Disrupt Your Money: Liberation through Financial Education for Marginalized Business Owners

No one likes talking about it, but staying on top of your books makes  a huge difference in your business. And most importantly, making sure that we have a handle on our numbers is a critical part of effectively disrupting our money and working towards economic equity.

Join us as we discuss:

• Why bookkeeping matters so much
• The benefits of knowing your numbers
• Where to start and how to choose an accounting system
• Need a step-by-step guide to do your bookkeeping? Grab my free Wave Apps training over here: https://equitablemoneyproject.com/wave 
• Submit Your Questions - DisruptYourMoney.com
• Leave A Review- Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen 

💰✊🏾💸✊🏽💵✊🏻

This podcast is hosted by Meg K. Wheeler, CPA and Biz Money Coach and Founder of the Equitable Money Project. Meg is on a mission to turn online educators, service providers and coaches from Not Numbers People to Badass Money Makers. Are you ready to Disrupt Your Money? Learn more about Meg and the Equitable Money Project here!

This podcast is intended for informational & educational purposes only and is not intended as professional financial advice. 

💰✊🏾💸✊🏽💵✊🏻

Connect with Meg across social:

Facebook

Instagram- Equitable Money Project

Instagram- Meg K. Wheeler

Pinterest

Did you Disrupt Your Money, build your bank account, and transform your way of life?  Tell us how this episode impacted you and leave a review at Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. 

Breaking down financial systems is always better with a buddy - tell a friend about this podcast so you can Disrupt Your Money together: http://disruptyourmoney.com

Song Credit: Midnight Specials by Ash Nino

Dave Ramsey has built an empire on “tough love” money advice. But what happens when that advice is rigid, shame-based, and completely ignores things like privilege, trauma, or the actual cost of living in 2025?

In this episode of Disrupt Your Money, Meg sits down with financial wellness coach Katy Chen Mazzara, creator of Financial Freedom for Creatives, to unpack the impact of Dave Ramsey–style personal finance on real humans—especially creatives and marginalized folks.

You’ll hear how to keep the useful parts of popular money advice while ditching the shame, rigidity, and “if you just tried harder” nonsense. By the end, you’ll have permission to build a money plan that fits your nervous system, your values, and your actual life—not some entitled white guy’s bootstraps fantasy.

⏱️ In This Episode:

00:00 Why We’re Talking About Dave Ramsey

00:34 Meet Money Mentor Katy Chen Mazzara

01:42 Privileged White-Guy Money Platforms

02:51 Bankruptcy, Shame & Double Standards

06:00 One-Size-Fits-All Rules vs Real Humans

07:09 Credit Card Debt vs Investing “On Paper”

11:16 “Baby Steps” & Treating Adults Like Toddlers

12:08 Debt “Addiction,” Nuance & Knowing Yourself

31:42 When Debt Payoff Becomes Your Whole Life

32:53 Why Paying Off Your Mortgage Early Isn’t Always Wise

43:21 Final Thoughts: Rules, Values & Your Money Choices

🔗 Mentioned in This Episode:

👉 Katy Chen Mazzara – Money Mentor & Financial Freedom for Creatives → https://www.katychenmazzara.com (Katy Chen Mazzara | Money Mentor)
👉 Financial Freedom for Creatives Club (Katy’s membership for creatives) → https://www.financialfreedomforcreatives.com (Katy Chen Mazzara, Money Mentor)

👉 Disrupt Your Money – submit your questions or money story → https://disruptyourmoney.com

💬 Connect with Us:

🌐 Website → https://equitablemoneyproject.com
📸 Instagram → https://instagram.com/equitablemoneyproject
🎧 Podcast → https://equitablemoneyproject.com/podcast

🚀 Your Next Step:
Ready to make your money match your values (without the shame spiral)? Download our free Wealth is Resistance Action Kit → https://equitablemoneyproject.com/kit

If you’ve ever felt guilty for wanting to make good money doing healing work, this conversation is for you.

