Discover how transforming your financial future starts with the right education in this episode with Dr. Renee Baker, founder and CEO of the RBI Group. From her beginnings as an aspiring medical doctor to becoming a finance industry trailblazer, Dr. Baker's nearly three decades in financial services across global hotspots have provided her with invaluable lessons on wealth management, financial literacy, and the power of authentic relationships. She shares her mission to close financial literacy gaps and empower others to take charge of their financial health. Tune in for insights on integrating financial education into school curriculums, addressing challenges faced by women and communities of color, and leveraging technology for growth.
📺 You can watch this episode on Moses The Mentor's YouTube page and don't forget to subscribe: https://youtu.be/IWyUZyVZ9lo
🎯Connect with Dr. Renee Baker @itsreneebaker on Instagram and visit her website reneebaker.com
🎯Connect with Moses The Mentor: https://mtr.bio/moses-the-mentor
☕If you value my content consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mosesthementor
📢Support Money Focused Podcast for as low as $3 a month: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2261865/support
🔔Subscribe to my channel for Real Estate & Personal Finance tips https://www.youtube.com/@mosesthementor?sub_confirmation=1
Discover how transforming your financial future starts with the right education in this episode with Dr. Renee Baker, founder and CEO of the RBI Group. From her beginnings as an aspiring medical doctor to becoming a finance industry trailblazer, Dr. Baker's nearly three decades in financial services across global hotspots have provided her with invaluable lessons on wealth management, financial literacy, and the power of authentic relationships. She shares her mission to close financial literacy gaps and empower others to take charge of their financial health. Tune in for insights on integrating financial education into school curriculums, addressing challenges faced by women and communities of color, and leveraging technology for growth.
📺 You can watch this episode on Moses The Mentor's YouTube page and don't forget to subscribe: https://youtu.be/IWyUZyVZ9lo
🎯Connect with Dr. Renee Baker @itsreneebaker on Instagram and visit her website reneebaker.com
🎯Connect with Moses The Mentor: https://mtr.bio/moses-the-mentor
☕If you value my content consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mosesthementor
📢Support Money Focused Podcast for as low as $3 a month: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2261865/support
🔔Subscribe to my channel for Real Estate & Personal Finance tips https://www.youtube.com/@mosesthementor?sub_confirmation=1
Welcome back to the Money Focus Podcast. I'm your host, moses the mentor, and on this episode, I have the pleasure of welcoming Dr Renee Baker. Now, dr Baker is the founder and CEO of the RBI Group. She's an adjunct professor, she's a mentor and a community leader. She's here to share her journey, as well as her insights on wealth management, financial literacy and building wealth. So let's dive in. All right. Thank you so much for joining the Money Focus podcast. I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule. The first thing I love for my guests to do is to really walk us through their career journey, their professional journey and, ultimately, how they started their business. So the floor is yours.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you so much for having me. I'm thrilled to be here. As you said, my name is Dr Renee Baker and I'm the founder and CEO of the RBI Group. My career really started in corporate. I majored in finance undergrad and I always like to mention the fact that I did not.
Speaker 2:In high school I had no intention of majoring in finance. I had no idea that this would be my area of focus. I initially was focusing on biology and wanted to become a doctor and I became one, but just in a different way than I planned. I ended up going into finance really good in math and science, love those topics and subjects. So I went over into finance and I'll tell you that I am so glad that I found this industry. My mother always said that we don't always get what we want, but we always get what we need, and this career is what I needed. So I spent about 29 years in financial services until I launched my own company and took the courageous voluntary leap to pursue entrepreneurship full time. I worked in Wall Street, had the pleasure of working in New York, london, cayman Islands and really working in all different aspects of financial services to get me to where I am today.
Speaker 1:You know congrats. You know 29 years in the industry and you decided to make that leap. What were some key experiences that you took along the way through your professional career and also from the academic standpoint that kind of helped shape your viewpoint toward wealth management overall?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so love this question because I grew up in a small town, from a small town in southern New Jersey. We really didn't have a lot of knowledge. It wasn't a topic that we spoke about. So throughout my career, one of the things that I recognized or I saw was the disparities and financial knowledge, and not just in the community that I came from, but just the community overall. So there became this inherent desire to bridge that gap. Initially I didn't realize that that's what I was trying to do, but every time I would learn something. I would go back and like, hey, did you go back to my family, go back to my friends, did you know this? Did you know that? So, really wanting to bridge that gap and not having a structure, we weren't really talking about financial education, financial literacy back in the 90s, but we were talking about the need to have financial solutions without realizing.
