Discover how @MrsDowJones uses Adobe Acrobat to support her modern media business
Haley Sacks has a message for young professionals: finance is cool. Sacks — aka @MrsDowJones, the Zillennial Finance Expert — uses humor and pop culture to make the world of personal finance accessible, understandable, and fun for audiences. Her expert financial advice and charm have earned her more than a million followers across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
Sacks founded Finance Is Cool in 2017 to make following the Dow Jones as enjoyable as scrolling through TikTok. As her alter-ego Mrs. Dow Jones, Sacks shares free financial tips and tricks in entertaining ways over social media. Followers who want to learn more can enroll in finance courses through Finance Is Cool University.
Named to Fortune’s 40 under 40 list in 2020, Sacks knows that the key to running a successful modern media brand is working smarter. As part of her approach, she counts Adobe Acrobat as one of her top business tools.
“I don’t want to spend a lot of unnecessary time on administrative tasks,” says Sacks. “I want to be creating content, working with my audience, and building my team. It’s been such an upgrade to switch to Acrobat to manage our daily document needs.”
Putting the fun in finance
Sacks grew up around the concept of money management — her father worked for Goldman Sachs — but she didn’t learn finances at an early age. It was the opposite: her dad left work in the office and avoided talking about money at home. Sacks went on to study film and later honed her comedic chops in the New York entertainment scene while working for the likes of David Letterman and Lorne Michaels.
It was soon after she graduated college that Sacks started to realize she didn’t understand finances. What should her budget be? How should she save? What did all of these investment terms mean? She dug deeper into the subject, watching videos and reading books. While the sources were insightful, many of them were also technical and boring. She knew it didn’t have to be that way.
“Understanding finances and making smart decisions makes our lives better, but most people aren’t taught about how to manage money,” says Sacks. “I want to take the mystery and fear out of finance by sharing the secrets of success I’ve learned. People talk to trainers and therapists to improve their physical and emotional wellness. I want to be the person people turn to when looking at their financial wellness.”
Giving audiences the content they crave
Fans eagerly await each new update from @MrsDowJones, whether it’s a social media video, newsletter, or University course. While Sacks started out as a one-woman operation, demand for new content soon outgrew what she could handle alone. She now oversees an eight-person team with four full-time employees and frequent collaboration with partners.
Every piece of content starts with a written concept. The Finance Is Cool team uses the Share for Review feature in Acrobat to add comments and collaborate on each idea. Sacks is always on the go, whether she’s attending meetings, recording videos in her studio, or interviewing people on the street. She likes that the Adobe Acrobat Reader mobile app makes documents easy to read and edit on her phone or iPad so she can get work done anywhere.
“We work 30 percent faster with Acrobat,” says Sacks. “That’s a huge time savings that we can put towards creating something new. Our team is updating Finance Is Cool University courses, and I’m writing a book. We’re growing and there’s always more to be done, but Acrobat makes everything easier.”
Investing in creativity, not administration
Sacks would love to spend her days focusing just on content and interacting with audiences, but running a growing business involves a lot of administration. Before working with Acrobat, Sacks describes her processes as “kind of a mess”. Every task — from e-signing contracts to sending invoices — seemed to require different technology. Now everything gets converted to PDF for enhanced convenience, security, and shareability.
This year Sacks is using Acrobat for tax preparation. She frequently works with contractors who need to receive W-9 tax forms. Rather than filling out paper documents, she sends out a PDF saved as a fillable form. She then combines PDF documents to organize the tax information into one secure file for her accountant.
“I probably run 30 documents per quarter through Acrobat,” says Sacks. “Using Acrobat to digitize and organize my business taxes saves me an hour or more a week. That’s an hour of freedom to be creative and build the Finance Is Cool brand.”
Working smart with top technology
Sacks has always been a fan of Adobe apps. Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Express, and Adobe Premiere Pro are musts for video content creators, and that familiarity with the brand helped Sacks feel comfortable with Acrobat. She believes that the app is a must for all small business owners, no matter their background.
“Acrobat is unique because it’s so intuitive,” says Sacks. “It’s easy to set up, customize, and integrate with other programs so it can do exactly what I need. Once I realized its versatility, there was no other choice. Acrobat is one of the best tools to keep a small business running efficiently and helping owners focus on what they do best.”
Learn more about Adobe Acrobat and follow Haley Sacks aka @MrsDowJones across social media.