Speaker 1: Hey, hey, Hey, it's me Tiffany, Hi and Mandy and we.
Speaker 2: Are tired and this is brand Ambition and she's tired.
Speaker 2: Brown Ambition needs a nap.
Speaker 1: I've got two words. I think it's six syllables. Wakanda forever?
Speaker 2: Did you see it?
Speaker 3: I did? Did you see it? God? Oh yeah?
Speaker 2: I have my tickets like a month ago. It was phenomenal.
Speaker 1: If you're listening, I mean we're talking about it. You
Speaker 1: had the whole weekend to get your stuff together. You
Speaker 1: really had longer than that. They've been talking about it forever.
Speaker 1: So if you don't want to hear spoilers, oh well,
Speaker 1: you you know, I feel like the Black delegation. I
Speaker 1: checked in and they said that as of Monday evening
Speaker 1: not twelve pm Eastern Standard time, then we are well
Speaker 1: within our rights to discuss the full movie, which is happening.
Speaker 3: Agreed, Yes, so let's talk about it. So did you
Speaker 3: go with with Husbye?
Speaker 2: I took Husbye. He gets to come on all my adventures.
Speaker 2: I just I just buy tickets and send him calendar invites.
Speaker 2: That's what I do. He's like, yeah, where are we going?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: He actually loved it.
Speaker 3: Really because everybody was like eh, it was all right.
Speaker 1: I couldn't believe it. I looked at him like, are
Speaker 1: you kidding me? And he was like he's like, no, no,
Speaker 1: you know what. He well, first of all, one, he's
Speaker 1: really into comics, like since he was a kid. He
Speaker 1: watches the cartoons. He reads it like you know. So
Speaker 1: he was like it was good. But he's like, I
Speaker 1: guess all the hype pipe hype pipe pipe, I don't know.
Speaker 1: And I was just like, are you kidding me? So
Speaker 1: he was like he didn't hate it, but he wasn't
Speaker 1: like like blown over the way everybody else was.
Speaker 2: But I was like, what, he's a comic book fan.
Speaker 2: So has he read the actual comics.
Speaker 3: Some of them? I don't know if he's read the
Speaker 3: Black Panther comics, but he's.
Speaker 2: Definitely what I meant, yeah, the Black Panther ones because
Speaker 2: they are a little bit different than the movie.
Speaker 1: I heard, Yes, probably, but whatever. I was like, like,
Speaker 1: as soon as the end of it, he was like,
Speaker 1: all right, that was pretty cool. I looked at him like,
Speaker 1: are you crazy? Like my life is no longer the same.
Speaker 1: I belong to Wakanda now.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's fine to have an opinion.
Speaker 3: I guess.
Speaker 2: I guess, but like, can he just be quiet about
Speaker 2: it because we need to keeek out of it?
Speaker 3: Did you?
Speaker 1: First of all, he didn't notice that because I knew
Speaker 1: he wasn't going to get dressed up. So I wore
Speaker 1: all black And it wasn't until we got home that
Speaker 1: he looked at me. He's like, I just feel like
Speaker 1: what you have on? He was like, I can't with you.
Speaker 3: I'm like whatever, dude, Like I'm in it. Okay, what
Speaker 3: did you wait?
Speaker 2: What did you wear? Did you wear like a full on?
Speaker 1: No, I wore all black. I just wore like, you know,
Speaker 1: black black shoes, ugs. I wore black jeans, black sweater.
Speaker 1: I had black beret, my black trench coat. I don't
Speaker 1: know how he didn't notice, but I was there extra
Speaker 1: black you.
Speaker 3: Want, like literal black panther, Yeah, beret. I did.
Speaker 1: Actually I had a but right like, my sister got
Speaker 1: me some little like hat last year for Christmas. And
Speaker 1: it's a cute little bereat, but it had a little
Speaker 1: fuzzy ball in the middle, so you know, it's not
Speaker 1: as militant as I would like, but close enough.
Speaker 2: Just to like soften it a little bit. So no
Speaker 2: one like whispers to the manager, see something, say something.
Speaker 1: But you know, I went to go see it in
Speaker 1: Super Black Newark. Surprisingly, people were quiet during the film.
Speaker 1: I was really expecting a lot of you know, I
Speaker 1: don't know, chatting, but yeah, it was full. But you know,
Speaker 1: I just was expecting because I was nervous about that.
Speaker 1: I was like, ugh, opening weekend. I really don't want
Speaker 1: to hear everybody's like mouth And no, we went on Monday. No, No,
Speaker 1: we didn't go Monday.
Speaker 3: When did we go? I think we went on No,
Speaker 3: we did. We went on Monday.
Speaker 1: And so yeah, I loved it and I was like,
Speaker 1: I have to go back to see it again. And
Speaker 1: my life has forever changed. I want to be a
Speaker 1: citizen of Wakanda. I am ready for my day glow
Speaker 1: lip tattoo.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's everything. I mean, let's just talk highlights. So,
Speaker 2: I mean, it's a great movie. It's a great action movie.
Speaker 2: But there's so layers, just layer. I mean, I've never
Speaker 2: left an action movie with a tear of my eye,
Speaker 2: Like when a little boy on the basketball court looks
Speaker 2: up and sees a king from Africa and his badass
Speaker 2: good sister, scientist's sister and their spaceship. I'm like, God,
Speaker 2: I mean that movie just did so much for women women.
Speaker 2: I mean it was so female centric. I mean, I
Speaker 2: I've seen the posters. I knew it how Lupza, I
Speaker 2: knew it had Angela Bassett, but I didn't know just
Speaker 2: how central a role the women in this movie made were. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it was amazing and there wasn't It felt like every
Speaker 2: woman in the movie had a juicy role.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: What I love is that the is it the dope
Speaker 1: don't get me saying around, but the private guard to
Speaker 1: the King.
Speaker 3: What I loved is that one. They were so fierce
Speaker 3: and just a maze easy.
