Hey, hey, hey, a little jazz for you. I'm back. We're black, we're brown. It's Tiffany and Mandy.
I'm doing jazz hands.
Can you feel it? I can feel it.
I had to dig deep those jazz, those jazz hands too. It's been a long week. It's only Tuesday.
Oh, so what's going on.
Let's look at the headlines real quick. So everyone do not Like, first of all, I did this myself, so I shouldn't really tell you not to. But don't go to Trader Joe's and stock up on avocados now because you're worried about the Mexico trade tariffs. That are you know, someone's president and wants to start imposing they're coming from my avocados, y'all, which is like the most important Mexican
import in my life. Did you hear after news broke that Trump was considering this five percent tariff on Mexican imports, Chipotle stock went down. No, Yeah, well I can see why because their guac is delicious.
Yeah.
They go through something like over like hundreds of thousands of avocados a day they go through Okay, yeah, yeah.
Even though guac is extra, peopleut online.
I mean, I'll pay two dollars extra. It's delicious, it is, and you know what what you're paying for is someone went and found that avocado and waited for it to be ripe enough to cook, like not to cook, but to prepare because you know how it is like when you go to the store and all the avocados are hard, Yeah, and you have to wait four days for them to ripen.
You know.
So I'll pay that extra two dollars, Sure, I.
Will, exactly. But it's a crazy because I was reading that like cars, you're looking at spending an additional like thousands of two thousand dollars more because of this trade tariff that might that's going to happen.
Yeah, it's not just avocados, although that's what I think about. Yeah, like tons of cars. You know, commercial vehicles come from Mexico. Computer equipment comes from Mexico. A lot of stuff comes from Mexico. If you thought China China, what am I talking about? If you thought China tariffs were, we're bad,
these can be equally harmful. I don't know if it'll happen, though, I got an alert from the Times earlier that Senate Republicans, so Trump's people supposedly are aligned together against the tariffs, so we'll see if he but you know, he's been known to go against his his uh supposed to follower his base, you know, when it suits him best. So we'll see or maybe all of his time with our dear Queen Elizabeth in London, will we'll chill him out a little bit.
Yeah. I was like, oh gosh, I know, first of all, to hilarious some of the some of the backlash. You know, did you see the big Trump baby blint or whatever that they were they were walking down the street. I'm not gonna lie. Always get a little kickle out of those all those called efforties.
I think an effigy is something you burn.
Yeah, well they had those two.
I mean you could burn it. No, that is like a giant like a Thanksgiving Day balloon. But it looks like a Trump baby, like a cry baby. I mean, art is accurate sometimes that is exactly what it feels like.
I got in trouble for sharing fake news though I shared a well technically the Daily The Daily Show shared it first on the ground, but there's a picture of him going around, you know, lined up with the Queen and the and Prince Charles and Camilla and everything and and and uh and Malania looking out elegant and then Trump standing there in like some khaki pants and a polo shirt, and I was like, this is what it was so believable. I grammed it to some of my friends.
Is that what she's Is that what the kids say? I grammed it, I DMed it. I don't know.
I never you're not generation.
I took a month off Instagram and now I don't know my people anyway, I said, And they're like fake news.
Oh.
I felt like such an idiot. I hate that. I hate that I shared fake news. But whatever the other on the other.
Hand, and it wasn't like, you know, at work.
It was karma. Yeah, I didn't like, you know, write an article for the world, but yeah, so that's happening. And back in America, if you weren't stunned to death by Beyonce's lion King or what was it, like a lioness outfit that she wore for her mom's Wearable art gala, which just looks like the most beautiful, blackest party in the entire world. Like I wish I would get an invite,
but that's never gonna happen. So Beyonce was rocking that and then her husband Jay Z Don't Sleep on Him became hip hop's first billionaire apparently.
Yeah, that is amazing. At first, I was like, wait, is this like as a couple because I thought they've been a billion member when Beyonce had in her song like of course there's some some things go down when there's a billion dollars in the elevator, and I was like, they are already a billion dollar a couple altogether, and you were like they are, But he singularly, separately is a billion is his network is a billion dollars? Which I was like, whoa.
Yeah, he's not a stay at home dad. You guys, he's been very, very busy. I was just trying to remember. I'm like, what is Jay got going on? But he's really been singular and the fact that he's been adamant with his career in owning things, not just being you know, being beholden to a record label. He launched his own or beholden to even like streaming services like you said, he launched title. So that's where the wealth is.
Do say? I think it's like his alcohol company, you know, He's got this rap where he says, I'm not a businessman, I'm a business man. I'm like, so you are.
And it's in that comma that it's worth a billion dollars exactly.
And just of course there's like his music and stuff. But you know, but it's just it's pretty amazing and you're like, wow, that's pretty amazing.
So he's not just mister bay No.
You know, people love to say that, but you know, this is someone who's been making moves behind the scenes, and so we have to, you know, give him his respect. I mean that's you know, I mean, he's the he Wow. He is, according to Black Enterprise, the fifth black billionaire in the United States.
That's crazy in all of history.
Well, like I think currently, I'm like wow, real, yeah, so he beat out Doctor Dre, he beat out Diddy. Yeah. I just I'm honestly really just like wow. So it's you know, it expanses he and encompasses liquor are to real estate, steaks and company like Uber.
