Hey, hey, hey, Hey, we're back.
We're black, We're brown.
Ambition ambition, ambition, ambition, ambition. What's up, y'all. I'm Mandy in the studio alone, but not for long. I'm joined by a fantastic guest today, Jamila sous Frant, friend of the show. She's been on a couple of times, but never since launching her very first book, which comes out this week. We're going to get into that episode, but I thought I would just take a moment and check
in see how y'all are doing. We got some really great, just so sweet, so heartfelt dms and email after the last show where we were sort of sharing about the holiday season and how it can start to feel, you know, like you're sort of getting worn down by it rather than enjoying it. I actually took my four year old and my baby, but you know, he slept through most
of it. Took my four year old on a road trip to Kingston in New York, which is about, I don't know, ninety minutes or so away from where I live, and we went on the Polar Express train, which is very Yeah. So if you see the Polar Express ads online and they target you moms and dads, listen, it's cute.
It is. But I had to like really sit with myself in my own brain and be like, be in the moment and look at this through your son's perspective, because I'm like, this hot chocolate and cookies are giving me are pretty whack. And these cookies is it's like the cookie monster recipe because this tastes like cardboard. But if I had to sort of like slow down, be
like you're here. It was so much work. It's hard enough getting the kids in the car to go to the grocery store, let alone for a ninety minute road trip. So I had to just be like, hey, feel his magic, Like look at him, he's feeling magic. He was so excited he got to meet Santa. He talked to one of Santa's elves, you know. And the train conductor, who between you and me looked to be about fourteen years old and had braces and acne, so you know, he
wasn't taking us anywhere. But the conductor came by and punched Rio's golden ticket, and it was just a lesson and you know, just being mindful and being in the moment, and I really, really, yeah, I won't forget that trip in a long time, and I'm glad that we did it. But even though it was the stress of making it happen and making those magic moments happen, just give yourselves time to sort of reflect and say okay through their eyes. That was the point. The point was to put that
smile on their face and be happy. And how the point is for you to be kind to yourself and say, I did that thing, and that thing is enough and it's okay. So my heart just goes out to anyone out there who's making those magic moments happen. Yeah, just be sure to sit with it and to be kind to yourself and take that hot bath book that mustage whatever you need to do to feel better. A couple of reminders what I feel like. I'm like a teacher now, but I want to remind Y'll Tiffany's book because I
am our unpaid publicist. Her book is out. The workbook to a company and get good with money. You can go to maidholeworkbook dot com to get your book. And just a little early holiday gift from me, your favorite career coach. I made all twenty five of my nail your negotiation scripts that used to have to paid for. I made them entirely free. Entirely free. Okay, there's no excuse to not ask for what you're worth. It's holiday review time, it's annual review season, all the things. It's
ask for what your worth season, all the time. So go to mandymoney dot com to get your free now free, yes, all of them for free. Twenty five negotiations scripts on everything on how to ask for a raise, how to ask for stock, how to ask for a signing bonus, what to do if they say know, what to do if they say yes, how to counter all of the goodies. Go check it out. It's yours for freemandymoney dot com and I hope that you use them and they work out incredible for you. Please send us your DMS. Your
messages mean so much. And while you're at it, don't forget to review the show and drop us a five star review if you're so inclined. If you like us, you know on iTunes Wait wait, they don't call it iTunes anymore. Apple podcasts. That would be amazing. And from BAFAM to y'all, happy holidays. Now without further ado, I am going to get out of my own way so that y'all can be poured into by the one and only Jamila Souffrant of Journey to Launch. Hey, hey, bafam,
we're back. We're black, We're brown, brown ambition. Okay, I'll do my own part. Ambition, ambition, ambition, ambition. What's up, y'all. It's your girl, Mandy Money, and I am here so today, but not for long. I have a very very spectacular guest, someone who I don't know. I feel like a couple of years ago, I was like, I want to get to know her better, and now I can say that she is a friend, a peer, and I'm so so excited to tell you guys all about her.
Brand new book.
Why did I do the Oprah voice for that? I don't know, it just happened. But before I get into that, because I've known Jamila for a couple of years now, but y'all may be hearing from her for the first time, let me give you a little bit of her statue, a little bit of her background. Her name is Jamila Sousfront and she is the author of Your Journey to Financial Freedom, a step by step guide to achieving wealth
and happiness, emphasis on the Happiness. It is debuting What's Today Tomorrow Tuesday, So if you're listening to this on Wednesday, go and get the book. It's in stores right now. She's also the host of the Journey to Launch podcast. She's a go to thought leader in the personal finance field and her work has been featured everwhere like BuzzFeed, Essence for Finer twenty nine, Business Insider, CNBCCBS, and This Morning,
Good Morning America. We can add to that list. Her podcast, Journey to Launch has over four million total downloads and was named by The New York Times No Big Deal as a podcast to help you get better with your money.
