Like many first-generation Americans and college students, Giovanna Gonzalez, the daughter of Mexican immigrants who came to California in the 1990s, thought she’d “done everything right” by attending college, choosing a practical degree in economics and settling into an office job. She was earning more money than her parents ever had, but without any of the necessary tools to manage it, her twenties were “chaotic,” a cycle of “bad roommates” and “toxic workplaces” she couldn’t escape as she lived paycheck to paycheck.

^{Image Credit: Courtesy of The First Gen Mentor}

Amid the turmoil, Gonzalez had an epiphany: I can keep living like this, but this isn’t what my parents want for me. They want better. So she began to teach herself financial literacy, reading more than 50 personal finance books and listening to countless podcasts until she gained confidence in her ability to create a financial plan that would help her pay off $50,000 in debt from her student and car loans and begin building up her savings.