New Blogger on the Block

From time to time, I offer a snapshot of a new blogger on the block. Here I offer a quick Q&A with PursePundit, who started blogging in January of this year. Offline, PursePundit goes by the name of Jacki Zehner, and was the youngest woman and first female trader invited into the partnership of Goldman Sachs. She left in 2002. Now an impassioned philanthropic visionary and social change activist committed to the economic empowerment of women, Jacki is becoming a frequent media commentator on women’s success in the workplace, investing, current market events, women and wealth, and high-impact philanthropy. Here we go!

DS: What made you decide to start a blog?

JZ: I’ve been writing forever, but my work has generally been buried in my journals. Recently I read The Artist's Way which suggested that the way to unleash your creativity is to commit to writing every day and I am trying to do that. Most of the time what I write about is people I’ve met with, or opportunities I’ve heard about, or what is going on in the markets, so I thought, why not share it? I’m also very interested in writing a book, and want to get myself out there as a writer. The blog is a place to start.

DS: I see you started by blogging about the markets—why start there?

JZ: What’s going on in the credit markets is unprecedented. As an ex-mortgage trader and an investor, I’ve been following the markets with great interest and I feel compelled to write about what’s happening. Given my experience, I feel I have a credible voice and want to share what I think, like I used to do with my clients.

DS: Tell us something about the blog’s name, “Purse Pundit.”

JZ: I love the whole idea of a purse as a symbol for the economic power of women and I believe that positive change will happen when women really start to use that power. Money is a tool that we have to shape the world that we live in—by how we invest it, by how we spend it, by how we give it away.

DS: Your tagline is “Musings on Money, Markets, and Changing the World.” Do these things really go together?

JZ: My goal with this blog is to expand the dialogue that women are engaging in about money, and inspiring them to use their money in smart and meaningful ways. Women account for more than 50% of all stock ownership in the U.S and we do most of the consumer spending. By 2010, women will account for half of the private wealth in the country, or about $14 trillion. There’s a lot of power in our collective purses.

After doing this Q&A with Jacki, I went and bought a new purse. For more musings from PP, visit www.pursepundit.blogspot.com. You can also now find Jacki blogging over at 85 Broads and Huffington Post.