The Financial Coach Academy® Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Five guitar solos blasting at once. That's how business owners with ADHD might describe their daily mental experience. While everyone faces challenges in running their own business, ADHD adds an extra layer of complexity. Instead of “only” staying organized or managing their time, they have the added layer of wrestling with a brain that sees every shiny object, generates endless ideas, and sometimes makes even the simplest tasks feel overwhelming.

The real struggle? Many business owners don't even realize ADHD is behind their daily battles with focus, follow-through, and feeling perpetually scattered.

In this conversation with my husband Michael Dickey, we share how our family's understanding of ADHD began with our son's diagnosis and led to Michael's own revelation. He opens up about the moment everything changed when he started medication: the mental chaos quieted to calm classical music, allowing him to focus in ways he never could before.

And after 17 years of marriage, I witnessed a transformation in how Michael could plan his day, communicate his thoughts, and engage in deeper conversations.

As both a business coach and someone with ADHD, Michael talks about the real challenges of trying to do it all yourself, especially those tedious tasks that feel like kryptonite. He talks about building a business when your brain works differently and shares practical tips for creating systems that actually work. You'll learn what feels like a weakness might actually be your superpower…if you learn to work with it the right way.

Links & Resources:

• Get Michael’s free goal-setting course 
• Join Michael’s upcoming planning retreat
• ADHD 2.0 by Edward Hallowell and John Ratey
• Succeeding with Adult ADHD by Abigail Levrini
• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• Getting Things Done by David Allen
• The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks

You know that feeling when you want to help people with their money, but you're stuck thinking you need another certification first? Or wondering if you really know enough? I spent years believing I needed more credentials before I could make a real difference in people's financial lives.

Here's what I learned: The most powerful thing you have isn't a fancy degree or certification—it's your desire to help people see what's possible with their money. I started at my kitchen table, talking with family and friends about their finances. Today, I help people dream again and believe in their potential, while running a business I love.

In this week’s episode, I share the whole truth about building a financial coaching business—from those first kitchen table conversations to creating a sustainable practice that works for you. We'll talk about what you actually need to know (hint: it's probably less than you think), and what to focus on first so you don't get overwhelmed.

I also walk through my simple framework that helps both new and experienced coaches create consistent results with their clients. Plus, I share why trying to figure this out alone makes everything harder than it needs to be, and how to find the right support as you grow.

Whether you're just starting to consider financial coaching or you're ready to take your practice to the next level, this conversation will help you see exactly what's possible—and your next best step to get there.

Links & Resources:

• Ultimate Growth Guide
• Join the Facebook group

Key Takeaways:

• You don't need special certifications. Start with basic financial knowledge and a desire to help others.
• Success requires two skills: coaching clients and running a business. Learn both as you go.
• Don't get stuck learning forever. Instead, start helping one person at a time and grow from there.
• Use the EAC Method (Education, Application, Commitment) to create consistent results with clients.
• Find support. Having a community of other coaches makes everything easier.
• Start simple at first, then expand your services as you gain confidence.
  This work goes beyond money. We help people dream again and see their potential.
  
  

Investing conversations can be a minefield for financial coaches. Where's the line between education and advice? How much is too much to share? What responsibility do you have for offering advice (or leaving it alone altogether)?

This week, we’re tackling the hot topic of how financial coaches can talk about investing with clients—without crossing into advisor territory. We look at why these conversations matter and how you, as the financial coach, can actually complement the work of financial advisors.

You'll learn a framework for exploring retirement and investing with clients in a way that builds their confidence and clarity. We cover key areas like helping clients envision their ideal retirement, assessing their current investing knowledge, clarifying future goals, and understanding their options for getting started.

For coaches who've been hesitant to discuss investing, this episode offers a roadmap for having these important conversations without feeling like you’re stepping into unknown territory. You'll walk away with practical questions to ask and crucial points to cover with clients.

We also address the debate around whether coaches should discuss investing at all. Our take? Coaches play a valuable role in helping clients engage with this critical aspect of their financial lives.

Remember, as coaches we're not here to tell clients what to do about investing. Our job is to help them determine what they think and identify their next best step. This episode will show you how to do just that.


Links & Resources:

• Ultimate Growth Guide
• Join the Facebook group

When I hear that other coaches are worried because the people who need to hire them are “broke”...it always gives me pause. Often, we apply our own logic, our own experiences, and our own financial choices to others during our sales conversations – and that’s a dangerous thing to do.

Are there people out there who cannot afford to hire a financial coach? Yes – but once you own the fact that you actually help people who are struggling financially, it’s a lot easier to accept that you get paid to help those same people. 

