Brainwashed To Be Broke

Adam Rother
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Entrepreneurship

Most people aren't stuck by accident. They're stuck by design. From the moment you're born, you're handed a script. What to believe, what to want, what's possible and what isn't. Most people never question it. Brainwash to Be Broke exists to change that. Hosted by Adam Rother, this show pulls back the curtain on the social programming, beliefs, and conditioning quietly running your life. The stories about money, religion, relationships, health, and identity you believe so deeply you don't even know you believe them. This isn't just about being broke financially. It's about being mentally broke. Stuck in thinking handed to you by people just as conditioned as you are. Raw, unfiltered conversations with founders, thinkers, and people who woke up, questioned everything, and rebuilt life on their own terms. If you've ever felt like something is off but couldn't name it, you're in the right place. It's time to break the script. 🔔 Subscribe and follow so you never miss an episode.

  1. 3 days ago

    Cody Jefferson: Christianity and Money Was Twisted

    Christianity and money gets twisted when people confuse a tool with a god. Cody Jefferson breaks down why money is not evil, why being broke solves nothing, and why real wealth starts with stewardship, not flexing. This conversation exposes the conditioning around school, screens, faith, fatherhood, AI, and freedom. Cody Jefferson is a former pastor who spent 13 years in ministry, led across worship, youth, executive leadership, and communication, and now works in entrepreneurship, business, and leadership. Cody explains: ■ Why the quote about money is usually taught out of context ■ How school conditions obedience before people ever enter work ■ Why screens may be training children to lose focus ■ The difference between pressure you chose and anxiety you invented ■ How he prepares his sons for an AI future nobody can predict ■ Why money can solve most problems, and what it can never touch Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:32 Why Cody Jefferson Came on Brainwashed to Be Broke 01:47 The Rural Oklahoma Story That Shaped Him 03:38 How Ministry Became a Leadership Crash Course 05:59 The Church Funnel Nobody Talks About 08:38 How He Learned to Communicate at Scale 10:30 What Screens Are Doing to Attention 14:30 Are Parents Losing the Screen War? 16:01 The Problem With Fake Masculinity 17:39 What Christians Get Wrong About Wealth 22:55 The Problems Money Can Never Solve 25:59 Why School Never Taught You Money 30:57 Why Dirty Hands Still Matter 35:57 The Pressure You Asked For 39:02 The Lifestyle Trap That Breaks Entrepreneurs 46:32 How to Raise Kids for an AI Future 51:02 The Books That Changed His Life 53:32 Where to Find Cody Jefferson If this conversation helps you see your programming more clearly, subscribe to Brainwashed to Be Broke, like the video, comment with the biggest belief you are questioning now, and share this with one friend who needs to hear it. Follow Cody: Website - https://codyjefferson.com/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/codyjefferson/ Adam's socials: Website: https://www.brainwashedtobebroke.com X: https://x.com/adam_rother Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rotheradam/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rotheradamlive TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rotheradam Listen to Brainwashed To Be Broke: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/brainwashed-to-be-broke/id1879032145 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6UzZfVwqPmNjyOYfDaxEGc?si=91c9a140c35247db #socialprogramming #conditioning #moneymindset #freedom #deprogramming

