The Financial Side of Postpartum Few Talk About

Introduction and Welcome

Britta: Hello folks, and welcome to transformed by birth, a podcast about the rite of passage of pregnancy, birth and new parenthood. I'm your host. Britta Bushnell, author, mythologist, childbirth educator and all around deep diver with a side of goofball. I'm so glad you're here. Today's episode explores the often avoided topic of financial preparation for postpartum and new parenthood. So grab your comfy bed beverage of choice. I've got a chai latte with extra cardamom, because cardamom and or take us along for a walk as we connect with doula and financial counselor Jen Mayer, before we begin, we start the way we always do, by lighting a candle. If you want to join me, please do or just take a breath as I light mine. Today's candle is for courageous financial exploration and preparation. One of the transformations that often gets overlooked when people become parents is the financial one we talk a lot about, the emotional shifts, the identity changes, the relationship dynamics, but money that conversation tends to stay in the background, even though financial stress is one of the biggest sources of anxiety for new parents. Let's face it, planning for financial aspects of new parenthood is critical. We do not have a fail safe system in place where everyone has access to paid parental leave. Few of us have the luxury of sticking our heads in the sand and hoping for the best. Most of us need help, guidance, and sometimes even just a place to begin. And yet, many of us want to avoid all financial conversations. If you're one of those people like I'm going to admit I can sometimes tend to be keep listening. Transformation comes in many shapes, and often one of when we have a strong aversion, it's sometimes pointing arrows at what we actually need to be paying attention to. Today's guest knows transformation from both sides, both the birth side and the financial side. She's the perfect guest for this intersection. So Jen Mayer is an accredited financial counselor, founder and CEO of fully funded and a former doula who supported families for over 16 years now, she works with non traditional earners. Think freelancers, entrepreneurs, contract workers, people whose income doesn't come with the stability of a regular paycheck. She understands that finances are deeply personal, and there's no one size fits all approach, kind of like birth folks, especially for families, navigating the financial realities of parental leave childcare and building a life that actually works for them. So whether you're preparing financially for a baby, trying to figure out your own parental leave, or wondering how to make entrepreneurship work alongside parenthood, this conversation is for you. Welcome my friend, Jen, I'm so glad you're here.

Jen: Me too. Thank you so much for having me. Britta, I'm so excited to chat today.

Jen's Journey: From Doula to Financial Counselor

Britta: Oh, me too. I love it. I mean you and I have a friendship beyond the colleague and work place. You and I were introduced to each other through being in a cohort in a mastermind several years ago. It was you, me and sabia Wade. I mean, I think there were others, but we created our own small cohort. We did, and I've already had sabia on the podcast, so it was like so important to finish out the trifecta and get you on. Jen wonderful, so I want to hear so you were a doula, you became a financial counselor, and you had some babies in between those journeys, yes, and a postpartum of your own. And you were a freelancer or independent contractor, independent worker, entrepreneur. So I want to hear how did your own journey like in the postpartum go and give us kind of a little of your story about that and how it led you to what you do now.

Jen: Absolutely so. When I tell folks that I have a non traditional background when it comes to personal finance and that prior to working in finance, I was a doula for over 16 years, people are like, What? What? How do you go from being a birth to mother to working finance? And then I'm like, All right, sit back. We have. A journey ahead. So I got introduced to birth work pretty young back in 2005 pre social media, like I was really interested in women's health. I was already a licensed massage therapist, and I was, I was 22

Britta: woo hoo. Love it. I love when the early 20s come into birth work like, we need that energy in this field.

Jen: Yes, do. And I became, I was like, I'm going to be a midwife. This is my calling. This is what I'm going to do. And a friend was like, Well, you know, maybe, like, take a doula training and see if you like this whole birth thing first before, like going to school to be a midwife, I was like, that seems very practical. Turns out, I loved being a birth worker. Loved being a doula. I went to school. I wanted to get my undergrad, my bachelor's. I was at in Boulder, so I went to the University of Boulder Colorado, or University of Colorado at Boulder and studied Women and Gender Studies. And I'm so glad I did. I use my degree every single Yeah.

Britta: You think gender studies is related to birth, work, yeah, how about finances? Yeah, great. There's an intersection.

Jen: There intersection and people's identities and how that impacts their access to resources and their experiences in the world. So I'm so grateful for my Women and Gender Studies degree. Anyway, let's fast forward. After graduating, I moved to New York City. Never thought I would live in New York City, and met my husband and came across a premises prep test of, do I go to midwifery school, or do I have kids? And I decided I didn't want to do both at the same time, so I decided to have my children, and I decided to go all in on my business. So I've been self employed my entire career. I've never had a job like, I've, like, waited tables and stuff like that, but I've never like, like offices and like, working at like an office is just like, so exotic to me. I'm like, you have like, co workers, and there's like, snacks, and you have to

Jen: have to have, like, your security card.

