112. Lis & Nitika from Aila Money

Nitika and Lis from Aila Money discuss the gender wealth gap and ways to address it. They discuss Aila Money's innovative approach to equipping women with financial tools and knowledge. This includes a beta version of their not-yet-an-app, which focuses on life goal planning, not just finance, and understanding individuals' needs and wants for their life. Also discussed are the shifting patterns of wealth management in relation to women, the importance of investing, and the influence of language in financial advice and understanding.

01:58 The Importance of Financial Education for Women
02:47 Interview with Liz and Nikita from Aila Money
03:03 The Story Behind Aila Money
07:16 The Role of Language in Financial Advice
11:46 The Target Audience for Aila Money
27:16 The Importance of Investing

GUEST EXPERTS: LIZ PRAGER & NITIKA VYAS met at university. Over their careers they've come to see how much financial advice people with money have access to and the fact that the money advice gap is increasing! They have joined forces to co-found Aila Money, a digital financial coaching solution that helps people get more comfortable and confident managing their money. Aila combines technology, psychology, human coaching and financial advice to help people achieve their money goals.
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YOUR HOST
Julie Flynn is an experienced independent financial adviser and financial coach. Justice and equality drive Julie. Which is why she’s spent years studying and researching how stress affects our financial decision making. Julie is best known for her work with women who have lost their partner and coaching financial services business who want to implement fair and transparent charges.
Ebb & Flow Financial Coaching | Bree Wealth & Tax | Instagram

CO-HOSTS
Emily Pool is a Financial Planner and Will Writer. She is passionate about empowering people to invest their wealth (pensions and savings) sustainably and in line with their personal values.

Michelle Lambell  started her career in financial services as a Stockbroker in 1999 undertaking both advisory and discretionary investment management. Today she is a Chartered Financial Planner, specialising in retirement planning advice, pensions and investments and a Certified Financial Coach. 

Sara Walker is a financial planner and financial coach with 33 years’ experience in financial services. She wants all women to feel financially confident and uses her professional and life experiences to support and educate women over 40 so they in turn feel able to support and be role models for the younger women in their lives. 

Transcript

Emily [00:00:28]:

Right. So we've got a really, really special episode for you today, guys, And happy New Year. And we've got a great episode to hopefully get you thinking about your finances for the next year. Now let me tell you a little bit about what we're going to do for the next sort of 30, 40 minutes. We are going to speak 2 amazing ladies from Aila, and that's Lis Prager and Nikkita Vyas. And let me tell you a little bit about how I came across them. And then I will hand over to Julie, and then she will have a little chat with them. And we've just got such a great opportunity to get some insight into what it is they're trying to achieve, and I think you're going to love this. So, anyway, I, a very long time ago, before the world began well, not quite. But a long time ago, in my twenties, I was working at the Royal Bank Scotland Group. And little did I know that, also, virtually, probably on a on a next bank of desks or slightly floor, these 2 ladies were working away as well. So I didn't know, but we are all alumni from the Royal Bank of Scotland. But I didn't know that when I met them. So what happened is, I was contacted by a lovely lady called Frankie Smith who runs an Investment Club. It's a networking group run-in London for all sorts of people wanting to gen up on their investing knowledge and get started with making their wealth grow. And she had recently just had, Nikita and Lis on her podium. And I asked for an introduction because immediately I was grabbed by what they were trying to achieve. So they're running, a new venture called Aila Money. And I was going to call it an app, but it's not an app. And I'll explain let them explain how they're doing it. It's quite novel and very Innovative and very effective, I think. But, basically, behind Aila Money is this driving force very much like, with, the women in the Money Cafe. It's driving force that women should be more educated and women should not be missing out on these investment opportunities that men have been, you know, accessing very easily all of their lives. It's almost like they're born with the investment manual in their hands, whereas us women, You know, for whatever reason, spend our lives running away from it. And we mustn't do that. We've got to face facts. We've got to face our financial futures, and we must be brave. And I think that's what Aila Money is trying to do, and they're doing it in such a an amazing way. So without further ado, I shall hand over to Julie, and, she can introduce you to Nikita and Lis From Aila Money.

