Speaker 1: Hey, hey, ba fam, it's time for another Holla back Monday,
Speaker 1: Woop woop. This week we're featuring a social justice advocate
Speaker 1: and award winning author, none other than Christine Platt, also
Speaker 1: known as the Afro Minimalist. Oh my god, she was
Speaker 1: so amazing and disgorgeous. Learn why less means Liberation?
Speaker 2: Did you hear that?
Speaker 1: And check out her most reason book, The Afro Minimalist
Speaker 1: Guide to Living with Less. Give it a listen.
Speaker 2: Hey, hey, hey, we're back. We're black, We're brown and
Speaker 2: ambitch young hey manjam come.
Speaker 3: Through baritone hellower register. Well, we are praying that your
Speaker 3: internet lets us do this episode, come on Optimum.
Speaker 1: I just I don't know what to do, honestly, I
Speaker 1: uh ba fam, if you because where I live in Newark,
Speaker 1: they're literally the only game in town. And for some reason,
Speaker 1: it's just been going in and out. I literally bought
Speaker 1: a brand new router, a brand new modem, all the
Speaker 1: things I've had tech come out three times, I've tweeted
Speaker 1: I don't know what to do, you know, And.
Speaker 3: This is a social justice issue. It is a humanitarian crisis.
Speaker 2: It is a right issue.
Speaker 4: We need our internet.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I just you know, we need, especially now more
Speaker 1: than ever we did our internet, So I'm honestly I
Speaker 1: don't I'm not sure like what to do. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna call them again and be like, uh war,
Speaker 1: please somebody something, so we shall see. So how have
Speaker 1: you been?
Speaker 4: Oh, I've been great.
Speaker 3: I just celebrated my five months of being a freelancer
Speaker 3: being an entrepreneur, which is already I know. I was
Speaker 3: doing the math and I was like, surely not. Five
Speaker 3: months of having a human took a lot longer than
Speaker 3: five months of being an entrepreneur.
Speaker 4: Yeah, five whole months.
Speaker 3: And I have a meeting with well, me and husby
Speaker 3: have a session with my dear dear financial planner Helen
Speaker 3: tomorrow too, and it's our first call.
Speaker 4: Since the call we had.
Speaker 3: When she was like, you should just go independent and
Speaker 3: I said, you make it sound so easy and then
Speaker 3: I did it. So it's kind of a touch base
Speaker 3: and you know, I don't know what we're going to
Speaker 3: talk about in particular, but she'll probably want to look
Speaker 3: at my cash flow and how things are going, and.
Speaker 4: I'm yeah, it's it's been.
Speaker 3: It's been a good I kind of was like into
Speaker 3: my feels last night about it because I feel like
Speaker 3: I've done really damn well for five halfs in business.
Speaker 5: Girl.
Speaker 2: First of all, you were number one trending on CNBC. Okay, yeah,
Speaker 2: I still got it.
Speaker 4: A yeah, I was out of the Girl.
Speaker 2: It's so crazy. My friend Cabrel texts me.
Speaker 1: He was like, isn't this your friend, Mandy, She's on
Speaker 1: my phone.
Speaker 3: I was like, no, I feel like the little kid's
Speaker 3: sister who goes to college after their big sister who
Speaker 3: was like valedictorian.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: It's been really freaking fantastic and I have Yeah, so
Speaker 3: I'm excited to talk to Helen, and I've just been
Speaker 3: kind of I'm kind of approaching my whole business kind
Speaker 3: of quarterly, and my first quarter was like is this
Speaker 3: even a thing? And it definitely is. So for the
Speaker 3: last few months of this year, I'm actually trying to
Speaker 3: slow slow down. I'm trying to take in less work
Speaker 3: because it's been like just pouring in and actually focus
Speaker 3: on investing time into something that hopefully will pay off.
Speaker 4: But I have to really.
Speaker 3: Spend the time to do it and then hopefully I
Speaker 3: can launch it towards the end of the year. So
Speaker 3: big things popping, but.
Speaker 4: It's been a fun ride. What about you.
Speaker 1: Honestly, it's been like it's been really good over here.
Speaker 1: I mean we have been I've been making the transition
Speaker 1: from life. You know, I don't know a personality brand.
Speaker 1: I mean we as I've always had like a business
Speaker 1: behind the scenes, but we had some real opportunities to
Speaker 1: like quadruple business.
Speaker 2: If we buckle down and do.
Speaker 1: The necessary work. So like I'm we're totally overhauling the
Speaker 1: Literature Academy. And as a result, if we do, like
Speaker 1: we always do projections for the year, like we should
Speaker 1: be you know, like potentially just under twenty million dollars
Speaker 1: next year and then fifty in the next three years,
Speaker 1: if we do what we're supposed to do. But none
Speaker 1: of that is like instagrammables, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: Like I had to the transition for me has been
Speaker 1: difficult in reminding myself like although you know, social media
Speaker 1: and things can be fun, that I have to be
Speaker 1: mindful that, you know, I want to put things in
Speaker 1: place where you know, I all this work has been
Speaker 1: for something, you know what I mean. So just making
Speaker 1: those transitions, they are like a lot of behind the
Speaker 1: scene things that have nothing to do with like you know,
Speaker 1: external stuff that like we're really putting into place and
Speaker 1: buckling down to be like a business, business business, and
Speaker 1: so it's just exciting. Yeah, and so that's what's been happening.
Speaker 1: It's just been a lot of We've been a lot
Speaker 1: of growing up in business. Like so I can literally
Speaker 1: feel like, oh, this is the next level for us.
Speaker 3: So so yeah, but I know we have which is
Speaker 3: that I just wanted to share. There's this quote that
Speaker 3: we actually shared on our social from MICHAELA.
Speaker 4: Coles.
Speaker 3: She was the woman who just won an Emmy. I
Speaker 3: think she was the first black woman or a black
Speaker 3: person ever to win an Emmy for writing of a series.
Speaker 3: She wrote the series This May Destroy You. And one
Speaker 3: of her viral quotes from that acceptance speech was do
Speaker 3: not be afraid to disappear from it, from us for
Speaker 3: a while and see what comes to you in the silence.
