Studies show that there is a noticeable gender gap in financial literacy between men and women, particularly when it comes to investing. In this episode of The Agent of Wealth Podcast, host Marc Bautis is joined by Jewel Tankard, an economist turned financial powerhouse and author of The Mind of a Millionairess and Millionairess Lifestyle: Understanding the Price and the Process. Jewel’s mission to help women create wealth is executed through her Millionairess Club, a community with over 400 members across 10 countries. The club empowers women to trust their financial gut, improve their confidence, give them cash creation and wealth growing strategies.
In this episode, you will learn:
- How to challenge your beliefs about money.
- How couples can work on their finances together.
- How confidence can create wealth opportunities.
- An overview of Jewel Tankard’s mindset when it comes to investing.
- Takeaways from Jewel Tankard’s experience on reality tv.
- And more!
Resources:
jeweltankard.com | The Millionairess Club | The Mind of a Millionairess | Millionairess Lifestyle: Understanding the Price and the Process | Bautis Financial: 7 N Mountain Ave Montclair, New Jersey 07042 (862) 205-5000
Disclosure: The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity and content. It is not a direct transcription of the full conversation, which can be listened to above.
Welcome back to The Agent of Wealth Podcast, this is your host Marc Bautis. On today’s show we brought on a special guest, Jewel Tankard. Jewel’s an economist turned financial powerhouse committed to helping women create wealth. Jewel created the Millionairess Club with over 400 members across 10 countries. The club empowers women to trust their financial gut, improve their confidence, give them cash creation and wealth growing strategies. Known as the matriarch of the Bravo hit reality show Thicker Than Water: The Tankards, and a current star of the FOX show Soul Chatter, Jewel’s a superstar in both the business and entertainment industries. Jewel’s also the author of the books, The Mind of a Millionairess and Millionairess Lifestyle: Understanding the Price and the Process. Jewel, welcome to the show.
Thanks for having me, Marc. I’m excited to be on today.
Yeah, same here. I know you recently released the book The Mind of a Millionairess. What inspired you to write it?
Well I was inspired to write it quite a few years ago. I grew up in a household where my parents were entrepreneurs. They did very well. They had his and her Mercedes Benz cars, his and her Rolls Royce cars. We had housekeepers, cooks and drivers. Then, when I was 19, we lost everything. It was devastating for my family. I remember asking my mom a lot of questions like, “Hey, didn’t we have anything paid off? Did we have any money saved? Anything invested?” And her answer to everything was, “Your father said this,” and “Your father thought this.” That was when I started to realize that my mom did not trust her own financial instinct.
My mom allowed my dad to make all the financial decisions, even when she didn’t necessarily feel good about them. My dad is an amazing producer, even today, but my mom naturally would have been a better manager and investor. She just didn’t trust her financial instinct.
So I wanted to empower women to become independent thinkers. I want to see men do well too, but particularly women. I want to help women learn how to make their own decisions for themselves and to not rely on their husbands or boyfriends. I want them to know that if they have an idea, even if their husband or boyfriend doesn’t see it or agree, that it’s something they should be able to move forward with.
That’s great. I know that a lot of our beliefs about money are either learned or not learned in the environment we grow up in. What are some of the “bad” beliefs that people have about money and ways that they can challenge those beliefs?
How to Challenge Your Beliefs About Money
That’s such a good question, Marc. I think, generally speaking, a lot of people don’t think about money. And I don’t think people realize the impact that has on their overall quality of life. For example, I’ve talked to people who say, “I don’t really worry about that. As long as I have love and peace.” My reply is, “Honey, you ain’t going to have no peace if you don’t have no money, because nothing is going to be paid for.” So I think a lot of people assume things will just take care of themself. A lot of people think rich people are greedy – or mean. We all have our own individual beliefs, but some of these crazy philosophies prevent people from studying finances. But anytime you want to become good at something, you have to study it.
Once people start studying money and realize its impact, they understand the importance. Money makes a difference… It’s the difference between sending your child to the local boys and girls camp for the summer or off to the University of Scotland. It’s a difference between your child playing basketball at the community park or going to rowing lessons in Connecticut. It’s the difference between a vacation to see family in Alabama or a vacation to the house in the Hamptons. I want women to recognize that there’s more to life and it’s going to take money.
In your book, you speak a lot about trusting your gut. Going with your gut. Why is that so important to do?
I think that God speaks to instinct, and the more I’ve learned to trust my instinct, the stronger my decisions and the better the consequences to those decisions. For example, I got the gut instinct to buy crypto, so I did, and then I started educating myself on it. As I educated myself on it, my portfolio grew. Then I learned how to stake it. Then I learned how to trade it. These actions all started from going with my gut.