Julie [00:03:22]:

Alright. Thank you for that, Ally. So, Lis, Nitika, welcome to the podcast.

Emily [00:03:27]:

Thank you. Thank you.

Julie [00:03:29]:

Right. So I'm really excited to have you here because everybody that listens to podcast knows that I'm a complete and utter app junkie. Alright? So any money app out there, I have tried it. So when Emily came to me, she said, I've heard about this new thing. And at first, we did think it was an app. As she said, I've heard about this new thing you need to go and check out. So I went and checked it out, and it's not an app. It's much cooler than that, but I think it's dead fancy what you're doing. So probably what would be a great place to start with is, tell us how the 2 of you met. Lis, do you want to us your version of how the 2 of you hooked up. And then, Nitika, if she gets you know, if she's missing vital details, fill us in.

Lis [00:04:07]:

Yeah. Absolutely. Happy to. And this is actually a story I think we agree on quite a bit. Right? So we share a mutual best friend. And, While Ithaca stayed in my room multiple times at university when I wasn't there to visit our mutual best friend, we never met until actually our best friend's wedding, at which we were actually also the best, like, the bridesmaids before. And, Nitika organized the Hindu, and I flew in from halfway

Julie [00:04:37]:

across the world to then semi host it. And I think I flew

Lis [00:04:37]:

halfway across the world because she couldn't be there. So it was literally the night before the wedding that we met, And, it then happened that we both worked at the Royal Bank of Scotland after university and, you know, met for coffees and started to actually, You know, build our own relationship and friendship. Goodness. That was, like, 10 years ago now, 15 years. Yeah. It's really, really showing our age. But, yeah, we've been friends for a long time.

Julie [00:05:02]:

So you have, like, a best friend timeshare?

Lis [00:05:06]:

Pretty much. Yeah. There's just 3 of us. Right? Like, we all we all are now are really close, the 3 of us. So, Yeah. Alright.

Julie [00:05:17]:

Okay. So then, obviously, Emily's given us a little bit of background on the Fintech company that you've started. Do you want Nitika, do you want to give us sort of a background on what the driving force behind this was? Where the impetus came from?

Nitika [00:05:32]:

Yeah. So I think we're both very passionate about causes such as female empowerment. I guess for me in particular, also, I came from a low income background. So kind of coming from a low income background then being in investment banking and then in particularly the hedge fund space. I thought a lot of how different things were, like, how the wealthy just are able to make more wealth just with the knowledge they have. I suddenly because I worked at a hedge fund, had a lot of advisers come to me to be like, well, you'll look after your money. And I was like, and they just didn't speak to me very well. So that's one of those things that me and Lis spoke about. And then we saw it happen more and more around us With our girl mates especially asking, what should I be doing? Or seeing them pass on the reins to someone else, and we're like, Oh, what's going on here? And the more and more we dug into this problem, we realised it wasn't just our friends. This was a bigger problem, and it was something we were both passionate about. So I think that's where it started. And, You know, the more we dug into it, we're like, actually, the there is a, an advice gap with 80% of the UK not getting financial advice. But this is actually even worse for women. So we would like to tackle both sides of it. So this isn't just for women, but, we think if we can solve it for women, we can solve it for everyone. And so we have gone about, trying to get, put together an app. So you're totally right. At the moment, it's not an app. We have a type form. Sorry. But what we will eventually have is this as an app. But we're currently working on our beta test to see how that will look. And we would like to try and empower people by thinking about their life goals as well as bringing in psychology, which is really important to both of us with about money. And then, you know, one of the problems we keep hearing is actually people don't the advisers. So actually finding them the coaches and the advisers that are vetted by us and they can trust.

