Money Healing Club Podcast

🛒 The Sadness of Saying Enough (And Why Certain Things Are Just Harder for YOU to Resist) + Leah Kern

EPISODE SUMMARY
Why do some things feel so easy to talk yourself into?
Maybe you don't even like shopping, and yet there are a couple of categories where a different gear kicks in. This episode started with a listener voicemail about exactly that. So on this week's episode of the Money Healing Club podcast, Rachel digs into why certain things feel so much harder to resist, and what that spending is really trying to say.
Rachel gets into the values and memories living underneath the things you love, then brings back her friend Leah Kern, a registered dietitian and intuitive eating coach, to talk scarcity, rebellion, and the quiet grief she calls the sadness of saying enough. No five-step plan here, just a kinder way to meet yourself.
💬 "Getting better with money is actually a process of understanding yourself, not stopping yourself." (Rachel Duncan)
What you'll take away:
You don't impulse spend on everything. Naming your specific kryptonite categories, and noticing where you stay grounded, is the real starting point.
The pull toward a certain purchase is often carrying a memory, an age, or a piece of unfinished business that no amount of spending can actually resolve.
Leah's sadness of saying enough: when something pleasurable ends, a little grief can surface, and reaching for more is a normal way to soften it.
Abundance can be steadying. Having enough on hand can signal safety to your nervous system, while restriction often backfires.
It's both/and. You're allowed to want things and plan for them, and you can still practice a kind pause that uses your whole brain.
Some of this isn't only emotional. Experiences and food have gotten more expensive since the pandemic, and scarcity tactics like "limited time" and "only one left" are built to rush your decision.
 
⏰ EPISODE BREAKDOWN
02:00 | It's Not Every Category — Reframing the question from "why do I overspend?" to "why do certain things feel so much harder to resist?"
03:00 | Experiences Over Stuff — Getting curious about the values underneath the things you love, like novelty, connection, and making memories.
08:00 | Leah Kern on Food, Scarcity, and the Sadness of Saying Enough — Why a pleasurable experience ending can feel a little like grief, and why that response is not dramatic.
16:00 | Why Abundance Can Feel Safe — How having enough on hand can settle the nervous system instead of fueling the urge to stock up.
 
🌟 About Leah Kern
Leah is a registered dietitian and intuitive eating coach who helps people build a peaceful, trusting relationship with food and their bodies. She hosts the podcast Shoulders Down and has teamed up with Rachel before on the surprising overlap between budget culture and diet culture.
 
💌 Connect with Leah Kern
🎙️ Podcast: Shoulders Down
🌐 Website: leahkernrd.com
 
📚 Resources Mentioned
10 Steps to Food Freedom, Leah's audio course (20% off for listeners with the code MONEYHEALERS20)
 
💬 Join the Conversation
Got a kryptonite category of your own, or a sadness of saying enough moment you've never said out loud to anyone? I would love to hear it.
Click the big orange button on our site right from your phone or browser and leave me a voicemail: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
 
💝 Support the Podcast
Help keep the Money Healing Club podcast going! If this show has helped you feel less alone or more grounded with money, please consider contributing: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
 
🎨 Free Live Workshop: June 24th
Spreadsheet made, impulse spending sworn off, lasted about three days? Same. Join Rachel for The Safest Money Talk You've Ever Had, a free live workshop on why money feels so hard and what your spending is really telling you. Plus a little art-making.
Grab your free spot: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/opt-in-1
 
💫 Visit the Money Healing Club website to start your money healing process!
https://www.moneyhealingclub.com
Full transcript: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
🎙️ We're a proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective, where creators like me are uplifting diverse voices and driving meaningful change.

💰 How to Be a Rich Old Lady with Amanda Holden

EPISODE SUMMARY
You've done the foundational work. You know what your life costs. You're chipping away at debt, you've got a little cushion building.
So what comes next?
For a lot of us, investing is the part that feels locked behind a door someone else has the key to. Too much jargon. Too much math. Too many men in quarter-zips talking about the market.
In this week's episode of the Money Healing Club podcast, Rachel sits down with Amanda Holden, author of the instant bestseller How to Be a Rich Old Lady. Amanda has a real gift for making investing feel approachable instead of intimidating, like a friend walking you through it at the kitchen table.
They get into why investing is the bridge from surviving to thriving, the real story behind your 401k, and how to start even if you're self-employed and not sure you're "the investing type."
💬 "It is completely made up. None of this is natural." (Amanda Holden, on the language of investing)
 