Most people say, “Once my head gets it, then I’ll go.” But it needs to be, “Once my gut gets it, then I’ll go, and then my head will have to catch up.” You have the gift of understanding. This is where traditional education says, “Study everything. Get all of the answers, then take the test.” Well, I think in real entrepreneurship, people that become really good at investing are people that get good at trusting their gut and then allowing the head to catch up as they move into the project.
How Couples Can Work on Their Finances Together
Earlier, you were speaking about your parent’s relationship dynamics when it came to finances. How do you suggest that a couple works to improve their decision-making if it was really up to one person in the past?
I want people to understand that there may be some things a couple agrees on, but there may be some things that you don’t agree on – and you don’t have to.
My husband and I have been married for 21 juicy years. I love him, we have a great marriage and I’m very grateful for it. But he wasn’t interested in participating in probably 80% of the financial decisions that I’ve made.
For example, I wanted to start investing in the city of Detroit. I’m from Detroit, so I wanted to be a part of the economic revitalization that’s happening there, in the inner city. He wasn’t interested in buying those homes. But I loved it. I loved going to the homes. I loved buying the homes. I loved rehabbing the homes. I loved finding good tenants. And I built a strong, seven-figure portfolio from doing it. When I started buying cryptocurrency four years ago, he was not interested. Now he does, but it took him about four years before he made the move into crypto.
He’s an innovator, a forerunner in his own right, a very successful businessman, and a pilot. He is walking in a lot of success, but his success and how he got there is opposite to my success and how I got here.
So I want people to be independent thinkers. If your spouse doesn’t want to be a part of a business venture or an idea, that’s okay. They don’t necessarily have to be on board. Respect their right not to, but respect your right to. I don’t think that there has to be equality in everything when you are still an individual. That’s my take.
So let’s say your husband came up with an investment idea. How would you approach it from your side?
I’d get behind it. I’m proud of him. Just like when he wanted to start buying airplanes and brokering them, I was super supportive. I think it’s great when he cultivates an idea. There have been very few times I’ve told him, “I don’t think you should do that.” But even if I did, ultimately it’s his idea, his bag and he can – and should – go do it.
Got it. In your book and your work, you talk a lot about creating and building wealth. One of the most common pieces of advice people give to those looking to build wealth is to live frugally. What do you think of that concept?
I don’t like it. Now, I do think you have to know what season you’re in. There have been years that my family did not go on a family vacation because we were paying off debt and investing. But like you said, some colleagues of mine – that I love and respect – say, “Live beneath your means.” But I don’t want to live beneath my needs. I want women to go get their hair done. I want them to get their nails done. I need women to feel good about themselves because that’s going to impact their confidence, which is going to impact their ability to be productive and negotiate deals.
So of course I want you to have a healthy balance sheet, but I think you need to set yourself up to say, “This is the way I want to live.”
How Confidence Can Create Wealth Opportunities
You just mentioned the importance of confidence. It’s talked about in your book too, and you don’t see that in financial books too often. How’d you learn to understand the importance of confidence to building wealth?
Do some people watching and you’ll see the importance of confidence. If somebody walks in a room with their head down, bad posture, dragging their feet… You look and think, ‘Hmm, maybe they’re not winning.’
If someone with that demeanor wanted to present a business opportunity to me, my answer would be automatically no. Even if their idea is amazing.
You are your brand. If you feel good about yourself, you’re going to produce great things. When you don’t feel good about yourself, it’s going to show up in what you produce.
Sure. A lot of your work is geared towards women. What are some of the challenges that women experience in building wealth that are different from the male side of things?
One thing in particular is mommy guilt. Sometimes women stay home, instead of doing something to advance themselves, because they think their child needs them. Listen, when your children are small, they definitely need you. But when they hit 7+, they need you wealthy. I want women to be cognizant of the fact that their children need them to be wealthy more than they need them to be present.
Yeah. Can you tell me a little bit more about the club that you run?
I’ve had the Millionairess Club for the last several years. It’s just $29 a month because I want the average, everyday woman to know, first of all, wealth is for her, independent of her husband, even if he has it. That’s wonderful. But in addition to wealth being for her, wealth is not just about entrepreneurship, I want her to become a very good investor. In the club, we focus a lot on teaching members to become investors. Investors in things like cryptocurrency, real estate, digital property, NFTs, oil, gold, silver, etc. That they can have those possessions and they can start growing their portfolio.
Jewel Tankard’s Investing Mindset
You just mentioned a lot of non-traditional assets. Let’s say a new opportunity comes up in an area that you haven’t invested in previously, how do you analyze it and determine if it’s an avenue you will pursue?
I’ve always been attracted to innovation, and I have an early adopter mindset. My rule is, I like to get in an investment or a business when it is at the beginning of a cycle, within the first 10 years. I started investing in Bitcoin at 3,600, I owned a Nextel franchise when they had two-way radio phones, etc.
