Flashback Episode: Bet On Yourself w/Jamila Souffrant

Jamilla is the founder of Journey to Launch, which is a platform and podcast all about helping people reach fire, financial independence and retiring early. I think you guys are really going to be inspired by Jamilla's story of how she went full time as an entrepreneur. She's a mommy of three. She really started building wealth when she bought her first condo in Brooklyn in the early two thousands. I hope you guys enjoy this little look back at

our conversation with Jamila. Heyba fam, I can't believe we've already passed the halfway mark to June. How have I survived this long without my girl? Tiffany I'll tell you what, these guest co hosts have been phenomenal. Everyone has been so gracious, so game to chat with me and open up about their financial journeys, and today's co host, I have to say, is no different. Jamila Souffran is the founder of Journey to Launch, which if you have not subscribed,

stop this podcast. Okay, fine, you can probably multitask. So go to Apple or to Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts and go find her podcast and subscribe and follow. Jamila founded Journey to Launch in twenty sixteen after she decided during her three hour commute yes from Brooklyn to New Jersey to her corporate six figure job, that she was done capital d done. She eventually quit her corporate job after having her third beautiful child and went on

her journey to retire early. It was along the way that Jamila realized, you know, retiring early didn't have to be something that was put on the back burner for ten, twenty, even thirty years. She decided to build the lifestyle today that would not only help her get to a place of financial independence, but actually help her find a career in a professional platform that would fulfill her in wayte

that her nine to five job just never could. I hope you guys enjoyed my conversation with Jamila and getting to know her a little bit better. I honestly think between the stories about her husband and my husband, and her journey to motherhood and the fact that she left Corporate America, I just felt like Jamila and I were talking to each other at the exact right time that I needed it. Please enjoy my conversation with Jamila, and if you haven't yet, go check her out on all

social media. She's at journey to launch. And while you're at it, I have a little tiny additional request for you guys. Whether you've been enjoying Brown Ambition for the entire six years we have been on the air, or even if you just found our podcast six days ago, we would really appreciate if you went to Apple Podcasts and left us a five star review. Right now, Brown Ambition honestly is not sitting where it deserves to be sitting. I'm just going to go ahead and say it on

the podcast rankings, not by a virtue of downloads. We get amazing downloads from our loyal listeners. Honestly, what's hurting us right now is the lack of fresh review so it only takes a couple of seconds. Find Apple podcasts wherever you listen to your wherever your smartphone or your desktop computer is. Leave us a fire star review. Doesn't have to be long, can be five words, ten words, fifteen,

one hundred words. If you're feeling, you know, very verbose, leave us a review and show your love for Brown Ambition. Let's get us to the top of the chart arts. Y'all know, I know, be a fan will not let us down. Okay, that's it for me until we come back in a brief moment with today's show featuring Jamila Souffrant of Journey to Launch. Hey, Hey, hey, everybody, I am so excited to introduce you to this week's guest

co host. I have to say this whole guest co host situation has been a little well, first, I was a little bit nervous to have someone in the chair besides Tiffany, But it has been so amazing to talk to these these wonderful personalities, these wonderful personal finance nerds, people who have made it there's their life's mission. Just like we have to really encourage folks to build wealth and take control of their finances. And today's co host

is no different. Jamila Soufran, Thank you so much for joining Brown Ambition.

I thought differently. I just didn't like following the rules, and so I never imagined myself working in a corporate environment forever, Like even if that was going to be the case, I was going to be done by thirty. That was my goal when I started to work full time at twenty two. I'm going to find a way to escape this cubicle life by thirty years old. And

then life happened. Started to make a little bit more money in my career bills, and I couldn't really figure out, how am I not going to work and pay for the lifestyle I want and live like everyone around me works until they retire. Everyone around me is not happy, So who am I to like want more? And it was really when I was commuting again in my early thirties. So now I've been working in corporate America for a while, I missed this deadline of quitting my job by thirty.

Now I'm thirty one, pregnant with my first son on this commute from Brooklyn failure.

not be happy with what you're doing. And I came across podcasts and blogs talking about financial independence and freedom and I said, wait a second, if there are people out there doing this, I can figure out a way. And so that's essentially how I started to become aware

of this as an option financial independent. And then I started to listed to the blogs and podcasts on my commute, which then shaped me into starting my own blog, Journey to Launch, which eventually became the podcast and brand and what I do full time.