Britta: It's well, now as as a mom, you have co workers and snacks.

Jen: Yes, lots of co workers, lots of snacks. Different types. Yeah, different types.

Jen: So I chose, I chose motherhood, and I've always wanted to

Britta: be a mom. You were a working doula at that point, right? I was a working

Jen: doula and a massage therapist, so I was seeing clients in my massage therapy office, and I was also attending birth in New York City. So at this point, by the time I got pregnant with my first son, for my first kid, Oliver, I had been doing birth work for 10 years, okay, got it, I had a lot of experience, and I was feeling you headed

A Costly First Postpartum: Jen's Wake-Up Call

Britta: into postpartum. And what was your postpartum journey like financially that impacted all of this other work? Yeah, so

Jen: I made a plan of saving, and let's just say I didn't save enough, right and unexpected expenses came up at the end of pregnancy, and I went overdue. So over overdue, he was born 42 weeks. So my leave started later than like I would have imagined. I know better now, and I was only able to take three weeks off before I started working again, three weeks, three weeks, and it's one of the biggest regrets of my life. I really wish I had asked for more help. I wish I had asked for more help, and I wish I didn't push through and I didn't know what I didn't know. I didn't know that I was in the adrenaline rush of postpartum and that there's no sprinting through parenthood.

Britta: Oh, boy, that truth. I mean, my kids are adults and having children and getting married and starting careers and all of that, and it still feels like a marathon,

Jen: yes, and it was my first wake up of not just you don't have to do this alone, but you can't do this alone. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I started working at three weeks postpartum. I was in charge of my schedule, but I was still interacting with clients and scheduling meetings and like I was on and I ended up getting really sick. I ended up developing an autoimmune disease called Hashimotos, and I didn't get diagnosed until he was 18 months. And all my symptoms, I thought, were just new parenthood. Good. I was tired, I was gaining weight, I just didn't feel good. I just thought that I'm like, This is my life now. This is what it is to be a mom. And once I got my diagnosis, I was able to course correct. And I was like, I can't do births anymore. I can't be on call and staying up all night unless it's for my own child. So I had to make a choice of stepping back from birth work and focusing on my health. I recovered, I attended to my system, I did all the things that I could do, both from a Western and a functional medicine an Eastern medicine standpoint, in terms of rebuilding my body and my constitution. And I knew I wanted a second baby, but there was a few considerations. One is we live in New York City, high cost of living,

Britta: yes, boy, pretty much the highest, highest.

Jen: And even before I worked in personal finance, I've always been like, financially savvy, like I cash flowed my way through college, through my massage therapy work, and I was looking at my budget, and I was like, You know what? I I'm just not going to be able to pay for two children in childcare at the same time, and I want two children. So what does that mean? That means they're going to be staggered, and I am not going to have two children in that private pay early childhood childcare at the same time.

Britta: So So financial decisions went into even how you wanted to design your family. Yes, yeah,

Jen: absolutely, absolutely. And so then we have universal pre K. At the time in New York City, we did not have the universal 3k which we do have now. And now, with new mayor Mamdani, we now are going to have universal 2k like, two year old childcare. So I'm like, Just applauding that left and right. We also didn't have paid family leave in in New York state when I had Oliver. We have that now in New York state. So even within my own experience of parenting, there's been so many improvements in my state and my city, which is so heartening to see. So I knew that I didn't want to have two children in childcare at the same time, so they needed to be four years apart. And I also knew I did not want to repeat my postpartum experience with my son.

Planning a Fully Funded Second Leave

Britta: Yeah. So then, how did you make change? What kind of changes did you make? And how did that? How was that a springboard for what came next?

Jen: So I became really committed to with this idea of what would an abundant self funded parental leave feel like, and then what was my budget for that? But I started with the feeling nice, and I knew I had Hashimotos, and I was like, what's going to be really important to me? And I was like, nourishment. So one of my non negotiables was hiring a postpartum chef. Yes, yes. For six weeks. She cooked me food for six weeks. So I added up. I'm like, Okay, if I am taking a leave from work, what does my household need for my input into the household budget? If I am adding in these one time costs, I have home births. So home births are one time cost. I'm having a postpartum doula. That's a one time cost. And then if there was any gear updates that I wanted to do, but I'm pretty savvy with like, hand me downs and things like that, yeah. So I added all that up, and then I divided it by the amount of time I had to save. And then I had a weekly goal of what I had to put away to meet my

Britta: goal. How far in advance were you doing that?

