How Do You Make a Unicorn Culture?

And now onto our show. Hey, hey, hey, we're back. We're black, We're bred. Welcome black Man.

weird kind of transitional period. I think where the lines are just kind of blurry, and but honestly, for my own safety, I know people are out there being nasty and like, how do you know if someone's vaccinated or not. I'm not going to ask, so I will be masking up until the end of the world. I don't know how do we go back now?

putting other people before you. Not that I don't think people who don't get vaccinated are all doing it for selfish reasons, but it's almost like I want to talk to a lot a lot of people and just hear, you know, why aren't you getting vaccinated? What is it about it?

to do that. He's such a quarantine baby. Or the playground or we went to the zoo and he touched stuff and like I wasn't you know, it makes me I'm loving this new I guess, this new New Year, it feels like but for babies. Yeah, it's that's going to be the part where I start to really really really really read the science, you know, around how the littles are are reacting to it. But at the very least masking up until further notice. But yeah, shouts out

to the CDC. But my trust level for Americans is not quite there right now, America, America. What else is going on?

which are part time. And so the difference between like you know, contractor employee employee, you know, you know they you know, you work a set hour, set of hours. You there's a certain set of parameters. But if you're a contractor, basically you get hired for a project and you get it done whenever you get it done. But we're not your only client that you don't live and

die by us, you know. But so many businesses when they start, they can't afford to have employees because with employee you have to pay like payroll tax, you have to provide some sort of like you know some you know,

some kind of insurance. There's all these expenses that make like if I'm going to pay you as an employee, say like one hundred thousand dollars, it could be like an addition a few tens of thousand of dollars to also pay for additional things on top of what it costs to have you as an employee for your pay. So as a result, so many people have a hard time getting actual employees. Yeah, but I'm just really proc

because I'm like done to Dada. It's been something we've been working on for a long time, and I was like, we have employees, not just that, but because one of our we really want to thank the employees that are here, so you know, the ones that are here, Like if you if you come brand new, like next year, it's different. But for the ones you know that have been that are currently employees and make the switch over, we're paying one hundred percent for their health insurance, dental, medical, as

well as vision. And everyone has a four win K and we have a matching program. So I well, I don't know how much it is. So this is how the matching program.

spent this much. Hey, there's money left over. So with that money left over, that's what we're going to put into the match, Like, you know, we've got enough to match you at three percent, great enough to match you with you know, ten percent whatever that looks like, we're gonna use that kind of like instead of doing bonuses, we'll do matches.

because you're outgrowing this way of doing business. You have to switch over to official employees. You have to have benefits you have to have for you know, like retirement plans, you have to you know, you have to have hr you have so like literally twenty twenty twenty and twenty

twenty one, that's what we've been really working on. We have slowed down like our growth as far as like income growth, and focused the majority of our energy to foundational growth, which has been awesome because now we've got this strong foundation. Like we had to redo the way we did our taxes and read. There was just so many foundational things that we were kind of like, oh, we'll do it later, we'll do later, and it's like

no later, it is now. And now we are like so strong as a result, like we're like a company company even though you know we've been here for some time. When you'd be I promise you you'd be surprised how many of your you know, fave small business owners are like yeah, one day girl employees. Because it's hard, you know.

So the fact that it's done, and it's done in a way that because we've been saving for it, like this is something I'm like, oh, this is what I'm wanting. So we save like almost double what we needed so we could be like really secure. I just felt really proud of like how hard the team work you've been having like hr meetings, Like it's just been in just to say, hey, for those of you who are here now, as a thank you for putting in so much work

to build this business alongside of me. Like all of your health insurance you don't have to come out of pocket, like the company takes care of them for you. It's not going to reduce because that was one of the worries. It's like, eh, you know, because when you're a contractor, you get all your money. If you make a hundred thousand, you get a hundred thousand, then pay your own taxes, but here you know your money is going to be reduced because the government takes your taxes out of your paycheck.

