ABout lola

Why “Lola” Retreat?

“How did you come up with the name Lola?” It’s a question we get a lot. Melanie Lockert is an unabashed musical theater nerd and during the planning process became inspired by the song “Whatever Lola Wants" from Damn Yankees, specifically the line “Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets.” We believe that when you get your money right and your finances in order, you can go after whatever you want. We want every woman to channel their inner Lola and go after whatever their heart desires.

How Did Lola Retreat Start?

Melanie Lockert and Emma Pattee bonded over their shared passion for women and finance and said, “women need to talk more about money.” One crazy election and a dozen tearful, passionate, inspired phone calls later, and we were convinced. The time for women to be talking about money is right now.

Lola Retreat seeks to empower women to take control of their finances right now. And the only way to do it is together. Tell our stories. Share our dreams. Hold each other accountable. Become bolder, together.

So in 2017 we co-founded and launched Lola Retreat. Our first event was held in Portland, Oregon in August 2017 and our second event was held in New York City in April 2018 and our third event was in Los Angeles in February 2019.

Now Melanie is taking Lola Retreat to more women with more events across the country. Lola Retreat is all about breaking taboos around money, building community, and empowering women to get their money right so they can live the life of their dreams. In the quest for equality, we can’t afford to ignore the financial and economic aspects that affect women.

Meet Melanie

Melanie Lockert is the founder of the blog and author of the book, Dear Debt. Through her blog, she chronicled her journey out of $81,000 in student loan debt. She is also the co-founder of the Lola Retreat, which helps bold women face their fears, own their dreams and figure out a plan to be in control of their finances. She is passionate about empowering women, helping others get out of debt, and focuses on the intersection of debt and mental health. Every September she organizes a Suicide Prevention Awareness Blog Tour, to help share resources for those struggling with debt and suicide.

You can find her at DearDebt.com, MentalHealthandWealth.com and @MelanieLockert.