WEBVTT - Navigating Black Womanhood, Media Careers, and Money Moves (ft. Elizabeth Ayoola & Haniyah Philogene) 0:00:00.000 --> 0:00:02.480 I was trying to watch that new movie Straw. I 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:03.440 don't seem that yet. 0:00:04.040 --> 0:00:06.760 Yes, that movie took me on a roller coaster ride. 0:00:06.720 --> 0:00:09.080 Don't no spoilers. I only got like fifteen minutes in. 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:11.320 I don't know if I want to keep watching, Like. 0:00:11.400 --> 0:00:15.560 Oh, well, I have thoughts. So I went to go 0:00:15.640 --> 0:00:18.120 and watch it, and then I said, I'm not gonna 0:00:18.160 --> 0:00:18.440 do this. 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:21.439 So because you started it and you, like me, were like, 0:00:21.520 --> 0:00:22.280 this is painful. 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:26.040 Thank you. So I appreciate what Tyler Perry is doing 0:00:26.160 --> 0:00:29.080 in terms of amplifying black stories, in terms of paying 0:00:29.120 --> 0:00:31.880 black women more, but I'm not gonna lie. I'm tired 0:00:31.920 --> 0:00:36.600 of the struggling, troubled or yeah, and as a single mother, 0:00:37.200 --> 0:00:39.159 I'm not trying to sit down and watch that trauma. 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:43.280 You know, Like, the world's stressful enough right now. I 0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:45.040 don't need to watch that. I don't. 0:00:49.840 --> 0:00:53.640 Hey bea fan. Welcome to the Brown Table. I can't 0:00:53.680 --> 0:00:56.080 believe it's only been a week since we were with y'all. 0:00:56.160 --> 0:00:58.440 It feels like it's been a year and so much 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:01.800 has happened. But what can I say. I'm so grateful 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:05.040 to have another week with the BAFAM and we have 0:01:05.160 --> 0:01:08.160 some incredible brand new faces. Last week I went ham. 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:11.279 I had three panelists on the show. It was so fun, 0:01:11.680 --> 0:01:15.200 brand new voices for the BA fam. We had Alexa 0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:19.440 Brooks Major from The Financial Diet. We had Evy Saint 0:01:19.480 --> 0:01:22.240 Louis from Blavity look at me and my recall my memory. 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:24.160 And he was a third one. John Quillin Hill JQ 0:01:24.360 --> 0:01:27.399 from The Voxes explain it to me. Please be a fam. 0:01:27.440 --> 0:01:29.800 After you listen to this episode, go catch up because 0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:33.080 I'm loving having, first of all, meeting some new friends 0:01:33.360 --> 0:01:34.880 and just invite y'all to come hang out with me 0:01:34.920 --> 0:01:38.840 on the internet. It's fun and I have I've tricked 0:01:38.880 --> 0:01:41.680 two more incredible women to join me at the Brown 0:01:41.680 --> 0:01:45.200 table and here they are. They said, Yes, it's amazing. 0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:49.280 I have got look at me. I almost said, han 0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:52.720 Naia Okay, okay, you say your name. 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:57.080 I have the Grio reporter, Yes, Anya Philogeen. I'm so 0:01:57.160 --> 0:01:58.800 excited to be here with you guys today. 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:05.200 What a beautiful Anya religion. And we have Elizabeth Ayola Yes, 0:02:05.600 --> 0:02:09.960 Aola Iola Yes from Nerve while it's Smart Money Podcast. 0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:14.600 Welcome ladies. Hi, how are you feeling? I already gave 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:17.519 you my little like might be cool, be cool with 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:19.520 pep talk, which probably stressed me out more than if 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:19.959 I hadn't. 0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:23.679 I feel great. I feel great now we're good. 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:26.440 Well, yeah, I feel pretty good too. I'm not a 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:29.440 coffee drinker TMI, but I tried a coffee this morning 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:32.760 because I was uplate self stoptaging, and I actually feel 0:02:32.800 --> 0:02:33.560 quite energized. 0:02:33.560 --> 0:02:37.919 So oh, okay, any shakes, Let's see the hands right right. 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:44.600 I don't usually drink coffee. 0:02:42.800 --> 0:02:45.639 So if we see her jitterating me, is. 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:49.240 That because you did your own braids? Are those microbraids? 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:49.480 Even? 0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:50.560 Because that is insane? 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:55.200 I love small, long, but length braids. So it took 0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:58.880 me to braid these braids longer than usual, about ten 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:03.200 to twelve hours, so I spent my entire Saturday. But 0:03:03.280 --> 0:03:06.440 The Godfather of Harlem is it cop Fathers? I started 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:09.079 watching that and that kept me entertained while I braided? 