Hey, hey, hey, we're back. We're black, We're Brown Ambition. Welcome black Man Drone. Hello.
You know what I was just thinking about when you were singing us in is whatever happened to that old Brown Ambition intro from our original first ever Brown Ambition episode, which I actually I dove into the vault of BA episodes. It was kind of like finding an old yearbook photo or like awkward, just like reading your old your old diary from high school is kind of what it felt like.
And on that first Brown Ambition episode, maybe I was just feeling nostalgic because we're coming up on our six year but we had the cutest little intro and I kind of want to bring it back.
I don't know. I heard it and I was like, what was Mandy talking about?
You mean the song we did like a I'm Tiffany, I'm Mandy and this is Brian Ambition. We were all in sync.
We wrote a little script, Oh did we well? O? Way we could try it. We could let people. We can ask the people if they.
Like it, we can ask anyway. It just brought me back where we were so young that I.
Do remember, like I did listen because you told me to listen to it. So I listened. I was like, all we were all talking about I was I think I said like my boyfriend, which I was like, oh yeah, you said the same, and you were like, I'm not sure if I would have kids right now. I was like, oh, look at baby Manager and Tiffany.
Our first episode was called something about baby Limbo.
We were both we were yeah so much. Remember. I was like, Mandy, where did you get good underwear from? I remember that Pannies. Yes, your panny confession. You're like, girl, you can go to Marshalls and get good under I was like, this is true.
No, no, I don't actually recommend Marshals. No, no, no, no, no, I don't like underwear that lots of peoples both yeah, no, no, no, Fanny, you know. Ah man, So what's I'm actually in Saint Louis right now. I survived a fifteen hour which Google Map said fifteen hour. But what I came to find out is that to get to travel that fifteen hour distance, it takes like twenty five hours in toddler when you have a toddler in the car. When you have a toddler in a tesla, the double teas Toddler in Tesla.
Tesla means you have to stop to charge every two hours, and I'm not even gonna play. It's a little inconvenient. I feel like if we had a gas car, we wouldn't have had to stop every every two hours. But of course, like Husby has this fancy app that tells him exactly how much to charge. So it wasn't like we're gonna go fill up the tank at the Tesla charge. You need to like these charging stations along the way.
You have to like plan your trip that way. But it was like he was very specific, as we're going to stop for fifteen minutes here to get a twenty percent you know boost, and then we're going to really fill up, you know, ninety minutes down the road. We're gonna stay here for twenty five minutes to get the full one hundred percent. And it was just so I swear, I mean, but look, we survived. He's like, we're here,
marriage is intact, the baby's alive, Rio is alive. Have you ever done a road trip that long before?
I had, well, not not fifteen hours, but me and my husband and Supergirl we drove to Roanoke, Virginia for his best friend's wedding. Let's just say we got there and I immediately almost got back in the Carter's robe home because the nerve he was working. Literally, I was like, he said something. I drove and he said something. I tell you, Mandy. If it had not been a nine hour drive, I was gonna get myself back in that car.
But I was like, were you gonna call Tiffany? And I was like, because I said what, Okay, you know what? And I was really thinking about it. I was like, can I uber that far? Should I get on a plane?
I was gonna do anything. I was so pissed, but I was so I had. I had such a hard time sleeping the night before our trip because I was like, I don't know if we're going to survive this road trip. And I don't know why I said yes to this, And I even post on ig asking people for their tips, and I got a lot of like, girl, you in trouble. I have this to don't.
I would have to say, honestly, the actual driving was actually good. The problem was that I trusted him to book the hotel, which basically, I mean, it's not it's not a far reach to say this is the motel where the Ladies of the Night bring their gentlemen callers literally, Mandy, we drove up and there was someone crawling out of
the window at the motel. I looked at him, like after nine hours of driving because he couldn't drive because just like you know, like Superman had like an anurism years ago and like, and so it affected his ability to drive a long distances. So I drove the whole time. So I pull up. We see someone crawling out of a window of this place that looks like death warmed over.
Were they injured?
No, it was clearly like, hey, I finished doing whatever I do here and I don't want to walk through the front. And so we got in. I come in and I'm like, wait a minute. The room. I didn't even take off my coat. The bed. I was like, so there's one bed. Meanwhile, Supergirl, even though at the time she was maybe like ten or eleven, you know, she's really tall. Because he's sick, sick, So it was like three adults in one bed. And I'm like, how
is this. I don't know. When I tell you, Mandy, it was you like we were sleeping in the hallway, because you can you can hear someone coughing in the hallway. It was just I just remember thinking, like and I said, did you check the reviews?
