Latest / Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast) / She Built An App For 1 Million Investors: What I Wish I Knew About Investing Sooner

Transcript

She Built An App For 1 Million Investors: What I Wish I Knew About Investing Sooner · Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast)

• 0:00
  One in 10 women globally feel that they understand investing at all.
• 0:04
  It's a structural problem.
• 0:05
  It's not a you problem.
• 0:06
  Money can be used to control people in relationships.
• 0:10
  Most confidence can peak at the age of eight.
• 0:13
  Yeah.
• 0:14
  Time is the most valuable aspect of money.
• 0:15
  It doesn't matter how much money you have.
• 0:17
  What if you just didn't waste your energy on that?
• 0:24
  Brooke, welcome to the podcast.
• 0:26
  Thank you for having me.
• 0:27
  I'm so excited for you to be here.
• 0:29
  I know, right?
• 0:30
  It's like the room of my dreams, quite literally.
• 0:33
  I'm a maximalist.
• 0:34
  It's very like she's pink too, so I'm loving it.
• 0:37
  Love.
• 0:37
  Love.
• 0:38
  Okay, so for anyone listening, you have built one of the most successful wealth apps.
• 0:44
  And I was looking at your stats.
• 0:47
  You have some crazy stuff going on here.
• 0:49
  Over a million customers, over $12 billion invested.
• 0:54
  And as of last year, valued at $750 million, which is obviously amazing.
• 0:59
  Coming up on that unicorn status.
• 1:01
  Yeah.
• 1:03
  How does it feel when you hear that being said back to you?
• 1:07
  Like how does it feel when you think about what you have actually achieved and accomplished in like less than a decade?
• 1:13
  Yeah.
• 1:13
  Yeah.
• 1:14
  I think as a founder, you always see the things to do.
• 1:17
  Like our purpose is to create financial empowerment for everyone.
• 1:21
  And there's just so much more to do.
• 1:24
  So it's nice to know we're making traction.
• 1:27
  But I think I always think, oh, I can't wait to, you know, what that will be in a year's time or two years' time in terms of our progress towards what we're here to do.
• 1:34
  Which could be a blessing and a curse.
• 1:36
  Yeah, exactly.
• 1:37
  And just stand back and smell the roses, I guess, at times.
• 1:39
  Yeah.
• 1:40
  Yeah.
• 1:41
  Is there something that like by the end of this episode, your wish for anyone listening to kind of walk away with, like one specific thing from this conversation, what would it be?
• 1:51
  You know, one saying I heard really young, I think my pop used to say it was, when there's a will, there's a way.
• 1:57
  And I think no matter if you're already running a business or you've got an idea or you just want to get into running your own business, like where there's a will, there's a way.
• 2:06
  And what I like about that is, like, if you've got an idea or an intention or something that's really challenging in your business at the moment, like just, you know, that will and that determination and that kind of resilience and grit will help guide you through it.
• 2:19
  And also that will will help you see the opportunities and have that kind of mindset of going, yeah.
• 2:24
  you know, I get to do this.
• 2:25
  So what can I do to, to, you know, change the trajectory or create what you want to, um, when you were just starting, what was your kind of like, where did you think this would get to versus like, now, where are you trying to get to?
• 2:38
  Well, when we started, it was like global from day one, pretty much, you know, we're going to be here, there, everywhere.
• 2:43
  And then you realize, like we knew we'd worked in finance before and understood the regulatory environment to a degree, but knew, you know, it's going to take a little bit longer to unlock some of that ambition we have.
• 2:54
  And I think what I wish I knew was just how important like compounding is over time.
• 2:59
  You know, we know that in a finance sense, you know, like everything over zero compounds and every small bit can compound.
• 3:04
  And that's just like business.
• 3:05
  Sometimes you feel like you do something and ta-da, the outcome should be astronomical.
• 3:10
  But actually every moment starts to compound and that grows a really healthy business over time.
• 3:17
  And I think that applies to everything in life, right?
• 3:19
  Like relationships compound over time or like going to the gym, whatever it might be, like your strength does.
• 3:26
  Well, yes.
• 3:28
  Okay, I want to get into wealth.
• 3:29
  I want to get into your zone of expertise.
• 3:33
  Research shows that just one in 10 women globally feel that they understand investing at all.
• 3:39
  And I'm keen to kind of, you know, you said you worked in finance before, but I'm keen to understand what your relationship has been with money through the last decade of kind of building this and what you've learned about yourself.
• 3:50
  And I want to start by asking you if at any point or what point money
• 3:58
  Yeah.
• 3:59
  I think first off, I want to touch on your point about how, you know, women don't feel as confident with investing.
• 4:07
  And I just really want to make sure that anyone listening to that knows it's a structural problem.
• 4:10
  It's not a you problem.
• 4:12
  Like, I don't know if you recall, I remember even when we started, she is telling us.
• 4:19
  oh, well, when we went to the bank, you know, they wouldn't give us mortgages or give us, you know, let us open an account.
• 4:26
  And so there's just structural changes there.
• 4:30
  But that sentiment has ridden through in a lot of financial services.
• 4:34
  And so that's something that, you know, it's structural and we're really working on that.
• 4:37
  And there's heaps of great podcasts and, you know, and platforms and apps out there now to really support people on their journey.
• 4:43
  Like she's.
• 4:45
  But, yeah, I think for me, I don't know if scary was ever a word.
• 4:49
  I've seen at a young age I saw how money can be used to control people and in relationships.
• 4:57
  And so I was aware of that power it could have.
• 5:03
  And then I was also really aware of how money creates opportunities.
• 5:05
  Like you can go and do things and, you know, go to athletics or go out for dinners or go travel to Disney, whatever it might be, because money.
• 5:16
  And so I was always very curious of like, well, money enables opportunities and money.
• 5:22
  Hopefully if people, if more people have it and then it can enable a bit more freedom and flexibility for people.
• 5:28
  And so that's something that's always driven me.
• 5:30
  I was like, well, how do we help more people get those opportunities?
• 5:33
  And financial empowerment is a big way.
• 5:34
  And so that's been a big part of like my why behind Shazzy's and why we want to create this.
• 5:43
  And then in the last decade.
• 5:46
  It's just been really great to see how much more information there is.
