Keturah Orji isn’t your average Olympian.
As a force in track and field, Orji is attending the 2024 Olympics through the USA Track and Field team. Her eyes are set on the gold as her retirement plans are underway. Orji is a two-time Olympian and a 10-time U.S. champion in the sport.
When she’s not on the track, she is committed to helping to spread financial literacy to others, especially the youth in her community.
“When people believe in you, you’re able to accomplish so much more,” Orji told AFROTECH™. With a busy schedule, she said she still wants to find time to use her love for learning to inspire others.
Importance Of Financial Literacy
As a financial planning major in college, Orji took courses on wealth management, retirement planning, and various money-related topics.
“It opened my mind to how much information there is that we’re not exposed to,” she said. “I didn’t grow up knowing any of that; I only knew about saving.”
As a full scholarship student at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA, Orji was fortunate not to worry about taking out any loans to attend school. When her professor suggested opening a credit card, she recalled how her mother frowned upon it.
“That was the first time that I realized the education around something can greatly influence what you think of it,” said Orji. “Because I was in this space in school where they were educating us on why credit cards are beneficial, I thought of it as a positive tool that could help me do so much, but the way my mom had been taught about credit cards was that’s how you have mindless and uncontrolled spending.”
As the daughter of a Nigerian immigrant, Orji does not take her journey to her third Olympic games lightly.
After making the Olympic triple jump final twice in Rio and Tokyo, she understands her influence on other athletes. Thus, she gears her platform toward mentoring young girls about financial literacy.
“My dad, a Nigerian immigrant, came over here when he was 18, met my mom, they got married, and really instilled in us the Nigerian culture, even though we were not raised there. Even thinking about the fact that my dad came here with nothing, and I ended up representing Team USA, being one of the best American triple jumpers ever… nobody could have written that story,” she told AFROTECH™.
“The most important thing is sharing what I do,” Orji continued. “I think when people hear about personal experiences, you can give a PowerPoint presentation about a bunch of information, but I think people connect with your own story. So if I say, ‘Oh, I used to be terrified of investing, but I found out about a Robo advisor, and now I use that to manage all of my investments, and it’s a very low fee…’ When they know you’re doing it yourself, I think that helps people to move forward with things.”
At the end of the day, Orji aims to encourage other athletes to be multifaceted and have interests outside of their sport.
“On one side of the coin, it’s a lot of pressure because you know people are looking at you and seeing what you’re doing, and you’re kind of like influencing people a lot,” said Orji. “There is some pressure around it, but I would say that it just comes down to being genuine and staying true to who you are. I think someone can connect with every athlete out there. Some young people are looking at you and seeing themselves inside of you. My focus is just continuing to be true to who I am and what it is that I want to do.”
Beyond The Olympics
In the future, Orji says she plans to start a new mentorship program in addition to the one she was running in her hometown of Athens, GA.
Once she moves back to Atlanta, GA, Orji plans to start an athlete mentorship program that will allow her to meet with collegiate athletes and even some younger professional athletes to help them navigate the world as they transition into the professional space, specifically regarding managing money and investing.
