Ep512: Mabel Nuñez – Is an MBA Really Going to Take You Where You Want to Go?

Andrew Stotz 00:02
Hello fellow risk takers and welcome to my worst investment ever stories of loss to keep you winning in our community. We know that to win in investing, you must take risk but to win big, you've got to reduce it. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm on a mission to help 1 million people reduce risk in their lives to reduce risk in your life. Go to my worst investment ever.com today and take the risk reduction assessment I have created from a lessons I've learned from more than 480 guests. It's time you start building wealth the easy way by reducing risk. Fellow risk takers this is your worst podcast host Andrew Stotz from a Stotz Academy, and I'm here with featured guests. Mabel Nunez Mabel, are you ready to join the mission?

Mabel Nuñez 00:51
I'm ready. I'm excited. Yeah, I'm

Andrew Stotz 00:53
excited. Also, to learn more about you and your story and the value you bring to the world. Well, let me introduce you to the world. Ladies and gentlemen, Mabel Nunez is the founder and chief education officer at girls on the money, a stock market investing education company targeted to women, minorities and individuals. underrepresented in the world of finance and investing. Mabel teaches highly rated courses centered on stock market investing, and is the author of two best selling books. Through all of her resources in social media, she shares what she has learned and continues to learn. Since starting her journey investing journey back in 2008. Mabel holds a Bachelor of Science and an MBA in finance. However, the vast majority of what she's learned about investing came from her experience, you can find her at girls on the money.com Mabel, take a minute, and tell us a bit about the value that you bring to this world.

Mabel Nuñez 02:02
Hey, Andrew, thank you, I'm excited to be on your show. So thank you for having me. Um, I would say Well, the main mission of my business girls from the money is to teach investing mostly to woman but also, you know, minorities, or people that are underrepresented in the world of the stock market that are really exposed to it from a young age, which was my case. So my main mission with everything that I teach is to make it as simple as possible. Sometimes I feel like when people approach the stock market, they feel is overly complicated. They need a financial advisor or somebody to, you know, do it for them or guide them through it. But I feel that investing is something anybody can learn to do. It's a skill that anybody can learn on their own. Obviously, it takes time, like anything else that's worth it in life. So I just what I do is I simplify investing concepts, investing strategies, to the point that people are feel more confident and excited to start investing because they finally get it and they say, Oh, why wasn't I doing this in the first place? So that is, I think one of the main values I bring to the world is simplifying how investing works, and how to do it successfully as well.

Andrew Stotz 03:09
And, you know, I'm curious, like, what's the main roadblock for people? I mean, I like what you said, people that are also just, you know, I mean, my parents never, ever, ever talked about the stock market or stocks. I knew nothing about any of that. And my parents didn't really know much about it, either. I'm just curious, like, what's the main stopping point for most of your students and people who follow you? And that you help? Is it? You know, I got to learn something, or they're just paralyzed, they just don't want to take action? Or what is it that you would say, is the main stopping point that you helped them get past?

Mabel Nuñez 03:45
I honestly think it's fear of the unknown. They don't know exactly how investing works. Like I would, I would say that most people do have the money, you know, you don't have to have, you don't have to have a million dollars or 1000s of dollars to start investing. So most people do have the money to start, you know, a couple of $100 Whatever it is. But I feel that fear from thinking that investing is overly complicated. And they don't even want to take that first step because they don't want to make a mistake. They don't even know where to start. So I think that's a major roadblock. And the reason I say that is because that was me back in the days when I started my investing journey. I I finished a degree in Finance for my undergrad. And I wanted to start investing, but even with a degree in finance, I was still completely clueless about how to like, enter that world. So I put myself in those shoes. And that was me. So I completely understand why people are fearful. And that's the barrier that I try to break with, you know, the courses and resources that I bring to the table.

Andrew Stotz 04:46
That's exciting. So for the listeners out there, then, you know, I think it's a great lesson, you know, we get some blocks but truthfully, nowadays, it's just so much simpler. I think when I first got out of MBA It was hard, you know, there weren't really index funds. And you know, okay, you had to build a portfolio of stocks. And that's not always easy for everybody. So, you know, it's a lot, it's a lot better. And last thing I would just say, too, is that, you know, and I think we may hear a little bit more about this, but it's funny, because, you know, you said you studied an MBA, but you didn't really learn that and it's just so funny about education. You know, it's like, we don't learn practical things, we get some knowledge. But we don't learn practical things, oftentimes. So now, it's time to share your worst investment evidences, no one goes into their worst investment thinking it will be. Tell us a bit about the circumstances leading up to then tell us your story.

