On this month's episode of the Creative + Moneywise podcast, freelance photographer Nolwen Cifuentes talks about her journey into and out of $60,000 in debt.

By early 2020, Nolwen had shot photos for TIME, Rolling Stone, The New York Times Magazine and many other editorial outlets — markers of career success that belied her money problems. She hit her financial rock bottom just before the pandemic, when she called her then-boyfriend (now fiancé) and asked to borrow money to pay her bills — again. A flip switched and she knew she needed to take better care of her finances.

Nolwen is an editorial and commercial photographer living in Los Angeles. And as of last week, she has paid off half her $60,000 in debt.