Financial thought leader and author Manisha Thakor joins the show to share her approach to financial health and emotional wealth. With over 30 years of experience in financial services, Manisha provides a clear roadmap for dismantling the cultural pressure on women to be perfect. She discusses the core principles of her book, MoneyZen, and explores how women can reclaim their power by asking the right questions of their employers, their partners, and themselves.

You’ll hear Manisha discuss:

• The Perfection Trap: Why the societal expectation for women to be perfect prevents them from asking for raises, and how to embrace the bravery required to advocate for your worth.
• Joy-Based Spending: A practical exercise to audit expenses and identify where life energy is being drained by social obligations or costs that offer no emotional return.
• Financial Compatibility: The necessity of discussing money values early in relationships to ensure long-term alignment and stability.
• The Reality of Wealth: Why assuming net worth based on outward appearances is a mistake and how to stop comparing yourself to a curated image.

Important Links:

• Savvy Ladies (https://www.savvyladies.org/)
• Precious Williams' LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/precious-l-williams/)
• Lisa Zeiderman's LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisazeiderman/
• Manisha Thakor's LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/manishathakor/)

Important Links for Manisha:

• Manisha's Books Link: (https://moneyzen.com/my-books/)
• Money Zen Website: (https://moneyzen.com/)

About Manisha Thakor:

Manisha Thakor has worked in financial services for more than thirty years, with an emphasis on women’s economic empowerment and financial well-being.

A nationally recognized thought-leader in this space, Thakor has been featured in a wide range of publications, including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, NPR, PBS, CNN, Real Simple, and Women’s Health. In her most recent book, Money Zen, she breaks down the personal, cultural, and societal forces that have led us to falsely believe we can never have, do, or be enough, and shows us a fresh new path toward “MoneyZen”—her joy-based approach to living a life rich in financial health and emotional wealth.

Entrepreneur, nurse practitioner and Manhattan medspa founder Andi Assebian, MSN, AGNP-C, joins the podcast to share her journey from the Ivory Coast to the heart of New York City’s aesthetic medicine scene. Drawing from her extensive background in physiology and perioperative nursing, Andi discusses how she built a practice that supports anatomy-driven beauty standards. She shares the stark reality of navigating the medical field as a woman of color and the determination required to scale a business while raising a family.

You’ll hear Andi discuss:

• The Global Mirror: How growing up in the Ivory Coast and living across France and Canada shaped her view of beauty as a tool for identity and community rather than a quest for perfection.
• Precision Under Pressure: Andi shares insights from her time as an operating room nurse, exploring how that high-stakes environment still dictates her meticulous approach to patient safety and treatment plans today.
• Anatomy-Driven Aesthetics: Why she travels the globe to learn techniques that focus on balance and harmony over simple volume, and why the best aesthetic work should remain undetectable.
• The Courage to Ask: How asking for support and networking allowed her to expand from a single room to a thriving Midtown Manhattan practice in just two years.
• Rapid Fire Favorites: From the French classic Coq au Vin to the skincare trend she wants everyone to stop immediately.

Important Links:

• Savvy Ladies (https://www.savvyladies.org/)
• Precious Williams' LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/precious-l-williams/)
• Lisa Zeiderman's LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisazeiderman/

Important Links for Andi:

• Andi Assebian, MSN, AGNP-C's Site: https://dermartisan.com/

About Andi Assebian, MSN, AGNP-C's:

Andi is a board-certified Nurse Practitioner with extensive experience in medical aesthetics. She received her Bachelors in Physiology from University of Calgary, Nursing degree from Duke University, and Masters as a Nurse Practitioner from New York University.

She began her career in the operating room at Yale University hospital as a Perioperative Nurse and transitioned to NYC to work with world-class plastic surgeons and aesthetic practitioners. Andi founded Derm Artisan to share her passion and vision for a MedSpa – one built on an unwavering commitment to care, excellence and empowerment.

Andi has lived in France, Canada, U.S., the Ivory Coast. Her appreciation for different cultures, beauty standards, and people of all backgrounds is deeply reflected in the makeup of Derm Artisan. She is an avid learner and travels the globe to stay on top of the latest techniques and technologies. Andi currently lives in NYC with her husband and baby boy.

She enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, and is fluent in French a language that connects her to her roots and enriches the welcoming, multicultural spirit she brings into her practice each day.

Financial expert Tricia M. Taitt shares her journey from Wall Street and Broadway to writing the Amazon bestseller Dancing with Numbers and founding FinCore, a financial planning platform for women entrepreneurs. Discover the mindset shifts that define a CEO, why financial literacy is essential for women entrepreneurs, and the most overlooked opportunity for increasing your business profit. Tricia also reveals the two biggest asks that transformed her life, including deferring a six-figure job offer to pursue her passion for dance.

You’ll hear Tricia discuss:

• The CEO Mindset Shift: Why she avoided the CEO title for years, and how she realized the role means building a team, not doing everything herself.
• From Layoff to Liberation: The pivotal moment in 2009 that led Tricia to combine her expertise (Wharton, Duke, Wall Street) with her passion for dance to create FinCore.
• Unlocking Profit: The single most overlooked profit opportunity Tricia sees across industries.
• Tough Love with Honey: How she balances compassion and accountability to help entrepreneurs face their money stories and understand the consequences of inaction.
• The Bold Ask: Tricia’s most uncomfortable asks, including the time she asked a major corporation to defer her employment to dance.

Important Links:

• Savvy Ladies (https://www.savvyladies.org/)
• Precious Williams' LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/precious-l-williams/)
• Lisa Zeiderman's LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisazeiderman/)
• Tricia M. Taitt's LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/triciataitt/)

Important Links for Tricia:

• FinCore Website (https://fincorestrong.com/)
• Dancing with Numbers (https://a.co/d/7WZIpem)

About Tricia Taitt:

Tricia M. Taitt is the CEO of FinCore and Author of the Amazon best-selling book, "Dancing with Numbers: Grow A Financially Healthy Business and Choreograph the Life You Want".

She holds an M.B.A from The Fuqua School of Business of Duke University, and a BS in Economics with a Finance concentration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. For over 20 years, she’s been a finance professional. Half of the time was spent working on Wall Street while the other half was spent in the trenches side by side with small business owners.

As a result of working with FinCore, clients have been able to take control of their numbers and feel more confident in their ability to make decisions, while increasing profits by 10% and building a cash stash to invest in growth.