LOS ANGELES—Opening today in downtown Los Angeles’ Arts District, Stacks House, dubbed a “pop-up with a purpose,” hopes to make financial literacy fun for women with playful, money-theme experiences.
She Stacks co-founder Kindra Meyer in Zelle’s Money Moves room.Photo: Courtesy of Stacks House
“We don’t think money is all that complicated, but it can trigger complicated emotions, which often paralyze us from moving forward,” explained Patience Ramsey, co-founder of She Stacks, the creators of Stacks House. “Marrying financial empowerment with a platform that is joyful and share-worthy changes the conversation and allows us to talk about these things and approach solving them in a way that is positive, communal, and, dare we say, fun.”
She Stacks, the brainchild of personal finance expert Farnoosh Torabi and experiential marketing veterans Ramsey and Kindra Meyer, aims to promote financial independence and close the gap between women and wealth through products, content, and experiences.
With Stacks House, which is produced by brand experience and content production agency Advoc8and fabricator Hatch Exhibits, the women help break down key financial goals such as earning more, saving, eliminating debt, and investing wisely, with rooms such as the Debt Boxing Gym, the Retirement Rodeo presented by Charles Schwab, and Money Moves from Stacks House’s presenting sponsor Zelle, a digital payments network owned by Early Warning Services.
Zelle’s sponsored room includes a house facade, complete mailbox and patches of grass.Photo: Courtesy of Stacks House
The sponsored room highlights three of the brand’s top use cases, including re-gifting, travel costs, and day-to-day expenses. For example, the travel area features a tropical arch covered in vines and aims to encourage women to feel comfortable splitting the cost of a girls’ weekend.
In addition to April being Financial Literacy Month, Lowry explained that now is the right time for such a pop-up because “coming out of the election, there’s been a lot more focus on how do we empower women, how do we help them know more about money so they have the freedom to make better choices in their lives. It’s always been a topic of conversation but it’s coming up more and more. How do we help support that, how do we give them financial education in a way that they can relate to, that speaks to them.”
Ramseysaid that Stacks House is designed to attract “hard-working, side-hustling, culturally attuned, ethnically diverse, modern women rising up to create their best selves.” Lowry added that “it is more focused on women, millennials, and Gen Z, [those] who would be open to this idea of an experiential pop-up. It is a different way of engaging with financial matters that’s really fun, very shareable.”
Like other ‘gram-worthy pop-up experiences, though, it comes at a cost. But the creators feel that it’s worth the investment. “We landed on our price point based on what previous pop-ups have charged guests,” Ramseysaid, “and actually think that since our pop-up offers a real purpose—financial literacy and empowerment—as well as an ongoing community and education through our newsletter that $38 is a value. That said, we offer discounts and special prices for large groups.”
Stacks House is open Wednesdays through Sundays through May 19 and is available for private rental; the founders also plan to move the pop-up to major markets such as Austin, Detroit, Minneapolis, and New York.
“We’re not going to be able to tackle everything, but we can make it simple and fun so people are willing to start a conversation, start having that initial dialogue around money,” Lowry said. “If it can make the topic of money a little less taboo and teach people a few things about how to get started then that’s a huge win.”
The pop-up's exterior features a graffiti-style tag line and social handle.Photo: Courtesy of Stacks House
The money-covered infinity room lets visitors see into their financial futures.Photo: Courtesy of Stacks House
The travel-inspired photo op in Zelle’s Money Moves room features a tropical arch covered in vines.Photo: Courtesy of Stacks House
At the Gold Bar, presented by Day Owl Wine, guests can sip rosé.Photo: Courtesy of Stacks House
)
