Money isn't math. It's a feeling. It lives in your body, in the 3 a.m. bracing, the parking-lot tears, the receipt you fold before anyone can see it. I spent 20 years being told the answer was a better spreadsheet, more discipline, the right plan. None of it reached the part of me that was actually afraid. Because the fear was never about the numbers. It was about worth, and wanting, and the stories we absorbed long before we ever had a bank account of our own. My mother taught me to shop the clearance rack even when we could afford full price — and at 48, I still feel a little sick buying anything that isn't on sale. That's not a budgeting problem. No spreadsheet fixes that.
I'm a Certified Financial Planner. I wrote a whole book about money. I taught financial literacy for a decade and hosted a podcast that hit 28 million downloads and a New York Times top-four ranking. And for years, I was so afraid of what my own numbers would say that I turned them into birds. If you've ever Googled Am I behind financially at 11 p.m. — I need to tell you something. It's not you. Somebody gave you that feeling. And I spent most of my career as proof that knowing the math doesn't touch it.
I help midlife women untangle the story underneath their money — so it stops running the show. The shame, the avoidance, the feeling of being behind, the way it all gets louder in midlife when our bodies and our identities are shifting at the same time. I'm the Money Feelings CFP: the one who says the part the industry won't. And yes — sometimes we bake. I make really good gluten-free desserts, and I put them at the center of my work on purpose, because making something with your hands is how you calm a nervous system down enough to finally look at the hard thing. That's the whole idea behind my show, Bake It Out: money is the wound, the kitchen is where a lot of us learned it, and baking is where the repair begins.
I realized people don’t need another lecture on compound interest. They need someone to say: “I get it. Let’s figure it out together.” So I created Hey Shannah—a space where money meets real life. Certified Financial Planner. Author of Unraveling Your Relationship with Money (and hopefully more books to come). Former host of a top-four NYT money podcast (28M downloads). A decade teaching financial literacy. Quoted everywhere from [your press]. Recovering receipt-folder. Cupcake therapist.
Get to Know Shannah Game – (AKA things you’d find on my dating profile if I were still online dating):
⛰️ I live in Asheville, NC, with my husband and two emotionally supportive dogs, Winnie and Joni.
📖 I wrote most of my book wearing a gold superhero cape meant for children.
👂 I’m deaf in my left ear, have nonstop ringing in my head, and still host a podcast and do street interviews.
💸 I once impulse-bought a Vitamix and used it exclusively to make margaritas. That counts as financial duality.
🧾 I believe every dollar has a story, and we should probably start reading the receipts.
🧁 I make the BEST gluten-free cupcakes ever. Don’t believe me? Come over for a taste!
You don’t need to be fixed. You need to feel steady again.
Whether your reset starts with a cupcake, a money story, or a full-on meltdown in the Target parking lot—this is where you begin again. Let’s get honest. Let’s get grounded. Let’s get free.
Everything shared by Hey Shannah is for educational and inspirational purposes only. Nothing here is financial or legal advice. It’s a movement, not a spreadsheet. Always do what’s best for your life, your values, and your numbers.
hello@heyshannah.com
