Ep. 45 — "Real Money Answers for Everyday Women"

Hey Brown Ambition fam Happy Brown Ambition Tuesday. This is Mandy. I wanted to share a very special episode today. This is actually originally aired last Thanksgiving and it's one of our most popular episodes to date. So as Tiffany and I enjoy a little bit of a summer break this week, please enjoy our interview with Patrese C.

Washington.

Just seven years ago, Patrese was scraping up all the change in her purse to buy baby formula for her newborn daughter. Now, Patrese is a best selling author and founder and CEO of Sikh Wisdom find Wealth, a boutique personal finance consulting firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. Patrese joined us on the show to talk about hitting rock bottom and how she clawed her way back to the top. She also talked about her new book, Real Money Answers for Everyday Women, which you can still find online and

Okay, guys, we have a very special guest today.

I'm super excited.

Probably like our top five favorite people in the personal finance space today.

I'd say top three, but whatever, top three.

Top two to our top one person.

We have the.

Brilliant, the beautiful, amazing, the amazing, wonderful Patrise. C. Washington got to get the CEA in there and then now goes wild.

You guys are in such like in for such a tree. Honestly, I've been following for Trees on her journey since I don't know, I think maybe since like twenty ten is when.

It's gone to add it for what over a decade now, Patrise? Right?

Oh gosh, yes not to You know, you have an amazing history since two thousand and three, you've been a You're a nationally recognized best selling author of the book series Real Money Answers and which is amazing.

You also have a recurring segment on none other than the Steve Harvey Show.

Check check might have heard about it. Yeah, just a little shout so radio and on on the TV show, right Patrese yep right, Yeah.

It featured pretty much on the every media outlet out there, NBC, Black Enterprise, Huffing and Post upscale and to get on the Steve Harvey Show. So we could not be happier to have you here, Patrise, thanks so much for coming on Brown ambish.

Thank you, You're so excited. I'm so excited.

And it feels good to move up from like top ten to top five, the top three, all in one conversation, all right, in a matter of seconds, like I'm winning today.

Thank you, You're welcome.

So what I loved about you I heard you'd give a talk a couple of years ago where you talked about how you weren't always the money Maven. Yeah, you had some pretty humble beginning when it came to dealing with your finances. So I wanted to start off by just asking you to talk about that, you know, your early days and some of the mistakes you made.

Oh gosh, just some of the mistakes I don't even want to work to start. Well.

You know, I always say that all those accolades are great, and I really appreciate them. It's been a real blessing to be able to share my message because my hope is really to move the masses.

From debt management to money mastery.

And as I go out speaking all over the country and doing all these interviews and you know, just getting to do what I do, what I love to do, I always meet people who say, but you don't understand what it's like, or you don't understand what it means to choose between you know, having to pay your life bill and wanting to save or wanting to invest.

And I'm like, I don't know, no, sweetie, I know very well.

Let me tell you a little story. And so, really, I mean, I didn't grow up hearing about money. I've heard Tiffany share her story and I'm always so impressed by her dad and what he imparted to her.

But I didn't have any of that.

And so but was still able to go on to college and started in real estate at nineteen years old as a sophomore in college. Became a real estate and mortgage broker at twenty one as a senior in college.

Actually started my business while in school, which has its pros and.

Cons, but that's another story. If you have financial aide, there's a con there. But started this really great business during my senior year in college, and it was a real estate and mortgage company. Loved you know, helping people budget and get their credit in order and all those things because it was going to move them towards purchasing a home, which is how I could make money. So of course I was super passionate about getting people.

You know, on the path.

But at the same time, there were pieces to that puzzle beyond budgeting and credit that I really didn't know about. And so while I was helping everyone else, the recession hit around circa like two thousand and seven, two thousand and eight, and I lost everything.

I lost everything.

So here I am, the little girl from south central Los Angeles, went to college, started a business.

Thought.

I did everything the right way and still found myself flat broke with everybody else.

And you should say I had the time to right. It wasn't just you, It wasn't just me.

I had just gotten married. I had spent ten weeks in the hospital on bet rest to have my daughter, who.

Was still born ten weeks prematurely, which is a big deal.

You know for those of us who are mothers out there, you know.

