She Talks Money: What Happened When Women Got Honest About Their Finances

There's a question we've heard being asked more times than we can count and it's a question we've asked in the past as well.

"Is it too late for me to start?"

Too late to start investing. Too late to understand pensions. Too late to negotiate the salary they deserved three years ago. Too late to admit we don't actually know what an ETF is, even though we've been nodding along in conversations about ETFs for years.

The answer, every single time, is the same: No. You are never too late, too inexperienced, or too behind to start.

That belief is exactly why, on March 17th, impowr joined forces with Women Disrupting Tech to host She Talks Money - a workshop and networking event at Equals, Amsterdam dedicated to giving women the financial clarity and confidence they deserve.

And what happened in that room? It reminded us exactly why we are building a community where women get to own their power and play bigger.

The Room We Needed (But No One Created For Us)

Here's something we've noticed: most financial events aren't actually built for women who are just starting out. They're built for people who already speak the language - who know their ISAs from their ETFs, their gross from their net, their index funds from their hedge funds.

So where does that leave the woman who bought her first property last year and realised she knew nothing about what came next? Or the expat trying to figure out why Dutch banking feels like navigating a foreign country inside a foreign country? Or the ambitious professional who's never once negotiated her salary because no one ever told her she could?

It leaves her Googling (or rather ChatGPT-ing) in secret. Nodding along in conversations. Feeling quietly embarrassed about something she was never actually taught.

She Talks Money was built for her.

From the moment our attendees walked in, we wanted them to feel one thing: this is a safe place to not know things. Because knowledge isn't a personality trait you're born with. It's something you're given access to. And we were determined to give it.

What Our Experts Brought to the Table

We were lucky enough to be joined by four women (and one important male ally) who brought their expertise, along with honesty and passion about the topic. And that made all the difference.

Heidi Custers, Global Strategy & Transformation Director at Backbase, spent more than 20 years working inside banks across Africa and Europe. She knows exactly how they work behind the scenes - and why they're designed in ways that feel unnecessarily complicated to the average customer. Heidi's message was refreshingly direct: the confusion you feel when dealing with your bank isn't a reflection of your intelligence. It's a reflection of a system that was never designed with you in mind and there are steps you can take to make smarter decisions.

Juliette Petit, Trading Associate at DEGIRO, came to finance the long way round through luxury fashion, brand strategy, and eventually, a property purchase in Amsterdam that changed everything. Her journey from fashion to finance is proof that you don't need a finance degree to start investing. You need curiosity, a willingness to take the first step, and someone to tell you that it's okay to start small.

Laura Lee, gender equity advocate and former Inclusion & Diversity manager in banking, brought the kind of systemic perspective that made the room reflect. She spoke about the gender pension gap - something most women don't realise exists until it's too late to do much about it. Her message? The gap isn't inevitable. But closing it requires awareness and action, and they come from conversations like the one we were having.

Tessa de Flines, Co-Founder of AtVenture Platform and active angel investor, brought the big picture into focus. With 18 years of corporate experience at GE and ABN AMRO and a decade as an entrepreneur, Tessa is on a mission to activate more diverse investors and close the funding gap for female founders. She reminded us that investing isn't just a personal financial decision, it's a systemic one. Who invests shapes who gets funded. And right now, we need more women at that table.

The Tables: Where the Real Money Conversations Happened

After the panel, we moved into our table rotations - four 20-minute deep dives where women could get into the details, ask the questions they'd been sitting on, and walk away with actual action points.

From Fashion to Finance with Juliette Petit tackled the biggest barrier to investing: starting. Juliette walked attendees through what she wished she'd known when she made her first investment, demystifying terms and breaking down the practical steps anyone can take regardless of how much they have to invest. The takeaway? You don't need thousands to start. You need a platform, a plan, and the courage to begin.

Money Moves with Heidi Custers was the table every expat in the room needed. From understanding the banking system to knowing how to talk to a financial adviser, Heidi cut through the complexity and gave women a clearer picture of what they can do when navigating the finance world in the Netherlands.

Know Your Worth is where impowr got personal. We talked about negotiation - a skills absolutely needed on the path to wealth generation. We shared our experience, frameworks, and the mindset shifts that turn negotiation into a power move. The most common reaction at this table? "I wish I'd known this five years ago."

The Long Game with Laura Lee tackled the topic most women avoid until it's almost too late: pensions. Laura broke down the gender pension gap in real terms - what causes it, how significant it is, and most importantly, what women can do about it now. Because the best time to think about your pension was yesterday. The second best time is today.

Four Things We're Taking Into the Rest of 2026

If we had to distill everything that was said, shared, and felt at She Talks Money into four things you can do right now, it would be this:

Just start. The biggest barrier to financial confidence isn't knowledge, it's the analysis paralysis that comes from waiting until you know enough. You never will. Start anyway. Start small. Start today.

Talk to the people around you. As Heidi said it: “Find human beings you trust, who can help you understand”.  Those conversations are where confidence begins.

Show up to events like this one. Every room you walk into where women are talking honestly about money, ambition, and wealth makes the next conversation easier. Your network is one of the most powerful financial tools you have.

Keep educating yourself. Not all at once. Not perfectly. Just consistently. A podcast on the commute. A conversation with a financial adviser. A table rotation at a workshop. It all compounds, just like the investments you're about to start making.

The Energy in the Room Said It All

There's something that happens when women come together with a shared intention - and we felt it at every moment of She Talks Money.

Women clapping and cheering for each other's wins. Women leaning in at tables, scribbling notes, nodding along with "yes, me too." Women exchanging numbers out of genuine connection. Women asking the questions they'd been sitting on for years - and finally getting real, useful answers from people who genuinely wanted to help.

What struck us most wasn't the expertise in the room (although there was plenty of it). It was the relief. The collective exhale of realising that no one here had it all figured out, and that was the whole point.

This is what happens when you build a space where shared experience is the curriculum and every question is a valid one.

Ready to Keep Going?

She Talks Money was one morning. But the work of owning your power - financially, professionally, personally - is ongoing.

At impowr, we support women to build that confidence across every area of their lives: from negotiations to leadership presence, from clarity about their worth to the courage to act on it.

If the event (or this blog) sparked something in you, we'd love to continue the conversation.

Book a free discovery chat with us here

Because you are never too late to start.