Great Oakley money mentor to take to charity stage to tell her story of loss and financial ruin

A Great Oakley woman who learned her lessons about money while bringing up her little sister after their mum died is set to take part in a charity event aimed at inspiring and empowering women.

Joanna Streames tragically lost her mother at the age of 19 and was nominated as guardian to her 12-year-old sister. The girls struggled financially because there wasn’t enough provision in place, the will was a mess and the various legal fees involved took a large chunk of their inheritance leaving them pretty much penniless.

Joanna, 50, said; “I don’t ever want anyone to face what we did. The trauma of losing a parent, followed by the stress of not being able to make ends meet was the most horrendous experience and it doesn’t have to be that way. It doesn’t matter what you’re bringing in, with some sound financial planning, you and your loved ones can be secure, without breaking the bank.”

In 2019, Joanna, founded her company Velvet Mortgage and Insure Services.

Hailing from a hard-working, working-class family, Joanna started the firm after a long and successful career in property and finance. Her three daughters work alongside her.

And now Joanna will be sharing advice on how to create a sound financial future so that families up and down the nation can protect what they’ve worked so hard for.

Bravely telling her own story of loss and financial ruin, Joanna is contributing to a charity event focused on inspiring and empowering women, as they join forces with other female powerhouses from across the country tackling social change through opening up ‘challenging conversations that need to be had’.

She will join global motivational speaker and award winning business leader of I Am The Queen Bee Movement (#IATQB) Dani Wallace, who is hosting the event, alongside 20 other entrepreneurial women, and some very special guests, including body inclusivity champion and dancer Trina Nicole who’s performed alongside Nao, Lizzo and Beyonce and has just been announced as Nike Women’s latest Ambassador.

Joanna said: “This is a very surreal moment for me. I made a commitment to myself earlier this year to share my knowledge and story in a way that can have a positive impact on others - as my business is very purpose-fuelled, being a part of Bee Inspired felt like the perfect fit, as this event is all about empowerment, community, facing difficult conversations head on and making a difference collectively.

"I have previously attended the event as a guest and I knew I needed to get on that stage. However if you’d have told me a year ago that I would be in the company of someone like Trina Nicole sharing my thoughts to empower others I wouldn’t have believed you.

“My daughters are my world, I love them absolutely millions. I’ve made sure that I’m insured well so that if anything happened to me, they wouldn’t struggle like I did. I’m building this business for them and that’s why I’m so passionate about helping other people to do the same. We all want to leave something for our children, and my message is, that it doesn’t matter who you are, or what your start is, it’s not an impossible dream.”

“My future plans are even bigger than my history! I want to scale up and help protect more families and people. I want to mentor mortgage and protection advisers so that together we can run fantastic businesses and look at the ethical reasons behind what we’re doing. I want there to be more women in financial services too.”

The two day event, which begins on Thursday (March 31) will be hosted live from The Impossible in Manchester as well as being streamed globally. Joanna will take to the global stage on day two of the event to share her message - ‘Protect Your World, Insure Your Heart’.