He Got Tired of Waiting for Schools to Teach Money, So He Did It Himself

When schools skipped teaching money skills, Ashwin didn’t just start a finance club. He took his mission all the way to state legislation. Now he’s helping others take control of their finances too.

In this episode of Dollars and Sense, we dive into:

• Why financial literacy is missing from most school curriculums
• How Gen Z is taking ownership of their financial futures
• The challenges young people face when learning about money
• The power of peer-led education and grassroots change

Whether you’re a parent, student, or someone who wishes they learned more about money growing up, this episode will get you thinking differently.

🎥 Watch the full-length episode on YouTube: @DollarsAndSense.Podcast
📲 Follow us on Instagram: @hapoccu | @dollarsandsense.podcast
💡 Don’t forget to follow the show for more real stories and smart money talk.

Transcript

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:23:04
Unknown
Do you ever wish your high school curriculum included more financial education? Today on the podcast, we're going to talk with a student who took that desire all the way to the state Congress. Let's get into it. So.

00:00:23:06 - 00:00:26:21
Unknown
The.

00:00:26:23 - 00:00:53:17
Unknown
Hi, everybody, and welcome to another episode of Dollars and Cents. How about community credit unions financial literacy podcast. Today we are welcoming Mary Lou back into the podcast studio. Welcome back, Mary Lou, as well as Ashwin. We're going to be talking a little bit about advocacy and some very specific stories of some time that you spent on Capitol Hill and in Washington doing some advocacy for financial literacy and financial education.

00:00:53:19 - 00:01:17:20
Unknown
Ashwin, welcome and Mary Lou, welcome back. It's good to be here. Thank you, Scott and Mary Lou, for the invite. Excellent. So tell us a little bit about yourself, what you're doing nowadays, and then, we'll dive into the, the advocacy portion of things. Well, I finished my first year at Berkeley just now, and I've been busy lately as chair of the all teams bonanza.

00:01:17:21 - 00:01:48:01
Unknown
Okay. Nonprofit organization that helped in the whole advocacy component for financial literacy. And my institutionally backed company that I started in the Bay that now helps hotels train their staff and others instead of weeks. Okay. It's been an incredible journey so far. I'm actually heading back to the Bay next Saturday. There's this conference is called the y c I sort of school that's inviting the start.

00:01:48:01 - 00:02:09:12
Unknown
The top student AI founders globally is going to have speakers like Elon Musk. So. Oh very cool. So that's the end of Delta. And it's it's just surreal. The opportunities from being a small town student here to now in the Bay Area at Berkeley. It's it's changed my life. And I'm so grateful for the tri cities community for guiding me.

00:02:09:14 - 00:02:25:19
Unknown
Excellent. So that's a whole topic that we might want to want to dive into at some point in time. The training aspect, the the feature that you're bringing out, I'm sure is a huge financial benefit for companies out there. If you can get your training knocked down to a certain amount of time, that's that's amazing. Type of work.

00:02:25:19 - 00:02:49:05
Unknown
And you're using, AI to leverage that? Yeah. Microlearning. Very cool. All right. So what we really were bringing you in for. As much as I want to dive into that. Because the AI thing is super fun and cool. Is the, financial education advocacy work that you did over the past couple of years, here in the state of Washington.

00:02:49:10 - 00:03:12:09
Unknown
And before we got started on the podcast, you mentioned that you are still at that, doing some some stuff with that advocacy. So walk us through, kind of the basics of what it is that you're, that you're doing for the advocacy for financial education. Yeah. I mean, as as no chair of transitional leadership to my mentee, Luke, who's in California.

00:03:12:09 - 00:03:41:22
Unknown
And then there's Parker as well, who's here in the Tri-Cities as the CFO. The basics of what I'm continuous involved with, as I, I'm really caught up with so many other things. I love. I love the I love the organization and have left it in very trusted hands. Okay. What I continue to do is like early this year I did ad representative records request testify again in the House and I am more now there.

00:03:41:22 - 00:04:02:07
Unknown
If Luke or any of the leadership there has questions, then I'm always there. It's actually funny the the you know, are doing so well, the valley like every club doing so. So I'll give a call every so often I'll go like, oh how is everything? You know, sometimes I'm wanting to hear from the oh yeah but but no, they're just continuing to get more support.

00:04:02:09 - 00:04:28:07
Unknown
I think they just finished up, there's a university collaboration that was meant to decrease recidivism. And for those viewers who don't know what recidivism is, is when these when people go to jail and then they then go back to jail. So we're specifically like helping with juvenile recidivism and wanting to reduce that. So that's what we've been doing, like helping offer personalized mentorship.

00:04:28:07 - 00:04:50:01
Unknown
And this is in Maryland okay. And we're continuing to keep our programs worldwide for students. And being this free, inclusive platform to all. Okay, so you mentioned that the the organization that you've got locally, that you've left in good hands that you still really want to be part of, because honestly, it is hard to walk away from from something that you put heart and soul into.

