Episodes

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Ira Bryck. Ira’s family created what became the oldest children's clothing store in the United States. The neighborhood the store was located in changed dramatically over the decades. As Ira describes it, the town became rough, had crime problems, and people were scared to shop there. During its 90th year, Ira made the difficult decision to close the store and he decided to move to a new state. Ira’s big dream was to open a retail store of his own in ...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Sara Munro. In our experience, people do not give much thought about the implications of facing a short-term or a long-term disability. Sara was in that camp. As a young woman, she experienced a physical disability. The injury came on slowly, and the recovery was a steep hill to climb. This experience impacted Sara financially and taught her an important life lesson about living with intention. Sara’s professional career has spanned the rise of digita...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guests are John and David Auten-Schneider. John and David are known as the Debt Free Guys. Early in their relationship John and David were considering buying land in the mountains where they could build their dream vacation home. During their drive back to Denver after looking at some properties, they fantasized about the home they’d build. Then, as they were descending the mountain, one of them asked, how are we going to pay for this? John and David ended up ...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Lisa Skye. At age 26, Lisa’s dad was killed in a car crash. Her father was the most important person in her life, and she still misses him dearly. For Lisa, this period was bittersweet. She inherited significant assets that impacted the course of her life, yet Lisa was overwhelmed with emotions and responsibilities because there was much to sort out. Her parents had been divorced, and her younger brother needed her to manage the estate. Related, Lisa ...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Dr. Jeremy Lurey. Jeremy had all the right conditions when he was young to set him up to be a spoiled and entitled adult. He grew up in an affluent community in Malibu, traveled the world more than he traveled the US, once had an elephant in his back yard and when he wrecked his car, a hand-me-down from his parents, they replaced it. When we asked Jeremy how he turned out so grounded, he told us it was because of his mindset and belief system. Dr. Jer...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Dorien Morin-van Dam. The first airplane Dorien ever took landed her in Boston from her home in the Netherlands. It was July 1988. She had $100 in her pocket and was ready for adventure! Dorien made wonderful memories as an Au Pair, found the love of her life at a bus stop, got married at 19 years old, and stayed... forever. Dorien was a stay-at-home mom until her fourth and youngest child started kindergarten. At that time, she pivoted to entrepreneu...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Rohit Bhargava. Rohit prides himself on being a non-obvious thinker. Dismayed by traditional publishing practices, Rohit decided with his wife to launch IdeaPress, an alternative to the big book publishers. He was motivated by an entrepreneurial spirit and the desire to have greater control. Rohit tells us that he was inspired by Beyoncé. If she could create her own label, he figured he could to the same in publishing. Rohit a leading authority on ma...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Robin Hauser. Robin is an award-winning director of documentary films at Finish Line Features. In 2021 she released the documentary, $avvy, which contemplates the historical, cultural and societal norms around women and money and explores why it’s critical for women to take an active role in managing personal finance. This film was inspired by Robin’s personal experience of going through divorce after twenty-four years of marriage. As Robin tells us, ...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Afam Onyema. When Afam was graduating from Stanford Law School he decided to pass on the lucrative job offers he received to help co-found the GEANCO Foundation. Up until that point, Afam thought a person had to first be wealthy to create a foundation. But he decided to make the leap and had to figure out how to raise money for GEANCO, and also figure what his personal plan was for money. He had expenses to cover, including law school debt. As Afam de...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Rachel Bloom. Rachel is best known as the co-creator and star of the CW musical dramedy “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”. She grew up as a theater kid and spent the early part of her life honing her craft. As Rachel tells us, she was focused on making music, videos and sketches that she thought were funny and that would help her make a name for herself. Money was never the goal. Rachel is an award-winning actress, comedian, writer, singer-songwriter and producer...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Shannon McCombie. When Shannon was in college, one of her older brothers was a Navy jet pilot. Just after 9/11, he was killed, and Shannon learned that he didn't get to finish the mission he started. That launched Shannon into government service. She worked internationally for the CIA and Naval Special Warfare Development Group to finish what her brother was unable to complete. From there, Shannon left for the corporate world and experienced an impact...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Jeff Savlov. Jeff started working at an early age in his family business, a growing commercial printing operation. His first role was to peel off strips of silver in the film that was otherwise garbage so they could sell the silver for cash. Jeff learned firsthand the challenges that come with working for your dad. As Jeff shared with us, his dad took out the business frustrations on Jeff because it was safe. Jeff, after all, was family. They ultimate...