The C&C 100 Money Honorees on FOMO Investing, Toxic Money Habits & Why You're Probably Underselling Yourself

Speaker A: Foreign.

Speaker B: I'm Jacqueline Johnson.

Speaker C: And I'm Marina Middleton.

Speaker B: And this is Work Party, A, uh, podcast that's part work and part party. Work Party celebrates a new generation of women who are redefining the meaning of work on their own terms and having fun while doing it.

Speaker C: In this podcast, we are diving into all the areas of being a working woman, mind, body and business. No topic is off limit.

Speaker B: Real talk and hot takes. Think of us as your Internet work wives. The this is Work Party, the podcast. Wait, where's the champagne?

Speaker A: Welcome back to Work Party.

Speaker C: Today's special episode is in celebration of our annual 100 list. Create and Cultivate's 100 list honors 10 women in 10 different categories who are building, leading and influencing at scale. They are moving markets, shaping culture, and making decisions that matter. This year, create and cultivate's 2026100 lists will span industries, generations and stages of success. From first time founders to legacy leaders, each setting the pace, raising the standards, and moving culture forward. This episode highlights our money category.

Speaker B: Big investments, big payoff. That's what these money geniuses are all about. And this episode's theme is all about embracing abundance, sharing the risks that took them far, and planning for their goals ahead. Let's dive in as we hear from Kate McAndrew, Ruffin Michener, Mary Holland Nader, Maggie Sellers, and Elaine Walteroth.

Speaker D: I'm Kate McAndrew. I'm a venture capitalist. I run a fund called Baukunst, which I co founded in 2022. The best thing I've ever splurged on is a night nurse for myself slash my son. When he was three months old, I was going back to work and I had to be on it because I was raising my first fund. And when you are fundraising, you cannot be underslept. So Night Nurse is my best splurge of all time. The worst financial advice I've ever received is to pay too much attention to money. You should understand that earning real money and building wealth is about doing things that you love, that matter, that the world needs. And when you do, that, money will follow. Focusing too much on money, being too obsessed with every cent is a path to destroying joy in your life. And you might get some money, but you're not going to build wealth. The one thing women should do to grow their net worth this year is to make sure that you are surrounding with people who love your ambition and who aren't jealous of you, who aren't trying to hold you back, who aren't trying to make you feel bad for the dreams that you have, you want to surround yourself with people who lift you up and who are also living lives that are the kinds of lives that you want to live. Those people will continue to help you manifest the life that you want in all of the ways that you want it to be. Whether that's about family or work or wealth or some combination of those things. Freedom. It's all about the community around you. That's really what's going to influence your own ceiling or lack thereof. There's never been a better time in the history of the world for a woman to start a business. It's never been less expensive. It's never been easier to find the people who need you. We've actually never needed businesses led by women more than we need them right now. So if there's something that you want to give voice to, don't be afraid to go after that vision. The world needs it and the time's now.

Speaker E: Hi, I'm Ruffin. I'm the creator and founder of Bridge Club. We're a community of 200,000 women empowering women, navigating entrepreneurship and angel investing. I love a good vacation. So probably the best thing I ever splurged on was our honeymoon. We did about a 16 day trip, which I'm not sure when I will ever get to do that again. And we went to Paris, to Mallorca, and to Lake Como. Um, um. The worst financial advice I've ever received was just sitting on the sidelines for too long. So not getting in the game and not starting soon enough. In my investing journey, the one thing women should do this year to grow their net worth is to just get into the investing game. Join communities of women or other friends who can teach you what they're investing in. So start talking to your friends about what they're investing in. Just get out there, start learning and make your first investment, even if it's as small as $501,000. Just get. The piece of advice I want to give to other women is to get out there and start building your personal brand. Um, I went to UCLA and got my MBA there, but honestly, I've gotten so much more value out of building my personal brand online. If you don't like creating videos, you can even do things as small as starting a substack or just posting on LinkedIn to get started. Um, because building your personal brand really opens up every door. I think my toxic trait while I'm filming content is I probably overthink things a little bit. So when I first Got started creating content, I would kind of just throw things out there. And I wasn't too worried about what other people thought. But I think as you build an audience, you're a little bit more thoughtful about what you put on the Internet. And so probably overthinking things a little bit too much from time to time would be my toxic trait.