But anyway, yeah, so when was that breakdown? And then when did you actually launch the platform?

I think the blog officially started. I always get this mixed up, like two thousand and sixteen, I want to say, so it did take a couple of years for me to actually like put pen to paper or is this, you know, make a blog post about it.

did intend to still work. He's a teacher, and so it was like a combination of him still working but also us living off our investments and or me earning money however I wanted to. But the premise was that literally, if we didn't want to work, or if I didn't want to work and bring in any money, we didn't have to. And then eventually, like my idea of what financial freedom and independence meant to me changed because I started to have this thing on this side, Journey to Launch.

I had a very demanding corporate career, was having more kids, and I said to myself, there's no way I'm not even going to sacrifice the next four years juggling this all and being unhappy, this two hour commute one way, these kids, this job, this business on the side. Something has to go. And you know, the kids weren't going to go, the cousband wasn't going to go, and I

love Journey to Launch, so it was the job. And so I actually made the big decision for myself and the family that I would leave my job right after giving birth to my third child in twenty eighteen, which would change everything about my journey because I could have stayed working in corporate America kind of getting this so called guaranteed income, you know, climbing the corporate ladder, and just it's all about the money.

of mine. You know, my husband's a teacher, so his income was not going to cover everything when I left my job, So that meant dipping into our savings and not investing, it was all worth it because for me, it was about freedom in the now.

and sixty nine thousand dollars. Now, of course that is a function of our income and just how kind of hard we went in the paint.

there's no guaranteed income. Anything can happen, or it can accelerate it, which I actually think it's accelerating it at this point because I am working in my strengths and passion and I do believe that with that flow comes money, comes.

in come. I'm just going to keep working until I'm sixty two or sixty five. But what like that time isn't promised. And what I love about you know, your message and what it seems like you've chosen for yourself is let's let's build the life that we enjoy, that fulfills us. Now that also is a financially fulfilling life as much as it is you know, mentally fulfilling life.

And then you know, whatever happens happens. But like she like, it's it's like not waiting to be happy, it's making it's taking risks and making decisions today to get to where you want to go, but to actually enjoy the life that you're living now. I just I love that and I've that's exactly sort of how I've approached my

career as well. It's like time isn't promise. Something about having a baby just makes you think of death all the time, and I don't know, like like what happens, Like their life is so you know, their childhood is so short, and you know, it's it's like, why let's not wait, let's let's make it happen.

property young? And you know, I don't know how many years it's been since then, but a chunk of time has gone by, and certainly a few kids have gone by since then, and how that investment is working out for you today.

wrong with the borough queens. But I was born on the island of Jamaica and came here when I was two years old and born into a single mom who had me at twenty And that's important to say because she had to come here first and kind of like establish herself and leave me behind at like eight months old, which I can't even imagine how she did it, but I kind of can as a mom, you know, she just had to forge and figure things out to have

a better start for me. And with saying all that, we came to this country with nothing, and the eventually she got her education, got her college education, and then her education was really important for me, you know, as most immigrants like that is like the way, the path

to something more. So I focused on education. And while growing up, I saw my grandmother who really came like as older Jamaican woman, typically you can't really do much, you know, like other than wash you know, clothes or take care of children like that's what typically the older generation did. And she came to this country with nothing and ended up being able to buy a home in an area that also was like up and coming in Brooklyn,

and so I kind of saw that happen. I saw how Hardshoe worked, I saw her herd, my mom worked, and so I had this idea, wow, real estate, like if my grandmother could do this with the little that she had, I maybe this is something I can do. And so that was important for me to see because people asked me, how did you know at such a young age that you wanted to buy something? It was

because of these living examples in my life. And so at twenty two I had this really bright idea that I wanted to own a brownstone in Brooklyn, and I was really going for things like in Bedstide Fort Green, but at the time, being twenty two, like I could not afford any of that stuff, and I saw an advertisement for this new development. It was preconstruction, actually condominium

units in Dumble, Brooklyn. So this was before Dumbo is what it is now like now it's like one of the most expensive places like in like Brooklyn and New York City. And before back then, when I was looking, it was just like a pile of dirt. There was no thing there and no development, but it was like condos raging studios from like the low three hundreds to

like upwards of you know whatever. But in comparison to the Brownstones I was looking at it seemed like a deal, even though it was like such a small studio apartment. And so I went there with my mom and I said, you know what I want. I believed in the vision that the developers had for the area and for the building, and so I put down ten percent to hold that unit while it was being built, and so the property it took like two years.

