There are rock-bottom stories… and then there’s Michelle Campbell’s.

In this episode, I sit down with the woman behind Bluebird: A Memoir of Trauma, Heartbreak, and Divine Beauty in the Struggle. She's a tax expert, financial literacy advocate, and founder of the nonprofit #Stability.

From the moment Michelle shares that she grew up being told she was “too Black to be white and acted too ‘white’ to be Black,” you feel the weight of a lifetime of not belonging. That ache for acceptance led her into a 21-year spiral of fast money, big spending, and toxic relationships with both men and women which ended in jail, deep shame, and financial chaos.

Michelle walks us through the staggering math of her rock bottom: five evictions, four repossessed cars, three bankruptcies, two abortions, a sexual assault, and over $500,000 in debt. But this isn’t a trauma dump; it’s a masterclass in radical honesty. She doesn’t sanitize any of it...housing instability, survival choices, the ways shame around money and identity can swallow you whole and somehow you leave feeling lighter.

The turning point? A deep spiritual fast where she finally stopped running from herself and from God. Out of that quiet came the clarity to face her numbers, tell the truth about her past, and rebuild her life with integrity....eventually becoming an IRS-enrolled agent and using her expertise to help others move from financial chaos to stability and dignity.

This conversation was not at all what I expected, and I am honestly in awe of this woman. We went to places most people never say out loud especially not on a podcast. Let's just say we share the same motto of saying the quiet part out loud.

In this episode, we get into:

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  What it feels like to grow up “too Black, too white, never enough” and how that fractures your sense of self

  
  


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  How chasing acceptance through spending, sex, and codependency landed Michelle in jail and in terrifying levels of debt

  
  


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  The reality of five evictions, four repossessions, and three bankruptcies and what those moments actually look like in real life, not just on paper

  
  


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  The connection between financial trauma, mental health, and feeling unworthy of stability or love

  
  


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  The spiritual fast that became her “enough is enough” moment and how it shifted her relationship with God, money, and herself

  
  


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  How she went from nearly suicidal and half a million dollars in debt to tax professional, author, and nonprofit founder teaching others how to reclaim their financial power

  
  


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  Why “financial literacy” isn’t just budgets and spreadsheets...it’s healing shame, rewriting identity, and telling the truth about where your money is really going

  
  

Tune in and witness real vulnerability in action.