6 minute read
MISS INDEPENDENT
Words By Bec Doyle | March 23 2022
Nicole Lapin: MISS INDEPENDENT
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Nicole Lapin is the kind of woman you want to be friends with. She’s down to earth, funny and genuinely invested (no pun intended) in empowering women to reach their goals and achieve financial independence. A New York Times Best Selling Author, it’s no wonder this “Boss Bitch” is a regular on shows like Dr Oz, Good Morning America and Entertainment Tonight, imparting her knowledge to millions of viewers eager to level-up in business and life.
An overachiever in the best way, after graduating from Northwestern University, Lapin landed a highly coveted anchor position at CNN, making her one of the youngest anchors ever in the network’s history. With all her success and early achievements It’s easy to assume she got a head start in life, but as she explains that was not the case, “I had a very broken crazy upbringing… I was scared that if people found out that I didn’t have a certain pedigree that it would be the end of me.. But with a lot of things, as you grow, the things you think are your biggest weakness become your biggest super power.” Lapin explains we have all experienced trauma surrounding money to varying degrees and these traumas impact how we look at and approach money, with our biggest enemy residing between our own two ears. “Oftentimes we suffer more in our imagination than reality… all my books are 12 step plans because the first step is admitting you have a problem.. With money, if you change your mindset I really think your finances will follow.”
Through her impressive seven book deal and appearances on an array of endless TV shows, Lapin is empowering women to take control of their lives by providing the tools to achieve financial independence, declaring “Financial literacy is the basis for all upward mobility and empowerment.” Lapin says she has a lot of compassion and empathy for her former self, “They don’t teach the relevant stuff in school... I realized that money is a language just like anything else. We just don’t have a Rosetta Stone for it growing up.” And with language in business constantly evolving it’s important to speak the jargon, and according to Lapin, it’s not as complicated as one might think. “I think a lot of people hide behind the jargon. The jargon is kind of meant to keep people out, and it feels like this ‘fancy club’ but it’s really not.” Lapin says guys don’t know more, they just talk about it more, and talk about it more confidently. She points out that money is a taboo subject among women, and she’s made it her mission to normalize conversations surrounding money and finances. “If I was at dinner with my girlfriends and I’d ask them how much they were making or what’s in their bank account, it would be crickets, but they’d just told me about their bikini wax and sex positions, and its like you just told me about your landing strip, and now THIS is taboo?! It’s so weird,” she laughs.
"Miss Independent" hit the shelves February 1st, as a “sort of sequel” to her first book, the New York Times Best Seller "Rich Bitch". Lapin says “I wanted to give other women the cheat code to do what I did.” And she means it. As a woman working her way up, as a minority in a male dominated industry, it’s clear she never allowed this to affect her goals or how she performed. “I didn’t want to be the best woman, I wanted to be the best.” And now Lapin is dedicated to furthering opportunities for women in business and finance, “We need more spots, there’s no reason that it needs to be ONE spot.” Going above and beyond to be as helpful as possible for her community of friends, Lapin says she’ll ‘go all out’ sharing contacts and spreadsheets of information to assist in their endeavors in any way she can, “My success doesn’t prohibit theirs or vice versa, there’s space for all of us to win.”
Nicole Lapin with her fur baby Penny
Photo by Laura Grier
And winning, she is. After packing up and moving across the country early on in the pandemic, she says “I was going to be single for the rest of my life.. I left New York and was going to build this bachelorette compound and really lean into my mission to help women with finances.” Although as fate would have it, she was destined for a love story after all. When a mutual friend and match maker introduced Lapin to anti-poverty advocate and Aspiration co-founder Joe Sanberg, their whirlwind romance put an end to any ideas of a perpetual reimagining of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies”, and the couple could not be happier. With a recent engagement to celebrate and a wedding to plan Lapin admits, “I never had those princess type dreams,” clarifying there is no pinterest board filled with the perfect dress or flowers, but she is confident it will all come together. With so much on her plate, I wonder how she finds time to sleep, and am further impressed by the grace and elegance with which she juggles life and career, “I try to keep a date night, whether it’s by myself or with a friend.. I love going on this site called secretlosangeles.com and finding these weird things to do. There’s always quirky fun things.. the weirder the better,” she says.
“This is my mission on this planet, to really change women’s lives and I didn’t know how much of an impact it was going to have and how much of a void it filled,” Lapin exclaims. After our conversation I too feel empowered by Lapin and her ability to simplify and destigmatize the foreign world of finance. Einstein said, “The definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple,” and Lapin has done just that. The financial confidence she exudes and independence she speaks of, no longer feels unattainable. Lapin makes success feel within reach for everyone. Maybe we just need a little nudge in the right direction? “Knowledge isn’t power, execution is power.” she says. So let’s ‘kick down doors’ and ‘break the glass ceiling’! OR maybe just start with a copy of "Miss Independent"?! The first step is admitting you have a problem!
Nicole Lapin and Joe Sanberg
Photo by Laura Grier
