Thereza Bukow

Updated March 2010

Brazil’s economy is one of the fastest growing emerging markets and its expanding middle classes are rapidly acquiring wealth. Female purchasing power has increased tremendously, yet 28 year-old Thereza Bukow has found that many middle-class women don’t know how to manage or invest this newfound capital. With a majority of Brazilian women running everyday household budgets, she decided the market was ready for the tools and resources offered by Bolsa Cheia, an Internet platform to educate and empower women financially.

The joys of a plentiful purse

Bolsa Cheia literally means ‘plentiful purse’ in Portuguese and the goal of Thereza’s company is to make women feel secure about money, investments and donations. The objectives are twofold: to target and attract women looking to invest and to educate on how to save and spend wisely. Educational aspects will cover the fundamentals of personal finance, with articles on the mechanisms of interest rates, for example.

‘Women have taken on key roles in the social changes affecting our country,’ says Thereza, but given Brazil’s economic past, not everyone has an innate knowledge of how to move forward financially.’ More advanced tools, such as applications to track monthly expenses and save on bills, or financial goal applications to plan for investment, will be rolled out in a secondary phase.

Social gains through networks

Teaching was a childhood vocation for Thereza, who duly trained to be a teacher after graduating with honours from São Paulo University. ‘Now I want to take education beyond the classroom. I’ve always wanted to be able to spread knowledge to as many people as possible.’ So it’s no surprise that Bolsa Cheia will be linked up to social networking sites, in a country where 66 million people use the Internet: ‘I believe that teamwork breeds progress and women can help each other by sharing. My own social networking led me to find about the Cartier Awards on Facebook!’

Bolsacheia.com initially aims to reach one million women and will gain revenue from advertising, referral fees and consultancy opportunities.To launch her business, Thereza has teamed up with her cousin and strategic advisor, Tiffany Bass Bukow, who successfully developed the MsMoney.com finance education website in the US and inspired Thereza to become an entrepreneur.

Thereza’s prime model, however, is no doubt her mother, who kept her family of four out of poverty after her husband passed away suddenly when Thereza was just ten. ‘Too many women rely on men to make the major financial decisions, then find themselves lost if they become widowed or divorced,’ Thereza says. ‘It’s time they took control of their financial destiny!’

Power to the purse

Social responsibility will be a key part of Bolsa Cheia’s objectives and each month the website will profile charities and micro-enterprises seeking funding and run by women. In many ways, this epitomises Thereza’s view of her enterprise as an extension of the kind of support her mother and family have always given her: ‘Just telling women they are on the right path and can achieve their goals and dreams is a huge support and empowerment,’ she confirms.