Highly Sensitive Money for Highly Sensitive People who want to align their values with their money

Money, Boundaries, and Care: A Conversation with Stacy Kellogg

Money, Boundaries, and Care: A Conversation with Stacy Kellogg
 
In this episode, our guest Stacy Kellogg and I explore what it means to truly honor our capacity while still caring deeply for others. Stacy is a leadership coach and facilitator who helps high-achieving changemakers discover what they truly need and want—so they can contribute to the world from a place of abundance instead of exhaustion. 
 
Together, we reflect on her transition from years in social justice nonprofits to building a coaching practice rooted in joy, intuition, and collective support. We also dive into the importance of redefining work away from struggle, exploring resources that helped shift her financial beliefs, and the role of equitable pricing in creating access and inclusion. 
 
About Stacy Kellogg
 
Stacy Raye Kellogg is a leadership coach, facilitator, and podcast host who brings compassion, enthusiasm, and intuition into every conversation she holds. Known for creating spaces of joy and safety, she supports sensitive high achievers and people pleasers in learning how to include themselves in the care they give to others. In addition to one-on-one coaching, Stacy facilitates group programs, leadership workshops, and team development for organizations seeking authentic and sustainable growth.
 
Her career began in nonprofit leadership, where she worked with survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, affordable housing initiatives, restorative justice programs, and international human rights advocacy. After years of overextension and burnout, Stacy pivoted into coaching and facilitation, finding a new path that allowed her to thrive while supporting others more sustainably. She now partners with individuals and organizations around the world, including collaborations with The Firefly Group in Scotland and The RoundTable Institute in Austin, Texas.
 
Originally from Colorado and now based in Athens, Georgia, Stacy blends her love of learning with professional certifications and extensive training in mental fitness, somatics, compassionate inquiry, and inclusive leadership. Beyond her work, she is passionate about travel, music, and dance, embodying a vibrant balance of joy and depth in everything she does.
 
Episode Highlights
 
00:01:48 Meeting Stacy and her coaching work00:03:57 From nonprofit leadership to burnout00:06:48 Personal development and choosing joy00:09:48 Rethinking the “hero’s journey” through connection and community00:12:02 Care versus capacity and early messages about selfishness00:25:48 New blueprints: books that reshaped money mindset00:31:48 Exploring needs versus wants in financial choices00:39:48 Discovering and naming sensitivity in her coaching practice00:43:48 Bringing social justice into her business model00:47:48 Balancing equitable pricing with sustainability00:49:28 Modeling growth and tending to our own needs
 
Keywords
 
#LeadershipCoaching #BurnoutRecovery #MoneyMindset #EquitablePricing #SocialJusticeLeadership #PersonalGrowth #BoundariesAndCare #CoachingJourney #RedefiningSuccess #HighlySensitiveMoney
 
Resources
 
WebsiteListen to the "Outgrow the Grind" podcastInstagramJoin our free, monthly Nurture Your Nervous System callsTiered Green Jars for Sliding Scales by Worts and CunningIt’s Not Your Money by Tosha SilverOvercoming Underearning by Barbara Stanny (Houston)Financial Recovery by Karen McCall
 
Enjoy the episode in Youtube here
 
Diana Gisel Yañez is an Investment Advisor Representative of Natural Investments PBLLC. Natural Investments is an independent Registered Investment Advisor. All the Colors is not a registered entity and is not an affiliate or subsidiary of Natural Investments. See our Disclosures and Disclaimers and read our Form CRS.

