Tea Time with Erin

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Welcome back to Tea Time with Erin, where we share honest conversations about entrepreneurship, money, mental health, and the stories that shape the way we build our businesses and lives.

In this episode, Erin sits down with her longtime friend and fellow twin mom Meg Yelaney, business coach, marketing strategist, and host of Business Not As Usual, for an honest conversation about entrepreneurship, motherhood, financial decisions, and what happens when the business you've built no longer fits the life you want. Meg shares her journey from network marketing to business coaching, how becoming a mom of twins changed her priorities, and why some of her most difficult seasons ultimately led to a more aligned and sustainable business.

Meg opens up about navigating the loss of her father, postpartum identity struggles, declining business revenue, and a failed launch that left her questioning whether she wanted to continue being an entrepreneur at all. She shares how stepping back helped her recognize that she had spent years trying to be everything to everyone instead of focusing on what made her business unique. Erin and Meg also explore the financial side of those transitions, including relying on savings, learning to manage business finances after losing a trusted accountant, recognizing patterns of financial avoidance, and making expensive business investments that didn't always deliver the results she expected.

Together, Erin and Meg discuss the importance of balancing financial strategy with intuition, understanding your money beliefs, and redefining what success and wealth actually mean to you. From learning to say no to opportunities that don't align with your values to building a business that supports your current season of life, this conversation is a reminder that growth doesn't always mean doing more, earning more, or moving faster. Sometimes the most meaningful progress comes from slowing down, trusting yourself, and creating a business that allows you to enjoy the life you're working so hard to build.

In This Episode, You'll Hear:

• How Meg transitioned from network marketing to business coaching and marketing strategy
• What Meg's Distinctive Edge approach teaches entrepreneurs about standing out in a crowded market
• How motherhood and raising twins changed Meg's relationship with work, time, and business growth
• Why feeling behind doesn't necessarily mean you're doing something wrong
• How grief, postpartum changes, and a failed business launch led Meg to question her entrepreneurial identity
• Why trying to serve everyone eventually left Meg feeling disconnected from her business
• How identifying her zone of genius helped her rebuild her business around what she genuinely loved doing
• How savings and her husband's entrepreneurial support helped her navigate financial uncertainty
• What losing her father, who was also her accountant, taught Meg about financial responsibility and estate planning
• Why business owners can't completely outsource financial decision-making and cash flow management
• How financial avoidance can develop when you've always relied on someone else to manage your money
• The importance of understanding your profit and loss statement, business expenses, and return on investment
• How Meg learned to recognize business expenses motivated by appearances rather than actual value
• Why balancing intuition and financial data is important when making business decisions
• How personal values can guide spending, business opportunities, and long-term financial goals
• Why building a successful business doesn't have to mean sacrificing your time, family, or priorities

Key Takeaways

• Your business should evolve as your life changes. What worked before motherhood, grief, or a major life transition may no longer support the person you are today.
• Trying to be everything to everyone can lead to burnout, financial strain, and a loss of connection with the work you actually enjoy.
• Financial avoidance doesn't disappear simply because you have an accountant or bookkeeper. Business owners still need to understand their numbers and take ownership of financial decisions.
• Not every business investment is a good investment. Spending money to appear successful isn't the same as spending money to create meaningful growth.
• Financial strategy and intuition can work together. Understanding your numbers helps you make informed decisions without eliminating creativity or trust in yourself.
• Your definition of wealth and success should reflect your personal values rather than someone else's expectations.
• You can have ambitious goals without rushing to achieve them. Sustainable growth means recognizing what matters most in your current season of life.

Learn More About Meg

Meg Yelaney is a business coach and marketing strategist who helps entrepreneurs discover their Distinctive Edge—the unique combination of their experiences, expertise, approach, and client results that helps them stand out and become known for what they do best.

• Instagram: @‌meganyelaney
• Podcast: Business Not As Usual with Meg Yelaney

Connect with Erin

Learn more about Erin’s work around money mindset, financial therapy, and building businesses that support your life.

• Book a free financial clarity call with Erin
• Instagram: @‌erinthemoneytherapist

Erin’s Tea for This Episode

Erin is drinking Soothsayer Tea House Masala Chai during this episode. Receive 15% off your first order with Erin’s discount link and code WITHERIN.

