What It's Actually Like to Work With Me
I know you may be curious about what actually happens in a 1:1 session with Jenn Uhen CFEI®. And while every session is tailored to you, here’s a little peek behind the curtain. "Financial coaching" can mean anything from a budget lecture to a sales pitch for an annuity. And you will absolutely not get either of those from me.
So I went back through my session notes to show you. Every client's details stay private, but the patterns are real. Here's what working with me looks like.
You get your own Financial Journey doc
Every client gets their own living document. It's the same frame every time, and it grows with you:
Financial Goals. Your Big Financial Goal (BFG) up top, with smaller milestone goals outlined.
Celebrations. A running list of wins, big and small.
Commitments. What you said you'd do before we meet again.
Session Notes. Dated notes from every session.
The BFG starts as a madlib: By [date], I am financially [stable, independent, free, secure, confident], meaning that [define that state]. Then we add a number.
That last part matters. One client's first draft was "financially abundant, meaning my money aligns with my values and allows for spontaneity." Beautiful. Also not yet measurable. So the doc literally says "include a number here" until we find it together.
Every session starts with "What's Important Today?"
I don't show up with an agenda for you. You tell me what's on your mind, and that becomes the agenda. Some real examples from my notes:
"I want a financial plan."
"Do I take a mortgage on this house or pay cash?"
"How do I account for a pension in my wealth tracker?"
"What would it take for me to be work optional?"
"What does my business need to look like for me to earn $100k a year?"
Then we work it, live. Sometimes that's big-picture: a brain dump of every way you want to use money in your lifetime, spending, investing, giving, earning. Sometimes it's hands-on: building a plan for a $5,000 windfall, or opening your tracker and figuring out where the numbers go.
I bring frameworks, not a script
A few tools show up again and again:
The Three Components of Financial Confidence. Knowledge (what does future you know?), Practice (how will you build the skills?), and your Financial A-Team (who supports you?).
Fiscal vs. behavioral. More on this below. It's the heart of how I coach.
Number Clarity. What questions do you have that your numbers can give you the answer.
And you leave with resources picked for your question: an article, a podcast episode, a calculator, a blog post. Not a generic reading list.
The math is half the answer
I'm a CFEI® with a focus in behavioral finance, and it shows. Most money questions have a fiscal answer and a behavioral answer, and I want you to see both.
Take the mortgage question. The fiscal side: currently the stock market is earning more than the loan rate, so borrowing looks smart on paper. The behavioral side: without a monthly house payment, will you stay intentional, or will the extra money quietly drift? Neither answer is wrong. You're the one who knows which risk you'd rather carry.
We talk about the feelings, too
Some of my favorite moments in these notes aren't about numbers at all:
"Release the could've, should've, would've." Looking back at old choices isn't useful. Being intentional now is.
"Focus on the dollars, not the cents." Big levers first. The latte can wait.
"Why do you want to own a house?" Not to talk anyone out of it, but to make sure the goal is yours and not just the default script.
Future You, Present You, Past You. Are you taking care of all three?
One client compared her money journey to building a workout habit. It took ten years, lots of starting and stopping, and each restart felt a little softer until it stuck. I asked what she'd tell her younger self. "There wasn't a shortcut. I just needed to go through it." That's the energy I want in the room: patient, honest, no shame.
You leave with commitments, and we celebrate the follow-through
Every session ends with a short list of next steps you choose. Real ones from my notes:
Determine your Coast FI number.
Talk to your tax pro about becoming an S-Corp.
Add irregular bills, like car insurance, to your tracker.
Come up with short-term goals that serve your BFG.
Do a financial forecast, then gut-check it: do I have the time, money, and energy to deliver this?
Commitments that don't get done yet? They carry forward. No guilt, just visibility.
And when you come back, we start with celebrations. Here are a few my clients have logged:
Booked a first financial advisor meeting in years, and asked my dad (a CFP®) for an "official" money talk.
Paid cash for a house after weighing both sides
Tax season was "a breeze" thanks to an organized Financial A-Team.
Got the whole family's income into a wealth tracker for the first time.
Planned the kids' first Disney trip, and aren't stressing about paying for it.
Charged for a new offering and made a few hundred dollars.
Some of these are huge. Some are small. All of them go on the list because these celebrations build financial clarity and financial confidence. And they get you closer to your Big Financial Goal!
Is this for you?
The people I work with aren't in crisis, and they aren't clueless. They're earning well, often doing a lot right, and still feel like something is missing. Usually it's one of these:
Clarity. "I want a plan, and I want to know I'm on track."
Choices. "I want to be work optional, take a sabbatical, or try a lower-stress career."
Confidence. "I know enough to manage this myself. I just want to level up."
I work with individuals and couples to build the life they want (because every goal is a financial goal).
What I'm not: a financial advisor who manages your money or sells you products. I'm the person who helps you figure out what you want, understand your options, and build your Financial A-Team.
Let's talk
If any of this sounds like you, book a 1:1 session. Bring whatever's on your mind. We'll start where every session starts: what's important to you right now?