Okay, oh I did read that, like Beyonce and him invested big in Uber or something.
Yeah, they included like it's like a seventy million dollars steak in Uber, which is now worth two hundred and twenty million. Do say the Cognac one hundred million, title one hundred million, Rock Nation, seventy five million, music catalog, seventy five art collection, seventy million, real estate fifty million. Wait all, there's another Champagne. I'm not even gonna say Armadday Brignock. Clearly I'm not culture three hundred and ten million.
He made it sound delicious.
Can I get that?
I'm a day?
Can I get that? Break?
Not? But yeah, this is someone. I mean, I'm just really like, Wow, that's awesome. I didn't realize there was only five black billionaires the United States. Well, he's joining the ranks of Apral and our beloved now Robert Smyth aka mister Morehouse. So that's awesome.
I'm working on a millionaire status. I did the I used the bank rate compound interest tool, and if I stopped saving in my retirement fund today, which I started when I was like making nothing as a writer, when I was twenty two or twenty three, if I stopped saving today, I will have over a million dollars by the time I'm sixty.
That's awesome.
That gave me such comfort. I mean, this is of course, like, you know, for trying to predict the future. But I was like, damn, because I just started when I was twenty two, and I had like I was making like what forty thousand dollars a year, feeling like I had nothing to save, and I just started. Did just start? You guys? Just start?
Yeah, it just start. Wow, that's awesome. And so because you did a target date fund, correct.
I did? Yeah, I forget. Yeah, I think from the beginning I had I think my first four oh one k ever was in a TD Ameritrade account. They had some kind of target date fund. And then over the years I've switched employers and had to I've rolled over my four to one k, and finally I'm at Vanguard in a target date fund. Yeah, I've just kept it going, you know. I mean, at a certain point it might
make sense to switch it up a little bit. But the beauty of the target date fund is that it automatically shifts my investments as I get older, So I'm not as heavily invested in stocks as I was when I was younger. I'm still pretty young, so I'm still heavily invested in stocks. But as I get older and you know, forties, fifty sixties, it should shift so that I'm not you know, as heavily weighted. And it's so important.
There was like a there's a new report out about how you know, we talked about retirement, and I think the impression people have of retirement is that and this is right. You mean, you should be optimistic that you're going to be saving so you can buy your retirement home or you know, travel the world. That's what I envision for myself. But the reality is that a lot of people end up retiring earlier than they thought because they need long term health care, they have some kind
of health issue. There is this interesting stat that, like, I forget what the exact numbers were, but most people think they'll retire at age seventy, but in reality, they retire like sixty one.
You know.
It's just see right before Social Security benefits hit and it's largely due to like health complications, and and for me, you know, it's and for us it's really important to think about you know, that retirement fund as like your your long term care fund too. You know, who's going
to pay for your your home health care aid? If you need someone or your medical bills, you know, if they start piling up, and yeah, it's just it's sad to see seniors, like older people who've paid their dues, done everything right, and then they're just like trapped in all this debt because they can't afford their medical expenses and their health care. So who's your who's your retirement person? Wanda?
Oh yeah, yeah, my old lady, my seventy year old lady. Yeah, Wanda is her name. And maybe let's explain what a target date fund is. Come sort some people are like, what's the target date fund? Oh?
Yeah, well you can skip back to what was it two episodes ago when I replayed our interview with my financial planner Helen where we talk all about target day funds. But quick version of the story is that it is a investment fund that has instead of just investing in one company, they invest you in a bunch of different companies and it just helps you expose, like expand your risk, so you're not putting all your eggs in one basket, and you basically pick the fund that aligns with your
target retirement age or retirement year. So I think I'm twenty fifty five. I want to say, I just guessed where I would be forty years in the future, and they usually do it every five years. So it's like a twenty there's a twenty fifty, and there's a twenty fifty five, and twenty sixty and twenty sixty five. You pick the fund that you know matches your target retirement
age and that's it. Like you just put money into it and they diversify it for you, and then over time, like I said, they'll shift your investments away from like you usually start heavily invested in stocks because they're riskier, but they have higher potential for rewards, and then over time they'll shift it so you're more invested in low risk assets like cash and bonds.
Yeah, that's good. I know. I feel like thanks tips. See I was cause I know someone was like Target Day Fund, let me get to the Googles. You don't need the Googles when you have the mandies.
They really could, like find someone else to rebrand these products to make them more memorable and like easy understand.
I mean, come on, I mean, well, I feel like I do like Target Date Fund. Like it's because I feel like it does kind of explain what it is even though you might need a little bit like, you know, more digging. But I do like the name Target Date Fund because it's like, oh, okay, gotcha.
Gotcha, my little insurance fun. What else is going on?
What's happening in the news? What is happening in the news. I feel like, have you watched this? It's kind of like an inside oh when they see us Abraduvenet trying to make everybody cry. But we need to see it.
Oh, I know, I'm gonna. We sat down on Friday night to like do our usual Netflix and chill, and I was so bone tired. I didn't have the like I didn't have it in me to watch it. But I'm gonna watch it this weekend. I'm gonna prepare myself. I heard it's really good.
