Pivoting In Place

get into it all right. Tired Nanny says, I love your podcast, and every week that's the one thing I look forward to listening to. I came to the US not long ago, and I'm trying to build my future here. I'm twenty seven years old and I have a bachelor's degree in education. However, I'm interested in getting into grad school to get an MBA. I've been using my background in education to work as a babysitter for quite a while now, but I am so tired of dealing with

these families. I have the money now to pay for grad school tuition and a year's worth of expenses. My question is, would you recommend getting an MBA to pivot to business, and do you think it's a good decision to stop working so I can focus completely on my MBA. Thanks in advance. I'm desperately looking for advice. I know I'm young, I don't want to work on an education, and now the only experience I have is working as a nanny. Sometimes I think this is the only thing

there's left for me. Thanks for your genuine advice and great content. Tired nanny. Oh okay, Han, First and foremost welcome, Welcome to the States. I hope that it has been a not an easy but I hope it's been a smooth transition as much as it can be. I hope you have a community, like a support system here you didn't mention, but friends, family, neighbors, find your community and

start to build out that support systs. Because no matter what you decide to do, whether it's get your MBA, launch of business, pursue a different career path than you know, you're going to need people to join you on that journey. Okay, the biggest lie that we that you're going to hear when you're in America is pull yourself up by your bootstraps, all by yourself. That's some bullshit. Okay, no, no, no, no no, we do things with community, with support, all right.

So first, yes, you are young, okay. And what I'm hearing and what I'm reading, is that you have this BA in education and you're just don't you don't think you want to actually use it, or maybe you do want to use it, but not in the traditional sense. And I think the most literal, like some of us, approach education thinking we have to literally do the obvious thing that goes with that, you know, that goes with that degree. I have a bachelor's in education, so I

must teach. You've already sort of stretched that to you know, nanny, which I think is really smart and brilliant. I kind of love that you don't that you're tired of it, because you can listen to your instinct and say, Okay, this is not going to be the thing. It's a

means to an end. And I wonder if if you start treating the nanny job as a means to an end and not tell yourself that this is what you're going to be doing forever, maybe that'll help you when your mindsets a little bit different, like deal with it. You know you may need to if you want to continue. Listen, I know for a fact is good money out here. I pay my babysitter between depending on I have two that I rotate through. One of them has a ton

of education. She's been you know, she's worked, she's older, she has all this experience and stuff, and I give her twenty five bucks an hour. And then for but even for the college kid that I work with as well, that baby sits for us as well, I pay her twenty bucks an hour, which is more than you'll get at most jobs, hourly wage jobs. And I can be really flexible in all of that. Okay, So it's good money.

And if that's working for you, I'd hate for you to set that aside because squirreling away money, especially at a young age twenty seven, you're going to be so grateful. You're going to look back on these years of nannying and be like dang, I was hustling, I was sewing, I was planting seeds, and you're going to enjoy the fruits, those labor, fruits of that labor for years to come. Okay, so maybe it might be a little bit of a mindset shift for you. I hate this work more of ooh,

this work is a means to an end. Okay. Now, the end may change over time. Right now, the end that you're trying to get to is you want to get your MBA or you want to start a business. I wish you had told me a little bit more about what kind of business you're thinking of starting, because then I could give you more specific advice. But as Tiffany always says, you gotta get your salt shakers out. Use a grain of salt with all the advice that we give. But if you're wanting to pivot to launch

your own business, do you need an NBA? No, absolutely not. I actually have a call with one of my original Mandy Moneymaker clients, Jasmine, later today and she's wanting to start an LLC so she can start consulting on the side, and I'm going to show I'm going to tell her what I'm telling you right now. Any dumb dumb can start a business. Now, is it going to be a profitable business that you know, brings in revenue, that makes you successful, that pays your bills, Well, that's you know,

that is to be determined. Do you need an NBA? Absolutely not. The Department of Labor is happy to take your two hundred dollars or whatever it costs you to set up an LLC. Okay, However, when it comes to business strategies and the type of business that you're starting, you may benefit from a structured, you know, graduate program. Not every NBA program is built the same, and I would want you to spend time, time, time time to