Jen: Oh, I wish I could remember,

Jen: I think I did it like shortly after I found out was pregnant.

Britta: Okay, so, so folks listening who might be pregnant and thinking, Oh, I didn't, I'm already pregnant. I didn't think about that part prior to being pregnant. You can still do it.

Jen: You can still do it, and anything you save your future self will be like, so happy that you did. And I also told people, I also told people, and I had friends really support me and be like, I am so inspired by your parental leave, I want to contribute to it. Where can I send money for your parental leave? And then that was also a healing from my first time from the first time around, of there's community that will support you if you want.

Britta: Though, Aren't there some ways to support people or ask for support like that nowadays? It's like, there's apps and various different things you know, that go far beyond the meal train, yes.

Jen: So there's like, registry sites, like, was it baby list, where you can have all kinds of like products from different websites, but you can also have a cash fund. There's also a company based out of New York City called be her village. And that's all about people contributing money for taking care of folks after giving birth, whether it's house cleaners, doulas, postpartum chef like so that you can help create her village, if her folks are not close

Britta: off, that isn't there 1am? I getting it right? There's one, like, honeymoney or something. Oh, I don't know that one I might be, I don't know I'm gonna. Now have to go and look and see if that's just popped into my head. I'm like, Oh, what is that? Okay? But I thought it was along those lines, yeah. So they're getting people to support and help. I mean, it's like, rather than more onesies, like we get at baby showers, yeah, putting, putting that into a postpartum fund can be really

Jen: helpful, yes, so at the same time, so I was doing two things concurrently, and this feeds into my current work. Now, I was planning my personal finances, of what do I need in savings to contribute to my household while I'm on in unpaid leave because I'm self employed. And I also was working on my business, of how can I get my business set up to run without me, so that the business still exists when I'm on this leave, because at the time, and I still have this company, baby Caravan, we are a doula collective in New York City right now. We have 98 doulas back then. I'm not sure it might have been 40 or

Britta: 50, but it's a lot. That's a lot. Dozens of doulas are under the baby caravan umbrella, yes, yeah, it's a collective.

Jen: It's a collective and and so getting the business set up, I worked with an operations manager week by week, systematizing and making SOPs and getting the business out of my head. Because I was a one woman show with like, some admin help, but I was really getting the business on paper to run without me and as a business owner, that was one of the most transformation, transformational points in my career. And it took me from being a one woman show to being able to delegate to a team and have multiple people hold the pieces of my business, once again, this lesson of you don't have to do it alone.

The Doula-Finance Connection: Supporting People Through Change

Britta: Yeah, so important. So SOPs, by the way, if you're unfamiliar with that acronym is standard operating procedures, which can be really important for businesses to like this is how we do things. And I know as somebody who's been in this field for over 25 years, and I'm just getting my SOPs together, I even like the sound of that, like, I'm just getting my SOPs together. It's pretty common for a lot of us to not to need to do that financial growing up, piece absolutely for our business, for our lives and Parenthood has a way of being part of what helps us do that. So so can I pivot our conversation a little bit into that, a bit, because I think you spoke about you dropped my favorite word transformation in there. So it's like many people avoid conversations about money. Many people avoid conversations about this aspect of our business, or this aspect of our lives, and and it's utterly critical. Yeah, it's so important preparation. And why does this? I mean, we can kind of understand that it's important from like a dollars and cents perspective, but I think it goes beyond just the dollars and cents, and I think you started to allude to that when you were just said it was so transformative. Like, what? Like, why is it so important for us to address this topic, even though it tends to be so taboo. And why it like, like, sell the conversation that we're having right now and, and why do we need to talk about this on a podcast about birth and transformation?

Jen: Yeah, well, I think it's no secret that in this society and we're in the. United States that money and finances does equate to a sense of stability, because we need to pay for all the things we need to exist, housing, transportation, food, clothing, healthcare, and money is the way that we exchange for those critical services and products that we need to survive. So there this is at the root of it. It is like some core survival stuff that's one piece, and then the next piece is freedom. Once we have our needs met, money can provide some freedom, and that could be freedom and decision making. That could be freedom of expression. And for a lot of the folks I work with, that's time freedom. And a lot of people, true wealth for them isn't a gazillion dollars in the bank. It's being able to be in control of their time.

