Social Work to Wealth Podcast

44. Salary Series: Making $75k as a School Social Worker with Lillie, LCSW

Welcome to our Salary Series, where we bring social workers on to specifically give us all the tea about their income. Salary transparency matters because it gives us real data to advocate for ourselves and each other. In this episode, I talked with Lillie, a school social worker in Florida. Lillie shares her path into school social work, which started with a few years working as an investigator on death row cases before she went back for her MSW. We get into what her job actually looks like day to day, how she's negotiated her way from a $65,000 starting offer to $75,000 today, and the mindset shift that's helped her ask for more. I also pull from our salary database of over 1,500 social worker submissions to talk about what some school social workers are actually making by region, degree, and years of experience. Resources mentioned: * Follow Lillie on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/Therapybylillie] * 1,600+ Social Work Salary List [https://socialworktowealth.com/social-work-salaries/] Connect with us! * Social Work to Wealth Newsletter [https://socialworktowealth.myflodesk.com/podcast] — a newsletter for the social worker wanting to level up their career and money. * Find Social Work to Wealth on: TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@socialworktowealth], Instagram [https://instagram.com/socialworktowealth], & YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@socialworktowealth]. Disclaimer: The information presented in this podcast & on any affiliated platforms is for educational, informational, & entertainment purposes only and should not be construed as legal, financial, or professional advice. Consuming this content does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you need legal advice pertaining to your particular situation, consult one-on-one with an attorney.

43. How to Network Your Way Into a Non-Clinical Social Work Career with Niteesa Brooks, MS, PMP

In this episode, I chat with Niteesa Brooks, MSW, a program manager who took her social work degree into health tech, pharmaceutical research, and financial technology. Niteesa graduated from Columbia University in 2018 and has spent her career building out programs and processes at the intersection of healthcare and technology. Niteesa gets specific about how she navigated the job search, how she networked her way into roles, and why she stopped marketing herself as a social worker and started marketing herself as someone who "solves problems". This is a great episode for those who are interested in practicing social work in a non-clinical setting, but are not sure how to get started down that path. We chat about: * How Niteesa went from wanting to be a sports psychologist to working in health tech and pharmaceutical research * What program management actually is and how social work skills translate directly into it * Why she didn't market herself as a social worker on her resume and what she did instead * How to use LinkedIn to find social workers working in non-clinical spaces and learn from their career paths * What she witnessed while working inside pharmaceutical research Resources mentioned: * 270+ Job Titles for Social Workers PDF [https://stan.store/socialworktowealth/p/job-titles--resources-pdf-version] Connect with us! * Social Work to Wealth Newsletter [https://socialworktowealth.myflodesk.com/podcast] — a newsletter for the social worker wanting to level up their career and money. * Find Social Work to Wealth on: TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@socialworktowealth], Instagram [https://instagram.com/socialworktowealth], & YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@socialworktowealth]. Disclaimer: The information presented in this podcast & on any affiliated platforms is for educational, informational, & entertainment purposes only and should not be construed as legal, financial, or professional advice. Consuming this content does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you need legal advice pertaining to your particular situation, consult one-on-one with an attorney.

42. Debt Series Part 3: Payoff Strategies + Student Loans

This is the third and final episode of the practical ways to pay off your debt series! Today we're getting into the actual payoff strategies, avalanche, snowball, and lasso, plus a student loan update that is time-sensitive if you're currently in SAVE forbearance. If you missed episodes one and two, go back and start there. I covered the debt, inventory, budgeting, emergency funds, and investing while in debt. Topics covered in this episode: * Various debt payoff strategies * Credit card points and when they're actually worth it * Tracking your debt payoff progress * Student loan updates Resources mentioned: * Debt Reset Guide [https://socialworktowealth.myflodesk.com/debtreset] — A free guide to help you reset your relationship with debt and start fresh * Student Loan Planner IBR Calculator [https://www.studentloanplanner.com/repayment-assistance-plan-rap-calculator/] — Free calculator to estimate your monthly payment * Student Loan Planner Consult [https://socialworktowealth.com/studentloanplanner] — Work one-on-one with a certified student loan professional, use my link to get $100 off * Employer Certification Form — studentaid.gov [https://studentaid.gov/pslf/] — Submit this at least once a year to verify your qualifying employment for PSLF * Thermometer Debt Tracker [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SxyybMh2GZkJsCJAevbxD8znw4_ftaDe/view?usp=sharing] — A visual tracker to help you see and celebrate your debt payoff progress * Work with Taylor [https://calendly.com/taylor-lcsw/money-consult?back=1] — Book a one-on-one money consult with me! Connect with us! * Social Work to Wealth Newsletter [https://socialworktowealth.myflodesk.com/podcast] * Continuing Education Updates Only Newsletter [https://socialworktowealth.myflodesk.com/ceu-waitlist] * Submit your podcast episode idea! [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSHQBPJD5_sv2xgAjd-ZKDmPT__4foYbnZ5CJwWFH0lvkGHA/viewform?usp=preview] * Find Social Work to Wealth on: TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@socialworktowealth], Instagram [https://instagram.com/socialworktowealth], & YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@socialworktowealth]. Disclaimer: The information presented in this podcast & on any affiliated platforms is for educational, informational, & entertainment purposes only and should not be construed as legal, financial, or professional advice. Consuming this content does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you need legal advice pertaining to your particular situation, consult one-on-one with an attorney.

