Speaker 1: Hey, Hey, ba fam, I have been waiting to tell you, guys.
Speaker 1: I have been sitting on this news forever. But for
Speaker 1: the first time in Brand Ambition history, we are going live, y'all.
Speaker 1: We are going to be live from Newark, New Jersey.
Speaker 1: It is all happening October tenth at six pm. If
Speaker 1: you want to get tickets now, tickets are limited. We
Speaker 1: picked the best venue. It's a historic black owned bookstore
Speaker 1: in Newark, but seating is limited. This is going to
Speaker 1: be an intimate evening with me and Tiffany live in person.
Speaker 1: It may be the only chance y'all get I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna lie to see us together live in twenty twenty four,
Speaker 1: so please come get your tickets. We want to make
Speaker 1: sure that the crowd is packed with true be a family. Okay,
Speaker 1: So if you want to get tickets, run, don't walk.
Speaker 1: Run to Brown Ambition podcast dot com to get the
Speaker 1: link right there and let us know that you're coming.
Speaker 1: Tag us, send us your receipts, send us your order.
Speaker 1: Maybe we'll send you some BA wag. We'll have some
Speaker 1: BA swag at the event. Even we are going to
Speaker 1: be celebrating nine years of the show, y'all. Nine years.
Speaker 1: We're like geriatric podcasters in the very best way. But
Speaker 1: we cannot wait to see y'all in Newark. So go
Speaker 1: ahead Brown Ambition Podcast dot Com to get your tickets
Speaker 1: to see me and Tiffany live for Brown Ambition Live
Speaker 1: in Newark, New Jersey. It's all going down. Like I
Speaker 1: said October tenth, get your tickets again at Brown Ambition
Speaker 1: Podcast dot Com.
Speaker 2: Hey hey, hey, we're back. We're black, We're bread. Take
Speaker 2: us there, take us Ambition Ambition, Ambition, Ambition Ambition, Hey,
Speaker 2: Mandra how you doing.
Speaker 1: Hey right now? Every day is a little different. Every
Speaker 1: day is a little different day. It's a Satin day.
Speaker 1: I feel like I'm like the last This is our
Speaker 1: the last school district in America. To go back to
Speaker 1: school in New York. It's very like, it's very quintessential,
Speaker 1: like what you see and how Mark movies. I feel like, yeah,
Speaker 1: we Labor Day, Yeah, same Mummer's over.
Speaker 2: The after Labor Day. Yep, very quintessential. I didn't know
Speaker 2: that other people didn't get seasons. When I was a kid,
Speaker 2: I was great, you're gonna put on your fag jacket
Speaker 2: for back to school?
Speaker 1: Yeah. I was in Cali for like a week visiting
Speaker 1: some friends in Silicon Valley just because that's where they live.
Speaker 1: I'm not recommending it as a tourist destination. It's not
Speaker 1: exactly the most exciting, but we did get to like
Speaker 1: go to see Uosmite and stuff. But anyway, the kids, yeah,
Speaker 1: the schools there, it is kind of weird. I'm just like, oh,
Speaker 1: so it's just hot and sunny like every day. It's
Speaker 1: just the way y'all live. But it was exciting here
Speaker 1: because well, I'm kind of a masochist, we know, so
Speaker 1: I sometimes make self sabotaging decisions. But I don't think this,
Speaker 1: but sometimes I'm like, it could be a self sabotage
Speaker 1: or it could be brilliant. So we got back from
Speaker 1: California the night before school started. Before I went on
Speaker 1: the trip, I'd like put everything that I was going
Speaker 1: to need for his backpack in a pile and like
Speaker 1: in a bag, and I was like, this will be
Speaker 1: where I'll find it. And it turned out fine. He
Speaker 1: was always going to be freaking out a little bit, yeah,
Speaker 1: and he did, like we kind of almost we tried
Speaker 1: to drag him to the bus stop, but he was
Speaker 1: not ready. So just picture me and my husband like,
Speaker 1: I've got my little back to school sign that I've
Speaker 1: been using every year for him and his backpack, and
Speaker 1: like Enrique's you know, like half carrying him, half dragging him,
Speaker 1: and I've got the sign in his backpack. And we're like,
Speaker 1: come on, we're gonna go to the bus, and he's like, no,
Speaker 1: I don't want to go. And then the school bus
Speaker 1: just comes zoom and pie. Yeah, And I was like, well,
Speaker 1: look there's our you know, our neighbor's kid is over there, like, oh,
Speaker 1: look at so and so and I look at them.
Speaker 1: I look at the window, and so and so is
Speaker 1: looking like he's being sent to a piece.
Speaker 2: But you can't.
Speaker 1: He's not doing me anyway. So he's just like save yourself.
Speaker 1: But yeah, he's he's in. He's my big kindergartener. Now
Speaker 1: it's been an emotional Yeah, it's been an emotional like week.
Speaker 1: But at least forget at least we're doing it now.
Speaker 1: We're not like you know what I mean, like where
Speaker 1: you're dreading the new changes and stuff, but I am, uh,
Speaker 1: I'm trying to delay the inevitable, I guess. But I
Speaker 1: got a phone call you guys that I didn't.
Speaker 2: Expect to get from tivity. So we have some I
Speaker 2: don't want to say call it big news.
Speaker 1: But what do you mean You're not gonna call it
Speaker 1: big news?
Speaker 2: It is, But I feel like big news sometimes sounds
Speaker 2: like good news. I don't know if there's bad news anyway.
Speaker 2: I know they're like, yes, it's news.
Speaker 1: Yes.
Speaker 2: I've decided that this is my last year doing Brown Ambition,
Speaker 2: So and mission continues because it is more than just
Speaker 2: us individually. It's this beautiful collective that Mandy and I created.
Speaker 2: But I I mean, I'll still be here, hopefully I'll
Speaker 2: be honest a guest, you know, but as far as
Speaker 2: a regular co host, I'm not going to be that anymore.
Speaker 2: And while I was away, I'm you know, Mandy and
Speaker 2: I were, like, I said, we're friends of real life.