So he was like, I.
Guess he was embarrassed, so he got mad. I'm like, I know you. I know you're not mad at me because you got us in the Roach motel. So I was so pissed because one out of draw nine hours two you got into the Roach motel. Thankfully, his best friend on Walie, his wife, like she was super like, you know, smart, and she came was like what the hell, I said, girl, I don't even She was like, you know what, let me let me make a phone call. Within two minutes she had us in a really nice hotel,
like two beds and like yeah. So it was just but when I tell you, I was this close to like being like you know what, I'm driving back, but how I don't have nine more hours in me? But yeah, So later he apologized, was like I was embarrassed. I'm sorry. I'm like whatever.
I'm all first sorting things priced lowest to highest, but when it comes to hotels, it's gotta be sort by reviews. You can't.
We Lowes Howard Johnson, Sir, we could do it, Howard Johnson. I mean, it doesn't have to be fancy, but red ru Literally the ladies at the night were looking at us like a family.
But they're looking at Supergirl like. I mean, I was like, wait, what's going on here? But oh my god, steps work is work wherever you want, you know.
You see what we did for only fans obviously.
Oh yeah, they clearly listened to Brown ambition and they want to be feeling our outrage. They were like, we don't want to be Popeyes without the business, you see, without the chickens.
No, totally, yeah, I mean that is I mean, I guess they're going to figure that out letting, you know, allowing for that to continue. And here's the thing. Everyone's allowed to set a boundary. If you said on this platform, I don't want certain types of you know, like only
fans accounts. That's great, but it just feels very predatory to like build your business off the back of a specific type of account and then once you've grown your name to kick them off, you know, for whatever reason that they are claiming.
It's just like banning black choreographers.
Yes, so it's just.
Like hmm, yes, and he's going to create the vice content.
Exactly who were you steal from?
Oh?
Wait did I say that so randomly? So this weekend? Have you heard of invest Fest?
I have because I follow the those those gentlemen of Earn Your Leisure.
Leisure No so had invited me, but you know, like a true man, he gave me like two days notice. I was like, oh, okay, no, I cannot. I cannot abandon my family in such a short time. But no, it looks so invests Best. If you guys are not familiar it is. It was a I want to say, three day weekend conference that was launched their very first one by Earning Your Leisure. We've had them on the show. We've been on their show, and Earn Your Leisure is Rashad and Troy and they have a series of podcasts,
but their main podcast is like Earn Your Leisure. And so they had like basically their first conference, which I because you already know we have the conference that we no longer talk about. Yes, I was giddy because I was like, oh, now you're fake diversity ploy conference. We don't talk about what you're gonna do because they were actually brown and black people here like at invest Best that you did not try to plant to make it look like, hey, look we've got some browns in the mix.
But it looked honestly amazing. One of my mentees went, so, she I haven't spoken to her yet, but it looked like day one they had like a lot of like Day one looked like they had a like musical performances, right, so I think like Neo performed fabulous, I think performed, and a bunch of other like musical performances they won, I know. And then the other two days were like,
you know, workshops. I don't know if it was workshops, but I saw definitely like like Ryan Leslie spoke on stage and all these amazing like speakers that they had. So I don't know if they had workshops, but it's everything sold out. The vendor space sold down, the spaces like you know, like in person spaces sold that. It looked amazing. What really impressed me about INVESTMST one It didn't look like nob the first time out. You know how when you first do a conference, you know it's
a little yanky yanky because you know you're still learning. No, it looked like year ten I had like a judging by, like the pictures and the video and things like that. It looked amay zing and from what I understand, actually, I was going to reach out to Ian, who's like one of their like, you know, he's on one of
their podcasts they they do together called market Mondays. I saw people saying, I can't believe you guys planned this in two months, and I wanted to hit him and be like, y'all didn't play this in two months, did you? Because it looked so tight, professional like, even like the tags that people had, like their your VIP tax, everything was branded beautifully, and I'm like, I know, y'all didn't
do this in two months. It looked amazing, And I just want to give, you know, kudos to the guys for creating a very inclusive financial I don't even know if you can call financial. It just it looks like nothing I had ever seen, you know, like conference that really I think it's just super smart. Remember that time you came to the very very first Literature Academy after party and we did the wobble and you were like, I've never thought I could do the wobble at like
a financial part. Now, obviously it's not the same as what they're doing. But it's just as like, I just love the fact that financial education is being opened up to and accessible to those who have been left out through benign neglect or on purpose. And so just koodle. So if you're not familiar with invest Fest, I believe invest Fest has the social media like page, but then you can also go to investfest dot com just to
see what we're talking about. I don't know if you can still buy like virtual tickets, but they had like virtual tickets for like ninety nine bucks if you want to watch any of the.