00:04:50:03 - 00:05:14:17
Unknown
What's the name of that organization? It, it it used to be the Ashanti Financial Academy. It's now all teen finance academy. Okay. And I absolutely agree with you. I it's like I think about how this just started out with the bug and Covid and and now it's it went to a club to then expanding to be this like teen financial online academy and it's just great.

00:05:14:17 - 00:05:41:22
Unknown
It it really warms my heart to see how much of a movement we are and what we do for teens daily. I do believe that, now that you're mentioning the name of this and how it started with a blog that I remember when that came through, you worked with, with Candy, Candy Busby on that one, who was previously the, the director of our financial education department, who's now with our community engagement, group.

00:05:42:00 - 00:06:02:13
Unknown
And she used to be, one of the hosts here on the podcast. She's been a guest. A couple of tons of love candy. Fantastic work. I remember now hearing about the blog and the work that you were doing and the, her getting involved with that. Talk to us about kind of that community connection that you got with Harpo.

00:06:02:15 - 00:06:35:22
Unknown
Yeah. Absolutely. And to. Thanks. It's it's Mary Louise. Wonderful message. And and candy and and then Stephanie's support that really made me say yes to the podcast. I, I tend to think I get a lot of invites for things like this, but I, I really value the contributions that Harpo has made to our efforts as, as I remember in 2023 when we so I was at a mod pizza and, and, it was a thing.

00:06:35:22 - 00:06:55:22
Unknown
The guy's name was Zach. I'm pretty sure. Okay. And it was. So he was standing in front of the line and I love talking to people. Is just makes podcast a great scenario. Exactly. I think that it's amazing how interconnected we are, and it's so important to just make new friends wherever. So I, I just like a compliment.

00:06:55:22 - 00:07:21:10
Unknown
His shirt and then, you mentioned he's that helpful and that I speak of, what we're doing with ATF is efforts. And then it turns out to be this really productive conversation where Zach then connects us to, to that specific finance education team. And that's when I get connected to Candy. And then we're in this email thread, and then she meets with my mom and I think at the time I'm under 18.

00:07:21:10 - 00:07:43:12
Unknown
So she says that has to be an adult as. So and then I have this whole presentation and then, and then it goes really well. And they, they get they offer guest speaker resources and then we've used those services, like chapters like the Richland chapter. And, it's one of the many reasons why I'm so grateful to this community.

00:07:43:12 - 00:08:18:16
Unknown
There's companies like, the guys, it's just you trust that it's. Oh, yeah. It just throughout. And when you started this, you you weren't expecting it to become quite the the monster that it is. No, no, no, by any means that didn't expect, our organization to be on the Seattle Times and things like that. It's just, I mean, I think about it, it's amazing what happens when something means so much to you and you give your heart and soul towards it, and you make it your purpose and you're willing to sacrifice, you know, the free time, all these things.

00:08:18:17 - 00:08:42:04
Unknown
It's an obsession. And, I mean, all I cared about was making as much impact as possible. All I saw was that growing up, my parents, immigrants from India, like seeing how we set out in an apartment in Connecticut to to know, having the businesses that we do, to having the house and everything else that we do, it's all because of amazing financial habits.

00:08:42:06 - 00:09:15:01
Unknown
And I recognize at a very early age, not many people got the privilege of all their dad teaching them what sucks and their eight year old. So the mom being the first business school teacher, and when the time came in middle school when it created this is unfortunately a few months before Covid when you were thinking about the class registration ISO requirements for everything from science to English to math, there was no financial literacy requirement, which is just it's really an injustice as every single one of us deals with money on a daily basis.

00:09:15:01 - 00:09:33:03
Unknown
Oh yeah, yet many of us are brought up only learning that we need money to survive, rather than learning how to manage money to thrive. And that's what gave me the inklings to start a blog, because I recognized kids. Like, we're asking you questions of financial literacy. Is this they thought my like, this is stuff in my own.

00:09:33:03 - 00:10:10:00
Unknown
So stocks is so cool. And I was like okay, how can I help? And this led me to just started to think. That question became and led to action when unfortunately, the Covid pandemic hit. And then I've just given all of this free time. I was like, let me take my knowledge and put it into teenage totes. That I think was the number one thing when it came through that resonated with me was like, yeah, I can, I can be on this podcast and talk about some of these things, but is it going to reach that audience 100%?

00:10:10:00 - 00:10:38:06
Unknown
And I think just by starting there and then seeing all my friends, like, support it and then start to think, okay, what if I make a like a high school curriculum like pilot a chapter? It's Southridge, my high school that let's see what happens and then Covid took a long time unfortunately. Yup. That's then February of 2022. That's when the mask mandate was starting to get lifted off.

