It's time for the big a q a A to b a q a.
What you say the big a que it with me, Dad, big aque with tiffin A to b.
A q a.
Hey man, how you doing? My micro's shaking?
That wasn't me.
That's quick.
So this is b a q a where you have questions. We have answers, but not necessarily for you. These are non educational little light salt on your on your steak answers that we're really talking to each other. AKA, so your grandmother, not us, because you're gonna take it with the smallest grain of salt, and then you're going to reach out to the people that you pay with the additional information that you need because this is for entertainment only.
So let's entertain.
So we did money last week. Let's talk careers and business this week. Manage you want to kick it off? You want me to kick off for you?
What's I'm curious. I'm going to do the shopify Etsy one first. Let's do that one first.
Okay, So you want me to read it?
Yeah? Please, I'm kaind.
So we've got an email from Daja Dasa says, good morning out weall as well. Recently you shouted out the Shopify platform. I'm considering building an online business of crafted products I've made. This is really important and I'd like to know the pros and cons of Shopify in comparison to a platform like Etsy. Could you share why you like the Shopify platform over Etsy. I love the show and thank you for giving me major black girl magic for the past few years. And I'm an og listener.
We love that from twenty eighteen, not a magical week, Yes, a Asia.
Okay, I mean twenty fifteen listeners. Can we get a shout out if you've been with an I love people with chips, prove you've been listening since twenty fifteen.
I love that.
So Shopify versus so. I can't not plug Briann and Bisson podcast and the store dot com, which is where you can get Brown Ambition merch And it was a little dusty and rusty. Some of the stuff was sold out for a while, but I just revamped it. So there's a brand new b A swag.
Let me look, Lenna, go look you said at the store.
Yes, very cute stuff. Let me look to Brown ambitionstore dot com.
You never know.
I'm like you do things. I was I was fiddling so much. I just want to be sure everything you'll still looks good. Yeah, we got a new toe bag.
It's very cute, looks so cute.
This picture of us is everything was at toaballa black girl that took our picture, but.
She's not Tonana Belle anymore.
She got must start.
She keeps it though. What a cute, what a great name. We got stickers, we got the relaxed T shirt. They have not. This is the thing about Shopify and print Full. So for those who don't know, if you I have a we have a Shopify store, which is how we which is where you go to purchase the products for Brown Ambition, but the products are actually made by print full, which is another site. They're connected, so it's pretty seamless
for me to kind of update each once. Like any platform online, it's a little bit tricky to start out to figure out how do you price things, what sizes do you want, what profit do you want? Because they will suggest a price, but if you you know you want to make the profit margin lower or higher whatever, you can adjust it. And then how do you get
your stores to the actual website and all that. It's not all that difficult at all, I would say, but I was just laughing because when I was updating our site, I was like, please tell me they have updated home Girl with the raggedy hair, because there's like not very many women of color. When you when you select your preview, you know they have like the I don't know, they'll they'll put your your design on like a stock image
of a person. And Homegirl still has not gotten I mean she just needs a little bit of like moose, like a little like hit her with a spray bottle.
But I see the exactly one.
I'm going to update this print like it's a bad.
It's a bad.
So what would you say your experience is like using Shopify? So you said it's you you, so you get to kind of like build your own being. But it's so it's it's customizable. But you say it takes a little while to get used to. That's what you're saying, So Shopify.
Okay. So this woman she creates crafty things, like she makes something, so I think Shopify is probably not the best bet for her. I think mad Yeah, Etsy is made for crafters, it's made for homemade and the other thing is Shopify. I think is best if you already have an audience like you, like we'll send people to
the site. And like Etsy, they have at least from what I remember for my friend who used to sell an Etsy like, they have supports and they have like a platform where they will they will help you show up when people are searching for certain products, like they have their own audience already kind of baked in. No one goes to shopify. I don't think to look for mittens or scarf or whatever. It's just a different kind of vibe.
Have you brought up Etsy before?
Mm hm, yeah for sure. My bye Christmas ornaments our stockings are from Etsy. I got a cute little like a knitted rainbow for the boys room from Etsy. Yeah, I'm an Etsy Etsy girl me.
