About Our Founder

Stephanie Vaught, J.D. was born and raised in Detroit, MI. She attended Detroit Public Schools and received a B.A. in Political Science Pre-law from Michigan State University in 2000. In 2007, Stephanie earned her Juris Doctor from Thomas M. Cooley Law School (now, Western Michigan University Cooley Law School) with a focus on Litigation. She has spent most of her professional career conducting legal research, writing and analysis, contract construction, and advocating on behalf of communities. 

In 2009, Stephanie developed a profound interest in personal finance – mostly based on a need to manage her own household and entrepreneurial endeavors. She read everything she could to educate herself on budgeting, money management, and money mindset. In 2015, Stephanie became a certified financial counselor and began work with a financial nonprofit providing financial counseling to thousands of people across the country for over 4 years.  

In 2018, Stephanie desired to take her knowledge and experience back to community and founded Social Money Finance, LLC.  She is passionate about changing the way people think about money and giving them tools that will help them take life changing action to improve their financial place for themselves and their  family.

To that end, Stephanie teaches you to assign greater value to every dollar you earn and purpose to every dollar you spend. Topics include money management, money mindset, credit education, debt resolution, and consumer protection.   

"When you learn better, you do better. You make more confident decisions with your money and position yourself for long term success." - Stephanie Vaught, J.D. 

Stephanie is happily married to her husband, Adam, and they reside in Metro Detroit with their dog, Henley.