It's time for the b a q a A, the b a q a what you say, the b a q eight with Mandai, the b a q eight with Tifida, the b a qa ay. It's broad ambition question and answers. You have questions, we have some answers. Although we're not your attorney, your financial advisor, your mom, but we are your very savvy, fly cute favorite financial besties. Okay, so, but we want you to take what we say with a grain of salt and certainly lean into the people
that you pay honey. Oh, so we've got some questions today, mandra who have you picked from the mail bag?
Ooh, career questions? I live for these, so many great questions. As a reminder, you guys can hit us up with your career and your finance questions or business questions at Brown Ambition Podcast on ig you can slide into our DMS. You can also email us. We are Brown Ambition Podcast at.
GA dot com.
We have some incredible questions today and you guys have really taken our challenge of coming up with code names to the next level. So shout out to everyone. The better your code name is, the more likely your show, your answer, your question will be answering on the show. Okay, favoritism, we do practice it. Okay, but get your salt shakers ready, y'all, because you know, as Tiffany said, we take everything we
say with a little tiny grain of salt. But let's start with don't want to be shady, just want to be paid. Literally, that's the name that we are going with. Don't want to be We'll just call her shady. Shady says hey, Andy and Tiffany. I have worked for a company for six years now, and I have learned how to be a career counselor. I had relevant experience when I came into the job, but I honed ninety percent
of my skills through doing this job. Like most women of color, I am not making the money I am worth, so I have advocated for raises over the years and am making much more than when I started. Okay, I'm thinking about starting a side business coaching young people in their careers using the skills I've learned through this job to generate an additional stream of income to pay off my considerable debt, create an emergency fund, and be able to travel. I would be serving a different demographic and
not poaching clients from the company. I'd be using resources that I've used in my job, but I created most of the resources we use anyway, Is it problematic to use the skills this job taught me to make additional money doing the same thing. Do I need to loopen my boss at all or just do my thing? Sincerely? Don't want to be shady, just want to be paid.
Oh this is my juicy. It is juicy.
I'm sitting back like Mary, dude, what you say girl's perspective? And then I'll say, I want you to say, from like what can she actually do here?
Okay, from a boss's perspective, you are shady. This is very not cool. I hate to break it to you. So I know that you say that you have created these resources yourself at work, so you feel like you're
entitled to use them in your business. But this is why when I talk about you know, especially for nine to five workers who are wanting to create their own consultant business for example, and you yourself want to do all your own service based business, one of my number one tips is to immediately start like keeping that Chinese wall, like keeping a barrier in between your work product at work and your business product on the side, and you
are immediately blurring that lines when you take something that you've produced at your office through on their payroll at using their systems, using their print or whatever, and passing it off as if you own it. That's the sad thing about working nine to five. We love we love the nine to five life, for the benefits, for the healthcare, for the four one K, for that job quote unquote stability.
But why we don't love it is that everything you do while you're on their payroll is really their product. They own it, not you, which may not be exactly what you want to hear, but that's the truth. Now that being said, you are your own person, and there is potential that you could launch your own independent venture outside of your nine to five, but I think you're
going to there. The more unique your venture is and the more you can say how different it is, the more likely it's going to be to not cause any issues. I think that like, based on what you're saying, it seems really close to what you're doing now, very close to what you're doing now, and I don't think it would be wise of you to tell your manager that you're doing this because I do think that they're going
to have an issue with it. That being said, if you want to, yeah, Tiff wouldn't do it, I wouldn't do it under your own name. I do think that maybe there's an opportunity for you to like test out creating your own content, creating your own thing, and trying to post it, maybe under a pseudonym, just to see if you're getting any traction, Like have that minimum viable product kind of moment where you're trying to see if
people are responding to it. You could do some free workshops, for example, like where you're not getting paid, but you are like engaging with that audience and trying to like
test out your message and see if it's good. There's a way that you could also do this where you are like representing your company, but you're doing it like what you're speaking on panels, like you're getting tapped to go to conferences, you're getting tapped to speak at maybe college campuses around the country, and you're doing it representing
your company. That's very different. If you wanted to do that on your own, I think you would have some challenges and they may not be too happy about it.
