WEBVTT - Success is Compounding w/ Tiffany "The Budgetnista" Aliche 0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:06.760 Power one oh five New York City. En I Hire 0:00:06.920 --> 0:00:12.760 Radio Studios, Lower Manhattan. Charlotta Magne, the guy is one 0:00:12.800 --> 0:00:15.360 third of the Hall of Fame morning show The Breakfast Club, 0:00:15.680 --> 0:00:18.239 And I'm sitting in somebody's office at the radio station 0:00:18.480 --> 0:00:21.080 talking with him about how we amplify our good working 0:00:21.160 --> 0:00:25.000 business as the community. And they're talking about our moves 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:28.960 and something we should talk about publicly. It's Charlotte main threat. 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:30.880 The need don't on how we talk about doing good 0:00:30.920 --> 0:00:34.560 work and inspire the next generation to think bigger, to 0:00:34.720 --> 0:00:38.559 think bigger than themselves. It's just like anything else. Right. 0:00:38.600 --> 0:00:42.040 If you're a rapper and you rap about the club, 0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:44.240 and you have about alcohol, and you have about drugs, 0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:46.280 and you have about dealing with a bunch of women, 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:49.519 that's what you're influencing the people that are listening to 0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:52.240 you to do. Right. So for me, it's like, you 0:00:52.320 --> 0:00:55.320 gotta talk about those type of things. We have to 0:00:55.320 --> 0:00:57.680 talk about some of the moves you make in business, 0:00:57.680 --> 0:00:58.800 you know, because a lot of the movies that I'm 0:00:58.800 --> 0:01:03.920 making business really are things that will better society, especially 0:01:04.120 --> 0:01:06.000 the black community. So it's like, Yo, you have to 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:08.920 make people aware of those things because you're influencing the 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:11.120 next generation. So the next generation needs to know that 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:13.480 you could be more than just you know, in the 0:01:13.600 --> 0:01:16.640 entertainment business, that you can be more than just an athlete, 0:01:16.680 --> 0:01:19.200 you know. I think about what I saw guys like 0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:22.720 Robert Smith, and you see the jay Zs of the world, 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:24.479 and you see the things that they do. The Tyler 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:26.720 Perry is like, of course, it makes you want to 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:31.440 do just more good business, you know. So yeah, I 0:01:31.480 --> 0:01:35.319 think that's that's something that you'll see me show more. 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:40.959 I'm with Lucas and this is Black Tech Dream Money. 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:43.520 I'm gonna introduce you to some of the biggest names, 0:01:43.560 --> 0:01:47.160 some of the brightness minds and brilliant ideas. If you're black, 0:01:47.160 --> 0:01:49.640 in building or simply using tech to secure your back, 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:57.920 this podcast is for you. Tiffany l founder of The 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:01.640 Budget NISA, is an award winning team Financial Education in 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:06.120 America's favorite personal finance educator. She's been featuring the shows 0:02:06.160 --> 0:02:10.399 like Good Morning America, NBC News Today, and more. She's 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:12.519 the author of Getting Good with Money, which is a 0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:15.840 New York Times bestseller, the One Week Budget and To 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:20.240 Live Rich Challenge series. I asked Tiffany with so many 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:22.959 people just as skilled as she is in finance, but 0:02:23.120 --> 0:02:26.000 in their own verticals, what can they do that she 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:29.280 did to finally break out and to get the attention 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:33.560 of the masses. So court thing once I learned to 0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:36.680 like let go and be myself, right, So I used 0:02:36.680 --> 0:02:38.400 to If you look back at any of my old 0:02:38.440 --> 0:02:41.400 YouTube videos from like ten years ago, I was stiff, like, hello, 0:02:41.480 --> 0:02:45.400 money is Tiffany? He said. Now I'm like, girl, your budget? 0:02:45.680 --> 0:02:48.720 What are you doing? You know? And so I So 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:51.720 what happened was maybe like six or seven years ago. 0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:54.160 I was like doing Alive and I want to ask 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:56.040 a question, and the real Tiffany slipped through and I 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:58.600 was like, oh, let me people look going back to professional. 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:02.000 But the comments went crazy easy, like yes girl, yes, 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:04.000 And I was like, oh yeah, right that okay. I 0:03:04.080 --> 0:03:06.520 turned it up a little more, then a little more. 