Interview: CEO of Blackbullion, Vivi Friedgut
We caught up with Vivi Friedgut to discuss all things financial education and well-being.
Vivi is on a mission to make financial education accessible to everyone. She is the CEO of an award-winning EdTech company that partners with universities and employers to help young people take better control of their money.
We highlighted the topic of “Why Financial Education Should Be Taught from Birth.” The immediate rewards as well as the long-term benefits.
According to Top Universities, there are “80% of UK Students Struggling Financially Due To COVID-19.”
Vivi benefited from learning about money on the dinner table and investing at a young age, something not common for most.
In this interview, we explored the journey of Vivi’s success, challenges, passion, and desire to drive change in the financial industry.
“I started my first business when I was 6.”
Tell me about your business and your core mission?
I’m Vivi – I’m the founder of Blackbullion – an award-winning start-up on a mission to empower millions of students to create a better financial future. If you imagine wall street, sesame street and Netflix having a baby – you’d have our financial well-being platform!
Tell me about your journey: What gave you the impetus to start your own business?
I started my first business when I was 6, so I guess you can say I was born to do this. My obsession with financial well-being has probably been around since about the same time. I started because the stars aligned – the timing was right; I had some spare capital after being made redundant, and I had run out of patience waiting for others to deal with it.
What scares you most about the future, and what excites you the most?
We’re in growth mode – that’s both thrilling and terrifying!
What did you learn about money growing up, and how has this impacted your financial journey?
I was blessed to learn about money around the dinner table – I made my first stock purchase at 15 – so it’s 100% impacted my financial journey. So much so that I wrote my first book to help parents help their kids get money smart.
How do you maintain a balance between your finances and well-being?
Maintaining financial well-being is core to my overall well-being. The idea that money can’t buy happiness is, IMHO, crap.
How do you define money?
Money gives me the freedom to build the life I want.
How do you define success? And how has it changed who you are as a person?
For me, success rests on several pillars – having healthy relationships with those I care about, being personally secure and safe through financial resilience and leaving the planet in better shape than when I came in. If I can do all those things, then it was a successful and meaningful life.
What gets you out of bed every morning and keeps you striving for success?
Serving my team and leading them to greatness so we can achieve our mission.
What advice would you give to someone starting their financial journey?
Top advice is to think of yourself as an asset – grow, learn, and think about the opportunity cost of your decisions.
If you would like to learn more about Blackbullion, you can listen to the audio podcast here. Look out for our next interview with another amazing guest shortly and SUBSCRIBE for updates and new content notifications and receive a FREE copy of Your Financial Checklist Workbook.