Speaker 4: And she really was speaking.
Speaker 3: To like, get the f off social media and go
Speaker 3: do the damn thing.
Speaker 1: So I'm telling you what I tell you, Like that
Speaker 1: that's six weeks away that I took and then consequently
Speaker 1: not coming back to social media like full time. I
Speaker 1: have not been really back. I took all the apps
Speaker 1: off my phone. I only put it on when I
Speaker 1: go live, and I take them off again and I
Speaker 1: let the team do their postings. It has done more
Speaker 1: for business for me than anything else. And so I
Speaker 1: encourage people to take a moment. Don't get me wrong,
Speaker 1: Like our engagement is not as high as it was,
Speaker 1: but I had to tell my team today honestly, I
Speaker 1: don't care because that doesn't pay the bills, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, Like, it doesn't not in a concrete way,
Speaker 1: like what we're going to be able to do as
Speaker 1: a result of the choices that we're making now. It
Speaker 1: is transformative for my team, it is transformative for the
Speaker 1: women that we serve. It's transformative for myself and my family.
Speaker 1: It's transformative for our community. It's just like the things
Speaker 1: that we're doing now because we have the space to
Speaker 1: do it. I'm just excited about. It's just the next
Speaker 1: phase of business, Like you know, we're officially going to
Speaker 1: go from small to medium sized business to like a
Speaker 1: business business. Like you know, we have the potential to
Speaker 1: be nine figures, you know, if we focus, which we are.
Speaker 1: And so yeah, don't be afraid to take step back.
Speaker 1: Everything is not social medium, you know, once you learn
Speaker 1: that you don't need the external applause. You know, then
Speaker 1: you can navigate differently and navigate in a way that's
Speaker 1: more meaningful.
Speaker 3: Absolutely. Well, I'm excited for you. I know all the
Speaker 3: hard work you're doing in the background. Well no I
Speaker 3: don't because you keep it under wraps. But anyway, I
Speaker 3: know you're out there working and walking and listening to
Speaker 3: your audiobooks and getting the damn thing done.
Speaker 1: Well, we have, speaking of books, we have an exciting
Speaker 1: guest today.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so you met our guest today, Christine Platt, at
Speaker 3: a book signing, because you know, that's just how a
Speaker 3: normal tuesday for you, signing your best selling book. But no,
Speaker 3: I'm so excited because Christine Platt is our guest today
Speaker 3: and she is called the Afro Minimalist, and her new
Speaker 3: book is literally a blueprint for anyone looking to cut
Speaker 3: back on the things that we are over consuming, you know,
Speaker 3: letting pile up in our homes, in our spaces that
Speaker 3: are just stifling us and stifling our growth. And she's
Speaker 3: got some really fun gems to share.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so you guys are gonna enjoy Christine.
Speaker 3: Well, shall we take a little breaky break, and we'll
Speaker 3: come back with our guest today, Christina, and definitely check
Speaker 3: the show notes and you can find where to follow her,
Speaker 3: where to get her book again, The Afrominimalist, and how
Speaker 3: to catch up on all of her amazing advice.
Speaker 2: We told you we were coming back and back.
Speaker 1: With somebody amazing we have with us, Christine Platt aka
Speaker 1: the Afro Minimalists. Okay, oh you didn't know black people
Speaker 1: could be minimalists. Oh you know, yeah, everybody. Everybody doesn't
Speaker 1: want the you know, the grandma filled house with the
Speaker 1: plastic furniture and the chachkis everywhere. Some people, you know,
Speaker 1: they thrive with lesson.
Speaker 6: Yes.
Speaker 1: So I just like I met Christine in person anyway
Speaker 1: for the first time at Mahogany Books in was that
Speaker 1: is National Harbor, Christine?
Speaker 2: Is that DC? Or is that Maryland?
Speaker 6: Technically Oxen Hill, Maryland, but you know we claim it
Speaker 6: in DC.
Speaker 1: So and so we met at this amazing black bookstore
Speaker 1: called Mohockey Books. They were having a bookstore opening. Shout
Speaker 1: out to Ramonda and your amazing husband. I just we
Speaker 1: just really clicked and we just got to talk in
Speaker 1: and I was like, you need to come on the podcast,
Speaker 1: and yeah, you know.
Speaker 6: I'm so happy to be here. Thank you both for
Speaker 6: having me. I'm so excited.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, I'm excited to meet you too. And I think
Speaker 3: even just Tiffany when she came back from that book
Speaker 3: signing that y'all did together, she was just gushing about you,
Speaker 3: and then we couldn't stop talking about the connection between
Speaker 3: your idea of afrominimalism and minimalism in general and how
Speaker 3: it relates to finances. So I would love to just
Speaker 3: have you describe or like define, what do you mean
Speaker 3: by afrominimalism. And for those of you who haven't ever
Speaker 3: seen Christine, she's literally like a minimalist with no afro,
Speaker 3: just a delightful you have a perfectly shaped head for
Speaker 3: the shaved dome.
Speaker 4: Beautiful.
Speaker 6: But tell us it's a teeny weeny afro. Okay, it's there,
Speaker 6: micro friend, yes, microfro, minimalist fro.
Speaker 7: Yeah it was.
Speaker 6: It was wonderful meeting Tiffany in person at Mahogany Books,
Speaker 6: and I think it's I just want to shout us
Speaker 6: both out. We are both number one and number two
Speaker 6: in sales at that store, so I think it speaks
Speaker 6: volumes to you know, people's interest in finances and you
Speaker 6: know their over consumption right now. Uh, Afro minimalism, it's
Speaker 6: really just my approach to minimalism, which is a minimalist
Speaker 6: lifestyle influenced by the African diaspora. I am a historian
Speaker 6: and lawyer by trade, and you know, the history of
Speaker 6: black folks is really important to me. I love the
Speaker 6: beauty and culture of the African diaspor and so I
Speaker 6: weave that into my approach to minimalism, which at the time.
