Meet Jess

Your go-to finance gal.

Ready to rock
and (bank)roll your
financial world.

Hi, I’m Jessica Brady (she/her) — your slightly sweary financial fairy f*cking godmother. I am a fully qualified and licenced Financial Adviser with 17+ years of experience in financial services working with some of the biggest names in finance including Macquarie Bank, CBA and Zurich. 

Deeply passionate about levelling the financial playing field and helping people take value-aligned actions to secure their financial futures, in 2017, I co-founded B Corp-certified and award-winning financial practice Fox & Hare Financial Advice. Having given financial advice to hundreds of young professionals, women and LGBTQIA+ people, and fellow small business owners, I was named amongst the Top 50 Most Influential Advisers in Australia, the Financial Standard, FS Power 50 and as Newcomer of the Year 2019 at the prestigious Independent Financial Advisers (IFA) awards. 

Then, at the beginning of 2020 and just before the world went to shit, I co-founded Ladies Talk Money — a free online platform and community designed to help women and non-binary people to navigate a system built to exclude them, while we burn it down from the inside out. Happy days.

Over the last few years, I have been a regular contributor to numerous publications such as the AFR, Smart Property Investor, Marie Claire, Ensombl Financial Adviser Podcast, and Women’s Agenda, on investing, superannuation and financial self-care. And because I clearly hate to sleep, I also love to travel around the country (or overseas if you’ll have me!), dishing up freshly squeezed finance goodness — no pulp — to audiences of women, small business owners and corporate teams.

When I’m not talking about all things money, I can be found reading a book in a nearby park, taking a nature-filled hike or chasing after my very cute (and very naughty) Lagotto, Olive.

Everyone deserves to feel confident with money.

After leaving my financial advice business in very capable hands in 2022, I knew I wanted to help even more people than I ever could in a 1:1 setting. So, I started jessicabrady.com.au and launched The Greenhouse, my jam-packed online financial literacy program and the culmination of my 17+ years in the industry.

Why do I care so much about making financial advice more accessible and getting more money in the hands of more people? Because, right now, the financial advice world is, quite frankly, a bit fucked. Hear me out…

The change
we need to see

Lower Barriers to Access

The average ongoing fees to work with a financial adviser increased in 2022 by 33% to an average upfront fee of between $3,315-$4,865 (Source: Padua Advice fee data report FY 2022). And while I believe that financial advisers are worth their weight in gold (or stocks), the reality is that this is just not accessible for most people. Money should never be the reason you can’t access resources about money.

Not Waiting Until it’s (Almost) too Late

The majority of people do not seek financial advice until about 5 years out from retirement, or only after they’ve been knocked ‘off course’ by a big life event like a diagnosis, a death, divorce, pregnancy, insurance claim, or maybe (if you’re lucky) an inheritance. The reality is that most young people are still more interested in planning their meals and their holidays than planning for their financial futures. And hey — no judgement here. Thinking about the ‘future’ when you can’t put food on the table feels pointless, and planning a vacay is about 75,000 times more interesting than learning about asset allocation, no matter how much of a money geek you are.

Less Stale, Less Male

Most of us spend the majority of our lives working hard to have the money and the means to live the life we dream of, but we don’t actually put a plan in place to get there. There is this notion that financial know-how is only for the ultra-wealthy or the nearly-retired, it’s simply not true. But right now, financial advice is still only targeted to men aged 55+. The world needs more money in the hands of more people (women, young people, LGTIBQA+ people, people of colour, people with disabilities, everybody!), and in order to redistribute that wealth, we need to redistribute access to information too.

Profit > People and Planet

Not only does most of the financial advice world not look like, well, anyone who’s not an old (white) man, but those giving the advice probably don’t share majority values either. Climate change. Income inequality. Social inequity. Food insecurity. Intergenerational trauma and poverty. These are all very real challenges that our world is facing. Yet for too long, finance has been focused on profits for shareholders, even if those profits came at the expense of people or the planet. The future of finance is ethical, it’s purpose-driven, it doesn’t cost the Earth, and it’s here now.

The change
we’re prepared
to be

Fun and Accessible 

With no ivory towers in sight, get accredited general financial insights (within legislative limitations) and access to quality, reliable, unbiased information at a fraction of the cost of 1:1 advice. We offer fun and accessible financial programs for those who are ready to take action in small group settings. Think: bite-sized videos. Do-at-home worksheets, checklists and journals. Regular community calls. Shame-free. Judgement-free. Jargon-free. And our Greenhouse program is $100 a week for 10 weeks ($1000, and you should speak to your Accountant to see if any of it may be tax deductible for you), and our Keen & Evergreen program is only $27 a month.

Celebrate Taking Action Early

We need to normalise taking action on your finances as early as possible, and our programs are aimed at those who’ve still got plenty of years left in the workforce. We want to help you sashay your way to meaningful, measurable progress on your financial goals and will be here to guide you every step of the way.

LGBTIQA+ and Ally Friendly

Everyone is welcome here and we strive to be a diverse, inclusive and shame-free community. However, it’s no secret that the scales of our current financial system are not tipped in the favour of women, people of colour, non-binary or gender non-conforming people and basically anyone who’s not straight, white and male. So, we do focus on providing resources and opportunities to level the financial playing field and are proud allies and members of the LGBTIQA+ community.

Powered by Purpose

We’ve all heard the phrase: ‘people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones,’ but we don’t throw them from The Greenhouse either. We put our money where our values are by contributing to a range of causes that we are passionate about, because there’s no money on a dead planet.

Meet the Team

Alongside Jess, there is a small but mighty team helping to bring our vision for a world where everyone has access to high quality, unbiased and low-cost financial information to life.

Say Hi to Anita

Anita Coelho (she/her) has been working in the financial advice industry since 2010 where she’s helped stacks on stacks of people to achieve their financial goals and live their best life. She developed and led the AMP Advice Women for advice series, which provided financial education to women based on financial wellbeing and sustainable futures. With a Bachie of Commerce (majoring in Finance and Financial Planning, if you don’t mind), Anita became a Certified Financial Planner in 2018 and has never looked back. She’s been instrumental in creating the content for our signature financial literacy program, The Greenhouse, and takes all of Jess’ crazy ideas and puts them into action! Proud dog mama, she bloody loves to knit, is a massive F1 fangirl (who isn’t now? hello: drive to survive), and enjoys a Saturday afternoon down at her local Henson Park on Gadigal Land watching the Newtown Jets play. That’ll be the only sportsball reference you’ll find on this entire website.

Give a Big Howdy to Tony

Tony ‘the terrific’ Tulio (he/him) has a decade of experience in customer service, mainly across finance and administration, prior to meeting Jess in 2020. Originally Jess’ trusty Executive Assistant, Tony is trained as a paraplanner and gets to occupy his creative mind by pulling all our various pieces together and keeping the (money) ball rolling. Currently, he is the Business Process Manager for our signature program The Greenhouse, overseeing all the juicy tech and behind-the-scenes but oh-so-vital processes to give our wonderful community a kickass experience. Gifted in the art of diplomacy and patience (Jess x technology often doesn’t mix well), Tony is passionate about financial freedom and independence. Supporting himself whilst also achieving a degree in Nutrition and Dietetics, TT is a proud member of the LGBTIQA+ community and papa to two very cute and mischievous kittens.

The Pool Room

We get it — you want to know if you can trust us. And we love that — in fact, we welcome it. You absolutely *need* to be discerning about where you get financial advice and who you get it from, so this is one way of showing you.