Financier and wife of Olympic rower, Jordan Cracknell has launched her debut children’s book, You Can Count on Penny.
The book aims to inspire children, in particular young girls, with a love of numbers that a future career in finance is possible, and provide parents and stepparents with an enjoyable resource to open up conversations about where maths, and challenging societal norms around jobs, can lead to.
You Can Count on Penny tells the story of a young arctic fox who is born into a family that’s destined to do only one thing – collect ice.
However, Penny sees the magic in numbers everywhere, so when a leadership role in her village becomes available that would allow her to put her love of maths to good use, managing and trading the village's fish and berries, she decides to go after it – despite no one in her community ever changing jobs before.
In her new role, she is able to positively impact the village and help the foxes to achieve their own goals too.
Before writing the book, Jordan undertook research among parents that revealed a need for a resource for children.
Jordan says “We know already that children start thinking about career goals surprisingly early, around the age of seven, so having conversations about careers in the lead up to this can be inspiring and help them discover a career they might not be aware is possible for them.
“A third (32%) of the parents I studied have a child that loves maths, yet more than eight in ten have never discussed with them how maths can lead to a career in finance.
“Having looked into books available, and finding a lack of a ‘little miss banker’-type stories for children, I decided to combine my love of writing with my passion for advocating for more women in finance and created You Can Count on Penny as a tool for both parents and stepparents to open up conversations about careers, in a fun way with a book that children can love.
“The book is written for parents to read to their children at the early stages and as they develop their reading skills they can go on to read it themselves.
Often working as one of the only women at her job and now leading the UK division of a global finance company, Jordan also advocates for more women to develop investment portfolios as part of personal finance planning, and enter the industry.
Jordan adds “There’s not enough women in finance today. More women in the finance industry means breaking down the stereotype that women aren’t talented mathematically, and so my hope is that ambitious little Penny and her adventurous tale will inspire a future generation of girls to embrace their love of mathematics and give them a role model who shows that a career in finance is within reach, no matter what anyone says, or how impossible it seems.”
Jordan lives and works in the UK after relocating from New York City, where she was born and raised, to study for an MBA at the University of Cambridge where she met her now husband, James Cracknell.
She became interested in finance after a ‘take your daughter to work day' with her father, learning about every department at his office in the World Trade Center.
However, she never considered a career in the industry until she happened to share the same office with a startup investment company while working at her first ever job at an events company.
Her family knowledge of the industry gave her the confidence to walk over and ask for a job aged just 21. She was hired immediately and has never looked back.
You Can Count on Penny is available in paperback on Amazon now, RRP £6.99, with profits from the book being donated to Education & Employers, with the vision of providing children and young people with the inspiration, motivation, knowledge, skills and opportunities they need to help them achieve their potential.
