Fear Runs Your Wallet | Joy Slabaugh | Growing Money with Sean Trace

Money is never just money - and this episode of Growing Money proves it. I sat down with Joy Slabaugh, a CFP turned licensed trauma counselor, who's spent her career at the exact intersection of finance and emotional healing. Joy walked me through why our anxiety around money almost always traces back to three deep human needs: safety, freedom, or connection. We got into the "eating cat food alone" fear that shows up again and again in her sessions with wealthy clients, why financial advisors are rarely trained to sit with emotion, and how compulsive spending, hoarding, or even chasing the next dollar often has nothing to do with logic and everything to do with a story we inherited. What's the earliest memory you have about money, and do you think it's still shaping how you handle it today?