Jessica Frost Our Sip+Connect networking breakfast is just weeks away so it’s time to meet our guest speaker financial expert, Natasha Janssens.
After a year of isolation we’re so excited for the chance to get members of our community together for the chance to connect, learn and, of course, enjoy a beautiful breakfast.
Guest speaking at our Sip+Connect breakfast will be Natasha Janssens. She’s a financial expert, author, behavioural money coach and founder of Women With Cents, a platform designed to empower and support women toward achieving financial independence. Natasha will explain how money affects our mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing and how women in business can move forward with conviction and confidence in their careers and build and maintain financial selfcare.
Get to know Natasha a little better before the big day and don’t forget to register for your tickets now.
Can you tell us a little about your start in finance and what led you toward this career?
NJ: Growing up in Eastern Europe and war zones meant that money was always a big cause for stress for the adults around me. So, it sparked an interest in financial matters from a young age. My favourite game as a kid was Monopoly and I was always the banker!
I fled the war in Yugoslavia in 1999 after I had turned 18 and found myself in Canberra without any family or support system. I had to learn how to become self sufficient and navigate money in a very different world to the one I grew up in.
So, I fell into an accounting career for migration purposes more than anything else. Over the years I began to notice how disengaged my clients were with their finances and how stressed many of them were too. So, I made it my mission to do something about that.
What was missing from the finance industry when you first started out that you knew you wanted to change?
NJ: My biggest frustration with the finance industry still remains – it is too expensive to get financial advice. Add in all the headlines from the Royal Commission and suddenly getting financial advice becomes a risky proposition. It’s expensive and it’s hard to know who to trust.
My mission has been to change that and make quality advice affordable and accessible to everyone.
What makes you so passionate about empowering women in business?
NJ: Since coming to Australia I was always surrounded by men and had male mentors. My first area of study was Software Development and later finance, all heavily male dominated. So, I was caught by surprise to see the differences in confidence between men and women when it came to money.
It was only when my first child was born and I started to network with women in my mothers groups that I started to realise the challenges women faced. For starters, we have such a heavy mental load that its hard for many women to find the time to prioritise their financial future. We are more subjected to financial abuse and domestic violence than men. And, we put our careers on hold at the expense of our super and financial independence.
We are more affected by divorce than men are (because we are left juggling more responsibility with less support). Not to mention our confidence takes a hit along the way because of what we observe to be typical gender roles.
Women wanted to learn more. But it was hard to know where to go for that information where you wouldn’t be embarrassed, belittled or judged. That’s when I decided to create Women with Cents, an online forum that allows women to learn, grow and support each other in a safe environment.
What does financial independence mean to you?
NJ: The freedom to make my own choices, rather than being forced down a path by circumstances, governments or anyone else.
Our Sip+Connect breakfast is being held on July 5th from 8:30am at the gorgeous waterfront location, The Boathouse Rose Bay.
Register for your tickets now.
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