The Financial Coach Academy® Podcast

Kelsa Dickey
  • 5.0 (109)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

The Financial Coach Academy Podcast is a weekly show for financial coaches and practitioners who believe that doing great work is the best business strategy there is. Hosted by Kelsa Dickey, founder of SpendFirst, Financial Coach Academy, and Money Made Human, each episode explores what it actually takes to build a coaching practice that lasts — from how we show up in sessions to how we think about our businesses. New episodes every Thursday.

  1. 5d ago

    Goodbye Season 1

    This is the final episode of the Financial Coach Academy Podcast and the final episode of Season 1. Starting June 25, this show becomes Money Made Human. In this episode, we’re talking about what 157 episodes built, sharing the story of a listener who changed how I see this show, explaining why the name is changing, and laying out what’s coming in Season 2: The full SpendFirst® book, read chapter by chapter, one per week, in my voice, before it launches November 11. Same feed, same Thursdays, same voice. The conversation just got bigger. https://spendfirst.com/podcast

    11 min

  2. Jun 15

    Why Conference Fears Are Actually Reasons Financial Coaches Should Attend (with Philip Taylor)

    Every year the same hesitations come up when I talk to coaches about conferences: I won't know anyone. It's too expensive. I'm not far enough along. I don't have time. I can probably learn all of it online anyway.This week I'm replaying my conversation with Philip Taylor, CPA, entrepreneur, and founder of FinCon, with a fresh intro and outro for FinCon 2026. Philip has watched thousands of financial professionals walk through those exact hesitations, and we work through all five of them together. What we land on is something I come back to every year: the fears that keep you home are usually pointing straight at the growth you're looking for. Philip walks through how he got past each one, from joining the online community before he arrived, to going in with a clear mission so the cost made sense, to finding the other people in the room who felt just as new as he did. I also share why I still attend conferences after nearly two decades of building a financial coaching practice, and why FinCon is the one I keep coming back to. FinCon 2026 is September 16 through 18 in Palm Springs, CA. Registration is open at finconexpo.com. Use code KELSA50 for $50 off. If you caught last week's episode on how to prepare for a conference, this one pairs with it.

    33 min

  3. Jun 11

    156. How to Prepare for a Conference (So You Don't Waste $4,000)

    Someone on Reddit spent more than $4,000 on a conference and came home with six business cards on their desk and nothing else. No meetings booked, no follow-up calls scheduled, no real conversations. They did all the things people tell you to do: They worked the expo floor, sat through the sessions, showed up to the networking cocktail hour. And they still felt like they had lit that money on fire. Their question was simple, and it is one I hear from coaches all the time: What do you actually do before a conference to make it worth going? In this episode, I walk through exactly how I prepare so a conference earns its cost. I talk about who to reach out to before you go and how to do it so people actually respond, what to focus on once you are there, and the part most people skip entirely, which is the follow-up that turns a hallway conversation into a real relationship. I also share the one number I use to know whether a conference was worth it, why three to five people is the right size for your list, and the permission slip most people need to hear about skipping sessions. Whether you are going to FinCon, AFCPE, or any professional event this year, this one is practical enough to put to work right away. FinCon 2026 is September 16-18 in Palm Springs. Registration is open at https://finconexpo.com, and code KELSA50 gets you $50 off. Links & Resources FinCon 2026 (use code KELSA50 for $50 off)Episode 154: The One Question That Simplifies Every Business DecisionEpisode 122: Interview with Philip Taylor, FinCon founder

    34 min

  4. Jun 4

    155. How to Connect With People Who Need You (When You Feel Like You've Tried Everything)

    A few weeks ago, an email came across my desk from a financial coach who said she'd never struggled this much to make something work. She'd been posting consistently, running webinars, building a community, and getting engagement on every post. And she had zero coaching clients and six months of runway left. Her friends and family were telling her there wasn't a market for financial coaching and she should go back to her corporate job. We got on a call. The session went deeper than tactics like "post more on LinkedIn" or "change your niche." She wasn't solving the wrong problem with her business. She was solving the wrong problem in her business. In this episode, I walk through the five principles that came out of the session. These are lenses, not tactics, for thinking about your business when you feel stuck. I cover why "I've tried everything" usually means you're solving the wrong problem, the difference between being seen and being known for something specific, what it takes to commit to one platform long enough for it to work, why your past clients are the most underused roadmap you have, and the difference between creating content and creating demand. I close with the three questions to sit with this week if you're in that stuck place yourself. If you've ever felt like you've tried everything and nothing is working, this is the episode for you. Resources & Links Episode 154: The Three-Lens FrameworkEpisode 153: The Four-Stage Client JourneyThe Builder

