Fireside Chat: Building Financial Habits for Personal Wellbeing
Many of us know the financial habits we would like to build, but sustaining them in daily life can be difficult. Money tasks often compete with busy schedules, emotional weight, uncertainty, and the many responsibilities we are already carrying.
This fireside chat offers a grounded space to explore how small routines, supportive structures, and everyday rhythms can help us engage with money more consistently and with less stress. Rather than focusing on rigid systems or one-size-fits-all advice, we’ll reflect on how people design habits that fit their lives, values, cultures, and circumstances.
We’ll be joined by friends of the Money Health Collective who bring perspectives from financial wellbeing research, community leadership, global flourishing, adult learning, and lived experience with discipline and consistency. Together, we’ll explore how habits are shaped not only by individual motivation, but also by environment, support, identity, and the systems around us.
This session is educational in nature and will focus on reflection, principles, and shared learning rather than personalized financial, legal, or psychological advice.
Format
We will start with an open conversation with our firestarters, and then open up the floor for a relaxed, casual dialogue with everyone in the room.
Themes we will explore
How routines, friction, consistency, and time shape the way we manage money
The difference between knowing what we want to do financially and building the habits to follow through
The roles of reminders, defaults, environment, and community in sustaining financial habits
How financial habit-building fits into a broader ecosystem for wellbeing
Firestarters
We’re bringing together a few close friends of the Money Health Collective who bring great perspectives on behavioral psychology, daily habits, and personal wellbeing:
Hayley James: Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Personal Financial Wellbeing (Aston Business School). Hayley’s research focuses on the intersection of human data and everyday experience, exploring how people encounter and navigate financial structures in their daily lives.
Javier Madrid: Inspired by his grandfather’s example as a small business owner, Javier developed an early passion for service and financial stewardship. He believes that helping others should be the main focal point in all walks of life, both personally and professionally.
Joseph Kachiliko: A marathon runner and active MHC community steward who is always looking to improve his own daily routines. His personal drive for habit building was the inspiration behind this very session. Professionally, Joseph is a Certified IT Auditor (CISA) with over 6 years of international experience across the Middle East and Africa, currently based in Dubai, and co-founder of the Ubuntu AI Community Zambia.
Adrienne Schutte: A veteran behavioral change and transformation leader with over 25 years of experience shifting human behavior across massive global organizations, currently based in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area. Adrienne blends behavioral science with practical strategy to help people break old routines, focusing on the everyday habits and mindsets that allow individuals to successfully navigate change and thrive.
Bela Shah: A coach, founder, and program leader with experience guiding hundreds of individuals and social impact leaders across behavioral health and emotional intelligence. Bela designs practical learning experiences in high-growth environments, focusing on helping entrepreneurs and mission-driven communities grow with greater clarity, wellbeing, and impact.
Hosts & Moderators
Co-moderated by Mishal: An AI production builder and ecosystem leader currently driving the Network AI Factory and beloved MHC community steward. Mishal is a curator in the Global Shapers Community Dubai and a lifelong community architect dedicated to facilitating impactful experiences rooted in Ihsan—the practice of bringing excellence and beauty to everything we build.
Co-moderated by Elena: A university teacher trainer, trained facilitator, and PhD researcher specializing in adult professional development and teacher collaboration in Tallinn, Estonia, and always-present pillar of the MHC community. Elena brings nearly a decade of experience designing and facilitating workshop environments that turn adult peer-to-peer interaction into a warm, inclusive, and deeply transformative learning process.
Come listen, reflect, ask questions, and engage. No preparation required.