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Speaker 1: You guys, this is a momentous day for Brown Ambition podcast.

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Speaker 2: It is we have the most brownest, the most ambitious

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Speaker 2: person that I think my life joining us.

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Speaker 1: She personifies Brown Ambition and I want to do a

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Speaker 1: little intro because she deserves it. I mean, come on.

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Speaker 1: Our guest today is Levey Ajaye. She is an award

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Speaker 1: winning writer. If you do not read her blog awesomeilovey

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Speaker 1: dot com, I don't know what is going wrong with

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Speaker 1: your life, but you must do it now. But she's

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Speaker 1: not just a blogger. She is a writer, a speaker,

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Speaker 1: a digital strategist, and she says she thrives at the

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Speaker 1: intersection of comedy, technology and activism. Lovey is a thirteen

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Speaker 1: year thirteen year blogging so basically since the Internet was born.

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Speaker 1: Levey as a blogger. She is the voice behind Awesome

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Speaker 1: Me Levey. Of course, it's a humor of block that

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Speaker 1: covers everything pop culture. She also has a new book

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Speaker 1: out now called I'm Judging You, The Do Better Manual,

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Speaker 1: which is going to be released in September twenty sixteen.

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Speaker 1: Unless you want to get out of the game, you

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Speaker 1: can pre order it right now wherever books are sold.

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Speaker 3: So I.

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Speaker 2: Do and she's best friends with Oprah.

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Speaker 1: I mean, this has been I feel like this has

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Speaker 1: been the year of lovey. But lovey, thank you so

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Speaker 1: much for coming on Brown Ambition.

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Speaker 3: I am glad to be here. Thanks for having me.

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Speaker 1: Are you calling us from Chicago?

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Speaker 3: Yes?

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Speaker 2: I love the Shy only in the summer though, because

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Speaker 2: the winter is ignorant.

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Speaker 3: Our winter is stupid.

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Speaker 2: Yes, So tell us, like, you know what has been,

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Speaker 2: because honestly, this has been the year of lovey. Every

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Speaker 2: time I turn around, I'm like, well, gosh, darn it,

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Speaker 2: this girl is just killing it in these streets. I mean,

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Speaker 2: you were killing it before. And I hate when people

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Speaker 2: tell me it's your year, girl, I'm like, it's my life.

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Speaker 3: But es come on to say that.

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Speaker 2: Yes, but definitely this year, you've got some major milestone.

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Speaker 2: What probably is your what was your favorite or your

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Speaker 2: most like momentous milestone that's far this year?

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Speaker 4: Probably interviewing Oprah that would do it. Yeah, yeah, I

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Speaker 4: gotta say that that must have been it. And when

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Speaker 4: she grabbed my head, I was like, well I saw

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Speaker 4: that picture.

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Speaker 1: Wait, So for me, who's not an inner of this world,

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Speaker 1: I'm like a hanger on. So I just ride Tiffany's

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Speaker 1: delightful coattails. No, tell me how did this happen? How

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Speaker 1: did you get to sit next How does one sit

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Speaker 1: next to Oprah and get to ask her questions?

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Speaker 4: So first Oprah did this, She chose one hundred people

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Speaker 4: to be a part of her Super Soul one hundred lists,

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Speaker 4: her first Super Sol one hundred lists, and I was

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Speaker 4: one of them. That was in April, so that was

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Speaker 4: when I first met her. And then her team at

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Speaker 4: Owned was just like, you're dope and we think you're

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Speaker 4: pretty cool. So they had me come to LA for

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Speaker 4: the premiere of their latest show, Green Leaf, that Oprah

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Speaker 4: stars in and executive producers and they were like, yeah,

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Speaker 4: so we want you to interview our.

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Speaker 3: Cast while you're here. What And I was like okay, cool.

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Speaker 4: I didn't think the cast will involve would include Oprah.

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Speaker 4: I was thinking it was everybody, but Oprah the first person, right,

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Speaker 4: Oprah was the first person who sat next to me.

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Speaker 1: They probably purposefully don't tell you though.

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Speaker 3: Well they told me the day of.

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Speaker 4: They were like, yes, so you are going to be

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Speaker 4: intervening Oprah and I was like wait what.

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Speaker 3: I was like, I'm going to be interviewing who?

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Speaker 2: Oprah, Yeah, what did what did your mom say?

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Speaker 4: She was watching because it was all going down on

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Speaker 4: Facebook Live and she was watching it on Facebook Live

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Speaker 4: as it was happening, and she was like.

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Speaker 3: Oh my god.

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Speaker 4: I found out from my sister that she was texting

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Speaker 4: my sister like, oh my god, I'm watching her right now.

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Speaker 4: Like they all stayed up late because in La it

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Speaker 4: was eight o'clock in La time, which was ten pm.

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Speaker 4: Actually was yeah, eight o'clock La time, so ten pm

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Speaker 4: Chicago time.

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Speaker 3: But it was incredible, It was It was incredible.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I could only imagine, you know, when

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Speaker 2: you went down this journey. So, for those of you

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Speaker 2: who don't know, Luvey is Nigerian.

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Speaker 1: Yes, a blog. You know.

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Speaker 2: So growing up in a niger household where like you know,

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Speaker 2: your your choices for careers are doctor, lawyer, engineer, pharmacists

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Speaker 2: in that order.

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Speaker 4: You know.

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Speaker 2: How how was that transition like being allowed to kind

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Speaker 2: of be yourself and do this. Was it easy where

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Speaker 2: your parents are always kind of on board or was

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Speaker 2: it something you had to fight for?

