My Latest Musings:

  • Join me for a live, virtual Financial Therapy workshop

    by Bari Tessler March 11, 2022

    Dear Money Adventurer, Spring is in the air and I’ll be celebrating by teaching my first small-group Financial Therapy workshop in years. As in, at the last event I offered outside of my year-long Art of Money program, I was six months pregnant and wore a sign with an arrow pointing to my belly that read, “Noah inside.” It’s hard to believe that was 13 years ago now, but it’s true. So, when Revel reached out and asked if I…

    0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
  • how to turn money regrets into lessons well learned

    How to Turn Money Regrets into Lessons Well Learned

    by Bari Tessler March 1, 2022

    Dear Money Adventurer, When we look back on our lives, we may feel shame or regret at the past behaviors. The thing is, most of us make money mistakes. We all have parts of our life or money life that we wish we had done differently. Hindsight really is 20/20 – and money is no exception. The problem is that all too often, when we reflect on our journey, we carry shame over the mistakes that we’ve made, for “getting…

    0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
  • My Three Favorite Money Rituals

    Three of My Favorite Money Rituals

    by Bari Tessler February 23, 2022

    Dear Money Adventurer, Ritual is a fundamental part of being human. Throughout history, we have raised our voices in song, in prayer, and celebration. We have gathered together to dance and mourn, to rejoice in love and life, in new beginnings, and journeys come to an end. Our rituals connect us to our families, culture, values, beliefs, and ourselves. I love ritual, especially the personal rituals that we self-create for our own healing.  And most especially those rituals we self-create…

    0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
  • Two Pioneering Financial Therapists talk money emotions

    Two Pioneering Financial Therapists Talk Shop

    by Bari Tessler February 15, 2022

    Dear Money Adventurer, Community grounds and guides us, sharing wisdom, providing support and encouragement, and witnessing our journey along the way. At the very beginning of my Financial Therapy career, long before The Art of Money became what it is today, I taught my methodology as a six-week, small group course that met weekly in my living room. Little did I know that those humble beginnings would grow into my flagship, year-long money school and global community, TWO published books…

    0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

  • We Don’t Believe in Tough Love Here

    by Bari Tessler February 9, 2022

    Dear Money Adventurer, The world of money and finance has always had more than enough tough love to go around. When I first began my own money journey, I was discouraged by the cold and unyielding approach that most traditional financial advice seemed inextricably rooted in. I threw myself into my money research, but every book seemed to be written by older white men determined to tell you that there is only one right way to engage with money. The…

    0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
  • Dear Money Adventurer, The journey of growth is rarely a straightforward path. Sometimes it looks like a Cha Cha. You embark on a new direction, follow the rhythm with a sway of your hips, and, in the end, find yourself back where you started. Please know that it is totally normal and okay if this happens to you. We’ve all been there. In fact, I recently found myself doing the Cha Cha with the Art of Money. So, when I was asked why I stopped offering my Art of Money program in an Evergreen format, I wanted to share my story. Why DID I go back to our traditional launch model? My simple answer…because human nature likes a deadline. At the end of 2020, I was done with launching. I didn't like the pace, the intensity, or the energy. I had been doing it for many years and needed a break. So, I decided I would move to an Evergreen/On-demand model where folks could join The Art of Money whenever they were ready. I imagined that would be more in alignment with my business and teaching philosophy. It was working great for a while. I was running FB ads to the program, and folks were signing up directly from that one link. Then the Apple algorithm changed in late February/March 2021, and my FB ads stopped working, and my Evergreen basically stopped working for my business to run well. We still got students signing up during the evergreen but not sustainable numbers in comparison to launch numbers. So, at the end of last year, with some surrender, I decided to go back to a launch model with an open/close registration period. I accepted human nature, and my team put together a simple email series that I felt really good about giving to the world. I told my husband “no” when he recommended I do a FB live or Kickstarter call because I wanted to keep the energy simple and calm. And those calls can be really intense for me. We decided not to use FB ads (and save those resources) which was my first launch without them in years. We created a very simple email series (a new money mocha series) and put that out into the world, mostly my email list but on socials as well. And we opened registration for 12 days. We met our 2nd big goal for the registration period. Not the top goal (which usually happened in our October launch) but my 2nd tiered goal, and I'm super grateful for this. The open/close registration did better than my January registration in the last two years. And yes, the sign-ups followed a similar predictable launch pattern (even though you never know the final numbers), with a spike at the beginning, trickles coming in daily, and then a big spike at the end. We got more than half our sign-ups in the last 48 hours (especially the last 24 hours). There are always unknowns in a launch. This round, we were in the middle of a big covid spike around the country and in Europe. Also, Forest and I both had Omicron during the launch, so we were horizontal a lot of the time (and Forest was even writing some of the final launch emails this way). So, huge props to my amazing V.A. Ali The Happy VA and incredible alumni guides who were helping support the community behind the scenes and in the program. I was able to check in daily with Ali throughout the registration and then went back to sleep (or ate more chicken soup). So, while I would have loved for the Evergreen model to have worked for my business and community, it didn't. I had to adapt my thinking, surrender to the reality of human nature, and go back to a launch model - but make sure to do it in a way that was in alignment with my values and how I want to support and grow my community. That's why I had to pivot in my program registration model. For me, running a business has its ebbs and flows. It's not always a growth year. I love growth years, but some years are maintenance years or dip years due to life, health, pandemics, and changing priorities. But we always have to adapt, fine-tune, learn, and grow from it all. Thanks to everyone who helped with this Art of Money registration period. We are welcoming in a wonderful new crew of students and I'm incredibly grateful to do the work that I do. If you missed your chance to join the Art of Money, don’t sweat it! We’ll be opening registration one or two more times this year, so stay tuned! And you get on the waitlist here. Sending dear wishes,

    Peek Behind My Biz Model and Sustainable Choices

    by Bari Tessler January 31, 2022

    Dear Money Adventurer, The journey of growth is rarely a straightforward path. Sometimes it looks like a Cha Cha. You embark on a new direction, follow the rhythm with a sway of your hips, and, in the end, find yourself back where you started. Please know that it is totally normal and okay if this happens to you. We’ve all been there. In fact, I recently found myself doing the Cha Cha with the Art of Money. So, when I…

    0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest