Stacked Keys Podcast
The idea to talk to women who are out there living and making a difference is where the Stacked Keys Podcast was born. There are women who make a difference, but never make a wave while paddling through life. Immediately I can think of a dozen or more who impacted me, but I want more. I want to talk to those I don't know and I want to share with an audience that might need the inspiration to find their own beat. This podcast is to feature women who are impressive in the work world-- or in raising a family -- or who have hobbies that can make us all be encouraged. Want to hear what makes these women passionate and get up in the morning or what they wish they had known earlier in life? Grab your keys and STOMP to your own drum.
Stacked Keys Podcast
Episode 244 -- Cecy Brooks -- Effort, Mentorship, And The Gray Areas That Shape Our Lives
What if the most important career tool isn’t a credential, but the courage to ask better questions? That’s the thread that runs through this conversation with Cecy Brooks—associate professor, former retail leader, and relentless student of how families make financial choices and how emerging adults grow into confident adults.
We chart Cecy’s unconventional path from engineering to family science, and why a sharp mentor, a detailed plan, and honest self-inquiry made that pivot possible. She explains how years in retail taught her to read people, exposed the real trade-offs behind 60-hour weeks, and ultimately pushed her toward academia where effort and empathy can coexist. We get tactical about goal setting, earning your grade, and using gray areas responsibly—reasons over excuses, plans over platitudes, communication over silence.
Then we zoom out. Family financial socialization meets a volatile economy: the 2008 crash, the pandemic, shifting student aid policies, childcare shortages, and the rise of AI-driven online reviews. Cecy breaks down how these forces reshape money habits, consumer decision-making, and the elusive idea of “financial wellness.” We talk underemployment, cost-of-living mismatches, and the coming intergenerational wealth transfer—who inherits assets, who inherits obligations, and how that changes choices about school, housing, and family.
Woven through it all is a human core: building thick skin without losing heart, picking the right mentors, and learning to advocate for your worth. Cecy shares candid insights on delaying children, caring for aging parents, sustaining a 23-year marriage, and why putting on your own oxygen mask first isn’t selfish—it’s responsible. Expect practical takeaways on effort, boundaries, and designing a life that actually fits.
If you’re navigating college, career pivots, money stress, or big family decisions, this one gives you a clear blueprint and the language to use it. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a nudge, and leave a review with the one change you’re ready to make this week.
Music "STOMP" used by permission of artist Donica Knight Holdman and Jim Huff