That every week counts, and so my daughter was born at thirty weeks, which is extremely early. And so in the process of all of that, the real estate market was crashing. You know, I had tenants in my income properties that weren't paying rent. I owed all this money, and at the same time I was racking up a four hundred thousand dollars medical bill, and by the time I got out of the hospital, everything around me had changed.

It's like the whole world changed.

A matter of about nine to ten weeks. And I had a decision to make. Am I going to worry about car notes and mortgages or am I going to take care of this baby who's ten weeks early, who needs my undivided attention at this point? And you know, and I chose. I chose my family.

And I'm telling a story about how at one point your rock rock bottom was when you were counting out change to buy milk for your daughter.

Yeah.

Yeah, I had built a seven figure business, and like it seemed like overnight I was scraping up change to feed my daughter.

Are you and your husband in the business together?

We were?

We were so everything you had was tied up everything. You know when people say like, don't put all your eggs in one basket, right, So we always thought like, oh, well, we own investment property, and we flip homes, and we have this company, and we have an escro company, and we do.

This and we do that. But all of it was connected to real estate. And so when that bubble burst, we felt it on every level, and it was only so long that we could juggle. We tried to juggle for about a.

Year, you know, Robin Peter to pay Paul and you know that expression and just trying to shift things and okay, I made it just in time. And you guys, honestly, it was exhausting. It got exhausting. Here I have this little baby I'm trying to take care of and figure out this whole motherhood thing. And then I went through like a period of postpartum depression. So as much as I loved my baby, I went through this phase where I was like, what am I supposed to do with her?

Like what is you know?

Like I prayed for her and I waited for her, and I you know, but it didn't come naturally to me to be the doting mother.

It just didn't. And so there was so many different things going on.

And I know, like when people have their back up against the wall with finances, it's not just that, Like, there's so many other things in life that happened, and I was just overwhelmed when.

I turned the corner, like when did it finally? Let Yeah, I.

Just found myself.

Literally we had moved from California to New Orleans, Louisiana, to rehab the last of the properties that we owned, hoping that we could squeeze some money out of those. Well, the market kept tanking and we didn't squeeze anything out of that.

But I ended up in a strange.

City, in a foreign city to me, with no friends and no family and a little bitty baby and just the three of us, my husband and Reagan and I and I just found myself on the bathroom floor crying, literally crying, bawling, ugly.

Sobbing, like what did I do? Why? Why? Why? Like what am I supposed to do with this?

And I always say, like I tell people, I reach for my Bible and I opened it to this scripture like that I had read several times before, but you know, you know, things hit you a.

Different way at a different time, you know.

So I had seen it before, but it didn't mean anything to me. And it was probably seventeen sixteen and basically said what good is money in the hands of a fool if they have no desire to seek wisdom? And for the first time for me, what hit me was I did really well, really early, which leads you to believe that you're actually smart.

Yeah, right, because you're in your early twenties at this point, right, yeah, I can't even imagine.

All that responsibility on your shoulders and then to see it all crash.

Yeah.

You know, I have a business with sixteen employees, I own thirteen pieces of property.

You know, I've been in the hospital. I have this baby, this newborn baby who's teeny tiny. I mean, my daughter was three pounds. You know. People would see her and like, oh, is that a doll in there? We're like, no, that's a child. She's alive.

She's so beautiful.

Now.

I love seeing your pictures on Facebook.

Oh thank you. Yeah, she's eight years old now, love of my life.

But you know, during that time, it's like, man, it hit me like you thought you were too smart to ask for help. And that has been the thing that has been the biggest lesson to me, Like I like to understand that you need coaching, you need men, you need help, You need to talk to people who have been there, done that, who are transparent enough to share their journey and.

Be real about it, you know. And I never sought that out.

I didn't even realize that that was a thing until reading that Verse in that moment, and so a couple weeks later, it came to me that, you know, just because I lost all my money, my mind wasn't bad. You know, like what I did to get it, I just knew I could do it again. So I said, you know what, God, I dedicate you know, my life to you. And I'm like, this mission for me is to help people, not do what I did. So I created Seek Wisdom Find Wealth, which is my company today

And wisdom comes from.

Being able to just talk to people to Wisdom comes from being able to sit and listen to something like brown ambition and like learning you know what I'm saying, and learning from other people's mistakes.

