Georgia Lee Hussey: “None of the early people I worked with believed that my business was possible.” | Photo courtesy of Modernist Financial
Yesterday we talked with Modernist Financial Founder and CEO Georgia Lee Hussey about her investment philosophy. Today we’re delving into her transition from artist to entrepreneur and her motivation for changing careers to launch her progressive, values-based boutique firm.
Georgia Lee Hussey’s leap from the art gallery to the spreadsheet isn’t as contradictory as it may appear.
Hussey moved to Portland, Oregon, shortly after graduating from Sarah Lawrence College in 2001, with the goal of becoming an artist. She and a friend began running a grassroots gallery out of a surplus store in the early 2000s. Within six months, 400 people were coming to shows.
“Oh my God, I would have totally flipped you off and cussed you out at the same time if you had told me I would (become a financial expert),” says Hussey, who launched progressive wealth management firm Modernist Financial in 2015. “One of the things artists are not supposed to do is make money. If we do, we’re sellouts.”
The turning point came in 2005 when she returned to Portland after a short stint in New York City. She bought a starter house and realized, “I didn’t know anything about money.” Her creative peers were also dabbling in the housing market but they, too, had scant financial knowledge.
It was then that she got the itch to become a financial planner, so she sold her house to pay for her education. Modernist Financial initially targeted its services to the creative class, but Hussey shifted gears to create a unique, values-focused practice serving politically progressive individuals after Donald Trump was elected president in 2016.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Was there a culture shock when you entered the world of finance? None of (the early people I worked with) believed that my business was possible. They thought the way I wanted to work was crazy. That was actually the “aha” moment. It was like, (“Screw) them.” I know this is possible, and you just don’t see the market hole I see. It was either open Modernist or get out of the business, because I can’t rely on their business models to make my vision come true.
How is Modernist different now than when you started? The more I've gone along, the louder and more straightforward I've become about how we should always be talking about politics and money. The idea the industry very clearly has is we shouldn't. If your wealth manager believes it's OK to vote against your civil rights for a lower tax rate, that is unacceptable.
How do you define your philosophy in simple terms? I'm not defining what it means for each person, but tax decisions have an impact on your neighbors. When you’re excited about your refund, it's important to realize that was paid for by cutting food stamps. That's the kind of framing we put in place. If the “One Big Beautiful Bill” gave you $1,500, you can give that to something that you believe in. We try to put all these resources out on our website so people can calculate their savings and go do something good.
Is this relatively unique in the field of investing these days? It feels like it is. I’d love to find out that it isn’t. I keep hearing from people that they’ve never found anybody like me. I find it fun because it’s just like making weird performance art about feminism. It’s kind of the same project, just a different venue.
Final thoughts? What I want is for other people to believe it’s possible to have wealth management that is modeled on a similar set of values. I would really love to unwind a lot of the toxicity in the industry at large that says we've got to separate our values from our money and make as much y as you can and maybe give away a little bit. No. Generosity is not the point to me. When I donate (to causes I believe in,) they need to exist in order for me to live in a culture that I want to live in.
