You already know what you should do with money.

I've always loved writing.

At eight, I won my first camera in a national writing competition. Throughout my childhood and teenage years, I filled books with poetry and stories. I imagined that one day I would make a living writing.

Around sixteen, I set those dreams aside, got practical and chose accounting. It offered security, opportunity and a clear path to success. This proved to be a good decision. I built a rewarding career in accounting, finance and strategy, eventually leading teams and organisations.

The trade-off? I stopped writing.

As my career progressed, I became curious about my own leadership. I wanted to become a better leader, understand myself and improve how I worked with others. That curiosity led me into coaching, facilitation and Gestalt organisational development.

I became fascinated by human behaviour: why we do what we do, how our experiences shape us and why we repeat patterns even when we know better.

That exploration also led me back to writing.

My first book drew on my experiences leading business process improvement projects. My second explored psychological safety through an experiment with my team.

This book is different.

The accountant who understands the numbers, the coach curious about the person behind the decisions and the Gestalt practitioner who believes awareness creates possibilities for change all came together. They collaborated and co-created with the writer, who wove their stories into one.

It's Never Just Money began in my head, with the title From Profit to Paycheck. It was about managing money, increasing income, reducing debt and making sound financial decisions.

But as I reviewed the completed manuscript, something felt incomplete.

I was missing.

How could I write about money without examining my own complicated relationship with it?

Why, with all my financial knowledge and experience, had I made money mistakes? Why didn't I always do what I knew I should?

I gave myself permission to tell the truth, without blame or shame, about my financial successes and setbacks, the guilt that sometimes accompanied earning well, and long-held beliefs about money, worth and success that I had begun to question.

The more honest I became, the more the book changed.

What began as a practical guide to managing money became an exploration of our relationship with money, bringing together my stories and those of others, behavioural insights and financial tools to help us move from awareness to action.

Writing this book gave me an unexpected gift: a deeper sense of peace with my own story.

Now I'm excited to invite you to explore your relationship with money alongside me.

This is gentle work, without judgment.

Because, as I've discovered, it's never just money.

Maxine Attong works at the intersection of people, strategy and change. She began her career in accounting and finance, holding senior leadership roles across the energy, insurance and professional services sectors before expanding into executive coaching, leadership development and organisational change.

Her work explores the often-invisible beliefs, behaviours and patterns that shape how people lead, make decisions and navigate change. Drawing on her professional and personal experiences with money, she brings together financial knowledge, human behaviour and practical tools in It's Never Just Money.

Maxine is also the author of Change or Die: The Business Process Improvement Manual and Lead Your Team to Win: Achieve Optimal Performance by Providing a Safe Space for Employees. She hosts the Leadership Unlearned and Reframed podcast.

Through her writing, coaching and facilitation, Maxine helps people make the invisible visible so they can better understand themselves, make intentional choices and create meaningful change.

She is a Gestalt Organisational Leadership and Development Practitioner, an ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and a Certified Professional Accountant.