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Speaker 4: I think for me, so when I started college, I

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Speaker 4: said I was going to be a doctor. My my,

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Speaker 4: my watch, McCall it my major coming in was psycho

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Speaker 4: g pre med. But then I dropped that pre med

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Speaker 4: after first semester of college when I got my first

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Speaker 4: d of my whole academic career, and I was like,

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Speaker 4: I don't even like hospitals. But I didn't actually tell

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Speaker 4: anybody in my family that I dropped the pre med.

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Speaker 3: They just came to graduation. What they just came to graduation.

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Speaker 4: I got my degree in psychology, so I kept the

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Speaker 4: psychology piece.

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Speaker 3: But then I think the whole time at that.

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Speaker 4: Point, I basically proved that, like, I'm not ridiculously irresponsible,

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Speaker 4: and I hadn't done anything up to that point that

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Speaker 4: was crazy. So I was kind of left to my

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Speaker 4: own devices. But of course, when you when you were

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Speaker 4: trying to be a writer, I mean, even though I

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Speaker 4: was still fighting at tooth and nails, people just think

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Speaker 4: you're playing on the internet. So I still had a

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Speaker 4: full time job for up until twenty ten.

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Speaker 1: That's how did you balance them both?

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Speaker 3: Oh?

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Speaker 4: I would come home at night and write because honestly,

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Speaker 4: I just love writing and I love marketing, which is

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Speaker 4: what I was doing full time. So it was like

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Speaker 4: I was kind of enjoying both of it. But really,

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Speaker 4: writing is what I was supposed to be doing, and

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Speaker 4: I think it became really really real probably twenty twelve,

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Speaker 4: when I did press coverage of the Academy Awards red

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Speaker 4: carpet and backstage.

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Speaker 3: That's when of them.

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Speaker 4: It actually kind of like solidified for my mom that oh,

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Speaker 4: she's not just playing on the internet.

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Speaker 3: Okay.

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Speaker 1: I mean you're the first person I go to when

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Speaker 1: I'm looking for like a pop culture wrap up like

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Speaker 1: your game. I found you through your Game of Thrones

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Speaker 1: reviews that, oh, like my favorite thing. I just love

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Speaker 1: how you embrace the nerd, you know what I mean,

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Speaker 1: Like you're so yourself, you embrace all like the little quirks.

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Speaker 1: And then you were doing the Scandal reviews for was it?

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Speaker 2: No?

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Speaker 4: I actually started Scandal reviews for myself, like I and

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Speaker 4: then Comcast had me do it for them for like

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Speaker 4: six months. So I just everything I've been doing has

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Speaker 4: kind of happened organ So I just paid attention to

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Speaker 4: what I loved doing, and I did it even when

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Speaker 4: I wasn't getting paid to do it.

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Speaker 2: That's an AHA moment for those of you guys who

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Speaker 2: know what that means. Oprah lovers aha moment. Ah.

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Speaker 4: I feel like everyone's always like, oh, how did you plan?

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Speaker 4: I didn't plan anything, which is interesting. I didn't plan

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Speaker 4: any of it. I didn't have any type of strategy

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Speaker 4: on this time. I'm going to become an amazing writer.

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Speaker 4: I was just doing it every day. I was writing

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Speaker 4: every day. I was blogging before it was popular to blog,

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Speaker 4: just because I had things to say and I wanted

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Speaker 4: to say them.

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Speaker 3: So I did.

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Speaker 2: Let's get to like the real liitty gritty, because I

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Speaker 2: think people look and they think, like, oh, well, love,

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Speaker 2: he's funny and she knows all these people, and it

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Speaker 2: seems like it's easy. But I always like to know

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Speaker 2: what's the hard part, what's the part that you're like, yo,

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Speaker 2: I still struggle with this, or if this part is

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Speaker 2: not that fun to give people like that it's obviously

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Speaker 2: it's awesome, but there are parts that are not so awesome,

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Speaker 2: And how do you deal with them?

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Speaker 4: With everything, people always see the glory without the that

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Speaker 4: the grit behind it. You know, it's when you're a writer,

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Speaker 4: there's no straight path, there's no blueprint. You don't necessarily yeah,

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Speaker 4: you can get a degree, that doesn't mean you're going

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Speaker 4: to get a job. I think it comes down to

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Speaker 4: pushing past those hard times and really standing in your

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Speaker 4: worth because one of the things about being a creative

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Speaker 4: is people will constantly challenge you on your pricing. Photographers

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Speaker 4: feel this, you know, artists feel this. Anybody who's working

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Speaker 4: for themselves feel this. People feel like they can always

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Speaker 4: negotiate you down. Like you can't walk into H and

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Speaker 4: M and be like, hey, I know this your cost

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Speaker 4: seventeen dollars.

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Speaker 3: Can I pay twelve dollars for it? Now?

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Speaker 2: Can you preach it please? I'm like Jesus, So it's.

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Speaker 4: Just like, no, you have to accept people's value is

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Speaker 4: what it is, and it it got easier for me

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Speaker 4: to say no to people and say no, but if

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Speaker 4: you ever have the money, come back. And you know

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Speaker 4: what's funny is a lot of times people are afraid

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Speaker 4: to say no because they're afraid that they'll lose money.

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Speaker 4: But a lot of the people who I've said no to, hey,

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Speaker 4: come back, have come back just because they're like, you

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Speaker 4: know what, I've got my money together and I understand

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Speaker 4: that you are worth what you are charging because you

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Speaker 4: have proving this over and over again.

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Speaker 1: I hear some is that a little person in the background.

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Speaker 3: That's my niece.

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Speaker 2: I was just saying I have no babies. I know,

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Speaker 2: I just closed the door. Kids are like, damn your life.

