More Money Podcast - 108 Financial Literacy for Teens - Eva Baker, Creator of TeensGotCents & Founder of The Teenpreneur Conference

Starting point is 00:00:00 hello hello hello and welcome to episode 108 of the momany podcast i am your host jessica morehouse thank you so much for joining me for another fabulous episode i'm excited to introduce my next guest i recorded this episode a few months ago because i wanted to kind of time it along with an event that she will be holding very soon uh I'm talking about Eva Baker. She is the creator, the writer behind Teens Got Sense dot com. And it's called Teens Got Sense because she started getting interested in personal finance at the very young age of 16. She got into Dave Ramsey's stuff and just got hooked, started her own blog and kind of became, you know, an entrepreneur in her teens and, you know, moving on into her early 20s.

Starting point is 00:00:46 So we are going to be talking about her story, how she started the blog, why she's so passionate about educating specifically teens about personal finance, which I think is awesome because a lot of us don't learn about how to manage our money until we're in our 20s and we've made a bunch of mistakes. So I think it's awesome that she's really trying to educate teens specifically before they can make those money mistakes. And a big thing that she's also doing too, is she is the founder of the Teenpreneur Conference. It is a conference that is by teens, for teens, and it's all about entrepreneurship. So really promoting the idea that you can develop something,

Starting point is 00:01:26 a product, a service to, or, you know, it could be your full-time thing. It could be your side hustle, but there are other avenues to make money, passive income. You don't just have to do, you know, what we're all kind of told to do, which is, you know, go to university, get a degree, get an office job and stay there until you retire. There's a lot of different things that you can possibly do. And I think that's also awesome because I had no idea entrepreneurship was even a thing when I was a teenager. I thought there was only one path. So it's really cool that she is showing other teens that there are different avenues that you could possibly go to. So if this sounds like something that you are interested in, just go to theteenprinter.com

Starting point is 00:02:03 to find out more information. But it will be taking place June 8th to 10th in Jacksonville, Florida. So if you want to pop on down there and get your tickets, go to theteenprinter.com. Thank you, Eva, for joining me on the podcast. I'm excited to chat with you. Thanks so much for having me. You're welcome. So I absolutely love what you're doing with Teens Got Sense because again, I don't know any other personal finance sites that focus specifically like have a house for all this great information for teens. And I know as an older person, I would have loved to have that information available to me when I was that age because I feel like just kind of like you mentioned on your about page, you're, you know, aren't really dealing with at that age, dealing

Starting point is 00:02:48 with money too much. But that also means you're not making mistakes. So this is a great time to learn as much as you can to prevent all those mistakes. Because a lot of people think, you know, oh, I learned from my mistakes. Yes, it's great. But wouldn't it be great to learn before you make them? Yes, exactly. Exactly. So I would love to know, you started the blog Teens Got Sense when you were 16. That doesn't seem like a very common thing to do at that age. I'm sure most people are just focused on, I don't know, school and sports and all that kind of stuff. What motivated you to start a personal finance site when you were 16? My mother, actually. Yeah. So it's a great story. I was homeschooled all the

Starting point is 00:03:28 way through high school, which I loved. And so was my older brother. And if you are a baker, you are required to complete some kind of meaningful high school project in your junior and senior year, something that's going to like grow your communication skills and life skills and, you know, something just like a substantial school project. Um, and my, my older brother before me, um, founded a nonprofit with his high school debate partner that had something to do about like nuclear energy. And I still don't really understand what it was all about. It was really confusing.

Starting point is 00:04:07 But anyways, when mom came to me and said, even it's time for you to start thinking about what you want your project to be, I knew that it needed to be something like pretty awesome. So during the same time, my parents were going through a divorce and my mom was just trying to get back on her feet financially after everything that had happened. And so she wanted to read the total money makeover by Dave Ramsey. And so of course she's in this whole new frugal mindset. So she doesn't want to spend the money to buy the book. So she goes to the library to borrow it. And when she gets there, unfortunately for me, they only had it on CD, like on audio CD. And so I was forced to listen to it with her in the car, which I was not thrilled about at all. Can I just say, like, why am I being forced to listen to this old dude talk about money? And oh my. Um, but then very interestingly, I was, um,

