By Brianna Wallen
News Editor
Money, power and ownership were powerful themes at the Her Worth Her Wealth panel on Thursday, Sept. 25.
Inside the School of Business, speakers Petra-Ann Brown, Alana Dina, Catherine Latoya Grant-Alston and Rosalee Daley boldly encouraged women to claim their worth, take control of their financial futures and stop settling for less.
“I can stand in front of you as a business owner building a legacy instead of fighting for survival,” Brown, the founder of Brown Financial Solutions, LLC, said. “So I want you to know tonight: you have the power to rewrite your financial story. You just have to decide.”
Brown led the “Rewriting Your Money Story” section and shared her own testimony of overcoming debt and taking charge of her finances.
Brown recalled once being $68,000 in debt and committing to paying it off in 15 months.
“I had to break up with debt,” Brown said. “I was like, ‘You are stealing my income.’”
She explained that it required strict budgeting, sacrifice and persistence, but in the end, she opened the doors to financial freedom.
Brown said that during that time, she drew strength from her grandmother’s determination to build a better life for her and those after her.
Brown explained that when her grandma was in school, her grandfather ripped up her books to prevent her from attending class and succeeding overall.
“He knew once she got that certificate, she was gone,” Brown said.
Following the theme of strength and determination, Dina, the vice president and branch business relationship manager at KeyBank, led her segment: “How to Become the Most Dangerous Women in the Room.”
“When we’re talking about dangerous, we’re not talking about injury or harm,” Dina said. “We’re talking about being a force of energy. When you walk into the room, you command the room. You don’t shift. You do the shifting.”
Not only did Dina invite attendees to recite her powerful affirmations, but she also encouraged attendees to adopt intentional rituals.
One of these rituals included starting their day with clarity and purpose instead of chaos, in order to set the tone for the day.
“You win the morning, you win the day,” Dina said.
Rather than reaching for their phones and doomscrolling, Dina recommended listening to a positive podcast or reading a book.
Dina explained that waking up with intention helps set the foundation for success.
Dina’s message also emphasized balance and sustainability by reminding women to adopt rest and recovery rituals.
Dina said that this ritual is especially important in today’s culture, where women are often pressured to take on the unrealistic role of being “superwomen.”
“But rest is not weakness. Rest is a weapon,” Dina said. “Rest is rebellion in a culture of exhaustion. A rested woman is a dangerous woman.”
Along with this superwoman culture, Grant-Alston, the CEO of ART Financial Solutions, LLC, called out “hustle culture” in her “The Queen’s Code: Scale with Systems, Not Stress” segment.
“You don’t need to hustle harder. You need to automate smarter,” Grant-Alston said.
Grant-Alston emphasized that long hours of work do not equate to greater success and instead generate burnout. Through delegating and building systems to handle routine tasks, women can conserve their time and energy.
The conversation turned to securing financial resources afterwards, as Daley, the founder of Rose Affect, led the segment “Access Granted: How to Fund Your Dreams.”
Daley began by addressing the barriers women often face while entering the entrepreneurship industry.
Daley explained that women are less likely to receive investment compared to men due to bias within financial institutions.
“You’re judged on how you show up in the bank, how you present your business documents and whether they even think you’re worth the risk,” Daley said.
Since women are typically counted out, Daley encouraged women to pursue tools like grants, crowdfunding and private equity in order to secure funding.
Daley explained that free resources are available, but many entrepreneurs are not aware of them or are afraid to ask for help.
“Grants are free money you don’t have to pay back,” Daley said.
The panel, sponsored by the university’s School of Business and Women in Leadership Academy, BFS, Rose Affect, Pretty Digital, Art Financial Solutions and KeyBank, aimed to empower not only the women in the room, but future generations as well.
“When you change your story, it does not only benefit you. It benefits the people around you,” Brown said.