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:13.360 Is that with the ugandaan? He's not from Uganda? You 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:14.760 know how? I'm talking about the actor. 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:18.840 The main character. I wish I could tell you his name, 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:21.640 but he's definitely a popular I've seen him in many movies. 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:24.120 Right, he was a Uganda president movie? 0:03:24.520 --> 0:03:24.760 Yes? 0:03:24.960 --> 0:03:26.520 Yes? Yes? 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:27.120 What is it? Blood? 0:03:27.160 --> 0:03:31.320 Diamond. No, that was anyway. I know, I know the 0:03:31.320 --> 0:03:32.880 one you're talking about. I watched that movie. 0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:35.880 He was the director of Waiting to Exhale. Why can 0:03:35.960 --> 0:03:37.560 I not think? Why can't wait listen? 0:03:37.960 --> 0:03:43.160 It's not Forest Whittaker, right, Finally I guess the actor's name. 0:03:43.440 --> 0:03:47.040 But now I'm panicked. I don't know anyway, it doesn't 0:03:47.080 --> 0:03:49.600 matter BA fan fact check us. But you're watching that. Well, 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:51.800 your hair looks amazing. How do your shoulders. 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:54.680 Feel, honey, My shoulders are fine. It's my fingertips that 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:57.440 really suffered. And you know, I'm in my mid thirties, 0:03:57.440 --> 0:04:01.440 so to lower back, you know, but I think it's 0:04:01.440 --> 0:04:01.960 all worth it. 0:04:02.000 --> 0:04:04.440 You know how much did you save? How much they 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:05.680 charged down in textas? 0:04:05.680 --> 0:04:07.920 Oh my goodness, you know. So every time I'm about 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:10.040 to braid my hair, I go like, just get somebody 0:04:10.040 --> 0:04:11.920 else to do it, And then I start going into 0:04:11.920 --> 0:04:15.200 Facebook groups and on Instagram and I have not seen 0:04:15.240 --> 0:04:17.400 a braider charge. And these are quite small, as you 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:19.880 can see, any less than three point fifty and that's 0:04:19.880 --> 0:04:23.080 for medium and jumbo size. So if I wanted them 0:04:23.120 --> 0:04:25.520 this size, I could be paying around four hundred bucks. 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:27.320 And ain't nobody got time for that. 0:04:28.120 --> 0:04:31.760 So that's forty bucks an hour. Yeah, yeah, I could see. 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:33.200 That's very economical. 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:35.400 Yeah, and I get it. I used to braid hair 0:04:35.400 --> 0:04:37.880 actually for people, and it does take a while. 0:04:37.920 --> 0:04:38.800 It is a lot of time. 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:43.120 Now however, I'm still not paying that. I'm sorry, not 0:04:43.200 --> 0:04:45.400 yet anyway, not at this season in my life. 0:04:46.000 --> 0:04:48.000 Anya, do you have protective style? What's your what's your 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:49.680 summer protective style of choice? 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:53.240 Usually I'm actually looking like Elizabeth. I love a good 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:57.039 bus down braid. Sometimes it's a color I don't know. 0:04:57.560 --> 0:04:59.720 But see, I got blessed one am I very very 0:04:59.760 --> 0:05:03.600 good friends. She braids hair, so she does my hair. 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:05.359 Now I still pay her. I still pay her a 0:05:05.400 --> 0:05:08.040 reasonable wage, but it is a lot less than what 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:11.720 they charge in the braiding chops. And she actually cares 0:05:11.720 --> 0:05:14.000 about my hair. It's kind of like our hangout time, 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:16.760 like we literally will turn on a series of shows 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:21.039 and just catch up Kiki braid. I'll be there until 0:05:21.040 --> 0:05:23.920 three o'clock in the morning sometimes and it's okay though, 0:05:23.960 --> 0:05:24.919 because like that's my sister. 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:27.960 So yeah, maybe I should get my hair braided because 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:29.799 for me, I've only done it once, can you believe? 0:05:29.800 --> 0:05:30.599 Oh wow? 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:32.880 Once? And it was a few years ago. I did. 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:36.000 They were beautiful. I love the braids, but my butt 0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:37.200 was so tired. 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:39.960 And the sitting, the sitting. 