do your research. Speak to people who've gone through a program, read the reviews, speak to the admissions office like they are going to really want to take your money. These degree programs can be quite expensive. Now there are programs that are full time, full on, you know, really fast NBA programs like get your NBA in a year. There may be a program that is more for people who are working full time and may give you the flexibility to continue nannying and then work in the you know,

afternoon or weekends or whatever that may be. You want to find a program that's the right fit for you and going into it already having the seed of an idea for a business can also help you understand what type of NBA to pursue. You may want to do a concentration in business marketing. You know, there's all different types. You may want to be more on the financial side, you know, I don't. So if you're yeah, there just needs to be a little bit more clarity on what

you want to do with it. I'm not going to tell anyone ever to go spend fifty k on a degree just, you know, because it seems like a good thing to do. I want you to have. I want you to at least have done your research so you know that it's going to be worth the investment. Okay, I don't have an MBA. I only have a bachelor's in journalism, and I have squeezed every ounce of that juice when I tell you that I possibly can, and I'm still squeezing it because I'm like, I ain't going

back to school. And I've learned, you know, in other ways. I've learned from continuing education, so doing workshops, you know, especially in my career, investing in professional development another option

for you is not another option. But I also learned through mentorship, through surrounding myself one by one over time, building relationships with people that have businesses, are also starting businesses and are a very level various varying levels of being in business, so brand new to it, been doing it twenty years, have an online business, have a brick

and mortar business. You know, different different types. And as I've gotten more focused on where I'm going with my business, I start to zero in on people who have similar business models and start to, you know, engage with them, speak to them, learn from them, going to you know events, so conferences, networking opportunities, organ you know you can join organizations, clubs, clubs. What is this like the career the club fair at organization? What is it called the fair at college where you

choose your clubs? Anyway, organizations you can join that can help you connect with other people. So I'm not I know that you're wanting like a specific you know, a specific step by step how do I go? But I feel like for you, you go cautiously. You do your research, don't jump into getting an MBA. Be clear on whether or not you need an MBA to accomplish what you want to accomplish. Okay, you are only twenty seven. That doesn't mean that you get to kick back and relax.

I think that you should continue working, whether it's being a nanny or doing something else that you can earn income so you can be saving and investing, whether that money is going to help you, you know, with you know, if you struggle with employment later on, or it could be the seed money that you need to start a business, depending on what kind of business, you may need a little bit of startup capital. I also want you to

work on, you know. The one thing I know with the NBA program is you're pretty much guaranteed to walk away with a business proposal, right like you're going to have like a business plan as part of your you know, or learn how to structure a business plan. But you can also work with people who have built businesses to learn what is what is in their business plan and how did they you know, pitch their business to potential

investors to get you know, seed money. There's all so grant programs, you know, especially as a I'm assuming you know you're a woman. I mean, I know you're a woman, but if you're a woman of color, so there's programs that specifically, you know, are there to help women of color get funding. I know, one of the one of our friends of the show, Ellie Ellie Job. You can

follow her. Ellie talks money on IG She's constantly helping her audience find resources and different methods of getting their business off the ground through getting like different funding opportunities, grants, loans, et cetera. So there's so many options for you. Sometimes, Okay, here's how I'll end this. You say, sometimes I think there's the only thing that's left for me. Mm mmm mmm, girl. I hope that I've given you some ideas just in this conversation. But there's so much you can do. Look

how far Tiffany has come. You know, she was a pre k, a preschool teacher. You know, she got a master's in education, like and her undergrad was an education and look what she's been able to build with that foundation. You know, if I know how to teach, there's so many, you know, ways you could go. You could literally be a teacher. You could obviously, you know, do private caretaking as you're doing and you're learning aser really hard. You could sorry, you could consult, like if you have a

specific expertise in education. I know you're young, but the more like, the more specific your experiences, you can take that and leverage it into a potential career path. Okay, So if you if you were a you know, if you specifically teach a language or a certain subject, or you have a certain style of teaching. Americans love people who have like foreign you know, it's like it sounds, you know, because everyone you know shits on Americans education system a lot, which is fair because we do. We

are behind a lot of other developed countries. But anyway, like you could show, oh in my you know, in my in out my home country, this is how we create these math geniuses, these science geniuses, et cetera. There's something, there's a value proposition you can create for yourself. But yeah, I would just say, welcome. You have time. You have time, huh, you have time to create a career path for yourself.

