The Powerful Truth About Building Wealth With Intention with Jess Dahl and Dawn Dahlby
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August 27, 2026
The Powerful Truth About Building Wealth With Intention
Building wealth with intention isn't just about having more money. It's about creating financial freedom while staying aligned with your values, purpose, faith, and the life you actually want to live.
So what does it really mean to build wealth?
Is it having a certain amount of money in the bank?
Owning a successful business?
Being able to travel without worrying about your finances?
Having the freedom to give generously?
Or is true wealth something deeper?
In this episode of the Say Yes Anyway Podcast, I sat down with wealth strategist and Live Wealthy author Dawn Dahlby for a powerful conversation about building wealth, financial freedom, money, purpose, alignment, generosity, and what it means to live a wealthy life.
And one of the biggest takeaways from our conversation is this:
You can build wealth without losing yourself in the process.
What Does It Mean to Build Wealth With Intention?
We live in a culture that often tells us that more is the goal.
More money.
More success.
More opportunities.
More recognition.
But what happens when you finally get more and still don't feel like you have enough?
That's where intentional wealth comes in.
Dawn believes that building wealth isn't only about growing your finances. It's also about developing internal wealth, which means learning how to manage your thoughts, emotions, and responses while navigating the challenges of life.
You can build financial wealth while also building the emotional and internal capacity to actually enjoy it.
Because what good is financial freedom if you're constantly living from fear, scarcity, comparison, or the feeling that you need more?
How to Build Wealth Without Losing Yourself
One of the most important questions we can ask ourselves is:
What am I actually building, and why?
Building wealth should support the life you're trying to create, not pull you further away from it.
Your financial goals should have a connection to your values.
Your spending should reflect what matters to you.
Your investments should support your long-term vision.
And your definition of success should be your own.
Dawn's approach to wealth is about creating alignment between your money and the life you want to live.
That means understanding your priorities, recognizing your strengths, and making intentional financial decisions instead of simply following someone else's definition of success.
Why Your Values Matter When Building Wealth
Money is deeply connected to our values.
What we spend money on tells a story.
What we save for tells a story.
What we give tells a story.
And what we prioritize financially often reveals what matters most to us.
Dawn's own career journey is a powerful example.
She made a major career pivot at 30 and entered the financial planning industry even though she wasn't completely confident she had what it took to succeed.
The beginning was difficult.
But she kept going.
She learned that sometimes confidence doesn't come before action. Sometimes confidence is built because you take action.
That is such an important lesson, not only when it comes to building wealth, but when it comes to building a life.
You don't always have to feel ready.
Sometimes you have to say yes anyway.
What Does Financial Freedom Really Mean?
Financial freedom doesn't necessarily mean having unlimited money.
It can mean having enough resources and flexibility to make choices based on your values rather than fear.
It can mean having the ability to:
Spend time with the people you love
Travel and experience life
Support your family
Give generously
Pursue meaningful work
Create opportunities
Walk away from situations that aren't aligned
Build a future that reflects your priorities
That's why financial planning matters.
It's not simply about numbers.
It's about understanding what your money needs to do for your life.
Dawn talks about helping people identify their financial priorities and create a plan that supports their version of freedom.
Because your "freedom number" is going to look different from someone else's.
How Do You Know When You Have Enough?
This might be one of the most important questions in the entire conversation.
What does enough mean to you?
Dawn talks about reaching a place of "enoughness," where she can continue to grow and create while also recognizing that she has what she needs.
That's different from giving up on ambition.
It's different from deciding you don't want more.
It's about being able to pursue more from a place of choice instead of scarcity.
There is a huge difference between:
"I want more because I have a bigger vision."
and
"I need more because what I have will never be enough."
One creates expansion.
The other can create an endless cycle of striving.
Why Internal Wealth Matters
We often talk about financial wealth as if the numbers tell the whole story.
But internal wealth matters too.
You can have money and still feel anxious.
You can have success and still feel insecure.
You can reach the milestone and immediately wonder what's next.
You can build an impressive life while feeling disconnected from yourself.
That's why the internal work matters.
Building wealth with intention means growing your capacity to handle the opportunities, responsibilities, relationships, and decisions that come with financial success.
It's not just about what you have.
It's also about who you're becoming.
Can You Build Wealth and Still Live Generously?
Absolutely.
In fact, generosity was an important part of our conversation.
Dawn's perspective on wealth is deeply connected to her values and faith.
For her, building financial freedom creates opportunities to give, support others, and use her resources in meaningful ways.
That changes the question from:
"How much can I accumulate?"
to:
"What can I do with what I've been given?"
Building wealth doesn't have to be about keeping score.
It can be about creating capacity.
Capacity to give.
Capacity to serve.
Capacity to create.
Capacity to support your family.
Capacity to make an impact
The Truth About Building Wealth With Intention
Ultimately, I don't believe we have to choose between financial success and a meaningful life.
You don't have to sacrifice your values to build wealth.
You don't have to shrink your financial goals to prove you're a good person.
And you don't have to lose yourself in the pursuit of success.
You can build wealth and build yourself.
You can pursue financial freedom and live generously.
You can create more and experience enoughness.
You can grow financially while staying deeply connected to your purpose.
The goal isn't simply to have more money.
The goal is to create a life where your money, values, purpose, relationships, faith, and vision are working together.
That's what it means to build wealth with intention.
And that's a conversation worth having.
Listen to the Full Episode
In this episode of the Say Yes Anyway Podcast, Dawn Dahlby and I go deeper into:
- Building internal and external wealth
- What "enough" really means
- Creating financial freedom
- Aligning money with your values
- Overcoming scarcity and limiting beliefs
- Taking action before you feel ready
- Knowing when to stay the course and when to pivot
- Building wealth with purpose
- Generosity and financial freedom
- Faith and money
- Creating a life that feels wealthy, not just one that looks wealthy
?? LISTEN TO THE PODCAST EPISODE
Connect With Dawn Dahlby
Dawn Dahlby is a wealth strategist and author of Live Wealthy, helping people create greater alignment between their wealth and the life they want to live.
?? Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dawndahlbyfiduciary
?? Live Wealthy: https://relevefinancialgroup.com/
Connect With Jess
?? Website: https://jessdahl.com
?? Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessdahl_
?? Wholeness Journey: https://wholenessjourney.org
If you're ready to grow in wholeness, discover your purpose, and build a life aligned with who God created you to be, learn more about Jess's coaching, speaking, retreats, and resources at jessdahl.com.
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