Episode 54: Empowering Women 50+ with Tina Coleman
- Samantha M. Besnoff, CPA
- Nov 20, 2025
- 7 min read
Your Financial Maven® Podcast with Samantha Mittman-Besnoff, CPA
Warning: There is some strong language in this podcast
What does it look like to step into your most powerful, vibrant, unapologetic chapter — at 50 and beyond? In this episode of Your Financial Maven®, I sat down with Tina Coleman, author of the upcoming book 50, Fabulous and Fuckable, to talk about reinvention, mindset, and the financial freedom piece of midlife that doesn’t get nearly enough airtime.
Tina spent two decades as a licensed massage therapist before a car accident closed that chapter for her. Rather than letting hardship define her, she reinvented herself completely — got sober, lost 90 pounds, started living internationally, and built a life on passive income. This conversation was real, funny, and quietly fierce. Here are the highlights.
What Is Money? Energy.
I open every episode the same way, and Tina’s answer was perfect: money is energy. It’s fluid. It moves. And the reason it doesn’t work for so many of us is that we try to trap it.
That framing set the tone for the whole conversation — because so much of what we’re going to talk about is the difference between gripping money out of fear and letting it flow with intention.
A Childhood Built on Conflicting Money Stories
Tina grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, in a household where money was constant chaos. Her mother worked two or three jobs and spent money she didn’t have, racking up high-interest credit card debt. Her grandmother saved every penny and became the family’s de facto lender. Two women, two completely opposite money styles, and a kid in the middle absorbing every fight about it.
She started working at five — cleaning her elderly neighbor’s house because her own home wasn’t safe or stable. She mowed lawns (while allergic to cut grass — same, Tina, same), babysat, and had a “real” job by 14.
And here’s a detail I loved: Tina was going to be a CPA. Her dream job at 17 was to work for the IRS. Life took her in a different direction, but that early pull toward money and order tells you something about her — the desire to understand money has always been there.
The Spiral, the Loss, and the Sobriety
Right before her 40th birthday, Tina lost her stepdad the day after Thanksgiving. Then her mother on Memorial Day weekend. Both deaths happened fast. The grief sent her into a hard spiral, and she eventually had to get sober.
We talked openly about what “rock bottom” can look like — and it doesn’t just mean alcohol or drugs. You can hit rock bottom with money too. With debt. With the silent stress of never feeling like there’s enough. Recognizing it is the first step, in any form.
“If I Have More Money, I Can Help More People”
For years, Tina was stuck in what she called a “just enough” mentality. Good income per massage session, but never overall abundance. On top of that, she’d spent seven years as a spiritual teacher inside a culture that pushed poverty consciousness — the idea that you can’t be spiritual and wealthy.
Then in 2018, a friend dragged her to a money seminar, and Tina had a light bulb moment:
If I have more money, I can help more people.
That single reframe broke the spell. She read Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker and Jen Sincero’s You Are a Badass at Making Money, which she especially loved for its idea of writing a love letter to money. The throughline of all of it: when women allow themselves to be wealthy, they can give more to the causes and people they care about. Generosity without resources eventually runs dry.
The Scarcity Lie
One of the deepest things we talked about was the scarcity mindset most of us were handed as kids: money doesn’t grow on trees, there’s not enough to go around, who’s going to pay for that, shut the door, you’re letting the heat out.
Tina pointed out something I hadn’t thought about quite this way: money is paper, and paper comes from trees. Money literally does come from trees — and it keeps regenerating. There are trillions in circulation. There’s digital currency, crypto, new forms emerging every year. The supply isn’t fixed.
The real question I kept coming back to: was scarcity taught to women on purpose? The year I was born, 1973, women still couldn’t get their own credit card without a man’s signature. That changed in 1974. We are one generation removed from women being legally blocked from financial independence. No wonder shame and second-guessing run so deep.
Why Midlife Might Be Our Most Powerful Chapter
I asked Tina why she believes midlife — 50 and beyond — is the most powerful, vibrant stage. Her answer was unfiltered: because we’ve already made all the mistakes.
By 50, you’ve been through the bad relationships, the marriage or the divorce, the kids, the job changes, the financial scares. You have something to draw from. You’ve built resilience. And critically, you’ve started putting down the baggage that doesn’t serve you anymore.