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Speaker 5: I'm over here.

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Speaker 1: That's your niece. So what's your family like, let's talk

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Speaker 1: a little bit about your family. They can switch scars

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Speaker 1: for a little bit.

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Speaker 4: I have a Nigerian family, I am. I mean, honestly,

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Speaker 4: it's just regular, like I don't know. They are interesting,

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Speaker 4: they're funny, they're shady. I have a very Nigerian mom

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Speaker 4: who is amazing that cooking gel off rice.

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Speaker 2: Because ye better than Ghanaian rice. That's not even let's

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Speaker 2: not even start because right, Jeff right. So there's a

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Speaker 2: war going on.

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Speaker 1: Man, No I know about that Ghandians and the Nigerian wars.

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Speaker 1: Two friends in college.

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Speaker 2: Nobody somebody had the nerve to post y'all don't know nothing.

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Speaker 2: Liberian jellup I said, whoa librarian? Jealof right, don't even

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Speaker 2: You're not even in this.

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Speaker 3: You don't even go to the same school as.

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Speaker 2: You still take it the short bus. What no offense

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Speaker 2: to liberrians. I love y'all, we're talking about your rights.

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Speaker 1: And wait, wait, lovey, you just said school.

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Speaker 5: Now.

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Speaker 1: I heard a rumor that you went to school with

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Speaker 1: none other than Michelle Obama, not with Michelle Obama, but

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Speaker 1: the same school as Michelle Obama.

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Speaker 3: Can you confirm school Whitney Young.

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Speaker 1: So this school is the part well of course, yeah,

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Speaker 1: oh my god. So this school is like what the

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Speaker 1: Golden School.

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Speaker 4: It is actually like Whitney Young is known for being excellent.

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Speaker 4: It's one of the best city high schools in the

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Speaker 4: in the country. It's actually been ranked every year since

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Speaker 4: its existence. So yeah, like I think one of the

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Speaker 4: first black astronauts went to Whitney Young too, So we're

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Speaker 4: just amazing.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, just pushes out in winter. So I want to

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Speaker 2: learn more about this book. I know, like I already

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Speaker 2: pre ordered mine and I'm excited. So tell us about

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Speaker 2: like your book and what people can expect and when

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Speaker 2: they can expect it.

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Speaker 4: So my book is called I'm Judging You, The Do

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Speaker 4: Better Manual, and it is a collection of essays on life, culture,

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Speaker 4: social media and fame and why we are all ridiculous

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Speaker 4: and why we can do better. So, and I include

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Speaker 4: myself in that, I'm also ridiculous and I can do

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Speaker 4: better because as a Nigerian, I can't be on time

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Speaker 4: for nothing. What I can't I'm terrible. I'm late for

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Speaker 4: the most random things. I'm late for conference calls. I'm

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Speaker 4: just terrible. So this book is just me turning the

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Speaker 4: mirror on all of us. And it's basically my blog

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Speaker 4: on steroids, but it's brand new content.

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Speaker 3: It's like me, my best, So I'm excited.

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Speaker 1: I don't think people get you, know, as I'm a writer.

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Speaker 1: I studied journalism, that's my background. But what you do, Like,

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Speaker 1: I don't want people to think that it's easy, Like

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Speaker 1: it's not easy to be funny and smart as a writer.

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Speaker 1: So who were some of your influences? Like when you

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Speaker 1: sit down to write, Like who taught you to be

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Speaker 1: funni or to see humor in your writing?

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Speaker 4: Honestly, my writing is who I am in real life.

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Speaker 4: Like people who know me very well in real life

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Speaker 4: will read my blog inside I heard your voice because

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Speaker 4: it is truly me, Like you can see you can

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Speaker 4: read my blog and be like, this is a conversation

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Speaker 4: I would have with her over brunch. So honestly, it's

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Speaker 4: been me just being true to myself.

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Speaker 3: And my voice.

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Speaker 4: But I of course have people who've inspired me, and

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Speaker 4: one of them is Angela Nizzle.

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Speaker 3: She wrote The Broke.

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Speaker 4: Diaries like ten or fifteen years ago, and I remember,

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Speaker 4: back when I still had a full time job, I

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Speaker 4: found her book and I was reading it on the

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Speaker 4: bus cracking up, like you know, one of those laugh

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Speaker 4: where you can't keep yourself from laughing and everyone around

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Speaker 4: just looking at you, funny.

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Speaker 1: One of the bog Yeah.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, it was one of those where I was just like,

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Speaker 4: oh my god, I don't even care because I just

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Speaker 4: found myself gafoy in different places. And she ends up

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Speaker 4: being like one of the writers of one of my

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Speaker 4: favorite shows ever, Scrubs.

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Speaker 3: She's a black woman.

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Speaker 4: Her and I end up actually finding each other online

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Speaker 4: because I was like, I'm a huge fan. We actually

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Speaker 4: end up becoming friends, so it's kind of crazy. It

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Speaker 4: was like a full circle moment for me.

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Speaker 3: She's one I'm inspired by.

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Speaker 4: Anybody who really stands in their power as critics, as

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Speaker 4: smart people who live in the world that has a

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Speaker 4: lot to criticize, and just smart people in general inspire me.

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Speaker 1: One of my favorite of your recent stories has been, well,

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Speaker 1: you're really protective of the Obamas, as I think we

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Speaker 1: all should be. Yes, but your post about Malia and

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Speaker 1: what she's gone through because she live why do you

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Speaker 1: feel protect I mean, I can kind of guess, but

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Speaker 1: why do you feel protective of Malia and Sasha and

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Speaker 1: the Obamas in general?

