Ep 80 | 3 Ways To Use Your Career To Build Wealth

Sep 10

In this episode, Priya sits down with Pinterest executive Soniya Monga to talk about the wealth-building asset most high earners ignore: their own career. Soniya, who has spent two decades inside LinkedIn, Snap, TikTok, and now Pinterest, breaks down how "life as a portfolio" thinking changes the way you evaluate career moves, location, and even how you spend money. They also get into the real trade-offs behind delaying marriage and kids, and why comparison is an expensive financial habit.

Takeaways:

At $200K-$400K, your career is your biggest asset.
Chasing job titles early in your career can shrink your long-term earning potential.
In tech, individual contributors can out-earn managers, so climbing the leadership ladder isn't automatically the highest-ROI path.
Comparison isn't just an emotional tax, it's a financial one.
Asking "would I still want this if nobody could see it?" changes most purchase decisions.

Follow Priya Malani:

LinkedIn | Instagram | Youtube | Stash Wealth

Guest Bio:

Soniya Monga leads global agency and account partnerships at Pinterest, following senior leadership roles at LinkedIn, Snap, and TikTok. Over two decades in tech, she's built significant personal wealth through career strategy, equity, and leadership rather than entrepreneurship.

Guest Links:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soniyamonga/

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/soniyamonga

The Stuff Our Lawyers Want Us to Say:

Stash Wealth is a Registered Investment Advisor. Content presented is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to make an offer or solicitation for any specific securities product, service, or strategy. Consult with a qualified investment adviser (that's us) before implementing any strategy. Investing involves risk, including the loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. There…we said it.

Transcription

The Best Investment You're Probably Ignoring, with Soniya Monga

What is one takeaway that you have for your colleagues and the people that you work with about working with people of other generations? I think we've just gotten general- generational debates completely backwards. I've spent my career being managed by boomers, by Gen Xers, millennials. I've managed Gen Xers, millennials, and Gen Z-ers, and every generation has taught me something.

Who the am I to tell you what to do with your money? My name is Priya Malani, currently managing millions of hardworking dollars. Enough foreplay, let's talk money. Welcome to The F Word: Smart Money. No Bull.

Hey guys, welcome back to The F Word, the podcast for high earners who wanna master their money in their 30s. If you're listening to this show, chances are good that you're making really good money, maybe 200, 300, maybe even $400,000 a year. And because you care about your finances, you've probably spent time thinking about how to invest your money.

Stocks, real estate, maybe you've even gone down the rabbit hole of private equity or Bitcoin. Or maybe you've convinced yourself that the only real path to building wealth is quitting your job and starting your own company. But have you ever stopped to think about whether you're spending as much time investing in the thing that's generating that money in the first place?

A recent study found that about one in four white collar professionals experience at least five years with no meaningful promotion or raise before the age of 40. Think about that. Five years where the asset producing your income isn't really growing. Imagine if you accepted five years of zero growth from your investment portfolio.

My guest today has spent her career at some of the most influential companies of the last two decades, LinkedIn, TikTok, Snap And now Pinterest. She's built meaningful wealth without ever founding a company of her own, and she's had a front row seat to what separates people who simply earn a great income from those who intentionally use their careers to build extraordinary wealth.

Today, we're talking about the best investment you're probably ignoring, and why some of the biggest wealth-building decisions you'll ever make have nothing to do with your investment portfolio. Soniya Monga, welcome to the show. Great to be here, Priya. Thank you so much for having me. So Soniya, you and I met almost 10 years ago when you were at LinkedIn, and now you've grown into this extraordinary wealthy human.

How Soniya Monga and Priya Malani First Met

How'd you do it? Could not be further from the truth, but I, I love that you say that. Fun fact on how we met, and you don't remember this, but I remember it. We were sitting in Madison Square Park. It was my first week in New York. I'd moved from Hong Kong, and it was probably my second or third day in New York.

Totally overwhelmed, did not know a single person. And I see you walking down the street and in my direction in this like beautiful Yumi Kim jumpsuit, and I didn't know who Yumi Kim was at the time. And I stopped you, and I was like, "Where did you get that jumpsuit?" And you said, "Yumi Kim. It's in the Lower East Side.

