In this episode, Christine Brunsden shares her innovative approach to creating an integrated system she calls an Ability Ecosystem that connects policy, technology, finance, and social services to empower individuals with disabilities. Her platform called Benefits2 aims to transform fragmented systems into seamless, accessible support networks, ultimately fostering a society where ability diversity drives innovation and inclusion.

If today’s conversation resonated with you, Christine is building the infrastructure the disability community was never given. Join the waiting list here.

Takeaways:
🪴Personal and professional experiences shaping a vision for an ability ecosystem
🧬The fragmentation of disability support systems in healthcare, finance, and government
🪴Challenges families face navigating complex bureaucratic processes
🧬The importance of early data collection and medical record management
🪴How AI can revolutionize understanding and access to benefits
🧬The staggering $15 billion unclaimed Disability Tax Credit (DTC) annually
🪴Barriers created by misconceptions and gatekeeping within medical systems
🧬The potential of the Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) for long-term financial stability
🪴The role of advocacy, community, and technology in closing gaps for disabled populations

Quotes:
“We all feel like we’re in a camouflage maze, hunting for hidden doors and keys.”
“Chance is not going to fix this. It’s not just inclusion. It’s system redesign.”
“Experience intelligence is lived experience plus professional experience plus contextual understanding.”
“Why are we leaving it up to chance to connect the dots?”
“We need to start taking agency over our own medical records from day one.”
“There are 200+ benefits, and no one is guiding people to them.”
“Fifteen billion dollars a year is left unclaimed - just from one credit.”
“Gatekeepers, often unintentionally, keep people away from the support they need.”
“I don’t feel like this is work I chose - I feel like it chose me.”

Chapters:
00:00 - Introducing the need to rethink system design for disability inclusion
02:16 - Christine’s background and motivation rooted in personal experience
03:04 - Signals indicating systems weren't designed for people with disabilities
04:31 - Navigating fragmentation: The maze of benefits, forms, and programs
10:40 - The challenge of uncoordinated EMR systems and need for early agency
12:26 - The transition from childhood to adulthood and medical record continuity
15:23 - How CRA’s medical record requests complicate benefit access
16:51 - The importance of medical record management from day one
19:13 - The enormous unclaimed benefits: $15 billion in DTC alone
20:23 - The gap in healthcare professional knowledge about disability benefits
21:17 - The negligible training hours on disability criteria for medical professionals
22:40 - The impact of barriers on everyday expenses and quality of life
23:50 - Economic multiplier effects of unlocking unclaimed benefits
24:34 - The societal benefits of enabling access and reducing gatekeeping
26:04 - Misconceptions among doctors about disability and eligibility
27:14 - The critical role of early diagnosis, records, advocacy in financial planning
30:48 - The untapped potential of AI in identifying eligibility through medical data
32:39 - Harnessing AI for clarity, access, and advocacy in medical records
34:48 - Addressing the we

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In this episode, Gillian interviews Kristine Beese, founder and CEO of Untangle Money, explores how emotional clarity around money can unlock time, energy, and attention, leading to a more flourishing life. She discusses gendered financial equity, the emotional triggers of money, and practical tools for women to improve their financial confidence.

What’s fascinating that came out of this conversation is the extent to which financial planning tools, investment solutions and traditional savings trajectories completely miss the oscillating nature of the typical woman’s earning pattern. As a result of time away from earning to bear and raise children, and or care for parents and family members, there is an additional “tax” on women’s ability to create financial freedom in addition to the existing pay equity gap.

This is an excellent episode to gather valuable intel to help women assess and create systems to start working around this reality instead of wondering why the journey to wealth independence seems stacked against.


Key Topics
😌Emotional triggers of money and their impact
💰Gendered financial experiences and systemic biases
😌Practical tools for financial confidence and planning
💰The role of side hustles in wealth building
😌The potential of AI to personalize financial advice


Quotes
• “There’s so much going on before you’ve even looked at the numbers that money becomes triggering.”
• “Women have a different financial lived experience, and the tools weren’t designed for that.”
• “If the algorithm assumes money you’ll never earn, the plan is going to fail you slowly.”
• “The biggest competitor we have is doing nothing—avoiding looking at the money.”
• “Avoidance eats up time, creates anxiety, and turns money into something bigger than it is.”
• “Once people actually look at their numbers and understand them, everything starts to change.”
• “We don’t tell people what to do—we show them the trade-offs so they can decide.”
• “Most people are doing really great—they just haven’t been given the tools to see it.”
• “When you feel calm and clear about money, you improve all the other areas of your life.”


