'Too Girly' for Wall Street? How a 27-Year-Old Turned a Brutal Insult into Millionaire Success

Vivian Tu dedicated her first book to the manager who told her she was 'too girly to ever succeed in finance.' She was a millionaire by 27.

Tu, 32, founded the financial education brand Your Rich BFF. The early stretch of her career ran on spite, she said in a conversation filmed for CNBC Make It with Sylvia Kwan, chief executive of the investment firm Ellevest. Her ambitions, she added, were built around a wish to 'spite a hater or spite someone who didn't believe in me.'

The remark came at J.P. Morgan, where Tu traded after graduating from the University of Chicago. She joined at 22 and found a mentor in her first manager, Jean Mah, the first wealthy Asian woman she had met. Mah told her to take a seat at the table rather than perch on a filing cabinet.

Then Tu was reassigned. Her new manager, by her account, picked at her appearance and her clothes and told her she did not belong in finance.

He mocked her cardigan by calling it a kimono, she said on the podcast The Person Who Believed In Me, published on 27 July.

The Job She Left After Being Called Too 'Girly' for Finance

After one incident she told Mah she intended to resign on the spot. Mah talked her out of it, urging her not to act in anger and to line up a next job first.

The next job came through Mah, a sales role at BuzzFeed. Tu had no experience of media sales, yet in her final year there she was earning $625,000 (£463,000), most of it commission.

She began posting financial explainers on TikTok in late 2021, picked up brand deals, and left BuzzFeed the following year to run Your Rich BFF full time.

Before quitting, she had saved a $100,000 (£74,000) cushion, which she told the podcast's host, David Begnaud, she never touched.

Why Vivian Tu Has Changed Her Definition of Success

Two of her books have since reached The New York Times bestseller list: Rich AF, published in 2023, and Well Endowed, published by HarperCollins on 3 February 2026. She made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2023, hosts the podcast Networth and Chill, and counts about 10M followers across her platforms.

On 5 November 2025, the fintech SoFi named her its first honorary chief of financial empowerment.

What she measures has changed. The early version of success was quantifiable, counted in the number of lists she could appear on, and grew out of insecurity, Tu has said. She now describes the work as repayment to her immigrant parents, and said she recently paid for a holiday to mark a milestone anniversary. The test she applies is whether the work feels meaningful.

She is careful, too, about what the work is called. Tu also clarified that she does not give financial advice: 'I teach financial literacy.'

What Vivian Tu Tells People About Their Money

Financial services had been 'male, pale, and stale.' Her videos run to about 90 seconds and lean on pop culture to carry the mechanics.

Much of the advice is unglamorous. She tells couples to raise money long before they feel ready, telling the Associated Press 'you have to talk about money on the first date.'

In the conversation with Kwan, Tu said people feel as though they are losing their grip, stretching the same money further at the grocery store while headlines describe a strong economy. Better teaching would help, she said, though not without policy aimed at the gap between those pulling ahead and those falling behind.

SoFi, announcing her appointment, said Americans were carrying $2.8T (£2.1T) in credit card and student debt, and that only 54% felt financially confident.