Speaker 2: So we talked on the phone and I guess I
Speaker 2: was in Martha's venue at that time. Remember I had
Speaker 2: to go to that event thing and you know, and
Speaker 2: i'm it's going for a walk and Mandy and I
Speaker 2: talked and I kind of knew then because we had
Speaker 2: a guest on our show or guests, and they kind of, well,
Speaker 2: I kind of they shared what it looked like when
Speaker 2: their podcast went to the next level. And if I'm
Speaker 2: being candid, it's like the hard work that Mandy does
Speaker 2: and I thought, I don't have the capacity to commit
Speaker 2: in that way. And honestly it's been like that for
Speaker 2: a while. And it's not fair, you know, it's not
Speaker 2: And you know, Mandy has been like such a soldier,
Speaker 2: but I'm like she shouldn't have to be, you know,
Speaker 2: like this podcast could really explode if the full capacity
Speaker 2: was given to it. And I feel like they're you know,
Speaker 2: in the beginning, you know who don't know what podcasts were,
Speaker 2: not me, you know, me and man, it were just
Speaker 2: like this thing sounds fine, okay, And that's the energy
Speaker 2: I've been able to maintain a keep. But quite honestly,
Speaker 2: this podcast has become a business, you know, not in
Speaker 2: a bad way, in a great way, but it requires
Speaker 2: a level of commitment that I just can't make. And
Speaker 2: now it's gone from like, oh, this is a fun
Speaker 2: project that we're doing to like, now I'm actually holding
Speaker 2: us back, you know, like Mandy won't say that, I'll
Speaker 2: say it for her.
Speaker 1: I am, I'll say it in different ways.
Speaker 2: I'm holding us back, you know, not intentionally, not you know,
Speaker 2: not just because you know, like, as as the budget
Speaker 2: needs to twist and turns and grows, it is taking
Speaker 2: more and more of like like, there are some opportunities
Speaker 2: that require more of me that I want to explore,
Speaker 2: and that means I haven't even less available, and that's
Speaker 2: even less fair. So it hasn't been easy and making
Speaker 2: this choice because I really enjoy Brown Ambition, you know,
Speaker 2: like I'm not I told y'all before. I mean, I
Speaker 2: love y'all, but really it's because I get to talk
Speaker 2: to my friend. We get to hang out every week,
Speaker 2: and we get to do something pretty amazing, you know
Speaker 2: that no one else has done, Like nobody in this
Speaker 2: space is doing what we're doing, but more and more,
Speaker 2: like I said, I just feel like Tiffany, you know,
Speaker 2: like you, we've reached this pivotal point where like you
Speaker 2: are holding Brown and Bission back from growing and and
Speaker 2: it's not there. And so yeah, so I told Mandy,
Speaker 2: and it felt so terrible because I text you, like, no,
Speaker 2: I think you, I don't know if you text me
Speaker 2: or I text you. And I said, oh, let's talk
Speaker 2: about Brown and Bisson tomorrow because tomorrow was a Saturday.
Speaker 2: So Mandy was like, which was the worst.
Speaker 1: Well, you know, I've been planning our wedding, how it
Speaker 1: felt like it was a jilted bride. Oh but no, No,
Speaker 1: there's the timing, y'all. If you haven't realized, it is
Speaker 1: September now, and every September it's our anniversary because we
Speaker 1: launched the show around this time nine years ago now,
Speaker 1: which is a long time as a podcaster. It's sort
Speaker 1: of like saying, you started your blog in two thousand
Speaker 1: and six, two thousand and five. So anyway, twenty fifteen
Speaker 1: we launched, and it's been nine years, so I was
Speaker 1: very excited. I had lots of I have lots of
Speaker 1: big ideas that are different now, but they're still there.
Speaker 1: For brand Ambition in twenty twenty five, and I wanted
Speaker 1: to do our first live event, and we still are
Speaker 1: doing it, unless Tiffany, no, I'm still doing it.
Speaker 2: I don't do that, Okay, don't do that.
Speaker 1: But yeah, as I was planning this live show and
Speaker 1: getting sponsors and stuff, and you know, wanting to like
Speaker 1: do a proper Brown Ambition tour and all of that.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm trying not to sound like a don't
Speaker 1: feel bad for me. I'm trying not to sound like
Speaker 1: a jilted lover, like a jilted groom or bride. I
Speaker 1: don't know who I am in this situation. Some days
Speaker 1: I do feel like brown ambition bride, but mostly like
Speaker 1: but yeah, bride and groom and wedding planner and all that.
Speaker 1: But you know, you can always tell when, at least
Speaker 1: if you have a very strong, insecure attachment style like
Speaker 1: I do, you can tell when someone's about to.
Speaker 3: No.
Speaker 2: It was so I felt so terrible because we were texting
Speaker 2: and it was late, so it was like maybe like
Speaker 2: eleven or something, and I said, I forget you were
Speaker 2: texting something about something and then I don't even if
Speaker 2: it was brown and bish lated just chit chat texting.
Speaker 2: And then I was like, oh, I was trying to
Speaker 2: keep it light, like let's talk about Brida mission tomorrow,
Speaker 2: and You're like sure.
Speaker 1: And then you were like well, because it was in
Speaker 1: a text which reads like can we chat, which is
Speaker 1: exactly what you say before you dump somebody or before
Speaker 1: you quit your job, you know, like I've been around
Speaker 1: the blog long, oh, like.
Speaker 2: And then Mandy was like huh and then she text
Speaker 2: me back like maybe like ten minutes later. It was
Speaker 2: like you're not you're not dubbing me. I you wait, wait,
Speaker 2: And she went through a.
Speaker 1: Whole internal dialogue yes to the house.
Speaker 4: And I said and then I didn't text back because like,
Speaker 4: I what she was saying, because normally I'd be like, man, manny, now, girl,
Speaker 4: I just want to talk to you about whatever.
Speaker 1: You couldn't reassure me because you're not a liar, yes.
Speaker 2: And I was like, I didn't want to be like, oh, everything,
Speaker 2: So I just was like, well, it's late, maybe she'll
Speaker 2: think I fell asleep. That's exactly I was in the
Speaker 2: bed looking at the ceiling like I don't because I'm like,
Speaker 2: I don't want to have this conversation now it's so
Speaker 2: late and I can't text it. That's crazy. I actually
Speaker 2: really wanted to see you in person, but you were
Speaker 2: doing some traveling and I just was like, I don't
Speaker 2: want it to I knew I wanted to do yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: I wanted to stay to the end of the year.