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Speaker 4: So I'm protective of black girls in general because I

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Speaker 4: think the world is too critical of black people, especially

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Speaker 4: black girls, Like we get the brunt of everything. We

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Speaker 4: are torn to pieces even more than anybody else. So

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Speaker 4: for me, I want to be one of the people

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Speaker 4: who's balancing it out, you know. So when black girls

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Speaker 4: are being when people are calling them some types of names,

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Speaker 4: I'm over here like, no, that's not fair because when

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Speaker 4: you compare the way people treat us how they treat

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Speaker 4: other people, you see the discrepancy. So for me, it's

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Speaker 4: a matter of oh no, oh no, I think standing

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Speaker 4: up for black girls is one of my favorite hobbies.

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Speaker 2: No, I love that. So where do you see yourself?

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Speaker 2: Like what I know you said, you don't really plan.

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Speaker 2: I remember hearing Oprah say that wants to think and

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Speaker 2: she was bugging like she just kind of like leans

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Speaker 2: into the experience's life throws her way in. But I

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Speaker 2: totally get it now. But sometimes you do have an

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Speaker 2: overarching like, well, this is kind of like what I'd

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Speaker 2: love to do, Like is there anything huge or major

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Speaker 2: that you have that accomplished that you're like, you know,

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Speaker 2: this is on my vision board that I'd like to

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Speaker 2: do in the future.

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Speaker 4: Honestly, my book was like the biggest goal I had

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Speaker 4: set for myself thus far, and for me, that goal

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Speaker 4: was to become a bestselling author. So I'm hoping by

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Speaker 4: the end of this fall, I will say check. Now

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Speaker 4: what comes after that, I'm not sure because again I

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Speaker 4: haven't planned for any of this, and thus far I've

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Speaker 4: done pretty well by just kind of waiting and seeing

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Speaker 4: what the universe has for me.

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Speaker 3: So maybe TV's next.

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Speaker 2: I saw that.

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Speaker 1: I mean, you're sitting to Oprah. Now Oprah and Ava

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Speaker 1: Duverne are creating original content featuring you know, all black casts,

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Speaker 1: mainly black cast. I mean, do you see yourself getting

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Speaker 1: into that world. There's been so much talk about the

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Speaker 1: need for more black female writers, especially.

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Speaker 4: Well, yeah, I think so. I think that might end

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Speaker 4: up being the organic next step for me. That's the

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Speaker 4: feedback I keep getting from people. People who are even

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Speaker 4: in TV have been like, you should be writing for TV.

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Speaker 4: So I'm open to it.

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Speaker 3: I am very open to it.

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Speaker 2: You know, Shanna is like your bff two I was like,

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Speaker 2: look at Shanda, because you know, so.

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Speaker 3: A Shonda Rhymes is Bay. Like I actually called her

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Speaker 3: fairy Bay mother.

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Speaker 4: Because she she has taken a liken to my work

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Speaker 4: that is like it's beyond flattering, Like there needs to

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Speaker 4: be a different word beyond flattering.

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Speaker 3: She shared like my she's tweeted randomly by my book.

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Speaker 4: She's talked about my while she's been in rooms on panels.

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Speaker 3: So it's been it's been crazy. Yeah, has it sunken in?

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Speaker 2: People ask me sometimes when something big happens, like how

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Speaker 2: do you feel? And honestly, I don't know. Has it

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Speaker 2: Like has it sunken in? You know that these things

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Speaker 2: are happening or are you still kind of like yeah,

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Speaker 2: I'm just like, you know, living life. This is how

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Speaker 2: it is. Or do you actually feel the magnitude of

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Speaker 2: like what's happening.

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Speaker 4: I don't feel the magnitude of what's happening, which sounds

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Speaker 4: weird to even say I don't, because I I don't.

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Speaker 4: I don't think I take enough time to sit there

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Speaker 4: processing like holy smokes, that just happened, like last night,

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Speaker 4: for example, the head of the Writer's Guild of America,

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Speaker 4: and like I think Northwest tweeted that he loved my

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Speaker 4: book and I was like what, And I did what

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Speaker 4: for like ten minutes and then moved on. So I think, one,

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Speaker 4: I don't want to be I don't want to lose

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Speaker 4: myself in the magnitude of what's happening. And I don't

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Speaker 4: want to be like oh Man, spending days congratulating myself.

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Speaker 4: But I do sometimes kind of scroll through. I use

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Speaker 4: my Instagram in my face with account now kind of

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Speaker 4: like a yes. And honestly, there are some evenings when

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Speaker 4: before I go to sleep, I scroll through my Instagram

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Speaker 4: to remind myself of what's happened, and that those moments

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Speaker 4: I'm like, wow, okay, we're like now wow, like.

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Speaker 2: You know, yeah, that's crazy. It's just yeah, it's crazy

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Speaker 2: but awesome. And when I look at what you're doing,

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Speaker 2: I was I was telling her Mandy, I was before

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Speaker 2: we had our little mixed up in earlier. I was

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Speaker 2: just telling Lovely like it's that lovey like when you're

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Speaker 2: a Nigerian kid, like your parents don't want to hear

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Speaker 2: anything about any other possible major, but when you can

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Speaker 2: show another niger kid that had succeeded without going to the

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Speaker 2: traditional ride of doctor, lawyer, engineer. Then they give you

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Speaker 2: kind of like, well, okay, so Lovey, like literally, there's

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Speaker 2: gonna be hundreds of thousands of kids, Nigerian kids in

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Speaker 2: the next unforeseeable future, saying like, but Mommy, look at Lovey.

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Speaker 2: She didn't go to medical school and she's killing it.