So and you make it suit because I know about me and my Unicorn squad, I have a non compete in our contract, like since you're not going to work for me as a Budgeonista, and then also create a financial education thing on the side.
With whose resources? Not more, you know what I mean?
Like like, so we now here's the thing. So many people who work with me have side businesses that I then promote, like you know, like we put like, oh you know you like for example, I'm not saying like, for example, Logan on my team is my content manager, and Logan is an amazing copywriter and content creator. And so I've promoted Logan to like like on our social media channels to do content stuff, you know, just in general, and people have hired her, no problem. But what Logan
couldn't do, like because that's different. It's almost like I'm a teacher and I tutor on the side, No problem. But I can't open a competing school, you know what I mean. And so like Logan doing content for somebody else, no problem. It's like I can't be a financial company that does what we do. But Logan actually opening up
her own financial education firm. Problem because it's like you're it's now you can do that and not work here, you know, like you couldn't you know, you couldn't work here and do that, even like I had a woman on our team. She's also I just saw that Joadalice, I forget the name of Jeddale's in staff.
She's she helps people create courses.
So when she was working with us, she really helped to build out like our course platform for for Literature Academy, and then she helped other people build that through course platforms, and I think she was doing it simultaneously. No problem, but she couldn't open her own online school called almost Literature Academy or whatever you see to mean like her own financial online school. Not that she couldn't open her financial her online school, but that's the issue is that
you know you can't. And I've had people who you know, try to kind of do that and it's not worked because I think people don't understand. This is what you know, when I'm gonna, like, you know, get my Kanye on but saw sold separately. Since I know y'all here and you're like, ow, I helped build the budget East and I helped build this, I could do the same thing over here, or I'm gonna take all of this to the next person who's in competition with Tiffany and we're
gonna take Tiffany down. I've had a couple people do that and then one year, two year, five years past, and no new Tiffany has been built because sauce sold separately. That although you bring a lot to the table, ultimately you know I'm the table.
And so you want to be mindful because you don't want to be girls.
You know. I've had a few people I'm like, oh, story in our first.
Because you know, but I've had it. But I had to learn that lesson from myself.
But I just say all that to say honestly, then be mindful because you don't want to be blackballed in the industry.
Industries are smaller than you think.
You don't want to be black balled, and quite honestly, you will be found out because especially if you start to do well and you don't want to be fired, you know, and now if you want to leave the job and build something new, that's one thing. But to build something that kind of competes even though it's like, oh, it's different clients, you.
Know, if you're here's the thing.
If you cannot tell your boss, you know, then you probably shouldn't be doing it unless you're ready to lose your job and you're like, this thing is making me enough money, So I just would be mindful of that. And that's that on that sis, be mindful, don't be shady, just want to be paid, like you know, Yeah, just be.
Me mindful, you know.
Take your skill sets and ask yourself how you can flip it where it's not at all like what you're doing. You know, there's other things that you can do with that skill set, Like I went for teaching preschool to teaching financial education, so but still at the end of the day, I'm still a teacher.
So you could cherry pick the.
Skill sets and see and ask yourself, how can I do this in a totally different way that if my boss did find out or whatever. No, biggie, nobody's no school is mad that a teacher tutors on the side.
Yeah, and it's also it's special tutoring that they wouldn't be able to offer, like one on one individual tutoring. You just can't do that. You can't single out a student and then pour all your energy and attention into
them without knowing. I don't really know much about the day to day job tasks that you have, but maybe there's a case to be made for like you don't get to do one on ones, but if you're literally doing one on one coaching through this career counseling service that you're a part of, and you want to go do it on your own, under your own moniker like on the side. Yeah, I mean that they're they're going to have an issue with that. You're just gonna have
to like think about how is this different? How different are the audiences? What is my like what is my unique you know, value, my unique business proposition? And then like how do you differentiate that? But that sounds challenging and double dipping is not cool?