Chapters
00:00 Money and Emotional Well-being
00:58 Introducing Christine Beze and Untangle Money
02:08 Why Money Triggers Emotions and Stories
03:19 Gendered Financial Experiences and Biases
05:37 Designing Financial Tools for Women
06:09 Life Stages and Financial Data Points
07:37 Women’s Career and Earnings Patterns
09:08 Pay Gaps in Male-Dominated Fields
10:46 Societal Value and Early Money Lessons
11:42 How Untangle Money Works
16:12 Iterative Process and Confidence Building
20:14 The Power of Writing Down Numbers
21:08 Outsourcing Trust and the Google Effect
22:06 Side Hustles as Wealth Building Tools
27:14 Self-Sabotage and Avoidance in Finances
30:00 Changing Perspectives on Housing and Lifestyle
35:43 The Role of Self-awareness and Embodiment
38:12 Values, Trade-offs, and Joy in Spending
40:18 The Future of AI in Financial Planning


Check out Kristine’s work!
Untangle Money - https://untangle.money
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinebeese/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristine.beese/



#flourish #wealth #wealthmanagement #investing #advisor #KnowThyWealthKnowThyself

Connect with Gillian:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gillian-stovel-rivers-ma-cfp%C2%AE-cea-997094124/?originalSubdomain=ca
https://x.com/GillianStovelR
https://www.instagram.com/gillianstov...
https://flourishfamilywealth.com/

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This conversation with David Clancy explores how elite sports systems can be redesigned to foster human flourishing, sustainability, and collective flow. We discuss signals of high-performance environments, trust, leadership, and the potential for sports to serve as laboratories for cultural change beyond the stadium.

David is a good friend of mine from Dublin, Ireland, with a long history of work, knowledge and development at the nexus of sport, positive psychology and flow. His experience improving the ecosystems of excellence for Premiere League soccer teams, NHL, NFL, NBA and numerous other sports gives him a unique perspective on what it takes for teams to thrive, and his views on how to shift athletes from being seen as “assets” to being treated as valued humans is both refreshing and insightful.


Key Topics
⚽Signals of high-performance environments
⭐Trust and leadership in sports teams
⚽Sustainable athlete development and well-being


Quotes
"All the small things say all the big things"
"Energy and attention are interconnected"
"Scale with strong systems and routines"
“High performance environments aren’t built on intensity alone - they’re built on clarity, trust, and sustainable energy.”
“The second you walk into a team, you can feel it - alignment or ambiguity lives in the air.”
“All the small things say all the big things. No small thing is ever a small thing in a great culture.”
“Where attention goes, energy flows - and ultimately, performance follows.”
“Most systems in sport are built to extract performance, not to sustain the human producing it.”
“If you want long-term success, stop treating athletes like assets and start treating them like ecosystems.”
“The best teams don’t eliminate pressure - they create safety inside of it.”
“Clarity and communication come before collaboration. If you miss those, everything else fractures.”
“Scaling performance isn’t about adding more people - it’s about tightening systems and repeating what works.”


Chapters
00:00 The Influence of Professional Sport on Human Development
02:42 David Clancy: A Catalyst for Change in Sports
06:10 Assessing Team Environments: Signals of Performance
10:46 Transforming Athlete Well-being: A Systemic Approach
15:56 Sustainable Models in Sports: Long-term Success vs. Short-term Gains
19:13 Collective Flow: The Power of Team Cohesion
22:17 Leadership and Its Impact on Team Dynamics
25:39 Mapping Energy and Trust in Teams
26:59 Understanding PERMA: A Framework for Well-Being
28:20 The Intersection of Energy and Attention
31:58 Protecting Cognitive Bandwidth in Teams
37:27 Creating Change at Scale in Professional Sports
40:33 The Need for Well-Being Standards in Sports
45:46 Leveraging AI for Enhanced Performance



Check out David’s work and other sources discussed!
The Nxt Level Group
LinkedIn
Harvard Study of Adult Development
Amy Edmondson's Psychological Safety
PERMA Model by Martin Seligman
Reid Hoffman's Masters of Scale Podcast


#flourish #wealth #wealthmanagement #investing #advisor #KnowThyWealthKnowThyself

Connect with Gillian:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gillian-stovel-rivers-ma-cfp%C2%AE-cea-997094124/?originalSubdomain=ca
https://x.com/GillianStovelR
https://www.instagram.com/gillianstov...
https://flourishfamilywealth.com/

Send TFFP your thoughts!