Yeah yeah, everyone told me that they're like it's really good, but prepared to like really ball your eyes out and be like wow, some of these people were really evil, like really evil, and that these were like babies, like you know, like little ones like like fourteen. These are I just can't imagine the terror they must have felt. I can't When I was like in ninth grade, if someone would have done this to me, I just I just don't know, and put in and put an adult prisons.
I just and then when over and over and over again, the the you know, the the evidence you know did not point in their favor. They made it point in their and you know, they made it point to them, I just who child. It's just it's a lot. Sometimes you're just like, uh, not today, not today, not today, you know, because it's a lot. But I know I have to watch. Everyone's like, no, you have to watch it.
Yeah, I feel like I have this respond because moral responsibility to yeah, and also you got to support.
Yeah, these kind of thing that way, these things come out more. And I'm just like, thank God for Ava, Like this is like this is, you know, not her first time doing things like this. She had that other one.
Oh what was it called the thirteenth right.
Yes, she is some thirteen. I don't know it's called the thirteenth or thirteen something, but yeah, that was another one that that was similar as far as exposing you know, what happens to black and brown folks and and you know the overwhelming odds stacked against them. I just ooh, like our current douchebag, I mean president, he took out an eighty thousand dollars ad against these boys and advocated
for the death penalty for a fourteen year old. I just but that's that's the deucebag president that y'all wanted. Now you're all, but you know, you guys are broad ambition, but.
Nearly half of America did. That's reality.
That's crazy. Like just sometimes I'm just like, who, like who are you? You know, do you ever just think that, like I do not have children, do not you know what I mean, like, do not have any to of conscience? I just.
Yeah, it's about values. You know, when you when you're someone who values notoriety and wealth and capitalism and personal wealth and business over all else, I mean, that will blind your judgment to a lot of other things, because why why fixed systems that were that were built to make you rich? You know, like that is that's who we have in office now. And it's not just at
the presidential level, but in a lot of ways. You know, yeah, there's literally groups lobbying against any kind of reform because you know, this is a system that has made you know, that's better for a lot of people.
Yeah, it's just it just gets a little scary because she's just like, wow, you know.
Aren't you gotta we have Kim Kardashian though.
Oh my gosh, s' gonna save us.
Ah, you know what, shout out to her for doing something with her time that's not lip kits and you know, button plans or whatever. But I gotta be like.
I will say though that they're like, there is a sister that's been really doing like the legwork. Obviously we all know Kim Kardashian is not a lawyer, but I like someone was like, whatever, she's getting all the accolades, but really it's the sister behind the scenes that's really doing the leg work. I don't think anyone's under the illusion that Kim is like doing like the legwork. But what she is doing is using her her fame and shining a light on things that that sister probably was
doing all his work for and nobody cared. So I'll take it. Shoot, you know, like you're right, you know, it could be like you said, she could be. I mean, we have enough lip kits and we have enough you know, booty shots of her, and you know she could just
be like, well, who cares my problem? I'm gonna be rich regardless, you know, but she hasn't, you know, so I don't need her to write the brief and to you know, but the fact that she can get into rooms that other folks cannot, then, you know, and if you're going to if you're going to have this kind of like fame and infamy, then use it. And she is. So I'm like, whatever, good on her.
We'll take it. And that is your buzzworthy news update for the week. I hope you feel prepared.
Just random like house upding. Why. I went to the house and they like, hey, everything's going, get you guys done. What's done? The main main line waterline, I don't know what they call it is backed up. I'm like, what does that mean. They're like, somebody has to we have to get an industrial snake. I'm like, what does that mean?
Oh, like a sewer lines what that?
Yeah?
Like Yumi, I.
Was like, so what does that mean? And so I call this thing called roller router. I guess they bring this like industrial snake and they like, you know, basically push whatever it is. Because at one point before we bought the house, it was it was bacant for years, so like it dries up in like the pipe, I guess, I don't know. So anyway, three hundred and fifty dollars.
Later, oh you know, but aren't you at the point where that doesn't seem like that much money because you're like so diluted by the cross of everything.
I know, Okay, just take my money. I don't even, I don't even. It's fine, yeah, fine, so yeah, but yeah, those days, I'm just like, we're so coold. I've learned to just be like, you know, whatever comms it comes, and we'll be able to handle it.
So I'm such an idiot. Although maybe I feel like this has happened. I don't know if you've ever used. I love Thosechlorox toilet wands, like the disposable ones that you because I think toilet brushes are so freaking disgusting, like to have a toilet brush in your bathroom at all times that you use for the toilet and just like sitting there on the floor, it grosses me out.
So the toilet WANs, you know, you like pop the little the little the new wand head on and you scrub your toilet and then when you're done, you have a little button and an injects into the trash. Can somehow my idiotself right when I flush the toilet, I accidentally ejected the the wand head into the toilet, so it has been clogged all week because there's like a toilet head like somewhere in the drain. So I was like, Husbie, your first plumbing project, and he's been researching, what.
Did you maybe get a snake like the like these we wore.
