Hey, hey, hey. So that was my attempt at a somber Hey hey hey.
I was gonna go like, hey, guys, we're here again. It's America, America, America. We're actually gonna go on. I'm just speaking for the country now. We're just gonna go on like a six week vacation. We're gonna go to like France or something like.
Yeah, a lot is happening. I'm like what. Like I was in Atlanta. I was speaking at like on a panel in Atlanta, and my publicis, Drina, was like what she was showing me? Like, I just I wasn't fully focused, but she's showing me pictures of these men with tiki torches, and I'm like, what, what's going on? She kept saying, I can't believe what's happening in Charlotte. So I can't
believe what's happening in Charlotte. But so I didn't. I wasn't fully uh focused until like I looked for myself and I'm like, wait, what this was just the night that they that they went on to. What's the campus of the college. What's the college?
I actually don't know. It's the University of Virginia.
I think, so but I was like, wait, so, how are they allowed on college campuses with like, you know, it was weird because you know, it was kind of like this juxtaposing like they've got like citronella Tigi torches, but their faces were very serious with anger and I guess rage or whatever.
I don't know if it was a college campus, I think they were. They were there protesting. I don't know, they were just protesting their removal of some civil War statue.
Yeah, no, it was It's well, they said they marched through the University of Virginia. I'm Friday Night, okay, yeah,
chanting you will not replace us. There's one guy in particular, like everyone seeing his feel like if you see his face, I guess you know, he was not expecting to be kind of like the poster boy for this, but his face was like a photographer took his picture, and I think the New York Post kind of like ran the story and it was like three guys, but his face was the one that was kind of contorted with the most rage. And after I guess they must have found
him and reached out to him. He was like, oh, no, you know, that was not my intention. We're not hateful. We're not racist. We just and it was just so strange because you could tell that he was now that he was like being outed. You know, it was like all of a sudden, it was always backtracking of like oh, no, no, no, we don't we don't hate anyone. We just want to preserve our culture as well. We think everyone should have a culture. I'm like, really, cuz that's not what it looked like.
I read they were chanting white lives matter, Jews will not replace us, you will not make I mean to backtrack like that. There's some they had some balls though. I mean, if they go home to jobs and their jobs aren't firing them right now. I also want to know what I haven't gotten a good sense of is exactly how many people there were this on their side
at this rally. I think that's important too. But someone someone I was talking to about it said, well, you know, it's really just a small group of people, and I and I and I agree that we need to like be we need to be getting the full picture, you know, was it. I think it's hard in this situation because it's it's it's easy to for the media to sort of make it look like there's just so so so many people. I wouldn't be surprised if they were outnumbered
by counter protesters. But at the same time, yeah, the.
Next day, what you mean the next day, I don't think. I think that evening it was kind of took everyone by surprise, so they were like, wait what. And then the next day, I guess, I don't know if there was it was the same group, but the next day there was like, a guess, a bigger display, like a rally, and that's when the counter protesters kind of you're right, it seems like they outnumbered them. But it was well, I.
Finished real quick because I didn't want to belittle it by saying there weren't that many, But I just what I wanted to say was there aren't. It is a small It probably is a very small group of people, but it's still The issue is that they feel like they're in a safe place right now, where it's okay to be out in the streets without even with you know, completely with these stupid tiki torches. Yeah, they feel like this is their time, you know, And there's only one
reason they feel like this is our time. It's because because of our president. Yeah, it's because of their president and the fact that he was limited by this al right movement.
And they said it liked David Duke, right, wasn't he like the former president of the KKK or whatever. He said, you know, this is we're fulfilling the promises that forty five put before us and why we elected him. We are, you know here because you know, we're taking back what you know is quote unquote ours And there was a letter solid that O'Brien tweeted this letter. She was like, if you think this is not connected to the president anyway,
let's be clear. She was like, so, I guess the letter went out like to the their whatever, socialist nationalist group whatever, saying hey, brother's like, you know, don't because Donald the president said basically like oh, we have to all come together as one or whatever. Some people were on the alt right were angry with him, and they were like, no, don't be angry. If you notice he didn't condemn us, it's very clear he's letting us know secretly. Hey,
I'm with you. Like it was so scary, and I was like, you know what, he's right, he didn't condemn Like, you know, it's crazy times.
There's hatred and bigotry on all sides, he said, on many, many sides, many sides, but in this specific instant, mister dufis, there's there's one type of hatred and bickering bigotry from one side. It's very, very apparent they're literally waving signs that say who they are and what they stand for.
And the fact that he was in the fact that this statement came from his private golf course in New Jersey and doesn't even have the kohones to call it what it is, to call racism racism, And then the next day when that car crash happened and what three people died, to call terrorism terrorism?
Yeah?
It just like but I mean I want to we're not crazy. We all have eyes now, we all have eyes phones, we can call it. I think it's important that we're all calling it what it is, yeah, and not shying a wht shying away from it. I mean, even some of his supporters are like, come on, dude, let's just call I think Ivanka even tweeted that it was that, you know, against the white supremacy.
I don't.
I haven't seen anyone though, call it terrorism. What happened the next day when a white man, and it's still not clearly exactly who he is, but there was there's one headline saying that he was definitely a neo Nazi sympathizer. But because he's a white man, it's like, oh, let's just you know, let's wait till the facts are in before we call it terrorism.
You know, of course, because you know, we don't. We can't jump to the gun, like that would be totally unfair.
Like can you imagine if that was replace all those white men with black men with torches? Can you imagine?
