Weird Finance

In this episode of Weird Finance, Paco talks to Paul Montoy-Wilson about the importance of a mindful money practice, how his app, Allo works and helps users create a mindfulness and awareness around their spending, Paul's experience selling his previous company and coming into a life-changing sum of money, and how Paul applies mindful money practices to his own finances.

Paul Montoy-Wilson, originally an Electrical Engineering student at Stanford, pivoted to Computer Science following the iPhone's launch. His career took off when he led the Google Play launch, then co-founded Aviate, a mobile contextual search firm, with colleague Will. Yahoo later acquired Aviate to revitalize their search functionality.

Paul, holding a Masters in Management Science & Engineering, is deeply interested in behavioral finance. After a break following his son's birth, Paul and Will launched their current venture, Allo. Their goal is to maintain Allo's independence and help users develop positive financial habits.

For three free months, visit: https://allo.finance/promo/paco

Thank you to Chris for calling in to ask about hobbies, side hustles and taxes for this week’s Ask Paco Anything segment.

A special thanks to the talented and generous Ramsey Yount for producing, editing, and sound designing this episode. 

Thank you to Michael “Frosti” Snow for lending your voice for our special PSA. 

The theme music was written and performed by Andrew Parker, Jenna Parker, and Paco de Leon.

Stay in touch and sign up for Paco’s weekly email newsletter, The Nerdletter. If you’d like to contact us about the show or ask Paco a question about finances, call our hotline at 833-ASK-PACO or email us at weirdfinancepod (at) gmail.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Weird Finance, Paco talks to Bryce Adams about her entrepreneurial journey, how she got started as an OnlyFans creator, her philosophies about money, how she deals with the stigma of being an OnlyFans creator and her thoughts on creating content in the age of artificial intelligence. 

Bryce Adams (@fitbryceadams) is a serial entrepreneur who built her first multi-million dollar business right out of high school. Most recently, she's known for being the #1 liked creator on OnlyFans and earns in the top 0.01% of all creators on the platform. She's also the first creator on the platform to have over a million active fans. Bryce loves animals and lifting heavy weights. You can find her on Fitbryce.com and Instagram @fitbryceadams (both SFW).

This episode also features a segment called Slow and Steady with Leo by Leo Aquino (@queerandtranswealth), an award-winning author, poet, and anti-capitalist personal finance expert. 

Thank you to Michael “Frosti” Snow for lending your voice for our special PSA. 

A special thanks to the talented and generous Ramsey Yount for producing, editing, and sound designing this episode. 

The theme music was written and performed by Andrew Parker, Jenna Parker, and Paco de Leon.

Stay in touch and sign up for Paco’s weekly email newsletter, The Nerdletter.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Weird Finance, Paco talks to Amanda Holden about her journey from working in finance to teaching women how to invest, common myths that keep women from investing, paycheck routines, ethical investing, when to start saving for retirement, and easiest way to get started on your investing journey.

Amanda Holden is an award-winning money writer, speaker, educator, and... ex-finance bro. You may know her as @dumpster.doggy on the internet, where she can be found dishing out financial literacy education and flaunting her best #trashion outfits (or—if we go with cheese dress, "her outfits made of Kraft singles because she wants you to better your cheddar"). Her business is called Invested Development, where the aim is to make investing education accessible and fun. If you have felt left out of important conversations about money and investing, her work is for you! She has now taught over 20,000 students—mostly women—how to invest. 

Here is a link to Amanda’s Investing 101 Workshop, that she is offering for free to Weird Finance listners. Make sure to use coupon code WEIRD.

newsletter.

This episode also features The Price Report, a short segment with Michael “Frosti” Snow (@FrostiFresh), where he takes us on a journey, examining the cost of one thing in the hopes that it helps us better understand everything. This week we’re exploring the cost of sneakers.

Thank you to Ariel Lazarus and Bill Bittner for lending your voice for our special PSA. 

The theme music was written and performed by Andrew Parker, Jenna Parker, and Paco de Leon.

A special thanks to the talented and generous Ramsey Yount for producing, editing, and sound designing this episode.

Stay in touch and sign up for Paco’s weekly email newsletter, The Nerdletter. If you’d like to contact us about the show or ask Paco a question about finances, call our hotline at 833-ASK-PACO or email us at weirdfinancepod (at) gmail.com.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Weird Finance, Paco talks to Darren Robinson (@darrenrobinson), guitarist in the band  Phantom Planet. They discuss Darren's journey in the music industry, getting a record deal, working with friends over many decades, his love of cryptocurrency, and navigating investing. Tune in to hear about the challenges and rewards of pursuing art and the intersection of creativity and finance.