Speaker 1: And what I also love is that they weren't overly
Speaker 1: sexualized their outfits like ruths I forget the woman's name
Speaker 1: who like made like the costumes that she said she
Speaker 1: wanted to make them obviously like they're women and she
Speaker 1: wanted to acknowledge that, but she didn't want to pander
Speaker 1: and make it super like booby busty booty.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I thought they were all like beautiful,
Speaker 2: but androgynosts like it, like, it wasn't about their sexuality,
Speaker 2: it was about their power. Yeah, you know, like it's
Speaker 2: so often like they say, oh, we have a strong
Speaker 2: female you know, superhero in this movie, but they're always
Speaker 2: like using their sex appeal to like trick people into
Speaker 2: giving them what they want or to beat the bad guys.
Speaker 2: And it really just felt like, no, they're just straight
Speaker 2: up kicking ass and that is why, Like, that's what
Speaker 2: it's about. This armor is there for a purpose, you know,
Speaker 2: to protect them, not to show off your body their bodies.
Speaker 1: And I just love how the default was of course
Speaker 1: the women are strong and that they play in a
Speaker 1: huge and hugely important role. There wasn't this like whoa
Speaker 1: women are strong such a surprise. It was like this
Speaker 1: is a well established known fact, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: Like it was I just loved it. And I love
Speaker 1: the fact, yes, finally for women who are chocolate to
Speaker 1: be included, like and not like oh we've got that one,
Speaker 1: like we've got Gabrielle Union that's as dark as we go.
Speaker 1: It was so nice to see a range of browns
Speaker 1: and that, you know, because I honestly hardly ever see
Speaker 1: a woman in my complexion playing any sort of leading anything,
Speaker 1: you know, in a movie, let alone multiple women. I
Speaker 1: was like, oh mg, all of this dark chocolate in
Speaker 1: one movie, I die.
Speaker 3: I die.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna let you speak on that because I'm feeling it,
Speaker 2: but I also just want to shut up and listen
Speaker 2: because you know, it was just I noticed it. So
Speaker 2: I'm just I can only imagine what it must mean
Speaker 2: like for people who are yeah, darker skin and you
Speaker 2: just don't see yourself and if you do, it's the
Speaker 2: only one. Yeah, and just oh, all right.
Speaker 1: And then the diaspora presentation, like so there were Africans,
Speaker 1: there were West Indians, there were African Americans. They really
Speaker 1: tapped into that diaspora to play different roles, you know,
Speaker 1: and which was really amazing, like to see like, oh,
Speaker 1: like Lupita is African, and the woman that played a
Speaker 1: Koye Ko Koye, she was African, Yes.
Speaker 3: But then also Baku, the.
Speaker 1: General or the king from the northern tribe, the Ape tribe,
Speaker 1: he was I believe West Indian. And then Chadwick Boseman
Speaker 1: is I believe the African American. And of course Angela
Speaker 1: Bassat is African American. I think Zuri his sister, I
Speaker 1: believe she is African by way of by way of
Speaker 1: the United Kingdom. I think and that guy who played
Speaker 1: get Out is from like the UK or whatever, but
Speaker 1: he's he's his background is African.
Speaker 3: It just I just was like I can't with all
Speaker 3: this awesome things. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: It was overload of like and then the fact that
Speaker 1: I just love them Michael B. Jordan first of all,
Speaker 1: Newark brick city, stand up born and raised Michael B. Jordan,
Speaker 1: like he literally came to Newark to do like a
Speaker 1: talk like during opening weekend, and he's from Newark and
Speaker 1: just to like have like this kid from Newark who
Speaker 1: grew up here like be killing it on the screen.
Speaker 1: And then this thirty one year old director, I mean, hello, Ryan.
Speaker 1: I just it was just too much, too much in
Speaker 1: the fact that it's like broken so many records. It's
Speaker 1: just we're entering into this like black brown love fest renaissance.
Speaker 3: I hope so we are.
Speaker 2: I hope what's happening because you know, everyone's making like
Speaker 2: it's really exciting that we have all, like, of course,
Speaker 2: a movie where it's just it's not just about it's
Speaker 2: not just a movie with black actors, but about the
Speaker 2: black experience and like every shade of it from Africa
Speaker 2: to the US, but also I just hope that it's just,
Speaker 2: you know, because people take the complain about Hollywood and
Speaker 2: how there's not enough roles for people of and like
Speaker 2: it's very, very true. But I continue to be like you,
Speaker 2: we can only beat against a brick wall so hard
Speaker 2: trying to expect people to change, the people in casting rooms,
Speaker 2: the directors, the producers to change their perception of people
Speaker 2: of color and to cast them for you can only
Speaker 2: do that for so long. At a certain point, you
Speaker 2: got to say, what can we do? We can create
Speaker 2: our own art. We can be in a position of
Speaker 2: power putting Ryan Coogler in charge just with that one decision.
Speaker 2: You know, he's going to be reaching to people that
Speaker 2: he knows, and all of a sudden, those people are
Speaker 2: not going to be naturally you know, white, or naturally
Speaker 2: you know, from the US, because he might know a
Speaker 2: much more diverse variety of people just based on who
Speaker 2: he is, based on his own It's like, give us
Speaker 2: a chance to use our internal biases, yeah, to our networks.
Speaker 2: And as soon as this starts happening more, we just
Speaker 2: need more and more people getting in positions of power
Speaker 2: and decision making. Like I just that just for me
Speaker 2: reinforce that whole belief I've always held, which is that's
Speaker 2: where the real change happens. And that's what's so freaking
Speaker 2: exciting about Black Panther. And hopefully, like I hope everyone
Speaker 2: in this movie just goes on to make more movies
Speaker 2: and cast each other.
Speaker 1: Yes, I love because you see Ryan Coogler of his
Speaker 1: three films, Michael b. Jordan has been in all three
Speaker 1: Fruitvale Station, Creed and this one, because that's what he's
Speaker 1: able to do. Like I One of the things Michael
Speaker 1: B Jordan said when that surprised him when he got
Speaker 1: on set was how many brown people were behind the scenes,
Speaker 1: that the cameraman, the light man, the sound man. That
Speaker 1: he was like, well, he was like, I remember watching
Speaker 1: some interview that the whole cast did and they asked
Speaker 1: all of the cast, like, what.
