Hey, hey, hey, and we're back Brown Ambition Podcast number ten, number ten.
I can't believe we hitting ten. I know, it's like a diamond anniversary. Oh yeah, you know what.
I remember when I turned ten years old. I was like, I'm officially a decade that's true.
Yeah. Well, thank you guys so much for your support. Yes, and all your reviews just because you didn't realize.
It's Tiffany and this is Mandy. Yes, and we're back and episode ten. So and speaking of reviews, today is the day when we finally announced the winner of our iTunes review giveaway. We do, we do, but you have to stay tuned till the end because we haven't picked it yet and we're gonna do it at the end. Okay, so stay tuned without further ado, let's start this show.
Chick a boom, chick a boom, chick a boom. So, what do you have for buzzworthy? Buzzworthy?
I feel like we just start things out right today, which is by talking about the meme of the week, okay, which is Drake's hot bling video.
Yes, I love that song. You used to call me on myself. I didn't even I don't want to get what he's saying, like, what is a hot line?
Think it's about a hookup? You know?
You know I just turned thirty six, so you know, I'm not quite in the I'm not you know, in that.
Little like oh yeah, you're an angel and I'm sure I'm like hook up?
What?
What?
Never?
What? What's that? Have you seen the video? Yes?
And I love which version because see the thing is, I didn't see the regular video. All I saw was the memes. I saw Dominican Drake, which is my favorite in the Merengue.
I liked Haitian Drake. Haitian what's the Haitian video?
It's so like, I guess a popular Haitian song, but it just looks so funny because my friend Sophia, Hey, Sophia Domaville, Artist Extraordinaire, she posted it and she's like, this is like every light skin Haitian uncle I know.
And I just thought that was hilarious. He's like an uncle.
He's got like a turtle next sweater, yes, and like the tight but he's like like a hot uncle.
Yes. I mean well, it depends.
I feel like with Drake, there's times when I'm like eh, and there's other times when I'm like, ooh, he's cute.
And I told you my thing about Drake, my little brother. He's not little. He's twenty three years old. Alex looks pretty much identical to Drake, but I can't he's cuter. I'm biased, but so I feel conflicting feelings about thinking Drake is attractive.
Because I know Alex is cute.
Mandy showed me a picture and I was like, oh, hello, I mean, I love Superman, but I'm.
Not dead like legit. All my friends in college would say, so, what's Alex eighteen?
Yet?
Oh my god, he's my number Halloween, You're eighteen. Disgusting.
So yeah, Dominican Drake, that meme is going around. It's like the dance moves where he's doing.
Like the knee thing. Yes, you know, kudos for trying. Yeah, he's always on a beat.
Remember they had that whole meme series that Beyonce is always on beat? Oh really, where they like just this one video and they put it to all this different music and she's always on beat, And so Drake is always on beat.
Did you see speaking of Beyonce, so ty, did you see the clip of her so stop it? What was the party where they had. It was a title premiere or something like that. They had at the Barclay Center, and there's this amazing video footage of Beyonce in the red carpet and she's wearing like a dress with several danger zones, like it's down to the navel and like the leg is up to her vagina with a slit, and her assistant is there clearly to like make sure
everything is tuck yep. And then she's like you can see her mouth the words stop it. She's like smiling at the same time that she's like stop it.
No, no, it's that's it's literally stop it, like girls, you don't get your hands off me.
But she's smiling the whole time though, Yeah, well that's because pictures are going there is no video. You would never have never known.
That is like I love that because you can see that's like that's how Beyonce ticks. It's like all the all here, outward facing is beautiful. Like behind the scenes, she is the boss.
Yes, that was just hilarious. Everybody's been like stop it hashtags, stop.
It, stop it, stop it? So what else? What else?
Oh?
Okay, so real quick, we talked about Raven last week and I don't want to talk at her anymore. However, someone actually my boyfriend's cousin, messaged me on Twitter. He's like, look, Ann Culter, just like read Raven on the view, and I'm like, when you watch.
This, and for those of you all who are unfamiliar with who Anne culture, she is like honestly hand.
Jealous of you for being ignorant about her.
Yes, because she's literally, hands out probably the most racist woman I have ever.
The most xenophobic piece of trash. She's like the worst or worst, like you know, she's the.
Master of like manipulating the media and like getting us to write about her. And what better way than to have one racist cenophobe call out another culture.
Yeah.
Racist.
And I forget exactly what she said, but I think Raven was coming at her for saying, like, oh, for saying something mean or something.
Here's what Raven was like.
So I don't know, I don't know what Anne said to like provoke this, but she said, you know, when I was growing up, my mother taught me, do you have nothing nice to say, then don't say anything at all. So An Culter, where do you get off saying this thing? And Anne is like, well, I'm sorry, I'm talking to someone who last week that they want to hire someone based on their name being Watermelondrea.
Yeah, And Raven starts to stutter, and she's and said, at least I'm talking about things that are important. You're talking about not hiring someone based on their name. And Raven starts to stutter and then puts her head down in shame and silence, and.
That was just her facial she starts.
She's like, she raises her finger and just like starts to say something and she's like mm hmmm, just nodding.
And it was just like, like I said, if you knew an culter, like just google her. She is like literally the worst on worst and for her to be able to check you says something about your life. You need to speak to yo Jesus, yes, because but she needed to be checked cause Raven is just ridiculous. I mean, I think she went on to Twitter or whatever to take back her words, but obviously you know.
Why she did that though, because it's fucking illegal. Sorry, it's illegal what she said.
You can't discriminate based on someone's name, and like she maybe is an employer.
Maybe she hasn't. I mean, you could get I'm sure people anyone.
Who's ever been employed by the business of Raven has been like looking back, like could I to herb deny me an opportunity because my name sounds meanwhile Raven simone, Come on now.
Yeah the fake accent anyway.
So I mean, I guess what I said is like two wrongs don't make a right in this situation that they're both crazy. I'm you know, they should just if they could just like go and like just just join, just put them on an island together, let them destroy each other.
Maybe that would be helpful for America. So what I wanted to talk about, so who remembers hero mom? There?
Of course we all remember the Baltimore Riots, and there was this young boy who was kind of like participating in this his mom and like yellow swoops in and starts beating him.
This was the Baltimore Riots for after the wrongful arrest the death of Freddie Gray.
So she comes in and starts beating him, and the cameras pick it up and she becomes like this hero mom and especially for the right conservative and just like, oh, you know, here's a mom who recognizes that you know her son shouldn't be doing this, and they flew her all around the country.
She was on like every show possible.
And the word has come out that she is now facing eviction and people were like, wow, you know, you were flown all over the place and you can't pay your rent. You would thought that that would have led that I thought. I guess she thought it would have led to some sort of like lucrative deal or something, and it has not. They used her basically for ratings and sent her back to her regular life.
Of course.
I mean she's like the quintessential sassy black woman that media loves to like, you know, put on blast and like put up there like oh look, how hilarious and awesome on this tree. You know this like this rare animal is in the wild exactly. Actually give her no resources or help in any way. So what's what's what's her deal today? She's facing eviction.
But yeah, she owes about like she owes about like fourteen hundred dollars and so for a living, what she does is that she drives addicts from haway halfway houses to treatment centers and it's just really not paying very much.
This is what she does and she I guess they were.
Doing some sort of follow up interview and she pulled out an a eviction notice showing that she owed one thousand, three hundred and eighty one dollars and fifty cents and she makes ten dollars an hour, So she's struggling.
And you would think like there would be there would been.
Some sort of like resources set up for her after all of this, or maybe a book deal or something, but no, nothing. So it just goes to show you that the media doesn't really care about you.
I mean, Baltimore could have taken care of for too.
Exactly that you hold up as a hero mom, but she's struggling and nobody cares because she's not a story anymore. So it's just kind of like a cautionary tale of you know that people can applaud you, but it doesn't mean they really support you.
