You can work all your life to fill up your bank accounts, but this would be all for naught if you are not making smart decisions on actually spending them. Women often find themselves in such a dilemma, mainly because of unfair social constructs and stereotypes, and what they need is the right guidance towards financial empowerment. Financial advisors Heidi Roman and Iyanda Channer-Newman are on a mission to help their fellow women be smarter and bolder in managing and using their money. Joining Dr. Sylvia Morris and Dr. Angela Walker, they share their most valuable tips, from putting potential financial advisors in “auditions,” investing as early as you can, to paying attention to interest rates when getting federal loans.
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Financial Empowerment With Heidi Roman & Iyanda Channer-Newman
Build Your Dream Team
We are talking about all things money. It’s one of our favorite subjects, not because we are money-hungry but because it’s an integral part of our lives in every way, how we function, how we move in the world, and how we take care of our families. We specifically have two wonderful guests talking about wealth building and women’s financial wealth empowerment. Iyanda Channer-Newman and Heidi Roman are both fantastic financial advisors and planners of all things health and wealth. Before we get into our guests, Sylvia, tell me a little bit about one of the topics that came up, which was the fear attached to financial health and wealth, and the fears of money – having it, not having it, what to do with it, how to invest, and all those things. It’s a big broad topic.
I’m feeling you because there are a lot of myths in society that say that women aren’t good with money or women cannot manage their own finances. We need someone else or an outside entity to manage our money. It could be a husband, partner, or some person. My favorite expression is “No money, no honey.” We know that money allows us to do the things that we love with the people we love. That’s important.
I think about my own personal fears with money. When my mom died, I was like, “I have this nest egg. How do I make it grow?” I was a medical student. I had to seek help. I got my first financial planner, and the rest is history. One of our coauthors, Dr. Jessica Osborne, helped me identify a financial planner who works mainly with physicians and attorneys but had to help to chart my path forward. I’m on my second financial planner. What about you? Talk to us about some of your money stressors, goals, or thoughts.
When about finances, back to when I was in high school and got my first job. I was fifteen. I guess I was supposed to be 16, but I got hired at 15.
Work permit, we’ll say.
My mom took me to the local bank. I got my bank account. I had to put my money in the bank account. Before I went to medical school, I worked briefly in pharmaceutical sales. I managed my money well, living on my own with my first job. I had some money in a 401(k). Unfortunately, when I left to go to medical school, I took that money out because we didn’t generate an income until much later.
We’re going to learn about the value of money, $10,000, in 1998 and its value in 2025. Stay tuned.
As I’m always transparent, along the way, I always felt we needed a financial advisor. We’ve always been secure. There has not been a struggle. Thanks be to God. I’ve always known I needed to be talking to somebody who knows what they’re doing in terms of investing. My husband and I have made some smart moves along the way, but we didn’t have a financial planner until within the last ten years.
Which you don’t know.
That’s right. Now, I do. That’s why having these women on is so essential and crucial. I’m excited for our audience to hear and to share. If I could say anything out of this episode it is that if you don’t have a financial planner, unless you are one yourself, seek one. Iyanda even mentioned that she has her own. If you don’t have one, seek one because some of the money moves I could have made earlier in my career would have made a difference.
When we know better, we do better.
When we know better, we can share that knowledge with others. That’s what we hope to do here. Without further ado, let’s get to the people who are going to show us the money. You would want to call them doctors because they are doctors in their own right for what they are imparting in financial health. Iyanda Channer-Newman and Heidi Roman.
We are super excited because we have not one but two guests. It’s the first time we have a duo on the show. We have financial gurus. We want to welcome to the show Heidi Roman and Iyanda Channer-Newman. Welcome to the show.
Thank you. It’s great to meet you.
Financial Advisors Heidi And Iyanda
We were so excited that you all took us up on the invitation to be here. For lack of better words, I’m calling you money women because that’s what you do. That’s what you’re gifted and the knowledge that you impart. Iyanda, we met at a Georgetown function. I marveled at the panel that you were on. It was very clear that you were passionate about your work and not only helping individuals but the community in general, passing on knowledge in terms of financial health, wealth, and all of those things. We’re going to start off with some of our basics because it’s nice to know who you are and where you started from. I’ll start with you, Iyanda, and ask you what you wanted to be when you were growing up.
From when I was eight years old, I wanted to be an attorney. It didn’t pan out that way, but I’m very happy with my decision because now I serve a lot of attorneys. People joke, “You’re an attorney by association.” I remember when I told my family, “I’m going to do finance,” they were like, “No.” I’m Jamaican. You can be one of three things. You can be an engineer, a doctor, or a lawyer. “Are you going to med school?” I was like, “No.”
How about you, Heidi?