One snakes work for that? I mean, he's he's researching. I think because I've have a history, I realized this of like flushing random things down the toy My mom swears I used to flush power Ranger toys down the toilet, and I was kidd yeah. And then one time, I don't think my roommate, my ex roommate listens to this podcast, but it was me, Ellie, I flushed your glasses down the toilet that at one time, and I did it. I just they were like behind me on the ledge
and I got up and they fell in. At the corner of my eye, I saw something and I was like with those glasses, but I was never one hundred percent sure. So when the toilet got backed up, I was like, I don't know for sure what was there? And then she was like, where are my glasses? So weird? And then finally our super drained our toilet and took apart the little like spendy thing and he was like, oh, look so funny. Here are these bent up glasses. And
I never responsibility. I was too deep for the lie.
It's too like, I can't go back now.
She probably knew it was me, but uh, that's my confession anyway. Don't let me need your toilets.
But yeah, so I was just like, whatever, just finish, so getting closer, getting closer. So those are things like it's poor poor Drina. She was like, oh they had a gas leak. She just bought a house too. She's like, is this life? I feel like every week we're comparing like oh really we're broke. Oh me too. So it's like I gotta get Yeah, now that scary. And I was like, you gotta get your mom gas nose up. You know how moms can smell gas from like ten thousand miles away.
I didn't know that. Is that a thing?
Yeah, like mom's would be like I smell gas. My mom used to always be like I feel like every mom I know I smell gas. I smell gas. I remember one of my mom's the gas leak a block away. She's like, I s no gas. I'm like, mommy, there's no gas in the house. And it wasn't. So she called the gas company and they checked. She's like no, she was insistent, and sure enough there were actually was a gas leak, not in the house, but like I guess in the street or something like that, like a
like a block or so down. I was like, how you know what, I just I have to bow down to the mom nose.
That's like a superpower.
It is a superpower. It's no gas.
Homeowners insurance, man, gotta get that Gico?
Yeah, for real? Is that what you have? You have Geico?
I don't know, it just it just went well with gotta get.
Yeah. But now homeowners insurance for sure? For sure, you definitely want that.
Yeah, you know, like under insured under we could do a whole episode of insurance because I feel like one of the biggest people don't think about insurance as like a part of their financial planning. They think about investing and saving. But insurance, baby, that is where the true like life insurance, home insurance, that's where the true protection is at. So you need. I don't think you can't even get a mortgage without home insurance, so that's not
a question. You just gotta shop around and find the right policy exactly how you Well, you'll be in soon enough, fear not. Don't worry.
Yeah no, at this twint you know, you just be like whatever, I'm just going to flow these days.
Fingers crossed. All right, let's take a quick break and it'll be right back to answer your questions, and we're back. Ready for some questions.
Yes, I'm ready for someome questions.
I went to my DMS where you guys grammed me some questions. Thank you for all your questions. I was just laughing because I'm like, damn, no one sends email anymore. It's all grams like Instagram messages. That's fine, more than fine, as long as you are specific. Let's see. So first question comes from listeners Stefania, which is really fun to say, and she has a question about she has a question about credit card debt. Let's see. All right, Hello ladies,
my name is Stefana from California. I love listening every Wednesday and need some advice. I currently have about thirteen thousand dollars in credit card debt, and I want to figure out the best way to pay all these cards off while improving my credit and reducing the hundreds of dollars in interest i'm giving away each month. All of my credit cards right now have really high interest rates of more than twenty five percent ouch. So my question
is how do I handle this? Should I pay one card off at a time, or should I try to get them to where they're all down to thirty percent utilization? Oh, someone's been listening. Yeah, since they all have around the same interest rate right now, I'm just focusing on paying the smallest amount. But the card that has over seventy percent utilization rate is charging so much interest each month?
Please help? I hope this makes sense. So I sent her a follow up question asking her what her credit score is, because it's actually really important to know it is, and her credit score is actually really good, she says. At the time she sent the message, it was six' eighty, but now it's up to seven fifty.
Okay, that's great.
That happened because she said she paid off one of the higher balance cards and that lowered her utilization rate, which caused her a score to jump. What do you say, jump like Jordan's jump up points. That's huge.
That is huge, It's huge.
So that's just supposed to show you can still have credit card debt and have really high credit as long as you're making your payments on time. But making your payments on time, and you know that debt, you're paying twenty five percent interest rate on fourteen thousand dollars to keep that high credit score and make your payments on time, You're gonna be paying for years to come if you don't, if you don't handle it.
Yeah, I I'm glad you asked her about the the her credit score, because if it was me, what's her name again, Stefania Stefaniya, I forgot. I want a beautiful name. I would the one that had the highest utilization, like
you know whatever, you're using seventy five percent. I would look to possibly open up a card and do like a rollover so lending Tree, Mandy's place, and that's what I did, like when I was looking for myself, when I wanted to like roll over, because if you've got decent credit, and even though I know a lot of financial groups are like, don't get debt to get out of debt, whatever, you know, because you can potentially, especially if you've got great credit, you can likely qualify for
a Oh is it just.
Getting my mailance transfer?