Yeah, and I think anytime that I mean, just anyone
who's out there. If you ever, I mean, you can talk about it a bit later, but I mean part of my job I talk to people who have been wronged by businesses and corporations, and they're often low income and the way these people are preyed upon is really sad, and I always have to take them in too account when I'm interviewing them, and I want to be sure that they know that I'm not just talking to them because I want the really sad, sob story, you know,
to draw people in. And I feel like the media has to be more and this is a good this is a good way. I love this story and that they're going back. Not only are they going back and talking to women again, like six seven months later, but they're also bringing more attention to the fact that there's still these issues in Baltimore, like we can't forget exactly.
There's a line in the story that I really like it said she became a vehicle for others to advance their own social agendas that you know, basically they used her, and now that she needs help, there's no one there to help.
The same way as like Mike co couldee going to the rally for Kim Davis, that woman who wanted to give marriage licenses to gay people, like he made that about himself.
Yeah.
Well, speaking of Freddie Gray, did you read that his mom comed attempted suicide. No, Yeah, that's really sad. I think she, like I think she was either being she was at a hospital, or she was taken to a hospital and there she slit her wrists, or I don't know the exact circumstances. They said that she was found with marks on her arms, so I feel like she might have slit her wrists.
But that's that's really sad.
That's yeah, I don't know what's happening with that case right now. The last thing I heard was that all six people, the six cops or police officers who were on trial, were denied whatever motion they tried to get to get the case dropped, Okay, which I guess.
Good. Yeah, I hope the hope. I mean, I'm sure we're still going to be covering this case.
But this, this whole situation, the death of Freddy Gray, the fact that the police officers have been charged with like what is it, like second degree murder or something like that, or involuntary something. It'll be interesting to see how it all.
Plays out.
On that. And I'm like, do you have anything light to end buzzworthy?
I don't have anything light to end buzzworthy, but I would be remiss because this is this is really like weighing heavily on me.
This whole situation with a Rush card. Okay, ah, yes, oh well yeah, we can't end well, we're just going to end with We're just gonna end it on this. We have to we have to have to.
So Russell Simmons first of all, is like this business magnate. I mean, obviously a hip hop star, but he's he had fat farm mm hmm. What's little known about him unless you watch like bet or whatever is that? Twelve years ago he launched a company called Una Rush which has a has a product called the Rush Card. This is a prepaid debit card. And for those of you who don't understand what that is, a prepaid debit card is.
Essentially it's not a bank it's not a bank account, but it looks like a debit card and it works like one, and you load money onto it and that's the money you have to spend. And it's you know, marketed as being a budgeting tool. And if you know, a lot of people out there don't realize this, but if you have a bad banking history, banks can stop
opening allowing you to open checking accounts. So a lot of people who are low income and maybe have overdrafted their accounts for you know, in the past, or have had to open and close checking accounts because they ran into trouble, you know, can't access the traditional banking system. So they use these prepaid cards as a way of like, you know, looking like everyone else and having their debit
card or whatever. Unfortunately, the thing about prepaid debit cards is that a lot of them have crazy fees and they can be quite expensive for people to use.
So let's go over some of the fees.
You can actually have a fee to load the card up, yep, A fee to check how much money.
You have, a fee one second, we're getting a call caller. Are you there?
Okay, that's funny, but like right, A fee to load the card up, a fee to actually check to see what your balance is. There's a fee sometimes for using your card. Monthly fee, a monthly fee, activation fee.
Activation fee, som fees I mean fees on fees on fees.
Yes, basically fees on fees on fees. And so the Rush card.
You know what's crazy about this whole situation, So just real quick, what happened is starting October tenth, people went to access their Rush card and they were denied. I spoke to one woman who was at Denny's with her husband, card was declined. She spent two and a half hours on the film with customer service sitting outside the Dennis mortified could not get through. Something was clearly going wrong,
but the company was like radio silent about everything. It wasn't until about a week into the problems that they finally acknowledged that some customers had just lost access to their money, like their money that they've had deposited onto their cards. Like, can you imagine if you just like and this is everyone's worst fear, The apocalypse is coming. Banks are closed down.
You can't access your own money.
Paycheck because a lot of people have their paychecks onto the card automatically. So just imagine, Oh, this is the money that you used to pay your your rent, with groceries, child care services, all of these things, and then all of a sudden, not for an hour, not.
For a day, but for more than a week, no apter.
Two weeks now, today is October twenty fifth. This all started happening October tenth, two weeks and I've been following it closely. I've written a couple of stories about this. The Consumer Federal Protection Bureau just came out Friday that afternoon with the statement saying they're going to be investigating rush Card, Russell Simmons himself and the company's CEO, because
Russell's basically the face of the company. He was a founder, but he doesn't actually run it, like there's a whole other, obviously executive team running it. They've come out and said, you know, largely most of the issues have been fixed. Russell Simmons was on Twitter yesterday tweeting about this, and I meanwhile, I'm on Twitter, I'm on my email. I'm still getting emails from people saying, hey, I can't access all my money. I only got one hundred bucks back.
I'm still owed three to fifty. I talked to a woman and her name's Jasmine. She lives in actually from New Jersey, Beverly. Okay, this is what happened to her, and this is why, this is why this story is like so hard. She at the beginning of October, after waiting two years, she was on the waiting list for low income assisted housing in New Jersey. And she has two children, a six year old and a seven month old,
and they've been homeless largely for the last year. They've been kind of living like from friend's couch to friend's couch, most recently at her mother's house, but her mother is still taking.
Care of her siblings.
Jasmine's only twenty six years old, and so for finally the past year, she's been like semi homeless, saving up money in you know, finally getting approved for this low income housing, moving into a two bedroom apartment.
She just moved in the beginning of October.
She bought a bed for her daughter and couldn't buy a crib for her baby because her Rush card was empty, completely empty, And she's one of the ones you had there in her entire paycheck. She was onto the card and let me just dispel myths about people who live in assis living or not as a living but low income housing. She has a full time job. She works nine to five. She's also going to school for a degree in sociology. She works for a nonprofit helping poor
people get access to different services. And she's like, I can't believe that my job is helping people get access to services. Meanwhile, I can't even buy groceries from my children. Wow, she had just moved in, and she's like, I thought I was getting a fresh start, and now I feel like, I have nothing, absolutely zero, And she.
Still hasn't gotten her money, so.
As of I spoke with her on Friday. As of Friday, she had gotten half of one of her direct deposits. She's missing two paychecks, and she also was due a refund check from her student loans. You know, if you pay, she's due like four thousand dollars from her student loans, which is going to be the money that she was going to use to furnish her apartment because these some of these this is her apartment in particular, didn't come with a fridge or utilities like like a fridge and
appliances and stuff, so she had to buy that. And she's like, we're all sleeping on my daughter's bed. You know, I've been fixing her PEB and J's because we can afford.
This is just so crazy. And then you know, I just, first of all, what I think is so crazy. It's like I guess it was all due to what like some sort of like they said it was a software glitch or systems updated. They were updating the system. Now, I mean, why not do this.
In waves just in case something like this?
Maybe they did, They're not being like they haven't said maybe they did it in a wave and that just happened to be the one that screwed up. They haven't said exactly how many people are affected. They haven't said, but I mean I've been saying thousands. Media has been saying thousands, because you can go to their Facebook page. This is where people have had to resource to complaining because the customer service lines, I guess have been inundated
and people can't get through. So you look at Facebook and there are just tens of thousands of comments.
Wow, So you're just assuming, well, these are thousands of people complaining, so it must be thousands of people affected, right, And what.
I want to say about the Rush card, especially why it hurts people personally, Like the way that the Rush card markets is very pointed, Like I mean, all market is, all marketing is targeted, but they specifically target low income black people, brown people in minority areas.