Keep the Conversation Going

If this episode resonated with you, be sure to subscribe and share it with another entrepreneur who might need to hear it.

New episodes of Tea Time with Erin drop every other Tuesday, where we share honest conversations about money, mental health, and entrepreneurship.

Grab your drink of choice, take a deep breath, and join us for the next Tea Time.

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome back to Tea Time with Erin, where we share honest conversations about entrepreneurship, money, mental health, and the stories that shape the way we build our businesses and lives.

In this episode, Erin sits down with her friend Jenn Whitmer, keynote speaker, award-winning author, former educator, and self-described joy bringer, for a conversation about entrepreneurship, money mindset, pricing, leadership, and intentionally creating more joy in both work and life. Jenn shares how an unexpected career transition ultimately led her from education into consulting, entrepreneurship, and a speaking career she never knew was possible.

Jenn also takes us behind the scenes of writing and publishing her book and explains why she wasn't willing to write one simply because it was the expected next step in her speaking career. She shares how finding a deeper purpose, getting the right support, and understanding how the book could genuinely serve people finally moved her from thinking about writing to actually doing it. Along the way, Erin and Jenn explore the Joy Ratio, why joy isn't the same thing as toxic positivity, and how intentionally designing for joy can improve the way we work and live.

Together, Erin and Jenn dig into the money stories that surfaced as Jenn built her business—from feeling guilty about earning more than she did as an educator to learning how to confidently communicate her speaking fees. They talk about why “charge your worth” can be harmful advice, separating your value as a human from the value of the problem you solve, and practicing new money stories until they begin to feel natural. Ultimately, this conversation is a reminder that entrepreneurship has a way of exposing our beliefs about money, work, success, and ourselves—and that noticing and rewriting those stories can change both our businesses and our lives.

In This Episode, You'll Hear:

• How Jenn went from educator to consultant, entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and author
• Why getting fired from a toxic work environment became an unexpected turning point in her career
• What finally convinced Jenn to write a book after years of people telling her she should
• The differences between self-publishing, traditional publishing, and hybrid publishing
• How Jenn's book has supported and expanded her speaking business
• What the Joy Ratio is and why experiencing joy doesn't mean ignoring the difficult parts of life
• How you can intentionally design your work and life to create more opportunities for joy
• Why entrepreneurship can become an intense form of personal development
• The money beliefs Jenn carried from education into entrepreneurship
• Why earning more money for work that felt easier initially brought up guilt
• Why “charge your worth” isn't always helpful advice for service-based entrepreneurs
• How to separate your personal worth from the value of the problem your business solves
• What happened when Jenn quoted a $2,000 speaking fee early in her business—and was challenged for charging too much
• How practicing your pricing out loud can help build confidence when communicating your rates
• How family, money, and workplace stories can unconsciously shape the way you run your business
• Jenn's practical strategies for replacing old stories and building self-efficacy

Key Takeaways

• Joy doesn't require you to pretend everything is good. Jenn's Joy Ratio is about creating enough meaningful, connected, purposeful experiences to support you even when parts of life feel difficult.
• The stories you inherit about money, work, success, and what is “normal” can follow you into entrepreneurship unless you intentionally examine them.
• Your worth as a human being is separate from what you charge. Your clients are paying for your expertise and the value of the problem you solve.
• Hearing “no” to your price isn't necessarily a judgment of your value; sometimes a client's budget simply doesn't match your rate.
• Confidence with pricing takes practice. Repeating the words, gathering evidence from past experiences, and learning from others can help your brain become more comfortable with a new story.
• Support matters. Jenn wishes she had invested in coaching, a VA, bookkeeping, and other support earlier instead of waiting until she felt like she could afford it.
• Personal development and professional development are deeply connected when you're an entrepreneur because your business will continually bring you face-to-face with your own beliefs and roadblocks.

Learn More About Jenn

Jenn Whitmer is a keynote speaker, award-winning author, and joy bringer who helps teams and organizations use joy as a performance tool.

• Website: jennwhitmer.com

Connect with Erin

Learn more about Erin’s work around money mindset, financial therapy, and building businesses that support your life.

