We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brooke Benson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Brooke, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

I teach anti-budget money management. So many people, including creatives, are unable to stick to a budget (or can’t even imagine opening up a spreadsheet), but all the financial books + gurus out there teach some mort of budgeting as a crucial building block to financial wellness. I disagree. Instead of shaming people for being unable to stick to a plan that feels deprivational + boring, I help them build a simple money flow system that removes the need for a budget. Making money fun, simple, + sexy.

Brooke, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Brooke Benson, AEA actor + Money Coach, founder of Not Starving Artists. I teach self-employed creatives (and anyone who doesn’t resonate with traditional money advice) how to set up a simple money management plan, build a healthy relationship with money, and decrease financial anxiety.

Being an actor, I was fed the “starving artist” narrative since day one: “your heart will be full, but your bank account will be empty.” But that never sat right with me. Everyone should have access to financial wellness, no matter what your income or career or lifestyle. I wanted to create strategies to manage money that were inclusive, ones that combined tangible logistics + mindset work. I created these systems + strategies for myself in college when I realized I wasn’t going to be given any real financial education in how to navigate a creative a career path.

I provided 1:1 coaching to those who desire a financial uplevel, more ease + joy when thinking about money, to remove financial stressors, to have an action plan towards their money goals. Money touches every single part of our lives, and I want to provide a space to make that relationship one of ease + excitement, rather than anxiety + avoidance.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Budgeting ruined my mental health. I used to LOVE budgeting – the numbers, the spreadsheet, the control. I ate that shit UP…but I was also have panic attacks about money twice a month. I felt like it could all go away at any second. Every single dollar I spent carried so much weight.

What was happening was that I was using budgeting as a way to feel some sort of control over a life I felt I had no control over. One as a freelance, self-employed, creative.

Budgeting became an obsession. An unhealthy one.

Although it took me a while to realize this because budgeting was a ~good thing~, something ~responsible people~ did.

I finally hit a breaking point when I saw $23k in my savings account and still felt broke. still felt crazy money anxiety.

I decided to say “screw budgeting” and start the process of learning to trust myself with money. To truly get into bed with my money. Understand my spending habits, not shame them or try to stop them. Look at my numbers and allow myself to feel what comes up without any intention of “controlling” what those numbers “should” look like in the future. What made me feel good? What didn’t? Why? What did I want my numbers to look like? WHY? What do I truly want? What do I need to get there? Where am I currently at?

And a crazy thing happened:

I actually started spending less. The things I was spending money on that didn’t improve my life started to naturally fall away. I started to feel calmer. I was feeling more joy when spending money, even on things like rent and bills. I let my feelings lead the way instead of numbers. I stopped putting my worth and morality into whether to not the numbers lined up in my spreadsheet. I treated myself like an adult that could manage her money well without strict rules.

The best part? I was still able to save and invest. And my headspace had more room and energy to focus on increasing my income as well.

This is why I teach a feelings-first money management strategy, so that you like the numbers in your bank account AND you like the thoughts going on in your head about money. Ease + joy, in all the ways.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Focusing first and foremost on helping people. Realizing there was a need for money management strategies that didn’t feel stuffy + boring + unattainable, and I met my people there. I am continually creating new tools + frameworks based specifically on my clients pain points and what they’re working through. I demystify confusing financial concepts + jargon, and I believe that’s what makes my business + coaching containers successful, because they’re accessible + simply. There isn’t anyone else in the industry who blends money mindset + tangible logistics, which is what makes a financial uplevel actually sustainable. You can put yourself on a rapid debt payoff plan, but if you’re not working on my brain + identity in the process to become someone who doesn’t have debt, you will end up racking that debt back up again, or you won’t have the habits in place to actually follow-through with the plan.

Contact Info:

• Website: notstarvingartists.com
• Instagram: @notstarvingartists