Financial Clarity. Mental Peace.
Whether you're navigating overwhelming debt, managing complex wealth, or carrying the invisible weight of financial anxiety — RELEEF is a practice that addresses both your financial strategy and the mental burden it creates.
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CPA Certified
Certified Public Accountant
Mental Health Advocate
Speaker & Expert
Confidential
Safe Space Guaranteed
Founder · 16 Years Audit & Advisory · Mental Health Speaker
Money stress doesn't care how much you earn.
We work with high-net-worth leaders, executives, entrepreneurs, and anyone facing real, complex financial hardship. Whether you're building wealth or trying to survive a financial crisis — the mental burden is the same. And it deserves the same level of care.
Drowning in Debt & Financial Complexity
Medical bills, business losses, divorce settlements, tax debt — when financial hardship compounds, the anxiety becomes paralyzing. You need someone who understands both the numbers and the weight they carry.
High Income, Hidden Stress
You're earning well but feel financially fragile. High taxes, high spending, no real wealth accumulation. The gap between what you make and what you keep creates a quiet, constant dread.
The Anxiety That Never Leaves
You hit your goals and still lie awake at 3am worried about money. The numbers don't match the feeling. That disconnect isn't a math problem — it's a mental health problem.
Navigating Major Life Transitions
Divorce, job loss, inheritance, business failure — major financial disruptions don't just affect your bank account. They affect your identity, your relationships, and your sense of safety.
The Weight of Leadership
Executives and business owners carry financial responsibility for others — employees, families, investors. That weight is immense. Nobody asks how you're holding up.
The Burnout is Real
You built the business to have freedom. Now the business owns you. Financial stress and emotional exhaustion are the same wound — and they require the same integrated healing.
"Traditional financial advisors treat the numbers. We treat the whole person — because your relationship with money is inseparable from your relationship with yourself."
— Maxine Brown, CPA · Founder, RELEEF
The reasons people choose us — and stay
This isn't a generic financial advisory practice with a wellness tagline. Every aspect of how we work was built around a gap that very few practices address.
A CPA Who Also Speaks Mental Health
There are thousands of financial advisors. There are thousands of therapists. Maxine Brown is one of the very few who holds deep expertise in both — and has built a practice specifically around that intersection.
Global, Multi-Jurisdictional Experience
With experience spanning the US, Bermuda, and 20+ Caribbean territories across banking, insurance, and healthcare, Maxine brings a rare global perspective to complex financial situations.
Bank of America & PwC Trained
Maxine's career includes audit leadership at Bank of America and PwC, giving her the institutional rigor and technical depth that most coaches simply don't have.
A Recognized Public Voice
Featured in Vogue. Speaker for NAMI, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Bermuda's Ministry of Health, and Condé Nast. Maxine's advocacy is public, credible, and deeply personal.
Lived Experience, Not Just Theory
Maxine doesn't just study financial stress — she has lived it, navigated it, and emerged with a framework that works. That authenticity is what makes the difference in every session.
A Safe Space, Guaranteed
Every session is strictly confidential. No judgment. No generic advice. Just a trusted advisor who holds your financial strategy and your emotional wellbeing in the same hands.
Three ways to work together
Every engagement follows our 3-Phase Methodology: The Past (your money story), The Future (your vision), and The Present (your integrated strategy).
The Mental Wealth Audit
Your starting point. We map your Financial Genogram — the beliefs, traumas, and patterns you inherited around money — then build your initial integrated strategy. For anyone ready to understand the 'why' behind their financial situation.
- Financial Genogram & Money Story Mapping
- Values Clarification & Vision Setting
- Initial Financial Strategy Blueprint
- Personalized Mental Wealth Action Plan
The Founder's Operating System
Six sessions that pair a financial topic with its psychological counterpart. For entrepreneurs, executives, and high-net-worth individuals ready for deep, integrated transformation.
- Session 1: Money Story + Cash Flow System
- Session 2: Values + Tax Strategy
- Session 3: Risk & Fear + Entity Structure
- Session 4: Scarcity vs. Abundance + Pricing
- Session 5: Imposter Syndrome + Paying Yourself
- Session 6: The Future + Integrated Plan
The Integrated Retainer
For those navigating ongoing complexity — whether building a business, managing significant wealth, or working through a major financial transition. Monthly sessions, unlimited support, and a trusted advisor who knows your whole story.
