218. Grief, Loneliness, and Community: Life After Loss with Carla Fernandez

Financial Feminist

Her First $100K

Self-improvement, Education, How To, Business

4.7 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 10 March 2025

⏱️ 75 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Grief is something we all experience, yet no one really prepares us for how to handle it—or how to support others going through it. And here’s the thing: grief isn’t just about losing a loved one. It can come from a breakup, losing a job, or even mourning the life you thought you’d have. In today’s episode, I sit down with Carla Fernandez, co-founder of The Dinner Party and author of Renegade Grief: A Guide to the Wild Ride of Life After Loss, to talk about what grief really looks like, why loneliness makes it harder, and how we can build stronger communities to support ourselves and others through loss. We also dive into something that doesn’t get talked about enough—the financial impact of grief—and why having a plan in place is one of the greatest acts of love you can give your family. This conversation is honest, raw, and surprisingly hopeful. Carla’s insights will shift the way you think about grief, loneliness, and community care, whether you’re navigating loss yourself or supporting someone who is. Carla’s Links: Website: carlafernandez.co Order Renegade Grief: carlafernandez.co/renegadegrief The Dinner Party: https://www.thedinnerparty.org/ Read transcripts, learn more about our guests and sponsors, and get more resources at https://herfirst100k.com/financial-feminist-show-notes/218-grief-loneliness-and-community-how-to-plan-and-move-forward-with-carla-fernandez/ Not sure where to start on your financial journey? Take our FREE money personality quiz! https://herfirst100k.com/quiz Looking for accountability, live coaching, and deeper financial education? Check out our exclusive community, The $100k Club: https://herfirst100k.com/100K-pod Special thanks to our sponsors: Squarespace Go to www.squarespace.com/FFPOD to save 10% off your first website or domain purchase. Rocket Money Stop wasting money on things you don’t use. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to RocketMoney.com/FFPOD. Quince Get cozy in Quince's high-quality wardrobe essentials. Go to Quince.com/FFPOD for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Netsuite Download the CFO’s Guide to AI and Machine Learning at NetSuite.com/FFPOD. Gusto Run your first payroll with Gusto and get three months free at gusto.com/ffpod. Indeed Hiring? Indeed is all you need. Get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at www.indeed.com/ffpod. Public Fund your account in five minutes or less at public.com/ffpod and get up to $10,000 when you transfer your old portfolio. (see disclosures: https://herfirst100k.com/financial-feminist-show-notes/218-grief-loneliness-and-community-how-to-plan-and-move-forward-with-carla-fernandez/) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Grief is inevitable in life.
0:01.7	Whether it's losing someone you love or processing a hard breakup or, you know, going through a global pandemic, you will lose.
0:07.9	But like so many taboos, we don't know how to talk about grief and we often don't know how to be there for ourselves or for others going through it. Hi Financial Feminist, welcome to the show.
0:34.4	I'm thrilled to see you as always.
0:35.7	Thank you for being here.
0:36.5	Thank you for supporting feminist media in a very non-feminist fucking world. I'm not bitter at all. It's fine. Everything's burning. It's fine. We are talking about grief today on the show, which is very easy to think that's heavy. And there are parts of it that are. So a content warning right off the top. We are talking, of course, about grief and death, but also about cancer. So I would love for you to
0:58.6	stick around because I really do feel like it's going to be cathartic and helpful, but also
1:02.1	if you're just like, I can't do this right now, cool. Skip it. We'll see you back on the next one.
1:05.7	We're thrilled to have our guest, Carla Fernandez, on the show today. We are talking about grief, but also about loneliness,
1:12.1	which we talked about an episode all on its own as this, like, complete epidemic. So we're talking
1:19.1	about grief, both in the traditional sense of, like, losing somebody you love, but also grief
1:23.7	takes many forms. Grief can be, I lost a job opportunity that I really wanted, or I am
1:30.7	breaking up with my partner, or I just don't have the life that I thought I might have, and grieving that.
1:38.9	We also talk about the importance of building community, both while you're experiencing grief,
1:42.9	and of course, while you're trying to be there for friends and family who are experiencing grief. And if you've ever experienced
1:48.4	grief or loneliness or loss, this episode will help you feel less alone and more empowered to
1:52.7	discuss both grief and how to financially prepare for the inevitable. Let's talk about Carla.
1:57.5	Carla's work focuses on how circles come together to foster collective care and change
2:01.3	culture when a new status quo is called for. As a creative strategist and facilitator, she
2:05.8	collaborates with impact-driven clients through her community design studio. She is also the founder
2:10.4	of the Dinner Party, a national network of peer-supported circles for young adult grievers.
2:15.6	Her work has been featured in the New York Times, NPR, Oprah
	...

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