Speaker 6: Uh so, this is about five years ago when I
Speaker 6: first like really honed in on this approach, it was
Speaker 6: very unconventional, right. I think people think of minimalism number one,
Speaker 6: it evokes this idea of scarcity and lack, right, But
Speaker 6: even more than that, it's devoid of color, it's devoid
Speaker 6: of texture, it's devoid of.
Speaker 4: Culture, right showroom.
Speaker 6: Yeah, Yeah, it's like super Scandinavian and we are like
Speaker 6: not in most of us are not in, you know,
Speaker 6: in a country where you know that particular aesthetic. The
Speaker 6: reason it works for you know, for for Scandinavian folks
Speaker 6: is because they don't get a lot of sunlight, and
Speaker 6: so they need a lot of light colors, a lot
Speaker 6: of white walls to reflect light.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 6: But yeah, and so you know, mainstream minimalism has sort
Speaker 6: of taken and on this aesthetic of you know, of
Speaker 6: just being all white and barren, and I just really
Speaker 6: wanted to change the conversation around that, and so and
Speaker 6: so here I am the afrominimalist. I wrote a book
Speaker 6: to try and encourage folks to live with less and
Speaker 6: that you know, I saw so many benefits. And I
Speaker 6: would say, like, right out the gate, the first benefit
Speaker 6: that I saw where it was in my wallet, Right,
Speaker 6: I was like, where's all this money coming from? Like, oh,
Speaker 6: I'm not at the mall uh every weekend. And so yeah,
Speaker 6: it's been very transformative for me and very exciting to
Speaker 6: just see other people, you know, really embracing this and
Speaker 6: really thinking about, you know, how can.
Speaker 7: They live with less their way?
Speaker 6: If the word minimalism, you know, if it does evoke
Speaker 6: some negative feelings or you know, ideas of scarcity, you
Speaker 6: don't have to be a minimalist. You can live with less,
Speaker 6: you can be a more mindful consumer. There are so
Speaker 6: many other ways to define this lifestyle that that isn't
Speaker 6: so limiting for a lot of people.
Speaker 1: So if I was somebody I'm listening, and I'm just like,
Speaker 1: you're right. I probably never thought of myself a person
Speaker 1: of color, you know, enjoying the minimalist lifestyle, you know,
Speaker 1: because you know, I want some texture and I want
Speaker 1: some color and some deep hues. So if I am like,
Speaker 1: oh huh, aside from getting your book afrominimalist, okay, available everywhere?
Speaker 1: Aside from getting your book, what's like the first thing
Speaker 1: where I can start where it doesn't feel so overwhelming?
Speaker 6: Yes, okay, So this is I'm so glad you asked
Speaker 6: that question because so many people picked up the book
Speaker 6: and they were like, I had my garbage bags ready,
Speaker 6: I wasn't ready for the gentle dragging that happened. I
Speaker 6: really encourage people to first learn about the psychology of
Speaker 6: ownership before they even start to try and declutter. Right,
Speaker 6: So this is where you hear so many people say,
Speaker 6: I've tried this before and it didn't work. I've tried
Speaker 6: this before and it didn't work. And that's because they
Speaker 6: didn't get to the root causes of their over consumption.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 6: So much of this is inner work right before you
Speaker 6: do the outer work. And I know even when it
Speaker 6: comes to finances that that's the same sort of approach
Speaker 6: for me, Right, it's like why am I so afraid to,
Speaker 6: you know, make this call or manage my money this
Speaker 6: way or learn about this right, Like, there's usually some
Speaker 6: root cause that is really the reason what I call
Speaker 6: like the why behind the buy or the why behind
Speaker 6: the spend? Right, Because if you don't do the inner work,
Speaker 6: if you don't understand the psychology of ownership, specifically as
Speaker 6: it relates to you and your spending habits, you're just
Speaker 6: gonna declutter and find yourself back at square one. So
Speaker 6: when I talk about the psychology of ownership, that means
Speaker 6: first of all, understanding why you have so much more
Speaker 6: than you need, and then secondly, nderstanding why it's so
Speaker 6: hard to let go, right, because we all have attachments
Speaker 6: to things and getting to the root cause of like
Speaker 6: why am I so attached, you know.
Speaker 7: To this piece? So that's where you can start.
Speaker 3: You mentioned the diaspora, I mean, are like have you
Speaker 3: found in your research or in your book? Do you
Speaker 3: do you examine how? Because I mean I think anecdotally.
Speaker 3: I just visited my aunt Brenda, and I don't the
Speaker 3: things that she saves, I just don't know. I just
Speaker 3: don't understand, I mean dusty old toys. And she had
Speaker 3: like an old Barbie doll that was a cowboy from
Speaker 3: maybe nineteen ninety seven or something like that. Anyway, and
Speaker 3: it wasn't even a black barbie doll.
Speaker 4: That was nothing.
Speaker 3: But what is this this something that Black households or
Speaker 3: African American households are just more inclined to hang on
Speaker 3: to things?
Speaker 4: Was it?
Speaker 6: You know, you know made That's a good question. So
Speaker 6: I think it's twofold.
Speaker 7: Right.
Speaker 6: So when we talk about people of the diaspora, particularly
Speaker 6: particularly African Americans, right, so many of us are first
Speaker 6: time everything, right, first time homeowners, first time six figure
Speaker 6: income owners, first you know, first one in our you know,
Speaker 6: in our in our family to have an opportunity to
Speaker 6: own a business.
Speaker 7: Right.
Speaker 6: So many of us are first time so many things.
Speaker 6: And what happens is that we don't have that sort
Speaker 6: of generational knowledge and awareness that comes when you're not
Speaker 6: first gen. Right. The second thing is like we just
Speaker 6: have a completely different relationship with ownership. It's just a fact, right,
Speaker 6: so many of us it is the first time we're
Speaker 6: able to acquire a lot of things. And I find
Speaker 6: that in particularly Black families, right, it really goes back
Speaker 6: to our childhood. It really grows goes back to if
Speaker 6: you grew up with scarcity, right, or if you grew
Speaker 6: up you know, not being able to have certain things,
Speaker 6: And a lot of those promises that we make to ourselves,
Speaker 6: make to ourselves as children, we are very committed.
