The Traveling Therapist Podcast · Kym Tolson

188. How Financial Coaching Can Change Your Practice with Maren Londahl-Smidt

·29 min·1 clip

Maren says revenue goals should be “reverse engineering” from personal expenses, not copied from other therapists.

1. The Traveling Therapist Podcast episode centers on Maren Londahl-Smidt and her financial coaching approach for therapists who want more flexibility. 2. Kim Tolson hosts the conversation, and Maren Londahl-Smidt is a therapist, coach, and Profit for Keeps certification candidate who works at the intersection of money and therapy. 3. The episode asks how therapists can make money decisions that support travel, sustainability, and a calmer practice. 4. Maren says her move from a healthcare-system job during the pandemic into private practice started because she wanted “something more” than multiple jobs and PRN work in the ER. 5. She explains that she still practices therapy but branched into coaching because travel and a different kind of business structure mattered to her. 6. Maren says therapists often need help with both the personal side of money and the business side, because many coaching systems only cover one of those areas. 7. She describes her own experience of not knowing how to pay herself, how much to reserve for taxes, or what her practice needed to earn to meet income goals. 8. Maren says a session with Patrick Cassell led her to “alternate streams of income” and eventually to Profit for Keeps. 9. She says she went through Profit for Keeps first as a client and knew within a week that it was “the missing piece.” 10. Maren explains that Profit for Keeps uses reverse engineering, starting with personal expenses like health insurance deductibles and car tires before moving into business expenses. 11. She gives a concrete example of aiming for an exact target like $8,342.51 instead of a vague monthly revenue number. 12. Maren says the system assigns percentages for pay, taxes, business expenses, and a profit account that functions partly as an emergency fund. 13. She describes profit distribution day as a quarterly moment when she can see where the money goes and decide whether to save for a trip or a retreat. 14. Maren says the model is meant to be flexible, so she can shift money from one goal to another when a higher-priority opportunity appears. 15. She gives an example of a last-minute Cabo trip that she could take because she had already planned financially, instead of going into credit card debt. 16. Maren says therapists need permission to be profitable because lack of money stability keeps them in “reaction mode” and can affect their nervous system. 17. The conversation has a practical interview style, with Kim asking direct implementation questions about budgeting, travel, and pricing. 18. Maren’s tone is conversational and instructional, and she uses real examples like YNAB, blueprint sessions, and horse-show travel. 19. Therapists who want travel-friendly income and clearer money systems will get the most from this episode. 20. Therapists who want clinical technique or high-acuity care discussion may skip it.

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from The Traveling Therapist Podcast