Interview with financial writer Gayle Marshall

Non-fiction writer Gayle Marshall joins me today to chat about her new financial self-help book, Surviving a Man’s World: A Woman’s Guide to Achieving Financial Success.

Bio:
Gayle Marshall is a risk management professional from the island of Barbados in the Caribbean. She has a BSc. in Economics and Mathematics from the University of the West Indies and an MSc. in Risk Management from Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland. She is also a Certified Member of the Institute of Risk Management in the UK. Her passion for risk management has been demonstrated throughout the Caribbean, mainly in the financial services sector where she has worked for over 20 years. Her experience includes conducting risk analysis, development of policies and frameworks and providing training in risk management topics to various audiences.

Marshall wrote and self-published her first self-help book, “Surviving a Man’s World: A Woman’s Guide to Achieving Financial Success” in 2021. The book served as an extension of her risk management career as the content leans heavily on her knowledge of managing personal financial risk. Surviving a Man’s World earned a Literary Titan gold book award in March 2024. She continues to work on writing projects that reflect challenges where access to information and potential solutions may be limited.

In addition to writing and researching in her free time, she loves playing with her dogs, and gaining new life experiences through travel, reading and social interaction with others. For more information, visit her at www.gaylemarshall.com.

Welcome, Gayle. Please tell us about your current release.
Surviving a Man’s World is a personal financial guide directed mainly towards females who might be dealing with other social challenges that may impact the ability to improve their situation. The book provides financial tips on how to improve the management of personal finances through the development of an effective action plan. The aim is to set and achieve financial goals in a structured way, with consideration of life obstacles that can arise and strategies to manage them if needed. In charting the path to the successful achievement of goals Surviving a Man’s World provides guidance on topics such as budgeting, saving and managing expenses to encourage the development of prudent habits that can be beneficial in managing finances on a long-term basis.

What inspired you to write this book?
I worked in the financial services sector for many years seeing customers, especially females, who have heavy dependence on the males in their lives for financial matters. When circumstances occurred that caused them to be on their own, they found themselves in a difficult financial position in matters that many people would consider normal. Things like bills, mortgages, loans, insurance payments remained unpaid leading to uncontrollable debt. Further research also showed me situations where women are marginalized in many cultures thereby being exposed to severe hardship and the inability to access the knowledge to help improve their circumstances.

Surviving a Man’s World was my attempt at helping these women by sharing the information that I learned throughout my career. In many cases, even the smallest tip can make a massive difference in the life of someone who is unaware of a possible solution. I wanted to be a part in making these potential solutions more accessible to those who would benefit most from them.

What exciting project are you working on next?
I am actually working on a few projects, some of which are more advanced than others. Writing my first book has opened my mind to so many topics that I can share that would be valuable to people who could use the information.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
As Surviving a Man’s World was my first book, it really took me a while to accept that title in reference to myself. I think when the second person told me how helpful the book was in improving how they manage their finances, I started to really process the fact that I had written and published a book and might now be considered a writer. Once the book was reviewed, I think I really had to accept the designation.

Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I do not write full time. I am employed full time in a corporate environment. My career and passion are risk management hence why I wanted to apply my knowledge and experience in writing this first book.

Since COVID-19 pandemic, I found a real need for work-life balance. Since writing Surviving a Man’s World, my eyes are opened to many other “stories” that I think might be helpful to tell. I try to document all my book ideas hoping that I will eventually get through all of them. Whenever I get a thought about any topic that I considered I write it down so that I have material for when I decide to start writing. I don’t think that they will all be successful, but I do hope that the preferred audience will be able to benefit once they are written.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I think one of my writing quirks that can be a bit much is long sentences. I think that when writing Surviving a Man’s World, the information came to me in such a rush that I just tried to get it out without really thinking about it being easy to read. Thankfully my editor did a fantastic job in making the necessary corrections where needed.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
As a child I wanted to be a doctor when I grew up. When I actually was introduced to the sciences, I realized that I enjoyed mathematics and business studies much more, so I stuck to that field instead.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Risk Management is my passion, and I find that the practice can be very useful in managing many aspects of life, both personal and professional. I want to thank everyone who either read my book or provided support to me at any stage of pre- or post-production. I look forward to continuing my writing and, in doing so, I hope that my work reaches those who will benefit from the knowledge that I have to share.

Thanks for being here today, Gayle!