Speaker 2: So I didn't want to keep pushing it, pushing it.
Speaker 2: I wanted to have plenty of time to talk with you,
Speaker 2: to talk through it with our with our listeners. And
Speaker 2: so I was like, if I wait till I see
Speaker 2: Mandy in person, it might be another month and that's
Speaker 2: not fair. So I just said, if you know exactly,
Speaker 2: that's what I was thinking. I was like, I can't
Speaker 2: do that. I'm gonna do the live event, but I
Speaker 2: can't do it at the live event. So the next
Speaker 2: day I was such a chicken because I did not
Speaker 2: call Mandy right away.
Speaker 1: I still had to call you.
Speaker 2: I know you did, because I was like, out.
Speaker 1: Of my misser rate. Now it's me. Now I know
Speaker 1: you've seen it.
Speaker 5: And I know you know.
Speaker 1: I was scared.
Speaker 2: Not scared that Mandy was gonna I was scared because
Speaker 2: I just I didn't want to disappoint my friend. Honestly,
Speaker 2: that's what I was thinking. I was like, because one, Mandy,
Speaker 2: you were always kind, so I knew you weren't going
Speaker 2: to be like, ah, I hate you. I was more
Speaker 2: so afraid of just disappoint and hurting you. That's what
Speaker 2: I just kept thinking. I was like, oh, man, I
Speaker 2: don't want to hurt Mandy. And I mean, like I said,
Speaker 2: you've heard me say this over and over. Not to
Speaker 2: draw passed away. I didn't have any desire to do anything,
Speaker 2: but I came back to Brown ambition because Mandy was here.
Speaker 2: That was it. And you know, you said something to
Speaker 2: me that like broke my heart a little bit, like
Speaker 2: have you hated it all this time? I'm like, no,
Speaker 2: not at all, Like I've not hated honestly, I've loved
Speaker 2: Brown Ambition, you know. And then you were like, are
Speaker 2: you leaving because of me? I'm like, honestly, Mandy, I
Speaker 2: stayed because of you. Like if if if there was
Speaker 2: no Mandy in Brown Abison, Drew would passed away and
Speaker 2: I'd be like, girl, bye, I would there would be
Speaker 2: no Brown Ambition. I don't even know if I would
Speaker 2: have told you. I think I just would have been like, anyway, bye.
Speaker 2: You know that last episode that you heard, that's it.
Speaker 2: Like literally I stayed because of you, and now I
Speaker 2: am leaving for me, you know, And quite honestly, I
Speaker 2: know that what Brown Ambition requires, I'm not able to
Speaker 2: give it, and it would be unfair to, like, you know,
Speaker 2: be this like dead weight that you're dragging along, you know,
Speaker 2: because Mandy has so many amazing, amazing ideas about like
Speaker 2: what can make the podcast better, like how we can
Speaker 2: serve y'all better, like and they're amazing. I thought to myself.
Speaker 2: This is all Mandy. You know, she doesn't need me.
Speaker 2: You know, she's going to be capable of doing these
Speaker 2: things on her own. And so you know, y'all prove
Speaker 2: that when I was away after my husband passed away,
Speaker 2: that you're here for Mandy just as much me because
Speaker 2: you were here and listen, if anything, we got an uptick,
Speaker 2: you know. So that was one. But then also too,
Speaker 2: like I said, my friend deserves to have the podcast
Speaker 2: that she wants to because Mandy won't say it, but
Speaker 2: she bends to make sure it's convenient for me. And
Speaker 2: that's not fair, you know, like everything is like, okay,
Speaker 2: let's do it because this is more convenient for Tiffany.
Speaker 2: And this is more convenient for Tiffany. I mean, this
Speaker 2: woman was gonna come all the way to Nowork to
Speaker 2: tape live every week. That's crazy. I was like, no, enough,
Speaker 2: all right, crazy it is. I was like, no, you
Speaker 2: deserve to have ease and for it to be to
Speaker 2: evolve around you. You deserve to have this business revolve
Speaker 2: around what's best for you, the vision that you see
Speaker 2: and that's it. And so I'm excited for that part
Speaker 2: for you. And we're sharing this because it's I'm here
Speaker 2: all year, and obviously i'll be back, you know, I'll
Speaker 2: back to be a guest or whatever, and I'm here
Speaker 2: all year. But I wanted that I wanted to talk
Speaker 2: through with you, so we wanted to do this. Because
Speaker 2: I thought.
Speaker 1: She wanted to do it. I did not.
Speaker 2: Well, here's why, because I think one that.
Speaker 1: Would think I'm ready to be this vulnerable yet, but
Speaker 1: here it's happening. Like I do feel very self conscious
Speaker 1: of how like I mean, Tiffany, like we taught the
Speaker 1: day that you told me, I remember, I was like,
Speaker 1: I gotta go, and I came back because it was just,
Speaker 1: you know, too much to process. I was literally blowing up.
Speaker 2: First of all, I heard real saying are you okay, Mommy,
Speaker 2: and my heart broke. I was like, oh my.
Speaker 5: God, the baby.
Speaker 1: Second, Mommy is trying not to cry as I was
Speaker 1: blowing up. Balloon's no. But it's it's just like it's
Speaker 1: such a monumental shift, and there's so much like I
Speaker 1: think the last time you and I talked a day
Speaker 1: or two ago, I was on this like I was
Speaker 1: very optimistic. I still am. That part is still there.
Speaker 1: But today's one of those days where I'm just like not,
Speaker 1: I'm sad and that's okay.
