[Finance] Debt Shame Is Designed to Silence Your Wealth Building — Let’s Break That Pattern [222]

What if your shame around debt isn’t really yours?

In this episode, Adina breaks down how debt shame is strategically manufactured to keep historically marginalized communities in silence — and in survival mode.

She shares a personal story of a recent financial spiral, what it triggered emotionally, and how she navigated it without bypassing the real fear, frustration, or guilt.

From there, she unpacks how generational money trauma, internalized high-achiever pressure, and systemic financial exclusion are all entangled — and why rewriting your beliefs about debt is one of the most powerful things you can do on your wealth-building journey.

Whether you’re currently in debt, avoiding the topic altogether, or helping your clients move through their own shame… this is a reclamation conversation.

Because financial healing is activism.
Because you are allowed to be human.
And because the shame was never yours to carry.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why shame around debt is designed to keep you small — and quiet

• How to distinguish your beliefs from inherited or projected ones

• A trauma-informed process for breaking the spiral and re-regulating

• The difference between reacting in fear and responding with clarity

• Empowering reframes for anyone working through debt or other financial challenges

• Why financial flexibility is wealth

• And how wealth-building can start with one belief shift at a time

Resources Mentioned:
→ Message Adina on Instagram: @adinaapplebaum or @immigrantfinance to Book a Financial Counseling Session

→ Join the 2025 Immigrant Finance Certification Cohort: https://www.internationalempowerment.com/immigrant-finance-certification-program

🔥 If this episode gave you a new perspective or moment of relief, share it with someone you care about.

You’re not alone. And you don’t have to carry shame with you on the path to liberation.