Money, Mind, And Meaning with Whitney Morrison, CFP

To book at session visit catiaholm.com or call or text 956-249-7930.

We trace how early experiences shape money habits, then work with Whitney Morrison to unpack shame, self-worth, and the seasons of finance. Practical tools help us shift from reaction to choice and build kinder, smarter money routines.

• neuroscience of scarcity wiring and identity narratives
• Whitney’s childhood imprint and career path into finance
• industry skills versus emotional money patterns
• shame, debt, and the unworthiness script
• the deserve versus pricing pendulum in business
• monthly nonjudgmental reviews to spot patterns
• money as cycles and building grace for downturns
• separating worth from net worth while pursuing potential
• one tiny step to shift a money behavior this week

Show Guest:

Whitney Morrison has long understood the profound role money plays in shaping a life. While others her age dreamed of fame, she was driven to decode the forces behind financial stability and identity. Motivated by her family’s early struggles, she pursued finance straight out of college, earning her Series 7, Series 66, and Certified Financial Planner® credentials. Her true transformation came when she began examining the emotional roots of money—beliefs around worth, scarcity, and success—ultimately shifting from a negative net worth to millionaire status while building her business from the ground up.

Today, Whitney serves as a strategic CFO and financial advisor to women entrepreneurs with a rare blend of rigor and reflection. She helps founders understand their numbers, make powerful decisions, and build profitable businesses that support the lives they’re creating. Her philosophy is simple yet revolutionary: money isn’t just transactional; it’s a pathway to meaning, agency, and wellbeing. To work with Whitney or learn more about her approach, visit her online and take your next step toward building wealth on your own terms.

You can find Whitney at: Holistic Money and on Instagram

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Show Purpose
• 1:21 Money Stories And The Nervous System
• 3:27 Introducing Whitney Morrison
• 5:26 Early Family Money Imprints
• 10:55 Choosing Finance At Twelve
• 14:07 Industry Skills Vs Emotional Money
• 18:30 Shame, Debt, And Self Worth
• 23:20 Pendulum Of Deserve And Pricing
• 28:40 Nonjudgmental Reviews And Patterns
• 32:48 Seasons Of Money And Grace
• 38:04 Rethinking Wealth And Morality
• 43:13 Net Worth Versus Self Worth
• 47:30 Worth Without Numbers And Desire

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome to Couch Time with Cat, your safe place for real conversation and a gentle check-in. KWVH presents Couch Time with Cat.

SPEAKER_04: 0:10

Hi friends, and welcome to Couch Time with Cat, Mental Wellness with a Friendly Voice. I'm Kat, therapist, bestselling author, TEDx speaker, and endurance athlete. But most of all, I'm a wife, mama, and someone who deeply believes that people are good and healing is possible. Here in the Hill Country of Wimberley, Texas, I've built my life and practice around one purpose to make mental wellness feel accessible, compassionate, and real. This show is for those moments when life feels heavy, when you're craving clarity, or when you just need to hear, you're not alone. Each week we'll explore the terrain of mental wellness through stories, reflections, research, and tools you can bring into everyday life. Think of it as a conversation between friends, rooted in science, guided by heart, and grounded in the belief that healing does not have to feel clinical. It can feel like sitting on a couch with someone who gets it. So whether you're driving, walking, cooking, or simply catching your breath, you're welcome here. This is your space to feel seen, supported, and reminded of your own strength. I'm so glad you're here. Let's dive in. What if the way you think about money comes from a story written long ago by your parents, your childhood home, your earliest beliefs about your worth? In today's episode, we'll explore how our past, our identity, and our beliefs shape our financial behaviors, and how healing that narrative can transform our present. What we inherited, believed, and felt shapes our behaviors, our fears, and our successes. Because the truth is, money isn't just about spreadsheets. It's about meaning, it's about identity, and it's about healing. You're listening to Couch Time with Kat. I'm Kat, and today we're talking about Money in the Mind, Healing Your Financial Story with Whitney Morrison. Before we bring Whitney in, let's ground our conversation in a bit of science and soul. Because when we talk about money and mindset, we're really talking about the brain, the nervous system, and the stories we carry. Research in neuroscience shows that early experiences create neural pathways, patterns of thinking, feeling, reacting. When you grow up in an environment of scarcity or witnessed financial instability, your brain encoded a kind of threat system around money. You might find yourself reacting as if money were a danger. Psychology tells us that our money story is a subset of our identity story. How we learn to interpret value, worth, belonging. It all lives in that inner narrative. If you believe I'm not worthy unless I earn a lot, you may overwork, burn out, or tie your identity to income. Here's a simple takeaway. When you recognize your financial behaviors are not just about dollars, but about your nervous system and your story, you open the door to greater freedom. You shift from reaction to choice. And with that shift from story to agency is where healing begins. All right, let's welcome my very, very favorite, Whitney Morrison. Whitney Morrison has been fascinated by money since the age of 12 when she chose to confront the financial stress in her family by diving deep into the world of finance. She earned her Series 7, Series 66. Oh my God, the kids would love that these days. 6-7, 6-7. Became a certified financial planner and built a thriving business helping female entrepreneurs and service-based businesses to not only understand their numbers, but to design financial models that truly support the life they want to live. Whitney's mission at her business, Holistic Money, is one built on care, clarity, and trust. More than accurate books, she offers a partnership that meets the client where they are. Today we're going to talk about how our early money stories shape our present and how we can reclaim our worth, redesign our mindset, and step into financial freedom rooted in soul and strategy. Whitney. Hi, girl.