You're already doing it. Do not or try your hardest not to create this idea that you have to have a linear path and it has to make sense. And America will try and tell you you do it on your own. Pull yourself up at your bootstraps. Go to school. Education is the way forward, et cetera. Sometimes that's true, but it's not the only outcome. Okay, don't you may not necessarily need to sink a ton of money into an additional degree. I just want you to do, you know,

some real research. Take your time. NBA programs aren't going anywhere, okay, And depending on what kind of business you launch, you may not even need one. So yeah, I just want you to keep going. I want you to stay hopeful, find your community, find your people, and start building that community around yourselves. You have support on whatever you know you do next for yourself in business, and keep listening to Brown Ambition. And thank you so much for your

kind words and for submitting a question. And I hope you get a little bit of a break, tired nanny. All right, Honestly, y'all, this is my favorite time of week when I get to dive into the hundreds of questions our batham has submitted and zero in on those career questions. So I thought it would be fun to look back in the vault of twenty twenty three and pick out one of my favorite career questions we've ever answered.

So here's a little let's cueue that you know that chime music from Saved by the Bell when they go back in time. Here's a look back, a listen back at one of my favorite career questions of twenty twenty three. Enjoy, all right, be a family. We are back with another juicy, juicy career question. This one's gonna be fun because it talks about negotiating, which is my I start panting and getting excited.

to my sound history? FYI, the range is up to one hundred and fifty six K, and I'm at one twenty three currently. They require a salary expectation entry when I applied, I said one fifty just in case they negotiated me down. Let me know if you have any tips. Loving everything you're doing. Thanks Nelly, this is a good question.

to go outside the company. But I'm a huge fan of pivoting in place, Like that's what I call it. When you find a growth opportunity right where you are, and your mindset is really important here and this is a thing where you know what you make and you're kind of letting that kind of get to you a little bit. I would treat this new department like another company.

So anything that you would do if you were interviewing for an outside company, I would do you know, I would go in there strong and establish you know, your credentials and how excited you are for the opportunity. You've already mentioned a salary at least it was a sort of the top of the range. You mentioned one fifty. I typically would have said, you know, put you know competitive, or put zero or put one dollar, whatever it is in the field, so that you don't have to necessarily

name a number. But I think that you should go in there definitely expecting to get paid what the value of the job is, especially if it is a promotion. You have most of the skills, like you said, and you now have a master's degree. So if you are thinking about the salary that you have now holding you back, this is a whole different job. You know, it's a

step up, probably more responsibility. What may help you feel more confident going in and asking for your value is to find comparable roles at comparable companies, as are the two comps. You want to have similar company and a similar role, and see what types of salaries they're offering as well, And then again think of them as an outside employer who doesn't necessarily know your current salary and negotiate from that space. It's not about what you're earning now,

it's about the market value. Excuse me, It's about the market value of a candidate for this specific role that you're applying for. So don't go in there thinking one twenty three vibes. Think one fifty six. Okay, think hi. And you also know that you're not probably just making one twenty three. You also have to factor in your annual bonus on top of that, you know, so don't forget that you can still negotiate those types of things

like your annual bonus amount. If they offer you equity at your company, you should still feel confident negotiating equity when you get to that point, Like you've just applied now and you put in your salary expectation, which is cool. Now, the key is everything that's going to happen before the negotiation, which is you really want to make them excited to

hire you. You already know the company, but what other strengths do you bring to the table, Like how well do you understand the challenges the pain points of the team that you're joining. Do you have any connections on that team already that you can build on those relationships.