So today I'm having Jamila on the show to talk about her book, of course, and because we get into the nitty gritty on here, we'll talk about the book journey and the business journey that she has been on and how her and her husband saved nearly one hundred and seventy grand in just two years while also having three children in Brooklyn, New York. Like the math is not mathing here, I have questions. Okay, So Jamila, without further ado, welcome to the BA STU. It's good to have you back.
Oh, Mandy, It's great to be say having me.
I'm so excited for you, as you can tell, because I forgot you were going to be on the show, so I texted you today as if I wasn't about to talk to you in a couple of hours. H How does it feel your book baby is born?
Oh my god. Yeah, you know, it's still surreal. I feel like it's not. But I am one of those people where it has to be happening for me to feel like it's happening. And now it's like it is happening, So Jamila is happening. So it feels great. I mean, I'm it's kind of nerve wracking because now the whole world gets to open up a very importantant thing that I've done and read it and have opinions about it
and hopefully it will be helpful to them. But this is the first time, like the general public gets to see this versus like not me or my editor or book coach, who I feel like they're nice and they're helping me. But this is gonna introduce me, hopefully to a whole new audience and you know, interested to hear the feedback of what people will start saying when they read the book.
Tell me why a book in a time when I feel like, I mean, I know why I'm writing a book right now, but I want to know from you. What was it that you felt like, Okay, it's time, this is the book I need to write.
You know, I like to look at things strategically and serendipitously, meaning you know, yes, some things you do because it makes sense, it's logical, and then some things you just cannot deny when they need to happen. And I've been approached to write a book years ago at the start of my journey, but you know, those were not in the way in which I'd want a deal. So I didn't have an established platform at the time, so I knew I wouldn't get the best book deal. One a
publishing company approached me. They just wanted a name behind, they already had the concept, they just wanted me to be the author of it and all those things. I was like, no, I'm not ready, it's not time. But I knew as I was establishing myself and growing that I wanted to do the traditional publishing route and I wanted to do another meeting. You know, I have the podcast, but not everyone listens to podcasts, and even people who
do listen to podcasts don't know my podcast exists. And even so there's still so many questions I want do right, Well,
that's the thing. So but I still even have podcast listeners who are like, I love this content, but you know, I have to go to this episode in this episode, And I thought to myself, you know, having another vertical and media platform, adding this extension to my brand, to help solidify all the information that I've spoke about and over the hundreds and hundreds of episodes, to put it in a book and a guidebook that someone can flip through and I can say here, here are like all
the answers to all your questions that you have about financial independence, just felt like the next thing to do.
It's like I could no longer deny that it was the right time, and that because I was going to the traditional route and it would take a couple of years for it to be done, that when I signed my deal, I was still solidifying, growing and getting my concepts together, and so I do by the time it came out that I'd be in a place to fully enjoy and bring this book to light in the way that it needed to be brought.
I feel exactly the same about like what you were saying about it is a two year process. So you sort of know, Okay, I can get the book deal, and then I can keep growing, I can keep doing all that. But then it's like, oh crap, Now I got to write a book while I'm doing all of that. So how did you How did you manage a time? Plus you got three kids and they're not little. They
got lives, they got activities. You know, they want their mama, So tell me a little bit about the process and how you made it happen.