Meg sits down with licensed marriage and family therapist Tiffany McLain, LMFT to talk about raising fees in a way that’s ethical, boundaried, and actually includes the therapist in the definition of “care.” They unpack the tension between “I want to help people” and “I also need to pay my bills, rest, and not resent my work.”

This is a love note to therapists, social workers, and helpers of all kinds who are ready to stop sacrificing themselves for a system that was never designed for their well-being.

⏱️ In This Episode:

00:00 Meet Tiffany & her work with therapists

02:52 Money and helping professions can coexist

04:21 The martyr myth in mental health

06:19 Raising your fees with integrity

08:22 Tiffany’s family, boundaries & money story

11:07 Wealthy therapists aren’t the villains

16:21 Queer wealth, Pride & joyful representation

18:12 Sliding scales, scholarships & access

24:28 Better-paid therapists and systemic change

33:25 A love note to therapists & social workers

🔗 Mentioned in This Episode:

👉 Biz Money Library – Meg’s free hub of templates, checklists, resources & guides
 → https://equitablemoneyproject.com/biz-money-library-landing

💬 Connect with Us:

 🌐 Website → https://equitablemoneyproject.com
📸 Instagram → https://instagram.com/equitablemoneyproject
🎧 Podcast → https://equitablemoneyproject.com/podcast

🚀 Your Next Step:

 Ready to make your money match your values—and stop martyring yourself for a broken system? Download our free Wealth is Resistance Action Kit → https://equitablemoneyproject.com/kit

If the phrase “investing in the stock market” makes your brain want to nope out of the conversation, this one’s for you. Meg sits down with financial educator and Money Bear podcast host Chloe (CloBear Money Coach) to talk about lazy investing—the simple, boring, low-drama strategy that actually works.

Instead of day trading, stock-picking, or trusting some guy in a vest who won’t explain anything, Chloe breaks down how to build a long-term investing plan that’s automated, sustainable, and doesn’t require you to become a full-time finance nerd. 

You’ll walk away with a clearer sense of what to avoid, where to start, and how to make your first (or next) investing moves way less overwhelming.

⏱️ In This Episode:

00:00 Meet Chloe (CloBear) & Lazy Investing

02:30 What “Lazy Investing” Really Is

04:40 First Investing Mistakes, Robinhood & Meme Stocks

07:02 Why You Need Education Even with an Advisor

08:20 Advisors vs. Fiduciaries & How to Vet Them

14:40 The True Cost of Fees, Commissions & Complexity

24:54 Culture, Identity & Skepticism About the Stock Market

27:30 IULs, Whole Life & Fear-Based Sales Tactics

33:04 “You’re Not a Rockefeller”: Start Simple & Focused

36:30 Where to Start If You Feel Behind

🔗 Mentioned in This Episode:

👉 CloBear (Chloe’s site) → https://clobear.com
👉 Chloe on Instagram → @clobearmoneycoach
👉 Chloe on TikTok → @clobearmoneycoach

💬 Connect with Us:

🌐 Website → https://equitablemoneyproject.com
📸 Instagram → https://instagram.com/equitablemoneyproject
🎧 Podcast → https://equitablemoneyproject.com/podcast

🚀 Your Next Step:

Ready to make your money match your values and start investing in a way that feels doable? Download our free Wealth is Resistance Action Kit → https://equitablemoneyproject.com/kit

The IRS is nobody’s idea of a sexy topic. But if you’re a small business owner—especially from a marginalized community—what happens to the IRS is absolutely a money issue.

In this episode of Disrupt Your Money, Meg breaks down what’s really at stake when the IRS is weakened: who benefits when it’s defunded, who ends up under the microscope instead, and how that shifts the tax burden onto small business owners and working people. This isn’t just about “bureaucracy”—it’s about fairness, audits, and whether wealthy tax cheats are held accountable.

