The Mama Making Podcast

Meghan Dwyer | Money Isn't Scary - Empowering Women in Financial Decision Making

• Meghan Dwyer, Jessica Lamb • Season 3 • Episode 84

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In this episode of The Mama Making Podcast...

It might be spooky season, but money doesn't have to be scary!

Jessica sits down with Meghan, certified financial planner and host of Money Isn't Scary, to discuss the intersection of finances and motherhood. 

Together, they explore the influence of generational beliefs on financial behaviors, the power of women in financial decision-making, and balancing needs and wants as a parent.

Meghan shares valuable insights on intentional spending, financial self-care, and navigating the emotional side of consumer choices as a mom. The conversation covers key aspects of financial wellness, from understanding the impact of childhood beliefs to fostering self-worth and financial confidence. 

Jessica and Meghan also delve into challenges around gifting, evolving priorities, and the role of community in supporting financial goals. This episode encourages listeners to approach money with self-awareness, self-compassion, and intentional decision-making in both motherhood and beyond.

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Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (00:00.814)
Hello everyone and welcome to the Mama Making Podcast. If you're new here, I'm your host Jessica. If you're not new, welcome back. Today I'm very excited to have Megan here with us. Megan is a certified financial planner and the voice behind the Money Isn't Scary podcast. Welcome Megan and thanks for joining me.

Meghan Dwyer (00:18.458)
Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (00:21.006)
I'm excited to chat with you. So tell me a little bit about yourself, your family, whatever you want to share.

Meghan Dwyer (00:28.456)
Yeah, so thank you. So first and foremost, I am a mom. I have two little boys. My oldest just turned eight and my youngest is almost six, couple of weeks out, just finishing up his kindergarten year. So that's been crazy, awesome, all of the above, but a lot of fun.

And I'm also a, like you said, I'm a certified financial planner. That's my day job. I work with individuals and families to help them really just, I'm trying to find the right words here. So you can edit that one out. But I work with individuals and families to help them achieve their goals and to help them to kind of hold their hand through all things financial during their lives. And separately from that,

I also host a podcast myself called Money Isn't Scary. And the reason that I started that was, or I started that actually in 2020, at the end of 2020. And I did that for many, many reasons. But one of the big reasons was because I saw in the work that I do every day working with my clients that they, we could,

kind of run the numbers and we could do the analysis and we could show them the projections and all this stuff. And oftentimes we'd still see a little bit of pushback sometimes in that like, maybe I don't believe you or I can't spend that much or are you sure? So, you know, maybe there was like these kinds of ideas of scarcity or, you know, on the other side we would say, hey, maybe you should consider, you know, we see the spending might be an issue. Maybe there's something that we need to.

look at here more in depth than people would tend to avoid. So I recognize that there was a lot of things kind of going beneath the surface there. And when I was during the pandemic, when I started this, I was really struggling myself. And I had at the time a three and a one year old. And my husband had lost his job and I was working full time from home and I was trying to do it all, right? Like so many of us do as women and moms.

Meghan Dwyer (02:39.368)
And I was struggling and I found myself online shopping and buying things that I didn't need because I had nowhere to go at the time. And it was buying like shoes and clothes to go out. And it's just, it seems silly in retrospect, but I recognized that I was really just trying to fill a void. There was some other things going on and I really wanted to talk about it. And I wanted to dig a little bit deeper beneath the surface on that. So.

I always say if I could go back and do life over again, I'd study psychology and I'd be a therapist. And so the podcast is sort of my way of integrating that. And from the podcast, from doing that for a couple of years, I've just enjoyed it so much talking with all kinds of people in the industry and people who are really willing and open and vulnerable to share their stories, right? And peeling back those layers that's not about numbers. It's all about our relationship with money and the stories and the beliefs and the patterns that we have that drive our.

relationship with money, but all from the perspective of being a mom, being a parent, and juggling all the things that we have to juggle, like summer camps and daycare and all the things, right? So from that, I've started to do, I just recently got certified to do individual money coaching one -on -one with women. So that's really cool. So that's something I'm sure we can talk about a little bit later as well. But that's been, that's where I am on my journey. And,

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (03:57.678)
Yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (04:01.928)
It's a full life right now.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (04:04.27)
Yeah, definitely. I think it is so interesting that, I mean, the older I get, the more I realize that money is definitely still kind of a taboo topic. I feel like the barrier is breaking down a little bit more with this generation of parents that it's a little less taboo, but it's still weird to talk about. And I think people feel very guarded by it. And like you said, there's a lot of behavior behind it.

In your example of 2020, just like buying things to buy them. And I'm definitely guilty of doing that. Yeah. And so for people who aren't money savvy or like number savvy, like myself, I think it gets overwhelming to try to understand money and numbers, finances in itself, and then the relationship behind it as well. So I feel like the work you're doing really mends the two.

Meghan Dwyer (04:41.544)
We all are, yeah.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (05:03.118)
It makes it more approachable, I imagine.

Meghan Dwyer (05:07.624)
Yeah, and that's exactly, thank you for saying that because that's exactly why I named it what I named it. I named it Money Isn't Scary because I think we are, we come from, like, this is some of the things I teach or I work with the women that are part of my community with this concept of like self -compassion. Like give yourself a little bit of a break because we weren't taught this stuff in schools as much as I wish we were. And I'm so glad that it's starting to be kind of mandated in public schools now.

We weren't taught it. So that it's OK. Don't you can't expect yourself to just know everything. You can't expect yourself to just be a financial planner after years and years and years of never doing this before. Right. So that's where we need to also like start to get curious. But I do feel like the relationship with money is the foundation for everything. I really see that that there should be a piece before.

you go to see a financial planner, you go to see a financial advisor, like to have that. And what I mean by that piece is creating a solid relationship with it so that you don't come in feeling like insecure or scared or hesitant or scarce, right? Or all these things that oftentimes drive our behavior. So to start to kind of peel back those layers yourself and see what's driving that is so that's what's scary.

It's not the money piece in my mind. I think it's the scary part of opening up some of those potentially traumatic things that might have happened or beliefs that we've developed that may not even be ours from childhood. So it's sort of like understanding where the work is really understanding where we came from, understanding kind of the cultural forces that are working against us because we still live in a world, unfortunately, where, like you just said, money isn't talked about. And women...

