Meet the Ambassador: Rachel
Meet Rachel Wilkerson of Paul Mitchell The School Columbus - our newest MONEY Ambassador. The ambassador program is a community of school leaders who want to make a lasting impact on our industry. These individuals are passionate about financial literacy, believe in the power of education, and want to help shape a new generation of beauty and wellness professionals. We sat down with Rachel to ask her a few questions about her new role as a MONEY ambassador.
Why are you passionate about financial literacy?
As a mother of 3 children ages 21, 19 & 16 I've seen first hand the lack of financial education in the current school system. Additionally, this is an area where I was not well prepared for and had to learn things through experience which was not always ideal.
Why do you think financial literacy is important for students?
My passion at the school is to develop our Future Professionals to be set for full success in their life and career. This means helping to shape them in far more than the specifics of cosmetology! It's critical for them to be knowledgeable on financial literacy, interviewing for success, resumes, personal mission statements, Insta 101 & personal branding as well as whole-self wellness.
Which part of the MONEY program are you most excited about?
The interactive components and the ability to remove the "scary/anxiety" stigma attached to this area.
Many people identify with having negative or unproductive money stories. What’s your money story?
As a child, financial success was only discussed in the realm of desiring financial freedom but there was never any discussion on how to achieve it. My parents filed for bankruptcy when I was a teenager and have made their way to be financially stable although I would not say they've attained the freedom component. For me, as a single mother for 20 years, I mostly hovered in survival mode working multiple jobs and always feeling as though I was one emergency away from collapse. Around age 30, the US was in the pit of the last recession and I lost my job. I knew there had to be a better way. I took a Dave Ramsey course, learned self-sustainability tactics, and began investing in fewer things. At 40 I finally feel like I have a clear understanding of interest, savings, retirement, credit, etc. Now I'm reaching financial freedom with my husband and I on track to have 0 debt within 4 years. At this point we plan to sell, downsize and continue our strategy for earning residual income from smart investments. The place I am in now is amazing but I can only imagine how much further I could be in this moment if I'd had the tools sooner.
Imagine every beauty and wellness student was provided financial literacy education. How do you think this would change our industry?
It would be a radical change! This could level the playing field of equality on so many different platforms potentially diminishing generational poverty for many who follow this journey in the beauty industry. That my friend would be priceless as the ripple effect is real and would not stop at just the individuals that walk through our doors.