SPEAKER_00: 4:37

Hello. It's so good to be here.

SPEAKER_04: 4:39

I'm so happy to have you here. You're the best.

SPEAKER_00: 4:44

I'm excited too.

SPEAKER_04: 4:45

This is where you say, No, you're the best. No, you're the best.

SPEAKER_01: 4:47

I'm just kidding. Katia. Katia's got a script here for me. Yeah. All her one-liners. I have me to respond.

SPEAKER_04: 4:55

I have her cue cards. You're the best. Um, listener, when I saw Whitney, she for the first time. I've never told her this. She was like a light beaming in a room. Truly. I remember seeing you for the first time, and I was like, who is that? You had this light shining from your face. And I was like, somebody get me to that woman. Um it was at Vista.

SPEAKER_01: 5:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_04: 5:28

Brewery. And you walked in and you just looked like you were on, like somebody had plugged you into a light switch, like you were shining from the inside. And I was like, somebody get me to that lady. And then no, that's not true. It was at um Creekhaven in its inn and spot. Oh, yeah. That was the very first time. And I was like, who is that? And I didn't know. And you want a raffle that day. Yeah. And I was like, more clues, more clues.

SPEAKER_00: 5:59

Oh my gosh, how funny.

SPEAKER_04: 6:00

Yeah. And um and then I I didn't see you again. And then I saw you a month later. At Vista. Yeah, at Vista.

SPEAKER_02: 6:09

And I was like, whoa, she's so cool.

SPEAKER_01: 6:11

Oh my gosh, that is so kind. It's so funny when when you show up to these events. Like I remember how I felt going to that Creekhaven event because I had made a promise to myself in 2024 that I was gonna start getting out of my house more. And I was gonna start going to more networking events. And that was the first one I had gone to.

SPEAKER_04: 6:35

That was the first one I went to also.

SPEAKER_01: 6:37

Yeah. And so I was nervous and I didn't know many people in the Wimberly community at that time. I had one other friend that I knew was going, and I remember I ended up wearing um a jumper. A jumper. How do I remember that? But it was it was like the auto maintenance jumpers. A hundred. Do you know what I'm talking about?

SPEAKER_04: 6:58

I remember what you were wearing, which is mildly creepy.

SPEAKER_01: 7:02

And everyone looked really nice. Like they had on really nice clothes. And I had on that jumper. That is it's cool, but it's a little retro. It's it's m much more casual. And I had on like tennis shoes. And I remember just thinking, oh my gosh, I'm so I'm so out of place here. I should have worn something different. And to hear your reflection of me from that time is just it's so funny because it's just so different than what I was actually experiencing. Yeah. Wow.

SPEAKER_04: 7:34

That is interesting. It's such a completely different perspective. Yeah. But no, I was like, somebody get me to that woman.

