Off the Deep End Erin Monahan

“How can you harmonize with your business while being in capitalism?”

A brilliant question posed by Chantel Chapman, co-founder of the Trauma of Money.

In this episode Erin explores this question, and goes off the deep end about the VERY Saturnian nature of building a business, the highs and lows she’s experienced, her own frustrations with entrepreneurship, the illustrious smoke and mirrors of the coaching industry, the bullshit that was peddled by the charlatan Tim Ferris about the 4-hour work week, and how we can take the pressure off ourselves to be “there” when the point is to be right *here.*

Thank you to Sky Daddy Saturn for inspiring this episode and making a surprise appearance throughout! Erin briefly talks about the impact of the Saturn Return and your Christ Year for anyone who’s an astrology nerd!

Healing Through the Second House is OPEN FOR ENROLLMENT!

Early bird goes until Friday, March 10th, 2023 at midnight CT!

We start Wednesday, March 22, 2023 because the astrology is just so damn good!

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Jessica Lanyadoo Ghost of a Podcast The Christ Year! And Your Saturn Return

The New Yorker Article, in which Cal Newport Calls Tim Ferris Radical LOL

Jacobin Article, "The Fraud and the 4-Hour Work Week"

Time stamps are below!

The reality of what it’s like to build a business: 00:00-6:58

Building Terra Incognita Media for the last 8 years: 6:58-12:30

The marathon of entrepreneurship and the frustration of not being “there” yet: 12:31-27:15

The Smoke and Mirrors of the Coaching Industry: 27:16-29:19

Saturn and Your Business 29:20-32:16

The Coaching Industry Can Make Entrepreneurship Look Glamorous and It’s Not 32:17-32:34

The Non-Linear Nature of Seaons and Cycles in Life and Business 32:35-38-35

Celebrity Astrologer, Chani Nicholas’ So-Called “Late Blooming” 38:36-40:14

Does Not Making Millions Mean You’re Not an Expert? 40:15-44:37

Inspiring Mentor and Co-Founder of Trauma of Money, Chantel Chapman’s Experience with Feeling Like a Fraud Despite Her Expertise 44:38-46:49

Experts Experience Money Trauma Too: My Experience with Debt, Overspending, and Over-Giving 46:50-52:09

A Climbing Coach Who Can’t Climb “Hard Stuff” is Still a Great Coach 53:10-56:21

Entrepreneurship is Not One-Size-Fits-All 56:22-58:27

The Bullshit of the 4-Hour Work Day and the Charlatan Tim Ferris 58:28-1:14:37

Did I Drink the Kool-Aid a Little Bit of the Elusive “There”? 1:14:38-1:17:55

Building a Business is an Expensive, Grueling, Marathon, and Building Community is Crucial 1:17:56-end

In this episode, your host, Erin Monahan, goes OFF THE DEEP END about the roots of psychoanalysis and how its ominous influence shows up in modern day marketing tactics that can put us in a trauma-triggered state. Get ready to learn the brief history of how “the father of public relations,” Edward Bernays, swiped his uncle’s, Sigmund Freud’s, research in order to promote wars and fuel consumerism. You’ll also walk away with tangible tools to aid you in making more conscious and discerning money choices no matter if you’re being bombarded with Black Friday FOMO deals or profusely sweating over the decision of whether or not you should buy that cute mug from Target.

Time Stamps:

Intro: 00:00-2:44
Acknowledging Thankstaking and We’re STILL in a pandemic!: 2:45-7:16
Black Friday and Buyer’s Remorse: 7:17-12:57
The History of Psychoanalysis, Edward Bernays, War Propaganda, and Consumerism: 12:58-23:40
Trauma and Systems of Oppression Impact our Reality: 23:41-24:50
The Two Undelete-able Apps in Our Brain and the Four Traps: 24:51-51:44
Outro: 51:45-54:18

Resources:

Jolie Varela Indigenous Women Hike
Trauma of Money
The Century of Self Documentary
Free! Learn about your window of regulation! Embodied Healing Strategies for Anti-Capitalist Entrepreneurs!

Erin Monahan Instagram
Erin Monahan Website
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A rant about how exploitative climbing gyms are has always been coming it was just a matter of when I had the emotional energy. This is also a discussion about the false distinction between "unskilled" and "skilled" labor as if there is a difference, the myth of meritocracy, and how no matter what job you do everyone deserves a thriving, maximum wage.
Some backstory:
In Fall of 2014 I got a job at Planet Granite, now called Movement.

This was at the height of my climbing obsession.

I was also gradually becoming more outspoken about my values as I began diving deep into unlearning my conditioning under imperialist-white supremacist-capitalist-patriarchy as bell hooks called it.

You know that phase where you start seeing oppressive power dynamics everywhere and you’re like “what the fuck. My life has been one big lie”?

I was in the middle of that.

I had this naive belief that everyone aligned with my values.

But quickly I found out this wasn’t the case.

I wrote an essay that called out and criticized the management that led to me being ostracized and gaslit.

For years I attempted to have conversations with the managers about making the space more accessible to people who weren’t just cis, white men.

Of course, I wasn’t the only one speaking up about this. PDX Climbers of Color has been doing the incredible labor of making Portland’s climbing community safer and more welcoming for people of color, and removing barriers of access for marginalized folks.

Today, I live and climb in so-called St. Louis, the traditional territories of the Osage, Miami, and Oceti Sakowin peoples.

I have had so many conversations with the people who work at Upper Limits, a chain climbing gym here that markets itself as “local, family owned,” to make it sound more wholesome than it really is.