for the last three years. And I was a saver because my mom and grandma. Grandmother always taught me to save, so I had some money to save up for that. My mom also gave me money and so that helped with the first ten percent. But it was not done like that's not like, oh, we have the property, We're good now. It was now you need to come up with the next ten percent in two years to you know, close on it and the closing costs and also technically

my income. So one of the saving graces was that I knew when I was graduating from college I would get a full time offer from the company that I interned with, so I knew i'd had like a job. But when I did the calculation, my income at that point was going to barely come for like the mortgage

when we calculated it. But in my head, I'm like, well, if I can save up and if I like save up for the next two years while this thing is being built all my money, if I live in a home, which I was able to do with my mom, God, like I said, God bless my mother, then I could maybe have a fighting chance to like actually close on this and not lose our ten percent and like live there, and then I should make more money and hopefully this

place appreciates and will be okay. And I will tell you, Mandy, like all the stars aligned the grace of God, that yes, it worked out because in the two years that it took to build, I was able to save up the additional money to close on it, the additional ten percent, and then extra to cover my mortgage because my literally

my my checks were like just covering the mortgage. And I will tell you this just like the last thing about this is, you know, with the collapse of with the collapse of the markets back then, so this was like around twenty fifteen, you know when the markets Wait, what year was it that the market is? Two thousand and eight? Yes, I was humanizis yeah the housing Christ Okay, so yeah, I need to go back further. Lists go

back further two thousand and eight. They were doing no loan doc closings at that time, which is why so many people got in trouble right because they bought things they couldn't afford. I was one of those people, Like if they would have checked my salary stubs, they would.

come from. Like the worst yes, you lose like your down payment, but maybe like at the end of the day you can sell it before you have to close on it, like but without any risk, there's no reward. And so I really did go into this like almost like with everything that I had, and it worked out. So by the time I ended up closing one, I was able to close because for no loan mortgage document process.

And then also it did appreciate, so I knew at the end of the day once I moved in, like let's just say I couldn't cover the mortgage after a while, like I could sell it or rent it out, but the real estate market had to bounce back a bit, and so we were I was in a good place. And I still own that property today. And I will say that that is the riskiest but most rewarding thing I've ever done. It's changed the trajectory I feel of my confidence and my family's like wealth because I plan

like to keep it forever. It's more of an emotional purchase. And I have small kids and there's not there's not too many people who look like me that own in Dumbo, in that building, and so I'm just excited for my kids to be able to one day, you know, share it because they'll probably fight over it, but share it in terms of baby to live as their first starting place or maybe when they have going they're going to college if they're local.

But then I think about my mom who had nothing, and so maybe someone can't relate they don't have a supportive parent, they don't have a parent that can give them, like, you know, a couple thousand to help with their down payment. But then I think about like where my mom came from, as like literally a single mom with nothing, and I'm like, wow, Like, but you can change your family's trajectory.

much like they care and they love. So that is my That is my shout out to all Jamaican mamas out there because it.

a huge decision like that, and that's just amazing. It's amazing, and you could never like recreate that time in your life before kids, before a husband, like when you are just doing things for yourself and you you just believed in yourself so much, like you at the end of the day that was really you. It feels like taking

a bet on your own cap, like your own human capital. Yeah, I'm going to even And you were like the mortgage lender in a sense because even though they weren't checking your income like you were doing it and you knew what you were getting into, and you said, I know this is a sticky situation, but I know me, I know my prospects, and I know that I can do this. And you've really did. You took a chance on yourself in a really beautiful way.

get his little raise every once in a while. But it's not the you know. The way I approached my career was sort of like I didn't think of it as like a corporate ladder. I pretended like every three rungs were just empty and I had to skip a few rungs to get to the next one, and I would just hop all over the place, and he, you know, he has been you know, we have very different approaches to I would say career into finance, but it's been

it's been a pretty good balance. Although there have been those times when I have the next big idea, or I have I'm going into a salary negotiation and I'm asking for way more money than he ever thought was possible, and we have these different Yeah, there's just fundament ways that we approach our finances were a little bit different, but it is a good balance. I wanted to ask about, you know, you and your husband's dynamic because you had this ambition to retire early and to you know, you

left your job and all of that. What was what were those conversations like for the two of you and was he always on board with it from the jump or was that something that you guys kind of had to grow into together. Especially for couples who are listening or people who have partners who are listening and aren't really sure how to like match their two long term plans together.