You gotta go check it out." And I, and I remember, and I went, and I I checked it out, so I'll never forget that about you. Are you serious? Yeah. That, that- Oh my god. I know- That is what I remember... I know the exact jumpsuit you're talking about and the boutique where I bought it. I love Yumi Kim. I have more pieces.

Yeah, and I think Yumi Kim's a very good example for talking about, you know, trying to look good with a, within a budget or, not, you know, having to spend those designer dollars. That's a great, that's a great, That's a great... outfit to wear and a great brand. I've been role modeling optimizing your income since the beginning.

What Does "Wealth" Actually Mean?

Exactly, when you didn't even know it. No, but just, just to laugh at, at your intro. I personally am not someone that would ever define myself as being extraordinarily wealthy at all. My husband would laugh at that. But I, I think that it is something that, to me, is a really important question to ask yourself.

And the question that I've always asked myself is, you know, what does wealth actually mean to you, right? Like, we've been taught to define wealth so narrowly. We think about income, we think about net worth, we think about investment returns, owning a house, retiring early. Those things matter, but I just don't think that they're the full picture.

And, you know, for me, wealth has always meant financial independence and flexibility. For someone else, it's the freedom to choose how they spend their time. It's to prioritize their health. It's to take a career ri- risk. So it's really important to understand how you define wealth yourself. Yeah, I think that's a great kickoff to this conversation, which is starting by setting your own, own standard, your own, own rules for what you're trying to achieve.

How Social Media Distorts Your Definition of Success

When we were chatting earlier about this episode and, and having the conversation of how to build wealth outside of your investment portfolio, you had said that one of the biggest detractors from us defining that from ourselves is social media. Like, what role do you think social media has played in our deviation, from being able to set our own standard?

What it does is it removes you from your own life, right? Then now starts to make you think you have to build for someone else's definition of success, right? And, like, that to me might be the most expensive mistake people make, right? Mm. Building someone else's version of success. Buying the bigger house, starting the company because it sounds impressive, right?

Founders are very loud, executives are not. Taking the prestigious title, following someone else's timeline for marriage, for kids, for promotions. Look, like, I had my first child at the age of 39. So you know, I by any means was very, very late to be a mom, but I don't regret it for a second 'cause it allowed me to do a lot of other things prior to that.

And of course, there's massive trade-offs for being a mom that's, that's older or getting married later in life. But I think social media can really, give you this false sense that there aren't trade-offs in life, and it removes you from your own intentionality. Now, not to say that social media is not an amazing tool in many ways.

I've spent my career at some of the foremost social media companies. But I, I think it's really important to stay true to your North Star and really understand, again, like what is it that you intentionally want to build and make for yourself? And that just can't be because you saw someone else, seemingly quickly achieving that, that thing because you saw them posting something online about it.

And so I think it can be, can be really dangerous. Of course, it can be, it can be, you know, amazing too. But I, I really go back to this notion of trade-offs. That's a really good point. Yeah, social media is where we get our inspiration for what we might wanna role model our life after. And I'd be curious, I did not talk to you about this beforehand, but I'd be curious where you got your inspiration for, or your north star.

What, how did you decide what was gonna be right for your life? And for example, like, just speaking more granularly, the decision to delay having kids, was that a function of when you met your partner? Was that an intentional thing to build your career first? Like, if you weren't looking at social media, where were you looking?

Why Soniya Waited to Have Kids — and Doesn't Regret It

Yeah, and I think it's a great question, right? Like, I don't think it was intentional that I said I would wanna wait, you know, a decade and spend my time focused on my career and have kids. Like, looking back now, do I think that I probably had told myself, "You can do one thing and you can only do that one thing well, and then in order to have kids, that's gonna mean sacrificing, time spent building your career, or focusing on your personal growth, or building your finances."

And you know, it's something I told myself at the time that I thought was true. Looking back now, do I say, "Hey, you probably could have tried to have kids earlier. You probably could have prioritized that." But you know what? I just wasn't in that mindset, and I was in a very, sort of self-oriented mindset where it was about I need to have a certain level of stability in order to be able to make the personal decisions in my life I wanna make.

And whether or not that is true doesn't really matter. It's how I felt at the time. So now, looking back a decade ago at the choices I made that led me to today, my biggest thing is just don't regret taking the time to have your kids. Don't regret the fact that you were a little older when you were a mom.