Speaker 7: To as adults.
Speaker 6: Right. One of the examples that I provide in the
Speaker 6: book is actually my ex husband, who is a huge
Speaker 6: sneaker head, and he shared how when he was in
Speaker 6: high school, his family would not, you know, like most
Speaker 6: black families, could not afford the first pair of Jordan's,
Speaker 6: and instead his parents bought him a pair of knockoffs.
Speaker 6: I did laugh, I'm not gonna lie because the silhouette
Speaker 6: of Michael Jordan, there was another person like blocking Michael Jordan,
Speaker 6: and I just thought about, like how horrible the teasing was.
Speaker 6: He said, it was relentless, and he made a promise
Speaker 6: to himself when he got older that he was going
Speaker 6: to buy however many pairs of sneakers he wanted, and
Speaker 6: he counted and like the majority, let's say there were
Speaker 6: like sixty pairs, forty two.
Speaker 7: Of them were Jordan's.
Speaker 6: Right, So, like getting to that root, cause. And then
Speaker 6: I also want people to think about Mandy the idea
Speaker 6: that it's not just you know, we think shoes, we
Speaker 6: think purses, we think handbags, but it impacts us in
Speaker 6: so many different ways. My friend's husband when he washes
Speaker 6: the dishes, he likes to use a lot of dishes
Speaker 6: that like, the bubbles are overflowing out of the sink.
Speaker 6: And I would, you know, if my friend would complain
Speaker 6: to me, and I would be like the girl he
Speaker 6: is washing the dishes, I don't understand.
Speaker 7: Why you complaining about these bubbles.
Speaker 6: And she would just say, like, ah, Christine is just
Speaker 6: so annoying, and I just don't understand why he does it.
Speaker 6: And I said, however, have you ever asked him? And
Speaker 6: she asked him, and you know what. He grew up
Speaker 6: in the South, very poor, was raised by his grandmother.
Speaker 6: Basically everything they purchased came from the dollar store, including
Speaker 6: dish soap, and even then he could only use one drop.
Speaker 6: And he told her, now that he older and they
Speaker 6: have the resources and means to buy whatever they want,
Speaker 6: he buys the most expensive dish soap and he uses
Speaker 6: as much as he wants, and he finally puts his bubbles.
Speaker 3: I was going to guess that it was because you know,
Speaker 3: if you're broke, you take that one little inch left
Speaker 3: over of the dond dish soap and you add water.
Speaker 3: You need a bunch of homes.
Speaker 7: You do that?
Speaker 6: I mean, why you don't. Oh my god, this is Tiffany.
Speaker 7: Yo.
Speaker 2: He hates it. He's always like, babe, we have soap.
Speaker 6: I'm like, was just a little I know, you know
Speaker 6: it is so you know, it is so funny, Tiffany.
Speaker 6: I use a solid dish soap because of course minimalism,
Speaker 6: you keep finding other ways, right, like you start with
Speaker 6: your closet and then it transitions into every air of
Speaker 6: your life. And even with the solid soap, it comes
Speaker 6: in a little tin, you know, like there'll be some
Speaker 6: water in there. And I'm like, oh, let me just
Speaker 6: that's extra dish so.
Speaker 7: Like, I don't I don't know what it is.
Speaker 6: But you know, if I think back to my childhood,
Speaker 6: you know, even if it wasn't dollar store dish soap,
Speaker 6: the dish soap that we did use, it was like
Speaker 6: for dishes it was bubble bath.
Speaker 7: It was.
Speaker 4: It wasn't bubble bath.
Speaker 1: I give hand soap in the my husband, Hey, he said,
Speaker 1: did you put the hand soap in the or the
Speaker 1: dish shap in the in the in the the hand
Speaker 1: like so if you go on my half bath, if
Speaker 1: if I'm like, where's I will put? I will squeeze
Speaker 1: the dawn this soap in the When I tell you, Superman.
Speaker 3: Is this white black people were so ashy because we're
Speaker 3: secretly using don dish.
Speaker 2: Soap so or are you trying to have clean hands
Speaker 2: or not?
Speaker 4: Theoline?
Speaker 5: You know what?
Speaker 6: I love that we're having this conversation because we don't
Speaker 6: think back to how our childhood and the things that
Speaker 6: we you know, we're accustomed to, like Mandy saying like, no,
Speaker 6: y'all didn't use just so Mandy, I'm telling.
Speaker 7: The louse you it was.
Speaker 6: It was it was bubble It was bubble bath, right,
Speaker 6: And you know I am also of the generation and
Speaker 6: you have to think just age wise, we're not that.
Speaker 7: Far apart in age.
Speaker 6: They still you know, like if there were four kids,
Speaker 6: like no one was changing.
Speaker 7: The bath water.
Speaker 4: Mm hmmm hmm.
Speaker 7: You see what I'm saying.
Speaker 6: So like if you come from you know, that's sort
Speaker 6: of even if it doesn't feel because it didn't feel
Speaker 6: like scarcity when we were younger, it was just like, oh,
Speaker 6: it's a bubble bath, right, But then you grow up
Speaker 6: and you're like, oh, they make actual bubble baths.
Speaker 3: So I didn't know, right, Like, you know, kind of
Speaker 3: a jerk sometimes laughing at my aunt when she like
Speaker 3: saves the wet paper towel after she wipes something up,
Speaker 3: and she just like, girl, I.
Speaker 2: Did not know.
Speaker 1: We people threw away the foil pants because we had
Speaker 1: to wash them out as kids, like you know, Thanksgiving,
Speaker 1: Like we washed them out, and you use them until
Speaker 1: they got to be too disfigured. And I'm like, so
Speaker 1: dresses on me. My husband's on me washing it, and
Speaker 1: he's like, why are you washing out the floor plants.
Speaker 1: I'm like you these.
Speaker 7: Are expensive, yeah, uses, yeah.