From Journalist to Financial Coach with founder of Queer & Trans Wealth Leo Aquino

From Journalist to Financial Coach with founder of Queer & Trans Wealth Leo Aquino
In this episode, our guest Leo Aquino and I dive into a heartfelt conversation on how money intersects with identity, survival, and joy. Leo is a financial coach, anti-capitalist writer, and the founder of Queer & Trans Wealth. Their work centers people who have often been excluded from traditional financial spaces, and their approach is deeply informed by lived experience, community engagement, and social justice. We explore the unconventional path that led Leo from journalism to personal finance, and how being laid off became the push they needed to launch the work they’d been dreaming about.
Meet Leo Aquino
Leo Aquino is a financial coach and interdisciplinary writer whose work centers anti-capitalist approaches to personal finance. They are the founder of Queer & Trans Wealth and the editor-in-chief of Queerency, a platform dedicated to LGBTQ+ business news. Rather than follow the conventional path to financial expertise, Leo built their approach by listening—interviewing people from economically diverse backgrounds to understand how policies, identity, and lived experience shape our financial realities.
Born and raised in Manila, Philippines, Leo's life has been shaped by both economic hardship and powerful moments of protest and resilience. After immigrating to the U.S. in 2003, they witnessed their family rebuild stability in the face of systemic barriers. These early experiences would later inform Leo's nuanced and justice-rooted lens on money. From navigating six figures in student debt, to surviving housing insecurity in New York, and eventually discovering their trans identity during the pandemic, Leo’s personal journey fuels their mission to help others find agency and abundance in their financial lives.
They have studied with organizations like Trauma of Money, Antioch University's Radical Economy course, and Anticapitalism for Artists. Their work not only provides financial coaching to individuals, couples, and groups, but also advocates for systemic change—especially around housing, healthcare, and income for queer and trans communities. Leo’s commitment to economic justice is grounded, intersectional, and deeply human.
Episode Highlights
00:02:10 Meeting Leo and the origin of Queer & Trans Wealth00:03:50 From journalist to full-time financial coach00:06:53 Overcoming imposter syndrome00:08:33 Early financial memories from Manila and the family business00:10:50 Immigration, poverty, and the struggle for stability00:14:32 “If I were my own client…” boundaries and saving habits00:19:38 Survivor’s guilt and joy in the queer/trans community00:21:30 Grandma Leonila: quiet power and everyday justice00:25:40 Why social justice is a pressure valve, not a burden00:36:10 How imagining a future changed Leo’s financial habits00:42:40 Right-sized accountability and building sustainable change00:46:10 The Pay It Forward Fund: redistributing access and care
Keywords
#QueerFinance #TransMoneyCoach #EconomicJustice #DecolonizeWealth #MoneyAndIdentity #FinancialHealing #LGBTQFinance #AntiCapitalism #SocialJusticeMoney #RightSizedAccountability
Resources
Queer & Trans WealthSubstackInstagram Leo Aquino on the podcast Dem Bois with Sean Aron Pay It Forward Fund with Queer & Trans Wealth
Watch it on Youtube here
 
Diana Gisel Yañez is an Investment Advisor Representative of Natural Investments PBLLC. Natural Investments is an independent Registered Investment Advisor. All the Colors is not a registered entity and is not an affiliate or subsidiary of Natural Investments. See our Disclosures and Disclaimers and read our Form CRS.

