💌 Inside This Week’s After Party - Edition #4

🍸 Opening Toast

From the desk (more like dance floor!) of Robyn Cohen:

"To the women who are making bank, breaking cycles, and choosing freedom — cheers to that."

Let’s talk about it:
Money. Power. Freedom.
The trifecta we were told not to aim for too loudly.

For a lot of us, money wasn’t about power, it was about pressure.
Stress. Survival. Silence.

I’m going to be honest: for most of my life, I’ve struggled with money.
I grew up in a home where it was the #1 source of tension. My dad was almost always the breadwinner, my late mom worked when she could, but with a younger sister who was disabled and epileptic, nearly every dollar went toward her care. As a result, I learned early that money wasn’t something you had, it was something you worried about.

In last week’s edition, I mentioned how I started working for my dad at 9. My first real job came at 13. That wasn’t just a cute entrepreneurial story, it was necessity. Every now and again, when I was young, we could afford a nice vacation. But soon after, life got harder. My sister’s health worsened, my mom’s emotional spending increased, and the cracks in our financial foundation got wider.

At 19, I moved out for college. By 26, I was in New York City, working hard, hustling, always employed. But here’s the truth: I never saved. I didn’t know how. I just wanted to earn enough to enjoy my life, especially after a childhood that had very little ease.

It wasn’t until 2015, at age 41, when I worked in the marketing department of a credit repair company, that I truly started to understand the world of finance. For the first time, I learned why your credit score matters. I looked at debt differently. I realized how financially illiterate most of us were taught to be, especially women.

And then, it took until 2023, at 50, for me to finally open an investment account, diversify my credit, and build real savings.

Don’t get me wrong: I had some strengths. I negotiated my salary like a boss. I kept my credit utilization under 30%. I knew how to be resourceful. But I’ve also navigated brutal financial seasons:

• Over 15 years of infertility that cost us more than $75,000 out of pocket.
  

• The pandemic, which tested every ounce of our resilience.
  

• And financial dynamics in family and business that often felt overwhelming and out of my control.

The truth is, we’re not taught this stuff. We’re not taught how to manage money, how to protect ourselves financially, how to negotiate or invest. We’re especially not taught how to own our worth — in our salaries, our businesses, or our bank accounts.
Most of us are handed shame instead of tools.

But here’s what I know now:
Wealth is not reserved for men.
It’s not reserved for trust fund kids or tech bros.
It’s not too late.
It’s not out of reach.
And it’s not selfish to want more.

In fact, there’s a historic transfer of wealth happening right now, and it’s projected to land in our hands. Women. Us. The ones who’ve done more with less, who’ve stretched dollars into dreams, who are finally saying: “Enough of just getting by.”

This week, we’re not just talking money.
We’re unlearning the scarcity.
We’re reclaiming wealth as a feminist issue.
We’re normalizing ambition.
We’re flipping the narrative from struggle to strategy.

Because financial freedom isn’t a fantasy.
It’s a skill set.
And it’s one we all deserve.

So here’s to the women who are making bank, breaking cycles, and choosing freedom — one dollar, one decision, one empowered move at a time.

Cheers to that! 🥂

💣 Truth Bomb

We’ve all heard it, that worn-out phrase: “Money is the root of all evil.”
But let’s be clear: money isn’t the problem.
The real issue is how we’ve been taught to fear it, avoid it, misuse it, or feel guilty for wanting more of it.

Especially as women, we’ve inherited a legacy of silence.
Don’t talk about what you earn.
Don’t ask for too much.
Don’t be too flashy, too bold, too ambitious.

And if you dare to ask for more?
Be ready for the labels: greedy, ungrateful, “too much.”

Let’s flip that narrative — because it’s not serving us.
The truth is, money is power — and when women have more of it, we change the world.
We fund businesses that hire other women.
We give back to our communities.
We invest in education, health, art, climate — the things that actually build a better future.

Keeping women financially uninformed, underpaid, and out of wealth-building conversations?
That’s the real evil.
But we’re done with that era.

👀 ASK YOURSELF:

• What was I taught about money growing up, explicitly or through what was modeled?
  

• When have I dimmed my voice, held back, or played small in conversations around finances?
  

• What would change in my life if I became unapologetically confident about my relationship with money?

🔥 THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE:

Say the real number.
Whether you’re quoting your rates, asking for a raise, negotiating a deal, or even just thinking about your next financial goal, say the number that scares you a little.
Say it in your head. Say it in the mirror. Say it out loud to someone you trust.
Say it until it sounds like your new normal.
Because that’s how we shift from silence to power.

🧠 WANT TO DIVE DEEPER?

Here are some high-value reads (and listens) to expand your money mindset:

• 📚 Why Women Need To Talk About Money Openly And Often - Forbes

  If want to build your financial confidence, you need to break the silence around talking about money and make regular and unapologetic conversations around the subject.
  

• 🎧 5 Rules to Finally Take Control of Your Money (Tiffany Aliche on The Mel Robbins Podcast) - A powerhouse interview on building wealth from scratch, budgeting, and changing your financial story.
  

• 💸 The wage gap costs women $1.6 trillion a year - CNBC
  How the gender wealth gap adds up — and what needs to change.
  

🪞 Mirror Talk

To the her who doesn’t want to charge too much:
“You are not a discount version of your brilliance.”

If your rate makes you nervous, that’s a sign you’re getting closer to what you should be charging — not less.
This week, challenge yourself to say the higher number in the meeting, on the invoice, or in your head.
Say it again. Then say it out loud.

Because you are the full-price experience — and then some.

👑 The Guest List

Tiffany Aliche – Financial Educator, Author, and Champion for Women’s Financial Freedom

Tiffany Aliche, widely known as The Budgetnista, is a powerhouse in the world of personal finance, especially when it comes to helping women take control of their money without shame, fear, or confusion.

A former preschool teacher turned financial educator, Aliche became a national voice for economic empowerment after pulling herself out of a six-figure financial setback during the 2008 recession. Her approach is rooted in transparency, practicality, and making financial literacy accessible to everyday women.

In 2021, she made history as the first Black woman to have a solo-authored personal finance book hit #1 on The New York Times bestseller list with “Get Good with Money.” Through her work, she’s helped over 2 million women save, pay off debt, and step into financial confidence through her Live Richer Academy and viral financial challenges.

Aliche regularly speaks about the emotional weight of money, especially for women and women of color, and the importance of unlearning financial trauma inherited from generations before us.

Her mission? 

To dismantle the idea that wealth is only for the wealthy, and to show women that no matter where you start, you can learn, earn, and build a life of freedom on your own terms.

Tiffany Aliche isn’t just teaching women how to budget, she’s teaching them how to believe in their own worth, and why that’s the real foundation of financial power.

🎁 Party Favors

Level-up tools to help you make, keep, and grow your money:

• 🧠 Check it out! Ellevest: Female-founded investment platform + money coaching for women who want to build wealth their way.
  

• 📊 Try this! Free Budget Tracker & Tips for getting Started: Add your income and expenses to this monthly budget planner
  

• ✍️ Use this! Gold Pens: 6 Piece Pen Set: Because signing a new contract should feel like a celebration.

Click, save, and share. Because wealthy women share the goods.

📣 Last Call…

Before we turn the lights up...

What if this next chapter isn’t your second act, but your real debut? Hit reply and tell me one thing you're doing for yourself this week — no guilt, no justification. Just joy.

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Until next week,