Gill Fielding is a self-made millionaire with a no-nonsense, positive approach to finance and a personal mission to educate the nation in managing and improving their own financial position.Fielding Financial was set up by Gill in order to help anyone and everyone achieve what she describes as ‘financial freedom’.
She strongly believes that financial education should be taught in schools to safeguard people’s financial future.
Gill is currently a financial expert for a monthly phone-in show on BBC Radio and has also written several books that are practical hands-on guides to wealth creation.
I’m a ‘Rags to Riches’ story and was born into poverty in the East End of London. I left school at 16 but eventually got educated and trained as a chartered accountant. I held a variety of big corporate jobs as a finance specialist and then as a CEO. I’m now the leader of Fielding Financial which is a business established to light the spark of financial possibility for as many people as we can get to. Our philosophy is that if we can educate people to manage and build their wealth, so they have the option to live their life of choice.
No not really. I always worked on the pain and moving away from stuff I didn’t like. When I had my third baby, I realised I didn’t want to go back to formal employment and so I then relied on my investments (which I had been accumulating for 20 years) and became a full-time property investor and educator. I went from one extreme to the other – being firstly a chartered accountant to becoming an entrepreneur.
Constantly! The main one was people telling me I couldn’t or shouldn’t do what I was doing! My parents particularly didn’t like my entrepreneurial career and would much rather I had stayed as a chartered accountant in a job I didn’t like but for them it was ‘safer’. In fact, it wasn’t and I’m now much safer being in control of my own destiny and creating the amount of wealth I need to support myself and my family.
People will constantly tell you that you can’t – ignore them!
Finding vehicles to teach people the five financial principles which take them through financial controls and from money saving to money making. We do this through our education business Fielding Financial and through our Charity Money Mum.
Our culture and society have traditionally been poor with women and money and even my mother believed that money and women didn’t belong together! Fortunately, I didn’t take that belief on board.
It is only recently that women have been educated at the same level over finances as men but still we find women falling far behind in terms of pensions and future provision. Sadly, many women don’t embrace financially information in the same way as men and that may be because they are more concerned with the emotional and physical side of their families and put the financial stuff second. My view is that a women’s place is in the money and the sooner we get money parity and educational equality the better.
Understand that money and wealth creation is possible for all and follow these five principles in all you do:
I’ve never had a formal mentor, but I have read countless biographies to see what other people do and how they have achieved their success. In following their footsteps, I have been able to tread a successful path.
To endow every woman with the belief that anything is possible, and that financial success is within their grasp – they just need to grab it!
Don’t worry about what other people think – they’re wrong!
My next challenge is to continue to write and present to spread the word of financial possibility for all. I’d love to get the 5 key principles taught in schools to give every child a choice in life.
