When Farnoosh Torabi decided to major in finance, she had no idea that a few years later she would be co-hosting a prime time show on TLC.

Torabi, Class of 2002, is the financial adviser on Real Simple. Real Life., a new show on The Learning Channel (TLC) that tries to help women simplify different aspects of their lives in areas such as personal finance, personal style and home design.

"We help everyday women who are trying to juggle a million things at a time," Torabi said.

In the most recent episode in which she was featured, Torabi worked with a woman with a bad habit of overspending.

Torabi said the term "shopaholic" is often used too loosely and that the woman's problem was forgetting the clothes already in her closet. She advised returning unused clothing and spending more time with family.

Torabi said the show's main focus is on the basic problems people face at home.

"It is nothing like an extreme home makeover," she said. "We want the viewer at home to go, 'Oh yeah, I can do this.' It's about tweaking to make things less time consuming."

A career in TV wasn't an obvious path for Torabi, who started out as a finance major at Penn State and worked for the business division of The Daily Collegian.

"While I was there," she said, "it hit me that I didn't want to be on the business side, I wanted to be on the media side. My conscience was fighting with me, but I was halfway through college at that point. I realized I needed to do something that would position me well for journalism school."

Greg Pierce, a former finance management professor of Torabi's, said it is rare for finance students to go into journalism.

"It's usually banking or corporate," he said. "She is taking it to the next level and tying her love of finance together with her love of journalism."

Torabi started an internship at the magazine Money and then attended graduate school at Columbia University to earn a degree in journalism. After returning to the magazine for a few months, she began a job at NY1 News as a business and news producer.

"It was a very small unit, just me and an anchor," she said. "But I was shooting my own footage. I was like my own assembly line. That was like graduate school part two for me."

While working for NY1, Torabi had the opportunity to interview hundreds of financial authors and became interested in the idea of writing a book of her own.

"It kind of hit me," she said. "I wondered, 'how did they get to write their books?' Most had articles in the past. I thought maybe I could translate my articles into a book."

An author helped her get in touch with an agent and in April 2008, You're So Money was published, she said.

She described the book as "bloggy" and filled with information beneficial for young people, such as student loans and credit card debt.

"The theme of the book is that being young is cool and that you have all these opportunities," she said.

Torabi also worked for the financial Web site thestreet.com where she was able to interview and work closely with founder and Mad Money host Jim Cramer. While intimidating at first, Torabi said she never felt awkward asking Cramer for advice. Their close relationship allowed her to convince Cramer to speak at Penn State in 2008.

With the book's publication and her work for the Web site came more offers.

"Once the book came out," she said, "it took on a life of its own."

Torabi received calls with freelancing opportunities, as well as TV spots.

Although Real Simple is her first cable TV series, Torabi is no stranger to the spotlight. Since graduating from Penn State, she has been featured on several TV broadcasts, including The Today Show, for her expertise.

"If you're on The Today Show, that's the most exposure you can ask for," she said. "I'll get a call from MSNBC asking, 'Can you talk about the same thing?' It took on a life of its own and you just have to sit back and pray it doesn't go away."

The exposure eventually led to the TLC opportunity. Torabi's agent called her in July and asked her if she could be in Los Angeles for an audition in two days. She landed the spot and attributed it to her fresh approach with finance.

"I think with finance, you need to bring some humor to the table," she said. "They didn't expect me to be female, 28 and upbeat instead of an accountant type with dark suits and speaking very dryly. That's what I sense they saw in me and why I stood out."

But even with success, Torabi said she still feels a responsibility to give back to Penn State.

"You have got to spread the word," she said. "It's the least I can do to go back and talk to some students. One thing in business and in life that I've learned is it matters who you know."

Daily Collegian Business Adviser Candy Heckard worked with Torabi while she was at Penn State and is grateful for her willingness to come back.

"She will talk to any of our students about anything," she said. "She is very genuine and that's why I think she's doing well."

Torabi is proud of her independence and where her personality and determination have taken her.

"At the end of the day, I have to be myself," she said. "So why not be myself at the beginning instead of who they want me to be? I travel and people want to hear my opinion. I'm not just stuck at a desk."