Episode 212 · December 9, 2025
Cooree Roofener: Choosing Courage, Living with Purpose and Changing the Foster Care Story
with Cooree Roofener, Founder of CR Financial Foundations; host of The Courage Coalition podcast; founder of Fostering the Summit
38 min
Cooree Roofener: Choosing Courage, Living with Purpose and Changing the Foster Care Story
Never miss an episode
In this episode
In this episode I sit down with Cooree Roofener, founder of CR Financial Foundations and host of The Courage Coalition podcast. Cooree and I have crossed paths a couple of times — I first heard her speak on stage and then ran into her briefly at an event in Dallas — and we discovered we share an accounting background. But this conversation goes so much deeper than numbers.
Cooree shares how she built a small bookkeeping side hustle (the one that funded the family vacation fund) into the main financial support system for her family after they uprooted their life and moved to forest land in Western Montana. She talks about money as freedom, not an amount — and how getting clear on your core values changes the way you earn, save, grow and even argue less with the people you love. I love how she reframes a budget as simply "telling your money where to go."
Then we move into the heart of her story: thirteen years as a foster family, 22 children, four adoptions, and a brand-new nonprofit called Fostering the Summit, born out of a calling to change what aging out of foster care looks like. This one is raw, honest and full of courage — and I think you'll leave it nudged to take your own messy next step. Keep going, friend.
Key takeaways
- Money isn't black and white — it's as individual as your thumbprint. Take the shame out of it and start having the conversations, especially with your partner.
- Get clear on your core values and treat them as your north star — every question, roadblock and fear can be answered by going back to them.
- A budget isn't restrictive — it's just telling your money where to go, on purpose, in alignment with who you are.
- Earning is an action, saving is a behavior, and growing your money is knowledge — each one takes a different kind of work.
- Couples should name their individual core values, then celebrate where they overlap and where they differ — it explains the 'why' behind how each person spends and saves.
- Foster children often age out at 18 with little more than a check and no support — Cooree's mission is to bring self-growth tools and a sense of being seen to teens BEFORE they age out.
- Failure usually just means you didn't like it or it didn't go as planned — reframe it as a lesson about yourself, then take the next messy step.
- Sometimes you have to look back to move forward — reconnecting with who you've always been at your heart is what opens the door to grow.
“Money is freedom to me, though. It is not an amount.”
“All a budget is telling your money where to go. You get to choose.”
“We don't get to necessarily choose the cycle we're born into, but we get to choose the cycle we live out.”
“It's the courage to take action on something that's on your heart. It doesn't matter how big, how small.”
About Cooree
Founder of CR Financial Foundations; host of The Courage Coalition podcast; founder of Fostering the Summit
Cooree Roofener is a mama of six, nana of four, and married to her high school sweetheart. She built a small bookkeeping side hustle into the main financial support for her family after moving to forest land in Western Montana, where her husband built their home. Today she offers bookkeeping services and financial business coaching rooted in core values and intentionality. After thirteen years as a foster family — 22 children and four adoptions — she founded the nonprofit Fostering the Summit to change what aging out of foster care looks like, and she hosts The Courage Coalition podcast.
Prefer another app? Open this episode on Spotify.
Free community
Connect, learn, and grow — together.
Listening is where it starts. The free community is where it sticks — Nancy, the conversations, and a circle of women cheering each other on. It's free to join, and there's a seat for you.
Join the free community →Keep listening
Episode 213 · Dec 18, 2025
Show notesNancy Moore: Looking forward to 2026!
This episode is my last of Season 11 and already looking forward to 2026 because I'm beyond excited to share that I’ll be speaking at the Align: Awaken Event in San Diego, January 22–25 ✨ I'm sharing more about this gathering because it's…
Episode 211 · Dec 2, 2025
Show notesHappy Holidays!
Happy Holidays Nancy! It's been a great year serving and working with you! Look forward to 2026!
Episode 210 · Nov 25, 2025
Show notesDr. Brenda Lloyd-Jones: Over Three Decades of Building Community
I’m honored to share this week’s conversation with Brenda Joy Lloyd-Jones, Ph.D., lovingly known as Dr. Brenda Joy—a Human Relations professor, leader, mother, and the visionary founder behind The Mothers Group, Inc.