Season 2 Episode 3: First Nations Financial Wellbeing with Larisha Jerome
IN THIS EPISODE
In this episode, Mel opens up about her experiences of being a financial support for her daughter, while also grappling with spending money on things that don't align with her values as she saves for a family holiday. Darlene discusses setting spending limits and giving pocket money within a budget, highlighting the importance of being mindful of their children's desires to spend and building independence.
The episode features Larisha Jerome as a guest, a proud Jarowair, Wakka Wakka, and Wulli Wulli woman. Larisha is the Manager of Women's Economic Empowerment & Business Education at First Nations Foundation, host of the Rich Blak Women Podcast, a TEDx Speaker & Keynote Speaker, and a Self-Concept & Mindset Coach.
Larisha shares her journey from a disadvantaged childhood to her current roles, emphasizing the importance of education and financial empowerment. She discusses the cultural and generational disadvantages and trauma faced by Indigenous communities, and the need to recognize and release the lack of financial control and autonomy.
Larisha also explores the different definitions of wealth in various communities and her approach to making finance fun for younger people, such as using vision boards. Her purpose is to connect with the community and be a positive part of their financial journey, taking a collaborative approach as an ally.
She discusses the differences between Indigenous and Westernized cultures in terms of community versus individual focus, and the importance of learning from different cultures and sharing stories.
Larisha will be giving a TEDx Talk in March about decolonizing Western money concepts, highlighting the ongoing journey of learning about and understanding money. Both Mel and Larisha agree on the significance of approaching money discussions genuinely, transparently, and authentically.
RESOURCES IN THIS EPISODE
Rich Blak Women Podcast: https://tomorrowmoney.co/women/rbw/
First Nations Foundation: https://firstnationsfoundation.org.au/
Larisha Jerome: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larisha-v-jerome-7aa0571b7/
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Welcome to the Money Collective Podcast. We're here to uplift your financial wellbeing. Your hosts are me, Mel Pearce, and Darlene Neu. We are the cofounders of The Money Collective and together we have over 50 years of finance and banking experience. We provide the tools, information and guidance to better understand your money and feel confident making money decisions.
0:22
Hello. Hi. Welcome back to our podcast. Yeah, another episode of Fun talking about financial wellbeing. That's right. Well, today it's super exciting because we've got a guest called Larisha Jerome coming up. I'll tell you more about her in a moment. Yeah, yeah. The special episode for us today.
0:43
Exactly. Yes. Having guest speaker and yeah, we're very privileged. So yeah, yeah, I want to come our truth Mel. OK, sure. Truth. This. Well, my truth this week is if you've been following along at all on my journey. I've been going a bit hardcore on my spending at the moment, not spending. And I've set up my systems because I've got a really short term goal to go on a holiday. So saving
1:14
every penny I can, which means that when I go to work I am taking my lunch. Or it doesn't. When I leave the house, I'm taking food. I'm lucky you fed me this morning.
1:24
But yeah, just doing things like that, not eating out and just buying random things, only buying exactly what I need. And it's been feeling really good. I feel been feeling really empowered about it and there are side benefits now. What are the side benefits? Ah well I haven't been buying crappy food so when I'm so basically my only food source is coming from the supermarket so and I'm really shopping outside of the supermarket I because I don't want to buy any
1:55
extra crap that I don't need. So if it's not good, not buying it. So my diet has been better. I'm doing lots more home cooking less instant meals and that's inspired me to get more fit. So I've been running again I've been feeling really good not buying money on spending money on alcohol like that for a big no it just doesn't fit with my values like I think it's really getting me aligned with what I really want. Yeah so how good is that? What a big benefit.