One Degree Turns: Small Money Shifts with Big Impact

One Degree Turns: Small Money Shifts with Big Impact
In this solo episode, I explore how each of us can make our money do good—starting right where we are. Using the five ways we interact with money—how we earn, spend, save, give, and invest. I share practical micro actions that align our finances with values of justice, care, and interconnection. This solo episode is rooted in my article The Interconnected Dollar and reflects on how money is never neutral; it’s always expressing something about what we value, whether we’re conscious of it or not. Throughout this episode, I ask: what would happen if our financial lives became one more site of solidarity and collective care?
There’s something uniquely clarifying about mapping your entire financial life—how you earn, spend, save, give, and invest—onto a framework of values like justice and environmental care. In this episode, I ask listeners to consider not just what they do with money, but who they become through those choices. I speak candidly about what it means to decouple our worth from wealth, how social structures skew our understanding of “deserving,” and how small shifts in where we bank or how we give can ripple out in unseen but powerful ways. 
These aren’t sweeping, overnight transformations—most of what I share are subtle reorientations, one-degree shifts that, over time, alter the course of our lives and communities. I also touch on the emotional labor of holding grief for the planet, the way capitalism numbs our natural instincts for mutual care, and how some of my most values-aligned moments came not from traditional financial success, but from reimagining what success even means.
This episode invites you to think with your whole self: intellectually, emotionally, politically, and spiritually. Not to arrive at perfection, but to stay present with the complexity—and the possibility—of living a life where our money reflects the world we want to build.
Episode Highlights
00:01:32 Introducing the five ways we interact with money00:05:32 Capitalism, scarcity, and the myth of self-reliance00:09:22 Social justice as mutual care, not saviorism00:10:32 Honoring Joanna Macy and the grief of climate inaction00:14:02 What spending choices say about our values00:15:42 Redefining generosity through accessible pricing00:18:32 When your income source drains your spirit00:24:22 How your savings fuel the fossil fuel industry00:26:32 A heart-based guide to values-aligned investing00:29:32 One micro action you can take in each money area00:32:32 Living in uncertainty—and choosing to care anyway
Keywords
#socialjusticefinance #ethicalinvesting #intentionalspending #valuesbasedliving #interconnectedness #climatejustice #moneyandmeaning #consciouscapitalism #mutualcare
Resources
The Interconnected Dollar: Aligning your money with social justice and environmental careThe Dawn of Everything by David Graber and David WengrowThe Way of Integrity by Martha BeckInvest Your ValuesAs You SowNatural Investments Heart RatingThe Dirty Dozen Banks Accidental Gods with Amanda Scott
Check it on Youtube here
 
Diana Gisel Yañez is an Investment Advisor Representative of Natural Investments PBLLC. Natural Investments is an independent Registered Investment Advisor. All the Colors is not a registered entity and is not an affiliate or subsidiary of Natural Investments. See our Disclosures and Disclaimers and read our Form CRS.

Why Hoarding Doesn’t Make You Safe—And What Does with Jordyn Middlebrooks

Why Hoarding Doesn’t Make You Safe—And What Does with Jordyn Middlebrooks 
Jordyn Middlebrooks and I dive deep into what it means to reimagine wealth, safety, and belonging. Jordyn is a financial coach, organizer, and the host of the podcast Reimagine Wealth. With roots in the Sunrise Movement and a background in both community organizing and financial advising, Jordyn brings a rich perspective on money, justice, and identity. As we explored her story, we unpacked how her early environmental activism evolved into class-conscious financial work, and how stepping into her own class privilege—publicly—was an act of vulnerability and transformation.
We talked about what it means to build alternative safety nets, how her choice to leave a six-figure salary changed her relationships, and why conversations about money can deepen trust. Jordyn also shares her method for helping clients discover their “enough number,” blending visioning, practical financial review, and the framework of fundamental needs. This conversation touches on shame, solidarity, burnout, the limits of individualism, and the liberatory potential of mutual aid. And as always, we reflect on the internal work required to support collective change.
Meet our Guest
Jordyn Middlebrooks is a financial planner, coach, and community organizer working at the intersection of wealth, justice, and belonging. Based in Austin, Texas—on Tonkawa, Jumanos, Comanche, Coahuiltecan, and Lipan Apache land—Jordyn is the founder of Reimagine Wealth LLC and the host of the podcast Reimagine Wealth. They use their background in psychology, business management, and organizing to support clients in clarifying their financial values, redistributing wealth, and aligning resources with movement-building.
Jordyn holds a Series 65 license, a PMP certification, and degrees from the University of Florida. Before shifting into financial work, they co-led the Sunrise Movement’s Austin chapter and worked in the renewable energy and technology sectors. Today, they are a member of Resource Generation and Rad Planners, committed to supporting a Just Transition and the growth of a Solidarity Economy.
Known as someone who “makes shit happen” while balancing urgency with deep care, Jordyn’s work centers around creating accessible and permanent safety nets. They help people transform their relationship to wealth so they can act in alignment with their values—and show up as the person they want to become.
Episode Highlights
00:01:50 Meeting Jordyn and their entry into financial activism00:07:03 Hiding class background in organizing spaces00:10:30 Shame, anxiety, and the fear of being found out00:18:50 The “marathon metaphor” and seeing class clearly00:22:50 Divesting from Wall Street and choosing lower income00:24:50 How interdependence creates real safety00:29:60 Creating a soft place to land in movement work00:34:60 Guiding clients toward their “enough” number00:41:10 Planning for shifts and building adaptive money practices00:50:50 Asking for help as a radical act of mutuality
Keywords
#reimaginewealth #classprivilege #mutualaid #redistribution #enoughness #financialcoach #socialjustice #solidarityeconomy #restisresistance #movementwork
Resources
Reimagine WealthSubstackPodcast Reimagine WealthResource Generation Manfred Max-Neef and Pseudo-Satisfiers
Enjoy it on Youtube here
 