Maybe it was in two months because like I didn't know about it until me either, so I was like, oh, that looked fun. Yeah, wow, that's really impressive, though, shout out to them. I feel like we should repost that episode. It was like a couple months ago we had we had Roy Sean just beaves them a celebrity couple or Tricia.
And and Ian was a.
Surprise guest on us on that episode. Well, shout out to them. And it also feels good because I feel like there was a certain class of groundbreakers in black and brown financial influencer space who who kind of had to first break the door open for us to be accepted into very white, you know, traditional spaces, and now like it feels as if, well, if that we're going to create our own space, you know, and then there
is no breaking down. It's just I feel like there's like there often there's a point when it's sort of it almost seems scary to to try to enter into or necessary rather not scary, but necessary to try to enter into a white space first and to be accepted, like we first in order to even have in order for us to even have our influence or to have authority, to to lend authority to our name and like, you know, credibility, you have to be accepted and show that you've been
accepted into these white spaces. And that does not seem to be the case anymore. It's almost as if now it's becoming more acceptable for us to just be ourselves and to show that our audiences accept us and their tastes and their opinions are like, there is credence to that there, you know, it does give us credibility. And I just think that that's that's really what the e Weil e wil e y l ey.
Sharing are doing that. But you know, but to your point,
like that couldn't happen without the linettes. You no, the you know, because the truth of the matter is, oh, thank you, but no, honestly, the truth of the matter is is that without that, sometimes even your own people don't find like you, like, you know, because unless you were on the Today showgum more in America these other things, sometimes even black and brown people were like, I don't know because literally someone people would write in my comments
just saw you on the real now I know you're real, you know, or just saw you on whatever. And so that, you know, breaking open. And I love the fact that we no longer have to go that route anymore. But certainly in the beginning, it wasn't just like looking to be accepted by white audiences. So white audience could accept white audiences could accept us. It was so even black
and brown audiences could accept and trust us. And so it just feels really good to see this wide range that people are represented that were it wasn't so before. And so I'm just like, go ahead, y'all, like I can't imagine, I am out of work that it's taken, and it just what it's going to do now is that they've opened the door for the next the next crop of creators to show up exactly as they are, exactly how they are, and knowing that there's going to
be an audience that's going to embrace them. So like, I mean, I think that we're groundbreakers. Come on, brown ambition. There was no black brown financial pocket. We've been in the game six years. I know.
We are just like the pod fairy god grandmother.
Oh gs, yes, ogs, oh man, I was using libs day it was garage banned twelve point oh.
Oh my gosh, oh yeah, so, oh my gosh.
So so there are some shirtless construction men across the way. I didn't know that they actually did that outside of like Sex and the City and calendars. But they really are building a whole house with barely any clothes on it, just from my mom's house.
You're like, oh, okay, okay, this is a random twist. So Superman called me today because Supergirl, Supergirl, Supergirl, So y'all know, like I am helping to raise a teen and remember that time she acted up and we had to take the door off her office.
My favorite Supergirl and birds. So what did the note say?
Oh my god, it said, so those of you who don't know a little backstory. Yeah, Supergirls my stepdaughter, and you know, just like most kids, she's actually a really good kid, but sometimes, you know, she's a little beside herself, and so I when she's with us half the time, literally we get her for like two or three weeks, then she's with her mother for two or three weeks, but we see her in between because she and her mother we live all in the same town, so we're
everyone super close. So I used to when she would be away for two or three weeks, I would go in her room to air it out, open windows, you know, and I guess she felt like dunk on my room because I'm a teenager and so girl. So I went to go. Tracy, my sister, who was staying with me at the time, came to me was like, did you go buy Supergirl's room?
I was like no.
She said, did you read the note on the door. I'm like no, I go to the door. There's a note please do not enter my room if you need and she's like the windows are already opened, Like because obviously she's talking to me. If you need anything, yes, if you need anything, please call my mother at this number. So I'm needing to call.
Her mother to enter and she don't have her number already.
Girl, Oh, but to enter and me like to enter into a room that is at my house that I paid for with my husband. So when I tell you I snatched that note, Somar, I took a picture and said to her father. He was so mad. And I'm ashamed to say, because I was feeling so mad, so I called her. I said, hey, yeah, I saw your note. No, I'm in your room right now. She was steps, that's my feet and you were And I'm ashamed to say I did that, but I was so mad, and I was like, you don't get to tell any adult in
this house where they can't go. No one is like, you know, we weren't invading her privacy, like you can't be gone for two weeks and then because one you're the you know, kids are kids, so there might be laundry that's thinking up the joint or maybe no one because honestly, she's a good kid. She's not like out here dropping it like it's hot, but like you know, sometimes opening just opening the window so there's some light that comes in. Even I don't care what it is.