Britta: Yeah, and that is really important when we're talking about postpartum and and parents like, that's so critically important, because time is the most precious resource that we have, yes and often, when we talk about how precious our resource of time is and time, time, time, time, we sometimes forget that often, sometimes the financial stuff is what is helping us have that freedom

Jen: when That is why my second maternity leave was so transformative. In the first one, I took the three weeks and I was so stressed with the second one, I had a team running my business, and I had four months off, and it was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. I treasure those memories and that time, and like having a newborn is not easy, but compared to the first time, it was a dream. And so that's what really inspired my work at fully funded was oh my gosh, this was a lot of work to set up, but it was so worth it. I want to teach other self employed people on how they can carve out this time for themselves, if they want to as well. And that's what inspired fully funded. Because originally it was fully funded by 40 weeks, and it was all about parental leave planning. But then once I started with the parental leave planning, I quickly realized that so much of parental leave planning is financial planning, because we live in the US, and there's no paid family leave. And then once I got going with the financial planning, I was like, Oh, I get to be a doula again, right? But now around money

Britta: it and yet the there's an intersection there about the vulnerability, the feeling of being out of our depth, feeling like wanting a mentor who's been there, or who gets it to hold our hand. I mean, you know, I'm a childbirth educator who wrote a book about rites of passage, the rite of passage, of birth, and my husband is a financial planner who wrote a book about the psychology of money. And, you know, shout out to it's not about the money, which is, you know, shameless plug for my husband's book. And, and yet, my husband and I laugh often because our fields feel so different, and yet, there's a lot

Jen: of crossovers. There's so much crossover, so much crossover, yeah,

Britta: so much crossover. So tell me some of the crossovers that you see. Like, what is Yeah, because you've done now you're kind of in a single person like my marriage, yeah, that's so funny.

Jen: Well, as a doula, we say there's a few things that we do, right? We're non medical support, but we provide informational support. I am. I love to teach. We provide emotional support, like people are going through a lot of change, a lot of things come up, and they need support around. And we also provide physical support, which doesn't really equate to the finance part, but the part that does is the advocacy piece. And as doulas, we provide a lot of advocacy for the people that we work with. And I was so surprised to learn how seamlessly the doula skill set plays a huge part in the financial work that I do, because I do a lot of informational support. I'm a teacher. I'm teaching people about their finances every day. A lot of emotional support, both with my coaching clients and with my students in the classes, and really holding space for the. Emotions that come up. There's a lot of shame, uncertainty, anxiety, but then there also is a lot of joy and excitement.

Britta: And like birth like, those are all some of the same shame and joy, fear and excitement. It's like, yeah, there's so much crossover,

Jen: and then the advocacy piece,

Jen: the advocacy piece of people stepping into their power and keeping their money in their pockets. And it might be retrieving money from a junk fee. It might be deleting forgotten subscriptions. It might be negotiating a bill, it might be saying no to a fraudulent bill. Like so many things come up, and there's so many ways that other people or other entities are trying to extract from us, and we are our first line of defense of like, no this, this money is mine, and it's not just the money, it's that energy, it's that time, it's those resources,

Britta: yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, so, I mean, I'm just, I got a little zoned into you there, because you were in my head. I'm like, Oh my God, I need to hire Jen. I, you know, even though my husband is a financial planner, we also have relationship involved. And so

Jen: it's like, yeah, and he and I do different types of financial foot, right? They don't even do anything with investments, right?

Breaking the Money Silence: Shame, Stories, and Starting the Conversation

Britta: Yeah, that education piece is is super important. So for our listeners, what like I'm imagining I want to get to the place of of having you give some guidance, just some of that educational piece, some of that, like juicy pieces of first steps, like guidance, direction, hand holding, like we do when we have a doula who's talking to us about birth, and before I go there, it's like, I want, I want to hear from you, kind of the how do you help people get over that initial feeling of shame that it's okay to Ask for help around money, it's okay to not know like part of what I see is that people don't want to talk about money. Don't want to talk about their finances, in part because we've put it in a box that says nobody's supposed to talk about this. I mean, people are way more likely to tell you about their sex life than their bank account. Yes. I mean, just for sure, yeah. So it's like, it's super over there in this like box, and to invite somebody listening into Yes, you can take steps and yes, you can get help. Like, how do you talk to the voices of shame that permeate our lives around money? Yeah.

Jen: So saying shame grows in silence, yeah, yeah. So for some people, even just sharing it with another person, can help reduce that shame, just even just getting it out. So in coaching calls, it could just be talking for other folks, we might be doing some money mindset work, or some money story work, and really tracing back their earliest memories of money and how were they raised. What were the conversations about money? What were they told money was like? What were they told that they how they were with money? And we can start to trace back where, where does the self talk start to come from? And then they can choose, is it serving them, or is it not serving them?

