Mariko Gordon built a $2.5B money management firm from scratch, flying her freak flag high. It had a weird name, a non-Wall Street culture, and a quirky communication style.

In 1995, when Mariko founded Daruma, only a handful of women of color owned their firms. She had to noodle out how to run a business while daily duking it out with Mr. Market and raising a family.

Today she mentors women who want to start a business, turn their side hustle into their living, better manage their finances, or work through a tricky patch in life or business.

She is also a poet, hypnotist, life coach, hula dancer, and Treasurer on the Board of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop.

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