Welcome! If you’ve made it this far, you’ve been thinking about your finances and exploring making some changes. You are in the right place and I am here to help you change your relationship with money and improve your financial health. In our work together, we will identify your financial goals and the steps you can take to reach those goals.

Some facts about Women and Money:

“Just 20% of female breadwinners said they were ‘very well prepared’ to make wise financial decisions, versus 45% of their male peers.” (Source: New York TImes, January 2013)

“Women tend to carry more debt than men.” (Source: Fox Business)

“Five times more women than men live paycheck to paycheck, without an emergency fund.” (Source: CNBC)

“Two-thirds of adults in the US would struggle to cover a $1000 crisis. (Source: The Associated Press- NORC Center for Public Affairs Research)

“A recent Federal Reserve Survey found that 44% of adults struggle to come up with $400 for an unexpected expense. This lack of well-funded emergency fund happens through the income scale.” (CNBC)

What is Financial Coaching? An individualized and nonjudgmental collaboration focused on helping individuals reach their financial goals in a supportive, empowering and encouraging environment.

What to expect from Financial Coaching with me…

* Accountability and support as you face financial concerns and change your relationship with money

* A customized plan for addressing your financial concerns

* Access in between meetings to ask questions about situations that may arise day to day

* A follow up plan for maintaining financial success

My “Why” story…

When people ask me why I chose to become a financial coach, my response is to help others avoid the mistakes I have made and free themselves from financial stress and worry. I grew up in a household where we did not worry about money or if our basic needs were going to be met. My parents educated us on the importance of working hard, getting a good education, paying your bills on time, saving, and avoiding accumulating debt when possible.

 In what feels like a blink of an eye, I was 28 years old; with $15,000 in credit card debt, and $70,000 in student loan debt. To make matters worse, I was overworked and underpaid. I was not following through on my budget and spending plan. I had difficulty saving money without having to use it to cover other expenses. I was under a high level of stress, crying at night, feeling sick to my stomach, constantly worried and fearful about how I was going to change my financial situation. I lost so much sleep. Particularly, after a day of impulsive spending even when I knew the money was not there. One of the worst parts of that time was hiding my stress from those around me due to shame about knowing better than to let myself get into this position.

As a therapist, I knew that what I was experiencing emotionally and mentally was not okay and that I did not want to continue that way. I sat down and went over all of the money in my accounts, my debt and expenses. I started developing a plan for making changes one step at a time. While there were moments where I would backslide or start to doubt myself, having the vision of what I wanted for my life and future, and not wanting to be in that negative place again motivated me to stay on track. Having a salaried job, my income was predictable and I was able to plan and make those changes.

In the midst of feeling better about my finances I was able to save money and see how wealth was accumulating. I made a big decision to leave my salaried and part time private practice work to move to a different state, and work in private practice full time. 

This move created many changes for my family and I, with the biggest change being how my income came in. My money mindset and the systems I had set were no longer working. I was starting to fall back into a pattern of avoidance when it came to my finances. Fortunately, when the stress about money started to increase, it was a wake up call that I needed to make changes to how I was managing my money but also my relationship with money. 

Using the same principles I had learned throughout my life and also some new ones I learned through training and readings, I developed a system that worked for me. Through consistency with my plan and some accountability help, I was able to save money, invest in new business opportunities, alleviate stress about money, and spend more time with my family.  The accomplishment that I was most proud of was being able to no longer feel like I needed credit cards and reach a point of only using credit cards if I had to, and being sure to pay it off before having to pay interest.

Over the years, I have incorporated financial therapy in my therapy practice, as well as work closely with friends who are in need of financial healing. My passion pushes me to want to reach even more and help as many as possible. While I love being a therapist, I had found that I was just as passionate about helping others with their finances. 

I have channeled that passion and energy into Opulence Financial Coaching (OFC). Through OFC; I have been able to help individuals change their relationship with money, improve their overall approach to money and money management, while reducing the point of stress and worry around money.