This episode also features The Economic Outlook with financial astrologer Susan Gidel. Susan, our resident economic cosmonaut, does what many humans have done before us for thousands of years: she looks to the stars to understand our economic present and predict our financial futures. For more guidance from Susan, sign up for her Red Letter Trading Days newsletter.

A special thanks to the talented and generous Ramsey Yount for producing, editing, and sound designing this episode. 

Thank you to Jess Rona and Ramsey Yount for lending your voice for our special PSA. 

The theme music was written and performed by Andrew Parker, Jenna Parker, and Paco de Leon.

Stay in touch and sign up for Paco’s weekly email newsletter, The Nerdletter.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Weird Finance, Paco talks to Shruti Joshi about the power of different perspectives, how financial literacy helps with mental health, how spending money reflects our identity and values, and how every decision is a financial decision.

Shruti (@shruti_jo) is the Chief Operating Officer of Facet, and is widely recognized for driving efficient, rapid growth at B2C and B2B companies across every stage, from startups to enterprise businesses. A former consumer tech founder and Fortune 15 executive, she has invested and advised many businesses across multiple industries on business strategies to drive client acquisition and retention and develop innovative, end-to-end client experiences. She was an early investor in Facet Wealth and has been an advisor over the last several years. She was formerly an equity partner at Altman Vilandrie & Company (AV&Co.), now Altman Solon, where she built and ran the firm’s Marketing ROI Practice. Before that, she was an executive at Verizon Communications, leading new acquisition growth for consumer FiOS and core network products.

This episode also features Loose Change, a short segment with Chris Laughter, where he walks up to random strangers on the street to ask them their thoughts, feelings, and opinions about how we relate to money and one another. 

Thank you to Bill Bittner and Ariel Lazarus for lending your voice for our special PSA. 

The theme music was written and performed by Andrew Parker, Jenna Parker, and Paco de Leon.

A special thanks to the talented and generous Ramsey Yount for producing, editing, and sound designing this episode. 

Stay in touch and sign up for Paco’s weekly email newsletter, The Nerdletter.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Weird Finance, Paco talks to Sarah Faith Gottesdiener about cultivating enoughness, how poor boundaries impact our finances, the spiral of healing in everyday life,  creating a playful relationship with creativity, and nurturing an abundance mindset.

Sarah Faith Gottesdiener (@gottesss) is an artist and business owner living in Los Angeles. She designs books, podcasts, and life curriculums for thousands of people around the planet. Her business, the Moon Studio, brings beauty and transformation into the lives others. She is passionate about art, healing, social justice, and rescue dogs.

This episode also features a segment called Stock Watch with Amanda Holden (@dumpster.doggy). In this segment, we’ll follow a stock-picking competition between a dog named Henry, a cat named Hugo, and a human baby. If you’d like to learn more about investing from Amanda, sign up for her online course, Invested Development.

A special thanks to the talented and generous Ramsey Yount for producing, editing, and sound designing this episode. 

Thank you to my friends, Samantha McVey and Anney Reese, the Stuff Mom Never Told You Podcast hosts, for lending us their voices for our special PSA.

The theme music was written and performed by Andrew Parker, Jenna Parker, and Paco de Leon.

Stay in touch and sign up for Paco’s weekly email newsletter, The Nerdletter.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Weird Finance, Paco talks to Daryl Fairweather about how economics is fundamentally about decision making, why housing is so expensive, how climate change might impact housing, and the philosophical reasons why a land value tax makes sense.

Daryl Fairweather (@FairweatherPhD) is the chief economist of Redfin. Her insights have been featured on 60 Minutes, CBS Evening News, as well as in the New York Times and Washington Post. Prior to joining Redfin, she was a senior economist at Amazon working on problems related to employee engagement and managing a team of analysts. During the housing crisis, Daryl worked as a researcher at the Boston Fed studying why homeowners entered foreclosure. Daryl received her Bachelor's of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received her Ph.D. and Master's degrees in economics at the University of Chicago where she specialized in behavioral economics. Follow Daryl on Twitter @FairweatherPhD.

This episode also features a segment called Ask Paco Anything. Thank you to our anonymous caller for their question about dating while having a vast income and wealth disparity. If you’d like to ask Paco a question, call our hotline at 833-ASK-PACO or email your question to [email protected]

A special thanks to the talented and generous Ramsey Yount for producing, editing, and sound designing this episode. And for being one of the voices in this week’s PSA, along with my friend, Jess Rona.

The theme music was written and performed by Andrew Parker, Jenna Parker, and Paco de Leon.