And I didn't want to also take your insurance out of your paycheck as well, So I'm like, no, we will cover that, you know. So it just feels really good to be like like like yeah, our staff is just like wait what, So it just feels it feels awesome. I feel like a big girl in business.

they're not in the office. Well, we've been doing that for the I mean we've never had office so we figured out that energy and that vibe and how to trust people and I don't sweat people. And I'm like, girl, it's okay for you to take the meeting at the park. Why are you pushing the baby on the swing? You can hear me, I can hear you.

dedication is who's willing to schlep to the office. That's how dedicated. And it makes it seem like people who work from home for reasons such as work life balance to just have some semblance of sanity, you know, to not be sitting in a car or on a train commuting to and from work, you know, to be doing it so that they can spend more time with their family, or for whatever reason, just because it makes them more productive.

Even it just pissed me off because he is completely proof positive that there's still that line of thinking out there, no matter how much some companies want to say that they support working moms and working parents and blah blah blah, it was clear that it was maybe for a season for a lot of people, and for people who who don't want to go back to work. Are you going to be like, is there going to be unconscious biased

against you. Are people going to be thinking that, oh, you're just not as dedicated, Because that, to me is a load of bullshit. And as someone who used to be a complete I liked going to the office. I like taking my little cup, I like to get my latte at my favorite coffee shop and going for walks and shooting the breeze with my coworkers. All that I thought I was more productive at work. I love working from home now. And I was just on the phone the other day with someone and they were like, do

you think you'll ever work in an office again? And I'm just like, I don't. It doesn't appeal to me in any way. And I don't think that it says anything about someone's dedication or their talent or their worthiness if they don't want to go back to an office. It was completely acidine.

oh no, no, just do it like this. Sonta was like, well, I have to ask Latrise something about which Latrise does all of our like all of our email communications. Like she's my tech like manager, and so when you're trying to figure out like what tech system to use, you ask Latrese. And even though so Shanta was asking about her personal business, you know, but what I love is that I encourage folks to work on their own dreams and even help by promoting on our platforms, but also

too to figure out what works best for you. I can't tell you to how many times I've taken a meeting on a walk, because I know I'll look to say, okay, this is out. One of those meetings will have to be in front of my computer, or maybe there is something that someone's gonna want to send show me really quickly. But girl, that's what smartphones are for. I can take a look, you know, because I need There's no time for me to take a walk today and this is

the only time. And everyone knows that, like, you have the space and the freedom to navigate. My my expectation is that you're going to deliver whatever excellence like excellence, but however you want to deliver it. And I just think that more and more of these companies are going to lose out to companies that know how to navigate. I was just literally telling two people on my team today my business the Budgetissa time, I'm really I'm wanting

to use it as like a social experiment. So I've got my literature academy and my online school that business like mixed the most. And then I'm shutting down my marketing company because I'm just like, oh girl, we don't need it, and I really focusing on the budget, Nista. But this social experiment is this instead of saying what can the business make, we're asking team members, what do

you want to make? Let's come to a con census, like like C suite, Let's just say c Sweet says we want to make two fifty okay, manager lever you want to make one fifty okay? Or direct your level one fifty, manager level one hundred thousand, okay. Like figuring out what that is.

next to nothing for the rest of the year. That's my aim is to figure out what the not to overwork, but to figure out what is it that we're wanting to make collectively, figure out how much that is put in the work, and then like not that there will be no work, but maybe we use the rest of the year to experiment on new products that we can kind of lollygag on, you know, knowing that you could take more time off you can work on your own business,

Like why why not? Why couldn't it be like that, Yes, we can make twenty million and sleep less, or we can make ten and make the amount that we've decided.

So that's one of the experiments that like we're putting into action for next year to really figure out what is it that we're wanting to make, how much we have to make to get it, and if we get it early, then we get to really like fall almost all the way back the rest of the year, because why not what you know, Like I just think that like companies have to be run differently or be left behind. Like I'm not trying to kill myself, honestly, I'm trying

to have this baby. I'm trying to, like, you know, potentially have a show. I want to you know, I want to make more than enough. I would I want to take home a second well already that now, but I want to take home a specific amount of money. And then you know, if I could be done by June sis all the better, you know what I mean.

