In today’s episode, we welcome Kit Moorman and Estacia Brandenburg from MJ Sorority, Tri Delta’s risk management and insurance partner, along with special collegiate guest Ari Collins, Lake Forest, a member of Tri Delta’s Collegiate Advisory Panel. Together, they introduce MJ Sorority’s Financial Head Start podcast, designed to provide our collegians with much-needed personal finance education and direction. Join us as we dive into ways to build a solid financial future!
Learn about our partnership with MJ Sorority and hear all about their five-episode podcast, Financial Head Start, available now to Tri Delta juniors and seniors. This series covers a broad range of must-know topics, including personal finance management, understanding compensation, knowing your worth and planning for retirement. Kit and Estacia walk us through each episode, sharing insights on what listeners can expect to learn, and Ari offers her perspective on why the Financial Head Start will resonate so strongly with her generation of Tri Deltas.
To access the Financial Head Start, Tri Delta members should visit LEADDDer.org and look for the series under Personal and Professional Development.
This transcript was created using automated technologies and may contain errors.
- Welcome to our Let's Talk Tri Delta podcast. I'm Lexi Leggs from our Millikin
chapter and I'm going to be your host for today's episode. I serve TriDelta as
the program development specialist, which means I get to work on some of the amazing
transformational programs that we offer our collegiate members such as BodyImage3D,
Behind Happy Faces, and AAUW StartSmart, just to name a few. Today, I am joined by
Kit Moorman and Estacia Brandenburg of MJ Sorority, which is a division of MJ
Companies, a risk management insurance company. MJ Sorority serves 19 of the 26
National Panhellenic Organizations across more than 700 campuses in the U .S.
and Canada. They are Tri Delta's partner in providing insurance and risk management
consulting, and they work closely with us in our chapters every day offering the
right coverage, risk management strategies, and resources to support our members. NJ
Sorority has launched the Financial Head Start, which is a personal financial planning
podcast, and we are so excited to announce that it is going to be available to tri
-delta members. Each episode provides actionable insights and strategies that equip our
listeners with a foundational understanding for navigating significant financial
decisions in their early 20s and beyond, which we know is super important, especially
in this economy. Today, Kit and Estesha are going to tell us so much more about MJ
Sorority and the Financial Head Start podcast. And you might also notice that we
have another special face joining us today. And that is Arie Collins from our
chapter at Lake Forest. She is a member of the collegiate advisory panel and she
also had an opportunity to preview the podcast so we figured we'd invite her to
join the conversation. So welcome everybody to the podcast.
Thanks. We're so happy to be here. Yes. How are we doing today?
Pretty good. Oh, wow. Good, good. Awesome. I'll give you all the chance to introduce
yourselves. We'll start with Kit and Stacia if you want to go first and and pass
it on to Ari. But tell us a little bit more about what you do for MJ Sororities
and a little bit about the company. - Sure thing. Well, thank you, Lexi, for that
introduction and for sharing a little bit about the podcast. As Desha and I were
lucky enough to host the five episodes and we had so much fun producing,
maybe not producing, hosting. I'm still learning my podcast, Um, but it was fun to
get off the ground and we're so excited that, um, try Delta has, uh, offered it to
their members. So again, my name is Kit Mormon. I am part of the MJ sorority team.
And my job is to think about risk management day to day.
How are we providing resources for members like airy and making decisions in their
own chapters and how are we working with headquarters staff with advisors with
chapter officers and chapter members to ensure that we are getting to yes that we
are hosting safe events that we are managing our properties well and keeping your
members safe. So if you go to MJ sorority .com and read something, I probably had a
hand in it. Awesome. - Thanks, Kate. - Yeah, thanks, Kate. I'm a Stacia Brandenburg,
and I am the senior client executive that works day to day with TriDelta and
several of our other sorority clients. So it's my job to understand the actual
insurance coverages that you need and that you have and that TriDelta purchases in
order to keep your members safe and kind of recover when something should go wrong.
