Why Financial Education is the Best Investment You Can Make (Tori Dunlap)

March 10, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

“Money is the most taboo topic,” Tori Dunlap says early in this conversation. “We will talk about sex, death, politics, religion. We will talk about anything before we'll talk about money.” That silence, she argues, is not accidental. It is a form of control. Dunlap, who built a multi-million-dollar financial education platform called Her First $100K, has spent a decade helping over five million women rethink their relationship with money. She saved $100,000 by age 25 and became a multi-millionaire by 27 — not because she was born wealthy, but because she learned to treat money as a tool for freedom rather than a measure of self-worth.

The Shame That Keeps Women Silent

Dunlap says the number one emotion she encounters in her community is shame. Women feel shame about debt, about not saving enough, and paradoxically, about doing well. “Men can go like, oh, I brought in this amount of money, or I got this bonus,” she notes. Women, by contrast, are taught that pursuing money is greedy or gauche. This silence is not accidental — it is a form of control. “If you don't talk about money, you don't know that Chad, who is hired two years after you and has way less education and experience, is making 40K more than you.” The first step toward change, she says, is to offer vulnerability first. Start a conversation by sharing an insecurity about money, and the other person will likely

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What you'll learn

1 (00:09) **Why Money is the Most Taboo Topic** - Tori Dunlap explains that money shame stems from equating net worth with self-worth, and that this silence is a form of control.
2 (07:49) **Reframing Money as a Tool for Freedom** - The first step to financial comfort is understanding that money equals options, not just accumulation.
3 (10:45) **The Power of Money Narratives** - Tori explains that financial habits are cemented by age seven, making childhood money memories critical to adult behavior.
4 (16:16) **The Ostrich Effect and the Gas Gauge Metaphor** - Avoiding your finances creates more stress, not less; looking at your money is the only way to gain control.
5 (18:46) **The 80/20 Rule of Financial Control** - Tori acknowledges that 80% of financial outcomes are systemic (sexism, student debt, etc.), but the 20% you can control is life-changing.
6 (21:15) **Three Steps to Start Your Financial Education** - The practical path begins with understanding your money narrative, knowing your numbers, and practicing "financial self-care."
7 (28:33) **How Tori Saved $100K by Age 25** - The specific strategies: automating savings, diversifying income with a side hustle, and starting to invest early.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Tori Dunlap

Show Notes

The truth is, most of us weren’t taught how to manage our money, we were taught not to talk about it.

From salary transparency and investing to honest discussions about debt and risk, women are left out of the conversation. Today’s guest, Tori Dunlap, is trying to change that. She’s built HerFirst $100K into a multi-million dollar education platform by helping women reshape their relationship with money and start building wealth.

In this conversation Emma and Tori get into the real reasons why so many women avoid looking at their bank accounts, how money narratives impact our decisions before we are even old enough to understand them and why waiting until you're ready to invest is ultimately costing you your future.

Tori also speaks candidly about why she believes women in relationships should keep separate accounts, how the trad wife trend can be misleading and why getting rich isn’t something women should ever feel guilty about.

You’ll learn:

• Why “I’m bad at math” is keeping women broke

• What most of us get wrong about investing and how to do it right

• What today’s economic uncertainty actually means for your money

• Why financial education is the highest-return investment you can make

What's your biggest money block right now? Drop it in the comments, we'd love to hear from you. And don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode of Aspire with Emma Grede.

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