Helen, 

I had the most unexpected conversation at my dentist’s office this morning.

You know those conversations that just… open something?

She asked me what I do, and I told her:

I help women understand their relationship with money—
not just what they do with money, but how they feel about it.

And immediately, she said something that caught my attention.

“That makes sense… because I’m an emotional eater.”

Then she paused.

And added, almost like she was realizing it in real time—

“That means I spend money because of my emotions.”

And we both just sat there for a second.

Because… that’s it.

That’s the conversation no one is really having.

We talk about everything else.

Politics.
Relationships.
Sex.
Even trauma.

But ask a woman:

“How much do you make?”
“How do you feel about money?”

And suddenly… everything goes quiet.

And what’s interesting is—it’s not just personal.

There are real systems that have shaped how women experience money—what we’re taught, what we’re paid, what we’re expected to carry.

And…

Even within that—

there’s something happening inside of us.

Because what I see over and over again with the women I work with—

brilliant, capable, self-aware women—

is not a lack of intelligence.
It’s not a lack of effort.
It’s not even a lack of strategy.

It’s the emotional weight money carries.

Shame.
Fear.
Guilt.
Anxiety.
Confusion.

Sometimes even avoidance.

Like the woman who only checks her bank account once a year.

Or the woman who makes good money—but feels constant anxiety that she might lose it.

Or the woman who keeps spending—not because she doesn’t know better, but because something in her is trying to soothe itself.

When you start looking at it this way, it makes sense.

Money isn’t just practical.

It’s emotional.

And if that emotional layer isn’t addressed, no amount of strategy really sticks.

So we end up holding two truths at once:

There are systems that have made things harder.

And…

There are internal patterns that quietly shape how we move within those systems.

And this is where my work lives.

Not in blaming women.
Not in ignoring reality.

But in gently asking:

What am I carrying… that isn’t actually mine?

What did I learn about money—without realizing it?

Because once you start to see that…

something shifts.

You realize it’s not just that you don’t know what to do.

It’s that something in you doesn’t feel fully safe to do it.

And that changes how you approach everything.

I’ve been thinking about that moment all day.

How quickly she connected it.

“Oh… this isn’t just about eating.
This is about money too.”

And it made me wonder…

How many of us are doing the same thing in ways we haven’t named yet?

So I’m curious—

What do you notice about yourself when money comes up?

Not what you think you should feel.

But what actually happens.

Do you tense?
Avoid?
Overthink?
Try to get it “right”?

There’s no right answer here.

Just noticing.

And if this sparked something for you, I’m in the process of putting together something that helps you see your pattern more clearly.

I’ll share it with you soon.

For now… just sit with the question