SPEAKER_03: 7:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 7:43

Thanks. So in your bio, you tell us some of your earlier story. Can you share a little bit about how your family dynamics shaped your early relationship with money? Just what you're comfortable with, of course.

SPEAKER_01: 7:58

Sure, sure. Um, so growing up, um, there was a lot of financial stress in my household. There was a lot of stress between my mom and my dad and my brother. There were a lot of dynamics going on. But the one that really penetrated me the most was the financial stress. One of my early childhood memories was we had just gotten a PC at our house, and um, my mom went in the other room and she was checking online banking, which was like a brand new thing that you could do. And I just remember her yelling from that room. And I was seven, and I went in there, and she just looked at me and threw her hands on the table and said, Whitney, we're in debt again. And I didn't know what to do. So I just did what she would do for me when she would take care of me. So I went and I grabbed a blanket and I tried to get her from the computer chair to the couch, and I tried to lay her down and put a blanket on her and bring her some water. But it was this memory for me that oh my gosh, finances are life or death. This is devastating. My mom, I am seven years old. I am watching my mom realized that my father, who was a compulsive gambler, had yet again got us in a really sticky financial situation. And I didn't know the context of that at that time, but now I know, you know, all the the bigger story. And I felt like it was my responsibility to figure this out at a very young age. And then you just start to hear that was a really big experience, but there was also little micro experiences for me too. You know, like where we could shop for clothes, the neighborhood that we grew up in, uh the cars that we drove, how my mom would talk about what we were gonna order at the dinner table or when we went out to eat. All of these became little signs for me that it's like money is very sensitive, money is very scarce, we need to be very careful about money. And uh if you're not careful, somebody could take it away from you in a second. And those were all really, really deeply ingrained in me from a young age.

SPEAKER_04: 10:33

What a huge imprint.

SPEAKER_01: 10:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 10:36

So many of us have imprints that then uh uh put us like catapult us onto this trajectory. And so for you, it was about finances. And is it true that you were 12 when you decided to become a financial advisor?

SPEAKER_01: 10:55

It is true.

SPEAKER_04: 10:56

Tell me about that.

SPEAKER_01: 10:58

I knew first of all, when I was starting to understand about the financial stress in my family and how significantly it impacted my mom, I knew it was something that I wanted to learn. And I felt like it was a problem that I needed to solve at a very young age. And so I learned this concept of being a financial planner early. And I just decided, I was like, I'm gonna be a financial planner, that's what I'm gonna do. And then wow, I did it. And I haven't done anything since. It's kind of crazy.

SPEAKER_02: 11:44

Yes, yeah, oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_04: 11:48

Listener, Whitney has just shared an early imprint and the trajectory of her young heart and brain early on, like you were setting out to heal a wound for yourself and for your mom and and for other people. Listener, I want to invite you to pause and reflect for a moment. Think back to your earliest money memory. Was it abundance, fear, shame, privilege, scarcity? What did you believe about money, about worth, and about safety? Whitney, what patterns did you notice later in adulthood that you realized had roots in your early story? Maybe it was like avoidance of looking at finances. I know you were on the trajectory to become a financial planner, but as a therapist, I know we're working concurrently. I have my own profession where I get trained and I can go out there and be of use and help other people heal while I'm dealing with my own issues and healing. And so I have to seek out my own help, of course. All good helpers get help, is what I say. And so, even though you were being trained in this way, did you have patterns that you were working through at the same time, or were you just everything was fine and dandy?

SPEAKER_01: 13:21

Oh no. You know, it's really it's interesting because I have a theory that a lot of people that work in personal finance and in finance are actually terrible with their finances. No way. For sure. Wow. I know people so and look, the it's not true for everyone, but I I feel like at least in the beginning of your career, especially in this in this field, I think it's a lot of people that are going and trying to heal something in themselves. I really do. I think we pursue the path that brings us the most healing.

