Haley Sacks

Haley Sacks (also known as MrsDowJones) is an American entrepreneur. One of the first financial influencers, she is the founder and CEO of Finance is Cool, a media company and educational platform.[1][2]

Haley Sacks
Born1991 (age 31–32)
New York City
Other namesMrsDowJones
Alma materWesleyan University
OccupationEntrepreneur
TitleFounder and CEO
Finance is Cool
AwardsFortune 40 under 40 (2022) and 40 under 40 in Media and Entertainment (2023); Money Changemaker (2023)
Websitefinanceiscool.com

Early life and education

Sacks was born in New York City and raised on the Upper East Side. Her mother was a social worker and her father worked at Goldman Sachs.[3][4] She was bored and intimidated by the financial news that was front and center at home and instead followed celebrity news.[5] She grew up surrounded by wealth but money was never discussed. She believed that finance was the domain of men and doubted her own ability to manage or grow it.[1][6]

Sacks attended The Dalton School, Columbia Prep, and Wesleyan University, where she rowed varsity crew.[7] A film major, as a student she made Vine videos that generated significant viral attention. She graduated with a degree in film studies in 2013.[8]

Career

2013-2018: Late Night, Upright Citizens Brigade, Above Average Productions

Sacks returned to New York City following her graduation. She planned to pursue a career in comedy, and in addition to doing improv with the Upright Citizens Brigade,[9] she was a page for the Late Show. Living month-to-month, with little money saved, she also worked the front desk at a fitness studio and nannied.[1]

In 2017, she was hired as a producer for the digital content arm of Lorne Michaels’s production company, Above Average Productions. Struggling to make decisions about compensation and benefits, she realized she needed to understand money. To learn, in addition to reading books such as Warren Buffett's Ground Rules and The Intelligent Investor, she watched financial videos on YouTube.[10] Created almost exclusively by men, she described the videos as boring, poorly made, and indecipherable due to the use of Wall Street jargon.[11] She started to develop "zillenial finance expert" MrsDowJones based on her desire to learn and inability to find gender-neutral financial content that she found engaging and relatable.[1]

2018-present: MrsDowJones, MDJ Stimulus, Finance is Cool University

Sacks was laid off at Above Average in October 2018 and rather than look for another job in media, she decided to focus on MrsDowJones fulltime. Combining her background in comedy with her knowledge of pop and internet culture, the first MrsDowJones post appeared on Instagram in 2018.[1] She also launched a financial clothing line and her website, Finance is Cool, in 2018.[12] In 2019, a New York Times article titled "Smashing the Patriarchy with Memes" stated that she was helping to define the 'finfluencer' category.[1] At the time, she had approximately 56000 followers.[13]

In 2020, she launched MDJ Stimulus, a free eight-week program geared towards helping women and young adults financially navigate the coronavirus pandemic. She posted and blogged about pandemic-related issues such as the stimulus plan, furloughs, layoffs, salary cuts, and saving money during the quarantine. The last episode of the program focused on giving back; Sacks donated the profits from sales of MDJ merchandise to the New York City Covid-19 Emergency Relief Fund.[4] She also appeared on Good Morning America[14] and gave a TED talk at Georgetown University in 2020.[4] In 2021 she offered a free financial counseling program, Moms are Cool, for mothers who were impacted by the pandemic, with Josh Brown and Angela Yee.[15]

In 2021 Sacks introduced Finance is Cool University. Hosted on the Finance is Cool website, she launched the "Money 101" course Start Here in 2021 and "Let's Invest" in 2022.[10]

Since launching MrsDowJones in 2018, Sacks has used celebrities, TV shows and memes to explain different financial concepts.[11][16][17] As of February 2023, Sacks had more than 700,000 followers on Instagram, TikTok, and other social media platforms.[18][19]

Recognition

Sacks was named to the Fortune "40 Under 40" list in 2020 and the magazine's "40 Under 40 in Media and Entertainment" in 2023.[20] She was named Creator of The Year (Personal Finance) by Adweek in 2022,[21] and a Money Magazine Changemaker in 2023.[3]

Personal life

Sacks lives in New York City with her miniature poodle, Mystery. She is on the leadership committee of the JED Foundation, a mental health nonprofit for teens.[4]

References
  1. Lorenz, Taylor (2019-12-24). "Smashing the Finance Patriarchy With Memes". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  2. Holger, Dieter. "The Financial Gurus Millennials Listen To". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
  3. "Haley Sacks: Changemakers 2023". Money. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  4. Booth, Barbara. "How Haley Sacks, aka Mrs. Dow Jones, is helping young adults financially survive the coronavirus crisis". CNBC. Retrieved 2023-01-19.
  5. Pasarow, Anabel. "These Finance Memes Will Make You Rich (Or At Least Laugh)". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  6. "6 money rules only rich people know, says Instagram finance star 'Mrs. Dow Jones,' who has amassed over 300K followers". MarketWatch. Retrieved 2023-01-19.
  7. "Haley Sacks - 2012-13 - Women's Crew". Wesleyan University. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  8. "Haley Sacks '13 Makes Finance Fun With @mrsdowjones Accounts". The Wesleyan Argus. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  9. Reed Alexander. "A day in the life of @MrsDowJones, an Instagram finfluencer with 162,000 followers who calls herself a 'financial pop star' and wants to make managing your own money fun". Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
  10. "The Measure of Financial Influence with Mrs. Dow Jones". Investopedia. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
  11. Jammot, Julie. "'Mrs Dow Jones' On Mission To Help Young Investors". www.barrons.com. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  12. "Haley Sacks on Her Mrs. Dow Jones Moniker, Endorsers, And Plan to Elevate Financial Advice". Institutional Investor. 2021-11-22. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
  13. "Instagram finance meme account takes on Wall Street". Bloomberg News Network. 2019-01-24. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  14. Good Morning America. "How to get richer in 2020". Good Morning America. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  15. Epperson, Erica Wright, Sharon. "'Moms Are Cool' program offers free financial counseling for mothers impacted by the pandemic". CNBC. Retrieved 2023-01-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. Alini, Erica (2022-03-18). "TikTok and Instagram have made personal finance cool: The trick is finding the good stuff". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  17. "Mrs. Dow Jones Wants to Make You Laugh". Time. 2021-01-05. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
  18. "Haley Sacks I Zillennial Finance Expert (@mrsdowjones)". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  19. "MrsDowJones on TikTok". www.tiktok.com. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  20. "Haley Sacks". Fortune. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
  21. Adweek Staff. "Adweek's 2022 Creator Visionary Awards: See All the Winners". www.adweek.com. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
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