From Living in Her Car to Raising Millions: Arian Simone on Debt, Wealth & Fearless Freedom

The Table with Anthony ONeal

Arian Simone shares her profound journey from a wealthy upbringing to living in her car at age 23 following family financial disruption. She

Key takeaways

• Arian Simone experienced extreme financial disruption at 23 when her parents' divorce led to frozen assets, forcing her to live in her car for seven months.
• Generational wealth was built by her grandmother, a domestic worker who strategically invested in stocks and bonds to fund her family's education debt-free.
• The racial wealth gap is starkly illustrated by the fact that Black women have an average net worth of approximately $15,000 compared to over $142,000 for white women.
• Venture capital functions as 'cash for equity,' where investors exchange capital for ownership in high-growth potential companies.
• Arian Simone advocates against consumer debt but supports strategic business debt and investing in income-producing assets rather than hoarding liquid cash.

Main topics

• Financial disruption and resilience
• Generational investing legacies
• Systemic racial wealth gap

Notable quotes

Everybody's not free from disruption.

Conclusion

The episode offers a masterclass in combining personal resilience with

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Arianne, Speaker 2 (0:00) welcome to the show. Thank you. Thank you for having me, but Anthony. Speaker 1 (0:05) What? Speaker 2 (0:06) This is not my first time on your show. Speaker 1 (0:09) This is Speaker 2 (0:10) horrible. Speaker 1 (0:11) Wait, when? You had a Speaker 2 (0:12) group of us. Speaker 1 (0:13) Yes. Speaker 2 (0:14) Like here's my first time one-on-one on your show. Speaker 1 (0:17) Yes. Speaker 2 (0:18) Yes. Speaker 1 (0:19) I was like, how Speaker 2 (0:21) did I forget my sister on my show? But Speaker 1 (0:23) you're right. You did the panel. Yes. I remember that now. I remember that. That was a good panel too. Yes. It was my Speaker 2 (0:29) first time as a guest. Speaker 1 (0:30) On the show, which is just. Speaker 2 (0:33) So thank you for having me. My husband has done the show. And he built. Speaker 1 (0:38) And people loved it. Speaker 2 (0:39) Oh, he's amazing. Speaker 1 (0:40) He has a brilliant Speaker 2 (0:41) mind. Speaker 1 (0:42) Your husband has become a dear friend. I love friends who can love you, who can cheer for you. And then also like, hey, bro, let's work on this, you know, and still love you. Well, Speaker 2 (0:51) iron sharpens iron. Speaker 1 (0:53) That's a fact. Speaker 2 (0:53) Iron sharpens iron. Speaker 1 (0:55) No, that's good. Man, listen, y'all. Erin is the truth. Her wedding was amazing. Speaker 2 (0:59) Oh, thank you. Speaker 1 (1:01) I told myself, I said, if I get married, I hope I can get married in Ghana. Even if we don't get married in Ghana. And let's get to this though. Let's get to it. Hey, real quick, because I think this is your first time on the show. And I have a question I really want to dive into. But real quick, tell the people who you are. Because I think I would do it and I would do some injustice. Because it's like you just, you were just the one. So real quick. How would you tell or how would you describe yourself to someone who's meeting you and watching for the first time today? Speaker 2 (1:30) He said, why do I have to do this? Speaker 1 (1:34) Now, I already did in the intro, but I'm just saying. I'm Speaker 2 (1:36) somebody who loves the Lord and diligent on living out his plans for my life. Speaker 1 (1:46) That's a fact. That's a fact. Speaker 2 (1:48) And they can just learn me from there. Speaker 1 (1:50) There you go. Speaker 2 (1:51) Yes. Speaker 1 (1:51) So I'm going to go to the first question because we wrote down some questions and Speaker 2 (1:56) they're Speaker 1 (1:57) on my phone. And I want to read them verbatim because we really did a lot of time just preparing for this. You have an amazing book coming out that I think is one of the ones that I believe everyone needs to be reading. And I say this respectfully, and I think every Black woman needs to really know more about your story. Speaker 2 (2:18) Okay. Speaker 1 (2:19) And so we spent some time just really trying to ask you the questions and also ask the CEO the questions. Speaker 2 (2:27) Okay. And Speaker 1 (2:28) so the very first question is people meet you now and they see the fund. They see the court case that went crazy viral years ago. Speaker 2 (2:36) They Speaker 1 (2:37) seen the queenship. She is a queen. And we're going to talk about that. And they assume you came from nothing or you came from everything. Speaker 2 (2:47) But Speaker 1 (2:48) you came from a nine bedroom house. Speaker 2 (2:49) Yes. Speaker 1 (2:50) Grosse Pointe Academy. Yes. A Coca-Cola scholar with full rise at the table. Speaker 2 (2:57) Yes. Speaker 1 (2:59) And then at 23 years old, you were living in your car. Speaker 2 (3:03) Yes. Speaker 1 (3:04) Okay, now wait, sis. He Speaker 2 (3:06) said, fill in the gap. How Speaker 1 (3:08) did