My story was a little bit more different. I wanted to be an archaeologist when I was a kid because I love history and the idea of traveling. I then learned how the process of becoming an archaeologist and how they don’t make that much money in the beginning. I ended up focusing on international business. Somehow, I ended up in fashion, and then I pivoted into finance.
Hence, the pink jacket. Heidi, how did you get into finance?
I knew I wanted to pivot into finance after I taught myself how to trade. I learned how many things I wasn’t doing that I could have been doing.
Did You teach yourself how to trade in stocks?
Precisely in options, which is a little bit more complicated than stocks.
You might want to tell us what the option is.
An option is a contract on a particular stock. Essentially, you’re trading so that the stock is going to go up or the stock is going to go down. That said, the contracts are for a hundred shares per contract. Typically, if you buy a share of Microsoft, you’re buying one singular share at a time unless you’re buying multiple single shares. Whereas an option allows you to buy contracts. Each contract consists of 100 shares of that stock. Very high-level overview of what that is, but it’s riskier because you can hold the stock forever. Whereas with option, it’s guided by a certain period of time. Maybe you’re betting that the stock is going to go up in three months and it doesn’t, then you’re going to lose everything because the contract does expire.
If it goes up, it’s high risk, high reward.
Yeah.
Can I go back to the fact that you learned this on your own?
I did. I taught myself how to trade and how to trade options. I was looking back at all my assets and I recognized that there was so much that I didn’t know. Through the grace of God, I met someone who became my mentor, Marie. She was the former president of Citicorp. She guided me through this process. I am where I am because of her seeing something in me that I didn’t recognize at that time.
We’re going to put a pin in that because I want us to make sure that we talk about how you connect it with the former president of Citicorp. Iyanda, how did you get into finance?
I did not have a linear path to finance. When I graduated, I ended up in capital markets, working directly with hedge funds, portfolio managers, and so on.
I’m going to be the interruption queen because there’s a lot of nomenclature that I know that we hear out. It’s in the lexicon. For us lay people or non-money people, what is a hedge fund?
A hedge fund is an institution where it is very high risk. They work with accredited investors. Think of people who are multimillionaires. It’s higher risk, higher reward. Their deal is like, “You give us your money, and we’ll beat the market by using these complex innovative ways.” It is very high demanding and very quick turnover. Think of Citadel, Tiger Global, and companies like that. I worked directly with their hedge fund portfolio managers or the people who are running the portfolios where they have all these dollars of their clients.
Within two months, I was like, “This is not for me.” I saw it as a vehicle for me to stack and save, as they say, for my first startup company. Both my parents are entrepreneurs. When I told them I wanted to transition out and do my own thing, they were like, “Go.” I was able to tie into my Jamaican heritage and culture. I started this company called Infused Co. We’re an eCommerce platform for hair oil and Jamaican castor oil that we ship in from Jamaica, different blends, and sell them.
After that, I was like, “Maybe I’m going to go into venture capitalism.” My friend was also a Georgetown Hoya and was the Chief Business Officer of this startup company at the time, Ivy Camps USA. She was like, “You’re good with startups. Come and do the same thing you did with yours for mine.” That was pretty interesting because it’s very different to look at the financials of a startup company versus a hedge fund, which is already a traditional financial institution.
I pulled the thread and I was like, “The one thing I like about all of these is the numbers.” I didn’t like the first function of finance, and the startup was not as liquid and was very volatile, to say the least. I was like, “I need to find my function.” Fast forward, the managing director of this office here is also a Hoya. As you can see, it’s a common thread. I love my Hoyas. It was divine timing. I finished up my startup projects, and I was like, “What’s next?”
Milan Suri messaged me, and he’s like, “I think you should come back to finance.” I was like, “I don’t know if I like finance.” He said, “You like finance, you just don’t like that function of finance.” That’s when my wheels started turning. He was like, “This is everything that you shared with me that you wanted,” because I told him I wanted to be around people who had integrity and were ambitious. I wanted to do good and make money. I don’t think they have to be exclusive. That was a huge tenement for me and being able to impact my community, but then also the generations to come after that. I was like, “Let’s do it.” Now, here we are.
Managing Educational Debt While Saving Money
I do believe I can learn anything if I put my mind to what you all are doing. No, I cannot. I need some basics. I’m going to assume some in our audience are the same. I’m going to ask some questions that are simple and basic. One of them is having financial or educational debt. Can you tell us how you would manage educational debt while saving at the same time? Some of us who have gone to professional school will have that coming out.
There is a lot of information available online, but they are very general. Your financial needs are different than other people, and you are not making the same amount of money as them. Share on XThis is a common thing we see with a lot of our professionals. My rule of thumb is to look at the interest rate. Anything above 10%, we consider, “This is a lot higher.” Anything below 8%, that’s great. It depends also on what matters to them. If your interest rate is below 8%, there shouldn’t be a huge sense of urgency to pay that down or what we would say as aggressively. Student loan debt is good debt, and credit card debt is bad debt. It’s good debt on your balance sheet. I know it doesn’t feel that way, but it is.
