Planet Wealth: Fortunes of the Brave

Rahkim Sabree, financial therapist and author of Overcoming Financial Trauma, joins Mary Kathryn Johnson (Planet Wealth CXO) to unpack the hidden forces shaping your relationship with money. Rahkim explains why financial trauma is not just a budgeting problem but a nervous system problem, and why financial wellness often requires more than financial literacy. If you have ever felt anxiety opening...

Welby Accely, real estate investor and educator known across social media as @atmybest197, joins Mary Kathryn Johnson of Planet Wealth to break down the real story behind building wealth in real estate. Welby is direct about what most people hide: he was wiped out to zero three separate times, and the turning point was admitting the biggest problem was not the market or the "players" around him, i...

Brian Dally, Co-Founder and CEO of GroundFloor, is a pioneer in private market investing and one of the earliest category creators in real estate debt investing. In this episode of Fortunes of the Brave, Brian explains how he and his co-founder saw a future where everyday investors could access high-yield, short-duration private market opportunities backed by real estate. Brian's story starts with...

Daniel Borrero Jr., a real estate investor and entrepreneur, joins Mary Kathryn Johnson (CXO of Planet Wealth) to break down how he built long-term wealth by using short-term profits as fuel, not a finish line. Daniel is a Brooklyn-based investor who has been self-employed since 1985 and investing in real estate since 1989. His core philosophy is simple: build cash flow and equity through long-ter...

McKeever "Mac" Conwell, Founder and Managing Partner of Rare Breed Ventures, joins Planet Wealth CXO Mary Katherine Johnson to break down how he went from a government contractor in Maryland to launching a venture capital fund built for overlooked founders. Mac shares the unconventional path that shaped his investing lens: dropping out of school for a Northrop Grumman opportunity, building and exi...

Dr. Felecia Froe, board-certified urological surgeon turned social impact investor, joins Mary Kathryn Johnson of Planet Wealth for a candid conversation about building wealth with purpose. As the founder behind Money with Mission and Wealth Be Hers, Dr. Froe shares how her path from medicine to real estate investing became a mission to help women gain the financial power to walk away from jobs or...

Joshua Kagan is a real estate and fintech builder focused on expanding access to ownership for everyday people. He is the co-founder of Bonfire and the founder of Friendly Acres, a land-focused venture designed to help people exit stranded land assets while creating affordable pathways into real asset ownership. In this episode of Fortunes of the Brave, Joshua shares how his journey from fix-and-f...

In this episode of Fortunes of the Brave, host Mary Kathryn Johnson sits down with Lisa Phillips, founder of Affordable Real Estate Investments, to unpack how she went from foreclosure to financial independence using affordable rental properties. Lisa is known for helping overlooked investors, especially Black professionals, build profitable real estate portfolios in working class and minority nei...

Pamela Cytron, founder of The Founders Arena WealthTech accelerator in Arlington, Texas, has spent more than three decades at the center of fintech, wealth management and enterprise sales. In this episode of Fortunes of the Brave, Pam and host Lance Woodson dig into how wealth is really created, who gets access to it, and why the current system leaves so many founders and everyday investors on the...

2025 closes by revisiting the most practical lessons shared by founders, investors, and community builders across this year's Fortunes of the Brave conversations. This recap threads together a single theme: better decisions happen when your mindset, strategy, and community support are aligned. First, we return to a mental framework for entrepreneurs and investors who feel the pressure of constant...

For too long, retirement planning and independent fiduciary financial advice have felt reserved for the top 1 to 2 percent. In this episode of Fortunes of the Brave, Mary Kathryn Johnson sits down with Michael Scarpati, CEO and co founder of Retire.us, to unpack how technology and true fiduciary financial planning can finally open the doors for everyday Americans. Michael shares how his platform c...

Mary Katherine Johnson sits down with Dan Egan, VP of Behavioral Finance & Investing at Betterment, to decode how our habits, narratives, and timing drive financial outcomes more than hot tips ever will. Dan explains why success comes from matching risk to time horizon, building automatic systems that spare your willpower, using tax-aware prompts (hello, long- vs short-term gains), and reframing m...

