Taking control of my finances was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, But, it was also one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do because I had to do it on my own. I had to seek out resources and teach myself how to be financially literate. And because I did so much research on financial literacy, I know that this week’s guest is not only a good friend, but she’s also the real deal.  

Jannese Torres is an award-winning Latina Money Expert. She became an accidental entrepreneur after a job loss led her to create a successful Latin food blog, Delish D’Lites. Now, she helps her clients and listeners build successful online businesses that allow them to pursue financial independence and freedom. Jannese is on a mission to educate marginalized communities on topics like entrepreneurship, investing, and financial independence through her personal finance podcast, “Yo Quiero Dinero.” Her new book, Financially Lit!, was published by Grand Central Publishing on April 30, 2024. Order your copy at financiallylitbook.com 

In this week’s episode, Jannese and I talked about the importance of building your wealth, being financially independent, and protecting yourself financially. As women in a marginalized community, we don’t always have people teaching us how to take control of our finances. This is exactly why Jannese wrote her book, so that you can learn all this and more from someone who knows where you’re coming from. Tune in to access all the info you’ll need to start becoming financially lit! 

Follow Jannese on:
Order Your Copy of Financially Lit Now! https://financiallylitbook.com/ 

IG: https://instagram.com/yoquierodineropodcast 

Pinterest: pinterest.com/dineropodcast 

YouTube: youtube.com/c/YoQuieroDineroPodcast 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dineropodcast 

TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdB1ydrw 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/yo-quiero-dinero 

Follow Erika on:

Website: www.theerikacruz.com
Instagram @‌theerikacruz
TikTok @‌theerikacruz
LinkedIn

How to work with Erika:
Sign up for the 4 Proven Steps to Reinvent Yourself in Just 90 Days Webinar

Join the waitlist for Courage Driven Latina here.

Book your Magnetic Mastermind consultation call today! 

Podcast production for this episode was provided by CCST.

Episode Transcript:

Erika: Hello and welcome back to this week’s episode of Chingona Revolution podcast. I have my amazing friend joining us, Jannese Torres. We are talking all about her new book, Financially Lit, which was published by Grand Central Publishing on April 30th, 2024. And it is the modern Latina’s guide to level up your dinero and become financially literate.

You can order your copy at financially lit book. com. And Jannese is an award winning Latina money expert. She became an accidental entrepreneur after a job loss led her to create a successful Latin food blog, delish delights. Now she helps her clients and listeners build successful online businesses that allow them to pursue financial independence and freedom.

 Janice is on a mission to educate marginalized communities on topics like entrepreneurship, investing, and financial independence through her personal finance podcast, Yo Quiero Dinero.

And obviously now her book, Financially Lit. This is such a good conversation. Every time that I speak to Jannese, it’s, it’s, it’s great. I never know exactly where it’s going to go, but it’s always a great conversation. And we talk all about the importance of feeling worthy in your wealth building journey.

and we get into why her book Financially Lit is so important for marginalized communities. Let’s get into the show.

Jannese, I am so happy to see your face. Welcome back to Chingona Revolution podcast. How the hell are you? 

Jannese: Thank you for having me back. I love your show, by the way. I’m like an actual listener and what you’re doing here is fabulous. So thank you for having me and I’m freaking great. I am in the middle of my book tour for my new book, Financially Lit, and I can’t wait to talk about that and so much more on the show today.

Erika: Yes, I can’t wait. And I, you know, as the countdown was happening, I was just taken aback to our first ever podcast interview when I was on your podcast. And I remember feeling super nervous. Obviously, you had already been doing it a while, but today we literally talked for two minutes. Jumped right into it.

So this wasn’t even something I had planned, but I’m curious, do you, if you could go back to the Janice that was recording her first ever podcast episode, like tell us about the difference between today and how automatic this was versus when you just got started. And the reason I’m asking this is because I think people look at you and I, and think I could never get there, but we all, we both started.

you know, we both had a first ever episode. 