Speaker 3: Was one of their most memorable moments?
Speaker 1: And remember when T'Challa is becoming king and he's he's
Speaker 1: this is right before he's about to do the ceremonial challenge,
Speaker 1: and so it's like the waterfall scene where everyone is
Speaker 1: kind of like in bright colors and like dancing and singing.
Speaker 1: So all of them describe how I guess they were
Speaker 1: trying to figure out what the direction or what it
Speaker 1: was going to look like. So while they waited, they
Speaker 1: had African drummers on set. While they waited, the African
Speaker 1: drummer started playing Drop It like It's Hot by Snoop Dogg.
Speaker 3: Like dude, they said.
Speaker 1: Everyone started singing it and just jamming, like waiting for
Speaker 1: the director to be like, all right, guys, this is
Speaker 1: how we're going to do the shot. And she was
Speaker 1: like it was magic, cause where else would that happen?
Speaker 1: Snoop Dogg Drop It Like It's Hot. People from every
Speaker 1: country imaginable and all throughout the diaspora, all knowing this
Speaker 1: one dope song. And she was just like everyone was
Speaker 1: just looking around like, yo, this is so lit.
Speaker 2: Just seeing how much fun they're having on the press tour,
Speaker 2: like following them on the Instagram. It's just you know
Speaker 2: it and to see it's just one of those examples
Speaker 2: too where everyone is just supporting it. It's when we win,
Speaker 2: everyone wins kind of thing. But like right now it
Speaker 2: feels like everyone's winning, which is nice. It's not like
Speaker 2: you're just congratulating the one woman, you know, in the
Speaker 2: one Black woman or one Black man in a movie
Speaker 2: getting praised, it's like you're all in it. It's happening
Speaker 2: from more than one person. And like what you said
Speaker 2: before about the different not just one shade of black,
Speaker 2: like a different nationalities, different you know, different backgrounds, different,
Speaker 2: just experiences and socioeconomic statuses and just experiences in life.
Speaker 2: That's what happens when you give more than just one
Speaker 2: person an opportunity like of color, and it's gonna help
Speaker 2: other people. Like I hope, I hope people of every
Speaker 2: color go see this movie. And I know that they
Speaker 2: will because it's a big Marvel movie has a built
Speaker 2: in you know, audience. But like the fact that they're
Speaker 2: going to be seeing this too and start to think
Speaker 2: more complexly about people of color. It's also like a
Speaker 2: big win because we may understand that we're not just
Speaker 2: one Obviously, we're not just one group. We're different shades,
Speaker 2: different backgrounds, different you know, nationalities, et cetera. But there's
Speaker 2: a lot of people who just put a put black
Speaker 2: people into this big pool. Yeah, remember how you brought
Speaker 2: up get Out. Daniel Kluya was in Get Out and
Speaker 2: he is also in Black Panther, But when he was
Speaker 2: cast like Samuel L. Jackson was like, man, they should
Speaker 2: have given that to an American black actor. Why they
Speaker 2: give it to a British black actor, Like, so we're
Speaker 2: nitpicking because it's easy only West, you know. Yeah, that's
Speaker 2: that's the frustrating thing about having such limited roles. If
Speaker 2: we just create more opportunity than it wouldn't be like these,
Speaker 2: the singular roles wouldn't have to have all the pressure
Speaker 2: on them.
Speaker 1: Yes, you're right, because here I feel like people everyone
Speaker 1: is everyone feels good because they're like everyone in the
Speaker 1: diaspora is represented.
Speaker 3: Here.
Speaker 1: I see so many like people going up for like
Speaker 1: yes my West Didney and x y Z or yes,
Speaker 1: my African sisters in this or yes my you know
Speaker 1: my African American brothers in this. And you're right because
Speaker 1: there it wasn't just one role. It was so many roles.
Speaker 1: So I really have not heard, you know, the any
Speaker 1: sort of like oh they should have.
Speaker 3: They're like, no, we're all here. We're literally all here.
Speaker 1: And so I mean, but nothing is more And to
Speaker 1: bring a tie back to finance, like nothing is more
Speaker 1: powerful than financial impact. And in this movie, doing as
Speaker 1: well as it has, it dispels that black movies don't
Speaker 1: do well. And I think I saw some numbers somewhere
Speaker 1: where it was like thirty five percent of the people
Speaker 1: who've seen the movie, or African American like thirty seven
Speaker 1: percent or white, I believe, and the other was like
Speaker 1: kind of like other. And it just goes to show you.
Speaker 1: So it's it wasn't just us. Obviously we came out
Speaker 1: in mass but what it shows you is that moviies
Speaker 1: with people of color can do well outside of our community,
Speaker 1: like there is enough here, you know, and so and yeah.
Speaker 1: So at the end of the day, you know, corporations
Speaker 1: and businesses, you know, they see money, and so I'm
Speaker 1: hoping that this will help to trigger some change and
Speaker 1: to put some finances behind you know, creating different images,
Speaker 1: because there's money to be made if you do so.
Speaker 2: And put these people in places where they can create
Speaker 2: more art. Like you know, Lupitza and younger won a
Speaker 2: freaking oscar. But we haven't seen her in a major movie.
Speaker 2: You know, she's done small parts in like Star Wars,
Speaker 2: and she did the Princess or Queen of Katwe, which
Speaker 2: was like a Netflix movie, but she went off and
Speaker 2: did a play with actually who played the the the
Speaker 2: Akoye in the movie done Dona Garia. I'm probably just
Speaker 2: butchered her last name. I'm sorry. So she wrote the
Speaker 2: play Eclipse, DNA did and then cast Lupita in it.
