Schooling Your Kids on the Power of Self Reliance

Besides having to stock up a new arsenal of pens, highlighters and notebooks, you know what the back-to-school season does for me? It reminds and inspires me to reflect on what it really means to educate my son. Sure, we send our kids off to school and encourage them to strive for excellence, but if you ask me, how we teach them self-reliance at home is just as key.

As you think about what it means to become self-made, don’t stop with just yourself. Consider that becoming self-made transcends you, and extends to your whole family, especially your children, to whom you should make it your business to pass the torch of financial self-reliance. Teach them to choose themselves; to get their own chips; to make friends with math. Show them that mission and money are parallel tracks, and help them figure out how to tackle each. These are some of most invaluable lessons they’ll ever learn.

Since I happen to be raising a bilingual son, I’m thrilled to be able to share with him my book, SELF MADE, now available in Spanish. It’s out today and titled ¡ADELANTE!, which means “move it!” and aims to empower all my Español-speaking women—and their families—to mobilize and motivate to become self-made.

On Friday, Sept 16, we’re doing a Q&A and signing at Books & Books (Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Boulevard Miami, FL 33132). On Sept 17, we’ll officially launch the book in Miami at a People en Español event called Mujeres Más Poderosas (25 Most Powerful Women). And at the Miami Dade College (Wolfson Campus) we’re doing a huge event, and we’re inviting all of you!

Finally, we’re debuting a brand new episode of our SELF MADE STORIES web series, featuring part one of Julissa Arce, the undocumented young woman who went from selling funnel cakes on the street to becoming a star analyst at Goldman Sachs.