399: Start Early, Build Wealth - A Student's Guide to Financial Freedom With Paris Woods

The Clever Girls Know Podcast With Bola Sokunbi

Bola Sokunbi

Education, Self-improvement, Business, Entrepreneurship

4.8 • 931 Ratings

🗓️ 10 February 2026

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

❤ Subscribe to the Clever Girl Finance newsletter for weekly motivation! clevergirlfinance.com/subscribe

On this episode of the podcast, we're joined by Dr. Paris Woods, bestselling author, financial educator, and founder of Freedom Unlimited LLC, for an inspiring conversation about helping students start early and build wealth.

Known for her breakout book The Black Girl's Guide to Financial Freedom, Paris returns with her newest release, The Student's Guide to Financial Freedom, written to empower first-gen, low-income, and BIPOC students with the tools they need to make confident money decisions early in life.

With a background in education and a passion for equity, she breaks down the money myths young people face, offers actionable advice for avoiding common financial traps, and shares how students can lay the foundation for long-term financial success, starting right now.

What Dr. Paris Woods Discussed on the Podcast:

Her mission to help young people build financial freedom and what inspired her to focus on student audiences.
What led to the creation of The Student's Guide to Financial Freedom as a follow-up to her bestselling book.
Gaps in traditional financial education and how her book fills them for first-gen, low-income, and BIPOC students.
Why it's crucial for students to start learning about money in high school or college.
Small but impactful steps students can take now to begin building financial independence.
Common money myths and traps to avoid, especially around student loans and credit cards.
How her book helps students who don't see themselves reflected in traditional financial advice feel seen and supported.
Ways parents, educators, and mentors can support students in becoming financially confident early on.
One lesson or habit every student should adopt to set themselves up for lifelong financial freedom.

AND SO MUCH MORE

How to Keep Up With Dr. Paris Woods:

More Clever Girl Finance Resources:

❤ Get the best-selling Clever Girl Finance Books: clevergirlfinance.com/books

❤ Get access to 30+ free courses, worksheets, savings challenges, and our favorite banking resources: clevergirlfinance.com/course-packages

❤ Read the Clever Girl Finance Blog: clevergirlfinance.com/blog

❤ Follow us on Instagram: @clevergirlfinance

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, Paris. Hi, Bola. Welcome to the Clever Girls No Podcast. I am so excited to have you here. I am a huge
0:09.5	fan of yours. And today we're going to be talking about how to start early and build wealth, a student's guide to
0:16.0	financial freedom. So for everyone who is listening, please tell us who you are, what you do, and what
0:23.7	inspired you to become a voice for financial freedom, especially for young people.
0:29.4	Yes. Thank you so much for having me. I'm super excited for this conversation. My name is Dr.
0:35.4	Paris Woods. I am the bestselling author of The Black Girl's Guide to Financial Freedom, which came out
0:42.5	just a few years ago.
0:43.8	I think we're at over 130,000 copies sold.
0:47.0	That's amazing.
0:48.2	Love, love, love that book.
0:50.3	It's so resonated, and the time has finally come to create the student adaptation.
0:56.6	And so this year, I decided to release the student's guide to financial freedom,
1:01.7	targeted at high school and college age young people,
1:04.6	which for the past 20 years has been the focus of my career in college and career access
1:09.2	and helping young people get on the path to economic mobility.
1:13.6	That is amazing.
1:15.1	Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Clever Girls Know podcast.
1:18.7	This is Bola Shokumbi.
1:20.1	I'm the founder and CEO of Clever Girl Finance.
1:23.6	The Clever Girls No podcast is a podcast for women offering a space for conversations around personal finance, business, life, and living.
1:32.0	I'd love for you to subscribe to this podcast, and you can do that everywhere you listen to your podcast episodes.
1:37.7	And if you love what you're listening to, be sure to leave a review so that other amazing women just like you can find this podcast too.
	...

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