Leah Carr’s mission: to empower girls with financial confidence

At 19, Leah Carr arrived in Canada from St. Vincent and the Grenadines determined to create more opportunities for herself. That drive has shaped her journey ever since.

While working full-time as a senior HR executive, she completed her executive MBA at Western University’s Ivey Business School, where she deepened her understanding of business finances and wealth creation. She later drew on that knowledge to build The Wealth Table, an organization focused on empowering girls through financial literacy.

How financial education at home sparked a business idea

The concept for The Wealth Table started with some basic financial conversations between mother and daughter. Wanting her oldest daughter, Mia, to feel confident talking about and navigating money much earlier than she had, Carr started having casual money talks. Together, they created a simple “four jar” budgeting framework: save, spend, invest and share. Whenever Mia received money, she divided it among the jars — setting aside funds for future goals, spending, investing and giving back. This tangible approach helped her become more intentional about how she used her money instead of spending it all at once.

Wondering whether others might benefit from what they were learning together, she documented their kitchen-table money conversations and posted them on Instagram. Her community's response encouraged Carr to take the idea further. The Wealth Table was born.

From kitchen-table conversations to a growing business

Carr and Mia are now co-authors of Money with Mommy and Mimi, a self-published children’s book about financial literacy. Today, The Wealth Table offers The Open Table, in-person financial literacy sessions in schools, and Wealth and Wellness Camp, which teaches girls about money and entrepreneurship during school breaks.

While The Wealth Table’s core mission and programming focus on helping girls build financial confidence, leadership skills and an entrepreneurial mindset, its school programs are inclusive of all genders. 

In early 2027, Carr plans to start the Future CEO Launch Lab for past camp attendees and others with an interest in entrepreneurship. This program guides girls through building a business, from developing an idea to preparing a confident business pitch.

For Carr, the motivation behind The Wealth Table is deeply personal. She watched her mother start over with no financial safety net after divorcing late in life, an experience that shaped how Carr thinks about the importance of building financial literacy for her girls.

“I saw what my mom went through, and I wanted Mia and my younger daughter Gianna to have the financial literacy I never grew up with,” Carr says. “Through my work and research, I’ve learned that children begin developing money habits and attitudes early in life, often before age seven, and that financial education might not reach kids until high school.”

Although schools teach financial literacy, Carr believes children could benefit from more accessible opportunities to learn about money early and from making financial conversations part of everyday life. Carr also noticed a lack of financial education resources that reflected Black children's experiences. As a Black woman and mother, she wants her daughters — and other Black girls — to see themselves represented in conversations about money and grow up feeling confident about their financial futures.

Finding the confidence to start

For Carr, one of the hardest parts of becoming a founder has been finding the confidence to move forward.

“I can spin in circles, rewriting and reworking forever. I’ve needed to find the confidence in myself and my ideas to move forward even if something doesn’t feel perfect. And when it’s out there, I need to be okay with getting a lot of nos.”

Carr says she never felt “ready” to launch The Wealth Table but went ahead anyway. “I’d rather learn from something real, adjust and try again than wait for perfection. At some point, you have to be willing to take a risk, step outside what feels comfortable and bet on yourself.”

She credits her support system — including her husband, mother and close friends — with helping her make it all work. She also outsources tasks such as meal prep when she can, freeing up one of her most valuable resources: time.

“I’m not going to be perfect at all things at once,” she says, giving herself grace for prioritizing her professional goals, including her full-time job in HR. “In this season, I’m leaning into The Wealth Table as part of my greater purpose, which is to help others help themselves.”

Learning when to say no

Carr has learned that growing a business isn't just about saying yes to opportunities. Sometimes, it means saying no to your own ideas — at least for now. She believes focusing on a few key initiatives, rather than stretching herself too thin, will serve her better in the long run. This mirrors what she teaches through her financial programs: make intentional choices, set priorities and recognize that not every dollar — or idea — needs to be acted on immediately. For example, she plans to launch a podcast featuring conversations between mothers, daughters and women building wealth, but has paused it for now.

“It takes discipline to focus, but it’s necessary to be successful,” Carr says. She sees scaling the business and building sustainable revenue as the biggest challenges ahead.

When it all came together

It was a single moment that reminded Carr why she started.

On the last day of Wealth and Wellness Camp, held at Humber Polytechnic, one girl told Carr she felt confident enough to help her mom with their finances. She also wanted to pay that knowledge forward by creating a scholarship so another girl could attend camp.

“I turned to the audience and saw her mother was in tears. This is why I do what I do. It’s going to change generations,” says Carr.

The journey has also created something more personal: the chance for Carr to build alongside her daughter Mia, now 9. Co-authoring their self-published book and then standing together in front of Mia’s class to present it remains one of her proudest moments.

If Carr could talk to her nine-year-old self, she would share this advice: “Don’t confuse what you’ve been exposed to with what you’re capable of learning.”