Starting point is 00:05:06 really, really captivated by what he was talking about. He was talking about how adults can take these, these steps that he calls them baby steps to get themselves out of debt and start saving for their retirement. And, um, I, I was really fortunate growing up. My parents were very purposeful with my brother and I to educate us on personal finance. I've been doing the envelope system since I was five. They were very purposeful to involve us in the family budget and when things would go wrong or they would make a mistake to be open and honest with us about that and really, really tried to educate us. But as I'm listening to Dave's book,

Starting point is 00:05:45 it's kind of dawning on me for the first time that people have debt. People like graduate college with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. People have all of this credit card debt. And I just never really realized that before. And I also started realizing that the experience I had growing up, where money was something that was very open, and we talked about a lot in my family was not the norm, that most people and most kids get dropped off at college, and had no basic understanding of how to budget for groceries every week. And so I, you know, that really just kind of all hit me pretty hard. And I was like, you know what, like, I don't ever want to have to grow up and read this book and follow these steps. I

Starting point is 00:06:32 don't ever want to have to do that. So I got online and I started just doing some research. And of course, I came across so many other great resources like Dave Ramsey, for adults to help them learn how to budget, help them get out of debt, help them save for their retirement, help them, you know, do whatever. But there was really very little, um, out there in the way of education for teens on how not to get there in the first place. Um, and there was specifically nothing for teens by another team. Um, And so I kind of had this beautiful little light bulb moment where I decided what I wanted my high school project to be and started the blog in 2013. And now here I am. Wow. I absolutely love that your family was so open about money because I

Starting point is 00:07:22 feel like I'm hopeful that like, you know, future generations will kind of do that. Because I mean, my parents, and I know lots of parents, you know, they were taught by their parents to never talk about money. It's rude. It's, you know, ugly, you shouldn't do that. That's the wrong thing to do until maybe your kids or adults. And honestly, that's the only time I really started talking to my parents about money specifically, like numbers or what to do was when I was, you know, an adult. And it's like, man, I really wish, you know, I knew kind of the basics. And I, you know, saw their example that they led, which was great was living frugal, don't be, you know, done with your money, like don't overspend. And we did talk a little bit about debt and just that

Starting point is 00:08:05 they didn't really, they tried to kind of live, I think, on a cash diet. But, you know, there's so many things I didn't know. And man, did I wish I knew that when I was in high school when I actually was, you know, I started working at 15. So I actually did start making money. And I didn't really know what to do with it. Like I kind of just like stockpiled it and didn't touch it, but man, I wish I invested some of that, you know? So I think what you're doing is amazing. I love it so much. And you've been doing it for so many years. So now you're not a teen anymore,

Starting point is 00:08:35 but you're still on this mission. I love that it started as kind of a student project. Now it's kind of grown into this uh huge awesome resource uh that you know is several years old and now so you're no longer a teen and i asked you before i hit the record button what you're doing currently now whether you're in college or you know what your future plans are and it seems like you're doing some amazing things so i'll let you kind of what are you up to these days so right now now with, with teen scouts sense, um, it did just over the years, I mean, I never expected to be, to still be doing this. I mean,

Starting point is 00:09:12 I thought that it was just literally going to be for first school and then I was going to be done and kind of do the traditional college thing and all of that. Um, but over the years it just, it just kept growing and growing. And I was just so blessed and love. I love what I do. But I've been able to kind of make it my full time job, which has been a lot of fun. And so 14's got since. Now that it's grown, I have a team of writers that I manage that write for the site. I get to travel around and speak at different conferences and events, which is a lot of fun. I get to work as a brand ambassador for several organizations and a consultant. And so there's a lot of different things going on that I love them all.

