Fibonacci
Math was not my subject in high school. I adored History and English, muddled through French and German, but Math was WORK. The only Math class I excelled in during my high school years was Geometry, and that was due in large part to the teacher. He was a brilliant instructor who made the concepts understandable and I remember enjoying the class immensely and getting A’s. Other than Geometry, my high school math experience was unremarkable.
In college, I seized the opportunity to skirt math classes since the requirement for my degree was two credits of either Math or Science. I’ll take Biology and Astronomy, thank you very much. My math career was over by the end of my Freshman year - or so I thought. Fast forward a few years after college, job seeking in the teeth of a recession, when I gratefully accepted a job on the sales desk of a financial marketing company. Little did I know this was the start of a long career immersed in finance (and math).
For most of my life I bought into the narrative that I was “bad at math”. Some of this came from personal experience and some portion is undoubtedly rooted in gender norms, but the upshot is that for much longer than necessary I internalized a message that is simply not true.
How do I know it’s not true? Well, I’ve built a successful career in an industry that operates on mathematical principles. I taught myself statistics and probability so I could sit for the Level I CFA exam. I didn’t pass, but I ranked in the highest decile of unsuccessful candidates. Considering my math coursework effectively ended when I turned 18, about thirty years before I sat for the exam, I’ll unapologetically take a “W” on this experience. Most importantly, my husband and I spent several years reversing the crippling programming of our son who was labeled “bad at math” in second grade.
Second grade. Sit with that for just a moment.
Martin and I decided to change our son’s school between second and third grade, for a number of reasons. The major factor driving this decision was the opportunity to enroll in an independent study program, effectively a homeschool option, that suited our family dynamic. We were, and remain, extremely fortunate to have this opportunity. While the school was a new start, Seb carried the “bad at math” message from his previous school. He was so traumatized about math that I could not get him to do ANY math work for most of third grade. His teacher for third and fourth grade, Mrs. B, was an absolute angel who refused to further scar Seb. She embodied the “do what you can, with what you have, where you are” approach. Slowly, slowly, we made progress. In the end, the key to math success for Seb had absolutely nothing to do with math.
As a parent, the homeschooling environment really shows you how the sausage is made, so to speak. If your child is struggling with a subject, you have a front-row seat to the wrestling match. As I watched Seb work on math problems, I observed that he was exceedingly fast at processing and also, because of his age, hadn’t developed the executive function needed to organize problems. His little brain would start adding or subtracting numbers before he even set up the problem. How would a 12+5 problem end up with 8 as an answer? Easy! Add 1+2+5, and voila!
During this time I was in law school. In Contract Law, students learn all about contract terms, conditions, and who can be a party to a contract. Contract terminology is rife with ornate labels such as detrimental reliance, promissory estoppel and scrivener’s errors. A “scrivener’s error” is a fancy, law-school way of describing a typographical mistake. As I watched Seb process math homework, I realized that he was committing scrivener’s errors, not math mistakes. He is super fast and really good at math - organizationally, though, he was a hot mess. I wish I could tell you that once I imparted this amazing knowledge to Seb he was instantly transformed into a math prodigy. Nope. He plodded through math like many kids, but a new message took root. Math was still work, but it was work he had confidence to tackle. Math Mountain became Math Molehill.
My relationship with math also changed through this experience. It dawned on me that math is a language - a way of expression that tries to make sense of the universe. Much of my new impression of math came from a NOVA documentary that Seb and I watched about math and Fibonacci numbers. The Fibonacci sequence, also known as the golden ratio, is a repeating pattern that appears in nature, both here on Earth and in the cosmos. Sunflower? Fibonacci. Spiral galaxies? Fibonacci. Math, pattern, nature - I was hooked!
Fast forward another six years, when it came time for me to work on the logo for Brava Financial. It’s easy to be critical of logos until you are tasked with creating one. Create an image that represents your company’s ideals? Nothing will make you feel quite like a box of rocks. Fortunately, I had a wonderful designer who took my word salad and sent me some images that sparked a sense of possibility. Looking at one that really spoke to me, I remembered - Fibonacci! A few exchanges later and a logo was born.
The golden ratio reflects the critical aspects of financial planning: math, patterns, and nature. Finances are about the numbers, but not exclusively - having a healthy and vibrant relationship with money and finance means understanding what you want, how you want to move through the world, and what’s important to you. We all have patterns of behavior and natural inclinations - some help us when it comes to money, and some hold us back. Money is a human construct - money exists because we make it so. Money isn’t separate from us - it’s an extension, a reflection, and a record of who we are and how we live. The beauty, and the tragedy, is that we get to choose. Sometimes, though, we abdicate choice to institutions and industries that don’t have our best interests at heart. Sometimes, in the words of Dr. Suess, the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.
What does money mean to you? Do you need more? Wish you had less? Does money make you feel fearful or joyful? What are the stories you tell yourself about money - are the stories true?
An integral part of being a great financial planner is a willingness to help clients deconstruct and rebuild their relationship with money. To ask complicated questions clearly, fearlessly, and without judgment. To honor and support the answers.
There is no such thing as being “bad with money” just as there is no such thing as being “bad at math”. We all have the capacity to learn, to grow, to blossom in new and different ways. If you need a guide, reach out. I am so glad you are here.
Kelly