I keep us updated.
Yeah, I'm curious. I mean, you're going to give us more deeps. You don't got to share it on the show, but I'm curia. Like I was not a If I had been a podcaster and then launch brand amission podcast, like that would have been problematic. Like it was always I always and I was working nine to five for a long time with this show. But it was never it was never interfering, It was never similar to what I was doing, you know, through my nine to five,
so they were cool with it. Yeah, okay, thank you, Shady. Let's take a quick break. You break, and I'll be right back with our next juicy question from listener THEO. All right, y'all, we are back. If you want to read this one from listener THEO.
Sure you name it, THEO says, Hi, Mandy and Tiffany, please be okay THEO. We know he said, use the name THEO.
Thanks THEO.
Thank you for the weekly career and financial advice you render through your platform. While I do not represent your core audience, I benefit greatly from your podcast and I use it to inform and educate others in my immediate circle.
Love it, THEO.
I just listened to this week's episode CNN's Diversifying Negotiate.
Your Way to Success.
Having recently received a new job offer, I decided to write to the podcast we love It. I am a twenty eight year old black man working in the commercial construction industry as a cost estimator who my sister used to do this.
Shout out to you, Carol.
I earned both my BS Construction Management and Masters of Business and Administration degrees. From nc at A andt State University. We stand a smart black King. The commercial construction industry is a great field and it has yielded a rewarding career for me over the past seven years. However, it has been difficult to really tap into my earning potential
and leveraging my MBA until recently. I received a job offer for the exact role at another company that will increase my annual salary by twenty two percent, but I would be leaving a What is that?
I said, Yeah, but.
I would be leaving but I would be leaving a company that I recently transitioned to in February of this year. For context purposes, my current role was a result of me leaving a toxic and unhealthy work environment, so I compromise on company provided benefits and pay. Okay, but I'm glad you took care of yourself. The most recent job offer was presented to me on eight ten, twenty twenty two, and I had to deliver a decision by eight twelve
of twenty twenty two. During the forty eight hours I was given, I thoroughly reviewed the offer and the accompany employee benefits package. I also shared the offer with a trusted colleague for any additional input or feedback in regards to the offer being made. I asked all the questions that needed to be addressed, and I ultimately decided to
accept the offer. If my resignation is not received well by my current employer, should I feel any guilt or with this decision to transfer to transition after six months reflect poorly on me. I'm waiting until my six month probationary period ends before starting my new role so I'm able to keep my five K sign on bonus. So there is no and there is no sign on bonus being offered by my new employer.
Thank you, THEO. This is se thorough.
We can see why you do this, you know because I know exactly the job because my sister used to do this. We see why you are because the job that you do you have to be so so thorough. So we see how you're a cost estimator out on those coins and pennies. Okay, so what you say, man, joy, this is such a great letter.
I picture him with like a little pencil behind his ear.
Yes, a hard pants like glasses.
You.
I love it, THEO.
You are our core audience, just like a beautiful black king, like Tiffany said, trying to collect the coins. So, first of all, congratulations on you know, negotiating this new offer and getting a twenty two percent raise. I understand the core question is, like, I just came here six months ago, and now I'm about to leave, and I'm going to do it like the day after my six month probationary period,
and so I can keep that five thousand dollars. Listen, often in your career, when you make choices that are to your own benefit, other people will be inconvenienced. Will they be annoyed at you for leaving just six months in the day after your probationary period ends, with your with their five thousand dollars in your pocket? Will they be annoyed?
Yep?
That being said, I think that if you are genuinely determined to leave, like you have to ask yourself this. If they try to counter this other offer and if they say match it. For example, if they just say, hey, we'll give you twenty two percent more like you wanted and try to keep you to stay, Like, what's your answer going to be? Do you do you want to leave?