I could just come in here because I want to put my pinky toe on the ground, but like to write that. And I said, for you, and just so we're clear, because I love her mom, I said, And I told her, you know, just so we're clear. Although I love your mom, she doesn't have any agency in
this house. I don't have to ever call her to ask what I can do in my house, just like I would never expect that you have to get permission for me to figure out what to do at your mom's house because your mom is is an adult there, she's the boss there. So anyway, my husband was like, you know what, we're taking it back to old school.
She came back to no door. She had no door on her room, she said, since she want to, since you want to keep doors closed her room for like for like two weeks, and so she learned her lesson really well. Definitely apologize, she said. No, it was just a general note for everyone everyone that knows. For me, he says, because why why would you need to give your father your mother's number. Of course he has it too, you know it's me that opens the windows. So anyway,
she's back at it like she never left. So she's turning fifteen, oh so grown, and she promised her dad that she would do something. I forget whatever it was, and oh, they were supposed to watch a movie together. And then she she changed her mind, but in a way that was really rude. And you know, mine are so sensitive, so in her his feelings and he told her, you know, that her my feelings and she basically she was like, oh, well, oh well, ain't my problem. And
he was like, okay, well, since we're being selfish. You know how you wanted me to pay for your birthday party. You want to have a big shin dig at the house, you can still have it, you know, because this house is yours. But I'm not participating. I'm not paying for anything. Because if you can make a promise that you can break, you know, when it comes to me, then I can make a promise that I can break to say, well, you know what, you know, you can have your party here.
But the plates, the cups, the napkins, the ice, all these things that she just take for granted because the other day she told him because he told her that she should be doing chores, and she said, I feel like I shouldn't be doing chores in the summertime, that my job as a kid is to have fun and just to do my summer, and just to do my summer in America.
Girl.
And then she said this will have me rolling down the stair because you know, I was listening, like, oh God, not doing me. I'm just listening. And she's like, what about she said something like her upstairs? I said her, girl, the way I flewd down the stairs, I almost fell. I said, I think she said them right? Or I said who who her? Who's her? Basically saying like, why don't she do chores? I said, who who's? Who's her? She looked like, I guess she didn't think I heard.
I was like, no, no, no.
My husband looked at me, was like no, I said, oh no, no, no, no, who who was her upstairs? That you're comparing yourself to pictured her?
Man with all the six arm just like just holding me back. No, no, no, no.
Explain her her that you think that you and not on the same level, that you can compare what your chores ought to be to what my chores ought to be. She said, no, but I feel like kids. I said, no, I'm let me tell you something. What kids do? I said, I told her. I was like, you know, we pay for food, We pay for them to make sure that
you have a place to see. She said, yeah, that's what you're supposed to do, and I said, I agree, and you know what, you're supposed to do chores because she was fighting that she didn't think she ought to do chores because she only lives here part time, and I said, well, the part that you live here, you're
doing chores, oh, child Like, so I don't even know. Sometimes, I mean, if those of y'all raising teenagers, the financial component sometimes it's so tricky because obviously Superman and I in a really good position to be able to provide for her, which we do, but it's always like how much provision do you provide? You know what I mean?
Because I feel like there's a lack of gratefulness there, only because not because she's some nasty kid, but only because she doesn't know what it's like not to have, you know what I mean. So for her, she's like, well, of course I get these things, of course. So like that's really the struggle when it comes to.
Like, I'm obsessed with that entire conversation. I'm obsessed with that problem for parents who had who were from the class of like for example. Well, first of all, I mean, I don't think either of us, especially myself. I'll speak for myself. I did not grow up poor. We had times in our life when we had a lot less, especially post divorce and my mom getting back on her feet.
But I but to that I had less than I have now, and I certainly grew up with a lot more financial insecurity than I hope Rio will have to endure. But I also credit a lot of my upbringing with my success. You know the fact that I knew no one was gonna support and like no one could financially rescue me when I lost my job, I had to just like cobble together an income and you know, get onto the next step. And I'm obsessed with children of
first time financially stable parents. I haven't thought of like a buzzword for us yet. Yeah no, But how do you manufacture struggle for them in a way that doesn't it doesn't make you, like feel terrible. But she needs a struggle. I think it just has to be like an intentional manufacturing of struggle, and in a way that goes against everything that we want.