Speaker 2:I guess I should say so, just really understanding finance is something that I wanted to bring to the, to the community, and something that I also learned myself. And I'd say another thing is I was a sponge early in my career. I'm still a sponge. I worked towards getting better, getting at least 1% better, everything and everything that I do, but I was a sponge and I would listen and learn. And I think that's a life hack the ability to learn and to recognize that we don't know everything. But we can continue to learn. What we know better, we do better. But I just listen. I ask a lot of questions, I stayed curious and really absorbed as much information as I could to help me prepare, at least find understanding, all the different components of that.
Speaker 2:And then the next thing that I'll say that has been really helpful is the power of relationships and networking I have. Over the years I have built a wonderful network and people who, beyond the transaction it was not about having transactional relationships, it was really about building relationships and being able to tap into those experts now that maybe I sat with in a cubicle early in my career and now I'm being able to tap into those individuals and the people that I met. For a long time I never had an ask, I just wanted to, and then even some cases now I don't have an ask, I just want to build strong, positive relationships with people that I like, know and trust and then from there we'll build. So those are the three things I would say Just understanding that there was a disparity and wanting to be the change, recognizing the importance of relationships and building on those relationships by making that connection and trying my very best to get better every day, by learning and growing and sharing.
Speaker 1:That's great advice, especially the relationships one. Yes, that's huge, that's huge. You know, I still have my corporate career. I'm also an investor, have my corporate career, I'm also an investor and I can tell you, you know, the relationships I've built in my corporate career makes me feel really good that, if you know, if I needed a job, you know, one call away from people from various companies and industries that I would feel pretty strong, I could land somewhere.
Speaker 1:And then relationships on the flip side now on from a podcast, is that I've met people from all walks of life and I haven't asked them for money or anything like that. I'm simply just really offering my expertise and really being curious what you said a moment ago as well to really learn what they bring to the table as well, and I think people appreciate the energy that I bring and it just really bridges for a long standing relationship, an organic relationship that you know, hopefully you know, stays, stands the test of time. So I would definitely yeah, I would definitely co-sign that relationships and being curious are two best practices that you know people should implement. And it kind of rolls into my next questions because you know, when it comes to your clients and also people in the community. Are there any other approaches or techniques that you would really suggest that someone you know be exposed to that would help them further along with their money management journey or just understanding money over?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that it's so important to leverage the tools and resources that are available to us. We have so much information at our fingertips. So while I spend time talking about financial education, I have tools and resources that I can leverage. That I'm talking about is it's all available and one of the key differences. I sound like a dinosaur, but back when I was an undergrad, we really didn't have the level of access to information that we have today. Please, if I had YouTube back in the day, or TikTok or whatever I don't know. There's a lot of people who have different viewpoints about TikTok, but the reality is there's access.
Speaker 2:I've read a lot of books I'm still a ferocious reader, I believe and educating, and, as much as I've spent all these decades in this industry, there's always still more to learn and more to do. So I think the value of always learning, reading, talking to other experts, having a money, mentor, because one of the things is we sometimes feel like we have to know everything and we don't. There's so much power. We talked about relationships, but leveraging those relationships. I love talking to people that have more experience than me, that are smarter than me, that bring something different to the table. So staying curious and changing our minds that you said that earlier.
Speaker 2:The first thing that I had to do in this journey whether it was going into entrepreneurship, being in corporate and understanding that I deserve to be in the spaces and places where I was in or where I was located was my mindset. I had to understand that. One yes, I deserved to be here. Two make it more positive. Two make it more positive. I mean, some of us have money, mindsets that have gone, has stood the test of time for people who maybe didn't have the same level of access that we had or who didn't know. So I definitely had to change my mindset about money. I deserve it. I'm worthy.
Speaker 2:Yes, I am maybe statistically behind, but here are some of the things that I can do and overcome some of those biases that I have within myself has been one of the most transformative components of this journey, and I encourage us to, when we're talking about behavioral finance or some of the psychological factors that impact our financial decisions, really changing our mindset first. So those are some of the things. I think we really have to trust that we have access to this information, we deserve it and we have to be ferocious in our approach to wanting to learn and to understand. And if we don't have it, if we don't want to understand it? Some people say I feel like that way about accounting and I'mored in it let somebody else do it, but at least somebody else is there to do it accounting is very important, but I I don't enjoy it as well.