Key Takeaways:
Foundation first: emergency fund, then high-interest debt, then investing. You can live in that foundation phase for a while, and that's okay
If your job offers a retirement match, that's not free money. It's part of your paycheck, so go get it
Pull two ideas apart in your brain: the account is the container, the investments are what goes inside it. Opening a Roth IRA isn't the same as actually investing the money in it
Time is your best asset. Investing is slow, tree-growing stuff, not week-to-week panic-checking
The jargon is intimidating by design. It got kept by the old boys, and it's still something you can learn
An index fund holds a little of everything, so one company tanking doesn't tank your whole retirement
Self-employed? A Roth IRA is a great place to start, then a SEP IRA or Solo 401k as you grow
You can't shop your way out of capitalism by skipping your Roth IRA. Opting out usually just hands the problem to another woman in your family
 
About Amanda Holden: Amanda Holden is the founder of Invested Development, where she's taught over 25,000 students, mostly women, how to invest. She studied economics and communications at UCLA and worked in investment management before becoming a leading voice on women and money. Her debut book, How to Be a Rich Old Lady, came out in January 2026 and was an instant national bestseller. Online you'll find her as Dumpster Doggy, bringing her activism and her signature trashioned outfits.
 
⏰ EPISODE BREAKDOWN
04:00 | From Surviving to Thriving Why a financial foundation comes first, and where investing actually enters the picture.
10:00 | The Match Isn't Free Money Emergency funds, high-interest debt, and why capturing your employer match is part of your compensation.
17:00 | The Caboodles Metaphor The reframe that makes the whole thing click: the account is the container, the investments are the treasures inside.
34:00 | Index Funds, Without the Jargon What a fund actually is, why you don't have to pick winners, and how owning a little of everything protects you.
 
💌 Connect with Amanda Holden
📱 Instagram: dumpster.doggy
🎵 TikTok: dumpsterdoggy
 
📚 Resources Mentioned
How to Be a Rich Old Lady by Amanda Holden (available wherever books are sold, and through our bookshop.org link that supports small bookstores and the podcast)
Brokerages to open an account: Charles Schwab, Vanguard, Fidelity
Automated investing services: Betterment and M1 (great if you want it handled for you, with M1 offering a bit more control)
 
💬 Join the Conversation
What's keeping you from starting to invest? The jargon, the fear, the feeling that it's just not for you? Rachel wants to hear about it.
Click the big orange button on our site right from your phone or browser and let her know: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
 
🎨 Free Live Workshop: June 24th
Spreadsheet made, impulse spending sworn off, lasted about three days? Same. Join Rachel for The Safest Money Talk You've Ever Had, a free live workshop on why money feels so hard and what your spending is really telling you. Plus a little art-making.
Grab your free spot: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/opt-in-1
 
💝 Support the Podcast
Help keep the Money Healing Club podcast going! If this show has helped you feel less alone or more grounded with money, please consider contributing: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
 
🎧 Your next listen:
If this got you thinking about what wealth really means to you, head to What Does "Wealth" Really Mean for Your Money Story? w/ Nicole Cloutier. Rachel takes the guest seat for a conversation about how wealth differs from rich, the baggage we inherit around wanting more, and how it might simply mean having your needs met and having options.
https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast/s2e43
 
💫 Visit the Money Healing Club website to start your money healing process!
https://www.moneyhealingclub.com
 
Full transcript: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
🎙️ We're a proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective, where creators like me are uplifting diverse voices and driving meaningful change.

🪞How Your Money Work is Boundary Work w/ Natalie Lue

EPISODE SUMMARY
Every time you've crossed your own budget, broken your spending plan, or said yes to something you couldn't afford, it might not have been about willpower at all. It might have been about boundaries.
In this season two finale of the Money Healing Club podcast, Rachel welcomes Natalie Lue, writer behind Baggage Reclaim, host of The Baggage Reclaim Sessions podcast, and author of The Joy of Saying No and her newest, How to Say No: The Scripts. Nat has spent years helping people rethink codependency, people-pleasing, and emotional unavailability. Together, they apply all of it to money: how our relationship with money can be similar to the relationship we have with our parents & how splitting the bill becomes a boundary minefield.
"What you say yes to, you're saying no to something else. And vice versa." Nat Lue
Key Takeaways:
Codependency with money looks like trying to please it, fearing it, or feeling controlled by it. The healthier alternative is interdependence
We often relate to money the way we were related to as kids: dismissive when things are bad, only courteous when things are good
A no doesn't have to be Armageddon. Most of the time it's "no, not right now" or "no, not this way"
A clear no often holds space for a yes ("this won't work, but this might"), which keeps connection intact
Boundaries are about what you'll do, not what others must do. You take responsibility for your side of the street
Asking "what's your budget?" can unlock more money and more clarity than naming a price first
People over-personalize others' nos. Get curious instead of making it about you
Speaking up about money benefits everyone. Your honesty often gives someone else permission to be honest too
 