Julie [00:07:47]:

Alright. Okay. So Well, I find really interesting as you're talking to me about, you know, the experience that you had moving from, you know, your childhood into hedge fund space, which, you know, I think for most people are worlds apart regardless of your background. It's very difficult to imagine hedge fund space. And, Lis, I know that you're a bit like me, but you're into your behavioural sciences and behavioural economics. So I have a question for you over the back. It's something that that Nitika said. And it was The people out there that want to look after your money, they're not speaking to you. Right? I'm going to Take that as code is that they're men. Is that code that they're men?

Nitika [00:08:30]:

Well, a lot of the people that I spoke to were probably older, And yes.

Lis [00:08:35]:

Very much. Yeah. That's

Nitika [00:08:37]:

in gender that wasn't mine.

Lis [00:08:40]:

I would I would also I would also Add to that, if I may. It's partly the gender and the age, but a lot of it is actually the language. Right? And the fact that So I we've spoken to lots and lots of people in lots and lots of women in lots of different positions. And, you know, there's women who run companies. Right? So they are responsible for big p and l's. They, you know, they have big job responsibilities, etcetera. And they go, I know I'm smart. I know I'm smart.

Julie [00:09:13]:

I could

Lis [00:09:13]:

not be doing this job, but in every time I speak to somebody about money, they make me feel stupid.

Julie [00:09:19]:

Right.

Lis [00:09:20]:

Right? And I don't think that's a that there is potentially an interpersonal thing, but there is also just a language barrier where there's sort of the There is an expectation that I'm that I should understand not just the basics, but actually quite a lot more. And if I don't, I feel really Right. I feel like I shouldn't be asking those questions. And I think that's in part what we're trying to counteract also is to is to give that basis of the understanding. Right? But then also the and here's some things you might want to think about before you speak to an adviser. And here's some things that you might want to think about before you actually, you know, take on an investment, before you buy a house, before you so giving people almost the checklist to go, okay. Right. It's not just that I need to have the foundation of the understanding, but actually also know what to look out for in certain moments.

Julie [00:10:09]:

Alright. And then because what I find really Interesting is then although the though although it hasn't been built for women, have you been conscious of the language that you use while you've been building it then? Then you know that there's certain kind of language that is exclusionary. I think of one example. I saw an adviser who did a really, really good post. It's a really, really good post explaining investing. I walked you through the day of all the different products he came into contact with And that that's what you're investing in. Blah blah blah. All invest. It was great. See, the only problem with it was the very first part of the post was, So today, I got up and I used my Gillette razor. I straightaway, you've just excluded 51% of the population because we don't get up and shave our faces every day. And it's little things like that that immediately a woman reading that post could immediately just go, alright. That's not for me. So it's little things like that. I don't think we you know, most of us are that aware of how language influences behaviour. So I'm just curious about how that shaped what you've built.

Lis [00:11:15]:

So we've definitely tried to in include as much of the language that, I guess, We would also like to be spoken to. Right? And almost the imagine it's the maybe the 10 year old self that you're speaking to, because we do having the backgrounds that we do have an understanding, have the jargon, I guess. So sometimes it's a reminder to us, and we sense check it with women who haven't been in the field. Right? To just go, hey. How does this blog sound? How does this post sound? How does this does it make sense? Our webinars make sense? Is there something missing? And then we'll course correct. We're still at the stage where we're early on to be able to have the luxury to do that. Right? So where we can sort of AB test certain stuff, to find out what language actually works and what language perhaps doesn't work so much.

Nitika [00:12:00]:

And I think to add to that as well, we are very conscious of this. And not only because of the advice gap, but because of the intention action gap as well. Everyone knows that they need to do stuff, but how do you put your messages in a way that doesn't overwhelm people, but actually gets them inspired to action. And with that in mind, we're actually speaking to some behavioural scientists to see and actually look at our messages to say, right. How do we write them in a way that actually inspires and motivates people rather than dejects them? So we are trying to do it with a scientific approach as well.

Julie [00:12:34]:

Right. That's cool. Emily, you look like you've got a question there for the ladies.

