I went to RICH AF on Tour - should you?

the magic of community events

When Vivian told me that her agent had booked The Strand for the NYC leg of her book tour, she was sad. Of course, she had wanted to be able to fit more besties in the space, and The Strand could only offer a little more than 100 seats. As a book lover and a writer, I reassured her that there was always time for another NYC meet up, but to host an event at The Strand to promote your first book, which was just listed as a New York Times Best Seller, is more iconic than anything I could think of in that moment. And for the besties who weren’t able to attend - I wanted to give you the inside scoop.

The rare book room at The Strand is special, made even more special by the full house of besties whispering away, Rich AF on their laps, a fervor of excitement ping-ponging back and forth around the room from one guest to another. I wasn’t sure if people were sitting next to friends, or making new ones, but it didn’t matter. The audience was making connections just because they have one thing in common: they have the same rich BFF.

When Brian Kelly (aka the Points Guy) and Vivian entered the room, the applause grew louder and people moved to the edges of their seats. Brian dove right in, showing not only a high level of preparation, but also the depth of his relationship with Vivian and their overlapping passions in helping lift people up financially. Starting off with a book-specific line of questioning, Vivian went over how the book started as a 115,000 word draft, with so much to say and so much past content to leverage and expand upon. She noted that while the content in the book is timestamped, the principles of financial literacy are timeless. So if someone picks up Rich AF in 10 years, the stats and numbers may be different, but the strategy stays the same. This was a huge thing to note, she thinks of everything.

We then veered off into some more personal topics, which Vivian handled with a sense of humor along with a surprising level of candor. Watching her up there, she talks to her audience like they are sharing a bottle of wine on her couch at home. True besties. When asked if she ever doesn’t follow her own advice, I knew what her answer would be, and laughed when she said her wedding budget had been blown out of the water, even disclosing that original budget to the group. As she continued, the only thing I could think is that when money gets emotional, it gets hard. As Vivian says, money doesn’t exist in a vacuum, so when it comes to real-world financial decisions, she understands that sometimes it’s hard to practice everything she preaches. Rich AF is all about setting yourself up for that moment when your finances get emotional, and you stretch your budget (we don’t get into debt) for a wedding, a bachelorette party, a gift for a loved one, or in Brian’s case, medical expenses for a dear pet.

The audience Q&A, for me, was honestly surreal. Vivian does a ton of live events, but I have never attended one. Up until last night, the besties were simply email addresses and Instagram handles to me. When I receive questions via our newsletter inbox, I don’t have any context, a face to match the name on my screen. But sitting in the audience last night, I was blown away by how engaged all of you are. You came ready to learn. And as each bestie stood up to ask their question, giving that context that is so important when we think about financial decisions, I got goosebumps. People talked about how they have opened high yield savings accounts, asked for raises, started to invest for their children’s futures. A few besties promoted themselves to the rest of group, which I loved. And I want to reiterate and expand upon one of those audience questions, which was prefaced with “I’m too ditsy to use Robinhood.” Vivian, of course, jumped at this. No one is too ditsy. And I concur. I wrote in my notes, that of all of the men I worked with at JP Morgan, I could count on 10 fingers how many I thought were geniuses. What all of the successful guys had, was confidence. They believed that they were the best at what they did, and honestly even if they weren’t, they all worked pretty damn hard. When they hire future analysts at JP Morgan, they’re hiring college students, so there isn’t much past experience on the table. Instead they’re taking bets on people, and that means it’s about personality and a willingness to learn. I can conclude from the ~100 besties in the audience last night, just a sampling of the +56,000 of you on the other side of this email, you all have the willingness to learn - you just have to find the confidence to put that new knowledge to work. Rich AF is a tool to equip you for just that.

Vivian’s tour has only just begun, and if she’s hitting your city in the next few weeks, I encourage you to grab a ticket. Even if you go alone, you never know who you’ll meet. I sat next to Vivian’s entire team from Penguin Random House, a dream to meet people who work in the book world that I love so much. There is so much to learn in the book, yes, but there is so much inspiration to be found at these community events. It is a true testament to what Vivian has built, and if her brand is a reflection of all of you, there is no way she could be any more proud. Any questions about the experience? Any questions you wish you could’ve asked Vivian live? Drop it in the comments.

Thanks for reading - Meigs

Tour Dates and Tickets below:

• Jan 11: Los Angeles, CA tickets

• Jan 17: Houston, TX tickets

• Jan 18: Austin, TX tickets

• Jan 19: Dallas, TX tickets

• Jan 23: Chicago, IL tickets

• Feb 9: Miami, FL tickets

• Feb 27: San Francisco, CA tickets