About Natalie Lue: Natalie is the writer behind Baggage Reclaim, host of The Baggage Reclaim Sessions podcast (with over 300 episodes), and author of six books including The Joy of Saying No and How to Say No: The Scripts. For over two decades, she's helped millions of people rethink codependency, emotional unavailability, and what it actually looks like to live from values and boundaries. She's also a past Money Healing Club guest favorite, and one of Rachel's go-to teachers on this stuff.
⏰ EPISODE BREAKDOWN
04:00 | Money as Your Parent How codependency shows up in your wallet, and why so many of us treat money like a parent we're trying to please.
13:00 | When You Treat Money Worse Than Anyone Else in Your Life The shadow side of your money relationship and why the shame keeps it stuck.
21:00 | The Six Magic Words for Saying No "No, not right now" or "no, not this way." Plus how to leave space for a yes without people-pleasing your way back into yes.
28:00 | Bills, Weddings, and Restaurant Math Splitting the check, "pick your brain" emails, wedding guest costs, and the boundary scripts Nat actually uses.
💌 Connect with Natalie Lue
🌐 Website & shop: baggagereclaim.com 🎙️ Podcast: The Baggage Reclaim Sessions 📱 Instagram: @natlue
📚 Resources Mentioned
How to Say No: The Scripts by Natalie Lue (450 scripts for dating, family, work, and yes, a whole chapter on money)
The Joy of Saying No by Natalie Lue
Off the Grid podcast with Amelia Hruby
💬 Join the Conversation
Where do you struggle most with money boundaries? Splitting the bill, family loans, "pick your brain" requests, weddings? I want to hear about it.
Click the big orange button on our site right from your phone or browser and leave me a voice message: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
💝 Support the Podcast
Help keep the Money Healing Club podcast going! If this show has helped you feel less alone or more grounded with money, please consider contributing: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
🎧 Your next listen:
If boundary work has you thinking about your own reactivity around money, head to How to Stop Reacting and Start Responding (Especially with Your Money).
https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast/s2e27
💫 Visit the Money Healing Club website to start your money healing process!
https://www.moneyhealingclub.com
Full transcript: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
🎙️ We're a proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective, where creators like me are uplifting diverse voices and driving meaningful change.
 

💸 The Six-Figure Lie (and What It’s Costing You) with Becky Mollenkamp

EPISODE SUMMARYHave you ever told yourself "if I just hit that number, everything will feel okay" and then hit it, only to find the goalpost moved again?
In this episode of the Money Healing Club podcast, Rachel welcomes Becky Mollenkamp — feminist business coach, speaker, and author of Liberate Your Business — to unpack the "six-figure lie": capitalism's story that there's a magic number that will finally make us feel like enough. Together they reverse-engineer what it actually means to define enough for yourself, covering the hedonic treadmill, enoughness as a practice, underearning, and collective action.
"It always moves. It's never gonna be enough — and that's why we know it's a lie." — Becky Mollenkamp
 
Key Takeaways:
The six-figure (and now seven-figure) target is arbitrary, designed to keep you churning rather than arriving
Enoughness isn't settling. The word literally means it's plenty and capitalism warped that
Calculating your actual enough number line by line often reveals it's lower than you thought
Underearning is just as much a product of the system as overconsuming; both sides deserve healing
The three steps toward liberation: awareness, define your enough, lean into discomfort
Step four (Rachel's addition): find the people doing it too. You don't have to carry this alone
Surplus beyond enough is a choice point, a chance to think collectively rather than just individually
Enough applies to more than money: time, rest, connection, community
About Becky Mollenkamp: Becky is a feminist business coach, writer, and speaker who helps service-based entrepreneurs build human-first businesses that honor collective flourishing over profit-at-all-costs growth. She's the author of the newly released Liberate Your Business and founder of the Feminist Podcasters Collective, the community that brought Becky and Rachel together. Her work is written for not just business owners.
 
⏰ EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:00 | The Six-Figure Lie What is it, where did it come from, and why does the goalpost keep moving from six figures to seven to eight?
07:30 | Redefining Enoughness Why "enough" has become a dirty word, and how getting honest about your actual enough number can quietly disrupt the whole system.
19:00 | Liberation Without a 3-Step Plan Awareness, defining your enough, and leaning into discomfort — the messy but real roadmap Becky and Rachel build together in real time.
36:00 | The Gap Is Where Wealth Lives What happens when your income exceeds your enough point — and why having a plan for that surplus changes everything.
 