Speaker 2: And look, Eclipse was a play that was in New
Speaker 2: York City and ran for a couple of years. It
Speaker 2: moved to Broadway. It was a big hit, but it was,
Speaker 2: you know, a play, but it was about I think
Speaker 2: female prisoners in Liberia, and you know, they went off
Speaker 2: and created their own art. But like to have someone say,
Speaker 2: you you know, because that's probably where the opportunities were
Speaker 2: for them, you know, sadly is on the stage and
Speaker 2: you know, on in theater because these roles for in
Speaker 2: movies and film that everyone's so excited about just aren't
Speaker 2: going women of color. So they had to go off
Speaker 2: and do their own art. And I just hope that
Speaker 2: with this movie. I just want them. You know, Donae
Speaker 2: is in her forties, Lopita, you know, I'm sure by
Speaker 2: Hollywood standards is not like you know, a spring chicken
Speaker 2: like they which is sad, but they need to be
Speaker 2: given these these opportunities to create the same way other
Speaker 2: people are, because that's the only way going to continue
Speaker 2: seeing stuff like this happen. Yeah, Am I broken record yet?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 1: I just think that, like, yes, I just think that
Speaker 1: this is like I'm just excited how everybody's exact. I mean,
Speaker 1: of course you have some people who are just contrarians,
Speaker 1: but I'm like, girl, you can't steal my joy.
Speaker 2: Right, yeah, Sterline K Brown, Angela Bassett and those when
Speaker 2: she took off that crown and it was Gray Dreads.
Speaker 2: I just I died in love. In love. Yeah, amazing movie.
Speaker 2: And I hope that you know, if you're in a
Speaker 2: position of power and where you work, or you are
Speaker 2: afraid to take a position of power where you work
Speaker 2: because you don't think you're ready or whatever, I would
Speaker 2: just say, like my message is always you you have
Speaker 2: to take it, like you just have to because just
Speaker 2: by virtue of who you are, if you're a person
Speaker 2: of color or any minority, or just a different experience,
Speaker 2: you know, among you know from the people in your office,
Speaker 2: Like even though you may not feel ready or maybe
Speaker 2: intimidating to you, just think about the just the different
Speaker 2: the value of your perspective and you're bringing to the table.
Speaker 2: You know you can grow into a job. But you
Speaker 2: know that's That's one of the proudest things I can
Speaker 2: say as as I'm hiring and building a team is that,
Speaker 2: you know, I just know that I'm bringing something different
Speaker 2: to the table and I'm building my team and I'm
Speaker 2: looking around and I'm like, this is different and this
Speaker 2: is special, and you know, it's not something that that
Speaker 2: might have happened if I hadn't been here, and I
Speaker 2: and I and I and I know I've I've talked
Speaker 2: to people about jobs in leadership roles, you know, even
Speaker 2: on my team, and to see them be like, I
Speaker 2: don't know if I'm ready, and like, you know, it's a.
Speaker 3: Lot of response.
Speaker 2: I'm like, just do it. I'll help you. Just do
Speaker 2: what you got to do it. Take one for the team.
Speaker 2: It's going to be great because you never know where
Speaker 2: you're going to be next and who you can help.
Speaker 1: Yeah, honestly, it's just to kind of pickyback off. What
Speaker 1: you said is that, like we have to you have
Speaker 1: to create spaces where like, look, how many different types
Speaker 1: of people are going to have opportunities because you're in
Speaker 1: a position to hire.
Speaker 3: You Mandy at the Brown Woman.
Speaker 1: Are in a position to hire, and so things can't
Speaker 1: change unless there is someone in the position to bring
Speaker 1: us into the room. Some doors cannot be opened with
Speaker 1: just education alone. Someone from the inside literally has to
Speaker 1: open the door. There is no door door knob on
Speaker 1: the other side.
Speaker 3: You know. One of my one of my teammates.
Speaker 1: So I call my team of folks that work for
Speaker 1: the Academy or the budgetiese. I call them the Unicorn Squad.
Speaker 1: So her name is Karen. Karen is amazing. She just
Speaker 1: turned forty eight. You know, she looks like twenty five
Speaker 1: and she just started working with me. But she's amazing.
Speaker 1: So I've made her into like my floating project manager
Speaker 1: because she keeps me organized.
Speaker 3: And I was telling.
Speaker 1: Her, asking her kind of like the other day we
Speaker 1: were talking about she was just saying why she enjoyed working,
Speaker 1: you know, as a Unicorn Squad member. She was like,
Speaker 1: I've never had the opportunity because she is silent but mighty,
Speaker 1: like one of these people that puts in so much
Speaker 1: work but also does not play the corporate America game, like, hey,
Speaker 1: look what I've done. And so she was like, in
Speaker 1: all of my jobs, she's got locks too, and she's little.
Speaker 3: She's like, in all of my jobs, I've been looked over.
Speaker 1: I've been like, no one has given me the opportunity
Speaker 1: to fully stretch to the fullness of what I bring
Speaker 1: to the table, even though I've wanted to bring so much,
Speaker 1: and no matter how hard I've worked, I've always been overlooked.
Speaker 1: She's like, but working here under you, a woman of color, Tiffany,
Speaker 1: You're always just like, well, hot, do you think we
Speaker 1: should do it?
Speaker 3: Well? Create a strategic planning, let's get it done. She
Speaker 3: was like, there is.
Speaker 1: Never a no I am able to fully She's like,
Speaker 1: I've never been happier. I'm able to fully work within
Speaker 1: what I'm capable of. She's like, I've never had that before.
Speaker 1: And I thought, wow, that unless there are people in
Speaker 1: positions to be able to create opportunities like that, then
Speaker 1: it's just we're just not going to grow. And that's
Speaker 1: what motivates me to go harder and to grow bigger
Speaker 1: because I it less for it because I'm such a
Speaker 1: cheapy I'm not spending any money less for that. It's
Speaker 1: more so because I want to be able to vide
Speaker 1: platforms and opportunities for a woman like Karen, who whatever
Speaker 1: job was overlooking her is a fool. She is like amazing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, and I just think about, like, I can't
Speaker 1: how much she could have brought to the table if
Speaker 1: they would have put aside their own bias against this
Speaker 1: little black woman with locks, and they probably are like,
Speaker 1: she doesn't know much.