Take all the things that make that amazing. Make that, make that amazing for you. You know, use that to your power. Use that to your advantage. Mm-hmm. And that's how I like to think about it. But I have always been someone that's been very purposeful and intentional about how I spend my time. Like, a lot of my friends would laugh at me and just say, "You're someone that, like, knows very much what she wants, and it's hard to get you to do the thing we want you to do, because you know you wanna do the thing you wanna do."

And it's true, right? Like, I like to know what I'm doing. I like to be planned out, and then I know how I feel about that after because it just gives me energy, or it gives me a sense that, I'm really being purposeful about the decisions I'm making. Because I think at times in my life when I didn't do that, I felt the, the sway.

I was like, "Okay, but I'm not getting what I want." So now, you know, where does that leave me? So I think, you know, a long answer to your question is it was never by design to say to wait to have children or wait to get married. It was just a byproduct of the life I was living- Mm-hmm... and the choices I was making at the time.

And you know, 10 years ago it felt lonely, right? Like, it felt lonely to not be married, to not have the kids when everyone around me was doing all of that. Everyone around me had done all of it, and I thought, "Is that ever gonna happen for me?" And so now I look at it and think, "Damn, it did happen for me, and now I'm gonna make the best of it."

Can You Really "Have It All"?

So would it be fair to say that you don't think you can have it all? Like, you were of the girl boss generation. I was. Yeah, I was of the girl boss generation. I laugh now at kind of the things that we used to say and the things you would post online about, you know, having it all. And, I think you can...

You know, y- we hear this all the time, you can have it all, but you can't have it all at once, right? Mm-hmm. I just think that it depends what your threshold is, right? You can have it all based on what your definition of having it all is. It goes back to that. For me, having it all does not mean, being completely stressed out all the time.

That does not mean having it all for me. Having a nervous system, an internal system that feels anxious and not calm just does not do anything for me. Having it all for me means feeling really good in my body, means feeling healthy, means feeling relaxed in my mind. It's, it, it, it means being able to just be present.

I'm not a fan of multitasking. I'm just not, and I credit my husband for that. He is, like, probably the ultimate single task- tasker, to the point where, you know, it can annoy me, and I look at that and I'm like, "That is admirable," because you do the thing you need to do, you focus on it, and you put your all into it with zero guilt, and then you move on to the next thing.

And I think sometimes as women, we can fall into this trap of, like, it feels really rewarding to feel like we're doing so many things, and you get this high. So I don't know. Like- You can have it all if your definition of having it all is what you're currently living. Mm-hmm. But I can't do it all, and I don't wanna do it all, to be hon- honestly, that sounds stressful.

I don't wanna do it all. Yeah. I wanna be able to, to just really be present in the thing I am doing. I find that's what gives me the most joy, because then I'm like, "Okay, I'm in it. I'm, like, in a flow state. I'm living my life. I'm not building again for someone else's definition of success." So I just, I just do think that you have to really ask yourself in life what the trade-offs are, right?

Like, there were so many times I didn't go to the bachelorette party. I didn't go on that weekend trip with friends. I didn't go, and do a million vacations. I didn't go and do so many things 'cause I was working. And I was, like, at home, I remember one Christmas break and applying for a job, but putting together, like, a 12-page document to apply for the job that no one had asked me to do.

But I was like, "That job is gonna get me that thing, and then that thing is gonna help me in the next three years." So I, I've always been someone that's, that's thinking, like, three or five steps ahead, and that means sacrificing a lot. And it, it means that it can be, it can kind of be a lonely existence sometimes, if I'm being honest.

Is Entrepreneurship the Only Path to Building Wealth?

Actually, that's a great segue 'cause we're talking about intentionality. We're thinking ab- about thinking ahead and using your career as an investment decision. So you've been at a bunch of pre-IPO companies, public ones. You've seen what equity looks like when it pays off, and also when it evaporates. How do you think about choosing a company, for those listening who are maybe doing a corporate job or taking a Se- Series A company, Series B How do you think about your making that choice so it serves as an investment?

Okay. So entrepreneurship is a very, it's a very sexy thing right now, and it was a lot for me when I was, when I was kind of beginning my career in tech, and this was before it was cool to be in tech, right? Like, it was still the path was, like, finance. Like, that was the thing, and that was how you were gonna build wealth.