I also don't know and I say this like like I'm not like we're not the parents that gets like like the Jordans and this and that that's not what's happening. Obviously, she has her own room, you know her, and she's got the only cause of her. The bathroom is not huge in her in her in her room, but whoever lived there before created like this cute, small little en suite. And so this is the first time, like since we moved here because where we lived before she didn't have
her own room. So she got her own room. Well, she had her own room, but not her own bathroom inside her own room. And I wouldn't say, like, you know, she doesn't. It's not that she's like you know, I mean, certainly she's got more than I'm gotten, but like I don't buy the Jordans and like the Puma or something. I mean, her parents sometimes do, but I don't even know if it's an excess. I just don't think that. I mean, I just always knew as a kid we
didn't have it, you know what I mean. Like I can't remember, honestly senior year wanting like a senior jacket. And I didn't even ask my mom because I knew we didn't have it. I remember having decided having did this because senior year in high school, you know, you have all these activities and they were like six of them, and I literally knowing that I could choose one, you know, and so thinking like, she doesn't have to think of
those things, and so I don't. I honestly don't know how to like manufacture struggle honestly because obviously it's not working.
But mean, I struggle every day. I struggle with her upstairs.
But she I will say this that that day, which is very mature of her. This is without prodding from her father. She wrote me like a really beautiful letter apologizing. She like is like, I know, I can't imagine how hard it is to raise someone else's child. I was like, oh, look at her, you know. And she was like, you know, you didn't deserve that because you've always been kind, because
I'm always like her advocate and you've always been kind. No, it's been and good thing is about our relationship, is she and like I spoke to her after that happened. I called her mother, and she and her mother we have always had a really great relationship. So she was like, oh, hello girl, She's like, I always tell her, that's not the one you want a problem with TIV. It's always in your corner.
I am.
I'm usually like no, so, man, I think you wrong on this one. And so she's like, so we had like so that was the good thing about it is that, like I wasn't worried about what is her mother gonna say, cause we had a really great talk and she gave me some great feedback of some things I can do, and like, you know, she's apologized right away. But that is the struggle. I'm not gonna lie because she doesn't struggle,
and it's very difficult to manufacture that. I mean, I don't feel like we overindulge, but we don't underindulge in some places. And I'm like, we ought to. I'm gonna see if he's gonna stick to not paying for the I'm like, that's the thing too. You can't just say I'm not gonna pay for the party and then pay for the party. Yeah, you know, so if I would,
this is what I would think. This is what I think is probably gonna be better, is that I will match what you put up because she works like she does, like side jobs and stuff, so that might be better. Like the other day she broke her she got a computer for her birthday because she needed quarantine. And she asked me, like a few days ago, she got a computer for her birthday, like two years ago. She asked me, like, Tiffany,
do we still have insurance on the computer? I'm like, why, She said, well, according to Apple, it looks like there was some pressure put on it. I'm like, it looks like, oh, you sad on it. Like what are we saying here? She was like, so, I'm guessing we don't have insurance. I'm like, I was like, did you break your computer? Mean, it's either yes or no. Sis, you're the only one that uses your computer. So that's that cost a few
hundred bucks to fix. And we told her, like, you have to pay for that, you know that, you know, certainly, like you know, at least half of it, because she
has to learn. So you're raising kids, especially has it relates to money, especially if you're not struggling financially, certainly is like this thing because I don't want to, you know, there's a reason why, Like super and I are not, like, you know, we're not all wild with our money because we know like what it's like not to have, and so I just worry that she's going to live like foolishly because she doesn't know what it's not. She doesn't know what it's like not to have.
So yeah, well I got no answers for you, but I don't. I'm upset. Well, you should have answers for me, because you're ahead of the game.
And that's how tweet us. Tweet us at the BA podcast if you've got some suggestions, please, Lord, Like, we can't take the door again. He could almost put it back on again. He was like, I don't know how to put this back up.
How do you manufacture struggle so that they cause the thing is you either. It kind of goes back to the whole idea of like we did not get spankings that often. I would say I didn't really get spanked after I was like five, but in Black Household it was very common to grow up that way, and you
know a lot and especially like black boys. And I think I was reading in Tanahasse Coates's book Between the World and Me where he's talking about his dad explaining why he's doing it, and it's kind of like to prepare you either I beat you or the world will because it's really you know, it's very it can be really dangerous out there, and it's it's not that I mean, I don't believe in in like physical punishment. I think that there's plenty of studies at show that does not
actually do what you think is doing. I agree, but it's almost like I do think that there is something to be said for if you do not prepare them financially to take to like no one will. We all know you're not going to get the education in school unless you live somewhere where the budget neeste laws and effect you, or you know they're not going to get it in college. And do you really want to wait for the next like economic downturn for them to fall
on their butts? You know? I do think that there are things that we can do to to not to manufacture struggle in like a negative sense, but to give them opportunities to rise, like to give them opportunities to prove that you can trust them or that they can be trusted, and to win as much as they may struggle financially, Like I'll never forget buying my prom dress for senior year and just paying for that dress. It was like two hundred and something dollars. I think I
got it out of a catalog. I felt so rewarding to me, and I think that it wasn't like my mom punished me but asked me to pay for it. But I don't know, giving them opportunities to like to rise to the occasion, Yeah, that can really and I don't. I don't want Rio to go out into the world and not know how to bounce back.