Yeah, we would have Ferguson, Like I there was this awesome repost that I reposted. It was like, so we're all the riot gear. Where's all the tear gas and rubber bullets and and and and you know, scary police dressed to the nines and they're right, you're asking for a friend and standing rock and Ferguson like, because when brown folks were protesting, and you know, it was a
total completely different energy that you brought. There were there were videos where I saw the terrorists, white supremacists pushing the police line back. Where where could that happen? In Ferguson, that a bunch of brown folks could push the police line back and it's and nothing happened. I couldn't even
believe it. I was like wow, Like for people who want to be like like purposefully obtuse and pretend as if there is no difference, I'm like, there's like whatever, do like I it just really you know, it's like I remember when the president when when President Barack Obama was elected and folks were just like, oh, you brown, you could finally stop complaining there's no more racism. Now there's a black president, and we're like, are you kidding me?
That doesn't mean that there's no more Racist's not how racism works, you know that, Like just because a black man is elected president, it doesn't mean that there's still not systematic racism and there's still not racism out there. And now we see that it's I mean just because it's not it wasn't flagrantly obvious. Then now we see like none of that has none of that went away. If anything, it seemed like it increased it. Did you see the interview when they interviewed the young man who
the terrorists that ran into the people, They interviewed his mother. No, yeah, Yahoo, Actually you're an ex employee, if you're They interviewed his mother and was it Katie? She was is that her name?
No, Katie, I know she's down there right now.
Oh no, I think it was. I didn't see video. I just saw, like you know, it's like a picture. She was like, Oh, he told me that he was going to go protest. I told him to be careful and to like not be super political. And she was like, I didn't, you know, I don't think he's racist. I mean he had a black friend. I was like, are you yah, are you kidding me? And so I was just like yeah, so yeah, well you're We'll see what happens to him. That's what I'm going to be curious about,
not that you've killed three people. Oh.
I'm sure he'll have a fair trial. I'm sure it'll be a whole question. Are they going to indict him? Are they going to maybe he just you know, had road rage or like maybe his hit, maybe his foot slipped on the pedal, who knows. I was reading some of the things that they were saying about how you know, we're not racist, We're just trying to, you know, better our lives, and we just want to we were more
about protecting ours our place, not bringing others down. And I'm like, but that's the very definition of racism, when you're preservation is more important than someone else's.
Like what, Yo, It's so crazy to me because I'm like, do you realize that the times that you quote unquote want to go back to were bad times for everyone else that was not white? Like? And they're like really not even really, but yes, So you're saying, I want to go back to the times when black people can't vote, when you know brown people couldn't you know, didn't have the same rights. I mean, you want to go back
to that time and preserve that part of history. And you're saying, why can't we just go back to having less? And like what are you really? Like? What what are you really marching for? I'm sorry, are you not getting certain jobs? Are you being followed in stores? So? Like, what what is the harm that's being done to you? You know what I mean. I'm just like, you couldn't live one day as brown one day because someone is taking out a statue.
Well, you know the only way that the lever I mean, they're never going to get it. I mean, the people of this are gone. I have to say again, it's a small group of people, but I think it's the ones in the who aren't out there. It's necessarily protesting, but they're doing it in their own small ways every day.
You know.
I think I'm reading the most perfect book for this moment at the perfect time. I've been reading Americana for the last month, trying to get through it. Have you read it? If you haven't read it.
Now, I've read her book before that Half a Yellow Sez. Oh my gosh, so good.
It's funny. I haven't read it. It's a big book, not big, but it's like, you know, it's not a quick read, but it's really good, and it's about it's partially about a woman's experience coming from Nigeria to America and acclin becoming you know. I think I spends like over a decade here and just her story of immigrating and then the challenges she went through and like establishing
a life for her here. But then she also starts this blog while she's here, which is about the non black experience in America, and it's sort of and it's but anyway, it feels like it was. I think this book came in twenty thirteen. It feels like the Solange
album of books right now. Some of her blog posts, you know, there was one specifical way about oppression and like can you imagine or not oppression, but about how when someone's telling you something is racist to a person who's non black, when someone's telling you who is black or brown, if they're telling you something is racist, don't deny them. Why would you deny them. It's not like they're I mean, it's almost like that they they they don't want to they don't want to admit to themselves
that it's real. So they tell you what you're seeing isn't real, or you're overreacting, van dramatic, and I think right now, it's just it's just what's been beautiful to me is to see everyone sort of rally together and be like to affirm what we're all seeing and to affirm that what we're all feeling and that it's it's valid.
We're not crazy.
And you can't tell us, you can't convince this we're crazy.
It ain't.
Yah.
Finally, it ain't. That's changed, right because I remember, like the only like refuse you used to have were your other brown friends. Like we I'm not I'm not crazy, right, like she was following me right cause there would be times. I can remember when we first moved to Westfield, which is largely white, a huge Jewish population, and like I remember we moved there. When you moved there, you get
like a welcome kid. I didn't know this until I got a little older, but my mom had gotten like all these coupons and like, you know, coming because basically they wanted you to come down down Westfield and get acclimated and spend money. So she'd gone. And when she'd gone downtown when she brought the coupons, people acted like, where do you where'd you get these from? We're not honoring these. And I didn't know that. It wasn't until I was like in sixth grade and I was like
going downtown like for the first time. It was like I had been he had lived there for a year and I'd gone downtown with one of my friends and she I was walking in a store and the lady followed me like asle by Aisle. At first, it took me a while to recognize it. I'm like, she followed me. I'm like, no, but asle by Aisle, she's following me, and I just assumed because I was still really young. I was like, oh, because I'm a kid, she thinks
I'm going to steal. And then my friends came in and they were loud and obnoxious and like running through the aisles, and she continued my friends were all white, and she continued to follow me. And it took me a moment and I'm just looking like wait, and I walked up to her and I said, why are you following me? She just looked at me and she's like, why are you in my store? And I was like and then like the realization kind of came over me, and I'm like, are you following me? Cause I'm black?
