Event Aims to Financially Empower Women
HALIFAX — It’s often said that money is an impolite subject. Growing up, many of our parents didn’t tell us how much money they made at work. And many of us wouldn’t dare ask an adult about their financial situation.
For many people, talking about money remains taboo even after we grow up and enter the workforce. Tia Upshaw, the Haligonian serial entrepreneur and founder of Blk Women in Excellence, says these taboos are much more problematic for women than men.
“I’ve been in business a long time. I worked with a lot of different men and they have no problem talking about how much money they made first, second, and third quarters. And they talk openly that their company made $2.5 million last year.
“But for women, it’s been embedded in society … that we’re basically lucky that we’re working. We’re getting an okay pay; you’re lucky to have a business.”
That is why Upshaw will be the keynote speaker at ‘Investing in You: Making Cents of Tough Conversations, a free virtual event happening May 11, featuring guest speakers and sessions hosted by inspiring female entrepreneurs. The event was put together by Credit Unions in Atlantic Canada.
Upshaw wants women to know they shouldn’t be humble about their financial successes or ashamed of their financial struggles.
“I didn’t come from money,” says Upshaw. “There was no entrepreneurship. there were no conversations about credit aspects, capital, or anything at the kitchen table where I grew up. So, I amplify a lot of other women to start having conversations about money. It’s not taboo.”
“You don’t have to be embarrassed. You don’t have to be humble with your success. When you’re in certain spaces in your work, have a conversation at the coffee area about your salary, have an open dialogue where everybody is trying to get a fair wage.”
Upshaw is also an example of why women, or anyone for that matter, should not give up when they are struggling. She became a mother at 14 and had her second child by 17. She ended up dropping out of high school.
“It was very difficult. I was lucky that the person who raised me was my grandmother, and she pushed me not to give up. After I had my second child at 17, that’s when it really got hard because I didn’t even finish high school at that point. I did go back to NSCC a few years later and I got my grade 12, but life has not been easy for me. And by a lot of my own choices, not by my environment or my community.”
Now, her successful cleaning company just turned 10. And Blk Women in Excellence, which just launched their B.C. chapter, has helped 93 Black women become entrepreneurs.
The ‘Making Cents’ event will also be hosted by another successful Halifax entrepreneur, Sylvia Beirnes, who co-founded Canadian Content Studios. She also co-hosts the Your Two Cents podcast. Her interest in finances began at a young age.
“I started caring about financial literacy when I was a kid. I was a very avid consumer,” recalled Beirnes. “If I had an issue with a product, I would write into companies and do all these things. I might have been 10, the first time I wrote into an ice cream manufacturer asking why I couldn’t get bubblegum ice cream in the grocery stores.”
“I had my own hard-earned money that I would get from doing chores or babysitting and I’ve always been really proud to make my own money, but also the way I spent it really mattered.”
Despite her prudence with money, Beirnes still wishes more people talked openly with her about it when she was younger. She recalls being a young adult and not always having the financial skills she needed.
“Managing money was really important, but it wasn’t really talked about in my house,” she recalled. “I grew up in a situation where they really encouraged me to work and have my own money, but we didn’t really talk about the long term.
“When I found myself getting out of university and having to pay rent and do all these things that I’d never done before, I didn’t feel as prepared as I could have.”
Beirnes is hoping that women who attend this event will feel more empowered about money. She says, with the diversity of speakers and topics, everyone will be able to learn something new and valuable.
“It’s really cool that the Credit Unions are doing this because they’re actually the first financial institution that loaned money to women (in 1961); that’s also really empowering. And so, they’re really continuing to be trailblazers to make sure that this population who has financial independence can secure it and be comfortable speaking about it.”
“The idea of a group of women coming together to talk about money; if that leaves you feeling a little more empowered to explore your own relationship with money, I think that is an incredible takeaway.”
Derek Montague is a Huddle reporter in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].