• Book a free financial clarity call with Erin
• Instagram: @‌erinthemoneytherapist

Erin’s Tea for This Episode

Erin is drinking Soothsayer Tea House Masala Chai during this episode. Receive 15% off your first order with Erin’s discount link and code WITHERIN.

Keep the Conversation Going

If this episode resonated with you, be sure to subscribe and share it with another entrepreneur who might need to hear it.

New episodes of Tea Time with Erin drop every other Tuesday, where we share honest conversations about money, mental health, and entrepreneurship.

Grab your drink of choice, take a deep breath, and join us for the next Tea Time.

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome back to Tea Time with Erin, where we share honest conversations about entrepreneurship, money, mental health, and the stories that shape the way we build our businesses and lives.

In this episode, Erin sits down with her friend Halee Sprinkle, founder of Czech Yourself Marketing, to talk about leaving corporate America, building a business from the ground up, and redefining what wealth and success actually look like. After more than a decade in corporate marketing, Halee realized that the corner office she once dreamed about wasn't giving her the freedom, creativity, or life she really wanted.

Halee shares the financial lessons that shaped her long before she became an entrepreneur—from growing up in a family that prioritized saving and budgeting to preparing financially before leaving her steady salary and benefits behind. She and Erin explore how those early money beliefs followed Halee into adulthood, marriage, business ownership, and the financial decisions she continues to make today. They also talk about building a business with a small financial footprint, separating business and personal finances, and learning to define wealth by more than the number in a bank account.

Together, Erin and Halee unpack the reality that even successful entrepreneurs sometimes want to burn the whole thing down. Halee shares the moments she considered returning to corporate life, how financial pressure often triggered those doubts, and why reconnecting with her deeper reason for becoming an entrepreneur helped her keep going. Ultimately, this conversation is a reminder that success doesn't have to look like the version you imagined at 20—and sometimes the real goal isn't a bigger salary at all, but the freedom to build a life and business on your own terms.

In This Episode, You'll Hear:

• How Halee went from more than 12 years in corporate America to building her own marketing agency
• Why the corporate career and corner office she once wanted eventually felt limiting
• How Halee financially prepared before leaving a steady salary and benefits
• The childhood money lessons that taught her to budget, save, and work toward financial goals
• How an unexpected family medical crisis changed the way Halee and her husband approached money
• Why she started her business with a small financial footprint and separate business finances
• How entrepreneurship allowed Halee to redefine wealth as freedom rather than salary
• Why time, flexibility, travel, and choice became more valuable than a traditional definition of success
• How financial pressure caused Halee to periodically question entrepreneurship and consider returning to corporate life
• What those corporate job opportunities taught her about why she left in the first place
• Why entrepreneurs at every income level can have moments when they want to quit
• How reconnecting with your values and your “why” can help you navigate difficult seasons in business

Key Takeaways

• The money lessons we learn early in life can continue shaping how we save, spend, plan, and build businesses as adults.
• Preparing financially for entrepreneurship doesn't eliminate uncertainty, but it can give you a stronger foundation for taking the leap.
• Wealth is personal. For Halee, success became less about reaching a particular salary and more about having freedom over her time, energy, and choices.
• Wanting to quit during a difficult season doesn't necessarily mean you're on the wrong path.
• Financial pressure can make a traditional paycheck look like the easiest solution, but it can also be an opportunity to reevaluate your offers, revenue streams, pricing, and business model.
• Your definition of success can—and probably will—change as your life, family, priorities, and values evolve.

Learn More About Halee Sprinkle

Halee Sprinkle is the founder of Czech Yourself Marketing, where she works with small businesses and nonprofits through social media marketing and overall marketing consultation.

• Website: http://CzechYourselfMarketing.com
• Instagram: @czech_yourself_marketing

Connect with Erin

Learn more about Erin’s work around money mindset, financial therapy, and building businesses that support your life.

• Book a free financial clarity call with Erin
• Instagram: @‌erinthemoneytherapist

Erin’s Tea for This Episode

Erin is drinking Turmeric Ashwagandha Stress Support Tea, which she found through Misfits Market and has been enjoying as a turmeric tea for overall support.