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:10.400 Then I saw this it was either a documentary. Maybe 0:03:10.400 --> 0:03:14.959 I read an article where um Quincy Quincy Jones was 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:19.720 talking about Oprah and said the best um I think 0:03:19.720 --> 0:03:22.720 she said, the best kind of piece of advice or 0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:25.639 compliment that he ever gave her was that what makes 0:03:25.680 --> 0:03:28.440 Oprah so special is this She's exactly the same on 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:32.240 camera as she is off, and I know it sounds 0:03:32.280 --> 0:03:35.160 like okay, so I want no. I don't think people 0:03:35.320 --> 0:03:40.200 understand when that camera turns one pc of people change 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:43.760 and are different because you know, you're you're either insecure, 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:46.000 you're like, oh my hair, do I look right? Do 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:48.080 I sound right? So there are all these things that 0:03:48.120 --> 0:03:50.520 go through your head. So someone else shows up, it 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:52.680 shows up differently than how when the camera turns off. 0:03:52.680 --> 0:03:55.520 Then you're like, all right, well so you know, and 0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:58.000 if you can do that, So I worked the last 0:03:58.120 --> 0:04:01.280 five years in particular to be the same Tiffany on 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:04.280 camera as I am off. And the closer I get, 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:07.680 I'm still about eight, you know, depending like right now 0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:09.240 this is all to me. But like if I'm doing 0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:11.600 like good Morning America, you know, I'm like, you know, 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:15.320 you know, I'm still about like sevent But the closer 0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:19.680 I get, the more opportunities open up. Because human beings 0:04:19.720 --> 0:04:22.680 are attracted to what is real and what is genuine, 0:04:22.680 --> 0:04:24.520 even if they don't feel it on the surface. They're 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:27.520 attracted to like, you know, like the human and you 0:04:27.560 --> 0:04:29.960 feels the human in me. So if I'm being myself, 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:32.839 you feel it and you react to it naturally, And 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:36.440 so that's Number one is I've gotten really close to 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:39.839 being myself on and off camera. Number two is just 0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:43.000 some consistency. You'd be like, oh, people always ask me 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:44.839 to mentor them and they're like, oh, you know, I 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:47.120 just started my business a year ago and it's not 0:04:47.200 --> 0:04:48.800 going as good. I'm like, first of all, sister, you 0:04:48.920 --> 0:04:51.680 just got here. You're literally a year old. That's like 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:54.160 the baby saying why can't I walk? I mean you 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:58.200 gotta call And then too, you know, you have a 0:04:58.200 --> 0:05:00.680 blog or you have a podcast and it's supposed to 0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:03.560 drop it every Wednesday, but I haven't heard your podcast 0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:07.240 drop in the last two months. You're just not consistent. Literally, 0:05:07.800 --> 0:05:10.680 some of people are winning only because they do what 0:05:10.720 --> 0:05:12.400 they say gonna they're gonna do, and they do it 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:14.599 when they say they're gonna do it. That's it. Can 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:17.479 you imagine eight percent of winning is just do I 0:05:17.600 --> 0:05:20.040 do what I say I'm gonna do? Do I do 0:05:20.080 --> 0:05:22.360 what when I say I'm gonna do it? The vast 0:05:22.360 --> 0:05:25.560 majority of people, quite honestly, they don't either. They overpromise, 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:27.680 they get overwhelmed. They just don't feel like if they 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:31.800 lose interest. So I show up consistently, you know, and 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:34.520 I probably say the last but not least is the 0:05:34.560 --> 0:05:37.160 truth is I try not to take it too seriously, 0:05:37.279 --> 0:05:41.520 meaning like take myself too seriously and allow me to 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:44.440 be in alignment with how, you know, like with what 0:05:44.640 --> 0:05:46.920 is out there for me. It's very easy to get 0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:48.920 distracted and say I ought to do this because this 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:51.080 person is doing this, I ought to do that. So 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:53.200 I really try to stay in my lane because no 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:56.600 