After watching so many colleagues and more than a few friends suffer through the Financial Crisis of 2007, I wrote The Old Money Book, which was published a few years later. I wanted to share what I knew about living a values-centered life and help others escape the ‘consumer merry-go-round’.

Readers on my blog http://www.theoldmoneybook.com began to ask for my insights on relationships, and my second book, The Old Money Guide To Marriage followed, again with great reviews and solid sales. I’d lived and worked in Hollywood and had managed to enjoy a great marriage throughout that time. Again, I saw an opportunity to be of help by sharing what I know, and what I’ve lived through.

Last year, Lark, a dear friend of ours in California, suggested I write a book for women from a man’s perspective. I was at a loss. What could I really offer women in terms of advice? What kind of credibility would I have? How would my views resonate in the age of the #MeToo movement? I was at a loss. What could I really offer women in terms of advice? What kind of credibility would I have? How would my views resonate in the

I shared my concerns with Lark. She persisted. She advocated. She encouraged. I finally said, ‘I don’t know what to write. As a man, I don’t know what you know or…’ I hesitated, then I asked what turned out to be The Big Question:   Lark, what is it that you know now, that you wish you’d known when you were just starting out in life?

At that moment, the answers came pouring forth. Not just from Lark, but from my wife, from my ‘gang’ of female friends from high school, from women colleagues I work with and respect.

Every one of them had insights, information, strategies, regrets, and, more than anything else, hope. Hope that what they learned from their mistakes, experiences and hard-won wisdom could be passed down to young women—and women of any age—who could learn from it, benefit from it, without paying the price for it.

I realized then: I had to write Old Money, New Woman. As a man in a male-dominated society, I had a unique perspective that women could benefit from. I knew first-hand what men admired about women, what they disliked—and even feared—about women, and what some men secretly wished women knew about the world.

I knew this ‘code’ that men would never acknowledge. I could decipher it, and in doing so offer women a straightforward, no-nonsense approach to achieving their goals and having the quality of life they deserve.

I had to honor all the women who’d contributed so much to my life. My mother, who raised me with love and patience. My wife, who’s been an angel, a warrior, and a jewel in our 30 year marriage. The teachers who encouraged my writing. The female friends I’ve laughed, cried, and conspired with for almost half a century.

The women in my life had made an enormous impact. And not just on me. It wasn’t really about me at all. Old Money, New Woman is about them. It is for them. It is by them. I’m just the messenger