Speaker 2: But can I just tell y'all, like what Mandy texts me,
Speaker 2: this is the mark of what a good friend like Mandy,
Speaker 2: you texted me something that just after I called you
Speaker 2: and you were like, we could talk later, you said,
Speaker 2: because I knew that it was a lot obviously, you
Speaker 2: said something that just said, this is why you know,
Speaker 2: like this is why you're my friend. You wrote me
Speaker 2: right away back and you said, I'm okay, I want
Speaker 2: to talk more, but of course I love you and
Speaker 2: I want you to be happy. I'm just so sad
Speaker 2: it's okay, and I don't know there could have been
Speaker 2: a more perfect response, because it was like you gave
Speaker 2: me the permission to just like show up. This was
Speaker 2: you created a safe space that I could tell you
Speaker 2: honestly how I was feeling, but then also too that
Speaker 2: you can honestly tell me how you're feeling, like this
Speaker 2: is sad, you know, but not make me feel bad
Speaker 2: about like you were weaponizing your sadness, you know, you
Speaker 2: were just like just letting you know that, like you know,
Speaker 2: but I love you and I'm happy for you, And
Speaker 2: I thought, I don't know that there could be a
Speaker 2: more perfect text, and you know you are just like,
Speaker 2: you know, it's so crazy, but you have been like
Speaker 2: this constant in my life for the last you know,
Speaker 2: basically ten years, you know, and our relationship and friendship
Speaker 2: has just grown too, you know, more deeply into one
Speaker 2: of the safest spaces I have, you know, and I
Speaker 2: just thank you for that that, like you know so much,
Speaker 2: we have lived through so much. I started this podcast.
Speaker 2: We were literally both of us single. I think we're dating.
Speaker 2: I don't know if I was Angel, I don't even
Speaker 2: remember if I was Adanerelle, but both single. There was
Speaker 2: no kids, no loss, no just two single girls who
Speaker 2: were like, let's do this thing called a podcast that
Speaker 2: wasn't even a thing yet. And we've lived so much
Speaker 2: life in the last nine years, nine plus years, and
Speaker 2: I just yes, I think the next nine I'm just
Speaker 2: just really grateful to have a friend like Mandy, because
Speaker 2: not a lot of people would have responded like that,
Speaker 2: but I knew that this was a safe space to
Speaker 2: come to you and just be like here's where I am.
Speaker 2: Nothing happened, like honestly, I'm sharing this, and I know
Speaker 2: Mada didn't want as much but I wanted you guys
Speaker 2: to hear that it is possible to be in partnership
Speaker 2: with someone and partnership to for lack of a better word,
Speaker 2: breakup and it not be because she lied, I lied,
Speaker 2: you cheated, whatever it's like. Sometimes it's just that you
Speaker 2: know that one I recognize that I'm holding Brada as
Speaker 2: an entity back, but also too, I recognize that I'm
Speaker 2: holding myself back. There's some things I want to do
Speaker 2: that I need to create space for myself. So nothing
Speaker 2: has happened, you know, like something has happened, but nothing
Speaker 2: negative has happened, you know, And so I wanted I
Speaker 2: wanted you as the audience to hear and see like
Speaker 2: what like healthy communication looks like in business partnership, business
Speaker 2: partnership that has a friend component. It's not perfect. We're
Speaker 2: both sat This is an end of an error. Although
Speaker 2: Brown and Bishon continues this this era of Tiffany and Mandy,
Speaker 2: that error is, you know.
Speaker 1: As brand Ambish co yes, because one of the things
Speaker 1: you said was when we talked to you were like,
Speaker 1: you know, part of your decision was you know, you're
Speaker 1: doing the show for me and for our friendship, and
Speaker 1: then you realize you actually don't need, which is true,
Speaker 1: you didn't need the podcast, yeah, to be friends with you? Yes,
Speaker 1: And I actually think that we'll probably see more of
Speaker 1: each other now that like physically, yes, we're recording everywhere. Yes,
Speaker 1: what is nice to just hang yeah, which we don't
Speaker 1: because if we're going to hang, like Phil got to
Speaker 1: get the show. Yeah, So, which I think is true.
Speaker 1: And our friendship is it goes way beyond. It goes
Speaker 1: way beyond the podcast. And I think that, you know,
Speaker 1: it wasn't an accident. I think there was a point
Speaker 1: in our business relationship and our friendship when we decided, like,
Speaker 1: let's make this deeper than just business, like because I
Speaker 1: think we were maybe like seventy thirty business to friends.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, if I would say that.
Speaker 1: You know, and I think I don't know. We there's
Speaker 1: so many examples of like partnerships where you start as
Speaker 1: friends and it's like one hundred percent friends and then
Speaker 1: try to shift it ninety ten friends to business, and
Speaker 1: I think that that is a lot more challenging at
Speaker 1: the beginning. I can't say that this was part of
Speaker 1: a master plan. It's just the way that it worked out.
Speaker 1: We just started out more as partners, and now we're
Speaker 1: like more sisters. And I think that that is making
Speaker 1: it makes it it harder in some ways, yet easier
Speaker 1: in others, Like easier to accept because I have to
Speaker 1: accept it because it is your happiness, like and that's
Speaker 1: all I want, you know, But then harder because it's
Speaker 1: like I think my initial thought was, well, what like,
Speaker 1: what is Brown Ambition without me and Tiffany. I've never
Speaker 1: fantasized about Tiffany not coming back. I've never thought about it.
Speaker 1: I've never been like, wow, I really would love it
Speaker 1: to be the Mandy Show. Never. I love our Yin
Speaker 1: and Yang. I think that we have such great chemistry.
Speaker 1: I can't capture that with anybody else. I don't want
Speaker 1: to try. I'm not going to turn into Kelly Rippa
Speaker 1: trying to audition.
Speaker 2: No, you don't need no co hosts. She can just
Speaker 2: have some guests on here and then what she needs,
Speaker 2: what she wants to But I.
Speaker 1: Don't I do. And yeah, so you guys can tell
Speaker 1: me what you want from Brown Ambition, But I got no,
Speaker 1: I got I got no plans right now for BA
Speaker 1: other than it will continue. I'm just really grateful, Tiffany
Speaker 1: that you're going to stay through the end of this year,
Speaker 1: so you'll have us as long as you have us
Speaker 1: through twenty twenty four. And at the same time, like
Speaker 1: I told tiff like there was this is the year.
Speaker 1: It's certainly the year. And I haven't been like super
Speaker 1: I'm not trying to be very vague about it, but
Speaker 1: I'm just not ready to go all that into it.
