Shang Saavedra: Growth Mindset and Financial Independence

09/26/20 • 54 min

Why You No Doctor: An Asian-American Podcast

Episode 36: Shang Saavedra (@savemycents) is the voice behind the popular financial-literacy blog, Save My Cents. Having achieved financial independence at the age of 31, she aims to share her money expertise with those who need it most, empowering others to change their lives, on their own terms, for the better.
In this episode of the Why You No Doctor Podcast, Shang and Dominic take a deep dive into some of Shang's most treasured pieces of wisdom that shaped her life for the better: the abundance mindset, the act of doing it scared, and of course, the pursuit of financial independence.
Show Notes:

1:14 - Introduction to Shang and her work on helping others achieve financial freedom with mental health
2:53 - Abundance mindset — adopting a growth mindset over a fixed mindset and having agency in your narrative
4:39 - Being jealous about other people's success, and revising goals to improve them
6:04 - Shang and how she viewed intelligence as fixed, but changed her mindset to believe that grades are not a fixed indication of her success
9:09 - Meeting people who grew up in neighborhoods that grew up in debt and believing that debt and financial instability is normal
9:53 - Born in China, moving to Switzerland and the Netherlands before moving to various places in the States. Her parents' background with the Cultural Revolution and how it impacted Shang's upbringing
14:33 - For those with huge debt, usually there is something in their upbringing that affected their view on money. Working away from the Asian-American upbringing of being cheap and frugal
20:50 - Realizing the importance of frugality despite its restrictions
23:26 - Value based spending —discovering where your top values are and using it as a guide to spend money
27:50 - Do it scared but do it anyway — help people get over their fears to improve financial literacy or self-advocacy
33:30 - Having confidence and belief in yourself even if others' seem smart and vocalize their success
35:25 - Achieving FIRE at age 31 and becoming work optional, but choosing to work anyway because of other priorities
40:01 - What Shang spends her time on — being a mom, developing courses, and helping others on financial literacy
41:45 - Defining what retirement means and analyzing people's lifestyle to give people a direction on their financial health
44:02 - Discussing different ways to achieve financial freedom depending on who they are and their situation
48:28 - Favorite places Shang has been: Japan, Ireland, New Zealand, and Italy
50:10 - How to contact Shang (Instagram) + parting words

Join the community! Follow us on Instagram @wyndpodcast and find all of our socials at whyyounodoctor.com/podcast.

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1:14 - Introduction to Shang and her work on helping others achieve financial freedom with mental health
2:53 - Abundance mindset — adopting a growth mindset over a fixed mindset and having agency in your narrative
4:39 - Being jealous about other people's success, and revising goals to improve them
6:04 - Shang and how she viewed intelligence as fixed, but changed her mindset to believe that grades are not a fixed indication of her success
9:09 - Meeting people who grew up in neighborhoods that grew up in debt and believing that debt and financial instability is normal
9:53 - Born in China, moving to Switzerland and the Netherlands before moving to various places in the States. Her parents' background with the Cultural Revolution and how it impacted Shang's upbringing
14:33 - For those with huge debt, usually there is something in their upbringing that affected their view on money. Working away from the Asian-American upbringing of being cheap and frugal
20:50 - Realizing the importance of frugality despite its restrictions
23:26 - Value based spending —discovering where your top values are and using it as a guide to spend money
27:50 - Do it scared but do it anyway — help people get over their fears to improve financial literacy or self-advocacy
33:30 - Having confidence and belief in yourself even if others' seem smart and vocalize their success
35:25 - Achieving FIRE at age 31 and becoming work optional, but choosing to work anyway because of other priorities
40:01 - What Shang spends her time on — being a mom, developing courses, and helping others on financial literacy
41:45 - Defining what retirement means and analyzing people's lifestyle to give people a direction on their financial health
44:02 - Discussing different ways to achieve financial freedom depending on who they are and their situation
48:28 - Favorite places Shang has been: Japan, Ireland, New Zealand, and Italy
50:10 - How to contact Shang (Instagram) + parting words

Join the community! Follow us on Instagram @wyndpodcast and find all of our socials at whyyounodoctor.com/podcast.

Support the Show.

