Ep 313: Meet The Moment

want to diminish that at all. But let's see what happens when you give people a bunch of stimulus. And let's see what happens when Russia goes to war with Ukraine and the oil supplies are you know, are are suddenly shortened, and then gas prices get enormously high, and inflation like an.

memo said. So not everywhere, but so what happens is that Amazon, when they enter and they build like a warehouse in particular areas, they do some recon you know, they go into the area, they see how many people live here, un totalalty, they see, you know, they look at like level of education, they look at household income, they look at all of these demographic components, and then they from that they say, okay, of the I'm just making of a number one million people that live in

this area, there's about one hundred thousand people that could potentially work for Amazon. And that's how they decide, yes, we can build a warehouse here because you know, we have we have the ability to hire enough people to sustain the warehouse. Well, because of the old pany, you know, Amazon has grown tremendously and literally you can order something now and get it today. So Amazon has like really

experienced rocket ship growth. That is a pun because you know, they went to the moon or no, they went to the moon to Mars. Either way that went outside space.

So they're doing everything from giving people upwards of like three thousand dollars signing bonuses, giving people twenty two dollars an hour. They're even rehiring sometimes people that they let go. Before I saw I saw this in like a I was on one of these like a like a like a Reddit or whatever, one of these community forms where an Amazon manager was like I've been a manager for a number of years. They are before things they used

to tell us to be strict about. They're like basically like don't worry about it, you know, and literally bringing back people like I said that they let go of before.

you know, hiring freezes and all of that. But where there is demand and short supply, like I think you will still continue seeing great job growth and not just job growth, but like in cases where there's not enough labor, increase wages, the question is do people want those jobs?

You know? I just wonder how much of it is like Amazon, you know, not people not necessarily being physically there, or enough people being there, but just not wanting to work for the big you know, the big box, mega retailer Amazon, who used to be like this disruptor, hipster disruptor, and it's not like the big corporate bad guy and apparently not the best place to work according.

was like yeah, yah, yeah, yeah, so so so. Jeff Bezos was once quoted I'm saying that that Amazon was willing to tolerate higher turnovers at its facilities because they fear that employees who are with the company for too long would grow complacent. So he basically was like, let them, let them most fight. And now he's like, wait, we want them back, you know, thinking like it's it's good, like you know, that's why, you know, like they weren't so worried about like no, and people are mad because

we don't want to do a union. Oh well they can leave, and now it's like we we need you, and so like, how can we tie this back though into like people who are like OURBA listeners, who actually have businesses, Like, what are some lessons here that folks can learn?

forever for the parts to get shipped over. And I feel like if you're a business owner, being understanding what economic factors are at play right now and what is driving you know, changes in different industries and how that could be impacting your business, and what pivot do you need to make to your business models that you can make up for it now. Retail, I know there's a lot of talk about tech layoffs and we have seen

massive layoffs at several tech companies. One of my favorite sites that I've used to track layoffs is called at layoffs dot fyi, and it mostly tracks layoffs at tech startups, and it's anyway, it's a great little source there. So we have seen a lot of tech layoffs. It's true. Some of the biggest ones even on here are in

the retail sector. And when you think about why, you know, people were getting stimulus checks for a why and they were highly popular and I know a lot of families needed them and with that extra cash they were using it. You know that I think there was a lot of saving that first year of the pandemic. And it's twenty twenty one, it was like, oh, okay, things are pretty good,

so we're gonnactually start spending this stimmy money. We've been hoarding all that spending, you know, increased demand on retailers all of that, But then there's a shortage of just supply, you know, because there's just all these like shortages and like what do you call it, supply chain issues because of the pandemic. So retailers have been hit really hard.