I was gonna say that I because she said crafted. I said, oh my little Spidey Scienzers was like girl at s AT. Because Mandy's point, I literally go to Etsy and I will type in like, you know, gold mirror or like whatever it is I'm looking for, because I'm looking for crafty, cute, unique items handmade by people like I had this macro made planhanger that I loved so much, and someone sent me one of my most precious gifts. And when Drell passed away, someone sent me
the most beautiful memorial times. Oh my gosh, and it you put them like, well, I have them in the front of my house and like the wind the wind blows, it just sounds angelic. And at first I've learned that I send them, I usually like a wait a couple months because it can be pretty emotional when you receive them because you put them up on the first time you hear them, you just want to like, you know,
burst into a puddle. But then it becomes this beautiful remind of your love on whenever the wind blows, you know, because it literally.
Sounds like angelic.
And so it has been a gift because the gift has made me feel so connected when I hear them that I send it and people call me crying nine times out of ten and saying.
Thank you so so much. This was the best gut ever.
And I found the woman on Etsy Ola Wind or only Wind or something like that.
She makes these beautiful. I want to say, like the story is like.
She lost the like a child and she wanted to continue to stay connected. But I just say, like Etsy has this kind of built in connected story and so Shopify. I think of Etsy as more of an upfront store and Shopify as your back end. So if you already had like a platform like ground Ambition, podcaststore, dot com, Etsy, I mean, Shopify is kind of like the bank behind it, but.
Etsy is more like this is the store where you see the store window.
So if you have crafted products and like, you know, Etsy's probably going to be your best bet. Although they do say Shopify will allow you more customization, Like when I go on Etsy, there's no like every store looks kind of like the same, you know, so you can customize more with Shopify, you know. And then definitely Etsy there's higher competition because but I'll say this that, like
higher competition is not always a bad thing. Like if you notice, like whenever you drive down one of these routes, some things you see that there'll be like five different car dealerships on the same strip. Because they also know that competition brings more customers that like, I don't know if I'm going to drive all the way an hour away for to look because I just went car shopping
with my baby. We got a car, and I was like, I don't want to go all the way, this hour away for this one place that's by itself, when we can go on Roek twenty two where there's like five or six.
Car dealerships, so we could just hit him boom boom boom.
So Etsy, what I love is that, although there might be more competition, I'm already there anyway in the shopping kind of mood where I'm like, oh, there's like five candle makers on here, and yes, and may be not as many on Shopify, but I'm not going to Shopify to look for candle makers. So all in all, I think, to Mandy's point, I think Etsy is going to be a better place for.
You, and I totally forgot that I until just now. My engagement ring is from Etsy and my wedding band.
Yeah, they had beautiful rings.
Pink sapphire moment. Yeah, I'm on Etsy right now, which means I'm very distracted and.
Yeah, I mean I'm not gonna lie.
Etsy is a vibe, honey.
It's so cute.
Everything makes you say I want to buy that. Yeah, it's just so girl.
Look at us.
We are fangirl like. Etsy is the way to go de.
Ja Okay, it feels like it hasn't been overrun like Amazon like a lot of the you know, it still feels like you're helping a small business owner or like supporting a small business, kind of like when you go to a fair, a street fair or something, which is probably I'm sure there's corporations that pass for little mom and pop shops on Etsy, but yeah, I.
Have heard the Etsy girl say that, like that's what's happening more and more, but there's still some of the integrity Leftso let us know how it goes to Asia, you know, and also too, girls, share us your shop girls, because even though me and Maye is supposed to be saving, we'll like, let's go see look at I love girl.
Yeah, this is where I don't need to be right now. So we take a break and answer a second question.
Sounds good, be right back, be a Sam, and we are back y'all for our second career slash business question.
Maybe want to read it girl?
Yes, all right? So let's came from a listener from Instagram. They say call me forty where all right? Forty Ware says, Hey, cousins, I'm calling y'all my cousins because we're similar in ages. I approach forty. Okay, so boom. I just recently had a PIP meeting with my supervisor and hr rep angry face. Although the generic we want to see you thrive here statement was made, it's giving count your days because I'm
building a case. I acknowledged the PIP and didn't give a rebuttal, I want to be careful to navigate, so I don't navigate as the angry black woman because the stigma is so easily attached when we advocate in spaces where our voices have been minimized. I'm at a crossroads because i love the company and what we stand for, and I've honestly been exploring and other departments for the
past eight months. But because it appears they have more community and culture in those departments, I was hired in June twenty twenty three. Unfortunately, my fear now is that with the scarlet letter, I may be viewed as inadequate or underqualified. I'm following all the steps, but it seems like I'm fighting a battle I can't win. I ran out of characters. But your cousin needs your guidance.