0:05:40.440 --> 0:05:42.719 And I don't know what was worse the I Actually, 0:05:42.720 --> 0:05:44.520 you guys, I paid to have them take them out too, 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:47.760 which I know you would like get a cousin smart. 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:50.040 And still my cousin like she only took them out, 0:05:50.040 --> 0:05:51.680 and I was so tired. I was like, don't even 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:54.120 worry about washing combing it, like I'm getting the hell 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:57.120 out of here. I have my cousin Anna like degunkify 0:05:57.200 --> 0:05:59.599 it because I guess like all the product and you know, 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:03.080 goods stuff, the good and glorious stuff. But no, I 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:05.359 was scarred for life. So I do a wash and go, 0:06:06.600 --> 0:06:09.599 and if you're fancy, I would do like a curly 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:10.560 bang and a puffball. 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:14.640 That's my well, what works for you works for you, 0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:15.599 you know so truly. 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:18.120 But I have children, y'all sound like you ain't got 0:06:18.120 --> 0:06:18.719 no kids. 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:21.320 I have a kid. He is seven, Okay, I do 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:22.039 old enough? 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:23.400 Okay, old enough to entertain? 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:25.720 Yes, yes, yes, yes, you have. 0:06:25.680 --> 0:06:26.640 A seven year old. 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:29.839 I have a seven year old. My little baby, yes, 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:31.839 my little my little love buck. 0:06:32.320 --> 0:06:33.760 Oh they're all struggling. 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:37.080 Yes, he's so affectionate and it's so sweet and I 0:06:37.120 --> 0:06:39.240 love him so much. And he's also very annoying. So 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:41.520 I did to throw that out there, you. 0:06:41.560 --> 0:06:43.480 See, like your little I do there. They are very 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:45.120 annoying and they know it and you just but I 0:06:45.160 --> 0:06:47.200 annoy him back. See, he doesn't know Mama was a 0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:49.760 little sister. So I know how to be just as 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:50.760 annoying as he does. 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:55.560 What about you, Anya, I do not have any kids, 0:06:55.680 --> 0:06:59.200 Iron Team, no kids. I'm living in my beautiful twenties 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:01.760 and keep it that way. 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:06.000 My niece, what's the like chaotic? Every day? 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:10.960 Every day it feels like halfway existential crisis, halfway like, oh, 0:07:10.960 --> 0:07:13.240 but I have time. But then social media is like, oh, 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:15.960 you don't have time. The world's like you don't have time. 0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:17.760 I'm just taking a day by day. 0:07:17.920 --> 0:07:19.880 They're all lying, they are all. 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:22.240 That's how I feel when I get on TikTok and Homegirls, 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:25.040 like today I'm harvesting my tomatoes from the garden. But 0:07:25.080 --> 0:07:27.880 she's in a different zone than me. My tomatoes won't 0:07:27.920 --> 0:07:31.000 be ready until like August, you know. But just to 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:33.840 carry this plant metaphor, I'm saying it's not. We're all 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:36.840 on our own journeys in the garden of life, and 0:07:37.000 --> 0:07:41.480 time is an illusion sometimes heavy on this. Sometimes your 0:07:41.480 --> 0:07:43.800 twenties have a way being permanent. So you just be careful. 0:07:45.600 --> 0:07:48.480 Listen, listen. That's the conversation for another day. 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:52.200 But yesterday's turning into five and seven year olds poking 0:07:52.280 --> 0:07:53.880 you in the ribs while you're trying to sleep, you 0:07:53.880 --> 0:07:54.400 know what I mean. 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:57.560 Yeah, we're very careful about that on this side, very 0:07:57.600 --> 0:07:58.520 very careful. Not yet. 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:01.120 Oh yeah, all right, Well, I want bea fan to 0:08:01.120 --> 0:08:03.720 get to know y'all a little bit. Elizabeth, you're in Texas, Anya, 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:04.320 where are you at? 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:06.440 I am in the DMV area. 0:08:06.640 --> 0:08:09.680 Now, if anybody is a DMV native, they're gonna be like, 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:12.520 oh no, no, no, no, no, I'm in northern Virginia. 