Thank you? I was like, goodness, old lady coup a balance transfer card, which typically if you've got great credit. I had such good credit when I first did this that I was able to get a balance transfer card where I could pay zero percent interest. It was nearly two years, so usually it'll be anywhere from six months typically to a year. But if you got great credit, which you do, because seven fifty is the beginning of perfect credit, that you might be able to get even longer.
You're a zero percent interest extended to you. So what that means is, now, let's just say you owe seven thousand dollars on that card and you're able to get Now, you want to be mindful because they might not give you a limit of seven thousand dollars. I usually try to ask ahead of time, and sometimes they're like hedgy about it, but still ask like, what do you think
I'm going to be qualified for? Roll over that amount from one card to the next, so that way you can then focus on that one card and getting it paid off, because you know that all your money's going directly to the principle, So I would I would look to do that, definitely a balanced transfer for at least one of those cards, and I would use this snowball method, especially since your interest rates are pretty much all the same. I would pay off the card with the new zero
percent interest rate. Like when you do the slowball method, you kind of like line your cards up in priority, and you pay one card at a time while paying the minimum to the others, and just really focus your time and energy on that one card. And then once that card is paid off, you take its minimum the extra money you were paying it and put it toward
the next card on your list. And so if that card gets the first card's minimum, it's minimum and the extra money, and when it's paid off, you roll it over to the next card, and before you know it, you know your credit card debt free. That's how I paid off. I think I was thirty five thousand dollars in credit card debt. This is post recession. I didn't really have a job. It took me about two and a half years, and I didn't have a job like I'd never after the recession. I never got another real
job again. I had unemployment and I was like babysitting and tutoring and stuff like that, and I was able to pay that off in about two and a half year. So it's the snowball method really does work, especially if you use balance transfers.
Yeah, I agree one thousand percent. The only thing with the balance transfer. Just a couple of things to watch out for is don't make the mistake of taking a vacation because oh, you're like, I just I've caught myself a break. You know, I'm not paying twenty five percent interests on this card anymore because I roll the balance over on this new card and stop paying down the debt. Because eventually that balance transfer deal will end, and you've got to make a plan to pay it off before
it does. What can happen if you don't finish paying off your balance transfer card before the promo period ends is that one a new much higher and you can believe it's gonna be much higher interest rate will start applying, probably in the high twenty percent range that seems to
be the norm these days. And two, some cards may have a deferred interest clause, which means they will go back to the very first day you start, you open that card and act as if you should have been paying interest the whole time, and they will throw that interest charge for the entire amount you transferred onto your balance,
which just puts you back in a bad spot. So, you know, sometimes you may feel like, Okay, it's not going to be I can make aggressive payments, you know, over this twelve month period, but I won't be able to pay it off in time. Just make sure that you're keeping your credit score high because like a few weeks before that promo period ends, you can apply for another balance transfer and you know, take advantage of another offer and like carry it over them. That way, you
just really got to stay on top of it. If you want an option that doesn't have that risk of you know, deferred interest or you know, the risk that you won't pay it off in time and then you'll get hit with you know, double digit interest again, you could do a balance transfer and get that zero percent intro that promo APR for you know, twelve months. Like
I said, we'll keep the same example. And then if you think you're not going to pay it off and you maybe you won't qualify for another zero percent APR or you want a longer term, a longer amount of time to pay it back. You can look into applying for a small personal loan and using that loan, like through a credit union or an online lender, to pay off the rest of your debt. And the beauty of a personal loan is that if you have high credit, you can get a decent rate usually, especially if you
go to a credit union. It's not going to be zero percent like a balance transfer, but it's a fixed rate, which means it won't go up or down. And it's a fixed term, which means you know exactly how long you have to pay back the debt. It's all baked into your your monthly payment, and it's just like a structured way to pay off that balance. So just take all that into consideration. You know, if you want to consult an expert, you know, that's always a good idea too.
But that thirteen thousand dollars, you know, if you really work aggressively and you take advantage of the offers that are available to you because you have good credit, I feel like you can you can definitely tackle it and pay way less than what you're paying now in interest.
Exactly. You can do it, believe me. You can de that you got your credit score to where it is now and you paid off a card already. Lets us know that you are already in the game. Booboo. You starting just got to continue.
Well, thank you for your questions, Stefania. All right, let's see. So what's take another one from the Graham. This one is from oh so, this one wants to remain anonymous. Oh, I need like a Instagram intern. Where did it go?
Oh?
Here it is? Okay? Hey, hey, hey ladies. I love the show. I love to be anonymous. I have a question that is not quite money related, but has to deal with advancing in my current position at work. I work in finance, so I deal with pretty much all the departments in the office. There is an employee that works in one department that is not fond of me. For whatever reason. We used to speak, but not anymore.
My boss says I should try to rekindle our relationships since I want to try to move up into management. He says, being in management, you will have to learn to deal with people you don't like. I don't want to put my energy towards it. Though our office is small, and she has made it known that he doesn't like me. Do you guys really think something like this would be reason for upper management to not promote me. I do my job well and I get along with everyone else.
Do either of you have advice for a situation like this? Thanks in advance. That's a really interesting question, and I can I take lead on Yeah?
Please, I was gonna say, I literally have no It's been so long since I'm like, I have no idea.