Keep the Conversation Going

If this episode resonated with you, be sure to subscribe and share it with another entrepreneur who might need to hear it.

New episodes of Tea Time with Erin drop every other Tuesday, where we share honest conversations about money, mental health, and entrepreneurship.

Grab your drink of choice, take a deep breath, and join us for the next Tea Time.

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome back to Tea Time with Erin, where we share honest conversations about entrepreneurship, money, mental health, and the stories that shape the way we build our businesses and lives.

Content Note: This episode includes a candid conversation about mental health, depression, suicidal thoughts, and suicide. Please take care while listening and choose what feels right for you. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, call or text 988 in the U.S. to connect with the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

In this episode, Erin sits down with her longtime friend Booth Andrews, founder of the Booth Andrews Company, for a deeply personal conversation about financial trauma, burnout, mental health, motherhood, money, and rebuilding a life after everything you thought was stable begins to unravel. Booth shares how her own experience with burnout and mental health ultimately shaped the work she does today helping others understand the connection between the nervous system and the way we move through life.

Booth opens up about her years as a high-performing nonprofit CEO and primary wage earner while raising three children, losing her mother, navigating childhood trauma, and eventually reaching a point where her mind and body could no longer sustain the pace she had been keeping. She also shares how growing up around bankruptcy, financial instability, and a feast-or-famine approach to money influenced her own financial behaviors as an adult.

Together, Erin and Booth explore what happened when burnout, divorce, career changes, debt, and financial uncertainty collided—and what rebuilding has looked like in the years since. They talk about boundaries, earning during difficult seasons, intentional spending, and the nervous system work that helped Booth begin making financial decisions from a place of choice rather than fear. Today, Booth says her spending is much more aligned with her priorities and far less reactive, even though her financial picture is still a work in progress.

Ultimately, this conversation is a reminder that financial healing isn't always about reaching a perfect number in your bank account. Sometimes progress looks like feeling safer in your body, recognizing that you have choices, and creating a relationship with money that— as Booth beautifully describes it—feels more like an exhale.

In This Episode, You'll Hear:

• How Booth's experience with burnout and mental health led to the work she does today
• The realities of being a high-performing CEO, primary wage earner, and mother while privately struggling
• How grief, trauma, and chronic stress eventually affected Booth's mental and physical health
• How childhood bankruptcy and financial instability shaped her relationship with money
• The connection between trauma, shame, compulsive spending, and financial behaviors
• What happened financially when Booth left her CEO role and went through a divorce
• How disability insurance and flexible contract work helped her navigate a major life transition
• Why earning potential and transferable skills can become important resources during a crisis
• How Booth and her ex-husband learned to co-parent and share a home while maintaining financial boundaries
• Why setting boundaries can be especially difficult with the people closest to us
• How nervous system regulation has changed Booth's relationship with money
• The difference between spending from fear and making intentional financial choices
• Why financial progress doesn't have to mean you've already reached your ultimate financial goals
• How creating an internal sense of safety can change the way you experience financial uncertainty

Key Takeaways

• High performance doesn't necessarily mean someone is doing well mentally, physically, or financially.
• Financial behaviors can be deeply connected to childhood experiences, trauma, shame, and the nervous system.
• Having flexible, marketable skills can provide options when life or business changes unexpectedly.
• Boundaries can be essential when rebuilding relationships, finances, and your own sense of safety.
• Financial healing is a process, and progress still counts even when you're not where you ultimately want to be.
• Making intentional financial decisions from a grounded place can feel very different from spending or earning out of fear.
• A healthier relationship with money isn't entirely dependent on the number in your bank account—it can also come from developing a greater sense of choice, agency, and security.

Learn More About Booth

• Instagram: @‌theboothandrews

Connect with Erin

Learn more about Erin’s work around money mindset, financial therapy, and building businesses that support your life.

• Book a free financial clarity call with Erin
• Instagram: @‌erinthemoneytherapist
• Get Erin’s Money Date guide!

Erin’s Tea for This Episode

Erin is drinking an iced tea from Ryl Tea Co., sweetened with stevia and monk fruit.

