My Top 50 Money Resources

Hi Sheconomist Insider 👋 It’s Thamina, Founder of The Sheconomist. This is your bi-weekly dose of celebrating the female economy where I help ambitious, purpose-driven women like yourself flip the script on money, career & wellbeing conventions so you can live life on your own terms.

TLDR:

• 🪜 A vulnerable post in honor of National Infertility Awareness Week

• 💅 Don’t want to splurge on an MBA? - Here’s a free 12-month curriculum

• 💰 My Top 50 Money Resources

• 💜 Meet Michelle Casazza, Founder & Head Coach at Matria

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🧪 Freedom Formulas

Without LinkedIn, I might have never had the chance to become a mom.

(trigger warning: infertility)

Almost 3 years ago, at age 28, I scheduled a consultation at a fertility clinic after realizing that my employer, LinkedIn, was offering extremely generous fertility benefits.

Benefits that included up to 6 rounds of elective egg freezing or 3 IVF cycles.

(Yes, we are very very lucky.)

At the time, I wasn’t thinking about having children anytime soon.

I was (and still am) so focused on my career and self-actualization.

But freezing my eggs in my 20s seemed like the responsible thing to do.

Plus, as a financial health advocate for women, I’m all about maximizing corporate benefits.

So when I went to my consultation, all I was thinking was:

“Ok, let’s just get this over with. One and done.”

Well, turns out life had different plans for me.

At my appointment, I was diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve aka premature fertility decline.

I was shocked. Embarrassed. Devastated.

It’s safe to say that this was NOT what I, as an otherwise pretty healthy 20-something year old, had expected to hear.

1 year & 3 rounds of egg freezing later, I now have about as many or slightly fewer eggs frozen than the average menstruator my age would have gotten with just 1 cycle.

I’m sharing this because had I not known of my employer’s fertility benefits or had they not even existed in the first place, there’s an extremely high chance I would have postponed this topic for another 5-7 years.

At which point my fertility very likely would have further declined to a point where having biological children would have been very challenging.

I don’t believe every woman or menstruator should have or should want to have children.

But I am fiercely passionate about women fully maximizing all their options.

And putting themselves in a position where they can make educated, scientifically proven decisions about their own bodies.

Ever since I started sharing my own story back in 2022, several women in my network have shared with me that they got their fertility checked, froze their eggs, and some were also diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve.

I often get asked why/how I am able to share something so deeply personal publicly.

And my answer is simple:

If me sharing my story helps just one woman out there have more options, it’s already worth it.

With National Infertility Awareness Week having come to a close last weekend, I felt compelled to share my story again.

Because you can’t protect your future if you don’t even know what’s at risk.

Knowledge isn’t just power.

Sometimes, it’s possibility.

I didn't share my story because it's easy.

I share it because silence costs women too much.

Your future family, your future self, they're counting on the decisions you make today.

Own your options before the world tries to limit them.

You deserve to have options - not regrets.

And sometimes, taking one uncomfortable step today changes everything for your tomorrow.

P.S.: I shared this post on LinkedIn last week and it went mini viral, so I thought I’d share it here as well because I hope it’ll resonate with some of you. 💙

P.P.S.: If you want to learn more about egg freezing and what the process actually looks like, I interviewed one of the most accomplished fertility doctors worldwide a while back.

❣️ Thamina’s Top Picks

🎓 If you don’t want to invest in an MBA, here’s a great suggestion for a free 12-month curriculum

🧘‍♀️ My mentor Danielle shared this guided meditation with me to invite more expansion and abundance into my life - it’s only 10 minutes, give it a try!

📽️ A free masterclass on community led growth - if you’ve been thinking about building something from scratch you should totally attend

🎙️ Michelle Obama x Jay Shetty - SAY NO MORE!! (Listen to this if you’re feeling a little hopeless about the state of the world)

✨ This week’s Moodboard

Post credits go to Notebooq Design, Aura 97 Studio, StillmarkCo, Salt Media

💸 Cooking up Wealth

I have spent HUNDREDS of hours reading, listening to, researching, talking, and creating content about personal finance.