you fill that? Because how can you go to that with that kind of resume? I need an understanding because when you see that resume, there's no way in the world you're thinking that person's ending up in the car. Speaker 2 (3:24) Well, you know, everybody's not. Speaker 2 (3:28) How should I put this? Free from disruption. Okay. It's just reality. Everybody's not free from disruption. Disruption can hit your life at any point in time. And for me, that was a very big point of disruption. Wow. I grew up in a two-parent household. Yes, ma'am. My parents got divorced in college. I had been supporting myself since I was 19. So through their divorce case, their assets were frozen, money was tight. And when I fell on hard times myself, I thought I could just call home. I never imagined a moment where I couldn't call home. But the reality is my parents were middle class. We weren't rich, quote unquote. We were probably for that generation, upper middle class blacks. Yeah. Speaker 1 (4:18) But Speaker 2 (4:18) they never made over $100,000. You know. But they were wise with what they did make. I will say that. So they made about $80,000 a year, $90,000 a year. And that could afford you that kind of lifestyle then. The cost of living ratio to salaries now is just, it's such a bigger disparity. To live the life my parents lived, I have to make literally 10x. Speaker 1 (4:42) Just Speaker 2 (4:43) to live the life that they lived. Speaker 1 (4:45) Yes. Yes. Speaker 2 (4:48) Just that simple. That house that is nine bedrooms today is definitely a million dollar plus home. My parents got that home for $50,000. Speaker 1 (4:58) So Speaker 2 (4:59) that's my point. I think it was 53 to be exact. Speaker 1 (5:03) Oh, man. And back then, though, that was a lot of a house. I mean, that was an expensive, we would call that a mansion. Speaker 2 (5:13) Back Speaker 1 (5:14) in them days and times. Speaker 2 (5:16) Yeah, so. But wise. I remember my mom would go to like the tax lien auctions, buy tax liens, get paid back, get the properties for them. Like always savvy. Speaker 1 (5:28) Okay. Speaker 2 (5:28) Always savvy. Speaker 2 (5:32) Can I say something about my grandmother? Please do. And Speaker 1 (5:34) I Speaker 2 (5:35) talk about it in the book. Speaker 1 (5:37) Okay. Speaker 2 (5:37) Because she's the first investor. My grandmother was a domestic. Speaker 1 (5:42) Okay. And Speaker 2 (5:43) she was cleaning rich white people's homes. And she saw the financial advisor. But because her family, though they migrated from the south to the north, there actually was a period in time where they were wealthy in Georgia. Okay. So she knew. what was going on when that man came to the house and she pulled him aside. Yes. And she said, hey, look, I don't have what they have, but you put my money where you put their money. So when you talk about me going to college with options of full rides, when it was time for my mom to go to college, she saw her applying for scholarships. And my grandma said, what you doing that for? She said, well, I got to get to school. Dad's working at 4, you cleaning houses. Like, I really don't see no other way I can get to college. My grandmother told my mom, I can send any of my children to school cash. Speaker 1 (6:32) Oh, my goodness. Speaker 2 (6:34) She said, we not having no debt with this. And she was just like, huh? She said, cash. She said, let me sit you down. She Speaker 1 (6:42) said, Speaker 2 (6:42) I've been Speaker 1 (6:42) investing, she Speaker 2 (6:44) said, for this long. She said, I got a stock portfolio, a bond portfolio. She said, and I got three houses. My mom was sitting there like, what's going on? Because they were living modest. So she said, well, what's really happening here? She said, I told them to put my money where they put their money. She said, and this is the result. She said, we're not going to have no debt going to school. Speaker 1 (7:07) You talk about this in the Fearless Freedom book? Speaker 2 (7:10) Yes. I Speaker 1 (7:11) haven't gotten to that chapter yet. I just started reading. Oh, Speaker 2 (7:13) thank you. But Speaker 1 (7:14) I'm like, what would you say? Have you ever had a conversation with grandmother about what made her go that, like, why did she choose that? She Speaker 2 (7:24) is deceased now. Speaker 1 (7:25) Okay. I Speaker 2 (7:26) would love to have. Oh, it was so many ago, but she lived a great life. Oh, Speaker 1 (7:29) yeah. Speaker 2 (7:30) Like, I mean. That was one of my closest friends. She lived a great life. Every day from birth to 18, she was at the house for me from morning to evening. My mom was going to hire a nanny, and my grandmother's like, you're not going to hire some random person. She said, I'll be there. So we have an amazing bond, amazing bond. So I didn't get to ask her that because I didn't find that out too much later. I would have loved to ask her that. But even just the other day, there's rolls of coins. And my mother said, keep this, keep this. And I said, well, she said, well, my mom taught me to keep this, keep this. She