Portia opened the segment by telling viewers to take out their notebooks because it was going to be a class. I loved that, because that is exactly how I think about this work. My thanks to Portia and her team for having me on the show to talk about financial literacy, wealth building and my new book, Capitalism for All.
She asked about the boy from Compton, so I told her about the banker who came to my classroom when I was nine and a half. I asked him how you get rich legally. He told me he financed entrepreneurs, and I had to go home and look the word up in the encyclopedia. On the walk home, I noticed that the gas station, the nail salon, the dentist and the liquor store on the corner were all businesses. I borrowed $40 from my mother, on terms, started a candy business, and eventually put that liquor store out of the candy business. Portia was the first interviewer to connect that story straight to Operation HOPE, which exists to do for others what that banker did for me.
We talked about why financial literacy belongs in the classroom starting in kindergarten, not as an elective after school. It is the civil rights issue of this generation. If you don’t understand capitalism, capitalism understands you. That is why I’m so proud that every kindergartner in Atlanta Public Schools now starts school with a HOPE child savings account, thanks to Mayor Andre Dickens and the Atlanta City Council.
And we closed on AI. Your job is not going to be replaced by AI, but it may be replaced by somebody who knows how to use AI. Whatever your field, get certified, use it every day, and treat it as your co-creation partner. We have to make smart sexy again, and every family needs a cultural sheriff who sets that standard at home. Watch the full conversation below.