So I literally when I came home and told him the first time, he looked at me like, what are you talking about? And then over time what I did was I didn't push him to this is really important. Just because you come up with a realization or have an epiphany doesn't mean like your partner will they have

they have they're on a whole another timeline. So I respected that, but also started to show him, like the numbers, Like I created this spreadsheet and it showed like, if we do this, like, first of all, step ba from the spreadsheet, what does a life look like now that we enjoy and what does the life look like now in like twenty years, right when the kids are this age, and like they're at the house and we can travel,

and how can we balance that now? So we started with the dream of our lives, what they are now and what we want them to be, and then we like did numbers around it, and I showed him, well, if we do this, make these changes in our finances, save and invest this much over time, we can have you know, over a million dollars in twenty years, and we can do all these things. And that started to get him excited because instead of me just saying it

and talking, he saw the numbers. And then the other thing I really was important to say was yeah, I want to do this, so I quit my job. But also, like you know, I'm the mom. I'm I'm the one giving birth and having three kids. I also have the crazy commute. See my husband his job is maybe like

ten minutes away from our house. So he also knew the pressure of just like my life, and he wanted me to be happy, and so I made sure that like own, not only like we were going to pursue what I wanted, like in terms of our career or quitting my job, but what is it that you want? So I definitely we made sure that include his wants and hopes like into what we were doing. You know,

I don't really care about having a nice car. We used to have nice cars, quote back in the day before kids and getting a little bit more optimized with our finances. But I say, look, if I can, I want to buy you a car, you know, Like it was things like that that got him excited.

It's not just about what Jamila wants. And also like if I'm miserable because I'm working and driving all this time, like those whole family is not going to be like happy, So let's work to a place that we can get to. And so he eventually got on board with that. But he's very easy going and laid back. Thank God for

that in terms of he pretty much trust me. We have the open conversations about it, and even when it came to quitting my job, because that was huge, like my income was more than half of the family's combined income, and so if like it would almost been better if I was a teacher and then he had his career because then like you know, he can kind of stay on his trajectory. But for me to walk away was like a big step because what does that look like as a family.

I was earning probably like two three x what he was earning at the at my peak earning career in you know, America, so to speak. But that's so that's so funny. And it's also you know, shouts out to shout out to partners. You know, I don't put genders on and but partners who are willing to maybe maybe they have their doubts, but they just you know, have

those in the shower alone. They they support and they you know, have faith in their partners to to really bet on themselves and to take their career to a different place. That's really wonderful that he's been supportive to you. And I appreciate you talking about the whole the values, you know, and how you as a partner. I've struggled with this too, probably a little bit more than it sounds like you did. But I was like, it was very hard for me to start to share in the

values based investing. Like so, for example, you know, I had no problem spending money on values or experiences that I particularly wanted to have, but when it came to a you know, if it was a car or you know, I don't know, concert or something that you know, Enrique really wanted it was, it was like, hmmm, and it's not really worth it, And I had to had to

learn to share in that. It was. That was probably my one of the more difficult challenges for me financially and like mentally as a spouse was bringing them in and being open to you know, they're what they value and not not discounting it and making that a part of the overall plan.

is like family, and he's very grounded and supportive. Like it's like one of the first signs like I saw in him, like when we first started dating years ago, that I said, like, out of all the things I want in someone, it would be the opposite of what I knew my dad to be. And so I think, whatever that is. I know some people meet people like that and they do not they don't turn out to be this way eventually.

people say how do you do this? Like how did you manage all that stuff when you were working and commuting and the kids, and how do you even do it now as like a business owner with the kids, It's like what, Because I he's an equal partner in this and that has a lot to do with I think how it allows me to make money and be happy, and how our household lives and how we choose to spend money. So I'm proud of the fact that I chose I chose him as my husband.

your husband, I imagine doing virtual school at home? What has that been like? How have y'all? And congratulations for surviving it, but kind of talk to me about how did that change the dynamic of the household and your business while that was all going on.

twenty nineteen kind of twenty twenty now, hello pandemic. And so it was hard because I was just feeling like I was getting into the groove of being at home by myself on the day and working and then so this happens and I'm just like, okay, and virtual learning and they're all at the age where they need assistant. They're not independent like you can like go go, you know, just go over there and chill kind of and do your work, and so it was really hard emotionally mentally.