Yeah, and he gets that's his blood, you know. So I'm like, well, girl, we about to have a birthday party with no place, no neck is.
No food, no maybe she'll have an amazing birthday. And she'd be like, you know what, I realized, you don't need very You don't.
Need that much outside. That's all we provide is outside.
Oh my god.
Thankfully she doesn't listen to the podcast.
She'd be like, look how different the conversation is six years later. Look at with our real live humans, our guinea pigs.
Well, do you want to boost? Do you want to break? Because now it's time to boost or break or boost or brown boost a brown breaking. You know what was so crazy in the beginning. I think we only used to do brown break. In the beginning, remember, yeah.
We called it something different. It was like brown brilliance. Was it a positive one?
Yeah, okay, and then brown break.
And then I think we just became we were like we never do brilliance. We just always want to break.
I don't know because yes, no, because I remember, because we was that that that that, you know, the administration that shall not be named. I think we were having such a hard time we were like, we need some positivity. So we added like, let's we need to be boosting as well.
So yeah, we went negative, then back to positive. But I think we all ended up where we need to. It was just very bizarre to read the old We were so organized in the beginning. Someone was just our producer Sarah was like, yeah, it'd be nice to know like show topics and advance.
I was like, but we'll let you know what we know.
Whatever whatever strikes us. But yeah, So I have actually a few options because I've been taking I've been like writing down things, trying to get back in the habit. I found my special Brown Ambition notebook.
Nice it's got at that. Look at that.
Yeah, a little chocolate. I wish I could never please I'm a blonde roast. We all know that. Anyway, Tiffany's an espresso AnyWho. What was I saying? I have like crazy road trip brain, So a couple of things. I want to take a break. Here's what I'm gonna do. I think I'm gonna choose this one. I want to take a break from college degrees. We kind of towed around this a little bit when we had my financial
planner Helen on the show a few months back. We were talking about the importance of saving for your children and one of the tried and ways of saving for your child is a five to nine college savings plan. And at the time Helen was helping me kind of see beyond, like you know, college is not the only
measure of success. And I think the next generation, like Rio's generation, will grow up in a different world where you know, we don't equate college degrees and college education as a pathway to success as much as is a pathway to the depths of debt, because it can be I mean not always, but it can often lead to so much debt for nothing because you may realize you don't want to study what you studied. You may have gone into school too quickly, maybe you should have taken
a gap year to like find yourself or whatnot. Anyway, so we brought that up then, and I think the pandemic has even further for me driven home the fact that the societal pressure on having a college degree is
actually can sometimes hurt more than it helps. And the specific thing that I want to talk about for my break was how it hurts job applicants, because still to this day, most it feels like job applications they have like it's like there's you have dozens and dozens of hundreds of resumes coming in, and I've seen it because I've been on the hiring side, and you have this software.
You have software that you can use or tools that you can use to weed out applicants based on keywords, and you may, for example, weed out anyone that doesn't include the word degree, or anyone that doesn't include bachelor or whatever in there, or doesn't check a box saying that they've completed higher education, college or higher And the problem is that so many jobs, like for example, my cousin, who I don't think would even be upset by me
mentioning this, she has been living with me since February she's been my personal assistant slash nanny south slash O pair up until July and when Rio started daycare. And Anna is halfway through well she's like three quarters of her way through a healthcare administration degree. Okay, she is so freaking smart, can do anything. Is so like emotionally intelligent and mature for her age.
And this woman has applied dozens of.
Jobs and with all of my career advice and all of my resume, she hasn't gotten any jobs. And she's been looking for like administrative assistant positions. You know, she's studying healthcare administration. So we've been you know, I even like was like go to this this place where I get my group on laser laser hair removal and see if they want see if they need an admin.
You've been looking for admin.
So but listen, Okay, not the kind of admin where like she's schedules sing. She's not so good at that. But like, you know, FA, I believe me, I would have referred her to you.
