Meet Olga Kirshenbaum- Money Coach & Owner of Rags to Riches Consulting that coaches individuals and couples to help them realign their money-habits with their money-goals.
As a Money Coach, Olga empowers creative people to get comfortable with money. She hosts a podcast called ‘9 Minutes of Creative Wisdom’, where she talks to these creative people about business, money, and a lot of other fun things about their life and journey. She also happens to be a published author of a personal finance book called ‘Shmoney Guide: Making Money Choices Doesn’t Need to Be So Scary’. She spent her first 9 years in Russia, splitting her time between the city of Ufa, where she was born, and summers at her grandparents’ farm. Post that, her parents moved to NYC, a city where she eventually grew up and now happily calls her home.
Even before starting college, she knew she wanted to be an accountant and decided to go to Marymount Manhattan College where she received her BS in Accounting. After graduation, she worked in several companies and a CPA firm for about 10 years where she was exposed to many creative industries like advertising, ebook publishing, and visual effects. “At the beginning of my career, I wasn’t making the impact I wanted to. While I loved being an accountant, it wasn’t fulfilling work. Because of this, I found it challenging work and for a long time I couldn’t see why. When I started Rags to Riches Consulting, it became clear that I was yearning to make an impact in people’s lives,” she says.
With Rags to Riches Consulting, she provides one-on-one coaching and facilitates a money mastermind called the Shmoney Academy. Working with clients on embracing money in their lives, feeling confident while making money-related choices, and embracing an abundant mindset are some of the aspects she covers under her coaching sessions. While the focus is on money, her work has had ripple effects in people’s lives that empowers them to dream bigger and reach for the stars.
“We focus on servicing creative people. Many creatives shy away from money, as a lot of them believe in the idea of a ‘starving artist’ and I want to break this misconception. The greatest artists figured out how to speak the money language and it allowed them to share their creations with the world,” she says. As the world continues to be haunted by the COVID-19 pandemic, she too believes that it’s hard and challenging these days to stay connected with people. While ‘Zoom’ calls are the new jam and it is easier to connect with people from all over the globe, she feels like there’s nothing like meeting people face to face and creating new relationships that lead to new adventures. “I look forward to a time where I can get out there and meet new people, again!” she says.
Her favorite piece of feedback about her work is that the sessions that she offers are easy to understand and they don’t make the audience feel talked down to. In the world out there, one can find too many pieces of money advice that make the audience feel ashamed about not knowing the foundation of money management. However, Olga’s initiative believes in inclusivity. She says, “We don’t know what we don’t know until we know it. Everyones deserves a chance to learn a new skill, no matter when they learn it. This journey taught me so much about myself and allowed me to rediscover creative parts of me that I shut off from such things a long time ago.”
Her motto in life is- Dream big and reach for the stars. If you can imagine it, you can manifest it in your life. Don’t let anyone tell you your dream is impossible; you can do it and you can do it your way- just how I did.