I also am available then to answer questions kind of on the go. So while KIT
provides all of the resources that are ongoing resources for you to read and see
and watch about risk management, I'm usually the first line that gets questions from
all levels of tri -Delta, from your headquarters staff, to your collegiate members, to
your house directors, to your House Corporation and your chapter advisor volunteers
about day -to -day risk management and what's going on with Tridelta. 'Cause sometimes
the resources, maybe you don't feel like they fit exactly your circumstance,
even though mostly they do. And then often Kit will take the questions that I get
and translate them into resources that then we can share with everybody for their
ongoing risk my education. Awesome. Sounds like some really important information being
produced with this team and a lot of support in areas where we need it the most,
especially for event planning and things of that nature. Always important to keep our
members safe and healthy. So welcome. And then Ari, do you want to go next? Yeah,
sure. Thank you all for including me in the conversation. I'm very excited to be
here. As I was likely mentioned, My name is Ari. I am a senior at Lake Forest
College. I joined Tray Delta. My first year on campus were the Epsilon data chapter
of Tray Delta.
Over the past almost like four years at this point, I've had a lot of different
positions within the chapter. My first year I was director of first year experience,
and then transitioned to vice president of community relations, And last year I was
actually Collegiate Chapter President. I've served on this lighting committee and this
year I'm serving on the conduct committee as well as the BIP committee. In addition
to my involvement within my chapter, I've also had the opportunity to serve on the
Lead Always Work Group my staff for a year. And I think Lexi also mentioned that
this year I'm serving on the Collegiate Advisor Channel, which has been a lot of
fun so far. I love the opportunity to bring my perspective, especially from a
smaller liberal arts institution. So that's been a really awesome opportunity.
And then in terms of like my education, I am a double major in psychology in
Spanish, and I have a minor in African American Studies. And I'm currently interning
at a preschool in Lake Forest right now, which has been a lot of fun. So that's
kind of where I am right now. Awesome. That is an amazing area. It sounds like
you've got a lot of tri -delta involvement. So I'm super excited to hear more about
your insights on the podcast and what you've learned from it. So we'll jump right
in and kind of start in. Kit and Anastasia, can you tell us what inspired the
Financial Head Start podcast?
Well, I think it's just, it's really an outgrowth of how much, how important it is
to MJ sorority to support the community at large in all areas.
So while we're absolutely neck deep and risk management, it's important to us that
all members of the collegiate organizations have a great experience. And we want you
to be launched to be successful adults as well. And so the leader of our
department, Cindy Stahlhorn, had this great idea to make this happen and handed it
over to Kit and I to actually get it off the ground. And so we took the
information that we have, hopefully work more in the middle of our careers and some
of the lessons that we've learned and brought along a lot of our colleagues and
friends who have expertise in different areas of financial adulting to put it in one
way. And so we then had the opportunity to interview them about the work that they
do to dig in for the different areas, for the different episodes. Absolutely.
And how do you think the podcast addresses some of the challenges that we're seeing
with young women and their financial stability? I think the first episode especially
sets the stage really well that you don't have to know everything to start thinking
about your financial health and it doesn't have to look perfect, leaving your
collegiate experience, leaving that membership experience during your college years,
I think can feel very lonesome and very isolating. Sometimes you go from a huge
community of people to presumably a new job or a new city or maybe you're in your
same city and most of your friends have left and it can feel really daunting. So I
think the first episode on saving and budgeting really sets the stage that not
everything has to be perfect for you to start thinking about making healthy financial
decisions for yourself. And as you get into some of the other subject matter
episodes, we have guests that talk about compensation,
knowing your worth as young women going into the workforce. Are you appropriately
setting the bar for yourself? Because how you see and value yourself from day one
is going to impact how others see and value you moving forward even later into your
career. So I think that just understanding that starting is the most important thing
is really the value in where this podcast can kind of help answer where do I
start. Yes, absolutely. I feel like understanding that it doesn't have to be perfect
also makes it more approachable. Understanding that we're here to help and support
you and navigating life after college is something that we and Tri Delt to prioritize
and recognize is difficult to manage. I like that you mentioned Know Your Worth
because we also partner with the American Association of University Women to provide
AAUW Start Smart, which is a salary negotiation program. And it talks significantly
about knowing your worth. So it sounds like financial head start, if any of our
members have participated in AAUW Start Smart, this is a really good way to
compliment what you're learning in there. Because like you said, knowing your worth
is so imperative, especially in the workforce. So I love what we're doing with this
already. So the podcast is a five episode course and it's designed to cover
essential topics such as personal financial management, compensation, and like we said,
knowing your worth just to name a few. Can you all walk us through some of those
main topics and themes of the podcast?