Speaker 1: But this year was definitely like a burn myself to
Speaker 1: the ground kind of like you know, good old, good
Speaker 1: old Corny, you know, Phoenix kind of moment in the
Speaker 1: sense that it did feel like so much had to
Speaker 1: get broken down to be built back up this year,
Speaker 1: and I knew there was something like it just felt
Speaker 1: like a shift was coming in the positive sense or
Speaker 1: like a monumental like, oh, this is going to be
Speaker 1: something big to really change the course of my career
Speaker 1: in life. And I haven't felt like that in a
Speaker 1: few years. But in the past I've just kind of
Speaker 1: given over. I've just like given myself over to that
Speaker 1: sensation in the sense that whatever it is, I'll just
Speaker 1: try to greet it with open arms. And we don't
Speaker 1: know what it's going to be. And then so Tiffany,
Speaker 1: this news it felt like, I'm like, oh, that was
Speaker 1: it okay, And there's a lot of excitement there is
Speaker 1: because I do still have so I mean, I will
Speaker 1: never not believe in brand, ambition and all the potential
Speaker 1: that we have. But now I don't have to ask
Speaker 1: for anybody availability myself, and I don't have to go
Speaker 1: through twelve thousand back and forth scheduling emails with whatever
Speaker 1: assystem of the day.
Speaker 2: Don't movie, sorry, you're not going to go.
Speaker 3: But now I hope State farm agents are small business
Speaker 3: owners too, so they know how to help you choose
Speaker 3: personalized policies that fit your needs, like a good neighbor.
Speaker 3: State farm is there. Talk to your local agent today.
Speaker 1: Hey, hey, ba fam We are going live y'all. We
Speaker 1: are going to be live from Newark, New Jersey. It
Speaker 1: is all happening October tenth at six pm. If you
Speaker 1: want to get tickets now, tickets are limited. We picked
Speaker 1: the best venue. It's a historic black owned bookstore in Newark,
Speaker 1: but seating is limited. This is going to be an
Speaker 1: intimate evening with me and Tiffany live in person. It
Speaker 1: may be the only chance y'all get. I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: lie to see us together live in twenty twenty four,
Speaker 1: So please come get your tickets. We want to make
Speaker 1: sure that the crowd is packed with true be a family. Okay,
Speaker 1: so if you want to get tickets, run, don't walk.
Speaker 1: Run to Brown Ambition Podcast dot Com to get the
Speaker 1: link right there and let us know that you're coming.
Speaker 1: Tag us, send us your receipts, send us your order.
Speaker 1: Maybe we'll send you some be A swag. We'll have
Speaker 1: some BA swag at the event. Even we are going
Speaker 1: to be celebrating nine years of the show, y'all, nine years.
Speaker 1: We're like geriatric podcasters in the very best way. But
Speaker 1: we cannot wait to see y'all in Newark. So go
Speaker 1: ahead Bronambition Podcast dot com to get your tickets to
Speaker 1: see me and Tiffany live for Brown Ambition Live and
Speaker 1: New Work, New Jersey. It's all going down. Like I
Speaker 1: said October tenth, get your tickets again at Brown Ambition
Speaker 1: Podcast dot com. Yeah no, I'm just just it's so big.
Speaker 1: Do you want to share?
Speaker 2: Kind of like the business part, so like what does
Speaker 2: it look like? So partnership dissolving? Typically? Oh, I forgot
Speaker 2: to go ask Tony Mandy, you know I remember, so
Speaker 2: I know It's like that's what I be talking about, right, So,
Speaker 2: partnership dissolving, like I've done this book I've done where
Speaker 2: I've bought out a partner and literally you assess the
Speaker 2: company and you agree on the assessment or don't. You're
Speaker 2: going an assessment company at least, and then you can
Speaker 2: purchase out the other person whatever. But I told Mandy,
Speaker 2: I didn't want to do that here. You know that,
Speaker 2: I believe you know, like there's the workload of Brown
Speaker 2: Ambishon has always been uneven, but now more so than ever.
Speaker 2: And then I spoke with a friend of mine who
Speaker 2: also was in a podcast with her best friend, and
Speaker 2: but theirs was different. And then they started off friends
Speaker 2: friends friends first and then added in the business and she,
Speaker 2: like me, had another business that just that business start
Speaker 2: to eat a more capacity. And she just was like,
Speaker 2: you know what, I love my bestie and I just
Speaker 2: can't do both because I'm being unfair now. So I
Speaker 2: asked her what she did, and I thought that that
Speaker 2: felt fair to me and that I'm just going to
Speaker 2: sign over my Brown Ambision rights to Mandy, like right
Speaker 2: now Mandy and I are fifty to fifty. But I
Speaker 2: told Mandy like I'm going to sign over my rights.
Speaker 2: It's not a buyout. You know that Mandy doesn't have
Speaker 2: to purchase anything for me. I feel like it's the
Speaker 2: right thing to do, to be like, Okay, my half
Speaker 2: now becomes your half. Mandy will own it one hundred percent,
Speaker 2: and then after this year, you know, like we Mandy
Speaker 2: and I were actually talking about the legal ramifications, like
Speaker 2: she's like, do I need my own attorney? And I said, well,
Speaker 2: I've done it before where we can have an attorney
Speaker 2: represent the business and not me or Mandy, and then
Speaker 2: we'll be like if you should think about this, you
Speaker 2: should think about this. And so we're deciding if that's
Speaker 2: the route that we're going to go in because I
Speaker 2: have an attorney and I want her to kind of share,
Speaker 2: like if that's something that she feels that she can
Speaker 2: do or something that we should do, and if not,
Speaker 2: then we'll figure out something else. But ideally, because it
Speaker 2: will save money for everybody that having an one attorney
Speaker 2: that represents the business, and because essentially I'm not fighting
Speaker 2: for anything, I want to be able to say I
Speaker 2: just want to sign something that says BROWNO vision now.
Speaker 5: Uncoupling, yes, constantly, Yes, but there are some things right,
Speaker 5: so it would be like I mean, to the end
Speaker 5: of the year, it's be like, okay, the last revenue split,
Speaker 5: you know, might be like December thirty first, you know,
Speaker 5: but then you're.
Speaker 1: Like January because we don't get paid for December until.