Many climbing gyms will purport holding “community” values, especially after the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement protests took to the streets in unprecedented numbers, but when you look at the LACK of actions being taken things don’t add up.

A climbing gym membership is expensive as fuck.

Employees are not paid living wages.

The owners rake in excessive profit while staff go without healthcare, benefits, or sustainable income.

I’m the girl at the climbing gym ranting about MAXIMUM WAGES and how if there’s ever an organized strike I’ll be there to protest alongside employees if they ever decide to.

If you are in the so-called St. Louis area on Thursday evening, May 19th, 2022, come by Rise Coffee Shop in the Grove where I'll be doing free 15 minute mini readings! I'd love to connect with you in person and there will be live music! It will be so fun! Hope to see you there!

Questions? Email me at erin@erinkmonahan.com 

Connect with me on Insta @erin.k.monahan

Learn more about my work, who I am, and what I offer at my website at ErinKMonahan.com

What’s your biggest fear around being visible in your work?

Are you afraid you’re going to make a mistake?

Are you afraid people aren’t going to like you?

Are you afraid of success because you’re worried you won’t be able to sustain it?

Or are you afraid of failure, so you don’t even try?

In this episode I go into a discussion about the fear of visibility and the shame that often holds us back from expressing our fullest and most authentic self. The morning of this recording I asked spirit for a message we needed to hear that relates to this topic and out popped the 9 of pentacles, which is quite synchronistic - as to be expected! 

Here are some affirmations I shared in the episode:

I take time to replenish and recharge throughout my day.

I honor my natural cycles and trust I will be be supported and sustained.

I find pleasure and ease in the daily, mundane rituals that make up the magic my life.

It is safe to recognize and enjoy the wealth and abundance i cultivate.

My efforts deserve celebration no matter how big or small they may seem to me.

When i am replenished and full i can share the overflow with others and be of service.

Reciprocity is a current that spirals out and back to me in a cyclical nature.

I trust that what i put out and put in will come back to me.

I generate limitless abundance on the condition that i take care of my material, physical body and i stay grounded and rooted in the daily, mundane chores of my life that assist me in cultivating the magic i’m called to manifest.



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How might you be creating fantasies, scenarios, or playing into narratives that might not actually be true in an effort to avoid your own feelings?

Jessica Dore, author of Tarot for Change, writes on an Instagram post with an image of the Seven of Cups, “...turning inward might feel scary at first because fantasizing about other people’s feelings helps us avoid our own.”

I sometimes find myself doing this without even realizing it.

Often, this can be a trauma response or survival strategy where we think if we can predict what the other person is saying, thinking, or going to do next we'll be safe or we'll feel like we have some sense of control over the situation or outcome.

It's Pisces season, so pulling the seven of cups reversed and King of Cups is quite timely because the cups represent water and our emotions. 

These cards actually speak to Scorpio energy, which is a water sign like Pisces. I believe this an invitation to ask ourselves how might we see more clearly the thought fantasies that we might be creating, maybe the projections we’re engaging, and which ones do we want to give our energy to, and which ones do we want to let evaporate?

When we can create discernment around our emotions, fantasies, and the reality of our experience we can cultivate congruence and resonance between what we  think and believe, and our responses, choices, and actions.

By allowing our emotions to flow, and by holding space to acknowledge and tend to our own desires, feelings, fears, and sensations, we become adept at being able to hold space for others' feelings to flow as well.

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Did you know I offer astrological money coaching? You can find out more about the Second House here and book your session here!

Desire longer-term 1:1 support? Find out how you can work with me in this capacity here!

The fives are about chaos and restlessness. They're creative, but destabilizing. Conflict, change, growth, and movement are all par for the course when we pull this card. We’re moving on from the fours which represent structure, stability, groundedness, and/or rest. After the fives come the sixes, which are all about harmony, cooperation, and realignment. The fives are this kind of in-between space of moving pieces and things shifting. 

The five of swords has a lot of wind and movement to it. The clouds are moving fast and jagged. This card could represent a struggle of some kind, confronting our perceptions, and/or learning to move through challenges. This card is inviting us to put down our armor, to release what we’re struggling with maybe mentally or psychologically, and to confront the perceptions we have about whatever challenge it is we’re facing.

When it comes to business I know many of us struggle with the desire to be heard and seen, but not wanting to come across as self-absorbed. We struggle with wanting to make a sustainable income, but not wanting to come across as greedy and selfish. We perceive that making money is in direct conflict with our anti-capitalist values.

This card is asking us to consider where is the struggle real? And when might our system be alerting us to a false alarm? Sometimes our minds can detect danger or threat when there isn’t really an immediate danger or threat.

The five of swords gives us an opportunity to ask are you afraid of success? Of having money? Of doing well for yourself? Are you afraid of gaining success and not being able to sustain it? Is there a voice that says you’re not worth it, you don’t deserve it, or you won’t be able to keep the success?

Listen in as we discuss this card and some lessons we can glean about anti-capitalist entrepreneurship and healing our money trauma.

Get your early bird ticket for Healing Money Trauma 101!

Sliding scale for Black folks can be found here! Interested in a scholarship? Email me at erin@erinkmonahan.com - no need to justify or explain just let me know you need financial assistance and we'll set you up!

Subscribe to the newsletter!

Connect with me on Instagram!

Did you know I offer astrological money coaching? You can find out more about the Second House here and book your session here!

Desire longer-term 1:1 support? Find out how you can work with me in this capacity here!