SPEAKER_04: 13:59

I think that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01: 14:01

And I think that um I know it wasn't just me, but I did feel like it was just me. So going into uh my first job was right out of college at Wells Fargo Advisors, and I was an assistant to an established financial advisor there. And I'm so thankful for that job because I learned a lot about um the banking systems, I learned a lot about um trading, I learned a lot about money, um, stocks, bonds, but I did not learn a lot about your emotional relationship to money and how it impacts the things that you do and don't do with your money. And so while I was learning all of these things and developing my knowledge as a young financial planner, I was also spending way more money than I had. And buying cars that I bought a car that I really couldn't afford and was trying every month to scrape out of my credit card debt, but slowly and slowly it kept rising and rising and rising until I got myself in a financial position that I actually had to ask for help and I had to figure out my own finances. And that was mortifying to me. It was mortifying because number one, I felt like I should know better. Number two, I learned very early that this was my problem to solve financially, that I needed to figure this out and solve it for myself and my family. And I didn't do a very good job of that because what I didn't understand at that time is I felt so deeply unworthy with money. And that was where my healing came in was understanding I needed to heal my relationship with money to act in integrity with money.

SPEAKER_04: 16:08

The worth part is so big for so many of us, and the pendulum swings ferociously from like I'm not worth this much money in salary, let's say, to treat yourself, right? It's like I should be able to do this, and I want to do this, and I deserve this vacation. And then the pendulum swings to oh, but this is so weird to accept money from somebody and no no no, I'm only really working an hour on this project, so we start thinking hourly rates. Yeah, like it starts to get, you know, depending on the the type of profession. Um people charge project-based or whatever it is. Um but these pendulum swings are so big in our heart and in our head. Can you speak a little bit to that?

SPEAKER_01: 17:16

It's really interesting to explore that pendulum swing because oftentimes we feel like we deserve things and we we should get things. But when it comes to thinking we deserve to get paid or should get paid, all of a sudden that belief system crumbles.

SPEAKER_04: 17:42

Yes, I've had that. That is so bizarre.

SPEAKER_01: 17:45

Yeah, and I have I have watched myself, like reflected on myself in early interviews, showing up at the as this young woman who is trying to make a profession for myself and willing to compromise on my pay, willing to compromise on all the things that I should have advocated more fiercely for myself. And then regretting that and resenting that less than two weeks later, it's like in the moment when I was actually trying to communicate my worth, I just like shape shifted into a different version of myself. This unworthy people pleaser, I'm not good enough, I'll take whatever you'll give me. And then I shape shifted back into my powerful self and then was mad at her for being like, why did we accept so little money for this? Why did we do this? And I see it all the time with women.

SPEAKER_04: 18:52

Yeah, listener, I am Whitney's client, and I will say um wholeheartedly, and I'm proud to be her client, and um I was financially illiterate in a lot of ways, and I was educated in many, many ways, and my life circumstances kind of stumbled along where I didn't ever have to learn money, and I got to a point where that didn't feel good anymore. I really felt ignorant and I wanted to get a hold of it. So I became Whitney's client in January, and we are recording this in November, and in 11 months, my life has changed. Just to have somebody to talk about it with that is this isn't an ad, by the way. It's just a complete honest testimonial to have somebody I am one of those people, Whitney just That I see it a lot in women. So I just want to come out and say I'm that's me, among other women, of course. And to be able to have somebody to talk about it in a non-judgmental way, that makes all the difference. Learning in a non-judgmental space, setting up systems in a non-judgmental space, goals in a non-judgmental space. Oh my God. I remember the first month that I gave Whitney access to my finances, I was terrified she was gonna see that I go to Dairy Queen every Monday.

SPEAKER_00: 20:34

I remember.

SPEAKER_04: 20:36

And I was like, oh no. She's gonna see I spend$4.32 on a small butterfinger blizzard every Monday. I could hide all the evidence from my kids and my husband because I would throw throw the cup away before I got home.

SPEAKER_00: 20:56

But I couldn't hide it from Whitney. And the funny thing is, Katya, is I didn't even notice. But the first time we met, you were like, did you see the dairy queen in my transactions? And I was like, no. You were like, yeah, I knew you were gonna see that dairy queen charge.