And now that you know, retailers are having to like, we've seen even big box stores like Target announcing sales because they're like, we got all this stuff and people are not spending as much and they're not coming here to shop anymore, so we need to now decrease. So if you have like a retail product specific kind of business,

I feel like the takeaway is okay. So what other lines of business or streams of business income revenue can I generate to be well diversified so that I can be more resilient in the face of these these economic pressures.

sort of foundation to keep it and maintain it. And so Amazon, despite how big and how amazing it is, you know that you know it's growth, it's almost hindering it because unless they you know, they have for some places like I saw it's like in California, Arizona. Those are some of the major places where they have huge warehouses that you know that growth could potentially put it,

you know, in a really bad spot. We know that Amazon the stock just split twenty to one, and I'm wondering if this, you know, this article or this revelation about them not being able to find as many employees as they need and maintain them, that might affect the stocks. I just checked ahead of time, so I checked on a Robin Hood. Right now, Amazon is one oh eight trading at one o eight, so it's up a little.

At its lowest, it was like one oh one. Of course, because I don't listen to my own advice, I bought it when it was one twenty, even though I'm like, No, one twenty four, even though I'm like Tiffany, do not buy when the stock splits, Do not buy right away, do not by write it says that. My brain says that, and my hands are like, girl, I can't. I gotta

get in. So I've lost four hundred something dollars. That's fine, it's fine, But I just think that one of the lessons learned is that it's not just enough to grow. You have to create a foundation to support that growth or else that growth will actually sink you. So for those of y'all with small businesses of your own, you know, considering that like all growth and good growth, you know, making sure that you're growing in a way that you can actually sustain and maintain.

mean for my job? And so like flipping it. On the other side of businesses that are having to make these pivots because of what's happening in the economy, there are human beings, Like there's people who the reality is, you know, when recessions happen, people lose jobs, even people at these companies like Tessel's probably gonna be laying off a lot of people, these big, big companies, And I always go back to what I have said so long, which is, no job is stable, no job is secure.

We have to stop thinking of ourselves. We have stopped thinking of our jobs as being stable and secure in ourselves as being our own career stability. Like, what is it about you that creates a resilient professional? What is it about you that will make it possible for you to bounce back and pivot and move and you know, jump and jive when you need to be flexible when things happen in the economy. Is your skill set that you have today things that employers are going to want tomorrow.

That's like probably one of the biggest driving factors of even if you were to lose your job, well, could you get another one somewhere else? And I was thinking a lot about, you know, like the twenty two thousand and eight, two thousand and nine recession when baby Mandy, like I went to I know, Tiffany, had you had your own crazy you know recession story. I had just moved to New York and I lost my job three

months after moving here. And I was a journalism graduate, like I studied actual print, like how to write on paper. That no, not even a thing anymore. And it was the same situation, like everyone telling me this is a wrong career, you won't make any money, and I'm like, but this is my skills. And I eventually had to sit down and say, like, Okay, what are the facts. Yes, people are saying the industry is changing, people are using their jobs. Those were facts, but they were still jobs.

They were just very different. They were digital jobs. I had to learn some digital skills. I had to learn how to write for the web, and I had to work my way up in that. And I understood from that experience that my core skills still made me employable and know the jobs, that job that I envisioned didn't exist when I got out there into the market, but a version of that job did, and I could use my skills, you know, in a new and different way. And because I was able to be flexible, I mean,

I'd carry that throughout my career. That's why I'm always like, how are you investing reinvesting in your skill set, learning new skills, changing with your industry and not being stagnant or not being not being so stubborn that you're not willing to always be learning and trying new things to make yourself more attractive, you know, to hiring manager. So that's I feel like the key message for people who are working and just wondering, you know, should I not

be making career moves? Should I be freaked out? Am I going to lose my job? That's not a big enough question. The bigger question for me is what is it? How is your how strong is your professional brand? How strong and needed are your skill sets? And then what can you do to strengthen those two things so that you're resilient, like individually and no matter what's happening in the economy, you'll find a way to float at the end of the day.

or not they're going to let you go. I mean, you can even people who are greatly valuable, you still make it laid off, right, m So what can you do now? Can you start you know, checking out your resume, making sure that it's beefed up, make sure that you're really demonstrating your impact. Can you start, you know, warming up your network and letting them know what you've been up to. Can you start posting on LinkedIn about the

excellent work you've been doing. Can you write some articles about your thoughts on your industry and add your perspective to add some thought leadership content. Some thought leadership always goes a long way, I think toward helping people establish their brand and get noticed by potential hiring managers or colleagues. In other places, you just never know who's reading. These are the things that you can control. Yeah, that'ret money.

