Hey, hey, hey, we're back. We're black, We're boo.
Boo boo bo.
Come on out.
Round and they should ambition And Amanda, I feel like we haven't been in this stew together in a little while. How are you?
I'm like the Chris Kirkpatrick of this singing duo, do you know what I mean? Like the en Sync member doing the least while like you, you're just not doing like the whole life dance, just like bye, oh man, did I see some flights flickering flickering? Or did I see some lights flickering? Or am I having a see shirt?
No, let's hope neither.
But it was just how okay, okay, all right, it's fine, everything is fine. Have you been I've been good. I feel like I haven't seen you in ages.
What happened?
Oh my kid was yes, Oh god, we've been in enough. Remy started daycare. I just it was so funny because after the show where I came on the day that he started daycare, I was just I was effusively happy. You were annoyingly so I'm sure giddy af and I had people who respond like send messages like we're so happy for you. Da da da da da and then you know, what goes up must come down, and that just means daycare germs hit us with a vengeance last week, poor kiddo. Yeah, so anyway, I lost a week of
work productivity. But I think you and I talked, and it's the constant reminder that I'm privileged to be able to just set aside the work and be there with my kiddo and the one silver lining. And I think a lot of moms with partners, might you know, might not judge me too harshly for this, but I was like, ooh when husband got sick too, I said, ooh, childcare. So I was still able to do the podcast. But you know, since the season, how are you, my little Daisy?
I know I'm going to keete lit okay, day, I am good. I actually so I went to Boston because I was a bastard. I was taping the Mail Robin's show, which was amazing. She's so great, honestly, you put me on. I'm still behind so super nice. It's like, who's Jesus Christ Main. I didn't know this, but she she of course you mentioned Brianna Vission. She had the number twenty
five podcast, No. Twenty one podcast of all podcasts, like in the United States last year, no, no, no, I think last year she was number five, but as of right now, she's twenty one overall. So I was like, oh my god, this is kind of a big demo being.
The number one book on Amazon. I feel like girl podcasts.
Yes, But when I was out there, actually had so when I go different places, I try to have meetups with my mentees, and so I had a meet up. It was last minute, so two menties who were available. We had dinner at this place.
Uh.
I stayed in this hotel called the Envoy and they had like a restaurant below and they were both avid Brian and Vishion listeners. So I told them Marcy and Tomisha, don't get me even say your name. I'm sorry, girl, I.
Mean you're having a whole meal with her and still and not me. But they were so the exact same thing.
But they were so excited. They're like, oh my god. We listened to Brian and bishon Amanda. I said, I love you got so much. I know, so I was like, I'm gonna shout you out. They were like, I'm like, it's your shadow. So that was really awesome. I love that.
Yeah, in Boston, let me say, because I've got several Boston I just don't think of like Boston being the capital for Black America. I don't think it is. But I'm always like, ooh, black women in Boston, what's it like? And I've got a variety of answers. But I know this past summer, when one of my Mandy money makers went to Boston for the Renaissance show there, she linked up with she was just posted in the slack our slack channel like any other Boston Makers is going to
be around, and they were able to meet up. And I love that. It's like we've built these communities, so now we get to go around and too and have friends and like hang out.
Yes, it was great, honestly, we talked about money, talk about businesses. It was just a really great conversation. But I just love that people were like it was crazy because I told you I went to Puerto Rico for that ROI conference held by Rachel Rogers, and the woman was like a brand A vision always always delights me, not much insta but like, oh my god, Branda Vision, which is always crazy to me because I'm just like I don't know how many people actually watch us visually.
I feel like brown a vision.
Is more like, you know, like we have a lot of YouTube. We're like a few thousand YouTube subscribers. I think now by the way.
You know, I'm like, is that on YouTube? So I never know, like, oh, okay, you warned. I know you listen because the girls listening according to our numbers.
I don't know how much longer we're going to get away with that whole Taylor Swift, you know, when she used to get so much shit for being so humble, Like I can't believe I won my thirty fifth Grammy. Wow, you know little me, But come on, now, we've been in the game for a minute.
Yeah, we weren't known for it.
Yeah, it's speaking of being in the game for a minute. I told you. I woke up like I couldn't sleep because Remy was up again. He was sick for some reason. I was like, I wonder what I sounded like during the pandemic with a baby, And I went back a few years to our catalog and listen to the episodes before and after that. I'm so grateful that we have this show. It's like a time capsule and I do think I sounded younger, but I also sounded so tired.
You know.
I was really struggling with anxiety then, and I was like, oh, I forgot I cried in that episode. Anyway, show has just been But what really cracked me out. The show's been so great for so long. But what cracked me up was that the this is back when I was editing before Emani. We hadn't gotten our new podcast partner. I forgot to cut the beginning of the show when I was like, Okay, Tiffany, do it again, get closer to the mic. So if you go back to that episode,
you're gonna hear some stage momming. And I sound stern too. I'm like, dang I did. I was like, I sounded like you had done it before.
First of all, I love it, you know what you brought out? Like, do you remember I didn't? Really, you're just saying it now. Remember there was like like a year where every episode I'm tired, That's what like I was saying, Yeah, Like, you just brought it back, and I was just tired.
I didn't.
I was so overworked and overwhelmed, and it literally just brought it back because I don't feel like that now. But every opening we're like, hey girl, how you doing? Wow?
What a skip this question?
What a difference therapy makes? Like for real? Yes, I was so overwhelmed worked. I was so overwhelmed. I didn't not have said boundaries. So I felt like I was always exhausted because I was. But I don't feel like that. I just look now thinking about it, I'm like, Wow, I used to always be tired, and I used to think, is this how it always is? That You're just gonna always be exhausted because business got you like this? And I'm like, naw, I rebuke that.
So I rebuke it in the name of the Lord. There's one thing that I said in that show that really resonates with what you just said, which is when I was going through that crazy, that like really difficult postpartum time on the show, I was articulating it really well. I said, I was pound the back. I said, right now, the fog or the fog feels opaque, the fog feels like it's never going to clear. But and then a
week later, I'm like, the fog or however long. A couple of weeks later, I had started seeing a psychiatrist, my therapist more regularly, and I was like, okay, so the difference is the fog feels like eventually it will lift, like I see the other side, which is so it just is so indicative of how when you're in this like depressive episode or anxiety spiral, do you feel like it's going to always be that way or can you get yourself to a place where you at least recognize
this is a moment in time, it will pass. And once I once that clicked for me, that helps so much with any kind of and those anxiety loops that those little rides I go on sometimes because we're never for me, I'm never perfectly un anxious. You know, it's always going to come back. There's going to be life. Life is always going to life. But what really has carried me through those times is just like, Okay, this is not forever. Don't get in that spiral of like shout out to.
Growth, I know, like the Kelly Growth. We're doing the Kelly hands from well I speaking of growth and good news. Me and Mandy we're talking with line as we always zoop for this about Wall Street Journal, that awesome article.
Oh yeah, let's read that headline because I had not seen this yet because I listen. I don't subscribe to.
The Low Street either, but I just saw a lot of people posting it.
Black investors Yeah, oh you go you read no.
No, no, god, oh, they they're so polite.
Black investors are the biggest new group of stock buyers. Nearly forty percent of Black Americans own stocks in twenty twenty two, up from just under a third and twenty sixteen, according to the Federal Reserve. That's that's like almost a ten point Can I do math? It's like an eight or ten point, I don't know, increase. That's huge.