2:26
And if people think of budgeting money, I'm just gonna be restrained. I won't be able to do anything. But actually what I hear in that is I actually feel much, you know, that you're feeling better. I'm actually more liberated. I'm not really changed, you know, to society. And that's right, you know, just losing time. I feel like even you, you're getting time back and spending it where you want to. Yes. Yeah. I'm in admiration. I am watching this project
2:54
and seeing, yeah, you know how it plays out even longer term. I'm one month into the hardcore amnesty on spending, so my real truth for this week has got to do with that. So I took my daughter into work with me this week and she's 15. She was hanging around. We work at the shops like a big shopping centre, like there's a mall and we're in there and she's like, oh, we have to buy this. Oh my God,
3:25
talking me into buying things that I didn't wanna buy. Like there was makeup and she's like, oh you really need this And she's cause we've got an event coming up and you know she really talked me into it. But I would not have even been in that shop. I definitely wouldn't have bought anything. And I did. I bought it. I was going to say about but I bought $88.00 worth of things that I wouldn't have purchased and I money shuffled between my accounts because I have no budget for this. Yeah and it made me feel sick
3:55
and angry while I was there. So I felt angry at her when this was happening And then we were she's I had like I said brought food to work and there was plenty of food for us and she's I don't wanna eat that and we're at the shops and she's hungry and I thought well you can go to the supermarket and buy salad that I'm cool with that and then she's like no she talked me into Guzman and Gomez. So we're standing in the line and then I said she's like I said you can get a mini burrito
4:26
and she's like, no, I want a big one and I'm like, ah, so like all of this and my whole body on the inside is like not cause it's I'm then dealing with. I think the hard thing with children is I've got my personal values and it's easy to manage myself when I'm on my own. But when we're in that stage I've got kids who have got opinions and there what they want is not aligned to what I want. But I am their source of money and I found that really difficult to navigate
4:58
and I wasn't prepared for it. I kind of in the morning knew that we were gonna run into some of this. Yeah, but then I and then we will anyway. We didn't even buy any food. She got angry with me and we just both stormed off and we ended up being hangry. So usually I like the last month I felt so good because I've been so organised with my food. I am never hungry like I am plentifully supplied. But that I went in so I went from that to complete scarcity
5:29
like when my values were triggered. Yeah. And I was hungry. Yeah. What the hell. Yeah. And I spent money like and all the things you don't want to do OH. But I'm really struggling with knowing how to navigate that at the moment. I don't win this challenge. I think this is just a great thing for our audience and if you're listening to listen to because the what I take out of that is we need to because I can totally relate. You know I've got a nearly 13 year old daughter and
5:59
it's very similar. I think what we, you know, what I hear is learning, being aware that that's gonna happen to begin with, because our kids are our kids and they're environments where, you know, they're socialising with lots of kids and they're doing all sorts of things and they wanna, you know, do what they do.
6:22
So I think just to begin with having awareness of how you get caught up in or spend money on things that you don't want to and you're not even thinking about that. So just, you know, put a lens on that awareness and I think awareness brings change, you know, So you know, maybe next time I don't know what would you do differently? I would set stronger ground rules before going out and maybe acknowledge that there might be some spending and give her a budget for her to manage so then I don't have to manage that for her. Yeah, that I'm OK with instead of in the moment
7:01
being really frustrated. Yeah. Yeah, I can relate because I think in a podcast gone by not long ago, I felt, you know, particularly over the holidays, I was just, Lily was coming at me all the time for money. I need this. I want that, you know, It was all the time. And that was really triggering and frustrating for me because the things that she was buying again aren't aligned to my values. So I talked about starting, you know, school with a weekly budget that they have to cover
7:32
discretionary and also teaches her independence. So that's what we've done, $20 weekly budget. I've said if you don't save it and something comes up and your friends wanna go to the movies, you don't have the money, you can't go. So, you know, I think there will be a big learning curve. Yeah, for her. But also it just that's the barrier, that's that the rule. Yeah, the rules are being set now I just have to be strong enough to follow through. That's it. Alright, let's do this. I got it. Alright, you got it at work.
8:03
Progress on, you know always. But yeah, I think yeah I take out of that just to be aware is the first step and then you can put some things in action. My truth is linked to my son. He there's definitely a theme. Constantly. We've asked because I suppose they're our world
8:24
is my son. He's moving to. We're at Melbourne, he's moving to Sydney for university and we have let him know that we are not financially supporting him. Hmm. You know, all of our philosophies and what we talk about, you know,
8:42
and the benefits to our kids if they need to, you know, for independence and growing up and being adults, I feel like he's just starting to adult, you know, so you know he's gonna do that. I think that's been a bit of a shock to the system. So he's been really paralysed in getting stuff done. And it's not just about money, but money is a contributor to that. So you know, he's been on flatmates.com and he looks at what the rent is, you know, somewhere to live. And you know, it's been in Sydney. It seems
9:13
around ****** University is going, it seems like it's around 300 a week to 400 a week. And some of those higher ones include all the bills, you know, so. And he's gone. How do you do that? He is freaking out. You know, like and you know I've gone back to nuts and bolts. Do your numbers. What do you need? What are the gap? Where's the money going to come from? Yeah, and he has been.
