Where are you located?
I’m located in Oregon’s beautiful Willamette Valley. I lived in Salem for nearly 30 years, but I’ve moved back to my hometown of Eugene to be closer to family.
How do I set up an “info session”?
Rather than have you fill out some generic intake form, I like to get to know my potential clients a little before our first “official” session. These info sessions are fairly quick (about an hour), so we’re not taking up a whole bunch of your time!
I’ll ask you a few questions to get to know you and your situation a bit to make sure I can help you. Of course, we’ll take all the time we need for you to ask questions, too! From there, if you’re also feeling good about working with me, we can schedule the first actual financial coaching session.
You can call or text me at (503) 908-3425.
How long are sessions?
Most sessions are about an hour long.
If our session runs a little long and we both have time in our schedules to continue… no problem!
How often do we meet?
At first we’ll probably meet every week, but that streteched out to every two weeks after just a few sessions. The sessions tend to find their own rhythm based on our schedules and what we’re working on. The “normal” rhythm is about every two weeks. That stretches out about once a month as we are beginning to develop your customized, adaptive budget (oh ya we’re going there).
I typically don’t offer standing appointments, but we can schedule out several sessions to make pre-planning easier on everyone!
Clients who have “graduated” typically meet with me every six months.
What do you mean by “graduated”?
My job is to be out of a job eventually! I aim to get you to the point where you don’t need me. Here’s what I say to my clients: When you start thinking, “Huh… Hanna isn’t as clever as I once thought,” then you’re getting close to the point where you no longer need me!
There is no expectation for when that should happen.
Graduated clients typically still meet with me every six months or so to check in, set new goals, and head off any concerns for the future. These check ins are never charged for.
Very rarely, about 4% of the time my clients will restart coaching for a short run. This typically happens if there’s been a big disruption or big opportunity!
What is your cancellation/rescheduling policy?
We do not charge for missed/rescheduled appointments, as it feels punitive and counters my coaching philosophy.
If you purchase a discounted bundle missed/rescheduled appointments do not count towards your remaining sessions
What is your refund policy?
If you are not satisfied with coaching you’ll be refunded 100% of your money.
Do you have evening and weekend appointments?
Evenings… certainly. Most of my clients have “normal people” jobs and are all over the country, so I’m pretty comfortable with evenings.
I occasionally experiment with Saturday appointments. Just kind of depends on what’s going on!
Do you offer free info sessions?
Yes!
Do you offer in-person sessions?
Rarely, but I absolutely love in-person sessions! If you’re local, let’s find time to visit in person!
What do you do in sessions with clients?
You’ll catch me asking a lot of questions and taking a bunch of notes.
Our time together will NOT be an interrogation. A session is a conversation, and you are the boss of that conversation!
My job is to listen, offer tools and strategies, and reflect to you.
Will there be homework?
Most likely, yes. But you’ll be assigning yourself homework most of the time. I may offer suggestions, but you can tell me to kick rocks if you like. Most homework should take about 5 minutes a day to complete.
Homework isn’t based in compliance, only practicing skills and concepts!
What happens if I see you outside of a session?
It doesn’t happen very often, but I’ll wait for you to greet me if we happen to meet out of session. I won’t bring up anything we’ve talked about or that I’m your financial coach.
BUT, if you want to talk shop, let’s talk! You will be in control of that conversation.
What should I do to get the most out of working with you?
Some of the tools, strategies, and games I’ll teach you may seem like they’re coming out of left field. I know you have no reason to, but I ask that you give me a few minutes of trust – trust that I’m going somewhere with whatever I’m bringing up.
Often, the weirdest, smallest, most oblique interventions are the ones that I get the most pushback on (and they’re always the most effective). Ask me why everyone hates the Tiny Trials game!
Ok, but the single biggest thing you can do if you want to move quickly and easily through this process is probably the hardest thing I could ask of you, and that’s to be gentle with yourself.
What does trauma-informed mean?
Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) works from the assumption that everyone has experienced trauma at some point in their lives. Because talking about finances has the potential to traumatize (and re-traumatize) you, I am always aware of and respectful of the six guiding principles of TIC: safety, trustworthiness, transparency, collaboration and mutuality, empowerment, and gender/cultural/historical concerns.
The Pacific Stoa curriculum has been built with TIC at its foundation.
Trauma-informed does not mean trauma-focused.
What is the Pacific Stoa curriculum?
I built the Pacific Stoa Curriculum because I saw a huge gap between the fundamental mechanics of money (financial literacy) and soft skills practices. Over time it’s been stitched together with mechanical money strategies with the behavioral/emotional tools of disciplines like Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Psychology, Motivational Interviewing, philosophy, and Behavioral Economics. By blending these varied fields of study, the curriculum has grown into an adaptive, living, “choose-your-own-adventure” style program that evolves all the time. Your path through the curriculum will be very different from anyone else’s!
What financial information do I need to have on hand to begin working with you?
Nothing. No, seriously… nothing. We’ll get to the numbers eventually. (Seriously!)
How many sessions will I need?
There is not a prescriptive number of sessions. On average, my clients have 12-19 meetings with me. Some have many more; some have less.
Let’s find out together!
Are you (Hanna) the only coach?
At the moment, yes, but I’m training three absolutely amazing Apprentice Coaches and they’ll soon be ready to coach too!
Is swearing allowed?
It’s allowed and encouraged but not mandatory. I do occasionally slip, so if you are swear-averse, please accept my apologies in advance.
Do you ever get tired of talking about money all day?
Nope! My clients and I only talk about money about 25% of the time, so really, I don’t get burned out on that. I’ll never tire of watching you change your life. People are so amazing!
What if my pet or child interrupts our session?
Bring it on! Rabbits, cat butts, dog barks, snakes, naked toddlers, naked housemates… I’ve seen it all.
AND I also routinely knock things off my desk and injure myself in dumb ways during sessions. I’ll try not to make this apparent to you.
Where are your testimonials?
Confidentiality is something I take seriously. The stories you see on the home page are composites with stock photos and fictional names. I do ask my clients for their feedback regularly, but I don’t use their comments to market myself, only for training and development
Are you a current or past client looking to leave a testimonial? Yay! Thank you! You’re welcome to leave a review on my google my business profile.
What are you drinking in the big cup?
Ok, what’s with the red lipstick?
What if I cry?
I will cry with you.
What is blue and smells like red paint?
Blue paint.