BRAINZ MAGAZINE | Personal Finance Coach Helping You Build A Healthy Relationship With Money – Exclusive Interview With Nicole Ayub

Introduce yourself! Please tell us about you and your life, so we can get to know you better.

I am the CEO and Founder of Wall Street Girl Next Door. Being born and raised in San Diego I am a California girl at heart who moved to New York City in 2016 to follow my dreams of living in New York and working on Wall Street. I live on the Upper East Side with my Maltipoo Gunner who I rescued in June of 2022. My heart is always in the ocean, and I am very passionate about ocean and shark conservation. I am an avid SCUBA diver who loves diving with sharks and a surfer in training. I love to travel the world and go places I have never been. Getting on a plane and going out into the world alone is one of the things that sets my soul on fire. It is one of the most liberating feelings. When I am not globetrotting, I love going to concerts and watching live music. Most nights after work you can find me practicing Bikram Yoga or hot Vinyasa. During the day I work for a global bank where I am building a financial wellness business.

Can you provide a brief overview of your business – Wall Street Girl Next Door and its core offerings?

I started my personal finance coaching business to help the segment of people that I see get overlooked by the finance industry. People who have debt and do not know how to get out of the debt cycle. People who make a decent salary and live paycheck to paycheck. People that have financial goals and need support on how to reach them. People who have more than enough money and live in fear and scarcity. I want to give the same support and resources to these people that the wealthy are privy to. I work with clients on a one-on-one basis. I have a handful of programs that are designed to help people with the area of their finances they are struggling with. The different programs are Becoming Debt Free, Henry – High Earner, Not Rich Yet, and Reach My Goals. Becoming Debt Free is designed to help people who need support paying down their debt and learning how to break out of the debt cycle. Henry – High Earner, Not Rich Yet is for people who make a six-figure income and are living paycheck-to- paycheck. Reach My Goals is geared towards people who do not have any debt and would like to start planning for their future or to reach a specific goal. This can be travel, save for a home, start an emergency savings fund, etc.

I recently launched a podcast called The Money Diaries that is on Spotify and Apple where each episode I dive into all the sides of money we never talk about. It is more of an intimate conversation about the emotional relationship we have with our money and how that affects our habits and financial circumstances. That is one of the main tenets of my brand. It is more than just personal finance tips; I focus on how emotions drive our behaviors. You can pay off all the debt in the world, but if you do not address the reason you got into debt you will end up in the same place again. I want to help people have a healthy relationship with their money and finances on a fundamental and emotional level. When you approach finance from this perspective you can shift the mindset and habits that people are stuck in.

What inspired you to start this business, and what are your primary goals and objectives?

In 2013 when I started working in finance, I saw the wealth management industry is geared towards people who had already accumulated assets. I kept thinking to myself “what happens to the people that do not have any assets yet?” This passion was tattooed on my heart and when I moved to New York City it became my mission to find a way. It is not just about helping people accumulate assets; it is about helping people get out of the debt cycle, the constant spending money on today and not saving for tomorrow, the living outside of your means, and living in fear and shame of your financial situation. I started Wall Street Girl Next Door to give people resources to make healthy financial decisions and to feel excited about their money and the possibility of what their money can do for their lives. My favorite thing in the world is sitting down with someone and talking to them about where they are with their money, the goals they have, and creating a plan to reach their goals. Wall Street Girl Next Door is designed to give people a safe place to talk about their money on a deeper level rather than just telling someone they should create a budget. I do not see people talking about the emotional relationship we have with our money enough. Talking about money is still seen as taboo and I want to break that barrier. I think it is important to talk about the fear we carry around money, the shame we have, and the joy it can bring. Talking about money makes people very uncomfortable and this is where the work must be done. Money is powerful and emotional. It is one of the most important relationships we have in our life and the one that is talked about the least. I am working to change that.

Who is your target audience, and how do you tailor your content/products/services to meet their needs?

I like to say an ideal client for Wall Street Girl Next Door is someone who has not hit the wealth management or financial advising hurdle yet. The main types of clients I work with are people who have debt, unhealthy spending habits, need support to start saving or investing, and have fear and shame towards their finances. Basically, anyone who needs direction and support on their financial journey and cannot find that support at the retail level. Also, at the retail level people will not address the emotional side which I think is crucial if you want to change habits and behaviors. It is not all about having money to invest. It is about how to help people have a healthy relationship with their money.

When I work with a client, our sessions and the plan are customized towards their specific financial needs and goals. Everyone's circumstances and goals are different. What works for one person might not work for someone else, especially when you work with clients on an emotional and mental level. I meet my clients where they are, and I build a plan based on where they want to go. I spend half of each session going over net worth, spending, and goal tracking. The other half is checking in on how they are feeling about their money and if any emotions came up since our last session. I ask clients to keep a money journal to track when they notice fear and shame come up and when they notice positive shifts in their mindset or habits. Shifting the mindset and having awareness over your emotions as they come up is a big part of healing your relationship with your money.

Can you explain what financial health means?

When I talk about financial health, I am referring to being responsible for your future while at the same time being able to enjoy your money today without living outside your means. Financial health is not scarcity or frivolous spending. It is being intentional with your money and prioritizing the things that are important to you. I have seen people with millions of dollars overspend and live in fear. More money is not the answer to your financial problems. You need to shift these elements on a fundamental level if you want to have freedom from fear and scarcity. Financial health is not only about having your financial ducks in a row, it is about how you feel and relate to your money. Real freedom comes when you can enjoy your money responsibly.

If you could change one thing about your industry, what would it be and why?

I would change many things, but the thing I would most like to change about the finance industry is how it caters to people who already have wealth and overlooks how to help people have a healthy relationship with their money. Banks will give someone a credit card and no one teaches them how to properly manage a credit card. There is a lack of financial literacy and education on a broader level. I think students should be taught financial education in high school and at the colligate level so they are prepared to go out into world and know how to manage their finances. I am very passionate about continuing to create resources to bridge this gap that I see missing within the finance industry.

Tell us about a pivotal moment in your life that brought you to where you are today. 

One of the biggest pivotal moments in my life was October 17, 2016 when I got on a plane and moved to New York City. This move changed everything for me. I moved to New York with two suitcases and without a job or an apartment. I was in final interviews at four different firms when I moved so I had faith one of them would turn into an offer. I was renting an Airbnb in Brooklyn for a month while I got on my feet. Within a week I had an offer and a lease on an apartment signed. All the stars aligned when I moved to New York, and I realized this is where I needed to be to take my career to the next level and bring this vision to life. I started from scratch, and I have worked hard to bring my dreams to life. New York City lives up to its reputation of “if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.” I have hit bumps in the road and this journey has by no means been smooth sailing. But I see how it was all necessary to help shape me into the woman I am today. The past few years I have been on a deep and powerful healing journey, which I talk about on my podcast, that has led me to where I am today. New York has broken me into a million pieces so I could rebuild myself into a stronger more authentic version of myself. Every step of this journey has prepared me to have the strength and ability to create my business and the opportunity to help others. For that I am very grateful and I would not change any of it!