Meet
Joan Perry
How Joan Can Help you
You have a calling to grow a more meaningful life by bringing your unique talents to the world. In every woman’s life, there is a moment of decision which takes courage and strength in order to blossom. Now you no longer have to feel alone.
Whether you’re newly divorced, recently lost a loved one, out of a job, or just entering a new phase of life, Joan shows you to embrace your Heroine’s Journey to create a wonderfully fulfilling life that is true to yourself and all your own.
You can connect with Joan via her books, Online Course, personal 1-on-1 coaching sessions/programs, or introduce her to your group as a speaker. Taking a first step will lead you to a life filled with joy.
Joan's Story
Joan became nationally known as the founder and President of the first female-owned investment banking firm in the country that underwrote municipal bonds. In this capacity, she traded billions of dollars of bonds in the public markets and ran her own securities firm. She developed in-depth knowledge and understanding about investing, business and how women ‘see’ money.
Joan’s first book ‘A Girl Needs Cash’ (Random House) was built on her extensive 30-year career in the elite financial arena and launched her as a national voice on women and money. She also co-authored with Lisa Nichols ‘Living Proof, Celebrating Gifts That Came Wrapped In Sandpaper’. These two books became the foundational work for The Heroine’s Journey.
She has been a keynote speaker to large audiences of women in university alumni groups, corporate settings, conferences and on stages for well-known thought leaders like T. Harv Ecker and Tony Robbins. She has appeared in national publications such as the Wall Street Journal and Glamour Magazine, and been on national media such as NPR and CNN.
Joan grew up in central Illinois; went to Denison University for her undergraduate work; and has an MBA from Vanderbilt University, the Owen School.
Yet with all of these achievements, she’s been on her very own Heroine’s Journey to develop her personal courage and strength. She’s endured the path of discovery, dedication, perseverance, heartbreaks and comebacks. She has faced her own emotional and financial challenges which has catalyzed her to rise to the occasion of building a life of “true wealth”. This has given her great insight into the process of maturity for women, to a life rich with fulfillment and prosperity.
As a result of walking her own unique path as a Heroine, she is filled with purpose, meaning, joy and inner richness. It is from this place of “real success” that she has the honor of holding her clients and students in the light as they take the Heroine’s Journey and claim their own lives of true wealth. She says, ‘Helping women rise to the status of the Heroine of their own lives is the work that I was meant to do, and it’s truly my joy to be a catalyst for the blossoming of the awakened feminine.”
Business Owner and Securities Trader: Founded and ran the first female investment banking firm in the US that underwrote municipal
bonds for major City and State issuers. Traded billions of dollars of securities in the public markets. Managed risk, investment selection and profitability.
Best-Selling Author: A Girl Needs Cash, Random House; Living Proof: Celebrating Gifts That Came Wrapped In Sandpaper
National Keynote Speaker: Large Women’s and Financial Groups, including on the stages of Tony Robbins and T. Harv Ecker; Public Radio and Television, including appearances on CNN and NPR; Glamour Magazine and Wired.
Educator: Online Programs, Seminars, Coaching, and Consulting
Investor: Real Estate, Securities Markets, Internet Properties, Businesses
Philanthropist: Financial contributor and boots-on-the ground work to support disadvantaged young women in Africa.
In her own words...
My life has been exceptional as I look at the high points. And let me tell you, Sister, it’s cratered on the low side too! And here’s the good news: this cacophony of life events showed me the Heroine’s Journey. Once I awoke to the simple fact that my life was undergoing an archetypal process of “becoming” it became so much easier to accept all of dramatic gains and reversals, understanding how it’s all purposefully served me.
Like it or not, my divorce set off my Heroine’s Journey. It was the first thing that came along to knock me out of the ‘princess’ role that I vigorously designed for my life.
I’d done what I thought made me attractive, smart, and secure. I went to good schools, married “well,” had a pioneering successful career, and earned lots of money. It seemed I had “the good life.”
There was one thing that I should have noticed though — I felt very alone. I like to say that ‘I climbed to the top of the ladder but the ladder was in the wrong building!’ I want to live my life feeling good on the inside as well as looking good on the outside. But there was a glitch. That less-than-fulfilling life that I had so carefully constructed was blowing up out of my control. The challenges in front of me seemed enormous. No, they were enormous.
This is the Heroine’s Journey. And unbeknownst to me, I was smack dab on it, heading down the predictable path. That’s when life began! I believe that creation starts at the point of disarray, the coming apart in me and you. Easy to ‘say’ – harder to ‘do’. (I’ll share more of my story in our coursework and how important this was to getting me up and moving in new directions.)
The Heroine’s Journey to True Wealth has come to life as I was jolted from my self-contained reality. It is the same path that I’ve witnessed for thousands of women in my teaching, coaching and friendships. We women have a Heroine’s Journey, and it is our version of the path to maturity.
Along this Universal 13-step path, I have been witness to my own processes of Creating My Stability, Awakening My Authenticity, Igniting My Expression and Making My Contribution. These are what I now call the 4 Destinations along the way – the places one must arrive and get comfortable with before moving on to deepen into a life of joy, prosperity and purpose.
I wouldn’t trade one moment of my messy rebirth. I’m still me. There’s just a newer, more modern, and in many ways, more likable version of me. Now I get to express my real purposeful path in life. Yippee!
If this is your journey, I’m here for you! If you are ready to go from “having it all together” to shedding all of those false beliefs and ideas so that you can re-emerge as a more Stable, Authentic, Expressive Contributor, then let’s play. We’ll expose money, beliefs, people and our energetic selves. We will employ powerful tools to re-build our framework and reveal our essence. I’ll share my journal writings and heart to accompany you on your own unique Heroine’s Journey to True Wealth™. It will be your best ever adventure — and I’d love to share it with you!