Sure. So you mentioned of you, the first each episode kind of has a core focus
that we partnered with is a Stacia shared experts across the MJ companies.
So the sorority department is a small piece of what you know,
big MJ does. We focus fully on sorority and clients,
but we have all these great resources around us. And we thought, why don't we just
kind of bring these two things together? So the first episode, "Saving and Budgeting"
is hosted by a financial planner, somebody who has expertise in thinking through,
how am I setting myself up for success? The second, our compensation consultant on
staff who works with companies, Fortune 500 companies, smaller businesses to determine
how much a position should be paid so she really kind of analyzes and thinks
through you know how do I know my worth. The next couple of episodes then are some
of the nuts and bolts of questions that then you'll be asked when you start a job
so first of all understanding your benefits package so maybe you need to buy health
insurance right out of the gate and you'll buy that through your employer or maybe
you'll be on your parent's insurance for a little while longer so you might not
even have to worry about that in the first couple of years, but eventually you
probably are going to need to face buying your own health insurance. So what kinds
of questions should you be asking of your employer and what kinds of options will
be offered then when that step comes and you need to buy that health insurance and
then the other kind of benefits that might be offered through your employer. And
those are also questions that you'll want to ask when you're looking for a job,
interviewing for a job, before you sign and commit to a company, are you going to
be comfortable with the benefits that they're offering? And then along with it is
then buying your own car insurance, buying renters insurance in your apartment,
eventually buying homeowners insurance when you buy your first home, all of those are
important parts of protecting your future to make sure you have those insurance
pieces, and they can be a little confusing and there are lots of options out there.
So what should you be looking for when you start to buy those products to protect
yourself? And then the last episode is planning for retirement, which even at the
beginning of recording this podcast still to me feels very far away and Ari it's
even farther away for for you but to begin thinking about that now and whenever now
is start and so I think that the conversations that a station I got to have with
these experts I know I learned a ton I think you'll probably hear when you listen
a few moments in the podcast where both of us say - Wait, go back, what? Let's
make a note of that. - It's really interesting the power of compounding interest and
how much more impact you can have on your future if you start saving now, even
just a little bit versus waiting until later when you're closer to retirement.
- Yeah, absolutely. So retirement, benefits, all very important topics to navigate in
definitely difficult post -college. So definitely definitely could see that being super
helpful for our members. Ari, how does this resonate with you?
Yeah, I think I'll say I think my generation were a very independent bunch,
you know? I think like we've grown up and we've heard messages like this is your
time to empower yourself, the future is yours, the future is in your hands And I
think we hear things like the importance of personal financial management and other
things along those lines just to care like those successful futures. We hear messages
about it, but I think a lot of times. We're only just hearing those messages and
like the actual.