And she just said get out of my store. And I was like, i was heartbroken because that never happened. I'm like a kid, you know. So I go home and I'm crying. I tell my mother and she told me about her experiences with the coupons, and do you know, to this day, my mother has never shot downtown Westfield ever.
She said, I will never. And I just thought, like, but then if you were to tell that someone, oh, well girl, that's because no, that's not why, Like, don't tell me I'm crazy, like this is what's that's this is what's happening. And so that's the part that's really disheartening is when you know you're checking yourself like am I overreacting? Am I? You know, and even telling yourself like maybe I am, but really seeing it and seeing it over and over and over again, where now I'm
just like whatever. Like to me, the small group of men that were there, that's not what worries me. It's the big group behind them that supports that but wouldn't carry a torch probably exactly. You know. It's their wives, their girlfriends, is their friends who don't say anything, you know. I mean I feel like if.
You can't sit, if you can't watch that footage or read what the story about what's happening in Charlotte's Fell and say, of course that's racism, of course that's a terrorism, then you're complicit and what's going on. I mean, love, what is it? In Action is just as bad as action in some ways. There's some quote about that which I can't remember right now, but that's essentially the gist of it. Yeah, group, Yeah, another wins a moment.
Seven, Speaking of brown folks getting shafted. So did you see the video I posted? So a friend of mine lovey. Y'all know her. We've had her on as again. She's awesome. She has a New York Times bestseller.
So I'm judging.
I'm really yes, I'm judging you, which you should go read.
But so, right before the book came out.
We did. I think it was like last year's time. Yeah, so her book from almost the very beginning became a New York Times bestseller, and her publishers have been obviously printing copies, and she's been telling them like, hey, where's my where's my New York Times bestseller? Like stamp stick or whatever on my book? Because you could put you
reprint them. Obviously you want to say that, because it's like a proven statistic that books that say New York Times bestsellers sell more, right, And so I think she she she her first run or whatever, she sold like sixty six thousand copies something like that, and so they just recently, just recently, like less than a week ago or whatever, reprinted fifty thousand copies without without the New
York Times bestseller. She was like, what the hell? And she she did a Facebook live talking about like, what's really going on? Because even when her first I remember when her book came out, she was writing cryptic messages like, y'all really have to support me because I'm not getting support with my publisher as far as marketing and this
and that. Because typically publishers, when they have books that come out, they usually have one book that they really put their energy behind and the other one's kind of fair fend for themselves. So hers was not the suspective. They didn't expect her book to do as well. But her book did very well, and so but she never felt like she kind of had the support and then for them to reprint. So if you sold sixty six thousand in your prime, do you know how long to
tell her to sell through fifty thousand? How long does it take her to sell through fifty thousand before they can reprint another cover that says New York Time's bestsellers, And how much money she's missing out on Because seeing that on a book, if you don't know the author, would make you at least pick it up to read the back of it, right, And so, so she you know, she expressed her frustrations because she's already spoken to them, and went to Facebook to express her frustrations and some
other writers and older woman and a few other writers I think, like kind of like clack back, and they're like, oh, you're so entitled and you should just be happy that you had a New York Times bestseller and you know that's what they tell you. But she's like, so entitled means wanting something I did not earn. I earned my spot on the New York Times bestsellers. So all I'm asking is that my book reflects what I earned. I'm
not asking for more. I'm not, you know. And I just thought like, it's just so curious that when women stand up for themselves, cause I'm sure it was not easy to demand and say, what the hell this is not okay?
Don't they want her book to sell? Isn't it in their interests? The publishers make like ninety five percent of the money when I'm.
So honestly exactly. And that's why she's like, I don't understand what's going on here. They're like, this has never happened before. You know, we've you know, this is I'm sorry, this is a huge mistake. We've ever made this mistake before. And she's like yeah, but we've been like I've been a New York Times bestseller. This is our this is her seventh. They're in her seventh reprint, So this is not like how many times can that mistake be made
before you're like, something intentional is happening. This is not reprint number one, two, three, four, five, it's reprint.
Seven, so nine actually, so it's even worse.
Oh wow wow, So it's like, what's really happening when you know what I mean? So I don't honestly, I don't know. I could not tell you why a publisher would not put that on there after they've been requested, but she's had issues with them before, and so I don't know honestly. But it's it's important, and it's not easy because you know, people will call you a troublemaker. People will say that, you know, like how dare you speak up for yourself? People you know, will say you're entitled?
Can you imagine entitled? Basically, it's like saying, hey, I bought a hamburger. I gave you five dollars and you didn't give me a hamburger, and I'm like, hey, where's my hamburger? And someone saying, well, gird. Just be glad that you're even able to eat, Like, but no, but I but I bought a hamburger. Why can't I expect to eat that? And Yeah, So I'm just proud of her for standing up because I know it's not easy, because I'm sure there are still people who are rolling
their eyes, like, oh boy, you're complaining. But at least you got New York Times bestseller. Yeah, but that's a huge, huge accomplishment that I'm sure ninety nine percent of authors never get. Why shouldn't her book reflect that? And then too, it's a monetary loss that she's losing.