Stay in touch and sign up for Paco’s weekly email newsletter, The Nerdletter.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Weird Finance, Paco talks to iO Tillett Wright about his childhood in New York, how growing up in the scarce environment and surrounded by poverty has shaped him, his journey to homeownership, how he cultivates abundance and inner peace in his life, and the importance of community-oriented work.

iO Tillett Wright (@iolovesyou) is an author, screenwriter, producer, and podcast creator. He has been a public speaker, photographer, journalist, artist, curator, and actor.

iO has exhibited and curated artworks in the US, Europe, and Japan. His writing and photos have been published in the NY Times, LA Times, Vogue, T Magazine, Lenny Letter, Interview Magazine, Oyster Magazine, Refinery29, etc. His words have been published by Knopf, Ecco, Editions Du Seuil, Il Saggiatore, Virago, Ecco, Penguin, and Suhrkamp Verlag.

He is the author of Darling Days: A Memoir (Ecco, 2016), host and producer of The Ballad of Billy Balls (Cadence 13, 2019), and Power Trip, (NY Magazine, 2021/2022), creator of the TED talk “50 Shades of Gay,” and founder and photographer behind the Self Evident Truths project. He also made “Self Evident Truths: 10,000 portraits of queer America” (Prestel, 2020), wrote “Oasis: Modern Desert Homes” (2020), and the forthcoming “First Home”, both from Clarkson Potter.

He occasionally sits on rocks holding bottles of cologne and feels like an ass about it.

This episode also features The Economic Outlook with financial astrologer Susan Gidel. Susan, our resident economic cosmonaut, does what many humans have done before us for thousands of years: she looks to the stars to understand our economic present and predict our financial futures. For more guidance from Susan, sign up for her Red Letter Trading Days newsletter.

A special thanks to the talented and generous Ramsey Yount for producing, editing, and sound designing this episode. 

Thank you to my friends, Samantha McVey and Anney Reese, the Stuff Mom Never Told You Podcast hosts, for lending us their voices for our special PSA.

The theme music was written and performed by Andrew Parker, Jenna Parker, and Paco de Leon.

Stay in touch and sign up for Paco’s weekly email newsletter, The Nerdletter. If you’d like to contact us about the show or ask Paco a question about finances, call our hotline at 833-ASK-PACO or email us at weirdfinancepod (at) gmail.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Weird Finance, Paco talks to Braxton Brewington about debtor’s unions and why they’re important, how debt is used as a form of power, how unions and collectives can work together and create leverage, debt strikes, and the state of student loans.

Braxton Brewington is an organizer and spokesperson for the Debt Collective (@thdebtcollective) —the nation's first union of debtors. Braxton is a North Carolina native and proud North Carolina A&T State University graduate—the nation's largest HBCU. Braxton has worked on several local and national political campaigns from New Hampshire to Georgia. Most recently, Braxton has been working with the Debt Collective leading the charge to cancel student debt. Currently, Braxton is a Sociology PhD student at UNC Chapel Hill, where he'll be researching social movements and the media.

This episode also features a segment called Slow and Steady with Leo by Leo Aquino (@queerandtranswealth), an award-winning author, poet, and anti-capitalist personal finance expert. 

A special thanks to the talented and generous Ramsey Yount for producing, editing, and sound designing this episode. 

Thank you to Gabe Sena and Jenna Parker for lending your voice to our special PSA. 

The theme music was written and performed by Andrew Parker, Jenna Parker, and Paco de Leon.

Stay in touch and sign up for Paco’s weekly email newsletter, The Nerdletter.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Weird Finance, Paco talks to Erin Lowry about her latest book, Broke Millennial Workbook, how she’s changed her advice on emergency fund savings, ways to move away from hyper-individualistic thinking to community-based thinking, how to have conversations with your parents about money, and advice for people who are struggling in the current economy.

Erin Lowry (@brokemillennialblog) is the author of Broke Millennial, Broke Millennial Takes On Investing, Broke Millennial Talks Money and Broke Millennial Workbook. Her first book was named by MarketWatch as one of the best money books of 2017 and by Business Insider as one of the best personal finance books for 2020. Her second book was named one of the best self-help books for personal finance by VICE in 2022. She’s appeared on CBS Sunday Morning, CNBC and The Rachael Ray Show and quoted in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and has written for The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, USA Today and Bloomberg Opinion. Erin lives in New York City with her husband and their rambunctious dog.

This episode also features Loose Change, a short segment where Chris Laughter talks to strangers to ask them their thoughts, feelings, and opinions about how we relate to money and one another. This week we’re exploring the link between money and happiness.

A special thanks to the talented and generous Ramsey Yount for producing, editing, and sound designing this episode. 

Thank you to my sweet wife, Jenn Pablo for lending your voice for our special PSA. 

The theme music was written and performed by Andrew Parker, Jenna Parker, and Paco de Leon.

Stay in touch and sign up for Paco’s weekly email newsletter, The Nerdletter.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.