Emily [00:12:38]:

Yeah. I was going to just ask. I mean, we've talked about what your mission is. But in terms of avatar, have you thought about your client avatar? Who is it you're speaking to? You know? What what's her name? Where does she live? Where does she shop? What the reason I ask this is because as the financial adviser or planner, I have to change my tone, my language, my everything according to who I'm talking to. All of you know, so my I have, you know, 75 year old men as clients, and I have 42 year old women. And so, you know, it's different, and I'm changing my voice and language all of the time. But because you only get 1 shot, you're a sort of, like, mass market tool, you're trying to talk to everyone with the same voice. Who is it you are talking to?

Nitika [00:13:30]:

Would you like to go?

Lis [00:13:32]:

I'm happy to go. So we set out, we set out looking at, largely focused on women, between the ages of your mid to late twenties to your probably late forties. Right? And we've always said for especially for the for the beta version. So for our sort of initial our initial forays, quote, unquote, into the market. We wanted somebody who had either a trajectory to a good income or already a decent income. Right? So when you then look at where they might work, it could be consultancies, banking world, the you know, they could be doctors. They could be dentists. They could be, man in managerial positions. They could work in technology, etcetera. But they would either be on a trajectory. They would almost certainly have had some sort of, degree education for this. Right? And with that, we then sort of said, you know, sure there's differences, and we're actually seeing this through the beta version of where people's goals are. Right? So we're seeing that in your late twenties, early thirties, you're still looking to you're looking to buy a house. Right? You're sort of dead set on that. You might be thinking about your wedding. When you get into your thirties, you're focused, especially around money, changes to be being a mother, Right? Or being a parent. And then it's only it's only when you get into your forties, etcetera, that you're going 2nd home and then retirement and all of these kinds of things. And so what we're what we do is we focus more on those goals. Right? We have the ambition in terms of language to actually, see if we can almost provide somewhat more empathetic tones for people who have, It's like fears and anxieties around money versus, for those people who perhaps see it as more of a power or more of a freedom attitude or, you know, motivation. You can speak to them in slightly different tones and voices, etcetera. The honesty at this point is that we're too early on to have, you know, programmed all of that in. It very much is an ambition that we have, but, we're probably just not quite there yet. So I think to add to that sorry.

Nitika [00:15:51]:

You know, we are trying to do it based on life goals. And, you know, Lis has talked through some of the things that people want to do at different ages, but we very much recognize that everyone's journey is different, and we can't pigeonhole people into those journeys. And so we actually really want what the way we go about it is asking what are your life goals and then helping calculate that. Because I think what happens in the traditional advice for forum and what we don't want to get stuck into is just assumptions of how people's lives go, and that's not okay for a lot

Lis [00:16:23]:

of people, and we need

Nitika [00:16:25]:

to break away from that. And so it's like, actually, what are your life goals? I don't care what everyone else is doing in their thirties. What do you want to do? And we want to break away from saying, oh, you shouldn't think about your pension until you're 40. Equally, you know, whatever you want to do in your twenties. And that might be career, but that might be something else. Go traveling. We're putting all of those in as well.

Emily [00:16:47]:

Excellent. So it's real life planning. It's not just financial planning. Yeah.

Nitika [00:16:51]:

But we think, actually, they come hand in hand, and I think that's what we're really trying to bring home. That actually to make the life you want, you need to have an element of control of the money that is required for it and the time frames for that too.

Emily [00:17:08]:

And do

Julie [00:17:08]:

you know what I really like as based on what you've said there? Okay. So We've got we've got this thing that that's going to educate me and empower me around money. But I like the fact that you're going to challenge the status quo and the fact that, you know, even as financial adviser okay. I know what financial adviser's like. Okay. We have this idea that life works like this. People will do this, and then they'll do that. And then you need to get to age 60, and then you need to retire. And that's what the brochure said, and it's all complete bullshit because, like, just doesn't work like that. So I love that you're out there and you're disrupting this idea. Because I think the see the problem we have as people, as individuals, is we're sold this idea of what life is meant to look like. And we go off there and we try to copy it without ever sitting down and asking ourselves, is that actually what I want? Exactly. So do you help poke at these assumptions then about what I think my life should be like?