You want to know why I have been in business for fifteen for fourteen almost fifteen years, because I pre pivot, like I we have been in the middle of a pivot for like even before the pandemic and everything hit, we had already been pivoting because I'm always pivoting because I don't want to, like, I don't want the market to tell me, girl, get on it, because by then it's too late. Because some pivots take two or three years.

So like I like to what my business coach calls time travel, So I will mentally time travel forward and say what are some of the hiccups of the hang ups that can happen? And then I'll come back to the present and I'll say, what, how can we start making changes now so we could do so less frantically. And so there are some huge pivots that we're making,

Like with the literature Academy, I cannot wait. It is awesome and amazing, And if we had just started now, this has been a pivot for about two and a half years in the making. That's going to transform our

business and make us even more sound. But if I wouldn't, if I had to do that now, you know, it would just be either stressful to try to get it done in six months to a year or you just can't get it done in six months to a year, and you you know, I would just be trying to hold on for dear life until we could get it done. So that's really the key is that, like in all things that I do, like look at my my mentoring with that my you know, my mentor tiffany right dot com.

So that is a pre pre pre pivot like low key, high key low key. I started my mentor Tiffany because I was like, hmm, is this a pivot that I can into consulting that I can make Let's see if I even like it. Not only just that with my mentees, I get to test out different marketing theories that I have. I get to I get to see like if I do want to do write another book, you know, like

what's hitting with y'all, what's not hitting? But do you see like I likely won't use some of the things I'm learning with my mentees for the next three to five years. But I don't have to be in a rust because I pre pivoted. And so when you first

start your business, work on the business. But as you start to get like a nice little rhythm growing, then like you start to you should start to think about that, like, what are some things as I'm doing my normal everyday business, let me set aside twenty to thirty percent of my energy to time travel forward and to start working on what's headed and what's coming. So yeah, so it was a blessing kind of like growing up during the the that recession in twenty nine ten, because it allows me

to think think in this way. And so yeah, like we.

make these changes. We can't and the changes that are going to require us to take talent away from our day to day operations into this, and so we don't have to take this temporary l maybe for two years, maybe three, but I think we can do it in two where it's going to look like a little business

really slowed down. It didn't. It's just transformed. And then this new way that we do business that we've introduced will allow us to maintain the growth that we seek versus like, because we were doing what Amazon was doing well, not really because Amazon I was huge, but we were doing this rocket ship growth, but it wasn't as sustainable as I would like, and it's very stressful to grow very quickly in that way. I was like, Hey, I

don't want to do business like that anymore. How do we do business that it is slow and steady, but something that's sustainable. So I'm excited, like for what that kind of looks like. And I have like a I have a couple of other things that we're working on that I'm I'm like, let's see, because here's the thing too that I like to do. I like to practice

when it's safe. So in the mentee. Like with my mentees, I get to practice, and if it doesn't work out, I'm like, okay, you know it didn't work out, Like I don't need the mentorship money in order to run business, and so I will practice a thing and see, well, how many people sign up to be my mentee?

practicing with. So honestly, that's why I mean I I business is just fascinating to me, like second to financial education is the thing that I'm really enjoyed, Like the business of business, like how do you get here? How do you stay here? How do you market? How do you you know? And so, yeah, it's just it's stressful, certainly, sometimes not as many much as it used to be, but it's just you know, if you're fortunate enough to get to a place where you can do and make

these sort of choices. It can really It's just really fascinating to see like what's capable, you know, and what you're capable of.

and have made each cohort better and better. I think that that was one of the smartest things I did as a as a baby entrepreneur, was getting the stuff done and not waiting for it to be perfect. Because I've had I've I've done things thoughtfully and as carefully as I could. I wasn't like all out there willy nilly, and I did you know so much, like so much focus grouping and like asking people what they wanted and

all of that. It's very thoughtful, but I still I got out of my own way in a sense, so that I can actually get stuff done. So now I have the infrastructure to I think, be even more successful during this recession. I think y'all question if I'm a good career coach. No one has actually questioned that. I think I'm great.

