Real $tories: A Year in Review 

During the early part of my career at GreenPath, I met with people who were trying to improve their finances. 

I remember the moment that took place during just about every one of my counseling sessions.  The door was closed and the person I was speaking to let out a big exhale.  Shortly thereafter, their story would unfold.  How their debt started to accumulate.  What their dreams were.  What was holding them back from getting there. 

The most common question I would get was “Is this the worst situation you’ve ever seen?” 

It’s easy to think that you are the only one going through financial stress.  In our culture, we simply don’t talk about money. Having heard thousands and thousands of stories, I knew that those facing money worries were not alone.  But I wondered how I might creatively put all of my clients in the same “room” and connect them through their experiences. 

With that, the idea of Real $tories was born: creating a podcast where I talk to people about their money stories.   

There was just one problem.  I had no clue how to make a podcast.  Nor did anyone else at GreenPath.  But that didn’t deter me.  I recorded my first prototype by recording a phone call. I got wind of a colleague who overcame some debt issues.  I talked to several people who had audio technical expertise.  I huddled with our Marketing team and eventually, we debuted on December 5, 2019we debuted on December 5, 2019. 

Fast forward five years: over fifty episodes and 50,000 listens.  I’ve talked to clients, colleagues, partners and personal finance experts. Each person told their own authentic story.  Stories that not only touched on their financial lives but so much more.   

In 2024, we talked to RachealRacheal who overcame a divorce, hurricane and 124,000 dollars in debt.  She is now on track to put her son through college and pay off her mortgage in seven years. Racheal works for one of our partner credit unions and my colleague put me in touch with her after she realized she had an inspiring story to tell. 

We told the story of three generations of powerful womenthree generations of powerful women when we sat down with my colleague Wendy, her mother Reina and sister Emily.  This was a story of someone getting a new beginning in the United States.  It was a story of firsts: the first one in their family to attend college and buy a home.  And one of transition as Reina considers her upcoming retirement.  Here, an organic conversation with Wendy led to the idea of telling her family’s story through an intergenerational lens. 

We had a live panel discussionlive panel discussion with several guests on the important topic of mental health and how it intersects with one’s financial wellbeing.  GreenPath regularly gives webinarswebinars on a variety of topics and when I host a live panel, we transform the recording into a podcast episode. 

In 2024, we talked to several personal finance experts.  Jasmine PaulJasmine Paul learned through books and conversations during her career in the Airforce and become a homeowner by the age of 23. Today, she is an award-winning children’s book author, certified financial education instructor and speaker focused on making wealth fun.  She has referred her coaching clients to us over the years and after she mentioned GreenPath in an online article, we decided to connect with her. 

Elyce, known as the Savvy SagittariusElyce, known as the Savvy Sagittarius, created a personal finance blog and has leaned on her supportive online community to help her navigate her financial challenges.  After we got wind of her journey, we connected with her to give her a new platform to share her experience and wisdom. 

JuanJuan was referred to me by a community contact.  As a first-generation immigrant from Honduras, his early relationship with money included a family that feared spending it.  Today, as a financial coach, he helps others break through money fears. 

Crystal L GunnCrystal L Gunn is the financial strategist of my colleague, Dai-Jaya, who originally interviewed her for an internal series.  As I learned about her story, I asked Dai-Jaya to do a longer interview to go deeper into Crystal’s story of personal struggle and impact in her community. 

After we interview each of our guests, I gather my cohosts Shamica and Omari to listen to the raw footage.  We use these editing sessions to fine tune the final version that is put into production and record a segment to tie in some of the themes that have relevance to our listeners. 

Once our episode is ready, our Marketing Team gets to work, creating the graphic for each episode and getting it ready for our website.  We prepare a customized email for each episode and create social media posts.  Their efforts are how our stories get into our listeners’ ear buds. 

As Real $tories embarks on another year, we want to pause and thank our listeners for helping turn this vision into a sustainable reality.