said, they'll be worth something. So my mother just a few weeks ago started going through the coins. One coin was like $20,000. Another coin is $40,000. I said, my grandma was a bad woman. Speaker 1 (8:15) Grandma was a bad. Speaker 2 (8:17) So she's the first investor. But my great, great grandmother is college educated. Speaker 1 (8:22) OK. Speaker 2 (8:22) Yes. I talk about her in the book, too. Ran seven businesses and had 52 sharecroppers on her land. So. Speaker 1 (8:28) Great-grandmother. Speaker 2 (8:29) Women Speaker 1 (8:29) that do this. That's what I'm about to say. Great-great-grandmother had that. Grandmother had this. Mother. Speaker 2 (8:36) Oh, yes. Speaker 1 (8:38) And this is not even on the questions, but what would you say, what is one thing that you got from mother? Building credit the traditional way is slow and confusing, and most credit cards want you to rack up debt just to boost your score. You see, I used to think that you had to choose between staying debt-free or having a good credit score. But, but, but, here's what I've discovered. There's actually a way to build credit without any credit checks, without going into debt, and without paying crazy interest fees. And it works faster than I thought possible. See my friends at Kickoff, they are the truth. They are doing something different. They help you build credit the right way without the debt track. I've seen people go from no credit to a 700 plus score using their system and they did it completely debt free. Say one more time, completely debt free. Over 150,000 people have left five star reviews on the App Store. Users see an average of 34 points increase in their credit score. Some even see up to 84 points within the first 12 months. These aren't just numbers. These are real people getting approved for homes and getting better interest rates. Here's the truth. Every month you wait is another month of paying higher interest rates on everything. A good credit score can save you a lot of money, thousands on a mortgage, hundreds on car insurance, and even help you skip the security deposits. Don't let bad credit cost you money. I want you to visit anthonyoneal.com for a SaaS kickoff right now to get started for as little as $1 on your first month. I want you to build credit the debt-free way because your future self will thank you. Speaker 2 (10:23) Oh, handling money. And I talk about it in the book, too. Yes. They had me handling money very, very young. Speaker 1 (10:30) Yes. Very, Speaker 2 (10:30) very young. Speaker 1 (10:31) I think you talk about in the book before, like, they even had, like, accounts before you could even read. But then when you started reading, you had ledgers. You had all this stuff going on. Oh, Speaker 2 (10:41) yeah. I had a bank ledger starting at two. That's crazy. Yes. The credit union at the church. And then I'd have to go deposit $1, $2, whatever, you know, the church mothers was giving you. I go put it in the bank. I would go put it in the bank at the church. So I started handling money early. Also, I started fundraising very young, too. So you know how like, you know, those popcorn fundraisers you see everybody's kids got and this fundraiser, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, whatever. My mother did not do the fundraising for me. She said, I'll equip you with my address book, but you have to make the ask yourself. Speaker 1 (11:18) So Speaker 2 (11:19) because I had to ask, I never had any fears or concern asking anybody for money. I still don't to this day. No, Speaker 1 (11:25) you don't. No, we can tell. I will fundraise. Yes. Speaker 2 (11:28) So there's that. But back to your question, I say people aren't free from disruption, though. I grew up in this very rich culture, very rich family as far as just history and legacy and exposure and accomplishments. But just that one incident just threw us off our rocker. Speaker 1 (11:46) Wow. Speaker 2 (11:47) threw us off our rocker. And it took time to just even recover. I was like, whoa. I was like, I never imagined I couldn't call home. What do you mean? Mom was like, it was not a good time. I knew it was bad when she had her best friend cover my storage when I had to move out the apartment to go live in the car. And I was like, Mom, this is like $400. Like, what is happening here? I said, whew. I said, don't worry about me. You still have Ashley at home. I was like, I'm going to figure out life. And I was 23 at the time. And I was just, it was more of an adventure. And my faith carried me through because every day I got up thinking it was the breakthrough day. It took seven months. I ain't get a breakthrough until 210 days in. But every day I come saying, this is the day. This is the day. Speaker 1 (12:35) Yo. So Speaker 2 (12:36) my optimism and my faith carried me through a rough time in my life where I wasn't depressed during it other than one time I hit rock bottom and I was like, Lord, this is not fair. I said I did everything I was supposed to. I went to school. I said I got stellar grades. I said I treat people well. I