Hey everyone!

We’re Oliver and Idalmis and welcome to our blog, The Wealthy Alchemist. Here you will find content related to personal finance and personal development.

The idea for this site was born from a combination of our passion for learning about finances. Also Personal growth and our desire to help others in these areas of their lives.

The Wealthy Alchemist is for anyone who believes that they can be better today than they were yesterday. Our philosophy is that to grow your wealth, you must first grow yourself.

Our goal is to regularly publish content related to personal finance and development every week on our site. We hope you come by and stay with us for a while. And we look forward to hearing from you.

I didn’t actually become a game designer, but I did end up getting a Bachelors’s in Computer Science from the University of South Florida.

When I graduated, I moved to the east coast and began living the dream as a computer programmer in Fort Lauderdale. Unfortunately, a few months later the bottom fell out of the economy.

Before the global recession, I hadn’t taken a single finance or economics course. But after the recession, I began studying banking and economics to try and understand that seemingly mystical world. 

And surprise, surprise…I quickly found that I loved learning about it. I loved it so much in fact that I returned to school for a Bachelors in Accounting. I then got my Masters in Accounting. Finally, I became a licensed CPA in Florida.

I had spent many years studying the abstract ideas of accounting and economics. But my recent marriage and upcoming student loan payments changed things. They made me highly motivated to study the more practical concepts of personal finance and budgeting.

For that reason, I began reading and studying as many different budgeting and personal finance resources I could get my hands on. Many of the ideas I encountered were very useful for me and I hope to share them with you here on this site.

About Idalmis

Hi, 

I am Idalmis, the other half of The Wealthy Alchemist.

I’m originally from Cuba, but I’ve lived in Barcelona for 17 years. And since June 2018 I have lived in Florida with my husband, Oliver.

Ever since I was little, I’ve always had a strong sense of responsibility and a desire to help people in general. And although I am the youngest of 11 siblings, I have always assumed the role of caretaker for everyone around me.

Even as a young girl I knew that the career path I chose would have to be in alignment with my nature as a caretaker. I didn’t know exactly what I would end up doing. But I knew that whatever it was had to have a positive impact on many people’s lives.

At that time I thought that being the president of a country was a good way for me to reach a lot of people. Because  I Thought only politicians could have an impact on a great number of people. This thought only lasted for a nanosecond though. I knew that I didn’t have the training or the desire to go into politics.

Luckily for me, I learned over time that to make a great impact you don’t have to be a powerful politician affecting widescale changes over a country. Sometimes the most important things are very small things that are of great value to individual lives.

Because of this thought process, I ended up choosing to study nursing. For me, it represented my values as a person and looking back on it I believe that it was a very wise career choice.

My Nursing Path 

I studied nursing in Cuba. During my five-year career there, I gained invaluable experience and technical knowledge that allowed me to care for my patients physically and emotionally.

My first role as a nurse was working with infants. It was such a beautiful experience. Working with kids gave peace, joy, calmness, and it was also a lot of fun to be with them. Over the next few years, I worked as a supervisor in various units of the hospital, broadening my perspective and approach to nursing.

In 2001, I started a new project, this time in Barcelona. Leaving my family was one of the hardest experiences I’ve ever had, but I managed to focus on the goals I had set for myself and move forward.

As a nurse in Spain, I was exposed to multiple and varied experiences. My first role in Spain was working with elderly people, a stage that brought me a lot of knowledge and a totally different perspective on life.

After that, I began to work in a hospital where I remained for 15 years until I moved to the United States.

My stay in the hospital broadened my knowledge, both as a nurse, and later as a team manager on the night shift. It was an enriching experience both personally and professionally. I had the opportunity to work with wonderful people, and I was also able to accompany and support my patients.

Helping others gave me a sense of connectedness, happiness, fulfillment, and meaning. The opportunities I was exposed to there were enormous. The experiences I accumulated were great, but a part of me wanted to do something else.

I had the desire to perfect my management and organizational skills, as well as learn new things outside of the healthcare industry.

My MBA Dream 

This desire eventually led me to enroll in an MBA program in Barcelona. This program was extremely exciting for me. It was wonderful to interact with professionals from different sectors, each with extensive business experience. Every day was like a great mental workout for me.

It was then during my master degree that my passion for finance began. It was hard at the beginning because it was an onslaught of new knowledge that I had to assimilate and integrate in a short period of time. It was a huge challenge, but the education I received from that program is partly the reason I am here today.

I understood then how important finance is, not only in the world of business but also on a personal level. And since that realization, I have tried to apply what I have learned. It hasn’t been always easy to stick with it, because many of our financial decisions are influenced by our emotional states.

Today, I am in the process of transitioning my professional career. I am happy to look back and know that I did exactly what I wanted to do, that my decisions were right. I have enjoyed each stage of my life so far, and I am starting this newest stage with joy and optimism.