    54 min

  2. 23 Jun

    Why 99% of People Are Speculating and Calling It Investing, With Ryan D. Lee

    Financial freedom conditioning has kept most people handing their money to Wall Street and calling it investing, when by definition it is pure speculation. Ryan D. Lee retired at 32, has never lost money in 15 years, and has paid zero taxes, by following rules already written into the tax code. Ryan co-authored Retire in 10 Years or Less with Robert Allen and Robert Kiyosaki, and has helped thousands of people acquire over 4,000 single-family homes. Ryan explains: ◼ Why Warren Buffett's two rules expose what most people are actually doing with their money ◼ The three financial IQs that separate wealth builders from income earners ◼ How a life insurance vault and rentals eliminated Ryan's taxes completely ◼ Why 1971 changed the rules of money and most people never got the memo ◼ The 2008 moment that forced Ryan to admit he was on the wrong path Chapters: 00:00 Intro 01:13 What Financial Freedom Actually Means 02:07 How Wall Street Captured the Retirement Narrative 03:13 Converting Money Into Time 04:03 The Conditioning That Clicks In When You Try to Be Responsible 05:47 The 2008 Wake-Up Call That Changed Everything 06:17 Why Financial Education Is Kept Out of the System 07:49 Wall Street Is Not the Same as Investing 08:19 The Three Financial IQs You Were Never Taught 09:32 The Biggest Destroyer of Wealth Most People Ignore 10:45 The Real Definition of Investing 11:33 Are You Speculating and Calling It Investing? 13:41 The Dependency Economy and What It Costs You 14:56 The Ownership Economy: Take Back Your Time 16:00 Why Financial Statements Are Missing From Every School 17:58 How to Turn Fake Money Into Real Assets 19:18 What 1971 Did to Your Money 20:24 Your Expenses Are Someone Else's Assets 21:52 Where to Start With No Investment Portfolio 22:27 The Books That Rewired Ryan's Understanding of Money 25:07 How Ryan Actually Became Financially Free 27:35 The Vault Strategy: Life Insurance as a Private Line of Credit 29:16 How 17 Properties Built Enough Cash Flow to Walk Away 33:19 Good Debt vs. Bad Debt 36:48 Why the System Is Designed to Keep You Dependent 40:03 What Student Debt Really Does to Young People 41:41 The Game of Money Once You Stop Needing a Job If this conversation helps you see your programming more clearly, subscribe to Brainwashed to Be Broke, like the video, comment with the biggest belief you are questioning now, and share this with one friend who needs to hear it. Follow Ryan: X - https://x.com/ryandlee Website - https://retirein10years.com Book - https://retirein10years.com/book Adam's socials: Website: https://www.brainwashedtobebroke.com X: https://x.com/adam_rother Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rotheradam/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rotheradamlive TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rotheradam #socialprogramming #financialfreedom #moneymindset #conditioning #deprogramming

    45 min

  3. 21 Jun

    AI Won't Save Your Business If You Don't Do This First w/Rachel Pedersen

    AI won't save your business if you have not slowed down to actually listen to your audience, and that is the uncomfortable truth the Queen of Social Media, Rachel Pedersen, exposes in this conversation. We have been conditioned to believe that the right tool, enough automation, and a flood of AI generated content will manufacture real connection. It will not. Rachel built two multimillion dollar companies after starting on welfare, and she has tested AI against her own writing again and again. Every time, her manual work crushed the AI version. In the AI vs human content fight, the human weirdness, the specific story, and the real voice are what people actually crave. AI won't save your business when your outreach sounds like everyone else's pitch. Authentic content marketing still beats raw volume, and the founders who build a real audience first are the ones who win the next decade. We also dig into the social programming under all of it: the money beliefs that keep founders stuck, why you can be a CEO and still wash your own dishes, and how falling in love with the boring process becomes its own deprogramming. AI won't save your business, but listening, naming your conditioning, and a voice that is unmistakably yours just might. In this episode, you will discover: - Why authentic content beats AI generated posts even when the AI sounds polished - The simple test Rachel ran that exposed exactly where AI fails - How being raised below the poverty line shaped her money beliefs and conditioning - Why she keeps her three kids completely off social media - The strange tricks she uses to do the work she secretly hates If this conversation helps you see your programming more clearly, subscribe to Brainwashed to Be Broke, like the video, comment with the biggest belief you are questioning now, and share this with one friend who needs to hear it. Adam's socials: Website: https://www.brainwashedtobebroke.com X: https://x.com/adam_rother Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rotheradam/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rotheradamlive TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rotheradam Guest: Rachel Pedersen Social media and digital marketing strategist, USA Today bestselling author of Unfiltered Facebook: Rachel Pedersen 🔗 Free Resources: https://beacons.ai/themrspedersen 📚 Her book: Unfiltered Chapters: 00:00 Meet Rachel Pedersen the Queen of Social Media 02:19 Raised below the poverty line in ministry 03:36 Pregnant at 21 and rejecting the default path 07:31 Will AI replace real human connection 08:25 Why human weirdness beats perfect AI content 10:31 The flood of fake AI pitches in your DMs 14:50 Testing AI against her own writing and it failed 19:42 Why you should never outsource your voice 21:44 Writing 3 million words a year without AI 26:52 The real story behind her book Unfiltered 39:47 Why she keeps her kids off social media 44:38 The money belief that keeps founders stuck 46:26 Falling in love with the boring process 48:13 Tricks to do the work you secretly hate 56:23 Finding new fuel after the pain is gone #aiwontsaveyou #authenticcontent #socialprogramming #moneymindset #deprogramming