People who are using the Rush card already are having banking difficulties. This is not a population that can go a week without pay, are you kidding me? Know, most people can't go a week without pay, but this is especially vulnerable, financially vulnerable population.
So for them to be going through this.
This is just so they don't have savings. I talk to people and this is so the way that they market is bad. So the biggest reason for a lot of people who use the Rush card and some prepaid cards is because they promise to get your paycheck two days early.
They have a special way of doing this.
Basically, when you're when your employer pays you direct deposit, it goes to the bank on like a Wednesday, it doesn't show up until Friday, okay, So prepaid debit cards will just give you the money on Wednesday and they'll expect the money to come on it. So that's how they get people in. They're like, oh, if you want to get paid, he'll pay you two days early. Give me your five dollars a month, please, And so that's why they get people in with that promise.
And I saw him say something like and I just wanted to like body slam, and he said like, well, technically it's not really late because we're you usually get your paycheck two days early.
Whatever video or whatever tweet was set out, so we still have to a video on you know.
And I was like, well, no, it was October fourteenth, it's been ten days in that video with Yeah. I saw someone on Twitter on Friday. It was ten pm our time, like seven pm LA time where he lives, and she was like, Russell Simmons is in my yoga class right now. And I was like, that's nice that he's finding Yeah, relax. Meanwhile, like the hundreds of his customers still don't access to their money. I you know, it's really sad what's happening. I'm glad that regulators are
going after him. I hope that this just draws attention to, like more on to the fact that these predatory services for low income people are just not doing enough for them.
It's really expensive to be poor.
It is.
Isn't that so crazy? It is crazy.
If you can't so your Rush card, you know, you can't access your money, so what do you do? None of your friends or family have money, so you might get a payday loan. Let's talk about how expensive payday loans are.
It's just rade sense as of like three hundred percent.
And I talked to several people, and what's crazy is listening to them. Well, everyone's like, I'm done with Rush card.
I'm done.
I'm done, I'm done. But what they've said is like, oh, I found another prepaid card. It has more fees, but like, I don't have any other options because I have bad banking history. One woman was like, okay, I'm done with all prepaid cards. I went to my local bank. They charged eleven dollars a month to have it unless you have a minimum balance of fifteen hundred dollars. There's just not enough options out there for people who don't have
a lot of money. You know, even in writing my story, I was like, there's online banks you can go to that have few fees.
Well, these people don't trust.
Yeah, you know they even before they didn't trust traditional banks, let alone online ones, and now they've been screwed over. So how are you going to get into you know, how are you going to convince them that like Capital one three sixty isn't going to like crap out the same way Rush Card did.
It's just so disheartening.
It's one of the reasons why I think Mandy and I do the work that we do with financial education. I especially try to speak to folks like this because it's just if you didn't learn personal finance stuff at home, you certainly didn't get it in school, and it's like, well.
How do you get to this place?
Because you know, a lot of people I've heard like judging like, well, they should have had saving That's just so easy to say. But you know what I mean people, First of all, you know people who I you know, it looks like from the outside they look great and secretly could not afford to lose a paycheck either. So I'm like, you know, it's so easy, they should have
had savings, But you, sir, don't have savings either. And if your fancy job stop paying you today, you would be screwed, right, So I hope.
These people get their money back, and I hope that, you know, the company has said that they you know, very soon will be announcing they're gonna make it right. Well, so far, all they've done is said, we're gonna get you know, we're going to cancel fees for the holiday season. We'll take off through a monthly five dollars fee. I'm like, what's that going to do if you, like, I mean,
when people have like not been able to pay rent. Yeah, one woman said in The New York Times evert a story where she couldn't afford to buy her husband's heart medication.
What are they going to do for those people? Yeah, these people.
Also, this sounds like the makings of an amazing class action loss, the people cheated by a financial services company that makes millions of dollars. However, like most financial services they have a ban on class action. When you sign your customer agreement, I mean you can go right now and check I guarantee you check your credit card statement, checker agreement, check your bank account agreement. They all say
we have a ban on class actions. Mandatory arbitration, which means arbitration is when they hire an independent arbitrator basically an attorney to do a private negotiation, So like a private little like basically like you arbitrator business and you know, at around a table sussing things out.
Whatever is agreed upon is private.
You cannot talk about it afterward, so the greater public will never know what happened. And it's also very cost prohibitive. It can cost you hundreds of dollars, if not thousands, to hire an attorney to represent yourself at a private arbitration and then for what you know, five hundred dollars. I mean a lot of people don't have that much money. I mean it's a lot of money to them, but
it's not like people I've talked to. I was like, you know, would you think about doing arbitration and they're like, you know what, it's not enough.
I don't. I can't afford fees. Yeah, so it sucks.
You know, the only way for them to get recourse is if regulators like the CFPB stand up and represent them, which you know they are doing. And I you know, I hope something good comes out of it because Russell Simmons got to pay.
Yeah, Fresh Cards got to pay. And on that note, BuzzFeed is done. They always call it buzzed.
I'm sorry, buzzy, Yes, buzzworthy, buzzworthy, buzzworthy.
You know what, I'm not gonna dig it to BuzzFeed. That's why that's like my board right before bed, like viewing. I'm like, what's this BuzzFeed up too?
You go to BuzzFeed dot com. I've never gone there, like like I've never done it myself, like typed in BuzzFeed dot com.
But I just see their stuff everywhere.
No, I just go and I'm just like just for a little giggle before nighttime.
Well for the records, Buzzworthy, we need to work on our branding.
Yes, but if you have anything to say, maybe you've been affected by the whole rush card thing, we'd love to hear from you, Yes, ma'am.
At the BA podcast. This is on Twitter. You can also email us at Brown Ambition Podcast at gmail dot com.
And we are Brown Ambition on Facebook.
Facebook. Almost that five hundred fans. I know we're so famous. Yeah, cool, Brown Break, Brown Break time? Right, Brown Break, Brown Break? What your gun? I know I sing that song every time, but I like it.
It's got to ring too. I feel like I've heard that song before. This week, I have two that could kind of go together, okay, or do you want to start?
Okay?
So my brown break is this. So I'm a business owner. For y'all who don't know, I am the budgetista. I'm a financial educator and one of the things I love doing is helping, helping helping, and I get a lot of request but sometimes the requests are a little she tried it right, That's what the.
Kids say, like, oh she tried it.
Like people will reach and I'm like, oh, okay, stranger, you're asking for a lot. So I'm taking a brown break from the over ask So somebody might you know, if you're if you hit me up and you ask me how do I raise my credit score or stuff like that.
You know, that's what I do for a living. I get it. But somebody might say. One woman asked me.
Hey, Budgetista, my aunt is turning forty and I want to get her your one of your books?
Can you send it to me? And I thought she wanted to buy it.
No, just asking for a gift, random random stranger on Facebook, or I would love to. I want to do speaking like you do, Budgetista. You know, next time you get booked, can you bring me and I could speak with you? And I'm like, oh, so person i've never met or her to speak before or anything.
I'm supposed to just bring you on stage with me? Yeah? Yeah.
And so my biggest thing is this that if you are going to ask something of someone that you do not know, first thing you should do is don't because just think about it, like if you were in person with this person. Just think about someone on the street or or someone at work that unless you've built a relationship, your ass should be in direct relation to how familiar you are with them, like an actual person. So for example, like you might this is what I say anyway before you ask me a resource.
So I have this great mentor Lynette cow finnni Cox. She's amazing.
We actually did I forget what episode we did a interview of her five so episode four, so.
She was awesome. And so Lynette, when I first met her, I was like, what do you need? What do you need? What do you want? What do you need? You babysit?
