Meet Diana Yañez

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Diana Yañez. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Diana, thank you so much for joining us and offering your lessons and wisdom for our readers. One of the things we most admire about you is your generosity and so we’d love if you could talk to us about where you think your generosity comes from.

My generosity comes from seeing a need and knowing that I am able to help. I’ve always been naturally giving, even as a child I remember being deeply unhappy when I saw other children begging when we were visiting my family in Mexico. These early experiences of inequality impacted me and always made me want to help others. Also, as a highly sensitive person (HSP) my boundaries are pretty porous – other people’s pain feels like my own. This means that helping others often feels like helping myself.

My favorite ways of expressing generosity are through an accessible pricing model, direct giving, paying people well, and being a good friend. In general CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERS™ serve the top 4-6% of the population because of a pricing model based on assets under management. I was able to move beyond this to serve all income ranges by providing money coaching based on each client’s gross household income. I am happy to be at a point in my career where I can serve more people regardless of whether they can afford my full financial planning hourly rate.

A key part of being generous is feeling well resourced myself – as the adage goes we cannot give from an empty well. I developed multiple sources of income through hourly financial planning work, asset management clients, and providing organizational workshops. This means that I can show up for clients regardless of the money paid since I already know my needs are covered. By knowing and stating my needs I’m better positioned to hear other’s needs and take the time to evaluate whether I can help them, this goes for business as well as friendship.

The word generous comes from being able to generate or birth something. We can generously give when we feel deeply connected to what cultivated or created the good we’re giving. My generosity comes from knowing that I’m resourced and thus can give without stress. Paradoxically, with time and experience I’ve learned that it’s easier to give when we can set limits.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I combine technical financial planning with empowerment coaching to transform clients’ relationship with money. As a money coach at All the Colors I help changemakers—particularly women of color entrepreneurs—build sustainable money systems. Through Strategy Squad, I guide impact investors in aligning their values with investments.

My approach integrates my CFP™ certification, Registered Life Planner™ designation, and Compassionate Inquiry™ training for trauma-informed facilitation. This expertise stems from diverse experience in social services, population projections, and business analysis.

I actively create change through board service at Wisdom & Money, the SER Summit for Latines in financial services, and steering the Rad Planners Community. I also host Highly Sensitive Money, a podcast helping highly sensitive persons align money with social justice values.

As a Quaker and activist, I’m launching a new podcast series exploring Visionary Finance through a Quaker lens. It will feature interviews with leaders about how Quaker values shape their views on money and economic possibilities. After two years as a digital nomad, I now call Mexico City home.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The three skills that have most helped are deep listening, a willingness to experiment, and having trusted mentors. Our hearts and deepest self are always letting us know whether we’re on the right path for us and it takes courage to listen to our own knowing. As a highly sensitive person (HSP) whenever I feel misaligned with my inner knowing it’s hard to ignore it and sometimes it’s even hard to function. While early in my career this felt like a hindrance over time it’s become the light by which I make decisions.

To deeply listen I recommend people take up meditation or journaling on a regular basis. These check-ins act as a navigation guide because whatever is bothering you will come up as soon as you give it space to do so. Then comes the willingness to experiment while you find your footing and whenever a change is needed. Another way to see this willingness to experiment is being comfortable with failure. Building our own path as an entrepreneur is full of learning opportunities, and sometimes looking back it can be painfully obvious where we took wrong steps, yet when we’re in the middle of it all we can do is take the next indicated step.

Lastly, having trusted mentors is key! In psychologist Daniel Gilbert’s wonderful book, “Stumbling on Happiness” he says that we’re notoriously bad at knowing what will make us happy in the long run. Instead of trying to predict the future he advises us to seek mentors. Specifically he recommends we ask people who have achieved goals we’d like to achieve and who have similar temperaments to our own to learn about their journey. Mentors also help us cultivate confidence in our plans and abilities to achieve our goals. I am deeply grateful to everyone who has supported me on my path, from coaches, therapists, peers and especially books, who are faraway mentors.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I seek partnerships with communities who want to bring their members financial education that centers nervous system regulation. As a CFP® practitioner with a high level of technical expertise I not only bring deep knowledge and experience in personal finance, I also partner it with exquisite listening and insight into money psychology. I especially love working with communities that need a more gentle approach to money due to past negative experiences. As a first generation immigrant and woman I empathize deeply with anyone who has felt left out of the financial space – let’s collaborate to empower your members financially.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

The first two photos are by Lora Reehling

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