9:42
In fact, he probably deprives himself to save. So he is got himself into a position, He's got $18,000 in the bank, which is plenty of backup money, right. So he's got plenty of backup money to get up there, get started. He has paid Bond, you know, and find somewhere to live anyway he after, oh, I'll say,
10:07
a big discussion. He went away a couple of days ago, he booked a flight and he left first thing yesterday morning and he's been looking at some places, gone to uni and he feels really good. He's out and about. He's adulting. Yeah, an opportunities are coming his way so I'm hoping he comes back with a place he can go and leave. You have to start in a couple of weeks. So,
10:28
yeah, but. But the message I take, you know, like to, you know, for people to think about is that sometimes we don't do, we're scared to spend money
10:40
and we, we don't look at the bigger picture. So for him, you know, I said to him, this is an investment in your future. This is what you wanna do, you know. So sometimes I think particularly savers, savers can actually deprive themselves of things because of the fear of spending. That's right. Without actually evaluating when it needs to be spent. Yes, for what you're trying to do and achieve. So that's my message today. Really good advice.
11:11
Yeah. Well, good luck, Logan. You got it. Yeah, he has. Yeah. Yeah. So maybe I'll have to bake into our budget in a couple of Sydney holidays or sounds like. Yeah, maybe. Yeah, see.
11:25
Very good. Alright, well, thanks for sharing that. I that's very therapeutic for me. They do that little session. So can I just add some mine at the very end? You know how I said we went home hungry? So even though I had a lunch box full of food, you didn't eat it. I should eat it. Finally worked out. Yeah, it worked out. And then we're driving home and I went to grab my lunch box from the back of the car and I was gonna start eating it. And then the I was stopped at traffic lights and the light went
11:54
change from red to green. And I was at the very beginning and I merged lanes into somebody I was not even yeah, like concentrating. And all the cars were honking me, including me. Hmm. I that was the worst driving I can remember doing in a very long time. And they were like, what is this crazy woman doing? I had totally blacked out. Yeah, well, when we well it’s Physiology. First of all. You haven't got food in your body to help make good decisions.
12:23
And, you know, I'm taking this so seriously. Oh, my gosh. So that must come into, like, it's mine cause I'm like one of those black and white people and I go between the Saver and the spender. Yeah. You know, so. And I'm. I have that conflict between me all the time. So then my body kind of does that thing as well. Yeah. So it's really interesting to pay attention to your money personality. And if you want to find out what your money personality is, then head to the Money Collective website and take the free quiz. Yes.
12:53
It gives you great insight to the way you behave and, you know, maybe some changes you want to make. Yeah. So what I'd like to do is we have Larisha Jerome as a special guest with us today, and we are super, super privileged. She's the First Nations lady and she's young and she's so inspirational. Yes, she works for First Nations Foundation, but she also has a podcast
13:24
called Rich Blak Women. I'd encourage everyone to have a listen to that.
13:31
She is definitely a trailblazer. She is leading the way
13:40
for women and First Nations people in financial wellbeing. So obviously the alignment with us is she, she actually does a lot of financial wellbeing in First Nations communities and you know, it's very aligned to, you know, financial wellbeing and what we do. So I took away from, you know, that time with Larisha, there's so much even opportunity, you know, things that we can add in to our coaching and our programs, you know, from some of the First Nations
14:11
community style of doing things. So that's right. Yeah. Yeah. And I think the main difference is that we're so singular and like we act as little islands, whether it's ourself as individuals or our family unit. And we, our lives are so fast paced. So for me, the message was to connect more with the people and the land around me. Yeah. So thanks Larisha. I've really appreciated that chat that we had. So we hope you all enjoy it as much as we did. Great.
14:42
The Money Collective acknowledges the traditional custodians of country throughout Australia and our continued connection to land, waterways and communities. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and to elders past and present. Sovereignty was never ceded. Well, welcome Larisha, to uplift your financial wellbeing podcast with us today. Thank you so much. We've been so excited to have you on our podcast. So thanks for joining us. Thank you so much for having me.
15:12
Ah, so good. And for our listeners, would you mind telling us a bit about who you are and about the work that you do? Yeah, for sure. So my name is Larisha Jerome and I'm a proud Jarowair, Wakka Wakka, and Wulli Wulli woman. All of my family is from South East Queensland. I'm literally related to everyone in Queensland. Honestly. I have such big family on both sides of my mom and my father's side. But I did grow up on dairy country out in Western Sydney and I've lived
15:43
back home in Brisbane for the last six years now. But yeah, and I'm currently the manager of Women's Economic Empowerment and Business Education at First Nations Foundation. Outside of my 9:00 to 5:00, I guess I'm also a self-concept and mindset coach. And yeah, that's kind of a bit about me.
16:07
So amazing. And you've also got your own podcast as well, Rich Blak Women. Yes. Yeah. Yes, that is. Well, yes. So everybody should tune into that one as well because that is a fantastic listen as well, right. I've really enjoyed it and just some insight and the learnings that I've got by listening have been great. Larisha, I just, you know, we were really fortunate to meet Larisha at a Woman's Finance event or and just the opportunity
16:39
because Larisha works with financial wellbeing as well, you know to connect and learn from each other and particularly learn from Larisha, I thought was yeah, amazing. So yeah, thanks for joining. Yep.