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (06:30.638)
Mm -hmm.

Meghan Dwyer (06:57.448)
don't exactly have a super advantage when it comes to anything money, really. And you see that out there now because there's still like memes out there of women trying to hide their Amazon packages from their husbands and stuff. And we all laugh because it's true, right? I even do it myself. And yet at the same time, it's reinforcing a message that maybe we don't really want to be reinforcing. So we have to start to kind of like dissect that stuff a little.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (07:24.654)
Yeah, absolutely. I'd be interested to know what some of the, like, cultural or family beliefs that you've kind of seen come through in your work from moms or families in general.

Meghan Dwyer (07:38.44)
yeah, well scarcity is a huge one, right? So it's like that I don't have enough money. I always grew up hearing money doesn't grow on trees, right? And I think as a result of that, so often we limit ourselves or we only see such a narrow scope from that. Like maybe we aren't actually opening ourselves up to possibilities outside, right? So oftentimes maybe we think that like, I knew there's, we live in such a world now where there's so,

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (07:40.494)
Mm -hmm.

Meghan Dwyer (08:08.36)
There's so many options for work and ways to make income. And I honestly like never think of it beyond just kind of the nine to five W -2 job, or I never really had before. So I think that's something that like, we need to start to open up our eyes to. But scarcity is a huge one. You know, there's also, I feel like there's stories that women carry around with them around this concept of like,

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (08:16.782)
Right.

Meghan Dwyer (08:36.552)
I'm not good at money or I'm bad with money, right? And that gets reinforced. I think we see a lot of there's a lot of pop culture stuff. There's a lot of TV and movies that reinforce kind of like the, you know, the ditzy girl that doesn't know anything. And that, again, I was raised on, I say this all the time, like I was raised on Disney movies. Like when I was a kid, I literally all I wanted to be when I grew up was Ariel from The Little Mermaid. So I got this idea that.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (08:46.606)
Yep.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (08:56.494)
Mm -hmm.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (09:00.942)
I'm going to go to bed.

Meghan Dwyer (09:04.36)
some seaside prince was gonna come and sweep me off my feet and I'll be taken care of for the rest of my life. And then it wasn't until, again, like 2020, when my husband lost his job and here I am, like full -time working mom with two babies and I'm the breadwinner that I recognized that that's not reality, right? So I think there's a lot of beliefs that we don't even recognize are there. Like maybe they're in our subconscious until we start to like...

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (09:22.478)
Right.

Meghan Dwyer (09:32.392)
and still they start to pop up even more and we start to kind of recognize them as triggers in our day -to -day life.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (09:37.774)
Yeah. What are some of the, like, obviously generational trickle down of ideas about money or finances that you have seen?

Meghan Dwyer (09:51.592)
So I like to think of this, right? Like it wasn't until 1974 that women were allowed to have credit cards, bank accounts. They could own property in their own name without having a male co -signer. So think about that for a second. Like 1974, it was not that long ago in the scheme of life, right? My mom was a full -blown adult. She was like 20 years old or 21 years old at that point. And so.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (10:04.878)
Mm -hmm.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (10:17.422)
Yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (10:20.488)
She at the time, like it was, I just think about this, like it was radical for her to have any kind of responsibility or autonomy when it came to handling our own money. And so I just think about that in the way that I grew up, right? So she didn't necessarily, like my mom always worked, she was a nurse. She worked part time when I was, my sister and I were growing up, but I never got the message that I should be empowered.

to do what I want, live the life that I want, like, and be able to have my own money and do my own thing with it. I never got that message. And I understand that because that was how she was raised, right? And there were these cultural forces working against her. So we have to sort of recognize that, like, that's still out there. And I live in the Northeast, like, we're very progressive. We're very, you know, I guess, advanced and radical around here when it comes to everyone's rights. But...

I do think that it's a mindset piece that is holding us back. Like the world around us is telling us that we can go ahead and do this, but we're the ones I think that because of maybe beliefs, again, that weren't ours to begin with, that we were just sort of, we just inherited, that's where that still exists. And I think, again, some of those beliefs, and in this case, this is the same way for me, we never had conversations around money growing up, ever.

Like we never had them in our household. It was always like that one day a month that my dad did the bills and it was like, stay away from dad because he's going to be stressed out today, right? So just don't worry about it. But we never had the conversation around what money can do for us or how money can empower us or what we want our life to look. There was never any like intentional conversation. I mean, I lived, I grew up in sort of a blue collar house and it was sort of like paycheck to paycheck. We just paid the bills and you know, every so often we'd go on a vacation here and there.

but we didn't live this like fancy lifestyle. So I guess I didn't think that that was even an option for me. So I think, I don't know if I fully answered your question, but I think that something that's important to consider is that like, it wasn't that long ago in the scheme of things. So where have we come from? We need to recognize where we've come from and sort of like, it's important to understand that as part of who we are now.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (12:23.854)
No, totally.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (12:39.214)
Yeah, and I think so I automatically think back to to my own experience as well I grew up in my both my parents worked my mom worked either part or full -time she'd be home with us during the day and then she'd go to work at night and But I feel like as I get older the more I realized like you don't have a ton of financial literacy in our family as a whole and I

And you probably have a better or different idea of what financial literacy is. But for me, it was like, the bills get paid. Everything else is extra. Everything else is like fun money, which I didn't know before until now that I'm married to someone who is all about finances and like digs into it. But I had this mentality that like, as long as your bills get paid, everything else is fun money.

And so my parents are very much about like life experiences and creating memories and using that money that's quote unquote leftover to go on the family trips. And I assume put things on credit cards. And that's kind of like the mentality I grew up with. So like having a savings account, it would be here and there, but like.

I'm not saving long term, I'm saving for the next thing I wanna buy or the next experience I wanna go on. So I think it is so interesting how that gets kind of passed down simply because that's all you know. And I think my parents generation of like immediate generation of siblings and such, both my parents grew up kind of.

Meghan Dwyer (14:17.832)
Right? And don't question it.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (14:30.318)
poor and didn't have a lot of money and they definitely love paycheck to paycheck. So I think it was new territory for them as well to not be on welfare or getting support from the government or anything of that sort where they had to really be mindful of what they were spending and when and how. And,

I don't think they knew how to navigate that either, because they didn't know how it was seen. So I think it's so interesting how it kind of trickles down from generation to generation. And I'm sure you see that a ton in financial planning and in your consulting work as well.