Jannese: Yes, y’all. And it’s cringy AF. Okay. So if you really want to like go down that rabbit hole, please go and listen to the first episode of the show because it’s terrible. Um, and it was so scripted. I literally, I think I spent like six or seven hours just like recording it, just stopping, starting deleting overthinking because I was still You know, very much in corporate.

I had no idea how to like speak in public. I had no idea how to have a conversation with myself in a room where there’s like nobody else listening. So the whole thing is just hella awkward and cringe. And I like to tell creators now, especially the ones who, you know, decide to work with me as a coach, you’re gonna be cringed out by your content in the beginning.

And if you’re not, you’re not doing it right. Or you’re not doing it at all. 

Erika: Totally. I could not agree with that more. And then there just comes a point when you do it so much and it just becomes second nature. Yeah, the first time is always the 

Jannese: scariest shit. Like, whether it’s an IG live or your first, you know, recruiting your first client, putting out your first branded post, like, it’s all gonna freak you the hell out.

But you also have to realize, like, the first time is always the hardest time. And it’s gonna get a little incrementally easier every single time that you do it. 

Erika: Yes. Oh, so well said. So before we get into the actual interview, thank you for, for sharing that. I just want to give you your flowers because This book sounds just like you.

I felt like I was having a conversation with you as I read Financially Lit, which by the way, what an epic name. How did you come up with this name? 

Jannese: You know, um, so my first ever freebie for Yo Quiero Dinero is called the Financially Lit Latina. And it was just like a guide to my most popular blog posts and just like an introduction to the, uh, atmosphere, you know, if you will.

And so when I was thinking about the name, I was kind of going back and forth with a bunch of different options. You know, obviously Jokiero Dinero was up there, but there was something about like financially lit and especially the word lit, I think is like such a millennial word, but it also has a great way to like tie into literacy.

So it was just like a very millennial esque, like. You know, vibe. And I think it just fit the brand so well. So it became the lead and it never left. 

Erika: I love it. Yeah. Because when I saw the book in person, which thank you so much for sending it over, I was so excited when I got it, I was like financially lit and I looked at it and I was like, Oh my God, financially literate.

And I was like, did I just have like a blonde moment? What just happened here? Nothing against blondes, by the way, shouldn’t have said that, but yeah, it was, I was like, this is such, such a good book and you were in the front. of this book with your gold nails and your pink blazer. Why is it important that you were on the front cover of this book?

Jannese: Oh, I love this question because this was part of my initial, like must have list. When I was thinking about putting out a book, I said it has to be sassy. It has to be in Spanglish and it has to have my face on it. Because if you go into any major bookstore and go to the business or personal finance section, you’re just going to get a bunch of boring ass books with white, blue, green, various, you know, shades of those colors, and white men, you know, and I’m just like, uh, first of all, I want people to be very clear about who this book is for.

And that’s why it’s It’s literally on the title, on the cover, The Modern Latina’s Guide to Money. Um, there, I didn’t want there to be any question like who this book was for, and I think from a representation perspective, just the fact that less than like 10 percent of authors in general are Latino. Uh, I was like, it has to be like that.

I’m on this cover or I’m just not going to do it. 

Erika: Yeah. You know, I find this so interesting because a lot of times when people are starting things there, they don’t really want to specify who this is for because the thought it’s almost like the scarcity mindset comes in of, Oh my gosh, but I can have so many more readers.

If I don’t specify that it’s for Latinas, but tell me. How has specifying that this is the modern Latina’s guide to leveling up your dinero and becoming financially poderosa, what has this done for the book in your opinion? Being that it is so focused and targeted and plus your story is embedded in it as a Latina.

Jannese: Yeah, absolutely. So I think it gives us permission to even start having these conversations around money, which are still very taboo in our community. So I wanted this book to be like an invitation to our community to be like, hell yeah, we deserve to build wealth. Hell yeah. We work hard as hell and we should have more to show for it.

And I want to help you get there. But it’s funny because I had the same questions about the podcast. You know, yo quiero dinero. Obviously that’s a Spanish term means I want money. And I was, I would get the questions of like, Well, can I listen to this if I don’t speak Spanish? And I’m like, first of all, if you listen to the podcast, you’d know it’s in English.