And they're losing it. Just I mean, I understand all everything she's saying, but I mean, like I feel like, one thing that you can one thing that that over that that outweighs sexism and racism in any industry is money. And if they seem to make more money, why are like they're idiots, They're dumb, dumb, dumb. I don't know. I mean, it seems mutually beneficial to have a book. They should be proud of publishing a New York Times bestseller book. They are shooting themselves in the foot. But
I hope she gets. I hope maybe Shonda Rhimes will buy all fifty thousand copies and then she'll get to print another cop another round with stickers. I don't know, yeah, I know, she said in the video she can't just go buy stickers and stick them on the books herself. So then I was I was immediately imagining like a group effort, like why.
A human chain of stickering on books because I was thinking that, yeah, but I just and it's hard to stand up for yourself because it's women, you know, Like when she first went live about it, I was cringing because the.
Good girl in me was like no, because you know, that's what you're taught. You don't make waves, you don't ask for what you deserve. You take what people give you. And then the other part of the warrior in me was like go because like at the you know, it's like if you have to learn to say something, it's it's not easy. Like I was telling my sister because she was having trouble where she's working, and I said, are you gonna wait until you have a nervous breakdown?
Like is that what you're is that what you're waiting for? Are you gonna wait until you're so overwhelmed that you literally cannot move. And so I said, or are you going to say something? But what can they do? I don't know, I told her, I don't know what they can do. But I know that saying nothing gets you nothing, and it's so hard for It's like good girl syndrome. Well, I don't want to say I could do it. I figure it out. No, you have to learn to speak
up for yourself and say something. There's nothing wrong with that.
I give my dad a lot of credit. I mean his his He always taught me it's okay to complain when something isn't right, or something that you something you
worked for or bought or whatever wasn't to your standards. Now, okay, I'm gonna I should I should clarify that by saying this usually has to do with like Wendy's hamburgers, like if there weren't enough guys or if the burger was too cold, he would eat about half of it and then have no problem going but to the calendar and asking for the rest of it, or asking for like
a brand new one. But I've taken that and I and I have become the person in my life who is the first one, you know, after my wedding, even when I wasn't happy with the flowers and I wasn't happy with some things that that uh the DJ I mean, I had a gorgeous, perfect wedding and a lot of people made me feel like I was acting out of line by going back and telling them what I felt could have been better. And I was like, why should I've I spent thousands? Why should I feel bad for
telling them? They must stu Yes, in the whole picture, it was beautiful, and I'm very grateful, but don't they want to be better in service? And don't they need to know what I what I thought could have been better and wasn't up to standards with what I and I mean as I was typing and even I felt guilty even after, and I was like, but why why do I feel this way? And I just I you know, I do it anyway.
Now and I'm practically and I think that's where I have like I always have like like I always have a type of friend so like you, Drina, there's a few other friends in my life that have like the hood sput like that, And I know I purposefully have friends like that because that's how my like my natural nature. I'm always like, oh, that's okay, I just suffer. I just suffered sound and I hate that I'm like that.
So I have folks around me who are like a girl, no, because it emboldens me to say, you know what, no, Like look at Manny, didn't she just say, hey, this is not what I ordered? Like I remember one time I ordered food and I got the wrong food and I was going to eat it, and my friend's like, are you kidding me too? For me? Are you kidding me about what you've ordered? I was like, I know, but I don't mind salmon. And she was like, girl, if you don't call the waitress over, she's you don't
have to be rude. You just say, Hi, this is not what I ordered. I don't know what it is. I just and it's it's a habit that I want to break. And so I surround myself with people who are not afraid to say something.
It's just we've seen the damage. What can happen when you don't stand up and tell people what's going even if it's the smallest saying that's happened to you that seems unjust or I know, it's we're talking about food again, which seems like a small thing, but it's it's like knowing when it matters enough to speak up and choosing the right moments. But then I don't know. Yeah, I think that the more you do it, the easier it gets.
I used to be so embarrassed by my dad, so embarrassed by my dad, and I and my brother reminds me every day how much more I'm starting to sound like him. And uh, I'm okay with that as long as I'm using it for you know, like I'm not going to complain if I'm not going to eat half my Windy's fries and then tell them it was cold and can I get another one? One that's a little shady pops. But I will, you know, if I get
the wrong word, I will speak up. Or when I pay for service and it's not done to my to the level of service that I was promised. Yeah, you know, speak up.
It's a lesson for us all that you have to say something. There's nothing wrong with saying something. There's somebody in her comments, I forget what they said. She said, it's called lost cool. That's what she calls it. So she said that. So she has this theory or this like strategy what she calls lost cool, that she always
gives people the opportunity to fix something. So if say, you know, you go to a hotel and they're like, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, your room's not ready, but you know it's it's supposed to be ready, but it's not. But can you allow us. We're going to give you an upgrade and it will be ready at four, even though it's supposed to be in your room by
you know. And she said from eleven, when she jumps to when she was supposed to check in to four, she'll go eat and if back four she goes, and she's cool until then because this is what you've set before her, that here's the solution. But after four she calls it lost cool. That she was like, I'm no longer cool after four because that was a timeline you had to fix the initial mistake. And I thought, Okay, I kind of like that, not that she's gonna wile out,
but like, now I don't have to be oh super comminating. No, you said at this time it's gonna be done. Now it's not done. Now this has to escalate up. Where's your manager, right, you know? And so she calls it lost cool, and I said, you know what, I like that? She said, you give people the opportunity to fix things, and they give you the timeline of when it's going to be fixed, and after that you don't have to
be cool about it anymore. You can escalate up, you can send a letter, you can reach out to the next level. And I said, okay, lost cool, I'm gonna try that.
Give them a chance, yeah, give them a chance to fix it. Yes, oh, go ahead.
No, no, yeah, yeah, I was just agreeing with you.