Meghan Dwyer (15:11.56)
Yeah, and until you become intentional about making those changes, and I equate this to like parenting as well, right? It's like the whole idea of like, this is something more for our generation for sure, is questioning what kind of parent you wanna be. Like looking at how you were raised, like maybe it's the reparenting idea, but like looking at how you were raised and then assessing how you wanna raise your kids, right? It's the same kind of thing. Right.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (15:35.886)
Yeah, choosing which things you'd like to move forward and things you're like, I could do without that.

Meghan Dwyer (15:40.776)
It's the breaking generational patterns, right? And so it goes with parenting and it goes with money too, in my mind. Something that you said that I also wanted to touch on too is, you said that everything was like you paid the bills and then everything from there was spent. It was a kind of discretionary, right? And something that I talk about, and I think again, like that is very common.

for probably a lot of us unless you come from a significant amount of wealth or you have a lot of income and all that and you can invest. But I think that's pretty common, especially now, like these days when inflation's so high and everything costs so much money right now. But one of the things I talk about a lot is this concept of financial self -care. And I get super triggered sometimes by the idea of self -care because it's like our culture poses it as...

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (16:07.373)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (16:34.056)
bubble baths and pedicures and the massages and all that stuff. But it's not. In my mind, self -care is how we treat ourselves, how we talk to ourselves. It's just literally the way that we interact with ourself. So we could be really nice to ourselves today or we could be a complete bully and be that mean girl. So how do you wanna treat yourself today? When I think about financial self -care,

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (16:35.694)
Yep.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (16:43.054)
Mm -hmm.

Meghan Dwyer (17:00.328)
I think of it in the same way. It's doing the things that we need to do or that feel right to us both now and later. So I think about it as sort of like eating your vegetables, right? Like it's good for you now. It fills you, you get the meal and all that, but you're also setting yourself for kind of like future success too. So when it comes to the financial stuff, I think, you know, there's no right or wrong for any of this, but.

I definitely am not of the camp that everything should be saved and I'm definitely not of the camp that everything should be spent either. I think there's different ways you can bucket, there's different ways you can think about this stuff. I definitely don't wanna deprive, but I also think that it's important to kind of think about the future too. And that's why it's important to sort of have this vision and going back to intention and I talk a lot about intentional spending and values -based spending. It's important for us to...

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (17:32.206)
Mm -hmm.

Meghan Dwyer (17:56.488)
again, as moms, as I like to say, hop off the treadmill, the crazy chaos of our every single day, because we all know what it's like from the second we wake up, our kids screaming at us at 530 in the morning, right? And then you're just in reactive mode all day. So I always say, if you can, give yourself the gift of even 10 minutes. Hop off that treadmill, slow down, and just start to think, what matters to me? What are my priorities? What is important to me right now?

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (18:06.19)
Yep.

Meghan Dwyer (18:26.412)
Half the time, I think we either forget to do this or we've never done it before. I do something with the people in my community called just a values exercise, literally. Like you start with a list of 30 values and you start by circling the top whatever, eight or 10, and then you narrow it down to like three to five. And those are the things that really should be driving what our day looks like, right? So what our behaviors are.

what our, when it comes to money, what our actions are around spending and saving and things like that. And kind of keeping those things in the back of our mind is really important. And it also feels good versus like just going through the motion sometimes when we, you know, buy things with our money.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (19:05.102)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Yeah. So speaking of that, is there anything else you wanted to talk about like generationally kind of how we grew up doing things? Are you okay to move on to mom stuff? Okay. so with working, geared towards moms and motherhood, what are kind of the intersections that you see between finances and money and being a mom?

Meghan Dwyer (19:18.472)
Yeah, yeah, I think we talked about it.

Meghan Dwyer (19:34.184)
Yeah, well, I mean, let's face it, whether you are the breadwinner in your family or not, most of the time, moms are the ones making the day -to -day decisions, right? So that's where everything, what I was just talking about becomes so important because I talk about Target a lot on my show, how much I have this love -hate relationship with Target. I think we all do. But, you know, Target is really geared towards...

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (19:56.142)
Yeah. Yep.

Meghan Dwyer (20:01.992)
women, I feel like it's geared towards moms and parents, right? You've got the registries with the Target onesies and all that stuff on them. And I know that's where I would take my babies for some of their first outings when they were newborns, because I needed to get out of the house, right? So it's also kind of an escape for women and moms. I do treat it that way myself, like when I am overwhelmed or I'm stressed out and I'm like, I just need to get out. Where's the first place I'm going to go? Probably Target.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (20:30.926)
Yep. It's just a one -stop shop. They have everything.

Meghan Dwyer (20:31.752)
And I'm like, it is. But even if you don't need anything, it's fun, right? Like you might go in there for like one or two things that you actually need. And then you come out $80 later and you're like, what did I just buy? I don't even know what I just bought because it's fun. And that's okay. But I do think that that's something that we really need to be. This kind of concept is something that we need to be a little bit more intentional around because.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (20:36.43)
Yes, yeah, for sure.

Meghan Dwyer (20:58.088)
Again, we are the ones making those decisions. We're the ones that are buying the things that we want to buy for our kids and for our families. So we're the ones typically buying their clothes. We're buying their baby formula. You know what I mean? Like we're buying the diapers. So I think it's important to, again, like slow down and start to recognize like, why am I doing this? Am I buying the...

most expensive brand of whatever, let's just go with diapers because I really like the product and I believe in the product and I want this for my baby or is it because I buy it because I think that's what I have to buy? Like I just, that's it, it's this brand or it's nothing. So I think that's just an example, but I think that's just something that's important for us to sort of like take into consideration and understand again, the intention behind some of the decisions that we make.

Women have so much power and I don't think we recognize that, especially when it comes to the day -to -day decisions. And women drive so much of the consumer industry, honestly. And so that's where the intention comes in as well. I think for us to actually not feel that guilt and shame that oftentimes we can feel, let's face it, I shop when I'm happy, when I'm sad, when I'm stressed out, when I'm overwhelmed.