• 5:50
  And like how we're talking about compounding and you instantly are talking about the other ways that we see it.
• 5:55
  And, you know, the information out there and the access to more investing opportunities and wealth opportunities is awesome.
• 6:04
  Still a long way to go.
• 6:05
  But that is such a change over the last 10 years.
• 6:08
  Like, you know, if you opened a newspaper, which they did 10 years ago, or, you know, online, you know, if you went to a news site, you would likely see an article about...
• 6:21
  millennials are not getting into houses because they're spending all their money on smashed avocado.
• 6:25
  That was the sentiment then.
• 6:26
  It was like investing equaled home ownership.
• 6:28
  And that's starting to change.
• 6:30
  And you can own a home.
• 6:32
  You can build an investment portfolio.
• 6:34
  It doesn't matter how much money you have when it comes to investing and growing wealth.
• 6:39
  And that's exciting.
• 6:41
  What's a money like experience or a money kind of lesson that you've learned the hard way and the expensive way?
• 6:50
  It could be in business.
• 6:51
  It could be personal.
• 6:53
  I learned a very expensive one when I was 10 years old.
• 6:56
  It turned out to be very expensive.
• 6:57
  Yeah.
• 6:59
  So I found out that when I, around my 10th birthday, that my mum had been putting away $5 a week into a bank account ever since I was born.
• 7:09
  And I was like, sweet, that's my money.
• 7:12
  You know, I was like, cool, can I have it?
• 7:14
  She was like, well.
• 7:14
  Pay up.
• 7:15
  Yeah, I was like, what?
• 7:16
  This is awesome.
• 7:18
  I don't know.
• 7:18
  I just, you know, I just didn't know that was a thing.
• 7:20
  I just felt so rich at that time.
• 7:22
  And she was like, sweet, well, you've got two options.
• 7:25
  You can take the money now and I'll stop putting money away.
• 7:28
  Or, oh, you don't take the money.
• 7:31
  I'll continue putting $5 away a week until you're 18 years old when I intended.
• 7:36
  And I was like, okay, I'll take the money.
• 7:39
  And I took my friends to a theme park.
• 7:42
  I don't even remember it.
• 7:44
  And, um, and it was all gone, you know, and I went on my first finance class.
• 7:50
  I think it really hit me.
• 7:51
  I think it hit me a few years after that.
• 7:53
  I was like, oh, that would have been really, it was quite dumb, um, on hindsight, you know, and I think it was good lesson for me in terms of, um,
• 8:02
  delayed gratification and, you know, I should have known that a bit more at 10 years old.
• 8:06
  But should you have though?
• 8:08
  I think like it's hard to know at 10 years old because as a child, of course you want the thing that's immediately in front of you.
• 8:14
  Like bank account I couldn't see or engage with and, you know, like really compared to now I think, you know, if you're, you could have, we can really support.
• 8:23
  people having those conversations and, um, and seeing how you can invest in just all the other possibilities around or spend or save it.
• 8:31
  So, um, yeah, I don't know.
• 8:33
  I think I, um, I think I know with my kids, I won't give them that often.
• 8:39
  I wanted to ask you how does this influence you as a parent from that?
• 8:44
  And how do you kind of think about that same lesson for your children then?
• 8:48
  Yeah.
• 8:49
  Yeah, it's quite interesting as a parent because my kids are growing up in a very different situation than me.
• 8:53
  And so I'm very aware, like, you know, of that part of me wants to give them as many opportunities as possible, but also they need to earn it.
• 9:02
  And just getting that balance right is something I've got to personally figure out, I think still.
• 9:07
  But overall, I think it's well balanced.
• 9:09
  But yeah, I think, yeah, having those conversations early, I'm very aware of Sharesie's
• 9:15
  One of them wants to run it while being a fire person.
• 9:19
  The other side, good luck.
• 9:22
  You know, like this is the idea at the moment.
• 9:23
  They're like, oh sweet, yeah, I'll obviously work at Sheezy's.
• 9:25
  How old are they?
• 9:26
  I'm six.
• 9:28
  um yeah but this is you know their head at the moment is funny um yeah and then but they think you just play on a computer you know too so um it all looks like fun and games and there's snacks so it's like the ideal place for a six-year-old man but um yeah I think that uh yeah just really understanding well if they want opportunities in life they need to work for it um and that money is an enabler of that
• 9:54
  And how do you actually do that?
• 9:56
  Like, what does that look like in practice for you educating your kids?
• 9:59
  Like, does that look like, you know, we have –
• 10:02
  classroom at home like doing a lesson a week a week or is it like certain like how do you teach kids this stuff when they're little yeah I think you know for us it's embedding it in everyday interactions in a healthy way but um like one example is say the tooth fairy um when that comes um you know I had a um I had a really good discussion with a tooth fairy and I was like hey you should um let's put a coin under the pillow like it but also you should put some of that into um
• 10:30
  a sharesies, save, you know, like accounts, and then can have that conversation with the kids about where the tooth fairies put the money and why, and then, well, what do you want to do with this?
• 10:38
  And it's really cool because it makes them think about the investing, saving, spending, and giving side.
• 10:46
  So an example is my daughter lost her tooth and she had a coin under her...
• 10:51
  under a pillow and then she had it in a, you know, on her when we were out one day and she just really loved this busker and what they were singing.
• 10:57
  So she, she was like, can I give this to them?
• 10:59
  I was like, of course, if that's what you want to do.
• 11:01
  And then they started singing a Taylor Swift song for her and she was chuffed.
• 11:03
  But I love that.
• 11:04
  Like just seeing, you know, you can see the power of money in action and for kids it's important to see the physicality, I think if, you know, we were used to it just to help and not to see a tap tap, but also I think they need to see both because they're not going to see much coins and,
• 11:19
  Yeah, this is also an interesting shift.
• 11:22
  And I'm curious on your perspective, you know, with the decline of using cash and with the importance of seeing something physically and kind of having that visual thing, like tangible thing versus just a number on a screen somewhere.
• 11:36
  What do you think that's doing to children learning about money?
• 11:39
  And how do we like kind of over index then to make sure that those lessons are being passed on when we don't have cash?
• 11:46
  Yeah.
• 11:47
  Yeah.
• 11:48
  I think it is.