00:10:38:08 - 00:10:56:11
Unknown
That's when I was like, this is the perfect time to start the club. And within a few months, we became the biggest student led club in the entire school. And that's when I was like, okay. It was actually as a sophomore when seniors were asking me like, okay, we're graduating, how can we continue our financial education? And this is really funny.

00:10:56:16 - 00:11:23:11
Unknown
Like, if you look at Khan Academy, you'll see today that they have like financial literacy courses. But back in 2022 like around that June range, they had nothing. Then that's when I saw like okay, Khan Academy does the educational focus let's build like the Khan Academy finance education okay. And that's that's actually a really cool, fact because we're we're what, three years beyond that time frame at this point in time grade.

00:11:23:11 - 00:11:51:21
Unknown
So three years ago, they had they had nothing. Now looking at it in the registrations, there's financial, education and literacy that's out there, as well as, a desire from the students to get into these, these classes to learn these things. So one of the one of the things that I've mentioned once or twice before on the podcast is, what are some of the things that you see on social media where people are saying, well, I wish they would have taught me that in high school.

00:11:51:21 - 00:12:12:09
Unknown
Why didn't they teach me that in high school? And I mentioned, now this might date myself a little bit more. When I went to high school, we did actually have a consumer economics course. It wasn't quite to the point of stocks and understanding investing in those type of things, but it was balancing a checkbook. It was managing your funds.

00:12:12:09 - 00:12:30:12
Unknown
It was some of those items. And I was always kind of shocked when I started to hear, oh, wait, that I don't think that's there anymore. I was like that. While at the time I really wasn't that excited about having to go to class, which should shock everybody. It is things that I still remember doing while we were there.

00:12:30:12 - 00:12:59:12
Unknown
We actually had a stock market game that was a statewide stock market game where high school students would submit their team and virtually buy stock. And you'd be like, okay, I'm going to purchase X amount of dollars worth of, American Airlines stock, and you're tracking it through the course of the semester. And it was ranking people, or teams of, of kids across the state of Washington or how well you were doing.

00:12:59:18 - 00:13:22:21
Unknown
That's incredible. And I think that that type of hands on thing, I remember it and that was, an untold number of years ago that I was in high school. And I still remember that event to, to this day, it was I remember specifically it wasn't American Airlines, it was TWA, which doesn't exist anymore. That company is gone now, but I made I made a killing on TWA stock.

00:13:22:23 - 00:13:47:11
Unknown
Well, that particular class. That's good. This this reminds me. I'll add the I'll add to the social media question then. Okay. Do that in, turnkey package for the chapter program. We have the we do this the best broker, the best brokers, and then they have this, like, app that's really good that we use in our chapters, and we make a whole competition out of it.

00:13:47:13 - 00:14:12:06
Unknown
That is a stock simulator, just as you mentioned. And that's, that's been really effective in teaching them about the market. Like, it's funny, I think it's so it's out of the like at 15,000. Okay. And then so people will try that, it even has clicked on it to. And then I remember when we, we did this we did the unit, the stock market unit at the Southridge chapter.

00:14:12:11 - 00:14:30:23
Unknown
The, the kids like all like put money into like data like bitcoin and aetherium was going to like skyrocket. And the those ended up becoming like the biggest losers at the very end. And, it taught them a lesson that, oh, like, I didn't think that crypto was just as easy as it goes up. Like it's it crashes just as easily too.

00:14:31:04 - 00:14:50:04
Unknown
And I was like, well, and this is why we do what we do, because we want you to realize this before it's your own money. Exactly. And and actually, I do think that there are things that people see on social media that they that are really useful for them to go like, oh, I wish we learned this when we.

00:14:50:05 - 00:15:15:20
Unknown
Yeah, yeah. Like the the credit score, I think is one of the most critical aspects, especially when you think about how much of a role it has to do with your loans, your ability to get a house and everything that comes with it, even getting a credit card approved and then even aspects like the value of bonds and then the investing in the S&P.

00:15:15:20 - 00:15:48:02
Unknown
Right. Like ETFs, all these these things that I really diversified investments that helped like secure these compounding returns. And then the and then on the other side of things, there's also a lot of things that people don't recognize. Like I, I do one thing I we really emphasize in our curriculum is especially in the stock market unit, is that you'll like, see these people promote this crypto coin or the or this specific stock.

00:15:48:02 - 00:16:11:02
Unknown
But I said, find me a video that shows while they're promoting it what price they bought it at. Yep. Find me a video. Until they say no one's found me a video that shows what price they bought it. And I think that's a that's a really bad problem as if you study like during these like recessions and and then all these like really moments of market turmoil.

00:16:11:04 - 00:16:37:14
Unknown
It's those that are relying on others on their stock decisions are the ones who sell. Because let's say like you buy something based on someone else's like advice and then you see it going to like plunging towards zero, your first instance going to go like I know right away from there's like sell, sell, sell. But the rich and wealthy, what they do is they made the decisions recognizing I bought at this price.

