Tiffany James Used Investing To Turn $10,000 Into $2 Million, Now She Wants To Help Black Girls Do The Same

Like most college graduates, Tiffany James left school with a degree and student loan debt which had her struggling.

However, in 2019, a coworker suggested she buy stock in a company named Tesla when shares were between $60 and $70. Since then, James has turned her initial investment of $10,000 into more than $2 million by adding several long-term growth companies, semiconductor chip stocks and other investments.

Now, James is working to help other Black girls achieve their financial dreams through Modern BLK Girl, a wealth-building platform for women of color. Despite her success in the stock market, James told CNBC that she still sees herself as an outsider in a world of White men with “fancy degrees.”

“For people of color, it was something that wasn’t talked about,” James told CNBC. “It’s very intimidating, it has its own unique language and if you’re not privy to that language it can be very difficult to understand.”

Millions of new investors used the COVID-19 pandemic to get into the stock market as stock trading apps such as Robinhood took off. However, 59 percent of women and 48 percent of Hispanic women don’t own stocks, mutual funds, bonds, cryptocurrency or real estate.

James and a group of millennial women are working to change that by sharing investing advice in a way that’s engaging and accessible, or what James refers to as “girlfriend talk but learning stocks.”

The approach is also catching on quickly as Moden BLK Girl has more than 220,000 members. The site also hosts classes including its “1k to 100,000K in 1 yr” at just under $100 and a monthly subscription of about $130. Some classes are available for free for those who cannot afford the classes.

James said she is happy to give other Black and minority women advice on investing and the stock market, to give them financial freedom.

“If you educate a woman, you educate a village,” James said. “If a mom starts investing, she tells her kids.”