It all started because I didn’t listen…
Has your mom ever told you something and you let it go in one ear and out the other? If you’re anything like me, I’m sure you have. Let’s take it back to 2016…
I was an excited freshman at the College of Charleston in Charleston, SC and I was blessed enough to go to school completely debt-free! Yea, talk to me nice, ya girl has no student loans (Thank God)! I had so many scholarships, I received a refund check each semester between $5-$7,000. I was living my best life, spending money, going out to eat, shopping, which was fine until I decided to move off campus three years later during my senior year.
Before getting my first apartment, my mom told me consistently “Ki, don’t move off campus. “You’ve been living on campus 3 years, you can stick it out one more year”. Too bad, I wasn’t trying to hear none of what she was talking about. I wanted my own space. I wanted to be “grown”, whatever that means.
Fast forward to November 2019, only four months after moving into my brand new apartment, I’m looking at my bank account preparing to pay my rent thats due on December 1st and my rent money is no where in sight. Here I am with no money, facing eviction, and too embarassed to ask anyone for help. I realized I took my same bad money habits with me into a new situation with financial responsibilities.
The Responsible Homegirl was birthed from me not listening but I’m so glad I didn’t listen. During this season of my life, I was introduced to a world of personal finance and learned so much about money from reading books, listening to podcasts, and watching YouTube videos!
My passion for financial literacy burned deeply and in November of 2020, The Responsible Homegirl was born. I knew I wasn’t the only 20-something struggling with money management so I had to do something about it!
EST. 2020
The Responsible Homegirl is a financial education company committed to helping adults and teens become financially responsible so that they can live the life of their dreams, and together, we can close the racial wealth gap and end cycles of poverty. We do this by sharing financial education in a fun, relatable, and digestible way. Since 2020, we’ve been teaching our community how to budget, increase their savings, prioritize paying off high-interest credit card debt, increase their credit scores, and build wealth for the future.
Through our workshops, content, and online presence, we are solving the problem of financial illiteracy, irresponsibility, and the lack of knowledge about building wealth. The racial wealth gap continues to plague communities of color, and the work we do equips the everyday person with the education and strategy to use money as a tool to create the life they desire and positively impact generations to come.