• 11:49
  It's just, you know, so much of us have been taught to not really talk about money.
• 11:55
  You know, and it's kind of like a taboo subject.
• 11:58
  But the more we just talk about it, but not in a, just in a practical way, like, oh, I'm going to use my card now.
• 12:05
  This is going to cost $10.30.
• 12:07
  That's the equivalent of what, you know, and just...
• 12:09
  And just so that they're aware of, hey, let's add up this around the supermarket.
• 12:13
  A hundred dollars, how do you think, you know, where does a hundred dollars come from?
• 12:16
  Well, how do you think we get that from the bank?
• 12:17
  How does it get into the bank?
• 12:19
  You know, like, and so just having those kind of conversations is how, in a way that it's not putting any emotion on it, like, or negative emotion, because a lot of us have that, you know, and it's very easy to do.
• 12:30
  But if we can just make it really practical and go, well, how can you grow money?
• 12:34
  And how does interest work?
• 12:36
  And just...
• 12:37
  have those conversations where they naturally show up as a massive enabler for children to really grasp those concepts.
• 12:44
  Yeah, like conversation around the dinner table almost, like very easy, like consistent conversation around money versus like taboo, we never talked about it, I don't really know anything about it.
• 12:53
  Yeah.
• 12:54
  And the trade-offs, I think, is a really important thing.
• 12:56
  Oh, you know, we've only got this.
• 12:58
  So I did a really good, my daughter had saved up $9 and she wanted to expand it.
• 13:03
  And there was this, um, you're like, I've been there.
• 13:06
  Yeah.
• 13:08
  And you won't remember this.
• 13:09
  Yeah.
• 13:10
  It's funny.
• 13:11
  And so we went to this, um, there was this like secondhand community market on and she, I was, she was seven at this time.
• 13:18
  She went around hustling so hard.
• 13:20
  She's like, um, $1.
• 13:21
  I was like, I was just like, oh my gosh, I couldn't believe I'd never shown her this babe or whatever.
• 13:26
  But she was like, I need this $9 to go far.
• 13:29
  Um,
• 13:29
  And I've got some things I really want in my wardrobe.
• 13:32
  And it was amazing.
• 13:32
  And then, you know, the people at the stalls were so kind with her.
• 13:36
  They were, like, loving it.
• 13:37
  They're like, yes, you know.
• 13:38
  And the confidence as well.
• 13:40
  And the confidence.
• 13:41
  I loved it.
• 13:41
  And I was like, and that's another thing I learned recently is, like, a girl's confidence can peak at the age of eight.
• 13:48
  Yeah, it was an alarming stat I heard.
• 13:51
  What?
• 13:51
  I think it was in PwC research and there was a book written about it, but I was like, I cannot shut this down.
• 13:58
  Like any time that she puts her hand up or does something that, you know, we're taught to be cringy, I'm just going to let her go because I can't have a confidence pick at eight, you know.
• 14:07
  That should be.
• 14:08
  Tell me more about that study.
• 14:09
  What declines it?
• 14:11
  Look, I didn't dive completely into it.
• 14:13
  I'm going to find that study.
• 14:15
  Yeah, I think there's a book written about it called Confident.
• 14:17
  confidence code or something but yeah essentially it's societal pressures you know the ways that we're like trying to conform um you know oh you you know just put your hand up when you've got a question to ask or you know like there's these or you know oh don't worry about you know like where we kind of um they're so confident you know and we're not used to um that or or uh
• 14:40
  Yeah, we try and regulate it, but actually it's something we should just let loose, you know?
• 14:44
  Yeah.
• 14:44
  Yeah.
• 14:45
  Keep that curiosity going.
• 14:46
  Definitely.
• 14:46
  Just go and ask.
• 14:47
  Go and ask.
• 14:48
  Keep doing it.
• 14:49
  Yeah, yeah.
• 14:51
  Wow.
• 14:51
  I love that.
• 14:52
  But I mean, I hate that start.
• 14:53
  No, I know.
• 14:54
  I love the confidence.
• 14:54
  I was mortified when I heard that.
• 14:55
  Yeah.
• 14:56
  That's a, that's a mind boggler.
• 14:59
  Do you have any kind of money habits that would surprise people for yourself personally?
• 15:04
  Yep.
• 15:05
  I think I do.
• 15:06
  One is, um, so when we started Shares Ease, uh, we were earning no income, right.
• 15:11
  And we, um, we'd, we'd worked a little bit and like
• 15:16
  banking, finance and tech.
• 15:17
  And so it saved a bit to be in that situation, but also we're pregnant.
• 15:20
  So like the money was suddenly go down as the bills went up.
• 15:24
  And so we had ourselves on a daily allowance.
• 15:26
  So how much money could we spend each day?
• 15:28
  And then we made it fun in terms of like for us.
• 15:32
  Okay.
• 15:32
  Yeah.
• 15:33
  Anyway, in terms of, well, you could add it up if you didn't spend it all one day.
• 15:37
  And then, you know, and so it was like this way that we would keep ourselves in check with, you know, how we're going to manage within our means.
• 15:43
  And we still do that.
• 15:46
  Oh, cool.
• 15:47
  Yeah, so it's changed a bit and it's ebbed a bit, but ultimately we do, like, really track kind of our spending habits and try and make sure that, yeah, we're... That makes me feel like a really cool, like, ring dinghy thing.
• 16:03
  Like, so fun, like, at the end of the day being like, ding, we have, like, surplus, like...
• 16:08
  Well, I've been trying to figure out how I can get Claude to do a bit more of it without giving it too much of my, like, any banking details.
• 16:15
  But, yeah, it's been a bit of fun.
• 16:16
  But that's something that I think just to keep us, like, really aware of where things are going and our goals collectively, yeah.
• 16:24
  What are the kind of fun things that you are then, like, looking forward to as a family that you're like, cool, we're actively saving, like, the kids are involved, like, we're all kind of, like, on board.
• 16:33
  xyz admission what's something that's like upcoming for you well one we just had was disney world and so the kids were fun yeah and the kids were because that is very expensive oh my gosh i was like they know how to make money out of any any corner right i was like wow get a photo taken for what do you know like it is it is someone was literally telling me about it the other day i was like what yeah
• 16:55
  But it is a magical experience and everyone wants to go back.