You’ll learn how to protect yourself and your business in a system that’s being gutted on purpose—plus concrete ways to push back, from tightening your own tax setup to supporting tax justice organizations and calling your representatives with clear, specific demands.

⏱️ In This Episode:

00:06 Why the IRS Is a Money Issue

00:31 What Happens When the IRS Is Weakened

01:28 IRS 101: What It’s Supposed to Do

02:21 Defunding, Funding & Who Gets Audited

03:13 Receipts: Cracking Down on Wealthy Tax Cheats

04:15 Why This Hits Marginalized Small Business Owners

05:27 How to Protect Yourself & Your Business

06:43 Treating Tax Planning as a Year-Round Practice

07:12 Tax Justice as Racial & Economic Justice

07:29 Calling Your Reps & Supporting Tax Justice Orgs

🔗 Mentioned in This Episode:

👉 Wave – cloud-based bookkeeping software → https://www.waveapps.com

 👉 IRS Free File Program → https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free

👉 Taxpayer Advocate Service → https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov

👉 Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy → https://itep.org

👉 Americans for Tax Fairness → https://americansfortaxfairness.org

👉 Call Your Representatives – weekly scripts to contact your lawmakers → https://callyourrepresentatives.com

💬 Connect with Us:

 🌐 Website → https://equitablemoneyproject.com

📸 Instagram → https://instagram.com/equitablemoneyproject

🎧 Podcast → https://equitablemoneyproject.com/podcast

🚀 Your Next Step:

Ready to make your money match your values and use it as a tool for tax justice? Download our free Wealth is Resistance Action Kit → https://equitablemoneyproject.com/kit

Some people say our government is “broken.” Meg’s here with a spicier take: it’s working exactly as designed—for corporate interests, not for you.

In this episode of Disrupt Your Money, she goes full rage-with-receipts on dysfunctional government: the disinformation machine, the unqualified agency heads, the lobbying circus, and the “greatest hits” of corporate greed that turned our laws into a playground for billionaires. This isn’t chaos by accident—it’s a well-oiled profit engine.

Then she brings it all the way back to your life and business: what this rigged system means for small business owners (especially marginalized founders), why you’re overtaxed and underprotected while corporations skate, and what you can actually do about it—without burning yourself out trying to fix everything alone.

⏱️ In This Episode:

00:00 Introduction

01:14 “Broken” Government as Corporate Christmas

01:40 What Dysfunctional Government Really Is

02:20 Disinformation 101

02:53 Inflation, Groceries & Money Lies

03:38 Trade, Tariffs & Spin

04:21 Big Oil’s Climate Disinformation

07:44 Lobbying as a Profitable Investment

09:04 Greatest Hits of Corporate Greed

11:46 Deregulation on Steroids

14:21 What This Means for Small Business Owners

15:31 Six Ways to Fight Back

17:23 Final Call to Action

🔗 Mentioned in This Episode:

 👉 Public Citizen – tracking corporate power & government accountability → https://www.citizen.org
👉 OpenSecrets – following money in politics & lobbying data → https://www.opensecrets.org
👉 Institute for Local Self-Reliance – building local economic power → https://ilsr.org

💬 Connect with Us:

🌐 Website → https://equitablemoneyproject.com

 📸 Instagram → https://instagram.com/equitablemoneyproject

🎧 Podcast → https://equitablemoneyproject.com/podcast

🚀 Your Next Step:

 Ready to make your money match your values and push back on systems designed to exhaust us? Download our free Wealth is Resistance Action Kit → https://equitablemoneyproject.com/kit

Money isn’t good or bad—it’s power.

And in a world where the economy was never built for most of us, that power can either quietly uphold the status quo… or help dismantle it.

In this episode of Disrupt Your Money, Meg breaks down how every dollar you earn, spend, save, or invest is a tiny vote for the kind of world you want to live in. From where you shop to how you price your work to the way you pay your people, your money is already doing political work—whether you mean it to or not.

