Embark on a captivating journey into the realm of financial enlightenment with hosts Sherida and Afia, and their guest Matthew Gaul - a rising star in Guyana.
The hosts, Guyanese diasporans living in the United States, delve into Matthew's remarkable story—from his upbringing in Guyana to his role as a tax auditor, financial literacy advocate, and visionary leader shaping Guyana's financial landscape.
In this illuminating episode, Matthew shares his personal evolution from a finance student at the University of Guyana to the driving force behind the EconoME Business Conference and the insightful Common Cent$ Podcast. Explore the cultural influences that have shaped Guyanese attitudes towards money and witness the transformative impact of Matthew's initiatives on financial awareness across generations.
From navigating entrepreneurship to unraveling the intricacies of revenue and profit, this conversation delves deep into the fundamental principles of financial success. Matthew's infectious vision for the EconoME conference and his podcast transcends borders, aiming to ignite significant change on regional and global scales.
Join us for a thought-provoking discussion that challenges conventional financial norms and inspires action towards a brighter economic future. Whether you're in Guyana or anywhere else in the world, this episode promises to empower and uplift, equipping you to take control of your financial destiny, and will resonate with anyone aspiring to make a meaningful impact.
Check out Matthew and his platforms: https://www.facebook.com/mngaul1 https://www.instagram.com/gaulbladder/
For more information about EconoME: https://www.instagram.com/econome_business/
For more information about the Common Cent$ podcast: https://www.instagram.com/common_centsgy/
Embark on a captivating journey into the realm of financial enlightenment with hosts Sherida and Afia, and their guest Matthew Gaul - a rising star in Guyana.
The hosts, Guyanese diasporans living in the United States, delve into Matthew's remarkable story—from his upbringing in Guyana to his role as a tax auditor, financial literacy advocate, and visionary leader shaping Guyana's financial landscape.
In this illuminating episode, Matthew shares his personal evolution from a finance student at the University of Guyana to the driving force behind the EconoME Business Conference and the insightful Common Cent$ Podcast. Explore the cultural influences that have shaped Guyanese attitudes towards money and witness the transformative impact of Matthew's initiatives on financial awareness across generations.
From navigating entrepreneurship to unraveling the intricacies of revenue and profit, this conversation delves deep into the fundamental principles of financial success. Matthew's infectious vision for the EconoME conference and his podcast transcends borders, aiming to ignite significant change on regional and global scales.
Join us for a thought-provoking discussion that challenges conventional financial norms and inspires action towards a brighter economic future. Whether you're in Guyana or anywhere else in the world, this episode promises to empower and uplift, equipping you to take control of your financial destiny, and will resonate with anyone aspiring to make a meaningful impact.
Check out Matthew and his platforms: https://www.facebook.com/mngaul1 https://www.instagram.com/gaulbladder/
For more information about EconoME: https://www.instagram.com/econome_business/
For more information about the Common Cent$ podcast: https://www.instagram.com/common_centsgy/
All right, welcome everyone. We have a special guest here. This is Matthew Gall. He is a graduate of both Bishop's High School and University of Guyana. He is currently a tax auditor at Guyana Revenue Authority, as well as the founder of Economy Business Conference and Mixer. He's also a digital content creator of Common Sense, which is a podcast that's dedicated to helping young people achieve financial freedom and make wiser financial decisions, so it can be viewed on all social media platforms and will allow him to introduce himself. All right, matthew, please introduce yourself to the audience.
Speaker 2:
Hi, good afternoon everyone. As was previously mentioned, my name is Matthew Gwa and I'm currently employed at the Guy and Irving Authority as a tax auditor, and apart from that, I'm the founder of the Economy Business Conference and Mixer and Common Sense Podcast.
Speaker 3:
Did you want to add any more information about your background and what inspired you to start the conference, or podcast?
Speaker 2:
So the Common Sense Podcast, the foundation of everything that I'm currently doing and the catalyst for the increased opportunities that I've been afforded over the past few years, was based on a motivational pep talk from a University of Guyana lecturer who encouraged us to utilize our degrees to help our community. And my love for finance and business and my love for public speaking. I merged those two skills and talent and formulated a podcast, and the podcast touches on various financial matters, not only in the business field, but your personal life, your family, your marriage, your relationships, your education, your health. So it's very wide and encompassing all facets of our lives and from the podcast it has helped me to move that virtual community into a physical community with the aim of developing a cadre of young business people help them to develop their business accumulate their knowledge and to network and expand their market.
Speaker 2:
So that is where I'm currently at and so far the journey has been pretty rewarding.