So I'm just like, damn yes. So it's not just that I'm doing what I want to be doing, but the time as now, like that the moment has come, you know what I mean, Like when the timing is right, and sometimes when you're building it, it may not feel like, Okay, the demand is there, maybe there is some demand, But I'm excited to be ready for the moment. You know, if I had waited, I may not have been ready to meet the moment. I may not have had enough.

My business, my business structure. Yes, foundation there. I wasn't ready for the twenty twenty. I remember thinking, you know, huge brands were born in twenty twenty, you know who built started building audiences then. And I was like, well, I was, I was in I was in a different journey. I just have had a baby and I was righting that wave and all of that, and I'm like, yes, you know this is this is like the business version

of financial business double Dutch. And I'm finally ready to get in there and find my rim, you know what I mean.

And just recognize that I've been I've been able to really have a decent schedule for a while. But not only is more work coming, I'm planning, you know, lots of webinars and lots of you know, additional group coaching programs, and it's all really exciting. So it's going to be I think, I just want to seize the opportunity, you know what I mean. So I see the next six months being busy or busier, busier than ever, and trying to figure out, Okay, so what resources do I need?

You know, what help do I need? Because I know I can't do it alone and I don't want to be I don't want to be silly enough to think I can, So figuring out how to hire some help is on my plate for sure. And I had asked you too, you know, in the influencer space, I think as influencers, we have we being mindful of what happens when there's recessions. I think, for what could go down

in twenty twenty two and twenty twenty three. Is potentially the amount of marketing dollars that you know, partners have to spend on folks like us and using us as advertising and your relationships are longer and deeper and all the kind of thing. I'm a newbie, so and in that case, you know, brand partnerships is a piece of

my business, but it's not the whole thing. I've got like six or seven different income streams and I love that because I don't feel like I'm going to be I'm not going to be ended, you know, because a partnership won't work out.

no more and they move on. But something that you should consider too, that I have found that people are paying a lot of money for is more and more speaking engagement, so like positioning yourself. So if you're if you're an influencer and you're listening and if it makes sense. So I have a lot of brands now who are coming to me, not necessarily to you know, be like a like a hey, post this thing on your social media, but honestly I'm getting a lot of Tiffany, can you

come to speak to our people? And so and so yes, And I love it because because what they're seeing is this thing that I just had a call. I don't know if I'm allowed to send well, let's just say don't break the NDA. No, there's no DA That's what I'm just. I don't know if to say aitherway. It's a big HUQO, huge multi yeah. We just it's a huge company that you know, maybe your parents took you there when you were little, you know what I mean,

when you were good. Anyway, So I just had a call with them and I'm doing like a speaking gig, and that's.

looking at it as partly as their wellness program. Like one company, like it shocked me because I thought like they wanted me to talk about finances. She's like, no, I saw your IG live where you said you were back ish and how you talked about how you're actually taking a step back. And I was like wow. So it was with this big financial company and they didn't want when you talk talked to them about money. They wanted me to talk to them about about what is enough,

not overdoing and not overworking, creating work life balance. I was like, what, So I just say all that to say that that there are ways to shift even within your space. Like, Okay, it's not just hey, Tiffany, tell them that our secure credit card is so great, but hey, can you come internally and talk to our people about preparing for oversession or like, you know, like what does it look like to use their money as a tool toward their overall wellness goals? And so I found out

to be interesting and great. So there are you know when, like I said before, when you do and you bring excellence to the table, people will seek you out. Like I don't. I don't pitch myself. I haven't had to just yet. You know, it's been fifteen years I've never pitched myself. And as a result, but if you show up and to Mandy's point, to be visible, get that micro.

what do you want your story to be? And I feel like my story has always been door number two in that equation, and I feel like Tiff two, And I feel like if you're a part of the BA fan, you gotta choose door number two. Yeah, we gotta seize this moment. Whatever that moment means for you. It may it may feel scary right now, but keep rocking with us.