So it was hard. It's like being a parent. You know, people tell you how hard it is to be a parent. And I did a lot of research in terms of writing the book and what it looked like. I listened to people podcasts that just talked about writing. And as much as someone tells you, just like being a parent, the things you can expect, you don't know until you are in the thick of it. And so I felt
that I did need support. So one of the things that I did is that I'm not afraid to invest in myself or to invest to see the results I want. And I knew getting a book coach was going to be important, and I was going to pay for that out of my own pocket, someone who could help motivate me, help in additional edits that I would need to help guide me through the process. So that was a big help. I don't know if I would have survived without having
my book coach that I hired. And then on top of that, the timeframe for my book, actually I felt was shortened because I thought it was going to come out in twenty twenty four. So when I first signed my deal, it took quite a time for me to actually sign it, but I was writing. I started writing anyway, and I thought it was going to come out in twenty twenty four, which gave me more time. And then when we finally did sign the contract, they were like, yeah,
we're thinking about December twenty twenty three. I'm like, what I thought. I had a couple more months, And so that put a bit of pressure on me to get things done, especially now with the kids. Like you said at my kids are nine, seven and five, very energetic, very rambunctious, and a lot of my writing had to take place in the summertime, which for me, I always like to say, I actually don't like working in the
summer around my birthday or holidays. So basically there's like two months out of the year that I like to work if that. And so the summer was so hard because I would want to go to the beach. I didn't want to sit and sit still to write. But I knew that I had these deadlines, and I do work pretty well with deadlines. You know, if you tell me something is due in an hour, I'm gonna I'm
gonna find a way to get it done. And so that really helped, and having the book coach and really always coming back to the purpose of writing the book. So yes, I do want more people to discover the podcast and learn. But I thought to myself, my goal right now is to write something that will last, you know, beyond me and have an impact bigger than bigger than
I could imagine. And am I staying true to that in the writing process even if I'm scared And I felt like I did, and so I would let that guide me when I felt nervous about writing or sitting down, I felt that unease that comes along with writing a book.
Yeah, the unies, the in between, I can be in between I can. So it took me a couple of stabs to get my first chapter done. So far, I haven't hired a book coach because I'm not opposed to it and I think I might be like a first reader. When you say book coach, do you mean so you had a proposal coach. You're the one who taught me that there were things like a proposal coach, you know. So, but you had a coach also helping you through the writing process, which I know a lot of people do.
Yeah, So there's so many ways you can work with people to help you. And so, yes, I had someone help me with my proposal, which was amazing. And then when it came to doing the book now now that I actually know more, knowing what I know now, I would have actually hired her in a different way. So she was a book coach slash developmental editor. So she helped me when we came back with how do we
set the book up? How do we get all these thoughts and ideas and frameworks and tackle is every audacious goal of trying to lay out people's path to financial independence and put it in a book that makes sense. So she helped me figure out like, all right, you know what if we broke the book down in these sections or this part or what chapters should we use? And then she did some line editing and helped out
a lot in that sense. But I knew that I wanted to write it myself, so I didn't want to have a ghostwriter or someone to write it for me. But I knew i'd need additional help for grammatical and line editing. But I actually would have hired her to do more line editing and grammatical things, because while my publisher did that, I felt like she was so good
at capturing like every single thing. And now that I know what I need going forward, if I write another book, I can confidently hire her in this way to say, Okay, this is what I actually need, this is how we're going to work together.
I'm gonna need her details. Yes, how'd you find her?
She's amazing. I found her through my agents, who we have the same agents.
Right, Oh okay, well I did ask them, so maybe they'll give me the same maybe, And I don't remember the name that they gave me, because sometimes you know, as a mom, I'll just be fire and text off and I'm like I'll get they're gonna send me an answer. I'll look at it when I need it next time.
And I did want a woman. I wanted, uh, you know, preferably one of one woman of color, preferably a black woman. And I thought that, you know, when they had her as a contact, I was like, yeah, let's go. And then she was just I mean, she went above and beyond because again I hired her in a certain capacity, but I needed her for more and she she just
went above and beyond and she still does. Like she helped me figure out some of this details for the book cover because she worked in the publishing science today.
Yeah, like and just for a minute, yeshit with that juice, I keep juicy, juicy, juicy Tomila cover. Yes, like I said, I just want to take a bite. So weird. It's gorgeous. The orange and this is why I am wearing the one orange shirt that was in my closet. I would I was going to go for the yellow hoodie, but Husby saundoks like a taxi cab and I just can't hear it, so I can't put it on. But here you go.
Well, you know, also with her, and thank you for that. I just think in general, when I think this can go just beyond the book writing process, because I did this with the podcast. Also is that when I got interested in something. I talk about this in the book, when you get interested in something and you see someone doing something. So I saw someone in one of our payers get a book deal and she shared that, you know,
she had this person helped her with the proposal. She shared who her agents were, like she shared, and I asked, I asked her directly, like hot, what did you do? And I'm one of those people I click on hyperlinks. I talk about it in the book that something is of interest to you, click on the hyperlink like you want on the page that you're reading online, and it takes you deeper and deeper. And sometimes hyperlinks take you to pots of gold and changes your life, and sometimes
they're nothing. And for me, it was about I want to write a great book. I want to put myself in a position to get the best deal. What are the things I need to do to do that? And who can I talk to who have done those things, and what were the resources they use? And can I do that? And that's kind of like how I went about like who I hired or what I invested in to help me get to this point.