one can out Tiffany Tiffany, you know, and so once 0:05:56.640 --> 0:05:58.640 I do, you know, So that's really it. It's like 0:05:58.680 --> 0:06:02.600 showing up authentically as myself, consistency and staying in the 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:05.080 lane of Tiffany, and those three things are are how 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:07.480 I've been able to do New York Times you know, 0:06:07.800 --> 0:06:09.920 um my book has been it was eight weeks on 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:12.360 the New York Times best Seller's list, you know, a 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:14.919 Good Morning America Today show. I'm the financial expert for 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:18.240 the real Um. Literally just today I submitted something for 0:06:18.279 --> 0:06:21.320 news Week. I write for Bloomberg, you know, Wall Street Journal. 0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:24.320 I mean there's there was one point literally where I 0:06:24.360 --> 0:06:26.800 had to tell like CNBC, like, is there anybody else 0:06:26.800 --> 0:06:29.280 that you know? I can't I can't do something every week. 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:31.680 I'm tired. I'm gonna. I'm tired. I can't do an 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:35.400 article I thing every week. Do you know any other experts? 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:37.480 And I'm not saying that to flex, I'm saying that 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:40.080 you want to know why. The news Week got emailed 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:43.920 me this morning said hey, Tiffany running an article and 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:46.440 I need some some some sales tips, you know, some 0:06:46.640 --> 0:06:49.680 saving tips. And I woke up this morning and I 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:51.320 had my my meeting. I was like, okay, so I 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:54.719 saw it. Within an hour, I had written him back 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:56.720 with the two tips and said, you know, please attribute 0:06:56.720 --> 0:06:59.600 me as Tiffany the budget needs to financial educator author, 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:01.760 Your Times best selling author of Get Go with Money. 0:07:02.160 --> 0:07:05.840 He was like wow, he Now, guess who's going when 0:07:05.839 --> 0:07:09.600 they tight on a deadline? Guess what Newsweek journalist's gonna 0:07:09.640 --> 0:07:12.600 hit me back up? Again? He is, you know, because 0:07:12.600 --> 0:07:14.920 he's like, yo, Tiffany is boom bom boom bob. You know, 0:07:15.120 --> 0:07:18.200 most of these outlets want you to just be primed 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:20.800 and ready and consistent, and they'll come back to you 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:22.560 over and over because you're super easy to work with. 0:07:23.240 --> 0:07:25.080 And so so let's go in on on that continent. 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:28.120 You know, content is king, and I wonder what your 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:31.800 strategy is like, did you pick one distribution channel? Is 0:07:31.880 --> 0:07:33.760 it like your blog that you just go in on 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:36.840 to the you know, neglect of everything else, or is 0:07:36.840 --> 0:07:39.680 it Instagram? Or have you figured out ways to you know, 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:42.480 spread yourself across these different platforms to be able to 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:45.560 reach people where they are. So at first, you know, 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:47.680 my my only platform, because it's really what's kind of like, 0:07:47.680 --> 0:07:50.080 the only one available was was Facebook. So I put 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:53.120 all of my time and energy into Facebook. Um, but 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:55.240 what really helped me to expand is I created And 0:07:55.240 --> 0:07:58.000 this was accidental, and sometimes your best ideas are accidental. 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:01.280 I created something called my Liverage your challenge. It was 0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:04.880 this free online three recourse. Because everyone kept asking me 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:07.400 individual questions, and I said, what if I that I 0:08:07.480 --> 0:08:09.680 used to be a school teacher for ten years and 0:08:09.680 --> 0:08:11.840 I had my master's in education, and I had been 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:14.800 teaching this course at my local United Way, And I said, 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:16.760 what if I take this course? And I put it online. 