Um, second of all, I have men, women of all ethnicities, you know, folks from every corner of the world that listened to the show. I think it’s, we’re up to like a hundred different countries. So clearly just because I’m speaking from my lived experience as a first gen Latina does not mean that it’s, This information is not also applicable to you and the book is the same thing, you know, like I’ve had black women, Asian women, men all coming to book signings, which, you know, as a publisher, maybe you’d think like, well, why the hell would these people read this book?

And it’s because they’re connected to the messenger because they see something in me that resonates with them and they want to learn from me. And I want anybody who’s thinking about putting themselves out there to understand that just because you’re unapologetic in Like your lane doesn’t mean that other people aren’t going to want to hop in there and like party with you.

Totally. 

Erika: Totally. You spoke at DL’s Emancipation Conference, right? And she, her whole messaging is like women of color coaches. Did you see how many white women were? 

Jannese: Yes, I was just like, well, hello, I mean, somebody’s receiving the message and it might not even be the people that you think, um, but at the end of the day, like, you need to find, uh, the person that connects with you.

And that’s why I’m just like, there’s no such thing as oversaturation. There’s no such thing as like being too specific, too niched because your people are your people and they’re going to find you regardless. Exactly. Exactly. 

Erika: So I just realized when I was like, Oh, I’m going to give you your flowers. I didn’t even finish reading off what I wrote down.

So yes, the book sounds just like you, but I also wanted to compliment you on how it is a perfect balance between your, Very interesting story, but it’s so focused on mindset, which is so important, 

Jannese: but 

Erika: there’s also practical financial advice. You really break things down in this book in the way that it’s formatted.

I feel like it helps my ADHD brain. I mainly do audio books, obviously, whenever I get physical books, but I’m like, Oh, she makes this so easy to read. Like even the journal exercises, how they’re color blocked. I just feel like this is so inclusive. For the way that we learn and just living in such a distracted world.

You did such a great job of even just hooking us in with the chapter titles, like Jenny from the block to Jenny with the bag. Like what an incredible, that’s my favorite chapter. I want to talk about that with you. So we’ll get to that in a second, but when you were writing the book, you were writing it kind of from start to finish without any real time feedback from your audience, right?

You were maybe getting feedback from editors and from publishers, but not from your actual audience. And now that the book’s been out for three months and you’ve been on your book tour and you know, you’re kind of in the middle of it and you’ve been on podcasts and people have had the chance to read it.

How do you feel about the book now? Because I’m sure there was a lot of unknown as soon as it was released, like how is this going to be taken? So how does it feel now that you are in the middle of the feedback and people have read it and people have started implementing? 

Jannese: Yeah, you know, one of the things that’s been very, I don’t know if like surprising, but just like it’s a wow moment is how many people have told me that they literally had to like stop reading and like compose themselves because the emotions that the book is triggering in people is just like, I feel so seen, I feel like you’re literally describing my story and I, you know, You know, I, I like to think that I have an experience in this life that is sort of, you know, common for a first gen Latina, you know, being the first kid to go to college and like pursue the career and find that all these hopes and dreams that we thought we should want are not the thing and then dealing with that existential crisis of what it means to now Decide that we want a different dream than our parents and then learning how It’s not just about working hard and making money because we know what that looks like That’s that’s our parents lived experience and many of them don’t have anything to show for it so there’s like all of these things that we’ve had to confront and you know as much as I I know it is a common lived experience because i’ve talked to so many people on the Podcast and just in the realm of yo quiero dinero that to have people Have those types of reactions to my story.

It’s just like well damn. Okay, maybe this girl knows what she’s talking about Cuz the imposter syndrome that comes up when you’re writing a book is so fucking real, you know, there’s no amount of like support and like nice words and things that people say to you that Quell that a hundred percent and at some point you just have to realize like when you’re given these opportunities to show up for your people If you don’t do it, you’re doing such a disservice to them because they need you.

They need your message. And it’s so important to just get over your own ego because you’re giving these opportunities for a purpose. 

