The Economics of Identity: How Bias Impacts Wealth Building

What if one of the first barriers to wealth-building begins before a person ever speaks?

In this powerful episode of Past to Posterity: Building Legacy One Generation at a Time, Florence Haley sits down with educator, researcher, and speaker Dr. Marijuana Pepsi Vandyck for a thought-provoking conversation on identity, perception, and opportunity.

Together, they explore how names, bias, expectations, and self-perception can quietly shape educational experiences, career opportunities, income potential, and ultimately generational wealth. Dr. Vandyck shares her personal journey of growing up with a name that drew judgment and assumptions, and then, as she was teaching and seeing how a teacher reacted to names, she transformed that experience into groundbreaking research and purpose-driven work.

This episode goes beyond money to examine the deeper foundations of legacy:

• How identity impacts confidence and access
• The hidden economic cost of bias
• Why perception influences opportunity
• The role families play in shaping self-worth

This is a conversation about more than names. It’s about power, ownership of your story, and the lasting impact of how we see ourselves and how the world sees us.

Because legacy isn’t just what you leave behind.

It’s what you build into people while you’re here.