Tis that girl looking for admin. But I'm like, okay, she would.
Be my brown ambition admin. Okay, anyway, but she's got these qualifications. But we just know it's because she hasn't finished her degree. And literally in the job market today, where there's such a shortage of labor, you know, a shortage of labor and huge demand for at the same time, it just seems like antiquated that people are potentially passing
up candidates based on something that is a little bit arbitrary. So, like, I see the importance of education obviously, you know, college degree, especially if it's in a field that's tied to the job that you're applying for, it can't indicate that you have some preparation for the role. But for jobs that you can really learn on the job, you know, assistant roles, like there are plenty of jobs where you don't really
need someone who has job experience. You need someone who is who has all the qualities that Anna has that are not easily put on a resume, like knows how to handle conflict, knows how to juggle multiple tasks at once. You know, it is intuitive about people's needs without needing to be told, like these are things that you just
can't teach, you know. And so I brought that up because I was listening to another podcast, Planet Money The Indicator, which is good, and they featured college degrees, and they actually interviewed someone who used to work for the Obama administration and he now works for this organization that I hadn't heard of called Opportunity Work, which is actually a nonprofit that helps people who don't have college degrees find better, more meaningful employment. Anyway, So that's that's my break, and
it's very frustrating to me. And I would say, if you're in a position of hiring, you know, really look at your job. Even ask your HR reps when they're recruiting for roles, you know, what are your how are you filtering out candidates? What are you really looking for? And actually ask yourself if you need to put Bachelor of Arts required for certain roles, because you could be you could really be excluding a lot of people. You know, a lot of people. I think something like more than
half the country doesn't even have a college degree. So it's not even a black, brown, white issue, it's just an everybody issue. But yeah, stay in school and all that college is great, but it can't be the only requirement for a job.
I agree, so a few things. One but that's why I did. I don't have five twenty nine plans for the kids in my life. I have what does that thing called custodio plans, So it's just me. You know, I'm missing out, yes on the tax benefit, but it's basically I get to set aside money. I get to let the money grow, but at the end you get
to decide how you want to use it. Because my nieces and my nephew most of them are under the age of six, well all of them are under the age of six, and although Supergirl is fourteen, still you just don't know, like where you know, life is going ahead. So that's one.
Two.
Shout out to John Lye. She listens to Brown ambitions. She's been on my team for the last like four years. She was like, I applied to be Mandy, to be coached by Mandy. She's even try to use your name to be like, you know, I work with the budget list. She said that I was just talking about John Elyse on like last Friday or whatever. She was like, she didn't choose, not done choosing. That's not true. I have my own system.
I haven't weeded anyone out, but I sorted them in a certain way. The earlier you applied and the sooner you said you wanted to switch jobs. That is that's how I prioritize. I'm only.
As you still got you love I finally all the things that Mandy's doing online. She was like, first of all, she has been listening to Brown Ambition from the very literally episode one, and so she is like a huge fan. She's like, oh my god, I love Mandy. I can't believe she finally left. I felt like she was like, it was so crazy the way she was starting about you, like, can you believe she finally left corporate? That is real crazy because I know.
I'm like you are fans fourteen she said she wouldn't.
And then third, a woman emailed me today. I was on this podcast with I forget Tory's last name, of her her first her first one hundred K. It's called Financial Faneminist, and we talked about like the wealth gap, and a woman emailed me after hearing me on that podcast and said, I am a white woman. I am in Portland, Maine, and I have a bakery and it's getting larger. And I heard what you said about people making an effort to really like be make their hiring
practices more accessible to other people. And she was like, I want to do that. I don't know how, and so I gave her some suggestions, and one of them was that almost every profession has a black or brown association attached to it, Like there's the Black Association of Accountants, a Black Association of you know, I don't know, like you know Manicuria. Yes, And I told her you can
find the Black Association of Bakers. I promise you that there is, and then you can reach out to them and say, hey, are you know I'm I'm interviewing and I would like to be inclusive in my interviewing and you know where could I find folks where I am? So I just thought that that was, like, you know, like that that is a way that you can be inclusive, because I think a lot of people think too when they're hiring black or brown, that you're doing somebody a favor. No, sis,
you're not. You are you are doing yourself a favor because you're looking for qualified applicants in a wider pool. You're not doing like I guess you can come on with your you know, non professional self now. And so like that was like, you know, that's something I wrote to her to make sure that she understands that you're bringing folks on because they are highly qualified. But the blessing is you get a wider pool of people that you get to lean into. So that's it. But and
my boost is actually really fast. My boost is just like your girl's gonna be a Target.
