Rewriting My Money Story, So More Women Can Rewrite Theirs
Photo of Janine Firpo by the incredible Jaime Borschuk
I grew up in a working-class family. Money was tight, but my mom was resourceful. She started flipping houses and buying stocks long before it was something women around her were doing. She didn’t wait for permission. She figured it out herself.
Watching her changed me. It gave me an early glimpse of what women could do with money, even without a roadmap. It planted a belief in me that we didn’t have to follow traditional paths to build wealth or shape our own futures.
That belief grew stronger years later, when I took a solo backpacking trip through Sub-Saharan Africa. I saw poverty on a scale I couldn’t ignore. That trip cracked something open in me, and I realized I wanted to be part of real change.
When I returned home, I made a bold move. I left my high-paying career in tech, just as the internet was taking off, and I started over. I took pay cuts. I shifted my work toward global development, purpose, and systems change.
But even as I advanced in purpose-driven work, I came to a deeper realization: my money wasn’t keeping up. In fact, it was working against the very things I believed in. My investment portfolio was quietly reinforcing the systems I had spent my career trying to change.
That’s when the full transformation began. I looked at my portfolio and started changing how I invested. I moved my money into causes I believed in: clean energy, community wealth, gender equity. And I discovered something incredible. Even when I led with intention, my investments still performed.
It also made me rethink something bigger: what if financial conversations didn’t have to feel intimidating, isolating, or filled with pressure? Finding my way with intentional investing was hard, and I didn’t think it had to be. What if we invited women into small, supportive spaces to ask the questions they’ve never felt safe asking?
That’s when I joined forces with Ellen Remmer to co-found Invest for Betteras a nonprofit. We shared a belief that if more women had access to each other and to honest, clear conversations about their money, everything could change.
Today, in our Circles, women bring their real money questions. They wonder whether their investments reflect their values. They ask about retirement, about impact, about where to begin. And in those conversations, something shifts. Money stops being a source of fear and becomes a source of power. A reflection of who we are and what we care about.
These aren’t abstract shifts. They’re real, tangible, and within reach.
And here’s the emotional thread: when women talk about money honestly, openly, and without judgment, we begin to rewrite our stories. We gain confidence. We grow our influence, and we show our daughters what’s possible.
So yes, Investing with Purposeis a course, but it’s also something more. It’s a journey into community, clarity, and choice. It’s a conversation passed from mother to daughter, woman to woman, story to story.
I hope you’ll join us, whether in a Circle, or by simply starting a conversation of your own.