“There are some complicated feelings around that when you don’t want the brain drain to happen, but then you’re also part of it.”
Kaur, who migrated to New Zealand from India at age 2, ditched a career in optometry and started running her financial education media company Friends That Invest (rebranded from Girls That Invest last year) in 2020. She made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2023, became Young New Zealander of the Year in 2024, reached the top 20 in the Deloitte Fast 50 with her business in 2025, and became “work optional” (financially independent) four months ago.
From the outside, these achievements are signs of a serious risk-taker. Kaur disagrees.
“In my mind, because [the company] is an online brand – I got to do it without taking too much risk,” she says, pointing out she saved costs after moving back in with her parents at one point. “Whereas moving countries and setting up shop in a new country, that’s just, oh, so scary.”
It’s a huge change for someone who likes a familial routine. Kaur and her husband, whom she married in March, like to have dinner or brunch with their parents once a week. For Kaur, replacing these intimate habits with connections that mattered will be the biggest adjustment.
“Making your own family in a new country and meeting new people and setting up that support system … I think that will be really hard.”
Hard – but still a move Kaur says she always wanted to take. She’s returned to The Big Apple every year since first visiting in 2022 – she says it “blew my mind”.
“It’s a very busy city with a lot of movement, and you can very quickly feel like you’re not doing enough and falling behind.”
Getting uncomfortable is the point on a personal level. By her admission, Kaur lives in a “little cocoon” in the suburb she’s spent her whole life in. “It’s really nice, but you don’t really grow,” she says.
“Even if I don’t achieve what I set out to, being able to tell myself [that] I set out to do something and get out of my comfort zone – that’s a success even if the outcome isn’t what I hope, as opposed to … keep safe and keep stable and don’t really try to keep growing.”
The move is a good decision for the business, she says. While the company will remain based in New Zealand, Kaur says she will expand it from the US by tapping into opportunities such as advertising partnerships and in-person events.
“Our largest portion of customers are podcast listeners and masterclass buyers … women based in New York and based in the US.
“If you live in New York, you’re probably earning a higher salary, you probably have a bit more disposable income … it’s also one of the financial capitals of the world, so people that live there may be more ready to start investing.”
Last week, Kaur shared a video on Instagram about the concerningly high cost of living in other countries, joking that she “might come out of retirement”.
You could hear the shock (and disgust) in her voice when asked about New York’s prices.
“I didn’t realise the rental prices of a one-bedroom small apartment in a safe area, like a semi-nice area … it’s like US$4000, US$5000 a month,” she says. “That is so much higher than the mortgage I pay on my house in New Zealand.
“I’ve brought out my budgeting template again and I’m being a little bit more stringent just because you can’t exactly be fast and loose with your money in a place like that.”
She declined to comment about US politics or immigration.
The former Young New Zealander of the Year is looking forward to stepping outside of her comfort zone.
Kaur says she has “lost a lot of friends” to London, Melbourne and Sydney.
“It is really sad because you want your country to be a place where people want to stay and want to build their businesses.
“And I feel like I’m on the opposite end where I’ve built my business, created a lot of success, and now I’m building it further.”
She describes herself as a “believer in Team New Zealand”. And while she believes the country is a “safe and caring” environment for raising families – some of her friends have returned from living abroad to have kids – she also believes it lacks in other areas.
“It would be so much better if New Zealand created an environment where young people go, oh, the best opportunities are actually in the country and not outside.
She takes quiet satisfaction in not moving abroad when she was younger. She’s at a stage “where I know myself and I know what I stand for and what I’m there to do”.
“I think if I went earlier in my life I probably would get quite easily swept up in like the hustle and bustle, and you meet all these cool people that are doing cool things and you’re like, ‘What am I doing? Oh my god, I’m falling behind’.”
While she is forthcoming about many personal aspects of her life on social media, she has decisively kept her relationship out of the public eye.
Her husband, who is in “finance” and is a “professional”, is joining Kaur of his own accord. Recently, he obtained the same visa.
“He’s already gotten his, so it would have been a real shame if he got to go and I didn’t,” she jokes.
“I feel like I give so much of my financial life [on social media],” she says. “In the past I’ve shared like my salary and my investments and net worth and all those really kind of pervy pieces of information which I’ve been so happy to do.”
She says some people analyse a couple after seeing social content, and they want to prevent the “noise of other people and opinions” about their relationship.
“When you talk about money online, you also just want to protect your privacy and safety … family life.”
Varsha Anjali is a journalist in the lifestyle team at the Herald. She is based in Auckland.