What Susan Powter was to fitness, Suze Orman is to finance. The self-help guru, bestselling author, and TV host preaches about money matters to millions of impoverished consumers.

Born in Illinois to immigrant parents, Orman attended the University of Chicago Urbana-Champaign, and received her B.A. in social work in 1976. She worked for Merrill-Lynch and Prudential Bache Securities before leaving to found the Suze Orman Financial Group in 1987. The Suze Orman Show on CNBC is one of the network's highest-ranking programs, and she has won two Emmy's for her successful PBS specials. In 2010 she was ranked one of the 100 most influential women in the world by Forbes magazine.

In 2012, Orman launched a pre-paid debit card called The Approved Card linked to TransUnion Credit Company. The card is designed to help people build credit without an actual credit card (oh what a world), but has been released to somewhat mixed reviews.

In her personal life, Orman came out in 2007 to NY Times Magazine, and has since married Kathy Travis (a co-producer on the Suze Orman Show). She splits her time between Florida, New York, and San Francisco.

[Image via Getty]