Nitika [00:18:02]:

I think we would like to start doing that more. So at the moment, we ask what are your ideal life goals. And, you know, some people have come back and say that, oh, actually, no. All I can think about is career, and we're happy to then give them that not that that kind of view of, okay, that is your current view, what do you want in terms of your holistic life? And actually take that step back and say, this is really important to you now, But there are other things that are going to be important in 2 years' time or 5 years' time, that we need to start thinking about already.

Lis [00:18:36]:

So what we what we always do, and I think it's already mentioned that, is if somebody puts their life goals down and says, for instance, travelling, career break, I want to start my own business. You know, maybe I want to get married. If they've not mentioned a pension, we will 100% bring that to their attention because It's the socially responsible thing to do. Eventually, you will retire, and you can either decide to have some sort of control over it, Or it will just happen. Right? But there will come a point in your life, regardless of how old you are now, where you will stop working, where the income will no longer be there And not planning for that. That's something we already sort of prompt people on whether they mention it or not.

Julie [00:19:20]:

Alright. So I'm curious then, as you've been developing this, and I said you're still in the beta phase, has there been anything in particular that you've learned So far that surprised you? So much. Lis is whispering so much to me. Come on, Lis. Give me your top 3 surprises.

Lis [00:19:41]:

I think what was what's been really interesting is seeing how engaged some people are. Right? Like so we get daily texts almost from certain people responding either to questions or musings or something. Right? Where they're really like they have found a partner to discuss things with. Right? Versus others who we almost never hear from. And then we ask a feedback question and they're like, yes. Great. And you just sort of go, wow, okay, where, how we, you know, and I don't think we've cracked that yet, but it's really interesting. So that that for me is one. The other thing that that I found, quite interesting, and this is somewhat of a working hypothesis, But is when we ask people, are you enjoying this? And they say yes. We often say, would you refer us? Right? And, and the sectors where, I guess, I expected based on who we were working with previously as in in our lives, for us to get referrals, we're probably not the ones where we got as much. Whereas from the from the medical space Where people are like, yes. I actually I have decent money, but and I know I'm that I don't know this stuff.

Julie [00:21:03]:

Right. Okay.

Nitika [00:21:06]:

They are less I'll take over. I think Lis is.

Julie [00:21:12]:

Oh, you've provided for a second, Lis, but you're back with us now.

Lis [00:21:16]:

Okay. Sorry about that. South America South American, Internet. Apologies. But, I don't know where I lost you, but I said I think I said the people in the medical space who earn a fair amount like, who earn decent money, who know they're smart because they've got a really good education, but who also know that they never learned anything about money. They're much more I would prefer. They just go, yeah. Yeah. Fine. I'll you know, my friends all need this because we all know that we've just never learned this. So Happy to happy to introduce. And then I think the other thing is the we're starting to get coaching more and more coaching referrals. And I guess I don't know quite where I expected those to be, but it's usually at the point where we're starting to help people calculate their goals, Where people go and it's not that they sit there and they go, it's my financials. Like, it's the money, but it's actually the life goal work. Right? That they are going, wow. I haven't thought this through. I haven't thought about what life I want. Do I you know? And should I? And that's Quite an interesting sort of, sort of, I don't know, revelation for me.

Emily [00:22:27]:

Alright.

Julie [00:22:28]:

Any other surprises?

Nitika [00:22:32]:

I think what where we've been doing both the beta version and actually also webinars, what I've been surprised about is, There's been a lot of people who haven't realised that they're the only one. They're not the only ones that feel like this. And, actually, there's just a sense of relief of being whether it was on the webinar or actually just responding back to us being like, oh, it's not just us. This is this is a problem bigger than us because I think, historically, people have just been ashamed, and people don't talk about money in the same way. And, actually, I think it's nice to see people have that sigh of relief. And you can see it on the webinars. You can see it actually in some of our messages. So that's been great. And, actually, that's been more so what we've seen in women. And it's crazy to think that actually by 2025, 60% of the UK wealth is going to be in the hands of females, of women. But, like, you know, it just shows just how much the confidence in, say, investing or taking control of Finances needs to kind of come towards and be pointed more towards women.