Speaker 6: But you know what, Mandy, I love that you brought
Speaker 6: that up about your aunt, because so much of this
Speaker 6: is also generational, right, And so I like to tell
Speaker 6: people too to think about not only what you grew
Speaker 6: up experiencing, but thinking about what your parents experience. So,
Speaker 6: for example, my mom was born after the Great Depression,
Speaker 6: shortly after the Great Depression, so even though she didn't
Speaker 6: experience food scarcity to the extent that you know, her
Speaker 6: her family did, who were alive during that time. It
Speaker 6: certainly impacted how they raised her. And so even though
Speaker 6: I did not grow up with food and security, I
Speaker 6: grew up feeling very, very obligated to clean my plate.
Speaker 6: Right even today, even if I know good and well,
Speaker 6: I'm not going to take those I'm not going to
Speaker 6: eat those leftovers when I get home. I still I
Speaker 6: can't throw it away, you know what I mean. I'm like,
Speaker 6: who can eat this?
Speaker 7: Who can? Right?
Speaker 6: And so like thinking about generationally, right, Folks who were
Speaker 6: born after the Great Depression or had family members you know,
Speaker 6: who raise them shortly after that time, they are they
Speaker 6: are real different when it comes to consumption. They are
Speaker 6: either over consumers right because they grew up hearing stories
Speaker 6: you never know what's going to happen, live for today
Speaker 6: because tomorrow ain't promised, right, Or they are extreme quarters
Speaker 6: they are reusing the paper towels. My mom doesn't even
Speaker 6: drink caffeinated coffee if she is here, which, by the way,
Speaker 6: I don't know why decaf is even a thing, but whatever,
Speaker 6: But if she's here and I have just a little
Speaker 6: bit of you know, and I go to, no, no, no,
Speaker 6: don't throw that down the drain. I'm like, Mommy, you
Speaker 6: don't even you know, I don't waste it, don't waste it, right,
Speaker 6: So you also have to think generationally.
Speaker 4: And be more empathetic to them.
Speaker 3: And yeah, I can't make fun of my dad for
Speaker 3: why he has a samurai sword and a popcorn machine
Speaker 3: that doesn't work in his living room. I can't do
Speaker 3: that anymore.
Speaker 4: Is that what I'm saying.
Speaker 6: I don't.
Speaker 7: I don't think you should make fun and.
Speaker 4: A part of my identity.
Speaker 1: I don't think the big TV's on the little TV
Speaker 1: because little TV doesn't work anymore.
Speaker 2: Remember I'm back in the day. You have the big
Speaker 2: TV on the little TV, the little bit TV. It
Speaker 2: don't work no more. But we're not ready to throw
Speaker 2: it out because you never know, you might fix it.
Speaker 3: But that's it's funny to make fun of our elders.
Speaker 3: But let's talk about the modern you know, millennials of
Speaker 3: today or gen z. What are you finding because I imagine
Speaker 3: you get stories from so many people and you mentioned
Speaker 3: your ex's sneaker addiction.
Speaker 4: I actually hoard.
Speaker 3: I was just making a joke about hoard hoarding things
Speaker 3: that I saved to my desktop. I just don't want
Speaker 3: to delete them, and so my desktops cluttered. But like,
Speaker 3: what are the modern ways you find, you know, our
Speaker 3: generation is you're seeing these trends kind of manifest this
Speaker 3: sense of scarcity and how it can potentially harm us.
Speaker 7: Yeah, you know it again.
Speaker 6: It also it goes two ways, right. I see a
Speaker 6: lot lot of folks in your generation really not wanting
Speaker 6: to repeat some of the decisions. And I'm trying trying
Speaker 6: to be very mindful with language because I don't like
Speaker 6: to call things mistakes or wrongdoings. Right. These are decisions
Speaker 6: and choices that they experienced, you know, growing up that
Speaker 6: they do not want to replicate, and so I see
Speaker 6: them being very intentional not to do that. I also
Speaker 6: see a lot of folks in your generation who are
Speaker 6: also first gen, right, and so they are buying all
Speaker 6: the things, and they are you know, really trying to
Speaker 6: you know, subscribe to conspicuous consumption. I have to have
Speaker 6: this thing that was in this Instagram ad or.
Speaker 7: I have to have this because it is a status symbol. Right.
Speaker 6: And then what I'm finding, you know, with some of
Speaker 6: their parents and older folks is you know this idea
Speaker 6: that hey, I didn't I wasn't even aware of my
Speaker 6: consumption to that level. And I don't want my uh
Speaker 6: you know, descendants, so your generation, Mandy, to have inherited clutter.
Speaker 7: So I'm you know, and you with it.
Speaker 3: In fact, I'm pretty sure the key to his storage
Speaker 3: unit is in his will for me, and that is
Speaker 3: my that is what I'm going to be bequeathed.
Speaker 2: I would be but you know.
Speaker 3: What, I am the heir to a storage a storage
Speaker 3: facility in Atlanta?
Speaker 2: Are you fancy? I hate it.
Speaker 6: I hate it for you, Mandy, And honestly, like I wait,
Speaker 6: I do encourage I do encourage folks in your generation
Speaker 6: to have these conversations with their elders, right because right
Speaker 6: now we can laugh about it. And I even think
Speaker 6: of some of the things that I have encouraged my
Speaker 6: mom to just gently let go. It's time to let go, right.
Speaker 6: I know that it would be that much harder once
Speaker 6: she has transitioned. Right. And so you have a lot
Speaker 6: of people my generation, your generation, who also have an
Speaker 6: inherited clutter, and that is even more problematic to do
Speaker 6: with me.
Speaker 3: He wants to talk about death and clutter in the
Speaker 3: same insurance.
Speaker 4: Listen, ma'am, with your parents.
Speaker 3: Oh my god, talk about things I would get hung
Speaker 3: up on so fast.
Speaker 7: This is why Oh no, go ahead.
Speaker 2: No no, no no, no, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead.
Speaker 7: No. I was gonna say, this is why that we
Speaker 7: thank you. This is why, though, we.
Speaker 6: Have to have these conversations, because the first reaction is
Speaker 6: exactly what your reaction is. Man. It's like, oh, I
Speaker 6: want to talk about that. I don't want to get
Speaker 6: cursed out. I don't want it, right, But then the
Speaker 6: inevitable will happen, right, and we're like, where are these papers,
Speaker 6: where is that? Who's going to take this? What do
Speaker 6: we do with that? Right? And it's much more difficult
Speaker 6: to do that when you're in such a state of
Speaker 6: emotional vulnerability.