Previous Episode

Benny Luo: Pioneering Asian-American Media

Episode 35: Benny Luo (@bennyluo) is the founder and CEO of NextShark, a media company that speaks primarily to the global Asian youth. A venture that was started with just $3,000, NextShark has since grown to serve millions of monthly readers, with hundreds of thousands of followers spanning across their social media.
Learn the insights of Benny's entrepreneurial and personal journey in this week's episode of the Why You No Doctor podcast. "It really helped to find other Asians or Asian Americans around me that really had that Asian pride and showed me that I wasn't alone."
Show Notes:

01:23 - Living in Puerto Rico and its taxes
3:03 - NextShark, how Benny is doing, how COVID disrupted some of those plans
5:21 - Benny's background, working four jobs in college, and how NextShark evolved into its Asian American niche
7:39 - Having Asian pride, running an Asian American blog, and the emptiness
10:43 - Elaborating on Asian pride and the diversity of the Asian American experience
13:46 - Growing an Asian American audience and pivoting towards that audience
17:49 - Asian Americans gaining a presence and trying to make a difference
20:33 - Aiming for quick growth or for sustainability, and the difficulties of digital marketing in this environment
25:00 - Spikes in growth and covering different kinds of stories with the rise of COVID
28:56 - Dealing with burnout, resiliency, and finding motivation beyond just making money
34:33 - Staying on top of the direction of his goals and being wary of news networks
42:51 - The Great Hack, advertising, and the rise of social media
51:20 - Life outside of work — being a foodie, working out, and board games
55:31 - Meeting neighbors, restaurant business, and dry aging fish
1:00:24 - Benny's restaurant recommendations and final thoughts

Join the community! Follow us on Instagram @wyndpodcast and find all of our socials at whyyounodoctor.com/podcast.

Support the Show.

Next Episode

Jaeson Ma: Fusing East and West through Serial Entrepreneurship

Episode 37: Jaeson Ma (@jaesonma), the co-owner of Triller, is no stranger to adversity. From running the streets to his close brush with the law, it was hard to imagine where he’d be today. Now, he’s a serial entrepreneur with a string of success stories behind him: He’s the co-owner of Triller, the founder of East West Ventures, and co-founder of 88rising and Stampede Ventures.

His journey began with a thirst to prove himself -- knowing that even though Asians weren't being represented in the media, it didn't mean they weren't worthy. He became committed to the mission of boosting Asian representation in entertainment and fusing the best of eastern and western cultures together. In this episode of WYND, Jaeson takes us through the ups and downs of his story, from the challenges he faced as a teenager, to his first job with MC Hammer, to launching his first company and becoming a venture capitalist.

Show Notes:

0:55 - Introductions to Jaeson and his work
3:15 - Born in Lubbock, Texas, where his immigrant parents studied at the Church of Christ and became the first international Chinese students to study at Pepperdine University. They then moved to San Jose in the Bay Area where Jaeson grew up.
5:25 - Growing up with an incredibly diverse community, but still not seeing that diversity reflected in mainstream media.
Growing up with heroes Yan Can Cook on PBS with an inauthentic Chinese accent and Bruce Lee who had already passed away.
9:00 - Growing up with Michael Chang (Tennis Grand Slam Winner) and practicing tennis to be like him.
10:27 - Jaeson's dad as a minister and an entrepreneur, who went to Chinatowns across America to sell steam cleaner trucks.
12:31 - How his parents influenced him towards his different interests like entrepreneurship and spirituality.
14:47 - Studied three different majors after being a problem child. Got kicked out of schools and was almost sent to jail. How his parents were happy he was studying in college while both of his siblings are valedictorians and overachievers.
17:25 - Growing up with a non-present father, separated parents, and being unable to find love and consistency at home.
19:55 - The value of representation and allowing it to change the limits in your mind of what is possible.
22:22 - Growing up in hood San Jose, and an anecdote on how his small eyes were made fun of in school. All of his friends had bigger eyes than him, and how
it let to an identity crisis growing up.
27:23 - Growing up always feeling shorter, smaller, and skinnier. His constant desire to want approval from others, and never getting the affirmation he needed at home.
28:44 - Getting into acting in theater class, getting accepted into Oregon Shakespeare, and learning Shakespeare with the best actors in the world. Entered a new school, joined theater and landed lead roles. How Jaeson consistently met challenges and overcame them.
34:22 - Being MC Hammer's personal assistant and investing in Justin Lin's Better Luck Tomorrow. Starting a Hip Hop Bible study and turning his life around.
38:44 - The Hip Hop Bible Study becoming a huge community event, reaching out to MC Hammer and getting him to speak at the event.
42:51 - Following MC Hammer on his venture capital jounrey. Meeting the early employees of Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
48:44 - The power of seeing Asians and representation in a full length Asian film. The desire of wanting to represent Asian culture through the power
of stories and film.
51:29 - Leaving venture capital and pursuing film, and a discussion on Asian Americans breaking into the scene.
53:47 - Growing up with Hong Kong cinema in the 80s in the summers, and developing an East West mindset. Wanting to bridge the gap