About
"There's only one thing that really matters when it comes to your money, and it's this: people first, then money, then things."
In her three-hour interview, Suze Orman talks about her multi-faceted career as a television host, writer, and financial adviser. She describes her childhood and the inspiration she derived from the family motto, "An Orman never gives up." She recounts an early experience with a failed business venture that led to her career as a broker at Merrill Lynch at a time when there were very few women in that role. She details her struggles there, the lawsuit she brought against the company, and what she learned from the experience. She talks about becoming the vice-president of investments at Prudential Bache Securities, and then starting her own financial firm, the Suze Orman Financial Group. Orman speaks candidly about her setbacks there and how she came to write her first book, You've Earned It, Don't Lose It: Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make When You Retire. She chronicles the events which led her second book, The Nine Steps to Financial Freedom, to become a bestseller and the basis for her first PBS special. She then talks about her successful run on QVC and her appearances on various talk shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show. She speaks extensively about The Suze Orman Show on CNBC, discussing the show's production and popular segments (such as "Can I Afford It?"), and gives insight into how to make a financial news show entertaining. She describes her reaction to winning her first Daytime Emmy award for her 4th PBS special, The Laws of Money, the Lessons of Life, in 2003. She recalls her appearances on various shows such as Hollywood Squares, The View, Larry King Live, The Kathy Griffin Show, and The Biggest Loser, among others. She shares a story about meeting Kristen Wiig, who did an impersonation of her on Saturday Night Live, and offers advice on what she believes to be the key to a successful television series. Nancy Harrington conducted the interview on October 18, 2012 in Beverly Hills, CA.
Highlights
Suze Orman on her family motto "An Orman never gives up!"
Suze Orman on her her goal "to make people as independent from people like me as possible" by helping them achieve financial freedom
Suze Orman on the key to creating a successful television series
Suze Orman on how she handled meeting Kristen Wiig after seeing her parody on Saturday Night Live
Suze Orman on never getting tired talking about money
Full Interview
Chapter 1
On the origin of her name, "Suze"; on her family and growing up in Chicago; on traits she inherited from her parents - "An Orman never gives up!"; on her childhood interests
On her first paying job at her father's store; on her early influences and college years at the University of Illinois; on the start of her first career in a bakery
On her dream of opening a restaurant; on advice and assistance she received from her customers; on her negative experience with a broker at Merrill Lynch who lost all her savings; on becoming a broker herself and early struggles at Merrill Lynch
On being advised to sue Merrill Lynch for illegal practices while she was still a broker there; on how she built a clientele of powerful female clients and what she learned from them; on leaving Merrill Lynch for Prudential; on learning about the "lack of integrity" at financial institutions; on leading a class-action lawsuit against brokerage firms
On starting her own firm; on being an advocate for individual financial responsibility; on how she made all her money back after bankruptcy
On her books and her writing process for "You Earned It Don't Lose It" and how she began to see success as a published writer
On her collaboration with QVC and being their first author to sell over 100,000 books; on her first appearance on television; on her persona
Chapter 2
On her first TV Special "The Nine Steps to Financial Freedom" for Avon Life Design; on the bidding war over her book; on trying to secure a PBS special
On finally getting "The Nine Steps to Financial Freedom" produced as a PBS special; on appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show for the first time
On winning awards for her PBS specials; on the importance of PBS
On the debut of The Suze Orman Show on CNBC; on how it evolved; on what sets her apart from other financial advisors; on how to make money interesting; on not having rules
Chapter 3
On the power of television and how she uses it; on how specific she gets with her financial advice and why; on favorite moments of The Suze Orman Show
On her first appearance on T he Oprah Winfrey Show and how nervous she was; on what Oprah saw in her
On the origins of "SmackDown" segments; on her view of the OWN Network and her guest appearances on other television shows (Hollywood Squares, The View, Larry King Live, Big Love, Kathy Griffin, The Biggest Loser, etc.)
On Kristen Wiig's parody of her on Saturday Night Live; on her proudest accomplishments
Chapter 4
On what she enjoys now (2012); on questions she hates to be asked; on changing people's lives
On the key to creating a successful television show; on her career highlight; on advice to starting out in television
Shows
America's Money Class with Suze Orman
Suze Orman on her show America's Money Class with Suze Orman
Biggest Loser, The
Suze Orman on her involvement with The Biggest Loser and what she learned about people who would not share their financial state
Emmy Awards, The (Primetime and Daytime)
Suze Orman on hoping Martha Stewart would win the Emmy the year they were both nominated
Larry King Live
Suze Orman on her appearance on Larry King Live and on host Larry King
Oprah Winfrey Show, The
Suze Orman on her first appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show and how nervous she was; on what Oprah saw in her
Saturday Night Live
Suze Orman on how she handled meeting Kristen Wiig after seeing her parody on SNL and how much she enjoyed it
Suze Orman Show, The
Suze Orman on the debut of The Suze Orman Show on CNBC
Suze Orman on how her "Can I Afford It?" segments came about on Th e Suze Orman Show on how she comes up with topics for the show
Suze Orman on how she makes the topic of money interesting; on being unfiltered
Suze Orman on how much background information she has before giving advice to people on-air; on whether she's regretted any advice she gave
Suze Orman on not having rules for talking about money; on some of the more depressing stories she's heard
Topics
Emmy Awards
Suze Orman on winning her first Emmy and beating out Martha Stewart, who she was rooting for
LGBTQIA+
Suze Orman on coming out on national television when she won her first Emmy Award
We Laughed
Suze Orman on how she handled meeting Kristen Wiig after seeing her parody on Saturday Night Live of Suze's show
Genres
Service Shows
Suze Orman on her appearances on QVC and how it put her on the map
Suze Orman on the debut of her show on CNBC and how it evolved
Suze Orman on working in live television; on whether there are any other shows like hers on TV
People
Paula Deen
Suze Orman on appearing on the Paula Deen Show
Kathy Griffin
Suze Orman on being on Kathy Griffin's show and giving her financial advice
Martha Stewart
Suze Orman on hoping Martha Stewart would win the Emmy Award the year they were both nominated
Barbara Walters
Suze Orman on the advice she received from Barbara Walters
Kristen Wiig
Suze Orman on how she handled meeting Kristen Wiig after seeing her parody on SNL and how much she enjoyed it
Oprah Winfrey
Suze Orman on appearing on Oprah Winfrey's show for the first time and how it helped her career
Suze Orman on what Oprah Winfrey saw in her
Suze Orman on what makes Oprah Winfrey special and her legacy