My guest, Erika Wasserman, who is one of 15 people in the world with a Financial Therapist certification, joins us to discuss how people can achieve financial wellness in the work place and in their daily life, and shares how understanding your relationship with money can help reduce stress and increase happiness. She provides insight on how Financial Therapy provides a safe and comfortable environment for everyone looking to take steps toward a healthier relationship with their finances, helping them to navigate the intersection between finances and emotional wellness.
Erika Wasserman is CEO of Your Financial Therapist, which she founded in 2019. As a Certified Financial Therapist CFT-I™, a sought-after certification held by only 15 people in the world, she combines her education in finance and international economics with her passion for helping others, empowering individuals, couples, and companies to reshape the way they think about money.
Erika earned a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree from the University of Florida, as well as a graduate Certificate in Financial Therapy from Kansas State University.
Erika’s personal and professional journey was not a direct one — and continues to evolve. For most people, specific experiences in life have influenced the way they feel about money. For her, there were many: growing up in a household where the topic of money was exciting dinner conversation, getting married, having three children, getting divorced, living abroad, moving nine times for a corporate job, and losing a parent. Unsurprisingly, Erika found herself at a crossroads.
After a successful 10-year career at IBM, Erika shifted gears and left corporate America to work on growing brands in the organic-food industry where she transformed brands from innovative emerging products to household names, while juggling a growing family.
Along her journey, Erika noticed a gap in how people all over the world talked — or didn’t talk — about money, both within family structures, relationships, and workplaces. Once she discovered Financial Therapy, Erika has dedicated her life to coaching individuals, couples, families, and corporate teams on how to communicate more comfortably and effectively on the otherwise taboo topic of money.
Today, she is a highly sought-after Certified Financial Therapist, and has been quoted in national media, including The New York Times, Yahoo! Money, and Times. Erika is also the creator of "Let’s Talk About Finances, Baby!" which are Financial Wellness Conversation Cards that create a unique way to stimulate meaningful conversations about and around the taboo topic of money.
Erika lives in South Florida with her three daughters and can be found driving to the beach with the top down of her Jeep, or planning her next overseas adventure.