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Speaker 2: And you know, Mom's be like, oh, well, you know, okay, Lovely,

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Speaker 2: that's real.

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Speaker 4: Because part of the reason why I thought being a

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Speaker 4: writer for so long is because I hadn't seen anybody

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Speaker 4: who had made a great living at it while they're

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Speaker 4: not like writing if they're not Tony Morrison, you know

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Speaker 4: what I mean. So not having that example was part

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Speaker 4: of the reason why I was like, nah, I can't

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Speaker 4: do this. So like the idea that I could be

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Speaker 4: somebody's example of like I can do this, that's that's incredible.

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Speaker 1: Now, speaking of making a living as a writer on

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Speaker 1: you know, you have you have a couple of different

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Speaker 1: websites now awesomely Techie, which focuses more on tech entrepreneurship businesses.

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Speaker 1: Then you have your pop culture blog Awesomely Lovey. But

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Speaker 1: I mean, as you're scaling up to business and like

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Speaker 1: earning an income, how do you learn how to manage

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Speaker 1: that and budget when you're you know, going from a

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Speaker 1: full time job to just you know, owning your own business.

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Speaker 4: Well, you learn quickly because if you spend your money.

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Speaker 4: If you get a check and you spend your money

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Speaker 4: and the next time you get a check is in

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Speaker 4: four months and you're like, oh, shoot, I shouldn't spend

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Speaker 4: all that money, you will learn quick to manage your

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Speaker 4: cash flow that like, you might get windfalls of money,

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Speaker 4: but you better save that money so you're not you're

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Speaker 4: not gonna be broke and eating romen noodles three months later.

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Speaker 4: But that's also one thing that people don't teach enough

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Speaker 4: is when you work for yourself. You might feel like

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Speaker 4: you ballin when you get a check, but you just know,

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Speaker 4: thirty percent of that check does not belong to money.

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Speaker 3: Y Like, thirty percent of that check is not yours.

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Speaker 3: That is the IRSs.

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Speaker 4: But one of the hardest things I would say about

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Speaker 4: being an entrepreneur is when you get your tax bill.

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Speaker 3: Holy smokes.

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Speaker 4: You know it's cool to get money taking out your

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Speaker 4: check every two weeks, you don't feel it as hard.

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Speaker 4: But when you see a like a bill that is

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Speaker 4: over five figures then you have to write a check

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Speaker 4: for the irs.

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Speaker 3: That stuff will make you sit down real quick.

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Speaker 1: Do you have help there or do you have accountants?

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Speaker 1: I mean, how much of it is you and how

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Speaker 1: much of it are you getting helpless?

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Speaker 4: Or I have an accountant that I've been using for

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Speaker 4: the last seven years. I haven't really.

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Speaker 3: Use her like a bookkeeper like I should.

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Speaker 4: I was actually talking to somebody the other day that

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Speaker 4: I need to do that next, like because.

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Speaker 3: She probably needs to like check me on my spending.

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Speaker 3: So yeah, well.

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Speaker 2: You can even get a separate because my account was like,

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Speaker 2: oh these receipts, that's cute. But I don't do that.

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Speaker 2: And so I have a separate bookkeeper where literally she

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Speaker 2: lives in La. Once a month, I mail her all

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Speaker 2: of my receipt I'm petty, like if I go through

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Speaker 2: the toll for fifty cents, I'm like a receipt please.

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Speaker 2: I send all my receipt and then if somebody sends

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Speaker 2: me an invoice, let's say I pay like my designer

439
00:21:58,119 --> 00:22:01,520
Speaker 2: to make up of to make like a logo or something,

440
00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:04,399
Speaker 2: then I forward her those email invoices and then I

441
00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:06,800
Speaker 2: send her the receipts and every month she puts together

442
00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:10,399
Speaker 2: a quarterly report or monthly report, and then every quarter

443
00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:14,080
Speaker 2: a quarterly report. And I sit with my accountant every quarter,

444
00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:16,600
Speaker 2: Like I just sat with him literally last week, brought

445
00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:19,080
Speaker 2: the report and that I was able to pay because

446
00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:21,520
Speaker 2: I pay every quarter now to write a check and say, okay,

447
00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:24,520
Speaker 2: because it's easier to write, you know, like a three

448
00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:26,679
Speaker 2: thousand dollars check or four then like at the end

449
00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:28,119
Speaker 2: of the year you have, like, you know, a twenty

450
00:22:28,119 --> 00:22:29,160
Speaker 2: thousand dollars check.

451
00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:30,640
Speaker 3: So that's what I did.

452
00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:35,080
Speaker 4: Actually, I've been saying that I was going to I'll

453
00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:37,320
Speaker 4: send that I was going to be on quarterly, but

454
00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:40,640
Speaker 4: I just haven't done it. It's been such a crazy

455
00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:43,479
Speaker 4: year that I've been like, oh man, shoot, I just

456
00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:44,480
Speaker 4: missed three quarters.

457
00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:45,760
Speaker 3: All shoot, we'll see it.

458
00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:50,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, now that's normal, but you the sooner, especially once

459
00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:52,760
Speaker 2: you get to a certain tax bracket, you literally you're

460
00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:57,240
Speaker 2: gonna have to pay quarterly because yeah, because the government

461
00:22:57,280 --> 00:22:59,520
Speaker 2: is like, that's now, we want our money upfront. He

462
00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:01,800
Speaker 2: told me that last year was the last year that

463
00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:05,400
Speaker 2: I could get away with my cake. If you're looking

464
00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:08,080
Speaker 2: for a bookkeeper, just let me know, because I see

465
00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:10,880
Speaker 2: too many entrepreneurs who are so dope at what they do,

466
00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:14,159
Speaker 2: but their business failed because of the back end, not

467
00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:16,280
Speaker 2: because of their talent. You know.

