Replay: The Importance of Statement Cards with Stefanie O’Connell
Hello Martinis and Your Money listeners. In July’s happy hour episode we discussed being burnt out and the toll that the pandemic has taken on many workers and it’s certainly taken its toll on me in a lot of different ways. So to give myself time to refuel my own tank, I’m taking the month of August off from recording and working on the podcast. I’ll be vacationing with family, vacationing with my boyfriend Vinnie, enjoying a company retreat with my FinGym team, and prepping for what I hope will be a really great Fall season for the Gym as we open all four gym locations; back for events and client co-working. It's very exciting times. So during these four Fridays in August, I’ll be replaying some of my favorite episodes from this past year. I’ll be returning back in September with all-new episodes through the end of the year. Thank you so much for always supporting the show and allowing me some much-needed rest from producing new content. I’ll see you in September.
March represents the opportunity to celebrate Women’s History Month. For those of you who don’t know, I attended an all-girls Catholic high school. From the early age of 14, I saw the value and positivity that could arise from women working in a supportive and collaborative environment. This experience literally defined a large part of my life, by instilling a desire to mentor, promote, and support women. As I always say, it’s not that I don’t love men — I married one, I birthed one, and I’m looking forward to falling in love again with another man in my future — but over my 20-year career, I’ve seen the constant need to build support networks to allow women to grow and thrive in the areas where they would love to grow and thrive.
Joining me today is a long-time friend in the personal finance space, Stefanie O’Connell Rodriguez, founder of Statement Cards and host of the Money Confidential podcast, to discuss how her professional journey led her to start a company and brand that is essentially a movement to support women during their various life journeys.
What are we drinking?
Stefanie - Hot Toddy (tea, whiskey or bourbon, honey, cinnamon, lemon juice)
Shannon - Gin and Tonic
Podcast Notes
Shannon and Stefanie met as bloggers and have been friends for over seven years. Stefanie used to write at the Broke and Beautiful Life, when she was an aspiring actress.
Stefanie didn’t plan to have a career in personal finance. You can’t plan your career path, you first need to do something. There is no such thing as a stable job. Stefanie’s husband worked on Broadway and he has been laid off for 12 months.
As Stefanie started to make herself accountable to her financial journey, she started talking to other people to find a community. She found a lot of helpful advice, but she also found that a lot of standard advice wasn’t the same if you were a woman or woman of color.
The advice to be more aggressive and to negotiate more is different for women, because they are less likely to get a raise they and are more likely to be considered unlikeable. This advice isn’t helpful if you don’t take into account the other forces at play.
Stefanie wanted to speak to these issues. Her expertise isn’t about the ins and outs of the numbers. She wants the rules of money to be relevant and contextualized to where we are today in the world. We are recognizing that the rules are different for different people.
When Shannon negotiated for her job to be moved to New York, her boss told her she was always complaining. She didn’t respond well to his comment and the meeting ended with the manager saying her job would never move to New York.
You will get responses like this as a woman and you need to be prepared so it doesn’t become an emotional thing. A lack of confidence doesn’t emerge in a vacuum, it is established over time. We need to understand that the issue isn’t necessarily because of us, but the way the world is.
Stefanie’s company, Statement Cards, is all about celebrating and championing women’s ambitions.
When Stefanie was planning her wedding, everyone was congratulating her and asking how they could help her. She was confused, because she was building her business and didn’t realize they were offering for her wedding.
She got angry, because nobody ever asked her before about how they could help her. Getting married isn’t an accomplishment, and people were bending over backwards to help and show up for her.
This same thing happens when a woman is having a baby. This reinforced the fact that women are being supported and championed for who they are as wives and mothers, almost to the exclusion of everything else. We are more than just one part of our lives.
Stefanie’s friend earned her PhD, and there is no social system of support for that. When a system doesn’t exist, you don’t have a way of getting support along the way to achieving the thing.
What if we had a way to celebrate as someone is paying off debt or writing a book? It doesn’t need to be financial, it is about having people show up for you in your life.
The way it is now, you wind up only being seen as a wife or a mother and what if you don’t choose those paths?
Celebrations matter so people feel seen, and they are important for motivation. There are a million ways to celebrate marriage and motherhood and we need to expand this. DMs of support, reviews, and shares are all ways to celebrate others.
Stefanie created Statement Cards, which are greeting cards that are $5 each and celebrate the other things in life.
When you get something that you work really hard for it is so special. When you achieve something that is a culmination or a step toward your dream and nobody in your life cares, what does that say about how they see you? If I care about it and nobody else does, it feels demoralizing and is lonely.
Statement Cards take effort to order and send. The idea that someone gets a card is meaningful, especially when it is unexpected and for something that is important to that person. Being on the journey is very isolating at times.
Someone else’s success doesn’t diminish your success. There is value in supporting other women and there are so many ways to be an ally.
Being emotional is not a bad thing when empathy is involved. We need to embrace our emotions and navigate when they should come into play.
In Spring 2021, Stefanie is launching a podcast in collaboration with Real Simple magazine, called Money Confidential. Every week she will be talking to a different listener about their money questions, getting in the details about emotions, and getting into practical solutions and next steps.
Takeaway: My biggest takeaway is the value of support and showing up for people, especially women, during times in their life that don’t traditionally have celebratory occasions tied to them. Most journeys are long and filled with ups and downs and a positive note of encouragement is sometimes the one thing that you need to get you through a particularly challenging time.
Random Three Questions
What is the most surprising pivot in your career journey?
What is your favorite Broadway show?
If this was your last meal on earth, what would it be?
Connect with Stefanie
Podcast: Money Confidential
Website: stefanieoconnell.com, Statement Cards
Instagram: @stefanieoconnell
If you have any topics you would like me to cover on this podcast, or if you’d like to get in the financially naked hot seat, I encourage you to email me at Shannon@fingyms.com, or join the private Martinis and Your Money Facebook group, and let me know what you want to hear.
2020 was a challenging year, and if money was one of those challenges for you, please don’t let 2021 be more of the same. Despite a global pandemic, we witnessed Financial Gym clients achieve amazing goals all year long. We’ve worked with over 6,000 clients at this point and we’ve literally seen it all and would love to help you achieve your financial dreams in 2021. So head over to, or send friends to, financialgym.com to get set up today.