Internationally-renowned speaker, author (Rich Woman, Good Deal Bad Deal), entrepreneur, real estate investor, radio show host, and the founder of Rich Woman, Kim Kiyosaki visits city for a seminar. Here are excerpts from an interview with her, where she describes her journey to success and why money matters for women.
When Kim Kiyosaki left her home in Oregon and moved to Hawaii to attend college, she had little idea that this decision would be the turning point of her life. “Like many college freshmen, I planned to go to school, graduate, get a job, work and begin the steady climb to the top of some corporate-ladder”, says Kim. However, while working for a local business magazine in Honolulu, she realised that being an employee wasn’t her dream. She was made for bigger things, there had to be something more and that’s when her real education began.
This thought inspired her to start her own business at an early age. It was a clothing business which gradually started to become a multi-million corporation with distribution in the United States. It took several years (many of which were spent with her future husband, Robert) before Kim made her first investment in a tiny house in Portland, Oregon with $5,000 she didn’t have.
In fact, for a time, Kim and Robert were penniless, choosing to follow their dream of becoming financially-free and learn all they could about money, people and life. Rather than take jobs, they studied and worked to develop a company that would teach people what they themselves were learning. They worked together to make their own business and invest in the real estate. In just five years, he became super rich and started thinking about retirement. In 1994 they both sold his seminar business and got retired. In 1997, they again founded Cashflow Technologies. This company was established with the aim of sharing knowledge and experiences with the world that they gained while building their business.
Today, this self-made millionaire has started a mission to educate women about the importance of financial literacy, freedom, and independence. Her estimated net worth is approximately 40 million $.
Women have found employment in every field possible - from the armed forces to biotechnology. “But why aren’t enough women talking about financial freedom and stability?” is the question that haunts this self-made millionaire entrepreneur. Kim published her first book “Rich Woman” in 2006 which is one of the best sellers on Amazon.
“I started off as a real estate investor but today, I am a speaker at international forums, an author, entrepreneur, radio show host and more. The thing is I don’t just want my book to be Kim Kiyosaki’s bio, but an inspiration for women everywhere to get a financial education and make their dreams a reality”, says this Aquarian.
“Women have come a great way since their mothers and mothers of mothers. But while we’re still playing the field for equality there’s one thing that’s still unique to us - the way we approach our money! Why are women so uncomfortable talking about money? Why are we so afraid of finances? Women were excluded from financial planning and money management discussions for eons together. But over the last decade the arena has been opening up for us. We have come to realise that this as a subject matter needs to be talked and acted upon for each of us who are significantly contributing to the workforce”.
The sassy, savvy, tall lady boss is in Chennai to present Rich Woman Event (RWE), a one-day, intensive women-only seminar “to help participants overcome whatever is holding them back from going after their goals and aspirations”, as she puts it.