I shop for like every single emotion. I like to shop. I like to go to stores. I like to touch things. I like to see, I would so much rather go into a physical store than shop online. And yet, you know, I think it's important to recognize that if, that that is okay. Like that's okay if that's something that you enjoy doing. Some people hate it. Like I actually really enjoy doing it.

It stresses me out. I like going into stores and I like, you know, hearing the music. It just calms me down and stuff. So, but I think it's unique to every single, every, each individual person. And I think we really need to understand like why we're doing these things. And if we're starting to feel feelings of guilt and shame, then we need to sort of like take a step back and reassess what's going on here. Why am I doing this? And that's a gift that I don't think we often give to ourselves.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (22:48.685)
Yeah.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (23:12.718)
Yeah. And I think you're totally right. And I, it didn't occur to me till you just said it, that women are making the most decisions about, maybe not about money, but as to what the home's going to look like. I mean, from, from the start of, I mean, I'm trying to think of like the lifespan. So like when you're just getting married, you're doing a registry with everything that, yeah. Right. Right. Yeah. He has, yeah, I could pick out something in my.

Meghan Dwyer (23:35.08)
yeah, you're doing the registry, right? For the most part, my husband doesn't care what was on there.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (23:42.318)
closet or in my pantry that I'm like, so and so got us this for our whatever. And my husband would have no idea. But and then same thing for like baby registry. If I could go back and make my baby register, my first baby registry, it would look a lot different. And I feel like I was pretty, focused on what I needed and not like the extra stuff. But if I could go back and put a year's worth of diapers instead of a ton of outfits, I would do that.

Meghan Dwyer (23:49.448)
No idea.

Meghan Dwyer (23:53.48)
Totally.

Meghan Dwyer (24:11.048)
Yeah, right.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (24:11.15)
I think hindsight is always 20 -20, but I think I didn't realize how much impact my choices and what I was adding to our registries, for example, would have on our house and kind of the standard I was setting forward. So I think that is a really important piece that I'm sure many of us don't realize is that you have a lot of power over,

over what your household values and looks like. And that could be positive or negative for you. But yeah, that's a really great mindset shift too.

Meghan Dwyer (24:52.52)
Yeah, yeah, to recognize that you are, you're not just at the mercy of kind of like making decisions, or making decisions based on somebody else, what somebody else thinks. Like, I think what's important to remember here too is I was the same way. I remember putting a bottle warmer on my baby registry, because I just thought like, somebody told me to do it. I didn't know.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (25:00.59)
Mm -hmm.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (25:14.958)
what you put on. Yeah, it was on the list. Yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (25:17.32)
But then the thing is, is then, same with the wipes warmer. There was a wipes warmer, I think, that somebody had given us. And I'm like, then my baby's gonna get used to having like a nice warm wipe every single time. And the second that I don't have one, then he's gonna cry, right? So it's just funny. I mean, I think we also have to act, again, something I always talk about is this idea of self -compassion. Like we have to give ourselves a little bit of credit for just not knowing. We didn't know. We didn't know, and that's okay. All we can do is take that information,

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (25:20.75)
Mm -hmm. Yep.

Yep. Yep.

Yeah.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (25:42.798)
Yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (25:47.176)
of how the decisions that we made and how that made us feel. And then we can start to be more intentional about that going forward, right? All it is is information. And it's a matter of what you do with it rather than continuing to sort of repeat those same habits.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (25:55.374)
Yeah, absolutely.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (26:01.39)
Yeah, it's so funny. I was, I, I have a friend who's pregnant. and she's creating her baby registry and she asked me and another friend to take a look at it and like, give us her feedback. And I had this like laundry list of things that weren't, I think everybody has their preferences on what they value and would like, but, I think there are so many things where it's like, I thought that's just what I was supposed to get. Or like, that's what came up on the thing that I was like, I,

Meghan Dwyer (26:11.568)
Good.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (26:29.87)
had two hand -me -down wipe warmers, and I never used them. It was more inconvenient than anything. So I think, yeah, having some compassion for yourself on the back end of like, all right, I didn't really need to do that. I might've got consumerized on it. But again, I think it's a you live and you learn situation. Yeah, there was something else I was gonna say on that, and I can't remember. But.

Meghan Dwyer (26:49.288)
Totally.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (26:56.59)
the amp, like the Amazon packaging and getting, I think, I think Amazon and like online shopping makes it easy for new parents. And it was like a God sent to me when in the first couple of weeks and I'm like, my baby hates XYZ. My baby hates this pacifier. I need a million of the other ones. so it's very quick and easy or like things you, like you said, things you didn't know about.

Meghan Dwyer (26:59.816)
Yeah, yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (27:09.32)
So easy.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (27:24.43)
like the grape water and things like that for, for like stomach pain, all of that stuff. So I think that they're. Yes. Yes. Yep. Yep. So some, something where I was going with that was someone told me, or people say it all the time, like babies are expensive or kids are expensive. And I'm like, I don't really know what that means, but now as a mom, I realized like, it's not the baby themselves. It's all the stuff that comes along with it. And, I very much get overwhelmed by stuff.

Meghan Dwyer (27:30.888)
And no, Rita, that was one of my favorites that sucked the boogers out. Yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (27:49.0)
Yes. Yes.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (27:54.158)
But, Amazon makes it very easy to just drop it at your door. And, I follow all those like mom pages that are like Amazon deals and you just click it and buy it. And it does the deal for you. I've definitely gotten sucked into those and have had to reel it back. But I think, what I find myself struggling with in the, in this like phase of things is.

Meghan Dwyer (27:58.916)
Yeah.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (28:21.422)
what things are like an essential need, obviously, like diapers, wipes, clothing, season appropriate stuff. But and then it's like, well, I want them to have this X toy or this Montessori type toy or this summer. Like I had this in this I had a splash, whatever in the summer. Kind of that emotional pull of like.

Well, I really want my kid to have this. So is it a need or like we really need this or is it I really want I'm valuing this experience. And then it's also like, for me, I'm all about like, making sure the room the baby room is functional. So do I need to buy the stuff that makes me feel good being in the room? Or do I just

Meghan Dwyer (28:57.224)
right?

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (29:15.47)
wait until he's a bigger human being and can tell me like, hey, this is what I want in my room. It's, it's, for me, it's a very weird in between of things that I need and things that I'm like, valuing higher than other things. It's hard to navigate. And I imagine it's that experience for other people too.