Tell us why it’s good.
It’s good debt because the government looks at you as an outstanding citizen. You’re trying to invest in your education. That’s why federal loans are a lot lower, interest rate-wise. You’ll get 5% to 8%, which is good. For example, I’m working with a lawyer who is going into her second year. She has a significant amount of debt. However, they’re all from 5% to 7%. Based on what she shared with us, the strategy we created for her is she pays the minimum, and what she does with the excess dollars, she’s putting into the market.
When you look at it, the market performed 28% last year. If you didn’t have it on the market, you missed out. Equities alone, at the very least, will give you 10% back on your investment. When we’re thinking about how to pay this down, it’s not about being aggressive, it’s about being strategic. With lower interest rates, you can pay the minimum, use the difference and invest, take that, and pay it down more aggressively, then you’ll have more to spread around.
If it is usually a higher interest rate, we do have a strategy to pay that down efficiently, but we also want to make sure that you’re not cash-poor at the end of the day. That’s probably offsetting some of that in some other vehicles. It depends. Some people like permanent life insurance policies because of how they work. It doesn’t work like your regular term policies would work.
It’s like, “I get a death benefit.” With a permanent life insurance policy, it’s like a nesting egg. You’ll have access to dollars while you’re alive, which are also tax-free. There are no limitations as far as what you can put in and what you can take out. There are a bunch of different vehicles, but I would say the rule of thumb is to keep it very simple. If it’s below 8%, do the minimums and find a vehicle or speak to someone to put your money into something that can garner you a return.
Getting The Right Financial Advisor
Heidi, speaking to someone who has financial knowledge that you can trust, maybe someone is starting out early in their career, how do they know who to talk to to get reliable safe information?
The question is if you’re starting off and you might not be as aware or rather well-versed in this area, who can you be speaking with to get that information from someone that you trust and can rely on? Did I hear that right?
Yes, and then also for newer investors. Perhaps your family has a history of saving at a bank or in CDs, more seemingly safe traditional methods, but you don’t have an investment account, you don’t have a broker, and those things.
I believe that we don’t know what we don’t know. Finances, to begin with, are enveloped with a lot of fear and a lot of shame sometimes. It’s a fear of being judged by the fact that maybe there are items or assets that you could include in your portfolio that will garner perhaps a higher return. I always tell people that the first rule of thumb would be to have a conversation with a financial advisor.
Look for someone that you know in your area because it’s possible that someone you trust has a financial advisor that they’re currently speaking with. Make sure that they are a fiduciary. A fiduciary is a financial professional who has taken a vow and actual certification to ensure that anything that they recommend is in your best interest. There’s also a bit of a misconception between an asset manager and an advisor.
Typically, a wealth manager is going to say, “Let me take your money, and I’ll invest that money.” It’s worth understanding how the costs are structured between the two, whereas an advisor is always going to lead with a financial plan. They’re going to be looking at what your hopes and goals are, and then formulate a strategy that’s going to get you to that goal seamlessly.
That’s the first area where I would start to get a little bit more well-versed in this topic. There’s a lot of information available to us online, which is great, especially for younger adults. The challenge is that these topics tend to be very general. Your needs might be different from Sylvia’s needs. Even if on paper you guys are making the same amount of money, your goals are going to differ.
When you empower a woman, you empower a village. Share on XThe strategy that may work for Sylvia may not work for you, Angela. Hence, the great benefit of having a financial advisor that you can work with and grow with because these are going to be long-term relationships that you build. We have an accountant. We have everything else. An advisor is somebody who is going to be one of the top three individuals in your life and in your future.
This is a simple question that I don’t know the answer to. The two of you are in Georgia. Can I use a financial advisor from New York? Can I use someone from California? Are there state laws that come into play in terms of certain investment opportunities?
The short answer is yes and no. Typically, an advisor that they’re brokering with has to broker it. For us, we choose to broker with Northwestern Mutual, for example. Now, Northwestern Mutual is going to have access and is going to be legally able to provide investment advice in the continental US and also Hawaii. If you’re in Atlanta and we are in New York, we can have a relationship. Through our brokerage firm, we have access to everybody legally to be able to provide financial advice to anybody in the US.
Why Women Struggle With Money Blindness
Iyanda, you talked about doing good but also making money. I know that part of your mission is women’s empowerment, wealth-building, and financial independence. As you work with women, what are some of the biggest financial mistakes that women make?