SPEAKER_04: 21:17

So we go around thinking these weird, bizarre thoughts. Like that's that's one tiny little thought in my money story. And there are just legions of women out there who are thinking, oh, I need to have shame about. They're not even thinking I need to have shame. They have shame about what they do or what they don't do, or how much they earn, or how much they don't earn, or, you know, I bought too many Christmas lights on Amazon Prime, and and now I feel bad about it. And so it just gets really convoluted really quickly and wrapped up in that what you were saying earlier, which is you shape shift in from your powerful self into this shame self. So, how do you help women and men, of course, but people recognize that they're reacting from this old wiring? So perhaps childhood stories or earlier experiences. How do you help them recognize when they're reacting from that rather than present-day possibility?

SPEAKER_01: 22:33

I find the most simple way to allow someone to understand the result of their thinking and the identity that's driving their actions is by starting to just look at the actions in an isolated, isolated way. And I think it's a lot easier to reflect on a situation after it's happened. So I like to meet with my clients monthly and often we'll review the previous month's finances. And I always just like to poke around very gently, just to understand, like, okay, like we're really over budget here, or, you know, I see that X, Y, and Z happened. And we'll just start to understand, like, hey, was this really something that you wanted to do? Are you happy with this decision? Are you happy with this outcome? But one thing I always do in the reframing process is I try to identify the ways that we want to make progress for the month moving forward. I found that trying to change the past is pretty, pretty difficult. You know, the past is past, what happened it happened. And so I always just like to bring the most non-judgmental mindset to these conversations to allow someone just to really understand their behavior, really understand their patterns, really understand if it's in service of what they actually want for their lives, or if this was driven from an emotional response. And I think once you can start to pick that apart and understand what's really driving your actions, it becomes easier in the moment to make the decisions that you actually want to make. And no one's perfect with money. I will tell you, my relationship with money has shifted drastically.

SPEAKER_02: 24:34

Tell me, what do you mean? I am so much kinder to myself about money. Oh, wait, what does that mean?

SPEAKER_01: 24:41

I used to be so hard on myself. If I were to overspend, if I were in debt, if I weren't, if I wasn't making the money that I wanted to make, I was incredibly ashamed. I was not talking about it. I was actively lying about it, telling people I made more money, or not showing my husband exactly what I would buy and how much I spent on it. Um and now I have such a different, it's like such a different relationship with myself because I've been doing this work long enough that I've worked with very wealthy people and I've worked with people that are very beginning of their careers trying to climb themselves out of a hole. And what I see that is the exact same between both of those people is people have really abundant seasons and people don't.

SPEAKER_04: 25:38

Oh. So your front row seat to people's experiences has given you perspective.

SPEAKER_01: 25:47

Yes.

SPEAKER_04: 25:48

And so now you're able to give yourself grace because you see you're not an outlier. You are not um AA calls it terminally unique. Are you familiar with that term? No, but I love it. Yeah, it means like they I think that I'm getting that right. Forgive me, AA, for messing that up if that's the case. But it's like we all think it's only us, and then we get wrapped in the shame, and then we become really weird and self-centered about it, and then we're just in our own little silo of shame when really if we can step out, we see that we're all dealing with a certain type of challenge.

SPEAKER_01: 26:33

Yes, and to make this a little existential.

SPEAKER_02: 26:39

Please.

SPEAKER_01: 26:41

I also think we're all we're living in cycles. Um, economically, environmentally, I think everything works in a cycle of abundance that eventually wanes and then moves to scarcity and then abundance comes again. It's how the stock market works, it's how nature works, it's how life works, and it it is how money works. There are seasons where in your life, well, where things will be abundant, and there are seasons where life will life you. Somebody's gonna get laid off from work, somebody's gonna have a big medical bill, somebody's gonna get in an accident, and your finances are gonna shift. And the way you respond to that shift is what is most important for your, for your experience of your life and your experience with money, and what I have given my the gift I have given myself is so much more grace around those shifts.

