Money Tales

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Dr. Deborah Ekstrom. Early on her career, Deborah didn't have a lot of extra time. There were tremendous demands on her for the things she needed to learn for medicine. She tells us that like most professional women, when she got married, she supported her spouse through his journey and had children who required her attention and nurturing. It was chall...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Tracy Coenen. When Tracy went to college she decided to major in criminology and law studies, because she wanted to become a prison warden. However, sophomore year she took an elective called Financial Crime Investigations and she loved it. The course changed the trajectory of Tracy’s focus and she’s now a forensic accountant. In that role, her goal is...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Jeanette Bronée. In her twenties, Jeanette was a successful executive in the fashion industry in Denmark with fifty people reporting up to her. She felt like she could do it all. Then, at the age of twenty-six, Jeanette’s ambition caused her to leave all of that and move to New York. She had a rude awakening. Jeanette’s first job in the U.S. was as an a...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Robert Marks. Robert always wanted to build his own house. He even remembers being in middle school and doodling houses while his teachers droned on and on. About ten years ago, Robert and his wife found a beautiful piece of land that would be perfect for their dream home. They spent two years planning the construction, working closely with an architect...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Meridith Grundei. Meridith knew from a young age that she was born to be a performer, and that meant hearing constant reminders about how she’d starve as an adult. A less resilient person might have been deterred by these warnings, but not Meridith. She’s a self-identified rebel and she was determined to prove that she can make it. This wasn’t easy. She...

In this episode of Money Tales our guest is Rachel Donnelly. When she was a young adult, Rachel’s mom was diagnosed with cancer and passed away a couple of weeks later. Rachel’s dad had previously died, so along with dealing with the shock and emotions, Rachel was probating her mom's estate. She was also stepping into her mother’s shoes by taking care of her uncle, who was in the later stages of P...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Sparky Abraham. Sparky Abraham has been helping people with debt problems for nearly a decade. This means he has frequent money conversations, sometimes in unconventional situations. For example, Sparky helps host debtors’ assemblies, where strangers come together in relatively small groups because they have something in common that they usually haven’t...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Kadar Lewis, EdD. Kadar tells us he was a low-income student of color who was, fortunately, given scholarships to attend private schools when he was growing up. Often, he was the only black kid in his classes. This meant he was the low-income kid surrounded by money. It was everywhere, yet his family didn’t have much. Kadar considers that dissonance as...

In this episode of Money Tales our guest is Dr. Akhtar Badshah. Born, raised, and educated in India, Akhtar was accepted to MIT for graduate school. As he explains, that was the easy part. To attend school in the U.S. he also had to win the visa lottery and receive a scholarship to make his dream come true. Fortunately, the stars aligned for Akhtar. From then on, his life was shaped by people aski...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Julie Castro Abrams. Julie is a hard charging activist who very early on knew what she did not want to be– and that was a trophy wife. This is because when she was young, Julie saw her mother’s friends navigating divorces and ending up destitute as a result. Julie wanted to have a family and a career, and she also wanted to protect herself from the fina...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Bobbi Rebell, CFP®. Bobbi is a former business news anchor and globally syndicated personal finance columnist. Bobbi is also an author and her most recent book is titled, Launching Financial Grownups. Live Your Richest Life by Helping Your (Almost) Adults Become Everyday Money Smart. This topic is very dear to her heart because Bobbi has two twenty-some...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Tom Brickman. Tom’s forty and he hit F.I.R.E within the past year, meaning he’s achieved financial independence and can retire early. This was not by accident. Tom was a hustler from the very beginning, helping neighbors with garage sales, taking out trash, mowing lawns, doing whatever he could do to earn a buck. He ultimately put his attention toward r...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Kristin Keffeler. Kristin’s family’s money story launched when she was in her twenties. Her parents and oldest brother started a company, grew it, took it public and sold it, all within five years. In other words, during the period between starting and graduating from college, her family experienced a series of significant wealth events. As a result, Kr...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Izzy Gesell. Izzy is a former special education teacher, restaurant owner and stand-up comedian. He knows some great money jokes. Here are a few he shared with us: Why did the robber take a bath before he stole from the bank? He wanted to make a clean getaway. Why can’t you borrow money from a leprechaun? Because they’re always a little short. Why is mo...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Heather Rader. Heather almost fell out of her chair one night when she was out with a friend and she found out what he was making. The friend, who was also a coworker on their sales team, was telling Heather about how he and his wife were about to buy a new house. This caused Heather to ask her colleague about his compensation. She learned he was earnin...

Taylor is an investment entrepreneur and multigenerational innovator who discovered a passion for human transformation while working within his own multigenerational family office. As a family office executive, Taylor leverages a principle based operating philosophy that combines investment management and philanthropic strategies with entrepreneurship and talent development to promote a culture of...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Dr. Michele Mikeska Jaffe. Michele comes from a family of hard workers. Hard work was a sacrifice that you did for others, money was the fruit of that work and displaying wealth was taboo. These messages stuck with Michele through her early adulthood. When she was in her late twenties Michele discovered that she could actually enjoy the money she was ma...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Cindy Arledge. When Cindy’s parents died, they left behind a complicated estate. Cindy says there was 17 trusts that co-owned four pieces of commercial real estate and the beneficiaries spanned multiple family members. Cindy was determined to realize her parents’ legacy and see her daughters receive the property that her parents wanted them to have. Oth...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Aubrey Johnson. As a young person, Aubrey had insecurities that extended into adulthood. As he tells us he felt greed and craving for acceptance which led to comparative thinking--- wondering how he measured up to the next person. This line of thinking was toxic and didn’t allow Aubrey to think for himself. It also played out in his money decisions. Aub...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Barbara Sloan. Barbara experienced homelessness at times between the ages of 15 and 19. She thought about money a lot during that period and reflects that one of the amazing things her dad instilled in her was a strong work ethic. Barbara often had two or three jobs going at once. She was always working and, though she never had a plan, she knew that sh...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Dr. Suzanne Wertheim. Suzanne started her career as a professor of linguistics. When a university-based research contract fell through, Suzanne’s expected income level disappeared, dashing her plans to improve the fixer-upper home she had recently purchased. Suzanne got creative and pivoted to a new path, leveraging her expertise by applying social scie...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Tiffany Schade. Tiffany started her career in corporate America and then shifted to becoming a wife and mother. She really threw herself into those roles, and at a certain point during her marriage, Tiffany realized it was her responsibility to get more involved with the family finances. As she tells us, she worked on both her self-confidence and financ...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Lloyd Greif. After a decade-long investment banking career at Sutro & Co. Incorporated, Lloyd left to start his own boutique investment bank, Greif & Co. Some people would be skittish to make this leap. Not Lloyd. As he tells us, he was a top producer firm wide, and as the leading rainmaker within the organization, he was routinely generating 40% to 60%...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Olivia Summerhill. Olivia grew up in an ultra-high net worth family. She says they were very privileged and had everything they ever wanted: extracurricular activities, private tutors, private school, and big family gatherings at fancy resorts were the norm. From the outside it all looked perfect. However, Olivia tells us that when she was young, the fa...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Dann Van Der Vliet. Dann is the Executive Director of the John and Dyan Smith Family Business Initiative (SFBI) at Cornell University. Dann tells us that in 2009 when his mom died, she had a condo, a used car and a few thousand dollars, but she didn’t have a will. Dann goes on to share that his older brother felt like he had done more to help their mom...