Speaker 2: But you know what I mean. Like so even those
Speaker 2: type of things, you know, And then too, what happens
Speaker 2: with podcasts.
Speaker 1: I can get rid of our big bank account. I
Speaker 1: can get my online only bank account. Yes, you can't
Speaker 1: want to get because I hit our bank.
Speaker 2: I know, I hate our big two. But what you
Speaker 2: can we also too what happens is then, you know,
Speaker 2: like the podcast, you don't just make money on the
Speaker 2: podcast off of the current episodes. There are past episodes
Speaker 2: that might generate. So I've decided that, like regardless, I
Speaker 2: told Mandy you could continue like one, all the old
Speaker 2: episodes continue to air because we own Brown Ambition, you know,
Speaker 2: like there's some podcasts that are created on a network
Speaker 2: already that's not so like Mandy and I started this
Speaker 2: before there was even networks, I believe, so she will
Speaker 2: own it. But also too, she gets to own the
Speaker 2: back blog category, so if it makes money, she will
Speaker 2: get to keep it January first, moving on, even though
Speaker 2: my voice is there, and then we'll have to decide.
Speaker 2: I guess like name you some in likeness as far
Speaker 2: as I don't know what that looks like. But this
Speaker 2: is what an attorney is here for. So that's what
Speaker 2: I've just decided to just basically give Mandy my half.
Speaker 2: Stop taking any payments at the end of this year,
Speaker 2: and even know like additional payments will happen as a
Speaker 2: result of like my voice and things, but she will
Speaker 2: be able to keep that moving forward. That's what I
Speaker 2: feel feels like fair for all the work that she's
Speaker 2: put in. And I just I mean, you know, it's
Speaker 2: easier Brandna Bisham does well, but it's not you know,
Speaker 2: multiple seven figures and I'd be like, wait a minute minute,
Speaker 2: let's talk about it.
Speaker 1: But now, yeah, And I mean like we've been cashing
Speaker 1: in on the profits. It's not like there's a war
Speaker 1: chest that we have. Yes, yeah, because it was always
Speaker 1: like supplemental fun money for both of us, right, Yes,
Speaker 1: but I mean I'm taking it all in. I'm definitely yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm definitely looking forward to getting all the legal shit
Speaker 1: behind us because we don't usually spend a lot of
Speaker 1: time on legal stuff, and I think this is the
Speaker 1: only potential area where like, if there was ever going
Speaker 1: to be a contentious moment, it would be like during
Speaker 1: this kind of dissolution, what do you call it? Dissolving
Speaker 1: of a partnership. But even when I think when I
Speaker 1: say that, I'm like, well, that's just other people. That's
Speaker 1: not me and Tiff, you know, Like I feel like
Speaker 1: we're gonna have the kind of like post BA relationship
Speaker 1: where I don't like, to be honest, I don't think
Speaker 1: that it feels right to me that you wouldn't make
Speaker 1: any residuals off of our existing back catalog, like not
Speaker 1: that it's like a movie where you can. That doesn't
Speaker 1: feel one hundred percent right to me. Like I think
Speaker 1: some kind of percentage of earnings moving forward makes sense
Speaker 1: for your legacy and your nine years. I don't know, I.
Speaker 2: Get to your point that, yes, this is why. What
Speaker 2: I love about this is that you get to see
Speaker 2: real time Manny, and I haven't figured it out.
Speaker 1: I just know, great, to me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well then we can we'll talk through it. And
Speaker 2: like this is why having kind of like an attorney
Speaker 2: in the middle, because what does that even mean and
Speaker 2: how long? And these are like questions. I don't think
Speaker 2: it's going to be contentious. Honestly, Many and I have
Speaker 2: worked together for nine years and it's never been contentious
Speaker 2: because we always come from a place of like we
Speaker 2: want what's best for both of us. No one is
Speaker 2: here like you see here. I'm like, you can just
Speaker 2: have it all. It's just like that doesn't feel fair.
Speaker 2: We've always navigated from that place of like, wait a minute,
Speaker 2: sounds cute, but how does that have was that for you?
Speaker 2: And so I'm not worried about the contentious, you know,
Speaker 2: because I.
Speaker 1: Just don't want to downplay your significance and I think
Speaker 1: that you're being very humble. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: BA is the two of us, and yeah, I've done
Speaker 1: like the technical side for a long time and negotiated
Speaker 1: with networks and like strategy and you know everything everything,
Speaker 1: and it's true, but no, but there is no show.
Speaker 1: There hasn't. It's been the kind of show where you know,
Speaker 1: without you, and there's been months where I haven't been
Speaker 1: able to record and you've shown up for me and
Speaker 1: carried that and anyway. To me, your value is immense
Speaker 1: and always has been. I do I think this is
Speaker 1: one of those like reflective moments where yeah, we've been
Speaker 1: like it's been more one sided for a while, but
Speaker 1: I really enjoyed it, Like I thought that was my
Speaker 1: superpower and that was what made the relationship work, you know.
Speaker 1: And I don't want anyone who's listening to feel like, oh,
Speaker 1: Mandy was like not valuing herself for like was being
Speaker 1: like there was I never and I still don't feel
Speaker 1: like I was ever taken advantage of or that it
Speaker 1: was unfair. It's just that it was what we needed,
Speaker 1: Like we needed me to stand up in order for
Speaker 1: the show to happen. It wasn't going to be you.
Speaker 1: It had to be me, and I was happy to,
Speaker 1: you know, to do that and still am and to.
Speaker 2: Be fair the less, Like, we talked recently about paying
Speaker 2: you additionally for the work, you know, so that was
Speaker 2: one of the things that Mandy and I talked through.
Speaker 2: She's like, well, if I'm going to do the heavier lift,
Speaker 2: which he's been doing for a while, you know, what
Speaker 2: does that look like for me to be paid because
Speaker 2: normally it's kind of like, you know, we make money,
Speaker 2: the network takes whatever they're going to take, and then
Speaker 2: the rest land in our arm our bank account, and
Speaker 2: then Mandy and I kind of know how much needs
Speaker 2: to be left over and paid and whatever was there
Speaker 2: was like here's a fifty fifty split, you know, but
Speaker 2: then it was like, well, what if she can get
Speaker 2: additional pay because of the extra work, and I said, okay,
Speaker 2: So we agreed on what that pay was going to be,
Speaker 2: and then it's like, then what's left over after that?