How it's being implemented into our lives maybe is the piece that's missing, whether
we aren't taught that in school, or it's not conversations that are being had at
home. A lot of times, like, like I'm saying, like, I'm hearing these messages,
like, okay, like, let's empower ourselves, like, how can we empower ourselves? But I
think what the podcast, like, really did not get into this more later is, like,
really did a great job of, like,
leveling the playing field for everyone, whether or not you've had those conversations
or like have been exposed to that information before, really did a great job of
like leveling that playing field. So like I said, I think that overall like hearing
more about what the complete series will be really does resonate with me. As like I
mentioned, I'm a senior student. Just thinking about the future, it's very daunting,
especially like, like just again, like hearing those messages of like,
okay, well, you're going to be on your own soon. And like, these are decisions that
you're going to have to make. And you're like, okay, well, how do I make like the
best decision for me? So I'm very excited to be able to listen to the rest of the
podcast. Because if the rest of the episodes or anything like the first episode,
I know that it's super helpful. - Yeah, absolutely. I like how you mentioned that
too, that it's just really helpful for us in these times to navigate some of those
things, especially when they say, you know, you wanna be financially responsible, but
then you're like, well, how? And it sounds like for you, this is the missing puzzle
piece of giving us that how to be financially responsible. I think back to when I
started, I'm an educator by trade. So understanding retirement benefits and things
like that look different for teachers than it does for my counterparts in the for
-profit space. So definitely feel like a podcast like this would have been super
helpful when I was starting off. So like we shared, many of our collegiate members
and young alumni are just starting out in their professional journeys. Why do we
think it's important for us to develop the financial literacies at this early age?
I think, again, like we mentioned, it's really the power of starting now.
I think it's easy to to push it off and think well I'll learn about this later.
I'll figure this out later once I have my life together. But the truth is you know
I'm far enough in to say honestly like it's really hard to ever feel like your
life is totally together. There's always something that you could work on but it
really it's important to understand the power of compounding interest and getting
started now. So I can have that safety net in case something happens,
you know, getting started on saving now, even if it's just a few dollars, of
deciding how to budget so I can feel like I can have control, it'll make that day
when I feel like I have everything under control happen a whole lot sooner. And so
I think it's really just the power of starting now and understanding. Of course,
then there are those questions that we're going to walk in and employers going to
say, okay, here are the benefits. What do you want? Sign on, commit to this now.
I know for us, that's happening next week at our company. Every year, we look at,
it's called open enrollment and we have the chance to choose what our benefits are
going to be for the next year. And so when that day comes, they're not given a
whole lot of time to figure it out. So it's good to have some advanced notice on
what we think we'll need and be able to give give some thought to it. I think too
when you're in college, when you're in an organization like Tribal and you have this
fantastic community and it's right there whether you live in a house together,
whether you rent an apartment together or get together once a week at chapter, You
have an opportunity to ask questions and talk to people in a way that you really
don't have it any other time in your life and having like area love what you said
about. It kind of tells you how to do the how to empower yourself how to start
thinking about difficult questions because as you get older, I know, you know,
I'm like, Oh, I'm, you 27, 28, 29, I should know the answer to this.
And you really like sometimes shouldn't, you know, somebody has to tell you or teach
you or talk to you about how to think through problems. And you're at this great
space in your life where you have trusted advisors around you. So I think taking
advantage of this time and this podcast is a way to start those conversations with
your sisters is just a really, really cool opportunity. Absolutely. I love that.
What advice do you all have for our juniors and seniors or even young alumni?
Good question. That's a tough question.
I think the, I guess maybe my best advice is not to think you have to have all
the answers right now, but really look at, I mean, look at people you admire,
ask lots of questions of the people that you admire, use, you know, find those
mentors and lean on them as far as asking questions about their future. People that
you feel like have something in common with you and see where they started and
maybe what they wish they had learned along the way. - Yeah, and I think being open
into building those relationships with people. It's, I think, I remember being told,
find a mentor. And I was like, is this like dating? Like, do you have to just
like, will you be my mentor? Will you be my mentor? It's a really uncomfortable ask
at first. And I remember having coffee with a thousand people right after college.
And I learned that people love to give advice. they love to be asked, hey,
what do you think? And I think just knowing that and empowering yourself to say, I
can just, yes, sort of date for mentors and ask people to copy and pick their
brain about how they've managed even these seemingly small things in life that to a
station's point compound. So just ask as many questions as you can of as many
people as you can. - All right, absolutely. Ask and learn from the people that have
already been there in the positions that you would like to see yourself in. I love
that, that's great advice. Ari, so you have already shared that you've had an
opportunity to preview the podcast. What were your initial thoughts about it?
- Initially, even before I watched it, I was very excited because I have always
wanted to be more literate in my own personal financial management.
