A Palisadian Power Couple

Nicole Lapin and Joe Sanberg Work to Shake Up the Finance World

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

What do you get when you put together the co-founder of a financial technology company and someone who was described as a “finance wizard, female empowerment entrepreneur and author?”

A finance power couple—based in Pacific Palisades.

Joe Sanberg, co-founder of Aspiration, and Nicole Lapin, a New York Times best-selling author on a mission to disrupt the finance space, shared what led them both to the career paths they are on today.

“We both grew up in Orange,” Lapin explained. “Not the fancy part of the OC, more like the tract-housing … part. We are about five years apart and never knew each other then. Although, I’m sure we must have crossed somewhere; we have stories going to all the same local spots.”

Lapin added that the two have an “eerily similar” background, that growing up, she felt alone and like an outsider. She said that Joe and her see each other in a way that many can’t because of their histories.

“From the outside, it might have seemed all was OK for me,” Sanberg added, “but my mom faced a lot of turmoil. She raised me by herself, and we lost our home to foreclosure when I was a teenager.”

The two met after Lapin had “pretty much sworn off dating,” instead “aiming to focus” on a new daily show and book deal she signed when she moved to LA from New York City. A friend of a friend, Talia Goldstein, founder of the Three Day Rule matchmaking company, reached out to Lapin to see if she was single because she had someone in mind to set her up with.

“I chatted with her and was unabashedly honest about who I am and what I would potentially look for in a partner,” Lapin shared. “She basically said, ‘OK, so I don’t think you’re a fit for this guy but I’ll put you in the database and will call you if you meet anyone else’s criteria.’”

Wanting to be matched with potential partners who fit her own criteria, Lapin joined the program with “low expectations,” but her first introduction was Sanberg. Their first date included driving down Pacific Coast Highway and talking all night.

“It was as close to love at first sight as it gets,” Sanberg shared. “I knew she was ‘the one’ immediately. So, a couple dates in, I came up with this little story that I needed to move quickly and asked her if she could help me.”

Lapin said that she began looking in the neighborhood of the Palisades, near PCH and Sunset Boulevard, she had wanted to live in for years, and something had just become available. She showed him the listing and said that it might be pretty to watch the sunset there on their fourth date.

“I agreed,” Sanberg said. “We went there to watch the sunset, and then I said I would take it … and I wanted her to move in with me there.”

Lapin described their love story as a fairy tale in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, that she had always dreamed of living in the Palisades.

When it comes to his work life, Sanberg shared that his career began on Wall Street, where he found himself misaligned with his core values.

“Thanks to family who reminded me of my sense of purpose,” Sanberg said, “I’ve spent most of my career trying to build organizations and companies that make the world better.”

Sanberg is the co-founder of Aspiration, a fintech company that is designed to be a “socially conscious financial services/neo-bank.”

“Aspiration is a no-fee, socially conscious financial firm that keeps its customers’ money away from fossil fuels, and makes taking positive climate change action easy and accessible for all, to ensure a sustainable future on a cleaner, greener planet,” according to a statement. “Aspiration helps customers spend, save and invest with a conscience while making the world a better place.”

In addition to donating 10% of every dollar to charity, one of the company’s partnerships is with the LA Clippers to “bring sustainability to the court by becoming the founding partner of Intuit Dome”—which will be the future home of the team, scheduled to open for the 2024-25 NBA season. It will be the first “climate positive arena to earn a LEED Platinum certification,” as well as operate “100% carbon-free” and be “the only sports arena in the world built with 100% embodied carbon concrete.”

“Aspiration’s proprietary Aspiration Impact Measurement is like a Fitbit for your sustainability,” Sanberg shared. “It shows you how the places where you use your Aspiration debit or credit card treat people and planet. Imagine being able to spend in alignment with your values. Aspiration brings that to life.”

Aspiration also allows customers to connect a credit or debit card to its automatic tree planting program via Plant Your Change, which automatically applies the spare change of each purchase made to plant a tree.

Sanberg explained that it was important for him to incorporate environmental aspects into Aspiration because “everyone wants to do what they can to defeat the climate crisis,” but the question that is often asked is, “What can I do?”

“Aspiration makes climate action available to everyone by embedding it into the everyday financial services you need,” he explained. “Your deposits in an Aspiration Spend and Save account are never allowed to be lent to the fossil fuel industry.”

Sanberg shared that the highlight of his career to date has been helping millions of low-income residents of California receive more than $10 billion of Earned Income Tax Credits through a community-based organization he founded, Golden State Opportunity. Most of the people he has helped have been single, working moms who then use the funds to provide for their kids.

“I ended up covering Wall Street,” Lapin shared of her own career path, “which was also misaligned for a girl who went to a performing arts high school for dance, studied creative writing and wanted to be a journalist in order to give a voice to those who don’t have one in college.”

Lapin, a first-generation American, took a job while attending Northwestern as a reporter on the floor of the stock exchange in Chicago—despite knowing nothing about finance at the time—because she needed the work. She later became a network news anchor, first for CNN covering the financial crisis and later for CNBC and Bloomberg.

“After about a decade of doing it, I also felt misaligned from my passions for helping others,” Lapin shared. “That’s when I set out to demystify the financial world for those who, like my former self, also didn’t learn about it at home or in school. My goal now is to help empower women with accessible financial content, which feels less like a career and more like a deep-rooted purpose.”

She shared that she found money to be a language, one that is not that complicated once it’s learned.

“I wanted to give other women the cheat code to this seemingly complicated world of personal finance and investing so that they didn’t have to make the same mistakes I did,” Lapin continued. “I wanted to show that if I could do it, truly anyone can. And, I knew that if I tried to be all things to all people, I would be nothing to anyone.”

Today, Lapin regularly appears on “The Dr. Oz Show,” “GMA3,” “E! Daily Pop” and “Ryan Seacrest,” in addition to hosting two podcasts for iHeartRadio: Hush Money, with editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur Jason Feifer, and Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin.

Lapin has also published several books on finance, including “Becoming Super Woman,” with a fourth book, her first of a seven-book deal with Harper Collins, “Miss Independent,” which published January 4.

“Miss Independent” is a 12-step plan to help guide readers to start investing and grow their own wealth.

“I think the pandemic has shown us that the need for an emergency fund that I talked about for years is real,” Lapin said. “It’s also reminded us that health and wealth are the most important things to take care of. The thing is, you can’t budget or save your way into wealth. Heck, even an increasing salary, as high as it might be, won’t grow your wealth.

“‘Miss Independent’ breaks down seemingly complicated concepts without jargon, which is what I think has been the barrier to entry for so many of us. I know it was for me.”

And the two feel right at home in the Palisades, enjoying all that the community has to offer.

“Palisades Village has become my second office,” Sanberg said. “The restaurants, shops and atmosphere there are perfect: not too big to be overwhelming and not too small to feel like something is missing.”

Lapin shared that they like to head there with their puppy, Penny. She said she also enjoys eating at places like Cafe Vida, Thai Vegan III and the yogurt shoppe.

“Of course, not all our days are rainbows and butterflies,” Lapin said. “We’ve quickly melded our lives together, both living and working together. We’ve had our fair share of growing pains in building a life together, as I’m sure many couples can relate to. But, at the end of the day I can’t imagine navigating this wild adventure with anyone else.”