You want me to type stuff up for you whatever she asked for? Because I knew that Lynette. For me to ask something of this woman who I did not know, that didn't make sense to me. So instead, I really tried my best to be a resource and in return, you know, without soliciting her, Lynette used to like kick things my way, So to me, really that's just the best way to kind of go about it, right. Have you had experiences like that where people are like, hey, Mandy,
because Mandy's a writer for y'all. Who so I'm sure you get like, hey girl, you should write this article on because I'm amazing.
I get so many pitches.
I mean I could do a whole like Brown break like reporter break on pitches, like everyone wants you to write for about them and everyone thinks they have the best story. Yeah, and just beyond that, just networking is really uncomfortable and I hate some people are very obvious that they are like trying to make you like I want you to be my mentor like you're gonna coach me, and like when can we have coffee?
When are you free? And I'm more than happy to help.
But you have to pour a lot into someone, like you want to take an interest in them and really give them good advice, and you don't want to feel like you're just like a collection, like another like a notch on their bedposts, like another business card in there in their briefcase.
Or just because you don't want to feel like someone's just taking you know, if you know, to me, the best way to receive is really to give, and especially if you like have I don't know it. Just think to yourself, like, you know, whatever it is that you do for a living, if someone kept coming to you and asking for you to do it for free for them and you're just like, wow, you know this person's just here taking takeing. But imagine if someone came to you and say, well, what do you need?
How can I help you?
Then you'd be more apt to say, oh, well, you know what, this person been so useful. I'm so helpful. I'd love to give back to them in some way. So just be mindful of that that there's nothing wrong with asking for help, but there's a difference between help and a handout. And so just be mindful of that, because I'm taking a break from all but over asking.
She tried it, You've earned it break. I've got a different break. I got a couple.
Well, I guess we can combine them to of my least favorite things, Texas and Trump, well and T T and T. So this week federal judge and Texas made a ruled on Friday actually that Texas officials can continue to deny US birth certificates to the kid to the children of immigrants who cannot supply required identification such as a driver's license or passport because they came into the country illegally. And I just feel like, could we be taking any more steps backward Texas?
Like what the hell? Children?
As it stands, children of illegal immigrants who were born in American soil soil are granted citizenship immediately, But what's happening in Texas is that the Texas is like, oh, yeah, you're granted citizenship, but to get your birth certificate, can we see your parents driver's license identification please? Exactly when their parents may not have one and they know fully well. So it's just it seems I don't know how this is,
how this is possible. I feel like this could wind up in the Supreme Court.
Who knows. It's just a slick way of basically denying these children.
And Texas is a hot mess. I mean, I know, Austin is cool, like whatever, I'm there for Austin. People are moving there. It's like a hot city to live in. But Texas as a whole, it just feels like I get stuck in the you know, fifty years ago talk about their you know rights for against trying to keep women from getting access to abortions, like healthy legal abortions.
I mean, I can go on and on the place where they had that.
Remember we talked about the book, the history book where it's like the workers came over it.
Oh, is that Texas? I don't remember. I would not be surprised. I would honestly not be.
So we talked about like there's this history book that this black mother had uploaded that her child was like it was talking about slavery and they referred to slaves, that's workers.
We're like, oh hmmm, is that what we want?
Well, how this all ties into Trump? You know, obviously we've talked about Trump's We've taken a brown break from Trump, Yeah, we did, but the world does not want us to take a break from Trump. SNL is actually having Donald Trump of all fucking people on as a host this weekend or this next week in November seventh or first, or whatever it is, as a host, and I just like, I don't get it. I mean I get it from like SNL wants to find a controversial host.
I mean, they had Miley Cyrus and I will not be watching.
I mean, forget the fact, forget the fact that Trump's politics are just like insane and he wants, you know, to deport eleven million people from this country.
But beyond that, he is probably the most terrifying politician in his treatment of the press. Yeah.
The press, I mean obviously I take very seriously because I am a reporter and I think it's important to have free press. But he first of all, I kicked out that Univision reporter Jorge Ramos, Yeah, who he didn't realize was a super famous like one of the most famous Latino American.
Actually he's a Latino. Where was he born?
I forget anyway Latino journalists who live, you know, in America today and beyond that. This past week, I think he had a campaign stop in Miami and he kicked out again a whole Univision crew just again like his whole bullying tactics.
I can't. I can't with him.
I can't with Louren Michaels for making him a host. Can he even act like what is happening? If anything, they should have Bernie Sanders on.
Yeah, he would be hilarious. Oh Trump.
So that's Brown Break and we're breaking off. If you have anything you know we have not I think we I feel like we haven't asked in a while. Do you have anything that you want to take a Brown break from b A audience? Please please please tweet us use hashtag brown Break at the BA podcast on Twitter, hit up our Facebook wall at Brown Ambition, and you can always email us at what is that email again,
the Brown Ambition Podcast at Gmail. Yeah so, but definitely put in the in the title Brown Break because we'd love to read some of your brown breaks. I'm sure you have something that's frustrating you. We'd love to share, Yes, ma'am. Now it's time for tips tips this week.
Well, okay, so tips for this week were inspired. So I went to this event this past week. It wasn't a networking event.
It's actually kind of.
Cool though, because there it was sort of an event organized around like spotlighting these these six or seven female entrepreneurs who have like made millions out of these like home run businesses, and it was very inspiring. So one of the wins, actually I think she's from New Mexico. She's was formerly in the Air Force for like seven years. She grew up an army brat, and she has a multimillion dollar advisory business, advertising business for people who want
Facebook ads. And one of the questions from the audience to all the women was how many of you guys are the bread winner in your household? And three or four of them raise their hands, and then she asked, and how does that impact your relationship and the division of household duties? And you can tell it with a loaded question because and shout out to you know, writers like Farnuch Charabi who have written about this, when women earn more, they still do more.
Around the house.
Well, you know you're talking about that, yes, but you know, studies have research has shown that even though women when they earn more, they still feel this like guilt, this like you know, obligation to do even more around the house to like make the man feel like like a man exactly. And this woman in particular, who has this multimillion dollar business and earns, you know, exponentially more than her spouse said, you know, at home, I am a
wife and I support my husband. I want him to feel strong and manly, and so I don't really talk about my business and I do take care of the household chores and you know, put dinner on the table because that's what works for us. And I could see everyone in the like all the women. It was a it was mostly women in the in the audience, and I can see them kind of like you know, squreaming in there in their in their cocktail dresses. Because I
feel like what she said was realistic. Yes, I agree, but it goes against that like oh bo power thing, you know what I mean. And I think there's a yeah, I was kind of like all right, calm done, everybody. Yeah, this is what works for them. Yeah, but yeah, I think it's a conversation worth having.
So we're gonna me and Manya kind of talk about tips, cause do you make more than your boot?
I do? I do make more.
Yeah, I make more than my boyfriend. We live together, and I think when did I? I I haven't always earned more than him, but pretty soon as we started dating, I got a promotion and it was clear that, like, I was earning more. But then it't become like an issue until we moved in together.
Okay, I make, let me see, probably about four and a half times more, bimboo. And honestly, next year it's gonna be like, like not even probably like ten times more. And I worried about that because I've dated guys who I'm like, yikes, they're not that happy with this. But I'm really open because I live with my boo too with Superman, and I'm really open about what I make.
And you know, he's just like the greatest because so before I came, so Superman has a daughter that he has half the time, so they're like one week off when we're gone. He and his Supergirl's mom and so they're like this great team. And so because he was, he is raising his daughter like half the time and sometimes even more than half the time. He was, he learned to cook, he did laundry, clean well, he's just
a super clean guy anyway. So he was already kind of like, for lack of a better word, domesticated.
How old was Supergirl when you got together?
Supergirl? So it's been two years for us. So she just turned nine, so she was seven, okay, so we had a long time. Yeah, And so he and her mom broke up when she was like three, so he had like four years of like you know, being like mom and dad at home and you know, so so when I came, you know, I remember like washing the dishes for the first time, and he nearly cried.
