THE SUZE ORMAN SUCCESS STORY

Suze Orman, a highly successful personal finance expert and advisor, is best known for her TV show, podcast, and numerous New York Times bestsellers. In the late 80’s, she founded the Suze Orman Financial Group. And she eventually ran a show on CNBC for 13 years where she shared helpful financial tips so people could learn how to manage their money better.

Time has named Orman one of the Top 100 most influential people on multiple occasions, and she has won numerous awards. Needless to say, she knows a thing or two about success and money, which is why we’ve decided to publish the Suze Orman Success Story in more detail.

“People First, Then Money, Then Things.”

– SUZE ORMAN –

 

It is important to take a closer look at why some people are more successful than others. That way, we can learn from some of the mistakes that they made without having to make them ourselves, while also following in the footsteps of what made them successful. Indeed, just about every success story leaves a blueprint.

Having said that, this Suze Orman’s success story is not straightforward. However, by taking a closer look at her journey we can find some inspiration, and maybe even discover a few success clues along the way that can help us move our dreams forward.

THE SUZE ORMAN STORY OF SUCCESS

Early Days: Speech Issues Make Life Hard

Suze Orman was born in Chicago, IL in 1951 to immigrant parents from eastern Europe. While growing up she had a difficult time pronouncing letters such as R, S, and T. This meant that she had a hard time learning how to say certain words. For example, she had difficulty saying the word “beautiful,” and she had trouble saying words like “fair” and “shouldn’t” properly. 

Because she could not speak very well, she also could not read very well. She was consistently among the lowest-scoring students in the class in reading and writing, and she was often ostracised from the rest of her classmates because of her low test scores. 

Barely Scraping By: Going To University

Even though she scored poorly on tests she decided to go to university anyway. Her family was having a difficult time with money. While some students had parents who could pay for their education, and other students were receiving scholarships because of their academic achievements, Suze Orman had neither. 

Her parents were struggling to get by, and she knew she would have to pay for her tertiary education herself. That meant that she had to put in the work to apply to all the state schools and community colleges in the USA. 

To her surprise, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign accepted her.

When Suze Orman walked through the school doors for the first time, she met a guidance counselour who would guide her in her subject choices. Her dream was to be a brain surgeon. 

However, the guidance counselour immediately thought that she did not have what it took. So, Orman got to work doing some research. She realised that the easiest major was Social Work, as such, that’s what she signed up for.

The Language Issues Resurface

She knew that she needed to make enough money to pay for her tertiary education, so she got a job working in the dish room of her university residence seven days per week just to make enough money to pay the bills. She even shared a one-bedroom flat with two friends she had met in her residence.

Even though her social life was looking up, her language skills would eventually come back to haunt her. Although her expected graduation year was 1973, she could not graduate. She did not have her language requirement, and this time, it would be a foreign language.

Suze Orman knew that she was having a difficult time speaking the English language, so how on Earth would she learn a foreign language? So, she decided not to put herself through the trauma, and essentially dropped out of university.

But all of her hopes and dream weren’t crushed. She still had a passion for travel and adventure. So, she set off to travel across the United States to see the Grand Canyon. She would have to make enough money to hitchhike across the country, so she worked some odd jobs as she explored everything the country had to offer. Eventually, she felt ashamed of not finishing her college degree, so she decided to take some Spanish classes at one of the local universities.

Finally, in 1976, three whole years after her scheduled graduation, she graduated and earned her degree from the University of Illinois. 

A Desire To Own Her Own Restaurant

One of the jobs that she worked while she explored the country was waitressing. While she enjoyed it, she wanted to own her own restaurant. Her parents did not have the money to finance her restaurant, and she did not know what she would do.

 

She talked to her brother, who gave her some money, along with numerous other generous people to help her make her dream come true. Orman eventually collected over $50K from friends and patrons who supported her dream.

 

One of her patron’s advised her to deposit the money into a money market account. However, a bad-seed at the brokerage where she went to deposit the money, advised her to instead invest the funds into a speculative and high-risk investment so she could earn more money from her invested money while she saved the rest to meet her savings goal.

Sadly, just three months after she put the money in the account, it was all gone. All of the money given to her by her patron Fred, and her other supporters had been drained through those speculative investments. She believed her dream was within reach, and then suddenly, she lost the money.

 

This prompted Suze Orman to decide that she did not want something like this to happen to anybody else, so she decided to become a financial advisor. Orman felt like there were not a lot of female role models from which to learn, so she decided to change that fact by getting into the financial advising industry.

Founding the Suze Orman Financial Group

So in short order, she decided to join Merrill Lynch, where she completed her training. After some time she moved over to Prudential securities to become a vice-president, and then after she felt like she really knew her stuff, she resigned and founded her own financial group.

After leading numerous customers and clients to financial success, demand grew for her services. In fact, demand for her services grew so fast, that her financial group became the go-to for financial advising.

Thus, in short order she became a household name, especially when she started writing books. Suze Orman has since written ten consecutive New York Times bestsellers about personal finance. She has also earned two Emmy Awards and eight Gracie Awards.

She’s also appeared as a guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show and Larry King Live nearly 30 times. And she gained her greatest fame for her show on CNBC.

These days, Suze Orman still pops up on various shows or podcasts, offering her helpful insights to all who listen.

Final Thoughts

So, there it is. The Suze Orman story. No doubt, her journey is rife with lots of challenges and adventures, but it is also one filled with helpful advice on how everyone, including you, can navigate an eventful life where everything doesn’t goes as planned, to eventually coming out on top as a success, both financially and professionally.