Then I could be like, oh, let me lean into Molly Moore a project that doesn't make much money but it's fun, or let me you know, I don't know, I can A lot of people ask me to volunteer my time, but I don't have as much time to volunteer because I'm like, oh, we have to make money in order to hit our No. Now I could be like, oh, I could spend the rest of the year that all my speaking engagements, I can give them away for free

to nonprofits and churches and things like that. And so yeah, I'm just there has to be a better way to do this in business and instead of like big for big sake, like what's the purpose? We already know that we're serving our community, but it's like, now I kind of want to do an about face, like the people who are doing the serving, how do I make sure that you get served? That's really important to me. So yeah, it is.

that you're even just questioning working for work's sake. You know, being on the hamster wheel as a corporation, and as you're describing it, it reminds me of what happens when you have financial freedom on a personal level, like when you have money in the bank, to where someone else's choice doesn't really have an impact on what you can do.

Like you have the freedom to not need, you know, to work for a certain person if they offend you or if they don't welcome you know, the fact that you have got a kid in the background, or they don't like that you take walks. You can walk away from that. You don't have to fester and anger. You have a choice to remove yourself from that situation. And

I yeah, so that's what I love about it. It sounds like that's where I have always been laser focused on, is getting to a place of personal financial freedom, to where I don't nothing bothers me because I have a choice to walk away from anything that does at the

end of the day. And I can make choices now for my family because of the steps I've taken to to invest and save and you know, keep expenses very very low, not very low, but keep stay comfortable, but not just acquire things and acquire a bigger this and a better that, because that's what it feels like I'm

supposed to be doing. But to really be thoughtful about the things that I do purchase and the things that you know, we spend our money on things that actually bring joy, you know, experiences and yeah, the occasional thing, but a thing that isn't it, you know, something that we can share together, that kind of thing so that we're we're free to make those decisions. And it feels

so damn good and I would love to. I mean, I'm just I'm excited for the budget, Nista and all your employees because there you call them the unicorn squad, but that's a unicorn culture too. There's I've heard other philosophies like this in business, but it's certainly not the norm. The norm is still that grind, grind till you die. And we got to stop. We got to stop, Like what's the word? We have to stop? Like one, it's the damn word, Tiviany Hill girl.

You cannot try to squash their dreams. You can actually encourage them to have businesses and actually help their businesses grow. I help so many people on our team with their businesses, whether it's advice or free advertise or whatever. You can do that and people still stay with you. People are like, well, if you help her girl her business, wat shoes, she stay. Here's the thing. If you're amazing, you're not gonna stay

even like you can. I'm not worried if someone's going to leave we create such an amazing environment that we will always have good employees. We will like anytime we're looking for someone, we get flooded by so many amazing people who want to work with us. So if someone decides to leave because they have a we have someone right now with this an amazing want in a lifetime opportunity.

And she's like, you know, in her last round of interviewing, the fact that she came to us and told us and we're all wishing her wealth, like we hope you get it, and she's like, even if I get it, I'm still gonna work here part time. We're like, girl, you are not gonna be working part time, because it was it's a want in a lifetime, amazing opportunity. But the fact that she's telling us she's going on interviews and she's excited and we're not like, well, girl, by

you're fired. And the fact that it's an environment that you can say that and we wish you well and like we do because where there's one of her, there is more of her because we create an environment that fosters that kind of person to seek us out and want to work with us. You know, like most people who have started with me are still here. You know,

very rarely have I let someone go. And even the people that we've let go, ninety five percent of them I still converse with and email with and text and check on them. Was it was very amiable, amicable, and you know, we let them go with kindness and money.

I mean, I know, we don't have to give three people three months worth of severance when you're a contract, but we did because I'm like, well, you're a mom and I don't want to see you struggle, or you're a mom and I don't want to see without a job. Let me help you find something else. So as a result, we put a lot of really good business karma out there. But I think there's a different way that people can navigate.