I was like what. He's like, thank you so much.
Someone's actually helping, And like when I make her lunch, he's like, oh my gosh. And so for him, anything that I do is just added help because he's not had he's only lives with me and her, so you know, so for him, it's like, wow, this is huge help. So luckily, you know, it's been easier for me because honestly, I am not the best at helping out at home.
We do talk about that, like the other day, like I was on my computer for.
Like the millions time, as per usual, and he was like so and like the laundry was piling up, and he's like doing the laundry and I'm like, meanwhile, I'm like, can you keep it down?
And then he kind of was like, Tiffany, you know, I'd like some help around the house cause you like live.
I never go food chopping. Just yesterday he went again for like the fifth time in a row. I never And I'm like, I'll say it, like I would literally like send him money via the phone, like, oh, I just sent you some money for food.
He's like, so you're not Presty Go's food chopping.
Yeah, you know, because you know before I came, that's what he did everything. But we did talk about it. So one of the things I asked him, I'm like, what do you what would you like me to help.
You with more? Is that a recent conversation, yeah, like literally like maybe two days ago.
And he said, honestly, like he's like he cooks, but he does like that man cooking, you know, like spaghetti and chicken nuggets, you know, but I actually cook and I cooked pretty well and I actually enjoyed it. He's like, I would love for you to cook more because I actually like your food. And I said, okay, check, I can do that. And he also said, I would love for you to help me, like around the house more.
And now I hate cleaning. So I asked him, I said, so, to be clear, do you want the house to be clean or does it do you want me to have to.
Do the cleaning.
He's like, no, I would just like help. And I said, oh, can I hire help? Would you feel offended by that? And he said no? And I said, okay, so we're working out, like what does that look like? Because it is very uneven and lopsided. I will say right now that he does like the majority of like the work at home.
And you have different I mean he works. Is his job like a ninety five? Yeah, ninety five, and so you're your hours or whenever?
Yeah, whenever. It's hard. It's harder to like there's no set like and you come home and you clean and you cook the dinner. Yeah yeah, And so like you know, we're we're like working that out.
And what I really really love about Superman is that we we split the bills evenly in half. When I first moved in, he was paying like all of them, and I was like, this kind of seems like wrong since I'm making so much more than you, you know,
And so we split the bills in half. It now and just the other day, just really this morning, I was talking to him about I'm bringing you on a full time employee, and it's going to cost a lot of money, and even though I make a lot of money, it's going to be financially difficult for a few months. And he said, if I need to take on all of the household finances until you kind of get your
business back stable again, let's do that. So he told me when I get home, like, let's sit down and look at our budgets and see like what we can do to make this work.
And I'm just like you like the best you know.
Even when he gets on my nerves, I just remember, like, man, he's like the best, you know my cooking and cleaning and help me out financially, even though you know I make so much more because this thing is this He's like, I know you have this huge dream and I want it for it to come true for you.
So whatever I can do to support that is is what I'll do.
So I feel like the first the first tip, which could be too late for some women, because sometimes you meet each other when you're young and you're both starting out, and then as your career grows, things start becoming more lopsided, things start becoming less equal, and then you're like, you were cool when you were like, you know, both, it was cute. When you're both broke, I'm like, oh, brodman, it was so romantic, like let's you know, share a
dollar menu hamburger together and some fries. Well, one one person starts earning more, and if it's a woman, it can cause conflictly and you may not realize that the person you're with, man or woman, if you're earning more than that issue has issues. You know, they may not realize they have an issue until you start earning a
lot more. So, honestly, my first tip would be try and find someone who doesn't and you there is clues you can see, you know, look at what their parents are, like, you know, with with my boyfriend, his parents have a very traditional I mean, I guess a kind of traditional household and that his mother does not work and his dad has been the provider in his entire life, which you know, I think for Latino households maybe isn't always traditional because I feel like a lot of women work
and provide for the family too, But there's definitely that expectation that when you come home, you're going to be cleaning and cooking, and the man comes home and wears the food at and like whatever bangs his chest and whatever he does. So I've seen that, honestly, And and I was raised by a single mom, and I'm hyper hyper vigilant of any like in like any inkling, like any sign that Enrique's or sorry, I just said his name, whatever Enrique. And he's like waiting for me to cook.
Something for him.
When he's like, Kenny, a sandwich, I'm like a sandwich. But if I make it for you, will you expect sandwiches all the time? And like or here, And this morning I went out and got him coffee and a croissant, and I was like, just on a expect this every weekend and it's like just do something. It's like, can you do one thing without reminding me? What like a powerful woman you are like, how I shouldn't expect I need to tone it down a little bit. But yeah, I mean I got lucky despite the fact that his
parents are more traditional. He's you know, he's very supportive of my career, and like I said, we were an example of like we both were kind of in the same we did well when we first started dating. And I've sort of, you know, my income has grown pretty rapidly and like, you know, pretty well over the last
couple of years, and it's changed the dydamics. I would say that the thing that's helped the most, and it's been the most difficult is talking about it and talking about bills and how to split them and what your expectations are, I.
Would say, the problems we have. And we actually had some help on this.
We went and saw financial planner and we talked about it was my expectations don't match his income, okay, and so like I, now that I'm earning more, I want to I want to say up for like vacations and stuff and things like that. And meanwhile, he has another stressful thing, which is a student loans is trying to
pay off. And I had to come to terms with the fact that even though I want to save, he is not on that same plane right now, and if I want to save for a vacation, I'm going to be have to save that too.
For two Yep, I'm gonna just have to know that.
Yeah, you have to know that, and I mean deal with it, like I want him to come with me. So Okay, I'm going to save up and maybe we'll you know, I'm not saying that I'm paying the way for everything, because he wouldn't like that. Yeah, but we had to have a conversation like we want to enjoy, you know, our money, we want to save for certain things. And I'm like, Okay, I'm going to take on more
of the saving for future travel. So that's like number two communication, which is I mean number one in number two communication.
Talking about it because even like I was talking to Superman and I said, Okay, I have this like big check coming in, and I have like some so I always pay my credit card off in full and every month for the most part, but I have like a little bit of credit card debt that I'm like, but I'm gonna wipe it out with this check. And I was asking him, I really because Jersey, we live in
Jersey and the winters can be kind of brutal. And so my car's paid for in full, as is his, because you know, rolling with the Budgeonisa, I made sure that he paid for his car and full. And but I'm kind of like, you know what, I'd like a truck for the winter that I think that we like to lease, because leasing makes sense for us because both of us don't drive much, and he's really really handy with cars and trucks and stuff, and I think that
at least would just make sense. And I told him, you know, we're talking about how much it might cost a month and how that would look. And he has some debt, he has like a loan and he's paying off a little bit of credit card debt and something else and some other like sort of like MIDI loan all to the tune of a few thousand dollars. And I said, you know what, with this big check that I have coming up, there's enough for me to pay
down my credit card debt and pay down yours. And then, because his thing is when we talked about it here first, first he was like no, no, no, I said no, because you get like a because you have a child, you like a large he gets a big refund check. So I was like, so when that money comes, you can give it back to me, like from taxes, Yeah, from taxes, you know.
And I said, but then at.
Least it'll free up about three hundred dollars a month for you, because right now I can tell things are really tight and he's trying, and I'm like, so let's free up that three hundred dollars a month and then you just give me the money back later, you know. So even talking about things like that, like you know, a lot of people would think, like I would never give my boo three thousand dollars. I'm like yeah, but I mean honestly, he's probably given me more than that
this year alone. Like I'll be like, my car needs to be fixed and it's not nine hundred dollars and I'm like, well here's the money. He's like, oh, I don't worry about it, and I'm like nine hundred dollars.