That's so so smart, and that's why I love podcasting in general, and my background's a journalist is because it's all about that double click. And I just like, I don't like it when I don't feel like I get something from one page. I got to go to the
next page. And like, everyone who knows me really deeply and personally is like, stop asking me questions, Like I'm like, I just want to I need to understand every single angal Okay, But that's so wise and smart because it you assume, like correctly that no one's doing it alone. And that is the great gift I feel like, of seeing how the sausage is made when it comes to I mean, you can put anything in that category, not just publishing a book, but launching a business, even you know,
going on your journey toward financial independence. It's a lot to do it alone. It's too much. And then if you want to like have a social life, eat well, work out, do your thirty minute runs like you do. Be a woman, be a wife, be a sister, friend, Like, oh my gosh, so to get that help is such a great, such a great, uh, you know, just a great thought to have, and it's and it's liberating in and of itself. But then to execute it and find the exact help that you need from the right places. Yeah,
I love that you said that. Okay, so break down the book for me, because I don't have a copy yet. I don't know what happened. Do you not have my address.
Or I'm not sure.
Apparently Barnes and Noble and Random Places has it, but my Amazon has not come yet.
I no doubt. Well, you know you're coming to the party in preview, Remember you're coming to the party, so you get a signed book then also excited for the party. Yeah.
So thinking through what I wanted and how I want, this is a very ambitious book to write, because I wanted to really map out and share how someone who either if you knew about the concept of financial independence, which is this ability to live off of just your investments and not how to actively work for someone just new hearing about it for the first time, or who has an idea of what it is, how would I explain to them how this works and how they can
apply it to their life and start their journey. And so I ended up breaking out the book in four parts. So the part one is about the why and how financial independence, and it breaks out like what it is, why you need to pursue it, and then breaks out the journey or stages that you need to go through to reach financial independence, and so it's really like sets
the stage for your journey. Part two, now, I think, is, you know, one of my favorite parts because these are literally the things I did when I started my journey to get me to where I am today. So Part two is about how do you map out your journey, your enjoyable journey. What does it look like, what is your starting point, what is your end point? How do you go from being in debt and think about how long you want it to take you to have investments or to get to the different stages that I talk
about in the book. And so it lets you app out and sit down and figure out how to apply these concepts to your life. And so again Part one and two are all conceptual. You know, there's not a lot of doing, you know, there's a lot of learning being setting the stage for your journey. And then part three is about executing like the plan that you just set in Part two, So you know you want to reach financial.
And don't skip to part three because that would be so me right, skip to the how too. I have a feeling you're going to be much better prepared for the part three that if you start right into it. Yeah.
Well, and plus you know I talk about.
A book, not a blog post. Okay, read the book right.
It's so here's okay, Okay, I'm going to go through and how people. It's going to be best for people to use the book to help them. So Part three is about executing the things you want to do in part two, so you said you want to reach financial independence or get out of debt in five years, ten years,
fifteen years. What are the things that you actually need to do that will help you do that or what are the actual things like increasing your income, optimizing expense is, working on your mindset and habits, paying down liabilities, increasing assets, all these things and legitimate, just actionable items that you
can do. And then part four is about enjoying the journey, because this is a long journey to financial independence, and how do you make it so that you are achieving freedom on your way and happiness that you're not waiting for this far off goal. And so what will happened is like it happened for me. Is when I first started my financial independence journey, I had mapped it out, so I did my part one and two. Part one for me was learning about it through podcasts or reading
blogs on my commute to work. And then I discovered, Okay, how am I going to apply that to my life, Like I want to reach financial independence by forty years old is what I said seven years ago? And what do I need to do to make that happen? How long it will take, how much do I need to
invest or pay down debt to do this thing. Then I started my journey and I realized some of the things that I did, like you've mentioned in my intro, saving and investing one hundred and sixty nine thousand dollars in two years was amazing, but not sustainable for my journey. And so some of the things I initially thought I would do, like work full time to help me reach my goal and still commute, grow, growing my family, and
have my business on the side. I thought I would do that for the next seven years, and as I started to do it, I was like, oh, no, this is not sustainable, So I need to actually make a decision here to quit my job, but doing that would change my journey, and so I had to go back to like the part two and map out what does this new journey look like? How do I create or adjust a plan that works for the current stage of
life I'm in. So the way I want people to interact with the book is, yes, read it through one time and actually do the things within the book. But as you start your journey, you may need to come back right to part two as you start executing, to say, you know what, that feels great, But I don't want to be as aggressive. You know, I don't need to reach it financial independence in five years and be so aggressive because I actually am working on finding more enjoyable
work or paying down debt. And so if it takes me a little longer, because you know, I'm into the stage of my life of growing a family or taking a risk, that's fine. Let's go back to part two of the book and map out this new plan. And that's what I did, And so I really try to make it where you can come back and recalibrate and use it as a reference point even after you've read it through, to help you and to continue to help you on your journey.