Diana Gisel Yañez is an Investment Advisor Representative of Natural Investments PBLLC. Natural Investments is an independent Registered Investment Advisor. All the Colors is not a registered entity and is not an affiliate or subsidiary of Natural Investments. See our Disclosures and Disclaimers and read our Form CRS.

Budgeting as Activism and Owning Your Time as True Wealth with Miriam Zoila Pérez

Budgeting as Activism and Owning Your Time as True Wealth with Miriam Zoila Pérez
 
In this episode, our guest Miriam Zoila Pérez and I dive deep into the emotional, cultural, and political layers of money, especially through our experiences of Latine children of immigrants. Miriam is a queer Cuban-American writer, activist, and budget coach whose career spans reproductive justice, feminist blogging, and Latinx music podcasting. Together, we reflect on how money influences our sense of belonging, our family legacies, and our everyday choices.
 
About Miriam Zoila Pérez
 
Miriam Zoila Pérez is an award-winning queer Cuban-American writer and activist whose work explores the intersections of race, gender, and health. A graduate of Swarthmore College in Anthropology and Spanish Literature, Pérez has written for The New York Times, The Guardian, and Colorlines, and delivered a TED Talk—viewed over a million times—on how racism impacts maternal health. They are the author of The Radical Doula Guide and have contributed to several acclaimed anthologies, including Not That Bad, edited by Roxane Gay.
 
Pérez is also the co-host of the bilingual Latinx music podcast Radio Menea and recently ventured into young adult fiction with their debut novel, Camila Núñez’s Year of Disasters (2025). Their activism has spanned over a decade in reproductive justice and digital communications, and more recently, they’ve brought their values-driven approach to money coaching through YNAB, working with clients from diverse backgrounds to build financial clarity and empowerment. They currently reside in Washington, DC, nurturing a love for houseplants and cultural storytelling.
 
Episode Highlights
 
00:02:08 Meeting Miriam Zoila Pérez and celebrating frikitonas00:03:38 How activism led Miriam to financial coaching00:05:08 Navigating a multifaceted career: writer, activist, doula, and podcaster00:08:28 Family history: wealth, exile, and class shifts between Cuba and the US00:21:48 Budgeting with YNAB: who Miriam works with and why00:27:09 Wealth hoarding vs. purposeful financial planning00:35:28 Practicing generosity: how Miriam approaches giving00:41:58 Managing finances as a self-employed creative00:47:08 Choosing time freedom over wealth accumulation00:50:38 Retirement planning, financial literacy, and the flaws of the 401(k) system
 
Keywords
 
#MiriamZoilaPérez #MoneyAndSocialJustice #QueerLatinxVoices #ReproductiveJustice #YNAB #FinancialEmpowerment #LatinxIdentity #BudgetingWithValues #GenerationalWealth
 
Resources
 
Miriam Zoila Pérez website YNAB Coaching with Miriam Instagram Camila Núñez’s Year of DisastersRadio Menea Ep 125: Frikitona Resource Generation
 
Enjoy it on Youtube here
 
Diana Gisel Yañez is an Investment Advisor Representative of Natural Investments PBLLC. Natural Investments is an independent Registered Investment Advisor. All the Colors is not a registered entity and is not an affiliate or subsidiary of Natural Investments. See our Disclosures and Disclaimers and read our Form CRS.

