In Profit CNN #12: Motherhood and children’s financial education, with Flavia Calina

Having children is the desire of many couples, and Flavia Calina and her husband were among those who dreamed of having a baby at home. The dream, however, turned to frustration after 7 years of trying to conceive. Living in the United States, Flavia worked in early childhood education, but she wasn’t happy just taking care of other people’s children. “I liked children, I took care of children all day, I came home and I didn’t have my child. It made me sad,” she said.

It was at that moment that she decided to share her infertility story on YouTube. Today, the influencer is a mother of 3 children and is pregnant with her fourth. Owner of a YouTube channel about early childhood education with more than 8 million followers, she shares caring for her children with her millions of followers on social media.

As a guest on the 12th episode of CNN In Profit podcast, CNN Brasil Soft project, the influencer talked about money, financial education, children’s allowance, her history with debts and investments in Brazil and the USA.

financial education

Flavia Calina understands about early childhood education, but she and her husband only saw the importance of financial education after becoming parents. “When Vitória was born, I thought ‘I need to do something’. I took a personal finance course and that was a game changer.”

Before organizing the family’s accounts, Flavia had a debt of about US$ 16,000. She said that the amount was formed by the lack of financial organization.

“I’ve never been one to buy expensive items, but here in the United States there are a lot of cheap things, and I lost in quantity. I didn’t buy a designer bag, but I would go to Walmart and buy half a dozen bags and it was all the same. Clearly, I didn’t know what I was doing.”

The influencer said that, like most Brazilians, she did not learn to deal with money since she was a child, but she tries to pass this awareness on to her children. The children are still young, aged 8, 5 and 2, but the family already has conversations about the importance of earning, spending, investing and donating money.

I take them to stores and give them the money to feel the pain of paying. With children I like it to be more palpable.

Flavia Calina on financial education with her children

Asked about the possibility of giving an allowance, she revealed that she thinks the idea is cool, but that she prefers to pay for some activity that her children do, such as washing the family’s car, for example. “I think that message is more powerful than just paying the allowance,” she said.

CNN In Profit Podcast

The No Lucro podcast is available in video at CNN Brasil Soft’s Youtube and on major audio platforms, with new episodes every Thursday, starting at 7pm. The profile “No Lucro CNN” is also live on Instagramat the twitter and not TikTok.

Escaping the technical language and jargon of the economics area, popularly called “economês”, the program will not be restricted to specialists, as it will also receive celebrities, influencers and people who are behind successful businesses in the most diverse areas. The idea is to show different points of view on entrepreneurship, personal finance, management, investments and economics.

The videocast is part of the “No Lucro by CNN Soft” platform, launched in March, as a result of a strategic partnership between CNN Brasil and Banco Santander.