Okay, be a fan. We're going to be right back with more of our conversation with Jamila Souffront and we're back. Well, first of all, I love that you're acknowledging that it's not like you're it's not like you're saying retire by forty,
you know, and here's what you got to do. Because almost it's almost like it's turning the idea of retirement on its head and saying, instead of working really hard to enjoy the few years you have left after you stop working, start building a life financially but also personally where you can enjoy what you have going on now while you're also building to sustain it, you know, for
the future. So like in our audience, like they've heard about five financial independence, they've heard about five or financial independence, retire early. Is this your take on it essentially, And how what's the reception been from the fire fanatics if there has been any at all, And how do you think your approach is different?
Yeah, you know, it's so interesting about fire, the fire community and movement. I feel like when I first started, it wasn't as on the surface diverse in terms of voices and people. But now I think it's totally different.
I think there are a lot of great voices, blogs or podcasts or people from different backgrounds who are talking about reaching it in a way that feels good to them and so whether that is they're not living super frugally, they want to spend a lot of money and so, but they are investing and earning money accordingly to that goal. Like so, I think the community itself has broadened and
is awesome. I feel like it is my take on financial independence because you know, going through it myself and the journey and making really great strides with my finances doing it. What I thought was a traditional fireway, which was being aggressive with investing and saving, which you do need to be more aggressive than the average person dealing with their money if you want to reach this audacious goal. But I definitely focus more on enjoying the journey and
adjusting as you go. And then coming from my perspective as a black woman, as an immigrant, as a mom and wife living in New York City, I just I feel like that perspective I didn't see when I first came in and that I'm now highlighting and showing, like the diversity of this journey and what it can look like depending on your starting point. And I think ultimately
what I've been able to do. You know, I always like to say when I wrote my proposal, when I got my proposal, we worked on it together with the person I hired, and we sent it out and I got the agents and they sent it out that I had eleven I think I had a meetings with eleven or twelve publishers. Eleven of them wanted the book, so it went to auction meeting like.
They name.
Zame. But I had these meetings with the publishers and you know, they've seen a lot of not public yet when they were interested in buying the book. So we have these kind of meetings to see if we like each other, like to learn more about me, I learn more about them, and you know, they see a lot of proposals, they see a lot of books, and you know, Mandy, we are in the money space. There's but some ways
you can talk about how to budget and investing. It's literally it's just you can google like all these things
and find it. I think what people appreciated, the publishers appreciated, and I think what I brought still to the book and stay true to is this fresh approach on making it attainable, achievable, enjoyable, and just reframing like certain concepts that maybe people have not thought about before, Like, Okay, we talk about financial independence and yeah, so many people don't think it's possible because depending on where they're starting from,
I can see why. And so let's break out what the journey looks like into five stages that anyone can identify where they are. Or there's a cool concept that I created called the Quak levels walk lifestyle levels. So depending on what you like and how fancy you want to be is going to determine the type of money you're going to need to invest or safe to get to financial independence. And none of those choices are wrong. Your journey or stage is never going to be wrong.
What you choose to live for your lifestyle is not wrong. It's your choice. But breaking it out into these ways that people you know, I will hope find refreshing is my take on what it takes to bring more people within to the space and to believe that they can achieve financial independence.
Wow, eleven publishers. Sorry, I'm still stuck on that. That's not a thing that happens. It happened in one book, you know, a couple few, but not eleven. No, that's fantastic. And I mean the bidding war. You know, I'm a negotiation goal, so the bidding the negotiations must have been real fun for Steven Chan our agents. I feel like when I look at the books, I was just thinking about this because I I the books that have come
out are coming out now. It's like getting to see the fruits of trees that were planted, you know, two, three, four years ago, starting of course with Tiffany's, but then the wave that's comes since. You know, I think about the cover for your book, and I think about the cover for Vivian two, your rich bff, she's going to be on the show later this month or in January sometime. And I think about the cover for Janice Torres Jokido Dinano. Her book is like pop in bright pink, and you know,
Tippany's got that green. Then there was financial feminists with like the sort of like punk rock sort of look, and I'm just I'm like the shelves at the bookstores could never you know, like the shelves of five years ago could never there's going to be a whole section and it's going to be like I will tell my children these were the Barbies, this is the Barbie dolls
that you can collect. Because it's just not to trivialize it, but it's just it's stunning how we kind of go from a time when there's so few and now you're looking at the shelves and it's still not enough, mind you, but it's like, Okay, something has changed. There's a shift in that, there's an acceptance there, and I'm so excited that you're one of those voices. It's so so needed. Okay, I want to ask you kind of a personal question after you receive.