Speaker 3: Meanwhile she's like slaying.
Speaker 1: And I'm just like, ugh, so I just it to me.
Speaker 1: The answer is, if you have the ability to create
Speaker 1: something or to elevate to a position where you're able
Speaker 1: to bring other people along with you, please go for it,
Speaker 1: because that's the only way we're going to really really
Speaker 1: be able to create any change in our communities.
Speaker 3: Yes, lot, so, I know.
Speaker 1: Honestly, I just feel like, uh, as far as a
Speaker 1: like Brown, you know, Brown Break, Brown Boost, I just
Speaker 1: feel like everything is, everything is will Coomba. I just
Speaker 1: don't have an out.
Speaker 2: I do have. I have a little thumb some I
Speaker 2: wanted to give a shout out just real quick. It's
Speaker 2: not financial related, so let me just stay it quick.
Speaker 2: But you know, we've all been I think you know
Speaker 2: there there was that shooting last week on Valentine's Day
Speaker 2: in uh in Florida at that high school, and I
Speaker 2: feel I'm tentatively starting to feel like this one might
Speaker 2: be a little bit different, like the reaction that we're getting.
Speaker 2: The way that these kids at this school have decided
Speaker 2: to take action. You know, they went to their state
Speaker 2: Assembly in Tallahassee and they took it. They rented a bus.
Speaker 2: I don't know who organized it, but the hundreds of
Speaker 2: kids from this school have gone to call on the
Speaker 2: local representatives to enact gun gun control restrictions in Florida.
Speaker 2: It's just amazing. And you know, you're starting to see
Speaker 2: things like Oprah and George Clooney are making these half
Speaker 2: million dollar donations to a march about gun violence. And
Speaker 2: I mean I always I was always in the camp
Speaker 2: of like, okay, well of twenty six child children, you know,
Speaker 2: and Sandy Hook couldn't like if we wouldn't do anything
Speaker 2: after that, then you know, probably nothing's ever gonna happen.
Speaker 2: But I'm I feel bad now because I think what
Speaker 2: we always needed, or apparently what is working, is when
Speaker 2: the youth, when the kids are standing up and shaming
Speaker 2: the adults, you know, for not stepping up and really
Speaker 2: just you know, living in their own power and and
Speaker 2: and getting their voices heard. It's just been really, it's
Speaker 2: been phenomenal, so that's that's my boost, not financial, I know,
Speaker 2: but I.
Speaker 3: Know that's great.
Speaker 2: I didn't want to. I feel like we had to
Speaker 2: be said, had to be said.
Speaker 3: No, I totally agree. And my brown boost is what
Speaker 3: kind of forever? No? No, you know what my boost is.
Speaker 3: That handshake is everything. Slap slap, snap, pull back, X
Speaker 3: over your heart what.
Speaker 1: Like's if I see you, Mandy. That's what we're doing.
Speaker 1: We're gonna practice until we get it right.
Speaker 2: Oh okay, I'm gonna start watching YouTube. I'm just glad
Speaker 2: to have another use for that emoji with the crossed arms.
Speaker 3: Yes, that belongs to work.
Speaker 1: Do we have any amazing questions from our amazing listeners?
Speaker 2: As ever, you guys have sent us some great questions.
Speaker 2: If you want to get your question answered, I did.
Speaker 2: I got a question from someone who's like, why didn't
Speaker 2: you answer my question yet? I'm sorry. They're fair and
Speaker 2: fair enough well played. I will say, we don't we
Speaker 2: usually do a one or two per show. Maybe we'll
Speaker 2: do Maybe we should dedicate a show to answering some
Speaker 2: questions in the next in the coming weeks, because we
Speaker 2: did get a couple of I was reading your your
Speaker 2: survey responses PS if you want to do the survey,
Speaker 2: it's still on our Facebook page. Go fill it out
Speaker 2: listener survey. So I was reading some of the comments
Speaker 2: people left in a couple of them and asked for
Speaker 2: more questions, more answers.
Speaker 3: So, okay, I love that.
Speaker 1: Email us at Brown Ambition Podcasts at gmail dot com.
Speaker 2: Right, yes, ma'am.
Speaker 1: Or they can just go to Bronambition podcast dot com
Speaker 1: and click uh, ask what does it?
Speaker 3: Ask us anything?
Speaker 2: Ask us anything?
Speaker 3: Okay, I got.
Speaker 2: It, you're doing it. Thank you because I'm struggling today. Okay.
Speaker 2: Today's question comes from Danique. Donique has oh I'm going
Speaker 2: to read that. She gives me a short and a
Speaker 2: long version. I got to go with the short version.
Speaker 2: Donique says, I love you guys, Thank you. I have
Speaker 2: a medical bill that has been placed in an office
Speaker 2: for collection. It's eight hundred and sixty five eight hundred
Speaker 2: and sixty seven dollars for an emergency room visit. What
Speaker 2: should I do? I don't want to pay it because
Speaker 2: I believe I shouldn't have been billed for the visit.
Speaker 2: Then she goes on to explain a little bit more
Speaker 2: of the background which I read and essentially she's gone.
Speaker 2: She had gone back and forth with the hospital and
Speaker 2: the insurance company saying, no, I don't owe eight hundred
Speaker 2: and sixty seven dollars. This should have been covered by
Speaker 2: the insurance and then eventually she just stopped talking to
Speaker 2: them and cut to now she's got a letter in
Speaker 2: the mail from a Collection's what she's saying is a
Speaker 2: collection's office saying that she still owes this eight hundred
Speaker 2: and sixty seven dollars for an emergency room visit.
Speaker 3: Okay, so got it.
Speaker 1: I'm assuming that your emergency room visits are at least
Speaker 1: partially covered by your insurance. That's what your belief is,
Speaker 1: which sounds right, you know, because many insurance options give
Speaker 1: you some sort of emergency room coverage to a certain extent.