Britta: Which is the that key part, right? Is it serving you? Is it not serving you? Yeah, my husband's book talks about financial archetypes. I know, you know, but it's like some of that, that that base story in our lives, there's a lot that we we all have those around birth, and we all have those around money,

Jen: yeah, and when it comes to family, it's like this is the way we are with money, and that could be any sort of way that we are with money. Yeah, and for in my classes, I love to do group sharing, because when people get to see and hear other people's stories or concerns, you realize that you're not alone. And a lot of folks either have the same questions as you or the same feelings, and we really just are told, like, don't talk about money. And then you start talking about money, you're like, Oh, I'm not the only person who feels this way, yeah,

Britta: which I feel in my childbirth classes too. When people start talking they're. Like, oh, oh, that, that guy over there has the same fear I have about birth. Like, yeah, there is a way that that shining a light can be really exposing and healing of our shame, stories around our emotions around things,

Defining Enough: The Foundation of Financial Clarity

Jen: our emotions around things. And then the second thing I like to do with clients is more of an existential question.

Britta: Well, you know, I like existential questions. So do pop tell us, what is it?

Jen: And the question is, what is enough? Mm, hmm, what is enough, and that is going to be different for every person, and it'll be likely different in different seasons of life, of what is enough, and it's not always definable, because sometimes it's elusive, and we are in a system, in a society, where it's never enough, right? It's never enough. And I see this a lot with retirement planning. People are like, I don't even know what I'm planning for, like, what's the world going to be like, how much do I need to save? And there's this feeling of like, it's never going to be enough.

Britta: Yeah, and I and by the way, that's true even for billionaires. Because, I mean, my husband has something called the Enough Project, where he works with, you know, Uber wealthy folks on defining what enough is, and it's for all of us. There's a certain element of what is enough. Yes, I mean, it's, it's a tricky juicy question.

Jen: It's a tricky juicy question. So for the parents, so for people who are pregnant and listening, or people who are parenting and listening, I really like to help people narrow that down. It's like, we don't have to solve that for your life, but if you're pregnant, what is enough each month? What does it cost for you to exist? And I don't even say, like, what are your expenses? Because there's our expenses, and then there's the amount of it costing us just to exist. And add it all up. Is it 5000 a month? 10,000 15,000 20,000 it's going to be different. And then at least you have this like parameter, this like container of you know, what is your enough number, and if the next thing we have to do is figure out is more coming into our household every month than what's going out, is what's coming in going out, or is there more going out than what's coming in? And that can help position you and situate you of what is your next best financial choice?

Britta: I love that that's kind of really simplified, because it almost just sounds like Plumbing, right? It's, it's like, folks, let's make it easy. We're, we're getting really basic here. We're talking about money, but it's about how much water flows into your house and how much sewage goes out. Like we we're just talking levers, exactly, yeah,

Jen: talking levers. And then it's like, what levers Can you flip to get your system balanced?

Britta: Oh, I love Yes. We need a system, a balanced system.

Jen: And if someone's taking an unpaid leave, there's going to be a season of life where there's more going out than what's coming in, and when there's more going out than what's coming in, you're either pulling from savings someone else is supporting you, or you're going into debt, right?

Britta: Because the money that's going out has to come from somewhere.

Jen: Has to come from somewhere. And as a financial counselor, this has been some totally bonkers but with that first parental leave, I wish I'd gone into debt.

Britta: Wow, yeah, debt of a financial type, rather than the debt that you you're paying in regret, regret and health and health, right? Yeah, you, you paid you, you paid in other ways, in other you went into debt in other ways.

Jen: And oftentimes debt is seen as like the thing to avoid, and absolutely high interest debt, not ideal. Life happens, and when I'm on the other side of people's budgets, one of the biggest reasons people end up in debt is because of medical a medical event they have, like an injury or an extended illness.

Building Your Financial Foundation: Savings, Emergency Funds, and First Steps

Britta: And those can happen and be even used to describe what occurs in giving birth. Yeah, yeah. So for someone who's pregnant and starting to think about preparing financially for a baby, where do they begin? Let's get, let's get brass tax, like, right?

Jen: Yeah. Well, savings is the number one. And if you're thinking about it like, maybe someone's listening your podcast and they're like thinking about having a baby, stack the cash, honestly, stack the cash, because that could prevent someone from going into debt. When you have that reserve and you have that buffer, they also understand that not everyone has that reserve or has that buffer. So we're dealing with a lot of different situations, yes, right? Very best situations, and then really mapping out your cost of existence. What does it cost for you to exist and when you are working on a time where you're going to be spending a lot of energy doing something else, if there's ways to reduce that cost of existence, not forever, but maybe for the next six months or the next year, then you're able to add some more overflow into your savings account.