Speaker 7: Right.
Speaker 6: And so it's not to say to sit them down
Speaker 6: at a coffee table and say, look, I'm not doing
Speaker 6: this inherit to clutter with y'all. So we're about you
Speaker 6: know what I mean. I'm not saying have that conversation
Speaker 6: in that way, But what I'm saying is making sure
Speaker 6: that the people in your family are very much aware
Speaker 6: of your position on this, right. And even if you
Speaker 6: have siblings, right, like, hey, you know dad is probably
Speaker 6: gonna leave that storage unit. I just need y'all to
Speaker 6: know I will not be taking anything out of there, right,
Speaker 6: and so we need to you know, I just want
Speaker 6: to give you all the heads up on that that
Speaker 6: when the time comes.
Speaker 7: We get right.
Speaker 6: There are ways to sort of gently have these conversations
Speaker 6: or at least start these conversations. And what I have
Speaker 6: found is most people, you think there's going to be
Speaker 6: a visceral reaction, and there's not. People are fully aware
Speaker 6: of their unpreparedness. People are fully aware of their clutter,
Speaker 6: people are fully aware of their poor finances. Right. It's
Speaker 6: really having someone spark that spark that inspiration, right, And
Speaker 6: I'm sure you all see that all the time, right,
Speaker 6: People are like, oh, I didn't even know what to
Speaker 6: do about savings until I found y'all. Right, the information
Speaker 6: is out there, but it's hearing it from a source
Speaker 6: that is respected, right, a loved one. But these conversations
Speaker 6: are inevitably going to happen.
Speaker 1: For someone who's on the edge of like, well, I
Speaker 1: think I want to do this, but I want to
Speaker 1: get more clarity on what are the benefits, right, especially
Speaker 1: for diaspora to participate in minimalism, like aside from oh, okay,
Speaker 1: there's less stuff in my house. But what truly, truly
Speaker 1: are the benefits for us in particular?
Speaker 6: Yeah, so, first, because I want to make sure that
Speaker 6: people understand getting through that psychology of ownership piece is
Speaker 6: like where you start right. And then I have a
Speaker 6: four step approach that I think anyone can follow at
Speaker 6: their own pace, which is step one acknowledging that you
Speaker 6: have more than you need. Step two, which is forgiving yourself.
Speaker 6: Forgiveness is also not really talked about when it comes
Speaker 6: to this type of work. Part three is the letting go,
Speaker 6: which is what we see on television. You can call
Speaker 6: it decluttering, you can call it whatever you want. And
Speaker 6: then part four is paying it forward right with those
Speaker 6: things that no longer serve you. And I think one
Speaker 6: of the biggest benefits for me has been having an
Speaker 6: opportunity to pay it forward and be smarter with my resources.
Speaker 7: Right.
Speaker 6: For example, as you all know, my daughter is in college.
Speaker 6: I'm super proud, and you know I was first jen.
Speaker 6: I had a lot of student loan debt. It was
Speaker 6: completely overwhelming. It is unbelievable to me that I am
Speaker 6: able to pay her tuition, her room and board, everything,
Speaker 6: So that she does not have student loan debt. Right,
Speaker 6: that is huge, and that is the result of a
Speaker 6: decision that I made five years ago, not ten years ago,
Speaker 6: not twenty years ago, five years ago. Right, that means
Speaker 6: what are the benefits going to look like in ten years?
Speaker 6: But even more so, what are the long term benefits
Speaker 6: for my daughter?
Speaker 7: Right?
Speaker 6: Of course, as you said, having less to clean is wonderful. Right,
Speaker 6: having fewer choices to make in the morning about what
Speaker 6: you're going to wear, because decision fatigue is real, Right, Like,
Speaker 6: that's beneficial. Right, having resources to not only invest in
Speaker 6: building generational wealth and invest in your children, but also
Speaker 6: to invest in your community. I'll give you a quick example.
Speaker 6: I have two very dear friends who are writers who
Speaker 6: do a lot for our community, that do a lot
Speaker 6: for our babies. Shout out to Mahogany Brown and Jason Reynolds.
Speaker 2: And a poet.
Speaker 6: She is Yes, I remember, yes, yes.
Speaker 2: I used to go.
Speaker 1: I was very I'd be at all the poetry shows
Speaker 1: that she was one of my favorite poets.
Speaker 7: Isn't she amazing?
Speaker 6: She is still out here doing amazing things. She is
Speaker 6: the poet in residence, the first poet in residence for
Speaker 6: the Lincoln Center, and I literally have watched both of
Speaker 6: them just like spread themselves than doing this work. And
Speaker 6: there is a wonderful organization here in DC called Huru
Speaker 6: Space which offers a weekend of rest and reset for
Speaker 6: for folks of colors, for folks of color. And what
Speaker 6: I did was give them both a stay, right, this
Speaker 6: is what they need. And here is an opportunity for
Speaker 6: me to you know, invest in this business, invest in
Speaker 6: my friends and all. So this is like what would
Speaker 6: I have done with that back five years ago? I
Speaker 6: would have used that money to purchase a handbag. Here's
Speaker 6: an opportunity for it to help three lives, right, And
Speaker 6: so I think when we think of benefits, to also
Speaker 6: think beyond ourselves, right, to think again, even beyond our
Speaker 6: family and our loved ones, think about our community, right, Like,
Speaker 6: there are so many like myriad benefits, y'all. And it
Speaker 6: is a lifestyle that I really encourage people.
Speaker 7: To considering and doing it your own way. Right.
Speaker 6: Obviously, me as a now empty nester, my minimalism is
Speaker 6: going to look totally different than Mandy's. My minimalism is
Speaker 6: going to look totally different than Tiffany's. Right, But doing
Speaker 6: it in a way that is beneficial to you and
Speaker 6: your household and your long term goals.
Speaker 4: Do I get a last question?
