The Backstory
The New Wander Wealthy: Where I've Been and My Return to Money Coaching
For those who don’t know me (or haven’t heard from me in literal years) I’m Tess, OG money coach ~ turned ~ business coach for money coaches ~ turned ~ back to being a money coach, I guess. (but with a lot more vision and confidence than in 2017).
This first Substack post is a little self-serving. I always feel that itching need to explain myself (even though I 1000% know I don’t need to). I guess it’s because I’m always personally curious on how someone got to where they are, or where the hell they’ve been the last 2 years… why the change? what happened? give me the deets!
So maybe this is an unnecessary post that no one ends up reading, but what does that matter? I’ve now entered the era of “creating for me” and worrying less about the outcome–especially the analytics of it all. More on “the work I’ve been doing in therapy to stop the nagging feeling of needing to monetize everything I do” in a future post. ;)
But #spoileralert, it may have had just a liiiittttttle impact on my inevitable burnout you’ll learn about shortly.
The beginning
I started money coaching in 2015, had a podcast, then a YouTube channel, was consistently supporting 20-25 clients, and doing the money education thing full-time. After getting sooo many questions about how I built said business, I decided to pivot in 2020 to become a business coach for my fellow aspiring and frustrated money coaches.
The “money doesn’t buy happiness” burnout
My business skyrocketed (thanks to the demand caused by lockdown and also maybe a great niche) and TBH the money was way better in the business coaching space. I do love talking business and helping others do what I’ve done, but my plans and goals for my business in 2022 were so out of alignment with the things I actually enjoyed spending my time on (other people’s finances, duh!) that I got completely burnt out and a bit depressed.
The post-pregnancy pause
So when I found out I was pregnant in early 2022, I decided I’d take a totally unplugged 10 month maternity leave when the baby came and revisit my personal goals and business’ future at the end of 2023.
Once my maternity leave ended, I was so far removed from the business coaching world and didn’t have a desire to go back. But I diiiid have some old clients and new client referrals coming my way… it was just that, they were money coaching clients.
I sort of made a YouTube video swearing off coaching around this time, but I low-key took them on anyway, and wow… did I miss money coaching.
The realization
Once 2024 came sliding into view I had made a decision… I love money coaching, I love supporting clients in a one-on-one setting, digging into the weeds of their day-to-day financial life, solving complex benefits package conundrums, and just running a simple, streamlined bare bones money coaching business without the constant pressure and (gross) online marketing bro culture that constantly preaches the absolute need to scale your business into a 7-figure wonder. (clearly I have some trauma and online processing to sort through on this topic)
The new wander wealthy
Beginning in 2024, Wander Wealthy is now (again) a Financial Coaching Company serving six-figure earning households. Whether you’re a SINK (single income, no kids) W-2er earning $100k per year or a $500k dual-income with a couple kids and one of you runs their own business household… I can help you. And I want to!
You see, half of $100k+ earners today are living paycheck-to-paycheck, according to a LendingClub survey, and there’s a lot of shame around it.
Experian reports that the average credit card debt for six-figure earning households is nearly $25,000 and a Willis Towers Watson survey reveals that 18% of employees earning $100k report experiencing financial stress which is strongly correlated with symptoms of depression and anxiety.
When you feel like you make enough money that your financial situation should be better but it isn’t… who do you ask for help?
THERAPIST:
You might talk to your therapist about your financial situation, but helping you with the more complex things like preparing for your small business taxes or helping you understand if your ESPP is worth investing into while carrying a credit card balance from time-to-time?? I’m gonna guess that’s beyond their scope…
FINANCIAL ADVISOR:
Maybe you have a financial advisor because you happen to have enough assets to be managed, but the last time you discussed inflows and outflows with them was during your onboarding 5 years ago and they’re not really available to get to that level of nitty gritty of following your financial habits and spending behaviors month-to-month.
TAX ACCOUNTANT:
And don’t get me started on your “tax guy”… honey, that relationship is purely transactional (all my love to the many tax professionals I work with - you men and women are the real MVPs from January to April and also sometimes all the way to October 😅)
You ask ME! That’s who you ask for help…
Because I understand that you want to be able to enjoy your (finally) higher income while also being (fiscally) responsible with your financial future.
Because I understand what your complex benefit offerings actually mean, and how they will impact your cash flow, and what that might mean for your day-to-day lifestyle so we can decide together if you actually optimize every last dollar or live a little.
Because I understand how to tie it together… the emotional side of scaling back from lifestyle inflation, how to question your financial advisor about the fees on that mutual fund, exactly what your CPA is talking about when they say “Schedule C”. I work swimmingly in concert with Therapists, CFPs and CPAs, but I’m none of those things and not necessarily a replacement for them (if you need one).
Not-so-quick disclaimer if you’re like “But why does it have to be six-figure earners? Don’t people earning less need your help more? I’m making less than $100k per year, can you help me?”
Believe me, I’ve wrestled with the fear around someone assuming I have the worst of intentions by specifically working with people making $100k per year or more, but here’s the honest truth:
It’s TRUE that a higher percentage of middle-income earners ($50k-$100k per year) and low-income earners (<$50k per year) are living paycheck to paycheck these days. And there’s TONS of cheap and free tools and resources out there for these individuals. Many of the things I’ll be linking to and content I’ll create will also be helpful to those households. I’d love to help ALL people with money, and in a way, I will now that I’m getting back on my content grind.
But there’s a HUGE gap in the market that’s serving those who are seemingly “doing well” on the outside, but struggling massively to sort out their finances behind closed doors.
Extra employer benefits like ESPP and RSUs are challenging to comprehend and require an extra level of analysis to understand how to optimize their value without feeling cash flow broke day-to-day. Self-employed individuals earning high levels of revenue have high tax bills to manage, scalability considerations, and two money systems (personal and business) to keep separately organized but expertly linked.
My services are best for those who have extra complicated financial situations, lots of moving pieces, and a big SOS situation but also a higher monthly income that just needs to be more accurately distributed. My secret talent is being able to see the big picture then reverse-engineer and implement an organizational system to get my clients to their goals. I spend hours running various cash flow scenarios (while managing the many options and variables my clients’ situations entail) to make sure that the decision we’re making together is the best (or the least worst) for them.
The time, level of detail, and amount of knowledge required to be put into each of my client’s situations equates to a higher fee, and I also recognize that said fee can be a major hinderance to those who don’t have a certain level of inflows each month.
If you’re teetering on a six-figure annual salary (or gross revenue as a business owner) I leave it up to you to decide if working with me is the right fit! Because yes, I’d love to work with you, but we want to make sure that the work we do together will help you financially in the long-run (it will) while allowing you to be solvent today (that’s the rub). You can check out my services page (I provide transparent pricing, because that’s the right thing to do) and see for yourself.
Want to work with me? Click the button below to check out my one-on-one coaching package or dive straight into filling out the questionnaire here.