00:16:37:16 - 00:16:59:11
Unknown
I know it was a good price based on my own rationale. And they're going to go like, I'm going to keep it and then probably buy a rebound, probably buy even more of it because it's it's like Warren Buffett's quote, he goes like, be fearful when others are greedy and when when others are greedy, like will be fearful.

00:16:59:13 - 00:17:26:08
Unknown
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then so keeping so keeping that mindset that it's like when others are fearful then other then then be greedy. Yes. That's the I put you you're talking about Buffett and everything you're saying, like I agree because I, I've been reading this book of, Charlie Munger, the Almanac. I think it's I don't know I don't know which one it is.

00:17:26:08 - 00:17:48:11
Unknown
I think it might be like his autobiography. But he did mention that, that holding on for the long term. And I think that's so important that you guys are, are saying that like, hey, look, you can buy stocks, but that when you do look at the market trends like they bought, what with, consideration what someone else did, they didn't do their due diligence 100%.

00:17:48:11 - 00:18:09:04
Unknown
And, I think that's really important because for me, like, I'm not I'm not risk. I'm, I'm very risk adverse. Like, I'd rather put my money in something that will compound and invest in the long term, you know, so when it comes to stocks, I kind of see it as gambling, but, like, it just depends if you're, like, going more for like a business, right?

00:18:09:04 - 00:18:29:16
Unknown
Like you're investing in that business and keeping it long term because it will compound. But as a kid, like it's so impressive that even like you formed a chapter when you're in high school, like, I just, I just thought it was I. I just knew what a chapter was like 2 or 3 years ago. So it's like, so impressive that, you know, all of that and that you have this organization.

00:18:29:16 - 00:18:53:16
Unknown
Thank you. And even how I met him, was through LinkedIn. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I saw an article of, of you at the capital, and I was like, wow. Like, that was around the time where I started getting more into, like, credit union advocacy. And I went to the capital two years in a row. And I think it was the first time that I had gone, I, I was like, wow, that is such an impressive kid.

00:18:53:16 - 00:19:15:04
Unknown
Like, thank you. I wish I would have known, like half of the things you knew when you were in high school. Which kind of brings us right back to the advocacy side of things, being able to promote this financial education at the capital, to get it back into curriculum or to bring even more to curriculum because, like I said, we had a minor bit of a thing back in my day.

00:19:15:06 - 00:19:38:03
Unknown
But bringing all of this, the information that that the other students are requesting that they want, and making it become part of the curriculum because it will help everybody in the long run, that gets a chance to really learn these things. And you're not going to have every student come out of there becoming a self, made millionaire out of out of this.

00:19:38:03 - 00:20:00:08
Unknown
But, I mean, obviously this information can't hurt. Yeah, 100%. You do what you want to do with it. So talk to us a little bit about the, the time at the capital, that both of you had, doing this and what the, the process was that you've been through, to try and promote that curriculum change in, in the state of Washington.

00:20:00:10 - 00:20:21:16
Unknown
Yeah. Happy to add to that. And once again, like, thank you for your kind words about the chapter. And I'd like to add on to that. It's yes. Like I, I've put my bud's attitudes towards it, but there's been so many people that have helped I think about sponsors or donors or community or team. Yeah, it's it's really a collective effort.

00:20:21:18 - 00:20:44:03
Unknown
I just am grateful that we're all this, this, this massive ship that's going towards the right direction. And it takes all the parts of of the ship to keep us going. Yeah. And then with this advocacy, it comes into it exactly as nothing can get done without everyone's collective support. And I do want to, like, say this upfront.

00:20:44:04 - 00:21:08:09
Unknown
Initially, I never had any goals of going to the state. I was just focused on my own district, really was that was the goal from eighth grade. And this to understand how this all started. It was my junior year and in my junior year it was it's the this is really I had I really think about this quote all the time, especially in this room.

00:21:08:09 - 00:21:37:01
Unknown
It's like luck happens when like preparation meets opportunity. And I, I recognize that it was like this is spring of that 2023 like junior year. And all my teachers were like, no, they talk to you about final projects. And I was like, okay, I had visited some the colleges and I was like thinking, okay, like, what can I I've now made this professor context, like, what's something cool I could do alongside impactful.

00:21:37:03 - 00:21:57:13
Unknown
And that's when I was like, let's make. I've always wanted to do a financial literacy study, and this is what led me to do a survey. I was like, okay, I have C. Financial literacy is a clear problem, but oftentimes everyone has. You can have an opinion, but it's so important to if you want to take action on the opinion to also validate it.

00:21:57:15 - 00:22:29:01
Unknown
So I made this survey and I worked with this actually this professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Wooden Time, and also an advisor of the financial chapter, Mr. Rozz. So is this Professor Shiva Gupta. And then Mr. Roso. And then in that sense the study like took questions from the there's a specific national financial literacy association and from there we we came up with this plan to dispense the study.