I hope that if there's one industry where you have to advocate for yourself, though, it's publishing. Everyone I know who's everyone I know who's published books has had to do their own pr their own She literally, like Lovey said, she had to hire her own publicist outside of the place Blushing House. Everyone I know who's had a book
that hasn't. I mean, I don't know any super famous authors, but the ones, especially in the in the business world that I know who've written books, have had to hire their own little teams to go out there and promote the book and tweet about it and whatnot. And so I think that, you know, I think she shouldn't. I mean, it's it's the way it is in a lot of ways. I just I still can't believe that her own publisher
wouldn't want to do the thing. I can see how you wouldn't want to hire a publicist, because what if you waste money on a publicist and you don't sell the books, But by putting a sticker, you're almost guaranteed to sell more books. Yeah, I don't hopefully she can choose another one for book number two or you know right, I mean that's what I would do. These people don't want to make money, don't want to make her money, Okay.
Exactly At the end of the day, I'm sure, I'm sure there's lots of publishers that would like a New York Times bestseller under their roster.
And I feel like she wouldn't have made that public speech if they if she hadn't already taken it to them. I don't think it's all be a surprise to them at all, Like she's probably given them the and the lost question.
She did, Yeah, she certainly did, ye.
And still didn't And so I feel that frustration for sure, well, we love you, Lovey. Go out and get her book. It's called I'm Judging You Shanda Rhimes what she optioned it for a television series.
Right, yep, m hm.
It's a good read. It's a funny read. It's a good summer read too.
Yeah, funny. I like summer funny books for the summer.
Or go check out her blog if you have an awesomely lovey. Actually I need to read her take on Charlottesville. She's one of She's like, yeah, I love her for the hot Yeah.
Yeah, he is definitely good for that.
It's finely humor in it. Exactly should we boost and break?
Oh? Yes, I have a unique boost Well this is like I feel like I'm the this is on the fed boost break. This is like a boost break. So we'll see how how well is that? So fast? I love that? So you know everybody has watched that documentary on Netflix What the Health?
Oh I haven't.
Oh well I have not either.
Not everyone's read it, but I'm just saying.
Everyone was posting about like it's been like this huge Facebook like wave of like, oh we should watch What's the Health? And as a result, so What the Health is a documentary like an expose on the meat industry in the United States, which you know basically you know, yeah, you don't want to know, like puffs and cows eating other cows and dead chickens with each other. It's just
it's just a mess. So anyway, as a result, a lot of people turn vegan, like a huge bricing veganism, and and I know some of you guys who are really vegan are gonna be like, Tiffany, get out of my vegan face. I decided I was going to try it out for three weeks. I'm not gonna lie. Not for the political reasons, even though I'm like, I know some vegans are rolling their eyes right now, I don't care.
I'm trying it out more so for the health reasons. Aka, I want to lose ten pounds, so what, I don't care. Don't judge me because a lot of being so I'm in this vegan group. Child, it's like really political. I know a lot of people are vegan because they're like, and I agree that, you know, I don't believe in cruelty to animals, but I had not seen what, you know, what, how our meat was produced basically, and so it's very
cruel to animals. But I'm not gonna lie. That was not the reason why I decided to to try out this, this vegan lifestyle. I'm just over this ten pounds and I'm like, maybe this will help to jump start a healthier life. Not that I can't see myself being vegan for life. Honestly, I think that I definitely would would have a more plant based diet. But I will say on the positive side, like, so I don't drink any I haven't looked in the last two weeks I took out.
I don't drink much soda anyway, but no juice, no soda, just water. If I need some bubbles, sparkling water, if I need some flavor, lemon water. And then I've been taking apple sided vinegar in the morning, which I'm like, it's not my favorite, but whatever, It's tolerable. Water with a little splash of honey, I know, because vegans are like what honey's I vegean? Oh gosh, I know.
And then you gotta be careful with that whole vegan thing because everything I has animal in it.
I know.
I felt my eggs. I just can't do it.
You know what the hard part for me is not because the truth is, I'm not a huge like I don't really eat I was not a big red eat meat eater. It's very rare that I would eat red meat. I'm not huge. I'm not a big, big meat eater, even chicken and fish. So the mornings are super easy, I have to say, because I'm usually like I'm lactose in tolerant anyway, So giving up dairy is not super huge,
except for sour cream because I love sour cream. And cheese wasn't a huge give up because I was I had given up on like ninety percent of cheese anyway because of my lactose some tolerance, and I haven't been able to eat ice cream, so it wasn't. The transition
is not super crazy. Lunchtime is easy because I just have a salad and I'll use like like I like veggie burgers, and I always like veggie burgers anyway, like outside of like trying this out, so now like typically now for lunch, it's only been like four days, I'm like typically but whatever, typically now for lunch, I'll have like a veggie burger. Whatever. It's the night time that's
hard because I'm used to like a dinner, dinner. So I'm just trying to figure out, you know, I have to figure out some recipes that I can try out where I feel like I'm eating, like, you know, a decent dinner, where I'm not just having like a salad and I'm starving by like eight. So that's where I am right now. I'm like, I'm hungry. So I find myself doing a lot of like fruit snacking, which you know you don't want to have too much, even though
fruit is better than normal sugar. But I will say in last four days, I mean I worked out for six weeks and lost nothing. I will sit in last four days, I lost two pounds, which I was shocked.
This is all based on a documentary you didn't watch exactly look at My Life. That must have been some damn good uh tweets or reviews about this documentary.
Yes, I didn't want to watch it. I didn't want to see the pus and the dying cows. You can get it. I've watched it.