Erika: Oh, that was like a mic drop moment. Yeah. Oh, I love that so much. I have for my clients, I teach them something called the spotlight analogy. Where whenever they’re feeling a lot of imposter syndrome or they’re feeling like they can’t do it, it’s because the spotlight is on themselves instead of who they’re doing it for.

So I’m like, can we remove the spotlight off us and whoever it is that you want to create this for? And it’s so much easier to take imperfect action and to show up and to do the thing when you’re focused on the reason why you’re doing it. So, oh, that was so beautifully said. And you know, there’s something about money that just, you know, I mean, money is just money, right?

We are the people that have the energy. It’s not the money. We are the people that have the power. It’s, you know, we give money the power based on how it is that we use it. But I think in our culture, and actually I like underlined one of these, because you talk about in my favorite chapter, Jenny from the block, you talk about how, um, This perspective suggests that true spiritual and closeness to God can only be achieved through a life of poverty and self denial.

So you talk about just the culture, I’m sorry, the religious trauma that can also come with financial trauma, how a lot of times just religiously we’re taught to feel ashamed if we want money ashamed, if we want these things. And it’s so fascinating to me because As I, as a coach running my mastermind, that’s a spiritual business mastermind.

We talk about, we have a whole thing about abundance and we read this book about abundance and what it talks about is the complete opposite. It talks about how your, if you do believe in a higher power, you have access to all abundance, but we’re the ones who block it. So all of this to say that. The, the emotional piece makes so much sense because you, through money, a lot of times we touch these wounds, right?

So I’m curious in your own life, did you grow up thinking that money was evil? Is that what you were taught? 

Jannese: Ooh, so I don’t think I thought that money was evil, but I know for sure money was this thing that you had to sacrifice for. And I saw that with my parents. dynamic. So my father was the breadwinner of the family and he was a traveling consultant.

So he would hop on a plane Monday morning and not be home till Friday. And so I saw that as like, oh, so if you want to make a lot of money, you got to sacrifice time with your family. And then on the flip side, I saw money being a source of contention from like a woman’s perspective because it forced you to be financially reliant on a man.

You know, I always saw like the woman has to sacrifice her earning power because that’s just what you do as a good mother, as a woman, as a wife, as a partner. Cause that’s what I saw my mom do. My mom worked part time until I was in high school because she just couldn’t wrap her head around You know, outsourcing care to us in that way, uh, she had to raise us alone.

She was away from her support system in Puerto Rico. And so I saw, well, motherhood is not correlated with financial freedom. So motherhood seems like a thing that I don’t want to necessarily do because it’s going to keep me stuck and broke. And then I saw, if you want to make a lot of money, you’re going to have to work your ass off and you’re going to have to have a career that’s going to force you to sacrifice time with your family.

So it’s a lot of like stuff that was influencing then how I operated from a personal perspective, which now at the age of almost 40, I’ve had to like reconcile, you know, a lot of decisions that I made because of the financial trauma that I saw. 

Erika: Oh man, I just got chills with that response. Wow. 

Jannese: Yeah. I’ve, I’ve had so many people reach out to me and be like, Oh my God, it was so triggered by this whole narrative that you spoke about where I saw motherhood in direct conflict with like financial freedom.

And I’m just like, because we saw so much sacrifice from our own mothers, you know, how many of them sacrifice their own financial stability, their own autonomy, because, you That’s just what you did. You know? Now I think we’re in a society where that responsibility is shifting and we’re seeing more and more women becoming breadwinners and now stay at home.

Dads are a more normal thing and right. You know, society is just flipping on its head. But we didn’t have examples of like what it looks like to be a boss bitch and also have kids and be killing it in your business and blah, blah, blah. So now we’re the ones that are having to like redefine what that success looks like and give ourselves permission to not only pursue.

our personal goals, whether that’s marriage, motherhood, et cetera, but also know that we can have robust careers. We can make a shit ton of money. We can have amazing businesses and it does not have to require the sacrifice that we’ve seen in the past. 