00:22:29:03 - 00:23:02:23
Unknown
And then this study we got 324 participants. Okay. For off the record, from what we know from the history, this is actually the this is the largest study ever conducted in South to just student led service study. Nice. Yes. And the it was so amazing to see. The response is we had the biggest club in the school so that they had many students 300 and in the club by the time like I don't remember the exact time then, but when I was finishing my senior, we had the 320 plus members.

00:23:03:00 - 00:23:21:23
Unknown
It was just crazy. And, Yeah, we you should see, like, you book photo. It's crazy. How would you have that many people in one like, in one spot? Would you guys have to, like, go to the gym? We we had to evaluate different solutions. And thankfully, it was so to be a member, you had to go to at least one meeting.

00:23:21:23 - 00:23:44:04
Unknown
And so we would have like 60, 70 plus like in a room. And people would be standing. It was hectic. It was hectic for sure. But I think the heckling, this just brought more attention to the calls, made it even like a bigger community. Like everybody's in the club. You got to join. Exactly. Yeah. If you don't join the club, you're not cool.

00:23:44:06 - 00:24:02:21
Unknown
It's just every meeting is just so crazy to, like, hear this. Like a club being so popular for financial literacy. Hey, honestly speaking, when you're looking at it, which of the clubs are really going to pay off in the long run? It totally intended. And I want to share the success stories of some of the students. I would love to.

00:24:03:00 - 00:24:30:00
Unknown
We can have that. We can do it. We can go to that. So the so basically we have this huge study and then I synthesize all the data. I think we find out that over 70% of students feel like underprepared or development preparedness. And that was just like so saddening to hear, especially as the composition of the 2024 students was split around 25% per grade level.

00:24:30:02 - 00:24:53:21
Unknown
And that's when I took the 50 plus pages of data with Mr. Rogers and that professor from UPenn and got together his other collaborators, and then we synthesize it into a nine page executive summary. Okay. And I was like, okay, we can publish this. And then this is what I need to show to the district how big of a problem this is.

00:24:53:23 - 00:25:17:14
Unknown
As I had seen plenty of students voice their complaints, the district. But I was like, okay, if I was in the district's shoes. Kids students are always complaining about something. Yeah, but how many of the students actually take action on their complaints and show that this means something meaningful to them? Because anyone can complain. Yeah, but who takes action?

00:25:17:16 - 00:25:40:12
Unknown
And I was like, if I take action, I put myself in a different scope. So maybe this will this will definitely make them much more reciprocate to what I have to say. Yeah. I think also bringing, the professor and the advisor in on this means this isn't just a couple of high school kids that are complaining about a thing.

00:25:40:12 - 00:26:05:14
Unknown
And they wrote they wrote an essay to bring me this is this is a published paper agreed with the backing of of professors at a, at a known university and etc.. Yeah, I think that that you've structured this thing in a way that it can't be ignored. Exactly. And at the point I made. So it was all physicists in my junior year, and I had become really good friends with the, with the principal.

00:26:05:15 - 00:26:24:21
Unknown
This general, you said, hey, like, I would go to his office, like, so frequently just because I need a lot of support. My junior year as the the chapter was going to new heights. At Southridge. And then that was when the organization was being established. And that was a huge growth. Oh yeah. For us. So having is like I visible.

00:26:24:22 - 00:26:49:15
Unknown
And if you're watching this, so grateful for, truly that he was there for just a year. He was assistant superintendent. Okay. And because they couldn't find a principal for Southridge, he came as a as a principal. And I was, it was really amazing to get all these insights. And when he saw the study and everything else, he actually facilitated a meeting with doctor Pierce, the super intent of the district.

00:26:49:17 - 00:27:07:22
Unknown
And I actually had met her earlier thanks to, my best friend's mom worked at the the district, and my best friend was like a Clover Holmes. It was a co-founder of this. Okay, so I think this is a nice it was a nice get together again, events in the city. And then there were Doctor Pierce's like, okay.

00:27:08:00 - 00:27:44:12
Unknown
And the June board meeting. I can give you three minutes. I was like, I was like, thank you. It's like I can take advantage of three minutes. Anything is great. And then so June, lo and behold, the day came and I printed out nine, I think it was nine copies of this of the nine page. And I had kept a all of this in my folder, and when my name got called out, I then went to each of the the board of directors and, and then the assistant to and I gave the nine page copy to each of them.

00:27:44:14 - 00:28:10:09
Unknown
And it didn't matter whether they they read it or not. That paper signified that this is more than just a student saying, yep. And I went up and, I gave it, I gave my presentation. It was three. It was three minutes I practiced that, I made sure it was on that time. And then the they asked questions and it ended up being like over 19 minutes.

00:28:10:09 - 00:28:30:10
Unknown
So it was it was really great. And at the end everyone was applauding. I was like, it was like a movie moment. Cool. And that's when Mr. Mayberry, who was, board of directors at the at the time, and I'm not sure if he still is, he, he served as a position on one of the state level associations.