This is my territory. Back off, ooh, office corporate politics my fave. So I run a team, I have a bunch of I manage managers, I've promoted managers. I think about promoting managers all the time and who I promote and whatever. So I can tell you how I think about this. I agree with your boss. It is important to demonstrate if you want to be a leader, that
you can collaborate and work cross functionally. And I personally, I was just having this conversation last week with someone on my team because they were having issues with someone else on the team who doesn't report to them, but
they have to work together. Sometimes it is the hardest relationship to keep healthy and maintain when someone it's not a clear direct report relationship, but you need something out of that person, and you know, it seems like some somehow, some way, you guys ended up in a negative space.
You know, forget about your promotion for a second. I would encourage you just for like your own you know, your own comfort comfort level at work, try to you know, be the bigger person and try to mend that relationship. Because I hate when you have tension with someone at the office. It just kind of like, I don't know, it puts that energy out into the world and people tend to notice it. And personally, I in some ways
agree with your manager. I might think twice about promoting someone if I see that they're not mature enough to you know, at least try and put their best foot forward with another colleague. Now, if this colleague, you know, you try and put your best foot forward, you demonstrate this to your manager, and still the other like you're not getting anything in return on from the other side.
You know, I would express that to your manager, not in a way that's like, well she won't talk to me, or like in a blamey kind of childish way, but show what steps you've taken, what efforts you made to improve that relationship, so your manager at least knows that you know, you put in good faith effort and you really do care you and you want to try and just just try and like you know, vent with your friends, but try and just keep it cool, don't keep it
you know, try and keep your emotions out of that, and don't let this person get in the way, you know, of your own career advancement, which it sounds like they could potentially be doing. Another thing I would say is like one thing as a manager I've been asked to do is to be like a conflict resolutionist, like a medium. Like what do you call people who are like in between moderator, a moderator, intermediary or whatnot.
It's not another word, but I can't say. I'm like trying in my brain today.
But yeah, so if it if it's real mediator, a mediator, mediator, yeah, thank you, peacemaker, professional peacemaker. So it's also your boss's job a little bit to help remove roadblocks for you for your own success and your own like the success success of what you do every day. And if this person is really a legitimate roadblock for you and you have made your own best efforts to work better with
this person. I would, you know, ask your manager maybe they can talk to this person's manager if they're on the same level, and see if there's like a you know, we can just have a meeting face to face and
just air things out. Honestly, Like once you sit down with someone and you just like sit across from them and you have like a neutral person in the middle to play a referee, you'll see that like facade of I don't like you, you know, that attitude just melt away and it puts people on the spot and it just it just like pops the tension bubble in the first like five minutes. You know, I've just seen it happen, and I think that can be a helpful, you know,
thing to do. And if it's not your if you don't feel comfortable going into your boss, you know, if it's really bad, it doesn't sound like it's that bad, but if it were really toxic, you could go to HR. You know, that's sometimes their job to play mediation if there's an issue that can't be resolved. But I would start with yourself. See if you can't you know, mend fences or reduce that tension on your own, ask them
to coffee whatever. You might know the source of the tension and you might want to, you know, see if you can resolve it, and if not, ask your you know, make those efforts, track them, make sure your boss knows, and then ask them, you know, if they if they recommend you guys have a sit down where you can just clear the air together. I literally just did this last week. I think it went pretty well and it
just yeah, like I said, it just reduces that tension. Yeah, It's it's hard when you need something out of someone else and they're not your direct report. It's it's much more difficult and you've just got to like build those good relationships.
I think it's great advice.
Thanks man, Thank you for your question. Anonymous. Good luck. I want to hear back. Let me know how things are going. Yeah, which I thought promotion. Okay, last question, Let's get one more in here. This one is from I don't know her name, but her Instagram name is that NAC girl. This is a live question. She just respond in to my follow up question. Yes, so, apparently in the past on the show, you and I have talked about the financial independence, retire early movement or fire
fire Fire, and I do I have. I have mentioned how you know, in a lot of cases with these stories of fire, you know, like this movement around fire. I take issue a little bit with this, like with the perception people are giving that they are retired early, when what they're really doing is blogging about it and making money off their blog and that's their new business and that's how they're like retiring early. So that's like my kind of my and I see this a lot
in the blogger community. So it's just like a little bit of a pet peeve I have. So this person, that NAC girl on Instagram sets just an avid listener. She wants us, So please do an episode on why Mandy gives a side eye to financial independence retire early, Maybe interview someone from the community. I love the idea of financial independence and I'm on my journey. I'm on my journey. Maybe not all invested in the stock market like a lot of them are, but a nice variation
of it. I wasn't sure about the idea and that Mandy would talk about it later, but I haven't heard it mentioned since I last listened to the show. So thanks for calling me out. I hope, I hope. I explained to you just my issue with it. I mean, I'm all for people saving. I was just talking about how I wanted to.