16:54
So would you mind sharing a bit about what your financial wellbeing journey has been so far? Yes. So even just, you know, I think when you meet people you're always like hey, like what do you do for work, all of that. That's kind of the first question. But within our culture it's always, you know, um, who are you, who's your mum? Where are you from? That's kind of how introduction. So I always go back to, you know, my personal experiences, my lived experiences before my professional experiences.
17:25
So yeah, just a bit of my financial journey. I think, you know, I've really lived in a lack scarcity mindset. I guess that's kind of, you know, intergenerational as well. You know, when I was a kid, my first memories was, you know, living in a women's refuge with my mom, a single mother with my brother as well. So that was kind of my childhood. And then, you know, I was in resi care for a bit while I was, you know, very young. I think I was about 17. And then.
17:56
Yeah. And then I ended up, you know, living in resi care and I was homeless at the time. And then, yeah, that was kind of, you know, my early childhood situation. And then I guess I just really worked hard to, you know, learn, educate myself as well. And just accidentally falling into finance roles, which I guess that's just how it is these days. Yeah, I started off, you know, a banker. I worked in financial hardship,
18:27
debt collector. Um, what else? Oh, in the Financial abuse prevention unit at Women's Legal Service. And just, you know, just working in all of those roles to just be able to, you know, learn more, educate myself and be able to, you know, kind of use my lived experiences, my professional experiences and just bring it into the one program, which is exactly what I do here at the Foundation. So, you know, my financial journey has been a journey, that's for sure.
18:57
Um. And definitely, you know, my perception of wealth has definitely changed along the way as well. Um. You know, I grew up in a family where I wasn't taught about money. Conversations about money were non-existent. And now it's literally like a daily conversation with me and my girls. So that's kind of where that's coming from. You know, I didn't grow up with money or generational wealth or anything like that. It was really, you know, just taking up every single opportunity that I could to be able to, you know,
19:28
harness all that information and then provide that all back to my community and just making sure that it's all culturally relevant, culturally safe. And I think the best thing for, you know, a lot of our mob is to making sure that it resonates with them as well. It's like that real, raw, honest stuff in that transparency. And I think that's what the power is, you know, just along my financial journey as well. You make that sound so easy, like as in like that
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just came about and that's how it was, but I'm sure.
20:03
Like it wasn't, you know, cause you've really moved mountains. Like, to get that story is phenomenal. To do it all on your own in a way, and bridge, you know, the two worlds of where you've come from culturally and then the banking and finance world and go, well, hang on, I can empower myself with this work and others around me. Yeah, exactly. And I think my toxic trait is that I love proving people wrong. So I'm like, that's like, yeah, that's it.
20:33
I remember. I think you need that. Yeah, exactly.
20:37
That for sure. And, like, moving into my first ever apartment, you know, I was like, no, I'm gonna be so good with my money. I literally slept on a mattress on the floor in this tiny little shoe box of the little apartment. But I was like, Oh my gosh, I made it. And then when I bought my house, I was like, oh, my gosh, the whole house. Like, this is crazy. So if I can do it, so, like, each little win, like, pushed you forward to go, I can do this. And if I can do it, other people can do it. Yeah, exactly. And it's just, I didn't grow up with
21:09
role models. So I guess what I've worked so hard in my life is to, you know, just be that role model for myself and just making sure that my younger version of myself is safe with my current version. And that's all that I could ever want in life. So I'm like, Yep, I made it. Nothing else matters. That's all that it is for me.
21:29
And I suppose that's different for so many people, isn't it? You know what? That. And how do you guide, I suppose, the people in your community to find that purpose or what motivates them or encourage them to become, you know, part of the system and
21:46
showing and teaching them about money? Yeah, yeah. Well, when you think about it, you know,
21:52
operationally, um, you know, they say that the stolen generation or you know, all of that was so long ago, but it was literally just one generation above me, you know, So that's kind of the conversation that we're having as well. And we've never come from money. We've had all of that completely stripped from us. You know, we think about Russians getting paid stolen wages is another thing as well. And you know, we're still not even getting the reparations from that now. So you think
22:23
about that and then you think about the impact that that has on us. You know, that's our parents are our grandparents that never got to be in control of their own money. And then you think about a a lot of the communities up north as well is that they're living on, you know, the basic cards and it's like that is further disadvantaging them because it's making them not feel in control or in power of their own money. It's being controlled by somebody else. So it's like how can you change that narrative?