Mary Katherine Johnson welcomes Nick Malouin, Senior Strategy Director at Electric Innovation, to unpack how innovation strategy turns ambiguity into action. From Capgemini to Electric, Nick has spent a decade taking ideas from insight to in-market—bridging hard data with human truth so teams can build products people actually want. He breaks down why the best work starts with the consumer journey...

Community capital, crowdfunding, and local investing take center stage in this episode of Fortunes of the Brave. Systems entrepreneur and financial innovator  Janice Shade , co-founder of Milk Money Vermont and founder of Capital Innovation Lab and Fundamenta, joins host Lance Woodson to unpack how everyday people can invest in the small businesses that define their hometowns. From her early days...

Mary Katherine Johnson welcomes Chad Hufford, Founder & Financial Planner at Veritas Wealth Management, for a refreshingly human conversation about building wealth you'll actually want to live with. Chad argues we're wired for scarcity and crowd-following—great for survival, terrible for long-term freedom—so real progress starts with mindset, meaning, and management of the i nvestor (not just the...

Mary sits down with Rebecca McLean to unpack how the JOBS Act and Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) opened a new lane for everyday investors and community focused entrepreneurs to fund real estate; legally, transparently, and at scale. Rebecca traces National REIA's 40-year mission to promote, protect, and educate the industry, including advocacy that helped unlock today's crowdfunding rules. They...

Lance sits down with Matt Slepin, one of real estate's best-known executive recruiters and storytellers, to trace the industry's arc from the RTC era to today's institutional, tech-enabled  platforms—and what comes next. Matt explains how CMBS and REITs catalyzed a shift from  "piles of assets" to true operating companies, why technology and capital markets now define  competitive advantage, and h...

Mary Katherine Johnson sits down with Kathy Fettke, Co-Founder of Real Wealth, to unpack a practical roadmap to real estate investing that ordinary professionals can use to build durable wealth. After a family health scare wiped out her savings, Kathy discovered the power of rental income and house hacking, then turned a weekend radio show into a learning engine interviewing experts (including Rob...

Mary Kathryn Johnson interviews Eric Miller, Co-Owner and Chief Financial Advisor at Econologics Financial Advisors, on how practice owners and entrepreneurs can engineer financial freedom with a disciplined approach to exit planning, owner compensation, and post-sale purpose. Drawing on two decades of experience with private practice owners in healthcare and other fields, Eric explains why every...

Get ready for the next evolution of Planet Wealth: Fortunes of the Brave! We're taking a short break to prepare a fresh intro and deep-dive new episodes! Subscribe for relaunch updates, hit the bell for notifications, and check out our website to learn more. On Planet Wealth, fortune favors the brave and we're making moves together! Visit us at: https://planetwealth.com/

This week, Lance sits down with  Patrick Brown , the founder and CEO of Unity Communications , to discuss his journey from the US military to building a global outsourcing powerhouse. In this insightful conversation, Patrick shares how his Navy experience honed his negotiation and teamwork skills, which became the foundation for his success in corporate America and entrepreneurship. He delves into...

In this solo episode, Mary Kathryn Johnson explores the power of embracing imperfection and finding value in life's detours on the path to success. She shares her entrepreneurial journey, from launching "Mommy Loves," a novelty maternity store impacted by the 2008 financial crisis, to building  Messenger Funnels , a conversational automation tool that guides prospects toward brand loyalty and conv...

This week, Mary sits down with  Ian Cruz , a CPA, investor, and co-founder of TLP Investment Services . Ian shares his journey from witnessing his parents navigate the 2008 housing crisis to owning over 100 units and leading Cincinnati's real estate fractional community. He reflects on how personal experiences—helping his mother through financial challenges, as well as the discipline gained from b...

This week, Lance welcomes  Elliott Holland , a Harvard MBA and expert in making small business acquisitions understandable and achievable. Elliott, who runs Guardian Due Diligence , has developed a proprietary system that helps professionals efficiently transition from corporate roles to multimillion-dollar business ownership. In this episode, he breaks down the key challenges, strategies, and min...

In this episode, Lance welcomes  Bo Belmont , the founder and CEO of Belwood Investments , who shares his journey from tagging along with his real estate broker mother to becoming a seasoned investor specializing in luxury fix-and-flips. Bo opens up about the challenges he's faced—ranging from market fluctuations to navigating difficult contractors—and highlights the key factors that have driven h...