And I remember very much, like, this narrative of drop out, start a company, drop out, start a company, and then you're, you're gonna be successful. That's the only way to, to, to make money. So I don't think the actual question is, like, should I be an entrepreneur or should I be an employee, right? The better question is what kind of life am I trying to build?

What kind of career am I trying to build? And we've created this narrative that entrepreneurship is the only path to building meaningful wealth, but I just don't think that's true, right? I've spent my career inside, inside companies like LinkedIn, Snapchat, TikTok, and Pinterest, and I've seen people, create very extraordinary wealth through very thoughtful career decisions, through equity, through leadership opportunities, and a lot of long-term value creation.

Entrepreneurship is an incredible path, but it's not the only one. I knew it was not the path for me. And every career path has a different risk and reward profile, right? So a pre-IPO company might offer greater upside but more uncertainty. A public company might offer more stability, more liquidity.

It might offer you leadership development. It might offer you a globally recognized brand. That was always very important to me, to work for brands, that people knew. It opened doors and rooms for you. A startup can accelerate your learning. A larger organization can- Yeah... accelerate your leadership, right?

So those are two trade-offs. But no path is inherently better. They're just different investments. So I think the question I always come back to is what am I optimizing for in this season of my life, right? Like, is it learning? Is it financial upside? Is it flexibility? Is it leadership experience? Is it time with my family?

Why You Should Stop Obsessing Over Job Titles

So, you know, again, like, wealth isn't about choosing the trendiest career. It's really about making decisions that reinforce the future that you want. One other thing I'll say is that, you know, I got this advice early on from a leader at LinkedIn, and I remember I was trying to think about different paths to, to go.

I was in Hong Kong, and I was, you know, I could stay in Asia or I could come to New York. And one of the things he said to me is, like, "Stop obsessing over titles." And, and that really stuck with me because when you obsess over a title, you really lose that idea of breadth of, knowledge and this idea of building a really strong foundation.

And I think that if you're constantly chasing titles, what happens is, is you want the next thing, the next promotion, the next jump, and then you sort of can cap out. But if you think about building that strong foundation, you can make a leap. Like, you can make a 2X leap from where you were prior. So, you know, evaluating opportunities, ask yourself things like, you know, will I learn and will I fill a gap?

Who will I work for? Who will I work with? Who do I become? Like, what makes this... If I take this job, what is possible five years from now? So these are the s- type of questions that I try to continue to ask myself, and the questions that I asked myself. I hear you, but I, I, just to push back a little bit, I feel like a lot of people use titles to unlock...

We're talking about using your career as a tool to build wealth, and one of those things, one of the w- one of the ways is to get paid more. And so I can see from, like, people who are just starting out being like, "Wait, but I would want the title because then I can use that as leverage to either move into another company with a similar title at a higher pay."

How do you guide people? Where I push on that point is that if you think about it, tech created a situation and a system where titles and hierarchy were a lot flatter than a lot of other industries, and I really liked that because- You could build wealth, you could build a career, and you could gain notoriety or build your reputation and as an individual contributor.

And you could make the same money as an individual contributor as you could as a manager of a team of 30. It really just depends what you are trying to solve for. So if you are trying to just make money, I would argue that sometimes being an individual contributor and not focusing on title can actually make you more money than going down the path of leadership.

That's a really good point. I think we always think of titles as unlocking higher pay, but if you're a vital part of an organization, they are going to pay to keep you. I actually just had that happen with a client recently, where they were gonna leave, and instead their company said, "We'll pay you more to do the same job, because you're so good at it."

That's why I say, like, optimize for learning. Optimize for growth. Optimize for skill. At the beginning of your career, I say optimize for breadth versus specialism, because that then gives you choice. It gives you optionality, and then you can take a bigger jump. So to me, like, the w- why I say don't just keep chasing title is to me that's playing the short game.

What Soniya Does at Pinterest — and What Building "Breadth" Really Means

Play the long game. Interesting. You know, I should've asked this at the beginning. Can you tell us what you do at Pinterest? I lead a team of individuals, and leaders that focus on our largest agency, advertising agency partnerships. So these are the advertising agencies, that manage some of the largest brands and budgets in the world.