Julie [00:23:39]:

Mumm.

Emily [00:23:39]:

Can I just, Open that out a bit, you know, this about this 60% of wealth being in the hands of women? Because I think I read about It's quite some time ago that this was coming. And this is huge, and this has been coming for a long time. But I think my view is that I think Perhaps the traditional advice community have been a bit naive to the fact that, it's not just coming to women through their husbands dying and then being widows or being passed down from parents. But women, in their own right I'm saying something so obvious here, but I honestly don't think that the financial adviser community has grasped this. That there are women out there earning really good money, then they might not have that massive lump sum yet. You know, that's from an inheritance or a lottery win. Who knows? But what they do have, a lot of them, is disposable income, at least until they have children. They have a decent amount of disposable income. And then after the Jordan one, perhaps they've got that deep even better decent amount of disposable income. So, I just feel that advisers are not plugging into this. They're trying to exploit not exploit. That's a bit Gosh. They're trying to nurture, relationships with their clients and the next gen, which is great, but that's It's all about keeping hold of the assets that they already have under management. I think there's this massive blind spot to say that there are women out there You really need help now for these little incremental amounts of disposable income. You know? This is going to make a massive difference. This is what's going to close that, gender wealth gap.

Julie [00:25:35]:

Lis, look Lis, you look like you've got something really pressing you need to Share with us on this.

Lis [00:25:41]:

So I 100% agree with everything that you've said. The other thing that I think The industry, and I think this is broader than advisers, actually haven't entirely understood, is that women are more time poor than men. Right. Still do most of

Julie [00:25:57]:

the health

Lis [00:25:57]:

of the chores. We still do more of the kids. And you can there I'm sure there's some women out there who where this is not the case. Right? But we don't have typically as much time. So even if you have the disposable income, you have to deal with them in a different way. First, because they're time poor. Second, because they often don't have the same taught knowledge. Right? Because it's not part of the general schooling, and we do speak to our boys more than we speak to our girls about money. Right? So there is there's almost like a catch up that has to happen in a very different way, right, that that I don't think is happening. Plus, we all have one of these now. Sorry. I'm holding up my iPhone for people who are listening. And traditional wealth managers, IFA, also the whole advisory because, you know, when you have money, you often don't just need someone to look after your money. You need a tax account, and you need potentially a solicitor at some point, if you're perhaps going through a divorce or there's all of these advisory services. They often don't use digital media to actually communicate with you. And I think there's this moment of there's a transfer of wealth from generation to generation happening, Plus, women are getting more and more disposable income. Right? And so there's all of these factors that are coming in together that that aren't, that aren't being picked up Adequately, perhaps, by the traditional industry.

Nitika [00:27:25]:

And I think to add to that as well, one of the my biggest pet peeves about the traditional financial advice model is they a lot of people don't want to look at you because it wasn't, commercially profitable to have that relationship until you were earning a sec an x amount or you had x amount of wealth. Now A lot of these people who are coming up from their twenties who are high potential people. I have I have friends who have been in the hedge fund space who are partners at hedge funds, who have been turned away by wealth managers. And I think there needs to be a Challenge because okay. Yeah. They may not have that wealth at the moment, but I can guarantee you, they are going to have that wealth at some point. And I think it's really about shaking that up and challenging it a little bit more.

Julie [00:28:17]:

I know. I absolutely love that. And I think because as I'm listening to you, 3 of you, what you're saying as well, is it's all very well that we have women that are earning reasonable salaries or are generating reasonable profit. But unless we can make that next step where we know how to invest. It's just income. Income doesn't build wealth. And that's the missing piece of the jigsaw for me. So that's why I Absolutely love what you're doing there because it's getting it to that next step. So, you know, a Hun a $150 salary. Yeah. That's nice. But if it's just all sitting in the bank, the stuff that I don't spend, I'm not building wealth, am I?