I was just in there and I was book the other day. I thought, you Target, this is amazing.
So Target, if any, I mean, first of all, I love Target. I'm wearing like Target tights right now. I think the shortage from Target Target right, I love Target. You go in there and literally just smile. You're like, it's my happy place. And I wanted to be in Target from the very beginning with Gega with Money my my new New York Times bestseller. But the thing about Target is, you know, Target is not a bookstore. So if you ever go to the Target book section, I mean it's like two half shelves, you.
Know, so there are only bestsellers basically, and some romance novels exactly.
And then so what you'll see more heavily. Sometimes you'll see kids books there because it like it lends himself to that. But the truth is Target doesn't have a huge book section because it's not a bookstore. So it's not easy getting into Target, not by a long shot, even if you have a bestseller, cause they're like, sis, there are maybe there might be two hundred best sellers.
We can't put two hundred books out here. But they reached out to my publisher was like, we're doing this like wellness like component for September and we want to showcase get it with money because we think it's part of like well I was like, not targ show. So if you want to see me acting a full I suggest. So my content team was like, Tiffany, we need you to go to Target and take some videos and pictures. And I'm like, it's not in there yet. They're like, yeah,
we need ahead of time. So I packed five of my books into my bag. I dragged one of my besties, Cabral I said We're going to Target and act a fool. He's like what, I'm like, just come. So I put my books on the shelf and at first we were taking pictures, but that seems a little too boring. I was like, I feel like it's not reading Target. What is iconic Target the cart So at my big age, I climbed into the Yes, I climbed into the cart and I asked a poor stock boy who looked like,
please don't get me fired. I was like, I'm going to need you to push me pack past this section of books while he takes a boomerang, and so he's like, as long as my manager doesn't see. So if you want to see my target shenanigans, go to my Instagram page to a budgetissa And you know I don't post a whole lot, so it should be within the first few posts that you can see me inside the target cart just acting crazy. And so by September, by the time this comes out on Wednesday, it should be in
your Target stores. I'm going to go see obviously, and if it's in New Jersey, I'm going to go to a few of the Target stores do like mini meetups in the aisles. So I'll just let you guys know when the time cometh. So yeah, I'm just excited.
So yeah, that is so freaking amazing.
Isn't that crazy?
It is the gift that keeps on giving. The long tail. It was not just like a one hit wonder. It feels like we're it got all the buzz and everyone got it because you're on GMA, but it clearly is still having an impact, which is just feel like, if you're only gonna do the one which you say, you know.
Maybe we'll see. But if I'm gonna do the one I wanted.
To be after I pushed that baby out of mine own Vagina by two said that would be it. But just recently, just recently, I have been feeling pangs that I never thought my body would. I was like you and me, we agree never again. But I'm just saying, if it's anything like having a baby, you might you might be.
Thinking I know it too.
We'll see you, little Sole often. See what happened?
All right, y'all? That is the shizzle. We hope that you enjoyed as per huge. Don't forget that this show is not just for you. Don't be selfish. You to take this link and put in that group chat sis, email it to your friend, send it to your sister, your mother, your brother, your cousin. Literally the link of the show. If you got your life, you know they will too.
And these two friends about at least two can do that.
Yes.
Well, first of all, if we have.
A lot of new listeners, it feels like go to Apple or wherever you listen to podcasts, leave us a five star review if you're feeling you know, feeling generous. If it's anything less than five, you can just go to the fridge and grab a snack because maybe you just need to Maybe you just need a quick snack and a stretch, and then go leave me five start and don't forget. Friday is our b a QA.
Yes, if you have a question taking your questions, Yes, you could d m us on Instagram. What is on Ambition podcast on? It's no brand and vision.
You know, on the very first episode of the show, you couldn't name the email address and I had to fill it in and I was like, if there's one thing we're consistent, it is at brand Ambission podcast on IG. But earlier, do you just pull out our Twitter handle like for the first time, you know, we knew that little nugget was in there.
Sometimes things just come up. I mean my brain, my brain will will tweet a little, just turn on and I'm like, oh my gosh, she's here.
Yeah, So we'll see you guys Friday, and stay tuned to IG because we are going to be putting out a special invitation to some very lucky Brand Ambision listeners who may get to join us on an upcoming episode live in our virtual studio audience, So stay tuned if you want to enter. Maybe she'll Jotta Lee. Was that her name? Jott lese Jattalyse Data stutt Lest, Maybe she'll get into the she'll work that budget Easter name, and maybe producer Sarah will get her to the VIP access.
All right, y'all, until next time. See you on Wednesday, but then also on Friday for b a q A see You