From Three Heart Attacks at 29 to Founding Prosperity First: Shaneh Woods on Bridging the Soul & Science of Money, Transforming 528 Businesses, and Why "Money Loves Joy"

Shaneh F. Woods is the founder and CEO of Prosperity First, a bookkeeping and accounting firm she founded over 28 years ago. While Prosperity First began early in her career, it wasn’t until years later that the business transformed into the energetically aligned firm it is today. By age 29, after running the firm in the traditional, high-stress accounting model she had inherited, Shaneh suffered three stress-related heart attacks and was told she wouldn’t survive to see her next birthday. That health crisis — followed by another decade of running the firm “the responsible way,” just with fewer hours — ultimately led to a profound awakening and a complete redesign of how she works with money, business, and the nervous system.

From North Pole, Alaska, Shaneh started her career as a minimum-wage data entry clerk fresh out of college, told explicitly on her first day: “I don’t want you to think. I don’t want you to ask questions. Just hit the keys I tell you to hit.” At just 19, she went on to buy the bookkeeping firm she worked for — inheriting not only a business, but an industry model built on stress, suppression, and endurance. For years, she ran Prosperity First the way she was taught, long before she had the language or tools to challenge the system she was operating inside.

Today, Shaneh is a Profit Engineer, Infinite Money Mindset Coach, Certified Profit First Professional, Human Design Expert, and Breathwork Facilitator who has transformed 528 businesses by combining rigorous financial strategy with mindset work. She's managed over a billion dollars in client profits and helps "rebel business owners" decode their numbers, trust their decisions, and design businesses spacious enough to hold their full bigness. Her mission: to help clients become "unreasonably resourced, deeply supported, and so well-held that the money becomes the easy part."

What makes Shaneh's work unique is her refusal to separate financial strategy from nervous system regulation, Human Design from balance sheets, or precision from presence. She celebrates every single payment she receives by hitting shuffle on a massive playlist and dancing "with every fiber of my being" because she knows "Money Loves Joy." She's also a self-described "bookwyrm," music lover who travels the United States in search of awe-inspiring music, and candy maker who sees beauty in numbers.

At Prosperity First, her team of bookkeepers are "thoughtful, conscious, and aware"—not just data entry clerks. She despised telling clients "Congratulations, you made a profit, and now you owe a ton in taxes" and watching their faces drop. Her work begins where traditional accounting stops, helping clients eliminate "entrepreneurial poverty" and achieve what she calls "Profit is Protest™"—a reclamation of financial agency and capacity.

In this Q&A, Shaneh shares her journey from burnout and health crisis to founding Prosperity First, the difference between working with traditional accountants versus her approach, and her advice for building businesses that support you rather than the other way around.

From Three Heart Attacks at 29 to Building Prosperity First - Surviving Burnout, Leaving the Traditional Accounting Path, and "Bridging the Soul & Science of Money"

Q: You had three stress-related heart attacks by the time you turned 29, and you were told you wouldn't survive to see your next birthday. You've said "that's what happens when you do everything the hard way" and "I realized I was forcing myself into a mold that didn't fit." After starting as a minimum wage data entry clerk fresh out of college (told "don't think, don't ask questions, just hit the keys"), you spent 20 years in traditional accounting before hitting a wall with severe burnout. Through a spiritual awakening, you discovered your gift lies in bridging what you call "the soul and science of money" - you're a Profit Engineer, Infinite Money Mindset Coach, Human Design Expert, and Breathwork Facilitator from North Pole, Alaska. For female founders who feel like they're forcing themselves into molds that don't fit (whether in corporate careers or even in their own businesses), walk us through your journey from burnout and health crisis to transforming Prosperity First into the energetically aligned firm you lead today. What made you realize traditional accounting wasn't serving you or your clients, and what advice would you give women about recognizing when they need to completely rebuild their approach to work before it costs them their health?

A: By the time I was 29, my body had staged an intervention. Three stress-related heart attacks will do that.

I had done everything "right." I worked hard. I pushed through. I followed the rules of an industry that rewarded endurance and self-erasure. I started as a minimum-wage data entry clerk, told explicitly, don't think, don't ask questions, just hit the keys. And for years, I obeyed that instruction in every area of my life.

Traditional accounting taught me discipline, precision, and systems. What it never taught me was how to listen to my body or trust my intuition. I was succeeding on paper while quietly unraveling.

The moment everything changed wasn't when I left accounting. It was when I stopped forcing myself into environments that required me to override my own design.

Through a spiritual awakening that followed my health crisis, I realized my true work was translation. Helping people understand what their numbers were saying beneath the surface. Bridging strategy with nervous system regulation. Precision with presence. Soul with science.

Prosperity First emerged from that clarity.

For women who feel like they're forcing themselves into molds that don't fit, here's what I want them to know concretely:

Burnout announces itself long before collapse. Pay attention to chronic exhaustion, resentment toward work you once loved, a constant sense of urgency, or the feeling that rest has to be "earned." It's all data.

If your success requires self-abandonment, it's already costing you too much. When your work asks you to silence your intuition, ignore your body, or numb your emotions, the bill will eventually come due. Health is often the first place it shows up.

