National Entrepreneurship Day: Jala Eaton of On My Own Financial

Posted by Nailah Herbert in EntrepreneurshipNovember 15, 2022•4 min read

Key Takeaways

Jala Eaton, Esq., Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor (CTFA), is the Founder and CEO of On My Own Financial, LLC and J. Eaton Law PC.
Jala is a Generational Wealth Attorney who specializes in estate planning and helping clients learn about financial education.
CapWay chose to highlight Jala, who is also a former guest on our Culture Meets Money show because she shares excellent financial knowledge and education via her website and social media channels.

Are you ready to make some real money moves?

Jala Eaton, Esq., Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor (CTFA), is the Founder and CEO of On My Own Financial, LLC and J. Eaton Law PC. Jala is a Generational Wealth Attorney who specializes in estate planning and helping clients learn about financial education.

CapWay chose to highlight Jala, who is also a former guest on our Culture Meets Money show because she shares excellent financial knowledge and education via her website and social media channels. As an attorney and CTFA, her knowledge covers many areas, including fiduciary and trust activities, financial planning, tax law, and investment management. She is well known for being Your Wealth Bestfriend® on social media.

Learn more about Jala Eaton, her company On My Own Financial, and her advice to other women entrepreneurs.

When did you know you wanted to become a personal finance influencer?

I don’t know that I truly wanted to become an influencer because of my introverted nature, but I knew I wanted to share my experiences and the information I had. I worked as a trust officer at a Fortune 500 bank for years, protecting money left in trust funds. Seeing millions of dollars daily was a regular occurrence for me. It wasn't until I saw $100 million in one trust fund that my desire to empower others was activated.

Maybe the shift occurred because I knew the money belonged to an older white male who still went into his local branch to do his banking. Maybe it was because I knew trusts with businesses in them always had more money.

This made me want to build my own wealth and empower other Black women to do the same, especially after researching the shocking wealth gap statistics. If he could do it, why couldn't we? And because none of the clients I was helping looked like me, I knew I had to start my own business to help Black women.

Entrepreneur thinking about finances and financial planning

What challenges have you faced on your entrepreneurship journey?

My entrepreneurship journey has been me versus me. Of course, I have all the usual societal obstacles and institutional roadblocks many Black entrepreneurs face in this country. It doesn’t make this way of life easier, but to be fully transparent, my biggest struggle has always been seeing myself the way the world sees me.

I’m sure most people read my bio and see that I am a licensed attorney with my own firm, a professor, an award-winning certified trust, and a financial advisor with my own financial education business. I’ve also worked in finance, but that is definitely not what comes to mind when I think of myself.

To correct this, my entrepreneurial journey has been about building confidence because there were times when I had all this information but didn’t speak up. I blame fear of failure and/or suffering from imposter syndrome.

Thankfully, my businesses are based on my passion and purpose, which keeps me doing what I do even when I may not feel confident. I hope my businesses and my social media persona, Your Wealth Bestfriend®, help shift the culture and how we look at wealth and estate planning. This isn’t something that can happen if I remain silent, so I’m here to do the work, and I refuse to let me stop me.

How can women become fiscally savvy and prioritize their financial health?

Talking about your financial health in safe spaces and with people you trust is what has worked for me. But also taking control of your finances will help tremendously. My job as a trustee was controlling other people’s finances, so it made no sense that I would be a passive spectator in my financial situation.

This realization is actually what I used to teach myself about long-term investing. I had to take my accounts out of the hands of others and pay attention to what was best for me. I wish during my initial financial journey, I had a Wealth Bestfriend®, i.e., someone who cared so deeply about my financial health and legal well-being, but now I’m able to provide that person for my clients and my community. “Be the change you want to see.”

Why is it vital for you to help other women learn about finances or access financial resources?

I believe women are the drivers of our society. Educating women, especially Black women, can improve the financial health and well-being of their entire families. This is because we share the information we learn, and we go on to help others around us.

Parents teaching child about financial education

How are you working toward building generational wealth for your family and community?

Thanks to normalizing financial conversations in my family. We are having more open and honest conversations and getting more comfortable talking about our money, wealth, and lessons we have learned through our lives. I’m extremely proud of my family. So much so, I wrote an article about the generational financial struggles three generations of my family have had and what they are doing to change their situation for the better.

By sharing this information with others in my community, I hope they will be able to either avoid the traps we fell into or people will realize that there is light at the end of the tunnel as long as they are willing to put together a financial plan.