Lis [00:28:53]:

And I think that's why we start. Even the beta version, which relies solely on information that people are willing to give us. Right? But the first thing we do now is we say, here's your net worth based on what you've told us. So here's how much you've got. Then we calculate what you've told us are your life goals. And, usually, very few people we have come across have enough to cover them. Those that those that do are those that are really close to retirement. And, typically, they have a financial background. Everybody else and it's totally of course, it's totally normal. Right? You're starting out your career. You're in the middle of your career. You have amassed x, and, actually, what you need is probably x factor 5, x factor 8, x factor whatever, but a lot more. And, really, the thing that we're saying is putting it in a savings account Just isn’t going to cut it.

Julie [00:29:49]:

Right? Uh-huh. It's not.

Lis [00:29:52]:

Investing is no longer a luxury. Right? So, so a big part of where we're trying to get people to with the beta version and ultimately on our final solution is to start investing.

Emily [00:30:04]:

And you're launching this at a great time, really, aren't you, in the economic cycle where people are being really, tempted to just stick their money in a fixed rate account for a year. And, you know, you just wait and see what happens when you get the end of that year when interest rates are falling and what rate they're going to offer you then. And in the meantime, the markets have moved, and you've just missed a great opportunity to make some great money on the Investment well in the investment world.

Julie [00:30:29]:

Well, I've just written down what you said there a little bit ago. Investing is no longer a luxury. I think it was really powerful. It's an essential we have to be doing it. And I think I really like that message. I'm going to be running with that.

Nitika [00:30:41]:

Do my best. Something we're very much trying to provide. It's yeah.

Emily [00:30:47]:

It's like going to the dentist or the optician. It's part of that taking care of your future self.

Julie [00:30:52]:

Yep. Yeah.

Lis [00:30:53]:

Yeah. A 100%. Sorry. Go ahead.

Nitika [00:30:56]:

The thing is and we see this and, you know, what we're trying to say, whether it's the dentist or actually, you know, Now in the world of financial coaching, people are less willing to start that, and I think there has to be a bit of a change. When it comes to, PTs, so gym coaches. People are now very willing to accept help with that because They've seen it work, and they see, actually, you know what? If I've got a goal, whether it's to lose weight or to run a marathon in this amount of time, I am going to go to an expert, a coach, and get them to help motivate me, keep me accountable, and let's go with this. We are wanting and trying to help that catalyst in a similar way in the financial coaching world and say, actually, this isn't this is no longer A luxury investing. You're going to have to do this. But when you're not you have to do it alone. There are people, including Aila, who are here to help you as well as financial coaches. We're not saying have you have to give it to someone else to deal with, but get the help around you, have that support community to help you get you to the stage where you're comfortable doing so.

Emily [00:32:03]:

Right. And I always think that health and wealth just go hand in hand. You've got there's no point having one without the other. Obviously, we if we had to pick 1, we'd probably pick health. But there's no point living forever if you've got no money, and there's no point having loads of money if you haven't got health. So it's interesting we've seen this great big movement in the well-being Is it the financial well-being sector that is now going to take off? I really do think that that has to be inevitable. Let's hope so.

Nitika [00:32:30]:

I really hope so because actually one of the reasons we're really passionate about the psychology of money as well is So as whilst working in finance, I also then started doing a counselling course and started then volunteering Pre COVID and then through COVID, with mental health charities and helplines, and the amount of increase in calls during COVID and after COVID was horrific, but a lot of them were to do with stress with finances.

Emily [00:33:00]:

I know.

Nitika [00:33:01]:

And, You know, it really does take people to their, and it's horrific to see. And so much of it can be helped, just with the right Resources.

Julie [00:33:12]:

Alright. I'm feeling really moved by that because that's the whole reason we set up the podcast. It was coming out while we're in lockdown. And I thought of women being stuck at home and not knowing how to financially make things ends meet. So what I'm taking away from this is, 1, so for listeners, right, we're at the start of the new year, And we've all got these good intentions right now. You need to go and check this out because I've been playing with it for a couple of months. It arrives in WhatsApp. I get little messages giving me nudges on things to do with my money and educating about me about my money and motivating me. So you need to go and check this out. So I want you all listening to pick 1 intention that you're going into 2024 with regards to your finances. Hint, If you want to go with Lis's, investing is not a luxury. That would get my backing. But sorry, Lis. Go on.

