Chantel Chapman: Today’s Notable Young Entrepreneur

We get it: ‘Adulting’ isn’t easy. Especially the monetary side. Luckily, there’s help, and it comes in the form of Chantel Chapman’s financial fitness coaching. We caught up with the ‘Holler For Your Dollar‘ founder and host of Mogo to find out how young professionals can better manage their money and what inspired her pursue this career…

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WORK

Describe what you do in less than 140 characters. Go.
Financial Fitness Coach at Mogo and host of Mogo’s Adulting 101 Tour. Founder of Holler For Your Dollar. I teach adults how to adult.  

What was the inspiration for your career route?
I sucked at my first attempt as an adult and racked up a ton of credit card debt like many people in their early 20s do. And then when I was a mortgage broker, I noticed a lot of my first-time home buyer clients knew basically nothing about how credit works. These two things together pushed me toward becoming a financial literacy advocate.

What is the most memorable milestone in your career so far?
The biggest milestone was seeing the actual impact that my financial literacy education had on someone’s life. I was teaching The Boys Club Network‘s (an organization for at-risk teen boys) summer program. I always use games as a method to teach, and one boy who was definitely bright but apparently not very inspired and drifting in school won one of my games.

That following school year, the co-founder of the Boys Club Network told the boy’s school counselor about his success in the education session and the effect that it had on him. She signed him up for an accounting course where he finished with a grade in the high 90s. I was so excited to find out that he discovered his passion for business  and finance through one of my classes and I can’t wait to see him become even more successful as an adult. This is exactly why I do what I do.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years?
5 years: published a bestseller book. Helping Canadians #uncreditcardtheirlife and become more financially fit with Mogo. The face of millennials and money. (I’d say the face of Adulting, but that sounds old AF and kind of porny.)

10 years: published second bestseller. Still doing my financial fitness thang across North America and making it cool to be financially literate.

20 years: because I know all about the magic of time and compound interest, I’ll be able to retire from having to bring in income. But I’d still be doing what I love: education and working with at-risk teens and young adults.

Do you have any advice for other young professionals?
Yes, spend some time defining your values and then plan a career that aligns with them. And as we get older, values may change, so be adaptable and open to new opportunities. Always overbook – don’t overlook. (Same advice for dating on Tinder LOL.) Be like an agile fintech company (like Mogo) instead of a traditional bank stuck in its ways.

Do you support any charities? If so, which one(s) and why is it (or they) important to you?
Yes, The Boys Club Network and the Covenant House. Both support at-risk youth. Experiences in our teens really can mould who we become as adults and both these organizations provide so much support and access to role models. I look back at my teenage years and I could have gone in the opposite direction and was very close to it, but it was access to good role models such as my parents that kept me on the right path.

What is one major challenge that you’ve had to overcome in your career? How did you overcome it?
Being taken seriously as a young woman in business. I started my career in the credit industry very young and it was a struggle to be taken seriously. I tried to overcome it by learning everything I could about my industry and wowing people with the depth of my knowledge, but that didn’t change everyone’s first impression and sometimes that’s all you get.

So I decided to take this struggle and turn it into an opportunity. The problem wasn’t that I was too young to work with people to get a mortgage, or that I wasn’t mature and knowledgeable enough; the problem was that I was selling the wrong product to the wrong audience at the time. I was young and I could connect with young people so I made that my focus and I transitioned from selling mortgages to any client to educating young people about money by speaking their language. I was adaptable and saw what some people would consider a weakness as my strengths and created a niche and a new career path out of it. In about 5-10 years, my new struggle will be that I am too old to connect with the younger audience. And when that time comes, I’ll take the same approach to overcome it.

What does the word notable mean to you?
This website.

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PLAY

Where is your favourite place to wine/ dine in your city and why?
Vancouver: Au Comptoir. Authentic and adorable. When I am in Toronto for work, I always hit up La Cubana. My pals Kastor and Pollux took me there, and I go every time I am back in the six.

What’s the most visited website on your Internet browser? The most played song on your phone?
It’s not a song, but Kylie Jenner Radio is always playing.

Most visited site: James Altucher’s blog.

Who’s one person you think everyone should be following on social media?
The Fat Jewish. He aggregates hilarious content and his posts are a daily reminder to laugh and not take life too seriously.

What’s your favourite country to visit and why? And what’s the next one you plan on travelling to?
Japan. It is so clean and orderly. Also, although Tokyo is really densely populated, it’s very Zen and that’s because of the energy of the people. I am heading to Cartagena, Columbia over the December holidays for some Narcos and chill.

What gives you the greatest FOMO?
I’m going to sound like such a nerd, but I get FOMO when I walk into Chapters. I want to buy and read ALL the books but there just isn’t a enough time in the day.

What’s your guiltiest pleasure?
Really dirty rap music. But, in my defense, rappers are the best copywriters and they inspire creativity in my content.

What’s something you wish you didn’t spend so much money on?
Food and organic juices. Everyone who knows me knows that I am a juice junkie. 

What’s something you wish you spent more on?
I wish I spent more on adventurous activities. I read a study that said experiences provide more lasting pleasure than any product purchase.

And finally, what does success look like to you? Work, play, or otherwise…
Success is waking up and having a day filled with activities that blur the line between work and play. It’s being able to do what you love, feeling good about what you do, impacting other peoples’ lives in a positive way, all while being able to afford to stock your fridge in your expensive downtown condo with organic juices.

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