00:28:30:10 - 00:28:54:10
Unknown
And he was like your type of advocacy, your type of dedication to this is exactly what the state needs. So he then he was like, when you feel ready, then let me know and I can help you go to state level. And and then I was like, I'm ready. I'm ready because, because I, I, I was thinking at the district level.

00:28:54:10 - 00:29:19:08
Unknown
And then it took this movie to make my eyes think even bigger. Yep. So that's also a lesson to like. Sometimes you, you can be really focused on, on an aspect and don't realize that there is a much bigger, much more bigger way to solve the puzzle is going to say stepping. Stepping stone steps in in the in the school, out to the the survey, to the paper, to the district.

00:29:19:10 - 00:29:41:00
Unknown
Now from the district being able to, get that introduction out at the state level. And now bringing this this advocacy to like the entire state. Yeah. And this is I'm going to deep detail for any viewers watching. I'm showing that I have like my parents are immigrants from India. I don't have like any political connections or anything like that.

00:29:41:02 - 00:30:02:05
Unknown
And these are the steps of, oh, someone like who doesn't have any connections can take an approach of being proactive and just from taking action and focusing on impact 100%. And then I took whatever I got is, you know, I got his number and then we missed him and then we continued, said touch. And then that's it was in August.

00:30:02:05 - 00:30:29:05
Unknown
Mr. Connors, who was also board of directors. His wife is April Connors. Yeah. Right. Okay. He emailed me and then he was like, let's, let's go for a coffee at the it's the store. It's the Starbucks by the grades 395. And kind of it's okay. Yeah. Before the highway to Pasco. Right. And then that's when Representative Connors comes and we have this great discussion.

00:30:29:07 - 00:30:53:16
Unknown
And then that leads for I hope, in the research of like seeing similar bills. And then we have this representative Connors facilitates the meeting with Representative Ruud. And then I share exactly what I've done so far. And I mentioned the research. And then that's when the representative was like, I want to put the I'm sure he was thinking about this already.

00:30:53:16 - 00:31:16:12
Unknown
And this is also like an addition. And then this led to us to collaborate with one another. I was under his mentorship and and then getting to learn from him and getting to perform my own duties on the side. As this all started to really accelerate, I went to the captain many times, including meeting superintendent, Rector, the the.

00:31:16:13 - 00:31:45:03
Unknown
For anyone who doesn't know rector, superintend, rector, he's the chief state school superintendent. And it was such a thrilling period. I will say it was very taxing to the I think I had something like 200 plus absences, like a big school like class season, but thankfully, like I was very communicative with like school. The superintendent district is, they gave me so much support throughout.

00:31:45:04 - 00:32:12:15
Unknown
I was going to say a lot of people, I believe, would see this as a this is an opportunity. As you mentioned, luck is when work and opportunity. Me. Yeah. That and, luckily I it sounds like, you were an absolutely horrible student. By that, I mean, my guess is you put in a lot of work on more than just this, and I have found that that, most teachers are very much willing to be like.

00:32:12:17 - 00:32:28:23
Unknown
Yeah, we we know that you're going to do the work that you're going to put in the work if you're not here to do the work that doesn't mean you're not going to. Yeah, you've earned the respect of of those, professors, those teachers. And yeah, I feel like there's a lot of situations where, yeah, this is this is an opportunity.

00:32:28:23 - 00:32:51:14
Unknown
Don't skip this opportunity because we've got a quiz in geometry, I think. Go, go take this to the state, do that, do that work. And it's great to be able to see all of the people in the steps along the way that help, again, not just spur you on, but introduce you to the people that will continue to drive this, as it as it moves up the chain 100%.

00:32:51:14 - 00:33:22:04
Unknown
And I think I met with the 250 plus education officials during that period of time. And, I mean, I took whatever opportunities there were. Oh, yeah. Like, I remember I was the treasurer of my entire school, SB and they had this like they had this conference in where, like all these officials, the education officials, I can't remember the exact opposite of the job I had, but it was facilitated to the schools, and I knew it was a huge opportunity.

00:33:22:04 - 00:33:42:18
Unknown
And, I spoke, it was I was sitting there. It's very long, but the the host, I think. And then this king. Yes. Okay. And she so she's like going to this whole thing and then lunch time and then I was like, what can I do? What can I do? Like, how can I make an impression on all these education officials?

00:33:42:20 - 00:34:06:08
Unknown
And then I go to her and I go, look, I've like done, I'm working with these representatives. This is my nonprofit organization. Is there any chance you could give me two minutes? And then she she ends up. And to be fair, like, because I'm with my school administration, they didn't know that I did this.

00:34:06:10 - 00:34:31:15
Unknown
So at the very end, I'm given two minutes and I was like, what is going on? And, I go and it was, it was after all of that, then people, reached out and it was also like a big moment of support, too, and then like, it was they were a little bit at first, they were initially not happy with me because it kind of they were like, you could have asked us first.