Lis [00:34:01]:

And if you want to learn how to do it, try our be I try our beta version because we take you through the whole journey of what everything is and how you can actually start and all that kind of good stuff. Right? Because We it's so easy to say, just go do it. Right? But there's so many inhibitors and blockers and things that you think through and that you get confused by along the way. So, so we try and demystify some of that for you. Uh-huh.

Julie [00:34:25]:

With none of that scary language.

Lis [00:34:27]:

It's not that that scary language.

Julie [00:34:29]:

Not that scary language. Right. So as we bring the podcast towards an end, okay, because we're the curious We like to ask our guests some questions just to get to know you a little bit better. So, Lis, would you like to go fast? I have a question for you, And that is do you want to tell

Lis [00:34:45]:

us an interesting fact about yourself? Oh, sure. I think, The probably 2 the most interesting is I've been to every continent, including Antarctica. And another one of my better Travel destinations was North Korea. So I think it's in North, but never does South Korea.

Julie [00:35:05]:

That's an unusual choice, and I'm sure there's another podcast episode in that one.

Lis [00:35:10]:

There would be, but probably not about financial services, I have to say.

Julie [00:35:14]:

More of

Lis [00:35:15]:

a travel focused one. Alright. And, Nesica, do

Julie [00:35:18]:

you want to have you got an interest in the fact that you have that you're comfortable sharing with the listeners?

Nitika [00:35:23]:

Definitely. So one of the things that Lis and I have definitely bonded over is our love for travel, and nature. And so I guess mine has to do with Whales, which I have a soft spot for. So I've swam with both killer whales and humpback whales up close.

Julie [00:35:42]:

You 2 you 2 are really exciting, aren't you? Amazing. Like, we've got every continent. We've got swimming with the whales. Now I do believe as well that you have a shared Interesting. Because one of the questions I sometimes ask is what when you were little, what job did you want to do when you grew up? Who wants to share the answer? Because it's a singular answer, isn't

Nitika [00:36:06]:

So it was only thanks to you that we worked this out, but we both had an obsession with Ally McPhail and wanted to be lawyers. So, yes, it was just, something that obviously grabbed us both in our childhood.

Julie [00:36:21]:

Who knows? There's maybe an encore career there for both of you once you've successfully raped out, you know, the gender wealth gap. Absolutely. Absolutely.

Emily [00:36:30]:

Well, it can take a

Julie [00:36:31]:

while to do. Alright. Ladies, I want to thank you so much for coming on and sharing, just the experience that you've had and the things that you've learned in building this. If people want to find out more or get in touch with you, what's the best way for them to do that?

Lis [00:36:45]:

The best way is probably to follow us on socials. It's Aila money on both Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, actually. And if you can find both of us on LinkedIn as well, Nitika Vies and Elisabeth Prager. The other thing is an email, hello at ilamoney.com.

Julie [00:37:04]:

Alright. Well, I will put links to everything in the show notes. The other thing that you've mentioned is webinars that you've done webinars. Even if somebody's interested in the webinar, how would they you

Lis [00:37:13]:

go about that? So we typically post them on our socials. Right. And, and that's where you can then sign up through a through a link. Again, a lot of the content is actually also or similar content is in the beta version. Right. In much shorter bite sized versions. So it's, rather than dedicating an hour or an hour and a half to learning how to invest, you can do that over a couple of days with shorter videos. So everybody likes to digest in different ways, and we'll leave that to the audience to decide.

Julie [00:37:42]:

Alright. Well, I will I will make sure we've got links to everything in the show notes. But I'd say thank you very much for joining us. And, Emily, thank you for finding us these 2 wonderful guests. Okay. Now, listeners, it just reminds me to say thank you very much to you for listening. And until next time, Please do take care of yourselves.