From Homeless Teen to Financial Wellness Visionary with Matt Paradise - 120

What does it really mean to lead from lived experience? In this episode of the Leading Visionaries, host Anjel B. Hartwell sits down with Matt Paradise, a financial wellness speaker, award-winning author, and resilience-driven leader whose life journey spans homelessness, addiction recovery, cancer survival, and entrepreneurship.

This episode is a reminder that vision requires capacity, leadership requires hope, and sustainable success begins when we humanize the bottom line.

What You Will Learn:

How lived experience can become a powerful foundation for visionary leadership.

Why financial stress is never just about money, and how it impacts emotional health, decision-making, and performance.

The difference between financial wellness and financial survival.

How the eight domains of wellbeing are interconnected and inseparable.

Why vision without stability is difficult to sustain.

How mentors and external intervention can radically alter life trajectories.

What it means to lead from service rather than status.

Why healthcare professionals are uniquely vulnerable to financial stress and burnout.

How reducing financial stress improves focus, creativity, and organizational outcomes.

Why hope is an essential ingredient in leadership, healing, and long-term success.

Resource:

Matt Paradise

Website

Leading Visionaries Podcast

Join the Leading Visionaries Community

Make a Donation to Support the Show

Creative Age Consulting Group

LVP 120 Matt Paradise

===

Now here's your host, Anjel b Hardwell.

Anjel: Welcome to another episode of the Leading Visionaries Podcast, where we celebrate the ingenious, insightful, innovative, and inspired leading visionaries of our time, and provide our listeners with world class examples of the kind of courage. Clarity and confidence it takes to bring visions into reality.

His inspiring story of pain to purpose marked by overcoming bile duct cancer and a liver transplant makes him relatable and memorable Today, Matt's practical tools help leaders and teams overcome financial stress resulting in stronger individuals and better business growth. We are so excited to have you here.

Welcome to the show, Matt.

Matt: Thank you so much, Anjel. I'm grateful to be here.

How gratitude has been a part of your leadership journey? Were you, you know, the little kid in Cub Scouts that was making all the rest of the kids line up when it was time to go outside or, you know, were you, did you, your leadership journey kind of emerge over time through your journey?

Matt: How was the kid who caused chaos in the Cub Scout line?

My mom was my den leader, and she can attest. Very much to that. I went through the Boy Scouts and made it one short of Eagle Scout, which is life, mostly because I got into drugs and alcohol. So my leadership journey really came from some charisma and my personality, and I still through that time, drew people to the chaos.

And for anyone, maybe you can't relate to drug or alcohol addiction, but maybe you can relate to a deep character change that you really, really want to. Bring about change in your life so that you can reach different specific goals. If you've ever tried to move location in search of deeper intrinsic change, you may have found that wherever we go, we're still there.

I needed a job. I was a high school dropout without a whole lot of corporate skills. There's certainly some transferrable skills in sales and things like that, but I needed work

Anjel: transferable skills from drug dealing, right?

So we want, I won't go too far down that road, but there's a, for anybody who's interested in sort of, we'll call it more off color research, Freakonomics is a wonderful book that I enjoy that really digs into not only the economics of drug dealing, but many other things as well. Wow, so

Anjel: wow.

Matt: I applied to a company called American Consumer Credit Counseling.

I obtained my GD some different college, some different certifications around personal finance, financial education, identity theft, identity fraud and such, and. As the organization grew, I had greater and greater opportunity as well to continue my growth.

Anjel: Mm-hmm.

Matt: I saw so many people who came for counseling and coaching, not just in deep financial debt, but in deep emotional distress.

I remember a call within the first five minutes. Someone asked, should I just divorce my spouse? Those financial infidelity, they've racked up a whole bunch of credit cards without me knowing should I just leave them? And at that time, as like a 20, maybe 20-year-old kid still, I was like, wow, that's heavy.

And really ran the gamut as far as financial education, keynotes and workshops were concerned. So went into the Federal Reserve Bank, worked with the FDIC to create a program with the Department of Corrections to bring in other credit unions and financial institutions, banks to bring financial literacy.

And that's where my leadership really started to grow and develop. I was invited to different boardrooms that I never imagined existed. Nevermind imagined being invited to. Yeah. And the education again, was just very much hands on. I started leading some different coalitions, statewide coalitions here in Massachusetts around financial education.

