In this episode of White Collar Crime: The Other Sentence, I sit down with my mom to talk about what our family experienced when my father's white-collar crime became public.

My parents had already been divorced for several years, and my mom had no involvement in his business. She first learned about the investigation through a newspaper headline. But even though they were no longer married, his choices still had very real consequences for our family.

We talk about the financial fallout, the embarrassment of having our family name connected to a public white-collar crime case, raising children through uncertainty, and how my mom tried to help my sister and me understand that someone else's choices did not define us.

We also reflect on how differently parents and children can experience the same family crisis—and what it means to keep moving forward when so much is outside of your control.

This is Part 1 of my conversation with my mom. In Part 2, we'll talk more about parenting, anger, identity, resilience, and rebuilding after someone else's choices have changed your life.

Download my free guide, When the News Breaks: A Private Guide for Families Facing a White-Collar Legal Crisis

Email me to schedule a free consultation.

This podcast is for educational and supportive purposes only and is not therapy, legal advice, or a substitute for working with your own attorney, therapist, or professional support team.

In this episode of White Collar Crime: The Other Sentence, I talk about what happens when a private family crisis suddenly becomes public and how difficult it can be to cope with the shame, gossip, judgment, and unwanted attention that can follow a loved one's white-collar crime.

This part of the story is personal for me. When my family went through this in the mid-1980s, we learned that my father was under investigation by reading about it in the newspaper. We were trying to understand what was happening inside our family at the same time the public was learning about it. Today, news travels even faster, but the questions can feel very similar: Who knows? What are they saying? Do they think I knew? How do I face people now?

I explore courtesy stigma, the pressure to explain or defend yourself, changing friendships, protecting your privacy, setting boundaries around intrusive questions and gossip, and separating your identity from the actions of someone you love.

Most importantly, I want you to remember this: something being public does not mean the public is entitled to your private experience.

If your spouse, parent, or loved one is facing a federal investigation, white-collar criminal charges, sentencing, prison, or incarceration, you do not have to navigate the emotional fallout alone.

Download my free guide, When the News Breaks: A Private Guide for Families Facing a White-Collar Legal Crisis

Email me to schedule a free consultation.

This podcast is for educational and supportive purposes only and is not therapy, legal advice, or a substitute for working with your own attorney, therapist, or professional support team.

In this episode of White Collar Crime: The Other Sentence, I talk about what happens when a white-collar legal crisis changes the way you see the person you love.

After the initial shock, many spouses and family members are left asking a painful question: What else don't I know?

I explore the difference between legal trust and relational trust, the pressure to present a united front, and the complicated reality of loving someone while also feeling angry, betrayed, or unsure of what to believe. I also talk about why forgiveness and trust are not the same thing, what accountability can look like, and why you do not have to make immediate decisions about the future of your relationship.

I share both my professional perspective as a licensed marriage and family therapist and my personal experience as the daughter of a white-collar criminal.

If you are questioning what you knew, what you missed, or whether trust can ever be rebuilt, this episode is for you.

I also share a simple exercise to help you separate what you know, what you have been told, and what you still need to understand.

Download my free guide, When the News Breaks: A Private Guide for Families Facing a White-Collar Legal Crisis

Email me to schedule a free consultation.

This podcast is for educational and supportive purposes only and is not therapy, legal advice, or a substitute for working with your own attorney, therapist, or professional support team.

In this episode of White Collar Crime: The Other Sentence, I talk about one of the hardest questions a spouse or loved one may face during a white-collar legal crisis: What do I tell the children?

Download my free guide, When the News Breaks: A Private Guide for Families Facing a White-Collar Legal Crisis

When a family is dealing with an investigation, indictment, conviction, sentencing, prison, or the public fallout of a white-collar crime, children often know something is wrong before anyone explains it to them. They notice the whispers, the emotional outbursts, the quiet conversations, the tension in the home, and the way adults leave the room when they walk in.

I share from both my professional perspective and my personal experience as the child of a white-collar criminal. I knew something was happening in my family before I was ever directly told. That experience shaped my understanding of how confusing secrecy and silence can be for children.

In this episode, I offer guidance on how to talk with children in an honest, age-appropriate, and emotionally steady way. I discuss why children do not need every adult detail, but they do need reassurance, emotional honesty, and permission to ask questions.

If you are trying to protect your children while also trying to survive the crisis yourself, this episode will help you think through what to say, what not to say, and how to support your children without making them carry the adult burden.

You do not have to handle this perfectly. But your children do need to know they are safe, loved, and not responsible for fixing what has happened.

This podcast is for educational and supportive purposes only and is not therapy, legal advice, or a substitute for working with your own attorney, therapist, or professional support team.

Email me to schedule a free consultation.

When a white collar legal crisis enters your family, everything can feel urgent. The phone calls, questions, legal decisions, family conversations, and fear about the future can quickly become overwhelming.

In this episode of White Collar Crime: The Other Sentence, I walk you through what to do in the first 72 hours after the news breaks. This is not about solving your entire life overnight. It is about stabilizing before making big decisions.

I share a private stabilization framework to help you slow down, protect your privacy, create a small crisis circle, separate legal questions from emotional questions, talk to your children in a steady way, and avoid making major decisions while flooded.

If your spouse or loved one is facing arrest, indictment, conviction, sentencing, prison, or another stage of a white-collar legal crisis, this episode is here to help you take the next right step — not the next hundred steps.

Download my free guide, When the News Breaks: A Private Guide for Families Facing a White-Collar Legal Crisis

This podcast is for educational and supportive purposes only and is not therapy, legal advice, or a substitute for working with your own attorney, therapist, or professional support team.

In this first episode of White Collar Crime: The Other Sentence, I introduce the heart of this podcast: support for spouses and loved ones affected by a white collar crime.

When someone is accused, indicted, convicted, or sentenced, the attention usually goes to the legal case - the attorneys, the court dates, the charges, the media, and the person at the center of it all.

But what happens to the family standing beside them?

As a licensed marriage and family therapist, coach, and the child of a white collar criminal, this work is both professional and personal for me. In this episode, I talk about the hidden emotional fallout families often carry, including shame, grief, fear, betrayal, isolation, parenting concerns, and the painful feeling of being judged for something they did not do.

This episode is a compassionate starting point for anyone trying to stabilize after a white collar legal crisis. You did not commit the crime, but you may still be living through the consequences and you do not have to rebuild alone.

Download my free guide, When the News Breaks: A Private Guide for Families Facing a White-Collar Legal Crisis

Email me to schedule a free consultation.

This podcast is for educational and supportive purposes only and is not therapy, legal advice, or a substitute for working with your own attorney, therapist, or professional support team.

When someone is arrested, indicted, convicted, or sentenced for a white-collar crime, the legal case often focuses on one person - the defendant.

But behind that person is a family whose life has changed too.

White Collar Crime: The Other Sentence is a podcast for spouses, adult children, parents, siblings, and loved ones living through the emotional fallout of a white-collar legal crisis.

Hosted by Lisa Mustard, a licensed marriage and family therapist, coach, and the child of someone who committed a white-collar crime, this podcast offers support, perspective, and honest conversation for families navigating shame, grief, anger, parenting questions, public judgment, and rebuilding.

Subscribe to White Collar Crime: The Other Sentence wherever you listen to podcasts, and download Lisa's free guide, When the News Breaks: A Private Guide for Families Facing a White-Collar Legal Crisis.

This podcast is not therapy or legal advice. It is a private, supportive place to begin finding your footing again when someone else's choices have changed your life.