Who were some of the people you reached out to in the beginning You said that you sought wisdom first from mentors and other people that you looked up to. Who were some of those people that were helpful to you?

Oh, let's see, at that time, there were a lot of more So like my pastors, like people back home that used to be my pastors. I had a great mentor named George Thompson, and he was actually the minister of storship at the church that I attended, and so he was the first person that I saw do what I do today, like stand up and talk about money at a church service, and I had never seen anything like that. I was about twenty two years old, and

But then you know, everything hit.

Rock bottom and we like got ghosts. You know, you're not out at parties anymore.

I mean gas or lights.

You know, it's like no gas to go cross town, not about to do that, you know. So we just disappeared and people didn't know to where. They didn't know what happened with Reagan. You know, no one knew anything. And so I started to reach out to just the people like George Thompson who had blessed me at different points in my life, reaching out to my pastor. You know, Steve Harvey has been a mentor of mine since I was in college. I used to work for him as well,

That's that connection. Let's talk about Steve.

Yeah, how does one wind up as Steve's go to money Maven money Expert? Because that's amazing you're doing. You're speaking to such a people that I think really could use someone like you telling them, you know, inspiring them to manage your finances.

Yeah, you know, I mean it's all been so random, Like that's the best time.

Yeah, Like, it's all been so random.

So I'll tell you, guys, I really quickly when I even met him when.

I was in college.

It was because I heard him on the radio and literally to myself, I was I was a vice president of Black Student Union at USC, and I said to myself, like, he sounds like he has money.

Like I'm going to go.

They said, do you want to come to the live studio audience? So I was like, yeah, I'm going to the live studio audience and I'm going to ask Steve Harvey for some money for Black Student Union at USC.

He didn't go there, but of course he cares.

You know whatever nineteen year old logic I had at the time, and I wrote.

This letter on Oh no, actually you had to fax.

In if you wanted to come. You guys, I've jammed their fax machine. Wow, I faxed like seventy times.

This is fact today, right, and guy and like you feel me?

Like the guy called and he was like, well, you have to come because you jammed the fax machine.

Like he was so mad at me.

He's my friend now, but it's like he was so mad at me at that time. So I made it into the live studio audience and as soon as I walked in, they were like, no soliciting.

And I'm like, they must be talking to these other thirty or so people.

Because I came here to get this money. I leave it without it, and I'm very.

Clear about that. So at the end, people kept like leaving and I.

Kept letting them go in front of me like oh no, you go ahead, I'm good and taking a step back and taking a step back and taking a step back. And then finally the guy who was over the audience was like, you know, what are you doing? Like why are you still here? Are you trying to ask for something? Are you?

No?

He said, are you soliciting? And I'm like, I wouldn't call it solictening. Let me tell you who I am. And I started on this whole thing and told him that I went to sc and he goes, oh, I used to be the Chicano student union president at USC. Hold on, let me let me see what I can do. Like I was blowing, my girl who was the president left like I was the vice president.

She was president and she got scared and walked.

Out here and she needed to be impeached.

Well, she maybe had more to lose.

So she left.

So I'm up there, and long story short, it ended up being there, ended up being a relationship there. They just thought I was funny, like this girl. It was crazy because I kept coming back asking for money, and eventually I asked for five hundred. They gave me two thousand. Then started the relationship.

And then they asked if I wanted to be an intern, which I turned down because it was unpaid, but then got bored and needed something due, so I said, okay.

I'll do it my sophomore year in college. And so that started a fifteen year relationship that I have with Steve Harvey. Now, now how I got put on as his money expert for everything really because he watched me do the work, you know, he called me he had. The producer of the radio show reached out to me about two months before Real Money Answers for every Woman came out the first time when I self published in

I love that.

But you know, you said something so so so powerful because someone could look at you and.

Be like, well, yeah, she's gorgeous.

And she's this, and she's no.

You said that you did the work, and that's like a such an important thing I think, to just really impress upon that you did the work. This is a fifteen year relationship. This wasn't just some fluke, you know, ri success.

And you know what is really important for me to.

Let people know as well, because they think, like, oh, well, you know Steve Harvey. So clearly no, not at all. Lots of people know Steve Harvey.

Well no, folks.