• 16:57
  It's so weird.
• 16:58
  But, but also the whole time was like helping the kids, you know, save for that so they could have their own.
• 17:04
  Cause I was like, you're going to want toys there or whatever you're going to want, you know, so you need to be able to earn that money, pocket money to get there.
• 17:11
  So it was something that we're all collectively working towards.
• 17:13
  Yeah.
• 17:13
  I love that.
• 17:14
  Yeah.
• 17:15
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• 18:01
  The average adult now checks their phone around 96 times a day, which I'm definitely guilty of this, and having your phone in the bedroom is linked to about a 45-minute delay in falling asleep.
• 18:11
  Yeah.
• 18:12
  And so when we think about that, we're officially and statistically the most switched on, most sleep deprived generation of ambitious women that there's ever been.
• 18:21
  And so as someone like yourself who's built something like next level, how do you think about and how do you manage your health as it relates to stress, burnout, anxiety, body, mind, soul, et cetera?
• 18:33
  Yeah, it's a big but really important question, I think, because we all really want to learn from each other.
• 18:38
  Like, what do you do behind the closed doors?
• 18:41
  Yeah, what's your protocol?
• 18:42
  Yeah, I'm trying to think how to structure it.
• 18:45
  But I think first off, I...
• 18:50
  I learned a few years into Shazzy's journey because I also, like a few months after deciding to quit my job and go all in on Shazzy's, I was pregnant.
• 18:59
  And so I had to figure out how to create this business and become a mom and raise a family and juggle it all.
• 19:06
  And what I learned really quickly were two things.
• 19:10
  One is I did need to lower the expectations I had on myself.
• 19:13
  I was like, well, how can I be like the best friend to all my friends in one day and, and like, you know, be really there with my children and nail work and, you know, like all of this stuff all within one, like my idea was like in one day, I'm just like, so well run and perfect and I've gone for a big run or whatever, you know.
• 19:29
  And as I say, actually, I need to be kinder to myself and stretch it out.
• 19:33
  Like, what does that look like over a week or a month and, and start to flex what, what
• 19:39
  what those expectations, you know, I was setting for myself and actually what was helpful and harmful.
• 19:44
  And then a few years into after, you know, trying to manage that for a while, I just relearned how important the basics are of sleep, nutrition, exercise, you know, limit alcohol as much as possible.
• 19:58
  And while still being social and, you know, I think it's a big part of our culture.
• 20:03
  And so what I put in place was I started to realize this and it was described to me really well in terms of, you know, when you run a business, you never know what's around the corner.
• 20:13
  It can feel like there's all this tailwind and it's all like, you know, you're all going in the right direction.
• 20:18
  Or it just feels like there's headwind and you're just like bashing against problem after problem.
• 20:21
  And, you know, and I've learned I've got to really be able to surf those waves because a lot of them are...
• 20:27
  Factors I can't control.
• 20:28
  It might be something external or macroeconomic environment or something that just happens to us.
• 20:33
  And so I learned I need to have the, you know, you need to have resilience to just surf whatever comes at you and not take it so personally and see it as something that's happening out here.
• 20:42
  And the ways to do that is by nailing those basics.
• 20:45
  And what I didn't notice is.
• 20:47
  I think most, I used to think, oh, well, I have to do those things.
• 20:51
  You know, when you're stressed, okay, well, what should you do?
• 20:52
  You should run.
• 20:53
  You should, you know, like, you should build up your cup.
• 20:56
  But actually, it's really important to be building your cup when everything is going well.
• 21:00
  Because it's, resilience is consistent.
• 21:02
  And it's like, if I've got those great habits in place when things are going well, it's way easier for me to actually manage when things aren't.
• 21:11
  Or if that, you know, if that happens.
• 21:13
  And I've just got these really good behaviors in place.
• 21:15
  And so...
• 21:16
  I know I've kept talking, but for me that is, so I try to run 20Ks a week and I keep myself accountable with a mate of mine.
• 21:28
  And so we each, you know, talk to each other about, you know, if we run our 20Ks that week.
• 21:31
  So that's like a base level.
• 21:33
  Do you run together ever?
• 21:35
  Well, she's actually based in Sydney and so now I'm based in Wellington at the moment.
• 21:38
  So we keep each other in contact.
• 21:40
  I love that.
• 21:41
  And when we're here, we try to.
• 21:42
  I surf whenever there's good surf.
• 21:46
  And so that's, you know, something that I can't completely control.
• 21:48
  And that does sometimes suck up my run time, which makes it a bit tricky.
• 21:51
  Like what happened last week?
• 21:52
  But that's another thing I really enjoy.
• 21:54
  And I think I got into surfing more recently in the last couple of years.
• 21:59
  And what I love about that is I literally can't think about anything else.
• 22:02
  So when I'm running, I'm solving.
• 22:04
  I'm thinking through, you know, things at Sharesies or family things or for myself, whatever it might be.
• 22:09
  But when I'm surfing, I'm literally like, oh, should I be here?
• 22:11
  Oh, what's that?
• 22:12
  Oh, my gosh, is this a big seat coming in?
• 22:13
  You know, like I'm just only thinking about.
• 22:16
  Yeah, and I think it's kind of like a form of meditation for me.
• 22:21
  My life, like I don't have as much routine and structure and I travel a bit that gym doesn't work for me, but I am trying to figure out how to incorporate a bit more strength.
• 22:29
  And then nutrition, this sounds like, you know, it's going to really match my accent, but I do have pretty much like a kiwi fruit a day.
• 22:36
  It's full of like great nutrients.
• 22:40
  Yeah.
• 22:40
  And I do think about like just making sure I'm, you know, putting some good stuff in.
• 22:45
  I've got a massive sweet tooth though.
• 22:47
  So, yeah.
• 22:48
  And I just, and then time with friends, like social connections are a big part of your health and wealth too.
• 22:53
  So, yeah, that's a little taste of some of the things I think about.
• 22:59
  I love that.
• 23:00
  And I think it's like, I mean, it goes back to the compounding factor, but I think it's also something that we really overlook is like the stuff that is, is like the basics and the easy stuff is actually the really hard stuff to nail.
• 23:12
  So like getting a sleep routine and a wind down routine, it sounds really easy, but it's so hard to be consistent.