Britta: Okay, so getting really breathing deeply, bringing some courage, pulling your head out of the sand, and looking at what is true about your life and your finances is a key part,

Jen: absolutely, and it's putting on that detective hat, yeah, putting on that scientist hat, and looking at the data. So we want to look at the numbers and not say like, oh, the spending is good, the spending is bad, and look at the spending is

Britta: and I remember so not not bringing your judges gavel to the conversation. You're coming in with your hand on your heart and curiosity your class. I just want to know curiosity.

Jen: And you got to know the numbers and the data before you can make the judgment.

Britta: Yeah, and make decisions about what you're going to do or need to do to support yourself. Okay, so, so you come in and your first statement was, start savings. Just, start saving. Just, just do it.

Jen: And then, just as a baseline for like, some financial literacy, the general rule of thumb is to have three to six months of living expenses set aside in a savings account. And I recommend a high yield savings account. These are online banks that give you a higher interest rate for your money sitting in the bank. So you can take your you can put your money in, you can take it out. There's no monthly fee. But right now you, as of January 2026, you can be earning 3.5% interest, just for your money. Seeing the bank, if you go to a big bank like Wells, Fargo or Chase Bank of America, you're going to get point zero 2% or point zero 3%

Britta: okay, so, but I want to pull back to a second, because you'd said start saving, but you said the savings target is tied to your monthly nut what you Need to fund your life, which means that your point number two, about knowing what it is that your numbers are, they kind of have to go side by side. Yes, things have to happen at the same time,

Jen: yes, which is why we need that detective hat and get the data so that we know what reality is. Okay. And it can be pretty overwhelming. If someone's monthly spend is $10,000 they're like, oh, cool, Jen, I need to just have a 30 to $60,000 hanging out in my bank account. And I want to normalize that. Yes, I want you to have 30 to $60,000 in your bank account. I want that for you.

Britta: Yeah, my child. Choke a little as we talk about it, yeah,

Jen: but we don't have to start there. And this is a worthy project. This is a worthy years long project. And so when if people are like that, is really overwhelming. I hear you. So your first goal is $1,000 if you don't have any savings right now, your first goal is to get $1,000 in that high yield savings. Maybe you have some stuff around your house that you're not using. You can sell it on Facebook marketplace. Maybe you're partitioning out money each week to put in there get your first $1,000 and after that, work up to your first month's living expenses. If that's 3000 5000 10,000 that's your next goal. First goal, a 1,002nd. Goal, one month's living expenses, okay? Third Goal is three months.

Britta: Love that. Okay? And then what? What about folks who talk about, like, getting paternal leave support, whether it's from disability or like, there's I, I remember talking with, Okay, wait, Chris, pause a second. I gotta get, I gotta get my Yeah, I want you to back up and because I need to remember the name of this person. Sorry, I'm doing a clip here, Chris. Pause, pause, pause, pause, because now my brain is doo doo, doo doo, one moment, please. Why is my brain having such a hard time with this?

Britta: Come on. Here we go. Um, go. Okay. So, okay, coming back in. So I had Daphne of the the mom attorney on who spoke about all the different ways that you can actually get some maternity leave supported in this country that I was like, wait, what? So do you also help folks like explore what options are with some of that stuff?

Jen: Absolutely. I mean, that's part of the education and resourcing piece. So I just want to, just want to, just want to add one thing, yes, the emergency fund. The emergency fund is for our nervous systems, and this is our buffer between the world and when life gets lifey and like, unexpected things are always going to help up. Like, is life you're going to have that untimely dental visit, that car repair, the vet visit, something's going to happen, and that buffer helps insulate your nervous system from those disruptions. Oftentimes, a credit card is the plan B, but when you make that savings account, then you're making an intentional plan B, and then

Britta: rather than a default Plan B, that is rather than a default plan, a very expensive debt. Yeah.

Parental Leave in the U.S.: Know Your Options

Jen: Okay, back to parental leave. So in the US, we don't have any federally mandated parental leave. And then we have to look at, are you employed, or are you self employed? If you're employed by an employer, the first thing you want to do is go to your employer and see if they have a private paid family leave or parental leave program or benefit if they don't, please, don't feel bad. I don't know the current statistic, but last time I checked the statistic, only 16% of private companies provided parental leave to their employees? 16% 16% Yeah.

Britta: So if you get, in other words, not a lot,

Jen: not a lot. So if you're at a company that offers parental leave, high five, that is awesome. If you're at a company that doesn't offer parental leave and you think they should, you can advocate for that. Next thing is, if they have 50 or more employees, you would be eligible for job protection, which is FMLA, the Family Medical Leave Act, and that ensures you to take 12 weeks of unpaid leave and not lose your job,

Britta: which is an important safeguard,

Jen: which is important safeguard, but you'd still have to do the financial planning to be able to take that unpaid leave. Right next up, if you are employed, you want to look at what state you're in, because even though we don't have federally mandated parental leave. There are a number of states and growing that have paid family leave insurance funds. And these are states Yeah, which

Britta: means, what? What is a insurance fund mean? Yes, like, what? What does that mean?

