“Like most minorities, and specifically as a Black woman, I am often underestimated or spoken down to. I had several incidents where folks who work in real estate ignored me or simply assumed I wasn’t ready to purchase. Early in the process, I met with a financial advisor who I immediately felt was uninterested in speaking to me. Then he heard where I worked and saw my financial documents and immediately perked up. I ended that discussion shortly after. Later at a store, I was browsing and researching major appliances for my new place. A salesman stopped a coworker from approaching me to see if I needed help and whispered to him, 'she has no [money].' It was so ridiculous. They quickly learned that wasn’t the case, but I was not going to reward this behavior with my valuable, self-made cash. I’ve worked so hard for my career, my money, and my good credit score, and I have every right to be in those spaces and to be treated with top-notch customer service like everyone else.