• 23:19
  And it's so hard to like lock into that.
• 23:21
  Do you have any kind of like,
• 23:24
  out-of-the-box rituals or protocols that are maybe a little bit more unconventional that you're like, oh, I swear by this, even if it's not scientifically proven kind of thing?
• 23:34
  Well, it feels like what is unconventional to hear from a founder is like, I really value my sleep.
• 23:43
  Like I've always been a big sleeper.
• 23:45
  Like I will sleep seven, minimum seven, probably more like nine hours a night.
• 23:49
  Like I love it.
• 23:51
  I always have...
• 23:52
  Um, I could like fall asleep on an airplane.
• 23:54
  I've just always loved it.
• 23:57
  I'm probably a bit more of a, um, you know, like a pigeon than a night owl or, you know, a morning person, even though like my alter ego is a really good morning person, just a day, just a day bird.
• 24:08
  I don't know.
• 24:09
  I'm like, I'm like not a late night person or an early morning person.
• 24:13
  I'm like, I need a lot of sleep.
• 24:14
  Yeah.
• 24:15
  Yeah.
• 24:15
  Um, but I think you don't hear that enough.
• 24:17
  And especially when I was starting, I think it's starting to change now, but it did feel like, Oh, you just got to work all hours.
• 24:23
  And, you know, um, and the, I've found is that that really works for, they just don't need sleep.
• 24:28
  But I know that I do.
• 24:29
  Do you have a specific like wind down routine?
• 24:32
  Like, do you read before bed?
• 24:33
  Do you have an eight sleep?
• 24:34
  Do you use an aura ring?
• 24:36
  Like what, or what are your kind of like signals to your brain?
• 24:39
  Like, okay, I mean, or do you disconnect from your phone before bed?
• 24:42
  Like that kind of stuff.
• 24:44
  Yeah, I need to probably have better before bed, you know, like going to bed rituals and practices.
• 24:49
  But the one thing I do is I always check my Garmin when I wake up to be like, was that a good sleep?
• 24:55
  And like say this morning, right, I flew here, so I needed to get up around 4 a.m.
• 25:00
  So I was like, OK, well, I was really trying to force myself to go to sleep because I do have a bad habit that if I start watching a TV series, I have to clock it.
• 25:09
  It's like I just have to.
• 25:12
  And I know that about myself, so I'm always like, don't do it.
• 25:15
  Don't do it, Brooke, you know.
• 25:17
  So I do need to watch that before going to bed.
• 25:18
  But I always, like, check my watch, go like, did I clock it?
• 25:22
  How's my training today?
• 25:24
  Do you think to yourself before you check it, how do you actually feel before you see the data?
• 25:28
  I do, I do.
• 25:29
  And then sometimes I'm like, oh, if I'm feeling good, should I check it, you know?
• 25:32
  Yeah.
• 25:33
  But, no, sometimes it's mostly the inverse.
• 25:34
  I'm like, oh, I don't know if that was good.
• 25:36
  And then it would be like, it was great.
• 25:37
  And I was like, perfect, I'm great, you know.
• 25:39
  It is a placebo effect.
• 25:41
  Reassured.
• 25:41
  Yeah.
• 25:42
  It's actually like it was in the, I like reading the New Scientist magazine every now and then.
• 25:46
  And there was literally a statement about that, about how you kind of can just trick yourself.
• 25:51
  And so I wonder if Garmin's just doing that to me.
• 25:53
  Yeah.
• 25:53
  Yeah.
• 25:54
  I found like recently, so my husband and I, we stopped watching TV at nighttime and put our phones away.
• 26:00
  And it has made the single biggest difference to my life and my spirit in the mornings.
• 26:04
  As someone who was like forever been tired, forever had like tired related issues.
• 26:09
  Yeah.
• 26:09
  Okay.
• 26:10
  when I think it was around day 30 and then especially by day 80, we were like, it just really changed my soul and my spirit.
• 26:18
  And then I was looking into like what actually happens with your alpha beta, like blah, blah, blah waves.
• 26:23
  And what actually happens when you are watching those things.
• 26:26
  And it like classically is at nighttime where you then re bring yourself back up.
• 26:30
  So then it's so hard to bring yourself back down by the time you go to bed.
• 26:34
  And it's like such an interesting thing that again, is so simple, but once you understand what happens in your body,
• 26:40
  And how TV like specifically like really gets your brain back into like full firing mode.
• 26:45
  You're like, oh, no wonder like that kind of leaves you with the tired, wired feeling.
• 26:49
  And like it's harder to kind of like fall into the right sleep.
• 26:54
  I don't even know how to explain it.
• 26:55
  But it changed my spirit in the mornings.
• 26:58
  I wake up and I'm like ready to get up.
• 27:00
  Amazing.
• 27:00
  But recently we've started watching a movie on the weekends and it's like put me back into the.
• 27:05
  I then am like more addicted to watching.
• 27:06
  I'm like, oh, I want to watch something.
• 27:08
  Yeah.
• 27:08
  Yeah.
• 27:09
  And also sleep is so important for memory and recall.
• 27:12
  And so I think that's something we don't think about too.
• 27:14
  Actually, it's our brain just cleansing itself and getting ready for the next day.
• 27:18
  Yeah.
• 27:19
  Oh, yeah.
• 27:19
  Yeah.
• 27:19
  Wish we learned this stuff earlier.
• 27:21
  But anyway.
• 27:23
  We didn't prioritize it back then.
• 27:24
  We didn't prioritize it.
• 27:26
  I feel like at the beginning of like when I started, you know,
• 27:31
  kind of building for myself and this kind of chapter of my life, it was much more of the like hustle culture, whereas now it is more of a health-focused culture that is caring for the brain and caring for, you know, how you're operating versus like work till you die mode.
• 27:46
  Yeah.
• 27:46
  Yeah.
• 27:47
  When you talk about the structural changes, what do you wish will change or what do you think needs to change, you know, in your lifetime to see that real systemic kind of move towards...