0:08:17.040 --> 0:08:18.760 So people who keep asking me the questions, I'm like, 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:21.040 take a free course, go to literature challenge dot com, 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:24.080 which is still available. Take a free course, right, And 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:26.400 so I said, I'm gonna get My idea was to 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:28.960 get ten thousand people signed up, which I did by 0:08:29.040 --> 0:08:31.880 I want to say it was um January two fifteen 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:35.560 or sixteen. And what happened in the course is that 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:39.160 I did this accidentally, like I think, um, like Twitter 0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:41.040 just came out, and maybe Instagram came out like the 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:43.440 next year or whatever. But you would coming to the course. 0:08:43.640 --> 0:08:46.000 But what I was doing is effectively you would see 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:48.680 it on Facebook and then you you said, you know, 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:50.480 you registered for the course. Now I have your name 0:08:50.520 --> 0:08:53.320 in email, so that's one platform. And then when you 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:55.120 were in it, I saw someone had this kind of 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:57.280 like um click to tweet in one of their blog 0:08:57.320 --> 0:08:59.240 posts that I really liked, and I was like, oh, 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:01.240 you mean you can. You can create a message in 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:03.440 this box and people can just click it and then 0:09:03.440 --> 0:09:05.480 it will tweet out. And I was like, okay, so 0:09:05.520 --> 0:09:07.679 I added click to tweet. So the way the course 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:10.359 work was that it was an email course. Every day 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:12.600 for three weeks I would give you one small assignment 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:16.840 um that focused on that week's goals, you know, and um, 0:09:16.920 --> 0:09:19.840 so now you're in my inbox. Now you're on my 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:23.240 email list. But then the daily email sent you to 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:25.400 the blog to actually get the lesson. So now I 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:28.160 got email. Already had Facebook, but now I got email, 0:09:28.440 --> 0:09:30.800 and I got blog visitors. And then when you're on 0:09:30.840 --> 0:09:33.360 the blog, I'm getting you the tips and I'm saying 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:35.840 click to tweet. Now you follow me on Twitter. And 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:37.880 then like the three or four days out of the course, 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:40.400 I would create a YouTube video lesson just to change 0:09:40.440 --> 0:09:42.880 it up, so now you're following me on YouTube. And 0:09:42.880 --> 0:09:44.960 then when Instagram came out, I'd be like, you know, 0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:48.000 share your you know, share your feedback here, and now 0:09:48.000 --> 0:09:50.800 I got you on Instagram. So that's how I really 0:09:50.800 --> 0:09:53.079 started to kind of go. I call it like um 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:56.400 taking people on a tour of your brand. Facebook was 0:09:56.520 --> 0:09:59.600 the door, then you sat in my living room, which 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:02.480 is my email list. Then you use the restaurant, which 0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:05.320 was Twitter. Then you were like, you know, you know, 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:08.800 let me see the kitchen, which was Instagram. You know. 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:11.079 Then you so before you know that, one person has 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:13.920 visited all of my platforms because of that challenge. So 0:10:14.040 --> 0:10:15.920 it was one of the The challenge was one of 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:18.760 the best tools I ever created, you know, for my 0:10:18.840 --> 0:10:21.640 brand to grow, to grow the community, and to bring 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:24.200 them around the full tour. So I've got like really 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:28.320 robust um following on all of those platforms, and so yeah, 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:30.320 that's where it started with with one platform, and then 0:10:30.360 --> 0:10:32.720 I created something that allowed me to bring people through 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:37.400 all these platforms. And I would imagine that, um, you 0:10:37.440 --> 0:10:40.640 weren't manually Okay, I'm gonna manually do this blower post, 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:43.680 then manually do the YouTube, and manually do the Facebook, 0:10:43.679 --> 0:10:45.760 and then the Twitter and Instagram. So I would imagine 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:49.080 that there were some systems in place there. And my 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:52.480 question is that how did you get the technical aptitude 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.959 or did you hire out that opportunity for somebody else 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:58.040 to be able to come alongside your team? And because 0:10:58.800 --> 0:11:02.160 well most people figure they don't have the resources to 0:11:02.240 --> 0:11:05.040 go do all those systems as well as you. Honestly, 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:09.160 that's I disagree. I did that at my brocus So 0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:12.760 I said, okay, I want to build this course. I 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:15.120 don't have any money nor in my tech savvy. It's 0:11:15.160 --> 0:11:17.440 just enough for me to get on Zoom, so I said. 