468
00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:20,600
Speaker 4: Yeah, see who I was like, uh uh I rs

469
00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:21,520
Speaker 4: I did not play with them.

470
00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:23,480
Speaker 3: They'll will get your money. Yes, here you go.

471
00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:27,320
Speaker 1: Who taught you about money growing up? What was that?

472
00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:29,760
Speaker 1: Who are your sort of financial influences?

473
00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:31,560
Speaker 3: None? I had zero.

474
00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:33,560
Speaker 1: I don't feel a long anymore.

475
00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:37,560
Speaker 4: Having having conversations about money was not really what I

476
00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:38,680
Speaker 4: did growing up.

477
00:23:40,119 --> 00:23:41,960
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I kind of self taught on that.

478
00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:45,879
Speaker 2: She was like, Nope, Nope, they didn't talk about in

479
00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:50,040
Speaker 2: my household except for to say there's no money exactly exactly.

480
00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:52,440
Speaker 1: Well, I don't wanna. I don't want to let you

481
00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:54,880
Speaker 1: go before we talk about a project that's really near

482
00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:56,360
Speaker 1: and dear to your heart and I want to hear

483
00:23:56,359 --> 00:23:59,879
Speaker 1: more about it. It's the Red Pump Project, which correct

484
00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:03,040
Speaker 1: me frame wrong, but it benefits HIV AIDS for women

485
00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:03,560
Speaker 1: and girls.

486
00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:09,320
Speaker 4: Yeah, so reference the nonprofit that I co founded seven

487
00:24:09,359 --> 00:24:12,000
Speaker 4: years ago with a friend of mine. And yeah, we

488
00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:14,400
Speaker 4: do raise awardeness by the impact of HIV and AIDS

489
00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:15,320
Speaker 4: on women and girls.

490
00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:17,720
Speaker 3: And we started.

491
00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:22,080
Speaker 4: It because I met somebody who had twenty cousins who

492
00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:26,359
Speaker 4: were living with her grandmother in Malawi because their parents

493
00:24:26,359 --> 00:24:30,600
Speaker 4: had died from age related complications, and she had a

494
00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:33,120
Speaker 4: friend who had told her a close friend who told

495
00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:36,000
Speaker 4: that he was HIV positive, and we were like, oh, man,

496
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:39,400
Speaker 4: we didn't even know this epidemic was still this bad

497
00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:43,440
Speaker 4: because we don't even hear about it anymore. So for us,

498
00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:47,720
Speaker 4: it was important to generate conversation. We wanted to decrease

499
00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:49,720
Speaker 4: stigma about it because we're like, if we're not hearing

500
00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:53,760
Speaker 4: about it, everyone else isn't hearing about it, and nobody's

501
00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:57,640
Speaker 4: talking about this issue, So let's do it. And we

502
00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:01,760
Speaker 4: started as a social media campaign. We started by getting

503
00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:04,399
Speaker 4: bloggers to talk about it on National Women and Girls

504
00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:07,320
Speaker 4: HIV and AI's Awareness Day, which is March tenth every year,

505
00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:09,960
Speaker 4: and that first year, which was in two thousand and nine,

506
00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:12,360
Speaker 4: we had like one hundred and thirty five bloggers join us,

507
00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:18,040
Speaker 4: so that was cool, and then it became a nonprofit

508
00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:21,240
Speaker 4: organization and we've been going for seven years. We do

509
00:25:22,119 --> 00:25:25,840
Speaker 4: events around the country around like safe sex and teaching

510
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,199
Speaker 4: women and girls that it's okay to be sexual, but

511
00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:30,840
Speaker 4: here are the tools you need to know to be

512
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:34,360
Speaker 4: safe and we would have red shoes, by the way,

513
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:36,040
Speaker 4: So that's why we call the red punk projects. We

514
00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:39,199
Speaker 4: use red shoes to kind of grab people's attention. So

515
00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:41,240
Speaker 4: a lot of people see me in red shoes and

516
00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:42,120
Speaker 4: they're like, I.

517
00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:45,160
Speaker 1: Gues, well, I mean I heard you might like shoes

518
00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:45,640
Speaker 1: a little bit.

519
00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:49,040
Speaker 3: Yes, I have a shoe problem.

520
00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:52,399
Speaker 4: In fact, my accountant Okay, see I think it's my

521
00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:53,400
Speaker 4: accountant's fault too.

522
00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:54,240
Speaker 3: Let me tell you why.

523
00:25:55,640 --> 00:26:00,000
Speaker 4: Because she told me that red shoes are tax deductive

524
00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:03,880
Speaker 4: expenses for me, now yeah, And I was like, well,

525
00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:06,159
Speaker 4: then I am doing business every time I buy a

526
00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:07,600
Speaker 4: pair of red shoes.

527
00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:14,680
Speaker 2: Now. But she's right though, like you, yeah, just being

528
00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:18,360
Speaker 2: able to write off every little thing.

529
00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:18,040
Speaker 3: Is right off.

530
00:26:18,119 --> 00:26:22,080
Speaker 4: Like I can write off certain clothes up by because

531
00:26:22,119 --> 00:26:28,199
Speaker 4: I'm always speaking so haircut, My haircuts are now business expenses, y'all.

532
00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:31,640
Speaker 4: What I'm like, if we talk about business, eat ice cream,

533
00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:38,240
Speaker 4: I'm like, I need that cone receipts. You're like, that

534
00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:41,760
Speaker 4: was part of my business meeting, thank you.

