A new financial education website wants to make money a less taboo subject for women and connect them with money experts who cater to women.
Purse Strings, a startup that provides women with vetted financial professionals and personal finance content, relaunched as a web-based platform on April 3. The platform is now looking to vet and bring on more financial professionals to help women make sound financial decisions.
Founded in 2017, the company originally provided in-person financial education to small groups of women. Barbara Provost, founder of Purse Strings and 1871 WiSTEM alumna, repositioned Purse Strings as a web-based platform in order to make the financial education information more accessible.
Purse Strings is free for consumers to use, but financial professionals—ranging from mortgage brokers, insurance agents, and real estate agents—have to pay to be listed on the platform. Users can find advice on topics like purchasing a home, budgeting, paying off student loans, and planning for retirement.
The platform currently has two vetted professionals listed on the site. Provost is the only full-time employee but has help from instructional designers, a press rep and virtual assistant.
Prior to founding Purse Strings, Provost implemented internal training programs for companies like World Bank and Allstate. Over time, she realized that financial firms were overlooking women as potential clients.
“I’d go to the leaders and say, ‘You know, you’re really missing a market here. You’re really missing women,’” Provost recalled. “For several years, I’d create a workshop for how to sell to women, and they’d say ‘We’ll put it [on] at night as an elective.’”
Five years ago, she experienced a financial setback of her own—a divorce from her husband. While in a support group for women divorcees, she noticed many educated women who were unaware of their income or unsure about how they would financially support themselves after a divorce. With her doctorate in adult education from Northern Illinois University and a business management degree from National Louis University, Provost felt she could educate women on personal finance management in a relatable way, she said.
In addition to obtaining licensing for their industry, financial professionals must attend a virtual or in-person, full-day Purse Strings workshop, priced at $750, to learn how to best serve women clients in order to be listed on the Purse Strings platform. When they apply to be Purse Strings approved, they also have to pay $500 and undergo a screening process during which the startup assesses various factors including whether the professionals consistently check in with clients, clearly explain how their products and services meet women’s needs, and quickly respond to inquiries. Once financial professionals receive the Purse Strings accreditation, they must pay a $500 annual renewal fee to remain on the platform.
The website currently does not advertise from financial service providers in order to remain neutral. However, Provost said she is opening to partnering with everyday brands like Target, Walgreens, CVS, Jewel-Osco, Mariano’s or TJ Maxx. Going forward, Provost foresees partnering with other organizations to provide in-person training sessions for women as well as possibly creating a Purse Strings mobile app.
“We want to engage with insurance and financial professionals who know the power of the female market, who want to grow their business and really want to serve this market,” Provost said. “My goal here is how can I put out education for women when they need it in a really comfortable setting so that they don’t feel overwhelmed and they do feel heard.”