Mabel Nuñez 05:42
Well, Andrew, I love this question. And when I first saw the title of your podcast, the first thing I thought about was my worst stock investment ever. But then, you know, as we discussed, what your podcast is all about, I just remembered, you know, a different story that doesn't really have to do with stock investing, it has to do with like, my career and my, my education. So after I graduated from undergrad, I was 21 years old, and in graduated in finance. So everybody in my circle of friends was talking about, oh, what's the next step, and the next step is an MBA or, you know, working in Wall Street or getting all these fancy jobs. So I got really hyped up around the idea of, yeah, I want to get my MBA too. And that sounds so great, and looks luxurious or whatever. So fast forward when I turned 26. Um, you know, it took a few years of us to work and stuff like that between undergrad and graduate school. So when I was like around 26, I decided, okay, I want to start pursuing this MBA thing. So I went to take the GMAT I did horribly. GMAT is like a standardized test here in the US, like the SH T's kind of thing. So I did horribly. So I paid for this expensive course, to teach me how to master the GMAT, which honestly didn't really help at all. Um, but anyways, um, I was able to get into a really good MBA school here in New York City. And I was very excited about, okay, I'm gonna get this MBA, and I'm going to get this fancy job in Wall Street. And these are all going to be amazing, and I'm going to accomplish that goal. But um, you know, little did I know that all that sacrifice of you know, going to school part time going to, you know, working full time going to school at night, you know, I didn't have a life for four and a half years pursuing this MBA, because I thought that it would ultimately take me to that ultimate goal that I had in my head. Then I graduated with a degree. And I realized that throughout those four and a half years, I didn't, I wasn't doing anything else. But going to school, I wasn't making connections with people in the field where I wanted to work. I saw Latina, Latina, I am Dominican, that's my background. No, I'm a woman. And you don't see the people that look like me in Wall Street, like I'm not, you know, a Caucasian man or have any, like, connections in that world. So I just, it was just a wake up call for me when I graduated with my MBA, and I realized, how is this going to happen for me, like, and I don't want to say was my worst investment, but um, I was thinking, like, what was the point of going through all that sacrifice, and ultimately, not getting to the goal that I have pictured for myself? At the beginning, you know, four years before? So I will say that is, um, that is a story that came to mind when you know, when we discussed your podcast, and you asked me that question.

Andrew Stotz 08:35
And when you think about the amount of money that you spent for MBA and the GMAT and all that, you know, was it a sizable amount for what, what you were doing in your life and what you had, I'm assuming that from an investment perspective, it was some, you know, serious money.

Mabel Nuñez 08:49
Yes. Great point. So that's another thing that like you like, the first thing that comes to mind is the time spent, but you're correct. There's also money spent. So when I started the NBA, the employer where I was working was reimbursing me for the courses. But I transition into a different job halfway through the NBA and that new job didn't cover the NBA classes. So I ended up paying for like, half of the degree, which was just to give you an idea, it was about $3,000 per course, I would say and those MBA classes have like, I don't know, 40 credits, I don't even want to remember, to be honest with you. So honestly, yeah, when I think back and thankfully, um, you know, I'm really good with saving money and investing and all of that stuff to the point where I wasn't putting myself in a financial like, how you call it like disaster, but I still say, Wow, I could have used that money for something else completely different. That would have been more beneficial in my life than you know, just having a diploma damage. You're hanging on my wall and I just took a different path in my life anyway. So yeah, absolutely. Time money spent having no life for four and a half years. because, you know, like I said before, I was working full time and just going to school at night, and just just just like just having that dream in my head, like, oh, it's gonna happen, and I wasn't doing anything, you know, to make it happen besides going to class. So that was the thing. Yeah.

Andrew Stotz 10:15
So how would you describe the lessons that you learned from this experience?