535
00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:45,120
Speaker 2: No, that's just dope. I just I just more more.

536
00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:48,560
Speaker 2: My dad would say more grease to your elbow. And

537
00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:52,280
Speaker 2: you know you make such a nice thing, Oh my god,

538
00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:56,520
Speaker 2: to your elbow, and we're just like really really like

539
00:26:56,720 --> 00:27:00,280
Speaker 2: proud of you. And just because when when I'm most

540
00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:01,960
Speaker 2: about you, I forget where I was. I was just

541
00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:04,520
Speaker 2: it was a group of black women. I don't know

542
00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:07,200
Speaker 2: where I was, but your name came up and oh,

543
00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:08,600
Speaker 2: you know what, I don't know if you know a

544
00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:11,560
Speaker 2: Vita from No Madness. Oh yeah, yeah, so she she

545
00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:14,399
Speaker 2: just moved. She had a housewarming, and there were so

546
00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:16,720
Speaker 2: many dope women in the room. Glinda from Black Girl's

547
00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:19,640
Speaker 2: Rock was there. Oh, just a bunch of doulpt black

548
00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:21,840
Speaker 2: women here because Avita moved to Newark where I live,

549
00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:26,280
Speaker 2: and your name came up and across the board, everyone

550
00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:29,280
Speaker 2: was like, you know, what's so dope about Lovey like yo?

551
00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:31,720
Speaker 2: From people who knew you from way back to people

552
00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:35,200
Speaker 2: who know you now, just always the same, funny as hell,

553
00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:40,080
Speaker 2: cool as hell, just never any heirs or arrogance or

554
00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:41,960
Speaker 2: any of that. And you know, and that's saying a

555
00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:43,439
Speaker 2: lot for that, Jerians, because I mean, if we if

556
00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:49,080
Speaker 2: we're nothing else, we're prideful and yeah, so it's just

557
00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:51,200
Speaker 2: dope to like when I first met you, because Mandy,

558
00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:56,560
Speaker 2: I first met love you in person in Barbados last year. Yeah, yes,

559
00:27:56,680 --> 00:27:59,439
Speaker 2: my cousin had a She owned this bridal magazine called

560
00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:03,040
Speaker 2: Munda Luchi, and she had this retreat and oh my god,

561
00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:05,400
Speaker 2: I never laughed so hard.

562
00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:08,760
Speaker 3: We had a good time, we did.

563
00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:10,200
Speaker 2: And I can't wait for it to do it again

564
00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:13,960
Speaker 2: in November. I mean November this year in New Orleans.

565
00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:16,280
Speaker 2: But yeah, I just want to one thank you for

566
00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:19,119
Speaker 2: always just being so down to everything cool and just

567
00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:22,520
Speaker 2: continue to rise. Where can people find you? Like, if

568
00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:24,960
Speaker 2: they want to follow you, they want to follow your shoes,

569
00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:26,520
Speaker 2: if they want to get your food.

570
00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:29,719
Speaker 3: On the down to earth thing.

571
00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:33,359
Speaker 4: People always tell people that, Like, honestly, it's what happens

572
00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:35,919
Speaker 4: when you don't take full credit for everything that's happening

573
00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:40,720
Speaker 4: for you. It is basically when you understand that you

574
00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:44,080
Speaker 4: are standing on the shoulder of gods and goddesses and

575
00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:47,160
Speaker 4: basically you're a product of God's great So I don't

576
00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:49,880
Speaker 4: have a right to be all arrogant and trifling because

577
00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:51,680
Speaker 4: I have enough people in my life who'll be like, girls,

578
00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:56,080
Speaker 4: sit down. So but yeah, so everyone can find me

579
00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:59,720
Speaker 4: on the interwebs. I am all over the place, lovey

580
00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:02,600
Speaker 4: on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

581
00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:04,240
Speaker 3: And that's l u v v I e.

582
00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:07,320
Speaker 4: I've actually trained Google to where if you actually type

583
00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:09,640
Speaker 4: in just my first name, all my stuff comes up.

584
00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:13,880
Speaker 3: So that's cool. But yeah, I'm easy to find.

585
00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:16,480
Speaker 4: And then I have my shoes to gram My Shoes,

586
00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:19,280
Speaker 4: my Instagram account that is dedicated to my addiction.

587
00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:25,160
Speaker 3: To shoes, shoes, m U, S T, l U v

588
00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:26,720
Speaker 3: V shoes.

589
00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:30,000
Speaker 4: So yeah, people can see my kicks of the day

590
00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:31,000
Speaker 4: and all that stuff.

591
00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:33,640
Speaker 1: I need to follow that right now, lovey, before we

592
00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:35,080
Speaker 1: let you go, I want to do a quick, little

593
00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:37,880
Speaker 1: rapid fire question round. This is the first time. This

594
00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:39,440
Speaker 1: is the first time we're doing it, and I feel.

595
00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:40,360
Speaker 2: Like I went to hell.

596
00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:44,560
Speaker 1: This is new or I got ideas. I got lots

597
00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:47,760
Speaker 1: of ideas behind the scenes. Okay, so got about I

598
00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:49,840
Speaker 1: don't know eight or so questions, but you have to

599
00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:51,880
Speaker 1: answer the first thing that comes first, first thing that

600
00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:56,800
Speaker 1: comes to mind? All right, you ready? Yep, Baracco and

601
00:29:56,840 --> 00:30:02,840
Speaker 1: Michelle fierce game of threat Phones or scandal unmissible? No, no,

602
00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:05,280
Speaker 1: oh no, I didn't explain the rules of the game right.

603
00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:09,200
Speaker 5: Here, gagging, love.