Speaker 1:When I was younger, you know my math teachers always say oh moses, you should be an accountant. Because you know I was good in math and I remember when I first took accounting I said wait, this is not what I thought it was going to be. It's just not about numbers. It's about where the numbers go, with tracking and all that. So it just wasn't for me. I'm still in finance, though, but just not accounting. Speaking of learning in an academic environment, so on top of being an entrepreneur and leading our RBI group, you're actually also a professor. So talk to us about how those two great, you know kind of professions and roles, how they actually complement each other, and also if there's any times where they actually conflict and it just drives you crazy. I would love to know that too.
Speaker 2:Well, let me just tell you I love teaching. I you know, even when I was still in corporate, I always found time to be with the students. Now I love school. So being on a campus, it brings me life. But teaching, most importantly, it keeps me at the forefront of new theories and practices and I am able to integrate that into my business.
Speaker 2:When I was in corporate I was able to integrate that into the work that I've done. And what I'm able to provide to the students are real-world experiences. So I use real-world case studies. It helps to enrich my teaching. It helps to enrich my teaching, it helps to enrich my research and it allows the opportunity for me to be able to have a practical experience providing practical advice to the students and in turn I'm learning from them. So I say it keeps me at the forefront of what's relevant to now Gen Z. When I first started speaking teaching it was more around the millennials, so now I'm focusing more, understanding the dynamic of Gen Z. That helps me not only bring innovative solutions to my clients, but it also helps me to better understand even how I'm hiring and bringing people into the business.
Speaker 2:And I do find value in bridging theory and practical application of the work. Just, I feel like it differentiates me in a way that I'm always going to stay on top of what's relevant, what's front and center to the consumer audience, being abreast of different changes. Now, I really don't see where it conflicts, if anything. Maybe the conflict is that I wish I had more time to spend with the students. Well, but I'm running a company, but I'd say the the experience of choosing right, because you know, being an adjunct professor is a lot of work.
Speaker 2:No disrespect, no one is going to get rich off of this, but the rich it's how we define abundance. And this richness that I get is through the experiences of working with the students. And I also think that whenever we can teach something, it makes us better. Right, I have to stay and the students are not going to let me be boring and my days are long and the students are going to make sure that it's not boring. That is relevant, that is focus and the questions they ask. I really enjoy the inquisitive nature of the students, so, all joy, love it. And the tie to being an entrepreneur is even better, because it certainly enriches this experience and helps me to continue to get better every day.
Speaker 1:It gives you a front row seat into the next generation of workers and employees and people that you know and clients.
Speaker 2:So you know students will tell me. I'm always learning from the students about new and effective technology and what what they're paying attention to technology and what they're paying attention to. So I think we really, especially in our industry here in finance we really need to understand the nuances of the different generations and the generational wealth transfer and how that's going to impact the next generation. So I think that that becomes really relevant to the advisor community that I serve and support in that work, so that we can continue to make sure we're meeting people where they're at.
Speaker 1:You definitely sound like you're someone that you know enjoys being around people and serving your community. Are there any initiatives that you've been a part of you know that you would like to share with the audience? That really has been impactful to you and also to your company, the RBI group?
Speaker 2:Yes. So I'm really big on community and supporting the communities that I serve and it was a big focus of mine when I was still in corporate and that continues in my entrepreneurship journey Now. I support many different initiatives and I'm really big on health and advocacy and making sure that, as women and as a Black woman, that we're aware of some of the disparities when it comes to health. So some of those health initiatives are really important, which does have a financial impact, because if we don't have access when it comes to health, it's costing us with our lives, it's costing us with our ability to get access to proper health care. So that is also important to me. Financial education is always going to be. I don't even look at it as an initiative. It is part of who I am as a human and being able to partner with organizations, nonprofit organizations, church organizations, local organizations and even financial advisors to integrate just the fundamentals when it comes to financial education and to their work and the curriculum. We have a curriculum geared towards kindergarten through eighth grade called the Sensibles Through the RBI Group, which my partner really started to work on before we launched the RBI Group. That is centered on helping bring the fundamentals to young people to get them in front of and understanding money sooner.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of research out there that talks about the sooner that we expose children to financial education, the better they make better and more informed financial decisions as they get older, which has a positive impact on the community and in their lives.
Speaker 2:But we also want to help increase their confidence and students.
Speaker 2:I think there's about the percentage is about 40% that there's an increase in students' confidence when they have, when they better understand how to manage their finances and there's a benefit from a long term impact when there's early financial education.
