SIMRAN KAUR

Simran Kaur, age 25. Director, Podcaster and Author of Girls that Invest. Photographed by Michelle Abraham wearing the Heart break vest and House coat

It's been impossible to miss the meteoric rise of Girls that Invest since the podcast launched in 2020. The platform is rooted in the South Asian female perspective of best friends Simran Kaur and Sonya Gupthan and has resonated with an audience across the globe. While the Devil wears Prada, this 25-year-old (self-made) millionaire wears $25 heels from the Warehouse. Democratising her wealth of knowledge to empower women globally, she is transparent with her financial journey and the nuances of her inherited scarcity mindset.

Her best-selling book 'Girls that Invest' has a nostalgic quality tied to academia. Describing it as a 'baby textbook' with hundreds of readers highlighting and note-taking their copies, she explains, "More than anything, before podcaster, director or author, I'm a teacher. That's where my enjoyment and skills lie."

The decision to centre the platform around women came from realising that many women stay in abusive relationships due to their lack of financial independence. Simran struggled seeing women in her life go through this lack of autonomy or escape and feared that it would happen to her if she didn't earn her own money. "Within our culture, the patriarchy is built on financial imbalance. Without that imbalance, it doesn't have a leg to stand on."

In a modern setting, we discuss women who choose not to be a part of the workforce she says, "I think it's amazing that women are more comfortable staying home. I just hope they are compensated and comfortable enough to have those conversations with their partners about where they stand in terms of their finances together. Financial freedom is about having choices and compensating labour equally, whether it is emotional or physical."

On the subject of money and boundaries, she refers back to South Asian culture. "Community-centred cultures grow up viewing money as the family's or something to be shared. It is the norm to take care of our parents and siblings. I think it's about understanding what's ok for you.

Money has ties. I really believe there's no such thing as a free lunch. I wish I didn't think that way, I wish I could take things and feel no obligation but I can't do that."

Simran comes from a traditional Indian family who was conservative with their money, wearing the term kanjus (Panjabi word for stingy) as a badge of honour. As an adult, she recognises the good money traits her father tried to pass down to her. As a young girl, they were simply the reason she couldn't have a Playstation or a Kylie Jenner lip kit. 

As the family's wealth grew, the mattress on the floor and plastic chairs turned into proper beds and couches. Their lifestyle, however, remained the same. Run-down Holdens were still taken to the car yard and replaced with second-hand buys. Her parents grew more generous, donating to charities, "It made me understand that it's ok not to have nice things. You are separate to your living situation and circumstances- they're not a reflection of your values or who you are as a person."

During a panel discussion at the Viaduct Harbour, a woman asked Simran for advice as she couldn't stop overindulging in retail therapy. Without missing a beat, she told her to get therapy. As I remind her of this, she seems embarrassed, "that's such a Sonya answer." She quips. Although that advice may seem equal parts abrupt and iconic, dismantling money and trauma is something that Sim has taken on herself.

"It's so interesting because I never thought I would feel this way. For someone who grew up not having a lot of money or expecting their life to be stable in the sense that you work for someone and get paid every week, it's very different to what we're doing now.

We've had a lot more success than we ever expected, probably a lot more brand awareness and money. I've been so hesitant to spend it. Like I said on the podcast, I paid myself around 50k each year because I don't know if that money is going to last and it's come from a scarcity mindset.

I think that's come from my childhood and not seeing what generational wealth looks like because I never had it. Not understanding that money can last your whole life and your children's if you truly believe it can.

I worry that having a scarcity mindset can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. I keep thinking the next course won't work out or that people will get sick of us overnight- you can almost manifest it, so I'm very aware that I need to change that. The way I'm starting to is by talking to mentors or people who used to feel that way because it's not good to have these crazy fears."

When asked to trace back to the moment she noticed their recognition growing, she recalls having dinner with Sonya at a restaurant in Auckland, after which "we had two people message us saying they noticed that we only got water instead of cocktails, and said 'you guys are so good with your money!' Imagine if we did get a big order of food- what would we look like? (laughs)

That was quite funny and the first time we went- wow. There could even be people who don't message us who look at us and go what are they doing here? Are they being good with their money? Is she driving a sensible car? Is Sonya in a Porsche?

I mean, what if you did?

"What if you did?" she muses for a second.

"I love it though, meeting people is such a privilege- maybe it would be different if you were like Beyonce and get people to recognise you everywhere you go and we don't experience that of course. We were recognised in America, Australia and London and stopped in the street- it's so cool! If you know me because you're learning about money and trying to get smarter with it by investing then I'm more than happy for people to come up and say hi. That to me means the message is spreading."

That it is. The pair are currently on the last leg of the US book tour, during which Sim was a speaker at Fincon and sweetly shared a photo of them in the audience holding hands with a poll asking 'Are we co-dependent?'. To think the two five-year-old brown girls who fought over Bratz dolls and pretended to perform on American Idol grew up to take radical feminist action. They've examined their cultural wounds and it’s toll on South Asian women and offered a way to reroute its course through financial independence.

The biggest question is, is investing truly accessible to everyone? Including minimum wage workers and those with irregular incomes?

Sim responds, "I don't think it was accessible until five or even three years ago because New Zealand has such high minimums for investing. To buy one share of a fund was between one to ten thousand dollars. Even people who did have the money but were of minority groups or indigenous people were turned away until recently.

I think people still feel they need to have a house and a boat to start investing. Thankfully micro-investing platforms have allowed us to do what is known as fractional share investing. Rather than one share being 50 dollars, you can put in 5 dollars and get 10% of that share.

Even 5 or 10 dollars a month add up over time. If that's 10 dollars you can part with, it will pay dividends in the long term if you've got time on your hands.

I also think it's worth noting that thinking about investing is a privilege and not something everyone can focus on. Inflation rates are high right now and the cost of living is ridiculous. For some people in this country, it's a matter of do I pay rent or eat. I don't think it's fair to waggle your finger at them and say sort out your money, why aren't you investing?"