But the thing is, he told me on a commercial break that second time I was on, he said, you know why I would always help you. And I was like, no, sir, you know, like, why is that? He said, because you never asked? He said, you never asked. People come in

Create some type of Oprah effect. It means nothing.

If you get the opportunity, but you haven't built a strong foundation, none.

Of that means anything.

So before even the Steve Harvey opportunity came, I was already.

Writing for Black Enterprise. I was already writing for Huffington Post. I was already writing every week for Hello Beautiful for like two years. I was already out there speaking. I was already doing YouTube.

Videos like so if he could look and see like, oh, Patresa's out here, like she's she's doing her thing, let me give.

Her a hand up and not a handout.

We just mentioned that last I'm so glad you said that, And Andy was was that my brown break?

Yeah?

I was asking for people who want something for you without giving.

You yes, like asking for handout, Like help is different from a handout. And I'm sure now, especially with you doing you know so well, But sometimes my emails, I'm like, come on, have you put an air.

Girl, Tiffany that we have to talk about that.

The other day we have to talk about.

It's like I don't mind And Steve says this, I don't mind, you know, teaching you to fish, but I'm not gonna hand you a fish sandwich, you know what I'm saying, And like people't want you to give them a fully cooked, fully prepared, and knock up situation.

It's like, ma'am, absolutely not.

You know what about the women out there who maybe feel like they are doing the work but don't feel like they're getting their recognition. Do you have any advice for them or something you could offer and maybe that made you different or stand out?

You know what I look for God winks all along the way God I look for godwinks. I look for little little notes that just say you're on the right path, you're on the right path, you're moving in the right direction. And that doesn't always come from huge recognition. You know, early on when I first started blogging in two thousand and nine twenty ten, like you know, nobody knew who I was, and I was I was just blogging and hoping that my mama read it.

And half the time she didn't either. You know. I'd be like, did you like what I wrote this week?

She's like, ah, you know, didn't get a chance to go over, you know, And so you know, it was one day when I didn't, I was like I felt defeated, you know, for like a period, I'm like, I don't know what I'm doing, Like I don't even know how this blog thing works. I wasn't on social media yet and I was just joining Twitter, you know, I.

Was just trying to figure it out.

And a random guy emails me and says, I hope you're okay. You haven't blogged in a while. And I said, oh my gosh, I.

Don't even know him. Who is he? Where did he come from?

You know, like I had no idea, and just that note to me let me know that you're making a difference, even if it's for one person. And that was my god wing to keep going. And I could tell you today, like if he had to email me, I don't know where i'd be today because his email encouraged me to keep, you know, to keep blogging every week to start sharing with other people to read. You know, so I look for those little things. It's always it's not always going

But that didn't mean that, you know, I could take a break.

I thought it did, like, you know, this is not working out, but there's always someone you're blessing and you have, you know, I always ask.

People to like, what are your motives? Like, what are your motives for doing what you do?

Because is it truly to impact the people or is it to get the recognition of man? The recognition is great, but it's a byproduct of your mission to impact other people.

Agreed, somebody for somebody out there right now. That's your guidewing. Just in case you didn't get it.

Get it.

Maybe if you're working really hard and not getting to where you want to be, maybe you're not doing it for the right reasons.

That could be a factor.

Or what you're doing maybe isn't what you really want to be doing deep down, or.

What you should be doing.

You know, I meet a lot of people who are you're an author's speaker, coach because that looks popular because everybody is an author's speaker, coach right now, you know, like in social media that you see, you know, it's like in social media, that's what you see, you know, But are you really doing the work that you were called to do? People ask me, like, you know, why I chose this? I really didn't choose this. I don't

You know what I'm saying.

So you got a question like, am I truly doing this because I'm called to do it and because I truly care about the people that I serve or am I doing it for the recognition?

And you know, well, I honestly I want.

To just interrupt, because you do have kind of a big deal happening right now. Your book Real Woman or sorry, Real Money Answers for Women is coming out. When is it coming out?

Real Money Answers for every Woman comes back out January nineteenth, twenty sixteen, and I'm super excited some time for.

New Year's Resolution.

Yes, yeah, I'm super super excited because when I saw Patrit, I think you posted I don't know if it was last year when you got the contract with the major publisher, but you bold it like this beautiful story.