And so it says, like, let me see, why do they think this is Let's see. Let's see it says approximately seventy percent of surveys of survey of the survey's black participants under forty were investing. Wow, so under forty, it's seventy percent compared to sixty percent of their white cow apart, hold up, why do you know? Yes, I'll
be that again. A survey by Aerial Investments in Charles Schwap revealed that the growth is led by young investors under forty, Approximately seventy percent of the surveys, black participants under forty were investing compared to sixty percent of their white counterparts. So they're even out pacing. Of course, we don't know how long, I don't know how big the survey sample sizes, but according to the survey, they're even
out pacing white investors. You're seeing topics of money and investing coming up at dinner tables slightly more among young black families than ever before. They feel like it's fueled by mobile apps, commission free trading participation in four one K crypto means stocks, and social media experts noted young black investors increase access to financial tools and information. So
two things. One, look what happens when access is I mean, because you know they love to tell you, oh, people need to not buying Jordans or whatever Shenanigan, Right, Oh you want to get that weaker, but you know what, the weave can be bought as well. Yes, So what happens is that one, we know that there was a lack of access before, not only to like low cost investing,
but also to information. Something in here to me that kind of I feel like they missed a mark on is that it wasn't just like, oh, there are apps and things like that, do you understand, Like we know the people including ourselves that have like led the charge of like access to financial education, but we're talking about specifically investing during the pandemic. I mean Wall Street Chrapper blew up earning your leisure with Market Mondays, especially Ian Dunlap,
the master investor Terry Ijama of Trade and Travels. She she's been on the show, but also for two or three years straight, she was the number one course creator on the teachable platform. Yeah, Like, I mean, you know, we both know Tila Hokum Many Broadway, who was making eight figures a year teaching investing, especially the black women.
So there there is a cadre of black educators in the space who were literally creating tools, products, resources that help people to navigate what sometimes can be the scary process of investing in the stock market. In the market. Yeah, and so you got to learn from people who were culturally relevant as well as experts in their space. That part is important.
Not enough, yeah girl, right?
That culture right? So I just I like, so I wish that they really leaned into that more and here that it wasn't just the apps, because the act doesn't the app's been here. It was that there was somebody to explained to you in a way that made sense. This is how you do it.
Give the black financial influencers their flowers. That is what I'm saying. There is this. I remember doing an interview for one of the oldest and crustiest and most high row magazines, The Economist. Yeah, two years ago, was twenty twenty one, and it was an article and then reporter and I have a background in journalism, y'all know that, so I understand what the angle was. They were trying to do a story on TikTok influencers and is it
safe to get your advice from social media? And I was listening to the questions from the writer and it was clear that she was thinking, Oh, this is not good because like, y'all aren't experts, you're not certified and da da da da da, And that is the old school traditional gatekeeping. Oh, but spent a lot of money to get this, Like what we say is a valid expert,
a valid source of information. You know, this certified financial planner, this investment advisor who's going to sell you a bunch of insurance that you don't need so I think that media is still coming around to the fact that there is legitimate power, legitimate good that can come from the wealth of like the you know, democratization of information, the availability of it, and the fact that we're taking it into our own hands and educating people who look like us.
And yeah, it's about dan time. I feel like we get that validation. Not that we need it, but no more of this. But is it really helpful? Is it really safe?
Yeah?
I think the best educators, like all the people you named, are giving well rounded yes, you know, information so that people aren't out there taking huge risks. You know that they shouldn't because we care about because they you know, we are speaking to our audience and we happen to care a lot about them, yes, and not doing a bait and switch and not just taking their money and running for the hills and saying good luck with that
we care and that you can't. It's hard to put a price tag or a certification on that.
But because like, what's the alternative? Before you were locked out of this space, and so now do I think like, certainly discernment still has to be used no matter what. That's what's so great that there are a the myriad of people to listen to and you can compare and contrast, like, well Terry said this, but master Investor said this. So you know, what you're finding is a more educated consumer who is asking questions now like well, why should I just get that in the atf Well should I put
my money at the marketplace? Because here's the thing. So there is this black millionaire. His name is Cedric Nash, and he is on the road to make like a thousand millionaires. And Cedric is just like this awesome guy that I met, like at a conference some of the years back and earn your leisures investments, and Cedric is like, I have built wealth for myself to a place where I really don't even have to work anymore, Like tremendous wealth.
Not like there's nothing wrong with a few million like me, but I'm talking about will will you know? So Cedric has been teaching these free classes that I've been like, gonna be speaking at one of them every Monday. It was speaking of it to Day's Monday, right, Yeah, that's right, every Monday. No, but every Monday it's free and awesome. Every Monday, Cedric just teaches a free class like, what's a budget? I mean that bunch a budget, which is stock.
What's a bond? It's awesome. So the purpose of the channels. Yes, it's fifty two weeks long, it doesn't cost anything. What I love about it is that the purpose is you kind of do this worksheet to see where your net worth is and by the end you get to see, like, my networth has grown. So he had people who took the challenge last year who were taking it again. They
were like, it was so awesome, completely free. Cedric is just like, I want to look around and see other people like me on the private island, on the yacht, you know, and that's what you so desire. And one guy was on there was like I was able to raise my net worth one hundred and forty seven percent from before and it was awesome. So he's back for more. So I say all that to say that, you know, there are people are people who look like us out here who are wanting what's best and are wanting to
share that information so other people have access. Because Cedric is like, you know, my mentors didn't look like me, and I wonder like, why are they're not more of us here? And maybe it's just a lack of access to education. And so I just love that there are people out here who were just out here wanting what's best for us. And so, yeah, you don't have to
navigate the space by yourself. There's so many financial educators in general, but you know, more and more, you're seeing more and more financial educators who are focusing on investing in its most traditional sense, So you don't have to like wonder, like what do I put? What do I do with my four one k? Like Centric said something really smart in last week's class. He said, there was so much wealth loss because there was a mass exodus.
Studies show of black people from the market when the recession hit two and eight one, yeah, and nine and ten right, because all of a sudden market crash and we were afraid because we didn't have the education, so we pulled our money out.
Yeah, because we were.
Like, oh my gosh, I had ten thousand.
Now didn't have any money to pull out that baby, oky, So.
We pulled our money out, and a lot of us pulled our money out to just you know, have access to Like I pulled my money out just so I could pay my mortgage, you know, because you know, so we pulled our money out. He said, the problem is between two thousand, like nine and two thousand, it was like sixteen or seventeen or whatever. Nineteen it was the longest bull run of this bock market in our history. So a bull run is when the market yields. It
grows year after year after year. So when it's a bear, the market is contracting, meaning like you're losing money. Bull runs are when the market grows. So he said, we had the longest bull worm in history. And guess who wasn't in the market, My people, because we had pulled our money out because and I mean I'm not I was one of them. I didn't know. But folks understood that like ooh, when there's a contraction, the market will expand later, just stick with it. As a matter of fact,
put even more money in when things are low. And so we didn't. And then what do we do. We came back into the market twenty sixteen, seventeen after the bull wing was over, when the market was back at the high, and so we lost all of that potential growth and income and wealth. And so when he said it, I was like, wow.
Don't you see?
Oh, go ahead, go ahead, No, no, no, go ahead.
I was just going to bring it around to show that even if you missed, it's not like you missed an opportunity and that was it. Because then I do feel like what this data shows is that we were ready and educated for the post pandemic you know, bull market, because the market tanked when the pandemic hit, but then
it was like gangbusters. Yes, yes, so it was the right And I think that because a lot of the experts today like yourself, who experienced that, went through it and can say, okay, now we have the we felt that we know what that's like, and still we're going to do the the you know, the more intelligent way of investing, the strategic way, and understand that these lulls happen, but you don't want to miss out on the upside.