Are you done and want to move on? Or would you be willing to stay, because I think you need to go into that conversation knowing if there's an opportunity, so you can set their expectations. So when you approach that conversation and let's say that you are done, like you really want to take this new job, there's nothing that they could say to sway you. Then it's all about being super compassionate and super honest about the reasons why you're leaving, and kind of trying to explain to them, hey,
I've really enjoyed working at this company. This is when I get into my script motip. They're always has the scripts. I've really enjoyed my time at this company. However, I have had an offer from another firm, and in addition to offering a more generous compensation package that would give me a twenty two percent raise. I have to be honest, you know this other opportunity, and then tell them what it is about this other opportunity that has attracted you.
You don't have to like go on and on and on about it, but like help them understand why you would be leaving after six months, and as long as you're being honest and the story makes sense, and they can kind of compute it then they and if you genuinely want to leave, there's not much they They can't force you to stay. So I think if you just explain it in that way, you know, thoughtfully and compassionately,
that they should understand. It may reflect a little bit poorly on you that you were, you know, only stuck around for those six months, but you can't really control at the end of the day how they feel about you leaving. You can only kind of make peace with I gave them six months of my hardest effort, my best work, and I did what I came here to do. And you know, I'm choosing a new opportunity for me that will benefit me professionally, and that's the name of
the game, you know. So just make your peace with it and and move on, and don't do it in such a way that, yeah, you would burn too many bridges on the way out.
No, I love that, and that I would say as an employer, if someone who came to me, you know, it depends how I feel about it. I'm not gonna lie. If they were in a social employee, I'd be like, well, we wish you well, girl, you know. But if they were like a rock Star employee. Absolutely I would counter and I'd be like, oh, man, like, you know, what
can we do? And even if they decided not to stay, I would relative in the feedback because what can I do to create a better environment where Rockstar employees want to stay? Because we create an environment where they thrive, they're paid well, they feel respected or whatever.
You know.
So you know, but ultimately, I mean it's business, because I mean I had to let go of a lot of people earlier this year and so and it was really hard. But I also had to remind myself I'm running a business like that. I'm wanting to run a business with compassion, with care, with all of those things.
But if if the business goes down, everybody's out of a job, you know, And so believe me, your job thinks about it like that and thinks about you like that, even if it's a great working environment, that ultimately they're in business. And so I try to remember that on
my end, that I'm in business. But then also employees get to also say this is a business, you know what I mean, Like I don't owe somebody my whole life, you know, Like if I am allowed to choose what's best for me, because rest assured the business is going to choose.
What's best for the business, and so like, yeah, man.
I went back and yeah, I went back and read his question again, and here's what I'll say. Remember when I said, like, you have to kind of know going to that conversation what you want out of it and if you're willing to walk away no matter what they say. He said, specifically, I've received a job offer for the exact role at another company that will increase my salary by twenty two percent. And I think in this case it's the exact same role. I feel like you would
be open to them countering. And I think that it's if you walk into that conversation saying, hey, like so it's a whole different conversation. If you would be open to them countering, then this is what I would say. I would say, And this isn't my new guide nail the negotiation, which you can get made money dot com. I have an exact scenario like this where you walk to you say in person or on the phone, and you say, hey, you know, I've really enjoyed my time here.
I've learned so much, but I have to be honest I've received an offer from a competing firm and they've offered me a twenty two percent compensation increase for doing very similar work. I would love to stay with this firm, honestly, and I want to give you guys an opportunity to counter.
So I wanted to give you a chance to, you know, hear me out and let me know if you're able to match this offer and then shut up and stop talking and let them fill in the silence and take that offer to HR and see what they have to say, because they may just say, you know, it's expensive to go out and hire someone to replace you, and they just they just got you in February, right, So I think you may be surprised that they may come back
and counter. And I would definitely love a follow up THEO know, if you've had this conversation yet, and if you have, how did it go and what happened? I would be I feel like maybe they'll counter, and if they do that, maybe you don't have to leave, because if it's purely financial that's the reason for you leaving, then maybe they'll just like make you good on the money front and you can stick around, and hey, you just prove one of the best ways to get a raise is always interviewing.