I think it was about your grandmother.

Yeah.

I was like clearing up at this in front of my computer, like.

Go ahead, Patria, what Yeah?

I mean that means so much to me because, you know, I always share that my grandmother didn't have a sixth grade education and was basically illiterate, and she passed away in January twenty thirteen, and it was at the time that I was writing Real Money Answers for every Woman, And again, it was one of those moments where I wanted to I wanted to dwell on my grandmother's passing, you know, because I was so busy being busy, and I lived out of state and I didn't get to

And I talked to someone in our family who interpreted dreams, and she.

Said, basically, she's saying, you need to finish whatever work of art or creative.

Body you're working on. And I was like, work of art, what is that creative body? And I'm like, oh, my book.

And she was telling me in the dream that it would change lives and it would change my life. And the book came out January the next year, January twenty fourteen, a couple of days before her passing. Heard the anniversary of her passing, and it did. It totally changed my life. It's what you got me to The Steve Harvey Show.

First and the publisher reached out to you.

Yeah, so January is a good month for you.

You know what, these last few years, since January twenty twelve, it has been working out to be a very good month for me.

I look forward to January's.

Well, let's talk about the book.

I think what I love most about the idea of the book is that you're not just talking about budgeting, well that's important, and how to save money and how do you know coupon and stuff. You really emphasize what we love talking about with you, gay money, how to make.

More earn you get.

More out of life. So talk to us about some of the advice you have for women in your book and why you're really focusing on building wealth.

Yeah, you know, just from a byproduct of being out there and speaking and receiving people's questions, I hear like, probably eight times out of ten people say, well, I don't do that because.

I don't earn enough.

And it just came up constantly to the point where I was like, you know, when I think about a lot of the books that I even read on personal finance, there's a lot of information about what to do once you have.

It, but the gap there is well, how do I get it? You know?

And so I dedicated an entire section to earning more money in the book. And it's not just about entrepreneurship, because I realized that everyone is not called to be an entrepreneur.

And to your earlier question, Mandy, that might be why.

Some of us are not getting where we want to go because this life save.

For you Booth, thank you for saying real, not everyone's meant to have their own business.

It's okay, you know, it's like it's like a craze, you know, and it's you know, I really struggle with quote unquote experts who make people feel that if they're not out there hustling and you know, doing their own thing, that they're doing something wrong.

Like I employ people.

I need them to you know what I'm saying, I need them to run what I'm trying to do. Everybody is not supposed to be their own boss.

They're just not.

And that's okay because you can serve in a different way and still fulfill your purpose. And so in the book I talk about workplace with them.

You know.

So if your thing is I need to earn more money while I'm you know, on someone else's dime or in someone else's job, can we talk about the fact that, you know, if you want to raise you should probably get to work on time, like cant.

We Is that too much to No, that's not too much to ask to.

Ask, you know, like or you know you want the promotion, you got to ask for it, you know. And it can't be an emotional ask, ladies. It can't be like, well, I feel like and you know because you see me come early.

You know I leave late.

You kids, Yeah, I got.

KIDCA fees, you know, I got bills due. Listen, all of that is true, and we hey.

We support you, we honor you. However, that's not a good case to present to your boss or superior or supervisor whomever. Right, So in the book, I talk about strategies for building your bag folder. You know, what value are you bringing to the table.

It can't just be about what you feel like, you know, it has to be about the research. You have to quantify what you've been able to do, because at the end of the day, business is not all about emotions. It's about the bottom line. And are you adding to the bottom line? Are you are you saving the company money?

What are you doing?

Are you even in the right position? Does it really serve you? Are you really doing the work that you feel called to do, or do you just have a job. There's nothing wrong with having a job, it's do you have the right job for you? Because I realize that when people are unfulfilled in their careers, usually that leads

So you said, January what day again?

Nineteenth?

Ooh January nineteenth, ladies, go and get it honestly. Like, so for those of y'all who are listening, you know, I'm the budget Lisa, and so many of the women that I that work with me or follow me or they love them some patrits.

They're like, do you know, p'tray somebody? You want to get you autographed?

Hold on?

Yes, I had enough mosbe now. But no, honestly, they love you. They're attracted to your You're obviously you know, your financial savvy, but also your genuiness.