Keep the Conversation Going

If this episode resonated with you, be sure to subscribe and share it with another entrepreneur who might need to hear it.

New episodes of Tea Time with Erin drop every other Tuesday, where we share honest conversations about money, mental health, and entrepreneurship.

Grab your drink of choice, take a deep breath, and join us for the next Tea Time.

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome back to Tea Time with Erin, where we share honest conversations about entrepreneurship, money, mental health, and the stories that shape the way we build our businesses and lives.

In this episode, Erin is back after a short summer break for a check-in on money habits, business seasonality, and what happens when consistency doesn’t look like perfection. Building on the recent four-part series about generational financial beliefs, Erin explores how to keep practicing healthier financial habits—even when you’ve fallen out of your routine or haven’t started yet.

Erin shares why high achievers and entrepreneurs can struggle with being beginners, especially when it comes to managing business finances. Whether you’ve skipped your monthly money date, avoided looking at your numbers, or simply found yourself in a slower season, the goal isn’t to do everything perfectly. It’s to keep coming back and building the habit one small step at a time.

Together, Erin explores how consistency, neuroplasticity, and giving yourself permission to start small can help you create healthier money habits that actually last. She also looks ahead to upcoming conversations about pricing, financial beliefs, and the stories of experienced entrepreneurs and CEOs navigating business, money, and life.

In This Episode, You'll Hear:

• How to continue applying what you learned from the generational financial beliefs series
• Why your monthly money date doesn’t have to be perfect to be valuable
• How financial beliefs can influence the way entrepreneurs price their services
• Why women business owners may struggle to confidently say their prices out loud
• How seasonality and natural revenue fluctuations affect businesses
• Why high achievers often struggle with allowing themselves to be beginners
• How perfectionism can keep you from building consistent financial habits
• The role neuroplasticity and repetition play in changing your relationship with money
• How to create a smaller version of your financial routine during busy or difficult seasons
• Why falling out of a habit doesn’t mean you’ve failed
• How to start again when you’ve been avoiding your business finances

Key Takeaways

• Consistency matters more than perfection when building healthier financial habits.
• You don’t have to wait for a new month, quarter, or year to start again.
• Being a beginner means giving yourself permission to do something imperfectly while you learn.
• Your business will naturally experience different seasons, and your financial routines need to work during both the easier and harder ones.
• Every time you return to your money habits, you’re reinforcing new patterns and strengthening your financial confidence.
• The best financial routine is one you can realistically continue—even if that means starting with only a few minutes each month.

Connect with Erin

Learn more about Erin’s work around money mindset, financial therapy, and building businesses that support your life.

• Book a free financial clarity call with Erin
• Instagram: @‌erinthemoneytherapist
• Get Erin’s Money Date guide!

Erin’s Tea for This Episode

Erin is drinking Everyday Doze Mushroom Coffee: Everyday Dose® Official Site | Best Mushroom Coffee

*Affiliate link — Erin may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Keep the Conversation Going

If this episode resonated with you, be sure to subscribe and share it with another entrepreneur who might need to hear it.

New episodes of Tea Time with Erin drop every other Tuesday, where we share honest conversations about money, mental health, and entrepreneurship.

Grab your drink of choice, take a deep breath, and join us for the next Tea Time.

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome back to Tea Time with Erin, where we share honest conversations about entrepreneurship, money, mental health, and the stories that shape the way we build our businesses and lives.

In this episode, Erin wraps up her four-part series on generational financial beliefs by bringing everything together into a practical system entrepreneurs can use to confidently pay themselves. After exploring inherited money beliefs, emotional money patterns, and nervous system regulation in the previous episodes, this conversation shifts from awareness to action.

Erin introduces the final two steps of her GLOW Framework—Own and Win—and walks listeners through a simple monthly money routine designed to take the emotion out of financial decision-making. From understanding your profit and loss statement to determining how much to pay yourself and creating a consistent money date, this episode offers practical tools to help business owners build confidence around their finances.

Together, these four episodes remind us that changing your financial future isn't about becoming a different person—it's about creating new habits, trusting yourself as the CEO of your business, and building a financial legacy that future generations can learn from.

