Amanda Steinberg, Worth It, women's finance, online investing

Worth It, with Amanda Steinberg

Parvati Magazine interviewed Amanda Steinberg, who founded DailyWorth in 2009 to bring a new perspective to personal finance. In 2016 she launched the digital investing service WorthFM and her book Worth It: Your Life, Your Money, Your Terms, was published in February, 2017.  

Parvati Magazine: Your background is in technology, yet you launched DailyWorth to help women manage their money. Why did you choose this path?

Amanda Steinberg: I’ve been concerned about the state of the world since I was five years old, and even though I’ve had the privilege of the best education, I still come back to how can I use all my privilege to have the greatest impact on reducing suffering as much as possible. I’m really driven by that.

PMAG: What is the mission of DailyWorth and Worth FM?

AS: I learned about social enterprise, the idea of creating social change through for-profit enterprise, at the age of 21 and it became a fascination of mine. I’ve been looking for social enterprise solutions that would provide the greatest social impact alongside the greatest economic return, because if the economic return is there hopefully the social return will be there as well.

For years I experimented with concepts, then through my own financial mishaps I discovered this disconnect women have between money and themselves. This was exciting to me because it is core to our culture and power dynamics. Women were gaining financial power but they weren’t engaging with it. I saw this as the place I could have the greatest social impact. If I could influence women’s disassociation with money and make it an association then that would affect half the population.

PMAG: Why did you take an approach of collaboration in building DailyWorth and WorthFM?  

AS: I’m a risk taker, which means I often do things which I know nothing about. The best way to do that is to find people who have already done them really well and do what they tell you to do. Let go of your ideas, find people you admire, let them tell you what they know and then do it. That’s how I’ve been able to drive in four industries over 20 years, because I surround myself with people who have done it before.

PMAG: Tell us about your new book Worth It: Your Life, Your Money, Your Terms.

My life is about reducing suffering for others and I think when women are more engaged in financial decision making there will be less suffering in the world. I’ve been studying the women and money thing for eight years and really understand what was wrong with how women were feeling about and thinking about approaching money and how that needed to change.

I finally had a book’s worth of material to really support that shift and needed to write it. I saw the whole picture and could put it together with a congruent set of events that would take a woman from guilt and shame to choice and the possibility of control around her money.

PMAG: What’s next for you and making a difference in this world?

AS: I will tell you about my partnership with One Light Global and their founder Zoe Wild, and what has me hypnotized right now. With One Light Global I reached out and said, “if you guys all buy my book, I’ll give my marketing budget to One Light Global, instead of buying Facebook ads.” I just gave Zoe $5,000 to take to Belgrade to buy blankets for refugees.

What I’m really interested in right now is the big question, how do we conserve and grow wealth at the top while also serving the bottom so we can move towards each other instead of away from each other? How can we all prosper? It’s a difficult question and I told Zoe, “I give us ten years to figure this out,” and she replied, “Shorter.” I don’t have any answers yet. What’s next with me is sitting in this question of what will that look like?

Amanda SteinbergAmanda Steinberg launched DailyWorth in 2009 to bring a fresh voice and an outsider’s perspective to personal finance. Oprah selected her to the exclusive SuperSoul 100, and Forbes named her one of twenty-one New American Money Masters. Amanda has also appeared on GMA, Today, CNN, and MSNBC. Her digital investing service, WorthFM, received front-page coverage in The New York Times Business section. She’s the author of Worth It: Your Life, Your Money, Your Terms out now on all major platforms.