The Financial Coach Academy® Podcast

This episode is part of our Client Seat series, where financial coaches get real-time financial coaching from Kelsa. It’s a great opportunity to showcase what goes into a financial coaching session. If you’re a financial professional, you can apply to be a guest on a future Client Seat episode.

Being a financial coach doesn't mean your own money is always perfect. Different seasons of life require different systems, and sometim...

I’m just going to come out and say it: there is NO “right way” to get out of debt. In fact, there are a number of ways that you can support your clients (or yourself) to pay down your debts - and today, we’re going to examine five of those strategies. 

When I first started coaching clients whose goal was to pay off their debts, I would have ask the client to give me their financial details, which included balances, interes...

Getting feedback used to make my chest tighten. I'd spend so much energy trying to live a life where I'd never have to hear that I let someone down or disappointed them. The problem? That's impossible. You will inevitably get feedback as a coach and as a business owner.

So you need to get good at it. Not just operationally, but emotionally.

This episode walks through the three mindset shifts that ch...

The state of things right now isn't exactly predictable. Costs are up, people feel cautious about spending, and there's this underlying tension around money that's hard to ignore. If you're working full time and thinking about becoming a financial coach this year, or if you're already coaching and trying to figure out how to navigate 2026 without burning out, this episode is for you.

The good news?...

Your clients’ budgets absorbed increases they never saw coming this year. A healthcare premium that jumped several hundred dollars per month. Utility bills up $50 at peak usage. Return-to-office mandates that added childcare costs, gas expenses, and convenience spending they didn't budget for. Buy now, pay later options at grocery checkouts, not just for wants but for food.

When your clients sit down with you, they&ap...

After almost two decades of watching clients struggle with traditional budgeting advice, one pattern became impossible to ignore: the advice itself was creating the problem.

Track every dollar. Cut spending wherever possible. Follow this exact plan. The advice was restrictive, rigid, and built on the assumption that everyone should manage money the same way. No wonder people felt like failures when they couldn't stick...

You've got a client who's ready to work with you—they've paid for their first session and now you're feeling those pre-session nerves. Sound familiar?

In this episode, we talk about what's really going on in your client's mind when they show up for that first paid session (hint: they're probably more nervous than you are). I share the exact structure I use to make sure every client leaves...

A client is tearing up about their debt in your first session together. You're feeling good about the progress you're making. Then weeks later, when you use the MeaningFirst Method™ to explore what getting out of debt would mean to them, they say something you didn’t expect: "Even if I were debt free, I'd still be worried about my income. I wouldn't feel much different."

How do you respond in ...

What if the way you're asking clients about their goals is actually making it harder for them to follow through?

Most coaches ask what their client wants to accomplish, get an answer like "I want to get out of debt" or "I want to save more," and then move straight into strategy. Goal identified, check. Time to build the plan.

But here's what's missing: connection. Not your connec...

Knowing what to say in a coaching session is one thing. Knowing when to say it, how to pace it, and what to listen for underneath the words… that's where real coaching happens.

In this episode, we’re walking you through a coaching session breakdown, pulling back the curtain on the decisions made in real time during last week’s The Client Seat episode. You'll hear what Kelsa was tracking, which threads she chose t...

Welcome to our first Client Seat episode, because even coaches need coaches.

Mary Ann Stenquist teaches people how to break the shop-regret-shame cycle. 

She's a spending coach who helps ambitious women align their spending with their values instead of their impulses.

She knows money. She teaches it. She coaches on it.

And she's stuck.

For four years, Mary Ann has been caught in a cycle:...

You've identified the problem. You understand the instinct gap. Now it's time to fix it.

In the first two episodes of this series, we talked about why financial content isn't creating change and introduced the conative mind, the missing piece that explains why people don't take action even when they know what to do. We showed you how your natural way of taking action as a financial professional is likel...

You've given your clients the tools. You've shared the knowledge. They say they understand. They even seem motivated. But then nothing changes.

This is the knowing-doing disconnect, and in this episode, we're showing you why it happens.

In part one of this series, we talked about how more financial content exists than ever before, yet people are more financially stressed than ever. We walked through...

Financial content is everywhere. Personal finance is the second most talked about topic on the internet. And yet, people are more stressed about money than ever before. American household debt sits at an all-time high of $18.4 trillion and the personal savings rate hit 1.4% in July 2025, the lowest in history.

Something isn't working.

You've seen it with your own clients: they nod along, say they underst...

You didn't start your coaching business to become a marketing expert.

But marketing is how you get visible and attract the right clients. Without it, even talented coaches struggle to fill their practice and create the impact they want.

The good news? Boosting your marketing doesn't require a complete overhaul or endless hours. With focused adjustments to what you're already doing, you can start seeing better results.

I...

Financial coaching isn't about giving better advice. Most of your clients already know they should spend less than they earn. They know they need an emergency fund. They've heard the standard recommendations before.

So why aren't they making progress?

The gap isn't information. It's follow-through. And follow-through doesn't come from another spreadsheet or a clearer explanation of co...

People will tell you they want financial literacy. They'll say they need to understand their numbers better, get organized, learn the right steps. And those things matter, of course they do. 

But here's what I've learned after almost two decades of doing this work: knowledge isn't the problem anymore. 

We're drowning in financial education. Books, podcasts, TikToks, workplace programs. If ...

Most coaches struggle to talk about their work in a way that makes people want to invest. They know they're getting clients results, but when it comes to marketing, something feels off. They're not sure if they should talk about financial coaching or focus on what actually happens for their clients.

This struggle is costing coaches clients every single day. For over 10 years, I fully embraced that what I created ...

“Should I add tax prep to my coaching business? What about investment management or insurance?”

I hear this question from coaches all the time, especially when they're looking to grow their revenue. You see other financial professionals offering multiple services and it makes sense—more services should mean more income, right?

Here's what I've learned after working with hundreds of coaches: adding a...