INTERVIEW: Gigi, 'The First Gen Mentor'
Gigi on going viral, quitting her corporate job, planning a trip around the world, and defining true wealth.
Foundation Leads to Freedom
Giovanna, known to her audience as Gigi, “The First Gen Mentor,” was saving up for a trip around the world long before dabbling in short-form content. She credits that dream trip with the formation of her financial foundation.
“I had saved up 14 months of my living expenses. I was planning to quit my job to travel the world.”
Giovanna acknowledges luck played a factor, that the “stars aligned,” as she put it, but she also recognizes she was ready for that success. She’d secured a stable job and managed to build up her savings.
“Had I gone viral on TikTok three years ago when I was still living paycheck to paycheck, quitting a job wouldn’t have been an option.”
Setting herself up for success wasn’t limited to constructing a financial cushion. Giovanna developed the expertise she would need to excel as a content creator. She gained the technical knowledge through a career in investment management, while developing the community-building skills she needed through her volunteer work, as a mentor for the Latinx Business Association of UCSB and as a financial educator at the YWCA in Phoenix.
In other words, when that TikTok video blew up, she was poised to capitalize on the newfound attention. She had done the work. Luck, as they say, favors the prepared.
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