Other People's Pockets

It's hard to believe it, but this is the 35th episode of Other People's Pockets, which means it's the end of our first season! For this special episode, we reached out to some of our past guests for a "Look Back" -- an update on their financial situations & viewpoints. Cord Jefferson stopped earning money for a while and didn't know when more would come. Carmen González is learning how to apply for credit cards now that she's a...

Building credit. Being on your parent's cell phone plan. Learning to drive. There are many financial benefits to having a relationship with your family of origin. Today's guest, Jessica, has experienced what it’s like to not have those advantages. Jessica severed ties with her biological parents due to emotional abuse she experienced from them throughout her life. Jessica has built a strong network of friends — her chosen family — ...

How does a love of extreme weather translate into making money? Raychel Sanner is a storm chaser and co-founder of Tornado Titans, a media brand by self-described “weather nuts” who capture images of supercells, monsoons, blizzards and more. As a Choctaw trans woman born and raised in Oklahoma, Raychel is transforming the image of storm chasing away from being dominated by straight, white cis-men. Raychel chats about the income she...

Ismatu Gwendolyn is a mental health professional and life coach who is trying to rethink how we care for those in need. Ismatu has navigated sex work in order to afford life and graduate school, and they discovered that as a stripper, talking to men in a club was not so different than counseling a client as a therapist. Ismatu let us have a peek inside their personal finances to find out how this all comes together.

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It's time for another Pocket Dial! That's where we pause to reflect on the money themes coming up on Other People's Pockets. Jared Ball is a professor of Communications and Africana Studies at Morgan State University in Baltimore and the author of "The Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power." He helps unpack the lies around "passion work" and why it feels like you have to be out for yourself when it comes to finances.

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What is this whole "financial-freedom-through-real-estate-investing" thing people are doing, and is it real? Maya interviews Deandra McDonald, a real estate investor and influencer with 320k+ followers on her TikTok, @simplerealestate. Deandra says she became financially free at 28 after five years of house-hacking (buy a property, rent part of it, live in the other part, and have your tenant pay your mortgage!). Deandra only found...

Have you ever thought about how money feels in your body? Or how sticking with a budget might start with healing your money wounds first? Today Maya interviews Bari Tessler, a financial therapist and author of "The Art of Money: A Life-Changing Guide to Financial Happiness." Bari explores what it feels like to even hear the truth about other people's money stories, and how to navigate our own.

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Today Maya interviews a couple we're calling D+A, because they wanted anonymity so they could discuss their finances openly. D+A are in love, engaged and have been living together for about a decade, but financially it's as if they're just roommates. Separate bank accounts. Separate credit cards. One of them will ask the other to Venmo them $7 after a Target run. Why? Maya digs into their money pasts and fears and gets them to fact...

Kyle Coon is a blind Paralympian triathlete on Team USA. Kyle was diagnosed with eye cancer at 10 months old and had his eyes removed at age 6. His blindness didn’t stop him from becoming a competitive rock climber, downhill skier, runner and triathlete. He revealed how personal finance is different as a blind person, and what it means to rest almost all your financial hopes on winning a medal in the Paralympic Games in Paris 2024....

A few weeks ago, I had the cockamamie idea to fly to Shreveport, Louisiana. I wanted to visit a weed doctor, get a medical marijuana prescription, and then smoke weed and interview her while high. And that is exactly what I did! Jaya McSharma is a medical doctor and the co-owner of CannaCare of Louisiana, a medical marijuana clinic. Jaya is also an actress and filmmaker and has some wild stories about getting Bernie Madoff’ed out o...

How does money mix with religion? Blair Pogue is a church leader who works for the bishop of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota. She's a longtime former priest at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in St. Paul, where she helped manage the church's finances and encouraged people to give 10% or more of their income. She shares how much she's paid and whether it's enough — and how she tracked how much money each of her parishioners put in ...

As a Muslim, Khalid Kadir navigates personal finance differently than most of his fellow Americans. That means not obtaining traditional loans (because you're charged interest, which is forbidden) or buying conventional insurance (because it often relies on speculation). Khalid, who teaches engineering at UC Berkeley, explains how following the rules of Islamic finance has meant a much less glamorous life than he might otherwise ha...

Once upon a time, Chelsea Fagan was a financial mess. She had a credit score of around 450, debt that went to collections, and so many unpaid traffic tickets that she got arrested. She whipped herself into financial shape by writing about her journey at The Financial Diet, where she's co-founder and CEO. She explains why some of her employees earn more than she does and why you don't have to grind to succeed.

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Can you put yourself through college by selling rocks on eBay? Philip Persson did! He's a geologist and mineral dealer who's been obsessed with digging things out of the ground since he was little. Sometimes it means trespassing. And sometimes it means confronting moral questions about where amazing crystals actually come from. Phil explains the connection between rocks and his path to financial stability.

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This episode contains adult content and listener discretion is advised.

Maybe the sexiest voice you will hear on this show? Yumprincess Elle is a voice actor, writer and singer who stumbled into the world of creating audio erotica on a whim. Now she has an avid fan base and has built a new financial future by doing this style of online sex work. She says as a disabled person, creating audio porn has transformed her relationship ...

In witnessing people go through the dying process, Laura Lyster-Mensh has discovered some surprising things: family-related financial shenanigans, aloneness, and secrets come to light. She's also realized that unlike being a birth doula or a hospice nurse, being a death doula is not a way to earn money. Why? Listen to find out.

Follow Laura Lyster-Mensh:
Twitter: @lauracollinslm
Instagram: @lauraoncapitolhill

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Coss Marte is a lifelong entrepreneur and the founder of CONBODY, a workout program he created in prison that employs formerly incarcerated fitness instructors. He also founded CONBUD, a legal cannabis dispensary that's taking advantage of licenses being given to people convicted of marijuana-related offenses. Coss talked about why being in prison can be so expensive, and how finding a job post-incarceration is so difficult.

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Jeremy Bowditch is many things: Neighborhood Council Member in Los Angeles, Lakers fan, wine snob. He's not afraid to admit that what he does to make money — being a creative director in advertising — doesn't light his fire. Lately, he's focused on redistributing the wealth he discovered by marrying his wife, and on being transparent about how they actually afforded a house. 

Follow Jeremy Bowditch at:
Instagram: @jbowditch

Ingrid Nilsen was one of the quintessential YouTube stars of the 2010’s, known for her candid, girl-next-door style videos about makeup and "boyfriend-approved" outfits. Then one day, she quit YouTube, saying goodbye to her 8 million followers and the fortune that came with them. Now, Ingrid runs a fragrance company, The New Savant, that she co-founded with Erica Anderson. She gets a paycheck, but it ain't that YouTube money.

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