In This Episode, You'll Hear:

• How the GLOW Framework helps entrepreneurs build healthier money habits
• Why owning your financial decisions starts with changing your internal narrative
• The difference between your business numbers and your personal identity
• How to create a monthly money date that reduces financial anxiety
• The five numbers every entrepreneur should understand on a profit and loss statement
• Why paying yourself from profit—not your bank balance—is so important
• The three primary ways business owners pay themselves based on their business structure
• How to determine an appropriate owner's compensation
• Why consistency matters more than perfection when managing your finances
• Simple questions to ask your bookkeeper each month to better understand your business

Key Takeaways

• Owning your financial decisions means replacing inherited money beliefs with intentional choices.
• Your business numbers provide information—not a measure of your worth.
• Creating a consistent money routine helps reduce stress and build financial confidence.
• Paying yourself should become a repeatable business system, not an emotional decision.
• Small, consistent financial habits create lasting generational change.
• Learning healthy money habits allows you to pass them on to future generations.

Connect with Erin

Learn more about Erin’s work around money mindset, financial therapy, and building businesses that support your life.

• Book a free financial clarity call with Erin
• Instagram: @‌erinthemoneytherapist
• Get Erin’s Money Date guide!

Erin’s Tea for This Episode

Erin is drinking Everyday Doze Mushroom Coffee: Everyday Dose® Official Site | Best Mushroom Coffee

*Affiliate link — Erin may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Keep the Conversation Going

If this episode resonated with you, be sure to subscribe and share it with another entrepreneur who might need to hear it.

New episodes of Tea Time with Erin drop every other Tuesday, where we share honest conversations about money, mental health, and entrepreneurship.

Grab your drink of choice, take a deep breath, and join us for the next Tea Time.

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome back to Tea Time with Erin, where we share honest conversations about entrepreneurship, money, mental health, and the stories that shape the way we build our businesses and lives.

In this episode, Erin sits down with Caroline Hogue, founder of Bygone Botanicals, for a conversation about entrepreneurship, motherhood, homeschooling, community, and building a business that aligns with your values.

Caroline shares her journey from launching a wellness-focused Instagram account to creating Bygone Botanicals, a botanical skincare company inspired by her love of plants, aromatherapy, and family traditions. Along the way, she opens up about moving her family across the country, rebuilding community, homeschooling four children, and growing a business in a season where family remains her highest priority.

Together, Erin and Caroline explore the realities of slow business growth, the pressure many entrepreneurs feel to scale quickly, the importance of asking for help, and what it looks like to build a business that supports your life instead of competing with it.

In This Episode, You'll Hear:

• How Caroline's move from Kansas City to Michigan impacted her family and business
• The story behind Bygone Botanicals and how the business evolved over time
• Why aromatherapy school helped shape her entrepreneurial journey
• How homeschooling and entrepreneurship coexist in her daily life
• The realities of building a business with limited time and resources
• Why slow growth can be a healthy and intentional business strategy
• The importance of community for women entrepreneurs and mothers
• How social media creates pressure to scale faster than you're ready for
• Why asking for help and outsourcing support isn't a failure
• How Caroline's mother influenced her entrepreneurial mindset
• The role family history and generational beliefs play in business ownership
• Practical advice for pricing handmade products and valuing your work

Key Takeaways

• Building a business slowly doesn't mean you're falling behind.
• Entrepreneurship doesn't have to come at the expense of your family.
• Community and support systems are essential for sustainable business growth.
• Childhood experiences and family influences often shape how we approach business and money.
• Asking for help allows you to focus on the things that matter most.
• Success looks different in every season of life.

Learn More About Caroline

Website: http://BygoneBotanicals.com

Instagram: @‌bygonebotanicals TikTok: @bygonebotanicals

Connect with Erin

Learn more about Erin’s work around money mindset, financial therapy, and building businesses that support your life.

• Book a free financial clarity call with Erin: https://calendar.app.google/bTLBrJFex9KHpFKz9
• Instagram: @‌erinthemoneytherapist

Erin’s Tea for This Episode

Erin is drinking Everyday Doze Mushroom Coffee https://www.everydaydose.com/ERINREECE

Keep the Conversation Going

If this episode resonated with you, be sure to subscribe and share it with another entrepreneur who might need to hear it.

