Caregiver to Advocate: How to Navigate Money Through Chronic Illness | Shelly Grimm

On this episode of the Journey to Purpose Podcast, Shelley Grimm shares her deeply personal journey as a caregiver — a role she stepped into as a child when her mother became ill — and the advocacy mission that grew from it to support families navigating the hidden costs of caregiving.Shelley speaks with honesty and compassion about how caregiving shaped her childhood and the long-term emotional impact it had. She shines a light on the millions of informal caregivers who give everything to those they love while systematically neglecting their own needs — and makes a passionate case for why this needs to change. The conversation covers Crohn's disease and family illness, financial preparation for caregiving families, and the knowledge gaps that leave so many carers underprepared and overwhelmed. Shelley also shares her book and future plans to build greater support for caregiver communities.Key Topics• A childhood shaped by caregiving: how Shelley's early experiences with her mother's illness defined her path and purpose• The invisible caregiver crisis: the staggering number of informal carers in the US — and why their needs are chronically overlooked• Caregiving and childhood development: the emotional and developmental impact on young people who take on caring roles early• Financial empowerment for families: the knowledge and preparation every caregiving family needs to protect themselves• Advocacy and community: Shelley's mission to build support, awareness, and resources for caregivers everywhereAbout Shelley GrimmShelley Grimm is a caregiver advocate, author, and financial empowerment champion for families touched by illness and caring responsibilities. Drawing on her own lived experience as a childhood caregiver, she works to raise awareness of the challenges faced by informal carers, providing knowledge, community, and resources to help families navigate the caregiving journey with greater confidence and care.Journey to Purpose Podcast | caregiver support | Shelley Grimm | Crohn's disease | caregiving families | financial empowerment | informal caregivers | caregiver advocacy | childhood caregiving | family illness | carer wellbeing🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/...📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phil...🌐 Website: https://philippabagley.com/Journey to Purpose is a personal transformation podcast featuring real conversations about mindset, trauma recovery, self-worth, spiritual awakening, resilience, and finding your life’s purpose. New episodes every week. 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Of0Na1qWovS8Aw2X2FU8M 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philippa.bagley/ 🌐 Website: https://philippabagley.com/ Subscribe and leave a review — it helps others find the show.About your hostPippa Bagley is a clinical hypnotherapist specialising in burnout and sleep, and the host of Journey to Purpose. Based in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, she is passionate about helping people reconnect with what truly matters — and build lives and careers that feel genuinely sustainable. Pippa is also studying for an MSc in the Neuroscience and Psychology of Mental Health at King’s College London. Find out more at philippabagley.com