I worked at a bank and I was still drowning in debt.

At 26, I was working as an assistant advisor at a bank branch in downtown Austin. I spent my days explaining to customers how to manage their money better. And every night, I went home carrying $14,200 in debt.

Student loans, a car loan, and a credit card I'd been using to plug the gaps for two years. I wasn't in the red every month — but I wasn't getting ahead either. I made a decent living. I had nothing saved. It felt normal.

“I was advising clients on their money. And I couldn't manage my own. The shame I felt that day changed me.”

Everything changed when a coworker showed me his bank statement. He earned less than I did. He had $8,000 in savings. I asked him how. He told me: “I follow the same rules we teach our clients. You just don't apply them.”

He was right. For three years, I'd been giving advice I didn't follow myself. That night, I sat down and laid it all out: income, debt, spending, goals. For the first time in my adult life, I had a clear picture of my finances.

I paid off that $14,200 in 18 months. Not by earning more. Not by giving up my whole social life. By following simple methods, in a specific order, with tools I built myself because I couldn't find anything out there that actually worked for me.

Those tools became the MintWise guides. Exactly what I wish I'd had at 26.

Once I'd turned things around, friends started asking me questions. Coworkers. Family members. People I'd run into around the neighborhood. Everyone was stuck on the same things: too much jargon, too many products being pushed, too few concrete, practical methods.

I started sharing my systems, my templates, my spreadsheets. In 2023, I put it all online under the name MintWise. Today, I'm focused on making MintWise as clear and honest as possible for beginners.

MintWise isn't a bank. It isn't an investing app. It isn't a $2,000 course with 50 modules. It's what I wish I'd found back then: straightforward, honest, jargon-free guides — the kind that would have saved me 18 months of trial and error.

If you're reading this page, it's probably because you're trying to take back control of your money. I promise you it's possible — no matter where you're starting from. I'm living proof.