141. [The Client Seat] Coaching Through When Life Changes the Rules

This episode is part of our Client Seat series, where financial coaches get real-time financial coaching from Kelsa. It’s a great opportunity to showcase what goes into a financial coaching session. If you’re a financial professional, you can apply to be a guest on a future Client Seat episode.

Being a financial coach doesn't mean your own money is always perfect. Different seasons of life require different systems, and sometimes what worked beautifully before stops working entirely.

Michelle Kopp is a CPA and financial coach living in Guatemala. Before moving from the U.S., her money was completely under control. Then her family relocated internationally, and everything fell apart. Bills are now paid in cash. Day-to-day spending is cash. She went from total control to tracking every dollar in a Google form, which she hates doing.

This week’s episode is about what happens when your context changes so dramatically that you have to rebuild. Michelle needed someone else to help her see what she couldn't see on her own. That's completely normal, even for financial professionals.

You'll hear how we worked through the comparison trap she'd fallen into, identified what was worth keeping from her previous approach, and created a concrete plan that gives her stability without trying to control every dollar. 

This is what it looks like to help someone stabilize first before trying to optimize everything at once. Needing to rebuild doesn't mean you're failing. It means your season changed.

Links & Resources:

• How to Create Buy-in - Free Workshop
• Be on a future Client Seat episode
• Join the Facebook group
• Michelle's website

Key Takeaways:

• When your context changes, your old system might not fit anymore. Michelle's Plan Ahead Method (now called SpendFirst™) worked perfectly in the U.S. but couldn't translate to Guatemala's cash-based economy. You're not failing if what used to work stops working.
• Comparison will keep you stuck. Michelle kept measuring her current spending against what she spent before the move, expecting Guatemala to be cheaper. That comparison made her feel like she was failing instead of recognizing she was rebuilding.
• Stabilize first, optimize later. The goal isn't to create the perfect system immediately. It's to create enough stability that you can work with what you have, then refine from there.
• Your effort might be scattered, not insufficient. Michelle was putting in tons of effort tracking every dollar, but that effort wasn't getting her anywhere. Sometimes you need to redirect your energy, not add more of it.
• Cash needs different routines than digital money. When most of your spending is cash, you can't rely on bank statements to tell you where money went. You need a withdrawal schedule that creates predictability.
• Even financial professionals need outside perspective. Michelle is a CPA and financial coach, but she couldn't see her own patterns clearly. Sometimes you need someone else to ask questions you can't ask yourself.
• Progress happens in layers. We didn't try to solve every aspect of Michelle's money in one session. We tackled the biggest chaos creators first so she could build from a stable foundation.