What, where, what, what led you guys to find us and, and, and get started?

We were just definitely in the process of having conversations of trying to figure out how do we essentially learn about money and what feels like a safe space.

And so I think when we were trying to figure out what that looked like, I was just, like, searching podcasts, like women, finances, but not trying to, you know, figure out how to save $100,000 or da, da, da.

Like, I feel like there were so many niche things that weren't necessarily fitting what I was looking for.

And so AJ and I were kind of searching together and then independently.

And then I think I just stumbled upon one of your podcasts that was about not consolidating your debt in terms of, you know, negotiating with your credit card lender or provider, and I think we both just got really excited.

And like, I texted it to him, and I was like, "I'm in between calls, but look at this," and then we both filled out the form.

So anyways, it was just really fun to meet both of you guys and how excited you were, like you said, to get out of debt and just learn something new and be able to start this journey, you know, just the right way.

[clears throat]

... um, in Texas, we're only licensed with a few right now, but they are trickling in every day.

We're s- like I said, we're still really new, so we've been, we've been, uh, active and, like, ready to go for about six weeks.

So in a, I wanna say, like, three months, we'll have, you know, we'll be hitting everybody, all the insurance.

Um, and that's just for our therapy portion.

Our detox portion, it's a little bit different.

It is a sliding scale, um, out-of-pocket, um, expense depending on your medical needs, um, the severity of your, you know, whatever you're going through.

So what is the, what's the goal for this venture of yours? What, what are you-

Amen.

Exactly.So I'm just like, "Okay, Lord, you know, we serve you.

You know, I know people are, are, are praying for my daughter and her healing this side of heaven." Mm-hmm.

"We're gonna see it, right? We're gonna...

You did it with Jairus' daughter.

You know, you-" Mm-hmm ... resurrected Lazarus from the dead.

You did all these healings that we read about in your Word, that we, we, we preach to others about your, your miraculous healing.

Mm-hmm.

Like-

Transactions are, at the moment, ki- similar to your typical marketplace.

So, uh, buyers and takers, sellers, all of that, they'll have registered.

Um, and so yeah, if you want to purchase an item, it's just like eBay.

You just click and you say buy.

You'll have backtracking to the person listing.

They have a choice to either say, "Oh, this is something that I'd be happy for people to pick up," or, "That I'm happy to shift," or both.

Stupid people who-

... ex- a little bit about that, 'cause I'm going to be quiet now.

Oh, bless you.

[laughs] Um, no, uh, this is, this is so lovely to speak to you, honestly.

If...

This has changed my life.

I, I, I literally started, I was, I was a fat child, fat teenager, struggled through my 20s basically doing every diet under the sun, and then sort of I, I damaged my body fro- from trying to do things.

So I've, I've, I've, I've messed my feet up, I've messed my knees up from being heavy and trying to do exercise.

Yeah

That's-

It's more we have, like, a action.

Like, we were talking about it earlier, and it's like we're putting money in places, but it's like what are we-

but let's do it

... buying the first house, when we were going into it, that was obviously the first place we ever bought, and so we were renting a house at the time.

We were like, "Okay, should we eat rice and beans and save?" Uh, like, you know? But then that convo comes into play, so it's like, okay, but can we do this right now?

But first, here's his mom, Caroline, to give a bit of backstory.

My name is Caroline, and I have a non-speaking son called Kyle, and we live in a lovely little village called Gwithian on the North Cornwall Coast.

He was diagnosed with non-speaking autism when he was two and a half, and I think he was about 20 years old when somebody said to me, you know, "Have you thought about Kyle having music therapy?" And I said, "No," but anyway, I'll have a go.

I'll give anything a go.

And then when the music therapist came, um, I think I was making tea in the kitchen.

She said, "Caroline, I want you to see this." And I said, "Okay," so I went into the living room, and there, there was Kyle at her keyboard playing Dream, Dream, Dream and singing along to it.