22:54
I think we always hear, you know, generational curses, generational trauma, but we don't talk about our generational strengths. So that's kind of where I like to focus on instead of, you know, that lack scarcity and that deficit conversation. We just like to bring it back to, you know, making sure that we're grounding our mob. It's, you know, we weren't disadvantaged because we just were. It was for a reason. You know, it's not in our control that we were disadvantaged.
23:25
So it's kind of, um, you know, just ensuring that they know that now we're going to use that generational trauma and alchemize that into our generational strengths. And then I guess just going from, you know, being in that mindset and actually thriving now. So it's all about, you know, mindset, motivation as well and just making sure that people are standing in their power and they know that they deserve more. So I think with our women's
23:56
program, that's one of the biggest cases for us. Um, it's really focusing on that self worth part of it, you know, releasing money, shame, all of that stuff because it's been so generationally
24:09
ingrained within us. But now we've got all of this opportunity. So it's just reminding everyone of the opportunity allowing them that safety, that security and all of that to be able to actually you know, just want better as well and just know that we can live a life that's on our terms.
24:29
So how do you yeah, you guys will say how do you practically do that? Is that getting people together in community and having conversation or
24:38
yes. So I think one thing that a lot of financial services assumes is that every single community is the same, which is absolutely wrong. You could go into a community and you know the way that they perceive wealth is completely different to somebody in an urban, you know, area. So that's one of the biggest things. Some people are visual learners. Some people don't want to sit on a computer and go through modules. And so
25:09
the way that we do it is we just change it to more conversation based and you know, sharing stories because that's exactly how we heal. And you know, there's a lot of people that have that money shame and think that they're going through things by themselves. But once you hear those stories, you're like, Oh no, there's so many other people that are going through that as well. So that's kind of one of the ways that we do that and then we tailor it, you know, obviously the youth,
25:37
how can we make finance fun? Honestly, that's another thing. So just, you know, bringing activities, I like to do vision boards with the younger ones. Um, you know, just really visualising her life and actually having goals and things as well as one of the most important things. And then, yeah, we just go out into community. We make sure that we're actually going in there and asking the community what they want to learn. That's one of the most powerful things is actually going in listening to community
26:07
because they know their community best. They're gonna tell you what they want. And that way, you know, it's that reciprocity and you're just making sure that you're out there making value, making impact. And you're not just going in, speaking at them and then running away and just leaving it up to the financial counsellors to, you know, pick up the pieces. So that's one of the most important things is when you go out into community, the community will always tell you what they want. So even when we went to Torres Strait Island, we did
26:38
a workshop under this massive, beautiful tree outside. So it's just being adaptable and just making sure that you're just bringing it back to life. You know what I mean? Like, nobody likes to talk to money at all. Boring. Yeah, exactly, exactly. So it's just bringing it back to, you know, grounding ourselves and making sure that we're just making sure that, you know, people are talking about what they want to talk about and just making sure that we're cultivating that safety.
27:09
And, you know, just for them to be able to open up like that as well.
27:14
And how big is your team? Like how far reaching is it for impact? Because I assume that impact would be hard. And once you go in and have those conversations, like how do they continue those conversations as well? Yeah. So we've got a small team actually. So I remember when I first started, I was actually the first facilitator in the last couple of years. Yeah, it was a lot of work. We were travelling all over. So we're actually national. So we go out and do training all across Australia.
27:45
So lucky now that we're in a position where we can grow our teams, which is absolutely amazing because obviously there is a lot of work to be done and there is a lot of communities that would absolutely thrive on, you know, having a workshop within their community as well. So yeah, we're all over, which is really good. I guess that's such a privilege for us as well, to be able to go out, see communities that we have never been to either and just learning from them as well,
28:15
just saying the differences within the communities. I think that is a really cool part of it as well because obviously, as I said before, every single community is different. And the way that you teach in the remote community is completely different to how you would teach here in the city.
28:33
And from a thought leadership perspective, you know, how do we bridge the gap between, you know, all you're saying each community is different but and all people are different, aren't they? So even you know, the Western way of doing things, you know, here, how do we bridge these gaps and bring us together, you know, Yeah, So I guess, you know, collaboration is really important. I think a lot of people don't like the,
29:04
what's it called taking accountability. That's one of the biggest things as well. And obviously it feels very uncomfortable at the start. You know, you know, just being accountable, knowing that you need to learn more. But it's just, you know, going into these communities, learning from them. You know, we've existed for over 60,000 years, I think, you know, and we think about now the Western side, none of those systems work for any of us, You know what I mean? None of these systems have been built to support us or anything like that.