Ya full transparency, because who doesn't want to encourage somebody to fire retire early. We want you to have financial independence, but what we don't want is that you might be thinking you're doing something wrong because someone else has has what you perceive as financial independence, that they're not working when they actually are, and then so you're trying to. It's almost like the girls in the magazine that have had work done in air brushing, and then you look
in the mirror and say, what's wrong with me? And there's nothing because they don't even look like that. And so that's what we're you know, we're just not wanting like, no, we want financial independence. We want you to retire early if that's what you wish, But I don't want you to think that if something's wrong, because while I've done everything that everyone said and I'm not making ends me, it's like no, and honestly too, I don't to me
the shame around working. I just don't. I don't get it, you know what I mean, Like, I don't think there's anything wrong with having a job. Honestly, if the recession wouldn't have hit, I still would have been teaching preschool and I love the kids. I was just talking to someone today how much I missed that aspect, like, you know, because the they were like honestly, they were wonderful. They
made my day. I mean, they were just characters and I always had something to talk about because they just they made my Honestly, I would miss them on the weekends. I would buy things for them when I wasn't with them. Like I enjoyed teaching. That was a regular job that made you know, decent enough money, but I was frugal. I saved, I bought a house, I bought a car, so I was able to do the things that I wanted to do. I didn't have to have, you know,
a successful business in order to do so. So I just want them, like you know, kind of like for me anyway, sometimes the fire movement and not everyone, but sometimes there's like this like secret shade of like your you know, you continue to work, but here's the thing that they don't tell you many times, so so what you're gonna do when you get sick? You know what I mean, Like like Obamacare, you know, shout out to big Oh, try having cancer and just having Obamacare. See
how much that's gonna cost you out of pocket? Like, I don't know what I would do, honestly, Like if my husband did not have a nine to five like a regular job, like you know, I know many of your husband he works for the state or the city, fedal federal. So my husband works for for for our city. Without that insurance, I don't know what I would do. I mean, I was literally on the yoga and water diet in prayer before before and like you know, so y'all know I've been doing IVF like every cycle it's
like eighty thousand dollars. It's successful as a budgetista, is I don't want to you know, i'm're on cycle too. That would be one hundred and sixty thousand dollars plus five word surgery, which was like almost one hundred thousand dollars. I mean that, you know, like that's more than what our house cost us. And so yeah, to me, I think it's more. So sometimes it's shaming around if you don't follow that or God forbid, you know, you might want to go on vacation or or you might want
a nicer house. There's nothing wrong with like those things. But yeah, like I think, you know, I like the fire movement in its essence. I just want you to understand that folks are still making money like you know that whole you know, I spent all day on the beach. I didn't do anything. It's probably not for most folks, you know, likely they are still garnering money from affiliate links and blogging like Mandy said, and maybe even speaking teaching.
For having a course, whether they pay them to teach you how to do it and you're sustaining their retirement. Just really, you know, you just focus on your own journey, you know, That's what I would say. If that's really what you your goal is, then you know, sit down with the financial planner and make that happen. You know, keep your expenses low, save aggressively. That's beautiful. So hopefully that answered your question. Thank you for yeah, thank you
for asking for clarification. I totally respect that.
Yeah, yeah, but fire, I mean, like, honestly, like to me, being financial responsible is always a good thing. So I think because honestly, I want to retire early any much trying to work till ad if you don't have to not me anyway, so I can dig it exactly.
Well, thank you guys for your questions. Again, we're brand Ambition Podcasts on Instagram, so that seems since that seems to be where all of your best questions come from. But if your old school, you can always hit us up at our website, Brandhambition Podcast dot com. Click ask us anything to send a question or go to uh send us email directly at brand Ambition Podcast at gmail dot com dot com.
They need to hire me. I like Google to do dot Com. I feel like, you know, people would like enjoy that.
That's Travelocity, I think.
Yeah, dot Com. You're right, it is Speedia.
I don't know who owns them.
Travel Travelocity, Expedia, and somebody else. They're all the same.
Yeah, yeah, they're all owned by what's the trip advisor. I don't know some Every company is all the same, everyone's I was like, what my company like.
I didn't realize like Wayfair and Johnson Maine. I'm like, wait a.
Minute, yes, and not just those two, like allmodern dot com, all those good sites were all the same. What because you.
Would get the email, right, wouldn't you? Because you know, especially when you're like in the middle of renovation or buying stuff at the house. Like I would order something for one and I would get an email I'm like, wayfair, I didn't order some for you, and I realized you
guys are all the same. Okay, I see you. So it's very interesting sometimes, you know, it's just yeah, you just don't realize, like how many I'm sure, like at one point they were different, but they just bought, you know, one of them bought the other one out, which it's smart. So that's awesome. Yeah.
Should we did some boost and breaks real quick to close the show? Yeah, the Bus de de Briggs, the Brig.
Yes, I actually want to break for the first time in a long time. Okay, why so I just recently saw this Don't Don't Shade Me on the Shade Room and the title is Don't get Caught Slipping. Aver Duvenet does not like to be called Auntie. And when I say, I'll alluda praise the Lord Mandy, I can I tell you how many like you know, folks in your twenties are like, oh, Auntie, Tiffany, I'm like, ma'am, are you yo?
