Social Work to Wealth Podcast

Welcome to our Salary Series , where we bring social workers on to specifically give us all the tea about their income. Salary transparency matters because it gives us real data to advocate for ourselves and each other. In this episode, I talked with Lillie, a school social worker in Florida. Lillie shares her path into school social work, which started with a few years working as an investigator...

In this episode, I chat with Niteesa Brooks, MSW, a program manager who took her social work degree into health tech, pharmaceutical research, and financial technology. Niteesa graduated from Columbia University in 2018 and has spent her career building out programs and processes at the intersection of healthcare and technology. Niteesa gets specific about how she navigated the job search, how she...

This is the third and final episode of the practical ways to pay off your debt series! Today we're getting into the actual payoff strategies, avalanche, snowball, and lasso, plus a student loan update that is time-sensitive if you're currently in SAVE forbearance. If you missed episodes one and two, go back and start there. I covered the debt, inventory, budgeting, emergency funds, and investing w...

This is part two of the practical ways to pay off your debt series! If you missed episode 36, go back and listen first, that's where we did the debt inventory and laid the foundation for everything we're building on now. This episode covers three big topics: budgeting, emergency funds, and investing while in debt. Topics covered in this episode: What a budget actually is How to set realistic spend...

"Making this much money is against the code of ethics." "If you care about money, you should have been a psychologist or counselor, not a social worker. In this episode, we're addressing comments regarding our episode with Liz Rhea, a therapist in Georgia who made $224,000 in 2025. A few comments suggested that earning that kind of income is antithetical to social work ethics, that wanting financi...

LaQueshia Clemons, LCSW and financial therapist, joined the podcast to chat about her journey paying off $25k in debt, her career, and tips for social workers on navigating their careers. LaQueshia runs a group financial therapy practice in Connecticut, one of the only practices of its kind focused entirely on the intersection of emotions and money, and she co-authored Dear Therapist, You Deserve...

We are now officially offering continuing education credits through the podcast! We have been approved to offer CEs by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB). We have been working toward this for a long time and are so excited to finally share it with you. In this episode, we chat about everything you need to know about how it works, who’s eligible, and what episodes are available today! Not...

We had fun recording this one! Catching eachother up (and you) on life, career updates, and everything going on with Social Work to Wealth! We talk about what's been happening in Taylor's transition out of medical social work and into financial planning, including the job search, rejections, and an exciting new role in finance! Faith shares her feelings after being in private practice for two year...

I am doing my first solo episode! (Me, Taylor). This is the first *mini* episode of many that I will be doing to help you learn practical ways to manage your money. This episode (and the next few) will be about debt payoff. Topics covered in this episode: An exciting podcast update! Money mindset Practical tips on assessing your debt Tips on where to get started if you don't know where to start Bu...

CE Info: This episode is approved for 1 CE credit through the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) ACE Program (#2807). To receive CE credit, you must pay, register, and complete the required post-test and evaluation. Listening alone does not guarantee credit. It is your responsibility to verify that this course meets your licensing board's requirements. Click here to purchase the course! In t...

Social workers who work in organ transplantation can work in a variety of settings and this episode gives you an idea of what that actually means. I am joined by Sam Butler, LCSW, and Dora Vanderpool, LCSW, to get into the day-to-day of both their past and current roles in transplant social work. We talk through the different paths you can take, from working in dialysis centers and supporting tran...

Welcome to our second Salary Series episode , where we bring social workers on to specifically give us all the tea about their income progression. Liz Rhea, MSW, LCSW, joined us for this episode to share about her journey to becoming a private practice owner and from earning ~$25/hr to $244k in total revenue in 2025. Liz shares the details of the income streams that made up her income in 2025 and...

In this episode, we talked with Nakia Watson, LCSW, to share all about travel social work. Nakia shares her journey from foster care to medical social work and eventually into traveling, where she’s worked in hospital systems across the country. We talk about the realities of the work, the experience she recommends to get started, and dig into the pay structure. Nakia also shares how travel social...

In this episode, we talk with Michelle Bruxer, the founder of MSW Helper, a platform that helps aspiring social workers navigate writing their personal statements for their grad school applications. She shares what makes a personal statement strong, how admissions committees actually evaluate applications, and how to convey your experience that you may feel is not relevant. Whether you're applying...

Taylor chatted with Tireeka Watson, LCSW, who has built a thriving forensic evaluation practice serving clients in the criminal justice system. Her background spans jail-based mental health, public defense, crisis response with fire departments, and leadership roles in psychiatric hospitals. We get into how evaluations work, what they pay, how to get trained, and how to position yourself in this f...

CE Info: This episode is approved for 1 CE credit through the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) ACE Program (#2807). To receive CE credit, you must pay, register, and complete the required post-test and evaluation. Listening alone does not guarantee credit. It is your responsibility to verify that this course meets your licensing board's requirements. Click here to purchase the course! In t...

CE Info: This episode is approved for 1 CE credit through the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) ACE Program (#2807). To receive CE credit, you must pay, register, and complete the required post-test and evaluation. Listening alone does not guarantee credit. It is your responsibility to verify that this course meets your licensing board's requirements. Click here to purchase the course! We'r...

CE Info: This episode is approved for 1 CE credit through the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) ACE Program (#2807). To receive CE credit, you must pay, register, and complete the required post-test and evaluation. Listening alone does not guarantee credit. It is your responsibility to verify that this course meets your licensing board's requirements. Click here to purchase the course! In t...

We’re excited to share this joint episode with Catherine Moore, LCSW, host of Social Workers Rise Podcast, to get into what compensation actually looks like in this profession. Between her experience in medical social work and Taylor’s salary database with over 1,500 entries, we looked at how social workers are getting paid and why we need more transparency around it. Takeaways From This Episode:...

In this episode, we break down one of the biggest decisions for social workers considering private practice: should you take insurance, go fully private pay, or try a hybrid model? We talk through the logistics, mindset shifts, pros and cons, and the financial implications of each route. Takeaways From This Episode: Starting with insurance might make sense for stability, but private pay gives you...

Today’s episode is all about the corporate side of social work! We sat down with Peter Mostachetti, LMSW, who went from a 25-year career in tech at IBM to leading employee experience, learning, and inclusion at IPSY, the largest beauty subscription company. Peter breaks down what corporate social work really is, how he applies the “person-in-environment” approach in HR, and why social workers are...

In this episode, we are doing something a little different! Faith and I are reacting to the conversation that transpired on LinkedIn after I posted: “Don’t post your job for a master’s level clinician if it doesn’t pay at least $100K.” The post got a lot of traction.... essentially went viral. Thousands of reactions, hundreds of comments, and a mix of support and pushback from folks across the fie...

Welcome to the Salary Series! This is a mini-series where we’re getting into the real numbers behind what social workers make. In this episode, I’m talking with Erika Morris, MSW, a forensic social worker who went from making $44/hr straight out of grad school to making up to $95/hr as a contractor in Washington state. Erika breaks down what forensic social work actually is and how working on publ...

This week, we are excited to welcome Jerrel Peterson, MSW, to the podcast! He’s the Head of Global Content Policy at Spotify, and formerly held a trust & safety role at Twitter. Jerrel walks us through his journey from direct practice in mental health to landing a job in tech. We dive into what “trust and safety” means in tech, how his team develops interventions for content-related harm, and...

In this episode, we’re joined by Aja Evans, financial therapist and licensed mental health counselor, to talk all things feelings and finances. We get into what financial therapy actually is, why our money habits are deeply emotional, and how unprocessed shame and avoidance are holding so many of us (especially those of us in helping professions) back from financial clarity and peace. Aja gives us...