Like also by helping him, and you're making things easier for you, exactly the money for.
You to exactly for Dodo exactly. So because I mean I travel a lot and he would love to come with me more and just.
Like and just like boo, we can call him an aka outside of the bag, you know.
So so he wasn't he wasn't able to afford as much and so yeah, so really it's just about being on the same page. The fact that he even said, Babe, when you get back home today, let's sit down and look at our budget and stuff and see like what we can do.
It was like that is a sexy yeah, almost like.
Cried real because like two years ago when I first met him, he's like leave me alone.
Yes, oh my god, I think we should give if you're Sometimes I want to apologize to my family and to Enrique, especially because like I feel like dating people like us being really hard.
It's like dating a teacher, yes, and like you're still a student, you know what I mean. Like it was on me that I can't ever slept. Every one was not a budget things stuff.
I remember when I first like the first couple of months, because I was like laying in hard. Then I realized its women. Sometimes you have to realize that you have to like lean in pull.
Back, no one to pull out. Yes, I mean.
Sounds like she's having personal issues. If Mandy comes up with a baby, but him too much.
We know both these are both helpful practical skills for today society, but now you just and that's so I had to learn to be like, Okay, they're they're they're like children.
They sponge up stuff you don't realize.
Yeah, on Friday and no, oh so yesterday Saturday, we're taping on a Sunday. So I we woke up and we decided on Friday night that we're gonna have device free Saturday mon until noon. It was great, like no cell phones, no TV, no computer, no nothing. I just like hang out and clean and whatever. But he's like, oh damn, I really want to check my paycheck. I wanted to pay bills first thing. After he got paid, and I was like, I almost wanted to lift the device.
No device world, so you can pay. But I was that was nice, and yeah, that was something he wouldn't have done.
Yeah, three years ago.
So it's like you have to massage the message, ladies. My mother taught me that, you know, your mom will always teach you that. Mom would always say that because my dad is like a real hard ass. Thank god he does not have like for those of you. Yeah, he was a CFO though.
Yes, yeah, so he was like a real Like so my mom.
Would always be like, you see your dad, he's all wrong, and you.
Say, you see, we still got my way.
She's like, because I know how to massage the message because me and my dad would always bump heads and she's like, you're going about it the wrong way.
It looks like my big fat Greek wedding.
Yeah that quote where the mom is like, the man is the head, but the woman is the neck, and she can turn the head any way she wants.
And I was like, yes, that is it, and I just learn how to be a next exactly.
And so like I'm just I'm just so proud because I'm just like, wow, he's doing budgets on his own. He's saving like a lot, and.
You have to encourage that.
I mean, whether it's like working out or you know, even as you're earning more, and again we're talking about whether you're dating a man or a woman, just when you're earning more than your partner, especially today, like the other partner can sometimes feel like diminished in a way. So I mean I get what this woman was saying and that she's like I really want to stroke that ego.
I think we all have egos, and you want to make sure not in like a coddling way, but I mean just at a personal like relationship level, you should be lifting each other partner up and you know, you know, ac celebrating the little small things like oh you got to raise or you worked overtime or something like that, just as much as they're there for you, supporting you.
When the budgetista is like on tour and.
He's so supportive, he's I was like, what do you need when making some copies? When put this in the car? Like he wakes up, but every time I have to get to the train or the plane or whatever, he's always up for in the morning driving me. And so I asked him, I said, you know, when, not if, when the budget needs to start to making like big, big bucks. What is it that you would have always wanted to do, but then you'll have the opportunity to do that. You're we're gonna get married and have kids,
blah blah blah. But I'm like, what is it that you'd love to do? And he's really leaning. He never thought about real estate before, but he's like a contractor, so he does like all this like you know, handyman work, you know, and he's really like, you know what, I think I'd really like to get into real estate, and I was like, I think that would be great that way.
Then if he does that, he will.
Start making way more than what he's doing now working for he works for the city, and so I think that that will help to not so that he can
make as much as me. But I know that he also kind of like envies my freedom because he'll be like, oh, I gotta get up, you know, but if you do kind of like what you already do for the city, but for yourself, you can kind of make your own hours and like live a more free life because I want us to be able to like, you know, travel at will, and you know, yeah, so it's like we're a work in progress.
But honestly, I really love him. He's the best. This is the one for me.
So support communication before communication and expectations are really important. And like, just like you just asked her, all, what are your expectations for you know, when I make more? And you have to continue to have conversations because even throughout the year, you know, and you mentioned helping droll out with his debt Superman.
Oh sorry, Superman. Bay, we're just outing that, right, They're like, ooh girl, do not show him. We didn't say last name.
You have to you know, recently we had to check in and Rique is trying to pay off some debt to and holidays are coming up, and you know, my sister just got married in Wisconsin, and like, I'll take care of that travel because it's for my family, and like I, you know, I want to lean in and help. And one of the things I did this year was I was like, you have you know, some sort of unexpected debt came up. I'm going to start paying for you know, food, I'm going to handle groceries. Don't worry
about it. You handle this one utility bill. I'm going to get groceries. And then where I would say it has been come sometime somewhat tenuous and like can be difficult, and we've had awkward, like kind of arguments about this kind of stuff. Is like, so even though we live together and we are our finances were mingled and we'm helping him and he's helping out or whatever, It's like, at what point are you too far? Like Mandy can am I allowed to ask him like, how much debt
do you have? How far down is your debt now?
How much progress have you made?
And that's one of the things we've run into is I feel entitled to ask those kinds of questions, like I really feel like I should be able to say how much debt do you have today? Whereas he's like that for him, that's like too far okay, And we recently had a really big argument about that one night.
I was like, let me see how much debt you have? I really want to know. Have you seen Mandy's face? She said it like a straight school teacher. Let me see how much day she did that. I'm not going to say I.
Said it any better, but I didn't say quietly yeah but yeah, I mean I really tried to phrase it in a nice way.
Yeah, but I mean we're going to give for so long.
But you have that allowed because honestly, I Durell probably would have got Superman.
God probably would have felt the same way.
But because we were talking about and this is how I kind of framed it, I said, how much is your debt costing you a month? That was kind of like my way of a easy way, And he was like, oh, you know, like three hundred dollars a month, and I told him, and I asked him, I said, what would you do if you didn't have to pay that three hundred dollars a month? Because I already had in my mind I wanted to help him pay off the debt
and you know, get the money back later. But I didn't want to do so if you were going to blow three hundred dollars a month he said. You know, he kind of laid out for me. Oh, you know, I thought about it because his thing was he kept saying, I can't wait till this debt is done because I'm going to do this, this, this, and this, and I said okay. So once he kind of like laid out his plan for me, I said, okay, well how about this?
And I could tell he was a little bit shocked, surprised, happy, but also taking aback, like she's going to pay down three thousand dollars worth of debt And I'm like, yeah, but.
In this way.
So now that like he's gotten some time. At first he said no, but now that he's gotten some time to think about it, because I didn't know how much debt he had, but because I framed it and know what are you paying monthly?
What if I pay it? You know what I mean?
It was like it made him more comfortable to expose, like well, this is the breath of my debt and so you know so, but like, but I'm learning too, because there's definitely someone went when what Superman has been like.
Enough, I think it's important to talk about the fights too, yecause it can be freaking awkward.
It can, And for me, I was like, oh, we're comfortable enough and we weren't. We had to talk about it because.
I'll get a check and I'm like, I'll be like wondering, like who's it from? So I remember I'd be like, oh, open it real quick and it would be like in one check, like two months worth of his salary, and he'd be like, oh wow, you know how long I'd have to work to get this. And I'd be like next, Ti'm just gonna listen open it. You should know that, Yeah, Nobo didn't.
Want to hide it or like do you don't want to diminish yourself to make it exactly like that's not what when we say support, that doesn't mean diminished.