• 28:00
  gender balance on investment yeah knowledge there's a lot we could be doing uh I mean if we're starting now it is really with any children in our lives like how can we if that if you're a
• 28:15
  really good friend to somebody who's got kids you know like how can we help make sure that they are best set up really early and um being able to put money away because again time is the most valuable aspect of money and you know everything you know and that ability to get compounding early is so massive in terms of opportunities they could have later in their life so how can we enable that for more would be awesome um and then in terms of structures at the moment there's so it's
• 28:41
  We face it every day in the way that we work at Sharesies or when we're trying to launch something new, you'll just see something that the way the system is set up or the way that you have to interconnect with others or even sometimes the regulation just makes it that much harder.
• 28:56
  What's an example?
• 28:57
  So like an example is fractionalization.
• 29:00
  So...
• 29:02
  yes no I'm getting into it it's going to be fun what does that mean so before you know we started in Australia and New Zealand predominantly if you want to buy some of a company or a fund that's on this stock exchange you need to buy a full share
• 29:21
  And, you know, that share could be $30 or something.
• 29:24
  And that makes it really difficult to be able to, it could be $150, it could be $5, it could be $0.02.
• 29:29
  And so, you know, first off, then you've got somebody having to go, okay, well, I want to buy some of this and I want to, so I need to know, well, how much shares do I want to buy of that?
• 29:36
  And, you know, it's a different way of investing and using your money compared to, hey, I want to be putting away money.
• 29:43
  a hundred bucks a week or whatever it might be.
• 29:45
  Um, and I want to put it into these investments and then that's just done.
• 29:48
  And that's a way normalized, that's a way more normalized behavior.
• 29:51
  Um, or like I just want to put in $20 into this company or 10,000 into this investment, whatever it might be into these funds.
• 29:59
  And, um,
• 30:00
  And I think that is why fractionalization is really important because it enables people to easily put amounts they want to, learnt behavior that we've had with money for years, but also helps with that auto setup and that ability to put money away every payday, which again is a really great financial habit to have.
• 30:19
  And so…
• 30:20
  At the core of it, fractionalisation is a really important part of that.
• 30:23
  And so we've had to work really hard with regulators in New Zealand and Australia in order to bring that to life, which we have, which is cool.
• 30:28
  But that is one example, I guess, of just where we see how there's ways that we could be working together better as an industry or providing more opportunities for people in a way that just connects with how we like to operate, you know, online.
• 30:45
  What's the split of, like, gender for your users?
• 30:49
  So we made a call really early on that we wouldn't ask people questions we don't need to know.
• 30:54
  So we've never asked.
• 30:56
  We've done some surveys every now and then, but you can kind of tell through Google Analytics.
• 31:01
  And it seems to be about 50-50.
• 31:04
  Yeah.
• 31:04
  And do you kind of like then think about like how your marketing and like the language and everything you're using to attract female customers, even if you're not specifically asking them versus like, like, I guess I'm asking through the lens of when we know the research and we know there are systemic fundamental problems, does that then influence how you build and acquire a certain type of user?
• 31:25
  Like if I were to wager a guess and I was to think about an app like
• 31:31
  Robin Hood in the US, my guess would be that it is male skewed.
• 31:36
  Yeah.
• 31:36
  I don't know that for a fact.
• 31:37
  Yeah, yeah.
• 31:37
  But I'm wondering whether that influences kind of how you build.
• 31:41
  It definitely, like when we first started looking at designing sharesies, we talked to
• 31:46
  hundreds of people and learned that there were three big things that were leaving them out, which is they felt like they needed heaps of money to get them started.
• 31:53
  They felt like they needed to know everything and be following the market.
• 31:56
  And mostly they felt it's just not for me, like, and branded out.
• 31:59
  And so we knew we needed to create a brand that was for everyone.
• 32:02
  Now, for Sharesies, like, we needed to also make sure it was for everyone.
• 32:05
  And so we needed to find we didn't want to create something that, like, made –
• 32:09
  you know, woman or anybody else feel like a different type of investor or a different class or something, you know, like, so needed to create a platform that really was someone for who's just getting started to people who have like millions and millions and millions of dollars on shares, you know, and that it can be in the same place.
• 32:24
  And no matter what, how much money you have and your experience, you're an investor, or you have the ability to develop wealth here.
• 32:31
  And that's really important for us.
• 32:33
  But we do do specific things like we've partnered with Victoria Devine from She's on the Money for Ages because, you know, really, in my other way, that she really fosters a community.
• 32:42
  Yeah, often we got when we started, people are like, oh, did you choose pink because you want to treat women?
• 32:48
  I was like, color has no gender, you know, a lot of guys and other people that like pink, too.
• 32:52
  And so, you know, that's not why, actually.
• 32:54
  It was like pink was very different to the blues and greens of the world, you know.
• 32:58
  Yeah, it stands out.
• 32:59
  And felt approachable.
• 33:00
  And that, oh, this could be for me.
• 33:02
  Yeah.
• 33:02
  Yeah.
• 33:03
  It's funny because when I look at like public forums talking about, you know, what you've built, you know, like on Reddit, the overwhelming kind of feedback that comes out is just how user friendly, you know, the experience is and just how easy it is.
• 33:16
  And it's not this complicated, jargon heavy kind of environment.
• 33:21
  So people are able to feel like, yes, this is for me.
• 33:24
  We care deeply about that too.
• 33:25
  And so if anyone uses Sharesis or has feedback, always, you know, keen to make sure we're...
• 33:31
  making sure that it is a really lovable experience.
• 33:34
  On the topic of family, I want to kind of merge into the bucket of wisdom and ask you about how it is building alongside your husband.
• 33:43
  You know, I work alongside my husband.
• 33:45
  I know a lot of our listeners also have their partners involved in their business.
• 33:48
  And I want to know kind of what it actually takes for you to build alongside him and kind of
• 33:56
  what you do to protect your relationship.
• 33:57
  Yeah.
• 33:58
  So look, it's all we've ever known, you know, we've been running Sheezys for nine years now.
• 34:03
  And, and so when people used to ask when we first started, like, how are you going to do this with your, you know, your fiance at the time or husband?
• 34:10
  And I was like, I don't know how we'd do without it.
• 34:12
  Like I need having somebody who's got this like shared consciousness, who understands all the things that we're both weighing up, you know, knows that, okay, I need to be here.
• 34:21
  So,
• 34:22
  you know, he's sorting out the kids at the moment and then vice versa.
• 34:24
  Like we've been able to have that shared context and understanding.