00:34:31:15 - 00:34:50:22
Unknown
But I also thought like, hey, it's always like, better to ask for forgiveness. That permission. And and it was like my intention was pure. And then later on it was like it was all good. They were happy that, you know, I'm continuing to represent. I'll do it. So, yeah. And there was an opportunity there, and I didn't have enough.

00:34:51:00 - 00:35:12:08
Unknown
I didn't have the chance to go ask your permission to take this opportunity to help further this this cause that I've got. Yeah. And in the end, if it was a miss, King would have said no if it was right. So, yeah, I think that a lot of people overthink, like when in reality you just listen to your instinct, you listen to your inner voice and it guides you.

00:35:12:08 - 00:35:24:12
Unknown
Right. So how how do you how did you get that so early, like that inner voice and like the courage to do because like, were you ever scared or you were just. I was going to.

00:35:24:14 - 00:35:39:18
Unknown
Get nervous. The courage to be like, you know what this is outside of what? Like you want to do, but, like, how did you allow your inner voice to lead you in that way at such such a young age and still.

00:35:39:19 - 00:36:01:14
Unknown
I can give a simple answer. I could give a defense. I guess I'll give a deeper answer in in middle. Like I'd say that I learned how to really love my inner voice when I in middle school. Like, yes, I, I'm very outspoken now. I testify, I speak in front of loud crowds. But there was a time where.

00:36:01:14 - 00:36:32:10
Unknown
And I had no self-confidence. I had no, I was very I was actually pretty shy, like in middle school. I would get get teased quite a bit, too. I was, I was like, I was the only Indian kid in my grade. And it was, it was about. And I always wanted to fit in so badly. Okay. It and it I realized, like, I don't want to go too deep into the details, but every time I try to fit in, it never would know.

00:36:32:13 - 00:36:52:13
Unknown
Like if I ever was trying to fit in, I'd always get tears even more. And and then it was also part of like my whole mind, as I had thought that I needed to become a doctor because of like for like a bit of family pressure and everything else, like my mom's, like, dream. And then, then my dad was a doctor to.

00:36:52:14 - 00:37:20:23
Unknown
Okay. And then in eighth grade, I just I was not happy with myself. I really because I was living life on everyone else's terms. I shut down that like inner sphere, like, I tuned that voice out completely. Okay. And that's I was like, okay. What really didn't like maybe it was like learning about finance, like making an impact on others and that that blog, like, that's what it means so much to me.

00:37:20:23 - 00:37:44:00
Unknown
It wasn't just that, oh, like the members of ATF, they needed me. I also needed them like I, because it's what gave me the confidence to then lead life on my own terms and like, bring that inner voice out. As during the during the pandemic, one of the worst times for many people, it was my time to rebuild myself, figure out what I wanted, and it was a lot of deep reflection.

00:37:44:02 - 00:38:02:22
Unknown
And that deep reflection allowed me to prioritize what I wanted to do, be open with my parents that I want. If I don't want to be, I don't want to pursue medicine. And I made a promise. I was like, I will become known for what I do, and I will. I don't know exactly what I need to do, but I will take.

00:38:03:02 - 00:38:25:23
Unknown
I promised my mom I wouldn't be like because her convention, like when I said I want to pursue business, is she saw that a lot of like kids who go into business, they kind of mess around in college and everything else. And she didn't want that to happen to me. So she said that, look, if you want to go towards this direction, then you have to promise me this, that pursue it, but become known for what you do.

00:38:26:01 - 00:38:50:01
Unknown
And I promised my mom and from there I had no idea what it sounds like. The promise is basically, I'm not going to fit in. I'm going to stand out. Yeah, exactly. And I made a amid. So that flipped a switch inside of me. And I'm so grateful to my mother for making me do that as, as I think about like I say this to others, right.

00:38:50:03 - 00:39:08:23
Unknown
The parents should should support the dreams, but should also like push them to do the best they can for those dreams. Because it's if you want something, then you need to you need to show that you actually want it. So many people like say, oh, I want this, but then don't, don't do it. Don't, don't put in the effort to go get it.

00:39:08:23 - 00:39:31:02
Unknown
And I really do believe that if had not made that promise, I probably wouldn't be in this room today. I wouldn't, and that's what makes doing things like that pretty easy, as I remember how things used to be. And then it actually did. You could I actually get pretty scared when I'm doing a lot of the things that everyone else is doing.

00:39:31:02 - 00:39:54:09
Unknown
And it's not that I like it. It's just it's a, it's a wound like from like the I know that it's a bit it should be years ago. And I said like they go to like colleges is like you're of course it's kind of up there and, and I've learned how to get better control of it. That and it makes things like, call it like I call the nerd.