Erika: Oh, so well said. I feel like this is a good segment to my next question of why is worthiness so important when building wealth?

Jannese: Oh God. I mean, you know, I’ve found so many times in conversations with clients and, you know, just having Discussions around what it even means to be wealthy and how to do it, you know, because there are steps that we can take, you know, avoiding debt, investing, like not living beyond your means. There’s a lot of different practical things we know we should be doing with our money, but when it comes down to the mindset of, Do you even think you’re worthy of these opportunities?

Do you even think you’re worthy of asking for a raise? Do you even think you’re worthy of raising your price? Do you even think you’re worthy of like not tolerating this bullshit relationship, which is doing nothing for you? You know, I think, um, when it comes down to it, until we believe that we’re capable of whatever it is that we want to achieve, no amount of strategy, no checklist, no freebie, no, No, of course you sign up for is actually going to get you there because you have to have that radical self belief that whatever you want to achieve, you are actually worthy of.

And I found that time and time again, like when people make that switch, hell yeah, I deserve this shit and I’m going to do whatever it takes to get it. That’s when your life changes. Totally. 

Erika: Yeah. It starts with you making the decision that you’re worthy, and then things begin to line up. 100%. 

Jannese: Because if you go 

Erika: into a salary negotiation and you don’t feel worthy of that raise, you are not going to kill it in that salary negotiation.

You definitely 

Jannese: are not. You’re going to read that weakness and they’re going to be like, no girl, sit down. We’ll talk again next year. 

Erika: Exactly. Exactly. Like somebody, I think it was two days ago, one of my clients was asking me what they should charge for their services. And I was like, look, girl, I’m going to be honest with you.

Whether you charge 80 or 800 doesn’t matter. What matters is your belief about it. You have to have your full belief behind what it is that you’re charging. And if for you, 80 is too much, it’s going to be too much for everyone else because that’s literally what you’re putting out. So you also talk about everybody needs a side hustle.

Jannese: Tell us a little 

Erika: bit 

Jannese: more 

Erika: about 

Jannese: that. Well, you know, I, as an elder millennial have seen the real world impact of not having multiple streams of income, mainly because I graduated into one of the worst job markets in history, right? I graduated in May, 2007, about six months before the Great Recession.

Fucking great timing. And, you know, I saw people. After 20, 30 years in a job, just get walked out of the office at 22 years old. I’m like watching this happening. Like, what is all this? I thought like we went to college to have these like robust, long, stable careers that like, this doesn’t happen to us. You know, because I saw my parents struggled maintaining jobs because they only had a high school diploma and it was like, you know, revolving doors.

They were so dispensable. And I was like, well, I went to school so that this is not my reality. So why is this happening here? And it took my own layoff in January of 2014 for the rug to be pulled out from under me and me to realize, oh wow, like 30 minutes ago I had a job and now I have a box to collect my things and um, got to figure out what I’m going to do with my life.

And that was like the light bulb moment for me that I realized I never want a job. to have that kind of power over me to just pull the rug out from under me and completely disrupt my financial life. And I’ve always operated to from like, I’m never going to rely on a man to do that either. You know, from when I was very young, I was just like, girl, you got to be your own safety net, you know?

And so after that layoff, I realized I never wanted to be in that position again. And. Like six months before that, I had started my food blog, Delish Delights. It was very much a hobby, but with that layoff, there was like this switch that happened to me internally where I said, I don’t know how this is going to pan out.

I don’t know where this is going to go, but I want to turn this little project into some source of income. I don’t know if it’s ever gonna be like the type of thing that I can quit my job and do full time, but I’m just not going to allow myself to ever be in a position again that when I do get another job that that’s the only way that I have to make money.

And that was like, I did that and never looked back. 

Erika: How amazing that it was a food blog that kicked everything off. Right. And that started bringing in passive income. And then your podcast ended up being about money. And I just love, you know, Steve jobs says we can’t connect the dots looking forward. We can only connect them looking back.

But it’s like, that was the pivotal moment that started everything else. Yeah. How fascinating. Okay. I want to go back to my favorite chapter.