💌 Connect with Becky Mollenkamp
📖 Get the book: beckymollenkamp.com/book 🌐 Website: beckymollenkamp.com 🎙️ Feminist Podcasters Collective: feministpods.com
 
📚 Resources Mentioned
Liberate Your Business by Becky Mollenkamp: Available at bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or request it at your local library
The Feminist Podcasters Collective: A directory of diverse, independent podcast voices doing meaningful work
💬 Join the Conversation
What's your "enough number" and have you ever actually sat down to calculate it? I'd love to hear what comes up for you.
Click the big orange button on our site right from your phone or browser and leave me a voice message: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
💝 Support the Podcast
Help keep the Money Healing Club podcast going! If this show has helped you feel less alone or more grounded with money, please consider contributing: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
🎧 Your next listen:
Ready to actually raise your rates? Rachel and money witch Sarah Mac dig into the self-worth blocks and cultural conditioning keeping you from charging what you deserve.
https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast/s2e31
💫 Visit the Money Healing Club website to start your money healing process!
https://www.moneyhealingclub.com
Full transcript: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
🎙️We're a proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective where creators like me are uplifting diverse voices and driving meaningful change.
 

🌍 Financial Therapy in Action: How Your Culture Shapes Your Money Blocks

EPISODE SUMMARY
The money beliefs holding you back aren't just yours. They were handed to you by your culture, your religion, your family, and maybe even your country.
In this special episode of the Money Healing Club podcast, Rachel Duncan(financial therapist and art therapist) sits down with Ali, a guest joining from Pakistan. This isn't a traditional guest interview. It's a raw, minimally edited, live financial therapy coaching session recorded with Ali's full permission. You'll hear the pauses, the processing, the emotion, and the complexity as it all unfolds in real time. This episode gets into the push-pull with money rooted in scarcity, culture, and what happens when being visible and successful carries real risk.
"It's more like an energy that I am attracting as well as resisting and pushing away. That push-pull, I feel it's because of the childhood learnings that were taken from my caretakers and the surroundings and the beliefs that I made around them." — Ali
Key Takeaways:
Scarcity mindset often gets installed through small everyday moments, not just big financial events
The gap between outer presentation and inner reality is a money pattern, not just a cultural one
Abandoning projects right at the moment of praise is a real pattern, and it has roots
Breaking with tradition to grow a business isn't just hard. Sometimes it can be dangerous.
You don't have to be the head goose all the time. Learning your rhythm is part of money healing
 
About Ali: Ali is based in Pakistan, where he runs his family's plastic packaging manufacturing business. He's also an emotional intelligence coach, NLP practitioner, and youth counselor on his own six-year healing journey. His identity is kept anonymous for safety, but his willingness to share openly makes this one of the most generous conversations we've had on this show. Rachel is actively looking to connect Ali with resources in sustainable manufacturing and executive leadership communities in Southeast Asia. If that's you, reach out at howdy@moneyhealingclub.com.
 
⏰ EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:00 | A Different Kind of Episode Rachel sets the scene: this is a real, live coaching session, not a polished expert interview. Trigger warning included for content touching on religion, politics, gender, and the very real risks of breaking from tradition in Pakistan.
04:30 | Meet Ali: The Push-Pull With Money Ali introduces himself and describes the tension at the core of his money story: feeling simultaneously that wealth belongs to him AND that he doesn't deserve it. His nervous system proves it in real time.
13:00 | The Toblerone Memory One chocolate bar. Thirteen family members. A knife. This early childhood scarcity memory unpacks into a whole conversation about how our first experiences with "not enough" get wired into how we relate to money as adults.
40:00 | The Evil Eye, Visibility, and Business A rich exploration of the cultural concept of Nazar (the evil eye): where it came from, what it was meant to protect, and how it quietly shuts down sharing success, celebrating wins, and being seen in business.
 
💬 Join the Conversation
This episode brought up a LOT. We want to hear from you: what cultural belief about money did you grow up with that you're still untangling today?
Click the big orange button on our site right from your phone or browser and leave us a voice message: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
💝 Support the Podcast
Help keep the Money Healing Club podcast going! If this show has helped you feel less alone or more grounded with money, please consider contributing: 👉 https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
🎧 Your next listen:
Dig into the archive for more episodes on money, the nervous system, and emotional healing at moneyhealingclub.com/podcast 
💫 Visit the Money Healing Club website to start your money healing process!
https://www.moneyhealingclub.com
Full transcript: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
🎙️We're a proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective where creators like me are uplifting diverse voices and driving meaningful change.
 