Just you're you give it to them straight.

So I'm so excited for this like second coming of this amazing book, and I just know that it's gonna do well, and I can't wait for your challenge, so this is kind of I guess we can.

Announce it here even Manny doesn't.

Well, yeah, so for those of you who wait, you need to do a setup that breaking, yes, breaking.

So for anybody who follows me the Budgetista online every January, well, starting this January, I do this thing called the Live Richer Challenge, and we have about twenty thousand women signed up already. We'll have thirty thousand by January. And Patrisa and I were just talking last week and she's doing her challenge in February. What's the name of your challenge again?

The Earn More Money Challenge for Women.

So the Earn More Money Challenge for Women. So we're gonna partner because I thought this doesn't make sense. So many women need so I'm going to be teaching you how to save and how to start collecting more abundance and then feed you right into the Earn More Money Challenge for Women by for tries. So we're partnering. So I just think it'll be awesome.

I'm so excited, Aya so excited.

It's like peanut butter and jelly.

I'm like doing in the theater I wish you could see me.

So yeah, so I just can't wait for you guys to see what that kind of like collaboration looks like, because it's just really important one for women of color to collaborate, you know, Patrecea and I. Although like the overarching goal is the same to help women live better, that still we do things in different ways and so you'll find something differently for me through the Live Richer

Years before this or something for technically.

That's why we did have a f anniversary and so but still, you know, so it's like it's one thing to say, oh I like Mandy to being like, oh, well, let's do a podcast together, and so, you know, just learning that in this space of women of color, like how can we do things and in ways that it's strategic, so we can, like in just a technical way, move each other forward.

So I'm just really excited to partner and do that.

So I am too, And I thank you so much for your heart, Tiffany, and your willingness to be strategic in that way and to partner and to be an example to women in every industry, not just in an industry where you know, we're you know, few and far between, but just in every industry as women, you know, we just have to dispel these myths that women don't like women, or that women can't work together, that we can't support each other and figure it out like that's such a crop.

I love women like and I.

Love you know, raw raw ron and cheering you on, you know what I'm saying. But we just got to do better and I'm glad to be an example of that along with you and you guys have been an example to me, so I appreciate that as well.

So exciting care So, where can we send people to find out about these challenges?

Is there like one website where can we send folks?

Yes, they're going to go to I can Earn More dot com.

I can earn More dot com.

Okay, and then if you want to sign up for the Live Richer Challenge, it's Live Richer Challenge dot com. And the good thing is is that as you take the challenge, like in my challenge, I'll be pushing you toward Patreesa's challenge, and then in her challenge, she'll be throwing people back. So even if you miss one, you'll be able to take it like it just will be a cycle that'll continue throughout the year.

So let me play the interested listener. Okay, how much does it cost?

Oh, it's free, totally complimentary.

Not in that that's my favorite pres.

Yeah, so where can they get your books? So when it comes out, where can they get your book? Where can they find it?

Well, I'm so excited to say that you'll be able to find the book everywhere books are so so go and target and act a fool if you don't get it.

And I'm kidding no.

But it'll be available on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles. You can always go to Real Moneyanswers dot com and they'll be a link there and I'll link you to all the retailers that I know of. But yeah, it'll be everywhere. Books are sold January nineteenth. Oh and if you pre

You know.

You will be so financially fierced by the time twenty sixteen is over. Like you you don't even understand between siventy nine and go on to Yahoo and reading Mandy stuff, you'll be so even I'm getting.

Excited for January. I'm like, on the new year, it's just like cold winter time. But now I'm like, maybe I'll do something. Let me give me a raise.

No, but this is just gonna be awesome. So where can they find you on social media?

I am everywhere at Seek Wisdom pc W. That's Seek Wisdom PCW. That's on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Periscope.

Well, we're going to link to all your pages on the blog post on Brown Ambition podcast dot com, so you'll find notes from her interview, links to her website to where you can find the book, where you can find her on social Patrese Thank you so much for coming on Brown Ambition. It's been amazing chatting with you and it.

Has Thank you guys so much for having me. I feel so special. You guys feel like a top rated you know podcast.

Oh yeah, we're big guy, I'm down there. It's a big deal.

I'm happy to be a part ex