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Laura Renner. Laura’s a U.S. Air Force graduate with an MBA who found herself walking dogs and dog sitting to make ends meet as she launched her third and current business. While she enjoyed being with the dogs, she knew it wasn’t prestigious work and felt a little bit ashamed because that's not something that you imagine an MBA doing. However, after talking about it with a friend, Laura realized that she was happy, and doing this temporary work allow...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is John Lanza. John is on a mission to help parents raise money-smart kids and help families live happier, more fulfilled lives. He and his wife were inspired to develop Money Mammals, a kid friendly brand centered around financial education, when their firstborn was six months old. They wanted to be sure to raise their daughter to be money smart, and John came up with the idea of Money Mammals as a way to get kids excited about money. It worked! John is...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Jonathan Wess. Jonathan’s Dad died when he was 5 years old. His mother raised him and his two older sisters, supporting the family through her single income. As Jonathan explains, he was always having to piece things together about how the family was doing financially. His mom's rule was that it's not a kid’s place to worry about the money. She was trying to protect Jonathan and his siblings and make them feel safe. While he understands that, in hinds...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Sylvie Sadarnac. Sylvie made an extreme career pivot in her third act of life. She had a career in corporate communications, and in her mid-40s she decided to pursue comedy writing. As a matter of fact, Sylvie was the only middle-aged woman in her Second City writing class. She blossomed in that environment, and has been facing the ultimate question ever since: How much is she willing to give up to live a creative life? Sylvie is an actor, writer, and...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Dr. Lois Frankel. Lois is the bestselling author of the inspirational Nice Girls series of books, which include Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office, Nice Girls Don’t Get Rich, and Nice Girls Just Don’t Get It. She came from a background where nothing was expected of her. Lois shares that her brothers were encouraged to go out and make a lot of money while she was not encouraged to do much of anything. She says she was a quiet little girl, a nice gi...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Emily Brower. Growing up, Emily always wanted to fit in. She perceived herself as shy, with an awkward haircut, and clothes that never fit just right. Emily thought her value was in her weight. If she could just be skinny, she told herself, then people would see all she had to offer. As an adult, Emily married, became the mother of two children, and stopped teaching school because the income didn’t pencil out against the cost of childcare. She and her...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Rebecca Walker. Rebecca has contributed to the global conversation about race, gender, power, and the evolution of the human family for three decades. In her most recent book, Women Talk Money, Rebecca created a collection of 29 essays by different female writers who explore the profound impact of money on women’s lives. The collection includes previously unpublished essays by trailblazing writers, activists, and models, such as Alice Walker, Tressie ...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Sarah Van Voorhis. Sarah is a high-powered family law attorney in the San Francisco Bay Area. From as far back as she can remember, Sarah has been a saver. Is that nature or is it nurture? Sarah tells us her parents, who adopted her, weren’t necessarily savers so they weren’t modeling that behavior. But when Sarah met her biological grandmother when she was in her late 20s, she learned that her biological father was a diligent saver too. Sarah wonders...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Nike Anani. At 9 years old she went to the UK with her mom and brothers for what she was told was a summer vacation, but they never left. Nike’s dad stayed behind in Lagos, Nigeria to run the family business, and it wasn’t until she was in her 20s that she learned how extremely successful the family business was. Nike’s parents’ intentions of not sharing the scope of the business were good. They wanted their children to be focused, hardworking and sel...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Coach Pamela Mitchell. We first met Coach Pamela while listening to her compelling story on NPR’s The Moth Radio Hour. In this week’s episode, we dive deep with her into her stories of reinvention and the roles money played in them. For instance, Coach Pamela describes herself as having been a high-powered hider in her career on Wall Street. She was great at her job…and hated every moment of it. Although Coach Pamela wouldn’t recommend this for others...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Julie Greenham. Julie had a major money transformation as an adult. As a child she was never taught about money and it wasn’t discussed, but Julie sure could feel the weight of it. Julie knew that money was coming in and the next day it was going out. She explains that her mom has bipolar disorder which contributed to her spending money extravagantly and then didn’t have enough to tie them over until her next paycheck. Later in her marriage, Julie def...

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Dr. oec. Sonja Kissling. After working as a corporate law attorney, Sonja found her true passion when she realized she could use her skills to help families in business resolve conflicts. Regular Money Tales listeners will appreciate that Sonja’s process is steeped in family values; she finds that families need to identify their shared values, create a common vision that they’re working toward, and then develop an action plan to achieve that vision. S...