Speaker 1:
That's really good to hear. To go deeper into that, what motivated you the most to focus on promoting that financial literacy in Guyana?
Speaker 2:
I think there is a vacuum in Guyana when it comes to financial education. I'm not the first to attempt to bring financial literacy to Guyana, but I think that I have been the most successful thus far and my success has also helped others who may have had similar desires and passion to get into the field of financial literacy. And you can see now other people are helping others financially to develop themselves educationally. And also many more workshops, training sessions, seminars centered around financial literacy.
Speaker 2:
Almost every conference, every event, whether it be in the corporate world, in church, in your groups, in NGOs, there is some topic now relating to financial literacy. I won't take credit for that, but I know that Common Sense has been a catalyst and an inspiration to help people to see the necessity of financial literacy and also see how beneficial it can be to our individual lives. So I think the vacuum in Guyana also just looking around at fellow young people, athletes, celebrities and see how they have mismanaged their personal finances and we just want to help people to do better because at the end of the day, lots of mental illnesses, depression, divorce, I guess feelings of being unworthy and unaccomplished tend to tie into your financial position.
Speaker 3:
Right, and so you mentioned athletes and people who may have larger sums of money to manage, that they have maybe previously mismanaged it, whether it's to their own fault or circumstances that may have required a larger amount of their money to be spent. What do you think are the first couple things that you learned about managing money, and how does that compare to maybe friends and other people that you've met in Guyana?
Speaker 2:
I think, fortunately, in 2020, during the pandemic, I came across a book called the Richest man in babylon which totally transformed the way that I view finances and money, and from reading that book, I started to read lots of other books centered around money, and I don't think the rise in financial literacy is it's just happening by chance.
Speaker 2:
Guyana itself as a country, economically over the past five years, has been experiencing unprecedented growth.
Speaker 2:
So I think those two things the pandemic as well had an influence, because the pandemic birthed lots of young businesses and young entrepreneurs, because many of them lost their jobs and they were forced to find alternative means of income generation. So I think the pandemic, guyana's current economic trajectory and just a more educated young populace wanting to have better lives than maybe their parents would have experienced, have better lives than maybe their parents would have experienced those forces combined has propelled the desire for financial literacy, financial management, and I think that those are the motivations that young people want to know where they can invest, to know where they can invest, how they can invest, how to budget, how to save, how to manage their businesses, how to manage their money. I think this current couple of young people in Guyana, we just are very ambitious, and part of being ambitious requires money, money, and I think those factors have, like, propelled the need, the desire for financial literacy and management okay, so we, we do know that you have, you know, an extensive background in finance.
Speaker 1:
But before all of that education, what did you know personally about financial literacy as a child? Like, what were you taught personally back then about money? And you know finances, if you were taught about it at all I think most young people in guyana.
Speaker 2:
Some of the common phrases that you would have heard. Also, I come from a very christian background, so you know you would hear the love of money is the root of all evil. It's hard for a rich man to get into heaven. And then from your family side, you would hear money doesn't grow on trees, and there was a lot of negative connotations to owning money and wanting money, and I think that has to do with our entire history and you can go as far back as slavery and all of that. But in my immediate family I didn't hear much about money. You know, you felt when there wasn't money, though you felt when there wasn't money I, you felt when there wasn't money.
Speaker 2:
I grew up in a single-parent family. It was just my mom. Actually, I grew up with my mom and my grandparents. My grandparents migrated when I was about 10, 9, to the United States, so all I knew is that my mom was trying to do her best to provide for me. By no stretch of the imagination did I grow up poor as compared to, like I think there are people that are actually poor. They don't know where the next meal is coming from, and stuff like that. I've never had to experience that for most of my life, all of my life. I think there were years that there were a few challenges. Maybe you couldn't go certain places because the money was so limited, or sometimes you would have to walk to school because maybe you can only afford food. You can't afford food and transportation, things like that. But I think I wasn't poor and I wasn't rich. It was just somewhere in the middle there for most of my life. But I never had any money, conversations with my parents, with my mom, or any financial knowledge. It was just nothing really.
Speaker 1:
Right, yeah, and that is actually very common, you know, in many households, you know, money isn't really talked about. It's kind of taboo I agree.
Speaker 3:
I I think that you know, matthew. Your background is very relatable for most guyanese people. You know, not just because you have a christian background, but you know a lot of guyyanese families in Guyana and outside in the diaspora. They're humble families, not rich, not poor particularly, but very principle-based as it relates to spending and saving money. So I'm curious to know how have you, in your work, no-transcript.
