Join Sammy Rabbit and Sam X Renick as he interviews community and industry leaders from around the world and asks them to share their childhood money memories!

1. Partha Iyengar, Mumbai, India 

Partha is the Co-Founder and CEO of The Women Financial Advisers Network!

https://youtu.be/C65_euZTUM0

2. Megan Leonhardt. New York, New York

Megan is a Senior Money Reporter at CNBC

"From a young age, my dad would take me with him to the bank on Saturday mornings. Even once much of his banking could be done online, he still went every Saturday. When I was around seven, I received some money as a gift and he took me to the bank to set up my own account. That’s when I realized that what I had received had value and was important enough to merit my account at a fancy institution, rather than in a piggy bank on my dresser." Read more of Megan's interview.

3. Greg McKeown. Calabasas, California

Greg is the best-selling author of Essentialism.

"One of the first memories and lessons I had on money was a practical one. My family set a goal to travel to Europe on a family vacation. We needed to earn and save money to do it. The entire family chipped in. Each of us was responsible for contributing toward the goal.

One idea we had to earn and save money was to start a car washing business. We knocked on doors to see if people wanted the service. We did it a few times before everyone lost interest in carrying on, except me. I was interested in carrying on.

I was ten years old. I liked it. It tapped into these immense entrepreneurial feelings hidden and previously unknown to me. I thought, “This is something I can do.” So, I kept at it. Read more of Greg's interview.

4. Anthony Scaramucci. New York, New York

Anthony is the Founder & Co-Managing Partner, SkyBridge Capital. He is also the former White House Communications Director.

"I really gained a deeper understanding about money when I was 11 years old. My dad was a blue-collar worker who provided our family with a middle-class upbringing, but in 1975 he was forced to take a wage cut due to an economic recession. It caused a lot of stress in our house and led me to go out and start a paper route so I could contribute to covering the household expenses.

While I knew about money before that, having to be entrepreneurial and sweat to earn money helped me develop a greater appreciation for the real value of a dollar." Read more of Anthony's Interview.

5. Ginny Gilder, Seattle Washington

Ginny is Founder, Gilder Office for Growth and WNBA Owner of the Seattle Storm. She is also a former Olympic Silver Medalist
What was one of the smartest money decisions you made as a child or a teenager and why?

"I was graduating from college. Really, I was just 21. My father had generously paid for my college education. Then I decided to train for the Olympics instead of going out and finding a full-time job. He told me I was on my own financially. I decided to go for it, to pursue my dream, and I figured out how to support myself while I did twice-a-day workouts." Read more of Ginny's Interview 

6. Kristy Wallace. New York, New York

Kristy is the CEO of Ellevate Network, a global community for professional women. 

"I started an investment account — mutual funds — when I was in my teens. Actually, I should clarify that my dad started it. He opened the account (shout out to USAA) and put in a small seed investment. He then encouraged me to add to the account with my summer job paycheck and the financial gifts I received for birthdays and holidays. I kept adding to the account for years — $20 here and $40 there. When I graduated from college and moved to NYC, the money I had saved helped me sign the lease on my first apartment." Read more of Kristy's interview.

7. Guy Spier. Zurich, Switzerland

Guy is the founder of Aquamarine Fund. It is an investment partnership closely modeled on the original Warren Buffett Partnerships.  

"I lived in Iran when I was very young. To this day, I have a vivid vision of what a five rial coin looks like. I can still clearly see the number five written in Farsi script. It was a time when there were no credit cards. My father would carry cash around in his wallet. Now and then, he would ask me to pay for something.

When I was older, my father opened a brokerage account. He would pick me up from school, give me a newspaper and ask me to check stock prices. For example, I remember checking the stock price of IBM. He would cringe when the price would go down and be happy when the price would rise." Read more of Guy's interview.

8. Winnie Sun. Orange County, California

Winnie is Founder of Sun Group WP, a member of the CNBC Financial Advisor Council, and a contributor to  Good Day Los Angeles  Fox TV, Podcast

"When I was a child, my parents were great money examples. They saved before spending; they worked multiple jobs; and they always believed that they could create a better life for us via entrepreneurship. It was the best financial education I could have hoped to learn." Read more of Winnie's interview.

A Little About the 1st National Dream Big Read

The essence of the 1st National Dream Big Read it is this - Sammy Rabbit and collaborators think it is crucial to kids futures that community leaders provide them lessons, experiences and resources on the importance of making habits of saving, investing, spending smart and giving.

Our objective is to help hard wire simple yet profound money messages into kids heads and hearts at as early an age at possible, so they become habits and skills that last and are leveraged over a life time. 

These pictures from a recent Dream Big Read Kids Camp Experience demonstrate how 20 years of fine tuning financial education strategies can effectively engage, educate and transform the lives of kids, teens and those that teach and train them.  

Click to learn more about the 1st National Dream Big Read!