Jen: So these are states that have an insurance fund, which is supplemented through deductions from paychecks. So every worker is paying into these funds, and then when you have a qualifying life event, you're able to submit a claim and receive the benefit. The benefit is going to vary state to state. California is eight weeks. New York is 12 weeks. And the amount of money is going to vary state by state, but it's usually a percentage of your average weekly. Age up to a cap. So if you're curious, you can google your state and see if there's state paid family leave in your state. If not, maybe you want to advocate for it, because that is how it's been happening.

Britta: That's how it's happening. Yeah, yeah, that's how it's happening.

Jen: So that's what I would do. If you are employed and have a w2 if you're self employed, you are either looking at self funding your own leave, or if you live in a state that has a paid family leave insurance fund, most of them have an option for self employed people to opt in and pay a premium and then be able to receive benefits.

Britta: Really, yep, wow, I didn't know that. Oh yeah, that's so cool.

Jen: Not Rhode Island and not New Jersey, but the other states that have paid family leave currently do

Britta: that's amazing, and it's part of why we need education in the financial space.

Jen: Yes, do you want me to go through the states? Sure, quick. Okay, for it. So 13 states have paid family leave. We have color, California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington,

Britta: so West Coast right now we got the West Coast covered.

Jen: Okay? Massachusetts, Delaware, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and District of Columbia,

Britta: wow, okay, that those have a, what is it called, specifically, again,

Jen: a paid family leave, Insurance Fund,

Britta: Insurance Fund, yeah, it's the insurance fund part that made my brain go, wait, what? But it's, yeah, so it's, it's the paying in and then being able to utilize it when you need it, kind of like when you have insurance Okay, exactly, exactly that. That makes sense. So I know that you have some things coming up, like you're on a mission to you are on a mission. What is your mission like? What is this mission that you're doing? And why is it so bloody important?

Fully Funded: Jen's Mission to Serve Non-Traditional Earners

Jen: Yeah, so my mission is to provide financial education for people who traditionally haven't felt supported by financial education or institutions. So I have found that the Freelancers, the self employed folks, the creatives, the artists, the people who aren't numbers people, their finances are different when you have inconsistent income, the traditional financial education, the traditional budgeting techniques, really don't work for you. And when you are your own business, traditional business financial education doesn't apply to you. You're not an enterprise company. You're not looking to make hockey stick growth and profits over over and over year over year, like you just want to support yourself, and if you have a couple contractors, take good care of them and then be able to take care of your family and pay your taxes. So I'm on a mission to help people understand their finances so that they can reduce their stress and get their time back. Yeah, and

Britta: including new parents who need that time desperately, desperately. Parents, all parents need that time desperately, and so it your, your mission, and the various different ways, you know. I mean, you know this, but I've been cheering you on for a book, for a long time, for a long time, I am, I am one of your book cheerleaders now for for at least, what, four years, I think five years. It's been five years I've been cheering you on for that book and then also a podcast coming in this calendar year, like you're on a mission to help get this information out there, and it's super important, because this demographic isn't getting the support and help that we need.

Jen: It's not it's very underserved, and the demographic is growing, and we see that in the generational increase with millennials and Gen Z of the quote, unquote, gig economy, more people are seeking out freelance work for the flexibility. More people are seeking out gig work because they want to spend their time the way they want to spend their time, or they want to do the work in the world. World that they're feeling called to do. Yeah, I'm not saying that people who have jobs or work corporate aren't doing that. Like, awesome, if that's you great. But also, a lot of folks I work with are neuro spacey and they have ADHD, or they just need to do it their own way. And that's a lot of what I do at fully funded is teaching people that you can do your finances your own way. So are you saying that?

Britta: So it was yeah, like, neuro, spicy, independent potential, potentially expecting or new parents, like, what? How do you work? What? What do you have to tell us that fit in that category? And I will definitely say I fit in several of those. What? How do we how do we begin? Yes, how do we begin? Yeah, if you can go to

Jen: we are fully funded.com. I have a free masterclass. It's 30 minutes, but that's where I cover money mindset. So when we were speaking earlier in the podcast about our money stories and how we have learned about money, you can start right there. Sign up on my newsletter, and you get free workbook, and you can really start to do this journaling and unpacking right away. Then if you want to go even further, I have three courses that I do each year. I have the annual business reset, where I help people prepare for tax season and make an intentional plan for their business in the year to come. Then I have profit foundations, which is breaking down business finance for the solo business owner, because it is different when you are your business and

Britta: then when you are your business, right? When you are your

Jen: business, yes, you're like, I'm my boss and I'm my employee. Oh, that feels really weird.

