START WELL™

About START WELL™

Welcome to the START WELL® podcast – I'm Dawn Thomas, your host. As a mother, financial adviser, and researcher, I'm here to guide you on empowering the next generation's financial journey. Whether you're a parent, grandparent, or the coolest aunt or uncle, join me in exploring how impactful conversations about money can shape a young person's future. During each episode, we will be unpacking a resource or money concept, so you can take the conversation home with you. Let's harness their superpower of time and your superpower of influence to ensure they Start Well and thrive for a lifetime.

Publisher

Dawn Thomas

Category

kids & family

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

26 Feb 2024

Latest episode

5 Nov 2026

Latest episodes

25 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   5 Nov 2026

   Marshmallow Money - Dr Tracey West

   START WELL® Podcast Season 2, Episode 10: Helping Young People BuildReal-World Money Confidence Guest: Dr Tracey West, Founder of Marshmallow MoneyAustralia Episode Overview In the final episode of Season 2 of START WELL®, DawnThomas is joined by Dr Tracey West, financial literacy researcher, educator and founder of Marshmallow Money Australia. Tracey West created Marshmallow Money to help young people build the knowledge and confidence to make financial decisions, bringing together her background in research, teaching and financial literacy education. Together, Dawn and Tracey explore how we can move beyondsimply telling young people to "be good with money" and instead give them the knowledge, real-world experience and confidence to make informeddecisions for themselves. The conversation draws on the Marshmallow Money seriescovering saving, spending, tax, buying a car, investing and superannuation, and looks at how these resources can be used by young people, parents and educators. What We Discuss in This Episode Why Marshmallow Money?Why Tracey West created Marshmallow Money. The gap she identified between financial literacy research and what young people experiencein the real world Why financial education needs to build confidence as well as knowledge Who has responsibility for empowering young people financially:parents, schools, government, industry or all of us? Turning years of research and teaching into practical, age-appropriate resources for young people Breaking Money Down Into Real-Life Decisions Rather than trying to teach "financial literacy" as one enormous topic, Marshmallow Money breaks money down intorecognisable financial decisions. We discuss why Tracey developed separateresources around: Saving Spending Tax Investing Superannuation Buying and owning a car And importantly, how young people can connect financial concepts with thingsthat are actually happening in their lives. Listen & Follow Subscribe to START WELL® for practical conversationsthat help parents, families and young people build financial confidence from the very beginning. And if this episode resonated with you, share it with a parent,teacher or young person who could benefit from starting a new conversation about money. General Advice Warning – This Podcast contains general advice. The information, including tax information and any advice provided in this Podcast, does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Because ofthat, you should before acting on the advice, consider the appropriateness of the advice, having regard to those things. If the advice relates to a particular financial product, you should obtain the relevant Product DisclosureStatement for any product mentioned and consider its contents before making any decision. You should consider talking to a financial adviser before making a financial decision.  Dawn Thomas is a Senior Financial Adviser and is an authorised representative of TWD Licensee Services Pty Ltd ABN 88 605 064 480 Australian Financial Services Licence No.475964 (TWD Licensee Services).

2. 