When I did Airbnb, I didn’t follow my rule. I purchased an Airbnb in Buckhead that was super cute – Chanel blue and gold – and it stayed booked. But because of all of the fees with Airbnb now, even though it stayed booked, it wasn’t profitable after the expenses. I realized, “Hey, it’s 2022. Airbnb started in 2007. You probably should have been in before 2017.”
Now, is there still money to be made in Airbnb? I think there is. But the point is, the most amount of money is usually made at the beginning of a particular cycle, whether it’s a business or an investment. So I like things that are innovative.
You mentioned your Airbnb and some properties you had in Detroit. Do you still invest in real estate?
I still like investing in real estate, but I have liquidated a lot of my single-family, residential homes. At one point, I had a lot of single-family homes, a couple of two-family flats and a duplex. I’ve pretty much sold all of them. I’m down to the last two. I’m open to do another deal, but I would probably only do apartments. But if another good deal comes by, with good cash flow and equity play, I’m in.
That brings up a good point on cash flow and equity. When you’re looking at an investment, are you more interested in investments that generate a passive income, or assets that appreciate over time in value? Or is it a combination of both?
I like a combination of both. I definitely like cash flow, and I don’t always want to wait. I don’t want to just buy something as a long-term asset, per se. I would want an investment that does both. An apartment building, for example, I would look for one that has good equity, that generates cash flow and that already has tenants.
It’s important that an investment has the cash flow element because with any investment, there’s a risk. So I’m always thinking, ‘How fast is it going to take me to break even with my initial investment?’ I think about that with every investment I make.
Have you made any investments that didn’t go as well as you thought, and turned out to be learning experiences?
I’ve been blessed that I have way more wins than I have had lessons, but I’m thinking about a deal I did with someone I trusted and they kind of went MIA. It took me about two years to finally recoup the money, because they went MIA, but I just had to stay on him.
Jewel Tankard’s Experience on Television
Shifting gears, I want to talk a little bit about your show on Bravo. How did that come about?
My husband started filming our family and posting videos on YouTube. Our family was entertaining, firstly because we have a blended family – he already had four children and I had one – but also because we would show a lot of goofy moments. All of our children have big personalities and are funny in their own ways. So, the dynamics with us all together was great. And we also had some real life challenges that any family – whether you blended or biological – has. We started sharing those things on YouTube, and then we got a call from Bravo one day. They said they were looking for an affluent, African American family to do a show on the network. The show was going to come on after Real Housewives of Atlanta. We were like, “Okay, bet.” So they came down and did a sizzle. From there, it took about nine months for contracts and another nine months before we started filming.
We had three really successful seasons with over two million viewers. People really loved the dynamic of family, the husband/wife relationship and they loved the drama. But there was a lot of love, because at the end of the day, we are a family no matter the drama.
So, this last season, my husband decided last year that he wanted to take matters into his own hands. As you can see, everything is moving from TV to digital: Netflix, Hulu, Prime, Amazon. So you can watch the fourth season of Thicker Than Water is on The Tankards now.
I actually just got re-signed to the FOX show Soul Chatter with Real Talk Kim, DeeDee Freeman, Monique Idlett Timbaland and Holly Carter. We just re-signed for that and will begin shooting soon.
How do you like doing that? Is TV more work than you anticipated? Or is it something that’s enjoyable for you?
Well, reality TV is a lot of work. It’s more work than what I realized. There are some days that are as long as 14 hours. Running a whole empire while filming for reality TV was probably definitely the most amount of work. But doing talk shows is not as much work. I have a show called The Jewel Tankard Show that airs on Impact Network. It’s great because you can go into the studio for two days and knock out a bunch, sometimes four shows in one day. But reality TV is a lot of work, although I think it’s worth it.
Makes sense. So, what’s next? Are you planning on writing more books?
Yeah, I want to do another book. After this recording, I’m headed to Target to give away $1,500 to single parents. We’re going to surprise them by putting the cash in diaper boxes, Similac and in other baby products. I’m really excited about that.
We’re also going to give away a couple more cars this year to single parents. That’s my heart. And I will continue to educate people on cryptocurrency, developing wealth and investing. My goal is to raise up 1000 female multiple millionaires.
That’s awesome. Well, Jewel, we’re just about out of time. I want to thank you for being on The Agent of Wealth Podcast. You gave some great advice to people, especially women, on building wealth. How best can someone find out more about you?
You can follow me on social media, Jewel Tankard. I’m on Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram. My website is jeweltankard.com, and that’s where you can join the club for just $29. And make sure you grab my book, The Mind of a Millionairess.
Perfect. We’ll link to all of that in the show notes. Thanks again, Jewel. And thank you to everyone who tuned into today’s episode. Don’t forget to follow The Agent of Wealth on the platform you listen from and leave us a review of the show. We are currently accepting new clients, if you’d like to schedule a 1-on-1 consultation with our advisors, please do so below.
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