One is money blindness, which I would even coin and say is the next epidemic. If we don’t know how much we’re spending and we don’t know how much we’re saving, there’s not much financial planning that can be done. That’s the very first step. Self-awareness and self-management are two different things, but we cannot get to self-management until we’re self-aware. What I’ve found is that it’s very easy to be money blind in this era. You tap away on this phone, you don’t know how much is going on. I’ve had a lot of my clients switch back to traditional measures of having cash.
Cash in little envelopes works.
When you break 100, you feel that. “I have 100, now I have 20 or 10.” Versus I could tap away all day. Money blindness is one. Heidi touched a little bit about the fair. I work with some people and they are very good at saving and they’ll stash away, but they’ll never look at it, which I believe is another form of money blindness. What usually feeds that is fair or they’ve been told that finances isn’t their realm. I would disagree.
When I do meet with clients, one thing that I try to do is, as we’re going through this together, I want to ensure that they understand this as much as I do. My goal is when I’m done with you, I’ve left you better than I found you, and you can be a steward of your own finances, which is important. I feel like that’s where the empowerment comes in because you could give me your finances. I could go work on that plan, bring it back to you, and give you all that money, but if you don’t understand how that was done, how can you tell your daughter, your nieces, or your nephews?
This is another thing I’d say for a lot of women. I use this phrase a lot, “When you empower a woman, you empower a village,” which is amazing. That’s one of the pros because women are community builders. We’re the heart, I would say. What you’ll find is women tend to put themselves last in that equation, which is one of the cons. Because they are so focused on their village and they are also focused on their community, there’s a gap. They take care of themselves last or not at all.
Just like in health.
The power clouts are there. A part of when I’m meeting with them is, “Who’s taking care of you? Who’s making sure you’re fine? If you’re not taking care of yourself, how can you take care of the village?”
It’s interesting because even with women alone, we choose to hyper-focus on working with women because of the historical disparity of women’s involvement in finance. When we think about how, by the end of this decade, women are expected to control about $30 trillion, to me, it’s such a profound concept. This year alone, women are adding $5 trillion to that wealth annually.
Trillion with a T.
Even to Iyanda’s point, oftentimes, we connect with women and they’re not even looking at their money. It’s this sense of fear or inadequacy for some reason, even though the women that we are talking with are their bosses in their own right. They’re smart, multifaceted women. It’s a very curious case that we hope to reduce and minimize that gap between how women feel about finance, not just how they see it and how they activate it in their everyday lives.
Biggest Financial Myths That Hold Women Back
You guys are giving us pearls of wisdom here. I want to ask a question. I’m going to give you a little preface of my story. Whoever wants to go, maybe Heidi. I want to know some of the biggest financial mistakes or financial myths that hold women back. As a physician, I’ve had several practice situations. One was working for a company or a practice that didn’t have a 401(k) at the time.
I had been married since before medical school. My husband had a good job and great benefits for all of that. That was going well. When I look at money growth at the end of where we are, the period of time that I was not contributing to a 401(k) is so significant. I would imagine this is probably one of the areas that you would talk about. I didn’t realize that you could have a solo 401(k). I learned that later. I wonder if you can talk about some of the maybe financial myths that hold women back, but maybe address my situation. I don’t know how often you see that.
We see that quite often. Let’s start with the myths. For a lot of women, there’s this idea that they can run everything else except their finances. How can you figure that out on your own? Who knows? You’re both R&Ds. Clearly, you’re smart and capable.
We run our household. It’s interesting to me how we’re in charge of running the household, but we cannot run our own money.
There are layers that come with that. You’re getting into the workforce, and then you have this subconscious belief. I do believe that the mindset adds to this. You have this subconscious belief that finances are something that you let somebody else deal with, most notably men. That’s okay. To Iyanda’s point, how do we make you see that you need to become a steward in your own financial planning life?
If so, then maybe we would have advised, “Maybe your company is not allowing you to contribute to a 401(k), but let’s contribute to a Roth IRA.” We’ll explain to you the tax benefits of that. Once you start contributing or have the capacity through your employer to contribute to a 401(k), we’re still going to keep continuing to contribute to the Roth because, in the end, it’s going to be more tax efficient. Everything that’s going to be growing in the Roth is going to be tax deferred.
Ultimately, when it’s time for you to take out that money, it’s going to be tax-free money. Everything in your 401(k) is going to be taxed as ordinary income. The highest risk. From your point of a solo 401(k), it’s ideal when you are a business owner. Again, there are more tax implications to that. It sounds like, after that first part, you ended up going and working for another employer, which also adds to that benefit. It’s about understanding your experience, understanding the goal, building that strategy to meet that goal, and ultimately, fulfilling that vision.
Living For Today And Planning For The Future
We’re out, we’re making money, and we are doing all the things, the houses, the saving for our children’s education, cars, trips, and all of those things. Iyanda, how do we balance living for today but planning for the future?