Speaker F: Hello, everybody. I am Mary Holland Nader. I am a model, creator, uh, Fintech founder, and reality TV personality. So I kind of touch a little bit of everything. The best thing I've ever splurged on is one of my favorite pairs of YSL heels. I think splurging on something like shoes that are super comfortable is definitely worth it. And the cost per wear ended up being like 10 bucks because I've worn it so many times. So I justify it. The worst financial advice would probably be like, anytime anyone tells me to buy something that everyone's super hype about, which they call FOMO investing. So meme stocks. If you remember when everyone was buying Gamestop and everyone felt like they were missing out, anytime there's hype around something in the market, it's probably because it's already overvalued. So I never listen to FOMO investing advice. Just buy and hold and stick to what I know. I would say to focus on building small habits instead of feeling overwhelmed. I feel like there's a lot of information out there and it's really easy to feel like you're behind, especially as women when it's all in a totally different language. Um, but if you focus on building your relationship with money up. So I do this by doing a weekly money ritual. I literally sit there every week just like I have my skincare ritual and I do like an everything shower on Sundays. I. I do my money ritual and it's just checking my accounts, putting a little aside, um, like paying off my credit. And then I splurge on something if I have money left. But doing it like it's a wellness routine, I find makes it a lot less intimidating than having to have a whole day or having to hire a financial advisor. Like, it's definitely you're capable, especially as women. Women are actually smarter investors because they don't buy emotionally, statistically speaking.

Speaker G: Hello, my name is Maggie Sellers Ream, and I'm the co founder of Hot, Smart, Rich and HSR Ventures. The best thing I ever splurged on was in Hermes bag. The worst financial advice I've ever received was to play it safe without taking risk. You just don't get the type of return that I'm looking for personally. If there was one thing that women could do differently this year, it would be to talk about money like you're a man. Don't be afraid of it. Don't feel stupid. Ask questions. Be comfortable talking about money. Be comfortable losing money. Be comfortable making money. Be comfortable having different sources of money. Just talk about money and it'll come to you. Okay? The number one piece of advice I have for women starting a business is don't raise money on what you've done historically. Raise money also on what you are able to do potentially in the future. You have to take your historical, in addition to the future of where you see the business going and raise money that way. The other piece of advice that I would have is when you're raising money, ask for advice, get money twice. Ask for money, get advice.

Speaker C: Hey.

Speaker A: Create and cultivate. I'm Elaine Welteroth. I'm an author, a TV host, and the founder of Birth Fund. Ooh. Okay. The best thing I've ever splurged on actually just happened because I never splurge on anything. Um, I bought myself a little Rolex. I literally have had my eyes on this watch. I'm not a watch girly. I'm entering my watch girly era, and it just makes me feel like such a boss and such a. And honestly, such a mom. Like, I feel like this is. This reminds me of, like,'80s moms from television. Um, and I'm finally, uh, entering that era. Two kids. Like, that's a real. We're really momming now. So it was time to upgrade myself and get myself a little Rolex. It was a little, um, birthday gift, slash, made it through a really hard year, um, gift. And it really just means a lot to me to have an heirloom that I can pass on to future generations. And I feel like it's very unisex. And I. I'm a boy mom, so my boys can inherit it as well. Honestly, I think the worst financial advice I've ever received is just none at all. Like, I don't think women talk about money enough at home, with their friends at work. And I think it does a detriment to all of us. Um, so I would say being in the conversation about finances, investment, like, honestly, we need to be sharing information like, uh, you can give me bad advice. I'd prefer bad advice over no advice at all. So I guess that's my weird, roundabout answer to that. If there's one thing every woman should do this year to Grow your net worth. It is invest in yourself. Invest in yourself. Stop waiting for other people to invest in you. Whatever you have, whatever the vision is, start now and invest what you have into it and create a proof of concept that you can stand on and that you can sell to other people. Um, I honestly think that self invested companies are the biggest flex. You don't always need an investor and it's always, it's not always the best move to have an investor. Invest in yourself if you can. And most of us can. Well, let me take that part out. Okay. Invest in yourself if you can. And I just want to say that guys, having investors is not always the best move. It's not always the, the right move. And I, um, think sometimes we need to tell our sisters it's not the time. Don't take investment money. Because sometimes it, sometimes it's a trap. I am a huge proponent of investing in your community. I think that we should all be redefining wealth at times like these where all the systems are failing, everything is, is on its head. I think that there's never been a more important time to invest in your community and to invest with your values. Um, I don't even think I started a non profit and I don't even use the word donation. I use the word investment because I think that we need to start rethinking what ROI really looks like in this era where we need mutual aid more than ever. And if we say that we believe in communities and we, we want our communities to thrive, then I think that we need to invest accordingly. And sometimes the return on investment is healthy families, healthy babies, healthy communities. Um, and so that's, that's kind of. Those are the philosophies that I've built Birth Fund on.

Speaker B: Thanks for listening to this episode of Work Party. If you like what you heard, follow, leave a review, rate the pod or slide into our DMs.

Speaker C: Check out the different ways you can create and cultivate on our website, createcultivate.com from retreats and masterminds to our summits

Speaker B: and festival, we have different experiences to support you through your entrepreneurial journey from launch to legacy. Follow us at Create Cultivate on all platforms. And don't forget work hard.

Speaker D: Party on.

Speaker H: Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.