When I was asked if I would be interested to attend a special meeting with Suze Orman, I almost dropped my phone out of excitement. This lady is a prime mover in the personal-finance arena and probably the most popular and perhaps the most influential itself. I would be crazy not to drop anything and rush into this appointment.

When given the opportunity, I asked her how finance media people like me can help in the financial education of the Filipinos.  I mentioned that personal finance material is not a popular thing Pinoys care for as much as they should.

Here’s what the famous personal-finance icon told me: “stop writing about money that people don’t have.” Wow! She encouraged me to write about stories of people, how they deal with their issues. People don’t like to be lectured at, they want to find hope. Too many times, writers & speakers like me get embroiled on all those technical things, too much on the nose bleed stuff. Suze was dead on and was a good reminder that I should always think about the readers are concerned about. She encouraged me to get the people to first care about their financial future, open their minds and challenge their set behaviours. When they get their acts right, they will naturally yearn to learn more, understand the rudiments of investing and be ready for heavier stuff.

She also encouraged me to continue with what I am doing and that she has so much faith in the spirit of the Filipinos. It was nice to know that she also likes the work of Dave Ramsey, someone who has such an influence on me. There are many finance coaches out there and many of them Suze Orman doesn’t really like but “Dave Ramsey is one of the few guys I like” she muses.

In a short period of time, I learned much from Ms. Suze Orman but what I didn’t expect was that she will also motivate me. In the next blogs, I will write more of the stuff I learned from her or cross-post articles that I am writing for other sites, publications.

Thank you Bank of the Philippine Islands for inviting me, it sure was an honor and a blessing to finally meet an icon.