Childfree Life by Design Women and Credit: The History That Still Shapes Your Finances | Bri Conn, CFP® & Grace L. Williams
Women could not open their own bank accounts without a man's signature until 1974. That is not ancient history. The people who lived through it are still alive. And the financial world Childfree women are navigating today was built in that shadow.
In this episode, Bri Conn, CFP® sits down with Grace L. Williams, financial journalist and author of Give Her Credit, to trace the women's banking movement from a living room in Denver to the laws that changed everything. Grace spent nearly a decade researching the founders of Women's Bank, the legislation that finally gave women access to credit, and the remarkable, often overlooked stories of the women who made it happen.
In This Episode, You'll Learn:
- Why women's access to credit is recent history that still shapes how Childfree women plan today.
- How the founders of Women's Bank in Denver built something extraordinary within the constraints of their time, and what their stories reveal about financial autonomy, resilience, and the power of collective action.
- Why lenders once required women to disclose their reproductive plans before applying for a loan.
- How access to credit changed the calculus of marriage, independence, and life design for women, and what it means to build a financial life grounded in choice rather than circumstance.
- Why financial rights remain fragile and worth protecting, and what the arc of the women's banking movement can teach us about where we are now and what we stand to lose.
Episode Host:
Bri Conn, CFP® is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®, Childfree Wealth Specialist® at Childfree Wealth®, and Customer Experience Manager at Childfree Trust®.
Episode Guest:
Grace L. Williams is a financial journalist, content strategist, and author with over 20 years of experience translating complex financial and cultural topics into accessible, engaging narratives. Her work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and Yahoo Finance. She is the author of “Give Her Credit” (Little A, 2025), which chronicles the women's banking movement and the rise of female financial empowerment. Grace is an alumna of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and has spent her career following the money to understand what people buy, why they buy it, and what it reveals about culture and power.
Find Grace on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grace-l-williams-547a054/
Give Her Credit is available at independent bookstores, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Target.
About Childfree Insights
Childfree Insights delivers education for financial and estate planning without children. It supports people with no kids in making informed decisions about retirement, legacy planning, beneficiaries, and long-term care. Home of Childfree Wealth® and Childfree Trust®.
Connect with Us:
Ready to work on building better financial habits? Connect with our financial planning team at childfreewealth.com or learn more about estate planning at childfreetrust.com.
Follow Childfree Life by Design on your favorite podcast platform and join the conversation on social media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/childfreeinsights
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChildfreeInsights/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/childfreeinsights
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChildfreeInsights
Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational & entertainment purposes. Please consult your advisor before implementing any ideas heard on this podcast.