Podcast Summary
Top Advisor Podcast – Episode #103
Title: Rewire Your Brain: The neuroscience behind the emotions and beliefs that drive financial decisions
Host: Bill Cates
Guest: Tessa Santarpia, Founder & CEO of Visualize in360
Release Date: December 3, 2025

Main Theme

In this episode, Bill Cates is joined by Tessa Santarpia, a specialist in applied neuroscience and founder of Visualize in360. Together, they explore how our brains are hardwired in ways that profoundly impact financial decision making—for both clients and advisors. The discussion dives into the biological roots of common behaviors like negativity bias, survival mode thinking, and emotional hijacking, and offers brain-based strategies to reframe beliefs, calm anxieties, and encourage growth. The conversation is practical, empathetic, and rooted in science, with a focus on actionable tips every financial advisor can use with clients and in their own practice.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Negativity Bias: Why We Fixate on Losses

[05:13 – 11:11]

• Key Concept:
  Human brains are evolutionarily designed to notice threats more than opportunities. This “negativity bias” is a survival mechanism, not a flaw.

• Impact on Clients:

  • The brain gives 2–5x more weight to negative information, activating the amygdala (the brain’s threat center).
  • Losses feel like threats to personal safety. This is especially apparent during market volatility, leading to risk aversion and potentially self-sabotaging behavior.

• Advisors’ Role:

  • Use reframing (shifting the narrative from danger to movement and opportunity).
  • Employ anchoring (directing attention back to long-term plans and past recoveries).
  • Understand and project calm energy—through physiological entrainment, clients unconsciously match the advisor’s emotional state.

“The client is not just listening to your words, they’re actually feeling your nervous system.”
— Tessa Santarpia [08:57]

2. Advisors Experience Bias Too

[10:46 – 13:49]

• Self-Awareness:
  Advisors’ brains are wired the same way as clients. Stressors like fear of rejection or market downturns hijack the logical brain.
• Practical Tools:
  • Notice your own patterns: Are you ruminating on one negative client? Fearing rejection? Overthinking risk?
  • Use “when anchoring”: Regularly recall three recent wins to direct your attention toward progress and opportunity.
  • Do one small, uncomfortable outreach daily to prove to your brain that progress exists beyond fear.

“By going over the wins and what you want it to focus on, it’s priming the brain to notice more of those opportunities.”
— Tessa Santarpia [12:41]

3. Survival Mode vs. Growth Mode

[13:49 – 19:55]

• Signs of Survival Mode in Clients:
  Agitation, urgency, catastrophic language (“what if we lose everything”), narrowed vision, avoidance, delayed responses, shame, or emotional tone shifts.
• Techniques to Shift Mindsets:
  • Normalize and validate clients’ fear—don’t dismiss or ignore it.
  • Engage in identity shifting: “You are someone who makes decisions based on your long-term vision.”
  • Highlight process goals, not just distant outcomes.

“Normalizing the reaction is so important…when we experience shame and then we don’t address them...it actually gets stored in the body and affects the brain’s predictive models.”
— Tessa Santarpia [17:15]

• For Advisors:
  The same concepts apply. Advisors worry about quotas, comparison to peers, and retention. They must learn to distinguish emotions (bodily signals) from feelings (mental interpretations) and challenge limiting beliefs.

“Emotions are not feelings. Emotions are electrical, chemical, hormonal signatures created by past experiences.”
— Tessa Santarpia [19:19]

4. Emotions vs. Feelings: Understanding the Loop

[19:05 – 24:33]

• Scientific Distinction:
  • Emotions: Physiological responses based on past experience.
  • Feelings: Mental interpretations of those sensations.
  • Both can create loops—an emotion triggers a feeling, which triggers more emotions.
• Getting Unstuck:
  • Allow emotional waves to pass (60–90 seconds to a few minutes), rather than suppressing or distracting.
  • Use body-based practices (interoception, breathwork, vagal toning) to process and release tension before shifting attention to something positive.