This is where there are times when we’re good at being focused on what we need to achieve at the moment. We’re good at focusing on things that have a date. It’s essential and I strongly believe everyone should have a financial team so that they can figure out the things that you don’t plan for. There are things on our calendar that there are no dates on. It’s not on anyone’s bingo card for your relative to pass away. It’s not on your bingo card for someone to lose their house and have to come live with you, and now you have to offset prices and so on.
Some of my most successful clients, I’m part of probably 2 or 3 of their financial teams. It helps when you have not just one but a team of financial strategists that you can lean on. One thing that makes it special about that relationship is that you guys should be meeting annually because you can anticipate life changes, and as such, your plan should evolve and change with you.
You should have your financial advisor, you should have your CPA, and then maybe you have another financial strategist on the side and they should all be working together to ensure that your goals are still on par and that you can delegate, enjoy your life and know like, “I have these three people working together. Based on what they told me, if I keep on this track, I’m going to be successful. I can still go to the Bahamas three times a year. I can buy my new car and I’m always taken care of.”
To Heidi’s point, you don’t know what you don’t know. There’s also a myth that we have to figure out on our own, which is the furthest thing from the truth. I would suggest delegating, finding your team, and also auditioning them. I went through six FAs before I chose one. I’m a little picky. It’s important that you find the best financial advisor. Some might not be a good fit for you. Talk to different advisors, feel them out, allow them to give you the plan, and have your team set up so that when those things happen, you don’t have to panic. Nothing gives me greater joy than a client calling me and panicking. I’m like, “We don’t have to worry. We plan for this. You’re going to be fine.” I love it.
You need a financial advisor, a CPA, and a financial strategist who can work well together to ensure your goals are still on par. Share on XI called my financial planner in tears. That’s been 2016 or 2017. I had gone on ten interviews with this company that shall remain nameless. They finally called me after that tenth interview and said that I wasn’t a good fit. Now, it’s a blessing in disguise. I don’t have any money. My portfolio was sitting there, and she was like, “You’ll be fine. How much do you need?” I was like, “Okay.” Yes, I boohooed.
Doesn’t that make all the difference?
Advice For Newbies In The Financial Journey
It does. I’m going to circle to where we’re at this stage now. We do have some experience and echo having a financial advisor, and we’ve talked to even young students about doing that, particularly medical students, getting that in line now. Along that theme, if you’re early in your financial journey, let’s say in your 20s and your 30s, where do you begin? I’m thinking from the standpoint where I was at 23, I don’t have money to spend to give somebody to a financial advisor. What do you tell that person?
First of all, the earlier you start, the better because then you have more room for the compound effect, which is amazing. You get to put less and get more at the end because you have the element of time.
Can you elaborate a little bit on the compounding effect?
We know that when it comes to building wealth in the long term, two aspects are most important. There’s going to be putting money into something, and then there’s time. One is more important than the other. It’s not about how often you put or how much you put, it’s rather for how long. For example, in 1989, your parents had put $10,000 into the S&P. You wouldn’t have to put one more dollar into it. You just decided to reinvest the dividends year over year. Just doing calculations in my head briefly, you would have had close to $450,000 off of that $10,000.
$10,000 in 1989 to March of 2025, $400,000.
I might be off by a few digits, but yes.
The fact that you could do it in your head tells me you are the money lady.
You have to consider that in 1989, the S&P was about $300. Today, it is about $5,600. What’s happening is that year over year, that money is adding and it’s growing. Your interest is getting interest, and that money is getting reinvested. It’s growing, it’s buying more, and it’s worth more. When you’re a younger individual, you’re in your 20s, you don’t have a lot of money. You have debt. The bare minimum is going to make such a difference in the long term. Maybe you start with a simple Roth IRA. You can contribute up to $7,000. Maybe $7,000 is too much. Do $500. Something is better than nothing because, in the end, it is going to compound, and it’s going to be way more than what you expected and anticipated over the 30-year span before you tap into it.
Good advice. Even as simple as a Roth IRA for that.
The Roth is possibly the first route.
Time is the biggest factor is what I’m hearing. It also sounds like you would recommend that we not touch whatever vehicle. If we put it in a Roth IRA or even in a simple savings account, you’re like, “Put the money there and let it sit there. Don’t pull it out.”
Unless it’s a high-yield savings account, we will not recommend a regular savings account because your money is appreciating value.
It is like putting it underneath my mattress.
Precisely. We know long-term cash is going to be the riskiest asset to have because it loses value. It doesn’t even keep up with the rate of inflation. Maybe in the checking, you keep as much as you need for your monthly bills, everything else, high yield savings until you get a little bit more proficient on investment intelligence, then you take it from there.