Meghan Dwyer (29:30.568)
Yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (29:35.272)
Absolutely, I was just gonna say, first of all, you're not alone in that. And second of all, you are right there with all of us. I think we're all sort of like in that balance of like, do I need this? Do I want this? What I would say around that, and I remember it's been a while, but I did a whole episode on needs versus wants. I would say like, when you're in those moments, right?

ask yourself that question. Is this a need or is this a want? Right? So start there. Almost do like one of those little like diagrams like need or want, right? And then say, okay, if it's a need, fine, like gotta do it. If it's a want, then sort of go from there. Let's dig into that want a little bit more. Why? Where's that want? What is that want? Where's it coming from? Like, is it from a, I just wanna feel good?

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (30:10.638)
Yeah, the Venn diagrams, yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (30:30.792)
kind of perspective or is it because I think that like the mom down the street does this that way? Is it because I want it? Because I don't know. I want my it's I'm just throwing out there. You said this Montessori toy because I really want my kid to be like a extra smart kid. You know, what is it and what is it and where is it coming from and what is that want and start to like peel back those layers to get to sort of the root of it. I think oftentimes you'll

you'll know. Like the other thing I was going to say around your, when you were chatting is you're the only one that can make that decision. Right. Nobody else can tell you if you should do this or not. Like they can, when it's a want, if it's a need, yes, clothe your baby. Make sure your baby is fed. Right. All of those things. But do you have to, you know, get like,

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (31:09.646)
Mm, yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (31:27.112)
I don't know, I'm just saying like organic everything. Or do you have to have like all of your clothes from Baby Gap? Like, or, you know, all the fancy stores and stuff. Like, no, you don't. So is the need there? The need is the clothes. The need is the basic food, but is the want? The want is kind of like the next level up and like dig further into that want and where is that coming from? Oftentimes for me, when I do this kind of work and I dig in and I try to get to like the root of it,

A lot of it is insecurity, right? Especially as a parent, because every time I sort of get used to like a certain stage where my kids are at, then they change again. And I've never had an eight -year -old before. I don't know. I have no idea. Even my five -year -old this year, like, he wasn't, like, he would not leave the house in the mornings. We had a tough transition to kindergarten because he would not leave with like the shirts that I...

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (32:08.782)
Yeah, they're on to the next thing.

Yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (32:27.048)
dressed my other son in from Target, like just the regular, whatever, he has to have, he needs to have Under Armour or Nike. He has to have like a certain like logo or whatever on it, which is so funny to me because he's five and my other son would wear literally a trash bag. He doesn't care what he wears. So it's just a different, they're different people. But it's just interesting. So is it that, you know, I,

First of all, that's on him now, but if it was my decision, do I want them to be wearing these clothes because I wanna fit in? I wanna feel good, I wanna feel like, I want other people to think that I know what I'm doing, right? Like, where does that come from? And oftentimes, when you kind of peel back those layers, you can start to recognize that it's something deeper than just the physical thing.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (33:12.494)
Yeah. Yeah. I totally identify with that. I, I was set when I first had my son. I hate the, the way we design boys clothes. It's like sharks, dinosaurs, construction trucks, and that's it. So I was, yeah, I was like determined, like he's going to dress cooler than, than that until I was buying clothes every three months or every month as he got bigger. And I was like,

Meghan Dwyer (33:26.632)
Yes. Robots.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (33:40.91)
Okay, I can't really keep this up money wise. So it's it was for me it was like, okay, I still want him to look cool for me, but made the compromise of okay, most of his clothes are secondhand from Once Upon a Child by us the clothing resale and then he has weekend clothes that are like a little more my style. But at the end of the day, like all these clothes are gonna get destroyed. So

Meghan Dwyer (33:43.4)
Yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (34:10.088)
Right, right.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (34:10.35)
So I'm not spending X amount, like I have a very strict limit on the item and how much I'll pay for it. And Walmart has really cute trendy clothes now. And I'm totally fine with him wearing that. He doesn't need to wear 100 % cotton, premium, organic materialed clothing. So I feel like once you learn, once you're doing it, you're like,

Meghan Dwyer (34:29.064)
Yeah. Yes. Yeah.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (34:36.142)
And you're able to make quick adjustments on the fly and be like, OK, here's where my values are coming from on this. And they're kind of BS and not real. So where can I make an adjustment that makes more sense to the situation, I guess?

Meghan Dwyer (34:50.024)
Yeah, and also like identifying why, like why did you want him to be the cool kid instead of wearing the dinosaurs, right? I remember my sister, when she had her daughter, she is, her daughter is a couple years older than my kids, but I remember when she was first born, my sister was like, she is not wearing pink. Like she is not going to be a girly girl. I am not having her wear pink. And guess what? By the time she turned three, she was

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (34:55.918)
Right. Right.

Meghan Dwyer (35:17.8)
Pink, purple, everything, princesses, all of that stuff. And so, cause that's who she is, she is who she is. So it's just interesting, like as much as we want to instill our perspectives and our, I don't know, I guess wants on our kids, they're still gonna be whoever they're gonna be no matter what, right? So he may not be a dinosaur kid or maybe he will be a dinosaur kid, who knows? But if he likes them or not, but I just think that it's more of a...

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (35:20.526)
Yep. Yeah.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (35:31.502)
Mm -hmm.

Right.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (35:39.662)
Right.

Meghan Dwyer (35:44.264)
This is why kids, I always say this, like my kids teach me more than I teach them because like it puts a mirror up to us whenever we see that. We're like, wait a minute, is this me projecting my insecurities or my perspectives or my influence onto them? Or like what's actually going on here, right?

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (35:53.614)
Mm, yeah.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (36:05.262)
Right. Yeah. Something that keeps sticking with me is the value aspect of things. Can you talk a little bit more about how you help other families figure out like what's your value and how does it attach to money specifically?