I

Anjel: would do four 500 mean. It seems like you have leadership down pat. The leadership piece here Yeah. Is definitely down pat. So a couple of things I want our listeners to hear. The first thing I want them to hear is, you know, you were in a place where it really took some intervention, this outside mentor to say you have possibility.

Which can sometimes show up in the form of an inspiration. Sometimes it shows, in your case, it was the inspiration to go find a job somewhere, right? At that, at that stage. But sometimes for some people it might be the inspiration to start a business or it might be the inspiration to you know, to begin an initiative.

And, you know, obviously from your leadership journey there, there were many initiatives that came out of you as you went on your leadership journey. The third thing that I wanna underscore here is when you began speaking with people about money, there's this huge connection between money and depth that a lot of people don't realize is there.

Matt: Sure.

Anjel: Yeah. So why don't you describe your, your vision of financial wellness for people?

Matt: Yeah. So. I think that really is, is an important topic because so often people focus on money as math, and it's not, it's energy, it's emotions.

There's so much more wrapped up into it. Money's a tool how it's used makes a significant difference. I was busy, as I was saying. I would do four or 500 workshops or so in a year, and it took cancer to slow me down a little bit so that I could bring my thoughts together. And one of the opportunities through that cancer was the ability to write a book, and it's called Financially Capable.

The eight domains of wellbeing are inseparable. Our environmental, our spiritual, our emotional, our physical, our relational, our occupational, our financial, all of the domains of wellbeing are inseparable. So financial, wellbeing, and quote unquote achieving that wellbeing. I say quote unquote, because I perceive it more so as a journey.

Anjel: Mm-hmm.

Matt: So it's important for each of us to consider where. One, we excel where our natural strengths and talents and gifts are. Maybe it's physically blessed. We have a 15-year-old that like no matter how hard he tries to eat junk food, chug chocolate milk, he still has an incredible physique and continues to get stronger and stronger as a 250 pound six seven individual.

Not everybody can necessarily relate to or understand coming from poverty or not. Everybody can relate to or understand drug or alcohol addiction. Certainly many can understand process addictions and whether that's overspending, whether that's do scrolling and going through and spending time and checking out emotionally and looking for that next hit of dopamine.

All of those things very much impact our psyche and our overwhelm.

Anjel: Well, yeah. Beautiful. We're gonna take a quick break, Matt, when we come back, we're gonna dive in a little bit more to, uh, how you help people. But right now. Listeners, are you a leading visionary or in the role of leading other visionaries?

Discover more about this opportunity@leadingvisionariespodcast.com slash creative H Leader Lab. Or click the Connect with Anjel button on the website to apply and qualify for a consultation for more personalized access and support. Be sure to share this show in your own spirals of influence with the people who you think might benefit from our content.

ad: The Leading Visionaries podcast is brought to you by the Creative Age Consulting Group. Are you the one who thinks differently? Who is called to create a significant conscious change in the world? Who is seeing and dreaming of a better way for your industry? Your community humanity creative age consulting group is hired to guide leading visionaries just like you, who want to break through the static in order to clearly express and confidently enroll support for their vision in a way that makes it inevitable.

The book is yours by visiting gift dot Leading visionaries podcast.com.

Anjel: And we are back with Matt Paradise. Before we went to the break, I said I'd let you know where you could find out more about him and what he is offering. You can go to matt paradise.com. That's Matt paradise.com. We will have that for you in the show notes. So before we went to the break, we were talking about this idea of financial wellness.

Matt: for the

Anjel: book for you. Maybe what your own experience has been with becoming visionary and starting your own business. Like I'm assuming, maybe I'm making an assumption that you left behind American Credit and now you have your own entrepreneurial venture.

So I'd love to hear the story for you both from the vision perspective as well as maybe even the money perspective.

After I resigned, uh, was invited to do so and really enjoy creating additional visions for growth and how we can bring financial wellbeing to those who are struggling with debt, not just the financial, but also the emotional aspects of it as well. So the vision, and I think it's so important, there's a saying where vision is lacking.