Speaker 2: There could be a fifty to fifty split because I
Speaker 2: wanted to, like, you know, even then, I'm like, you know,
Speaker 2: what does that look like to make this more fair?
Speaker 2: So we still our aim now is now that you know,
Speaker 2: we and you might have some ideas. I mean, I
Speaker 2: don't know, maybe some of you guys have gone through
Speaker 2: like a like an amical full uncoupling with a business partner,
Speaker 2: but we would love like every show was not going
Speaker 2: to be about this, but certainly we're going to check
Speaker 2: in regularly just because if nothing else, this is a
Speaker 2: learning lesson for you and us, and uh yeah, because
Speaker 2: we're still figuring it out. As you can see, some
Speaker 2: stuff is just coming up now. I'm like, oh, I
Speaker 2: didn't know you felt that way. All that's time and
Speaker 2: I just I am grateful for the opportunity to learn
Speaker 2: out loud, you know.
Speaker 1: And I will let it happen, even though it's a
Speaker 1: bit more vulnerable. I know you do though, oh thanks, No,
Speaker 1: I mean it's just like we can, we'd have these conversations,
Speaker 1: but I do think that at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: it's our decision. So as much as I love ba
Speaker 1: fam like and I will like you're gonna be it's
Speaker 1: gonna be great, and you're gonna I'm excited about what's
Speaker 1: to come and all of that, I'm just like it
Speaker 1: feels a little bit like letting someone into your this
Speaker 1: little bubble that we've created this safe space where we
Speaker 1: talk about business stuff on the backs and we do
Speaker 1: it very collegially, yeah, respectfully, but it's yeah, I don't
Speaker 1: want to it's a little under the microscope. But we'll
Speaker 1: see how this goes and how you guys take it.
Speaker 1: And I was thinking, like, man, this is like you're
Speaker 1: hearing by a lot of podcast hosts who are like
Speaker 1: either leaving the show or taking breaks or the you know,
Speaker 1: co hosts are leaving. And I feel like I've been
Speaker 1: hearing that more with the black female co host led
Speaker 1: shows that I listen to, and I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: we're so different.
Speaker 2: We love it, we love.
Speaker 1: I'm not an idgit like you know. It was like,
Speaker 1: you know, it doesn't it makes sense. It's exciting. A
Speaker 1: change is gonna come always, That's the one thing I
Speaker 1: know in life. And yeah, I'm just grateful the time
Speaker 1: we have left. I want to focus on that. We
Speaker 1: have a hole. Hopefully by the time you know, you
Speaker 1: close out the show, we'll have our first black female president.
Speaker 1: What a wo out as if we had like a
Speaker 1: huge role in that. But a lot of time to
Speaker 1: go out. Yeah, I think, well, should we leave it
Speaker 1: there to take a break and maybe come back or
Speaker 1: is more to say?
Speaker 2: No, I mean, I think we've said all that I
Speaker 2: have to say.
Speaker 1: But okay, I'm trying not to think of how many
Speaker 1: shows are left. Just don't think about it. We'll let
Speaker 1: you guys know when the last day for Tip's going
Speaker 1: to be. We haven't even told the network officially yet,
Speaker 1: so they probably are interested in this as well. But
Speaker 1: you know, that's how we roll. And I'm gonna be
Speaker 1: right back via VAM.
Speaker 2: We're back. I feel like I don't even feel like
Speaker 2: broad Boost. I know, Oh, I mean it's okay.
Speaker 1: To just end on a very demure, very mind.
Speaker 2: I know, well, I for one am excited, okay, And
Speaker 2: now it's time for booster break up boost, break up
Speaker 2: boost break Are you going to boost? Are you gonna break?
Speaker 2: What you're gonna do, what you're gonna take? Can I
Speaker 2: go first? I'm gonna do a brown boost because I
Speaker 2: was Honestly, I'm excited to see Mandy untethered, Mandy how
Speaker 2: she flies for real, because y'all don't know, Mandy is
Speaker 2: a freaking beast, like a business beast behind the scenes.
Speaker 2: I have seen this woman builder. I mean, what Mandy
Speaker 2: has built in six months would take me five years,
Speaker 2: and it's taken me by like for real, like I am,
Speaker 2: there are only two people who I admire their ability
Speaker 2: to execute that. I'm like in awe of and it's
Speaker 2: my friend Brandis and Mandy. That's literally it. Everybody else
Speaker 2: I'm like, yeah, girl, that's all right. No, Like Mandy
Speaker 2: is a master executor. I don't think y'all understand. So
Speaker 2: I am so excited to see what you do, Mandy.
Speaker 2: When you have the full autonomy to execute how you want,
Speaker 2: when you want, without any tethering. So my brown boost
Speaker 2: is that, like, honestly, I can't just wait to watch
Speaker 2: and see because I've seen what you did with Mandy
Speaker 2: money Makers, I've seen what you've done in your own business.
Speaker 2: I've seen what you've done when you work for someone,
Speaker 2: you are like such a powerhouse, and now you get
Speaker 2: to do it your way. I'm just like, I'm excited,
Speaker 2: thank you.
Speaker 1: And to the few people that I've told, it seems
Speaker 1: to be the overwhelming reaction is that they start to
Speaker 1: giggle get excited, like what do you Why is everyone
Speaker 1: so happy about?
Speaker 2: Because I know you.
Speaker 1: I think it's like, yeah, it's more about the excitement
Speaker 1: for me, and I'm like, why is nobody else as anyway? Okay,
Speaker 1: so my brown boost, well it's going to be a
Speaker 1: brown I'm gonna make it a brown break because something
Speaker 1: something that I posted before I went on vacation kind
Speaker 1: of took off and went a little bit viral, and
Speaker 1: it just reminded me of the power of research and
Speaker 1: data to really like and I know that I know
Speaker 1: that our experiences be a fan like the stuff that
Speaker 1: we talk about about being women of color, you know,
Speaker 1: in business and in corporate like those experiences are are
Speaker 1: very shared, and like we understand that, but at the
Speaker 1: end of the day, having our voices and our anecdotes
Speaker 1: is clearly not enough, like having our lived experiences. We
Speaker 1: already know because the world has shown us how they
Speaker 1: feel about our voices and if they want to listen
Speaker 1: to them, and when they want to listen to them.