Rebuilding isn't starting over. It's reclaiming what works. I didn't throw away my expertise. I redesigned how it was used. Women don't need to burn everything down. They need permission to redesign work so it actually fits who they are now.

Your body is the first system that tells the truth. If your body is screaming, it's because something in your work is misaligned. Listen early. It's far less costly than waiting for a crisis to force the conversation.

"Most Bookkeepers Are Just Data Entry Clerks" - Transforming 528 Businesses with Money Design, Human Design, and Eliminating "Entrepreneurial Poverty"

Q: You've said "I despised telling clients, 'Congratulations, you made a profit, and now you owe a ton in taxes.' Their faces would drop." You founded Prosperity First over 28 years ago to help businesses eliminate "entrepreneurial poverty," and you've transformed 528 businesses by combining financial strategy with money mindset coaching. You use Human Design, breathwork, and what you call "Money Design" sessions to help clients "4-5X their business profits." You've said traditional accountants "have failed to encourage you to live up to your highest self" and "have let the scarcity inherent in their training color their advice." For female founders managing their finances and trying to decide when to hire accounting support, what's the difference between working with a traditional bookkeeper/accountant versus working with someone who takes your approach? How should founders think about the relationship between money mindset and financial strategy, and what are the warning signs that their current financial advisor is operating from scarcity rather than abundance?

A: I used to hate telling clients, "Congratulations, you made a profit," and then watching their faces fall when they realized how much they owed in taxes. That moment exposed a deep flaw in traditional accounting.

Profit, in most cases, is just a line on a tax return and not cash in the bank.

A traditional bookkeeper records what already happened. A traditional accountant often focuses on compliance and risk avoidance. Both are important, but neither is sufficient for building a business that actually supports a human life.

My work begins where traditional accounting stops.

At Prosperity First, we combine rigorous financial strategy with Profit First style cash flow management, Human Design, and mindset work because money behavior is inseparable from the person managing it. Numbers don't exist in a vacuum. They reflect boundaries, capacity, confidence, and belief.

For founders deciding when and how to hire financial support, here's the practical distinction:

A traditional bookkeeper tells you what the numbers say. We help you decide what to do next and who you need to become to do it sustainably.

Mindset without strategy leads to wishful thinking. Strategy without mindset leads to burnout and fear-based decisions.

You need both.

Founders should be wary of advisors who lead exclusively with limitation: "You can't afford that," "That's too risky," "You should wait." Prudence matters, but when advice consistently contracts possibility, it often reveals the advisor's own scarcity lens.

Warning signs your financial advisor is operating from scarcity include:

• Advice rooted primarily in fear or worst-case scenarios
• No conversation about capacity, lifestyle, or long-term vision
• A lack of curiosity about who you are and how you operate best
• Treating growth as dangerous rather than designable

A true financial partner helps you expand intelligently. They help you understand your numbers in a way that builds confidence, agency, and choice.

"Money Loves Joy" - Celebrating Every Payment, Building a Team That's "Thoughtful, Conscious, and Aware," and Creating Work-Life Balance After Decades of Burnout

Q: You celebrate every single payment you receive by hitting shuffle on a massive playlist and dancing "with every fiber of my being" because you know "Money Loves Joy." You're also a music lover who travels the United States in search of awe-inspiring music, a candy maker, and a "bookwyrm" who sees beauty in numbers. You've built Prosperity First with a team of bookkeepers who are "thoughtful, conscious, and aware" - not just data entry clerks. You're passionate about helping clients achieve financial success AND a healthier work-life balance. For female entrepreneurs building service-based businesses (especially in fields like accounting, finance, or consulting that can lead to burnout), what's your advice about building a business that supports you rather than the other way around? How do you balance running a financial services firm with your own wellness and joy, and what systems or mindset shifts have allowed you to create sustainability after nearly losing your life to overwork?

A: Yes, I celebrate every payment.

I hit shuffle on a massive playlist and dance because joy is how I keep my relationship with money clean. Celebration interrupts urgency. It reminds the nervous system that receiving is safe.

For decades, I believed seriousness equaled professionalism. Burnout taught me that joy is actually a sustainability strategy.

For women building service-based businesses, here's the specific guidance I wish I'd had sooner:

Design your business around capacity, not just revenue. More clients or more income won't fix a system that's already overextended. Capacity must be designed intentionally through pricing, boundaries, and team structure.

Build systems that honor completion and receipt. Most burnout comes from never finishing anything. Clear workflows, clean handoffs, and rituals that mark "done" matter more than most people realize.

Hire for consciousness, not just competence. At Prosperity First, my team understands that numbers carry emotional weight. Thoughtful, aware professionals create safer containers for clients and better outcomes for the business.

Separate joy from monetization. I travel for music. I make candy. I read obsessively. None of these need to be profitable to be essential. Creativity that exists outside commerce restores the nervous system and keeps work from becoming extractive.

After nearly losing my life to overwork, I learned this: a business should hold you. It should support your health, your curiosity, and your joy. If it doesn't, the answer isn't to work harder. It's to redesign.

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