604
00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:13,520
Speaker 1: Sorry, it's my fault. I said the first thing that

605
00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:15,800
Speaker 1: comes to night, but I meant choose one.

606
00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:19,400
Speaker 4: This is that first thing that comes to mind, and

607
00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:21,760
Speaker 4: I was like, hilarious.

608
00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:27,480
Speaker 2: Sorry, here my face like, wait, what's happening?

609
00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:31,680
Speaker 3: Freaking hilarious? Okay, let's do it. That's funny.

610
00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:33,240
Speaker 1: Don't worry. This is what the start up phase.

611
00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:34,440
Speaker 4: This is.

612
00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:36,360
Speaker 1: This is We're still in beta testing. We're still in

613
00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:39,800
Speaker 1: a b testing. All right, try again, all right, Barack

614
00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:41,160
Speaker 1: or Michelle.

615
00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:49,200
Speaker 3: Michelle Game of Thrones or scandal, Game of Thrones?

616
00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:51,920
Speaker 2: Why keep going?

617
00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:55,840
Speaker 1: Okay, okay, okay, this is gonna be easy for your

618
00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:57,400
Speaker 1: probably new shoes or.

619
00:30:57,320 --> 00:31:00,080
Speaker 3: Food, new shoes unless the food is rice.

620
00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:05,720
Speaker 1: All right, Oprah, Oprah or Gail?

621
00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:09,480
Speaker 3: Oh, come on Oprah for Gail?

622
00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:14,520
Speaker 1: All right? Nighttime or daytime? Nighttime, text or call, call,

623
00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:20,040
Speaker 1: Instagram or Facebook, Facebook, breakfast or brunch ooh brunch.

624
00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:22,760
Speaker 3: Yep, because I'll be late to all the types of breakfast.

625
00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:26,360
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, last one, Kim or Taylor?

626
00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:36,880
Speaker 3: Oh hell no, neither question right? Like what neither one

627
00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:37,320
Speaker 3: of them?

628
00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:40,480
Speaker 1: Okay, fine, there's an answer. Answer B is none of

629
00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:40,920
Speaker 1: the above.

630
00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:46,240
Speaker 2: Yes, you keep you have to keep the misunderstanding in

631
00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:46,640
Speaker 2: the beginning.

632
00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:49,680
Speaker 4: That's just oh yeah, no, please do your people gonna

633
00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:55,040
Speaker 4: be like why are people who are supposedly so smart? Oh?

634
00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:57,400
Speaker 2: My god, this was like my favorite interview ever. Thank

635
00:31:57,440 --> 00:31:59,880
Speaker 2: you so so so so much for joining us, Lovey.

636
00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:01,600
Speaker 3: Oh my god, this is super fun.

637
00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:04,000
Speaker 1: You just made my day. Thank you, Lovey. Everyone go

638
00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:06,120
Speaker 1: to awesome ilovey dot com right now.

639
00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:17,800
Speaker 5: Indeed, all right, so you're.

640
00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:21,680
Speaker 1: Welcome for that interview. I feel like we just made

641
00:32:21,720 --> 00:32:25,520
Speaker 1: your Tuesday. So we're gonna piece that a little bit

642
00:32:25,560 --> 00:32:29,560
Speaker 1: early on this week's episode. But before we go, Tiffany

643
00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:30,840
Speaker 1: has a reminder for you all.

644
00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:33,840
Speaker 2: Remember we have a contest in that we want to

645
00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:36,840
Speaker 2: know what is Brown Ambition mean to you? And we

646
00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:39,720
Speaker 2: are going to pick anywhere from five to ten listeners

647
00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:42,680
Speaker 2: to join Mandy and I for dinner in New York

648
00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:45,120
Speaker 2: City on us. I mean, the transportation is on you,

649
00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:47,880
Speaker 2: but the dinner is on us, and we're just gonna

650
00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:52,640
Speaker 2: sit talk be brown and fabulous and fun. So if

651
00:32:52,680 --> 00:32:55,120
Speaker 2: you can email us at.

652
00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:59,840
Speaker 1: Brown Ambition Podcast at gmail dot com.

653
00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:00,920
Speaker 2: What Brown Ambition means to you? You and I guess

654
00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:02,320
Speaker 2: in the subject line what should they put?

655
00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:07,240
Speaker 1: Just like put anything you want contest.

656
00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:09,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, and so yeah, we want to eat because it's

657
00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:12,840
Speaker 2: our one year anniversary, returning one soon and we want

658
00:33:12,880 --> 00:33:14,320
Speaker 2: to meet like some of the listeners and just have

659
00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:16,840
Speaker 2: a good time with y'all. So make sure that you

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00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:19,040
Speaker 2: email us, make sure you share you know what Brown

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00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:21,880
Speaker 2: Ambition means to you, not necessarily the show, just in

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00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:24,160
Speaker 2: general what Brown Ambition means to you. And we will

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00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:26,280
Speaker 2: pick our top faves and we'll have dinner.

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Speaker 1: I can't wait. Food, booze Brown.

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00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:38,000
Speaker 2: I don't even drink, but honey, I don't need to drink. Man.

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00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:39,560
Speaker 2: Today was just such an awesome day that was just

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00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:42,800
Speaker 2: so so much fun with Lovey. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: So I hope you guys enjoyed for making it happen.

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Speaker 2: Oh no, no problem. Honestly, I didn't even have to do anything.

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Speaker 2: She was looking to be interviewed to. Okay, all right, y'all,

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00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:57,680
Speaker 2: we will see you next week. And I don't know,

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Speaker 2: keep it brown, keep it ambitious.

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Speaker 1: Look a look. Okay, bye bye,