🎨 Making YOUR Money Visible: An Art Therapist's Take w/ Bonnie Walchuk

EPISODE SUMMARY
What if the reason you can't talk your way through your money stress… is because money doesn't live in words? In this episode of The Money Healing Club podcast, host Rachel Duncan, certified financial therapist and art therapist, sits down with her dear friend and fellow art therapist Bonnie Walchuk to explore how creativity, imagery, and non-verbal processing can crack open the emotional side of your financial life in ways that talk therapy alone sometimes can't reach.
They dig into what art therapy actually is (hint: stick figures are very welcome), what happens in a real session, and why making something ugly might be the most healing thing you can do today.
💬 "Our minds, bodies, and hearts are holding a lot — art therapy is about getting what's going on out on paper, in front of us, so we can look at it a different way." — Bonnie Walchuk
✅ Key Takeaways
You do not need to be "good at art" for art therapy to be deeply transformative. Ugly art can be the most healing art.
The three C's to avoid in art therapy: Criticism, Comparison, and Critique of yourself and others
Making a visual image of something (grief, money stress, the inner critic) externalizes it from your body, which is part of the healing
A simple at-home practice: close your eyes, set a timer for one minute, and scribble your feelings about money. Then ask the image: What do you need right now?
Money stress shows up in therapy rooms constantly, often layered with shame, self-doubt, and "am I enough?" thinking
Seasonal thinking about money (rather than rigid monthly budgeting) can offer more compassion and groundedness, especially for self-employed folks
About Bonnie Walchuk: Bonnie is a board-certified art therapist and licensed marriage and family therapist who has spent years supporting people through cancer care, medical trauma, grief, chronic illness, and major life transitions. She is the president and founder of Dream Big Wellness, a Seattle-based nonprofit dedicated to increasing equitable access to art therapy and integrative wellness services, including sliding scale individual care, workshops, retreats, and community programs. Rachel is proud to serve on their board of directors.
⏰ EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:00 | What Art Therapy Actually Is (and Isn't) Bonnie demystifies art therapy as a credentialed mental health profession: not arts and crafts, not "fun time," and definitely not just for artists. It's a tool for processing what words alone can't reach.
~10:00 | The Three C's — Criticism, Comparison & Critique Bonnie shares the core rules she sets for every group she facilitates, and why even the most well-meaning "that's so pretty!" can undermine the whole process.
~22:00 | When Money Enters the Room From couples therapy to cancer care, Bonnie shares how financial stress almost always shows up — and how art therapy helps clients externalize and dialogue with their inner critic around money.
~25:00 | A DIY Art Practice for Your Money Feelings Bonnie walks listeners through a one-minute eyes-closed scribble exercise and shows how to use it to build distress tolerance and self-compassion around money — no art supplies required beyond a pen and paper.
~28:00 | Money as a Weather Pattern: Bonnie's Live Money Visualization Rachel puts Bonnie in the hot seat with her signature "money as a creature" prompt — and Bonnie's response about seasons, ebbs, flows, and the quiet groundedness of autumn is genuinely moving.
💌 Connect with Bonnie
Dream Big Wellness Website
📓 RESOURCES MENTIONED
Mixed Emotions Card Deck — An evocative deck of image-based emotion cards
💬 Join the Conversation
Did this episode inspire you to make some art? Rachel would genuinely love to see it. Did you try the money scribble exercise? Did a creature, a color, a season show up when you thought about your money?
Hit the big orange button on our site and share your story: 👉 https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
 
🌍 This Episode is Part of Podcasthon
This episode is our contribution to Podcasthon — an international initiative where podcasters worldwide dedicate one episode to a charity, releasing them simultaneously in mid-March 2026 to create a massive wave of awareness. We're dedicating this one to Dream Big Wellness. No donations needed — it's purely about connecting incredible organizations with new audiences. The last edition brought together 1,500+ podcasters from 40+ countries.
If you're a host and this resonates, registration is free and easy: 👉 https://podcasthon.org/register
 
💝 Support the Podcast
Help keep the Money Healing Club podcast going! If this show has helped you feel less alone or more grounded with money, please consider contributing: 👉 https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
 
🎧 Your next listen:
If this episode resonated, you might love any episode where Rachel explores how your nervous system, body, and emotions are at the root of your money patterns. Search the archive at moneyhealingclub.com/podcast for more financial therapy goodness.
 