Starting point is 00:09:58 It's so much fun. And as far as school goes, definitely kind of, um, in and out with, with college, I would really love to finish up and get my AA, but, um, I've been able to take some time off to fully devote to my business, which has also been wonderful. I've been really glad that I've been able to do that. Well, that's the thing. It's like, man, you've really, you know, I know it's kind of started as a student project, but wow, has this really, I mean, you've kind of achieved something

Starting point is 00:10:28 that I think most people would only be able to dream about, which is that, you know, start your own business very young and make it so it's like you can work from home and you can kind of do what you love. I mean, that's just what I've just started doing and I'm, you know, 30. So, you know, you've kind of, kind of bypassed, I think a lot of steps to kind of get'm, you know, 30. So, you know, you've kind of kind of bypassed, I think a lot of steps to kind of get to where you want to go. I mean, I don't know where you eventually want to go. But you've definitely set yourself up in a really great situation. And just like, you're very, it's a very interesting story. And just proof that you do not have to go to the traditional route to get to a place that will make you happy

Starting point is 00:11:05 and for you to do what you love. I love that. You know, you're clearly very smart, very well spoken, you know exactly what's going on. It's like, I don't even know if you need like, you know, I'm not saying don't go to college, but it's like, I don't know if you really need to, to continue all the successful things that you've already achieved and then to just kind of progress in your career. I think it's absolutely amazing. And I know you briefly mentioned also before I hit the record button that you, you know, besides doing all the things you're doing, you're also starting a conference that's so is it personal finance for teens as well? No, actually, my conference, it's called the teenpreneur conference and it is all focused around teen entrepreneurs so teens who have a business and want to learn more about how to grow

Starting point is 00:11:52 that um or teens who you know if you don't have a business but you're just generally interested in entrepreneurship can come to this conference i have speakers who talk about you know just all the ins and outs of business management. I mean, there's a lot that goes into it. No matter what kind of business you're running, there's a lot of things that you've got to learn and got to know how to do. So it's a place where they can come and get practical tips and advice on how to make that happen for themselves. But then it's also a place, you know, I really started this conference because I really started to realize that there are a lot of teens running really incredible businesses all around the country, all around the world, really. But there was nothing that was there was nothing that was connecting any of us.

Starting point is 00:12:39 We were all just kind of out there doing our own thing, thinking we're the only teen running a business. No one really understood why or what we were doing. Um, there, there was nothing that was, that was bringing us together. And that's, um, that's really the main reason I started this conference because I mean, as you know, you're a part of the FinCon community, an amazing conference with an amazing group of people that work together and support one another. And it's just so encouraging. And I wanted that. I wanted that for teen entrepreneurs. I wanted us to be able to have a place where we could build a community like that and be there for each other and be a team.

Starting point is 00:13:18 That's amazing. So has it already happened or how often does it happen? Just in case someone wants to look into this. Yeah. So it's once a year. We had the first conference last June. We had just over 100 attendees. So it was amazing. I thought it was just so successful.

Starting point is 00:13:37 It was so much fun. And we were actually having it again this year in June. I'm in Jacksonville, Florida. So that's where the conference is held. Um, and I am, you know, really pretty, pretty busy getting ready, trying to plan for this year, trying to make it, um, yeah, I'm really, really proud of the event that we threw last year. Um, but it's been a lot of fun this year making it better um and so I'm I'm so excited um it is just great and really my my whole my whole other vision for the conference was I didn't want this to be um the kind of event where a bunch of old guys in suits were going to come lecture at teens

Starting point is 00:14:18 that's not what I wanted I I wanted this to be peer on peer learning. So the majority of my, of my speakers, um, were on our teams that have run successful businesses themselves. Um, and then the others were, were younger millennials. So it really, there was so the, the attendees could really relate to the speakers and vice versa because they're all kind of in the same age group, kind of going through the same things, you know, all of that. And so that's one, one thing that I was really, really happy about that we were able to do and kind of offer, offer a little bit of a different experience there. With that peer on peer learning. Absolutely. That's very unique. I don't know anything like that. I would be so curious to know what are some of the types of businesses that some of these teens are doing?

Starting point is 00:15:09 Okay, so I got connected with one young man and he wasn't actually able to end up coming to come to the conference. But he I think it's up in New York somewhere. And he got into tapping maple or tapping trees for maple syrup. Oh, well, with something I guess he did with his dad or something like that. And he is 18 or 19 now has dropped out of college and is the CEO of his own maple syrup company and sells his maple syrup and like 500 grocery stores. No way. I'm like, how cool is that? That is so crazy. Wow. Yeah. So that's, that's so unique. And I love that. Um, and then we had one girl, one of my speakers who came to the conference, um, and taught a couple of classes. She has a, um, a website and a whole