Speaker 2:
I think the main thing is the fact that the conversation has been started. Some of the conversations that I've tried to foster on my podcast are conversations that I consider I've never been privy to any. You don't really hear people talking about things like that. I think that conversation now has catapulted more discussions and more conversations. I think, firstly, you have to unlearn the negative things that you would have learned about money.
Speaker 2:
I think most Guyanese have grown up with negative thoughts about money, like if you have a desire to be rich or to have lots of money, like sometimes you feel like a sinner or you feel like it's a wrong ambition to want to be affluent and wealthy and it all starts in the mind, like when I first started to take a serious interest in personal finance, because everything that I've been doing on the podcast and so forth, it's just a very miniscule aspect of finance. Like you weren't taught these things in UG.
Speaker 2:
UG is more about corporate finance, governmental finance and stuff like that. You're not taught budgeting, like personal budgeting, in university, so those are things that you would have to learn on your own or if you're lucky enough to go to a seminar or whatever, um, but you have to unlearn the negative things first before you can learn what is right. Um, and I think common sense and all of the other things that have been going on in the country lately as it relates to personal finance have started a conversation and people have started to unlearn. I just look at social media now and five years ago, when you scroll on Facebook or Instagram or whichever social media platforms, you just used to see stuff about either politics or relationship or drama.
Speaker 3:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
Now I see lots of young people engaging in business conversations, sharing insights into insurance, into investing stocks, Like there's a complete transformation and shift in the mentality and the mindset of young people now towards finance and I think that just bodes well for our country and our individual lives in the future.
Speaker 1:
Totally agree. Yeah, that is true, and you know everyone has a different idea when it comes to financial literacy. Everyone has a different idea when it comes to financial literacy and you know social media gives us different ideas and you know more so podcasts like yours, and they're more driven towards giving the right information.
Speaker 2:
Some people they see you know misinformation online, but what would you say are some critical financial literacy topics that 90s individuals and communities should prioritize, especially if they're not, you know, completely aware of like what's right I think currently, um, the most pivotal thing, or the most pivotal concept that I think is necessary right now, is investment, right, um, I always tell people that if you're earning $100,000 per month, you can only save $100,000. It doesn't limit. But if you're earning $100,000 and you invest $50,000 from that $100,000, there's a possibility that you can make nothing. You can make 500 000, you can make 5 million, you can make 50 million you never know depending on the viability and the sustainability of the investment. But there are higher chances of you earning more investing $50,000 from your salary into a revenue-generating activity than just having it in your bank account.
Speaker 2:
For me, it's a worthwhile risk. Having money in your bank account depreciates the value over time and reduces the purchasing power. And in Guyana, where the interest rate is almost next to nothing, you might as well just take your money out and put it into an investment vehicle that can generate more than 0.02 or 0.03% interest rate that you're getting. However, of course, you have to be knowledgeable. You have to know what you are getting yourself into before you take out your money and go say you're investing. You just can't invest for investing's sake.
Speaker 2:
You must do your research, read a bit about business and finance and educate yourself so that whatever it is that you're getting into you're knowledgeable about and it actually has a the opportunity to be profitable, the prospects to be profitable. I see a lot of young people and for those watching and listening be very careful of being pressured into becoming an entrepreneur because it seems glamorous, but the fine prints are always more important than the things that are in the bowl. Right, there are many entrepreneurs that struggling. There are many entrepreneurs that it may appear that they may be making a lot of money because, again, if you don't have a finance or business background, you may not know the difference between sales and profits right you might be getting thousands of sales every day.
Speaker 2:
Like, let's say, you have a boutique and the clothes are being sold out on a weekly basis, but so the public is seeing that. They think, hey, he's, he's rich, he's making a lot of money. Every week it closes, sold out, but they don't know the expenses that were incurred in selling those clothes. Let's say you have sales of $10 million but your expenses are $9.9 million. You just made $100,000. Right, but to the general public, hey, he made 10 million dollars in sales. So entrepreneurship, I don't think it's for everybody. I don't like to tell people that because I don't want to be a dream buster but that's just the harsh.
Speaker 2:
There's just the harsh reality, um, and you need to be very careful because you can find yourself in serious debt and financial misfortune if you just jump into it because you want to say that, hey, I'm a CEO, I'm a girl boss, I'm a this.
Speaker 1:
I'm a that.
Speaker 3:
You're not lying, don't be shadythew, that's okay. But no, I think you're bringing up extremely valid points. You know, um, investments are extremely important, but it's also important that you think and be thoughtful about, you know, becoming an entrepreneur, because it's more than just being able to say you're your own boss and that you're bringing in so much revenue, because, again, revenue and profit are two different things. But you know, we had a really, really interesting pre-interview conversation and you know I'm sure you'll share more news and information about economy and common sense. But I am curious to know and want you to share with the audience do you have any hopes and aspirations for the economy conference and the podcast moving forward?