And mind you, Kyle had never had a music lesson before, so after 20 years of being locked in his body, Kyle showed that he can both sing and play music.

And I think music therapy was just a way of that door being opened to him.

But first, here's his mom, Caroline, to give a bit of backstory.

My name is Caroline, and I have a non-speaking son called Kyle, and we live in a lovely little village called Gwithian on the North Cornwall Coast.

He was diagnosed with non-speaking autism when he was two and a half, and I think he was about twenty years old when somebody said to me, you know, "Have you thought about Kyle having music therapy?" And I said, "No," but anyway, I'll have a go.

I'll give anything a go.

And then when the music therapist came, um, I think I was making tea in the kitchen.

She said, "Caroline, I want you to see this." And I said, "Okay." So I went into the living room, and there, there was Kyle at her keyboard playing Dream, Dream, Dream and singing along to it.

[singing]

I don't think it's a language that we know.

But before we end our season, we wanted to dive deeper into one aspect of Caroline's healing journey.

Within a day of Joel's disclosure, I was seeking therapeutic intervention for myself and my kids.

And I am grateful for that therapist.

She definitely was there for crisis intervention.

That being said, though, there was never this term betrayal trauma.

I never heard the term in our duration of therapy.

I'm not faulting her, but I hadn't had anyone actually walk me through the emotions and that how I was feeling was actually a normal part of being betrayed.

Caroline learned the truth when she went to get tested for STDs.

It's just another hit.

I'm desensitized to hearing about affairs.

Like, that part doesn't hit my soul.

Hearing this email, the part that just is a gut punch to me is hearing the manipulation tactics and the lies used to garner his sexual affairs.

Very few people know that I have rheumatoid arthritis.

Very few people know that about me.

It is not something that debilitates me and puts me bedridden, but for him to have used that and told someone that to manipulate them to have sex with him, it just sickens me.

Well, Mom would probably be the best for that.

Nicole thought Joel would, at the very least, try to connect for the big moments, the milestones.

In everything that Joel did, one of the hardest days was her graduation.

You know, I left that morning because I wanted to get a lei necklace for her to wear.

I wanted to get her favorite coffee and have it waiting for her when she woke up.

And when I came home, she was already up, and there was this envelope taped to our front door.

And her little face...

Oh, God, it just kills me.

On the morning of Nicole's high school graduation, Caroline found her daughter staring at an envelope that had been left on their front door.

Now they would have to work out the terms of their divorce, so they set a meeting to hash out details concerning money, property, and custody.

He and I agree that we'll meet on the Fourth of July to agree on some things to be able to divide them out, and we agree to meet at a coffee shop that we used to frequent together a lot.

And so when I walked into the coffee shop, it was just so bizarre.

I see this older gentleman who clearly is not my husband.

I see a young teenager who obviously is not my husband.

And then I see this man who is fully bearded, hair is shaggy.

He's wearing a fedora and a skull shirt, and he's waving at me from a distance.

But she was 17, so there was still the issue of child support.

Mm-hmm.

And the second one is Jeff Strasner.

I'm extremely grateful for Jeff Strasner.

I was at a community event, and he was there, and as we walked out together, I said, "Hey, Jeff." And I could tell he was nervous to see me, and he was like, "Oh, you know, hey, hey, Caroline." And I said, "I'd like to thank you." And he looked shocked.

And I said, "Thank you for not believing him.

Thank you for the due diligence of hearing this one out and not giving him the benefit of the doubt.

You may have saved mine and my kids' lives.

Mm-hmm.

Joel Kern was a respected lieutenant at the Colorado Springs Police Department, but Joel used his badge to fool everyone, most of all, his wife Caroline.

He texted back, "No, everything's not okay.

I've ruined our lives.

You're going to want to divorce me."

[suspenseful music] April 11th, 2022, the day everything changed.

I called him, and I remember just tears streaming down my face, and I said, "What did you do? What did you do?"