Yeah, right time. I know.
I'm just like, look at us, like, honestly, black folks, I'm just if you're not black, you know, just come on into the room. You can have some cake too. Well, it's like this this is so salvatory, you know, like look at us.
My daddy got his first four oh one k see in the past, I opened it for him and he recently asked me to check on it, and I was like, you're up ten percent, look at you. Yeah, he's sixty. So I'm just saying, for you late investors, there's no such thing you have time. That's a really good segue, though,
because today's guest. Today's guest is someone who I met a couple of years ago and is one of the newer influencers like you were just saying, tip and specifically is making huge waves and focusing on the Latina Latino Hispanic market, I hate to say market, Hispanic community, and is just doing extraordinary things. And I think in addition to the strides that we've seen and black investing, I want to know how's looking for all the minorities, you know, for all of us over here who are making up
for lost time. So we're to be joined by Gigi Gonzalez. You has a brand new book out called in Cash, and she is going to be here live in the studio. Look at that. Yeah, hold hey, hold it up. Let people take a screenshot to watch it on YouTube. All right, So we'll take a quick break and be right back with our guest. Okay, hid, but.
We have to come back and say, oh, you know, I've got a high school equivalent to Spanish. So although Mandy speaks like she's straight the Midicanka, but I got my little like me Nueva liber Liberal.
I love that you put the black s on the end of Henday.
She said, Oh my god, it's like Shrimp's Walmart's aldis write the black ass.
I am so to be in your presence, and I remember thinking like, what if one day I get to be on the brunt ambition? And I honestly thought I was so out of my like reach because you guys are so big and man day got to meet you at fin Con, Tiffany, when you recently followed me, I was like, oh my god. So I'm just very thankful honestly to be here. I'm a big fan of both of you.
Oh like wise, I was so sad I didn't get to see y'all again at fin Con this year. But you know, my honeymoon girl.
I had a good Excuseaby, Yeah, yeah, you had.
Yeah, you had a lot going on.
I had my honeymoon and overdue honeymoon, and Tiffany, you boycott think on right if I remember.
No working on I'm like, let's just say I will be kind of scared if I came around. Yeah, I said the first year, I would, I would, girl, I feel like they would score me off.
No, they wouldn't. I think they would make it right.
Yeah.
Yeah, there's enough of the news.
Yeah.
Yeah, people to they would be lucky to have.
I like fin Con.
Yeah, if you want to be treated like the first lady, I think you should go because you don't understand Tiffany, you are.
The queen of.
Everybody looks. I don't You're just gonna be you just have to like have a no hug sign and.
Just maybe I will. Maybe I will go back because I would like what I love about Finn one. The breakout sessions are great, but I don't see the people aren't just really amazing. Like that's where I met all my financial mestide, that's where me and Manny started to go together.
I love that I didn't know that.
I propose, Yeah, that's origin story a podcast and I was like, I don't know what that is, but okay.
I love that I didn't know that that's magic. Wow.
Yes, but honestly I would love to learn, Like, okay, so like more about kind of like your history. How'd you get here. Yeah, like, what's the Brown and your Ambition? Like yeah, like, cause, first of all, I was like Eva Longoria, Wow, oh you to come out swinging?
Who is she dm me a video too? I don't know if you got to see that I share that recently.
Yeah.
Yeah, So people like to say we're besties, but she doesn't follow me back yet. So until she follows me back, I can't claim that we're besties.
I have followed your relationship, your relationship, Can I call it that with Eva Longoria from when you went to her screening? Yes? And I anyway, but yeah, what Tiffany said, tell us all about you, Gigi, and about the book and everything you have going awesome.
Thank you both so much, and again, I'm honored to be on the Brown Ambition podcast. I am such a big fan. For those that don't know me, my name is Giovanna Gonzalez, but most people know me as Gigi or the first gen Mentor. I'm a TikTok influencer, speaker and now the author of the best selling book and Cash. So I'm so excited to be here and talk all things money. But let's see, how did I get my start? I think like most of us that are in the space.
We started in the traditional corporate route, at least that's my story. I did things as I was told, right, I go to college, get a good degree, get a
nice office job. So I did that. I majored in economics when teach Santa Barbara go Gauchos, and then I got a job, first in insurance, then I switched to investment management, where I spent the majority of my career and during my twenties, even though I was making decent money, I still struggled a lot with money, which was really frustrating to me because I'm like, I did everything right. You guys told me to go to school, you told me to get a good job. Why am I still
laying patrick to paycheck and living in financial chaos? And it's then that I realized that it was because I wasn't managing the money that I had a well, and that was because obviously the education system doesn't teach us this stuff. And I'm the daughter of Mexican immigrants. My parents were living in survival mode, so they really didn't have the space to pass any sort of financial teachings to me, and they were learning the new system all
on their own. So that's when I kind of had that wake up moment of like, oh, I need to learn how this stuff works, otherwise I'm always going to be on the struggle bus. And uh. The way that I did that was I consumed as many money books as I could. I read over fifty personal finance books until I felt that I mastered the language. And then once I learned what I learned, I implemented my financial plan to get out of debt, build my investing, all
that good stuff. But there was definitely a fire inside me that was mad. I'm like, why wasn't I given this information before? Like I wasted years that I could have been moving differently. So I looked to share this new knowledge with other women of color, and I got in touch with the White WCA SO nonprofit destors women of color, and I became a volunteer financial educator. So
that was my life for a long time. In twenty nineteen, I was a corporate boddy working in my investment management job, and then on the side I was volunteering and it was my passion and I love doing it. But all of that changed in March of twenty twenty one, when I started putting TikTok content on financial tips, so similar to how I was already doing in my community. I started sharing this content on TikTok, and because of the bigness of the Internet, that took a life of its
own and I became the first gend mentor. This all happened in March of twenty twenty one. I quit my job three months later. A lot of people were like, wow, that's so fast. Were were just like dying to be a content creator? Absolutely not. I love my job. I'm one of the rare people actually liked my job. I like my boss, but I wasn't allowed to be a TikToker and to be working in my very old school traditional job. So I had to make a choice.
Could you even invest working in you? Because some people don't even get to invest, which is.
You do, but you have to get your transactions approved ahead of time, so it takes like a two day delay. Yeah. Yeah, everything has. It's very very regulated, as it should be, as it should be. I wish our contest was that regulated. Honestly, let's talk.
About that on podcast.
But buddy, who's yeah, so I've been I quit my job in June of twenty twenty one and I've been doing this for two and a half years now, and I love it and I'm making an impact. I'm starting my community, and I know that I'm living in my purpose. And I've met so many amazing, like minded women like you too. So it's it's just I can't believe this in my life. I still get to pinch myself.
I think it's so great because you're part of this new class of Latina or Latino you know, financial educators. What's what's the right thing to say is to ask latino latina. Honestly, it seems to me saying LATINX. No, we do not mean something.
Like no, we're not saying LATINX because people will throw hands. They can they Oh my goodness, they Okay, we hate that. Yeah, I hate that too. So you're probably say saying hispanic or Latino. I like to say Latine because that's exclusive, that includes you know, non binary folks. But people will still.
Find me that's what I'm trying.
Latina's Yeah, but people will still find also.
Don't want to assume your gender because the Latina I'm like, oh, is that her? Know?