Starting point is 00:16:02 line of like bath and beauty product, Bath and Bodywork, kind of like soaps and lotions and all of those kind of nice things. Um, that's all, all natural and organic and stuff like that. She came to the conference and spoke, um, cause she does a lot of other things, um, in her community and, and all of that. She's an incredible young woman who's running a really, really awesome business. Yeah, wow. And one of the really cool things and kind of one of the ways I've been able to measure the success of the conference

Starting point is 00:16:38 was seeing the teens who came in who didn't have a business. Since the conference, watching them take the tools and the things that they learned there and creating a business and kind of watching that grow over the past year has been really cool. There was one young man who came, who was kind of like kind of had a little business of like mowing some

Starting point is 00:17:00 lawns in his neighborhood and stuff like that. But he was kind of, I mean like he was serious about it and he was his neighborhood and stuff like that. But he was kind of, um, I mean like he was serious about it and he was like making decent money doing that. But since the conference, um, and what he learned, he's like started like doing pressure washing now and like all of this other

Starting point is 00:17:15 stuff. And it's really, really like kicked it up several notches from the things that he was able to learn. So that's been really cool to see. Wow. Get groceries delivered across the GTA from Real Canadian Superstore with PC Express. Shop online for super prices and super savings. Try

Starting point is 00:17:32 it today and get up to $75 in PC Optimum Points. Visit superstore.ca to get started. Well, I'm so curious, and since you are, you know, of a younger generation, what do you think inspires these teens who are, you know, busy with, you know, growing up, figuring out who they are and going to school and all that stuff to start their own business? Like what is kind of maybe a common theme that you see amongst lots of them that one of the main things, and this is something that I've experienced myself, is that getting a job as a teen is really, really hard. It sucks. The jobs out there aren't fun. I was in the position that I needed to get a part-time job. And, you know, I mean, I had been on Teens Got Sense. One of the things I talk about a lot is how to, like, prepare yourself to get a job. And I've interviewed several hiring managers from different companies, Chick-fil-A, REI, a couple of other places like that on, like, what they're looking for in a teen employee. And, you know, what you need to wear in a teen employee and you know what you need to

Starting point is 00:18:45 wear and what you need to say and how you need to fill out an application properly and all of these things and so I was like okay I've got to start I've got to start looking for a job and like you know like I was feeling I was feeling pretty confident in myself because I felt like I I knew all the things that I needed to do. Um, and it still took me almost two and a half months, three months of, I applied literally everywhere within a five mile radius from my house and like, couldn't even get an interview. Wow. Same. It was insane. Um, and finally I, I finally did land a job at Panera, which was great. But it just really showed me that you can know all of the things. You can know how to dress. You can know how to act some extra money and have some income, which I think is important for a team to be earning a living. Absolutely. Alexandra, the girl that makes the soaps and lotions and stuff like that, she started this

Starting point is 00:20:05 business when she was nine because she loved chapstick. And every day before her dad would leave for work, she would say, Dad, will you please buy me some more chapstick? And he would always tell her, no, you have you have so much chapstick, you don't need any more. So she decided she was just gonna have to start making her own. Wow. How to make your own chapstick. And then I guess decided to start, you know, I think she told me that in the beginning when she was young, like she would take it to her church and like sell her chapstick for a dollar to all of her friends and stuff like that. And that's how our business started. Um, and so that's not, I mean, that's just kind of something that just naturally progressed from her life, you know,

Starting point is 00:20:44 not like she was nine and she's like, Oh, sat down. I was like, I'm going to start a business and you know, all of that. Like that's just, it's just happened. And now, now here she is so successful. Um, and I kind of feel like that's, that's what happens to a lot of teens, especially when they, if they start when they're younger. Um, I mean, I feel like that's what happened with Teens Got Sense. For me, I didn't sit down at the very beginning saying like, oh, I'm going to turn this into my business. And I didn't have a business model all written out and everything like that. Like, I was just given opportunities. It just grew. And I'm really thankful for that, you know?