Sadly, so that's become of your own tradition for us now that like a check will come and usually like I'm aware or whatever, and he like, babe, another check and I'm like open it.
He'll be like, oh, you killed it.
And so it becomes like he gets excited because now if it's like a thousand dollars, so he's like, ah, it's not that much. I'm like really, And so that's been part of like his like I don't know, I'm just feeling really good because I'm just like I know that we're growing to that. And it was definitely not the same beginning. I remember I wanted to his credit score. He acted like, I you know, yeah, it takes some. It takes some these are personal questions.
But I feel like, and this is where I told the Enrinque two when we were having this big argument.
It was not great.
I was like, listen, I get that it's a personal question, but we are together. We're on this path that we've talked about that we have the finish line. We want to be together for, you knowever, so to speak, and I feel like this is a question that shouldn't be hard. I should know, and one day I'm going to want to know. We're going to know everything, and I feel
like we need to know now because we're trying. I mean, I'm trying to save up for long term things, like I'm thinking in the future, I want to buy property, you know, are we going to get married?
Weddings cost money. I want to be saving.
I want to know how much debt you have because I want to know how much we can be saving together and like, and it's also my way of knowing how much longer.
Yeah, when's it going to be over? Because it's as your way to that though, Yeah, massage, I'm learning.
I think we had to have that, you know argument though, because at the end of the day, we became more, we became better. I think about communicating out the end of the day. And also I feel like just this particular and this was Enrique's particular thing. I feel like I'm being way too personal, but he really that this was a hump that we were always towing around, kind of tiptoeing around. Like I knew how much his debt payments were, but I didn't know how much the total was.
And it felt really important to me and it still does to know to have I think it's good for accountability's sake.
You know, how's it going? What can I do to contribute?
And also for me, if I'm going to be putting my skin in the game and saying I'm going to help out with more expenses, I feel like I should know how much longer am I going to be paying more?
You know what I mean?
So again it comes down to communication and having those you know, arguments if they have to be an argument, you know, we try to be civil, but sometimes they have to happen.
So communications support and setting expectations.
So some wins.
When wins, well this is a random kind of wind. But so I got my first gel manny? Is that what she?
I know?
I know you're gonna say something about it. So apparently I can get a hand cancer, which is not great because you know they put that on the UV. Yes, yes, but I didn't know that because I've never First of all, if you know me, I'm like a grown up tomboy, So I never get any like manicure, petticare that kind of stuff?
Well, I mean, on occasion's funny you brought up Jel manicure and.
So I was like, okay, so I was getting it, and I of course the chip because I'm Tiffany, and because just the way I am, you know, they're supposed to last for two weeks. After two days mind chips, I'm like, of course, And so I got it because I was doing I don't know, I'm going to be doing, like taping some big like thing, and I was like, well, let me look like a lady.
But I've heard of course. After I got it done, people were like, oh the UV, Like, I have my first gel manicure last week? Did you like it for my sister's wedding? Well, if you can see my nail, that shit peeled off, and like three day really is.
Yeah, some people will last for It's only a win for me because I'm like, oh, I got a little girly thing done, and I got my eyebrows snatched.
Oh did you? Yeah? But I usually get my eyebrows, so that's the one thing I do. I stopped plucking my eyebrows a here ago.
Well that's why you have like the natural. First of all, Mandy has like the natural like fuleek eyebrow, you know, like that rare.
Always she's like.
That rare like unicorn, whose eyebrows grow in naturally with an arch and they look perfect.
Me, I look like a Barracuda straight line. Well something happened. It's like I was waxing. I waxed since I was like seventeen, I'm a baby. I don't get I don't get threaded, okay, because it just feels like tortured.
Yeah, thread it does. Oh my god.
I cried the first time. I got it first and last time. But I guess so much, so much time waxing my hair to stop growing.
That's where it used to. And I was like, let me stop now before it gets worse. You have to be created that it was going to. I was gonna over overwax, so I stopped the makeup. People don't love it. They're like, should we They're just straight here. I'm like, just leave it. Yeah, no, her eyebrows look great. Honestly, thanks so.
But that was my win, kind of having a little girly moment. And today's my sister's b day, Happy birthday.
Try try my win this week. I just got.
I just this whole weekend, I've spent, you know, not being productive because I've been watching Jane the Virgin.
Is it good?
It's really good?
So season one is on Netflix and I just don't have time to like dedicate to a sitcom. Like I'm like, what day does it come on? Like what time seven thirty on Tuesdays?
Oh?
Like whatever.
So I like to watch things binge on Netflix, and I just started watching Jane the Virgin. I mean, it is so good, really it is. And I'm a huge ugly Betty fan. It's better than It's better than Betty Lay. It is better than I mean a million times better than Mindy Project. Okay, I mean, and I have been supporting Mindy. I've been trying to watch it, but like, I just cannot stand. I need a brown Actually, maybe next week my Brown Baby will be a Mindy Project because I'm.
Just over it.
But Jane the version is so so good. So the premise of the show is insane. It's kind of like a teleovela within a telenovella. So the premise is that Jane goes to the Guano for a pap. Her gaynacologist just had to tear terrible breakup and she's confused and she accidentally artificially inseminates Jane.
Wow. So Jane is a virgin.
She's twenty three, but when she was thirteen, she promised her abuela that she was not going to have sex andal marriage, so she's almost engaged to her boyfriend. She gets artificially inseminated and then I cannot So this is all within the first like two episodes. She finds out that the father is a hotel owner where she works, and they kissed five years ago, and his wife was trying to get artificially inseminated behind his back, so he
didn't know it's well happening. And then her abuela is an illegal immigrant and she wants to sue the doctor for artificially inseminating her, but she drops the lawsuit because she's afraid her abuela will get deported. Like all this stuff, it's so good. Meanwhile, her dad, who she's never met before, comes into the picture. He's a telenovela superstar.
He's this amazing. His name is I think it's his name, and it's so good.
It's you know, and I've I've seen she won like a golden globe or like something, or an Emmy. Gino roriga As is the actor or the actress, and she's so good. But it really portrays these people as just real people. Jane is studying to be a teacher, but she wants to be a writer. Jane's mother is so good. She's her name in the series is Ziomara or Zomara. I think I'm pronouncing it right. And this actress she's a dance instructor by day and she wants to be
like a pop singer by night. And she was a teen mom and.
She's like really hot and in her forties.
Okay, and I love you know, they get to these issues, they get to the fact that you know her Abuela is an illegal immigrant.
She's in the country illegally.
But they do it like six or seven episodes in okay, and I love that because if you've been watching the show, you love Aheilah. You see Abela like being like funny and supportive and like an amazing like caretaker for Jane, and then you find out this fact about her. And I feel like, as a reader or as a viewer, for some people who may have prejudice against illegal immigrants, it makes you see them first as a human before
and then it gives you this fact. It's just like it's like, so, do you really feel its way about illegal immigrants now that you know that this woman yeah, do you really want her to go back? And I'm like, come on, you love her.
I love when things like I remember who was the woman on? She is a news anchor, she's super smart, short, short, like brownish hair.
She's gay a Rachel Matter.
Yes, So my dad loves watching the news and love Rachel madd really and he is like, I don't want to say super Christian, but you know, like pretty not fundamental, but you know, and so you know, like he he was always like, no, you know, being gay is wrong blah blah blah blah, and so like obviously, but he has no gatar whatsoever. So I mean, I you know, soon as I saw Rachel Matter, I knew he was gay, and I thought I always got a giggle she was gay.
I used to get a giggle because my dad be like, I just love her.
She's so smart, she's so this not to be like he he doesn't know. And then one day I guess she came out whatever and my dad was like, did you know that Rachel is gay?
I said yes. He was like, but she's so smart.
