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OfColor is a black-owned financial wellness platform that is available to all—but unapologetically centered around employees of color.
Financial advice has long been tailored to the needs and perspectives of the majority (in other words white, middle-aged men), excluding and ignoring people of color and their unique set of financial and personal challenges. In an effort to address the racial wealth gap and fight for economic justice in this country, Yemi Rose founded OfColor. The mission was to offer financial wellness to employees of color at all the largest enterprises, giving them access to personalized financial coaching, actionable insights tools, and a rich library of educational content.
For most of these employees, this was the first time they had access to content that really resonated with them, and they were able to talk to financial coaches who not only knew their unique experience, but lived it themselves.
One of OfColor's core offerings was its personal finance library of video and written educational content. However, their content process was slow, inconsistent, and disjointed.
We were handed the keys to overhauling the entire process, from building voice guidelines to strategizing content calendars and content production. With our new strategy, we transformed their platform into a dynamic engine that consistently delivered culturally relevant personal finance pieces.
When we started in February 2024, OfColor’s content primarily served a Black American audience. However we wanted to broaden the spectrum of race and ethnicity to truly serve the intended user-base. Driving down into our unique audience groups and the communities they are a part of was imperative to make this project a success.
We leaned into specialization, creating content based on race, gender, and sexuality. Today, the conversation has broadened to include tailored content for a multitude of diverse audiences such as women of color, LGBTQ+ communities, and of course specific races and ethnicities, such as Arab Americans, AIAN, AAPI, and Hispanic Americans.
Establishing trust with our audience was paramount. We spoke to them—and not just about them—adding first-person quotes, cultural contexts, and actionable steps.
We recognized that the key to effective content was understanding the shared experiences and nuances of diverse communities. By gathering first-person accounts and stories from surveys and interviews of our unique audiences, we could craft content that was not only educational but also deeply relatable. This allowed us to observe the world from inside minority communities and create content from a “we/us” perspective, instead of oversimplifying groups of people based on sterile statistics.
We ensured the voice matched our audience's, incorporating pop culture references, slang, and relatable everyday examples. This approach made the content feel more like a conversation with a trusted friend than a lecture.
Given the delicate nature of topics like money, race, and gender, we approached all content with empathy and care. Bold affirmations were always backed by data or thoughtful research, ensuring our content remained respectful and grounded.
The first step was establishing a consistent posting schedule and a curriculum-based content plan to fill in the existing informational gaps, serialize content verticals, and break down broad financial topics into comprehensive lessons that users could easily follow.
To achieve consistent content release, we developed monthly calendars and weekly posting schedules, ensuring a minimum of 10 pieces of content per month. By working one month ahead, we allowed ample time for edits, revisions, and fact-checking, leading to a steady flow of high-quality content.
Each month, we conducted a brainstorming session, where we explored previous work and identified gaps or new angles. We segmented our audience by factors like career stage, gender, and race, to ensure content is tailored and impactful.
Once ideas were selected, they were organized and scheduled in a content calendar that detailed production time for writing and design. After thorough research and outlining, we carefully crafted empathetic and informative content. Each piece went through rigorous internal editing, client review, and copy editing before release.
We believe uploading consistent content to the platform was only one piece of the puzzle. We also needed to consider how the content was being organized, presented, and consumed by the users.
We expanded the lessons offered in the platform to not only have unlimited content within them but to follow a curriculum-style format, where content incrementally builds the user's understanding of a topic with a mix of videos and articles.
In addition to these lessons, we introduced 12 content groups that displayed similar to Netflix-style library suggestions. These groups included serialized content like "Perspectives", "Heritage Months", and "Question's Answers," as well as user-personalized content like "OfColor Picks", "Latest", and "Continue Where You Left Off" recommendations. These content groups helped keep the user engaged and the platform fresh every time a user entered.