You want them to think of you as a no brainer, you know, so that by the time you get to the negotiation or the offer stage, they want you so bad that when you come back to them and like, hey, one forty is cute, but what about one fifty six, that they're like, Okay, we really want Nelly, you know, so let's make this happen. That's essential for you at this point. But before where you get there, you got

to get your mindset right around. This is a whole different employer, even though it's with the same company, whole different team. You're not in the same role that you have now, You're not making one twenty three in this new role, it's a whole different ballgame. So start to think that way and don't get in your own way.

you know, to looking to work internally. But also sometimes the problem is is like the prodigal son, right, the person who leaves and comes that gets like better treatment than the person who stayed. So don't be afraid either to like be like it seeming like they you know, they treat me like old news. Maybe I need to be made nil again, you know, so if you're needing,

if you wanted to make more, consider that too. But I just say this that I have people on my team that are just so excellent, Like are you bringing obvious excellence to the table, Not that you're you're doing well, but you're visibly doing well. You know, there are people who like even now, there's a woman on one of my teams that I want to bring on over to the Bunjanista. She's on the Literature Academy team. Shout out to you, at Keisha girl, we come and get you.

She's amazing, Like, you know, it just started with you know, us contracting her to do a few things here and there, and I was just blown away about what she delivered. Logan was like what we got to do to get her? You know, and she do project management. But she's just excellent. She's one of those people that, like, you know, it's just it's going to see the thing all the way through. A Keisha works really hard, but also smart and strategically.

She's like a great team player, easy to get along with. She project managed project So her first project management thing that I had her do was she helped me with the with Get Go with Money launch. That was a huge project to try and trust to someone and it was like fifteen of us working on Get Good with Money, and it was got to be overwhelming for me to manage everyone. So I said, I heard through the grapevine because we used to have our weekly chats when I

was the CEO of the academy. I heard through the grape vine that a Kesha was interested in project management and just wanted to test it down. I said, well, I have a huge test for you. Try Get Good with Money on the Budjanista side. And she was like, are you sure? I said, one all eleven people on the Get Goes Money team are hard workers, so the project management component is you don't have to manage and motivate them. These are great people. I cherry picked everyone

on the team so that was one. You just have to keep us all organized, and she was excellent, and I was like, hold up, I want to Keisha for myself. So me and Tam had to tussle, like oh a good tussle. I won, and so yeah, so I'll be making her I mean, I don't even know ify Keisha listen, but yeah, girl, I'll be making your offer soon because we talked about it already. But I'm just saying all that to say, when you were excellent, a space is

always made for you at the TA. So I'm sure you're bringing excellence to the table in an obvious way because it'll make people say we cannot lose you, know, Nlly, So good luck to you.

her company. And I had to remind her how incredibly beneficial it is that people already know her, like she has brand recognition exactly where she is, and she I feel like sometimes we take ourselves for granted at work and we forget like we don't or no one tells us. But there's so much value in having a great reputation colleagues wanting to work with you. That, plus you can teach skills, you can teach how to do this, how

to do that to a certain extent. Right, So if you're meeting most of the qualifications on all of them and people know and love you and will vouch for you, and you know endorse you, that is so key and that gives you such a huge advantage over external candidates. So yeah, it's just about building your own confidence, Nelly, and that you have a lot going for you already

understanding the inner workings of this company. And even though I want to know like twelve thousand more things about the situation, I just want you to go in again feeling strong. And to Tiffany's point about sometimes if you are missing out on opportunities and you're not being valued where you are, because that unfortunately is often the case, use this as a litmus test to see, Okay, do I have growth potential at this company? And if this promotion does not work out or you don't get the

support that you feel like you need. Well, at least you explore that option, and you should feel no ounce of guilt for looking outside of the company, you know, for new opportunities. Sometimes they got to really fear losing you to really respect and value you, which is unfortunate. But it's up to you to you know, assert your

value in that way. So I hope this works out for you, but I'm just saying even if it don't, there's other pads ahead of you as well, and they don't have to be you know, feeling stuck or stagnant where you currently are.

questions about business? Maybe you are an entrepreneur, career, money and more emass see that's a little Spanish there eat total So yeah, until next Week B A fan, We love y'all.