She her?
Okay, listen, better to sound dumb asking the question, y'all than to be dune to not ask right anyway, this new class of Latine influencers and educators, because there were I mean were there back in back in two thousand and forty when Divany and or Hidingnestly it feels like there were barely any black educators at the time, let alone, or maybe I just wasn't looking, but for sure at FINCN twenty twenty one or twenty twenty two, yeah, twenty two, when I was there, it was I mean, it's you.
We got Genice. Now we have stephaniquin Zalez, Like, there's just these really great like forgetting.
A bar, we bravely go, Maribell from mar Matters, Maria fir Living. There's a lot of wonderful women, And I don't think it's any best in Latino. Which one, Yes, investing Latina, I've had, I've gotten to me have finn Con. Yeah, a lot of wonderful women, and I don't think it's any surprise that it's recent because I think a lot of us kind of uh awakened after George Floyd, the murder of George Floyd, and we're like, Okay, we need to show up as ourselves and stop playing small and
take up space. So I think that definitely motivated me to be louder. And I'm here and I have my own issues to talk about and I don't care if you don't want to listen to them, but I want to talk about them.
And you're fully embracing.
Go ahead, Sorry, Mandy, What do you think is like uniquely? There are some things that like are uniquely I feel like the black experience brings out there are some unique challenges that like being black presents itself when it comes to you know, financial like access, right, Like we know that there's a black wealth gap, we know that there's
red lining. There's just like this uh visceral racism that even now, I mean like a social media friend of mine has something called the Fearless Fun that just raises money for black women in entrepreneurship, and they suit her to say, no, you can't do that, and so there's just this like campaign against black people getting ahead. But I love that, Like you know, Cultura.
Cash, Okay, let's cool, cool cool, oh cool, okay, cool Toura, Yeah there you go, Okay, cool Toura.
Meanwhile, my my my niece meet me. I didn't even tell you this of Mandy. So my I have I have two nieces, but one of them goes to a school that is like I want to say, like sixty or seventy percent Latine, right, and so all her friends, like her best friend. I forget her little best friend's names. So anyway, she told her mother, my niece is six. She said, oh, mommy, for my birthday, I want to go to DR. I was like, where is DR. She's all women's the public. I was like, what do you
know about? But she said her best friend. She's like, that's what she's from. And she says so beautiful. I just because I just came back from perto Rica. So she was like, girl, the girls be going out. I want to go to And I love that because her accent because like when she starts sitting, says certain Spanish word is so on potant because at school, like she's only hearing it the correct way. So anyway, I just thought that was not the girl.
She knows what.
Wait till she finds the internet, right, But I just like, what you know? You wrote this book who touur Cash? And like, so what unique experiences you know? Do you recognize as being a Latine yourself that you bring to the table when it comes to personal finance, Like why should there be because somebod somebody might say like, well, why is it black?
You guys?
Why are guys talking about Latine? Why gay or LB like? But what is it like? What are some of the challenges They're like, No, this is unique to this community. It needs to be like highlighted.
Yeah, And honestly, that's why I respect both of you for going to publishing route because I know you guys had a fight for your book. I did not have that fight in me. I have fights for other people in other ways, but I just did not want to have to fight a white publishing house on why this book was needed. So so I went traditional sorry, hybrid publishing, And thank goodness for the TikTok Latx Creative grant that
allowed me to do that. It gave me the funding to be able to hire a hybrid publisher because it's not cheap. But yeah, there's a lot of unique issues in the first gen money experience. And for anybody that isn't familiar with that term, first gen is typically the first to be born in America, the first to maybe they immigrate here with their parents as children, so really all they know is the American way of life, but they still have strong cultural ties to their immigrant roots.
So for me, for example, I'm the daughter of Mexican immigrants. My parents immigrated here in the nineties. I believe you're first gen Tiffany, Are you first gen? You are, right? Yeah? I Amia Nigerian, right, yeah.
Yeah.
So there's a lot of unique challenges that come with being a first generation wealth builder. First, I like to point out that we have a different starting line than a lot of our middle class white peers, and that's because we don't get access to financial education at home. Because, like I mentioned, our parents are just immigrants in a new country, trying to learn a new language, experiencing racism,
trying to get by on these low income jobs. They do not have the space to master the financial system and then pass on those teachings to their children, where a lot of white middle class Americans maybe they do learn the basics about hey, this is a checking account, Hey you should probably avoid that. We don't ever hear any of those money conversations at home. If anything, money talk is very taboo in our culture. There's a phrase that's very popular. No, we don't talk about money like No,
that's rude. And I know that we're not the only culture that experiences it, but it's definitely very prevalent in the Hispanic Latino Latink community as well. As we are not on the receiving end of generating wealth because our parents came here with nothing. They came here for the opportunity for us to have more, and that's what we're
doing by getting college educations and professional jobs. But you know, a lot of our white middle class peers, they do have this advantage of having some level of generational wealth. And I point this out because I used to think it was only the one percenters that got to benefit from this stuff, but I learned through research that no, it's also you know, your typical white middle class Americans
that's been here a couple of generations. Maybe the grandparents, the great grandparents are the ones who immigrate to this country. So yeah, the more entrenched you are in the US financial system because you've been living longer, you will pass on those financial teachings to family, right and pass on generational wealth to help pay for college or if Grandma Gertrude kicks a bucket, you might get a little windfall of a little inheritance. Yeah, I love saying that one,
and the book too, so so yeah, we don't. That's a completely different experience from what's going to happen with me when my might not. Now that's what I call her, what I dread the day she dies, because not only will we lose the matriarch of our family, but we will also be expected to pitch in to help cover burial costs and any other sort of expenses that come up. And again that's very different from white middle class America
that gets some sort of small inheritance. And then lastly, a lot of us because our parents come from immigrant roots and they didn't have the ability to save for the future, for retirement or anything like that, we have additional financial responsibility, similar to the black community with the Black tax, which I'm sure you talk about a lot. And yeah, for us, we're so family oriented, so we
can't just turn our back on our people. So we want to give, but we also can't give to the point where we don't have nothing left for ourselves at the end of the day. So that's a big focus of the book.
I mean, married to a Dominican here, and it's like his parents are building a house now, they're renovating their house in dr And they had a washer drwer delivered to our house because then they have to ship it to dr and somehow that's cheaper than just buying a washer dryer on the island. I guess you can't anyway. And I was like, okay, cool, you know, and then my husband's like, yes, we're paying for that washer dry Yeah. I was like, oka, like yeah, I've had to uh yeah,
I've had to like factor that into our budget. But that being said, like they have been generous with us in the past, with like helping a little bit with our wedding. And like, I mean his dad like just like you said, he's first generation and his dad came here and worked I mean several jobs before finally scrounging up enough money to like buy a grocery store in the Bronx. And I mean and he never saw his kids because he was he worked up until last year.
The man was still working till eleven pm, not there on Christmas, not there on you know. Anyway, And I have with marrying my husband sort of also married that married into that mindset of they brought themselves here. They made it possible for my husband to you know, create the American dream that he has and to pay it forward. Yeah. But my little, my little Grenga heart was a little bit like, but that's my But.
