There's No Such Thing as a Stupid Question

Source: NicoleLapin.com

     Nicole Lapin says the best advice anyone's given her is: "if I worried what every other bitch in New York said about me, I'd never leave the house." But she needn't worry about that because she has beauty and brains. Nicole graduated summa cum laude and as the valedictorian of her class at Northwestern University. Her hard work ethic and ambition are qualities that make her a positive role model for young girls. The daughter of a beauty queen and Nobel Prize nominee, Nicole got her start as the youngest anchor ever to appear on CNN. She was a rising star and made her way to the anchor desk of "Worldwide Exchange" on CNBC. She left the network to establish her own multimedia production company called Nothing But Gold Productions to "decode really intimidating money topics for different networks" and now serves as the CEO.

Her move from journalism to start her own company -described as the "Rosetta Stone of finance"- was inspired by a desire to improve financial literacy among today's generation. Too often, we act knowledgeable to avoid embarrassment. It is only our mind, however, that loses.

"For many years, I spoke to everyone but my younger self, whom I would have told to quit waiting for some guy to motivate her to stop hiding behind a cowardly smile and nod. I would have told her to figure out that The Journal meant The Wall Street Journal right after that interview. I would have told her that Helen Thomas would probably have respected her more if she had just asked what shorting the market was, instead of acting like she knew that it meant betting that the market would go down." 

My college professors seemed to be aware of this trait in their classes of inexperienced students and thereby welcomed any kinds of questions. Their rationale: if one student were confused about the material, it was likely that another student was confused as well. Nicole's words of wisdom should be a lesson for all to advance self-knowledge.

Nicole is an inspiration not only because of her young success in broadcast journalism, but also because she uses her influence to promote education in finance and participates in many charitable activities. Her other roles include being the ambassador for Operation Smile and DoSomething. Nicole was also a partner in the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation to create the campaign "Being Smart is Cool" and has founded a charity, Lost Girls, to provide young women with gently worn career attire and advice. She is a girl after my own heart - a financial guru, an explorer of new knowledge, and a stylish multimedia mogul.