I just feel like we've always never failed in that level of realistic optimism because we just know that there's going to be these lulls and there will be great rises at the same time. I'm and will you be ready for that? I think you will and.

much better. So I don't know, like as I've gotten older, like I finally like start to listen to my body whatever. And you know, I uind out rub me a long time ago because child no. And then I realized that chicken ain't really my friend a whole black girl. And the level of bloat, the level of bloke that I get when I have chicken and seafood. I can still do like you know, salmon and things. But when I was vegan, that's honestly when I was my healthiest.

restaurant in Bellefue, New Jersey's Jersey. And even though I know something y'a don't live in New Jersey, sorry for you, but I really wanted to shout her out. Her name is Nikki, and she owns this restaurant called Sell Power Cel Power p O w w er Sell Power Cafe. And when I tell you, she is single handedly keeping me like joyful with food because the food is really healthy. I mean like she's got this curry chick people with quenewa and and you can get kingwa the curry chickpeas

tomato and what is that spinach? It is so good. She's got this this like salmon bowl, her salmon wrap, her shrimp wrap. I mean everything it's I've been eating it. And like when I'm like I can't have another salad or whatever it is I'm eating, like that's what I order at least like once or twice a week. Her her smoothies are amazing. Honestly, I have to just shout to Nikki because she said that one she's a she's a fairly new entrepreneur. I think it's only I don't

know if they've been open for a year. She said, this is how she always cooked for her family, and her friends were like, basically, girl, this could be a restaurant and it's doing well, and I just love to see, like when I go in there, we talk business, we

talk finance, and she's slaying. And to see her daughter work there too, and to see this black woman with this it's not a it's not a restaurant restaurant, like it's one of these like you know, like I don't want to call it like a sandwich lunch, like you maybe like a few two or three people could sit in there, but you know, I order your uber eats. Nikki be knowing me. She's like, I can always tell you. I'm always like, can you switch out the ground vice

for King? And can you see I'm the Queen of swap. I'm like a tiff And she's like, I know, but they are so good. Sell Power Cafe. They're just just just amazing. Like so if you go to sell POWERLLC dot com c e l L the word power LLC dot com that is that is their website. And I just want to say, like, she's just so dope. Like literally, I've called her being like, oh, the Uber eats guy stole my smoothie because that's happened, and she's been like,

you know, yes, because she's like I gave her smoothie. Yeah, And I'm like, well girl, he didn't give it to me, and so she will drive and like drop off a smoothie. She's just I just love to see small businesses that really take pride and like, how can I delivered the best value, the best service, the best food, and so yeah, just shout to Nikki and to sell power and that's

my that's my boost. I just love to see us win, winning out here and making sure that you know I do I keep I snatched it and keep it together with my veggies.

I always pack so much into these webinars. It's going to be me talking to you guys about how to recession proof your career. I've done it, you can do it. It's okay. It's going to be like all about how to stay resilient, score new opportunity, and thrive no matter what the hell is happening in the economy We've been talking about. I'm talking about everything like how the economy is actually going to impact your career. I'm going to do an industry by industry breakdown because we're going to

fight fear with facts. That's what we do. We like to actually look at what industries are actually being are struggling, what skills people are really hiring for. Because I'm telling you, I'm still getting coaching clients who are getting huge paydays and exciting career opportunities, like in spite of what's going on. And I'm huge on talking about professional brand so I'm going to do a whole mini workshop of what I do for Mandy money Makers on professional branding and help

you stand out on LinkedIn. So we're going to drop a link to register. I register in the show notes for BA, but join me. It's going to be Monday or sorry, Tuesday, June twenty eighth. Please dear Lord, tell me I got the date right, yes, So that is you guys listening to this on Wednesday. That's just tomorrow. So you guys got like six days to register for the Recession Proof your Career webinar hosted by Yours today, and I hope y'all come out June twenty eighth at nine.

It's gonna be a late night, nine. I got to get the baby down nine pm Eastern.

can't wait. Maybe I'll be there till you know. I need to send it to my sister Lisa, because Lord only knows.

made a nice year too. The struggles that we're having and like what like how we're making do and so just you know, bring bring your friends on over, your people's on over, so we can work through these things together. You are not alone and as you navigate on this journey.

Oh no, we're not boomers, all right, ba fam Well, I'm so excited, and I know I feel a little bit guilty that I am so excited, But it's all about meeting the moment, right, that's what we're here for.