SPEAKER_04: 27:41

I love that. I feel like I've had a very similar experience in terms of my stresses and my um, I guess, challenges as I grow into the person I want to be every day because I see I have a front row seat to clients and to other cases, right? My colleagues' cases and things like that. And it helps me give myself grace because everybody is having a hard time in in one way or another. And so it helps me have a lot of perspective and not that I ever think, oh, they have it worse. It's not that, it's more like wow, we all have a full plate. And right now I'm really lucky that my full plate doesn't include a sick child or you know, something where I just can't. Hopefully, God forbid one day that happens. But it it does help me give myself grace to know more people, to understand more people. You know, even whether that's a client or whether that's just community, right? When we sit and we can connect with other people, we learn who they are and their stories, and we feel less alone and like and then we see their triumph, and then we think, oh good, maybe that's around the corner for me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 29:17

Yeah. I I think that's one of the most impactful shifts I've experienced in my now late 30s is understanding that. And even it, even when you said the triumph, and that could be around the corner for me. I also have that experience with the losses. That could also be around the corner for me. And it's not something I dwell on, but it's a there's a certain acceptance that it's all uh makes that transition when inevitably there is some kind of loss. Loss with money. You lose money some way or another. That I understand that the triumph is right around the corner as well. And I think that that is just I've I've seen it with people in all different wealth levels. That has been the most impactful. I had a story that when I was young, that like rich people were good people. Not to say rich people all rich people are bad or good, but my framework of understanding was rich people were the good people, they were better people.

SPEAKER_04: 30:37

Oh yeah, me too.

SPEAKER_01: 30:38

Yeah. Oh yeah. So I remember learning that not all wealthy people were morally good people. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 30:50

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 30:52

And I thought that there was some kind of armor around them that prevented them from experiencing life. But now that I've worked with enough people, uh wealth, very wealthy people, I understand they go through financial hardships, maybe not similar to people at lower income levels, but they do. They lose money, they have um family issues because of money.

unknown: 31:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 31:20

And I used to think as a child, also almost conversely, um I don't want to be rich because like I thought they were good, but I also thought being rich was very risky. I thought rich people mow money, mow problems. And I was like, no thanks. So I wrapped myself in this in these limitations because I thought, oh, he's I could see people around me in my youth. Like that family is very rich, but they all get divorced, or they all fight about something, or their kids do a lot of drugs, or you know, whatever my 15-year-old self was was seeing with my eyeballs and not confirming with any adult around me. You know, it was just my little brain making up stories as we do when we're 15. You're just like trying to learn how to walk through the world. And so part of my story was no thank you. No thank you. I want to be safe with my family and I don't want to invite problems into my life. So I don't want to earn that much money because no thanks.

SPEAKER_02: 32:35

Wow. Isn't that crazy?

SPEAKER_01: 32:37

Um yeah, it's a com it is, it's a common story, but it's very far from my story. And so when I hear people share their stories with me, I really have to listen and be like, what? How is that possible? I was like, hell yeah, I want to be rich. Yeah. People are gonna like me more if I'm rich. Because I always thought rich people were the better people. But it's fascinating for me to even consider the narrative that, like, ooh, being rich is risky and I don't want to do that. Because in my family, money was my mom, especially, she really looked up to people that were financially fit. And yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 33:26

And now I'm sure like you, I don't give money any any any good or bad at all anymore. It's neutral for me. I'm like, okay, great. Like, it's a tool. I see it as a tool and I use it for things, but I don't ascribe goodness to it or badness.

SPEAKER_01: 33:46

I still work on it every day.

SPEAKER_04: 33:47

Yeah, wow. Thank you for sharing that.

SPEAKER_01: 33:50

I do.

SPEAKER_04: 33:51

So in your bio, it also shares. Just because I don't want you to think, listener, that I'm speaking out of school, this is on public domain, that you moved from a negative net worth of 40k to becoming a millionaire. That's in your bio, is that right? Yes. Just double checking.

SPEAKER_01: 34:15

Yes.

SPEAKER_04: 34:16

Do you want me to say that or no?

SPEAKER_01: 34:18

No, it's fine, yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 34:19

Okay, let's keep it in. What mindset shift help you feel safe to invest and pay yourself and grow in that particular way?

SPEAKER_01: 34:34

It's really interesting to hear you. I think I've said it's really interesting like 15 times.

SPEAKER_04: 34:39

Well, it is. I am interesting. You are interesting. Okay. This is interesting.

SPEAKER_01: 34:46

Um okay. I wrote this bio probably four years ago.

