture, narrowly-defined traits that denote beauty, health, and acceptance, and the deeply harmful and unscientific beliefs so common today about food (and its restriction). My hope is that in the 1:1 work I do with patients and their loved ones, in the workspace I get to create and nurture, and in my public speaking or writing, I'm able to inspire and help women in lots of ways, by means of expressing my gratitude for all that I've received.  

Contributed by Phylecia Jones, Budgetologist & Solopreneur Money Management Expert www.keepupwithmrsjones.com


Your credit score is one of the most important numbers in your life. A score of 800 opens up many avenues for better loan options, approved applications, and lower interest rates. But what does it take to get there? I had the pleasure of interviewing Lydia Thomas, a Senior Accountant and Women of Denver member, about her journey of moving to the United States from Ukraine five years ago, alone and with little money.

Lydia knew that focusing on her finances, establishing credit, and educating herself about money was the key to reaching her dreams. In a short amount of time, she launched a successful career, quadrupled her salary, paid off a car loan, and reached a credit score of 800. Her story will not only inspire you, but give you a glimpse of what it takes to achieve a financial transformation.

Lydia, you started with virtually no established credit when you moved to the United States and now you have an 800 credit score. How did you do it?
I started working on my credit score as soon as I moved to the U.S., because I knew how important it was in order to get a good rate on a loan if I needed one. The most important rule I learned was to keep my credit card usage to a minimum and pay off the balance every month. NOT a minimum payment, but the full balance. To fast-forward credit score growth I did not close my oldest credit card, I requested an increase of my credit line, had various credit cards and loans, and avoided unnecessary credit inquiries. It works and your credit score will move up, only if you pay off the balance regularly, or pay the monthly payment if it’s a car loan or a mortgage.

Coming from Ukraine to the US, what did you find different about money and personal finances?
In Ukraine, there is no trust in the economic and banking system. People tend to save their money, “under the mattress,” meaning that the best way to save is to convert the national currency into dollars or euros and keep it in cash at home. Talking about money is generally taboo and personal finance education is non-existent. In the US, conversations about money are more open. There’s more information about various ways of managing finances online and in print, and there is more stability and trust in general. I learned very quickly in the States that when you have it together, do some research, and organize your finances, you are likely to succeed financially.

Having a budget is very important to managing money. How has it been living on one?
I have been living by a budget for a few years now. Having an effective budget is pretty hard, I have to say. A budget made me go from an extreme of watching every penny, (exhausting, to say the least), to splurging when I felt like I’ve been a good girl for a while, (which would turn into the feeling of guilt and regret).

How did you get over the extremes of watching every dime to feeling guilty for ‘splurging’?
After a while I came up with the expense vs. investment rule. Take a pair of shoes for example: If you buy a pair of cute sandals that will be your fifth pair of sandals, you will probably wear them only a few times. This is an expense. If you buy a pair of good leather shoes that you need for your job interview that will serve you for a few years, this is an investment in your future. Following this rule helped me shop less, save more money and end up with the purchases I really needed.

With your smart money moves, what is your biggest financial goal right now?
My biggest financial goal right now is to buy a house. It is one of the most important financial decisions I will make in my life, and what I learned from other people’s experience is that buying one is easy, but paying it off is hard.

What are three simple things readers can do right now to get ahead of their finances?
First, set up a direct deposit to your savings account from your paycheck. The psychological aspect of the “invisibility” of such transaction does wonders. Make it $20 or $200, whatever you can afford. Second, watch your budget. Make your budget real and attainable, not ideal (otherwise you’ll get discouraged very quickly) and have Friday “dates” with your budget and the expenses for the past week. Taking control is gratifying and reduces stress. Third, get a debit card for your “shopping” needs and have a certain amount deposited there from your paycheck. This will be the only money you can spend on the things you enjoy. It is a great controlling tool. Speaking from experience! ​