Investing with a Woman's Wisdom (and Wit!)

Investing isn't just about crunching numbers; it's about trusting your gut and navigating the intricate dance of intuition and data. In a Citrine Angels workshop held last month at Refraction, Kate Byrne and Viola Llewellyn, co-founders of The Tulle-Box, shared how the very attributes for which women are often critiqued can be power tools when it comes to investing. Having the confidence and wisdom to put them to work to make savvy, positive investments is why female investor’s portfolios often surpass the value of their male counterparts. 

The “Herstory” of Female Investors

Women have long been putting to work key attributes that many shun, such as active listening, curiosity, collaboration, and patience, to their financial benefit. Kate shined on light on key female players who reached milestones by bucking the status quo, including:

• Abigail Adams is the first known female investor, using her instincts to make significant ROIs for the country
• Victoria Woodhull opened the first “for women by women” brokerage, relying on active listening and collaboration, to achieve great success 
• Viola Turner revolutionized black wall street, taking educated risk that resulted in greater returns

What drove these women? A confidence and understanding of what they valued which gave them permission as it were to say no to what the practices of the day were. 

How to Find Your Investment Personality

The workshop consisted of interactive slides designed to teach attendees how to best deploy their personality and decision-making types into their investment decisions. Viola emphasized that women have historically been taught to ignore their intuition to conform to a certain image of success—one that often doesn't resonate with their true selves. 

But it’s not a one-size-fits-all process. Rather than conform to a single model, Kate and Viola recommended using a human design approach to determine a more personalized personality type that translates into a unique investment approach - manifestor, manifesting generator, generator, projector and reflector. Each personality type has different risk tolerances, communication styles, and approaches to investment. Attendees were asked to assign themselves a personality type; after the conclusion of the workshop, Kate and Viola offered to compare their self-assessment to one based on a quiz. 

Understanding internal motivations will also help women understand their motivations for investing, trust their “gut feelings” about specific investments, and use their intuition more effectively when doing  due diligence about opportunities. Knowing personality types and preferences will also lead to a more holistic approach to investing – one that takes all of individual traits into consideration.

TB3I

The workshop concluded with a discussion of the duo’s trademarked concept TB3I, an internal self-audit review to uncover and assess a women’s inner state and determine where someone is with their personal alignment. 

In order to grow wealth, you have to be able to expand your capacity and comfort to lose and remake money. Your ability to make money is directly proportionate to your appetite and ability to absorb loss.  The less loss you can endure, the less money you will make. Having a plan helps.   

The concept is broken down into three Is - Inner, Inter and Intra - the way we interact with ourselves, others, the world at writ large and how it impacts our investing outcomes.

• Inner-you delivers your Return on Intention - Based upon your value which drives your behavior with money,  risk tolerance and timing as well as your overall financial goals.
• Inter-you activity - how you work interdependently with others -  delivers your Return on Independence and Intellect. With yourself grounded and anchored in what matters to you, you are ready to interact with others applying these guidelines giving yourself protection and permission to say no to certain opportunities and yes to others.
  
  
• Intra-activity is your impact on the broader community bringing about your Return on Inclusion

Embracing the Journey

Investing is a journey of continuous learning and evolution. Trusting your gut, balancing it with verification, and managing the emotional aspects of investing are all crucial elements – but what each of those means to your journey is individual to you as an investor. As you gain experience, Kate and Viola say to embrace the journey, learn from each investment, and continue to refine your approach. After all, the most successful investors are those who trust their instincts and back them up with solid research and a resilient mindset.