THE MONEY SCIENTIST™
I’ve always loved finance from the beginning. I was born in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands and moved to Upstate New York at the age of six. I am one of nine siblings and a daughter to two awesome parents. I discovered a lot about managing money growing up in a large household and discovered my skills with organizing and finances. I opened an entrepreneurial business at the age of ten by selling juleps (a frozen treat made from juice) for 25 cents a cup during the summer with my older brother and sister. My parents were my first financial backers and made sure I learned important lessons from the experience. I had to calculate how much it cost to make one julep then determine my selling price and if I was making any money. I had to tell them who was going to buy the juleps and what I would do with the money I earned. Definitely important lessons! We were making some money until friends next door also thought it was a great idea to sell juleps and started selling juleps for ten cents! We couldn’t compete with those prices and shut the operation down after two summers, but the lessons about finance and business lasted forever.
I went to Wilson High School (let’s go Wildcats!) and participated in the International Baccalaureate Program. During high school, if I wanted any extra clothes or shoes outside of what my parents provided I was required to buy it on my own. So I joined a program that provided work opportunities for students with good grades. I started working and opened my first savings account with $9 when I was 14 years old. I kept asking (I’m sure she would say bugging) my Mom to take me down to the bank and when she finally had a day off she did so. I worked every summer of high school and stored the money in my savings account. It was during this time that I truly began noticing how I thought about money and how others thought about it. I raised $17,000 for college and I graduated as salutatorian of my high school class.
I then moved to Baltimore, MD to attend Johns Hopkins University, where I pursued my interests in Spanish, biology and public health. I did a short study abroad in Costa Rica, which was a great experience. I started to contemplate money on a global scale as I considered the monetary exchange rate (which changed every day, in my favor) and how the pricing of various items differed in Costa Rica versus in the U.S. I was shocked at having to pay to use public restrooms near shops and restaurants, but could grasp why this was practiced.
During college, I greatly advanced my personal finance skills. For the first two years, I had to stretch the money I made during the summer to last the entire school year. Just think, I had to take my summer job earnings and make it last an entire ten months until I began working again. Some of the lessons I learned include being very strategic with cutting costs, tricks to stay disciplined with spending and saving, and using and developing money monitoring tools. Junior and senior of college I began working part time during the school year, by then I felt I had a handle on my studies and could work and study at the same time.
I then decided to pursue a graduate degree directly after college, a degree that would give me a stipend of about $27,000 per year. So those personal finance skills came in handy and were improved even more, especially with the addition of more monthly bills. While earning my PhD in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, I also honed skills in analytical and critical thinking and attention to detail, which I also applied to finance management. I continued to acquire skills managing money or personal finances on an extremely tight budget. Graduate school allowed me to further develop strategic planning and scientific analytical thinking and apply those methods to money management. The Money Scientist™ was born. On a stipend of $27,000 (about $23,000 after taxes), I saved over $10,000. I determined the science of managing money and building wealth. Applying scientific methodology to money allowed me to create a money strategy that elevated my lifestyle and grew a nonprofit.
I co-founded the non-profit organization Heal a Woman to Heal a Nation Inc. (HWHN). As of 2013, I have been 
the Director of Finance at HWHN for eight years. During my college career, we began empowering women in the community through a one day conference. I assisted with the first HWHN conference in 2004. I was moved by the experience of the day and the reaction of the women to the information provided. I then became part of the conference planning committee for the subsequent nine years. In 2008, HWHN, Inc became a federally recognized non-profit organization. Volunteering as the Director of Finance at a non-profit that serves hundreds of women a year has allowed me to enhance skills managing finances and overcoming financial obstacles, especially conducting public health programming on a sparse budget. I have volunteered at HWHN for so many years because of my belief in the mission and vision and my desire to help women acquire the tools and knowledge to better themselves, their families and their communities.
I founded Pocket of Money, LLC to share my knowledge of financial management and help you save money, cut costs and eliminate debt while still being able to do things like take luxury vacations. I am constantly studying finance and modifying the tools I created in order to be the most effective and useful. I believe financial literacy is important and necessary to manage your cash flow. I help you to take control of your money and live a world-class lifestyle. When you work with me, we’ll design a money strategy so that you can have more money in your pocket. I want to empower you with the knowledge, tools and skills you need to control your money and live your best life.
-Maria
Responses