How Women Can Support Other Women
You ladies are wonderful at what you do. We know that. I heard someone mention a mentor. As successful career women, what do you think about how leaders can better support women who are early in their careers? What could you have used? What can you use? How can we support you better?
I strongly believe in the lift-as-you-climb model. A lot of people believe that they cannot take on mentees or that they cannot help anyone until they’ve reached the peak of their careers. I would beg to differ because I feel like it’s important to make yourself a conduit for other people. Throughout my life, I’ve always had someone paying it forward to me.
It’s important that when you get in spaces with people, especially young girls who look like us, it’s important to extend the off-bridge. A lot of times, I take the initiative and I’m like, “I’d love to do coffee or what are you interested in? What are some things I can help you with?” I always offer, and I’m like, “This is my LinkedIn. If you want to connect with anyone, I’ll personally make those introductions.”
A lot of people are figuring it out. I know when I was younger, I thought I had to have this linear path, and it was mentors throughout every stage of my life throughout different verticals that were like, “That is a bunch of BS, there’s no such thing in your life.” You do need people that you can lean on and that can support you and connect you with other people. I pride myself on being a mass connector. If I know anyone in my network, that’s the first thing I’m offering up.
Who is someone you’d like to connect to? What are some things that you’re interested in? How can I make that possible for you? I found a lot of success in that. From them, coming back to me and being like, “I figured out this is not what I want to do, or this is exactly what I want to do, or this person can introduce me to this person.” Make the connections and go out of your way to speak with them, but let them know that you’re approachable and more than happy to help.
I love the idea of being a conduit for others. It’s how I feel mentorship should be.
I would also like to add to that. We’re starting off. To Iyanda’s point, we’re offering our resources because it’s so valuable. You don’t know how much of an impact you can have in somebody’s life even though you may feel like you’re not at the pinnacle. More than that, as an established career woman, it’s so gratifying when you see someone seeing something in you that maybe otherwise you would have missed.
To me, that’s my story. My mentor stopped me and she was like, “You should be doing this.” I thought, “Tell me more.” She took it upon herself. She did not need to share her resources or her time, but the fact that she felt compelled to extend her network, her experience, and her knowledge is something that I will always be grateful for. We don’t know how much a person can impact us until we try.
Leaping To The Next Opportunity
Thank you for sharing that. Heidi and Iyanda, you both have made leaps from one opportunity to the next. Could you both share your thought process on how you make the decision to move to the next opportunity?
My answer is going to be short. It’s through the grace of God. Never did I ever think that whatever my first step was would lead me to my second step, to my third step, to my fourth step. Not at all, but I did go into every opportunity and I said, “I’m going to give it my all, and whatever happens out of this, I know I’m going to be proud of because I put my all into it.” Taking a leap is the most courageous thing you could do, especially when you don’t know what’s on the other end. Through the grace of God, step by step.
It is not about how often or how much money you save, but how long you are willing to do it. Share on XI have to agree. For me, it’s about faith and it’s about trust. It’s about knowing that things are always working out in my favor. As you said earlier, Sylvia. You thought that when you were interviewing with that company, you were at a standstill. It turns out in retrospect, hindsight is always often 20/20, that it was a blessing in disguise. You’re always divinely led. There’s nothing that is going to happen that is not going to lead you towards somewhere better if you’re open to that. Trusting in that, I feel that it doesn’t matter which way I go, I’m going to end up where I need to be, and it’s going to be better than what I thought. That’s been my experience.
How Heidi And Iyanda Met And Collaborated
Sylvia and I have a bond from Georgetown and through life experience, the girls’ trips book that we wrote, the game plan with our other co-authors, and now Boss Leap. I know you all have a bond. I’d love to hear stories about how people have come together in life. Can you shed a little light on how you all met and how you ended up working together? Iyanda, if you want to go first.
When I initially came to the company, my managing director who grandfathered me in was like, “There is someone that you must meet.” I was like, “I got here. Let’s go.” I met with Heidi. We did a couple of cases together. We met, we clicked, and that was it. There’s no crazy story behind it. It was like puzzle pieces fitting into each other perfectly. From there, we were able to realize we had a lot in common.
We share the same goals as far as how we want to impact our community and generational planning, which is important to us with a hyper-focus on women. From there, it’s been good. We’ve continued to work together at a cadence that makes sense. She’ll shoot me cases, I’ll shoot her cases. It’s nice to work with someone who is like-minded and thinks long-term and building something with intention for sure.
Heidi, do you want to add to that?
Yeah. I was in the office and one of our managing directors was like, “You need to meet Iyanda.” I was like, “Let’s do it.” I didn’t know that he was saying the same things to her. We ended up meeting. I was the first female to break a certain record in our company. Iyanda became the second one. It was so cool because we need to be able to continue building each other and fostering this type of relationship.
