MBA graduate is crushing money goals

Bernadette Joy ’16 (MBA) is crushing it by helping people crush their money goals.

Joy uses her firsthand experience of paying off $300,000 of debt in three years and building her first $1 million of net worth in her 30s to help others. To accomplish her achievement, she took everything she learned at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School and applied it to her personal life.

“I always say that financial freedom isn’t just about numbers — it’s about options. My journey from being in debt to being able to retire at 40 didn’t come from extreme frugality or winning the lottery,” says Joy. “It came from learning how money really works and using it as a tool to create the life I wanted. That’s what I want more people to know: You don’t have to be perfect with money to build wealth — you just have to be intentional.”

In 2020, she launched Crush Your Money Goals, a financial education platform. She teaches strategies to pay down debt, save money, invest wisely and gain financial freedom to thousands of people across the U.S. through keynotes, workshops and classes for corporate employers. CNBC, Forbes, CNET and National Public Radio have featured her work.

In her book, “Crush Your Money Goals: 25 Smart Money Habits” (Adams Media, December 2024), she provides step-by-step advice on how to take control of finances and remove the anxiety that comes with crushing debt. She uses humor and her own story to make the hard truth palatable and relatable.

Joy describes how her experiences as a first-generation Filipina American and being the eighth of nine children shaped her relationship with money. She shares the story of debt smothering her and how she made her comeback.

“I like to think of my budget as a living, breathing representation of who I am and who I want to be,” she writes in the book.

Applying business principles to personal finance

The evolution of Joy’s current profession began at UNC Kenan-Flagler. She saw an ad for MBA@UNC when she was contemplating leaving the corporate world after a career in human resources in New York and Charlotte.

“The program stood out to me for its strong finance and entrepreneurship curriculum, which aligned perfectly with my goal of building financial freedom,” says Joy. “Plus, as a North Carolina resident, I loved that I could get a world-class education right in my backyard.”

Experiential learning was an asset that Joy credits with her professionalism in teaching personal finance skills. She participated in Student Teams Achieving Results and a Summit in London that her team won. Her ability to “practice being a consultant before officially becoming one” was one of the biggest assets of her degree.

“Through my entrepreneurship classes, I learned how to think critically about business problems, test ideas quickly and develop strategies that actually work in the real world,” Joy says.

Negotiation is another skill she developed at UNC Kenan-Flagler. “The key lesson was that your strongest negotiating position is when you don’t have to take a deal,” says Joy. “This principle has guided my approach to business, personal finance and coaching other women in negotiations.”

Joy now spends her time sharing these valuable lessons with others. She advises clients on how to best invest in themselves, including their education. “I encourage students not to be discouraged by educational expenses,” says Joy. “By applying what I learned and being strategic, I’ve created significant value from my education, and I am on track to retire at 40.”