Money, Boundaries & Inner Healing: A Conversation with Mónica Duarte

Highly Sensitive Money for Highly Sensitive People who want to align their values with their money

Money, Boundaries & Inner Healing: A Conversation with Mónica Duarte

In this episode, our guest Mónica Duarte and I explore the courageous path of a first-generation Latina who has transformed personal trauma into a powerful practice of healing and coaching. Mónica Duarte is a Mental Wellbeing and Certified Parts Work coach, as well as a Credentialed Professional Goal Coach. She joins me to talk about her journey from surviving domestic violence and navigating poverty as a Mexican immigrant in the U.S., to now helping Latinas and cycle breakers process trauma and unlock their full potential.

Mónica shares pivotal moments of her life, including two near-death experiences that became catalysts for spiritual awakening and self-discovery. We talk about how internalized narratives from childhood shape our relationship with money, how imposter syndrome is often rooted in trauma, and how Parts Work can gently unravel the beliefs that keep us stuck. She also speaks candidly about reclaiming her indigenous heritage and the emotional weight of returning to Mexico after 20 years. This episode is a powerful reminder that inner healing opens the door to aligned action, meaningful success, and deep reconnection with self and community.

Mónica O. Duarte - Mental Wellbeing & Trauma-Informed Goal Coach

Mónica Duarte is a trauma-informed coach dedicated to helping Latinas, women, and entrepreneurs break generational cycles and pursue their goals with clarity, courage, and compassion. As a first-generation Mexican immigrant and a survivor of trauma, Mónica combines lived experience with professional training to support others on their healing journeys. She is certified in Parts Work (Internal Family Systems), credentialed through the ICF (ACC), and specializes in integrating modalities like NLP, somatic work, and emotional intelligence.

Through her work, Mónica empowers clients to identify and process the core wounds tied to limiting beliefs—whether it's imposter syndrome, money trauma, or inherited family dynamics. Her coaching supports sustainable personal and professional growth, emotional regulation, and deeper self-awareness. With a background in advertising and over a decade in the creative industry, she also helps entrepreneurs integrate brand strategy with inner transformation. Mónica is also a featured speaker and former Culture & Entrepreneurship Writer for Epifania, a Latina magazine.

Episode Highlights

[00:01:50] Meeting Mónica Duarte
[00:02:50] Defining what it means to be a cycle breaker
[00:04:25] Monica’s immigrant story and early trauma
[00:05:15] Leaving corporate life after a near-death experience
[00:06:50] How unprocessed trauma blocks goal achievement
[00:08:05] When holding cash feels unsafe
[00:17:25] Growing up in poverty and money-based shame
[00:20:10] Scarcity responses: hoarding vs. overspending
[00:24:50] A money miracle: student loan forgiveness
[00:31:20] Healing internalized gaslighting through Parts Work
[00:35:45] Reclaiming indigenous roots and ancestral wisdom
[00:45:50] Why “charge your worth” is disempowering

There’s something quietly powerful about Mónica Duarte’s story that lingers long after the episode ends. It’s not just the transformation she’s experienced—from trauma survivor to professional coach—but the way she frames healing as an act of both personal and ancestral reclamation. You’ll hear how she was told to “be grateful” for having very little, even while her father withheld money that could have lifted the family out of poverty. You’ll hear how money felt unsafe until she redefined it on her own terms, with the help of Parts Work and a lot of inner listening.

What’s more, Monica doesn’t offer quick fixes or motivational fluff. Instead, she invites you into a slower, more honest exploration of why your goals might feel out of reach—and how you can start to feel safe enough to pursue them. We touch on spirituality, nervous system regulation, and the layered experiences of being a sensitive Latina in a culture that often glorifies hustle and sacrifice. If you’ve ever felt like your past is pulling you back just when you're ready to move forward, this conversation might show you another way.

Keywords

#TraumaInformedCoaching #LatinaEntrepreneurs #LatinaCoach #MoneyHealing #GenerationalTrauma #CycleBreakers #EmotionalRegulation #ImposterSyndrom #GoalCoaching

Resources

Mónica's Website
Connect on Linkedin
Mónica's Instagram
Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much by Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir
Internal Family Systems (IFS), often referred to as Parts Work

Watch our video conversation on YouTube