Speaker 2:
I think my continuous goal is expansion and scaling. Actually, the theme for the conference this year is scale. Moving from one level to another level is always challenging in business and the statistics prove that more than 50% of businesses fail after the first five years. Sustainability and scaling are major challenges. What I've even noticed in Guyana is that lots of businesses start off at a bang, hot and sweaty, booming, and then they just fade away into oblivion. I am paranoid and very fearful of that happening to me, and at this point I'm just trying to position the conference to be of a regional and international standard in terms of the quality and the execution, and I'm hoping in the very near future to. Obviously it won't be as big as it is in Guyana, but to start small somewhere, whether it be in the Caribbean or in the United States of America. Of course, the US has a very large Guyanese diaspora that I feel like I can tap into and there is a potential collaboration there. So that's the short and near-term future of economy. I use the Guyan Energy Conference as my benchmark. The Energy Conference features dozens of international leaders, presidents, ministers of government. It's a four-day conference with lots of big sponsors and so forth, and I don't see why the economy in the next few years can't reach that level.
Speaker 2:
As far as the common sense, I'm going to be taking a different approach with Common Sense. Probably within the next six to nine months, I am hoping to set up a studio in my home whereby I can speak as free as I want to speak. Yeah, you need that. Currently you have corporate sponsors and you can't really say certain stuff, obviously. Um, I just want that freedom now because, like the vision that I have for common sense is not something to profit off. I just want to have that free space that I can be creative and have the tough conversations that need to be had as it relates to finance and money and business. So those are my current and future projections for economy and common sense.
Speaker 3:
Okay, and actually I do just want to interject before Afia goes to one of our final questions. But don't think that just because you have scaled so widely in Guyana, because your conference size and your turnout is amazing We've seen the pictures and feedback from people who have attended the conferences as we said before, this is a topic that is very taboo amongst our entire community globally. So as you are looking to, you know scale into the U S like yes, you know, maybe initially it might be a small turnout, as it was maybe the first time you put on the conference, but trust, like we know, a bunch of people in our community, especially with you know how much Guyana has to offer at this time that people would be very interested in hearing. You know what you have to present. But, um, I'll let Afiya take on this last question with the time we have left.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, but how can the Guyanese diaspora and overall the listeners of GAF with Gold Rush, support your efforts and, you know, get involved with promoting financial literacy in Guyana. Like you know, promote your social media.
Speaker 2:
Tell us how we can get involved with you all right, so you can follow me on Facebook, instagram and LinkedIn on my personal account, machu Gual also. Commonsend has an Instagram page and a YouTube channel, as well as Economy is on Facebook, instagram and LinkedIn at Economy Business Conference Any of those platforms you can get me on. I'm on Twitter, but not for business purposes. Not for business purposes. Yeah, we know how it goes. But yeah, you can support by a simple like, share or follow.
Speaker 2:
If you're in Guyana, you can attend any of the conferences and seminars that I host and you can share with your friends, with your family, if you're interested in sponsoring the event or the podcast. Just a simple message and we can collaborate and formulate something that is beneficial to both parties. So those are some very simple ways that you can actually not simple because I really appreciate every share and I follow and like that, I get Mostly a lot from strangers, like I was going through my shares to my friend at a poster yesterday for economy and I don't even know half of the people. So that says a lot indeed and I'm grateful that initially, when economy started, it was friends and family. Now I don't know half of the people that come, so that says a lot about good.
Speaker 3:
Well, you've really inspired us with the work that you do and we're so excited for the way that you plan to scale and the way that you are changing the taboos of our culture that the work that you're doing and messages that you're sending on your platforms and through your conferences are going to spread well beyond people who attend the conferences in Guyana and beyond borders. So we really appreciate you taking all the time to talk with us and to talk with the rest of the Guyanese community and to all of our listeners for Mathieu Gall's information.
Speaker 1:
In terms of economy, that's econome M me, and common sense is c-e-n-t dollar sign. Anything else you would like to add, matthew?
Speaker 2:
uh, just want to thank you guys for having me and, um, all the listeners to check out economy, check common sense as well, and in your own personal lives and day-to-day basis, uh, try to use common sense we usually end out our podcast with.
Speaker 1:
You know we can get later, so if you would like to say that, you can get off later.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and sure that y'all use your common sense and don't forget a secret belongs together right?
Speaker 1:
Thank you so much again, Max. Thank you, Max. I appreciate that All right.