I’m excited to welcome Valerie Rivera on the podcast today. She is the founder of First Gen Wealth, an RIA specializing in no shame, no judgement financial advice for First Gen wealth builders in their 30s and 40s. I invited Valerie on the podcast to help share her story of overcoming lots of barriers including race, family of origin, education, class, financial safety net, and much more. I love her transparency in sharing each stage of her career journey and how she persisted in finding a path forward, even in the midst of challenge after challenge.
She is part of just over 1% of Latinas holding the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER designation, the gold standard of financial planning. Valerie is a member of the Financial Planning Association (FPA), XY Planning Network, Fee-Only Network, The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), and the CFP Board Diversity Advisory Group. She has contributed to publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Business Insider, and others regarding her expertise in personal finance.
In my discussions over the years with people in the military space, it often comes up that it feels daunting or different to try and make the leap into financial planning when you might not feel like you fit in. It’s a stark fact that financial planning isn’t as diverse as the population as a whole, much less those of us who want to serve based on our backgrounds or communities. If you feel like you might also struggle to fit in or find your way based on initial or past experiences in financial services as a whole, I hope you can take away some encouragement or inspiration to follow Valerie’s example and not give up. We need you in this valuable profession!
Here’s my interview with Valerie!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/valerie-rivera-cfp/