Britta: So shout out to all the birth workers listening. That's you.

Jen: That's us, yes, and then I have make your money magic, which is all about managing your personal finances, especially when you are neuro spacey or money avoidant, or carry a lot of shame, or feel like you're more visual, creative person, and you go cross eyed in a spreadsheet. I really break down the financial principles so that they're easy to learn, easy to digest and easy to implement in your life, so that you're able to reach your financial goals and create that financial stability and financial freedom. And that's really what I want for people. I really want that stability. I really want that financial freedom. And I really want people to have their time freedom so that they can be doing the work they want to do. They can be working on the causes they want to work on. And a lot of the folks I work with, if not all of them, want to make the world a better place. And having the stability, financial stability to do so is such a major way that you're able to do that work.

Guidance for the Financially Avoidant: Small Steps, Big Change

Britta: I love that. So, okay, I'm thinking, as you were saying, like the financial avoidance avoidant among us. Like, if you were to whisper into a financial avoidance ear as they are preparing for birth or their postpartum period, like, how would you speak to them with understanding and care that comes from that that place that is the doula in you and the financial counselor in you, like, how would you how would you speak to them when they're financially avoidant and yet on the precipice of this big life change that includes financial stuff.

Jen: Yeah, so when I work with folks who are financially avoidant, often everything feels really, really big. So I like to acknowledge that and help people work with their nervous system. So even tuning in and naming when you think about money, or when you think about looking at your bank account, where do you feel that? Where do you feel that in the body, what emotion comes up and first starting to settle your nervous system? It could be grounding and taking a few deep breaths. It could be lighting a candle. It could be coaching yourself. I can do this. I can look at my bank accounts. And next is we don't my biggest thing is we can do all the things. You know that Brita, you know that about me. I really think we can do all the things, but we can't do them all at once. And if we try, it gets super, super overwhelming. So then I try to keep it low stakes. What is the smallest first action you can take?

Britta: Smallest first action, yes,

Jen: love you want to know a really common smallest first action, yes, please. Finding or. Setting your login passwords.

Britta: Okay, my brain's going Want, won't want, like, how does that have anything to do with what we're talking about?

Jen: Yeah, for your bank accounts, your Chase login, your 401 K, login, your high yield savings, login, your credit card login. So a lot of folks I work with don't log in. They don't know their login. So that is a first low stake step is to get to login.

Britta: I Okay, bing, bing, bing, bing, I'm understanding now, yes. So if you can get in, you're saying to your nervous system, I'm not avoiding this. Yep, I'm just willing to be words, yeah, I'm willing to be brave and look, yeah, and you don't even have to look yet. Just do the passwords.

Jen: Just get the passwords. Get that organized. Write a list of all your accounts. Take inventory. Where is my money? Where is my debt? And then the next step is to do that financial inventory of putting a balance next to each of those items.

Britta: Love it. Okay, so you've already shared some of where folks can reach you. You're also on Instagram. Oh yeah, we are fully funded. I love Instagram. We are fully funded. Yes. Love that we all should be fully funded. Yes, we are fully funded. Love that I

Jen: want everyone to have that sick savings account. Love it

Britta: absolutely So, okay, so as we wrap up, I like to end with the same single question, and that is, what is one thing that you feel passionately about that you want new or expectant parents to see, hear, feel or know during this profound period of their lives?

Jen: So this isn't money related, that's okay. This is parent related. There are so many seasons in your life and you are going to get to meet your children over and over and over again. And this is, this might be the longest term relationship in your life. And I think a lot of parents put a lot of pressure on themselves to get it, quote, unquote, right, especially in the younger years, showing up with consistency and caring and being that rock for your child goes so far, even outside of the micro decisions we're making when we're pregnant and having a baby.

Closing

Britta: Yeah, thank you so much, Jen, it's always so fun for me to get to sit down with you. Thank you for being here and thank you listeners for sharing this time with us. If something shared today impacted supported or moved you, please share this episode with a friend. I produce this podcast myself, and your support makes it possible to show a little love for the podcast and these conversations, please follow rate and review. If you'd like to continue the conversation, please join us on Instagram at transformed by birth. I look forward to being with you again on the next episode of transformed by birth. And now let's gather what we want to take away from this episode with an inhale and with my exhale, I'm going to blow out the candle until next time bye. Friends. You.