New episodes of Tea Time with Erin drop every other Tuesday, where we share honest conversations about money, mental health, and entrepreneurship.

Grab your drink of choice, take a deep breath, and join us for the next Tea Time.

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome back to Tea Time with Erin, where we share honest conversations about entrepreneurship, money, mental health, and the stories that shape the way we build our businesses and lives.

In this episode, Erin continues Part 3 of her four-part series on generational financial beliefs by exploring the connection between money and the nervous system. While previous episodes focused on where financial beliefs come from and how they impact paying yourself, this conversation shifts into the body and examines why financial decisions can feel so emotionally charged.

Erin explains how our nervous systems often respond to money before our conscious minds have a chance to think. From the knot in your stomach when you open your bank account to the tension that shows up when it's time to pay yourself, these reactions are often rooted in old experiences, inherited beliefs, and generational patterns rather than your current financial reality.

Through neuroscience, nervous system regulation, and practical body-based tools, Erin introduces the first two steps of her GLOW Framework—Ground and Lift—and shares how entrepreneurs can begin creating safety around money so they can make financial decisions from a calmer, more empowered place.

In This Episode, You'll Hear:

• Why your nervous system reacts to money before your thinking brain does
• How financial stress shows up physically in the body
• The connection between generational financial beliefs and nervous system responses
• Why paying yourself can trigger fight, flight, freeze, or fawn behaviors
• How childhood experiences shape financial reactions in adulthood
• What neuroplasticity is and how it helps change money patterns
• The four nervous system responses commonly seen around money
• Why shame is often grief in disguise
• An introduction to Erin's GLOW Framework: Ground, Lift, Own, and Win
• Simple practices to regulate your nervous system before looking at your finances

Key Takeaways

• Financial stress is often a nervous system response, not a discipline problem.
• Your body may be reacting to old money stories before your conscious mind has time to think.
• Fight, flight, freeze, and fawn patterns commonly show up in financial decision-making.
• Awareness creates the opportunity for change.
• Safety and comfort are not the same thing.
• Small nervous system regulation practices can improve financial decision-making over time.
• Neuroplasticity allows you to create new patterns and healthier responses around money.

Connect with Erin

Learn more about Erin’s work around money mindset, financial therapy, and building businesses that support your life.

• Book a free financial clarity call with Erin
• Instagram: @‌erinthemoneytherapist

Erin’s Tea for This Episode

Erin is drinking Soothsayer Tea House Masala Chai during this episode. Receive 15% off your first order with Erin’s discount link and code WITHERIN.

Keep the Conversation Going

If this episode resonated with you, be sure to subscribe and share it with another entrepreneur who might need to hear it.

New episodes of Tea Time with Erin drop every other Tuesday, where we share honest conversations about money, mental health, and entrepreneurship.

Grab your drink of choice, take a deep breath, and join us for the next Tea Time.

Send us Fan Mail

Content Note: This episode includes a conversation about suicide, grief, and mental health as Anna shares part of her family's story. Please take care while listening and skip this episode if now isn't the right time for you.

Welcome back to Tea Time with Erin, where we share honest conversations about entrepreneurship, money, mental health, and the stories that shape the way we build our businesses and lives.

In this episode, Erin sits down with entrepreneur Anna Wiggins, owner of Surseen Style, for a conversation about entrepreneurship, financial decision-making, risk, grief, and learning to trust yourself through seasons of uncertainty.

Anna shares her journey from working in nonprofits and philanthropy to opening a bridal boutique, selling that business, navigating a season of transition, and eventually launching her newest venture, Surseen Style. Along the way, she opens up about family influences, money lessons from childhood, business loans, entrepreneurship, and the challenge of balancing financial security with pursuing a vision.

Together, Erin and Anna explore what it looks like to trust your instincts, embrace the unknown, and build a business that aligns with your values rather than someone else's definition of success.