That said, if you’re looking to learn more about Suze Orman and her wonderful financial philosophy, her website is a good place to start.

Perfectionism...

 ...and comparison culture

So, you've figured out that, this Christmas, you'd like to bring the family together and have a few days that are sprinkled with moments that matter to each of you.

There will be your favourite Christmas music playing as you open presents; warm mince pies to nibble while watching The Snowman and the Snowdog; a board games evening that you hope doesn't get too competitive; and a Christmas dinner that brings everyone around the table to enjoy a delicious meal.

It sounds lovely, doesn't it? And it may well be a wonderful celebration. But, chances are, there will be pressure to pull off a brilliant day - or several days - and to make sure everyone is having the best of time. This can be especially true if you're hosting, but even if you're not, there can still be a strong sense of responsibility for making sure everything is just so.

'Perfectionism at Christmas relates to the pressure we all have in wider society to be perfect,' explains clinical psychologist Michaela Thomas. The commercialism of Christmas is an obvious factor, too: we're so used to seeing adverts for the holidays that can make us feel lacking if our reality doesn't match up. 'It's also linked to emotion,' says Thomas. 'From a psychological point of view, people are pressurised to purchase things they don't need at Christmas, because they want their kids to feel happy, or they want to feel happy.' The fact that crackers and boxes of chocolates line the supermarket shelves from late winter can mean we feel this pressure for much longer now, too. 'The pressure is also linked to a fear of failure,' says Thomas. 'It's the fear of not being good enough, or having the same as other people have.' 

Thomas explains that perfectionism can be linked to a fear of losing control, or a need to control everything. 'That might feel really anxiety-provoking for someone who has a need to control,' she says. 'It's impossible to reach a perfect standard - something will inevitably go wrong. This is why perfectionism can lead to a sense of stress, anxiety, or even low mood. So you might feel stressed and anxious before Christmas Day, because it has to be just right, and it may lead to low mood afterwards, when you realise it wasn't up to scratch. Maybe it wasn't as good as you wanted it to be, or someone was judgmental or disappointed. This can lead to self-criticism or shame when you feel you haven't reached the standard you wanted. But having unrealistic standards around Christmas means you're setting yourself up for disappointment.'

There will always be something that doesn't go according to plan: the roast potatoes get burnt, or someone doesn't respond to a gift that you've bought with the enthusiasm you'd imagined. You can't find the playlist that has all your favourite songs on it, or you want to go for a family walk, but the kids moan about it. None of these things are drastic, but when you've painted a picture of how wonderful Christmas should be, and you hold yourself responsible for that, it can make these little things seem like they ruin the day. 'Perfectionism at Christmas robs you of joy,' emphasises Thomas.

This perfection links into comparison culture. We see images of other people's Christmases on social media or adverts and think that's what ours should look like. It can make it harder to appreciate how lovely our own Christmases are. And, right now, as we feel the pinch in the cost-of-living crisis, if we can't afford the things we are made to feel we need, or we push ourselves too far and spend more than we're comfortable with, comparing ourselves to others can be particularly harmful.

Thankfully, there are steps we can take to avoid perfectionism or comparison, and still have a Christmas that's meaningful and joyful. 'A huge dollop of compassion for yourself and others is a good place to start,' reassures Thomas. 'It might be saying to yourself, "Well, no wonder I'm finding this stressful, because look at all the pressures and the things I have to do."' When we understand the wider context of why we feel this way, it's easier to be kind to ourselves. 

'Ask yourself, "What's going to be helpful rather than harmful for me to do right now?"' says Thomas. So, it might be helpful to take some time for yourself, or to ask your loved ones for some help. If you are a people pleaser, it can be hard to let people know you need support, but this can lead to resentment when you feel like others haven't pulled their weight. If you always cook Christmas dinner by yourself, it can be easy for others to assume you're happy doing so. Asking for help with specific tasks - someone to peel the carrots, for example, or to clear and set the table - means you aren't going to be upset that no one has helped while your loved ones realise what you need. Thomas also recommends keeping things in perspective. If something isn't going quite to plan, or you're feeling overwhelmed, she suggests taking a 60-second pause where you take six deep breaths. This can help you feel calmer, and then to think about things differently. 'It's asking yourself, "Is this really what I'm going to think about when I look back at this Christmas?"', says Thomas. 'Will your children look back at this Christmas and think, "That was the year that my mom did all the trimmings with the dinner"? Or would it be that they remember having fun running around together, or that you played a game with them? Just getting that perspective of what really matters to you and what the memories are you want to create can be helpful,' says Thomas.

Thomas recommends setting an intention each day of the festive period. 'It can be helpful to pick two, maybe three values you have,' says Thomas. She suggests journaling as a great way of keeping track of this and giving yourself space to reflect - just taking five or ten minutes each morning is enough. You can remind yourself what your intention is for the day, and also write down what you're grateful for. So, if your key value for Christmas is around connection, this can help challenge perfectionist ideas around needing to be cooking and cleaning all day. It helps shift your focus.

Intentions aside, there will still be tasks that need to be done, of course. In this situation, where you feel a conflict between your values and perfectionism, Thomas recommends seeing where you can take a shortcut. 'In my family, we sometimes buy ready-made food,' she says. This means they still enjoy a wonderful meal, but it reduces her need to spend lots of time in the kitchen, which clashes with her values around connection. Remember, it's okay to do things to make your Christmas easier and to make more time for the things that really matter.