Even nations collapse and vision is just vitally important for all of us. Whether it's a systemic type of vision, uh, that we have for systems thinking or a vision for our own selves, a vision for our family, a vision for our business. It's critical. It's vital, um, because it also brings with. Hope, and hope too often is lacking.

ad: Hmm.

Matt: Having a vision and having hope for a better future really is essential so that today we continue the work that we'll build that future we can proceed as if success is inevitable.

Anjel: And

Matt: when we proceed as success being inevitable, then of course I'm gonna put in the work, the time, the effort, the energy, to build something for the future because that success is guaranteed for ourselves, for our businesses, for our families. So my vision really has been honed in service. So my journey of pain to purpose is one where I want to help others who are having a hard time.

Six months after that, I was diagnosed with bile duct cancer. Quoted on the table. It was a challenge. That challenge opened my eyes to the plight of those who care for others.

Anjel: Mm-hmm.

Matt: So many young individuals, nurses, doctors, healthcare professionals, or well credentialed, well-educated, and also burdened with burnout, stress student debt.

The world shut down, essentially.

Anjel: Yeah.

Matt: And it hit me with immense gratitude that I was in a position of privilege to receive world-class healthcare because so many around the world don't. There were so many stories from India where people were traveling many, many, many miles just to get some access to basic healthcare.

Anjel: Hmm.

Matt: In the United States and rural areas, there's a lack of physicians and healthcare professionals where people struggle to get basic healthcare with a specific rare cancer cholangiocarcinoma. I see people all around the world who don't have access to the same research, the same trials, the same medicines that have a cure, and therefore the prognosis is fairly grim.

Matt: It was the last time that I was confined to the hospital inpatient due to a setback from my transplant. And I knew that being in the hospital, I was coming up against this keynote that I had on Friday. It was Wednesday, and I was begging my doctors to let me out and really knew that there was an audience to be served and.

They did let me out and maybe it's questionable. They couldn't hold me. I wasn't imprisoned. Uh, my body certainly wasn't a hundred percent, but I gave it 110% during the keynote. So maybe that made up for that otherwise physical deficit. But really, when you think about financial stress, it is such an impact on an entire organization.

Quietly not always known to managers or executives or other leaders within organizations, in this case Mass General Hospital, but that financial stress erodes quality decisions and risk tolerance. It while it limits creative bandwidth and presence as leaders as well. Vision needs capacity because vision alone.

Anjel: mm-hmm.

Matt: Helps directly impact the service.

That's provided in this case, uh, young adults who are working within the healthcare system. Some have moved on to pursue degrees in, in law and such.

Anjel: Well, and what, what I'm hearing there too, Matt, that's, that's really powerful specifically for the industry you've chosen to serve, is when somebody is in financial stress in healthcare industry.

And that it's such a high impact thing that you're, that you're offering, you know, to, for the betterment of not only the individuals in the organizations, but for the organizations and the, and the people that they touch as well. So there's like a huge ripple effect here. So we've got about a minute and a half left, Matt.

So in the last minute and a half, if there was. You know, either an organization you'd love to shout out to, that you'd love to work with, or if there's a part of your vision that you haven't shared with us yet, or if there's a another celebration of an organization you've impacted in the past, then now would be the time for you to do that.

There are always people and people can do incredible things together, we can make an incredible difference. The tagline for the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation is strength and community and hope and research. And I think that really is in so many ways heartwarming because I know the strength that they've brought to me in wrapping as a community, their arms around me.

I also know that those who have come before me. Providing research so that I can live and breathe and be here to speak with you, Anjel.

Anjel: Mm-hmm.

Anjel: Hmm. Beautiful. I love it. Matt, what a great interview. What a great guest. What a great attitude. I am so grateful that you were here today. Listeners, we do love feedback. Please let us know what you thought of today's show by joining our community, sharing your takeaways, asking questions, or submitting guest suggestions.

You can weave your visionary thread into our fabric by opting in on our website at. Leading visionaries podcast.com or by interacting with us on social, look for the handle at Leading Visionaries podcast across all the major platforms. Thanks so much for tuning in. Keep your eyes, ears, and hearts open.

And remember, you are here to create conscious change.

To welcome wealth and cultivate a web of collaborative support to bring their vision to life. We invite your feedback and guest suggestions and invite you to subscribe to our mailing list to be notified of new episodes@leadingvisionariespodcast.com.