How to find your voice by giving your fear less power over you

When Helen Lu graduated from college, she started her dream job at a Big Four Consulting company, something she had spent her entire life working towards. But soon she realized she didn't want to follow that path and work in corporate for the rest of her life.

It wasn't until Helen discovered the FI/RE (Financial Independence/Retire Early) movement and learned that retirement is not an age, it's whenever you can afford, that it finally clicked for her. She wanted to create a life for herself that would allow her to retire early and have several mini retirements along the way as opposed to feeling burnt out all the time.

So Helen started blogging and created @themoneyminimalist with the goal of creating personal finance content for the people around her, especially first generation immigrants and college graduates. She has since been featured on CNBC, Bloomberg, in Fortune Magazine, and Business Insider.

In the summer of 2021, Helen left the corporate world for a gap year to travel and work on a few passion projects of hers. 

On this episode, Helen and Thamina talk about steps you should take before taking a gap year, being a content creator, and what it means to separate your identity from your work early in life once you've been stripped away prestigious job titles. 

We live in a society that has largely normalized the medical management of women's hormones. Most doctors are very quick to prescribe hormonal birth control as remedy for any hormonal condition (PMS symptoms, heavy periods, acne, etc.) without properly educating their patients about the potential risks and side effects.

On this episode, our host Thamina is joined by Women's Health Expert Megan Haralampou, better known as The Biomedical Naturopath. Megan's purpose in life is to help women understand their menstrual cycles, hormones, and alternatives to hormonal contraception. 

Megan criticizes the severe lack of understanding about female hormones and the risks associated with hormonal birth control such as increased risk of osteoporosis. Many of her clients in their 30s and 40s that were on the pill for an extensive period of time now have the bones of a 60-year old. And that's just one example.

Megan wants women to understand why our period is actually important as fertility is not just about making babies, it's so much more than that and it is frightening how little we know. We need better education, especially for teenage women, so they feel more empowered about their menstrual cycles to be able to make educated decisions about their own bodies - instead of experiencing shame, guilt, gaslighting, and serious health consequences because we live in a society that is built for men.

If you've ever been on hormonal birth control, are currently on it, or are considering getting on it, this episode is an absolute must-listen. Your body will thank you later!

Links to previous episodes related to women's health:

• Destigmatizing Endometriosis and Women's Reproductive Health
• Managing ADHD and Dyslexia in the Workplace
• What's Going on with Abortion Rights in the US
• My Lipedema Diagnosis and Why You Should Get Checked

We're switching up our regular programming this week for a bit of a lighter episode considering the war in the Ukraine that's currently going on. Our host Thamina is sharing how her recent move to New York and trying to furnish her new apartment has led to some interesting household item obsessions. 

Did you know most women get diagnosed with ADHD much later in life than men? That's because how ADHD presents itself in girls is different from how it presents itself in boys, which is what most of the ADHD studies have been on. Being extra talkative, bubbly, and outgoing - traits that many people would classify as gender-conforming - could be signs of ADHD. 

Regardless of when people with ADHD or a learning disability get diagnosed, it can feel either validating or upsetting. Alex Gilbert was diagnosed early in life and while she felt privileged to be born into a family that could afford access to valuable resources, once she graduated from college, Alex had to learn the hard way that the same resources that had supported her throughout her academic career, simply didn't exist in the workforce. Alex had to learn how to advocate for herself and today, she is helping ADHD and dyslexia patients to do the same through her company Cape-Able Consulting.

Alex wants to change the perception around having learning disabilities and/or ADHD, and to empower those who have them. On this episode, Alex opens up about her own journey and shares valuable tips on how people who suffer from ADHD or dyslexia can better advocate for themselves at work.

We are back from our winter break with our first episode of 2022! Our host Thamina has a few very eventful weeks behind her after moving to New York. After two of her recent LinkedIn posts where she talked about her move went viral, hundreds of people from all over the world have reached out to Thamina to congratulate her on this achievement and ask for advice on how to replicate her success. 

On this episode, Thamina reflects on how she managed to pull off her internal transfer from Dublin, Ireland to New York and got visa sponsorship from her company. As we find out, her learnings are applicable to almost any professional goals one can set for themselves. 

As another year is coming to an end, it's time to start thinking about what you want to achieve in 2022. Our host Thamina loves setting ambitious goals for herself but also knows that sticking to your New Year's resolutions can be quite overwhelming. On this episode, she shares an approach - based on James Clear's infamous 1 Percent Rule - that will significantly increase the chances of you actually achieving the goals you set for yourself - without the overwhelm.

When Emily graduated from her Master’s Program in May 2020, she was close to $200,000 in debt and was entering the economy during a global pandemic. About six months later, Emily started her blog "Sometimes Sensible"  where she talks about financial wellness and investing education. 

On this episode, our host Thamina and Emily talk about navigating conversations around debt with your partner and how someone who has loans can still be smart about money while enjoying life at the same time. Emily - who supported herself through college and grad school - also explains under which circumstances it makes sense to invest while paying off debt and when it is financially smarter to solemnly focus on paying off loans first.

Check out Emily's Instagram post on “Should I invest while I’m paying my student loans”.

You can find Nerdwallet's Compound Interest Calculator that Emily was mentioning here. 

Check out Emily's book recommendation "I will teach you to be rich".

Last week, the US Supreme Court kicked off hearings that could lead to the - inexplicit but effective - overturning of the infamous Roe vs. Wade ruling from 1973 that made abortions a constitutional right. With new, extreme abortion bans being introduced across many US states - most recently in Texas - the highly politicized debate between pro-life and pro-choice supporters has never been more polarized.

On this episode, our host Thamina - a vocal pro-choice supporter - sheds some light on this ongoing debate and shares some sound bites from the recent protests in Washington DC.

Today, our host Thamina officially shared with the world that her life-long dream of moving to New York City has finally come true. And her post has gone viral. On this episode, we find out how far she's come and why you always have to fight for your dreams. 

May Thamina's story serve as motivation and as an inspiration for you and all the other hardworking badass women out there. If you can dream it, you can do it! 

Listen to the episode and then, let's make sh*t happen!

Do you have trouble relaxing until you have checked off all items on your to do list? Do you feel the need to be productive all the time?

If the answer is yes, then you are suffering from productivity guilt. Our host Thamina has had her fair share of feeling guilty when not being productive 24/7 and she shares a few perspective shifts that have helped her find a healthier balance.