Our Financial Wellness Roadtrip Results

The Road to Financial Wellness road trip began as a grassroots and social media experiment to break the taboo about money and turn local money discussions into a national conversation on financial well-being.

We completed two roadtrips that took our team across the United States.

The project was supported by bloggers, podcasters, CFP® and AFC® professionals, money coaches, and financial advisors. It was funded by the generosity of credit unions, banks, startups, nonprofits, and government agencies.

We’re known for our special events attracting hundreds of people. Our signature wellness event (the Summit) has been called the “TED Talk” of the personal finance space. Attendees are inspired and educated through financial storytelling from bloggers, social influencers, educators, and financial professionals.

Our events were covered by USAToday and many other media outlets.

The phroogal team has co-hosted events in places such as:

• bowling alleys
• yoga studios
• restaurants and bars
• libraries
• planetarium
• coworking spaces and corporate offices
• credit union branches and community centers
• colleges and high schools
• hotels and stadiums
• county and state parks

After two successful years on the road, the experiment has evolved into a movement empowering a generation through knowledge, access, and community.

Overall Roadtrip Results

• Miles Driven: 28,874
• Events: 91
• Attendees: 14,845
• Locations: 86

What started as an experiment to break the social taboo about money has evolved into a movement helping thousands of people get on the road to financial wellness.

Road to Financial Wellness 2.0 Results

Phroogal’s Road to Financial Wellness won its second Plutus Award for Best Personal Finance Collaboration Project at the 7th Annual Plutus Awards held at FinCon in San Diego.

• Events: 54
• Financial Education Hours: 216
• Attendees: 6,845
• Pit Stops: 50
• Miles Traveled: 18,656
• States Visited: 46
• Bloggers/Podcasters Participated: 65
• Companies and Non-Profit Participated: 26
• Credit Unions and Affiliates: 31

Notable Mentions: FinCon, USAA, Credit Sesame, Rutgers University, Experian, and Centsai.

Social Reach

• Facebook Live Views: 200,000+
• Twitter Impressions: 32,923,818

We are grateful to the over 65 personal finance bloggers and podcasters who made this possible, as well as the generous support of our sponsors across the country. We share the award with you all.

After 107 days on the road, the Phroogal team completed an epic journey that continued on the mission to break the social taboo and empower a generation through financial knowledge. We began our road trip with an event in my hometown of Elizabeth, NJ, where over 210 people attended, and our final event in San Diego, attended by 264 people.

I’ve often stated that we’re on the right track if we can get a dozen people to a financial education event. If we can get dozens of people (in this case, hundreds) into a financial wellness event, we are doing something impactful.

We learned a great deal from this year’s attendees, who began asking us how they could choose the best products and services or where to find them.

The big lesson learned: There is so much information that is readily available online. A big concern for millennials is finding trustworthy information and better financial products and services.

Thank you to our sponsors!

Road to Financial Wellness 1.0 Results

The Road to Financial Wellness 2015 won the Plutus Award for Best Personal Finance Collaboration Project. The project was an epic undertaking supported by over a hundred people. This would not have been possible without the support of so many people.

We learned a great deal on the road and created many memories. We met so many amazing people and heard compelling stories.

The road trip team included Jason Vitug, founder at phroogal, Yaroslav Tashak and Austin Strickland of Montville, NJ; Julianna Anselmini of Union, NJ; and Larry Solha of Elizabeth, NJ.

Team accomplishments

• 138 hours of driving
• 10,218 miles of road
• 26 major cities visited
• 11 small cities, towns, and suburbs visited
• 37 events completed
• 8,000+ people reached

This was all possible with the help of:

• 4 road trip team members
• 2 virtual team members
• 47 personal finance bloggers and podcasters
• 18 credit unions and credit union service organizations
• 12 nonprofit financial education organizations
• 5 Twitter chats
• 6 media partners
• 1 national sponsor, Payoff.

At the peak of the road trip, we had a Twitter Reach of 2,156,446 with 10,062,278 Impressions for #TheRoad hashtag.

With our media partner, Wisebread, a single Twitter Chat resulted in 120,784 Twitter User Reach with 5,607,918 Impressions.

I shared my seminar, Your Money & Mindset.

The event and seminar feedback was overall positive. The attendees connected with the message of evaluating one’s relationship with money, becoming financially aware, and using mindful spending to purchase the things and experiences that truly add value to one’s life.

Thank you to our sponsors

Want to work with us on a future road trip or event? Send a message to begin the conversation.