Mabel Nuñez 10:19
So I guess a lot of lessons, I guess, one lesson would be, I guess, the practical thing I would say is, um, if that is your, like, whatever degree you're studying, if you have an ultimate goal of working in a specific field, like for me was Wall Street and investment bank, maybe I should have taken the time while I was a student to make connections in that field. Because even if I'm even if I don't look like the typical Wall Street person, maybe I will have, you know, the connections that I would have made, will have helped me, you know, get into the door somehow, or, you know, some way but I didn't really take the time to join groups or different activities at my graduate program that will help me make those connections. So that is, that was one huge lesson because I was very laser focused on I'm going to be doing, I'm going to do good in my classes. And that's about it, which that doesn't really do much. I'm sure people that have gone to college. No, that the one of the most important factors of, of going to school is connections that you make, and people that you meet, because everything in life is pretty much connections, I would, I would think that most people are listening to your podcast would say that whatever job they're doing right now, somehow, someway, it was obtained through some type of connection. I'm sure there's, you know, obviously, there's people out there that just put their web their resume online and got a call. But that's not really like the norm, I would say. So definitely, that was a huge lesson for me. And also, I would say that, um, that God always has better plans. So while my goal initially was to, you know, maybe work in a field where I was making the rich richer, I ended up pursuing a business where I'm helping people, I'm educating people that don't have the opportunity to learn about investing to learn about it, and also grow their wealth and you know, kind of like, take them out of, you know, financial struggles or poverty or like, kind of help them break a generational cycle of like living paycheck to paycheck and never investing. So thankfully, things worked out in a way where I'm actually helping the world as opposed to just work in a field where I'm just making rich people richer. So Oh. So God always has a better plan at the end of the day, even though I have to be honest, when I graduated with a degree and I realized, like, wow, like, how am I going to get that job that I was thinking of getting? Like, I didn't have a job offer waiting for me, like, I don't know, MBA students say, oh, yeah, you know, I graduated now, like, you know, Goldman Sachs is waiting for me, or Chase is waiting for me. I didn't have any of that. I was just like, Okay, now I have all this debt from this MBA, I have, like, what am I going to do with my life? Now? You know, that, you know, people are expecting you to, you know, you like you get your graduate with this fancy degree. And people, you know, are asking you like, so what's next? Like, you know, and I didn't have an answer. So, okay,

Andrew Stotz 13:15
maybe I'll share a few things I take away, you know, you were talking about connections. And now that I've gotten older, I like to change the word connections to friendships. Yeah. And because, you know, my best connections over the years have really become some of my best friends. And, and we like to help our friends, we'd like to help people in general, you know. And so building those connections, I didn't really focus much on that myself. And I came to Thailand, I had no connection. Ground Zero, no money in my pocket. You know, very, I had $2,000 in my pocket. That was it. And I had $20,000 of student loan debt. I had my education, I had a job teaching finance, which was an 80% pay cut from my job at Pepsi in Los Angeles. So but then I just started to make friends. So I think for the listeners out there, I want you to think about the, you know, don't get overwhelmed with the concept of connection, you know, you got to be connected. It's really about making friendships, and if you're a friendly person, and you're making those friendships, then you know, that's valuable. Now, the second thing I take away and I want to mention about is, you know, becoming a chartered financial analyst, and CFA is something that I pursued pretty soon after getting into the world of finance, because I could see it was so pretty clear curriculum about you know, what I need to know to be a good analyst or fund manager or something like that. And many regulators around the world, you know, will consider the CFA level one, level two, level three as a, that you've met some requirements that you don't have to go through other hoops to become a fund manager or an analyst or something. And but even more important about CFA is the relationships you build. And so I ended up volunteering with CFA. And I, if you had come to me when you were thinking about this, and I think for the listeners out there when you're thinking about it, if you really think I want to work on Wall Street, or I want to work in finance, go directly to CFA society in your community. And even just call them up, say, can I attend the next event, I'm not even a member or anything, and they're gonna say, Absolutely. And now we've actually written into the charters in many of the societies that non CFA charterholders can join as members. And then you can go to everything. So that's one thing that really started to come to my mind and said, for those people that really want to enter that world, CFA is a direct channel, and I just highlight one of the thing I in my course evaluation masterclass. Basically, I use my CFA relationships, friendships around the world, to help my students get jobs in New York City, in, you know, Beijing, in Hong Kong, in Singapore. And so I try to help my students get those jobs using my connection to them say, hey, this student has made it through the boot camp, you should consider and in some cases, I have corporate sponsors. So I think we can talk more about that, because I have a women evaluation, spa scholarship, that may be interesting, we can talk some more about later. The last thing I'd say is that, you know, you may say, Well, I didn't see people in Wall Street that look like me. But you know, what's a bumbling fool like me going to sound like when I go to South America, or Mexico, or I go to Spain, and I try to understand the stocks and the investment opportunities there. When I don't even understand the language, I don't understand the culture. And um, you know, struggling to figure it out, and what a competitive advantage you may have having you know, the language skills and understand the culture there. So even when you see that a face may not look like yours, the fact is, they mean may need your value. So, that's some of the things I would take away anything you would add to that.