Navigating Money, Legacy, and Family Dynamics with Dr. Shay Harris-Pierre

Navigating Money, Legacy, and Family Dynamics with Dr. Shay Harris-Pierre
 
In this episode, our guest Dr. Shay Harris-Pierre and I explore the emotional and relational dimensions of wealth. Dr. Shay is a family legacy strategist and financial therapist with a background in marriage and family therapy. She shares her journey from training clinicians to working with families navigating sudden wealth, inheritance, and cross-class growth. Together, we dive into the emotional thermostat metaphor for financial comfort zones, the unconscious ways people sabotage or limit their financial growth, and how money beliefs shape behavior across generations.
 
About Dr. Shay Harris-Pierre
 
Dr. Shay Harris-Pierre, LPC, CFT, is a Family Legacy Strategist and Licensed Professional Counselor specializing in the emotional and relational aspects of wealth. With over a decade of clinical practice, she helps families with shared wealth navigate conflicts like apathy, entitlement, and estrangement, guiding them through challenging conversations that strengthen bonds and uphold values. Her expertise spans financial therapy, cross-class mobility, and intergenerational wealth transfer, with a focus on helping wealth creators and inheritors understand what their wealth is truly for.
Her career path weaves together marriage and family therapy, financial therapy, and family business consulting. After years as a professor training therapists, Dr. Shay transitioned into private practice, working with high-achieving women of color, couples, and families. She consults with Continuity Family Business Consulting, helping multi-generational enterprises resolve conflict and align leadership.
Living in Arlington, VA, with her husband and their Maltipoo, Dr. Shay integrates personal passion and professional insight into her mission: to help families not only preserve financial capital but nurture the human capital—the people, purpose, and values—that give wealth meaning. Through her work, she invites families to steward their legacy with intention, empathy, and courage.
 
Episode Highlights
 
00:01:48 Meeting Dr. Shay and her journey into financial therapy00:03:38 Early family dynamics and the roots of her career00:05:18 How sudden wealth and cross-class growth impact families00:08:08 The emotional thermostat: adjusting to new financial realities00:11:58 Defining cross-class growth and the struggle of wealth integration00:15:38 Finding balance between heritage culture and new wealth culture00:18:48 Grieving the past when stepping into new financial spaces00:28:58 How financial professionals can build trust with marginalized clients00:36:45 Emotional family governance and why relationships need structure00:43:38 Supporting sensitive clients through empathy and attunement
 
Keywords
 
#FinancialTherapy #FamilyLegacy #WealthTransfer #CrossClassGrowth #EmotionalIntelligence #MoneyBeliefs #SuddenWealth #FamilyGovernance #SocialJusticeFinance #GenerationalWealth
 
Resources
 
Harris Pierre Consulting Shades of Wealth Podcast LinkedIn InstagramAffluence Intelligence by Stephen GoldbartStrangers in Paradise by James Grubman We Need to Talk by Jennifer RisherThe Color of Money by Mehrsa Baradaran
 
Watch on Youtube Here
 
Diana Gisel Yañez is an Investment Advisor Representative of Natural Investments PBLLC. Natural Investments is an independent Registered Investment Advisor. All the Colors is not a registered entity and is not an affiliate or subsidiary of Natural Investments. See our Disclosures and Disclaimers and read our Form CRS.