💫 Visit the Money Healing Club website to start your money healing process!
https://www.moneyhealingclub.com
Full transcript: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
🎙️We're a proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective where creators like me are uplifting diverse voices and driving meaningful change.

💰 What Does "Wealth" Really Mean for Your Money Story? w/ Nicole Cloutier [Rebroadcast]

EPISODE SUMMARY
In this special rebroadcast episode of The Money Healing Club podcast, Rachel Duncan is the guest on It's All Poetry, a podcast hosted by copywriter, poet, and self-described word nerd Nicole Cloutier that dedicates each episode to exploring exactly one word in depth. And the word they chose? Wealth. Together they dig into its etymology, its evolving definitions across centuries, and the deeply personal, often contradictory feelings it stirs up in all of us.
They explore the surprising gap between "rich" and "wealthy," why wealth can feel morally dangerous to want, how the Boomer vs. Millennial economic experience has quietly shaped what financial security even looks like today, and what it actually means to build slow money in a world obsessed with the quick win.
💬 "Wealth feels quieter. It feels like it's okay to want wealth where maybe it's not okay to want to be rich." — Nicole Cloutier
 
Key Takeaways
The word wealth carries much more emotional and moral baggage than its dictionary definition, and unpacking that is the first step
"Rich" is about perception and spending; "wealthy" is about lasting value that grows on its own
The 4% rule and "Rule of 25" are powerful frameworks for understanding what a real retirement number actually looks like for YOU
Fast money (cash flow) and slow money (investing) both matter and serve different purposes
Many people unconsciously inherited the belief that wanting wealth is greedy or shameful
The systemic advantages Boomers had (subsidized education, pensions, economic booms) are largely gone, and that context matters for how millennials build wealth today
True wealth, at its core, is about safety: having your needs met and options available
About Nicole Cloutier: Nicole is a copywriter, poet, MFA graduate, and host of the It's All Poetry podcast, where each episode explores one word in depth with one guest. She's also the founder of Copy Poetics, a studio devoted to helping purpose-driven business owners find their voice and make money doing what they love.
⏰ EPISODE BREAKDOWN
00:00 | A Word That Changes Everything Rachel introduces this rebroadcast and shares why "wealth" is the concept she's had the biggest personal transformation around.
10:30 | Rich vs. Wealthy: What's the Real Difference? The two break down why "rich" feels flashy and short-term while "wealth" feels quiet and lasting, and what that says about how we really relate to money.
26:00 | The Boomer vs. Millennial Wealth Gap A frank conversation about how systemic support quietly built Boomer wealth and why the playbook simply doesn't work the same way anymore.
40:00 | What Do YOU Actually Want Wealth to Mean? Drawing from ancient Greek philosophy, etymology, and lived experience, Rachel and Nicole land on a definition of wealth rooted in safety, options, and value that grows on its own.
💌 Connect with Nicole
Nicole Cloutier's website
Nicole’s podcast - All that Poetry
📚 Resources Mentioned
“Die Broke” by Stephen M. Pollan & Mark Levine
💬 Join the Conversation
What does the word wealth bring up for you: hope, guilt, confusion, something else? Record your thoughts and send Rachel a voice message right from your phone or browser! 👉 https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
💝 Support the Podcast
Help keep the Money Healing Club podcast going! If this show has helped you feel less alone or more grounded with money, please consider contributing: 👉 https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
🎧 Your next listen:
🛒 Why You Keep Impulse Spending — And How to Finally Stop — dig into the emotional triggers behind impulse purchases and what to do instead. https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast/s2e35
💫 Visit the Money Healing Club website to start your money healing process!
https://www.moneyhealingclub.com
Full transcript: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
🎙️ We're a proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective where creators like me are uplifting diverse voices and driving meaningful change.

🧠 Understanding Your Financial Trauma w/ Rahkim Sabree

EPISODE SUMMARY
What if your money stress isn't a personal failure, but a wound shaped by systems bigger than you? On this episode of the Money Healing Club podcast, Rachel welcomes Rahkim Sabree, author of "Overcoming Financial Trauma," for a conversation about how financial trauma lives in our bodies, communities, and histories. They explore the six sources of financial trauma, the benefit cliff that keeps people stuck, and what happened when Rahkim lost his home to a fire 30 days before his book launched. This episode validates the collective nature of financial stress and offers real frameworks for healing.
 
