We are part of a system that holds rigid expectations: go to school, get a degree, get a job, but what happens when we don’t fit within such a timeline, or life interrupts us with experiences that leave us wondering?

Maxine Ryan spent most of her childhood asking questions most of us only grapple with as adults: what am I going to do with my life? Maxine never ‘fit in’ to the school system, she wasn’t a ‘good student’ in the traditional sense and the anxiety to do better followed her for most of her youth. 

After taking a gap year between school and university, Maxine felt a deep urge to help people but working within a system of government or policy felt too political and too far removed from creating meaningful, genuine impact, until she ran into her housemate. A single conversation about money and cryptocurrency revealed how little she knew about money and how important financial freedom is. And so, the two decided to start a company helping those in need to gain financial freedom.

Since then, Maxine has founded two companies, formerly Bitspark ( a cash-to-crypto solution company), and now ProsperApp, a financial literacy platform educating millennials and Gen Z about finance. In this insightful interview, Maxine reflects on the dark side of business, why we are not our thoughts and how she left university, quit her job and started a business in the same month.

Maxine Ryan is a fintech entrepreneur whose mission is to improve financial freedom of young people worldwide. Maxine has founded two companies, formerly Bitspark and now ProsperApp, where financial freedom is at the core of their purpose. ProsperApp’s aim is to improve millions of Millennials’ personal finance journey through viral video content. Maxine was awarded Forbes 30 Under 30 in FinTech and has spoken at over 200 international events. She lives in Hong Kong.

Connect with Maxine on LinkedIn

Learn more about ProsperApp