Speaker 1: So I would I mean, I know sometimes it's a
Speaker 1: pain in the butt, but I would think you'd have
Speaker 1: to reach back out to the insurance company and get
Speaker 1: a clear understanding of like just ask the basic question
Speaker 1: of if I go to the emergency room, how much
Speaker 1: do you cover and get that answer and ask if
Speaker 1: you can get that in writing in some way from
Speaker 1: the insurance company. Yeah, because I've had emergency room visits
Speaker 1: and where I wasn't insured, you know, I was like, yikes,
Speaker 1: And then I've had where I was insured, and so
Speaker 1: sometimes there's some stuff lost in translation. So the insurance
Speaker 1: company might say we cover a percentage, or it might
Speaker 1: be an actual dollar amount, so understand what that is.
Speaker 1: So let's just say it's a dollar amount and what
Speaker 1: the hospital saying is minus that dollar mouth, this is
Speaker 1: what you owe us. But you seem pretty sure that
Speaker 1: you're like, no, it should be covered, which, like I said,
Speaker 1: it's not crazy. I just went to the emergency room
Speaker 1: post surgery because I had like a really bad pain
Speaker 1: in my back and it.
Speaker 3: Was covered fully. So, like I said, that's not uncommon.
Speaker 1: Also, what I'm hoping is because sometimes hospitals they don't
Speaker 1: actually send it to full on collections. They send it
Speaker 1: to hospital collections, which means that it hasn't left the
Speaker 1: hospital atmosphere, which is a good thing because there's still
Speaker 1: space and room. So I want to jump on it
Speaker 1: quickly because if they find that, oh, it was a mistake,
Speaker 1: the hospital still owns the debt, because what I don't
Speaker 1: want them to do is to actually have sold it
Speaker 1: just yet, because that's going to be harder to get
Speaker 1: the because the people who bought it, they're not going
Speaker 1: to care about you know, your insurance companies at whatever.
Speaker 1: They're like, well, my name's Bob, I bought your debt.
Speaker 3: You owe me yep. Yeah.
Speaker 2: And the fact that this is the first bill she's
Speaker 2: gotten outside of those first initial bills, I feel like,
Speaker 2: I'm hopeful that this is just a hospitals collections. They're
Speaker 2: in house collections. ARM reaching out to her, and you know,
Speaker 2: she goes on to ask, you know, should I should
Speaker 2: I ignore it?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 2: I don't think so. Yeah, you just answered your own question.
Speaker 2: Don't ignore it. If you do, it will only get worse.
Speaker 2: And here's one thing I'll say, because you know, I
Speaker 2: actually just got a bill. I went to an allergist
Speaker 2: a couple months ago. You know, I just had a
Speaker 2: feeling I was didn't get a crazy bill because they
Speaker 2: were in network. It was preventative, but I still went anyway.
Speaker 2: Ended up getting a bill for one hundred and twenty
Speaker 2: five dollars Billy and she mentions that her insurance company
Speaker 2: told her that the hospital must have put in the
Speaker 2: wrong billing code. This happens like all of the time. Okay,
Speaker 2: billing codes can be put in improperly, and it may
Speaker 2: sound crazy, it may seem really really annoying. It's a
Speaker 2: hassle for you. Now you have to go back to
Speaker 2: the hospital and ask them about the billing code, or
Speaker 2: you have to talk to your insurer and ask them
Speaker 2: to talk to the hospital about the billing code to
Speaker 2: get it all worked out. It feels like, God, why
Speaker 2: do I have to do this? Like why is it
Speaker 2: my job? Sadly, this is just reality and a lot
Speaker 2: of in for a lot of people in the US
Speaker 2: right now with the way that the healthcare system is
Speaker 2: set up. It's a pain in the ass and you
Speaker 2: really do have to stay on top of people, and
Speaker 2: you can't like drop the ball. You got to keep calling,
Speaker 2: keep be banging in that drum until you get whatever
Speaker 2: relief you're supposed to get. And if you drop the ball,
Speaker 2: what happens is what's happening now, which is they'll just
Speaker 2: keep putting it through the system and you know your
Speaker 2: credit can be at risk. Here my sister is going
Speaker 2: through something similar right now where she's having like you
Speaker 2: really have to be your own advocate. It's not like
Speaker 2: the insurance company and the hospital are best friends and
Speaker 2: they constantly chat and like know each other. I mean,
Speaker 2: these are thousands and thousands of employees at the insurance
Speaker 2: maybe thousands at the hospital. You know, one person putting
Speaker 2: in the wrong code can just mess up your life.
Speaker 2: But and it's gonna take it's gonna take a lot
Speaker 2: of work for you to get those two, the insurance
Speaker 2: company and the hospital, to like get on the same page.
Speaker 2: Which may sound a little harsh, but it's I mean,
Speaker 2: I'm just just seeing what my sister's gone through, having
Speaker 2: gone through it myself. Is it's it's nuts. But you
Speaker 2: gotta you just got to keep doing it, like you know,
Speaker 2: make it, like set a reminder when you get off work, okay,
Speaker 2: call or during lunch or whatever, just call the insurance
Speaker 2: company again, even if you haven't heard anything from them.
Speaker 2: Call them once a day, just checking in on this,
Speaker 2: you know, call the hospital, just checking in on this,
Speaker 2: to show them that you are engaged and that you
Speaker 2: want to get something resolved, and that will at least
Speaker 2: prevent it from from them continuing to try to push
Speaker 2: you through the collection system.
Speaker 1: No, yeah, I agree, because you don't want to be
Speaker 1: pushed inside. Like it's just but hospitals typically take their
Speaker 1: time with that, So yeah, get.
Speaker 3: On it now.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's adult thing is never quite fun
Speaker 1: unless we're going on vacation or like Supergirl said, we
Speaker 1: were at Whole Foods going food shopping and she said
Speaker 1: I can't because she kept picking out things where I was.