My team also manages the global accounts function, so these are brands that have a global footprint, in our media ecosystem as well. And this is, a really amazing team, high-growth team, a global team, a, a ton of different backgrounds. And so it was really exciting for me when I was leaving TikTok to come to Pinterest, that I was able to get back to my global roots and really think through what scale looks like, for a team like that.

And is this advice that you're giving about focusing early in your career on breadth, versus specialty, did you do that, or did you learn and wish you had done that and somehow it still worked out? So I did it, and I did not feel good I, about doing it at the time. Because when I was given the advice to think about my career like a pyramid, right?

Like build a strong foundation and then start to specialize as you move up, because there's no such thing as a career ladder anymore, it was really uncomfortable, because I saw a ton of people around me taking on the path of managing teams, like, very quickly or, just jumping and getting titles and bigger titles and bigger opportunities that at the time I thought were bigger opportunities.

And it was really uncomfortable for me, because I thought, "How is this gonna play out?" Like, I continue to just sort of take these jobs that are giving me more breadth of experience and, I'm not necessarily feeling like I'm building, right? And then that, that changed because I saw a change when I felt really confident to take that next leap for a huge, for a huge role when I, when I, went to TikTok, and I thought everything that I have done has brought me to this point where I feel so confident taking this job because I've done these jobs.

I've done everything that I'm leading now. So I did that, and I think looking back now it was the right thing. But, you know, again, like I go back to there's so many different paths to get you where you wanna go. It just depends what it is you wanna do, right? Like, what is it that you want when, when you're making these choices?

And so that, so, so for me, it was something that did, that did work out and, and, it was uncomfortable though looking back.

Real quick, if you've ever seen your paycheck hit your checking account and thought, "Where the hell does it all go?" You're not alone. If you're in your 30s making six figures, it's time to get your financial sh*t together. Go to stashwealth.com and book a call. All right, back to the episode.

Why Location Strategy Is a Wealth-Building Tool

Soniya, what would you say is one thing you've learned or believe about work or money? Building wealth the way that you think about it and other people our age don't. I mean, I don't know if other people our age don't think about it this way, but I've always thought about it as intentionality. Like, you have to spend money on the things that are going to fill you and are going to leapfrog you to the next thing.

So like, invest in yourself. Invest in the coach. Invest in the trainer. Invest in the location. I think location strategy as a strategy for your career is so important. People say to me all the time, "Oh, you live in New York City? That is so expensive and so stress- stressful." I say, "What doors did New York open for me?

What did New York allow me to do?" Like, amazing things that I could have never done somewhere else. So invest in yourself. That is what I would say, and it might sound really selfish, but spend that money on yourself because you will get outsized returns. Well, as a, New Yorker, makes me excited because I also think of New York in that way about what it unlocks, and location strategy is an interesting tidbit.

I haven't heard that, but it's so true. They also give you energy, right? And they- Right... they give you inspiration. Like, as cheesy as that sounds, but we're all just sitting behind our phones and computers now, and when I go out and walk down the street in Tribeca, I'm, I, I just look around and think like, "This is amazing."

As, as much as it's harder to live here, there's less space, it's expensive, I think about the kind of momentum it gives me and the ideas that it provides and the acceleration because then what it does s- allows me to look at my career as one part of the bigger picture. Mm-hmm. Because I feel that energy of the location I'm in that is so connected to people of all different industries.

So for me, that is, you know, it goes back to just invest in, invest in what makes you whole and what gives you energy because what gives you energy is different than what gives someone else energy. Yeah, I love that. I appreciate that. The life as a portfolio concept was an interesting one that you and I chatted about.

How to Decide What to Say Yes or No To

You talked about looking at your life as a portfolio. The wealth isn't just in your brokerage account, but it's your career, it's your health, it's your marriage, it's your network, it's your location, it's your time. But that's a lot. So- How do you actually make decisions across all of those areas? Do you have like a general rule about what you say yes or no to?

It's a great question. It's funny. I feel like, it's so trendy right now to just tell everyone to say no to everything. It's so... I love Hilary Duff. She's one of my favorite people. But she said something at a commencement speech about how it's so trendy now to say yes to everything, and I was like, "No, Hilary, it's trendy right now to tell everyone to say no to everything."