We talked about the “We Do Not Care” movement that’s been bubbling up among Gen X women — perimenopause, menopause, and a collective shrug at what other people think. It’s not that we don’t care about our finances or our health. It’s that we’ve stopped outsourcing our worth to other people’s opinions.
There’s even a biological piece: as estrogen and oxytocin shift in midlife, we naturally bond less compulsively and speak up more freely. Older women say audacious things and don’t apologize. Tiny kids do the same. There’s something to that.
Gen X: The Bridge Generation
Tina and I both landed in the same place on this one: Gen X women are uniquely positioned. We grew up before cable, before the internet, before computers — and we now live in a world of smartphones, social media, AI, and crypto. We’re the bridge between two completely different worlds.
I shared the story of my grandmother, who passed away three weeks shy of 100 in 2016. In her last years she was mesmerized by smartphones and video calls. She called it “sci-fi stuff.” For her, it was. That perspective — being able to see the before and the after — is part of what makes our generation so unwilling to stay small.
Success at 30 vs. Success at 50
Tina put it beautifully: in our 30s and 40s, success means accumulating — the house, the car, the things, the security. In our 50s, success means freedom and health.
She’s done what some people would call downgrading — she doesn’t own a car, doesn’t own a house, lives internationally. But she doesn’t experience it as loss. She experiences it as freedom. She walks. She takes the metro. She takes a cab. And it costs far less than the life she used to maintain.
Incremental Upgrades — Treating Yourself Rich Now
One of Tina’s most actionable ideas: you don’t wait until you’re “rich” to live well. You upgrade your life incrementally. Say yes to the small things — the bath oil, the chocolate, the dessert and coffee at the fancy restaurant even when the $200 dinner isn’t in reach yet. The act of saying yes to little pleasures builds the muscle that eventually lets you say yes to bigger ones.
She also pushed back on the way women shut down our own dreams: I want to travel, but I can’t because of the kids / the money / the timing. Her counter: let your dreams breathe. Find out how they could happen instead of why they can’t. Use credit card miles. Find a friend with miles. Find a different version of the trip that fits your life right now.
Stop Tearing Each Other Down
We spent real time on this. I have a friend who passed from breast cancer at 40 — and supporting her through that, doing the Susan G. Komen 3-Day 60-mile walk with a group of women, was the start of my own “stop caring what other people think” journey.
The women in my life come from completely different financial situations. Some travel constantly. Some are stretched thin. I don’t judge any of them, because I don’t know the full picture. The wealthy friend may be funding college, caring for a parent, or saving for something I know nothing about. The friend who’s struggling may be doing extraordinary work I’ll never see.
Tina put it perfectly: our stories are more similar than they are different. People look perfect on the outside. You have no idea what they’re carrying. Lead with compassion — for them and for yourself.
The Trail Hike, the Plane, and the Discomfort
Last fall I broke my foot and spent nine weeks in a boot. This past September, recovered enough to try, I trained for and completed a 7-mile trail hike — real trail, rocks and roots, by myself a lot of the time, anxiety and all. My sister joined me for the event itself, but the training was mine. Crossing that finish line was a small, private kind of empowerment.
Tina’s version: she didn’t get on a plane until she was 30. Didn’t travel internationally until 45. After her parents passed, she found an old journal listing her dream destinations — Italy, Greece, Egypt — and decided: if not now, when? She’s currently in Colombia. She’s lived in Mexico. Everyone tells her she’s brave or crazy. She just keeps going.
The lesson in both stories: you have to be willing to be a little uncomfortable. Not reckless. Not foolish. Just willing.
Tina’s Closing Word
If there’s a dream in your heart, you were given it for a reason. It’s meant for you. 50 is the second half — the magical part where you don’t have to ask for permission. Go live it.
Where to Find Tina
• Instagram & TikTok: TransformBeCourageous
• Book: 50, Fabulous and Fuckable — available for pre-sale now, launching December 30
• Coming soon: Courses and a money challenge later this year
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This podcast is for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only and is not a substitute for advice from your CPA, tax, or financial professional.
Samantha M. Besnoff is a Certified Public Accountant, Independent Life Insurance Agent, and Financial Education Consultant. She has been a part of the accounting world for over 30 years spending time in most areas of the field. Her experience is vast and she loves to share her knowledge with you! Delving into the podcast world has been amazing and she has enjoyed the last three years sharing with her listeners.
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