Speaker 3: Like, nope, nope, nope, nope.
Speaker 1: She said, I can't wait. I get to be the
Speaker 1: doc about whatever I want. And I'm like, you know what,
Speaker 1: it is pretty fun.
Speaker 3: That's that's all time.
Speaker 1: But other than that, adult think it'd be pretty hard.
Speaker 1: But we want the best for you, so definitely get
Speaker 1: on it and advocate for yourself because you would hate
Speaker 1: for this to balloon into something bigger.
Speaker 2: Absolutely excellent. Thank you so much for your question, Donnique,
Speaker 2: and you guys, like Tiffany said, hit us up at
Speaker 2: Brown Ambition Podcast at gmail dot com, or go to
Speaker 2: Brown Ambition Podcast dot com and drop us a line
Speaker 2: at the ask us Anything tab.
Speaker 3: Dot com. I know I'm like two lines late.
Speaker 2: Sorry, I barreled right over your opening.
Speaker 3: My bad. It's sad. I it's all right. So it's
Speaker 3: time for win.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm gonna give away a little a little self congratulations.
Speaker 1: I got a little feature in entrepreneur dot com. I'm
Speaker 1: entrepreneur and it was so dope because it was alongside
Speaker 1: of some amazing, amazing, amazing women. It was for they
Speaker 1: had an article about African American women on Entrepreneurs and
Speaker 1: it was Kathy Hughes, like the super just like successful
Speaker 1: women who started TV one, Jessica Matthews who started this disruptive,
Speaker 1: amazing company called Uncharted Play. I don't think it's called
Speaker 1: on trying to play anymore, but basically, I don't know
Speaker 1: if you ever saw the young woman who started a
Speaker 1: company where she's like, how can we bring energy to Africa?
Speaker 1: And she figured out a way how to collect energy
Speaker 1: in a soccer ball that kids use and then use
Speaker 1: that energy that you could take that ball at the
Speaker 1: end of the day back to your village and then
Speaker 1: you can light the house with it.
Speaker 3: Isn't that amazing? Yes?
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, So she's so and just like just some
Speaker 1: other just amazing women who are on the list.
Speaker 3: Honestly, I was like, how are you're here? Girl? But
Speaker 3: you know what, I'm gonna take.
Speaker 2: It, take it, run with it.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So it was just really awesome and so yeah, just
Speaker 1: a little like sometimes i I'm trying to learn how
Speaker 1: to stop drop and say, you know, something good has happened,
Speaker 1: acknowledge it, and you know, be happy for it, and
Speaker 1: then you know, of course, you know, don't stay stagnant.
Speaker 3: But I never stopped to.
Speaker 1: Really acknowledge it. I'm always barreling through to the next thing.
Speaker 1: So that's my win.
Speaker 2: Congratulations, I did share it. I did share it on
Speaker 2: the install. Think that you guys. You guys know that
Speaker 2: I'm treating The Brown Ambition Podcast Instagram as my personal
Speaker 2: Instagram now since I'm still locked out.
Speaker 3: That's crazy.
Speaker 2: I'm like, it's like I'm a like a prisoner of war,
Speaker 2: like Day thirty one. They are playing me, though, you go,
Speaker 2: so just I was kicked off Instagram, I guess I'll
Speaker 2: make my win our fabulous Instagram page now that I'm
Speaker 2: forced to update it because I have no other Instagram outlet.
Speaker 2: They still won't let me back in. But the thing
Speaker 2: is they're playing with me. They keep sending me these
Speaker 2: emails like, oh hey, Mandy money, see what you've been
Speaker 2: missing on Instagram. Like it's like I've chosen not to
Speaker 2: be on That is really weird. It's totally messed up.
Speaker 2: But no, the Brown Ambition Instagram podcast page is lit.
Speaker 2: Please go follow us. I'm sharing just all the Brown
Speaker 2: magic I'm seeing on the Gram and we're at what
Speaker 2: are we? Oh god, oh at Brown Ambition podcast shocker
Speaker 2: on the Gram and oh I have an I have
Speaker 2: another quick win for you. I have a copy. We
Speaker 2: are officially trademarked Brown Ambition. I have the copy of
Speaker 2: the trademark letter with a little gold seal and everything.
Speaker 3: Oh my goodness, that's awesome, exciting.
Speaker 2: So don't take it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, don't. It's trademark, it's owned.
Speaker 2: Brand Ambition TM. How do you add that to your
Speaker 2: Instagram name?
Speaker 3: I don't know, but I'm sure it's possible.
Speaker 2: All right, don't come from us. Get a season desist
Speaker 2: letter one. I'm going to google one.
Speaker 1: I have definitely had to send a couple of them.
Speaker 1: I remember somebody was like, I forget what the named
Speaker 1: their thing. It was like budget, Nissa something or the other,
Speaker 1: and I was like, hey, you know, just so you know,
Speaker 1: this is trademarked, and please you know, I you know,
Speaker 1: I asked you to take it down or you know,
Speaker 1: or I said something like next steps would be for
Speaker 1: me to, you know, send a legal request to take
Speaker 1: it down. They got so mad, and I'm like, They're like, oh,
Speaker 1: you came at a hard and hot you could have
Speaker 1: just said, I'm like, did I?
Speaker 3: I felt like I was nice. It was so pissed.
Speaker 1: They insulted me in every way possible, and I was like,
Speaker 1: you know what, they have three followers. Let's just back
Speaker 1: up because I don't have time to fight anybody in
Speaker 1: the streets.
Speaker 3: Oh, I do have a request for.
Speaker 1: Listeners, so I am disorganized.
Speaker 3: Do you have it?
Speaker 1: I can ask you too, Mandy. I need a project
Speaker 1: management tool. Not for like I mean just for like life.
Speaker 1: I mean definitely I want to add like business, all
Speaker 1: the kind of stuff. But I ideally would love if this
Speaker 1: is how, if it was in person, how I'd use it.