But- One of the things I think is that I said yes to everything very early in my career to, to my own detriment, I would say. You know, going back to this idea of waiting to have children or maybe not prioritizing my health the way I wanted. I said yes to everything, and I paid the price for that. I paid the price for, for that with my health.

I saw it, and with just decisions personally that I had to delay, but it, what it, what it does when you say yes early, it allows you to say no later on, right? It allows you to have optionality and say no. So to your point, like this idea of life as a portfolio can feel so overwhelming. Like, this idea that we have to optimize everything, to me, is absolutely exhausting.

One of the biggest shifts in my thinking has been about protecting my energy and attention so that I can focus on the decisions that really matter. And that means you don't have to optimize everything because our culture is obsessed with that. The perfect morning routine, the perfect workout, the perfect productivity system, the perfect calendar.

Like, that doesn't exist. And at some point, that becomes its own form of stress. So I've become a lot more interested in reducing the number of decisions I have to make so that I can protect my energy for the ones that really matter, and that's why I like to think in terms of systems. Not necessarily because they're more efficient, but because they create consistency.

So I don't wanna decide every morning whether I'm going to work out or, what I'm gonna eat, or how I'm gonna negotiate with myself about investing or learning or making time with my family. Like, I want those priorities to be built into my life. And what I would say is that any time in my life I have focused on that foundation, I've done better in my career because I can show up more balanced, more relaxed, more, objective.

I can manage my energy, and I can make better decisions for the long term. And that's, for me, why I think the best leaders don't optimize every meeting or every me- e- email. Like, they build rhythms. They build habits. They build ways of working that free up their attention for the conversations and decisions that actually require creativity.

Because the world we live in, like in the work that I do, requires judgment, leadership, creativity, and to me, that's what good systems do, right? Like, they don't replace intentionality. They actually protect it in many ways. What you're making me think of is, setting goals. I think for people who are saying yes to everything, it's probably because they haven't really decided, especially later on in life, who they wanna be, what they want their life to look like. You know, I know the audience for this podcast is probably people in their 30s, right?

Like, but I would say in your 20s, say yes to things. And the, and the teams I've managed and the people that have said yes to many things are the ones that stand out to me. And these are not people where I'm asking crazy things of you, or, or anyone's, you know, kind of being taken advantage of. I think always know your boundaries, like always protect your peace, always protect your north stars.

Like that 100%, I will always say. But you are noticed when you raise your hand and stand up to do something, and you do it well. You're noticed, and then you're, you get asked to do that next thing, and, and that pr- that gives you leverage. So you might be saying yes to it now, but it's gonna give you leverage six months down the road or 12 months down the road.

So think... That's why I go back to play the long game. Okay, so you start out in your career. I'm actually thinking about the younger, newer employees at the firms you've worked. When does it shift? Like at what point can you take the advice of say yes to everything and say switch it to start to be selective about what you say yes to?

Yeah. I think you can switch it when it feels comfortable for you, right? No one will, no one can tell you when to switch it. I can't say at the age of 25 or 35 or 45. It really depends when you in your gut say, "You know what? Right now I'm ready to take a pause, and I'm ready to just be okay passing that opportunity up."

How do you know if you're not saying yes to enough things? So I think that's a great question. I would say, I mean, if we're making it very tactical and y- it's we're talking about it from, like, a career and you're working at a company perspective, you, you should have that conversation with your manager, and you can decide what that path looks like for you.

You can build that path intentionally together. And if you have a very trusted relationship with your manager or your boss, like, that's, I think, a great place to start. But if you're talking about it in the design of your life and the design of, you know, how you want to build, optionality for yourself, then I think you have to ask yourself, "How do I feel when I go into this room?"

What Every Generation Teaches You About Work

Or, "How do I feel when I say yes to this thing?" Okay. What is one takeaway that you have for your colleagues and the people that you work with about working with people of other generations? I think we've just gotten generational debates completely backwards. I've spent my career being managed by boomers, by Gen Xers, millennials.

I've managed Gen Xers, millennials, and Gen Z-ers, and every generation has taught me something. I would say boomers taught me that business is still human, right, and it's not just about being transactional, and I value that every day when I think about, you know, relationships that, that you need to build in the workplace.

Gen X has taught me about resourcefulness. They're, in my mind, the generation that can figure things out without a playbook because they never had one and had to be really resourceful. I like to divide millennials between older millennials and younger millennials, calling me and you, we're both older millennials.