SPEAKER_02: 34:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_01: 34:55

So I even forgot that that line was in there. But to hear you read it back to me and kind of ask me what the shift was mentally, it just brings me back to the woman that sat down and wrote that in the first place. And when I wrote that, I was so proud of that. That I had made that huge financial gain in my life. And I'll I will say what really supported that big shift is my husband and I made some really smart real estate investments. And it ended up taking our net worth up into the millions pretty quickly.

SPEAKER_04: 35:37

Excellent.

SPEAKER_01: 35:38

Which is which is a fun story, right? However, now the real estate market has shifted. And that story that in that moment felt so triumphant now is a little like lukewarm for me because I'm like, yeah, but the market shifted, and I'm like, you know, I I'm even thinking through my numbers, and I'm like, and they're not that great anymore. You know, at one time they were because the market was so high. And now we actually just sold two of our properties, which we ended up not making as much money as we had hoped to make. We still made a good amount of money. But I think the reason why I'm sharing this is because it goes back to seasons.

SPEAKER_04: 36:31

I think that's so kind of you to share. Like a little peek into the your own personal cycle.

SPEAKER_01: 36:43

Yeah. Yeah. We've sold a couple of those properties. We still have two of them. Um, we're about to buy another now. But the market isn't nearly as ripe as it was when I bought when I uh wrote that bio. And cash flow is always an issue for us and our family. Um uh having kids and and so it's it's just I have a very different relationship to my own experience with money, but I will share what helped me make those moves was number one, being financially educated. I understood how to invest, I understood the importance of investing. And um I really prioritized making decisions that were gonna make me money, which weren't fun decisions. And when I did that, it really, it really helped my net worth grow.

SPEAKER_04: 37:41

You're listening to Couch Time with Kat. I'm Kat, and today we're exploring how our past and beliefs shape our financial behaviors. So Whitney just shared part of her story, and I want to pose this question to you, listener. How much of your worth have you tied to your net worth? If your net worth is up, how good do you feel? If your net worth is down, how good do you feel? If you haven't ever thought about your net worth, does that bring you shame? Or does that bring you relief? Or what does that bring you? I'm just I think part of today's conversation is like the third guest is awareness. We just keep talking about being aware of it, seeing it, being non-judgmental. So, listener, for you, if you're listening and you're feeling like this is a weird conversation, two women are talking about money. Some people can't handle that. That's really hard. Talking about money is really difficult to a lot for a lot of people. And you and I are sitting here as two successful female business owners, entrepreneurs. You employ people. I'm about to employ my first person.

SPEAKER_02: 39:04

Yay!

SPEAKER_04: 39:06

So this is uncharted territory for a lot of people. You know, I know people who still think it's impolite to talk about money. And I think, why? What's the problem? Like that's I used to think the same, of course, but it, you know, that has shifted for me. So, listener, to repose the question, how much of your net worth have you tied to your worth? So, Whitney, when you work with female entrepreneurs, you see this tension. Or do you see this tension? The business is growing, the numbers are there, but the person still feels less than. Have you seen that? Every day. Why do you think we confuse financial success with personal value?

SPEAKER_01: 39:56

I think a lot of it has to do with the society. Society we live in. I think that money does afford us nicer clothes, nicer experiences, um at least objectively. But I I think I think um I think it's just like food, our relationship to our bodies, you know, when we feel I know if I feel smaller, I feel more worthy. I think there's just some societal scripts that have really impacted us, and money, health, and our weight. I'm there are so many more.

SPEAKER_04: 40:47

Yeah, I agree. I think we we're kind of all dumped into the river of this story. And to get out of the story, to get out of those expectations takes a lot of hard work. Um I got to the point where I don't have a car payment and I drive an I I would say it's older. I mean, my car is great, it's fine, but it's certainly not fancy, and I still haven't fixed it from the hailstorm of a year and a half ago. Please. I have two young children, we've got french fries on the floor. Yeah. I'm not worried about it. Um, this is like a utilitarian experience for me. And so part of what I have, like just a little I guess evidence on where I am is that it doesn't bother me. I'm much happier putting money in my kids' college account than having a car payment. Like I'm not bothered by the fact that my car is not fancy or that it has hail marks on the whole right side. Looks like Tommy Lee Jones' face on the side. It's kind of intense. But it I can that's progress for me. I can see it when before I would have been maybe a little embarrassed.

