Episode notes
Guest: Chris Budd — founder of Ovation Finance, author of The Eternal Business and The Financial Wellbeing Book, and founder of the Institute for Financial Wellbeing.
If you’ve ever been told to “fix your money before you fix your life,” this episode flips that script. Chris Budd argues that true financial wellbeing isn’t about spreadsheets or savings goals—it’s about aligning your money with meaning. As he puts it: “The relationship between financial wellbeing and happiness… there isn’t one. It’s the same thing.”
We explore why most of us start in the wrong place (chasing more instead of understanding enough), how to reconnect your finances to your purpose, and what great financial wellbeing actually feels like—when money stops shouting for attention.
You’ll learn:
- Why “money first” thinking keeps failing
- How to identify what really gives you wellbeing
- Simple habits that make your finances work for you (not the other way around)
- What leaders can do to make financial wellbeing part of real employee engagement
This is money talk without the jargon—a conversation about happiness, purpose, and the quieter kind of wealth that lasts.