Heather Stevens is the founder of Financial Behavior Coaching, a company specializing in personal finance coaching and education for adults who still feel like kids. Since 2023, Financial Behavior Coaching has consistently provided high-quality and high-value education and coaching.
For more information, visit www.financialbehaviorcoaching.org.
Here, we sit down with Heather to get more insight into her journey as an entrepreneur.
Q. How did you get started as an entrepreneur? What inspired you?
Heather: I didn’t personally have any control over my finances until I was 28 years old. My dad managed our family’s finances growing up, and then, as every good Christian-university-educated young woman does, I got married straight out of college. I was happy to let my husband manage our finances because I got a massive pit in my stomach every time I thought of it.
When he left me, I (to no one’s surprise) had no idea what I was doing with money. I had never even paid a credit card balance. It was such an out-of-control feeling and I hated every second of it, so I started learning everything I could about managing my own finances. It turned out… I loved the control and I never wanted to give it up again. I started Financial Behavior Coaching as a way to teach others how they, too, can take control of their finances instead of letting their finances control them.
Q. What’s one thing in your routine that has made a huge difference in your personal or business life?
Heather: Consistently working out has been life-changing for me. When I’m able to wake up and get a good workout before work, I feel powerful, confident, and ready to start the day. It’s also the only hour of the day that I’m not thinking about work and productivity.
I’m so focused on what my body is physically doing I can’t think about anything else. This is a great mental break, and I find ideas come to me much more naturally during this time.
Q. Who are your mentors and inspirations? What have you learned from them?
Heather: My dad and my pastor have both been incredibly inspirational in my personal finance journey. They taught me the basics of everything I know, and they’ve been nothing but encouraging since starting Financial Behavior Coaching. They introduced a love for personal finance and taught me how to lead well by example.
Q. What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
Heather: Another big part of my business is the behavior aspect of it. As a Behavior Analyst, I incorporate my education in Applied Behavior Analysis to teach people healthy financial behaviors in a way that makes it stick.
One of my most satisfying moments in this business was after giving a presentation on what I do to a bunch of other behavior analysts. One young woman approached me and told me that my presentation had changed everything for her because it made her realize that she could use what she knew about behavior analysis to change her own financial behaviors and make personal finance more fun for her.
Q. What have been your biggest failures or challenges?
Heather: My biggest challenge has been overcoming the assumption other people have always had of me that I know nothing about money. For the first 28 years of my life, I would be the first to tell you how much I hated money because of how stressful it was to me.
The change from “I hate money” to “Come to me for all your personal finance education” was pretty abrupt, and I had many people express disbelief that I could actually know what I was talking about. Getting past these assumptions has taken time, but it has been so worth it.
Q. How did this failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?
Heather: I truly believe all challenges make us better, and this is no different. Having to push back at peoples’ assumptions and prove to them that I deserve to be where I am has not only helped me gain confidence as a financial coach and entrepreneur but also helped me prove to myself that I deserve to be where I am.
To keep up to date with Heather and her journey, connect with her on Instagram.