Okay, cousin, Well, I'm gonna let you answer, but I have some questions, right, So Mandy, what is a pip exactly?
Oh, I love talking about pips. I actually I think we want semiviral. One time we talked about we had a clip about pips from the show. But a performance improvement plan is basically your company's gentle way of saying, like, you won't have to get up out of here, and
it's called performance improvement. The intention behind it, like if you want to put on your rose colored glasses, is an opportunity for you to get feedback from your employer on what you can do to improve, and a like an actual measurable plan for you to start to improve so that you can stay at the company and continue to thrive and do great things. As a manager, I have issued pips, and I as a career coach now I have worked with women who have been put on pips.
And the thing is like this whole expression of we're building a case here, it honestly is a bit of that. It's like, let's start a paper trail that we have
tried to improve this employee. We have tried to, you know, invest time and resources into that, but generally the breakdown happens long before the pitp happens like the breakdown wherever it is either your manager is not you know, like you're underperforming for a while, and it could be that there's like no communication from your manager, you're not properly trained.
It could be it could be that you're just having like some like even just an issue with your manager on like a personal level and you're just not working well together. And then a PIP can be used as a tool to, yeah, build a case to get you excuse me, and get you out. And so that's what a PIP is. And yeah, it's that scary meeting you have hr REP on the phone and your manager and it's a document. They ask you to sign it to
acknowledge that you've received it. And it's like thirty sixty days typically with check in points, sometimes in ninety days with check in points. And I usually say, when it comes to a PIP, if you haven't already started looking elsewhere, you need to start. Because she called it a scarlet letter, but it's it's a bit of a stain on your reputation.
I mean, you're not supposed to talk about someone who's on a PIP, like your manager is not supposed to go out and tell other team leaders, hey, watch out for so and so she's on a PIP. But it can still kind of happen, for sure, and depending on the size of your company, it could be more likely that that word has gotten around. And I would certainly think that like a manager in a different department, if they heard about you being on a pip where you are,
might think, Okay, what's that about you? I want to inherit a problem question.
Have you ever seen because you work with women on a pip, have you ever seen a pip turn around?
Yeah? I mean, I'm yes, you can turn around a PIP. I also think that like a PIP does not say. A pit basically says if we don't see market improvements, then we are going to be terminating your employment. So as long as you hit the goals that are you know, laid out before you, then yeah, you can turn around
a pit. Like but at the same time, like if you're already having issues, if there's not like real support, if there's not like a real effort to get you on task, and sometimes sometimes genuinely you need a pit because like the person is just not delivering, like and from the employer's perspective, like you're not doing your job well.
We at the end of the.
Day, we've tried to help you. You're turning up late, you're not turning in your work on time. We're having all these issues. Let's just get this done. It's a way to test you and say like, are you really It's like a it's a wake up call, like are you gonna like get it together and show up what we need you because if not, we need to move on. And I think it's fair. I think it's a fair
thing for employers to use. But it doesn't change the fact that the message to the employee that I would say is like it's time that this is not maybe the best fit for you. Let's either start looking elsewhere at the company or like outside the company. But yeah, you can for sure save it and turn it around. It just becomes like I said, like you have that
additional spotlight on you. You're going to have to get comfortable with a bit more micromanagement because your boss is going to be checking in on you, and until they build back that trust that you're going to be delivering, it's not a fun place to be definitely.
But I've done this. I remember my last yeh employee I want I would roll because you might be like gird sane right, my last employee they had to let go like this, There was some she started up amazing. I mean like everyone was like, girl, whoef you got doing? It is rocking. I was like, I know everybody on the team. And then there was a dip and I thought maybe it's me, you know, maybe it's maybe lean And then it wasn't until someone on the team was like,
it's such such okay because the work ain't working. I was like, oh, So in my head I didn't like respond. I just said, oh, I'll check in, but in my mind I thought, okay, it's not just me. And then it came up again with another employee because typically what happens is it what's more place of concern, like legitimately,
is she okay? Because this is someone who was literally a rock star and now is missing basic things the Mathea mathod and she was not new, you know, and so I actually approached her and it was like, you know, you are a freaking rock star. Something has shifted, And
I was honest. I was like, you don't got to tell me your business, but if something is happening in your personal life that's affecting your ability to show up, because I know it's not the work, because you've done this specific work with excellence, so it's not like, oh, this is new, you don't know how to do it, or you've been doing it to the point where I get feedback about how great you are for the last
two years. So if I'm assuming there's some external reason why you're not showing up, I even said, do you need us to give you like a month sabbatical, We'll pay you. Do you need breain you know, whatever it is, because I said, like, because of the role that you're in, it's really pivotal that you know I need you to show up, and if you're not because something is happening, I want to honor that and.
