Money Parts, Self-Led Finances & “A 12-Year-Old Running the Business” with Rick Kahler

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What happens when a financial guy meets Internal Family Systems… and ends up sobbing in an IFS demo at Esalen? 😅
In this episode, I’m joined by Rick Kahler—financial planner + financial therapist who helped me (yes, as his willing guinea pig) meet my money parts, stop letting panic run the spreadsheet, and make more Self-led financial decisions.

We also talk about how entrepreneurs can stop letting the visionary run the company alone while the “controller” is duct-taped in the basement.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• How Rick stumbled into IFS (and immediately got humbled by the Ace of Spades demo)
• Why financial decisions are emotional decisions—and how IFS helps
• What “Self-led finances” actually feels like (with the eight C’s)
• How to work with money scripts without shaming yourself
• The entrepreneur trap: visionary on top, controller exiled
• Why resilience matters more than perfection (and why “fatal mistakes” aren’t always fatal)
• How Rick navigated selling a controlling interest in his company—and the grief of letting go
• Where to start if you want to meet your money parts (without spiraling)

Chapters

• 02:00 Rick’s IFS origin story (Esalen, “Schwartz guy,” and the demo that changed everything)
• 06:50 Why Rick didn’t initially see himself as a financial therapist
• 11:00 “Fraud” parts—yes, even for successful people
• 17:00 The lightbulb: IFS + financial therapy (and the guinea pig era)
• 20:40 What financial transformation can look like (spreadsheets, giving parts, saving parts)
• 25:45 Financial uncertainty in the collective + working with fear from the outside-in
• 36:00 Entrepreneurs: visionaries, controllers, and the E-Myth reality check
• 41:15 Resilience, mistakes, and staring bankruptcy in the face
• 44:35 Selling the business + getting unstuck at the “next level”
• 57:45 Where to start with money parts
• 01:03:00 Lightning round: Rick’s Self-energy song
• 01:07:00 How to work with Rick + resources

Links & Resources

• Rick’s financial therapy practice: Advanced Wellbeing
  Advanced Wellbeing Financial Therapy
• Rick’s blog / “Financial Awakenings”
  Kahler Financial
• Rick’s podcast: The Financial Therapy Podcast: It’s Not Just About the Money
  Financial Therapy Podcast
• Caitlan's website

Join Undefined, we start January 21st: https://www.caitlansiegenthaler.com/undefined

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Produced by Caitlan Siegenthaler
Cover Art by Kiara Opara

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That is a beautiful energetic exchange for Caitlan creating the show.