I thought that he was like conflicted because he was like, wait, white religion, said, but I like her, and.
I thought that he was gonna stop watching him to Dady he's watch He's like, yeah, she's good.
But I like it, you know, And I just love the fact that it's like I don't even of course, you know, Rachel Matta will never meet like my little African father, but I just love the fact that Rachel
you have opened up his mind. And so things like that are just so necessary that you just show this broader picture of people, get people to know and love them, and then yeah, this arbitrary fact of like, oh I happened to be an illegal alien, I happen to be gay, I happen to be you know, because it forces you to say what were you saying about them? Again?
It was very tactful. Yes, I like that.
I feel like that's just more reasons why you want more diverse writers in Hollywood. Matt Damon and I listening, did you see that thing where Matt Damon he has this like kind of semi competition show on HBO where they are testing out directors to direct a film, and he has like, so it's Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, I think, and then they have other producers on the panel judging the directors and At one point, there's one black woman in the room. Her name is Effie Brown.
I think or is that the woman from that play that Beyonce when Jennifer u Zimmern.
And they're both Effie.
Yes.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure her name is Effie Brown in real life. So she's this only black woman, I think, the only black person on this panel of judges.
And she says, you know, there's a there.
The movie that they're wanted to push forward, green Light is has a minority cast, or is about minorities, And she's like, I'm concerned because we have a white director directing this, and Matt Damon and his infinite wisdom as a Hollywood elite, says, it doesn't matter who's behind the camera. Diversity comes from who you put in the cast, comes
from casting. And you if you watch this clip, it's very uncomfortable because you see e Fie just being like, oh really right, and then you see here get quiet, and it was this is the reason I haven't seen The Martian. I know it's a huge movie, but in this moment, I'm just like I can't. I can't with Matt Damon right now because it was so ignorant you know.
Yeah, because how can you tell a black story without black experience? Right? Like, I just, I mean, I don't even understand how you don't see that that Like I can't write. But that's like me writing an immigrant story of Italian immigrants coming to a How I have to have someone there to say, hey, that's actually not an accurate portrayal, you know, like you know, just just certain
nuances that you just don't get. You have to have people in the room who've experienced that for it to be like just authentic and for him to just not even realize that.
I'm like, it must be nice to be you know.
A white male and American privilege, right, Yeah, I would just cast a black woman, but who's writing for her?
Yeah?
You know, there's a oh my god, this video on BuzzFeed. You should all watch it.
It's it's kind of long, it's like seven minutes long, but it's here's what happens. I posted it on the Brown Ambition Facebook page. Actually it says here's what happens when there's no diverse writers in the room in Hollywood.
And it basically goes through every show in history like current and the you know, modern shows and older shows and shows you all, like the the microaggressions and all the brown characters and how they like, you know, Native Americans dressed up with like feather ear rings and like turquoise and like the the you know, the costume type things, and like how Asian men are always depicted as like sexless and nerdy, and how Indian American men and Indian
men are always you know, also pictured as xceless and nerdy, like the guy from the Big Bang Theory. And it shows you what happens when you don't have a diverse writing staff. And you know, as a viewer, as a white viewer, you may not see anything wrong with that, but let me assure you everyone who's brown and you know, from that group is looking like this is not this is not the show exactly.
Like Jamal is always like, oh no, he did, and I'm like, oh god, they showed oh god.
You know, I stopped watching New Girl was Winston. I'm like, what's that mean? Nothing happening, Yeah, because I'm just like, yeah, I used to love New Girl, but I stopped watching as well. It was just like whatever, he's the one black friend and then the one black friend never has a love interest.
Yeah, and he never really has any real storyline.
In the first season, he had none. Yeah, they did nothing with that character.
There's always that one like fun and then yeah, they're just there to be like oh no girl, or they say damn, you know, like that's.
Their one line. That's what they're there for. Yeah, exactly.
So that's why I love back to Jane the Vision. I think it's just such a fun show. And I think anyone from and it's a hugely diverse cast. All that's you know, actresses like the Crazy Wife is like from is she's Israeli but she speaks French, and like the Telenovella stars like Brazilian and Mexican and oh my god, oh Paulino Rubio makes a guest appearance.
The show is really good.
So on Netflix, Jane the Virgin, it's got a crazy premise that whole the five minutes of plot I gave you, it's just like a microcosm of the larger story happening here.
That's not what I watch. Now you should. Okay, that's really good. So when when when? When?
When?
And that is the end of episode episode ten. I'm so excited. Happy anniversary. We're rocking out it's so crazy.
I'm like, just I remember when you hit me up and you were like, hey, I'm doing a podcast.
You want to be honest. I was like okay, and I was like we are. Meanwhile, I'm like, is she gonna say yes? Do you know what happened?
Is I?
So?
I with the Brown Ambition podcast. I had an idea for a podcast a year ago. YEAHOO was like, oh, we're not here for that. And I was like, found dude on my own. And I reached out to someone or I met someone from like NPR Marketplace and they're like, that's interesting.
Email us your pitch for a podcast. You know, maybe we'll do something together. Find a way.
And as I was writing my pitch about a podcast for women of color by women of color about career and wealth building and investing, I was like, this doesn't feel like the place for it, Like this doesn't feel like the right I don't feel like they would do it, you know, the right job. I don't even know if i'd get through the front door with them because this pitch does not feel like an NPR type thing. And then I was like I need to just do this on my own, Like I just need to make this
its own thing. And then the first person I thought it was Tiffany as a.
Correct Yeah, oh that's cool.
I don't think we are different and like different than anything else out there, and I think that's why it's really resonated with people.
Yeah, thank you guys so much for listening, because me and Manny sometimes we're like, oh, there's a mic. We're just talking honestly, if you could just hear like us off sometimes.
We have to be like, oh we why why this is good for the show.
Yeah, and you have such great conversations off mic and so yeah, and it's.
Nice to talk about this kind of stuff with, you know, another woman.
Intelligent woman, and we love like we share every every message you send us, every Facebook message, review email, we share each other.
Speaking of way, who's our winner? Oh crap, okay we're gonna announce the winner and drumroll please okay we have a winner. Yes, we love you guys all. We have over thirty reviews.
Thank you so much for the support. We love more so you can please leave a review on iTunes. Yes, please do that for those of you and know. If someone asked if they have an Android, how can they leave a review? You can leave one on stitcher, YEP or on SoundCloud. Yes, so go check those out and please.
Leave a review. That would be awesome. Yes, it helps people find us and us. Tell a friend, tell two friends.
So, without further ado, our winner, let me first read the review because it's so sweet.
She says.
Tiffany and Mandy are both great when listening, I feel like they are my big sisters, giving me genuine financial, personal and professional advice. This woman's been following Tiffany aka the Budget Nesta for a while and her advice gave her encouragement to stay on track with her financing and finances and savings goals together that she calls us two peas in a finance pod giving realistic and attainable advice.
Thank you so much to LaToya.
Are Yes, thank you LaToya. We love you too, We love everybody, but LaToya is the winner.
Let you go to sleep today. You win a milion brown bit Brown Ambition points.
Yes Woo woo, which you can cash in at nowhere at everywhere Brown Ambition points are accepted, which include Brown Ambition Podcast dot com Yes, and.
Uh that's it, Yeah, that's it. LaToya, you were the lucky winner.
Of Tiffany's best selling book, The One Week Budget, Yes, which we'll get to you somehow.
Yes, you tend to get send an email your.
Address and we'll get that to you, along with the super cute tote bag courtesy of Marcia Barnes at the Finance Bar, which says frugal is the new cool.
Yes, and the bag is so cute and marsh is one of our faves.
And you have to take a picture of yourself LaToya, wearing it and showing it off with the book. Yes, all right, congrass LaToya, and thank you all for listening to episode ten.
Yes, wooo, this is a long one.