Speaker 1: It would be like a bulletin board with like long
Speaker 1: sheets of paper with the name of the basic project
Speaker 1: name on top of these like strips of paper and
Speaker 1: underneath the task that I need.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, I got it. I got to use Trello.
Speaker 2: That's what I use, That's what we use at work. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it's amazing Trello.
Speaker 1: Really, because I've been I've been hearing about Trello and
Speaker 1: a sauna. Have you ever used a sauna.
Speaker 2: I've heard it. We looked at a sauna, but we
Speaker 2: just we wanted Trello and I'm a fan. I think
Speaker 2: they're both good.
Speaker 1: Okay, I'm gonna fry because I have an I have
Speaker 1: an assauna account, and I was like, eh, it's not
Speaker 1: as intuitive as I would like.
Speaker 2: So I'm gonna super easy. Okay, We're super easy.
Speaker 3: Oh okay, and I think it's free.
Speaker 2: I don't think yeah, I have a special corporate account.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, No, I think it is.
Speaker 1: I think it's up to a certain amount of people
Speaker 1: or whatever. Okay, So I'm definitely gonna because I just
Speaker 1: feel like there's so many things that like I forget
Speaker 1: because yep, you know, and I'm just like, oh I forgot.
Speaker 3: Sometimes it's not even just business.
Speaker 1: I would like just the place where because as it
Speaker 1: is right now, I'm like the handwritten notebook girl. And
Speaker 1: if I can't find my notebook, I'm like just me.
Speaker 2: And that's good for you, But like, what about the
Speaker 2: other people who need to know what's happening?
Speaker 3: You know?
Speaker 1: Well, well, the team we have like everyone, like we
Speaker 1: use Slack and we do have like project management stuff,
Speaker 1: but like sometimes like for example, I meet with the
Speaker 1: core team members on Mondays, and sometimes I'm like there's
Speaker 1: projects and I'm like, oh, I have to remember to
Speaker 1: tell Tamra to do this or did it? So when
Speaker 1: I give it to them, they included into we use
Speaker 1: project management tools that but I just none of them.
Speaker 1: I don't like Slack is okay, but I needed something
Speaker 1: that was like a Tiffany board where it's a mix
Speaker 1: between don't forget to go food shopping and oh your
Speaker 1: molly More edits are due, you know, and so yeah, so.
Speaker 2: Everything for that too. That's how we use it actually,
Speaker 2: because we have six different websites for doing content for
Speaker 2: and like six different people, well actually ten different people
Speaker 2: kind of in that process man like handling those different
Speaker 2: categories of content, and so each person as a board.
Speaker 2: So everything you need from this person's on their board,
Speaker 2: and you know, Chris's board has that his assignments, and
Speaker 2: Christina has hers. But another way you can use it
Speaker 2: is you could just create, like make the board the
Speaker 2: name of the project, like you said, that's what I'd like, like, yeah,
Speaker 2: like I don't know, budget needs to live, ritual challenge,
Speaker 2: and then everything underneath that board. Yeah, it's really really
Speaker 2: easy and then you can like add people to the
Speaker 2: board so whenever something happens to the board, they're alerted.
Speaker 2: Hashtag Trello free advertisement. It's good stuff.
Speaker 3: Yeah, pay Trelo if you like the sponsor.
Speaker 2: Is that shout out to organization though, because you know
Speaker 2: it's it's something that they don't teach you. There should
Speaker 2: just be a class, you know, for new managers on
Speaker 2: how to be organized, because everything that you did as
Speaker 2: an individual employee does not work when you're managing a
Speaker 2: team at all, does not is not they don't accept
Speaker 2: your currency here in the other side, then I get.
Speaker 3: Out of here with this with your petty pennies.
Speaker 2: Yes, no, you just want to stare at your computer
Speaker 2: and be in your mind all day. Nope, it's not
Speaker 2: gonna work.
Speaker 1: It's just so many things. Like today, I was like, okay,
Speaker 1: I've hit capacity. I had like a call and I'm
Speaker 1: on the call and for the first minute, I'm like
Speaker 1: confused about why is she talking about my children's book project?
Speaker 1: And I'm like, oh, that's this is not the the
Speaker 1: other call all.
Speaker 3: And I'm like, oh my gosh, Tiffany.
Speaker 1: Because there's just so many you know, you know what
Speaker 1: I would really love more than anything. Remember this is
Speaker 1: so random. I know' was supposed to be wrapping up.
Speaker 1: But remember in the Harry Potter movie where Dumbledore was like,
Speaker 1: hats a.
Speaker 3: Lot on his mother pencis what.
Speaker 1: I would love one of those where I could just
Speaker 1: pull thoughts out and put.
Speaker 3: It into a little bowl and dive in when I'm ready,
Speaker 3: just to relieve my mind.
Speaker 1: That's what i'd like. I mean, let's get that invented.
Speaker 1: Until then, I'll try trello.
Speaker 2: That's what I need to go to sleep at night,
Speaker 2: Like if I could just take the thoughts out of
Speaker 2: my brain, Like I'm tired of dreaming about my boss.
Speaker 2: Like and it's not even the interesting dreams. It's just
Speaker 2: me at my desk at work, just editing things. The nightmare.
Speaker 2: It is not a good dream. It's just a work day.
Speaker 2: I'm just living a work day in my in my
Speaker 2: safe is what's happening. That's a sad state of affairs.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I know, you know what. That's so crazy because
Speaker 3: that's what I do too.
Speaker 1: I'm like, wait, or I'll get excited because I don't
Speaker 1: think I have completed a task, and I'm like, that
Speaker 1: wasn't my dream?
Speaker 2: Yeah, you'll be dreamed about your TrailO for it pretty soon.
Speaker 3: On that note, it's been great chatting with y'all.
Speaker 1: Connect with us, hit us up on social media everywhere,
Speaker 1: find us out Brown Ambition, and.
Speaker 3: We'll see you next week. Let us know what you
Speaker 3: thought about my mom My mom Black Panther. We'd love
Speaker 3: to hear too,