Erika Veurink
"I talk to everyone about money. I'm always talking about it because I'm always thinking about it."
Erika Veurink is a writer, brand strategist, and host of EV Salon. Her presence is equal parts aspirational and astonishingly real.
Immersing yourself in the world she’s building, and shares with her audience, feels like being hugged by a 90’s J.Crew catalog—profoundly practical and effortlessly chic.
So, what motivates you?
The idea of having a second home on a lake is really big for me. Also, financial freedom—but not in a “fire” way. I’m not interested in living super frugally now so that I can retire when I’m 40.
How did you get here? What’s your “money story?”
My dad worked in finance so I've been talking about money my whole life. I always had an allowance, and I grew up religiously, so a lot of that conversation was around giving back to the church. We always talked about tithing 10%, saving 50%. This was always an ongoing conversation in my house, for which I feel lucky.
My dad passed when I was 15, so then I felt like I didn't understand where my family was financially. I didn't understand the idea of investments or my Dad’s work setting us up for life after him.
Right out of college, I felt empowered to be interested in money again. It didn't feel too hot to touch.
Was having your first job out of college a big shift? As in, ok, I can do something with my money mind?
I think so. But I have always been working. In high school, I started taking photos and it was really interesting to be like, if I raise my prices, I can shoot 15 seniors instead of 20. Or if I shoot a wedding, I can make four times as much as a senior session.
While I was in college, I was always interning, always making money, and then after undergrad, I went into fashion for a minute, and I made no money. I went and got my MFA and then I started writing for money. That was the moment where I was like, oh, my skills in exchange for currency.
How did you work up the gumption to up your prices? It takes confidence to say, “I can charge more for this.”
I shot my friend's sister's wedding and she paid me my super low rate. Afterwards, her mom pulled me aside and handed me a check for $350 and was like, “invest this back into yourself, into equipment, into your business.” It felt like someone was taking me seriously for the first time.
After that moment, I felt like, okay, I owe it to Mrs.Dunker to make the most of this money. That moment when I was 16 helped me start thinking about myself as a business and less about Erika Veurink as a person.That framework makes it easier to be like, oh, this business offering is worth more.
Say more about thinking about yourself as a business.
I think of my time and my ideas as this impossible to quantify thing. So when I'm meeting with a client, I try to frame my offering in a way that's more advantageous to me as a creator, creative thinker, and less, like, just a copywriter or one to one business. I don’t do any work hourly.
How do you get comfortable holding that boundary of you as a business? It’s definitely a shift from theory to practice.
It’s a repetition game. After 250 meetings, it becomes easier to suss people out. Every time I send a proposal, I’m less and less attached to the outcome of it, which is great.
In addition to a lake house, what are you spending on and saving towards?
Gifts are really big for me, they’re my love language. I took my sister on two international trips last year, and that felt like a super aligned expression of spending money.
Travel is not one of my categories. It's not something I care about that much. But at 21, I would have loved to have had an older sister be like, “okay, come along, it's all paid for.”
So gifts are big, lake house is big, clothes very big. It’s not that I need a Totem jacket, it's that secondhand shopping is my chief joy in life. My rich life, in Ramit theology, is being able to buy whatever the **** I want on eBay or The Real Real. Let's say, like, under $1,000 without really thinking about it.
Who do you talk to about money? And if I may ask, how do you talk about money in your relationship?
I talk to everyone about money. I'm always talking about it because I'm always thinking about it. Not obsessively, but it really is the worldview I was given as a kid. It’s how I think about decisions.
My husband and I have a monthly money meeting where we check in on goals. We talk about any big spends coming up. We use Copilot for budgeting, which has been a really great referee in the conversation. If there’s ever confusion, it’s like, go look at the numbers.
I know you’re a huge Money with Katie fan. Why did she become your go-to?
Oh, I’m in the top 1% of listeners. Not to be a reductionist, but her being a woman in the space was huge for me. She's just, like, a real ******* person who's not writing from a place of privilege or writing from the other side where she has a $17 million net worth. She's building in public, and she's like, let me explain to you.
What would you say is your most cherished holding, both in your life and your portfolio?
My husband and our equal partnership is the best investment of my twenties. We have really aligned values that we've worked really hard to define and can come back to all of the time. And it feels so lucky that I got to start that so early. I'm in the market versus timing of the market, haha.
So that's my holding. My more practical one is my solo 401K, which feels like me against the world vibes. This is a vehicle that I can contribute to when I'm on my solopreneur grind. I'm always investing in myself. Opening it was kind of scary and intimidating, but now it’s great. See Erika’s portfolio on Astor
Anything to share about your investment strategy?
I unfortunately did dabble in the market beyond a robo advisor in 2020, and I'm still dealing with those purchases I made on E-Trade. But now I mostly use Betterment and Vanguard, and that's ETFs and my solo 401k. I’m not interested in strategy or outsmarting anything, just what performs.
Now that I'm working for myself, I'm really curious about building a potential mat leave for myself. What that would look like, what that number is. Is that a high yield savings thing? Is that a bond play?
We’ll have to have a follow up where you share what you’ve learned.
Absolutely.
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Honored ❤️❤️
I am so beyond tickled by your loyalty, Erika — you made my day. Long live the 1% (of TMWKS listeners)