I watched like Fat Second Second Nearly Dead, and there's a couple of other ones that I've watched. I feel like it's probably similar. I saw that That's the reason I spent eight dollars on eggs last night, because they were like they literally had printed pictures inside the egg carton of the happy chickens, and I was like, Okay, these are gonna be great. And they did taste better than regular eggs, but yeah, because I mean, if I can't give up eggs, but I do spend I feel
like eggs are the most economical food. I mean, you get a dozen eggs, it's like a dozen meals or at least six meals out of one cart. And like, yeah, I'll spend eight dollars with some eggs, you know, I don't mind doing that, and it's still cheaper than spending four dollars every day for like an egg muffin whatever, like what I get at my cafe for breakfast. But I do little things. We don't eat a ton of meat.
I like people do like a meatless Monday, Like if you want to just feel like meat free for one day a week, yes, I'm with you. Though a meal I grew up with, like you had to be a protein or had to be like like a meat protein. But I will say we tried, you know, we do the Green Chef or like the the food delivery, the meal kit thing, and we did a vegan week or two and they're really good recipes. Like there was one time we had these sweet potato tacos dull delicious and they were so filling.
So that was my my boost break. It's like I enjoying it, but it's hard. So you know, you gotkedhoes. Whether it's a boost to break, what about you, Mandy.
And do have a boost? I was thinking I was. I had some friends over yesterday. Actually, uh, one of their one of my friends, Wan Lee, He did the logo for our show, So hey won Lee, Hey thanks for the logo. Uh. Anyway, he and he and his wife came over and they have a little girl, Laila, who just turned one, and they I don't know we were talking about we were First of all, we were watching Sesame Street because she was like running around or not running, but you know, she was just being a
little hyper. So they turned on Sesame Street. I didn't I had no idea how woke Sesame Street is if you want to teach children, uh, inclusiveness and and just humanity. I mean, Sesame Street is where it's at. Like they my uh, his wife was talking about how they have a lot of they've always had in their audience, a lot of children with disabilities like down syndrome. And I think they introduced their first autistic muppet not so long ago, and I don't know it just I was like, what,
this is amazing. They had Romate, they had always Latin characters on the show. They had like Gina Rodriguez and Romeo Santos, which was kind of funny, like on the show speaking in Spanish, and it's just so multicultural. And I had no idea what I've been missing out on. And I'm like, hell, yeah, my kids are gonna watch. I just thought it was Big Bird and Elmo. And then we got in the subject of Doc mcstuffans. Do you know Doc mcstuffans, she's.
The Yes, I do.
Yeah, I knew her because I think Michelle Obama like did something with her or the voice of her or whatever. But anyway, so if you don't know, I'm sure all of you do. But it's a little she's a little black girl who's a doctor, right or not a black girl? A woman? Is she a little kid?
No? No, she's a little kid. But she liked yeah to her little stuffed animals.
Oh, I was, that's so cute. But anyway, apparently there was a lesbian couple on doc MC stuffins like a a by an interracial lesbian couple on doc mcstuffans, and I was like, what are childhood cartoons? They're amazing, They're so woke. But apparently there's a lot of controversy over this lesbian couple. But I'm fine with that. So I'm just happy with where I'm happy with where media is going.
But in terms of like the images that are kids, like little kids are seeing these days, I don't know if it feels like it feels like that is that's how you raise people who grow up. Where Obama tweeted or instagram something after everything that was happening in Charlottesville, and it's him looking at these little children outside of the inside of a window, and he was the quote was something like children aren't born noticing color and race and being racist and bigots. They aren't born that way.
It's society who who and there and people in their social lives who prime them for that. And and I feel like it's just so important the images that we better we show our children. And so shout out to sesame Street Doc mcstuffians, and I got to give a special shout out to my mother in law, Segunda Madre for having a brown Mother Mary statue in her house. Now I don't know where she got it, but I love it. Yeah, he is brown. We'll still talk about
the giant portrait of white Jesus in the bedroom. But she's getting places.
I thought. I was like, Okay, what's step at the time? What's that? Better time at a time? So now it's time. Can we have time for a quick question?
No, we do. Actually, this one is tailor fit for you. I'm gonna pull it up. It has to do with the ear. So we all know Tiffany has a literature academy, which you can do at any time of the year.
Right, yep, it's open. Just go to join l R for Literature Academy. Join LRA dot com and you can join. We actually just lowered the price because I just wanted to be I wanted to make sure that price was not a hindrance for folks who wanted to join, And a few people reached out to me, They're like, I want to join, but I honestly I can't afford it. It was like almost eighteen bucks a month, and we had gotten it up to because honestly, the value is more than worth that. But I kind of work with my
CFO and my accountant. I was like, what can we bring it down to and not like have to close doors and make sure we can pay everyone and make sure that it makes sense for me financially. And it was nine ninety nine a month. So we're keeping it there for as long as we can. We probably have maybe a few hundred more people that we can, you know, kind of take on at that price. So yep, join LRA dot com. It's nine ninety nine a month, and
you lock yourself in for that for life. It's once you lock yourself in for that.
So clutch okay, And this is like a weekly you you do it throughout the year or do you have you already sawny things and then you rerun them?
No? So I well, the teacher of me is like differentiated learning. Some people like to work on their own. So every Sunday we do a live lesson for those folks who are like, hey, I want to you know, work with the instructors that is there. So it's typically not me teaching the courses. I reach out to people who are way smarter than me in a particular topic. Like you're a tax lawyer, let's talk about taxes. You're you're I don't know, an accountant, so we're gonna do,
you know, well, taxes. But that's not a great example. But so I get experts to basically volunteer an hour on Sundays and we do a live lesson with that expert, and then we also have pre recorded lessons that are inside the academy for those folks who like to work at their own pace. And then we have longer extended lessons that are about three weeks long that we pre record, and we do those about twice a year. So the last one we just did was a home buying intensive,
and so you could take that at any time. Anything that's ever live is always then placed inside the Academy, so you could take it at any time. But it's a mix of pre recorded and live just in case. And we also have a private Facebook group, which I really love because I make all the instructors go in there and like, you know, be a part of the group.