Speaker 1: And you don't have to look too far to see
Speaker 1: what has been happening post twenty twenty with the disinvestment
Speaker 1: de investments, the divestment of the investment that companies were
Speaker 1: making into diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and all that
Speaker 1: is kind of starting to crumble. And I think that
Speaker 1: we were not surprised. We're not surprised, let's be honest,
Speaker 1: but I wanted to. I highlighted some data that had
Speaker 1: been published like almost a year ago, and I was
Speaker 1: just flabbergastic because I learned about it through the research
Speaker 1: for my book. I'm working on a chapter right now
Speaker 1: about the pet to threat phenomenon, which we have talked about. Essentially,
Speaker 1: the idea that black women or women basically any minority
Speaker 1: is like they're really happy to have us when we
Speaker 1: first art and it's like, oh my gosh, this is
Speaker 1: gonna be great. We'll give you this, we'll give you that.
Speaker 1: And then you arrive and you start using your influence
Speaker 1: and accumulating power, and then you become very threatening, and
Speaker 1: then there there is an effort to get rid of
Speaker 1: you or to defund you. So anyway, so in this
Speaker 1: chapter that I'm writing, I came across this paper from
Speaker 1: the Harvard Kennedy School, which is a policy research sort
Speaker 1: of like think tank through Harvard, and they came out
Speaker 1: with a study last last fall that just chilled me
Speaker 1: to the bone and it really spoke to I think,
Speaker 1: a lived experience for so many women of color, especially
Speaker 1: black women. So the study showed that. And I don't
Speaker 1: have the numbers write in front of nabe will post
Speaker 1: in the show notes for you guys. But essentially it
Speaker 1: was a very it was a huge study of like
Speaker 1: thousands of employees at a very large consulting firm. So
Speaker 1: I'm thinking like PwC, Deloitte, one of these, Mackenzie one
Speaker 1: of these huge ones. And they looked at elite entry
Speaker 1: level workers, so people joining as elite firm but didn't
Speaker 1: have a lot of experience, and they followed them for
Speaker 1: about six years, and they found that the only group,
Speaker 1: when they broke it down by gender, by race and ethnicity,
Speaker 1: the only group that was negatively impacted by an increase
Speaker 1: in white co workers were black women. And you know what,
Speaker 1: the study didn't particularly speak about the increase or what
Speaker 1: happens to black women when they're on teams with white
Speaker 1: women in leadership roles or in management roles. It didn't
Speaker 1: dig that deep into it. But I was just so
Speaker 1: blown away by the overwhelming response on my post on
Speaker 1: TikTok and ig, where almost every commenter came there to
Speaker 1: talk about a toxic white female manager that they had had,
Speaker 1: And I had to go back to read the report
Speaker 1: because I'm like, did they mentioned white women? And it
Speaker 1: wasn't there? But I'm like I was. I was overwhelmed
Speaker 1: by that response and a little bit shaken by it
Speaker 1: because even in writing this chapter in my book, when
Speaker 1: I go back, I'm living through reliving these like stories
Speaker 1: of my own overcoming sort of toxic management and the
Speaker 1: two toxic managers that I had we're white women. And
Speaker 1: I didn't really like, I hadn't really clocked that. I
Speaker 1: hadn't thought, Okay, this is a dynamic that is not
Speaker 1: just something that I'm experiencing. But yeah, this research really
Speaker 1: hit a nerve and it made me even more. It
Speaker 1: made me even more excited to be writing this about
Speaker 1: this in my book. And it also, like I said,
Speaker 1: it chilled me because I'm just like, we have people
Speaker 1: have to know this, Like, yes, we have known it
Speaker 1: and clearly, like the you know, the commenters, like clearly
Speaker 1: you guys are living this and you understand it. And
Speaker 1: there's this frustration like, of course this is what the
Speaker 1: data shows. We're not surprised, et cetera. But I want
Speaker 1: to be sure that this data doesn't just stay in
Speaker 1: our hands and it shouldn't just be important to us.
Speaker 1: You know. There were a few white women HR managers
Speaker 1: who commented and said, I'm taking this data back to
Speaker 1: my team, and I'm like, that's what we need, because
Speaker 1: this is not a problem that we can fix alone.
Speaker 1: One if we complain about it, which I tried, that
Speaker 1: didn't break out great for me. Read the book. I'll
Speaker 1: tell you more. When we complain about that, then we
Speaker 1: are often we can be penalized. We put our careers
Speaker 1: at risk. The people with power are not us in
Speaker 1: this situation. In large, in most cases, so yeah, I
Speaker 1: think a brown brown boost for the response that we
Speaker 1: got and the like the cathartic kind of moment on
Speaker 1: the internet we had together with that post, but a
Speaker 1: break for the idea that we need this kind of
Speaker 1: data to justify our experiences. And I just hope that
Speaker 1: this is like this is I'm going to be sharing
Speaker 1: more because there's way more than this that doesn't get
Speaker 1: enough attention. And I'll keep sharing it. And thank y'all
Speaker 1: to everyone who like shared your experiences. And I'm really sorry.
Speaker 1: I'm unpacking my own shit too.
Speaker 2: I know. I saw it and I was like wow,
Speaker 2: I saw like because it went viral, and I thought,
Speaker 2: this is where you shay and shine, you know, like
Speaker 2: we forget that Mandy's a bona fide journalist, you know,
Speaker 2: and so I was just like wow, wow, So thank
Speaker 2: you for your service. Oh you're welcome, ah rod a vision.
Speaker 2: All right, y'all, if you enjoyed this show, if you
Speaker 2: you know, I don't know, you know, we'd love to
Speaker 2: hear back from you.
Speaker 1: I don't I mean, just been a while.
Speaker 2: One day at a time, sweet Jesus, that's all we
Speaker 2: asking of you. So yeah, until next show, Until next show,
Speaker 2: well Friday. You know we have our baqa. We'll see
Speaker 2: you air. Bye bye