On this episode of Financially Naked: Stories from The Financial Gym, our host is Joy Liu, Head of Trainer Academy. Joining her today are two new team members of The Financial Gym, Erika Moromisato and Juan Valeriano. Erika and Juan are both Level 2 Certified Financial Trainers and Joy is interviewing them today so we can hear their stories and get to know them better.
Podcast Notes
- Joy starts by asking Juan and Erika how they found The Financial Gym and what led them to apply for this job?
- Erika’s parents immigrated from Peru and her mom taught her to save her money, but there wasn’t much guidance beyond that. When she got to college, she realized she had to support herself completely. She had a part-time job and her boss gave her some advice and tips, which was the start of her interest in personal finance. She applied for the position over a year ago and learned about the CFT school. She was part of the first cohort, but was then hired to be an employee of The Gym.
- Juan was also raised in an immigrant household. Growing up, he witnessed his family make fear-based decisions with money. As he got older, Juan liked seeing money go into his account, but struggled to spend it. He never developed debt, but didn’t feel confident about what to do with the money he’d saved. He graduated in 2020 with a BFA in acting, but the industry was dormant at the time because of the Covid. He used this time to learn something that scared him, personal finance. Within five months, he’d read seven different personal finance books and wanted to share this knowledge with other artists who are scared of money. When he searched to see if someone was doing this work, he found The Financial Gym.
- Joy asks Juan and Erika to tell us about what hobbies, skills, and interests make them unique as people and Financial Trainers.
- Erika got married in the middle of a pandemic, and she owns a condo with her wife that they are renting to friends while living in Queens with her in-laws.
Personal finance is interesting to her because she loves all types of self-improvement. One of her dream goals one day is to build a tiny home. - Juan lives with his long-term girlfriend, and Thickems, their cat. They’ve been living in LA since March, but before that, he lived in New York, Florida, and went to school in Dallas. Juan loves gaming, sports, and art in all of its forms.
- Joy asks Juan and Erika to share their best financial decisions and a learning opportunity they’ve experienced.
- Erika shares that her biggest learning opportunity is when a ten-year relationship ended overnight. She did not have an emergency fund and had been depending on this partner for certain financial needs. Since then, she’s been great at risk management and planning for emergencies. Last year, there was a family emergency and she needed to take a same-day flight home. Having the emergency fund allowed her to book the ticket without feeling financially stressed.
- Juan talks about how investing in himself through books transformed his mentality toward money. The two most impactful books he read were, The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel and I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi. Juan’s biggest hindrance is that he considers himself a perfectionist which can lead to inaction. He now focuses on progress over perfection.
- The Financial Gym meets clients where they are, and serves anyone who comes through the door. Joy asks the new Trainers who they’re most excited to serve in this role.
- Erika wants to be a financial hype woman for anyone who needs it. She loves to encourage people to follow their potential and loves working with people who are early on in their careers.
- Juan is excited to serve artists who are just starting out, fresh out of college, or those coming from a fear-based mentality. He also wants to work with first-generation Americans and folks from immigrant families.
- If you want to work with Juan or Erika, schedule a free warm-up call today. Let the associate know you heard the podcast episode and would like to request one of these folks!
Meet The Trainer
Meet Joy Liu, Level 2 Certified Financial Trainer & Head of Trainer Academy
Meet Erika Moromisato, Level 2 Certified Financial Trainer
Meet Juan Valeriano, Level 2 Certified Financial Trainer