Like, frankly, I have none. And I've all like, I know that that's something like
that's the stuff that I need to take. And I think that a lot of people are in
the same boat as me, we just don't really know like, how to start. Like, like you
heard from my majors, I'm a very humanities type person. And I know that there's
some, some deltas out there who are like, getting those degrees. And they might be
learning skills like this throughout their degrees, but I'm not really learning that
in my psychology classes, you know. So this was like a really like great opportunity
for me to take that first step. And like I said, before, like, I think the podcast
does a really great job of laying the foundation of how to start. The speakers
really aim to me to where you're at, you know, and like, I think that you
mentioned this earlier, like, there's, there's not really a perfect time to like,
start in terms of like, figuring out your own personal financial management,
there's no perfect set of conditions, I think what they do is really like, lay a
great foundation for you to build upon.
And like, I And I will say, over Thanksgiving break, I'm going to go to my
financial institution and talk to them about creating multiple savings accounts so I
can start saving in a different way that I am right now. So I think it's just a
really valuable resource for me, especially like you've kind of heard, but for all
of us in general. Because
You're able to, the podcast is a great job of meeting us where we're at, and which
I think is like everyone's in really different situations, like there's never one
situation is going to be the same.
So, yeah, I think it's a really valuable resource in that sense. Absolutely. Well,
thank you. My next question was going to be how do you think it's valuable for
your peers, but it sounds like you've already shared that with how it meets you
where you are and can supplement to what you're already getting in your college
courses, especially if it's not necessarily something that would be talked about
because of the majors that you've chosen. So I can definitely agree with you on
that one. Like I said, from being a teacher and that up here that experience, we
didn't really have those conversations in my undergraduate experience. And so
navigating my financial literacy experience was definitely
I definitely agree with you on that one. So I'm just curious, Kit and Estesha, if
there's somebody who is ready to dive into the Financial Head Start podcast, what
would you say is the best way for them to maximize the insights that are shared?
- I think finding each episode is titled with the subject matter.
So kind of like we were talking about earlier, there's savings, there's retirement,
there's understanding your benefits packages, start where you're interested, or where
you think is most accessible for you. I know this subject matter is really
intimidating for me. So starting with something that felt manageable helped.
And I think that, you know, as you're listening to it or thinking about listening
to it, start somewhere where you're comfortable or start somewhere where you want to
learn more and then go ask questions of people use that knowledge to say okay I
might not know everything but now I kind of know just enough to ask some
intelligent questions to think about how I want to learn more and just get the ball
rolling. Absolutely. Absolutely. So yeah like is saying there's no magic in the order
of the episodes so jump around Like if you're if you think you listen to budgeting
and saving and you're like I want to learn more about that I'm gonna jump to
retirement then listen to retirement and then come back and think okay now I'm
getting ready for a job interview So I'm going to listen to the compensation
consulting message and how have that helped be a guide as you're entering those
Conversations for your next job. I love that. So kind of like a choose your own
adventure What is gonna be best for you and how you meet yourself and jump in
where you feel comfortable. Thank you so much for sharing that. Well, thank you so
much, Estacia and Kit and Ari, for sharing such valuable insights today about the
podcast. I think it's clear to me that this Financial Head Start podcast is going
to be a powerful tool for our members and even myself. I'm going to dabble in them
after this interview as well. I think it's going to give everybody a really good
foundation for starting their financial journeys. So for all of our listeners out
there that are tuning in, please do not miss out on this fantastic resource. You
all have access to it by logging on to leader .org. It is under the personal and
professional development category. And we encourage you to share it with your chapter
sisters. If they're not listeners, you can put them onto that podcast and let's talk
Tri Delta too. As Tri Delta's, you all know that we value our personal growth and
development through life long learning. And this is just one more way that we are
empowering our members for a lifetime. So thank you all so much for joining us
again today. Really appreciate having you here. Be sure to tune in next time for
more conversations that support our sisterhood in every way. Make sure to like,
subscribe, and rate our podcast. We love those five star ratings. Thank you all so
much for joining us, and until next time, Delta love.