Bronx friends transform financial literacy education

Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings, childhood best friends from the Bronx, have become the go-to source for financial literacy through their “Earn Your Leisure” podcast and Invest Fest, a fresh take on financial conferences. Millings, a former teacher, and Bilal, a financial adviser, combined their expertise to educate people about money. “We quickly realized that there’s an opportunity to actually educate people,” says Millings. “And so the entrepreneurial story became the forefront of the show, where we got to talk to people from different avenues, different careers, and they were giving their expertise. And as we’re learning, the audience is learning.” The duo felt that many people were left out of the conversation about money for too long. They wanted to make financial information more accessible and digestible for their community.

Transforming financial education in the Bronx

Their next big move was to reimagine the traditional financial conference with Invest Fest. “We wanted to do something that had never really been done. So that’s where the festival idea comes in to, you know, add the culture aspect… [to] make it fun… as opposed to small breakout rooms like most business conferences have,” says Bilal. Looking ahead, Millings and Bilal have a clear mission. “I see us as the global force when it comes to educating people who’ve been underrepresented, undervalued, and forgotten throughout the diaspora,” says Millings. Through their podcast and innovative conference, Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings are making financial literacy more engaging and accessible for their community and beyond.