That yes, I'm receiving it.
I know it's hard to receive. It's really hard, easy to give, hard to receive. As I was writing the first chapter of my book, you know, I took two stabs that excuse me, and I was really surprised what an emotional like personal journey I went on. I do talk a lot about my personal life, you know, as a coach and through the podcast, which is true, but when it comes to really unpacking my journey from like the mindset phase, you know that the impact of my
childhood and young adolescence really had on my approach. It kind of like it just knocked me down. I was I wasn't expecting the emotional side of it, and even to share some anecdotes that I ended up putting in the first chapter. So I wanted to ask you because I know you talk about your Jamaican heritage and your relationship with your mom and the sacrifice is that she had to make. Was there anything that you were almost hesitant or surprised, you know, ended up in your story in the book.
Yeah, you know, I think I always knew I wanted to lead with my mom and make sure I gave her homage because everything that I am and that you see is because of like who she was and what
she sacrificed. So you know, she had me at pretty young at twenty years old and immigrated here from Jamaica to the States, had to leave me behind to help establish herself, and so sharing that in the book, and I remember I went there was a point where I went to Atlanta to write like for a week because I was like, I have deadlines I need to meet and my mom was there. So my mom and I hung out in Atlanta, and she was telling me more of her story, like where she like, like how she
was raised. And I knew some of this. I knew this, but we really just wanted to learn more because I knew I was going to be bringing some of that into the book, and I, you know, there were there's some parts where I'm just like, how blessed am I to have a mom like that who, even though she was not given the opportunities to express herself or she didn't get the kind of love and support that she needed as a child, that she like turned around and gave that to me, you know, like you know, some
people repeat the cycle and some people break it. And my mom smashed it, like she she's like, we're not doing that. And she did every and to do that at such a young age. So all that I wanted to make sure it came through in the book because I also knew that. You know, I feel like I'm privileged and it's not a bad thing, you know. I don't when people like get all offended when you you know, you say that you have privilege or you had to help.
I just feel like it's supposed to be that way, Like our kids will have help you know, like they would be the product and have a bit more privileged than we did. And the points as long as they're not you know, ENTI old you know a holes, right, we don't want that, But isn't that the point? And so I know that some people, if they see my story and see what I'm doing now, they probably look at it and they're like, oh whatever, Like easy for you to say because you had all these things which
it worked hard for. But again there's some privilege in that, you know, being able to be here or be raised here, versus some of my siblings who were stayed in Jamaica. And so sharing my mom's story and making sure like it started with her and what she had to do in order to produce me, I think was important to
share and made it into the book. And of course there were just some parts where you know, I wanted to be careful about who I included or how I included them, because you know, while it does impact me, it's just not I also don't want to step on or you know, share things that don't need to be shared if I can still accomplish the story and the mission of the story. So I just feel like, yeah, there were a bit of that, and I bet you
it's so funny. Even though I wrote it and I read the audiobook, I bet you, if I read it again and through and through, I'd probably remember like, oh, yeah, I put that in. I'd probably forget that.
Yeah, oh I know. And it's like okay if I have to. If I'm putting something and I'm like I might need to run this by them, I'm like, cool, cool, I'm waiting till the very bitter end when I know it's maybe going to get published. Well, that's that's amazing. Has your mom read it yet?
She has a copy? I don't think she's read it. She might have read, you know, the dedication and acknowledgment. I don't know she knows that. I would be very careful, you know, so like when I talk, you know, I'm talking more about her and like, you know me, because it was just the two of us for a very long time versus like bringing other people into it. You know.
I feel like if I were to write another book or be more personal like that would be you word, I'd have to like run things by people and be like, all right, a lot of shit.
Yeah, I only scratched the service in the first book. I gotta dig deep. Now we got to get some skeletons, kind of get some skeletons on the gladst Okay, so people are going to get this book, and I mean it's a perfect time around the holidays. I can see why your publisher was like, let's push it into December. But what's the first thing you hope someone does when they close it?
