How Can I Break A Financial Generational Curse? With Gabriela & Jazmin
On this episode of Financially Naked: Stories from The Financial Gym, our host is Jazmin Higgins, a Level 2 Certified Financial Trainer, who, in celebration of Cinco De Mayo, is reading the intro in Spanish today!
Bienvenidos al episodio de Financially Naked en español! En la celebración de la batalla de puebla en México, te traemos una conversación muy importante acerca de nuestra propia batalla de maldiciones generacionales en comunidades Latinos en Los Estados Unidos.
Today’s guest is Gabriela Gonzalez, a Cuban-American producer based in Los Angeles. A Miami native and youngest of seven kids, she is here today to share her story and chat with Jazmin about breaking generational curses in Latin communities.
We’ll be having a little fun and maybe speaking a little Spanglish. We encourage you to share this podcast with friends and family to start having conversations about how your upbringing has impacted how you relate to money.
Podcast Notes
Gabriela was introduced to the Dave Ramsey method in 2016, which for her, was a great place to start. Even with a background in accounting, she struggled with her personal finances and found herself living paycheck to paycheck.
She was tired of this cycle and took a course about financial mindset. Around that time, she saw an ad for The Financial Gym on Instagram and decided to look into it!
She loved how the program seemed practical but also worked on the mindset aspect of personal finance. For her, accountability is what makes the monthly membership worth it. She knows working independently, she tends to fall into old habits, and working with a Trainer helps avoid that pattern.
When she first started with The Gym, she had a full-time accounting job, and the producing work was on the side. After six months with The Gym, she was hired as a full-time producer. About six months into this role, she realized she needed to be an independent producer and create the space for the work she wanted to create.
Her savings allowed her to step back from hustle culture and make this happen.
How do you know you need help with your finances?
If hearing from your bank or credit card company for any reason causes anxiety. Even if the communication isn’t bad news, just hearing from them strikes fear.
If you are carrying high amounts of debt.
If the debt you carry is to help cover your necessities or emergencies.
If you find yourself spending money you don’t have, creating debt.
If you’re paying late or overdraft fees.
If you’re living with a YOLO mentality, thinking you can just file for bankruptcy without any consideration for the process or scope of that decision.
If you’re feeling hopeless and like you can’t figure it out on your own. We can learn from ourselves, but we also learn from the people around us. You do not need to struggle through your finances alone.
What are some challenges that come with breaking generational curses?
Gabriela has the privilege to do the work she does because of her parents' hard work. She reflected deeply on this after her father passed away. She had a significant mindset shift.
There were always things going on in her house, as it was always full of chaos, love, and laughter.
Growing up, her mom was in charge of the finances, but she was not forthcoming to the family about where they stood as a family. Everyone had pieces of information, but no one except her had the complete picture.
There was no example in her house of what saving looked like. They were making enough to survive, so this was a new skill Gabriella had to learn. Jazmin also struggled with living paycheck to paycheck for a period of time.
Planning for the future is impossible when you're trying to survive.
Even after she was able to save an emergency fund, she did not want to spend it. It can actually be challenging to spend on any goal if you're not used to saving. The whole point of saving for a goal is to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Saving is like a muscle. If you've done it once, you can do it again. This type of thinking was a shift for Gabrioela, who at first never imagined being able to save 6 months of expenses in an emergency fund.
How can we work on breaking these generational curses?
Mindset is a huge part of a financial journey but not the only part. You have to do the work.
When Gabriela started with The Gym, saving a six-month emergency fund seemed impossible.
If you grew up in true poverty, even if you make money as an adult and are far from that place, those feelings of scarcity can still be there and show through in certain ways.
It starts with being aware. Reflect on where your beliefs come from and how you can make them better.
Reflecting and understanding your beliefs is only the first step of the process. You also need to take action.
Invest in your education. Whether that is to work with someone like a Trainer at the Financial Gym or the time to read a book and learn on your own.
Take the pieces of what you’ve learned and start to change your behaviors. You do not need to figure this out overnight or flip your life upside down. This is a lifelong journey. Focus on building good, lasting habits that align with your goals.
There is an abundance of tools and resources out there; it’s our responsibility to learn and create change.
It’s important to have challenging conversations about things like planning for the end of life. Learn how to have those conversations and tackle them head-on.
Always remember this is the one life and body that you have. Remember to enjoy the process and celebrate the results as you work towards your goals.
Drop us a comment and let us know how your culture and upbringing have impacted how you deal with money, or send an email to
If you want to work with a Certified Financial Trainer to help navigate your finances, schedule a free warm-up call today! If you have any ideas or questions for the show, send an email to trainerpodcast@fingyms.com.
Resources
Connect with Gabriela Gonzalez (she/her)
OnlyVans (production rentals company): @onlyvans_llc
Forward Motion (production company): @Forwardmotionentertainment