Hi, I'm Jen Nash

My comfort level with money became apparent after college. I had just graduated from Parsons School of Design and I wanted to be a magazine writer in New York City. I wasn’t a trust fund kid so that meant I needed to make a livable salary right out of the gate.

The only place that paid well enough to cover my rent was Institutional Investor, a magazine that also published high-end financial newsletters. They hired me to launch the Real Estate Finance and Investment newsletter where I wrote and learned about commercial mortgage backed securities, real estate debt structuring, and acquisitions over a million dollars.

For my new job I found myself interviewing guys (yes, they were mostly men) from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citibank. They all made crazy cash and you know what I learned? Money wasn't a taboo subject for them.

The men I interviewed had an ease when they talked about money. They treated it like the paper it was. They were very comfortable with it, because to them… it was a game.

After a few years I decided to shift my career to advertising and marketing, but my experiences at the magazine made a profound impact on me and I started to invest in real estate. After I purchased my first property with partners, I began to look into properties that I could buy, fix, and rent myself.   I learned fast that in the real estate world you need to be comfortable talking about money if you want to make a profitable deal.

So this is where YOU come in  – how comfortable are you talking about money?

Many women are taught that it is rude to bring up the subject of money. But how can you get the salary you want or the money you deserve if you are unable to ask? Let me assure you - you can!  It starts when you commit to talking about money. Just a little bit. Every day.

We know that if we want to feel good and be strong we need to make health, exercise, and nutrition a priority. Well, it works the same for money. If you want to get more confident and comfortable with the money conversations in your life, you have to strengthen that money muscle through consistent practice.

My mission is to encourage and empower women to get more comfortable with all things dollars and cents. I’m excited to help women make more and own that they are worth it.

Until we get the hang of money talk,  we’re going to stay frustrated with many aspects of our lives. We’re going to wish we…

• Made more money
• Had the guts to ask for a promotion
• Knew how to talk about project/hourly rates—without feeling like frauds
• Knew how to negotiate a new salary
• Didn’t split the bill evenly when all we had was soup
• Could talk to our partners about their income, their spending habits and their debt (school loans, credit cards, mortgages, etc.)

If you’ve read this far, I want to thank you. I know this is the beginning of your money success and I’d love to learn more about you. The best way to share your stories and stay connected is to become a JN Insider — just enter your name and email.