- Monthly 90-min Integrated Sessions
- Unlimited Messaging & Support
- Quarterly Financial & Mental Health Reviews
- Annual Tax Strategy & Planning
The 3-Phase Approach
Every engagement — whether a single session or a year-long partnership — follows the same three-phase structure that makes our work genuinely different.
Your Money Story
We begin by mapping your Financial Genogram — the beliefs, patterns, and emotional relationships with money that you inherited from your family and experiences. This is where most financial advisors never go.
Your Shared Vision
We define what wealth actually means to you — not what society says it should mean. Values clarification, goal alignment, and building a personal definition of success that feels true to who you are.
Your Integrated Strategy
Only now do we build the financial plan. But it's not generic — it's designed specifically to reach the vision you defined in Phase 2, structured around the emotional patterns we uncovered in Phase 1.
The Session Pairing — What Makes Us Unique
A therapist can do the left column. A CPA can do the right. RELEEF does both — in the same room.
Class of 2026 · Selected from 14,500 alumni
A financial expert who has lived both sides of the story
Maxine Brown is a Certified Public Accountant with 16 years of experience spanning PwC, Bank of America, AIG, and international insurance groups across Bermuda and the Caribbean. She has built internal audit departments from scratch, advised boards across 20+ jurisdictions, and been selected as a Bryant University 40 Under 40 honoree from a pool of 14,500 alumni.
But Maxine's story doesn't stop at the balance sheet. She is a recognized public advocate for mental health — featured in Vogue and Condé Nast as a speaker on trauma-related experiences faced by women and their connection to financial stress, and a speaker for NAMI, the Bermuda Ministry of Health, and the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. She has delivered over six keynote addresses on mental health and financial stress, and served as a surrogate for Secretary Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Presidential Campaign.
RELEEF was born from a simple but radical observation: the financial industry treats money as a math problem, while the mental health industry treats stress as an emotional problem. For the people Maxine works with, they are the same problem — and they deserve the same integrated solution.
Credentials & Recognition
- Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
- 16+ years spanning PwC, Bank of America, AIG, and international insurers
- Head of Internal Audit at Bermuda-based insurers
- Bryant University 40 Under 40 — Class of 2026
- Speaker: NAMI, Vogue & Condé Nast (Trauma & Women's Experiences), Bermuda Ministry of Health
- Speaker: National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, RAINN
- Bermuda Mental Health Anti-Stigma Campaign — 6 Speaking Engagements
- Former Board Member, Centre Against Abuse (Bermuda)
- Surrogate to Secretary Hillary Clinton, 2016 Presidential Campaign
- Youngest delegate to represent New York State at the 2016 DNC
A voice that has been heard and trusted
Maxine's expertise at the intersection of finance and mental health has been recognized by leading publications, national organizations, and global institutions.
Featured speaker on trauma-related experiences faced by women and their intersection with financial stress and mental health
National Alliance on Mental Illness — public speaker and advocate
Conference panelist on audit leadership, risk management, and industry best practices
Speaker for Bermuda's first Mental Health Anti-Stigma Campaign
40 Under 40 honoree — selected from 14,500 alumni for leadership and professional impact
Not ready to commit? Start free.
Three ways to take the first step — all free, all valuable, all designed to give you clarity before you invest a single dollar.
Discovery Call
Not sure where to start? Book a free 15-minute call with Maxine. No pitch, no pressure — just a real conversation about where you are and whether we're the right fit.
Book Free CallFinancial Stress Assessment
A guided self-assessment that helps you identify the hidden sources of your financial anxiety. Understand your stress patterns before your first session.
Take AssessmentMoney Story Quiz
Discover the beliefs and patterns you inherited about money. Your Money Story is the foundation of everything — take the quiz to find out where yours begins.
Take the QuizReady to work together?
Book a free 15-minute discovery call to see if we're the right fit. No commitment required.
All sessions are strictly confidential