Older millennials taught me adaptability because we went from landlines to smartphones. We went, we had MapQuest. We had GPS. We had Blockbuster. We went from Blockbuster to streaming, and we somehow kept up. And then younger millennials taught me a lot about intentionality, which is a theme that I, I talk about here with you because I think they were the first generation to ask, "Do I actually want to do this?" instead of automatically saying yes. Mm, mm. And Gen Z, interestingly enough, has taught me a lot about self-expression, about, not being afraid to question a process that maybe doesn't make sense. Like, I've had a ton of- People on my teams question processes or question the way we do things, and I love it because it's awesome, and, have personally helped me when I, when I have questions about creating content.

I'll call, I'll call them up and I'll say, "Hey, can you help me film this TikTok?" And it's awesome, and they're so into it, and it doesn't stress them out, so I love that. And then, I mean, Gen Alpha, who even knows? It'll be something, it'll be something AI related. You know, I, I, I really love this idea that every generation can teach you something, and I think that's, like, the mindset I like to go into because no generation has it completely right and no generation has it completely wrong.

Does Remote Work Help or Hurt Your Career?

Yeah. That's well said. There's this idea of learning from those who have come before you though, and I am curious your thoughts. Do you work in a remote environment or in person, and what do you think are the benefits or drawbacks of remote work, and to what degree do you see being in person as beneficial to the ability to build one's career and therefore wealth?

COVID really changed the game for a lot of people, and a lot of companies where, you know, prior to COVID it was completely unacceptable to not be in an office. Flexibility didn't really exist in many ways. It was very specific, if anything. Looking back at that time now, I think to myself, you know, I wasn't a mother and, I don't know how moms did it without having that flexibility afforded to them because what post-COVID life did was normalize the idea that you could do the work you needed to do at home.

Now, did we swing too far in one direction? 100%. Do I think 100% remote work is, valuable? Perhaps for some people, but for me it's not. Doesn't work for me. I need to see people in person. I want to be there in person. I think it is incredibly important for energy, for collaboration, for creativity. I think, you know, with us sitting behind screens all day and on our phones, in person has become even more important.

I'm in a relationship business, and so therefore I need to see people, and I want to make sure that, we, we can constantly have that connection. So to me, we've swung far too much on one way, and I go back to this idea of New York City and the energy it gives you, and I wouldn't trade that up for anything.

And, there is a huge value to connecting, in real life. There's a huge value and you can't replace it. I agree. Especially on the- On the standpoint of, on mentorship and, it's just so much easier to help bring people up in an organization, support them, teach them, let them shadow you, whatever.

It's so much easier to do that in person. I mean, you can do it virtually, but I, I find that it's a lot less effective and it just takes a lot longer.

Why Comparison Is an Expensive Financial Habit

I just wanna end on this topic, that we, we started the conversation with social media, and you have this great line that you say, which is that comparison isn't just the thief of joy, it's expensive.

Can you talk a little bit more about that? Yeah. I mean, I go back to, intentional spending, right? Like, social media has fundamentally changed spending. We don't buy products anymore. We buy our identity, our validation, our content. Like, I am the worst culprit of it in so many ways, which is why I can say it so confidently.

I am not someone that does not get influenced. I wish I could get so much more de-influenced by things, but one question I ask myself before I make a purchase or a decision is, like, if nobody could see this, would I still want it? And sometimes the answer is no, and sometimes the answer is yes. But that question changes everything for me.

And I've realized I almost never regret buying quality. I regret when I buy status. I love mixing high and low. If anything, I love low even more because I get a high on wearing something that's not expensive and someone saying, "Hey, that looks awesome," and I'm like, "Yeah. H&M find." So some of my favorite pieces aren't the most expensive ones.

I don't think luxury is about logos. Luxury is confidence. Taste can't be bought. You need to know what works for you. You need to know your style. You need to own it. I think the same is true in careers. Don't chase prestige. Develop taste. Know yourself. I think, as I said to you, comparison isn't just the thief of joy, it's an incredibly expensive financial habit.

The most expensive purchases we make often aren't the ones with the highest price tags. They're the ones we make when we're just trying to prove something, right? That could be a vacation. It could be, you know, the new bag or whatever it may be. But just, like, stay in your lane because- It goes back to playing the long game.