Let’s talk about those who we cannot help – when someone is broke, living paycheck to paycheck, can’t pay their bills, and is heading for a financial disaster is never going to either, 1, be able to afford you as a coach, or 2, be willing to part with their money even if they could.

The reason is that they do not possess the required growth mindset and because of that can’t make the jump in their minds to paying someone to help them, 1, save money, or 2, pay off debt. 

When you’re marketing your business, you need to share your conviction – your belief – that you can help them change their money story and write a new one.

Want to know how you can make money as a financial coach? Get excited – in today’s episode of the Financial Coach Academy Podcast, we’re going to dive deep and discuss all the creative ways you can increase your revenue (from recurring/subscription options to 1:1 work). 

I’m so excited to welcome fellow financial coach, Jean Chatzky who is joining us today for this conversation. Jean is the CEO of HerMoney.com and host of the podcast HerMoney With Jean Chatzky. A New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling author, her latest book is Women with Money: The Judgment-Free Guide to Creating the Joyful, Less Stressed, Purposeful (and Yes, Rich) Life You Deserve. 

When people hear the words “financial coach” often, they think of someone who is right there with you, coaching you through – and that’s absolutely true, but there’s so much more that you can offer as a certified financial coach. 

Yes, you can absolutely work individually with your clients, but you can also offer a wide variety of programming that allows your current and future clients to engage with you in many different ways. 

From masterminds to digital downloads to courses…the options are endless. And, if you want a semi-comprehensive list, here you go: 

• 1:1 sessions
• Group coaching
• Masterminds
• Downloadable Content (workbooks, worksheets, e-books, etc.)
• Retreats
• Power Hours
• Memberships/Subscriptions
• Speaking

Financial coaching is just getting started – and I get asked all the time if people can actually “make a living” as a financial coach. 

The short answer is an emphatic YES!

The longer answer is…yes, but. 

Yes, but everyone starts somewhere. When I first became a financial coach, my goal was small – I wanted to make $2000 per month. I was charging $50 per session…because I didn’t see the possibility. At least, not yet. 

Financial coaching is more than just helping people train their money to work hard for them – it’s about believing in yourself and your clients. It’s about confidence. It’s about transformation. 

The wonderful thing about financial coaching is that you can make this amazing career into whatever suits you best – whether that’s a side hustle, part-time, or full-time. The amount of time that you invest in your financial coaching practice will (in part) determine your income. 

Honestly, the biggest challenges that you’ll face as a coach are marketing yourself (which takes confidence) and understanding that your first few clients may work with you for a discounted rate (or even for free) while you get your “legs” under you. 

Once you’ve got some experience, you can start charging – not for an hour of your time, but for the actual transformation that you provide – that’s where the value of your work comes from.

In today’s episode, we’re going to answer another burning question: is financial coaching different from financial advising? 

The short answer is YES. While both financial coaches and financial advisors are needed in the world, financial advisors are future-focused. A financial advisor will run a variety of scenarios and your likelihood of financial success based on your investment strategies, rate of return, risk tolerance, asset allocation, and portfolio. 

In contrast, financial coaches help people with their money NOW. This can get complex depending on what the client’s unique financial situation looks like. We strive to focus on the whole person – not just the financial side of their life, diving into the reasons behind their financial habits so that we can create lasting change 

At the end of the day, we both help people do better and feel more confident about their money.

In today’s episode, we’re going to spend our time dissecting financial literacy as it relates to financial coaching. Now, this could be a boring and dry conversation…but it doesn’t have to be! 

Financial literacy is focused on education and knowledge. Financial coaching is focused on applying that knowledge and creating action steps so  your clients follow through with the financial goals they’ve set.

In today’s episode, we’re going to discuss the actual demand for financial coaching. I get asked all the time whether or not the financial coaching market is “saturated”...and I have some pretty eye-opening statistics to share with you – including that 42% of people in the US are struggling financially - that's 138,000,000 people that need a financial coach. 

It’s important to note that financial coaching is still a fairly new profession…and because of that there’s a lot of education that needs to happen so that the people we are called to help can actually find us – and today’s conversation is a great first step.

In today’s episode, we’re going to discuss what a financial coach is…and what a financial coach isn’t. My coaching journey began more than a decade ago with me working from my dining room table. What was once a little business of mine has grown into a 7-figure company that employs more than a half dozen people as of today. 

While this has been my journey as a financial coach, it doesn’t have to be yours. Whether you’re just dipping your toes into the financial coaching world, or you’ve been coaching for a while, we’re going to dive into financial coaching’s mix of both technical financial and emotional behavioral support as you work with your client to improve their financial situation.