So if you have bottle up questions, you know, you would normally have to pay to work with them individually, but they're usually pretty open and about sharing and giving you more additional information in the Facebook group.
Okay, well here's our question. It's from listener V and she has questions about So she is. Look, she is entrepreneur, she's about to start a podcast, and she's interested in giving online academies because she's seen how popular they're becoming and a lot of people have their own academy. So she has a couple of questions about what it takes to start an academy.
OCHA, I know.
So she says, where do you find the people to work with? So that's one I'm just going to summarize her question. One she wants to know where do you find people to support you assistance in turns, people to help you figure out how to launch an academy? And how do you pay if you do it all instructors from the academy, do they receive all the profits from that course or do you receive a percentage since you're the founder.
So the way I do it is so I started with anyone if you're looking for help, if you can't afford to pay them, I started with interns. I went to internships dot com and cause these are college students who are like looking for legit internships. And so when I first started out, that's where I found most of them. And I also did social media posts where I was like, hey, looking for an intern, email me. So I got a
good team in the beginning. I'm now, of course I pay, I pay my staff, but in the beginning it was all interns. And even when I'm looking for staff, I look at social media, like I'll reach out to family and friends and say, do you know someone who'd be good at this? And then I'll post on social media saying, hey, looking to hire a you know, and use the word higher because people always say everything's free, you know, Like, so looking at the hire and you know, an executive
assistant or whatever. Here the skill sets that you need. Here's how you can contact me. So those are two ways that you can look for help. And as far as launching, I didn't know how. So a friend of mine had done a couple of launches, so he suggested this book, which is everything. It's called Launch by Jeff oh Man. What's Jeff's last name, Uh, Jeff Launch. Sorry I'm typing it in because I'm like by Jeff Jeff Walker.
It's a great book. Oh my good. It walks you step by step through like how to create a launch, and it was it was my launch Bible, like step one, do this step too, And I did all the steps and I had a successful launch. I launched the Academy about three different times because every time we would open the Academy, we would relaunch it because we would come back better. So that definitely use that. But then you also want to join a Facebook group that will help.
So there's a Facebook group by RSHA. Let me see, this is RSHA. It's called Brand Build and Launch with Rsha Jones. And so it's all of these other small business owners, mostly women who are like growing a business or some of them are super successful, some of them are middle some of them are just starting. But it's just a great space to ask questions. So I would definitely suggest you you you uh become a part of Brand Build and Launch with RSHA Jones. That's it's a great,
really helpful group. And get that launch book by Jeff, read it through and then take tons of notes and just do a small launch. But in the beginning, like building the Academy, at first you have to find a good platform because they are like a few. There's Kujabi, there's teachable. We use think Ethic, so think Ific. I like it because it's fairly easy to use, and Kajabi's really expensive and it was not very easy to use Teachable.
I've heard good things about Teachable used to be called something else, and I used it when it was something else and it wasn't that great. But I've heard it's better. So I would look at Thinkific or Teachable as the actual platform for the school and what happens is for me.
The Academy wasn't the first thing. I had already had a community, I had deliverature, challenges, all of the stuff that I was doing for free, and so the Academy was like, after years of doing so much stuff for free and not really getting paid for anything, I said, okay, so how can I create some solid income outside of
my speaking and my books, you know? And so I started the academy and it was a little easier for me to get folks to instructors because they wanted access, so they exchanged Typically people are not going to exchange their services for access to your community. But because I had already built a really robust, active community instructors. Because I don't really ask much. I'm like, hey, are you
free on Sunday? It's an hour Q and A with me the DreamCatcher or the folks who are the Academy members who are watching, get to type in and ask questions live and in exchange. If you have a book or a course or whatever, I allow you to freely upsell because in mind, I have a private Facebook group called Dreamcatchers. We have about two hundred fifty thousand women. I don't let anyone sell in there. That's not the purpose of the group. It's a giving group, not a
taking group. So no one really gets a chance to sell to my audience. But if you come and you donate basically an hour of your time and do a Q and A with my audience with me kind of hosting, then you get to sell to not the larger audience, but to the to my academy members, which is about
eight thousand people. But these are people who buy. Like just the other day, Tila Hulcum came on and she teaches uh like uh, she teaches how to how to buy stocks, how to trade your nine to five by trading like stocks, and she had she had a course that was two thousand dollars. Somebody bought one from the academy, and so that's the exchange. It's like, hey, an hour to forty five minutes of my time with Tiffany's audience. That buys, and you know they will likely buy for me.
And so but I'm warning you that most people are not willing to do that. It's only because I already had the audience in place, so it takes a little time. I would just start with figuring out what you're going to create a you can't afford to pay teachers like, look to see if you have any like friends who would like, you know, kind of donate some of their time, because it can be really expensive you if you have to pay every individual teacher. There's no way I can
offer the academy for nine ninety nine. If I had to pay every individual teacher, there's just no way. We would not be able to make it. We would not be able to say, sustain ourselves.
So I would try and find experts who are just at the beginning stages too, Like they may have all the knowledge, but they may not have the clout or the like the brand of their own built yet so you can benefit from each other, and then they may be more willing to do something for free or just for clicks or like or just like to promote their brand and not for straight up money or a percentage of whatever profits you.