I am in my thirty six? Are you crazy? The only people that could like, only way I could see maybe is if you still have had a teen or a single digit, like if you're like, oh, fifteen eight, maybe, But ma'am, if you are well into your twenties and in your thirties yourself, yo, we are made. I'm not your auntie. Don't do that. And even if I was like forty five and you have thirty five, now sis,
we're cousins, Like, don't do that. I'm not gonna lie that annoys unless it's my niece and my nephew, because then I love it. And they're like, i'mtie Ida because they call me my African name Adochi, so like I love it. But they're also three and two years old. Sis, you're thirty one, so that we're not doing that, And so when that happens, I'm always like, I'm not your auntie.
Like it just I don't know. It feels like slightly and I know it's something met with shade, but don't start to distinguish like you're so much younger, says you got I have like five years on you. I'm not your auntie. I'm your cousin.
Sister as their guru, like their auntie who like has the wisdom.
You know, Nah, we're cousins. So because right, like I said, I'm twenty and under, I'll take it. But once you once you strike over like a certain we're not that far away to age. We're not doing that you could have been. We would have born in the the same I got a cell phone, You got a cell phone, Like I wasn't born before, like microwaves came out or something.
I'll do that. So that's just my lighthearted boost that, like, you know, just being called auntie because I saw Bevy Smith had said that she was like grown forty year old women call me auntie. Now what about you? You gott a booster, you gotta break.
I'm gonna do a boost. I have to do a boost for this. I used to roll my eyes at all these like pre K fifth grade, eighth grade graduation ceremonies, But I don't know what I'm in my feelings about it, and I love I love like pre K graduation ceremonies. I feel like they're so magical. And maybe it's because now I have a god's all. My husband's god. Wait no,
he's not as godfather anyway. My husband's nephew who are very close to just graduate from pre K and they give all the kids awards and they're so proud of themselves, and I just wanted to boost all the teachers and the educators who take their time and energy to make these kids feel so special and loved and feel like they've really accomplished something. I think it's so beautiful. So shout out, yeah to shout out to teachers and shout out to all the little kiddos who are graduating or whatever.
You're graduating too. You could probably stop growing up so fast because it makes me feel old. But it's a beautiful thing. I can't believe this kid's already five. It's insane.
I know. It is kind of the same when you're looking like, wait, you just came out the womb, Like what are you doing getting older?
I know it's crazy, but it's beautiful. Did you ever do pre K graduations when you were teaching?
Oh my gosh, it's like the most fun because then you like make the little like tassles for their little.
We get little gowns, you know, yeah.
Give a little goals. They make little tassels and sometimes we would like get the parents to give us like hanging her weag like undershirts and we would like tie die them and the kids could like decorate them. It was a whole thing, honestly. I mean obviously we would have it like like on the front lawn and it wasn't like we were renting out, you know, space, but it was just nice, like you know, they're going to kindergarten and then you'd be like, oh, my babies are
leaving me. It's crazy. Now when I see them in the streets, I'm not gonna lie. They can call me on because some of them are like I want to say fifteen Oh wow, no, like like only if you had like a really distinct face. Most times, like I can't recognize every once in a while, I'm like, oh that's Keishaan or like I'll like know the parents and I'm like looking out, I'm like, oh hey, am I a wait, is that Sarah? Because if we're standing with a giant, I'm like, tell me that's not three year
olds Tara, Oh my gosh. And of course they don't remember me because they're like every once in a while, like a kid would be like I vaguely remember you, you know, miss Tiffany. But yeah, So I just love when I see their parents in the stryt and then I forced them to send me to show me pictures. I'm like, I want to see them now so I could be like, you know, horrified at how big they've got, and I'm like, oh my gosh. It's just that's the
one thing I really like love about teaching. It's just like these are like your babies forever and.
You're like, oh my god, they're so big and just still, especially when you teach in the neighborhood that you live, because you get to run into people that lives you've affected, like you know, from years and years years and years to come.
So yeah, I think the opposite is true. Like, have you ever seen a teacher of yours from when you were a little little like I've re I not so recently, but I had heard from or I reached out to an old teacher of mine from like the fifth grade. I remember thinking she was like she in my memory she looks like Oprah. She has this like booming baritone voice. When I heard her voice, she sounded like mini Mouse, and I was like, who are you? I didn't even
know if it was the same person. It was so wild, like your your ten year old perception of an adult and then to like twenty years later you'd be talking to them again. It like blew my mind. It was Craig Cray, same experience with you.
It's like, oh my gosh, you were so little. It's just crazy to see people like really grow up. Like I was looking at my knees and I was like, oh mih yeah, wait, you were literally just like a baby out the wall and now you're like, I see, I know what you're doing. Every time the phone rings, like I can hear in the background she's like running through the list of like the five people's names she knows.
Isn't Daddy, it's that chich Is. I'm like, and you can tell that she's so proud of herself, Like I know names and I could say them. Give me the phone so I can breathe happy and not say anything.
That's what they do.
Oh that was a nice, nice way to end.
You know, well, thank you guys for listening again. We are broad Ambition. Our website is brandabision podcast at no, it's not brandibision podcast dot com. We're also on the Gram at brandabision podcast. We're on Twitter at the BA podcast. What are we a Facebook Finals, Brown Ambition.
Mhm and as usual, stay Brown, stay ambitious.
I have nothing to add. Sorry I left you hang in my bad. Yeah, I'm finger gunning you know. I'll do the jazz hands to close this out. Just think us stop it, right,