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:16.480 I'm in like the Alexandria area. But you know, depending 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:18.720 on who you talk to, that's not a part of 0:08:19.040 --> 0:08:21.760 the DC Maryland Virginia conglomerate. 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:25.000 I'm always gagged by the DMV thing. There's three whole states. 0:08:25.280 --> 0:08:28.520 They're not small. Yeah, how y'all got lump them all together? 0:08:28.720 --> 0:08:30.760 I mean, DC is not really a state. Okay, fair, but. 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:32.600 Okay, Well, here's the thing. It's like, it's not all 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:35.760 of Virginia that's included in that. It's usually like northern Virginia. 0:08:35.800 --> 0:08:37.840 The way they do it is if you can take 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:41.199 the Metro, you can be considered into the DMV. Now, 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:43.760 the reason why Northern Virginia is kind of like a 0:08:43.840 --> 0:08:45.920 it's the cousin that they kind of include but don't 0:08:45.920 --> 0:08:49.000 really include, is because they just introduced the Silver Line, 0:08:49.320 --> 0:08:51.360 like not that it's like not too long ago. Like 0:08:51.440 --> 0:08:53.880 the Silver Line feels very new, and that's the main 0:08:53.920 --> 0:08:56.720 line that connected the like some of the more prominent 0:08:56.760 --> 0:08:58.280 parts of Northern Virginia to DC. 0:08:58.640 --> 0:09:01.080 Before that, again, the car get on that highway. 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:04.400 So yeah, only good things happened on the Silver Line. 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:08.000 Everyone's optimistic on the Silver Line. Right, We'll say that 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:09.559 are you from there originally? 0:09:10.240 --> 0:09:13.120 Yeah? Literally, born and raised out here, but then I 0:09:13.120 --> 0:09:15.120 went to school in New York and came back here. 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:18.079 So yeah, and what about elizabeth A, you're from Texas. 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:19.679 It's complicated. 0:09:20.400 --> 0:09:23.720 So I told us you have a really amazing life story, 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:25.280 so we need to get into it. But it can't 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:25.880 take the next hour. 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:27.760 You're only gonna have to rate me. Yes, I'm gonna 0:09:27.760 --> 0:09:33.040 bullet point. But I am not from Texas. I am 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:36.880 a British, American and Nigerian. So I actually moved from 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:40.120 the UK five years ago. Well back, because I also 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:42.760 moved from the UK to the US when I was seven, 0:09:42.920 --> 0:09:44.800 and then I left when I was seventeen after I 0:09:44.880 --> 0:09:46.520 ran away from home and my parents were like, yeah, 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:49.240 America's not good for you. We're shipping you back to London. 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:53.160 So then I basically did my you know what we 0:09:53.200 --> 0:09:55.840 call sixth form over there. I'm not sorry, sure, From 0:09:55.880 --> 0:09:59.200 seventeen to about twenty one, I lived in the UK. 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:02.160 So after I finish my undergrad I was like, you know, 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:05.400 the Western world sucks because I did it on globalization 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:08.200 its effects on the Nigerian economy, and I was like, oh, 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:10.440 I'm moving back to Nigeria and I'm going to make 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:13.240 a difference. So I spent all my twenties in Nigeria 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:17.480 and then I got married and I moved back to 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:20.040 the UK at twenty seven, and then I moved back 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:21.840 here five years ago and I'm divorced now. 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:26.280 So holy crap, that did feel like, so is your 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:28.440 where's your baby from? Where's his citizenship? 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:31.520 He's just like his mama. We have tri citizenship, so WO. 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:34.320 Got the combo pack. 