29:36
So it's like why don't you take a step back and actually listen to the people that have thrived for so many years. You know what I mean? So it's just, you know, educating yourself, making sure that you're linking in with these grassroots communities as well because they're already in the community doing the work. So it's just important that you go in with them and learn from them as well. And, you know, educating, supporting black businesses as well as another important thing and just making sure that,
30:08
um, you know, you're being purposeful, not performative. That's one of my favourite things ever. Um,
30:15
you know, it's not about the clout or just ticking the box or having a token aboriginal person within the organisation. It's about actually making sure that you're being intentional, purposeful, and that your values align with, you know, just making whatever work that you're doing the best that you can as well to support First Nations. People should get involved, is what you're saying. Don't come back and have that. You can't form opinions from, you know,
30:46
taking the back seat, which is really hard, which I think that a lot of Australians actually do that and we've seen that recently, you know, very quick to form opinions but without being informed at all. And I think this is a journey for us too, because Darlene and I have these conversations regularly about how we can become more involved in our local Indigenous culture and we struggle with that like we're not sure like who to go. So we were so excited to have you because I think that your method of communication and talking,
31:17
so like, like, I don't know, it's very easy to understand. I felt feel welcome as well too. Like that's good. Um. And I'm sure that's everywhere. But it's like taking that first step and knowing where to go and what to do, I suppose in your local
31:33
community, but people everywhere that knows. So it's about actually putting yourself out there. And I think it's a bravery thing to having that courage, I think courage and learning and listening, you know, and that's, you know, that's why, yeah, I'm super excited as well, you know, and yeah, you know, we the same or should we really want to make a difference? I'm not into ticking boxes. It's not into. If it's not adding any value, why do it? And you know how can we you know
32:04
support our communities you know and you know financial wellbeing is just about life and gives us learning from each other being open minded. That's right and exactly so many as human beings I when I listen to your podcast I hear lots of
32:25
similarities like individuals and then I hear all the differences. You know like yeah it's like hey you know we just listen more and actually when you said common stories you know this stories even you know they're very different in community I'm sure. But you know, deep down, you know what we want and having a purpose that you talk about. We all wanted goals and vision and purpose. And so we can run our own race and, you know, do our own thing and be empowered,
32:55
feel happy in ourselves, you know. So yeah, how can we. Yeah, you know, just get that message out there for everybody. Exactly. And you'll notice as well. You know, there's so many communities that will welcome you with open arms if you're willing to just go in there, be courageous, you know, wanting to learn more as well. Like we are the most generous
33:20
culture and the most rich culture on the planet, you know what I mean? And it's just all about sharing that with other people as well. And I think that's what the power is. And, you know, just making sure that you're giving back to our communities as well. Like you can donate to community, support them, share their businesses online and just, you know, making sure that you're being a purposeful ally. I think that's one of the biggest things as well. And when you're an ally, it's
33:51
you just sitting back and allowing them to teach you. And it's just yeah, just allowing that to happen as well which is yeah, it's amazing.
34:00
And I think too like, um, being living in an urban area. I don't know if I this is just me making up excuses or whether I feel like it's more of a barrier because when we travel around Australia we see like the indigenous culture is stronger in other places like all it's more visual you can see it you know And living in our urban lives, like we just go about our everyday and it's so easy to forget. I think that's what we do because you know, I just and this is where we need to slow down and kind of
34:33
find how we can root ourselves within our community too. And this is where I think we can learn from each other too. Like to. I think the biggest weakness of our culture Western society is that we're so fast paced all the time. We're just rushing around everywhere and we literally don't see what's in front of us like and that's that connection. You know, the disconnect. I suppose that's what we do. And we sort of focused also on our individual families and what's happening
35:04
with us. Um, yeah. So it's you literally have to slow down, I would say, and think about what it is that you want. Yeah. So that we can like Darling. So there's so many similarities, but our differences are we need to kind of acknowledge and that's what's really biting us from connecting sometimes because it's that fast pace. It's bringing it into the conscious. Like I feel like spending the time going, learning, being courageous,
35:34
you know, if that's the message I can take out of today. Yeah. And it's just, you know, it's very, you know, the Westernised culture is very individual based. Yeah, With our culture, it's community based. We're here to look after country. Country looks after us. We look after community, community looks after us. Westernised culture, it's very individual based. And that's just how it is. And that's what they believe will bring generational wealth. And it's all about land acquisition, You know, all of these
36:05
things, exactly. Ownership, all of these things. And it's like you need to take yourself away from this, come back to who you actually are, go around yourself. And you know, there's Indigenous culture, there's all different cultures in Australia. And I think that's the most beautiful thing about Australia is that we welcome everybody here. And there is culture everywhere. Because remember, everywhere that you go in Australia, it's all Aboriginal land. So all you have to do is just go out to your local
36:37
Aboriginal organisation, linking with them, ask them to be involved in, you know, they'll always have something going on in the community. So it's actually just about you going out there and looking for those opportunities as well, because they're literally everywhere. And I think the only way that you think that you don't know about it is because you're too focused on yourself. That's what it is. Yeah. That's what it is. Yeah.