• 34:28
  If he was in more of a nine to five, probably drive him nuts and vice versa, you know?
• 34:33
  So I think it's, it works really well for us in that way.
• 34:36
  It's kind of all we've known.
• 34:38
  And, but thanks to protect it.
• 34:39
  We do just have this one thing we say, I don't want to talk about work anymore and it's just,
• 34:43
  Because sometimes I'm, you know, I may like, or like, you know, get home and I'm so excited about talking about this one thing or like resolve this thing and vice versa for him.
• 34:52
  But the other person might just be like, I've just given it all by and I just want to be here right now.
• 34:56
  Yeah.
• 34:57
  I'm tapped out.
• 34:58
  I'm tapped out.
• 34:59
  Yeah.
• 34:59
  Yeah.
• 35:00
  And then try, you know, I do try when I get home to put my phone away.
• 35:04
  So I'm really present with the kids because I think that's another part that's quite important.
• 35:08
  Yeah.
• 35:09
  And I get it right sometimes, but that's something that I think we both try and make sure we protect too.
• 35:15
  And then that enables, once you've created that space anyway, it just enables a bit of space for that you talk to.
• 35:20
  Something my husband and I did really early on was on WhatsApp, we started a specific work channel.
• 35:25
  So we also don't kind of pollute both just like our life discussion and our everyday stuff.
• 35:31
  And we can still kind of have this work channel that's like, cool, like, I don't know.
• 35:35
  I might need something immediately from you that's like not related to work.
• 35:38
  And then it gets buried with work stuff.
• 35:40
  So like if it's separate, having that kind of like two way communication zone means that
• 35:46
  our main, you know, group channel, whatever, is like always the first thing that's read kind of thing.
• 35:51
  Yes, that's nice.
• 35:52
  I think like for us helped a lot with the like just blurring everything into like a work conversation.
• 35:57
  Yeah.
• 35:58
  Yeah, I think for us that's kind of similar with Slack.
• 36:02
  Though sometimes if I know that he's going to respond faster to a text, I'll write text.
• 36:05
  I will go there.
• 36:07
  If it's like quick, like, hey, yeah, yeah.
• 36:10
  Something that is a big problem like in society, I definitely struggle with this and I know a lot of people struggle with this, maybe yourself included, is around comparison and that kind of comparison to others who are ahead of you or on a different journey.
• 36:24
  So I'm wondering like, you know, especially as a high achiever and from where you are now, do you still compare yourself to other people and how do you personally manage that kind of like relationship with yourself?
• 36:35
  Yeah.
• 36:36
  I've always found it really hard to answer, like, who's somebody you admire or who's, you know, your favorite blah, blah, blah.
• 36:42
  Because I've always, like, really admired different aspects of people or the skills they have or whatever.
• 36:48
  So, like, honestly, I've always competed with myself.
• 36:52
  Like, that's who I've always competed with.
• 36:54
  So it's like, am I making, like, my...
• 36:57
  Like, would my, the younger version of me be chuffed at?
• 37:01
  Am I, like, is my inner child happy right now?
• 37:03
  Am I, you know, how am I really helping, like, live the purpose that I want to?
• 37:09
  Like, I really compete internally.
• 37:11
  And so that's good and bad, you know, in terms of, I guess, how we started it with that founder mode, like, always thinking about what could improve on.
• 37:18
  But I love seeing other people succeed.
• 37:20
  I love it.
• 37:21
  Like, I, it's so cool.
• 37:24
  I think people see things sometimes as a zero-sum game or they have that and I need this.
• 37:29
  Especially in finance.
• 37:30
  Yeah.
• 37:31
  And it's not, and also, and so it's really important, like, that's awesome.
• 37:35
  Teach me how you did that.
• 37:36
  How, you know, what, you know, like I love seeing people really succeed and live their purpose.
• 37:42
  It just like, what, I just get so proud of it.
• 37:45
  Like.
• 37:46
  Are you chuffed at yourself now?
• 37:48
  And when you think about your inner child, are you like, yeah?
• 37:50
  Or are you like, nah, when I hit that billion, I'm going to be there?
• 37:55
  Yeah, I think.
• 37:56
  Well, I wrote a list of things that I wanted to do by the time I was 30.
• 38:01
  And it's really cool to reflect on that list.
• 38:03
  And I did a lot of them.
• 38:06
  When did you write the list?
• 38:07
  When I was 17 years old.
• 38:08
  What's on the list?
• 38:09
  It was like, you know...
• 38:12
  So cool.
• 38:12
  It was.
• 38:13
  As a 17-year-old to be like, I'm going to write this list.
• 38:15
  But it was like, you know, find somebody that you're really, that like brings it the best in you.
• 38:23
  Have a, you know, have a family.
• 38:26
  Never...
• 38:27
  prioritize anything above your like family including like you know others in my family uh it had like become a successful businesswoman hire people smarter than me uh like all of these things it was like it was a very random list you give back to the um local community like it was a become a billionaire never had that never no money intention whatsoever no it was like really about like
• 38:51
  Drive.
• 38:52
  I've always had an internal drive, I think.
• 38:54
  Why do you think you're like that?
• 38:55
  And why do you think at 17 you were like, I'm going to like write out my list of things pre-30 as well.
• 39:00
  It's a very specific like decade.
• 39:02
  I think if I'm honest, I think at that time there was someone really important in my life that was about to pass away.
• 39:11
  And I think it made me very aware of like the intention of life and, and just the importance of like the time you have.
• 39:19
  And I can imagine that was a bit of the catalyst.
• 39:22
  Also last year at school, you know, everything felt like very monumentous in a way of like, I need to like be really intentional about my future.
• 39:30
  Do you still have the list?
• 39:32
  Yep.
• 39:32
  Yeah.
• 39:33
  That is so cool.
• 39:34
  It's the worst handwriting.
• 39:35
  No one else can read it.
• 39:37
  I wonder if like getting your kids to write their lists, you know, at certain like ages or whatever, it would be so cool to have like the collection of those, even for yourself and your partner, like over your lifetime, you know, when you're looking back and you're 60 and you look at your list of what you wanted to achieve by 60 and how it changes.
• 39:55
  Yeah.
• 39:55
  It would be so interesting.
• 39:56
  I'm actually trying to figure out the one for the next, the next, you know.