Oh my gosh. The first thing I hope someone does after they read it or even read your a portion of it, is to have this incredible sense that it's possible for them. Like I want whatever dreams that they had that they thought like oh, you know, like that's not something I should be pursuing or that's silly or I can't do that. Like I want them to look at this and read this and say, wait a second, now, like maybe this can be done. And I mean that's
the whole goal. Like for me, I know, financial independence is a very audacious goal. I know when people roll their eyes at herring fire, like okay, really, like I have this much debt, I'm so maybe I'm I'm so much older, I started lay all these things and I get it. But what you'll be able to accomplish with your life even if you don't reach complete financial independence in the timeframe that you've set out for yourself. Just like me, I said I was going to reach it
at forty years old. I would never have to work ever again. You know, I'd be done. And I'm you know that age now, So I feel so bad saying it. I can't even say it.
Sometimes fabulous and forty, I know, right, it's okay because you got the melon and you love twenty five.
Right right that part. So, but what's amazing is what I've been able to do with my life, like accomplishing, having freedom, the opportunities, doing these things in my life where I literally am living that life financially independent life now. Of course I'm not like spending in ways that I probably would spend, or I still do have to show up and work here and there. But I have much more freedom than I thought I could ever have starting
this journey seven years ago. And I'm not completely financially independent. So I just feel like I want someone when they read this book, and yes, I'm like dangling this audacious goal in front of you, and I want you to attempt to do it because I know in the attempt that you will blow your mind about how your life can change. And that's what I want people to understand about what can happen for them if they start this journey. It's just it's not about the number. It's not about
you know, getting X amount in your investment accounts. It's about who you become on the journey and path. And I just I want to shout from the mountaintops because it happened in my life, and it happened in so many other people's lives that either I interviewed or I say in the book, I profile in the book, and I'm just like, listen, you don't understand, but life is waiting for you, like it's possible. You just got to attempt to do it.
Yeah, I agree. I mean when I launched my business, it was it was exciting and invigorating and all of that. And some days I get really beat down by the some of the burdens of being a business owner. You know, for example, my husband has a traditional nine to five, but he has like a boss. So when his bosses like show up, he just shows up. And I'm like,
you just do what they say. You just have to go, which means I am like a business owner but also sort of like a mom, a stay at home mom at the same time, and I'm just like, this is too hard. How can I be both and all that? Well? First I look to people like you, and I'm like, higher help. I think about how you got someone to cook meals for you? Is she still cooking or you?
We don't do that right now, but we might need to start again because we were struggling.
The way that I sent Panera to my son's school today, he's four. I door dashed him his lunch because I was trapped. I was nap trapped at home with the baby, and the lunch just didn't make it into his backpack this morning. And I was like, hmm, I can't. I'm going to just have to spend this twenty dollars right here to get him some mac and cheese. And it was done. You know what I mean. Old me would have been like, I can do this. Put the baby in the car. Oh he's crying, give him a bottle,
he'll be funny. You can nap later, you know, stress, stress, stress, make the sandwich and you know, unnecessary. Where was it going with this? I just feel like it's mom brain. Yeah, I just think that there's so many on the positive side. When I thought about my work day today, I was like, I know, I have the podcast with you in the middle of the day. I get to stay home a
few hours. I get to take a nap later if I need to, you know, I get to have this conversation with you, and no one is sort of jerking me in any direction. You're on the show because I wanted you to be here. No one's forcing that, and there is and you know, and I'm not financially free in the sense that I never have to, you know, ever work again. And you know, I'm on my own journey. But the journey feels good and I love and I keep looking at your book title. I like, it's the
journey to financial freedom. I almost feel like they should have made that word the biggest one. But it's the journey. And it's like, what are how how is your journey gonna go? And are you gonna look back on it and think, oh, hell, yeah, we have some good times and look we're here now, or are you going to
look back and be like, oh, I remember nothing. It was such a slog It was it was bitter, it was a fight, you know, And I love that you're sort of making it something that can be positive, something that can be as bright and glowing and gorgeous as that the cover.
Yeah, book, I mean, it's meant to be enjoyable. So I think life, you know, there's so many things happening in this world and so many reasons why we can just say, you know, what's the point. And when I think like that, you know, I just have to be reminded and center myself back to like there's a reason why I woke up this morning, Like what am I doing this for? You know? And I ultimately, yes, money is a tool and we need to understand how to use it to our own benefit. But it's you know,
it really is just a tool. It's made up, you know, like literally the printed when they want to right, And I think just understanding that and being your biggest asset.
