Interview with Dr. Stephanie Love.
by Sarah Omar. July 2nd
Hopefully, by now you’ve heard that Stuff&Stock and the JackieTrust brand has recently launched a handful of books aimed towards teaching young kids about the importance of financial literacy – more about that here. Dr. Stephanie Love helped co-write the Marvelous McKinley Money Misadventures alongside our very own Jacqueline Marshall. Below is our wonderful conversation about education, McKinley, and the importance of learning from money misadventures.
Here’s how our chat went:
What did you receive your degree in?
“I had the lowest grade point average of anybody I ever met. I had a 0.07 after my first semester,” this led to Dr. Stephanie Love having to attend community college to earn her associates degree.
“Then I earned my bachelor’s degree at Southern Methodist University and I have a master’s in education from Dallas Baptist University and I just earned my Doctorate in education from Texas A&M University.”
This totals up to four degrees from someone who, at one point, considered themselves a college dropout.
Is education something that you’re passionate about?
“I knew I wanted to be an educator since I was a little girl,” Dr. Love goes on to describe how she grew up playing school with dolls on her front porch. “For a while… I kind of ran away from that. I wanted to be a lawyer – so I thought. But education is my passion. I’ve been in the education field for 21 years now.” She mentions how her fifth-grade teacher inspired her love of education, “she was the first person who invested in me… that relationship she developed with me kind of spurred interest in myself wanting to be there for someone else.”
At this point, our conversation veered more towards the delightful Marvelous McKinley book she co-wrote with Jacqueline.
What made you want to work on a book like the Marvelous McKinley?
“I really, truly believe in the story. I made many mistakes as a young adult financially, and I always say I wish I had a mentor to teach me about financial literacy when I was a kid. I think my entire family would have been so much more knowledgeable and further along financially had we had someone mentor us when we were kids.”
Marvelous McKinley Money Misadventures follows a 13-year-old in her struggles to realize that maybe money doesn’t grow on trees. It’s a book aimed at teaching younger kids and early teens essential money lessons.
“It’s a ripe age to teach students the importance of financial literacy,” Dr. Love adds, “the importance of savings, how to respect money, invest, and plan for your futures. Not just I want to go to college, but so much more like, how do you pay for it?”
She reiterates, “I believe in this story. I believe that the age range is perfect for students to really start understanding money and how to make money work for you rather than make you work for money.”
Were you similar to McKinley when you were her age?
Dr. Love quickly answers the question with a resounding, “No.” Further elaborating, “I think McKinley is very, very relatable. We wanted her to be relatable to students her age in some of the things she likes, and she gets excited about the things she likes without thinking about how it might financially impact her parents.”
She explains that the background McKinley comes from – one with financially stable parents and the ability to blow through hundreds of dollars – is vastly different from her own.
“When I was a kid, my mom made it very clear that she would not spend money on anything. We were afraid to ask. That’s different from McKinley – McKinley isn’t afraid to ask for what she wants, and because her parents are professionals she expects them to always pull out their wallets without considering the consequences … McKinley gets out of trouble through learning about financial literacy.”
What was your favorite part about writing this story?
“I really saw myself in the ways McKinley’s parents provided for her. I grew up in child poverty. I purposely went to college and pursued higher education because I wanted my family to be in a better situation financially, so I overcompensated for my childhood all the time by giving my kids money and what they ask for and not teaching them how to be financial managers… It’s a double-edged sword – you work hard, you provide for your kids, but if you don’t teach them financial literacy, then they’ll make mistakes and have to figure out how to overcome those mistakes later on.”
Are you planning on writing more?
“Absolutely,” Dr. Love answers.
McKinley is the kind of person who finds herself in sticky situations all the time and, inevitably, perseveres. She learns from the mistakes she makes and grows into a better version of herself as a result.
“I’m hoping we get a chance to finish McKinley’s story.”
Having personally read the Marvelous McKinley Money Misadventures, I can honestly say that I hope they get a chance to finish McKinley’s story, too. It’s an important, lighthearted book I wish I had when I was younger and first beginning to interact with money.
Click here to check out the Marvelous McKinley Money Misadventure book!