Advisory Board Member Fátima Pérez-Luthi
Kansas Financial Educators Council
Fátima Pérez-Luthi, CFEI®, Founder and CEO of The Grind Coaching & Consulting, has nearly a decade of experience in the financial industry, gaining in-depth understanding of such diverse fields as banking, credit analysis, underwriting, consumer and real estate lending, leadership, and coaching/consulting. She holds an AS in Business from Allen Community College and a BBA with a minor in Communication from the University of Phoenix. She earned her Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI®) designation from the National Financial Educators Council in 2026.
In 2020 Pérez-Luthi founded her current entrepreneurial enterprise, The Grind Coaching & Consulting, with a clear and focused mission: to empower people and organizations to achieve financial success. The Grind specializes in outreach to underserved communities, helping them discover tools and resources that support informed financial choices. Originally working with individuals, the company has expanded to serve small businesses and nonprofits. In 2026 they launched a first-of-its-kind mobile app, Voyage CFO 4U, to provide access to powerful financial coaching, tools, and community for everyone.
The Kansas Financial Educators Council selects board representatives based on their combination of financial industry experience, demonstrated work ethic, and history of community service. Advisory Board Member Fátima Pérez-Luthi has met these criteria across the entirety of her rich and varied career. The KSFEC is looking forward to collaborating with Fátima Pérez-Luthi to build greater Kansas financial wellness in the months and years going forward.
Fátima Pérez-Luthi winning 2nd place in the Equity & Opportunity Pitch Contest, held by GO Topeka and the Greater Topeka Partnership.
Bringing Hustle and Drive to the Financial Wellness Movement: Fátima Pérez-Luthi
Fátima Pérez-Luthi started her banking and finance career right out of high school, as assistant manager of a payday loan company. But soon realizing how much she disliked their predatory lending practices, she left the firm to join the banking world. As an immigrant now a permanent U.S. resident, she felt college scholarships or funding were out of reach; so she pursued a different path working with Envista Credit Union. There she was consistently promoted through multiple roles – from Member Services, to Assistant Branch Manager, to Branch Manager.
Although she reached this high-level management position by age 21, Fátima was still living paycheck to paycheck – and faced a hard reality when she had her daughter and found that she couldn’t afford the baby’s formula without using a credit card. That’s what triggered her and her husband to take action. So they reverse engineered their financial plan – identifying that in 10 years they wanted to be self-sustained entrepreneurs; and working backward from there. By doubling down and making sacrifices, they completed that goal in seven years.
Pérez-Luthi founded her current business, The Grind Coaching & Consulting, in 2020 while still working at Envista. She started out coaching family and friends, taking an approach she describes as “throwing spaghetti on the wall,” until the local Chamber of Commerce reached out and offered to enroll The Grind in its propeller program. After Fátima graduated with a BBA from the University of Phoenix, the couple determined that they had enough of a financial cushion that she could leave her 9-to-5 position and devote all her energy to The Grind.
As her clientele began to build, Fátima Pérez-Luthi found herself drowning in work yet still short of earning the kind of salary she had enjoyed at Envista. It was then that she realized that 97% of financial planning firms consisted of small businesses. Her thought was: what if they’re operating off of 12 different software platforms, and can’t help more than 30 clients at a time? That’s how the idea for Voyage CFO 4U was born. With the goal of creating a mobile app that helps people measure their own financial health and how they save, spend, borrow, and plan, Pérez-Luthi and her husband began working with tech firms to turn their vision into reality.
Since then The Grind has expanded into reaching underserved, marginalized communities; opening an insurance agency in 2024; doing financial audits and developing financial plans; and delivering free financial education workshops under contract with KU Medical Center, El Heat, and Omni Circle Group. As they have diversified their services, the company now feels ready to become part of the larger financial wellness movement, which inspired Fátima Pérez-Luthi to join forces with the KSFEC on its expert Advisory Board. The Kansas Council believes her hustle, work ethic, and knack for making things happen make her a welcome addition to the cause.
Kansas Financial Educators Council Board Details
The Kansas Financial Educators Council Advisory Board Members drive our push to build sustainable, scalable economic empowerment programs that affect people’s lives at the community level. Our Advisory Board Members share their knowledge and expertise to guide financial wellness programs and donations to community members.
Our Board Members are professionals who have successfully passed a rigorous selection process and have proven their commitment to supporting the growth of sustainable financial wellness programming in their communities. Board members possess these traits:
Dedication
A demonstrated deep passion for raising financial wellness, empowering people, and strengthening whole communities with financial education.
Contribution
Minimum contributions of time, active participation, and communication are required of individuals and organizations selected to serve on the Advisory Board.
Integrity
Board members are individuals with a proven history of providing ethical, honest service in their local communities and maintaining strong professional values.