That's how it is. And I mean, honestly, so much of my parents' money went back home, you know, like to Nigeria because there's just not the access. And so I mean I paid off my parents' house. You know, my husband was still here. I was like, just the many ideas to love to pay off their house. I mean, he was down for it because his father wasn't his life. His mother had passed away. But that's just the expectation
is that you are going to help. Even now I've got you know, WhatsApp, you know, you know, our foreigners love what's hey, cousin, I'm like, who is this? Everybody want to coin and what's that? So yeah, that's certainly something like first gen. And I wonder too because when I taught in Newark, I had a lot, a lot a lot of Hispanic young children and their parents spoke mostly Spanish, a little bit of a mostly Spanish, and I just was always so amazed at how my three
and four year olds would be these amazing translators. You know, my mommy said that, Mommy, you know, let's close, and I'm like looking back and forth, like meanwhile, gino, I told you to tie your shoe, but you over here like you one translator, because these kids are so smart. Yeah, and so I wondered that that also play a room
because financial education is not often translated. Yeah, like in a way that is culturally relevant, you know, like whether it's the language itself or just even in a meaningful way.
Yeah. Absolutely, And you very much spoke to me. I was a child, and a lot of my audiences translating at parent teacher conferences, or translating doctor appointments, or even translating tax documents that come in the mill that the parents are.
Like, what is this?
It looks important and then you're just like a ten year old, you know what it means, but you speak some English.
Apartment internal revenues.
Yeah.
Yeah, So a lot of us have been parentified in that way. I'm fortunate that I don't. Maybe I need to do more, more deeper dive into my inner child, but I don't remember any bad memories from that, but I know a lot of people in my community do of having to deliver bad health news at the doctor, right, So it's it's it's tough, it's tough for a kid, and and yeah, that's just been for a lot of us.
It's a it's a collective experience that we experienced. But on top of that, you know, with yes, us having to be translators, sometimes I look like us being translators at the bank too, right, So that often leads to our community, specifically our elders being unbanked, underbanked because they don't trust the banks because they don't have enough bilingual speakers that can help them in the language that they feel most comfortable, and they can't even offer a translation language.
When I used to work at Progressive Insurance, we at least had that it was better than nothing. But yeah, we definitely need more bilingual folks to be able to help us. So yeah, in the meantime, our folks are underbanked, they're not investing because they don't understand the system. So that's why I think it's so important for me to reach these first generation professionals, which are the children of these immigrants, educate them on how to do better with
money even though they weren't taught. And then I encourage them to teach back right to go to their parents. Hey, this is what I learned. We should be doing this right. Let's talk about what you're planning to do for retirement. You should probably put these savings in the HIO savings account, because again, that wasn't the experience of our immigrant parents, or.
They can, at least if they're anything like my parents. It's like they don't want to hear from me with my advice. But if I'm like they're missing out me, look at her, say yeah, read her book. They're like, oh, some great information. So you can be their proxy.
Yeah.
They can be like, well, don't listen to me, listen to gg. She has this book, gig.
Look at this.
TikTok video that she made on this and they asked me a lot, can you transay this to Spanish because I want to send it to my mom. So, yeah, when I have the capacity to, I do.
I was going to say that, like, I'm not really want to on TikTok do you do Spanish? And anyone no, So I was going to ask you about this.
Yeah, that's a great question. You know Netflix. Oh my god, Tiffany, I have to tell you what she's referring to. So I made a TikTok this summer where I said, that's it. I'm sick of Ben Affleck speaking better Spanish than me, Like, how is this possible? I'm Mexican, that was my first language. But Ben Affleck is out here promoting his film in Spanish and I still don't feel comfortable enough to show up speaking Spanish in professional spaces. So this is the
year that I'm going to put in the work. I'm going to take lessons and I'm going to improve my Spanish. And I actually did I you know, I put it into the universe and then guess what happened. I did one. Now we're all Spanish webinar with Fidelity. It took a lot of work, thank you. It took a lot of work.
Thank you.
It took a lot a lot of work, and but I'm so proud that I put that resource. It's a free resource out for the community through Fidelity.
But sorry Fidelity for investing in a speaker and in that Spanish.
But we did it in the English and language, so they got a two for one deal. I don't know.
I love it. It's funny because I'm doing the Fidelity one because they've been doing it a lot. I'm doing my Fidelity one in a couple of weeks, so I know exactly the thing.
Yeah, very highly produced. A lot of people on the call.
It's a all productions.
I listened to those calls. They got Mandy Kalin on those, all kinds of celebrities.
Yeah.
But regarding the question if I make content in Spanish, because my the person that I'm trying to target is mostly English dominant. So again, there's somebody that grew up in America, but they have they probably learned Spanish as their first language, or maybe they didn't learn Spanish at all. It's why my content is in English. But when I get those viral videos that they're like, please translate these
in Spanish, I will. It's just an extra lift for me, you know, because I'm the only one creating content at this point. But but but yeah, I would love to do more future content and Spanish because it'll only helped me practice and get out there in the community.
Such a good point. You're you're speaking to my husband because he is he's a little a shame DNA Verguenza. He has some shame around his his Spanish because he basically unlearned it so he could be the translator and like thrive in this American society. And he is nervous talking to his parents sometimes and his family who I'm
so he's in it. I had to understand that the way that I'm so comfortable calling my dad up or calling my mom up or having a deep conversation with them, he will hesitate because he's like, how much you mentioned the emotional and the emotional with the mental lift to take a subject matter and then think about it in two languages, and he'll like, never mind too much money.
Yeah, I actually get bullied by my brothers all the time that I was in Mexico because both of them am still in Mexico, and they make fun of me because my finish, my Spanish will slip up. But not only that, not only did we have to get used, but there are a bunch of brats. There are brads. Yeah, we're yeah, let's don't even Oh my god, if you knew girl, if you knew stories, like, yeah, i'll DM you later because it's another show.
I'll dem you lator.
But let's see. But well, the thing is, not only is it hard because we assimilated and became English dominant by being in this country and doing all our education and working in all English spaces, but on top of that, financial literacy is a new language of itself. Right, So there's all these terms, yeah, that we have to learn for the fidelity w I when on for example, I had to learn all these terms financial literacy terms in Spanish that even my family doesn't know because they're not
financially literate in Spanish. So it's it's a double lift. It really is a double lift. So I really I'm thankful for the creators.
Uh.
The one that I can think about the top of my head is Louli Finances called Louli. She does all Spanish content and Marivel also our Wealth Matters does bilingual. She's fully fluent in English and Spanish, so she does both videos in English and Spanish. And yeah, I hope to get there one day. But I know that I'm serving my people by by being English only at the moment.
Yeah, but I love that. You know, it's very clear about who your audience is, but that makes sense, like this is the audience. This is like a little like left turn because my business brain was like, huh, I heard that. You said you did a hybrid publisher. Yeah, and so I did a hybrid publisher when I published my children's well Every Birthday Molly Moore. And so I'm curious as to like who was the publisher and how did that work, because I don't think that our audience
gets a lot of exposure to, like you haven't. You know, you can self published, which is just do everything yourself. You can go traditional publishing route, which they're gonna distribute and print and things, and then take a big part of the pie. And then there's hybrid Oh can you tell us about like that process.
Yeah, I'm so glad you're asking about this because it's definitely a viable option that we should be aware of. And to be frank, when I first heard of it, I was like, no, because the way hy red publishing works is you pay them to publish your book and they still get to keep typically thirty percent royalties, so they still get a.
Cut, And like, how does that work?