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:19.440 Even now to this day, so I said, okay, what 0:11:19.480 --> 0:11:20.680 do you know how to do? Tip me? I said, 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:23.960 I know how to email, and my blog I built myself, 0:11:24.000 --> 0:11:25.680 because you know, they have those blog platforms that it 0:11:25.720 --> 0:11:27.959 wasn't It was like, you know, if you can do Facebook. 0:11:27.960 --> 0:11:29.960 I tell people it's even easier now. Back then it 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:31.600 was a little harder. I think I was using blogger 0:11:31.679 --> 0:11:34.120 dot com or whatever. But it's just basically a template 0:11:34.400 --> 0:11:36.560 that you put your picture on. It looked terrible that 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:38.800 you put your picture on and then you, you know, 0:11:38.840 --> 0:11:41.840 you just upload your blog posts. Right, So it wasn't 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:45.200 I didn't have to be technically savvy. So that course 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:48.680 was really just you joined my email list, and every 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:51.200 day I emailed you, Hey, go to my blog for 0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:54.199 today's lesson. So there was no real tech savvy stuff 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:55.640 I needed other than do you not how to send 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:57.720 the email? I think I was using like mad Memia design, 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:01.200 you know, you know, and right, so it wasn't even 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:03.280 like something like now we're use infusion soft, you know. 0:12:03.360 --> 0:12:06.120 But so it wasn't even some some sophisticated CRM. It 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:08.480 was just a regular email list. I got you on 0:12:08.480 --> 0:12:10.559 the email list, and then every day I said, here's 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:12.960 day one of the Literature Challenge. This week we're talking 0:12:13.000 --> 0:12:16.800 about budgeting. Um learn how to create your budget click here, 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:19.040 and then here took you to the blog post. So 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:22.120 ahead of time, I wrote out the twenty one blog 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:24.880 post and I wrote out the twenty one emails and 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:27.560 then I just said, mad meet me on this day, 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:29.960 send this email on day, to send this email on 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:32.520 this day. And so what happened and that I found 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:33.959 that my audience was like, this is so great and 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:36.640 they were messaging me. And then that's when Facebook groups 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:38.920 came out. So at the end of each blog post, 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:41.120 I said, we want to talk about today's lesson, join 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:44.120 us in the group. And then my Facebook group became 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:46.080 the place where it was like the community. I didn't 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:49.320 have to build them, so I didn't. The first challenge 0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:51.920 or two challenges I did completely solo because I didn't 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:55.400 need any super tech savvy. I knew how to use Facebook. 0:12:55.679 --> 0:12:58.160 I knew how to send an email, and the blog 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:00.920 it wasn't great, but I knew how to edit least, like, 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:02.960 you know, use the blog Tampa that they created for me, 0:13:03.040 --> 0:13:05.640 so you don't need And to this day, that's still 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:08.080 basically the way the literature challenges are run, and over 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:10.920 one million people have done one or more of my challenges. 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:15.640 One million on that same simple sending your email, go 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:17.440 to the blog, sending your email, go to the blog. 