You know, the good thing about is we did have living help. So my aunt, bless her heart, she was staying with us and helping out with the kids. So she would help mostly with the baby, my daughter. But the boys wanted nothing, like they if they know we're upstairs, They're like, I'm.

like have that kind of shared responsibility helped. And then you know, the other thing that really helped me was getting back into fitness because I needed to get out. So when I did feel safe to go take a walk and to run, I started to do that and that helped tremendously because I just needed something for me outside of work, outside of the kids, outside of the husband. And that definitely was helpful in my in what it is my recovery from this whole thing.

my fitness routine has gone out the window. It's I how any advice because it's almost like not having that that I'm going to be working from nine to five and having more of this I build my schedule every day. Thing has given me the sense of, oh, I can work out whenever I want. But the problem is that I just don't do it. Any advice, I feel you.

because of it. And so for me, it's literally just remembering the joy of the afterward and the results that I'm seeing in terms of feeling better, having more energy, feeling more like my old self. And I literally do look at it as like me time, Like it's what I'm doing for myself. So that's kind of what keeps

me motivated. And to my husband is kind of fit, and I'm just like, I'm sorry, there's no way you're going to keep like running, working out and looking like it's bad enough you never had to like get birth and you don't have to change in the body. I'm like, you're not going to leave me behind, Like I'm sorry, I'm gonna also do my best for me because I want to feel good about myself.

we should take a break. Really quick, and we'll come back and answer some some listener questions and then we'll have our special don't forget the brown Boost Brown Break at the end, be thinking about what your brown Boost and brown Break could be. And I will be right back with today's co host, Jamila's toufront. Okay, we are

back for questions again. You guys can reach out to us, hit us up on Brown Ambition Podcast on Instagram or headever to our website Brownambitionpodcast dot com and click ask us anything to submit your question. All right, Jamila, are you ready to shake up? Okay? Sweet? All right, we have a couple of great questions from our listeners. First question comes from someone anonymous who's expecting a little bit of an inheritance and wants to know what to do

with it already. So they say, I have about forty two thousand dollars in credit card debt and only five thousand dollars in my emergency fund due to a loss in my family. I'm expecting an inheritance of about fifteen thousand dollars. Should I use that money to put a dent in my debt or to beef up my emergency savings or even try to grow it through investing. I'm leaning towards putting it toward my debt, but I was

curious what you would suggest. Thank you, So, Jamila, Before we take this one, I have to remind y'all, we are your financial girlfriends, not your financial planners. So we're gonna give you some advice. We'll give you some opinions, but ultimately you have to do it's best for yourself and definitely seek out a professional financial advisor or planner or other expertise if you know, really want to get the best advice for your situation. Okay, disclaimers aside, forty

two k in credit card debt. My stomach is turning in nods. Yeah so, but this has been a wild year, and fifteen K from an inheritance is not a small amount of money. What are you feeling about this, Jamila?

your beer Bon's like kind of budget. And so if you tell me that can take you through the six months, I don't know, depending on what that looks like for you, then I'd say maybe put another one two thousand another month or two on top of it, depending on how much your cash flow is like to live your life bear bones. And then I would look at your debt and then make sure you are looking at your highest interest rate debt. So you could either look at the

highest interest rate or lowest balance. But if you want to do the be like math wise, you'd pay off the highest interest rate first. If it's not all on one card, but it's almost like, I would put a couple thousand in emergency fund, depending on if it doesn't take you out for three to six months, and then put the rest on your credit card.

how it gets taxed or not taxed. Is it fifteen k entirely or is it like you know, when you get a bonus and then it becomes ten K instead of fifteen. But my gut is saying, put a debt in that debt. But what concerns me most of all is the fact that you know, you've gotten that big of a credit card hole to begin with, and what might be like that's a pretty strong symptom that there's something off kilter and your either your cash flow or

your expenses. You know, it's just not lining up. So and without having more information, I would say, definitely look at you know, where did this forty two K and credit card debt come from? What caused me to accrue this debt? And this is no judgment, like shit happens.