You’ll learn how to line your money up with your values on purpose: using your business as a tool for equity, building community wealth, starting (or growing) an emergency fund, rethinking debt without shame, and taking small but real steps toward a more just economy—for you and your people.

⏱️ In This Episode:

00:00 Why Money Feels So Heavy

02:23 Every Dollar as a Vote

04:26 Tip #1: Audit Your Spending

04:51 Directing Your Dollars to Aligned Businesses

05:19 Tip #2: Pay Yourself First

06:41 Tip #3: Invest with Impact

08:34 Using Your Business as a Tool for Equity

09:18 Creating Flexible, Human-Centered Workplaces

11:04 Pricing with Intention and Accessibility

12:38 Building Community Wealth with Other Small Businesses

14:36 Your Emergency Fund as a Power Move

15:58 Rethinking Debt Without Shame

18:09 Talking Honestly About Money as a Radical Act

21:11 One Small Step + Call Your Representatives

🔗 Mentioned in This Episode:

👉 We Buy Black → https://webuyblack.com
👉 Shop Latinx → https://shoplatinx.com
👉 Smart Steps to Zero Debt – shame-free debt payoff support
→ https://equitablemoneyproject.com/debt

👉 Call Your Representatives – Meg’s weekly Substack with scripts to call your lawmakers → https://callyourrepresentatives.com

💬 Connect with Us:

🌐 Website → https://equitablemoneyproject.com
📸 Instagram → https://instagram.com/equitablemoneyproject
🎧 Podcast → https://equitablemoneyproject.com/podcast

🚀 Your Next Step:

Ready to make your money match your values and use it as a tool for liberation? Download our free Wealth is Resistance Action Kit → https://equitablemoneyproject.com/kit

In this episode of Disrupt Your Money, we’re tearing into Trump’s full-on war against Diversity, Equity & Inclusion—and why it’s not just a culture-war soundbite, it’s a direct hit to your money, your safety, and your community. 

We break down how a handful of executive orders and budget cuts are quietly gutting the systems that helped women, Black, Brown, Indigenous, queer, disabled, and other marginalized entrepreneurs access capital, contracts, and opportunity. 

Then we shift from rage to strategy. You’ll hear real-world examples of small businesses, BIPOC-led networks, and worker-owned co-ops refusing to play along. This isn’t about corporate feel-good trainings; it’s about survival, power, and redistributing wealth on our own terms.

⏱️ In This Episode:
00:00 Introduction: Trump’s war on DEI & why it’s a money issue
05:54 Banning ESG and weaponizing “woke capitalism”
07:22 How these moves deepen the racial wealth gap
08:16 How we fight back: keeping DEI values alive in your business, building our own networks & getting creative with funding
10:28 Why you should care even if you’ve never worked in DEI or government
11:22 Real-world resistance
12:29 BIPOC business networks investing in each other
13:53 Crowdfunding as collective power
15:47 Worker-owned co-ops
17:23 Closing: rebranding DEI, protecting your people & keeping the work alive

🔗 Mentioned in This Episode:

👉 Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)
👉 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
👉 The Village Market (Atlanta, GA)
👉 Native Women Lead Collective
👉 Latina Surge National
👉 Bread Beauty Supply
👉 Sustainergy Cooperative (Cincinnati, OH)
👉 Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative

💬 Connect with Us:
🌐 Website → https://equitablemoneyproject.com
📸 Instagram → https://instagram.com/equitablemoneyproject
🎧 Podcast → https://equitablemoneyproject.com/podcast

🚀 Your Next Step:
Ready to make your money match your values? Download our free Wealth is Resistance Action Kit → https://equitablemoneyproject.com/kit

In this episode of Disrupt Your Money, we sit down with personal finance powerhouse Bernadette Joy to blow up the myth that paying off debt means sacrificing joy, self-care, and everything that makes life actually feel good. As a first-gen Filipina-American and eighth of nine kids, Bernadette went from $300,000 in debt to building a seven-figure net worth.