Amen to that always to you maybe had.
A little slight plug, but we need a heavy plugs that girl. So Mandy has a new resource.
What is it called.
It's called Nail the Negotiation nineteen scripts to help you secure the bag.
Yes, and so especially, I mean if you're a b a listener, it's got to be like just a perfect tool for you, even if you have a business. Mandy and I were talking offline and she's like, oh, if I told her I was excited to go to mandymaandimoney dot com to like secure my own copy. And she's like, well, it's not really for business negotiations. To Mandy that like, one thing I've learned in business is that a skill
bill sets a skill set as a skill set. The reason why I am good at teaching as the budgetista is because I was a preschool teacher. Because there's a skill set I honed about teaching and negotiating. Negotiating is a skill set that I struggle with. And that although you know, maybe the scripts are like you know about like jobs and things, No, no, no, no, there's a skill set there that I can glean from. This is how you negotiate, this is the tone, here's some of
the phrasing here. So I'm excited to get that Randy Mandy's resource because I'm just like no girl. You know, even as a business owner, I struggle with sometimes illustrating my own OPRAH to brands and companies who want to hire me, who say they don't have the budget or whatever. And it's like, Okay, I know from this resource that I can lean in and be like, oh, if this was a job opportunity, I would say this, how do I flip it a little bit for this opportunity for
being hired to be a speaker or whatever. So yeah, so mandymoney dot com, nail the negotiating negotiations. What is it?
Nail the negotiations, Nail the negotiation. Nineteen scripts that you can use to secure the bag. Yeah, I live for this stuff. I love helping y'all figure out how to phrase these conversations because yeah, no one prepares us for those type of situations. But I love that you're even in this situation. THEO for y'all who are like I don't feel like I'm being paid my worth where I'm
working now. THEO is has proven one of the best ways to get that raise is by proving that someone else will hire you at a higher price point and then bringing that offer to your management now and saying like, what are y'all gonna do about that?
THEO?
You look and you illustrate your open You look in good. It's opuspinking right out here, looking look at THEO.
Look at how you looking?
Yes, before we jump off, Jude, I forget I want you guys, So going over to Netflix. It is now live as of I mean, we're recording it now. It's not live, but by the time you listen to this, it is live. Get Smart with Money my Netflix documentary, not to be confused with Get Good with Money, my New Times best selling book, but Get Smart with Money is live. Please go and watch and I would love you know what, this is what I'd love if you can tweet us at the BA podcast and or at
the Budget Nista. Tell me which one of the form families that were helped that you resonated most with it. You're like, Oh, I'm like such and such. I struggled with that, so I would just really love to know. I'm like, you know, I have somebody who I resonated with, like, you know, like heavily, because it was like, that was how my life looked like fifteen years ago financially and so yeah, Get Smart with Money is available on Netflix.
Go ahead and watch sit down. It's very feel good.
So you could watch it with your kids, especially if they're like high school and college.
To be like, yeah, don't do that.
Yeah, you know, tweet be your feedback, but really tweet me, like, who do you resonate most with.
We're super super excited. Yes, Get Smart with Monday.
We're busy visio here. Congratulations tip, thank you, and congratulations to you THEO for twenty two percent raise either way, I think you're gonna be earning more at the end of this. But send us your updates and to all of you guys wondering how can I get my question right by my financial besties, you can go to our Instagram page and slide into our DMS at Brand Ambision Podcast. You can also email us directly Brand Ambition Podcast at gmail dot com dot com. Until next week, Bye y'all, bye,
hey ba fam. We could not do this show without your support or the support of our team behind the scenes. The Brown Ambition Podcast is produced by Cumulus Podcast Network. It's edited by the wonderful Imani Crosby and produced by Tanya Bustos. Dennis Stimplinsky is our in house tech guru, and I am Bandy Woodrid Santos your co host, and I will see y'all next week