Have exactly, so you didn't cause in the beginning, I should think I had to offer that. Like the first couple of instructors, I did offer them that, and it almost broke the business because I actually was making negative At one point, I was carrying the budgeteath of my speaking engagements were carrying the academy because I wasn't making any money. And I was like, Ti, this doesn't make
any sense. You have to rethink your business model because I didn't want to charge more and I didn't want to you know, and I was like, so I had
to say, Okay, something has to go. And paying the instructors every single time got to be so expensive and so instead I just paid them through access, and you know, like they've said, it's worth it because so many struggles, Like I'll give an example, one instructor told me she came on she had like a free newsletter, so it was kind of like her option to get on her email list, and so she had sixty people on her on her email list. After that one hour that night
she had six hundred. So it's you know, so.
Just nowhere, audience is very it's very like, you know, I don't know what the word is for that, but when Tiff says jump jump, no.
Well, they're interactive. You know what it is is because of you.
They trust you. They trust you.
Yes, it's because of years of giving. So what I would suggest is that, like, you know, start your figure out what you want to teach, start making connections now with people that you think would want to teach with you. And the number one thing that I almost closed the Academy when we were losing so much money last year because I was just like, I'm paying everything like if I don't want to charge people more money, but at the same time, this doesn't make sense. I'm losing money.
So finally I stopped making decisions on my own. I started to saying, hey, academy members, what do you want? And then when they told me, I started only creating what they asked for because I was spending so much money creating these new things and they were like, well, that's cute, but I didn't ask for that, and so that helped significantly. So I was able to kind of get rid of things that I was paying for that they didn't really care about and really only focused on
what was really bringing value. And then even now, because we've done so well, we've been able to reduce the price, which honestly, I'm really proud of because I know that what double the amount of women are going to be able to have access, Like I can't afford eighteen bucks a month, but I can do nine ninety nine. And so I'm really proud of being able because my biggest thing is always access for women of color, access to
financial education for women of color. And at eighteen ninety nine, I was leaving a lot of folks out and that didn't seem fair to me. And so yeah, a lot of my friends are like, yo, you're creat like a lot of the color for money people. They hit me behind the scenes, they're like, girl, are you crazy? Because people were, people were buying at eighteen bucks a month.
They were, But it just didn't sit right with me, you know, because I was thinking to myself when I was a preschool teacher and that after I lost my job, would I be able to afford eighteen bucks consistently a month, and honestly I would not have been and it just didn't feel right. I was like, well, if your old Tiffany couldn't afford it, then what are you doing? And so yeah, so we're proud of it. So yeah, join LRA dot com so hopefully and if not, I have
so much free stuff. I tell people that's just for if you really want to take your finances to the next level, Like if you if you've already done the budgeting and the debt and the credit and the because all that stuff, the basic stuff I give away for free. So if you haven't done that, then do that. The academy really is for folks who want to start businesses, who want to invest, who want to buy homes, who really want to the next level after you've done the basics.
Awesome, welvie, I hope you found those tips. So internships dot com for interns and then recap the name of the branding and launching launching.
So the book is started launch by Jeff Walker. And I would look into these platforms teachable and think if for the platforms where you're going to house, the house, your.
School, FANTASTICO you guys. If you have questions, you can go to Briannambission podcast dot com. Are newly well not so newly now, but if you haven't seen it the last few months, we redesigned the site. It looks fabulous. Thank you to our designer Terry for hooking us up. Go check out Brianimission podcast dot com. Click on ask us anything to send us an email and hopefully you'll hear your question answered on the show.
Come so, what is your win?
I'm gonna do a real quick win because it's the only bright spot, well not the only bright spot, but the bright spot after this weekend of darkness is that I'm gonna sit down at ten o'clock tonight and watch Insecure and watch my girl Lisa Ray tell the truth about life in your late twenties for pocs. That's what I'm gonna do tonight. I love the show. And you know, Facebook reminded me today like I had a Facebook memory. Well,
my friend, I give her credit. Juliette Obodo, also of New Jersey Fame, hooked turned me onto awkward black girl on YouTube way back in the day, and we yeah, we got no work done. At work. We were at low three sixty dot com. She was in sales. I was supposed to be doing I don't even know what, re writing or reading the legal documents, and we're just sitting there just tihihi and over over Isa Ray and her and her awkward Black Girls series, and so it's
just I just love her show so much. I feel like it's so relevant, and it was just renewed for a third season. So that's my win.
My win is, oh man, I was at the tip of my tongue turn it.
It was good. I'm just saying broken pussy, broken pussy until you think of it.
Oh no, no, no, I got it because you said Easter Ray. My win is so I was able. I was really fortunate. And then I spoke at Black Girl's Lead. That's Black Girl's Rock, you know, it's this Black Girl's Rock. Is this awesome like a what is it like a OD Award show for black women that rock? And so they tape it live in Newark every year, which is awesome, like around the corner from my house, and they have a summer camp for young women called Black Girls Leads. So I spoke at in one of the perks are
speaking at the summer camp. Is that you get a ticket to the taping? So I went and let me just say, because I know I don't know by the time the show on airs, it won't have aired yet. So I'll just tell you, Auntie Maxine goes all the way in. It is amazing. She is amazing. She's the definition of lits okay, and she just goes all the way in on forty five on our role to make
this world a better place. Aunty Maxine is everything, And so she is my win because she is amazing and you know she just deserves to be honored.
Yeah, who's making her T shirts? I need to get one of those.
Reclaiming my Time, Reclaiming my.
Time, Reclaiming my Time on the front, brand Ambish on the back. How about that. That's a winner.
I love it.