Right? This doesn't make sense that I'm paying you and you still get to keep a cut. But it's the way that they have skin in the game right, so that they truly care about the production quality of the book. And the reason I decided to do higher publishing and I did it with green Leaf Book Group, was because of my book coach. My book coach, shout out to Stacy Ennis. She's wonderful and she's the one that when I first started working with her, I was planning to
self publish. And the more that we work together and she learned about my goal and my business, she said, you know what, I think you might be a better candidate for hybrid publishing. So she told me why, and she said, you know what, You're really busy with your business. You really don't have the time to be vetting all these publishing professionals. You're going to need to self publish all these different types of editors, the cover designer, the format.
I mean, unless you have those contacts good for you, then please self publish, right. But I didn't and I didn't want to put in the time because I'm still growing my business. So because I had the support of the TikTok LATINX Creative grant, I was able to cover a lot of those costs. It was a fifty thousand dollars grant. So yeah, at first, just to start my higher publisher, I believe it was thirty five thousand dollars, a nice trunk of change. And then I've added additional services.
I've added the audiobook, the hardcover. I think we're probably at fifty thousand dollars right now. And for production costs, Yeah, it's a lot.
Does a grant that's text for you?
Right?
Yeah?
Because it went straight to expenses.
Oh we like that.
Okay, But did the grant come before the book idea or did you have to have the book idea to get the grind?
The book idea has been in my mind since December of twenty twenty. Yeah, so again posts George Floyd and kind of seeing there needs to be diverse voices in money. That was before I was a TikToker. I was nobody when I first thought of this idea of like, oh, let's do a personal finance book from the lens of the first gen experience. Uh, and then TikTok came surprisingly three months later. So TikTok came. I know it's that it's magic, right, it's a universe.
I love a girl who gets shit.
Thank you. Well, you know what's funny is I actually started writing the book in December twenty twenty, and I see starting because I didn't even have an outline. You both are authors, so you know how it goes like you have to have a writing plan. I didn't do any of that.
I was just bla la la la la.
So now I know that I wasn't really starting anything. But when TikTok popped.
Off, you were doing something kind of it wasn't gonna go doing it. I was going to get still believing in yourself. Now, I know I was going to get stuck because I had no blueprint. Right now, I know that you very much need an outline to keep you focused and a writing plan and a routine, because otherwise you would just not get the manuscript done.
Yeah you both know, yeah.
So yeah no.
And then TikTok popped off in March of twenty twenty one, and I slowly started introducing my audience to the idea of ooh, like, I want to write this book. Would you guys be interested? And they're like, yes, yes, we need it. But I couldn't write it because I was just starting my business. I had to build a solid financial foundation. The opportunity for the grant came up in
April of twenty twenty two, a year later. So with that funding, that's when I was able to kind of take a step back in my business and be able to handle those publishing costs and go into a writing cave. I've been turning down a lot of speaking work and stepping back my business to be able to give the energy that I needed to writing.
Yeah, that's the hard part when you're doing it because there's like you have to it's like the bow and go back, like go back. Yeah, and sometimes it means less money, yeah, less opportunity, you know, temporary fomo.
Can we talk about the fomo? Yeah, I am experiencing the phone right now, Mandy.
I mean, I'm a mom, so like half my life is followed. So a book is just adding you mentioned a routine and I'm like, yeah, even even for the if it adds another layer when you have tiny humans, because it's like I've had to get comfortable. But there's never going to be a routine. It's just going to be It's going to be guerrilla warfare, is what it's like.
Yeah.
So if that's in the car on the hill in front of my my in law's house with their babysitting for one hour and twenty four minutes. Well, I'm gonna see how many words I can do in an hour and twenty four minutes. And that's that's how the book is going.
I've heard that, I've heard the strategy of doing voice notes and then having those transcribed. Have you heard of that, Mandy too?
Yeah, I love Otter. I use Otter, which is my transcription AI bought, and yes, I will try. But the editing is impossible to do when you know, so I can like put a bunch of word vomit out there, but the actual like it's really art for me. It's it feels like a creative, artistic process when I am like words from here and putting them there and adding some more like adding some more description. For me, it's like it really is like cooking or painting for me
the way that I approach writing. So, yeah, it's really hard to do when I can't just sit down and be laser focused.
Because the voice is so important. If you just put something vanilla out there, that won't hit. But both of you guys have such big personalities, right, so it's important that your voice is also infused in there. And that's a feedback I've gone from my readers. I feel like you're like saying this to me, Yeah, because I infuse my voice in there.
Yeah. Okay, So talk more about the highway. So you pay, you pay thirty five, now fifty thousand dollars into the process. So what's your expectation because I think in traditional publishing, we all, you know, because we have friends like Tiffany has been great and other friends of minew written books. Like my expectation is you ain't gonna make money from this in like for a minute, if ever, et cetera, and it's really hard and all that kind of stuff.
But what's your expectation with the hybrid process? Do you expect to get the money back?
Are you okay?
If you don't like? What is that?
Yeah? So luckily you know out of so let me give you a breakdown of the money spent. So out of the fifty thousand dollars grant, thirty five went to my hyperd publisher and then the rest went to my book coach. So out of my own pocket, I have probably spent thirty thousand dollars on the book marketing. I had a book launch party and other efforts and additional add ons that I've done with the publisher. Right, So, am I worried about those fifty thousand that I got
for free? No? Right there there were grant it'd be great to get them back. But really I really would love those thirty thousand back, and I'm more than comfortable I will because my strategy is not to get the money back through book sales, because we all know well, unless you're a New York Times bestselling author like Tiffany over and over again, then yes, you will make that sh money. But the rest of us, we typically don't
make money off book sales. So we have to think of how are we going to use this cloud that we're getting as authors to monetize? And for me, I don't already been speaking. I'd already been speaking on financial education, on career advocacy for latinas, on influencer marketing, financial inclusivity for financial institutions. So I've revamped my speaker page. I have a new speaking brochure now with my evil Longoria blurb,
endorsement and all these things. So yeah, now they're getting the they're not getting the TikToker Gigi they're getting the exactly put some respect on my men best selling author Giovanna Gonzaniz exactly. So so so yeah, and that's how I very much intend to recover my investment and then some and that's where I want my career to go.
You know, I love TikTok is how I started. I would not have started any of this had it not been for TikTok because of the authenticity and the rawness of what it takes to show up and just be yourself. I love that about TikTok. But honestly, you know, with the political environment that we're in, TikTok can go away tomorrow. So I can't have TikTok be my forever. I have to have several irons in the fire, and for me, I really want to land some more speaking, and.
I will say too, just so you know, Gig, it's not so typically for those who are listening who are considering the traditional space usually get like whatever that upfront number is. So for me, it was a few hundred thousand dollars. Well, I'll just be honest. I'm like it's over now, six hundred thousand. It was a six hundred between Yeah, it was a lot. I'm not gonna lie even oh well, because there was a little bit of a bidding war because when I came out, there were.
She had to fight.
Yeah, there were no they had their trail, but.
There were no financial books that were like pending. It was a perfect time. Right now, there's a lot coming out. But it was like right before pandemic is right, so it was like there was a gap. They were like, girl, you're the only game in town right now. So it was perfect time.
Amazing.
So so I got a lot of money upfront. But the thing is is that you know, I wanted to make money on the back end, and so you get seventy percent to keep. I only get fifteen percent. That's the that's typical of the of the space. And then you have to pay back the six hundred thousand. Now here's the thing. Let's just say they gave me the money and I didn't sell the books. I still get to keep the six hundred thousand, you know. And it's not like the record business where he's like no, no, no,
you owe it, no matter what, why about it. It's just kind of like yes, it's kind of just like we hope we get it back. And so it took me two years. And some people never pay it back, but it took me about two years to pay back through book sales the six hundred thousand, and just so we're clear, I didn't even realize this. I have to pay it back in the fifteen percent increments. So yeah, that's my mind. I was like, oh, yes, So let's just say I sell my book and it's a dollar.