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:41.360 I love it way if you talk to me long enough, 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:43.520 Some things that I say sound British, I had. I 0:10:43.600 --> 0:10:45.600 once had a friend who called me three accents. So 0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:49.319 you'll hear. Yeah, you'll hear the Nigerian. Sometimes the American 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:51.120 and the British come out. It just depends on who 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:54.320 I'm talking to and what I'm talking about. I hear that. 0:10:56.160 --> 0:10:59.000 I was just in London actually, and I went to Yeah, 0:10:59.040 --> 0:11:02.480 I went to see Beyonce and everyone said my accent 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:04.679 was trash. But I watch a lot of Love Island 0:11:04.880 --> 0:11:10.080 that is education the UK count stand the Americans. I 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:21.280 don't know. I think it's quite nice. You're joking maybe 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:24.280 because like we were just obnoxious Beyonce fans in London, 0:11:24.360 --> 0:11:27.440 like they were probably Sigas, just like running those streets crazy. 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:32.520 But I went to this really good Nigerian spot called Okara. Okay. 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:35.440 It's it's next to Borough Market, so it was very 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:37.440 it was kind of touristy, but it was It was 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:39.600 cool because you go through this insane market which is 0:11:39.679 --> 0:11:43.320 just like like just buzzing with people everywhere, and one 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:46.760 of our Ba fam Yeah, b r FAM listeners to Kumbo, 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:49.160 thank you so much. She invited me and my my 0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:52.120 friends to this restaurant and I was like, of course, 0:11:52.120 --> 0:11:55.240 i'll meet you stranger, and so she took me. So 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:56.920 it was like having a It was like having a 0:11:56.960 --> 0:12:00.240 guide and to Kumbo, shout out to her. She she 0:12:00.400 --> 0:12:04.560 does like curated West African cuisine, kind of like food 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:07.800 events in the London area. It was dope. I got 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:11.400 to try. Well okara is the is the black bean 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:14.360 fritter or no black eyed pea for black kara? 0:12:14.480 --> 0:12:16.920 Yeah, I grew up eating that a lot. It is 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:19.320 made because yes, it's made of beans and then you 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:21.360 fry it. I used to make that once upon a time. 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:22.360 But pretty good, would you think? 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:24.720 I thought it was really delicious. It was definitely upscale. 0:12:24.760 --> 0:12:27.640 It was like it was like West African street food 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:30.320 and like upscale. So I'm sure it's the kind of 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:32.600 food that you would probably pay, you know, like we 0:12:32.640 --> 0:12:35.959 would for you know, taco truck food. Yes, but it 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:39.400 was very delicious and they Oh I had the best 0:12:39.400 --> 0:12:41.520 cocktail when I was there. What was it called the kojo? 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:43.560 What else did I eat there? 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:43.880 Then? 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:48.320 I can remember? I mean, did I say at Kara kara. Yeah, 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:49.000 I'll never. 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:51.800 Say it, right, I know, And that's okay. It effort counts, 0:12:51.840 --> 0:12:52.000 you know. 0:12:52.200 --> 0:12:55.120 So yeah, and there's a little bit of Caribbean influence too. 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:58.160 We have some plantain dish. Oh and we had this 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:05.280 giant fish that poor guy guys I think it was 0:13:05.360 --> 0:13:07.480 a supreme I don't know. It was big and round 0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:11.000 and very dramatic, but it was lovely. I had such 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:13.520 a good time. I'm glad in London. 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:15.120 It's been a year since I've gone, but me and 0:13:15.120 --> 0:13:17.520 my son are going to go in October. So I've 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:19.839 just been craving some fish and chips. I'm looking forward 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:20.200 to that. 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:21.959 Well, then, how the hell did you end up a 0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:24.560 nerd Wallet of All Places podcast? 