Speaker 7: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Yeah, my last question was going to be so for
Speaker 3: me and for people listening. I think even last week
Speaker 3: we had a guest on Deli Ane Boos who we
Speaker 3: were talking about, uh, you know, online shopping and how
Speaker 3: easy they make it for you to make these impulse
Speaker 3: buying you know, decisions online. Now you save your credit card,
Speaker 3: get your face ID. You don't even have to like
Speaker 3: do anything, get off the couch to bank a purchase.
Speaker 3: Do you have any rules of thumb or tips for
Speaker 3: people on how if you were trying to get a
Speaker 3: hold on unnecessary or overspending or over you know, consumption,
Speaker 3: Any any tips on like here's the rule of thumb,
Speaker 3: or here's a tip where you can you know, ask
Speaker 3: yourself this before you purchase something, or try doing this
Speaker 3: just to kind of come to grips with the constant
Speaker 3: triggers we have.
Speaker 6: Yeah, So I love like to ask that question because
Speaker 6: I have a lot of mantras. I shared one with
Speaker 6: you earlier, which is what's the why behind the by?
Speaker 6: My other one though, is it's not a deal if
Speaker 6: you don't need it and saying that, like when I
Speaker 6: go to pick up something, when I go to it's
Speaker 6: something in my cart, right, because it's usually we're enticed
Speaker 6: by a sale or the idea that we're getting a bargain,
Speaker 6: and I have to be like, it's not a deal
Speaker 6: if you don't need it, Christine, you know, do not.
Speaker 6: I don't care how it auto populates, unsafe all of
Speaker 6: the card information. There have been so many times, especially
Speaker 6: during the past year and a half because of the
Speaker 6: pandemic we're all in. You know, it's some emotional vulnerability here,
Speaker 6: which usually can can trigger some of our spending habits.
Speaker 6: You know, there were times I would go to buy
Speaker 6: something and because I would have to go to get
Speaker 6: my wallet, I would be like, girl, you don't want this, right, Like,
Speaker 6: it's really whatever systems you have to put in place to.
Speaker 7: Pause, because it's usually that pause.
Speaker 6: Right. You have to be very mindful of you know,
Speaker 6: online it is very easy, as you said, right, unsubscribe,
Speaker 6: unsubscribe from all of your favorite brands. And you know,
Speaker 6: like you buy something an ambition, Ah, yes.
Speaker 7: No, this is a favorite brand.
Speaker 6: No, Like you know, you purchased something online and it
Speaker 6: automatically saves your email and then all of a sudden,
Speaker 6: the next thing you know, you're getting ads all the time, right,
Speaker 6: Or here's a new sale and I you know, there's
Speaker 6: always going to be a sale. I have never seen
Speaker 6: so many. You know, a semi annual sale is only
Speaker 6: supposed to happen twice a year.
Speaker 2: Get up the semi.
Speaker 6: Like y'all just had a semi annual sale last month, right,
Speaker 6: So like this idea that you know, And again it
Speaker 6: goes back to the psychology of ownership. We feel like
Speaker 6: we're going to miss out. We feel like someone else
Speaker 6: is going to get the deal. And when we when
Speaker 6: we touch something, when we hold something, all of those
Speaker 6: things start to trigger partial ownership and we become very
Speaker 6: committed to wanting to have full ownership. So don't go
Speaker 6: around touching stuff, Mandy, That's first thing, right, And when
Speaker 6: it comes to what it comes to, you know, your
Speaker 6: online spending, just try and put some systems in place
Speaker 6: that make it harder, that make you pause before you
Speaker 6: make that purchase and ask yourself, what's the wide Why
Speaker 6: am I really buying this?
Speaker 3: What's super sad pandemic? I lost my credit cards in
Speaker 3: my wallet during the pandemic.
Speaker 4: I didn't even need it. I didn't even need it.
Speaker 3: Because everything we saved it was terrible.
Speaker 4: Okay, I lied, though. I have one final final question.
Speaker 3: How do you stop people from giving your kids stuff?
Speaker 3: Because the problem like I literally have relatives who listen
Speaker 3: to the show and I'm talking to you. They know
Speaker 3: who I'm talking to. If you have friends who have kids,
Speaker 3: they're just so happy to give you stuff that ends
Speaker 3: up being you become their donation bin. And then now
Speaker 3: I'm on fingure out doing with this stuff. Then I
Speaker 3: don't do what I want, you.
Speaker 7: Know what I mean?
Speaker 6: And then it's gifts. Yes, go Mandy. No is your superpower? Right, Okay,
Speaker 6: you have to just say no. And I you know,
Speaker 6: I tell people all the time because like my kid
Speaker 6: has so much stuff, and I'm like, do they have
Speaker 6: a job I don't know about?
Speaker 7: Right, Like this is.
Speaker 6: Coming through you either you're buying it or you're allowing
Speaker 6: it into their lives and they're completely overwhelmed with all
Speaker 6: of these things.
Speaker 7: Right.
Speaker 6: You know, once you are firm on that, you have
Speaker 6: to be real firm. Might take two or three times.
Speaker 6: People will respect it, Your loved ones will respect it.
Speaker 6: But if you're like, well, and then you still end
Speaker 6: up taking stuff no one believes you.
Speaker 7: Right.
Speaker 6: So also when it comes to gifts, I think it's
Speaker 6: really important to think about different ways that we can
Speaker 6: celebrate those milestones like birthdays and holidays. Right, the only
Speaker 6: birthday party that my daughter remembers and that she says
Speaker 6: is her best birthday party ever in life was her
Speaker 6: eighth birthday party. And I was just starting to think about,
Speaker 6: you know, minimalism. We just had so much stuff. I
Speaker 6: couldn't bear the idea of bringing another tiny little thing
Speaker 6: in this house. And I remember saying, you know what,
Speaker 6: instead of gifts, I'm just gonna have kids bring a
Speaker 6: canned good and we'll just donate it to the food pantry.
Speaker 6: I had this big elaborate moon bounce and carnival set
Speaker 6: up in the backyard, and one can good was supposed
Speaker 6: to be their price of admission. Mandy, do you know
Speaker 6: the night before, in the morning of, I just started
Speaker 6: getting all of these text messages from parents and they're like, what.
