Photographed by Hugh Davies
Style Collective Inspiring Women. Inspiring Fashion.
She will get in your ear about your finances, literally.
The financial adviser, podcaster, author and business owner is perhaps most widely known for her #1 business podcast, She’s On The Money . Victoria Devine wants you to have your smashed avocado and your new home, too.
Her end goal? Is for every millennial to have a healthy relationship with money and to start caring about and planning for their financial future, now.
Please introduce yourself – who is Victoria Devine?
I’m a financial adviser and a 2021 Forbes 30 under 30 Honouree. I am so incredibly passionate about transforming the way millennials think about money.
I have a background in behavioural psychology, my own financial advisory business ‘Zella’, and the #1 business podcast in Australia – She’s on the Money (SOTM), which has established a community of more than 180,000 people.
I’ve also recently launched two additional podcasts The Property Playbook and The Business Bible both aimed at helping people build themselves the life that they deserve.
Have you always been passionate about finance? Tell us how your career came about.
Surprisingly I haven’t always been passionate about finance, but found myself falling into it after being exposed to financial advice companies through my work in organisational psychology. After getting myself into a bit of a pickle financially, I knew I never wanted to find myself there again. I knew I’d get a lot from helping other people stay out of debt, too.
Start caring about your financial future now and learn about your money story – knowing where you’re coming from helps you create a plan for moving forward.
You have amassed an online community of over 180,000 via the SOTM Facebook Group and had over 2 Million podcast downloads – incredible! Tell us how the idea came about for SOTM and how it grew?
To be honest I never knew that we would grow this quickly, or even have a presence. I started SOTM as workshops for my business Zella Wealth – from there I knew I wanted to stay in contact with people from my workshops – so I created a Facebook group to chat! People started adding their friends, family and colleagues and She’s on the Money started to grow. I distinctly remember the day when we hit 1,700 members and thought it was wild. I posted asking the group what they wanted and the community asked for video – which I definitely wasn’t comfortable creating at the time and thus, the podcast was born. Two years later and we’re here!
How do you balance your time between your businesses and personal interests – not to mention renovating your new house?!
To be brutally honest, poorly! I need to be better at self-care and putting my mental health first. In saying that, I wouldn’t change it for the world, and I know that putting in the hard yards now, will pay off in the long term. Renovating the house has absolutely been put on hold though for the short term!
I can’t begin to tell you just how proud I am of the community we’ve created and the lives we’ve changed. Everything distils back down to money and how we interact with it.
You have helped hundreds of thousands of women change their relationship with money. How does it feel to be inspiring so many Australians to better manage their finances?
Honestly incredible. I can’t begin to tell you just how proud I am of the community we’ve created and the lives we’ve changed. Everything distils back down to money and how we interact with it.
If you had to give one essential piece of financial advice, what would it be?
Start caring about your financial future now and learn about your money story – knowing where you’re coming from helps you create a plan for moving forward. If we keep putting our heads in the sand it doesn’t help in any way, shape, or form.
I can’t begin to tell you just how proud I am of the community we’ve created and the lives we’ve changed. Everything distils back down to money and how we interact with it.
Have you ever made any big financial fails yourself?
Absolutely! I’m by no means perfect when it comes to money, no matter how many people think that. I’ve been in significant debt before and I know what it’s like to lose sleep over worrying about where your next debt repayment is coming from. While I never want to be back there, I also don’t regret it – it’s helped me create SOTM and my drive for helping other people find their version of financial freedom.
So, do we have to give up our smashed avocado to own a home?
Absolutely not! We need to be spending in line with our values, and really understanding ourselves and what we want out of life. Too many times I talk to people who want a home just because they think that’s the only way to create financial freedom. It’s not. Giving up smashed avo isn’t going to help you afford a property, unless I’m living under a rock, and it now only takes $20 a week to save for your first home?!
Speaking of investments, what fashion pieces do you think are worth investing in?
Quality pieces that are going to give you great cost per wear, like good quality little white sneakers, a white shirt, really beautiful boots and natural fibre jumpers. I tend to not splurge on the basics, because with quality accessories and shoes it really elevates your outfit!
What is next for Victoria Devine?
Honestly, I have no idea. I feel like thus far I’ve really gone with the flow and followed what I’m passionate about, and I hope that the next 10 years creates just as much impact as the last 10. I’d like to think that the next thing I do is creating more content that impacts people’s financial futures.