0:13:24.640 --> 0:13:29.600 Okay, another bullet points. Okay, so I actually do not 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:33.800 have a journalism background, per se. I started writing poems 0:13:33.880 --> 0:13:36.160 when I was I don't know, twenty something, and then 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:37.920 when I moved to Nigeria, I was supposed to get 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:40.560 a job in waste management. However that didn't work out. 0:13:40.640 --> 0:13:42.040 So I was looking for a job for almost a 0:13:42.080 --> 0:13:44.120 year and someone was like, hey, want to edit a 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:46.760 job and things are a little bit more flexible, you know, 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:49.400 Nigeria in terms of qualifications and things like that. 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:52.880 So we're in Nigeria now, okay, in Lego, sir. 0:13:55.000 --> 0:13:56.720 So it's like, well, I've never been an editor, but 0:13:56.720 --> 0:13:58.640 I've written poems. I don't know if that relates, but 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:01.280 let me try it, you know. And that is basically 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:04.440 how my journalism or you know, journey started. So I 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:06.960 started out as an editor, then I would write to 0:14:07.559 --> 0:14:11.439 and fast forward when I moved back to London. Unfortunately, 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:14.600 the Western world don't really be respecting Nigerian qualifications and 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:17.400 work experience, so I kind of almost had to start 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:20.600 back from scratch. And then I got a job at 0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:25.120 a buy now pay later loan company. So and I 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:26.920 got that job on accident because I went in there 0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:28.840 trying to work at a call center and they were like, hey, 0:14:28.840 --> 0:14:30.680 we see on your resume you've done some writing, so 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:32.600 we have a job open. I was like, okay, great. 0:14:33.120 --> 0:14:36.120 So that was my first kind of Western experience writing 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:40.120 and from there writing what about money? So just writing 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:41.840 about money, personal finance. 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:45.760 Really content. Oh sorry I should have been Yeah, you 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:48.640 were writing content. You were doing like SEO content probably 0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:53.040 exactly how to get a buy now, payloadit later. Yeah, okay. 0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:55.680 Then I went down the content mills, which are awful, 0:14:55.880 --> 0:14:58.040 you know, just to kind of get some experience. And 0:14:58.080 --> 0:15:00.600 then I landed my first big gig and Pop Sugar, 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:03.240 and I wrote for Pop Sugar for some time and 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:05.640 then I just started getting more and more bylines. Fast 0:15:05.680 --> 0:15:09.840 forward to moving to the US. I worked at a 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:14.600 nonprofit who for addiction, Yes, nonprofit for addiction. I wrote 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:17.400 for them. Then I went to another company. And then 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:19.360 when I was at the other company, I was at 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:20.680 my desk and I was like, I want to work 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:24.080 from home, and then something just came in me. I 0:15:24.120 --> 0:15:25.680 think it was the spirit, and it was like, Hey, 0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:27.400 look at nerd Wallet's website and see if they have 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:31.040 any openings. And that's where that journey began. So what 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:32.480 I love that. 0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:34.360 Yeah, and you have a co host, So tell me 0:15:34.400 --> 0:15:37.120 a little bit about tellbaf'm about the Smart Money podcast. 0:15:37.400 --> 0:15:39.560 This m should be other than the fact that I 0:15:39.640 --> 0:15:41.600 was on it recently, because. 0:15:41.240 --> 0:15:45.840 We are your financial besties, and I know that money 0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:47.840 can feel like a mystery to a lot of people. 