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:21.040 That's it good for you? I mean, that's it's a 0:13:21.040 --> 0:13:24.280 lot of people in your in your sphere, and I 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:26.240 want to I want to talk a little bit about 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:29.320 because we have so many conversations in our world about 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:34.199 they're not being enough capital for black people to start businesses. Um, 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:37.400 not the venture capital there's you know, there's an increasing 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:40.720 amount of angel and angel capital, but there's still a 0:13:40.760 --> 0:13:44.600 touch of disparity, right and so UM for the men 0:13:44.640 --> 0:13:46.880 and women who will be listening to this and are 0:13:47.000 --> 0:13:50.160 using either their savings or their personal credit cards to 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:55.440 build their business, how do you advise them to gauge 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:58.880 to what extent they should be leveraging their personal holdings, 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:02.400 their security um to invest in a company. How how 0:14:02.440 --> 0:14:04.920 do you advise them to and to use that morning 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:07.040 that should be there for the rainy day that should 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:09.880 be there, you know, the bridge over troubled water, to 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:13.480 invest in their things. So I'll say this that there 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:15.760 is a place for VC funding. I don't have any 0:14:16.040 --> 0:14:17.920 where I am a hunter said funded and we don't 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:20.520 have any debt. And we made ten million dollars last year. 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:23.080 This is just us, our little black business is doing 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:26.800 what we do, serving black people, right and so, but 0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:31.320 ten million to one of these fast growth companies, is like, 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:34.480 what because it's ten millions, ten years that we got here. 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:36.440 For some people, they're like, what we did then that 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:40.160 first six months? Yeah, but then somebody else owned your company. 0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:42.920 They're like, you know, like I make ten after I 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:45.200 take home seven? Do you take home seving? Because I 0:14:45.240 --> 0:14:46.720 know the people not let you take them that big 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:50.160 salary because that business belonged to them, you know. So 0:14:50.240 --> 0:14:52.040 there's something to be said for I remember I was 0:14:52.200 --> 0:14:54.800 meeting with a young woman who started this great brand. 0:14:54.800 --> 0:14:56.520 It's entire and she's doing well, and she was saying, 0:14:56.560 --> 0:14:58.320 the only way to really have well is that you 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:00.440 have to have an exit. And I was like, that's 0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:03.400 not true, you know, but that I get it because 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:07.800 she had, you know, she had um um um DC funds, 0:15:07.800 --> 0:15:10.840 you know, like embedded into her business. So yes, But 0:15:10.920 --> 0:15:14.720 in general, everyone, I have friends who regret taking money 0:15:14.960 --> 0:15:16.840 and friends who are so glad that they took money. 0:15:16.960 --> 0:15:18.320 To me, there's no right or wrong. You have to 0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:20.600 just decide for yourself if you're not gonna take money, 0:15:20.640 --> 0:15:22.840 be okay with growing slow. I don't know when did 0:15:22.840 --> 0:15:26.640 it become like you have to grow super fast and 0:15:26.680 --> 0:15:28.800 in doing so, I don't know if you've ever listen 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:31.040 to the podcast How I Built This. Sometimes you listen 0:15:31.080 --> 0:15:32.960 and you're like, Okay, so you grew this billion out 0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:35.840 of company and now you are one percent. Well, damn, 0:15:36.680 --> 0:15:38.680 I don't want that, you know what I mean? Honestly, 0:15:39.000 --> 0:15:41.960 I'm not interested in making someone else wealthy if I'm 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:44.560 all the way real, other than my audience that I'm helping, 0:15:44.960 --> 0:15:48.040 I'm not interested in growing something. And then you like, yeah, 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:50.840 go ahead, go ahead, girl. You know what that's called slavery. 0:15:51.360 --> 0:15:53.360 You know our people are and we we apt that now. 0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:56.760 And so I say this is that, you know, be 0:15:56.840 --> 0:15:59.280 willing to grow slowly. I never grew more than what 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:01.920 the company can there. I did take leaps here and there, 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:04.120 especially when it came to hiring, but I would take 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:06.040 a calculated leap where I would be like, for example, 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:09.360 my first CEO, like I had already been business for 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:11.800 like four or five years, but she was really good 0:16:11.840 --> 0:16:15.080 at organization and that's something that I lacked. And so 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:17.760 I remember telling her I'm launching this new business. I 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:19.760 had a budget of thest to business. I have several businesses. 