And what I want is that people start to demand more from where they work and let these businesses that want to mistreat you let them suffer.

get to a place where you're happy. It can exist like you can do work that feeds you and makes you happy and build a life for yourself that that yes, that that you feel like represents what you're best at. It makes you, that brings you joy and at the end of the day, if you have that's what I love this show when we talk about the time, it's it's the simple steps you can take to create that financial cushion so that you can make choices thoughtfully for

your best interest. Because at the end of the day, whoever you're working for, they're going to be looking out for their best interest ninety nine percent of the time, right, So it's just a different it's a different way of feeling, and it's like proof of what can happen when you just make choices that take away that you know, that hanging that sense of dread hanging over you, the financial you know, the financial weight on your shoulders, I can hold you back and keep you at a place that

is not giving you that is not giving you purpose or giving you like any happiness at all. Where you is it budgeties dot com slash hiring? Is that what we can look for?

I'm like, let those places suffer. They don't deserve you, honestly, I mean I get it, like if you have to you have to feed your family, you got to take care of your kids. You have to, but keep your eye out for there are more places popping up that know how to treat people, places that you know that don't let them suffer, let them lose their best in their brighters, let them lose you. They don't deserve you.

what are you thinking?

our neighborhood. I always have always thought it was a hidden gem. We got our house for four hundred and forty five thousand and we did a lot of work to it. But just to give you a baseline, a house two blocks from mine just went on sale for over eight hundred thousand dollars.

place today. One of the biggest problems with the last recession or the last housing crisis was that lenders were just out here giving away houses to people who could not afford them, literally could not afford them. And as soon as times got tough with the recession, people started

defaulting on their mortgages. And then because lenders were turning around and selling those mortgages off to Wall Street, Wall Street was all, you know, self combusting as well because they had all these bad mortgage notes on their books. So it's that stuff is not happening today. What we're seeing today is simple economics. And I think I've told y'all, y'all got I got a eked out a be an econ in college. But I listened enough to whatever his name was, who wore Hawaiian T shirts. I don't know

why he did, my professor. I listened enough to remember supply and demand. And that's what we're seeing right now. The inventory of housing in this country has not been meeting the demand from people wanting more space. They want a yard, they want you know, more freedom, they want to breathe put out of these big cities and they want to move. And in cities where the real estate markets are tight with inventory, that's what it is. There's less supply, there's more demand, so the cost of goods

is going up. I would say if I was looking to buy right now, I would be nervous. I would only buy if I really really wanted to, needed to, and had good data on the market where I am purchasing at home, to see if it's been how has it performed in other you know, dicey economic times, and just ask around and do your due diligence. As a homeowner. The struggle with us is like, well, do you want to sell and make a pretty penny. But then where

am I going to go. I'll be out in the same housing market everyone else is going to be out unable to find something, you know, because inventory is so tight or prices are so high that even if I turn a profit on my home, you know, I just have to turn around and sync that into the next one.

to be worth two hundred thousand. No, But I do think they'll be like a settling down, you know, because it won't go up forever and ever and ever, because eventually the demand will slow down or the supply will increase, and then that's when you'll really see if whether or not.

My only thing is this is like it's one thing for a house to go up fifty thousand, you know, sixty thousand, but houses that are going up two hundred, three hundred thousand, I'm like, that's where I think you might see some course, correct if houses are doubling where you are, because I'm just like, uh, I don't know, I don't know. If it was me right now, I would not buy a house for double I just wouldn't.

I would not buy a house for you know, like, you know, fifty sixty percent more than it was you know, just a little while ago. I just it just feels, and I guess maybe I'm a little gun shy because Mandy, I bought my house in two thousand and six, right before the you know, so I mean I'm also a

lot more conservative. So what that means is, guys, is that like I bought my house for two hundred and twenty thousand dollars right before the housing crash, you know, in two thousand and eight, nine, ten, and so I bought it for two twenty the lowest it went down. I think, Mandy, I want to say, is like two no one thirty one fifty. So you know, I was like,

what the hell you know? And since then, Mandy that remember I told you every once in a while, I still cyperstalk my my old condo, so I would say at least once a year, I type in my address to see what is it worth. Now it has never gotten back up to two twenty. The closest it's got is one eighty. And so it makes me say like ugh, whenever I see like home prices inflate dramatically, it just makes me nervous to say, you know, not to say that it's going to crash, but there might be a

little bit of a course correction. So I would it's so hard with homes not to get emotional about purchasing, but I just be mindful about still looking for a deal because despite you know, like the house of market being crazy, there are still ways to get deals. You know, there are still sometimes people who are selling a distress and there are still keep your ear to the streets.

