When Priya Kumar talks about financial literacy, she isn’t just talking about making money—she is talking about true liberation and empowerment.
Having grown up in Fiji, Kumar immigrated to the United States with her family when she was young. She watched her parents work diligently to create a comfortable, prosperous life for her and her siblings, and she saw how she could do the same: work a government job, climb the ranks, and retire with a 401(k). But while working as a business investigator for the Franchise Tax Board, Priya saw the alarming rate at which small businesses fail, and she noticed that the cause was often mismanaged revenue and insufficient planning for profit and growth. As a survivor of domestic violence, Priya had become an expert in financial literacy, investments, and the importance of having informed control over one’s income. She had come to understand that prosperity and security means more than just a steady corporate paycheck—and she knew she could make a difference for entrepreneurs by empowering them with the same financial management tools she had used to cultivate her own independence.
The Emotional Side of Money
Thus, during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, Pivot My Profit was born. Through consultations, workshops, classes and partnerships with nonprofits, Kumar is on a mission to demystify money and help entrepreneurs and fellow abuse survivors to overcome financial trauma. “We dive into the emotional side of money,” Kumar says about her approach to shifting her clients’ perspectives. “Small business owners are very emotionally involved in their work– they’re trying to break generational curses and cycles of poverty. So, they have this emotional relationship, but many have never asked themselves about the relationship with money. Because of past trauma, they bring a scarcity mindset into their business.”
Combining financial strategy with business and life coaching principles, Kumar empowers client—many of whom are women from disadvantaged backgrounds—to analyze their mindset around money. She coaches them to face their finances head-on, understand how money flows through their business, and ultimately make a plan to ensure profitability and sustainability so that their business works for them.
“It all started when I had my own mindset shift,” she explains. “I realized that I was not looking at my opportunities correctly. I needed to build myself up and create new tools to be able to access these opportunities.”
Partnership to Expand Her Network
In 2023, Kumar began working with the California Capital Women’s Business Center (WBC) to expand her offerings. As a speaker at the WBC’s Motivated Entrepreneur series, Kumar has grown her network of business owners and brought her holistic approach to finances to new audiences.
“[My first experience with the WBC] really motivated me to keep working with them, because a lot of times when women are sitting around a table with predominantly men, there is little vulnerability,” she says. “But when women are coaching each other, they talk about family, sacrifices they have to make, guilt and shame over having to divide their attention.”
Kumar found the environment cultivated by women entrepreneurs supporting and learning from one another to be ideal for her mix of technical financial education and empowerment. “They give everyone a chance to shine their light.”
To be sure, creating space for others to shine is the crux of Kumar’s entrepreneurship–and her life. “I love to say that I refuse to waste my journey, my education, my experience,” she explains when reflecting on her vision for the future of Pivot My Profit. “My life’s mission is anyone I meet, I want to leave them better than I found them. That’s what drives me – even if I’m just talking to someone at a coffee shop, I want to make a difference.”