💬 "Many times when we talk about financial trauma, we talk about it through a first person lens that says, 'I experienced this thing.' But when we take a step back, our financial socialization keeps us very isolated. My goal is to help people detach their self-worth from this phenomenon and view it as more of a societal issue."
Key Takeaways:
Financial trauma is any instance observed or experienced that negatively impacts how you view, interact with, or believe about money
The six sources include: genetic/generational, vicarious/observational, workplace, poverty/financial instability, systemic/institutional, and acute financial events
Financial fawning in the workplace means regularly crossing your own boundaries to stay employed (and it's a survival strategy)
The benefit cliff creates a trap where earning $1 more can cost you thousands in support, preventing economic mobility
Our trauma brains may be operating on "old software" while navigating economic systems built on outdated foundations
Co-regulation practices (like collective breathing) can help us stay present through financial stress
About Rahkim Sabree: Rahkim is a nationally recognized financial therapist, speaker, and Forbes contributor. His new book "Overcoming Financial Trauma" introduces a framework for understanding and healing financial wounds, not just managing money better. In October 2025, just 30 days before his book launched, Rahkim lost his home to a fire, experiencing firsthand the very trauma he'd been writing about.
⏰ EPISODE BREAKDOWN
03:00 | Financial trauma as a societal issue: Why isolation around money keeps us from seeing the systemic nature of financial stress.
05:30 | The six sources of financial trauma: Breaking down genetic, observational, workplace, poverty, systemic, and acute trauma.
14:00 | The benefit cliff: When $1 more means losing everything How support systems trap people by cutting off entirely instead of gradually.
22:00 | When the book became real: Losing his home to fire Rahkim's experience of homelessness, vandalism, and trauma 30 days before launching a book on financial trauma.
35:00 | Summon Qi: Somatic practices from childhood How Rahkim's grandfather taught nervous system regulation through drumming and martial arts.
43:00 | Co-regulation on stage: The power of collective breathing before delivering a keynote while processing active trauma.
📚 Resources Mentioned
"Overcoming Financial Trauma" by Rahkim Sabree
"Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman
"The Body Keeps the Score" by Bessel van der Kolk 
"My Grandmother's Hands" by Resmaa Menakem
🔗 Connect with Rahkim
Website - https://www.rahkimsabree.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/rahkimsabreeX - https://x.com/rahkimsabree💬 Join the Conversation
Have you ever felt isolated in your money struggles, only to discover others were going through the same thing? What would it mean to view your financial challenges as systemic rather than personal failures? The Money Healing Club podcast wants to hear your story: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
💝 Support the Podcast
Help keep the Money Healing Club podcast going! If this show has helped you feel less alone or more grounded with money, please consider contributing: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
🎧 Your next listen:
Check out our episode with Haley & Justin Brown-Woods on debt. -https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast/s2e37
💫 Visit the Money Healing Club website to start your money healing process! https://www.moneyhealingclub.comFull transcript: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
🎙️We're a proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective where creators like me are uplifting diverse voices and driving meaningful change.

🧠 Curb Your Impulse Spending with Nervous System Awareness /w Stacy Peterson

EPISODE SUMMARY
Ever walk into Target for milk and leave with a cart full of things you didn't plan to buy? You're not alone, and it's not a willpower problem. In this episode of the Money Healing Club podcast, host Rachel Duncan speaks with Stacy Peterson, to explore the connection between your nervous system and your spending habits.
Stacy is a licensed therapist & a certified financial therapist. Together, Rachel and Stacy unpack how to recognize when you're in the right state to make conscious money decisions, what to do in the Target parking lot when you feel activated, and how to come back to center after overspending.
💬 "The goal is not to always be regulated. No human can exist and nor do we want you to because our survival expects us to be able to have our threat responses work appropriately. We just don't want them to happen at unnecessary times." - Stacy Peterson
Key Takeaways:
Your spending is not a willpower problem, it's a nervous system awareness process
Making conscious money decisions happens when you're in your "window of resilience"
Notice what's happening in your body before making purchases (the Target parking lot check-in)
Understand the difference between hyper arousal (activated, anxious) and hypo arousal (shut down, disconnected)
Ask yourself: "What is the want beneath the want?" to uncover deeper emotional needs
Practice "pendulation", the natural movement between different nervous system states
Self-compassion is essential when you spend more than you intended
About Stacy Peterson:
Stacy is a licensed therapist and certified financial therapist with over a decade of experience. A former teacher, she brings a patient and encouraging approach to her work. She's a Trauma of Money Methods certified practitioner and is pursuing her polyvagal informed certificate. Stacy offers individual and group financial therapy through River Bend Financial Therapy, blending practical tools with nervous system awareness.
 