So normally my take of that dollar is fifteen cents for every dollar that I sell. They're like, okay, but we're not going to give you fifteen cents for every dollar you sell, Tiffany, until you pay us back the six hundred thousand that we gave you. But she did, no problem. Yes, but it's not like this book is a dollar. I paid you back a dollar. They're like, no, this book is a dollar. You paid us back fifteen cents.
What do you say, girl?
So that's so when people so I did not know that. I wanted you to explain, girl, I did not know that. But that's how book math goes. And so that's why I'm so glad you're introducing this a hybrid model available they're self publishing. Certainly am I regretful of traditional publishing.
Now I'm really grateful because I self published before. I self published like five books and I could, and I hybrid published before, and I decided to traditionally publish, not for the money, but for a certain like there were certain things that I wanted to have access to, yea, you know, so I was like, okay, I'm going to do this. So I knew in general. I'm joking about not knowing when I signed a contract. I did because
at my attorney was like, are you sure? Because book contracts, you know, they're not so great in your favor because essentially you have to pay back way more than you're so you have to basically pay back millions of dollars for me for them to get their six hundred thousands, right, you see what I mean?
Right?
Because I just take that math.
That means you had to self four million dollars worth of.
Oh my goodness, girl, look at my face.
I went.
Fifteen, I've done it already, so I gave them, so, yes, girl, they had to make millions before they're like, oh, thanks for the six hundred.
Thousand and over one hundred and thirty thousand copies of your book.
Well, girl, we're at two sixty.
I love math, yeah yeah, yeah, no no, but to get there, to get there.
The other thing, and so that took me two years, and so I'm just sorry. And so I just want people to understand, like, you know, there's benefits, pros and cons. And then I just like, you know, now that I'm starting to get my I guess it's every two twice a year, I'm starting to get those like whatever checks are. But there's still only fifteen percent of the books sold. And so I didn't do it for the money. I did it for the It raised the value of the
brand over all. To your point, gg, I raised my credibility, I raised my spokesperson with I raised all of that. So yeah, so I got paid. It was worth it to me to do it for.
That, Yeah no, And I and I love it. I love it. And I actually encourage my audience to request her book from the library or to borrow it from a friend, because yeah, like for them, I want to make it cheap. It's these organizations that have the big budgets to pay us right, to pay us back for our investment. One last thing I love to add about hybrid publishing, and again, There are pros and cons to
every type of publishing model. But what really sold me on hybrid publishing was that I had a final say on title, cover, editorial, everything. I was final say on and thank goodness for that. Let me tell you, because the first batch of titles that they try to give me for this book, it was giving like white Boomer Vanilla. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, none of this works. You misunderstood the assignment. Go back to the drawing board
and come back with something better. And they came back with Duran cash by cultural title that my community loves right and the cover.
I thought you came up with it.
I wish I know. I paid them a titling service to help me cook that up. Yeah so again everything costs money with the high red publisher. Yeah yeah, but I'LLAKRK exactly, but you get final say so. Like I said, I like this title, I like this cover. When my edit, my white editor try to whitewash my writing and said that this part is insulting to white people, I said,
I don't care. They're not the intended audience. So I was able to hold that control and write the book that my reader needs to hear not with some white publishing house we thought would do good with the market. So I'm really really proud of that, and that's why the book is resonating. I has already sixty six reviews on Amazon and it hasn't even been a week.
Yeah, it's only about to have sixty seven. I forget all the things I have to do to support all my authors. Yeah, I'm like, I didn't leave a review.
You did?
You tell them that, like if they Amazon gives them a little extra push if they do a video or picture.
I got that tip from you, Tiffany, from the men from the Mentorship, a mentee program that you have, so yeah, I actually I haven't had them do videos. Are you a menthi yes girl, Yes, Oh my goodness. I listened to you did a like a you did like a webinar on what you did for your book launch.
I took notes.
I implemented a lot of the advice the Street Team. For anybody that is not a part of the Mentorship, please join her mentorship on Patreon. It's so worth it. The advice on the Street Team alone. That's how I got all those reviews because of the power of the Street Team.
Yes, yes, yes, sixty eight. By the way, about ah so sweet?
Yeah, no, so I have.
I had a couple of them.
I gave them the book in advance so they had a physical copy and they could post a little cute aesthetic picture with the coffee next to it or the computer next to it. Because I learned from you, and thank you for not gate keeping that information. That's why I love both of you, because you're so open and honest and transparent and really about uplifting women. Because that helped me tremendously and making this launch successful.
Yeah, yeah, Tiffany, never stopped, never stop giving those book jumps, because until you, with your candor, came out and really laid them all out, like there wasn't another free U gate kept not behind to pay, well, not behind it. Give me your email address, take this course. I know the book that the book coaches out there were like god damn.
Sometimes I'll bet people they're like, you can do a two buy. I'm like, my bag, girl, it's just that I get so excited about teaching.
No, no, you're not doing You're a giver.
You're a giver for me and for anybody that's interested in my insights that I had to share as a Latina in a very white publishing industry. I do plan to hold a free webinar for any women of color that like to join, and that's just for me to pour back into the community. It'll be a one hour webinar. You can ask me anything. Also have a little outline
of topics that I want to discuss. And for me, that's like, this is here for you to learn from what I am not available for are for all these people that are dming me, girl, I love to pick your brain. No, I would love to, but there's no time for that, right So so for me, that's my resource to and remember pouring into the community having this free webinar, which I'll probably have in May May twenty twenty four.
I love that you hear the bag.
Thank you. You guys are are starting.
I forgot your power. Like there's just something like and I haven't.
Seen you in a why I have a sing you know what, that's why I know.
But I'm like, oh, I just want to be in your I want to be in your orbit, Like you know when you meet people and you're just like the shot, the brightness, the warmth, the power I felt I met true Yeah, you're just this this like just this bullet. That's how it feels like. And there's nothing that you can't do. What makes you that way? That's what my therapist asked me. She's like, so what is it?
I don't really hard question. I don't know how real you want to get here?
Because I want I want you to get real because I just it's so palpable to me. Your your presence, deep breath that had to take you. Thought I was gonna wrap.
No, no, no, no no no, Let's talk about it. Let's be real, because I know your podcast is all about Roala. So what makes me this way?
That?
My mom is my biggest enemy? Unfortunately I've gone public about this on a Refinery twenty nine article about Haha, I'm estrange for my mother. But my mom, I love her, but she's toxic and instead of being proud of me and cheering on and being supported, she does a complete opposite. And Thank goodness for therapy because I would not be able to say this right now without crying. And thank goodness for prozac because I would definitely be crying too
if I was not on prozac, medicated and motivated. Yeah, But the fact that my mom has been as challenging as she has been with me. And if you read the book, you'll see one personal story where I share about the importance of credit building because there was an incident with the car. I won't give away the story. You'll have to read the book, but you kind of get a sense for some of the challenges that I have with my mother. And yeah, we've been no contact
for two years now. The last straw was she was physically abusive, and I'm just like, I can tolerate the you know, the verbal abuse, the condescending everything, the criticism, the judgment, the judgment, but physical abuse is just something that I will never tolerate from anybody, even if it's my own mother. Yeah. Yeah, so that's what, honestly, like, that's when makes me strong, because it's funny when when I get haters and my TikTok comments section, people are like, Gigi,
how how does it not affect you? Like, you know, the the and I actually enjoy doing the clapbacks. That's like the unhealed part of me.