Meghan Dwyer (36:22.056)
Yeah, so I have people do a values exercise. And again, I talked about this a little bit before, but it start with like a list of whatever it is, 25 or 30 values. And so I usually do it with one -on -one with like the, I like working with women, but you can certainly have a spouse do it too. And I think that could be really cool to have to each do it and then come together and have a conversation around it. But it's important because,

once you narrow it down to like the whatever three to five things that are important to you, then let that sort of be your compass. Like let that thing be what's driving you. So if you are, I mean, I can't tell you how many times and I referenced this earlier, how many times I'm just like, I'm gonna go, I'm having a bad day. I'm gonna go to Target or I'm gonna go to the mall or I'm gonna go shopping and I'm gonna buy myself something like.

I don't know what it is, but I'm just gonna buy myself something because I need to feel better right now. And half the time, probably more than half the time, I buy myself something. And usually it's not expensive, but I buy myself something and then it ends up sitting in my closet or whatever it is. Like, and it still has tags on it. And it's months later, maybe in a year later or whatever. I can't tell you, like I go through my closet and I find stuff with tags on it and I'm just like, why did I buy this? I didn't even really want it. All I was trying to do was like get that dopamine hit that day.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (37:47.214)
Mm -hmm.

Meghan Dwyer (37:47.464)
Right? So if instead of doing that, which was not aligned with my values, instead, maybe I say my values are family, like outdoor or because I like to, I like, I like running. So for me, it's, you know, not necessarily health, but like, I guess, active being active, that kind of thing. There's a whole list of them and I can share it with you if, if.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (38:07.854)
Wellness. Yeah. Outside. Yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (38:16.744)
you'd like afterwards. But yeah, I have it somewhere. But but if I did something and I maybe instead I, I don't know, put that $20 that I spent on something useless, put it into a savings account to save for like a family vacation or something, that would be another way to sort of get to like scratch that ish if you know what I mean. So in something that like, okay, I want to spend something I want to get that little high. But

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (38:18.126)
Yeah, that'd be great.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (38:34.35)
Mm -hmm.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (38:39.79)
Right, yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (38:46.216)
maybe I'm gonna just instead, cause I wanted something at that moment, maybe there's all kinds of other techniques too, to calm yourself down in that moment. Like there's like, I love polyvagal breathing. I love, there's all kinds of like tapping or like the EFT or doing certain things to help you kind of like get out of that moment. But then also being intentional and saying, hey, you know what? That $20 that I was gonna spend, I'm gonna go put towards something that's really gonna make an impact and something that I'm going to appreciate in the future. Again, that financial self care.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (38:57.326)
Mm -hmm.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (39:12.27)
Yeah.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (39:16.046)
Mm -hmm.

Meghan Dwyer (39:16.104)
like taking care of me now and in the future versus just now. So that's kind of how.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (39:20.686)
Yeah. Yeah. I wonder. Yeah, absolutely. I wonder how much of it is just simply reframing it. Cause I, cause you mentioned like, I just needed that dopamine hit for the day. And maybe it is reframing it into, I'm going to physically take this $20 cash and put it in an envelope, or maybe it's I'm moving it from this account to the savings account. And now I see that it's growing bigger and that gives you that dopamine hit as well.

Meghan Dwyer (39:33.224)
Mm -hmm.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (39:50.414)
maybe not as as much as like a cute outfit, but How much of it is just reframing the way that you're looking at it?

Meghan Dwyer (39:58.6)
Yeah, exactly. And the thing is, this just hit me when you said like buying a new cute outfit, like recognizing too that what used to be, what used to kind of like, again, I used to use the phrase like scratch the edge, what used to do that for me doesn't necessarily do it anymore. Like before I had kids and life was fully in my control and I could sort of come and go and do what I wanted and I was probably more outgoing and more social and all of that.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (40:15.694)
Mmm.

Meghan Dwyer (40:27.688)
Yes, a cute outfit would be used, would be worn. I would feel like that would be something that I would get use out of. I just think about it realistically now and I'm like, even though I buy this, I can't tell you, I bought myself a little dress at, I don't know, Old Navy or something, right around Mother's Day a couple of weeks ago and it's still in a bag in my closet and I'm like, I'll use this over this, but it's been.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (40:52.142)
Yep.

Meghan Dwyer (40:55.112)
three or four weeks that I haven't bought it yet or I haven't worn it yet. So I just think about that too. I start to be a little bit more realistic with myself around like the usage of things. Like I just, I'm a different person now than I was before I had kids. And my life is more, you know, right now this stage, it's more at the baseball fields. That's where I do more of my socializing probably than I, that compared to where I used to. And that can be kind of tough to.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (41:05.87)
Mm -hmm.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (41:09.518)
Yeah, absolutely.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (41:21.614)
Right.

Meghan Dwyer (41:23.72)
Recognized too. That's been a part of my journey that I think is as recognizing this whole piece around identity and who am I compared to who I was and it's things have changed and I guess coming to terms with that, whether there's a little grief that comes involved that's involved with that as well. Maybe that's the case, but I think sometimes if we're using money,

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (41:34.446)
Mmm, yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (41:53.064)
to buy things to be who we used to be, we need to pause and be like, wait a minute, we're not who we used to be anymore, we're who we are now. So let's like kind of be more aligned with who that person is now. Yeah.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (42:06.414)
Yeah. Yeah. That, that whole identity piece is, could be its own podcast episode. but yeah, I think, I think you're right. I think, I mean, talking about clothes specifically, we go through many body changes as women, especially after having babies and, buying clothes does not have the same, like exciting feeling as it used to. yes. Yeah. Right.

Meghan Dwyer (42:12.472)
my god, yeah, yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (42:29.096)
Nope. Not at all. That's why I'd rather buy shoes and bags right now because I don't want to try everything on.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (42:35.694)
or like a really nice pair of leggings, a new shirt that doesn't have coffee stains on it. But I, yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah, like you said, it doesn't have the same like ring to it anymore for me. And I'm sure a lot of moms feel that way as well. But I think to that same point about values changing, I think where I have seen like, I know myself and my husband and then friends of ours,

Meghan Dwyer (42:41.256)
Yes, that maybe covers your butt and doesn't show your belly. Yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (42:50.184)
Yeah, same.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (43:05.614)
find it challenging to figure out like, or to transition from like where we were just out of college, where we were like making very little money and had all these student loans to pay back and needed to buy something. So we'd buy it super cheap just to have it because you needed it versus now where we're all a little bit in a better financial position where we can spring to buy the thing that's a little more.

higher quality and get more longevity out of it. So I see that a lot now as like, we're all real grownups and adults and have kids and I have realized that my priority has changed to quality because I'm able to. So like a good example, my sister, her kids are all, every kid she's got four has like,

their Patagonia set. And I always make fun of her. I'm like, it's so expensive. I don't know how you're doing this. Yeah. But she's got four. So the she has a set of twins, those twins, and then my son and her youngest are now wearing those sets of clothes. And they last long and they are really good quality. And so that like really ring true for me now as a mom where I'm like, okay, do I buy the toy that

Meghan Dwyer (44:07.048)
they're gonna grow out of it.