 So this chapter is called When Jenny from the Block Becomes Jenny with the Bag. And you talk about how whenever we make it, instead of feeling like we’ve made it, we also have this why me feeling. And then you also said no, this is the one I underlined, nobody talks about the grief that comes from growth.

So tell us a little bit more about this, because I felt the exact same way, right? It’s like you check all the boxes, you get there and you’re like, I should be happy now. Like happiness is some type of destination. And then you get there and it’s guilt. And it’s like, why me? So tell us about your experience whenever you became Jenny with the bag.

Jannese: Yeah. You know, it’s, um, it’s easy. I think when we’re living in our little insulated bubbles to just not feel those emotions as it is. Pronounced as like very pronounced, but when we go back to our hometowns and we go back to our friend circle or families and realize like Nobody else is on this path.

Nobody else is living their quote dream life. Nobody else has the financial stability and the ability to just like dictate what their day looks like and work on something they’re excited about and just have this freedom. It makes you feel like, um, what’s going on? Like, did I, is there a crack in the matrix?

Like, is this real? Is this actually, am I deserving of this? And, you know, then I think inevitably, too, and I’ve seen this, um, with a lot of friends who like, quote unquote, made it out of the hood, you start getting like snarky comments too sometimes from family when you show up to like a reunion and you have like your little fancy purse, or you got your new car, or you invite the family over for the first Thanksgiving at your new home, and they’re just like, Oh, you got first world problems now.

Who do you think you are? Or, you know, must be nice. Must be nice is such a fucking trigger phrase for me because it comes from the biggest haters in your life. Like nobody who says must be nice or good for you. That’s another one. Nobody who says good for you is actually happy for you. And nobody who says must be nice is actually, you know, happy for your success.

It’s always just like side comments and that usually comes from people who are living in like a victim mentality, who are living in scarcity. And it can feel almost like you’re ashamed. You’re made to feel ashamed of what you’ve accomplished and you’re no longer relatable. You know, you’re like that, that cousin that lives in the suburbs.

You don’t understand what it’s like, the struggle no more. You know, don’t give us advice because you don’t know what it’s like. And it’s just like, bro, what are you talking about? I literally came from the same fucking place as you. I just made different choices and decided that just because this is where I come from doesn’t mean this is where I need to end up.

So there’s a lot of emotions that come with, you know, quote unquote making it. And I don’t think we talk enough about it because. A, it’s something that we feel shameful for even like experiencing because we know how damn hard we work to like get here. But it’s also, I think there’s a lot of people who feel like they have to hide their success because it makes them more relatable and it makes them like be able to keep these people who’ve been with you up until this point.

But unfortunately, maybe some of these people don’t need to be on this next part of your journey because they’re just not the environment that’s going to help you continue to elevate. They might actually be the ones that drag you back down. 

Erika: Exactly. And what I’ve seen with some of my clients is sometimes they fear success because they fear this.

They fear not having, losing their, their existing community, or they fear hurting somebody’s feelings that they have had success when it’s so interesting because. What actually happens is whenever you get ahead, you can bring people with you, the people who want to come and not everybody’s supposed to come with you.

Jannese: Yes, absolutely. I think, I think that’s so important too, because we, you know, many of us have this idea of like the fact that wealth can isolate you and it’s like, no, you can actually use it to bring more people into your atmosphere, you know? And one example for me was, After I quit my job, um, to celebrate like my one year, you know, entrepreneurial anniversary, I took my mom on a like all expenses paid trip to Paris and London.

And I think that was the first time that she actually got to experience this level of success that I’ve been able to achieve. And she finally like understood why the sacrifices were worth it and why I made the decisions that I made and why I took the risks that I did. And by the end of that trip, she was just like, I get it.

We’re the crazy ones that are doing the same shit that doesn’t work. Oh 

Erika: my gosh, how 

Jannese: beautiful. 

Erika: So before then, when she found out that you were leaving your job, what was her reaction? 

Jannese: Oh god, she was freaking out. She’s like, what do you mean? You like, got two degrees, you’re making six figures, working four jobs.