Like the house I live in now. We purchased it, you know, it was in Newark, is a very hot market, and we were getting out for a year to two almost two years. We were getting outbid left and right, and we found this on an auction site and we paid half price for it. So there's still deals to be found if you're willing to be patient. So that's what I would just say.

they're selling their homes because they this this neighborhood. You know, they lived in for a few decades, raised their kids, they're ready to downsize, and there's a lot of great deals to be had. We've seen and it's been fun to see people buy these these homes that look pretty sad and run down and then just fix them up. And I'm excited about it. I'm glad I bought the house three years ago. I'm gonna say that. But I mean,

I don't understand, like it's such a huge purchase. Like if you're out there trying to buy a house, just rent, it's it's fine, you don't have to have a home right now. It's like that herd mentality. But yeah, it's My dad sold his condo in Atlanta he lives about well, not in Atlanta, but he lives in a Tucker which is about, I don't know, twenty minutes aside of Atlanta, and he sold his condo he'd been in for a

long time. I think he bought it for like sixty thousand dollars and he sold it for one thirty or something like that. He's like, why are you putting all of my business on this what? He doesn't even know what the podcast is. It's fine, but anyway, he made a nice profit. But he's living with a cousin right now because, like the time, it just it's hard to line up those perfect things where you can sell and then immediately, you know, walk into a new home of

your own. So he's he's trying to figure out you know, he's staying on his uh with his with his cousin. Shout out to Mark. He's staying with him and you know, trying to figure out where he wants to live and taking his time. And he's also in a really tough market outside of Atlanta too, So that's the other side of that coin. Thank you too. I will slap you for slavery. What was it?

have a quick question. My husband and I started the Snowball method, and we've paid off over ninety one thousand dollars in debt. Okay, I'm gonna pause just to do my snaps. Yes, that's amazing work. Yes, including our car, credit cards, and student loans. We still have twenty four thousand dollars to go, but we're super happy and grateful to be where we are along the way. We started to get rid of our credit cards to begin a no credit card life. As a result, my credit began

to drop due to a lack of revolving credit. I knew this would happen and was prepared for this. However, we'd like to slowly build this up again. I'm wondering what are the best credit cards to open in order to do this, or what's the best way Should we stop paying my student loan in full in order to keep that as part of my credit report? I would love some advice.

payments until it's done. So one of the ways to like offset the fact that you're thinking you might be like losing like, you know, some of your your mix, your credit mix, is you can keep like you don't. Here's the thing. You don't have to have a credit card if you don't want to. There you know, you know, just by paying your bills on time and you know some of them will, and also paying like you know, your your other things off, you're gonna definitely see a boost.

But if you did want to keep one credit card, once you paid it off and just pay, you know, put something like I call it the jump like Jordan method because you know, Michael Jordan used to jump and stay in the air for a long time. And that's what we want our credit to do. Is you put like your Netflix or your gym membership on that one card. After you've paid it off, you say, hey, Netflix, charge this card every month, and then you find out when

your statement date is. That is the date that a statement is issued saying you use the card because you want them to. You want them to tell the credit bureaus the card has been used. And then you have a I have I like to have a checking account just for bills. You have that bill's account, pay the credit card off in full after the statement date, but

buy the due date. So paying off a credit card in full every month will help to keep get your credit score jumping and to keep it high because you know, one, it will show that you are, you know, like responsibly using credit. You're paying it off in full, and because you're putting something really low on it, it keeps your utilization, which is thirty percent of your score, it keeps it low. So no, sis pay off all the debts. People always wouldn't want to ask that, Like, you know, man, you

ever give hit that. People are afraid to like pay off debt because they don't want to lose credit.