You are gonna regret if you were chasing, living a life that looked good versus living a life that actually feels good. Well, that's a great full circle moment that, playing the long game, whether you're an entrepreneur or you're, approaching your career, playing the long game, developing your own intentionality, and driving your life through what is right for you versus what you're seeing on social media.

Best Bite: Soniya's Favorite NYC Restaurant

That's so much age-old wisdom it feels like, but, from a refreshed, it's refreshed for the 20- for 2026. So thank you. Soniya, before I let you go, we always end the show with a segment called Best Bite. I'm a big foodie, and I'd love to know what's the best thing that you've had recently. Like, where do I need to go?

It's gonna sound so boring because it is like an age-old New York restaurant that you can't get reservations at, and Taylor Swift has now made it the trendiest thing ever when it, when it was always amazing, but it's Via Carota. I mean, there's nothing better for me than Via Carota. And I will, like, order in Via Carota, and then I'll go on TikTok and see that, oh, Taylor Swift was there last night.

I'm like, "Oh." Missed that. Could've, could've been there instead of ordering it in. But, it's one of my favorite restaurants and I, I... N- no, no new trendy hotspot will ever beat it for me. I love that. There's nothing better than being one of the first outdoor tables at Via Carota- Yes... on the weekend before it gets crazy busy.

The people watching is insane, the trend watching, the- Exactly. What do you order there? What is your thing? What do you get? So it's such a boring order. Like, it's not the pasta or pizza, or they don't even have pizza. But it's, the branzino is amazing. It's like a branzino for two people, and I eat the whole thing.

Where to Follow Soniya Monga

Soniya, where can people find you and follow your journey? Tell us what your handles are and what- Yeah... platforms you're active on. I'm, I'm pretty active on most, on most platforms. I'm trying to become more active on TikTok. That, that's been, a journey for me. So follow me on, Instagram @soniamonga.

TikTok, I think it's @soniamonga41. LinkedIn, you can add me. That's where I, I'm at for now, but honestly, if, if you ever wanna connect with me, I'm happy to. Might not always be the most popular opinion, but I think, you know, I... One of the things I try to do is just listen to myself and what feels good for me, and that's kinda all you can do.

Key Takeaways: Building Wealth Beyond Your Portfolio

Yeah. Well said. Absolutely. That was great. I think one of my biggest takeaways from today is just that you should expand your definition of what wealth-building resources you kinda have at your fingertips, because it's a lot more than what's sitting in your 401(k) and what's sitting in your brokerage account.

You've clearly articulated that it's the companies you choose, it's the career decisions you make. It's playing the long game, investing in relationships, and being more intentional about designing that life. So Soniya- Yeah... thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much. And, I hope that I get to run into you in Mad- in Madison Square Park again one day.

That would be- Full circle moment... well, we'll make it happen. We need- We'll make it happen... coffee soon. Yeah. Absolutely. For those listening, if this episode shifted your perspective on how you build wealth, or how you're thinking about building your wealth, I hope you'll share it with somebody else who could benefit from a mindset shift.

If you have a moment to leave us a review, it really helps more people find the show. Please remember to like, follow, subscribe wherever you're listening so you don't miss what's coming next. If you're a high earner, that means you have way more influence over your financial future than you probably realize.

That's awesome news. All right, that's it for today. See you next time.

Stash Wealth is a registered investment advisor. Content presented is for informational and educational purposes only, and is not intended to make an offer or solicitation for any specific security, product, service, or strategy. Consult with a qualified investment advisor, that's us, before implementing any strategy.

Investing involves risks, including the loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. There, we said it. Did I F that up?

Thanks for listening to The F Word with Priya Malani. If you like what you heard, hit subscribe wherever you're listening, and leave us a review while you're at it. We're approval junkies. Don't forget, you can find a ton of great resources, content, courses, and other freebies at stashwealth.com. Now, for the capital S stuff our lawyers want us to say.THE STUFF OUR LAWYERS WANT US TO SAY: Stash Wealth is a Registered Investment Advisor. Content presented is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to make an offer or solicitation for any specific securities product, service, or strategy. Consult with a qualified investment adviser (that's us) before implementing any strategy. Investing involves risk, including the loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. There…we said it.

Priya Malani https://stashwealth.com