Through real talk, lived experience, and a decade of experiments with habits and routines, Bernadette breaks down why negotiating, raising your rates, and letting go of perfectionist budgeting are all part of a liberatory money plan, not “selfish” moves.

You’ll walk away with practical tools like Screenless Sundays, the 80/20 “rule of world peas,” and Bernadette’s “strive, revive, survive” framework so you can pay off debt, grow wealth, and protect your joy at the same time.

⏱️ In This Episode:

00:00 Introduction: Self-Care, Saving & Smashing Debt
01:42 Bernadette’s story: first-gen Filipina-American, 8th of 9 kids & $300K in debt
06:24 Turning negotiation into a habit
09:31 Separating your self-worth from your prices and paycheck
13:12 Why she wrote Crush Your Money Goals and how habits (not hustle) changed everything
18:54 Screenless Sundays: unplugging from doomscrolling as a money and mental health strategy
20:44 Using the 80/20 “rule of world peas”
27:29 The strive, revive, survive method
32:08 Plot twists, money stories, and what Bernadette wants every reader to feel after her book

🔗 Mentioned in This Episode:

👉 Crush Your Money Goals: 25 Smart Money Habits to Save, Invest, and Fast Track Your Financial Freedom by Bernadette Joy
👉 Crush Your Money Goals® – Bernadette’s money education company

👉 Wealth is Resistance Action Kit → https://equitablemoneyproject.com/kit

💬 Connect with Us:
🌐 Website → https://equitablemoneyproject.com
📸 Instagram → https://instagram.com/equitablemoneyproject
🎧 Podcast → https://equitablemoneyproject.com/podcast

🚀 Your Next Step:
Ready to make your money match your values? Download our free Wealth is Resistance Action Kit → https://equitablemoneyproject.com/kit

We're talking about money in this episode, but not just in the spreadsheets-and-budgeting sense. We're talking about money as a force for disruption. For justice. For building the future we actually want to live in. Whether you're making $100 a month or $100K a year, your money holds power. The question is: are you using it to build an equitable economy—or accidentally reinforcing the status quo? Let's find out.

🔎 Meg Breaks Down:

• Why money isn't good or bad—it's a tool, like fire or glitter (use it wisely!)

• How systems of wealth have been historically engineered to exclude marginalized folks

• The power of every dollar you earn, save, spend, or invest as a vote for the world you want

• Practical steps to align your money with your values

What You'll Learn:

• How to identify whether your money habits reflect equity and justice—or need a tune-up

• Tangible actions to use your business as a driver of economic change

• Where to find and support values-aligned businesses, investment funds, and networks

• Ways to advocate for fairer public policy, even without a massive platform

• Why small money choices add up to big systemic shifts—and how to start today

Disrupting money isn't about perfection—it's about intention. When we align our financial decisions with our values, we don't just build personal wealth—we build a more just, resilient, and liberatory economy for all.

💰✊🏾💸✊🏽💵✊🏻

This podcast is hosted by Meg K. Wheeler, CPA and Biz Money Coach and Founder of the Equitable Money Project. Meg is on a mission to turn online educators, service providers and coaches from Not Numbers People to Badass Money Makers. Are you ready to Disrupt Your Money? Learn more about Meg here!

• Need to get your money stuff set up right? Check out our financial foundations course the Biz Money Blueprint!

• Submit Your Questions - DisruptYourMoney.com

• Leave A Review- Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen 

This podcast is intended for informational & educational purposes only and is not intended as professional financial advice. 

💰✊🏾💸✊🏽💵✊🏻

Connect with Meg across social:

Facebook

Instagram- Equitable Money Project

Instagram- Meg K. Wheeler

Pinterest

Song Credit: Midnight Specials by Ash Nino