It is a rare sort of magic when absolute strangers share one evening together and become friends. Long afterward, when you meet one of these people, with whom you have experienced a transitory moment, you will probably remember them more clearly. Their faces, if not their names, will come to you and you’ll feel that rush of mutuality. Like we said – it’s magic.
Recently, we asked the wealth management firm, Charles Schwab & Co.,Inc., to host a few get togethers with us across the country to discuss a subject that had been troubling us both. Here at In The Groove we have often wondered why women, who easily share the most intimate details of their lives, don’t talk about money. To their credit, Schwab believes fervently that women, especially women, need to be financially fit and we were thrilled to join forces in promoting the conversation.
We are calling these evenings “It’s Your Money Honey” and invited thirty women, most of whom had never met, to dinner . Our first dinner kicked off at In The Groove Founder, Susan Feldman’s Los Angeles home where she invited Alli Webb, co-founder of Drybar, to join her on the hot seat.
In her customary style, Webb didn’t hold back and talked about her early experience and subsequent growth as a businesswoman. She never imagined a blow-drying empire, but after her first and second stores opened in 2010, she was off to the races and now has 129 shops.
Veuve Clicquot poured champagne and before long, guests were a little less “close to the vest” than they had been upon arrival and after the informal presentation, dinner was served al fresco. Someone suggested we go around the tables describing the CV’s of our lives. “Who we are and how we got there” soon segued into conversation about why we don’t talk about money and why we should.
All kinds of questions were boomeranging around the table, such as: “when should you ask for help “ and “how do we instill financial responsibility in our daughters?” The moon was high when we parted, exchanging email addresses and kisses while promising to continue the conversation of financial fitness and a pledge of undying sisterhood-because, well, because we are women of experience and that’s just what we do.