I do.
I do.
I'm not gonna lie. People are like, don't waste your energy. I'm like, sometimes I like to waste my energy.
This way, like, let me, let me create space for that pettiness, because I'm the one hand to two you want to choose wild, I got time to be petty.
So yeah, I don't think that I'm not going to respond back. Yeah, if I have time, I will. But my answer to when people say, how does this not affect you? When people can be nasty in the comment section, it's always the strangers, you know, when the when the TikTok goes viral, it's never your own community members. It's just some random on the internet with a five two
two nine nine username and no profile picture. Right, And I say, nothing that these people can say is worse than when my own mother has already said to me. You know, so, I'm sorry, kind of got darker than I hope we can end on a positive note. But that's the realness, honestly, of how.
You are the positive note.
You're so sweet just because look how you reflect joy despite I mean, we all, I mean, you cannot go through life without challenges. It's just that's just not how you know. And my therapist always shares that trauma is when something happened that should not have or something should have happened and it didn't, you know, so we all have trauma that we navigate and look how like look at the light. You are, you know, as a result of or despite despite that trauma. So we're just so grateful.
Thank you you are here, you show fully like you know, because you're here, You're gonna have a bunch of daughters. Right when someone comes to me and they're like, oh my gosh, I started like Burner, I love burn Yeah, oh my god, that's I'm like, that's my daughter, you know, Like I love that though, because you know, she's like because if you know Berner, I mean you think I'm crazy.
Berna is we've mad so Burna. You know, She's like, I didn't know that I could be my full silly, crazy self online and then one day sift me I saw you. I was like, wait a minute, I recognize crazy. I could be crazy to.
Yeah, so you did it to another level.
On the internet.
But I love it. I love it because some people need to see Bernard t working on the internet to pay attention, you know, otherwise.
I'm that people exactly, I'm people.
But you, as a result of you showing up fully as yourself, if somebody is like nodding like, oh my gosh, that's my dad or that's my brother or that's my whatever, and I'd be like, wait, so I can show up fully and wonderfully and with joy and beauty while also.
Navigating family estrangement.
So yeah, it's so taboo, So thank you.
Yeah, And you know, I would also like to technowledge that, thank God, I have an amazing father. My father is like my best friend, so at least I feel that I have some sort of parental support.
I also have.
An amazing grandmother and my aunt, and I actually dedicate the book to both these women because I wouldn't be who I am without them, So I have other family that I can lean on for support. But yeah, I mean the Evil Loungore endorsement that we talked about earlier. That's something that my mom knows more than anybody. Now
I'm going to cry. My mom knows more than anybody how much that means to me because we used to watch Desperate Housewives together, and the fact that I can't can I cuss here, the fact that I can't share this one with her toxic as it hurts, you know, But I'm learning to celebrate myself, so I'll show you this ring if for anybody that's watching visually. I went to Tiffany when I got the news, and I bought myself a very expensive Tiffany ring and it's an everyday
piece of jewelry. So now I don't need my mom's validation. I have my own validation that I treated myself to as well as the launch party. You know, most people don't make to spend on the launch party, but I said, because of the challenges that I've been through in my life and health, recent health issues that I've had, is important for me to take the time to pause and celebrate this big milestone. And it was one of the
happiest days of my life. It was last Monday, and I had people fly in from like five different states. There was about sixty people at a Mexican restaurant. It was such a good time.
Yes, yeah, I told you half my life it's fomo because I wish I.
Could be the gig.
Where do you live.
I'm in Chicago, Chicago based and Mandy, you were invited, but I don't think you can make it, and I know you had the babies and no.
I definitely was invited and I knew and I would if I had said yes, I would have had to disappoint you because my son, of course got sick.
But I know it's hard with the kiddos.
We next, I come to Chicago because myself listen to Deerfield, so I go a few times.
Well, Tiffany, the reason I signed because I was already a montee and your Patreon, but I was a month to month and then when you started saying if you sign up for the annual, you'll get first DIBs for when I come to your city, I like immediately signed up for the annual membership. So I'm waiting for you to come to Chicago to meet your life.
Come back. I'm gonna definitely for sure, because like I said, i'd go visit her a few times a year, So next time I come, yeah, we're gonna have because we have such a good time.
Yeah, I can't wait to meet everybody. I'll like minded women and to meet you that'd be amazing.
Yes, Well, thank you for coming gig. Is there anything like where can people buy the book? Where can they connect with you?
Yeah?
You're so sweet and thank you again for having me on. The book is available on all major online retailers Amazon, Barnes, and Noble Bookshop dot org, which supports independent bookstores. You can also request a book from the library to access it for free, or from your local bookstore to support a small business owner. It is available to order through what's called ingram sparks. You don't have to memorize. I just say, hey, I want this book, can you stock it?
Give them the IPN number, the name of the book, and cash to learn more about the book and where to buy. These are all linked on my page cash dot com. And again that's Tiffany. You taught me that.
What's that website looking like?
Yeah, you don't tell me because you're not a gatekeeper. So you said, don't send people to Amazon, create your own website where you control. Yeah, So if you go to duran cash dot com you will see all those online retailers linked, as well as some fun freebies and the blurb from Eva and all these other wonderful women, including Mandy who let me cloud chase off them so that I could get my book out into this community.
And we're going to put it in the description, like the link in the description We're going to give you for Forkutu and cash. Well, we'll put that link and then where can they find you. They're like.
So sweet and actually I forgot to mention also about the kudur and cash dot com website. There's also a freebie which is access to the first the introduction chapter, the full introduction chapter of the book in pedia format and in audio format. So that way, if you're kind of like I'm still on the fence about the book, that's completely free. You can accessit there and by visiting you.
Read your book. What did you read the audio book?
Not yet. I'm going to read it in May. And I'm terrified.
Because wait, you're going to record it, okay, because I'm like, I want to listen to you read the book to.
Me, I know, tell me her story. Yeah, they wanted me to record in November, but I talked to a voice coach and she said, you're not ready. You have to wait. You have to do some lessons because it's a skill, and I understand that. I didn't want to make it cringey for people to listen to. I'm like, let me take my time, take my voice lessons, and I'll do it in May and it'll be out in September of twenty twenty four, so that's coming. It'll be a while, but it'll come.
Yeah.
And if you go to the first Gator dot com, which is also work with and cash Lives, you will see all my socials. I'm very active on TikTok, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Okay, you're so, you're the first gen mentor on TikTok, and.
On TikTok is the first gen mentor on Instagram. Somebody had already taken it and they're not using it. They're not doing anything with it. So it's gig the first jad mentor Yeah on Instagram gg the first sad mentor.
Yeah it is. It is so me and me and Mandy and we're like, we're the BA podcast brought a busy here, but we were so paid.
They're not doing what they do still to this day. That's why on TikTok, I'm many money with free.
Oh my god, that's so much fun.
Maybe myself made you know how?
Such a joy, Gigi. I can't wait to talk to you again and just catch up and.
Hopefully thank come this year or sooner.
Okay, who knows.
Yeah, where do you live again?
I can't I can't plan anything. That's what I'm saying. Oh, I know, I live in New York. Oh, New York City and Tips and Jersey Girl, I will be adjacent.
Okay, I will be in New York City the first week of April, so I would love to reach out.
Yeah, you got my number? Please?
All right, thank you, thank you for having me on