About Larisha

LTM: Larisha! Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got to talking about money?

LJ: Growing up, we didn't have a lot of money and we just didn't know what was available to us. So, my mum struggled very hard with the life that we lived. In my early childhood years, I actually spent time living in social housing, as well as a women’s refuge with my mum and brother when we were moving interstate. Then, when I was seventeen, I was living in a resi care home, so I was living with other youth that were experiencing homelessness as well. So, I really grew up experiencing a scarcity [money] mindset and a ‘lack’ mindset around money.

Since then, I’ve dedicated my life to learning more about how to build generational wealth within my family. I started off working in banking and then worked across financial hardship, debt collection and then also in the financial abuse prevention unit at a women's legal service. And so now, in my role at First Nations Foundation, it’s really good to be able to bring everything that I've learned into the one project. It’s how I can alchemise my lived experience and my work experience and make that accessible to all of the women [we work with] today.

Growing up, one of my biggest goals was to buy a home (which I did when I was twenty one) and that really stemmed from my childhood, and not feeling like I had safety, security and all of that stuff. It was a dream that I never thought I would achieve, and now that I feel like I have that safety and security, it's about empowering other women to know that it’s possible as well. That's what I try very hard to cultivate [for others] and help other people achieve through my work.

It runs a lot deeper than just ‘working in finance’ you know? It’s about empowering our people to achieve prosperity and intergenerational wealth, releasing money shame and opening up the conversations about money that, for some within our communities, they will be having for the very first time.

LTM: How would you characterise your relationship with money now, compared to what you learned about money growing up?

LJ: I definitely held negative beliefs about money growing up and also money shame. But now I have the complete opposite mindset and I think my relationship with money is now more of an abundant mindset, not one where I'm lacking or I'm running out of time and resources. It's about knowing that possibility is always available to us.

Everything I’ve learned is self taught and you learn from your own life experiences, you know? And we're not always perfect - we’re continuously learning and evolving.

LTM: Absolutely! And so, tell us a bit more about First Nations Foundation and the work you do there?

LJ: First Nations Foundation is a nonprofit organisation and we deliver financial literacy education for mob. All of our staff that provide training in communities are Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, which means our work is culturally appropriate as well. That’s our ‘My Money Dream’ training, which is that self-paced, financial literacy education part that we do.

We also provide culture and money training, which is a kind of cultural awareness training for banks and financial service providers, to help them better understand the differences that Indigenous people may experience with money, compared to non-Indigenous people.

And then we also have Tomorrow Money, which is our online resource and education hub, where you can literally go online, search for any topic relating to money and find out information there.

“It runs a lot deeper than just ‘working in finance’ you know? It’s about empowering our people to achieve prosperity and intergenerational wealth, releasing money shame and opening up the conversations about money that, for some within our communities, they will be having for the very first time.”

LTM: You also do some pretty amazing work that centres around First Nations women and their money. Tell us about it!

LJ: So our Indigenous Women's Financial Wellness Project is the project I’m leading at the moment and we run financial self-care sessions, which are amazing! So, we'll go out and do the financial literacy/financial self-care part and then straight after that, we'll actually do a women's empowerment session. Because when you first come into it, you can feel a bit disempowered, especially if you've never spoken about money before. So, we follow up with a women's empowerment session, where we're talking about releasing those self-limiting money beliefs and finding your confidence.

Then we do a weaving session, which means we’re taking that cultural, wraparound, holistic approach to what we do. This is one of the big differences that we have within our women's sessions, in that we talk about finances as your overall, holistic financial health. Because physically, we want financial freedom, mentally we want financial wellness and spiritually, we want financial contentment. So, I really like to bring all of these [elements] into it, creating more of a strengths-based, trauma-informed process, which makes it very different to any other person that's doing financial literacy education as well. I feel like that’s where we find our power within the programs that we run.

LTM: It’s such a wonderful approach, and certainly one that the finance industry at large could learn a lot from. So now, tell us about the ‘Rich Blak Women’ podcast and we understand that congratulations are in order for your second season?!