Meghan Dwyer (44:17.832)
Yes. Yeah.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (44:30.798)
a little less expensive or do I buy the one that's a little more expensive? I know it's good quality, which is important to me. I could use it for the next kid. environmentally friendly is kind of important to me. So like how, how our values transition and then kind of making those decisions that way. Like, am I going to buy four of the same toy throughout the next couple of years or just one? Because I chose to spend the money ahead of time. Granted.

Meghan Dwyer (44:54.056)
Right, right. Exactly. That's.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (44:59.406)
Not everyone's able to do that or in that space currently, but yeah, I have found it interesting to start having those conversations with myself now that I'm able to. But yeah, I found that interesting.

Meghan Dwyer (45:11.336)
Yeah, first of all, I love hand -me -downs. We've got, my sister -in -law has two boys that are older, so we got all her stuff. My husband has a cousin that has a boy. We've got the neighbors that have, so we, I, honestly, I rarely have to buy my kids actual clothes because most of the time they don't need anything like fancy. It's just a bunch of, like again, the dinosaur shirt's not. But hand -me -downs are great.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (45:14.03)
Yes.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (45:30.222)
It's amazing. Right. Yeah. Yep.

Meghan Dwyer (45:40.84)
But yeah, what was I just gonna say?

yeah, the thing too around being intentional around like things, right? Like, do you really want, it's important to kind of consider what you want your life to look like. Do you want a bunch of stuff? Like, do you want a bunch of like toys hanging around that are maybe cheap and.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (46:00.878)
Mm -hmm.

Meghan Dwyer (46:06.856)
Or do you want to have something that is a little bit more quality and have like, the kid's not gonna not have toys, right? You're not gonna deprive your child of toys, but do you really need to have like your entire house covered in toys kind of thing? And that made me really think about this idea around gifts and something. Yeah, I did a whole workshop last holiday season around this idea of like,

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (46:13.806)
Right, right.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (46:19.95)
Mm -hmm.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (46:25.07)
Mm -hmm. Yeah, I was just gonna bring that up. I had a mental note.

Meghan Dwyer (46:35.304)
gifting and being intentional around gifting that we do for kids. And it's just like, I don't know, I feel like with toys and kids, they just like move on so quickly. And I still have stuff that I oftentimes I'll like, if my kids don't really play with it early on, I'll just re -gift it for like a birthday party or something like that. But if they haven't opened it, of course, or they're not really interested in it, I'll re -gift it. But there's something to be said for...

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (46:47.31)
Mm -hmm.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (46:54.094)
Yeah.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (47:00.302)
Mm -hmm.

Meghan Dwyer (47:03.912)
I think about this too, as my son's coming up on having his sixth birthday and I've had multiple members of the family ask me what he wants for his birthday. And I'm like, can you just give us money? I'll put it in his 529, I'll save it. But he doesn't need anything more right now. I mean, at this point, he doesn't. And he wants a couple packs of Pokemon cards, honestly, that's what he wants. And I'm like, fine, we already have 100 of those anyway. So.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (47:16.11)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Right. Yeah.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (47:29.934)
Right. Yeah, great. Yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (47:33.928)
But yeah, I think that's something to also think about is people, because people want to be, they want to help, they want to give your kids gifts, they want to, but how much do you really, you have to think about it, like how much do you really want more and more and more stuff? Like for us, it just accumulates. And so it can be, it can be hard. And sometimes that also is part of the conversation is just being like, no, you know what? Don't get them a lot of stuff this year.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (47:44.942)
Mm -hmm.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (47:54.478)
Yeah.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (48:01.71)
Right. Yeah. Yeah. I have found a ton of success with the Amazon wish lists in that like we really only put things that we think he'll need or like the higher ticket items and people can go in on it. but yeah, my, my son's birthday is in October, not far from Christmas. So this Christmas we were like, please choose one high quality thing that you want to gift it. Like, otherwise we have so much stuff and he just like toys just sat in our basement waiting to be gone through.

Meghan Dwyer (48:06.6)
Yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (48:12.904)
Yeah, that's a great idea.

Meghan Dwyer (48:25.704)
Yeah, that's really smart.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (48:31.63)
yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (48:32.168)
And then they're over it too. That's the thing. Like they only want to play with it. Like we have this Paw Patrol like giant set of some like play set and my older son was over it in like a couple of months and then my younger son was never into Paw Patrol. So we ended up giving it to another family who really was into Paw Patrol at the time. So at least we could reuse it. But yeah, it's just, that stuff can be tough. Like,

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (48:45.486)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Yeah.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (48:56.526)
Yeah. And I think you're so right. Everybody wants to be involved and like see them get excited. But I think it's again, could be another podcast episode, but sharing with people like, Hey, this is our value set for this. We'd love that you want to be part of it, but like, here's what works for us. Obviously that's a very hard conversation to have with grandparents and overindulgent aunts like myself. But yeah, it's tough.

Meghan Dwyer (49:02.6)
Yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (49:07.752)
Totally.

Meghan Dwyer (49:16.775)
Yes. It is. Yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (49:25.672)
It is.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (49:25.87)
It's tough to put forward what you're wanting and expecting other people to follow along.

Meghan Dwyer (49:32.36)
And I think that's why, again, when I talk to moms in my community, that it is so important to be self -aware, to know ourselves, know what our triggers are, be self -compassionate, to take care of ourselves, and certainly to create boundaries. And all of those things, I think, boil down to self -worth. And that's something that is, I think, a f***ing

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (49:43.15)
Mm -hmm.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (49:58.51)
Mmm.