At the end of the day, I am interested in ensuring that no matter who I am with and surrounding myself with. They are the best they can be because there’s a reflection on me. This is all saying, “You want to be the smartest person in the room.” That’s why I always hope to aspire to be because I know I’m surrounding myself with smart people, particularly very smart women. Iyanda is very smart, as you can tell. It was easy for us to get along.
Heidi And Iyanda’s Self-Care Routines
Thank you for sharing that. On the show, we always ask our final question about self-care. We spend a lot of time talking about money. For me, money is a tool to do good things. Iyanda, you first. Please tell us how you practice self-care.
This is something that I haven’t been the best at.
Aspirational is okay. We’re all learning.
Recently, what I’ve been learning is that I live by my calendar. If it’s not on my calendar, it doesn’t exist. What I’ll do now is I’ll put in my calendar at least three things a week for me. Personal care could be 30 minutes to an hour. It also gives me something to look forward to throughout the week outside of work. I was the kind of person who if I sit in front of my computer, I will work until tomorrow. I needed to create some boundaries. Those give me the boundaries. Self-care for me, I love a good massage. I like eating good food with my family and friends. I’m pretty simple there. As long as I have that going on, I’m good. It’s about identifying what fills your cup and then intentionally setting aside time for that.
How about you, Heidi?
She does love a good meal. Good food, that is. For me, it’s similar to Iyanda. You can get so lost in if it’s not on the calendar, it’s hard for you to keep up. There’s a sense of organization when I have everything on there. However, I learned early on that I need to focus on my mental expansion so that I can be more available to those who need my attention. The way that I do that is if I don’t meditate twice a day, then it’s a challenge for me. I’ve only had an experience where maybe I might have missed that and I feel that I am off. It’s a gift that I give to myself, and it’s a practice that I’ve been doing for quite some time now.
Taking a leap is the most courageous thing you could do, especially when you do not know what is on the other end. Share on XI think it’s important for me. I enjoy my own company. I enjoy spending time with myself and my house because I love my setting, and I like the feeling that I don’t have to worry about anything that’s going on on the outside. Often, our days are so busy. It’s nice to come home and know that there’s peace and I can find this consistent peace in this beautiful space that I’ve created for myself. Lastly, spending thoughtful time with the people that I feel are teaching me something that I can learn from, who are challenging me, whom I can listen to, and people that I admire. I try to be very intentional about that.
I love that. Very nice. Lots of wisdom, ladies.
How do you do the self-care, though?
It’s interesting. I’m going to echo for myself a lot of what you all said. What I’ve told patients for years is that if you don’t put self-care on your calendar, it doesn’t happen. You can have the best intentions, but other things take their place. Part of putting it on the calendar is making you accountable to yourself, but you’re also telling other people, “This is on my calendar.”
Other people in your life know, “This is her time when she’s going to the gym. She’s meditating at this hour.” They know that’s your boundary as well. It’s not only important for you to set boundaries for yourself but also for others. In terms of self-care, walking is the easiest thing I can get done. I love walking outside and being in nature, anywhere I am. That’s used to be running. Sylvia can tell you that, but my body tends to ask for walking these days instead.
I need a good massage now and then. I’m not as great about doing that, Iyanda. That, and I’ve always prayed in the morning. I’m making an absolute intention of doing that before I step out of bed and then I’m meditating. I do a guided meditation. I’m not as great at doing anything by myself because I’ll fall asleep, but a guided meditation. As you said, Heidi, those are my gifts to myself. That’s my regimen. How about you, Sylvia?
I like that. This is the first time a guest has asked us a question. This is wonderful. I also meditate. I’m a big fan of Jay Shetty and the Calm app, and I listen to that daily. One thing that I’ve incorporated most recently is a gratitude list. I have notes. In the notes section on my phone, it’s like photos and maybe a text message that someone sent to me or “I arrived at work safely or I was working with one of my favorite nurses.” It’s little things. In an ideal world, I add 8 to 10 things daily. I’m a bit of a walker and I have a huge beauty self-care routine, but that’s for another episode.
That’s interesting. I learned something new about Sylvia. I thought I knew everything about her. I like the gratitude in my phone because I love the idea of a gratitude journal, and I do have one beside my bed. I don’t always get to it, but if I had it on my phone at the moment, adding that in there, and reflecting on that, that’s beautiful. Thank you, Heidi.
My favorite place to do it is if I’m flying because sometimes the Wi-Fi is a little spotty, but you can make a list. I love that.
Final Advice And Closing Words
There’s so much about finance that we can share with our audience. Part of my goal in sharing health and wellness coaching is taking care of our mind, which controls everything, our physical health, mental health, emotional health, but also financial health. If your financial affairs are not in order, that can affect all of the above. What you’re doing is impactful for us as women and caretakers for our families. We thank you. Before we go, you would like to share your contact information, but anything that you would like to share with our audience?