In This Episode, You'll Hear:

• Anna's journey from nonprofit work to entrepreneurship
• How a difficult first job helped redirect her career path
• The inspiration behind opening her bridal boutique
• Why she chose not to pursue a franchise model
• The emotional process of selling a business she loved
• How writing and reflection helped her navigate a season of transition
• The realities of funding and growing a small business
• How childhood experiences shaped her relationship with money
• Why paying yourself matters as a business owner
• The importance of trusting your intuition in business decisions
• How nervous system regulation impacts entrepreneurship

Key Takeaways

• Entrepreneurship often requires trusting yourself before you have all the answers.
• Seasons of uncertainty can create space for creativity and growth.
• Business growth often requires financial investment and calculated risk.
• Money beliefs formed in childhood can influence business decisions later in life.
• Paying yourself should be a priority, not an afterthought.
• Success doesn't have to look like constant growth—it can look like alignment.

Learn More About Anna on Instagram: @‌surseenstyle

Connect with Erin

Learn more about Erin’s work around money mindset, financial therapy, and building businesses that support your life.

• Book a free financial clarity call with Erin: https://calendar.app.google/bTLBrJFex9KHpFKz9
• Instagram: @‌erinthemoneytherapist

Erin’s Tea for This Episode

Erin is drinking Soothsayer Teahouse Masala Chai during this episode. 15% off your first order! Use code WITHERIN at checkout.

Keep the Conversation Going

If this episode resonated with you, be sure to subscribe and share it with another entrepreneur who might need to hear it.

New episodes of Tea Time with Erin drop every other Tuesday, where we share honest conversations about money, mental health, and entrepreneurship.

Grab your drink of choice, take a deep breath, and join us for the next Tea Time.

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Welcome back to Tea Time with Erin, where we share honest conversations about entrepreneurship, money, mental health, and the stories shaping the way we build our businesses and lives.

In part two of Erin’s four-part series on generational financial beliefs, Erin dives into one of the most emotionally charged topics for women entrepreneurs: paying yourself. Why is it so difficult to move money from your business account into your personal account—even when the numbers say you can?

This episode explores the hidden emotional and behavioral patterns that impact how entrepreneurs handle money, especially first-generation wealth builders. Erin breaks down two major patterns she sees constantly in her work with women business owners: economic mobility guilt and the absence of financial modeling. Together, these patterns create hesitation, shame, confusion, and fear around taking profit, paying yourself consistently, and building personal wealth through business ownership.

Erin also shares personal stories, client examples, and practical insight into how childhood experiences, family systems, and generational money beliefs continue showing up in entrepreneurship today. From inherited scarcity mindsets to never being taught how to read a P&L statement, this episode helps listeners understand why financial decisions can feel so emotionally heavy—and why awareness is the first step toward change.

If you’ve ever avoided looking at your finances, felt guilty paying yourself, struggled with profit, or questioned whether you deserve to make more money, this conversation will likely hit close to home.

In This Episode, You’ll Hear:

• What economic mobility guilt is and how it affects women entrepreneurs
• Why paying yourself can feel emotionally difficult even when your business is profitable
• How generational financial beliefs influence business decisions
• The difference between emotional money patterns and practical financial skill gaps
• Why many entrepreneurs struggle to determine how much to pay themselves
• How scarcity and inherited money beliefs impact entrepreneurship
• The role financial modeling plays in financial confidence
• Why community and financial conversations matter for future generations
• How nervous system responses show up around money and financial stress
• Why awareness is the first step to changing financial behaviors

Key Takeaways

• Financial decisions are often driven by inherited beliefs, not just logic or math.
• Many entrepreneurs experience guilt when earning more than previous generations in their family.
• A lack of financial modeling creates knowledge gaps—not personal failure.
• Avoiding financial decisions often stems from emotional and nervous system responses.
• Building wealth as a woman entrepreneur can create both opportunity and emotional conflict.
• Awareness of financial patterns is the first step toward healthier money behaviors.

Connect with Erin

Learn more about Erin’s work around money mindset, financial therapy, and building businesses that support your life.

• Book a free financial clarity call with Erin
• Instagram: @‌erinthemoneytherapist

Erin’s Tea for This Episode

Erin is sipping Everyday Dose Mushroom Coffee during this episode.

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New episodes of Tea Time with Erin drop every other Tuesday, where we share honest conversations about money, mental health, and entrepreneurship.

Grab your drink of choice, take a deep breath, and join us for the next Tea Time.