Where Does Money Grow?
This week we heard from my friend and colleague Dr. Rusha Modi on redefining the way we teach kids about money. If you aren't subscribed to our newsletter, here is his guest post:
A few months ago, my neighbor invited me to check out her daughter’s new business venture.
There she was on the sidewalk in front of her house, a folding table beneath the shade of a sycamore, sunlight catching on the glint of handwoven bracelets and 3D-printed trinkets. Her school’s entrepreneurship class had inspired her to turn creativity into commerce. Her parents looked on proudly.
“Twenty bucks for one bracelet,” she said confidently.
“Happy to,” I replied—but then paused. “Actually… I’d like to buy more than the bracelet.”
She tilted her head, curious.
“I want to buy… equity.”
Her eyes widened.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a stake. A belief in you and your business. Equity means ownership—it means I’m investing not just in your product, but in you.”
She’d never heard the word before. But something in her lit up.
We chatted a little longer, and I walked home with the bracelet in my pocket—and a lot on my mind.
From Piggy Banks to Possibility
Growing up, I was told—sternly and often—“money doesn’t grow on trees.”
But no one ever told me where it does grow from.
That would’ve been a better conversation.
It took me nearly four decades to learn the answer: money grows in other people’s pockets. Serve them. Solve for them. Care for them—and money will appear.
But back then, no one taught me about equity, ownership, or capital. No one explained that money could be more than something you earn and spend. That it could be a tool—a builder’s instrument for bringing dreams to life.
Even today, we often limit kids to counting coins or selling lemonade, instead of teaching the real mechanics of entrepreneurship, investing, and value creation.
But here’s the thing: kids already get the basics.
They understand fairness, trade, and the joy of making something from scratch.
That’s the raw material of any healthy economy—and a just society.
We don’t need to wait until they’re adults to start this conversation.
In fact, by then, it might be too late.
Money as the Great Unlock
We love to celebrate the college dropout who builds the next billion-dollar startup.
But before they were disrupters in hoodies, they were kids—kids with ideas, courage, and curiosity.
What if we nurtured that courage early?
Money may seem like an odd place to start, but it’s foundational.
It’s not just currency—it’s creative capacity.
It’s the asphalt beneath the road of our goals.
Too many adults wind up in jobs that drain them. Not from lack of talent, but from a lack of financial literacy, sovereignty, or imagination.
They were never taught how money moves—how to make it serve them, not trap them.
We can do better.
We can equip the next generation with tools, mindsets, and confidence to build lives of freedom, purpose, and prosperity—not just survival.
The Bracelet and the Future
That bracelet now sits on my desk—not just as a reminder of a sweet neighborhood moment, but as a symbol of something bigger.
That young girl didn’t just make a product. She made value.
She created something, put it into the world, and stood proudly beside it.
And she’s already further along than I was at her age.
That’s not just encouraging.
That’s the point.
