Episode 450: How A Government Shutdown Sparked Her Debt-Free Revolution & $200K Debt Payoff w/ Nika Booth

Journey To Launch

Jamila Souffrant

Finances, Business, Realestateinvesting, Entrepreneurship, Earlyretirement, Investing, Budgeting, Wealth

5 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 29 October 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this powerful and transparent episode of Journey to Launch, I sit down with Nika Booth, award-winning financial coach, content creator, and founder of Debt Free Gonna Be, to unpack how she paid off more than $200,000 in debt while refusing to sacrifice joy along the way.

From student loans and credit card balances to IRS debt and government furloughs, Nika shares the raw truth behind her financial journey, the highs, the setbacks, and the emotional lessons that reshaped her mindset about money, self-worth, and freedom.

She opens up about her early money mistakes, growing up in a household where finances weren't discussed, and how the 2019 federal shutdown became the wake-up call that sparked her debt-free mission. Nika also reveals what it really felt like to finally see her student loan balance hit $0, and how she's now helping others find hope, healing, and fun in their own money journeys.

In This Episode, You'll Learn:

How Nika Booth paid off over $200K in debt from credit cards to student loans, without sacrificing fun or joy
The pivotal 2019 federal shutdown that sparked her debt-free journey and reshaped her money mindset
What it really felt like to finally see her student loan balance hit $0 through Public Service Loan Forgiveness
How she turned Debt Free Gonna Be from a personal goal into a thriving community helping thousands manage money with confidence

Other related blog posts/links mentioned in this episode:

Free Shutdown Resource List
Crush Your Credit Card Debt Course
Get your copy of Your Journey To Financial Freedom if you haven't already.
Apply to Share Your Journeyer Story, here.
Join the Journey to Launch Book Club to dive deeper into financial freedom with guided discussions and resources here!
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Leave Your Journey To Financial Freedom a review!
Get The Budget Bootcamp
Check out my personal website here.
Leave me a voicemail– Leave me a question on the Journey To Launch voicemail and have it answered on the podcast!
YNAB – Start managing your money and budgeting so that you can reach your financial dreams. Sign up for a free 34 days trial of YNAB, my go-to budgeting app by using my referral link.
What stage of the financial journey are you on? Are you working on financial stability or work flexibility? Find out with this free assessment and get a curated list of the 10 next best episodes for you to listen to depending on your stage. Check it out here!

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Transcript

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0:00.0	AI had the time of my life.
0:07.0	AI never failed this way before.
0:10.0	From building timelines to assigning the right people and even spotting risks,
0:14.0	Monday Sidekick knows your business, thinks ahead, and takes action.
0:19.0	One click on the star and consider it done.
0:21.5	And I owe it all to you.
0:25.2	Try Monday Sidekick. AI you'll love to use on Monday.com.
0:32.4	There's a lot going on with student loans right now. And the best way to make a decision about whether
0:39.4	you stay or you go and pursue something else and maybe abandon the idea of forgiveness is to stay
0:44.9	aware and up to date on what's going on. That's key. Knowledge is power, right? So you've got to know
0:50.2	exactly what's going on to know what your options are.
0:59.1	Welcome to the Journey to Launch podcast with your host, Jamila Sufran.
1:05.1	As a money expert who walks her talk, she helps brave journeyers like you, get out of debt,
1:08.4	save, invest, and build real wealth.
1:12.5	Join her on the Journey to Launch to Financial Freedom in... Five, four, three, two, one.
1:21.2	If you want the episode, show notes for this episode, go to Journey tolaunch.com or click the
1:27.4	description of wherever you're listening
1:29.1	to this episode. In the show notes, you'll get the transcribed version of the conversation,
1:34.9	the links that we mentioned, and so much more. Also, whether you are an OG journeyer or brand
1:40.5	new to the podcast, I've created a free Jumpstart guide to help you on your financial
1:45.9	freedom journey. It includes the top episodes to listen to stages to go through to reach
1:50.5	financial freedom, resources, and so much more. You can go to journey to launch.com slash jumpstart
	...

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