Economics That Heal: Exploring Regenerative Livelihoods with Della Duncan

Economics That Heal: Exploring Regenerative Livelihoods with Della Duncan
Della is a Renegade Economist who challenges mainstream economic assumptions through her coaching, teaching, and documentary podcasting. Our conversation spans from the personal, like her advocacy for alternative metrics of success, to the deeply political and degrowth economics.
Together, we explore her journey upstream from social work to systemic economic change. Highlights include a discussion on what it means to be a good ancestor, how we can move from power-over to power-with, and the practice of balancing personal survival with building collective futures. We also explore practices like the Work That Reconnects and Max-Neef’s framework of fundamental human needs. Whether you're new to these ideas or already immersed in economic justice work, this conversation with Della offers grounding, insight, and vision.
About Della Duncan
Della Duncan is a Renegade Economist whose work spans coaching, education, activism, and podcasting—all with a focus on reimagining economics in service of justice, community, and ecological regeneration. She supports individuals in aligning their values with their livelihoods as a Right Livelihood Coach and collaborates with organizations working toward equitable and sustainable economic transformation. As the host of the Upstream Podcast, she curates powerful conversations and documentaries that challenge dominant economic narratives and uplift alternatives like Buddhist, feminist, and cooperative economics.
Della is a Senior Atlantic Fellow of Social and Economic Equity at the London School of Economics and the Course Development Manager for Fritjof Capra’s Systems View of Life. She is also a Gross National Happiness Master Trainer, a founding member of the California Doughnut Economics Coalition, and teaches at several institutions including the California Institute of Integral Studies and Gaia Education. With academic roots in International Relations and a master’s in Economics for Transition, Della bridges intellectual rigor with deep spiritual and community practice.
Her work is deeply informed by indigenous knowledge, Joanna Macy’s Work That Reconnects, and post-growth thinkers like Jason Hickel. Whether facilitating a workshop or tending to her local community (and now, in a new chapter as a parent), Della embodies the principles she teaches—living into a world where we care for one another, the planet, and future generations.
Episode Highlights
[00:01:47] Meeting Della and her many livelihood plants[00:04:07] From crisis work to upstream economics[00:06:17] Reimagining success beyond money[00:10:47] Donut Economics in practice[00:15:17] Quaker and Buddhist spiritual grounding[00:17:27] Seventh Generation exercise from the Work That Reconnects[00:21:07] Balancing small-scale action with systemic change[00:29:47] Degrowth as opportunity, not sacrifice[00:41:47] The journey upstream: from supremacy to interconnection[00:53:47] Redefining wealth: capital beyond money
Keywords
#Upstream #RegenerativeEconomics #DonutEconomics #PostGrowth #RightLivelihood #SystemicChange #GiftEconomy #Enoughness #Interconnection #WorkThatReconnects #EconomicJustice
Resources
Della Duncan's WebsiteUpstream PodcastInstagramDebunking Homo EconomicusWork That ReconnectsEveryday Utopia: What 2,000 Years of Bold Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life by Kristen R. Ghodsee Donut Economics by Kate RaworthLess Is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World by Jason HickelBraiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer The Serviceberry by Robin Wall KimmererBarefoot Economics by Manfred Max-NeefSacred Economics by Charles Eisenstein
 
Watch this episode on YouTube
 
Diana Gisel Yañez is an Investment Advisor Representative of Natural Investments PBLLC. Natural Investments is an independent Registered Investment Advisor. All the Colors is not a registered entity and is not an affiliate or subsidiary of Natural Investments. See our Disclosures and Disclaimers and read our Form CRS.

Wisdom & Money: Money as a Doorway to Spiritual Transformation

Wisdom & Money: Money as a Doorway to Spiritual Transformation
 
In this episode, I open up about the foundational spiritual and money work I’ve done with Wisdom & Money. You'll also hear about the spiritual practices that helped me embrace both the structured and the intuitive sides of my financial work. From silent retreats to shadow play, and from difficult career decisions to joining a nonprofit board, this episode brings together the playful, the profound, and the practical. I reflect on what it means to bring our full selves—including our quirks and contradictions—to conversations about money. My hope is that my story helps others feel less alone in their questions about wealth, values, and the kind of world we want to build.
 