I believe me. I'm no stranger to debt myself, but you know, figure out what was it and if it was, you know, I never really had enough money in my emergency fund, and maybe it was medical bills, or it was an unexpected expense that you know drove you to wrack up that credit card debt that honestly, by not putting cash away for your emergency fund, you could just be like, what I'm trying to get at is if you put that entire money toward your credit card debt

and you still have a very small emergency fund, will you be quickly racketing back up that debt because you don't have that that buffer of cash. You know, so I'm leaning toward more. I don't like, put put maybe half of that fifteen k in your emergency fund and use the other half to start shipping away that credit card debt. But then say, okay, I'm putting this money

in my emergency fund. It is on lockdown. That is for you know, that is for my own financial security, to be sure that you know, my family and myself are taken care of, and then get really aggressive about attacking that that remaining credit card debt balance. Looking into

options like I love talking about debt consolidation loans. For example, you know, you can take out a personal loan through a credit union or through an online bank or something like that at a reduced interest rate, then you're how much the credit card debt is costing. You get that all consolidated under one loan, and then you have a fixed payment monthly that you know how much a cost and you also can live, you know, without the crazy high interest rates accruing over your head that would accrue

with a credit card. TIF and I talk about balance transfer cards. I don't know if you've ever used a balance transfer offer from a credit card umala or not. We didn't even talk about credit card debt, but I have.

two thousand dollars in debt. That's not going to involve really looking at either how much you're spending or really pursuing increased earning. So I think twenty twenty one, this new post pandemic year, has got to be the year where you really sit down and, you know, think about how can I bring an additional income to chip away at this debt. And I don't know anything about your life, and I'm really I'm sure there may be circumstances that prevent you from taking on a side hustle or or whatever.

This is a no judgment zone, but if you're capable of it, I would, I would really try to start looking at ways to increase your income so that you can get that debt off your back and truly be on your way toward investing, which it sounds like you know you're thinking about investing as well. That is, that is an amazing goal to have, but it's it's difficult to get there when you also have such a huge, you know, credit card debt balance at the same time.

Thank you so much for leaving us your question Again. Y'all hit us up at Brandon Mission podcast on if you have more questions for us? All right, Jamila, it is the time we've all been waiting for. It is the all important brown boost brown break. At the end of the show, what are you going to boost or break today?

the best you can. And so it's really important to prioritize yourself and be selfish. And I know that sounds crazy, but for some people not anymore. You sound crazy to me, but I know that if I am happier than everyone else in my family is happier because I can give more. And so I want to break the expectation that we have to be everybody to everyone else, and we need to be what we need for ourselves first.

then call it quits. But I'm like, for one thing, we got something in the summer, y'all, Like it's not the dead of winter. That's nice to have a chance to celebrate, to blackness. And so what I decided to do this weekend was the weather was going to be okay, So I threw a last minute barbecue for my neighbors. And just in my neighborhood is, like I said, we have a lot of diversity. Mostly it's like a largely black neighborhood here in my county outside of New York.

And I just invited the neighbors over. I got a big ass cake that said Juneteenth Freedom Day on it. We made burgers and hot dogs, and it was just a I don't know, it was just an opportunity to just come together as a community and to to heal a little bit from the trauma, the trauma of a lifetime, but especially this past year. So I just wanted to say, you know, unapologetically, you know, celebrate these small pockets of

positive time that we've been given. And if Juneteenth is an opportunity to do that, I would say, do it without apology. It was. It was really beautiful, and the work continues. You know, we still got to fight for voting rights and police law enforcement reform and all of the things, but you know, it was it was a nice opportunity to just sit back and just celebrate ourselves.

they're all like kind of lumped up together. And so we went, we had fun, we went to Coney Island, and I'm just like, we deserve joy, we deserve rest, and we deserve to know we we can also earn money, be good with money, and have the freedom we want and without money.