41. Debt Series Part 2: Budgeting + Investing

This is part two of the practical ways to pay off your debt series! If you missed episode 36, go back and listen first, that's where we did the debt inventory and laid the foundation for everything we're building on now. This episode covers three big topics: budgeting, emergency funds, and investing while in debt. Topics covered in this episode: * What a budget actually is * How to set realistic spending numbers using past statements * Budgeting methods: 50/30/20, zero-based, pay yourself first, envelope system * Emergency funds during debt payoff * Should you invest while in debt? * Balancing low-interest debt payoff with investing Resources mentioned: * Debt Reset Guide [https://socialworktowealth.myflodesk.com/debtreset] — A free guide to help you reset your relationship with debt and start fresh * Free Budgeting Google Sheet [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Tbcz6XYFprP-cpOFOsBJtd5aDdiVCdcGcuaw7zUoMO4/copy?usp=sharing] — Simple budgeting spreadsheet to track your income, expenses, and margin * Monarch Money [https://monarch.com/referral/lo4612209p?r_source=copy] — A budgeting app that connects all your accounts in one place * Lunch Money [https://lunchmoney.app/] — A simple, flexible budgeting tool great for visual spenders * Ally High Yield Savings [https://www.ally.com/referral?code=9F6N4Q9S3C&CP=MobileAppReferFriend] — My go-to high yield savings account (HYSA) * Work with Taylor [https://calendly.com/taylor-lcsw/money-consult?back=1] — Book a one-on-one money consult with me! Connect with us! * Social Work to Wealth Newsletter [https://socialworktowealth.myflodesk.com/podcast] * Continuing Education Updates Only Newsletter [https://socialworktowealth.myflodesk.com/ceu-waitlist] * Submit your podcast episode idea! [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSHQBPJD5_sv2xgAjd-ZKDmPT__4foYbnZ5CJwWFH0lvkGHA/viewform?usp=preview] * Find Social Work to Wealth on: TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@socialworktowealth], Instagram [https://instagram.com/socialworktowealth], & YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@socialworktowealth]. Disclaimer: The information presented in this podcast & on any affiliated platforms is for educational, informational, & entertainment purposes only and should not be construed as legal, financial, or professional advice. Consuming this content does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you need legal advice pertaining to your particular situation, consult one-on-one with an attorney.

40. Is Building Wealth as a Social Worker Against the Code of Ethics?

"Making this much money is against the code of ethics." "If you care about money, you should have been a psychologist or counselor, not a social worker. In this episode, we're addressing comments regarding our episode with Liz Rhea, a therapist in Georgia who made $224,000 in 2025. A few comments suggested that earning that kind of income is antithetical to social work ethics, that wanting financial stability makes you selfish, and that if money matters to you, maybe you shouldn't be a social worker at all. We have thoughts. 😅 We chat about: * The comments that sparked this conversation * What the NASW Code of Ethics actually says about income * How the savior complex shows up financially in our profession * Why struggling financially is not solidarity with our clients * Why social workers policing each other's salaries is a form of self-oppression * Why financial stability is important for us and the people we serve Resources mentioned: * "The Obligation of White Women: Dismantling White Supremacy Culture in Social Work Education" [https://journals.indianapolis.iu.edu/index.php/advancesinsocialwork/article/download/24467/23885/47284] * Doin' the Work Podcast: White Supremacy Culture in Social Work [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/white-supremacy-in-social-work-charla-cannon-yearwood/id1350146691?i=1000467275697] Connect with us! * Social Work to Wealth CE Updates [https://socialworktowealth.myflodesk.com/ceu-waitlist] — CE only updates * Social Work to Wealth Newsletter [https://socialworktowealth.myflodesk.com/podcast] — Get updates on money resources, events, salaries, and more straight to your inbox * Submit your podcast episode idea! [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSHQBPJD5_sv2xgAjd-ZKDmPT__4foYbnZ5CJwWFH0lvkGHA/viewform?usp=preview] * Find Social Work to Wealth on: TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@socialworktowealth], Instagram [https://instagram.com/socialworktowealth], & YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@socialworktowealth]. Disclaimer: The information presented in this podcast & on any affiliated platforms is for educational, informational, & entertainment purposes only and should not be construed as legal, financial, or professional advice. Consuming this content does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you need legal advice pertaining to your particular situation, consult one-on-one with an attorney.