# The Year Everything Was Chaos

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/making-change-with-your-money-6046388/the-year-everything-was-chaos
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/making-change-with-your-money-6046388/the-year-everything-was-chaos.md
Podcast: [Making Change with your Money](https://stenobird.com/podcast/making-change-with-your-money-6046388)
Published: 2026-07-05T23:14:59+00:00
Episode link: https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/db4bb1e3dd9d8281f8d5c72a0cd52b0abe36b613b685e291c6fd08caa6d49e02/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiJkZTJhZmExNC0yYzA1LTQ5NWQtYjg4YS0zNjY5NWYzOTExZjAiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiI3YTk3MWU4NS01MTAzLTQyMjUtOWM1MC0zNGUyOWFlMmYzODUiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2OTJlMTFhYmZmYmExODU1NmI3ZTY1MTYiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNmE0NTZlMTVjM2Q5ZTJmNzU1NTQzOTM5L2xhdXJhLXJvdHRlcnMtc3R1ZGlvLWNvbXBvc2VyLTIwMjYtNy0xX18yMS00NC0yMS5tcDMifQ==.mp3
Audio file: https://api.riverside.com/hosting-analytics/media/db4bb1e3dd9d8281f8d5c72a0cd52b0abe36b613b685e291c6fd08caa6d49e02/eyJlcGlzb2RlSWQiOiJkZTJhZmExNC0yYzA1LTQ5NWQtYjg4YS0zNjY5NWYzOTExZjAiLCJwb2RjYXN0SWQiOiI3YTk3MWU4NS01MTAzLTQyMjUtOWM1MC0zNGUyOWFlMmYzODUiLCJhY2NvdW50SWQiOiI2OTJlMTFhYmZmYmExODU1NmI3ZTY1MTYiLCJwYXRoIjoibWVkaWEvY2xpcHMvNmE0NTZlMTVjM2Q5ZTJmNzU1NTQzOTM5L2xhdXJhLXJvdHRlcnMtc3R1ZGlvLWNvbXBvc2VyLTIwMjYtNy0xX18yMS00NC0yMS5tcDMifQ==.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/making-change-with-your-money-6046388/episodes/the-year-everything-was-chaos
Duration seconds: 2556

## Resource

Imagine you're a month away from giving birth to your second child. Your toddler is eighteen months old. Your husband is a military pilot about to deploy for six months, just three weeks after the baby arrives. Somewhere in the middle of it all, you open a spreadsheet for the first time and ask yourself: What do I actually need my money to do for me? At some point, you've probably asked: Why does money still feel heavy, even when the numbers look okay? Why do I feel anxious when I look at my finances, and just as anxious when I avoid them? How do I stop chasing someone else's definition of financial success? Maybe you've done the mindset work, read the books, and tackled your money story, yet it still isn't translating to your bank account. Maybe you've chased revenue goals that left you burnt out. Maybe you've borrowed money to grow your business and carried shame because you learned debt was irresponsible. Megan Hale grew up watching her grandmother meticulously manage money and model financial independence. She also inherited the belief that debt was shameful. So when Megan opened her therapy practice and took on business debt, she felt like a financial failure. Over time, she realized business debt is different from consumer debt. Used intentionally, it can be a strategic tool. The turning point came in 2018. With two babies under two, a deployed husband, and a business she refused to abandon, Megan created her Good, Better, Best planning framework. That became the foundation of Dream Money, a planning platform that helps entrepreneurs organize personal pay, expenses, taxes, savings, team costs, reinvestment, and giving through the Good, Better, Best framework. It also includes a 2% Pledge, showing how small contributions from many business owners can create meanin…

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## Transcript

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