Meet the Creator: Gaby Rincón of RPF Education

Q: Tell us about yourself! What is your ethnic background? Where were you raised? And where do you currently reside?

A: I am Mexican-American, born and raised in Tucson, Arizona. I currently live in West Hollywood, working in Los Angeles as a Band & Orchestra Instructor and as a personal finance coach at RPF Education, which I founded. 

Q: Introduce us to your creation! What are you currently creating? Do you have a link we can send people to for your work?

I am currently working on expanding my personal finance company, RPF Education. We are very active on our TikTok and Instagram accounts, we are working on getting a website ready for you all! I am really proud that despite being in its infancy, RPF is living its mission of empowering people to live money stress free through financial education. While our clients are still on their journey and are actively working, they consistently report feeling much more confident when it comes to their finances. Because we track their net-worth, debt to income ratio, and money habits, we can see the progress in our metrics. The intentionality of serving the 1st Gen Bipoc community has been beautiful as well. We’re very proud of our team and the representation our community can see as we are all women, 1st Gen, Latinx, and queer. 

Q: In your experience, what is the biggest misconception about personal finances?

A: A big misconception about personal finance is that it's hard. “It’s difficult to understand money management and it’s something for wealthy people,” is a common money script. In reality, we all have to develop money management habits and an understanding of personal finance. While the principles are actually easy, the information has been gate-kept from our community or hasn’t been made accessible by using high-level content vocabulary that makes people feel they don’t or can’t understand. My teaching career has really come in handy to make personal finance accessible. My job is to assess where my clients are, where they need to go, and more importantly create a plan to get them there.

Q: Tell us about a challenge you've overcome, business or personal, what was the lesson and how did it propel you forward?

A: A big challenge I had was dealing with imposter syndrome. I’m a trained teacher with a ten year career so why would I enter into the entrepreneurial space? Could I be a business owner? Do I really know enough to teach people about money? Am I really a personal finance expert? I started by doing a lot of energetic work in terms of my mindset. I used some of my high school students first by offering informal and formal workshops regarding budgeting and money management. From there, I would offer some for colleagues ranging from teaching them to read their paystubs to different retirement accounts to basics of real estate. When it came to posting on Tiktok and growing an audience, I sometimes felt like an idiot posting twice a day for over a year with minimal engagement but I would think "if one person benefits from this, if one person learns from this then it's worth it." 

Q: What do you want people to say about you when you're not in the room?

A: When I'm not in the room I want people to say that I am someone who lives authentically. My actions match my words and my words match my values. 

Q: What are you currently reading or watching?

A: I'm currently watching How to Get Rich, Yellow Jackets, and Ted Lasso. I am reading Wealth Warrior, The Art of Coaching, and The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck.

Q: What part, if any, does your culture play in your work as a creator?

My company, RPF Education, specializes in working with the first-generation BIPOC community. As a teacher, I've noticed first hand how a lack of resources to financial literacy has affected my students. Spending the entirety of my career seeing the effects of inequity, I wanted to offer my community something that could help. While RPF Education does not cause systemic change, we can and do at least offer support to our community living in this system. Our hope is to empower our community through education. 

Q: Who is your Latina role model?

A: My Latina role models are Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Selena. Sometimes people on Tiktok call me "kroger AOC" which I think is hilarious. 

Q: What do you want other Latina creators to know, any words of encouragement?

A: I hope that Latina creators continue their work. When we talk about exponential growth, we often talk about the steep curve but not about the days, months, maybe even years of minimal growth, but just don't give up. "When you're tired, learn to rest and not to quit." 

Q: Any last words for the community?

A: At RPF Education we love providing a sense of community to our clients (currently pro bono) and audience. If you ever have questions or concerns, please hit us up at rpfeducation@gmail.com. We love being a safe place for people who are struggling with their finances.