Starting point is 00:21:21 And it seems like just because of the internet where we are right now, it is so easy, like, you know, not easy necessarily to figure out what kind of product you want to make or service you want to offer or anything like that. But once you have that figured out, it's a lot easier to find your audience. Whereas, you know, back when I think I was a teenager, yeah, the internet was around, but it wasn't as easy to kind of start your own e-commerce website. So that's kind of a cool thing, too. You know, once you have that idea and you're like, I think I'm going to try this out, there's not as many roadblocks as there once were, which is kind of exciting. So I honestly think that's a big, big reason why there's so many more people that are either doing, you know, a side hustle on top of their full-time job or they're making that leap into full-on entrepreneurship and starting their own business, which I think is amazing. Definitely. I totally agree. Absolutely. Well, that is so, so cool. I want to kind of shift gears a little bit since we're near the end of the episode. I would love, since you have so much information specifically about

Starting point is 00:22:21 teens and what they're thinking and what they know and what they need to know, what would be some of your kind of top pieces of advice for teens or for, you know, people college age that they absolutely, absolutely need to know about money management? I think one of the most important things for teens to know is that, you know, even if you are working a part-time job or you're running your own business or whatever, even if you don't have a job at all and you don't have a lot of income coming in, it's still really important to save like five dollars, three dollars a week for a car for college. Like that seems absolutely ridiculous, which I totally get. But I think it is important for teens to realize that even just saving a small amount or just saving what you can, like it will add up eventually. Um, and so definitely don't be discouraged. Um, if you don't have a large amount of money to save, definitely put some, put some of it aside, um, for, for whatever, for college car or anything else you want to save up for. Um, don't, don't let a small income

Starting point is 00:23:38 discourage you from doing that. I think the other thing is, is that, um, it's just being purposeful, you know, and just, and just taking the time to think about these things. And I, I also think a lot of adults look at teens and think like, oh, they don't care about money. They care about, about that part of their lives. They don't want to learn about any of that. And in my experience and the interaction with teens that I've had, that's, it's really

Starting point is 00:24:03 not, not true. Um, they, teens are very interested in learning about how to manage their money well and how to save up for the things that they want and how to earn extra money and all of those things. It's just, no one's, no one's stepping up to educate them on that. Absolutely. And so they, and they don't really, they don't really know the kind of of even the right questions to ask about it. But once someone steps in there and starts that conversation with them, they're very eager to learn more. And, you know, they ask all of the questions and all of that. And so I think I think it's really important for parents to have those conversations with their teens.

Starting point is 00:24:44 And I think it's important for teens to realize that it's OK for parents to have those conversations with their teens. And I think it's important for teens to realize that it's okay for them to ask those questions. And it's good for them to be interested in that. And it's not like uncool or anything like that. And just to be just to have that in your mind. Yeah. And to be purposeful with your money, and not just kind of thrown around doing whatever you want. But like come up with some kind of plan, come up with some kind of budgeting system that works for you and stick to that even if you are still really young. Absolutely. And luckily now there are, you know, more researchers out there. It's a lot easier for them if, you know, they can't maybe

Starting point is 00:25:21 get the answers that they're looking for through their parents or their teachers or whatever. There are awesome websites. Teens Got Sense, there's a little promo that they can find pretty much everything that they want to know, which I think is amazing. I really wish your website was around when I was in high school. But I'm very excited to share it with all the teens that I know, because I know a lot of them are going to get a lot out of it. You're welcome. Well, thank you, Eva, for joining me on the show. It was absolutely a treat chatting with you and picking your brain. I'm very excited about your conference. I think that's an amazing way you're doing. That is such a cool, cool idea. Thank you so much.

Starting point is 00:26:00 You're welcome. And that was Eva Baker from Teens Got Sense. Check her out at teensgotsense.com. And you can also find out more information about the conference that she, Teens Got Sense, some of the things that she's been working on, projects, and of course, the conference that's happening next month. So go to jessicamorris.com. Thank you so much for listening. I'm going to see you back here next Wednesday for another episode. weeks and then I'd be wrapping up the season but I've actually recorded more episodes that I anticipated I just had a lot of guests uh and I couldn't say no because hey they're great interviews so I'm actually going to be wrapping up this season of the podcast around the end of June actually so lots more episodes to look forward to uh but especially next Wednesday so I'll see you back here next Wednesday.

More Money Podcast - 108 Financial Literacy for Teens - Eva Baker, Creator of TeensGotCents & Founder of The Teenpreneur Conference

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