“You can’t think your way out of emotions…The most important thing you can do is to really get out of the head, drop into the body.”
— Tessa Santarpia [22:00]

5. Early Money Memories & Rewiring Beliefs

[27:00 – 34:44]

• Origin of Money Beliefs:
  Early family dynamics and societal narratives (“money doesn’t grow on trees”, “money is the root of all evil”) create subconscious patterns that persist into adulthood.
• Advisor Best Practices:
  • Invite conversations around money stories using indirect prompts, such as sharing stories, books (e.g. The Hidden Heist), or comparisons.
  • Use personal and client stories as reference points for growth, not comparison.
  • Reverse engineer big goals into daily, weekly, and monthly behaviors to anchor progress and reinforce identity shifts.

“The format of a parable is really powerful because it speaks to emotional and associative parts of the brain—those same areas where money beliefs are actually formed.”
— Tessa Santarpia [29:38]

6. Recognizing and Handling Emotional Hijacks

[34:44 – 41:13]

• Spotting Emotional Hijacks in Clients:
  • Look for urgency, catastrophic language, or a sudden shift in behavior from previously set goals and identity.
• Response:
  • Rational persuasion rarely works in the moment. Instead, personalize science-based tools (visual aids, reminders of process, relatable stories) and test what works for each client.
• For Advisors:
  • Recognize your own hijacks, like chasing fleeting dopamine rewards (“shiny objects”) or succumbing to imposter syndrome.
  • Focus on long-term goals and identity shifts, not just immediate gratification.

“The dopamine spike can be a lot more [significant] than just the happiness that comes from achievement or the reward.”
— Tessa Santarpia [38:53]

• Dopamine and Anticipation:
  It’s the pursuit, not the reward itself, that releases dopamine and drives action. Risk can increase the dopamine spike and sense of anticipation.

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• [05:49] “For 200,000 years, noticing what was dangerous kept us alive. So we’ve evolved with that bias in the brain.” — Tessa Santarpia
• [08:57] “The client is not just listening to your words, they’re actually feeling your nervous system.” — Tessa Santarpia
• [19:19] “Emotions are not feelings. Emotions are electrical, chemical, and hormonal signatures created by past experiences.” — Tessa Santarpia
• [22:00] “You can’t think your way out of emotions.” — Tessa Santarpia
• [29:38] “The format of a parable is really powerful because it speaks to emotional and associative parts of brain—those same areas where the money beliefs are actually formed.” — Tessa Santarpia
• [33:09] “Reverse engineering is really breaking down a goal into small manageable parts…Who do I get to be now each day?” — Tessa Santarpia
• [38:53] “The dopamine spike can be a lot more [significant] than just the happiness that comes from the achievement or the reward.” — Tessa Santarpia

Important Timestamps & Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | | --- | --- | | 05:13 | Negativity bias explained & reframing techniques | | 10:46 | Advisors’ own bias and self-regulation practices | | 13:49 | Signs of survival mode and bringing clients back to growth mode | | 19:19 | Emotion vs. feeling: critical distinction | | 22:00 | Processing emotional hijacks: get into the body | | 27:00 | Money memories, family stories, and their impact | | 33:20 | Reverse engineering goals for measurable progress | | 34:44 | Recognizing emotional hijacks and using personalized brain-based tools | | 38:09 | Understanding dopamine and motivation | | 40:18 | Tessa’s mission to rewire a billion brains |

Contact & Further Resources

• Tessa Santarpia

  • LinkedIn: Tessa Santarpia
  • Website: visualizein360.com

• Host: Bill Cates

  • Books: The Hidden Heist
  • Free resources: referralcoach.com/resources

Actionable Takeaways for Advisors

• Normalize client fears and reactions—these are rooted in biology, not character flaws.
• Use stories, visuals, and personal wins as practical tools to anchor clients (and yourself) in growth mode.
• Process emotions in the body before trying to reframe thoughts.
• Help clients and teams uncover early money stories that may be driving behavior.
• Break down big goals into manageable habits; foster a growth mindset instead of negative comparison.
• Recognize and regulate your own emotional hijacks—prioritize long-term gains and identity over immediate relief.

Final Thoughts

Tessa’s approach blends neuroscience and practical behavioral tools. The episode is a compelling reminder that beneath every financial decision is a very human brain—wired for survival, fueled by past stories, and capable of incredible growth with the right, science-backed support.

“You are really guiding the energy exchange of that conversation.”
— Tessa Santarpia [10:25]