PRIOR TO BECOMING THE youngest-ever EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF Teen Vogue, A BESTSELLING AUTHOR, & A HOST ON Project Runway…
ELAINE WELTEROTH WAS A TEENAGER DEVOURING FINANCIAL BOOKS AND working MULTIPLE JOBS TO save up. That same ambition has carried her from the glossy pages of magazines to building purpose-driven businesses.
Welteroth, now a mom of 2, has channeled her energy into transforming maternal health through birthFUND, the nonprofit she launched to help families access midwifery care after discovering how transformative it was during childbirth. birthFUND is her answer to a system that too often puts profits before the human touch. Success, Welteroth believes, isn’t measured by what you have, but by what you’re able to give back. Read more about Elaine Welteroth’s journey in the C&C 100 interview below.
Growing up, what were some of the earliest lessons you were taught about money? Was money something that was openly discussed at home?
No, money wasn’t openly discussed at home. I grew up knowing we had just enough of it to get the things we needed and most of what we wanted, but never enough to be excessive or too “fancy.” While I famously studied “The Lifestyles of The Rich and Famous” on TV (for the Gen Z-ers who don’t know, that was an iconic show in the nineties lol), everything about how I was raised was modest. While I was always fascinated by “fancier” things, I was raised to never worship money and I’m grateful for that because I carry that same energy with me today. I have a healthy perspective on money as a tool for the things that truly matter.
My mom bought me a book called “Girl, Get Your Money Straight” when I was a kid and I read it cover to cover. I always yearned to know more about money—how to get more than enough to just get by, how to manage it, how to grow it, how to spend it wisely – I wanted to know how to really put money to work for the lifestyle and the impact I always knew I wanted to have in the world.
From the day I could get a worker’s permit at 15 I worked multiple jobs and I invested my first $1k check that I got for graduation. I kept multiple jobs throughout college and paid off my school loans before I turned 23 with money I earned from my first magazine job. Then I 10x’d my salary by leaving my magazine career altogether and never looked back.
You’ve worn many hats in your media career, but recently launched the Birthfund for expecting families to access midwifery care. Can you talk about what inspired you to fill this void?
Having a baby in this country changes you on a fundamental level. Learning more about the maternal health crisis, not just as a journalist, but from the perspective of someone who could have become a statistic, gave me a very different understanding of the issue that came with a sense of responsibility. As a storyteller with a platform, I felt I was in a unique position to do something about it. So, I did. And it’s been the most rewarding work of my life to date.
“Giving birth in the richest country in the world should never cost you your life.”
Through this work, and becoming a mom yourself, what’s something you were surprised to learn about the cost of childbirth?
Giving birth in the richest country in the world should never cost you your life. We have been brainwashed to buy into a birth system that prioritizes profits over patient care. We have become so desensitized to birth trauma and even the horrifying number of deaths that comes from unnecessary medical interventions during birth when it is anything but normal. America has access to the greatest technology in the world – and yet we have the deadliest birth outcomes. Which tells you we have a major problem. One that actually has proven, data-backed, evidence based solutions for – one of which is midwifery, which could prevent up to 80% of maternal deaths.
Yet, what I learned by switching from a hospital birth to a home birth with midwives at 36 weeks is that because midwifery isn’t covered by insurance, the out of pocket costs make it inaccessible to most Americans. And yet, I had the most beautiful, transformative birth experience that I believe everyone deserves access to. Which is why I started birthFUND because I believe giving birth with safety and dignity is a human right that should not be withheld from anyone because of a price tag.
Did you ever foresee yourself becoming an investor in the early days of your career?
Never. Not in the way it's manifested. Being a traditional investor in companies is something that I envisioned for myself and it’s something I feel very grateful to be able to do for the companies I believe are worth betting on, but investing in systems change isn’t something I ever thought would be on my bingo card.
How has your relationship with money evolved as you’ve advanced in your career?
There’s been a complete mentality shift from scarcity to abundance. I used to measure my success by how much I accumulated. But after having children, something shifted and I now measure my success by how much I can afford to give away.
If someone wanted to start building wealth today but felt overwhelmed or intimidated, what’s the first mindset shift you’d encourage?
The earlier you start investing, the better. It can be one of the most overwhelming mindset shifts you will make but the sooner you do, the prouder you’ll be of yourself down the line. I didn’t start investing until 2020. Up until that point, I pretty much hoarded everything I earned because I started my career in the recession and had been conditioned to work like every paycheck would be my last. But once I got educated about the returns on the market and let go enough to trust the right financial advisors to guide me, that’s when I started accumulating wealth. But it requires a complete rewiring of your brain.
What goals do you have for the Birthfund for 2026 and beyond?
To continue scaling not just the storytelling but the tangible impact we are making on how people think about their options in birth. I hope that the next generation of parents will go into motherhood much more prepared, and empowered, and that they come out of birth feeling whole, not broken by their experiences within the maternal health system.
Rapid fire POP QUIZ:
The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is:
smile and say thank you, God, for another day.
My current obsession is…
finding out how to squeeze one more hour out of the day.
A song that describes the era I’m in right now is:
”Caravan of Love” by The Isley Brothers. It’s a whole vibe. I start every day to this song playing on repeat in my house.
My current obsession is:
spend it cuddling with my babies.
3 words to describe the legacy I want to leave behind:
being remembered as someone who leveraged everything they were blessed with for the greater good.