    59 min

  4. 17 Jun

    School Doesn't Teach You About Money And It Is On Purpose w/Sarah Thompson

    If you have ever wondered why school doesn't teach you about money, this episode of Brainwashed to Be Broke exposes the social programming that keeps hardworking people stuck. Adam Rother sits down with affiliate marketing coach Sarah Thompson, a former healthcare worker who got a 15 cent raise and a pizza party for years of effort, then discovered passive income at 35 and felt like she had been lied to her whole life. We dig into why school doesn't teach you about money on purpose, who profits when you stay financially illiterate, and why so many believe college is a scam built to sell a feeling instead of real skills. Sarah breaks down the limiting beliefs about money she had to unlearn, the scarcity mindset passed down from a loving family, and the money guilt that quietly caps your income. You will also hear why affiliate marketing for beginners may be the simplest path to passive income, how she turned a $7 training and a Canva checklist into thousands of dollars a day, and why busyness is a distraction the system rewards. This is a conversation about deprogramming the beliefs you inherited about money, work, religion, freedom, and what you are truly worth. In this episode, you will discover: - Why school doesn't teach you about money, and who actually benefits from the gap - How a 15 cent raise pushed Sarah to discover passive income at 35 - The limiting beliefs and scarcity mindset that secretly cap your income - Why affiliate marketing for beginners can start with almost no money - How money guilt and family conditioning sabotage wealth, even for good people - Why hustle and busyness keep you broke while the system wins If this conversation helps you see your programming more clearly, subscribe to Brainwashed to Be Broke, like the video, comment with the biggest belief you are questioning now, and share this with one friend who needs to hear it. Adam's socials: Website: https://www.brainwashedtobebroke.com X: https://x.com/adam_rother Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rotheradam/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rotheradamlive TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rotheradam Guest: Sarah Thompson Affiliate marketing coach and entrepreneur Facebook: Sarah Day Thompson Instagram: @makemoneywithsaraht Chapters: 00:00 Intro and meeting Sarah Thompson 02:24 Discovering passive income during COVID 02:53 Why she felt lied to about money 05:00 The college or fail myth in high school 06:07 Why college is largely a scam 08:49 You don't need money to start a business 10:55 Why affiliate marketing is the easiest start 17:50 Her first affiliate product and lessons 22:26 The limiting beliefs that keep you broke 25:24 Money guilt and the scarcity mindset 33:39 Why busyness is a distraction not progress 38:29 Stop taking money advice from broke people 42:23 Money beliefs from childhood 50:08 Money, marriage, and respect #socialprogramming #conditioning #moneymindset #freedom #deprogramming

    1 hr

  5. 7 Jun

    Why Smart People Stay Stuck in Jobs They Secretly Hate w/Llewellyn Lyon

    Why smart people stay stuck in safe lives comes down to social programming most of us never chose, the quiet conditioning from parents, school, and culture that teaches you to aim low, blend in, and never rock the boat. In this raw conversation, a sales trainer who coached over 6000 people breaks down how that programming around money, beliefs, and success quietly runs your life. We get into why smart people stay stuck chasing how they look instead of the results they could create, why your money beliefs were installed in childhood before you could question them, and why playing it safe is the riskiest bet of all. You will hear how to spot the social conditioning, why fear is meant to fuel you while self doubt holds you back, and what it takes to finally bet on yourself and start deprogramming the script you were handed. In this episode, you will discover: - The hidden reason successful people stop caring what the neighbors think - How school and parents quietly program you to stay small and play it safe - Why money is only a tool and chasing it for status keeps you broke - The failure rule that doubles your success once you understand it - Why right and wrong are mostly made up beliefs running your decisions - How to recognize your own conditioning and start betting on yourself If this conversation helps you see your programming more clearly, subscribe to Brainwashed to Be Broke, like the video, comment with the biggest belief you are questioning now, and share this with one friend who needs to hear it. Adam's socials: Website: https://www.brainwashedtobebroke.com X: https://x.com/adam_rother Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rotheradam/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rotheradamlive TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rotheradam Guest: Llewellyn Sales trainer and therapist, former head trainer at Seventh Level 🔗 Facebook: Llewellyn Lyon Chapters: 00:00 Why Successful People Stop Caring What Others Think 01:53 The Trainer Who Coached Over 6000 People 03:33 From Private Banking Burnout to Waking Up 05:44 Why Money Is a Tool Not the Goal 06:55 Getting Fired and Why Failure Doubles Success 10:26 Getting 10000 Sales Hours in a Single Year 16:14 Building a 20 Million Dollar Upsell System 18:50 Why People Set Their Goals Too Low 20:54 Fear vs Self Doubt and Betting on Yourself 22:13 How School and Parents Program You to Stay Stuck 29:15 Sales as a Petri Dish for Human Psychology 33:32 Why Smart Students Stay Stuck and Complain 38:30 Why Right and Wrong Are Made Up Beliefs 44:46 The Last Message You Are Smart Enough #socialprogramming #conditioning #moneymindset #freedom #deprogramming