credit card in full each month. But probably don't open a Victoria's credit card, Okay, but that's just the anyway, a gap credit card, and as long as you pay it off in full, they all work the same, you know. But if I were doing if I were you, I would pick a credit card that you know fits whatever my habits are. If you're wanting a credit card that maybe gives you points, then maybe you look at cards that give you points for things and services that you

use quite often. But if you really just want a card that you can charge one thing to and use it to rebuild your credit, any no fee credit card will do, and the interest rate is whatever the interest rate is, but you don't plan on paying them any interest, right, as long as you paid off in full every month,

then you'll never pay any interest. So you really just look for the card that's no fee and pretty simple to use, maybe with a bank that you already bank with, just for simplicity's sake, and like go from there.

many options, believe me. But I will say at the end, you know, with the pandemic, credit card usage plummeted, especially on cards that paid you big points for travel and restaurants because nobody was doing either of those things anymore. And I have seen that some banks are now bringing back nice, juicy sign on bonus offers to try to lure people back to using their credit cards. So you may want to take this chance to earn some points and pick a card that's going to give you a

nice sign up bonus. But of course, pay attention to the fine print. You often have to spend a minimum amount of money to get the bonus, and you don't want to spend more than you can afford to pay off, So read the fine print and definitely check out a card comparison site like I mentioned Magnified Money or credit cards dot Com to get the right card for your lifestyle.

to win. I'm gonna be posting something on social media on Wednesday when the podcast comes out, so follow me on Twitter or Instagram in particular, so we'll be giving away fifty copies of the book, signed copies, and we'll all throw on a budget these to bracelet to go with it. And do I.

have been. I've really enjoyed the I forgot how creative I am, and I love like putting the site together and getting to use all the amazing photos. We just got some new pictures that we can't wait to share with y'all, getting to use some new photos and really just it's it's had me looking back on my career and being like, oh damn, I did that, and that this is great and it's been really fun to walk down memory lane. And I don't know exactly you know

what will come from it, but it's it's been. It feels it feels right to kind of have a home to highlight my career and highlight what I do. So check it out mandymoney dot com.

That's that's that secret. Let me just let me just tell your curly hair girls out there, there's no tutorial. It is literally do you have two hours and a teeny tiny curling iron?

gonna spend like a week or so there. I'm still trying to like kind of gather places, so I would love you guys want to send me some suggestions that are like Jersey even. Here's the thing. On the weekends, I can take longer trips because I usually don't go

to the IVF doctor on the weekend. So the way it works with the IVF is that when you're doing like you know, IVF, sometimes you go to the doctor literally every other morning because you have to take a blood test and the scan, which is just them putting a thing up here vagina and saying looks good in here.

I could leave like Friday and come back Sunday. Or if I don't have a doctor's appointment on Monday, then I can say even longer, or you know, something that's within an hour's drive, because if I, like, for example, Eve, I'm by the sea, it's like forty five minutes to an hour away. So if I had to go to the doctor, I could drive to the doctor and still go back to my beach house. You know that I've rented it because like one of my in rush works, I'm literally when I say I'm not doing any work,

I'm not doing not nan bit of work. I am reading, I'm gonna be crocheting, I'm going to be walking along the beach and be listening to podcasts. I'm going to be eating. Yeah, I'm going to be talking to my friends on the phone and hanging out like I'm not. I told them only hit me up if opor or Michelle Obama calls say.

doing that. So no social media, you know, no, no email, no nothing, just like a reset and really just like I want to reconnect and the side like you no, like what do I want to do next? I have so many opportunities that are kind of floating in the air and just deciding like what what direction to go into? So I'm excited about that, but I welcome your suggestions.

I live in Newark, so if you're like, ooh, girl, we stayed here and it was only an even an hour and a half, where I wouldn't mind, you know, So like just you know, I'm just looking for like suggestions and ideas because I'm literally putting together the plan right now because I don't want to go into the six weeks and I haven't kind of decided what I'm gonna do or else. It's just gonna like slip away. And I'm like, I didn't do anything.