Speaker 7: Is this again?
Speaker 6: I thought we were just supposed to bring one can.
Speaker 6: My kid is in here raiding the patry. They're making
Speaker 6: us go to the grocery store. And they are just
Speaker 6: naturally naturally giving, right, and we had tons of tons
Speaker 6: of donations, So thinking about different ways and then lastly
Speaker 6: encouraging your kids to let go and pay it forward.
Speaker 7: Now, the one.
Speaker 6: Caveat that I always say, do not look in that bag. Okay,
Speaker 6: give them a bag. It's all in the approach. If
Speaker 6: you go in there with the bag and you're like,
Speaker 6: it's too much stuff here, get rid of some of
Speaker 6: it now, it evokes a different reaction if you go
Speaker 6: in there and say, wow, you know what, you are
Speaker 6: really blessed. You have a lot of wonderful things. There
Speaker 6: are so many kids in our community that don't. Can
Speaker 6: you if I give you this bag, can you go
Speaker 6: around and just you know, donate some things that you
Speaker 6: think that they might love. Your feelings will be so
Speaker 6: hurt when you realize all the things that your children
Speaker 6: really don't want or need, right, and how willing that
Speaker 6: they would be to give that to another child if
Speaker 6: they knew that it would make them happy.
Speaker 1: What my step daughter sold her she sold her American
Speaker 1: girls doll for like five dollars a at. We had
Speaker 1: like a like a garage stale, you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: because you know those are like two three hundred dollars.
Speaker 6: We did. We did that American girl dollar life. I
Speaker 6: know that all lived a good life.
Speaker 1: They're so expensive. And then to see that she was
Speaker 1: so excited to do. We're gonna have a garage shell,
Speaker 1: you know, Alyssa, just go in your things and.
Speaker 2: Pull out what you don't want.
Speaker 1: She just pull He looked, he was like she just
Speaker 1: Raven like bye, yeah, he said, is that the baby
Speaker 1: about your lesson five dollars?
Speaker 2: I know? The pair who bought it.
Speaker 4: Was like so, but it's sold on eBay for two hundred.
Speaker 1: So it's just to your point, Christine, it's you. You know,
Speaker 1: the stuff that we give our kids sometimes, you know,
Speaker 1: we we have more of emotional attachment to giving them
Speaker 1: things than they actually have and receiving those things.
Speaker 2: So to be mind that, you know.
Speaker 6: A lot of that is our our own unfulfilled childhood once. Right,
Speaker 6: like my daughter had American that girl, oh that dollar
Speaker 6: is a good life. It had a bed, it had clothes,
Speaker 6: she played the violin. It had a violin right like,
Speaker 6: it was out of it was out of control.
Speaker 5: And I remember, you know, decluttering and going through all
Speaker 5: these things, and I was like this is this is
Speaker 5: the life that I want and my dolls to have, right,
Speaker 5: So some of that stuff is us fulfilling our own
Speaker 5: unfulfilled childhood once.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I got to get better at saying no and
Speaker 3: maybe don't do it the morning of Christmas when you're
Speaker 3: stressed out and another package has been delivered and it's
Speaker 3: a remote control driving car and you tell your father never,
Speaker 3: no more toys and.
Speaker 4: He hangs up on you.
Speaker 6: Yeah, man, you need to get get that email that
Speaker 6: no out, that email out ahead of them to say.
Speaker 3: No in different languages. Now there's all these grandparents.
Speaker 1: Well no in Spanish, it's still now, it's still that
Speaker 1: you add a lot of words to it.
Speaker 4: When mother in law Okay, but you know what.
Speaker 6: Mandy, you can also like redirect them, right, so you
Speaker 6: know what, he really does not need another remote control
Speaker 6: car instead, what we're doing this year for Christmas is
Speaker 6: fill in the blank or what I would also tell
Speaker 6: people who would just be what I felt was like
Speaker 6: not respecting boundaries. After certain times you say no, you're like,
Speaker 6: I really don't want it, right, I would say, just
Speaker 6: so you know, I mean, I told you we're trying
Speaker 6: to live with less. We're not taking in all of
Speaker 6: these toys. Are you comfortable with me donating this to
Speaker 6: an organization.
Speaker 7: In need?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 6: So it's like that redirect too, right, So you got
Speaker 6: some options, Mandy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I gotta brush up on my intermediary Spanish to
Speaker 3: get to that level of conversation. But this has been
Speaker 3: such a wonderful, wonderful conversation. Thank you so much, Christine.
Speaker 7: Thank you both for having me.
Speaker 1: Can you let folks know, like you know, what your
Speaker 1: book is, where they can get it and where they
Speaker 1: can continue.
Speaker 6: Yes, yeah, so this is my book, The Afro Minimalist
Speaker 6: Guide to Living with Less or I probably have eaten
Speaker 6: something right there, but that's the book, and you can
Speaker 6: find me online. I'm very active on Instagram, have a
Speaker 6: you know, a wonderful community discussions there, and I am
Speaker 6: at Afrominimalists and you can also find me on the
Speaker 6: web under the same name.
Speaker 3: Thank you well, thank you, thank you, thank you for
Speaker 3: coming on. I love this conversation. Yes, I've you gave
Speaker 3: me a lot to think about personally, so thank you.
Speaker 4: For joining us.
Speaker 3: All right, y'all got to go check out Christine Afronimi
Speaker 3: and check our show notes for all her links.
Speaker 1: Yes, thanks, Oh, my gosh, b a fan. Wasn't Christine awesome?
Speaker 1: Doesn't it make you realize that you could be fabulous
Speaker 1: with less? Well, if you want to make sure to
Speaker 1: take down a trip down memory Lane with us every
Speaker 1: single week and our other episodes, make sure to check
Speaker 1: out Brian Ambition every Monday, every Wednesday, every Friday.
Speaker 2: That's looseless, that's miracless, that's yearnest.
Speaker 1: Mandy is rolling her eyes right now somewhere wherever she is,
Speaker 1: because I speak tambien. By y'all,