Working for a fortune 50 company that’s going to give you a pension. If you stay here until you’re 62, um, girl, I had a whole last pension. I gave up a million dollar pension. Okay. So they were like crazy. They’re like, Oh my God, you’re out of your fucking mind. But I knew for me, a, like, I’m like, I cannot be sitting in this cubicle for the next 30 plus years.

Are you crazy? This is going to kill me before I’m dead. And, um, You know, I’m a numbers girl and for me I found time and time again like the numbers don’t lie and so I actually had to show them how much money the business was making versus like what I was earning with my paycheck and The fact that I’m like y’all I could do like one project a month and be making more than I’m making in like 40 hours a week In a month at this job and, uh, you know, once I showed them what was happening, they’re like, we’re going to trust you.

Okay. We’re going to trust you. But, um, just make the shit work. 

Erika: That is so funny because you are, we’re already making it work, right? Yeah. I’ve 

Jannese: been making it work for years and it was just like the fear of giving up that identity Of like changing the narrative of allowing people to have this perspective of like, Oh, Janice is changing and we don’t know what to do with this information.

I just decided to like, that’s not my problem. You know what I mean? Like, I don’t need your actual approval on this life decision. I just want you to know because I respect you enough as my family, but this is not me asking for permission. 

Erika: Just be 

Jannese: clear. 

Erika: Yes. Oh, I love it so much. So I love that in the book, you also talk about having a family emergency fund where, because I mean, as much as you know, your success is yours at the end of the day.

We’re still Latinas. We still really care about our family. We still want to give back. So I love that in that chapter, you talk about setting financial boundaries, but also having an emergency fund. For your family. So I think sometimes as people hear these conversations, they can get triggered ’cause they’re like, wait, but I care about my family.

And I think those two things can exist, right? Where you can get yourself ahead and when you get yourself ahead, you can care for your family, but you care for them on your own terms. Not based on, cause I, I’m, I don’t know if this has happened to you, but I I’ve had a situation where like a family member has been like, well, Erica makes money, she can pay for it.

And they just assume that I can take care of it. And I think that is where financial boundaries really do need to be set. Because like, you’re only seeing one part of the story. You don’t know what my expenses are like, you don’t know what goes on behind the scenes. And, you know, even if, even if I did have an abundance of money, like it’s my decision what I do with it.

Jannese: Yeah. So that’s where you kind of have to. Realize that you know, it is your job to enforce these boundaries and you can’t be everybody’s savior as much as you may want to be because as a first generation wealth builder these future generations and how they’re able to benefit from our hard work is only as solid as the foundation that we set today.

And so if we are just like overextending ourselves and self sabotaging our own financial futures because we feel this Transcribed huge sense of obligation, then the next generation is just going to have to struggle the same way that we have. And so I like to think about it, you know, there has to be a balance.

I want to be able to give, but I also want to be able to give without sacrificing future me and future generations that come after me. 

Erika: Yeah, definitely. Oh, that’s so beautifully said. So speaking about giving, you have completely transformed the way that I think about, um, in partnerships and when it comes to, obviously I’m not married, I’m not engaged, but, After hearing your story, I am now certain that I need a prenup, even if I end up, or no, it has to be a prenup because now I know, right?

But even if I end up with somebody who’s wildly more successful than I am, I still think that that is so important for both that individual and myself. Especially because so many emotions can come up during relationships or if a relationship does break that sometimes I, I, or at least I saw this with my own parents where like the separation was so messy that my dad ended up having to file for bankruptcy.

My mom lost a house like everybody was just messed up financially because there was no. form of that like that decision wasn’t already made. And you have a chapter of this in your book as well. But, um, for those people who are maybe like thinking about getting a postnup or who are maybe recently engaged and considering a prenup, what would you say to them?

Because sometimes our culture can be like, Look at it as such a negative thing, but after hearing your story, I’m like, no, like everybody needs to have one. So what would you say to somebody who’s either already married or considering getting married about having a prenup or a postnup? 