    49 min

  6. 5 Jun

    Success Is 80% Psychology, Not Strategy (Here's Why) w/Jake Kauffman

    Success is 80% psychology and only 20% strategy, yet almost everyone runs it backwards, pouring time and money into systems while ignoring the inner work that actually drives results. In this conversation on Brainwashed to Be Broke, host Adam Rother sits down with high performance coach Jake Kauffman to expose the social programming and conditioning that quietly cap how much money, success, and love you believe you deserve. If you keep hitting the same plateau, the problem is rarely your strategy. It is your beliefs, your identity, and the upper limit your nervous system will tolerate. Jake breaks down why you self-sabotage success the moment it arrives, how childhood experiences write the money beliefs you still run on, and why self-sabotage is really just self-protection. This is a deprogramming conversation about wealth, relationships, health, and the freedom that opens up when you finally heal the pain underneath the pattern. Because success is 80% psychology, lasting growth comes from raising your upper limit, not stacking another tactic on a shaky foundation. In this episode, you will discover: - Why success is 80% psychology and 20% strategy, and what most people get completely backwards - How your upper limit silently caps the money and success you allow yourself to keep - The real reason you self-sabotage right when things finally start working - How childhood experiences quietly become the money beliefs running your life today - Why more money and the next level never fix the emptiness on their own - The difference between a real breakthrough and an epiphany that changes nothing If this conversation helps you see your programming more clearly, subscribe to Brainwashed to Be Broke, like the video, comment with the biggest belief you are questioning now, and share this with one friend who needs to hear it. Adam's socials: Website: https://www.brainwashedtobebroke.com X: https://x.com/adam_rother Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rotheradam/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rotheradamlive TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rotheradam Guest: Jake Kauffman High performance coach and business mentor to entrepreneurs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamjakekauffman/ Facebook: Jake Kauffman Chapters: 00:00 Success Is 80% Psychology Not Strategy 01:58 Meet Jake Kauffman, Healing For High Performers 02:48 From 2008 Grad To Founding A Brewery 07:51 Building A Healthcare Tech Startup Before AI 10:32 Why Personal Problems Show Up In Business 18:22 Mindset Is Only The Surface Level 20:06 How Childhood Experiences Create Your Beliefs 25:11 Performance Anxiety And Your Nervous System 29:17 Why Awareness Is Easy But Change Is Hard 33:55 Success Is 20% Strategy And 80% Psychology 38:05 The Upper Limit That Caps Your Success 41:34 The 50K To 250K Self-Sabotage Trap 45:22 Become The Person Who Attracts Money 53:14 Why Success Feels Empty Until You Heal #socialprogramming #conditioning #moneymindset #freedom #deprogramming

    57 min

  7. 3 Jun

    How To Leave An Emotionally Abusive Marriage At Any Age w/ Victoria Moore-McDowell

