This as told essay is based on a conversation with Teri Williams, president and chief operating officer of OneUnited Bank. It has been edited for length and clarity.
Growing up in Indiantown, Florida, I followed my great-grandmother, who I called Ma Honey. Ma Honey had a candy store, a barbecue place and a juke joint, where I learned how to play pool. She also owned rental properties and I went with her to collect the rent.
Ma Honey’s businesses protected her family from the dangers of a… segregated southern city. Her money also gave our family opportunities: She paid for my grandparents’ move so my father could attend high school, since there was no black high school in their town. She also built houses, which my parents and I still lived in when I was growing up.
Teri Williams followed her great-grandmother around. Thanks to Teri Williams
But they say wealth lasts three generations, and I was the fourth. By the time I went to college Brown UniversityI was on scholarship and ashamed of Ma Honey and my small-town Southern roots.
I started running a bank while raising children
I didn’t think of Ma Honey as a businesswoman until I was in my 50s. But when I look back, I see that her spirit shaped my success. I then went to Brown Harvard Business Schoolbefore working for major national banks.
My husband Kevin and I started in the mid-1990s four banks consolidated in Boston, Los Angeles and Miami to form OneUnited Bank. The banks we consolidated served the Black community, and that’s what we’ve done ever since.
Kevin and I were growing the bank — he as chairman and CEO, me as president and chief operating officer — while raising our children, who are now 30 and 32.
I have taught my children to prioritize saving
I’m curious if my children viewed us as bankers or simply accepted the environment they grew up in without asking too many questions, as I did with Ma Honey.
The lifestyle of bankers is not what people might think. In our home, being a banker meant being a banker prioritize savings. One of the most important things we have taught our children is to save, save, save.
I explain it this way: saving allows you to take risks. And to succeed you have to take these risks, even more mainstream risks like owning a house. The higher the risk, the higher the reward, and having a healthy savings account gives you a cushion in case mistakes and pitfalls inevitably occur.
Financial literacy is difficult, even in my family
Building financial literacy was also very important – not just for my children, but for the broader Black community. I wrote a children’s book that addressed some of the issues in the black community, such as check cashing and personal loans. At OneUnited, we have integrated these terms into our school financial literacy programs.
All the financial conditions can still be overwhelming. One of my children called me when she was a young adult. She was confused about her credit card balance. As I talked, I realized that she thought her equilibrium was the available equilibrium. I had to tell her that this was what she owed.
I almost fell off my chair thinking, “Where did I go wrong?” Then I reminded myself that financial terms can be complicated. There is no shame or shame in not understanding terms that are not easy to understand at first glance.
My children use money differently than I do
I tried to remember that as my children grew up. We had talked to them a lot about money. And yet, when you suddenly find yourself dealing with your own paycheck, taxes, bills, and credit cards, once you go down it, it’s a different path.
My children handle money differently than I do. I mainly invested in investment funds, while they often opted for individual shares. They invested in crypto, which I wouldn’t do. It’s normal for financial decisions to change over time, so I don’t worry too much about that.
I hope this next generation thinks bigger. Ma Honey was able to serve her city, and through OneUnited, my husband and I now serve all 50 states. I hope that my children, or my children’s children, can serve the world.