0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:51.160 It feels very complicated and overwhelming. But we do our 0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:54.760 best to break down complex money issues and make them 0:15:54.800 --> 0:15:57.880 easy to understand. You know so, and I find so 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:00.400 much joy in doing that because a part I left 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:03.000 out about my career journey is I started writing about 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:05.920 personal finance because I was on a personal journey to 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:09.880 try to achieve financial freedom. And you know, a lot 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:11.480 of the times when we want to learn something new 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:13.520 I don't know about y'all, you know, it kind of 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:15.440 goes like, well, I'm going to take time to start 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:17.360 studying this thing, but you never get around to doing 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:19.480 it because you're busy. And I was like, well, since 0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:21.400 I have to work full time, maybe I should get 0:16:21.400 --> 0:16:23.640 a job writing about money since I was already writing, 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:25.600 so then I have to learn on the job. So 0:16:25.720 --> 0:16:29.720 that's actually how I ended up writing about money. So 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:33.760 but point being, it's such a joy to think about 0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:36.560 where I was maybe seven years ago, eight years ago, 0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:39.000 knowing nothing about money, to how much I've learned, and 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:41.320 to be able to share that information with other people 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:44.320 so that they can get themselves out of the trenches, 0:16:44.360 --> 0:16:47.760 hopefully if they're in some financial trenches and experience more 0:16:47.760 --> 0:16:48.560 financial freedom. 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:50.880 So, oh, okay, I want to talk more about financial 0:16:50.880 --> 0:16:53.840 freedom and that whole concept. But Anya, I want to 0:16:53.880 --> 0:16:57.920 hear about your career journey Oh, no, pressure, you don't 0:16:57.960 --> 0:17:00.000 have to take us across oceans or anything like that. 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:02.120 I was about to say, I'm part of the story. 0:17:02.440 --> 0:17:03.920 I don't think it's as exciting. 0:17:04.600 --> 0:17:06.879 It's probably closer to mine. I went to school to 0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:09.560 do something, and then I did that thing exactly. 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:13.320 But I feel like in journalism, though it's almost like 0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:15.480 now that feels like such a rare story. A lot 0:17:15.520 --> 0:17:17.840 of people that I've met or that I've talked to, 0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:22.360 they didn't necessarily study journalism. So I was a part 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:26.119 of that group that I went to Syracuse. I studied 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:30.000 magazine news and digital journalism, with a focus on digital 0:17:30.080 --> 0:17:33.080 journalism because naturally we know the attention. 0:17:32.800 --> 0:17:35.160 Span for magazines is slowly dwindling. 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:37.360 Wait, I'm shocked. What year did you graduate? 0:17:37.600 --> 0:17:42.280 I usually don't discuss that, no, just because I usually 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:44.720 don't like people knowing too much about my age because 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:47.800 then it turns into a thing. But I did graduate 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:50.920 fairly recently, in the last five years. 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:54.680 Oh well, I have no like, that's amazing. I don't 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:57.480 think I was just asking because I'm just shocked that 0:17:57.560 --> 0:18:00.760 because I thought I was the last journalism graduate who 0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:03.199 was like allowed to study magazines because they were like 0:18:03.280 --> 0:18:06.359 dead by the time I graduated an nine, which was like, 0:18:06.400 --> 0:18:09.439 you know, the recession be don't know, but that was 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:13.040 when I know a little bit. Newspapers and magazine print 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:15.560 was like on its way out, and everyone they brought 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:17.520 to my college to talk about it was so depressed. 0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:22.280 They were like, yeah, graduate, go build your career. By 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:25.760 the way, anyone hiring let me know, because the speakers like, 0:18:25.920 --> 0:18:28.920 we are about to lose our jobs. But that's in 0:18:29.040 --> 0:18:33.119 Syracuse has a really great journalism program. But anyway, I 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:35.639 hope that you learned all the things that you know 0:18:35.680 --> 0:18:38.200 are useful. You're at the grio now, so let's taught 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:38.880 you something good. 0:18:39.160 --> 0:18:41.840