So I know we talk a lot in the finance world about like investing in assets and all these things externally, and I really think so the big part of the book too is yes, I'm asking you to do these external things and to do things, but it's really about being It's about your mindset and habits and who you are despite the numbers, despite being in debt, despite not understanding something and still figuring it out, despite being nervous to go ask for that raise, or to put your
hand up, you know, in a meeting, or to stand up for yourself, despite even if you don't do it right away, maybe it takes you five meetings to raise that hand. It's just who are you in that process and recognizing like the smallest you know, you know, even just raising your hand a little bit, like that's when because you didn't do that before. And so like for me, it is about the journey and like reveling in that and like enjoying it and making it uniquely your own.
So everyone's starting point is different. Everyone's going to have different privileges or assets that they can use to help them or you know whatever. And so I just think understanding that and wanting to relay that to people and say, like listen, it's it's gonna take some work, but it doesn't have to be miserable, and you'll have so much more happiness once you do focus on the internal journey as well as yacht one outward one that it's going to be well worth it once you start.
Were there ever times on the journey where you questioned like is this working? Am I gonna? Is this going to happen? Can you talk about any of those moments and what sort of kept you going?
Well? Of course, yes, and in all aspects of my life, whether it was my entrepreneurship journey, and they all intertwine, right, like they're all kind of intertwined together, these roads that were on in paths, my motherhood journey, you know, my financial journey, like all these things were you know, I remember when I quit my job and at the time, Journey Launch wasn't making anything there of what my job was making, but I just had this desire that you know, this, this was what was next for me.
You've had that hell commute three hours?
Yeah, it was like one and a half hours one way on a good day, you know, and so I was just like this is not like I can't and so but there were times when you know, I wasn't making money, or we were pulling from our savings account to help pay for our expenses because I didn't have my income anymore, where I thought like what did I just do? And that's when, you know, after some of those feelings I'd go back to the plan I created, and I reassured myself that, Okay, worst case scenario, what
is going to happen, You'll be okay. I always like to tell people look back. So when I get those feelings, whether it was like why did I like, you know, is this going to work? Even writing the book, I'm just like, even though things were going so well, I have to like remind myself, and I tell people to remind yourself, like of all like it took to get you here, Like, there are a lot of things that went right. I know some things are going wrong, but there are a lot of things that went right to
get you here. Listen to this our voices to put you in the position you are today. And that's kind of what I always go back to, is like, look at like you're doubting yourself and writing this book, but look what got you here. Look how many people were interested in this book. There's a reason for that. And so I just I try to cent her back into so much amazing things have happened. Who's like, why would
it stop? Right? As long as I continue to have the faith and I'm living what I hope is a good life and being a good person like that, all that will continue.
Yeah, it's that. It's I think I wrote about the post about this recently too. It's like, what would you five years ago be amazed that you're doing right now? I mean, I bet five years ago you'd be like, I kind of want to write a book and dang girl on the GMA. But jumbo tron and your book on shelves. Congratulations, and thank you so so much for sharing a bit of your journey with the ba fam and for being a returning guest. That's your second or third time. I don't know you can come back a
friend of this sh shoe. All right, y'all, go grab your copy and buy some for your family, your friends, anyone to put in that stocking. Get it extra big stocking in this year. Okay, just shove it on in there. The bank again. It's called your what's that? Go ahead?
No, no, go ahead, No, it's gonna be the website. I'm gonna get there.
Don't you worry, because you know you can tell you've been uh, you've been tutored by Tiffany when you domain for your book.
All right.
The book is called Your Journey to Financial Freedom, A Step by step guide to achieving wealth and happiness and it's out right now. And what is the website where everyone can cop that book?
Jamila? You can go to your Journey to Financialfreedom dot com and see all the places you can buy.
Awesome. And you got some freebies or some like goodies, right or was that for the pre orders now?
Actually I'm gonna I'm gonna keep it up until I think maybe next week. But you get a free course and some goodies when you order a hard copy of the book and you put your information in at your Journey to Financialfreedom dot com. I have a starter fire course. Tell people get started. And it's a great compliment to the book Your Journey to Financialfreedom dot com.
I hope it is a huge success no matter what happens. You did a thing, Mama, You wrote a book. It's incredible. I want to be you when I grow up in two years from now. Okay, all right, y'all be sure to go to your financial your Journey to Financialfreedom dot com and Jamila take care. We'll see y'all pretty soon. Actually, because Jamala is sticking around for the VAQA, So go
ahead and check out that episode. Hitting your phones or your I was about to say Radio, that's not No one has those coming to you on Friday with the VAQA will be taking some of your financial freedom questions, all right Bye,