37:05
But that's just the reality. It is so true, though, and I think that when we talk about this like, um, that we yearn for more community and we yearn for that, you know, almost every human does, but then like just gets lost so quickly. And before we started recording, we had that quick conversation about Christmas and you have some downtime and then everyone is back straight back into it. So it's that instant forgetting of what we want because we're so programmed and so conditioned to the life that we live
37:37
and that's the westernised Australian dream. That's what it is.
37:44
Buy a house. Yeah, retire. That's it. But for us, you know, even on the holidays, you know, you can't rest when you work for community. That’s just how it is, you know what I mean. I could not rest thinking about the things in Palestine that’s exactly what happened to our ancestors. We don’t have time to rest within community. And then we've got Jan 26 that just came up, you know, and then we're still, you know, going through the
38:14
process of the Yes campaign last year as well. So we've got that, we've got Christmas, we've got all of the things that we have to think about with community. And you know what we feel because we're so connected to everything is we feel a collective shift. That's what it is and everything that's happening. And that's bringing up all of that as well. You know what I mean? So that's another thing is that we never, we never shut off. When you work in community, that's. Yeah. Not that doesn't exist, unfortunately.
38:48
And I guess it's just about, you know, navigating how to protect your energy and also make sure that you're cultivating safety around you and making sure that you're staying close to those people that keep you safe as well. That's another thing. Yeah. So when people say, oh, how was your break? I'm like, oh, yeah, it was great. Yeah, great.
39:11
Yeah. Yeah. So, so what's on the agenda for you, Larisha, in 2024? Yeah, geez, there is so much happening, which is very exciting. I've actually got a Ted Talk coming up in March and I will be talking about decolonising Western money concepts. So that is so cool. Yeah, I know at first I was like, you're talking about the work. We're talking about decolonizing our system that wasn't built
39:42
to support us or yeah, so I don't think they're ready, but it's going to be exciting and especially good to disrupt. Exactly. What's that saying, disrupt or be disrupted. So I've chosen to disrupt everyone. And yeah, just goes with the theme, so for Tedx Cecil St, the theme is Rebels and Renegades. So I just thought, you know, perfect timing. I think 2024 is the time as well. So that's kind of the 1st.
40:12
Thing coming up, um, luckily we're expanding our business education programs, our business finance, which is going to be huge this year, which is amazing. So we've got someone that just started. So that'll see us, you know, busy, busy, busy for the year, which is exciting and just, you know, expanding our networks, spreading more awareness as well. I think, you know, we're such a small team, we're just enough for profit and people think we're such, a, you know, this
40:43
huge team. But it's like, you know, how can we spread awareness for people to see the amazing work that we're doing so that we can better support people as well in the future. So that's kind of our biggest focus for the year is just expanding our program, spreading awareness and, you know, just getting more people trained up as well.
41:06
Yeah. To coach on the ground. Yeah, fantastic. And. And just broaden your reach. Yeah. So good. Yeah. Yeah. I, you know, I'm just, you know, thinking about, you know, even learning. So, you know, we've spent a few years developing our program and we've got a program that we deliver for financial wellbeing and we've done some external studies, Mel and I have worked in it for 50 years. So really it all comes from our experience
41:36
not, you know, out of a book which uh, you know it's real working with people for that period of time and developing a program and now we take that into workplaces and we are about to deliver an online course. But you know what I also hear from you Larisha is there's so much opportunity you know to cause we are definitely continuous improvement people, we don't stand still. So you know, being able to even,
42:03
you know, make our program even better with some of those suggestions that you mentioned earlier in community are just as relevant for individuals. You know, because individuals do live in Western world, quite isolated a lot of the time. Having people around you and doing all what you need to do to feel better about yourself is super, super important. So some of those practical tips that you gave me around money, awesome. Like in our society, because we're all islands or whatever, we think that we can't talk about money or we share.
42:34
We don't share our money stories. And that's exactly what we need to be doing is sharing those stories, breaking down the barriers, being able to talk honestly about how we really feel and exactly how you shared your money story earlier about your background.