    She was bedridden for 18 years, married three times, and convinced God was furious with her. Then one belief broke and everything changed. Victoria Moore-McDowell grew up with the same script most of us were handed: work hard, suffer hard, maybe you'll earn a decent life. By her 40s, she was almost completely bedridden, stuck in an emotionally abusive marriage, financially controlled, and carrying decades of religious shame. This conversation isn't a hustle story. It's an identity story. The real friction wasn't just her marriage or her body. It was the inherited programming that you have to grind for money, that God is disappointed in you, that wealth is somehow ungodly, that the systems around you are designed to help you. She had to unlearn all of it before anything could shift. A few turning points she walks through: - The day her hands started hurting on the highway and her old life ended - Discovering grace through Pastor Joseph Prince after 15 years in bed - Leaving the abusive marriage seven years ago at age 51 - Falling down a Wikipedia rabbit hole that exposed how banking, identity, and trusts actually work In this conversation, you'll learn: - Why "work hard for money" is one of the most expensive lies you've been sold - How religious guilt and condemnation quietly sabotage your finances - What identity actually has to do with healing — physically and financially - How "sovereign citizens" vs. "living humans" are treated differently under banking law - Why staying silent about what you know is selfish, not humble - The hidden financial infrastructure school refuses to teach Guest: Victoria Moore-McDowell Connect Victoria👇 🔗 Website: faithfreedomandfinances.com 🔗 Facebook: Ian Norton 🔗 She’s moving everything toward: You & Victoria (YouTube) 🔔 If this episode stirred something in you, don't ignore it. Share It with someone who needs to hear this. Subscribe, leave a comment and remember, you weren't born to follow the script, you were born to be free.

    1hr 4min

  8. 1 Jun

    How to Stop Feeling Like You're Not Good Enough w/ Ian Norton

    Most people think they need more confidence. Ian Norton thinks they need something simpler — and most of us were quietly trained out of it. Ian is a confidence coach who has worked with royalty, celebrities, and business leaders. But before any of that, he grew up gay in a strict military family at a time when it was still illegal in the UK — taught from age nine that something was "wrong" with him and needed fixing. Chasing a sense of belonging, he fell in with a glamorous London crowd, ran a few "dodgy" packages without realizing what they were, and ended up serving four months in one of the country's most hardcore prisons. That's where the script flipped. Everyone else wanted out. Ian asked to stay — so his friends could visit. And somewhere in that cell he found the one thing he now builds everything on: the trust that he'd be okay no matter what happened. A few turning points from the conversation: - The moment in prison he realized nothing else in life could really scare him again - Walking into Kensington Palace to coach Princess Diana — who wanted to hear about prison - Why he says "I am enough" is one of the most damaging things you can tell yourself - The reframe he gives clients who blame themselves for everything: "Who do you think you are?" In this conversation, you'll learn: - Why your nervous system reacts to a product launch the same way it would to a predator attacking - The "GOOP" trap (the good opinion of other people) that's secretly running your decisions - How people quietly rig their lives to make winning impossible and failing easy - Why "what if it goes wrong" and "what if it goes right" are equally true — so pick one - How to tell the difference between real danger and just doing something new This one goes deep on the programming we mistake for personality — and how to start writing your own lines instead. Guest: Ian Norton 👇Connect with Ian 🔗 Website: iannortoncoaching.com 🔗 Facebook: Ian Norton 🔔 If this episode stirred something in you, don't ignore it. Share it with someone who needs to hear this. Subscribe, leave a comment, and remember, you weren't born to follow the script, you were born to be free.

    49 min
See All (63)

About

Most people aren't stuck by accident. They're stuck by design. From the moment you're born, you're handed a script. What to believe, what to want, what's possible and what isn't. Most people never question it. Brainwash to Be Broke exists to change that. Hosted by Adam Rother, this show pulls back the curtain on the social programming, beliefs, and conditioning quietly running your life. The stories about money, religion, relationships, health, and identity you believe so deeply you don't even know you believe them. This isn't just about being broke financially. It's about being mentally broke. Stuck in thinking handed to you by people just as conditioned as you are. Raw, unfiltered conversations with founders, thinkers, and people who woke up, questioned everything, and rebuilt life on their own terms. If you've ever felt like something is off but couldn't name it, you're in the right place. It's time to break the script. 🔔 Subscribe and follow so you never miss an episode.

Information

  • Creator
    Adam Rother
  • Years Active
    2k
  • Episodes
    63
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Adam Rother
  • Show Website
    Brainwashed To Be Broke