SPEAKER_02: 42:22

Sure.

SPEAKER_04: 42:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 42:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 42:25

So what do you think about this? What do you think if we offer the listener this idea to create worth without numbers? So writing down five to ten qualities, contributions, or ideas about who they are that cannot be measured by income or profit that they can tie to their worth. What do you think about that? I think that's beautiful.

SPEAKER_01: 42:50

Can I add one caveat?

SPEAKER_04: 42:52

Please.

SPEAKER_01: 42:53

Because I think a lot of the work that we do around money can be how do I remove myself from the the confines of believing my worth is tied to how much money I do or don't have. And we can just, in pursuit of that, we just push money to the side and we just try to devalue the importance of the money in our life and our experience. And I don't always think that that's useful because I do think there are some people out there that just truly aren't hitting their potential and truly aren't making the decisions that they want to make to have the wealth that they want to have. I don't I don't want to make money seem as if it's bad or that we need to figure out a way to disassociate from it.

SPEAKER_04: 43:53

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01: 43:54

So part of this, what if we also threw in that we can also recognize if there are areas that you are not reaching your full potential with money.

SPEAKER_04: 44:07

I love that. So bring a an acceptance to it. Like I'm worthy because of these things that are non-numbers related. And also at the same time, I can hold the tension of I'm not meeting my potential in these areas money-wise.

SPEAKER_01: 44:28

Yes.

SPEAKER_04: 44:29

Okay. Yeah. I like that. That feels very mature.

SPEAKER_00: 44:32

Yeah. Really?

SPEAKER_04: 44:34

Yeah. It feels grown up. Yeah. That's not as easy as the one I was suggesting.

SPEAKER_01: 44:41

It's not because I think I think it requires actually coming to terms with your desire. And I think we uh a lot of people have the desire to be financially financially um what is the word I'm looking for?

SPEAKER_04: 44:57

Literate, financially. Stable, yes, successful. Yeah. All the things. Right before I met Whitney, I found the book, or it came, I I really don't know even who introduced it to me, but um what is the name of the book? You're a badass at making money. And Lord did that book change my life. As soon as I listened to that, I was like, okay, it's time. It's time. And I think the world started to conspire and um just set things in place for me to really get my act together. And I think I met you the next month.

SPEAKER_01: 45:37

Yeah, amazing. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 45:39

Yeah. So listener, Whitney's mentioning about where, you know, get getting getting okay with your desire with money and a statement in that book is I love money and money loves me, which can be really triggering for a lot of people. I am curling both my big toes as I say it out loud. I'm like, oh, I'm gonna say this on public radio. Yes, I am.

SPEAKER_02: 46:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 46:02

Yes, I am. It's okay. I've taught my daughters that it's great. We do I make really good decisions with my money. I give a lot. Um, I enjoy, take good care of my family. And all those things are good. And I can be trusted with money, and so can you, listener. Okay. Grab a journal or pen, get your notes app, and write down one money-related behavior that you'd like to shift. Then write the underlying belief that you suspect is driving it. Ask yourself, is this belief mine or inherited? And then imagine one tiny step you can take this week to shift it. Whitney, thanks for being here, girl.

SPEAKER_01: 46:51

Thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_04: 46:53

You're the best. Where can listeners find you, follow your work, and how can they connect with you?

SPEAKER_01: 46:59

You can find me at www.by website at holistic-money.com, or you can find me on Instagram, holistic.money. At holistic.money.

SPEAKER_04: 47:13

Beautiful. Thank you for spending this time with us. Remember, your story matters, your journey matters, and you don't have to do it alone. Take good care of yourselves. Thank you for spending this time with me. If something from today's conversation resonated, or if you're in a season where support would help, visit me at gattheahhallam.com. That's C-A-T-I-A-H-O-L-M.com. You can also leave an anonymous question for the show by calling or texting 956-249-7930. I'd love to hear what's on your heart. If Couch Time with Cat has been meaningful to you, it would mean so much if you'd subscribe, rate, and leave a review. It helps others find us and it grows this community of care. And if you know someone who needs a little light right now, send them this episode. Remind them they're not alone. Until next time, be gentle with yourself. Keep showing up and know I'm right here with you.