Episode Highlights
 
00:01:59 Discovering Wisdom & Money through a friend's memorial00:05:49 Experiencing silence and Lectio Divina in a virtual retreat00:07:59 Retreats and facing a career crossroads00:09:59 Shadow play: Embracing both privilege and discomfort00:12:39 Finding balance between structured finances and open spirituality00:16:59 Letting go of the rescuer role and learning to receive00:18:19 The Bible passage that inspired my leap into entrepreneurship00:20:29 How community support shaped my evolving career00:21:59 Taking a step in faith as Treasurer00:25:19 Moving from personal transformation to systemic change
 
Keywords
 
#MoneyAndSpirituality #FaithAndFinance #EntrepreneurJourney #InnerWork #WealthAndJustice #MoneyStories #SacredEconomy #PersonalTransformation #CommunityCare #ValuesBasedLeadership
 
Resources
 
Wisdom & Money WebsiteWisdom & Money: A Community Supporting Mindful Financial Decisions  Money and the Meaning of Life by Jacob Needleman
 
Watch the YouTube video here
 
Diana Gisel Yañez is an Investment Advisor Representative of Natural Investments PBLLC. Natural Investments is an independent Registered Investment Advisor. All the Colors is not a registered entity and is not an affiliate or subsidiary of Natural Investments. See our Disclosures and Disclaimers and read our Form CRS.

Brat Energy & Budgeting: Taking Control of Your Finances with Nicole Stanley

Brat Energy & Budgeting: Taking Control of Your Finances with Nicole Stanley
In this episode, our guest Nicole Stanley and I dive into the emotional, strategic, and systemic layers of personal finance. Nicole is the founder of Arise Financial Coaching and the creator of the Money Momentum Method—a system born from her own transformation from debt and anxiety to a thriving six-figure net worth by age 27. We talk about the real reasons money creates so much stress, how our childhoods shape financial behaviors, and how to build confidence even when things feel uncertain.
Through her ADHD lens, we see a different way of thinking about financial planning—one that values automation, visual cues, and goal-based tracking over rigid spreadsheets. And when we talk about changing the world, Nicole makes it clear that empowered women with financial literacy aren’t just making better lives for themselves—they’re lifting whole communities. 
Nicole Stanley – Founder of Arise Financial Coaching
Nicole Stanley is a financial coach, entrepreneur, and the founder of Arise Financial Coaching, a growing practice that has already served over 600 clients worldwide. She developed her signature approach, the Money Momentum Method, after transforming her own life: from drowning in debt and stress to building a $250K+ net worth by the age of 27—all on an average salary and without shortcuts. Her journey was fueled not just by numbers, but by a deep need to reclaim her peace of mind and autonomy from the grip of financial anxiety.
Nicole began coaching informally—helping friends and family navigate their budgets—before realizing the power of what she’d created. In March 2020, in the midst of global uncertainty, she launched her coaching business officially. Since then, Arise Financial Coaching has grown to include a team of ADHD-informed coaches, group programs, and accolades from platforms like TIME, Yahoo Finance, and CNET. Nicole’s mission is clear: to help people stop feeling behind and start building financial lives that feel aligned, joyful, and free.
Episode Highlights
[00:01:41] Meeting Nicole and her early money story[00:05:31] Coast FIRE by age 27[00:07:19] Detaching from Dave Ramsey-style deprivation[00:10:56] ADHD, money, and the myth of laziness[00:18:21] Childhood financial anxiety and parental influence[00:23:48] Building confidence even in financial chaos[00:29:41] Redefining social justice through money[00:33:19] Coaching clients through tithing and debt[00:37:41] Resignation and learned helplessness in today’s economy[00:41:27] Why empowering women financially transforms communities
Keywords
#FinancialFreedom #DebtFreeJourney #ADHDAndMoney #WomenAndWealth #FinancialCoaching #MoneyMindset #EmpoweredSpending #CoastFIRE #MoneyAndFaith #NeurodivergentMoney
Resources
InstagramWebsiteThreadsTikTokFrancis CabriniPrince Charming Isn't Coming: How Women Get Smart About Money by Barbara StannyViking Economics: How the Scandinavians Got It Right-and How We Can, Too by George Lakey
 