   22 May 2026

   How They Get You - Heather Sharp

   START WELL® Podcast Episode 9: How They Get You with Heather Sharp What if many of the everyday spending decisions we make aren’t really as “random” as we think? In this episode of START WELL®, Dawn Thomas is joined by Heather Sharp, Associate Adviser at The Wealth Designers (https://thewealthdesigners.com.au/?utm_source=chatgpt.com), to review the book How They Get You by Chris Kohler. Together, Dawn and Heather unpack the hidden psychology behind modern spending habits and the ways businesses, marketers, pricing systems and loyalty programs subtly influence consumer behaviour. One of the things Dawn particularly enjoyed about this book was that it was written from an Australian perspective, making the examples feel highly relevant and current, especially in today’s environment of rising living costs, inflation pressures and conversations around tariffs and global economics. Dawn listened to the audiobook version, while Heather read the e-book & listened to the audio book, leading to a great discussion on how the content translated across formats. Why How They Get You feels so timely for Australian households Whether the book is useful for parents, young adults and first-time earners The psychology behind everyday spending decisions How businesses encourage us to spend more without us noticing Whether loyalty schemes actually benefit consumers Fuel pricing and supermarket pricing tricks Why unit pricing matters more than flashy discounts Shopping across multiple supermarkets: practical or exhausting? Computer games, microtransactions and digital spending habits Superannuation and how financial systems are explained to everyday readers How tariffs and global economics impact household budgets Gift cards, rewards programs and consumer behaviour The importance of teaching young people to become more conscious consumers This episode explores how awareness can become one of the most powerful financial literacy tools families can develop. Rather than focusing only on budgeting or investing, this conversation looks at the behavioural side of money: the tiny nudges, habits and systems that quietly shape how we spend. As always, START WELL® aims to help parents bring important money conversations back home to their kids in ways that feel practical, engaging and relatable. Heather Sharp is an Associate Adviser at The Wealth Designers (https://thewealthdesigners.com.au/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) and works closely with clients to help them build confidence and clarity around their financial decisions. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share it with a parent, educator or young person in your life, and help us continue building financially confident future generations. General Advice Warning – This Podcast contains general advice. The information, including tax information and any advice provided in this Podcast, does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Because of that, you should before acting on the advice, consider the appropriateness of the advice, having regard to those things. If the advice relates to a particular financial product, you should obtain the relevant Product DisclosureStatement for any product mentioned and consider its contents before making any decision. You should consider talking to a financial adviser before making a financial decision.  Dawn Thomas is a Senior Financial Adviser and is anauthorised representative of TWD Licensee Services Pty Ltd ABN 88 605 064 480 Australian Financial Services Licence No.475964 (TWD Licensee Services).

3. 

   10 May 2026

   Atomic Habits - Michelle Flanagan

   🎙️ START WELL® Podcast  Atomic Habits: Helping Kids Build Habits That Stick with resident book reviewer Michelle Flanagan Episode Overview In this episode of START WELL®, we explore one of themost influential behaviour change books of our time—Atomic Habits by James Clear. With over 25 millions of copies sold worldwide, thisbook has reshaped how we think about habits, motivation, and long-term success. But this conversation goes beyond personal development. We focus on how parents can apply these ideas to help children and teens build habits that actually stick—whether it’s study routines, screen time, health, or money behaviours. Because raising capable young people isn’t aboutperfection… it’s about creating systems that make good choices easier. Key Themes We Explore Systems Over Goals We unpack the idea that: You don’t rise to the level of your goals—you fall to thelevel of your systems. While goals give direction, it’s daily systems androutines that drive results. For kids, this means shifting focus from outcomes (grades, performance) to repeatable behaviours. Identity-Based Habits One of the most powerful ideas from the book: The goal is not to read a book, the goal is to become areader. We explore how helping kids shape identity— “I’m someone who studies” or “I’m someone who shows up”— can lead to more sustainable behaviour change than external pressure alone. The Habit Loop Every habit follows a pattern: Cue → Craving → Response → Reward We discuss how this plays out in everyday life. General Advice Warning – This Podcast contains general advice. The information, including tax information and any advice provided in this Podcast, does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Because ofthat, you should before acting on the advice, consider the appropriateness of the advice, having regard to those things. If the advice relates to a particular financial product, you should obtain the relevant Product DisclosureStatement for any product mentioned and consider its contents before making any decision. You should consider talking to a financial adviser before making afinancial decision.  Dawn Thomas is a Senior Financial Adviser and is an authorised representative of TWD Licensee Services Pty Ltd ABN 88 605 064 480 Australian Financial Services Licence No.475964 (TWD Licensee Services).

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.