    30 min

  5. May 28

    154. The One Question That Simplifies Every Business Decision

    Every business decision you make has three stakeholders, and most coaches only think about one or two of them. That's usually why the decisions feel so hard. Pricing, marketing, who to hire, what to say yes to, what to say no to. If you've been going back and forth on a decision for weeks (or months), the problem is rarely the decision itself. It's that you don't have a clear way to think about it. In this episode, I teach you the Three Lens Framework, the thinking tool I use for every business decision I make. I walk through why business decisions feel overwhelming when you're missing one of the lenses, break down what each lens is asking you to consider, and then show you how the whole thing works using a real question I get all the time from coaches: "Should I list my prices on my website?" There's no universal right answer to that question. But there is a right answer for you, and the framework will help you find it. The Three-Lens Framework is also the backbone of The Builder, a free course that walks you through eight foundational business decisions every coach has to make. Links & Resources The Builder (free course)Episode 84: Interview with Haley and Justin Price of Avocado ToastFinancial Coaching Essentials

    17 min

  6. May 21

    What You Need (and Don't Need) to Be a Financial Coach

    If you've been thinking about starting a financial coaching practice, there’s probably a list running in the back of your mind. The certification you should probably get. The website you need to build. The LLC you think you're supposed to file. The handful of topics you still need to master before you'd feel ready to call yourself an expert. I had that same list almost two decades ago, when I was still working in corporate America and trying to figure out how to make the leap. I spent so much of that first year bootstrapping and second-guessing, and looking back, a lot of what I thought I needed was actually getting in my way. In this episode, I'm walking through what's really on that list once you strip out the things you can stop worrying about. Some of it might surprise you. Some of it might be the permission you've been waiting for. And some of it might shift what you focus on this week, this month, or for the rest of the year. If you've been circling the question of what it takes to get started, this is the conversation I'd want you to hear first. Links & Resources The Builder (launching Memorial Day weekend)Financial Coaching EssentialsNolo.com

    26 min

  7. May 14

    153. The 4-Stage Client Journey Every Financial Coach Needs to See

    Every client you work with moves through a journey. The situations are always different, but the stages are remarkably consistent. I’ve watched them unfold across hundreds of clients over nearly two decades, and at some point I started giving them language. In this episode, I walk through the four stages I see every client move through when they start working on their money: See Clearly, Stand Firm, Own It, and Build Forward. I talk about what the client is experiencing at each stage, what they actually need from you (which is often different from what you want to give them), and the coaching mistakes that happen when you’re doing the right work at the wrong time. This episode connects to the SpendFirst™ methodology, but the pattern applies regardless of what system you use. Once you see it, you’ll coach differently. Resources mentioned:  Episode 27: The four Stages Framework

    21 min

  8. May 7

    152. The Framework That Changed How I Coach

    Your client just made a choice you wouldn't have made. You walked them through the options. You built the understanding. They applied it, reflected on it, and came back with their decision. And it's not the one you would have picked. What you do in the next thirty seconds is the real test of whether you're coaching or telling. This is the kind of moment the Clarity–Application–Commitment framework is built for. It's the three-phase framework I've used in every coaching conversation for years, and the one I teach other practitioners to use too. In this episode, I walk through what each phase looks like in practice, where coaches skip steps without realizing it, and how to hold the line when a client surprises you. If you're newer to coaching, this might become one of the most foundational episodes you listen to. If you've been at this for years, it'll give you language for something you're probably already doing instinctively. Links & Resources: Episode 150: When Everything Feels Urgent: A Real Coaching Session on Prioritizing Financial Goals

    17 min
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About

The Financial Coach Academy Podcast is a weekly show for financial coaches and practitioners who believe that doing great work is the best business strategy there is. Hosted by Kelsa Dickey, founder of SpendFirst, Financial Coach Academy, and Money Made Human, each episode explores what it actually takes to build a coaching practice that lasts — from how we show up in sessions to how we think about our businesses. New episodes every Thursday.

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