• 40:00
  what's on that decades oh i'm still figuring it out still figuring it out okay there's a it's a work in progress but i think what you said like my definition of success as a parent is like i would hope in one way is like i hope i don't have to ask them to write that list they're writing it you know they're like hey mom this is what you know that would be cool whether got the intrinsic motivation um yeah that would be something to be really proud of love that
• 40:24
  So we have a couple of questions from our, we call them our FSC fangirls.
• 40:28
  So our loyal listeners from the show.
• 40:31
  Hey, Alex and Minnie were both really wanting to kind of understand your really deep North Star.
• 40:36
  And I know we touched on it at the beginning, but I want to go back to your deep why and what keeps getting you like out of bed every single day to keep building this business and like dedicate like your life and your time and your energy and your brain power to it.
• 40:51
  I really love our purpose and what we're set up to do.
• 40:53
  And I think it's weird when I look back on my career and how I –
• 40:59
  And life, like I didn't realize all of these moments were leading to this and that this was be something like that.
• 41:04
  I have some knowledge and connections and ultimate like vision for that really do want to help create financial empowerment for everyone.
• 41:13
  And with the founding team, the six of us that founded Shares East, five others, and then, you know, there's like 250 of us at Shares East now.
• 41:19
  So it's just like all of this incredible energy and intellect we get to work with every day to help bring that to life.
• 41:26
  Um, and, you know, to continue to create the change so that, you know, when you read that stat up about the amount of women investing, like that's a hundred percent, like, you know, we all are, you know, I'd love that.
• 41:38
  Or we're all feeling like we can, um, take control of our financial futures and, um, have the freedom to inflexibility, live the lives we want.
• 41:46
  That's, uh, you know, be a drop in that ocean.
• 41:49
  I'd be chuffed.
• 41:50
  Yeah.
• 41:50
  Yeah.
• 41:50
  What a cool, like, you know, life mission and purpose to be on.
• 41:54
  It's like such a critical part of all of our lives and money obviously makes the world go round.
• 41:59
  And it's so cool to like, you know, see women like yourself who are really like building these big juicy visions that change the lives of so many people.
• 42:07
  So thank you for sharing that with me.
• 42:09
  And obviously, congrats.
• 42:11
  Next question is from Priya and she wanted to know like what your biggest learning has been from a failure or a setback in the business.
• 42:19
  And like, if you could only choose one, like a big one, what was it and what did you learn?
• 42:25
  I remember there was this big decision we needed to make.
• 42:28
  And I won't go into the decision, but I remember like,
• 42:31
  the repercussions of it being pretty hard.
• 42:34
  And this is years ago now.
• 42:37
  And I needed to sit with it all summer.
• 42:40
  And I call it my sad girl summer.
• 42:41
  It was like really difficult.
• 42:43
  I play out experiences in my head of like, oh, how could this go?
• 42:48
  And what would happen?
• 42:48
  Projection.
• 42:49
  Yeah, kind of, you know.
• 42:50
  The forecast.
• 42:51
  Yes.
• 42:51
  And so I was thinking about everybody impacted, potentially impacted by decision.
• 42:56
  And then I really went deep.
• 42:59
  And what I learned, I think, and it's a saying here quite a bit at She's Now, it's like, it never is as bad, it's never as good as you think.
• 43:06
  And so when times are really bad, it's like needing to tell yourself it's probably not as bad as you think, you know, and like try to get objective.
• 43:12
  And if things are really good, it's not as good as you think.
• 43:13
  Like there's probably, you know, you need to probably watch something else, you know.
• 43:16
  But I think I –
• 43:19
  what I would say to myself is like just be a little bit um kind of to yourself in those moments too and then um and just go it's probably not as bad as you think yeah and also I think it is a superpower being able to think through those um implications and then make sure that you create a really good plan around that so it's kind of helpful but
• 43:38
  Yeah.
• 43:39
  This too shall pass.
• 43:40
  Yeah.
• 43:41
  When things are bad.
• 43:42
  Yes.
• 43:43
  And last, last question, the collected wisdom to leave us with, what is the best piece of wisdom you've collected in your lifetime that you can share to, you know, the women who are listening to the podcast today?
• 43:56
  You know, I, I do kind of come back to that where there's a, where there's a way, but I,
• 44:02
  There's something I've been thinking about recently.
• 44:04
  I went to this comedy show and it was actually a movie by this comedian.
• 44:11
  And she did this whole movie about how her relationship with her body and how awful she's been, or like in her words, like awful she's been to it over the years and not really recognizing the power and beauty in it in terms of being able to.
• 44:27
  you know, raised her children or like, you know, the things that it's enabled her in her life.
• 44:33
  And she's done it in a really funny, interesting way.
• 44:36
  I think it's Morgana O'Reilly.
• 44:37
  So she was on White Lotus.
• 44:40
  But she goes through it in a really interesting way.
• 44:43
  But it talks about how often, you know, I'm not sure.
• 44:48
  I think she used mostly women's stats.
• 44:50
  But for women, we just think quite negatively about ourselves and our bodies and the amount of negative thoughts we have.
• 44:56
  And it's just like, I would just love people to get rid of that.
• 44:58
  Like what wasted energy?
• 45:00
  What if you just didn't waste your energy on that?
• 45:02
  Like what, does that improve your confidence so it doesn't peak at eight?
• 45:06
  Like, can you think about different things?
• 45:08
  You know, like how can we just be way kinder to ourselves?
• 45:11
  And so I think, you know, I could imagine a lot of people that are listening to this and are striving and ambitious and want to be perfect.
• 45:16
  And like, you know, it's just like, man, you already are.
• 45:19
  You already are perfect.
• 45:20
  You know, what if we approached every day like that?
• 45:24
  Man, I just think we could unlock a lot more in ourselves.
• 45:29
  I love that.
• 45:29
  I'm going to put that on a post-it note on my mirror.
• 45:32
  I am perfect already.
• 45:34
  Yes, you are.
• 45:35
  I am already perfect.
• 45:36
  You're 100% are.
• 45:38
  This was awesome.
• 45:39
  Thank you so much for joining me on the podcast and congratulations on all your success.
• 45:44
  What an honor.
• 45:45
  Thank you.
• 45:46
  Thanks so much for having me.