Speaker 2:And while I spend my time talking to all financial advisors getting in front of women, getting in front of women of color and you might say, well, why women? Because I believe that there's a gap and as a woman and no one could tell you better than a person who's lived it as a woman I definitely wanted to make sure that other women were confident, felt that they were empowered when it comes to their finances and have those conversations and with communities of color. So those are some of the initiatives. I'm always going to find a way to talk about financial education. I'm always going to find a way to amplify the causes that are important to the work that I do, whether it's health care education, financial education and helping to mentor and support those that are in the industry, as well as young people who want to learn more about entrepreneurship or finance in general.
Speaker 1:Nice. I mean, I think you covered a lot of what I was going to ask you, because financial literacy might be one component of the whole process, but you talked earlier about having the right mindset towards money being curious relationships, so, and then fundamentals, when it comes to just understanding finances, I always, on my show I bring up a lot about people not really understanding what inflation is. And inflation becoming this buzzword since the pandemic as if it was new, you know, was the only difference is that we felt it. You felt it a whole lot more, but it's the same thing that our grandparents would say. They'll say oh, back in the days it was a nickel, you know, and now it's two, three dollars, you know. So inflation is one of those core, fundamental things that I like to teach my students and anybody on my mentees, anybody that want to listen. Is there anything else that you think that our listeners can really focus on and zero in on to ensure that they're in a better place when it comes to their personal finance?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and thank you for asking that question, because you know we can talk. You and I can talk about this. We're in it, we understand it, we're comfortable with it. But we have to understand that there are many people who are not comfortable with it. This can be a very intimidating discussion. A topic is also very personal, so we have to understand that and have empathy. But I find you brought up the inflation point and the fact that you know our grandparents talked about it.
Speaker 2:I find that this conversation about money becomes more real when we can put it in terms of what people already know, and that's why I say we meet people where they're at when we're talking about money. So making it a real world, experience it. I can talk high level and use all the finance buzzword and I'm gonna miss my audience. They're just gonna, we're gonna lose them. So the one thing that I'll say to there's two things. The first thing is for those of us that talk about money, to make sure that we're meeting people where they're at and putting it in front of individuals in a way that they can understand, by making it real to them. And then, for those that are meeting us right Cause we're meeting you where we're at. Come and meet us where we're at is to be curious, to ask questions. Let's not hide from this conversation. We need to talk about this real world.
Speaker 2:You know, I have children. I talked about money with my children. I didn't just, I didn't make it negative. I worked on mindset early so that now they have very positive thoughts when it comes to money. But we need to change our mindset. We need to make sure that we understand that this can be for us, and I'm not saying that it's always easy.
Speaker 2:But when we make a decision and I always say, we all have a vision, we all have to take this vision into a reality and we mostly do it by doing it's not what you know, it's what you do with what you know. So when you get this information that's available to all of us, right, what are you going to do about it? And one of the things I don't know if you run into this with your clients and when you're having this conversation, is they want to take over the world and it's like I'm going to go from negative to a billion. That's too much.
Speaker 2:This is a long game. Let's take it step by step, day by day. Let's incrementally improve on our information, around our education, around finance and work on the things that are most relevant to us, and understand that this is a long game, just like diet and exercise. We can talk about it, but unless we do it and we stay consistent, we're not going to see those results. So take it step by step, get help if you need it, but understand that this is for us. We deserve it. No one is coming to save us, so we must work towards doing the things that we need to do to save ourselves.
Speaker 1:A thousand percent agree. I appreciate that Said it very well what's next for your company? So let's put the spotlight on what you're doing and what you hope to actually do with your company in the coming years. So talk to us about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so thank you.
Speaker 2:So one of the things is, when I started the RBI group, it was important for me to build a company outside of building and creating a job for myself, so I live it long game definitely started later, leveraging my experience, but we're still in the plans, we're still expanding, we're looking at what's working and what's not working.
Speaker 2:We're looking at how we can enhance our digital platform, thinking about how we can incorporate more technology, more AI driven advice and predictive analytics so that we can help our clients who are financial advisors make more proactive decisions.
Speaker 2:And when we're talking about financial education, when we're going to the community, how are we helping them address? How are we being a part of that change by addressing those gaps and introducing more programs and different initiatives to help to support our communities more programs and different initiatives to help to support our communities. So it's a multi-tiered approach. We're looking at how we can help to, just overall, expand our business getting better, reaching more people, incorporating more technology, leveraging the power of AI when it makes sense, because we can power that with our own expertise and knowledge. Also, how can we just be better for our clients, whether it's the clients that we're helping to grow their businesses through the advisors, or we're helping to close that financial education gap and incorporating more programs that are meeting our audience where they're at and getting more into those communities to support them in their knowledge when it comes to financial education.
