Beyond Numbers: Resilience, Healing, and Financial Therapy with Sarah Carr

Sarah Carr has lived many lives in one. Betrothed at 14 to a much older man, she survived sexual abuse and the weight of purity culture, endured the loss of two brothers, and walked through the grief of divorce. Her story is undeniably tough—yet she radiates hope and positivity.

Today, as a single mother raising neurodiverse children who don’t fit neatly into the traditional school system, Sarah has also built a career that refuses to fit the mold—blending financial planning and financial therapy into a practice that honors healing, freedom, and possibility.

Her work as both a financial planner and a financial therapist is deeply personal. It’s about healing shame, rewriting money stories, and creating space for clients to see what’s possible. And it’s about crafting a life that allows her to be present for her children, to honor her own healing, and to define success on her own terms.

This episode isn’t just about career pivots or business strategies — it’s about resilience, about finding your voice after being silenced, and about choosing a path that honors your values and your freedom. Sarah’s journey is a powerful reminder that the “right way” is the way that works for you.

Episode Highlights

• Growing up in rural Pennsylvania as a pastor’s daughter and the heavy weight of purity culture
• Being betrothed at 14 to a 26-year-old youth pastor — and the miraculous intervention that ended it
• Carrying shame and trauma from abuse, and how years later therapy and courage helped her name it for what it was
• Losing both of her brothers (at different times) and walking through grief, while holding on for her sister, her parents, and her children
• Starting in financial services at 17, mentored by advisors who taught her both money skills and life skills
• Building her CFP® career against the odds — as a young woman in a male-dominated industry — and pushing through failure to pass the CFP® exam
• Choosing to walk away from traditional advisory roles when they conflicted with her values, and finding her way into financial therapy
• Navigating divorce, single parenting, and raising neurodiverse kids who don’t thrive in the traditional school system
• Creating a flexible, heart-centered practice that blends planning with therapy — giving clients clarity and confidence while honoring her own healing journey
• The wealth of relationships: finding her people, reclaiming community, and investing in connections that truly sustain life