Jannese: Yeah. So the first thing I would say is do not invite opinions into your relationship when it comes to this, because at the end of the day, it’s the two of you and it doesn’t matter what your mom, your tia, your abuela has to say about it.

There’s none of their damn business. So that’s number one. Number two, For me, it’s a red flag if your partner does not at least want to entertain the conversation You know, when I got to really understand the purpose of these documents, I realized that this is actually meant to benefit both people. This is actually meant for you to have way more autonomy and control over how your assets are divided in the event of a divorce than your state in which you reside, you know, because we all have prenuptial agreements if we’re married without a prenup.

You just are subject to the family law in the state that you live in. And so, for example, if you live in California, which is a community property state, it’s automatically 50 50, no matter who earned it. You know, everything you earn by investing after you get married is considered a community property asset.

And so, if you’re the one who is out here building your empire, you got a whole ass business, you’re creating intellectual property, you’re writing books, you’re buying real estate, It doesn’t matter that you did that. It’s going to be subject to divorce proceedings unless you specify this in a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement.

And so for me in my own experience, I realized just the true power of these documents when I got divorced while writing this book and realized that like my business is a marital asset. Because I built it during the marriage. And if I had had to give my ex half of the valuation of that business, that would have been multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It would have had me have to give him half of my multiple six figure retirement portfolio. I was writing a book, you know, book royalties are intellectual property that are subject to divorce. There’s a lot of things that we as women in this generation are doing that previous generations of women could not even do.

Like building wealth, you know, it wasn’t more than a generation ago that women couldn’t even get lines of credit. They couldn’t even get mortgages without a husband or a man’s name on them. So like the fact that we are this first generation of wealth building mojeres, we have white man problems now, and we need to be operating as such because white men have been using these tools for generations to protect their empires.

And we need to be doing the same shit. And it is what it is. And whoever feels about it. They can feel how they feel about it. But at the end of the day, there’s too much at stake. You have too much at risk to just be letting the government decide what to do with all your hard work. 

Erika: A hundred percent. Oh, that was so good.

Yes. That was a mic drop moment. The last question I have for you is, what message do you hope that people walk away with after reading your book? Like, obviously there’s, there’s so much information there, but the overall intention behind writing the book, what do you want, because people are going to forget details that they read, but what message do you want them to keep?

Jannese: I want them to understand that just because struggle has been a hallmark of our community, that doesn’t need to be the theme going forward. You know, I think with the power of the internet and podcasts and blogs and now books that are written for our community, there’s just a real, really no reason for you not to be learning this stuff.

You know what I’m saying? Like there’s so much power in self education. Self education has gotten me where I am today, not only with my finances, but also with my business. Um, And I just cannot harp enough on the idea that you must be a perpetual learner. Like that is the key to success in life. And so if you want to get wealthy, if you want to invest, if you want to be a first generation wealth builder, you can do that shit and you deserve to do it.

And I hope that this book helps you get there. 

Erika: So good. Where can people get a copy of the book? 

Jannese: Yeah. So you can actually get the copy, the physical copy, as well as the audio book at financiallylitbook. com. And I also have details around the book tour that I’m doing. So financiallylitbook. com. Amazing.

Erika: Janice, it is always a pleasure to speak with you. Um, you’re just such a good interviewer that we got through all my questions and more, I was able to just kind of ask. As we were, as we were talking, but, um, I was coaching my clients right before we got on this and I was like, just, you know, I have to go like five minutes early because I’m, I’m interviewing Janiece and all of their eyes lit up and they were so excited.

So you really created, um, I just want to thank you for leading our community. And showing us what’s possible. And I’m just so lucky to be able to call you a friend, like to hold this physical book in my hand in California and see you virtually is insane to me. And you’ve just changed so many, so many lives, like keep shining, keep doing your thing, and I’m always here for you.

And I’m just so lucky to have you in my life. 

Jannese: Thank you, hermana. The feeling is so mutual and keep killing it too because we are going to be out here changing the world for the next generation. 

Erika: We are. Thank you so, so much. 

Jannese: Thank you.