Mabel Nuñez 17:08
No, I just want to say that I love what you said, and I wish I would have come across someone like you when I was trying to decide, oh, is the NBA the right path, because the truth of the matter is, I didn't have anybody in my life, like in terms of like family member or a close friend or anything that had done an MBA before. And that was like, it was something that I decided to do, because you know, people that I knew were pursuing it. So I didn't really have like a mentor of sorts to tell me hey, like, if your goal is Wall Street and investment banking, maybe this is a better path, you know, so I appreciate what you're doing in terms of telling people, these type of things, you know, kind of guiding them, or telling them, oh, hey, maybe consider this instead. Because, like, for me, I was very set in my ways, like all the MBAs way to go. And that's about in the I know that I know, like, no, there were other pathways. So I just want to say, you know, thank you for giving, you know, it's specifying that and giving that information, because I didn't, I didn't have that when I started to pursue that path back in those days. So

Andrew Stotz 18:10
now you can understand my mission, and you're part of it. And that is how do we reduce risk, and risk could be stopped market risk, but it also could be, you know, risk of time of energy of career. So based upon what you learned from this story, and what you continue to learn, what action, would you recommend our listeners take to avoid suffering the same fate?

Mabel Nuñez 18:29
Wow, I would say fine. Find a mentor, like you or like anybody that they know, that have gone through that before or has more experienced than, than they do in pursuing a certain career path. Don't just blindly listen to people that don't really know what they're talking about, like find somebody that you trust, and that have maybe has gone through that or, or understands that or can give you some valuable advice. Because I feel that could save you a lot of time, money, and everything else, it could just take you straight to where you need to go, as opposed to just like, wandering the world trying to like, throw spaghetti in the wall and see what sticks kind of thing. So I would say finding a mentor somebody that they can trust to that knows more than them in the field to guide them. That's extremely important based on what you just mentioned.

Andrew Stotz 19:20
Great advice. So what's a resource you'd recommend for our listeners?

Mabel Nuñez 19:25
Wow. So um, I guess a resource, um, like I just mentioned earlier, like I've written two books in investing, specifically for beginners. So if anybody in your audience is interested in learning the basics of the stock market, or stock analysis and stuff like that, my books are on Amazon. So under my name, they will Munoz they'll both come up in terms of that, I will say, um, those will be my resources that I you know, that I will personally mentioned, because I wrote them, but, um, besides that, um, I mean, You seem to be an amazing resource in terms of like, offering great advice and mentorship in this field. And I will say I listened to a lot of podcasts. So besides your podcast, which is amazing, I started listening recently. I'm also a big fan of The Motley Fool points podcast and if you're familiar with them, yep, yes. So I listen, I listen to them for like 10 years to be honest, like Market Foolery. I think I started listening from when they first started. And that's my go to. It's been my go to for like, a decade. So I will say that's not one of the great resource.

Andrew Stotz 20:33
Fantastic. All right. Last question. What's your number one goal for the next 12 months? Wow. All right. So here we are at the end of the year, so one year from now?

Mabel Nuñez 20:43
Yeah, oh, my God. So I have a goal. So I'm very active on social media. I have a, you know, on Facebook, Instagram, and stuff like that. And something that I I've noticed about myself is that I'm very behind the scenes. I'm not really like on video a lot. You know, when you follow people on Instagram and stuff, iOS, you see them, you know, making videos and stories and stuff like that. And I pretty much have shied away from that. So one of my goals, which I've been thinking about for like this whole year is the more I work, the more active in terms of showing my face more often on social media, so that to make a stronger connection or, or build a stronger friendship, like you said, with my audience. So that's something that I definitely want to do. And I also I'm old, I'm also bilingual, so I speak Spanish fluently. And I want to I'm in the process of translating both of my books into Spanish. So I'm almost done with the first one I haven't edited or going through it. So hopefully, by next year, that first book is done fully translated, and then I'll work on the second one. So that's another big goal that I have for the next year.

Andrew Stotz 21:48
Well, listeners, there you have it another story of loss to keep you winning. If you haven't yet taken the risk reduction assessment, I challenge you to go to my worst investment ever.com right now and start building wealth the easy way by reducing risk. As we conclude, Mabel, I want to thank you again for joining our mission. And on behalf of a Stotz Academy, I hereby award you alumni status for turning your worst investment ever into your best teaching moment. Do you have any parting words for the audience?

Mabel Nuñez 22:20
Wow. No to like take a risk because that's how you get ahead in life but just make sure the calculated risk is make us be cautious of things but it's you know, that's how you get ahead just you know, taking risks, so you have to do it.

Andrew Stotz 22:34
Well, that's a wrap on another great story to help us create, grow and protect our wealth. Remember, ladies and gentlemen, this podcast is about one guests. One story one mission to help 1 million people reduce risk in their lives fellow risk takers. This is your worst podcast host Andrew Stotz saying. I'll see you on the upside.