⏰ EPISODE BREAKDOWN
03:00 | The Window of Resilience Understanding when you're in the best nervous system state to make conscious money decisions.
07:00 | The Target Parking Lot Exercise A powerful guided practice for checking in with your body before shopping, noticing what's happening in your nervous system as you pull into the parking lot.
14:00 | What Is the Want Beneath the Want? Going deeper than surface-level desires to uncover the emotional needs driving your impulse purchases.
30:00 | Pendulation: The Word That Rocks Our Socks Learning about the natural movement between nervous system states and why regulation isn't about staying calm all the time.
📚 Resources Mentioned
Trauma of Money professional training course & book
Consumerism Documentary: Century of Self
Window of Tolerance
Connect with Stacy Peterson:
Website: riverbendfinancialtherapy.com
Instagram: @riverbendfinancialtherapy
Facebook: River Bend Financial Therapy
LinkedIn: Stacy Peterson
💬 Join the Conversation
What's your "Target parking lot" moment? Where do you notice your nervous system getting activated around spending? Click on the big orange button on our site right from your phone or browser and let me know what store or situation tends to trigger impulse spending for you, and what you're learning about your nervous system in those moments!
https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
 
🎧 Your next listen:
Check out Episode S2E36 about buying no new things and what happens when you commit to a spending pause.
https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast/s2e36
 
💫 Visit the Money Healing Club website to start your money healing process! https://www.moneyhealingclub.com
 
💌 Free Email Course: Curb impulse spending with compassion and mindfulness https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/challenge
 
Full transcript: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
 
🎙️We're a proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective where creators like me are uplifting diverse voices and driving meaningful change.

🦥 Your Values + Your Budget, Paso a Paso w/ Ilia Pèrez Your Dinero Doctor

EPISODE SUMMARY
What does it actually mean to be "good with money" in 2026? In this episode of the Money Healing Club podcast, Rachel sits down with Ilia Pèrez, aka Your Dinero Doctor, a pharmacist and bilingual budget coach who's redefining financial wellness through her signature "Dinero Date" framework. They explore why tracking your money should feel like self-care (complete with croissants and coffee), and how Latina women navigate cultural messages around money and gratitude. This conversation bridges the deeply emotional with the refreshingly practical, perfect for anyone ready to build a money practice that actually sticks.
 
💬 "Being good with money is a personal definition. For somebody it can simply mean paying their bills on time. Another person being good with money could be having a certain amount of savings. I think it's being honest with yourself what that personal definition is."
Key Takeaways:
Dinero Dates are weekly money check-ins designed like self-care dates with ambiance, treats, and pleasure
Pairing money tasks with sensory comfort is actually trauma healing (your brain starts associating money with positive experiences)
Working hard isn't the same as working smart; learning to be strategic with money is a skill we often have to teach ourselves
Cultural messages like "God will provide" or "don't be ungrateful" can block us from wanting something different
Your values should guide both your present spending AND your future planning
 
About Ilia Pèrez: Ilia is a pharmacist and financial coach who offers budget coaching in both English and Spanish through her practice, Your Dinero Doctor. She helps clients build sustainable money habits through her Dinero Date framework and values-based budgeting. When she's not coaching, she loves slow mornings at coffee shops and exploring new places in Puerto Rico.
 
⏰ EPISODE BREAKDOWN
05:30 | What Is a Dinero Date? How to turn money tracking into actual self-care (candles, croissants, and your favorite corner table included)
15:00 | Values on a Post-It Note Why Ilia keeps her seven core values visible during every money decision
23:00 | The Latina Experience: Working Hard vs. Working Smart Navigating cultural messages about gratitude, boundaries, and wanting something different
31:00 | Introducing The Money Reset How Rachel and Ilia are co-teaching a 90-day program that bridges emotional healing with practical budgeting
 
📚 Resources Mentioned
The Money Reset - 90-day program co-taught by Rachel and Ilia (doors close February 2nd)
Get in touch with Ilia Pèrez - Your Dinero Doctor instagram & email
💬 Join the Conversation
What would YOUR Dinero Date look like? What's your favorite corner table, your go-to treat, and when would you schedule it? The Money Healing Club podcast wants to hear your answers, click the big orange button: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast
🎧 Your next listen:
Check out our episode with Bari Tessler on why therapists need their own money work
💫 Visit the Money Healing Club website to start your money healing process! https://www.moneyhealingclub.com
💌 Free Email Course: Curb impulse spending with compassion and mindfulness  https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/challenge
Full transcript: https://www.moneyhealingclub.com/podcast🎙️We're a proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective where creators like me are uplifting diverse voices and driving meaningful change.