What happens when life strips away certainty—health, finances, identity—and asks you to rebuild from the inside out? In this powerful episode, Tammy Gooler Loeb sits down with Matt Paradise, financial wellness speaker, award-winning author, and living example of resilience. Matt shares his extraordinary journey from homelessness and addiction to a decades-long career in financial counseling and ultimately, to redefining what true wealth really means.

Matt reflects on growing up between two vastly different worlds, grappling with addiction as a teenager, and becoming sober at 18. His story unfolds through mentorship, purpose, and a growing understanding that money is rarely just about math. It’s about identity, meaning, and hope. Along the way, Matt explains the critical difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, why comparison is the thief of joy, and how unaddressed inner struggles often show up in our financial lives.

The conversation takes a profound turn when Matt shares his experience surviving a rare bile duct cancer diagnosis and liver transplant. Out of that pain emerged clarity—and his book, Financially Capable: A Friendly Guide to Building Whole-Health Wealth. This episode is an invitation to pause, reflect, and ask: What does “enough” really look like and how do we build lives that support our whole selves?

In this week’s Work from the Inside Out podcast, learn more about:

• Why financial stress is rarely just about money
• The difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
• How addiction, debt, and overwork share common emotional roots
• What it means to build Whole Health Wealth
• The role of mentorship in personal and professional transformation
• How serious illness can clarify purpose and priorities
• Why “done is better than perfect” when life is uncertain
• A practical five-step framework for meaningful change
• Reframing “have to” into “get to”
• Why hope matters—even when it’s not a strategy

Learn more about Matt:

• Read: Financially Capable: A Friendly Guide to Building Whole Health Wealth
• Visit mattparadise.com
• LinkedIn: @mattparadise
• Facebook



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