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:22.080 The budget needs to business, which is the business of Tiffany. 0:16:22.120 --> 0:16:24.560 So it's like my New York Times best selling book 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:27.200 Get It with Money, and my other books. It's speaking 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:31.320 spokesperson work, Rand ambassador work, basically the business of Tiffany. 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:33.440 But I said, I wanted to create a business that 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:37.120 wasn't the business of Tiffany. So my second business Literature Academy. 0:16:37.400 --> 0:16:40.480 So I told my CEO at the time, I don't, girl, 0:16:40.520 --> 0:16:42.600 I don't have no money. But what I do have, like, 0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:44.720 I don't have any money to pay you now from 0:16:44.760 --> 0:16:47.360 the business because that business has not launched yet. But 0:16:47.480 --> 0:16:49.360 I did. She wanted to make I think it was 0:16:49.360 --> 0:16:51.640 like three thousand dollars a month, and I said, okay, 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:55.160 I've got six months worth of savings in my personal save. 0:16:55.200 --> 0:16:58.040 I had eighteen thousand dollars. I had cobble together, you know. 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:00.360 So I said, I got six months. We have six 0:17:00.480 --> 0:17:04.119 months to get Literature Academy off the ground so it 0:17:04.160 --> 0:17:06.600 can start paying you. So we worked our behinds off 0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:09.840 and we did it by months six. Right when my 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:14.240 my savings was done, the academy launched, and uh and 0:17:14.320 --> 0:17:15.919 during that we launched, launch was like a week. We 0:17:15.960 --> 0:17:18.960 made seventy tho hollars that that during that launch. Now 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:21.440 here's the thing. It sounds cute, but we spent it 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:25.399 cost us fifty to make that seventy. Right, But because 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:29.440 my literature Academy was UM still in existence. UM it's 0:17:29.720 --> 0:17:33.760 a subscription based business. So although we spent fifty to 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:35.320 them to make that seventy, that's because we have to 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:38.200 build everything that But then the subscription started to roll 0:17:38.280 --> 0:17:41.360 in so it was enough to cover her salary. So 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:43.880 that's why I said, you want to make calculated risks, like, Okay, 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:46.879 I'm not just going to drain my savings account and 0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:49.240 hope and wish and pray we had a strategic plan 0:17:49.320 --> 0:17:52.360 in place, like if I pay more, if I if 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:54.760 I spend this expense, how can I expect to get 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:57.439 that money back? If you don't have that plan in place, 0:17:57.600 --> 0:17:59.400 then you're likely to lose all of that money. I'm 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:02.400 not willing to do that. So that's what I suggest, Um, 0:18:02.440 --> 0:18:04.520 two folks that if you are going to you know, 0:18:04.840 --> 0:18:08.359 use your own money, do so make those calculated risks 0:18:08.359 --> 0:18:10.199 and and be clear of this is how I'm going 0:18:10.240 --> 0:18:12.280 to get my money back. This is the timeline and 0:18:12.359 --> 0:18:15.160 time frame. If if we don't, here's the backup plan 0:18:15.240 --> 0:18:17.359 to that. You know, we could probably go way fast. 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:19.920 I mean, honestly, we could probably be at thirty million 0:18:19.920 --> 0:18:22.240 dollars a year right now in business, but that would 0:18:22.240 --> 0:18:24.719 cause us to grow in a way that's quite honestly 0:18:24.720 --> 0:18:28.040 not sustainable. Because you hear people like you can make twenty, 0:18:28.119 --> 0:18:30.239 but we spend a twenty one to make twenty. That's 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:32.320 why some folks are doing I'm not interested in that. 0:18:32.400 --> 0:18:35.200 We are forty six percent profit. You know, we've got 0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:38.440 a healthy profit margin. So so what do you say 0:18:38.480 --> 0:18:41.040 to the people who says, you know, we hey, but look, 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:44.040 you could be you know, a two billion dollar business 0:18:44.119 --> 0:18:47.399 if you became something else, and you know, yeah, you 0:18:47.480 --> 0:18:49.360 might own point one percent, but that's still a lot 0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:53.200 of money compared to the ten millions. So I'll say 0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:55.399 this that I I don't disagree with that, and so 0:18:55.480 --> 0:18:59.359 I'm actually building something out externally from that, meaning that 0:18:59.440 --> 0:19:01.880