00:39:54:09 - 00:40:15:03
Unknown
Mark Cuban responded to it and Steve was like, he was the co-founder of Apple, also. You're not afraid to shoot your shot? No, not so much. Right. And that's how you make those connections early. I, I've been doing the same thing and it it it's crazy. What like everything that you're saying. Like listening to my inner voice.

00:40:15:03 - 00:40:35:20
Unknown
I didn't learn that until just a couple of years ago. And makes a big difference. It does. It makes a huge difference. And I look at myself like I'm a mom of two. I'm a wife. I have a lot of bills. I have a career. I'm going back to school right now. I'm I'm really involved in advocacy for let's go for having credit union children.

00:40:35:20 - 00:40:53:06
Unknown
Eastern Washington. And when you mentioned chapter and you were in high school, I'm like, I didn't know what a chapter was. They just never it's never too late to learn new things. Yeah. But I dove into that and I signed up. I signed up for that. I have her in there happened subcommittee for advocacy. I didn't know what it was.

00:40:53:06 - 00:41:18:18
Unknown
And here we are a couple years later, and we're going to make it happen. There you go. Listen to that inner voice. It's like I the same I wanted to bring you here because I feel like there's so many young people and adults that don't that they don't realize, like how how, tangible these things are, these dreams, these like when you do focus more on impact, when you focus on your community and you do you do the things that you're scared of.

00:41:18:18 - 00:41:33:22
Unknown
Like, you know, I never thought that I would have like to I, I know, you know, you think in your mind like, yeah, I want to have a family, I want to have this. But then you have like, I had my first daughter and I like and then bam, I got pregnant again, and I was terrified. I was so terrified.

00:41:33:22 - 00:42:00:23
Unknown
But it's like I became this new person. And then my son was so easy. And he's he's an angel. His name Angelo. And he really is like an angel. And he gave me the strength, like, I can do anything. And it's like meeting all these new people and like, it's so cool to see, you know, that there's young people or just people in general that are just not afraid to, or they are afraid, but they do it anyways.

00:42:01:01 - 00:42:24:20
Unknown
Do it afraid. And then you meet amazing people along the way. All right. Well, I believe we're coming close to our to our, conclusion here. So, first off, thanks, mom, for for pushing Ashlyn to to be who he is. It's fantastic to get to meet you today. Before we sign off, do you guys have any last thoughts that you want to share with people listening?

00:42:24:22 - 00:43:08:19
Unknown
Yeah, all. All I want to say is with, first, thank you so much for the invite. And then quickly to to finish up the whole story. Right. The then like January, the time came to testify in the Washington State House and because we, we got to the you go to the part with the represented countries and once it was it testified it was it was amazing how much your passion if when you reflect your passion, others how much people pick up on it as it was after that testimony, it was this quote that I, I remember how it got picked up by the Seattle Times that I said during my testimony, which was,

00:43:08:19 - 00:43:33:10
Unknown
like most of us, that I brought up understanding that we need money to survive, but not learning how to manage, money to thrive. And that led to so much attention from newspapers that helped boost the collective impact and awareness of the bill to others that only continued to support us. And then with the the bill, I'm going to do this really because this is a thing.

00:43:33:12 - 00:44:00:08
Unknown
It was really saddening when the bill ultimately divided the House and Senate both passing it. It was the Senate that took out a key amendment that made the bill, the bill which was the prerequisite, the graduation prerequisite, and that prerequisite being taken out led to the House to refuse. You can see. And then they tried to arrange a conference committee, but then the Senate shut it down, and then the bill died completely.

00:44:00:08 - 00:44:34:12
Unknown
Okay. But the lesson that's important here is I was very down about it, but we're back again this year, and we're going to continue to keep going until we make this a a privilege to all students statewide. And here even in California, I one of the big focuses of the all things Financial Academy, ATF academy.org is we, not only focusing on Washington State, but ensuring that financial literacy is taught to all students nationwide and then globally.

00:44:34:14 - 00:45:01:02
Unknown
Excellent. Honestly, that is 100% something that I love to hear. I think that this is important information for everybody out there to learn, and have an opportunity to understand these things. And it can, in my opinion, absolutely close that wealth gap, that that seems to exist out there, give people the information and the knowledge that they need to, to thrive out there.

00:45:01:04 - 00:45:22:12
Unknown
All right. Well, Ashwin, thank you so much for joining us today. It has been an absolute pleasure listening to your journey, when you did it, the motivational aspect of this has been impressive. Obviously, Mary Lou, thank you for, bringing Ashwin in with us today, and getting us to invite him on. This has been amazing.

00:45:22:17 - 00:45:43:02
Unknown
And it's nice to see that. And yes, to us, to you. And that's cause even in this room is the motivation and impact that you've had. Literally just at this table. Yeah. Thank you guys very much. And for everybody out there listening and watching, this has been dollars and cents. Hello, community credit unions, financial literacy podcast.

00:45:43:06 - 00:46:00:01
Unknown
Until next time, folks.