17th February, 2022
Think free expert financial advice is too good to be true? Victoria Devine of Zella Wealth proves otherwise with her She’s on the Money podcast.
Victoria Devine understands money. Running financial consultancy Zella Wealth, hosting award-winning business and finance podcasts, and publishing a how-to millennial money guide has established her authority in the space.
You might then be surprised to learn that stumbling upon the financial industry was a pleasant surprise for Victoria.
“I accidentally ended up as a financial advisor,” she says. “I thought I was going to be a psychologist.
“The more I learnt about finance, the more it made sense to switch from psychology to financial advisory. And I’ve never looked back.”
As is the case for most journeys, though, Victoria’s moments of revelation didn’t always arrive immediately.
After completing an organisational psychology degree, Victoria jumped straight into the culture and engagement space.
Here she commonly heard things like ‘My engagement’s low because I don’t understand money’, ‘I’m stressed about paying the mortgage,’ and, ‘My wife’s pregnant and we didn’t plan it – how do we financially manage this?’
At first, she was stumped – money troubles were never something she anticipated in her role. But with them being so consistent, she eventually saw unrealised potential.
Victoria, then 23, decided to embrace the financial world. She established Zella Wealth with a business partner, and while learnings from her previous role offered an excellent foundation for her new endeavour, enthusiasm wasn’t enough to fill the rest of the gaps.
“There’s no way I think I could have started the financial advice practice without someone who had a whole heap more experience than I did,” she says.
But as her confidence and knowledge grew, Victoria amicably parted ways with her business partner and took the reins on her own.
“It’s so empowering knowing that every single decision I make in my business moving forward is mine and mine alone,” she says.
Victoria’s also thrilled that she still regularly leverages her unique background.
“When I moved into financial advice, one of the most surprising things was how much I dealt with the psychology of money every single day.
“When it comes down to it, every decision you make about money is behavioural.
“Understanding that gave me not only the unique ability to understand my community, but to understand what’s necessary to create sustainable change.”
With an eye always on the prize, Victoria started running financial wellness workshops for businesses to land clients for Zella. The intimacy of the sessions allowed her to lift the veil on topics such as superannuation, insurance, and investment.
But employees weren’t the only ones learning. During these workshops Victoria witnessed money-related stigma vanish – and it was something she knew she needed to act on.
“I created a Facebook group where people would share their questions and I would answer them,” she says proudly.
“I really wanted a place where we could talk more openly and more honestly about money, because it felt like it only happened in those workshops.”
And there was clearly a demand for it. To Victoria’s shock, word of mouth caused the community to explode.
“I remember sitting at my computer looking at this group,” she says. “We had 1,700 people in it. I didn’t know what to do with it.”
She asked the community and they – unsurprisingly – were hungry for more in-depth content.
“They asked for a video. I didn’t have the confidence, so I decided that a podcast would be the way that I would create more content and give more education in this space.”
Sign up for added insights and business-critical news from MYOB.
Stay in the know
The result is Victoria’s extraordinarily popular She’s on the Money podcast. Victoria’s relatable, entertaining, and digestible approach to financial advice has netted her 1.2 million diehard listeners a month – proof that financial literacy is in demand.
And it isn’t just numbers proving the podcast’s success. The thriving She’s on The Money community regularly remind Victoria of the positive change she enabled.
“I couldn’t be prouder about the impact we’ve made,” Victoria says.
“It’s the people out of debt. The people changing their relationship with money. The people who’ve identified and left financially abusive relationships because of our content.”
An understanding of underserved financial issues has also seen Victoria create the Business Bible podcast. It’s here that she offers insight into how to start and manage a small business.
Here she provides valuable tips for business owners with the assistance of financial expert, such as MYOB’s very own General Manager for SME, Emma Fawcett, and Head of Pricing, Jon Manning.
As an advocate for financial independence, Victoria’s big tip for business owners is simple: prevention is better than cure – especially when it comes to tax time.
“Make sure you’re always keeping track of your receipts, your accounting software is in check, and you know what you can claim before 30 June.
“No small business owner should have to stress when tax time is rolling around – and you don’t have to with the right tools and resources at your disposal.”
It’s great advice, but Victoria is the first to admit it took her a good amount of time to realise.
“I thought spreadsheets were going to solve world hunger. But when I implemented MYOB in my business, it was an absolute game-changer.
“I went from spending hours working out people’s annual leave and sick pay to literally doing it in one click.”
READ: Invoice vs receipt: Key differences and FAQ
For Victoria, it’s the automation of common admin tasks that really made the switch worthwhile.
“Invoicing used to be the bane of my existence until I was able to automate the entire process.
“I can’t tell you how much I put this off and how much I shouldn’t have, but when it comes to having the right software for my business, it meant I had way more time to spend on my business instead of accounting.”
And from the once self-confessed queen of spreadsheets, it’s a discovery that’s paid off in spades.