Meghan Dwyer (50:01.096)
again, when you talk about like our relationship with money, we don't women tend to not like to ask for money. Like, you know, there's all these stats out there about how we're not great at negotiating compared to men. And if you're an entrepreneur, we find it hard to charge people things and all this stuff, we struggle with that. And it all comes down to self worth. And so I think the more that we can do to continue to take care of ourselves and to foster that sense of self worth.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (50:11.534)
Mm -hmm.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (50:18.222)
Mm -hmm.

Meghan Dwyer (50:29.576)
by doing things like creating boundaries, like I just said, the better we can do and the more I think we'll just set ourselves up for passing that on to the next generation too.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (50:40.174)
Yeah. Yeah. And I think what you said in the beginning about like picking and choosing the things that are valuable to you in terms of money and finances and what you would like to pass on to your family. I think kind of starts where your, your journey will go, if you will. Cause I feel like it kind of using it as a compass and letting it guide you as to what your priorities are, what you want to focus on, what you want to pass down. I feel like it's a really great start.

Meghan Dwyer (50:57.064)
Yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (51:08.712)
Yeah, and I think the other thing I'll just add here is like, again, that self -awareness, what are your triggers and jump and lean into those, right? Like the things that feel the most uncomfortable, those are the things that we need to like move towards because those are the things that are telling us things and also, and just be curious, right? So non -judgmental curiosity is super important along this process. So I think so many times when I,

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (51:14.702)
Mm -hmm.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (51:30.638)
Yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (51:38.44)
talk about like money isn't scary and stuff. Yes, I am a financial planner. Sure, I crunch numbers all day long, but I think so much of this is a deeper self -awareness process. And only then, once we start to cultivate that feeling of self -worth and knowing ourselves and how we operate, then we can start to build that confidence up and kind of put ourselves out into the world as, you know, present ourselves and act in alignment with who we are and who we want to be.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (52:07.278)
Yeah, I love that. And we're constantly evolving as people and especially as moms. I think it's a consistent and constant journey or kind of going along, I imagine.

Meghan Dwyer (52:10.728)
Yes.

Meghan Dwyer (52:18.6)
Totally, always, right? Like we never know, right? I feel like you're good for like a couple of weeks and then there's some detour and then things change again and you've got to just respond instead of reacting. And I think the more that we can slow down, hop off that treadmill and allow ourselves that time to process, the more we can be thoughtfully and intentionally responsive.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (52:26.286)
Yep. Yeah.

Yeah.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (52:39.694)
Yeah, I love that. Can you tell us a little bit about what programs you have going on? I know you do consulting and have kind of a cool community alongside you.

Meghan Dwyer (52:49.832)
Yeah. So I, thank you. I, you can, check out my website, money isn't scary .com. So I am going to, that's going to be revamped a little bit. So I just finally got my certification to be doing money coaching. So, you can either reach out to me on Instagram. So I'm just at money isn't scary. and I'm also on Facebook and I also have a Facebook group, called the mindful money mamas. So if you're interested, I've been, what I, what I'm now,

working with women on is doing one -on -one sessions, kind of working through this core process, which is four to five sessions starting, and then maybe some ongoing work where we really dig deeper into a lot of the things that we talked about today, those patterns, those beliefs, the things that have come from childhood, because most of our beliefs and thoughts and patterns have started between the ages of two and 12, and then oftentimes we just repeat them.

over and over again in different circumstances, right? So it's kind of having that light bulb awareness of where these things come from and understanding how our past has gotten us to where we are right now. What are maybe the more challenging things that we wanna work on relative with ourselves relative to money? Where do we wanna be in sort of backing into it from there? So it's really fun. And if anyone's interested, feel free to reach out.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (53:48.334)
Right, right.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (54:11.566)
And the Facebook group is open to everybody or just your clients. Okay. Awesome. Awesome.

Meghan Dwyer (54:13.8)
Yeah, yeah, no, everyone, everyone. I haven't been as super active the last couple of months because I was doing more focusing on the coaching, but I'll get back in there and start to be kind of more focused on that. But it is a cool community, all women. And I always say this is all like -minded women who are trying to, again, foster, create, heal, right? And we're all doing it together. So.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (54:23.758)
Mm -hmm.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (54:42.254)
Yeah. Yeah, I love that. And because money can make you feel weird and put you on the defensive a little bit, I think having a community of one, women, but then two, like a really low barrier to entry, like safe community you can be a part of to learn more, ask questions. I love it.

Meghan Dwyer (54:42.504)
It's a really cool, safe space.

Meghan Dwyer (54:48.52)
Yes.

Meghan Dwyer (55:02.888)
Yeah, you can share and that's the thing. I am so like I you can share anything with me. I am so open and vulnerable and I will share my raw stories and on the podcast of the podcast and even mention the podcast also called Money Isn't Scary. I think I have now like 180 episodes now, but it's a lot of my my journey, my experiences, like a lot of things that I touched on here, how I wanted to be a Disney princess when I grew up and.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (55:15.422)
yeah, yeah.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (55:21.038)
my gosh, it's amazing.

Meghan Dwyer (55:32.2)
you know, things that I've struggled with in my marriage and all this and as a new mom and as I now, you know, like a kid mom and so there's so many things. I talk all about the stressors of, you know, everything that comes with raising a kid and trying to, you know, be intentional with our money and our own self -worth. So again, it's my journey. So go check it out.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (55:39.022)
Seasoned, yeah.

Meghan Dwyer (55:59.528)
I just want women to be able to see a little bit of themselves in my stories.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (55:59.598)
Yeah.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (56:03.182)
Yeah, absolutely. Well, we'll link the podcast for everyone to do kind of a deep dive as well as your Facebook group, website, social media, all of that. is there anything else you think we missed or want to touch on?

Meghan Dwyer (56:15.816)
No, I don't think so. I think the way we wrapped up was really great. And again, just I want to emphasize, like, be curious and just be kind to yourselves and, you know, that whole self -compassion thing. Know that you're not alone. We're all in this together.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (56:29.198)
Yeah.

Yeah. I love that. Well, thank you so much for being on. This was amazing. I will definitely be checking out all of the above that you mentioned and look forward to learning more for sure.

Meghan Dwyer (56:44.456)
Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. This was so fun.

Jessica Lamb | The Mama Making Podcast (56:46.446)
No problem, thanks for being on.