Speaker 1:Are you a fan of AI or are you kind of opposed to it?
Speaker 2:I understand the power of technology right. So you know I've been around for a while and know that there are going to be. There are some battles that are worth fighting. Ai was just is not one of them. It's happening, so I like to be a part of the solution and I'm not going to we're not going to change this is my opinion. This is purely a Renee Baker ideal here, but it's.
Speaker 2:I'd rather embrace the power of technology. We have invested a lot of time in understanding it and learning it. I've made mistakes. I've learned from it, but I think we have to be adaptable and that's how I feel about AI. We have to seek to understand that there's technology that's going to help make our businesses better and smarter and faster. But I also come with that with a great deal of experience. I have 30 years of experience, so when I take that experience and then I add technology to it, come on, now we make a move. So that's how I feel about it. You know and be smart and do the best that we can. I like to be as informed as possible, but the best way that I know how to get things done is by doing them, learning and growing, and I'm not afraid to make mistakes, as long as we learn from them, and it's not going to blow our businesses up. So that's the thing I like to. That's my personal philosophy on AI.
Speaker 1:Those that are fearful that it will replace humans. At least from my vantage point, I don't see it that way. I think it's more like you noted the efficiency that you'll gain from it. That way, I think it's more like you know the efficiency that you'll gain from it. Some of the things that were that we take humans to work on, we can go ahead and have a computer work on it and the humans can work on the things that require that 30 years of knowledge that you have. You know that's something that I can't replicate. It can't replicate the relationships that you have with people. How to the leadership component, but it can help you with some numbers. It can help you with some productivity.
Speaker 2:And I use it in all my businesses. But you know, I use it as a add on, not like a replacement of what true people could bring to the table. So yeah, 100 percent. Like you can't replace empathy, you can't replace that human, the human element or experience. Google is not replacing my expertise, right, nor is AI, but I think to your point, the productivity and efficiency. We have to understand that we the way we get better is by embracing technology.
Speaker 1:We have to understand that the way we get better is by embracing technology. What final thoughts or just advice would you like to share with the audience, and also, if you can close us out, with your best ways to contact you or the RBI group with your website and social media? So I just really appreciate your time and, you know, close us out. The floor is yours.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would just say, you know, as we're navigating our life's financial journey, I just think it's really important that we stay curious. Stay curious, learn as much as we can, being proactive as well, right Like, let's seek solutions before we have the problem, and being informed is the way to do that. And I also would say, stay resilient. There are going to be challenges, whether we're talking about finance, whether we're talking about entrepreneurship, we're going to run into challenges and the fact that we are able to be resilient is also very critical and it's a way for us to survive but, more importantly, thrive, and I think that that's really important. So, embrace learning, stay flexible, whether your strategy is in your business and in your life. Stay flexible and understand the deeper reasons around why you make those decisions right. When it comes to your finances and that's going to go to mindset You're shopping all the time.
Speaker 2:Are you shopping because you're seeking validation, and is there another way that you can seek validation? Yes, I have a lot of Apple products, but could I invest in my future by investing in the things that I like? And I'm not making a recommendation. So I think that is something that I like to convey. Whether it's personal or professional. That is something that I like to convey, whether it's personal or professional is to do what you can to be better every single day.
Speaker 2:So that's what I would say, and just know that the best I always say the best is yet to come, because I trust that whatever we put our mind to right, whatever we have a vision and we can make it a plan reality is just about going for it, and life is short. We can get a new title, we can find all the things that we want, but we don't. What we can find is more time. So I'm really big on going for what it is that you want, no matter what it is that you're doing. And if you want to keep up with me and you want to know how you can continue to unleash these barriers in your professional or personal journey, I'm at it's Renee Baker all across social media or at the RBI group, so my personal website is ReneeBakercom, my business website is TheRBIGroupcom and I'm on social so you can find us anywhere. So anyone listening, please connect and stay connected as we go through this journey together.
Speaker 1:Perfect, and I'll make sure to include all of your contact information in the show notes, so anybody who's watching or listening, just go ahead and check the description and you'll be right there. You'll be presented with all the information. Go ahead and stay in touch with Renee. Be right there, you'll be presented with all the information to go ahead and stay in touch with Renee. So thank you so much for taking the time to share your background with us and talk a little bit about financial education. Really appreciate you and we're out.
Speaker 2:Thanks, thank you, thanks for having me you.