42:52
And I think yeah we're not all perfect got no one is perfect. Nobody's got this money thing story, this money stored it exactly right. You know through life. Nobody's got nailed in life. So it's a forever journey as well. Like we're gonna be forever learners. You know what I mean? That's another thing. You can't assume that you know it all because we're always gonna And you know the economy changes. The world changes. You just never know. So yeah, that's change takes time to. I think when we started this out,
43:22
we started our business four years ago, I thought, wow, everyone's gonna get what we say and they're gonna be on board and we're gonna be huge and everyone's gonna understand. But I've had to really understand that this work takes time and that's OK And I think that can be really overwhelming at times too. And I think about you and the work that you've got ahead of you, you know, whole community, you know that you can influence, but we can only do little bits at a time. But I think what I see is that our impact is large
43:57
and or yeah, I just said in ways that I didn't expect probably like our reach is coming and I think the more collaborative we can be with you and others
44:09
who got the same idea. I think the next 5 to 10 years will really be changing the way people think and feel about their money. Yes, for sure. And like you know what I think the thing that I loved the most about you both and the program that you have in your podcast as well is that you've been so genuine and just transparent and just authentic. And I think a lot of people forget that. I know I love. They say that love is the biggest energy in the world. But
44:39
authenticity is so when you're authentic and everything that you're doing, that means you're purposeful, that means you're doing something that's making you passionate, that makes you have purpose and gives you that authenticity as well. And that's the highest vibration, the highest energy in the world. So I think once you're on that energy, you know you're in that it will attract exactly what you're meant to do, You know what I mean? That's one of my biggest life lessons is that no matter what I'm doing, I'm making sure that
45:10
authentic, even if it's scary, even if I'm like, Oh my gosh, this is crazy, but it just attracts everything that's meant to be in your life. And I think that's one of the biggest things that we need to remember all the time as well is that, you know, you can be so stressed out and be like, Oh my gosh, this is so crazy. But as long as you're being authentic, everything that's meant for you will always come back to you. Yeah, I think that is so wise. I,
45:41
you know, I think it's a life journey to be really your true, authentic self. And, you know, we talked about this, but maybe I'm on this journey for 20 years probably. And you have to, you have to keep working at it, you know, because it's so easy to put a protection up because we're so scared of being vulnerable. But being vulnerable just brings so much a richer life and so much better relationships. And being honest with yourself, you know, it just helps you live a better life, you know?
46:12
I just, uh, it's everything. So I'm totally with you. That is awesome. And if you had to leave a few tips with our listeners or for us, you know, what would you say? Yeah,
46:29 Well, listen to the Rich Blak Women podcast. Yeah, yeah. Check out the work that we do at the First Nations Foundation and donate to First Nations Foundation as well. Um, yeah. Just to ensure that, you know, we're able to go out into community and continue the amazing work that we do. Because I believe that healing ourselves is what generational wealth is, and we can only do that by hitting more people, making more impact in,
46:58
you know, being out there on the grounds as well. Awesome. Well, we'll support that. We'll put something up on our socials for First Nation Foundation as well and see what we can get the troops together. Yeah, you know, and thanks so much. You know, in summary, for me, I wrote down a tonne of list. I couldn't help it. I had to grab my notebook in my pen because I remember stuff,
47:23
you know, so some of the key things that I heard, you know, remember to listen, have conversation, vision boards and goals and that that is such good advice to everybody. You know, we're all different, you know, just, you know, just remind ourselves that we are all different. Be purposeful.
47:42
You mentioned cultural safety and that really, just really interesting to me. And I think for everybody having your people and your safety around you, to have courageous and honest and conversations and being authentic and real so we can, you know, deal with stuff we might need to deal with or to grow is really important. Big, you know, tailor everybody's different. So it does need to, you know, be tailored to people, give back to community and share stories. I know that's a long list, but that's what I wrote down.
48:14
Um, yeah. So I would say thank you very much. I would love to keep this conversation going with you. And, you know, as a personal goal, I'd love to be courageous and get more involved and listen and learn some more from our First Nations community. So that's my goal for 2024. Yeah. Lovely. Thanks, Larisha. We really appreciate you coming on today. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you.
48:46
At The Money Collective we provide financial wellbeing, premium coaching, mortgage broking and workplace financial wellbeing programs which we couldn't do without the seamless support of our fabulous team. If you'd like to find out more, head to themoneycollective.com.au or our socials to take action and engage our services. In our Facebook group join the conversation and help us break down the taboo around money. All content in this podcast is for educational purposes only and is generally nature. For tailored personal advice, please seek out a professional.
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Podcast by:
MEL PEARCE & DARLENE NEU
Co-Founders, Financial Wellbeing Coaches and Mortgage Brokers
The Money Collective
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