Don’t be afraid of the unknown, and no question is too small or good.
It doesn’t matter so much where you are, it’s where you want to go. Take that leap and start looking at your finances and becoming more submerged in that experience so that ultimately, you can build better outcomes for yourself.
Heidi Roman and Iyanda Channer-Newman, thank you so much for joining us on the show and sharing your story. May you be well.
Thank you so much. Same to you guys.
Episode Wrap-up And Pearls Of Wisdom
That was a fantastic conversation with Iyanda Channer-Newman and Heidi Roman. Angela, I learned so many pearls that are going to help me and our audience make more money. It’s not necessarily about making more money. It’s about creating wealth and financial independence. What pearls did you take home?
Obviously, a lot. They reinforce some of the things that I did not know when I was younger that I now know that I wish I had known. Money blindness. What a concept. You can work all your life and put this money in a checking account and savings account, but essentially be blind to the fact that you are not making smart decisions or the most advantageous decisions with your money. It is imperative. I always want to learn. This is one of the areas that I want to continue to learn about because my goal is not to be the richest woman in the world. I don’t think that money buys you happiness.
I think wise enough at this stage in my life, but it certainly does allow you to do some of the things that can bring you joy. Travel is one of those for me. I want to be more financially savvy. I guess that’s one of the practical things in the topic of money, but in terms of self-care is making it a gift to yourself. That’s what Heidi said. I loved the idea of it being something that you’re giving yourself, and it’s truly a gift that you give yourself. You don’t have to wait for gifts from somebody else.
The third topic is very practical. Just like with physicians, the first doctor that you go to might not be the right fit. Audition your advisor. When my dad passed away, he had this big folder that he had given to me at least six years beforehand, but it had everything. It had everyone that he wanted me to call. He had what he had planned for his funeral. He had all of his financial information in that. It was such a huge gift that he gave to me. We had not been using a financial planner. I said, “If my dad trusted them and he did such a good job, I’m going to go ahead and use them.” I didn’t audition anyone, and it’s been a good experience.
You use what your dad had. He completely had vetted them.
We know he did. Audition advisors. Certainly, if anyone is looking for one, we can vouch for the two women that were here. How about you, Sylvia? What did you take away?
I like the concept of being a steward of your financial life because that implies that I’m empowered. I have a team from my financial plan, and it is not where I am. If you have $3 in your savings account, it’s about where you’re going. We know that if we don’t plan, then we plan to fail.
If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail.
Thank you very much. That’s why we have a co-host. Those were my biggest takehomes. I was so impressed, but that’s not the right phrase. I was so excited to hear that both Iyanda and Heidi are committed to women’s empowerment and financial independence for women. They talked about how $30 trillion is coming into the hands of women. You’ve already listened to the podcast, so you know. It was a lot of money with the T. That means that we want to be good financial stewards. We have to have a good team around us. That was it. Many things. I know this is a starting point of our conversation on money and then hopefully, with Heidi and Iyanda in the future.
I don’t even have to go out and ask. I know that women are searching for this information and seeking the information and need this information. We’re so excited to share this with you all. We appreciate you as always for following us. We hope that you will continue to join us for the next episode of the show. Until then, may you be well.
Important Links
- Iyanda Channer-Newman on LinkedIn
- Iyanda Channer-Newman Email
- Heidi Roman on LinkedIn
- Heidi Roman Email
- Infused Co,
- Ivy Camps USA
- Northwestern Mutual
About Heidi Roman
Heidi Roman is a dedicated financial advisor and partner with Iyanda Channer-Newman at a leading financial planning firm in Midtown Manhattan, specializing in helping multi-faceted career women take control of their wealth and build lasting legacies.
With complementary background–Heidi’s global perspective from business development and travel, and Iyanda’s experience in hedge funds and entrepreneurship–they bring a well-rounded approach to financial strategy. Their mission is clear: empower women to grow their wealth, minimize tax burdens, and achieve financial independence through personalized, actionable strategies.
Beyond financial success, she is deeply committed to fostering financial intelligence and community growth, ensuring their impact extends across generations.
About Iyanda Channer-Newman
Iyanda Channer-Newman is a dedicated financial advisors and partner with Heidi Roman at a leading financial planning firm in Midtown Manhattan, specializing in helping multi-faceted career women take control of their wealth and build lasting legacies.
With complementary background–Heidi’s global perspective from business development and travel, and Iyanda’s experience in hedge funds and entrepreneurship–they bring a well-rounded approach to financial strategy. Their mission is clear: empower women to grow their wealth, minimize tax burdens, and achieve financial independence through personalized, actionable strategies.
Beyond financial success, she is deeply committed to fostering financial intelligence and community growth, ensuring her impact extends across generations.