Watch this episode on YouTube
 
Diana Gisel Yañez is an Investment Advisor Representative of Natural Investments PBLLC. Natural Investments is an independent Registered Investment Advisor. All the Colors is not a registered entity and is not an affiliate or subsidiary of Natural Investments. See our Disclosures and Disclaimers and read our Form CRS.

Money, Grief & Healing: A Former Advisor’s New Mission with DonJay Rice

Money, Grief & Healing: A Former Advisor’s New Mission
In this episode, our guest DonJay Rice and I take a deep dive into the complex relationship between money, grief, and healing. Early in DonJay’s career as a wealth manager a series of personal and professional turning points led him to add behavioral coaching skills to his work, way before it was a common practice for wealth managers. In our conversation, he opens up about how an experience with three widowed clients changed everything he thought he knew about money and human connection.
We explore how personal history shapes our financial behaviors, the ongoing impact of childhood experiences, and what it takes to truly feel emotionally safe with money. DonJay shares insights about his own upbringing in poverty, becoming the legal guardian of his special needs brothers, and how discovering his "transferable skills" outside of traditional finance became a catalyst for work filled with purpose and meaning. We also reflect on the journey from emotional numbness to the subtle joy of appreciating nature and why helping others reclaim their voice is part of his life’s work.
Get to Know DonJay Rice
DonJay Rice is a Financial Coach and the founder of Drumbeat of Wealth, where he specializes in guiding clients through the tangled intersections of money, grief, and trauma. With over 25 years of experience in financial services, including 28 years as a wealth manager, DonJay brings a unique blend of financial expertise and deep emotional insight to his coaching practice. His work is grounded in behavioral finance and shaped by his own journey through personal loss, hardship, and healing.
Having grown up in poverty and navigated complex family responsibilities from a young age—including becoming guardian to his special needs brothers—DonJay developed an acute sensitivity to how unresolved grief can shape our financial lives. Today, he draws on that lived experience, as well as formal training in financial psychology, to help others find clarity, purpose, and a renewed relationship with money. Whether it's unspoken money anxieties or long-standing emotional patterns, DonJay helps clients find their rhythm again—one beat at a time.
Episode Highlights
[00:01:50] Meeting DonJay Rice[00:04:48] The moment three widows changed his career[00:08:29] Leaving financial advising without a plan[00:12:10] Realizing he had transferable skills[00:16:22] Childhood financial enmeshment and trauma[00:21:22] Why people box up pain and how we eventually unpack it[00:26:02] The value of sensitivity and unstructured time[00:32:22] Bringing social justice into financial coaching[00:38:20] How DonJay works with clients post-therapy[00:41:53] Exploring “half-truths” and inherited money beliefs[00:47:50] The role of a coach: not an expert, but a mirror
Keywords
#moneyandtrauma #griefsupport #financialcoaching #healingjourney #financialbehavior #socialjusticework #donjayrice #traumainformed #moneyhealing #coachingwithpurpose #drumbbeatofwealth
Resources
Drumbeat of WealthLinkedIn InstagramFacebookNobody Nowhere: The Remarkable Autobiography of an Autistic Girl by Donna Williams
 
Watch this episode on YouTube
 
Diana Gisel Yañez is an Investment Advisor Representative of Natural Investments PBLLC. Natural Investments is an independent Registered Investment Advisor. All the Colors is not a registered entity and is not an affiliate or subsidiary of Natural Investments. See our Disclosures and Disclaimers and read our Form CRS.