Give you space and grace to like take care of whatever that is.
And she's like, no, everything's fine, And I said, okay, but here are the specific ways that you know you're not showing up.
And it continued and I was like, I honestly I didn't know.
I was like, I didn't know what else to say, and I said, so I gave her another three months. I was like, she acknowledged, She's like I know, I know I messed up here, and I know that I didn't do this, and I said, what do you need from? Like, what is it that you're needing? Do you need support? Do you needn't? I didn't know what else to do, and I said, well, let's give it another three months and check it again. And I mean, she damn. I mean, and here's the thing. Maybe she just checked out.
I didn't want to do the job anymore.
And I was just like, well, you know, this is now six going on seven months of just honestly, it's just declining even more. And as I mentioned, because she's like, I totally understand. So maybe she just didn't want to do the job, but I didn't want to quit, you know how like sometimes boyfriends, Yeah, yeah, of course they like to get paid, yes, and then so maybe until now and that's okay. But I so I'm really like, oh, I've done a pit before, but I just didn't know
that's what it was called. And so she wasn't angry. She thanked me so much. It's been such a great and wonderful place to work. Maybe she found another job. I don't know, but it was the first time that I felt really good about the process, because I had given somebody almost seven months to kind of make this transition and it didn't. And she wasn't surprised. I wasn't surprised. The lines of communication were open, but to your point,
nothing had turned. If anything, it just got worse. And you know, I don't know, I'm hoping she's doing well somewhere, but yeah, so.
I could see your surprise. You got a pip like there was something. There's a bigger issue. Yeah, congress communications, and.
I made that mistake before.
People were like, what the hell I.
Used to me not confrontational tivity, but that makes it so much more. You know, it was a girl. You know, I was the worst at communication. I should be like everything's fine, everything's fine, until it was like, it's not fine. So I was really proud of myself because this was like the first time, I'm the first time that it was like girl, it wasn't.
She was a shock. She basic was like it's it's over. It's almost like, oh, you're right, you right, you buy you.
I ain't got to go home, but you do got to get on a bet of here.
What we do.
Wish you well?
And you know, I think it's great that you're looking at other roles at your company, you know, and I think you can only move with your best foot forward. So I would say, like, go ahead and start looking at those other teams, and like be transparent, like this is not the right fit, so here's why, and show them that you're willing to understand where you have fallen short and how you're sure that in this other other
team like you will be able to thrive. And hopefully you have an ally and they'll give you a shot. That could be the best case solution for both people. Company keeps an engaged employee, your boss gets to have someone else that they can work better with, you know, but she will forty ware forty thanks, be a fam don't forget.
I was gonna say, we would like you even more if they would leave, would.
You please do? And we're almost at two hundred, not that numbers matter, but we're almost at twenty six hundred reviews.
Wait, two six hundred.
Two thousand, All right, fine, I might have rounded up twenty five hundred and twenty nine, but that is a lot.
More.
If you have commented on our Instagram post but have not left us a review, then this is your opportunity to pay it forward just a little bit, okay, like Bury twenty one ninety nine, who says, by far my favorite cop podcast. I love being able to navigate my twenties with great advice. I was able to switch jobs and negotiate a salary twenty thousand dollars more than what I was making. Being able to do that as a twenty three year old black girl was a huge boost
to my confidence. I don't think I would have been able to do that without the guidance I've received simply by listening to this podcast.
Love that I want to start money. I'm just joking.
And then Anique Hugh says, one of the best finance and career advice podcasts out there, also super funny and entertaining. I love these two ladies.
I know, don't even start made because I got to tell I was like, I see your face and I'm feeling so listen.
We'll see what the review is.
I get your reviews in how we'll tipically you can always update them later.
Now, first of all, if our last viral clip shows anything, the girls is girly for you, Okay.
Yeah yeah, oh, anyway, thanks, be a fam We'll see you Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
Yea, some of y'all will see you at the light. Oh well, this is actually gonna be after the live show. Yeah, we were taping before, but by now we'll have that in our live show. And I've been hugging up on you. So check out IG because we'll be posting yeah photos and stuff like that.
So and you can tune into that episode at some point in the future. I don't know why. Yes, the next week or two. It'll be fine. You'll be fine five years.
Bye bye,