LJ: Yes! So, Rich Blak Women was created to be like a modern day yarning circle because, for a lot of our Indigenous women, the power in just having conversations is so healing and can be so empowering and inspiring. So, you know, through the podcast we’re opening up the conversations, releasing the money shame, releasing the negative self-talk around money and just giving women their power back.

The podcast is also about sharing the lived experiences and different perceptions of what wealth means to lots of different Indigenous women across the country. It's just so important to recognise that we all have different lived experiences as Indigenous people and being able to share that as well. And a lot of people resonate with different parts of every single episode, which is amazing!

LTM: Absolutely. And from that perspective in particular, the podcast is such an important piece of work. In your experience, and through the work that you do, what do you see as some of the major barriers to women and gender diverse people achieving financial equality today?

LJ: For me, I feel like it’s a lot about the mindset and eliminating that money shame. Because once you do that part of the work, you'll understand that there's so many opportunities for you to be able to build generational wealth. As First Nations people, we have existed for over 60,000 years and we have been doing that without any of this help whatsoever. So, it's really about giving women their power back, releasing money, shame and helping them change their mindset completely.

Also, education is key but making sure it’s with financial services and providers that are culturally safe and relevant. I feel like that's one of the major barriers as well - not linking in with the grassroots organisations that know their community best. We've got community organisations - the grassroots organisations - that are already doing the work and so, we need to let these organisations do that work because they are the ones that know the community’s needs best. Self-determination is the perfect word.

LTM: What’s a money mistake you’ve made and how’d you fix it?

LJ: Being materialistic. I was living way beyond my means when I was younger, and I wanted all the expensive stuff. But now, I'm very intentional and very conscious with what I'm buying and what I'm consuming.

LTM: And what about a great financial decision you've made?

LJ: A great financial decision I made was buying my home when I was young, when I had the opportunity. Because now my house is worth a lot more than when I bought it. So just, whatever opportunity that you get to buy a home, take it! Or any opportunity you get to improve your financial mindset, your financial life - do it.

LTM: In your opinion, why is it important for women and gender diverse people to be talking more about money, particularly from your perspective as a First Nations woman?

LJ: I feel like, it’s all part of the healing you know? And sharing your lived experiences is where you can actually unload all of that negative energy that you have with money. And when we're talking to our women, you know, you can literally walk into a room with a whole bunch of women, and you'll leave feeling empowered.

The thing with our programme (IWFW) is, it’s about ‘empowered women, empowering others’ and I definitely stand on that, because we heal when we're talking about these things, when we’re learning from each other, when we're listening and sharing this energy all around us. So, that's why it's so important.

And when we heal ourselves, we heal our mothers and our grandmothers and that's something that is also very, very important within our culture. We're always honouring our ancestors through everything that we do.

LTM: What are some of your favourite tips to help more women and gender diverse people feel confident with their money and achieve a greater level of financial self-care?

LJ: One - work on your mindset and your relationship with money.

Two - release the money shame and get talking about money!

Three - be educated. Learn more and be open to learning from everybody. We're all constantly learning and evolving - straight up.

Four - invest in yourself. So, while you're working so hard towards your goals, make sure that you're celebrating your wins along the way as well. Take time to stop and smell the roses and enjoy everything that you’re working on and towards.

LTM: And finally, can you give us three words that come to mind when you think about money?

LJ: abundance, generational wealth and self-determination. Oh and land back, would be nice!

LTM: That’s four words but we’re definitely keeping them all in…

LJ: Or how about ‘self-landback-determination’?

LTM: Done!

Other Ladies Talking Money is an interview series created by us (Ladies Talk Money) and is designed to profile some of the other incredible women and gender diverse people that are working to change money for the better. We don’t have any direct affiliation with those featured, nor do we recommend or endorse their services. We just happen to love what they do, and choose to show our appreciation through this series and by doing what we can to spread the word.

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Any finance info discussed in this seriously fab feature is general advice only. You should always consider your own personal circumstances before acting on it, or reach out to us if you’d like to discuss your individual needs.