We spoke with Susan Ritter, Founder of Wealthy Wise Woman, about her entrepreneurial journey

Susan, can you share with us how you first heard about Genius Group and why you got involved?

On 1^st January 2018, I never dreamed I would become an entrepreneur.  I had just retired from a 30-year career in project management, 20 of which was in the nuclear power industry.  But that chapter of my life was complete.  I had done all the right things to ensure I could retire early and spend the decade traveling the world with my teenage son and build our lives as global citizens.

By August we had relocated to Penang Malaysia and were enjoying the life of travel, world schooling, and finding ourselves in a beautiful community of local and expat mission families.  But after six months I realized that I needed something more challenging.

While surfing the web one rainy afternoon, I came across a documentary series called Money Revealed and was introduced to a man that would change the trajectory of my life.  Roger James Hamilton, futurist and founder of Genius Group was one of the individuals being interviewed in the documentary and everything he said aligned with my vision of the world as it was and as it could be.  

Is that what prompted you to join our community?

Yes, with a little more investigation, I found myself in Singapore at the GeniusU conference in September where I jumped in with both feet.  A school for entrepreneurs to fast track their start up ideas or scale up an already established business, it provided me with a community of mentors, peers, friends and collaborators to identify and then build Wealthy Wise Woman.

I joined GeniusU with no idea for a business, but with a lifetime of skills and a desire to spend time with the people I found in this community.  Following one path and then another, I was able to try out different ideas, contribute to other projects like Genius School and Genius Camp, and build entrepreneurial skills in marketing, sales, customer identification and customer nurture.  

Coming from a technology background, the concept of open source has been around for a while.  This is a collaborative concept where programmers build code and share it for the good of the community or industry so that everyone can build on the creativity and content of those who came before.  It is a grassroots movement and I saw it in action in this community of entrepreneurs, starting with Roger’s complete curriculum of entrepreneurial education provided free online.

What particular tools and strategies have you learnt from GeniusU and Entrepreneurs Institute that have helped your business the most? 

For two years, I consumed the content, attended the workshops, masterclasses and mentoring sessions that are included with the signature Crystal Circle program.  And in mid-2020 I found my niche as an educator of women in financial literacy and founded my business ‘Wealthy Wise Woman’.

What inspired you to launch Wealthy Wise Woman?

I recognized that like myself a decade earlier, there are many women making significant income, but because of cultural norms and myths they do nothing intentional with the money they earn.  Most spend it away, give it away or leave it in the hands of others to manage.  As a result, they end up having to work until late in life, and most still outlive their savings.  

In my own financial journey in 2005, I had realized that doing what everyone else did was not going to give me the life I wanted for myself and my son – to live on every continent and create a global network of interesting and visionary friends and associates.  

Following the 2008 financial crisis, I took back control of my investable resources.  I spent a year learning what the wealthy do to create and maintain their wealth and was shocked to learn that the best opportunities are available to everyone, much safer than a retirement savings plan, and only takes some simple steps to put in place.   I was so excited, I began consuming everything I could find about financial vehicles and ended up with a collection of high-end financial newsletters, written by a collection of individuals with eclectic life experiences from gold mining to cryptocurrencies, commodities trading to real estate and insurance, and yes, stocks as well.

True to my generalist nature, I had learned enough about each of them that I could now find the specialists to help me execute my financial independence plan.  With a balance of security through foundational assets and the thrill and growth of speculative assets, I turned the 2008 crisis into financial freedom and laid the groundwork for Wealthy Wise Woman.

Something else was happening at the same time.  The world we know was falling into disruption.  Like 150 years ago, technology has run ahead and is dragging us along for the ride.  When this happens, things fall out of balance.  Wealth gaps are created as those with vision jump on the train and create the future.  The last time this happened, the concept of a middle class did not exist, and technology was not advanced to the point that everyone in the world had access to anyone they needed through a hand-held device. 

Today, the opportunities are not restricted to only those with wealth and access, all it requires is imagination and self-confidence.  Crisis and chaos create opportunities and wealth begins to move as the old systems and those vested in them fall out of favor.  What took me 12 years to create for myself is now possible for a woman to achieve in half the time.

How do you help your clients?

Wealthy Wise Woman brings women together in small groups to become financially literate and knowledgeable investors so they can participate in this exciting shift.  In the process, poor money mindset myths are replaced with confidence and shared excitement for both what is learned and the financial results it provides.  In the style of my own Genius Group mentors, Wealthy Wise Woman is a combination of high-technology systems and high-touch relationships.  Every client is a friend, someone who belongs and has a family of other independent women to connect with, to share wins, losses, fear in times of volatility, and non-judgmental support when needed.  

In the next couple of years, Wealthy Wise Woman will be expanding to bring experienced clients in as mentors themselves.  By pooling skills and resources, we will have the funds to teach and then fund women entrepreneurs around the world.  Today, access to investment money for women is still only a fraction of what it is for men.  Our woman focused community is intent on bringing money mindset, money knowledge, and money itself to women so that they may have the opportunity to make the changes they want to see in the world for themselves, their families, and their communities.

Today, we are making this impact through the B1G1: Business for Good micro-charity organization, supporting many projects that educate women and girls in practical skills that lift up their communities.

Where can we find out more about your business?

https://wealthywisewoman.com/